Castiel Novak hated P.E. He just didn't see the point in doing all these exercises and agility tests when he could spend his sacred time doing completely different AND pleasant things.

It was only the second gym class he had this year, but multiple plans to run away already were being plotted in his mind. It's not like he hated physical activities; he went swimming every day to the community pool. The people (if you could call them that) that he had to share five hours a week with in an old school gym were, to put it mildly, morons.

Castiel looked around the gym. The teacher was behind the door talking with the principal about something "very important"; Coach Zachariah had a very obvious and a very unrequited crush on the Principal Naomi, so he always had time to discuss the well being of the student body. What it actually meant was at least 10 minutes free from any physical activities. Students learned to enjoy their little "recess" time, but for Castiel and some other quiet kids it was not enjoyable. Not even a little.

"Hey, Novak!" Alastair yelled from the opposite corner of the gym. He and his gang had no hobbies other than making other students' lives even more miserable than they already were.

"Are you deaf, Novak?" A blonde girl next to Alastair laughed, "Come here, we have something for you!"

Castiel looked around to see if there was anyone who could help him, but, no, his friends had gym at another time and there were no people who were able to stand up for Castiel. He sighed and moved his feet in the direction of trouble.

"So, Novak," Alastair smiled, if the hideous grimace that appeared on his face could be considered a smile. "I didn't know you had a sister. Where have you been hiding her all this time?"

"We haven't been hiding Anna anywhere," Castiel answered in his usual, matter-of-fact tone. "She was home schooled until high school."

"Oh, a home student?" Alastair grinned so all of his teeth could be seen. "Well, that would be fun."

"Don't touch Anna," Castiel didn't like that grin on Alastair or any of his followers. That grin meant trouble.

"Or what?" Another boy, Brady, snapped, "You gonna do something? Call your parents? Oh wait," Brady whispered but so he could be heard, "There is no one to call!"

"Shut up, Brady," Castiel hisses, and was already planning to say something that would have earned him a detention when the door opened and Coach Zachariah came in.

"Attention, everyone!" The coach looked around to see if everyone was listening. "We have a new student joining us today!"

And now Castiel noticed that coach wasn't alone. A boy of his age, if not older, was standing behind Coach Zachariah. Short, dirty blond hair was ruffled as if the boy didn't bother to brush it after he woke up. Castiel was standing close enough to the new guy to see that his eyes were of a rare shade of green and a gazillion freckles covered the boy's face and neck. He was wearing a gym uniform, his toned body concealed by a white tee and blue shorts. He looked a little taken aback, a normal look for someone who just came into a room full of strangers, but he also looked somewhat smug, slowly growing more confident in the unfamiliar place.

"His name is Dean Winchester, and he came to Lebanon High from Lawrence High. Am I right, Mr. Winchester?"

"You are, sir." Dean affirmed, and Castiel couldn't help but stare at the guy. Why did he come one week into the school year? Castiel thought.

"All right then," the coach continued, "You may join the rest of the class."

Dean went closer to the center of the gym and turned around facing the coach.

"Today we are going to climb the wall," the coach said. Multiple groans were heard from different corners of the gym. "It's not the easiest test from this course, but most students pass. So you don't have to worry. I will put you in groups of six, and each group will be split into three pairs. Every group will be responsible for holding the rope that will be connected to the belt of the climber. The partner will be wearing a similar belt with the rope connected to it, and the rest of the group will be holding the extensions from the belt."

He explained again what the students were asked to do with the belts, and put them into groups. Castiel cursed under his breath when Alastair and Lilith, the blonde girl, were assigned to his group. Fortunately, the new guy, Dean, ended up being his partner - it was fortunate because Dean didn't know Castiel and Castiel didn't know Dean, so Castiel wouldn't stress much about talking to him. Except, maybe, Castiel might be a little self cautious around Dean, but that, probably, was because Dean was undeniably hot.

Castiel didn't have a preference in genders when it came to dating, and he was comfortable with that. Sometimes the person he liked wasn't as indifferent to genders as he was, so he rarely went out with anyone. But Dean stroke him as someone who might swing both ways, so maybe Castiel had a chance. He already heard Lisa Braeden and Lydia Morris whispering excitedly how "gorgeous" and "summertime hot" Dean was, so he felt awesome when Dean was assigned to him as a partner, and not to anyone else.

"Hey, I'm Dean," Dean said.

"Nice to meet you, Dean," Castiel smiled and the new boy smiled back.

"Have you ever climbed a wall in your old school, Dean?" A redheaded girl, Charlie, who wasn't in any of Castiel's other classes, asked.

"No,' Dean answered.

"It's always the right time to try something new!" A boy from Castiel's swimming team that he has never talked to before, Benny, exclaimed.

