Sam had been overly excited at the news of Castiel staying and Mary seemed very pleased that everything had worked out well for everyone. John had decided not to tell them what Castiel's owner had been like on the phone. They all smiled at the angel and let him know how glad they were that he would be a part of the family.
Dean and John then went out to the garage to see if they still had a spare mattress or cot for Castiel to use as Castiel was given a tour of the house by a smiling Sam. They did manage to find an air mattress they had only used once on a camping trip.
Dean had taken the box up to his room and felt Castiel grab his arm lightly once he was in sight again. He chuckled as the angel followed closely with Sam right behind. He could tell that the eager kid was making Castiel nervous but he didn't want to crush Sam by telling him to go away.
The three of them entered Dean's room and Sam immediately jumped up to sit at Dean's desk by the foot of his bed. Castiel stayed close to Dean as he set the box on the floor and sat to unload the contents.
"So, he's gonna be staying for sure?" Sam rocked back and forth on his chair.
"Yeah," Dean opened the box and coughed as dust flew off of it, "I signed the paperwork and everything."
"He had an owner though, right? Why didn't he take him back? Why did he lose him in the first place?"
"I don't know, Sam." He felt Castiel move around behind him and felt the tip of his wing brush by him. "It doesn't matter anymore."
"Is he gonna go to school with you? Some kids at my school bring their angels with them."
"I doubt it." Dean pushed the box away after pulling out the folded up mattress.
Sam shifted to a kneeling position on the chair and rested his chin on the back of it. "Do you know how old he is? I've heard that angels age differently and live a lot longer."
"He's seventeen." Dean had checked the file when he was signing it. "You probably know more about angels than I do, Sam."
"I've read about them, sure," he smiled and opened his arms, "but now we have an angel and we can find out what's true."
Dean glanced up as movement caught his eye. Castiel had been backing away slowly since he sat down and was now close to the wall across the room and was staring at the floor. Sam had continued with questions until Dean finally stood up.
"Sam, don't you have homework to finish?" That shut him up fast.
"I'm almost done."
"Almost won't get you to Brady's will it?" Sam opened his mouth to protest but rolled his eyes and stood from the chair. He went back to his room and Dean could see Castiel relax.
"You know that he wouldn't hurt you, right?" Castiel shrugged. "I know he can be a bit much. He's just a kid. I'll try to make sure he doesn't tackle you in a hug or something."
Dean laughed as Castiel's eyes widened in fear. He was able to get the air mattress laid out on the floor next to his bed. It was plenty big for the angel and his wings. He had shared the mattress with Sam a couple years ago on a camping trip and they both had room to not hit each other. He would inflate it later that night.
He spent the next few hours working on some of his own homework. After the first few minutes, he turned to Castiel, who was sitting on the lounge chair, and asked him if he wanted to go downstairs to watch TV. He shook his head.
"This will be pretty boring." Castiel shook his head. "Here." Dean tossed him a remote. He had a small TV on his dresser that didn't get cable but he could watch movies on it. Castiel caught the remote on instinct and Dean smiled as the angel looked it over curiously.
Dean stood and walked over to turn the TV on and opened his drawer of DVDs. "Go ahead and pick anything you want to watch and put it in. It won't bother me any."
Castiel stayed in the lounge chair, clutching the remote like he was terrified to drop it and looked wary to stand.
"Come on. A little noise is good for my concentration anyway." He held out a hand to Castiel. The angel finally stood up and walked over to the DVDs. "Whatever you want to watch." He nodded to him and went back to sit at his desk.
Castiel looked at the rows of movies and shows and felt completely lost. He took a few off the shelf and looked over the covers with a furrowed brow. He had no idea what to do.
Dean looked up after a few moments and watched as the angel searched with an overwhelmed expression. A thought hit Dean then and he felt like an ass. He stood up and moved to stand next to the angel.
