Disclaimer 1: I do not own Supernatural and am not making money by writing this story.
Disclaimer 2: The title is from the song, Chasing Cars and I am not making money by using it as the title of my fanfic.
Chapter four
Spring 2007
Time went by quickly in Lawrence, Kansas. Or maybe it just seemed that way to the Winchesters. Before they had a chance to blink, Sam started talking non-stop. He had a persuasive way of talking that got him out of all kinds of trouble. John joked that no one would want to argue with Sam if he ever became a lawyer.
One day, both Castiel and Dean had a day off from school and decided to have a sleepover. The night before, Castiel had packed up his bag and dropped it off at Dean's house. He couldn't sleep all night; excitement overwhelmed him.
When the bell rang, Castiel rushed off to Dean's homeroom. He met Dean in the hallway and together they walked out of the front door.
Castiel was usually a quiet kid and that didn't really bother Dean. He liked that they weren't similar in that sense; it was nice having friends who were different from you. But today, he seemed quieter than usual and Dean wanted to know why.
"What's up with you today, Cas?" Dean said as they crossed the road.
"What do you mean?" Castiel tilted his head in a familiar fashion.
"You're really quiet." Dean said.
"I'm always quiet." Castiel said when they rounded the corner. A few more steps and they would soon be at Dean's house.
"Cas." Dean arched his eyebrow.
"Dean." Castiel retorted and snickered.
"I'm serious."
"I thought you were Dean." Castiel smirked.
"Shut up." Dean said and went to ruffle his friend's hair. Castiel swatted at his hand but Dean knew that he wasn't really upset; Castiel's smile was the best indicator.
Dean fetched the keys out of his pockets and proceeded to open the house door.
"Girls first." Dean gestured at the door and grinned at Castiel.
"Shut up." Castiel said but didn't waste time by shoving Dean aside and walking into the house triumphantly.
"Hey!" Dean called after him as he entered the house and locked the door.
Cas laughed in response and said, "Race you to your room." He started to run toward the stairs but Dean caught his arm and said, "Shhh! Sammy's asleep upstairs."
"Oh, I'm so sorry- I didn't know-" At the last second, Castiel noticed the mischievous glint in Dean's eyes but before he could say anything, Dean pushed his arm away and went flying up the stairs.
"I'm going to get you for this." Castiel said as he ran up the stairs, two steps at a time.
"Yeah, whenever you're ready, girl." Dean teased from the top of the stairs.
"You be better prepared, Dean. I have such an evil plan in mind." Castiel said as he walked down the hallway to Dean's room.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dean called back and entered his room. As Dean sat down on his bed and grabbed the TV remote, someone suddenly attacked him.
Castiel had promised Dean that he would get his revenge so he snuck up behind Dean and started tickling Dean. He knew that tickling was Dean's weakness and had decided to use it against him. He was an evil genius after all.
"Cas…hahahahahaha….Cas stop…hahahaha…Cas, please stop." Dean couldn't stop laughing.
"Say uncle."
"Uncle, Cas, Uncle." Dean breathed.
Cas stopped tickling Dean held out his hand and said, "Truce?"
"Truce." Dean shook his hand. They propped the pillows up against the wall and settled back down while watching T.V.
After watching several episodes of Drake& Josh, Dean and Castiel decided to get some food.
"So where is Sam?" Castiel asked as they walked down the stairs.
"Oh, Dad was supposed to pick him up from school and they were gonna go to Uncle Bobby's house."
"Who's Bobby?" Castiel asked curiously as he sat on the stool and swung his legs under the kitchen counter.
"He's my dad's friend. He's not really my Uncle, but he's kind of like a brother to dad. What do you want, peanut butter or nutella?" Dean said as he looked through the cupboard.
"I'll have both." Castiel said and Dean looked back at him, appalled.
"That's gross but whatever." Dean said and placed the two jars on the table. He went to the other side of the kitchen.
Castiel hopped off his stool and followed Dean. "So why didn't you go with them?"
"Well because, we had this sleepover planned and I didn't want to cancel it." Dean said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"But didn't you want to see Bobby?"
"Of course I did but I didn't want you to be upset if I had cancelled."
"Thanks, Deanie. That was nice of you." Castiel smiled and went to hug Dean.
"I told you to stop calling me that. And I'm not nice." Dean pretended to be annoyed but hugged Castiel anyway.
"Fine, you're a meanie." Castiel giggled.
