Cas And Charlie: A Narrative Fiction

It was a warm Thursday, not cold enough for Cas to wear his sweater and it raised a few questions when he did. Outside, birds were out and singing happily even though it was the middle of October, so Castiel sat among them in his thick grey sweater and sunken in eyes. He was hunched in on himself slightly and his hair looked as if he'd been running his fingers through it all day. The last bell rang and anxiety welled up in Cas at the thought of going home. Kids poured out of the classrooms, rushing to get home, but Cas sat calmly among the pounding feet and crumpled papers. He looked up when he heard the flutter of wings flapping away and for a moment he felt like crying. He stared at the blue and red birds as they danced in the sky before settling down on their respective branches again. There were no more pounding teenage feet, only the occasional straggler. And yet, Cas continued to
stare at the birds. He barely remembered what it was like to be free; to be a bird.
Suddenly he sniffed and there was wetness on his cheeks. He buried his face in the scratchy but comfortable and familiar fabric of his sweater. Castiel heard the familiar jingle of change in a pocket and then jeans as they scraped on the concrete as the other person sat down. A heavy arm fell around his shoulders and pulled him closer to the warm chest of the other person, but it wasn't intruding. It was nice… comfortable even. But Cas didn't want comfort so he pushed the other away. “Go away, Dean.” He said, voice muffled by the sweater. Cas couldn't see Dean so he couldn't see the other teen was smiling.
“Nah… I brought someone who's been askin’ around for you”
Cas looked up at Dean angrily, eyes red with tears. “who could've been asking for me?!”
A girl stepped from behind Dean, her deep red hair falling over Cas’ face as she leaned over him. “me.” She grinned as he looked astonished.
“Ch-charlie?” He said as he turned around. “B-but… you… You were in… a different…” He practically sobbed as he hugged her tight.
“I know… I left you all alone in the middle of the summer… but it looks like you've had this here Winchester to take care of you…” Charlie smiled as she hugged him back. Suddenly, she frowned. “You've gotten skinnier. Castiel James Novak, what have I told you about eating? And take off that damn sweater, it is too hot for that in the middle of October!” She exclaimed as she began to wrestle off the sweater. Castiel’s eyes widened and he wrestled back, trying desperately to keep the sweater on his body. Charlie suddenly reached the realization and she looked like someone had just thrown a brick at her stomach. “Cas… You didn’t”
Cas swallowed thickly, glancing at Dean before looking down at the ground, ashamed. His cheeks were as red as cherries and fresh tears rose in his eyes. “...I didn’t…” He mumbled, lying through his teeth. Charlie shook her head, beginning to pull off Cas’ sweater all over again. This time, though, he didn’t fight her because he didn’t have any more of his strength. Plus, she already knew. Charlie had pulled off his sweater as tears rolled down his cheeks in steady streams. She swallowed thickly as she stared at the red angry cuts that lined his arms. “Where else” She demanded. “Because I know you did. So where else did you?!” She had grabbed him by his shoulders as she kept her voice quiet, barely above a whisper. The birds in the trees stopped singing and there was a stale silence in the little courtyard. Cas didn’t answer, he couldn’t look at Charlie, or Dean for that matter, but he did find the ground fascinating. Charlie looked like she was in pain just from looking at Cas. She started to take him inside, she sent a smoldering glare at Dean over her shoulder and disappeared in the building with Cas.
She took him into the bathroom and started to unbutton his pants for him, he smacked her hands away out of surprise. His eyes had gone glassy and his breathing suddenly picked up pace. His terror filled the room, making the air seem thick. Cas’ hands shook as he shrugged out of his pants, he didn’t know why he was so scared, he’d been practically naked in front of Charlie dozens of times, but now, as her hands reached out, he trembled and pressed his body against the wall. Shaking like a chihuahua, fresh tears continued to roll down his cheeks, and soon his breath came out in short, shaky breaths and her eyes flew up to his face. He was as white as fresh snow and a small bead of sweat trickled down his face. For a moment, Charlie didn’t know what to do.
She stared as he gasped for air, taking in his bruises and jutting out bones and it only took her a minute to know that he was being abused. She looked around the dark girls bathroom, looking for something -anything- that would take her best friend out of his episode. All she found though was shitty toilet paper and crumpled up paper towels mixed with used tampons and the all too strong smell of perfume. Charlie looked at him, Cas hadn't said anything but still he sat against the wall, trembling in fear. She did the only thing she could think to do and she hugged him close to her chest, let him breathe in her familiar scent. Slowly, she felt fingers close in her shirt and she felt the other slump against her. “Cas… I'm sorry for scaring you. Come on. Let's get you all dressed up and we're gonna go…”
“Don't wanna go home… don't wanna go home… don't wanna go home…”
“i know. You're gonna come with me to my apartment for tonight. It'll be just like the old times… just me and you in our own little world”
“No! I can't. I cant!” Cas cried,tearing away from his best friend. “I changed my mind… I can't …”
Charlie shook her head as she guided Cas to put his jeans on again. “Dean has your sweater… he knows that you self harmed and he doesn't think you're ugly… we're going to get you out of this…”
Cas trembled against the wall still, looking like a frightened rabbit. This was what he wanted, wasn't it? To be taken from Lucifer and Michael? But something else seized him and he knew he deserved the abuse he was given. He was used to it, the hitting and constant degrading. It didn't hurt him anymore, but he was scared shirtless of what would happen if he went to Charlie’s without prior permission from Lucifer or Michael. He looked Charlie and something snapped in his sad eyes. “Okay…” He said softly, feeling himself slowly calm down. “okay…”
Charlie felt the sudden change in Cas and she breathed a sigh of relief. God how she missed her cute little rebellious Cas.

