Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Graceport was a lovely town, with 25,000 neighbors and a tourist season every summer. It really sounded like a paradise come true and for the Winchesters, it really was. 

His mother had suggested Dean explore the town if he was that tired of moving boxes and fixing up his own room exactly the way he wants it without his little brother Sammy to mess everything up. And he was tired, so he followed his mom’s advice and wandered the streets of Graceport . The town wasn’t exactly big. As far as Dean knew, it was a tourist trap most of summer which, fortunately, had started a few days ago. With no classes in sight, minus summer school, the streets were buzzing with kids and teenagers. 

Dean passed a few restaurants that looked a bit pricey, two sort of cafés located one across from the other, a library, the movie theater and even a museum of the town’s history. All of them packed, even the museum. He decided to try one of the cafés. Inside, he realized they didn’t sell coffee — “Unlike our mortal enemies from over there,” the woman said the last part with venom in her tongue, “we serve drinks that give you healthy energy, filled with vitamins and power” — , but smoothies. Now, Dean hated eating fruits and vegetables, but for some strange reason, he loved smoothies, so he ordered himself one of Strawberry-Pineapple.

He drank half of it in one gulp.

After paying, he had his mind set on going to the library and picking a book or two to take home when he saw it. The two-story building painted in red with the name in the rooftop —letters as big as the one in a billboard— wasn’t what caught his attention; it was the music coming out of the giant speakers from outside. An old rock song that Dean couldn’t quite remember the name of was playing and it sent chills all over his body. It made him smile, a weird feeling spreading throughout his body.  It wasn’t nostalgia, but a very similar warmth was filling him from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet; it had nothing to do with the heat of the summer.  

Dean, still sipping from his drink, disposable paper cups, no straw, of course, crossed the street and entered what would appear to be a music store. Garrison Records.

He wasn’t prepared. 

Aisles and aisles filled with discs, cassettes, vinyl and who knows what else. It was Dean’s personal heaven. 

The annoyingly familiar rock song was coming to an end and a new one that he for sure didn’t know began. One of the cashiers, a blond girl with a round face, complained when she seemed to recognize the song. 

“No, no, no. Full veto on this one. Garth!” she yelled. A skinny boy with a pair of shades perched on his nose appeared at the edge of the second floor. “I’m so not listening to your weird music again, so stop choosing them!”

“ Bonnie And Clyde is a masterpiece, Meg! It’s not my fault you don’t appreciate art.”

Meg huffed. “Yeah, yeah. Pure art”, she raised a remote control in the air and pushed a button, Midnight City by M83 replacing the last tune, “that we’re so not gonna indulge in.” 

With that, Garth went back to work and Meg just smiled in victory. The other cashier, a redheaded girl, gave Meg a mean look but laughed alongside her. The employees seemed to be around his age and that made him nervous. 

Dean wasn’t very good at making friends for some reason. 

Although, he’d been told he had a charming smile and sensible eyes – whatever that means – his old school peers never really seemed to like him that much. He never really bothered with them anyway because he always knew his time was limited. But not this time. The Winchesters were staying in this paradise town for good. For the first time in a very long time, Dean had the option to care, to actually make friends. Even if he had only one year of high school left, Dean needed to make friends. Dean wanted to make friends.  

He couldn’t hang out with his little brother his whole life. Well, he could but, that’d be lame.

Waking up from his daydream, he walked to the cassette section and went straight to the classic rock. 

John and Mary Winchester were old school. They had a black muscle car and her radio only took cassettes, his father refusing to modify her. Dean loved that car, he even called her Baby, and one day, she will be his. But for now, the only thing he could do for the only love in his life was stocking the music choices. 

The other thing about his parents, they only listened to classic rock and old country. And according to his dad, anything after 1979 sucks. He didn’t dare to disagree with his old man.

Dean kept searching the stacks when he felt a presence next to him. He turned his head, his fingers stopping. The kid next to him had brown, black-ish hair, soft blue eyes and a small smile directed at him. Dean’s mouth opened a little at seeing what the guy was wearing, a white button-up shirt with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a pair of shorts, khakis. A pair of black framed glasses were on top of his head, giving him a nerdy look and that made Dean swallow.

“Hi. My name is Castiel. Is there anything I can do to assist you?” The guy, Castiel, asked. What a mouthful Dean thought.

“I’m Dean.”

Castiel smiled again, this time wider. “Hello Dean.”

His mind started to get a bit foggy, small alarms going on his brain telling him to retreat. Dean tried to quiet them down and breathed through his nose. “Hi.” He felt stupid but saying something seemed to help him. 

