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"He got arrested again?" Sam demanded, disbelief in his voice.

"Yeah, he did. I honestly don't know what to do here, Sammy. He was getting violent in a damn grocery store. If Cas hadn't been able to jump in, h could have easily hit the mayor's wife because he was drunk off his ass. How do I even handle that?" he explained as he glanced over at John's unconscious form.

He didn't dare to take him back to Bobby's house after what happened until he had a chance to talk to his brother and figure out what should happen.

"You shouldn't have to deal with this, Dean. Not everything to do with him has to be your problem." Sam argued, sounding annoyed and frustrated with their father.

Dean sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead.

"No one else will do it if I don't." he defended his actions.

"Don't act like he doesn't deserve to fall on his ass, Dean. He hasn't been a father for twenty years since Mom died. It was horrible but that doesn't give him an excuse for anything he's done, especially not after everything that's happened in the past year."

Dean looked over at his father once more, knowing that Sam was right yet still feeling a sense of responsibility to the man.

"I'll think about what to do, Sam. But I don't know if I can just toss him out."

Sam didn't say anything for a few moments.

"You sure you're all right?" he finally asked.

Dean shook his head, getting up to walk into his kitchen.

"I'm fine, Sammy." He answered, knowing that his troubled voice betrayed him.

Sam sighed as Dean pulled a beer out and opened it.

"Who's Cas?" the younger Winchester asked, changing the subject since he knew he wasn't getting anything else out of him.

Dean froze for a moment, his eyes widening.

"Hmm?" was all that he managed to say.

"You mentioned a Cas when you were talking about Dad in the grocery story. Who is that?"

He sat at his small table and leaned forward on his elbows.

"He's, uh… he's my… a student. One of the shop students." He stammered.

Sam made a grunting noise as if he understood.

"Wait, Castiel Novak? I remember that kid when I was in high school. He was smart. He's really in your shop class? I wouldn't have thought that was his thing." He acknowledged.

"Yeah me neither when I first saw him but he's actually pretty good at it." Dean said, smiling as he thought of the blue-eyed, dark-haired teenager.

Sam was quiet for a few more moments but Dean heard a muffled voice in the background.

"Hey Jess is calling me out to go to dinner." He said. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Dean's face twisted with confusion.

"You will?"

Sam made a noise of assent.

"Thanksgiving break is in a couple of weeks, Dean." He reminded him.

"Oh right." Dean nodded, having forgotten that they were coming for the holiday. "See you soon, little brother."

They hung up and Dean sighed again, leaning back in his chair and drinking his beer as his father's snores echoed around him.


"So you and Dean are getting along pretty well?" Gabriel said, smirking over at him as he mixed the cake batter.

Castiel looked up and gave him a narrow-eyed stare.

"Well get along as well as a teacher and student would." He said, knowing perfectly well that he was lying.

He was sitting at the kitchen island working on homework as his brother created his birthday cake.

"Hey, I'm as supportive as anyone of your crush on the hot auto shop teacher. He's damn sexy." His older brother said, licking a spoon before tossing it into the sink. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Castiel stared at him with surprise.

"I don't have a crush on Dean. Even if I did, there would be no chance of reciprocation so the likelihood of me being harmed is quite small." He replied.

Gabriel sighed and shook his head as he poured the cake batter into a pan.

"I don't mean physically harmed, Cassie. I mean your delicate little emotions that I know are buried deep inside under a bunch of ambition and science facts." He said, putting the cake into the oven to bake.

Castiel scowled at him despite the worried sentiment behind his brother's words.

"I am touched by your concern, Gabriel. But I am fine." He assured him, going back to his homework.

They heard footsteps and Anna walked in moments later.

"Should he really be in here while you're making his cake?" she asked, mussing Castiel's hair as she passed.

"It's not like he'll act anymore surprised later if he doesn't see it now." Gabriel answered as he gathered the ingredients for the icing.

"He still appreciates it, though." Anna said confidently, grinning at him as Castiel focused on the book in front of him.

"Of course I appreciate it." he agreed as she nudged him.

"And that's about all the gratitude you're going to get, Gabe." Lucifer said, walking into the kitchen as they all looked up at him with smiles.

"Hey!" Anna launched forward and hugged him tightly.

Michael trailed in as well, hugging his sister before patting Castiel's shoulder.

"Happy Birthday, Castiel." He said, squeezing his shoulder gently.

"Yeah, happy day that you were removed from Mom like a tumor little bother." Lucifer said with a smirk, referring to his c-section birth.

He laughed as he ducked the pen that Castiel aimed at his head.

