Chapter 2
'He Dreams Of Flying'
Okay guys, I have a lot of stuff going on right now. It shouldn't interfere with this story since my files are on my ipod, but if I do end up updating late or something I trust you'll all forgive me? Okay, good, good. Enjoy this week's chapter!
I do NOT own Supernatural, nor do I intend to profit in any way from this fan work.
Castiel woke up the next day feeling groggy, his body seeming attached to the bed underneath him. He let out a groan as he glanced at his clock. He had woken up an hour early.
Knowing that trying to go back to sleep was a lost cause, he slowly stretched, arching off of the bed before softly settling back down, grabbing the spare blanket on the foot of his bed and covering up his torso up in an extra layer, reveling in the warmth. It was honestly much too hot in his little, stuffy room, but Castiel liked to overheat. It was a bit if a dilemma actually, he loved the snow but hated the cold.
He reached for his iPod, fumbling around on the dresser in the dark for a moment before his fingers finally wrapped around the rubber case, and he pulled it towards him eagerly. Using his extra blankets as a prop, he set it gently down on top of the pile and started Sherlock. He didn't get much time for that kind of stuff often, so it was nice to be able to have a moment to relax and do something for himself for a change.
He was on the first episode of the second season, halfway through it actually, when he glanced over at the clock and reluctantly paused it, getting up. He needed to take a shower this morning, it wasn't something that he could skip, because he'd already overslept and missed the opportunity yesterday.
He grabbed his towel and walked across the hallway to the bathroom, making only a quick stop to grab some clean underwear. (He didn't like walking around in just a towel- in a house with someone else, there was always that nagging fear in the back of his mind that he would drop his towel or something and it would be embarrassing for everyone involved.)
He looked in the full-length mirror, glancing at his reflection. It was one of the things that fascinated him, actually. How you could look into a special glass and suddenly, you were viewing yourself from an outside perspective. He wished that there was a mirror that worked for your actions and feelings, too. It would be so much easier to pinpoint what you were feeling if you could look directly at it.
Then again, Cas wasn't always sure that he wanted to know what he was feeling.
He slowly slid his pants off, then lifted his shirt above his head one inch at a time, focusing on keeping his wings from springing forth. He managed to keep them relatively still, and he smiled at the triumph. He was getting better at controlling them, despite never actually practicing.
He quickly unclothed the rest of himself, leaving his socks and underwear in a pile by the door.
He turned on the shower, waiting until the water heated up the proper amount to step into it. He flinched as it hit his wings, every drop seeming to remind him that he was never going to be normal, no matter what he tried.
Their weight started to increase as they absorbed a small amount of water, and he couldn't resist but shaking them out behind him. He had to admit that it felt good to move around a little bit; his muscles were so stiff...
He groaned a little as he stretched for once, his wings hitting the walls as he did. He angled them upwards more and stretched again, but he still wasn't able to completely stretch. They were six feet long after all. To keep them disguised, he had to wrap his feathers around his stomach and always wear clothing that was three sides too big.
He reached for the shampoo, applying a generous amount before he started massaging it into his scalp, humming softly. The water trailed down his skin, seeming to pick up his dirt and worry and stress like a snowball running down a hill picks up snow. He slowly relaxed into the water's touch.
His mind wandered around, and suddenly, he was daydreaming. The hallways were crowded and he walked easily, avoiding people like it was his second nature. (Well, it probably was a second nature to Cas by now.) He walked into his French room to find that Dean Winchester was sitting on his desk. He walked over and they started talking, exchanging light conversation and laughing.
He snapped out of it, his hands stopping from where they were working to wash the soap out of his hair.
What? Why did he find himself suddenly imagining talking to Dean? It's not like he enjoyed the other's company, he was annoying as hell! So why did Castiel find himself thinking about him?!
The serenity of his shower was ruined, dang it!
He sighed and finished washing off his body, not bothering to get his wings today. He actually had a small gland at the base of them that produced oil to preen with, but he was just too drained right now. Plus, it wasn't like anybody was going to see the things; he was wearing a shirt.
He patted himself dry and put on his underwear, wrapping a towel around his waist anyways to cross over to his room. He had a couple of shirts and a pair of pants laying out, so he grabbed random things to make an outfit out of. It was a miracle that he managed not to clash.
He wrapped his wings slowly around his body, packing them tightly against his stomach and curling them around to touch his ribs again, overlapping them. He slipped his shirt over his head after that, letting it cover the feathers in a layer of soft fabric. His clothes were always a little thick (except for his gym clothes, but he had to be careful in those), as to hide his wings better. It made it a little too hot, but he had learned to live with it. In fact, he preferred to be hot now.