They made themselves sandwiches and sat down at the table. They talked about what was new in school. Dean seemed to be very impressed with the new kid, Asher who, in Dean's words, "was a smarter genius than Matilda" and kept going on and on about him and when he was finished, Castiel took the opportunity to complain about his sister, Anna and how she managed to get him in trouble even when he hadn't done anything.
Once they finished eating, they decided to play some board games and got into an argument whether Monopoly or Connect Four was the better game but it was soon resolved when Dean offered to make some pizza-rolls.
During the third Harry Potter movie that Castiel technically wasn't allowed to watch but Dean had convinced him to watch anyway, John returned with a tired-looking Sam on his arm.
John took Sam to take a bath and then changed him into his pajamas, even though Sam kept insisting that he could do it himself. After putting on Sam's bathrobe, John picked him up and carried him back to the living room.
Sam practically jumped out of his father's arms and ran to Dean. He jumped on Dean's lap and said, "Guess who I saw today."
"I don't know, who?" Dean asked feigning ignorance.
"Uncle Bobby and his wife Karen!" His eyes widened and he gave a hearty laugh that made Dean smile in return.
"Did you like it there?" Dean asked although he already knew the answer. Who wouldn't like Uncle Bobby?
"Very much." Sam bobbled his head up and down.
"Sam, we agreed for five minutes. It's time to go to sleep." John said sternly as he walked back in from the kitchen.
Sam grumbled disappointedly but said goodnight to Castiel and Dean and then went upstairs with John.
After putting Sam to sleep, John walked down the stairs and sat in his chair. "Why don't you one of go shower first and you can tell me all about your day later?"
"Sure, Mr. Winchester, I'll go first." Castiel jumped off the couch, grabbed his bag and went upstairs to take a shower.
While Castiel took a shower, Dean told John about their day and what they had done. He especially made sure to mention that Castiel ate nutella and peanut butter together with such deep awe that John couldn't help but laugh.
When Castiel finished showering, he put on his pajamas and went downstairs. He deliberately kept looking at the floor and refused to meet anyone's eyes. When Dean asked him about it, Castiel just shrugged and looked out the window.
"Why don't you go take a shower, Dean?" Dean was about to argue but saw the determined look in his father's eyes.
"Fine." Dean sulked and went upstairs.
When Dean was out of earshot, John turned to Castiel and said, "Cas, I've known you for a while. You know that you can tell me anything, right?"
Castiel hesitantly nodded.
"Cas, look at me." John said and Castiel raised his head shyly. John could see traces of a bruise around Castiel's right eye.
"Who gave you that shiner?" John said as he pointed at Castiel's eye.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Castiel crossed his arms and looked the other way.
"Son, I've been around long enough to know evidence of bruises. And I do know that even during play-fighting, Dean can sometimes be a little too-"
"It wasn't Dean!" Castiel shouted and looked back at a bewildered John. When he realized that he had raised his voice, he ashamedly shifted his gaze back to the window.
"Then who was it?" John prodded.
"I can't tell you."
John was about to say something else when he noticed the fearful look in Castiel's eyes. "Alright, I'll stop asking. But if you ever want to talk, I'm here, okay?" John looked at Castiel for confirmation and Castiel nodded.
Later, when Dean was settled in his bed and Cas was in his inflatable bed, Dean turned over the edge of his bed and turned on the radio.
"What are you doing, Dean?" Castiel asked. He had had a long day and all he wanted to do was sleep.
"Turning on the radio." The 'duh' was clear in the tone of his voice.
"Why?"
"Because I like to listen to the radio before I go to sleep."
"Why?" Castiel repeated.
"God, you're so nosy. I don't know, my mom used to sing to me before I went to sleep but she's not here anymore so I listen to the radio and it calms me down before sleep."
"That's pretty sad, Dean." Castiel yawned.
"You're such a drama queen, Cas." Dean teased but in his mind he couldn't help but agree.
"We'll do it all. Everything, on our own" belted through the speakers and Dean was about to turn the knob to the next station when Castiel whispered-yelled, "No, leave it." Castiel looked at him pleadingly.
"You like this song?" Dean asked as he moved his hand back onto his pillow.
"Yes, it's very peaceful."
"How? He just keeps singing about chasing cars. Between me and you, he sounds a bit crazy." Dean snorted.
"That's not what the song is about." Castiel said defensively.
"Then what's it about, hmm?"
"My sister Anna says that it's about being with who you love no matter what."
