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Dean and Cas had been together for years. Cas thought they had been happy. Sure it was hard with Castiel’s singing career taking off and him touring, but they had been making it work. Until one day, Dean sat Castiel down and broke up with him. Dean’s bags were stacked by the door, the house picked clean of anything he owned. Castiel broke down after Dean left and stayed in his bed for weeks.
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To say the break-up was bad for Cas, would be an understatement. The singer started doing drugs, drinking, doing everything he could to stop the pain. Eventually the press started to get pictures of him leaving shady neighborhoods, passed out drunk in bars, in alleyways. It was horrible. Fans were divided. Half spoke out in concern, wishing him to get clean and start singing again, the other half shunned him. They claimed he was a lost cause and didn’t get a second chance. His sales dropped, his reputation was ruined.
After 6 months, Balthazar, Castiel’s manager, threw him in a car and forced Cas to go to a hospital and after the hospital, Cas went to rehab. While in rehab, Cas started writing again. He worked on songs for Dean, and some for himself. By the time he was out, Castiel had a new album ready to record.
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That was all a year ago. Now Castiel was back on the top of his game, doing better than ever. He was touring again. Tonight he was playing Dean’s hometown. He wasn’t sure if his ex would have the nerves to show up to the concert but from what Cas had learned from his internet stalking he’d done with Meg, his drummer, Dean’s new girlfriend really liked his music. Cas had told his whole security team that if Dean and Lisa showed up, to get them under the tent where only people like Balthazar stayed.
Castiel was in his dressing room, when Balthazar came bursting in the door.
“Dude! Privacy!” Cas said, there was no real anger in his voice.
“Yeah, well, you’re gonna want to hear this,” Balthazar said, throwing himself on the couch. “Guess who’s here at the show?”
“Who?”
“The man himself, Dean Winchester, with his girlfriend. I had the honor of showing them to the tent.” Cas gasped and then smirked.
“Oh my god, this is too perfect. I couldn’t have planned this if I tried,” Cas said.
“I know! So you gonna perform it tonight?”
“I think I have to. That and the other one. Now get out so I can get ready!” Cas said, a smile forming on his face. Balthazar left with a chuckle.
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Before he was on the stage, Castiel could hear how loud the crowd was. It was insane. He couldn’t pick out Dean’s voice but he could imagine Dean was screaming for him as well. Cas ran out on stage, smiling as large as he could. As soon as he reached the mike, he paused for a second, just listening to the crowd.
“Oh my god, you guys are insane!” he said, looking out on the crowd, skipping over Dean. “Now before we get started, I just want y’all to know we have lots of surprises for you. We are gonna spoil you.”
Cas then started singing, “Same Old Love”, a song from his first album, from before the break-up. As usual the crowd sang along. The first half of the concert went by as usual. He introduced the band, sang some more songs. When he was half-way through, it was time for his story. He would tell a different one every night.
“So, I want to tell y’all a little story,” Cas said. “About a year ago, I went through a terrible break-up. As you all know, thanks to the press, it hit me hard. Then, thanks to my amazing manager, I got help. I went to a hospital and then rehab. While in rehab I wrote an album. My most recent one, called Almost Dead and Angry. It was about my break-up and myself. A lot of the songs on it are very true to my emotions because I was very vulnerable when I was writing.”
“Thankfully, you all loved it. When I released it, so many of you were saying how it resonated with how, songs that you related to, and told stories of shitty exes. It made me feel better. So I think in honor of that, I should play some songs from it right?” The crowd screamed, causing Cas to chuckle. “Okay, okay. Here’s one I’ve never sang live before. It’s called, ‘You Oughta Know.’”
Cas set himself up, putting the mic back in the mic stand. “I want you to know, that I am happy for you. I wish nothing but the best for you both. An older version of me, is she perverted like me? Would she go down on you in a theater?”
For the first time in the concert, Cas stared directly at Dean bitterly. Dean looked scared and shocked. Lisa though, was having the time of her life.
“'Cause the love that you gave that we made wasn't able to make it enough for you, to be open wide, no. And every time you speak her name, does she know how you told me you'd hold me until you died. 'Til you died, but you're still alive!” Cas’s soul felt like it was set on fire with passion. It was like he was speaking these words directly to Dean. Dean couldn’t stop staring back at Castiel. He was frozen.
“And I'm here, to remind you of the mess you left when you went away. It's not fair to deny me of the cross I bear that you gave to me. You, you, you oughta know.” Cas was now looking away from Dean. He sang the words with venom that could be felt even if you weren’t Dean.
“You seem very well, things look peaceful. I'm not quite as well, I thought you should know. Did you forget about me, Mr. Duplicity? I hate to bug you in the middle of dinner. It was a slap in the face, how quickly I was replaced. And are you thinking of me when you fuck her?”
Dean could feel the shame he was emitting and what stung most of all was Lisa, unknowingly singing along to the words written about him. The spotlight on Cas made him look like he was glowing. Cas danced around the stage with his friends and bandmates. The smile on his face was big and radiant. For the first time in a year, Castiel was truly happy.
“Cause the joke that you made in the bed that was me and I'm not gonna fade as soon as you close your eyes. And you know it! And every time I scratch my nails down someone else's back I hope you feel it! Well, can you feel it?” Cas scraped his nails down his bassists back, and as if by some form of magic, Dean felt it. He shivered as if Cas’s nails were really scratching down his back. Lisa gave a worried glance but then went back to dancing.
