It's the next morning when Dean gets the text from Benny to let them know that the police have arrived at the hospital to talk to them. Until his phone went off, Dean had been sound asleep, comfortable with the weight of Castiel's warm body against his. Even though he had known it was coming, he dreaded having to leave the warm safety of the bed.

He doesn't want to have to wake the sweet, sleeping boy next to him, especially not for something that would be so hard for him. He knows that the moment Castiel wakes, the rest of the day will be horrible for him; he doesn't want his boyfriend to have to deal with that and he doesn't want to be the one to ruin his peaceful sleep, but it has to be done.

Begrudgingly, he runs his fingers across Castiel's chest, sliding over his lean muscles, feeling the body stirring under his touch. "Hey." Castiel mumbles into his chest, his grip on Dean's waist tightening.

"Hey, we need to get going soon. It's already almost noon." Dean places a few small kisses on Castiel's head, gently helping him wake up. "Benny said that the police showed up at the hospital..."

Castiel stiffens, drawing his hands back against his own body. "Dean, I can't-"

Dean rolls over, trying to keep his expression neutral when really he was surprised. "Cas, we talked about this... He hurt you- Probably others too. He needs to be put away." He tries his best to come across as supportive, but he knows that Castiel may need a push in the right direction, even if it is upsetting to him.

"It's my fault, Dean- Not his. I agreed to let him do those things to me." He keeps his head pressed against Dean's chest as he hugs himself.

"Cas, he blackmailed you-"

"I could have walked away. I could have said no." Castiel pulls back, sitting up on the bed, covers sliding down his waist. "I'm the one that decided it would be worth it to whore myself out for a stupid class..."

Dean isn't sure what had gotten into his boyfriend since last night, but he doesn't like it. "You're not a whore, Cas. Don't say things like that." His voice hardens a little, hand cupping Castiel's face firmly, forcing eye contact.

"I liked it."

Dean blinks, caught of guard by the statement, his hand falling away. "What?"

Castiel's face burned red, even looking away the blush could be seen down his neck. "Everything he did. I liked it." His eyes begin to water, ashamed to be admitting to Dean what he considers one of his darkest secrets.

Dean doesn't know what to say, but he wants desperately to convince Castiel that he wasn't at fault. "Did he hurt you?- Before last week, I mean."

"No." Castiel's fingers dig into the blanket, wishing that they weren't having this conversation. "He didn't- He was always gentle."

"Of course you liked it." Dean finally catches Castiel's gaze and looks at him with sincerity. "That says nothing about you, Cas, and everything about him. Who knows how many others he's done this to? He's a manipulator. He has experience taking advantage of people."

Castiel doesn't know what to say. He wants to believe what Dean says, but he still hates himself for being so easily taken advantage of.

"Obviously, you didn't want it. Your body may have reacted, but that's not the same as giving consent." Dean tries a new approach, trying to get through to Castiel that it wasn't his fault. "If you really liked it, why didn't you let it go all the way?"

Castiel's eyes bore into him. "I wanted my first time to be with you."

They stare for what seems like forever, Dean having to remind himself that now is not the time to get excited. It's difficult when Castiel's eyes are locked onto his, telling him that he wanted Dean to take his virginity.

"If it weren't for you, I would have let him." Dean can't place the look in his eyes, but he gets the feeling that Castiel is more than ashamed. "I used you. All of the things we did, I did with him."

That was it. Castiel felt like he had used Dean to make being with Richard easier. "I don't care." He looks at Castiel point blank, unable to state his feelings more clear. "The things that we did, I did because I wanted to. I didn't know what you were going through, but I knew that when we were together, you were happier and that's all that matters."

"But-"

"No. You don't- There's nothing for you to be ashamed of, Cas. He hurt you and you did what you had to do to cope. I was with you because I wanted to be with you." Dean pulls him in, hands holding Castiel's face in place, lips incredibly close together. "I'm here with you now because I want to be with you. Let me help you."

Castiel's red eyes started to burn again, a few stray tears escaping before he could close them, his lips seeking out Dean's. He had needed to hear Dean say that he wasn't angry with him. He'd been worried since they said 'I love you' that Dean would be upset with him when he found out the truth about the situation.

