Just a quick author's note here-
I'm so sorry for the wait. Real life got in my way, and I haven't been able to keep my mind in one place. I lost interest in the story, then found it again.
I hope it's an alright chapter, I'll do my best to make the next fantastic! ;w;
And once again, a big thanks to my wonderful beta, Maestus, who fixed my many, many errors.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Click. Click click click.

Squeak.

Click click click.

Slam.

"What the hell, Cas?"

Castiel opens his eyes and rises from his bed, looking up at his sister, who was standing by his door. He had gone to sleep after getting home from the bar, and had gotten in two hours before the interruption- not nearly enough.

"What do you mean?" He asks, and looks up at his sister.

"You ditched me! You went home instead of staying at the bar!"

"I'm sorry." He answers, and lies back down.

"That's it? Just an 'I'm sorry'? I expect more of an explanation than that, Cas. What happened? Why did you leave?"

He groans, shaking his head.

He was not going to think of Dean. He would not think of cowboys in general. Distractions were bad: very, very bad.

"It doesn't matter." He answers and Anna sits down on the edge of his bed, slapping his leg.

"Seriously: tell me, Cas." He shakes his head in response, and she grabs his shoulders, sitting him up with a strength he didn't realize she had.

"Tell me!" She commands again, and he sighs because he knows he can't refuse her.

"I was going to wait but I met this guy who took me there anyway. We drank, I went home, the end." He says, and she makes this little squeal noise and grabs his cheeks.

"You made a friend! That's so cute, Cassy! Tell me more about him!" She says, a huge smile on her face.

"I don't know, Anna: I really don't want to talk about it. And he's not my friend. In fact, I don't plan on seeing him again." Her smile falters, her eyebrows knitting.

"Why not? Did something happen; was he mean to you? If he was, I'll get Gabe to tear him apart. Or maybe Zach.: he's intimidating."

They had four brothers- Michael, Lucifer, Raphael and Gabriel. Michael was very obedient, doing everything their father said. He was smart, hardworking, and did what needed to be done in order to make their father happy. Lucifer was a bit younger than Mike, and he loved their dad- loved him dearly. But their father never really liked Lucifer, and their views conflicted a lot which caused Lucifer to be a bit of a rebel, doing everything their father said not to do. He was usually shunned amongst their family.

Raphael was a bit of a bully, but didn't really bother anyone, spending most of his time playing baseball with Gabriel and doing whatever their father asked of him. Gabriel did most of what their father said, but slacked off more than the rest of them. He also had a huge sweet tooth, and had a million stashes of candy around their giant house. He was fantastic at baseball, and had regular matches with Raphael which resulted in countless broken windows across the house, much to their father's annoyance.

They also had six cousins, one of which was named Zachariah. Zach spent a lot of time at their house, checking in with their father and making sure everything was alright with them. He was creepy, in Anna's opinion. Castiel thought he was cruel (and Gabriel could vouch for that; he had gotten slapped many times for his 'rude behavior'.)

"No, Anna, nothing like that. I'm fine. He was very nice: I just don't want any friends. And he was a cowboy; he'll probably be gone and out of town soon, anyways."

His sister shakes her head, standing up.

"I don't understand you, Cas, not at all."

"I don't understand you, either." He says, and they both smile, because in reality, they understand each other more than anyone else could understand them. She finally steps out of the room, allowing him to lie back down and doze off again.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Castiel, introduce yourself to me." His father says and Castiel groans. He hates French and thought it stupid and useless, especially considering he doesn't plan on visiting France. But his father was insistent on him learning it. So insistent, in fact, that he made Castiel come with him to the jailhouse and practice it (along with his other subjects). He doesn't like being at the jailhouse- the men behind bars there bothered him, and made fun of him. Plus, it smelled like pee, and puke, and sweat. That coupled with the fact that his father was very intimidating, and the man insisted on leaning over his shoulder and watching him work the whole time...well, it was very nerve-wracking.

"Bonjour. Je m'appelle Castiel. Je suis Américain." He says, and his father nods, and points to his notebook.

"Continue your lesson." He says, and Castiel obeys silently.

He works on his lesson for a good fifteen minutes before the door to the jail swings open, and the deputy, Jody Mills (who was both looked down upon for being a woman and looked up to for being so damn good at her job) walks in, grabbing someone by their shoulder and leading them in.

