Author's Note: Wow, I didn't expect so many people to like this that much! So, as I promised, reviews (and random inspiration since this story will not leave my head no matter how hard I try!) have motivated me to complete this more quickly than I had anticipated (which means you need to write more reviews to help speed up the process!). And just a little side note: I've never been to Lawrence, Kansas but I'm sure it's a lovely place. I'm just going to write MY version of Lawrence so all of the facts and places are probably inaccurate since I made them all up. Dean rags on my version of the town a lot so please don't get offended if you live in or around that area. I'm honored that so many people are actually reading these and really like them so without further ado, here's the second chapter!

What the hell did he just say? Oh right, chess…

Dean's mind was scrambling as he stared slightly dumbstruck at the boy until he forced his mouth to speak, though the words weren't exactly what he wanted to say, "Who the hell are you?" Real freaking smooth, Dean.

Despite his blunt and rude tone, the boy's friendly smile never faltered, "My name is Castiel Novak." There was a slight pause before he added, "And you are Dean Winchester in case you don't remember."

Dean's eyebrows shot up in surprise that the boy knew his name and he opened his mouth to ask the million questions that buzzed through his mind, but the boy cocked his head and went on, "Now that we have our introductions out of the way, what is your stance on playing chess with me? Though I must warn you in advance, I've been practicing a lot in here and I have already beaten Ms. Missouri twenty-six times in a row."

Dean stared at him questionably for a moment before finally saying, "Sorry, Man, but I don't know how to play."

Seeing that he hadn't outwardly refused his offer, the boy's eyes started to sparkle in delight, making it obvious he wasn't used to kids his age—hell, probably even people in general—being kind to him, "That is quite alright, Dean. I can teach you if you wish."

Dean nodded but then looked down to the needles sticking in his arm and sighed, "I wish I could but I'm a little tied up right now."

The boy, Castiel, frowned slight but nodded understandingly, "Yes, that is very unfortunate."

"What kind of name is Castle, anyway?" Dean blurted out, knowing he was saying the name wrong but couldn't remember how to pronounce it. Damn those stupid blue eyes and their increasing habit to make him forget so many things at once.

The boy's small smile returned and he could've swore he saw the younger boy blush slightly, "It's Castiel, angel of Thursday."

Dean snorted, "What sort of parents name their kid Castiel?" At the slight mentioning of his parents, the boy's smiled faded away and was replaced with such a sorrowful expression that Dean wanted so badly to take back his words just to see his smile again. But instead of flipping over to face the other side to ignore him, or even worse yelling (though he could never imagine such a scrawny cheery guy like to ever raise his voice at anyone), the boy just stared at him for a second before cocking his head and stating bluntly, "Did you know the origin of the word Thursday is derived from the Old English word Punresdaeg or the Middle Eastern word Thuresday, which is then transferred into 'Thunor's Day' in English? Thunor, or most commonly known as Thor, is a hammer wielding Norse God mostly associated with thunder and was one of the most respected deities of his time. He was also known as the protector of Mankind." There was a beat of silence, "Some people refer to Thursday as Friday Eve, which is commonly used in anticipation for the upcoming weekend. During the 1960s in the United States, if you wore green on Thursday in high school, it meant you were homosexual." Dean waited patiently to see if Castiel was going to go on yet another rant but the boy stayed silent, instead just staring at Dean with his chilling blue eyes and head tilted, waiting for his response.

Finally, Dean just lick his lips and cleared his throat, "Well, that's um…interesting—"

"Do you wear green on Thursdays, Dean?" Castiel blurted out, narrowing his eyes at him. Well, I do find you a complete all manner of hot so…

"W-What? Me? N-No, of course not!" Dean ended up saying all out once, his face reddening at the intensity of Castiel's gaze. Dean's eyes snapped to the floor as he tried to regain his cool, cursing himself for acting like some homophobic asshole when that's not what he is at all (hell, even one of his best friends is a lesbian). He doesn't know why, but there's just something about that guy watching him like he was some fascinating foreign specimen from another planet made Dean completely on edge.

It was silent for a minute (and he means exactly a minute because Dean counted to keep his mind anywhere but here) before Dean cleared his throat and asked, "So uh…do you wear green on Thursdays then?" He dared to sneak a glance upward and found Castiel opening his mouth to reply when the front door to their room busted open. A young girl that looked no more than seventeen stepped in with dark autumn hair and kind light green eyes that stared straight at Dean, her mouth dropping in surprise, "M-Mr. Winchester," She said when she finally found her voice, looking somewhat similar to a deer caught in headlights, "Y-You're awake."

Dean's eyes lingered on Castiel longer than he would've liked to admit until they finally found their way onto the girl and he smiled, "So I've been told. And as everyone else seems to already know, I'm Dean Winchester. It's nice to meet you, Miss…?"

"Allen," She supplied as she hesitantly walked over to him and offered her hand, "Daphne Allen. I-I was in your Algebra class sophomore year, remember?"

Dean sighed in realization as he shook her hand, recalling one of his "friends" named Alastair talking about the girl that sat behind him in his math class that practically acted like a saint who usually only dated troubled loner guys in attempt to save them by picking up the remains of their broken life and make them whole again, but once she feels her job is done, she dumps them faster than Dean could even finish saying the 'it's not you, it's me' speech, "It's nice to see you again, Daphne." He sent her one of his best smiles and like expected, she went beat red as most of the girls do. He can't help but wonder if it would work on Castiel…

No, you are a man, Dean Winchester. You do not wear green on Thursdays. You like women and that is final. Dean sighed subconsciously, not particularly feeling the energy to fight himself on the matter and just instead decided to focus on the hot piece of meat in front of him as he smiled broadly, "I didn't know they paid kids to care of the sick," He told her, keeping his tone light and flirty, "Damn, I could've made bank on Sammy this flu season alone."

"Actually, Dean, they don't pay candy stripers." Castiel piped up, getting in on the conversation. At the sound of Castiel's voice, Daphne's pupils dilated as her posture went rigid. She immediately said goodbye to Dean and went straight to Castiel's bed. She grinned widely as she asked him, "And how is my favorite little miracle today?"

"Remarkably well considering I finally have some company now." Castiel replied as he smiled up at her. His blue eyes darted to Dean for only maybe a half a second before going back to Daphne. Dean watched how freely and easily the conversation flew between the two and he started to wonder how long Castiel had been here to get so good at chess that he beaten an employee over twenty times in a row and get so chummy with a girl when he is the most peculiar and random boy Dean had ever met. It's probably the eyes the chicks go for, Dean thought to himself until something extremely important came to mind. "Um, excuse me? Daphne and Scooby Doo?" Daphne frowned at his meager attempt as a joke and reluctantly switched his gaze onto Dean while Castiel just looked at him with a perplexed expression, like he somehow didn't even get the reference. But that couldn't be possible since everyone has grown up watching the Mystery Gang catching bad guys in ridiculous costumes…right?

