Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean for this to take so long. Blame work and Sons of Anarchy.

Station life hadn't gotten any better since last week. Hardly anyone spoke to Dean like they used to. There were quick cordial conversations in passing, but barley any of them told him about their weekends or talked to him about what was going on in his life. The only exceptions were Lee and Daniel. He didn't mind it so much. It just meant he didn't have to put up with Walt and Roy's bullshit.

He was standing in the kitchen area, making himself a sandwich when the phone in his pocket started ringing. He quickly licked the mayo off his finger and pulled the phone out of his pocket. He felt a sinking in his stomach when he saw Cas' name on the screen. It was one in the afternoon on a school day.

"Hey," Dean answered. "What's up?"

"I've got bad news."

Dean set the knife down and braced himself against the counter. "Shit… what happened?"

"There's a school board meeting Wednesday night. Apparently some of the parents share in Anna's 'fears'. Some of them have talked about transferring their children, Dean."

Dean closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had an urge to break something. "What can we do?"

"I don't know, Dean. I have no idea and I'm freaking out. I was going to wait until after school to call you, but I couldn't wait. I have Mrs. Masters watching the kids."

"We'll figure it out, okay? Just… take a deep breath, go back to class, and call me when you get home. I'll figure something out."

"Dean, there's nothing we can do."

"There is. There's bound to be. Just… let me take care of this, Cas. They can't fire you for being gay. If they do, then we'll sue the shit out of them and you won't have to worry about a job for the rest of your life."

"Dean…"

"Cas, please?"

"… okay. Okay."

"I love you, Cas."

Cas sighed shakily. "I love you, too, Dean."

Dean hung up the phone just in time to hear Roy, who was sitting on the couch ten feet behind him, gag. Dean turned around, lip curling at the sight of the bastard sitting there. He could easily just take the kitchen chair and break it over his head, but Dean closed his eyes again and turned around. He thought about Cas and Cas' problem. Again, killing a man would do no good right now.

He opened his eyes and looked down at the food in front of him. He had no appetite. He felt sick to his stomach. He pushed the sandwich into the trash and put everything up. He went to the sleeping quarters and started pacing. There had to be a way to show the town of Lawrence that Cas was a great teacher and an awesome person. There had to be a way.

Dean pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Jess. "Hey, Dean!" Jess greeted him.

"Hey, Jess. I need your help."

"Sure. What's up?" Jess asked, worrying a little. Dean very rarely asked for help for anything.

"The school board is having a meeting Wednesday night. Apparently they're going to discuss Cas. Some of the parents want to transfer the kids because of him."

"Are you fucking serious?!" Jess, the usually calm and collected housewife, asked.

"Unfortunately," Dean said, rubbing his hand over his face.

"This has gone too damn far! I'll take care of this."

"Well, that's why I called you. I wanted to know if there was something we could do. You have a plan?"

"I do. It's okay, Dean. I have just the plan."

^O^

As soon as Cas got off the phone with Dean, he went back to his room. Mrs. Masters – Meg – was walking back and forth between her class across the hall and his class, keeping an eye on the both of them as Cas made his phone call. When he walked up, Meg could see the distress on Cas' face.

"Thanks, Meg. I owe you one."

"Castiel, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Cas nodded, checking on his students before moving out of the door to talk to Meg. "What's up?" he asked with a forced, tight smile on his face.

Meg looked him in the eyes for a moment before telling him. "The rest of the teachers here know what's going on Wednesday night and we're not going to stand for it."

Cas took a deep breath and stood up a little straighter. "Oh?"

"We like you, Cas. Sure, there are a couple of the teachers here that have a problem with your… choices, but there are more of us that want you here. The kids love you. I'm always hearing laughter coming from your room. We're going to be there to show our support. So don't worry."

Cas nodded. He was a little more relaxed knowing he had solid support here at the school. "Thanks," he told her. "That means a lot to me."

"You're welcome," she told him, patting his shoulder before heading back to her room.

Cas knew they couldn't fire him for being gay, but knowing that teachers and parents and students hated him for being that way was a worse fate. Being ostracized for something that was as natural to him as breathing made Cas feel so tiny. He just wanted to teach. He didn't understand why he couldn't just do that without having to suffer through all this shit.

