Struggle - A Destiel High School AU

Chapter Eight

Sunrays shine through the windows of the Impala. Dean drives through the streets as Cas gives him directions. He has no idea where they're going, but Castiel seems to know this part of town very well. "You have to turn right here." he says as he looks at Dean's focused face. Castiel doesn't realize it, but he observes Dean very often. He notices the freckles on his nose and the way he uses his cocky smile to wrap people around his finger. The smile thing  definitely works on Cas, but he's too stubborn to admit that.

After ten more minutes of driving, Cas tells Dean to stop the car. They're surrounded by trees and Dean has never been to this place before. "Follow me." Castiel says as he walks deeper into the forest.

"I'm starting to worry that you actually are part of a mafia and now you're just going to finish me off in these woods." Dean jokes.

"Shut up and keep walking." Cas chuckles as he looks over his shoulder to glance at Dean.

They've been walking for a while when Cas suddenly stops. They reached a lake surrounded by tall trees and bushes. The sunlight reflects on the water and the spring breeze blows through the plants. It's a beautiful place and until now Dean didn't even know it existed.

"This place is... wow."

"I know. I always come here to write, or to escape from everything for a while. Sometimes I  meet here with friends from my previous school too. I don't think many people know about this spot though." Cas smiles as he looks around the place that's so familiar to him. He's been here many times and a lot of memories are bound to this lake. He first visited this place with his dad's ex-girlfriend, the memory of that moment is still vivid in his mind. She was a very nice woman and she liked Cas so much that she was willing to show him, and only him, the place where she felt happiest. Even when she left, Cas kept returning to this place. He was just a little boy, but he managed to sneak out of the house every now and then. Castiel never really stopped doing it, it's a special place to him. He usually never takes people with him because he likes to be alone here, but he made an exception for Charlie, his best friend and fellow nerd, and his brother Samandriel. So he thought making an exception for Dean would be fine too.

Cas grabs Dean's wrist. He pulls him to the massive tree he always sits in front of and he lets himself fall onto the ground. Dean follows Castiel's example as he sits down and leans his head against the tree.

"Talk to me." Dean looks at Cas with a stupid grin on his face, his eyes are filled with joy. He really missed this. "How have you been?"

"Considering I just got humiliated by a douche bag and expelled from school, I'm actually doing alright." Cas says.

"Yeah. It sucks. He shouldn't' have said that."

"I wasn't really that offended, it was just stupid that he used 'gay' as an insult. People like him just really piss me off. I'm not even gay. Not that it's an insult, I just said it wasn't. But I don't think I am. Actually, I'm not really sure. I did like kissing you, but I kissed Meg Masters once too. Perhaps I just have some sort of leather jacket fetish. I just hate labels." Castiel just keeps talking, he barely had any social contact in the past few weeks and he kind of missed it. Also, he feels stupid as soon as he realizes what he just said.

"A leather jacket fetish, really?" Dean throws his head back as he laughs at Castiel's weird statement. "And... uhm... really? Meg?!" he continues and there's so much more he wants to say, but he can't get it out. Then he realizes that he sounds incredibly jealous and he immediately wants to punch himself in the face.

"Yeah. It was alright, but it was a while ago though. At the party, a few hours before you kissed me."

"Wow. Okay. By the way, you kissed me."

"No I didn't. I was high and you leaned in first. I just went along with it." Cas states.

"Ok, ok, maybe you're right." Dean gives Cas a cheeky smile. Suddenly, he feels the soft touch of Castiel's fingers on his hand. He wraps his fingers around Dean's and Dean tenses up because of the unexpected move Cas just made. Dean looks into his eyes and he can feel that stupid 14-year-old-girl-with-a-crush feeling coming up again.

"Dean, I really..." Castiel starts talking, but then he realizes he should probably shut up. So he just moves closer to Dean without letting go of his hand.  Then he carefully leans his head on Dean's shoulder. Dean doesn't react, he just sits there and enjoys the feeling of Castiel's touch. It was weird, how Cas and Dean could understand each other without saying a word. They both know  that what they're doing is confusing and it will probably become even more messed up soon if they just stay silent. But right now, they don't feel like explaining. There's no-one who can see them. So who cares.

Cas turns to Dean and notices how close his face is. Castiel knows that he probably shouldn't make a move, but Dean is just irresistible. So he leans towards him until his lips touch Dean's cheek. Dean lets out a breath, surprised by the soft feeling. But he doesn't get the chance to say or do anything, because Castiel's hand grabs his shoulders as he roughly presses a kiss onto Dean's lips. He pulls back immediately, teasing Dean and waiting for a reaction. Dean smirks before grabbing his coat and getting Cas to lean over him. He presses his other hand onto Dean's hip as he feels how Dean runs his fingers through Cas' hair. "Stop teasing me." Dean moans as Castiel leans closer towards him.

Cas smiles before their lips brush against each other again. It was only a soft touch at first, but they quickly deepen the kiss, hungry for more. Their tongues make contact and Cas tightens his grip on Dean's hip. They've both been craving this for weeks. But then Dean pulls back and takes a breath. "Hold up. We should just-" his voice shakes. "What are we doing? You won't even have a proper conversation with me and now you're all over me again."

"I... I don't know. Can't we just make out and not care for a moment? I thought that was what you-"

"No. I mean, yes, maybe. I like kissing you. But I also like you. And you know that, but you just seem to ignore it." Dean interrupts, he speaks with anger in his voice.

"I'm sorry." Cas says with a soft voice. "But have you considered that maybe I took you here to tell you that I like you too."

"What?" Dean freezes.

"I have a massive crush on you and I think I've had it since we first met but I was just too scared to admit it to myself. I'm still scared. I just don't know what to do and I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"Cas." he can't believe what he just heard, and he doesn't know whether to be happy or not. "Hey, I know it's confusing, but we'll figure all this stuff out together."

"Okay." Cas grins and his face suddenly looks so happy and relieved.