Take Two - Chapter Fourteen - Destiel Fanfiction
Title: Take Two
Authors: islanderbib83 & pdlessard07 (pippin1983 & lotrspnfangirl)
Pairing: Destiel
Rating: R (may change)
Summary: Dean and Castiel get drunkenly married at 19. It's bold, it's rash, it's being young and in love. After Dean walked out, Castiel tried to move and after ten years, he's decided to marry again. The only thing standing in his way is his legal marriage. Dean, however, wants a second chance to prove that he's grown up, he's matured, but his love for Castiel has never changed.
Warnings/Spoilers: Angsty! Totally AU.
Beta(s): Huge thanks and hugs to oldbatj for working with us on this! Jude, you’re fantastic!
A/N: We own nothing! We are taking these characters and playing with them nicely. Our fic was based off of this prompt.. Bibi primarily wrote Dean and Dani primarily wrote Cas. Our eye banners are used to signify scene changes and not POV, even if they coincide. We just think the boys have pretty eyes <3
You can find Chapter One here.
You can find lotrspnfangirl fiction index here.
You can find pippin1983 fiction index here.
I am posting early because I was late last time and I am sick and am afraid I'll fall asleep and be late again!
Chapter Fourteen
Castiel almost dropped the plate he was carrying when a soft gasp behind him caused him to spin around. A sleepy Dot was standing in the kitchen doorway, a pink knitted blanket clenched tightly in one fist up against her shoulder as she stared wide-eyed at Castiel.
“Where’s …my Daddy?” She stammered fearfully, voice muffled by the blanket.
“He’s upstairs sleeping, honey…” Cas answered, moving forward to quickly go to a knee to be at her eye level. “But I made breakfast for us so he could get a little more sleep, okay? What do you say, kiddo? Waffles and bacon sound good?”
Dorothy hesitated and it broke Castiel’s heart to see her darting around warily. Finally her stomach, and love for bacon, won out and she nodded slowly before crawling into her normal seat. He served her a large waffle and pushed the plate of bacon towards her before going for the maple syrup in the fridge.
“If you’re here with Daddy and me… is your mean friend coming over too?” she stammered fearfully as Cas sat down beside her, fixing his own waffle. She continued as tears began to well along her lashes. “I don’t like him! He hurt my Daddy. I don’t want him to come to our house….ever!”
“No, Dotty… He’s not going to be around anymore, you don’t have to worry about him, okay?” He tried to give her a reassuring smile but her eyes still swam with tears. “Hey, hey, it’s okay! I promise you, he went back home, okay? It’s just you, me and your Daddy here.”
“Did you know your friend was going to hurt my Daddy?” Dot fixed him with a questioning, reproachful stare from across her breakfast plate, her tiny pink fork hovering above her plate.
“No, Dorothy. I am so sorry about what he did to your daddy yesterday. I didn’t want any of that to happen, and I didn’t know that he was going to hurt Dean. I would have stopped it if I had known, I promise...”
Dorothy eyed him for a moment more until she seemed to accept his words and dug into her waffle.
“Did you and Daddy sleep on the couch again?” She asked around a bite, snaking her tongue out to lick at the maple syrup that dripped from the corner of her mouth.
“Oh, …um, no…” Cas trailed off, wishing that he had decided to wake up Dean after all. He was not even slightly prepared for this conversation. “I stayed over in case your Daddy got sick or needed help… and to make you some good breakfast.”
Thankfully, Dorothy accepted that answer and seemed to accept Cas being there as okay. He had been worried the little girl would be afraid of him after the events of the day before and he couldn’t deny the dread he’d felt when she had asked if he had known what Balthazar was going to do. As if he would have allowed or even suspected that Balt had any intention of hurting Dean… as if he would have wanted something so horrible to happen…
After his answer she ate her waffle happily, crunching on her bacon in between bites, and smiling at Cas the entire time. All was forgiven. He smiled back at her, eating his own breakfast, amazed at how good her acceptance felt and realizing how badly it had hurt when she had refused to even look at him yesterday.
