Twenty Five Days To Mend A Broken Heart

Fandom: Supernatural

Rating: T

Genre: Romance

Pairing: Dean/Castiel, Sam/Gabriel, Jimmy/Amelia

Summary: [AU Fic] Castiel and Jimmy Novak travel back to their hometown of Lawrence to celebrate their older brother Gabriel getting hitched. Of course, staying with the Winchesters means staying with Dean, Cas' high school boyfriend whom he did not exactly part on good terms with, which leads to angst, awkwardness, and a possible opportunity to fix two broken hearts, all in twenty five days. Destiel, Sabriel and Jimmy/Amelia MULTICHAPTER.

AN: Hey there, my little sock puppets! I bring a new story for Christmas! (In fact I bring several Destiel stories for Christmas, but this is the only multi-chapter one, but I digress). Let's enjoy twenty five days of Destiel together, and see if we can mend their broken hearts! :) X

DISCLAIMER. I do not own Supernatural. Never have, never will. *single tear*.

December 1st: Castiel, Sam

Castiel.

[You have one saved message. Received at 3.23 PM on November 19th 2015]

"Uh, hey, Cas. It's Sam. Um, Sam Winchester? I don't know if you really remember me - I mean, it's a while since we spoke; I think I was around fourteen the last time we saw each other? Gabriel's said that he's mentioned me before though. I'm, um, I'm his boyfriend - What? Yes, Gabe, I know - Ow! What was that for? Sorry, Cas, Gabe got a little over excited there...Anyway, I, um, I know we haven't exactly kept in regular contact over the years, but this, uh, this is pretty big, so I thought I should call you and let you know that Gabe and I are...well, we're getting hitched...Hooray! - What? Gabe, I'm trying to talk to Cas, so shush. Sorry about that, Cas. Again. But, so, um, yeah, Gabriel and I decided to celebrate over Christmas, and I know that we haven't spoken in years, and I kind of understand why that is, but I'd really like it if you and Jimmy came down to Lawrence for the holidays. I mean, it's been, what? At least seven years since we last saw each other? That's over half a decade, y'know, man? I'd love to catch up with you guys again, find out what you've been up to all these years. Jimmy used to email Gabe every so often, but even he fell off the radar eventually - I guess that's just how it goes. You move on and you change. Still, I think it would be fun for us all to hang out together again; I really miss that, y'know? I mean, we had some great times back in the day, didn't we? You, me, and D - Okay, I'm gonna stop there before I ruin any chance I ever had of persuading you to come. Just, give me a call back, yeah? Please? It...It would mean a lot to me - to us - if you guys were both there with us. Okay, well, I guess that's all I have to say, so...yeah. Bye, Cas. I hope to hear from you soon."

Cas removed the phone from his ear with a sigh, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel of his car as it idled in the parking lot of the gas station, watching Jimmy and Amelia through the window of the Gas n Sip, probably bickering good naturedly over something trivial and mundane that Cas didn't really understand or have time for. He still wasn't entirely sure why he had even shown Jimmy the message that Sam had left on his voicemail, instead of deleting it the moment that he got it, which was what he should have done. It wasn't like he'd wanted to pick up the phone in the first place anyway; as soon as he recognised the number, he'd sent it straight to voicemail.

But, no. Something inside of him had made him let Jimmy take a listen, and now, thanks to that, here he was: stuck behind the wheel of the ancient car that had been in his family since the sixties and that wheezed every time it went round the slightest corner, waiting for Jimmy and his long-term girlfriend to get out of the store so that they could get on the road towards the Winchesters' place. It was almost like he was under the absurd impression that the sooner that they got there, the sooner they could leave again and retreat back to the safety of Pontiac. Cas was already missing his home comforts, already looking forward to returning to his apartment with its bright yellow walls and less-than-glamorous view of a Biggerson's family restaurant and its adjoining parking lot.

Jimmy banged noisily on the car roof, startling Castiel from his wistful thoughts of Illinois and the place that he had come to see as home. He sent a fowl glare in his twin's direction.

"Are you purposely trying to give me heart failure before we get to give Sam and Gabriel our blessings, Jimmy?"

"Blessings? Huh!" Jimmy pulled a face. "I'm giving the guy more than that; I'm giving him my prayers! He's gonna need it now that Gabe's gonna actually be part of the Winchester clan."

"Now, really, Jimmy," Amelia began, shaking her head as Jimmy climbed into the back seat beside her. "I think you're exaggerating sometimes when you talk about Gabriel."

Cas smirked. "Oh, just you wait and see. You might think that Jimmy and I are strange, but just wait until you meet Gabriel."

"Trust me, babe. You can't ever go back from it," Jimmy added.

"I'm sure I'll cope," Amelia replied with a roll of her eyes. "You Novaks can't be too dissimilar."

"Well, I suppose that's true. I mean, if you've put up with Jimmy for this long - Ow!" Jimmy had leaned forward to give him a whack on the back of the head. "What was that for?" He shook his head as he pulled out of the Gas N Sip parking lot, his car grumbling and groaning about it the entire time, turning onto the highway. Not too far up ahead, the familiar sign was nailed into the ground.

