Chapter Two – Green Eyes
When Dean reached the back of the room, apparently alone, as proven by the sight of Castiel sitting in the middle of the room, Charlie and Dorothy shared a sly look. Dean knew that look, hell, he feared that look. That look never meant anything good for him.
"So," Charlie began innocently, "Who's the new kid?"
Dean groaned, knowing exactly where this was going. Curse him for not being so damn obvious about everything. "Charlie, please just leave it be, okay? Just this once."
"No can do, Dean-o," added Dorothy with a grin. "We made it our New Year's Resolution this year to get you laid, and laid you shall get."
Dean raised an eyebrow at his friends. "You dedicated your New Year's Resolution to my sex life?"
"Doesn't that say a lot, though?" Dorothy asked. Dean simply glared at her, plopping down in the seat behind Charlie.
"Please?" Charlie asked, her voice quiet and her eyes showing nothing but honest concern. "After everything with Lisa-"
"No, we're not talking about that." Dean said, but once he saw the wounded expression on his best friend's face, he caved. "Okay, fine. His name is Castiel, or, well, Cas."
"Cas, huh?" Charlie said, smiling at her friend. "Already giving him a nickname?"
"Shut up," Dean said, smacking her lightly with his notebook as his face flushed.
Dorothy chuckled. "So, when should we be expecting our wedding invites in the mail, Winchester?"
By this point Dean's cheeks were practically glowing with how red they were. He looked down at his desk, muttering, "I hate you both."
They both smiled at him, "Aw, we love you, too." Charlie replied, patting her friend on the head. "Now, we've just gotta get you your man."
Dean just sighed, knowing better than to argue. Instead, his eyes landed on a familiar hair of messy dark hair a few rows over and toward the front. The boy was furiously writing away, although he probably didn't even need to, given it was only his first day. His face was all scrunched-up with concentration, just slightly frustrated and completely adorable.
Adorable, Dean thought, fighting the urge to groan from his dissatisfaction, Great.
He was so fucking screwed.
•○•○•
Castiel, over the course of his day, had heard many things said about him. It was kind of funny, really, how he could be there for only one day and already have people thinking they had him all figured out. That morning, in English, he'd heard the first rumor about him. Apparently, according to some dark-haired girl, who he later learned was named Alex, sitting a few rows over from him, he had actually been involved in the... incident. Hell, she'd said, maybe he'd helped orchestrate the whole thing and the cops just couldn't prove it.
By fifth period, he actually had to lay his head down on his desk, he was so exhausted. Having heard at least six different variations of the same rumor, he just couldn't deal with it anymore. He'd kind of expected this, considering how it all went down, but this? This was extreme.
Before he knew it, he was being snapped out of it by a familiar baritone. "Hey, Cas- buddy, you okay?"
He lifted his head up, glanced to his side where Dean stood, looking concerned. "Cas?" he asked.
Dean blushed, then looked down at his feet in an attempt to hide it, rubbing the back of his neck in what looked like embarrassment. "I um, well, Castiel is kind of a mouthful, isn't it?"
"I see," Castiel said, considering it. Cas. It was much better than Gabriel calling him Cassie, he supposed.
"It's okay if you don't like it, though. Don't just go with it on my account." Dean assured, hurriedly. His blush had darkened to show off his freckles. Freckles! Could he get anymore adorable?
"No, no," Castiel said, shaking his head and flashing him a small, real smile. "It's fine, I- I think I like it."
Dean let out a breath, relief spreading across his handsome face. "Great."
They just continued looking at each other for a moment before they looked away, a blush breaking out on both of their faces.
"Right," Dean cleared his throat, meeting the other boy's gaze hesitantly. "Would you mind if I sat here? I mean, it's totally fine if you're saving the seat for someone, I just, um- I was just wondering."
Cas, while Dean was still mid-sentence, pulled out the chair next to him and gestured toward it with his hand. "Dean, just take the seat."
"Right," he repeated, sitting down with an almost shocked expression on his face, like he couldn't quite believe that Cas had said yes. It made him sad, seeing that look on the face of someone who seemed so kind. Dean fidgeted in his seat some, looking a bit overwhelmed. "Um-"
"So Physics, huh?" Cas asked, trying to distract the other boy, who seemed to be getting more uneasy by the second. He hoped it wasn't because of him. "You must be really smart."
Before Dean could get a single word out, the lesson began. Mr. Devereaux spent the period yammering on about Thermodynamics, while Castiel scribbled down notes as well as try to keep up with what he was actually saying. Dean, however, seemed to be having no trouble at all, only occasionally copying something down. And, yet, despite his lack of note taking, every single time Mr. Devereaux asked a question, Dean had the answer.
Castiel, while he wasn't exactly stupid, could never do any of that. He got good grades because he worked his ass off for them, studying late into the night and throwing himself into his work to get the A's he so desperately wanted. But Dean Winchester, he seemed to be another story entirely.