“So, what do you think we should do today while your daddy sleeps?” he asked as he cleared the table, putting the butter and syrup back into the fridge and slipping the dirty dishes into the sink. Dorothy leaned back in her chair, her little legs swinging back and forth. Her eyes were wide and she immediately had a huge grin spread across her face. “Something that your daddy would approve of,” he amended quickly.
“You’re no fun!” Dotty giggled, slipping out of her chair and going over to slip her hand into Cas’s. “Daddy usually lets me watch Sunday morning cartoons, as long as I watch the good stuff...” She tugged enthusiastically on his arm, pulling him into the living room. “He says that Bugs Bunny is the bestest best thing since sliced bread...” She climbed up onto the couch, settling against Cas’s side when he sat down as well. “Though... “ she wrinkled up her nose, large green eyes staring up at him, “bread is always sliced, so I don’t think he really knows what he’s talking about.”
Castiel just laughed in response and turned on the cartoons.
Dean woke up finding his bed empty and the sheets on Cas’s side cool to the touch. His heartbeat quickened and he gasped a low ‘No!’. But Castiel wouldn’t just leave him like that, would he? Well, at least the Castiel he had known ten years ago wouldn’t have.
No, even today’s Castiel still wouldn’t do that, Dean was convinced he wouldn’t. And then, when the sound of Castiel’s laughter could be heard from the living room, Dean let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, and slowly sank back into his pillow more comfortably.
The sound of his phone, vibrating on the side table finally pulled him from sleep completely.
He sat up slowly and reached for the phone, sliding his fingers over the screen to answer the call. Having taken in the caller’s name on the screen, he only answered with a sleepy grunt.
“Morning, Jerk.”
“Mornin’ ...” Dean sighed and rubbed the last of sleep from his eyes.
“You still sleeping? I’d have thought my favorite niece would have woken you up by now.”
“She’s your only niece, bitch.” Dean rolled his eyes. “And yeah, she’s awake, but she’s downstairs and being babysat.”
“Wait… she’s being’ babysat’ while you’re home?” Sam snorted down the other line. “You got yourself a nanny? Getting too old, huh, Dean?”
“Yeah, don’t you know it...” Dean huffed a laugh. “Actually, no, not a nanny. Just someone staying over to check that I keep to the doctor’s advice.”
“Doctor?” Sam paused for a moment and Dean heard an audible sigh. “What the hell did you get yourself into now? Are you okay? Is Dotty okay? And why the hell didn’t you call me, Dean?! Here I am, calling to talk to you about Dotty’s birthday and you casually throw out that you needed someone to stay with you because you’re -- what? Sick? Hurt?”
“Listen, it’s nothing. And Cas didn’t want to worry you while no one knew how bad things were yet. …. I’m okay, it’s only a mild concussion and a broken nose…and a couple of cracked ribs.” Dean sighed a little. “ I’m okay…really.”
“Jesus, Dean. I’m getting on a plane. What the fuck happened to cause all of that?” Sam sighed and then paused again. “Cass? As in… Cassie or Cassandra? Or… do you mean…” an audible gasp came across the line.
“Sammy, don’t! It’s not worth you spending money on a ticket! Stay where you are and study, or whatever you actually do.” Dean took a deep breath and sighed heavily. “Cas as in… Castiel...” he answered slowly, preparing himself for the shitstorm Sam was about to unleash.
“What?” Sam gasped, a small choked sound coming from his throat. “Cas? Castiel Shirley? Your like, husband Cas, who you haven’t seen in ten fucking years is downstairs with your kid? You better fucking spill Dean, or I am getting on a goddamn plane!”
“Yes, Cas Shirley… my husband.” Dean snorted, knowing how damn ridiculous and unbelievable this sounded. “He came here to get divorce papers signed, ‘cause he, well, he apparently didn’t know we were still legally married and he wanted to marry his boyfriend and then found out there’s still me and he needed a divorce - “
“This shit is straight out of a soap opera.” Sam’s voice was quiet and disbelieving and Dean knew the signs of his brother over-thinking things. But before he could cut his brother off, Sam continued. “So… He came for his divorce papers and ended up playing housewife? Want to explain that part?”
“What if I said ‘no’?”
