Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder. At least, that's what some people say.
Dean closed the front door behind him and sat down on the stairs to take his shoes off. He was tired in his head from a long day in school. He had thought that becoming a mechanic meant learning about engines and tyres and how to change bits on cars. He had been surprised to find that he had to take lessons in math and english as well. The community college he had enrolled in had anallround education for people wanting to be a mechanic. There was of course lessons about cars and 'know your engine' type stuff but not as much as Dean had expected. He was happy he still had his job with Bobby and the promise on an internship. His class mates were not all set up and some of them would have to go to another town to find a place.
He stood up and went to the kitchen where his mother was preparing dinner. Sam was sitting at the table doing his homework.
"Hi, hun, how was school?" Mary asked.
Dean suppressed a sigh. "Fine. A bit boring."
Mary looked at him with concern. She knew he was missing Cas but she was beginning to think there was more to it.
"Why boring?" she asked.
"I've just done it all before. The math and the English homework, the Spanish classes." He went and got a soda from the fridge.
"Well, you have to do it if you want to graduate from that school. Unless you can get Bobby to give you a certificate," she said.
"He can't. I'll have to have some sort of official seal of approval if I don't want to regret it later."
Mary smiled at him. "That's a very mature way of thinking," she said. "I'm beginning to feel it won't be long before you don't need your mother at all."
"Mom! Anyway, you still have Sam. He loves to be mothered," Dean said and made a mess of Sam's hair.
"Quit it!" Sam yelled.
Dean laughed and went upstairs to take a quick shower before dinner. Afterwards he checked his email for probably the fifth time that day. Every chance he got at school he would check to see if there was a message from Cas. He had been at university for four weeks now and was settling in fine. He had his own room and shared a kitchen and bathroom with three other guys. He had sent Dean pictures like Dean had hoped he would. The flat was alright, and his friends looked like nice guys, "But none of them are you," Cas had written in his email. Then he had proceeded to tell Dean what they would be doing right now if they were together.
Dean was glad he was doing so good. He didn't want Cas to be unhappy but he felt like he was doing most of the pining. Cas was obviously very busy with classes, homework, assignments, sports activities and his new friends. Dean sighed when he thought about it. He decided he too would make himself busy with school work. It might not be very different to what he had been doing before but there was always room for improvement and if he could focus on that maybe time would go by faster and Cas would soon be home for Christmas.
He also had the Impala, of course. He had changed all the lights and the wiring for them and they worked perfectly. He had been thinking about what he wanted to do with the upholstery and had decided not to do anything to it yet. Next year, he could take a class that focused on restoring old cars. If he could learn to do the seats himself he could save a fair bit of money. He had written a list of everything that needed to be done and scribbled notes next to every item of his thoughts and ideas and where he could get things cheap and what he could do himself. But it seemed the list would never end. There was always new things being added.
It would take ages to restore the car but that didn't matter. Bobby helped him when he could, telling him how to do certain things and Dean was grateful. They were getting on great and Dean was getting the hang of writing up the bills and taking payment from the customers. He had installed a coffee machine next to the sofa and as usual Bobby had stared at it for a long time, then left while shaking his head. But he didn't complain. All the changes Dean had made had brought more customers and Bobby couldn't see that was a bad thing so he let Dean do what he wanted.
Dean and Cas had their first anniversary in August and they spent the evening talking on the phone about everything that had happened since then. They laughed when they remembered how Cas had come on to Dean at the party the night they had met. And Cas' surprise when he found out Dean was a virgin. Not to mention when he found out Dean had been on a date with Ariana. Dean didn't really laugh about that particular memory. He had almost lost Cas because of his own stupidity.
"Promise me you won't date her while I'm away," Cas had said with a laugh and Dean had told him he was being silly but couldn't help laughing himself. He still saw Ariana now and again. She was working in the local beauty shop selling perfume and creme. Dean wasn't surprised. She had always loved that stuff.