“Yeah, I-” he kept going, “I’m looking for old new weird content for my car, my dad’s old car, that is.”

He smiled yet again and Dean’s focus started to slip again. “Your dad’s old car that you love, I presume.” Dean only nodded. “Anything after the 80’s sucks?”

It was his time to smile at that. “79, actually.”

Cas laughed; the first time since he introduced himself and it warmed his chest. Dean liked the feeling. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before and he wanted more.

“We have everything from the Rolling Stones to Fleetwood Mac, I’m pretty sure there’s something that you’d like.”

Dean nodded and mouthed a yeah. 

“But you should throw that smoothie, just in case. You damage something, you pay for it.”

He eyed the paper cup, still with some juice on it, set in the thin wall dividing one rack from the other. He had forgotten all about it, which was unlike him.

“Right. I’ll do that.” Before he could, Cas took the cup and gave it a sip. He passed his tongue over his lips, getting a few drops of the smoothie that were left. Dean mirrored the gesture. He stopped when he caught himself doing it. Huh. Dean thought. Why did I…. Dean shook the thought from his head and focused back on the boy in front of him, who had just started speaking again.

Castiel smiled at him again. “I’ll throw it for you, don’t worry.” He left.

He watched the guy go for a few seconds. Then, he convinced himself to keep looking for new music. The guy mentioned the Stones. He and Sammy could go for some of that. 

♫♫♫♫♫

Castiel went into the back, to the storage. 

He liked to think of himself as a customer pleaser, always doing more than what he was asked to do. An initiative response, his uncle would say. That’s why he was looking at the store’s oldest records and cassettes, the ones that didn’t sell and yet his brother wouldn’t get rid of — “they’re classics, Cassie, just because people don’t appreciate them, it doesn’t mean we have to throw them out”. Dean would certainly appreciate them.

That’s why Castiel was looking for them, to help the new client out. There was no other reason. Nope. No ulterior motive here.  

He had never seen the guy before, but that wasn’t weird considering it was a beach town. People came and left quicker than the tide came in and out. That's the way it has always been. That’s the way it always will be in Graceport. I wonder if he will stay or leave? Cas’s own thoughts betrayed him as he was looking for cassettes. He looked around his age, a bit taller than Castiel. And he was handsome. His mind tried to come up with a different word, a better word, to describe the guy but Castiel wouldn’t let it. He was still getting used to the idea of using other, more descriptive, more appreciative words to describe men. But handsome was a good enough word , neutral. It was safe; for now. 

Castiel sighed. That was a mental discussion for another day.

His fingers kept sliding through the boxes until he found some rare pieces from old rock bands. Smiling in success, he took the tapes with him and went back to the front. 

♫♫♫♫♫

Dean found a few albums he thought his dad didn’t have yet. It was the best he got so he decided to take them with him. Some Zepp, The Doors and Blue Öyster Cult always made his father very happy and with the moving, Dean damn sure needed his father to be smiling.

The move hadn’t been really easy, considering it was their last one. His father had been with the Marine Corps for over thirty years and he had finally decided to retire. His dad moved a lot for the first four years of his life, Dean and his mom living in Lawrence, Kansas until she got pregnant with his brother. When Sammy was six months old, she decided to move alongside her husband every time he was moved to another base, so they could stay a family. And that’s how he had found himself moving every six months or so into another city for almost his whole life. 

But it didn’t matter anymore. They had a new fully paid home, this beach town and the chance for a new life, a real one this time.

Dean chuckled.

“Everything alright there, new kid?” The redhead girl said to him.

“Yeah, yeah. Just getting this.” He showed her the few cassettes he picked and a few cd’s that were on a basket with a sign that said sale .

The girl whistled at his purchases. “You sure like the oldies, huh?”

He shrugged. “My dad does. I just follow in his footsteps.”

“And yet, you seem to like indie rock as well.” She said while staring at the covers of the cd’s he picked. Yeah, okay, Dean liked music from this era too, his father didn’t know though. Dean tended to hide his music stash in a shoe box. 

John Winchester could be as loving just as he could be strict. He let Sam dye the tips of his hair green once and he hadn’t said anything when he saw a private picture in Dean’s phone that he sure as hell shouldn’t have seen. But one thing his father would never forgive was listening to current music.

Dean could feel the disappointing look from his dad if he ever found out.

“You have good taste, though.” The girl kept talking. “Bon Iver is a must, Sam Smith is a force to be reckoned with his lyrics and you can never go wrong with Fitz and the Tantrums.”

