Dean laid on Castiel's bed, watching him sitting on the foot of it with his laptop, typing furiously. Dean had spent the past week at Cas's house every afternoon planning, writing and not so rarely veering off track and talking for hours without realising. They would never talk about anything too specific, it was usually pointless chatter to pass the time. Though more often than not it would be Dean speaking and Castiel listening, never interrupting, as if enthralled by the words coming from his mouth.

Castiel breathed out slowly, shut the laptop and turned to face Dean who had propped himself up slightly on a mountain of pillows.

"Done" he said quietly. He had done most of the writing though the two had worked together on everything else, something Castiel hadn't thought Dean would be open to.

"Great! You did good Cas," Dean raised his hand for a high five but after being left hanging for several seconds with Castiel staring curiously at it, he dropped it awkwardly back down to the bed. The movement of Dean's arm shifted the hem of his shirt up slightly, showing a small sliver of skin. Castiel looked away, too embarrassed to be caught staring at the sight and silently scalding himself for reacting to such a frivolity. Though he soon determined that no sight of Dean could be considered in such low regard.

"I must say, I'm not upset for it to be over," though Castiel wasn't quite telling the truth. With the finishing of the assignment, Dean's daily visits would stop and he couldn't help but feel disappointed. As if he hadn't made the best of his short lived opportunity.

"Same here. Hey Cas, it's getting kinda late and Sammy's at home so I should probably go. I'll see you tomorrow though, right?" Dean shifted into a sitting position, legs hanging off the edge of the bed. He didn't miss the slight drop of the other boy's head and how his posture seemed to degrade before his eyes. Though Cas still looked up at him with a smile and nodded slightly.

"Sure Dean, I will see you tomorrow," Castiel followed Dean as he got up and made his way to the front door.

"Night Cas," Dean said with a wink. Castiel mumbled a good night before reluctantly shutting the door to hide his burning cheeks. He couldn't keep himself together around Dean, but he really didn't care.

x

Castiel got to school earlier than usual the next morning thanks to Gabriel's annoyingly cheerful mood, so he was left standing at entrance awaiting the arrival of a familiar pair of green eyes. He was not left waiting long, as soon Dean came into his view among the few other students slowly filing into the building. When their eyes met, both brightened considerably, though Dean appeared to be much more controlled.

"Hey Cas, hows it going?" Dean greeted when he reached the slightly shorter boy. Castiel had decided he would miss Dean coming over in the afternoons too much and had decided to ask him over properly, just for the two of them without the need to do schoolwork.

"Hello Dean, I was wondering," Castiel shifted his backpack awkwardly on his shoulder, "well I thought maybe- that you may want to come to my house again this afternoon? I enjoy your company and it would be nice to spend time with you away from school," he was afraid that he was beginning to ramble but Dean merely laughed in amusement as his shyness.

"Sure Cas, I'm sure Sammy can go home with a friend after school so I won't need to take him home again today," with this, Castiel grinned as Dean was willing to spend more time with him and he wouldn't have to give up their extra time together.

"Thank you Dean, my brother will be away this afternoon so he will not bother us," the two started walking into the school building together and separated to go to their respective lockers, knowing they would meet again for their first class.

x

PE. One of Dean's better subjects and one that, unlike most others, he actually looked forward too. They were doing athletics at the moment and Dean's hunting experience came in handy for almost every event as he was fast, agile and accurate.

He didn't see Cas until the class was being separated into groups and they were moved to opposite sides of the field. Dean was placed in the sprint first and Cas in javelin. While his classmates before him began their races he hung back until the end to watch Cas, attempting to remain as subtle as possible. While most of the other students got reasonable distances, Cas's throws passed them by at least three feet each time with the kid looking like he wasn't even trying. If anything, he seemed to he holding back.

Cas eventually met Dean's gaze and he looked away in the time it took Dean to blink in surprise. His next few throws were much less spectacular, landing among the cluster of everyone else's, appearing to land at a perfectly calculated average.

Dean's observance was cut short by his race being called up, though he still almost missed the whistle to go. He came first of course, getting an approving look from the supervising teacher as he recorded his result.