“Then…I’ll call Bobby.”
“No, you won’t.” Dean argued.
“Dean, you can just fucking tell me what’s going on, or I can call Bobby… and we both know he’ll tell me… or… I can get on a plane and come see for myself.” Sam’s voice was hard, determined.
“Bitch.” Dean muttered. “We’re trying to give us another chance,” he told his brother matter-of-factly.
Sam was quiet for a moment and Dean knew he was rolling all of the possible responses around in his head. Finally he spoke, his voice careful, “Do you think this is a good idea?”
“It’s probably neither a good idea, nor a bad idea. But it’s the idea I like best. I still … love him, Sammy, you know? I never stopped…not for a day. And Dot likes him, and I want him to be around… and … and he still kisses so well.”
“Too much, Dean, too much...” Sam laughed softly and cleared his throat. “You know I have your back, Dean… Always wanted you to just be happy. I don’t get, though, how this ended up with you getting a broken nose, the ribs and a concussion?”
“Did you hear me telling you he wanted the divorce because he wanted to re-marry?” Dean asked making his eye roll nearly audible.
“You’re joking. Tell me you’re fucking joking.”
“Do I sound like I’m joking? Guy fucking beat me up in Bobby’s garage.”
Sam swore. His voice was hard and angry, “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
Dean grinned as he came into the living room. “Good morning, you two, did you sleep well?” Dean using in his best impression of Daffy Duck.
Cas looked up, his and Dorothy's eyes darting to Dean as he made his presence known.
"Hey Daddy! Cas made me waffles!" Dot beamed at her Dad, bouncing on the couch beside Cas. "He saved you some too! They're the bestest best waffles I've ever had!"
"Dad's recipe…again," Cas shrugged, giving Dean a small smile. "I put a fresh pot of coffee on as well... How’re you feeling?"
"I'm feeling okay, thanks." Dean entered the room and gingerly lowered himself onto the couch cushion beside his daughter. "You really left me the bestest waffles? Wow, you're so generous. I'll eat them soon, but I need a hug first." He grinned at Dorothy. “But a careful hug okay ?”
Dorothy giggled and turned into her Dad's arms, trying to gently get her arms around his entire body. Cas watched them both, a small smile on his face.
"I'll get it for you," he said as he stood up from the couch, knowing both Daughter and Father could use a minute. "And I'll get you some more juice too!" he snagged Dotty's cup from the table and slipped into the kitchen.
Dean watched Castiel leave and cast his eyes downward. He hugged his daughter gently and pressed his lips against her temple. "How are you, Princess? Did you behave well for Cas?"
"Yeah," she nodded and leaned softly against his side, throwing her little legs up over his lap. "I went down stairs and saw it was Cas and not you this morning and I was afraid... but Cas said you were sleeping and needed more sleep and not to worry because he made that bad man go away."
"Yes, he did. You must never be afraid of Castiel. Castiel is a good man." Dean tucked a strand of hair behind Dot's ear. "Your Uncle Sammy just called. He said to tell you, that you should write him a letter and let him know what you want for your birthday. He also said he'll come to your party with Jessica."
Dorothy gasped, her eyes widening. "Oh! Jessica going to come to my party too? She said the next time she came to visit she was going to show me how to make friendship bracelets!"
"Yes, Jessica is coming to your party." Dean grinned at his daughter's enthusiasm about his news. "I'm sure she'll remember her promise."
"Do you think Uncle Sammy and Jessica are going to get married, Daddy? I like her…lots!" Dorothy cocked her head to the side. "I bet she would look like a princess in a wedding dress, don't you, Papa Bear?"
"Yes, I think she would. But if and when they're going to get married is their decision to make. But it would be nice if they would," Dean ruffled her hair fondly.
Dorothy sat back, a thoughtful expression on her face. Castiel cleared his throat once and gave them both a smile before stepping back into the living room with a plate of steaming waffles and bacon and a big mug of fresh, hot coffee.
"Still like it black, right?" he asked as he put them both in front of Dean before slipping back onto his spot on the couch on the other side of Dot. Dean nodded gratefully and moved to start cutting up his waffles.
