Just so we're clear, Castiel's hometown is fictional. So you will not be finding it on any map.
(BLD)
The trip to Southern Idaho was long and tedious. The roads were wet and with such low temperatures the chance of black ice was a high possibility. Neither brother wanted to run the risk of getting thrown around so they had to take it even slower. They stopped in Lewiston for lunch and a much needed bathroom break and continued on from there. They stopped only twice for gas, and at around 7pm, Gabriel and Castiel were finally starting to see the beginnings of their hometown, Newhaven.
Castiel leaned into his steering wheel, looking out his windshield to see just how much the town has changed. Though there might have been a few new stores and some new restaurants, he couldn't tell much else had been happening. He sighed, leaning back into his seat and followed behind his brother, allowing him to lead the way. Soon, the road led them to a secluded drive, with a gothic style iron gate stopping their onward motion. Castiel drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, now feeling nervous that he was about to see all his family after such a long time. Yea, he'd seen them last Christmas, but that was still nearly a year ago. November chill frosted the leaves of the trees that made a natural tunnel down the drive leading to the house.
They waited for the gates to be opened, and Castiel presumed Gabriel had informed the gatekeeper they were home via cellphone. A few moments later, Castiel watched as the large gates began to sway open. The two vehicles crept through the trees, wind rustling the branches, sending dried leaves to flutter to the ground. It was almost eerie, especially with the fading light of day behind them.
Soon, the trees parted and the road made a wide circle, bringing them to stop in front of a Victorian style white brick mansion. Inside the continuing drive that made a full circle back to the road leaving out was a water fountain that sent a spray of water to the foot of a brass sculpture of an Angel, reaching towards the sky. The sculpture was a small comfort, having been one of Castiel's favorite parts of their home. As they parked, both brothers getting out of their vehicles, Castiel inhaled deeply. The air was crisp and cold, though Castiel could very easily smell something cooking inside with even this distance between them.
"Is Lucifer home?" He asked as Gabriel stepped up beside him. Gabriel grinned, "Why don't you come find out?" he asked, walking ahead of Castiel and down the pavement foot path leading to the front door. Every few feet there was a wooden archway, with vines of wild grapes growing all over them. There were three in all, and Castiel followed Gabriel up the marble stairs to the door. The wood of the door was dark, red brown, and Castiel couldn't help but to reminisce.
Gabriel didn't knock, or ring the bell, but simply stepped turned the knob and stepped in.
As Castiel followed behind he couldn't shake the sense of dreariness that suddenly engulfed him as he took in all the familiar features of his childhood home. For one, it was awfully quiet, and the only noise came from the kitchen, ahead of Castiel and beyond the twin staircases lining the left and right walls. He glanced once to the upstairs, watching as a nurse in a teal outfit walked from one hall to the next, hardly interested in looking down to see the newcomer. Castiel supposed she was here for his father. He also assumed his father was here, instead of in a hospital.
Castiel swallowed to try and alleviate the sudden dryness in his throat.
The two brothers walked through the short hallway and entered, what seemed to be, a remodeled kitchen. Every fixture and appliance was modern, and very unlike the classical style it had been last Christmas. There was a hanging light fixture that doubled as a mechanism to hold pots and pans in the air. The fridge had a touch screen on the front, lighting up when deft hands scanned over it. The stove had a glass top, eliminating unsightly stove eye coils.
The whole kitchen looked efficient, was what Castiel decided. It looked exactly like what Castiel would imagine Lucifer would design.
When the man who had been busy pulling out a cube of cheese from the fridge finally turned around, Castiel finally got to see his brother's face. "Hello Lucifer." Castiel greeted the man.
Lucifer smirked, his expression always caught in that bemused half lidded look, it was hard to tell how he really felt. But as his older brother came to him and wrapped him in his arms for a warm hug, Castiel could tell he'd missed him.
"It's good to see you, Castiel." He whispered to him, patting his back affectionately, then leaned back far enough that Lucifer could get a good look at his face. "You need to call me more." He scolded his brother, his expression a bit sterner, but then quickly wiped away as his brother leaned in and kissed his cheek.
Castiel grimaced, wiping a hand over his cheek as both Lucifer and Gabriel chuckled. "I'm not a child anymore, there's no need to treat me like one." He mumbled.
"Yea, well you're my little brother and that never changes." Lucifer countered, then suddenly engulfed Castiel in a large hug, which Castiel tried to dislodge by wedging his arms between him and Lucifer, but they wound up smushed between his chest and Lucifer's. "Lucifer…" Castiel groaned, trying to pull away when Lucifer tried pulling him closer to put more kisses across his face. "Let go!" he complained.
Gabriel was only laughing it up, having a great time watching as Castiel tried walking backward to get Lucifer to let go of him and Lucifer only held him tighter, "Don't fight the love, Castiel." Lucifer groaned, then managed to plant a kiss on Castiel's chin before he began chuckling too hard to hold him tight enough. Castiel finally managed to break free from his weakened grasp and took the necessary steps away to be out of his brother's reach.
"I am 27 years old, Lucifer." He grumbled, flattening his clothes back over his chest and stomach where they had been dislocated by the tussle.
"And I'm 34. What's your point?" Lucifer countered with a smirk.
Castiel rolled his eyes, turning to leave the kitchen, but Gabriel grabbed at his arm, "Hey, hey, hey, we're not done here." He grumbled. "Lucifer made you something." He announced, in a sing-song voice that Castiel assumed was meant to entice him.
He sighed and turned back to his brothers, "What did you make…" he mumbled, still annoyed but willing to satisfy Lucifer.
