Chapter Three

Dean didn't see Castiel for the rest of the morning, but he knew they would have English literature together that afternoon. Dean was glad of the chance to get some space from the tense anxiousness that came from Castiel, as though he were a wound up coil, ready to snap at any moment, but come lunchtime, Dean grew more worried, right up until the moment he saw Castiel sitting alone in the cafeteria. Relief flooded through him, and he pointed Castiel out to the others as they joined him in the line for food.

'So what's the plan?' Jo asked. 'Are we just gonna go over there?'

'Yeah, but we gotta be cool about it,' said Dean. 'Give him some space. That means you, Crowley.'

'Excuse me, I'm very cool,' Crowley said, picking up a tray. 'Cooler than Kev over here.'

'Shut up,' Kevin grumbled.

They collected their food and walked over to Castiel's table, leaving the seats directly next to him and in front of him empty. He didn't acknowledge their presence, and they didn't talk directly to him.

Dean noticed that Castiel had already finished his food, but hadn't moved from the table. He was staring out of the window next to him, but Dean smiled as he realised that Castiel was simply listening to them talk. He nodded encouragingly at Jo, who had also noticed.

The bell rang, signalling the end of their lunch break, and they all stood and gathered their bags.

'Come on, Kevin, time for statistics,' Crowley said, throwing an arm around Kevin's shoulders.

Kevin groaned loudly and dragged his feet as Crowley led him out of the cafeteria.

'Coming to English?,' Dean said to Castiel, who started at being spoken to.

Castiel nodded, and slowly got to his feet, following Dean and Jo out of the room and to their English class. He again chose the seat nearest the door and kept his hood up while their teacher took attendance, barely answering the affirmative when his name was called.

Dean watched him from the table he was sharing with Jo.

'How long do you think it'll take for him to relax?' Jo asked.

'It's hard to say,' said Dean. 'The first few days are most important, then we'll just have to wait and see.'

'Well, he's already doing better than Benny,' Jo smirked.

Dean rolled his eyes. 'That's hardly an achievement. All he'd have to do to be better than Benny is show up.'

Castiel didn't speak for the rest of the class, opting instead to study the copy of the curriculum that the teacher handed him, and he didn't hesitate to leave when the class was finished.

The last class of the day was economics, one of the few classes that Jo, Dean, Crowley and Kevin all took. Dean remembered that Castiel had a free period and wondered what he would do to fill the time. Whatever it was, he was sure it was more interesting than listening to the monotonous drone of their econ teacher.

At last, the end of the day came, and Dean said goodbye to the other three, then wandered out the car. It wasn't until he went to open the door that he realised he hadn't asked whether or not Castiel was coming with him. He pulled out his phone. There were no messages, and he realised he hadn't asked Castiel for his number either. He sighed and leaned against the car, looking around and waiting to see if Castiel would appear. After about fifteen minutes of watching all the other students stream from the exits, Dean twirled his keys in his hands impatiently, then called his mom.

'Hey, sweetie, what's up?'

'Nothing much, just checking if you've seen Castiel? He had a free period this afternoon, I thought he might come home early.'

'No, he's not here,' said Mary.

'Cool, I guess he's around here somewhere, then. I'll find him.'

'All right, ask him what he wants for dinner. I've got some ground beef for burgers, but I don't know if he'll like it.'

'Sure, I'll ask him. See you later.'

Dean threw his bag into the trunk of the car, then tucked his phone and keys into his pockets, thinking hard. Where would he find Castiel? He turned back towards the school. Perhaps he'd taken the principal up on his offer of checking out the running track, so Dean went there first.

As suspected, he found Castiel jogging, though Dean hardly recognised him at first. He'd taken off his red hoodie, and swapped his baggy jeans for a pair of shorts. He slowed as he saw Dean, and jogged over, pulling out his earphones.

'I'm so sorry, I lost track of time,' he said breathlessly, doubling over.

