Fic: Waging Wars to Shape the Poet and the Beast (2/2)

[dauntperplexity]

Title: Waging Wars to Shape the Poet and the Beast
Author: dauntperplexity
Rating: PG 13
Genre and/or Pairing: AU, Dean/Castiel mentions of Sam/Jess
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Language, some violence
Word Count: 8596
Summary: AU #69: Dean, Sam and Castiel are in university. Castiel and Dean are best friends, and Sam knows that Dean wants to be so much more. But Castiel is in a relationship with another man and the Winchesters don’t know that it’s an abusive one. Feel free to bring in Sam/Jess! Castiel!whumpage galore!!!
AN: The title comes from misheard lyrics that often happen to me. This time, Kings of Leon 'Use Somebody'. Also, Sam and Dean are only two years apart in my story. This is also my first attempt at a Dean and Castiel slash story, so I'm really nervous...

LKLKLKLKLKLKLK 

The next day, he was ready to talk to Castiel. He had thought all night about what he was going to say. Castiel didn’t come out of his room the night before, and he was usually out of the room first on Mondays, so Dean was going to have to wait until after class to talk to him.

When he was walking back from class, he came across a few of the guys who played on the lacrosse team with his roommate. They were sitting outside and playing Jenga. “Sup, Mike, Raph, Gabe.”

“Hey, Dean,” Michael replied. He pulled out a block and put it at the top of the tower.

“Where are the rest of the guys?” Dean asked. The teammates always stuck together. It was different of him to see only three of them together sitting outside of their dorm building.

“Class,” Gabriel replied. “Or probably napping for the practice we have tonight.”

“So, I guess Cas won’t be home until late tonight then.”

“We wouldn’t know,” Gabriel added. He started tugging at one of the blocks at the bottom of the tower. “We haven’t seen him at practice in maybe three weeks.”

“But he’s been coming home, tired, and sporting all these bruises.”

The three players looked at Dean, concern in their eyes. “That’s not from us,” Gabriel replied. He stopped pulling at the block he was working on. He resorted to flicking it, shifting the entire tower, but not knocking it down.

“Yeah, we have pads to protect us from that,” Michael added.

“So where are all these bruises coming from?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Michael said. “But the last time we saw the young one, the running back was pulling him off the field like he was mad at him for something. We were pissed. First, for interrupting our practice. And second because he was manhandling Castiel.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel added. “Uri, Zach, and Rami almost got punched in the face trying to stop us from going after the jerk.”

“So you guys didn’t follow him.”

“Cas wouldn’t let us,” Raphael replied. He stared at the tower of blocks before looking back to Dean. The game could wait. “Said that they were just talking. He hasn’t been to practice since.”

“Wait,” Gabriel said. “That’s a lie. He came to practice like a week later.”

“Right, right,” Michael agreed. “Had to bench him because he took a hit and took forever getting up. He tried to play it off like Uri got him good, but it shouldn’t have hurt.”

“Yeah, he’d taken harder hits before and just bounced back like it was nothing more than a slap in the face,” Gabriel added.

“Did he get that checked out?”

“He wouldn’t let the trainer near him,” Raphael said. “But we saw the bruises.”

“From?”

“Who knows?” Michael asked. “He tried to hide it, but they were everywhere.”

“We were hoping you’d know,” Gabriel said. “But since you thought it was us, we have no clue.”

“Now we have a clue,” Raphael countered.

“Who?” Dean asked.

“Mr. Running Back has a lot of explaining to do, now doesn’t he?”

“He sure does,” Dean hissed, his anger with his best friend’s boyfriend growing with each breath he took. Everything that he’d witnessed these past few days all added up.

“No. You go take care of Cas,” Michael said. “Maybe finally you guys can kiss or something.”

Dean’s eyes went wide and jaw dropped. He recovered quickly enough to cover his surprise. “What?”

The three guys laughed at him. “Don’t lie, Dean,” Gabriel replied. “We can see it in your eyes how much you care for that boy. Ever since you told us to give you the names of those boys that beat up Castiel those years go."

“I don’t—”

“Think you’re actually going to try and lie to us, are you?” Raphael interrupted. “We know all, Dean.”

“He’s my roommate.”