"Can you read?" The angel kept his eyes down and shook his head. Of course, hardly any owners bothered to educate their angels about anything but how to obey the spoken language, and given Castiel's seemingly abusive past, it was no surprise that he was never taught to read.
He spent the next few minutes reading the descriptions of several movies and shows, along with his own reviews, before Castiel chose a couple he would want to watch. Dean showed him how to put the disk into the player and what button to push to play it, pause it, stop it, and to control the volume.
It took Dean a little longer than usual to finish his assignments as he kept looking at Castiel to see his reactions to certain jokes and moments. The angel seemed transfixed with every moment, and Dean wondered if he had ever watched a movie.
There was a knock on his door before his mom walked into the room. "Hey, I was going to take Sam to Brady's and then go get groceries. Do you want to come with me and we can get some clothes for Castiel?"
Dean turned to look at Castiel. "You up to going shopping?" Castiel seemed confused by the question. "If you'd rather stay here, that's fine." He shook his head and turned off the movie that was playing.
"Okay, we'll be leaving in about twenty minutes." Mary smiled and shut the door behind her.
Dean put his books back into his school bag and stood. He looked at Castiel as the angel winced in pain and shifted his hurt wing. He hadn't done anything for that since Missouri took care of him.
"Is that hurting again?" Dean pointed to his wing. The angel shrugged. "Sit down." Dean pointed to his bed and waited for the angel to sit before turning back to his desk to find the supplies Missouri had given him. He found some of the stuff she had put on for the pain.
Dean moved around behind Castiel and knelt on the bed by his wing. The angel tensed slightly but didn't move. Dean opened the bottle and put the lid on the bed. "I'm gonna touch your wing a little, just to make sure it stays still."
He waited for the angel to nod in understanding before gently holding the broken wing up with a few of his fingers. Dean held the open bottle over the bandages and let a few drops fall and soak through. He waited a few moments before dropping a few more drops and felt the angel relax as the pain was relieved slightly.
"Better?" Castiel nodded. Dean smiled and closed the container and stood from the bed. "Let's go." He dropped it back on his desk and led Castiel downstairs to wait to leave with his mom.
Mary pulled up to Brady's house about half an hour later. Sam was in the front and quickly jumped out of the car. He waved to them all as he made his way to the front door. Dean got out to take the front seat and give Castiel more space in the back.
When they reached the store, Castiel seemed wary to get out of the car. There were a lot of people in the parking lot and he didn't want them looking at him.
Dean could see the angel hesitating and opened the back door for him and extended a hand. "Come on. You'll be fine. My mom and I will be with you the whole time."
Castiel glanced around a little longer before reaching out to take Dean's hand and climbed out of the car. He held his hand tight and moved to stand close behind his arm.
Mary smiled as the angel got as close to Dean as possible before moving to her. They walked in together and most people didn't give them a second look. It wasn't that uncommon to see angels with their owners in town. Most of them didn't look long enough to notice the broken wing or bruised face, and Castiel hid that well behind Dean.
"Okay, so I have a list I'll be getting in the food section. Why don't you take Castiel to the clothing section and find a bunch of stuff for him to try on and we'll see what we can do?" Dean nodded and Mary took the cart and walked off to the other side of the store.
Dean and Castiel walked over to the clothing and had to search for a minute to find the section with shirts made for angel wings. It wasn't a huge selection but it would do.
"Just take a look and if you find anything you like, just take it and we'll show my mom." Dean started looking through the rack and Castiel copied his actions.
They had been looking a few minutes and found a few shirts when a man walked by and snickered. "You know, you should really have him on a leash."
Dean looked up and saw a man in his late forties with a scowl on his face and a young female angel on a short leash behind him. He immediately moved closer to Castiel.
"They're much easier to manage that way." He tugged on his leash for emphasis and the angel jerked, almost losing her footing.
Anger boiled inside him and he had to take a breath before he let himself speak. "Maybe if you treated her like a person and not a possession, you wouldn't need a leash to manage her."
