February 2035 (Castiel is 45, Dean is 47, Eden is 21, Adrian is 18, the twins are 14, Noah is 8 (almost 9)).
It was Wednesday morning and Castiel was busy making lunchboxes for everyone while Dean was shaving in the bathroom. The children were packing their school bags and getting ready to leave.
"Papa," Noah said as he slowly approached Castiel in the kitchen. The angel turned his head and glanced down at him. "Molly seems very tired… Do you think she's okay?" He fumbled absently with the edge of his shirt and cast a worried glance over his shoulder towards Molly who was lying in front of the big cabinet in the living room, resting her head on her front paws.
Castiel followed Noah's gaze over to the dog and sighed. "Molly is getting old and she doesn't have the same energy anymore. She gets tired very easily," he explained, feeling sorry for Molly that old age was beginning to catch up to her.
"Is she gonna die?" Noah sniffled and looked up at Cas with teary eyes.
Castiel's heart clenched. He squatted down to be level with Noah and put his hands on his son's shoulders. "Someday soon she will, yes, but everyone dies sooner or later; it's natural. But I think Molly still has a year or two before she dies, so don't worry about that for now."
Noah sniffled again and nodded quietly. Lily and Isaac had picked up on the sudden mood change over in the kitchen and slowly came over to them.
"Is it about Molly?" Lily asked carefully.
"Yes, she's getting older," Castiel sighed and stood up again, going back to preparing the lunchboxes.
"She can still play ball with us in the garden and run around, so she can't be feeling that old," Isaac argued and looked over at the dog.
Lily rubbed Noah's back when the boy still seemed pretty sad about Molly having to die someday. "Aren't you going to a birthday party today, Noah?" Lily asked, hoping to cheer Noah up a little.
Noah nodded. "Yeah, Jack invited me." He smiled up at her, feeling happy that one of the boys from his class had finally invited him to a birthday party even though the two of them didn't really talk.
"I'm glad he didn't choose not to invite you," Lily smiled. "That's happened to me and Isaac a lot. Kids are such little bastards sometimes."
"Lily," Castiel scolded and sent her a brief glare from the kitchen, and Isaac laughed behind his sister.
Noah giggled and looked up when Adrian entered the room and approached them. Adrian had turned 18 years old already but he was still living at home and was planning to keep doing that until he started in military school or college. He still wasn't quite sure what direction he wanted to take his studies.
"The only little bastards I see here are you and Isaac," Adrian deadpanned, staring between the twins.
"And you're a big bastard!" Isaac growled and shoved Adrian who barely budged. Annoyed that Adrian wasn't budging and was simply smirking at him, Isaac tried to shove him again and pressed his entire body against his big brother who finally stumbled a bit to the side.
"Whoa, look out for the cabinet," Lily warned when Adrian almost fell into it.
Adrian finally took the challenge seriously and quickly captured Isaac in a head-lock, not letting go even when his brother started thrashing his wings, arms, and tail in distress.
"Hey! Let me go, you big jerk!" Isaac growled, struggling to get free of Adrian's hold but the older boy wasn't giving in. Molly had moved out of the way, thinking it was too risky to be near them right now, and Lily and Noah laughed and giggled at their interaction.
Castiel looked over at them and couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "If you break anything you will be cleaning it up yourself and replacing it," he told them in a raised voice.
"Tell that to Adrian!" Isaac growled and started hitting and kicking at Adrian the best he could to make him let go.
Dean finally exited the bathroom to see what was going on, and he rolled his eyes when he saw his sons behaving childishly. "Cut it out before you break something."
Adrian finally let go of Isaac who quickly stepped away and glared at him. "You need to work on your self-defense skills, Isaac; you suck at it," Adrian remarked, chuckling.
Isaac stuck out his tongue at him and made a mocking sound. "Bite me."
Adrian raised an eyebrow at him before moving forward, grabbing a hold of Isaac's arm and bringing it up to his mouth which he opened as if threatening to bite him. Isaac let out a loud squeal and yanked his arm away fast. The others laughed out loud, and Isaac rubbed his arm while glaring at Adrian.
"Well, love bites are better than wrestling," Dean grinned. "Now c'mon, we gotta get ready to leave." He tried to usher them towards the entrance hall to get dressed, and glanced back at Cas who was chuckling and finishing up the lunchboxes.
"Love bites?! Ew!" Isaac grimaced. "It's gross enough to see the love bites you leave on papa sometimes!"
Castiel blushed furiously in the kitchen, and unconsciously moved his hand up to cover his neck which had a few bruises on it after his and Dean's love-making the night before.
"Cas is my mate; I'm allowed to cover him in love bites." Smirking, Dean went over to Castiel in the kitchen and placed his hands on the angel's hips. He grinned when Cas continued to blush and glare at him.
Adrian rolled his eyes, Isaac still looked disgusted, and Lily giggled before taking Noah out to the entrance hall to prepare for school.
"I hate it when you bruise my neck during workdays, Dean," Castiel groused and glared at his mate. The others had left the room so they were alone now. "It's embarrassing to show up at work with, and I do not like the disgusted glares that a few of my colleagues have been sending me since they found out that my mate is a demon."
