Dean Winchester is your average kid with the apple pie life. Well, outside of his father being a practically absentee alcoholic. He doesn't have many friends outside his mom, baby brother, or Charlie. He buries almost all of his feelings with a cute...
Mary Winchester cannot believe how quickly her oldest son has grown. The five-year-old boy staring up at her is proof that time has passed by so quickly. Time has gone by so fast that it's Dean's first day of kindergarten instead of his first birthday. It feels like it was just yesterday that Dean learned how to crawl, but now he can run and get into trouble while Mary and her husband aren't watching.
Dean tugs on the leg of Mary's jeans urging her to look down. "Mommy! Can we pleeeease go to the bus now?" Her son begs, fidgeting on his feet. He plays with the straps on his Batman backpack nervously. "I want to make a new fri- friend already!"
Mary looks down at her son with a small wistful smile. Gone are the days of having her son at home by her side while John is off at work. She takes her oldest son's hand and leads him to the end of the driveway. She squats down to Dean's level and gives him a bear hug. Once she stands back up, she looks down at her son, ruffling his hair. "Have a great day at school today, honey." She sighs, giving him a forehead kiss.
Good thing Dean doesn't notice the tears threatening to well up in her eyes as he bounds up the steps into the bus.
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Dean's eyes flick around the noisy and chaotic interior of the bus. Now he's not so sure about this new school thing. His gaze lands on a messy-haired boy around his age. He looks about as lonely as he felt before he met Charlie. Dean frowns, tears threatening to spill over when he remembers that she isn't on his bus. No. Dean will be fine. Just like his dad said he would be. He pulls on his black shirt, blinks back his tears, and shoves his way through the wilderness to the cute boy.
He plops down on the seat, startling the other boy from his staring contest with the floor. Dean gives him a wide smile. "My name's Dean, what's yours?" He asks, setting his backpack down on the dirty bus floor.
The boy looks down, frowning. He picks at his pants, clearly nervous. "My name's weird." He whispers, looking back up and directly at Dean. "It's Castiel. My daddy said that it means that I'm an angel."
"Your name isn't weird! It sounds like a cool superhero name." Castiel smiles softly and relaxes. Dean's eyes flick to the blue-eyed boy's backpack. It looks handmade, covered in little bees on pale yellow fabric. It has black straps with small yellow stripes. "Imma call you Cas." Dean declares, his gaze moving back to Cas's face.
"I like that. Wanna see my new toy?" Cas asks, reaching for his bag, and unzipping it. "My brother got it for me."
"Yeah!" Dean says, finding Cas's excitement adorable. The brunette produces a stuffed bee with octopus tentacles. Then a soft chuckle escapes Dean's lips. "What's his name?"
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Cas smiles again when he hears Dean's laugh. If there was doubt in Castiel's mind that he likes him, it's gone now. Despite the boy's hair looking like a golden bowl on his head, the young Novak thinks Dean is cute. "Mew. He's a Bumple Octop-poda." Castiel explains, placing Mew in his lap. "My brother said so."
Dean looks out the window at his new school and then at Cas. "Who's your teacher?" Once the bus stops, he slings his bag over his shoulder, almost knocking himself over. "I wanna be friends," he states, leaving no room for questions.
"Ms. Ellen," Castiel says, stuffing Mew back into his bag. "She was really nice when me and my mommy went to see her last week."
Dean smiles big and wide, brushing his hair out of his face. "Me too. Are we best friends now?"
"Yeah." Cas smiles, showing teeth for the first time. "We're besties."
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Castiel was scared when he left home. When he got on the bus, his twin brother completely disappeared. He had to sit alone because nobody wanted to sit next to him. Dean was his saving grace from ultimate social doom. Castiel walks next to Dean, listening to his new best friend chatter away about Batman. Cas just likes listening to the other boy's voice, it makes him feel like he's not alone in a strange place.
Cas sees a flash of dark hair not at all different from his own. He narrows his eyes, trying to suss out what the figure's backpack looks like. Yep. That's Jimmy, his custom Squirtle backpack is a dead giveaway. He grabs Dean's hand and starts dragging him toward his twin. He is standing near the slide chatting with a girl with long dark hair.
Once they stand in front of his brother, Dean is clearly confused. He scrunches his nose up, trying to figure out why Castiel and Jimmy look the same. He opens his mouth and shuts it, turning to Cas. "Do you have a clone? " Dean asks, incredulously.
"No, this is Jimmy. He's my brother." Cas quickly explains, to the girl next to his brother's laughter. "Jimmy, this is my bestie, Dean."
Jimmy smiles, showing a gap in between his teeth. "You're Cassie's bestie? He must really like you."
"Don't call me Cassie!" Castiel says, rolling his eyes. "But yeah. I really like him." Dean feels his heart start to beat a little faster when he hears that.
"Cassie and Dean sitting in a tree," Jimmy sinsongs, his tongue sticking through the space in his teeth at his brother. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
Castiel crosses his arms, shooting a death glare at his twin. But he doesn't say anything. He turns to the girl next to his twin, who is now sitting on the silver slide.
"I'm sorry about my brother ." Cas snarks pointedly toward his twin. "What is your name?" He asks her, hands in his pockets.
"It's Megan, but call me Meg." She pauses, looking Castiel up and down. Much to Dean's chagrin. "But you two," Her gaze flicks between Castiel and Jimmy. "Can call me by the name my papa gave me."
Well, that bothers Dean even more , so the smile on his face has all but vanished. Then he gets tackled from behind, drawing an " oof- " from him. He turns to look at his attacker. She's a tall ginger girl wearing a black shirt with the words 'Pretty Fly Jedi' scrawled across it.
Charlie! She's here! Dean really hopes that she won't be mad that Castiel is his best friend.
His toothy grin is back, once he sees his first friend. Charlie has been there for Dean for as long as he can remember. Even since before his younger brother was born. He can't wait for her to meet Castiel.
Dean tackles Charlie with a big warm hug. He steps back and takes Cas's hand, holding it up in the air. "Cas is my bestest friend in the whole world!" Dean declares to the entire playground. Then he turns to Charlie, Castiel blushing behind him. "He's so cool. He has a Bumdle Octopuda!"
Cas doesn't even have the heart to correct Dean before the bell rings.
