Teach Me

Going Home

THREE MONTHS LATER

Dean, Cas, Sam and Gabriel all stood outside of the empty house that had previously been Professor Winchester's home. They looked up at it, standing on the sidewalk. The windows with nothing to see inside but bare walls and vacant floor space, the front steps that had been removed of all flower pots and it's welcome mat. The only personal thing about the place anymore was Gabe's motorcycle which was parked in the driveway, and even that would be gone soon. Every worldly possession that Dean and Cas owned had been packed into the trunk of the Impala, which was idling beside the curb. It wasn't much, Dean had sold almost everything and Castiel hadn't had much to begin with.

Castiel's gaze left the large house and surveyed his surroundings instead.
He regarded the warm hand that was tucked into his own and his two closest friends standing side by side next to him and Dean. For a moment he closed his eyes and thought about when he'd first met Dean and how they'd both been a helpless mess for eachother from the start. It seemed surreal, the bar and spilled beer all down his front, Dean's old office and his hot hand on Cas's thigh without really knowing how it got there. How had they come this far? How could it be possible that Castiel loved Dean more than he had ever loved anything, including his own life? He would die for Dean in an instant, without even thinking. He would do anything for his much older boyfriend, just to make sure he was okay. There was nothing quite like the utter completeness he felt with Dean next to him, Cas couldn't even remember what it was like to be without him. It seemed that there were only two parts of his life, the half before he met Dean and the time after. One was black and white, and the other vivid colour. Cas felt as though he'd only really experienced life after falling for Dean and what was more, he knew that Dean felt the same way about him. Knowing that his unconditional love was returned was the most fulfilling, peaceful, wholesome feeling that it trumped every other emotion. Dean was who Cas wanted to spend the rest of his life with, without a doubt, and maybe even start a family with.

"It's hard to believe," Gabriel said in a rare moment of seriousness. "I just can't believe you're the same person who stumbled into that dormitory on the first day of school," he said, turning to Castiel.
Cas smiled at him, "I honestly can't believe it either." He looked at all three men that were standing there with him.
"I'm glad you walked in on us," Sam laughed. "Otherwise I might never have met you."
Cas put his fingers to his temple in embarrassment, "Oh, wow, I completely forgot about that."
"Wait you what?" Dean asked his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"Yeah that's a thing that happened," Castiel said sheepishly. "Gabe was pretty mad about it."
"Well just because I thought it was gonna scare off Sammy here! The big lug was very shy about his 'inclinations' early on." Gabriel elbowed Sam in the ribs.
"The Winchester boys do like their men," Dean added on with a knowing smirk.
"Shut up," Cas and Sam said at the same time.
Everyone laughed at the familiar banter and quick exchange of words but there was something melancholy about it, a strange sense of finality. It came with the idling Impala and the remaining bags sitting beside the wheel wells. It came with the impending goodbye.
There was silence for a moment.
"Where will you go?" Sam asked softly without looking at anyone.
Dean took a breath and Cas felt his hand tighten around his own smaller one. "We don't know, we're just going to drive out of town, hit the interstate and go where the roadsigns take us I guess."
"Y'all are gonna be full on hippies when we see you next," Gabe smirked. "Living out the back of a rusty old Chevrolet, driving across the country aimlessly. Don't smoke too many reefers."
Castiel rolled his eyes, "Don't be calling the Impala rusty or Dean will smack your head on the shiny front bumper."
"I would not!" Dean piped up, "Gabe's head is so hard it would probably leave a dent."
Sam chuckled and Gabe grinned, but they all could sense that their time together was drawing to a close. The Three Gay Musketeers would be no more, Art school was way out the window for now and Sam and Dean would be farther away from eachother than they'd been in a long time. It was a weird feeling, they had all gotten so used to having eachother around. There was an awkward shuffling of feet, and hands were put into pockets and then taken back out again. Cas picked at his sleeve, not wanting to leave behind the only true friends he'd ever had.

