June 19, 2014
"Dean, you worry too much. I'm fine, Sam's fine, the house is fine. Just enjoy the bachelor party." Dean huffed a sigh, and even through the receiver Cas could imagine him worrying the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He'd only been gone for ten hours, but it felt like an eternity. Cas' stomach had dropped when Dean mentioned going to an old high school friend's bachelor party. Not because he didn't trust Dean, he trusted him implicitly.
It was more accurately because, since he'd moved in, they hadn't spent more then an overnight shift away from one another, and now he was staring down the barrel of a three day weekend without him.
"I know that you guys are fine, I just...I worry about you guys. I don't like being this far away." Cas thumbed through his way through the book for his Detective's test while he listened to Dean.
"It'll only be a couple of days, Dean. You have got to take some time to relax or you'll end up running yourself into the ground." Dean grumbled something that sounded like 'yeah, yeah', and Castiel chuckled to himself just before the phone beeped in his ear. He pulled back and looked down at the screen that flashed 'Kevin Calling' up at him. "Babe, Kevin's calling, I have to go. I'll talk to you in the moring, try to have fun. For me?"
"Yeah, okay." Dean sighed. "I love you."
"Love you too." Cas smiled, and pulled the phone away to answer the other call. "Hey, Kevin, what's up?" There was a hesitant silence on the other end of the line. "Kev?"
"Hey, Castiel..." He could hear Kevin swallow thickly, and a lump formed in the base of his throat. "We've got, uh, can you come down to the department? There's something that we need you to take care of." He blew out a sigh of relief. Work. It was just work.
"Yeah, I'll be right down. See you soon." He flicked the phone off and tucked it into his pocket before jogging out to his cruiser. He sped through the sleepy town around him, admiring how the headlights reflected off of the tar which was still wet from the rain shower they'd gotten.
He pulled into the department parking lot, heaved a sigh, and walked inside. Kevin was pacing near the far end of the room, worrying his thumb nail between his teeth, and Ellen was perched behind her computer, jabbing at buttons on the phone and cursing under her breath when it didn't work. Cas put his arms out to the side in a questioning gesture.
"Okay, I'm here. What's up?"
"Well, we had a call come in about an hour ago and-."
"Cas?! Is that you?! Heeeeeeey, buddy!" A loud, slurred voice interrupted Kevin's sentence, and Cas let his head drop forward. He knew that voice. Turning, he found Sam giving him a lop-sided grin from where he was laying on the cot in the holding cell.
"Sam? What the hell is going on?" He questioned, stepping closer and resting his hand on the cool metal of the cell.
"We got a call, they said some guy was sitting on the general store porch, singing 'Hey, Jude' at the top of his lungs. When we got there, we found Sam trying to make friends with a lightning bug."
"Ohmuhgawd, you shoulda seen 'im, Cas! He was so pretty!" Sam cooed, sitting up a bit too quickly and falling over on the cot again. He scrunched his hand into a fist and then opened it a couple of times. "He was blinking, just like this. Aaawesome." He conceeded. Cas ran his hand over the back of his neck and shook his head.
"Sammy, I thought you were going to Jess' house?"
"I did! And, and while I was there, I got a call from Stanford. I got early acceptance into their Pre-Law program." Sam waved his hand enthusiastically in front of him. "I'mma be a lawyer, Cas!"
"That's awesome, Sam, but it doesn't explain how you ended up drunk in the middle of town."
"Well, we wanted to celebrate, and Jess' parents have this great scotch. They're in Cabo, you know? For their 'nniversary. Drank the whoooole thing. Then, I didn't want Jess to drive me home because," He looked around the cell and leaned towards Cas before lowering his voice to a stage whisper. "She was drunk, so I started walking home. Then I got hungry, so I went to the store, but they were closed. So I started to sing. Then I met Pip."
"Pip?" Cas questioned, his arms crossing over his chest and his eyebrow quirking up.
"Yup. Pip. The lightning bug? Hell-ooo, Cas, weren't you listening to my story at all?" Cas shook his head and looked at Kevin.
"Why don't you let him out, I'll take him home. No sense in having him stay overnight. I'm sure the hangover he'll have in the morning will be more then enough of a lesson." Kevin quickly unlocked the cell, and Cas moved in to help Sam struggle to his feet.
