#highschool!cas

The day before prom was a Friday. Dean and Castiel were notably excited for their senior prom. They haven’t been to any school dances or events prior to this. As far as Dean knew, there was never a gay couple that was actually out of the closet at his school. As excited as he was to spend this memorable night with the love of his life, he was still scared to death.

  He hadn't planned on his parents volunteering to chaperon the dance.

  Dean wanted to tell his parents with Cas alone in a private, intimate family moment – not in front of the whole junior and senior class. He had told them he was just going to go and meet up with some friends. John told him to dance with a lot of pretty girls. He didn’t want his father to be disappointed in him, so the day before prom, he tried to make every excuse possible to get them to not come. They didn’t budge.

  “What about Sammy? Who’s gonna watch him?” Dean gestured towards Sam. He was sitting at the kitchen table reading some book about pre-law.

“I’m no kid, jackass.”

“Sam, watch your mouth!” Mary said, shocked, and glared at Dean. Sam laughed and went back to his book.

“Sam is right, Dean. He’s not a kid, and he’s going to a friend’s house tomorrow while we’re gone.”

“What friend?” Dean asked.

“Her name is Jessica, right, Sam? A girl in one of his classes.” John replied to his eldest son. Huffing, Dean went to his room to call Castiel.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  It was Saturday.

  Dean was supposed to pick Castiel up in his father’s Impala at seven PM precisely, and he practically begged on his knees to let him take it rather than be dropped off. John agreed as long as he dropped him and his mother off at the school first. Dean thanked his dad and went upstairs to get ready.

  It was only four o’clock.

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  Dean was in a suit.

  He never thought he would ditch the leather jacket, but he was actually wearing a suit. He was wearing a tie and dress shoes. The last time Dean wore anything remarkably close to that was Uncle Bobby’s wedding, and he was very young. Tonight, though, was very special to Dean, and he wanted to make the best impression ever.

  Tonight was not only his senior prom, but it was the night he was going to out himself as in love with Castiel Novak.

  After he dropped Sam off at Jessica’s – “Don’t forget to use condoms, Sam!” – he brought his parents to the school and drove off towards Castiel’s neighborhood which was conveniently close by. He pulled up across the street so he can make an easy turn around back towards the school, and Castiel was waiting for him on the porch. He was looking down at something.

  “Cas!” he called to him. Castiel looked up and beamed. He stood up and practically glided across the street into Dean’s arms. They kissed for a long time. Castiel was holding something in his hand – a small box. “Jesus Christ, are you gonna propose to me?” Castiel laughed breathlessly.

“No, stupid, it was illegal a week ago and it’s still illegal now. Just open it.” Castiel blushed as he handed Dean the small, rectangular box. Dean lifted the top of the box off to reveal a silver ring.

“Liar.”

“No! If this were a proposal, I’d be on my knee.” Castiel pursed his lips and took the ring from the box and held Dean’s left hand. “Dean. It’s a promise ring. To symbolize the promise I’m going to love you forever.” Dean could feel heat rushing to his face and his eyes began to feel warm with salty tears.

“Cas, I…”

“Don’t say anything. Just. Just let me put it on you, okay? If it’s ever allowed for us, somewhere, to get married legally – we’ll switch it to your other hand. You know, the one that actual wedding rings go on. Okay?” Castiel slipped the ring onto Dean’s ring finger. Dean threw his arms around Castiel’s neck and kissed him passionately. It was dark and Castiel’s mother was out having dinner.

  No one could see them and Dean knew that was going to change tonight.

“Come on, baby,” Dean whispered into Castiel’s lips. “We’ve got a prom to attend.”

  ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

  An hour into prom, Dean and Castiel only danced near each other, but never with each other. Despite Castiel’s random act of undying love, he seemed nervous and completely pulled away from Dean when he tried to dance with him. After a fast-paced song ended Dean grabbed Castiel by the arm and pulled him away. He gently threw him against the wall behind the bleachers and with a flushed face, started to let tears he’s been holding back all night start to flow down softly.

