A/N: Just to prepare you all, this is going to be more of a slow burn than I am usually known for. It will eventually be rated M and I will update the rating when it gets there. Apologies in advance for John not being the Father of the Year in this one, we'll see if he is able to redeem himself by the end of the story.

The title of the story comes from an excellent, less well known Pink Floyd song that I think fits this story really well. Also, while Dean is not a child in this story, he is under 18 (much younger than a 33-ish year old Castiel) so keep that in mind if that is something that bothers you.

Castiel looked around the room at all of the new faces, taking it all in before hushing the crowd. The school wasn't in his ideal neighborhood and the classroom was small and seemed ill-equipped, but he wasn't going to focus on that. He wasn't going to let anything bring him down now that he had finally realized his dream. "Good morning, everyone. I'm Mr. Novak, your new History teacher. I know it's a little late in the year to be getting a new teacher, but I'll try to make the transition as easy as possible for you all. Let's start with-"

The door slammed open loudly, grabbing everyone's attention. Castiel took in the sight of the student that startled him. He was gorgeous- Sandy brown hair and cheeks covered in light freckles that would probably darkened under the coming summer sun. His sleeves were rolled up, showing off toned arms and Castiel couldn't look away. Luckily for him, everyone was also staring, so his gaze wasn't out of place. "And who might you be?"

The student smiled brightly, his cockiness evident in the way that he looked Castiel up and down before responding. "Dean Winchester. What about you, babe?" He took a seat and propped his feet up on the chair in front of him.

The entire class snickered until Castiel shot them a firm glare. "My name is Mr. Novak and I'm your teacher, not your babe."

As Castiel turned to move back to his desk, he could have sworn he heard the boy mumble 'not yet', but he let it slide, choosing instead to pretend that he didn't hear it.

After settling into the lesson, Castiel considered calling Dean to stay after class to have a word with him, ultimately deciding against it. Clearly the boy thrived on attention and acknowledging that he had crossed a line would just feed his ego.

As the students packed up and filed out, Castiel called him over. "Mr. Winchester." He paused, waiting to see the response. Just as he thought, the eye roll he received told him that the boy had been expecting to be called out. "Have a good weekend."

Castiel held his smile until the students all left, extremely proud of himself for the confused look on Dean's face when he wished him well instead of scolding him. He kicked his feet up on the desk and soaked in the feeling of having completed his first day successfully. He was going to be really good at this.

Two weeks later and both Dean's tardiness and his flirting had become alarmingly normal. After calling Castiel 'babe' on the first day, Dean had only pushed the boundary, seemingly hopping to get in trouble.

Castiel bent over to pick up his briefcase from the ground when he heard a low whistle from behind him. Turning around, he saw the last student still sitting at his desk, Dean Winchester. "Shouldn't you be heading home?"

"Nah, I'm gonna stay a while- enjoy the view..." His smile widened when Castiel was unable to hide the pink across his cheeks. "Plus, there's no use leaving. Detention's in here today."

"You don't have your homework from yesterday, Dean?" Castiel had made his way through the room and collected everyone's work except for Mr. Winchester's. He tried not to look too disappointed as bright green eyes looked up at him through dark lashes.

"Nah, I didn't feel like it." His posture straightened and his eyes narrowed slightly. "You could punish me, if you want..."

Castiel walked away without batting an eye, but took a deep breath while his back was turned to his students.

Castiel had given him a quick word each time after class, but didn't want to give in, showing Dean that he was getting to him. This time, he couldn't let it slide.

"This weekend's assignment is optional." He paused for the round of applause that roared up at his words."However, those of you that need the extra credit, this is not difficult so please do it. Have the assignment ready to turn in on Monday."

"You know, this isn't the kind of extra credit I had in mind..." When he looked up, he expected to see a grin or a smirk, not to see Dean licking his lips. He coughed as he tried to regain his composure.

"Mr. Winchester. After class." A hushed tone of 'oooh's made it around the room before the bell rang, silencing it.

When all of the students had gone, Castiel shut the door before making his way to Dean's desk. He propped himself up on the desk across the aisle and thought for a moment about what to say. "Mr. Winchester, why do you insist on making inappropriate comments in my class?"

"Don't flatter yourself, babe, I'm inappropriate in every class." Dean kicked his feet up, pushing Castiel's boundaries testing to see how much he can get away with.

