Enjoy!

Dean shot to his feet after reading the message. The other guys looked up at Dean.

"Everything okay, man?" Roy Wesson asked Dean.

"Um, yeah. Gotta make a phone call… just, uh, I'll be right back," he said as he quickly ran to the bathroom. It was the safest place to have a phone conversation since he couldn't go outside for fear of passersby overhearing him.

As soon as the door was shut and locked behind him, he called Cas. It's not that he didn't want Cas to meet his parents, it's just he didn't want Cas to feel pressured about anything. Meeting someone's parents was a big step in a relationship and they just talked about not rushing things.

"Hey," Cas answered the phone.

"Hey, Cas. How did – is everything – what happened?"

Cas chuckled softly. "Everything's fine, Dean. Your mother came to pick up Haley. She, um, she invited me over for dinner this weekend."

"Look, if you don't want to go – "

"I want to go."

"Wait, you want to go? What about not rushing things?"

"Dean, you've met and hung out with the only family I have left. You've received the Novak Stamp of Approval. You said you were in it for the long haul, well so am I, and this is one of those long haul moments, right?"

"Cas, I would love for you to meet my family. I just want you to be… comfortable," Dean wasn't sure that was the right word he wanted to use. He wanted Cas to make sure this is what he wanted to do. Mary had a way of making people do what she wanted them to do without them knowing they were doing it. It had something to do with her sweet smile and innocent nature. She probably smiled at him and said something kind and told him he was going to come to the dinner without even asking him if he wanted to, making Cas agree to it without even realizing what was going on. Dean was just thankful she didn't use her powers for evil.

"I'm comfortable. I'm fine, Dean."

"Good," he said, sighing in relief. "So, when is this dinner, then?"

"She didn't specify a date; just this weekend."

"She'll probably tell me all about it when I get off work."

"Speaking of work, I need to finish some things up here at school."

"Oh, okay," Dean said, trying to mask his sadness. He wasn't ready to get off the phone with Cas.

Cas smiled down at the papers on his desk. "I miss you, too, Dean," Cas said softly. "Call me later?"

"Yeah, I will."

They told one another bye and Dean sighed as he hung up the phone. He needed a new job; the kind of job where you went to work in the morning and came home to Cas in the evening. He slipped his phone back in his pocket and opened the door to find six guys standing there smirking at him.

Shit.

"What?"

"Who's Cas?" Roy asked.

"Is she hot?" his brother Walt asked him.

"Already meeting the family. That's kind of a big step, son," Carl Bates said, smirking.

"You guys were standing there fucking listening?" Dean asked, angrily. He really needed a new job.

"That's my fault," Martin Creaser admitted. "You jumped up in a hurry, looking a little frantic. Just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"And waiting until I came out to tell you wasn't an option?" Dean asked them, becoming more pissed.

"Well, it's a good thing we listened. You wouldn't have said anything about her if we didn't overhear you talking to her," Lee Chambers pointed out, smirking at him because he knew he was right.

"Alright, guys, let him out of the bathroom," Daniel Elkins demanded, motioning for everyone to move back.

The group moved back out of the way, but Dean didn't budge. He was still pissed. Daniel motioned for him to get out of the bathroom. "Come on, Winchester. You know the guys are a bunch of women. Gossiping is what keeps them sane during down time."

Dean walked out of the bathroom and pushed past them, walking to his bed rather than going back into the living room to join the guys. "Whatever. Next time keep your fucking nose out of my fucking business."

Dean realized he shouldn't be as angry as he was. He just hated hiding Cas from everyone, and honestly, he had no idea how his co-workers would take him being gay. Dean's always been very open minded when it comes to peoples' sexuality, but not so much for the guys he worked with. They've all said some pretty offensive things and Dean was pretty positive a couple of them would ostracize him if they knew.

Dean sent Cas a text message once he calmed down. The guys overheard me on the phone…

^O^

As soon as Cas hung up the phone with Dean, there was a knock on his door. He looked up to find the elementary school's music teacher, Anna Milton, standing there in his doorway. "Oh, hey, Anna," he greeted her, trying to hide his panic. Did she hear any of the phone conversation he had? He was pretty fucking stupid to talk to Dean with his door open, but usually all the teachers ran for freedom as soon as their classrooms were empty. He just assumed everyone was gone.

