Who Would've Thought

My Hero

I walked out the school door earlier than I was expecting I could, but that's fine with me. I needed to go home and drink a very unhealthy amount of beer. Paperwork would have to be mailed tomorrow, paperwork that would give dad a lawyer and money to take care of what is necessary. There was also a letter written by me to help my dad not get sent to prison but rather do parole for his stupidity. I was walking my bag out to my baby and when I glanced up, my worrisome frown turned to a slight smile when I saw Cas walking across the yard with a grin on his face. I put my bag in the car and was about to drive off when I realized I forgot the papers and envelopes on my desk. "You gotta be fucking kidding me", I grumbled. I started heading back to my classroom, passing a group of students that have been known to be dicks. People like them made me glad I wasn't in high school taking classes anymore, I'd hate to have classmates like them.
I only recognized a few of the kids, Alastair being one of them. That kid was downright creepy with the way he always stared at everything and it made my blood boil when I noticed him staring at Cas this morning. What made it worse was that Cas obviously was not for it and looked extremely uncomfortable, so much as to wear another student, Balthazar I think, stepped closer and slightly in front of Cas which blocked my view of him but thankfully it also blocked Alastair's view. I also recognized Crowley, as he was in my last period class along with Cas and Jo. I recognized Uriah too and the other faces were familiar but I didn't remember their names.
I unlocked my door and headed to my desk when I heard a scream. I quickly grabbed my papers and headed out to lock the door and discover the source of the screaming. Of course my hands were not cooperating though and I fumbled with my keys for several minutes before I finally got the right one to lock the door. I took off for a very fast walk out of the building, not running because I hate to run, and gripped my papers tightly so they wouldn't fly out of my grasp like they did the other day. Once I got outside in the parking lot, I looked around and vaguely saw a bunch of boys grouped together and one was being dragged. I tried to decipher who it was but they were too far off for me to see well. Panic flooded through me as I thought that Alastair and his group was heading for the same place I had previously seen Cas walking with a smile. Even if it wasn't Cas, I knew I needed to follow them. I ran to my car and threw my papers in the backseat before running after the direction the boys had gone.
I ran until I got to where I had seen the boys last, which is right before I put my stuff in the car. I looked around for traces of where they could've gone and tried to think of places kids might go to beat up a kid. Then I heard more shouting and suddenly two boys were bolting out of the side door of the building where the pool was. My heart dropped and I started running again, letting the boys go and deciding I'd deal with them later, maybe even tomorrow. Most likely tomorrow. Once I reached the building, I threw the door open and saw a few guys, Uriah and some other familiar face that I couldn't remember the name for. "What the hell do you think your doing", I shouted at them. Uriah and the other boy looked up, the smirk leaving their faces as they realized it wasn't one of their friends that had entered the pool. They exchanged worried glances before bolting out the door. "Hey", I yelled after them. That's when I saw Alastair holding someone under water. I lunged for him and yanked him away, causing him to drop the poor kid. Before I knew it, I was sending a swift punch right across Alastair's face. "Get the fuck out", I growled before shoving him towards the door.
      He stumbled and regained his balance before running off. I turned back to the pool and reached in the water, grabbing the boy's hand and pulling him out of the pool. My heart dropped when I saw it actually was Cas, that he was the one being beaten and held underwater. Now he was barley breathing and a very light gasp for air escaped his lips before he went still, although he was still breathing. Even if just barely. "Cas", I whimpered before pulling him up against me, shaking with anger for the guys that did this to him. I wanted to murder them, every last one of them, but I knew I needed to get Cas help and make sure he was okay before anything else. With Cas still clutched to my chest, I stood up and carried him bridal style out the door and back to my car. I jogged as best I could, trying to get there as fast as possible because he needed help sooner rather than later. I reached my car and pulled the driver door open and slid him in before climbing in myself. I slammed my door and made sure Cas was situated okay and still breathing before speeding off to a destination I hadn't even decided upon yet.
