Chapter Seven:

Almost another week had passed before Dean was sitting on his couch, an old magazine in his hands, something he'd read half a dozen times, when his phone buzzed. He grabbed it, confused to find a number he didn't recognize.

'I had to get your number off of Charlie,' the message read, and dean tilted his head, looking it over and trying to think who it could be.

'And you are?' was the reply he eventually sent.

'Castiel,'

Oh. Had he really never given Cas his number? That seemed weird, but then again he rarely used his phone at all, let alone for friends. Charlie having his number was a product of Charlie asking for it.

'Hey buddy,' Dean sent back, then sat there staring at the message until he hated everything about himself.

'You want to come over for dinner?' was Cas's reply, and that had Dean even more confused.

'What? Why?' Dean asked, glancing to where Sammy was sitting at the table, reading one book or another.

'We still have an argument to settle,' was the first message, before being immediately followed by: 'my older brother's are coming home and bringing… friends… and I don't feel like fighting them alone.'

Older brothers?

From what Dean had been told, Cas's family was huge. And it wasn't just Cas's family, it was aunts and uncles and cousins and everything in between, under one roof.

He'd only ever met Gabriel, and an unnamed blond brother when he picked up Cas from school. He really wasn't looking forward to settling their 'argument,' but he liked the fact that Castiel remembered that, despite it only being a few weeks ago.

Was that only a few weeks ago? It felt like ages ago.

'When?' Dean sent.

'I can swing by for five thirty and grab you. Would Sam be joining us?'

'I'm not leaving him here,' Dean sent back.

'Gabe will be driving. L license rules.'

Dean nodded, putting his phone down and folding his hands under his chin, looking at it longer than necessary - if any time is necessary. Why wouldn't Cas have invited Chuck? Or Meg? Or anyone else? He hadn't been alone with Castiel since Halloween, and even before then rarely ever. And I suppose he wouldn't be alone now, but there was something different about having Chuck around.

"Hey!" Dean called, catching Sam's attention. "We've got dinner plans,"

"What?" Sam scoffed, raising an eye. Since when did they have 'dinner plans'.

"Cas invited us over for some family gathering, I'm thinking it's gonna be rich people food and enough shouting that we can pocket something," Dean replied back, turning in the seat to look at his younger brother.

~break for the mobile friends~

"Sam, you ready?" Dean called, despite the fact that he knew Sam had been ready for the past thirty minutes. It was Dean this time who'd second guessed everything. Was he forgetting something? Did he have to bring something at all? What if he didn't know how to eat rich people food?

"Yeah, come on, Gabriel and Cas are waiting," Sam prompt, and the two boys found their way out of the door, the silver car idling quietly on the side of the road.

There was a chill in the air, and Dean reminded himself that he had still intended to get a coat for Sam.

"Hey there," Gabriel declared at Sam, then Dean, packed themselves into the back seat.

"Thanks for inviting us," Dean replied as Gabriel pulled away, turning around - probably illegally - and took off down the quiet residential street.

"No problemo," Gabriel said, "we figured it wasn't fair for everyone and their dog to have someone coming over with them tonight and not let our darling little Cassie invite someone," he went on, glancing through the rearview mirror at Dean. "And it'll be good for Gadreel to have someone around who's his age," he added after a moment.

"So how many people are going to be there?" Dean said, glancing to the seat in front of him, where Cas was, and leaning forward to hear the quieter answer.

"Well, me, my four brothers, if Luci shows up, Gadreel and his big sister, their father, my aunt, her daughter, you two, someone named Ezekiel and his girlfriend Sophia, cousin Bart, hopefully not uncle Malachi but we can't really keep him away anymore, especially if Bart's there," Castiel went on, pausing to think, when Gabriel added:

"Cousin Balthazar's coming with Bart, I think, and Hannah agreed to come but I'm uncertain. I think Luci is bringing a friend, but that seems unusual," he said, tapping the steering wheel with two fingers.

