It was a couple days later when Dean was finally able to take off the bandages from Castiel's wing. The bone seemed healed and the area where the feathers were missing was no longer red and irritated. The angel stretched the wing gratefully and was finally able to pull it close to his back with the other one as he stood from Dean's bed.

"I bet that feels better." Dean smiled at the angel.

Castiel nodded and flexed his wings slightly. He reached around with his left hand and gently touched his now healed wing.

"Does it hurt at all?" Castiel shook his head. "Good."

Dean sat with Castiel for about an hour after that to continue his teachings. Castiel had gotten a good handle on the alphabet and he was teaching him small words and sentences to write out. The workbooks were coming in handy now and Castiel practiced while Dean went downstairs to get some snacks.

He had a couple small bags of chips and candy bars in his hands with drinks resting in the crooks of his crossed arms when his mom walked into the kitchen. "Hi, honey." He chuckled at the food he was carrying. "You two having a party up there?"

Dean smiled. "No, just a small get together."

"Alright, but don't fill up on it. Dinner will be ready in about an hour." Dean nodded and headed to the stairs. Mary called after him. "Dean, how's Castiel doing?"

He turned to her and shrugged. "Pretty good. He's practicing some small sentences now. I think he really likes learning how to write."

"Good." She smiled. "I also wanted to let you know that your dad made an appointment for Castiel to see the doctor this weekend."

"Oh," Dean had almost forgotten about needing to have that done. Since Castiel's bruises had healed and his wing was pretty much healed, he could go without any suspicion from the clinical staff. "Okay, I'll let Cas know."

Dean brought the food upstairs and put it on the desk by Castiel. He opened his chips and sat next the angel as he continued to write in his workbook. "So, my dad made an appt for you to get checked by the doctor this weekend."

Castiel stopped writing and looked up at Dean. He swallowed visibly and then wrote a question mark on his paper.

"It's just something we have to do for the paperwork." He smiled at the angel's neat question mark on the page. His handwriting had gotten better. "And we want to make sure you're not sick or have anything we need to be treating and aren't."

The angel furrowed his brows and nodded. He turned back to his writing and slowly traced over some of his words again. Dean could see his frown and worried look.

"You don't like going to the doctor do you?" Dean could read it on his face. The angel just shrugged and shook his head slightly. "Don't worry, Cas. It's just a routine checkup. You probably won't be there more than ten minutes." He put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. Castiel smiled up at him and his wings lifted up slightly in happiness.

They both jumped when Dean's door flew open and Sam came in. "Dean…"

"Sam, God!" Dean had a hand over his heart, which was pounding from being startled by his little brother. "Knocking, have you heard of it?"

Sam looked between Dean and Castiel with a raised eyebrow. "What, were you doing something I shouldn't see?"

"No, but its called courtesy. You knock before barging into someone's room." Dean looked at Castiel, who had jumped and pulled his wings close to his body.

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, I need you to drive me to one of my classmates' houses."

"Why?"

"Because we have a project we need to work on for class."

"You couldn't have ridden home with him after school?"

"No, she had basketball practice after school."

Dean smiled. "She?"

Sam sighed again. "Yes, it's a girl." His face reddened slightly.

"What's her name?"

"Are you gonna take me or not?"

"I need to know whose house you're going to."

"Her name is Jessica. The teacher paired everyone up for the project." He mumbled most of it while looking at his feet.

"Why can't mom take you?"

He looked up. "She told me to ask you. She's making dinner."

Dean sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Fine, go get your stuff." Dean stood as Sam left and moved to pick up his jacket. "I'll be back." He smiled at Castiel as he left the room and followed his brother down the stairs.

"So, how's Cas doing with his reading and writing?" Sam pointed to the next street Dean needed to turn onto.

"Good. He's catching on quick."

"That's good. It'll be nice when you two can communicate easier. I haven't heard of any of my friends who taught their angels to read or write. The ones that can't talk, that is."

Dean glanced at Sam while slowing to a stop sign. "You haven't told anyone about Cas, right?" The family had agreed not to mention it to anyone for a while.

"No. I don't know why we can't tell anyone." Sam turned to Dean. "It's not like its something to be ashamed of or anything."

"We're not ashamed, Sam. We just don't want to broadcast it. You know what people around here think of people who own angels, the adults anyway."

"Yeah, I know." Sam leaned back in his seat and looked out the window. "I don't think anyone would honestly believe we would ever mistreat an angel."

"Dad's the sheriff. He doesn't need any publicity about it."

Sam stayed silent for a moment while watching the houses go by. He then smiled slightly and looked back at Dean. "You know, I've noticed that Castiel seems a lot more comfortable with you than anyone else. He's always really close to you and holding your arm or hand when you go anywhere."

"So? I'm the one that found him and helped him. He probably would feel more comfortable with me."

Sam laughed lightly. "Yeah, he would. I think it's cute." He smiled at Dean, who had turned to look at him at the word cute.

"Well I think it's cute that you have a crush on this girl you're working with." Dean smirked at Sam's quickly reddening face.

"What? I don't have a crush on her." Sam turned his face away while Dean laughed.

"Of course not. That's why you're blushing."

"Shut up."

"Sammy has a crush on Jessica." Dean reached over to poke Sam's shoulder.

"Shut up!" Sam slapped Dean's hand away. "I do not!"

Dean laughed and put both hands on the wheel again and drove on in silence. When he got to a dead end road and slowed the car. "Which house is hers?"

