Warnings - Slash (Colt Cabana/Cm Punk) (Brock Lesnar/Seth Rollins), High School AU, Mild Profanity. Eventual Warnings - Slash (Kevin Owens/Dean Ambrose), Smut.
"Dean!" He's only halfway up the garden path when his cousin flings herself into his arms. She's chattering a thousand words a minute, trying to tell him everything all at once. Dean hugs her tightly, his eyes closed against the tears he can feel there. She looks so much healthier, and happier.
"C'mon, inside. Mom'll be mad if we're not at the dinner table quickly." Kevin ruffles her hair as he enters the house, and Dean takes his cousin's hand.
"Let's go." He smiles down at her. In her right hand is the ugly little pink dog he won at the fair, clutched tightly like a lifeline.
"I've missed you." She whispers, beaming up at Dean. He nods, a tight smile on his face. The tears haven't left him yet. He can feel them waiting to be shed.
"Yeah. Me too." He croaks out, and leads the way into Kevin's house. His mother's standing just inside, a big smile on her face.
"You two go get washed up for dinner." She ruffles Dean's cousin's hair, and pats Dean's shoulder. "You can show Dean where the bathroom is, right?" Dean's cousin nods enthusiastically, and start tugging him upstairs.
"This is the bathroom." She pauses in front of a door, and then turns to Dean. "You wanna see my room? I got my own room now! It's not painted yet, but Mrs Owens says it can be any colour I want... I want it to be pink, or purple. Which one is better? I think pink, but one of the girls in my class says pink is for babies, and I'm not a baby." She looks up at Dean earnestly waiting for his opinion on the matter.
"Pink is a very grown up colour." He offers her vaguely, and she giggles.
"I know! Just look at Barbie! She's a grown up, and she loves pink! And lots of Princesses like pink too... I think Katie's a doo-doo-head." She grins up at Dean, and he nods solemnly.
"A total doo-doo-head. We better get cleaned up, or Mrs Owens might be mad." He pushes open the bathroom door, letting his cousin in first.
"Dean?" She glances at him in the mirror as she's soaping her little hands.
"Uh-huh?" He takes the bar of soap from her, and starts washing his own hands.
"How come you're not staying here too?" Dean breaks eye contact with her, focussing on turning the soap over and over in his hands. He's not staying here, because he's not as important as she is. Her being safe is the most important thing, and he's almost old enough to make his own decisions. She's a kid, and kids should get to be kids somewhere safe.
"Because he's staying with Punk." Kevin breaks the awkward silence that had fallen over them. "Gimme the soap, Deano."
"With Punk?" Dean's cousin sounds worried. Dean supposes she'd noticed the bruises Punk's sported over the years, and thinks the same things could happen to Dean.
"Yup. Colt's mommy took them both in." Kevin answers her, and shoots Dean a concerned look. You okay? He mouths, Dean nods quickly.
"Yup, you know Colt's mom, right? She works in your school." Dean rinses the soap off his hands, and snags the towel, drying first his cousin's then his own hands.
"Mrs Colton? She's a nice teacher... She told us all about Hanu... Hona... Uh... Jewish Christmas!" The little girl beams up at Dean, and presents her clean hands to Kevin. "Can you still see the paint?"
"Paint?" Kevin starts carefully inspecting her hands, peering at each finger in turn with a serious expression on his face.
"Uh-huh! I was painting after school with momma. I didn't finish, and you don't get to see until it's all done, but-"
"You got dirty cause you're a mucky pup." Kevin starts tickling her sides, sending her shrieking down stairs. "That's the first time she's called my mom momma..." Dean doesn't react, he's feels frozen, and out of place in Kevin's home. She's happy, she's safe, and he probably shouldn't intrude on her safety.
"Dean! Kevin! Dinner!" Her shrill little voice shouts up the stairs.
"Hey... You okay?" Kevin's hand rests on Dean's shoulder, his face far closer than it had been. Dean shakes his head, and tries to back away. His mouth flaps open and closed a few times before he squeezes his eyes closed, and fights his tears.
