AN: Whew, I'm glad I managed to finish this chapter before I leave tomorrow. (Or actually today, as it's half past two in the morning.)
I'm not that happy with this one, but it might have something to do with the fact I wrote about half of this sort of in a hurry. I might fix it a bit after I return on Sunday, if I feel like it.
Even now Dean still kept the things Sam had owned in their places, just to convince himself that his brother was still alive.
His keys were still on the drawer by the door. There was that stupid Pikachu keychain, a remain from the time Sam had been obsessed with Pokémon, with its faded paint. The only way you could recognise the yellow blob to be the electric rat was its peculiar form. Only two keys dangled from the ring, their tiny apartment's and Sam's rusty bike's. Sometimes when Dean came home, he swore the keys had moved and he could smell the burnt food before the reality came crashing onto him again.
All those books Sam used to own were all in a nice line up on various shelves, shelves that Dean didn't touch that often. But after a drink or two when he lied on the too small couch quietly, his eyes would wander across the colourful backs in wonder. Randomly he would pick a book that he flipped through half-mindedly, wondering what Sammy had thought while reading the book. Sometimes, he would wake up from the sofa after falling asleep mid-reading, noticing the book back in its place on the shelf, like Dean would have never touched it.
The plaid shirts Sam always used to wear were still neatly folded in his closet. Sometimes, when Dean had forgotten to do his laundry, he would steal one of the shirts because he had nothing else to wear. Later on, when he would be doing his laundry and one of Sam's shirts would turn up, he would wash, iron and fold it nicely in Sam's closet because Dean remembered how his brother was always so annoying about it.
Those times when Dean actually bothered to make food for himself properly, not instant, he would always set another plate, utensils and a mug opposite of him. He would eat his food with Led Zeppelin playing too loudly while staring at the empty plate that no one would ever touch and thinking that Sammy must be late at the library again.
Because that's what his life was now, nothing but simple lies that he told himself.
The worst part was that he knew they were lies, but it didn't bother him at all.
"Dean Winchester, you better open this fucking door or I swear to God I will break it down one way or another!"
Dean woke up to the banging of his front door with a book open on top of his face. The sharp voice of a certain woman, who was way too loud considering her size, sounded to his apartment and made sure that Dean wouldn't go back to sleep in a while.
Dean intently dragged himself to the door slowly as he listened to Jess' complaining on the other side. "Well you're cheery so early in the morning." Dean commented after opening the door and leaning against the frame, yawning.
"It's three in the afternoon, Dean." Jess sighed and pushed a paper bag into his arms. "I brought you lunch, because you obviously don't eat anything."
"I eat!" Dean whined back, but still peeked inside the bag. A hamburger and fries, not exactly a healthy meal, but not like Jess couldn't afford anything better, still being a student. Dean's mouth watered slightly, it was not like he didn't eat on purpose, he was just too lazy to care and he didn't have much money after all the beer he always bought.
Jess spun around on her heels, setting her hands on her tiny waist. "Instant noodles once a day doesn't count as eating! Even that hamburger is better than that!" She scoffed and proceeded on cleaning up empty beer bottles and collecting dirty clothes from the floor to do laundry. Dean didn't know at what point this happened, but Jess had started acting like a mother towards him, making sure he ate properly and cleaning up his messes.
Dean settled on the sofa to eat, his hands taking out the burger and his green eyes stared at it hungrily. "So, why are you here?" He asked as he peeled out his food out of its wrapper. "You don't come here that often to just bring me food. You usually just make those angry calls." He moaned happily at the familiar taste of a burger in his mouth as he bit into his lunch. Only if he could afford to buy them every day.
"Oh right." Jess stated like she just remembered something. Digging her purse that hung from her shoulder, she pulled a pair of paper slips, tickets to be precise. "I was supposed to go to this concert with a friend of mine, but neither of us could make it. We decided instead to set you up on a blind date."
"You WHAT?" Dean's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise and he stared at Jess, whose expression did not change. "Did you happen to notice that I'm not exactly the type that girls want to date?"
Settling down on the sofa next to Dean, Jess' expression turned determined. "I thought that's exactly the problem. You drown yourself in alcohol because you're lonely!" Dean kept munching on his burger while he frowned at Jess' words. She swallowed and her eyes travelled around the room as she tried to find the right words to explain him her good intentions. "We thought- If you could find the right girl, she could get you back on the right road." She fiddled nervously with her fingers as she spoke and Dean stared at her hands curiously.
He knew Jess meant well, she just wanted Dean to get back on his own two feet. "Okay." He muttered and got back to eating his absolutely-too-delicious hamburger.
"O-Okay? Just like that?"
Dean shrugged as he threw the last piece into his mouth and started digging the fries out of the paper bag. "Yeah. It's not like it's end of the world or anything. I can survive one goddamn date."
A smile widened to Jess' beautiful face when she handed the two tickets over to Dean. "His concerts are often sold-out, so it's kind of a disappointment that I can't make it myself. He is apparently quite good." She rambled. Dean's eyes immediately settled on the name of the concert's main event while she continued on explaining about the guy's career.
Castiel Novak
Great, just fucking brilliant.
Castiel lied on top of his bed, breathing slowly in and out.
Finally the day of the concert had come, but he didn't know if he should be really fucking nervous or relieved. Castiel had learned to hate these concerts Lucifer made him do. 'It was to make Castiel well-known', he said. Castiel often told Lucifer before a concert that it would be his last one in a while. Still, soon Lucifer would be announcing another concert in about a month across the country and Castiel couldn't complain anything about it.
