Soldier Boy

Chapter Nine

Cas's day was much less pleasant.

He had walked into a house full of blaring music from upstairs and yelling downstairs. The blaring music had surely been Balthazar's early morning punishment, and the screaming was Michael reprimanding him. The music was Raphael's punishment for Balthazar.

Castiel walked into the entrance of the living room, Balthazar sitting on the couch and wincing constantly as Michael would scream a few words into his ears. Balthazar was rubbing his temples and had his eyes closed, probably trying to ease his headache, to no avail.

Raphael joined in a couple of times in the yelling, and Anna was surely hiding in her room upstairs. They'd probably already checked to see if she had a hangover. Castiel had walked in many-a-times to witness both of his youngest siblings sitting on that couch, getting screamed at. They'd reduced Anna to tears once from the pain, but they hadn't stopped for another two hours.

This was probably just the beginning of the yelling.

Castiel felt sympathy for his brother, wanting to bring him some pain medication and maybe some more liquor to help the hangover, but he'd tried that once. Michael had punched him, and Raphael had sat on him so he had to watch Balthazar get yelled at over and over again. Raphael had also taken some joy in hitting him while he'd pinned him.

Castiel turned away from the living room, going upstairs to see his twin. Anna was in her bed, curled up under the covers, earbuds in her ears as she blasted whatever the loudest song was on her phone in her ears. This is what she did every time the boys would start yelling. She hated how angry it all sounded, how harsh they were, and so she hid from the noise and the fighting.

She probably wouldn't leave her room for the rest of the day.

She didn't hear Castiel enter, but she didn't jump in fright when he sat next to her on the bed. He just pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back comfortingly, struggling to listen to her calm breathing instead of the fighting.

"One of these days you're going to drink too much and get yourself killed! Or get some girl pregnant and ruin the rest of your life!" Michael's voice was easily heard from the floor above, but Cas hoped Anna couldn't hear him.

There was no response from Balthazar- there never was, if you didn't want a beating. One time Balthazar had talked back, said 'what if I wasn't sleeping with girls'? The beating Michael gave him made it hard for him to move around the next day, his body covered in bruises. Raphael had almost broken his arm, too. Of course, after their dad's quick examination, they'd discovered it wasn't broken, at least.

Their dad had tried to get the older brothers to stop the violent behavior, but nothing really worked. Raphael would just say something horrible about how at least they were watching out for them, and that would make Michael tackle him to defend their dad.

The endless cycle of violence would just continue from there.

Once the screaming stopped, due to the fact Michael had to go do some stuff and dragged Raphael along, Cas quickly strode downstairs, bring headache medicine and a glass of water.

"Thanks, Cas," Balthazar murmured quietly as he took the objects from his baby brother.

"Sometimes I wonder about you, Balthazar," Cas muttered, sitting on the couch next to his blonde brother. The clock read that it was noon. He should make his siblings some lunch.

"What? It's not like what I do effects them. It's not my fault our older brothers are control freaks," Balthazar defended himself, rubbing his temples more.

"No, but you know how they'll react, yet you still do it," Cas replied, leaning his elbows on his knees.

"It's better to forget and get punished for it later than to remember all the time," Balthazar said solemnly before getting up and getting some liquor out of their dad's stash.

Castiel knew what he was talking about. Their mother. Everything else Cas could remember perfectly, but even now, he'd never been able to make sense of the events leading up to their mother's death. Everyone refused to talk about it. Anna and Cas had been in the dark about it ever since it happened.

Balthazar poured himself a drink, downing it in one gulp.

Castiel sighed and began making two simple sandwiches for Balthazar and Anna, putting chips on the plate with it. He gave one to Balthazar and brought the other up to Anna, who smiled gratefully and dug in.

Castiel went to his room after that, studying more for that stupid test tomorrow. During the course of the day, Anna snuck out to go to a friend's house before anyone got home.

Chuck got home before the boys, passing out of the couch almost instantly. Balthazar called Cas down, and they carried their father to his room so he could sleep in his own bed for once. Raphael and Michael came home soon after, both deciding to play some video games. The brothers were thankful for the break from all the yelling, Balthazar going to hide in his room to avoid getting either of the brothers riled up again.

Castiel made dinner around eight and got his brothers first before going to wake up their father with headache medicine and a glass of water.

"You're a sweet boy, Castiel," Chuck whispered, taking the pills from his youngest boy. The one that looked most like his mother. Chuck's chest and throat constricted at the thought of his deceased wife, but swallowed the pills down quickly with the help of the water.

"Dad, dinner is ready if you want to eat," Castiel murmured quietly, softly.

"Thank you, but I'm not hungry. Is your sister home yet?" Chuck asked, and it amazed Castiel how in the short time their dad had been at home and conscious, he knew that Anna was gone.

"No, not yet. She went to a friend's," Cas said, biting his lip nervously.

"Well, call her to see if she's okay. See when she'll be home." Chuck laid back down and covered his eyes with his hand.

"Okay," Castiel agreed, leaving his dad's room quietly.

After a quick call to Anna, which she didn't answer, he shot her a text asking when she'd be home. She never answered, but snuck back into her room through her window around midnight, much to Michael's and Raphael's chagrin.

Castiel went to bed after he heard her return, finally relaxed enough to shut his eyes for more than a minute.