Thanks for the feedback, Alice. The story behind Teapot's nickname will come :) Thanks for those who have followed/favorited this story. I love that after a chapter, you're already interested.

Something I forgot to say in the first chapter is that I have changed the age difference between Dean and Sam. I needed someone he could talk to in the family, and having a 13-year-old brother wouldn't really work. So having a 16-year-old brother was better. Other changes will be very clear as the story goes on.

I can't always update after just a day. I do have quite a few chapters of this story written, but my schedule doesn't always allow me to get on the computer. I work two jobs and a Sunday online is actually very rare for me. But since I can get online, I wanted to share this chapter. I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2

"Hey, Sammy," Dean smiled into the phone, "How you doing, little bro."

"Good, Dean," Dean could tell that his brother was smiling on the other end of the phone. His little brother was two years younger than him, but they were like the best of friends. It was difficult for Dean to leave Sam behind, but it was just a year. And it would be good for his 15-year-old brother. Sammy needed to get used to being without Dean for when he went off to Stanford and became the attorney to the stars. That was Dean's dream for his little brother anyway, "Adam and Charlie miss you."

Adam and Charlie were Dean's others siblings. Adam was his biological baby brother, while Charlie was their adopted sister. She was a quirky character, even at eight-years-old, but Dean loved her. Adam was still young at 10-years-old, and that made Dean more protective of him. But he knew they'd never be extremely close with the large age gap.

"Yeah, I miss everyone," Dean admitted. It had been a few hours, but he missed the familiar scents and noise of being back home. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he was a family guy. His brothers, sister and parents meant the world to him. The friends he classed as family were just the same. Nothing could happen to them without Dean hearing and doing something about it, "How was school today?"

"Good. Balthazar was a bit of a dick, but what's new?"

"That guy will always be a dick," Dean smirked and glanced over at his roommate who was just getting changed, "What did my geek brother get up to then?"

"We had a pop quiz in history. I know I aced it."

"You always do." Dean couldn't help but laugh at the 16-year-old's confidence. He had no doubt that his little brother had aced a pop quiz. Sam Winchester was one smart boy.

"I saw Lisa today," Sam now said, breaking a small silence between them, "She isn't happy that you broke up with her. Why did you break up with her, Dean?"

"It's not like we were exclusive, Sammy," Dean sighed, "I wasn't expecting her not to get with someone else while I was here. Look, erm, I gotta go, okay? We're on strict timelines here and got head count in a few minutes."

"Head count?" Sam laughed at his brother, "Well, guess you're not getting into any more trouble. I'll speak to you later, bro."

"Bye."

Dean hung up the phone and saw Castiel watching him. Dean thought it would make him feel uneasy, but it didn't. He found he didn't really mind his roommate watching him, but he would like to know the reason for that glint in his eyes.

"You and your brother are close?" Castiel now broke the silence.

"Yeah, there just over a year between us," Dean shrugged his shoulders, getting changed for bed. He'd have enough time before the teacher on duty came around to do headcount, "We grew up together. You must be close to your brother."

"There's 10 years between us," Castiel explained, "Gabriel was more like a father when he took me in after our mom died."

"Oh," Dean said with a frown, "I'm sorry. I keep bringing that shit up."

"Don't worry about it, Dean. Like I said earlier, I've learned to deal with it now," Castiel smiled softly, just as there was a knock at the door. It opened and the head of a teacher looked around the door. The teacher smiled and then left, happy that both boys were in the room, "Well, I guess we'd better sleep. It is a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

Dean stared at his timetable with a sigh. Physics first thing, he thought to himself, rubbing his eyes. Did it really have to be physics? He hated that subject. Why couldn't it be shop or gym? Those two would be so much better. But no, God just had to be a dick to him again.

Looking at his timetable further, Dean sighed. Not only did he have physics this Monday morning but math followed straight after. The only saving grace was English after that. He could do English.

Castiel broke his mental whining, asking about the timetable. It made Dean jump, especially when he realized the blue-eyed 17-year-old was standing in his personal space. Now that did make Dean feel uncomfortable. He didn't like people getting in his personal space unless it was a girl he was going to get lucky with.

