Strings Attached

Chapter 44

Castiel and Gabriel had been hoping to hang out with the Winchesters until the end of the day, not wanting to spend any unnecessary time with their family. After dinner with Sam and Dean, Castiel gets a call from Chuck telling them to come home. It makes sense; they've been gone for hours.

With god knows how many of their cousins at the house, it has to be chaotic, and neither Novak is looking forward to returning. Unfortunately, they know better to disobey their father, especially with Raphael around. He's only Michael and Lucifer's age, but he's a raging pain in the ass.

"Hey, Gabriel!" Castiel calls when he gets off the phone with his father.

"What?" comes the reply.

"Dad wants us home!"

"Is Raphael there?"

"Yes." Chuck didn't technically say it, but when he asked, he changed the subject. Yeah, Raphael is there.

Gabriel groans, then emerges from wherever he and Sam were hiding. "I don't wanna have to put up with him today."

"What are you whining about?" Castiel asks. "At least he likes you."

"Oh, true," Gabriel replies.

"Who's Raphael?" Dean asks.

"Our cousin," Castiel tells him.

"And he doesn't like you?"

Castiel shakes his head. "Not at all. He's probably the only religious person in our family, but he's the most religious person I know. He's not too big on gays."

"Then he's a fucking idiot," Dean replies.

Castiel nods. "I wouldn't have used those words exactly, but sure. We can go with that."

"Do we have to go home?" Gabriel asks.

"Unfortunately," Castiel replies.

"Now?"

"If you value your life, yes."

Gabriel groans again. "Fine."

"But we might as well be slow about it." Castiel turns to Dean. "Walk me home?"

Dean shrugs. "Sure."

"I'll stay here," Sam says with a glance at Adam.

"You don't have to," Adam replies. "I have to unpack anyway."

Sam grins, and it's clear this is what he was hoping for. "Then I guess I'll walk you home, too," he says with an adoring smile towards Gabriel.

They say "Bye" to Adam and Bobby before leaving, with Sabriel in front and Castiel and Dean trailing behind. Castiel still can't travel too fast, though he's getting better with every passing day. When they're a good distance away from the Winchesters' house, Castiel decides to bring up something that's been on his mind for the last couple hours.

"Dean, you realize Adam is going to be living with you, right?"

Dean nods once. "Mm-hmm."

"So you can't just ignore him," Castiel adds.

"I'm not ignoring him."

"Yes, you really are. You didn't acknowledge him once that entire time we were at your house."

"Remember when you said that if you needed a therapist, you'd hire one yourself?" Dean recalls. "Well, right back at ya."

Ordinarily, Castiel would leave it at this, but he really wants to know this time. He's sure there's a valid reason Dean doesn't like the kid already. Castiel just wanted find out what.