Castiel was frustrated. Mostly at himself, but a good deal of it was directed at that idiot Dean Winchester. Who did he think he was? Strutting (or falling) into this tower and trying to drag Castiel back out with him. Well, one thing was for sure-he wasn't going anywhere with that assbut any time soon.
"You really think I'm an assbut?" A voice said behind him. "Come to think about it, what the hell is an assbut?"
Castiel's ears pinked. Of course the thief was standing behind him and of course Castiel had just said all of that out loud.
"What do you even want?" Castiel asked, not bothering to turn around.
"I just came to help." He tried to explain. Castiel snorted. "No, really!" he continued. "You've been cooped up here for 19 years. I think for your 20th birthday you deserve to see the world. Also, your cat agrees."
"Gabe?" At that, Castiel turned around to find that damn Winchester leaning against the doorjam, looking hot as all hell, smirking as if he'd already convinced Castiel to leave with him. and there was Gabriel, the traitor, sitting primly on his shoulder. "I can't believe you're deserting me for that-"
"Assbut?" Winchester finished for him.
"I was going to say sleazy lowlife." Castiel said flatly.
"I am not sleazy!" The other man protested. "And I'm trying to be nice."
"Well, stop trying." Castiel retorted.
"I'm not going to leave you so that you can be stuck here forever with parents with whom you obviously don't get along. And I'm assuming that's barely even a euphemism."
"How did you know?" Castiel dropped his gaze, voice barely a whisper.
The thief shrugged. "I'm good at reading body language. Survival kills." He paused. "So are you coming or not?"
"I can't leave them." Castiel said weekly. He so badly wanted to go. But he couldn't. It wasn't even an option.
"Yes you can." The other man assured him, "What would happen if you do?"
"They'll die."
"Oh." A pause. "After how long?"
"About a month." Castiel said miserably. He couldn't leave. He could never do it.
Another pause. "What about this—"
"No." Castiel said shortly.
"I didn't even say the idea yet!" Winchester complained.
"I don't even want to hear your convoluted plan. It's not going to work and I'm not leaving."
"What if it's just for 2 days?" he begged. "Think of it as a birthday present, to make up for the ones that I'm assuming you've never really received."
His word's cut into Castiel like the knives lined up on the counter next to him. What right did this man have t just appear here, talking to Castiel like he understood exactly what was going on here, despite Castiel never telling him anything, and offering his help? Who gave him the right to offer Castiel replacement birthday presents, as if he was the one responsible for his the way his parents acted towards him?
It wasn't this stranger's fault, and it wasn't his parents either. If Castiel wasn't such a disappointment to them, if he wasn't such a bad son, then maybe things would be different.
"Hey." The other man stepped forward and laid a hand over Castiel's that was resting on the counter. "I know that look. This isn't your fault. Whatever they did to you; its not your fault. You can blame yourself for your parents being assbuts."
The word caused a small smile to alight Castiel's face. But it faded in an instance, replaced by despair. "How do you know that?"
"Because even though I just met you, I can tell that you are not a bad person. You don't look like the type of guy to do something wrong just to be spiteful to his parents."
"I hit you over the head with a frying pan 3 times."
"Self defense." He waved the comment away. "Wait, 3 times? You know, what? It doesn't matter. Some random stranger climbed into your house, you have every right to hit him over the head with cooking utensils. But what someone doesn't have the right to do is hit his son just because he overcooked the steak by a split second."
"How could you possibly know all that?"
"I've been around, I've seen lots of things, met lots of people." The thief explained. "A lot of those people, I wished I never met them. I've sat next to men as they've drunken themselves nearly to death and spilled their entire life story to whoever would listen. I've heard the stories from the fathers, the sons, sometimes even the wives or the guilt-filled neighbors who've seen too much. In all those cases, I was never able to do anything other than just listen, or in a rare case, talk to them. But here, I can do some good. So please, let me help you."
Castiel looked down at his hand that was covered with Winchester's, and then up at the man who was looking at him almost beseechingly. He looked like a genuinely nice person, despite the thieving tendencies and reputation. And, you know, all the wanted posters.
"Okay." Castiel resigned. "But take my cat off your shoulder."
"Yes! He punched the air. "No one can resist Dean Winchester. Not even you, Cas. Can I call you Cas?"
"Sure, Winchester. You can call me whatever you want, so long as you don't get me killed."
"Alright then, darling, oh, and it's Dean. Just Dean."
Castiel's heart flipped when Winchester Dean called him darling. "Dean." He repeated.
Dean grinned. "Come on, let's go see the world." Then his brow wrinkled in confusion. "How so we get down from here?"
"We jump out that window you came in?" Castiel deadpanned. Dean stared, and Castiel laughed. "Close your mouth, you look like a goldfish. I was kidding. We have a rope. Just give me a minute. I want to grab a coat."
The two of them (plus Gabriel, who was still on Dean's shoulder) trooped upstairs, and Castiel grabbed a tan coat from a closet leaning against a wall.
"Isn't that a rain coat?" Dean asked confused.
"Yes. My father bought it a while ago, but then the sleeve tore a bit and he tossed it away." Castiel gestured to a small rip on the edge of the left sleeve.
"No, that's not why I'm confused. This place has windows, right? So you've noticed that it hasn't rained in a solid month? Also, it's the middle of the summer."
Castiel shrugged. "I've never had the opportunity to wear a raincoat before-there was never any need. If I'm going to leave this tower, I might as well be prepared."
Dean shrugged. "Whatever you want. Now, where is this rope thing?'
Castiel led him over to the window where a rope sat rolled up in a neat pile, attached to a pulley on the wall. "You hold onto the end of it, and I'll lower you down. It works the same way going up."
"You pulled your parents up into the tower."
"Yes. How else would they get up?"
"I dunno, stairs? You guys never put in a normal door to the outside?"
"But this way, they don't have to exert any force."
Dean snorted . "So instead you can do all the work for them."
Castiel sighed. "Just hold onto the edge of the rope and I'll lower you down."
Dean shook his head. "No way. You, Cas, are going to hold onto the rope. I'll lower you down. I can climb down, the same way I got up."
Castiel raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to be some kind of kind of chivalrous gentleman who goes around helping poor, helpless women?"
"Do you want me to be?" Dean waggled his eyebrows.
"Do I look like a woman to you?"
"No, but that's not the point. This is your chance to be free. And I'm not letting it start off with you doing the same chore that you had to do for your parents."
"Can we just drop the subject of my parents?" Castiel pleaded.
"I will, as soon as you take the end of the rope." Dean countered.
"You're stubborn."
"Tell me something I don't know. Now, are we leaving or not?"
Castiel have a sharp nod. He was really doing this. He was leaving the tower. Could he? Should he? Castiel wrapped the end of the rope around his hand and stepped out the window, hoping to God but somehow knowing that Dean would make sure he didn't fall.
I have finals all this week, plus Monday and Tuesday after that. I am going to try to keep this story updated as quickly as I usually, but the chapters may be a tad bit shorter. Also, I will not be uploading tomorrow. So I made this chapter extra long. Enjoy!