My Greatest Mistake

2. Math

For the rest of the day, Castiel could only think of Dean. The boy haunted his thoughts, teasing at the corners of his mind, driving him insane.

The boy with the freckles.

The boy who everyone wanted.

The boy who - sat in front of him?!

Castiel's eyes widened as the quarterback lowered himself into the seat directly ahead of his. Never before had Cas noticed the people in the seats around him, yet now, he remembered all the times the teacher had called out Winchester in roll call, and all the times Dean had answered. 

The bell rang, and Cas tried to put all thoughts of Dean out of his mind as their teacher moved to the front of the room. This would prove to be a short-lived effort.

"You were staring at me." Dean turned in his seat as their teacher began to take attendance.

"W-what?" Cas stuttered, tripping over his words in dread. He knows. He knows he know he knows he knows.

"At the pep rally. You were watching me practically the entire time."

"I- I wasn't-"

"Novak!" Cas was saved from having to formulate an answer as the teacher called his name.

"Here! And the only reason I was staring at you was because I didn't know anyone else." Castiel redirected his attention to the boy in front of him.

"Oh really? Then why were you talking to Anna?" Dean raised an eyebrow skeptically, letting Cas know he didn't really believe him.

"Winchester! Am I interrupting you?" Once again, saved by the teacher.

"No, sir, Mr Singer! We can hear each other just fine. Continue on with your lesson." Dean smiled cheekily.

"Watch it, Winchester, or I just might fail ya," Mr Singer grumbled as he turned back to the lesson.

Despite his tough words, Singer was the best teacher in the school, and was everyone's favourite. Being locked in a wheelchair for the last five years did nothing to his kind heart, although some would argue his demeanour had become worse since the accident. The gruff old man was always there for his students, and would help them with anything they needed, regardless of the time or effort it would require from him. Dean especially was his favourite. It was like they were like father and son to each other, filling the space left by the absence of each in their respective lives.

Castiel was slightly jealous of the relationship between the two, having only brothers at home: his father decided ten years ago to take a vacation, and had not since returned.

"Oh,  you wouldn't do that. Then you'd have to have me in your classes for another year, and you and I both know how well that would go," Dean smirked good-naturedly at their teacher.

"Fair enough, but I can make sure you're benched for the rest of the season," Mr Singer replied, dead serious. He may have thought of Dean as a son, but he still was a teacher, and by God that boy needed to learn how to listen.

Dean sat straight up in his chair, all mischievousness gone, but still unable to resist the last word as he said, "You were teaching, sir?"

Castiel felt a wave of relief wash over him, calming his pounding heart and soothing his shaking hands. He was safe. For now.

▪ ▪ ▪

Bzzt.

A shiver went through Castiel as his phone vibrated in his pocket. Carefully, he pulled it out to see who would be texting him. Not that he didn't have friends, he just didn't have friends with his phone number. Except-

Anna.

Sure enough, when he read the message: 

Hey, look up.

Confused, Cas glanced around the room until he found her seat. Anna was staring at him intently, and when he met her eyes she ducked her head, sending him another text. 

Quick, what's the answer to number 9???

Castiel once again looked at Anna, this time to find her mouthing 'help me!'

His blue eyes darted around the room, and, when they found Mr Singer conversing with another student, sent a message back.

Isn't that cheating?

Anna rolled her eyes at him.

Yeah, so tell me before Singer notices!

"Novak! Give me that phone!"

Too late.

With a heavy heart, Castiel got up and went to the front of the room, handing the teacher his phone once he got there.

Skimming through the small conversation, Mr Singer grunted his disapproval. "Cheating? I'd expect that from your brother, Castiel, but not you." His heart fell. The man only used first names when he was disappointed. Somehow, Cas felt he would rather have him angry then disappointed. When someone is angry, they yell, and it's over; no more fuss about it. But when someone was disappointed, it meant you had broken their trust. Trust is difficult to earn back.

"Who were you texting, boy?"

Cas didn't want to get Anna in trouble. It wasn't her fault, he could have said no instead of continually texting her. "I-"

"It was me, sir. I didn't understand the question and I had to keep up my tough-guy rep by asking the nerd. Sorry," the unmistakable voice of Dean Winchester cut across Cas's stuttering.

Singer sighed, "Now that I expected. Detention for you both tomorrow, and I don't want this to happen again, or I will pull you off the team, Winchester. Back to your seat, Novak."

Castiel headed back to his seat, passing Anna along the way.

Sorry. She mouthed.

It's okay, he mouthed back.

As Cas reached his seat, only one thought could run through his head. What am I going to tell my brothers?

||A/N: Hello!

A note about the characters: I actually went through a list of the Supernatural characters and compiled the ones I wanted to use into groups like families, friends, etc., which is far more planning than I usually do. This AU will include most of the main angels in some form or another as Cas's siblings or as friends (i.e., Anna). Of course Sam's going to be in future chapters, and I'll be bringing in a lot of canon friends/enemies of Sam, Dean, and Cas as AU friends/enemies, but we'll leave those as a surprise.

Also I've only seen up to season eleven, so anything to do with season 12.... Man I got no clue honestly.

Thanks for reading!