Nothing's Really Working But That's Okay

Chapter 3

Cas

November is a beautiful month. The first snow fell early in October, and since then it's just like our little town is tucked into a huge, fluffy blanket of pearly frozen goodness. Gabriel was a little bit peeved by the snow—as if the weather was out to spite him and his sense of style. He'd been grumbling every day for the past month and a half about how his entire wardrobe was essentially useless, which was so ridiculously typical of him, considering he'd been living in this town as long as I had and should have been fully aware of the blustery falls and winters we had every single year. But that was Gabriel for you: able and willing to make a fuss over the seemingly obvious. Had Anna and I not known him for years now, we'd probably kill him.

Ever since my twenty seconds in heaven with Dean Winchester in the hall on that first day, I hadn't seen much of him. I knew he was still at the school because he was the main force behind the gossip chain. That was the unsettling beauty about our school; you could know more about a person's pastimes and who they spent them with before even learning their last name. And boy had I heard things about Dean.

I caught my first tidbit while eavesdropping on the intellectuals during study hall sometime in mid-October. Ash had overheard Lilith telling her little minions about her plans to, what was it, 'show the lost boy a path to peace.' Basically, she was going to get him in her pants…or vice versa. I'm not really sure about the logistics because, well, what the hell do I know about sex? The point is they were going to do it, and everyone was in an uproar about it.

I idly wondered whether Dean was aware of this plan, and spent the better part of that day imagining different ways he could reject her. Unfortunately, I couldn't think about that damn kid without my cheeks lighting themselves on fire, and would have to douse it with rousing images of naked ladies from the magazines I had found in Gabe's room during our sophomore year, before he came out to his parents and had to keep up a heterosexual front.

As it turned out, he excelled in all the classes I struggled in, like science and math, whereas I was taking honors English, creative writing, and a senior elective history class. The only class we together was gym, but because he also was a great athlete and I was my stringy self, we never conversed or rotated within the same circles in that class.

I glanced upward at the clock, willing this damn statistics class to hurry up so I could get to lunch. Gabriel, Anna and I were going to go off campus to our favorite café in town for burgers and shakes; unfortunately, every single high school kid with a wallet also frequented the place, so the earlier one could leave the quicker one could get the bar seats.

My phone vibrated in my pocket and I winced at how loud the buzz reverberated through the silent, half-asleep classroom. The teacher, Mr. Stevens, was about as bland as his surname would suggest, and was too busy preaching binomial distribution to notice my disrupting technology. I reached into my jacket and pulled out my phone, seeing the notification '1 new message' on the bright screen. I opened it and saw that it was from Anna:

Got let out of history early. Want me 2 pick up food 4 u?

I texted back no and hastily packed up my belongings as the bell finally rang. I ran through the halls until I found Anna and Gabe leaning against their respective lockers, obviously impatient for me to arrive.

"Took you long enough, angel face," Gabriel grumbled, tousling my hair affectionately despite his disgruntled expression.

"Just let me put my shit away and we can bust outta here," I replied with a grin, throwing my bag in my locker. With a defiant slam, I had my finger prepped and ready for the usual "Nose goes on paying!" from Anna, and my pointer-finger hit my nose lightning fast. Just like every other day, Gabe started whining when he came in a slow third place.

"Why do I always lose?" he complained, jumping up and down like a petulant kid.

"Because, honey," Anna replied patiently, "you don't know your nose from your toes." She squealed when Gabe hoisted her over his shoulder as punishment for the joke, and I watched with amusement as they grappled with each other before I checked my watch and began to panic.

"Guys, guys, guys," I prodded, "GUYS!" My raised tone brought their attention to me and my watch, which I had flung in their general direction. "We literally have two and a half minutes before the rush. We gotta go," I exclaimed, grabbing their arms and running toward the staircase.

In my haste, however, I lost my footing and flew, going into a quick free fall until I hit the wall mid-flight. I swear I saw birdies floating around my head. The line from that one cartoon movie "Who Killed Roger Rabbit" ran through my head, 'Stars, Roger! Not birdies, stars!' as I lay in a crumpled haze on the floor.

I felt a rough hand on the back of my neck, hoisting me up into a sitting position. "Heeey Gabriel," I mumbled, "I don't remember your hands being that rough…"

A deep voice chuckled, and my alarm at being touched by a stranger jarred me into action. I leapt up, which in case you didn't know, is a bad idea when one has suffered a concussion. I kind of spun in a circle, my sense of direction skewed, before being steadied by the same strange hand that had gripped me before.

