Dreamer

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Crystal Ship, Part One

The days are bright and filled with pain
Enclose me in your gentle rain

Safe; secure from danger, harm, or evil.

While it was a nice thought, one had to wonder if was really possible to be completely secure. Could dangers and evils be easily predicted all the time?  Did a chance of harm not lie behind every corner?
No matter how small or meagre, there was always some sort of insecurity that lingered, a fear of the unknown.

This exact insecurity is what kept me from giving into Castiel’s promises of safety. That too, for the better. I knew that I could not—even for a mere second—fool myself into believing that I was out of the woods. Contrarily, I was in the midst of a thicket. I was in the most trouble that I had ever been in, and escape didn’t appear as though it was in my grasp.

Even so, I allowed Castiel to lead me away from the current situation and into the diner at which our first ‘date’ took place.

I smiled slightly at the memory. ‘It seems as though my birthday was ages ago… wait… birthday?!’ A sudden realisation dawned on me. ‘Today is January 7th… January, January… there’s something happening this month—hang on, I know! Castiel’s birthday is on the 18th!’ A gasp escaped my lips.

“What’s wrong?"  Castiel immediately turned his attention to me. Oh right, he was sitting right across from me, and there I was, suddenly realising his birthday was coming up. As screwed up of a situation I may have been in, I knew I needed to do something for him—more than that, I really wanted to.

I cleared my throat. “Uh… n-nothing, just one of those feelings where you think you left the iron on, know what I mean? But yeah, I’m pretty sure I unplugged it, yeah…"  If that wasn’t the lamest excuse in existence, well, I didn’t know what was.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t question it. “Yeah well, if it means that idiot will burn to death, I wouldn’t mind if you did forget."  He smirked.

That idiot? I supposed that he was referring to Vince. I chuckled uncomfortably and feigned interest in the menu.

As I absently read over the many food choices, a hand reached over the menu, and pushed it down. Slowly, I let my eyes wander to Castiel’s stern face. “Uh… I was reading that."

“Sure you were."  He rolled his eyes. “Look, Des, I didn’t say anything this whole time because I was hoping you’d explain what happened without me forcing you."

I was wondering why he wasn’t prodding so much! I know that I would have. I bit my lip nervously. “What happened? I screwed up."

“And?"  He shook his head. “What I want to know is if he does that often."

“No… that’s the first time Vince ever laid a hand on me."  I answered him firmly. And yet, I could tell from his expression that he didn’t believe me—though I really was being honest that time.

“Yeah? Well, it’ll also be the last time if I’ve got anything to do with it."  The seriousness of his tone was more than slightly disconcerting. And what did he think he was going to do? The last thing I wanted was for him to get involved any more than he needed to be. If anything, I wished Castiel wasn’t involved at all—albeit, that ship sailed when I broke my resolve and let myself fall hard for him.

“What? You’re not going to have anything to do with it, Castiel. You’re overreacting, seriously."  I shook my head. “I’m fine, remember? And I can deal with him myself—not that there’s anything to deal with."

Castiel stared at me incredulously and opened his mouth to speak—

“Well, hey there! Can I start you two off with some drinks?"  The chipper voice of a waitress cut him off.