"I'm f-"
"Shut up." Kevin says it mildly in his normal, flat tone, and pulls Dean into a hug, tucking Dean's head under his chin. For a moment Dean stands rigid, feeling stupidly awkward, but then he can feel his tears breaking free, and Kevin's hand moving over his back.
"I'm so happy she's safe, Kev." He whispers, burying his face against Kevin's neck. He can vaguely hear Kevin murmuring soothing nonsense to him, as he kicks the bathroom door closed. A few minutes later there's a gentle knock on the door.
"Boys?" Kevin's mother sounds concerned. Dean pulls away from Kevin's hug.
"Thanks." Dean mutters, and washes his face. Kevin meets his eyes in the bathroom mirror, and gives him little more than a slight jut of his chin in acknowledgement.
"Mom." Kevin whines as he opens the bathroom door, and starts talking to his mother to distract her. Left alone in the bathroom, Dean perches on the edge of the bathtub, and closes his eyes once more. He's not entirely sure he can do this, but he's no idea why. It's dinner. It's seeing his cousin happy. It's nothing that's difficult, but it feels impossible. There's another knock on the door bathroom door.
"Hey there." Kevin's mom slips into the bathroom, and sits down beside Dean. "You know you're more than welcome to stay." She pulls Dean closer, and gives him a one-armed hug. "Kevin's talked about you a fair bit since you first came over for dinner. I'm happy he's made such a good friend." Dean nods slightly, and slips away from her.
"I'm sure I've ruin-"
"Absolutely nothing of the sort." Kevin's mother smiles as she gets to her feet. "You gonna be okay?" She reminds Dean so much of Kevin that it's weird, and he can feel a grin spreading over his lips. "Hmm... I'd say that smile says you're gonna be okay for now."
Dinner goes surprisingly well, far better than Dean had expected. He manages to feel comfortable despite his embarrassing bathroom breakdown, which thankfully no one mentions. His cousin's told him every one of her stories a thousand times over, and Dean now shares her distaste for whoever this Katie girl is. After eating they settle into a game of Clue, which ends up being Kevin, Dean and his cousin on one team versus everyone else playing separately. Despite having three players against three individuals, Kevin's mother still manages to win, which led to Dean and Kevin having a mock squabble about who was to blame for them losing much to Dean's cousin's delight. She'd giggled all the way through their pouting and childish name-calling, before telling them to settle it through rock, paper, scissors. Dean's pretty sure Kevin let him win at that, but he's not going to complain about that. Instead, he's finally getting the grand tour of his cousin's bedroom. It's not huge, but definitely a leap up from the trailer's couch where she was sleeping before.
"You wanna help me with homework?" She asks quietly once she's shown Dean around her room, and showed off all her new toys, and clothes, and everything else that the Owens have given her. It almost seems excessive to Dean, but he supposes that this is just the amount of stuff most kids have.
"I can do that." He sits down on the floor, and picks up one of the books near him. Math homework, he knows she'll do fine on that, in fact she never usually asks for help with homework, so he thinks that there's an ulterior motive for her asking for help. She's quiet for what feels like a long time, her pencil scratching over the page of her exercise book. Dean's leaning against the wall, watching her thoughtfully. He's happy she here, he's happy she's safe and getting a chance at a real life. He's happy that he can come and visit her, and she'll be happy to see him. He closes his eyes, his mind drifting back to standing sobbing in the bathroom. His mind skips over the heat in his eyes, the feeling of snot building up in his nose, and the scratching of his throat. Instead his minds picks out the feeling of Kevin's breath against his hair, the warmth of his body pressed to Dean's, and his hands moving over Dean's back is slow, soothing circles. His eyes snap open before he takes that thought any further. "So, I'm guessing you don't really need help, kiddo." Dean says it softly, and his cousin looks up at him guiltily.
"Nuh-uh." She answers equally quiet. "I just miss you." She looks away nervously, and Dean chuckles at her.
"You don't need to miss me. I'll come visit you so much you'll be sick of me." He laughs, and ruffles her hair. She squirms away with a laugh.