"Hey, Castiel."

"Are you having fun teaching the kids Beethoven yet?"

She smiled, tightly and nodded. She was acting weird. Cas and Anna found common ground since they were both new teachers here at Lawrence Elementary. They spoke often and she was usually smiling and laughing when they did, but now she was acting… like something was wrong. "Yes," she finally answered him.

"Everything okay, Anna?"

Anna moved closer to Cas' desk, looking down at her fidgeting fingers, as she asked, "Who were you talking with?"

Cas swallowed hard. She did over hear him. "That's kind of personal, Anna," Cas said, standing and gathering the work he told Dean he needed to finish. He would take it home instead.

"Who is Dean? Is he Haley Winchester's uncle? I overheard her and her friends talking about you and her uncle getting married. Castiel, if you're gay, you can't teach children."

Cas froze for a second. He stopped moving, stopped breathing. He looked up at Anna, doing his best to keep his voice steady as the highest level of anger he'd ever felt washed over him. "And why can't homosexuals teach children?"

"Because you'll give them ideas that it's okay to be gay. It's not, Castiel. It's a sin. It's disgusting."

Cas calmly set the papers down that he held in his hand. He didn't want to have to explain to the children why their drawings looked like they'd been put through the washer. "I think that's a matter of opinion, Ms. Milton. And since your opinion is wrong, I'm going to have to ask you to leave my room."

Anna took a step back. "I'm going to Principal McLeod."

Before Cas could stop her, Anna was out of his room and heading up the hall. Cas hurried after her, praying that the principal was already gone for the day, but as luck would have it, she was still there.

"Principal McLeod, we have a problem," Anna told her, barging into her office.

"Please, Anna, call me Naomi," the principal said for – what she knew – the hundredth time, motioning to her chairs. "Sit, tell me what's wrong."

"This man is a homosexual," Anna blurted out. Cas quickly shut the door behind him. There were people outside the main office and he didn't really want this to go further than this room if it could be helped. Naomi's eyes widened, not because of the information Anna gave her, but because of the unprofessional manner in which she was given it. Regardless of the reasoning, the expression caused Cas to panic. "I feel letting him teach children will inadvertently corrupt them," Anna continued.

"Is that so?" Naomi asked. "Anna, please take a seat. I'd like to have a word with you," she said kindly to the young redhead. She walked over to Cas and escorted him from the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Castiel, go home."

"Naomi, please let me explain – "

"Trust me when I tell you that I know exactly what you're going to say," she told him, placing her hand on his forearm and squeezing it. "Go home."

Cas felt like he was going to vomit. He nodded his head shakily and quickly left the office, heading straight for his room where he grabbed his things, and left. He sat in the abandoned parking lot for a moment, waiting for the nausea to subside, but the longer he sat there, the more he worried, and the sicker he felt. It finally became too much for him. He quickly opened the door and ran to the back of the car where he threw up.

When he finally got back in the car, he drove home. His mind was racing. He just knew he was going to be let go at the end of the school year. He'd have to find another job. He'd have to move. He couldn't leave Dean or Charlie. He would end up working at some burger shack slinging fast food for the rest of his life just because he liked men. How was he ever going to move out of Charlie and Gilda's house living on minimum wage? Dean wouldn't want to date some failure.

His life was over.

When he got home, Charlie and Gilda were arguing over what kind of material to use on some outfit they were making. "Look, Charlie, not everyone wants velvet on their dress."

"She obviously doesn't know what she's talking about. The Ren Faire she's going to is in the winter. She will freeze in all this stupid silk."

"It's her design. If she wants silk, we're going to give her silk. For all you know she has another piece she's going to add to it."

"Doubtful…" Charlie mumbled under her breath. Cas stood in the living room watching them argue for a second before they focused on him. "Cas?" Charlie called out to him as she got up. "What's wrong? You okay?"

"So, apparently, one of the teachers overheard Dean's niece talking to her friends about he and I and then she heard me talking to Dean on the phone after class. She went straight to the principal's office and told Naomi."

Charlie's usually happy face turned dark as she frowned at her baby brother. "She fucking did what?"

Cas just nodded his head, letting her know that she did in fact hear him correctly. Gilda got up and wrapped her arms around Cas. "It's going to be okay, Cas," she said softly as he wrapped his arms around her.

