Standing Together

Chapter 14

It's about twenty seconds after Castiel ends his call with Anna when Dean abruptly hangs up on Lucifer with a quick, "What, no, of course I didn't. Bye!" He turns his phone on silent, ignoring how Lucifer continuously calls him back, and drops his phone on the table.

"So." Dean puts his arm around Castiel's shoulders. "You talked to Anna?"

"Mm," Castiel replies.

"Not who I would have expected," Dean remarks. "I'm not judging or anything, but I'm a little surprised."

Castiel kicks his legs up on the couch and lies down, his upper body resting against Dean's side with his head on the boy's shoulder. "She was the last one to text me. I figured she should be the first one I call."

"It didn't take her this long to ask if you were okay, did it?" Dean asks.

"No, it took this long for her to ask me for the 723rd time," Castiel replies.

Dean scoffs. "I'm sorry, we're talking about Anna, right? I thought she hated you."

"I don't think she ever hated me," Castiel says. "I did think she didn't like me, though." Mostly because Anna's specifically said as much. "Apparently, we were both wrong."

"Apparently," Dean agrees. "You probably have a lot of other people you should call right now."

"Yeah, probably," Castiel replies.

Neither of them move, though, and it becomes clear that no one is going to get a phone call from them any time soon.

"Dean?" Castiel says quietly, thinking about what Anna said. "When you go to play football, how long are you usually gone for?"

"I don't know," Dean replies. "Depends on the day. A few hours, usually."

"How many is a few?" Castiel asks.

Dean pauses, then asks, "Does it matter?"

"I'm just curious," Castiel says. "I mean, if I'm going to be here alone all day..."

"Then you'll want to move back to Sioux Falls?" Dean guesses, not sounding happy about it.

"I don't know," Castiel says. "I mean, it may be better than the alternative."

Dean sighs. "Then you should probably go before practice starts in a couple weeks. I'll drive you, if you want."

"Thanks," Castiel says quietly.

"And I guess I'd see you again in February, right?" Dean asks. "Unless you decide to come visit for a few days or watch one of my games or something."

Castiel frowns. God, would he really have to wait over six months to see him again? Even a few short visits wouldn't make that worth it. He can't leave his fiancé for half a year. That's just ridiculous.

"You know, maybe I will hang around," Castiel says.

Dean presses a kiss to the top of his fiancé's head. "I like that idea much better."

~~

Dean falls asleep, an arm still wrapped around his fiancé gently. Castiel wants to sleep, too. He's exhausted, so this would be very much appreciated. But if he falls asleep, he knows his nap would be cut short by nightmares that he'd like to avoid at any cost.

Castiel slides out from under Dean's arm, quietly walking out of the living room with his phone in his hand. He sits down on Dean's bed, hoping the distance will drown out his voice so Dean can sleep in peace, and calls Lucifer like he should have done hours ago.

The first thing that comes out of Lucifer's mouth is, "Quick, say a thing."

"Uh... a thing?" Castiel says uncertainly.

"Okay, I just wanted to hear your voice," Lucifer tells him. "I want you to know that I'm still bitter that you ditched me to talk to Anna earlier, but, because I'm a very kind and generous person, I'm not going to complain — except I'm kinda complaining right now, but just enough so you know I'm mad at you —"

"Do you even know how to be mad at people?" Castiel interrupts. "Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure holding grudges is not your forté."

"That is a fair point," Lucifer replies. "Anyhoo, hi! It's been a while! How's life? Have you adopted a cat yet? Or should I just mail one to your house?"

"Wait, why am I getting a cat?" Castiel asks slowly.

"I think the real question is, why haven't you gotten a cat?" Lucifer counters, just as Castiel should have expected.

Castiel isn't quite sure how to respond to that, so he just says, "Uh... it would have been a pain to bring on tour?"

"Ah, but you're not on tour anymore," Lucifer reminds him. "So, when are you taking Mittens home?"

"Yeah, I still don't know why you're expecting me to get a cat," Castiel says.

"Well, you're gonna need someone to keep you company during football season, and if you refuse to come home and see the squad, your next best option is a cat."

Castiel doesn't say anything for a moment, just staring at the wall as he attempts to process this. Finally, he says, "I mean, I guess? But no."

Lucifer sighs dramatically. "Fine, be that way. So, how's life, even without your cat?"

"Never better," Castiel lies, and he knows it's obvious that he's lying, but he doesn't really care. Lucifer likes light and fluffy conversations. He's not going to push.

But apparently Castiel doesn't know Lucifer as well as he thought, because he says, "Something tells me that's not true — and that something is your boyfriend but I also have a brain so I could have figured it out myself."

Castiel chuckles, but it's a halfhearted laugh. "Yeah, I figured."

"I don't want to be annoying —" Lucifer pauses, then says, "Actually, I'm always annoying. Lemme try that again. I don't want to be... more annoying? But if you want to talk, I'm always here. God knows I don't actually do anything with my life."

Castiel can't help but smile to himself at that last part. "You make YouTube videos. I'd say that's something, at least."

"Yeah, but nothing with a deadline or any serious hard work," Lucifer says. "So I'm 100 percent open for conversation at all times. You wanna conversate?"

"I'm pretty sure conversate is not a word," Castiel tells him, amused. "But no, I'm okay."

"Alrighty, well, if you change your mind, I still do nothing with my life, so call me," Lucifer says.

"Thanks."

"And, for what it's worth," Lucifer adds, "I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you."

Castiel can't help but think back to that night. The explosion in the pit...

"Don't be," Castiel says shortly.

"Well, since Dean was off in Texas, I feel like —"

"No," Castiel interrupts. "If you were there, you would have died. It's a goddamn miracle Dean wasn't there, either. Now, I really don't want to talk about it, so can we change the subject?"

"Yeah, sure, of course," Lucifer says quickly. "Let's talk about... Ooh, I know! Hey, wanna hear something cool I learned a few years back? I don't know if I've ever told you it before."

"Sure?" Castiel says uncertainly.

"According to all known laws of aviation..."