As much as Dean enjoys the feel of Castiel's lips desperately moving against his, they need to leave if they want to make it to the hospital on time. "Cas..." A few small kisses later and Dean can speak unhindered. "We need to go."

With his eyes closed, he nods. Within the next few minutes they're dressed and getting in the Impala, heading for the hospital.

When they arrive, Sam gives Dean a look that says 'what took so long' and Dean looks back at him in a way that reads 'dude, don't'. "Hey, the Officers have been waiting for you." He gave a small smile to Castiel. "I didn't tell them much, just that you wanted to talk to them after you heard what had happened. As far as they know, you haven't told anyone, even us, about what happened." His tone implied that Castiel should keep it that way to keep anyone that was involved out of the suspicious eyes of the investigation.

"Thanks, Sam." Dean spoke for Castiel, who was too nervous for words. They walked past their group of friends and Dean looked to Castiel. "Do you want me with you?"

Castiel wasn't sure if he could do it alone, but the thought of Dean hearing the intimate details of what happened was also not something he wanted to happen. In the end, he decided that he didn't want to keep secrets and that he would feel better if he weren't alone. He nodded and Dean grabbed his hand as they walked through the door to Meg's room.

"You must be Castiel?" A female officer smiled lightly at him as they walked in the room, Castiel nodding to confirm her suspicions. "I'm Sheriff Hanscum, your friend told us you were on the way. You wanna step outside to talk?"

Her kind voice helped settle Castiel's nerves a little as they made their way to an empty corner of the waiting room to speak. She and Dean both listened as Castiel told his story about what had happened, including every detail that he could remember. He didn't want to, but Sam had told him that every single detail could potentially be another nail in the Professor's coffin, so he pushed his shame aside and didn't hold back.

"All right, sweetheart, I think I've got what I need here. You go home and take care of yourself, okay?" They could both see in her eyes that she was genuinely concerned for Castiel and had been saddened by his account of what had happened. Dean was grateful for that, hoping that she would feel obligated to make sure that the man at fault was punished accordingly.

Dean held Castiel's hand, letting him lean in against his chest after she left so that he could collect his thoughts. He had held together surprisingly well, with only a few stray tears. "Do you want to go home?"

Castiel nodded against his chest. He just wanted to be alone with Dean, just being held. He knew that they didn't have long before classes started again, but even that was too far ahead to think about.

When they got home, Dean ordered a pizza and moved the television into the bedroom. Dean held Castiel, movie after movie, until the younger man fell asleep with just the hint of a smile on his face.

- Seven Months Later -

"Stop fidgeting with your tie..." Dean took Castiel's hands in his, forcing him to let go of the soft material and look at him. "It's gonna be fine." Dean smiled at him, placing a small kiss on his lips.

"But, what if-"

"Cas, they're going to find him guilty, you have nothing to worry about." Dean looked into his boyfriend's bright blue eyes with confidence as he spoke. Since the initial reports from Castiel and Meg, six other students had come forward about inappropriate behavior of some degree from Dick, as they had all started to call him. Not only that, but they had all testified, including Castiel.

The ex-Professor's story of an elaborate set-up was immediately dismissed as a pathetic attempt to cover up his own wrong doings after an investigation of the security footage and evidence was completed.

Another thing working in their favor was that it was pretty obvious that the jury hated him. He had managed to wipe the smug look off of his face, looking the part of a wrongly accused man up until Meg testified. Her performance was undeniably perfect. She cried, she shook and she didn't dare make eye contact with the man that 'attacked' her.

When Dick burst out of his seat, exclaiming his outrage at her blatant lies, she jumped out of her own seat and cried harder. The court took a recess to calm her so that she could finish her testimony without him in the room. It was golden from that moment on.

The only thing that worried any of them was that Dick had a very good lawyer. He had managed to discredit three of the previous witnesses and had managed to drag the trial out much longer than it should have been. At one point, they had almost been able to declare a mistrial due to improper handling of evidence, but the Judge instead issued the evidence inadmissible and continued.

Today was the day for closing arguments and then they would hopefully have a verdict. No matter what anyone said, Castiel wouldn't feel better until he knew for sure that Dick was going to be put away.

