I Promise | A Destiel High School & College AU

CHAPTER 15 - Family Outside of Family

"Oh, home...let me come home. Home is wherever I'm with you."
-Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Surprisingly enough, Castiel and Sam navigated their way to San Francisco without having to consult Dean, who slept the rest of the way.

It was well deserved, as Sam had informed Cas that Dean hadn't slept longer than three or four hours in at least six months. He was running on pure adrenaline, keeping himself on the edge in case he had to pack up his life again and drag Sam with him.

For eleven hours Dean slept soundly, a peaceful look on his face as the worry and fear left his features.

Eventually, they had to wake Dean up, seeing as they had no idea where in San Francisco they were going. Sam turned around and nudged Dean awake as Castiel marveled at the unfamiliar sights. He was going to like it here.

Dean groaned as he sat up from the backseat, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"How long was I out?" he asked.

Cas smiled and said, "Long enough. But we have no idea where we're going."

Dean shook his head a little to wake himself up more. "Hmm...well we're on Bad Wolf Street, and the place is on the corner of 221st and B Street, so head east."

In a short amount of time, Cas found the right corner, behind which sat a small diner with a few floors above it, no doubt home to the owner of the bar, called The Roadhouse.

Cas parked the car, but no one made a move to get out.

"Four people live in there...Benny Lafitte, who I've known almost my entire life, Ellen Harvelle, along with her daughter Jo, and Ash...I don't know if anyone knows his last name," Dean said. "Sammy, you were too young to remember, but Ellen knew what kind of person Dad was, and tried to get us away from him. When Dad found out, he...he got to Ellen's husband."

Dean saw that no one was comfortable with speaking, so he continued, "Ellen wanted to help us, I know she did. But she couldn't stay near us with Jo to worry about. She slipped me a note that said if we ever needed help, she'll be here."

Sam interjected, "Are you sure she's gonna help two fugitives? That'd probably be bad for business, Dean."

Dean sighed, "I'm sure. And Benny will be able to help us, too. Trust me."

After several careful minutes of deciding how they were going to approach The Roadhouse, the three made their way around to the back of the restaurant, after parking the Impala in the alley nearby.

They knocked on the back door, only hoping that someone behind the bar would hear it. The Roadhouse wasn't very busy, so they were counting on it.

After a few seconds, the door opened to reveal a woman with brownish-reddish hair, shorter than all three of the boys.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Ellen," Dean said, "it's me...Dean. Dean Winchester? When I was little, you-"

That was all Dean could say before Ellen wrapped him into a hug. When she pulled away, she slapped him across the face.

"Dean Winchester! What made you think it was okay to drop off the face of the earth like that?! I've been worried sick about you two! And after everything with your daddy..." she said, before bringing both Sam and Dean into another hug. "I'm so sorry, boys."

Castiel didn't know exactly what to do, but he wasn't about to disrupt the first sign of compassion the brothers got, other than from himself.

When Ellen pulled away, she noticed Castiel standing rather awkwardly and trying to find something to look at to occupy himself. "And who's this handsome young man?"