Chapter Twelve

Cas hesitated outside the door to homeroom on Monday morning.

'What's up?' Dean asked, but Cas just shook his head and walked in.

Dean sat in his usual seat, but Cas hovered uncertainly by his, twisting the hem of his hoodie around his fingers.

Jo saw him and immediately stood up to give him a hug. 'Are you okay?' she asked him.

'I'm… embarrassed,' he admitted, avoiding her eye.

'Why?'

'I - um - I don't usually like to have that kind of reaction in front of people,' he mumbled.

'Hey, that's nothing to be ashamed of,' said Jo, guiding him into his seat, 'right, guys?'

There was a general murmur of agreement from the others. 'It was my fault for putting you in that situation, okay?'

'If you say so.' He gave her a small smile, and began to relax. 'So, Crowley, did you pick up anyone interesting on your way home?'

Crowley grinned and leaned back in his seat. 'Well actually, now that you mention it-'

The others let out loud, melodramatic groans, much to Crowley's amusement.

Mrs Neilsen arrived to take attendance, and Dean started when he realised that Rhonda wasn't there. It should have been a relief, but if anything it made him more anxious wondering when she would appear.

'All right, and don't forget, it's Spirit Week next week, the themes will be on the board. Please put in at least some effort, that's the whole point,' Mrs Neilsen announced before they all got up.

Jo was the first to the noticeboard, and read out the themes for them. 'Monday is rainbow day, Tuesday is western day-'

'Awesome,' said Dean.

'Wednesday is eighties day, Thursday is pajama day, and Friday is Halloween Homecoming. Sounds fun.'

They left for class for the day, and Dean was tense right up until Rhonda popped out of a classroom on her way home for lunch.

'Sorry I missed you this morning,' she said, falling into step beside him, pushing Jo out of her way.

'Hey!' Jo protested.

'So, are you taking me to Homecoming?'

Dean stopped in his tracks, Kevin walking right into him. 'W-what?'

'Homecoming. You're taking me, right?'

'I - uh - I-' His brain refused to come up with a good excuse and he began to sweat.

'He can't go with you,' Cas said, frowning at Rhonda.

'Why not?'

'He's already going with me,' Cas told her.

Rhonda snorted. 'Yeah right, Dean's not gay. Trust me, I know.'

Cas's mouth tightened. 'We're going as friends. Since I don't really know anyone just yet. It's very kind of him.'

Rhonda rolled her eyes. 'Whatever,' she scoffed and stormed off.

Dean let out a breath and felt Cas's hand on his shoulder.

'You all right?' he asked quietly.

Dean nodded. 'You realise that means you actually have to go to Homecoming with me, right? So if you had other plans…'

Cas laughed. 'It would hardly be the worst thing in the world to go with you.'

'Well thanks, I guess.'

'Let's go eat, Dean,' Cas prompted, pushing Dean towards the cafeteria.

He had lost his appetite, but he was happy to sit and wait for the others to be done.

Therapy that week was much the same for Cas. Dean came out from his session and found Cas by the car, still sniffing quietly, and let him sit in silence for the drive home.

The weekend found Cas considering his closet closely for Spirit Week. He hadn't come with a lot of clothes, so he nervously asked Mary to take him shopping. She, of course, was delighted to help, and Cas came back from their shopping trip with a couple of bulky bags. He refused to tell Dean what was in them.

'It's a surprise,' he smiled, closing the door to the closet.

'Okay,' Dean said with a chuckle and went downstairs. 'Good shopping trip, Mom?' he asked, helping himself to a sandwich.

Mary beamed. 'He's such a sweetheart,' she gushed. 'I'd go shopping with him any day of the week.'

'Oh yeah? What did you guys get?' Dean asked innocently.

Mary narrowed her eyes. 'Dean, he wants it to be a surprise.'

'Damn,' Dean laughed. 'Foiled again.'

Cas wore a rainbow tie-dye t-shirt under his hoodie on Monday morning.

