Jump the Track prompt fics round #1
Length - 5,125 words total
Rating - R
Summary - The first set of prompt fics for Jump the Track, including Ash figuring out that Dean and Cas are into each other, Cas coming out to his family, Cas ruining Dean's crush on Matt Bomer, a very eventful GSA meeting, Dean and Cas enjoying Fourth of July fireworks, and the first night in their new house in Ithaca. Sorry these have taken so long! More of your prompt fics will be up soon.
Warnings - Spoilers for Jump the Track (though can be read alone). Sexual references. Treatment of religious homophobia.
JtT prompt fics round 1
1. For blu_3_haze, who requested fics about the supporting characters
I Know a Little
Ash liked people, but he didn’t necessarily get them. Computers were easier. Strings of numbers could be managed, patterns could be detected. That was something Ash could understand, and he knew that it made him special. He knew it was rare to have the natural affinity with technology that he possessed, and it made him a valuable commodity. Which was pretty awesome. He’d been told that he could go far if he applied himself. He could get a job in a big city, earn lots of money, have anything he wanted. The trouble was, what Ash wanted was to chill out with a couple of beers and illegally download Doctor Who. The thought of being a suit in an office horrified him. Some people had said it was a waste of potential. Ash said that it takes all sorts to make up a world.
So he didn’t really get other people. He didn’t understand why they expected him to want certain things, or why they got so dramatic about everything. As far as Ash was concerned, there was very little that was worth the effort expended on being dramatic. He had few friends, but that was okay by him. The ones he did have knew who he was and what to expect of him, and didn’t get mad at him if he was too wrapped up in whatever held his interest at any particular time to notice what was going on with them. If it was important, they’d tell him. If they needed his help, he’d give it. That was how it worked.
Castiel was funny. None of them exactly fit in, but he was a cut above. Ash wondered at first whether Cas had the same thing as him, that weird inability to quite fit in with society because... because maybe too much of their brains were being used for intellectual abilities and there just wasn’t room for things like knowing how to live in the real world. But then maybe it was something more. Maybe it was that Castiel had been cut off for so long, unwanted for so long, that he just didn’t know how to be around people. Pam had called him a ‘hot alien.’
Ash liked the guy. He didn’t care that Castiel was awkward and needed things explained to him all the time. Castiel was smart, and he had a weird sense of humor, and he was actually pretty badass. Ash had accepted him in the same manner that he accepted all the people who strayed into his life. Dean liked Castiel, Castiel had saved Dean’s life, Castiel was one of them.
The weird thing was that Ash never really noticed anything. Not human things, anyway. They were all sitting in the cafeteria one Thursday lunchtime, and Pam had been recounting the time that she, Ash and Jo had driven to her boyfriend Jesse’s college one weekend and trashed his car because she’d found out he was cheating on her.
Dean was laughing. “So you guys just went for pancakes afterwards! Oh man, I wish I’d been there.”
“Why weren’t you?”
“I had to work! I couldn’t just blow it off. Besides, I said I’d get a study sheet finished for Cas. I didn’t wanna let him down.”
Dean gripped Castiel’s shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. His hand lingered, even after he’d returned to his sandwich, and Cas leaned into the touch. He was smiling, ever so slightly, and he watched Dean’s profile slowly, his eyes focussing on Dean’s lips, before he gave a little frown and looked away.
Huh.
Ash walked to his Advanced Physics class with Jo, who had Comparative Mythology in the next classroom.
“So,” he said. “Cas likes Dean.”
“Yeah,” Jo said.
“And Dean likes-”
“Uh-huh.”
“But he hasn’t figured that out.”
“Nope.”
“But they’re pretty much...”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Huh,” Ash said. “Okay then.”
2. For lektras, who wanted to know what happened when Castiel came out to his family.
Blood and Water
There had been a thunderstorm earlier in the day, and it had given Anna a headache. She felt sleepy and stupid, and the tedium of the house was oppressive. She would turn seventeen in two weeks, and then it would only be another year until she could got out.
“You’re safe here, Anna,” her father would tell her. “The world is dangerous and corrupt, and it’s full of filth. I won’t watch you be destroyed by it like I’ve watched so many others.”
And so Anna was kept shut away where nothing could hurt her. But it wasn’t a life. It wasn’t a life, and her father had no idea of the darkness he had infected her with through his misguided efforts to protect her. He’d taught her how to hate, to resent, to burn with longing. Sometimes she felt like she could just scream and scream until her throat was raw.
“I don’t know if I believe in God,” she’d told Castiel once.
He’d looked at her with fear in his eyes. “Anna, you shouldn’t say that. God loves you.”
“How can you say that? Have you seen the things my father has done in God’s name? And you, the way you’ve been tormenting yourself, hating yourself for what you are, because you think it’s sinful, because you-”
“I don’t want to talk about that,” he’d said. Of course he didn’t.
But now Castiel was different. He’d started to question, started to rebel. He was finally accepting himself. It made Anna happy because truly Castiel was her best friend, and she wanted him to be happy, but at the same time she feared for him. He was getting sloppy. He was allowing his feelings to overrule his sense of caution, and all Anna really knew was that Zachariah and Michael could never know. They just couldn’t.
The look on Castiel’s face when he got home from school that day had Anna’s stomach in knots. He looked wild, like something was fighting to get out of him.
He stood, breathless, in the doorway to the front room where she, Michael and Zachariah were reading together. “There’s something I have to tell you all,” he said, and there was a strange, defiant glint in his eyes.
No, Cas, Anna thought. No, please don’t. It’s only going to hurt you.
Castiel wouldn’t look at her.
Zachariah deliberately closed the book he had been reading. “I’m all ears, Castiel.”
Castiel blinked. Anna saw that his fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. “Firstly, I will be going to Cornell. I’m eighteen, and you have no right to forbid me. Secondly, I...” Cas paused, and he looked for a moment like he was going to be sick.
“Well?” Zachariah said coldly.
Castiel shuddered. “I... I’m gay.” Anna could barely hear him. He cleared his throat. “I’m gay.”
