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“C’mon Cassie, how often do you turn 21?”
Castiel internally groaned, dragging his eyes away from his textbook to look at his older brother. He loved Gabriel, he really did, but sometimes Cas wondered who was actually the older brother. It wasn’t that Gabe wasn’t smart. Far from it, in fact, since Gabe was currently getting his MBA so he could pursue his dream of starting his own chain of bakeries and sweet shops. But somehow, Gabe fit a lot of partying in his schedule while still passing his graduate classes with flying colors. Cas’ thumb rubbed over the lines of Latin in his textbook as he mulled over Gabe’s words.
Growing up, he and Gabriel didn’t have much of a “fun” childhood, at least not what other kids would call fun. Honestly, he hadn’t had a real birthday celebration until he was in college and away from his mother’s influence. To say that Naomi Novak was religious was an understatement. She was extremely strict in her beliefs and interpreted the Bible literally. The boys didn’t really get to watch any modern TV or movies growing up and no one in their family believed in using alcohol or tobacco. When Gabriel had decided to go to a public university, Naomi had her misgivings but allowed it. Castiel knew how much Gabe was changing but Gabe made sure to act like his old self around the family. The boys had planned on escaping the church and their mother’s strict rules as soon as Cas was an adult. The church wouldn’t look kindly on Cas’ romantic inclinations and he was tired of hiding who he was.
Even after moving into campus housing, Cas hadn’t really experimented with alcohol or anything else. It was readily available and Gabe kept trying to entice Cas into taking a sip of this or that, but Cas wasn’t interested.
His rebellion came in the way of delving into pop culture, thanks to his funny, charming and handsome roommate, Dean Winchester. If anyone had asked, Cas would have denied that Dean was the reason he dove into the Star Wars fandom. He couldn’t help that he loved how excited Dean got when he was able to introduce Cas to something new. Before he could continue to muse over his best friend and the hopeless crush he had on Dean, Gabriel cleared his throat, bringing Cas back to the present.
“What do you expect me to do Gabriel?” Cas rolled his eyes.
“I was thinking of inviting some people over-“
Cas threw his hand up. “Uh no. Your parties are always ridiculous. No.”
Gabriel leaned across the table, waving a cupcake in front of Cas. “Come on, Cassie. Let me throw my favorite baby bro a birthday party for his 21st. I’ve even made your favorite cupcakes. The honey bee cupcakes with a white chocolate honey ganache.”
“Mmm.” Cas could already feel himself drooling at the thought of those cupcakes. He snatched it out of Gabe’s hand and took a huge bite. They tasted a little different than normal but every batch of honey had a slightly different taste plus Gabriel was always tweaking his recipes. “Let me see how far I get on this assignment and we can maybe invite a few people over.”
As Cas took another huge bite of cupcake, Gabriel started to grin. It was about time for his little brother to chill out, even if he needed a little help to get there.
Cas: Wre ae toyi?
Dean stared at his phone trying to figure out if Cas was having a stroke.
Dean: what?
Cas: deannnnn i msuass ouu cimr 2 gabds
“Boy, what are you still doing here?” Bobby’s gruff voice broke Dean’s concentration.
“Sorry Bobby. I’ve already clocked out. Just trying to decipher Cas’ texts. See?” He turned the phone to Bobby, who started to laugh.
“Lightweight, isn’t he?”
Dean’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Cas doesn’t drink, Bobby.”
Rolling his eyes, Bobby simply looked at Dean. “Didn’t ya say it was his 21st birthday today? And you know who his brother is.”
“Ugh.” Dean threw his coveralls in his locker. “I should have known. Wish me luck cause it seems like I’ll need it.” As he walked out, he clicked Gabe’s number in his phone.
As soon as Dean turned on Gabe’s street, he could hear the thump of music. “Jesus. They’re going to get the cops called on them.”
Somehow he found a clear space to park Baby and threaded his way through the cars parked on the street and across Gabe’s yard toward the front door. The scent of fruity alcohol seeped out the front door along with the faint tendril of marijuana creeping around the corner from the back. Dean knew if he walked around back, he would find Ash and Andy among a bunch of Gabe’s stoner friends. They loved hanging out at Gabe’s parties, particularly the birthday parties since Gabe loved to experiment with edibles. Dean had to hand it to him: the man knew how to combine marijuana with delicious baked goods. You almost couldn’t taste the hint of weed in them.
Threading his way through the house, he kept his eyes peeled for either Cas or Gabe. Before he could find either of them, he ended up crashing into a petite redhead.
“Charlie!” he said in relief. “Have you seen Cas recently? He was texting me a bunch of gibberish.”
She started laughing and almost choked on her drink. “Dean, he’s so far gone that I don’t even think he’s on the planet anymore. I’ve never seen Cas like that. You should go look after your man.”
