I did it!
Title: It’s Only Love We’re Falling In
Author: zeppx
Artist: mizra
Fandom/Genre: Supernatural/Romance/Humor/AU
Pairing(s): Dean/Castiel with mentions of past Castiel/Balthazar, Castiel/Pamela, Balthazar/Rachel, and a side of Sam/Jess
Rating: R for language
Word Count: 18,758 total
Warnings: language, extreme cheesiness, inaccuracies in the medical field, being totally and completely cliché.
Summary: Human AU. Castiel is a nurse. Dean isn’t a very pleasant person. Castiel and Dean don’t get along at first, then, naturally, like in most romantic comedies, things happen. Like unwillingly falling in love.
Acknowledgements: Shew. So many, many thanks that need to go out. First off to my amazing betas: larenoz, scoobert0 and Comedicdrama (who also held my hand and made me write when I didn't even feel like it). They were all so very patient with me and made this about fifty times better than it was. Also thanks to all the people who kept cheering me on over on Twitter. And so, so, soooooooo many massive thanks to mizra for doing some incredible artwork and being so, so patient with me when I had no idea what to do.
“Every time I see your face
My heart takes off on a high speed chase.
Now don’t be scared
It’s only love that we’re falling in.”
Falling In - Lifehouse
Part One||Part Two|| Art Masterpost||PDF Download via MediaFire||PDF Download via MegaUpload
There were nights that Castiel wondered what had made him choose nursing as his career path. He liked helping people sure, but it was an exhausting job and hardly anyone ever thanked him for the long hours and sleepless nights. He could have done anything he’d wanted, he could have been a lawyer like his older brother Raphael, or he could have just gone all the way and become a doctor like Michael.
Hell, he could be an artist like Rachel if he had really wanted to be.
Point was, he could have been anything he wanted and for some insane reason he’d chosen nursing. He hadn’t even chosen a particularly interesting field of nursing either. He’d been in ICU to start with, but ICU was depressing. The patients for the most part were either dying or unconscious and they never said a word. Which was nice for the people who weren’t quite so people friendly, like Castiel himself. ICU had always been dark and a little too quiet though; the feeling of death seemed to linger everywhere and followed you wherever you went.
After two years of that, he’d switched to the Medical-Surgical floor and he hadn’t looked back since. Nights like tonight though, when he’d just come back from four days off and had a chart being waved around under his nose, made him wonder why he’d done it.
In the ICU, he’d been allowed three patients maximum, and he’d kept a constant and critical eye on them at all times. Here in Med/Surg, though, he was allowed up to five, on busy night’s sometimes seven patients. Tonight was looking to be a seven patient night since one nurse had been allowed to go home early.
He really didn’t want seven patients tonight.
“Please Cas?”
Castiel eyed the chart Jo was waving around under his nose and shook his head, “I’m already full Jo.”
“So?” Castiel scowled up at the petite blonde and took a sip of his coffee, willing energy to flow directly from the cup and into his bloodstream. This was the last time he took four days off in a row; it really screwed with his biorhythms.
Anna chuckled from his right side while Ruby said from his left, “Give it up Jo, he’s not going to do it.”
“Please?” Jo leaned over the counter, tapping Castiel on top of his head with the chart, like being annoying would help him change his mind.
“Why me? Why not Anna… or Jess? Hell even Ruby could do it.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence Cas.” Ruby grumbled, gathering her own charts and stalking off the down the hallway to check on her patients. Castiel watched her go for a moment before he turned his attention back to Jo.
“Because they’ve already taken all my other patients for the night. You’re the only one who’s yet to take one.” Jo rested her chin on her folded arms and widened her eyes at Castiel, trying the whole puppy dog look on him, which never worked since Castiel had a heart of stone. At least according to everyone else. Castiel didn’t really, he just pretended he did, made everything easier.
“So, best for last then?” Castiel asked, shooting Jo a charming smile as Jess threw herself into Ruby’s vacated seat.
“More like hardest to convince.” Jo muttered, glaring now. Castiel sighed and pulled the nights schedule down from the wall to examine it.
“Why don’t you give the patient to Jess? She’s only got four patients tonight. I’ve got six. Give me a break Jo; I’m just coming back from being off for four days.”
“Because Jess has only been here three months! You’ve been here, what… eight years?”
“Ten years here, twelve years in nursing total. What’s your point?”
“More experience? C’mon Cas, it’s just one patient.” Jo waved the chart around again.
“Jess can use the practice, plus I’m charge tonight, I’ve got too much shit to do. Leave me alone. Better yet, don’t go home and just stay here and you know… work.” Jo scoffed and went back to trying to give him the puppy dog look.
Castiel glanced over to Jess who looked ready to pass out on the desk, then over to Anna who was hiding her smile behind a hand while she worked. Castiel scowled, snatched the chart from Jo, pointed his pen at her and snapped, “I want coffee for a week. And red velvet cake. Not the cheap kind from Safeway either, I want the kind from Mollie Stone’s!”
“But Mollie Stone’s is more expensive!”
Castiel raised an eyebrow and held the chart out, “You can take this right back then.”
”Fine.” Castiel nodded, added the patient chart to his own and went back to examining the schedule for the week. “Why was everyone else so easy to convince anyway?”
“Girl’s day at the beach.” Jo said, grinning now that she no longer had any patients to attend to and could go home for the night. Castiel disliked her in that moment.
“So I don’t get invited?”
“Girl’s day Cas.”
“I’m gay.”
“Bi. That means there are sufficient amounts of testosterone in your system to be considered an actual man.” Ruby offered as she walked by the nurses’ station. Castiel glared at her back and Jess giggled from where she had her head buried in her arms.
“I’ve been with more men than women.” Castiel offered weakly.
“Doesn’t matter.” Castiel rolled his eyes at Jo, gathered up his charts and stood up, intending to go check on his patients for the night before settling himself down to make up the night shift schedule for the month.
Jo followed along as Castiel walked down the hallway, mentally tallying up how many days he’d be willing to work overtime so he would be able to afford the new car he’d bought over his time off. Which just proved he should never have so much time off since he went out and bought shit he didn’t need in the first place.
“Fine Cas, you can come to the beach with us.” Jo said as they came to a stop outside of Castiel’s first patient’s room. He eyed her for a moment. “No, no. It’s too late now; my delicate sensibilities have already been damaged.”
Jo rolled her eyes and Ruby called from a few doors down, “Does that mean you’re going to go lock yourself in the little girl’s room and cry? Make sure your mascara doesn’t run before you come back out!”
“Bite me Ruby!”
“Ooh, nurses’ station is catty tonight!” A familiar voice called from down the hall. Both Jo and Castiel groaned, Jo patted his arm and disappeared into the stairwell before Gabriel could keep her there.
Castiel, meanwhile turned to smile at the shorter doctor, “Evening Gabriel.”
“Doctor Gabriel.”
“Whatever.” Gabriel came to a stop in front of Castiel, worked open a Twix bar and asked around a mouthful, “Anything need my immediate attention?”
“Nope.”
“Alright, I trust your judgment Cas. Page me if you need anything, I’ll be sleeping like a baby!”
“Damn right you should trust my judgment! I’ve been here longer than you have!” Castiel shouted as Gabriel disappeared into the doctor’s lounge. Castiel rolled his eyes, sighed and entered his patient’s room.
Sadly, the patient was awake.
Castiel stole a quick glance at the chart for a name. “You should be sleeping Mr. Winchester.”
Castiel was greeted with a snort, a hand that brushed floppy brown hair out of hazel eyes and a smile that was all dimples and white teeth, “Itches too much.”
Castiel hummed and pulled the stethoscope from around his neck, “Well, it’s normal. Do you want anything for it? I can bring you something that will help you sleep if you need it.”
“Nah, I’m good. Just annoying is all.”
“Well you should be out of here by tomorrow.” Castiel was awarded with another dimply smile; if he had been a few years older, Castiel probably would have been interested. As it was though, he didn’t want to feel like a cradle robber and instead went about checking the IV, drawing blood, checking blood pressure and the incision site.
“Everything good?” The patient, Sam as he’d told Cas to call him, asked.
“Yep. You need to sleep though. It’ll help your recovery.”
“I’ll work on it.” Sam shot him one last smile and returned to the book he’d been reading before Castiel had come in. Castiel jotted down his notes, flipped the chart shut and headed out of the room to go and check on his other patients.
Two hours later and Castiel was sitting back behind the nurses’ station, it was only five hours into his twelve-hour shift and he was already dead on his feet. He seriously was never taking so much time off again.
“So, how’s my favorite night shift crew?” Gabriel asked, appearing on the other side of the counter a few minutes after Castiel had settled.
Castiel liked Gabriel, the doctor was entertaining and he always had candy to hand out, which was a bonus in Castiel’s book since he had a raging sweet tooth. In the three years Gabriel had been working here, they’d managed to become rather close friends. Actually, Gabriel was more like a brother to Castiel now that he thought about it, especially with how his own brothers tended to treat him.
Gabriel always had some helpful advice though, or an open ear if Castiel needed to talk. He also shared some great ways to prank his brothers whenever he returned home, and knew the proper times to take Castiel out to get good and drunk.
“Get me some coffee and I may give you a coherent sentence.” Castiel mumbled, not bothering to lift his chin from where it was resting in his palm.
“Aw, poor Cassie, shoved back into the working world so cruelly.” Castiel grunted, choosing to ignore Gabriel and continued browsing around on Craigslist for houses to rent since the lease was almost up on his apartment. He’d always wanted to live in a house; it was too expensive to buy in this part of California though so he’d have to settle for renting. He’d bought a new car so why not just finish changing everything?
He couldn’t argue with that kind of logic in his exhausted state of mind.
Jess was sprawled over the desk next to him, sometimes showing interest in a house he clicked on but otherwise generally unconscious. She was the newest addition to the night shift, Castiel felt for her, he could remember his first few months on the night shift, it had been hell on his body until he’d properly adjusted to it. Now he found he rather preferred the night shift lifestyle to the day shift. It was… quieter, which he approved.
Anna and Ruby had been here for about four years while Jo had been around for three. They were all still for the most part, young and eager to make a difference.
Castiel sometimes felt incredibly old when around them and he was only thirty-six. He scowled at the computer screen in front of him, who was he kidding? Thirty-six was the new fifty-six. He was old damnit. And what did he have to show for it? A small apartment, a cat and a new car he could barely afford.
Castiel heard Gabriel chuckle from above him and managed to grunt out his thanks when Gabriel pressed a Milky Way into his free hand before walking off.
When three am rolled around Castiel was trying to scrounge up the energy to get up and check on his patients again. He only had to last four more hours and he could go home to his bed and sleep until he had to come back and do it all over again.
“Castiel?” Castiel looked up from where he’d been contemplating stealing Ruby’s pen since she was being bitchy tonight and it wrote better than his anyway.
“Oh, hello Ellen.”
Ellen, Jo’s mother and floor manager smiled at him as she approached, “Had a little mix up with the schedule and Sarah will be running a few hours late getting in this morning. Do you mind staying extra for a few hours to cover?”