  “Dean… what’s wrong…”

“Why don’t you tell me Cas!? You gave me this ring and told me how fucking in love with me you are… and then you don’t even want to hold my hand while we’re dancing? The whole goddamn point of coming here was so that I can show you off and let people know you’re mine. What happened to that?” Dean took a couple of steps back. “A-are you ashamed of being seen with me or somethin’? Do you think I’m some freak with no life ahead of me ‘cept my father’s mechanic job?” He flashed back to the day he met Castiel. Amanda Heckering had told him the other tenth graders thought he was a loser and a loner and didn’t have a future, which is why she was afraid to be seen with him. Dean cried harder, although silently.

“No, that’s not at all it… I’m just nervous. This is a big deal for me, too…” Castiel replied, shocked at the accusation. “How could you think that? You made me break out  of my shy shell and actually learn to interact with people. Remember this, Dean?” Castiel sharply threw his left arm up and pulled down the sleeve with his other hand quickly to reveal a vertical scar down the underside of his forearm.

“Cas. P-please don’t… don’t talk about that here…” Dean pursed his trembling lips and stepped towards Castiel again, trying to hold his arm down. Castiel snapped back.

“No, I have to talk about it here. It relates to this conversation. When my dad left me and my mom last year, I… I was really lost, Dean. So – fucking lost.” Dean winced. He wasn’t used to hearing Castiel cuss. “You. Saved me. You visited me every day and brought me flowers and read to me and took care of me and stayed by my side every minute you could. Do you think, honestly, I would be ashamed to be seen with the guy that saved my life once?”

  Dean couldn’t speak. He was sobbing quietly. Luckily, the gymnasium was dark and one of Nirvana’s speedier songs was blasting in the speakers, so no one could hear them. All he did was hold Castiel’s left and pull it down, letting his sleeve fall back into place. He kissed Castiel on the mouth sweetly and passionately. After the kiss broke, they stood there until the song was over and just looked at each other. A slower song by an artist Dean didn’t know started to play, while the principal of the school told everyone to grab a partner and dance. “Will you dance with me?”

  Cas nodded yes. Dean held on to his hand and nervously walked out from behind the bleachers with him. The room was still dark with only a slight white tint from surrounding spotlights. Dean could see the dust floating in the lighted areas. Swallowing, he squeezed Castiel’s hand tightly. “Y-you ready for this?” He asked him.

  “As I’ll ever be, Dean.” He squeezed back.

  Dean led them out onto the dance floor near the center. He placed his hands gently on Castiel’s waist as Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean’s neck. They have never danced with each other before – but it was just like hugging, only with more movement. They were far apart at first, but gradually they managed to find themselves a magazine’s width apart with Dean’s hands gently grazing the small of Castiel’s back, and Castiel’s head leaned against Dean’s shoulder. They swayed with each other. Cas didn’t know it, and neither did Dean, but both of their eyes were closed the whole song. When the last notes of the song commenced, they opened their eyes and Castiel moved his head up towards Dean and mouthed something to him through a noticeably pink face. I love you. Dean smiled and mouthed back to him. Me too.

  They looked around and people were staring.

  The entire gym was staring.

  In fact, Dean and Castiel were the only couple for at least ten feet all around them. Smack dead in the center. Did everyone really run away from them because they were in love?

  Dean noticed something, though. He noticed his parents. He noticed that they were crying – they weren’t crying out of disappointment, misery, or anger, though. They were smiling.

  People around them were smiling. Dean swore he saw a couple of girls in tears.

  “What the hell, Cas?” was all Dean could manage to slip out.

“I don’t know.” Dean removed his hands from Castiel’s waist and stepped back, taking Castiel’s hand tightly and throwing up his own left hand.