Anna’s heart was beating so hard it scared her.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Castiel,” Michael said, speaking for the first time. “Of course you’re not. I don’t know what’s wrong with you lately, but I strongly advise you to pull yourself together and stop acting out.”
“I’m not acting out.” Anna was amazed at how steady Castiel was keeping his voice. If it had been her, she would have been screaming by now. “You are my family and I love you, but I can’t... I can’t just live my life for you any more. I have fought against this for a long time, but I can’t do it, and I... I want you to know because I respect you and I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t live the life you want me to.”
The silence in the room was excruciating.
“You have obviously become very confused,” Zachariah said eventually.
“I’m not confused!”
“You have obviously allowed your involvement in secular life to corrupt you.”
“I’m not-”
“Yes you are!” Michael shouted.
Anna jumped.
“I’m not,” Castiel said quietly. “Michael, I know you are angry at our father for leaving us, but this is not the way forward. If you hope to... get back at him by cutting yourself off from all happiness, all it will do will cause you misery. You never used to be this person, and I refuse to live by these standards any longer. Life is a gift, and as long as we aren’t hurting anyone, I believe that God would want us to enjoy our gift, to love others, to-”
“Castiel,” Zachariah interrupted. “I would like a word with you. In private.”
Castiel glanced briefly at Anna. “Of course, Uncle.”
They left the room, and Anna was left alone with Michael. She didn’t want to look at him.
“Did you know about any of this?” he asked.
“No,” Anna lied. “You know nobody tells me anything.”
“You and Castiel are close. If... if you had any idea of what was happening to him, it should have been your duty to inform the people who care for him.”
“”Well, I didn’t.”
“He...” Michael rubbed a hand over his face. “He is the only family I have left. Our mother is dead, our father is a hypocrite who preaches about love but can’t bear to be around his own children, Gabriel left without a backwards glance... I won’t lose Castiel, too. I won’t. I won’t allow him to become corrupted by... You know that I warned your father? I told him that it was dangerous to allow Castiel to attend public school, expose himself to ... dangerous ideas. But Castiel was always so quiet, so obedient, how could he ever stray from the path? I saw the dangers, and I... I allowed him to be taken from us. It’s... it’s not fair. Why is it that God and family are never enough? Why must they all leave?”
Anna sat in silence. She had learned from Cas that most of the time it was better to just observe. Even so, she didn't have Castiel's self-control, and by the time her father came back into the room, she felt like her head was going to explode.
"Anna," he said. "I want you to give me your phone."
Anna didn't understand at first.
"I've confiscated Castiel's cell phone and computer. He won't be returning to that school. All of this started when I foolishly allowed him to mix with those people. You see how the outside world can corrupt you, Anna? Do you see that now? I'm not going to risk it again."
Anna felt like she'd forgotten how to breathe. "I... but... I'm not... I don't know anyone! Why take my phone?"
"I can't risk it. I'm sorry, Anna, but I'm going to have to insist."
They were being held prisoner. They would be cut off completely from the outside world. Anna didn't move.
"Don't you see that it's my responsibility to save you both? You are both in my care, and it's only by keeping you safe here and making sure that you live for God alone that I'm going to save you. Anna, your phone."
She wasn't being given a choice. Anna pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to her father. She noticed detachedly that her hand was shaking. Michael wasn't looking, and hardly seemed to notice what was going on. He had the strangest look on his face, almost like he was lost. Sometimes Anna forgot that he was only a year older than Cas.
Zachariah took the phone, and put it with Castiel's phone and his small laptop in the top drawer of the bureau, and locked it. Anna didn't say anything, but she was glad that she knew where their things were being kept. That would come in useful later.
Castiel was not allowed down for dinner; Zachariah took a tray up for him. Anna was hardly able to eat a thing. All she wanted was to talk to Cas and make sure that he was okay, not to mention ask him what the hell he'd been thinking.
She didn't get a chance until everyone had gone to bed. She crept up the stairs to Castiel's little attic room and knelt down beside the door. "Cas?" she whispered. "Cas, are you awake?"
"Anna?"
She could barely hear him. "Cas, are you okay?"
"No, I... I need you to call... I need you to call Dean for me."
She could have cried. "I can't! He took away my cell as well. Cas, what were you thinking telling them that? Didn't you know how they'd react? You only had a couple of months and then you could have gotten out of here! They never needed to know, Cas."
He didn't answer for a while and Anna wondered whether she had gone too far. She and Castiel were close, but he could be oddly sensitive about things and she was never quite sure what the limits were.
"It was... stupid," he said, at last. "I suppose I... I hope for the best. I had hoped that maybe they might... they might care for me enough to... to accept that I'm... not all they would wish me to be. I should have... I was upset. I didn't have the best day, and I suppose I was trying to prove a point, and I was... I was so tired of hiding. Anna, I'm so tired..."
"It's going to be okay, Cas," Anna whispered. Not because she believed it, but because it was the only thing she could say."
"How?" His voice was ragged. "We can't get in touch with anyone, I'm locked in my room, I... He said that I needed to pray. He said I should pray and have time alone to repent my sins, and... and I won't be allowed to go back to school, or to see... Anna, I can't. I can't lie about who I am any more. It's not a sin, I know it's not, and I... I'm not going to apologize or deny it as if I'm ashamed, or--"
"Cas, shh." Anna hated hearing the panic in his voice. Castiel was always the calm one, the voice of reason. He was the one thing that had kept her from going crazy over the past few years. Maybe, she thought, it was her turn to be strong for him now. "It's going to be okay, Cas. I promise. I know where our things are, okay? I saw where he put them. We're going to get out of here, I promise. We'll both get out, and it's going to be fine."
Her cheek was pressed up against the door. There was a small gap underneath, and she saw that Castiel had pushed the tips of his fingers through it. She touched her fingers to his. It wasn't much, but in a house as cold as theirs they took whatever warmth they could get.
3. For blu_3_haze, who requested fics about the supporting characters
Gay Straight Alliance
“I’m just saying,” Becky wheedled. “It’d be so cool! Maybe he’d consider it if I spoke to him.”
“I really don’t think that’d help,” Sam said tactfully.