The rest of the period continued similarly, Dean -totally not creepily- watching Cas as they rotated activities seeing him instantly excel at each one but eventually reeling himself back to the other students levels. Dean marked this behaviour as odd and couldn't help but briefly wonder who Cas really was, it was unlikely any common person could have his level of skills. He really knew next to nothing about the kid. Almost as soon as the thought arrived was it moved to the back of Dean's mind to the slowly building pile of curiosity around the blue eyed boy.

PE finished faster than Dean would have liked, and he made his way to the changing rooms, finding Cas tucked away in a corner, removing his shirt with his back to the rest of the room. Dean tried not to appear to stare and to settle the warmth of his face but he couldn't help but take in all the details he could, which he knew a completely heterosexual person such as himself shouldn't really be doing. Though he couldn't deny there was a slight nagging want for Cas to turn around.

The boy's back was almost completely unmarked apart from a small circular scar of some sort just below one of his shoulder blades. It looked reasonable fresh, as though a hot poker had been pressed into the soft skin. Dean winced at the thought of anything like this happening to the poor kid.

Dean hurriedly busied himself with changing before he was caught staring any longer. Once he was done, he turned to find Castiel waiting patiently for him in the same place he had been a minute go, facing him this time. The blue eyes crinkled slightly with a smile and he turned towards the door waiting for Dean to start moving to their next class, English.

The two were seated silently, neither appeared to be paying much attention to the teacher rambling about themes and values of some book they were supposed to have read. Cas was busy staring out the window as he did for every class, caught up in his own world, oblivious to everything around him. When he wasn't looking out the window, he was watching Dean with curiosity. This slightly unnerved Dean at first but as it became more common he began to relax under the soft gaze, it almost began to become a comfort knowing he was safe under those eyes.

Dean was fiddling with his pen mulling over the various and few events of the day. He remembered the scar on Cas's back and spent a few more minutes in internal conflict of whether or not to ask him about it. His curiosity got the better of him.

"Hey, Cas?" Dean waited, and when he got no response he continued, "Earth to Cas?"

"Yes Dean?" Cas's face showed the faintest hints of a smile, though it tended to whenever he was around Dean, something the taller boy always tended to miss.

"Umm, I was wondering what the thing on your back was. The scar? What was it from?" Dean's eyes flicked to the area on Cas's back where he knew the small mark lay. While Castiel remained calm on the outside, internally he was floundering for a response. How could he explain the mark left from the bullet the hunter had shot into his wing? Was it even supposed to appear on the surface of his back? He had been unable to fly any reasonable distance for a week because of the injury.

"I ran into a tree a few days ago and must have gotten injured, I'm fine though Dean," Castiel came up with a poor excuse that he was sure Dean would see right through.

"You sure? 'cause-" Dean was cut off by a sharp warning from the teacher.

"Mr Winchester, surely you have been paying attention and have not been talking all class?" Dean simply rolled his eyes in response, gaining a glare from the teacher who he had gotten on the bad side of on his first day. He had been unable to voice his doubts for Castiel's excuse, which he was sure was a lie. The scar was too round to be a scratch from a tree branch and apart from their first meeting, Cas didn't seem to be someone to just walk into a tree.

Dean remained silent for the rest of the class, fuming at the teacher and wondering about the true origins of the mark, as they were obviously significant enough to warrant a lie. He eventually brushed it off as part of his strange obsession with Cas, a mark was a mark. It could mean nothing.

The bell for lunch couldn't have come sooner and within seconds Dean was out of his seat waiting at the door for Castiel, who was methodically packing his books away. Watching the boy like he was bordered on something he was definitely not willing to admit, not after a week and certainly not with a guy. Dean simply shook his head at the thought running persistently through his mind and walked beside Cas towards the cafeteria.

They chose a table towards the back of the cavernous room, sitting across from each other. Dean had the lunch Sam had insisted on packing him that morning, which made Dean laugh as he had always thought of himself as the parent figure to his little brother. Sammy had done well though, packing a reasonable sized slice of pie as well as a bacon sandwich. Dean had to smile, he and his brother knew each other better than anyone else could.