'It's - it's fine,' Dean stammered. Without all his clothes to over him up, Dean could see his powerful legs, the well-defined muscles, the strong arms. His hair was sticking to his face, and Dean watched a bead of sweat trickle down his temple.

'Do you mind if I-?' he gestured towards the locker room.

'Oh yeah, sure, go hose off.' Dean moved to let him pass, and tried to resist watching him go, but he couldn't help it. Crap, he thought to himself, biting his lip. He shook his head and forced away the stray thoughts that ran through his mind. He took off his jacket, suddenly very hot.

Cas returned not long later, fully dressed, his red hoodie zipped up once more.

Dean swallowed and led the way back to the car, not trusting his voice to say anything. Castiel didn't say anything either, absorbed in his phone again.

They climbed into their seats, and Dean rolled down his window, his proximity to Castiel sending another wave of heat through him. Dean then caught the smell of whatever soap and deodorant Castiel had used in the shower, and all of a sudden, the heat in the car was the least of his problems. He self-consciously tugged down the hem of his shirt , then started the car. Castiel didn't seem to notice anything and, as soon he was buckled in, fell asleep against the door.

Dean shifted about in his seat, his jeans uncomfortably tight, sweating nervously. He took a few deep breaths and forced himself to focus on the road, though it was difficult when the smell of Castiel kept drifting over him.

At last, they arrived home, and Castiel woke up as Dean pulled the car into the garage. He ran his hands through his hair, and Dean swallowed. It would be fine, Dean told himself. He would just go straight upstairs and relieve himself, but he had to hold back a groan as he remembered that he didn't exactly have the privacy to do that anymore.

Castiel got out of the car first, shouldering his bag, and Dean groaned. He rested his head against the wheel, but accidentally blasted the horn, making Castiel jump as he opened the door to the house.

'Sorry,' Dean said sheepishly, waiting until he was inside to get out of the car himself.

He grabbed his bag from the trunk and rushed into the house, hurrying up the stairs.

'Hey, Dean!' Mary called.

'Hi, Mom,' Dean called back, grabbing a towel from his closet.

'What are you doing? I need a hand with this meat.'

'Gotta shower, get Sam to help.'

'Wait, didn't you shower this morning?' Mary asked, leaning around the bannister at the bottom of the stairs.

'Is it my fault if some teachers don't know how to use the AC?' Dean said evasively, closing the bathroom door.

He set his phone to play loud music on the edge of the sink and switched on the water, stripping off his clothes. With the water and the music drowning everything else out, it was easy for Dean to give in to the ideas that had exploded in his mind the moment he'd seen Castiel less dressed.

It didn't take long, and he allowed himself a few minutes to catch his breath as the water streamed over his shoulders. Even after those few moments of pleasure, however, Dean felt his old fears creeping back in, and he felt oddly empty as he put his clothes back on. He avoided going into his room, a small part of him worried that Castiel would be able to see it on his face.

'Do I wanna know what you were doing in there?' Sam asked as Dean came down the stairs.

'I think you know full well what I was doing in there,' Dean said.

'Gross, Dean, do it in your room like a normal person.'

Dean laughed and continued into the kitchen, where Mary was mixing up a bowl of meat and spices.

'Did you ask Castiel if he likes burgers?' Mary asked him.

Dean grimaced. 'Oops.'

'Dean, I'm in the middle of making them!' Mary exclaimed, shaping the meat into patties.

'I'm sure he likes burgers, Mom,' Dean said, rolling his eyes.

'Well, if he doesn't like them, you're buying him dinner.'

'Hey, Castiel!' Dean yelled. 'Do you like burgers?'

'Of course,' came his faint reply.

'There you go,' Dean said smugly.

'Thank you,' said Mary, 'but don't yell across the house like that.'

Mary called everyone down for dinner once the burgers were ready. Dean's stomach dropped and his heart thumped when Castiel walked in.

As usual, Mary gave him his plate and he exited the kitchen, but instead of going all the way upstairs, he took his plate to the living room.