“But it’s such a beautiful love story!”
Sam scrunched his face up; he didn’t like to think of his brother being part of a ‘beautiful love story’. “Dean really isn’t the sharing type.”
“You got that right,” Pam said. “I mean, we were all talking about how he and Cas were in big gay love ages before Dean figured it out.”
However, Becky was not to be deterred. “Well, what about Cas? You think he’ll do it?”
“Bec, if they want to be private about their relationship, maybe we should just, you know, let them?” Lily suggested quietly.
Becky looked over at her, all wide-eyed innocence. “I wouldn’t ask them to talk about personal things! Just, you know, what it was like to come out, how they dealt with it, that kind of thing.”
“Bull,” Ava said. “It’d start out that way, sure, but then you’d get over-excited and start asking them questions about sex positions.”
Sam made a small whimpering noise.
“I would never!” Becky protested.
Corbett cleared his throat nervously. “Um, that’s what you did to me when we first met.”
“Yeah, but I learned my lesson after you avoided me for two months and ran away whenever you saw me.”
Pam snorted with laughter. “That’s adorable. And I completely get it - Dean and Cas are sexy! I’d love to know what they’d get up to, too.”
Sam was starting to look decidedly miserable.
“Andy!” Becky exclaimed, lighting on a new idea. “Why don’t you talk to them about it? You’re so persuasive; I’m sure you could do it.”
Andy’s eyes widened in horror, and Ava put an arm around him protectively. “Just drop it, Bec! If they wanted to join GSA they would have done. Besides, there’s like two weeks until school ends for summer. There’s not really a whole lot of point.”
“But there is! There totally is! You know what? I’ll text Castiel about it tonight.”
“He gave you his cell number?” Sam looked at her in surprise.
Backy looked a little abashed. “Well, he didn’t give it to me so much as I... found it. On the contact list of your phone. When you were in the bathroom one time.”
“Becky!”
“What? He doesn’t mind! I mean, we talk online sometimes - he likes Taylor Swift!”
Sam snorted with laughter. “I know. Dean’s thrilled about that one.”
“So I’ll ask him about coming to our next meeting,” Becky persisted.
“I just think it’s creepy that you want to know about my brother’s love life. I still run past Dean’s room when they’re in there in case I accidentally overhear them doing stuff.”
Becky gave Sam a brief kiss. “Don’t worry - I’d be way more interested if it was you.”
“What?”
“Well, if you were having sex with another guy I’d be totally into it. Way more than I am with Dean.”
Sam got to his feet. “Okay, that’s it, I’m out of here.” He grabbed his book bag and practically ran from the room.
“What did I say?” Becky looked around at her fellow GSA members in confusion.
Ava was valiantly trying not to laugh. “Bec, you remember we had that talk about how you should play out what you want to say in your head before you actually start talking?”
“But it was a compliment! Why would that be a bad thing? What? Why are you all looking at me like that? What?”
4. For thelemonmeringuelife, who wanted a road trip story focusing on the first night the boys were away, on the Fourth of July.
Independence Day
Dean hadn’t wanted to admit that he was nervous. Not just about leaving home for the first time and moving halfway across the country, starting a new job in a new town. He was nervous about the here and now. He felt ridiculous about it because they had only been on the road for a total of four hours and everything had been great so far, but Dean was very aware that this whole trip was going to be a real test. They would be together, in each other’s company, all the time. And what if they got sick of each other? What if Cas started to find it unbelievably gross that Dean sometimes spoke with his mouth full? What if Castiel’s habit of doodling on everything he could get his hands on (including Dean’s face once when Dean was asleep) stopped being endearing and started being annoying. Once they got to Ithaca, the only person Dean would have was Cas, and what if they got sick of each other? What if by the time they reached their new home, Cas was already regretting bringing Dean along? There were so many increasingly upsetting ‘what if’s running through Dean’s head that he knew he was being distant and jumpy, and he knew Cas had noticed.
Dean had a horrible feeling that this was something they should talk about. He was horrible at talking about things, and he really couldn’t think of any way of telling Cas what was on his mind without sounding like a complete dick.
It had been dark for about an hour, and Dean thought it was about time they started looking for a motel for the night. He was pretty tired, and he thought that maybe Cas would stop shooting him anxious glances if they were no longer in the car together.
They had barely left Kansas - they had been slightly held up by the number of Fourth of July parades going on - and they were coming up on a small town when Cas finally broke the silence.
“You regret this, don’t you?”
Dean looked at him in horror and almost swerved into the verge. “What? No! Do you? Are you regretting it?”
“Of course I’m not, Dean! You are the one who isn’t talking.”
“I’m only talking because I think you’re regretting it!”
“Well I’m not!”
“Well okay then!”
“Well good!”
Dean pulled his car over to the side of the road. They hadn’t seen another vehicle in miles, so he figured they’d have a little privacy. They were on a hill, and Dean could see the twinkling lights of a handful of small towns below. He would have thought it was beautiful if he wasn’t so anxious.
“What is it?” Castiel’s voice was low and steady.
“It’s stupid.”
“Dean.”
“I’m just... I guess it’s because I never thought I’d really be able to do this. You know, leave Lawrence, have a life of my own. And then I’m... you know, you’re putting a lot of faith in me, letting me come with you to college.”
Castiel looked over at him, puzzled. “Of course I have faith in you.”
“But what if I screw up again? What if I’m not good enough and I-”
Castiel silenced him with a kiss. Dean tried to hold onto the threads of his concerns, but Cas’s lips were soft and warm against his, and Dean felt his shoulders begin to relax a little.
“Have I ever given you any cause to doubt?” Castiel breathed against his cheek.
“No, but I... I doubt myself all the time. I get scared that this is all too good to be true, and I’ll do something to mess it all up, and you won’t want me any more.”
“Why must you do this? I believe in you. You were the one who made me think I could actually do any of this. Neither of us are perfect, Dean, and life isn’t easy. But I can’t imagine ever not wanting you in my life, and I believe, still, that we were meant to find each other and love each other. I’m afraid of many things, but I’m not afraid of losing my feelings for you.”
Dean smiled in spite of himself. “How come you always thing the best of me?”