“Which means that you can’t ever get sexiled. You might never leave your room again,” Gabriel said with a giant grin on his face. “So go home, kiss his bruises, give him a hug, let him cry on your shoulder, then screw him until next week. You can rearrange the order, or try to do it all at once.”

Dean could not get over the fact that he was talking about Castiel with his teammates in this way. They were so nonchalant about it that threw Dean for a loop. “I really don’t…”

“Aw, he’s adorable. Thinking he doesn’t know what to do because he likes someone who has the same toys he does,” Gabriel said.

Michael stepped forward, shielding Dean from Gabriel’s assault. He put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Just take care of him, Dean,” Michael said. “Because if we find out that you hurt him, we’re coming after you. He’s like our little brother. We are very protective of our own, so don’t even think about hurting him.” Michael squeezed Dean’s shoulder, not enough to hurt, to emphasize his point.

Dean saw the other two nod. “I won’t hurt him.”

“Good.” Michael let his arm drop from Dean’s shoulder. “Go find him, talk to him. We’ll go deal with Tom.” He pulled at a block on the tower that he knew would knock it over. It did just that, ending the game, because it wasn’t important right now.

LKLKLKLKLKLKLKLK

Dean walked into his place, and he was pissed. He was pissed that someone was hurting Castiel. He was pissed that Castiel didn’t tell him that someone was hurting him. But he was mostly pissed because it was happening under his nose and he didn’t see it. He thought that they knew each other better.

He thought that Castiel trusted him.

He walked into Castiel’s room and opened to door to find him sprawled out on his bed. His lamp at his beside was on. He walked closer to Castiel’s bed and saw his blanket on the floor.

When he got close enough, he got a closer glimpse of his best friend. There were fresh bruises on his torso. Bruises that weren’t there on Friday. Bruises that weren’t from lacrosse. Because while lacrosse explained the bruises on his torso, how could lacrosse give Castiel bruises on his wrists.

And even more, how could bruises shaped like hands end up on his hips. He wouldn’t have noticed if Castiel’s boxers weren’t riding so low on his hips.

His eyes trailed up Castiel’s body to his face. Then he saw it, and he wanted to hit something. Castiel’s lip was split, and his one of his eyes was black. One of his cheeks was also swollen.

If for some reason he still believed the lacrosse lie that Castiel was telling him, he wasn’t believing it now. There was no reason for Castiel’s face bruised like that.

What was worse was that in his sleep, Castiel didn’t look peaceful at all. And it saddened Dean, because usually when he slept, he looked like an angel. Now, he looked restless, and defensive. He wanted nothing more than to lean over, kiss Castiel on his forehead and tell him that everything was going to be all right. Dean settled for brushing stray hairs out of Castiel’s face. Castiel moaned and moved closer to the touch. In that moment of intimacy, Castiel instantly relaxed.

Dean had enough. He wanted answers. He walked over to the window and pulled open the blinds. “Rise and shine,” he said. He looked to Castiel’s bed and watched him as he struggled to open his eyes.

“Dean?”

“You’re sleeping your life away, get up.”

Castiel finally opened his eyes. The first thing he realized was that Dean was really in his room. The second thing he realized was the he didn’t have his blanket covering him. He scrambled to pull it over him, knowing that he was too late. He did relax a little once he was covered. “Can you leave while I put on some clothes?”

Dean crossed his arms across his chest. “That’s never bothered you before.”

Castiel sighed, and his shoulders slumped. He looked like crap, and Dean wasn’t helping. Dean turned around to walk out of the room. When Castiel thought he was about to be alone, Dean stopped in the doorway. “Dean?”

“You lied to me, Cas,” Dean said. Hurt was evident in his voice.

“What?” Castiel asked.

Dean spun around and stared at his best friend. His roommate. The guy he cared for more than a friend. “Lacrosse practice?”

“Am I late?”

“I’m surprised you’re going at all,” Dean replied, his tone biting.

“What?” Castiel’s eyes were wide, like he was just caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“I ran into your lacrosse buddies earlier today. They said that you haven’t been at practice. And they said that you haven’t been able to take a hit without looking like you’ve been going through a meat grinder.”

“That was just—”

“They said they haven’t seen you at practice in almost three weeks.” Dean saw the look in Castiel’s eyes as he tried to come up with something to say. “So, are you going to tell me what’s really going on, or are you going to lie to me again?”

