Dean's POV

By the time they made it back to the house, Gabriel seemed to have forgotten whatever was bothering him. He and Sam were in the backseat, playing some game that they had made up.

"Sammy, that's cheating!" Gabriel said, and Dean furrowed his brow. Sam hated it when anyone, even Dean, called him Sammy, so why was he letting Gabriel? Shaking his head, he pulled into the driveway and the three of them trooped back inside.

Dean noticed that Sam and Gabriel were shivering a little and checked the thermostat on the wall. Who had set it at 50? He turned the temperature up and got some blankets for the boys while the heat kicked in.

"So, Gabe," Dean started when they were all on the couch watching a movie.

"Hmm?" Came the reply.

"What had you so freaked out back at the park?" He didn't know why he brought it up, but the fourteen-year-old had looked so scared. He supposed it was the brotherly instinct in him reacting to his fear.

"It was nothing, I just thought I saw someone."

Dean didn't really believe him, but he wasn't going to pry. The end credits started rolling across the screen and Dean turned the T.V. off.

"What do you guys want to do?" he asked. Sam and Gabriel just shrugged, and Dean sighed. They ended up playing a card game that Gabriel taught them, something called Slap Jack, until Cars came hours later.

The doorbell rang, making the three of them jump. Sam rose and disappeared around the corner. They heard the door open and some muffled conversation, then Sam and Castiel walked into the room.

Castiel looked exhausted but Dean could've sworn that his blue eyes lit up a little when they landed on Dean. Without saying a word, he sat on the floor next to Dean, laid his head on Dean's shoulder and fell asleep. Sam and Dean stared at him, bewildered, while Gabriel just shook his head sadly.

"Poor Cas," he said. Dean's head rose sharply.

"Is he okay? I mean he doesn't have like...cancer or anything?" Dean felt panic stir in his chest at the thought but pushed it down.

"What? No. It's just that the doctor we go to is a family friend and after every appointment she makes us stay and listen to her stories and eat cookies and stuff. It's fun, but tiring. She must have been extra excited today."

Dean looked at Castiel and noticed that he would get a crick in his neck for sleeping in that position for too long. So he carefully lifted his friend and deposited him onto the sofa. Gabriel suddenly let out a groan and he ran to the front door. They heard it open and close and Gabriel came back in, looking a bit irritated.

"I don't believe this," he muttered.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked.

"Michael ditched us," he huffed. "That butt. Sorry, guys, looks like you're stuck with us for a few more hours."

Dean looked at Cas asleep on the couch (he was adorable when he was asleep, but Dean wouldn't admit that out loud) and found that he didn't mind much.

They had to wake Cas after about an hour so that he would be able to get to sleep that night and the four of them spent the rest of the evening making a mess in the kitchen, which they somehow turned into homemade pizza. It was actually pretty good, and cleaning up all the flour and dirty dishes was, too.

But Michael still didn't show. The Novak brothers were clearly trying to stay up and wait for their brother, but it was a losing battle. Sam and Gabriel had fallen asleep on the floor, and Castiel had joined them around one in the morning. Dean stayed up, even though he knew he would regret it when he had to get up for school tomorrow.

He was pissed at this Michael person. I mean, who promises to pick up their brothers in a few hours, and then never shows up? Dean wasn't angry about the fact that the Novaks were sleeping over (because Dean would insist that it was too late to be driving around with two exhausted teens), no, he was pissed because what kind of irresponsible brother leaves his younger brothers to sleep on the floor in jeans that had to be extremely uncomfortable?

After silently fuming for another hour, there was a soft knock. Dean huffily went to the door and checked who it was before opening it to reveal a man he assumed to be Michael.

"Hi," Michael said. "So sorry about this, but there's something going on at home, and I can't risk letting Cas and Gabe come back, so I was wondering if they could stay here for the night? I brought them some stuff."

Dean looked down and noticed two backpacks, bulging with what Dean assumed to be clothes.

"Of course they can stay," Dean replied. He wanted to still be mad, but Michael looked so frazzled and he was just trying to protect his little brothers, and Dean felt his anger melt away. He took the backpacks and went back to the living room to nudge awake the three sleeping figures on the floor.

"Hey," he whispered, loudly. "Hey guys, wake up." Slowly, the three of opened their eyes and looked around groggily. "Michael was here, and he left you guys some pajamas and stuff." Castiel and Gabriel perked up at that and they took the bags. Dean directed them to a bathroom and two spare bedrooms, then half carried and half dragged Sam upstairs to his own room.

Sam was so tired that he wasn't even embarrassed about changing into pajamas in front of his brother, and he was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Dean smiled fondly and left to check on his two guests. Gabriel was buried so far under the covers that Dean wouldn't have even known he was there had he not been breathing. Chuckling softly, he went down the hall to Cas' room.

The older Novak was half under his covers, and Dean could see a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants. He looked to be deeply asleep, so Dean went to his own room. He changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. He was asleep as soon as his eyes closed.