The man laughed. "A person? Is that what you think they are?"
Castiel's forehead touched Dean's shoulder as he cowered behind him. "I know that's what they are, asshole." The angel behind the man looked at him with the same shock Castiel had when he asked him to come back with him.
"You're a stupid child." He shook his head like he felt sorry for Dean and walked away with his angel in tow.
Dean glared at the man's back until he was out of sight. He then turned to look at Castiel, who was still behind him. His head was down and his hands were shaking.
"Hey," Dean touched his shoulder gently, "look at me." He kept his voice quiet and calm to not scare him. Castiel lifted his eyes to Dean and he saw fear swimming in them.
He met his eyes and held the gaze. "I would never put a leash on you, never. I think it's disgusting and wrong. Don't let that guy get to you." He could feel Castiel shaking under his hand, but he nodded in understanding and Dean took a step back.
"Let me see what you've got." He smiled to try and relax the angel. He took the shirts Castiel was holding and looked at them. One was a plain green shirt that buttoned up the front and the other was black and zipped up the back. "These are nice." Castiel shrugged and looked back at the rack. Dean added the two shirts to the few he had.
They eventually made their way to the jeans and grabbed a few pair. Mary found them a little later as they were looking at some other shoes for the angel.
"Get a good haul, boys?" She smiled and looked at them both.
"Sure did." Dean dropped the pile of clothing into the cart.
Mary's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. That was more than I expected." She laughed as Castiel looked away shyly. "Let's go try them on."
They all made their way to the fitting rooms. Dean put all the clothes in the room for him. "If you need anything, we'll be waiting outside." He smiled and nodded before leaving the angel to change.
Mary and Dean had been waiting a few minutes and Dean kept looking back at the door to the fitting room like he was waiting to see the angel come out.
"You know, I've noticed that Castiel stays pretty close to you. He seems terrified of everyone else." She smiled as Dean furrowed his brows.
"Of course he does. It's probably because I stopped those guys from beating him up and had to argue with dad to get him to let us take Castiel home. His last owner was a dick who probably scarred him for life. Why would he like anyone ever again?"
Mary nodded but seemed to notice something behind Dean. She motioned with her head and Dean turned to see Castiel looking out of the fitting room.
"You need help?" Castiel nodded. Dean looked back at Mary.
"Go ahead. I'm gonna go get some socks and underwear for him." She smiled and patted his arm.
Dean went to the fitting room, locking the door behind him after Castiel let him in. He was having trouble with his shirt. Dean helped him try on his shirts and with the closer look he saw more scars on Castiel and he wished that he could ask the angel about it, but that wasn't an option.
"One more." Dean picked up a shirt that he had picked out. It was solid blue with long sleeves and zipped up the back. It seemed plain but the color was striking to Dean and he thought it would look good.
He helped the angel maneuver the shirt over his wings and zipped it up between his wings. When his hand reached the top, a mark around the angel's neck caught his eye. It ran around his neck in a circle and was a few inches in height. The shape would fit a collar or leash and the only way it would leave a mark for that long was if it was worn for longer than Dean could fathom.
Dean snapped out of his thoughts when Castiel's wings moved in front of him. He looked at the mirror and the reflection of the angel in it. Castiel was looking himself over with a critical eye. Dean smiled into the mirror.
"It looks nice, Cas. It makes your eyes seem even bluer." He smiled again and looked at the clothing left on the bench in the changing room. "So, go ahead and pick what you want to get so I can show my mom."
Dean left Castiel alone to pick out what he wanted and found his mom waiting for them. "Did he find some good ones?"
"Yeah, he's making the final choices now."
She smiled. "Good."
Castiel came out of the dressing room with most of the clothing he went in with. Mary's eyebrows went up in surprise. "My goodness, so many?" Castiel looked nervous suddenly and looked at the clothing in worry. "No, don't look like that. You'll get them all." She took the shirts and pants from the angel with a reassuring nod. They made a quick trip to pick out a couple good pairs of shoes for Castiel before heading back to the car.
