Summary: A few events unravel in this chapter. Starting with John's reaction to Castiel and Dean's relationship. As well with Castiel and Dean's separation/reconnection and the hint of a solution Castiel comes up with. There's a surprise with Gordon as well.

A/N:
Due to popular demand (again) I updated early. c: I'm not sure when I'll post chapter 8 but depending on how people like this one will determine the date. Also,I feel it is a bit rushed but the feedback I've gotten says it's not. xD. Comments and such are welcomed! Let me know your thoughts! The next chapter won't have so many skips I promise. c:


Dean locked himself in his bedroom then in his bathroom. Things didn't go well but it could have been worse. He pulled his phone from his pocket and was just about to call Sam but noticed the texts from Castiel. He felt horrible for ignoring him but he had no choice, so he deleted the messages then called his brother.

Sam answered in a panic. "You said you'd call last night! I thought something happened. Did dad hurt you?"

Dean laughed softly as he wiped the blood from his mouth with a wet washcloth. "Nah, he didn't touch me. I'm fine, Sammy. Like I said, you stay focus on your work, okay? I don't want you worrying about me." He smiled and tried to sound as happy as possible. The last thing he wanted was to cause trouble or stress for his brother. As long as Sam was safe and doing fine then that was all that mattered to him.

"Good. I was freaking out. I didn't hear from you and thought of the worst case scenario, Dean. I'm just glad you're okay."

"Sorry kiddo, I'm fine really. I just called to let you know I was good." In reality he called just to hear his voice. Sam was his little brother and meant a lot to him. "I'll call you again when schools over." He wasn't at school but he couldn't bring himself to tell Sam what really happened.

"Okay, talk to you later Dean."

He ended the call and sat his phone on the sink. He stood there looking in the mirror before opening the cabinet. He had almost forgotten that Castiel cleaned out every bottle of medication after the overdose. He huffed and closed it. He was glad because he was slowly spiraling back to his dark place. He really needed Castiel.

Rolling his eyes he pocketed his phone and worked up the nerve to exit his room. He didn't hear anything from downstairs so he felt the close was clear.


Castiel slid into the driver's seat of his car and headed back home. He was worried sick about Dean. He knew John was abusive even though Dean never out right admitted it so he had to get him out of that house as soon as possible. Getting impatient he just called Dean and hoped that John didn't have his phone.

Dean was in the kitchen now and sat his phone on the counter. Soon he heard the phone buzzing then the music began to play. "Concerned little fucker..." Dean quickly hit the ignore button because he couldn't talk to him right now. It wouldn't be pretty.

"Your fuck buddy calling you?" John criticized from the doorway.

Dean planned to ignore him but he needed more time to heal before engaging in another fight with his father. "It's not like that..."

"Then prove it. Answer the phone."

Castiel frowned and called again. "Please, Dean." He whispered to himself. He wasn't giving up so easily.

Dean stared down at the ringing phone again and sighed. Why did his father have to be there? He finally gave in and answered the call. "Please stop calling and texting me, Castiel. I don't want to talk to you."

"...Dean I thought you were— are you okay?" He asked, a bit of relief washing over him after hearing his voice.

"As a matter of fact, I am. Just stay the hell away from me. I don't want anything to do with you. Got it?" Without allowing Castiel to reply, John grabbed the phone and hung up.

"Good boy. I'll see you tomorrow morning. I have to go to work." He reached out and playfully patted Dean's cheek. "Go clean yourself up. You look a mess." With that said he left the house.

Dean could almost breathe easily now but he still had to handle a few things. For one, he had to figure out how he was going to avoid Castiel. He made a deal with his father and that involved staying away from Castiel. "Shit." If it kept him safe he would do it. He didn't want to be the reason that gets Castiel hurt but in the process he was doing it anyway.


Castiel was confused by Dean's words. What was going on? He didn't take Dean's warning to heart and still went to check up on him. After pulling into the driveway he just jumped out and ran right up to the front door. He knocked and knocked as hard as he could until the door swung open.

"Trying to disturb the entire neighborhood?" Dean scolded.

"Dean..." Without thinking he wrapped his arms around the teen and hugged him tightly. "I was scared."

Dean wanted nothing more than to relax into Castiel's arms and listen to him whisper comforting statements. Too bad he couldn't. He pushed the teen away and glanced off to the side. He couldn't bring himself to look him in the eyes.

"Dean, please talk to me."

"Go. You have to go."

"What did he do to you?"

