A week had passed, and Dean still had not posted a single video.
Normally, this wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary, really, seeing as Dean's normal posting schedule was once every other week, but ever since he and Castiel had started up their correspondence, he'd had a reply posted by the next day, or maybe within hours, if Castiel was lucky.
And so, Castiel spent that week since Dean's last post wondering if maybe he'd scared the other boy away and in his next video, Dean would just pretend that that whole episode had never happened.
Castiel hoped that wasn't what would happen.
He enjoyed talking to Dean, and for a while, it had seemed as if Dean had enjoyed it as well.
But now it looked as if Dean had finally gotten bored of him.
It had been inevitable, Castiel knew that. So then why did it still hurt so much?
"Don't worry about it, bro," said Gabriel on the sixth day, ruffling his little brother's hair. "I'm sure he's just been really busy. The guy does have his own life, you know."
"I guess…" replied Castiel, looking down.
"Now come on," said Gabe, poking his brother in the ribs, "We gotta go pick up Anna at the airport, remember?"
This, at least, cheered Castiel up quite a bit. His sister Anna was the only one of his siblings that he had contact with other than Gabriel and it had been so long since he'd last seen her.
Dean collapsed into the sofa with a sigh, feeling all the energy drain out of him.
This past week had been hectic, what with having to deal with work and his online class and nightmares and a new family member coming into his life.
Don't get him wrong, he wasn't upset about any of the things that had happened this past week.
Quite the contrary, he was happier than he could remember being in a while.
It's just that he was only twenty-three, damn it! He was too young to be dealing with this kind of stuff!
Suddenly, a weight settled onto the couch beside him, and he peeked one eye open to see his grandmother sitting beside him, looking at him worriedly.
"Are you okay, honey?" she asked. "You're run completely ragged. You know your grandfather and I could-"
"I'm fine, gran," Dean insisted, rolling his eyes. "I promise. And you and Henry are already helping me enough."
His grandmother looked as if she were about to say more when suddenly, there was the scuffing of bare feet behind them, and both turned to see who was standing in the doorway behind them.
"What's up, baby girl?" asked Dean, suddenly worried as he took in big, watery green eyes and messy hair and hands clutching tightly at a teddy bear.
"I-I had another nightmare," she sniffled.
Nodding, Dean got up, pulling the four-year-old into his arms. "Then how about I sleep with you, hm? Would that make it better?"
She nodded once, winding skinny arms around his neck and saying to Liz, "Good night, great-gramma."
"Goodnight, Emma."
SkyGem: So, short chapter, I know, and I know I said it'd be up yesterday, but I couldn't find any time. Hope you enjoyed this, though! I'll try and update this again soon. Not making any promises though, because I probably won't get it done, then XD.