Helpless | Destiel college a.u.

17

– Cas –

I flipped through the few remaining empty pages of my journal, a weird habit I had started while writing in it. As I watched the sheets fall into place, something caught my eye.

Turning back to what I had seen, I found the remnants of a missing page.

I ran my finger along the jagged ripped edge and looked over at Dean, who was watching my hands. He noticed what I was doing and his cheeks started to turn pink.

"Was this you?" I asked, while the others around us started a new conversation.

"I needed to record something last night and it was the closest paper," he defended, causing me to laugh at his embarrassment.

"What was it?"

"Nothing." Dean tried to shrug it off. "Sorry."

"I want to know." I nudged his knee with mine under the table.

He ignored me and joined the conversation happening around us. Frowning at him, I mentally noted that I would have to search the bedroom and try to find it.

When everyone finished eating, Bobby collected our dishes and took them into the kitchen to wash. I offered to help, but he refused the offer kindly.

So instead, I followed Dean upstairs to get ready for the day.

He changed in the bathroom while I dressed myself in the bedroom quickly to avoid being cold for long. I finished first and sat on the bed, opening my journal again to the missing page.

Dean entered the room through the ajar door and set his pajamas on the bed to fold them neatly, a habit which he'd picked up from being around me.

We stayed in a comfortable silence, although I wanted to press him more about what he had used my journal page for.

As he folded his plaid fleece pants, a folded piece of paper fell out of the pocket and he raced to grab it.

"Is that it?" I perked up.

"No," he said too quickly, then sighed. "Yes."

"Can I see?" I gave him puppy eyes.

"It's weird and embarrassing." He avoided eye contact, gripping the paper tightly. "I don't want you to see it."

"I respect your opinion on this, Dean," I assured him. "But... Are you hiding something important from me?"

"No," he repeated, sounding much more sincere this time. "I just... I tried drawing something, but it looks really bad. I wouldn't hide it from you if I was more proud of it."

"Alright." I nodded, accepting his answer. "Sorry for pushing. I was just curious."

"It's okay, Cas."

He finished folding his clothes and stuffed the paper into his current pants pocket.

Downstairs, Jo had already started working on a batch of cookies on her own. Sam and Ash were talking in the living room.

"Hey guys," Sam greeted as we joined them. "Jo has kicked us out of the kitchen for now."

"What's she making?" I asked, sitting next to him on the couch.

"Basic chocolate chip cookies." He seemed unamused with her choice.

"I think you mean classic," I told him. "Chocolate chip cookies are the best."

"Ohhh, I see what's going on here," he squinted his eyes and gave me a sly smile. "You like her, don't you?"

Dean started laughing.