A/N:
A rare lil treat for you my friends, another chapter :) I took today off school to get my ducks in a row, and the wee one is in bed and so I have a spare moment to myself. Thank you all for letting me have my little pity party and I appreciate all of your support and understanding. You guys are truly the best of the best! Thank you mucho to DwaejiTokki, YoungHopeful, LyricReilly, Animelover5510, ciprianoivashkov, Livthereader, teengrl2, guest reviewer sophie and guest reviewer Annie for the wonderful reviews :') A special thank you to guest reviewer Annie for the ideas, which I actually really liked and will most likely incorporate into the story. You helped with some of this darn writers block so I am grateful. Anyhow, sorry for the long note, and here you go!

Chapter 7:

Hell. That's what Monday was for Castiel. He had a slight sliver of hope that maybe this whole mess would blow over, but as fate would have it, the rumors and gossip only got worse. He decided to get up early that morning and risk shoving that note into Dean's locker. He debated on it the entire weekend but he had to find some way to get his feelings off his chest, even if doing so got him into this mess in the first place. He honestly didn't understand what the big deal was. Sure, being a teenage homosexual in the state of Kansas wasn't exactly welcomed around these parts but come on, it's 2014 and it's a new age, these things shouldn't matter. Being attracted to the same sex didn't make him any less of a person, he was still him. He made a solid effort of hiding out and avoiding people until the warning bell rang for his first class, he hadn't even talked to any of his friends over the weekend who had sent him numerous concerned text messages and voice mails, even opting to come over, which he had Gabriel sending them away. He couldn't face them. He could barely face Gabriel who was uncharacteristically sympathetic and kind to him the entire weekend, making him feel a bit uncomfortable. He was supposed to be strong, set an example for his knuckle head of a younger brother. His parents noticed his moping around the house but he assured them he was fine, that he just had a falling out with one of his friends. His parents also coddled him, trying to make up for the hours they're not around, and he couldn't feel any weaker than he did that weekend.
Of course in the hallways there was snickers and shoves, but Castiel tried his darnedest to tune them out. He could do this. Be strong. It was only a kiss, and Dean's friends already got their bullying in so how much longer could this go on for? He went to his first period class, and while there were the obvious stares in his direction, none of the more popular kids were in his class which made it more bearable. He dreaded second period which he shared with Dean, Adam, Ruby, Kevin and Ash. He found himself hoping that first would drag on, but since his track record with luck as of late has been absolute shit, the class flew by and he found himself awkwardly staggering into second period history. He observed Dean and his friends sitting at the back of the class, and he avoided eye contact at all costs.
"Hey, Novak!" he heard Ruby yell as he plopped down in an empty desk at the front of the classroom. He didn't bother turning around, instead gripping onto his textbook like it was a lifeline. "Novak! Wanna make out?" he heard her continue, "oh wait, only a real man would want to kiss a woman. Forgot you preferred sucking dick!" she spat out, earning laughter from his peers. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to cancel the stinging words out. "Hey Castiel, finding it hard not to molest Dean again? Must be real tempting for a dirty little faggot like you" he heard Adam say, continuing the verbal assault on him.
"Fuck off you two, leave it alone!" he heard Dean snap.
"Awh, heard that Novak? Your boyfriend is sticking up for you, try not to eagerly get on your knees for him as a thank you!" Ruby snorted.
"Ruby, Dean isn't the homo. I'd be embarrassed too if a whore like Novak kissed me, he just can't stomach the sound of the flamer's name" Adam laughed. Cas felt like he was going to be sick. He felt a tear roll down his cheek and flinched when he felt someone sit beside him. He opened his eyes and seen Kevin, who was looking at him with concern etched on his features. On the other side of him sat Chuck, who clasped his hand on Castiel's shoulder in a comforting gesture. Cas quickly wiped his tear on the sleeve of his grey hoodie, sniffling.

"You okay, man?" Chuck asked.

Cas scoffed.

"Never better" he answered sarcastically.

"Don't listen to them, Cas. They're just over compensating for their lack of intelligence" Kevin said.

"Be careful, boys. Little Cassandra here might try to give you hand jobs if you get too close" Adam laughed.

"He only wants Dean's dick, Adam, they're safe...for now" Ruby finished.

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor startled him, the sound of Dean's deep voice grumbling through the classroom.

"I said fucking leave it alone you two, grow the fuck up!" Dean snapped before storming out of the classroom.

"Way to go Novak, you gone and did it again, pissing Dean off." Adam bit out, getting up to chase after his friend. Cas could feel the eyes of his classmates on him, and he felt overwhelmed. He tried to concentrate through the rest of class, but the comments his peers made about him and Dean's little tantrum left him unable to concentrate. He didn't understand what Dean's issue was. He wasn't the one being torn apart, and there he was acting like a big baby over nothing. What an ass. He was thankful though for his friends, who once again proved their loyalty to him, even sticking up for him when someone would bark a stupid comment about him. He was thankful when the bell rang for lunch, for at least he could go off to a secluded spot and enjoy a moment of normalcy while he ate his lunch. He gathered his books and exited the room with Chuck and Kevin in tow, who crushed him in the middle of them as if to protect him from the shoving and mocking. As they approached his locker, he noticed a small group crowded around it. He felt his heart pound in his chest, this couldn't be good. Jo and Garth broke free from the crowd and walked up to him, Kevin and Chuck.

