Summers have that inexplicable quality of taking eons to arrive and then dragging on forever like a funeral march once you have finally admitted that you miss the routine monotony of school. The summer before Dean Winchester's senior year seemed to lose its novelty much quicker than the previous vacations and breaks that were peppered throughout his high school career and Dean had spent much of his summer as he had the ones preceding it working in his Uncle Bobby's garage. His little brother, Sam (little being used in its most ironic of ways since the guy now had several inches on his older brother) was exempt from the nepotism based slave labor that Bobby had come to expect of the boys every school break since they were old enough to hold a flashlight steady because he was taking entry level courses at the University of Kansas the summer before his own junior year began.

This particular summer had been maddeningly mundane, much like all of the others before it, but for some reason this summer, this last summer, had left Dean wanting. He had gone to the parties of course, the bonfires and the campouts with his friends, the sneaking into clubs in Kansas City a couple of times, and the subsequent hookups with girls from the college and other high schools in Lawerence. Their faces kinda blurred together, but Dean tried to soothe his guilty conscience for not remembering most of their names by telling himself that it was due to the alcohol and not some moral lacking on his part.

So the summer had passed slowly and Dean had done his level best to not kill his brother who was bursting with stories about his classes and the antics that the older students in his lectures got up to. He spent less time with the guys on his football team when he found that he couldn't really stomach the stories of their conquests, which he knew he wasn't much better but he wasn't the type of guy to kiss and tell, and more time with Jo, Ash, and Garth whom he had always kinda considered his backup friends as horrible as that sounds. However, he amended his previous designation for them rather quickly after a heated night of watching Star Wars with the trio that had degraded into mock light saber battles in Garth's basement rec room using broom handles resulting in several large bruises, a busted lip, and a broken figurine of a dancing unicorn. Those fun nights had been the only bright spots of color in an otherwise washed out summer and Dean had resolved to have more nights with people he could actually stand to be around.

As monotonous as the summer had proven to be, it was finally ending and the day before school started found him wiping the grease off of his hands after what felt like the billionth oil change of the week and looking forward to spending some quality time with Sam, whose classes at the college had ended the week before and who's smugness at his grades had sufficiently faded enough to make him tolerable to be around for more than fifteen minutes.

"Heading out?" Dean heard a gruff voice behind him ask as he went to retrieve his backpack from the tiny, dingy breakroom/office that had been haphazardly slapped on the side of Bobby's shop several years earlier during a particularly toasty spring break when John had failed to come through yet again with his promises of a father/son camping trip for the two boys.

"Yea," Dean replied slinging his bag over his shoulder as he turned to face his almost uncle. "Y'know. School starts tomorrow."

"Yer Dad told me," Bobby replied with a sage nod before the usual grumpiness settled back onto his face. "What kind of school starts in the middle of the week anyway?"

"Highschool," Dead replied seriously moving to leave the shop with a salute to Bobby.

"Hold on, boy," Bobby groused moving to stand between Dean and the doorway and reaching for the well-worn leather wallet that Dean knew he kept in his back pocket. He extracted the wallet that was as familiar a fixture of the older man as the dirty green and white trucker hat he was currently wearing or his seemingly never ending supply of flannel work shirts and proceeded to remove several bills before returning it to his pocket as he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Here's yer wages for this last week."

Dean took the outthrust bills and went to shove them in the pocket of his faded, grease stained jeans before noticing exactly how much Bobby had actually given him and scrambling to give it back. "Whoa, Bobby! There is way too much here, I only worked two days and I cut out early yesterday because I had to take gigantor school shopping, there's like three times that amount here."

"I know ya idjit," Bobby growled crossing his arms sternly across his flannel clad chest. He stared down Dean for a moment waiting for the younger man to just accept the money and not force an explanation. But after several moments of tense silence Bobby could no longer stomach the pride and stubbornness in Dean's eyes that made him curse inwardly for giving a rat's ass about any of the Winchesters. Well maybe not so inwardly, "Goddamnit, Dean. I know ya still need things for school and I can't trust yer Dad to get it fer ya. So take the money and go buy some pants that ain't got holes n' grease all over 'em."