The only good thing out of these goddamn concerts was the way Castiel's mother would praise him on those rare occasions she would call. It made Castiel happy, hearing how proud his mother was of him and how she wished she could make it into one of them someday. She really wanted to see her little boy play in front of all those people.
Rolling off his bed, Castiel headed downstairs to get himself something to eat before getting dressed for the evening. Anna was there, spread all over the sofa to watch some soap opera. Both of them ignored each other, like always, as Castiel went to the kitchen.
Taking out a yoghurt from the fridge, Castiel frowned, realising he hadn't seen Lucifer at all that day. "Anna" He called his sister as he headed back to the living room. "Anna" Castiel repeated because Anna had made no gesture to show she was listening. "Where's Lucifer? He was supposed to drive me to the concert hall today."
"I don't know." The red-head grumbled and kept her eyes on the TV-screen. "Walk, it would do you some good."
"You know very well I can't do that." Castiel answered, but Anna didn't make any comment, though Castiel waited for almost a minute. "Fine." Castiel sighed as he dragged himself back upstairs to get himself ready.
The concert hall was buzzing with people and Dean straightened his tie probably for the thousandth time in the span of fifteen minutes. It was still another fifteen minutes before the concert would start and it was about now that Dean was supposed to meet his date for the evening in the exact spot he was standing at.
Dean had dressed up in the only suit he still owned. The few years wear could be noticed from it, but more worried Dean was of the fact that it had been tucked not-so-neatly in his closet and had had some really noticeable wrinkles. He had luckily managed to get the surface nice and smooth, at least he hoped so.
"Dean Winchester?"
Dean turned around to meet green eyes of a woman who was about his age. Her hair was a colour of bright red and it curled nicely to her shoulders. She was wearing a simple black evening dress that hugged her body just in the right way. Dean held down a whistle as he smiled widely at the woman. "That's me. And you are?"
The woman shoved her hand forward, giving Dean a nervous smile. "Charlie Bradbury."
Dean nodded and took Charlie's hand. "It's nice to meet you Charlie." He forced his normal flirty grin on his face as he shook her hand, only to get a roll of her eyes as a response. Dean offered his arm to Charlie, who stared at it questionly. "Come on, I'm trying to be a gentleman here." Dean sighed, dropping his arm back down. "Anyway, shall we go find our seats?"
"Alright." Charlie mumbled and followed behind Dean as he walked towards the doors that led to the hall.
As Castiel entered through the doors of the concert hall, he swore he saw Dean Winchester for a second, dressed in a suit that looked fucking good on him. Castiel frowned slightly at his thoughts and shook his head to get them away. For now, he had to focus on tonight's concert.
Castiel sneaked towards the backstage while cursing Lucifer for making him be late. Everybody else was already ready when Castiel arrived, gaining a few angry glares from the orchestra members. "Mr Novak, you're late!" Zachariah, the conductor, hissed as he saw Castiel in his messed up state. "Never mind, just get yourself in presentable shape and get ready."
With that, Castiel frowned, but took off his tan trench coat, straightened his clothes and took out his violin before he nodded to Zachariah to signal that he was ready.
People started clapping as Castiel stepped onto the stage with the conductor. Dean, however, couldn't help but swallow at the sight of the violinist in his white dress shirt and black waistcoat that fit perfectly his body. "Hey, you alright?" Charlie whispered from next to him curiously, seeing Dean's reaction.
Dean nodded, his eyes fixed on Castiel. The violinist's whole posture was so refined and the way he held himself was something Dean couldn't help but drool over.
The orchestra begun playing at the conductor's signal, but Castiel still stood there, those blue eyes, that Dean unfortunately couldn't see, not really fixed on anything. Soon he set the wooden brown violin with a reddish hue under his chin, readying himself to play.
The surprisingly low sound of the violin sounded over the other instruments. Castiel's fingers played over the strings in so fast pace Dean wouldn't have thought was possible. The whole air around the man changed as he played. He seemed more serious. Though the music was so fucking amazing, Dean couldn't get rid of the feeling that Castiel didn't enjoy playing. He wasn't sure. Something just seemed off.
"So, are you gay?"
Charlie asked this question during the interval as they stood back in the lobby. "Bi, actually, why do you ask?" Dean answered, slightly confused.
She shrugged and rolled her eyes. "You were totally drooling after that dreamy violinist. I guess it would have been awkward for me as your date, but I don't really care, as I am only into girls."
Dean looked Charlie from head-to-toe, confused even more. "And yet here you are. On a date with a man." He chuckled and tucked his hands into his pockets and leaned against a wall. "Why did you agree to go on a date with me if you are gay?" He asked carefully.
"Jess was being persistent and honestly, she slightly scared me so I didn't dare to tell her I'm not attracted to men." Charlie admitted and leaned against the wall next to Dean. "Now that I got that out of my chest, do you want to end this date now or shall we go back inside for more culture." She asked, slightly laughing, which actually made Dean relax more.
Dean chuckled and pushed himself away from the wall. "Actually this is sort of a relief for me too. If you're not tired yet, I wouldn't mind you joining me to drool over that dreamy violinist."
"I think one of the cello players was more my type, but I think I could still come." Charlie stated as she followed Dean back to the hall.
