Strings Attached

Chapter 15

Castiel wakes up to find Dean still on the floor, but he's not sleeping. He's lying on his stomach as he plays some game on his phone. Castiel has to pull his eyes away from the curve of his ass that is just perfection.

"'Morning, sunshine," Dean greets him when he realizes the boy is awake.

"'Morning," Castiel replies.

"You hungry?" Dean asks.

Castiel shrugs. "I could eat."

Dean leads Castiel to the kitchen, passing a man at a desk reading some giant book as they do. When they get to the kitchen, Dean opens the freezer.

"Waffles?" Dean suggests.

"Sure."

Dean pulls out a box of frozen waffles and puts a few in the toaster oven before turning back to Castiel.

"That was Bobby, by the way," Dean tells him. "For the sake of ease, I call him my uncle."

Castiel just nods, not sure what to say.

"Anyway, we've still got a few minutes 'til the waffles are done because this toaster is a piece of crap," Dean informs him. "So, we should probably talk about what we're doing with you. Are you ever planning on going home?"

"No," Castiel replies. "But I'm sure I have to eventually."

"I can drive you," Dean offers. "Just tell me when. No rush."

"Thanks," Castiel murmurs. "Hey, what's going on with football?" he asks, changing the subject. "You haven't mentioned it at all. I thought you guys had practice every day or something."

"We do," Dean replies. "But I told the coach I had a friend in the hospital, so he let me and Sam ditch. We've got a game tonight that we can't miss, though."

"When?"

"Uh... Five," Dean tells him. "So if you want to stay around 'til then, you're welcome to come with."

Castiel shakes his head. "I'll pass," he says quickly.

"Alright, suit yourself," Dean replies with a shrug.

Ding!

"Ooh, waffles!" Dean says excitedly. He grabs two paper plates and takes the waffles out with his bare hands. He shakes them out afterwards, muttering, "Hot, hot," under his breath before handing Castiel a plate. "Voila."

They eat together in silence, and Dean tosses both their plates out when they're done.

"So, eight more hours and nothing to do," Dean observes. "Fun fun."

~~

And yet, they do have fun. They play video games — Dean is the master at Diablo II — and watch YouTube — which was fun until they got lost in the Internet and their time ended up in the hole. That was a TomSka reference, by the way. Dean introduced Castiel to the world of TomSka.

"I've got to get ready for the game," Dean announces, glancing at the clock. "Want me to drop you off at your house before I go?"

"I can walk," Castiel replies.

"I'll drop you off," Dean decides.

"It's only a few minutes' walk," Castiel protests.

"Yeah, until you decide you're not going home," Dean replies. "You're a flight risk, and I ain't letting you out of my sight until I know you're home, safe and sound."

Castiel rolls his eyes. "You sound like my dad."

"Well, we both want to make sure you don't disappear, so it makes sense," Dean replies. "Now, I've got to go get my uniform, and then I'll drop you off, okay?"