"Hey, Cas?"

It was the beginning of the day. Castiel could not handle this right now, at 7:30 in the morning. Against every muscle in his body screaming in protest, Castiel turned around and saw those green eyes staring back at him. He prayed that his voice wouldn't betray him when he replied.

"Hi, Dean."

An uncomfortable silence settled over them. Dean could tell that Castiel wanted to be anywhere else but here with him right now. And he hated himself for it. He hated that he made Castiel feel so uncomfortable around him. He wanted things to go back to how they were before. Where they could sit under the tree and talk for hours and hours.

"Never thought I'd run into you again... and now we're going to the same high school."

Castiel nodded and remained silent for a few seconds; the seconds felt like eons.

"When did you move back?"

"About a month ago..." Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck bashfully. "I meant to tell you, but we hadn't talked in so long... I figured I wouldn't bother you with it."

"This is the first time we've talked since we started sixth grade," Castiel said softly, deep in his thoughts. "And it's the first time you've initiated conversation since the third…"

Tears welled in Castiel eyes and suddenly Dean hated himself so much more.

"I'm really sorry Cas... I... I just lost touch, I guess. God, that sounds awful... Do you hate me, Cas?"

Castiel hesitated. "No. I… I wanted to for a really long time. But I don't think I could ever hate you, Dean," Castiel said, meeting his gaze. Those eyes could kill a man if they stared the right way. "I have to get going, I have to get to class."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry to keep you. I'll text you later?"

"Sure."

With that, Castiel closed his locker gently, and headed towards his class. It wasn't until he made it there that he realized Dean didn't have his number to text him in the first place. It was no matter. He was sure even if he did have it, he wouldn't text him first. Didn't seem to be his style. He sat down next to Charlie and tried to keep his mouth shut. He was worried if he opened it too much he would puke.

"Damn, Cas, you look pale as hell. You feeling okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Castiel mumbled, digging through his bag to pull out a notebook and a pencil. Though, he wasn't exactly sure he was going to be paying much attention to the lecture.

"Did Dean do something?" Castiel wasn't sure if that was a growl he heard in Charlie's voice or if he was just that off.

"Nope. I'm just tired."

Charlie decided to drop it and they sat quietly throughout the rest of the class.

The rest of the day passed without Dean so much as giving Castiel a passing glance, which he supposed he was thankful for. If they could just go on pretending the other didn't exist like they'd done for these past eight years or however long it had been.

But the end of the day rolled around, and Dean approached him again.

"So, I uh…" Dean started, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm a little behind on this curriculum. It was a bit different back in California."

Castiel continued digging through his locker. "And?" he asked, unphased.

"Well, I um… I saw that you're the head of the tutoring program, so, I was wondering if you could…help me?"

It was obvious that Dean was trying really hard to get them somewhere where they could mend their broken friendship. But Castiel had just started healing. He wasn't going to let Dean drag him back into his pit of despair. He slammed his locker closed.

"I'll see if anyone is available to tutor you, and I'll have them reach out to you. If you don't hear from me by the end of the week, feel free to stop by room 315 any Tuesday or Thursday after school. They do drop-in sessions."

Dean opened his mouth to reply, but Castiel shoved past him and made a beeline for the parking lot. Gabe was waiting by his car. When he saw Castiel, his face immediately filled with concern.

"Cas—"

"No questions, get in the car," he pleaded. He threw his bag into the back before throwing himself into the driver's seat. He slammed his door closed and locked it. He took a deep breath and let his head fall back against the head rest. Gabe was quiet for a few minutes, but he eventually broke the silence.

"Are you okay?"

Castiel fumbled in his pocket for his keys before pulling them out and put them in the ignition. "I'm fine, I've just had a long day." Castiel started the car and started maneuvering his way out of the parking spot and out of the school parking lot. Once they were out on the main road, Castiel told Gabe everything that happened.

"He's trying so hard to… to talk to me. And I don't get it. How could he go eight fucking years without saying so much as a sentence, and now all of a sudden I'm the only person he's interested in talking to?"

"What a fucking prick..." Gabe muttered, turning to look at Castiel. "Has he given you his full-of-shit excuse yet as to why he didn't talk to you all that time?"

"Not so much as a word." Castiel said flatly.

"I say fuck him. Forget him. Pretend he doesn't exist. Do to him what he's done to you, but better. Show him that you're stronger, you're better without him. You don't need him. You never needed him." Gabe said, voice like ice.

Castiel sighed. "I wish it was that easy. But now I have to see his damn face every day and remember all the things that I liked about him when we were kids."

Gabe rested his hand on Castiel's shoulder. "Trust me, man, you're going to be much better off if you just let this guy go. I know it's going to be hard… but you have to do what's going to make you happy."

"I know…"

Neither of them spoke another word until they got to the bakery. Castiel tried to lose himself in the bakery like he always did, but he couldn't stop thinking about Dean. He'd looked so lost and broken… he looked like.

"Me…"

Castiel came to when he realized there was a customer standing in front of him. He was expecting her to snap, but she looked more concerned than annoyed. "Are you alright sweetie? Have you been standin' here too long?"

Castiel shook his head. "My apologies, ma'am, what can I get for you?"

The rest of the shift slowly ticked by, and eventually Castiel waved goodbye to Gabe and his parents, hung up his apron, and made the drive home.