**************

After Charlie dragged away a scarred Cas, Dean had been rummaging through Cas’ bag. He knew Cas would have at least one thing to self harm in his bag. He didn't expect to find three brand new ones along with Cas’ phone that was blowing up with angry messages from Lucifer and Michael. Dean panicked and opened the messages as he blocked both numbers before Charlie and Cas returned. He put everything back in the bag but threw away the shiny blades that clanged at the bottom of the trash can. When they came back he looked as innocent as a child, holding Cas’ belongings close. Cas looked at Dean and reached for his sweater so Dean handed it to him along with all his other things. The birds had begun to sing again and a light breeze had picked up. The concrete was cracked and weeds that looked pretty had begun to sprout; dandelions. And for a moment, Cas smiled.
Charlie nodded at Dean and started walking to the Impala. “Time to go.” She said, smiling at the now frowning teen. “What’s wrong?”
Cas shook his head as he looked at his phone confused. “It’s just… Nothing, let’s go.” He smiled again, but only slightly and it seemed forced. She guided him to the Impala and they all climbed in with Cas in the back, because Charlie jumped in the front seat after screaming ‘shotgun!’ At the top of her lungs. Cas had scowled at her and climbed in the back, feeling the smooth interior of the leather seats.

***********

Charlie led them inside her apartment as Dean texted Sam to say he would be home soon and to tell Bobby. As soon as they were inside, Cas was exploring. He was digging in drawers and looking for things that he could potentially mess around with. “Cas. Your ‘toys’ are in my room.” She said teasingly. Cas looked up innocently before moving from the kitchen to get his things. Charlie called them toys, but he came back with a rubik's cube and some puzzles. He immediately plopped himself on the scratchy carpet and began to mess around the puzzles.
Charlie sat down on the couch.
“I have comfy clothes for you in the bedroom in the closet if you want.” But Cas was too focused on the puzzles to get up. He didn’t respond and he spent hours on the floor, playing with the puzzles and rubik's cube.

**********

It was late at night and Dean was gone. It was only Charlie and Cas in the one bedroom apartment. By then they were comfortable clothes and were cuddling on the couch under a blanket while Charlie ate popcorn. Harry Potter played on the screen and Castiel shouted spells with the movie.
…
The movie ended not too long after Charlie had finished finished her popcorn. The room was dark and Cas was comfortable even as Charlie left to go to bed. He curled up on the couch they shared for most of their childhood and he fell into a dreamless sleep. But he was safe and warm and he didn’t get beat today. Charlie came out of her bedroom when she got thirsty. She looked at her best friend and felt a surge of anger towards his brothers. She leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Goodnight, Cas… You’re safe” She whispered. “You’re
safe…”