Chapter Thirty-Six

Dean was visited by the detective once more, mid way through the next week after school. Sam discreetly excused himself to his room, while Cas hovered in the kitchen. Mary sat with Dean on the couch, holding his hand.

'So, we spoke to Rhonda,' the detective began. 'She denied the allegations, claiming you enjoyed your encounter.'

Dean nodded, his stomach twisting. 'Yeah, that's what I thought.'

'The DA doesn't want to move forward with prosecution, but we can push it through, if that's what you want.'

'No,' Dean said. 'That's fine, I knew there wasn't enough evidence.'

The detective smiled. 'I just have one more question for you: If anything else were to come up in future, would you be willing to testify in court?'

Dean blinked, surprised. 'Oh - um - yeah, I guess so.'

'Hopefully you won't have to,' the detective said kindly, getting up from her seat. 'Thank you for your time.'

Once she was gone, Dean let out a huge sigh, leaning back.

'You okay?' Mary asked.

Dean got up and stretched. 'I'm hungry,' he said. 'Cas, you wanna go for dinner?'

'Sure,' Cas called from the kitchen.

Mary looked doubtful, so Dean leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. 'Really, Mom, I'm fine.'

Dean took Cas out to dinner, who was excited at the prospect of finally having his cast removed and a boot fitted instead, making it possible for him to begin physiotherapy.

They drove to Cas's appointment at the end of the week, Cas hopping ahead as fast as he could on his crutches, much to Dean's amusement. Cas sat as still as he could, his headphones on, while the doctor sawed and cut off his cast. At last, the cast was off. Cas sighed and reached down to rub the skin, which was a few shades paler than the rest of him.

The doctor lifted up his leg to check his incision. The cut had fully healed, and there was a small, pink scar.

'Looks good,' said the doctor. 'Let's get this boot on you.'

Cas grinned and pulled out a fresh pair of socks. This, too, he had been looking forward to, having been irritated at having to wear odd socks so one would fit over his cast.

Once the boot was on, Cas was brought to the physiotherapist, who encouraged Cas to put some weight on his foot for the first time in weeks. He limped shakily, but seemed to satisfy the PT, and he was given some daily exercises to help improve his strength.

Cas walked out of the building with Dean, still tentatively using his injured leg, but leaning heavily on his crutches for support.

'Don't push it too hard,' Dean warned.

'Don't worry, I've learned my lesson,' Cas smiled.

A week went by of Cas diligently working his leg, and eventually even managed to ditch one of his crutches. Finally able to hold Dean's hand when he wanted to, they walked around school with their fingers entwined as often as possible. Baseball season was in full swing, and while most of the school were expected to attend the games now that exams were over, Dean took the opportunity to hold Cas close. On a particularly nice day, Dean stopped Cas as they entered the pitch.

'Do you care about baseball?' he asked.

'Not especially,' Cas shrugged.

Dean grinned wickedly. 'You wanna makeout under the bleachers?'

'I think I would enjoy that,' Cas smiled.

Dean grabbed him and pulled him beneath the stands until they were out of sight. Cas pushed Dean up against one of the wooden supports, kissing him fiercely. Dean encircled Cas with his arms, letting Cas lean on him so he could let go of his remaining crutch. Then Cas's hands were all over him, in his hair, at the small of his back, wherever he could reach. Cas pressed himself even closer to Dean, and Dean's body flushed hot. He could feel Cas, hard against his thigh, and his own body responded in kind. He realised that it had been weeks since they had last been truly intimate, and Dean couldn't stop thoughts of Cas naked, bathed in moonlight, from flooding his mind. His heart fluttered, and tingles ran down his limbs, to his fingers and toes. Cas's scent filled him, and he tensed, his tongue desperate for as much of Cas as he could taste. Hot pleasure rapidly rose within him. He gasped and pushed Cas away, but it was too late, and his face burned.

'What's wrong?' Cas asked, surprised.

'Nothing,' Dean said, a little too quickly, his eyes wide. He bent down uncomfortably and picked up Cas's crutch for him. 'Okay, bye.' He abruptly turned and walked away, his gait awkward.

'What? Dean?' Cas said, following him as quickly as he could.

'It's nothing,' Dean repeated, attempting to make his voice light, but it just came out unnaturally high-pitched.

'Dean, you're scaring me.'

This finally brought Dean to a halt and he groaned, turning to face Cas. 'You can't laugh.'

Cas just gave him a puzzled look. 'Why would I laugh?'

'I - I got a little… too excited,' he said.

Cas frowned, but then it dawned on him. 'You mean you-?'

Dean reluctantly nodded.

'Oh,' Cas said, then pressing his lips together, choking back his laughter. 'I'm sorry.'

'All right, I gotta go.'

Dean turned away again, but Cas grabbed his arm.

'Don't go. I have some spare clothes in my locker that you can wear. Come on.'

They snuck into the locker room together, and Cas opened his locker, revealing a stack of folded clothes, towels, and a fresh track uniform. He handed Dean a pair of jeans, and a pack of underwear that had not yet been opened.

'Why do you have all this in here?' Dean asked.