Dean grabbed a small packet of salt that has been packed with his sandwich and made no attempt to open it neatly. He ripped it with a fair amount of enthusiasm, half of the contents flying over Cas, who merely blinked at the small crystals flying towards him.

Castiel, not needing to eat, hadn't brought food with him, which didn't escape Dean's notice.

"Dude, don't you need to eat?" Dean asked, mouth half full of his sandwich. Castiel's head tilted slightly as he remembered Balthazar mentioning something about eating to 'blend in'. The thought was not very appealing to Castiel, as he found it unnecessary and a waste of time when he could be doing much more important things. Of which he had none since falling.

"I don't have any food," Cas simply stated, avoiding any reasons why. Dean gave a breathy laugh and pointed a fork full of pie at his mouth.

"Open up," he gave a flirty wink -which was of course a complete joke- and almost snorted with laughter at Cas's face as he obliged. Dean jokingly rolled his eyes and shoved the fork into his mouth, which clamped shut around it. As he pulled the fork away, Cas's eyes lit up at the burst of apple, cinnamon and sugar creating the perfect cascade of harmonious flavours in his mouth. He began to chew happily on it and swallowing like it was the best thing he had ever tasted. Dean had to hold himself back from laughing any harder than he already was.

"Geez Cas, you'd think you've never had a pie before," Cas gave Dean a sheepish look in response and Dean's eyebrows raised in surprise, what, was the kid brought up in a home so strict he couldn't even have pie?

"I've never had need for something as unnecessary as pie, Dean," Dean almost considered sharing the rest of his pie -almost- but that was something he never did with anyone. Dean's mind jolted slightly, he didn't even share food, let alone pie, with his brother. Why was he sharing it with some crazy suspicious guy he barely knew. Dean internally slapped himself, he was getting way too attached to guy and no matter how 'cute' he was, he wasn't going to let Cas get to him. Especially not in the way he was.

"Do you /ever/ eat?" Dean laughed but was almost waiting for a negative answer. Cas's smile looked forced but Dean ignored it and accepted his reply of 'of course I do', hoping that his suspicions around the boy were pure paranoia, of which he knew he had a severe case of.

"Dean, I do not mean to pry but the other day, when you disregarded my... Beliefs. Do you really have that poor an outlook on the world?" Castiel knew this wasn't a usual conversational topic, though he couldn't help but notice how negative Dean's attitude towards everything was and he was curious as to the origin of such thoughts. Dean was struck at the abruptness of the question, though could see no harm in answering it.

"Who wouldn't? The world is screwed up and theres no one to fix it, mean come on, every day theres murders and thefts. Even the stupid museums in the state are being broken into for friggin' props" He winced at the mention of the reason he was in the school in the first place, though could barely contain the on coming rant, "the world is always gonna have its demons and anything /pure/ would have no chance," Cas's eyes softened as Dean spoke. A look of pity -it could almost be considered despair- clouded their stunning blue and Dean was all to ready to reach out and comfort him. He mentally scoffed at himself at how hypocritical he sounded.

What scared him the most though, was the feeling of warmth spreading throughout his whole being at the thought of being close, of touching Cas. He refused to entertain this frame of mind any further and cut it off, ignoring every sensation directed towards the boy in front of him.

Castiel wanted to tell Dean what he was more than ever, though he knew if he did, Balthazar or Gabriel would wipe his memory for sure and force him to move away. He would be shunned for getting to attached to a single human in so little time, though they could never understand that he had been within Dean's grasp from the moment the human had entered the world, before they had even truly met.

He didn't miss the seemingly fleeting mention of what could only have been his own acts of breaking into museums. He calmed the bubbling sense of panic within him by reminding himself that Dean could know nothing of what was truly happening. Of course the incidents would have been reported in the newspaper, it would have been unusual for them to have gone by unpublished. The only way Dean could possibly be of any threat would be if he were something not quite human -which his soul showed he clearly wasn't- or if he were a hunter. The latter had briefly passed through his thoughts, though Dean was so young to be risking his life for such a seemingly endless and pointless profession -if it could be considered even that-.