"Uh we better think about hitting the road," Dean said quietly.
"Yeah we've got to think about heading back to school soon too," Sam replied.
Cas stared at his shoes.
"Alright then, uh we'll be seeing you though, this ain't the last time," Cas heard Dean say.
"Damn straight it ain't the last time, you can't get rid of us that easy!" Gabriel said in a high voice that seemingly disguised his sadness.
"Cas?" Sam asked.
"Yeah?" Castiel snapped his head up to look at his long haired friend. Sam came towards him and put his arm around Castiel's shoulders, guiding him away from the others.
The younger Winchester leaned his head toward Cas's and spoke softly. "You gotta promise to take care of Dean, he might not say anything but he needs someone to look out for him. And well I usually do but, seeing how um," Sam's voice started to shiver, on the edge of cracking, he took a deep breath and released his hold on Cas.  "How I'm not going to be around anymore, uh, just watch out for him for me. Castiel, please?" Sam scratched the back of his neck and looked at the ground, his hulking frame suddenly seemed much smaller.
Tears formed along Castiel's lash line so quickly he couldn't stop a couple from falling down his cheeks to the ground. His chest ached, how he hated to leave his friends - no, his family - behind. "I promise I will Sam," he said solemnly and earnestly. But suddenly Sam was right there, enveloping him in a bone crushing hug.
"I love you man, I'm so glad that my brother picked you, you're good for him," Sam said quietly into Cas's ear so the other's couldn't hear. Behind them, Dean and Gabe were saying their own goodbyes. Castiel hugged him back, tears streaming now. He was just so profoundly overwhelmed, to have Sam's absolute blessing meant a lot to him and he just couldn't believe his luck at having such a wonderful friend.
"Love you too Sam, thank you for coming and picking my ass up out of that dark alleyway that one time." Cas smiled widely and pulled away from Sam to look him in the eyes.
"Hey no problem, what are friends for anyhow?" Sam said gently, his green eyes soft and sad in the afternoon light.
Cas grabbed him and hugged him fiercely once more. The hollow feeling of loss filling up his chest before he'd even left.
"Hey, quit hogging my brother, I need to talk to him," Dean joked from behind them. Seamlessly, Cas and Dean seemed to switch roles. The former professor went to talk to his brother, and Cas was left there with Gabe.
From under a shaggy fringe of hair, Gabriel looked up at his roommate with a soft look in his eyes, that judging from his facial expression, he was working hard to hide. Cas opened his mouth to speak, but Gabe was too quick.
"Don't you dare say anything sappy now or I swear to god I'll wring your neck."
Cas laughed a bit sadly before pulling his former roommate into a bone crushing hug.
Gabriel groaned, "Come on now Cassy, I'll see you again real soon. Sam and Dean are like magnets and you're someone I'm definitely going to want to keep in contact with." He released the hug, "and plus, you're great to embarrass, and I never pass up on a chance to humiliate someone!"
Castiel smirked as he looked his impish roommate in the face, typical Gabe - disguising emotional vulnerability with humour. That's the way it was.
"Of course, wouldn't miss it for the world," said Cas.

"Ready to go?" Came Dean's voice from the idling 1967 Chevrolet Impala. It  wasn't long after before the doors had been slammed with the tinny noise they always made, and the sleek black car had slipped away down the suburban street to another future.

Conversation within the car seemed to be lacking, there wasn't any words that neither of them felt like hadn't already been said about the current situation. Earlier, Castiel had asked about Dean's goodbye to his little brother and Dean had told him that they'd made a loose plan to meet up really soon, in fall break, probably somewhere near Colorado. But now, there was only the throaty rumble of the black vehicle as it cruised down the open road. Silence persisted until out of nowhere Dean spoke, in a quiet, almost ashamed tone.
"You and me, we're homeless now. I've made us homeless."
Castiel looked over into Dean's persistent green eyes and felt something course through him like lightning. If he had been inclined to believe in such things as fate and God, he might have believed it to be both. It was like a shock of pure reality, like the normal haze that clouded human judgement had been lifted for but a moment. He knew then, he knew with the same quiet sureness that he knew he was breathing, that he knew that grass grew and birds sang, he knew with that sureness that everything was going to be alright.
"I will never be homeless," Castiel said evenly, "Because you, Dean Winchester, ARE my home."