“Hey!” he shouted. “See this, people? It’s a promise ring. It was given me tonight by this guy because he promises to love me forever. I love him forever. I don’t care what you people have to fuckin’ say. So I take it in the ass, big fucking deal. I’ve never felt more love from anyone outside of my family ever. The past two years we’ve both dealt with a lot of shit, but this guy right fucking here has gotten me through all of it, and I’ve done the same for him. Hell, if that’s not real fuckin’ love, I don’t know what is. Because most of you – and I’m looking at you, Amanda Heckerling, think that love is just an occasional fuck every other weekend. If anyone has got anythin’ to say, say it now.” Dean was red in the face from crying earlier and from yelling towards the crowd of people.

  He turned to Castiel, who was just standing there with his eyes open wide, shock written all over his face.

  It was silent for a good minute until someone clapped once. Then twice. Then a few times, then somebody else clapped, then his parents began clapping, then somebody else started clapping, then the whole goddamn gym was applauding. Cheering. Whistling. People crowded Dean and Castiel happily and were patting them on the back congratulating them for taking such a big step, and wishing them the best of luck, and saying that their dance was beautiful.

  Dean and Castiel finally escaped the crowd as they began dancing again and happily walked over to John and Mary. John pulled Dean into a long embrace. “I’m so proud of you, son.” Mary kissed his head and smiled towards Castiel.

“It’d be wonderful to have you in the family, Castiel. You make Dean very happy.”

  “I know. That’s been my goal all along, Mrs. Winchester.”

  After the exchange with Dean’s parents, the pair went outside and ran to the large tree in the garden next to the school. They kissed and held each other and cried and kissed some more.

  “I love you, Cas.”

“Me too, Dean.”

“You wanna go to prom with me?”

  No response.

  “I wanna go to prom with you.”

  No response.

  “Let’s go to prom together.”

  No response.

  Dean Winchester has said a variation of those phrases a dozen times in the mirror at home over the past two weeks. On this particular Sunday afternoon, it was different, because prom was in a week. He didn’t want to be too late.

  Of course, he would wait until his parents were at work or asleep. Over the course of two years, Dean has been romantically and physically involved with Castiel Novak, a male student the same age as him. They met in their sophomore year during a fire drill. Dean was in the janitor’s closet with Amanda Heckerling, and they were making out. Amanda had said something to Dean about getting caught with him, considering Dean wasn’t the most popular – or even liked – guy in the tenth grade. Getting upset and pissed off, Dean opened the door quickly and nearly hit Castiel as he was frantically walking past it to get outside. After apologizing multiple times for making Castiel drop his books, they introduced themselves to each other and walked outside to where the rest of the school was.

  Dean remembered the day they met like it was yesterday. Their first date was only two weeks later, and now, as seniors, they are more in love than ever.

  Only a few people knew about their relationship. It wasn’t widely accepted to be gay at Dean’s school, or pretty much anywhere. Dean’s younger brother, who is in the eighth grade at the local middle school, is one of the people that knew. Sammy could just tell. He was young, but even as a seventh grader – a year into Dean and Castiel’s relationship – he knew that when the boys would go into Dean’s room for hours and “study”, they weren’t really studying. Sam was okay with it, and swore not to tell his parents or Uncle Bobby until Dean was ready. All he really wanted was for his big brother to be happy – plus, he liked Castiel a lot. He even dubbed him the nickname “Cas”.

  “You. Me. Prom. Together. Fuck, that is really lame.”

  “Yeah it is.”

  Dean jumped when he heard his little brother’s voice. He turned and saw him standing in the doorway leaning against the frame. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, Sammy. I’m obviously a little busy.”

“You’re blushing.” Sam laughed and nodded towards Dean. Dean blushed more.

“Go be a bitch somewhere else.”

“No. You need me.”

“Excuse me?” Dean forced out a laugh. “Are you tryin’ to tell me you’re gonna help me ask Cas to prom when you haven’t even been with a guy? Or a girl, frankly.”

“You don’t know that.” Sam noticed Dean’s eyes widen and threw his hands up. “I’ve never been with a dude, Dean. I’m talking about girls.” Dean swallowed the lump in his throat.

“I swear. I can give you tips. I know what sex is Dean. I’m not ten.”

“You were ten two years ago.”

“Shut up, jerk.”

