AN: I apologize. I was supposed to have written a tenth chapter this sunday and post it exactly at 12pm at monday, but I didn't have the time... so you'll be getting it now! And the reviews you guys... thank you!
This a pretty long chapter compared to the previous ones, just so you know. And everybody seems to panic at the stalker-thing too, I really don't know why. I guess you'll have to read to find out what's going to happen...
Dean was whistling while working on a car. It was a BMW, and a black one. Most people would have loved to touch it, but Dean didn't like those kind of cars. He didn't like those fancy, luxurious and expensive cars. He liked those that had memories and meaning in the trunk. Unfortunately, Dean hadn't seen those kinds in a while.
He wiped a stripe of sweat of his forehead and looked up at the sky. The sun wasn't very warm, but when you were working on a car you usually got pretty damn hot. At least Dean did.
He glanced at the door of the garage and his gaze landed on Sam. He was standing next to Bobby, crouching over a car. It hadn't taken long before Bobby insisted on teaching Sam a few stuff and Dean hardly protested at the idea.
The jacket Sam was wearing made Dean doze off. It was in a shade of brown that reminded him of Castiel's new trench coat. It was Dean who had found it. He stood up and cleaned his hands against his gray shirt and smiled. The look on Castiel's face when he had put the coat on was unforgetable.
"Dean! Get over here!"
Dean frowned and pulled back to reality at the sound of Bobby's voice. He quickly did as Bobby wanted. Dean hadn't work at the garage for long, but he had noticed that it was better to do as he was told when it came to Bobby.
Dean took a short look at Sam who mumbled something in concentration when he reached them and then looked at Bobby. He made a gesture to make Dean follow him, which – of course – he did. He took Dean to the back of the garage and stopped in front of a car with a sheet over it. Dean frowned and glanced at Bobby who had a stupid grin on his face.
"I got a new project for you." he simply said and walked towards the car. He pulled the sheet off and Dean gasped for air.
What. A. Beauty.
It was a black Chevrolet, with black seats and beige interior. To any other person it probably would have looked like any old car, but Dean saw a spark in it. He slowly walked up to the car without knowing it, and he just had to touch it. He had to admit that the car looked really good, and he didn't really understand why it was at the garage. He turned to Bobby with the question written on his face and Bobby shrugged.
"It's nothing wrong, actually. Well, there's one major thing. The engine is..." Bobby didn't end his sentence. Instead he opened the hood and Dean felt his jaw drop.
"Oh crap!" he exclaimed out of terror. The engine was hardly existing. It was there, but it was so damaged Dean didn't know if it was fixable. But then he felt a motivation run through his veins. He was going to make the car proper if it was the last thing he did. Bobby must have seen it on his facial because he laughed.
"Oh and, by the way. When you've fixed it... It's yours."
Dean spun around and stared at Bobby. He tried to protest but the shock made his tongue disobey. Bobby grinned and walked away, leaving Dean with his stuttering. The truth was Dean didn't want to be able to talk. He wanted the car to be his. He turned back to the engine and leaned over it.
"What the hell, Castiel and I might work on this together."
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Dean worked on the car for an hour and a half without realizing what the time was. He had quickly sent a text to Castiel – who had finally bought himself a phone – after his meeting with the car and said he had a surprise. As soon as Dean had gotten the idea that they could fix the car together, he couldn't hold himself back. Castiel would get off school at half four, and then walk to the garage at four. As always.
Dean on the other hand had left school a long time ago. He had walked straight to the garage at two, just because he had no other place to go. Sam had joined him at three.
But when his stomach started to growl, he had put down his tools and glanced at the clock. He blinked a few times when he realized it was half past four. Castiel would arrive any minute. Dean walked to the office and opened the fridge, just to remember that he had forgotten to bring food.
"Third shelf." said Sam behind him and Dean had to bend down to find the small box with his name on it.