He wasn't nearly as tall as Sam, so when he looped an arm around Cas' shoulder and rested most of his weight on him, it made it extremely difficult to shuffle him to the cruiser. However, after three near falls, and an almost catastrophic experience on the front steps, they had made it into the cruiser and Cas slide Sam into the front seat before driving them home.
Getting Sam into the house proved to be no easier then getting him out of the department had been, so it took quite a bit of effort to get him situated on the couch with a pillow tucked behind his head. He watched Cas slump into the arm chair opposite him through tired, unfocused eyes.
"Sam, what were you thinking?" He finally whispered. Sam frowned and shuffled into a semi-sitting position.
"Are...are you mad at me, Cas?" Castiel pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
"I'm not mad, Sam. I'm disappointed. I thought you were smarter than this. What if something had happened to you? I couldn't have lived with myself if that had happened." He carded his fingers through his hair once, brushing his bangs off of his forehead, and then shifted his gaze back to Sam. The teenager was staring at his feet on the couch, his mouth twisted into something between a frown and a quiver.
"I'm...Cas, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disappoint you." The slur of his words through his teeth made Cas wince. He briefly had to wonder exactly how drunk Sam was.
"I know that you're sorry, Sam. It doesn't change the fact that you did it. You're going to be an adult soon, and you need to start thinking about the things you do. Especially if you're going to be going to Stanford under early acceptance." Sam opened his mouth, but Cas held up a hand to cut him off. "I'm not telling you any of this to try to act like your father, because I know I'm not. I'm telling you all of this because I care about you, Sam. I do, you're family, and I don't want to see you get hurt. I only want the best for you, and I want you to reach your full potential."
"Cas, you..." Sam sighed and shook his hair out of his eyes. "Don't tell Dean that I said this, 'cause I'll deny it until the day that I die, but you two? You're more then just my brother and his boyfriend. Dean has always been more like a dad then a brother, and now I've got you too. And when you guys keep an eye on me, and watch out for me, it's almost like I get to be normal. Well, normal for us anyway. It's like I have two parents, and it's kinda like none of the bad shit that's happened before ever existed."
Cas stared at him, his mouth hanging open in shock. He had not been expecting that. He watched as Sam gave a monsterous yawn before wiggling back down to lay on the couch. He rolled his head towards Cas and gave him a half smile.
"Love you, Cas. Thank you for bringing me home." He mumbled before his words broke to soft snoring. Cas smiled to himself and nodded, standing from the chair and pulling the afghan off of the back of the couch, draping it over Sam's form.
"Love you too, Sammy." He whispered, flicking the overhead light off and wandering through the emptiness of the house. His barefeet hit the bottom step, the wood creaking loudly through the silence, and he moved up to his and Dean's room. He stripped down to his boxers and slipped beneath the sheets, curling his arms around Dean's pillow and inhaling his scent deeply before drifiting into a fitful sleep.
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Three long days later...
Cas was snoring softly in the rope hammock in the back yard, his dark aviators on his face, and his study book resting on his chest, when Dean returned home. He chuckled, giving Cas a once over before dropping his duffel bag on the ground, picking the book up off of Cas' chest, and worming his way into the hammock beside him. Cas snuffled loudly and shifted, his eyes blinking past the haze of sleep to smile softly at Dean.
"You're home." He whispered, leaning in and brushing his nose over Dean's. Dean chuckled in response and nodded, his arms winding around Cas and holding him to his chest. "How was the bachelor party?"
"If you've been to one, you've been to them all." Dean hummed, tucking Cas' head under his chin. "Kevin called me yesterday." Cas froze. He hadn't called and told Dean about the incident with Sam, because he hadn't wanted to upset him on his trip, but also because he wanted Sam to trust him.
"Dean, I was going to tell you, I just-."
"Cas, you don't have to do that. I'm...yeah, I'm a little pissed that Sammy was that dumb, but he knew enough not to get into a car, and I'm sure you handled it well. He wasn't a little shit to you, was he?"
"No, he was fine, Dean. Well, the next morning he wasn't quite as 'fine', he had one hell of a hangover." Dean laughed loudly, the noise humming through his chest and into Cas' ear.
