The Muse
Chapter 12
Dean sighed as he put the finishing touches on his essay. He was feeling the end of semester crunch. He had several papers due and he was only going to school part-time. He frowned as he saved the paper. He'd have to finish it later. He closed the laptop and got up and stretched. He had studied for the test and wrote the paper he had to do. All this homework had stopped what could have been a great evening with Castiel and it pissed him off. He popped his neck and walked into the bathroom to get changed. He had the family dinner though. He wanted to skip out but he had promised Bobby he would make an appearance. He selected a nice button down shirt and put on dark wash jeans. He fixed his hair and headed out the door.
He drove up to his parents' house and had the urge again to not go at all. He could just go up to Cas's and see him. He licked his lips. Crashing in on Cas sounded like a good idea. He smirked but he did make a promise and he was a man of his word. He eased his car into the driveway and got out of the car. He walked up to the door and knocked.
There was a sound of shuffling and the door swung open and standing before him was his little brother Sam. "Dean." He said with a grin.
"Sammy!" Dean exclaimed. He walked into the door and slung his arms around his brother. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he tightened the grip on his brother
"My classes wrapped up so I thought I would come in for a visit before the spring semester started." Sam said with a smile
He patted his back. "Did you pass?"
"Of course." He laughed
Sam was about a year younger than him. The two of them were almost joined at the hip the closest of friends the best of brothers growing up. Sam had started school before Dean did as Dean was dealing with the Lisa situation. His brother helped him piece himself back together. He didn't get to speak to him as much as he would have liked to as he was worried about getting in Sam's way. His brother's education was important to him.
"Good to hear, Sammy."
Sam rolled his eyes at the nickname. "So," He looked around the room.
Their mom walked into the room. "Aren't you glad you didn't skip out this time?" She asked Dean with a smile. "Dinner is almost ready."
They headed into the dining room. Bobby was there talking to John about work and the two Winchester boys took a seat beside each other. The side dishes were already on the table and Mary brought out the main dish and sat in the middle of the table. She had prepared a roasted chicken, with mashed potatoes, green beans and, rolls.
The smell of the food reached Dean's nose and his hamburger form lunch seemed like a distant memory.
They all filled their plates and made idle chit chat.
"So how has everything been, Sam?" Mary asked
Sam blushed and took a sip of his drink. To Mary's credit at least she kept the wine away. "Well, classes have gone well. It's all just prelaw stuff the basics and everything now." He rubbed the back of his head. "I met a girl."
"Oh, a girl?" Mary asked with a smile
John gave a nod. "Well good, glad to know you are seeing people after Jess."
Sam frowned and looked away for a second. Jess was a sore subject for him. The two of them started dating in high school after Dean started seeing Lisa. While Dean was away in Lisa-land Jess got into a car accident with a drunk driver. She sadly did not live and it was the catalyst for Sam's interest in law.
"John," Mary hissed as she shot him a dirty look. "So tell us about this new girl."
"Her name is Eileen… she's from Ireland but she came to America when she was really little. She's in my basic classes she's in criminal justice." He picked up his roll and poked at it as if to search his words. "She's uh, deaf."
"Deaf?" Mary asked
"Yeah, she was born deaf."
They nodded then gave each other looks.
Dean patted his brother on the back. "Well if you ask me she's the lucky one she doesn't have to hear you snore."
Sam laughed. "I don't snore that loud."
"We shared a room for half our lives. You snore."
Sam rolled his eyes and looked at his parents.
Mary smirked. "You do, Sam, sorry. But I would like to meet her sometime."
He nodded. "Yeah, I'll bring her up and you guys can meet her you'll love her."
Mary looked at Dean. "So, Dean, what about you?"
"What about me?" He asked mouthful of roll
She looked at John then back at Dean. "A girlfriend? Do you have one?"
"Nope." He looked up at them his eye briefly caught with Bobby who was the only one who knew the truth.
Bobby gave him a hard look. A look that said 'tell them' Yeah, like he was going to come out now to his folks.
Mary sighed. "Well, I had hoped you would have married that nice girl," She looked at John. "What was her name?"
"Lisa?" John asked
"Yeah, her."
Dean felt his blood boil. Nice girl his ass. "She wasn't…" He looked at Sam for help then said. "She wasn't right for me, okay?"