He smiled at her. “I’m Dean.” He offered his hand as well as some money.

“Charlie Bradbury.” She took the money and shook his hand. “Also, I’m super gay. Let’s get that out of the way so we can be friends.”

Dean chuckled at that. “Oh, we’re gonna get along just fine, Charles.”

“Tourist?” She asked. “Families come to vacation in the summer every year so we get interesting and different customers every year.”

“No. We just moved in. You’ll be seeing a lot of me, red.” Dean said, smirking down at his new friend. 

“You moved here?”

Dean jumped. Castiel had appeared by his side out of nowhere with his head tilted to one side, worried eyes following him. 

“Jesus! We need to put a bell on you, buddy.” 

Charlie giggled, pleased that she finally has someone else to tease Cas with, other than Meg.

“That’s what I’ve always said!”, Cas just stared at his co-worker and rolled his eyes. Then, he turned at Dean and handed him a cassette.

Dean frowned. “What’s this?” He eyed the black rectangle but neither the artist nor the album’s name were listed. There were only six numbers in pink printed at the bottom.

“Prince. The Black Album .” 

Dean almost dropped it out of shock. He gripped the cassette tighter. His head flew up to look at the boy who had handed him the treasure.  

“No. Freaking. Way.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Hell no.”

“I believed I’ve said yes already.”

“This is too much.”

“Can someone explain to me what’s going on?”

The two boys stopped staring at each other’s eyes and looked at the very puzzled girl standing behind the counter.

Dean replied. “It’s just one of the most difficult albums to find in cassette form. Dude, how did you find this?”

Cas smiled and Dean felt again the weird movement in his insides. Nope. No time for that. “It was in the back room. I was trying to find some weird stuff for you and this was in one of the boxes I was looking for.”

Dean squinted his eyes. “You couldn’t have known I was gonna like this though.”

“You seemed like a smart person.” Cas said, looking Dean in the eyes, sincerity shining through. 

Dean smiled first, just a tiny one but showing his teeth, then he let out a small chuckle, dropping his head for a second just to raise it immediately. He smiled at Cas, this time a lipped-tight one, and looked at him.

Castiel was looking back at him. He was smiling too.

 “So, you moved here?”

“Yeah,” Dean nodded, “me and my family just came from Kansas.” It was easier to say than they’ve been everywhere.

Castiel whistled. “Long journey. What got you to Cali?”

“The beach.”

Cas chuckled. “Alright, beach boy, since you’re new in town and seems like you’re staying, you want a tour?”

Dean narrowed his eyes. “Of the town or the store?” He asked.

“Both.” Castiel shrugged. “But first the store, since we’re already here.”

Dean stared at the guy some more. His eyes were blue, he had already noticed that, but there was some kind of spark in them that made Dean feel uneasy. His skin was also tanned; unlike Charlie whose skin was very light. That told him that Castiel liked going to the beach, maybe he was a surfer. 

At last, Dean saw his lips, dried and pink. Unmoving and yet, they were lifting for a smile. A smile at him. There was that warmth again, settling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn’t uncomfortable but it was noticeable.   

“Alright.” Dean said. “Let’s check this place out then.”

Castiel showed him the ground floor first. He had seen it all already but he let himself be shown again. It was hard to say no to the gleam in Cas’s eyes as he showed Dean around. It was clear how much this store meant to him. Stacks and stacks filled with music, from every genre imaginable. Apparently, the owner, Castiel’s brother Gabriel, loved everything. To Dean, that seemed unlikely, there was no way someone could like every style of music. It was unnatural.

Castiel had to agree at that. For example, he didn’t like metal although he confided in Dean that he had tried a few years back but to no avail. Dean didn’t mind metal but he couldn’t stand soft music.

“Soft?” Cas questioned, tilting his head in confusion.

“Slow music.” He explained. “I need a fast beat to keep my interest.”

“That’s a bit odd.” 

“Well, Cas, I can be odd.” Dean quipped, raising an eyebrow. 

Castiel tilted his head again at hearing the nickname but said nothing about it. Dean sighed.

They continued the tour, Cas showing Dean the vinyl, the cd’s, and the accessories they sell. If they were selling old things like cassettes they had to sell the means for people to listen, not just the vinyl. 

“So, you sell Walkman?” Dean questioned, amusement clear on his face.

“Legally, we can’t call them that. We sell Portable Stereo Devices .” Cas replied, annoyance seeping into his voice.

“You’re joking,” He scoffed. 

