Tessa surprised Castiel with a hug in Still Life. Cas let her, mostly because he was too surprised to move. "It's good to see you, Castiel." Her smile was warm and he still didn't understand the extent of their…relationship? Tessa didn't talk to anyone much, but she only came to school for electives, homeschooled otherwise, so that was probably a part of why she wasn't so involved in all the complicated hierarchy. They barely ever spoke, but then there were times like these. Of course, she'd never engaged in physical contact before.

"Have you seen the new student?" she asked, taking a seat by him, which was also a first.

"Who?"

"Benny Lafitte. He showed up Thursday. He hit it off with Andrea right away, but she runs with Gordon now—did you hear about all the splitting? So many groups fractured. Lenore and Gordon finally had enough of each other." (Just because Tessa didn't get involved didn't mean she was oblivious.)

"I didn't know there was a new student," Cas said.

"I think you should talk to him. He's an okay guy, Castiel, and he's new so it'll be terribly easy for him to get dragged into the wrong parts of this mess."

"There's not really a right side," he said.

"Maybe not, but you and Anna and the rest of your friends are better than most people here. I just think you'd be able to help him find his feet."

As it turns out, there was no need for Cas to talk to Benny.

"Have you spoken to Benny Lafitte?" he asked Gabriel in History.

"New guy? I haven't, but I saw Dean-o walking with him on my way here. They must've had Algebra together. If he invites him to lunch tomorrow, we'll have a full table."

"What do you think of him?"

Gabriel shrugged. "Why the sudden interest?" He didn't wait for an answer. "He's okay. I heard he used to run with a bad crowd, but then his parents died and he tried to get himself out of it. Course, if he falls in with Gordon that'll all go to shit."

"So he moved to get away?"

"As far as I can tell."

Mr. Stark tapped his pencil on the desk then, beginning the class.

At the end of the day, Cas didn't see Dean at his locker. Strange, since usually he was there. Cas thought maybe Auto Shop was running late when he got a text from Dean.

Meet u at the car

Cas shrugged his book bag over his shoulder and made his way through the halls. It didn't take long for Ruby Dague to fall in step beside him.

"Ruby," he said brusquely.

"Castiel, so curt. Where's your extra limb?"

"Around."

"Strange that you're back and he's not constantly at your side."

"He can have other friends," Castiel said.

"He can, but he doesn't really, does he? I mean, aside from your quaint little lunch table. I noticed Samandriel and Inias were there today."

"What do you want?"

She flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder. "I want verbal confirmation. You and Winchester?"

"You'll have to be more specific."

"You're fucking, right?"

"Astounding vocabulary."

"Are you going to dance around a direct answer?"

"I'm not dancing," Castiel said. "Yes."

She raised an eyebrow briefly. "Someone's feeling brave today."

They were in the front lobby now, and Castiel stopped and turned to face her. "You should get used to it, Dague. And if you touch either Samandriel or Inias, or any of my friends, you'll be answering to me. And I assure you, the tables will be turned entirely from the last time."

She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "We'll have to see, won't we?"

Castiel smiled, cold and polite. "I guess we will. Have a good day, Ruby."

He left her standing by herself and walked out to the parking lot, for once not regretting standing up to someone.

When Cas saw Dean standing with someone Cas hadn't seen before—presumably Benny—by the Impala, he frowned. More because of concern about Dean being dragged into the circle Benny was already being towed into than jealousy or anything like that. Benny said something funny and Dean laughed and Castiel's frowned deepened. This time, it was probably more related to a branch of jealousy than concern. But that was silly and Cas knew it, so he wiped his expression clean. Dean saw him and waved with a grin, glancing over to Benny and saying something. Benny nodded.

"Hey, Cas!" Dean's hand found its way to Dean's arm reflexively. "Cas, this is Benny, Benny this is Cas."

Benny gave Cas a smile he wasn't sure he could trust or not yet.

"Good to meet you, Cas." He had a heavy southern accent Cas hadn't been expecting.

"It's Castiel," Cas corrected.

"My apologies. Castiel."

He gave the new boy a tiny smile.