^O^

Dean made sure that he was off Wednesday night. He didn't really care if Daniel okayed the leave or not. He wasn't going to miss this meeting for anything. He waited for Cas at his house. He was going to meet Cas over at Charlie and Gilda's but Cas said he wanted to be alone with him before the meeting at six. When Cas walked in, Dean was pacing the floor, hoping tonight would be pulled off without a hitch.

"Hey," Dean said as he walked straight up to him and wrapped his arms around him.

"Hey," Cas said, pressing his face against Dean's neck.

"How are you holding up?" Dean whispered against cheek.

Cas pulled back to look at Dean. "I want to cry and scream at the same time. I feel like I'm going to explode. My head hurts. I feel queasy. I just want this to all be over with, Dean."

"What do you want me to do? What do you need?" Dean asked Cas, cupping his face.

Cas leaned forward, kissing Dean, wrapping his arms around him tightly. Dean kissed him back, but he let Cas lead. Dean was here for Cas. He wanted Cas to take whatever he needed from him. Cas moved his kisses along Dean's jaw and down his neck. When the collar of Dean's shirt hindered Cas' kisses, he sighed, nuzzling his face against Dean's neck again.

Cas' fingers unfastened Dean's jeans before running his hands under his boxer briefs and palming his ass. Cas bit his bottom lip as he slipped his hand further down, running his fingers along Dean's hole. Dean's eyes got big. During all the sex they've had, Dean was always the one doing the fucking. He'd thought about bringing the idea up to Cas, but he wasn't sure if he was ready for that. But now, it didn't matter if he was or not. It's what Cas needed and he wanted Cas to take his mind off of all the bad shit happening to him right now.

Dean pulled away from Cas, grabbing Cas' hand in one hand and keeping his jeans from falling down with the other as he pulled Cas behind him on his way to the bedroom. Dean kissed him as he started to unbutton Cas' shirt. Cas pulled his glasses off, tossing them on the nightstand, before unbuttoning Dean's shirt. Once Cas had Dean shirtless, he pushed his jeans and boxer briefs off of him. He reached down and grabbed Dean's dick, stroking him as Dean continued to kiss him.

Cas turned them so that Dean was facing the bed, walking him backwards until the back of Dean's legs hit the side of the bed. Cas pulled away before pushing Dean down on the bed. Cas pulled his shirt off, tossing it behind him where the rest of their clothes were. Dean took advantage of the opportunity to pull Cas' cock out of his pants and into his mouth since it was right there in his face.

"Shit," Cas swore softly. Dean's mouth was always so warm and welcoming.

Cas let him suck him off for a moment, letting Dean get him completely hard. He pulled out of Dean's mouth, tilting the freckled face man's head back so he could kiss him. Cas broke the kiss so he could get out of his jeans and underwear before getting on his knees in front of Dean.

Cas ran his hands up and down Dean's thighs as he looked up at him. He kissed him again for a short moment before pushing on his chest. Dean leaned back on his elbows and watched as Cas started to bob up and down on his dick. Dean put all his weight on one elbow so he could run his hand through Cas' hair and along his back. He wanted to feel Cas, but he felt out of reach.

Dean grabbed Cas' hand and pulled on it, pulling him off his dick. Dean moved back to lay on the bed, spreading his legs for Cas and reaching out for him. "Come here," Dean beckoned in a whisper.

Cas hovered over Dean as he kissed him, rocking his hips, rubbing his cock against Dean's. Dean pulled him down on top of him. He was still too far away for Dean's liking. They laid there for a moment, kissing slowly, rocking against each other.

Cas finally pulled himself from Dean's arms and reached over to the nightstand drawer. He grabbed the lube out of it and poured some onto his hand. He bent over Dean again, kissing him as he rubbed the lube against Dean's hole, slipping a finger inside slowly. Dean moaned softly into the kiss. Cas barely heard him. Cas moved his kisses to Dean's neck and chest as he slide in another finger.

"That feels so good, Cas," Dean said, grinding down on Cas' fingers as he pushed them inside.

