Imaginary Lover

Chapter 1

Dean woke up to the sound of his alarm ringing. He groaned and snoozed it and sank back into blissful sleep.

She's my cherry pie

Cool drink of water such a sweet surprise

Feel so good make a grown-

Dean shut off the alarm in a huff and turned over. It was here. His first day of college. Just thinking about him gave him butterflies.

It hadn't been easy for him to make friends. he was shy and kept to himself, finding solace in libraries or lone staircases. He made the occasional friend but they moved around so much he never got the chance to make long lasting relationships. Perks of having a father in the Marines. Their mother, Mary, would get tense every time her husband left on assignment and only breathed freely when he called or returned from whatever corner of the world or country he'd been posted to.

His younger brother Sam would be starting his first day of high school. Dean loved Sam and looked out for him as much as he could. As quiet as Dean was, Sam was the popular one. He made friends everywhere he went, had extracurriculars and so far, had a perfect GPA. He'd gotten into all AP classes for high school and no one had been more proud than Dean himself.

He looked around his room, books littered his study table, a laptop on top of them. He had worked hard to keep his scores up and his efforts had paid off. He was relieved when he'd gotten his acceptance letter and into the course of his choice. Dean had always wanted to study Automobile engineering and his dreams were starting to come true.

He smiled to himself before getting up and going to the bathroom and taking a shower. He got dressed quickly, grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and gave himself a once over in the mirror. He'd decided to wear his favourite dark wash jeans, black t-shirt and threw on a dark maroon hoodie along with his Doc Martens. He went down the stairs and found his mom making breakfast while Sam chattered on about how excited he was about all his classes and meeting new people.

"And I want to join the debate team, coz that'll help a lot with being a lawyer", he said.

Sam had decided he wanted to go to law school after watching his favourite show, Suits. He loved Harvey Specter but decided he'd be the version that practiced criminal law and not corporate.

"Don't take on more activities than you can handle, Sammy. Morning Dean! Looking forward to college?", Mary said with a slight note of concern. She knew her eldest had trouble adjusting and always reassured him to boost his confidence.

"Yeah. I kinda am", he looked up at his mom with a small smile. He playfully ticked his baby brother's ear and said,"Could you pass the Frosted Flakes, baby bro?" following which Sam slapped Dean's arm and a playful fight ensued.

"Boys", Mary said firmly and they both quieted down. Dean poured himself a bowl of cereal and heard Sam say very distinctly,"jerk".

"Bitch", said Dean and both smiled at each other before going back to their food.

They got done quickly and headed out the door screaming goodbyes to their mother. Sam headed off to the bus stop while Dean walked up to the beautiful car that stood in the driveway.

It was a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala. He'd been begging his father for a car before his 16th birthday and his father had surprised him.

"Hi baby", he mumbled and slipped in behind the wheel. He started the car and mentally braced himself for what was about to come as he pulled out of the driveway and down the street to sound of Eye of the Tiger.

Dean pulled into the student parking lot after what felt like too short a drive. He was becoming nervous and his palms started sweating.

You can do this, he thought to himself as he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. You're here to get a degree so that you can work for Aston Martin and maybe make a few friends, he reassured himself as he started walking toward the first building in his sight.

He walked in and saw a faculty member standing just inside and made his way to him.

"Good morning sir. I'm Dean Winchester. I'm a- a new student here. Would you mind telling me where I have to go for orientation?", he said in a rush.

The teacher smiled and directed him to a building located toward the back that was 3 blocks away from the current one. He thanked him and made his way toward it- Crawford Hall. His nervousness was increasing with each step and he fumbled while walking.

Get it together man! he scolded himself and ran into someone.

He apologised profusely but the boy walked on, too busy bobbing his head to the music he was listening to. Dean reached the building and went inside. After some help from a few students, he made his way to a semi-distant corner of the auditorium where his orientation would start.

After all the formalities were dealt with, Dean found his way to his class which was on the third floor of the building next door. He'd gotten a map of campus so locating his classes wasn't too difficult anymore.

The day progressed in a relatively similar pattern. Each teacher gave them an overview of the subject along with telling them about assignments, projects, quizzes and grades. Dean didn't have a problem memorising what they were saying and paid little attention after a while.

For lunch he decided he'd find a quiet place to sit and eat. His classmates were okay but no one struck as someone he'd be talking to frequently. Walking around campus he found an obscure corner behind one of the buildings. It looked like a park of sorts with benches with not a soul around. He walked over to a bench and started eating. He was starving. He was so fixated on eating that he nearly fell off when a bag got slammed on the table.

"Sorry about startling you. You new here?", asked the boy. Dean looked him over. He had several tattoos on his neck, a lip piercing, a stud in his eyebrow, dark hair and wore eyeliner.

"Hey, you okay? Do you have a speech problem or something?", he asked and smiled at Dean. Snapping out of his trance and realising he'd been staring, Dean cleared his throat and fixed his glasses.

"Uhh, yeah. A bit. Today's my first day", Dean said in a nervous voice.

"You don't have to be nervous here. It's a safe place", the boy winked and a flush crept up Dean's neck. He laughed nervously and the strange looking boy went on, "I'm Cas, by the way. Castiel Novak. I study graphics design here. You?"

Dean fumbled for a reply before stuttering out a response," D-Dean. Winchester. I'm doing automobile engineering."

"Well, Dean Winchester, it's very nice to meet you. I hope we run into each other more often. If you need any help around here, find me", he said. Dean stared at his eyes. They were blue. Clear sapphire blue and the eyeliner only accentuated their shape and colour.

Cas picked up his bag and left, chuckling to himself. Dean stared off after him.

Castiel... Castiel. He couldn't get the name out of his head. The boy with the incredible blue eyes who had talked to him.

For the rest of the day, Dean could think of nothing else. He went home and found his mother preparing dinner while Sam gave her a detailed description of every minute of his day.

"How was your day, honey?", she asked him. "Fine! I'm gonna lie down for a bit", Dean said and trotted off to his room with Cas on his mind.

He lay awake thinking about him and if he'd meet him again. Castiel Novak intrigued him and he wanted to get to know him more. He drifted to sleep to the sound of his laugh playing in his head.