"What's going on? Why is everybody near my locker?" Castiel asked, his brows furrowed in confusion. His friends looked pale and upset, which was weird to him because he rarely ever seen Garth without a dopey smile on his face.

"Come on Cas, let's just go" Jo said, grabbing his arm.

"No, what's going on?" he asked again, not really knowing now if he wanted the answer to that question.

"Cas, please don't.." Jo pleaded.

Cas shook her arm off and walked nervously toward his locker. He weaseled his way through the group of teenagers, some snickering, some looking sad for him, and he felt his blood run cold as he eyed his locker. In big red spray painted letters was the words "die faggot" scrawled across his locker door. For the second time that day, he felt himself fighting back tears.

"Look, he's going to cry!" he heard a voice from the crowd laugh. He pushed past them, storming past his friends and running out of the school. He ran and ran, the tears spilling down his pale cheeks. He felt ill and hurt, and before he could even think "what else could go wrong?" he found himself colliding with a solid force, falling to the concrete below him. He noted that he seemed to be spending a copious amount of time on the ground lately. He recognized the feeling and his heart stopped. He ran directly into an angry looking Dean.
"Fuck!" Dean snapped, looking momentarily confused over the impact. He noticed Dean's expression soften slightly when he realized it was Cas that ran into him and Cas was surprised when Dean offered a hand out to help him up. He didn't trust Dean one bit and figured he would earn himself a punch in the face if he took the offered hand and so he quickly pushed himself up, running as fast as his legs would take him away from Dean.
"Castiel, wait! I just want to talk!" he heard Dean yell, but he didn't even hesitate to stop. He just wanted to get home.

OoO

To say Monday was a clusterfuck of terrible things happening was an understatement. After receiving the note in his locker that morning, Dean found himself self loathing. He didn't realize he was acting like such a dick until his anon pointed it out to him. He never cared what anybody thought until his suitor came along, and it hurt that they thought he was prejudice and bigoted. The thing is that he didn't even have anything against gay people, but the pressure of highschool made him say and do some less than noble things and it made him feel like shit. He knew that the Novak kid would get some flack for what happened at Gordon's party but he didn't count on his peers being so ruthless and heartless. He had to hand it to Castiel, who was doing a wonderful job of ignoring his bullies. He had to admit that he took the cowards way out by storming out of the classroom instead of standing up for Castiel but again, the pressure f popularity clouded his better judgment. He wandered the halls for a bit before heading outside to get some fresh air. It was getting colder and colder out with November nearing but the bitterness of the cold air felt refreshing against his skin. He heard the bell ring for lunch and he decided to head back inside to get a bite to eat, then maybe find Cas and apologize for being such an asshole. He was about to head back in when someone slammed into him with force, knocking the wind out of him. He shook off the shock and looked down to see Castiel on the ground, his eyes wet with tears. The kid looked so fucking broken and in that moment Dean felt low, this guy was always so kind to everyone and according to Sam, he was always welcoming whenever he was over and worked hard to be a stellar big brother to Gabriel, which he could appreciate since he did the same for Sam. He had always seen Castiel with a smile on his face, always joking around with his friends who seemed to adore him. Dean never noticed how big and open his blue eyes were until now. They held so much emotion and they were enticing. In that moment he just wished he could have gone back in time and treated this seemingly great guy better, he didn't deserve this shit. Sure he kissed Dean but it was just a kiss, it's not like he raped him or shoved his tongue down his throat. It was just a nice, warm, innocent kiss. He found himself offering out his hand to the slightly smaller man, and was taken back when Castiel forced himself up and darted away. The distrust and hurt in those deep blue eyes weren't unnoticed by Dean. He yelled after him but Cas just ran away, and damn that kid was fast.

Dean sighed in defeat and headed back into school. He was going to gather his things and head home, find a way to make this right. He was headed toward his locker when an enraged looking Jo stormed up to him.
"Hey, Jo. What's up?" he asked, and to say he was shocked when her hand reached out and slapped him hard across the cheek would be an understatement.

He held his now stinging cheek and gaped at Jo.

"What the fuck was that for?" he demanded.

"You're a piece of fucking shit, Dean. Yeah, we get it, you're a big macho manly man but that doesn't give you the right for you and your friends to dig into Castiel's soul like he's a piece of shit. He's a real person and he's more of a man than you'll ever be! You're lucky I don't tell Bobby about this you asshole!" she spat at him, shoving him before storming out of the school to no doubt find Cas.

Dean stood in shock, hand still holding his face before he finally snapped out of it and raced to his locker. He stopped when some bright red spray paint caught his eye. He looked at the locker and remembered it to be Castiel's. His heart broke all over again for the Novak boy when he read the angry words painted on his locker door. No wonder Cas had been so upset. He had to make this right, not only for himself or his anon, but for a guy who didn't deserve any of this bullshit in the first place.

OoO

A/N:
Hope you guys enjoyed and sorry for all the angst. I promise Cas won't just stand by and let this shit continue though, and at some point he'll have said enough is enough. I'm not a big fan of making Cas seem like a helpless little baby like most fics make him out to be so, yeah.
Also, I don't know how highschool works for American's as I'm from Canada but at my old highschool we had 4 periods. 2 in the morning with 5 minute breaks in between, lunch, then 2 more also with 5 minute breaks in between. Your classes change after first semester and so you take a total of 8 classes per year, 4 each semester. So I didn't want you guys to be confused! Anyhow, let me know what you think!