Castiel huffed a laugh. “I don’t. I am very well aware that you have faults. The problem is that you persist in having an uncommonly low opinion of yourself. You don’t think you deserve to be loved.”
Dean shook his head. “It’s just that I’m scared to feel sure of it because I’d gotten so convinced of how my life was gonna go, and it’s hard to believe that this is real, and I feel like if I feel safe with it I’ll wake up back in Kansas, and I won’t have you, and I’ll be stuck there...”
Castiel gave his hand a small squeeze. “Good things do happen, Dean. And if you can’t have faith in yourself, have faith in me. I won’t let you wake up.”
Dean was about to reply, but he was distracted by an explosion of light in the sky, followed by a loud crack. Red and blue stars shimmered back towards the earth.
“Oh right,” Dean breathed. “Fourth of July.”
Another starburst, golden this time, then red again, then green and silver. They could faintly make out the sound of music and laughter from the town below.
“This time last year,” Castiel said, “I watched the fireworks in Lawrence from my bedroom window with Anna. Only a few of them burst high enough for us to see over the trees.”
“I don’t remember the fireworks. I got drunk and hooked up with some girl. Then my dad yelled at me when I got home because no one knew where I’d gone and I’d made them worry, and I spent the rest of the evening feeling like shit.”
“A year ago, the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me was being allowed to attend public school.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever really be happy again.”
“I’d never been kissed.”
“I thought I was straight.”
Castiel laughed, and Dean started to feel infinitely better. “Happy Independence Day, Cas,” he said.
As Castiel’s hand found his in the darkness of the Impala, and the sky was lit up with rainbow sparks, Dean felt like everything really would work out after all.
5. For reticentric, who wanted a fic about the boys’ first night in their new house
First Night
“You know,” Dean said, “I’m just glad this place was already furnished.”
Castiel hummed in assent. “I should put the pizza boxes out with the trash.”
Dean’s head was resting in Castiel’s lap, and he wasn’t overly keen on moving just yet. “Leave it till morning.”
Castiel gave Dean a look, and moved Dean aside so he could get up. Dean sighed. He could already tell that he was going to be the messy one in this relationship.
He’d never moved house before, and he’d underestimated how tiring it would be. Being on the road for a month hadn’t helped, but even aside from that there was so much to do. There were things they had to buy that Dean had always wanted to take for granted before, like towels and detergent and bed sheets. They’d had to figure out their bearings, find where the nearest grocery store was, buy food. And then they’d had to get used to the house itself. It was a nice place, ideal for just the two of them, with a good sized kitchen and living room, and stairs leading up to a bedroom, bathroom, and a small study which could double up as a guest bedroom. Dean liked it there, although it would late a while before it felt like home. He was still very aware that it smelled different there. Still, it was thrilling and terrifying to think that this was actually theirs, and they could do what they wanted, no one to answer to. The only thing Dean had had of his own before was the Impala.
He looked up to see Castiel standing in the doorway watching him.
“You okay, Cas?”
Castiel smiled. “Better than okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm-hm. And... it’s getting rather late now.”
“You tired?”
Cas’s eyes flickered down briefly, then he looked up again, almost shyly. “Not at all, actually. I was thinking... it’s our first night in our new house and we should... take advantage of that.”
Dean laughed. “You really do have the best ideas.”
“I’ll meet you upstairs then.”
Dean was actually pretty tired. He’d just been thinking that if he wasn’t careful he’d fall asleep on the couch. But then if Cas was going to give him the bedroom eyes, then Dean was always willing to prioritize sex over sleep. He went to lock up and close the blinds in the kitchen. He was going to like it here.
“I’ll be right there,” Dean called as he climbed the stairs. “I’m just gonna go clean up.”
“Don’t be long,” Castiel replied from the bedroom.
Dean brushed his teeth and splashed some water on his face. He kind of felt like taking a shower after all the running around they’d done that day, but Cas was waiting, and Dean was getting less tired by the second. They’d barely had time to even touch all day, and it would be really nice to just reconnect again, be close, celebrate having actually made it here, start off their new life together with a really phenomenal fuck. Okay, so it was always pretty fantastic, but Dean was going to use all his best moves tonight, do the things that would drive Castiel wild. He was going to show Cas that moving in together was the best decision either of them had ever made.
Dean opened the bedroom door, already warm and tingly with anticipation. His eyes followed the trail of clothes: shirt, pants, a sock, to... Castiel, curled up under the duvet, fast asleep.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Cas slept on.
Dean pulled his t-shirt over his head, and dropped his pants. “Hey, Cas!”
Castiel scrunched up his face and made a noise like a sad kitten.
“Fine,” Dean sighed. He climbed into bed, and Castiel immediately snuggled up close to him, making a soft noise of contentment.
Dean turned out the light. “You owe me a good morning blow job for this. At the very least.”
Castiel sighed gently in his sleep, and Dean smiled and kissed the top of his head.
Bisexual (no one requested this, but I couldn't resist)
You know, I think I’m definitely bisexual,” Dean said.
Castiel shot him a quizzical look. “I should hope so, considering what we’ve just been doing.”
It was a baking hot day in the middle of June, and they’d been taking advantage of Dean’s family going out to the country for the day. It was certainly nice to have sex without worrying about keeping quiet all the time, and they’d been trying out a new position which had left Dean very surprised that Castiel had never ridden a horse before.
Dean grinned. “I know, but... well, I guess I’d thought that you were my exception. But then there was that White Collar marathon on last night, and Matt Bomer is insanely hot. I mean, seriously. And he’s into guys.”
Castiel thought for a moment. “He is very attractive. And I think that were it biologically possible for the two of us to have a son who was both of ours genetically, that is exactly what he would look like.”
“What?”
“Well, he has my coloring and your bone structure. We would have a beautiful child.”
Dean flopped back onto the bed. “Great. You’ve just ruined the first gay three-way fantasy I ever had. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
“A little, yes.”
“You’re lucky you’re hot.”