He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, grateful that he was able to keep it light weight most days.
Castiel walked downstairs, walking into the kitchen and locating a large sack of apples that he had managed to scrounge up the money from his grandmother for. She was sweet and still came to visit them every once in awhile, to make sure they were doing okay and that the electricity was paid. It typically was, of course, but Castiel would be lying through his teeth if he said that they always had food. His father worked meager jobs with meager wages, and they could sometimes be few and far between. He had no clue where he got the money for liquor, but it seemed like they always had some of that. The honey-colored stuff and it's empty bottles were constantly littered around the house. Castiel nearly drove himself insane sometimes trying to pick all of it up.
He paused for a moment, biting his lip. He was hungry now and he really should eat breakfast, but he didn't know if he really wanted to. He was scared that he'd end up missing the bus if it took too long, and he didn't want to be stuck on the bus with an apple core he was unable to throw away.
He heard the bus stop a few houses down and his decision was made for him. He shoved both of them into his lunch bag and ran out the door, glad that he had grabbed his trench coat before he came downstairs.
He climbed onto the bus panting a little, cursing those tall steps to get in. Honestly, kindergarteners rode these things, the least they could do is give the steps an appropriate height!
"Good morning, Castiel." The bus driver said flatly, putting on a show as if she was annoyed. A bit of her usual warm smile slipped through the facade though, and Castiel could see right through it.
"Good morning." He responded, slinging his stuff into the seat before sliding in himself. The doors closed with a woosh of lukewarm air, and they were on the way to school.
He daydreamed on the way there, eyes unfocused and smiling just the slightest as he thought. The doors opened again and his peers all stood, chattering away. He broke from his trance and retrieved his items, scooting quickly out of his seat and briskly walking to the French room.
He walked back to his seat and sat down, retrieving his mythology book from his backpack and opening it up on his desk. He did his best to look unapproachable.
The minutes ticked by like hours, slow and annoying as hell. He was tense and kept waiting for Dean to walk through the door with a dopey smile or Anna on his arm, but he didn't. The bell ring sounded louder than ever when it sounded, the noise echoing around in Cas's head. He looked around to see if Dean had sat somewhere else, but he found that he was nowhere to be seen.
Castiel wouldn't admit to himself that there was a pinprick of disappointment.
He reached into his bag again, this time retrieving his French text book and opening it up to where he had shoved the paper he was using to answer daily questions. He got it out and his eyes shifted to the board, just in time to see the door swing open with force.
"Sorry I'm late." Came the slightly gruff call from the front of the classroom. His eyes focused in on the form of Dean Winchester, who stood at the front of the room proudly. The teacher narrowed her eyes, gesturing towards the back of the room, towards where Castiel was sitting.
"I'd suggest you go and select your seat, Winchester." She said. Dean nodded his head and walked back to the classroom, bringing along with him the eyes of every student in the medium-sized classroom.
A few of the eyes drifted off, but most people continued to pay rapt attention as he took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it, passing it over to Castiel's desk. The teacher had already turned to the board, but it felt to Castiel like she was the only one that didn't see it. He knew that the rumors would increase today, and he was already surprised that he wasn't hearing them himself. Oh well, he knew today wasn't going to end up the best anyways.
With a sigh, he unfolded the paper.
'Hey. How are you?'
'I'm tired. What about you? Did you... How did things go with Anna?'
'Anna? What do you mean?' Castiel felt frustration jolt through him. He was just curious gosh darnnit, why did Dean have to play dumb?
'The girl with red hair, Anna. You were talking to her yesterday.' Castiel said. He waited a moment before passing the note back to Dean, and he saw a sultry smirk appear on his face for a second, before it flashed away into a genuine smile as he picked up his pen to respond.
'Why, are you jealous? ;-)' He read. Castiel felt his face darken with color. Of course not! Why the hell would he be jealous? He was just curious! He furiously scribbled down his reply.
'Of course I'm not, don't be ridiculous! I was just wondering what was going on!'
'Well, nothing is "going on." She wanted to talk to me so I walked over and she practically threw herself at me. She seems nice enough, but I don't see anything happening.'
'Okay, I was just asking.' Castiel said. He tried to ignore the relief that what Dean said had brought. He was confused by it; he didn't even like this boy, didn't want to tolerate him in the least bit. The fact that he wasn't whoring himself around shouldn't have come as a relief to Castiel.