"Just ignore those racist assholes," Dean snorted. "And I bet you aren't the only one showing up at work with love bites," he smirked.
"No, I'm not… But it's embarrassing nonetheless," the angel muttered.
"Is it embarrassing that others know that you belong to a demon?" Dean asked, leaning in to mouth at Cas' jaw.
Castiel shuddered and couldn't help but bare his neck to his mate. "No… it's embarrassing that they know what we have been doing the night before when they see the marks."
Dean snorted and nuzzled at the angel's bared neck. "All couples have sex, Cas; your colleagues already know what we're doing at night, and they probably do it too. Don't be so embarrassed by it."
"But I don't need them to see any physical evidence of it," Castiel whined softly and slowly stepped back.
Dean laughed. "I like seeing it, though," he smirked and moved his hand up to the touch the marks he had left on the angel the night before.
Castiel swatted his hand away, blushing. "I do too, and now shut up and get ready to leave."
Dean grinned and they finally got ready to leave the house. Noah came over and placed a soft kiss on Molly's snout before leaving, laughing when she responded by licking his face and mouth. They drove the children to school and promised Noah to pick him up at Jack's house in the afternoon. The birthday invitation card had Jack's address on it so Dean just had to plug it into the GPS to find the way.
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Noah's school ended a little before 2pm that day and he went with all his classmates to Jack's house afterwards to celebrate Jack's ninth birthday. Jack's parents (a female human and a male demon/human hybrid) were there to help all the kids get on the city bus and drive off to their home which was 3 miles (6km) away so that the kids wouldn't get lost. Noah was excited to go; he rarely got invited to someone's birthday except for some of the girls', but he wasn't the only one in class who didn't get invited. Some kids only invited their closest friends in class due to limited space in their homes.
Noah sat next to Abby on the bus with Christie sitting with another boy on the other side of them. Noah didn't like loud places, and he cringed every time one of the kids – especially the boys – shouted in the bus. The bus driver got tired of all the noise eventually and yelled at them to quiet down, and Noah was glad that he did that.
They got off the bus and walked the last mile over to Jack's house. Jack and his parents walked in the front and the rest of the nineteen kids walked behind them. Noah, Christie, and Abby were among those in the far back.
Noah yelped when a boy named Max walking behind him stepped on the heel of his shoe on purpose, making Noah's foot hurt. Max and his friend Evan giggled behind him, mockingly. Noah's face flushed in humiliation and he lowered his head as he walked, too scared to look at the boys behind him. He had gone to kindergarten with Max and the boy had never been nice to him – it was the very same boy who had pushed him over while playing tag once and whom Connor had punched in the face for what he did. Since Connor had left Max had gotten meaner towards Noah since there was no alpha boy there anymore to defend Noah.
"That wasn't very nice!" Abby scolded at Max, turning her head to glare at him.
"Yeah, those boys are stupid," Christie muttered and didn't even bother to look over her shoulder at them.
"Who's stupid, you jerk?!" Max snapped at her, flaring out his brown angel wings. His friend Evan glared at Christie too, not liking that she was answering back.
Abby was about to retort something but Christie held her back. The girl swallowed her comment, and the three of them kept walking and trying to ignore the two boys behind them. Max stepped on Noah's heel a few more times, causing Noah to flinch and wince every time, but he tried his best to ignore it – his dad had said that bullies would lose interest in teasing him if they didn't get the desired reaction from him, which in this case was to make him cry or feel humiliated, so he tried his best to stay neutral.
They had reached the house and they kids began going inside after Jack's parents had counted all of them again to make sure everyone was there. Noah stopped when his shoelace got untied from Max constantly stepping on his heels, and Abby and Christie stopped too.
"What is it?" Christie asked.
"My shoelace is undone… You can go in without me, I'll come in soon," Noah told them and bent down to tie his shoe. They were standing on the sidewalk two houses away from Jack's house, and Noah wouldn't fall behind since he could see which house the other kids were going into.
"Okay, we'll wait for you inside," Abby said when she saw Jack's parents come outside to see if they got all the kids with them.
Noah nodded and struggled with his shoelace while Abby and Christie went inside. He hated tying his shoes and he wasn't very good at it, even though his parents had already taught him how. He put his shoulder bag down while tying his shoe, and once he was done he put the bag back on and headed over to the house. His eyes widened when Max and Evan suddenly blocked the doorway.
"I-I have to go inside. Please move?" Noah stuttered, trying to get past them but Max and Evan didn't budge.
"I don't think that Jack's parents want a little freak in their house," Evan sneered at him, looking Noah up and down.
"Yeah, what are those wings anyway? Subs are supposed to have downy-soft wings and yours look…. odd," Max said, scrunching his nose in disgust as he looked at Noah's light grey wings.
Noah felt a stab of hurt in his chest and he couldn't help but draw his wings closer to his body, trying to hide them behind his back.
"He's half demon, isn't he?" Evan whispered at Max, although Noah could hear him quite well.