Cas frowned. 'Have you never had your clothes stolen while you were in the shower?'

'Only by Sam at home,' Dean shrugged.

Cas tutted. 'I suppose that's a privilege reserved for those of us on a lower social standing.' He handed Dean a plastic bag for his dirty clothes. 'Go shower, I'll wait for you.'

Dean was relieved to be able to peel off his clothes and wash himself off. He left the shower feeling fresh, and found Cas sitting on the bench, smiling at him.

Dean rolled his eyes. 'All right, no need to look so pleased with yourself.'

'But I am pleased with myself,' Cas said, his smile widening.

Dean lifted Cas up off the bench and kissed him. 'Baseball or food?'

'Food.'

They snuck out of school together and went for hot dogs in the park. They sat on the grass next to a pond, watching the ducks.

Cas stretched his legs out, enjoying the sunshine on his face.

'Hey, can I talk to you about something?' Dean asked.

'Of course.'

Dean took a deep breath. 'We haven't - you know - for a while. I just wanted to check - is everything okay with you?'

Cas's eyebrows rose, surprised. 'Yes, everything's fine with me,' he said, then he looked nervous. 'I just - after the gym incident - I didn't know how to tell if you were up for it, and I didn't want to pressure you by asking.'

Dean's heart melted. 'Well that's gotta be the sweetest thing I've ever heard,' he said. He kissed Cas, then pulled him in for a hug. 'By the way,' he murmured into Cas's ear. 'Just so you know, I'm very much up for it.'

'Hmm, I'll keep that in mind,' Cas said, his tone playful. He rested his head on Dean's shoulder. 'I'm glad we didn't go to baseball.'

'Me too.'

'I know you are,' Cas teased.

'I'm never gonna live that down.'

'Never. It's my life's greatest achievement so far.'

'If that's your greatest achievement, maybe we oughta find you a better one,' Dean winked.

'I'm sure you'll think of something,' Cas chuckled.

They went home together once they'd finished their food. Mary and Sam were already there, so Cas went to help Sam with his homework, and Dean helped Mary cook dinner.

'That's not what you were wearing this morning,' Mary said to Dean, looking him up and down.

Dean blushed. 'Yeah, I - uh - got a little messy in shop class earlier.'

Mary narrowed her eyes, but didn't question him any further.

Then, Cas entered the kitchen, looking nervous and holding an envelope. 'Mary?' he said, his voice wavering slightly.

'What's up?'

'This is for you,' said Cas, handing Mary the envelope.

'Aw, thank you, Cas,' Mary smiled. Then she opened the envelope and froze. 'Oh,' she said, shocked, and pulled out a cheque. It took her a moment to process what she was looking at, then held it out to Cas, shaking her head. 'I can't take this.'

'Why not?' Cas said. 'It's for taking care of me.'

'Come here, sweetie,' Mary said, sitting Cas at the table. 'First of all, John makes more than enough at his shop to take care of all of us, and even if he didn't, we could claim some funds from the state. Secondly, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you here, and that's been more than enough reward, I promise.' She slid the cheque over the table. 'And listen, honey, your dad left you this money so you could follow your dreams. I don't think he would want you to give any of it away. That's why you should keep it, and that's why I can't take it.'

'You - you know it's from my dad's fund?' said Cas.

'Yeah, honey. We got several nasty emails from your last placement about it. I just didn't want to bring it up in case you thought I wanted it, or something. Which I don't.'

'Are you sure?' Cas asked, his hand hovering over the cheque.

'Yes, I'm absolutely sure,' Mary smiled. 'But it is so sweet of you to think of us, I really appreciate the gesture.'

Cas smiled back and finally took the cheque back. 'All right,' he said, tucking it back in the envelope.

Mary wrapped him in a hug. 'Thank you, Cas, really. It was so kind of you.' When she let go, though, she pushed the envelope towards Cas even further. 'Would you put this somewhere safe?'

Cas nodded and left the room, limping on his boot.

Mary let out a breath and turned to Dean. 'That was adorable,' she said, her cheeks pink from smiling so hard. 'He's such a sweetheart.'

'I know,' Dean said smugly.

They finished off cooking just as John came home, and they all sat together at the table, chatting happily. Dean pressed his leg to Cas's under the table, and his heart fluttered when he saw Cas give a small smile.

After dinner, Cas was washing the dishes, and Dean came up behind him, wrapping his arms around Cas's waist.

'Hey,' he murmured as Cas placed a plate on the drying rack.

'Hello,' Cas said warmly.

'So, I've been thinking… You know how I popped your cherry?'

'There must be a better way of phrasing that,' said Cas, picking up a glass.

Dean kissed the back of his neck. 'I realised that I have one that I can give you.'

'A cherry?' Cas said sarcastically.

Dean chuckled. 'I guess so, yeah… So, I'm thinking, after prom, we go stay at a hotel, and…'

'And…?' Cas said, confused.

Dean snorted, then checked to make sure no one was listening, and put his lips to Cas's ear. 'I want you in my ass,' he whispered.

Cas made an odd squeak and fumbled the glass he was holding, shattering it on the floor.

