*Next chapter is the dance! Sorry for the slight fillerness of this one. BTW, there is a link to a picture of Gabriel's new accessory (don't want to tell you what it is and give it away) on my profile :D

"Everyone thinks that I have it all

But it's so empty living behind these castle walls

These castle walls

If I should tumble, if I should fall

Would anyone hear me screaming behind this castle walls?

There's no one here at all, behind these castle walls."

~Castle Walls by Christina Aguilera and T.I.

Castiel, who'd evaded Dean's well meant probing and left the Winchester house, was now back at his own home. But perhaps home wasn't the correct term. Home usually meant peace and asylum, somewhere you could take shelter when the ever present storm of life grew too much to bear. The Novak residence was just the opposite; it was not the shelter from the storm, it was the eye of it. And because he had no other choice, he walked right back into this metaphorical storm, closing the door to the outside world behind him.

"Took you long enough," grumbled Michael, who was sitting in his armchair.

The rest of the bottom floor of the house was empty, and Castiel shot him a glare before striding past him so he could go upstairs, but Michael grabbed his arm in a bruising grip and yanked him backwards. Cas winced, knowing there would be splotchy bruises on his right arm tomorrow. Michael paid no mind to how delicate and sensitive Castiel's skin was.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Upstairs."

Michael smirked. "I don't think so."

"Let go, you're hurting me," Cas hissed, trying to pull his arm back.

Michael only tightened his hold, and Cas had to hold back a cry of pain. "I thought we agreed that you would mind you tone with me, boy."

"Sorry, I forgot that I was supposed to mind my tone around dogs," Cas growled defiantly.

Suddenly his cheek was stinging and his arm was released. He stumbled back and stared at his father in shock. Michael handled him roughly and talked down to him, but except for that one time right after they made their arrangement simply to assert his dominance, Michael hadn't actually slapped him. This made the second time. Castiel shrunk back, fearful of how far Michael would take it. He took off upstairs as soon as he saw that Michael was finished with him.

He sat down on his bed and closed his eyes, a tear falling out and slipping down his cheek, which still stung. His body trembled under the layers of clothes that concealed the bruises left by the way Michael would harshly grab his arm, shoulder, or wrist. Castiel was a victim of abuse and he was just now realizing it. His tears gave way to sobs that wracked his entire body. He laid down, buried his face in his pillow, and cried. Cried like he would never stop.

Life was going on as smoothly as ever, but behind these walls, his entire life was crashing down around him.

Later, Gabriel walked into Castiel's room and found him on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He looked…well, broken was the only word that came to Gabriel's mind. He immediately raced over and sat down next to his big brother, asking what was wrong. Cas turned empty, depressed blue eyes on him. They just didn't sparkle like they used to.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes. "Did Dean hit it and quit it? I swear to God if he did I will hack off his-"

Castiel's somewhat flat laughter cut him off. It was crooked and unbalanced like a framed photo hung at the wrong angle, but it was the first genuine laughter he'd felt rising in his chest for days. Gabriel watched him like he was insane. Cas smiled up at his brother affectionately, who along with Dean had become his own personal ray of light in this endlessly dark nightmare.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel asked.

Castiel ignored the throbbing in his arm. "I am fine, Gabriel. How are things with you and Sam?"

"We're gonna get married one day."

Cas raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

"Yep. If he doesn't I'll handcuff him to the bed and eat whipped cream off of him til he begs for mercy."

Castiel cringed, figuring he knew what Gabriel intended on eating that whipped cream off of. "Are you not a bit young to be entertaining such thoughts?"

Gabriel snorted. "Dean has got to pry that stick out of your ass. And who knows, you might enjoy it," he added with a wink.

"Hmm, maybe."

"I thought we weren't 'old enough to be entertaining such thoughts,'" Gabriel mocked, doing a very bad job of imitating Castiel's unnaturally rough voice.

They laughed and talked about the most trivial of things until the very early hours, which was when they fell asleep. Gabriel was happily cuddled up to the security blanket that was his brother, both of them sound asleep. It wouldn't be long before they had to get up and go to school, but for the time being they were too exhausted to hold their eyes open any longer. At least Cas had found respite in the midst of what seemed to be an impossible to escape situation.

The next morning, as Sam ate his breakfast, he genuinely contemplated the conversation he'd had with Gabriel the day prior. Even though it had been in a joking matter, they had discussed marriage. He toyed with the thought that maybe Gabriel was actually serious about wanting to marry him. Sam was head over heels in love with Gabriel, and the angel had verbally admitted that he felt the same way, so why not put some faith in the idea that they would get married one day?

"Hey Mom?"

She sat down at the table across from him. "Yes, sweetie?"

