Chapter Text
The cold floors of the apartment left an unnerving feeling in his bones. His oversized coat slipped off his shoulders and slowly slid to the ground, pooling around his feet. The lights flickered as they turned on, another side effect of no one being home all day to keep the place tidy.
He sighed as he ran his fingers through his thick, tousled hair. Today had been a long day. His boss had been an overbearing prick all day, as per usual, his favorite coffee place was closed this morning, and, to make everything that much better, Jayden left last night.
The two had met in high school. He was a freshman while Jayden was a senior. They’ve now been together for six years, living together for three. Jayden was going on a trip with his friends and told him he had to stay home to look after the apartment. He didn’t mind, though, he always felt the most comfortable in silence.
The abrupt ringing of his phone interrupted him making himself some dinner. It was his boyfriend, so of course, he answered promptly.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Castiel, just calling to check-in. Did you get to cleaning the bathroom yet?.” Jay sounded tired, probably from spending the day at the beach.
“No, I haven’t yet. Work was pretty tough today, I just got home a few minutes ago,” Castiel replied, stirring his ramen with his vacant hand.
“I didn’t ask for excuses, it’s not that hard of a task. That should be done when I get back. And please don’t bore me with the details of your work, it’ll bring down the mood” He bit the inside of his mouth, he should’ve remembered that his work wasn’t very exciting.
“Sorry.”
“Anyways,” Jay went on to talk about all that he did that day; surfing, beach volleyball, cliff diving, etc. Castiel started zoning out, mixing the ramen seasoning into the noodles. He didn’t want to admit it, but Jay’s words sometimes hurt. He knew it was just because he’s a blunt person, it’s a part of his personality.
“I gotta go now, Leyla’s finished setting up the ping pong table,” He hung up before Castiel could get a goodbye in, but that’s fine. He’s busy, he has a life. So does Cas.
He connected his phone to the Bluetooth speakers in the living room and the soothing sounds of Gymnopedie No. 1 began to fill the silence of the apartment. The noodles were warm but somehow made him feel even colder. This was going to be a long weekend.
He just wanted Jayden to come home, then everything would be fine. Then he’d stop feeling so empty.
The rising sun woke him up the next morning, an ataractic reminder that it was Saturday. Castiel sighed as he looked to his right at the empty side of the bed. Jay went on trips with his friends or for work quite often, but it didn’t make the loneliness any easier. Their usual Saturday routine was waking up as late or early as they wanted, walking to get coffee together, going back to the apartment to watch some shows together, or just catch up after a long week, and they’d just spend the day relaxing and being with each other. Jay would get pretty stressed on weekdays, so Saturday and Sunday were the one days where he wouldn’t lash out.
Castiel decided he couldn’t stay in bed all day and begrudgingly got up. It was a very grey day so he pulled on an oversized beige sweater with his black jeans and beat up converse. He didn’t have the energy to put in his contacts, so he pulled out his dirty round wire glasses. Before he left the cold apartment, he put a sticky note on the fridge to remember to clean the bathroom when he got home.
The walk to the coffee shop wasn’t particularly long, but the bleak weather made it seem like an eternity before he was in the comfort of the warm, cozy building. On the bright side, the store was actually open today. Castiel ordered his coffee along with a banana nut muffin. He loved the store’s cinnamon rolls, but Jay didn’t like it when he ate a lot of sugar. He said that he wasn’t attracted to chubby people.
He noticed that the shop was more packed than usual, so he ate as quickly as he could and decided to drink his coffee while walking back to the apartment.
Outside the complex, he noticed a moving truck along with two movers loading out a sofa. That wasn’t a noticeably new sight, people move in and out of apartments all the time. Castiel and Jay didn’t even know most of their neighbors anyways.
As he entered the elevator, he heard a voice yell from down the hallway.
“Hold the elevator please!” A man carrying a cardboard box was walking as fast as he could towards the elevator. Castiel kept his finger on the “open doors” button until the man finally made it inside.
The stranger’s undeniable beauty was the first thing Castiel noticed. He was taller and more built than him with light brown hair and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. He could also make out some light freckles speckled across his nose and cheeks.
“What floor?” Castiel asked in a small voice. He wasn’t very good at talking to new people, so his heart was beating must faster than usual.
“Five,” the stranger said. That was going to the same floor as him.
The rest of the ride was silent, and when the doors opened, Castiel gave the stranger an awkward smile and walked out. He fumbled to get his keys out when he got to the door.
“Hey, I guess we’re neighbors now,” He heard a voice from his left. The elevator man had set his box outside of the door one to the left of Castiel and Jay’s apartment. He didn’t know who lived there before, so it didn’t surprise him that he didn’t know they moved.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” Castiel said, turning his key in the lock. The man started to make his way to him.
