A/N: Thanks for the reviews. They mean a lot to me and keep me going. So keep 'em up.
Dean walked into his room after a long day of classes to find Chuck typing away. As usual. He was thankful that Chuck was such a quiet roommate. Especially on days like today. He wanted nothing more than to just crash on his bed, and melt into the mattress, and forget about the world. And Calculus. Fuck Calculus.
He was actually surprised when Chuck decided to speak. "Dean, have you seen Cas lately?"
"Uh, no? Was I supposed to be looking for him? I leave him alone, he leaves me alone. We got a system going on."
"Well, it's just that no one's seen him in a few days or so. He's usually out patrolling the halls, or something."
"And you never thought to go check his room?"
There was silence, except for the clicking of keys.
"You should go check, Dean. What if he's dead?"
"That's a pleasant image..."
"Come on, you know you want to."
Dean sighed. The habit was apparently very catchy. "He probably just went home. Or to Gabriel's."
"No. His car is here. Has been the whole time. Hasn't moved an inch."
"Damn it, Chuck." He threw down his backpack on his bunk, ran his hand through his hair, and headed back out the door. He wasn't going to admit he was kind of worried. Cas just doesn't up and vanish like that.
Dean did the obvious, and went to Cas' door and knocked. There was no answer, and the door was locked, but he could hear something from behind the door. "Cas? You in there?"
No answer.
He paced a bit back and forth, weighing his options. He knew that they kept a master key at the front desk. He also knew that the front desk girl had been eyeing him like a piece of meat. But if Cas wasn't in his room, would he really appreciate Dean sneaking in like that? He'd likely kill him.
Figuring there weren't really any other options, he headed towards the front desk.
He put on his best macho guy bravado, and swaggered up to the desk. "Well hello there, Jo."
Jo giggled. "What's with the pimp strut?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I always walk like this."
"Yeah right. Can I help you with something?"
"Actually, yeah... You can." Dean winked at her.
"Uh... What can I help you with?"
"I kind of need the master room key."
She laughed. "There's no way."
"Please, Jo? I'll make it worth your while." He wiggled his eyebrows a bit.
"As tempting as that is, Dean, I'd lose my job."
"You don't understand. My RA is gone, and I'm locked out of my room." It was a shitty lie, but it was all he could think of at the moment.
"Can't your roommate let you in?"
"He's gone, too."
She was silent for a minute, but finally sighed, "Dean, I could lose my job. Seriously."
"No one has to know. It'll be our little secret."
"If you lose this key, I swear to God I will hunt you down. And if I lose my job? You will be buying me dinner every night for the rest of the semester."
"Yeah, yeah. Deal."
She gave him a stern, threatening look before finally handing him the master room key.
Cas' room was dark when Dean opened the door. He saw a pile of tissues on the floor and a huddled form laying on the bed.
"Cas?"
"Go. Away."
"Dude, what the hell? Where have you been?"
Cas rolled over, facing Dean now and threw a crumpled tissue at him. "What, did you miss me?"
"Wow, you look like death."
"Thanks. You know how to make a guy feel special." Cas coughed some more, and winced in pain.
"That doesn't sound too healthy. You should see the nurse, or something."
Cas didn't respond, only laid there, staring at Dean blankly.
"Come on. I'll take you to see her. She'll make you all better." When he grabbed Cas, he immediately felt how warm he was. He moved his hand up to Cas' forehead, "You're burning up, man. Have you taken anything? Have you been drinking your fluids?"
Cas coughed some more, "No, mother."
"I'm serious, Cas. You need some help. I'll be right back."
Dean quickly headed back for his room, and rummaged through his drawers ignoring questions from Chuck. He found a box of Nyquil capsules that he pocketed, as well as all the spare change he could find. He could skip laundry for a while. He then made a beeline for the vending machines.
He arrived back to Cas' room, pushing the door open with his hip, his arms full of supplies.
"What are you doing, Winchester?"
"I'm gonna fix you up, asshole."
He unloaded his supplies onto Cas' desk, and began running through the plan in his head. What did he do whenever Sammy was sick? Drugs, drinks, food. He left the room once again, heading for the bathroom. He grabbed a bunch of paper towel, wetting it with cold water before heading back.
"Okay. Dr. Dean is in. We'll have you up and running this boot camp once again in no time."
"Dean, just leave me alone."
"Shut up." He approached Cas' bed, pushed him flat on his back, but not until he fluffed his pillows. He placed the cold, wet paper towels on Cas' forehead, hoping to help cool him down.