"So, we're gonna give Benny a ride home," Dean said. "He's been walking to save gas, but I told him that's ridiculous when it's this cold out. Are you cool with us hanging out for a while? I was gonna help him unpack, maybe show him around a little. Gordon hasn't yet."

Cas nodded, wondering if this taking Benny home was going to turn into a regular thing and if Dean was remember they'd been planning on going to his place today. Sam was going to Jess', so they wouldn't have to pick him up today. "Sure." It might give him a chance to get a better idea of what kind of person Benny was.

"Great," Dean said. "Cas has been here longer, he knows more about this place than me."

Cas sat shotgun, partially out of habit, but also for other reasons he wasn't going to mention, and Benny sat in back.

"Benny moved here from Louisiana," Dean said. "He's looking for a job. Do you know of any good places?"

"Um…I saw a now hiring sign at the movie theatre Friday," Cas said. "I heard someone say Beth's diner is looking for a kitchen worker."

"I'll look into it," Benny said. "Turn left here."

A few minutes later, they pulled into a driveway of one of the shabbier—but only in comparison to the surrounding areas—neighborhoods. The house was small, but a decent size for one person. Dean had just asked him why he'd started school when there were only two weeks left in the semester.

"I wanted to be settled in by the time second semester started," he explained. "And I like to stay occupied."

Inside, the house had scattered furniture throughout it.

"Is this stuff yours?" Dean asked.

"It is now," Benny said. "The family that lived here left in a hurry, didn't take everything."

"Do you know why?"

Benny shrugged. "Beats me. The neighborhood might not be as fancy as some, but it's not a bad place."

"Likely it's a family that had a child in the middle school," Cas said.

"Why do you say that?" Dean asked.

"It's happened before," Cas explained. "Families move away when they see how the high school is. Most of the parents are ignorant to how…extreme it really is. Some kids have very open relationships with their parents though, and when they tell them certain things, the adults notice other things and they put pieces together. They leave in a hurry."

"That's pretty fucked up," Benny said after several beats of silence.

"You don't sound surprised," Dean noted.

"I've been to the school three days now, and it's…something else."

"Well, stick with us," Dean said. "We're the best group here."

"What about Andrea?" he asked.

"Andrea?"

"Andrea Wellington," Cas said. "She's part of Gordon's group—used to be Gordon and Lenore, but when Crowley and Lucifer split, others saw it as their opportunity to fracture as well. If she's with Gordon, it's not likely she'll be leaving anytime soon."

"I don't know about his friends," Dean said, "but Gordon's a dick. I've run into him a couple times and didn't like him. No offense, Benny."

"None taken. He's not the easiest person to be around," Benny conceded. "But he was the first person to talk to me."

Cas didn't mention that he was probably just wanting to regain lost numbers.

"Enough school talk," Dean said. "Where are the boxes?"

"In the back of my truck in the garage," he said.

They followed him through the house and out through a side door that led to the garage.

"There's not a lot," Benny said. "But a couple things require some navigating or heavy lifting."

"Cas, why don't you start carrying in boxes and I'll help Benny with some of the heavier stuff."

Cas glowered and Dean. Yes, it was touching how concerned he was (and how completely unsubtle), but Cas was not some useless damsel or delicate flower that was incapable of doing anything Dean thought was too strenuous. But Dean was already speaking with Benny, so Cas reluctantly picked up a box labeled 'kitchen' and carried it inside. When he came back out for another, he asked Benny, "Do you want me to unpack anything?"

"I don't want to ask that of you."

"It's no problem." So he was polite, and not in a cold business style. That was a good thing.

"If you want to, that would be fantastic."

Cas grabbed another box while he was out there and back in the kitchen began putting silverware into drawers, plates and cups into cupboards. There were some hooks on the wall that looked like they could hold pots and pans, but Cas didn't know if Benny wanted to use them or not, so he left the remaining items in boxes by the counter.

He waited for Dean and Benny to navigate through the door with a couple boards from a disassembled bed.

"Stop—we've got to angle this more," Dean said before the edge of a board nicked the wall.