'You aren't doing anything for rainbow day?' he said, disappointed when he saw Dean in his usual clothes.

'Of course I am,' Dean grinned, donning a pair of gaudy, rainbow coloured glasses in the shape of stars. Cas laughed and left the room, and Dean went digging through the drawer in his bedside table as soon as Cas was gone. He felt around, right at the back, and pulled out a small rainbow button he'd gotten from the only pride parade he'd ever been to. He carefully pinned it to his jacket, glad of an excuse to wear it.

When they got to school, Jo was wearing a pretty dress in pastel tones, Kevin had put on a bright beanie hat, but Crowley had gone all out. He was wearing a full, three-piece suit made entirely of rainbow material, complete with tall hat.

The decoration committee had also thrown as much rainbow as they possibly could all around the school halls.

Dean enjoyed it, but it was only one day, and he put his button safely back in his drawer when they got home.

Dean had been looking forward to western day the most, and went full cowboy, pulling his hat made of real leather out of its special box.

'You're - uh - really into westerns, huh?' Cas asked, holding his own cheap hat in his hands.

'Yeah, 'cause they're awesome!' Dean said enthusiastically, adjusting his big decorative belt buckle.

'I haven't seen that many,' Cas shrugged.

'Oh, well we absolutely have to fix that,' Dean grinned. 'I know what we're doing at the weekend.'

Cas rolled his eyes and left the room.

That day's theme was focused outside the school, where a huge enclosure had been set up for people to meet some horses.

'Cool!' Dean said, approaching one with an apple.

Cas fell back.

'What?' Dean asked him. 'You never seen a horse before?'

'No,' Cas said, watching it warily.

'Look, this one's friendly, he likes a pat on the neck,' Dean smiled. 'Come on, he won't hurt you.'

Cas stepped closer to the horse and patted it just how Dean showed him. The horse pushed his whole head against Cas, nuzzling him and forcing him to take a step backwards.

'He likes you,' Dean laughed.

The horse then stole Cas's hat, tearing a huge bite out of it, then dropping it on the floor before walking away.

'Oh, my hat,' Cas frowned, picking it up and examining the chunk missing from it.

'That's a shame,' Dean sniggered. 'Here, you can wear this.' He took off his neckerchief and tied it around Cas instead, so he was still wearing something for the day.

Jo and Crowley were similarly dressed to Dean, but Kevin had only bothered to put on a shirt and bolo tie.

Dean woke up early on Wednesday morning to put together his outfit for eighties day. Or rather, coat his head in hair gel after getting dressed. He wore a black t-shirt and rolled up the sleeves to his shoudlers, and matched it with black jeans, then spent the rest of the time he had that morning styling his hair.

'What are you supposed to be?' Sam snorted at breakfast.

'Duh, I'm a greaser,' said Dean, flourishing the accompanying comb.

'Greasers are from the fifties, Dean, not the eighties,' Sam said.

'Not the ones from Grease.'

Sam scoffed. 'That movie came out in the seventies, I'm pretty sure.'

'What? Come on, Sam, don't mess with me.' Dean pulled out his phone, and Sam laughed at the expression on his face when he looked up the movie.

'Well, it's too late to change now, and it'll probably take industrial solvent to get all this gel out of my hair,' Dean said, defeated.

Sam was still laughing when Cas came into the kitchen. He looked the same as normal, except he'd traded his red hoodie for a vintage green letterman jacket.

'Hey, that looks great, where'd you get that?' Dean asked.

Cas brushed it down. 'It's my dad's,' he said proudly. 'He played wide receiver.'

'Really? Are you sure you want to wear it out?' said Dean.

Cas nodded. 'He wouldn't want it to hang in the closet forever.'

Dean finished off his breakfast and swung a leather jacket around his shoulders.

'You know you're gonna look really lame turning up on the bus in that outfit,' Sam called as they walked out.

'Still look better than you, jerk.'

'I think you look nice, Dean,' Cas said, and Dean blushed.

'Thanks,' he said bashfully.

