Chapter Fifteen
Tuesday was torture. The special presentation took up all of first period, and Dean could see people turning to look at him, feel eyes on him the entire time. Cas, understandably, stayed home again, and Dean sat moodily in the cafeteria without him. Whispers swirled around until Dean couldn't take it anymore. He slammed his hands on the table, then stood up.
'Listen up!' he yelled. 'Unless any of you actually knows who did this, then you can all shut the hell up! It's none of your business!'
The room fell silent and Jo put her hand on Dean's arm.
'Get off,' he said gruffly, yanking his arm away from Jo. He started to leave, but one of the cheerleaders caught his eye. She was the only one avoiding looking at him, and was nervously playing with her ponytail. Dean waited until the chatter started up again before he approached her.
'You know something, don't you?'
She glanced around. 'I - I don't know… Maybe,' she said.
'Tell me.'
She bit her lip. 'Well… it might be nothing, but… I don't think it was meant for Cas.'
'What do you mean?'
'I think it was meant for me,' she said, almost whispering. 'I have this stalker, he doesn't go here, but he saw me at an away game and he's been following me ever since. I thought I saw him at the party, but only for a second and it might not even have been him. I had a drink, but I put it down to play ping pong, and it was gone when I went back for it. I didn't think much of it at the time, but Cas started acting really weird after that.'
Dean nodded. 'Do you have a picture of him?'
'Yeah, sure…' She pulled out her phone and sent a picture to him.
'Thank you so much,' he said, then went back to his table. 'I gotta go,' he said to them, shouldering his bag. 'I'll explain later, see ya.'
He hurried out of the cafeteria, calling himself a cab as he went and going straight to the police station. He paced around the waiting area, impatient to see the detective in charge of Cas's case.
'Dean Winchester?' the detective finally called, after forty-five minutes of waiting.
Dean nodded and approached her.
'You got something for me?' she asked, leading him to her desk.
Dean nodded and eagerly explained to her what the cheerleader had told him, and showed her the picture. 'Is this guy in any of the pictures you got from Alfie?'
The detective squinted at Dean's phone. 'Can I borrow this a minute?'
'Sure.' She took Dean's phone to another room and he waited with bated breath.
Half an hour passed, Dean's legs bouncing anxiously, before the detective returned with his phone.
'You know, I think we've got something here,' she smiled.
'Really?'
'I can't say for sure, but it's certainly a lead.'
'Awesome,' Dean grinned.
'Thank you for bringing this in,' she said. 'How's he doing?'
Dean's smile fell. 'Not good,' he told her, and she nodded sympathetically.
'Hopefully we can get this figured out soon so we can put his mind at ease.'
'Yeah, I hope so too,' Dean said with a small sigh. 'Well, I'd better go. Thanks for your time, detective.' Dean shook her hand and got himself a cab home. He'd spent so much time at the station, there was no point in going back to school.
When he opened the front door, he heard Mary talking on the phone, so he closed the door quietly so he could listen.
'He just doesn't feel safe at the school,' she was saying. Dean couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but Mary responded, 'No, I don't wanna make him move schools again. A third school in his senior year? I think we should just try and ride this out… yeah… he's got a session tomorrow, so we'll see… Yeah, see you later.'
'Who was that?' Dean asked, finally announcing himself.
'Just your dad,' said Mary. 'He called to check on Cas… What are you doing home early?'
'Oh, I was just with the police-'
'Dean!'
'No, no, I was helping,' Dean laughed. 'Don't tell Cas yet, I don't wanna get his hopes up, but I think we've got a pretty good lead.'
'Oh, that's great, Dean!'
'Yeah, it took a while though, so there was no point going back to school.' Dean poured himself a glass of milk and sat at the table. 'How is he?' he asked quietly.
Mary sighed and sat down next to him. 'He's a strong kid, but this kind of thing can really throw you for a loop,' she said, gently stroking the side of Dean's head. 'All we can do is be there for him.'
Dean nodded. 'How long's he been upstairs?'
'He came down for a while earlier,' Mary said reassuringly, 'but I think he's having a nap now.'
'Well, it's good that he's not stewing in there all day.'
'He's doing his best,' Mary said sadly.
'I'll go check on him.'
Dean quietly opened the bedroom door and found that Cas hadn't been able to bring himself to close the curtain. Instead, he was wrapped up in a blanket cocoon, holding his phone in one hand and picking the skin on his lips with the other.
'Hey,' Dean said softly, kneeling in front of him. 'How are you feeling?'
Cas just shrugged.
'You - uh - want some chapstick or something?'
Cas stopped picking and blinked. 'No,' he mumbled.
'All right. Let me know if you need anything. Kevin'll email your homework if you want it.'
Cas missed Wednesday as well, but Dean bumped into the detective on his way back from school.
'Oh, hey, you got news?' he asked, leading them up to the front door and letting them in. 'Mom, cops are here,' he called through to the kitchen.
'Is Castiel here?'