On the way home, they drove through Dean's favorite burger place for lunch. Dean smiled and ate some of his fries. He saw Castiel watching him curiously and held out a fry to him. "Want one?"
Castiel eyed the fry nervously. Dean laughed softly and shook the fry. "Try it." He grabbed it carefully and ate it. He had never eaten anything like it before. Dean was smiling at him and Castiel smiled back and nodded in approval.
Dean turned back to face forward, feeling accomplished in getting the angel to eat. He figured that he hadn't really had the chance to have take-out food for most of his life. He balanced the food bags on his lap to dislodge his drink from the carrier and held it back to him as well. Castiel took it and looked over it slowly before drinking the soda.
Once they got home, Dean handed the food and drinks to Castiel. "Go take this to the kitchen." The angel nodded and went into the house while Dean helped Mary carry all the bags into the house.
"Here," Mary handed Dean the bags with Castiel's clothes and shoes, "take these to your room and find a place for them."
Dean took the bags and nodded. He walked over to Castiel at the counter and peeked into one of the food bags. "Grab that one." He nodded to the one closer to Castiel. "That's ours." He gestured with his head for Castiel to follow him. "Don't forget the drinks." He started for the stairs and heard the angel take the bag and follow.
He gently kicked open his bedroom door and dropped Castiel's bags on his mattress. Castiel came in after him and stood near the door holding the bag and the drink carrier with their drinks.
"Just set that on the desk." He pointed next to the door. Castiel nodded and put the food down before moving back to his previous position with a bowed head. Dean took off his jacket and frowned at the angel. "Are you okay?"
Castiel looked up quickly and nodded. He shifted on his feet a little and didn't seem to know what to do with his hands.
Dean was worried at how nervous and scared Castiel seemed. He took a couple steps closer to him and the angel looked away. It seemed like he was waiting for Dean to yell or hurt him in some way. He took a breath in and turned to his desk to take out their food.
He took out one of the burgers and held it out for Castiel. When he took it, Dean pulled the fries out and set them on the desk and unwrapped his own burger. He sat on the edge of his bed and nodded to the chair at the desk. "Sit."
Castiel looked at the chair and back at Dean, but didn't move. Dean lowered his food. "Please?"
Castiel hesitated a moment but did as he was asked and sat down across from Dean. He copied what he had done to unwrap his burger and the smell made his stomach growl. It was a familiar smell that he had encountered on the street, but he had never eaten one. He took a hesitant bite and was pleasantly surprised by how good it was.
Dean smiled as he saw the angel's eyes light up after tasting his food. "So, you want to finish that movie you were watching when we left?" Castiel swallowed his bite and nodded.
Dean started the movie again and he and Castiel finished their meals and watched the comedy together. Once it was over, Dean saw Castiel rolling his shoulder and shifting his hurt wing slightly with a pained face.
"Hey, is that hurting again?" He nodded to his wing. Castiel shook his head. "Really?" He shook his head again and waved his hand. "Cas," Dean stood and moved closer to him, "tell me the truth." He knelt in front of the angel. "Does it hurt?"
Castiel bit his lip in worry before nodding slowly. He didn't want to upset Dean or complain, but it had been aching for over an hour and was getting worse.
Dean stood up and went to his dresser to find the supplies Missouri had given him. He took them back to his desk and dropped a few drops on the angel's bandages. The wing tensed briefly and then relaxed.
"Better?" Castiel nodded. Dean walked around to look at him. "What about that?" He pointed to his bruised cheek. Castiel shrugged. He wasn't sure if it would work for his face or not. "You want to try it and see if it helps?" Castiel shrugged again but lifted his head in permission.
Dean poured some of the liquid onto his fingers and gently touched the bruise around the angel's eye. Castiel closed his eyes and tightened his lips slightly as Dean spread the pain reliever around to his cheek. When his fingers touched close to his jaw, Castiel flinched and pulled his head away.