When the way was clear, Cas picked up another box, but this one only had a date written in sharpie on it: 7/18/98. He furrowed his brow and opened it to see what was inside, one because he wanted to know where to put it and two because yes, he wanted to snoop. What he found was paper—lots of it. Old newspaper clipping, photographs, binder with notes Cas didn't understand, and…case files. Benny and Dean were probably assembling the bed, so Cas chanced a peek. He didn't think it was legal for Benny to have some of this stuff.

Cas gathered the files were about a missing child. There was a photo paper clipped to the page of a baby, in someone's arms in a hospital.

He heard Dean and Benny through the open door and quickly put everything back in the box as he'd found it and met them at the door with it in his arms.

"This one doesn't have a la—"

"I'll take that one," Benny said quickly. "Sorry. Personal stuff."

Cas smiled forgivingly. "It's fine. Is there anything I should leave alone?" Go through when you're not looking.

"No, everything else is okay." He disappeared back inside with the box.

Cas felt Dean staring. "What?"

"You," he said. "Smiling and talking with other people."

"Yes…"

Dean pulled him in for a quick kiss.

"Are we still going over to your house today?"

"Oh shit. I completely forgot. Yes, yes we are. And you really were okay with coming over here, right?"

"It caught me off guard," Cas admitted. "But it's fine. Gordon won't be happy with any of us if he finds out, though."

"Screw Gordon," Dean said, giving Cas another chaste kiss. "After we finish helping Benny unpack, we'll head to my place," Dean promised. "I'll show him around another time."

"Dean."

"Hm?"

"You'll have to let go of my belt loops if I'm gonna finish."

Dean kissed him again. "You're right."

His phone rang then, and he released Cas to answer it.

"Hey, Jo, how are you?...Good…Right, I won't…I don't know what he's doing…"

Cas chose another box labeled 'books' and carried it in, bumping into Benny.

"Where should these go?"

"Just leave them in the living room. I've got a bookshelf to bring in."

Dean passed Cas on his way out again with another box.

"How's Jo?" he asked.

"She's holding up. When I was there, it was suggested that me, my dad, and Sam come visit over Christmas break, but that suggestion has suddenly turned into a demand."

"It'll be good for you and Sam and your father to spend some time together."

Less than two hours later, they'd brought everything inside and put away what they could.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow, then?" Dean checked.

"Since you insisted."

Dean gave a parting wave and he and Cas left.

"So, what do you think of him?" Dean asked once they were both inside the impala and had the heat turned on.

"He seems…acceptable. So far."

"So far?"

"Dean, Gordon took him in and he likes Andrea. In all likelihood, we'll come to be enemies—or at least incapable of friendship."

"That's a little judgmental."

Cas sighed. "Like I said. He seems like an okay person right now. Maybe he'll get away from Gordon and he'll stay okay." He was doubtful though, if Benny had an interest in Andrea.

"Well I like him," Dean said decisively.

"Enough to go out of your way to give him rides to school."

"I can't just let him walk all the way there in the cold. Once it warms up, he'll be fine."

"By the time it warms up, it'll be habitual."

"What's going on with you?" He spared Cas a searching glance. "Oh my god—are you jealous?"

Cas crossed his arms childishly. "No."

"You are! Jesus, Cas, Benny's straight. He's into Andrea." Cas didn't mention that Dean thought he'd been too. "And even if he wasn't, I am not interested."

"I know," Cas responded quietly. "But…" he sighed, something he seemed to do a lot around Dean when trying to explain things relating to Calypse's social structure. "I just know how frustrating it is to be friends with someone who's on the other side of the barricades—"

"I thought you were done with the school's bullshit."

"I can't just stop acknowledging its existence. It is what it is, and just because one person ignores it doesn't mean everyone will. You were there at lunch. Naomi is furious with Samandriel and Inias, and us for 'corrupting' them."

"She looked a little perturbed, but furious is a bit much."

"Naomi doesn't often show emotion. That was fuming for her."

Dean adjusted his grip on the steering wheel. "Look. If you really don't want to be around Benny, I can take you to school and come back for him."

"No, it's fine. I just—I don't want you to be disappointed if you and him…if things turn sour."

