Standing Together

Chapter 29

A/N Wattpad said I deleted the chapter on another device while I was in the middle of writing the chapter and I didn't delete the chapter and I saved the chapter from deletion but now I'm scared help meeeee

Castiel and Dean are in the middle of watching Frozen when the doorbell rings. Dean pauses the movie, but doesn't immediately get up to answer it. Castiel raises an eyebrow, waiting for him to move, or at least give a reason not to.

"That's the second person to ring my doorbell this month," Dean says. "That's kind of suspicious."

"Are you going to answer it?" Castiel asks.

Dean sighs. "I probably should. 'Kay, hold on. Unless you want to come, too."

"Can I hide behind a wall and eavesdrop?" Castiel asks.

"I don't see why not," Dean says. "C'mon."

They head over to the front door, Castiel hiding from view, and Dean opens it.

"Hi?" Dean says uncertainly.

"I'm sorry to bother you," a voice says. Castiel can't see who it is, but something about the voice makes him think it's an older woman. "I know you must be busy, what with football right around the corner and all, but could I ask you a favor?"

"You can ask," Dean says cautiously. "I can't promise anything, but..."

"Oh, it's nothing too much," the woman assures him. "It's just, Peter — you know my husband Peter — his sister passed away yesterday, and the funeral's all the way in South Carolina. We'd feel so bad if we couldn't make it, but our usual cat watcher is going away next week, so we can't find anyone to take care of Princess while we're gone. Would it be too much to ask for you to just go over and feed her a couple of times a day?"

"I wish I could help," Dean says, sounding surprisingly sincere, "but I'm actually allergic to cats, so —" He's cut off mid sentence by a sneeze. "Like that."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman says. "I didn't realize. I'm sure I can find someone else. If worst comes to worst, I'll leave her at the doggy daycare place. I think they have cages for the cats there."

It's clear she's running low on options. Castiel's never been a cat fan, but the idea of leaving one in a little cage for a few days just seems cruel, and he'd feel bad if the woman had to keep running around to find a different arrangement. Maybe...

Castiel hesitates, then warily steps into view. "If you just need someone to go give her food, I could do it."

A look of relief passes over the woman's features. Castiel was right about her — she's definitely older, with gray hair cut just a bit shorter than Sam's. Something about her face just makes her look friendly, and not at all like a character from Supernatural because the author is running out of names. There's a cat by her feet, a cute little calico just looking up at her owner.

"Oh, would you?" She smiles gratefully. "Thank you so much. I'm sorry to spring this on you so suddenly."

"Don't worry about it," Castiel says dismissively. "I love cats." It's not quite true, but she doesn't have to know that.

"And you're Castiel?" she guesses. "Dean's..."

"Fiancé," Castiel finishes. "Yes, I am."

"Oh, fiancé?" She gives Dean a jokingly accusing look when she says, "You never told me you were getting married!"

"I don't think I've seen you since then," Dean says with a shrug. "It's only been a few months, and I was gone for half of that."

"Well, congratulations anyway," she says. "To both of you." Turning her attention back to Castiel, she says, "You know, my granddaughter is a huge fan of yours. I swear, every time I see her, she's wearing a different shirt with your face on it."

Castiel chuckles. "Really? Well, tell her 'hi' for me."

"I will," she says. "I wish my son was here to thank you himself, but he's so grateful that Steph — my granddaughter — found your music. He says you're such a good influence on her. Never drinking or doing drugs or any of that stuff people think is cool nowadays. And I don't listen to the radio these days, but Steph used to play your songs on her little turtle speaker when she was little and it's all so beautiful. You really are a piece of work."

"Thank you so much," Castiel says, and he hopes she can hear the sincerity. "It means a lot."

"Oh, I just realized I never introduced myself!" she says suddenly. "So busy talking about you, I forgot about me for a second! I'm Ruth. I live right next door in that little blue house." She points to her right, and Castiel ignores he fact that he's inside and can't see what house she's talking about.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Ruth," Castiel says. If everyone in the neighborhood is like this, he thinks he's going to like it here.

"You too," she says. "I'm sure you two are busy, so I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time. I just want to give you this —" She holds out a key, which Castiel takes, "and if you could just go over twice a day, just for two minutes, that would be perfect. I'll even print out a little instruction sheet and leave it on the counter for you. We're leaving tonight, and we'll be gone until next Sunday morning. Does that sound okay?"

Castiel nods. "Sounds great."

"Okay, and thank you so much," she says. "Princess and I really appreciate it."

That's the end of their conversation, leaving Dean and Castiel alone again at last. Castiel puts the key in his pocket and turns back to his fiancé.

"She seems nice," Castiel says.

Dean shrugs. "Yeah, probably. I can't remember the last time I spoke to her until now. I had no idea she had a cat."

"I had no idea you were allergic to cats," Castiel adds. "How is it possible that I've known you for almost a decade and I didn't know you were allergic to cats?"

"Have you ever seen me and a cat in the same room?"

Castiel gasps dramatically. "Oh my god, no, I haven't! Does that mean you're a cat?"

Dean laughs. "I'm pretty sure that only works with Batman."

Castiel presses a finger to his lips. "Shhh, it works if I want it to." He takes Dean's hand as he says, "Come on, let's go finish the movie."

Dean sighs. "Great, because I really want to hear 'Let It Go' for the Fourth time this month. That's going to be great," he says sarcastically.

"You love it," Castiel says teasingly.

Dean chuckles. "Yeah, I kinda do." He presses a kiss to Castiel's cheek. "You make it fun."

A/N GUYS I SAW TAYLOR SWIFT LAST NIGHT AND I LOST MY VOICE BEFORE SHE EVEN CAME OUT BECAUSE I WAS SCREAMING TOO MUCH TO CHARLI XCX AND CAMILA CABELLO BUT IT WAS AMAZING AND I KINDA CRIED A FEW TIMES BUT YOU CANT PROVE THAT BUT ANYWAY YOU GUYS SHOULD TRY TO GET TICKETS TO ONE OF HER SHOWS BECAUSE ITS AN AMAZING SHOW EVEN IF YOU DONT REALLY LIKE HER SHE HAS A BUNCH OF GIANT SNAKES AND SHE FLIES ACROSS THE STAGE IN A SKELETON AND EVERYTHING