"Yeah," Max replied, not taking his eyes off of Noah.
Evan turned to look at Noah again. "Where is his tail, then?"
Max laughed, and the coldness in his laughter sent shivers up Noah's spine. "Oh, he really is a freak. No tail, no soft wings…" He chuckled in a malicious manner while looking Noah up and down again before staring him into the eyes. "Just go away, you freak; no one wants you here!" he sneered, flaring his brown wings which were larger than Noah's own.
Noah flinched and stared back at the boys with teary eyes. The hurt and the feeling of being unwelcome and unwanted felt stronger than ever before, and he let out a small sob before turning around and running away from the house, covering his ears when he heard Max and Evan laugh at his retreat.
Noah ran and ran until he almost stumbled on the sidewalk. He didn't know for long he had run or how many times he had rounded a corner, and he suddenly didn't know where he was. His eyes were blurry with tears, and he clutched his shoulder bag tightly against his side while glancing around and trying to find out where he was. People didn't pay him much attention since they were all busy talking on their phones or hurrying towards their destination. A few females turned their heads to look at him, but Noah lowered his head and hid his face from them, not wanting them to see him cry. He noticed a park on the other side of the street which he recognized, and he suddenly realized that he was very close to Eden's college. Not knowing what else to do or where else to go, he decided to try and find Eden's college, although he wasn't quite sure in which direction it was.
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Dean picked Castiel up from work at 4:10pm and they picked up the twins and Adrian before going to Jack's house to pick up Noah from the birthday party. It was 4:28 already and some of the children at the party were already being picked up. Dean and Castiel both went over to the door while the kids stayed in the car. They rang the doorbell and waited for Jack's parents to answer the door.
"Hello," a female human greeted them at the door, smiling at them. There was a hint of surprise in her eyes at seeing an angel and demon standing there together but she didn't seem to linger much on that thought. "Picking up a kid, I presume?"
"Yeah, he's name is Noah. Is he here?" Dean asked, peering inside when some of the kids ran around behind the woman.
"Hmm, the name doesn't ring a bell. But come inside and look for him, I'm sure he's hiding somewhere among the other kids," the woman smiled and invited them inside.
Dean and Castiel entered the house, smiling as they saw the kids having fun and running about. They looked around for Noah in the living room and dining room but couldn't spot him anywhere among the other kids.
Suddenly Abby and Christie came running around the corner while playing a game with the others, and they stopped when they saw Dean and Castiel. "Oh," Abby said, blinking at them. "Hi Noah's parents."
Dean chuckled. "Hi Abby. Where's Noah? We're here to pick him up."
Christie frowned next to Abby. "But you already picked him up."
Dean and Castiel frowned, glancing at each other.
"What are you talking about? We didn't pick him up," Dean said, staring at them in confusion.
"But Max said that he saw you picking Noah up outside the house and that it seemed urgent," Christie explained.
Abby turned her head and looked at Christie with a thoughtful expression. "Max and Evan don't even know Noah's parents… Do they?"
"What are you saying? What the hell is going on here?" Dean spoke, his voice getting more demanding because of worry and confusion. He just wanted to know where the hell Noah was.
"Who are Max and Evan?" Castiel asked them, looking at the girls.
"Max is a stupid boy who's always harassing us and Noah, and Evan is his stupid friend," Abby muttered, clenching her fists a bit. "He made Noah's shoelace go up earlier, so Noah told us to go inside the house while he was tying it. He didn't come back, but then Max and Evan came in and said that he saw that you had picked Noah up and that he wouldn't come to the party anyway…"
Dean growled and clenched his fists tightly by his side, and Castiel gasped in horror next to him, not believing that this could really be happening.
Jack's mother Mia suddenly came over to them with her husband, Richard. "What's going on? Can't find your kid amongst the others?"
"No, because two other boys seem to have made him leave and told the others that we picked him up," Dean spoke with a hint of anger in his voice. "You didn't count the kids?"
"We counted them just before we led them into the house," Richard said, slowly beginning to understand the situation.
"Oh my god. I thought for sure that all the kids were here!" Mia gasped, her eyes widening in horror and panic.
"Where are those boys?" Dean asked, looking down at Abby and Christie again.
Abby pointed over at the corner of the living room by the TV where Max and Evan were trying to hide behind some of the kids. Dean was about to go over and get them, but Richard beat him to do it and went over, demanding that Max and Evan both came over to explain themselves.
"Tell us what happened and where Noah is," Richard demanded, glaring at the boys. They weren't his kids but this was his house so he had the final authority there. He crossed his arms and spread his demon wings slightly.
A few of the other children from their class were gathered around to see what was wrong, and both Max and Evan didn't seem pleased with the sudden attention. They lowered their heads and twitched nervously.
"Max told him to go away," Evan muttered, glancing up at the adults from under his lashes.
"You snitch!" Max hissed, shoving the other boy harshly who yelped at the action.
"Hey!" Richard growled. "No shoving! Just tell Noah's parents where Noah is."