*****
I woke up what felt like hours later,dry and feeling warmer than what I did when I had been pulled out of the pool. The pool. I groaned in pain as I remembered the beating I took and the feeling of dying, of not being able to breath for the longest period of time. Then confusion set in. I cracked my eyes open slowly and saw I was in a bed, one that certainly wasn't mine, Jo's, or any other bed I'd ever been in before. Several blankets were layered on top of me and I glanced down to see I was wearing clothes that clearly were not mine, or Jo's either for that matter. I had on a dark gray Led Zeppelin t-shirt and lose fitting sweat pants. I peeked under the pants and sighed slightly in relief that I was still in my own underwear, even though they were still kind of wet and it wasn't very comfortable.
My eyes opened a bit more, as far as they could, and adjusted to the dark of the room, allowing my eyes to scan my surroundings. Straight across from the bed there was a tall dresser with a flat screen television on it. On my left there was a nightstand with an alarm clock and lamp on it. To my right there was a door, and a closed one at that. Down the wall from the nightstand, long ways, there was a closet. Next to the dresser on my right side was a desk that had several papers stacked up and in the far right corner was a guitar. There was another door over by the closet but I didn't know what it lead to. I never saw anything that was in this room and the more I studied the objects the more confused I got. Where was I? And how on earth did I get here? That's when I picked up on noise outside the door. There was a buzz, maybe a tv was on? Then I heard footsteps approaching the door and I slowly started to sit up, preparing myself for whoever came through that door, although I didn't get up too far. The door slowly creaked open and I was surprised to see the face that peaked in through the crack.
******
I pulled up to my house, as that was the only place I really thought of to go. I didn't want to just drop Cas off at his house, especially since he seems to be having a rough time there right now. If I took him to the hospital, then his parents would be notified and that would be just as bad as taking him to his house. Once I pulled up to my tiny place, I stepped out and grabbed him in my arms again and hurried inside so that no one would see me carrying in an almost dead student. I carried him back to my room and set him down on my bed. I was going to cover him up and just let him rest and see how he was in a little while, but he was obviously too cold in his wet clothes because he had started shaking slightly and turning blue.
With a sigh I stepped forward and carefully worked to remove his shirt, being cautious of the dark bruises that had already formed and would most likely only get worse. I went to my closest and pulled out a random shirt, my gray Led Zeppelin one, and carefully put that on him. Then I went to my dresser and pulled out sweatpants that, while baggy, would warm him up. I unbuttoned his jeans and slid them off before putting the sweat pants on him. His underwear was soaked too but there was no way I was going to remove them without him even being conscious. That would definitely result in an awkward conversation, even more so than it would already be. I removed his shoes and socks too and grabbed some dry socks for him to wear and then I placed him under the covers.
I really didn't know what else to do, not until he woke up. I checked to see if he was breathing again and found that it was returning to a normal pace, meaning he'd probably be okay without going to the hospital which I gave silent praises for. I sat on the edge of the bed for awhile just watching him, hoping those bright blues eyes would snap open and I could get lost in them, maybe find the answers there. The glowing blue eyes stayed hidden though and he didn't move. I reached my hand out and pushed hair out of his face and kept my hand in his hair, playing with the wet strands that fell in my hand. I reluctantly removed my hand because if he woke up he'd probably be terrified to see me intently watching him as I played with his hair.
I stood up and looked down on Cas, wishing he'd wake up sooner so that I knew what happened and who those boys were. Although, it's probably best I didn't know all of them because it was taking everything in me to push away my rage and not slaughter them for hurting Cas. The Cas I wanted to be mine. I shook my head and walked out of the room, deciding to check up on him every half an hour until he woke up, just to make sure he was okay. Once I reached my kitchen, I went to my fridge and pulled out a beer. I started chugging it until it was half gone before I slowed down some. With my beer in hand, I headed out to my living room and turned on the tv. I sat on my couch and watched some random movie that was on. By the time it ended it was time to check up on Cas and so when the credits rolled I got up and headed towards my bedroom. I cracked open the door and slowly opened it, stepping in and seeing that he was still asleep. I gave a soft sigh. If he doesn't wake up after a few hours of sleep, I'll have to wake him up just so that he's aware of his surroundings and try to make sure he's okay. Well, okay as he could be I guess. I mean he obviously took a pounding, although I had tried not to look at him too much when I changed his clothes. Frankly I had hoped that if I took off Cas's clothes it would be in a far better situation, but I guess life's funny like that.
