Strings Attached

Chapter 34

Castiel is greeted the next morning by Charlie once again. As always, she's all smiles and rainbows — and not just because she's gay. She's a genuinely cheerful person, and Castiel can't help but envy her for it. It's nice to have this one cheerful part of his life.

"Are you eating lunch in the cafe today?" Charlie asks him as they're waiting outside their first block classes.

"No," Castiel replies. "Not today, and probably not ever."

"Then wanna hang out somewhere else?" Charlie asks. "You, me, and Kevin?"

"Sure," Castiel agrees. "Can we stay by my third block so I don't have to move afterwards?"

"Of course!" Charlie says with a grin.

"And I might be inviting another friend, too," Castiel adds, thinking of Garth. It depends on whether Castiel sees him before lunch. He hopes so; he never got the chance to warn the boy about the horrors that await him in the cafeteria.

"Yes!" Charlie says excitedly. "I wanna meet your other friends!"

"If I see him, I'll let him know," Castiel says.

"And how's your amnesia going?" Charlie asks, to keep the conversation going after it fizzles out.

"I think I remember everything now," Castiel replies. "Well, everything important. Then again, how would I know that I didn't remember something?"

"Touché," Charlie replies. "But at least it doesn't feel like there are holes in your mind, right?"

Castiel nods. "That's always a plus."

"Are you getting out of those casts and stuff soon?" Charlie asks.

"Five more weeks now," Castiel replies. "We hope. Depends on what's healed by then."

"Here's hoping," Charlie replies. "How 'bout your concussion?"

"I feel like I'm at the doctor's," Castiel jokes. "It's still there. I'm still doing stupid stuff. I'm still almost blacking out at random. My head is still throbbing. But I'll live, so it's all okay."

"Any awesome stories with stupid stuff?" Charlie asks hopefully.

"No really awesome ones, but I tried to pour milk into my food once. A-plus for me, right?"

Charlie laughs. "Seriously? That's awesome!"

Castiel shrugs. "Well, I'm glad my failures please someone."

"I'm glad you allow your failures to please me," Charlie replies.

"I'm glad you allow me to allow my failures to please you," Castiel counters with a grin.

They repeat in this fashion for at least five minutes until they're a laughing, giggling mess. It's not that what they're doing is funny. It's actually pretty childish. It's just doing it together that makes it that much more enjoyable.

~~

Castiel waits by his third block during lunch for his friends to show up. He managed to find Garth and tell the boy about his lunchtime plans, and Garth confirmed that he would come, so it will be the four of them.

It's strange for Castiel to think of that. He never had friends, excluding his family when he was younger. Now he has three of them. Granted, they just met very recently, but he likes to consider them close friends. They never had the awkward small talk stage of friendship. They skipped that part and became sort of close like they are now.

"Charlie not here yet?" Kevin asks, looking around as he joins Castiel.

"Nope," Castiel replies, then adds as an afterthought, "unless she's hiding behind a corner to scare us. I wouldn't put it past her."