Castiel should have realized something was wrong when Bobby took him out for burgers on a Wednesday night without giving a reason. Tibbett Diner burgers were the absolute best and as such were reserved for special occasions, like when he'd won that spelling bee in middle school or that time his social studies essay had earned him 200 dollars. Castiel hoped against hope, as he dug into his 8-dollar burger, that his adoptive father had just been feeling particularly generous that day. Of course, he was mistaken.

"Castiel, I've got some news for you." Bobby said, leaning forward and rubbing the back of his neck. In the yellow light of the diner the circles under his eyes were more pronounced and he looked tired.

From his tone, this wasn't the kind of news you should hear whilst holding a bleu cheese burger. Castiel reluctantly cradled the masterpiece back into its plastic basket.

"Mm hm?" He asked.

"I got a call from Missouri today."

"Oh."

Missouri was an old friend of Castiel's, although he hadn't spoken with her in a while. She'd been the social worker who had suggested that the Singer family take him in to foster care seven years ago. Since then she'd sent a several foster brothers and sisters through Bobby's care, most of them staying for six months or so before going back to their families or being adopted by other parents. A call from Missouri only meant one thing. Some kid needed help.

"Now, you know I wouldn't even run this past you if it wasn't a special situation." Bobby said, shifting in his seat guiltily. After Bobby's last foster child, Raphael, had sort of torn Castiel to shreds in his brief but eventful stay, Bobby had promised his long term foster son that he wouldn't take in anybody new until Castiel had graduated high school. Bobby continued.

"But there's a pair of brothers who apparently have been giving some parents a run for their money, and Missouri thinks I might be a good fit."

"Brothers?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah, two boys, Dean and Sam Winchester. Dean's your age, 16."

Their waitress, a tattooed woman with thick rimmed black glasses appeared from nowhere and asked in an intimidatingly perky voice how they were doing. Bobby glanced at Castiel for a second, not sure exactly how he was doing, but she said "great!" and swept off before any answer was made.

"I guess they really want to stay together." Bobby went on, trying to read Castiel's face. His son was looking at his burger with an expression that could mean anything. "Missouri says she's never seen two siblings more tied to each other. And the past three families they've been with have said that they're violent and hard to keep in check."

"What about their birth family?" Castiel asked. "Was it bad?"

"Missouri said their mom died when the youngest was just 2, and their Dad's been homeless ever since, taking them from motel to motel. Social work only took them away from him a year ago but I guess the oldest boy's still really loyal to his daddy."

"Do you want to take them in?" Castiel asked with his head slightly tilted. His tone was cool and his expression unreadable. Karen had used to call him their little changeling the first few months he had been part of the family, because of his ethereal little tics like that. But Karen was gone now, and Castiel was just family.

"Castiel, I just want to make sure you agree to this before I tell Missouri anything."

"I agree." Castiel nodded with no hesitation. "They can come whenever you're ready."

"You sure?" Bobby asked carefully. "Don't be a martyr here, if you aren't comfortable with this I'll say no."

Castiel just shrugged.

"They need help. We can." With that declaration Castiel picked up his burger again and took another contented bite. Bobby shook his head at the incomprehensibility of teenagers but smiled as he checked the restaurant for their waitress. He needed a refill.

The Winchesters turned up three weeks later, the big black minivan kicking up a cloud of dirt announcing their arrival. Bobby's house, situated as it was amongst a junkyard of old cars, looked kind of run down when you first saw it. Castiel remembered thinking it was haunted or something when Missouri dropped him off seven years ago, looking at the ugly plaid curtains and the wood paneling and the uneven door hinges. But what had first seemed cheap and tacky now felt warm and familiar.

He'd spent the morning before the arrival of the Winchesters pacing in his room, cleaning and reorganizing everything in sight, and generally stressing himself out. New people were not Castiel's forte. When he heard the honk of the horn announcing Missouri's arrival he had wiped sweaty hands on the sides of his jeans and taken a few deep breaths before walking downstairs.

Bobby went out to shake hands with Missouri and greet the boys while Castiel hovered on the steps, examining his new foster brothers from afar. One of them was tall, and lanky with hair that kept falling into his eyes. The other was either extremely short or just comparatively so, Castiel couldn't quite tell from his distance.