I left the room again and closed the door before going back out to the living room to watch more tv. One of the Star Wars movies was playing now so I plopped down and actually tried to watch this one, but that was a difficult task seeing as how I'd much rather be cuddled up to Cas right now. The next half hour dragged by painfully slow and when it was time to go check on him I jumped up and about knocked my beer bottle off the coffee table. I took my bottle and threw it away before I made a giant mess and realized I should probably get Cas some water. When he wakes up, he'll probably be sore and want some water and ibuprofen.
I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water before going to the medicine cabinet in my bathroom and grabbing three ibuprofens. With the pills and water in hand I headed back to my bedroom, hoping that Cas will have at least changed his position by now or something, so that I know he'll actually recover at some point. I cracked the door open again, just enough for my head to poke through, and snuck it in to see the bright blue eyes I loved to see so much staring at me.
*****
"Hey Cas", Dean whispered before stepping the room and giving me a small smile. He walked around the bed to set down a glass of water and a few pills on the nightstand before looking back at me. "How do you feel?"
"I don't know", I mumbled and rubbed my eyes. Was I at Dean's? I mean I had to be but how did I end up here? I was so confused at this point and didn't realize he was waiting for me to say something else until a few minutes had passed. "What happened", I asked.
"I was kinda hoping you could tell me that", he said sitting down on the side of the bed.
"That came out wrong" I said with a slight chuckle. "I mean I know what happened to me but how did I get here?" I had been looking down at the bed the whole time but finally looked up and locked eyes with Dean. He looked away for a split second, and I swear it looked like he was blushing, before locking eyes with me again.
"I saw those guys dragging someone off", he started quietly. "I ran after them and got them away and you out of the pool. I figured with everything going on at your home right now you probably wouldn't want to be taken back there so I brought you here. That way I could keep an eye on you and make sure you were okay." His gaze was piercing me and I wanted to turn away but I couldn't find out how to. He was captivating and I suddenly became aware of just how close we were, and I knew we had to have inched towards each other at some point within the past few seconds. Before I could stop myself, I leaned forward as quick as I could and caught his lips with my own, moving slowly but pressing hard, loving the feel of Dean's lips on my own. I sighed softly and he took that as an opportunity to plunge his tongue into my mouth and I gasped before reaching out to pull him closer. He moved forward until I was laying back on the bed with my head uncomfortably resting up against the headboard but frankly I didn't give a shit. I don't give a shit every part of my body screamed in pain and I didn't care that I shouldn't be kissing him because all I wanted to do was kiss him. Having his mouth against mine was one of the most amazing feelings, beside his warm and wet tongue that was dancing around my mouth. We had a brief make out before I whimpered in pain because his arm hit a bruise and he immediately pulled away. "Shit Cas I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry", he rushed with worry.
"It's fine Dean", I told him before reaching out for him again. He grabbed my hand and helped me to sit back up before going to grab the water and pills. He handed them to me and I gave him a small smile in thanks. Frankly, I didn't know how I felt about drinking the water and would almost rather take the pills dry than be reminded of the water that rushed down my lungs just a few hours earlier. Once I took a sip though, I realized just how thirsty I was and the cold liquid felt good running down my dry and damaged throat. I drank half the glass or a little more before trying to put it back, which failed because Dean grabbed it and set it down for me.
"Cas what happened", his beautifully rough voice asked. I swallowed and fought back a sudden need to cry before responding.
"I don't even know", my voice cracked. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it slightly and I knew he was going to be patient while I tried to describe what happened. "They came out of no where. One minute I was walking across the gravel and the next I was begging shoved face first to the ground. They all beat on me some and sometimes two of them held me up while the others took some shots but they all took their turn at swinging something."
"Who all was there? I recognized Alastair and Crowley, maybe Uriah but that's about it." I wasn't sure who Crowley was but then I remembered there being a guy I didn't know. Maybe that was Crowley.