“Nothing—”

And that did it. “Whatever, Cas!” Dean yelled. He just exploded. He couldn’t believe that Castiel was going to lie to him, right to his face.

So Castiel froze, his eyes as wide as they could get. He stopped breathing for a moment. Dean saw it. He stepped forward and saw Castiel tense up. Dean stopped in his place. “Cas?” Dean whispered. “Cas? Cas what’s wrong?”

Castiel looked down at his lap. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to,” he whispered. “Please don’t be mad.”

Dean slowly walked forward and sat on the edge of his bed. “Cas.” He put a hand his shoulder. He felt the tension in his fingertips. “What happened?”

Castiel leaned forward and put his hands to his face. Dean grabbed him and pulled him forward to rest on his chest. Castiel grabbed onto Dean’s shirt like it was a lifeline. Dean felt his shirt getting moist from Castiel’s tears. “I’m sorry, Dean. Please don’t be mad. Please.” His whole body shook in Dean’s arms.

Dean brought his hand up and started rubbing Castiel’s back. He wondered what Castiel was talking about, because he sounded like he was mumbling nonsense. He gently grabbed him by his arms and lifted him off. “Why would I be mad at you?” Dean tipped Castiel’s chin up with his fingers, forcing his friend’s blue eyes to meet his green. “Cas,” he whispered.

“I feel like I’ve been doing nothing right lately.”

“Why would you feel like that?”

“I feel like everything I do, every choice I make always makes someone angry with me. It’s too much.”

“I’m not mad, Cas, I promise. I just… who is mad at you?” Dean searched his friend’s eyes and waited for an answer, but received none. “Cas. Where are the bruises from? Really.”

“Tom,” he replied, ashamed.

Castiel tried to look back down but Dean stopped him. “No, eyes up. I don’t want you closing off and running away from this.” He kept his gaze. “Why is he hitting you?”

“He gets mad.”

“What the hell do you do that makes him mad enough to hit you?”

“Still trying to figure that out,” he said with a sad smile on his face.

Dean stood up from Castiel’s bed and began pacing back and forth. “Why, Cas? You deserve better than that.”

“Probably.”

“No, you do.”

“Dean, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not!” he yelled. Castiel tensed again. “Sorry. Sorry,” he apologized quickly. The last thing he wanted was to scare Castiel off. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right, Dean. You know I’ve taken worse beatings than all of this before.”

“Yeah, that was from your stepfather. He was a dick. And those jerks at this school know better than to come after again. I told you before that if anyone ever laid a hand on you, you were supposed to tell me so I could give them the beating they deserve.”

“My hero.” Castiel smiled for a second before it disappeared. “But Dean, I appreciate the concern on your part—”

“It isn’t just me,” Dean said quickly. He didn’t want his secret to be spilled. Not yet. “Your lacrosse boys want to kick his ass.”

“That would be ill-advised.”

“I really want to kick his ass.”

“That would also be ill-advised.”

Dean sat down on Castiel’s bed. He traced his finger around the bruise on Castiel’s hip. Castiel’s breath hitched when he pushed down on a dark spot. “You can’t be okay with him doing that to you.”

“I’m fine.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Awhile.”

“How long is awhile?”

Castiel just sat there, and Dean thought that he wasn’t going to get an answer. “Remember when that time I ended up in a hospital and told you I was mugged."

“That was more than a year ago. That was Tom?"

“He was drunk. Said he’d never do it again. And he didn’t for almost five months. Then, it started again, hasn’t stopped. It’s gotten worse.”

“And you’re still with him?” He couldn’t suppress his disappointment in his friend.

“He was nice at first. You saw that. I wanted to know why he was so angry.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Nothing you needed to worry about.”

“Cas, someone is marking up your body with bruises. That’s something.” He stopped himself from speaking for a second. He took in a deep breath. “You didn’t trust me enough.” His throat clenched as he said those words.

Castiel looked up at his best friend, realizing what this revelation meant to him. He also took in a deep breath. Letting it out shook his entire body. “The opposite, Dean. I trust you too much and I know that you’d something on my behalf. You’ve done it before. I needed to be able to deal with this by myself.”

“And how is that going?” Castiel didn’t answer him because as much as he wanted to lie to him, he was never able to lie to Dean. And Dean knew that. “Why didn’t I figure it out?”

“I didn’t want anyone to know, Dean.”