Dean's first impulse was to defend John's ability to provide for his sons but this was Bobby and Dean was well aware of the number of times his surrogate uncle had scraped his father off of the floors of some of the less savory bars in Lawerence and of the times that Sam and Dean had turned up on Bobby's front porch for dinner because the grocery money had disappeared or to shower when the water was abruptly cut off at their own apartment. A flush crept up Dean's neck at the memories of Bobby's kindness over the years resurfaced and he knew trying to defend John's actions to the wizened man before him was not only useless, but also insulting. His second impulse was to shove the money in the front pocket of Bobby's work shirt and take off running, which while marginally less insulting was fucking suicide when Bobby caught up to him.

Bobby knew the inner struggle Dean was having as it wasn't the first time he'd voiced his dissatisfaction with how his friend was handling raising his two boys on his own, but he also knew how the struggle would end as he fought to keep the corners of his mouth from twitching into a smirk of triumph. Dean gave him a thunderous stare, his jaw clenching in frustration that his failings were so obvious to Bobby and he shoved the money deep in his pocket. He cleared his throat hoping his conflicting emotions of gratitude and hopelessness were not evident in his voice, "Thanks Bobby. I'll uh…work some extra shifts this next week to pay you back."

Bobby gave a curt nod, knowing Dean well enough to know that it was pointless to try to turn down his offer and clapped the younger man on the shoulder, "Go on , git outta here. Big day tomorrow."

"Yeah," Dean muttered still fighting to swallow the lump in his throat as he made his way quickly towards the door.

"Making burgers Sunday," Bobby declared stilling Dean who was halfway out the door back tensing under his grease and sweat streaked grey t-shirt. "You and Sam can come by, tell me how your first week went."

Dean looked back over his shoulder, hoping Bobby wouldn't see the sheen his eyes had unwillingly taken in the fading evening light. He managed a smirk for the older man that he knew didn't reach his eyes, "I'll bring the pie."

Castiel had always dreaded summers, they dragged on and on with seemingly no end in sight, trapped in a home that felt foreboding and with a family he felt out of sync with. He usually spent a vast majority of the summer cloistered in his room with his iPod or at the local park jogging and practicing rifle drills with the striped down rifle that his father had gotten for him. It was really one of the few indulgences that had been allowed to him since his father thought that the ROTC at Lake Forrest promoted discipline. He supposed you could count the iPod as an indulgence, but that had been a present from Gabriel and he wasn't even sure if his father had known about the abundance of secular music that was programmed on the device, not that it really mattered now. The rifle had earned Castiel some strange looks the first time he had brought it to the park that was a couple of blocks away from his new house, but he had managed to convince the few early morning walkers and joggers that he wasn't the Son of Sam by bribing them shamelessly with coffee and donut holes.

The summer before his senior year had been one laden with upheaval and the realization of the sheer enormity of how drastically his life had changed left him feeling uncomfortably rushed- no amount of running or getting lost in books or music could help him shake the guilt that still plagued him. However, Lawrence hadn't proved as disappointing as Castiel had initially feared even though he hadn't had as much time to explore it as he would've like. It was much bigger than his home town of Pontiac, not that even that had felt like home since he spent the majority of his time at Lake Forrest.

It did have a lot of parks and trails and such for which Castiel was grateful since it meant he had somewhere to go to escape the suffocating newness of his new home. It also had some really interesting museums that Castiel had insisted on dragging his younger sister Anna out to. Initially she had begrudgingly accepted his attentions even though she was still partially blaming him for her having been ripped away from her friends right before starting high school. Their outings had been awkward, stilted and morose and as a result had caused Castiel to stop inviting her after the second silent disastrous trip. Castiel had shrugged off her coldness as her being a teenage girl, which he had never understood anyway and luckily the thaw had set in midway through the summer when Anna had befriended several girls at the local mall.