"I just met him today, anything turning 'sour' wouldn't be too drastic. Are you hungry?"

Castiel shrugged.

"Right, you're never hungry. You pick tonight. What are we having for supper?"

"I don't care."

"For the love of everything edible, Cas, come on. Pick something."

"Chinese. Or tai."

"Do you want carry-out?"

"I don't care."

"Cas—"

"I honestly have no preference, Dean."

"Okay. We'll multitask—homework and food."

"Is your dad home or has he found another case?"

"Sam said he was still at home. He won't care if you come over though. He knows there's some stuff going on."

Yes, he did. And Cas didn't want to have to explain exactly what had been happening to Dean's father. "Will he want to know specifics?"

"Hell yeah, he'll want to. But…Sam made it clear it was serious. He won't demand to know."

"Will he be angry?"

"I think he moved passed the anger stage days ago, otherwise we'd have known about it."

Cas knew he'd asked Dean this before, but he couldn't help worrying. The last thing he wanted was to get on Mr. Winchester's bad side after he'd stopped disliking him. (If he ever really had. Dean had said he'd never been mad at Castiel specifically, but just angry in general about not knowing, Dean lying, ubiquitous other frustrations that all piled up at an inconvenient time.)

"Ruby Dague talked to me today," he said, though he didn't know why.

"What'd she say?" Dean asked, immediately on the defensive.

"She asked about me and you, and I told her we were together. She brought up Inias and Samandriel and I warned her off. I don't think her, Meg, or Ruby Radcliff were behind the guys that attacked Samandriel." He recalled the icy look in Naomi's eyes at lunch. Mingling…disapproval…conversation about lines… She had always had her own distinct ideas. "Naomi," he muttered to himself.

"What?"

"I think…I think Naomi might've been behind it."

"But we ruled out Zachariah, and she runs with him, right?"

"Yes, but plenty of people broke off, and she's never seen eye to eye with him. She has her opinions and she's stubborn. And when she mentioned the conversation about lines? There was an undertone of something in the way she said it—I think she personally talked to them about it—not on Zachariah's order."

"Like she was trying to gather her own group, separate from his?"

"I believe so," Cas said, and the more he thought about it, the more he did.

"You know, if we're going to have all these sides, we should really come up with names."

"That's ridiculous."

"No, seriously. 'Zachariah's group', 'Crowley's bunch', 'Lucifer and all his fucking minions'. Football teams are named for their coach."

"This isn't football, Dean."

"No, but names would help, I'm just saying. So if it is Naomi, what are we gonna do about it?"

"We can't let it go," Cas said. "Smaller cliques means more people that can disagree, which means more problems. We have to lay down the law. We're not to be reckoned with. We won't allow ourselves to be pushed around."

"Are you saying we go after her?"

"We can't yet; we don't know who she has ties to. I didn't recognize either of the guys that jumped Samandriel, so it's possible she brought them in from outside the school."

"What, like she hired them?"

Cas shrugged.

"I know I've said this a million times, but this is so fucked up."

"We have to find out who else is with her, then we expose them."

"Won't that just lead to more fighting?"

"Perhaps, but they'll have just as many enemies as everyone else, then. They won't be able to focus on one singular group. You order some food, I'll call Anna, Balthazar, and Gabriel and see if they know or suspect anything."

"You should ask Samandriel and Inias, too."

Cas nodded.

"So much for homework," Dean said under his breath."

Cas snatched his phone away from him. "Hey!"

"You're not going to drive us into a telephone poll because you were looking up restaurants. You stick to driving, I'll deal with the phones."

"I am going to bomb this biology final," Dean announced, throwing his pencil down.

"If you keep that attitude," Cas said. "Finish the diagram."

Dean lolled into Cas' lap, preventing him from finishing any more PreCalc.

"Dean, move."

"I'll move if you kiss me."

"Stop being a child."

Dean shrugged and wiggled around, getting comfortable as he could with an open book for a pillow.

Cas' frown deepened. "Dean, get up."

"Kiss me."

Cas glared at him. Yes, okay, his dad was just in the other room, but Dean had had girls over before and behaved similarly with them.