Castiel's POV

Castiel was groggy when he woke up the next morning. He panicked a little when he didn't recognise the room he was in, but then he remembered what had happened last night. He looked around for his phone, which was beeping loudly. He turned off the alarm and slipped out of bed.

The backpack that Michael left him last night was sitting on the foot of the bed, and Cas grabbed it and headed to the bathroom. He showered and changed into the clothes his brother had left him, then went to wake up Gabriel.

He found his little brother asleep in his room, buried under mountains of blankets. Smiling evilly, Cas grabbed the end of the blanket and pulled, effectively knocking Gabriel onto the floor and waking him up.

"Hey!" he shouted, untangling himself from the mess of blankets on the floor. "Was that really necessary?"

"Absolutely," Cas said. He laughed at the glare his brother shot him, and left him to get ready for school. At the top of the stairs, he smelled breakfast and his stomach growled, reminding him of how hungry he was. He walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where he found Sam sitting at the table reading a book and Dean at the stove cooking.

"Morning," he said. Dean turned and smiled at him.

"Morning. Hungry?"

"Starving." Dean gave him a plate loaded with pancakes, eggs, bacon, and fruit. Cas' mouth started watering and he quickly dug in. Gabriel still wasn't downstairs when the three of them had finished eating, and Sam turned to Cas worriedly.

"What's Gabe doing?" he asked. Castiel just shrugged.

"I have no idea, but it always takes him this long to get ready in the mornings."

"No, it doesn't," said an indignant voice behind them, and they turned to see Gabriel walking into the kitchen.

"Yes, it does," Cas countered.

"Yeah, it does," he mumbled, making Sam laugh. Dean fixed him a plate and he wolfed it down faster than Castiel had. As soon as he had finished the last bite, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pack of Skittles, which he began eating with a content smile on his face.

"Uh, Gabe, it's pretty early to be eating sugar, don't you think?" Dean asked.

"Don't waste your breath," Castiel told him. "He never listens when it comes to sugar."

Gabriel stuck out his now rainbow colored tongue and popped another handful of Skittles into his mouth. Gabriel checked the time on his phone and choked on his Skittles. Cas pounded his back while he coughed, tears streaming down his face.

"We have ten minutes to get to class," he rasped. Sam, Dean, and Cas looked at each other with wide eyes. They burst into motion, grabbing backpacks and putting on shoes before racing out to the Impala. They jumped in and Dean flew out of the driveway, nearly running into a mailbox in his hurry.

They made it on time, thanks to Dean going ten over the speed limit, and ran to class. Cas and Dean were panting by the time they reached their homeroom class. The teacher frowned at them, but couldn't do anything as they were on time. Snickering breathlessly, they made their way to their usual seats in the back.

The teacher shot them a glare, then went back to doing whatever she was doing.

"If she gets any shorter, we'll have to call her Grumpy," Cas whispered, making Dean crack up next to him. Cas felt his heart soar. He loved the sound of Dean's laugh, and loved even more being the cause of that laughter.

After Dean's laughing fit, he leaned in close to Cas.

"Twenty bucks says Sam and Gabriel will be mad about homework again after school," he whispered.

"You're on," Cas hissed back.

Sam's POV

"This is so boring," Gabriel groaned, making Sam narrow his eyes. He and Gabriel were in the library with their history class, researching for a geography project they were doing. They were both full from lunch, though Gabe hadn't eaten anything except cupcakes, and it was making them sleepy.

"Dude," Sam growled. "We have to get this project done, so could you actually help?"

"Fine, touchy," Gabe sniffed. He pulled a book towards him and opened it, pencil in hand. Satisfied, Sam turned back to his own book. He knew Gabriel hated history, but the project wasn't that hard and Sam just wanted to get it done.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class, and Sam pushed his notes into his bag.

"Hold on a minute, class," the teacher said. "I need to tell you guys your homework. So, for this project, I decided that you guys could do whatever you wanted, any type of presentation you can think of. The information needs to be accurate and detailed, but other than that you have no boundaries. Presentations will be on Monday, so be prepared."

The students filed out of the library slowly, talking to their partners about the type of presentation they wanted to do.

"So, Gabe," Sam said, turning to Gabriel, "any ideas?"

Gabriel had a thoughtful look on his face, and he nodded.

"One. And I think it's a pretty good one, too."

"Care to tell me?"

"Hold on, I need to work out a few kinks first."

"Alright, I guess. See you after class."

"Bye, Sam."

They parted ways, headed to their separate classes. Sam walked to the gym, thinking about the homework he had to do today. It was a lot, considering it was only the third day of school. Oh, well. Sam was used to having lot of work to do after school.

()()()

Sam and Gabriel walked towards the Impala. Gabriel was thinking, and every so often he'd scribble something down in his notebook. He still hadn't told Sam about his idea, but he had said that it might not work and they needed to have backup plans, so Sam was thinking of the various ways they could make the geography of Europe in the Dark Ages interesting.

