Work Text:
“Sam?”
The room was black but for the glowing blue digits on the clock above Sam’s desk. 3:00. His friend had fallen asleep hours ago, having passed out mid-conversation while discussing last week’s Trig finals and upcoming plans for the summer, thus leaving Castiel to wonder in silence from the floor of his friend’s room. Rolling around, readjusting his pillow, and frustratedly hoping himself to sleep had proven useless, and now he could feel himself becoming increasingly more bored and agitated with just lying on the floor, left only to his thoughts and anxieties.
Shuffling around a bit until he could sit up without disturbing anything, Castiel blindly felt his way to the door.
“Maybe water would help…” He crept into the hallway, slowly closing the door behind him and padding quietly down the hall, praying he remembered which room was Sam’s when he returned.
The rest of the house seemed equally as quiet and dark as Sam’s room, everyone else most likely asleep. “As any sane person should be at this hour,” he muttered to himself under his breath.
As he made his way towards the front of the house, a crash sounded from one of the nearby rooms, followed by a string of muttered curse words. The room it came from was bright, lit up completely, and Castiel had to shield his eyes as he made his way towards it, adjusting to the brightness.
“I hope this is the kitchen, or maybe a portal to Narnia, and not someone’s bedroom. Though, I don’t recall any bedrooms downstairs…”
He was hit by the smell of buttered popcorn as the boy in front of him wrenched open the microwave door before the timer could hit zero. It took a full minute as the blond fumbled with a bowl and tried to make as little noise as possible before he noticed him.
“Oh, hey, Cas.” Dean turned to him fully, a shy grin on his face. He was still wearing his clothes from the day, a pair of faded jeans and a black t-shirt. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”
“N-no, I…” He had to stop to remember why he had ventured out of Sam’s room, shuffling his feet as he moved to back out of the room. “I was looking for water.”
“Well, you found the right room.” Dean laughed, rolling his eyes as he grabbed a bottle of water and a coke from the fridge. Tossing the water to Cas, who fumbled to catch it, he asked, “Sammy asleep?”
“Y-yes. He has been… for a while.”
Dean scoffed. “Buzzkill. Kid can’t stay up past midnight… He’s 14, not four…” He seemed to have caught himself, eyes darting away and reaching for the bowl of popcorn. “So, why are you still up?”
“I… don’t know.” Staring at his friend’s older brother at 3:30 in the morning, all of the words in the universe left him and his cheeks grew hot. Standing in this unfamiliar kitchen with a boy he’d spoken no more than a few words to in passing, Castiel began to regret leaving Sam’s room, but at the same time, couldn’t make himself leave.
“Can’t sleep?”
Cas shook his head.
“Yeah, me either…” He looked down, staring into his popcorn and soda, seemingly contemplating something. Decided, he looked up at Cas, eyes narrowed, nodded, and walked passed him, into the hall. “Shut off the light, would ya? C’mon, Cas, I’m watching Star Trek.”
Confused, he followed.
Dean led them into the living room, the lights off, but the TV shrouding the room in a blue glow, the couch already covered with a blanket and pillows. He placed his snacks on the table, pressed a button on one of the remotes, and fell back, onto the couch. Castiel stood to the side, unsure what to do.
Dark green eyes glanced at him, the whites glowing with the glare from the TV screen, and an eyebrow rose in his direction. “Well? You can watch Star Trek with me and I might consider sharing my popcorn, or you can go back to Sammy’s room and stare at the wall ‘til he wakes up in…” He pursed his lips. “Five hours.”
“He’s right. I’m never getting to sleep at this rate…”
The movie started, the first sounds of the intro playing. Castiel lowered himself on to the cushion at the far end of the couch. He noticed a smirk make its way onto Dean’s face from the corner of his eye.
As the movie went on, Cas began to relax, becoming more involved, and even offered a shy smile when Dean held out his bowl of popcorn and moved closer so they could share. By the end of the movie, the bowl was empty except for the unpopped kernels and burnt pieces (“can never make popcorn without burning half the bag and undercooking the rest,” Dean had said, shaking his head in feigned disgust), and the awkwardness Castiel had originally felt had all but left.
Castiel sat in awe as the credits rolled. Dean grabbed the remote to lower the volume.
“I take it you’ve never seen Star Trek before.”
“Well… not this one… or most.”
“Aw, man, you’re missing out. I have every version. I’ll lend it to you.” He shifted where he sat to turn and face Cas, one leg pulled under him.
“That’s very kind.”
“Yeah, well, if you damage any of them, I’ll have to kill you.”
He said it so offhandedly, it almost took him off guard.
“Try and I’ll crush you.”
Dean blinked, eyebrows raising before he started laughing. “Man, how’re you Sam’s friend?”
Cas didn’t respond, wasn’t sure how to.
“You don’t talk as much as Sammy… He never shuts up.”
“On the contrary, I simply don’t have much to say. If I did, I am capable of speaking for days. My older brother tells me to shut up quite often.”
“Oh, yeah? A’right, tell me about yourself, then. How old are you? You sound old.”
His cheeks brightened again, a hand going up to rub at his neck nervously. “I… I’m 16.”
“Okay, and what do you do for fun?” Dean settled in, making himself comfortable, head tilted to stare at Cas.
“I read.”
Dean deflated, rolling his eyes and groaning. “Nothing else? No wonder you’re friends with Sammy. Bunch o’ nerds.”
“You have every version of Star Trek and just promised to kill me if I damaged any of them.”
“…Touché…”
Cas grinned at that.
“A’right, bookworm. D’you have a girlfriend?”
The blush reached all the way down his neck and back and across to both ears this time. “Uh, n-no, I…”
Dean grinned wildly, looking him up and down. An eyebrow quirked up. “So, same answer for boyfriend, then?”
“N-no, I mean, yes, I, I don’t, I-“
“Are you looking?”
Real words stopped forming at all, instead leaving Cas to gape like a fish, searching madly for some response, but no intelligent thoughts came. The grin on Dean’s face somehow managed to grow wider.
“I- I wouldn’t call it looking, so much as staring.”
Cas’ eyes popped wide open, disbelief spread across his features. “My mouth has betrayed me.” Dean, on the other hand, was practically glowing with amusement, the grin softening into a wide, genuine smile, eyes bright.
“I- I didn’t…M-my, I mean… uh…” His wide eyes darted around the room, searching for anything else to focus on, finally landing on the window. The sun had begun to rise, brightening the room. “I… The sun, I should…” His face was still burning red as he pushed himself from the couch, fumbling to point upstairs and avoid staring at the bright smile on Dean’s face.
He turned, hurrying from the room, but he stumbled and almost fell on the top step as Dean appeared at the bottom of the staircase, a grin audible in his voice as he called up, “If it makes you feel better, I’m ‘staring', too.”
It turns out he didn't really need sleep after all.