Gabriel's attentions had almost immediately been diverted after the move since he had opted to start school in the summer instead of waiting to join the rest of the incoming freshman in the fall. Castiel suspected it was to avoid unpacking more than the silence that permeated their new house since Gabriel talked enough to make up for what his siblings lacked as they acclimated to their new surroundings. Before classes had ended, he had brought the newly revived Anna to tears with laughter with stories of his classmates, one of which Gabe vehemently swore was a child genius.

In the last week leading up to his final year, Castiel had finally slowed down enough to recognize the feelings of dread creeping up on him as the start of the school year loomed ominously. This was unusual since as a rule Castiel typically couldn't wait to return to school and get away from home. But home meant something different now, it wasn't the disapproving silences of his father and eldest brother or the ill-concealed contemptuous whispers of his neighbors. It meant the warm laughter of Anna now that she was showing him affection again and Gabe's undying involvement in British period dramas that caused him to smile when Gabe openly bawled for his favorite characters' misfortunes. It was something that had him quickening his pace on his morning runs and desiring solitude a little less. T

he dread though was nothing new, it had become all too familiar a feeling during his final days at Lake Forrest and his final week in Pontiac at the house he had always felt ambivalent about calling home. It was familiar, but different. It wasn't the dread of being harmed or discovered, been there done that and Castiel sure as hell wasn't going to put himself in that situation again. No, it was the dread that he could potentially harm the only two people he could still claim to care about. Thoughts of this nature had been invading Castiel's mind and the shelter he had once found in running and music were long longer his safe haven from troubling feelings and memories.

The morning the bomb dropped, as Castiel had affectionately started likening the commencement of his senior year to the detonation of atomic missiles, had been clear, the slight smell of ozone in the air and the sheen on the ground being the only evidence of the rain that had fallen overnight. Castiel cut his morning run short of its normal five miles in order to get home and surprise Anna and Gabriel with breakfast, seeing as how he wasn't very good at verbally expressing affections he had decided that waffles would obviously be the next best thing. The sentiment was cut short when Castiel stepped into the house after his cool down in the front yard had left him breathless and sweaty only to be slapped in the face by the overwhelming smell of bacon. He rounded the corner from the hallway to see Gabriel bouncing around the kitchen singing some inane top 40s song wearing a "Kiss the Cook" apron.

Castiel watched him for a moment, a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. At home, Not home, Castiel corrected himself. This was home now. He knew now that whatever Pontiac may have been to him, it had never felt like this. In his father's house, Gabriel had always been mischievous but subdued and had kept away from the house as much as possible during holiday breaks in order to avoid conflicts. Castiel knew now that he had been acting more out of a sense of self-preservation than any lack of familial love on Gabriel's part.

Hadn't Castiel done the same by begging his father to send him to Lake Forrest in order to get a reprieve from Raphael and his father's looming presence? Not that it had helped him in the end. Castiel shook off the fog that was pressing in, threatening to blot out the few bright spots that had revealed themselves over the summer. As Castiel watched Gabe began to move plates of breakfast foods, still singing to himself he finally noticed Castiel standing in the doorway.

"Heeey brother," Gabriel crowed he mouth curving upwards into a wide smile. "Big day today. Thought I'd play Mr. Mom since you'll probably be living off of poptarts til' Christmas break."

"It looks great," Castiel said in his normal chain smoker meets cement mixer voice, moving to sit as Anna swanned into the room, already dressed for school. "What the hell are you wearing?"

"A dress," Anna replied primly picking up a piece of toast and nibbling on it daintily.

"That!" Gabriel said in a choked voice as he gestured wildly up and down Anna's seated form. "That is not the kind of dress you wear to high school!"

Anna cast both of her brothers a murderous look before impassively turning back to loading her plate. "I have been wearing a uniform for the last three years and now I can wear what I want to school. And I am going to wear this dress." She arched her eyebrow shrewdly at the two men, daring them to argue with her.

