Chapter Text
Castiel woke with a yawn and a stretch. He had slept remarkably well considering the day he had yesterday. Perhaps things were actually starting to look up. The Ash situation was being dealt with and he intended to report the incident to the police after work today.
Gabriel had agreed to collect Jack from daycare and take him to the park, giving Castiel a free hour or so the go to the precinct.
Knowing he had the support of his brother, the school and of Dean, had made him feel so much better about everything. The date was still fresh in his mind, the kiss in particular, well, the several kisses.
Castiel let out a sigh, he felt so…. happy.
He climbed out of bed and made his way down to the kitchen. As he flicked the coffee maker on he could hear Jack shuffling around in his bedroom. The door creaked open and Jack appeared, his bed hair as glorious as ever, Castiel let out a soft laugh,
“Good morning my little sweetheart, did you sleep well?”
“Hello Daddy, yes, I did sleeping like this,”
Jack smiled as he proceeded to close his eyes and open his mouth, making a mock snoring noise as loud as he could.
Castiel laughed again as he scooped Jack up, kissing him hard on the cheek and neck, over and over quickly peppering his little boy with kisses.
“Daddy stop that, I’m a big boy not a baby you know!”
“You’ll always be my baby Jack, alright, let’s have some breakfast shall we?”
***
They made pancakes for breakfast, again. Clearly Jack’s new favourite, whenever Castiel gave Jack a choice, that was his pick.
They dressed and readied for their day and got their lunches from the fridge. Castiel packed the last of his grading papers and checked around for this phone.
He hadn’t seen it all morning.
Where did he have it last?
Ah yes, speaking to Dean last night, he made his way to the couch and found the phone tucked in between the cushions, grabbing it and tossing it straight into his bag, he called Jack and they set out for their journey to school.
***
Castiel saw Jack into daycare and chatted with the staff for a short while before he headed back out and over to the high school.
Meg was waiting for him in the doorway when he arrived at the teachers’ lounge.
“Good morning Meg, and what do I owe the welcoming committee to this morning?”
“Castiel, I didn’t know if you’d be here or not, I tried to call you before you arrived.”
“Why, what’s wrong?”
“You haven’t heard?”
“Heard what?
“Claire Winchester’s uncle called the school office this morning to say Claire wouldn’t be in school today and asked for a message to be sent down to you too.”
“Meg what is going on? Is Claire alright?”
“Yes, it’s not Claire, it’s Dean..”
“What about Dean?”
“He’s in the hospital Castiel.”
“What? Why?”
“He was stabbed last night.”
“What?”
“He was stabbed Castiel, at the fire house, his brother said he’d tried to call you but got no answer so asked the office staff to pass the message on. That’s all I know. Cain knows, he said go and see him if you need to leave, I think you should go, I can get Jack from daycare after work if you want?”
“What? I don’t understand, Sam called me? I, shit, my phone, it was stuck between the couch cushions, I haven’t even looked at it this morning! No, I, I need to go, is Dean alright? Do you know that at least? Oh god, why does something always have to go wrong, alright, Gabriel is getting Jack later anyway so that’s already in hand, shit, Meg I need to go, I’ll call you later.”
And with that Castiel turned and practically ran to Cain’s office to let him know he was leaving.
***
Castiel walked into the lobby of the hospital. There were people everywhere. He pulled out his phone to call Sam and let him know he was here. The screen lit up with more messages and missed calls than Castiel had ever seen. It was somewhat overwhelming so he found which number was Sam’s and just pressed call.
It rang once,
“Sam Winchester.”
“Hello Sam, it’s Castiel. I’m in the lobby of the hospital.”
“Oh, hey Cas, I’ll be right down.”
The call clicked as it ended and Castiel stood frozen in place. He had no idea what he was walking into. All he knew was that Dean was here having been stabbed at work last night. It made no sense, although Sam didn’t sound upset, or did he? The call was so brief he couldn’t tell. Just then a very tall man stepped out of an elevator to the left of the lobby. His hair was long and he must have been well over six foot tall but he had a familiar look to him, his face was like Dean’s in subtle ways, the man turned and Castiel raised a hand to signal him over.
“Castiel?”
“Yes, hello Sam,”
Castiel held out his hand and Sam shook it firmly.
“How is he?”
“He’s doing ok, it was a bit touch and go last night but he’s doing a lot better this morning. It’s good to meet you by the way, not the best circumstances but all the same.”