“Castiel Connor, there are a lot of people who care about you. We would’ve figured it out eventually.”

“I was hoping that it would be a lot later.”

“Cas. How do you think we’d feel if you ended up in the hospital again and we could’ve stopped it?” Castiel bit his lip, knowing that Dean was right. “What set him off?” Dean asked.

“I think that it had something to do with him seeing me passed out on your lap, one night. He said he saw you stroking my hair or something. I don’t know. I think he was lying because that doesn’t seem like something you’d do unless I was a chick. And I told him that just because I’m the bot–”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Dean said, covering his ears.

Castiel smiled, and he bit his lip loving the reaction from Dean. He put his hands on Dean’s and brought them down to Dean’s side. “But he said he just saw me sleeping on you and it made him mad.”

“It happens all the time.”

“I know that. You know that. But he didn’t. He still doesn’t.”

“So he’s jealous.”

“He could be,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. Then he groaned, not able to keep up his lie as small as it was. He ran his fingers through his hair. “He is. Because you, Dean Winchester, are a catch for any sex. And you have the ability to make anyone like you. He doesn’t get it, though. You like girls. You’d never swing my way. He just thinks that because we live together and you’re good looking and a nice guy and all these other amazing qualities that I’m too lazy to name, that one day we’ll run off together. But you’d never like me like that, right?”

And there it was. The now or never. “Um…”

Castiel looked at Dean when he heard the hesitation. “Dean?”

Dean chewed on his lip. He took the chance to gather his bearing before he spoke. This was his chance, and he knew that if he didn’t say anything now, he never would. He put his hands on Castiel’s shoulders and looked into his eyes. “Cas. What if I said that I like—”

Castiel’s eyes grew to the size golf balls. He hit Dean’s hand off of him and jumped out of bed. “No. Dean, no. I mean, I tease you all the time, but you have to know… Oh gosh,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “Oh gosh.”

“Cas, it’s okay,” he laughed.

“I turned Dean Winchester gay. I mean… The Dean Winchester now likes guys. Oh my.” Castiel doubled over and began hyperventilating.

Dean walked over to his friend and grabbed him by his arms to straighten him. He shook him once. “Cas. Stop.”

Castiel took a few moments to gather himself. Then he looked straight into Dean’s eyes. And he instantly calmed. “Damn.”

Dean let his friend go once he knew that Castiel was steady on his feet. “What?”

“I like you. You know I like you. I check you out, and I flirt. And you, being as amazing as you are, was totally okay with that. But you were Mr. Unattainable. And that was fun. And now…”

“What? It isn’t as exciting as you thought it’d be?”

“No. It’s very exciting. It’s just… now there’s going to be guys and girls vying for your attention.”

“They don’t have it.”

“You really don’t like the attention, do you? I mean. Gosh, what is going on in your head? You can get any girl on campus. And now you want guys? I mean—”

Castiel was interrupted with Dean grabbing his face and pressing their lips together. He needed to shut Castiel up and that was the only way he could think about doing it. He wasn’t sure how Castiel was going to react, and he was scared that he was going to be angry. But slowly, Castiel responded to the kiss.

When Dean broke the kiss, he looked up and saw Castiel’s eyes closed and lips parted slightly. Dean smiled at how adorable he looked. “Are you all right?” Dean asked. He used his thumb to trace Castiel’s bottom lip. He cupped Castiel’s cheek and smiled.

“That was unfair, Dean Winchester. Not fair at all."

“I needed to shut you up somehow.”

Castiel brought his hand up and covered Dean’s. “Don’t be a tease, Dean.”

“Who said I’m teasing? That’s usually your job. I’ve just decided to finally respond to all your teasing.”

Castiel held onto Dean’s hand and brought it down to his hip. “Was that your first kiss with a guy?” He squeezed it once before he let go.

“The first one that meant anything.”

“When did this happen? I mean, I should’ve seen this coming. Right? I didn’t have a clue.”

“Stop thinking so much.”

“No, you don’t get to tell me to stop thinking so much. You like guys! How did this happen? When?”

Dean had to hold back a laugh. He didn’t realize that Castiel was going to react like this to the news. He waited for Castiel’s breathing to slow down before he answered. “Do you remember the first time you crawled into my bed freshman year, drunk out of your mind?”

Castiel groaned. “You promised you’d never hold that against me. I don’t remember anything about that night.”

