You Soar & You Drown (Destiel AU)

Chapter One

This is my first attempt at fanfiction sooo...it might suck, but I kinda like it :]

It shouldn’t have been hard to hide his wings after so many years of doing it without trying, but it was. They shuddered against their invisible chains, straining to get free, aching with need to stretch out in their full glory. Cas didn’t know why it was so hard to control them after hundreds of years of easily hiding them. Maybe it was the strain of being around so many different people who had no idea exactly what he was.

Cas tried to remember what Gabriel had taught him, all those thousands of years ago. He could still remember it vividly; his older brother’s animated face as he described how to hold his wings in, how to keep them invisible to human eyes. Pretend that they’re not there, that it’s just cool air flowing around your back. Yes, that’s it, Cassie! Now just hold that feeling. It gets easier with practice, trust me…

Cas smiled a little and pulled his trench coat tighter around his body. Outside, the world was a mess of cold gray skies and rainbow-colored umbrellas. Rain shook out from the clouds like the clatter of clear beads falling from a pouch. The school was about a fifteen minute walk, but he was already late, so he quickly zapped there instead and tried to blend in with the mass of students flowing into the front doors.

Almost immediately his wings began to ache, but he gritted his teeth and pushed forwards, pulling his crumpled schedule out of one of his pockets. He had Spanish first. He sighed and pushed the paper back into his trench coat. He could’ve memorized the language in a minute if he’d wanted to, but Gabe had insisted on him learning it traditionally. He’d wanted to keep Cas preoccupied while he was away on a mission for Heaven, but being back among humans again was hard, after he’d been away for a few centuries.

He found the right classroom and slid into a seat in the very back, slouching down so anybody walking behind him wouldn’t have any good chance of spotting his wings. Immediately he found out he’d placed himself in one of the worst spots imaginable—the pencil sharpener was right behind him. His wings strained to be free, but he pushed them back with a wince of pain and tried to concentrate on the paper before him. He was supposed to put his name on the line, but he had to work slowly, remembering that he had to write in English.

“Hey.”

The voice came from his right, and it startled Cas so much he almost lost control of his wings. He whipped around to stare at the boy and immediately felt dizzy, like he was supposed to know who he was. He had green-hazel eyes and a smile like barbed wire, but for the most part he seemed friendly. Cas tried for a smile, but his mind was too busy hurtling around, unfocused. The boy’s smile immediately shifted into a frown of puzzlement.

“You okay, dude? You look like you’re about to be sick.”

“I’m fine,” Cas mumbled, scribbling something down in response to the questions on the page. They were easier to answer then he expected, after centuries of reading just Enochian.

The boy seemed determined to get him to talk, and Cas had to remind himself that it was just a human’s aptitude for curiosity rather then a deliberate attempt to annoy him that urged his words. “I’m Dean Winchester.”

“My name’s Castiel…” he muttered, slouching down again as he set his pencil down. He calmed his mind down, concentrating on keeping his wings in as the teacher began to talk rapidly in Spanish. He understood every word she was saying, but it was clear most of the class was confused after a summer of speaking their respective languages.

He hadn’t expected blending in with the human crowd would be so hard. Gabe had made it sound so easy, but he’d been doing it for so much longer then Cas. He didn’t want to fail Gabe’s expectations of him, though. He was determined not to seem weak and helpless faced with this, this task that most angels incorporated into their daily lives.

Dean fell silent beside him, and the teacher started to explain the rules in English, telling the class that she’d take it slow for a couple of weeks before she expected them to start to understand her more easily. The class lasted for a couple hours, but to Cas it felt like eternity, struggling to keep his wings pinned to his back, struggling to keep attention away from him. When the clock finally turned, he dashed out of the classroom and pressed through the crowd, moving towards the front doors again. He could feel his wings beginning to unfurl and panicked, forgetting to try to keep control. He tried the door of the nearest classroom. Its windows were dark and the door was locked, but as soon as Cas thought about opening it, the door swung open and he dashed inside.