Come in With the Rain

Mabel turned around. Castiel had on a light blue collared shirt with black slacks. He looked as if he just started getting ready for the day. He walked over to Mabel. She felt embarrassed for trying to sneak out with out saying goodbye to him.

“Where are you going?” He asks tilting his head to the side.

“Thank you so much for last night,” She says. “It's very kind of you for letting me spend the night in your home.”

“You're not staying?” He continues with his questions.

Mabel shakes her head, “I wouldn't want to impose on your life.”

“I don't mind if you stayed here.”

Mabel looks at him surprised. Was he trying to say he'd rather have her here than on the street?

“You can have that spare room if you'd like,” He told her. “Or if you'd rather go back to the streets then, at least have breakfast before you go.”

“Can... can I really have that room?” Mabel asks.

Castiel nods, “If you choose to stay.” Mabel ducks her head smiling and looking at her toes.

“I've never had a room before,” She says with a tone of excitement in her voice. No one's ever been so nice to her. Not even in the foster homes. There were always other kids there. And the people looked angry all the time she mentioned she didn't like it there. So she'd leave after hearing some other kids talk about doing but never ponying up to do it.

“Thank you,” Mabel sighs looking up to Castiel and launching herself into his arms. Castiel was surprised by the sudden contact but quickly adjusted and hugged her back. “Thank you for finding me. For being so kind to me and for giving me a home.”

“Your welcome Mabel,” He sighs rubbing her back. “Now, go wash up and I'll get breakfast started.”

Mabel lets go with a nod, grabs her sack and goes back to the spare room. She digs around in her sack again for something decent to wear. She finds a white collared shirt she took from a yard sale and a pair of jean men shorts with cheeto stains on them. She goes to the bathroom and turns on the water. She smiles seeing the steam emanating off the water. And when she steps in after stripping her clothes off, relief washes over her as she relaxes into the warm water. She scrubs at her body trying desperately to get the dirt off her body. She sits on the floor of the shower and scrubs harshly at her feet.

She uses Castiel's shampoos and soaps smelling like she never lived on the streets. She puts on her random set of clothes on then dries her hair. She goes out to the kitchen area. There was a plate and a cup of orange juice waiting for her at the island area of the kitchen. She hops up on a stool and picks the cup up to drink from it.

Castiel smirks hearing a delighted moan from Mabel. He turns around with his skillet and puts two eggs on her plate. Then quickly turns back to the stove to fetch the bacon to put on her plate.

“Thanks,” She smiles. He turns the stove off and takes a seat next to her. “Can I ask something?”

“What is it?” He asks sipping appreciatively at his coffee.

“How are you affording this place?” She asks looking around.

“I'm the youngest son to a family business,” He states. “I work in the accounting section.”

Mabel nods understanding but not really caring. 'I work in a big corporate office' would have been an acceptable answer for her. They start to eat their breakfast exchanging little bit of small talk.

“Why is your name Castiel?” Mabel finally asks.

Castiel chuckles a sigh, “I get that a lot. It's because my family is very religious. My parents decided to name me after an archangel.” Mabel makes a small excited noise in her throat.

“I'd love to be named after an angel even if I don't have much of a religion to live off of,” She mentions. “You aren't some devoted religious man are you?”

“It is fine. I do have my faith and I do have my opinions,” He says reassuring her. He looks at his watch. “I have to get going. Is there anywhere you'd like to go that I can take you to?” Mabel shakes her head. “Are you going to be fine staying here alone?”

“I'll be fine as long as there is something edible in your cabinets,” Mabel chuckles. Castiel smiles at her. She cleans up the kitchen as he goes to finish getting ready. Mabel goes over to the living room. On the coffee table there are four remotes. Martha's apartment only had one and it didn't even go to the TV.

Mabel picks one up and hopes she picked the right one. Pressing something the stereo goes on. Panicking Mabel is pressing all of the buttons trying to turn it off. In the panic she's picked all the remotes up and began pressing what ever felt right. Turning on lights, opening curtains, resetting VCR's, all that jazz.

Calmly, she yanks the chords out of the sockets then flops on the couch staring at the blank screen.

Castiel walks into the living room adjusting his coat, “Aren't you gonna turn the TV on?”

Mabel shoots up, “Who has four remotes!?” She gestures to the said objects.

“None of those go to the TV,” He states. He goes over to the couch and pulls up a lid and reveals a remote. “This goes to the TV.” Mabel grumbles snatching the remote from him and turning the TV on. “Okay, I'm going to have Sam watch you while I'm gone. So be good okay?”When he see's Mabel wave a hand in okay, he grabs his trench coat and heads out the door.

Sam was fixing the cuffs of his shirt. It was a Saturday and he didn't go to the office on Saturdays, so Dean was staying home watching TV. Sam sighs at his brother. He's told him so many times to do his homework early instead of just sitting and doing nothing.

“Dean, I'm serious. Don't forget to do your homework,” Sam orders. “You know if you don't do it you won't go to any of your games.”

