The half brother - Chapter 10
Title: The half-brother
Fandom: Supernatural
Summary: AU: John left when Mary got pregnant with Dean. Few years later he came back with a new family. Now, almost 17 years later, Sam and Dean learn what it means to be brothers.
Beta’d by: Lotrspnfangirl and Renversermonmonde (Trickstermoose67 on tumblr)
AN:I’m terribly sorry for the long wait! I want to say it will never happen again, but I would probably be lying.
Thanks to everyone that has left kudos or comments, it's always fun to see what you guys think.
And like always, a huge round of applause to my two wonderful betas Lotrspnfangirl and Renversermonmonde (Trickstermoose67 over at Tumblr) it would never by as good without them.
- Supernatural -
Chapter 10
The next month and a half went by quickly. As Castiel and Dean grew closer, Sam and his friends continued to leave Dean alone. That was until the day after Sam found out about Dean and Cas’ relationship... but that had been expected.
For once, life was good for Dean. Of course, all good things must come to an end; without fail, it all came crashing down.
Standing in front of his locker, Dean was busy emptying his bag from the books he was done with, and replacing the new ones he’d need for the next few classes. His school bag was really a mess right now and Dean wondered what he would have to do to get Charlie to organize it for him again. The last time she did it for him, Dean had fucked it up again in record time, and needless to say, Charlie had not been happy. In fact, she said she would never do it for him again; he had to up his bribery this time. To be fair, it wouldn’t be the first time Dean got her to do something she’d swore never to do again.
He cast a quick look to the side, startled as the door on the other end of the hall was slammed open so hard that it rang through the whole hall. It didn’t surprise him to see Sam walk in with Alistair and Lucifer right behind him.
Things between him and Sam had been weird since Sam found out about Dean’s relationship with Castiel. The day after Castiel told Sam, his half-brother cornered Dean after school, telling him in his own not so charming words, that ‘as far as Castiel would ever know he was going to be a good friend and not make a big deal out of this... but Dean should enjoy his relationship with Castiel while it lasted’. Or, better yet, just save Castiel the heartache and call it quits now.
Dean turned back to his locker seconds before he heard Alistair’s almost panicked voice behind him, coming closer and closer “… you can’t be serious, Sam! He’s going to ruin everything!”
“Oh, shut up and get lost, both of you!” Dean heard Sam say as the bell rang above him. A few minutes later, Dean turned to leave and noticed his brother leaning against a locker a little away from his.
“Hello, Dean.”
“What do you want?” Dean rolled his eyes, then shook his head. “Know what, never mind. I’m going to be late for class.”
Before he could walk away, he was suddenly shoved against his locker with Sam inches away from his face.
“Here’s the thing... For weeks I’ve been planning to throw a party this Saturday. It’s a party to celebrate a few things. One of those things is Castiel moving to town, so Castiel needs to be there! But I just found out that my best friend is not coming because he promised to hang out with his boyfriend.”
Dean was pretty sure it physically hurt Sam to say that.
“Apparently, the only way to get him to come is if you go too. Castiel wants to be there, I know he does. He just doesn’t want to bail on someone if he’s already made plans. So, brother, you are going to show up! Take your stupid geek squad with you, I don’t care. Just get Cas to come!”
With that, Sam turned around and walked away.
It took Dean a while to wrap his head around what just happened. Sam had just invited him to a party! Of course, it wasn’t because he was wanted there. But a few months ago, Dean never could’ve imagined Sam inviting him anywhere. No matter what!
Dean didn’t buy it for one second that Sam didn’t care whether or not he and his friends showed up. Sam had always made sure Dean knew he wasn’t welcomed at the Winchester’s house and he couldn’t imagine that had changed. What he did believe was that Castiel wanted to be there. The last few times Dean and Cas hung out, Castiel had mentioned he felt bad for excluding Sam lately. As doubtful as Dean was about this being a good idea, he didn’t want to start his relationship out by coming in between his boyfriend and his best friend. No way did he want Castiel to hold that against him.
Dean ran a hand back through his hair and sighed. At least he had a week to decide what the heck to do...
Showing up ten minutes late for class earned him a lecture about punctuality, but thankfully no extra detention. After listening to Mr. Ketch go on and on about the importance of being on time, Dean finally got to go sit down next to Charlie in the back.
“Why are you so late? I was starting to think you were going to leave me to die of boredom all alone,” said Charlie dramatically as Dean drew his stool out from under the table.
“Sam just invited me to his party this Saturday,” said Dean, still in shock. “Or more like demanded I showed up. You're invited too by the way.”