The tall boy smiled and shook hands with Bobby, looking very polite and hopeful. His brother had his arms crossed, shoulders hunched, and a skeptical sneer fixed to his face. He looked like a caricature of a snotty teenager.

But Castiel couldn't quit register that because he was the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on. Castiel stared openly, a flaw of his that his teachers and Bobby had been trying to cure him of for as long as he could remember, but if anybody deserved a good long look it was this kid. Looking at him, Castiel understood why the emperor Hadrian had made so many statues of his lover Antinous. Now that he had seen that face he never wanted to not see it. He wanted it everywhere, he wanted it on a t-shirt, and he wanted to hang it on a poster above his bed and fall asleep under its gaze.

He didn't move from the porch.

Bobby looked up from the car and tilted his head, clearly inviting Castiel to step closer and meet everybody.

Castiel turned quickly and stepped inside the house, biting his lip as he made his way into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of lemonade with shaking hands. He'd only taken a few sips when he heard the squeak of the screen door and heavy footsteps of his new housemates.

"Castiel?" Bobby asked, "Where'd you run off to son? You should say hi to Sam and Dean." Castiel turned around with a wide smile that turned slightly manic when he saw how much better looking his new foster brother was at close range.

"Hi!" The taller boy said, looking friendly and giving Castiel a very kind smile. "I'm Sam! Glad to meet you!" He waved and looked over at his brother. The Adonis that must be Dean was glancing around the kitchen like he was trying to find all the nearest escape routes. Sam rolled his eyes. "And that's Dean. He's happy to meet you too." He added apologetically. Dean didn't even acknowledge that anything had been said.

"I'm Castiel." Castiel said, and determined that saying anything more eloquent would probably kill him at that moment. He looked at Bobby for help.

"Um," Bobby rubbed his hands together and glanced between his son and the new arrivals. "Castiel's in your grade Dean, you two are the same age."

Finally Dean made eye contact with Castiel, and Dean's eyes were, to put it poetically, unfuckingbelievably gorgeous. Castiel's face went completely blank as a defense mechanism, like a mouse playing dead in front of a snake that it found sexually attractive. Dean tilted his head back with a little cocky smirk.

"You a smart kid?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Castiel asked. Sam sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"You know, are you a smart kid? You get good grades?" Dean repeated, in the tone of a guy who would beat you up on the playground to copy your homework.

"Yes." Castiel admitted. "I get good grades."

"Good for you man," Dean said unconvincingly, "Education is important."

"Glad to hear it." Bobby said, but his tone was cautionary. "Let's get y'all unpacked ok? Now that we're all acquainted."

Castiel helped move Sam and Dean's surprisingly sparse belongings into the room they would be sharing. Bobby grabbed a big heavy box, Dean and Sam both grabbed their own suitcases, and Castiel stood by the car, awkwardly holding a desk lamp and feeling vaguely useless. Noticing a leather jacket that had been left in the back seat, he reached for it so he'd at least have something in both hands. He'd only just pulled it out of the car when a strong tug yanked the jacket roughly away from him.

"That's mine." Dean Winchester growled, clutching the leather coat to his chest like a security blanket.

"I… sorry." Castiel sputtered, but Dean had already turned to go back inside, arm muscles visibly perfect as he lifted up his huge suitcase. And so it was done, Dean already hated him and Castiel was already in love. Castiel shut the car door dejectedly, carrying his lonely lamp in shame a few steps behind everybody else.

Once the boys were settled in a little bit Bobby gave them a few hours to relax on their own. Some foster parents were more keen on surveillance, viewing every new teenager as a prisoner for their personal panopticon, but Bobby preferred giving kids their space. Moving was always stressful and he'd taken in enough kids to know that if you push them too hard the first night you just scare the bejeezus out of them. Although, from the looks of it, Castiel was the most skittish of the three. Before letting Castiel go play video games or whatever the hell it was he did on the internet, he had taken him aside.