"Sorry." Dean lifted his hand and stepped back. "Did I hurt you?" Castiel opened his eyes and shook his head. "Did that seem to help?" Castiel waited as his face grew warm from the medicine and nodded. "Good."
He put the bottle back and picked up their trash from the food. "Cas, I wanted to tell you," he put a hand on his shoulder, making the angel look at him, "please always tell me when you're hurting. Okay?"
Castiel looked at him in disbelief and nodded. Dean squeezed his shoulder and smiled. He watched as Dean left to throw out their trash and wasn't sure how to feel. He had never met someone that cared about his pain or happiness at all. He was beginning to wonder if any of this was actually happening.
That night was another struggle for Dean to get Castiel to sit with the family to eat dinner. At first, he wouldn't sit at the table with him and his parents, but Dean was finally able to talk him into sitting down. Then, he just stared at the plate of food, too nervous to eat. He did eat finally, but not until his parents were done and gone. Dean made sure to stay with him until he was done.
Castiel seemed upset once they went back to Dean's room. He sat at the desk with his head down and wings falling loose behind him.
Dean wasn't sure how much to bring up yet. He knew he had to be careful with him at first, given all that he'd been through, but he had hoped it would be easier after he knew he didn't have to go back to his last owner.
He moved to sit on his bed and crossed his legs. "Cas, I'll never know or understand what you've been through, but you're safe here." The angel looked at him sadly. "I know it takes time to get past what happened to you and to learn to trust us, and I can't expect a change overnight. I just wanted to let you know that I'm here and I'll help you in any way I can to make this change easier for you."
Castiel knew he was being sincere and he knew that no one in this house would harm him, but 17 years of instincts and learned behavior were hard to forget. He nodded in understanding.
A few hours later, Dean and Castiel went to sleep after watching another movie. Dean helped Castiel take off his new blue shirt and shook his head when Dean asked if he had one he wanted to sleep in.
Dean slept easier when he couldn't see Castiel sitting next to his bed. He did roll over to check on the angel a couple times, but he always saw the same sight of him sprawled out on his stomach with his wings spread out fully and his head turned towards Dean's bed. He smiled at how peaceful he looked and slipped into sleep himself.
Sunday went about as smooth as Saturday. Castiel's bruises had already mostly healed and were a pale yellow. His wing was slightly better, but would take longer to heal than his face. Breakfast was another struggle to get Castiel to eat with the family, although he was willing to sit with them quicker than the night before.
After eating, Dean went back to his room with Castiel following close behind. He didn't have any homework left to finish so he sat at his desk and opened his laptop.
Castiel walked behind him and turned on the TV. He put in a new movie and then turned to look at Dean. He was browsing the internet in mild interest. Castiel rolled his shoulder with a grimace. His wing was starting to bother him again.
Dean looked up when Castiel moved over to stand next to him and gently pulled on his sleeve. "What is it, Cas?" The angel moved his shoulder again and glanced at his wing. Dean turned to face him. "Is that hurting again?" Castiel nodded.
"Sit down." Dean stood and moved over to get his supplies. Castiel moved to take the seat Dean was just in. When he got back to the chair, Dean noticed that the bandages were looking a little worn. "I should probably change the dressings too." Castiel nodded in understanding.
Dean began unwrapping the wing with slow moves. Castiel had his head down and braced himself on the desk with both hands. Dean tossed the old bandages to the floor and looked at the damaged wing. He wasn't an expert on angel anatomy but the wing looked better than when Missouri fixed it.
"If anything hurts too much, just hit the desk and I'll stop." Castiel nodded. Dean looked at the bone closely. He ran his fingers over the bone carefully, feeling Castiel twitch slightly. He could feel where the bone had broken and mostly healed over. A patch of the feathers in the area had been ripped out as well, leaving a red irritated spot where each had been.
