The next morning he had to wake up way too early for his liking. He groaned as he saw that it was only 7 o'clock and rolled over onto his stomach. His mother would be knocking on his door soon if he didn't get up.
He yawned and glanced over to check on Castiel. The angel was sleeping like he always did, sprawled out on his stomach with his cover mostly hanging off the side of the mattress. Dean chuckled at the sight. Castiel had always slept without his shirt as well. Dean figured it was easier for his wings and it was warmer inside than he was used to out on the street.
Dean got up and walked out carefully to use the bathroom, trying to not wake up Castiel. When he got back to the room, Castiel had rolled over and pulled his cover back over him. Dean tiptoed by him to get to his dresser and grabbed his outfit for the day. He changed quickly and headed downstairs to eat breakfast.
When he got back upstairs, Castiel was sitting on his mattress and stretching his neck. Dean smiled. "Morning." He did a double take when he saw Castiel's face. "Wow that looks good." He pointed to his face, which was completely clear of his bruises. "You really do heal fast."
Castiel touched his face and smiled. Dean picked up his schoolbag off the floor and put it on his shoulder. "Well, I have to go to school. I should be back around 3:30 or 4. It'll just be you and my mom in the house today. Feel free to go wherever you want. I know she'd like help around the house, but don't feel like you have to." Castiel nodded. "There's food downstairs for you anytime you want to eat."
Dean put his hand on the doorknob, but realized Castiel still didn't have a shirt and his wing was still hard to work around alone. "Hey, you want some help getting a shirt on before I leave?"
Castiel looked down like he had forgotten that he wasn't completely dressed. He nodded and moved to stand from his mattress.
Dean dropped his bag and waited for Castiel to pick what shirt he wanted. He held out one of his plain black ones that buttoned up the front. Dean helped him get the shirt over his wings and arms before stepping away and picking up his bag again.
"I'll see you later. I'll try and get that workbook for you today so we can start our lessons tonight." He smiled and waved to the angel. Castiel waved back as he tried to button up his shirt.
Dean and Sam got back from school a little after 3:30. Sam went upstairs to put his bag up. Dean just dropped his by the door and went into the kitchen to get a snack. He was taking a soda from the fridge when Mary entered the kitchen behind him.
"Hey, how was school?"
"Fine," Dean shut the fridge and turned to face her, "normal."
She smiled. "Did you find something to help Castiel with his reading?" He had told her about his plans for that before leaving.
"Yeah, I did. I figured I could start with the alphabet today and see how that goes." He opened his can of soda and took a drink. He didn't know what it would be like to teach someone how to read and write. He had helped Sam with his homework before but Sam always caught on pretty fast. "What's he been doing today?"
Mary shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him all day. I walked by your room earlier and heard your TV so I figured he was just wanting some alone time. He also came down to eat at some point, but I didn't hear him."
Dean was worried about that. He had hoped that Castiel would start to get more comfortable in the house and with Mary, but it had only been a couple days. "Well, I'll go check on him."
He headed upstairs after grabbing his bag. He opened his door and found Castiel sitting sideways in his chair with his legs crossed over the arm and his wings draped over the opposite arm. He glanced up when Dean opened the door.
Dean closed the door and dropped his bag on the desk. The television was off and Castiel seemed to just be sitting and looking out the window near the chair.
"You have a good day?" Castiel nodded. "Good. My mom said you didn't leave the room though. Not that you have to, but there wasn't any problem was there?" The angel shook his head. "Good."
Dean opened his bag and took out a couple thin books. "I got you something." He held them out to Castiel, who took them and looked them over. "They won't be a lot of good to you yet, but we can start with the basics tonight if you want."
Castiel ran a hand over the workbook and smiled to himself. He looked up at Dean briefly and nodded. He wanted to learn to read, and he couldn't believe that Dean wanted to teach him.
He smiled at the angel. "Awesome. How about right now?"
Castiel shifted around in his chair to face Dean and shrugged. He tried to keep his excitement from showing too much.
"Come here." Dean motioned to his desk. He took out a notebook and a couple pencils. Castiel stood and moved over to stand behind him. Dean pointed to the desk chair. "Go ahead and sit there."
The angel sat at the desk and put the workbook down in front of him. Dean rummaged through his bag for a minute before turning around. He opened the notebook and put it on the desk next to the workbook and handed Castiel one of the pencils.
After dragging the lounge chair over to sit beside Castiel, Dean wrote out the alphabet on the blank page of the notebook. He started going over the basics of the letters with him. The angel's expression of extreme focus made Dean smile.
He had him copy the letters down in the notebook and got through the first part of the alphabet when his mother knocked on the door.
Mary opened the door and poked her head in. "Dinner's ready."
"Okay, we'll be right down." Dean smiled. She looked at both of them and nodded happily before closing the door again. Dean looked at the clock in his room. "Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long." They had been at the desk for a little over an hour. "Let's go eat."
Dean stood and touched his shoulder gently. Castiel stood to follow and took Dean's hand as they went through the door. Dean didn't even notice the angel's hold as he led him down the hall.
Sam was helping set the table as Dean walked in with Castiel. He saw them holding hands and smiled at his brother. When Dean gave him a strange look, Sam tilted his head to their joined hands and raised his eyebrows.
Dean didn't know what Sam was looking at, but he followed his look down to his hand. He looked back up to Sam and let go of Castiel. The angel tended to hold onto Dean whenever they walked anywhere and he had already gotten used to it.
"What?" Dean crossed his arms.
Sam just chuckled, shaking his head. "Nothing."
Dean glanced back at Castiel, who didn't seem to notice the exchange, and walked over to where his mom was getting plates out of the cabinets. Castiel followed. Mary handed them plates and the three boys sat at the table with her.
"Where's dad?" Dean thought it was weird that he wasn't home yet.
"He's working late tonight. He should be home in a few hours."
Dean nodded. He wondered how many nights his dad would be working late from now on to help them afford to take care of Castiel. He looked at the angel and was happy to see him eating his food with more comfort than he ever had. The angel hadn't even needed to be coaxed into sitting with them.
After dinner, Dean did some of his homework in his room while Castiel kept himself bent over Dean's desk to practice writing his letters. An hour later, Dean put his books away and went over to Castiel to see how he was doing.
Dean smiled as he saw the angel tracing the letters over and over with a furrowed brow. The angel's penmanship was shaky but better than Dean had expected. He put a hand on Castiel's shoulder. "That's good, Cas." He squeezed his shoulder gently as he turned his head up to look at Dean.
Castiel stayed at the desk for a while. Dean had gone to shower and was ready for bed before the angel yawned and closed his notebook. He gathered his clothes to take a shower and turned to look at Dean.
Dean was sitting on his bed, trying to get comfortable. "Off to shower?" Castiel nodded. "You need help with your shirt?" His wing was getting better, but he did sometimes have trouble maneuvering over the appendage. He shook his head. "Okay, well I'm probably gonna be asleep by the time you get back. You can turn the light off on the way out."
The angel nodded again and left to take a shower. He didn't have too much trouble with his shirt and the pain wasn't too bad with his wing anymore. When he got back to the room, Dean was under the covers and turned away from the door. He walked carefully into the room and shut the door before settling on his mattress.