Fic: Waging Wars to Shape the Poet and the Beast (1/2)

[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: 8604
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...

“So, have you told him yet?” Sam asked his older brother.

“Sammy, seriously, shut up.” Sam had been bugging Dean since he walked into his brother’s apartment and found him alone.

“Dean, it’s all right to like your best friend.”

“We’re not talking about this, right now.”

“Why not?” They had been talking about this for the last few weeks.

“Because I’m busy doing my homework.”

“Right,” Sam said, incredulously. He rolled his eyes. “That’s why Castiel’s facebook is all over your computer screen.”

Dean craned his neck to look over his computer at his brother. He then looked behind him to see if there was any way that Sam could see what was on his screen. He sighed. He was becoming predictable. “Sammy, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll drop whatever you’re thinking.”

“Can’t do that, Dean.”

Dean shut his laptop. “What do you expect me to do, Sam?” He was getting really tired of having this conversation every time he saw his brother. He knew it was a bad idea for him to suggest going to the same school.

“Anything. I expected The Great Dean Winchester, wooer of all things with a pulse, to have more balls than what you’re showing me right now.”

Dean stood up from his seat. “Really, Sammy?” Dean asked. He walked over to his brother and started unbuttoning his pants. He stopped when the door to his apartment swung open.

Castiel stood in the doorway, wide-eyed and completely confused. “What’s going on here, Dean?” he asked, after the initial shock, with his eyebrows raised. His grin reached from ear to ear.

“Shut up, Cas,” Dean said, buttoning his pants back up.

“You do know you’re brothers, right?” Castiel walked past the two of them. “I thought that I was the only one in this room that liked men.”

 “You still are. I mean, unless Sammy here has decided to join your club.”

Castiel winked in Dean’s direction. “Right, of course. Like you’d ever give up your black hair, brown eyed Asian girls for someone like me.” Castiel smiled and looked to the younger Winchester. “Oh, Sammy. If your brother ever shoes just a sliver of like of a man… the things I would let him do to my body. I’d give you the details, but I don’t think your brother would appreciate me corrupting you.”

Sam laughed. Dean stood up from this chair, walked over to Castiel and pushed his best friend and roommate.

Castiel bit his lip to keep from whimpering out loud. It wasn’t a hard push, but his ribs were still hurting from what he had just gone through. He thought that he had covered it up well. That was, until Sam said something.

“You all right, Cas?” Sam asked.

Castiel turned around and flashed a smile. “Of course, Sam.”

“You look like you’re in pain.”

“Lacrosse,” Castiel replied. “I took some hard hits today.”

“Don’t you guys wear pads to protect you from that?” Dean asked.

“We do. And we were supposed to just be throwing around today, but some of the guys decided that it would be fun to tackle me anyway. I ended up at the bottom of the dogpile. Multiple times.”

“Ouch,” Sam replied.

“My sentiments exactly,” Castiel replied.

“So, where’s all your stuff?”

“Tom’s,” Castiel and Dean replied together.

“Cas here, spends all his time at boyfriend’s house,” Dean added. “Never around anymore.” He almost sounded regretful.

And Castiel caught it. “Are you jealous?” Castiel asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Are you moving out?” Dean retorted.

“No,” they both replied in unison.

“Wow,” Sam said.

“What?” they asked.

“That.”

Dean and Castiel looked at each other, then looked away. Castiel walked into his bedroom while Dean stayed in place. He walked back out with a shirt in his hand. “So, what have you guys been up to?”

“Homework,” Dean said gesturing to all of the papers spread around the table he was sitting at.

“What he means to say is facebook,” Sam replied.

“Dean, Dean, Dean. If you wanted to look at me, you didn’t have to stare at my facebook all day. I’m right here,” Castiel teased.

“What?” Sam and Dean said, both of them wearing identical shocked looks on their faces. If they were eating or drinking something, they would’ve probably spit it out or choked on it.