"We don't know; he ran away after we teased him. I don't know where he is," Evan admitted. He looked kind of shamed by what he had done, where Max seemed a little less affected apart from being embarrassed by all his classmates looking.
"You liars! You said he got picked up!" Abby shouted at them in an angry voice.
Dean ran a hand down his face, not knowing what to do. Noah had disappeared from a birthday party in an area of the city that he wasn't very familiar with. The boy could be anywhere, and he could have been kidnapped on the street. All sorts of horrible scenarios went through Dean's head, but worst of all was that awful feeling of having failed as father; that he wasn't able to protect his child when Noah needed him the most. Dean glanced at Cas who was now holding a hand in front of his mouth in horror and whose eyes were watery with unshed tears.
"I hope your parents ground you two for a year," Mia told the boys, staring at them in disapproval. She turned her gaze to look at Dean and Castiel and softened her expression. "We'll go out and help you look for Noah. Maybe he's still somewhere nearby."
"Yeah, we appreciate it," Dean said.
Mia stayed behind to look after the kids at the house until everyone got picked up by their parents, and Dean, Castiel, and Richard went out to start looking through the neighborhood in their cars. Apparently none of the other kids had thought much about Noah not being there since they were told he was picked up, and Abby and Christie had believed the boys' story since they didn't see Noah anywhere outside when they went to look. They hadn't imagined that Max and Evan would actually do something as horrible as making Noah run away from the birthday party he had looked forward to attending. Jack didn't seem impressed either, and he said he was never going to invite those two boys to his birthday ever again.
They had just come outside when Christie's parents showed up to pick up their daughter. After hearing about what had happened they offered their help in searching the nearby neighborhoods for Noah to see if they could find him. Richard didn't know Noah but Dean showed him a picture of the boy which he kept in his wallet along with pictures of all his other kids, so now Richard knew what Noah looked like.
Castiel was almost hyperventilating by the time he and Dean returned to the car and were about to drive around to look for Noah. The angel sat down on the passenger seat and trembled in anxiety.
"What's going on?" Lily asked in worry when she noticed that something was wrong.
"Yeah, and where is Noah?" Isaac asked, leaning forward to look at Dean and Castiel in the front seats. He was sitting behind Castiel, Adrian sat behind Dean, and Lily sat in the back of the 8-seater car behind Isaac.
"Noah's disappeared from the party," Dean explained, clenching his teeth. "Two stupid boys chased him off."
"What?!" the twins exclaimed in unison.
Adrian's eyes widened in horror. "How long has he been gone?"
"Since about 2:30 so that's over two hours already," Dean replied. He glanced at Cas and hesitated with starting the car. "Cas…" He reached out his hand, placing it on the angel's trembling shoulder.
"Just drive, Dean, We need to find him," Castiel spoke in a shaky voice, staring into the car's dashboard in front of him and seemed to struggle to control his emotions at the moment. He turned his head, looking at Dean with the most helpless expression that Dean had ever seen on his face. "Just… find him," he said, his voice breaking as he let out a strangled sob.
Dean's heart clenched. He rubbed Castiel's shoulder for comfort for a few more seconds before starting the car and driving off to search the neighborhood for Noah. The kids were really quiet in the backseat now, sharing worried glances before quickly looking out the windows to see if they could spot Noah somewhere.
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Noah was starting to get tired. He had walked around the neighborhood for what felt like hours, trying to spot something he could recognize except for the park and a few of the buildings. He knew that Eden's college was nearby and he felt that he needed to go there. The February breeze was cold and he wrapped his jacket tighter around himself as he walked. He was getting hungry and thirsty, and all the crying and sobbing made his throat and head hurt. A few people had stopped to ask him what was wrong but Noah had just run off, not wanting to talk to strangers – especially not the male ones.
Noah lit up a bit when he found an area that looked familiar to him. He had finally found the neighborhood where Eden's college was after having spent what felt like hours looking for it. It didn't take long before he finally spotted the familiar shape of Eden's college, and he was careful as he crossed the busy street to get to it.
Once Noah was on the college property he suddenly felt lost again. He had only been at the college a few times before and didn't really know it that well. He walked over towards the dormitory buildings but couldn't really remember which one of them was Eden's. They all looked the same. New tears formed in his eyes and he let out a pitiful sob, suddenly feeling completely lost again.
Suddenly a young couple walked by, glancing at him as he stood on the path between the main building and the dormitories. The angel/human hybrid male stopped and stared at Noah curiously. The guy laughed when he noticed Noah's wings not being like a normal angel's wings. "What kind of freak is that?"
Noah flinched and drew his wings closer to himself, trying to hide. His eyes widened in surprise when the guy was slapped in the face by his angel girlfriend.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Saying such things to a little child?!" the girl growled, shoving the guy back harshly.
"What?" the guy exclaimed, surprised by his girlfriend's reaction. "He does look weird! Have you seen his wings? They aren't even completely soft!"
"So what?!" the girl snapped. "Can't believe you're saying such things to an innocent child. You really have no dignity, do you?" She growled again and spread her grey wings in anger. "Just… go!"