Cas surprised him with a shove and Dean tumbled off the couch and onto the floor, a muffled "Fuck!" escaping his lips.

The corners of Cas' mouth turned up smugly and he readjusted his papers.

"I could've cracked my skull open!"

Cas gave him a dubious look. "Right. Rolling off a couch. Onto carpet."

Dean was in the middle of shooting daggers at him when his dad walked in. "It's getting late."

"Seriously, Dad?"

"Seriously, son."

"But we still have homework."

"You put the poor boy through a three hour X Files marathon before you even started. You should've thought about it."

So maybe it wasn't the smartest thing, but Cas had enjoyed it, so it was a win.

Dean sighed. "Fine. Oh, and Jo called. Ellen insists that we visit sometime over Christmas break."

"I'll give her a call tomorrow. For now, you need to take Castiel home."

"Yes, sir."

His dad disappeared upstairs and Dean turned his head up toward Cas who was now putting his homework away. "Now will you kiss me?"

"No," Cas said firmly, getting to his feet. "You are a ridiculously hormonal teenager, Dean Winchester."

"Oh, and you're not?"

Cas did that stupid little smirk again that drove Dean up the wall.

"I hate you," he said.

"Sure you do."

On the drive to Cas' house, they discussed more about Naomi—not that there was much to do besides speculate; they still had no idea who was working with her.

Dean pulled into the driveway. "I'll pick you up tomor—"

Cas dove in for a kiss Dean hadn't seen coming, but he complied more than happily, hands wandering everywhere they shouldn't be when his dad was probably staring at the clock back at the house, counting the minutes until he returned. "You're such a fucking tease," he said breathlessly.

"Is that a bad thing?" Cas asked, nipping at Dean's lip.

"I guess not," Dean said before pressing their lips together again.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Cas said, cutting things short. He grabbed his book bag off the floor. "Are you picking up me or Benny first?"

"You, of course. But could you sit with Sam in the back? He and Benny don't know each other, and—"

Cas rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dean."

"Once they get to know each other, shotgun's yours again."

"It's not a big deal. Before me, Sam sat there."

"Yeah, but Sam likes you. He doesn't care. I want to make sure him and Benny'll get along."

Tuesday brought Economics, and Economics meant Mr. Roman, and that meant Castiel was up most of the night. Not necessarily fretting, just…thinking. So he had dirt on Cas. He'd essentially been blackmailing a minor to exchange sexual favors. Cas could put him away for a white with that, he was fairly certain. The problem was, Mr. Roman wouldn't go down without a fight and Cas would get dragged down with him for prostitution, and possible involvement in drug dealing—being involved in an illegal operation to put it broadly and simply. He was still a minor though, turning seventeen in a month and a half, so it wasn't as if he didn't have time to think things through. But he knew one thing—he didn't want to go to juvie, or have any of his past mistakes on his permanent record. So, two things. He could only see one option that was remotely possible (murder was out of the question): He had to find dirt on Dick Roman that would ruin him so thoroughly that he'd leave Cas alone when he ended things. Trouble was, Mr. Roman was hard to scare. He had it in his mind that Castiel was a timid mouse, and the kind of dirt Cas would need to find was the kind that not everyone had. And Cas didn't think he'd be able to do it himself. Sure, if it was within the structure of the student body, Cas would've known where to look, but he knew nothing about Mr. Roman other than the size of his dick and that he was an exemplary example of his first name.

Dean's father was a private investigator. Dean would know how to go about this. But did Cas really want to drag Dean into this? No. He knew Dean would want to help, wouldn't want Cas going in alone, but…he'd put Dean in so much danger already. Simply befriending him for starters. And Jessica had suffered because of their relationship (Castiel was certain, that couldn't have just been a freak accident), and Samandriel had taken a beating because he'd acted too friendly towards Castiel, and if they did find something Cas didn't want Dean being targeted because of his involvement in what they'd uncovered. But…Cas needed this. And he'd never really asked Dean for anything before, he'd always been more than willing, just volunteering, even when Cas didn't want his help.

He was pulled from his thought when he heard his dad retching in the bathroom. He wasn't unused to his dad vomiting after too much alcohol, but this sounded different. (Don't ask him how there could be different sounds for different types of puking.)