Castiel hummed in thought and picked at a loose thread on his blue scrubs. He was exhausted but the extra money would be nice, especially if he was thinking about moving. Plus he’d bought that damn car (why had he bought it if he was so conflicted over it? Could he return it?) and if he wanted to move into a house…why had he bought that car? Especially for the amount he’d paid, sure, he’d been able to talk them down a little but seriously, he was only a nurse here. Ugh…
Fingers snapped in front of his face, “Cas? Need an answer sweetie.”
“Yeah, sure Ellen. Sorry.”
She smiled, reached over and patted his shoulder, “Thanks hon. It’ll only be until ten at the latest.”
Castiel saluted with his own pen, then snatched up Ruby’s and went off to get a fresh cup of coffee and to do his check-ins.
Behind him, when Ruby returned to her chair shouted, “Castiel! You damn pen thief! Get back here!”
At nine, a few minutes before clocking out for the day, Castiel found himself staring into angry green eyes as he tried to explain that he was just trying to do a quick check up. Sam’s brother was having none of it though, was being stubborn and a general pain in Castiel’s ass while he demanded answers. It was like he’d turned off his ears and refused to listen to a damn thing Castiel tried to say to him.
This was not how he wished to end his shift.
“Listen, I just want some answers before I let you grope my brother.”
He would get his damn answers if he would just let Castiel do his job.
“I will gladly answer your questions after you let me check up on my patient. Soon as I finish that I’ll be better able to tell you what’s going on.”
They stared at each other before those green eyes narrowed and arms crossed over his chest, “What kind of doctor are you anyway?”
Why did the handsome ones always have to be such jackasses? Castiel sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t need this shit; he knew how the elder Winchester would react when learning that Castiel was a nurse. Male nurses were hardly ever taken seriously, since apparently nursing was a women’s job and any man doing it was incapable of doing anything else. Or so Castiel had been told by other patients before.
“I’m not a doctor.” Castiel said as he moved to step around the elder Winchester.
He found his path blocked once again, “No way I’m letting you touch my brother if you’re not even a doctor!”
“I assure you I’m more than capable of-“
“I don’t care! You’re not touching my brother!” Castiel was nearing the end of his rope.
“Dean! Stop being such a jerk!” Sam moved until he was peering around ‘Dean’, he shot Castiel an apologetic smile and a shrug that said, big brothers, what can you do?
Stab them in the face with a sedative, that’s what he could do.
“Shut up Sam!” Dean snapped his attention back to Castiel and asked, “So if you’re not a doctor what the hell are you?”
Castiel sighed, shifted on his feet impatiently, “I’m a nurse.”
Dean’s eyebrows went up and he looked Castiel up and down, here it came, “So what good are you then?”
“Dean!”
Castiel sighed and rubbed his forehead, he was too tired for this and the urge to take off his stethoscope and either hit Dean on the head with it or strangle him was becoming harder to repress.
“Listen… Dean. I’m more than qualified to check your brother’s vitals and change his dressing. He’s been in my care for the last fourteen hours and he’s still alive and in one piece. So, please, step aside and let me do my job so I can go home or I will have security escort you out of the building.”
Dean crossed his arms and glared, obviously not caring and daring Castiel to do it.
“Dean would you just let him do his job?” Sam muttered from behind his brother.
Castiel sighed and ultimately gave up, he just wanted his bed, “Listen, I’ll leave a note for the doctor, but I believe he’ll be in surgery soon and he won’t be available until this afternoon.”
The glare didn’t let up so Castiel shrugged, “But if you want to wait that’s fine but, I’ll tell you now though he’ll just have a nurse, or worse, an intern do what I’m trying to do. Believe me, you’d rather I do it.”
Dean blinked but didn’t move so Castiel shrugged, nodded a farewell to Sam and exited the room.
The familiar night shift crew had left a few hours earlier, leaving Castiel with the day shift people. He knew them all well enough since he’d worked the day shift a few times and they all saw each other at meetings and such; he just wasn’t as well acquainted.
Didn’t matter to Pamela though as she strutted up to him with a wink, “Don’t see you around much hot stuff, our schedules don’t collide much anymore.” Castiel smiled over at her, she had been working here for about as long as Castiel had been so they got along well enough. Sometimes a little too well, the supply closet could tell a few tales…
She winked at him again before wandering off, Castiel handed over Sam’s chart to Ava, “Unless you want to be chewed out for being a nurse, avoid room 208 until Gabriel’s had a chance to be in there.” Ava nodded and smiled and Castiel turned and leaned against the counter, waiting for Sarah to show up. He’d seen her run into the locker room when he’d been heading for Sam’s room a few minutes ago.
“My ears were burning so I came to investigate before I head downstairs,” Castiel looked up at Gabriel’s voice and smiled as the shorter man leaned next to him, “Why are you still here Cas?”
“Just covering for Sarah. She should be out soon though and then I’m out of here.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth Sarah was running around the corner and throwing herself into the nearest chair with a breathless, “I’m here!” Sarah had started around the same time as Jess and was just as adorable, he liked them both.
“So, Room 208 needs you in there soon if you get the chance.” Castiel said, turning to face Gabriel.
“Why? That’s your job, not mine.” Gabriel popped a Snickers into his mouth and smiled obnoxiously up at Castiel.
“I know, but the patient’s brother has a prejudice against nurses or something.” Gabriel chuckled and Castiel looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throat. His gaze landed on Dean and Castiel raised his eyebrows, unimpressed with the glare Dean was shooting at him. He had no regrets for how he had treated Dean, even if his tone may have been a little harsher than needed.
“If you’re looking for an apology, you’re not going to get one from me.” Dean shuffled in place a little, eyes falling to his feet while Gabriel grinned, “This 208?”
“The brother, yeah.”
“Listen up bucko, Castiel is more than capable of doing his job. In fact, he makes most of my decisions for me if I’m busy elsewhere. I’m not going to take time out of my busy schedule to baby you and your brother just because you’ve got issues.”
Castiel bit back a smile, patted Gabriel on the shoulder, “I’m out of here. My bed, air conditioning and black out curtains are calling me.”
A chorus of, “See you Cas!” followed him as he headed for the locker room to grab his bag and get out of there.
When he exited the locker room and headed for the elevators Gabriel shouted, “Hey, when you come in tonight bring me some chocolate from the outside world! I’m sick of this vending machine crap!”
Castiel waved over his shoulder and stepped onto the elevator.
Down in the parking lot, staring at his new car, he was once again wondering what had prompted him to buy it and trying to ignore the annoying presence behind him that was Dean Winchester.
Finally, he turned and snapped, “Okay, what?”
“Uh?”
“Want to belittle my profession some more? Go ahead; give it your best shot! I’ve heard worse from my own family and from other patients. So go ahead, get it out of your system; can’t be worse than the disappointment I get on a daily basis.”
Dean blinked, shuffled in place and muttered, “I wanted to apologize.”
“Oh.” Well now, Castiel felt like an ass. Great.
“So yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just a bit…overprotective when it comes to my brother.”
Castiel shrugged, “Well, like I said, I’ve heard worse.”
Dean nodded and they fell into an awkward silence until Dean stepped forward so he was standing next to Castiel instead of behind him, “New car?”
Castiel turned his attention back to the dark grey Audi parked at the curb in front of him. It was a major upgrade from the beat up orange Beetle he’d been driving since high school and he’d always wanted a car like this ever since he’d seen one on TV.
Top Gear reruns on BBC at two in the morning were dangerous, Castiel decided.
“Yeah,” Castiel finally said.
“Buyers regret?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
Dean snorted, “Little above your pay grade isn’t it?” The man had to be stuck in jackass mode or something.
Castiel huffed and glared over at Dean, “I may be a nurse, but I do make more money than you do.”
“You don’t even know what I do, dude.”
“You’re a mechanic,” at Dean’s incredulous look Castiel added, “Sam told me.”
“Of course he did.”
Castiel shrugged, waved his keys in the air, “I’m gonna go now.”
“Uh…yeah. See ya.”
Castiel gave a halfhearted wave and slid into the car and took a moment to enjoy the leather seats and new car smell before heading off towards home.
By the time Castiel was unlocking the door to his apartment, he was hitting his second wind. Or maybe it was his third… possibly fourth. It was inconvenient, though, since he was finally home and should be heading straight to bed.
In the time it took Castiel to lock the door, hang up his bag and jacket there was an obnoxious black ball of fluff twining around his ankles, meowing loudly.
“I know I’m late for your breakfast, but do you have to be so obnoxious about it?” The cat meowed again and looked up at him with yellow eyes and proceeded to follow him into the kitchen, attempting to trip him every chance she got.
“Obnoxious, that’s what you are, Lupe.” There was a mrumpf sound from the vicinity of his ankles and he chuckled, bending down to give the cat a scratch under the chin, causing a purr to rumble up in place of the meows.
“I’ll feed you in a sec.” There was another mrumpf and the cat sat down by her bowl, tail flicking idly back and forth. Castiel didn’t know if it was sad or not that his most meaningful and longest relationship was with his cat. He didn’t care though; he loved the damn animal, no matter how annoying she was.
He pressed play on his blinking answering machine as he headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth and unload his screaming bladder. The first message was from Becky, asking if he would like to carpool to work tonight since they were both working. The second was from his eldest brother Michael, asking if Castiel was still alive and if he was could he please call their mother since she was beginning to worry. Their mother was probably the only reason why Michael had bothered with calling.
The third message started playing as Castiel returned to the kitchen. It was from his younger sister Rachel, asking him to please return her calls since it had been six months and hadn’t he heard of forgiving and forgetting? The last message was from his mother herself, begging him to return her calls because she was worried and she missed him.
Castiel was the middle child of his family, but he was treated as the youngest. He had no idea why, but his mother had constantly doted on him and he was her favorite even though she claimed she had no favorites and loved them all equally. Maybe it was because both Michael and Rachel were capable of saying ‘no’ to her. He didn’t know, he didn’t care. He loved his mother; sometimes he just needed a small break.
Everyone else in the family was rather indifferent to his existence. Except Rachel, there were only four years difference in age between them and they’d been close growing up. Michael had been off at college by the time Castiel was old enough to even consider his older brother an actual role model of any kind. The adopted Raphael never had any issues voicing his dislike for Castiel, though, family get-togethers usually ended up in a fight of some kind between the two.
In any case, he didn’t speak with Michael unless necessary. He didn’t speak with Raphael at all and his father had stopped talking to him altogether when he’d announced his intent to go to nursing school instead of med school or law school. The disappointment had flowed in in even greater amounts when Castiel had announced he liked men as well as women.
Castiel didn’t mind though. He had Rachel and his mother and Lupe and the people he worked with. He was okay with the arrangement, as long as he wasn’t cut off from his family completely he could deal.
When he finished feeding Lupe, he wandered around his apartment, picking up a little. Books were returned to their shelves, pillows were fluffed and clean laundry was folded. After that he sat at his computer for a bit to check his email and play a game until he was tired enough to go and flop face first in his bed with a happy sigh.
Four hours later Castiel was awakened by the ringing of his cell phone. Since it was three in the afternoon and all his friends worked in the hospital with him he knew it had to be a family member finally wising up and calling his cell instead of the house phone. Which he usually kept on silent anyway, he probably would have gotten rid of the damn thing, but it proved useful in the constant fight of ignoring his family members.
Castiel groped around the bed for his phone without opening his eyes. He found the cord that attached to the charger and followed it to his insistently buzzing phone and answered with a snapped, “What?”