"Do you know what day it is, Miss Allen?"

Daphne's irritated frown evaporated instantly and a sympathetic expression that Dean didn't like one bit worked its way onto her face, "It's Wednesday, Dean."

He let out a relieved breath and closed his eyes, smiling to himself, "Good. That means I was only out for a day. I was afraid it was gonna be, like, a week or something."

"No, Dean, today's Wednesday…July the sixth." Daphne told him softly, making Dean's eyes snap open and bulge out.

"W-What?" Dean asked dumbstruck, remembering it feeling like just minutes ago he was at Uncle Bobby's when it was only the beginning of June as they had just let school out. Daphne didn't reply and just looked at him with an empathetic expression, but Dean didn't have any time to be angry at her pity.

"B-But that means I was out for a month though," Dean stated nervously, shaking his head, "And I was just at my uncle's in JUNE. I mean, maybe you just got your months mixed up, Sweetheart."

"I apologize, Dean, but Daphne's right," Castiel told him gently, looking at him with an unreadable expression, "I was here when they first delivered you five weeks ago. Now, I know this may be shocking—"

"SHOCKING?!" Dean hissed viciously, allowing himself to fully freak the fuck out now, "This is more than shocking, Dude. This is insane! I-I mean, you guys are nuts! I was gone for maybe two minutes before I woke up. Saying that it's been weeks is ridiculous…" In the middle of Dean's rant, Daphne had turned to Castiel and said quietly, "I should probably report back to my boss that he's awake so they can call his family." Castiel nodded but didn't take his eyes off Dean, which only made him freak out further as he babbled on about things not even Dean himself was listening to anymore, But the slight mentioning of his family slowed his words to a complete stop.

Mom. Dad. Bobby. Jo. Ellen. Ash. Sammy…oh shit, how the hell did Sam take it? The boy practically idolizes his big brother and Dean going into a coma, something that Sam probably idiotically thinks was his fault just because he was the one who won the coin toss, would've surely killed him. And just think how his parents took the news. The images in his mind of how they all took it are completely maddening.

Even though it didn't even make sense to himself, Dean somehow felt completely responsible for their suffering and felt guilty, even though he was the one that got physically hurt. I guess my luck turned sour very fast and very bad.

"Dean, are you alright?" He faintly heard Castiel ask him but he wasn't able to reply back right away.

"Alright?" Dean demanded hoarsely once he finally recovered his voice, "I just went into a freaking comatose state all because I fell down some stupid stairs! I mean, my family has been going through hell for the past five weeks while I've been like the naked guy at a rave—completely useless! How the hell could I ever be alright?"

Castiel stayed silent for a few moments and Dean had finally shut him up but the boy spoke again, "If it helps, your brother, Sam, had spent an hour with you every day since you were brought in here."

Dean's anger finally faded at the mentioning of Sam as he laid back down and closed his eyes, sighing to himself, "That does sound like him." There was a beat of silence before Dean got the nerve to ask, "Was he upset?"

"At first, yes," Castiel replied hesitantly, "But over time, Sam began to speak to you about normal things as if you were awake instead of just repeating how sorry he was for winning something. I believe it was a coin toss or something to that degree of less importance." Castiel saw Dean's expression and quickly added, "Don't worry, Dean. Everyone knows it wasn't at all Sam's fault. He is an extremely intelligent boy. I mean, the few times we've conversed together, he revealed to be more mature to talk to than both my other older brothers combined."

Dean opened his eyes and looked over to him, "You guys talked to each other?"

Castiel nodded and smiled, "Well, sometimes Sam got tired of his and your one sided conversations and talked to the only other person in the room. But I assure you, Dean, we had only spoken about academics…and you, of course."

"Uh…that's sort of creepy." Dean remarked carelessly but once he saw Castiel's hurt and offended expression, he quickly added, "It's just creepy because I don't even know you, Dude. I mean, I like to actually meet people before they start talking about me to others."

Castiel's eyes widened at his last statement and he gazed at him with a sense of…understanding before he quietly said, "Me too."

Dean stared out him curiously for a long moment before he blurted out flatly, "Do I know you, Castiel?"

Castiel furrowed his brow as his blue eyes reflected confusion, "I beg your pardon?"

"You look around my age, you look like somebody who'd easily be the smartest kid in any class, you look like somebody I would've noticed, you look like somebody I'd remember…but I've never seen you before in my whole life. I mean, I've met every kid in this whole damn town and I've never seen you around at all. Did you just move here or have you just been living in this hospital your entire life?"

Castiel's confused face soon turned into a horribly tortured expression as he stared at Dean with saddened eyes, and suddenly Dean wanted to immediately withdraw his too blunt statements but before he had the chance, Castiel moved his gaze to the tiled floor as he scoffed almost inaudibly, "I'm nobody, who are you? Are you nobody, too?"

Dean's mouth fell ajar as his eyes widened in shame, "Shit, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean that you were a nobody just because I—"

"Emily Dickens." Castiel interrupted bluntly, all emotion in his previous tone had completely drained away and was replaced with a stiff and numb voice that reminded Dean of a brainless robot.

"Um…come again?"

"The quote I just stated," Castiel explained to him slowly as he finally moved his forever un-blinking eyes upward to pierce through Dean's heart, "It's by Emily Dickens. She was the most intelligent and influential woman of her time period, though most people of our generations don't even recognize the name, much less her poetry." As if on cue, his head cocked to the side, "Now isn't that just mortifying, Dean?"

Dean couldn't help but let out a small breath of relief that Castiel was just quoting an old chick that rhymes for a living instead of being upset (though deep down, Dean knew his words had hurt Castiel more than the little guy would ever let on), "Yea, it's completely terrifying. I mean, I almost pissed my pants I was so scared."

"Mortifying doesn't mean scary, Dean." Castiel informed him, though his small curious smile was finally back so Dean considered it a win. Dean grinned at him but then noticed something strange. Despite Castiel's horribly ill appearance, there wasn't a single needle sticking in him or machine surrounding him; just a hospital bed with a very sickly looking boy in it who apparently wasn't sick enough to have anything done to him.

"Hey, Castiel?"

"Yes, Dean?"

"Why're you in this joint, anyway?"

Castiel smiled weakly at him, "Malaria."

Dean arched an eyebrow, "That's the shit with poisonous mosquitos, right?"

Castiel sighed and chuckled, a sound that made Dean's heart want to slam right out of his ribcage, "That's not the exact definition of the sickness but you are somewhat correct about the disease infested mosquitos causing the horrid illness." He then shrugged, "I guess that's what I get for going out into the outside world for once."

