You put your arms around me and I'm home.
[ Chap 1] [ Chap 2]
“So… what are you gonna do about it?”
Sam looked at the blonde girl sitting beside him, licking her ice cream in fierce concentration. It was almost 2 months since “the big break-up” and it had taken all of 3 weeks for pretty much everyone to arrive to the conclusion that Dean and Cas were not meant to be apart. Everyone, that is, except Lisa Braeden.
Sam knew she had dumped Dean, but now she wanted him back. And he hated that. He hated the slutty outfits she wore to “visit” the garage - as if that was fooling anyone - and the bedroom eyes she gave Dean. He also hated how she, sometimes, scratched her long nails on Dean’s arms and rubbed herself against him in front of all the people. Cas would never do that. Plus, there was the fact that she hated him. She behaved coldly with him when Dean was around and downright cruel when he wasn’t. One time she had even tried to slap him, only he towered over her, and he had given her the “Cas”-glare and her hand stopped mid-way. But he couldn’t Dean tell all that. Dean was too stressed, that he feared this would drive him completely over the edge.
He also hated what Dean had become. The worst was the fact that Dean had started drinking. He was almost always half-buzzed. One night he had shown-up at work drunk and got into a fight with someone. Sheriff Jody had thrown him in the drunk-tank and let him stew for the night, and Ellen had threatened to take Sam away if he didn’t get his shit together. After that he had pretty much cleaned up his act, but Bobby had more than once caught him gazing longingly at the engines, and wallowing in self-pity. And a few days ago he had hammered at a trunk so hard and for so long that it almost tore.
Sam hadn’t actually spoken to Cas since the pie incident, but he knew Cas was suffering too. Jo had overheard Meg, Cas’ ex-roommate and best-friend, telling Ellen that he had almost been gay-bashed. And though he put up a decent fight - he practiced Martial arts and kick-boxing - he still had ended up with a broken arm and swollen foot and severe blow to the head. He was unconscious for 2 days. Sam had forced Dean to visit him at the hospital, but Dean wouldn’t even enter the room. He simply stood outside shaking his head muttering about how it was all his fault. After that Jo informed Sam that Cas had left town for a while. And Sam had decided then and there that he wouldn’t let the two people he loved the most hurt this way. Not if he had anything to do about it.
“I don’t know Jo… What’s your mum say?” Sam replied.
Jo sighed and jumped down from the wall and stood in front of him. She scrunched her face into a slight scowl, imitating her mother. “We could tie them together and throw them in the cellar,” she asserted.
Sam nodded thoughtfully. He was seriously thinking about taking Ellen up on her offer. But Dean and Cas were so fucking stupid, they wouldn’t be able to figure even that out. Seriously, why couldn’t his stupid brother and Cas not see what was right in front of them? Why did he have to be the one to do all the work? Sometimes, he wished mom was alive so she could kick Dean’s ass for being so ridiculously stupid! Well… mom wasn’t here, so he was gonna have to do something. He wasn’t going to lose the only family he had because they both were fucking idiots!
---
“Are sure you’re gonna be alright?” Ellen asked.
“This isn’t the first time I’m tending a bar, Ellen,” Dean replied for the fifth time, his patience wearing thin.
“No but…” Ellen let the words hang in air.
It was about a month since Dean had gotten into a drunken brawl and the guy had threatened to sue. She and Sheriff Jody had intervened and the guy had backed out, and Dean had pretty much cleaned up his act after that, but Ellen still did not trust Dean around alcohol.
“Seriously Ellen, I got it. The kids are waiting,” Dean urged. Sam and Jo had been talking about the new X-Men movie since forever and now that it had finally released they wanted to catch the premier midnight screening. They had stood 4 hours in the line for the tickets and Sammy had even bought a dorky looking Magneto helmet that was proudly displayed by his bed.
“I just…”
“Look,” Dean finally lost his patience. “I got it. I’m not gonna sit here and drink when I’m supposed to be working, alright? I’m over the whole thing now. Besides, I got Gabe to watch my back,” he added pointing to the guy chatting up a group of girls, his trademark lollipop dangling between his teeth. Seriously! That guy was gonna die of diabetes unless Kali killed him first.
“Hey Gabe!” Dean called, just out of spite. “Where’s your girlfriend?”
“On a date with your boyfriend,” Gabe threw back as the girls tittered and blushed.
Dean grinned at Ellen. “See… I got it. You go on.”
Ellen sighed “Are you…”
“Seriously Ellen go right now, or I’ll do something illegal.” Ellen smiled toothily and walked out. “Have a great night,” Dean called behind her.