"No way." She grins, and launches herself at him, tickling his ribs as fast as her little fingers can. Eventually she stops, and settles on Dean's chest gazing up at him. "Do you like Kev-Kev?" She asks it so suddenly that Dean has no idea how to answer her. "He likes you... He's always telling me stories of the fun things you do together, and places you go... I wanna go to the ice cream store."
"Kevin's my friend." Dean smiles at her, and he wonders when exactly Punk had time to teach her how to pull his patented disbelieving expression. "We'll take you to the ice cream store on the weekend, how's that?"
"Really?" Her eyes are huge, and Dean's almost utterly convinced that Punk has been teaching her how to look at people.
"Really. C'mon, you better get on with your homework." He shifts her to the floor, and settles down to answer any questions she might have. An hour or so passes, and Kevin's mom pokes her head in, telling Dean's cousin it's time for her bath. She bounces to her feet, and quickly gathers up her pyjamas.
"You gotta stay and read me a bedtime story, okay?" She pauses in the doorway beside Kevin's mother. Dean nods slightly, and his cousin takes off in the direction of the bathroom.
"You're welcome to stay after that too... We've an air mattress." Kevin's mother smiles cheerfully, and ushers Dean down stairs. The rest of the family are all sitting watching TV, some game show that Dean doesn't care about is playing. Kevin's father and younger brother seem incredibly into it, whilst Kevin is busy playing with his phone.
"You know you're staying the night, right?" Kevin doesn't look up as Dean takes a seat beside him.
"Oh?" Dean sneaks a look over at his phone, seeing that he's busy playing words with friends against Punk.
"My mom had me inflate the mattress this morning." Kevin huffs a sigh, and tilts his phone so Dean can see it more clearly. "What word am I supposed to make with these letters?"
"Qi?" Dean offers, and Kevin looks at him blankly. "I've no idea what it means, but Punk always plays it against me."
"Hmm... Is qis a word? If it is I'll get that triple word score." Kevin enters the word, and a wicked grin spreads over his lips. Kevin's mother appears a few moments later with a tray of mugs.
"Hot chocolate, and some cookies." She sets it down on the table, and wanders away once more.
"Where's-"
"Apes said she wanted her hair to be curly tomorrow." Kevin's little brother answers Dean's unfinished question. "I swear, she loves having another girl in the house."
"So she should! She's been outnumbered by us men for years." Kevin's dad takes the first mug of hot chocolate, and snags a cookie. "If you were all girls, I'd certainly push for us to adopt a boy."
"Yeah, I guess... So Dean, did mom tell you that you literally have no choice in staying the night?" Kevin's brother turns to him with a grin, and Dean nods slightly.
"I've gathered that much... Which one is mine?" He gestures to the mugs, and Kevin leans over and picks one out for Dean.
"This one. You best hope that she doesn't get too attached." Kevin takes his own mug, and settles back against the couch.
"Oh?" Dean takes one of the cookies, and starts nibbling at it, delighted when it turns out to be wonderfully chewy.
"My wife might decide to keep you, and from what Kev's said you've already been claimed by Scott's mother... I love a cat-fight as much as the next man, but I think I can live without seeing that one." Kevin's dad laughs, and takes a swig of his coco.
"Punk says it's pronounced ch-e and that it means energy in Chinese medicine. Pass me a cookie please, Deano." Dean glances over at Kevin, and passes him over a cookie. "How does Punk even know about Chinese medicine?"
"Are you really asking questions about why Punk knows something random?" Dean mutters, and Kevin nods vaguely. When it comes time to read his cousin her bedtime story, Kevin helps out by voicing some of the characters. It's not particularly late, but Dean feels tired as they leave her bedroom, the door slightly ajar just in case she needs anything.
