Dean inspected the car with some suspicion. It was a nice vehicle, new, and well-cared for; it didn't rattle or squeak like the Impala. Dean missed his, well, Dad's, car. His mind floated back to that morning, when he'd asked to borrow the car. Just for a few minutes. All he needed to do was drop Sammy off, drive back to the motel and walk to school himself. John hadn't been very happy with Dean's suggestion. "Sooner or later Sam's going to have to grow up too!" he growled over breakfast, "And, if you haven't forgotten, I've got work to do!" He'd left shortly after, with a hug for Sam and a cold shoulder for Dean. "I don't want to hear you got in trouble this time," John added under his breath as he passed. Dean wrinkled his nose in disgust, John smelled like alcohol. Again.

The rest of the morning had been stressful as Dean packed Sam a lunch, made sure their backpacks were prepared and calculated the approximate distance to the nearby school. He was just preparing to break the news to Sam when Castiel had arrived.

"So, what are your guys' names?" asked Castiel, breaking Dean's reverie.

"I'm Dean," he grunted, "This is my brother, Sam." It came off a bit cold, but, who cared? John would drag them out of this town in a few weeks anyway; Dean learned the hard way that it was easier to just not make friends.

But Castiel was persistent, asking what school he and Sam were going to and pestering the two of them with questions. Sam happily took the brunt of the interrogation, but before long they had reached his school, leaving Sam to give Dean a quick hug and a wave as he jogged into the building.

"What grade are you in?" Castiel asked, fixing Dean with a stare. Dean caught off guard by the blue, unblinking eyes, stuttered something about being a junior.

Castiel's eyes widened. "Great! Me too! I bet we've got some classes together. I can show you around if you like. There's a lot of people who you probably want to avoid."

Dean eyed Castiel's lean frame. He wore a dress shirt, slightly too big, and his tie hung crooked and unkempt. Dean smirked. This kid would have to be good at avoiding unpleasant people, likely he'd otherwise be one of their victims. "No offense, Cas, but I think I can manage on my own." He already had to protect Sammy, no point in adding any extra baggage to his list.

Cas's gaze wavered for a second, hurt. He glanced out the window. "We're here!" Naomi parked in the center of a busy school lot and hopped out of the car, completely ignoring her brother. Dean, feeling a bit bad, waited for Cas to adjust his bags before walking into school with him.

"What's your first class?" Cas shouted, trying to keep his voice above the din of students.

Dean pulled a crumpled sheet out of his pocket, squinting at the name. "Uh, Intro to Business by Mrs. Harvelle."

A grin flitted across Castiel's face. "Hey, me too!"

Dean rolled his eyes, but followed Cas nonetheless. He was just the same as all the other students. Nice, but give him a few days and he'd probably loathe Dean just as much as the rest of the boys had. Loathe or worship...Dean wasn't sure which one was worse. Oh well, it was only a few weeks, right?