Even though he had graduated since the ordeal, he still found himself waking up in the middle of the night or walking down the street, worry suddenly overcoming him. How would he ever feel safe if that man was free? Sure, he had a restraining order, but that was just a piece of paper. He and Dean had talked about saving up and moving away, but it was going to be a while before they could afford that and Castiel didn't really want to take Dean away from his family and friends.

When Castiel looked into Deans eyes, he wished that he could feel so sure. He knew that the odds were in their favor, but there was a part of him that couldn't help but think 'what if'.

They sat in the back of the room while the closing arguments were made, Castiel nestled between Sam and Dean, the two men he trusted most in the world to protect him. He thought about how messed up it was that if it wasn't for Dick, he probably wouldn't have met either of them. He most likely would have walked right past the other man that day without a second thought, never knowing what he'd passed up.

When the arguments were done, a recess was called for the jury to deliberate. The group made their way outside, pacing the hall- all too eager to sit still. Dean stood next to Castiel, hand inside his jacket, rubbing small circles on his boyfriend's lower back to distract and calm him. He could feel the muscles tense when court was called back into session.

Dean took a couple of steps forward before he realized that Castiel wasn't moving. He looked back, heart sinking at the look in those beautiful blue eyes.

"I don't want to go." Castiel had been so strong and held himself together so well, but he couldn't make his feet move. He almost didn't want to know the outcome. What if it was not guilty? He didn't want to break down in the middle of the court room.

"Okay..." Dean walked back to him and pulled him in tight as their friends walked through the door. It seemed like forever that they stood there, but in reality it was less than a minute. Dean waited for the crowd to file out of the room, looking for Sam, Castiel's head buried in his chest.

When his brother finally stepped out and turned toward them, he had a huge smile on his face. He nodded to Dean, but left them alone to talk, walking down the hall with the rest of the group.

"Hey." He lifted Castiel's chin. "They're out."

Castiel looked at him, bright eyes full of worry, begging to be calmed.

Dean smiled at him, running a thumb across his cheek. "I told you it would be fine."

"...Really?" Castiel stared at him in wonder, trying to read his expression. It was too good to be true. Had they really won?

"Really. We won." He was almost knocked off his feet with how enthusiastically Castiel jumped at him, squeezing him tight enough to take the breath away from him. It didn't surprise him that he had never seen Castiel so happy, considering that he was already involved with Dick from the day that they met, always having that worry on his mind.

The way that Castiel smiled at him, so big that his eyes and nose crinkled, made his stomach flutter. He had though he couldn't fall any more in love with Castiel than he had in the year they had known each other, but he was wrong. So wrong.

"We should go out with the others to celebrate." Dean held his hand as they walked down the hall, Castiel barely able to keep from skipping, grin stuck on his face.

"No..." He squeezed Dean's hand and bit his lip in a way that sent all manner of bad thoughts through Dean's head. "I want to go home."

Dean swallowed hard, nodding slowly. "Okay." He could tell by the look in Castiel's eyes that something had shifted in him. Even though Castiel had admitted to wanting Dean to take his virginity months ago, he had been such a wreck since that day that they never got any further than that had before. The prospect of Castiel finally feeling safe enough to let Dean make love to him was one of the greatest feelings Dean had ever had.

At the apartment, Castiel's hands were shaking, but the smile was still in its place as he looked into Dean's eyes. They had kissed hundreds of times before, but they could both feel that there was something different about the one they were sharing now. It was slow and soft and Dean let his hand slide to the back of Castiel's neck, tilting him just slightly to deepen the kiss.

Castiel almost whined when Dean's lips left his, but the feeling of those lips running along his jaw was enough to keep him from complaining. He missed the feeling of Dean's stubble, having been shaved off for court. He leaned his head back, giving Dean room to move his lips and tongue across his neck as he pleased, sighing when he felt a strong hand at the front of his jeans, moving ever so lightly against them.

"Dean..." The voice was low and soft, his name spoken in a light breath against Dean's ear as he pressed his hips forward, eager for a more firm touch.

When Dean's lips left his neck, he felt the cool air on his damp skin. "Don't rush me, Cas... This is gonna take all night."

- FIN -

A/N: Finally done! Kind of an evil place to end the story, but I just don't like to end a story on a full sex scene unless it's a one-shot. Trust me, there is be more Destiel smut in the future! Review! if you like it, if you love it, if you hate it, just let me know :)