Chapter Text
The irregular, dragging squeak of rubber on glass cuts through the light pitter-patter of raindrops spattering against the car. The quiet song on the radio crackles as a gust of wind threatens to push the small car off the muddy road. Rivulets of clay-reddened water run down from the center of the road into the ditch, where the stark green of tiny corn stalks sway in the wind. The sky is full of rolling clouds in various shades of grey. It looks more sad than angry, as if the storm is tears instead of thunderous shouts.
“Don’t, uh… don’t you think it’s a little warm in here?”
The voice draws Castiel out of his thoughts. He turns his gaze away from the window in time to see his uncle reach up and wipe a drop of sweat from under his eye. Chuck’s brow is glistening and the collar of his suit is wet. He looks rather uncomfortable. Good.
“I’ll just turn the heat down a bit, yeah?”
“Don’t,” Castiel says, his voice sharp.
Chuck freezes with his hand halfway to the temperature controls. “Wouldn’t Ruth be alright if it was just a little cooler?”
“No.”
A tiny smirk of satisfaction worms its way onto Castiel’s face as Chuck returns his hand to the steering wheel. For someone who married into the Milton family and has survived thirty years thus far, Charles Shurley has no backbone. Castiel banishes his expression quickly, keeping his eyes impassive behind his sunglasses. It hasn’t been sunny since they left California, but he’s been trying to make this drive as awkward as possible for his uncle, and so far he’s been succeeding. It’s been nearly two days of silence, broken more often by Ruth moving than either Chuck or Castiel speaking.
Castiel runs a finger under Ruth’s chin in a scratching motion. He doesn’t miss the way Chuck’s eyes watch apprehensively in the rearview mirror. He decides he’s glad about that- if Chuck is afraid of Ruth, he won’t disturb her.
Chuck turns the small silver car off the rutted road and onto a smooth, paved drive. Trees seem to spring out of nowhere to line the drive, a trail of elegance interrupting the wide expanse of corn and soy beans. An ornate arch frames the drive, wrought iron proudly bearing the words Eden’s Creek Ranch between delicate stallions. Castiel resists the urge to snort.
The first time he was here for more than a few days, he was six years old, and everything had seemed so absurdly clean compared to its surroundings. Now, as the large house and collection of barns and arenas come into view, Castiel knows nothing has changed. Chuck pulls the car around in front of the house and parks it. For a moment after he climbs out, Castiel is alone in the backseat. He sighs and lifts Ruth from his shoulder so he can wrap her in the towel that’s been warming up on the heated seat beside him.
“Well, Ruthie,” he murmurs, a bit sadly, “it’s you and me against the world. Think we can do it?” Ruth doesn’t respond, and Castiel can see his cousins come spilling out of the house to unload the car. He groans. “Me neither.”
Castiel is just closing his door, holding the towel-clad Ruth with one hand and trying to shield her from the rain with the other, when Chuck reappears to pull the twenty-gallon glass tank from the front seat. Castiel follows his uncle and the line of luggage-laden cousins up the steps of the front porch and into the house. The screen door slams behind him and he just barely keeps himself from wincing at the noise.
The entryway of the house is as uninviting as ever, all dark wood and plush rugs and embellished coat racks. It seems colder with piles of Castiel’s luggage stacked at the base of the staircase. Apparently his cousins’ generosity wore out at the threshold. Chuck hands the glass tank to Gabriel, who has to drop one of Castiel’s suitcases to take hold of it.
“Help your cousin get set up in the guest room,” he says, and casts a furtive glance at Ruth before disappearing down the hall.
Gabriel grunts a reply. He shifts his grip on the tank and turns to go upstairs without saying anything to Castiel. In turn, Castiel hesitates, but quickly moves to follow Gabriel when Michael appears. While Castiel is making a terrarium out of the glass tank, Gabriel makes several trips up and down the stairs to move the suitcases. He flops onto the bed just as Castiel unwraps the towel from around Ruth.
“What is that thing, anyway?”
“What is she,” Castiel says testily. He carefully lifts Ruth and places her inside the terrarium.
Gabriel rolls his eyes and pushes himself into a sitting position. “Moody, moody. Do long car rides make Cassie cranky?”
Castiel pushes his sunglasses onto the top of his head, leveling his cousin with a venomous glare. “What do you want, Gabriel?”
“To know what that thing is. Also to tell you that you’re indoors and it’s not sunny. You might want to lose the tank top and sunglasses before Naomi sees you.”
“She’s a blue-tongued skink and her name is Ruth.”