“Huh,” Castiel said with a smile on his face. “That is a little weird.” He took off the shirt he was wearing and threw it into his room. He heard a gasp come from one of the brothers and wondered what just happened. Then he looked down. “Damn,” he said only loud enough for him to hear.

Dean stared at the bruises that colored Castiel’s upper body. When he got over the initial shock of Castiel’s skin looking anything but smooth and unmarred, he shook his head. “You need to start telling the guys to go easier on you,” he said.

“Right, and subject myself to their teasing until the end of the season? I think I can handle a few bruises.”

“You sure, Cas?” Sam asked. “Those look pretty bad. You have bruises on top of bruises. They look like they’ll never heal.”

“It looks at lot worse than it actually is.”

“It looks pretty bad,” Sam countered.

“Sam, he doesn’t want you worrying about him.”

Sam glared at his brother. “What about you, Dean? He probably doesn’t want you worrying about him, either.” He could see it in his brother’s eyes that he was just as, if not more concerned with Castiel’s injuries.

“Well, I’m his roommate and best friend, so I don’t care about what he says I can or can’t do. I’m allowed to ignore him.”

“Not allowed to, but still does anyway,” Castiel replied. He threw on a dark purple shirt. “So, what are you guys up to this weekend?” He grabbed a black button down shirt and pulled it on too, taking his time as he did.

Dean and Sam looked at each other and saw that he was trying to change the subject. Instead of ganging up on him because they felt like he was hiding something, they let the subject change. “Two twelve page papers due on Monday,” Dean answered. “I’m stuck inside.”

“Me and Jess are going into the city,” Sam added. “She said something about the seasons switching and massive sales going on.” Sam sighed. He sounded glad that he got to spend time with his girlfriend, but he wasn’t too excited about shopping. “And you? What are you up to?”

“Just partying at Tom’s, I guess,” Castiel answered. “You guys are more than welcome to come over if you guys have the time.”

“I’d rather not see my roommate making out with his boyfriend.”

“See, Dean,” Castiel started. “You say all of this stuff, and I know that it makes you uncomfortable, but I’ll just keep imagining that you’re just jealous.”

“You do that,” Dean replied.

Castiel looked at the clock on his “I have to head out. Tom wants to go and pick up stuff before tonight.”

“See you, Cas,” Sam replied.

“Have fun in the city. Buy something nice to wear, all right?”

“I will,” Sam laughed.

“See you later, Dean,” Castiel said. “If you need help with your paper, call me.”

“I just might.”

“Just nothing after twelve. Don’t be a cock block, all right?”

“Definitely not,” Dean said.

“I’ll see you later,” Castiel said and left the room.

Dean walked over to the couch and plopped himself on it. He grabbed the controller and turned the TV on. He threw his arm over his eyes and sighed.

Sam snatched the controller out of his brother’s hand and turned the TV off. “You’re embarrassing,” he finally said. He wanted to wait until he knew that Castiel wasn’t coming back before he confronted his brother.

“What are you talking about?” Dean asked, lifting his arm off of his eyes.

“I never thought that I’d see you intimidated by someone. Or crushing on someone this bad.”

“What am I? A third grader with his first crush on someone ever?”

“You might as well be,” Sam answered. “You need to man up.”

“You need to shut up.”

“Dean, being this defensive is not helping your case.”

Dean sat up and glared at his brother. “Well, what do you want me to do?”

“Tell him.”

“It isn’t that easy.”

“Yes, it is. Just go up to him and say, ‘Cas, Tom is a tool. I like you, make out with me.’”

“And that is why you’ve only had one girlfriend. Ever. Why Jess chooses to stay with you, I have no idea.”

“Don’t change the subject,” Sam scolded. “Dean, you’ve been pining over him for years. I had to listen to it over the phone every time you called home. And then I come here and see how pathetic it actually is.” He paused, waiting for a reply from his brother. He was satisfied when he knew his brother couldn’t say anything. “Tell him.”

“And what if he doesn’t feel the same way,” Dean said, sad.