- Supernatural -
After a lot of debating that school week, Dean came to the conclusion that he should be a good boyfriend and accompany Cas to Sam’s party. The only problem -- scratch that -- one of the problems was that Dean made the big mistake of agreeing to meet up with Castiel and Charlie at the party instead of the trio traveling together. Dean tried to talk the whole gang into showing up with him, but Charlie had been the only one that was free that night. Now he was standing outside Sam’s house, alone, looking like an idiot with Charlie running late and Castiel nowhere in sight. They hadn’t specified where at Sam’s they were going to meet, and it hadn’t occurred to Dean that Castiel was used to hanging out there, so of course he would just go inside instead of waiting outside.
Walking into the Winchester's house felt surreal to Dean; he’d spent countless hours growing up imagining what the inside of the house looked like. Turned out his imagination was spot on in most cases. Everything inside was straight out of a interior magazine: big fireplace, designer chairs, paintings on the walls that cost more than Dean wanted to venture a guess at, and all the newest technology. Even with a party in full swing, Dean could tell that the house was usually kept spotless.
And yet, Dean couldn’t help but notice that there was nothing that showed there was a sixteen year old boy living there. There were certifications on the walls with ‘John Winchester’ or ‘Katie Winchester’ on them, along with magazine covers featuring them separately and even together, but there wasn’t a single photo of or drawing done by Sam.
Dean’s living room was covered in photos of him growing up and his old art projects could be found all over the apartment. His mom had kept every single one of them, even the ugly ones, claiming she wanted to keep them incase he ever became a famous artist in the future. That way she could sell them for millions no matter how ugly he thought they were. She joked she might even be able to sell them for more since a lot of rich people were suckers for “abstract art”.
Dean had been walking around the house for a while, trying to pick out Castiel or Charlie from the crowd, when he heard Alastair say, “Look, Losechester actually decided to show up!”
Before Dean could even open his mouth, Lucifer added, “I can’t believe the fag actually came.”
“Boys, be nice. I invited him after all,” said Sam as he walked up behind them. “Just make sure you don’t touch anything,” Sam spoke in Dean’s direction, dropping his voice so only his friends could hear. “My dad doesn't want filth on the furniture.”
- Supernatural -
Charlie had never liked going to big parties like this one. She didn’t really like being surrounded by so many people, at least not as herself. She hadn’t been able to spot Dean or Castiel since she showed up, and it was how she found herself alone standing in Sam’s bedroom. It was a lot quieter in there, even though she could still hear the music playing in the other room. It was strange how comfortable she felt... Lately she’d spent her fair share of time in there working on their essay with Sam.
Back when Sam had first approached her, she never would have imagined spending so much time with him. But the truth was, she was really enjoying it. Sam was extremely intelligent and they had more in common than she would’ve first guessed. Most of the time she’d come over, she stayed longer than she originally planned and they just ended up hanging out; mostly talking about books they were reading, something she never got to do with her friends, where they wanted to go to college. Pretty much everything they could think of.
“We got an A+ for our essay,” came Sam’s voice behind her.
“What? That’s great! How did you find out before me?” asked Charlie as she turned around.
“I met Donn -- Ms. Hanscum when I was leaving school. She was so happy with us, she wants to send it into some national competition, which would look great on our college applications. She just needs our permission.”
“Really? That’s great!” exclaimed Charlie as she made her way over and hugged Sam. “Of course I want to do it.”
“What the hell? Charlie?”
Looking behind Sam, Charlie came eye to eye with a shocked Dean Winchester who looked like someone had just ripped out his heart and stomped on it.
“Dean, I can explain!” Charlie scrambled to call out quickly, but it was too late. Dean turned around, flying down the stairs, and was pushing his way through the gathering towards the exit. He stopped long enough to whisper something to Castiel who had just showed up, and the next minute Dean was out the door. Castiel looked after him, even after the door shut, completely confused.
- Supernatural -
“Have you talked to Charlie yet?” asked Benny as he and Dean walked into the gym the next Monday.
“No, and I’m not going to,” answered Dean immediately. He still couldn’t wrap his head around how his friend could go behind his back like that.
“Maybe you should hear her out,” Benny said with a shrug. “She sounded devastated last night when she called to check if you were with me.”
If the thirty messages that Dean got from her over the rest of the weekend were any indication, she probably was. It didn’t mean that Dean was ready to forgive her anytime soon though. “I don’t care. She can go crying to Sam for all I care.”