•○•○•
When Dean came home after school to find his father's boots sitting next to the door, his stomach dropped. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to have his father there, really, he was, but whenever John Winchester came home, there was the potential for trouble.
"Dean?" he heard called from what sounded like the living room, "Is that you, son?"
"Yeah, Dad, it's me." Dean replied, slipping off his boots and setting them next to his father's. He made his way to the living room entry way, leaning around and peering at John, who was settled at the cluttered desk next to the patio door. "Sammy's at debate club, so he should be home by four."
"And who's picking him up?" his father asked, absentmindedly, as he shifted through a file in his hand.
"One of his little nerd friends' mom is supposed to drive him home after." Dean entered the room fully, moving to sit near his father, which just so happened to be on the loveseat.
"Dean, you shouldn't be handing out responsibilities like that to other people." John said, shaking his head and finally looking up from his work, his face conveying his disappointment in Dean. Then again, what else was new. "Sam is your responsibility when I'm gone, not the whole damn town's."
"I'm sorry, I just-" Dean tried, but knew it was pointless, so simply trailed off. He just wanted to come home and get started on his homework, to work on the extra work Mr. Devereaux had given him when he had managed to move a full chapter ahead of the rest of the class, hell, maybe he just wanted an hour of just him and Charlie trash-talking to each other over a game of GTA. But he knew none of that would matter to John, so he didn't bother. "I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."
John nodded, looking pleased. "Good," he said, picking up the file once again, only this time gesturing for Dean to come forward.
Dean made to leave the room and head upstairs, but just before he crossed the threshold, John said, "And Dean?"
"Yes, sir?" Dean replied, trying to think of what else he could have possibly done wrong. He'd kept Sam fed, clothed, and safe, so he wasn't quite sure what else it could be.
"There's a Rugaru problem in Kentucky, so I'll be gone for about a week or two." John told him. He looked at his son seriously, "I don't need to remind you what I need you to do, do I?"
"Look after Sammy," Dean replied automatically, the concept practically drilled into his brain from years of having it said to him. He knew his job, his place in their family. He was to protect Sammy no matter what, from anything that could do him harm.
But, he sometimes wondered, whose job was it to protect him?
•○•○•
Upon arriving home, Castiel was greeted with the sight of his twin bundled up on the couch in a big fleece blanket, her eyes watery and nose red from blowing it. Despite all of this, Anna grinned when she saw him, waving him over.
Castiel sighed, plopping down next to her on the couch, letting his legs drape over his sister's. "I can't believe Michael let you stay home."
"Excuse me?" Anna responded, making a grand gesture toward herself. "Does my snot and zombiness seriously not equate to being sick enough to stay home?"
Castiel shrugged, sinking back into couch cushions with a sigh. "I don't know. I just... today was an interesting day."
"Oh?" Anna asked, her interest peaked. "How do you mean?"
Castiel, much to his sister's surprise, actually began to blush a bit. "I um," he cleared his throat. "I sort of met this guy-"
"A guy?" Anna squealed excitedly, moving over to sit closer to her brother and pinching his cheek. "Oh, my baby brother has a crush!"
"Okay," Cas began, rubbing his cheek where she'd pinched. "One, ouch. And two, you're 12 minutes older, get over it."
Anna's grin widened. "You didn't deny the crush though."
He looked down at his hands folded in his lap. "I've only known him a day, Anna. One day does not a crush make."
"Maybe not," Anna conceded. "But you certainly have the potential to form one."
"Okay, enough of that." Cas said, standing up and stretching. "I'm going to go upstairs and... do something else."
As he turned to leave, though, he came face to face with Gabe, who was carrying an armful of snacks. His shoulders seemed to sag at Cas' words, and he lowered his stash onto the coffee table.
"Cassie isn't joining us for Novak family movie night?" he asked, a frown forming. "But it's tradition."
Cas blinked, confused. "Since when?" To the best of Cas' knowledge, the Novak family had never had a family movie night. Hell, he couldn't even remember the last time they had all sat down to do anything together outside of going to Mass.
"God, Cassie," Gabe groaned, settling down on the couch. "Maybe I wanted to start a new tradition. And with everything lately, we could definitely use something new around here."
Cas couldn't exactly argue with him there. Instead, he settled down for a movie marathon with his brother and sister, after, of course, fighting over what to watch and finally deciding on Poltergeist.
After about five different movies- Michael joined them by about the third one, once he'd arrived home from class- and consuming way too much junk food to ever be justifiable, Cas finally was let to go upstairs. He showered quickly before crawling into bed for the night, looking up at the ceiling. His mind kept being drawn back to that day and to the bright green eyes of the boy he couldn't stop thinking about. Dean Winchester was really something else. He was smart, kind, and just all around wonderful. This boy he'd only known for one day had already managed to utterly take hold of his thoughts, and he didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon.