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“Okay, so you’re my best friend in the whole wide world, right? And you’d do absolutely anything for me?”
Castiel looked up from his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He hadn’t even realized Dean had come in until that question. When did Dean learn to be sneaky? Normally, he was very loud about coming in. This time, Dean was not only in the room, he was sitting on the kitchen table. “That’s…a suspicious question, but within reason, yes? What do you want me to do for you?”
“Sammy told me he’s skipping prom. I’ve put up with a lot of his introversion crap over the years, he’s just being himself and I love him for who he is and all, but how can you not go to prom? It’s like…”
Castiel rolled his eyes. “You know, I didn’t go to my prom. I skipped to play D&D with Gabriel and his friends. I can’t imagine anything at prom would beat the memories of taking down the tarrasque cultists for good, complete with taking down the tarrasque they worshipped.”
“My god you’re a nerd.” Dean blinked, and then his face lit up with a huge grin. “But see? That’s why you’re perfect for this! You take Sam, then both of you get the memories of going to prom, and if you hate it the two of you can sit and make snarky comments to each other and still have a good time!”
Dean had been persistent – more persistent than Castiel was stubborn. Sam proved equally helpless in the face of Dean’s insistence, which meant that Castiel had rented a tux, taken the time to do something with his hair instead of just leaving it to do its own thing, rented a limo, canceled the limo rental at Dean’s refusal to speak to him for not thinking the Impala was good enough, and was now standing awkwardly in front of a blank white wall while Dean took pictures. In every single one of them, one or both boys were rolling their eyes, glaring at the camera, or otherwise visibly done with this shit.
Finally, Dean freed them from that torture by handing Sam the keys to the Impala. “You get drunk, call me, do not drive my Baby in that condition. Understood?”
“Yes, mom.” Sam snatched the keys and walked out to the car. He paused at the passenger side to open the door for Castiel. “I am so sorry my brother is such a dick.”
“I’m sorry for not being stubborn enough to avoid all this,” Castiel said.
Sam smiled, for the first time a smile that wasn’t fake or sarcastic. “Hard to be mad at you for it when I wasn’t either. Are you even gay?”
“Technically, no.” Sam’s eyebrows flew up, so Castiel clarified, “I’m somewhere between pan and ace. I’m not attracted to people often, but when I am, gender doesn’t matter.”
“Oh, okay. Sorry, I guess I should’ve said are you even interested in guys or something like that.” He put the car in gear.
When they got to prom, there was a bit of a wait while the sponsors checked tickets, and then Sam led him over to the photo booth. Once they had pictures, he took Castiel’s hand. "Okay. I went. You took me to prom. Let's go."
"But we just got here." Castiel looked over at the dance floor. There weren’t many people dancing yet, most of them were clustered at tables or getting drinks or snacks, but did Sam really want to leave without saying hello to his friends?
"I didn't want to come in the first place. I can’t dance, and I pretty much hate my entire class. There’s a few people who individually are okay, but something like this, even they’re gonna be terrible. I do not want to deal with everyone talking about how glad they are to be done with high school and how much they’re looking forward to their freedom.”
“But you’re going to Stanford. Doesn’t that excite you?”
Sam’s eyes got huge, and he dragged Castiel outside to the Impala. Once the doors closed, Sam turned to him. “How do you know about that? I haven’t told anyone but Pastor Jim, and I only told him because I needed somewhere safe for Stanford to send mail!”
“Dean knows. He told me. He’s so excited to see you go off and make something good of yourself, take your chance to become so much more than your father would ever allow.” Sam stared, mouth hanging open, and Castiel’s stomach flipped over. He’d assumed Sam had confided in Dean, but it would seem that was wrong. What should he do now? “I’m sorry. Dean did say not to tell anyone about this, but I didn’t realize you were included in that.”
“I didn’t know Dean knew. He hasn’t said anything to me. Dean’s happy I’m leaving?”
“No, Dean’s happy that you’re getting out and finding your own life. That doesn’t mean he’s happy you’ll be gone.” Castiel shut his mouth before he could say that Dean was trying to figure out how to go with Sam. He’d already made enough of a mess. “Dean told me when I told him I’d been accepted to Stanford’s medical school. He knows I won’t have much free time, but asked me to look out for you when I could.”
“Oh, wow, you’re… you know my dad is probably gonna kick me out, right? So I won’t be coming back? I’d been counting on you being here to make sure Dean was okay…”
“With both of us in Palo Alto, I can’t imagine Dean doesn’t find a way to come see us sometimes,” Castiel said. It was as close as he’d let himself get. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back into the dance? Dean will not accept me bringing you home already."
"Who said anything about going home?" Sam turned the key, bringing the Impala to life. “Dean said he’d kick my ass if he saw me before one, I figured he told you the same thing, so let’s go stargazing.”
Castiel couldn’t find a good counterargument to that, so they went out and laid on the hood of the car, looking up at the stars. It was certainly much more enjoyable than pretending to enjoy a prom when neither he nor Sam could dance, and he’d gotten lulled into a false sense of security. He reached out and took Sam’s hand.
Sam stared at their hands for a second. “Please tell me Dean didn’t…”
“Didn’t what?”
“I know he told you to take me to prom, on the grounds of making me have one normal prom night, but just because Dean’s prom night played out in porn fashion doesn’t mean mine has to.”
“Ah. Right. Dean did say something about that, but the opposite of what you’re thinking. He specifically told me I was not allowed to do any such thing.” Not that, at the time, Castiel had any thought of it. Now though… he still wouldn’t do it, but if Sam were interested, it would be a lot harder to say no.
“So… why?” Sam squeezed Castiel’s hand.
“Because I like you. If it makes you uncomfortable, then I apologize.” Castiel tried to let go, but Sam wouldn’t let him. “Sam?”
“You know the only reason I went tonight is because it meant I got to spend the evening with you, without Dean? And you’re going to be in Palo Alto… I know you’re gonna be busy with medical school, but that’s way different from what I thought was gonna happen, with me being there and you being somewhere else and my only connection to you being… I don’t know what Dean was gonna do. If you like me, then as long as this has nothing to do with Dean, I don’t mind a bit.”