All The Moments That Shape Our Lives (Stamp 12)

"I understand, Crowley, but I don't think I'll have time," Castiel said into phone for the hundreth time. Castiel was elbow deep in warm soapy water, scrubbing the dishes that he and Dean had led the night before. He had his phone held to his ear, arguing with Crowley about a conference out of town. "Because I have finals coming up and I need to invest as much time as possible into studying." There was a knock on the door. Castiel finished with the dish he was holding and grabbed a dish towel to wipe his hands as he walked over to answer it. "No, it does not have anything to do with Dean. He's not even in town." They were still bickering when Castiel opened the door. His dropped to the floor when he saw who was standing on the other side. "Lucifer." His brother gave him a tiny smile. "Hello, Castiel." Castiel threw his arms around his neck, hugging him tightly for a long time. The only thing that made him pull away was Crowley's voice on the coming through the speaker on the phone. "I'm going to have to call you back." ~*~ A few minutes later, Castiel was pouring coffee for himself and his brother. He took a seat across from Lucifer. "I still can't believe you're here," He said. It had been eight years since he last saw his brother. Lucifer had been sent to a juvenile detention center after being caught with drugs and alcohol several times. He never came home. "Where have you been?" "I was angry with the world, Castiel, especially our family. As soon as I had a way out, I ran." Lucifer looked down at his coffee cup. "I made a lot of bad decisions, I hurt a lot of people. Then two years ago, I watched someone that I cared about almost die and I knew that I had to get out. So, I we went home." "To Mother and Father?" Castiel asked, shocked. Lucifer had never tried to hide his dislike of their parents. He told them on many occasions that he wished he wasn't there son. Castiel found it hard to believe that he would crawl back to them for help. "They paid for my rehab and I just got offered a job at a great law firm." "You're a lawyer?" Lucifer nodded. "I wanted to help kids like us. One's with disfunctional families that they want to get away from." "I'm happy for you," Castiel said, placing his hand over his brother's. "You have no idea how good it is to see you. You look good." "So do you. I see you met someone," Lucifer said, nodding at the refrigerator. Castiel turned and saw that he was looking at the photo strip from a booth at the mall. He smiled. "His name is Dean. We've been together for almost eight months." "Tell me about him." "He's my True Mate. I didn't believe that they actually existed until I found him. It's strange really, he was friends with Michael in high school. We saw each other every day and had no idea. But here we are. He's a mechanic and he's so wonderful, Luce. I couldn't imagine my life with anyone else." "Have you introduced him to Mother and Father yet?" Castiel shook his head. "I'm trying to spare him from that for as long as possible." "Well I'm on your side," Lucifer said. Castiel squeezed his hand. "Thank you. That means a lot." "So when do I get meet him? One of us has to give him the big brother talk." Castiel rolled his eyes. "Not today. He went to visit his parents in Kansas. He won't be back until Monday." "He went without you?" "I'm meeting them at Christmas." "You're not leaving me and Gabriel alone with Mother and Father and Michael," Lucifer said, looking horrified. "You'd read about a homicide in the Sunday paper." "Very funny. I'll talk to him. Maybe we can work it out so that we can do both." "Thank you." "Will you stay for dinner?" Castiel asked. "There's this recipe I found that I really want to try but Dean refuses to eat kale." Lucifer smiled as his brother prattled on about his food and his Mate. "I'll stay." Watching Castiel flit around the kitchen, refusing to let Lucifer help at all, reminded the older man of why he decided to come home. Castiel had been his favorite thing at home, he was so full of excitment and energy, despite their parents' demands for order and quiet. Castiel had been the light in his otherwise dreary life. His brother had only been twelve when he ran away, so angry with his parents for sending him away that he wasn't thinking of Castiel or Gabriel. He just wanted out of the seemingly perfect family. Sam had been a replacement for his baby brother. He'd reminded him of Castiel in many ways, even with the drugs. His overdose pushed Lucifer to get clean and start a real life. He didn't want to be like Sam, who used to talk his brother who he loved and missed, but he was too afraid of his father to call him. Lucifer had been unsure when he groveled for his parents' forgiveness. He was unsure all through rehab. He was unsure while he was studying for the bar exam. But here he was, laughing at Castiel when he cursed over dropping something and listening to him sing under his breath while he cooked. Here, he was finally sure.