Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of its characters. Sorry to disappoint.
That being said, I hope you enjoy this! This is my first fanfiction ever, and any reviews or constructive criticisms are very much welcome! After all, this is a learning experience for me.
Chapter 2
To say Cas was distracted would be a gross understatement. He was in such a dazed state when he woke up, he could barely make it out his bedroom door with his clothes on straight.
He'd walked in and out of his bathroom at least twice, forgetting each time why he'd walked in there in the first place. Even after he finally remembered it was to brush his teeth, his mind still wandered.
He sat at the kitchen counter, unsure of how long he had been there, just staring into the dregs of his cereal.
Part of his grogginess could be contributed to the fact that Cas was not a morning person on a normal day, and he hadn't gotten too much sleep last night. Today, however, he suspected it had something more to do with the person who had kept him up in the first place.
No matter what he did, he couldn't get that boy from the theater out of his mind.
The stranger had occupied his thoughts as he'd drifted off to sleep, and apparently he wouldn't be forgetting him this morning either.
He couldn't pinpoint what exactly about the stranger had intrigued him so much, and he felt a little ashamed at how obsessed he was probably acting. No doubt the boy wasn't pining away for him. Hell, he might've completely forgotten the encounter already. The thought only worsened his mood.
He'd probably never know if it had meant anything more to the boy. He had no way of knowing if he'd ever even see him again.
He ran through what he knew in his head.
He'd looked to be about Cas's age, maybe a year ahead at most. But Cas had never seen the boy around, and in a small high school like his where everyone knew each other, it would be hard for them to have never crossed paths at least once.
That being said, Cas and his family had only moved into town half a year ago, so he didn't know everyone. His incomplete knowledge would only make it harder to track down the stranger since he didn't have much to go on.
It would've been nice if he'd at least had a name to work with. It was like Cinderella, he thought amusedly, except instead of a glass slipper, the only thing of the stranger's he had to work with was his car. A black Chevy Impala…
He was brought back to the present by his mother worriedly repeating his name.
"Castiel?" He looked up. "It's Cas," he said almost automatically.
His parents, being the devout Christians they were, thought that their beliefs should dictate every part of their lives, including the naming of their children, and that's how he had gotten stuck with an angel's name.
He hated it, but at least his nickname made it bearable. His older sister Anna, short for Anael, had at least gotten a name that sounded normal. No one ever asked her what Anna was short for. He, on the other hand, always had to explain the origin of his name to people.
"Castiel," she said pointedly, "shouldn't you be going to work now?" He sighed. She was right. Not sparing her much more than simple "Goodbye", he left.
30 minutes later, he was pulling into his regular parking spot outside the theater. It was 10:45 and the theater didn't open until 11:00. He spent the next fifteen minutes making sure the ticket and concession stands were stocked properly and double checking each theater, lingering in theater 9 a little longer than the rest.
By 11:00 his fellow coworkers, who he hadn't even heard enter, were at their places, ready to start their shifts. He nodded to Charlie who was sitting in the ticket booth with her feet propped up and headphones in. She grinned and waved back while bopping her head to the sound of her music.
Cas wondered how anyone could be so cheerful having to work the morning shift on a Saturday, but Charlie never ceased to surprise him with her unfailingly carefree attitude.
The rest of the day passed without incident, leaving Cas with nothing to do but start daydreaming about his mysterious crush again.
He saw the stranger everywhere he looked. He saw him in the little girl buying candy with freckles on her nose. He saw him in the girl's father who wore an all too familiar looking leather jacket.
If only he could actually see him, not just the reminders that seemed to follow him around.
If he could just get a name he'd be happy! So he spent the rest of the afternoon all the way into the evening passing time trying to come up with names to put to the stranger's face. His oh so very attractive face. None of them seemed to fit though, and each one he came up with seemed more ridiculous and unlikely than the last.
He was just pondering the possibility of "David" or "Jack" when Charlie came sauntering over to him and crawled over the glass counter, despite his protests, before gracefully sliding in front of him.
She elbowed him with a playful smile on her face. "Sup, Cas?" He squinted suspiciously "What's up with you, Charlie? What do you want?"
"Can't a girl just come over for a nice late night chat with her BFF?" she feigned innocence.
"Not when she should be running the ticket counter."
"Oh please, I got that handled. Ash can cover for me. Besides it's almost closing time, not like there's many people clamoring for tickets tonight." She was right. Cas had forgotten about some big football game everyone at school was going to tonight. It should be over by now, but they usually had big after parties that lasted pretty late. It would explain the uncharacteristic emptiness of the theater on a Saturday night.
She twirled her long red curls and continued, "So you're coming to my party next week, right?"
"Yeah, Charlie. I wouldn't miss it for the world." Cas wasn't really a big fan of parties or anything, but it was Charlie's big birthday bash, as she put it, and knowing her, it would actually turn out to be pretty fun.