“He’s not…” he trailed off as Charlie walked away. She just wouldn’t drop the idea that he and Cas would make the perfect couple.
Finally, he thought he caught sight of Cas but his heart sank. A taller, blonde guy was leaning against the wall, inches away from Cas. Dean continued pushing his way through the crowd, hoping that maybe it was nothing.
“Hey cutie.”
Cas slowly turned around, trying to focus on the guy in front of him. “That’s not my name.”
“But you are cute,” the guy chuckled, moving closer to Cas. “I’ve got to ask you...are those space pants? Cause your ass is out of this world in them.”
Cas tilted his head to the side, nose scrunched up. The guy laughed again.
“Okay, okay, that was bad. I can’t help that I lose any sense looking at you. You’re just so fucking hot.”
Cas’ eyes widened and he moved backwards only to find the wall behind him. He didn’t really want to talk to this guy but his legs weren’t working. The guy moved closer but before he could say something else, a voice broke through the noise.
“Dude, you need to back off.”
Cas’ eyes lit up and he spun around at the familiar voice, which was a big mistake. The ground started to tip up towards him until strong hands grabbed his arms, steadying him.
“My hero,” he mumbled.
“Woah Cas. Charlie said you were plastered but I didn’t think it was this bad. How much have you had to drink?”
Cas grinned, the pushy stranger already forgotten. Dean was here now so everything was perfect. “I had a lot of glasses of lemonade. Like a lot. I didn’t think there was alcohol but then everything got really fast and the floor keeps trying to trip me.”
Dean was smiling at him. At least Cas thought he was smiling; it was a little hard to focus right now.
“You had to have known he put alcohol in your drink. It’s your birthday, Cas, and it’s Gabriel.”
Tired of standing, Cas started to sink toward the floor. Dean’s eyes widened and frantically searched the room for a clear seat. Gingerly, he pushed Cas toward the open couch.
“Mmmm,” Cas mumbled as he sank into the cushions. “Dean I was so thirsty. Gabe made honey cupcakes for my birthday and had me eat one this afternoon.”
Dean groaned. Of course Gabriel made edibles for Cas’ birthday. Was he trying to kill his little brother?
“Dean,” Cas’ head was craned up towards Dean, eyes drooping. “Your eyes are so pretty. They’re so green. And your freckles Dean. They’re so cute.”
“Cas, we need to get you home,” Dean said, blushing. “You need to sleep this off.”
“But home is so far, Dean.” Cas’ head lolled back. “The ceiling is moving funny.”
With a sigh, Dean bent down to Cas’ level. “Hey buddy, I’m going to find Gabe and let him know we’re leaving, okay? I haven’t had a chance to drink yet and I drove Baby here so all you have to do is get in and out of the car. I have faith in you.”
Cas reached out and cupped Dean’s face. “You’re so wonderful Dean. Always looking out for me. It’s one of the reasons I like you.”
Dean’s heart simultaneously felt like it stopped and sped up. In a daze, he found himself talking to Gabe, then loading Cas into the car. Cas liked him? As a friend though, right? Of course, I mean it couldn't be anything else. Plus, he had a shit ton of alcohol and weed in his system. Could Dean really trust anything he was saying right now? Then again, drunk words equal sober thoughts. He shook his head. There was no need to dwell on this right now. They were home and he needed to somehow get Cas upstairs. His eyes softened as he looked to his right where Cas was curled against the passenger door. He had passed out soon after they left Gabe’s house.
Dean quietly got out of the car and unlocked the door to their small rental house. Then, he pulled Cas’ door open, catching him before he could fully fall out. With a small grunt, he heaved Cas into his arms and made his way to the back left bedroom where he pulled Cas’ shoes off and tucked him into bed.
For a brief moment he leaned against the doorframe, watching how the moon kissed the side of Cas’ face. He had to be crazy to think life was going to let him have this, right? Sighing, he headed to bed.
The door to Dean’s bedroom slowly creaked open and Cas stumbled inside. “Dean, I don’t want to be alone. Can I stay in here?”
Dean froze, the words lodged in his throat. Before he could say anything, Cas had crept closer to his bed and slowly sat on the edge. “I won’t take up a lot of room, Dean. Please? For my birthday?”
The wall slowly crumbled and Dean found himself lifting the edge of the blanket. “C’mon Cas. But if you throw up in my bed, I won’t forgive you.”
Cas moved quicker than he should have been able to and curled up against Dean. His breathing slowed and Dean thought he had immediately fallen asleep. As soon as he began to relax, Cas murmured into Dean’s shoulder, “Dean, don’t let me forget this tomorrow. I want to ask you on a date but I only want to ask you when I can actually remember what you say.”