Strings Attached

Chapter 36

"Hi! Hi hi hi hi hi!" Charlie squeals, running up to the Novak car as they pull into school on Monday.

"Hi, Charlie!" Garth greets her.

"Hey," Gabriel says as he slides out of the car and gets Castiel's wheelchair for him, as he does every day.

"Hi," Castiel greets her as well.

"Is Sam here?" Charlie asks as they walk/wheel towards Castiel's first block. It's become customary to wait by Castiel's rooms lately, and he's grateful.

"No, he comes way later," Gabriel tells her.

"Why?"

"Because Dean likes procrastinating, probably," Gabriel replies with a shrug. "Besides, it's not like there's a real reason to get here this early."

"To socialize, duh!" Charlie says as if it's obvious.

"I used to come here this early so I didn't have to socialize," Castiel tells her. "Nobody's here this early. Even Kevin doesn't come for another ten minutes."

"That's cuz Kevin is being boring," Charlie replies. "But who cares? More time for us to socialize. Am I right?" She gives everyone a high five, though Castiel doesn't see how this warrants one. He doesn't ask. He's given up on understanding Charlie.

~~

"Hey, hey, hey, guys!" Charlie says excitedly during lunch by Castiel's room that day.

"What?" Castiel, Kevin, Garth, Gabriel, and Sam ask at once.

"I have an awesome idea! We should go find everyone that Crowley and co. pick on and ask them to join our little group!"

"That's got to be a lot of people," Gabriel says hesitantly. "I mean, too many people, and we won't even be able to have conversations.

"It's not," Castiel replies. "They pick one main person, and a couple sort of side people."

"How do you know that?" Gabriel asks, confused.

"You're talking to that 'main person' going on a year and a half," Castiel replies.

"Ooh, rough," Charlie says sympathetically.

Castiel just shrugs. He's not looking for their sympathy, but there's no point in lying about it. It's obvious is rough. He's got the broken bones to prove it.

"So, wanna go people hunting?" Charlie asks hopefully.

"Sure," Kevin and Garth reply.

"Alright," Castiel agrees.

"Why not?" Sam says with a shrug.

"Let's go," Gabriel says.

Charlie looks between Sam and Gabriel for a moment. "Are you two dating?" she asks curiously.

"What?" Sam says as if it's the most ridiculous question ever. "Where did that come from?"

Charlie shrugs. "Well, you guys spend all your time together. Just wondering. So, I'll take that as a no, then?"

"You're wrong," Gabriel says, standing on his toes to give Sam a quick kiss. "We are."

Sam elbows Gabriel in the shoulder. "Dude!" he hisses.

"What?" Gabriel asks, batting his eyelashes innocently. "There's no point in not telling them. They're very pro-gay here."

"Oh my god! I so ship it!" Charlie squeals.

"So does Lucifer," Gabriel says. "And it's very, very hard not telling him, so I'm gonna do that when I get home." Though he said it as a statement, he looks up at Sam for confirmation that it's okay.