Down the Hall, To the Right

Chapter 9

In the small town of Lawrence, Kansas, a pair of blue eyes hadn't graced the surface of a pair of green eyes in over 10 years. However, the owner of said blue eyes had returned to this town every now and then. And, as foretold, the owner of the green eyes had never left the small town. Even though meeting again could be as simple as a phone call, and simply seeing each other could have been as easy as turning the wrong corner on Wednesday, or visiting the local café an hour early, the circumstances never arose, like two star-crossed lovers.

Castiel Novak, the ocean-eyed boy, had left to Harvard a few weeks early due to a strange and personal situation. Although he hadn't left his family on the best of terms, he returned home upon hearing that his brother, Michael, may have brain cancer. Dean Winchester, the emerald-eyed boy, could have sworn he had seen Castiel on that day in November. However, Dean had shrugged it off, as he had almost always thought he had seen that boy with the ocean eyes.

Castiel had returned to his studies soon after in January, when new tests were taken, which had stated that Michael had now tested negative for cancer, and that it was most likely a false alarm. Upon his return to Massachusetts, he entered his apartment to find Summer in her room, writing down notes for her thesis paper. Castiel and Summer decided since their universities were only 15 minutes apart, that they would become roommates and share an apartment.

She had asked how Michael was before he left, and Castiel had told her. He had called her prior to his return to inform her that Michael was okay, and that it was simply a bad test. She asked how things were at his home, and Castiel told her. He said that Hannah was doing quite well at Stanford, and she mentioned how she had seen Sam Winchester on the campus every now and then. Lucifer had glared at her for bringing up the name and Hannah and mumbled an apology when she realized she had stated the name without any thought. Castiel had said it was fine and put on a strained smile and asked Anna about her feelings about college. She was a freshman in Notre Dame, and she had said she was incredibly bored with school, but felt it was a necessary evil. Hael had had a hard time adjusting to being the only one at home after school. She missed Anna, as they were practically inseparable. In fact, she had made her mind up to go to Notre Dame, too. Anna had rolled her eyes and told Hael to grow up and live her own life, but it was simply a phase, because two years later, when Anna left for college, she told her little sister that if she wanted to go to the same college, then she would be honored. He told how he got along with Inias immediately, easily sliding into their old routines, as easily as five years before, when Inias had comforted Castiel upon finding that his date with Dean was nothing more than a practical joke.

After he had finished, Summer looked at Castiel as if he wasn't finished, and he knew immediately to what she was referring.

"No, I didn't see Dean fucking Winchester while I was there." Summer was taken aback by his words, as he rarely ever swore. "That what you wanted to know wasn't it?" He then got up from his seat on the couch and slammed his room door after entering through it. She respected his privacy, and stayed outside of the door.

"Castiel, you can't run from this." She said. "I told you; Charlie said that Dean was looking for you, that's why she called me asking where you were!"

"Charlie?! You expect me to listen to Charlie through all of this?!" He yelled, bewildered.

"Yes! She's your friend! What the hell are you talking about, Cas?" Even though Dean hadn't stayed, the nickname had. Castiel saw it as a harsh reminder of his mistakes.

"You both told me he wasn't an asshole!" He had yelled. His voice had lowered considerably, and now he spoke, almost to himself. "Well, you were wrong." Castiel curled up on his bed. "No," he thought to himself, "I'm the asshole."