A/N: I'll try and get the next lot finished sooner! More Jump the Track- related one-shots can be found at the MASTERPOST
Rating - R
Summary - The first set of prompt fics for Jump the Track, including Ash figuring out that Dean and Cas are into each other, Cas coming out to his family, Cas ruining Dean's crush on Matt Bomer, a very eventful GSA meeting, Dean and Cas enjoying Fourth of July fireworks, and the first night in their new house in Ithaca. Sorry these have taken so long! More of your prompt fics will be up soon.
Warnings - Spoilers for Jump the Track (though can be read alone). Sexual references. Treatment of religious homophobia.
JtT prompt fics round 1
1. For blu_3_haze, who requested fics about the supporting characters
I Know a Little
Ash liked people, but he didn’t necessarily get them. Computers were easier. Strings of numbers could be managed, patterns could be detected. That was something Ash could understand, and he knew that it made him special. He knew it was rare to have the natural affinity with technology that he possessed, and it made him a valuable commodity. Which was pretty awesome. He’d been told that he could go far if he applied himself. He could get a job in a big city, earn lots of money, have anything he wanted. The trouble was, what Ash wanted was to chill out with a couple of beers and illegally download Doctor Who. The thought of being a suit in an office horrified him. Some people had said it was a waste of potential. Ash said that it takes all sorts to make up a world.
So he didn’t really get other people. He didn’t understand why they expected him to want certain things, or why they got so dramatic about everything. As far as Ash was concerned, there was very little that was worth the effort expended on being dramatic. He had few friends, but that was okay by him. The ones he did have knew who he was and what to expect of him, and didn’t get mad at him if he was too wrapped up in whatever held his interest at any particular time to notice what was going on with them. If it was important, they’d tell him. If they needed his help, he’d give it. That was how it worked.
Castiel was funny. None of them exactly fit in, but he was a cut above. Ash wondered at first whether Cas had the same thing as him, that weird inability to quite fit in with society because... because maybe too much of their brains were being used for intellectual abilities and there just wasn’t room for things like knowing how to live in the real world. But then maybe it was something more. Maybe it was that Castiel had been cut off for so long, unwanted for so long, that he just didn’t know how to be around people. Pam had called him a ‘hot alien.’
Ash liked the guy. He didn’t care that Castiel was awkward and needed things explained to him all the time. Castiel was smart, and he had a weird sense of humor, and he was actually pretty badass. Ash had accepted him in the same manner that he accepted all the people who strayed into his life. Dean liked Castiel, Castiel had saved Dean’s life, Castiel was one of them.
The weird thing was that Ash never really noticed anything. Not human things, anyway. They were all sitting in the cafeteria one Thursday lunchtime, and Pam had been recounting the time that she, Ash and Jo had driven to her boyfriend Jesse’s college one weekend and trashed his car because she’d found out he was cheating on her.
Dean was laughing. “So you guys just went for pancakes afterwards! Oh man, I wish I’d been there.”
“Why weren’t you?”
“I had to work! I couldn’t just blow it off. Besides, I said I’d get a study sheet finished for Cas. I didn’t wanna let him down.”
Dean gripped Castiel’s shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. His hand lingered, even after he’d returned to his sandwich, and Cas leaned into the touch. He was smiling, ever so slightly, and he watched Dean’s profile slowly, his eyes focussing on Dean’s lips, before he gave a little frown and looked away.
Huh.
Ash walked to his Advanced Physics class with Jo, who had Comparative Mythology in the next classroom.
“So,” he said. “Cas likes Dean.”
“Yeah,” Jo said.
“And Dean likes-”
“Uh-huh.”
“But he hasn’t figured that out.”
“Nope.”
“But they’re pretty much...”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“Huh,” Ash said. “Okay then.”
2. For lektras, who wanted to know what happened when Castiel came out to his family.
Blood and Water
There had been a thunderstorm earlier in the day, and it had given Anna a headache. She felt sleepy and stupid, and the tedium of the house was oppressive. She would turn seventeen in two weeks, and then it would only be another year until she could got out.
“You’re safe here, Anna,” her father would tell her. “The world is dangerous and corrupt, and it’s full of filth. I won’t watch you be destroyed by it like I’ve watched so many others.”
And so Anna was kept shut away where nothing could hurt her. But it wasn’t a life. It wasn’t a life, and her father had no idea of the darkness he had infected her with through his misguided efforts to protect her. He’d taught her how to hate, to resent, to burn with longing. Sometimes she felt like she could just scream and scream until her throat was raw.
“I don’t know if I believe in God,” she’d told Castiel once.
He’d looked at her with fear in his eyes. “Anna, you shouldn’t say that. God loves you.”
“How can you say that? Have you seen the things my father has done in God’s name? And you, the way you’ve been tormenting yourself, hating yourself for what you are, because you think it’s sinful, because you-”
“I don’t want to talk about that,” he’d said. Of course he didn’t.
But now Castiel was different. He’d started to question, started to rebel. He was finally accepting himself. It made Anna happy because truly Castiel was her best friend, and she wanted him to be happy, but at the same time she feared for him. He was getting sloppy. He was allowing his feelings to overrule his sense of caution, and all Anna really knew was that Zachariah and Michael could never know. They just couldn’t.
The look on Castiel’s face when he got home from school that day had Anna’s stomach in knots. He looked wild, like something was fighting to get out of him.
He stood, breathless, in the doorway to the front room where she, Michael and Zachariah were reading together. “There’s something I have to tell you all,” he said, and there was a strange, defiant glint in his eyes.
No, Cas, Anna thought. No, please don’t. It’s only going to hurt you.
Castiel wouldn’t look at her.
Zachariah deliberately closed the book he had been reading. “I’m all ears, Castiel.”
Castiel blinked. Anna saw that his fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. “Firstly, I will be going to Cornell. I’m eighteen, and you have no right to forbid me. Secondly, I...” Cas paused, and he looked for a moment like he was going to be sick.
“Well?” Zachariah said coldly.
Castiel shuddered. “I... I’m gay.” Anna could barely hear him. He cleared his throat. “I’m gay.”
Anna’s heart was beating so hard it scared her.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Castiel,” Michael said, speaking for the first time. “Of course you’re not. I don’t know what’s wrong with you lately, but I strongly advise you to pull yourself together and stop acting out.”