"Daddy..." Dotty said slowly, glancing between them both. "When you and Cas got married, did one of you wear a dress?"
Dean almost choked on his waffle. He glanced over at Cas while he coughed and cleared his throat. "No, Love, neither of us wore a dress. But I think I would have looked good in one back then."
"That's because you're so pretty, Daddy," Dorothy leaned up and gave him a wet kiss to the side of his face before settling back down to watch the cartoons, that conversation now, apparently, thankfully ended.
"Very pretty," Cas mouthed over Dean's head, giving him a wink.
Dean smiled at Cas and took another bite of his waffle. "Sammy says ‘hey’." He told Castiel after he swallowed.
"Oh, you told Sam I was here?" Cas's eyes widened, surprised for a moment. "Not that you couldn't have... Just..." he shrugged, glancing down at Dot for a moment, smiling at her engrossed expression as the Roadrunner 'beep beeped' on the screen and she giggled. "Good…um, tell him I say ‘hi’ back, if you talk to him again.."
"Well, it sort of came up in our conversation. He called me this morning, just a little bit ago." Dean explained before going back to his breakfast.
Cas nodded and watched Dean out of the corner of his eye, fighting back a smile the entire time. There was so much more left to talk about, so many things to hammer out and decide, but right now? Sitting on the couch with Dorothy and Dean felt right, felt comfortable, almost like he belonged. He was afraid to break the spell, to ruin the moment.
Dean sipped his coffee and glanced at the TV from time to time laughing with Dorothy. When he had finished his waffles he leaned back and smiled at Castiel. "Those were indeed the best waffles."
"Thanks," Cas smiled and rose to take the plate to the kitchen. "No, you sit..." he spoke quickly, shaking his head as Dean moved to stand up. "I've got this."
"Hey... But you're .... It's my place, I should do this. You already made breakfast. That means a lot to me."
"You need to rest," Cas shook his head, holding the plate out of reach. "You may say you're fine? But you spent yesterday in the hospital. Dorothy?" Cas met the little girl's eyes and smirked. "Make sure your Daddy doesn't get up to help me in the kitchen, okay? He needs to be really careful not to hurt his ribs and he can only do that while he's sitting down."
Dean sighed but gave in and also let Dot climb gently onto his lap. "Now he can't leave." Dorothy smirked and tried to wink at Castiel, squeezing both eyes shut at once.
Castiel laughed and gave the girl a high five before escaping into the kitchen to clean up the dishes and the mess from breakfast.
"Traitor," Dean laughed and kissed Dorothy's head. "You're supposed to be on my side. I'm your father," Dean pouted.
"But, Daddy, I don't want you to get more hurt than you are..." Dotty chewed worriedly on her bottom lip, suddenly afraid she had made her dad upset. "Don't be mad at me, Daddy." She leaned her head back, giving a pout right back at him.
"Oh, Princess, I'm not mad at you. I'm very touched that you're caring for me so much. It's good to know you're more sensible than your old man," Dean wrapped his arms around her, wincing internally at the pull on his ribs.
She smiled and leaned back comfortably into her Dad's arms, happy to return to her cartoon watching.
Castiel spent the entire day lounging around with the Winchesters -- fighting playfully with Dean over making lunch and then dinner, helping Dot take a bath when it proved to be too painful for Dean to get down to the floor beside the tub, and then being roped into reading the little one three bedtime stories and having an impromptu shadow puppet show on the wall before Dean told them firmly that it was a school night and it was bed time.
Now, he sat on the end of the bed, watching as Dean struggled out of his shirt to change into a fresh t-shirt for bed. Seeing the bruises made Cas’s eyes feel wet all over again. "If you're hurting... why don't you take something?" Cas asked after seeing another grimace of pain cross Dean's face.
"I'm okay, Castiel, I got this. I don't need anything." He turned around to face Castiel. "All I need is for you to be here."
"So... you want me to stay again?" Cas whispered, eyes darting up Dean's body to meet his. "Not sick of me yet?" He chuckled, trying not to show how relieved he felt. The moment Dot had been put down to sleep, it was as if they were blanketed with a newfound sense of tension and insecurity. He had been afraid Dean would ask him to leave...