“Sweet Jesus, I wish I was.” Cas sighed.  

After that, they went to the second floor. At the top of the stairs, a big board took the entire wall. It was made of cork, just like the notice boards in schools, filled with pictures, some old, some new. In the old ones, an awkward looking guy was posing with some celebrities. 

“Are those who I think they are?” He questioned, impressed.  

“Every single one of them.” Cas replied, proud of the board.

The new pictures had Cas in a few of them but in most, there was this smaller fellow with dark blond hair and a mischievous smile, sometimes with a lollipop in his mouth. 

“That’s my brother Gabe. He bought the store from my Uncle Chuck, the man in the other pictures.”

In the middle of the board, there was a plaque telling the history of the store.

“Damn. Wait, so you’re the owner as well?” Dean asked. The guy seemed around his age, was he wrong?

“No, not yet. But that’s the plan, at least after college, right after I get my accounting degree.” Cas smiled, reaching his eyes.

“Sweet.”

They kept the tour going. They went into another part of the store where on one side of the room the floor had lines and lines of different musical instruments ranging from brass to wind to string to percussion. Dean’s eyes opened wide with shock. His hands went immediately to the closest guitar and started thrumming some strings.

Cas just stood there, watching him fool around.

When the song that had been playing in the store changed for something that Dean did know, he started playing it. He hummed while his fingers slid slowly into the familiar chords of Whipping Post . For a moment, he forgot someone else was in the room with him. When the song ended, so did he. Dean looked up and his eyes met Cas’.

“You’re very good, Dean.” Cas told him, while putting a couple of guitars back where they belonged. 

He blushed but said nothing, still mindlessly playing along.

“C’mon. There’s one more thing to show you before you have to go.” Cas told him as he started to walk in a new direction. 

He had to go? Go? As in leave? Right, moving day, Dean thought, disappointment creeping into his mind. He shouldn’t leave his family with all the heavy lifting, should he? Dean hadn’t felt this comfortable around new people in a long time. Actually, ever. He had never been this comfortable with a stranger. No, Castiel wasn’t a stranger. He was a friend. The thought that Dean made two friends in one day made him smile. He put the guitar back where he found it and stood up to see where this last stop on the tour will take him. 

He shook his head and followed Cas to the other side of the floor. A long line of booths went from the front of the room to the back, hugging the wall. What the hell was going on here? Dean’s thoughts raced as to all the things that could be happening inside the booths.  

“Uncle Chuck thought it’d be useful for people when they needed some alone time to listen to music. Of course, this was when there was no internet and no smart phones. Gabe and I thought of doing something else with the space. But it turns out, people still like coming here and listening to music.”

“No shit.” Dean said quietly, looking around in awe.

“Yeah. So, we rent a booth five bucks per hour and they can choose any song that’s on our playlist.” Cas explained.  

Dean was impressed. At the time, almost all the booths were occupied, men, women, even couples were tugged together in the small place.

“Isn’t it dangerous to let couples get in together?” Dean asked, observing several of those in the booths. 

Cas shrugged. “We tried but music can be great for bonding and reconciliation, as you probably know. So, we just let the clients know that they’re being filmed and if anything salacious happens inside one of those booths, the tape will end up on the internet.”

“You guys are crazy.” Dean laughed. “It seems too small for two people to go in. What if two guys want to get in?” The question slipped out before Dean’s brain caught up to his mouth. It was times like this that Dean really does hate that he didn’t seem to have a filter. He had put his foot in his mouth on more than one occasion and this was just adding to the list of things for Sammy to tease him about when he eventually found out. Because he would, Sam always knew.

“What do you mean?” Castiel bristled, his face turning serious all of the sudden.

Dean noticed the change. “I mean the space looks small. If you and I, for example,” he wanted to shut up when he realized what his mind was coming up with, “got in there, wouldn’t it be a tight squeeze?”

Dear lord, kill me now , Dean thought. I really hope I didn’t just mess this up...

But Castiel didn’t seem to think anything was weird about Dean’s reasoning and appeared to even begin considering the idea.

“Care to find out?” He finally said.

Cas pushed him inside of one of the booths, not giving Dean time to react one way or the other, almost making him trip. Cas shoved a pair of big headphones into Dean’s hands motioning for him to put them on as Castiel does his own pair. After adjusting the headphones, Cas started scrolling through the list of songs, determined to find something that Dean hadn’t heard before. After a few seconds, the beat of drums started ringing in their ears, along with a lush voice that made him think of pure sweetness.