"Seriously? You're getting mad at me over something as unimportant as that?"
"Just go away," the girl growled, taking a threatening step forward. The guy threw his hands up in surrender before stalking away from them, and the girl turned to look at Noah with a polite but apologetic smile. Noah noticed that she seemed to be around Eden's age, maybe younger.
"Hey, little guy," she smiled. "Don't listen to my boyfriend, he's such ass and I really ought to dump him." She kneeled down in front of him, trying to get him to look at her properly but Noah was too shy to raise his head to do so. "Why are you crying?" she asked in a gentle voice.
Noah glanced up at her from under his lashes, and new tears ran down his cheek. He sniffled, saying, "I can't find my sister."
"Does she study here at this college?"
Noah nodded and glanced over the girl's shoulder at the buildings behind her. "I don't remember where her room is…"
The girl smiled. "Well, how about I lead you to the reception; they can help you find out where your sister's dorm room is." She stood up again and smiled down at him. "I'm Carla. What's your name?"
"Noah…" he answered, staring up at her and sniffling again.
"That's a cute name," Carla smiled. "Are your parents a demon and an angel?" she asked curiously.
Noah hesitated before nodding quietly, and he was a bit surprised when Carla's smile seemed to broaden a bit.
"That's kinda cool," Carla grinned and reached out her hand for Noah to take. "C'mon, let's go see if we can find the woman at the reception."
Noah slowly took her hand, letting her guide him into the main building where the reception was. The woman in the reception asked for his sister's name, and after Noah told her it only took her ten seconds to tell him in which room and building Eden's dorm room was. Carla thanked the woman before leading Noah outside and helped him over to the right building.
"I have to go now; I've got a late class," Carla said as they stood in front of the entrance to the building. "Your sister's room is on the fourth floor, room number 403. Good luck," she smiled before walking away, waving at Noah.
Noah told her thank you and smiled as he waved back at her. He suddenly felt a little lonely after Carla disappeared, but at least he knew now where to find Eden. He went inside the building, glancing around curiously but quickly looked down at the floor when he was met by curious gazes from the students that walked back and forth inside. He quickly made his way up the stairs towards the fourth floor and then hurried down the corridor towards Eden's room. He sighed in relief once he found the room and reached up to open the door, only to notice that it was locked. "Eden!" he called, knocking on the door, but there was no response. He called and knocked a few more times, and more tears formed in his eyes when he realized that Eden wasn't in her room. He wondered what to do. He wanted to go find Jason who lived on the floor below, but he couldn't remember his room number. Noah glanced around at the students that walked back and forth behind him, too busy laughing and talking to each other to really notice him. He turned around, leaning his back and wings against the wooden door, and slowly sank down to sit on the floor. He pulled his knees up to his chest and put his schoolbag on the floor next to him. He knew that Eden would show up sooner or later, he just had to wait.
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Meanwhile Dean and Castiel were driving through the neighborhood, desperately looking for Noah. All of them stared at the people and places they passed, seeing if they could spot Noah somewhere but without any luck so far. They had shared telephone numbers with Richard and Christie's parents in case one of them should find Noah, but so far none of them had called, and they had passed each other a few times while driving but only shook their heads to say that they hadn't had any luck finding Noah yet.
They had called the police, but the woman on the phone told them that since there was no evidence of a crime they had to wait 24 hours before reporting Noah as missing. It only frustrated all of them even more.
Castiel was getting more and more scared the longer they drove around without finding any signs of Noah. He couldn't sit still, and all sorts of scenarios kept playing inside his head. This was much worse than when Noah got lost at Disneyland, since the boy had now been missing for two and a half hours already. Noah didn't have a phone because he was still too young for it, but Castiel swore to himself that if they found Noah again he would give the boy a phone so they could call him.
They had stopped at the local park to go out and search for Noah in it, hoping he might be there. They had asked a few people if they had seen Noah, showing them pictures of him which they had on their phones, but no one had seen him, and Noah was still nowhere to see in the park. Disappointed and frustrated, the family walked back to where Dean had parked the Tahoe.
"Hey, isn't Eden's college nearby? Maybe he went there?" Adrian suddenly spoke as they walked towards the car.
"Yeah, we should call her and see," Lily agreed.
"If Noah went to see Eden she would have called us already. But sure, let's give her a call; maybe she can helps us look," Dean said, stopping to let Castiel catch up since he was falling behind.
Adrian took out his phone to call Eden, and meanwhile Dean turned his attention to Castiel who had now caught up and was still staring around the park, trying to spot Noah somewhere.
Dean gently reached out and placed his hand on the angel's shoulder and went to stand in front of him. "Cas…"
"I don't know what to do, Dean," Castiel cut him off, glancing to his left where he saw a couple of kindergarteners playing by the trees. His voice was weak and broken, and new tears were starting to form in his eyes again. "This feels like a nightmare that I just cannot wake up from. What if someone took him off the street? What if someone is—" He broke. The thought of Noah being kidnapped by some perverted stranger was too much for him. He broke down crying, letting Dean pull him against his chest so that his face was buried in Dean's shirt with Dean's hands stroking his back for comfort.