“Do you hear the things he says to you? He sounds like he’s joking, but he really means it. He is in love with you, but he knows that it can’t happen because you like girls way too much. He’s waiting for the day you say you like men. Which could’ve been today. Tell him, Dean. You’ll be happy, he’ll be happier, and hell, even I’ll be happy.”

“Shut up, Sammy.”

“Only when you man up, Dean.” He looked at his watch. “I have to go. Jess is waiting for me so we can come up with a game plan for all the shops we’re going to hit.”

“Have fun with that,” Dean teased.

“Dean, at least I’m with someone that I care about. Unlike someone I know. But I can’t keep repeating myself because I’ll go hoarse. And don’t even think about going to pick up girl to get rid of all this pent up sexual tension or whatever.” Dean stared at his brother incredulously. “Yeah, I know you that well, Dean. And you deserve all this aggression because you don’t deserve your penis unless you tell him.”

“What? You—” Dean wanted to say more but he was stopped when Sam walked out of his room leaving him alone. “Damnit!”

LKLKLKLKLKLKLK

The next day, two Red Bulls and seven pages into his first paper, Dean was ready to take a break. He stood up, stretched, and walked to the bathroom to relieve himself. When he walked out, he saw Castiel standing in the living room with Tom. “I thought you said he wasn’t here,” Tom hissed.

“I never said that,” Castiel said. “I told you the complete opposite. I said he was probably going to be home all night.”

“Why the hell am I here?”

“You decided to come along. I said I just needed to grab another shirt,” Castiel said.

“Sure,” Tom said. “Go grab your shirt.” Castiel spun to head toward his room. Before he got too far, Tom grabbed him by his wrist and kissed Castiel roughly. When they broke the kiss, Castiel let out a sigh. “Go,” he said, letting go of him. He slapped Castiel in the butt as he walked away.

Dean walked over to the couch and sat down. He turned on the TV. “Tom,” he said.

“Winchester,” he replied.

“How’s your party going?”

“Fine.”

“That’s nice,” Dean answered. He tried to make the situation less awkward, but he needed an effort from the other party. He didn’t get it. Their time together became more awkward with every second that Castiel left them alone.

“Yeah,” Tom said. He turned and looked to face Castiel’s room. “Cas, hurry your ass up!” he yelled feeling the awkwardness.

“Almost done!” Castiel replied.

A minute later, his room door opened and Dean and Tom turned to look. Castiel walked out of his room wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt and jeans with holes at the knees. His hair was gelled up and messy. He was wearing his glasses too. He grabbed his black bomber jacket and threw it on. Dean had to blink at how good he looked. “Damn,” he whispered.

“What was that, Dean?” Castiel asked.

“Sam,” he said quickly. “I just remembered that I have to ask Sam to look for something for me while he’s still in the city.”

“Oh,” Castiel replied. He looked at Tom. “Did you guys have a good talk?”

“Yeah. Ready? Let’s go,” Tom said quickly wanting to get out of the room as fast as possible. He grabbed Castiel by the wrist and tried to pull him out the door.

“Let go,” Castiel said, glaring at his boyfriend. “I’ll meet you outside.” Castiel’s voice deepened, and Dean knew Castiel as angry. His voice only went that deep when he was really angry. Tom stared at Castiel waiting for him to back down, but Castiel wasn’t going to any time soon. “Go.”

Tom huffed and walked out of the room, slamming the door. Castiel sighed and ran his hand down his face. “Well, he’s pleasant,” Dean said.

“I’m sorry about that,” Castiel said. Dean saw the tension in his friend’s shoulders. “He’s already had a lot to drink.” He lifted his glasses off his face and rubbed his eyes.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dean said. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Dean sighed. “Cas, I’ve known you for more than two years. You might not want to believe it, but I know when you’re not being completely honest with me.”

“Dean, please,” Castiel whispered. He put his glasses back on his face. “Not tonight.”