Cas smiled against Dean's chest. Cas added a third finger shortly after and Dean started riding his fingers. His head was thrown back into the pillow and his eyes were shut tight. His mouth was open slightly and the grip Dean had on Cas' forearm was bordering on too tight. Cas pulled his fingers out of Dean, which caused Dean to look at him. He grabbed the bottle of lube and poured some more into his hand, stroking his cock slowly as he poured a little on Dean's dick. They watched each other jerk themselves off for a moment before Cas pulled Dean closer. Cas positioned himself at Dean's entrance and locked eyes with him.

Dean nodded his head, letting Cas know he was ready. Cas slid his hand up Dean's chest as he pushed into him slowly. Dean's body tensed up and Cas stopped. "Relax, Dean. Relax," he told him, as he leaned forward, kissing him.

Dean relaxed and Cas slid all the way in. He stayed pressed fully inside Dean for a moment as he continued to kiss him, letting Dean get used to the feel and allowing himself a moment to calm down a little. Dean's arms and legs wrapped around Cas, holding him tight against him.

Dean pushed Cas back a little so he could tell him to, "Move."

Cas buried his face against Dean's neck as he started to rock his hips back and forth, moving in and out of Dean slowly. Both men were moaning and grunting. This time was more about a connection than any kind of physical gratification. It was about knowing the other was there and with them. This was what Cas needed. Dean could tell him that he was in this, that he would always be there, but there was something about being inside of Dean that made all that solidify in Cas' mind all over again.

Cas picked himself up off of Dean. He was close and he wanted Dean to come before he did. Dean reached out for him, but Cas grabbed Dean's hand and laid it on his dick. "I want to watch you jerk off while I fuck you."

Dean almost came right then. The look on Cas' face, the sound of his voice when he told him what to do… that shit was hot. Dean wrapped his hand around his dick and did as Cas told him. The sight made Cas fuck him a little harder, a little too hard for Dean, but Dean didn't stop him. He was okay and Cas needed this.

Dean ran his free hand up Cas' arm and over his chest as Cas alternated from gripping Dean's hips to holding his sides. Cas bent down and sucked on one of Dean's nipples, licking and nibbling on it, hoping that would help Dean. Dean started swearing under his breath, repeating "Fuck." over and over. Cas knew he was close. He moved over to the other one, giving it the same kind of attention. Dean started pushing down on Cas every time he pushed in, like he'd done with his fingers. Cas couldn't take much more.

"Come on, Dean. I need to come. I can't last much longer."

"Close. Fuck. So close," he mumbled.

Dean started tensing up and Cas knew he was about to come, but the tightness around Cas' cock made him that much more closer to coming. Cas couldn't take it anymore. He slammed himself into Dean's ass and came. "Fuck!" he growled out. Whenever Cas pushed himself inside one last time, it hit that right spot for Dean and he came so hard that his come hit his chin.

Both men were breathing heavily. Dean ran his hand over his face. "Shit… goddamn, Cas," Dean mumbled as his arms fell to his sides and his body went limp.

Cas rocked his hips a little, closing his eyes as he enjoyed Dean's tightness against his sensitive dick. "You okay?"

"Fucking amazing," Dean told him. He looked up at Cas to find the man biting his bottom lip as he moved slowly inside of him. "You good?"

Cas chuckled as he opened his eyes. "Great. That was the best, Dean," Cas told him as he finally pulled himself out of Dean and collapsed beside him onto Dean's arm. Dean pulled Cas against his side. He didn't feel like ruining the moment with a smartass quip. Cas curled up against him, resting his head on Dean's shoulder.

They laid there in silence for a moment before Dean pressed his lips to the top of Cas' head. "Love you," he whispered.

Cas sighed happily. "Love you."

"Come on. Let's get up and get showered."

^O^

It was ten minutes until six when Cas and Dean pulled up to the school. The parking lot was full. Dean looked over at Cas to see the color drain from his face. Dean reached over and grabbed Cas' hand. "Just breathe, babe. Just breathe. Everything is going to be okay."

"You don't know that," Cas whispered.