“I don’t talk to you for six months and when I finally do get a hold of you all I get is a ‘what’?”
Castiel sighed, opened his eyes and rolled onto his back, ignoring the annoyed meow Lupe let out when she was forced to relocate.
“Hello, Rachel.”
“Seriously Cas, six months?!”
Castiel grunted, rubbed a hand over his face and mumbled, “Well, how would you react if your little sister slept with your boyfriend and ended up pregnant as a result?”
There was a hesitation on the other end of the line, which had Castiel feeling a bit like celebrating before Rachel finally said, “Okay, so maybe I deserved that.”
Castiel snorted. So maybe he was still a little bitter.
“C’mon Cas, you’re my big brother and my best friend all rolled into one big cuddly, sweet package.”
“I don’t cuddle.” A clear lie since Castiel enjoyed nothing more than cuddling; he’d woken up on more than one occasion wrapped around his pillow. “And I’m not sweet.” A half-lie: Castiel, if fed enough sweets, would be happy to be your best friend without sarcasm interrupting anything. Probably why he was such good friends with Gabriel, since Gabriel was constantly feeding him candy. He may have to investigate his reasons for staying friends with Gabriel.
“Mom thought you’d died.”
“I’ll call her on my next day off.” Maybe. His next day off, he was going to the beach, invited or not. He could do with a day lying in the warm sand in front of the Pacific and ogle the surfer boys while he pretended to nap behind his sunglasses.
“Can I come over Cas? Please? I miss you.”
Castiel sighed and rolled onto his side. Despite any lingering bitterness he did love his sister. Plus he knew she wasn’t the first person Balthazar had slept around with. Castiel had known he wasn’t the type of man to settle down, no matter how much Castiel wished for it.
The sex had always been fantastic though. But there were times Balthazar had come home smelling like two different kinds of perfume or like a bar, so Castiel knew and it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would.
What really bothered him though, thinking about it now, was the fact that Balthazar had had the nerve to knock up his sister and then escape to Europe without a single word to either of them. Castiel would probably go into a murderous rage if he ever saw Balthazar again.
That decided he said, “Fine, come over. But I worked last night and I work tonight, so be quiet.”
“See you soon!” Rachel sounded much like her old self as she hung up, full of energy and willing to please. Castiel flung his phone away, closed his eyes and hauled the blanket up over his head, where Lupe was under the blanket, shooting him a baleful glare.
“Don’t look at me like that. Heathen.” Lupe meowed, head-butted him, took over his pillow and fell asleep with a contented purr.
How Castiel wished he could be a cat sometimes. They never gave a shit.
Forty minutes later, Rachel was crawling into bed with him with a smile on her face. After not seeing her for six months it was odd seeing her with a slightly swollen belly instead of flatness. He eyed it for a moment before rolling onto his back and lifting an arm. Rachel fit herself to his side and rested her head on his shoulder with a happy sigh.
“Thanks Cas.”
“Shut up and take a nap. Naps are good for pregnant people.”
“This is why I need you in my life.”
“Didn’t I just tell you to shut up?” Rachel chuckled, but thankfully she did shut up and Castiel drifted off again.
After taking his shower, alerting Becky that he would pick her up around six, and changing into fresh scrubs, Castiel wandered out into the kitchen to find a fresh cup of coffee waiting for him.
Maybe he could forgive his sister fully for pulling off that kind of bribery.
“You been taking vitamins?” Castiel asked after taking his first sip of the life-giving brew.
“No.”
“Have you at least read a baby book?”
Rachel fidgeted in place, “No?”
Castiel sighed and headed into his living room to search his bookshelves. He knew he had one from when he’d still been working in the ICU. He’d had a pregnant patient and he’d used the book to do a little research. He’d forgotten to return it, so now it had a permanent residence amongst all his other books.
He found the book, returned to the kitchen, tossed it on the counter in front of her and went back to drinking his coffee, wondering if he should make himself a sandwich before heading off to pick Becky up or not.
“Pick up some pre-natal vitamins next time you’re in the grocery store. I’ll make you an appointment with the OB-GYN tonight while I’m at work.”
Rachel shot him a grateful smile while she picked up the book from the counter, “Thanks Cassie.”
Castiel pointed a finger at her, “Call me that at your own peril. I need to leave, I’m carpooling. Stay as long as you want long as you feed my cat.”
Rachel nodded with a grin and Castiel rolled his eyes and planted a kiss on her cheek before letting himself out of his apartment.
Becky, despite how she was always perky and happy, was one of Castiel’s closer friends. It was a shock to him, since infinitely perky and happy people always seemed to get on his nerves, even though she was an acquired taste, he was quite fond of her now. Even if she had shown too much interest in his and Balthazar’s relationship and was always talking to the radiologist Chuck about it. For whatever reason, Castiel was happy not knowing.
Becky was always a welcome distraction though, especially when she was glaring at Dean Winchester like it was his fault Castiel and Balthazar had broken up.
Castiel was just perplexed.
“What are you doing here?” Castiel finally asked after a few minutes of awkward staring.
“Um,” Dean held out a coffee cup and shifted on his feet, “Brought you some coffee.”
Castiel held out his own cup of coffee, compliments of Becky, who looked entirely too smug about that fact.
“Oh, well… Want it anyway?” Castiel frowned at Dean, then shrugged and drained the last out of his current cup and took the still warm one from Dean’s hand. It was Dean’s turn to look pleased while Becky scowled at him.
“It’s, um, apology coffee?” Dean offered as Castiel tossed his empty cup into the trash and took a sip from his new one.
Castiel shrugged as he walked past Dean towards the hospital entrance, “I didn’t lose any sleep over it.”
“Didn’t expect you to,” Dean grumbled, following Becky and Castiel.
Castiel grunted and they stopped in front of the elevators. Castiel eyed Dean from the corner of his eye and asked, “Why are you here anyway? Thought your brother was getting discharged today.”
“Was about an hour ago. Just waiting for him to finish getting dressed and for the paperwork.”
“Ah.”
“Any way you can speed up that process?” Castiel rolled his eyes and stepped into the elevator when the doors dinged open.
“Nope, I’m not on shift for another fifteen minutes. Not really a way to rush it anyway.” The three stood in silence as the elevator slowly made its way up. Becky was standing between the two men, dwarfed by their height and frowning up at Castiel. Castiel knew he’d be on the end of her questioning later.
Castiel resisted rolling his eyes at her; he and Balthazar would never get back together, and they weren’t the world’s best couple either, despite her convictions.
A few minutes later, Castiel was leaning against the nurses’ station half listening to the day shift getting everything ready for the night shift. Becky was having an intense conversation with Ava about something and Castiel watched with interest as Jess arrived and paused outside of Sam Winchester’s room. She fidgeted, blushed a brilliant red color and practically ran down the hallway towards Castiel and the other nurses.
With a smile, Castiel wandered down the hallway and into Sam’s room. Sam greeted him with a smile and a warm, “Hey Cas.”
“Hello Sam, how are you doing?”
“Good. Glad to be out of here, no offense or anything.”
“None taken.” Castiel had never really understood why people always said ‘no offense’, why bother saying something that someone could take as offensive? Or why bother padding the truth? People needed to hear the truth, not small little lies, the world could be much simpler if people weren’t constantly lying to each other.
“Something you need?” Castiel looked over his shoulder to see Dean exiting the bathroom behind him.
“Dean would you quit being such a dick?”
Dean shrugged, “Just a question.”
“Actually I did have a question for Sam.” Sam turned from packing up his bag to look over at Castiel, another warm smile on his face. Castiel liked Sam; through the few conversations he’d had, he’d learned that Sam was smart and in college for his law degree. He could easily see himself befriending Sam if they were ever to meet outside of the hospital.
That wasn’t Castiel’s goal right now though.
“A bunch of us are going the beach this Friday, just to hang out and have a good time. You’re welcome to join us if you want.”
Sam blinked, “Oh… um…”
“What Sam is trying to say is he’s not gay. So he’s not interested,” Dean snapped, glaring at Castiel when Castiel turned to look at him again.
Castiel rolled his eyes at Dean which earned him an annoyed huff. Castiel turned his attention back to Sam, “I’m fully aware of that Dean. Plus, your brother is a little young for my tastes. I’m asking because Jess is going to be there and she’s too infatuated with your brother to ask him herself.”
Well, he assumed that was it anyway. The last time he’d played matchmaker for a co-worker, it hadn’t worked out so well. For them anyway. Castiel had enjoyed that sexual encounter a little too much.
The way Sam blushed, though, let Castiel know he’d been somewhat correct in his assumptions. There was some interest there that Castiel could play with.
“Sure, I’d love to go.” Sam finally said, turning away from Castiel to finish his packing. Castiel didn’t miss Sam’s small smile, though.
Castiel grinned, “Excellent.” He paused and looked over at Dean, “You’re welcome to come too, if you like. And don’t bother warning me off; your innocence is safe from me. I don’t date assholes.” Dean gaped and Sam let out a laugh.
With that completed, he left the room to clock in, enjoying the still-shocked look on Dean’s face.
Castiel couldn’t help but wonder where his ‘I don’t date assholes’ line had come from, though. He had on occasion dated an asshole.
There had been Crowley a few years ago. He had been a smarmy, manipulative bastard with expensive tastes. Then there was Balthazar who had just been a whore, also with expensive tastes, now that Castiel thought about it. There had been his various flings with the jocks in college, the occasional one nightstand found in seedy bars, and his ‘friends with benefits’ stage with Pam.
Castiel sighed and tried to turn his attention back to his charts, trying not to agree with Raphael. He’d said during their last encounter that Castiel had a knack for spreading his legs for men who were bigger and dumber than Castiel. He couldn’t help it that he had a type. Couldn’t help that he enjoyed being held down or overpowered; it was a weakness…so what?
He needed to get laid. It’d been too long.
Castiel was knocked from his musings when Ruby snapped her fingers in front of his face and snapped, “I want my pen back, you son of a bitch.”
Castiel shot her his wide-eyed innocent look, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She didn’t buy his look judging by the glare she shot him, “I know you have it.”
“I don’t.” He really didn’t, he’d forgotten it at home. A shame, since it was a nice pen. Ruby continued to glare; Castiel shrugged at her and went back to his charting with a smile.
Friday came in a whirl of warm sunshine, a slight breeze, and multitudes of alcohol being purchased. Rachel had gushed over his car, letting him know it was much cooler than Raphael’s Mercedes, which Castiel would gladly rub in his elder brothers face next they met.
He’d enjoyed the drive along Highway 1, not just because Becky was in the backseat regaling Dean with all the joys of gay sex, but because the engine was purring and the car hugged all the curves of the road beautifully, leaving Ruby in the dust in her crappy car.
Now he was stretched out on the warm sand in nothing but his board shorts and sunglasses. Rachel had her head resting on his stomach while she read through the baby book Castiel had given to her. Becky was on his other side, reading her own book and Castiel was going about his plan pretending to nap while he watched all the young college students bound around on the beach in nothing but their bathing suits.
Jess and Sam had hit it off and were currently talking about something under the umbrella behind Castiel. Ruby had taken off to flirt with one of the volleyball players, Dean was currently flirting with Anna, but Castiel occasionally caught the looks Dean was shooting in his direction.