Dean raised his hands in resignation. “Okay, fine. I won’t push.” Dean stood up and walked over to his best friend. He looked him over and smirked. He bit his lip and resisted every urge to kiss him and keep him in the room all to himself. He settled for pushing Castiel’s glasses back up his nose.  “Be careful, all right, Cas?”

“No problem,” Castiel said with a smile. Dean noticed something different about it. “Have a good night, Dean.”

“Yeah. I’ll try.”

As soon as Castiel stepped out of their apartment, Dean groaned. Whatever pent up sexual tension Sam said he deserved had multiplied when he saw Castiel. He jumped over the back of his couch and kept his eyes on the television. He laced his fingers and put them behind his head. He leaned back on the couch, watching his show. “Sammy was right. He is a tool.”

LKLKLKLKLKLKLK

The Red Bull had finally worn off after Dean had a packet of Ramen noodles. When he was done eating it, he felt stuffed, and exhaustion quickly won over the need to finish his paper.

He was asleep for two hours when the sound of his door opening woke him. He tried to ignore it, but something fell over. “What?” Dean mumbled through his sleepy haze.

“Oh, Dean. Sorry.”

“Cas?”

“Wrong room,” he said. “Go back to sleep, Dean.”

Dean noticed something pained in the tone of his voice. “Are you drunk?”

“Sure, Dean,” Castiel replied. “Sorry for waking you, Dean. Goodnight.”

“Night, Cas.”

Castiel tried to shut the door as quietly as he could, feeling bad for waking his roommate.

Dean stared at the light under his door and waited for it to shut off, telling him that Castiel had made it to bed all right. When it didn’t shut off for ten minutes, Dean rolled out of bed and made his way to the living room. Castiel hadn’t been drunk enough to walk into the wrong room in a year and a half. Something had to be up.

Dean walked to the bathroom door when he saw the light on from under it. He pressed his ear to it and heard the sink running and Castiel coughing. He jiggled the doorknob and found it locked. “Cas? How are you doing? You all right?” he asked, concerned. He waited for a response.

Castiel shut off the sink and waited before answering. “Yeah, fine.”

“You sure?” Dean asked. He didn’t believe Castiel’s answer.

“I’m fine. Too much to drink. Just washing up.”

“Do you need anything?”

“I’m fine, Dean,” Castiel said. “Just go back to sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Dean shrugged and left Castiel alone. He got back in bed and tried to fall back asleep. But something in the back of his mind was nagging him. After a more than an hour, exhaustion finally got the better of him. He could check on Castiel in the morning.

LKLKLKLKLKLKLK

Dean loved running on Sundays. He used the time to clear his head, or use up the energy that he built up from the weekend. He loved the alone time and he felt like he could run for hours.

Dean stopped his run when he felt his phone vibrating against his leg. “H’lo?” he answered after he pulled his headphones out of his ears.

“Dean, where are you?”

“Sam?”

“Yes, Dean, it’s me.”

“Aren’t you still supposed to be underwear shopping or something?” Dean asked. He continued to walk to rest of his path.

“We got back early.”

“Okay, so why are you calling me?”

“I wanted to see if you’re home.”

“I’m not.”

“I figured.”

“So, why the phone call?”

“Well, there’s a lot of yelling going on in your place.”

“What?”

“Cas is fighting with someone.”

“Go check if he’s okay, Sammy,” Dean said. He spun around and started running back toward his place.

“I’m trying. The door is locked. Dean, get home, now. Cas sounds scared. And it sounds like things are getting thrown around.”

Dean broke out into a full sprint. “Yeah, I’ll be home as soon as I can. Give me a few minutes.”

“Hurry, because someone might call the cops soon.”

Dean didn’t need to be told twice. He hung up his phone and ran with it in his hand, not wanting to stop for anything. He made it back to his house in record time.

Dean ran up the stairs, not bothering to wait for the elevator. When he entered his place, he saw Sam picking up something off the floor. “Where is he?”

“Who?