"Shhh, don't think that," Dean spoke, holding his mate tightly against himself. He couldn't fight back his own tears which were slowly beginning to leak from his eyes. "We'll find him, I know we will."
"W-what if we don't?" the angel sobbed, hiding his face in Dean's chest and grasped the demon's shirt tightly with his hands. His wings drooped behind him in defeat, and he didn't care that people were watching them.
Lily and Isaac shared a worried glance. They stood a few feet in front of their parents, waiting for them to come over so they could return to the car. Isaac was quieter than usual, and Lily began crying a bit when she saw their parents' distress.
Adrian came over to the twins, hanging up his phone and glancing towards Dean and Castiel. "Eden didn't pick up. I'm guessing she has classes…" he spoke, loud enough for Dean and Castiel to hear him as well.
"Argh, this shit can't be happening!" Isaac exclaimed loudly. "Where are those fucking boys who chased Noah away? I'll whip their asses until there is nothing left of them!" he growled.
"Yeah, me too," Adrian muttered, clenching his jaw in frustration and anger.
Dean continued stroking Cas' back, trying to soothe him. He kissed the top of the angel's head softly and closed his eyes to hold back his own tears. He slowly pulled away from Castiel who tried to cling to him a bit. "Let's go back to the car and keep looking."
Castiel nodded, staring at the ground, and they made their way over to the Tahoe again.
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Eden's classes ended at 5:40pm. She found Ariel in the library afterwards and headed back to their room with her, sharing funny stories about things that had happened during the day. Jason was out with some friends so Eden and Ariel had the night to themselves to help each other do homework.
They were walking through the corridor of their dormitory, and Eden laughed when Ariel told her about how one of the guys from her class had embarrassed himself in her class today. When they reached their room Eden gasped in shock when she spotted Noah sitting in front of the door with his face buried in his knees. "Noah!" she exclaimed, surprised, and kneeled down next to him.
Noah quickly lifted his head and looked at her, his eyes red from crying. His face lit up and he immediately wrapped his arms around Eden's neck. "Eden!" he exclaimed happily, clinging to his sister and crying into her neck.
Eden was surprised by the gesture and gently wrapped her arms around Noah's small body, stroking his back to soothe him. "Shhh, it's okay. What are you doing outside my room?" she asked and pulled away from him. Ariel stood behind her and was just as shocked to see Noah sitting in front of their room as she was.
Noah pulled away, sniffling and glancing at Eden from under his lashes. "Max and Evan chased me away from Jack's birthday party… I didn't know where else to go…"
Eden gasped. "But it's almost 6pm already! Do dad and papa know that you're here?" Noah quietly shook his head, and Eden quickly stood up, running a hand down her face. "Okay, let's get you inside," she said, pulling out her keys to unlock the door and guided Noah into the room. Ariel followed, closing the door behind them.
"Oooh boy, I bet your parents are frantically searching the city for him at the moment," Ariel commented.
"Yeah, I know, I'm gonna call them now," Eden said, picking up her phone from the bedside table where it had been charging during her classes. She noticed a missed call from Adrian, guessing he had been trying to reach her about Noah. She quickly looked up Dean's number on her phone to call him while Ariel looked after Noah.
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It was 6pm and it was almost completely dark now. Dean and Castiel had searched for Noah for an hour and a half already, and Christie's parents and Richard were also still looking for him.
Dean's hands grabbed the steering wheel tightly as he started to feel more and more frustrated and scared. They had searched everywhere they could think of, even inside local toy stores to see if Noah would be there, but without any luck so far. Dean felt completely helpless when he saw Cas' eyes fill with tears, or how they kids all had helpless and worried expressions on their faces.
His phone rang in his pocket and Dean immediately pulled the car over to the side to pick it up, not caring about the jerk that was honking behind him. He felt a surge of hope when he saw it was Eden calling. "Eden," he said as he picked up. "What is it? Is Noah with you?" he asked before Eden could say anything, not caring that he sounded desperate. Castiel and the kids' attention were on him now, listening in with anticipation.
"Hi dad," Eden spoke on the other end. "Yeah, Noah is here. I found him sitting outside my door, crying."
Dean couldn't remember ever having felt so relieved in his entire life. "Oh thank god," he sighed. "We're coming over – don't let him outta your sight," he told her before hanging up. Castiel and Adrian sighed in relief when Dean told them that Noah was with Eden, and the twins cheered happily in the back.
They quickly drove over to the college, and Castiel called Christie's parents and Richard to tell them that Noah had been found. He thanked them for their help, and was happy that someone else had volunteered to help looking for Noah.
They rushed into the college, fighting their way through the busy corridors of the dormitory until they finally reached Eden's room. Castiel didn't even bother knocking before opening the door – he was too impatient to finally see Noah and make sure that he was okay.
Noah sat next to Eden on her bed with Ariel sitting across them on her own bed, and they all looked up when Castiel and the others entered.