Sam looked around and pointed to a two-story brick house close to the end of the road. Dean pulled into the driveway. "Am I picking you up too?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. Mom didn't say. I'll call when we're done."

"Alright." Sam got out of the front seat and Dean waited until he was let into the house before backing out and driving home.

Dean got home a few minutes before his dad and they all ate dinner. Sam was going to be eating at Jessica's house. Castiel was now able to sit with the family comfortably and would eat slowly while watching everyone else.

John looked at Dean partway through the meal. "Dean, have you started looking for a job yet?"

"Um," Dean felt his heart rate pick up. He'd been so preoccupied with Castiel that he'd forgotten about it. "A little bit."

"That was part of the agreement when Castiel joined us. You need to help support him now."

"I know. I'll start looking harder, I promise." Dean kept his eyes on his food, feeling ashamed at forgetting about something so important.

"Good."

The rest of the meal went by silently. Afterward, Dean went back up to his room to finish his homework, Castiel right behind. The angel took his workbooks over to his chair so Dean could use the desk. He had been watching him during dinner and could tell he was upset.

Dean looked up when Castiel tapped his shoulder. The angel held out his workbook with a couple words written in the corner that read: 'job upset?'.

He laughed lightly and looked at Castiel. "I wouldn't say upset. I'm just a little worried about it."

Castiel furrowed his brows and pointed to the question mark.

"Because I forgot about it. I feel like I let someone down somehow. I know that it's hard for my family to make it on the budget we have now and I want to help out, but I want to help you too. I feel like I won't have time for that if I have school, homework, and work." Dean sighed and covered his face with a hand.

Castiel frowned as Dean rested his elbows on the desk and hid his face. He didn't want Dean to feel upset. He reached out a hand and put it on his shoulder the same way Dean did to him when he wanted to comfort him.

Dean looked up when he felt the angel's hand on his shoulder. Castiel was looking at him with sympathetic eyes. He smiled at him and sat up straighter. "Don't worry, Cas. I'll be fine." He bent down to pick up his textbooks to start his homework.

The rest of the night went by silently, until Dean had to go pick up Sam. Castiel continued watching some DVDs and tracing sentences in his notebook. He really wanted to learn more so he could talk to Dean easier.

Raised voices he heard coming from downstairs piqued Castiel's interest about ten minutes after Dean left. He walked to the bedroom door on light feet and slowly stuck his head out into the hallway. John and Mary were talking in the kitchen.

"I can't work enough hours a week to make up for the extra cost, Mary." John sounded exhausted.

"I'm not suggesting you work more, John. I just think you shouldn't be too hard on Dean. He's doing a lot for Castiel here."

"Expecting a teenager to get a job isn't being too hard. He agreed to it when we took in the angel. We're on a tight budget and we really can't afford this."

"We'll manage."

"How? We didn't have much of anything to spare before and now…"

"John, please…" She cut him off, trying to avoid the same argument they'd been having recently.

"What, am I lying? We basically have three children now and we can't afford it! If that angel hadn't been is such bad shape when Dean found him, I wouldn't have let him stay here."

There was a pause and then Mary let out a huff. "I don't believe that."

"After what Dean did that night I shouldn't have rewarded him at all."

"He was just upset and over reacted." Castiel heard her shuffle closer to the stairs where John was standing. "I wonder where he gets that from." They both chuckled. "If things get too tight, John, I can find a job too. Everything will be okay."

Castiel retreated to Dean's room. The conversation had put a bad feeling in his stomach. John had always made him nervous and now it seemed like the man didn't even want the angel in the house. He never wanted to cause any trouble. Now he just felt like a burden on the family. He dropped his notebook on the floor and laid down on his mattress. His desire to practice writing was gone for the night.

Sam rushed up the stairs once he got home. Dean had been teasing him about Jessica the whole way home and he was irritated. Dean laughed as he called him a jerk and ran up to his room. He grabbed a drink and walked up the stairs. He assumed his parents were in their room since they didn't greet him, and he was glad for it. He didn't want to talk about job hunting again tonight.

He pushed his bedroom door open and walked in while taking a drink of water. Crunching paper under his foot made him jump. He looked down and saw Castiel's notebook on the floor. Dean picked it up and frowned when he noticed the angel seeming to be asleep. He usually never left anything on the floor, let alone in front of the door.

"Cas, you okay?" Dean tossed the notebook to land on his desk. The pencil was on the floor too and he picked it up.

The angel pulled his cover closer and rolled more away from Dean. "What's wrong?"

Dean moved to sit on his bed and look at Castiel. "Does something hurt?" Castiel's eyes were open and seemed strangely blank. He just shook his head.

"Can I help you in any way?" Castiel blinked and pulled his wings up to wrap around himself more.

He wasn't sure what was going on. Castiel never acted like this. He was worried something was seriously wrong. "Cas, what happened?"

Castiel closed his eyes briefly and his lips quivered slightly. He turned away from Dean and hid his face in the pillow.

Now he was really worried. It looked like Castiel was about to cry. "Hey," he moved off the bed and crouched by the angel, "I don't want you to be sad, Cas. How can I help you?"

Castiel shook his head. Dean waited for a minute to see if maybe the angel would open up, but he didn't. He stood and moved back to his desk. "Well, I'm here if you want to talk or anything."

He sat and worked on his homework until it was late enough for his eyes to start hurting and demand he sleep. He yawned and got up to turn off the light. He looked at Castiel as he did and saw the angel sleeping with a furrowed brow.