Candy, she’s sweet like candy in my veins

Baby, I’m dying for another taste

Dean hated to admit it but he liked the song, it was smooth, not slow but not fast either; the guy singing had a soothing voice that let you relax and the lyrics, although not deep, were fun and sexy.

And every night my mind is running around her

Then it’s getting louder and louder and louder

Dean looked up, he had been staring at his and Cas’ feet the entire time, his eyes connecting to a pair of blue ones. Really blue. Like energy. Electric blue he thought. The kind of blue you see in neon signs at night when almost everyone is asleep and the world is dark and the pavement is wet and the light is reflecting off the street. Shiny. Clear. Beautiful. 

Baby, you’re like lightning in a bottle

I can’t let you go now that I got it

For a second, Dean felt like he got struck by pure electricity, through the eyes of this kid he had just met. The connection he was feeling was impossible to deny, but boy was he trying. He sighed at seeing Cas smiling at him. I wonder if he feels it too? Dean thought, allowing himself a second to indulge in the thought. 

He smiled back.

And all I need is to be struck

By your electric love

Baby, you’re electric love

Baby you’re electric, electric

The song was over but the tingling feeling of some kind of connection stayed with him for a long time.

The young men, after stepping out of the booth, went back downstairs. Dean felt lightheaded and happy, besides feeling a bit embarrassed. Had he smiled too much? Did his eyes glow just like in those sappy movies his mom loved to watch and he denied not to like? He did not want to know the answer to that.

Dean gulped. 

When they got back to the register, the same blond man from the pictures, Gabriel Milton, had taken Charlie’s place behind the counter. Dean eyed the guy, he was counting the money.

“Hey, Cassie. Red there told me you were showing the place to someone. Didn’t know we were a museum now.” Despite the complaint, the tone was playful.

Castiel just rolled his eyes but nodded. “This is Dean. He just moved here and I thought he should know the store since he likes music.” Cas said, giving him a nudge.

“Yeah,” he agreed, “love music, and hey, cool place. Your uncle must be real proud.”

At that, Gabriel looked up. He eyed Dean with a quirk in his mouth.

He offered his hand. “Gabe Milton.”

“Dean Winchester.” The two shook hands, doing the typical who can squeeze harder routine. Turned out, not Dean. 

“Age?” Gabe started drilling Dean with rapid fire questions.  

“I’ll be eighteen in January.”

“GPA?”

“Uh, 3.0.”

“What do your parents do?”

“My dad just got a job at Singer’s Auto Shop and my mom’s a teacher.”

Gabe stepped out from behind the counter, standing in front of Dean. He was shorter than Dean and yet he still looked way more intimidating.

“One last question, what’s your plan for your future?”

Dean stared at him, dumbfounded. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Yet.”

His new friend’s — were they friends? — brother smiled at his answer. He turned slightly, taking a piece of paper from the table and giving it to him.

“Fill this up and make your parents sign. You start tomorrow.” Gabe said, reaching behind the counter to grab a piece of paper.

The little man smiled again, this time with a lollipop coming out of his mouth, making one of his cheeks look like the one from a chipmunk. 

Cas, who had been quiet for that whole interrogation, stared at his brother. “Gabe, what are you doing?”

“What do you think, bro? I’m losing two employees by the end of the summer. I need new meat.” Gabriel turned, going to the back room, Dean assumed.

Cas sighed, rubbing his temples in annoyance. “Sorry about that. My brother kinda does whatever he wants no matter the consequences. I keep telling him to think things through, but he always tells me that ‘nothing bad has happened from my impulsivity yet Cassie’.” 

“It’s fine.” Dean replied, the shock of what just transpired still dulling his brain for the time being.

“Are you gonna say yes?” The two boys turned and Charlie, Meg and Garth were behind them, obviously having eavesdropped. 

“What?” Dean asked, his brain still not quite all there.

Meg crossed her arms. “Are you taking the job, yes or no, pretty boy?”

He looked at the three teens in front of them. Each one weirder than the next; a blonde with an inclination to dark tight clothes, a lesbian geek according to her harry potter shirt who smiled a lot and a skinny guy who liked weird music. His eyes went to his guide, a hot dude that wore shorts. Dean smiled, he couldn’t really judge.

“Why not, I’ve been told I need to learn how to make friends.” Dean said, a smile creeping up on his face. Maybe this is where I learn… 

Although Castiel didn’t smile, the energy coming off him was infectious.  

“Well,” Meg said, “Dean, right?” He nodded. “You seem like a misfit alright. You’ll fit in just fine.