"Holy hell," Dean stammered, and he saw Sam staring at him with wide eyes, suddenly quite a bit overwhelmed.

"Told you," Cas muttered, quietly, as he leaned his head back against the seat.

The drive wasn't too long out to the countryside, where the white mansion that was Castiel's home stood. Cas jumped out to open the gate for Gabriel to drive through, at the house loomed higher overhead.

When Gabriel parked the car, they got out, and Dean moved to Castiel's side, taking Sam by the shoulder and decided that neither boy was leaving his sight.

"Cassie!" there was a squeal, and everyone turned to see the massive front doors thrown open, and a girl, probably a year older or so then Dean, with curly brown hair and pale skin ran out, squealing and throwing her arms around her target, both Sam and Dean stepping back suddenly. Castiel smiled and held her at arm's length.

"I haven't seen you in forever! How's everything going?" she went on. "Everyone's inside, they're all dying to see you - and Gabe, too!" she added, turning to the older brother. "Where have you guys been?"

"Avoiding the reunion, mostly," Gabriel admitted casually, before taking something from his pocket - a yellow wrapped piece of candy - and occupying himself with it to avoid conversation with her.

"Still have a sweet tooth, it seems," Hannah laughed.

"Dean, Sam, this is my cousin, Hannah," Castiel said, "Hannah, my friend Dean and his brother, Sam."

"Oh, it's so good to meet you," Hannah declared, but her enthusiasm had dropped quite a bit. No wonder Cas had so few friends. His family was more overbearing and huge than anything else. "You already seem better then that girl… uh, what was her name? Megan?"

"Meg."

"Right, Meg, that you had over that one time," Hannah said, waving her hand. "Now come on, boys, you've got a lot of ground to cover today."

Hannah took Castiel's hand, and excitedly led him up the stairs to his own house, as if he'd never been there. Dean and Sam followed, and as they left they noticed Gabriel turning casually in his place, then slipping around the side of the house.

They passed through the entrance, and the world opened up before them. The room was giant, with wide wood floors, thin carpet, gold and red and silver everywhere, tapestries like they were taken straight from a cathedral hanging from the walls. Bright green plants hid corners, and most importantly, the sheer volume of people.

The ceiling extending high above their heads, but the stairs at the back of the room leading up, and the multiple doors on either side of the room gave the impression of grandeur, with everyone in it, Dean still found it claustrophobic.

Hannah had disappeared into the crowd, and Dean could just follow the tail of Castiel's trench coat.

"And who are you?" someone asked, and Dean and Sam stopped running, officially losing Cas to the sea of people. I guess they were on their own.

"My name's Dean - uh, Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam," Dean said, then quickly added, "we're friends of Cas's."

"Little Castiel?" she said, tilting her head and looking around. "I haven't seen him yet. Michael said he and Gabriel skipped out early this morning."

"Yeah, I can see that," Dean agreed, nodding a bit.

"Oh, silly me," she said, "I didn't introduce myself. My name is Naomi," she said, tilting her head, brown hair pinned perfectly up not moving a strand. She looked professional and well put together, not at all like the man standing behind her, who was holding an entire bottle of wine and just chatting away like it was normal.

"Naomi, please, I need help in the kitchen," someone called from between two doors to the side of the room. She was shorter, with perfectly brushed and straight blonde hair, and was in a grey suit. She was too young looking to be a mother or aunt of any sort, so Dean suspected she was just one of the more responsible.

"Sorry, boys, I've got to run," Naomi said, and Dean wasn't too distressed to see her leave, following the girl behind closed doors.

They stood, awkwardly and terribly out of place for a minute before someone else grabbed them, tapping them on the shoulder so they turned around.

"Did I hear you say you were friend's of Cas'?" he asked, this boy looked almost thirty, and as he stood he seemed to command attention, his arms crossed, but his face friendly. The boy who he'd been standing beside was still turned around, and slowly moved to face them. He was a very different person. Shorter, with dark, mean eyes and dark skin. He looked so out of place in the otherwise sea of pasty whites that Dean had to assume he was either a friend or adopted.

