Author's note: in this chapter, it is revealed who put the handcuffs on Dean and Cas, so throughout the chapter, there will be hints to who did it. Maybe you've already figured it out XD I hope there are enough awkward situations in it for you, but otherwise I think there'll be more in the next chapters. I'm still working on ideas for new awkward situations, but they're kinda hard to come up with.
And since school starts tomorrow, I cannot say when the next chapters will be up. But I'll be working on chapter 3 today so hopefully it's up this week if not already tomorrow, we'll see. Please be patient.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Dean woke the next morning when the sun shined through the windows and into his face. He groaned, still half asleep. He felt something warm next to him and he wanted to move closer to it. Then he remembered that he was sharing bed with Castiel.
Dean's eyes shut open and stared right into Castiel's face next to his. The angel was laying on his right side only a few inches from Dean, facing him, but that was not what caught Dean's attention.
The angel's eyes were closed and his breathing was slow but even.
Holy shit, the angel was asleep.
Dean lay still, staring at Cas' sleeping face in disbelief. Angels didn't need sleep, so why was he suddenly sleeping so innocently next to Dean? And no, Dean did not just use that word for it.
Dean had been staring at the angel for a while before he noticed his left hand was touching something warm and soft. He looked between their bodies and saw that their hands were touching. They were not holding hands, just touching. Dean didn't know that Castiel's skin was so soft and warm.
Suddenly Castiel began to stir next to him. He saw him open and blink his eyes a few times before he stared into Dean's.
"Morning, sunshine," Dean grinned.
Castiel frowned before he sat up in one quick movement of shock. "I did not sleep," he said firmly.
"Yeah right, you're a bad liar, you know that?" Dean said as he sat up in the bed. Castiel didn't reply. "C'mon, let's go get some breakfast," Dean said, tugging at Castiel's wrist with his own to get him moving.
When they came downstairs, Bobby was reading behind his desk and Sam was in the kitchen with his face in the fridge. Dean greeted Bobby before dragging Cas with him into the kitchen.
"Hey Sammy, what's up?" he asked.
"There is nothing here that even resembles breakfast," Sam complained and closed the fridge.
"When you're in a wheelchair, going to the grocery store is not such an easy task anymore," Bobby grumbled from the study.
"Okay, so we'll go to the diner to eat. There is one in the town nearby, isn't there?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, there is. We better get going then," Sam said, getting ready to leave. He stopped when he saw something on the kitchen table that hadn't been there before. "Dude, did you eat candy and just threw the wrappers on the table?" he asked Dean, and picked up the wrappers to throw them in the trash.
"What? No, I just woke up," Dean frowned. Sam looked at Cas, and Cas shook his head. Sam shrugged it off and headed for the door.
"Bring back some food for me while you're in town, will ya," Bobby said from the study.
"Sure thing," Dean said.
They went out the door and were about to enter the car, when Dean suddenly noticed Cas' hair. It was messy and sticking out in all directions. He looked kinda hot like that, Dean thought.
Dean shook his head to get the weird thoughts out. "Dude, you should do your hair before we leave," he told Cas.
Castiel stared at Dean in confusion, and it was obvious the angel had never done anything to his hair before. Dean sighed and raised his right hand to Cas' hair and started fixing the places where it was sticking out the most.
The hair was soft under Dean's fingers, and he started moving slowly to feel the hair properly.
Castiel noticed how Dean's fingers lingered in his hair and he frowned at the man.
"Dean?" he asked uncertainly. Dean snapped back to reality and stared at Cas who was staring back at him with a frown.
"Uh, looks much better now," Dean said, mouth suddenly dry.
"Dude, are you two done soon? I'm hungry," Sam called from the car. Dean hurried over to the car in hope of getting away from Cas, but with the handcuffs it was pretty much impossible, and the angel was dragged after him awkwardly.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
The diner wasn't that busy, and they took seat in an available booth close to the door. The waitress came over to take their orders. She had brown hair, light blue eyes, perfect curves and had a seductive smile. Yeah, Dean kinda liked that. She smiled at them, but mostly in Dean's direction, as she went to get their orders.
"Dude, now's not the time to get laid," Sam complained when he saw the happy smile on Dean's face. "You're still tied to an angel."
"Sonovabitch," Dean cursed under his breath and Cas shifted awkwardly next to him.
When they were done eating – Cas too, because suddenly his stomach started growling and Sam and Dean insisted he ate something – they put the money on the table and went towards the door when Sam suddenly remembered Bobby.
"Shit, we almost forgot Bobby," Sam said and walked up to the front desk to order some breakfast take-out for Bobby. Dean and Cas were standing behind him, waiting.
Dean suddenly noticed the waitress from before as she started walking towards them with a seductive smile. She had a lollipop in her hand which she was licking at, making her look even more enticing. Dean was just about to smile back at her when he noticed that her smile wasn't directed at him.