"I'm sure he did. Kid's never been drunk a day in his life. He's doing better then I was at his age." He replied, his fingers skittering over the material of the button-down shirt that Cas was wearing. He paused and tugged at the fabric. "S'this my shirt?"
"Mhmm." Cas replied sheepishly, a blush painting his cheeks. "It smelled like you, and I missed you." He looked up at Dean, thankful that there was a gentle smile on the other man's lips.
"I missed you too. So much. I don't think I'll ever be able to go out of town again."
"You know, some people would call that an unhealthy codependency." Cas smirked, leaning up and letting his lips hover over Dean's, not quite kissing him.
"Oh, yeah? Well some people would be right. Thing is, though, I don't give a damn." The sat in silence for a long while, the warm, gentle breeze rocking the hammock ever so slightly.
"Dean?"
"Hmm?" Dean hummed, his eyes closed and his breathing even as he hovered on the edge of sleep.
"I love you. And I love Sam. I'm glad that I have you two." Dean let one eye pop open and looked down at Cas.
"We love you too, Cas." He replied cautiously, his brow furrowing.
"It's just..." Cas hesitated. "Don't tell Sam that I told you, but when he was drunk, he said that you've always been like a dad to him, and now it's like he has two parents. And, frankly, I loved it. I love the idea of us being a family."
"Cas, what are you talking about? We've been a family since the day you showed up on the front lawn." Dean laughed, reaching out a calloused finger and brushing Cas' bangs out of his eyes. "Your hair's getting long." He mumbled, pressing a kiss to the other man's forehead.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to go get it cut, I just haven't made it to town yet."
"I can cut it for you, you know, I've got clippers in the house."
"Really? You're going to cut my hair?" Cas asked skeptically, pulling his sunglasses off to stare at Dean properly. Dean scowled down at him, pinching the skin just over his ribs and causing Cas to yelp.
"Yes, smartass, I used to trim Sammy's hair when he was a kid. I'm very good at it, thank you very much. C'mon, let's go cut that mop off." Dean was out of the hammock and halfway to the house before Cas had a chance to protest. He sighed and rolled out of the hammock, picking up Dean's duffel and his book before following Dean's boots prints into the house.
He leaned against the wall, watching as Dean shuffled between the kitchen and the bathroom to grab the hair clippers, a ragged towel, and a chair. He set the chair near the counter top and patted it, gesturing for Cas to take a seat. He reluctantly complied and took a seat, slipping his shirt off his shoulders as he did so.
Dean's hand fell heavily on his shoulder, the warmth of his palm spreading through Cas so quickly it may as well have been a wildfire. He shuddered, but put the thoughts of throwing Dean against the kitchen wall out of his head.
Cas silently willed himself to remain still as the whir of the clippers filled the air. Dean's lips brushing over the back of his neck were certainly doing nothing to help that.
The cool metal and plastic touched his head and clumps of hair began falling softly on his bare shoulders. He relaxed when Dean's fingers began following the path of the clippers, smoothing through the shorter hair and over his scalp. He hummed low in his throat, his eyes fluttering shut at the sensation.
Castiel's muscles quivered under Dean's hand when it ran down the back of his neck and smoothed over his shoulder, brushing the hair onto the floor. Dean chuckled at the shudder and shushed quietly through his teeth. Cas felt himself melting back into the chair, allowing Dean to go about cutting the shaggy mop that he'd been calling hair.
"Done." Dean finally whispered, fifteen minutes later. Cas stood and shook his head, shaking all of the stray strands out. He stepped into the bathroom and ran a hand over his shortened hair, smiling softly.
"It's great, Dean." He turned to face where Dean was leaning against the bathroom doorframe. "Thank you." Dean stepped closer and let his hands rest on Cas' hips, dipping his head to kiss him softly.
"Told you I could cut hair." He mumbled against Cas' mouth, smirking playfully. Cas rolled his eyes and pulled back.
"Arrogance isn't becoming, Dean." He chastised, kissing Dean's chin before going back out into the kitchen. "Does, uh," Cas stared at Dean, rolling the words he wanted to say around his tongue a few times. "Does Sam know that you know about this weekend?" Dean nodded once.
"Yeah, I texted him and told him that Kevin called me, and we were going to have a talk."