"Noah," Castiel exclaimed in relief when he saw Noah sitting there with Eden's arm around his shoulders. He quickly came over to pull him into a hug.
"Papa!" Noah cried, wrapping his arms around Castiel's neck as the angel hugged him and pulled him up into his arms. Castiel buried his face in Noah's neck and placed a kiss on the boy's cheek as he stood with Noah cradled against his body. Noah's feet were around the angel's waist to support himself.
Dean came over and joined the hug, trapping Noah between himself and Cas as both of them hugged and kissed him in relief. Noah smiled, happy that he was with his family again.
Adrian sighed in relief, closing the door behind him and went further into the room with Isaac and Lily.
"Oh thank fuck, I thought we were gonna have to look for him all night," Isaac sighed, letting his wings slump behind him. Lily stood next to him, wiping away happy tears.
Dean and Castiel pulled away, and Castiel finally put Noah down on the floor again, giving him a firm stare. "Don't you ever do that again," he growled, looking Noah in the eye. "You have no idea how worried we all were! We looked everywhere for you!"
"I-I'm sorry, papa," Noah murmured, eyes filling with tears again.
"Your papa is right; we were worried to death about you," Dean spoke and looked down at Noah. "You should not have left the party when you knew we were gonna pick you up there. We didn't know what had happened to you when you weren't there when we showed up."
Noah glanced up at him. "But Max and Evan said I wasn't welcome there…"
"Max and Evan are two little brats whom you shouldn't listen to," Dean growled, although growling wasn't directed at Noah.
Castiel leaned down to level with Noah. "It was Jack who invited you, not those two boys. Jack wanted you to be there and he got mad when he heard that the other boys had made you leave. Either way, have I not told you that if you get lost you should go to a store and ask to use their phone to call us?" he said in a strict but not unkind voice.
"But I only know the number for the phone at home, and you were at work… I don't remember your cell phone numbers," Noah explained in a quiet voice.
Eden chuckled. "Sounds like you need to write it down for him or give him a cell phone soon."
Castiel sighed and stood up again, and Dean gave him a small chuckle and brushed his wing against his.
"Well, Noah went to Eden's college to find her, so technically he didn't do anything wrong," Dean spoke, smiling at Noah. His expression darkened as he continued. "And about those stupid boys, I will call their parents when we get home and have a word with them. It's unacceptable that they chase another kid away like that and lie to everyone else about it. Those parents better fucking do something about it," he growled, clenching his fists.
"Yeah, those boys could use some discipline," Adrian muttered and crossed his arms.
"Papa?" Noah spoke, glancing up at Castiel while clinging to his side. "I wanna go home now…"
Castiel chuckled and stroked his hand through Noah's hair with affection. "I know. Me too." He gave his son a fond smile and was so happy and relieved that Noah had been alright the whole time, except for being scared and upset.
"Yeah, I wanna go home too. I'm starving," Isaac blurted, and cringed when his stomach growled.
Adrian snorted. "When aren't you hungry?" Lily giggled next to him.
"Yeah, we should go," Dean chuckled.
They said goodbye to Eden and Ariel, thanking Eden for calling them about Noah. All the fear and worry they had been through in the past hours had turned to relief now, and the family walked back to the car together to drive home. They picked up some food on the way home since both Dean and Castiel felt too emotionally exhausted to cook when they got home. Noah fell asleep in the car since he was exhausted from hours of crying and being distressed, but he woke up when they pulled into the driveway at home.
They had dinner together, and Noah told them about how he had gotten lost while looking for Eden's college but had finally found it anyway. Isaac made some joke about putting a leash on Noah so he wouldn't get lost ever again, which Noah didn't quite understand, and afterwards Dean went out to make a phone call to Max and Evan's parents. He knew that Jack's mother had likely talked to them when they picked up their kids, but Dean felt he needed to have a word with them personally. He got the phone numbers from some parent contact information from Noah's class' intranet site. Since both Max and Evan were full/part angels, their parents we less impressed to be called by a demon, but Dean wouldn't let Cas make the call because he was in too much of a protective alpha-mode to let someone else handle it for him.
Castiel put Noah to bed early since the boy was exhausted and tired, and he lingered by Noah's bed for a bit until his son fell asleep. He was still too affected by today's happenings to leave Noah's side. When he came downstairs the twins had just finished their homework and were having a fight with the pillows on the couch after Isaac had done something to piss Lily off, and Castiel gave them a fond chuckle before looking over at Dean who had just returned from the terrace where he had made the phone call.
"What did they say?" Castiel asked, ignoring the twins' shouting and wrestling on the couch behind them. Molly was barking at the twins every now and then, wagging her tail and seeming to think they were playing a game.
Dean cast a brief glance at the twins, raising his eyebrow at them, before looking at Cas. "They got defensive, which wasn't a big surprise. Actually Evan's parents were pretty nice to talk to and they seemed to take the matter seriously, but Max's father was just a dick."
"That was to be expected. Sons often take after their fathers," Castiel murmured while reaching out to correct the collar of Dean's shirt which looked kind of askew.
Dean's lips tilted into a smirk. "Hopefully that's not bad in my case?"