John chewed on his roll. "I heard from Mrs. Smith that she saw you around time with that Novak kid."
Oh shit. Dean thought. The nosy people of town were starting to talk about him. He felt his face heat up. "Y-yeah?" He asked trying to sound cool.
"You two seem to be good friends." He buttered his roll. "You still modeling for him?"
He nodded. "Yes, sir, I am still modeling for him." He shrugged. "He's an interesting guy so… we've been hanging out."
He looked at him eyes almost knowing as if his working things out. "Friends huh?"
He felt the heat work up his neck again. "Yeah, as I said he's a cool dude."
Evidently, Sam detected his discomfort and changes the subject and asked. "So how's the shop?"
And with that, his relationship with Castiel is forgotten about. Dean silently breathes a sigh of relief. He ate in silence as the family kept talking from one subject to another. Dinner wrapped up and they all parted ways. Sam was staying there for the semester break. He approached Dean before he left. "Hey, let's go out for drinks."
Dean agreed to it. They loaded up in Dean's car. Sam was picked up by Mary earlier that morning and was going to be using her car around town. They headed to the Roadhouse. A somewhat nice bar that was owned by a family friend.
"Sam, Dean!" Ellen greeted as they walked in the door. "I haven't seen you two in forever." She walked around the bar to hug them.
"I've been away for school this is my first day back." Sam said
She eyed Dean. "I know you didn't go anywhere."
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I uh, have been busy."
"You want the usual?" She asked
They nodded and sat at a booth. She soon brought up a locally made beer and went on back to her work. She had a lot of customers in tonight.
Sam sipped his beer and studied Dean. "So,"
"So," Dean started as he sipped his own beer. "Dating a deaf girl?"
"I am, and this is not about me." He looked around. "What's going on with you?"
"Me? What about me?"
"Who's this Novak person and why did you get so red when they brought him up?"
He sighed. He licked his lips. "Sam, I…" He looked around and sighed again. "Sam, he's my boyfriend." Dean had braced himself for the Earth-shattering revelation. Waited for screams for Sam to react but instead, Sam smiled.
"Oh, okay, glad you finally got back out there I was worried Lisa messed you up."
He blinked. "I'm dating a guy and all you got to say is good job?"
He shrugged. "As you said we shared a room for half our lives. I'm well aware that uh, you are… bi." He sipped his beer. "You model for him?"
He nodded and explained the story to Sam. He told him about how he met Cas, how he repaired his car, and how the relationship started.
"So, he's your first guy?"
"Yeah, and he's never dated before." He sipped his beer and blushed. "He's uh, not really comfortable with being touched."
"Mom and dad don't know?"
He shook his head. "But Bobby does. He wants me to tell them. He knew for a while about my… you know… he caught me checking out this guy's ass once at the shop. He told me if I start dating Cas I need to tell them but…" He played with his napkin. "I'm scared."
He shrugged. "Well, they handled me dating a deaf woman so,"
"That's different, Sam, I know mom and dad wouldn't approve."
"Dean, Lawrence is only so big. Eventually, they are going to find out. Someone is going to see you out with this guy and put two and two together. There are probably already rumors. You heard dad right? He was questioning you."
"I know, but you heard his tone. That tone of you better not be sleeping with a dude." He balled up the napkin. "They are judgmental. They would have had me married to Lisa if they could have had their way."
"They mean well, Dean." He polished off his beer. "Can I meet him?"
He nodded. "Of course, Sam, I want you to."
"Good. I still think you should tell mom and dad."
"Well, what if it doesn't work out and I never date another guy again?"
He chuckled. "Dean, I saw how your eyes sparkled when you talked about him. You are in love with him. You didn't even look that happy when you talked about Lisa."
He blushed. "Well, I…"
"He must be a hell of a guy. Does his family know?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I met his dad. He seemed cool."
"You need to at least afford him the same courtesy. You shouldn't leave him as some secret. It'll only end badly."
The two of them talked about their classes and other mundane conversations however, Dean's mind kept going back to what Sam said. Was it really unfair to Cas to hide him from his family? He chewed his lips and wondered what was the best course. He stared at the table. He sighed mentally he decided to seek advice on the subject later. He ordered another beer and took it with glee as he and Sam talked about the latest episodes from their favorite TV shows. He had a feeling Sam and Castiel would get along and he smiled to himself. He was looking forward to the two of them meeting.