They found Jo on the bus, her hair crimped and curled and pulled up into a high ponytail with a bow, dressed in a washed out jean jacket, long zebra print shirt, bright yellow leggings, and neon pink leg warmers.

'Wow,' Dean laughed, sitting in front of her.

She blew a huge bubble with the gum she was chewing in response, then laughed when it popped. 'And what are you supposed to be?'

'He's Danny from Grease,' Cas told her, sitting next to her.

'But-'

'Yeah, yeah, I know, wrong decade,' said Dean.

'Oh well,' Jo said. 'Looks hot.'

Dean grinned, and pretended to comb his hair with an exaggerated flourish.

They got to school just as Crowley was arriving, though it took a moment to recognise him with a full face of makeup and blonde wig.

'Do I even want to know?' Dean said.

'He's Madonna,' Kevin said in a tired voice, in his own red wig with a lightning bolt painted across his face. 'I'm David Bowie.'

Crowley frowned at Dean. 'Don't you think that outfit's a bit early for the eighties?'

Dean rolled his eyes. 'Yeah, I know, thanks. Let's just go in.'

Dean pushed open the front doors, and their senses were immediately assaulted.

'They've really outdone themselves this year,' Jo laughed.

There were disco balls hanging from the ceiling in regular intervals down the corridor, scattering light across the lockers. Cheesy eighties music blasted from all the speakers. Laser lights flashed across the ceiling, bouncing off the disco balls and the shiny confetti that was being sprayed into the air with loud pops every few minutes.

Dean brushed some off his face and sneezed, and the cheer squad danced through the hall in front of them, all wearing the vintage version of the cheer uniform.

'It's… a little much,' Jo said loudly, almost having to shout over the noise.

Cas began to look uncomfortable. He reached back to pull up his hood, but realised he wasn't wearing it, so he made a small, distressed sound and shoved his hand into his pocket, reaching for his earbuds. All he found was his phone, with no sign of his earbuds. He chewed on his fingernail, then picked at the skin on his lips, but it all got to him very quickly. When one of the cheerleaders came up and shook his neon coloured pom-poms in Cas's face on his way past, Cas froze on the spot and put his hands over his ears.

'Hey, guys!' Kevin called, the first to spot Cas's distress.

Dean turned around and frowned. 'What is it?' he asked, but Cas couldn't hear him.

He'd started rocking on the balls of his feet and humming loudly, eyes scrunched closed.

'Is he okay?' Jo asked anxiously.

'Overwhelmed, I think,' Dean said, looking around for somewhere to go. His eyes fell on the door to an empty classroom. 'Jo, go open that door.' He turned back to Cas as she went to open it. 'Okay, I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm just gonna hold onto you for a minute.' Dean took his arms and pulled as gently as he could to pull Cas into the classroom. Cas walked willingly but his humming got louder.

Once in the classroom, Dean switched off all the lights and pulled down all the blinds, plunging the room into darkness.

Cas shuffled to the darkest corner of the room and curled up into a tight ball, still humming quietly.

'Hey, can you let Mrs Neilsen know we're here, but Cas isn't feeling good?' Dean whispered to Jo.

'Sure,' she whispered back. 'Message me later, let me know if he's okay.' She carefully closed the door and left them alone.

Dean sat down on the floor close by Cas, but still giving him space. He'd stopped humming, but still had his hands over his ears.

'Can I borrow your jacket?' Cas murmured eventually.

'Sure.' Dean handed it to him, and he draped it over his head to further cut off the sights and sounds around him.

'I told you I'm defective,' Cas said after a while, his voice muffled by Dean's jacket.

'No you're not,' Dean said gently.

Cas sighed, and pushed Dean's jacket off his face, sitting up.

'What d'you want to do now?' Dean asked, putting his jacket back on. 'We can try homeroom, or we can go home.'

Cas looked up at the classroom door. 'I - um - I don't…'

'Okay, we'll just wait here for now,' Dean said, and he sat patiently while Cas pulled himself together.