The dress in question wasn't entirely reprehensible, in fact it might be considered modest by the standards of many, but the transformation it brought to Anna Novak was what shocked her two older brothers. The green of the dress brought out the emerald clarity of the young woman's eyes, its length and cut showing off the best features of the petite woman without being scandalous or overtly revealing. Overall it made the girl look every bit the age that the maturity her tone and bearing suggested.

"Fine." Gabriel groused after a tense moment. "But put a fucking sweater on or something." He added as an afterthought.

Castiel watched as his sister smirked at her small victory, but nodded demurely as Gabriel started touting the evils of adolescent boys and hormones, blustering in a way that was an eerily accurate pantomime of their father's imperious mealtime sermons. Castiel delved into his breakfast and contemplated the irony in either he Gabriel attempting to lecture their younger sister on morals. Since escaping their father's household, Gabriel had revealed numerous character defects and vices that his siblings had been utterly unaware of including many different variations on the deadly sins, taking the Lord's name in vain often and in very creative ways, and his proclivity for being a complete pushover where his younger siblings were concerned.

As for Castiel, well it went unsaid that he was the reason for overturning their entire lives, but his own disdain for most people his own age now went unchecked and more often encouraged by Gabriel, who delighted in making the ineptitudes of others obvious to the rest of the world. Not that Gabriel was cruel, far from it; he just loved seeing people get their comeuppance.

Castiel finished his breakfast just as Anna managed to artfully steer the discussion to her excitement at attending public school and since he couldn't claim to share the excitement he decided to go and get ready. It was just one year and after that he could go and do his own thing. After a quick shower, he found himself dully staring at the row of school uniform components taking up a majority of his closet. He didn't even know what people wore to public school. With a shrug he slipped on a white button down shirt, rolling the sleeves up on his forearms since summer was still stubbornly lingering even as August drew to a close. He reached for a pair of his dress slacks before a thought struck him causing a smile to quirk his lips, "Fuck it." he grumbled turning instead to retrieve a pair of dark stone washed jeans from his dresser and sliding them on. He admired the affect in the mirror on the back of his bedroom door grabbing a pair of socks and slipping them on along with his ratty Converse sneakers that were sitting by his bed, still loosely tied from where he had removed them the night before after returning from the movies with Gabriel and Anna. Leaning closer to the mirror he made a half-hearted attempt to flatten his bedraggled looking hair with a sigh, knowing it would only do what it wanted to anyway. He snatched up his messenger bag from its spot near his door and hesitated for just a second before grabbing his blue Lake Forrest tie from where it had resided all summer on his doorknob and headed down the stairs.

"Ready, Cassie?" Gabriel shouted from where he was washing dishes at the kitchen sink still clad in purple pajama pants and an old yellowed Madonna t-shirt that he had in all likelihood slept in.

"Are you?" he asked incredulously as Gabriel shuffled to the door and slid on a pair of Anna's sequined flip flops.

"I'm in college," he said with a shrug grabbing his keys from a bowl by the door. "I can wear whatever I want to class. Plus I still look sexy as hell. Let's go."

Anna trailed behind Gabriel, alternating between pleading with him not to embarrass her and threatening him with creative forms of torture if he did. Castiel slipped his tie loosely around his neck and locked the door to the house musing that if nothing else Gabriel's car would make their introduction to their new classmates a memorable one. The cherry red 1959 Cadillac convertible was backing out of the garage with Anna and Gabriel in the front seat, forcing Castiel to run and vault himself into the back seat in order to not be left walking to school.

"The paint!" Gabriel shrieked slamming on the breaks abruptly causing Castiel to lurch down on to the floorboards of the classic car with a startled yelp. "I was going to fucking stop! You didn't need to go all Bruce Jenner and pole vault into me car!"

"I don't understand that reference," Castiel moaned as he peeled himself off of the floorboards, rubbing his sternum from where he had somehow managed to elbow himself in the chest.

"The grocery store," Anna stated blandly, flipping down the passenger mirror to poke at her face like girls do when they are nervous about their appearance.

