Angelic Love- A Castiel Love Story

Chapter Twenty

For hours, all they do is drive. Nothing more, nothing less, other than Dean blasting out classic rock the whole way and occasionally singing along; sometimes fairly well, sometimes terribly. 

"Are we almost there?" Robin whines.

"No, we still have a couple hours left," Sam tells her.

Robin groans. "Where exactly are we going again?"

"Brownlee, Nebraska. We have a case there."

For most of the ride, Robin has been leaning against the window and watching the scenery pass by, but now, she unbuckles her seat belt and slides over to the seat in the middle, next to Cas. She snuggles up to him and closes her eyes. The darkness of sleep overtakes her as she drifts off.

Ten hours later, they arrive in Brownlee. Castiel softly shakes Robin to wake her up. Her eyes flutter open and are overwhelmed by the light that glows behind Cas's head. He looks so... majestic like this.

Dean's voice invades her head, and she realizes he's been trying to talk to her. She looks at him and squints. "Robin, we're here."

She yawns, opening her mouth wide, sits up, and stretches. "How long have we been driving?"

"About 16 hours, and you slept for over half of it. You're so lucky," Dean says to her with a tone of jealousy.

"Why didn't you just let Sam drive?"

"No one touches my baby but me." Dean eyes Sam suspiciously.

Sam laughs. "Don't worry. I don't want to drive your car. I think that by now I've learned better."

Dean looks away and mutters under his breath, "Bitch."

"Jerk."

Robin tries to hold back her laughter, but can't any longer. Sam joins in, and soon Dean is scowling at each of them. Childishly, he turns away from them and stares out the window with his arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"I'm really hungry," Robin complains.

They each look around and realize how small of a town Brownlee is. In one glance, they each can see the entire town. "I'm starving too. Let's go to Valentine. It isn't that far from here," Dean declares .

"We can make reservations too. I doubt that they have a hotel here," Sam suggests. 

"That sounds like a great idea," Robin tells him.

Again, they are driving, but nearly for as long of a time. In a half an hour, they arrive in Valentine. It's a small town, but it's massive compared to Brownlee.

"That place looks good!" Robin exclaims as they begin to drive past an expensive looking restaurant.

"'Peppermill Restaurant and Lounge'? Why would a mill of pepper be good?" Castiel asks, confused.

Robin giggles at him. "It's just the name of it, Castiel. It isn't actually a pepper mill. It's just a restaurant."

Dean pulls into the parking lot, and as soon as he stops, Robin shoves open the car door, grabs Cas's hand, and runs towards the entrance. She pulls him through the door and gets a funny look from the waitress at the front counter, but quickly getting over it, she asks them, "Two?"

"No. Four," Robin laughs, breaths jagged.

A bell rings as the front door opens and Sam and Dean walk through. They see Castiel and Robin and make their way towards them. "We're with them," Sam tells her.

The waitress winks at Dean, who smiles back, and she begins to walk away, motioning to them to follow her. They're put into a booth by the window, Dean and Castiel on one side, Sam and Robin on the other. Menus are given to each of them, then the waitress asks them what they want to drink.

"I'll take a lemonade," Robin tells her. The waitress quickly jots it down.

"Beer," Sam says.

"I'll have your number," Dean flashes his amazing smile at her. "And a beer."

She laughs and hands him a piece of paper, then redirects her focus to Castiel, waiting for him to order.

"Whiskey."

And with that, she leaves to retrieve their drinks.

Robin looks at Dean, stunned. Sam turns to her and tells her, "You'll get used to it. He always does that."

Twenty minutes later, they each are sitting with a steaming plate of food in front of them, except for Castiel. 

"Why aren't you eating?" Robin asks him.

"I am an angel. Angels have no need for sustenance."

"Oh," is her only reply.

Robin wipes her mouth as she finishes eating. While they were eating, Sam and Dean told Robin about past hunts in great detail, with Castiel offering occasional comments. 

"Wow! That's amazing," she looks away as she pauses, her eyes glistening, "but terrifying. I can't believe all of those... things... actually exist without anyone realizing it."

Sam laughs in an understanding way. "Yeah. That's why we hunt them, so no one has to know."

She remains silent and stares at the table, picking at some dry skin on her thumb. Sam opens his mouth to speak, but Robin interrupts him, saying, "It's getting really late. We should probably get going." She continues to stare at the table. Her lip trembles and a tear trails down her face.

Sam whispers to Dean, telling him to go pay the waitress. He walks up, avoiding bumping into anyone. Sam lightly grabs Robin's arm and pulls on it. "Robin, lets go to the car." He redirects his gaze to Castiel, "Come on, Cas."

They get up and walk towards the entrance. Sam quietly thanks the hostess, then opens the door for Robin. She walks into the darkness, clinging to Castiel with her arms around his waist. As they get to the Impala, they can hear the door of the restaurant squeak when Dean opens it. He walks towards the car and unlocks it for them. 

Robin sits down with a thump into the backseat, and Castiel slides in next to her. Dean turns around and grabs her clammy, tear soaked hand, then softly says to her, "Robin, what's wrong?"

Stifling sobs and sniffing, she tells him, "This-" she shakes as the tears begin to flow again, "-this is j-just too much."

Dean squeezes her hand. "I know, but you'll have to fight through it. I understand that it's all really hard, but I promise we'll be there for you the entire time."

The corners of her mouth raise up to form a small smile, and she says, "Thank you guys so much. You don't know how much this all means to me." She leans forward in the seat, her head brushing the top of the car, and hugs each of them tightly.

Headlights shine against her closed eyelids as Dean drives towards a Best Western. Sam and Dean get out of the car when they arrive to sign in, leaving Robin and Castiel in silence. When they finally come back, Robin has drifted off to sleep against Cas's rising and falling chest. Dean tells him to pick her up. As he wraps his arms around her, she grabs at the back of his neck in desperation, as if searching for something.

Castiel closes his eyes for a second. When he opens them again, his expression is grim. Quickly, he follows Sam and Dean into the hotel room.