“I’m not acting out.” Anna was amazed at how steady Castiel was keeping his voice. If it had been her, she would have been screaming by now. “You are my family and I love you, but I can’t... I can’t just live my life for you any more. I have fought against this for a long time, but I can’t do it, and I... I want you to know because I respect you and I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t live the life you want me to.”
The silence in the room was excruciating.
“You have obviously become very confused,” Zachariah said eventually.
“I’m not confused!”
“You have obviously allowed your involvement in secular life to corrupt you.”
“I’m not-”
“Yes you are!” Michael shouted.
Anna jumped.
“I’m not,” Castiel said quietly. “Michael, I know you are angry at our father for leaving us, but this is not the way forward. If you hope to... get back at him by cutting yourself off from all happiness, all it will do will cause you misery. You never used to be this person, and I refuse to live by these standards any longer. Life is a gift, and as long as we aren’t hurting anyone, I believe that God would want us to enjoy our gift, to love others, to-”
“Castiel,” Zachariah interrupted. “I would like a word with you. In private.”
Castiel glanced briefly at Anna. “Of course, Uncle.”
They left the room, and Anna was left alone with Michael. She didn’t want to look at him.
“Did you know about any of this?” he asked.
“No,” Anna lied. “You know nobody tells me anything.”
“You and Castiel are close. If... if you had any idea of what was happening to him, it should have been your duty to inform the people who care for him.”
“”Well, I didn’t.”
“He...” Michael rubbed a hand over his face. “He is the only family I have left. Our mother is dead, our father is a hypocrite who preaches about love but can’t bear to be around his own children, Gabriel left without a backwards glance... I won’t lose Castiel, too. I won’t. I won’t allow him to become corrupted by... You know that I warned your father? I told him that it was dangerous to allow Castiel to attend public school, expose himself to ... dangerous ideas. But Castiel was always so quiet, so obedient, how could he ever stray from the path? I saw the dangers, and I... I allowed him to be taken from us. It’s... it’s not fair. Why is it that God and family are never enough? Why must they all leave?”
Anna sat in silence. She had learned from Cas that most of the time it was better to just observe. Even so, she didn't have Castiel's self-control, and by the time her father came back into the room, she felt like her head was going to explode.
"Anna," he said. "I want you to give me your phone."
Anna didn't understand at first.
"I've confiscated Castiel's cell phone and computer. He won't be returning to that school. All of this started when I foolishly allowed him to mix with those people. You see how the outside world can corrupt you, Anna? Do you see that now? I'm not going to risk it again."
Anna felt like she'd forgotten how to breathe. "I... but... I'm not... I don't know anyone! Why take my phone?"
"I can't risk it. I'm sorry, Anna, but I'm going to have to insist."
They were being held prisoner. They would be cut off completely from the outside world. Anna didn't move.
"Don't you see that it's my responsibility to save you both? You are both in my care, and it's only by keeping you safe here and making sure that you live for God alone that I'm going to save you. Anna, your phone."
She wasn't being given a choice. Anna pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it to her father. She noticed detachedly that her hand was shaking. Michael wasn't looking, and hardly seemed to notice what was going on. He had the strangest look on his face, almost like he was lost. Sometimes Anna forgot that he was only a year older than Cas.
Zachariah took the phone, and put it with Castiel's phone and his small laptop in the top drawer of the bureau, and locked it. Anna didn't say anything, but she was glad that she knew where their things were being kept. That would come in useful later.
Castiel was not allowed down for dinner; Zachariah took a tray up for him. Anna was hardly able to eat a thing. All she wanted was to talk to Cas and make sure that he was okay, not to mention ask him what the hell he'd been thinking.
She didn't get a chance until everyone had gone to bed. She crept up the stairs to Castiel's little attic room and knelt down beside the door. "Cas?" she whispered. "Cas, are you awake?"
"Anna?"
She could barely hear him. "Cas, are you okay?"
"No, I... I need you to call... I need you to call Dean for me."
She could have cried. "I can't! He took away my cell as well. Cas, what were you thinking telling them that? Didn't you know how they'd react? You only had a couple of months and then you could have gotten out of here! They never needed to know, Cas."
He didn't answer for a while and Anna wondered whether she had gone too far. She and Castiel were close, but he could be oddly sensitive about things and she was never quite sure what the limits were.
"It was... stupid," he said, at last. "I suppose I... I hope for the best. I had hoped that maybe they might... they might care for me enough to... to accept that I'm... not all they would wish me to be. I should have... I was upset. I didn't have the best day, and I suppose I was trying to prove a point, and I was... I was so tired of hiding. Anna, I'm so tired..."
"It's going to be okay, Cas," Anna whispered. Not because she believed it, but because it was the only thing she could say."
"How?" His voice was ragged. "We can't get in touch with anyone, I'm locked in my room, I... He said that I needed to pray. He said I should pray and have time alone to repent my sins, and... and I won't be allowed to go back to school, or to see... Anna, I can't. I can't lie about who I am any more. It's not a sin, I know it's not, and I... I'm not going to apologize or deny it as if I'm ashamed, or--"
"Cas, shh." Anna hated hearing the panic in his voice. Castiel was always the calm one, the voice of reason. He was the one thing that had kept her from going crazy over the past few years. Maybe, she thought, it was her turn to be strong for him now. "It's going to be okay, Cas. I promise. I know where our things are, okay? I saw where he put them. We're going to get out of here, I promise. We'll both get out, and it's going to be fine."
Her cheek was pressed up against the door. There was a small gap underneath, and she saw that Castiel had pushed the tips of his fingers through it. She touched her fingers to his. It wasn't much, but in a house as cold as theirs they took whatever warmth they could get.
3. For blu_3_haze, who requested fics about the supporting characters
Gay Straight Alliance
“I’m just saying,” Becky wheedled. “It’d be so cool! Maybe he’d consider it if I spoke to him.”
“I really don’t think that’d help,” Sam said tactfully.
“But it’s such a beautiful love story!”
