Disclaimer 1: I do not own Supernatural and am not making money by writing this story
Disclaimer 2: The title is from the song, Chasing Cars and I am not making money by using it as the title of my fanfic.
Chapter eleven
April 2010
Time went by. The cold wind turned into a chilly breeze and flowers blossomed. And though cold had turned into warmth, Castiel could not feel the warmth. He felt his mother everywhere he went. He was so goddamn tired of always feeling this way. He wondered if there ever would be a time when he would feel like a normal eleven year old and not like an eighty- year old soul stuck in the body of a kid.
He breezed through school, hardly paying attention in class. He didn't care anymore. And it didn't come as a shock to him when he received a warning about summer school. He really couldn't care less.
His father was nowhere to be seen on most days, up and about on business trips. As if nothing had happened. Castiel rarely saw him and on the days he did, he wished he hadn't. Inias usually had a drink or two or okay five and if Castiel was lucky (and quick), he could escape unscathed. But luck wasn't always on his side.
He didn't see his sister often either. She would usually go to school and then hang out with her friends afterwards. Anna often came home so late that Castiel was on his fifth dream by then.
On top of that, he hadn't seen Dean either. Sure, they hung out at school during lunch. But that was it. They didn't hung out after school or on weekends as often as they had. He wondered if Dean was avoiding him because of his mother or because of him.
May 2010
May rolled around and it grew hotter. Castiel still didn't know why Dean wouldn't hang out with him after school. He decided to handle it in a mature way.
He cornered Dean.
Dean had been taking out his Science textbook and was about to leave but when he shut his locker door, he came face to face with a very concerned-looking Castiel.
"What?" Castiel wondered if it was his imagination or if Dean sounded angry when he said that.
"You've been avoiding me."
"No, I haven't. You have." Dean shook his head.
"No I haven't. You have." Castiel repeated.
Dean rolled his eyes and said, "Is there a point to this? I need to go back to class."
"Why don't you want to hang out with me anymore?" Castiel's voice cracked.
"Look, Cas. I thought you didn't want to hang out."
"What?" Castiel croaked.
"Ever since your mother died," Castiel flinched slightly, "- you've been ignoring me. Actually, you've been ignoring everything." Dean looked away.
"I'm so tired, Dean. Why does this keep happening to me?"
"Cas, bad things happen to everyone. And I understand what you're going through. Believe me, I know what it feels like to lose a mother. And I still miss her, I do. But you can't stop living just because your mother isn't anymore." Dean said.
"But I miss her so much." He wiped at his eyes, refusing any tears to let slip. Crying was a sign of weakness and Castiel was not weak.
"I know. But you can't just drop everything, Cas. We're supposed to graduate in a month and if you don't get back on track, you're going to have to go to summer school. And you don't want that, do you? Imagine the trouble you would get into!" Dean said harshly.
"Oh god, my dad." Castiel's lower lip quivered and before he knew it, he was crying in Dean's arms.
For a few minutes, Dean comforted him by saying soothing words. "It'll be okay, it'll be alright." Castiel didn't believe him but he let Dean comfort him anyway.
After a few minutes, he calmed down and Dean got him a few tissues. He wiped his eyes and blew his nose.
"Do you want to come by on Sunday? We're celebrating Sam's birthday." Right, Sam's birthday. How could he have forgotten about it?
"Of course." Castiel smiled at Dean and for the first time in months, it felt real.
"Welcome back." John greeted him as he came through the door. Sam ran to hug him and Castiel couldn't help but smile.
Dean and Castiel went upstairs and worked on their homework while Sam played with his toys. Dean had promised that he would help Castiel catch up on his work so he wouldn't get left behind.
When they were finished with homework, they decided to play some video games. And even though Castiel was out of practice, he had managed to win two out of the three games. He was about to defeat Dean in the third one when John called them to dinner.
Dean complained the whole way downstairs and kept saying how great of a player was when Castiel told him that his usual adversary was a seven-year old, to which Sam yelled, "Hey!" Dean laughed and tried to ruffle Sam's hair but Sam waved his hand away.
"So where are Sam's friends?" Castiel asked looking around the empty kitchen.
"Oh it's just family today. Sam is going to go to some kid party place with his friends next week."
"You're not going?" Castiel asked curiously as they sat down.
"No, there'll be enough adults there," Castiel laughed. " – And anyway, I did promise you that I would help you with your schoolwork." Castiel's laugh turned into a frown.
"C'mon, Cas, it won't be bad. You can come over for a sleepover!" Dean smiled at him.
"Okay." Castiel smiled back. Who could say no to Dean when he was so excited?
June 25th 2010
Castiel still couldn't believe he had made it. All of the hard work had actually paid off. Dean kept his promise and Castiel was now sitting in the auditorium waiting for his name to be called.
Unfortunately, he wasn't sitting next to Dean, due to alphabetical order and was sandwiched between the two twins, Raphael and Michael. He tried not to think of what the name meant to him. It mostly worked for him. However, that didn't mean he could stop the arguing between the twins. The no-talking rule obviously didn't apply to them. He could've sworn that he saw his friend, Alfred, who was sitting on the other side of Michael mouth, 'help me.'
As he walked up the stage, he knew that it was not supposed to hurt but somehow it still did. Having at least one parent (albeit a half-drunk one) is better than no parent at his graduation.
He was surprised when he got up on the stage. He heard his name accompanied by a whistle and clapping. He turned around and saw his sister sitting next to John and Sam. At least his sister was there.
After he received his diploma, he went back to his seat and waited for the rest of the names to be called. Why couldn't Dean's last name start with something other than W?
After listening to many names and almost falling asleep, he finally heard Dean being called up. He heard John, Sam and even Anna cheer loudly and joined them.
Later Anna greeted him with a hug and a 'congratulations'.
"You came." Castiel said surprised.
"Course I did. Couldn't miss the little twerp's graduation." She pinched his cheek and said, "Now let's go celebrate."
They all went out to a diner. Dean, Ash, Alfie, Castiel, Sam, John, and even Anna. John allowed them to order whatever they wanted. For the first time in months, Castiel felt truly happy. In the coming months, he would wish that the feeling had stayed with him.
A/N: Please review.
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