"What did Naomi say to you?" Charlie asked as calmly as she could through gritted teeth. She never got angry. She was always very happy-go-lucky, until someone fucked with her little brother.

"She wanted to talk to Anna alone. She told me to go home. She said she knew everything I was going to say and that I just needed to go home."

Gilda pulled away from Cas to look up at him. "That doesn't mean anything bad. Maybe she was just going to tell Anna to mind her own business."

Cas scoffed. "That would be too good to be true," he said softly as he gently pushed Gilda away. He walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink.

"Cas, everything is going to be okay," Gilda tried to reassure him. "Have you talked to Dean since this happened?"

Cas took a drink of the brown liquor in his glass. "No," he said, sighing heavily. He pulled his phone out of his bag and saw that he had a text message from him. Cas opened the message and read it aloud. "The guys overheard me on the phone…" Cas scoffed. "I guess it was only a matter of time before we slipped up," he said as he closed the message. "I'm going to go call him…"

Cas grabbed his drink and walked into his room as Gilda walked over to Charlie to try to calm her down. Cas called Dean's phone and was surprised he answered. "Look, I'm sorry. They don't know anything. They think you're a girl," Dean quickly tried to explain to him.

Cas shook his head even though Dean couldn't see him. "Dean, that's the least of our worries right now."

"What? What's wrong?" Dean quickly asked him. Cas explained everything one more time for Dean. "Fuck…"

"So, I'm going to drink until I pass out. I'll start looking for jobs tomorrow…"

"Cas, baby, it's going to be okay. Maybe she wanted to talk to this Anna bitch alone to tell her to keep her nose out of other peoples' fucking business. That seems to be going around these days…"

Cas chuckled. "That's what Gilda said. Albeit with less swearing, but that's what she said."

Dean sighed. "We'll get through this, Cas. Everything is going to be okay. Even if you get fired, we'll get through this."

"You mean you'll still date me even if I'm an unemployed school teacher?"

Dean chuckled. "I would date you no matter what, Cas."

Cas takes another drink. "And when I have to start stripping to support myself?"

Dean laughed a little harder that time. "I would make sure I was your only customer."

"Thanks, Dean."

Dean opened his mouth, but stopped the words that were coming out. He cleared his throat and said, "You're welcome," instead. He had no idea where the sudden urge came from, but saying three tiny words would have been doing a lot more than rushing things. The alarm went off at the fire station and Dean sighed. "Call me tomorrow, okay? Don't leave me here wondering what in the hell is going on out there."

"I will," Cas said softly.

They said goodbye and hung up. Cas looked down at the phone in his hand and smiled. He felt a little better about things. He wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or the reassurance in Dean's voice – or both – but he felt better than he did before he got on the phone. Cas finished his drink and took a long shower. Even if he was going to be fired, he was still a teacher and he had things that needed grading.

^O^

When Cas got to school the next morning, he had no idea what to do. Should he stop by the principal's office and speak with Naomi about yesterday? Should he go on to class and act as if nothing happened? Should he call in sick? Cas took a deep breath and looked at his phone to check the time. He decided on option B since he didn't have the time for option A, and he wasn't going to let Anna win, so option C wasn't really an option to start with actually.

He held his head up high. He had nothing to be ashamed of and if anyone felt like he did, then they were the ones that should be ashamed. However, as he made his way to his room, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. All the other teachers and parents smiled at him as he passed by them. He made it all the way to his room without having any problems from anyone. Once all the kids arrived, he started class. He was relieved that everything was going so smoothly.

It wasn't until almost lunch time when his day started to take a turn for the worse. The kids were in the middle of reading for Cas when there was a knock on his door. "Molly, mark your place so you don't lose it," he told the little girl who had been reading aloud for the class. He walked over to the closed door and opened it to find Naomi on the other side of it.

Naomi smiled at the kids. "Hello, class."

The entire class greeted their principal with a loud "Hello, Principal McLeod!"

She turned her kind smile onto Cas. "Can I speak with you for a quick second in the hall, Mr. Novak?"

Cas nodded and turned to his class. "Know that I'm always listening…" he told them, playfully narrowing his eyes at them. A few of the kids giggled at him as he pulled the door closed behind him.

"Castiel, are you free for lunch?"

"I have lunch room duty," he told her. It was his week to make sure food fights didn't break out and the kids didn't get too rowdy.

