Chapter Text
Claire had heard of Dean Winchester, the older brother of her dear teacher and her father's former schoolmate, yet she had never seen a photo of him. So the whole idea of what he looked like came from her imagination, sparse information and Sam's own appearance. In her head, Dean was bigger than his brother, had the posture of a soldier, big hair and was well centered, in addition to having food as regulated as Samuel.
Yes, in the girl's head, he was just like Sam, only blond. And of course, she couldn't be more wrong.
Okay, in her defense he was a tall man, yes, but if he stood next to Sam he would look like a dwarf - but in his defense, few people wouldn't look like, close to that titan. However, in everything else she was completely mistaken. Dean had short hair, lived on the basis of beer and frozen meal - as far as she can tell from the packaging next to the trash - and, despite the serious expression he kept while talking to them, he had air of casanova seen the smile of cheap conqueror that he dedicated the woman who left his house when they arrived.
“It wasn't such an ugly damage.” He sentenced, crouched down and analyzing the dent with the help of the cell phone flashlight, as the street lighting was not very good. “Today I can't do anything to help…”
“No, please, my dad comes home tomorrow!” Claire interrupted him, eyes wide and voice trembling with despair. Dean raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, his lips together in a straight line.
“You came here very late, I need to sleep.” He spoke again, still with an expression of reproach, Claire frowned. “But…” The girl's expression softened and he uncrossed his arms. “If you come back tomorrow, very early, I promise to resolve this quickly.”
The girl was so excited that she shouted a thank you and hugged him, being followed by her friends who became infected with her excitement. Dean just stood there, stuck and slightly annoyed by that teenagers sudden action; it didn't take long to stop, pushing them slightly away and repeating that he had to go to sleep, threatened Claire saying that if she wasn't there at the first hour she couldn't do anything, and then sent the children home.
From there the group went to Ben's house, they stayed up until one o'clock in the morning, when Lisa left the room to send them to sleep; Claire programmed her cell phone to wake up as soon as possible, before settling on the couch that fit her and Alex with some comfort. The next day, she left alone and her head was pounding from the lack of good sleep, but relieved that she would have one less problem in her life to deal with, her father would be able to sell the car just to keep her out of it.
Arriving at Dean's house, which Ben had said the night before that he was a mechanic and tinker, owning a mechanic near their school, she found him standing in front of the garage. The strong arms crossed and the expression closed, making her think that, of two, she was either arriving late or he was as sleepy as she was. As soon as he saw her, Dean motioned for her to park in front of the garage and as soon as he did, he opened the gate while Claire got out of the car.
"Good morning," she greeted, saw him come in and pick up the tools he would use.
“Good Morning.” he replied returning to her. “It won't be long, you can wait here if you want.”, she nodded.
Claire sat for a while while waiting for work to finish, alternating between fiddling with her cell phone and looking at the man, who was too focused and seemed to have forgotten her. At one point the blonde got up and went into the garage, looking at the tools there and wondering what they were for, her curiosity making her ask Dean every now and then; she would take one, analyze it and then ask. Until the clear eyes finally noticed the black car that was parked there, not that she hadn't seen it, but from a distance it didn't look so interesting.
“What car is this?” she asked crouched seeing her reflection in the bodywork, then stood up and looked into the vehicle through the glass.
"This isn't just any car, girl, it's an Impala 67," he replied proudly, walking over to her with a beautiful smile on his face. He rested his hand on the car and looked at it with love overflowing his green eyes. “She belonged to my father.”
“It's very beautiful.”
“Yes she is.” Claire laughed and then Dean finally took his eyes off the vehicle, leading them to her. “The car is ready, I would polish the area to get a better finish, but your father doesn't usually do that, does he?” she replied shaking her head. “It would be weird.”
“Dude, you saved my life…” she didn't finish the sentence, because suddenly the instrumental of Highway to Hell started to play and they both took the cell phone out of their pocket.
Dean hung up on the call he had received without even answering, it probably wasn't anything important or someone he wanted to avoid, Claire thought. However, she found it curious that they had the same ringtone for calls, which made her smile and remember a time when Samuel had commented that she resembled her brother a lot.
