Fights, Camera, Action

Chapter Twenty

It took the two of them hours to clean his house off, but by the time they had, it was like it hadn't happened. The sun had begun to set, and once they were sure it was gone, Jody turned to Dean with a small smile.

"There," she said. "No more ugly words."

"No more," he repeated, giving her a smile back.

She pulled him in for a hug quickly, patting him on the back. Pulling away, she held his arms and gave him the mom look he was so used to.

"I need to get home, but you promise me that you'll call if you need anything," she said, no room for argument in her tone. He nodded, then answered out loud when it was apparent that she wasn't satisfied with just a nod.

"I promise," he said quietly, and she gave him one last pay on the arms before turning to head home.

After he had watched her go, he decided to go inside, exhausted and soaked from the cleaner they had used to get the paint off. Immediately upon entering, he headed upstairs and into his bedroom. Stripping the dirty clothes and dropping them in a heap, he grabbed the pajamas he'd wear after and walked into the bathroom.

The shower was quick, but he made sure to get himself clean regardless. Stepping out, he toweled off and started pulling his clothes on, suddenly hearing a loud rumble from his stomach. Shaking his head, he finished getting dressed and padded out to the kitchen. He had been so worried about his house that he'd forgotten to eat. Hopefully that wouldn't occur to Jody, or he'd get an earful about needing to take better care of himself. A small smile crept its way onto his face just at the idea.

He didn't bother to cook anything, just grabbed some leftovers from previous takeout nights and heated them up. As they were cooking, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. His eyebrows furrowed as he fished for his phone in the pocket of his pajama pants. He made a triumphant noise and relaxed his face as he found it, only for his eyebrows to go right back to their previous position when he saw what the message was about.

Someone had taken pictures of the paint on his house, and it was apparently big news. It was Charlie that had text to tell him, and Sam had immediately followed up with indignant rage that only a brother friend could hold. Dean shot them a quick text back, wanting to let them know that the problem had been mostly solved.

Dean: yeah, I saw. It was kind of a nightmare when I got home from work. Jody and I cleaned it off, all good now.

He didn't dare put his phone away, knowing they'd answer swiftly. Sure enough, as he grabbed his food from the microwave, he heard his phone buzzing on the countertop.

Giant: that doesn't make it okay, Dean. That's super fucked up. Did you have security cameras there?

Firecracker: shit, yeah. Check your cameras dude

They were right, actually, he did have cameras there. Switching to the app that let him view his footage, he accessed the camera that had a front view of his house. Rewinding back until he saw someone, he released and grinned. The dumb ass hadn't even bothered covering his face. Relaying this information to Sam and Charlie, he was met with enthusiasm.

Firecracker: hell yeah, stupid works in your favor. Press charges to hell

Giant: god damn right, you gotta stand up for yourself

Dean: thanks guys, I will. I'm gonna chill, I'm tired af. Text if you need me

Firecracker: ok, bye Dean. Have a good night

Giant: yeah and don't wallow in your problems too much

Dean snorted slightly at how accurate Sam's call out of him was. Even he knew he did that a little too often. He was about to put his phone down when it buzzed yet again. Annoyed, thinking it was Sam or Charlie bugging him just because, he picked it up and was prepared to shoot a snarky response out. Instead, he was met with a message from Castiel, the light from his screen seeming to wash out everything else as he read it.

Novak: who the fuck did that to your house?

Dean gulped, not knowing why he suddenly felt so exposed. It was a problem, yeah, but it wasn't that big of a deal... right? So why did Cas seem so pissed off?

Dean: some random loser. I have security footage of his face so I'm gonna press charges. It's not that big of a deal

Dean expected that to be the end of it. What he didn't expect, however, is the decently long message he received in response.

Novak: it is a big deal, Dean. It's a huge deal. Someone did that to you. They disrespected you, threatened your well being, and know where you live. Clearly they aren't a fan of yours, and this isn't something you brush off. You don't just have to accept it.

He was shocked that Castiel cared so much. Truth be told, he supposed he shouldn't be, considering that they'd been friendly lately. However, it was still jarring to see him stick up for him like that. It made Dean feel like this may be a genuine change that was happening with the two of them, and to be completely honest, he wasn't sure how to feel about that. So he did what he did best and stopped thinking about it in favor of other things.

Dean: yeah, I know, that's why I'm pressing charges. But seriously, how much of an idiot are you to not even hide your face?

Novak: you wanna send me the video? I kinda wanna see this

Something felt off with the request, but Dean couldn't pinpoint it. It didn't really matter in the long run, he supposed. It was security footage, after all, not a top secret government document. Sending it quickly, he waited for a few minutes and was met with silence. Clearly, he wasn't going to get a response. Even weirder, but whatever. Maybe he really did just want to see it.

Deciding it wasn't worth it to kill himself by overthinking, he put his dishes in the sink and moved over to the living room. Turning on something random, he scrolled his phone as he watched whatever happened to come on. Some things were pretty good, some were shit. So it was with television and movies. If anyone would know, he would.

A few hours had passed in that manner, and he had almost forgotten about the weird messages from Castiel when he heard his doorbell ring. Startling slightly, he got up and checked the camera to see who was there. After what had just happened, he wasn't taking chances.

He sighed in relief when he saw that it was just Castiel. Going down to the door, he opened it and gave Cas a gentle smile. Cas smiled back, seeming happier than Dean had remembered him being at work that day.

"Hey," he said, sounding a bit winded. "Can I come in?"

Dean cursed his bad manners mentally, moving to let Castiel in. Scanning him up and down as they moved upstairs, he noticed several things consecutively.

First of all, Cas had bruises on his arms. Not anything too bad, and not very many, but bruises he hadn't had earlier. Second, a few of his knuckles looked busted, and there was blood on them. Third, he was grinning like none of those things were true.

It took less than ten seconds for Dean to connect those dots. After all, it wasn't rocket science.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He asked, not harshly. "You went after the guy?"

Cas shrugged, turning to Dean with a smile that still hadn't faded. He pulled him closer by the waist, seemingly nonchalant about the whole affair. Leaning close to Dean's ear, he spoke quietly.

"I told you, you didn't deserve that. And you can still press your charges, but I wanted to handle it too," he said.

He leaned back, and Dean shook his head at him slightly. How in the world did Cas expect to get away with this? As if hearing his doubts, Cas pressed his forehead against Dean's.

"You know, it's crazy what you can get away with with a good enough lawyer," he said, laughing at Dean's flustered noises of indignation.

He didn't give Dean a chance to ask any more questions, like why he cared so much so suddenly, before he was pressing his lips to Dean's. Dean smiled into the kiss, wrapping his arms around Castiel as his thoughts vanished in place of the feeling. Cas pulled back slightly, that damned grin still on his face.

"You got plans tonight?"