Sam scrunched his face up; he didn’t like to think of his brother being part of a ‘beautiful love story’. “Dean really isn’t the sharing type.”
“You got that right,” Pam said. “I mean, we were all talking about how he and Cas were in big gay love ages before Dean figured it out.”
However, Becky was not to be deterred. “Well, what about Cas? You think he’ll do it?”
“Bec, if they want to be private about their relationship, maybe we should just, you know, let them?” Lily suggested quietly.
Becky looked over at her, all wide-eyed innocence. “I wouldn’t ask them to talk about personal things! Just, you know, what it was like to come out, how they dealt with it, that kind of thing.”
“Bull,” Ava said. “It’d start out that way, sure, but then you’d get over-excited and start asking them questions about sex positions.”
Sam made a small whimpering noise.
“I would never!” Becky protested.
Corbett cleared his throat nervously. “Um, that’s what you did to me when we first met.”
“Yeah, but I learned my lesson after you avoided me for two months and ran away whenever you saw me.”
Pam snorted with laughter. “That’s adorable. And I completely get it - Dean and Cas are sexy! I’d love to know what they’d get up to, too.”
Sam was starting to look decidedly miserable.
“Andy!” Becky exclaimed, lighting on a new idea. “Why don’t you talk to them about it? You’re so persuasive; I’m sure you could do it.”
Andy’s eyes widened in horror, and Ava put an arm around him protectively. “Just drop it, Bec! If they wanted to join GSA they would have done. Besides, there’s like two weeks until school ends for summer. There’s not really a whole lot of point.”
“But there is! There totally is! You know what? I’ll text Castiel about it tonight.”
“He gave you his cell number?” Sam looked at her in surprise.
Backy looked a little abashed. “Well, he didn’t give it to me so much as I... found it. On the contact list of your phone. When you were in the bathroom one time.”
“Becky!”
“What? He doesn’t mind! I mean, we talk online sometimes - he likes Taylor Swift!”
Sam snorted with laughter. “I know. Dean’s thrilled about that one.”
“So I’ll ask him about coming to our next meeting,” Becky persisted.
“I just think it’s creepy that you want to know about my brother’s love life. I still run past Dean’s room when they’re in there in case I accidentally overhear them doing stuff.”
Becky gave Sam a brief kiss. “Don’t worry - I’d be way more interested if it was you.”
“What?”
“Well, if you were having sex with another guy I’d be totally into it. Way more than I am with Dean.”
Sam got to his feet. “Okay, that’s it, I’m out of here.” He grabbed his book bag and practically ran from the room.
“What did I say?” Becky looked around at her fellow GSA members in confusion.
Ava was valiantly trying not to laugh. “Bec, you remember we had that talk about how you should play out what you want to say in your head before you actually start talking?”
“But it was a compliment! Why would that be a bad thing? What? Why are you all looking at me like that? What?”
4. For thelemonmeringuelife, who wanted a road trip story focusing on the first night the boys were away, on the Fourth of July.
Independence Day
Dean hadn’t wanted to admit that he was nervous. Not just about leaving home for the first time and moving halfway across the country, starting a new job in a new town. He was nervous about the here and now. He felt ridiculous about it because they had only been on the road for a total of four hours and everything had been great so far, but Dean was very aware that this whole trip was going to be a real test. They would be together, in each other’s company, all the time. And what if they got sick of each other? What if Cas started to find it unbelievably gross that Dean sometimes spoke with his mouth full? What if Castiel’s habit of doodling on everything he could get his hands on (including Dean’s face once when Dean was asleep) stopped being endearing and started being annoying. Once they got to Ithaca, the only person Dean would have was Cas, and what if they got sick of each other? What if by the time they reached their new home, Cas was already regretting bringing Dean along? There were so many increasingly upsetting ‘what if’s running through Dean’s head that he knew he was being distant and jumpy, and he knew Cas had noticed.
Dean had a horrible feeling that this was something they should talk about. He was horrible at talking about things, and he really couldn’t think of any way of telling Cas what was on his mind without sounding like a complete dick.
It had been dark for about an hour, and Dean thought it was about time they started looking for a motel for the night. He was pretty tired, and he thought that maybe Cas would stop shooting him anxious glances if they were no longer in the car together.
They had barely left Kansas - they had been slightly held up by the number of Fourth of July parades going on - and they were coming up on a small town when Cas finally broke the silence.
“You regret this, don’t you?”
Dean looked at him in horror and almost swerved into the verge. “What? No! Do you? Are you regretting it?”
“Of course I’m not, Dean! You are the one who isn’t talking.”
“I’m only talking because I think you’re regretting it!”
“Well I’m not!”
“Well okay then!”
“Well good!”
Dean pulled his car over to the side of the road. They hadn’t seen another vehicle in miles, so he figured they’d have a little privacy. They were on a hill, and Dean could see the twinkling lights of a handful of small towns below. He would have thought it was beautiful if he wasn’t so anxious.
“What is it?” Castiel’s voice was low and steady.
“It’s stupid.”
“Dean.”
“I’m just... I guess it’s because I never thought I’d really be able to do this. You know, leave Lawrence, have a life of my own. And then I’m... you know, you’re putting a lot of faith in me, letting me come with you to college.”
Castiel looked over at him, puzzled. “Of course I have faith in you.”
“But what if I screw up again? What if I’m not good enough and I-”
Castiel silenced him with a kiss. Dean tried to hold onto the threads of his concerns, but Cas’s lips were soft and warm against his, and Dean felt his shoulders begin to relax a little.
“Have I ever given you any cause to doubt?” Castiel breathed against his cheek.
“No, but I... I doubt myself all the time. I get scared that this is all too good to be true, and I’ll do something to mess it all up, and you won’t want me any more.”
“Why must you do this? I believe in you. You were the one who made me think I could actually do any of this. Neither of us are perfect, Dean, and life isn’t easy. But I can’t imagine ever not wanting you in my life, and I believe, still, that we were meant to find each other and love each other. I’m afraid of many things, but I’m not afraid of losing my feelings for you.”
Dean smiled in spite of himself. “How come you always thing the best of me?”