"You doing all right, buddy?" Bobby asked, keeping his voice low and glancing up the stairs to make sure Dean and Sam were still occupied with unpacking.

Castiel had sighed at the question but nodded the affirmative.

"Look, I'm going to need your help here. These boys seem all right, but I'm going to need you to be on my side for the first few weeks. You know the drill. Can I count on you?"

"Of course Bobby." Castiel said, smiling weakly. "You can count on me."

Bobby smiled and patted his son's shoulder, and Castiel had slipped off on his own.

Sam and Dean hadn't objected to sharing the room across the hallway from Castiel, so he still had his privacy. He sat very still in front of his computer, and an outside observer would have no idea that he felt as though his insides were simultaneously melting and on fire. He flipped open an incognito browser and opened a gmail account that he only used on certain occasions.

"I have news." He began to type, and sighed when he tried to think about how to state his current situation.

Down the hallway, Sam tried to squeeze his long, skinny limbs comfortably on to the bottom bunk of a bunk bed. Their bedclothes were flannel patterned, which made him feel right at home.

"Dean," he muttered, experimenting with a way of bending his knees that kept his feet on the bed but left the rest of him pretzeled. "You have seriously got to chill out."

"What? I'm chill. I'm totally fucking chill." Dean argued, pacing around the room like a caged tiger.

"You're not chill dude. You looked like you were going to punch Bobby out like that whole time."

"Whatever." Dean muttered. "You should just be grateful I didn't punch the friggin' jerk."

"WHY!?" Sam asked, sitting up on the bed and looking up at his older brother pleadingly. "Dean, he's keeping us together. He seems fine. We're in good shape here, just be nice! Please?"

"We'll be in good shape when we're back with dad." Dean growled, and without making eye contact with Sam he climbed up to the top of the bunk bed and lay down with a huff. He could hear his little brother sigh in exasperation and in response he put in his headphones and turned AC/DC up so loud it hurt his ears.

Bobby worked early, so he was never around in the mornings when Castiel got ready for school. Castiel had gotten used to his own little morning ritual of eating cereal with a banana, listening to NPR, and walking the few blocks to the bus stop alone with his thoughts.

That all changed now of course. Opening his door that Monday morning the first thing he saw was a sleepy Dean Winchester walking down the hallway clad only in a towel. His back was the kind of back dreams are made of. Cas closed his door quickly and stared blankly at his wall for a full minute, waiting for his heart rate to go down.

Eventually he stepped out into the hallway and made his way down to the kitchen. Dean was clothed now, thank God, but his hair was wet and doing this spikey thing that Castiel found difficult to remove his eyes from.

"Good morning Castiel!" Sam greeted, far too cheerful than was necessary at 7:30am.

"Yes." Castiel responded, raising the number of words he'd shared with the Winchesters to 5, and poured himself a bowl of cereal.

"So, where's Bobby?" Dean sneered, scratching himself in a way that betrayed almost too much comfort in his current situation. "Isn't he going to hold our hands on our first day of school?"

"Bobby wasn't aware you'd need a hand to hold" Castiel responded curtly. "I'll let him know you would like one."

Sam snickered. Castiel smiled triumphantly to himself as he poured milk in his bowl of Cheerios. He'd made a sentence. And it had even made Sam laugh.

"Ha. Ha." Dean said. "But seriously though, we could just ditch class."

"I'm not going to skip class on my first day Dean." Sam sighed.

"No duh, you're getting on that bus to middle school." Dean assured his brother. "but me and Cas, we could ditch."

Dean looked up at Castiel with a raised eyebrow and a devilishly charming half smile. His hair was still wet and left little droplets of water beaded on his neck. Castiel felt his stomach flutter, but it wasn't nearly enough to overcome years of socialized good behavior.

"I have a project due today." Castiel responded, honestly. "It would be self-destructive to ditch, even more so than usual."

Dean sighed.

"You guys suck. You're raining all over my Ferris Bueller vibe."

Castiel did not know what that meant but he assumed it was something unsavory.

The middle school bus arrived a little earlier than the high school's so Sam headed out to the bus stop on his own. Castiel was ready, he had his project in his backpack, his lunch packed, his shoes on, everything was ready. Except Dean.

