Little Things

Chapter Eight

In all the excitement from Cas's win, Dean almost forgot that Rhonda was still hanging around, and his mood dropped dramatically the moment he saw her. As usual, Cas took on the task of distracting her, and was doing his best to look interested in what she was saying.

'But enough about me, what about you?' Rhonda said, flicking her hair so that it hit Dean in the face. 'Where are you from?'

Cas suddenly looked nervous, fiddling with the cuffs of his hoodie and looking anywhere but at her. 'I don't know,' he mumbled.

'What do you mean you don't know?' Rhonda said with a slight laugh.

'I was very young when my parents died. I don't remember where we're from,' Cas said in the same anxious murmur.

'Oh. Bummer,' Rhonda said, and Dean's blood boiled at her lack of empathy. 'What happened to them?'

Cas just shrugged and chewed the end of one of the drawstrings.

'Come on, you can tell me.'

'He doesn't have to talk about it if he doesn't want to,' Dean said hotly, earning himself a cold look from her. He clamped his mouth shut, shivering slightly.

'I don't remember asking you,' she said. 'Come on, Cas, we're friends. Tell me what happened.'

'You don't have to,' Jo said, glaring at Rhonda.

Cas bit his lip, looking from Rhonda, to Dean, to Jo and back again. 'My father died in a car accident. My mother was devastated. She couldn't live without him so she - she jumped off a bridge.' With that, Cas snatched up his bag, leaving his lunch untouched, and dashed out of the cafeteria.

Dean wanted to follow, but found himself rooted to the spot, unable to risk brushing against Rhonda if he moved.

'Jeez, what's his problem?' Rhonda laughed.

Dean ground his teeth, until finally Rhonda moved, and he leapt to his feet, racing in the direction Cas had gone. It took him a while, but he found Cas in the showers, sitting in one of the cubicles with the shower in the next one switched on. Dean knocked gently on the door.

'Are you okay?' he asked.

'I didn't want to talk to her anymore,' came Cas's muffled voice.

'Yeah, she has that effect on people... Do you want to go home?'

'Yes.'

The door unlocked and Cas came out with his bag on his shoulder and his hood up, hiding his bloodshot eyes.

'Come on, I'll call a cab.'

'You don't have to come with me,' Cas muttered.

Dean shrugged. 'I don't want to stay here, so...'

Cas nodded, and didn't say anything else for the entire ride home. He went straight upstairs to their room, and Dean wandered into the kitchen to make them some sandwiches.

'Hey, Mom, you out here?' Dean said, sticking his head out of the kitchen window and calling out to the back yard.

'Hey, sweetie, what are you doing home?' Mary said, dusting herself off and coming in through the back door.

'Cas is here too,' Dean said, grabbing a pack of ham from the fridge.

'Really? What happened?'

Dean closed the fridge but didn't look at her. 'Rhonda,' he muttered. 'She got to him too.'

'Oh, Dean,' Mary said sympathetically. 'Do you want to do anything about this?'

Dean shook his head. 'Only a couple more days 'til her kitchen is done and she can go back to having lunch at home. It'll be fine.'