“Cas.”

“He’s in his room,” Sam replied, putting something back on the kitchen counter.

“You didn’t check on him?” he yelled, pissed at his brother for leaving Castiel alone after getting into a fight.

“He kept insisting that he was all right.”

“Sam, you should’ve checked on him.”

“It doesn’t matter if I did or not, Dean, because you would’ve checked on him right after anyway.”

“Good point,” Dean said, running his hand up and down his face.

“So are you going to keep fighting with me or are you going to check on him? I think that he needs you.”

“Yeah, sure,” Dean said. “You going to stick around?”

“I’ll clean up out here.”

“Thanks, Sammy.”

“That sounded almost sentimental. You are such a girl.” He grabbed a kitchen towel and threw it at his brother.

Dean rolled his eyes and made his way to Castiel’s room. He wiped his face with the towel then dropped it on the floor. He then knocked on the door a few times. “Cas?” He received no reply. “Castiel Connor, I have a key to your room, I’ll just walk in if I have to.”

“It’s open,” Castiel said.

Dean opened the door and found all of the lights turned off. He was about to turn it on, but decided against it. His eyes adjusted quickly enough. He shut the door behind him.

Dean found Castiel sitting on his bed wearing an extra large sweatshirt, his extra large sweatshirt, with his knees pulled up to his chest. His arms were wrapped around his legs and he rested his hooded head on his knees. “Cas?” Dean walked over and sat next to him on his bed. “Come on, talk to me.”

“I’m sorry if I scared Sam.”

Dean put his arm around his roommate and pulled him to rest on his shoulder. Castiel didn’t fight him and just let Dean maneuver him around. “Come on, just tell me what happened. Lover’s spat?” Dean rubbed Castiel’s arm comfortingly.

Castiel sniffled and brought a hand up to wipe his face on a sleeve. “Tom’s pissed.”

“Why?” He didn’t care that Tom was mad, all he cared about was that Castiel was feeling miserable. And he couldn’t do anything about it.

“I told him that I didn’t want to go out. There’s a football thing tonight and he wanted me on his arm. I told him I wasn’t feeling well. ” Castiel let out a shaky sigh that rattled his entire body. “And he got angry because he said I was obviously well enough to go to church this morning.”

Dean rolled his eyes. He knew that Castiel could be in a coma and still somehow make it to church. Dean brought the back of his hand up to Castiel’s forehead. He felt a little warmth there, but nothing a few Tylenol couldn’t fix. He smiled when Castiel leaned into his touch. He quickly pulled his hand away when it lingered too long. “Well, if you’re feeling sick, Tom can shove it. You’re staying in.”

“Are you going to be my hot nurse, Dean?” Castiel asked.

Dean could feel him smiling on his shoulder through the hood. “No,” he replied.

“I figured,” Castiel said, wiping his face again. “You’re still hot anyway.”

Dean laughed. “Thanks. But seriously, Cas, you need anything? Pain killers, soup, tea?”

“I’m all right, Dean. I just need to sleep. I’ll be fine when I wake up.” Castiel picked himself off of Dean’s shoulder and scooted down the bed to lie down.

“Okay,” Dean said, standing up. “But if you need anything.”

“I’ll get it myself.”

Dean sighed. Damn him and his independence. “Of course.”

“Sorry about the mess in the living room. I promise I’ll clean it up when I’m feeling better.”

Dean grabbed the blanket at Castiel’s feet and pulled it to his chin. “Don’t worry about it, Cas. Just get some sleep, all right?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Dean.”

All Dean could do was nod before he walked out of the room. He did the door as slow as he could, not wanting to make any noise.

In the living room, he saw that Sam had cleaned up most of the mess in it. “How is he?” Sam asked.

“Tired.”

“Just tired?”

“What else would he be, Sam?”

“I don’t know, Dean. But it sounded really heated through the door. And Tom walked out of here fuming, like he was going to murder someone.”