“You don’t mean that,” whispered Benny, and he was right. Dean didn’t want Charlie anywhere near Sam. “What happened at that party anyway?”
“Charlie is friends with Sam. Talking about something they’re working on together… I caught them hugging and everything,” said Dean as he sat down in his usual seat. Not in the mood to deal with his brother right now, Dean scanned the room trying to find him so he could avoid him. Thankfully, Sam and his group of cronies were nowhere to be seen.
“Charlie hugged Sam? There is no way that’s true. She hates the guy. How much did you have to drink?” asked Benny as he took the seat next to Dean.
“Zero. You really think I’m gonna let my guard down in enemy's territory?” answered Dean like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We always feared this would happen. I think we might have lost Charlie to the dark side for good.”
“Really, dude?” asked Benny unimpressed. “What are they working on anyway?”
“Don’t know, don’t care.”
Well, that was a big ass lie if Dean ever told one. For all Dean knew, they were planning something against him. Maybe it had something to do with him and Cas… After all, Charlie started acting weird after Dean started hanging out with Castiel. But then, why had Charlie been trying to get them together? None of this made any sense.
Before Dean got the chance to reply, Benny asked, “Dude, is your dad going to give us the talk or something?”
The big screen that was usually used for the school ceremonies now had the word “SEX” in big letters written over it behind John who was busy doing something on the computer next to it. He appeared focused on the screen, muttering something under his breath before he turned towards the class and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
“Believe me, I don’t want to be the one to do this. However, Principal Crowley asked me to. Besides, you only have yourself to blame. Or at least Balthazar and Meg do. Getting caught doing it in a classroom, what were you thinking?”
From the look on Balthazar and Meg’s faces, they didn’t regret it one bit.
“Since Crowley doesn’t want a school full of pregnant girls, and most of you are sleeping with someone, you need the talk,” said John as he walked back and forth in front of the class.
“First? He’s not my dad, he’s just the sperm donor. Second, who is he to talk to us about unprotected sex?” Dean hissed at Benny with a horrified look on his face.
“You don’t want to end up with a kid at your age, trust me.” John spoke the words straight at Dean, their eyes locking once, and it didn’t surprise Dean when he saw most of the class look in his direction. Some had expressions of pity, all knowing of Dean’s father’s hatred to him, but it was mostly disparaging, like it was all his fault.
The funny thing was, Dean was sure nobody would be looking at Sam that way if he was here instead, even though John had only been a few months older when he had his second child.
“As most of you know, I was young and stupid once. I went down the same road you are all heading down now. When I was around your age, I had a --”
Dean had just about enough of the Winchesters, and the last thing he wanted was to see where John was going with this. Dean was willing to bet everything he owned that John would end up saying that not terminating the pregnancy had ruined Mary’s chances of a good life, would make it clear in front of his entire class what a waste and a mistake he thought his oldest son was. Dean knew that it had never been Mary’s plan to get pregnant, but she had made sure to tell him again and again that she never regretted having him. That didn’t stop people, Dean included, from thinking that Mary would have been happier if she’d been able to enjoy her life a little bit longer before she had a child.
In all honesty, Dean didn’t blame John for leaving; he was young and had his whole life ahead of him. In Dean’s opinion, leaving was one of the few good decisions John has ever made. The only thing Dean hated was that his mom had been left alone to deal with the fall out.
The worst thing John did was come back. Dean would’ve been perfectly happy growing up and resenting an absent father, angry at a stranger for leaving his mom and him. But, instead of resenting him, Dean hated him with every fiber of his body. In returning, Dean was forced to watch him and Sam live the perfect life right in front of him while he and his mom were struggling.
What was worse than that was seeing his mom watch the man she loved, because she had been madly in love with John, being happy with another family when it should’ve been her.
Dean could remember it perfectly when he was younger and Mary had taken him to the park to play. They didn’t stay as long as they were used to because John had been there with his wife and Sam. Later that night, after he had gone to bed, Dean had heard his mom crying in the next room. He remembered going to her bed, climbing in her lap, and brushing the tears away just like she did every time he cried, then hugging her until they both fell asleep.
A part of Dean couldn’t help but think that the class need to hear about the dangers of unprotected sex in order to save some poor kid from growing up like he did, but John was not the right person for the job. It also did not mean that he had to sit there and listen to John talk about how Dean being born was the worst thing that ever happened to him and Mary.
He wonder if he should stay and try to stick up for his mom, but he figured it wouldn’t help either of them if he made a scene in front of the whole class.
“Screw this!” With that, Dean stood up and told his friend that he was leaving. Unfortunately, John noticed him when he was just about to reach the door.