"That's right," Castiel said turning his attention to his tie, which he began to expertly knot with quick movements of his slender fingers. Gabriel turned and scowled at his, his mouth nearly disappearing in displeasure. "You left me at the grocery store."

"I forgot you were with me." Gabriel stated through gritted teeth as he angrily threw the car into gear and started towards the high school.

"I ran after you for six blocks," Castiel reminded sternly.

"I didn't see you."

"I yelled," Castiel said pointedly. "You had the top down, but you didn't hear me because you had that awful song playing and were singing at the top of your lungs."

"That's it," Gabriel growled as he swung the car wildly into a parking spot marked 'Visitor' in front of the sprawling single story building. He turned as pointed an accusing finger at his younger brother, his hazel eyes glinting madly. "Total Eclipse of the Heart is a fucking classic and I will not put up with you besmirching Bonnie's good name after you've already assaulted her. Now get out of the car."

Anna rolled her eyes at Gabriel's theatrics," Can we get this over with?"

"Yea yea," Gabriel muttered darkly, climbing out of the car and then watching with glee as Castiel fumbled past the seatbelt and out of the backseat with the grace of a blind one-legged penguin. "I've got some things to sign in the office here before I head to campus. Let me get a look at you before you go."

Anna and Castiel moved to stand together at the front of the car for Gabriel's inspection. Anna taking in the steadily filling parking lot and the looks of curiosity the trio were receiving with barely restrained excitement and Castiel fidgeting awkwardly with his tie and the strap of his messenger bag as he resolutely avoided eye contact with the flow of students surrounding them. Gabriel surveyed them with his arms crossed before sighing in resignation and running a hand through his messy brown hair.

"Got your bags?" The two younger Novaks grumbled in assent and Anna lifted her brown leather satchel in a frustrated way.

"Schedules?" he barked noticing that Castiel momentarily raised his eyes heavenward murmuring, "Lord give me strength." under his breath.

"Seriously, Gabe," Castiel intoned solemnly. "You don't have to mother us."

"I know," Gabriel replied with a huff before moving swiftly forward to embrace his siblings in a rib-crushing hug that more ended up crushing Anna's throat and Castiel's kidneys due to the differences in the three relatives' height. "My babies are just growing up!" he finished dramatically before pulling away and wiping condensation from his eyes. He smile tearfully before turning and heading towards the main office, the sequins on his pilfered flip flops casting dancing reflections on the teacher's vehicles as he passed.

"Ready?" Anna asked rubbing her hand over her throat, her voice sounding nervous and small.

Castiel offered his arm to his younger sister with a smile that reached his eyes for once. "As I will ever be. Do try to remember what Gabriel said though."

"Teenage boys are disgusting, moronic, buttholes." She replied seriously as the duo started towards the school with more confidence than either of them felt.

"No," Castiel stated, chuckling slightly at the way his sister subconsciously edited Gabriel's more colorful statements. "What he said last night. At the pizza restaurant."

Anna's step faltered for a moment at the door of the building before her shoulders set with a new serenity. She tilted her chin up proudly, her eyes dancing with amusement. "The Novaks will be the hottest motherfuckers at this school." Her voice dropped to a whisper as she cursed and she looked around self-consciously for a moment.

"Yes we will," Castiel replied, his own blue eyes sparking as he opened the door and motioned for his sibling to enter. He paused for a moment to retrieve his iPod out of his backpack and slipped an earbud into his ear, sighing in contentment as he queued up the song he had been listening to on his jog.

God what a mess, on the ladder of success

Where you take one step and miss the whole first rung

Anna smiled brightly as her brother relaxed beside her. She gave Castiel a wink and set off to find her homeroom tossing encouragement over her shoulder as she went, "Poor guys will never know what hit them!"

Author Note: If you've already read this then ignore me! I literally just went back and combined the first two chapters because they were SO SHORT and I wanted everything to line up between here and AO3. Kiss and love and if you're new to this story, then I'm sorry (but not really) and hello!