"Yeah, sorry if it's a little weird, we were invited…" Dean stammered, still feeling out of place.

"No, no, it's fine," he corrected quickly. "I didn't mean to imply anything less - my name is Michael."

"Ah, yes, hey," Dean said.

"Cas is over there, if you'd like to-"

"I'm here!" a loud voice declared, cutting Michael off and making him wince. Haunted eyes turned to the entrance, where another blonde male, adult, had entered, throwing his hands in the air, a grey blazer over an old yellow shirt a strong contrast.

"Luci, my brother, what a pleasant surprise," Michael said.

"Lucy?" Dean echoed.

"Lucifer, likely," Sam said to him, speaking for the first time since entering the building.

"They named a son after the Devil?" Dean scoffed.

"With Michael and Gabriel, and Castiel, I think they're all angels. I bet we'll find a Raphael and an Azazel if we look hard enough," Sam replied.

"But the Devil?"

"Shush."

Lucifer had strode in, and I noticed, true to his namesake, that not many within the crowd seemed very keen on his arrival. Everyone looked at him with a mixture of acceptance and despair, an odd combination, but nobody moved to welcome him in.

"Oh, you're all buzzkills," Lucifer purred, striding forward and into the crowd, and Dean was surprised to find someone else slip in, unnoticed through the doors the new arrival had left open. Shorter, with dark hair. He clung to the sides of the room and left Dean's view before he could get a good look.

Lucifer had moved forward to greet Michael, who scowled back and accepted the boy's aggressively over-the-top hug with a ridged back.

"So who's all here, Mikey?" Lucifer said. "I see Bartholomew and uncle Malachi fighting with each other in the corner, and precious little Samandriel's grown so big. Where's Eve or Fate? I missed seeing my little bro Gabe last time, too," he went on, casting his eyes around the room and skimming right over Dean and Sam.

"Fate and aunt Eve are in the kitchen," Michael said. "And if you insist on causing a scene like always I implore you to do it elsewhere."

"Fine, fine, I'll go 'elsewhere,' as you put it," Lucifer pouted, but moved on without a glance back, striding into the family crowd. Michael glanced at Dean and Sam, still scowling, but quickly turned away and left, the dark skinned boy following behind.

"Dean!"

Dean had never been so glad to hear the deep voice of Castiel. He turned, watching the shorter boy fight his way through relatives to stand in front of them, taking a deep breath. After a few moments another followed Cas, a younger looking boy with brown hair.

"This is Gadreel," Cas said, beckoning to him. "Took me a while but I tracked him down. He can take Sam up to any of the entertainment rooms to avoid… this," he said, with a vague wave around the room.

Sam seemed nervous, but nodded eagerly, and Gadreel, after rolling his eyes, nodded and led Sam towards the large staircase at the other end of the room. Dean watched him go, uncertain about letting him into a house he couldn't find his way around, but assured himself with the fact that Castiel wouldn't let him get lost.

"I'm very sorry for bringing you here," Castiel said after a moment.

"Don't be, regardless of what goes down, it'll be better food than anything else I'd be eating for dinner," Dean laughed, and felt satisfied when Castiel looked a little less disappointed.

"So you've met a few people then?" Cas asked, looking a little worried for the answer, when Dean nodded.

"Yeah. A few crazies, a few less crazies, a whole bunch family problems. The norm," Dean assured him.

"Why don't we leave the center of everything for somewhere quieter, somewhere whe-"

"Cassie!"

"Oh god."

Lucifer barrelled in, swinging one arm over the shorter boy's shoulders, leaning in and inspecting Dean with a careful eye.

"I didn't see you last time I was here," Lucifer said.

"Last time you were here you got kicked out, I actually was there," Castiel corrected.