'But if you wanted to flirt with me, that would be a different story.' Dean wrote, then tossed it back to Castiel. Castiel looked blankly at the note, the crimson from earlier starting to come back into his complexion. Almost the entire tip of his ear was bright red, and Dean felt a sort of triumph in getting this reaction out of him.
He wasn't lying, either. He had never really thought about it, but he'd always considered himself bi before... Dean wanted to get to know him, at the very least. Plus, he'd be lying if he said he didn't think Castiel was cute.
Either way, he knew he'd be whatever he needed to for Cas. But there had been a couple of other exceptions, nobody he'd actually been serious about before he met Castiel, but... He'd known he was bi for awhile. He'd just never found a guy before he thought he could be interested in.
Castiel felt a little bit of anger and a lot of embarrassment from the note. Who did Dean think he was, hitting on him? They'd only known each other for two days, and he was already making advances like this! Towards Castiel, of all people!
'What exactly are you trying to get at right now? We've known each other for two days. We're you dared to try and make friends with me or something?' Castiel asked, and then threw the note back, crossing his arms (TOTALLY not pouting) and leaning back in his chair, ignoring the pressure he was putting on his wings.
'Calm down, dude. No, I wasn't dared to do this, I may be an idiot sometimes but I'm not that stupid. I just want to get to know you, sorry if I come off a little strong.'
Castiel read over the note, and as much as he wished he didn't, he felt a little bad for accusing Dean of doing this on a dare. He might be annoying and sarcastic from what Castiel could tell so far, but he wasn't a douche bag.
'Okay, fine. I'm not really interested in making friends right now.' Castiel wrote. He felt a little sad at it, though. He thought he had long been over the pain of the fact that he would have to go without getting too close to anyone, since he had set his own boundaries so long ago, but it still stung a bit to have to say it.
The thing was, he could tell already that Dean was a pusher. Dean would push for more and push to get closer, he'd shove to break down Cas's walls. If the walls came crumbling down, he wasn't sure what he'd do. Dean would run away as soon as he told him about his wings, just like his mother had. Worse, though, Dean could tell other people.
Cas just couldn't take that chance.
'Well, that's too bad. You're the only one in here I feel like making friends with. So it looks like you're going to be stuck with me.' Dean said. Castiel growled as he read it. It was arrogant and cocky, but he knew immediately that that was Dean.
Deep down though, he was happy. Dean was already doing something for him that nobody else had yet done. He was trying.
He wasn't going to give up on Castiel. He didn't just turn around and walk away at the first sign of confrontation, but rather faced it head on with his jaw set and intentions of overcoming it. Castiel felt somehow... Special.
'Okay, but you can't expect me to act like I like you. You're stubbornly annoying.'
'Those are some of my best traits you're talking about now, I'm wounded.' Dean responded immediately. Castiel groaned as the teacher reached for a large stack of worksheets, passing them out to the students row by row. They slowly made their way back to first Dean and then him, and he knew that this stopped the conversation. He didn't want to have to do the worksheet for homework.
The bell rang all too soon, just as Castiel was finishing up his last problem. Dean was five or six behind him, but he still didn't have much to do.
Castiel picked up his book and rushed out of the classroom, for once not being the last one to leave.
Unfortunately, exactly what he was trying to avoid happened, and Dean somehow fell into step besides him, seemingly unbothered by the furious pace Castiel had set.
He walked into his second period and sat down immediately, paying attention as the teacher started going over the planets and their orbits, stopping to teach some about astronomy and mentioning several of the constellations, including Sagittarius and Pices and all the other horoscope signs. Castiel could honestly say that while he didn't put any stock into it, reading the horoscope was fun sometimes.
"Now class," the teacher announced, "Look at the person next to you." He announced. Castiel turned to his right in desperation, to find that the girl had already turned towards the boy to her right. He gave an exasperated sigh before turning to face Dean, and finding the other to be smiling at him.
"These are your partners for the project I'm assigning." He announced.
Castiel slumped in his seat, cursing his terrible luck. It looked like there was no escaping the Winchester boy now, he cared too much about his grade.
"I'm going to assign each of you a star constellation, and you're going to have to do research on it. Legends, myths, cultures, bonus points if you can get pictures of it that you've taken yourself." He announced.
Oh no. Castiel knew what this lecture meant; it was going to be an entirely at home project, he could feel it in his bones. Not only would he have to deal with Dean Winchester, but he'd have to deal with him outside of school.