The waitress came over and stopped right in front of Cas, invading his personal space. Dean's jaw dropped.
Castiel was staring back at her with a frown as she stood there right in front of him, smiling at him. "Hi there," she said, licking at her lollipop seductively and suddenly placed her hand firmly right on Castiel's crotch.
Castiel gasped in surprise and stared at her in confusion. Sam's eyes went impossibly wide and Dean couldn't believe his eyes.
Dean felt anger and jealousy and a sudden possessiveness grow inside him as the waitress was groping his angel and smiling at him all charmingly and luring.
"You sure have some junk," she smirked and moved her hand over Cas' crotch. And God, if that didn't make inappropriate images flash across Dean's mind.
Castiel started squirming uncomfortably and tried to move away but she placed a hand around his neck to hold him in place. She grinned at him.
Castiel didn't know what she was doing or why. All he knew was that he didn't like it. The hand on his crotch was an unfamiliar feeling and he certainly didn't welcome that hand. He turned to look at Dean for help.
"Hey, leave the guy alone," Dean growled as Cas turned to look at him helplessly.
The waitress turned to look at Dean, not intending to move away from Cas any time soon. "Why? I think he likes it," she smiled, turning back to Cas and leaned in towards his lips. Castiel's eyes widened in shock and he struggled to get away.
"Sonovabitch, get away from him!" Dean growled and pushed her away.
Finally she moved away from Castiel. "Too bad you're already taken," she pouted at Cas and walked away.
Dean stared into the air for a few seconds, in shock. "Dude, he's not… I'm not…"
"Let's just get out of here?" Sam suggested; Bobby's food in his hand and ready to leave.
"Uh, yeah, good idea. C'mon Cas," Dean said, grabbing Cas' wrist were the handcuffs were and dragged him with him out of the diner and away from the weird waitress.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
They arrived at Bobby's house five minutes later and went inside. They handed Bobby his food and the man went to eat at the kitchen table. If he noticed something was bothering the three of them, he didn't ask about it.
Cas had been silent since the diner, and when Dean asked him if he was okay, all he said was that he was fine, without looking at Dean. It seemed the angel was in deep thought, trying to figure something out, so Dean let him have his space.
"Something was seriously off about that waitress," Sam said.
"Yeah, takes no genius to figure that out," Dean replied. "Crazy waitress goes around groping angels in the crotch. What the fuck is up with that?"
Sam smirked. "I don't know who seemed liked it less: Cas or you."
Dean's face went red instantly. "Shut up, bitch."
"Jerk," Sam grinned and went over to the sink to pour some water into his glass.
"Dude, seriously," Dean heard Sam say and looked over to see his brother standing there with lots of candy wrappers in his hand. "Is it you, Dean, who keeps throwing these wrappers all over the place? You could at least use the damn trash bin for that."
"Hey, I didn't do that!" Dean said defensively.
"Right, because I don't know anyone else in this room with a bigger sweet tooth than you, 'cause I seriously doubt Cas eats candy," Sam said, making the infamous bitch face number twenty-seven.
Dean was about to snap something back at Sam when Castiel started speaking. "It's not Dean who leaves those wrappers. I would have seen it if he ate any candy." He gestured to the handcuffs on their wrists which made them inseparable to make his point.
"Thanks, Cas," Dean said and gave Sam the I-told-you-so-bitch grin.
Sam ignored Dean's smug grin before turning to Castiel, who seemed to have figured something out. "Okay, so it wasn't Dean. Any clue who it was?"
"Probably the same person who put these handcuffs on Dean and me."
"What? You know who did this?" Dean asked.
"I realised it when my grace started getting weaker. These handcuffs keep my grace restrained, which is why I've started… sleeping and eating," Castiel explained, glancing at Dean.
"Handcuffs strong enough to keep your grace restrained? What kind of magic is this?" Bobby asked from the table.
Everyone turned to look at Castiel, who shifted slightly under their gazes.
"The angelic kind. These handcuffs are used in Heaven to keep rogue angels under control," Castiel said. "I didn't realise it until…" he trailed off.
"…Until you became more human," Sam finished for him. Castiel nodded. "Okay, so angelic handcuffs, which are probably only available to angels, candy wrappers all over the house, plus the weird waitress in the diner licking on a lollipop… And of course the prank of tying you two together with handcuffs," Sam said, gesturing at the handcuffs. "Ring any bells?" he asked suggestively.
Dean stared at his brother in confusion before realisation hit him. "Oh God, you gotta be kidding me," he groaned.
"I'm afraid not," Sam sighed.
"I'm gonna kick that bastard's ass," Dean growled, before turning to look up at the ceiling. "Gabriel, you son of a bitch, come down here, we know it's you!" he shouted angrily.
