Week 2

…

Dean didn't get to talk to Atara very long during the cocktail party, but he felt like they had a pretty decent conversation. He talked about his job as a mechanic and why he loves cars so much, though he didn't mention Sam or their dad just yet. He found out Atara was a speech therapist for kids because her best friend growing up had a lisp and got made fun of for it. She told Dean she got detention a few times for punching kids who did that, and it made Dean like her even more. He didn't get the First Impression Rose- that went to Matt- but that didn't matter. He was just excited to see Atara again.

Everyone was pretty excited for the date card to come. Dustin practically ran to the door when the knock signaled it had been slid under the door.

"It's the date card," a few of the men murmured excitedly.

Dustin held up the card, grinning, and then opened it while everyone else waited silently.

"Cas, Danny, Matt, Benji, Dean, Cody, Trevor, and…" Dustin grinned, "Me!… Let's have a ball."

A few of the guys oo-ed at the cheesy card, and Dean laughed.

"We must be playing basketball or soccer or something," he guessed, and the other guys nodded along.

The guys whose names were listed on the card scurried off to get ready, Dean included. He wasn't a fan of shorts usually, but California was a bit hotter than Kansas, and if they were going to be playing ball, he didn't want to be in jeans. He threw on an AC/DC shirt with the grey cargo shorts, deciding it could be his good luck charm.

Instead of Atara coming to get the eight of them, Chris Harrison escorted them to two gorgeous convertibles, one navy blue and one bright red. Chris told Danny, Matt, Benji, and Dustin to get in the blue car. Dean got in the red car with Cas, Cody, and Trevor. The ride over, they spent talking about their various sports experiences. Dean noticed that Cas didn't say really anything, just stared out the window. He guessed that blue-eyes was nervous.

They got to what looked like a high school, and Atara stood there in a tank top and shorts, grinning away.

"Hey guys!" she shouted over the rumbling car engines. "Care to join me?"

As all eight of them got out of the car, Chris Harrison suddenly appeared again, and Dean frowned. He wasn't exactly a regular viewer, but he knew that Chris being there meant bad news.

"Hello, everyone," he greeted. "I'm sure you're all wondering what I'm still doing hanging around. Well, I'm here to tell you what you're doing today. You're playing… dodgeball."

Dean could not have possibly smiled and wider. Dodgeball was his game.

"You'll be playing in teams, in the same two groups you came here. Team Red- Cas, Dean, Cody, and Trevor. And Team Blue- Danny, Matt, Benji, and Dustin."

A couple people high-fived their teammates.

"But there's a catch," Chris continued, and suddenly all was silent. "The team that wins gets to continue on to tonight's pool party. The team that loses goes back to the house immediately."

Dean didn't like that, but at least he knew he was good at dodgeball. He glanced at his teammates, wondering how they'd do.

"Alright, I won't keep you any longer. Have fun, and play hard."

Chris waved and then walked away, to whatever car he'd come in.

Everyone focused their attention back on Atara, who gestured to two boxes by her feet that Dean hadn't noticed before.

"I have your uniforms," she said in a sing-song voice. "Come on over!"

So each of the men stepped up to take a blue or red uniform, then followed Atara inside and to the changing rooms. She went out the doors to the gym while they got into their uniforms. The tops were striped their team's color and white, and the shorts were a little shorter than Dean would've liked. Still, he put it on and them prepared himself for the game.

Since there were only four members on each team, they played for best out of five games. The rules were no different than normal.

The first game went great for the Red Team. Trevor and Cody were almost as good as Dean, and even though Cas didn't have the best throwing hand, he dodged pretty well.

They won that round, and Trevor shouted, "We're RED HOT!" at the other team.

Dean thought that was crossing the line into too cheesy.

The next game, the Blue Team fought harder, and won. At which point, Danny shouted over, "You may be hot, but we're too cool for you!"

Dean had to laugh a little at that one.

The Red Team won the next game, but the Blue Team took the one after that. The fifth and final round came, and they were tied. It was winner-takes-all.

Both teams got serious and played harder and better than before. The Red Team was winning, with Dean and Cas against Benji. Dean threw and… Benji caught it.

The Red Team groaned collectively. Dean was out, and now it was just Cas against both Benji and newly-resurrected Danny.

"Come on, Cas," Dean whispered.

The three of them stood without moving for a few seconds, and then Cas threw his ball towards Benji. For once, it was a perfect throw, but it didn't matter. A split second after it hit, Danny's ball his Cas in the hip. He didn't dodge in time.

The Blue Team cheered, and the Red Team walked towards Atara to say goodbye.

…

Cas knew he was going to ruin it for everyone else.

He was worried enough about a regular sport, but it just had to be dodgeball. His worst childhood memories were of dodgeball tournaments in school gym classes, where a lot of the time he was targeted just for being different. Sure, he wasn't a kid any more, and he could dodge pretty well because of fencing, but still…

He felt terrible. When his team needed him the most, he failed them. They all sullenly changed back into their clothes and took the red convertible home, which suddenly wasn't as enjoyable as it had been before.

Cas had wanted to spend some more time with Atara too. They'd had fun during the cocktail party talking about books and Harry Potter, and Cas found out that Atara liked a lot of the same books he did. They also both had the same opinion on the Twilight Saga- that it was a good concept, but poorly executed. Cas really wanted to learn more about her. But he supposed he wasn't as eager as the other guys. He wanted to believe he'd be there long enough to learn more about her later, whereas they seemed to see getting to know her as urgent. Cas could understand that, given the time crunch.

