The Knock (Destiel)

Chapter one

1. Roommates

       Castiel woke up by a knock on his door. He almost didn't recognise the sound of a hand slamming against the wooden door. After all, he never got visitors and he didn't exactly have friends.

       The man groaned, rolling out of his bed sleepily. Looking at his phone, he saw it was only 6:30 AM. Disorientated and sleep drunk, he walked towards the door. He was still wearing a sweater and sweatpants from the night before but it didn't really bother him. He opened the door, squinting by the bright light that came out of the hall. He groaned, wiping his face with his hands.

       In front of him stood a tall and broad shouldered man. His dark hair fell just above his shoulders, kind hazel green eyes staring down at him. The unknown man seemed nervous. When Castiel looked down, he saw a suitcase next to him.

       Please, no.

       "Are you Castiel Novak?" Castiel flinched lightly at his last name, yet he nodded. The man seemed to relax slightly, a sigh escaping his lips in relief. "I'm Sam Winchester, your new roommate. Nice to meet you."

       Castiel looked at the stretched out hand in front of him, staring at it for a few seconds, before placing his own one against the bigger one. Sam smiled at the shorter man in front of him, but he didn't get a smile back. Castiel stepped out of the way and pointed at the empty bed in the corner of the room. Then he lay down on the bed again.

       "You don't talk much, do you?" The words were spoken full of kindness, which the man didn't understand. Why was he even talking to him? Castiel shook his head before turning around and trying to get some sleep.

       When he woke up again, it was because there was someone talking. "It's OK so far. - no, it's just that he's been kind of cold towards me. He hasn't said a word. - Of course I will. Did you find anything on the case?- Ghost possession? Really? - Alright, call me if you need me. - Jerk. Bye Dean."

      Castiel was watching how the unknown man chuckled and put his phone back in his pocket. He decided to lay down a few more minutes before taking a shower. Once he stood up, he got the new guy's attention.

       "Good morning, Castiel," Sam said, a smile on his face. Castiel just forced a smile back at him and waved. He grabbed some clean clothes, then he left the room and locked the bathroom door behind him. That's where the panicking began.

Castiel didn't want a roommate. That meant his vulnerability could crash the shore, what he obviously didn't want. Sam seemed nice enough, what made it a problem. He'd probably want to have a friend, or at least someone to show him around. That would most likely be Castiel in this case.

       He put his hands on the cupboard, his knuckles white from the pressure. He looked in the mirror, sighing at his reflection. His skin was pale, his eyes no longer a shiny blue but they held a dull grey glow over them, dark circles visible under them. He definitely needed a haircut, as his hair was almost untameable. His cheekbones stood out, because of the lack of food he could afford. Basically, he hated what he saw.

He took slow breaths, trying not to think about the new situation. He threw off his sweater and stepped out of the oversized sweatpants. His arms were another thing he despised. A few days ago he'd had a nightmare, or in his case a memory of the abuse he went through. He had woken up, drenched in sweat. The cuts had been so deep he blacked out. Yes, they hurt now, but the man didn't seem to care. It made him feel numb.

He stepped in the hot shower, the water burning his shoulders and back. He closed his eyes, trying not to think about anything. The water made the healing cuts sting, making him hiss in pain as a result. He never was someone to take long, useless showers, so within five minutes he was drying his hair with a fluffy white towel, his skin red and slightly burned from the heat. He quickly put on a blue sweater, black skinny jeans under it. He decided to let his hair as it was.

When he walked out, he was greeted with two curious eyes in his direction. He paused in his steps for a few seconds, before grabbing his bag and searching for his needed books for the day. It was now 10 AM, his first lecture starting at 11.

"So, what do you study?" The question caught Castiel off guard. It wasn't a yes or no question, which meant he had to answer in a different way. He looked around for a piece of paper and a pencil, frantically. He took out a notebook from his bag.

Sociology, he wrote down, giving the man the notebook. Sam looked at the shorter, tired looking man in realisation. His eyes had visibly widened, a sad look crossing his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," the sympathetic man said. Castiel shrugged. "So, sociology, huh? In what year are you?" Castiel put two fingers in the air. "Second year? You look so young." This time the black haired man pointed to himself, before putting both his pointing- and middle fingers up. "22?" He nodded. "Oh, you look younger." Castiel shrugged again, then he pointed towards Sam.

"What about me? Well, I study law but I've been moving around a lot lately. I just wanted to finish school so I decided to go here. I'm twenty-one by the way," the tall man spoke excitedly. Castiel just looked at him awkwardly. Sam noticed the awkwardness and decided to change the subject.

"So, can you maybe show me around today? I have my first lecture in half an hour and I have no idea where it is." Castiel feared this would happen. His whole body screamed no, but how could he just say no to somebody he'd probably see a lot from now on.

       He nodded slowly and hesitantly, watching the younger man's expression carefully. Sam smiled brightly, while Castiel just tried to be expressionless and not to burst out crying. Every bone in his body protested, but sadly he had already said yes. He just wanted today to be over. He wrote something down on his paper again and gave it to Sam.

Shall we go then?