Dean smirked, "Well, I went into a coma for trying to go up some stairs to get back outside. So I guess Mother Nature is trying to screw us both then, huh?"

"It seems so." He replied with a smile that Dean totally didn't think was cute (okay, so maybe he did but everyone knows only heterosexuals have enough self-confidence in their straight sexuality and can think other manly men are cute). There was a brief pause of silence before Castiel slipped out of his hospital bed with the chessboard in his hands and moved toward him. Out of some reflex, Dean sat up and crisscrossed his legs to give him room and Castiel slid into the empty place at the foot of Dean's bed, sitting the chessboard between them. Castiel moved the several different black and white pieces to their rightful places and looked back up at Dean with a quirked eyebrow, "Would you like to start your lesson now?"

Dean felt his throat go dry at the sudden closeness and busied himself by looking down at the board so he wouldn't be tempted to count all of the different hues of blue in the strange boy's eyes, "Sounds like a plan, Stan."

"My name is Castiel." He reminded him in an upset tone, offended that Dean had forgotten his name already.

Dean snickered, "Dude, are you serious?" He looked back up to see that the little guy was deadly serious, which only made it harder to control his growing laughter.

"It's just a stupid saying, Man. Lighten up." Dean chuckled out, grinning widely.

Castiel's lips curled into a hesitant smile as he nodded, "As you wish…Steve."

Dean knew Castiel didn't understand why he was laughing so hard and it made him wonder what sort of rock he just crawled out of.

It took his family thirty minutes to get there but time flew for Dean as he watched Castiel, now exasperated, try again to teach him the basics of chess.

"So how come this piece gets to go to wherever the hell it wants?" Dean demanded to know as he pointed at one of the many confusing pieces.

Castiel sighed tiredly, "It's called the queen, Dean."

"Well, why does the queen get to do whatever while the king basically does shit?"

"I don't know. As you could probably tell, I wasn't around when the game was created."

Dean rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Well, at least we know what gender invented this game."

"The maker of the game is actually unknown, though most people suspect the origin was from India in sixth century based on the ancient game called, 'Chaturanga.' There's a common folk tale that says a poor old wise man created the game and had shown it to the king to prove that everyone in the kingdom was important, even the little people. It's shown on the chessboard that the king needs his queen, rooks, bishops, knights, and even the pawns to survive and conquer. The wise man showed that it was like this in real life and taught the king a lesson. The king soon fell in love with the game and ordered everyone in the kingdom to play it, and it soon spread to the Arab countries and so on. Though some scholars argue that the real birth of the game was China so it is still truly a mystery."

Dean stared at him in amazement for a moment and Castiel just furrowed his brow, "I'm sorry, did I say something to offend? I tend to do that often to people on accident. I mean, Rachel always tells me I have no filter so some statements just fly right out of my mouth—"

"How do you know all that shit?" Dean blurted out, interrupting Castiel from his nervous ranting.

Castiel shrugged as he looked back down at the board, his slender fingers thumbing along one of the white pieces (Dean's already forgotten its name even though Castiel had explained it to him for the fifth time just minutes ago), "When I'm interested in something, I tend to go to the extreme by wanting to know everything about it. When I was five, it was poetry. When I was eight, it was pottery. Twelve, it was architecture. A few months ago, my uncle bought me a chessboard and the rest is history." Dean continued to stare at him strangely and Castiel just busied himself so he wouldn't have to meet Dean's gaze. When Dean realized that Castiel wasn't going to say anything, he found himself splitting into a bright grin and chuckled, "I must say, Castiel, you are one hell of an enigma."

Apparently, Castiel wasn't expecting that reaction from him because he jerked his head up to stare at him with a confused expression, "Was that sarcasm?"

Dean furrowed his brow and quickly shook his head, "No, I mean it. Why? You never had a compliment before?"

Castiel swallowed hard but didn't look away from Dean as he continued to stare at him before replying, "Not very much so. My family believes in 'constructive criticism' and always say that compliments are something to be earned instead of throwing them around carelessly."

"Well, um…that's kind of awful." Is all Dean thinks to say as he shifted his focus on the black horse chess piece.

"It's quit alright, Dean. They do it to teach me a lesson, not to outwardly harm me."

"That's still pretty cruel though," Dean told him strongly, "I mean, my parents—"

"I said it's okay." Castiel almost snapped as Dean looked up to see his blue eyes lit up in annoyance, "I do not require any pity nor criticism towards my family from anyone; especially from you."

Dean was sort of hurt by his last statement but didn't let it show as he threw up his hands in mock surrender, "Right, sorry. My bad."

Castiel nodded in satisfaction and looked back down to the board, "Now, the pieces in the front are known as pawns. They can only—" He was interrupted by the door busting open and Dean's family stepping into the room. His mother had bags under her eyes that Dean had probably caused but a sunshine expression as she quickly moved toward his bed and embraced him. Dean was so focused on his family, he didn't notice that Castiel had already slipped away from him and sat back down on his own bed, glancing at Dean at his family out of the corner of his eye ever so often with a strange glint in them. His father looked just as tired as Dean's mother but there was a bright smile on his face at seeing his oldest finally awake and moving again. Sam was blinking back manly tears as he moved towards his brother and patted him on the back, "Good to see you're awake, Dude."

"Feeling pretty damn good to be back, Sammy." Dean replied in an excited tone, practically glowing at the sight of his (very tired and stressed) family again, though it felt like it was just this morning they were all at the Harvelle Roadhouse having breakfast as they teased Jo about a guy named Garth that was practically stalking her now and talking about Sammy's decision to abandon the family business (their dad and Uncle Bobby were pretty famous mechanics around this town but considering Lawrence's small population, it doesn't pay much) and had the bright idea of going to Stanford to become some hotshot lawyer.

Sam grinned back and took his eyes briefly off of his brother to look at the other hospitalized boy in the room, "Hey, Castiel." Surprisingly, the boy just nodded and looked back up at the ceiling, trying to make his staring at Dean every so often as least noticeable as possible.

All previous thoughts and curiosities of Castiel were banished from Dean's mind for his full focus was on his grieving family. He smiled widely as he saw the water filled in everyone's—even his dad's—eyes, "It's good to see that I was missed."

Dean's mother stroked his face and smiled, her perfect white teeth starting to appear, "Everyone's missed you, Sweetheart. We've told everybody around about you finally waking and we're going to have a celebration for you soon."

"That's awesome, Mom. Thanks." Dean lied as he put up a fake smile. In all honesty, Dean doesn't really want any of his so called "friends" that he's forced to tolerate in this town anywhere near him until school rolls back around when he has to and just wanted his family—including Bobby and the Harvelles both those are a given even though none of them are blood related—to surround him and catch him up on all the shenanigans he had missed when he was playing the part of sleeping beauty.