"I guess you're right," Dean said under his nose, inspecting the belt he was given. Castiel was literally staring at Dean, his own belt completely forgotten.

A loud whistle blow woke him up.

"Everyone ready?" The coach yelled.

"Yeah", "Yes", "¡Sí!", and other affirmative answers were said, screamed, and whispered in the gym.

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Coach Zachariah whistled again, and everyone took their belts and went to the Wall.

The Wall was spread along one of the shorter walls of the rectangular form of the gym. The groups were given numbers of the ropes they were supposed to attach themselves to.

Castiel's group quickly decided with the order: Charlie, Lilith, Benny, Alastair, Castiel, Dean. Charlie and Lilith did their job well, Benny had a little trouble in the beginning, but after he did alright. Alastair climbed up and down like this was everything he has been doing his whole life. It was Castiel's turn to go. He fastened his belt, and, getting a thumb up from Dean, started climbing.

Halfway through his climb the hands became very sweaty, and Castiel felt like he was slowly sliding down. He quickly glanced back at his group and found Dean still smiling at him and nodding as if saying "Great job so far, keep moving, you are almost there!" Castiel instantly felt better and fixed his grip on the rope. When he finally reached the top he almost slipped on one of the steps, earning a snicker from Alastair. Castiel looked at Dean again; Dean was fastening the rope on the belt. After Dean's sign, Castiel jumped off, pushing from the wall every time his feet touched it.

"Great job, Cas!" Dean high-fived him.

"Thanks, Dean," Castiel said, blushing. Dean gave him a nickname, and Castiel kinda liked it.

"Okay, guys, now is your turn Dean," Lilith said sweetly.

"Alright," Dean nodded and put on the climbing belt. Cas helped him fasten the rope, and put on his security belt.

"Okay, I'm going, " Dean exhaled and started climbing.

At first everything was alright: Dean was climbing steadily, Cas was holding the rope, the rest of the group was holding the belt extensions. Everything was, until Alastair let go of his extension.

Everyone stumbled forward, and Dean shook and almost slipped.

"What the hell?!" He yelled from above, turning his head as far as his neck could allow.

"My leg! It hurts!" Alastair was screaming.

"I'll help you!" Lilith dropped down to lying on the ground Alastair, at the same time letting go of her belt extension and accidentally pulling Charlie with her.

Castiel and Benny almost flew up because of such sudden change in weight. Dean was freely swinging on the rope, unable to catch a step on the wall.

"Sonofa-!" Dean shrieked looking down from up there.

Cas could see true terror in Dean's face from such great distance. is he afraid of heights?! a thought appeared and was proved by Dean's next words:

"Get me down! GET! ME! DOWN!"

Coach Zachariah ran up to them, yelling, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Coach Zachariah!" Alastair yelled louder than the teacher, "Novak pushed me!"

"I did no such thing!" Castiel was mad at everyone. He was mad at Alastair for falling down, at Lilith for following him, at Charlie for not holding the belt tighter, at Dean for his fear of heights (or maybe flying? he was okay before he started swinging.), at the coach for not coming earlier, at the school for making students take these stupid P.E. tests.

"Miss Hound, please escort Mr. Blade and Miss Bradbury to the school nurse. Miss Bradbury seemed to hurt her hip at the fall." Lilith helped Alastair and Charlie get up and leave the gymnasium, "Mr. Lafitte and Mr. Novak, slowly lower Mr. Winchester to the ground. Slowly."

When Dean, shaking but safe and sound, was on the hard ground, the school bell rang. Everyone ran to the lockers to change, only Dean and Castiel staying behind.

"I am sorry, Alastair can be a dick at the most inappropriate moment." Cas said helping Dean up. "Benny ran to his football practice, said he couldn't stay to "hang out". Are you okay?"

"Kinda," Dean stood up and stretched his legs and arms. "I don't like flying that much."

"Yeah, I kind of got it." Cas smiled at Dean, who returned the smile.

"Look, I need to pick my brother up from the middle school, and my car got broken yesterday night…"

"No problem, I'll give you guys a ride."

"Thanks, Cas. Is it okay that I call you Cas?" Dean turned to face Castiel and started walking towards the locker room. "Castiel is just a kind of too complicated name for me."

"I like "Cas"," Cas said and grinned at Dean. Somehow it was very easy to smile all the time next to Dean.

"So, maybe when we get my brother from school and drop him off at home, we could grab a dinner?"

"What, like a date?" Cas' cheeks were definitely not blushing. Definitely not.

"Yes, like a date. You choose a place - I'm new here, don't know where's what - I pay. Deal?"

"Deal."

Perhaps P.E. class wasn't going to be as bad after-all.