“You're Claire Novak, aren't you?” Dean asked, looking like he had just stopped to think about it. “Sammy's student.”
“Yes, and you studied with my father.” He nodded.
"Looking now, that's kind of obvious," said the man, raising an eyebrow as he looked her up and down. “You look like your mother, minus the eyes, they are blue like Cas's.”
“Cas?” she laughed, being accompanied by Dean.
“He didn't like it, I started calling him that after he became my tutor in history.”
"I thought you weren't friends," he commented, beginning to find strange the intimacy the nickname brought.
“We weren't, I think.” he shrugged and looked at the Impala again. "I'll send the bill later, through Ben," he said, avoiding the subject. Claire nodded and thanked him for the help.
With a brand new car, Claire drove to her friend's house, owing Dean Winchester her life and smalling a rat that could well end up becoming a pack.
***
Sunday went away with peace and tranquility, in the opinion of the young Novak - not that she wanted more excitement than smashed car, but we will take into account the insatiable desire for adventure that girl had.
There is no denying, however, that her father's arrival made her have a very significant adrenaline rush and, come and agree, quite unnecessary. Castiel would never be a monster with her due to an accident (or anything else), in fact he would treat her like a crystal glass for a month or two, which alone bothered her since she hated being treated like fragile or weak; however, what would really be a problem would be the guilty look of the father, who would look at her as if it were his fault for not being present, and this she could not accept. But he didn't suspect anything at all, which saved her from having some white hair early.
Who didn’t want to spare her that, however, was her professor’s dear brother, savior of the motherland and definitely one of the hottest guys she’s ever seen in her life: Dean Winchester.
The teen's suspicious-meter* blew the whole week, as the bill that was supposed to be handed to her through Ben never reached her hands and if that didn't mean a problem, she was a maiden. And as Claire knew that only in a past life could that be true, the problem came to his door the following Sunday afternoon, dressed in three layers of clothing and a pair of jeans that definitely hadn't been the first thing he picked up in the closet .
“Why are you here!” she asked incredulously and with some desperation, which made her look over her shoulder to make sure that Castiel was not around.
“I thought it would be safer to hand the bill in person.” he replied raising his head in an unobtrusive way, which led her to close the door behind her.
"Well, I should have kept the deal and sent it through your godson," she said irritably, the whispered and altered tone that came out of her mouth made the man raise an eyebrow.
“Your father doesn't know you dented the car.”
“Congratulations, Sherlock, you've discovered the mystery.” Dean frowned at the mockery, Claire ignored it and held out her hand to the eldest. “Now give me the bill and let's pretend nothing happened.”
“Listen, girl…” the wooden door opened and Castiel's voice interrupted the blonde.
“Claire, with whom…” her father's voice also died in the middle of the sentence and a small smile appeared on her full lips when he noticed who was present. “Dean Winchester.”
“Castiel Novak.” Dean said back, a smile similar to his father's spread across his freckled face, big enough to make small, charming folds appear in the corner of his eyes.
An intense silence dominated the porch, making Claire look from one to the other several times until the rat that she smelled started to stink. She disguised an easy smile biting the inside of her cheeks, and cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself again.
“Sorry, Dean, but what are you doing here?” Castiel asked clearly awkwardly and, fearing that he had offended his former colleague, amended: “I mean, we hardly see each other, nor did I know you knew my address.”
“My godson is a friend of Claire's.” Dean replied, his hands inside the leather jacket moving in order to make the other shirts he wore, a plaid and a black one, more visible.
“Ben?” the brunette looked at his daughter, who nodded. “Is he in trouble?”
“He crashed his mother's car these days and I was to pass the bill through Claire.” Dean replied before the girl could even think of a convincing lie. The two men looked at her when a weak laugh escaped her lips. “Here it is.” he held out a small piece of paper to teenagers, his green eyes saying that she should shut up not to put them in a complicated situation. “Say he can pay me anytime.”
“Okay.” she put the paper in his pants pocket and looked at his father, who seemed puzzled but not suspicious. “Dad, what about that pie you were making?” she asked innocently, avoiding the subject.
