anonymity was never an option

65: castiel

Castiel nervously unlocked the door to Gabriel's place as he pondered what he should be prepared for. It had already been a long day from getting a D on his English paper, to the awful long walk in the rain because he told Dean no on a ride—which looking back at it Castiel thought was a stupid decision, but he knew if Dean was there, he would ask questions, and Cas already had too many questions on his own.

When he opened the door, his brother was sitting on the couch in the middle of the room with a green tumbler full of who knows what liquid in his hands. Gabriel's attention bolted up when he heard the door open, meeting Cas's eyes with his golden brown ones.

"Cassie." Was all he said as Castiel closed the door behind him.

The familiar smell of old laundry and something sweet, probably cookies some girl made him, filled the room, as he took in what happened to the apartment since he left. There was a new layout in the living room consisting of bean bags and a few askew couches that made Castiel smile a little with Gabriel's lack of style. It was much messier than he left it, but he expected that from his brother.

"I like what you've done with the place." He waved his hands over towards the other side of the room sarcastically.

His brother didn't smirk, or laugh, or smile, which was so uncharacteristicly Gabriel that it made him sick to his stomach. Castiel panicked a little when Gabe set down his drink on the table and rubbed his hands on his face, as if symbolizing that he hadn't had any sleep.

"You okay, Gabe? You gonna tell me what's going on?"

"Castiel... I don't really know how to say this... I know you've already been through so much and with Dean you've finally got a win and things were going so well... but... I just..." Gabriel looked down and Castiel could tell he was getting choked up.

This was something so new to Cas, he didn't know what to do. Gabriel was going to cry. He could tell by the way he didn't finish his sentence and the lack of words to say.

What the hell was going on and why was it making the most emotionless person he knew cry?

"Gabe... you're scaring me... what happened did you do something? Did mom hurt you? Is some girl pregnant? What's going on? You have to tell me so I can help you." He stepped in closer to where his brother was sitting so he could try to read his emotions.

"I don't want to hurt you Cas. And it's going to. Trust me it hurts like hell." Gabriel stood up to face Castiel, although they both knew he was much shorter than the younger brother.

Gabe wrapped his arms around Castiel and pulled him towards his shoulder. Cas hesitantly put his arms on Gabriel's back and waited in silence for his brother to continue as his anxiety levels kept rising.

"Gabe just tell me."

Gabriel's shoulders rose one more time as he took one last breath before speaking.

"Michael... he's dead Cassie."