"Ah, that must be why he hasn't come down here to see you yet." Cas chuckled. Dean stepped closer and pressed his hand to the side of Castiel's cheek, brushing his thumb over his cheekbone.
"I'm glad that Sammy had you here, Cas."
"So am I. I don't know how else he would have gotten home." He tilted his head to the side, looking at Dean curiously. "Kevin said that he was singing 'Hey, Jude' when they found him. Frankly, I was impressed he could remember the lyrics, he was pretty drunk when I got there..."
"It's," Dean swallowed, his fingers twitching on Cas' face. "It's what Mom used to sing to us when we were little, so when Sammy was growing up I sang it to him when he couldn't sleep."
"Dean, I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-."
"It's okay, Cas. You didn't know." Dean shook his head, pulling Cas closer until they were pressed together with Cas' head tucked under his chin. Dean swayed slightly, rocking Cas side to side slowly.
"Dean?"
"Hmm?"
"I've...I've been thinking. Would it..." He paused. "Would it be possible for me to come on one of your runs with you?" He felt Dean tense underneath him, and silently cursed himself. Dean pulled away, looking at Cas skeptically.
"Cas." He growled, his brow furrowed and his eyes dark. "I don't think that's a good idea. It's...it's not what you imagine it's like, I promise."
"I know that it's dangerous, Dean, I'm a cop, for Christ's sake. I just want to see what it's like, I want to know what you do. Please?" Dean sighed and dropped his hands to his sides.
"Can I think about it, and then we can discuss it later? I kinda had plans for tonight." Cas quirked an eyebrow.
"What kind of plans?"
"Dinner plans. For you and me. I'll leave Sammy money to order pizza or something, but you need to go get changed." Cas nodded slowly, turning to walk to their bedroom to change. He yelped when Dean's hand tapped his ass lightly, and turned to scowl at the wicked look on the other man's face. "Scoot, or we won't have time." Cas grumbled, but shuffled to the bedroom anyway.
Digging through the closet for a shirt, he allowed his mind to hum. Why didn't Dean want him to go on a run? Did he think he couldn't handle it? Of course he could handle it. He'd handled shoot outs in New York City, why wouldn't he be able to handle a simple moonshine run? And just where the hell did Dean intend on taking him for dinner?
He sighed, tugging out a plain, crisp white button down and dark blue jeans, and slipped into the clothes. After checking his pockets to make sure that he had everything that he needed, he strode back into the living room, and he and Dean made their way out to the Impala.
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Iron Boar Saloon
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
They drove a ways out of town, singing along to the radio while Cas tapped out the beat on his denim clad thighs. The smile on Dean's face when Cas broke into an air guitar solo during some country-rock song was enough to keep Cas' fingers moving over thin air and his tongue pinched between his teeth. This was the Dean that he wished the rest of the world got to see; The one that smiled, and laughed, and planned out dinners for them and pizza for Sammy. The one that let his little brother off the hook for being hammered because 'he was worse at that age'. His Dean. Not the badass, moonshining outlaw that everyone else assumed he was.
When they pulled into the restaurant, Cas' jaw hung slightly open when he took in the building in front of him. It was a massive thing, with way too much neon and a structure of old, weathered looking bare wood. The neon sign on the front of the building declared Iron Boar Saloon proudly, and there were three flags snapping and waving in the mild breeze. In front of the building was a line of more motorcycles then Cas had ever seen in one spot before. Dean gave him a lop-sided grin that made his stomach flip.
"A biker bar, Dean?"
"Yeah?" Dean frowned at him. "What's wrong with it? We can go somewhere else if you want..."
"No, it's fine, I just...didn't know that you were in to biker bars." Cas shrugged. Dean gave a breathy laugh and nodded.
"Yeah, I do. I've had a thing for motorcycles since I was a kid. I've always wanted to get one, I just haven't had spare cash or time." He got a wistful look in his eyes as he scanned over the line of Harleys. "There's just something about them. Reckless. Wild. Daring."
"Like you." Cas muttered, smiling softly and squeezing Dean's hand on the steering wheel. A blush crept up Dean's neck and he nodded shyly, killing the ignition and pocketing Baby's keys.