---
“Hey! Who’d you have to fuck to get some decent service around ‘ere?” a heavily accented voice hollered.
Dean wiped a hand across his face and looked in direction of the voice. The guy was blonde and ruggedly decent-looking. Not pretty or handsome or anything, his nose was crooked like it had been broken more than once and his face had a couple of scars and he had a fighter’s built. He also had huge cross around his neck, which looked like it was more for intimidation, than religious, purposes. But he was smiling and Dean took that as a good sign. The guy wasn’t already drunk, which Dean took as another good sign.
After last time he was a bit weary of dealing with drunk assholes who started fights but threatened to sue when things got bit rough for their liking. And Ellen had been pretty serious about taking Sam away. Dean did not even want to think about losing Sammy. He couldn’t lose Sam for anything in the world.
“Sorry,” Dean walked to the guy. “I’m the only one here tonight. What’d you need?”
“Scotch,” Blondie replied. “The best you’ve got.”
Dean smiled and walked to the back to get the Johnny Walker Black they reserved for special occasions. He poured a shot and carefully set it before the guy… he was royalty now. “Big day, huh?”
“Yeah. I’m meeting my…” the guy hesitated “a friend after a very long time. That calls for a celebration.” He smiled. Dean liked him, he was cool.
“Yo Dean-O,” Gabe roared from the other end calling for his attention. “I’ll be back,” Dean told the guy before turning to his drunken friend.
---
Dean kept one eye on Blondie for rest of the night. He had kept calling shots and from his experience Dean knew where it ultimately led. Besides the guy was new, so Dean didn’t trust him. But the guy seemed to have a hollow leg… he neither seemed drunk nor riled.
Just then Dean saw a familiar face. Cas! Cas was back?! And he was walking in Dean’s direction!
But Cas did not look at him. Actually it seemed Cas did not look at anyone. He had eyes only for Blondie at the bar. He walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. The guy turned and just like that his whole being light up. Suddenly he looked about 20 years younger and handsome! He stood up and hugged Cas. Not a quick friendly hug either… it was more like “I have missed you. Where have been all my life?” tight, bone-crunching bear hug. They separated and Cas was glowing back. He murmured something to the man and they left the bar, with the man’s hand draped around Cas’ shoulders while Cas’ arm was around his waist.
Dean felt a something sting in his palm. He looked down at his hand and belatedly realised he had crushed the beer mug he was holding and was bleeding all over the floor.
---
“How was the movie?” Dean asked as Sammy burst into the house and flopped on his bed.
“Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer?” he replied. Dean gaped at him. Sam sighed wearily, “Young people” before sitting back up and bouncing “Awesome! It was nothing like the comics but it was so…so…so…good! It was amazing.” He picked up his helmet and stuck it on his head. “Welcome to the future… Brother.”
Dean laughed. His baby brother was almost as tall as him and looked like a fully grown man but he was still as innocent as ever. Don’t ever change Sammy. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his hand. He winced. He looked up to see Sam intently watching his bandaged hand, a million questions on his face.
“You got into another fight, didn’t you?” Sam finally asked his eyes wide in horror.
Dean smiled sadly. He could see that Sam was more horrified at the prospect that Ellen might follow-up on her threat than Dean.
“No,” he answered truthfully. “I dropped a glass. Cut my hand when I was cleaning it up.” Sam didn’t have to know the whole truth. “Oh!” Sam visibly relaxed. “It's okay, Sammy,” Dean reassured his brother “I’m not gonna leave you. Now get ready for bed.”
***
Sam dressed in hurry and thanked all the possible Gods he could think of that Dean was required to fill in for Gabe at the garage, today of all days. Saturday was his day off and if he knew what Sam intended to do, he would never let him go ahead with it.
Jo had called early in the morning to tell that Cas was back. He didn’t ask how she knew. The Roadhouse was a minefield of information, and Jo was becoming an expert at fishing out what she needed, and she was Sam’s direct line to that information. She had informed that Cas was back for a little while but he planned to leave again, and this time for good.
Sam couldn’t let that happen. He had to get them back together. And he had the perfect plan. He was going to invite Cas to his game against Milton High - his first one - and he was going to force them to talk.
If nothing else worked, he would lock them in the ball storage till they accepted they loved each other and were a couple and not “just good friends.”
---
“Cas! Cas open up!” He banged impatiently on the door. He couldn’t afford to waste more time than necessary. “C’mon Cas… open up. I know you’re there!”
“A’right… a’right,” he heard a voice from within. “Who killed your grandmother?”
It didn’t sound like Cas. Cas had someone over? Sam hadn’t thought of that. He turned around sadly, just as the door yanked open and there stood a guy in his underwear, his blonde hair all messed up, dried spit at his mouth. The man had literally walked off the bed.
