"So was this Julia chick at least pretty?" Dean persisted. He must have asked the same question at least five times now in different ways. He knew that, but he couldn't seem to drop it. There was nagging feeling of anger that bugged him when he thought about his angel, or former angel, whatever, going home with some broad he met at a bar.
"Dean, give it a rest, will you?" Sam sighed, lying back into his pillows. Charlie was beside him, sitting up and sipping a mug of tea. Dean and Cas were in their bed, both huddled under the blankets because of the chill in the air, let in by that stupid window. "She was obviously not a regular person."
"That doesn't answer-"
"Dean!" Sam sighed. "Do you think Claire Higgins is hot?"
"What?" Dean asked. Usually he was the one randomly bringing up actresses he thought were hot. It was out of character for Sam.
"The chick from the movie 'Hellraiser,'" Sam explained. "You remember how she would lure guys to her house where she would basically feed them to her dead lover, Frank?"
"Sure," Dean said.
"Well, that's who this was. I mean, not really her, as in Claire Higgins, but she looked a little like that."
"Oh," Dean said. There was a moment of quiet. "Cas what were you thinking going home with some random crazy chick? Seriously, with everything that's been going on, you didn't think that maybe, just maybe, we should all stick together?"
"Dean, I'm sorry I just-" Sam interrupted before Castiel could finish what Dean was sure would have been a lame excuse anyway.
"I think the bigger question is, how is it possible that you and Charlie were attacked by the Salma Hayek wannabe at the same time that Cas was with this Julia chick?"
"Hold on a second, you said Cas was with her. Cas, please tell me you didn't sleep with-"
"That's not the point, Dean!" Sam said, frustrated.
"Look, I just need to…I just need to get some air," Dean said. He climbed out of bed, and stormed out the door.
"What was that all about?" Sam asked Charlie and Cas.
"I'll go talk to him," Cas said. Dean hurried down the hall, pretending not to have heard. He wasn't honestly completely sure why he was so upset.
Maybe it had to do with what Charlie had tried to tell him earlier. So he was important, was he? He didn't feel like it.
Dean hurried out of the front door and made his way to the Impala. He climbed into the driver's seat, and turned the key. His baby's engine rumbling to life made him feel a bit better.
He shifted through his pile of cassette tapes in the glove compartment. He stuck one in at random, and hit play. The song 'Something' by 'The Beatles' began to play. He leaned back and closed his eyes.
The side door of the Impala opened, and Castiel climbed in. Dean glanced at him, and then continued to stare straight ahead, listening to the music. He sighed. One of them was going to have to say something eventually.
"I'm sorry I overreacted," Dean said finally. "It's just…We're all we have, Cas. Team Free Will. If anyone ever hurt you, if anything ever happened, I don't know what I'd-" he was looking at Cas intensely now. He couldn't finish. They were doing that thing that they often did, where they just sort of stared into each other's eyes. This lasted for several minutes. Cas' face was so perfect. Dean felt like he could stare at it for an eternity.
It was more than that, though. It was so much more than that. Ever since he had been rescued from Hell, Dean had felt the power of their profound bond whenever they were together, or he was praying to Cas, or even when he was just thinking of him. It didn't even weaken when Cas turned human, either.
He would never forget the moment he had thought his friend was dead, that April the reaper bitch had killed him. He remembered holding Cas' face in his hands, and begging for him to answer. Their bond was so much more than anything Dean could understand. Maybe it was more than either of them could fully understand. They could feel it though. Even though the hand mark on Dean's shoulder had faded, the mark Cas had left on his soul probably never would. When Cas broke the silence, neither of them broke eye contact.
"Dean, I'm so sorry. I was being selfish, and…I…I'm sorry."
"It's OK," Dean said. Their faces were so close together, their lips were only inches apart. With just anyone, Dean probably would have leaned forward and broken the distance without hesitation. Cas wasn't just anyone, though.
"Castiel…"
"What?"
"You know how much you mean to me, right?"
"I um, I think so," Cas said. "And, obviously, you know how much you mean to me."
"I uh…Yeah, I think so," Dean said.
"Damn it, Dean," Cas said. "Do I need to remind you that I rescued you from Hell? Or that I rebelled against heaven for you?"
"It doesn't hurt," Dean said. They both laughed a little at that.
"Shall we go back inside now?" Cas asked. Dean agreed, turning off the music and taking the keys out of the ignition. When they climbed out of the car, Dean stopped Cas in front of the hood. He wrapped his arms around his friend's shoulders, and squeezed. For a moment, the former angel just stood there stiffly. Then he wrapped his arms around the hunter and squeezed back. Their bodies pressed against each other and Dean found himself against the Impala's hood as Cas leaned into him.
They broke apart, and walked across the dark parking lot together. The autumn leaves swirled around their ankles. Neither of them felt the need to hurry. Dean reached next to him, and took Cas' hand in his own.
"Maybe we don't have to go up quite yet," he said, sitting down on a bench outside of the hotel. Cas sat down beside him. They let go of each other's hands. Dean reached up, and touched Cas' flawless cheek. He leaned forwards, his lips slightly parted…
"Hey, aren't you the guys that were auditing?" a voice called. Dean and Cas both jumped, scooting away from each other a little. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't trying to um, interrupt anything," said the college aged girl who was walking towards them.
"You weren't interrupting anything," Dean said hastily. He leaned forwards, folding his hands in his lap. He hoped what he was doing wasn't too obvious, but it was better than not hiding anything. Then she would know she was interrupting something, instead of just guessing.
"Right," she said, noting his hands in his lap. Dean cursed inwardly.
"What are you doing here?" Cas asked her.
"Oh, it's stupid…My boyfriend and I just had a fight. He kept talking about seeing some freaky girl in a torn dress with hair in her face reflected in the TV. I mean, I'm sure he's just screwing with me because it's close to Halloween, but he knows how much the movie 'The Ring' scares me. I freaked out and left. Anyway, I'll just go to my room, and let you guys uh….Do whatever it was that I was not interrupting." Dean and Cas exchanged a meaningful look, and both stood up. The only good thing about the news the girl had shared was that Dean no longer had to hide his lap. He was all business now.
"Did you recently happen to find a tape that said 'Watch Me,' on it, and oh, I don't know, watch it?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, actually, I did," she said. "It was the tape from 'The Ring.' I can't believe him…"
"Where do you live?" Cas asked.
"What?" the girl sputtered. They didn't have time for this. Dean grabbed the girl's shoulders, and got in her face.
"Tell us!" he said urgently.
"Ugh, fine!" she pushed Dean off of her. "Freak." She gave them some brief directions.
They hurried up the stairs to the room to tell Charlie and Sam. This was getting to make less and less sense. Dean had no idea what the hell could be doing this. Whatever it was, it was a tricky bastard.
They were going to come face to face with one of the creepiest kids in horror movie history with no idea how to defeat it. Dean cursed as they ran upstairs. "Son of a BITCH!"
