The hotel room was dim in the morning, the curtains closed, the only sign that it was morning was the light blue glow of the alarm clock, gracing the bed with a group of unflattering shadows. The first thing Castiel noticed was the strange ache like fire between his legs, quickly followed by the feeling of cool empty sheets next to him. Dean was already gone. Castiel pulled himself up and winced, trying to think clearly. Now that his mind was sobered from waking up alone, Cas thought back to the night before. Before falling sleep, Castiel had grabbed the shirt closest to him and now that he was awake, he realized the shirt he wore.. was Dean's. He wanted to get up and push that damn alarm clock off the table. Grip the cheap lamp around it's neck and smash it against the wall. Toss the bedside table from the wall and scream. Instead, Castiel stood and limped his way over to where Dean had folded his clothes and pulled the jeans over his shaking legs, picked up his phone and called Chuck. The wait outside of the hotel was awkward and almost shameful once Chuck did pull up and Cas ducked into the car. "Did you have a good night?" Chuck asked awkwardly s he drove towards home.
"I don't know." Castiel answered in an empty tone, looking forward blankly. "I had sex with my best friend."
Chuck choked slightly and nodded. "Well thats good I guess..."
"And I'm never going to get to see him again" And Chuck was shocked to see that from that point until he sent Castiel off to college, Cas never physically cried about it.
The room was really bright when Castiel's eyes opened from the vivid memory of a dream. The hospital room was very white, as they came, and it took him a moment to focus, looking to his side and seeing Gabriel talking to someone, no one seemed to be aware that Castiel was awake. "He shouldn't go to work tomorrow, he sure as hell can't drive there anyway, his car's totaled." Gabriel was saying.
"He'll insist on it, we all know that." Balthazar's voice reached Castiel's ears, but he wasn't focused on what he said.
"I know we don't really have any place in his life or anything, but we'll be in town for a while, if you could keep us updated on how he is..?" Sam asked, looking between the two men. Gabriel and Balthazar both nodded, about to say something when Castiel moved.
Cas' hand reached out to Gabriel, and gripped his wrist. Gabe turned quickly, all the attention shifting immediately. "Gabe. When was the last time you saw dad?" Castiel asked, voice hoarse from sleep.
Gabe shook his head, and held his brother's hand. "Last time we all did, you know that, Cassie."
"We're still gonna find him.. right?"
"Yeah, Cas, we're gonna find him. How are you feeling?" Gabe asked, his guard very down around his brother, especially when he asked about the family. Everything when to shit a few years back.
Cas blinked and thought for a moment. "I'm drugged." He answered, blandly, making all three of those watching him laugh. "How's Kevin? Lea? She always rides home with him..."
"Fine. Both fine, Cas. Kevin has a concussion, Lea's perfectly fine. The airbags did their job, everyone's fine." Balthazar said for Gabe, drawing Castiel's eyes to him.
"Oh, thank god..." Cas breathed out, looking past Balthazar to the third person in the room. "Hey, Sam." Castiel said in a soft voice, making Sam take in a sharp breath.
Past the small swelling and bruising of his face, Castiel still had that sharp look to him, the one they saw that morning. Sam could still see that clever teen in that face, too. The one who believed in him when he was too afraid to even tell Dean what he wanted, and it hit him hard. "Hey, Cas."
"Is Dean here?"
"Yeah."
Castiel nodded simply after that and let out a long breath. "Is my bag here? I have to work on those speeches."
"Cas, you shouldn't-"
"Give it to me, Balthazar." Castiel demanded. "If I'm stuck here, I might as well do something."
Castiel quickly let himself get sucked into the speeches, marking a few changes he would suggest, mostly in word order, but other than that he was proud of the progress the two had made, and honestly he saw some mirroring of his own valedictorian speech. Turning the page a small slip of paper slid from between the pages into his lap. Picking it up as a nurse walked into his room. "You're ready to go home, Mr. Novak, who do you want me to contact for your transportation?" She asked kindly, looking from her clip board to Castiel, not noticing just how wide his eyes were, or the look of muted shock on his face. "Mr. Novak?"
All Castiel could focus on were those words printed neatly on the paper in his hand. "Don't go to graduation, we need you alive."
"Mr. Novak?"
"My brother Gabriel should still be here. He can give me a ride." Castiel said, looking up to her with a small smile. "Thank you."
