Castiel couldn't quite place exactly why he liked Sam Winchester, but he just knew he did. They were very close friends and sat next to each other in their third grade class and even at lunch. They played together on the playground, commonly on the jungle bars (even though Cas hated it when his hands blistered) or on the blacktop playing hop-scotch when it had rained. Both of them were the smartest at math in their class, and always made up ways to teach their classmates whatever they needed to know on their times tables.
Sam Winchester wouldn't openly admit it, but he liked Castiel back. He liked how they shared their juice boxes and sandwiches at lunchtime or pencils when they were doing classwork. He really liked when they would go on field trips, and hold hands as they observed exhibits, even though the teacher didn't really care if they did. Or when he had bad days, and Cas would skillfully make cootie catchers and make him play with him as they revealed happy fortunes or silly ones like getting married to the principal (yucky!) and Sam would laugh and laugh with Cas following suit.
It was October, and the weather was finally getting cool enough for the students to wear sweaters. Things weren't helping when the school suddenly decided that they were going to turn on the AC for the first time that school year and it was almost the same almost too cold temp that was the upper 50s. The students had begun to protest when the teachers and staff told them that the school's heating/cooling system had broken, and some had even started to not even come (which boggled Sam's mind). The only really good thing that was coming out of this was that Cas had started to come to school with a very interesting assortment of hand-sewn sweaters.
On a particularly cold day, Castiel had come in with a sweater with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the front. Sam was pretty sure Cas had told him that he didn't like watching the show, so this arrangement was throwing Sam off. He waited until Cas made his way over to his seat and sat down facing him before asking him. "Why're you wearing the Ninja Turtles sweater? I thought you didn't like them, Cas."
"It was Gabe's. But it got too small for him and Anna thought it'd be funny to give it to me instead of to Samandriel, and she made me wear it today." Cas sighed in indifference, taking out his favorite pencil and placing it carefully on his desk before turning to it and his morning worksheet.
"That really stinks, Cas." Sam quietly replies as he scribbles in the last few math answers on his sheet and leans into his chair.
They stay silent as Cas diligently works on his sheet, well, until he suddenly perks up like he's discovered the theory of evolution. "Sam! I've got an idea! Let's switch our tops for today!" he says out loud, slapping his hands gently on his desk.
"Okay, I guess." Sam replies, feeling a little unsure about Cas' idea. "But how're we gonna pull it off? Mrs. Laprea already saw me in this shirt!"
"We'll sneak out of the room like, right now, and go to the bathroom and change. If we change fast enough and get back to the classroom before announcements are over, we won't miss roll-call."
They quickly stand up and begin to make their way out of the classroom, and manage to clear the open doorway before they hear their teacher's voice call out to question them. "Run!" Sam whisper-yells, breaking out in a run to the closest restroom, Cas following right behind.
They're giggling and out of breath by the time they stumble into the disabled stall in the boy's bathroom and start to take off their shirts. "We're gonna be in so much trouble!" Castiel laughs, pulling his sweater over his head and letting it drop to the bathroom floor.
"It'll be worth a few minutes off of morning recess, though!" Sam replies, getting his shirt off and beginning to pull the sweater on.
"Uh-huh! Otherwise, we can plot what routine we're gonna do on the blacktop today!"
They made hopscotch routines to certain songs and would put on 'shows' for their classmates and the other students outside at the time, and they were really popular. Sometimes when Cas would invite Sam over to his house, they'd make videos on Lucifer's webcam and send them to Dean as jokes. (Which the fourteen year old wasn't very appreciative of.)
Once they were changed, they emerged out of the bathroom only to meet up with Adam, who was Sam's younger brother.
"Oh….Hey Adam!" Sam hesitantly said, trying to edge around the first grader with Cas behind him.
"Why're you in the bathroom, Sammy? You went to the bathroom two times before we came to school this morning!" Adam chirped, before hopping into the bathroom. "Don't pee on yourself!"
Sam face palmed as Cas pulled him down the hall. "Adam is so embarrassing!" he groaned, finally walking in step beside Cas.
"Does he do that all the time? 'Cause Samandriel does too." Castiel asked, picking up his pace as they got closer to the classroom.
"Yeah, think he got it from Dean, they both have sticks up their butts when it's about me."
Castiel nods as he breaks into a run, coming to the door and tugging it open, and the whole class is waiting as if they've missed the apocalypse. "Uh-oh." They both mutter at the same time, because the assistant principal is there too.
Sam and Castiel are sitting across from each other, and its lunchtime. They're still wearing opposite shirts, because they lied to their teacher and assistant principal, saying that they really had to go to the bathroom. They still got in trouble, missing out on the first fifteen minutes of morning recess.
"The trees outside are really pretty today, Sam." Cas remarks thoughtfully, gazing out of the window next to their table.
Sam nods in agreement, and takes a huge bite out of his PB&J sandwich. "This sandwich tastes really good. You wanna try?"
"Sure!"
Sam hands Cas the sandwich, but instead of taking it with his hands, he tips his head and bites it. Sam laughs as Cas takes the sandwich back. "You're acting like a dog!"
Cas happily devours it, and helps Sam with his Capri-Sun. They talk about the newest episode of some TV show about super heroes, and about how 'dumb' their brothers are. Soon enough, lunch is over, and it's time for afternoon recess.
As they line up to go outside, most of the students are complaining about how cold they are, but Cas and Sam are excited to go out, for completely different reasons.
The wind is swifter than usual that day, but it doesn't deter Cas as he bolts out on the playground and off near the line of trees separating them from a neighborhood. Sam goes over to a group of fifth graders, for he's got a trade he needs to do.
They don't come back in the middle of the play structure for about half an hour, and both of their coat pockets are stuffed. Sam sits down at Cas' feet, and Cas soon sits down, facing Sam with an intense look in his vibrant blue eyes.
"Whatcha got in your pockets, Cas?" Sam slowly asks, leaning forward, holding his pockets so the contents wouldn't spill out.
"Somethin' for you. Wanna see?" Cas says, a grin on his face.
"Okay. Put it on my lap, Cassie."
Sam closes his eyes as Castiel digs out the things in his pocket and deposits them onto his lap. They're acorns in different shapes and sizes, but every single one of them has the caps on them. When he opens his eyes again, he gasps when he sees them. "Holy cow, Cas. There's so many of them!"
Cas smiles and gestures for Sam to tell him what in his pockets. Sam chuckles and pulls out three packets of silly bands, knowing that the other boy enjoyed them even if they were way out of style.
"Thank you so much, Sam! Wow, you even got the Scooby-Doo ones!" Cas exclaims, hugging Sam once he pocketed the rubber bands.
Sam hugs back and they stay like that for a few moments before pulling apart, toothy grins on their faces.
"You're the best." They both say at the same time, and then Cas yells out.
"Jinx! You owe me a soda, Sammy!"
They end up chasing each other around the playground for the rest of the recess period, and are properly worn out by the end of it all. But they are quite content with holding hands as they go back inside to finish off their day.
The End!