Cas had asked if Sam was planning anything for his birthday that was coming up the month after and Dean told him he wanted a small party with his friends and Alex. Sam and Alex had been spending a lot of time together and when Dean had pressed him he Sam had admittet they were in a relationship but Dean had to promise he wouldn't tell anyone, especially their parents. Mary would freak out if she heard.
Dean couldn't help feeling jealous that Sam had someone while he was alone. Well, for the time being. Dean consoled himself by thinking about the sex he and Cas could have that Sam couldn't even be thinking about yet.
Turned out he was thinking about it. Dean should have known but he kept seeing him as his kid brother and kept forgetting that like Dean he was growing up too. He was turning 15 next month and his hormones were beginning to rage. He had come to Dean's bedroom one evening and had sat down on the bed. Dean knew that something was up then and had waited for Sam to summon the courage to ask his questions.
"Um, Dean...you know when you and Cas got together?"
"Are we on that again?" Dean asked.
"Well, I was just wondering..." Sam stopped and thought for a moment.
"What are you wondering this time?"
"Well, I know that Dad was pretty mad when he thought you and Cas were...well, having sex," he paused and swallowed letting Dean get a word in.
"Not to mention Mom."
"Yeah, her too." Sam stopped talking altogether.
"Sam, you should not have sex with Alex," Dean said.
"What! Why do you think we're going to have sex?"
"That's why you're here isn't it? Every time you start a sentence with "Um, Dean...you know when you and Cas got together?" it means you're thinking about doing something with Alex."
Sam huffed out a surprised breath of air, then his shoulders slouched and he sighed.
"I haven't asked her yet, I was just wondering how long you waited before you did anything with Cas."
Dean smiled to himself. They had pretty much been fooling around from the beginning but he couldn't tell Sam that. Instead he said: "Sam, you and Alex are way too young to have sex. Even if you think you're ready you might regret it later when you're older. And if you're not careful she could get pregnant."
Sam stared at him with horror. "I hadn't thought about that," he said.
"Well, there you go. You're too young for that stuff."
"Yeah. Anyway, I'm not even sure she would say yes. She hasn't let me do anything yet."
"Do anything? Like put your hand up her blouse?"
Sam nodded and looked at the floor.
Dean couldn't help smiling. It seemed Sam was way ahead of Alex. How typical for a teenage boy to think about sex even when the girl was nowhere near ready. He had thought about sex all the time when he was Sam's age. Back then, he was still thinking about girls. That was before he met Cas.
"Look, Sam, just take it easy and don't pressure her. You have all the time in the world to do stuff when you're older."
"Older! We might not even be together then!"
"Well, then it would be good if you hadn't had sex. Wouldn't you want your first time to be with someone special?"
Sam made a face. "I would just settle for a first time." He got up to leave and Dean said. "Just promise me that you'll talk to me before you do anything."
"Yeah, yeah," Sam mumbled and went to his room.
Dean sighed. If his school work couldn't occupy him he would have plenty to distract him in keeping an eye on Sam.
Friday night, Dean went with Stan to get a burger. Stan had just broken up with Helen and he was feeling a little down. They hadn't seen much of each other during the Summer. Dean had wanted to spend as much time with Cas as possible and Stan had been busy arguing with Helen. When Dean asked why they broke up, Stan had said he didn't want to talk about it.
They met Ariana and she came and sat down for a while. Dean thought it was nice being with his old friends and he managed to forget about Cas for a moment. When Ariana had gone back to her friends, Stan asked Dean if he was still interested in her. Dean gave him a look and said: "Where have you been this past year?"
"What do you mean?"
"I have a boyfriend."
"Yeah, but he's far away and anyway, maybe you would like to have a girlfriend next."
"What happened to you Stan? This is so unlike you."
Stan sighed. "I'm just disillusioned with life, that's all."
"At 18? Wow, that doesn't bode well for the rest of you life."
Stan made a face. After a moment he asked: "So if you're not interested in Ariana can I ask her out?"
Dean almost choked on his soda. He wiped his mouth and said: "Sure, go for it."
His sarcasm was lost on Stan who just smiled and looked Ariana's way.
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