Castiel tapped tentatively on the door to the bathroom.

"Dean?" He asked. "We should probably head out now, the bus comes in 5 minutes."

"Dude, I just need two more minutes, my hair gel's all jacked up." Dean grumbled from inside the bathroom.

Castiel stood in the hallway, perfectly still, waiting tensely for the door to open. When it didn't after another minute, he rapped again.

"Dean, we should really walk out to the bus stop, it takes a few minutes to get there."

The door swung open and Dean Winchester's head popped out.

"Cas. Chill the fuck out. I can't go to school like this."

Castiel saw no earthly reason why Dean could not go to school looking the way that he did. Sure, his hair was a little bit unevenly styled, but with a face like his he could have a bowl cut and still be presentable.

"We need to go or we'll miss the bus." He repeated.

"If you'd stop distracting me I'd be ready by now!" Dean griped. "I don't even want to GO to school."

"We have to go to school Dean." Castiel said, checking his watch like it was a nervous tic. They had to make it past the junkyard and down a block into a little suburban cul-de-sac where real suburban families raised their real suburban children.

"Fine." Dean said grouchily, tousling up his hair and making it stick out like crazy. "I'm perfect. Let's roll."

But despite a mad rush to the bus stop and Dean's sub-par hair couture, the two boys scrambled to the curb just in time to see the taillights of the bus disappear down the block.

"Holy… shit…" Dean panted. "Your bus, is like, mad punctual. That's ridiculous."

Castiel stared at the corner where the bus's taillight had just disappeared with fear and desperation in his eyes.

"We'll have to call Bobby." He said, turning around and walking quickly back toward the house. "He'll be irritated and we'll be late."

"Hey." Dean patted Castiel's shoulder and made him slow down. His tone was actually sincere. "Man, it'll be ok. You got the keys to that junker in Bobby's driveway? I can drive us."

"But…" Castiel looked at Dean worriedly. "I can't drive. Do you have your license?"

"Not… technically." Dean said with a little smirk. "But don't worry, dad taught me when I was like, 11. It will be totally cool." When Castiel bit his bottom lip nervously Dean smiled and continued, "You've got to turn that project in right?"

Castiel had to agree, he needed to turn his project in. And Dean was just so convincing, he seemed so calm and together even with his hair all over the place. Castiel found himself following Dean back to Bobby's and pointing out the little hook where Bobby kept the keys to the truck.

He sat in the passenger's seat, rigidly still except for when he glanced at his watch every two seconds.

"Cas, seriously, chill out, we've got plenty of time." Dean said. He was driving smoothly, confidently, no screeching on the brakes or doing any of the aggressive driving that make insurance for 16-year-old boys so high.

"My name is not Cas, it's Castiel. And we turn right at this stoplight." Castiel clarified, tapping his fingers rapidly on the cup holder between their seats.

"Yeah, I'm just going to call you Cas though." Dean said, with ever so slight a hint of teasing in his tone. He stopped carefully at a red light and signaled his turn. Had he been taking a driving test, he would have passed with flying colors.

Nevertheless.

"Fucking shit." He whispered, looking in his rear view mirror responsibly and seeing the tell tale lights of a police car.

"What?!" Castiel asked, spinning in his seat to get a better look.

There was a just the littlest bleep of siren noise, and Dean saw in the rearview the lights flash on.

"Oh my God." Castiel groaned, sinking down in his seat. "Oh my God."

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Dean hissed, "Seriously, I did everything normal!"

"Oh my God." Castiel repeated, as Dean pulled over into a parking lot.

Dean saw that the word "Sheriff" was written on the side of the car that had pulled him over. Fucking shit. No matter how he racked his brain he couldn't think of a single traffic law he had violated. The sheriff, an attractive woman with dark hair, stepped out of the car and shuffled up to the truck's driver's side. Dean responsibly rolled his window down and tried to smile winningly.

"Hello ma'am." He said.

"Sir, were you aware that your left brake light is out?" The sheriff asked in a friendly tone, looking in the window at the two sweating teenagers. "Can I see…" Her brow furrowed and she did a double take. "Hey, Castiel? Is that you?"

