Little Things

Chapter Seven

Dean was once again sitting anxiously on the bus the next morning, chewing his fingernails, his mouth dry. Cas watched him closely, but didn't say much. To his relief, they arrived before Rhonda, so Dean could at least get to his seat safely. As expected, though, Rhonda made a beeline straight for them as soon as she walked in and sat on Dean's desk.

'Morning, Dean,' she smiled.

Dean gave a weak smile back, but didn't say anything.

'What's the matter?' she asked.

Dean's heart raced, but before he could say anything, Cas's voice piped up behind Rhonda.

'Excuse me, Rhonda, is it?'

Rhonda, surprised, turned to face him. 'Yeah?'

'Do you mind if I ask where you had your hair done? It's a nice colour.'

Rhonda's face lit up. 'I have a regular stylist. Why, do you want yours done too?'

Cas nodded. 'I've been thinking about it.'

'It might be harder with your hair since it's so dark, but she's a genius with hair so she might be able to do it. Hold on, let me get you her number.' Rhonda jumped down from Dean's desk again and leaned on Cas's instead.

Cas caught Dean's eye while she wasn't looking and winked at him.

Dean chest loosened, but he could still smell her perfume and it churned his stomach.

Cas kept her distracted, and at last, the bell rang and homeroom was over. Dean let Rhonda leave first, flinching as she blew him a kiss, then slowly walked out of the room.

'Dean?'

'Hmm?' Dean said vaguely.

'Are you all right?' Cas asked.

Dean nodded, standing in the middle of the hallway.

'Are you coming to English?'

Dean blinked. 'What?'

'English. Are you coming?'

Dean shook himself out of it and smiled at Cas. 'Yeah, I'm coming.' He let out a breath and walked alongside Cas. 'Thanks,' he muttered.

'You're welcome.'

'You're not actually going to change your hair, are you?'

'No,' Cas smiled.

'Good. It's nice that way it is.' It slipped out before Dean could stop himself, but he found that he didn't care all that much.

Rhonda again approached them at lunch, catching Dean by surprise.

'Don't you go home for lunch?' Jo asked icily.

'My kitchen's being renovated,' Rhonda said smoothly, 'so I thought I'd hang out with you guys.'

Dean barely contained a shudder, and Cas once again took it upon himself to distract her, until they were chatting amiably, a distance away from Dean.

All in all, Dean was proud of himself for making it through the day, despite having to be in Rhonda's presence.

Cas continued to run interference over the week, until he himself started to get nervous and withdrawn as the races grew closer.

'I've seen you run, you're gonna do great,' Dean said reassuringly, sitting on his bed the night before.

Cas had been picking at his dinner before disappearing up to their room.

'But what if I don't?' he said anxiously. 'I don't want anyone to be disappointed.'