LAWRENCE, KANSAS, WELCOMES YOU.

The message on the sign was a lie, for him at least. For Castiel Novak, there didn't seem to be anything remotely welcoming left in Lawrence, Kansas.

Sam.

"Stop fidgeting, Samsquatch. Sheesh, you're making me nervous."

Sam rested his hands over his slacks, silencing the drumming his fingers had absentmindedly been making on the patch of material. "Right. No fidgeting. Gotcha."

Gabriel tutted from the seat beside him at the kitchen table. "Honestly, man. Anybody would think that it was the police comin' to arrest you for something, not my two dorky twin brothers comin' for Christmas."

Sam exhaled loudly. "I know, I know. It's just...well..."

"It's just, what?" Gabriel prompted when he trailed off.

"We haven't exactly kept in contact with them, have we? It's already gonna be awkward as it is - y'know, considering that we didn't exactly part on the best of terms..."

"We didn't? Sam, what happened back then has nothing - and I mean, nothing - to do with us, okay? It was our stupid brothers who chose to break up and hold pointless grudges against each other for it."

"But, that's exactly what I'm talking about, Gabe. What happens if seeing each other again after all this time sparks this whole thing off again? You know as well as I do how Dean reacts every time we even mention the names Castiel or Novak in the same room as him."

"Samwich." Gabriel fixed him with a serious look, which was a rare thing for him. "Seriously, I get it, okay? You're worried about Dean - and that's understandable, yeah? He's your brother and you love him. I feel the same way about Cassie. Apparently he hasn't spoken about what went on between him and Dean to anyone, not even Jimmy, since they broke up. But this isn't about them, is it? This is about us, yeah? Us getting married and finding happiness together - and yes, I know that sounds sappy as hell, but I'm tryin' to make a point here - and if those two idiots can't keep their personal post-break up pining and angst to themselves, well...I'll break their jaws for them."

Sam raised his eyebrow at the threat, but he also felt his mouth twitching into a smile. "You really are an awful boyfriend, Gabe."

"It's fiancée now, thank you very much," Gabriel corrected, nuzzling what little of Sam's shoulder he could reach. "But you love me for it."

Sam let out a hum, sliding an arm around him. He couldn't argue with that. "You've got a point there. I do."

"I should hope so when you recently agreed to let me join your family properly - especially when I went to all the effort of cooking you that big romantic dinner."

Sam smirked. "I see. So pancakes and syrup now count as a big romantic dinner, do they?"

"Oh, don't lie, you loved it."

Sam would have given him another sarcastic reply, even though he had loved it, very much, but he was cut off by the sound of someone knocking on the front door.

Gabriel grinned. "I think the Novaks have just returned to home soil, don't you Samsquatch?" He pulled Sam up from his chair and dragged him towards the front door, practically wrenching the door off its hinges in his haste to get it open. The younger Winchester felt a grin of his own splitting across his face as he took in the sight of the dark-haired blue-eyed man on his doorstep, wearing a grubbier, yet better-fitting version of the long tan trenchcoat that he remembered so well.

"Cas," he said, voice filled with recognition.

"Hello, Sam," he replied, causing Sam to let out a startled chuckle. Had Cas' voice always been that gruff? "It's been a long time."

"Too long," Sam agreed earnestly. "You're looking well, man."

"Thank you. You too."

"C'mere, Cassie, you dark horse!" Gabriel smirked, enveloping his younger brother into a bear hug.

"Gabriel," Cas greeted stiffly, looking less pleased to see him again compared to Sam.

Gabriel released him gleefully. "Where's Jimmy got to? I thought you said that he was coming to."

"He's by the car right now." Cas gestured down the garden path to the sidewalk, where two figures stood, illuminated by the lights coming from the neighbourhood houses, talking amongst themselves. "He's insisted on carrying all of the bags himself. I think he wants to impress Ame -"

"Jim-Bob!" Gabriel took off down the path, carelessly disregarding the fact that it was a freezing cold night and he was wearing nothing more than a t-shirt and jeans (Sam hoped that he wouldn't get himself sick, because obviously it would be his responsibility to look after him and he would get sick himself), hurling himself at Jimmy the same way he'd embraced Cas, walking back up the garden path with his arm tucked comfortably over his brother's shoulder with a spring in his step.

"Look at us," he beamed. "The old team back together. Well..." He grinned at Amelia. "...with some new additions, I see." Sam noticed how he avoided any mention of the one missing part of their "old team", but he chose not to mention it. It was already so obvious; he saw Cas' shoulders tense at the very thought of it.

Amelia laughed suddenly, breaking through the tension. "Are you worried that I'll ruin your credibility?"

"You could never do that," Jimmy replied loyally, giving their interlocked fingers a squeeze.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I swear we aren't this touchy feely, are we, Samsquatch? Maybe we are and I just haven't noticed because I'm so absorbed in those big brown puppy dog eyes of yours." He threw Sam a wink, making Jimmy and Amelia snort simultaneously.