"Um, how do you tell someone you want to marry them…?"

She smiled and placed her hand on top of his. "Is this about Gabriel?"

He blushed. "We wanna get married someday. But I want him to know I'm serious about it."

"I'll tell you what honey, after school I'll take you to the jewelry store to pick out a promise ring," she said with a fond smile.

"What's that?"

"It's a ring you give someone you really, really love. It means that you promise you'll marry them."

He grinned widely. "Thanks Mom!"

Later, at school, Cas walked up to Dean in the hallway and gave him a long kiss. Dean smiled as his boyfriend pulled back. "What was that for?"

Cas smiled and took his hand. Last night had changed his perspective on things a bit. He was trying to pick up the pieces in this awful predicament he'd gotten himself into, but there wasn't a complete lack of hope. He had his love and he had Gabriel. Michael could strike him, control him, and give him cruel ultimatums, but he couldn't take away the people Castiel loved. They would keep him strong. He might crash for awhile, but he'd always stand back up. He'd shucked the skin of shy, submissive Castiel to reveal that of a fighter.

"Just because," Cas replied, kissing Dean on the cheek.

Dean smiled at him warmly. "I'm glad to see you're feeling better. You were pretty whacked out last night. So I don't guess you're gonna fess up your dirty little secret?"

"I am sorry Dean, I can't."

Their eyes locked for a moment, and seeing the desperateness of Castiel's gaze, Dean backed off. For now, anyways. "Alright, but I wanna know sooner or later."

"In time, Dean."

They walked hand in hand to class, Mr. Singer rolling his eyes good naturedly at the happy couple and grumbled for them to take their seats. Castiel's wings were literally itching, having been confined for too long. Perhaps that was a sign he should reveal them to Dean, but he pushed the notion aside and chose to ignore the prickling sensation on either side of his spine. Instead he again took Dean's hand under the desk and rested their joined hands on his knee, much happier thinking about Dean than he was his own personal issues. Denial…his inner voice whispered. Shut up, voice, he replied bitterly.

Sam invited Gabriel to come over that evening. The angel arrived, puzzled by the soft giggle Mary gave when she saw him. He was shocked to see rose petals covering the stairs, leading up to the second story. He followed the trail all the way to Sam's doorway. Gabriel looked around as he stepped inside, where the petals led to the bed, which was covered in them.

"Uh, Sammy, I'm still a little young to be getting laid, but I guess if you're sure your parents wouldn't mind…"

The door closed, and Sam came around behind him, wrapping his arms around the angel's slender frame. Gabriel leaned back against him instinctively. He couldn't help but wonder about the romantic setting; rose petals scattered everywhere, candles lit on every available surface and serving as the only light in the room, and some soft piano music coming from the little stereo system.

"Did you mean it when you said you would marry me?" Sam whispered.

"Of course I did, Sam. More than anything." Gabriel's voice was just as quiet.

"Good," Sam said, taking his hand and leading him over to the bed.

Gabriel sat down amongst the petals, Sam sitting next to him. He was dressed up in a full suit that must have cost more than the Winchesters really had to spare, but of course Mary couldn't resist dolling her son up for this. Sam withdrew a tiny black box and took a deep breath. Here goes everything.

"What's that?" Gabriel asked softly.

Sam opened it to reveal a small, beautiful ring. It had an intricately detailed white gold band that dipped into a V in the front center with a cluster of three circular diamonds in the center of the V. It was small, sized custom for Gabriel's finger, which Sam knew the size of without even having to ask. His mother had to pull in some pretty heavy favors with the jeweler to get it all done today. Its cost was enough to make anyone's eyes pop, but Mary hadn't let Sam see the price and insisted on buying it when she saw the way his eyes lit up the moment he saw it.

"This is a…promise ring. It means that I promise to marry you someday…so," Sam started, kneeling on the floor in front of Gabriel, "Gabriel Novak, will you marry me when we're old enough?"

Tears were in Gabriel's eyes. "No."

Sam's entire face fell, and just when he thought his heart would break into a few million pieces, Gabriel threw his head back and laughed so hard his ribs hurt. "Just kidding! Of course I'll marry you someday, Sammy!"

Relief flooding him, a grin broke across Sam's face as he slipped the ring onto what Mary had said was Gabriel's "ring finger." He stood up and swept Gabriel into his arms, spinning him around before kissing him silly. They laughed senselessly and tumbled onto the bed. Gabriel never wanted to take the ring off, but he did briefly, simply because he wanted to read what it was engraved with.

On one side it simply had "S+G" and on the other it read "Because I kinda love you, maybe just a little."

Gabriel grinned and put it back on. "I kinda love you too, Sammy."

To Be Continued