The teacher picked up a bag and shook it around, eyeing the students. "Now, so none of you can claim that any specific partnering was favorited, I'll have you select one constellation from the bag."
He started walking around, bag outstretched towards the students. One by one the groupings picked the constellations out of the bag, some sighing dejectedly and some of them pumping their fists in the air triumphantly.
Finally, the bag came to rest on the desk in front of Castiel. He leaned forward and tentatively reached his hand into the bag, fishing around for awhile before his fingers closed on a small note. He pulled it out tentatively, eyes flickering to Dean's as he slowly opened the paper and tentatively looked at the writing.
"The Big Dipper." He read out loud. He shrugged a bit at the selection. It wasn't too hard to do research on a star that popular.
"Cool." Dean said, grabbing the paper and looking at it himself for a few seconds, smiling. "Piece of cake."
The teacher rolled his eyes and continued to the next table, and soon everyone had their stars picked out. The teacher walked back to the front of the room, standing in front of his desk and motioning for everyone to quiet down.
"Now, I know that this is going to make a lot of you upset, but it's not due until the week before school ends." He announced. Castiel made a face. He called it. "This will have to be an entirely at-home project."
Collective groans were heard around the room. Castiel himself sighed, putting his head in his hands. He slowly let his hands drop and looked over to see Dean still smiling as was becoming usual.
"Looks like we'll be hanging out after all." He teased, smiling. Castiel rolled his eyes and looked away, slightly annoyed. Oh god, why him?!
Once the teacher was finally done explaining the ramifications of the project, (They had to make a board full of any information they could find- legends, documentations, it was all very vague in order to let them choose what they thought was important) class time was over, and it was time to go to third.
Lunch came faster than he expected, and Castiel found himself sitting underneath his usual tree. It was no surprise that Dean was soon sitting beside him, propped up against the tree, too.
There was a moment of silence, and Castiel reached for his lunch box.
"Listen, I know you don't want to be forced to hang out with me, I get that." Dean said, clearing his throat. Castiel stopped moving and looked at Dean, his quizzical look urging him to continue. "So, since I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to do, we can just meet before school to do it, if you'd like."
Castiel paused, remaining silent. He was hesitant to say anything.
"Here, a peace offering." Dean said. He reached into his lunch box and brought out two burgers, holding one out to Castiel. Castiel's eyes flickered to the offering. "Since you never get to have junk food, I grabbed two before school this morning."
"Thanks." He said tentatively, reaching out to take it. He wished he could have resisted, but the smell of grease and possible future cholesterol problems was just too tempting. That was when a memory tugged at the back of his mind, something that he'd done...
"Oh, I have two apples!" He said, placing the warm burger on his lap as he opened his own lunch box, retrieving his own offering and holding it out to Dean. Dean reached out warily (he clearly wasn't used to health food) but he still took it. Castiel looked down, and he sighed.
Sharing food. No matter how you looked at it, it was a clear sign of friendship. Dean had wiggled his way too far in too short a time, and Castiel knew that he could do nothing to stop it. Maybe... Maybe he should just give up?
He hadn't tried to have a friend yet. He'd actually had a few people he liked to talk to, so why not let Dean be one of them? It's not like talking to him could blow his secret, and he was still convinced that he would soon get bored and go find someone else to bother.
"No, it's fine. We can meet somewhere outside of school. How about the library on Central?" Castiel asked. He didn't get to go to the library often because it was a long walk, but if it was for school, he would get over it. It would be nice to be able to get some new reading material, too.
"Awesome. When do you want to meet?"
"Well, would you mind meeting on a Saturday?" Castiel asked. He knew that a lot of students couldn't stand doing anything school related on the weekends, and Dean looked like one of those students. He was really hoping that he was wrong though, because it would be a lot easier on him to be able to walk on a weekend, when he'd have the time and could get home before ten.
"Any time that works for you is fine." Dean said with a shrug. Castiel shook his head.
"Okay, then meeting at two this week would be nice." He said, calculating how much time he'd need in his head. He would have to get ready and the library was three miles from his house, which meant it was at least a two hour walk. He would probably leave three hours early just to be safe, and so he'd have time to enjoy the walk. He actually really liked strolling around the neighborhood by himself, because it helped him to think. So he'd get up at ten, take a shower, get dressed, find his library card, and go.
"Of course. Then it's a date." Dean teased, smirking. Castiel felt his face heat up just a smidge, but he was able to stop most of his blush by convincing himself that Dean was only referencing the common turn of phrase.