He got up and knocked softly on the bathroom door. "Dad? Are you okay?"

"Go back to bed, Castiel," he said not unkindly, sound muffled by the closed door.

He dared to peek in and saw his dad on his knees, head hanging over the toilet. "Are you sick?"

"I think I caught the flu." He paused a moment, looking like he thought he might puke again, but it passed. "Did I wake you?"

Cas shook his head. "I was already awake."

"You should try and get some rest. It's late."

Part of Castiel was nagging him, Tell him, tell him, tell him. He's sober, tell him. Sober, yes, but sick. Cas shouldn't tell him about Dean now.

"Where were you earlier?" his father asked, flushing and putting some toothpaste on his toothbrush.

"With Dean."

"He's the boy that was over here a while ago, right?"

Cas nodded.

"Try to get some sleep," his dad said.

Cas retreated to his room and shut to door.

It wasn't fair that his father would get sick now. If it was the flu that was going around, it would last at least a week, maybe two. Every second Castiel was home, he would be passing up chances to tell his dad. It would be easier if he found out from someone else and was drunk. Cas had no idea how he'd react if he wasn't. All he knew was once he got better (and had an abundance of alcohol back in his system) things would only go south.

Cas wanted to talk to Dean tomorrow—today, now—but they'd be with Benny after school, 'showing him around'. Cas decided to text Dean. If he was awake enough to hear his message alert, maybe Cas would call him.

Are you awake?

He didn't have to wait long for a response.

Cant call. Dads in the other room wrking. What is it?

My dad's sick. The flu. But he's thinking clearly. I don't know if I should tell him or let him find out from someone else.

Maybe 2am isnt the best time

Good point, Dean. I hadn't thought of that.

Someones being a smartass

Dean, please be serious.

Cas i dont know ur dad well enough. All i know is he drinks & hes abusive

I told you he's not like that all the time.

Often enough for me to not like him

Cas decided to change tactics.

If I wanted to find something out about someone, where would I start?

Hypothetically?

Yes.

Right. Ill play but thats too vague. Who n what?

Someone with a flawless reputation, but who you know is a dirt bag.

Thats the who, what about the what

Not sure. Something bad.

You need 2 know more about them before u go deeper. Job, family, social circle, etc. What r u thinking?

Tell him or don't? Cas must've debated too long, because Dean sent him another text.

Cas tell me what ur thinking

I can't end things with D.R. until I can be certain it can be a clean break.

JC cas, blackmail is hardly 'clean'

He blackmailed me first. If I stand him up now, he'll tell my dad and everything will go even deeper into the gutter.

So u want somethng bad enough to keep him silent

Exactly.

I dont want you digging thru his past alone

I don't want you involved. Just helping me get started is more than enough.

Cas i s2g if u do somethng to get urself in trouble i will kill u myself

I'll be fine. There might not even be anything to find.

Bullshit. W/ a dbag like him therell be plenty if u dig deep enough. Well excavate every buried secret his has

Dean, I told you I'll do this myself.

Not happning

You are infuriating.

Im also pretty hot

And have terrible texting skills.

Srsly?! Ur a grammar nazi! Txting is supposed to be shorthand

You are denied all future pleasurable privileges.

Im not gonna let u go after dick urself

That was an unnecessary double entendre.

Ur an unecessary double enwhatevr

I hate you.

Hate u more

Infuriating.

Adorable

I know I am.

Asshole

Cas smiled to himself and sent a final message.

Goodnight, Dean.

Night

The next morning, fifteen minutes before Cas usually left with Dean, there was a knocking on the door. His dad was lying in bed, still sick, so Castiel answered it. He was surprised to see Dean standing there.

"Dean. I'm almost ready, I didn't know you'd be here this early—"

"I'm here to tell your dad with you."

Cas was stunned into a moment of silence, followed by a lame, "What?"

"I thought about it," Dean said. "If you want to tell him when he's sober, best to do it now. And if we tell him in the morning before school, he'll have all day to think about how to react."

"So you want to drop a bomb and come back after the dust has settled."

"You could say that."

