Strings Attached

Chapter 80

"Hey," Dean greets Castiel and Gabriel as they slide in his car the next morning.

"Hey yourself," Gabriel replies.

"Did you get my text?" Castiel asks his boyfriend.

"No, sorry. My phone died. It's currently sitting on the counter charging. Why?"

"I'll tell you at school so I can tell everyone at once," Castiel replies. It will be easier that way.

"I would have thought you'd want to repeat the awesome news a bazillion times," Gabriel says.

"I do," Castiel agrees. "But if I do, I'll forget who I've told so I might as well wait."

~~ Time skip to after they pick Garth up and arrive at school ~~

Charlie runs up to the Winchesters, Novaks, and Garth as soon as they get to school, with Donna and Kevin following her at a leisurely pace. Dean turns to Castiel expectantly.

"Do I get to hear this awesome news now?"

"Awesome news?" Charlie repeats. "I wanna hear awesome news! What is it?" She looks at Castiel in the same manner as his boyfriend.

"You know that record label that wanted me to write songs for them?" Castiel asks.

Everyone says some variation of "yes."

"They said they want me to sing for them, too! As of tonight, I'm an official singer-songwriter, signed to a label and everything!"

"Oh my god, Castiel!" Charlie squeals. "That's awesome!"

"Good for you, Castiel!" Garth applauds him.

"Nice going," Sam says.

"Cool," Kevin adds.

"That's amazing!" Donna gushes.

"How'd I end up with such a successful boyfriend?" Dean asks. "I mean, you're a sophomore and getting signed to a record label. I'm a senior and the coolest thing to happen to me is the number of colleges that like me. That's not fair."

"Life's not fair," Castiel replies. "Besides, it probably won't do me any good. What are the odds I'll get a hit at all?"

"Incredibly high," Dean says. "Because you're amazing and people would have to be deaf not to love your music."

"Yeah, sure," Castiel says sarcastically. "I'm not that good." Or very good at all, in his eyes.

"Of course you are," Dean assures him. "You have the voice of an angel."

Castiel scoffs. "Uh, no."

"Uh, yeah! You're awesome, Cas."

"Thanks, but no."

Dean rolls his eyes. "Come here." He wraps Castiel in his arms, his mouth by the younger boy's ear. "You. Are. Awesome," Dean whispers. "And people are going to try to tell you otherwise, but they're wrong. Don't let them get to you, okay?"

"Mm hmm," Castiel agrees, burying his face in Dean's shoulder. "What would I do without you?"

"Crash and burn."

~~

Friday, gym class. You know what that means. Dodgeball.

"Fuck my life," Castiel mutters under his breath.

"I'll keep you safe," Dean assures him. "Or I'll get you out, quick and easy, depending on which team I'm on. Okay?"

"Thanks," Castiel replies gratefully. He absolutely despises this game, and there's no way he would want to play it without Dean here, especially with Crowley, Alastair, and Azazel.
Castiel, Dean, and Crowley on one team, with Alastair and Azazel on the other. Well, at least the person most likely to give him a black eye is on his team and can't. That makes it a little better.

Just like last week, Castiel hides in the back corner before the game even starts. Dean walks back to join him, and Crowley whispers something to Alastair before joining them against the wall in the starting position. The whistle blows, signaling the start of the game.

Dean stands in front of Castiel for a while, until he finally decides the coast is clear and gets to actually play. Castiel just nervously looks around for a while until Crowley stands directly in front of him, right by the middle line dividing teams and blocks Castiel's view.

It stays like that for a little while until finally, Crowley ducks. The ball flies forward so fast, Castiel doesn't even see it coming until it's crashing into his neck, causing him to stumble backwards a little bit. Castiel puts a cold hand to his soon to be bruised neck and walks over to the out area to wait for the game to be over.

He catches a sympathetic look from Dean, who doubtlessly feels bad about leaving Castiel unprotected. Crowley just smirks, and Castiel knows it was his plan for this to happen. Honestly, the younger boy isn't surprised.

The gym teacher walks over to him and asks quietly, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Castiel replies, moving his hand in a failed attempt to cover the entire red mark on his neck.

"Last week it was a head shot, this week a neck shot," she recalls. "I'm thinking dodgeball isn't your game."

"It's not," Castiel confirms.

"Would you rather spend Fridays in the weight room?" she offers.

"I don't know how to use any of that stuff," Castiel admits.

"That's fine. There's always someone in there to help out."

"In that case, sure," Castiel says. Anything to get out of gym class.