“I’m not holding it against you. I never forgot it,” Dean said.

“So, what does that night have to do with anything?”

“It felt right. You sleeping with my arm around you. You fit. Why do you think I’m okay with you falling asleep on me all the time?”

“Because you gave up on carrying me to my bed freshman year?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Because I care about you. Everything just feels better when...” his voice trailed off, unsure of the words he wanted to choose to finish that sentence.

“So he did catch you caressing my hair and whispering sweet nothings in my ear?”

“I wouldn’t go as far as the whispering part. Please don’t make this sound all poetic.”

Castiel let out a short laugh. “I won’t.” He let out a long breath and relaxed his entire body. Then he perked up. “So wait. You’ve had feelings for me since freshman year?”

“I don’t know if you could consider them feelings. I cared about you a lot. And obviously you were a looker because all of those girls kept coming by asking about you. I was confused.”

“Two and a half years, Dean. I could’ve been making out with you for two and a half years.”

“I think we’d be doing more than making out in those two and a half years.”

“You are such a tease.”

“Hey, at least I remember our first kiss.”

“It just happened two and a half minutes ago.”

“Try two and a half years.”

“Please don’t tell me that I made out with you that night that I crawled into your bed?” Dean nodded. “And I don’t remember it!” Dean laughed. “Do not laugh at me, Dean.”

“I’m sorry,” he replied, trying to suppress his laugh.

“At least tell me it was good.”

“You, Castiel Connor, were a damn good kisser.”

“Damnit,” he yelled. “I kiss with the hottest guy in the school and I can’t even remember it. Did we do anything else?”

“Just make out a couple of times freshman year. That’s it. I promise.”

“I totally suck,” Castiel said, completely frustrated that he couldn’t remember his first make out with Dean.

“You tried, but I wouldn’t let you. You’re pretty damn horny when you’re drunk.”

Castiel pushed his friend and laughed. “You’re an ass.”

“But you love me anyway.”

“I do,” Castiel said softly. “I mean, now I really can.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Dean asked. “About Tom, I mean.”

Castiel sighed. “I’m calling him,” he said. He reached over for his cell phone, but Dean stopped him.

“Your lacrosse boys are dealing with him, right now.”

“They know now, huh?”

“Yeah. They actually know a lot of things. Very intuitive. They suspected something about Tom. They are really protective of you. And they knew about me liking you.”

“I’m okay with that,” Castiel said with a smile. A genuine smile. “I guess that I can confirm our breakup with him later.”

“Just put it up on facebook.”

Castiel laughed as he considered the possibility. “So what are you going to do now?”

Dean smirked, and Castiel caught the twinkle in his eye. He leaned forward and kissed Castiel. When they broke the kiss, Dean moved his mouth an inch away from Castiel’s ear. “Take you up on your offer to let me do whatever I want to your body.” Dean looked at Castiel’s face and saw the confusion.

“Dean,” Castiel started. “You’ve liked guys for a whole five minutes. Maybe I should take the lead on this one?”

“You don’t think I could?”

“I’m just saying that—”

Dean took the opportunity to lean into Castiel’s neck and started sucking on his pulse point. He bared his teeth for a moment to bite lightly. He had to grab onto Castiel when Castiel started sinking. He knew he just made Castiel go weak in the knees. He smiled as he continued to suck. He walked forward, leading Castiel onto his bed. He pulled away when Castiel was lying flat on it with his legs hanging off. He kneeled over him and watched as Castiel’s chest rose and fell with deep breaths.

He knew that Castiel was trying to figure out how Dean easily found a spot that could control him. What he didn’t want to tell Castiel was that he found that spot and tested it every time Castiel crawled into bed with him freshman year. He knew a lot of things about his roommate’s body that Castiel didn’t realize he did. Dean scooted down and placed a soft kiss just below Castiel’s belly button. He felt the muscles tense under his lips. “You were saying?” Dean looked up and said with his signature smirk.

Castiel rolled his eyes. He put a hand under Dean’s chin and pulled him up. “Shut up,” Castiel replied. Then he grinned, mischievously, and menacingly.  “Show me what you got, Dean Winchester. And it better be worth making me wait two and a half years for it.”

Dean moved up and placed another soft kiss on Castiel’s sternum. “I’m going to have to lock our door then.”

The End