He headed over to the desk, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the box of Nyquil, struggling to open the little plastic and foil packaging around the pills. He grabbed the newly purchased Gatorade, and made it back to the bed. "Here, scoot over a little."
Oddly enough, Cas did. Dean sat on the edge of the bed, Gatorade and drugs in hand.
"I know you haven't been drinking, because you look like shit. So, we're gonna do this the easy way or the hard way. Up to you."
Cas attempted to glare at Dean, but just ended up looking pathetic.
"Hard way it is." Dean pulled Cas up, leaning him forward. "Open up. Here comes the choo-choo."
"I'm going to kill you in your sleep."
"'Atta boy." Dean shoved the Nyquil in his mouth. "Now swallow." Dean handed him the Gatorade.
Dean watched as Cas took a few gulps of the Gatorade. Dean gulped as well.
"Okay, I have some Cheez-Its, pretzels, and a Nutri-Grain bar. The vending machine didn't really have a lot of options... Take your pick."
He heard Cas groan.
"Either you eat it yourself, or I'm gonna feed it to you. And I won't be gentle," Dean said with a smirk.
"What did I do to deserve this?"
Dean just stared at Cas, waiting for his answer.
Cas finally conceded, "Fine. Cheez-Its, please."
"Now was that so hard?" Dean handed him the tiny packet of crackers, and Cas began to hesitantly eat them. Probably the first thing he's eaten in a few days from the looks of him.
Dean looked around the room, trying to get a sense of Castiel. Last time he was in here, he was hardly able to open his eyes, let alone look around. For such a spacious single room, it was rather sparse. There was a desk, a dresser, Cas' bed, a nightstand, and a TV. Nothing hung on the walls, so it was just a plain white and kind of sterile. Kinda fit Cas' personality, now that he thought about it.
Dean glanced over, and noticed Cas had finished his crackers, so he helped him lay back down, flipping the paper towel on his forehead. He got off the bed, and moved over to the desk, pulling out the chair. He plopped down, finding the remote, and flipped the TV on.
"What are you doing now?" Cas groaned.
"Chuck doesn't let me watch TV in the room when he's in there, so... I'm gonna chill, and I'm making sure you don't hurl. Win-win. Just go to sleep, you won't even notice I'm in here."
Soon after, Dean heard soft snores coming from Cas' bed. He smiled a bit, and opened another packet of Nyquil, leaving the pills on Cas' nightstand. Deciding he didn't want to disturb him, he shut off the TV and headed back to his room.
"He's alive, Chuck. You can stop worrying."
"That's good." He barely looked away from the screen to acknowledge Dean.
Dean sighed as he crashed on his bed. He figured he better work on his homework before he fell too far behind. Unfortunately, he fell asleep instead. He awoke 4 hours later with a start. He could have kicked himself for falling asleep. The homework wasn't going to finish itself. But something in his gut made him want to go check on Castiel.
He hopped out of bed and headed back to Cas' room. When he opened the door, though, Cas wasn't there. Dean wasn't going to panic. Nope. Maybe it just meant he was feeling better?
Dean wandered up and down the hall, hoping to maybe run into him. But there was no sight of him. He figured he's check Cas' room one more time, just to make sure, but something caught his attention on the way back. In the bathroom, he could hear snoring. He saw someone laying, no, sleeping on the floor in the stall.
"Cas, is that you?" The thoughts of revenge popped into his head as he saw Cas sleeping there on the floor, but he kinda felt bad for the guy. He sighed, and reached down, hefting Cas up, bridal-style in his arms. "Come on, big guy."
He carried him back to Cas' room, and laid him on his bed. Cas rolled towards the edge of the bed, apparently seeking some warmth, and wrapped himself around Dean's waist, hugging tightly. He heard him sigh contentedly.
This caught Dean off-guard, as the added weight threw him off balance, and he fell backwards onto the floor, bringing Cas down with him.
"Ow! Damn it, Cas. Wake up!"
"What happened?" Cas asked sleepily.
"I, uh... You... Well, you rolled in your sleep, and fell off your bed."
"Why am I on top of you?"
"That's a wonderful question. I'm wondering that, too."
"How did I get back in my room?"
"I found you in the bathroom. Guess you didn't like those Cheez-Its that much."
"Sorry..."
Cas just continued to lie there, a heavy weight on Dean's body..., not that he minded all that much. In a sense, he was getting his just deserts.
"Hey, Cas?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you mind getting off me? It's time for you to take more medicine, anyway."