His dad saw through his pathetic façade and thankfully went to his rescue, "Now, Mary, the boy's been through hell and back these past few weeks. I think he just needs his rest for a few days when we get home."

"He just spent more than a month resting," Sam pointed out, "I think he can find some strength to party and eat some pie—"

"Did you say pie?!" Dean demanded, his eyes widening in anticipation. His mouth does feel dry and his stomach felt like it hadn't eaten in weeks (which was highly accurate considering the only nutrients he had gotten in his system had been pump into him through a tube). He could just taste his mom's famous apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream now…

"Alright, I'm ready to party." Dean told them flatly, deciding that just a sliver of his mom's sweet special kind of pastry was definitely worth having to put up with pompous two-faced jackasses that only hang around him because he's the star of the football team and everybody either wants him and/or wants to be him. Seriously, it's like everybody at his school think he's some sort of divine idol or something when he pretty much treats every single student there (except the few rare people that care more about him than his reputation) like pure shit.

His mother beamed and opened her mouth to reply when a smooth southern voice said behind her, "I'm afraid Mr. Winchester can't go home yet until we do a few tests to make sure there's nothin' wrong goin' on in his system." Dean leaned to the left to look past his mother and saw a heavy set dark skinned woman staring at them expectantly, her comforting demeanor was practically warming the whole room with its presence.

His mother turned around to see the woman and stuck out her hand, smiling friendly at her, "Hello, my name is Mary Winchester, I'm Dean's mother." She then looked to his dad and brother, "And this is my husband, John, with our other son, Sam."

"I'm Missouri, one of the nurses that's forced to work in this hellhole." She introduced in a serious tone, though there was a ghost of a smile on her face as she grasps his mom's hand and gave it a firm shake before releasing it. It finally occurred to Dean that this was the nurse Castiel was speaking about earlier as he briefly glanced back at the boy who had practically disappeared into the shadows. As if like clockwork, Castiel's blue eyes soon flickered to Dean and their gazes locked. Castiel only held his gaze for maybe a second before looking back down to fiddle with his hospital bracelet. Dean smiled at him but the boy seemed determined to avoid his gaze. It shouldn't have hurt him as much as it did since he barely knew the kid, but him ignoring Dean as soon as other people came into the room had strangely stung. Probably because he's so used to most people only talking to him the second others come around.

Dean looked away and put his focus back on his mom as she smiled kindly at the nurse, "It's lovely to meet you, Missouri." She then took a quick glance at Dean before settling her gaze back on Missouri, "So, when will he be able to come back home with us?"

Missouri sighed and thought about it for a moment before finally determining, "We would like to keep him over night just to be careful and if everythin' goes smoothly, like I'm sure it will, then you can pick him up first thin' tomorrow mornin'." His family seemed to deflate at this new and it made Dean's heart ache at the sight, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. It's direct orders from the hospital so he probably couldn't convince his mom to go against the professionals even though Dean was perfectly fine! A little tired feeling (which is sort of hard to believe considering all he did was sleep through this whole thing), but he could probably sleep more soundly in his own bed than this rickety old deathtrap of a mattress that likely only gets cleaned once a week. Just thinking about all the people who had died in that exact same bed had given him deathly chills (at least the coma hadn't taken away his stupid sense of humor).

"Can we stay here with him?" Sam asked her, wanting to stick to Dean like glue now that he's not brain dead anymore, which is really touching and all but he and Dean both know that he won't get much sleep with his family around.

Missouri sighed, "I'm sorry, but since a lot of terrible viruses are runnin' rapid around here and we have barely enough room as it is, we can't let non-ill people stay very long for fear that they might catch somethin'. But don't worry, he 'll be safe as long as he don't go wanderin' into other people's rooms."

Dean cracked a smile, "I'll try to keep my curiosities at bay, Ma'am."

"You better unless you want to spend the rest of the summer stuck in here havin' to play chess with a crazy old woman." Missouri glanced to Castiel and winked, causing the boy to smile sheepishly as a faint shade of pink colored his cheeks.

"How long can we stay then?" Dean's father asked the question that had been on all of his family's mind.

"We go into night lockdown at nine o'clock tonight." Missouri answered and looked down to her wrist watch, "Which means you have a few hours with him until then."

His family nodded and thanked the nurse as she left the room to give them privacy (well, not really that much since Castiel was there, but still). But right before she disappeared through the door, she had moved smoothly over to Castiel's bed and slipped something into his hand. She whispered something low into his ear that made Castiel nod. She smiled softly at him for a moment, as a mother would as she tucked her own child into bed, and walked out of the room.

Dean gave a quick look to what Castiel had in his hand but wasn't able to take even a peek before the boy quickly stuffed it under his pillow. Dean moved his gaze back to his family, who were watching him with dazzled expressions as they pulled up nearby chairs and surrounded his bed. Dean smiled fondly at each and every one of his family as his mom took one of his hands and gave it a loving squeeze.

"So," Dean started as he cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow, "What'd I miss?"

The three of them talked and talked for a long while about silly unimportant stuff until they found nothing else to discuss. Then they called Uncle Bobby and the Harvelles (which were old friends of the family since John and Bill Harvelle used to be hunting buddies. And after Bill died, they still remained close with Bill's wife and daughter along with their foster son, Ash) and all of them wanted to talk to Dean as well so he had to talk to them for another hour or so until it was finally time for lockdown. By the end of the night, Dean barely even had a voice to say goodbye.

Ellen, who was Bill's wife, gave him a quick hug and pointed a finger warningly at him, "You get better now, you hear?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Dean replied very hoarsely. His dad chuckled as he offered the remaining water in his bottle and Dean gobbled it down without so much as a second thought.

Bill's daughter, Jo, smiled as she kissed his cheek and gave him a huge hug, "You get some sleep tonight so we can see if I can still kick your ass tomorrow."

"You just try, Harvelle." Dean replied just as teasingly, though he knew all Harvelle girls were spitfires and could be any man's nightmare in a heartbeat (not that he'd ever admit he was a little scared of them, of course).

Ash grinned and slapped him on the back, "See you later, Bro. I'll dish the new details about Jo's lover boy later when we're alone."

"To hell you will." Jo hissed, sending him a murderous glare.

Ash smiled as he planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek, "Aw, I love you too, Sissy. And we all know Garth does—" He was cut off by his own hiss of pain as Jo socked him hard in the gut.

"Okay, shutting up." He said weakly, gripping his stomach.

Ellen scoffed as she rolled her eyes, though there was a twinkle of affection in her eye as she said, "I can't take you two anywhere without a brawl." The two grinned in response as all three of them waved goodbye again and left the room.

"Just try not to fall down anymore, Kid," Bobby told him gruffly and suddenly smacked Dean on the back of his head, "Especially not at my house, ya Idgit. Your mother about murdered me when she found out I was the one who sent ya down there."