"Good." Castiel said, taking a bite of his burger. He was really enjoying it, because it was so rare for him to get anything like that. The flavor seemed to stay in his mouth long after he swallowed, and he cut through it by taking a big bite of his apple. It was silent after that, both of them eating rather than speaking.
Fourth period went by pretty fast, but there was no time for them to talk then, either. Castiel actually found himself being a little bit irritated at it. He wanted to talk to Dean, whether he'd admit it or not. Probably not, but still. He'd talked some with Gabriel and Balthazar, so it couldn't hurt to talk to Dean a little bit too. Talking to someone wouldn't give away the fact that he had wings.
Fifth period seemed to drag on forever. The whispers and sly glances in Castiel's direction had gotten worse today if anything, but he didn't actually mind. He found that he was too distracted, his thoughts in the clouds and feeling like he was walking in a dream to really notice. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason, he just felt happier now. Castiel actually smiled a little.
The bell finally rang, and Cas have a sigh. He gathered up his things and walked out the door, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and walking down the hallway, stopping by his locker. He was putting his books in when he felt a firm tap on his shoulder, and it made him jump a little. He almost dropped his books, if not for a pair of slightly calloused hands reaching out to steady his wrists right when he was about to drop them. Castiel's eyes drifted up to look straight into Dean Winchester's.
"Hey. I was just coming to see if you wanted to maybe ride home with me today? I figure we can discuss what we want to do for the project along the way, and I can show you some real music if you want." Dean offered. Castile paused.
Well, he had decided that he'd be friendly until Dean got bored and moved on... But on the other hand, it would be the first time he'd ever willingly talked to his classmates outside of school. He considered his options briefly.
He was going to have to hang out with Dean outside of school this Saturday anyways, to talk about their star project. So, it couldn't really do any harm, could it?
"I guess." He said, shrugging. Dean smiled and Castiel put his books back in his locker, shutting it and securing the lock on it before he turned towards Dean, his mostly empty bag slung around his shoulder.
"Let's go." Dean said, waving Castiel forward. He followed Dean, weaving in and out of the students as they walked to the front doors.
The wind but into Castiel's face as they walked across the parking lot, and he shivered a bit. It was summer, but it felt like fall out today. He was used to being warm, so the chill of the wind flew him for a bit of a loop. When they finally got to Dean's car, (the idiot had parked in the very back) he was eager to get in.
Of course, he had to pause for a moment to admire what he would be riding in. It was an entirely black, shiny, wide, four-doored car with the Chevy logo proudly stuck on the front bumper. Castiel didn't know much about cars, but he knew that this was a good one.
Dean unlocked it and slid in, leaning over to open Castiel's door. He stepped into the front seat, inhaling the scent of pine air freshened and leather seats. An old looking radio sat proudly between the two front seats, and it looked worn around the edges from where CD after CD had been jammed into the console.
"You like?" Dean asked, gesturing around the car. Castiel slowly nodded his head yes, still struggling to take all of it in. Dean had a nice car, that was for sure. "It's a '67 Chevy impala." He elaborated proudly.
"Oh, I think my grandfather had an impala. It was a different year though, if I remember correctly." Castiel mumbled the last part.
"No year like '67, but he still must've had a nice taste in cars." Dean said approvingly, leaning back. He started up the engine with a low purr from the car. He glanced over to notice Castiel's book bag still clutched tightly in his hands, and Dean noticed that it looked a little uncomfortable with the thing sitting on his lap. "You can throw that in the back, if you want." He said.
Castiel obliged, lifting it over the console and into the backseat as Dean started to roll out of the parking lot.
"Aren't you going to buckle up?" Castiel asked as he reached back and grabbed his own seat belt, securing it around his waist. Dean let out a snort.
"God no. Why would I?" He asked.
"Reckless." Castiel muttered, turning to look out the window as they drove out of the parking lot.
Dean laughed again, his hands effortlessly turning the wheel to glide the car out onto the open road.
"You ready to hear some real music?" Dean asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. Castiel turned back at him and nodded his head slowly, before turning and looking out the window again. The heard some beeps and the sound of a CD case being opened, and before he knew it, a guitar solo was drifting through the speakers. He listened closely, hearing the words as well as the catchy tune. Apparently, the song was called "Wanted", and it seemed to be okay to Castiel. This was not new of course; Castiel didn't know much about music, but he did know how to distinguish whether or not something had been auto tuned. This had a sort of old timey feeling that he liked, too. He could hear actual instruments individually, instead of the usual mix of melody.
Dean's hands hit the steering wheel in time with the music, his head bobbing along as they drove in silence.
