That Ship Has Sailed

Dean & Cas

Cas hides in the hallway as Dean walks by. He's easily hidden behind the crowd of girls who gawk at the jocks as they pass. When they're gone, he sneaks away and into the men's bathroom at the far end of the hall.

He glares at his reflection and sees his eyes are watery.

"Stop crying, you pathetic monster," he whispers to his reflection.

He feels a tear fall onto his cheek and angrily wipes it away, standing with is fists against his eyes to stop more from falling.

"It's your own fault," he tells his reflection after removing his fists, "It's all your own stupid fault, so why are you crying about it? Just stop it."

The door opens and Cas is startled, but acts quickly, running the water and splashing it on his face to hide the fact he'd been crying before he quickly leaves the room, hurrying back down the hallway.

After turning a corner, he runs into someone and looks up, startled.

When he does, his heart rate increases and he tries to push past, but he's stopped.

"Hey, where have you been?" Dean asks, grabbing Cas' arm to stop him, "I've been looking for you all day."

"Busy," Cas replies quickly, "I need to be somewhere. I'll see you later," he says it quickly and doesn't face Dean as he does.

"Wait," Dean says, tightening his grip on Cas' arm. He tells his friends to go on without him and pulls Cas closer, "Are you avoiding me, Cas?"

"No," was his short reply.

"Then why won't you look at me?"

Cas refuses to turn around until Dean grabs his chin in his fist and makes him face him. When he sees Cas' face, anger flashes into his eyes.

"Who did this to you?"

"No one, I ran into a wall."

Dean's stare shows he isn't convinced, but he doesn't say anything, giving Cas a chance to tell him the truth.

Cas sighs, looking down, "It was Jeremy. Soccer team."

"I'm going to kill him," Dean says, letting go of Cas' chin.

"Dean, no," Cas now grabs Dean's arm to stop him, "Don't. You'll be seen as a bully again and I don't want that to happen."

"Cas, I thought I taught you how to fight back?"

"You did, but--"

Dean looks at him, confused.

Cas doesn't want to meet Dean's gaze, but he does anyway, "I don't want to become what you were."

This strikes a chord with Dean and he groans, punching the wall. After seeing Cas' reaction to his angry outburst, however, he feels bad. He knows Cas hates his aggressive side and he tries to be good for him, but finds it hard.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly, "I need to go. I'll come over after school to see you."

With that, he's gone.

Cas now wanders the hall toward his next class, not really caring if he's late or not. A few people who have a free period are in the halls, lingering by their lockers and quietly talking.

Suddenly, a noise catches Cas' attention and he turns, looking down the hallway he'd just come from. He sees Dean on the ground with a few people from the soccer team around. A small crowd is slowly gathering.

"--saw you talking to your boyfriend," Cas hears as he walks closer, "So are you the man of the relationship or the girl? You're kind of a woos, but then, so is he."

Cas pushes toward the front of the crowd and Dean sees him.

He doesn't do anything to defend himself, he just stands up and stares at his accuser.

"What's the matter?" Jeremy asks, "Not going to fight back? Isn't that what bullies do?"

"I'm not a bully anymore," Dean replies, "I made amends and changed."

"Once a bully always a bully. Come on. Fight back like your boyfriend was too scared to do."

"I'm not his boyfriend," Cas speaks up, walking forward, "He's my best friend."

"Cas, it's fine. Go get the principal or something," Dean tells him.

"No," Cas replies, "You were right. I need to stand up to him or he'll never stop," Cas whispers to Dean. He then turns around and faces Jeremy.

"You're only doing this because you think it makes you look better, but it doesn't. It just proves that you're a bully!"

With that said, Cas recoils his fist and aims for the right side of Jeremy's face, connecting his knuckles with the boy's cheekbone. Jeremy falls back more out of shock, given that Cas' punch wasn't very hard.

Cas rubs his knuckles and is distracted when Jeremy goes in to punch him. Dean grabs Jeremy's fist out of the air, blocking him from hitting Cas, "Get lost, loser," he tells Jeremy, pushing him back.

"Dean look out!" Cas calls out after Dean turns his back on Jeremy.

Jeremy shoves Dean into Cas and they almost fall to the ground, but Cas catches him. He then moves Dean aside and tackles Jeremy, using a technique Dean taught him to defend himself. Jeremy now lies on the floor with Cas standing over him.

"Who knew the weak one would become the bully?" Jeremy said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I'm not a bully!" Cas shouts, "I'm protecting my friend. It's what friends do. You'd know if you had any real ones."

"I have friends," Jeremy scoffs.

"I don't see any," Cas replies.

Jeremy now notices that his friends had left at the first sign of trouble. He scowls at Cas. Cas holds out his hand to Jeremy to help him up, but Jeremy refuses.

"Leave him, Cas," Dean says, "Come here," he grabs Cas' arm and pulls him close, not wasting a second of time as he presses his lips to Cas'. A loud sound comes from some of the girls around them. Cas is too surprised to close his eyes before Dean pulls away and smiles at him.

Jeremy opens his mouth to say something, but one of the girls interrupts, "Don't even start, Jeremy! You're a homophobe and now everyone knows it."

Dean smiles at Cas and ignores everyone as they now tease Jeremy.

"He's going to be bullied now," Cas says to Dean.

"Who cares? I'm proud of you. I didn't know you actually learned any defense moves from me."

"How could I not? You're captivating."

Dean laughs and Cas blushes.

"How did I not know you were gay?" Cas asks, "You knew I was."

"Because I was in the closet, Cas, but now I don't care. You're the only man I want to be with."

"My family doesn't know," Cas replies.

"Mine either."

"Uh," a voice comes from behind Dean, "Actually, I did know."

"Shut up, Sammy," Dean says before moving forward to kiss Cas again.