Down the Hall, To the Right

Chapter 4

Dean saw Benny and Charlie sitting in a booth, engaged in a rather serious conversation. The redhead was shaking her head and looked to down to stir her drink with her straw before sipping it. Benny was looking at her and saying something, but as Dean approached the booth he could see his friend sighing out of desperation. He saw Dean and turned to look at him as he sat down.

"Dean, can you tell Charlie, here, that it is most certainly pronounced 'Carra-be-in'?" Benny asked.

"It's obviously 'Carr-i-be-an'." Charlie said.

"I'm sorry, but I'm pretty damn sure it's 'I-really-don't-give-a-shit-guys-it's-just-a-stupid-name'." Charlie and Benny laughed at that and gave up on the argument. They talked for a while, chatting about whether their plans for the future had changed. Benny said he was still in search of an apartment in town. When Charlie told him she had seen one up the road, he thanked her, saying that she was a lifesaver. Benny could only stay in town if he found a place to stay because his parents were moving back to Louisiana. Benny asked how Dean was doing and he filled them in on his new job, except for a few details.

"Wait Novak? Isn't that that weird kid from school?" Benny asked. Dean was surprised to see that he shot Benny a glare, and that Charlie did also.

"He's a really cool guy, people just don't like that he's a decent kid who keeps to himself." She said, making Benny to move back and raise his hands in defense.

"Sorry, I didn't know." Benny said simply. Charlie turned to Dean.

"Wait so why were you embarrassed that you were looking at him in the break room." Dean felt his face burn and he stumbled over his words.

"Uh, um, it's just, uh weird, y'know. To be looking at someone. For that long, that is." Dean spit out.

Charlie smirked. "Well if you were looking at him for that long, you must have been checking him out." Dean's eyes widened and he tried to deny the accusation. "And if his back was turned, and you were looking relatively low, well, I doubt you were admiring his calves." She chuckled.

"No, n-no. I'm straight, Charlie. I don't like guys." Charlie looked at Dean with a look of "seriously?" etched on her face. "Yes, really. I only want to be friends with him."

"Why?" She asked while looking down and spinning her straw around in her glass. "Why are you trying to be friends so badly?"

"If I befriend Cas, it'll probably help me paycheck-wise because his brother's my boss and in charge of the law firm." Dean said.

"Nope." Charlie said, popping the "p" nonchalantly and still looking down. "By what you told us, they already like you, and you're not the kind of person who goes the extra mile for that kind of thing."

"Also, it hasn't even been a full 24 hours and you've already given him a nickname?" Benny chuckled.

"Yeah, that's true. I've never heard anyone call him 'Cas' before." She looked up.

"Yeah that's what he told me." Dean muttered and immediately regretted it. Charlie laughed and so did Benny.

"Of course he did!" Benny laughed. "Did he laugh and say he liked it, too?" Dean nodded accidentally, and it only made Benny laugh harder. "Oh, brother, your head is so far up your ass!" Charlie laughed at his comment. Dean muttered something about going to the restroom. A girl walked by and Charlie looked at her as she passed.

"Hey, Summer!" The girl turned around, long black hair flipping with her movement. "Come sit." The girl was wearing a bright yellow top with dark jeans. Her brown eyes were strangely accented by the yellow. She sat down in the booth.