Castiel huffed a laugh. “I don’t. I am very well aware that you have faults. The problem is that you persist in having an uncommonly low opinion of yourself. You don’t think you deserve to be loved.”
Dean shook his head. “It’s just that I’m scared to feel sure of it because I’d gotten so convinced of how my life was gonna go, and it’s hard to believe that this is real, and I feel like if I feel safe with it I’ll wake up back in Kansas, and I won’t have you, and I’ll be stuck there...”
Castiel gave his hand a small squeeze. “Good things do happen, Dean. And if you can’t have faith in yourself, have faith in me. I won’t let you wake up.”
Dean was about to reply, but he was distracted by an explosion of light in the sky, followed by a loud crack. Red and blue stars shimmered back towards the earth.
“Oh right,” Dean breathed. “Fourth of July.”
Another starburst, golden this time, then red again, then green and silver. They could faintly make out the sound of music and laughter from the town below.
“This time last year,” Castiel said, “I watched the fireworks in Lawrence from my bedroom window with Anna. Only a few of them burst high enough for us to see over the trees.”
“I don’t remember the fireworks. I got drunk and hooked up with some girl. Then my dad yelled at me when I got home because no one knew where I’d gone and I’d made them worry, and I spent the rest of the evening feeling like shit.”
“A year ago, the most exciting thing that had ever happened to me was being allowed to attend public school.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever really be happy again.”
“I’d never been kissed.”
“I thought I was straight.”
Castiel laughed, and Dean started to feel infinitely better. “Happy Independence Day, Cas,” he said.
As Castiel’s hand found his in the darkness of the Impala, and the sky was lit up with rainbow sparks, Dean felt like everything really would work out after all.
5. For reticentric, who wanted a fic about the boys’ first night in their new house
First Night
“You know,” Dean said, “I’m just glad this place was already furnished.”
Castiel hummed in assent. “I should put the pizza boxes out with the trash.”
Dean’s head was resting in Castiel’s lap, and he wasn’t overly keen on moving just yet. “Leave it till morning.”
Castiel gave Dean a look, and moved Dean aside so he could get up. Dean sighed. He could already tell that he was going to be the messy one in this relationship.
He’d never moved house before, and he’d underestimated how tiring it would be. Being on the road for a month hadn’t helped, but even aside from that there was so much to do. There were things they had to buy that Dean had always wanted to take for granted before, like towels and detergent and bed sheets. They’d had to figure out their bearings, find where the nearest grocery store was, buy food. And then they’d had to get used to the house itself. It was a nice place, ideal for just the two of them, with a good sized kitchen and living room, and stairs leading up to a bedroom, bathroom, and a small study which could double up as a guest bedroom. Dean liked it there, although it would late a while before it felt like home. He was still very aware that it smelled different there. Still, it was thrilling and terrifying to think that this was actually theirs, and they could do what they wanted, no one to answer to. The only thing Dean had had of his own before was the Impala.
He looked up to see Castiel standing in the doorway watching him.
“You okay, Cas?”
Castiel smiled. “Better than okay.”
“Yeah?”
“Mm-hm. And... it’s getting rather late now.”
“You tired?”
Cas’s eyes flickered down briefly, then he looked up again, almost shyly. “Not at all, actually. I was thinking... it’s our first night in our new house and we should... take advantage of that.”
Dean laughed. “You really do have the best ideas.”
“I’ll meet you upstairs then.”
Dean was actually pretty tired. He’d just been thinking that if he wasn’t careful he’d fall asleep on the couch. But then if Cas was going to give him the bedroom eyes, then Dean was always willing to prioritize sex over sleep. He went to lock up and close the blinds in the kitchen. He was going to like it here.
“I’ll be right there,” Dean called as he climbed the stairs. “I’m just gonna go clean up.”
“Don’t be long,” Castiel replied from the bedroom.
Dean brushed his teeth and splashed some water on his face. He kind of felt like taking a shower after all the running around they’d done that day, but Cas was waiting, and Dean was getting less tired by the second. They’d barely had time to even touch all day, and it would be really nice to just reconnect again, be close, celebrate having actually made it here, start off their new life together with a really phenomenal fuck. Okay, so it was always pretty fantastic, but Dean was going to use all his best moves tonight, do the things that would drive Castiel wild. He was going to show Cas that moving in together was the best decision either of them had ever made.
Dean opened the bedroom door, already warm and tingly with anticipation. His eyes followed the trail of clothes: shirt, pants, a sock, to... Castiel, curled up under the duvet, fast asleep.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
Cas slept on.
Dean pulled his t-shirt over his head, and dropped his pants. “Hey, Cas!”
Castiel scrunched up his face and made a noise like a sad kitten.
“Fine,” Dean sighed. He climbed into bed, and Castiel immediately snuggled up close to him, making a soft noise of contentment.
Dean turned out the light. “You owe me a good morning blow job for this. At the very least.”
Castiel sighed gently in his sleep, and Dean smiled and kissed the top of his head.
Bisexual (no one requested this, but I couldn't resist)
You know, I think I’m definitely bisexual,” Dean said.
Castiel shot him a quizzical look. “I should hope so, considering what we’ve just been doing.”
It was a baking hot day in the middle of June, and they’d been taking advantage of Dean’s family going out to the country for the day. It was certainly nice to have sex without worrying about keeping quiet all the time, and they’d been trying out a new position which had left Dean very surprised that Castiel had never ridden a horse before.
Dean grinned. “I know, but... well, I guess I’d thought that you were my exception. But then there was that White Collar marathon on last night, and Matt Bomer is insanely hot. I mean, seriously. And he’s into guys.”
Castiel thought for a moment. “He is very attractive. And I think that were it biologically possible for the two of us to have a son who was both of ours genetically, that is exactly what he would look like.”
“What?”
“Well, he has my coloring and your bone structure. We would have a beautiful child.”
Dean flopped back onto the bed. “Great. You’ve just ruined the first gay three-way fantasy I ever had. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”
“A little, yes.”
“You’re lucky you’re hot.”
A/N: I'll try and get the next lot finished sooner! More Jump the Track- related one-shots can be found at the MASTERPOST