Soon, there was a flutter of wings and suddenly Gabriel appeared in the doorway to the study. "Easy on your voice, Deano, I'm not deaf," the archangel said, leaning against the doorframe and pulled out another candy bar to eat. "I see you figured it out already. Too bad, I had hoped to look at your confused faces a bit longer," he said smugly.
Everyone was glaring at the archangel and the mood in the room had turned dark. The one glaring at him the most was Castiel, who had still not forgiven him for what he did on their last encounter in TV-land.
"So it was you after all," Dean spat. "Real fun, I bet we all had our laughs, so now undo them!" he ordered, pulling his hand up as a gesture to the handcuffs.
"And why on earth would I do that?" Gabriel answered. The smugness never left the archangel's face, as usual, and it only helped to make Dean even more pissed.
"Why not? You had your fun, didn't you?" Sam said, cutting Dean off before he could yell something at the archangel.
"Hmm, seems you guys haven't quite figured it out yet," Gabriel said, looking around at everyone in the room, and Dean swore the archangel sounded almost disappointed.
"Figured what out?" Dean snapped.
"This isn't about me having fun – it's about you learning a lesson," Gabriel said, like it was total obvious. He stared between Dean and Castiel.
"So you put freaking handcuffs on us so we could 'learn a lesson'?"
"Yep, pretty much that," Gabriel said simply and took a bite from his candy bar.
"What kind of lesson?" Castiel asked abruptly; demand in his voice as he glared at his brother. Gabriel turned to look at him properly for the first time since he arrived.
"If I said that, it wouldn't be fun anymore, would it?" the archangel smirked. He finished his candy bar and threw the wrapper over his shoulder, gaining glares from Bobby who seemed to be rather pissed. "Besides, the real fun starts once you'll both start smelling and Cas starts to need the toilet," Gabriel laughed and Castiel glared daggers at him.
"And the waitress at the diner. That was your creation, wasn't it," Sam said. It wasn't really a question.
"Yup, one of my better ideas in this game. You should have seen your faces – especially Cas'," Gabriel laughed. Dean felt Cas flinch and shift slightly beside him and noticed that his fists were clenching, but the angel just kept his glare on Gabriel.
"So you're just gonna sit back and watch us behave like monkeys in a fucking cage until you get bored?" Dean asked.
"No, only until you've learned your lesson," Gabriel corrected him. "And don't try anything stupid; I can always throw your asses back into a sitcom if you do." And with a snap of his fingers, the archangel was gone.
"Sonovabitch!" Dean shouted.
"Dean, he wouldn't have undone the handcuffs anyway, you heard him," Sam said, moving over to pick up the candy wrappers from Bobby's floor since the man had trouble doing so himself.
"I know that! But that guy is pissing me off!" Dean snapped.
"Well, there isn't much we can do. We can't get the cuffs off until Gabe decides that you've 'learned your lesson', so you'll just have to live with it for now."
"What's easy for you to say, you're not tied to someone," Dean countered. Sam gave him a look of disapproval and nodded towards Cas, whose gaze fell to the ground. Dean hadn't meant to let it sound like an offense to the angel.
"Sorry, Cas, I didn't…" Dean said but trailed off. Sam sneaked out of the room quietly to let them have some space and Bobby had gone too.
"It's alright, Dean," Cas said. "The cuffs are bothering me too. I am not used to be limited like this."
Dean had almost forgotten that the handcuffs had a bigger effect on Cas than on him: they restrained his grace and made him human.
"Uh, yeah you're right," he said, and ran a hand through his hair. "You know what, I kinda feel like watching TV, wonna watch some?"
Cas nodded in silence and Dean guided him over to the couch. It was still awkward to walk around while handcuffed to someone else, but he was getting used to it. They sat down and Dean turned on the TV, but neither of them really watched it.
Castiel was still wondering what Gabriel had meant, and why his brother had put him in this position. Being human gave him needs he didn't have before. He had never slept or felt the need to eat before, and it had been confusing and terrifying to experience it. He wondered what else his humanity had in store for him. He could only pray that Dean and Sam would be there to help him out.
As he was lost in thoughts, Castiel's eyes fell shut and his head dropped to Dean's shoulder; the rest of his body leaning into Dean's.
Dean froze when Cas' head dropped on his shoulder. Then the angel practically snuggled up against him, nuzzling slightly at Dean's shoulder before the angel drifted into a deeper sleep, and silent snores came from him.
Dean stared at him for a while, bewildered, before he leaned into Castiel's body himself. It felt warm and right and so comfortable. Soon, he felt the world around him darken as he fell asleep, too.
To be continued…
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Just so you know, there won't be any Sam/Gabriel pairing, since I am not the biggest fan of that pairing myself. I do love Gabriel as a character, and he'll be showing up again in some of the next chapters :)