When they got back to the mansion, Cody and Trevor went to go swimming, as it was especially hot out. Dean, however, just sat down on the couch and stared at the TV. Cas could tell he wasn't really paying attention, though, and it made him feel even worse. Dean was clearly amazing at dodgeball, and they probably would have won if Cas hadn't been on the team.

Cas hesitantly walked over and sat near Dean. It was quiet, except for the sounds of the men in the pool and, obviously, the TV.

After a few minutes, Cas looked back over at Dean and said, "Hey… I'm sorry we lost. You were so great and I messed it up for everyone. I should've been able to dodge that ball and I'm really, really sorry."

Dean looked over at him, surprise clear on his face. "No! Don't apologize! It's not your fault, man. It just happened. It was two against one, and the odds were against you."

Cas wasn't sure what to say to that. He glanced down at the couch, tracing his eyes over the pattern. A few seconds passed, and then he announced, "I'm going to make a sandwich. Do you want one?"

Dean looked a little confused by the sudden statement, but asked, "What kind?"

"BLT."

"Oh, Cool. Count me in."

Cas explored the mansion kitchen a bit and fixed two sandwiches. When they were done, he brought both plates over, handing one to Dean.

"Thanks," Dean said with a grin. He took a bite and then he closed his eyes and made a deep, satisfied noise. "This is delicious. If I was upset before, I'm definitely not now."

Cas smiled and took a bite of his own sandwich.

"You know, you should do this all the time. I bet it would work. Like, if your late to work, just lay an apology sandwich on your boss, and you'll be off the hook."

Cas started laughing at that and Dean did too.

"Interesting advice," Cas murmured after the laughing died out. "Maybe I will try it sometime. Hopefully, dodgeball will not be involved."

Dean took another bite of his sandwich and looked at Cas curiously.

"Hey, what's your beef with dodgeball? You don't seem to like it much."

"I got bullied a lot growing up," Cas admitted. "I was weird and dorky. Plus, I was in foster care, and kids just see something like that as a difference, something that makes you a target. That became especially noticeable with dodgeball."

"Ouch. Man, I'm sorry. That's a shitty thing for people to do."

Cas shrugged. "Kids will be kids. I work at a school now, keep this kind of bullying from happening if I can."

"You're a teacher?"

"Not exactly. I'm a fencing instructor at a private school."

Dean nodded appreciatively. "Fencing. Sweet. Like sword fighting, but without the death and dismemberment."

Cas stared and Dean chuckled at his expression.

"What I mean is, it's cool," Dean clarified.

"I see," Cas said. "So, what do you do?"

"I'm a mechanic. Mostly old cars, but I can fix almost anything."

"Really?"

"Really. I'm a big fan of old cars. My dad had a '67 Impala. I inherited it a while back. My brother hates it because he's so tall that he always hits his head getting in. He also keeps trying to tell me it's not 'reliable', which is bull."

Cas nodded. "My brother Balthazar likes to tell me the same about my car, but I've had it for a long time and I don't want to get rid of it. It's the first car I ever bought, actually."

"What kind?" Dean asked.

"1978 Lincoln Continental, I believe. Gold."

Dean looked like he was suppressing a laugh. "Are you telling me you drive… a pimpmobile?"

Cas squinted at him. "I don't know what you mean by that."

Dean shook his head with an almost silent laugh. "Never mind. Not important. So is Balthazar your real brother or your adopted brother? Just curious."

"Oh. Well, neither actually. He was in foster care as well, and we were in the same group home for almost a year. His mother got him back once she quit drinking, and we didn't see each other for a few years after. I… well, I never had much of a family. My mother died in childbirth and my father abandoned me when I was three or four. I hardly remember him. I spent my whole life in the system."

"You never got adopted," Dean asked, looking sad.

Cas shook his head, "No. The only family I had were the other foster kids. I just started calling them sisters and brothers because that's what they were to me."

"Wow," Dean breathed. "And I thought I had it bad."

"What do you mean?"

Dean sighed. "My mom died when I was five. House fire. And my dad got in a car crash when I was 21. I quit college so I could take care of my brother. He was 16 at the time, and I didn't want to leave him alone."

"Have you ever thought about going back to college?"

"No. I love working on cars. College was a waste of time and money anyway. I was there for three and a half years, and I never declared a major. Couldn't decide on one. Sammy, on the other hand… well, he's always been the smart one. He went to Stanford, became a lawyer. I have to say I'm pretty proud."

"I'm sure he's grateful for all your help," Cas commented

Dean shrugged modestly and blushed a bit.

"If only Balthazar could manage a job like that."

"What does he do?"

"He owns a bar."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing. Until you figure in how many times I have to pick him up because he played drinking games with customers."

Dean snorted and broke into a long laugh.

"Oh man. He sounds like quite something," he said when he got a hold of himself.

"That's an understatement."

…

Seventeen bachelors attended the Rose Ceremony that week, and three of them left at the end of it, leaving fourteen men to try and win Atara Kemmiam's heart.

Those remaining were:

Benji Columbus

Castiel Novak

Daniel Summers

Dean Winchester

Donald Sun

Drake Lyndon

Dustin Total

Edmund Jonathan

Keith Grace

Mitchell Davies

Paul Sanders

Ryan Knight

Scott Jiminy

Stephen Alexander

…

REVIEW!

Again, I know I'm skipping a large chunk of the week as well as the cocktail party conversation Dean and Cas have with Atara, but I'm trying to limit how long these chapters go. The next one will talk more about Dean's relationship with her.

BTW: I NEED YOUR HELP!

Please leave me some ideas for dates and cheesy date cards, because I suck at coming up with them. If I like your idea, I'll PM you a sneak peek of the next chapter ASAP!