"Nah, I wouldn't have let her rough you up too bad, Bobby." Dean's dad assured him, making Bobby roll his eyes.

"John, you'd be running with your tail tucked between your legs as soon as Mary whipped out that famous frying pan and you know it." Bobby replied.

Dean's dad grinned guiltily and shrugged, "Hey, I get enough whippings from that thing as it is. It'd be nice if she used it on somebody else once in awhile."

Mary smiled as she winked to her two sons, "I got 'em runnin' scared, now don't I?" The two Winchester boys chuckled as John and Bobby rolled their eyes.

Bobby sighed and looked to the clock, "I better get goin' before Ellen leaves without me."

"Oh, I see you're taking one car together now." Dean teased, grinning mockingly as he remembered that Ellen and Bobby were kind of an item now. He was a little creped out at first when he found out four months ago, but he guessed that it sort of made sense since they were both neighbors and widows. Jo and Ash didn't mind the prospect of Bobby becoming their new step-dad since they had both grown up with the man (well, Ash was seven when he came to stay at the Harvelle household but he still thought of Bobby as one of his closest family members; as did Jo, though everyone could tell she was nervous at the chance that her real dad was going to get replaced).

Bobby glared at Dean for a moment, "Shut up." But soon after, Bobby reached down and pulled Dean into a quick embrace (which mostly never happens since Bobby ain't the touchy-feely type), "Just take it easy for once, will ya?" Bobby whispered into his ear before pulling away.

Dean smiled, "Got it." That seemed to satisfy Bobby because right after he said that, his uncle said goodbye to everyone else before heading out as well. As soon as the door behind him closed, Missouri came into the room seconds later and Dean knew their time was up. But before Dean could even say 'bye', his mother had pulled him into a tight hug and squeezed him with all her might, as if she was afraid that if she let go, he would leave them again.

"It's okay, Mom." Dean whispered reassuringly, "It's not like I'm on my death bed or anything."

"Knock on wood." She replied teary-eyed as she reluctantly pulled away to smile weakly at him. Dean gave her hand another squeeze and she finally just kissed his forehead and moved away.

His dad ruffled Dean's dirty blonde hair and smiled, "You take care, Dean. We'll be back first thing in the morning to pick you up." Dean nodded and smiled back at his father as he slipped out of the way so Sam could go up beside him. Sam instantly took his place next to Dean and threw his arms around his brother, "Just don't slip back into a coma, okay?" He whispered hoarsely, obviously trying to hold back his tears.

Dean chuckled, though the desperate tone of Sam's upset voice made his own eyes a little wet too, "You are such a little girl."

Sam jerked back as he tried his hardest to glare at his brother, though it didn't have any malicious affect because of Sam's reluctant smile that planted itself on his fourteen year old baby face, "You're such a jerk."

"I know," Dean sighed out as he ruffled Sam's mop of brown hair, "But you love me anyway, Bitch."

Sam rolled his eyes but nodded hesitantly at his statement as he, along with their mother and father, moved to the door. Missouri smiled kindly at them as she waved a small goodbye and they returned the gesture. "Night, Dean." They all called out as the three piled out the door.

"Later." Dean called back just before Missouri shut the door. With his mind finally off his family, Dean dared to look at the other hospital bed and found Castiel watching him with an intense gaze, though it wasn't as much curiosity in his eyes like many times before but of something else. Almost like…envy? No, that couldn't be it. What would Dean Winchester, whose family barely makes enough money to survive, ever have for anyone to want his life? Sure, his life was okay and all but if Dean himself had a choice, he'd pick a much cooler lifestyle like Johnny Depp's or Billy Joe Armstrong's.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Missouri making her way over to him. She fiddled with his machines and stuck more needles and tubes into him finally leaning back and humming to herself, "That'll do, I guess."

"Um…Ma'am?"

"Yes, Dean?"

"Yea, so…how do I sleep in all this crap?" He wiggled as much as he was able to for emphasis, "I can barely move."

"We're just being precautious so we know if you'll slip back into a comatose state when you fall asleep."

"So…?"

"So, suck it up." She replied flatly, shrugging carelessly as she moved towards the door and waved halfheartedly to them, "Night, Sugars."

"Pleasant dreams, Ms. Missouri." Castiel said back, making Dean jump slightly at the sound of his strong deep voice.

Missouri smiled back at him, "You too, Baby." And just like that, the door closed, leaving just the odd boy Castiel with a mysterious object under his pillow and Dean with a wide awake mind.

They laid there in dead silence for what seemed like an eternity, though the wall clock revealed it was only an hour and a half. Sure, Dean wanted to start a conversation with the boy at first, but always chickened out the second he opened his mouth. So instead, the two just stayed in a dark room in pure silence until Castiel finally said softly, "You have a wonderful family, Dean." Since he was already half asleep, Dean started yet again at the sound and it took a moment for what Castiel said to process.

"Yea," Dean agreed finally, "They're a wild bunch but they are entertaining to watch."

"They seem to love you a lot," Castiel went on, as if Dean had never even spoken, "I mean, a family that risks their health in, as Missouri had put it, 'hellhole' just to speak to you is quite…rare."

Dean shrugged, "Don't all families do that? I mean, I know they're a rare bunch of idiots but there ain't nothing else special about them."

"They are lovely," Castiel told him firmly, apparently not liking that Dean had called them idiots even though Dean didn't mean it as negative or anything, "Anyone would be lucky to have a group of people care that much about them without wanting something in return."

"What about your family, Castiel?"

He was silent for awhile and for a moment Dean had thought he had fallen asleep, but then he heard Castiel say hesitantly, "My family is not as affectionate as yours."

"You talkin' about all that constructive criticism crap they try to pull?"

"Yes," Castiel answered and he swallowed hard before continuing, "They prefer not to visit hospitals because they don't want to catch any viruses or diseases floating around in the air."

This made Dean jerk his head (aka the only thing he could move more than a few inches at a time) up to look at him, though he could only barely make out the shape of Castiel in the dark, "You mean that you've been here for more than a month and they've never visited you?"

"My parents are busy with work," Castiel answered stiffly, "They don't have any time. And my brothers…" He trailed off and went quiet for a second before clearing his throat and continuing, "My brothers are busy, too. If they weren't, then they would be there for me. I know they would."

Dean noticed his drastic change in tone and said gently, "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you or anything. I was just curious."

"It's quite alright, Dean. I would just prefer not to speak about my family members."

"My bad, I was just being pushy."

"Yes, but that's just part of your personality."

His statement took Dean a little off guard, "Pardon?"

Castiel must have noticed his mistake because it took him a few seconds to reply, "I didn't mean to offend. I-It was just an observation. I mean, from what I've heard about you from other people…"

"Don't believe anything they say about me, okay?" Dean almost snapped, "They're all full of absolute crap."