"Let me finish getting ready. Five minutes."

Cas grabbed the clothes he'd pulled out moments before and changed quickly in his room, then heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Once he was finished, he gestured for Dean to come stand outside his father's bedroom door. He went in by himself first.

"Dad?"

His father's eyes opened, but he hadn't been sleeping. "Hm?"

"There's something you need to know. It'll be quick, and if you want to discuss it, we can after school." His brain chose that moment to remember Benny and how they were supposed to show him around. So it might be a little later than right after school.

"What are you talking about?"

Cas looked over his shoulder and gestured for Dean to come in. "Dean and I"—he laced his fingers through Dean's—"are together. I just thought you should know. I'll be back later."

It was over fast, and though Dean hadn't said anything, his presence had definitely been a comfort. They were out of the house before Cas' dad could say anything and Dean kissed Cas once outside, hands on either side of his face. "Done."

"What if he hates me even more? What if he hates you?"

Dean laughed carelessly and grabbed his hand. "I don't give a shit." But his fingers squeezing Cas' said that if his father responded with anger he definitely would give a shit. "Now come on, we still have to pick up Benny."

"Hey, Cas," Sam said when he slid into the seat next to him.

"Good morning, Sam."

"I tried to tell Dean I didn't care if Benny sat by me, but he never listens."

"I know how that goes. Your company is probably preferable to his anyway.

Sam grinned at Dean's scowl. "I can make both of you walk," he threatened as he started the car.

Sam shrugged. "I'll call Dad. He'd be thrilled to hear you left us."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Cas smiled at the brothers' banter.

At Benny's house, Dean texts him to let him know they're there. A minute later, Benny came out, wearing a captain-style hat on his head.

"Hey, Benny," Dean said amiably.

"Cold outside."

"Welcome to Nebraska. I told you you didn't want to walk to school every day."

"I think I could've managed."

"Benny, this is Sam. Sam, Benny."

Sam offered up a smile. "If you haven't found out already, my brother's a dick."

"I don't know, he seems alright so far."

"Just wait," Sam said. "Cas can tell you."

Benny raised an eyebrow. "Castiel doesn't seem like the kind of person who dates dicks."

Cas tried to ignore the cruel irony in that, because Benny didn't know, he couldn't possibly know, but he saw the edges of Dean's light-hearted expression twitch.

"I made an exception," Cas said. "He's got a decent facial structure. Mostly I use him for a life drawing model."

"You're an artist?" Benny asked, twisting farther around in his seat.

"I enjoy it, but I—"

"Yes, he is," Dean cut in. "Don't let him tell you otherwise."

"Do you ever take jobs?"

"I…haven't before." The question threw Cas a bit.

"My mom always wanted to get a family portrait done—a painting, I mean, not just a photograph. Any chance I could talk you into doing it?"

"I…I could attempt it." Cas wasn't quite sure what he was saying. Paint a family portrait? A family with two of the three people dead? Sure, why not.

"I can give you photographs, of course," Benny said. "I don't expect you to paint a bunch of people you've never seen."

"When do you want it by?"

"There's no rush," he said. "I can give the photographs to you after school today, and then you can start whenever you w—."

"Shi—" Dean slammed on the breaks milliseconds before a shiny red Camaro Castiel knew all too well flew past a stop sign, arm extended lazily out the driver side window, middle finger up.

"Fucking dick!" Dean shouted, slamming the steering wheel with his hands. "Sam, you okay?"

"Fine. Who was that?"

"The biggest fucking asshole you will never meet. Fuck!"

"Lucifer," Cas mouthed to Sam.

"Isn't that kind of ironic? Satan driving a red car?"

"A red car that I'm going to take a fucking tank to!" Dean yelled.

"We're all fine," Cas said. "Let's just finish getting to school."

They got moving again and the rest of the ride was silent, Dean's anger taking up all the air in the car. Cas tried to think of how he could keep Dean from murdering Lucifer.

"Benny," he said when they got to school and Dean was slamming his book bag around needlessly. "If you want, we have an open spot at our table at lunch. I didn't know if Dean had already asked you."