Castiel had been sinking further and further down in his seat since seeing the cop lights, and looked like a boneless chicken somebody had buckled into a vehicle.

"Hello Jody." Castiel said, flatly.

"You, uh, you know each other?" Dean asked, trying to keep on smiling even though he was sweating bullets.

"Castiel, what the hell are you doing? And who are you?" Sheriff Mills asked Dean, confused. "Does Bobby know about this?"

Sheriff Jody Mills was a personal friend of Bobby's, and had known Castiel since he was 9 years old. She knew that he didn't have his driver's license, and she definitely knew he was supposed to be going to school not cavorting with some punk.

"I.." Dean was about to slide into one of his well-rehearsed lies for situations like this, meeting Sheriff Mills steely expression with a carpetbaggers grin. But Castiel spoke first.

"It was my idea." Castiel said quickly, still staring straight ahead. "This is Dean. He's my new foster brother, I asked him to drive me to school because we're late and I have to present a project."

"New… oh yeah Bobby told me he was getting some new kid." Sheriff Mills said. "That'd be you huh?" She asked the tanned young man with absolutely crazy hair. Kids these days, with their hair gel and murder.

"That's me." Dean said.

"You got a drivers license?" She asked.

"I left it…" Dean began

"No he doesn't." Castiel cut him off with honesty. "I just really need to get to school."

"And Bobby doesn't know?" Jody sighed.

"No."

"Castiel, you realize you just stole a car right? And you're driving it illegally?" She asked, rubbing her temples.

"Um…" Both Dean and Castiel stared up at her with terrified expressions. Jody rolled her eyes. "Get in the back, I'll drop you off."

Dean and Cas reluctantly climbed out of Bobby's old truck and headed toward the much less welcoming police car. As the two of them settled into the hard plastic seat that smelled like bleach Dean leaned over and whispered incredibly softly in Castiel's ear,

"Ferris. Bueller."

Castiel stared back at Dean in a state of complete incomprehension. Dean just sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

The hundreds of students that were milling about the entrance to Walker High School all turned to look at the Sheriff's car pulling through the parent drop-off zone. A security guard by the door stepped out, squinting to see what the problem was. Every student's eyes were glued to the car, fingers perched over cell phones ready to start the gossip.

Dean Winchester stepped out of the cop car like he was stepping on to a red carpet. He smiled winningly at all the kids who were staring at him like a freakshow exhibit, and opened the car door for Castiel. As soon as everyone saw that it was just Castiel Milton getting dropped off at school by the sheriff and not anybody interesting they all went back to their business. Only a few halfhearted texts were sent about the greek god new kid who'd made such an entrance.

Castiel staggered forward into the building with Dean at his side, heart still pounding from being the center of so much attention. Their high school hadn't been renovated since the 1960s and wasn't all that big. Gossip traveled fast.

"So do you think that Sheriff chick is going to arrest us for stealing a car?" Dean asked, eyeing the crowded hallways and staring next to Castiel.

"She's going to tell Bobby, and he is going to be very upset." Castiel said. "But no, I don't think there will be legal consequences. She and Bobby are, um, friends."

"Sex friends? Bobby has sex friends with the Sheriff?!" Dean asked, looking shocked but sounding vaguely impressed.

Castiel simply gave Dean an exasperated look, and Dean shut up.

The bell rang and the ocean of students surrounding them all began to rush off in their separate ways.

"Shit! Are we late?" Dean asked.

"That's the five minute bell. Do you know where your locker is?"

"I don't know shit." Dean shrugged. "Don't worry about it Cas, I'll see you later ok? You go get ready." Dean winked, "Good luck on your project."

Castiel watched as Dean swaggered off into the crowd of teenage humanity. It wasn't until he was around a corner that Castiel realized there was no way Dean had any idea where he was going. He had just set off at random to try to find the office, but he'd done it so confidently it looked like he owned the place. Castiel, meanwhile, who'd been at this school for over a year, still looked vaguely lost.

He shook his head to clear it and headed off towards his locker with a sigh. He was still shaky and full of adrenaline from being picked up by Jody, and was 100% certain that his high school career was about to get way more complicated.