"I do, actually," Dean told him as he scooted over to Cas. "Because no matter how tonight ends, we're going to go home and figure out what to do next. Together."

Cas gave Dean a small smile and nodded. Dean pressed a kiss to his temple before reaching over and opening the door for him. "After you," he said, motioning for Cas to get out.

As Cas and Dean made their way to the entrance of the auditorium, Cas noticed Dean's family standing at the entrance, waiting on them. Dean noticed at the same time and looked over at Cas to see tears in his eyes and a small smile on his face. Dean grabbed his hand, making Cas look over at him. "You okay?"

"You're right," Cas said, stopping their journey. "Everything's going to be okay."

Dean smiled at him, squeezing his hand. "Told you."

"Hey! Wait up!" someone hollered from behind them. Cas and Dean turned around to see Charlie and Gilda jogging towards them.

Cas smiled at Dean, happy that everyone was here to support him. It's not that he didn't think they would show up for the meeting, but it made him proud to know that they would. Cas wrapped Charlie and Gilda in a hug, pulling them tight. "I'm so glad you're here."

Gilda scoffed. "Where else would we be, Cas?"

Cas nodded. "I know, but…" Cas tried to form words trying to explain why it meant a lot to him as Charlie and Gilda hugged Dean.

"It's okay, baby bro," Charlie told Cas as she pulled away from Dean. "Let's get inside. I want to see this ginger bitch that's causing all this trouble." She noticed Dean's confused frown. He didn't understand why she wanted to see what Anna looked like. "That way I know who to jump should things not… go accordingly."

Dean nodded approvingly before grabbing Cas' hand again and pulling Cas against him. As soon as Dean's family was within reach of Cas, Mary grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. "I'm so sorry this is happening, sweetheart," Mary told him. "If you need anything – anything at all – you just let us know."

John clapped his hand on Cas' shoulder as Mary released him. "We're serious."

Cas smiled at them. "Thank you," Cas said in a shaky voice.

"Mom, Dad, this is Cas' sister, Charlie, and her girlfriend, Gilda. Guys, these are my parents, John and Mary, and my brother Sam."

"These are the girls that made Haley's dress?"

Cas and Dean nodded as Charlie told her, "Yes, ma'am. We had a blast playing with your granddaughter."

"Thank you girls for making my baby girl feel better. After what happened…" Mary took a calming breath. "Thank you," she repeated.

"It was our pleasure," Gilda told her, wrapping her arm around Charlie's waist.

"Come on," Sam told them. "It's almost time."

"Where are Jess and Haley?" Dean asked as they made their way into the auditorium.

"They're inside," Sam said, pointing to the front of the room.

Cas stopped in his tracks. Lining the front of the stage was his class – well, ten of them – wearing white t-shirts with rainbow colored letters saying We love Mr. Novak. Dean wrapped his arm around Cas' waist. "Come on," he whispered in Cas' ear, pulling him to walk with him.

"Did you know about this?" Cas asked him, not taking his eyes off the kids.

"I told Jess we had to do something; she took care of the rest."

Once they were at the front, Haley noticed her family walking towards the stage. "Mr. Novak!"

The rest of the kids noticed him as well and bunched up beside Haley, where her family was standing. They all greeted him boisterously, telling them they loved him. "I love you guys, too," Cas told them. "I love those shirts!"

"My mom made them!" Haley's friend, Brittany, told Mr. Novak.

"We don't want you to lose your job, Mr. Novak," a little boy in the front told him. "We want you to always be our teacher."

"Is Mr. Winchester your boyfriend?" a little girl in pigtails asked him.

Cas and Dean smiled at one another before Cas nodded, telling the kids. "He is, and I love him very much. Thank you guys for doing this for us."

"Why are people upset about him being your boyfriend? Are they jealous because he's so pretty?" the pigtailed little girl asked.

Dean pursed his lips, offended about being called pretty. John and Sam doubled over laughing while Mary giggled behind her hand. He even noticed Charlie and Gilda holding back their laughter. "Laugh it up," Dean told them. "Jerks."

Cas looked up at the little girl and nodded. "Probably," he told her.

