Title: For You
Author: vaderina
Rating: PG
Genre and/or Pairings: Dean, Castiel
Spoilers: None
Warning: None
Word Count: 831
Summary: Sequel to Pocket Memories. Castiel returns a week later and Dean wants to understand.

***

The next time Castiel appears is a week later and only Dean is around. Sam was pulling another geek-boy session in the local library. It takes Dean a whole minute to even notice Castiel is there.

"Cas?" the hunter asks, "how long have you been standing in the corner for? Actually, don't answer that, I'd rather not know."

The angel has his hands dug deep in his pocket, looking at everything but the hunter.

"There's possibly a case two states over, I thought you might want look it up." The angel says, getting ready to leave as soon as his message was delivered.

"Wait." Dean stills him, a hand hovering in the air. "Why do you keep them?"

Castiel looks at Dean for the first time since his arrival. He doesn't say anything, just cocks his head and looks at Dean, a guarded expression on his face.

"All those...erm...bits and pieces. The cord? The cinema ticket? Why?" They seemed so important to Castiel, Dean thinks he understands, but he needs to hear it from the angel.

"They..."Castiel breaks the silence but obviously struggles for words. "They remind me of you." He finally says. "Yes, the movie was awful, but you were there. The afternoon with pie and ice cream? I've not seen you so relaxed or happy ever. As for the cord? It was yours, you wore it day and night for years and your essence still lingers on it."

Dean was shocked into silence. It only now hit home how truly alone Castiel must be now. Castiel took his silence as a sign to continue. Stepping closer, he carried on.

"They may not look like much, but these are the only things I can call my own. I have nothing else any more. Nothing. And they may be junk in your eyes, but I can call them mine and each has a special meaning to it. So next time you call them worthless junk and try to throw them away, remember that it is my life you are trampling all over and throwing out." Castiel finished, surprised by his own tirade.

Dean sucked in a breath. It was a similar conclusion he himself had come to over the week. He mulled over it but it never occurred to him that Castiel would feel so strongly about it. Hell, he was surprised Castiel even felt, but with all that's been going on in their lives, he really shouldn't have been.

"I'm sorry." He sighs. The angel is standing a few steps from him, looking more lost than Peter Pan and his lost boys. Dean was taken aback by how well that description fit Castiel at the moment in time. No home, no family, nowhere and no one to turn to. But he hoped that he could, at least momentarily, give Cas a reprieve. Reaching into his duffel bag, he picked up a small box. Not knowing how to go about it, he shoved the box towards Castiel.

"I got this for you." He muttered. Castiel glanced at the box before taking it in uncertain hands. He looked up at Dean, puzzled.

"Why?" Dean just shrugged. Castiel looks at the box again and slowly opens it. Nestled in it is a pendant. Two dragons entwined, facing each other nose to nose with coloured gems for eyes. Running a hand over it, Castiel looks up at Dean, eyes large with wonder.

"Thank you." He almost whispers, eyes drawn back to the pendant.

"It's not much, I just thought of you when I saw it." Dean says. It may have been a partial lie, it actually took a while to find something he thought Cas would like and it cost more than he'd be willing to spend on himself. But, he figured, Cas deserved it.

Picking it up from where it lay, Castiel looked at it closer, a small smile curling the corner of his mouth up. Shuffling closer, Dean took it from his hands and reached to fasten it round the angel's neck.

"You know," talking without seeing his face seemed so much easier, "you don't have to leave. We have room in the car for one more. And you can stay with us as long as you want, it doesn't always have to be business. You don't have to be alone." He mentally kicks himself for being such a sap. "You don't have to be alone." Could he get any more chick flick? But as the clip finally clicks and he steps back, he realises that maybe, chick flick might have its moments. For all he sees is Castiel, his eyes crinkling at the corners with a smile. Dean is blown away by this, he's never seen Cas smile like this.

"Thank you." Castiel says again, his hand curling around the pendant now round his neck next to Dean's amulet. As his fingers close round the entwined dragons, their gem eyes twinkle in the light, one brilliant blue, the other radiant green.

***

Next story in series - Angels Have Bad Days Too.