“Quite, yes you too, so what happened?”
“Come on, I’ll let Dean fill you in.”
They walked to the elevator and went up to the 4th floor. They made their way down the corridor and turned into a side room. There was Dean, looking pale and exhausted but still beautiful, still Dean Winchester.
Castiel glanced round and saw Claire in a seat in the corner. There was a tall broad man by the window talking to a petite woman with long blonde hair. As they entered the room everyone looked around at them. Dean gave Castiel a soft smile,
“Cas… good to see you man.”
“Dean, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here sooner, I didn’t know anything had happened until I arrived at school this morning.”
Castiel glance round at everyone, unsure where to put himself. He wanted to get to Dean, to touch him and make sure he was alright.
Sam must have sensed that so he cleared his throat and spoke to everyone else,
“Come on you guys, let’s leave these two to catch up on everything, Dean we’ll be out in the waiting area if you need any of us alright buddy?”
“Sure thing Sammy, thanks man.”
Everyone filed out of the room, smiling at Castiel as they went, Claire left the room last and squeezed his hand briefly as she passed him.
Castiel closed the door behind her and came around the bed to sit next to Dean, taking his hand immediately as he sat down.
“Dean, what happened?”
“Ash”
“What?”
“Ash came to the firehouse, said he wanted to talk. I lost it man, he was saying shit, about you and I just lost it and went for him. I didn’t see he had a blade until it was too late and, well, I gotta say I can’t really remember much else after that.
Benny kept me going until the EMTs arrived and rushed me here, apparently it was a bit touch and go there for a bit so they took me straight down to theatre and stitched me back up.”
“My god.”
“Yeah, I still can’t believe what went down, the cops have been here too, said they arrested him pretty soon after it happened. I don’t get it Cas, it was crazy and it all happened so quickly. Claire was real messed up about it when she got here with Sam, broke my damn heart.
“I can imagine. Dean, I don’t know what to say, I’m so glad you are alright.”
Dean squeezed Castiel’s hand and Castiel squeezed back, offering a small smile. For a long time they just looked at each other. The weight of what had happened began to dawn on Castiel and he could feel himself becoming distressed.
Things could have gone very differently last night.
Castiel felt his stomach swoop as he imagined all those daydreams and fantasies about the future snuffed out in an instant. His eyes filled and his chin began to quiver.
“Hey, Cas, it's ok, I’m alright, hey..”
“I know Dean, but from what you’ve said, there was a point last night where that may have not been the case. I know this is all new but, the idea of something taking away what we are building here, it, well it terrifies me. I know now probably isn’t the time but I have to tell you Dean, I don’t think I’ve ever felt about anyone, the way I feel about you. I’m sure I sound quite mad, I know it’s only been a few weeks but, I can’t explain it..”
Castiel took a deep breath, Dean watching him with affection in his eyes, he smiled at Castiel and waited, sensing that Castiel wasn’t done yet.
“You changed me Dean. I know that sounds dramatic but it’s true. For as long as I can remember I’ve been lonely, I ignored it best I could but it was there. I always felt I never really fitted anywhere. Jack is the greatest joy of my life and I feel grateful every day to have him but I always pushed aside the feeling that I wanted more because I believed I wasn’t worthy of what others seemed to have, like I didn’t deserve happiness, or love.”
Castiel’s face flushed a deep pink and he looked down for a moment, composing himself.
“I feel seen with you Dean, like I can be myself and not have to filter out pieces of who I am. I can’t describe what that’s like. And the thought of losing this, so early, when things are so new, when, well, we’ve only just begun..”
Dean chuckled at the reference to the date song..
“I couldn’t bare it Dean, I’m sorry, I know I sound like a crazy person.”
“Hey Cas, you know what? If that makes you a crazy person then I’m right there with ya. Please don’t be sorry, I get it, I do, I feel it Cas. This is all new yeah but I hear ya, I was so young when Claire was born, that was a wild time, and since then I focused everything on giving her the life I never had, the calm stable home, the unconditional love, all of it. It hasn’t been easy and somewhere along the way I forgot about what I might have needed, until I met you.”
Dean pulled Castiel’s hand and leaned ever so slightly towards him. Castiel, catching on quickly, moved over to meet Dean where he was. Their lips met and the kiss was like nothing Castiel had ever felt before.
In that moment Castiel knew he would wage war on heaven and hell for this man.
He was falling in love with Dean, there was no doubt about it.