“You’re not Cas,” Sam stated obviously, more angry than hurt.
The guy looked at him wearily. “I guess not. Who’re you?”
“Sam.”
The guy stepped back as his eyes widened slightly and gestured Sam in. “CAS…” he hollered. “Your kid’s ‘ere!”
Sam gaped as he heard someone, presumably Cas, yelp “coming” loudly, trip over something, swear in retaliation and rush out the room. He saw Cas hurl himself down the stairs, directly towards him. Cas tripped over the last couple of stairs and crashed into him with so much force that if he hadn’t been used to big-ass players tackling him on the field, he would’ve totally been knocked down and not just a couple of steps back. But before he could regain his balance or composure, Cas had his arms around him in a tight hug, squeezing the life out of him.
Sam was still breathless when they separated after what seemed like an eternity. Cas was looking at him, all smiley and dew-eyed, like he was the most precious thing in the whole world. “I missed you,” he whimpered before pulling him in yet another not-so-tight embrace.
“I missed you too, Cassie,” Sam replied tearfully, finally encircling his arms around the older guy. He looked over Cas’ shoulder at the blonde guy standing there, his blue eyes shining very much like Cas’ and a cocky grin on his face. Sam didn’t like him very much.
“Who’s that guy?” he asked pushing Cas back just a tiny bit.
“Oh!” Cas stepped back as if he just realised they weren’t alone and looked over his shoulder. “That’s Balthazar. He’s my brother.”
---
“I didn’t know you had a brother,” Sam said, sipping the hot chocolate Cas had made for him. God, he’d missed this so much.
He was sitting at Cas’ kitchen counter and Cas was busy making bacon and eggs for him, because “Sam looked like he hadn’t eaten in days”. Balthazar, after initial introductions, had gone back to bed and slammed the door behind him, with “Kid or no kid, I don’t like people waking me up at un-godly hours.”
“Me and my family,” Cas replied quietly “we don’t get along well. I hadn’t spoken to Balthazar in seven years.”
Sam shuddered. The very thought of not speaking to Dean… for seven years… he shook the thought away and sipped his drink. “What happened?”
Cas opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and steeled his expression. “Why are you here, Sam?” he asked pushing the breakfast plate before Sam and sitting down opposite him.
“I missed your hot chocolate,” Sam replied raising his mug, a lame attempt at clearing the air. Cas just stared at him. Uh… who was he kidding? Cas could see into your soul. He sighed. “You have got to talk to him,” he said.
“Who?” Cas asked nonchalantly, his attempt at lame joke. Sam gave him an identical stare and Cas sagged under it. “Sam… I can’t… it’s… it’s too complicated. We are too different. You have to forget about it Sam. You have to forget about us…” he started, trying to convince himself, more than Sam, why he and Dean weren’t meant to be. But…
“No!” Sam cut-in. He had this huge speech prepared about how Cas and Dean were perfect for each other. How they made sense and how they were a family. He wanted to tell Cas what Dean was going through and how he had started drinking and how he hung around Lisa. Lisa… who had threatened Sam that she would have Dean, “one way or another”. He wanted to tell him about the fight and how he saw Dean hurting everyday and how he knew Cas was hurting too. He wanted to say so much… but the words died on his lips. Instead he said. “No! You gotta talk to him. I don’t know what happened that day, but you gotta talk to him. Cas, he’s drinking and… fighting… and… No! You gotta talk to him. You gotta talk to him. He… uh… Lisa… You gotta talk Cas… You gotta, you gotta, you gotta, you gotta… Cas… please… you owe me that much… you gotta talk to Dean…. Please Cas…. You owe me…” Soon he was mumbling incoherently and sobbing and he had no idea when Cas had crossed to his side and put his arms around him, holding him, caressing his back. He just knew that Cas was there and Cas would make everything alright. He melted into the embrace, holding him tight, sobbing into his shoulder until he could sob no more. Then he just stayed there soaking in his warmth, breathing silently into his neck.
Song: Arms - Christina Perri [I know... but the chorus line was too perfect for the Sassy hug. Thoughts?]
“Okay.” Cas finally released him, but his hands still lingered on the boy’s arms, and wiped away his half-dried tears. “Okay… I’ll talk to him. We’ll figure something out. Just give me some time, okay?” Sam sniffed. “Okay?” Cas asked once again, a bit forcefully. Sam nodded. “Now eat your breakfast. Do you want me to re-heat it?” Sam shook his head and tucked into his cold eggs and dry bacon. It didn’t bother him anymore... nothing ever would. Cas was coming back home.