"Those three as well as Gordon, Zachariah, and Uriel. They got in some pretty good shots", I admitted with a chuckle and his grip tightened on my hand, not enough to hurt but tightening all the same. "I tried to get away but there were too many of them and by the time I had the instinct to defend myself I was already too messed up. They took me to the pool and-", I cut off with a choke. I felt tears building up behind my eyes and I lowered my head, squeezing them shut trying to not cry. Dean moved to where he was leaning back against the headboard and pulled me up into his lab which I was grateful for. His arms wrapped around me, very lightly as if he feared hurting my very sore sides, and I leaned into him hoping that he wouldn't see the tear that slipped out.
      "It's okay Cas", he whispered and I realized I started shaking some. I pushed myself further against him and his arms went around me a little more snug, but again not enough to where it would hurt. "They aren't going to touch you ever again", he reassured and something changed in his voice. It got a violent twist to it and sounded threatening and I looked up to see his jaw set and his green eyes were glinted with anger. I leaned forward to kiss him again and I felt my shaking stop and his anger slowly fade away.
      It was a very brief kiss before I pulled back to look at him. "What now", I asked.
"Now you rest and get to feeling better", he said slightly confused and I rolled my eyes. Then he caught on that I was referring to the other situation, our situation. "Oh", he chuckled. "Well I think I've made it clear that I like you and that I want this." He looked down at his hands, which had been removed from me as I now moved fully across from him to talk easier, only it wasn't easier. If anything, it was extremely painful with how sore and obviously bruised I was.
"Dean I like you too but you could go to jail or even lose your job. I do not want to be the reason that something like that would happen, I cannot ask you to jeopardize something like that." At this he rolled his eyes and smiled, filling his face and crinkling his eyes. It was becoming to be my favorite thing about him, maybe even more so than his eyes, maybe.
"So proper all the time aren't you", he laughed. "So we keep it secret. I'm good at doing that and considering how you only just came out to your family a little while ago I imagine you probably are too. Jo told me the other day at the roadhouse when I had asked how you were doing", he clarified when I became confused on to how he knew about my coming out. "We won't get caught I mean hell people have underage relationships all the time. I just don't want that to be the thing that stands in the way. I know there's something here Cas and I don't get a feeling like this ever. I'm not gonna let some underage law or student teacher bullshit ruin it."
"Okay", I said with a grin at his rant.
"Okay as in", he traveled off with an almost pleading look in his eyes.
"Okay as in if that stuff does not bother you then I want this. I want to give it a shot", I replied shyly. Our gazes meet again and he smiled real big again. He started to lean in to kiss me when a cell phone started ringing and I fought back a sigh. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out the phone. After giving it a quick look he handed it to me. "Why would I answer that", I questioned.
"Cause it's your phone", he informed me. I gave a small oh in response before grabbing it from him and looking at the caller ID. It was Gabriel, probably wondering where the hell I was. I clicked the off button on the phone to silence it and set the phone down. "You're not gonna answer it", Dean asked.
"Nope", I said shaking my head. "It's just Gabriel probably wondering where I am at and what my plans are. I'm not answering until I know how to answer the billions of questions he will ask." Dean nodded.
"Don't take this the wrong way, but what are your plans?" I sighed and rested my head in my hand, the other hand flipping my phone up and down on the bed. "Cause if you don't wanna leave...you could always stay here", he suggested after seeing my utter lack of knowledge on where to go. I looked up at his suggestion surprised he'd allow that, especially so soon. "If you want. If not you could go to Jo's or you could go home. Just a thought."
I smiled at his sudden shyness that was coming out. It was unbelievably adorable the way he look at his hands and kind of stuttered certain words out, getting all flustered. "If you do not mind, I think I'd like to stay here." He looked back up, tearing his gaze from his hands.
"Really", he asked excitedly. I laughed and nodded with a grin. He smiled back before leaning in to kiss me again quickly. "Good. Now that stuff is figured out can we eat? I'm freaking starving." His random hunger plea amused me and I laughed again before nodding.
"It's your place you can eat whenever you want", I pointed out. He purses his lips before relying.
"True but I don't wanna eat until you're hungry too. I don't know how sore your throat is or anything like that." Now I blushed at the comment because I realized this would be my first time eating with Dean, and at his house for the matter.