"JUST FUCKING GO!"

Castiel was startled by Dean's aggression. He saw the Winchester mad before but this was different. He didn't want to accept that this could be what Dean really wanted but he would respect his request. "If that's what you want, okay."

"It is. Now go."

He stepped closer to Dean and kissed him on the lips then planted a kiss on his forehead. "If you need me, just call and I'll be here for you."

Dean turned his back to Castiel and covered his mouth. He felt like he was going to die. His heart was aching and his eyes were starting to water. "Go...please just go." Maybe this was good for him. He hated getting so emotional over a person. Castiel was making him weak; well that's what his father thought at least.

Castiel watched his friend before leaving the house and closing the door behind him. He got back in his car and headed back to school. There was nothing else he could do.


Back at school the time seemed to slow down to Castiel. He was withdrawn from his studies because his mind was occupied by Dean. He looked down at his phone and still saw nothing from him. He wanted to tell someone that Dean was in danger but he wasn't sure how that would turn out. Plus he wanted to get Dean out of that house first. He was confident that John was manipulating him somehow and he wanted to stop it. He'd figure out something out to help his friend.


Three weeks later—

It felt like three months instead of three weeks. He hadn't spoken to Dean since that day he showed up at his house. Of course he saw him at school but they didn't communicate. It broke his heart and made him realize how much Dean had impacted his life as well. They had grown close so watching their friendship burn right before his eyes was painful. The last bell of the day rang and he made his way down the noisy hall while blocking out all of the screaming voices.

Castiel spotted Dean by his locker with Jo and Garth. He didn't speak or make eye contact with Dean; he just kept walking. It pained him but he was doing what Dean asked of him.

Dean on the other hand watched Castiel make his way down the hall. He missed him but keeping his distance was good for the both of them. The farther away he was from him the safer Castiel would be.

"Trouble in paradise?" Jo asked.

"Yeah are you two having a fight or something?" Garth added on.

"Because you two were inseparable and now you guys barely even look at each other."

Dean just laughed trying to play it all off. "He was just tutoring me. We're done now."

"Ah, I see. So you aren't friends?" Jo questioned.

"Kind of." He was sure he felt his heart crack at those words.

Jo shrugged. "Alright then. So Dean? Are you going to that thanksgiving dance?"

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Are you serious?"

She nodded.

"I don't go to school dances, Jo." He rolled his eyes and pushed away from against the lockers and slipped on his leather jacket. "I have to go. I'll see you guys next Monday."

"Later." Garth replied as Jo waved him off.

Dean went out to the parking lot to see if Castiel was there and just like he expected, he was. "Cas?" He called out softly but loud enough that Castiel could hear him.

Castiel turned around with a surprised look on his face. He wasn't expecting to hear from Dean any time soon. "Yes?"

"I uh," he glanced around the parking lot and attempted to finish his sentence. "I'm really sorry."

Castiel raised a brow. "Why are you apologizing?"

"For what I said, how I treated you and I...I just wanted you to know that I didn't mean any of it."

"It's fine."

"It's not. I hurt you." He stepped closer but immediately backed away after realizing he still needed to watch his steps. "I'm sorry." He took in the sight of Castiel's features one more time before running off to the impala. He regretted approaching Castiel because now he would have his scent, his voice, his everything freshly on his mind all over again. It was torture.

It was Friday night so that meant date weekend for Castiel's parents. Every month they would pick a weekend to go away and spend time together. Castiel liked it because it gave him the weekend to enjoy being home alone. They picked the perfect weekend because after his run in with Dean at school he needed some time to regroup. The silence though was destroyed once he heard someone banging on his door. He wasn't expecting anyone.

He went down to see what was going on and was shocked to see Dean standing there. "Dean? What are you doing here?"

Dean laughed and wrapped his arms around Castiel and hugged him. "I don't know, man. I was gonna go home but I can't. I'm so not right. I- I'm something and damn I don't know how." He snorted. "I'm not making any sense am I? I probably sound batshit crazy…or shitbat crazy. which way is it? Shit Cas, I swear I wasn't drinking. I made a promise to you and I kept it. Do you believe me?"

Castiel pulled Dean inside before they woke up all of the neighbors. After closing and locking the door he led Dean down the hall to his bedroom. It was like déjà vu from when he first brought Dean to his house. "What did you have to drink?"

"Nothing I swear, Cas."

Castiel sighed and started undressing Dean after getting him on the bed. "Okay, what did you consume tonight?"