Castiel realizes all too late who the person is, as the man's eyebrows raise in recognition and his lips pull into a smile.

"Hey! Cas! What's going on, buddy?" Dean asks, his smile making Castiel's stomach feel flippy, which he doesn't like. Cas's father looks between the two, his eyebrows knitting.

"Castiel, do you know this man?" Jody asks, and Castiel looks at Dean, then at Jody, then his father and then back to Dean. He shakes his head no.

Dean frowns then stumbles as Jody pushes him a little.

"So what is he here for?" asks Castiel's father, and Jody shakes her head.

"He was being very…promiscuous with his gun."

"That's not the only thing I was being promiscuous with, honey." Dean says, smiling at Jody in a way that Castiel finds himself wishing Dean would smile at him. The deputy rolls her eyes at Dean's comment and shoves him in a cell.

"Have you heard anything from Mr. Grantum about the cows?" Jody asks.

"No, not yet. I assume we'll have to go out there ourselves and take care of it." Castiel's father says, and Jody shrugs.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Sheriff."

"Then we can go now." He says.

Then he turns to Castiel, fixing him with a look that says 'disobey and you will be punished. "Castiel, finish your lesson. If you finish before I get back, clean the first and second cell. Make sure the heathen stays." He vaguely gestures to Dean, who makes a face.

As soon as his father finished the sentence he was gone, leaving Castiel in the jailhouse.

With Dean.

The distraction he had been hoping to stay away from.

Damn.

"Honestly Cas, I don't see what you're so scared of." Dean says, and Castiel shakes his head.

"You don't understand, Dean; you haven't lived my life. You don't know my father."

"Yeah, but still, he don't look all that scary." Dean rolls his eyes, and Castiel feels a smile threatening his lips, because Dean seemed to make him really want to smile all the time.

To the cowboy's credit, he hadn't asked why Castiel had randomly ran out on him- much to Cas's relief. After Cas had finished his work, Dean had started a conversation which Castiel allowed himself to be reluctantly pulled into. He had even walked over by Dean's cell, pulling a chair up for himself. From then on they had joked and talked for what seemed like hours, though it could have only been thirty minutes, at the most.

"You want to know something, Cas?" Dean says, his expression suddenly sober. Castiel nods, staring at him intently.

"I've only known you for a week. And I only talked to you one day out of that time. But it...I don't know. It feels like I've known you forever. Y'know?" Dean asks, searching Castiel's face.

"I understand what you mean. You are very easy to talk to."

Suddenly Dean starts smiling, smiling in a brilliant way where all of his teeth are showing and his eyes are all scrunched at the corners. And Cas can't help but smile in return, a true, sweet smile that he had never felt come to his lips before. And then they're laughing, laughing so hard that they're teared up and they have to rest their foreheads against the bars of Dean's cell for support.

After Castiel catches his breath, he looks up, realizing just how close he is to Dean. Close enough to see the green and yellow perfection of Dean's eyes, and see just how pink his lips were, and the slight tan line on his forehead from his hat's shade, and the messy lines of home-cut blonde hair.

He feels a breath slowly shudder out of him, knowing that he's close enough that it would brush Dean's face. Dean's eyes search him once again, as if he could find the secrets to the world in Castiel's face.

"Cas, I-" Dean starts, but is cut off abruptly by the sound of a door opening.

Cas jerks away quickly, getting up as fast as possible. Dean backs away from the bars of the cell, though his gaze never leaves Cas.

"What's going on, Castiel?" His father asks, and Dean clears his throat.

"It's all my fault: I was tryin' to convince him to let me outta here. Y'see, I have things to do at my uncle's farm and I really need'ta go."

"Castiel, I need a word with you." His father says, and Castiel hangs his head, walking over to him.

"Father, I-"

"Castiel, I want you to listen very carefully. You will not associate with men like him. He is bad news. He will drag you down and he will make you do things you could never imagine. You have to stay away from people like him, Castiel: they distract you from things you need to do."

"Yes, father."

"If I hear about you seeing him again, there will be consequences."

"Yes, father."

"Good." His father turns towards Jody.

"Escort him back to his uncle's farm, wherever it may be. Make sure he doesn't get in any more trouble."

It is exactly fifteen and a half days before Castiel sees Dean again.