After awhile, the song changed, and Dean turned down the radio a few notches, looking over at Cas.
"So, what do you think? I promised I'd show you some real music, how's that?" He asked. Castiel lifted his head from where it was sitting on top of his arm to give him a clear view of the window, and he turned to Dean.
"I really enjoyed that. It sounded nice." He said, nodding his head. The leaves on the trees outside were blowing with the wind, and it almost made it seem like they were dancing along with the song.
"I knew you would." Dean said, smiling. His hands resumed their beating to the rhythm for a couple more measures, "So, what are you thinking for this star project we have to do? Ideas?"
"Well, not particularly." Castiel said, shrugging. "We could do an informative poster, if you'd like." He suggested. Dean didn't look too keen on the idea.
"I don't want to do that, everyone will be doing that." Dean said, turning his head to the side a bit. "Got anything more creative?" He hinted. Castiel paused, thinking.
"Well, not really." He mumbled, blushing a bit. Now that he thought of it, the poster idea was a little but cliché, especially for a student of his level. He should do something that hadn't been done a million times before.
"We'll come up with something." Dean suggested, shrugging a bit. Castiel relaxed at the reassurance. He might not be the creative type, but Dean was.
"Okay." Castiel said. There was something tugging at the back of his brain right now though, something was bothering him... "WAIT!" He shouted, the revelation coming to him. Dean seemed unaffected by his outburst. "I never told you where I live!" He said, suddenly scared. A million scenarios flashed through his head, most of them ending with his lifeless body laying in a ditch somewhere by the side of the road.
"Calm down." Dean chuckled. "I wasn't gonna take you home right away. I thought you might want to get pizza." He offered.
"Pizza?" Castiel repeated flatly, his fear slowly fading away. It was still there, but it was less prominent. At least he knew that Dean wasn't for sure going to chop his body up into little pieces.
"You have heard of pizza, right?" Dean asked, teasing. Castiel scoffed, giving Dean his best scowl.
"Of course, don't be ridiculous. I just wasn't expecting it."
"Well, I figured we should get your diet evened out between the good and the bad. You're way too healthy now man, if you don't get some cholesterol in your system, you're gonna live to be like a hundred and twenty. You know what you get when you're a hundred and twenty?" Dean asked. Castiel remained silent, waiting for Dean to finish his rant. Dean lowered his voice and looked Castiel in the eye, as if what he were about to say was the worst fate that could befall a person. "Erectile disfunction."
Castiel shook his head, putting his face in his hands and trying not to laugh. He couldn't help but smile though, just a little bit.
"Well then, if you were asking, I suppose getting pizza with you would be okay." Castiel said, smiling. What was he doing? He couldn't honestly remember the last time before today that he'd smiled, much less with someone who was almost a stranger. They'd known each other for a total of two days.
"Good, because I was gonna kidnap you anyways." Dean teased. Of course he didn't mean it, but it was fun to see Cas's glare towards him at the statement, especially when he was still fighting against the urge to smile. The corners of his mouth were upturned just the slightest bit.
"Good thing I said yes, because I would hate to have to call the police on my project partner." He retaliated. Dean didn't fight the smile that spread across his face, seeming to light up his whole figure with happiness.
"This place has some of the best pizza in town." He said, making a right turn. Castiel didn't even notice that they were anywhere near any kind of a store until they were turned into a small, hole-in the wall restaurant about ten miles out of town. It was attached to a couple of smaller antique stores and a candy shop, giving it all a very homey feeling. Castiel quite liked it.
Dean shut off the car and glance over at Castiel, gesturing for him to climb out and follow him into the restaurant. They walked trough the wooden doors and Castiel looked around, taking in the scene.
The lighting was low as music played in the background, a few small tables and a corner of booths all in a row were dotted modge podge here and there, giving it a sort of unorganized look. A teenage boy with a distasteful haircut was behind the counter that served as a bar, cleaning out some glasses.
"Hey, Ash." Dean said. Okay, so apparently mullet-boy's name was Ash. That was actually a pretty cool name, or at least Castiel thought so. Also apparent, Dean knew him from somewhere.
"Hey, Deeeean." He said, looking up from the glass that he was polishing to smile. Dean smiled back at him, tilting his head a little as if to ask a silent question. "Yeah, the boss finally trusts me enough to let me bartend." He affirmed, smirking. "But I'm not gonna risk that by getting anything for your underaged rear end, before you ask."
