So this is likely to be the last chapter update for a month. I'm sorry. I promise I'll update asap when I get back, I'll try and write a couple of chapters when I'm away so I just have to type them up and get them beta'd before I can upload them! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate your support and feedback – I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll be back in a month! Please do review, your reviews will be a lovely thing to come back to and your comments are my inspiration.
Once again, thanks so much to my amazing beta rdmnss!
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of the characters. If I did, Destiel would be canon, Gabriel would be alive and Metatron would never have gotten away with expelling all of the angels from Heaven... *sob*
Castiel supposed that he should have expected some curiosity – after all, Miss Moore had seen him and Dean together at the school – but he was still taken by surprise when she pulled him aside after a lesson saying that she needed to talk to him.
He had just finished his montage of vintage-style black and white photographs and placed it in the side room for grading, when she quite literally appeared out of nowhere behind him with a strange expression on her face.
"Castiel, could you come with me for a few minutes? We need to talk."
Instantly, Castiel's mind had gone into overdrive. What could he have done wrong? It must be the paint he had borrowed from the cupboard without asking, someone had probably seen him take it and now he was being arrested for stealing. Or it could be that the drawings he had submitted of Dean weren't a high enough standard and he had to do them again. Looking like a deer caught in the headlights, Castiel had quietly followed Miss Moore into the rarely-used office down the corridor from the classroom and sat down, nervously fiddling with the sleeves of his trenchcoat.
"There's no need to be nervous, you're not in trouble." Miss Moore tried to reassure Castiel, sitting behind the desk and leaning forward, her elbows propped up. "I'm just wondering what your relationship is with Dean Winchester."
Castiel's mouth fell open in shock, before he quickly closed it and frowned, crossing his legs and tilting his head to one side.
"I don't understand." He finally replied, confusion evident from his tone of voice.
Miss Moore smiled and sat back. "Castiel, you've been in my class for several months, and not once have I ever seen you fully interact with any of your peers. While I am very happy that you finally seem to have found someone to talk to, I'm concerned that Dean isn't the right sort of friend for you."
Castiel's frown deepened and he sat back. "Several people have accused Dean of not being a suitable boyfriend. I do not believe that any of them truly know him. Dean Winchester is a wonderful man, and he is very good to me."
"I'm sorry." Miss Moore looked slightly incredulous. "Did you say boyfriend?"
"That is the term, is it not, for a male who you are romantically attached to?"
Miss Moore's eyes widened, and her hands twitched, almost like she wanted to record this revelation. "Well. I knew the two of you were friends, but I didn't think that you had a ... romantic attachment, as you put it."
"Yes. I believe we do." Castiel had gone back to his usual emotionless tone of voice, combined with a slightly confused expression that asked 'why does it matter?'.
Miss Moore smiled falsely. "I see. So how did you and Dean become involved?"
"Miss Moore, I do not want to appear rude, but I do not see how that is any of your business." Castiel was still confused.
Miss Moore looked down briefly, before meeting Castiel's gaze. "Please, call me Jess. You are now dating the brother of my boyfriend... the OLDER brother, as strange as that sounds. I know Dean Winchester very well, better than most others, and I am just concerned that he's taking advantage. That's all. I worry about my students, Castiel."
"You are a teacher dating a student from another school, and you are worried about the appropriateness of one of your students dating another student?"
Miss Moore actually blushed. "Yes, well..."
"Miss Moore, I will not pry into your relationship with Sam Winchester if you do not pry into mine with Dean. I believe that is the best way to proceed."
She sighed. "Yes. I am sorry, I was just concerned. Dean has a bit of a reputation; I don't want you to end up adding to it."
Castiel raised an eyebrow. "You mean his history of fornication with women? I am not a woman; I fail to see how I could in any way affect that."
Miss Moore choked at Castiel's phrasing. "Oh, naturally... I meant that I hope he's not just using you. I hope you're not just another, trickier conquest."
"Dean and I have had this discussion. I do not believe your concerns are relevant."