Any rebuttal seemed pointless against Dean, so Castiel merely returned his gaze, head tilting in silent questioning of such a hopeless mindset. He briefly considered delving into Dean's mind to see what he was thinking, though he doubted Dean would want his privacy invaded without the consent he couldn't give.

There were moments when Castiel wished he could have been completely cut off from his grace, it gave him too much power that he had to remind himself not to use as he would have in Heaven. It would also make his existence much easier, he would have no secrets to hide and could be his true self, unrestrained, around Dean.

The bell rang and the crowd of students started reluctantly vacating the room and moving towards their respective classes. Dean and Castiel soon followed after being shocked out of their unusually intense gaze that, between anyone else, would have been downright creepy. Though to them seemed almost natural. As though words were not needed to communicate everything they wanted to share.

After agreeing to meet at the side of the school after it was finished, the two reluctantly parted for their only class they did not have together, and the moment Cas left Dean's eye line, he felt heavier. Like reality had come crashing down around him and he realised just how wrong it was to be getting so close to the guy. He was here to take down the weird winged thief and as soon as his job was done, he could to leave. As much as Bobby would love him to stay he couldn't. He couldn't handle having ties to a place, he couldn't handle losing anyone again. Which with him being Dean Winchester, seemed to happen to everyone he loved.

Dean never usually got attached to someone in such short time, so the idea that Cas could be imposing on his usual routine of avoiding everyone and leaving before anyone realised he existed, was far from normal. The guy had made such an impact already, from the lingering gaze to the occasional glance to the side. Dean's stomach felt uncomfortable every time their eyes met and he felt warmer than normal from his fingertips to his toes.

This was again, far from normal.

He could even go as far as doubting Cas's true intentions. His beliefs matched up too well with the truth when it came to the supernatural and he hadn't missed the spark of recognition, fear and maybe even /panic/ in his eyes when he has brushed over the break ins at the museums. He hadn't reacted to the salt spilling on him, which was of course intentional. While Dean's intuition was usually near perfect when it came to who -or what- he was talking to, he just couldn't understand Cas in the slightest.

His mind was racing when he slumped into a chair in the back of the classroom, he favoured being at the back and out of sight of most students, a trait he shared with Cas. Suspicions were being raised, each more disturbing than the last. He outright denied each one until there came one where he could give no logical reason as to why not. He shook his head slightly, trying to clear it and find some reason why he would be wrong, though he couldn't find one.

It would be a huge jump to ridiculous conclusions but he knew the kid wasn't normal and there was no other possible explanation. He couldn't just let this slip by. Slight anger bubbled to the surface, clouding his thought process. Though whether it was focused at Cas or Dean's own inability to realise what was right in front of him, he didn't know.

He decided to confront Cas about it after school, where they decided to meet up. He couldn't focus on the lesson going on around him and almost didn't realise school was over when it eventually came. He was shaking slightly, nervousness taking hold. Ignoring the violent butterflies attacking his stomach, he forced himself to walk out the school building and prepared himself for doing something potentially incredibly stupid.

x

Castiel eagerly packed up his few belongings and forced himself to leave the classroom calmly, not wanting to draw the attention of others. The cool wind hit him as he exited the large building and he spent a few moments looking for the place Dean had suggested meeting. It didn't seem like he was there at that moment so Castiel made his way over to the side of the school.

He started to turn towards the entrance to see if Dean was outside yet when he let out a surprised yelp as he was grabbed from behind and shoved against the wall on the other side of the corner. His hand flew up automatically to the stranger's forehead as he prepared himself to let his power loose on whoever was threatening him. He quietly gasped as he saw the bright green eyes, burning with anger staring down at him incriminatingly.

"D-Dean?" Castiel's head tilted in confusion at Dean's aggressive behaviour. Castiel's eyes widened and he help back a whimper at what Dean said next, his cool breath brushing over his face and sending a chill down his spine.

"I know what you are"

A/N: Hello all, I'm sorry this chapter took ages! I promise I'm not moving too fast with this fic, just wait and see.