Dean took a step back and showed him the piece of paper with all his lessons on it. It really was crap, but Castiel had a smile on his face.

"We both have physics and English together."

Dean smiled. That was one saving grace, at least. He would know someone in two of his classes over the year.

"I can show you to physics after breakfast, if you want," Castiel offered with a smile, "But first, I need to grab a shower."

Dean just watched as his roommate walked out of the room with a towel in hand. It would be helpful having someone show him around the school. It was a bit of a maze he'd noticed yesterday with all the joining corridors, so having someone around would be useful. He would need to talk to Castiel about personal space, though.

The bell rang loudly down all the of school corridors, including all the dormitories. All students should have been in their first lesson by now, and Dean and Castiel were just walking into physics. Dean enjoyed breakfast, realizing that the food was almost as good as his mom's, but was dreading the thought of his first class. This was the first time he would be around a room full of seniors.

Of course, as soon as he walked in, all eyes were on him. It was like he could sense their judgment for only having to be there for a year. This was the fear he had when he first heard about having to go to boarding school.

"Is this your new lapdog, Novak?" One of the boys in the room asked as the two teenagers sat down. Dean had taken the desk behind Castiel's, just next to the aforementioned boy. Instantly, he disliked him and noted that he reminded him of Michael Jennings. His looks and it seemed his personality were just the same.

"Bite me, Zach." Castiel glared at the boy before taking his seat. Dean watched as Castiel removed the uniform blazer and hung it over the back of the chair, and followed suit. He hated the idea of wearing a uniform, but he guessed he did have himself to blame for getting kicked out of a third school. But that didn't mean he wouldn't do it again.

"I'm sure Twig would love to," the boy laughed and then turned to look at Dean, "I'm Zach Newns, by the way. I guess you're the new kid. Winchester, right?"

"Yeah, Dean." The 17-year-old nodded his head, quickly glancing between Castiel and Zach, wondering what their beef was all about.

"So, a little birdie told me that you're interested in the football team."

"Maybe." Dean shrugged his shoulders, wondering how news about him spread so quickly. Clearly, it didn't take long for people to gossip.

"Well, you won't get on if you hang around Novak, here," Zach told him, "I know you can't help sharing a room with him, but don't become his lapdop."

"Get a life, Newns." Castiel glared at the boy, turning around in his chair. The anger that flashed in his blue eyes just made the football player laughter.

"You're so easy to wind up, man," Zach smirked, "Maybe you need to ask Twig to give you a hand to loosen you up a little."

Dean could tell that Castiel wanted to argue back, but a teacher walked in interrupting them. Twig had to be Garth, Dean was sure of it. He was skinny enough to be a twig, and that was the name Dean had given him last night in his head. But nobody had mentioned there was anything going on between them. Not that it made any difference to Dean.

But it seemed his roommate could be gay, or maybe bisexual. As much as he respected that, he didn't want to get involved in any of it. And he did really want to play football again, despite this Zach guy being a dick.

A note being placed on his desk pulled him out of his thoughts.

Tryouts at 4pm. Be there if you wanna shot.

Dean glanced across at Zach, who gave him a wink before turning his attention back to the teacher. He would try out. He wanted something from his old life back.

The classes flew by quite quickly. Dean had enjoyed English, but hated his first two lessons. He hadn't gotten away from the looks and whispers, though. Part of him really wanted to know what the whispers were all about, but he could guess that most of it was just being the new kid in senior year. It was bound to happen. People would want to know why he was expelled, and he was sure his story about getting into a few fights at his old school. If his interest in football spread so quickly, his reason for being expelled would, too.

Lunch should have been the best time of the day. After breakfast, he was looking forward to the food, but it meant a cafeteria full of whispering students. The only saving grace was already making friends.

Castiel motioned over for Dean to join him and his friends, and they happily made a space for him. One good thing about boarding school is it didn't seem to be the hellish, cliquey place that Lawrence High School was.