"Thanks, Sam." replied Dean and opened the box. When he saw what food he had gotten he simply put it on the table and walked towards Sam, giving him a big hug.
"Thanks, Sam." he said again and Sam grunted.
"It's just pie, Dean."
Dean then let him go and frowned at him.
"It's never just pie, Sam. This is food for Gods." said Dean and grinned. Sam simply rolled his eyes and walked away.
Dean took his time eating the pie – that was absolutely delicious, it was a mixture of different berries – and then just sat and enjoyed the feeling when he was done. He then sighed and stood up. He took another look at the clock and felt a sting in his stomach when he saw the time. It was pointing at the two and five, and Castiel should had arrived by now.
Dean left the office and searched for Bobby. He was tutoring Sam again and didn't even look up when Dean showed up next to him.
"Have any of you seen Castiel?"
That made them turn their attention towards him. The both shook their heads and Dean could see a hint of worry on Sam's face. Even Bobby looked baffled. It normally would take forty minutes from Castiel's house to the garage, if you were a slow walker. Castiel had left for seventy minutes ago.
"Maybe he got held up at home." Sam's statement sounded more like a question, but Dean pulled out his phone out of his pocket to see if he had gotten a text. He hadn't. If something would have made Castiel unable to leave, Dean liked to believe that he would have let him know.
"Call him." Sam didn't even have to say anything, Dean was already doing it. He walked around and felt two pair of eyes burning on his back, and that only made him more anxious. He didn't even know why. Castiel might not wanted to spend the afternoon at the garage, and his phone might have died. But Dean couldn't shake off the feeling in his stomach, telling him that something was horribly wrong.
"You've reached the voice mail of..." Beep. "I don't understand. Why, why do you want me to say my name?"
Dean hanged up and quickly called Castiel's home number. No answer there either. He dragged a hand over his face and made a decision.
"Okay, something's not right. I'll walk the same way Castiel does and look for him. You keep calling and try to get a hold of him." said Dean and reached out a hand towards Sam who understood. He gave Dean his cellphone and when he got it back, both numbers that Dean had that belonged to Castiel was saved in it. Dean didn't wait for any response. He grabbed his leather jacket and left.
Line break
It's probably nothing. He just... he is just sick. Or tired. Or he didn't want to hang out with me.
The last part of Dean's thought stung a little, but he ignored it.
And his cellphone broke. And so did his other phone.
He knew it was stupid, but he had to settle his nerves somehow. The air was biting him and made his cheeks go red. His lips were a bit blue and his hands were shoved down his pockets. He moved his head around and looked everywhere. His neck was getting sore, but he ignored the nagging pain. The darkness made him uncomfortable, and the forest on his left didn't exactly help.
Dean stopped moving in the middle of a step. It was like someone had punched him in his throat and he couldn't breathe anymore. He slowly took his hands out of his pockets and pulled a shaky breath. He was feeling sick. His knees were shaking so hard he almost fell to the ground. His mouth tasted weird. His hands were clenching to make them stop shaking. His lips parted in shock and the air leaving turned into a small cloud.
He moved in slow motion. It was like a nightmare where you couldn't move fast enough. He couldn't even feel the anger inside of him, because the panic was taking all the space.
When he stopped he fell onto his knees and lifted his hands gently. Dean wished he could make them stop moving so much, but he couldn't control them.
His eyes widen as his gaze fell on the body in front of him. The boy's clothes were dirty and wrinkled. His black hair was a mess, small branches and leaves were sticking out of it. His whole body was still, and his chest was hardly moving. He was laying on his side in fetal position, and he was facing the ground.
Dean laid a hand on the boy's shoulder and braced himself of what he was going to see. But when he slightly pushed the boy so his face was revealed, Dean almost threw up.
Castiel's face was covered in small wounds and bruises. He even had a black eye.
Dean pulled out his phone out of his pocket after a few failed tries, and pressed three simple numbers. It didn't take long before someone answered.
"Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?"
Dean laid a hand on his forehead and tried to keep his voice steady, but he failed.
"I... I found a friend of mine in the forest. He didn't show up, so I walked, and he's here and I just... I just..." The panic started bubbling in his chest.
"It's okay, take a deep breathe and try to explain."
Dean did as the female voice said and raised his voice one more time.
"My friend didn't show up today so I searched for him. I found him in the forest and he's been beaten up and he's not awake." The words he said made him realize the situation he was in and he started shaking uncontrollably.
"Okay, do you know where you are?"
Dean nodded.
"Yeah, I uh... On Fourt Main." he replied and the female told him that the police and ambulance was on their way. Oddly, that didn't make it easier for him.
"But he's not... He's hardly breathing!" he burst out. The female then told him to put the speaker on so that he would be able to preform CPR. Dean had learned it a few years back, but he didn't remember a thing. But he didn't have to do anything in particular, he just had to made sure Castiel's trachea was clear and that he didn't choke on his tongue. Dean noticed that the breathing became a little less strained after a while and it made him relax a bit.
He just sat there, with the female talking to him and tried to keep him calm, until the paramedics arrived.
Line break
"So you don't know what happened?"
Dean had his face buried in his hands and felt the anger building up inside of him.
"No, I told you! I just found him." he replied and he guessed his irritation was leaking through his voice because the police officers left. Sam was sitting next to him, incredibly stiff, with a hand on Dean's shoulder.
Dean himself didn't dare to move his face from his hands. He didn't want to see the dirt on his clothes, the rest of the people in the waiting room... He didn't want to see anything, afraid that the event would sink in to his mind.
After the paramedics had arrived, they had taken Castiel with them to the hospital. Dean had come with and had called Sam with a short explanation about what happened. It hadn't taken long before he and Bobby joined Dean at the hospital.
The whole not-knowing-thing made Dean go crazy. Nobody had told him anything about Castiel, and the police had been bugging him with questions for ten minutes. Dean's right leg started shaking. He just wanted to know that Castiel was...
"Dean Winchester?"
Dean jumped and looked up from his hands. A middle-aged male doctor was standing in front of him, and Dean nodded as a response.
"We had to operate on Castiel." The man sensed Dean's worry and quickly continued. "He is fine, it was just a badly broken rib that had to be put in place. He is resting now, and you may see him."
Dean stood up and Sam followed his example. Bobby walked up to them with a cup of coffee in his hand and they all followed the doctor through a few corridors to room 43.
"We'll wait outside." said Bobby and Dean nodded. He could feel the sorrow building up in his chest. He slowly walked in to the dark room and closed the door behind him. Castiel was laying on a bed with a few tubes stuck in him. At least he was breathing on his own. Dean didn't see if he was awake.
He slowly sat down on the bed next to Castiel. His eyes were closed. Dean gently grabbed his hand and twitched when Castiel opened his eyes.
"Hello Dean." he said and his voice was far more raspy than usual. Dean couldn't help but smile at Castiel.
"Hi Castiel. How are you doing?"
Castiel smiled back, and Dean felt as if a weight left his shoulders when he realized the smile didn't hide any pain.
"Could have been better. But I'm fine, now that I'm not alone." The statement washed Dean's smile right off.
"But your parents..."
"Out on business." said Castiel, cutting him off. His smile had vanished at the blink of a second.
"And I'm not important enough to make them come home."
Dean tightened his grip around Castiel's hand.
"Yeah, well... I'm here. And I always will be. No matter if you like it or not."
Castiel pulled a deep breath and his eyes seemed to sparkle.
"Thank you. I don't think I would manage to be alone right now."
The pain in Castiel's voice made Dean break. Tears started pouring down his face, and without realizing why, he had laid down beside Castiel. Dean didn't care that he actually was crying for the first time in about seven years, he only cared about the feeling he got when Castiel was comforting him.