Trigger warning: Referenced Drug Use/Overdose

Castiel was overwhelmed.

It had been a week since he had buried his mother, and things had been going poorly since. One of his star students had started a fight and landed himself in a week's worth of detention, and he had woken up the next morning to a flat tire. On Friday, he had been on detention duty with just Dean, when he had received a text from Gabriel to inform him that his brother had relapsed and was in the hospital following an overdose.

He hadn't meant to, but he had looked to Dean for answers, and the boy had tried. He had felt immense guilt after snapping at his student and had sent him an email the next day to apologize. When he ended detention early, all he had wanted was to get to the hospital, terrified of losing another loved one.

They had planned to sign Lucifer into a detox unit the next morning, but when he and Gabriel had arrived to the hospital, he was gone. Castiel had walked out of the hospital, leaving his brother and his car behind. He wandered aimlessly for hours, ignoring the multiple calls and texts from Gabriel.

At last, he had found himself sitting in a bar. He didn't want to think. He couldn't think anymore. He had already lost his mother, and now Lucifer was God knows where, probably searching for more of what had nearly earned him a spot beside her. Even he and Michael had been close once. He sat for who knows how long, wallowing in the mess that had become his life. Finally, the bartender had cut him off, and he had stumbled out of the bar, unsure of where to go. He rounded the corner, colliding with a solid wall of muscle and warmth. He stumbled backwards, landing on his rear in confusion as his eyes tried to work with his drunken brain to identify the source of the collision.

"Shit, man. I am so sorry," he heard a voice start to say, feeling hands grasping him and pulling him to his feet. "Are you alrig- Mr. Novak?"

Cas blinked, finally focusing on the form in front of him. Dean, "Oh. Hello, Dean."

Dean eyed him with suspicion, the smell of alcohol burning his nostrils. The dude smelled like he had been swimming in it. "Uh, sir? I know that it's not really any of my business, but I have to ask. You didn't drive anywhere, right?"

Cas scrunched up his face in thought, "I don't think so." He quickly switched to anger, pointing an accusing finger at his student, "And don't call me 'sir'!"

Dean put his hands up in surrender, bemused at the situation he had literally walked into, "Right, my bad. Mr. Novak-"

"Call me 'Cas'," he said cheerily, "I like when you call me that."

Dean nodded, refusing to think about what the fuck to say to that right now and choosing to focus on making sure the man was safe, "Right, Cas. Got it. Are you here by yourself?"

"Yeah," Cas said with a sniff, "Everyone leaves me." Before Dean could react, he had a sobbing drunk man in his arms, clinging to him tightly.

He hugged the man back, mostly to steady him, "Cas… What happened?"

"I went to a bar," he hiccupped into Dean's shoulder, "And I drank it."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, trying to think of what to do. "Okay. Do you have someone I can call for you?"

Cas pulled himself together, seeming to have a moment of clarity, "Oh, God! Dean. I… Jesus."

Dean bit his lip in amusement, "I mean, I can try to call Jesus for you, but I don't know if he has good reception or not."

Cas glared at him, choosing to be mature and stick out his tongue.

Dean's green eyes twinkled in amusement, but he was still concerned about his instructor, "Look. Whatever rules be damned, you're coming with me. You're not walking anywhere else like this." He pulled Cas toward his car, stopping when he realized that Cas had also stopped. He looked back at the other man and laughed as he saw how wide his eyes were.

"This is your car," Cas marveled, staring at the '67 Impala that his father had given him at the start of his senior year.

"Yup," Dean grinned proudly, "This is Baby. My Dad and I completely restored her."

"Wow," Cas said, allowing himself to be steered into the passenger seat, taking in every detail of the car.

Dean shook his head, sliding into the driver's seat, and gripping the wheel, "Okay, step one, complete. So…not to be creepy or anything, but do you mind telling me where you live?"

Castiel's eyes went wide, and stared at Dean in fear, "Oh my god, Dean. This is inappropriate on so many levels! I'm going to be fired and I haven't even graded your essay yet!" He put his head in his hands, "I am so screwed."

"Whoa, there, Cowboy," Dean reassured him, amused at the fact that only Cas would worry about not grading his essay before losing his job. "It's okay. I'm just going to drive you home, make sure you get inside safely, and then I'm going to leave. We never have to talk about this again. I don't plan on telling anyone about this, so your secret is safe with me."

Castiel thought about it for a moment, gripped with fear at the idea of losing his job, "Yes. Okay. You can take me home."

The moment Dean pulled into Castiel's driveway, a man came running out of the front door, screaming at him. "No, no. Hell no! I don't care who you are, you are not taking advantage of my emotionally compromised brother!"

Brother? Taking advantage? Dean looked at the shorter man in confusion, taking a step back, "Whoa, dude. I'm just bringing him home."

"Exactly! My brother disappears from the face of the Earth for hours, and has finally come home, drunk, with a random dude to hook up with? Yeah, I've already heard Castiel's Greatest Hits. Not happening again," Gabriel glared, jabbing Dean in the chest.

Dean recoiled, more out of shock than fear as he processed the other man's words. Again? Cas was gay? What the fuck?

"Gabriel, enough," Cas snapped, pushing his brother away from Dean. "This is one of my students, you ass. He found me stumbling out of a bar and made sure I got home safely."

Gabriel looked at Cas in surprise, then at Dean, who returned his gaze with a look that said 'duh'. He immediately doubled over in laughter, wiping tears from his eyes, "Oh. Well, fuck me, this is awkward. Hey, my bad." Gabriel offered his hand to Dean, "Gabriel Novak. Thanks for bringing my baby bro home in one piece. No hard feelings?"

Dean blushed, taking the hand and shaking it firmly, "Dean Winchester. We're good, I'm just glad he's okay. I should probably take off." He looked at Castiel with raised eyebrows, "I'll see you Monday."

Cas nodded, then hung his head in embarrassment, "Thank you again, Dean."

Dean got into his car, swiftly backing out of the driveway with lots to think about on his way home.

As he disappeared at the end of the street, Gabriel turned to his brother, smacking him upside the back of his head, "You idiot!"