Castiel doesn’t verbally acknowledge Gabriel’s second statement, but he does remove his bright red Ray-Bans and lay them gently on the table beside Ruth’s tank. His fingers linger just a little too long before he sucks in a breath and turns to face Gabriel, who is watching him with mild interest.
“What?” he snaps.
Gabriel shrugs. “Just thinking about the last time you came for the entire summer. Weren’t you, like, ten?”
“… Eleven.”
“Oh, yeah! Yeah, cause you broke a violin.”
Castiel bites his lip, then shakes his head softly. “I didn’t break it. I tore it apart piece by piece, stuffed it in my mother’s favorite vase, and used the vase to break the stain glass window in my father’s office.”
Gabriel looks suspiciously like he’s trying not to laugh. He pats the bed beside him until Castiel reluctantly sits down. “So what did you do to piss off Aunt Muriel and Uncle Marv this time?”
Castiel can feel his heartbeat pick up. His eyes dart towards the partially open door before he can stop himself. Gabriel purses his lips and nudges Castiel’s shoulder gently. Castiel swallows hard and forces himself to look away from the door.
“Cassie. Come on. Aunt Muriel’s just gonna give Naomi some bullshit story about why you’re here and Naomi’ll dog you about it all summer. You’ve got to have done something drastic to get kicked out right before college. Tell me and I can help you keep it from Naomi.”
“I… I came out.”
Gabriel sits in silence for a moment, then lets out a low whistle. “Muriel would never tell Naomi that. She’d be humiliated. Let’s get you through this summer alive, yeah?”
Castiel shrugs. Gabriel pushes himself off the bed and opens a random suitcase. He rummages until he finds a cardigan, which he shoves at Castiel’s chest. Castiel takes it with a frown after a few moments.
“Put it on,” Gabriel says. “Trust me on this one. Hide that ridiculously expensive shirt and Ruth won’t witness Naomi trying to sleuth her way to a conclusion about you so she can bring you an early death.”
As Castiel tugs his grey cardigan over his blue tank top, Gabriel walks over to Ruth’s tank so he can study her. Castiel buttons the cardigan and smooths it against his stomach. His hands come to rest against the dark fabric of his skinny jeans. He watches as Gabriel leans in closer to the glass only to jump back when Ruth flicks her blue tongue at him.
“Why are you helping me, Gabriel?”
“Because I think it’s super stupid that you’re being punished for being a person. Also, I’m still stuck here and I want to talk to someone who doesn’t think I’m a complete failure in life.” Gabriel glances over his shoulder, still hunched in front of the terrarium. “You don’t, right?”
“Don’t what?”
“Think I’m a complete failure. I mean, I know you’re the California cousin and I’m the country hick, but if we ignore that factor in the equation, it would be nice.”
Castiel’s expression is blank but his eyes are confused. “I hardly think this place qualifies you as a hick. It’s… pristine.”
“You’re tellin’ me,” Gabriel snorts. “Naomi and Anna are just as ornery about cleaning the house as they are the barns. Reputations as reliable or clean or whatever.”
Before Castiel can reply, the sound of a bell ringing cuts through the house. It stops abruptly a moment later. Gabriel shakes his head and straightens up.
“We never use that thing unless someone’s out in the pasture, but Lucian thinks he’s funny. Come on, it’s dinner.”
Castiel casts an apprehensive look at Ruth. She flicks her tongue, but doesn’t move, so he sighs and resigns himself to trailing after Gabriel. Who, amazingly, is descending the stairs two at a time without tripping. Until the last step, at which point he manages to catch his right foot on his left ankle and stumbles. He lands hard with a loud thud and huffs as his breath is knocked out of him. Castiel hears someone sigh in the next room over, then his aunt’s voice.
“Who fell?”
“Me,” Gabriel grunts in response.
“Is anything broken?”
“My pride.”
Castiel hears Anna snicker and cut in with “Anything important?”
Gabriel shoves hair away from his face as he stands back up. He gives Castiel an exasperated look, but doesn’t say anything as they round the corner into the dining room together. Gabriel is a step ahead of Castiel, but it feels like the entire room freezes in place the moment he steps away and Naomi sees Castiel.
She’s standing beside her husband’s chair, still wearing khaki jodhpurs, shining knee-high black riding boots, and a navy blue dressage blazer. Her brown hair is pulled back in an impossibly tight bun, with elegant streaks of silver near each of her temples. She gives her nephew a pinched smile and gestures to the empty chair beside her.
“Why don’t you sit here, Castiel.”
It isn’t a question. Castiel’s fingers instinctively tighten on the sleeve of his cardigan as he walks over. Naomi taps the back of the chair after he’s sat down and moves gracefully across the room to her own seat at the end of the table. She is four years younger than her sister Muriel, Castiel’s mother, but she somehow manages to have a more commanding presence. Castiel isn’t afraid of her, per se, at least no more than his own mother, but she never ceases to make him nervous.
As Naomi slides into her chair, she extends her left hand to Michael and her right hand to a woman Castiel vaguely recognizes as Michael’s wife Rachel. Michael and Rachel take Naomi’s hands and repeat the action. The line flows around the table- Michael to Lucian to Gabriel to Chuck and Rachel to Anna- until Anna and Chuck are both holding their hands out expectantly to Castiel. Gabriel kicks him under the table and Castiel takes the hands with a wince.
The entire family bows their heads in tandem. Castiel follows suit a bit belatedly. Naomi leads them in a prayer and is echoed with a chorus of ‘amen’s from the family. The release each other’s hands and immediately swarm the table for food. Castiel sits quietly through the entire ordeal, only taking a small serving of pasta salad for himself after everyone else has filled their plates and begun eating.
“So, Castiel,” Naomi says a few moments later, somehow managing to time it so Castiel flinches and has to try hard not to choke on a bite of salad. “Muriel says you’re going to medical school in August.”
Castiel chews slowly, giving his aunt a polite smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Did she? How lovely for her.”
Naomi seems to ignore the blatant sarcasm. She slices neatly through the piece of ham on her plate. “What university was it, again?”
“Stanford. The school of medicine there is one of the highest rated in California.”
“Oh, yes, I have heard quite a bit of praise about Stanford. Certainly not the best school in the country, but I suppose it would be well enough.”
“The campus is supposed to be gorgeous.”
“How lovely. What are you going to be studying? Surely not nursing, I hope.”
Castiel bites hard on the inside of his cheek to keep from making a scathing comment about her view on nursing. “Mother is quite partial to neurosurgery, but Father is pushing for gastroenterology.”
Lucian looks up from his plate suddenly, a wicked smile playing across his lips. “And you, Feathers? You didn’t say what you want.”
“I want you to stop using that awful nickname.”
“It’s only cause you’re my most favoritest cousin, Feathers.”
“I wish you wouldn’t.”
“So what is it? What do you want to study? You never said.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Well? Gastroenterologist or neurosurgeon?”
Castiel holds back a sigh, knowing that Lucian is just trying to create tension. This family feeds off negative emotion like vampires. “Neither.” Naomi raises an eyebrow, which Castiel smoothly ignores. “I figure that if my school and major have been pre-selected for me, I can do with them what I choose. I’ve decided to specialize in pediatric oncology.”
In the heavy silence that follows, Rachel quietly asks Anna to pass her the pitcher of water. Lucian smirks, having gotten what he wanted, and returns to his meal. Naomi simply makes a dissatisfied noise and turns to speak with Michael.
“Will you be stopping in Lawrence after you take Rachel to the airport tomorrow morning?”
“I was considering it, yes. I was rather hoping our order would be in at the saddlery by now.”
Gabriel’s expression sours. Naomi gives a light sigh and sips at her water.
“Yes,” she says, “It was rather unfortunate that my best saddle pad was torn. I wasn’t expecting Gabriel to be in the barn that day. Anyhow, I’d like for you to pick up another helmet. I doubt our extras are still up to my standards.”
“In my size or Gabriel’s?”
“Gabriel’s would be a better fit for Castiel, I believe.”
Gabriel groans and slouches in his seat. He turns an annoyed expression on Chuck. “How come they always talk like I’m not right here?”
“Sit up straight,” is Chuck’s only reply.
Gabriel gives Castiel a pointed look. “Maybe I should ask why he lets them talk like I’m not here.”
Beside Castiel, Anna takes a small serving of pasta salad. “Y’know, I think a better question is why you still live at home if you think you get treated unfairly. Oh, wait, nevermind. I already know the answer to that question.”
“Do you, now?”
“Sure. It’s because you quit law school for a girl, got dumped, and now you’re stuck at a daycare. Tell me, how are the kindergarteners working out for you?”
“I don’t know, Anna, how’s your situation with Winchester?”
Anna flushes bright red and looks down at her plate with a scowl. Naomi clucks her tongue disapprovingly, staring fiercely at her husband until Chuck clears his throat.
“Gabriel, that’s enough. Anael, don’t antagonize your brother.”
Castiel spends the rest of the meal trying to tune out the passive aggressive conversation his cousins are having. It seems like an eternity later when Gabriel nudges his foot under the table to get his attention. They take their plates to the kitchen sink together before heading upstairs.
