Skin (ON HOLD)

Chapter Seven

Gabriel

Gabriel had been distant all of first hour. Despite being aloof anyway, he couldn't bring himself to crack one joke the entire hour.

Luckily for him, his first-hour teacher was willing to let it slide, however, the second was not.

"Gabriel?" She said sharply, earning her desired reaction. "Can you finish this?" She asked, swatting the board with her pointer.

"Yeah, sure... if at first, you don't succeed.... don't try skydiving?" He suggested with a mischievous smirk, but his heart wasn't in it. The teacher sighed heavily, looking ready to walk out while the class struggled to contain their giggles. 

"Hilarious." She muttered dryly. She turned back to the board and continued to write on it. 

As soon as her back was turned, Gabriel let the smirk slip off of his face. Once again, his thoughts traveled back to his brother, Castiel. 

"You okay Gabriel?" Sam asked, gently tapping on his shoulder.

It shocked Gabriel that the boy picked up on his mood.

"Worrying about your brother again?" Sam asked gently. Gabriel nodded with an involuntary sigh. "I know how that goes."

"He's... he's had a bit of trouble Sam," Gabriel admitted.

"I understand." Sam laid a comforting hand on his shoulder and Gabriel felt himself relax a bit. 

When lunch rolled around, Gabriel was eager to see Castiel. Of course, the redheaded Charlie was tagging along. But, none of the Novaks cared, she was practically one of them. However, the appointed protector, Dean Winchester, was nowhere to be seen. 

"Hey, where's Dean?" Sam voiced Gabriel's silent question. 

Anger flooded Charlie's face, and Castiel merely sighed.

"Who fucking cares?" Charlie spat with anger Gabriel didn't know she could possess. "Your brother is an asshole, just so you know." Sam froze up.

"What did he do?" He asked slowly. Charlie looked over at him, a bit of her anger fading. 

"We got into a fight about his homophobic tendencies. I yelled at him, and the prick bolted." She shrugged a little. Sam's eyes were already scanning the room.

"Sam?" Gabriel questioned, a look of urgency plastered on the other's face. 

"I need to find Dean." Was all he said before taking large strides across the cafeteria. 

"You know, these Winchesters are weird," Charlie said as she sat down. The rest of the Novak clan showed up, two accompanied by a Winchester. Lucifer was refusing to let Michael out of sight now that a target was painted on the poor boy's back. 

As soon as the other two got wind of the confrontation between Charlie and Dean, they stood up. A look passed between the two and then they slipped off in search of their brothers. 

Castiel

Castiel sat, merely listening to his family chat. When every Winchester was out of hearing distance, he decided to drop the bomb on his siblings.

"I met my soulmate today." His voice was quiet, insecure. His siblings suddenly stopped everything they were doing, attention all on him. Castiel couldn't help but fidget slightly. 

"Who is it?" Lucifer asked gently. Instead of answering verbally, Castiel cut his eyes toward the opposite side of the cafeteria, where the Winchester brothers had congregated. 

"It's Dean," Charlie clarified, speaking for him.

Castiel set his hand on the table for a moment, before quickly tucking it back into his pocket at the brothers returned. 

"Dean says he's sorry for offending you, Charlie. He also apologizes for bolting like he did." Michael informed Charlie, settling back in his seat beside Lucifer. 

Sam looked a little uneasy as he settled back beside Gabriel, and Castiel could tell his brother wanted to question Sam but didn't. 

Dean slowly approached, settling between Adam and Sam. Earbuds were already shoved in his ears, and music could be heard from around the table. 

The Novak's stared at him, unable to help it. 

Lunch was silent, that is until a phone rang. 

Dean ripped out his earbuds, unplugging them and shot up.

"Hello?" He answered the phone. Inaudible words were spoken, but by the look on Dean's face, it wasn't something he really didn't want to hear. "Dad, we're in school!" He hissed, looking at his brothers for a moment. 

"I don't care if you're in school!" The voice roared, loud enough they could all hear. Dean cringed a bit. 

"Alright, we'll be there in a few minutes," Dean said quickly, like a submitting dog. He quickly ended the call. "Let's go." 

Instead of questioning it, the boys scrambled to their feet.

"No, Adam, you're staying here." Michael switched into big brother mode in a heartbeat.

Adam shook his head, moving over to Michael and crossing his arms. 

"Not this time. I'm old enough to go! I'm not as weak as Dad likes to think I am. I can help." Adam practically begged. 

"Fine, but you have to stay out of the way Adam, understand? We don't need Dad riding our asses about letting you come." Dean growled, turning and walking away with Sam at his side. Adam glanced at the Novaks for a split second before trailing after them. Michael was the only one to talk to the curious group.

"Uh... bye guys." He was quick to jog after the retreating forms of his siblings.

"What in the cold hell?" Charlie asked. "One, their dad sounds like an asshat. Two, why are they leaving? What's so important? And what was that thing with Adam?" She practically whined. "I hate not knowing things. 

"No idea," Lucifer admitted, chuckling a bit at her exasperation. "Cassie, what are you going to do about your whole soulmate situation?" He asked with a smirk.

"I don't know, Lucifer. Nothing?" Castiel shrugged a bit, making Charlie laugh.

"Oh, my dear Castiel, you will have to do nothing." She cracked her fingers and smirked. "You can leave the matchmaking to me." 

Dean

"Dean..." Sam started from the back seat of the Impala. 

"If it is about earlier with Charlie, I don't want to hear or talk about it." Dean snapped, his grip on the steering wheel tightening a bit. 

"It's not, I swear," Sam assured him. "It's about now. Why are we going? We have an education that's kinda important."

"Dad needs our help, so we're going." Dean didn't sound too convinced of his own words.

"Yeah, but he can handle things on his own! We know he can, this whole thing is stupid. He doesn't need us." Sam ranted, growing frustrated. 

Michael and Adam chose silence, letting the two argue for a bit before Adam finally spoke. 

"Dean, I've never been on a hunt. What do I do?" He asked timidly, unconsciously leaning against Sam for comfort. 

"You have to do whatever Dad tells you, so you don't get killed," Dean muttered in a not so comforting manner, effectively silencing all conversation the rest of the drive. 

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Eh, not my best chapter. =^.^= But, I was in town longer than expected, so I decided to put out another chapter even though I said I wasn't gonna. Never take my word for anything, I change my mind way too much.

How have you guys been?