After the End

Chapter Thirteen

Dean had spent the last three days following Cas around, avoiding Sam, and avoiding John even more. Cas always woke up before Dean and by the time he came back to wake Dean up, he had two plates of breakfast with him, which was a nice way to be woken up in the morning. After eating and downing a cup of lukewarm coffee, Cas would lead Dean to the medical building where Dean would spend the entire day with Cas and Charlie, talking, playing board games, or learning about medical terms he'd never heard of before. It wasn't horrible, but Dean would have much rather been out hunting. Not that he didn't enjoy being in Cas' presence, but it only made things harder on him. He was trying not to keep falling in love with his best friend, yet he was spending every waking moment with him. It was impossible to do anything else.

    They hadn't seen much action the past three days, which Dean assumed was a good thing. If people weren't coming in, then people weren't getting hurt. In a neighborhood like this, Dean didn't think there were much opportunity to get hurt, unless it was someone who was out past the wall, like Sam. He did worry each time the door chimed, signalling someone walking in. He looked around the corner every single time, his heart racing until he saw that it wasn't his brother. It would just be a kid who fell off his skateboard, or someone with a stomach ache that needed nausea medicine, or something else minor like that.

    Today was no different than the last three, which was fine with Dean. He was starting to enjoy the quiet, worry free time he was getting to spend with his friends. In a few short weeks, he'd be back to hunting and putting his life in danger, but for now, this was a nice change of pace.

    "Checkmate," Cas deadpanned, eyes traveling up from the board to meet Dean's. "I thought you were supposed to be good at this game," he added, a hint of playfulness in his tone. Charlie laughed from where she sat in the corner, watching them with an amused grin on her face.

    "Hey, watch it," Dean grumbled, scooting his chair away from the small card table they had set up to play games at. "I let you win." It wasn't true, Cas really had won fair and square. If Dean being distracted every time Cas licked his lips as he thought about his next move was considered fair. To Dean, it wasn't, but he wasn't about to say that out loud. "Charlie, you're up, kid," Dean sighed, giving his chair up for her to take his place.

    "Funny," Charlie laughed, shoving Dean to the side as she slid into the seat. "When you guys said I'd be playing the winner, I assumed it would be you, Dean. Considering how often you brag about being the best," she jabbed at him, making Dean scowl and roll his eyes. Cas had teased him about losing too, but at least he'd been cute about it. Charlie was just being mean, like how Sam used to be when he'd beat Dean at anything growing up.

    "He's usually the best," Cas defended him as Dean slid around to his side of the table, resting his one good hand on the back of Castiel's chair. "Something must be on his mind to distract him like that." Jesus, Cas had no idea. Dean chuckled to himself, looking down at the top of Cas' head until Cas suddenly looked up, meeting his eyes. Dean could have easily kissed him like this, because he was beautiful, but Charlie was across from them and she was already gawking at them awkwardly.

    "Something like that," Dean croaked, looking away before he really did something stupid. Cas chuckled softly, looking at Charlie again as she set up the chess board to start a new game.

    "Dean, how's the arm?" Charlie asked, changing the subject. "Cas is taking good care of you, right?" She gave Dean an incredibly dirty look, but when Cas looked up from taking his turn, her face was sweet and innocent again, like she never insinuated anything different.

    Dean hardcore glared at her as she smiled sweetly. "My arm is fine," he grumbled, ignoring Cas's concerned look at his change of tone. Instead of going into more detail, Dean watched Charlie take her turn, and then leaned in closer to Cas' ear. He put his hand on Cas' shoulder, squeezing without thinking as he whispered, "move that one," he started and Cas paused, moving his hand over the pieces until Dean nodded. "Yeah, that one, over there," he pointed, feeling Cas tense under his hold. Dean licked his lips, not moving an inch.