“Uh… Cas?” Sam spoke up after he had finished his food and stood up to rinse his plate.
“What love?” Cas looked up from his morning paper. He was sitting before Sam, with his coffee and Saturday morning paper, soaking in the once familial feeling. He had missed it so much… he wondered how he had survived without it for 2 months. Two whole months. The only thing missing was Dean. So what if Dean didn’t love him back… that was fine by him. He would try to make it work… for Sam… for himself. He was a selfish that way. And hadn’t he heard of old queens who spent their lives pining away for people they loved, but couldn't have?. He never thought he would be one of them… but it didn’t matter. He still had Sam… his Sam… his angel.
“I was wondering…” Sam was looking at him with a strange glint in his eyes. “I have my first game tonight…”
“You’re playing?!” Cas put his paper aside. Why hadn’t Sam told him about this earlier?
“Coach lined me up as substitute receiver. But he said the sophomores would get the preference,” Sam replied excitedly, once again forgetting why he had come here in the first place.
Cas nodded. He had met Coach Henrikson at the last PTA meet and he had struck him as the kind of guy who not only knew what he was doing, but also really enjoyed his work. And it hadn’t hurt that he was exceptionally happy with Sam. He had even said that if Sam showed the same enthusiasm and dedication, he would very well be the youngest player on the team.
“Where is it?” Cas asked before Sam could say anything further.
“Home ground. Against Milton High.”
Cas nodded. “I’ll be there.”
“You… you sure?” Sam asked unsure that his plan had worked without even trying.
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”
Sam smiled. This was going better than he thought. He turned away sheepishly. It was time for action. “Uh… Cas… I was wondering…” he looked up to find Cas staring back at him. He flinched but didn’t back down. “I was wondering… Dean will be there too… You could talk to him about…”
Cas burst out laughing. “You know you will make a GREAT lawyer!”
***
It was 90 seconds to the final whistle and they were winning 3-2 when Sam heard coach call out for him. “Winchester, you’re up.”
Sam looked towards the bleachers and smiled proudly. Everything was going according to the plan. Cas had come and kissed him and fussed over him and totally embarrassed him front of his team and friends and school and the world in general. Dean had stood behind him, muttered a weird “have a good game” and smiled at Cas and Cas smiled back at him, when they had taken seats beside each other. Okay, so it was just a civil smile, they weren’t making out or anything, but it was a start. And to top it off there was no sign of that Lisa bitch. And now the coach was playing him. This was going to be the best day of his life.
“Winchester! Focus!” Coach shouted. “Concentrate on the game. You can play fuckin’ house when you’re off my field. Gotit?” Sam nodded sheepishly before running off to join his teammates in the field.
Andy, the QB, called the players in a huddle and explained the play. Sam nodded, he knew the play by heart… he had studied the playbook. It was easy. His job was to run down the line, receive the ball from J3, pass it to J3 and wait. [Triplets Jesse, Jared and Jake looked and dressed exactly alike and always stuck together and almost everyone struggled to distinguish between them. So they were collectively called “J3”.] Scoring was optional… they just had to maintain the possession.
“Good luck, ‘Chester,” Andy said thumping his back. “You’re gonna need it.”
Sam nodded sombrely. The Milton High, under their new coach Alastair “Give ‘em Hell” McAllister, was playing downright dirty. Since the start of the game they had injured more than 8 players, 2 their own, and showed no sign of stopping or mellowing. If anything, it seemed they were even more aggressive now that they were losing. He sighed and took his position.
“Hut!”
The ball snapped. Sam ran to his position down the line skimming past Milton’s All Black Devils, received a pass from J3-28, passed it to J3-30, saw him rushing to the goal, and the speakers blasting “And TOUCHDOWN!” before the final whistle rang and the stadium erupted in loud cat-calls and cheers.
They’d won! His first game and they’d WON! He started running towards his teammates gathering in huddle and yelling and hugging each other in celebration. He threw a glance the sidelines where Madison, the cheerleader and his girlfriend, was jumping up and down in excitement. So far only Jo knew about her, but today he was gonna introduce her to both Dean and Cas… together. He turned around to see them standing together, waving at him, smiling and looking so happy. Everything was so good… it was perfect. It was the happiest day o…
“SAM! WATCH OUT!” he barely heard someone yell. He jerked upwards to see the huge “68 Black” bearing down on him at full speed. He sidestepped quickly to avoid his attacker and twisted his ankle as the hard black-and-white helmet connected with his solar plexus. “Uff!” he fell and heard the bones crunch under him as a sharp pain shot through his entire body and everything went black.