Man had some serious repression going on. Not that Castiel cared; Dean was set in his straight ways. Plus he was an ass and apparently Castiel got on his nerves, which was a shame since Dean would be more than capable of holding Castiel down and-
“It’s such a waste that you’re gay.” Castiel snapped out of his daydream, lifted his sunglasses up to glare at Ruby as she plopped down in the sand by his head.
“Bi.”
“You’ve done more guys than women. That makes you gay. It’s such a waste ‘cause I’d totally do you.”
Castiel dropped his sunglasses back down and rolled his eyes, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Ruby was probably the last person he’d ever have sex with, no matter how desperate Castiel got. They weren’t exactly enemies, but their friendship was based more on pissing each other off than anything else. And since they were currently the only ones not drinking since they had to go into work at eleven that night, they could only pick at each other. Which was nothing new.
Later in the afternoon, Castiel was sitting down near the waterline, contemplating the surfer that had been eyeing him for a few minutes now. He was probably a little young, but he had a camper up in the parking lot and Castiel was feeling a little horny after spending the day ogling the suntanned skin of the co-eds all day.
The next wave brushed up over Castiel’s legs, bathing him in the cool water of the Pacific. It felt good after sitting in the hot sun all day.
A shadow fell across the sand beside Castiel and he glanced up to see who. He was mildly shocked to see it was Dean. Dean hesitated, then held out a bottle of water which Castiel accepted as Dean settled into the sand beside Castiel.
Castiel eyed him for a moment before cracking open the bottle and taking a sip. Dean did the same to his own bottle and said, “So uh… hi?”
Castiel felt his eyebrows rise; from what he had observed of Dean, Dean wasn’t one to be hesitant, especially towards Castiel. He was full of ire and disdain about something Castiel had done, unless it was all that repression Dean was harboring. Castiel smirked to himself, took another sip of water, capped it, and leaned back on his hands and stretched his legs out, curling his toes into the sand.
Dean watched him for a moment before sighing, “Okay, I am sorry about being such a jackass. I just… when Sammy gets hurt nothing else matters. I also suck with this talking-about-your-feelings shit, so… I’m just… I’m sorry okay? You seem like an okay guy.”
Castiel refrained from rolling his eyes, he could tell behind the stumbling over his words and derisive tone that Dean was being as sincere as he possibly could.
So Castiel nodded his thanks, tilted his water bottle in a mock salute, “You don’t seem so bad yourself.”
“Thanks. Plus, anyone that can help Sam get laid is good in my book.” Castiel smiled over at Dean and then glanced over his shoulder to where Sam and Jess were still deep in conversation.
“They’re getting along well.” Castiel observed, turning back to face the ocean. Dean hummed his agreement and the two watched the sun sink closer and closer to the horizon. Castiel wished he could stay and watch the sun set, but he needed to be home soon so he could get in a nap before his shift started for the night.
After another few minutes of sitting in silence, Dean and Castiel stood, brushed the sand from where it wasn’t clinging to their wet legs and wandered back over to the main group to begin packing. Ruby gave Castiel a knowing look when he allowed his eyes to wander down the length of Dean’s back and linger on the curve of his ass and lines of his legs where his shorts were clinging. He flipped her off, turned his back on Dean to pull on his own shirt and shoes, toweling off as much sand as possible as they trekked back to the cars.
He dropped Sam and Dean off last, the two of them riding in his car since their place was apparently on the way to his. Sam leaned into the front from the backseat and offered Castiel a piece of paper with a number on it, “Thanks Cas, it was a good day. Call me and we can get coffee or something,” Castiel raised an eyebrow at the younger Winchester and Sam hastened to add, “As friends! You’re a nice guy, we get along and I want to pay you back for getting me and Jess together.”
Castiel chuckled, accepted the number, “Of course Sam. You don’t need to pay me back though. Jess is sweet, and she’s a friend of mine; I like to see her happy.”
“Either way. Just… we’ll chat or something.”
“Okay.” Sam sighed, nodded and let himself out of the car. Dean chuckled from beside him in the passenger seat and took Castiel’s cell phone from where it had been sitting in the cup holder. He punched in his own number, “Same goes for me, we can get a beer or something. Like I said at the beach, you’re a nice guy when you’re not being a douche.”
“I’m a nice guy when you’re not being the douche.”
Dean laughed, put the phone back, “Whatever man. Call me if you ever want to get a beer. As friends though; I’m not gay.”
Castiel held up his hands in surrender, “I get it. Winchester men are off limits.”
Dean nodded and shot him a smile that had Castiel’s toes curling in his shoes, “See you around, Cas.” He let himself out of the car and disappeared into the apartment building after his brother. Castiel let out a breath and gripped the gearshift and steering wheel in his hands before shifting the car into gear to head home.
Fucking Winchester men and their fucking smiles.
Castiel didn’t expect to see Dean again so soon. It was only a short three days before Dean and his obnoxious ways were once again in his life.
Castiel sat in his car at the edge of the road, engine ticking quietly as it cooled. He had been heading home after lunch with his mother finally. The drive wasn’t a quick one, and, in his haste to get away from his mother’s questions, he’d left as soon as possible and hadn’t paid any attention to his gas gauge.
So now he was sitting on the side of the road, car quiet, sun sinking into the horizon and the next town miles down the road.
Castiel banged his head against the steering wheel, silently cursing his stupidity.
After wallowing for a few minutes, he hunted out his cell phone, checked to make sure he had a signal, and contemplated on who to call. Gabriel was working tonight, so he was unavailable. Rachel would just laugh at him and hang up. There was AAA, but his membership had expired a few months before and his insurance agency was a hassle to deal with on any good day.
Castiel scrolled through his contacts and hesitated when he came to Dean’s name. Dean who was a stubborn ass and who Castiel was silently harboring a small crush on. He was a mechanic though, even if all that Castiel had done was run out of gas. Castiel grunted to himself and continued scrolling through his contacts list, he’d rather not deal with Dean right now.
Instead he called Sam.
Who ended up sending Dean.
Castiel couldn’t help but groan unhappily when he spotted Dean approaching from the tow truck that had pulled up behind his car. Of course it would be Dean.
Dean knocked on his window, that stupid cocky smile of his in place. Castiel sighed and opened the door when Dean stepped out of the way, that stupid grin was still in place and Castiel just wanted to smack it off.
“I thought you were smart enough to not run out of gas in the middle of nowhere.”
Castiel scoffed and folded his arms over his chest, “I was distracted.”
“Uh-huh. Well c’mon, let’s go get you some gas.”
“You didn’t bring any with you?”
Dean snorted and watched as Castiel turned to retrieve his keys and phone from inside the car, “Please. I’m not going to pay for it, prices are crap lately.”
Castiel hummed his agreement, locked the car and followed Dean to the truck that was idling behind the Audi. They settled into the cab silently, Dean focusing on driving while Castiel stared out the window, trying to keep himself from staring at Dean. He may have disliked Dean and purposefully got on the other man’s nerves sometimes, but Dean was handsome and Castiel wouldn’t mind drinking in the sight of him more often.
They were about a mile down the road when Dean finally spoke, “So what brought you out to the middle of nowhere?”
“Lunch with my mother.”
“You were so desperate to get away from your mom that you forgot to get gas?”
Castiel huffed a laugh, “Pretty much.”
They were silent for another mile before Dean blurted, “My mom died when Sam was a baby. I hardly remember her.”
What the hell was Castiel supposed to say to that? He turned so he could properly look at Dean, who looked shocked to have blurted out such a statement, and opened his mouth to comment but decided against it. Anything he could say right now would probably make him look like an asshole.
The tension grew in the cab and Castiel finally offered, “I’m sure your mother was a wonderful woman.”
“Uh, thanks. What’s so bad about your mom?”
Castiel snorted and looked out the window, where to even begin?
“I love my mother, she’s just... overbearing? She treats me as if I’m the youngest and unable to care for myself. I can never seem to be able to say ‘no’ to her either. If she had her way, I’d still be living at home and crawling into bed with her in the middle of the night after a nightmare.”
Dean chuckled and pulled into the parking lot of a gas station.
“Guess you don’t have a gas can, huh?” Dean asked after Castiel had let himself out of the truck.
He shot Dean a look, “Does it look like I have a gas can?”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist, I have one you can borrow.”
Castiel’s retort was cut off when the red can was shoved into his chest, he glared at Dean and headed for one of the pumps, pulling his wallet and card out as he went.
Castiel paid, made his selection and bent to open the gas can to begin filling it with the few gallons of gas that would enable him to get his car here. Perhaps he should have just had Dean hook it up to the tow truck and tow it here. He would have had to pay for that for sure, though.
Out of curiosity, Castiel turned to look over his shoulder to ask Dean how much a tow would have cost, only to stop. Dean’s head was tilted to the left, lower lip caught between his teeth. And he was staring.
The only thing he could possibly be looking at like that was Castiel’s ass.
Awkward.
Castiel turned his attention back to the gas can, found it filled up and straightened to replace the nozzle. He heard Dean cough behind him and Castiel couldn’t help but smile. At least he wasn’t the only one who liked to look.
Back in the truck, gas can secured in the back, Castiel asked, “So why did Sam send you?”
“Said he had to study.” There was something in Dean’s tone that had Castiel frowning, he could tell something was being held back, but he had no idea what.
“I see.”
“He did!”
“Okay.”
“What?”
Castiel turned to Dean, eyebrows raised, “I didn’t say anything.”
“You clearly don’t believe me.”
“I said no such thing.”
“The tone of your voice says it all.”
Castiel snorted, trying to reign in his laughter. He couldn’t tell if they were flirting, fighting or some odd combination of the two.
“Seriously! The way you were talking-”
“Oh for Christ’s sake Dean, just drop it!” Castiel shouted, trying not to burst into undignified giggling. Of all the things Dean could get caught up on.
They were silent for a few minutes before Dean snorted and grumbled, “That was probably the stupidest fight to get into.”
Castiel couldn’t contain himself anymore, he finally burst out with his laughter, leaning forward with his arms wrapped around his middle. Dean chuckled from beside him and shook his head, “You’ve got the dorkiest sounding laugh, dude.”
For some reason this only made Castiel laugh harder.
“I think the gas fumes got to you.”
When Castiel finally gained some semblance of control they were parked behind his car once more. Castiel wiped at his eyes and turned to Dean who was giving him a smile that almost looked fond.
“Thank you for that. I think I needed it.”
Dean’s smile widened, “No problem.”
“And thank you for taking me to get gas. I know this was probably out of your way.”
Dean shrugged, “Had nothing better to do than sit around watching the game and drinking beer.”
“Well, thank you anyway.” Dean nodded and Castiel opened the door and hopped out. He retrieved the gas can and filled his car up, replaced the can back on the tow truck and let himself into his car, hoping that it would start and remain running long enough to get him to the gas station.
Dean followed him as far as the gas station, giving a honk as he passed.
Castiel sighed and simply sat in his car for a moment, forehead resting against the steering wheel. Once again, Dean Winchester had thrown him for a loop and was slowly worming himself into Castiel’s life and mind.
Castiel thunked his head against the steering wheel and muttered, “Fucking Winchesters.”