"I turned down the alcohol and took the pop instead. Pepsi or Cola I think. It was some kind of fizzy shit. Gordon gave it to me."

Of course Gordon had something to do with this. "Did he drive you home?"

Dean shook his head. "Nah, Ash did. Gordon disappeared, man. It was weird." He watched Castiel strip him of his clothes and smirked. "Sorry for just showing up. I didn't want to go home like this."

"It's okay. Just get some rest and you'll be fine in the morning."

Dean sat up some and gripped onto Castiel's shirt then yanked him closer. "Thank you." He said before kissing him, running his hands up under the teen's shirt. "Now let me show you my gratitude."

"No Dean, you are high on something. You just need to sleep." He would NOT have sex with Dean when he didn't even know what he was doing.

"Ugh, fiiiiine party pooper." He smiled and pulled at Castiel's collar. "You could at least get naked with me."

"No." He unbuttoned Dean's shirt next but froze at the sight. "Dean..."

Dean just laid there sprawled out on his friend's bed. "Ignore it."

Castiel lightly traced his fingertips over the dark bruises. He could feel Dean's muscles tense at the touch so he stopped. "I'll get you some ice for them."

"No. It's fine, they don't hurt. Just kiss me." He and his father got into a fight only a few days ago and the bruises were beginning to show on his ribs and chest.

"No." He stared down at Dean for the longest before speaking. The bruises on Dean's hips worried him the most. "Did he? Did your father do this?" He asked, touching the bruised hip.

Dean shook his head. "No. I don't know where those came from."

Castiel bit his lip. That wasn't good. "Okay. We'll talk in the morning about it. You need rest right now."

Dean just nodded and relaxed as the comforter was pulled over him. He really wasn't drinking; Gordon gave him something to get Dean more active with the party. Luckily Ash was there and made sure nothing happened to him.

"Goodnight, Dean." He folded Dean's clothes and sat them in the chair next to the bed. He would sleep in the guest room so he wouldn't disturb the other.


The next morning provided useful to Castiel. He made a pit stop to someone's house because last night wasn't acceptable.


Earlier that morning—

Castiel knocked on the door and waited to be answered. Frankly he was upset and taking everything to heart. When the door opened he smiled at the teen standing before him. "What did you give Dean last night?" He asked as politely as possible.

Gordon stood there with a smirk. "Oh ease up Goodie Two-Shoes. I just gave him a little GHB but Just enough so he'd stop moping around. It was a party man."

Castiel narrowed his eyes. "You could have killed him."

"He'll live."

Castiel took a breath because he was trying with every ounce of his will power not to lose it. He wasn't a violent person but when it came to people he cared about all the rules changed.

What do you care? It's none of your business anyway."

"Stay away from Dean." It was like he blacked out because when he focused back on Gordon the teen was lying in the doorway on the floor with a broken bloody nose. "If you go near Dean again I will not be so nice next time."

"The fuck man, you call that nice? Ugh, shit."


Current—

Dean woke up early in the morning with a splitting headache and feeling nauseous. "Ah, fuck." He sat up and assessed the room he was in. "Cas." He crawled out of bed and grabbed his jeans from the chair and put them on as he left the room. "Cas?"

"I'm in the kitchen." He was sitting at the table eating a bowl of cantaloupe. "Are you hungry?"

Dean shook his head and sat down across from his friend. "I'm sorry about all of this."

"Don't be." He smiled and glanced over Dean's appearance. Bed head suited Dean greatly. "How do you feel?"

"Like death actually."

"That sounds about right.

The boys laughed and the room suddenly took on a deadly silence. It was more of an awkward situation because they both missed each other's company and the way they just fell back into sync with each other within a few seconds was astounding.

"I wanted to talk to you about something, Dean."

"Yeah?"

"The bruises on your hips."

Dean looked down at his bare torso and recognized the few bruises there but his hips, he didn't remember those. "I really don't know where those came from. They weren't there a few days ago."

Castiel watched him and let his own eyes wander over Dean's injuries. He wouldn't ever forgive John for the mental and physical abuse that he put Dean through on the daily basis. He slid his bowl over to Dean and smiled softly. "Eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"Still try. You need something in your stomach."

He sighed and nodded. "Alright, mother."

"I was thinking. I don't think you should go back home. I don't want you to go back."

"It's not like I have a choice Cas."

"You do."

"What are you talking about?"

"I have an idea but you have to be sure you want out of your home."

He looked at him for a moment before speaking. "What do you have in mind?"