"I'll get someone to cover you. I'd like to speak with you, if you don't mind."

"Is this about…?"

"Yes," she said, giving him a sad smile.

Cas gulped. "Sure," he told her.

"Thank you, Castiel. I'll see you at noon."

Cas nodded as she walked away. As soon as Cas walked back into the class room, the kids started poking fun at him, telling him he was in trouble with the principal. They had no idea how spot on they were. He let them joke for a moment before he asked Molly to continue reading. As soon as the lunch bell rang, the kids made a break for it. Cas let them. He didn't try to slow them down or tell them to stop pushing. He had too much else on his mind.

He made the long walk to Naomi's office. He'd never made this trek as a school kid and he's glad he never had to. The bad kids really were bad if they could face this fear and continue to be delinquents. As soon as Cas was in her office, Naomi asked him to sit down. "I won't keep you long, Castiel. I know you're probably hungry."

"Not so much, actually. It's amazing what the fear of losing your job will do to your appetite."

Naomi sighed. "I'm not going to fire you, Castiel."

"What?"

"You will get no recommendation for termination from me. I personally don't have the power to hire or fire, but I do have a small say so. I've seen you with the children, I've watched you teach. You are very good at what you do and your sexuality doesn't help or limit you in anyway. Not that it should. You see, Castiel, I am a very open minded person. I have a brother and a sister that are homosexual. I know what you go through, why you haven't openly came out. However, Ms. Milton is not as… understanding. She explained to me what she's heard from the Winchester girl and the phone conversation she overheard yesterday afternoon. When I asked her to politely mind her business, she refused. She plans to go above my head. I don't know if the school board will listen to her insane pleas for the 'children's well-being', but I wanted you to know what's going on."

"So, if they did decide to fire me?"

"They would be risking themselves a lawsuit if they did so because of your sexuality. However, they could dig to try to find a real reason to fire you. Until you knew you were in the clear, I would do everything by the book, Castiel. Don't give them a reason to fire you. You're new. You haven't made an impression yet – good or bad. You have no seniority, no reason for them to keep you. So don't give them anything. Don't give them a reason to fire you. If you have any questions or need someone to talk to, please come to me. I want you at this school, Castiel. I've heard great things from your school back in Illinois. You would be good for the students. And if they come to me and ask my opinion, I will tell them just that."

"Thank you, Naomi."

"I'll make sure to let you know of anything I hear. Until then, don't worry. Keep doing what you're doing, Castiel, and whatever you do, avoid Ms. Milton."

Cas chuckled softly. "I will, trust me," Cas said as he stood.

"Have a good rest of the day," Naomi told him, standing as she held out her hand for him to shake.

"Thank you, again," he said with as much sincerity as he possibly could as he shook her hand.

As soon as Cas left her office, he made a beeline straight for his room. He grabbed his phone and called Dean. He made sure his door was shut as soon as the phone started ringing on the other end.

"Hey," Dean answered with a groggy voice.

"Did I wake you?" Cas asked him, knowing how precious his sleep is while he's at work.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. Tell me you have good news for me."

"I have okay news. My job is safe for now. Naomi told me that Anna plans to go to the school board though, but I have no idea what's going to happen after that."

"This is good news, Cas. It's not as great as what you want, sure, but you still have your job and that's all that matters, babe."

"You're right."

"Usually," he said with a soft chuckle.

Cas sighed. Dean was right. It was still good news. "I'll let you get back to sleep," Cas said softly.

"We'll celebrate Thursday night. I'll make you a steak."

Cas chuckled. "I can't wait."

"Me, either," Dean said, thinking about getting Cas back in his arms. Once he had Dean off the phone, he contemplated calling Charlie and Gilda to let them know, but he didn't have much time before lunch was over and he hadn't eaten yet. He'd need something to eat before the day was over with. He'd tell them once he got home. Right now, he needed food.

I'm not good with the conflict, so you guys bear with me, okay? It's a learning process. I'm an "All fluff, all the time!" kinda gal and this tension and drama is a different kind of beast to write.

Did anyone catch Naomi's last name... and who it belongs to in the Supernatural fandom? /giggles

As always my beautiful creatures, thank you so much for the reviews! I love to hear from you guys! Thank you very much for reading this story! Leave a review, let me know what you like (or didn't). Until next time!