Dean groaned as he pulled out his history textbook from his bag, “Fine, Sammy.”

“It's Sam,” Sam grunted. A knock came to the door. Sam looks at Dean, who was scratching the back of his head and reading, then goes to answer the door. Castiel was standing at his door.

“Good Morning Sam,” He greets the older Winchester.

Sam greets back, “Good Morning Cas. What can I do you for?”

Castiel looks over to his apartment then back to Sam, “I'm going to be at work all day and I'm a little worried about Mabel being home alone.

“Sure Cas. I'll keep an eye on her,” Sam smiles. Castiel lets out a sigh of relief and thanks Sam for his generosity. “I'll go get her now.” Castiel thanks him once more before turning to go to work. Sam walks out and goes next door. He knocks loud enough for Mabel to hear him.

“Who is it?”

“Hi, Mabel. It's Sam Winchester,” Sam replies. “Cas asked me to come get you.”

He waits for a sign of her opening the door. About 5 minutes later, Mabel opens the door and steps out. Sam looks down at her feet. She wiggles her bare toes waiting for his next move.

“Where are your shoes?” He asks.

“Don't have any,” She replies rocking back and forth on her feet.“I don't have a key.” Sam looks away from her feet and points a finger up, then reaches at the top of the door frame. He reveals a key and locks the door.

“I'll just hold onto it for him,” Sam says tucking the key into his pocket. He leads Mabel to his apartment.

The Winchester apartment is just as big as Castiel's but furbished differently. The living room is still where the view is, the kitchen is to the left of the door, Sam's office is to the right of the living room and their bedrooms are across from each other. Mabel looks around seeing how much more different their home is decorated. There are movie posters framed on the walls. There is a shelf filled with CD's and books. Mabel looks over and see's Dean watching TV.

“Dean!” Sam shouts. Dean flips out and pulls a book to his face. “You can hang out in the living room, while Dean goes to his room.”

“Bitch,” Dean grunts as he packs his bag.

“Jerk,” Sam grunts back. Mabel snickers as she walks over to sit on their couch. It looks more family oriented than the black leather couch Castiel has in his apartment. Dean looks at Mabel. She waves to him with a pleasant smile. He smiles back.

“You know, if you get bored of watching,” Dean smirks. “You can always come help me study.”

“Study what?” Mabel flatly asks.

“You know,” He waggles his brows. “Stuff.”

Mabel looks at him confused, “Well, I can't. I don't know how to read.”

“What?” Sam asks.

Mabel looks to him and repeats herself, “I can't read. No one taught me.”

The brothers frown at her. They sat down on the couch near her wanting to know more.

“Mabel, are you saying no one never taught you how to read?” Sam asks her.

“Nope. I never went to daycare because of all of the other foster kids. And my foster parents didn't have enough time to teach everyone how to read,” she stated. “I ran away from foster care when I was seven and never learned how to read.”

Dean asked, “Haven't you looked at newspapers? Magazines?”

“I always looked at the pictures,” She replied. “Either that or Martha reads them to me.”
“What else don't you know?” Sam asks.

“Well, I can't swim. I don't know math but I can count. And I can barely write anything,” She answers counting each thing on her fingers.

“Do you wanna go to school?” Dean asks.

Mabel shrugs, “I think it's a little too late for me to go.”

Sam says, “It's never too late you know. I can teach you how to read.” Mabel looks at him. “It's not so hard.”

Mabel looks down at her hands. Just yesterday she was getting out of Martha's mattress and heading to the streets to eat leftovers from dumpsters. Then she meets Castiel in the rain. He incites her into his life and now his neighbors are looking at her future.

She scoffs, “I must be lucky.” The brothers look at her confused. “No one's never taken the time to actually look out for me. Thank you."

Sam turns the TV off and guides Mabel over to his office. There are books but mainly used for his work. Dean still had to go to his room to study, Sam making sure that he wouldn't distract himself with other things.

“What do you do Mr. Winchester?” Mabel asks formally looking at the books with her hands behind her back.

“I'm a lawyer,” Sam replies walking in with a few books. “You can call me Sam you know.” Mabel nods understanding. He gestures for her to sit at one of the chairs sitting in front of his desk. Mabel thinks he probably brings his clients over to help with their case. Mabel situates herself in a leather chair just to the right of Sam's desk.

Sam sits in his chair and puts the books down on his desk, “I don't have the basic kiddy books that could help you but I have some of Dean's old middle school books.” Mabel looks at the cover of two girls and two boys. One girl looking like she wants to hit one of the boys and the boy she wants to hit ready to fight her back. The book looks old and outdated. “That one used to be mine and I thought you might want to check it out.”

Sam puts another book down that Mabel checks. It has a picture of a very old man on the cover. Another book with a painting of a boy.

Breathing, he asks Mabel, “Can you tell me the titles?”