Part Two
Author: zeppx
Artist: mizra
Fandom/Genre: Supernatural/Romance/Humor/AU
Pairing(s): Dean/Castiel with mentions of past Castiel/Balthazar, Castiel/Pamela, Balthazar/Rachel, and a side of Sam/Jess
Rating: R for language
Word Count: 18,758 total
Warnings: language, extreme cheesiness, inaccuracies in the medical field, being totally and completely cliché.
Summary: Human AU. Castiel is a nurse. Dean isn’t a very pleasant person. Castiel and Dean don’t get along at first, then, naturally, like in most romantic comedies, things happen. Like unwillingly falling in love.
Acknowledgements: Shew. So many, many thanks that need to go out. First off to my amazing betas: larenoz, scoobert0 and Comedicdrama (who also held my hand and made me write when I didn't even feel like it). They were all so very patient with me and made this about fifty times better than it was. Also thanks to all the people who kept cheering me on over on Twitter. And so, so, soooooooo many massive thanks to mizra for doing some incredible artwork and being so, so patient with me when I had no idea what to do.
“Every time I see your face
My heart takes off on a high speed chase.
Now don’t be scared
It’s only love that we’re falling in.”
Falling In - Lifehouse
Part One||Part Two|| Art Masterpost||PDF Download via MediaFire||PDF Download via MegaUpload
There were nights that Castiel wondered what had made him choose nursing as his career path. He liked helping people sure, but it was an exhausting job and hardly anyone ever thanked him for the long hours and sleepless nights. He could have done anything he’d wanted, he could have been a lawyer like his older brother Raphael, or he could have just gone all the way and become a doctor like Michael.
Hell, he could be an artist like Rachel if he had really wanted to be.
Point was, he could have been anything he wanted and for some insane reason he’d chosen nursing. He hadn’t even chosen a particularly interesting field of nursing either. He’d been in ICU to start with, but ICU was depressing. The patients for the most part were either dying or unconscious and they never said a word. Which was nice for the people who weren’t quite so people friendly, like Castiel himself. ICU had always been dark and a little too quiet though; the feeling of death seemed to linger everywhere and followed you wherever you went.
After two years of that, he’d switched to the Medical-Surgical floor and he hadn’t looked back since. Nights like tonight though, when he’d just come back from four days off and had a chart being waved around under his nose, made him wonder why he’d done it.
In the ICU, he’d been allowed three patients maximum, and he’d kept a constant and critical eye on them at all times. Here in Med/Surg, though, he was allowed up to five, on busy night’s sometimes seven patients. Tonight was looking to be a seven patient night since one nurse had been allowed to go home early.
He really didn’t want seven patients tonight.
“Please Cas?”
Castiel eyed the chart Jo was waving around under his nose and shook his head, “I’m already full Jo.”
“So?” Castiel scowled up at the petite blonde and took a sip of his coffee, willing energy to flow directly from the cup and into his bloodstream. This was the last time he took four days off in a row; it really screwed with his biorhythms.
Anna chuckled from his right side while Ruby said from his left, “Give it up Jo, he’s not going to do it.”
“Please?” Jo leaned over the counter, tapping Castiel on top of his head with the chart, like being annoying would help him change his mind.
“Why me? Why not Anna… or Jess? Hell even Ruby could do it.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence Cas.” Ruby grumbled, gathering her own charts and stalking off the down the hallway to check on her patients. Castiel watched her go for a moment before he turned his attention back to Jo.
“Because they’ve already taken all my other patients for the night. You’re the only one who’s yet to take one.” Jo rested her chin on her folded arms and widened her eyes at Castiel, trying the whole puppy dog look on him, which never worked since Castiel had a heart of stone. At least according to everyone else. Castiel didn’t really, he just pretended he did, made everything easier.
“So, best for last then?” Castiel asked, shooting Jo a charming smile as Jess threw herself into Ruby’s vacated seat.
“More like hardest to convince.” Jo muttered, glaring now. Castiel sighed and pulled the nights schedule down from the wall to examine it.
“Why don’t you give the patient to Jess? She’s only got four patients tonight. I’ve got six. Give me a break Jo; I’m just coming back from being off for four days.”
“Because Jess has only been here three months! You’ve been here, what… eight years?”
“Ten years here, twelve years in nursing total. What’s your point?”
“More experience? C’mon Cas, it’s just one patient.” Jo waved the chart around again.
“Jess can use the practice, plus I’m charge tonight, I’ve got too much shit to do. Leave me alone. Better yet, don’t go home and just stay here and you know… work.” Jo scoffed and went back to trying to give him the puppy dog look.
Castiel glanced over to Jess who looked ready to pass out on the desk, then over to Anna who was hiding her smile behind a hand while she worked. Castiel scowled, snatched the chart from Jo, pointed his pen at her and snapped, “I want coffee for a week. And red velvet cake. Not the cheap kind from Safeway either, I want the kind from Mollie Stone’s!”
“But Mollie Stone’s is more expensive!”
Castiel raised an eyebrow and held the chart out, “You can take this right back then.”
”Fine.” Castiel nodded, added the patient chart to his own and went back to examining the schedule for the week. “Why was everyone else so easy to convince anyway?”
“Girl’s day at the beach.” Jo said, grinning now that she no longer had any patients to attend to and could go home for the night. Castiel disliked her in that moment.
“So I don’t get invited?”
“Girl’s day Cas.”
“I’m gay.”
“Bi. That means there are sufficient amounts of testosterone in your system to be considered an actual man.” Ruby offered as she walked by the nurses’ station. Castiel glared at her back and Jess giggled from where she had her head buried in her arms.
“I’ve been with more men than women.” Castiel offered weakly.
“Doesn’t matter.” Castiel rolled his eyes at Jo, gathered up his charts and stood up, intending to go check on his patients for the night before settling himself down to make up the night shift schedule for the month.
Jo followed along as Castiel walked down the hallway, mentally tallying up how many days he’d be willing to work overtime so he would be able to afford the new car he’d bought over his time off. Which just proved he should never have so much time off since he went out and bought shit he didn’t need in the first place.
“Fine Cas, you can come to the beach with us.” Jo said as they came to a stop outside of Castiel’s first patient’s room. He eyed her for a moment. “No, no. It’s too late now; my delicate sensibilities have already been damaged.”
Jo rolled her eyes and Ruby called from a few doors down, “Does that mean you’re going to go lock yourself in the little girl’s room and cry? Make sure your mascara doesn’t run before you come back out!”
“Bite me Ruby!”
“Ooh, nurses’ station is catty tonight!” A familiar voice called from down the hall. Both Jo and Castiel groaned, Jo patted his arm and disappeared into the stairwell before Gabriel could keep her there.
Castiel, meanwhile turned to smile at the shorter doctor, “Evening Gabriel.”
“Doctor Gabriel.”
“Whatever.” Gabriel came to a stop in front of Castiel, worked open a Twix bar and asked around a mouthful, “Anything need my immediate attention?”
“Nope.”
“Alright, I trust your judgment Cas. Page me if you need anything, I’ll be sleeping like a baby!”
“Damn right you should trust my judgment! I’ve been here longer than you have!” Castiel shouted as Gabriel disappeared into the doctor’s lounge. Castiel rolled his eyes, sighed and entered his patient’s room.
Sadly, the patient was awake.
Castiel stole a quick glance at the chart for a name. “You should be sleeping Mr. Winchester.”
Castiel was greeted with a snort, a hand that brushed floppy brown hair out of hazel eyes and a smile that was all dimples and white teeth, “Itches too much.”
Castiel hummed and pulled the stethoscope from around his neck, “Well, it’s normal. Do you want anything for it? I can bring you something that will help you sleep if you need it.”
“Nah, I’m good. Just annoying is all.”
“Well you should be out of here by tomorrow.” Castiel was awarded with another dimply smile; if he had been a few years older, Castiel probably would have been interested. As it was though, he didn’t want to feel like a cradle robber and instead went about checking the IV, drawing blood, checking blood pressure and the incision site.
“Everything good?” The patient, Sam as he’d told Cas to call him, asked.
“Yep. You need to sleep though. It’ll help your recovery.”
“I’ll work on it.” Sam shot him one last smile and returned to the book he’d been reading before Castiel had come in. Castiel jotted down his notes, flipped the chart shut and headed out of the room to go and check on his other patients.
Two hours later and Castiel was sitting back behind the nurses’ station, it was only five hours into his twelve-hour shift and he was already dead on his feet. He seriously was never taking so much time off again.
“So, how’s my favorite night shift crew?” Gabriel asked, appearing on the other side of the counter a few minutes after Castiel had settled.
Castiel liked Gabriel, the doctor was entertaining and he always had candy to hand out, which was a bonus in Castiel’s book since he had a raging sweet tooth. In the three years Gabriel had been working here, they’d managed to become rather close friends. Actually, Gabriel was more like a brother to Castiel now that he thought about it, especially with how his own brothers tended to treat him.
Gabriel always had some helpful advice though, or an open ear if Castiel needed to talk. He also shared some great ways to prank his brothers whenever he returned home, and knew the proper times to take Castiel out to get good and drunk.
“Get me some coffee and I may give you a coherent sentence.” Castiel mumbled, not bothering to lift his chin from where it was resting in his palm.
“Aw, poor Cassie, shoved back into the working world so cruelly.” Castiel grunted, choosing to ignore Gabriel and continued browsing around on Craigslist for houses to rent since the lease was almost up on his apartment. He’d always wanted to live in a house; it was too expensive to buy in this part of California though so he’d have to settle for renting. He’d bought a new car so why not just finish changing everything?
He couldn’t argue with that kind of logic in his exhausted state of mind.
Jess was sprawled over the desk next to him, sometimes showing interest in a house he clicked on but otherwise generally unconscious. She was the newest addition to the night shift, Castiel felt for her, he could remember his first few months on the night shift, it had been hell on his body until he’d properly adjusted to it. Now he found he rather preferred the night shift lifestyle to the day shift. It was… quieter, which he approved.
Anna and Ruby had been here for about four years while Jo had been around for three. They were all still for the most part, young and eager to make a difference.
Castiel sometimes felt incredibly old when around them and he was only thirty-six. He scowled at the computer screen in front of him, who was he kidding? Thirty-six was the new fifty-six. He was old damnit. And what did he have to show for it? A small apartment, a cat and a new car he could barely afford.
Castiel heard Gabriel chuckle from above him and managed to grunt out his thanks when Gabriel pressed a Milky Way into his free hand before walking off.
When three am rolled around Castiel was trying to scrounge up the energy to get up and check on his patients again. He only had to last four more hours and he could go home to his bed and sleep until he had to come back and do it all over again.
“Castiel?” Castiel looked up from where he’d been contemplating stealing Ruby’s pen since she was being bitchy tonight and it wrote better than his anyway.
“Oh, hello Ellen.”
Ellen, Jo’s mother and floor manager smiled at him as she approached, “Had a little mix up with the schedule and Sarah will be running a few hours late getting in this morning. Do you mind staying extra for a few hours to cover?”
Castiel hummed in thought and picked at a loose thread on his blue scrubs. He was exhausted but the extra money would be nice, especially if he was thinking about moving. Plus he’d bought that damn car (why had he bought it if he was so conflicted over it? Could he return it?) and if he wanted to move into a house…why had he bought that car? Especially for the amount he’d paid, sure, he’d been able to talk them down a little but seriously, he was only a nurse here. Ugh…
Fingers snapped in front of his face, “Cas? Need an answer sweetie.”