"Dean, I really didn't mean it like that," Castiel assured him, "I-I was just saying about how much good things I've heard about you. P-People seem to respect you a-a lot around here."

Now it was Dean's turn to be silent for a moment before replying softly, "They don't respect me, Moron. They fear me. There's a difference."

"I don't fear you, Dean." Castiel whispered almost inaudibly, but Dean still heard it.

"Thanks, I guess," Dean told him before sighing, "But as you can probably already tell, you're not like most people."

"Neither are you," Castiel told him firmly, even though this was the second time Dean had insulted him.

Dean scoffed bitterly as he looked up to the ceiling, "You're dead wrong, Angel Boy. I'm just one of the little people that everyone mistakes as someone important."

Castiel didn't respond. So after a whole ten minutes of nothing but silence, Dean sighed as he snuggled into his pillow, That's what I thought.

It was fifteen minutes in and right when Dean was about to let his sleepiness succumb him, he heard a hurt whisper demand, "How could you think that, Dean?"

"Because it's true, Cas." Dean groaned groggily, "Now go to sleep already." And Dean did just that, though he's not sure if Castiel followed his order.

The next thing he remembered is Missouri's voice singing, "Rise and shine, Boys." Dean crack an eye open just in time to be completely blinded when Missouri opened the curtains, letting the bright morning light shine right in his face, "Oh come on!" Dean hissed, raising his hospital cover over his head, "Have you no mercy, Lady?!"

"Oh Sweetheart, I left all of that when I had to deal with spoiled brats like yourself." He heard her say coolly and right on cue, his cover was yanked away from him. Dean just about growled at the nurse (as you could already tell, Dean wasn't a morning person) when he heard a cheery voice say to him, "Dean, it's time for breakfast." His head jerked up to find Castiel sitting up on his bed smiling at him, as if last night never happened. Speaking of last night…

Dammit, I'm such an asshole, Dean groaned to himself. This is why you don't have friends, Dean, a reasonable voice hissed in the back of his mind, you just always have to act like a dick the first two seconds somebody thinks you're a decent guy. Even though he knew it was true, Dean told the voice to stuff it and pushed it as far as he could away from his thoughts.

"What's for breakfast?" Dean asked, rubbing his face so he could hopefully wake up all the way and not make a bigger ass of himself.

"Gravy and biscuits." Missouri answered as she a tray of frozen pieces of bread (biscuits?) with deep brown liquid (gravy…and/or shit?) poured on top of them. Dean took one whiff of that but wished he hadn't as he had to hold back the bile that rose in his throat, "What the hell died to make this?"

"Our standards." Missouri replied grimly as she crinkled his nose in disgust at the platter. She unhooked all of the wires and IVs in his arm until he was completely bare of all the medical equipment. Then she just turned away and walked to the door, possibly leaving Dean to his death by food poisoning without even saying a farewell, "Your parents are coming to pick you up in thirty minutes, Mr. Winchester." She told him, "They're bringing your own clothes to change into before you leave here."

"Um…okay." Dean replied, trying his best to breathe from his mouth so the smell didn't seem as putrid.

"And Dean?"

"Yes, Ma'am?"

Her eyes dropped to the monstrosity that sat in his lap and advised, "I wouldn't try to bite down on those 'biscuits' as hard as you can if you want all those pretty straight teeth to last."

Dean had to stiffen an eye roll and smiled sarcastically, "Yea, thanks for that."

Missouri shrugged, "Could've stayed silent and let your mama be worried with a dental bill." As soon as she left the room, Dean rolled his eyes and decided to inspect the pile of dung before him to see if there's any pieces that look somewhat edible.

"Damn, Cas, how could you stand this shit for—" He stopped abruptly once he looked over to the boy and saw three fluffy pancakes smothered in frothy syrup on his tray along with three strips of bacon and scrambled eggs. Castiel arched an eyebrow at his sudden stop and raised his gaze to see Dean dumbfounded, "What's wrong, Dean?"

"Does Missouri have it out for me or does she just like you more?" Dean demanded once he was able to control his drooling.

Castiel stared at him with his head cocked to the side and eyes reflecting in confusion, "I believe you've done nothing to Ms. Missouri for her to hold a grudge against you."

"Dude, I'm talking about the whole freaking last supper meal on your plate." Dean told him, motioning to the culinary dynasty on his tray.

"Oh, you mean my breakfast food." Castiel sighed in realization, dropping his gaze down to it, "Daphne made it for me."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "Does she do that often?"

"Most of the days, yes. Why?" He finally noticed what Dean was having for a very hearty meal and his eyes widened, "I deeply apologize, Dean. Please mind my ill manners. Would you like it?"

"All of it?" Dean asked, completely surprised that anyone would ever give away that beautiful cuisine without doing some kicking and screaming first.

"Yes, of course," Castiel answered firmly, "It's the only polite thing to do. Here, let me hand it to you." He picked up the plate and walked over to Dean's bedside. It took all of Dean's willpower not to just attack the platter but he knew it wasn't right.

"Why don't we just share it?" Dean suggested (a little reluctantly) to him.

Castiel quickly shook his head as he swapped the plates, "No, that wouldn't be right. I mean, you are kind of a guest."

"Cas, you don't live here either…right?"

"No," He had admitted hesitantly, "I've just been here awhile and it's been more of a home than—" Cas stopped himself in mid-sentence and closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again and smiling (though it seemed forced), "But anyway, it just wouldn't feel right considering that you've lost precious weeks of your life. Besides, your first meal back to real civilization should be memorable."

"Cas," Dean began tiredly as he sat up and crossed his legs so he could give Cas room, "Just get into this bed before I drag you in myself." After hearing his own words, Dean's face heated up in embarrassment as he quickly added, "N-Not like that, of course—"

"Dean, we've already established you 'don't wear green on Thursdays.' It's okay." Castiel assured him before is eyes zeroed in on the foot of Dean's bed, "Now are you sure you want to share—"

"Yes, Cas. I'm sure." Dean confirmed, nodding his head as he took the 'biscuits and gravy' out of the boy's hands and laid it on top of the nearby chair his brother had sat in the previous night. Cas sighed and hesitantly sat down, putting the tray of food between them. Dean smiled as he took one of the plastic forks and sawed every food item in half, "Good. Now eat up." Cas followed suit and started to eat; Dean did also. So it was quiet for the first five minutes.

"I'm sorry about last night." Dean said finally, looking up from the tray of food to gauge Castiel reaction.

Castiel furrowed his brow and shrugged, "Why?"

"I was a big bag of dicks to you and I'm sorry." Dean told him shyly, wondering why Castiel was making him say it again when he'd much rather put the embarrassing incident passed them.