Miss Moore didn't reply, and Castiel stood up, walking to the door. "May I leave? Dean wishes to teach me how to drive today, and I would rather not be late."
She nodded. "Of course. Oh, and Castiel? If we are going to be dating brothers, I imagine we will be seeing each other outside of school. So please learn to call me Jess."
Castiel paused, as if he was contemplating her request, before silently walking out the door.
Fifteen minutes later, Castiel had nearly arrived at the garage where Dean both studied and worked. He didn't normally come into the college area of town, and he was starting to remember why – he was getting some very strange looks from rough-looking men and women, and while he disliked stereotyping them he had to admit they made him feel unsafe. He also couldn't help but worry about running into that man, Benny, again – he didn't particularly want another confrontation, especially when Dean was around – Dean struck him as the sort of person who was likely to be reckless when it came to fights.
Looking around, Castiel eventually noticed the garage tucked behind a large, ugly college building. The college was a horrific work of architecture – Castiel expected that most of his fellow students at the Academy could have designed nicer looking buildings. Everything was very boring and grey – at least the two cars parked outside the garage added a little colour to the scene.
Smiling at the thought of seeing Dean, Castiel crossed the road and stood outside the garage, peering in. There were several men there, tinkering with various aspects of cars and occasionally shouting over the din of machinery. The entire place stank of oil and various other chemicals, and Castiel wrinkled his nose. This was even worse than the sculpting and modelling area at the Academy, and he hadn't thought that that was possible.
Suddenly, one of the guys seemed to notice Castiel standing there and wandered over, looking confused. He was several inches taller than Castiel's six feet, and he couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated, especially seeing the muscles and tattoos covering the guy's arms.
"Can I help you?" He asked, looking down at Castiel.
"Um... I'm here to see Dean Winchester." Castiel shouted, trying to make himself heard over the noise.
"He's not allowed to leave until he's finished the car he's working on. Just wait here and don't touch anything." The guy replied loudly, before turning away and resuming his previous job pumping air into a car's tyres.
Castiel felt very awkward, and the noise was giving him a headache, but he stood stock still looking around the garage to try and find Dean.
Before he spotted him though, he noticed someone else and a cold hand seemed to settle against his heart. Benny. He was on the other side of the garage, examining a very old, shiny looking red car with one hand scratching his head. He was dressed in absolutely filthy overalls, even more dirty than anyone else Castiel could see in the place. As Castiel stared, he stepped back away from the car and picked up a rag and a toolbox lying on the ground, before starting to walk towards where Castiel was.
Frozen to the spot, Castiel simply watched while Benny walked over, pausing to exchange a few words with the guy who had spoken to Castiel earlier, before wandering towards the exit. As he neared Castiel, he suddenly seemed to realise that he was there and a look of complete scorn came over his face.
"So, faggot, I see that you didn't listen to me then," he spat as he stopped in front of Castiel.
"I see that you haven't got any politer or less deluded since we last met." Castiel replied.
Benny's face scrunched up. "Are you insultin' me?"
"Yes." Castiel responded, tilting his head to one side.
An expression of pure anger appeared on Benny's face. "You are gonna pay for that, faggot-boy!"
He stepped forward, fists raised, and Castiel instinctively moved to one side and sharply tapped him on the temple. Benny's eyes widened, his face bulging, and then he dropped to the floor unconscious.
Castiel looked down at the slumped body on the floor, then stepped back, looking up to see Dean standing there with an expression halfway between concern and pride on his face.
"Dude – that was awesome!" He exclaimed.
Castiel smiled slightly, bemused. "Thank you. He shouldn't have any permanent injuries, although he may wake up with a slight concussion."
Dean stepped forward and gave Castiel a hug, surprising him, but after a moment he returned it, leaning his head on Dean's shoulder.
"Are you alright, though?" Dean asked, mumbling into Cas's ear. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have asked you to come down knowing he'd be here."
"I'm fine." Castiel squeezed Dean's arm to reassure him.
A loud cough behind them made Castiel jump and spring away from Dean, and he looked up, embarrassed, seeing the guy who he had initially spoken to staring at them.