"How long are you two going to be here?" Anna questioned, leaning into Michael with her head on his shoulder.

"A couple of days. We can't be gone for long since Thanksgiving is coming up." He answered, leaning against the cabinet and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"You didn't have to come at all." Castiel sighed, closing his book as he knew that he wouldn't be getting any more work done.

"Aw come on, it's not every day that the littlest Novak gets to turn eighteen! We had to be here!" Lucifer said teasingly, pulling him into his side and squeezing him tightly. "We have to celebrate! Get you to buy some cigarettes!"

Castiel ducked out of his grip with a grumpy look.

"I don't smoke." He said simply.

"Well none of us do either but it's a rite of passage. You know, something you have to do at least once so you can say you did it." Anna piped up.

Gabriel smirked as he mixed the icing.

"I think he'd rather be fucked by his hot…"

Castiel silenced him, reaching across the counter and shoving a towel into his mouth.

"I would rather be left alone by my annoying siblings but I don't ever see that happening." He grumbled, gathering his books with frustration all over his face.

"Who do you want to have sex with?" Anna said, perking up.

"Come on, Cassie. Tell us everything." Lucifer said, blocking the way out of the kitchen so he couldn't leave.

Castiel glared over his shoulder at Gabriel who looked partly apologetic but mostly amused by their teasing.

"I don't. Now let me pass. Just because it's my birthday doesn't mean that I have to listen to you all taunt me." he said, frustrated beyond belief by his siblings' behavior.

They all sniggered except for Michael who rolled his eyes.

"That's enough. Luke let your brother pass." Rebecca berated as she walked in to start making his birthday dinner.

Lucifer stepped aside and they all watched as Castiel breezed past him and charged for the stairs, taking them two at a time with a scowl fixed on his face.

"Who does he have a crush on, Gabe?" Anna asked, tilting her head to the side as she questioned the second-youngest brother who was still smirking.

"Castiel has a crush?" Rebecca asked, turning with a surprised look.

"My lips are sealed until the right moment when I can speak of what I know." Gabriel said simply, sticking the icing in the fridge to harden a bit before he set about licking the spoon with a proud look on his face.


When the evening rolled around, Castiel could smell the food even from his room and knew that he was expected to come downstairs. As with all of his family's more important dinners, there was a certain level of dress that was agreed upon. It was not only respectful to the person being honored on that day but they always liked to take pictures of the family on those occasions and Rebecca would always instruct that they had to look nice. He walked to his closet and began looking through his clothing to find something appropriate.

He stood in front of the mirror as he tied his tie, sighing heavily before leaning down to make sure his shoes were tied. When he walked out, he came across Anna smiling at him.

"We have a surprise for you." she said, fixing her dress before reaching out to hold his hand.

"Oh yes, because I love surprises." He said dryly, following her down the stairs as he adjusted his tie.

"You'll love this one." She said confidently.

They walked in to see Jo standing there among his family. She turned and grinned at him.

"Well look who's all fancy." She said, reaching out to touch his tie with a grin.

He flushed and shook his head.

"Thank you for coming. I don't know if I could have survived this night just with my family." He admitted as they walked to the table.

"Anytime." She murmured back, leaning into him before they sat down at the table.

"It's so good to have you here, Jo. We don't get to see Castiel's friends around here enough." Rebecca said as they began serving their plates.

"I'm happy to be here. It's not every day my best friend turns eighteen." She said, smiling politely as she loaded her plate with broccoli.

Conversation went on as normal for about fifteen minutes, everyone praising Rebecca on the meal as they ate. Then, apparently, his siblings decided to start humiliating him again.

"So, now that the best friend is here… perhaps you could enlighten us on Castiel's crush since Gabriel and Cassie himself are keeping mum about it." Lucifer said.

"Yes, we are ever so curious." Anna claimed, leaning forward with a smile.

Castiel's eyes narrowed and he glared around at them as Jo looked at him with wide eyes.

"Sorry." She said with a secretive smile. "Best friend's privilege."

They all laughed and Chuck reached over, patting her arm.

"I don't know about everyone else but you've certainly managed to impress me. Not a lot of people can claim that they kept their wits against the Novak family questioning." He said.

"It wasn't that hard. Though I guess that living with my family being a bunch of nosy people gives me an edge." She shrugged.