"Hun, that ain't me," Gabe replied with amusement and a touch of awe; it didn't register until after he and Anna had come into focus did I realize that they were standing below me on the lower flight of stairs. As if in slow motion, I turned my head toward my 'savior' of sorts. It was none other than Dean Winchester, his large hand gripping my shoulder only tight enough to keep my wobbly body from tipping back over, eyes full of merriment; presumably at my muddle state.

I groaned and clutched a hand in my hair, shutting my eyes to stop the spinning. "Did I hurt anyone?" I asked after a moment.

Dean laughed that deep laugh of his, letting go of my arm once he'd decided I could handle myself well enough. "Nah, everyone cleared out when they saw your foot slip. Apparently this kind of thing happens to you often?" He was biting his lip, and it infuriated me that he could stand there laughing at me while I was obviously at a mental disadvantage and couldn't defend myself.

"It does not," I retorted, "I'm very steady most of the time. I was just…excited," I finished lamely.

Gabe, however, decided dredging up my past was the way to defend my honor. "Actually, in middle school Cas had a growth spurt and they had to pad the corners of all the walls because he would flail about and hit his head. It was a serious hazard," he added, a look of unadulterated adoration on his face. I then realized he was totally oblivious to me and my emotions because he was too busy ogling the man in front of him.

"Okay boys, as fun as this is, they're going to run out of curly fries if we don't hurry," Anna, my true savior, chimed in. Dean's eyes lit up with hunger.

"I'm starved, man! Let's go!" He turned to run down the stairs, and it took me a minute to realize we were supposed to follow him. With a shrug, I—slowly—managed to jog after him.

"Wait, Dean, slow down," I called, "I'm still a little dizzy." He halted immediately, running back toward me. He slung an arm around my shoulders so I could lean on him.

"Sorry, wasn't thinking." He offered a half smile and I returned it, albeit shakily. Gabe and Anna were on either side of us, Anna's fingers linking with mine and Gabe trailing a little bit behind Dean, most likely to ogle his ass.

An uncomfortable silence drifted over the four of us. Despite his friendliness toward us, Dean did not generally associate with kids of our social standing. Sure, he was a bad boy, but he was still one of the hottest things in school—and town, for that matter. As I said before, where he thrived I did not, and that went for popularity as well. That sort of left us with little to talk about.

While Gabriel spent his time drooling, Anna and I were playing a silent game of thumb wars while Dean's capable arm remained a steady source of support as we made our way into the café. Silver Creekin' Eatin' was the best and only café in town that sold food not out of a can. They had the best curly fries in the entire county, and the milkshakes were made from milk gathered from the cows on our very own farms. It's all very local, and gives everyone just one more miniscule reason to be proud of Silver Creek.

I walked up to the counter, ordering the usual for me, Anna and Gabe while Dean ordered for himself, asking the cute waitress whose name was Bela Talbot for suggestions. Bela was in our grade, but had dropped out after her parents died in a freak accident a few months after Bela's 18th birthday. There had been a lot of rumors going around about whether it wasn't such an accident after all, but they were squashed as soon as Bela heard wind of them. She was a sweet-faced girl with a silver tongue; she had a way of, for lack of a sweeter word, manipulating people. It was quite the show to watch, to be honest.

She leaned forward, her arms pushing her breasts together. It was a typical move for a girl like her; and no, I don't mean a hoe-bag. She lived on her own, with no one to support her and no one to look out for her. That tended to push girls into using their, ahem, assets to get them the fix or the money they needed to get by. You had to admire her resourcefulness.

Of course, Dean's eyes strayed down, but only for a split second. He seemed to have this weird way of eyeing someone, maintaining eye contact and grinning seductively all at once. He was currently doing this to Bela, and I've never seen her melt like she did in all the years I'd known her.

As they continued having eye-sex, I moved my way toward the back of the restaurant where my real friends were currently seated. I slid into the booth next to Gabriel, turning to watch him watch Dean. "So Gabe, is your jaw sore?" I asked, leaning my chin on my hand.

His intense staring was interrupted by my question, and he gave me a look of annoyance before asking, "What? What does that mean?"