"I wasn't gonna ask. In case you haven't noticed, I have a guest." Dean clarified, gesturing towards Castiel. Ash's eyes refocused to center in on him, making Cas slightly uncomfortable with his scrutinizing gaze.
"Well, he's not your usual type." Ash commented, shrugging. "But of course I noticed him, I'm not stupid, and he is almost as tall as you." He commented. Dean laughed, his features lighting up as he threw his head back. This seemed to be a running joke between them.
"Hey, you're about his height." Dean said. Ash rolled his eyes.
"Oh, shut up and go sit down. I'll be over to take your order in just a second." Ash commented, gesturing towards the booth in the very back corner. Dean grabbed Castiel's wrist lightly, urging but not forcing him to follow back to the seat. He sat down and got settled before kicking his feet up beside Castiel, as they were across from each other in the booth.
Something that ash had said had left Castiel a little bit unnerved. Sean's typical type? Did that mean that he took a lot of people here? Somehow, Castiel found himself a little hurt by the thought of not being anything special. Then again, that was a good thing. It meant that Dean really would get bored easily, and then he'd be free of the annoyance.
"Alright, what would you like?" Ash asked, leaning over and onto their table.
"Two cokes and a medium pepperoni." Dean said, reaching out to flick Ash on the forehead. Ash flipped him off before walking off to the kitchen to put in the orders.
"So, I grant it that you know him?" Castiel mused, turning back to Dean from where he had watched Ash. Dean shrugged.
"Before we moved here, my dad had gone through this town about a million times, and he ended up befriending the girl who owns this place. Her name's Ellen, and she's been real nice to Ash. I've been here a couple of times over the year or two I've been traveling with Dad."
"Oh, Ellen sounds nice." Castiel said. Dean snorted, smiling.
"Oh, she is. You just have to get used to her first. She's tough for owning a restaurant. Probably the bar side of thing's kept her on her toes." Dean elaborated.
"Well, she would have to deal with drunkards. Can I ask you something?"
"You just did."
Castiel scowled, glaring at Dean. "You know what I mean."
"Okay, yeah." Dean said.
"Why isn't Ash at school with us? He looks like he would be our age."
Castiel said, mulling it over. This place couldn't be but ten minutes from the school, there was no way he was in another district.
"Ash is homeschooled. He teaches himself and Ellen supervises. Same with Ellen's daughter, Jo." Dean said. Just then, Ash emerged from the kitchen carrying two cokes. He set one down in front if each of the boys, his expression slightly playful.
"You talkin' bout me?" He asked Dean, raising his eyebrows. Dean smiled a little, shaking his head yes.
"About how you're too stupid to go to a regular school, yeah." Dean responded. Ash shook his head, giving a sigh.
"Alright then, guess someone wants their food spit in." He teased, walking off to the kitchen again.
"He was just joking, just so you know." Dean assured Castiel. "But he's actually homeschooled because the kid's a legal genius. They tried to put him in the public school system and he caused a lot of trouble for the teachers. He's the next Einstein." Dean said, taking a sip of his coke. Castiel reached out to grasp his cup, imitating Dean's sip. It had been awhile since he'd had pop.
"Oh, okay. Yeah, our school system isn't exactly top notch." Castiel said, smiling a bit. He was far more advanced than a lot of the people who claimed to be top notch; his school had little to no funding at times and the students test grades were often poor.
"So, again," Dean said, changing the topic, "What kid of mythology do you typically study?" He asked. Castiel paused, thinking.
"Well, I do a lot of Egyptian. I'm a big fan of Norse." He said. Dean nodded his head slowly, leaning forward to take another sip before he replied.
"Yeah, you and Sammy would get along just fine." Dean laughed, smiling. "I know a little about Norse, they believe that their apocolypse is gonna be sometime in the next year or two, right?" He asked. "Sammy's a little freaked about it, because he said that they were very intelligent people, even if their gods were rubbish."
"Yeah, that's right." Castiel said, nodding his head. Dean opened his mouth to respond, but their pizza came. He thanked Ash before digging in, taking three pieces for himself.
Castiel didn't eat much as the silence stretched on, comfortable between them. He took another sip of his coke as Dean sat back, having cleared his plate. In the end, there were three slices left.
"I'll take the rest home to Sammy." He muttered, gesturing for Ash to come over and then asking for a to-go box. Ash groaned.
"Dude, you know I have to find where Ellen puts those every single time!" He announced, clearly annoyed. Dean just smiled and repeated himself, and Ash walked back to the kitchen, leaving their check on the table.