“It must be the testosterone intake he’s on. Steroids can do that to a person.”

“Dean, not the time for jokes,” Sam scolded.

“What the hell am I supposed to say, Sammy?” he yelled. “He obviously doesn’t want to talk about it.” Dean paused, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. He needed to quiet down before Castiel heard him. “He said he’s fine.”

“I can see how scared you are for him, Dean. It hurts for me to see Cas this panicked. It should be a lot worse for you. Are you sure that Cas is fine?”

“I’m sure. I was just in there with him.”

“And nothing seemed wrong.”

“I didn’t do a full inspection, doctor,” Dean snapped. “I’m sorry that I was more concerned with calming him down.” He rubbed both of his hands up and down his face. He was calming himself down again. “He looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown,” he whispered.

“And he calmed down when you were near,” Sam stated. Dean nodded. “No wonder why people keep thinking that you guys are together,” Sam mumbled.

“Who thinks that?”

“No one,” Sam replied quickly. “Just me. Just…” his voice trailed off. “Just take care of him tonight. If Tom comes by, don’t let him in. I don’t trust him.”

“It’s nice to know you care, Sammy.”

Sam sighed, knowing that his brother didn’t mean to come off as sarcastic. “I don’t want you kicking his ass without me as a witness. I want to get my hit in too. That’s my deal. He’s an asshole, Dean. And he’s making the guy that you’re in love with cry.”

“I’m not in love with him.”

“Whatever you say, Dean.” Sam conceded. He didn’t want to sound like he was repeating himself. “Castiel is my friend, and you like him.” He raised his hand to stop Dean from interrupting him. “You can be afraid of admitting it all you want, but it’ll come out eventually. I think that you guys are freakishly perfect for each other. It makes me sick.”

“Thanks,” Dean replied, this time meaning to be sarcastic.

“What I’m trying to say is that you guys not being together is painful to watch. I mean, it’s just a matter of time before you guys get together. But it needs to happen soon. Especially with this jerk coming around making Castiel feel like crap. Castiel is one of the nicest people in the universe, so I don’t understand what the hell he could be doing to make Tom so mad that he’s throwing shit around. It shouldn’t be happening to Cas in his own house. So you need to do something about it.” Sam took a pause to catch his breath. “Dean, Cas isn’t happy with Tom.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Cas doesn’t smile, like genuinely smile, unless he’s talking about you or with you.”

“That’s not true,” Dean replied.

“Dean, I know you see it. Even if you want to ignore it, you know it’s true.”

As much as Dean wanted to deny it, he couldn’t. He saw the fake smile just last night. He knew that everything his brother was saying was true. Sam had just voiced everything he had been thinking and feeling. “I’ll talk to Cas tomorrow,” Dean said.

“You better. Because he looks like shit, and he doesn’t look like he’s going to get better unless that bastard is out of his life.”

Dean didn’t say anything, but he agreed with everything his brother had said. When he got the chance, he was going to have a heart to heart with Castiel.

And he was terrified.

 

 

 

Comments

[dauntperplexity.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to see that you're excited over this. I wasn't sure if it turned out all right. I'm glad that you enjoyed Castiel being a tease, I wasn't sure if that would be okay for most people.

Thanks for the feedback.

[laura-trekkie.livejournal.com]

Go Sam!!! He's got Dean pegged and he's not going to quit until Dean does as he's told! *g*.

Tom needs to be out of the picture ASAP. There's no one less deserving of being miserable than Cas and it's obvious that he has feelings for Dean. Yes,m the things he said were with a joking tone, but he unconsciously leant into Dean's touch and calmed down so quickly, and there's no other way to explain it away. I'm glad Dean's finally realised that.

I hope Tom gets a taste of his own medicine! And I hope Dean can make Cas happy.

Laura.

[dauntperplexity.livejournal.com]

Of course Dean needs Sam to see what is right in front of him. Just so you know, Part 2 is also up, if you haven't had the chance to read it.
Thanks for reading and the feedback!