Angel Wings (SPN) #Wattys2015

{2}

Castiel reeled in shock. He shook his head furiously. "No. NO. No way no how no matter what you say that's a big effing no. You know I don't like Dean Winchester why would you take me?" Castiel replied, hardly stopping for air. He had to make his point, and quickly, or his brother would somehow coerce him into going.

He knew he had upset Gabe a bit but there was absolutely no way he was going to spend at least a year with a stuck up musician who had too many life problems. He knew he had problems too, but Dean Winchester was just completely and utterly unrelatable.

"I won't do it," Castiel stated stubbornly.

"Aww come on Cassie. It'll be fun! No worries, no stress. It'll change everybody's perspective of you. They will LIKE you. Besides. I can only bring a family member. Absolutely no friends allowed, I guess to prevent some imaginary girlfriend of mine screwing me in their beds." Gabriel smirked, a sarcastic tone in his voice.

"Don't call me Cassie," was Castiel's only reply. "Fine. Come on CAS, why not? It'll be fuuuuun," he said in a singsong voice, which was completely unlike him. "Well why don't you take someone else. I'm not interested." Castiel turned to walk away. "But-"

"Not. Interested."
•
Gabriel sulked for the rest of the day, refusing to look Cas in the eye. He did feel a bit bad for shooting him down so quickly, but he was adamant that any trip spending hours on end with the Winchester brothers would result in boredom. And probably a couple deaths.

Unfortunately, there was very little room for sulking in their cardboard box of a home, and they were bound to run into each other.

Kudos to Gabe, Castiel thought to himself later that day. He had managed to not be seen all afternoon. But it was getting late, and Cas had some soup cooking on their crappy stove, its aroma filling the house, drawing Gabe out of his hiding place.

The two brothers ate a silent dinner together, Gabe staring down at the table. "So..." Castiel said awkwardly. "Who do you think you're gonna take? On the tour I mean. We have lots of family..." he trailed off as Gabe looked up at him, and Cas noticed his eyes were red and a bit puffy. This surprised him a lot. It hadn't seemed that important at the time. Castiel raised his eyebrows, prompting Gabe to answer.

After a long silence, Gabe sniffed and replied in a soft voice. "Nobody. I'll go alone. You KNOW I can't take anyone else!" his voice grew in volume until he was nearly shouting, holding back tears. "Naomi hates us. Michael hates us. Everyone. Has. Shunned. Us. That's why we are where we are you idiot!" Even he looked surprised at his outburst.

Eyes downcast, he softened his voice. "I thought this would be an easy way to help us get out of this," he gestured around, "mess of a life. You and I could easily escape with this. All we had to do was simply explain why we wanted to go, and they simply ran it through a system that helped the judges scan it the instant it's submitted. I spent," he sniffed, "HOURS explaining our life. Our mess. How we just need some help, especially my crappy little brother that had a crappy life and crappy feelings all because of me, his crappy brother. And you won't go."

Castiel was in complete and utter shock. This was not the Gabe he knew. This was something that was a shock, apparently even to the man saying it. He had always seen Gabe as the rebel brother, the one to laugh everything off, the one to not care what others thought, the one who was fine if he had food and a roof.

He wasn't the emotional one, the homewrecker, the hated by one and all, the mental wreck, the criminal. Gabe wasn't the one who tore the family apart, the one who ruined his body with drugs and alcohol to drown out the pain. No. Gabe was bad, but Castiel was definitely much worse. And he knew it.

"I'm sorry Gabe. I really am. And I would love to go with you. But I'm afraid that if I go, I'll turn your prize into crap and accidentally-not-so-accidentally kill your idol." Some more dinner was eaten in silence, both of them surprised at the sudden depth of their conversation, at the sudden depth of themselves. Castiel sighed. "Gabe." His brother looked up warily, a big bite of bread in his mouth. "Let's make a deal. I'll go with you if you promise to help me out of any situation that I need out of. Say whatever you want, but I will not spend the whole time bowing down to that kid. Got it?"

Gabe nodded with glee. He wiped his eyes and got up, instantly looking joyful. Cas could see the smirk threatening to show on his face and groaned, realizing what had just happened. Gabriel burst out laughing. Gabriel burst out laughing. "YOU ALREADY PROMISED NO GOING BACK NOW!" he shouted joyfully. Castiel sighed. He had been played yet again. But hey, it might be good to take a break. "Fine. But our deal still stands."