Crap. Castiel thought (he wasn’t known to be fond of social interaction.) The man extended his hand.
“The names Dean. Dean Winchester,” He said with a smirk that made the heat rise to Castiel’s cheeks.
“Castiel,” he replied, taking his hand cautiously. Dean’s grip was strong and his hands were rough and calloused.
“Castiel,” Dean repeated back, “I like it. It has character.” Castiel offered a shy smile.
“You got a last name Castiel?” He asked.
“Just Castiel,” He replied. Dean looked at him with interest. As if the shorter boy fascinated him just by being. It made Castiel feel slightly uncomfortable and he fiddled with the sleeves on his sweater.
“Do you want to join me for a drink or something? I’d like to get to know the people I’ll be annoying at midnight when I blast Led Zeppelin,” Dean smirked. Castiel tilted his head.
“Who?” The look that followed on Dean’s face was priceless.
“You’ve never heard of Led Zeppelin?! Classic rock is the best genre of music ever! Okay, yeah, you’re coming over and I’m going to force you to listen to some songs.” He grabbed Castiel by the hand and dragged him to his apartment, picking up his box on the way.
Dean’s apartment was the same layout as Castiel and Jay’s, except it was much more empty. Boxes were scattered around, resting on the kitchen counters, tan couch, and floor. A vintage record player sat carefully on the coffee table next to the couch. Dean walked over to it and put on a record. The sound of rock started to fill the room.
It was very different from the type of music Castiel usually listened to, but he didn’t hate it. He did, however, hate the fact that he was currently standing awkwardly in a stranger’s apartment and Jay wasn’t there. He hated being in social situations without his boyfriend since he always knew what to say and what to do.
“Aren’t they great?” Dean asked with a huge grin.
“Oh, uh, yeah. Definitely great,” Castiel responded stiffly.
Dean grabbed two beers out of the otherwise empty fridge, handing one to Castiel before taking a seat on the couch.
“You can sit, I won’t bite,” He said jokingly as Castiel made his way over to him, “So, tell me about yourself. I like getting to know my neighbors.” Castiel fidgeted nervously.
“Well, uh, you already know my name is Castiel. I’m twenty-one years old. I work editing books, but I won’t bore you with the details. I, uh, I live with my boyfriend, Jayden. He’s on a trip with his friends right now, but he’ll be home soon. You can meet him then,” he kept his synopsis short and to the point. People didn’t like it when he rambled.
“Oh, that’s cool. How long have you been dating Jayden? It must be pretty serious if you're living together, right?” Dean replied, unfazed by the fact that Castiel had a boyfriend and not a girlfriend, which was refreshing.
“Oh, yeah, we’ve been together for six years and living together for about a year now?”
“You started dating when you were fifteen? That’s pretty cool that your relationship survived high school,” Dean laughed, “I honestly don’t even know where most of my ‘high school sweethearts’ are now.”
“I mean, we only had to survive one year of high school together. Jay is three years older than me,” Castiel explained, causing Dean to raise a quizzical eyebrow. He looked like he wanted to comment on the fact that an eighteen-year-old was dating a fifteen-year-old, but he held back.
“So, uh, what about you?” Castiel asked uncomfortably. He wasn’t great at conversing with others.
“Well, I’m Dean Winchester, an Aquarius, twenty-three, and I’m a mechanic. I think cars are really cool, especially old cars. And old music, as you can probably already tell,” He motioned to the assortment of vinyl records on the coffee table, “I’m not currently dating anyone. I have a little brother who is at Stanford studying law right now. He’s the smart one of the family,” He smiled widely as he talked about his brother.
“That’s impressive, Stanford is not easy to get into,” Castiel remarked, sipping slowly on his beer. He didn’t want to get too buzzed since he still had things to do, and he didn’t have a very good tolerance for alcohol.
The two of them chatted for a little bit longer, mostly focusing on rather mundane topics. However, Castiel still found it very enjoyable. It was nice to talk to someone who wasn’t Jay or a coworker (most of whom he did not particularly like). By the time he finally said he should get going, Castiel was the happiest he’s been in a few days.
“Yeah, of course, I have a ton of unpacking to do anyways,” Dean replied, walking Castiel to the door, “But you should come over again some time. You’re fun to talk to, Cas.”
And with that, Castiel walked back to his apartment, that last sentence repeating over and over in his mind.
You’re fun to talk to, Cas.
Dean’s the first person to give him a nickname since he was a kid, and Castiel found it oddly amazing. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of Dean being good enough friends with him to give him a nickname made his heart light up.
He hoped that Jay would like Dean so that he could continue to be his friend.