“Sit your ass down, NOW! That’s an order! Dean!”
Ignoring him, Dean continued out of the classroom. But of course, John caught up with him when he was just about to reach the parking lot.
“Where do you think you’re going?” yelled John after him.
Turning back to face him, Dean yelled back, “Home. I don’t need to listen to a guy who doesn’t know how to use a condom, telling me how to not get my boyfriend pregnant.”
‘Shit I did not mean to say that! Thank God Cas isn’t here,’ thought Dean as he watched John grasp what he’d just let slip.
“Your what? No son of mine is going to be a fuck--”
“Good, because I’m not your son! At least that what you and Sam keep telling me!” Dean spun around, giving John his back, and walked away. Thankfully this time, John didn’t follow.
Dean did not want to go home and explain to his mom why he wasn’t at school, so he went to second place where he felt at home: Bobby’s backyard. More precisely, to his baby. He snuck into Bobby’s office and snagged the keys to the Impala, knowing Bobby wouldn’t be too upset as long as he didn’t take her off the property. He climbed into the front set, turning on the power, and shoved his favorite Led Zeppelin tape into the tape deck.
“Hey, Baby. Miss me?” asked Dean as he got comfortable in the driver's seat, even though he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. Some people talk to their pets, he just talked to his car instead. He knew he shouldn’t have run out of class and it was without a doubt going to bite him in the ass later. He just couldn’t take it anymore and needed to get as far away from his father and brother as he possibly could... which isn’t very far when you don’t have a car.
He hadn’t realized that he had dozed off until the opening of the passenger door woke him up.
“You can’t promise to talk at school and than ditch half the day before you have the chance to talk to me,” said Castiel as he sat down next to him.
‘Shit,’ thought Dean. With everything going on, he’d totally forgot that he promised Castiel as he left the party to explain why he’d taken off. “I’m so sorry, Cas. I forgot. I just had to get out of there.”
“It’s okay, Benny and Jo filled me in on what was going on.” Castiel gave him a reassuring smile. “Just so you know, Ash is a little mad that he is always the last to find out about everything,” he added to try to lighten Dean’s mood.
“That’s a lie. It’s scary how he seems to know about everything that is going on sometimes,” said Dean, thankful that Castiel was trying to cheer him up. He still felt that he owed Castiel an apology, “I really am sorry, for Saturday night and then not meeting you at school. Did Benny and Jo fill you in on everything?”
“Yeah, but they didn’t really have to. News travel fast.” Castiel paused and then asked, “Did you really tell John about us?”
‘Damn.’ He’d been hoping that had been a dream, or a nightmare’s more like it. “No, I might have let it slip that I have a boyfriend... but I didn’t tell him that it was you.”
“Yeah, but according to Benny, it didn’t take John long to get Sam and his friends to tell him who it was,” explained Castiel. “Look on the bright side, thanks to you, John let everyone go right after he came back! The class didn’t need to sit through the talk. You’re a hero.”
“Yeah, I bet that’s what everyone is saying about me,” said Dean sarcastically before he remembered something. “Wait, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
“Dean, school ended over an hour ago,” Castiel said softly, like he was talking to a small child who was still half asleep. Which Dean was. Half asleep, that is. Dean was far from being a child. Or small, thank you very much! It didn’t matter that his so-called brother happened to be freakishly tall.
If school ended an hour ago then he must have slept longer than he thought. Which meant he was late getting home. Great. There went Dean’s hope of trying to keep this from his mom. Not that he ever stood a chance, his mom was a master of knowing when Dean was keeping things from her.
“How did you know where I was?” asked Dean.
Castiel didn’t say anything for awhile, just sat there and watched Dean. Dean was just about to ask again when Castiel answered, “Charlie told me where I might find you. Luckily for me, this was my first stop. Have you talk to her since last night?”
“Look Cas, I know it might be difficult for you to understand... Sam is your best friend, but we’ve hated each other for years. He and his friends used to torment me growing up and because the gang were my friends, Sam would pick on them too. The fact that Charlie seems to have forgiven him for all of that is just…” Dean really didn’t know how to finish that sentence, all he knew was that he felt betrayed by Charlie right now. “She’s one of my best friends and he is like my arch enemy. He’s like Magneto to my Professor X.” Noticing the confused look on Castiel face, Dean decided to find another comparison that his boyfriend might recognize. “He is the Lex Luthor to my Clark?” If anything, Castiel just looked more confused. “The Joker to my Batman?”