Castiel shot her a grateful look as he ate his steak. When they all finished eating, Rebecca announced that it was time for pictures before the cake was cut. Jo offered to take the family's pictures as they crowded in front of the fireplace. Unbeknownst to them as they organized themselves and Castiel stood off to the side with his hands in his pockets and his face relaxed into a slight smile, she pulled out her own phone to snap a few pictures of her unsuspecting best friend. She put it away before anyone noticed except for Gabriel who shot her a conspiratorial wink and dragged his little brother into the middle of the group, reaching up to muss his hair before Jo started snapping shots of the good-looking family.

Eventually they all dissolved into laughter and the pictures became more and more candid instead of formal. The unplanned pictures were Jo's personal favorites as she looked through them quickly. Rebecca took the camera from her with a grin, pushing her to stand with Castiel as they took a few of their own pictures together, including Jo jumping on his back and Castiel hugging her tightly as she laughed.

When they were done with pictures, they drifted back into the dining room to clear the table for the cake. Jo hung back a little, typing on her phone quickly as she sent the picture of Castiel to the intended source. A grin formed on her face as she tucked her phone back into her pocket and ran into the dining room to help out. Once the table was empty, everyone sat down as Gabriel and Rebecca disappeared into the kitchen to ready the cake. When they started carrying it out, the entire thing lit up with candles, everyone stared at it with wide eyes.

"Gabriel that's disgusting!" Anna exclaimed as they looked upon the dessert.

On the plate sat an extremely realistic looking heart with a fake scalpel stabbed into it. The chocolate cake was brushed in red raspberry sauce that leaked off the sides and made it look like it was realistically bleeding. Below the cake on the plate was Castiel's name written along with 'Happy Birthday' as was normal.

"That is seriously realistic." Lucifer claimed as Gabriel set it down with a proud grin.

He didn't care what his other siblings said. His eyes were fixed on Castiel who leaned over the table with wide eyes to inspect the cake. After several moments, a wide grin formed on his face and he looked up at his big brother with an amazed look in his eyes.

"I love it." he said, reaching out to pat Gabriel's shoulder before returning his concentration to the cake.

Chuck snapped away some pictures as everyone sang for Castiel and he blew out the candles. The other siblings were hesitant to eat the heart cake but Castiel and Jo dug into it along with Gabriel and the Novak parents. Everyone laughed and talked together as they ate the entire cake in one sitting, no one wanting to leave any of the delicious dessert left as they all praised Gabriel's amazing baking abilities.


Dean sighed as he heard his father washing up in the bathroom. So far, they'd managed to avoid talking about the grocery store incident but he knew that they would have to discuss it soon. He felt the weight and stress of the situation settling on his shoulders just as his phone beeped to signal that he received a message. Pulling his phone out with a confused look, he saw that he had a message from Jo and opened it. His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the picture. Cas was grinning as he watched something that Dean couldn't see. His hair was perfectly mussed and he was wearing a nice outfit.

It's his birthday today. I'll send you his number in another message. He'd be happy to hear from you.

Dean smiled slightly, thinking of Castiel celebrating what was most likely his eighteenth birthday. He sat there staring at the picture for several more minutes until his phone buzzed again with another notification. It was another picture with a phone number attached to it. Castiel was grinning down at a realistic heart-shaped cake with his eyes shining and the candles on the came smoking as if they'd just been blown out. He heard the water of the shower cut off and he thought for a moment before clicking on the phone number and starting a new message chain.


Castiel was sitting on his bed in his pajamas glancing over the new medical book that Michael got him for his birthday. He had several new presents but what he most enjoyed was that once the topic of his crush was dropped, he actually had a good time with his family and Jo. As he closed the book and reached over to turn off the light, his phone buzzed on his pillow, the screen lighting up to alert him to a message. He picked it up and glanced at it with a furrowed brow.

Happy Birthday, Cas. Jo gave me your number. I hope it was a good one. I'll see you Monday.

Dean

Castiel's eyes lit up and his cheeks flushed as he read the message over and over again. Happiness filled him and suddenly he couldn't deny that this was the best birthday he'd ever had.


Dean walked into his bedroom with slumped shoulders, rubbing his forehead before glancing back to ensure that his father was, in fact, passed out on the couch once again before they could discuss anything. He sighed heavily and closed the door, switching off the light and stripping down to his boxers before flopping into the bed. Dean was lying there for a few moments before his phone buzzed in his pants. He remembered the text that he sent and leapt up, digging the phone out and looking down at the message.

Thank you. Hearing from you made the day even better. I'll see you soon.

Cas

Dean grinned and fell back onto the bed reading the message over and over again. When he had it fully memorized, he went back to the two pictures to glance over them several times before the heaviness of his eyes won out and he fell asleep.


Thank you for reading and please review if you like! Next chapter a surprising face shows up in town.