Lucifer grinned, turning to the oven and opened it, then reached up to the counter for heat resistant pad holders that he used to pull a glass dish out of the oven with. He then set the dish on a pot holder on the island in the middle of the kitchen, in front of Castiel, "All it needs now is the last layer of cheese." He mumbled, already turning back to where he'd set down the cheese grader and the cube of cheese. He brought them back to the dish and began to grade cheese over it.
Castiel stared at the dish, for a moment thrown off as to what it could be, but as Lucifer started to layer cheese over the top he suddenly realized, "You made me the hash brown dish." He stated as a fact rather than a question.
"I sure did." Lucifer confirmed with a wider grin as he finished the last layer. "I thought you'd be hungry after that long trip. How'd that go, by the way?" he directed the question to Gabriel, heading over to the cabinets to get Castiel a small plate so he could have something to eat.
"Well, it was long and boring. There weren't any good stations for the longest time, just a bunch of country hee-haw mess, then there was a Latina station!" Instead of it coming out sarcastic like Castiel had thought he'd meant by it, Gabriel seemed excited. Perhaps he'd actually enjoyed the Latina station…
"I'm suddenly very glad I decided to drive myself." Castiel mumbled. Lucifer snickered, setting Castiel's plate in front of him with a generous amount of the dish on it for him along with a fork. After a quiet thank you to his brother and an annoying ruffle of his hair by Lucifer, Castiel took a bite. It was like he remembered, creamy, cheesy, gooey goodness. He gave a small, satisfied smile as he continued to eat his fill.
"I assume that means it's good, huh?" Lucifer grinned as he leaned a hand against the counter as he watched his brother eat.
Castiel nodded, only able to hum as his mouth was full. Gabriel and Lucifer both chuckled. "Good." Lucifer mumbled. His smile fell away as he decided to bring up the elephant in the room. "So…" he began, looking to the ground for a moment before he looked back up at Castiel. "How much has Gabriel told you?" he asked quietly, compared to the jovial way he'd been speaking only a moment ago.
Castiel stared down at the half empty plate, his appetite not all that important anymore. "Just that father is…" he swallowed, hard, "Dying." He finished.
Lucifer gave a nod, "I can fill you in on the rest if you want. Dad is sleeping right now, and the nurse tells me he won't be up for another few hours before lights out." He told Castiel. As the two of them made the small exchange, Gabriel had begun to make his own plate as well, eating quietly as he allowed the two to talk.
Castiel nodded, only eating now because he wanted to use it as an excuse to not talk.
"Well, a few weeks ago, Dad started feeling off. He said it started with headaches and then he'd suddenly be exhausted and he'd have to go sit or lay down. Then he started forgetting things, sometimes small things like where he set his brief case, and then big things, like if he'd gone to the bank or not." Lucifer rubbed his thumb and pointer in between his eyes, "And then he lost most of his coordination." Lucifer stared blankly for a moment at nothing. "He couldn't go into the office anymore because he said he felt like he'd collapse at any moment." Lucifer looked to the ground then, "He went to the doctor and they told him he had stage four brain cancer."
Castiel's eyes went wide, "Why have you waited this long to tell me…" he mumbled, suddenly starting to fill anger well up inside him.
Lucifer sighed, "Because Dad didn't tell us until a few days ago." He then looked back up at Castiel, meeting his eyes, "Even before he told us, it kept getting worse and worse, and he began seeing things that weren't there, he said he couldn't keep food down anymore." He shook his head for a moment, looking off to the side, out the window to the front lawn. "He said he didn't want us to get worked up over nothing."
Of course. That sounded just like their father. He tried to hold their best interests in mind but what he wasn't realizing was that it was affecting his children regardless and now he was only pushing them away. He'd done it with Castiel, and look where it got him. But how could he act this way on his death bed? What was he trying to accomplish here?
Castiel sighed, "So did he just expect that he'd pass away without letting us know and we'd be less heartbroken?" Castiel hadn't realized how tight with emotion his voice sounded until it had come out. "Did he think we'd feel better not knowing he was going to die?" Castiel was unaware at how badly he had begun to shake until Lucifer came forward and wrapped him in a more tender hug, holding him tightly. Castiel was shocked when only a few seconds later of shaking that he began to cry.
He reached up and held Lucifer back, needing to keep him close or he felt he'd fall apart completely. That's when the all-out sobs started, racking his body with small convulsions as he wept. Lucifer ran his hand down his back, soothingly; his face nestled on Castiel's shoulder as he held him, allowing him to let it out. He was glad he finally did, having been worried for him after hearing about his reaction from Gabriel. He knew he had to break at some point, and he was glad he was here to help him through it.
Gabriel was suddenly there, his hand also on Castiel's back, but he had to look away, afraid he'd start to tear up as well. He'd been so frustrated at his father for not telling them as soon as he found out, but he knew it wasn't helping the situation. He tried to reign in the anger he felt, because right now Castiel needed to be comforted.
Slowly, Castiel stopped his crying and he turned to soft whimpers that turned to quiet sniffles. As he pulled away from his brother, he saw that Gabriel had gone and fetched a box of tissues for him, holding them in his hands as he waited for Castiel to ask for one.
Castiel wiped at an eye then reached out, Gabriel holding them out for him, and grabbed a tissue, first wiping away his tears then grabbed another to blow his nose. The whole while, Lucifer had been rubbing his shoulder, coaxing Castiel to relax. "I had someone clean the sheets in your room so you can sleep. I can go wake you when Dad wakes up." He mumbled to him.
Castiel gave a nod, allowing Gabriel to lead him out of the kitchen and to the stairs. He couldn't look at the family pictures hanging up in grand frames along the walls. He was too afraid to burst out again. Right now all he wanted was to lay down, and hopefully sleep some because he was truly exhausted from the long drive, and now he was emotionally drained as well. He didn't know who all was here in the house, but right now he didn't care. He just wanted to sleep.