“Yeah, sure Ellen. Sorry.”
She smiled, reached over and patted his shoulder, “Thanks hon. It’ll only be until ten at the latest.”
Castiel saluted with his own pen, then snatched up Ruby’s and went off to get a fresh cup of coffee and to do his check-ins.
Behind him, when Ruby returned to her chair shouted, “Castiel! You damn pen thief! Get back here!”
At nine, a few minutes before clocking out for the day, Castiel found himself staring into angry green eyes as he tried to explain that he was just trying to do a quick check up. Sam’s brother was having none of it though, was being stubborn and a general pain in Castiel’s ass while he demanded answers. It was like he’d turned off his ears and refused to listen to a damn thing Castiel tried to say to him.
This was not how he wished to end his shift.
“Listen, I just want some answers before I let you grope my brother.”
He would get his damn answers if he would just let Castiel do his job.
“I will gladly answer your questions after you let me check up on my patient. Soon as I finish that I’ll be better able to tell you what’s going on.”
They stared at each other before those green eyes narrowed and arms crossed over his chest, “What kind of doctor are you anyway?”
Why did the handsome ones always have to be such jackasses? Castiel sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t need this shit; he knew how the elder Winchester would react when learning that Castiel was a nurse. Male nurses were hardly ever taken seriously, since apparently nursing was a women’s job and any man doing it was incapable of doing anything else. Or so Castiel had been told by other patients before.
“I’m not a doctor.” Castiel said as he moved to step around the elder Winchester.
He found his path blocked once again, “No way I’m letting you touch my brother if you’re not even a doctor!”
“I assure you I’m more than capable of-“
“I don’t care! You’re not touching my brother!” Castiel was nearing the end of his rope.
“Dean! Stop being such a jerk!” Sam moved until he was peering around ‘Dean’, he shot Castiel an apologetic smile and a shrug that said, big brothers, what can you do?
Stab them in the face with a sedative, that’s what he could do.
“Shut up Sam!” Dean snapped his attention back to Castiel and asked, “So if you’re not a doctor what the hell are you?”
Castiel sighed, shifted on his feet impatiently, “I’m a nurse.”
Dean’s eyebrows went up and he looked Castiel up and down, here it came, “So what good are you then?”
“Dean!”
Castiel sighed and rubbed his forehead, he was too tired for this and the urge to take off his stethoscope and either hit Dean on the head with it or strangle him was becoming harder to repress.
“Listen… Dean. I’m more than qualified to check your brother’s vitals and change his dressing. He’s been in my care for the last fourteen hours and he’s still alive and in one piece. So, please, step aside and let me do my job so I can go home or I will have security escort you out of the building.”
Dean crossed his arms and glared, obviously not caring and daring Castiel to do it.
“Dean would you just let him do his job?” Sam muttered from behind his brother.
Castiel sighed and ultimately gave up, he just wanted his bed, “Listen, I’ll leave a note for the doctor, but I believe he’ll be in surgery soon and he won’t be available until this afternoon.”
The glare didn’t let up so Castiel shrugged, “But if you want to wait that’s fine but, I’ll tell you now though he’ll just have a nurse, or worse, an intern do what I’m trying to do. Believe me, you’d rather I do it.”
Dean blinked but didn’t move so Castiel shrugged, nodded a farewell to Sam and exited the room.
The familiar night shift crew had left a few hours earlier, leaving Castiel with the day shift people. He knew them all well enough since he’d worked the day shift a few times and they all saw each other at meetings and such; he just wasn’t as well acquainted.
Didn’t matter to Pamela though as she strutted up to him with a wink, “Don’t see you around much hot stuff, our schedules don’t collide much anymore.” Castiel smiled over at her, she had been working here for about as long as Castiel had been so they got along well enough. Sometimes a little too well, the supply closet could tell a few tales…
She winked at him again before wandering off, Castiel handed over Sam’s chart to Ava, “Unless you want to be chewed out for being a nurse, avoid room 208 until Gabriel’s had a chance to be in there.” Ava nodded and smiled and Castiel turned and leaned against the counter, waiting for Sarah to show up. He’d seen her run into the locker room when he’d been heading for Sam’s room a few minutes ago.
“My ears were burning so I came to investigate before I head downstairs,” Castiel looked up at Gabriel’s voice and smiled as the shorter man leaned next to him, “Why are you still here Cas?”
“Just covering for Sarah. She should be out soon though and then I’m out of here.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth Sarah was running around the corner and throwing herself into the nearest chair with a breathless, “I’m here!” Sarah had started around the same time as Jess and was just as adorable, he liked them both.
“So, Room 208 needs you in there soon if you get the chance.” Castiel said, turning to face Gabriel.
“Why? That’s your job, not mine.” Gabriel popped a Snickers into his mouth and smiled obnoxiously up at Castiel.
“I know, but the patient’s brother has a prejudice against nurses or something.” Gabriel chuckled and Castiel looked up at the sound of someone clearing their throat. His gaze landed on Dean and Castiel raised his eyebrows, unimpressed with the glare Dean was shooting at him. He had no regrets for how he had treated Dean, even if his tone may have been a little harsher than needed.
“If you’re looking for an apology, you’re not going to get one from me.” Dean shuffled in place a little, eyes falling to his feet while Gabriel grinned, “This 208?”
“The brother, yeah.”
“Listen up bucko, Castiel is more than capable of doing his job. In fact, he makes most of my decisions for me if I’m busy elsewhere. I’m not going to take time out of my busy schedule to baby you and your brother just because you’ve got issues.”
Castiel bit back a smile, patted Gabriel on the shoulder, “I’m out of here. My bed, air conditioning and black out curtains are calling me.”
A chorus of, “See you Cas!” followed him as he headed for the locker room to grab his bag and get out of there.
When he exited the locker room and headed for the elevators Gabriel shouted, “Hey, when you come in tonight bring me some chocolate from the outside world! I’m sick of this vending machine crap!”
Castiel waved over his shoulder and stepped onto the elevator.
Down in the parking lot, staring at his new car, he was once again wondering what had prompted him to buy it and trying to ignore the annoying presence behind him that was Dean Winchester.
Finally, he turned and snapped, “Okay, what?”
“Uh?”
“Want to belittle my profession some more? Go ahead; give it your best shot! I’ve heard worse from my own family and from other patients. So go ahead, get it out of your system; can’t be worse than the disappointment I get on a daily basis.”
Dean blinked, shuffled in place and muttered, “I wanted to apologize.”
“Oh.” Well now, Castiel felt like an ass. Great.
“So yeah, I’m sorry. I’m just a bit…overprotective when it comes to my brother.”
Castiel shrugged, “Well, like I said, I’ve heard worse.”
Dean nodded and they fell into an awkward silence until Dean stepped forward so he was standing next to Castiel instead of behind him, “New car?”
Castiel turned his attention back to the dark grey Audi parked at the curb in front of him. It was a major upgrade from the beat up orange Beetle he’d been driving since high school and he’d always wanted a car like this ever since he’d seen one on TV.
Top Gear reruns on BBC at two in the morning were dangerous, Castiel decided.
“Yeah,” Castiel finally said.
“Buyers regret?”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
Dean snorted, “Little above your pay grade isn’t it?” The man had to be stuck in jackass mode or something.
Castiel huffed and glared over at Dean, “I may be a nurse, but I do make more money than you do.”
“You don’t even know what I do, dude.”
“You’re a mechanic,” at Dean’s incredulous look Castiel added, “Sam told me.”
“Of course he did.”
Castiel shrugged, waved his keys in the air, “I’m gonna go now.”
“Uh…yeah. See ya.”
Castiel gave a halfhearted wave and slid into the car and took a moment to enjoy the leather seats and new car smell before heading off towards home.
By the time Castiel was unlocking the door to his apartment, he was hitting his second wind. Or maybe it was his third… possibly fourth. It was inconvenient, though, since he was finally home and should be heading straight to bed.
In the time it took Castiel to lock the door, hang up his bag and jacket there was an obnoxious black ball of fluff twining around his ankles, meowing loudly.
“I know I’m late for your breakfast, but do you have to be so obnoxious about it?” The cat meowed again and looked up at him with yellow eyes and proceeded to follow him into the kitchen, attempting to trip him every chance she got.
“Obnoxious, that’s what you are, Lupe.” There was a mrumpf sound from the vicinity of his ankles and he chuckled, bending down to give the cat a scratch under the chin, causing a purr to rumble up in place of the meows.
“I’ll feed you in a sec.” There was another mrumpf and the cat sat down by her bowl, tail flicking idly back and forth. Castiel didn’t know if it was sad or not that his most meaningful and longest relationship was with his cat. He didn’t care though; he loved the damn animal, no matter how annoying she was.
He pressed play on his blinking answering machine as he headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth and unload his screaming bladder. The first message was from Becky, asking if he would like to carpool to work tonight since they were both working. The second was from his eldest brother Michael, asking if Castiel was still alive and if he was could he please call their mother since she was beginning to worry. Their mother was probably the only reason why Michael had bothered with calling.
The third message started playing as Castiel returned to the kitchen. It was from his younger sister Rachel, asking him to please return her calls since it had been six months and hadn’t he heard of forgiving and forgetting? The last message was from his mother herself, begging him to return her calls because she was worried and she missed him.
Castiel was the middle child of his family, but he was treated as the youngest. He had no idea why, but his mother had constantly doted on him and he was her favorite even though she claimed she had no favorites and loved them all equally. Maybe it was because both Michael and Rachel were capable of saying ‘no’ to her. He didn’t know, he didn’t care. He loved his mother; sometimes he just needed a small break.
Everyone else in the family was rather indifferent to his existence. Except Rachel, there were only four years difference in age between them and they’d been close growing up. Michael had been off at college by the time Castiel was old enough to even consider his older brother an actual role model of any kind. The adopted Raphael never had any issues voicing his dislike for Castiel, though, family get-togethers usually ended up in a fight of some kind between the two.
In any case, he didn’t speak with Michael unless necessary. He didn’t speak with Raphael at all and his father had stopped talking to him altogether when he’d announced his intent to go to nursing school instead of med school or law school. The disappointment had flowed in in even greater amounts when Castiel had announced he liked men as well as women.
Castiel didn’t mind though. He had Rachel and his mother and Lupe and the people he worked with. He was okay with the arrangement, as long as he wasn’t cut off from his family completely he could deal.
When he finished feeding Lupe, he wandered around his apartment, picking up a little. Books were returned to their shelves, pillows were fluffed and clean laundry was folded. After that he sat at his computer for a bit to check his email and play a game until he was tired enough to go and flop face first in his bed with a happy sigh.
Four hours later Castiel was awakened by the ringing of his cell phone. Since it was three in the afternoon and all his friends worked in the hospital with him he knew it had to be a family member finally wising up and calling his cell instead of the house phone. Which he usually kept on silent anyway, he probably would have gotten rid of the damn thing, but it proved useful in the constant fight of ignoring his family members.
Castiel groped around the bed for his phone without opening his eyes. He found the cord that attached to the charger and followed it to his insistently buzzing phone and answered with a snapped, “What?”