When they reach the room Naomi has assigned to Castiel, Gabriel throws himself face-first onto the bed. He groans as Castiel lets out a sigh of relief for having made it through the meal. The room is quiet for a few moments while Castiel rummages for a container of crickets to feed Ruth.
“What’s the Winchester situation?”
Gabriel makes a noise that could be interpreted as either a scoff or a laugh. Castiel isn’t sure which it’s meant to be. “Stupid. It’s stupid. But it’s also the only thing that gets her to leave me alone, cause she doesn’t want anyone to know the extent of it.”
“So what’s a Winchester?”
Gabriel rolls onto his back so he can stare up at the ceiling, flapping his hand uselessly in the air instead of gesturing with it. “Winchester is a guy. Or, rather, two guys. Brothers, actually. Anna’s gotten herself into some idiotic mess with them.”
“I didn’t know Anna was seeing anyone at the moment. She’s not… she can’t be with both of them. They’re brothers, that’s disgusting.”
A bark of laughter comes from the bed as Castiel shakes three crickets into Ruth’s tank. “Don’t worry, she’s not with either of them. You don’t fall in with the legion that still believes Anna is sweet and innocent?”
“Please,” Castiel snorts. “When I was fourteen she made fun of me because I hadn’t kissed a girl yet. When I was fifteen, she teased me for not dating. I hit sixteen and she insulted me for still being a virgin. You know Michael’s wedding two years ago? When Mother and I came to Kansas for that, I caught Anna with one of the servers.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot she did that.”
Castiel gently scratches the top of Ruth’s head, then turns away with a sigh so he can start unpacking his bags. “So these brothers. How does she know them, anyway?”
“Highschool. Anna’s whole problem revolves around the older brother. He was a grade ahead of her, and I guess he was popular. So of course, Anna would shamelessly flirt with him. It wasn’t until sometime in the past few months that she managed to get him into bed, though. Then she had a pregnancy scare, didn’t tell him about it, and started tutoring the younger brother.”
“I don’t quite understand how this all qualifies as a situation.”
“Winchester the Major is supposedly seeing some other chick and Anna’s being irrational about it. She’s using Winchester the Minor to try and get close to him. It’s not working.”
Raindrops streak down the window as Castiel crosses in front of it with a few pairs of shorts in his hands. The sky outside is still a gloomy swathe of gray. “So why is she so hung up on this guy?”
“Oh, she’s not,” Gabriel grumbles. “That’s why it’s so easy to shut her up by mentioning it. She thinks Winchester the Major is an asshole, but apparently he’s super hot and she hates other people touching her stuff.”
“What, she sleeps with him one time and now she owns him?”
Castiel turns to face his cousin, who is now laying half off the bed, staring upside-down at the window. Gabriel shakes his head lazily. His hair brushes against the wood floor. Castiel rolls his eyes and pulls open a drawer on the old dresser so he can place his shorts inside.
“Well. No, not exactly. It’s more that he was some sort of accomplishment for her. She had to work hard to get him so she could throw him away. Like that one absurdly snotty girl in Willy Wonka, you know? She only wants him so people she deems inferior can’t have him.”
“Figures. Enough talk about her, though. Hearing about Anna always makes my stomach churn.”
Gabriel laughs, the shaking motion scooting him farther off the edge of the bed. “Yeah. Yeah, me too. You’re lucky you only have to deal with her for a few months. I’m stuck with her until I move out.”
“Why don’t you? Move out, I mean.”
“Free food.”
Castiel stifles a small laugh. He tosses a small blanket towards the bed. “Typical. You’re always thinking with your stomach.”
“You know me so well, Cassie.”
A comfortable silence falls in the room. After his face starts turning red from hanging upside down, Gabriel rolls himself off the bed and begins helping unpack. With two of them working, it doesn’t take long to get Castiel’s things sorted. Halfway through, they close the door and take Ruth out of her tank for company. The end of the night finds them sitting on the floor quietly, watching as Ruth explores her new area. Each time she comes across another new object, she flicks her tongue and stares for a while before deciding it’s safe to continue. Eventually, Gabriel sighs and rests his head back against the bed.
“I’m sorry this family is shitty enough to send you away just for coming out to them.”
Castiel smiles sadly, his blue eyes trained on Ruth. “I’m sorry they’re shitty enough that you can’t come out.”
“What a mess, huh? We have got to find a way to get ourselves through this summer. Hey, maybe I could set you up with someone!”
“… Please don’t.”