Castiel reached for his wallet, remembering that his grandma had given him ten dollars and knowing that it would be rude to leave Dean trying to pay the whole bill.
"Hey, I got it." Dean assured, stopping Castiel from putting the money on the table. Castiel paused, tentatively putting it back in his wallet. He could probably use the extra money on something he needed, and Dean did sort of force him to come. Suddenly, Dean's eyes lit up as he looked around.
"I love this song!" He exclaimed. Castiel felt himself get dragged out of the chair, and he only had a moment to compose himself before Dean was facing him with a goofy smile on his face.
"Do you want to dance?" Dean offered, holding out a hand like a gentleman. Castiel hesitated, glancing around. It was an empty room, so no embarrassment that way, but...
"I've never actually danced before." He admitted sheepishly, shaking his head.
"Come on, it's easy." Dean urged, wrapping his hands around Castiel's waist. Cas felt his face go deep crimson, and he had the urge to either run out of the room or push Dean off.
"W-what are you doing?" He asked, and Dean smiled even wider. Castiel was starting to feel Dean's body heat mingling with his own, and it was making it hard to think.
"Come on, Ash won't be out for another ten minutes. Dance with me." Dean urged. Castiel hesitated for a moment, his knees starting to go a little weak before he dumbly nodded his head a bit, giving up and wrapping his arms lightly around Dean's neck.
Dean started to slowly sway them to the rhythm of the music, back and forth with the beat. Castiel swore that he could feel their hearts beat in sync as they slowly swayed, and their eyes met in the dim light. For once, Dean didn't wear a smile, but he looked serious. Castiel felt a little bit overwhelmed by the intensity of it all, and be vaguely registered that the cinnamon scent wasn't just a one time thing; it was just a part of Dean.
It felt like he was staring right into Cas's soul.
Slowly, Dean leaned forward, placing his lips by Castiel's ear. Cas was barely able to hold back a shiver.
"See? This wasn't so bad." He said, before slowly beginning to pull away, reestablishing the distance between their bodies. Dean cleared his throat, and Castiel was certain that he was shaking from fear and excitement.
A couple seconds later, Ash busted through the doors with the to-go container in his hands. He looked at Dean and Castiel standing in the middle of the floor and he raised his eyebrows for a moment, setting the to-go box down on their table.
"Hope you two didn't get too friendly." He said, walking back over to the bar.
"Yeah yeah yeah. I don't even know if Cas is like that." Dean said, then turned back to Cas.
"Like what?" Castiel asked.
"Oh, gay or bi or whatever those other things are. I don't know if you like guys."
"Oh." Castiel said, nodding a bit.
"Well, do you?" Dean asked. Castiel paused, thinking for a moment. Well, he didn't exactly have much experience with dating.
"I honestly don't know." He admitted sheepishly, "Do you? Like boys?"
"Yeah, I'm bi." Dean admitted, walking over to the table and putting in the leftovers. Ash smiled a bit, narrowing his eyes.
"He says he's bi, but you're the only guy I've ever seen him with. You better feel special." He teased. Castiel felt the color from beforehand return to his face.
"Come on, let's go. I'm sure you want to get home." Dean said, walking around Castiel and holding open the door for him. Dean was right, if his father was half sober he'd probably be worried sick right now. That was a very slim chance, but still, better safe than sorry. Castiel needed to get home.
"Goodbye, Ash." Castiel said, walking out the door. Ash shouted his response, and Dean followed Cas out the door.
They climbed into the truck and Dean threw the leftovers into the backseat, sitting them next to Castiel's backpack. Castiel told Dean his address, and they drove to his house in silence.
"So, I guess this is goodbye." Dean said, looking over at Castiel. Cas nodded his head, looking over at Dean. There was a moment where it was all silence as they looked into each other's eyes. Castiel felt his eyes flicker down to Dean's lips to admire them, but he quickly looked away with a blush. That was stupid, he shouldn't be thinking about Dean's lips like that!
"Goodnight." He mumbled, opening the door.
"Goodnight." Dean said, nodding as Castiel climbed out of the door, walking around the car to grab his backpack out of the back seat. "If you ever want another ride, it's up for grabs. I had a lot of fun."
"Thanks. I had fun, too." Castiel said, surprised by his own honesty. He actually really liked the whole thing, he had fun hanging out with Dean. He found himself wanting to do it again sometime.
"Good. See ya at school." Dean said. Castiel shut the door, backpack slung over his shoulder, and walked to his front door. Before he opened it, he turned around and waved at Dean.
That, he supposed, was the start of his first real friendship.