Castiel finally looked up and there was pure confusion reflecting in his eyes, "Dean, you didn't do anything wrong. I clearly provoked you and you reacted like any normal human being would."

"Are you seriously saying this was all your fault?" Dean demanded, not entirely believing what he was hearing.

Cas shrugged, "But of course. And I deeply apologize for saying those things toward you, Dean. Now, may we please continue our feast?"

"Cas, it was my fault." Dean told him strongly, not understanding why Castiel just couldn't accept his apology and get over it.

"No, it was not."

"Yes, it was."

"Was not."

"Was to."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Dean, stop being stubborn and eat the rest of your egg."

"Dammit, Castiel!"

"Fine!" Cas finally said exasperatedly, running a hand through his black hair, causing it to stick up and Dean couldn't help but notice how ridiculously adorable it looked, "It was all your fault, alright? Now can we please dine in peace?"

Dean smirked smugly as he stabbed his last bite of scrambled egg with his fork and plucked it into his mouth, "Let's."

"So are still contagious?" Dean questioned as he watched Castiel eat the remaining pieces of his food.

"Excuse me?" Castiel asked with a quirked eyebrow as he put a half strip of bacon into his mouth.

"You know, from your Malara."

Cas stared at him blankly for a few seconds before his eyes lit in realization, "Oh, you mean Malaria. No, since I am already mostly over it, I cannot spread it to anyone else. You have nothing to fear."

Dean snorted, "Like anyone could ever be afraid of a scrawny guy like you."

"I suppose I am a little frightening," Castiel replied, shrugging as he stuffed the last bit of his own share of the egg into his mouth before continuing, "I mean, why else would the rest of the human population keep avoiding me at every chance they get?"

Dean's eyes widened and he didn't know what else to say (are you supposed to go 'Oh, I'm sorry everyone thinks you're a total freak. If it means anything, you're only a tad bit weird and creepy to me'?), so he just sat there quietly while Castiel finished eating. Cas didn't seem at all fazed by what he said and just practically stated it like it was a known fact, which Dean found sort of sad.

"Hey, Cas?" Dean said finally as he watched Castiel climb back into his own bed.

"Yes?" He asked as he slid into the covers and propped an elbow up to look at Dean.

Dean licked his lips nervously, It's now or never…

"My parents are throwing this lame party at my house tonight to celebrate me basically coming back from the dead…" He trailed off, hoping Cas would get the hint. Dammit, Winchester, stop acting like a flustered thirteen year old girl and be a man.

Cas, who was apparently oblivious to what he was getting at, nodded, "That seems pleasant. Are you excited?"

"Um, not really." Dean answered timidly, looking down to the tilted floor. Dean swallowed hard and finally gained enough confidence so he said all in one breath, "I was just wondering if you wanted to come, maybe…?"

Cas' eyes widened, like he actually didn't see his offer coming (and he probably didn't considering it was someone as odd as Castiel), "Me?"

"Yea," Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Castiel's eyes narrowed suddenly and his body became rigid, "If this is a prank, I can assure you that it is not at all humorous."

"Why would you ever think I would do that?" Dean demanded, offended that Cas could think he was cruel enough to pull such a trick.

Castiel blushed in shame as he ducked his head, "My apologies, I-I guess I'm just so used to all of the malicious 'jokes' that my brother pulls on me."

Dean was appalled that someone's own flesh and blood would actually be that mean (sure, he plays a lot of pranks on Sammy all the time but they aren't as cruel as it is annoying), "Man, that's just heartless."

Cas swallowed hard before nodding numbly, "That's what I say, but then he just calls me a big baby and storms out of the house. H-He usually doesn't come back for a few days after that."

"That's just fucked up, Cas." Dean decided, not liking this guy one bit, "He's the freaking baby if he leaves the house just because of that."

"I don't think it's personal," Castiel told him softly, eyes dropping to the floor, "He usually takes any excuse to get out of our dysfunctional household. And he usually comes back with a gift for me to say he's sorry, so it's okay. H-Honestly, he's the only sibling that I'm s-sure I lov—" Castiel stopped abruptly and started to shake his head violently, "N-No, forgive me. I-I didn't mean that. I love a-all my siblings e-equally." He took a shaky breath and looked back up to Dean with sudden wet eyes, "I-I don't w-want to talk a-about this anymore, D-Dean."

"It's okay, Cas. We don't have to talk about it." Dean told him softly, green eyes piercing his.

Cas nodded as he took a deep breath before plastering a smile on his face, "Now what were you saying, Dean?"

It took Dean a moment to even remember what they were talking are before this episode happened. But thankfully, he remembered and quickly changed the subject, "I was wondering if you wanted to go to my party tonight. Hell, you'd probably be the only one other than my family that I actually want there."

For a moment, it looked like he was going to say yes and Dean almost shrieked in joy (he honestly thinks that while he was out, the doctor may have accidentally gave him a vagina with all of these girl emotions bubbling around), then it looked as though Castiel had remembered something and his gaze lifted to the ceiling as he took in a shaky breath, "I really shouldn't."

"Why not?" Dean couldn't help but demand.

"Because I don't belong there," Cas stated flatly, closing his eyes and sighing, "And if Naomi found out I snuck out of the hospital's care, she would be an absolute nightmare."

"Who the hell is Naomi?"

"Nobody." He replied a little too quickly as his eyes snapped open, obvious fear in his voice.

"Cas—"

"You said we didn't have to talk about it." Cas reminded him, a small smile appearing on his face as he looked Dean in the eye. Dean wanted to say screw what he said and demand to tell him but Dean refrained himself. He did promise not to talk about it and he couldn't take that back now.

"You're right. I forgot. No talking about families, though it's perfectly fine for you to ask everything about mine." Dean teased instead as he mustered up a lazy smile.

Cas smiled teasingly at him, "That is correct."

There was a brief moment of silence before Dean hopelessly tried again, "Are you sure—" He was cut off by the door opening. Castiel and Dean jerked their heads to the direction of the door and saw it was only Dean's family. His mother had his favorite Metallica shirt and a pair of old jeans in her hands as she stood in between Dean's dad and brother. She smiled, "Are you ready to go, Sweetheart?" Dammit, Mom. Can't a perfectly straight man ask out another perfectly straight man without any interruptions?

Dean hesitated for a moment before reluctantly answering, "As ready as I'll ever be." He hopped out of his bed and collected his normal clothes before walking off into the bathroom for some privacy. He quickly changed out of the stupid revealing hospital and changed into something that wouldn't show all his private parts in a random gust of wind, all while thinking of ways to convince Cas to break out of his shell and for once actually have some fun…with him. Yes, two obviously heterosexual men (and he's pretty sure Castiel is straight too since he flirted right on back to that Daphne chick and she already cooks him breakfast daily so they're practically married now—not that Dean cares what goes on between them because Dean is not gay!) hanging out together at a party. And hey, maybe Dean could show Cas his bedroom and accidentally…

No, don't think of him that way. You are going to bring that Bela Talbot bitch to your room and make out with her, and you are going to like it…after having some male bonding with Castiel first, like any non-gay, heterosexual male would with his other perfectly straight (and sort of attractive) male friend in a totally non-homosexual way. Because you don't like Castiel that way. But—Shut up, no you don't.

