Chapter Text
Ten minutes into his homework Castiel heard the front door open which meant Samandriel was home. His little brother scuttled upstairs and threw his bag on his bed. "Cassie!" The boy grinned, coming to Castiel's side of the room. Everyone in the family called him Cassie, but Dean was the first one to call him Cas. It made him feel special which just made him confused.
Castiel smiled at his brother. "How was school Sam?" he asked, leaving his homework for a while. "Great! I even made some friends. That's why it took me a while to get home", Samandriel explained, sitting on Castiel's bed. "I found my dance shoes, by the way, and Michael already got me into a new dance class", the boy continued, getting up to bounce on the bed which Castiel had placed below the window. "That's great!" Castiel smiled, then continued with his homework. He wasn't an all A's student, so he had to try his best.
"What about you Cassie? Met new friends?" Samandriel asked. "Sam, you know I don't really make friends that easily..." Castiel sighed, trying to concentrate on math rather than Samandriel's ongoing questioning. He loved his little brother, but 12 year olds could really get annoying every now and then.
Eventually Samandriel left him alone and Castiel sighed, closing his math book and grabbing a book he was currently reading, The Count of Monte Cristo. Castiel truly enjoyed reading, unlike most of the 17 year olds.
Soon he heard the front door open and close again and the voices of Gabriel and Lucifer filled downstairs. It was Anna's turn to make dinner today with Samandriel's help and all of them would have to wait til at least six. Anna was in college and also working for money to get her own place eventually, and that's why she had longer days than everyone else. Castiel knew there was no hope for concentrating on his book anymore, so he placed his bookmark, a dark blue silk ribbon, in between the pages to remember where to continue next time. He got up and headed down the stairs to chat with his older brothers, both of whom were over 18 already. Everyone knew the real reason why the two stayed home: they had no money to get their own places. But Castiel enjoyed it, most of the time anyway. It wasn't nice to share a room, but he could deal with it.
"Cassiieeee!!" Gabriel squealed playfully, hugging his little brother. He had a lollipop in his mouth and he smirked as he pulled back. "How was your day baby bro? Make new friends..? Girlfriends..? Boyfriends..?" Gabriel asked curiously and a bit teasingly too. "Shut up Gabe and go fuck your boyfriend..." Castiel groaned. He might have been a shy little nerd in the corner of the room at school, but not at home. He wasn't afraid to be a dick at his idiot brothers with giant egos. "Was planning on that", Gabriel shot back with a smirk. "Shut your face", Lucifer muttered annoyed. No one in the family hated each other, the opposite actually, but that didn't mean they weren't annoyed by each other. "Suck on your lollipop or something, you sugar addict", the man continued, lighting up a smoke. "Oh I'm sucking on it, and soon something else too. Want full details of my plans?" Gabriel said to his older brother. You couldn't really tell who was older, after all they were barely two years apart. "Ew no!" Lucifer whined and made that vomiting gesture before going upstairs to his and Gabriel's room which was very strictly split into two for the two brothers. They loved each other but definitely were past that point where siblings could still share a room.
Castiel sighed and walked to the kitchen where still half of the cutlery, including pots and pans and plates were still unpacked in their cardboard boxes in the corner. At least they had food Michael had bought yesterday. He decided to make himself a sandwich since the stuff they offered in school was barely edible anymore and dinner would still have to wait for a couple of hours. He took two pieces of white bread and grabbed some butter, ham, lettuce and cucumber from the fridge before beginning to form the ingredients into a sandwich that was actually good to eat. He also grabbed some orange juice from the fridge and sat on the beige couch in their living room to watch some nature series. He didn't, in all truth, like watching TV, but since there wasn't anything else to do, he would have to deal.
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Anna got home two hours and 14 minutes later and went to clean up after a shift in the antiquarian bookshop she worked every other day at. Castiel had visited the place a few times and considered taking a job there as well. He really could use the money since he was actually planning on moving away from home after he graduated. He didn't know what he wanted to do just yet, but he had considered applying to a college a few times. Castiel knew languages and was good at English literature, but did he really want to get a life long job as a teacher or a book seller? He could write too. Maybe that would be something he was actually good at?
Castiel was now on the living room couch reading his book as Anna called everyone to eat. He got up after bookmarking the page he was left at and headed to kitchen. He could smell cheddar and... Oh god no. Macaroni and cheese? Again?! There was no other food Castiel despised as much as macaroni and cheese. He couldn't eat that food without feeling sick. Even the smell... Who on earth would ever want to come up with such food? English, of course, but that wasn't Castiel's point. This was the 10th time this month he had to survive with bread, milk and vegetables for dinner. Anna knew Castiel couldn't even think about that food without vomiting and she still made it. Was this on purpose? Just to...get back at her little brother for something? Something Castiel had no idea of? Something was severely wrong with the Novaks.
Lucifer never really joined his family in the kitchen and today was no different; the man just grabbed a plate full of mac and cheese and returned to his room without a word. Gabriel, Anna and Samandriel did stay though, taking some food on their plate to eat together. Castiel did the same, without touching the pastacheesemonster on the stove, though. He made himself another sandwich and ate it with some milk and vegetables on the side.
The dinner was eaten in silence and everyone got up, cleaning after themselves and thanking Anna for the food before disappearing to their own rooms. Castiel stayed behind, helping his big sister clean up the kitchen. "How was school?" she asked as they washed the dishes by hand. They hadn't gotten their dishwasher working yet. "It was okay", Castiel replied quietly. The red head nodded, smiling a little before speaking again. "I got you another book to read. It's for loan only, but I thought you might like it", she spoke, watching her little brother carefully for a reaction. The teen's eyes brightened immediately. "Really?" Castiel asked, now switching all his attention to Anna. "Yup, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens", Anna continued, smiling as she turned back to the dishes. "Sounds great. I'm reading something right now, but maybe you can get it for me later?" Castiel asked, still looking at Anna with a smile. She was the only one in the family who didn't find Castiel's reading weird or make fun of it. "Surely!" Anna assured as they finished cleaning the plates and pots and cutlery. They placed everything in the drying cabinet over the tub and headed to their own rooms afterwards.