“I don’t talk to you for six months and when I finally do get a hold of you all I get is a ‘what’?”
Castiel sighed, opened his eyes and rolled onto his back, ignoring the annoyed meow Lupe let out when she was forced to relocate.
“Hello, Rachel.”
“Seriously Cas, six months?!”
Castiel grunted, rubbed a hand over his face and mumbled, “Well, how would you react if your little sister slept with your boyfriend and ended up pregnant as a result?”
There was a hesitation on the other end of the line, which had Castiel feeling a bit like celebrating before Rachel finally said, “Okay, so maybe I deserved that.”
Castiel snorted. So maybe he was still a little bitter.
“C’mon Cas, you’re my big brother and my best friend all rolled into one big cuddly, sweet package.”
“I don’t cuddle.” A clear lie since Castiel enjoyed nothing more than cuddling; he’d woken up on more than one occasion wrapped around his pillow. “And I’m not sweet.” A half-lie: Castiel, if fed enough sweets, would be happy to be your best friend without sarcasm interrupting anything. Probably why he was such good friends with Gabriel, since Gabriel was constantly feeding him candy. He may have to investigate his reasons for staying friends with Gabriel.
“Mom thought you’d died.”
“I’ll call her on my next day off.” Maybe. His next day off, he was going to the beach, invited or not. He could do with a day lying in the warm sand in front of the Pacific and ogle the surfer boys while he pretended to nap behind his sunglasses.
“Can I come over Cas? Please? I miss you.”
Castiel sighed and rolled onto his side. Despite any lingering bitterness he did love his sister. Plus he knew she wasn’t the first person Balthazar had slept around with. Castiel had known he wasn’t the type of man to settle down, no matter how much Castiel wished for it.
The sex had always been fantastic though. But there were times Balthazar had come home smelling like two different kinds of perfume or like a bar, so Castiel knew and it didn’t bother him as much as he thought it would.
What really bothered him though, thinking about it now, was the fact that Balthazar had had the nerve to knock up his sister and then escape to Europe without a single word to either of them. Castiel would probably go into a murderous rage if he ever saw Balthazar again.
That decided he said, “Fine, come over. But I worked last night and I work tonight, so be quiet.”
“See you soon!” Rachel sounded much like her old self as she hung up, full of energy and willing to please. Castiel flung his phone away, closed his eyes and hauled the blanket up over his head, where Lupe was under the blanket, shooting him a baleful glare.
“Don’t look at me like that. Heathen.” Lupe meowed, head-butted him, took over his pillow and fell asleep with a contented purr.
How Castiel wished he could be a cat sometimes. They never gave a shit.
Forty minutes later, Rachel was crawling into bed with him with a smile on her face. After not seeing her for six months it was odd seeing her with a slightly swollen belly instead of flatness. He eyed it for a moment before rolling onto his back and lifting an arm. Rachel fit herself to his side and rested her head on his shoulder with a happy sigh.
“Thanks Cas.”
“Shut up and take a nap. Naps are good for pregnant people.”
“This is why I need you in my life.”
“Didn’t I just tell you to shut up?” Rachel chuckled, but thankfully she did shut up and Castiel drifted off again.
After taking his shower, alerting Becky that he would pick her up around six, and changing into fresh scrubs, Castiel wandered out into the kitchen to find a fresh cup of coffee waiting for him.
Maybe he could forgive his sister fully for pulling off that kind of bribery.
“You been taking vitamins?” Castiel asked after taking his first sip of the life-giving brew.
“No.”
“Have you at least read a baby book?”
Rachel fidgeted in place, “No?”
Castiel sighed and headed into his living room to search his bookshelves. He knew he had one from when he’d still been working in the ICU. He’d had a pregnant patient and he’d used the book to do a little research. He’d forgotten to return it, so now it had a permanent residence amongst all his other books.
He found the book, returned to the kitchen, tossed it on the counter in front of her and went back to drinking his coffee, wondering if he should make himself a sandwich before heading off to pick Becky up or not.
“Pick up some pre-natal vitamins next time you’re in the grocery store. I’ll make you an appointment with the OB-GYN tonight while I’m at work.”
Rachel shot him a grateful smile while she picked up the book from the counter, “Thanks Cassie.”
Castiel pointed a finger at her, “Call me that at your own peril. I need to leave, I’m carpooling. Stay as long as you want long as you feed my cat.”
Rachel nodded with a grin and Castiel rolled his eyes and planted a kiss on her cheek before letting himself out of his apartment.
Becky, despite how she was always perky and happy, was one of Castiel’s closer friends. It was a shock to him, since infinitely perky and happy people always seemed to get on his nerves, even though she was an acquired taste, he was quite fond of her now. Even if she had shown too much interest in his and Balthazar’s relationship and was always talking to the radiologist Chuck about it. For whatever reason, Castiel was happy not knowing.
Becky was always a welcome distraction though, especially when she was glaring at Dean Winchester like it was his fault Castiel and Balthazar had broken up.
Castiel was just perplexed.
“What are you doing here?” Castiel finally asked after a few minutes of awkward staring.
“Um,” Dean held out a coffee cup and shifted on his feet, “Brought you some coffee.”
Castiel held out his own cup of coffee, compliments of Becky, who looked entirely too smug about that fact.
“Oh, well… Want it anyway?” Castiel frowned at Dean, then shrugged and drained the last out of his current cup and took the still warm one from Dean’s hand. It was Dean’s turn to look pleased while Becky scowled at him.
“It’s, um, apology coffee?” Dean offered as Castiel tossed his empty cup into the trash and took a sip from his new one.
Castiel shrugged as he walked past Dean towards the hospital entrance, “I didn’t lose any sleep over it.”
“Didn’t expect you to,” Dean grumbled, following Becky and Castiel.
Castiel grunted and they stopped in front of the elevators. Castiel eyed Dean from the corner of his eye and asked, “Why are you here anyway? Thought your brother was getting discharged today.”
“Was about an hour ago. Just waiting for him to finish getting dressed and for the paperwork.”
“Ah.”
“Any way you can speed up that process?” Castiel rolled his eyes and stepped into the elevator when the doors dinged open.
“Nope, I’m not on shift for another fifteen minutes. Not really a way to rush it anyway.” The three stood in silence as the elevator slowly made its way up. Becky was standing between the two men, dwarfed by their height and frowning up at Castiel. Castiel knew he’d be on the end of her questioning later.
Castiel resisted rolling his eyes at her; he and Balthazar would never get back together, and they weren’t the world’s best couple either, despite her convictions.
A few minutes later, Castiel was leaning against the nurses’ station half listening to the day shift getting everything ready for the night shift. Becky was having an intense conversation with Ava about something and Castiel watched with interest as Jess arrived and paused outside of Sam Winchester’s room. She fidgeted, blushed a brilliant red color and practically ran down the hallway towards Castiel and the other nurses.
With a smile, Castiel wandered down the hallway and into Sam’s room. Sam greeted him with a smile and a warm, “Hey Cas.”
“Hello Sam, how are you doing?”
“Good. Glad to be out of here, no offense or anything.”
“None taken.” Castiel had never really understood why people always said ‘no offense’, why bother saying something that someone could take as offensive? Or why bother padding the truth? People needed to hear the truth, not small little lies, the world could be much simpler if people weren’t constantly lying to each other.
“Something you need?” Castiel looked over his shoulder to see Dean exiting the bathroom behind him.
“Dean would you quit being such a dick?”
Dean shrugged, “Just a question.”
“Actually I did have a question for Sam.” Sam turned from packing up his bag to look over at Castiel, another warm smile on his face. Castiel liked Sam; through the few conversations he’d had, he’d learned that Sam was smart and in college for his law degree. He could easily see himself befriending Sam if they were ever to meet outside of the hospital.
That wasn’t Castiel’s goal right now though.
“A bunch of us are going the beach this Friday, just to hang out and have a good time. You’re welcome to join us if you want.”
Sam blinked, “Oh… um…”
“What Sam is trying to say is he’s not gay. So he’s not interested,” Dean snapped, glaring at Castiel when Castiel turned to look at him again.
Castiel rolled his eyes at Dean which earned him an annoyed huff. Castiel turned his attention back to Sam, “I’m fully aware of that Dean. Plus, your brother is a little young for my tastes. I’m asking because Jess is going to be there and she’s too infatuated with your brother to ask him herself.”
Well, he assumed that was it anyway. The last time he’d played matchmaker for a co-worker, it hadn’t worked out so well. For them anyway. Castiel had enjoyed that sexual encounter a little too much.
The way Sam blushed, though, let Castiel know he’d been somewhat correct in his assumptions. There was some interest there that Castiel could play with.
“Sure, I’d love to go.” Sam finally said, turning away from Castiel to finish his packing. Castiel didn’t miss Sam’s small smile, though.
Castiel grinned, “Excellent.” He paused and looked over at Dean, “You’re welcome to come too, if you like. And don’t bother warning me off; your innocence is safe from me. I don’t date assholes.” Dean gaped and Sam let out a laugh.
With that completed, he left the room to clock in, enjoying the still-shocked look on Dean’s face.
Castiel couldn’t help but wonder where his ‘I don’t date assholes’ line had come from, though. He had on occasion dated an asshole.
There had been Crowley a few years ago. He had been a smarmy, manipulative bastard with expensive tastes. Then there was Balthazar who had just been a whore, also with expensive tastes, now that Castiel thought about it. There had been his various flings with the jocks in college, the occasional one nightstand found in seedy bars, and his ‘friends with benefits’ stage with Pam.
Castiel sighed and tried to turn his attention back to his charts, trying not to agree with Raphael. He’d said during their last encounter that Castiel had a knack for spreading his legs for men who were bigger and dumber than Castiel. He couldn’t help it that he had a type. Couldn’t help that he enjoyed being held down or overpowered; it was a weakness…so what?
He needed to get laid. It’d been too long.
Castiel was knocked from his musings when Ruby snapped her fingers in front of his face and snapped, “I want my pen back, you son of a bitch.”
Castiel shot her his wide-eyed innocent look, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She didn’t buy his look judging by the glare she shot him, “I know you have it.”
“I don’t.” He really didn’t, he’d forgotten it at home. A shame, since it was a nice pen. Ruby continued to glare; Castiel shrugged at her and went back to his charting with a smile.
Friday came in a whirl of warm sunshine, a slight breeze, and multitudes of alcohol being purchased. Rachel had gushed over his car, letting him know it was much cooler than Raphael’s Mercedes, which Castiel would gladly rub in his elder brothers face next they met.
He’d enjoyed the drive along Highway 1, not just because Becky was in the backseat regaling Dean with all the joys of gay sex, but because the engine was purring and the car hugged all the curves of the road beautifully, leaving Ruby in the dust in her crappy car.
Now he was stretched out on the warm sand in nothing but his board shorts and sunglasses. Rachel had her head resting on his stomach while she read through the baby book Castiel had given to her. Becky was on his other side, reading her own book and Castiel was going about his plan pretending to nap while he watched all the young college students bound around on the beach in nothing but their bathing suits.
Jess and Sam had hit it off and were currently talking about something under the umbrella behind Castiel. Ruby had taken off to flirt with one of the volleyball players, Dean was currently flirting with Anna, but Castiel occasionally caught the looks Dean was shooting in his direction.