Dean nodded. 'Cas?' he shouted up the stairs. 'The police are here, they wanna talk to you.'
Mary came in from the kitchen, dragging a couple of chairs with her for the detectives, and Cas emerged from his room to sit anxiously on the edge of the couch.
'So, we have good news,' the detective in charge said, once they were all settled in seats. 'We caught the guy who did it. Searched his house this afternoon and found some more of the drug in his room.'
Cas nodded, staring at her intently.
'The other good news is that you were not his target.'
Cas blinked, surprised.
'He was after one of the girls in your class and you drank her drink by accident. Your friend Alfie caught him dosing it on camera, then you picking it up.'
'Which - which girl?' Cas asked.
The detective checked her notes. 'Kelly Kline. You know her?'
Cas nodded and let out a long breath. 'In that case, I'm glad I took it,' he said, picking at the frayed cuffs of his hoodie.
'Really?' said Dean.
'Of course,' Cas said earnestly. 'I've seen Kelly. She's very small and it was a strong dose, it could have killed her.'
Dean gazed at Cas, completely astounded by him.
The detective smiled. 'The boy didn't go to your school, but he's currently awaiting sentencing and will likely end up in a juvenile facility. You're completely safe.'
'That's amazing, detective, thank you so much,' said Mary. 'Can I get you guys anything to drink?'
'No thank you, Mrs Winchester, we've got some other things to take care of, but we just wanted to drop by and make sure you're all okay.'
'We appreciate that.'
The detectives got up and left, and Dean turned to Cas.
'Are you okay?'
Cas nodded and leaned back on the couch with a sigh. 'I'm okay… I'll come back to school tomorrow.'
'Are you sure?' said Mary. 'If you're not ready, you don't have to go.'
'I'll be all right, it wasn't for me.'
'Okay, but maybe you should go to your session in a bit and decide after you talk to your therapist,' Mary suggested.
'That seems like a good idea,' Cas agreed.
Mary smiled at him and took the chairs back into the kitchen.
Cas gave Dean a small smile at his concerned expression. 'I'm all right, Dean, really. I'm… relieved.'
For the first time, Cas came out of his therapy session with a smile on his face, instead of in tears, and he was more confident of his decision to go back to school.
When they got home, Dean sent a message out to as many people as he could.
Dean
Cas is coming back to school tomorrow, but we'll freak him out if we crowd him too much
Spread the word so he can have some space to settle back in
It wasn't much, but it made him feel better to know that he could help.
The next morning Cas was shaky, but determined to make it back to school. With his hoodie, headphones and sunglasses to keep him company, he made it onto the bus.
'Hey!' Jo said in delight when she saw him.
He smiled at her, but didn't say anything, nor did he remove his headphones.
'What's going on?' she whispered to Dean.
'Just trying to get through it today,' Dean whispered back. 'He'll talk when he's ready.'
When they arrived, Dean realised that the message had gone further than even he thought it would. Not a single person approached Cas, and most people were able to restrain themselves even from staring at him. He was suspicious at first, but by the time they reached homeroom, he relaxed enough to remove his sunglasses and headphones. He took his usual seat, and smiled nervously at Crowley and Kevin.
'Glad you're back,' Kevin said.
'How are you feeling?' Crowley asked sympathetically.
'I'm okay,' Cas mumbled, avoiding Crowley's eyes. 'I'm sorry for - being weird.'
Crowley laughed. 'Don't you dare apologise,' he said. 'It wasn't your fault. It wasn't you.'
'Thank you.'
'And don't worry, I wouldn't take advantage, I much prefer it sober.'
Cas blushed and Crowley laughed again.
Just then Rhonda came in the door and Dean's stomach dropped. She'd ditched her usual pink and dyed her hair a bright, poisonous green, and had bangs cut. He watched as she spotted Cas. Don't say anything, he silently begged her. Don't say anything. But he had about as much chance of that as he did Hell freezing over.
She sat on the edge of Cas's desk. 'Hey, I heard what happened,' she said in honeyed tones. 'How are you doing?'
'I'm fine,' he said, eyeing her up warily.
'Are you sure?' she said, reaching out to stroke his cheek. He flinched, confused. 'It was really scary,' she continued.
The sight of her hand on Cas's face stirred white hot fury in Dean's stomach. 'Don't touch him,' Dean growled, clenching his fists.
'Oh, hey, Dean,' she said brightly, as though she hadn't heard his tone at all. 'I thought I'd go back to the hair I had when we were going out.'
'I remember,' he said through gritted teeth.
'What do you think?'
'I think it's hair.'
She laughed lightly. 'We could go out again, you know.'
Dean swallowed, his heart racing. 'I don't want to go out with you again, Rhonda,' he said bravely, though stammering slightly.
'Whatever you say, Dean,' she said, giving an exaggerated roll of her eyes. She patted Cas's cheek then hopped off his desk, going to her own just as Mrs Nielsen entered the classroom.