"Whatever, details are details," Lucifer decided, then moved on before the ever more aggravated Cas could say anything. "And who's this ken doll you've got here? Certainly no family member, that's for sure. Much too attractive to be related to us."

"This is Dean, he's a friend," Cas explained, and Dean nodded a hello.

"Crowley! Get over here!" Lucifer shouted, and the man who's slipped in materialized from the crowd, holding a glass of a liquid Dean couldn't identify in his hands. He cast his eyes around the room like he was constantly evaluating everything, his posture screaming royalty, but he moved to Lucifer's side like a pet, a pet with a plan, likely. "Doesn't he look perfect?"

"Perfect for what?" Crowley snapped, and his voice carried a deep british accent.

"Our business!"

"What business," Castiel growled, shoving an offended looking Lucifer off his shoulders, finally.

"Modelling," Lucifer declared. "Or hard drugs, we haven't decided."

"You're disgusting," Cas growled, and put a hand on Dean's shoulder, spurring the otherwise immobile boy into movement to try and lead him away.

"It was you guys who cut me off," Lucifer pouted, tilting his head innocently. Cas huffed and pulled Dean away, and he could hear Lucifer cackling in the background before turning to find someone else to terrorize.

"I apologize for my brother," Castiel said softly.

"Wait - that guy was your brother?" Dean echoed. "I thought he was like… a second cousin twice removed or something."

"No, him, Michael, Raphael and Gabriel are all, biologically, completely related to me," Cas admitted. "It's a shame really, that you can get such variations in siblings. Michael's the golden child, set to inherit everything dad runs, with the exception of a few small sub-companies for Gabriel and Raphael. Lucifer was kicked out of the house when he turned eighteen, and cut from the will," Cas said quietly, still leading Dean by the elbow to the corner of the room, where the buzz of people didn't quite reach.

"Sometimes I envy you and your brother. You guys work so well together,' Cas said.

"We're not perfect," Dean assured him.

"But you're family, right?" Cas asked. "Family in this house means money. Everything here is for money, or for power. It's wonderful, I know I'm lucky, but apart from Gabe - and even not, sometimes, like now - I don't have anyone that close to me."

"It's…" Dean began, but faltered, because what could he say? How could he just say 'that's not true' when obviously it was?

He wanted to tell Cas that he was a part of their family, now. That he could be a brother, a Winchester, if he wanted, because family didn't mean blood, but he held his tongue. He held his tongue because it wouldn't have come out right. He wouldn't be able to make his point.

He hadn't known Cas long enough, so he stayed silent until Cas spoke again.

"Hey, I'm sorry about Halloween," he said eventually, and Dean frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"About you having to go get your father. Ever since you got back you've seemed so… not distant, maybe, but definitely occupied. Thinking of something else," Cas said.

"What?"

His father hadn't bothered him after he'd gotten home. Sure, it pissed him off that he'd taken their money, and it made him furious that he'd had to drive all that way on Halloween - one of the only good ones they'd had in awhile, but that was normal. He'd… well, accepted it.

No, what was making him distant was that every night he was kept awake by the memory of Castiel's hand on his arm, stretching up to kiss him. Why he didn't talk to Castiel directly or alone was because he'd have dreams, where he kissed him back, where things went further and that wasn't something he wanted to think about.

He didn't want to embarrass himself, of Cas, for that matter, should he have completely misread every signal of that night.

"Dean?" Cas prompt, pulling him out of his thoughts, and he felt a warm hand gently on his arm, and he smiled, blue eyes a little concerned flashing back.

"Sorry, no, Cas, it's fine. Halloween was amazing," he said.

"That's good," Castiel said, nodding. "And I'm sorry for myself, that night," he added, and Dean turned his head, a little more interested now. "I had a lot to drink - something I'm not used to, and I was a little bit forward. I'm sorry if that made you uncomfortable in anyway."