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  Later that night, Sam and Dean were in the living room watching a Western movie on TV when their mother, Mary, came in through the front door. The brothers turned their head and smiled at their mother, who was glowing.

“Hey, Mom.” Dean said.

“Hi, boys.” His mom replied cheerily.

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” Dean asked, looking around. “Where’s Dad?”

“Him and Caleb went out for a bite to eat, I had a lot for lunch so they dropped me off here.” She set her purse down on the kitchen counter and ran a hand through her long, blonde hair. “What? Nothing. You boys better get some sleep, Sammy has a debate in the morning and you,” she pointed a finger at Dean, “need to stop being late for school. Your senior year is almost over.” She smiled and leaned against the counter, still glowing.

“Mom. Come on. Tell us why you’re all happy.” Sam egged to Mary. She started grinning and blushing.

“I got a promotion at work, and I’m the manager now! Don’t tell your father, he doesn’t know yet, I’m going to surprise him.” Dean and Sam, completely ignoring the battle at high noon they were supposed to watch go down, jumped up from the couch and hugged Mary tightly, showering her in praise. “Get some sleep, you two. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.”

  Sam knew that she was talking about telling their dad with her words. Dean knew she was talking about telling him in another way. He ruffled Sammy’s hair and they went upstairs to get ready for bed.

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbe—

  Dean slammed on the alarm next to his bed. “Fuck. It’s Monday.”

  Dean knew he was going to go to school and meet Castiel where he always did every morning. He hadn’t seen him the whole weekend because he was out of town, and he missed him like crazy. He went out of town sometimes to visit his father, who lives a few towns over after he divorced Castiel’s mom. The pair always met at a large tree in the garden next to the school and stayed there until their first period class began. This morning, it would be different. This particular Monday morning, Dean was going to ask his boyfriend to prom, and he was nervous as hell.

  When John dropped Dean off at school, Sam was still in the backseat. His school was farther, so he took Dean on the way. Before Dean got out, Sam whacked him gently on the back of the head.

  “The hell was that for?”

“Go get ‘em, Tiger.” Sam chuckled and Dean glared as he got out of the car. John turned his head around and stared at Sam.

“What was that?”

  Sam merely smiled.

  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

  Castiel was already waiting by the tree when Dean got there. They embraced and Castiel spoke into Dean’s shoulder as he laid his head on it. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, baby.” Dean replied. Castiel tilted his head upwards and kissed Dean softly on the mouth. Dean kissed back and then kissed him on the cheek. “So uh. I gotta. I kinda gotta ask you somethin’. It’s pretty important.”

“You’re not proposing, are you? Last time I checked, same sex marriage is illegal, well, everywhere.” Dean knew Castiel was kidding, but Dean definitely wasn’t.

“No, none of that. You’re not even eighteen, yet.” Dean watched Castiel smile and Dean bit his bottom lip. “I was gonna try to do this all big and fancy and shit, but we’re dudes. Right? Dudes that fuck each other and love each other a lot. So. I’m not gonna be all girly and shit. But. Uh.” Castiel started laughing at Dean. “What?!”

“You’re so nervous. It’s so funny. Spit it out, Dean.”

“I.” Dean took Castiel’s hands in his and tilted his head towards Cas. He was close enough to the point that their noses touched. “Will you be my date to the prom?” Castiel blushed furiously.

“Are y-you sure? The whole upper class is going to be there… they will all see us.”

“I know.”

“Dean…”

  Castiel tilted his head to Dean’s left. A large group of seniors walked slowly past them and turned their heads to face them. There was a shortcut to get to some of the classrooms past the garden where Dean and Castiel were.

  “Ignore them. I’ve been thinking about this moment forever. Okay? I want people to know about us. To hell with ‘em if they disagree. We’re in love and we’ve both got dicks, so what?!” Dean was going to talk more, but Castiel’s lips on his own beat him to it. He held Castiel’s face in his hands and kissed back. “S-so is that a yes?”

“Yes, it’s a yes.”

  So Dean kissed Cas again, for everyone to see.