"You mean with you and John or your sons and you?" Castiel asked, pulling his hands back after correcting Dean's shirt.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Well, my sons and I mostly."
"In Adrian's case I'm only annoyed that he's too proud to talk about feelings sometimes, like you can also be. And in Isaac's case he's not the type to put up with bad treatment, so I guess that's a good thing he got from you," Castiel spoke, staring at Dean's shirt before raising his eyes to look back at Dean. "And Noah doesn't take much after you, but I'm not sure if he goes under the category 'son'."
Dean laughed. "Yeah, total gender confusion there." He put his hands on Castiel's hips, pulling him closer. "You're also very gender confusing," he smirked, taking his right hand off Castiel's hip and moved it down to give Castiel a light squeeze between the legs. "'Cause that thing is mostly just decoration on you."
Castiel yelped when Dean squeezed him down there and flinched back a bit. "Dean," he warned, glaring at the demon.
"But a nice decoration of course," Dean grinned, leaning in to whisper in Castiel's ear. "And very tasty," he purred, pulling back with a grin when he felt Castiel blush.
Isaac and Lily stopped their fight on the couch, and Isaac looked over at them. "Hey, are you two groping each other over there?" he asked, grimacing at the thought.
Castiel blushed harder and Dean just laughed. Adrian entered the room at that very moment and glanced between all them, stopping in his tracks.
"Ew," Adrian muttered before walking past Dean and Castiel and headed for the kitchen. He glared at Dean when his father slapped his tail against his ass as he passed them, obviously trying to tell him not to say 'ew'.
"You aren't any better!" Isaac blurted at Adrian. "I saw you smooching some girl in front of your school yesterday when we picked you up!"
Now it was Adrian's turn to blush furiously, and he quickly opened the fridge and let the fridge door hide his face from everyone's view.
Dean raised an eyebrow, looking over at Adrian with his hands still placed on Castiel's hips. "Really? You were making out with a girl at school? Why not tell us that you got a new girlfriend?"
Adrian pushed the fridge shut after getting the juice from it and glanced over at them, still with a small hint of red on his cheeks. "I, um, was going to."
"Really?" Lily beamed, happy that her brother had found a new girlfriend. "What's her name?"
"Amber," Adrian replied, taking his glass of juice in one hand and prepared to head upstairs again.
"You should invite her over," Castiel told him, smiling.
"I will. Someday," Adrian spoke, walking past his parents and towards the door to the entrance hall.
"Adrian is gonna get laid again!" Isaac sang with a mocking grin on his face.
"Shut up, you brat!" Adrian hissed at him, blushing again. "I'm heading up. Goodnight," he said, quickly disappearing up the stairs.
Dean laughed. "'Night," he called after him.
Lily and Isaac decided to head to bed as well, and Lily came over to hug them both goodnight before going up, where Isaac just waved at them before leaving. Molly went into the corridor between the kitchen and the terrace to get something to drink before going to sleep in her basket.
Once Dean and Castiel were alone in the living room, the angel let out a heavy sigh and slumped his shoulders. "I think I will head to bed as well. Today really exhausted me…"
"Yeah, you were a mess, Cas." Dean reached out, moving a few hairs away from the angel's forehead and touched his cheek briefly. "But everything is alright now; Noah is safe, and he did the right thing by going to Eden's college."
"He could have been kidnapped from the streets on the way there, Dean."
"But Noah said he kept close to people, like we told him to. If someone had snatched him off the street there would have been witnesses."
"I still don't like having him walk around all by himself. No submissive should walk around alone; it's too dangerous. We are just as much targeted by perverts as females are," Castiel murmured, staring into Dean's shirt. He paused for a few moments before talking again. "I was just so scared that something had happened to Noah… I wouldn't be able to live if something bad ever happened to any of our children, Dean, I just wouldn't." He raised his head, staring into Dean's eyes and blinked his eyes to get rid of the tears that blurred his vision.
"Cas," Dean spoke, reaching his hand up to cup his mate's cheek. "I know, I wouldn't be able to either, but everything is alright now. We'll put a piece of paper in Noah's bag and jacket with our cell phone numbers on it so he can call us. And the rest of the kids are doing just fine with their lives; they are strong and good, and we won't lose them."
Castiel sighed, nodding softly in agreement. Dean smiled before placing a small kiss on the angel's lips, telling him they should head to bed now.
They headed upstairs to bed, falling asleep after a while of recapping today's events in their heads, hoping they would never have to live through that ever again. Noah was safe now and that was most important.
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Author's notes: Somewhat of a filler chapter in a way, but I thought it could be interesting to have Noah get chased away from a birthday party like that. Something similar happened to me once when I was Noah's age – I showed up at someone's birthday party and 2-3 girls from my class told me to leave. Which was odd because I hadn't had any problems with them before, so I don't know why they did that, but then again kids these days bully others for no reason at all… So Noah's experience was inspired by one of my own experiences. At least my mother found me in the neighborhood soon afterwards but she was angry as hell XD;
Thanks for reading :) Please review.