"Anna's thirteen."
"So, we're eight. And Anna has a boyfriend."
"She does not." Dean couldn't believe it.
"She does so." Castiel retorted and stretched his arms. Dean noticed a bruise on his wrist.
"So what you want a boyfriend too, Cas?" Dean grinned at Castiel.
"Of course not, I'm only eight, Dean."
Dean grunted in response, not sure what to say.
"But if you want, I can be your boyfriend." Castiel said and smiled.
"But we're both boys." Dean was appalled at the proposition.
"So? It doesn't matter to me. Does it matter to you?" Castiel looked expectantly at Dean.
"No." Dean sighed.
"Okay, so what do we have to do? Sign an agreement?" Castiel asked.
"No, I don't think so. Let's just shake hands." Castiel got out of his bed and sat next to Dean. They shook hands and then Castiel leaned in to kiss Dean's cheek. Dean wiped at his cheek and said, "Eww, Cas!" Castiel giggled in response.
Dean looked at the clock and noticed that it was almost eleven. "We should go to sleep before my dad realizes that we're still awake."
"Alright." Castiel climbed back into his bed and Dean shut off the nightlight.
Just when Castiel was about to fall asleep, Dean's voice brought him back to reality.
"Cas?" Dean asked suddenly.
"Hmm?" Castiel yawned.
"Where did you get that bruise, Cas?"
"What bruise?"
"Cas, I know about the bruises. I saw them and I heard you talking to my dad."
"It's none of your business." Castiel refused to roll over to look at Dean.
"Cas, I'm your friend. Well, I guess boyfriend now, ha. Anyway, you should tell me stuff."
"What if I don't want to?"
"You have to anyway." Dean persisted.
"Well, I don't and if I wanted to, I couldn't tell you anyway." Castiel said sharply.
"Okay, Cas, I get it. Good-night." Dean decided to end the conversation.
"Night, Dean." Castiel said in return. But before Castiel fell asleep, Dean called his name.
"Yes?" Castiel asked.
"For the record, if you wanted to, I wouldn't mind chasing cars with you."
"I wouldn't either." Castiel said assuredly.
"Night, Cas." Dean said.
"Good-night, Dean." Castiel said and rolled back over so that he was facing the wall.
Dean waited until Castiel fell asleep. When he confirmed that Castiel was asleep, he climbed out of his bed and walked on tiptoes to his dad's bedroom.
John was sitting in bed and had the TV on low volume. When Dean entered the room, John quickly muted the TV and alarmingly said, "What's wrong, Dean? Why aren't you sleeping?"
"Dad, have you seen Cas's bruises?"
John sighed and put his mug down on his nightstand. Dean could see that the photo frame with his mother's picture stood on his nightstand. He was surprised that John had managed to save it, what with the fire destroying most of their things.
John noticed Dean's glance and smiled softly. "The firefighters managed to save it, said they had a feeling that it would've meant a lot to me."
Dean was caught off guard about his dad speaking about his mom so calmly. Usually, Mary was a forbidden subject and whenever the conversation was necessary, it was always very cautious.
"Anyway, back to what you asked, I did see the bruises and I tried to talk him but that friend of yours is just too stubborn for his own good." Dean laughed a bit but then grew silent.
"I think it has something to do with his dad. I've seen bruises on Naomi too." Dean said.
"I suspect the same." John said and sighed yet again.
"Then we should do something about it, dad! Cas's dad is a bad guy."
"What do you suggest we do?"
"Call the police." Dean said urgently.
John laughed cynically and said, "Sometimes I wish it was that simple."
"Why can't it be simple?"
"Dean, Cas's dad, Inias is a very powerful lawyer. Even if we tried, we couldn't possibly beat him."
"I just want to help Cas. He looks sad almost all the time."
"I know you do, Dean, but sometimes you can't always help your friends the way you want to; sometimes you have to find other ways."
"Like how?" Dean asked.
"I think just being there for them is enough sometimes."
Dean nodded, bid goodnight to his dad and went back to his room. On the way to his room, Dean opened Sam's door and snuck his head in.
"Goodnight, Sammy." Dean said and then shut the door quietly. He soon arrived at his room and took great care not to disturb Cas as he tiptoed back to his bed.
Before Dean fell asleep, he thought about Castiel's home life and the unfairness of the situation and how he wished that there was something, anything he could do to help Castiel and ease his pain.
A/N: Please review.
Thank You,