"You remember how Punk swiped Colt's car earlier?" Kevin catches Dean's wrist before he heads back downstairs. Dean nods, smothering a yawn behind his hand. "C'mon, I'll show you my room." Kevin heads to a door at the end of the corridor, and opens it. Inside isn't overly excited. There are posters of hockey and football teams on the walls, and a few videogame posters thrown in. There's a bed against the far wall with a blue bedspread. On the floor against the closest wall is an air mattress with matching bed linen, sitting beside the mattress is Dean's backpack of clothes that he'd left still packed at Colt's place. There's an envelope sitting on top of it.
"He dropped my stuff off?" Dean picks the envelope up, and wonders what exactly Punk had felt the need to write down.
"Well, from what my mom said, Colt's mom was doing the driving... Punk looks pretty... Schooled was what my mom said, so I'm guessing he drove home, and she spotted the one-armed bandit, and gave him a chewing out." Kevin chuckles, and goes over to his bed. "Here. Pick whatever." He tosses Dean the remote for the TV in the corner of the room. He switches the TV, and tosses the remote back.
"I literally do not care. I'm probably gonna sleep soon anyways." Dean's staring down at the envelope, itching to open it, but worried by what Punk might have written.
"If it's private, you can read it in the bathroom." Kevin doesn't look over as he speaks; instead he's flicking through the channels. "If I know Punk at all, it'll be nothing all offering a shoulder or an ear or whatever."
"How come you know Punk and Colt so well?" Dean drags his mattress closer to Kevin's bed, and arranging the pillows against the wall.
"Huh? I met Colt years ago in a camp... We stayed in touch, and as soon as he first laid eyes on Punk that was it... Colt's a nice guy, but he's a sap." Kevin shakes his head, and slows in his channel hopping. "You know what Punk's like when it comes to prying into other people's business... I mentioned once to Colt that I wasn't happy in my old school, and then suddenly bam there's Punk-"
"Mother-fucking-hen that boy." Dean laughs, and Kevin nods. "They're good for each other... Do you think they'll stay together?"
"Colt and Punk? I dunno... I mean we're still in high school... I think so, I hope so, because I can't imagine them not together." Kevin laughs, and Dean nods slightly. He opens the envelope and pulls Punk's letter out.
"He says that he thinks it'll be good for me spend some time with you." Dean blurts it out, and Kevin laughs suddenly.
"I'll do what I can to improve your wit." Kevin looks over at Dean, and winks. "Is he trying to pair us up or something? He knows all about-" Kevin stops himself, and starts worrying his bottom lip. "If I tell-"
"It goes no further than this room." Dean says solemnly, the rest of Punk's letter pushed to the back of his mind.
"My friend who was going to be visiting is coming down in a few weeks... His name's Sami and I..." Kevin growls, and Dean laughs at him, ignoring the sparks of jealousy that starts triggering in him. He'd know that the Canadian side hoe was a thing, and he knows that Kevin doesn't have the same almost crush on Dean that he has on Kevin.
"You've got a crush?" Dean grins up at Kevin. Kevin's trying for his normal blank stare, but his bright red cheeks, and obvious embarrassment make it difficult.
"This is why I only tell Punk things like this, he doesn't mock me." Kevin grumbles, and Dean laughs.
"I'm gonna get ready for bed." He grabs his bag, and heads to the bathroom. Once more he finds himself sitting on the edge of the bathtub, trying and failing to think of nothing. In his hands is Punk's letter.
Deano
This isn't you being thrown away, or shunted somewhere else I promise! As soon as you like you can come back... If anything it'd help me out! HAHA! Anyway, enough about me! This is about you, Deano. You know you don't sleep well, right? You know that you wake up as much as me... I think... Okay this is gonna sound super weird, but I think it'd be good for you to spend some time with Kev. I know you just told me about the crush, and yeah I think maybe that's why I think this might be a good idea, but sometimes it's better to have someone close by, you know?
If this doesn't work out, you can come to see the shrink with me. Fucking Colt and his god-damn meddling! I think this'll work though, and if it doesn't well the crazy doctor can see both of us!
XpunkX
Many thanks to those who reviewed - Rebellecherry, Guest, and Brokenspell77.
If you'd like to see your handle in italics please do review, and you can!
Next update - 2016/07/29
