Cas' Dom Dean

Chapter 15

"Told you that I'm going to Harvard." As Sam said it he cringed and braced himself for Josh's response. 

"I knew it was one of the two!" Dean shot out before Josh could get a word in. "It was either Harvard, Oxford, or Stanford. They all kind sound alike, hmm, never noticed."

"Dean. For once, shut up." Cas elbowed him in the side.

Josh still hadn't said anything. His facial expression was a mixture between hurt, mad, and trying to fake being okay. Cas knew that look very well, but Dean was much better at it than Josh. Just as Cas thought that Josh's brain had clocked out, he cleared his throat.

"I'm going to go use the bathroom, excuse me." Sam stood up so that Josh could scoot out. That was one thing Cas noticed about him, he was understanding. 

Sam wasn't impulsive like Dean. He understood that Josh would need some time alone to process for the time being. Josh, being Cas' closest friend, more like his only friend, decided to go and follow him. 

"Excuse me." He got up from the spot next to Dean and followed Josh to the bathroom. Inside the restroom it was clean. The white tiles gleamed from the overhead lights. The sinks were porcelain and one had a chip out of the corner. It was made more noticeable because it was a grayish color inside, instead of the shinny white finish.

"Josh, you alright?" Cas' voice seemed to carry in the large, nearly empty bathroom. 

"Yeah, yes, I'm good. Fine. Just needed to get some air." 

Cas took a deep breath through his nose. It filled up with the scent of flowers, not the natural kind. The kind of fake kind of flower smell that is packed into disinfectants and other cleaners to make things smell pretty. Cas preferred that outdoor fresh air compared to this stale-like oxygen.

"You would probably have better luck outside, you know." It was mostly quiet except the the buzzing of the white lights. "Listen, I know that it must be hard for you. You just went through some heavy stuff, and I can't lie to you and tell you that I know what it's like. I have no idea what it's like. Now Sam's leaving for college and you probably feel like you're going to be more alone than ever-"

"You're really not too good at pep-talks, I hope you know that."

"Hey. Hear me out. You are not going to be alone Josh. Dean and I are going to be here for you. Sam seems to really like you, he will come visit, and who knows, maybe all three of us can go visit him over there in Massachusetts. It's only about a three hour flight." Josh came out of the largest stall on the end.

"How do you know he really likes me?" Josh looked at Cas. He guessed this must be what it's like being a high school girl going through guy drama with her best friend.

"Well for one, the way he looks at you. Secondly, he wouldn't have waited as long as he did to tell you if he weren't waiting for the right moment. He wouldn't need the right moment unless you really did matter to him." Cas patted Josh's shoulder and they both made their way to the exit. "And I'm sorry about Dean, he can be really thoughtless sometimes."

They made their way back to the table. Once again they passed the counter where orders were being placed down. Cas inhaled a deep breath. "Mmm, the sweet sweet smell of cardiac arrest." As Josh and Cas approached the table Sam stood up and didn't seat himself until the pair of them had sat down as well.

Just then the intoxicating food arrived and Sam looked at it as if it had three eyes and was squirming around. "Dean, you know I don't eat stuff like this." Sam held his palms up, motioning too the grease bath in front of him. 

"Shut your pie hole and eat it."

Sam raised his eyebrow at his brother and seemed to hold in a laugh.

"Shut it, you know what I mean. What're you anyways? A fuckin' rabbit?" 

Sam rolled his eyes but complied. It looks like everyone has a habit of listening to Deans orders. Everyone started eating their food and the tension that was once there began to dissipate. The four of them were all throwing jokes around and some friendly banter. Eventually the food dwindled down to crumbs and the shakes ran dry, but that didn't keep them from talking. 

"You would not believe what he did to that kid. He was a great big brother. He may have done a lot of stupid stuff in school, but he was a great defender. He always stuck up for me." Sam smiled at his big brother.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Cas smiled and thought back to when he really first met Josh and Mitch. Dean swept in as the hero and the supposedly bad guys ran off. Well at least the one real criminal in that situation got what he deserved. Josh had just been dragged along out of fear and poor judgment. He must have felt trapped.

Cas squinted out with window past Dean. The sun started to set and it cast an orange glow about the room. The blue and orange, being opposites, fought for dominance. The orange began to win over as the original bright sunlight faded out. Cas looked down at his watch. It was almost  nine and Dean promised an after party. They had classes tomorrow so they'd have to get an early night and to get an early night they'd have to have an early after party that would end at a reasonable time. Dean must have noticed Cas' glance at his watch because he cleared his throat to begin a goodbye.

"Well, its getting pretty late and I have an assignment to finish up before by first class tomorrow. You know me, Mr.Procrastination." Dean laughed. Cas was glad that Dean was private about their private business.

"Alright, but we have to do this again sometime. I have plenty of embarrassing stories about Dean to tell you Cas." Sam smiled, a genuine full teeth smile. He got those lines when he smiled. The ones that make it even more authentic. They cupped the side of his smile. That was something you couldn't fake.

Dean stood up and the three of them followed. They said their final goodbyes and went their separate ways. Maybe if Cas had know that something was going to happen after that, maybe he would have savored the glowing orange cadence in the room. If he knew what would happen we would have done everything in his power to keep it from happening. But Cas is no sidekick. He's no guardian angel. He just wished that he had taken a mental picture of him in that moment, because all he can see now is the pale plastic-like skin, drained of the orange glow of life.