A/N: This is the first of twelve chapters of this story. I'll try to update about once a week. Hope you enjoy!

Dean Winchester strutted through the halls of the high school, fresh off the varsity basketball team's win. So pleased was he with himself that he didn't notice the boy in front of him until their faces were inches away from each other. Dean cringed and sighed. Crazy Castiel — the school freak — was always making life a little more difficult for the jock.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel said in the same creepy, uncaring tone that he always used. His eyes were focused on Dean, who was trying his damnedest to avoid the other boy's gaze.

"Hey, Castiel," Dean said uncomfortably, wishing that he were somewhere else.

"I heard of the win that your teammates and you managed last night," Castiel said, his voice still in a monotone and his eyes not leaving Dean's. "Congratulations."

Dean nodded, unsure of why he was always approached by the crazy kid that everybody else managed to avoid most of the time.

"Thank you," he said eventually. "Look, now's not a good time. I have to get to class." It was a lie, but Dean hoped that it was enough to allow the shorter boy to give him some personal space. Castiel nodded curtly. Dean thought that he might have believed him.

"I understand." The other boy's voice was deathly quiet, shaking Dean's confidence. Castiel stayed rooted to the ground, and Dean stepped around him and got away, not looking back for fear of the kid thinking that he wanted to continue this conversation at a later date.

"Why does he do that?" Dean muttered to himself as he turned a corner and headed to the cafeteria to meet the rest of his teammates. He grinned when he saw them all sitting at a table in the corner. A cafeteria lady was giving them all a nasty look, but said nothing. The rest of the team cheered when Dean walked into view. He had been the starting point guard all season and the MVP of the final game. Two colleges had already approached him with the offer of a full-ride scholarship.

"So you'll never guess what just happened," Dean said as he pulled up a chair and tossed his bag onto the ground beside him. "Crazy Castiel accosted me in the hallway. I swear to god, that kid has no boundaries. His face was literally an inch from mine." Dean shivered at the memory. "God, he gives me the creeps."

"I heard that he thinks he's an angel," Crowley said, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Like, with wings and everything." The whole team laughed boisterously and moved on to topics of conversation that were all more comfortable to talk about.

A few minutes later, Dean's baby brother walked by, having an intense conversation with a boy who, Dean believed, was Crazy Castiel's younger brother. The name escaped him, but Dean didn't care. He did the only thing that his protective instincts would let him.

"Sammy!" he yelled across the room. "Come 'ere for a minute!" Sam said something quietly to the other boy and they parted ways. Dean didn't miss the longing look that Sam's "friend" sent after his little brother.

"What do you want, Dean?" Sam asked rudely when he neared the table.

"Look man, you're a freshman and I'm a senior, which means that I've got to look out for you," Dean said matter-of-factly.

"No you don't," Sam said quietly. Dean ignored him and went on.

"And I'm telling you. That family is bad news. Your friend's older brother is certifiably bat-shit crazy. If you don't get your act together and leave the kid to his own crazy, I'm going to have to intervene."

"Gabe'll get his older brother to intervene too," Sam countered threateningly. Dean chortled and clapped his hand on Sam's shoulder.

"Castiel's harmless. A little creepy, but he can't do anything. Neither can the rest of them, for that matter." Other than Castiel and "Gabe", there were two other members of the family at the school. Anna was a junior and Balthazar a sophomore. "I'm telling you, Sammy. I don't want you to get sucked into their crazy." Sam rolled his eyes and walked away with a huff.

Dean's teammates laughed at Dean and began to joke around about his brother going down the same road as Crazy Castiel. Dean glowered at all of them, but they went on. As they kept going, Dean began to get angry. Nobody poked fun at his little brother—not even his best friends.

"Don't you say that about Sammy," Dean threatened when the insults worsened. The boys put up their hands in a joking manner, but didn't back off. Their jokes got even worse and Dean snapped. He stood up from his seat and flipped his chair over. It clattered across the now-silent cafeteria. Picking up his backpack, he strode out of the room, raising his middle finger for them all to see as he walked away.

Castiel watched from the corner of the cafeteria, hidden from the basketball players. He watched Dean walk away and carefully followed him. Just because Dean couldn't remember the bond they had shared before Gabriel had developed a crush on the younger Winchester didn't mean that it wasn't still there. Dean was perfectly justified in hating Gabriel. Castiel just wished that he didn't have to hate him as well.

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