"Mr Winchester, while your private life is none of my business, I would ask that you and your boyfriend keep any of your issues away from my garage. Am I clear?"
Dean blushed, looking down. "Yes boss. I'm sorry, it won't happen again."
The boss then smiled gruffly. "However, I don't condone homophobia so don't worry, I'll be having strict words with this young man here. You two can go and have a nice evening now; I'll ensure he doesn't press charges. Don't forget to use protection!"
At that, Dean went positively crimson and started to drag Castiel away. Confused, Castiel simply followed him to an area near the back of the garage, trying to work out what had Dean so flustered.
"What did he mean 'use protection'? Protection from what?"
Dean coughed, not meeting Cas's eyes. "It's nothing Cas, don't worry about it. Now just let me grab my stuff and we can go out the back. We're not drivin' baby today, no offence but I don't want to risk her crashin'. We're borrowin' another car."
Castiel nodded, before looking down and noticing the marks on his trenchcoat from where Dean had hugged him in mucky overalls. He frowned.
"You're covered in oil." He complained.
Dean laughed, wiping a messy hand across Castiel's cheek. "Dude, I'm a trainee mechanic. You'd best get used to it! It's not that bad."
Castiel frowned, wiping his cheek. "I am very fond of this coat. I do not wish it to be stained by oil."
Dean shrugged, picking up his toolbox and looking Castiel up and down. "It's not that badly stained. I've got some stuff at home that's good at getting out oil stains; I can wash it for you if you want. It'll be good as new."
Castiel smiled. "Thank you. That would be nice."
Dean smiled back, and they stood like that for a while before Dean cleared his throat and turned away.
"So, we'd better get started. It'll be dark in a few hours; you should probably have some daytime experience before you try drivin' in the dark."
Castiel nodded, feeling slightly nervous. He followed Dean outside, relieved at the sudden quietness that befell his ears. He hadn't realised how badly they were ringing until he got away from all the noise.
Dean was standing beside an old-looking light blue car, a little smaller than his normal car but similarly shaped. Castiel presumed that he was supposed to be impressed, but it just looked like a car to him.
"Right, this girl isn't Baby, but she still needs respect, yeah? Just get in the driver's seat and I'll show you what to do from there."
Castiel awkwardly moved around the car and opened the heavy door, sitting down on the worn seat and looking over at Dean. Dean smiled encouragingly.
"Great! Now, if you look down there – that pedal's the accelerator, yeah? You got that? That one there's the brake, which means the other one's the clutch. You need that to change gears."
"I know the basic theory of driving, Dean, I have simply never done it."
Dean smiled. "Well, in that case, let's give it a go! Just turn the key and try going down that dirt track up ahead – it's nice and wide, so you've got some space if you can't go in a straight line at first – woah! Dude!"
Castiel hunched over the steering wheel as the car lurched forward, his foot firmly down on the accelerator.
"Slow down, Cas, this isn't a race! You're not supposed to go this fast in first gear!"
Cas fumbled and hit the brake, and car skidding slightly sideways and screeching to a stop in a whirl of dust.
There was a pause, and then Dean burst out laughing.
"I don't see what is so amusing." Castiel commented, heart still racing.
Dean continued to laugh. "You're so intense when you're driving! That wasn't bad actually – it could have been a lot worse! It's not like I'm a proper teacher."
Castiel frowned. "I am not sure that I wish to continue doing this."
Dean stopped laughing and leant over, putting a hand on Castiel's shoulder.
"You're doing great, trust me. Once you've had a bit more practice you'll love it."
Castiel didn't look convinced, so Dean leant over and gave him a kiss. Castiel sighed, leaning in and kissing back, relaxing into the sensation.
After a few moments, Dean pulled back and smiled, adoration shining in his eyes.
"So, shall we try that again?"
Poor Cas, he really isn't the best driver in the world – but the way he dealt with Benny I felt was pretty awesome! What do you guys think? Please do leave a review with your thoughts, suggestions and criticism are welcome!