Benny gave him a one-sided smile. "Thanks, Castiel," he said before heading towards the school. But he didn't say if he would or wouldn't sit with them.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him," Dean muttered.

"Dean, calm down. We're fine, your car's fine—"

"He's a fucking douchebag!" Dean shouted too loudly, turning several heads, including those of a couple that had been making out against a car. "This is just the last straw. He's had it coming. Messing with you, with us, with every fucking moron in this God-forsaken school—I'll bet he was the one that hit Jess."

"Dean!" Cas hissed. "You need to calm down right now."

Dean jerked his arm from Cas' grip, but paced back to the driver side of the Impala to Cas' relief. He pressed his palms against the edge of the car's roof for a few seconds before gathering himself up. "Let's go," he grumbled.

Cas walked beside him, careful not to let their arms brush because he wasn't sure what would set Dean off again.

Luck still hated Castiel.

They made it as far as halfway to their lockers before they ran into Lucifer. Literally, when he passed by, he bumped into Dean's shoulder. Cas wanted to strangle him for continually provoking Dean, but he didn't get a chance before Dean grabbed Lucifer by the shoulder, spun him around, and punch him squarely in the face. Lucifer held two fingers to his nose and checked to see if it was bleeding. It wasn't. Yet.

"Well, well, well, Winchester woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

"And you, apparently, can't drive. Does that run in the family, or is it just a coincidence?"

Cas' whole body tensed because wrong, wrong, wrong, that was definitely the wrong thing to say. Lucifer's eyes narrowed to lethal slits.

"What did you just say?"

"Just wait," Dean continued on idiotically. "In a few years, you'll be the drunk college kid killing a couple highschoolers in an accident."

Lucifer swung a rage-filled fist, but in his anger miscalculated and Dean managed to duck out of the way.

"A little slow today, Luci?"

Dean evaded the next punch, but Lucifer was not an amateur and Dean was not accustomed to his fighting style. On the third swing, fist connected with jaw, and Dean stumbled back several steps, almost bumping into Castiel. He had to roll to avoid the next throw, and then Lucifer took advantage and gave him a solid kick to the stomach. Dean curled in on himself and groaned and Cas flashed back to the beginning of the year when Uriel had found him alone on the way home. Then Dean came along, stupid fucking idiot, and insisted on helping Cas out. Checking for broken ribs.

That blow could've broke Dean's ribs.

Cas tossed his book bag and marched over to Lucifer while resident ass picked Dean up by the shirt collar and shoved him back. "Don't bring up my brother without remembering I can get to yours," he threatened.

"Don't you fucking touch Sam," Dean growled, delivering fist to Lucifer's gut.

Lucifer quickly regained his stance on the offensive, but before he could hit Dean again, Cas jerked him around and delivered three fast blows. Cheek, gut, chest. He just missed the collarbone. Lucifer's lips curled up into a smile and Cas didn't have time to wonder why Dean had seemingly vanished.

"Castiel. You've got your fight back, I see. Excellent."

Cas punched him in the mouth. He didn't have to look to know his knuckles were bleeding.

"Right," Lucifer said, backing up briefly. "You never were one to talk. Even before."

When his fist made impact below Castiel's eyes, Cas saw stars for a moment before he got himself together—just in time for another hit, this one to his abdomen. He blocked the pain from his mind, as he'd gotten good at over the past couple years, and sent a series of punches Lucifer's way. A good seventy-five percent of them made solid contact and for a finishing touch, he shoved Lucifer back. The crowd parted for him and in an attempt to keep himself from falling, he backstepped into the wall.

Castiel grabbed two fistfuls of Lucifer's shirt and kept him pressed against the wall. "If you so much as raise a finger at my boyfriend or his brother ever again, I will come after you."

Lucifer smirked at him cockily.

"You won't be smiling then," Castiel said, inches from his face.

He pushed him back and walked away, spotting Benny practically hugging Dean to hold him back as he picked up his book bag. Benny let him go and Dean made his way to Cas. In a grand, fuck you gesture, Cas offered his hand to him. Dean took it in an exaggerated manner, and they walked the rest of the way to their lockers that way, bloodied fingers entwined.