“Actually, I was looking for you to eat.” Castiel replied, clear eyes left the daughter and fell on Dean. “Would you like a piece?” Claire knew her father extremely well, to the point of noticing the vein that popped whenever he was tense to disappear when Dean's smile spread.
Interesting.
“You know me, I never refuse a good piece of pie.” the Winchester replied.
***
“I remember very well the day when you finally booed Benny.” Dean commented between laughs making Castiel laugh at the memory.
Claire remained silent, just enjoying the interaction. The three were sitting on the high stools that were on one part of the kitchen island, the men facing each other while she volunteered to stay on the edge, to get a better view.
“He caught me on a bad day, if it weren't for the problems at home that I was going through, I certainly would have put up with his provocations throughout high school.” her father explained, Dean shook his head as if he understood exactly what he was saying.
“Yeah, that sounds like the Castiel we all know and love.” the brunette blushed slightly with the compliment, but disguised his shame with a thank you and another piece of pie. It was the third one that his father put on the plate in front of the Winchester, if she did not know him well, she would think that he was trying to make the other stay longer. As she knew him, she stated with absolute certainty that this was the goal.
“Wasn't Benny the guy you went out with a while ago?” Claire asked curiously, her father had said that the man had been an asshole in high school, but not that they had fought. Castiel looked at her daughter with a mixture of rebuke and shame.
“Yes, it was with him” he replied, Dean made a sound with his mouth closed, catching the attention of Novak, and when he finished swallowing the piece of pie, smiled sideways bending over the top of the island.
“Yeah, Benny told me about the little adventure they had.” the way the tongue and teeth passed through the blonde's pale lips, made even her shiver.
The brunette gave a nasal laugh and imitated the other's movement, supporting his arms on the island and taking his head further. In a tone she had never heard in her life, Castiel asked "And what else did he tell you?"
“Interesting, very interesting things.” It was the answer of the Winchester, who took the last piece of the pie slice on his plate and ate it slowly.
Claire's eyes widened, caught in a whirlwind of sensation; embarrassment, anxiety and disbelief. It was not possible that she was witnessing everything here, nor was it possible that it was all in her head.
They really were….
***
“Flirting!” shouted with the enthusiasm of those who win tickets to the favorite singer's concert.
“For the last time, we weren't flirting, Claire.” Castiel sighed, water splashing over the sink as he washed the dishes.
Dean left a little over twenty minutes ago and during the first five she remained silent, until she couldn't contain herself and bombard the man with questions and statements (accusations, according to the brunette's view).
“Of course they were! Those looks, smiles and the hug you gave when he left! If there was no sexual tension in that, I don't know what else there could be!”
“You don't even know him, I don't even know him anymore. We didn't talk for years, there is no way you can say that Dean was flirting with me.” he argued, Claire held out the dishcloth when he turned to dry his hands and took the opportunity to look at him with one eyebrow raised and an easy smile.
"But I know you," she replied heartily, Castiel sighed as he rubbed his hands over the dishcloth.
“When we studied together I may have had ... A momentary crush on him” he said turning his back on his daughter, leaving the kitchen before she could say anything, but he was followed.
“Momentary how much?”
“…Three years.” Claire let out a high-pitched scream, the smile spreading across her pale face. “But then we graduated and I fell head over heels in love with my best friend, with whom I had a dizzyingly stubborn daughter.”
"Praising me won't make flirting any less concrete, Professor Novak," she teased. “And nobody is talking about mommy here, but about your high school crush who returned from the ashes and finally can come true!”
“Twenty years have passed, Claire, I don't feel that way about him anymore!” the man insisted, the girl rolled her eyes in disbelief (and he still had the courage to say that she is the one who was stubborn). “And if the case is closed, I will go to my room to correct the lessons of your class” he said at the same moment that Claire opened her mouth to protest, turned his back on her, who this time did not follow him.
If he didn't want to admit that he still felt something for Dean, fine, let him die in denial. However, she was an adolescent expert in body reading and would not have her gift questioned in this way, she would prove to her father that Winchester also felt something for him and would bring the two together or she was not called Claire Novak.