Oh, god. Castiel didn't think Dean shared any of the same feelings, Dean realized. It wasn't that they were embarrassed to have been caught with crushes, it was that since that night, Dean hadn't spoken of it. Castiel - who had quite drunkenly flirted with him, very obviously, with sitting on his lap and the cliff and the hug and kiss and everything… Must have been mortified to wake up with a hangover the next day and remember what he'd been doing.

"No, no," Dean said, feeling like, maybe, his chance was coming again. "Please, don't worry about that," he tried, "I… It... "

Why did there have to be so many of Castiel's family around? Why couldn't they be alone? Why now? Why-

Crash!

Castiel was gone, running back into the crowd, his tan coat flying out behind him as he disappeared, and it took Dean half a heartbeat to see where he was going.

Lucifer and Michael were locked together, growling like animals. Crowley had moved off to the side, much like Dean, he noted. The brothers were throwing each other around, and things didn't escalate until Lucifer threw a punch and socked his older brother across the jaw, sending him reeling back.

"You jackass," Michael spat, and their family backed up suddenly as the brother squared off again. Dean saw Castiel texting someone, quickly, before pushing forward to the front of the crowd.

The dark-skinned boy from earlier looked like he was trying to help, a hand on Michael's shoulder, trying to push him back, but the taller boy just shoved past towards Lucifer.

Dean had a new definition for dysfunctional.

An older man Dean hadn't met that night stepped forward and grabbed Lucifer's shoulders, pulling him back, but the enraged brother turned around and shoved him down hard.

How did things deteriorate this quickly?

Dean moved forward, through the crowd just a bit so he could hear the words being exchanged.

"I didn't make you do anything!" Michael shouted, and leapt forward, grappling with his brother for a few heartbeats before shoving him away.

"Like dad doesn't listen to everything you say," Lucifer spat. He pulled back his arm, ready for a punch, but Cas grabbed his arm, forcing it down.

"Stop it, Luce," Cas growled, but Lucifer was having none of it. He spun around and brought his hand down across Cas's face, the smaller boy stumbling back, eyes wide with shock, but not betrayal or anything close to that.

Dean felt anger flash through his skin, and he was almost about to step up to fight the man himself when a light voice pierced through the animalistic circling Lucifer and Michael had going.

"You're not allowed to hit Cassie, and you know that," Gabriel said, leaning on the wall. It distracted both Lucifer and Michael, and as Gabriel strode forward, Michael backed away, not out of anything but gladness that the other boy was here to take care of it.,

"Gabriel, you finally joined the party," Lucifer laughed.

"Luci, get out," Gabriel said firmly. "We invited you on principal, clearly that was a bad idea. So why don't you and your… friend leave, okay?"

"Fine," Lucifer growled. "But I'm making sure everyone here knows that Michael threw the first punch," he shouted.

"I did not!" Michael snarled back.

Gabriel grabbed Lucifer roughly, pulling him across the large room, and Dean took the moment to shove his way over to where Cas was, Hannah already beating him to helping him up and brushing him off. He wasn't bleeding, and he didn't look hurt in any way, but Dean still moved in beside him, putting one hand on his back and smiling when Cas turned to face him, blue eyes squinting in a fake smile to reassure him.

"You okay?" Dean asked.

"I'm fine," Cas replied breathlessly. "Nobody in this house really hurt's each other," he insisted after a moment. "Lucifer is just a loose screw. He's not… He's not really one of us anymore."

Hannah stepped away, glancing at Dean, then over to Michael who was striding over.

Dean shook his head at Castiel's justification, then wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and pulled him close, closing his eyes and feeling Cas's breathing against his chest.

"I think you might win," Dean laughed, and he felt Cas laugh against him, pulling away and smiling earnestly this time, looking up at Dean with adoration, a glint that made Dean curse everyone else around them. "I mean, my family's bad but at least my dad's gone most of the time."

"So's mine," Cas agreed, then blushed and stepped back, realizing that they were standing quite a bit closer than intended.