"Why?" He refused to give into the student's goading. He looked at Dean without any anger or frustration in his eyes, hoping that Dean knew that he wasn't upset, just curious.

"Because this school is a joke. You should be glad I'm even here half the time." Castiel could tell that Dean's aloof attitude was staring to slip.

"What are you going to do after you graduate- IF you graduate?" He could see that he had struck a nerve in the boy with that one.

Den huffed, eye contact lost. "I don't need school, I'm gonna have to work for my dad anyway. The family business, you know..." Dean's eyes fell to the desk and he began picking at the edge of the wood.

"You don't have to do that if you don't want to, Dean." Castiel pulled the chair forward, sitting down closer to Dean. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

Dean opened his mouth to speak, but when his eyes met Castiel's, he stopped.

Castiel sighed. He had gotten everything that Dean was willing to share with him. "You should do the assignment this weekend. It's easy and it will help your grade."

When he stood to leave, Dean looked surprised. "You're not gonna get me in trouble?" He had obviously never had a meeting with a teacher that hadn't ended in a detention sentence. "I mean, I have detention all next week anyway so it wouldn't matter anyway..." He pretended not to care, trying a little too hard to recover his attitude.

"Dean, I'm not here to punish you, I'm here to help you." He leaned in, making sure that he had Dean's full attention before continuing. Once the vibrant green eyes were locked with his, he spoke again. "If you ever need anything- Anything at all... I'm here."

Castiel saved them both the awkward silence to follow such a heavy statement by walking back to his desk to pack his things up. He didn't miss the way Dean paused at the door before pushing it open.

Monday was almost over and Castiel was almost too eager to see one single student in his final class of the day. In his head, Dean would come through the door on time, extra credit assignment complete, eager to turn his life around. Castiel knew he was dreaming to think that he could just come into a school and immediately change anyone's life, but he had to dream.

As the minutes ticked on, his last class began and his spirit fell with every minute that Dean didn't show up. When the final bell rang, Castiel absentmindedly dismissed his students, stuck in his own head about where Dean could have been. The click of the door as the final student left caught his attention and he stood suddenly with an idea.

Down the hall and a few doors later, he knocked on the door frame before stepping into the classroom. "Mr. Crowley?"

"Can I help you?" The man's thick accent did nothing to hide the fact that he was not in a good mood.

"Yes, I'm here for detention."

"And what did you do, love?"

Castiel stared blankly at him for a moment, considering his response before the man continued. "Lighten up, I'm kidding. So, they sent you here to watch the misfits, eh?"

"I told the Principal that I would take over duties for today."

"I must have missed the memo. Well, good luck then." The man wasted no time in packing his belongings, leaving Castiel alone in the room to await the students, hoping that Dean would show up even though he skipped class.

As usual, Dean was the last one in more than ten minutes after detention began. He kept his head down, but it didn't keep Castiel from noticing that his bottom lip was split and there was a slight shadow under his left eye.

Detention went by silently while Castiel contemplated what to say to Dean when it was over. He knew that it would be too easy too scare him away by coming on too strong and demanding to know what happened, but he felt an overwhelming need to know. As the bell rang, he noticed Dean sitting in his seat, not moving to leave.

He waited patiently, continuing to work on his lesson plan when he finally heard Dean's chair screech as he stood up. "Aren't you gonna ask me what I did?"

"Why would I assume you did anything?" Castiel tried to keep his expression normal, but Dean's tone saddened him.

"Everyone always assumes I did something wrong." Dean dropped his bag on the floor and propped himself against the desk, shoulders down. "Why should you be any different?"

Castiel sighed. "I'm more concerned if you're alright."

"It's not a big deal. Some guy was hassling my little brother..." Castiel could tell that he wasn't getting the whole truth, but he didn't press.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Dean." Castiel waited until Dean was looking at him. "Are you okay?"

Dean's tongue ran across his lip as he nodded. "Yeah, I am." They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Dean pulled out a paper out of his bag, placing it on the desk. "Thanks, Mr. Novak."

Castiel looked down at the page with a smile. Dean had done the extra credit assignment. He put the paper into his bag and resolved that tomorrow he was going to get Dean on the right path. He knew that with a little help, he could do well and he would be lying if he said that he wasn't excited at the chance to spend more time with Dean.

TBC