Dean gave Cas a bitchface, but Cas just winked at him. "Aren't we supposed to be defending your right to teach these kids? When does that start?"

Sam clapped his hand on Dean's back. "Come on, pretty boy. Let's get the kids back in formation and get out of the way."

"I swear on all that is good and holy if you call me a pretty boy again, I will kick your – "

Cas slapped his hand over Dean's mouth, stopping him from swearing. "Dean…"

Dean narrowed his eyes at Sam, but Sam just smiled. He looked up at the kids. "You guys line back up. We're about to start."

Sam motioned for everyone to follow him over to the side of the stage where they found Jess, Benny, and Jo standing with a lot of other people. Cas finally noticed just how crowded the auditorium was. All the seats were packed; some people were sitting two to a seat. There were people standing in the back and on the sides. He was pretty sure they were breaking some kind of fire code with all these people here.

The crackle of the mic caught everyone's attention as Superintendent Crowley McLeod walked up behind the kids. Dean grabbed Cas' hand, pulling him against his side. It's not like anyone here didn't know they were together.

"Good evening, everyone," he greeted. "I'm Superintendent Fergus McLeod, but you may call me Crowley," he told everyone. It was one of those childhood nicknames you don't exactly remember how you got and one you just couldn't escape.

"I called this meeting tonight because I've been getting several phone calls from concerned parents. I'm going to be as… polite as I can be – even if some of you were rather rude about the situation at hand. The school board will never fire a teacher based on their sexuality. It is a blatant form of discrimination, even if the state of Kansas feels differently. Mr. Novak is an exceptional teacher. Midterm grades this school year were fifty percent higher than last year." He walked over to the end of the line of children and motioned to them. "As these shirts can attest, he's very popular with the children. I'm uncertain if you lot in the back can read the shirts the children are wearing, but they say 'We Love Mr. Novak' in rainbow colored lettering. Is that true, kiddies?"

The kids started cheering and jumping up and down.

Crowley chuckled. "I know that some of you are concerned about Mr. Novak teaching your children to be gay, but I assure you that we go over the syllabus of every single teacher and we didn't find anything in his lesson plans about teaching them to be gay."

The protesters finally caught on to the fact that they were being mocked. They all got very angry and started hollering at the superintendent, which caused Cas' supporters to holler back at them. Anna stormed the stage, taking the mic from Crowley. Dean nudged Charlie, giving her a pointed look as he nodded towards Anna. Charlie's eyes narrowed as she watched the red head closely.

"This is an outrage! You want us to take you seriously, but you refuse to do so for us! We do not think he will teach them to be gay, but that he will teach them that it is okay to be! It is a sin and it is wrong!"

"It's only weird if you let it be!" a very familiar voice shouted from the line of children.

Crowley took the mic away from Anna and walked over to Haley. "What did you say, sweetheart?"

"It's only weird if you let it be," she repeated into the microphone.

"Out of the mouths of babes," Crowley said, patting Haley on the back. He looked at Anna. "Ms. Milton, whatever you believe about homosexuality is your business. I'm not here to tell you that you're wrong or right, but I am here to tell you that it is none of your concern. What Mr. Novak does between the hours of three p.m. and eight a.m. is his business, just as what you do is yours. Until either of you are breaking the law, I don't care. I refuse to fire a teacher because what he does on his own time bothers you. His relationship with Mr. Winchester does not concern you," he told her before turning to the audience. "Or any of you, for that matter.

The protesters got angry again, hollering at the superintendent. He stood there and watched them, listened to them holler at him and each other for supporting Mr. Novak.

"Listen to yourselves!" he hollered. "Listen to what you're saying in front of these children, the names you're calling me, calling each other, calling him!" he said as he motioned to Cas. "You should be ashamed of yourselves. Mr. Novak will remain as a third grade teacher at Lawrence Elementary until the time he should no longer wish to work here. If you have any issues with our decision, please feel free to take your children elsewhere. And Ms. Milton," he said, looking directly at the redhead standing beside him, "If you call my office one more time complaining about anything Mr. Novak does, I will fire you."