'I think I want to go home,' he mumbled.

'Sure thing,' Dean said. 'Wait here a sec.' He got up and cracked open the classroom door to look around.

The cheer squad were gone, the confetti cannons had stopped going off and the music had been turned down.

'Okay, it's a little quieter out there, and we just gotta get to the front door. You gonna be okay?' Dean said.

Cas bit his lip but nodded, and approached the door with his sleeve in his mouth.

'Do you want space, or can I help?' Dean asked. 'You can hold onto my arm if you want.'

Cas considered it, then reached out and gripped Dean's arm tightly.

Dean led the way, quickly picking his way back through the hallway, and pushing open the front door into the open air.

Cas sat on the ground, running his hands through the grass while they waited for their cab, then went straight upstairs once they were home.

'Hey, what's going on?' Mary asked, as Dean came into the kitchen.

'Long story. Can I borrow your car?'

'Why?' Mary said suspiciously.

'I wanna go to the store and get Cas some stuff,' Dean said, already getting annoyed with the crispy feeling of his hair.

'Is he okay?'

Dean glanced through the door to check Cas wasn't listening. 'I think he's a little more sensitive than we thought,' he told her. 'You remember that kid… what was his name?' Dean said, snapping his fingers. 'Uh… Jack?'

'Yeah, I remember him.'

'Yeah, it was like that with Cas today.'

Mary frowned. 'I see.'

'Jack had a bunch of stuff to help him, so I thought I'd go get some for Cas.'

Mary squeezed his hand. 'You're so sweet, honey, but you don't have to do that. I'm the legal guardian, remember? It's my job to take care of him.'

'No, it's okay,' Dean smiled. 'I want to do it.'

Mary smiled at him. 'All right, you can borrow the car.'

'Sweet,' Dean grinned. 'I'm just gonna go wash all this crap outta my hair first.'

Mary chuckled, and Dean ran up the stairs to stick his head under the shower.

Washing out the gel was a relief, and Dean walked into his room drying his hair with a towel.

'You want anything from the store?' Dean asked Cas, running his hands through his clean hair. Cas didn't answer at first, and Dean looked over to see him staring. 'What?'

Cas shook his head. 'Sorry,' he muttered. 'No, thank you.'

'All right, message me if you change your mind.'

Dean wandered around the electronics section for a while at the store, and grabbed some snacks he thought Cas might like anyway, and returned with a couple of boxes for him.

He brought them up to their room and knocked on the wall.

'Yes?' Cas called.

Dean pulled aside the curtain to find Cas cocooned in blankets. 'Can I sit?'

Cas nodded and moved up to give Dean room.

'Here, I got you some stuff.' He passed the boxes to Cas and watched him open them.

'Noise cancelling headphones and… sunglasses?' Cas said, confused.

Dean nodded. 'One of the kids we had stay with us - stuff was hard for him and this kind of thing helped him.'

Cas looked sceptical. 'I don't know, Dean… I don't want to be weirder than I already am.'

'I get it, but listen, life isn't easy for some people, and there's nothing wrong with using tools to get through it.' He smiled at Cas encouragingly.

'Okay,' Cas said in a small voice.

'Sweet, so if we put these in your school bag, you won't have to worry.'

Cas nodded and carefully tucked them into his bag.

Dean then glanced at Cas's wardrobe. 'So, when do I get to find out what the surprise is?'

Cas finally smiled. 'Friday,' he said.

'Oooh, something fancy for Homecoming?' Dean grinned. 'I can't wait.' He got up and stretched. 'Are you gonna be okay for your session later?'

Cas thought about it and nodded.

'Cool, I'll come get you later.'

Cas drew his blanket up to his chest. 'Thank you, Dean. I think I'm going to sleep until then.'

'Good idea,' Dean said. 'I'll get out of your hair… And listen, everything's gonna be okay.'

Cas smiled again, and tucked himself back under his blankets.

Dean closed the curtain and left Cas to recover, glad that he could do something to help.