When he was finally done changing and settling the inner battle within himself, Dean stepped out of the bathroom and finally felt like himself again. He smiled at his overjoyed parents and little brother before announcing, "I'll meet you guys outside. There's something I need to do before we leave." His mother seemed hesitant to leave her son's side more than she has to but his father put an arm around her and led her out, "Come on, Mary. He ain't gonna make a jailbreak the second you turn your back."

Sam didn't move from his place and looked at him so curiously that Dean had to roll his eyes, "Scram, Brat. I gotta talk to Cas for a minute," When Sam still didn't move, Dean added, "Alone." Sam shot him a dirty look before backing away slowly and closing the door after him, leaving Dean and Castiel finally by themselves.

Dean groaned, "I hope they stop smothering me soon. I mean, I can't keep up my bad boy image with my mommy hanging on my coat tail." When Cas didn't answer, Dean turned around and saw Cas was just watching him intently with his head tilted to the side. If Dean had a dollar for every time that kid did that in just two days…well, let's just say his family wouldn't be struggling with the bills anymore.

Dean sighed, "Dude, do you ever blink?"

"Every human has to blink, Dean." Cas deadpanned, though there was hint of teasing in his tone as a ghost of a smile started to surface on his face.

Dean rolled his eyes but chose not to comment as he crossed the room and sat on Castiel's bed. He tried to ignore the way Cas' body tensed up instantly as soon as he sat down but it still hurt. He didn't let his wounded feelings show as he smiled, "So..." Wow, he didn't think he'd get this far without any annoying interruptions from his family. Damn, I am so screwed.

Castiel seemed to notice his floundering for words so he reminded him gently, "You told Samuel that you needed to speak with me."

Dean nodded, "Right, but first of all: Samuel? Really?"

"That is his name, is it not?"

Dean sighed and scratched the back of his head, "Well, I guess so but the only people who call him that are, like, teachers." Cas looked like he was going to retort but Dean knew he didn't have much time before his father would send Sam to go get him, so he just decided to cut to the chase, "So, are you sure you can't some tonight? Like, not even for a minute?"

Cas sighed tiredly and sadly shook his head, "I'm sorry, Dean, but I cannot."

"Well, can you at least try?" Dammit, now he's sounding like some clingy girlfriend (and trust him when he says he knows how they sound like; he's had a ton of them in the past).

Castiel paused for a moment, as if trying to decide something, and Dean dared to hope for the best as Cas sighed out, "As you wish. But I don't understand why you want me there at all. I mean, you'll probably have a dozen of more interesting people there. I cannot guarantee I will be the life of the party."

Dean grinned widely as he slapped him on the back, "I wouldn't have it any other way, Cas." And before Castiel could protest, Dean had swiped one of the sharpies off of one of the nearby nightstands and grabbed Castiel's hand. Lightning shot through him as soon as Dean's finger tips touched the boy's pale skin and it took Dean a moment to concentrate back on his task. With shaky fingers, Dean messily scribbled his address onto the boy's palm and reluctantly released him. When he looked up, Dean saw Castiel had wide eyes as he looked back and forth between Dean and his now marker stained hand. Seeing that it wasn't a look of (absolute) horror, Dean grinned cheekily at him and got up from the bed. He moved to the door but stopped when he finally heard Castiel's small voice, "Um…Dean? About what you said last night…"

"Water under the bridge, Cas," Dean interrupted in a flat tone, knowing where he was going with this, "I said some things I shouldn't have but it doesn't make them any less true." He thought Castiel was going to press him more but thankfully he didn't. So Dean opened the door and glanced at Castiel one last time before finally leaving the room, slamming the door shut with one loud thud.

When his father pointed out that Dean had a bounce in his step as he got out of the car to go set up for the party, Dean pretended not to know what on earth he was talking about.

All night. All fucking night Dean suffered though endless conversations with pompous morons, always staying near the door in case Cas tried to sneak in without Dean noticing. But Castiel never came.

Dean wasted the whole night waiting for some douchebag that didn't even pop in to say hi. It's beyond stupid, but Dean kinda feels like a girl getting stood up: angry, hurt, confused…ready to kill (no, he's totally kidding about that part). "Did you like the party, Sweetie?" His mother asked as she, Dean, Sam, and John tried to pick up the trash left by the carelessly messy teenagers.

Dean smiled, "I loved it, Mom. Thanks."

It took them a whole two hours to pick and clean everything up (thankfully, nobody puked on the carpet like last time) and when they were finally done, Dean said goodnight to Sam and his parents and trotted upstairs to go to his room.

As soon as he opened the door though, he automatically noticed his window was open, letting the cool night breeze whip through the room and send shivers down his spine. "Dammit, Sam." Dean grumbled to himself, thinking it was his kid brother since Sam liked to go through all of Dean's stuff when he wasn't there. He thinks Dean doesn't notice but it's kinda hard to miss when everything in your bedroom has been moved. But upon further inspection, Dean noticed that nothing else seemed to be touched except the window, which he thought was a little weird but didn't think much of it since it wasn't much of a big deal. So when he closed the window and made his way into bed, he almost didn't notice the small wooden chess piece sitting on his nightstand. Dean furrowed his brow as he swiped it up and inspected it thoroughly. No, it couldn't be…I mean, I watched the door like a hawk. Cas couldn't have possibly—

Then he remembered the window being open and it filled him with even more curiosity. Dean moved to the window and opened it again before sticking his head out into the cold night and looking down. His room was on the second floor, more than fifteen feet high from the ground. So how could a small delicate guy like Castiel scale their house and climb in and out of it without anybody noticing him?

Dean smiled to himself and glanced back at the nightstand, only to notice a perfectly folded white piece of paper right where he had found the chess piece. Dean swiped it up instantly and discovered the words written in neat beautiful handwriting:

'Everyone is important, Dean Winchester. Even the little people.'

Dean's hands started to shake as he didn't know whether to feel creped out or flattered. But between you and him, it was definitely the ladder.

Author's Note: So I hope you guys were disappointed with this fresh installment and let me know what you think of it in the review area. And since I had added a little tidbit of music in the last chapter, I'd also like to say that the last part of this chapter along with the chapter title were inspired by the song called "Spitting Games" by yet another awesome band known as Snow Patrol. I'd like to know if you guys want me to continue to let songs from my music library inspire future chapters as well as their titles. But, until next time!