Crowley turned off the mic and set it on the speaker as he walked off stage. The supporters were cheering louder than the protesters, but Cas could still hear their anger loud and clear. Dean ignored them and pulled Cas into a hug. "I fucking told you everything would be okay," he said, focusing on the bigger picture.

Cas chuckled, pressing his face against Dean's shoulder. "I've never been happier to be wrong in my life." Cas pulled away from Dean and hugged Jess. "Thank you, Jess. I am forever in your debt."

Jess hugged Cas back with just as much veracity as Cas. "Just keep Dean happy and we'll call it even."

Cas laughed and pulled away from her, looking over his shoulder at Dean. "I think I can do that."

Everyone hugged Cas, as he thanked them for being here and supporting him.

"Mr. Novak," someone called from behind him.

Cas turned and saw Crowley and Naomi standing there. Crowley stuck out his hand for Cas to shake. "Mr. McLeod." Cas shook his hand.

"Hello, Castiel."

"Naomi."

"I want to formally apologize that it came to this. I wish I could've spoken with you in private to ease your worries, but it's been rather busy down at the School Board," Crowley told him.

"It's okay," Cas told him. It would've been nice to know that this meeting was just to shut the community up, but he didn't care right now. His family was here and everything was going to be okay.

"And this must be the firefighter. My wife tells me you got the kids all riled up for a field trip," Crowley said, shaking Dean's hand.

"Yes, sir. I thought the kids might enjoy it."

"I bet they would. I'll see what I can do," he told him, patting Cas on the shoulder before leaving.

"I'll see you in the morning, Castiel," Naomi told him, squeezing Cas' hand before following her husband.

"This calls for a celebration," John said.

"We should all go down to that new seafood restaurant," Mary suggested.

"Our treat," John told everyone before they could answer.

^O^

Cas shot up in bed. He looked over and saw that it was one a.m. on a Tuesday morning. He had just had the worst dream of his life. He grabbed his phone and sent Dean a message: You there?

Cas prayed for a quick reply, but when one didn't come, he got worried. He'd dreamed that Dean died on the job. He was there in the dream, but he wasn't actually there. It was as if he was some kind of celestial being watching over the events but he didn't have the power to stop them. In his dream, he'd watched Dean and his crew run into a burning building. Dean was looking for someone, but every room he checked was engulfed in flames. The last room Dean ran into made him stop in his tracks. His eyes got really big and he brought his arms up to shield himself, but the explosion sent him flying and when his body landed, he was dead.

Cas had a sick feeling in his gut. He just wanted to hear from Dean. All he needed was a text, something to let him know he was safe, but Dean wasn't texting back and that made Cas' stomach churn. Cas got out of bed and pulled on some pants. He crept down the hallway and into the kitchen. He didn't want to wake Charlie and Gilda up. He fixed himself a glass of water, setting his phone on the counter and watching it as he drank, waiting for Dean to text him back.

But he got nothing.

Cas took a deep breath and shook his head. Dean was fine. Dean was always fine. Cas didn't need to worry about him. It was just a dream. He set his glass in the sink and grabbed his phone before heading back to bed. Cas got under the covers and closed his eyes, wrapping himself around his other pillow and imaging that it was Dean.

Cas didn't fall asleep right away. His mind continued to replay the dream over and over. Cas started combating the images with his own memories of all the fun times he and Dean had shared. That calmed his mind and allowed him to finally succumb to sleep, but right before he was finally back in dreamland, his phone rang. Cas shot up and grabbed the phone, that heavy feeling in his gut coming back in full force.

He looked at his phone, but he didn't recognize the number. He contemplated not answering a misdialed call at two in the morning, but he did anyway.

"Hello?"

There was silence for brief moment before someone said, "Hey, Cas."

"Sam?"

"Cas, you might want to come down to the hospital. Dean's been hurt."

Yeah, I just fucking did that. This is for that time I didn't stop that chapter at "Hello, Dean." and I gave you guys blow jobs instead. Well, I mean, Cas and Dean gave the blow jobs… to each other… this just got awkward.

I'm off work Sunday (and almost caught up on SoA), so I should have you a chapter then. Thanks for all the reviews, guys! I love you all! ^.^

Let me know what you thought! Thanks for reading!