"Hey, Teapot!" Speedy called out across the cafeteria, waving his friend over. As the blonde-haired boy sat down, Dean just couldn't help himself.

"Alright, why the hell is your nickname Teapot?"

The group of teenage boys laughed at the question. It was clearly a joke that everyone knew about, and they were just waiting for Dean to answer. In fact, he watched Speedy hand Tommy some money, making it clear that there'd been a bet on how long it would take Dean to ask the question.

"It was all to do with some drunken thing on a bus," Teapot answered the question when nobody else was, "I scored the winning shot in a basketball game and because of that had to sing a song..."

"Of his own choice." Castiel pointed out to make sure it was clear just why the nickname had stuck.

"So, I chose to sing..."

The whole table jumped up and started singing I'm a Little Teapot, doing the actions at the same time. Most of the cafeteria watched them and laughed, with a few rolls of the eyes from what Dean could only guess was the jock table.

With a smirk, though, Dean nodded his head. Now he understood. Why anyone would choose that song to sing when he had the choice was beyond him. It did serve the guy right. But something did stick out, something that had been playing on his mind since physics this morning.

"Wait, so you play basketball?"

"Not anymore," Teapot shook his head, looking around the group. The boys seemed to all stop laughing and look at the table, "It's a long story, though."

Not that long, Dean thought to himself, glancing over at the jock's table. He could see Zach looking over at him, with a look in his eyes that Dean couldn't quite figure out. It was clear that if you hung out with these guys, you couldn't play on one of the sports teams. Dean would have to clearly make a decision.

Soon enough, 4pm rolled around and it was time for football tryouts. Dean turned up dressed in his sweats and a t-shirt. He guessed he'd get everything he needed there, if it was anything like his old school.

There were a group of guys already waiting. Some of them were freshman and sophomores trying out for the junior varsity team. There were a handful of juniors but he seemed to be the only senior trying out. He shouldn't have been surprised really. He'd heard that he team didn't like new guys starting when they were in their senior year. There was a feeling that someone had to earn it.

But it wasn't going to put Dean off. He'd at least give it a try and he wanted to get back into football, even if it meant training and not playing a game.

"Winchester! Glad to see you made it," Zach jogged over to him and pulled him across to the team, "You decided to tryout then."

"Yeah, what's to lose, right?"

"Excellent mentality," Zach grinned and got him kitted out for the trials, "So, what position did you play in your old school?"

"Running back." Dean replied, watching the freshman and sophomores start their tryout session. It looked grueling but fun at the same time. He'd really missed football when he was expelled from school.

"Great. We lost our running back last year. Dude decided to graduate, the insensitive bastard."

Dean couldn't help but chuckle at Zach's sarcasm. Now that he was alone with him, he didn't seem that bad. In fact, being around him seemed like he was back at his old high school.

"Let's check you out, then."

Dean showed him everything he had when it was time. He wanted to make this team, and make sure no junior was going to take the spot. It was only while he was showing off his skills that he realized just how much he wanted to fit in. He needed this to feel like himself again. After being expelled, he'd lost a part of who he was. His friends and football had been taken from him all because of that dick, Michael.

It felt good to work with the current team, too. Zach was a great quarterback and captain. Directions were clear and plays were well thought-out with the coach. It didn't take long for Dean to pick up on things and could even show off just how quick he was on his feet.

"Winchester!" His name was called out by the coach.

"Yes, Coach?"

"Good work out there," Coach Harris grinned, "You'd better get to the kit room and find some that fits ya. You made it, boy."

Zach slapped Dean's back as he led him off the pitch, saying that he'd show him where the kit room was. There were conditions to being on the team, though, and Dean was quickly finding out just what they were: it would mean giving up his first friends.

Honestly, with how great it felt like to be out on that field, Dean wasn't really that bothered. It wasn't like he'd grown a bond with them. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to be civil with them. One of those guys was his roommate.

So, Dean is being a typical teenager right now, I know. He sounds like a jackass...there is more about why he's doing that in later chapters. But I'd love to hear what you think of the chapter and story so far.