Dean let go of Cas, laughing.

'You guys okay?' Mary called from the living room.

'Yeah, Mom, Cas dropped a glass,' Dean laughed. Then his laughter died as he saw the look on Cas's face. 'Hey, are you okay?'

Cas twitched, staring down at the shards of glass on the floor, his eyes wide and fearful.

Dean gently held him by the shoulders and pulled him away from the glass. 'What's wrong?'

Cas couldn't tear his eyes away from it. 'I didn't - it - it was an accident,' he said, starting to shake.

'I know it was,' said Dean. 'It's all right, Cas, it's just a glass.'

'I didn't mean to,' he said, finally looking up at Dean, tears gathering in his eyes. 'I'm s-sorry.'

'Cas-'

'I'm really sorry,' Cas said, his breathing coming in rapid gasps.

'Okay, baby, sit down,' Dean said, guiding Cas to the table.

'I don't - I don't want to go in the d-dark.'

'You don't have to go anywhere you don't wanna go,' Dean said gently, sitting next to Cas at the table.

Mary sidled past them and began quietly cleaning up the glass.

'Deep breaths,' Dean said encouragingly, as Cas put his hands on his head, struggling to catch his breath. Dean waited patiently, stroking Cas's leg in an attempt to comfort him.

Cas closed his eyes and forced his breathing to slow down. It took a few minutes, but he managed to regain control. He folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them, so he could quietly recover.

Dean busied himself making them drinks, and set a steaming mug of hot chocolate down in front of Cas. Cas lifted his head and held the mug in both hands, still shaking.

'You okay?' Dean asked.

Cas nodded, sniffing. 'Sorry,' he muttered.

'You didn't do anything wrong,' said Dean.

Cas sniffed again and took a sip of his hot chocolate. 'He broke my arm once,' he whispered.

'Who did?'

'The one that used to lock me in the trunk.' Cas took a steadying breath. 'I fell and broke the mirror in my room. He was so mad. He twisted my arm so hard and locked me in the trunk again. It hurt so much.' Tears trickled down his cheeks, and he reached out to squeeze Dean's hand.

'I'm so sorry that happened to you,' Dean murmured.

'I wish they'd vet foster parents better. It wasn't fair.'

'No, it wasn't.'

Cas shuffled over and leaned against Dean. 'Are you sure about this?' he asked.

'About what?'

'About - about us.'

'What? Why wouldn't I be?'

Cas sighed. 'I'm not always going to be easy to deal with.'

Dean lifted Cas's chin with a finger, so he could look into his eyes. 'You've been putting up with my crap all year, you think I'm scared to do the same for you?'

Cas gave a small smile.

'Besides, we've had a lot of foster kids here, and they've all had issues one way or another. I learned a whole lot from them, and I kinda feel like this is what I've been learning it for.'

Cas picked up Dean's hand and pressed it to his own cheek. 'That was really cheesy,' he said with a watery chuckle.

Dean snorted and caressed his face. 'I guess you just bring it out in me.'

Cas kissed him softly. 'I'm going to go to bed,' he said, drained by the attack.

'All right, I'll be up in a little bit.'

Dean watched him go, then finished washing the dishes before going upstairs himself.

Cas was already asleep in his own bed, so Dean pulled the curtain across to give him some peace and quiet, then settled down in bed. It wasn't long, however, before Dean heard Cas get up and limp across the room. Dean lifted up the covers and wrapped Cas up, letting out a comfortable sigh as Cas nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

Cas had fully recovered after a good night's sleep, and was excited to go to his physiotherapy appointment after school, so he could show his PT his progress.

'She might even let me get rid of the crutch,' Cas smiled, putting a shoe on his good foot.

'Let's not get ahead of ourselves,' Dean said fondly, grabbing his keys.

Just then, John jumped in front of them and took the keys from Dean.

'Actually, I'm taking Cas to his appointment,' he said.

Dean frowned. 'I can do it.'

'Sure, but there's something wrong with your mom's minivan, she wants you to take a look.'

'And you can't look at it, why?'

John rolled his eyes. 'She says she wants her "little engineer" to check it out.'

Dean made a disgusted noise. 'Fine. See you guys later, I guess.' He watched then leave, waiting for the Impala to drive out of sight, before he turned to Mary, who was waiting in the kitchen looking nervous.

'Okay, there's nothing wrong with your car. What's going on?'

Mary bit her lip. 'Hang on.' She took a deep breath and yelled, 'SAM! GET DOWN HERE!'

They waited a beat, then heard Sam's footsteps thundering down the stairs.

'What?' he demanded, looking grouchy.

Mary clasped her hands together. 'Come sit down,' she said, indicating the chairs opposite her at the table.

'What's going on?' Dean said again, his body tensing as he sat down.

'Nothing bad,' Mary said, noticing his nerves.

'You're not dying, are you?' Sam said.

'I just said it's nothing bad.'

'Just tell us, will you?' said Dean.

Mary looked from Sam to Dean, drumming her fingers on the table nervously. 'We want to adopt Cas.'

Welcome back! Thanks to EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester for the review! See you next time :)