"I could eat", I answered. He grinned before getting up and pulling me after him, still being super careful as to what he did. This would be a much better situation if I wasn't so freaking sore and in pain. We walked out of his room and down a hallway before he stopped again.
"If you wanna go to the bathroom or uh..check yourself out or whatever you can go in there", he said pointed towards the door that clearly was a bathroom. "I'm gonna go see what all food is here although we may have to order something cause I don't even remember the last time I went shopping." He laughed and I smiled in response. I gave a small nod before he left to go to the kitchen and I entered the bathroom. Once I got inside I made sure to lock the door before completely stripping out of Dean's clothes, keeping my boxers on. Thinking of how bad I looked and seeing how terrible I was in a bright light was two totally different things.
      I let out a gasp as I saw my thighs and shins were a very dark purple. My sides were so purple they were almost black and I couldn't touch any of it. In Dean's bed I could hardly move and he had to help me with sitting and getting off the bed. I'm guessing my ribs were extremely bruised at the very least. There were cuts and scraps all over my arms and legs and stomach from the gravel and my knees looked like absolute shit. I'm sure I would've been caked in blood had I not been held under water for so long.
      Then I actually looked in the mirror at my face and wanted to vomit. My eyes were dark and swollen, explaining why I had thought things had seem darker than normal and why I couldn't seem to open them fully. My lip was cut and there was a large cut over my forehead. My nose worried me the worst though. It was dark, swollen, and looked crooked. When they had been hitting me I remember hearing a crunch and I'm now realizing it was probably from them breaking my nose. I couldn't believe Dean could even recognize me at this point, I barley even could and I've looked at myself for years (more often that not it wasn't by choice).
      A small tear rolled down my cheek and I let out a whimper. If I had the strength at the moment, I would run all over town until I found Alastair and his group of douche bags and ruin them. I'm not a weak kid, I'm really not. Growing up with older brothers and knowing what abuse is like makes you strong, you learn to be tough. But even with all the beatings and brotherly wrestling matches, none of it could compare to how fucked the six of them had made me. I hated them for it because how dare they make me realize I could get it worse and then they actually gave it to me. I leaned back against the counter and started crying softly because I was too tired to fight it at this point.
      I heard a soft knock on the door and it made the tears flow harder, yet no sound escaped my mouth. "Cas you okay", Dean asked worriedly. I shook my head no even though he couldn't see me, but it was like he could sense it or something. "Cas can you let me in?" All of a sudden a gurgled laugh escaped my lips between the tears and I realized I probably sounded psychotic.
      "I would", I replied, "but I don't have clothes on." My laughter left me and the tears started to come to a stop.
      "Not like I'm opposed to seeing that", he teased. I rolled my eyes even though the door was still shut and locked. I suppressed yet another sigh, which was becoming my signature sign by this point, and unlocked the door before stepping back and avoiding meeting Dean's eyes. Rather I stared at the bruises that were all over me and grit my teeth. He opened the door and came up to me, titling my head up and forcing me to look at him. He gave me a soft smile before leaning down to peck my lips. He processed to bend down and grab the sweat pants and helped me to step into them and pulled them back up. He grabbed the shirt and I raised my arms as best as I could, which wasn't very much. He managed to get the shirt on though with only minimal pain caused to me although it took quite a few minutes.
      I looked down and chuckled as I realized I still wasn't in my own clothing. Dean stepped back and tilted his head in a way of asking what. "How did I even get in this clothes anyway", I laughed.
      "Oh uh", he said laughing with me, "You were wet and shaking so I changed you into some of my clothes to keep you warm." We grinned at each other like idiots for a few minutes before he shook his head with a laugh. He grabbed ahold of my hand and pulled me out to the kitchen and away from looking at my clearly damaged self. It was becoming quite clear to me that today Dean was my hero, my savior, in just about every way. Now he had even convinced me to ignore the risks of whatever we had and I realized I could actually be happy. Happy that Dean, someone who saved me from death, a complete psychotic breakdown, and my over analyzing brain, could actually possibly be mine. Now I just need to make sure I don't fuck it up and lose what I barley even have.