Mabel looks at the three books Sam displayed to her. Mouthing out what she thinks it would sound like then closes her mouth to think of what it definitely should sound like to her. She gives up and shakes her head.

Sam points to the book with the kids on the cover, “Follow a long with me. Si-”

“Si.”

“-Xth.”

“-Xth.”

“Sixth.”

“Si-xt-h,” Mabel repeats harshly. “Sixth?”Sam nods with a nice smile. Mabel smiles and looks at the cover.

Castiel was filing some papers into his file cabinet when his secretary walks in with a knock.

“Sir, your brother is here,” She says stepping aside as a man with black hair similar to his own only neater. He wore a suit with black tie. He looked very intimidating but once the door closed his shoulders slumped. He sighed as he made his way over to his brother.

“Good afternoon, Michael,” Castiel greeted. His brother smiled to him and gave him a kind hug. “Is there something you need?”

“Yes,” Michael says. “Mom and Dad were wondering if you were going to join us for dinner next Sunday. Ana is coming.” Castiel smiles and gives his brother a nod before turning to finish his paperwork. Michael plants himself down on the small couch positioned sideways to Castiel's desk. “So little brother, have you considered my proposition?”

Castiel sighs, “Yes, I have. And I'm sorry but I have to decline. I like it here.”

“But, if you move up top you'll have a better paycheck than the measly thousands you get a year,” Michael reminds. Castiel turns and folds his arms at his older brother. Michael almost laughs seeing his little brother use his irritated look he used to use when he was six. “Fine, fine. I won't bother you about a promotion anymore.”

Castiel huffs in triumph then remembers, “Michael is it fine if I bring along a guest?”

Michael smirks, “If I didn't know any better, I would think you want to bring a date to dinner. Not that I'm Gabriel or anything, but who is she?”

“She is only fifteen,” Castiel declares. Michael looks at his brother a bit appalled. “Her name is Mabel. She's fifteen years old and lives on the streets. Until I took her in last night.”

Michael stands up and goes to his younger brother. He puts a hand on his shoulder. Castiel looks at his brother. “Castiel, I'm very proud of you for trying to save a life and all, but are you sure this girl is safe?”

Castiel moves away feeling anger at his older brother, “Mabel is a very innocent, polite girl. She hasn't done a single thing that would be dangerous to my health or lifestyle.”

“Okay, okay little brother,” Michael says putting his hands up as to calm him. “I will no longer judge your choice.” He smiles as Castiel calms down a bit. “I'm still proud of you for helping her.”

Mabel was sitting next to Sam on their couch attempting to read Sixth grade secrets. Sam listening carefully to help her with her pronunciation. She was doing pretty good for jumping into middle school books.

“I am officially done studying!” Dean announces making Mabel look up from her book. He flops down on the couch next to her. He leans over. “What are you reading?”

“Sixth Grade Secrets,” She replies showing him the cover. “It's very interesting so far.”

“How many pages have you got so far?” He asks.

“She's about 17 pages in,” Sam replies. “You can take a break Mabel if you want.” Mabel closes the book and puts it down on the coffee table across from her. Dean grabs the remote and turns it on.

“Ugh, Dr. Sexy is on,” Dean groans.

Sam raises a brow, “Don't lie to your menopause Dean. You know you secretly love that show.”

Dean growls, “Shut up, no I don't!” He switches it to a football game. “Now that's more like it.”

Sam leans over and whispers, “He's gonna secretly record Dr. Sexy when we're not looking.” Mabel giggles and Dean looks over to them. “What?”

Mabel gets up from the couch and goes towards the kitchen, “Can I make something?” Sam nods getting up to see if she needed anything. She goes through the cabinets and pulls out a box of macaroni and cheese.

“Do you know how to make that?” Sam asks walking up to her. Mabel looks at him then to the box. She then puts it back into the cabinets. Sam frowns watching her rummage through his cabinets for food. She finds a box of graham crackers and just takes that back to the couch. Dean watches her sit next to him.

“I thought you were going to make something?” He asks her.

Mabel shakes her head, “This is fine.”

Sam calls from the kitchen, “I'll just make lunch then. Are sandwiches okay?” Dean gives him a thumbs up and Mabel waves a hand.

Mabel looks to Dean, “What's school like?”

He pulls his mouth into a half-frown, “Its okay I guess. A lot of drama.”

“Drama?”

“Yeah. Like the other day, Nora slapped me across the face because she caught me making out with Jenny from biology. Then Lisa felt me up behind the bleachers- oh, man was that awesome,” Dean rants on.

“I thought school was for learning? Not making out.” Mabel asks.

“It is, it is. But, this is high school,” He smirks. “You're bound to have relationships.”

“These don't sound like healthy relationships to me Dean,” She frowns. “Sure my friend Martha sleeps with who ever asks her, but at least no one gets hurt really.”

Dean opens his mouth then closes it.

“Dude, did she just say a hooker has a healthier relationship than you?” Sam laughs from the kitchen.

“Shut up Sam!”