"C'mon. Let's go grab some dinner." They stepped out of the car, and the closer they got to the door, Cas could practically feel the thrumming of energy floating off of Dean. "You're gonna love this place, Cas, I swear. Best food I've ever had. Dad took me here once when I was a kid." Cas just smiled and nodded as Dean launched into story after story of bringing Sammy in to have lunch when he was younger.
Their waitress was a pretty young thing with too-blonde hair tied back, and a tight white tank top. She frowned petulantly when she noticed that Dean's attention was all on Cas, but brough them their oversized mugs of beer with a fake smile anyway.
The saloon was crowded with enormous men in leather jackets, thick facial hair, and black bandanas wrapped around their heads. It had a collection of signs on the walls, a pool table tucked in the back corner by a well worn dart board, and reminded Cas of every cowboy bar he'd ever seen in movies.
"So, what do you think?" Dean questioned around a mouthful of potato when Cas was done eating his steak.
"This place is fantastic, Dean. I'm glad we came here." He smiled, watching the corner of Dean's eyes crinkle as he returned the happy smirk.
"You wanna go play pool?" Dean questioned. Cas blushed in response, his eyes dropping to the center of the table where a haphazard heart had been carved into the wood.
"I don't know how to play." He mumbled. Dean chuckled low in his throat and stood anyway, tugging Cas out of his seat. Cas looked at him, his eyes wide, suddenly nervous. "Dean, I-."
"Relax, Cas." He laughed, moving them through the crowd after dropping a few bills onto the table to cover their tab. "I'll teach you." He grabbed two cues off of the wall near the table and racked up the pool balls. Cas fiddled absently with the pool cue that Dean had handed him until Dean stepped up behind him, his belt buckle digging into the small of Cas' back. "Okay, you're gonna wanna lean over the table a little, brace your front hand over the cue to keep it steady." Cas complied, mirroring Dean's actions.
"Like this?"
"Yeah, that's good. Now, you just have to line it up and follow through." Cas did so, and he watched the pool balls skitter around the table, a few of them dropping into various pockets. Dean's hand fell lightly on his back and he smiled down at him. "Exactly. See? Not that hard." Cas smiled at him and nodded, stepping away from the table.
"Thank you, Dean." Dean tilted his head to the side curiously.
"For what?"
"For teaching me to play pool. And taking me to dinner. And...everything." Cas smiled softly, his hand hovering over Dean's hips before he glanced around the saloon and let them drop to his sides. Dean chuckled before wrapping his hand around Cas' hip and pulling him in closer.
"I want to show you something." He whispered.
The only thing that Cas could do was nod, and allow himself to be dragged through the crowd of people and out into the humid air. Dean shuffled him hurriedly into the passengers seat and tore out of the parking lot, leaving the Iron Boar Saloon fading against the skyline.
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Cas must have dozed off, because the next thing he registered was waking up with his face pressed against the cool window and a hand shaking his shoulder. He pawed at the trickle of drool that had crept out of his mouth and turned to look at Dean.
The other man was bent over outside the car so that he could lean in and nudge Cas until he woke. The sun had long since disappeared, and the sky was inky black above them. Cas couldn't help but remember the meteor shower.
"Dean, if you drove me out to the middle of nowhere after stuffing me with steak and chicken wings to see a comet or something, I may be forced to kiss you senseless." He mumbled, climbing out of his own door and rounding the hood of the Impala, meeting Dean in the middle. He slipped his hands under the leather jacket Dean wore, warming his fingers on the overheated skin of his back.
Cas leaned up and pressed his chapped lips against Dean's, humming softly in the back of his throat. Dean chuckled into the kiss, nipping at Cas' lower lip before pulling away and smiling down at him.
"C'mon, look." Dean mumbled, nudging his nose along Cas' jaw. Cas sighed heavily and pulled back to look around. They'd pulled off to the shoulder of a road that seemed to stretched forever, carving its way through the mountains. There were no cars as far as Cas could see, leaving them on the road by themselves.
"Where are we?" Dean stepped behind Castiel, wrapping his arms around the other man's waist and pulling him back to his chest, his chin settling on Cas' shoulder.
"You said you wanted to see what I do. This is what I do." Cas' brow furrowed, confused.
"I'm sorry, Dean, I don't...I don't understand what you mean."
"This is Thunder Road, Cas. This is where I make my runs."