Chapter forty-seven

January 2018

Dean was ready for his second semester of college. He couldn't believe time had flown by so fast. It felt like he had just started college.

He was sitting in his Chemistry lab when he noticed the professor calling students' names out and the one he had just heard was Milton. Fuck. He thought. He hadn't spoken a word to Cas since the incident in the campus square back in September.

Dean was so lost in thought that he hadn't realized that Cas had just sat down next to him.

"What are you doing here?" Dean blurted out.

Cas gave him a confused look. "Weren't you listening? We're paired up for the next semester as lab partners."

Shit. Dean was definitely screwed.

A week later

Shit. Shit. Shit. Dean hadn't prepared himself for this. See, a few days back, Dean had his second lab class. He had come in to it earlier to set up the equipment and prepare himself for his interactions with Cas. As this lab only met once per week, he hadn't see the guy since the first lab meeting. And he thought everything would go fine. Which, surprisingly it did.

They finished the experiment and filled out their worksheet on time. Except then at the end of the lab, their professor decided that that hadn't been enough torture and said that in addition to the labs they were doing, they'd have to do a mini project outside class every week with their lab partners. The professor mentioned something about making sure that his students were capturing what they were doing and or some crap like that. Dean's not really sure what it was exactly that he had said because he was more focused on the fact that he would have to spend extra time with Cas. And now he found himself standing in front of Cas's dorm room, waiting to knock on the door.

After knocking a few times, Dean was going to turn around and leave. But then the door opened.

Cas stood there in sweatpants and hoodie. "Hey," He said and opened the door inviting Dean to come inside. He went over to the mini fridge, pulling out a water and said, "You want anything?"

Dean cleared his throat. "Um, no thanks."

Cas nodded at that. "So.."

"So.." Dean retorted and scratched the back of his head.

"Are we really going to ignore the elephant in the room?" Cas asked.

Dean snorted. "I think it's best we do."

For a few seconds, it seemed that Cas was going to say something else but then he changed his mind and then just nodded.

The rest of the evening passed in peace. They worked on their project. They outlined how they were going to split it up and by when they would complete it.

Everything was going great until Dean muttered, "Man, I fucking love science," as he read scientific facts they were going to use in their project.

"Then it's good that you're here because I'm shit at it," Cas replied.

Dean laughed heartily at it.

Then Cas got up from the floor, grabbed a pack of smokes and opened the window. He lit a cigarette as he stared out the window.

"So, you're a smoker, now?" Dean said, his mood shifting. He couldn't believe Cas.

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing, nothing at all," Dean said. Then he exclaimed, "Except for the part where I'm a fucking lung cancer survivor."

Cas tore his gaze away from the window and glared at Dean. "I'll put it out if it bothers you."

"No by means keep smoking. Not the first crappy thing you've done to yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" If looks could kill, Dean would definitely be dead now.

Dean threw his hands in the air. "Nothing, nothing. It's just-" Dean sighed. "Why are you taking Chem 112? Only one science is required for the core. Why are you taking science classes? I thought you wanted to be a writer."

Cas put his cigarette out but left the window open. "It's practical."

"Practical or something your parents would've wanted?" Dean bit it out. He knew he was crossing a line but he wanted to get his point across.

Cas narrowed his eyes. "Shut the fuck up Dean, you don't know everything."

"I know enough," Dean replied defiantly and glared. "Especially about you."

"Fuck off," Cas said before he jumped of the ledge and added on, "You have no right to ask me about my life. If you've forgotten, you're the one who told me to leave."

Dean bit his lip. "You're right but you shouldn't self-destruct just cuz I'm a dick."

Cas sighed as if he was tired of the fighting. "C'mon Dean, you're not a dick."

"Sometimes I am."

"Okay maybe sometimes."

They shared a grin.

"But really, tell me, Castiel, what happened to your dream of becoming a writer? I thought you were going to major in English or something like that." Dean said and before Cas could say anything else, Dean said, "You can tell me to fuck off. I won't ask again. I'm just curious."

Cas ran his fingers through his hair. "I guess I just wanted stability. What with the way my life has gone, from my mother's suicide to my father's shittiness to moving away and then back to home, I thought maybe if I majored in something to do with science, for once, I would be able to find stability."

Dean unclenched the fist he hadn't realized he had been clenching. No matter how many years had passed, he wanted to find that piece of shit and give him a piece of his mind. Then he breathed out.

"Cas," He said gently. "You can have stability in other fields. And a career isn't the only thing in life that you can find stability in. Besides, don't major in something you don't like." Dean smiled at Cas and added, "Life's too short for that bullshit."

Cas smiled back.

Several weeks later, while they had free time during lab, Cas told Dean that he changed his major and that he was now double majoring in Elementary Education and English. He wouldn't start taking his major classes until the next year so he would still be in the same lab class as Dean.

Dean didn't mind that all.