Dean quickly hid his hands under his desk, where no one could see them shaking.
Jo and Dean were the first to the cafeteria for lunch, but Jo spotted Cas at the door as they were sitting down.
'Hey, what's he doing?' Jo asked, nudging Dean and pointing at Cas.
Cas had walked over to the cheerleaders' table and tapped on Kelly's shoulder. They moved away so they could talk without being overheard.
'I think he's checking she's okay,' Dean said, his heart melting.
They talked for a while, then Kelly threw her arms around Cas's neck. Cas stood, frozen in surprise until she let go and laughed, patting his arm.
'Hey,' Dean smiled as Cas came over to sit down. He was much more relaxed now and smiled back.
They were joined by Crowley and Kevin not long after, and even though Cas's eyes flickered around the room every so often, things were almost normal.
Half way through their lunch break, Dean noticed the swim team hovering a few tables away, quietly arguing with each other, until they pushed the captain forward.
'Um, Cas?' the captain said nervously, and Cas looked up at him in surprise. 'I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about what happened. It was our party and we should have been more careful about who we let in.'
Cas blinked rapidly.
'So - uh - we'd really like to make it up to you and have you as the guest of honour at our next party, but we totally get it if you don't want to come.'
'Oh,' Cas said. 'I'd love to come to your next party.'
The captain's face lit up. 'Sweet!' he grinned. 'And we'll be, like, a million per cent more careful. We'll have Brady on security or something.'
'Hey!' Brady protested from where he was listening.
'That sounds good to me,' said Cas. 'Can my friends come?'
'Of course, they should have a makeup party too.'
'That's very kind of you,' Cas smiled.
The captain grinned at him once more before going back to the team, celebrating.
'Someone's popular,' Crowley smirked, but Cas's expression fell.
'I'd rather I was popular for something else,' he said quietly, and Crowley dropped his smirk.
Cas cleared his throat and turned to Dean. 'I'm going to catch up on some track practice tonight. You can go home without me.'
Dean nodded, Cas's tone telling him that he would rather Dean went home and give him some time alone. 'Do you want me to come pick you up?'
'No, thank you. I'll be out late, you can tell your mom she doesn't need to make me any food.'
'Okay,' Dean said with a slight frown.
Dean didn't have any classes with Cas after lunch, so didn't see him for the rest of the day. It was only after they'd eaten dinner that Dean began to worry.
It was dark out, and no one had heard from him in hours.
'His phone's just going to voicemail,' Mary said from the kitchen, while Dean paced anxiously around the living room, his phone in hand.
'Okay, gimme the car keys, I'm gonna go check the track,' Dean said, and Mary didn't argue, she just threw him the keys.
Dean threw himself into the car and it took every ounce of willpower to remain at the speed limit. He didn't have to look far, however. He found Cas sitting alone on the bleachers, his hood up, listening to music, and gazing up at the sky. Dean breathed a sigh of relief, and climbed up next to him, then waited patiently, shooting Mary a quick message to let her know Cas was okay.
After a few minutes, Cas paused his music and lowered his hood. 'I'm fine,' he said, without looking at Dean.
'That's good,' said Dean. 'We were worried about you.'
Cas looked down at his lap.
'Talk to me,' Dean said. 'What's going on? What are you thinking about?'
Cas hesitated. 'Today was a lot,' he mumbled.
'Yeah, I get that.'
'I needed some space to breathe, but I got stuck in my head, I think. I miss my brother. I still haven't heard from him.'
Dean nodded, refraining from interrupting so Cas would continue.
The corner of Cas's mouth turned up as he thought of Gabriel. 'He would have made a joke out of all of this. But in a good way. He would make it all not so bad, like it wasn't a big deal.'
'That's rough, I'm sorry,' Dean said.
'And there's something else…' Cas said, glancing sideways at Dean.
'Yeah?'
'It was - weird - when Rhonda touched my face earlier…'
Dean's mouth went dry and he swallowed. 'Ha - yeah, that was pretty weird,' he said.
Cas then looked him right in the eye. 'What did she do, Dean?' he asked quietly.
Dean bit his lip, his heart pounding hard in his chest. 'I - uh - I don't w-want to talk about it,' he stammered, clasping his hands together tightly.
'Was it… bad?'
Dean hesitated, then nodded slowly.
'I'm sorry,' Cas murmured. 'I wouldn't have asked, but she made me feel… weird.'
'Yeah, she has that effect on people.' Dean took a deep, steadying breath. 'Maybe one day I'll tell you about it.'
'I'd be honoured to hear it.'
Dean smiled. 'You ready to go home?'
'I think so, yes.'
Cas got up and stretched his long limbs, once again looking up at the sky. 'Have you ever done much stargazing, Dean?'
'No, not really.'
'You should give it a try sometime. I find it very calming.'
'Maybe I will.'
Dean started the car, but he drove the long way home, giving himself just a little bit longer to sit in comfortable silence with Cas.