"Oh, you know," I replied nonchalantly, "after having it drag on the ground all that time while visually abusing Mr. Winchester, I would imagine it'd be a little bit sore," I teased, and his grunt of distaste at my joke earned me a high five from an amused Anna.

Suddenly Gabriel was punching my arm and telling me to leave his side of the booth and go join Anna. I was confused before I saw a certain man heading in our direction with a tray of food. "Damn you and your stupid crushes," I grumbled before grudgingly moving to sit next to my other friend.

Dean reached our table and set the tray down, his eyes trailing over us until they landed on Gabe's hopeful, smiling face. It kind of hit me right then how smitten Gabriel seemed to be over this kid, and it made me a little bit uneasy.

I thought I saw a look of exasperation on Dean's face before he slowly slid in beside Gabe, keeping a safe distance from the infatuated boy. "So guys, how's the school year going for you so far?" he asked, obviously trying to distract himself from Gabriel's intensity.

"I think I bombed my statistics test," I offered, trying to make light of a subject I was actually quite distraught over. Math was definitely NOT one of my strong suits, and it bugged me to no end.

Dean's face lit up. "I could help you if you want," he replied. "Math is kind of my thing. Bobby—that's my sorta dad—he runs a kind of traveling mechanics business, and we sometimes build cars from scratch, and it really helps to know how to figure out dimensions and shit like that." I'd never seen him so animated before, and it was quite the sight. His eyes were a brighter shade of olive green, and his face seemed to be flushed with the excitement he felt over talking about something he loved. I took a moment to ponder what it meant to have a sort-of dad while Gabe tried to turn the attention towards him.

"I'm not very good at math either. But I think that's just because it doesn't have enough…glamour to keep me interested, y'know? It's just all lines and numbers and bullshit like that. I like stuff that pops," he explained eagerly. Dean glanced his way, offering a half smile before his attention went back to me.

"If you need tutoring, I gotta tutor my little brother every Wednesday after school so you could probably just join that; it'll be in the library, from 4:00 to 5:30. We could probably give you a ride home too."

I nodded, considering. I really did need to raise my grade, and Anna was too busy with college apps to help me with my work, like she had all through freshman, sophomore and junior year. Without my portable tutor I was kind of hopeless. "Yeah, okay. I'll see you there then, tomorrow right?"

He slapped the table, and held out his other hand in the form of a fist. I bumped it and he stood, giving us all a once-over, charming smile firmly situated on his lips. "Great! You'll love Sammy, he's a wild kid." With that, he left our table to go flirt a little with Bela before exiting the diner completely.

I smiled to myself, a little bit excited. This could be good for my social life and my report card; kind of a win-win, right? Until I looked up and saw the stare of death on Gabriel's face.

"What? What did I do?" I glanced between him and Anna, who wasn't meeting my gaze. There was obviously something I hadn't realized and it was making me incredibly uncomfortable.

"You're a big bag of dicks, you know that?" he seethed, arms crossed across his chest. I lurched back in surprise; he had never spoken with such animosity toward me since I'd know him.

"Why the hell would you say that?" I replied, my surprise evident from my tone of voice. At least I hope it was, because the last thing I needed was for Gabe to get pissed because he thought I was playing dumb. He hated when people did that kind of thing, especially his best friends.

"You totally cock-blocked me, Castiel! I was trying to make a move on Dean and you just used your cute little self to distract him! I really like him Cas, and you're ruining everything. Can't you just leave it alone? You like vagina anyway," he finished with venom in his voice.

I narrowed my eyes. "You're an idiot sometimes, Speight. Why the hell would I cock-block you? I'm just trying to raise my grade, and if he doesn't pay enough attention to you I can't be the one to take the blame! Have you ever thought that maybe he just isn't in to you?"

The hurt in his expression made me immediately regret what I'd said, but my pride forced me to hold me ground. He slid out of the booth in one jerky movement, his anger evident. "Fine, you douchenozzle. Anna, let's go," he said, completely disregarding my presence at this point. I watched as Anna pleaded with me silently to exit so she could calm Gabriel down.

Rolling my eyes, I moved out of her way, watching as he stormed out and she sort of gave apologetic looks to the rest of the patrons; that was Anna for you, always cleaning up after our messes. I picked at my French fries, appetite completely gone. "Well, fuck," I grumbled, and lowered my head—now pounding with the force of a thousand drunk sledgehammers—onto the plastic table. I really, really didn't have time for this.