Man had some serious repression going on. Not that Castiel cared; Dean was set in his straight ways. Plus he was an ass and apparently Castiel got on his nerves, which was a shame since Dean would be more than capable of holding Castiel down and-
“It’s such a waste that you’re gay.” Castiel snapped out of his daydream, lifted his sunglasses up to glare at Ruby as she plopped down in the sand by his head.
“Bi.”
“You’ve done more guys than women. That makes you gay. It’s such a waste ‘cause I’d totally do you.”
Castiel dropped his sunglasses back down and rolled his eyes, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Ruby was probably the last person he’d ever have sex with, no matter how desperate Castiel got. They weren’t exactly enemies, but their friendship was based more on pissing each other off than anything else. And since they were currently the only ones not drinking since they had to go into work at eleven that night, they could only pick at each other. Which was nothing new.
Later in the afternoon, Castiel was sitting down near the waterline, contemplating the surfer that had been eyeing him for a few minutes now. He was probably a little young, but he had a camper up in the parking lot and Castiel was feeling a little horny after spending the day ogling the suntanned skin of the co-eds all day.
The next wave brushed up over Castiel’s legs, bathing him in the cool water of the Pacific. It felt good after sitting in the hot sun all day.
A shadow fell across the sand beside Castiel and he glanced up to see who. He was mildly shocked to see it was Dean. Dean hesitated, then held out a bottle of water which Castiel accepted as Dean settled into the sand beside Castiel.
Castiel eyed him for a moment before cracking open the bottle and taking a sip. Dean did the same to his own bottle and said, “So uh… hi?”
Castiel felt his eyebrows rise; from what he had observed of Dean, Dean wasn’t one to be hesitant, especially towards Castiel. He was full of ire and disdain about something Castiel had done, unless it was all that repression Dean was harboring. Castiel smirked to himself, took another sip of water, capped it, and leaned back on his hands and stretched his legs out, curling his toes into the sand.
Dean watched him for a moment before sighing, “Okay, I am sorry about being such a jackass. I just… when Sammy gets hurt nothing else matters. I also suck with this talking-about-your-feelings shit, so… I’m just… I’m sorry okay? You seem like an okay guy.”
Castiel refrained from rolling his eyes, he could tell behind the stumbling over his words and derisive tone that Dean was being as sincere as he possibly could.
So Castiel nodded his thanks, tilted his water bottle in a mock salute, “You don’t seem so bad yourself.”
“Thanks. Plus, anyone that can help Sam get laid is good in my book.” Castiel smiled over at Dean and then glanced over his shoulder to where Sam and Jess were still deep in conversation.
“They’re getting along well.” Castiel observed, turning back to face the ocean. Dean hummed his agreement and the two watched the sun sink closer and closer to the horizon. Castiel wished he could stay and watch the sun set, but he needed to be home soon so he could get in a nap before his shift started for the night.
After another few minutes of sitting in silence, Dean and Castiel stood, brushed the sand from where it wasn’t clinging to their wet legs and wandered back over to the main group to begin packing. Ruby gave Castiel a knowing look when he allowed his eyes to wander down the length of Dean’s back and linger on the curve of his ass and lines of his legs where his shorts were clinging. He flipped her off, turned his back on Dean to pull on his own shirt and shoes, toweling off as much sand as possible as they trekked back to the cars.
He dropped Sam and Dean off last, the two of them riding in his car since their place was apparently on the way to his. Sam leaned into the front from the backseat and offered Castiel a piece of paper with a number on it, “Thanks Cas, it was a good day. Call me and we can get coffee or something,” Castiel raised an eyebrow at the younger Winchester and Sam hastened to add, “As friends! You’re a nice guy, we get along and I want to pay you back for getting me and Jess together.”
Castiel chuckled, accepted the number, “Of course Sam. You don’t need to pay me back though. Jess is sweet, and she’s a friend of mine; I like to see her happy.”
“Either way. Just… we’ll chat or something.”
“Okay.” Sam sighed, nodded and let himself out of the car. Dean chuckled from beside him in the passenger seat and took Castiel’s cell phone from where it had been sitting in the cup holder. He punched in his own number, “Same goes for me, we can get a beer or something. Like I said at the beach, you’re a nice guy when you’re not being a douche.”
“I’m a nice guy when you’re not being the douche.”
Dean laughed, put the phone back, “Whatever man. Call me if you ever want to get a beer. As friends though; I’m not gay.”
Castiel held up his hands in surrender, “I get it. Winchester men are off limits.”
Dean nodded and shot him a smile that had Castiel’s toes curling in his shoes, “See you around, Cas.” He let himself out of the car and disappeared into the apartment building after his brother. Castiel let out a breath and gripped the gearshift and steering wheel in his hands before shifting the car into gear to head home.
Fucking Winchester men and their fucking smiles.
Castiel didn’t expect to see Dean again so soon. It was only a short three days before Dean and his obnoxious ways were once again in his life.
Castiel sat in his car at the edge of the road, engine ticking quietly as it cooled. He had been heading home after lunch with his mother finally. The drive wasn’t a quick one, and, in his haste to get away from his mother’s questions, he’d left as soon as possible and hadn’t paid any attention to his gas gauge.
So now he was sitting on the side of the road, car quiet, sun sinking into the horizon and the next town miles down the road.
Castiel banged his head against the steering wheel, silently cursing his stupidity.
After wallowing for a few minutes, he hunted out his cell phone, checked to make sure he had a signal, and contemplated on who to call. Gabriel was working tonight, so he was unavailable. Rachel would just laugh at him and hang up. There was AAA, but his membership had expired a few months before and his insurance agency was a hassle to deal with on any good day.
Castiel scrolled through his contacts and hesitated when he came to Dean’s name. Dean who was a stubborn ass and who Castiel was silently harboring a small crush on. He was a mechanic though, even if all that Castiel had done was run out of gas. Castiel grunted to himself and continued scrolling through his contacts list, he’d rather not deal with Dean right now.
Instead he called Sam.
Who ended up sending Dean.
Castiel couldn’t help but groan unhappily when he spotted Dean approaching from the tow truck that had pulled up behind his car. Of course it would be Dean.
Dean knocked on his window, that stupid cocky smile of his in place. Castiel sighed and opened the door when Dean stepped out of the way, that stupid grin was still in place and Castiel just wanted to smack it off.
“I thought you were smart enough to not run out of gas in the middle of nowhere.”
Castiel scoffed and folded his arms over his chest, “I was distracted.”
“Uh-huh. Well c’mon, let’s go get you some gas.”
“You didn’t bring any with you?”
Dean snorted and watched as Castiel turned to retrieve his keys and phone from inside the car, “Please. I’m not going to pay for it, prices are crap lately.”
Castiel hummed his agreement, locked the car and followed Dean to the truck that was idling behind the Audi. They settled into the cab silently, Dean focusing on driving while Castiel stared out the window, trying to keep himself from staring at Dean. He may have disliked Dean and purposefully got on the other man’s nerves sometimes, but Dean was handsome and Castiel wouldn’t mind drinking in the sight of him more often.
They were about a mile down the road when Dean finally spoke, “So what brought you out to the middle of nowhere?”
“Lunch with my mother.”
“You were so desperate to get away from your mom that you forgot to get gas?”
Castiel huffed a laugh, “Pretty much.”
They were silent for another mile before Dean blurted, “My mom died when Sam was a baby. I hardly remember her.”
What the hell was Castiel supposed to say to that? He turned so he could properly look at Dean, who looked shocked to have blurted out such a statement, and opened his mouth to comment but decided against it. Anything he could say right now would probably make him look like an asshole.
The tension grew in the cab and Castiel finally offered, “I’m sure your mother was a wonderful woman.”
“Uh, thanks. What’s so bad about your mom?”
Castiel snorted and looked out the window, where to even begin?
“I love my mother, she’s just... overbearing? She treats me as if I’m the youngest and unable to care for myself. I can never seem to be able to say ‘no’ to her either. If she had her way, I’d still be living at home and crawling into bed with her in the middle of the night after a nightmare.”
Dean chuckled and pulled into the parking lot of a gas station.
“Guess you don’t have a gas can, huh?” Dean asked after Castiel had let himself out of the truck.
He shot Dean a look, “Does it look like I have a gas can?”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist, I have one you can borrow.”
Castiel’s retort was cut off when the red can was shoved into his chest, he glared at Dean and headed for one of the pumps, pulling his wallet and card out as he went.
Castiel paid, made his selection and bent to open the gas can to begin filling it with the few gallons of gas that would enable him to get his car here. Perhaps he should have just had Dean hook it up to the tow truck and tow it here. He would have had to pay for that for sure, though.
Out of curiosity, Castiel turned to look over his shoulder to ask Dean how much a tow would have cost, only to stop. Dean’s head was tilted to the left, lower lip caught between his teeth. And he was staring.
The only thing he could possibly be looking at like that was Castiel’s ass.
Awkward.
Castiel turned his attention back to the gas can, found it filled up and straightened to replace the nozzle. He heard Dean cough behind him and Castiel couldn’t help but smile. At least he wasn’t the only one who liked to look.
Back in the truck, gas can secured in the back, Castiel asked, “So why did Sam send you?”
“Said he had to study.” There was something in Dean’s tone that had Castiel frowning, he could tell something was being held back, but he had no idea what.
“I see.”
“He did!”
“Okay.”
“What?”
Castiel turned to Dean, eyebrows raised, “I didn’t say anything.”
“You clearly don’t believe me.”
“I said no such thing.”
“The tone of your voice says it all.”
Castiel snorted, trying to reign in his laughter. He couldn’t tell if they were flirting, fighting or some odd combination of the two.
“Seriously! The way you were talking-”
“Oh for Christ’s sake Dean, just drop it!” Castiel shouted, trying not to burst into undignified giggling. Of all the things Dean could get caught up on.
They were silent for a few minutes before Dean snorted and grumbled, “That was probably the stupidest fight to get into.”
Castiel couldn’t contain himself anymore, he finally burst out with his laughter, leaning forward with his arms wrapped around his middle. Dean chuckled from beside him and shook his head, “You’ve got the dorkiest sounding laugh, dude.”
For some reason this only made Castiel laugh harder.
“I think the gas fumes got to you.”
When Castiel finally gained some semblance of control they were parked behind his car once more. Castiel wiped at his eyes and turned to Dean who was giving him a smile that almost looked fond.
“Thank you for that. I think I needed it.”
Dean’s smile widened, “No problem.”
“And thank you for taking me to get gas. I know this was probably out of your way.”
Dean shrugged, “Had nothing better to do than sit around watching the game and drinking beer.”
“Well, thank you anyway.” Dean nodded and Castiel opened the door and hopped out. He retrieved the gas can and filled his car up, replaced the can back on the tow truck and let himself into his car, hoping that it would start and remain running long enough to get him to the gas station.
Dean followed him as far as the gas station, giving a honk as he passed.
Castiel sighed and simply sat in his car for a moment, forehead resting against the steering wheel. Once again, Dean Winchester had thrown him for a loop and was slowly worming himself into Castiel’s life and mind.
Castiel thunked his head against the steering wheel and muttered, “Fucking Winchesters.”
Part Two