After school Dean and Castiel had gotten on the bus like they ought to have done that morning and sat together nervously. Dean seemed reluctant to talk about his first day at a new school but he didn't seem particularly traumatized. Castiel figured he'd probably get a girlfriend by the end of the week and be prom king or something like some Twilight nonsense. When they got dropped off at their stop they walked home like two men being led to the gallows. As they started up the gravel driveway to Bobby's, both of them saw the big black car with the word "Sheriff" written on the side parked conspicuously.

"Oh damn." Dean said.

Castiel just sighed and trudged onwards to meet his fate.

Jody and Bobby were sitting in the kitchen laughing and chatting over some iced tea when Castiel tentatively opened the kitchen door with a drawn out pathetic squeak.

"Castiel?" Bobby asked. "That you?"

"Yes." Castiel replied, he looked outside to see Dean taking his sweet time walking the rest of the way down the driveway. The coward.

"Well, if it isn't the two Mr. Grand Theft Autos." Bobby said when Dean finally made it into the kitchen. Dean looked like he was about to say something but Castiel cut him off.

"It was my idea." Castiel said immediately. "I missed the bus and I didn't want you to be mad at me."

Dean glanced over at Cas and then looked down at the ground, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"So you broke about 800 laws." Jody said. "Well thought out, kid."

"It was stupid, and it will not happen again." Castiel said, meeting Bobby's gaze head on.

"And I'm a really good driver." Dean piped up. "Really, Sherriff, tell him, the only reason you pulled me over was the brake light." He paused for a moment. "Which is kind of your fault, Bobby." He added under his breath.

Castiel gave Dean a despairing look. The sheriff laughed.

"He's got a point Bobby, you run a junk yard and you haven't got around to changing one lousy brake light?"

"Well I wasn't anticipating anybody using the truck, Jody." Bobby growled.

"We will never miss the bus, or steal any vehicles again. I promise." Castiel said.

"Right. Totally. No more stealing." Dean agreed.

Bobby gave a drawn out, long suffering sigh, but he waved his hand dismissively and the two boys made a hasty retreat upstairs.

"That's it!?" Dean hissed in the hallway between their rooms. "That's the stern frigging reprimand?"

"I'm fairly certain we're both grounded." Castiel said cautiously. "But yes, Bobby doesn't yell unless he's very angry and he's never angry when Jody is around with iced tea."

"Holy shit Cas, we did it!" Dean laughed in relief. There was no way he could have got away with that from his own Dad. The belt would have been off at this point, no question. Dean held up a hand for a high five. Castiel stared at it, shook his head no, and quickly stepped into his room.

Later that night there was a soft tapping on Castiel's door. He got off of his computer and went over to open it. Dean stood there in Yoda pajamas rubbing his forehead and smiling weakly. He hadn't turned on the hall light so he was illuminated only by Castiel's lamp.

"Hey, Cas." He whispered. "I just wanted to thank you for taking the blame today. That was really cool of you."

"Oh." Castiel said. With the lamp behind him his face was too dark for Dean to read. "You're welcome. Please leave me alone now." With that he shut the door abruptly. Dean had to tiptoe back to his room at the end of the hall.

Sam was inside, reading a book. He looked up knowingly, like some kind of 13-year-old great aunt who was about to say "I told you so."

"I cannot believe you got dropped off on your first day in a cop car. We are never going to be normal."

"Oh shut up." Dean muttered.

"And you should stop being a dick to Castiel." Sam pleaded. "Just cause he's a little weird. He's like our only friend right now."

"I'm not!" Dean was actually offended by that, "Dude, I was literally just being really nice to him!"

"Sure." Sam muttered and looked back at his book. "My first day went fine, I didn't get arrested or anything."

"I didn't get arrested either!" Dean muttered, climbing up into his bunk bed. "And.. And Castiel's not weird. I mean, I guess, he's kind of weird. But he's cool though. He's like, weird cool."

"I guess…" Sam said.

"Like, he's sort of intense right? But really nice actually."

"Dean, I'm trying to read."

"Ok fine. But don't call Cas weird."