Dean picked up the pain reliever and covered the wing bone. Castiel took a breath through his nose and tensed up briefly. Dean pulled his hand back. "You okay?" Castiel nodded.
Dean wrapped the wing bone quickly, careful to avoid pulling at any of his feathers in the area. Once that was done, he put more of the medicine on the bandages.
Castiel relaxed once Dean was done and smiled in gratitude. Dean sat on his bed and absently wiped remnants of the medicine off his hands. "You know, I've been thinking about your reading situation." He looked at the angel. "Would you want to learn how to read and write?"
The look of utter disbelief on Castiel's face made Dean smile. He nodded slowly and looked down at his hands.
"Good. I'll teach you." Castiel looked up quickly with wide eyes. Dean laughed at the look. "I may not be the best teacher or the best student, but I'm not trying to turn you into an English major, you just need the basics. I think I can handle that." Dean thought he saw a shine of tears in Castiel's eyes but the angel looked away before he could tell.
Dean knew that most owners kept their angels completely dependent on them by not teaching them anything that could give them choices. They would take their voices, their ability to get ideas from books, and their opinions from the written word. He didn't want to do that. He wanted Castiel to have as much freedom and choice as was possible.
"Okay, well I'll see if I can steal some workbooks or something from school tomorrow." He smiled and stood to throw out the bandages on the floor.
Dean spent the day with Castiel watching more movies and starting some of the more lighthearted TV shows he had seasons of. He didn't want to trigger anything for the angel with any of the violent or dark shows he had. That afternoon he tried to get him outside to enjoy the sunny weather, but Castiel refused to leave the house.
Mary had gone to pick up Sam from Brady's around 3pm and he immediately went into stories about what new games Brady had and how late they had stayed up. He tended to look at Castiel a lot while he talked and Dean could tell he wanted to make the angel feel included.
Mary shooed them out of the kitchen so she could start supper and Sam once again followed Dean and Castiel to his room. Dean could feel the angel staying close to his back, still nervous of Sam's interest.
Dean sat at his desk when they reached his room and Castiel stayed close to his side. Sam jumped onto Dean's bed and started hopping, making the bed creak slightly. Dean didn't have to turn around to know what he was doing.
"Hey, don't do that!" Dean glanced back at his brother. "Or at least take your shoes off first."
Sam sighed and let himself fall to land on his butt with his feet hanging over the bed. He smiled at Castiel and let his legs sway back and forth. Castiel didn't know what to do under the look and turned his head away.
"Can I ask you some questions?" Sam looked at him with hope shining in his eyes.
"Sam," Dean warned, remembering how the last session went with the jumpy angel.
"I'm asking him first! If he doesn't want to, I won't ask him anything." He turned back to Castiel with a small smile. "I promise they're just basic angel questions, nothing really personal."
Dean looked up at Castiel and saw the angel looking at him for help. He just shrugged. Castiel turned back to Sam and nodded.
Sam beamed and shifted on the bed excitedly. "Okay, uh, is it true that angels communicate telepathically?" Castiel nodded slowly. "Is it true that they live longer than humans?" Castiel nodded.
"Everyone knows that, Sam." Dean shook his head.
"I'm just making sure, Dean." He looked at Castiel again. "Are they a lot stronger than humans physically?" Castiel furrowed his brows and shrugged, not sure of the truth of that. "What about your wings? I've read that they're an angel's strongest limb and that even the feathers can be sharp and used as a weapon."
Dean looked up in interest. Castiel seemed to struggle with the answer to that. Dean hadn't really touched any of his feathers earlier, but they didn't seem sharp. He was surprised when Castiel nodded.
"Really?" Dean pushed his chair back to look at the angel. Castiel nodded again. "Why didn't you fight back then? When those jerks came after you in the street, why didn't you hit them with it or cut them?"
Castiel closed his eyes and bowed his head. He had been so weak and scared at the time that his wings wouldn't have been very affective even if he had wanted to fight back. His wings lowered slightly.
