I Promise | A Destiel High School & College AU

CHAPTER 6 - You Weren't Supposed to See That

"I'm never shocked when people let me down nowadays. I just hate the fact that I put myself in a position to be let down again in the first place."
-Anonymous

\\TRIGGER WARNING//

Violence, Abuse

The only thing Castiel could hear was the sound of his own screams.

The scream he let out when he felt his ribs crack within him, and how badly it hurt when he landed on them.

The scream he tried, and failed, to conceal, when his uncle crushed his wrist underneath his boot. The screams that filled any space left of his mind as his uncle tore into his flesh. He'd done it before, back when Cas was too young to know that what his uncle did to him was wrong.

All he heard were his own screams, and all he saw was red. Crimson red rivers flowing from his body as a kitchen knife cut into his skin. Crimson red rivers and the devious glow from his uncle's eyes that showed no remorse.

He was terrified, and he couldn't wake up. Wait... he thought. Wake up. Wake. Up. WAKE...UP!

~

Castiel woke up sucking in a deep breath of air. He was drenched in sweat and his body ached almost as much as his head. The sudden noise woke up a sleeping Dean, who was sitting in a chair beside the bed, his head resting on the bed beside Castiel's hand.

He lifted his head and once he processed what startled him back to consciousness, his eyes widened and he spoke. "Cas! Oh, my God...Cas, are you alright?"

Cas' hands were shaking and his breathing came in short, raspy intervals as his eyes met with Dean's. "I-I don't kn-know."

Dean's eyes softened and he sighed. "It's alright, Cas. You're safe now," he said, placing his hand over Cas' unbroken one. It didn't take long for Dean to speak again. He had been waiting for Cas to wake up so he could ask this.

"Cas...what happened to your stomach?" It was then that Castiel realized he was shirtless, and his scars sat out in the open. Cas made a feeble attempt to cover himself with his arms, which only shot a searing pain through his body.

"Nothing," he said.

Dean's glare hardened. "Don't you dare lie to me. It's obviously not nothing."

Cas shut his eyes and bowed his head, tears threatening to spill. He took a deep breath before revealing the secret that kept him prey to his uncle's evil intentions, and that scared him enough to want to go to sleep and never wake up. "M-my uncle. When he's been drinking too much, he'll take his anger out on me. Anger for losing his sister, for his wife leaving him, for getting stuck with me. I'm punished because I'm the only one who can't leave him."

Cas had to stop for a moment before regaining his speech. "He takes one of the pokers that's had its end heated up over the fireplace. And, he'll press into my stomach with it. He tells me I should've burned with my family and this is how God is making up for it. He's been doing it since I was eight and I don't know what I did to deserve it."

And now Castiel was crying, and he couldn't seem to stop. Dean sat on the bed next to him and pulled him as close as he could without hurting him any more. "That's because you don't deserve it Castiel. Any of it. I'm so sorry this happened to you."

Castiel did appreciate the fact that this particular boy took such a kind and gentle approach when interacting with him. No one had ever condescended doing that since his family died. He really was happy that he had someone like Dean with him, but now he was scared for Dean. What would his uncle do if someone found out? It almost hurt to think about it.

"D-Dean..." Cas said, pulling away slightly, cautious of his wounds. "You know you can't tell anyone what I just told you, right?"

Dean moved away from Castiel and crouched down in front of him, holding his hand ever so slightly. The look in Dean's eyes after Cas said that almost scared him. "What do you mean I can't tell anyone?! I can't just do nothing about it! You deserve so much better than this, Cas. And that bastard deserves to rot in hell for what he's done."

Castiel was about ready to cry again. He said, barely above a whisper, "No one is supposed to know. I don't want anything bad to happen to you, Dean." At this, Dean's eyes softened and he brought one hand up to rest on Castiel's face. He searched the oceans of blue for what to say next, but could find no such relief. Because he didn't know what to say, he simply leaned in.

Dean wasn't sure what he was doing, exactly. All he knew was that this felt right - it felt right to show this broken boy that he wasn't alone, but not just with words.

Castiel didn't react, but he didn't retreat, either. He stared into Dean's eyes until they were centimeters apart, and they could feel each other's breath on the other's lips.

**RING...RING**

Dean cursed himself for not keeping his phone on silent. But, reluctantly, got up and retrieved the device, leaving Castiel awestruck and sad that this mission wasn't carried out.

"Hello?" Dean answered in a monotonous kind of way, annoyed with the interruption. Cas sat patiently on the bed, blushing slightly.

"W-what?!" Dean yelled suddenly, causing Castiel to jump slightly. He directed his attention towards Dean, whose look resembled a deer in front of headlights. Castiel was filled with instant concern and curiosity as to what could be so important that would cause Dean to react this way. He hoped everything was alright.

"Sit tight...I'm coming." Dean said and hung up his phone. He threw it carelessly into a dufflebag along with the medical supplies he used to clean up Cas. He zipped up the bag and threw on his leather jacket.

"Dean, what's going on? Where are you going?" Cas asked, trying to stand up. It sent a shock wave of pain through his body, but he didn't care. Dean looked back at Cas with a certain sadness in his eyes, like he didn't want to leave but he had to.

"Cas...I'm so sorry. I've gotta go. I promise I'll be back...some day. I...I have to go." Dean said.

Castiel panicked. He'd lost so many people already, and the one person he sees every day is also the one person that could eventually bring an end to him.

"W-where are you going?! Why are you leaving me?" Cas said, his voice breaking.

That voice, those words of hopelessness echoed in Dean's ears. He sighed shakily and replied, "Cas, damnit, I'm not leaving you!" He sounded angry...or at least Castiel thought so, and he didn't think he could take any more hatred directed towards him.

Cas said, barely above a whisper, "P-please don't yell at me. I didn't do anything wrong, please don't yell at me!" Cas covered his ears, in a feeble attempt to block out himself from the rest of the world. His wrist was broken, maybe some ribs too, that much he could tell. He couldn't feel any of that pain right now.

He could feel himself start crying again as he crouched down to the ground, rocking slowly back and forth.

Dean closed his eyes and sighed. And what he did next would haunt him forever.

He left.