Little Things

Chapter Nineteen

Dean woke up late. He slowly opened his eyes, dazzled by the bright light streaming through the window. The curtain was open and Cas was gone. Dean sat up, baffled, and checked his watch.

'Ten?' he muttered. 'What?' He rubbed his face and winced, and unexpected stinging radiating from his cheek. He ran a finger down his face, more carefully this time, and found that he'd gouged his own skin in his sleep. He sighed, then wandered downstairs to find Mary, but the house was empty.

Perturbed, Dean went to the kitchen for something to eat, and found a note stuck to the fridge door.

Dean

Cas switched off your alarm, he thought you should stay in bed for a while and it was so sweet I couldn't argue with him. I'm at a care meeting so I'll be out for the morning.

Enjoy your lie in sleepyhead

Love from Mom xx

Dean smiled and pulled out his phone to message Cas.

Dean

Thanks for letting me sleep

Cas

You're welcome

I hope you're feeling better

Dean

Much

I'll come pick u up after track

Cas

See you then

:)

Dean smiled to himself. He had to admit that Tessa had been right. Sharing with even one person felt like a weight off his shoulders and he felt lighter than he had in weeks.

With the house to himself, he almost didn't know what to do with himself, at least until he found himself thinking about Cas in his gym clothes again. Dean smiled to himself, happy to indulge himself in some alone time without the need to sneak around and finish quickly.

With the last of his stress relieved, Dean was finally able to focus properly, and caught up on his homework.

Mary arrived just as Dean was helping himself to a sandwich, and she placed a fresh pie on the table.

'Hi, honey,' she said, hugging him. 'Feeling better?'

'Yeah, thanks,' Dean said, sitting at the table while she made coffee. 'So, care meeting for Cas?'

Mary sighed. 'Yeah, pretty much just transferring responsibility to me and your dad officially. Making sure we get the next steps done.'

'Which are?'

'Firstly, making sure he gets his college applications done. You should really be thinking about that too, you know,' she said pointedly.

Dean gulped. 'Yeah. Right.'

A few hours of relaxed afternoon passed until Dean sped towards the school in the Impala to pick Cas up from track. His hair was fluffy and still slightly damp, and his scent was as intoxicating as always.

'Good practice?' Dean asked, rolling down the window slightly.

'Yes, thank you,' said Cas. 'You look better.'

'Thanks,' Dean grinned.

Once home, Cas took off his shoes and put away his bag, then nervously approached Mary, fiddling with the cuffs of his red hoodie.