Work Text:
The second time that Castiel had seen a ghost, it was a woman dressed in white, and she had snow in her hair. The snowflakes glistened in the sun when she moved, like she were still alive, and the snowflakes were fresh.
He remembers her because she was a kind spirit, motherly toward him. He was only ten years old when he first met her, and he only knew her for a few days before she moved on, but her memory is still fresh in his mind when he thinks about her.
The previous day was uneventful, other than the fact that he cleaned the entire house spotless, trying to keep his mind off of Dean, but every time he stopped, that's exactly where his mind went. He went to sleep that night with an uneasy feeling, though when Will jumped onto the bed with him and curled up, it eased him some and he was able to fall asleep easily. He dreamed of the woman in white, with the snowflakes in his hair, and he realizes, that she never told him how she died. Most spirits do, but she didn't. Maybe it's because he was too young, and she was too kind.
He wakes the next morning with the woman on his mind instead of Dean, and it makes it easier to get out of bed, easier to move around and do his morning routine. Will follows him to the kitchen to be fed, sits beside Castiel on the floor while he eats his cereal at the kitchen table, and follows him into the living room to sit on the couch beside him.
"I need to go find him today, Will."
The cat doesn't make a sound, only curls up on the couch and flicks his ears toward Castiel when he talks.
He really should go find Dean so that he can help him, but he hasn't the slightest idea where he might be. The cemetery will be a good place to start. Maybe he tried to return home, and when he realized that he couldn't, he may have returned to the cemetery.
Castiel jerks when Will chirps beside him, snapping him out of his thoughts. He reaches over to scratch behind the cat's ears, smiling down at him.
"I'll go find him today, I promise. He needs someone to help him adjust."
Will flicks his tail, and Castiel takes that as a good sign, that Will is proud of him for doing this. And actually, Castiel is quite proud of himself for working up the courage to go find Dean.
It's about noon when Castiel decides to change into a pair of jeans and another faded shirt, popping into the bathroom to brush his teeth and push his fingers through his hair, attempting to at least make himself presentable.
He pats Will on his way out of the door, grabbing a sweater and pulling it on, buttoning it up. Though it may be spring, it does get a little chilly during the day at times; living close to the mountains will do that. He doesn't take his car, deciding to walk to the cemetery since it's not really that far away. The town is small, and everything is close by. A lot of people don't use their cars unless they need to leave town to head toward one of the bigger grocery stores in the next town over.
The cemetery is about a half hour walk from the funeral home, and just as he predicted, the air has a bite to it, nipping at his nose and cheeks. He pulls his sweater tight around him, and grumbles when the wind blows past and musses his hair. He had just got it the way he wanted it. He pushes his fingers through his hair to try and at least make it look reasonable before he reaches the cemetery, but he gives up when the hair blows past again.
There's a few cars on the street, and a few people wave to him from their yards as he passes by. Everyone in the town knows Castiel, since everyone has to come see him sooner or later. He doesn't mind being known by everyone though. Everyone in town seems to keep to themselves for the most part, and no one bothers him, so he's happy with that.
He reaches the gates of the cemetery and heads inside, trudging up the hill and pulling his sweater up around his neck, the wind blowing harder and growing colder as he reaches the top of the hill where Dean was buried. At first, he doesn't see anyone around, and he's about to turn around and make his way down the hill when he hears someone nearby. He freezes and turns slowly, watching Dean approach him. The guy doesn't look happy, and Cas can guess why.
"Hey," Cas says with a small smile, and Dean smiles back, though it's just a slight upturn of his lips.
"You left without introducing yourself."
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that. My name's Castiel."
Dean does smile then as he stops in front of Castiel, holding his hand out again to shake, but Castiel doesn't take it. He shakes his head and pushes his hands into his pockets, looking up at Dean.
"Don't like shaking hands?"
"It's not really my thing. Never was."
Dean laughs and pushes his hands through his hair. He's wearing a leather coat with a flannel and shirt underneath, jeans and boots, and Castiel guesses that these are the clothes that he had died in. Dean suddenly stops laughing and he sighs, dropping his hands and pushing them into the pockets of his jacket.
"I have a question for you?"
"Okay," Castiel hesitates a moment, looking down at the ground before looking back up at Dean. "Ask away."
Dean clears his throat.
"Have you ever felt..lost? Like, I tried to go home, but I couldn't find it. Like it just disappeared, or I can't remember where I even live."
The poor guy looks so hurt, and Castiel wants to reach out to reassure him that everything will be okay. But he can't. He'll never be able to touch Dean.
"How about you come home with me?"
The words are out of his mouth before he even has a chance to catch them, and Dean looks at him, tilts his head to the side; confused.
"Maybe I can help you, but you shouldn't be stuck out here in the cold, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, okay."
And that's how Castiel ended up with a ghost in his home.