"Hey, guys," Dean said when they reached the car. He and Cas were looking at them curiously, but Gabe didn't seem to notice as he was too busy staring at whatever he had written. "So how was school?"

"It was fine," Sam answered, looking at Dean suspiciously. He could tell Dean was using that voice he used when he was trying to act casual, but it never worked on Sam.

"Any homework?" he asked, and Cas elbowed him in the side, but he looked like he wanted to know as much as Dean did.

"A little, not a big deal."

"Yes!" Cas cried, startling Sam and Gabriel. "I win! I believe you owe me."

Dean pouted and took out twenty dollars from his wallet and pushed it at Cas, but he wouldn't take it.

"How about you just buy my ticket and popcorn for the movie tomorrow?" he asked, and Dean agreed. That got Gabe's attention. He looked up with a wicked grin on his face.

"I knew it was a date!" he said, causing Cas and Dean to blush. "It's a date, and you can't deny it." He laughed at the expressions on their faces, Dean looking mortified and Cas looking murderous. Suddenly he stopped and stared, eyes wide and face pale.

Sam, Dean, and Castiel followed his gaze to a guy. Sam thought he looked like the same guy from the park yesterday, but he couldn't be sure as he was walking away already. Whoever he was, he scared Gabriel pretty bad. He shoved his stuff in his backpack and grabbed Cas' arm.

"Cas, we have to go, now," he said. He started pulling Castiel away from the school, ignoring his protests. "Bye, Sam! I'll text you about the project!" Sam watched Gabe and Cas go, confused. Dean looked the same when he turned to Sam.

"What was that all about?" he asked as they got into the Impala.

"I have no idea," Sam replied.

Gabriel's POV

Gabriel had to restrain himself from running back to the house. He really needed to talk to Michael. He had seen the same guy from the park, and he was sure he was being stalked. But why?

"Gabe, what's wrong?" Cas asked. He was walking as fast as Gabriel was, even though he didn't know why.

"I don't know," Gabriel replied. "I need to talk to Michael."

Luckily, the house wasn't that far from the school and they made it home in less than ten minutes. Gabriel ran inside and into Michael's office, not even bothering to put his backpack down.

"Whoa, Gabe, are you alright?" Michael asked, looking away from his laptop.

"No! I'm most definitely not alright!" He was pacing around the office, running his hands through his hair. Michael pulled him down into a chair and sat down opposite him.

"What happened?"

"Michael, I think...I think I'm being stalked."

Michael paled, not the reaction Gabriel was expecting.

"What did the guy look like?" he asked.

"Um, he had brown hair and was kinda short. Oh, and he had a devil tattoo on his arm."

Michael's breathing hitched and he shot up from his seat. He grabbed his phone and called someone.

"Hi, yeah, listen. I know who it is." Gabriel perked up. "It's Crowley, and he's after Gabe. No, he's fine. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Thank's Raph. Bye."

"Was that Raphael?" Gabriel asked. "What does he have to do with it? And who's Crowley? And why's he after me?"

"Yeah." Cas said, coming and sitting down next to Gabriel. He glared up at Michael. "That's what I'd like to know."

Michael ran his hand through his hair and sighed, looking back and forth between his little brothers.

"Alright, listen. There's something going on, but I need Raph and Luci to help me explain, okay? They'll be here tomorrow and I swear I'll explain everything then. But until they arrive, you two aren't allowed to leave the house."

Cas jaw dropped in outrage.

"That's not fair!" Gabriel cried. "Cas has a date tomorrow!"

Cas started spluttering and Michael turned to him interestedly. "You never mentioned a date," he said.

"That's because it's not a date," Cas replied, glaring at Gabriel. "I'm just going to see a movie with Dean."

"That's what a date is, Cas," Gabriel said.

"Whatever," Cas huffed. "Can I go, Michael? Please? I won't be alone, and whatever the hell is going on has to do with Gabriel, not me."

"It has to do with all of us," Michael said. "But I guess you can go, as long as Dean drops you home afterwards."

Gabriel snickered. It was definitely a date. Cas glared at him again and stalked out of the office, leaving Gabriel and Michael alone. Once Cas was gone, Gabriel let the mask drop. He crawled into Michael's lap, ignoring the fact that he was almost too big to fit. Michael's arms wrapped around Gabe and held him close.

"Mike, I'm scared," he whispered. "Why is there someone after me?"

Michael sighed, and Gabriel could feel the vibrations traveling through his chest as he spoke.

"It's a long story, Gabe. But it'll be okay. I won't let anything happen to you."

"He was at the park that night when I came home really late," Gabe admitted. "And I saw him yesterday when I was with the Winchesters, and he was at my school today." Michael stiffened.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I thought it was just a coincidence at first."

"Alright, well it's okay now. You'll be fine." And Gabriel believed him.