Suddenly, Castiel cracked a smile and chuckled loudly as the exasperated look on Dean’s face. “Dean, I’m just kidding! I live in the same house as Gabriel. He lives for some of this stuff, though he seems to favor the villain most of the time, so I know more about them then the “good” guy. I know what you’re talking about, don’t worry.”
Castiel paused and scooted down in the bench seat, leaning his head back and turning to keep eye contact with Dean. “And I get it, you’re hurt and angry and you need time. Just... do me a favor and try to not let it ruin a years long friendship?”
Dean nodded slowly, slouching down slowly to match Castiel’s position.
“It’s getting late and it’s kind of cold out here. What do you say about going to your mom’s shop and getting something to warm us up?” suggested Castiel. “Wait, have you eaten anything today? If I know you correctly you must be starving by now.”
At that moment, Dean’s stomach decided to do all the talking for him and answered Castiel loud and clear. With a sheepish smile, Dean took the key out of the ignition before turning back towards Castiel. “I just need to sneak these back inside. Meet you at your car?”
- Supernatural -
“Next time you decide to skip school, can you at least let me know where the hell you’re going so I don’t have to worry?” demanded Mary the second she saw Dean walk through the door of the coffee shop with Castiel behind him. Thankfully, the shop was mostly empty because Dean was pretty sure his mom would have yelled at him even if the shop had been stuffed to the door, business be damned.
“Sorry, mom!” Dean apologized sheepishly as they made their way up to the counter. Dean could count on one hand how often he had seen his mom angry, and none of those times had it been directed at him.
“Sorry? That’s all you are going to say? Do you have any idea how worried I was when Crowley called and told me that you had just ditched school without any reason?”
“Without any reason? That’s bulls--”
“Well, I didn’t know that until John called yelling at me for ‘screwing you up’,” Mary interrupted him and Dean started to realize that maybe she wasn’t just angry at him. After all, if anyone could get under Mary’s skin it was John.
As far as Dean knew, his parents hadn’t talked since they broke up. Whenever they saw each other, one of them, usually John, would take off in the other direction. “He… he actually called you?” asked Dean, shocked.
“Yup!” said Mary, who, to Dean’s relief, had calmed down some. “And after I was able to puzzle together what happened, I told him to go screw himself and hung up. Then I called your school and told them what happened.”
“And what did they say?” asked Dean, he knew better then be hopeful that he wasn't in trouble.
“You get one day off from school, of course that’s not what they called it, but who cares,” said Mary, “But don’t think for a second you are of the hook. If Bobby hadn’t called me, I would be out of my mind with worry!”
“I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry!” said Dean as he gave her a hug over the counter.
“Just don’t ever do it again,” Mary whispered into his hair, taking a moment to collect herself before turning towards Castiel. Both boys pointedly ignored the tears shining in her eyes. “Sorry about that, what can I get you and your idiot of a boyfriend?”
Ignoring the “Hey, I resent that!” from Dean, Mary cast a look over to her son before adding, “And he’s not getting the last pie. He’s in trouble for skipping.”
Castiel gave Mary his best smile and said, “Oh, no worries, I completely understand. In fact, I was thinking I needed to teach him a lesson and what better way than to have him watch me eat pie when he doesn’t get any?”
“You’re evil, both of you!” said Dean after his mom started laughing and telling Castiel how much she liked that idea.
When Mary turned around to put their order together, Castiel put his arms around Dean and whispered in his ear so Mary wouldn’t hear, “I don’t even like pie, remember?”
After shaking his head of the absurd idea that someone could not like pie, Dean whispered back, “Then why did you order it?”
“So you would get your pie. I just want your mom to like me,” replied Castiel earnestly, but so low that Dean nearly missed it.
Dean couldn’t help but laugh at his boyfriend’s absurd thinking, “So you tell her that you are going to torture me? Good going, Cas.”
“She seems to like the idea,” said Castiel with a little frown on his face, “But don’t worry, I will only use positive reinforcement in the future.”
“My mom adores you and I might like you just a little bit too,” said Dean before giving Castiel a kiss.
If the clearing of the throat in front of them was any indication, Dean might have forgotten himself a little bit when Castiel returned the favor. “Sorry, Mom.” Wasting no time, Dean quickly grabbed the tray his mom had made for them in one hand and took Castiel’s hand in the other, starting to drag him away.
“Besides, we all know that nothing is going to stand in your way of getting that pie,” said Castiel before giving Dean another kiss.
- Supernatural -
AN:Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed the chapter and like always I would love to hear what you guys think!