Mary beamed at Dean and mouthed, 'Progress,' with a thumbs up.

Castiel returned to their room as soon as he was finished, though not before putting his plate in the kitchen, brushing past Dean as he went.

Dean froze, Castiel's scent once again reaching his nose. It made his heart race and he could feel himself sweating again. He let out a breath once Castiel was gone and hung out in the kitchen with his homework for the rest of the evening, until he couldn't put off going upstairs any longer.

He tensed as he entered the room, but Castiel was curled up in the corner again, his hood up and staring at the screen of his computer. Dean collected up his pajamas and changed in the bathroom. He was fully prepared to go right to sleep, but when he gave Castiel one more look, he noticed a twitch in Castiel's arm.

'Everything okay?' Dean asked, nodding at it curiously.

'I'm fine,' Castiel said quickly, sitting on his hand to hide the twitching.

Dean highly doubted he was, but he didn't press the issue. 'Goodnight,' he said, but Castiel had already put his earphones in and hadn't heard him.

Morning arrived with Dean's alarm and he got dressed in the bathroom again, running downstairs for breakfast.

Mary was already up, yawning with a cup of coffee in her hands. 'You're driving in with Castiel again,' she said, giving him the keys. 'It's probably best to drive him the rest of the week until he's settled into the schedule, then you can get the bus with him next week.'

'Fine by me,' Dean said, deciding that getting to drive the Impala was a positive that hugely outweighed having to sit so close to Castiel and breathe him in.

He wolfed down his breakfast and drained a mug of coffee, then grabbed his bag in preparation to leave.

'Where is Castiel?' Mary asked, looking at the clock on the wall. 'It's getting late, and he doesn't seem like the type.'

Dean frowned. 'Yeah, I'll go check on him.'

He jumped back up the stairs and into his room, and saw that Castiel was still in bed, the covers pulled over his head. 'Hey, are you all right?' Dean asked, walking over to Castiel's side of the room.

'No,' Castiel said, his voice muffled by the blankets. 'I'm sick, I can't go to school.'

'Okay, what are you sick with?' Dean asked.

'I'm just sick.'

Dean frowned, noticing the covers were moving in a strange way. 'I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong.' He waited a moment, then Castiel finally pulled the covers off himself. He was cuddling a beige coat, but Dean didn't comment on it. He was more concerned with the involuntary jerking of Castiel's arm. 'What's happening?' he asked alarmed.

'It - it's nothing,' Castiel said, sitting up and holding his shoulder to stop it from twitching.

'Cearly it isn't.'

'I just - I just forgot to pack my medicine,' Castiel mumbled, refusing to meet Dean's eye.

'Oh, okay, what flavour?'

Castiel seemed surprised by Dean's response, as though expecting Dean to mock him for it. 'Zoloft,' he mumbled.

'Right, got it,' Dean nodded. 'So, what is this really?'

Castiel shook his head. 'The doctor says it's a panic response.'

'Okay, we can fix this, but I'm gonna have to tell my mom. It's okay,' he added at Castiel's alarmed expression. 'My mom's really good with this kind of stuff, she did psychology at school, and my parents are your legal guardians now, so we gotta get her to work this out for you. Maybe we can get them back from your last place.'

Castiel shook his head. 'They'll have thrown them out by now.'

'Okay, well I'm sure she can get some more, you stay right there.' Dean went back down the stairs, walking normally instead of sprinting down the stairs like he wanted to. 'Hey, we got a problem,' he said quietly to Mary. 'Castiel is sick.'

'Oh no, what's wrong with him?'

'He left his meds at his last place, can you get some more for him? Zoloft, he said.'

Mary nodded. 'Sure, I can do that. Poor thing, he should have said sooner, he's probably started to withdraw.'

'Yeah. Should I stay, or…?'

'Oh, no, go to school, Dean, I've got it covered.'

'Okay, let me know how it goes.'

Dean grabbed his back and drove to school with mixed feelings churning in his stomach.

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