18 Dates - Destiel High School AU

About things that actually matter

Dean keeps true to his word and makes it his mission to keep an eye out for Castiel. It's pretty easy most of the time. Cas is a creature of habit, it seems, so he's always in the same place for lunch, and they pass each other in the halls frequently.

They also have a few classes together, though he couldn't tell you what those classes are. He's trying to be a good student; for Sam, he swears it. It's just that everything is a distraction for Dean. Almost everything is more fun or captivating than his lessons.

Even the fucking birds hopping around outside of the classroom windows make for better entertainment. Dean's given them backstories and everything.

He didn't know what was wrong with him. He was just bored. Always bored. Maybe that's why Castiel has been on his mind a lot since meeting him at the start of the week.

While it wasn't actually Dean's business to watch out for the guy, it was far more fun than math. Plus, he wasn't an idiot. He knew the reactions he was seeing as he stood with Cas by the open doors of the gym. He'd seen it on many other people's faces at many other schools he'd attended.

He knew what that flinch had meant, and when you stacked it with shrinking himself down in the hallways or being scared of the reactions people might have to things he'd say, it seemed as clear as day that Castiel was being bullied.

He hadn't been able to confirm it yet, but he was standing by his intuition.

Maybe it was his intuition that led him to seek Castiel out on Thursday afternoon, or maybe it was his boredom; either way, he ended up in the courtyard.

"Hey," Dean says as he approaches Castiel in his usual lunchtime spot. "Long time, no see." He jokes. Castiel looks up sharply from whatever work he is hunched over but relaxes at the sight of Dean. Perhaps expecting someone else?

"It has been two days." Castiel replies, his voice monotonous. That it had. Two days since Castiel showed him around and two days of Dean pretending to be interested in his lessons.

"It doesn't matter, I was joking. Can I sit here? Thank you, that's very kind of you." Dean rushes out, all without letting Castiel say a single word in response. He sits down opposite the boy and puts his backpack down on the bench seat beside him.

Cas puts the pen he's holding in between the pages of the book he'd been writing in, presumably to keep his place, and then flips the book closed. "Can I help you with something, Dean?"

"Not really. Unless you want to help me with algebra, I suck at it." He grins. Of course, he's not being serious because he'd rather shoot his own brains out than do work during lunch, but Cas shrugs like he wouldn't mind. "No, er, I just thought I'd keep you company."

"Keep me company." Castiel raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I just noticed that you're alone a lot. That's all."

"Oh, well, I am fine, but thank you." He reopens his book. Dean watches Castiel for a minute or two. He's wearing a dark grey sweater today, one that has sleeves long enough to cover his knuckles slightly. The white collar of a polo shirt is pulled out neatly from under the knitted fabric. He looks cosy and like he comes from old money.

Castiel doesn't notice the attention as he starts to read through what looks like history notes. Dean can't really tell all that well from looking at them upside down.

God. This was going to kill him. "What are you working on?" He asks. Castiel looks back up from his work. He looks at Dean without saying anything, long enough for him to start feeling slightly uncomfortable.

"You really want to know?" Dean nods at the question. Castiel looks sceptical, and rightfully so. Dean didn't exactly give off academic vibes, and he'd made it pretty obvious the other day that he didn't really care about any subjects this place had to offer.