Little Things

Chapter Four

Dean sat quietly in homeroom, staring at Castiel's empty seat.

'What did you say was wrong with him?' Jo asked.

Dean shrugged. 'Just a bug. He probably caught it from that sketchy motel he stayed at on the way down from Colby.'

'Ew, he better not have given it to us.'

'I'm sure you're fine,' Dean muttered.

'I think Dean knows more than he's letting on,' Crowley said shrewdly, lounging back in his seat.

Dean rolled his eyes. 'Fine, you got me, but it's private.'

'You should have just said so,' Jo chided.

'Sorry,' Dean said. 'You know how tough the first week is.'

'Yeah,' said Jo, her voice softening. 'Come on, we've got chem.'

Dean was distracted most of the day, unable to focus on his classes over his own racing thoughts. He tripped over Kevin on his way to the cafeteria, then realised he'd forgotten to bring money for food.

'I'll cover you, just pay me back tomorrow,' Jo offered.

'Nah, I'll just go home and grab a sandwich,' Dean said, already moving towards the doors, glad of an excuse to leave school for a while. 'See you later.'

'Hey, we've got geography this afternoon, don't be late!' Jo called after him.

'Yeah, yeah,' Dean said, knowing full well that once he was home, he wouldn't be coming back.

He was already halfway home when his heart started racing and his mouth went dry. He was determined that his senior year would be different from the last two, but how was he going to survive the year if he was already skipping out on school at the earliest opportunity?

He sat in the car for a moment, once he'd parked it in the garage, preparing to explain himself to his mother. He braced himself, then exited the garage through the side door, into the kitchen.

'Oh,' he said, when he saw that Castiel was the only one there, sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space and absent-mindedly rubbing his beige coat against his cheek.

He blushed when he saw Dean and shoved the coat under the table. His arm was still violently spasming.

'Where's Mom?' Dean asked, crossing over to the kitchen and not asking about the coat.

'Walgreens,' Castiel mumbled.

'Oh cool, she's getting your medicine already?'

Castiel nodded.

'Do you want a sandwich?' Dean asked, as he rummaged through the cabinets for ingredients.

'No.'

'I'll make you a sandwich.' Dean slapped peanut butter and jelly onto some bread and placed the finished product on a plate in front of Castiel, who took a couple of tiny bites while Dean made his own sandwich.

Mary arrived home just as Dean was sitting at the table himself.

'What are you doing home?' she frowned, dumping her shopping onto the kitchen counter.

Dean just shrugged, chewing slowly and avoiding her eyes. He knew she would interrogate him later, when Castiel was settled.

'Here you go, sweetie,' she said, placing a brown medicine bottle in front of him.

'Thank you,' Castiel mumbled, unscrewing the cap and tipping out one of the tiny pills.

'Oh, what do you have there?' Mary asked, spotting the coat in Castiel's lap.