and the grass where you lay left a bed in your shape / I looked over it and I ached
Dean Winchester has spent his whole life cleaning up his father's messes. Now that his little brother, Sam, is settled in California and Bobby's got a handle on the garage, they convinced Dean to finally do something for himself. After a chance encounter at the Air Force recruitment fair Sam dragged him to, Dean got hooked on air traffic control, and he gets stationed at Kansas City Tower for his final leg of training. There, he has to impress his on-job instructor Castiel Novak, the ex-Air Force captain who piqued his interest in ATC in the first place. (And only in ATC. He swears. Those blue eyes and dark hair and stupid hat have nothing to do with it.) If all that wasn't hard enough, just one week into his OJT, Dean gets a call telling him his father is dying and has to move back home to live out his final days—which could be more like years.
Dean has to decide whether to continue to let his life be defined by his father's mistakes and his misguided obligation to everyone else, or if he's brave enough—and strong enough—to find a life in his own shape.
start reading now on ao3!