"Gabe." Sam let out a huff. "Let's not start that out here in the cold."

"Good idea." Gabriel clapped Jimmy on the shoulder and slipped inside the house, dragging Cas along with him (who went rather unwillingly, Sam noted). "Mama and Papa Winchester!" He was yelling up the stairs now as he bustled their guests into the living room. "We've got visitors!" He collapsed down on the couch, as if the whole act of greeting people tired him out, pulling Jimmy and Amelia down with him so that Jimmy was sandwiched in the middle. Cas remained by the door, watching the scene unfold with his hands in his trenchcoat pockets.

Sam sent him an apologetic look. "Sorry about that."

Cas glanced in his direction, looking a little surprised that Sam was even talking to him at all. "About what?"

"Letting Gabe go all brotherly on you. You didn't look very comfortable."

"Don't worry. I remember from childhood experience exactly how Gabriel can be."

"It's just..." Sam paused. "I don't want you to be uncomfortable here. It's been ages since we've seen each other, y'know, and I really want you to feel welcome here and -"

"That's very kind of you, Sam," Cas replied, cutting him off with something that might have been a smile. "I really appreciate it - I do - but I think we both know what the elephant in the room is here and that it can't just be avoided."

"I know. I just -" He was interrupted again, this time by footsteps clattering across the landing and down the stairs. A moment later, his parents appeared in the doorway, Mary in front with John just a few steps behind.

Mary let out a yelp of surprise, before a smile spread across her face. "Castiel!" She swept him up into a warm hug. "Look at you! You're all grown up now, love!"

"Hello, Mrs Winchester, Mr Winchester," Cas greeted politely, as John gave him a pat on the shoulder as a form of greeting. John wasn't big on hugging and affection with anyone other than his wife; Sam had long since realised that this was a trait that had been passed on to Dean, but had thankfully by-passed him.

"Oh, stop that." Mary gave him a gentle poke as she released him, placing a gentle peck on his cheek, the same way she had always done when they were all children. "It's Mary and John to you, Cas, just like it always has been." She glanced around the room, another smile breaking out on her face when she saw the other Novak twin. "Jimmy!" She moved across the room to hug him too. "Look at you - look at you both! You both grew up so handsome! And clearly I'm not the only one who's noticed." She extended an arm around Amelia as well. "This one's a keeper, dear, take it from me. I've known him since before he could walk." She grinned suddenly. "I may even have some photos somewhere."

"Mary!" Jimmy shifted, looking uncomfortable, causing the others to laugh and John to try and disentangle his wife from their new house guests. The other Novak twin cleared his throat and quickly tried to move the conversation away from him and the possible photographs of him as a toddler that Mary might have stashed somewhere (knowing his mother, Sam reckoned that this was probably true).

"So," he said. "I hear that you guys are getting hitched, Gabe."

"You'd better believe it, Jim-Bob." Gabriel flashed Sam an adoring look that made him grin, despite himself. "I'm gonna make an honest man outta my Samwich."

"Are you sure that it isn't the other way around?" Jimmy quipped.

"Are you implying that I'm the wife in this relationship?"

"You mean you didn't realise that before?" Sam snorted, rousing laughter from everyone else in the room, even Cas, who had probably been looking sullen from the moment that he left Illinois. The sound was so cheerful, so homely, that Sam almost forgot to panic when he heard the front door opening.

Almost forgot.

"Hey, Sammy?" The familiar voice called from the hallway, causing the merriment in the room to subside sharply and immediately as Dean's footsteps got closer to the door. "Okay, I get that Gabe eats like food's gonna go out of fashion tomorrow or somethin' but, seriously, did you really need me to buy all o'this stuff - ?" He stopped mid-sentence, practically freezing as he stepped into the room, his eyes meeting Cas' blue iris almost instantly. John opened his mouth, going to say something, until Mary squeezed his arm, a silent plea to remain quiet.

Sam cleared his throat in the silence after a few minutes of hearing nothing but the second hand of the clock ticking away in the background. "Uh, hey Dean, you, um, remember Castiel and Jimmy, right? The, er, the Novak twins?"

"Yeah," Dean replied, a scowl finally forming on his face to coincide with his blunt words. "Don't think I'm gonna forget in a hurry." He finally pulled his eyes away from Cas and fixed them on Sam. "I'm gonna go put all this crap away, yeah?" He turned on his heel, striding out of the room and letting the door bang shut behind his retreating form.

Sam let out a sigh, watching as Cas' shoulders slumped, draining of tension. Who had he been trying to kid? Had he really been expecting Dean to see Cas again after all this time and somehow let go of all his grudges? Or, even better, jump on him and kiss him senseless - because Sam knew pining when he saw it, and he didn't want to spend another holiday season drowning quietly in Dean's brooding waves of angst.

But, unless he did something, and did this something fast, this was going to be the most uncomfortable Christmas he'd ever experienced.

Well, that was that! I hoped you enjoyed December 1st.

Until December 2nd, my little sock puppets... :) X