"Yay! Don't know what I would've done without my best wingman. And who knows? There's gonna be lots of guests, maybe you'll find someone there." She winked, and for some reason Cas had the distinct impression that she could sense his fantasizing thoughts and growing crush.
She didn't say anything though and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading back to relieve Ash from his duties. Cas smiled. He liked Charlie a lot. They'd grown close working weird hours together, and since they were in the same grade, she had become one of his closest school friends for which he was very grateful. It wasn't easy making friends in such a close knit town.
He wanted to thank her for her friendship by getting her something nice. Cas was sort of a nerd, he guessed, but he didn't revel in his geekiness like Charlie did. While she tended to drip with enthusiasm and wear her passions on her sleeve, Cas had more secret guilty pleasures.
He still knew about that one comic book store downtown though. Charlie had actually dragged him down there a couple times. He remembered her eyeing some games down there. He thought it'd be worth a look to check out some of the stuff and see if he could find a suitable Charlie-approved gift.
He glanced at his watch. Quarter till ten when his shift ended. It was pretty late, but he was afraid if he put it off any longer, he'd forget or get too busy with school to find time. Best to get it now while he was already out and being productive.
So at twenty past ten, he found himself driving to the comic book store. It was pretty far from the neighborhood where he lived. It was actually on the complete opposite side of town. His town wasn't huge, but he definitely lived in the nicest sector. His parents didn't talk about money much, but their giant white house with ivy and a picket fence sort of gave away their status. Yes, he had a job and drove a hand me down car, but the fact that he even got a car of his own was a huge luxury.
If he was being completely honest, he typically tried to avoid the south side of town. His parents had instilled him with an automatic caution towards "bad neighborhoods" like this one.
It was fine when they'd gone there in broad daylight, but at night it was beginning to dawn on him where he was. He just resolved himself to hurry up and get what he'd come for, and then he could head home.
Apparently, though, his car had other ideas. He could make out the lights of the comic book store up ahead on the next block when his car started making worrying spluttering noises. He pulled over to the curb and looked down to his dash for answers. He finally noticed the temperature warning light shining. Uh oh. How long had that been on?
"What the hell?" Cas grumbled. It had been cold out, especially right now after sun down. How on earth could his engine be overheating? He knew better than to ignore it though and shut his engine off. "Really great timing." He huffed before opening the door and walking around to the hood of the car. He would check out the problem for himself, and if possible, fix it.
When he brought the hood up, he was immediately greeted by a huge billow of smoke in the face. He coughed and sputtered, immediately backing away from the vehicle. So much for playing mechanic, he thought. He was way out of his element. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, watching his car, now barely visible through the giant cloud of white smoke emanating from its hood.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, seeking his phone. He felt it and sighed in relief before pressing the power button and groaning in frustration at the black screen that refused to light up. It was dead. He couldn't believe it. Could anything else possibly go wrong right now?
He resisted the urge to kick his car because it was definitely screwed up enough already.
He took stock of his surroundings. He could still see the block where the comic book shop was, but that was no longer his first concern. Next to him was a small corner convenience store and Chinese takeout restaurant and across the street were some shabby apartments with rusting fire escapes and a crumbling facade. It looked practically abandoned, and the single street light illuminating its exterior flickered, giving the building an even more eerie presence. He decided the convenience store was his best bid for help.
He crossed the threshold into the brightly lit store. He passed the aisles of chips and drinks and made his way up to the checkout counter where a guy with long brown hair was lazily flipping through a magazine.
The guy didn't give any sign that he saw Cas, and he coughed a little to get his attention. "Uh, excuse me?"
The guy made a scene of slowly and dramatically closing his magazine and looking up at Cas annoyed. "What do you want?"
Cas matched the guy's annoyed look. It was late, he was stranded, and he did not need to deal with this guy's attitude right now. With a forced calm he replied, "Well, uh, my car just broke down outside."
"And what do you want me to do about it?" the guy raised his eyebrow.
"I don't know, do you at least have a phone I could borrow?"
"Sorry, pal, landline's broken."
Well wasn't that just perfect. He was just preparing to turn around and go to the takeout place to see if they had a phone when a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks.
"What's the problem with your car?"
No. It couldn't be. But he had to check.
He spun around to see him standing there. It was the stranger he hadn't stopped thinking about since the night before, standing right in front of him, holding a Coke and pack of peanut M&M's to checkout, looking just as gorgeous as he remembered.
He watched as the boy's face shifted from curious and helpful to surprise and recognition, and then a giant grin broke out across his face.
"Fancy meeting you here, Cas."
Cas gave his own shy smile. "Hey, um-?"
"Dean."
Cas was grinning now. "Hello, Dean."
Maybe his car breaking down wasn't actually such a bad thing. After all, the universe works in mysterious ways…