“Well I'm here to remind you of the mess you left when you went away. It's not fair to deny me of the cross I bear that you gave to me. You, you, you oughta know.” A spotlight was shown on Cas and the singer’s shirt was ripped open. All of Cas’s scars were enhanced with makeup and made more prominent. One might think it was ugly, seeing the burn marks, the knife cuts, but to the fans and Dean, it was gorgeous. It showed how much the singer had overcome.
At the end of the song, Cas stood there, in a power stance, sweat dripping down his face and panting. The crowd went wild, screaming for him and the band. Cas let a smile grace his face.
“Thank you! Oh my god, the high I just got from singing that? Everyone deserves to feel that good at least once in their life. Thank you all so much for the love you have given me and the album. I didn’t think anyone would be able to relate because of how close they were to me and my feelings. It makes me so happy that you all love these songs and relate to them. When writing this album, I tried my best to just really expose myself to you all. And so thank you all for showing yourself to me. Now before we go, I would like to sing one more song for you all.” The crowd went wild, causing Castiel to laugh.
“Alright, this one is gonna be a change from the last song. This one is a bit slower and a bit more intense. It’s called Silver Spring. Before I sing it, I wanna talk about it for a little while. So, I wrote it near the end of my stay at the rehab center. It was more through the acceptance of what had happened between me and my ex. We broke up after 5 years of dating. I had bought a ring and was ready to get down on one knee for him. However, he broke up with me for who knows why. And, to cut a long story short, I had to go to a hospital and rehab. Well, a couple of weeks before I got out, something about the album felt wrong and off. Like it wasn’t done. The album goes through the 5 stages of grief and there was one stage missing: acceptance. Now, I had accepted the end of the relationship. I knew he didn’t love me anymore and he wouldn’t. But what I hadn’t counted on was that he was always going to be tied with me, which is weird when you’re the famous one. But, before I got out and back into the world, they let me go back onto my social media accounts to see what people were saying. If they weren’t talking about me in rehab, it was about Dean being seen out and what he was saying.”
“I realized that we would be linked together for ages. It’s a weird thing, ya know. Dean is just some average guy, he doesn’t have to worry about paparazzi, but he will always be tied to me. And all because we were seen together and were together for so long. It also has to do with the fact, he will haunt me so I figured, why not haunt him as well?”
Dean’s face morphed into something that resembled fear. He didn’t know this would happen, he didn’t mean for this to happen. Lisa had started as a one-night fling, a drunk moment of weakness. And now it had turned into a relationship, it had turned into Castiel completely breaking and having to rebuild himself. Lisa gave Dean a look that said, “we’re talking after this”. Dean sighed but nodded his head.
The music started playing and Cas started swaying from side to side to side. “You could be my silver spring, blue-green colors flashing. I would be your only dream, your shining autumn ocean crashing. Don't say that she's pretty and did you say that she loved you? Baby, I don't want to know.” Cas was gazing over the crowd, his eyes sweeping over everyone like he was casting a spell.
“So I'll begin not to love you, turn around, see me running. I'll say I loved you years ago, tell myself you never loved me, no.” Cas’s eyes landed on Dean before the singer turned away and prance around his band on the stage. “Oh no, and can you tell me was it worth it? Baby, I don't want to know.”
Dean’s eyes followed Castiel around the stage, carefully watching the singer’s every move. It was all so planned, so perfect. The way the light hit Cas’s face and body, the way Cas sounded while he sang, the way the band and crowd seemed to move with him.
“Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me. I know I could've loved you, but you would not let me. I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice will haunt you. Give me just a chance! You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you!” Cas was now standing in front of the mike, singing out to the crowd. The guitar solo was amazing, Cas stood there keeping time and eventually went back to staring at Dean.
“Was I such a fool? I'll follow you down til' the sound of my voice will haunt you!! Give me just a chance! You'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you. Time cast a spell on you, but you won't forget me, I know I could've loved you, but you would not let me. I'll follow you down 'til the sound of my voice haunts you!” Cas was glaring at Dean, singing every word like it was some sort of spell that he was enhancing. Dean shivered and was almost scared of what would happen if he looked away from Cas. Lisa was scream singing along, making it all feel much worse. The woman that had caused this innocently, was now no longer innocent. She knew what Dean had done to Castiel. She knew he broke his toys.
Once the song ended, so did the spell! After a brief moment of silence, the crowd erupted into cheers for Cas. He had laid everything out for them and they had loved him. He drank up every moment, smiling and panting a bit as he looked around. “Thank you, thank you! I love you all so much!” Cas ran off stage and the crowd started to dissipate, leaving Dean alone with Lisa.
“You’re Dean,” she said, looking at him as if it was the first time she was seeing him. He nodded. “You’re the one who made him do all of that, that made him feel unlovable. I spent months wondering what kind of evil person could do that to someone. And what makes it scarier is that you don’t look evil and that makes it worse.” Dean didn’t know what to say, he was an evil monster. He had had the most amazing boyfriend ever and he threw it away for what? One night of acceptable drunk sex. He just lowered his head.
“I’m sorry.”
Lisa just walked away, leaving him feeling terrible and hopeless. Dean was evil for what he did and he would always be haunted by Castiel