Sam frowned at the display. He knew that wings were a way for angels to express emotion, usually always involuntarily. He could tell that Castiel was ashamed and sad. "Can I feel your feathers?"
Dean and Castiel both looked at him in surprise. Dean put a hand up. "Sam, I don't think that's a good idea, or an appropriate question."
"I just want to see if they're sharp. I won't touch too much."
Dean was about to protest again when Castiel took a couple steps forward and extended out his good wing for Sam to reach. Dean felt his mouth open in shock.
Sam's eyes widened comically. "Can I really?" Castiel nodded. Sam stood from the bed slowly and took the couple steps closer to be able to reach the wing. He held out a hand and gently brushed his fingers through a couple of the feathers.
They were softer than Sam had expected. He smiled and stepped a little closer, letting his fingers touch a few more feathers. Castiel's wing twitched slightly at the feeling, but he didn't pull away. Sam laughed and looked at the angel, who was watching him closely.
While he was distracted, his hand moved up against the feathers and he felt his skin burn. He hissed in pain and pulled his hand back. Castiel immediately pulled his wing back into himself and stepped away, terrified that he had hurt Sam.
Dean stood up and walked over to his brother as he stared at his now bleeding finger. Dean grabbed his hand and looked at it. It was no worse than a paper cut. "I think you'll live." He smiled over at Castiel and found the angel shaking with his wings wrapped around his body and backed up to the wall.
"Cas, it's okay." Dean let go of Sam and moved closer to him. "It's just a little cut." Castiel shook his head.
"Really, it doesn't even hurt." Sam sucked the finger into his mouth and then showed it to Castiel. "I've done a lot worse to myself."
Castiel didn't seem too convinced and seemed certain that some kind of punishment was imminent. Dean sighed and put a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Go get a band aid for that."
"I'm fine."
"Everything will make it burn if you don't. Go." He shoved Sam gently to the door.
"Fine!" He rolled his eyes dramatically and left to go find a band aid.
Dean turned back to Castiel. "Hey, don't worry. We know you didn't do that on purpose. Sam will be fine and nobody is mad at you."
Castiel didn't seem convinced. They both jumped when Sam came back into the room with a band aid halfway wrapped around his finger.
"I just have one more question." He tossed his wrapper on the floor as he flattened the material around his finger.
"Dude, I do have a trashcan." Dean picked up the wrapper and dropped it in the small bin by the door. "And I think Cas has had enough questions for one day."
"It's just one more." Sam gave him a pouty face.
Dean crossed his arms and looked at Castiel. "It's up to you."
Castiel considered for a moment and then nodded.
"I've heard that angels mate for life and once they pick a mate, they'd die defending them. Is that true?"
Castiel was surprised by the question. He looked down in thought for a while. He didn't know a lot about such things, but his parents had talked to him about that when he was younger. He glanced at Dean, who was looking at Sam like he was wishing that he had made him leave. Castiel turned to Sam and nodded with a small smile.
Dean put his hands on Sam's shoulders and guided him back to the door. "Alright, you got your answers. Time to leave him alone."
Sam let himself be led out the door, but he pushed against the hold to look back at Castiel with a wide smile. "Thank you, Cas!"
Dean shut the door once he was in the hallway and turned back to Castiel. "Sorry about him. He's too curious for his own good."
Castiel shrugged and finally unfolded his wings, relaxing with the door shut and only being with Dean. He moved around the desk chair and sat down. Dean had moved closer to say something but his phone rang.
He jumped as his ringtone sounded loudly. Dean took it out of his pocket and checked the ID. He answered quickly and stepped out to the hallway.
Castiel waited at the desk for a few minutes, but then grew bored. He moved closer to the TV and searched for something new to watch. He was part way through an episode of a series when Dean came back into the room.
"Sorry, I had to take that." He was smiling. "What are we watching?" He looked at the TV and sat on the floor by the lounge chair and watched the rest of the episode with Castiel.