"I do. But I won't force you..." Dean looked down, offering Cas a way out if he wanted it.
Cas stood up and slowly closed the distance between them. With his hands loose on Dean's hips he pulled him in and sealed their lips together. "I only have three more days, Dean…" Cas whispered against his lips. "And I will spend as much of that time with you as I can."
"You might want to bring some of your clothes here." Dean whispered back softly and returned Castiel's kiss.
Cas couldn't fight the grin that broke out across his face. "Come on," he tugged on Dean's hand gently, pulling him towards the bed. "Let me get you some Tylenol at least, it will make me feel better." He sighed as Dean winced again as he sat down, the movement putting a strain on his bruised body.
"Okay, I'll take it. To be able to sleep." Dean lay down on his bed slowly, watching Castiel expectantly.
Cas nodded and left the room to go down to the kitchen for a glass of water. He poured a tall glass, added some ice cubes from the freezer and then reached on top of the fridge where Dean had all of the medications laid out, safely out of Dot’s reach. He popped open the Tylenol bottle and took out two of the pills to carry up to Dean.
"Alright, take these." he said as he returned to the room, sinking down onto the mattress on the other side and handing Dean the items he’d gathered. He quickly peeled off his jeans and socks.
Dean took the pills and popped them into his mouth, downing them with the water. "So, ..." He looked over to Castiel. "Three days..." he sighed softly.
"I do have to get back to work, Dean. I have a fairly important job there. People count on me to return," Cas sunk down into the pillows beside Dean, pulling the covers up over them. "And figure out what the hell I am going to do with my apartment.." He sighed, closing his eyes, with a sad sigh. After a few moments he wondered out loud, "You think there’s some way I could just pretend the rest of my life doesn't exist and just stay here?"
"No! Hell no, Cas. I totally get that you have to go back. I'm not stupid..." Dean sighed heavily. "Do you think we can manage it? A long distance thing... Do you think we can do it?"
"I want to try," Cas answered honestly, rolling onto his side to face Dean. "I think it's worth it to try... And it might... be better that way for a while ..." He gave Dean a small smile and ran his hand softly over Dean's stomach and up his chest. "I think we need to take things slow, take our time... and I don't know if I can do that, here with you constantly." He smiled and leaned forward, to kiss Dean's lips.
Dean kissed him back gently and ran his hand through his hair.
"Dean," Cas whispered, his eyes fluttering closed as Dean's fingernails scratched at his scalp. "You know what that does to me that much hasn't changed."
Dean smiled against Castiel's lips. "Hasn't changed? That's very good to know, actually."
Cas laughed and found Dean's lips again, his hand running along Dean's side, careful of his bruised ribs as he pulled him in closer.
Dean moaned softly into the kiss, tangling his fingers further into Castiel's hair. Slowly he ran his tongue over the other man's lips. Castiel gasped, opening up and letting Dean in. They took their time, kissing slowly, relearning each other as they went.
Finally, Cas pulled back, cupping Dean's face, his breath coming hard. "We should stop," he whispered, knowing the disappointment he saw on Dean's face was mirrored on his own. "I don't want to hurt you or push things too quickly."
"Cas..." Dean breathed. He opened his mouth to speak again, but he couldn't find the words. Nothing seemed right. Of course Castiel was right to worry about hurting him, just because he'd taken the pills didn't mean he'd now be unbreakable. But they only had only three days left ... Dean closed his mouth again with a sigh and his eyes were downcast..
"Hey, you're thinking too loudly…how will we get any sleep?" Cas whispered teasingly, then finding Dean's lips again to kiss him softly, he added seriously, "We’ll figure it out, okay? Together...this time. Don’t worry."
Cas bit his lower lip, holding back what he really wanted to say, and settled his head against Dean's chest instead. He exhaled slowly, wanting to tell Dean exactly how he felt. He held onto Dean, held onto him as if the other man had already started to slip away, and let himself drift to sleep with Dean's hands still playing with his hair.
I love you.
A/N: We're looking for suggestions for timestamps, so if you have any, feel free to comment or message us :)
Chapter Fifteen