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To be honest, it wasn’t Castiel’s idea to write the candy gram to Dean. He and his friends were at lunch and the girls with the basket came around to advertise them when Charlie spoke up and said that Cas wanted one to send one to someone special. The girls were already getting the gram out and the selection of candy for him to choose to attach it and he didn’t want to be rude and object now. So he filled out the card saying ‘To Dean, with love. XOXO’, leaving the ‘From’ space blank. He chose the Valentine Nerds Rope candy to attach to the gram, as he remembered that Dean loved them.
Now, Cas was currently sitting in fourth block Foods ll a week after writing the candy gram trying not to copy down notes. He had forgotten that he sat beside Dean and they had just delivered the candy grams about ten minutes ago. He was stupid to not think about this. Dean would obviously recognize his handwriting.
“Castiel, I sure do hope you have a photographic memory. There will be a lot of notes today. If not, I suggest you start writing.” Mrs. Tait said, turning back around to continue writing on the whiteboard.
Cas picked up his pencil and tried to write as differently as he could. Every few minutes Dean would glance down at his paper and Cas tried not to blush. After about twenty minutes, he stopped writing and started reminiscing back in the days of middle school, when he and Dean were friends, the best of friends, before he ruined it and told Dean that he liked him.
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Dean and Castiel were almost inseparable back then. They met in the seventh grade and were the best of friends. Cas was always more of the quiet type but that had changed when he met Dean. Dean brought out the best in him. Dean and Cas would sit in together in every class and never pay attention, especially in Social Studies. Mr. Jacobson was very laid back and never cared what the students did as long as they weren’t loud. They sat in the back of the class and they would just talk and goof off. But when they got to Mrs. Langley's class, they had to be quiet. That was obviously very hard for the both of them. They had gotten called out so many times. Cas didn’t care, though. He was happy that he had a best friend. He was best friends with Dean Winchester, of all people. Dean Winchester was one of the most popular kids in the seventh grade. He was only new to the school that year but popularity knows no length.
One of Cas’ favorite memories of back then were when they were in science class and after they had finished their book work, they got some free time. Cas had started to draw a snake and Dean snatched the drawing from him and he added some jewelry to it. Cas thought it was funny and added a snapback hat. They went on and continued the drawing up until Mrs. Langley resumed class. They had named the snake ‘Mr. Bling Bling Snake’. Cas kept the drawing up until the ninth grade when his little sister, Anna, had gotten a hold of it and ripped it up. Honestly, Cas was really upset but he didn’t let Anna see that a petty, little drawing had meant so much to him, especially since his and Dean’s friendship had ceased to exist at that moment.
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It was nearing the end of class and Mrs. Tait had called for the end of class. Everyone was packing up started talking with their friends. Cas clicked on his phone to text his mother to let him know he was walking home today rather than take the bus on such a pretty day. After that was done, Cas tried to look busy so Dean wouldn’t talk to him.
“Cas?” Dean said after he had put away his materials. Cas locked and put his phone in his pocket.
“Uh, yes, Dean?” He responded softly.
“Was that candy gram from you?”
“Yeah, s-sorry about that. It’s just that the FCCLA were fundraising and I had th-the extra money and decided to help and I didn’t know who else to send it to.” Cas responded nervously.
“Cas, it’s okay. I thought for a second that you still had that middle school crush on me,” Dean laughed. “You know, I miss middle school.”
“Same,” Castiel agreed. He looked at the clock. Only two more minutes.
“I miss how simple it was. You remember how easy Mr. Jacobson’s class was? Man, I wish Johnson’s class was that easy. Before, it was nap after nap and now it’s essay after essay. Am I right?” Dean said with a grin on his face. He looked to Cas and noticed how uneasy he was. “Cas, buddy, are you alright?”
He looked up and responded. “Yeah, Dean. I’m good.” The bell rung and everyone rushed out of the classroom.
“Mind if I walk home with you? You still live at the old house off of Rigdon, right?” Dean asked.
Cas nodded. “Yeah. How’d you remember?” They grabbed their bags and started for the door and out into the hallway.
“I ride by there every now and then to go to Biggerson’s. I see you outside sometimes with your siblings,” Dean responded.
“Oh.” Cas mumbled. “How is Sam?” He added to make conversation. He sees the kid sometimes before and after school.
“Sammy’s great. He’s been enjoying his first year of high school this year. He’s taking all of the business classes and such. He still wants to be a lawyer,” Dean said with a smile on his face. “I’m proud of him. How about yours? Anna and Gabriel?” They walked out of the school headed for Rigdon, which is only a couple of blocks away from the school.
“Anna’s great. Currently, she’s stuck on either being a social worker or a veterinarian.”
“Wow, that’s two very different careers,” Dean said with a mix of surprise and confusion on his face.
“I know,” Cas laughed. “But I’ll be proud of whatever she does. Gabriel, on the other hand, wants to be a professional comedian and own a bar. I don’t know what goes on in his head besides jokes.”
“Well, he’s graduated now right? I remember seeing his picture in the paper last year,” Dean recalled.
“Yeah. He lives in an apartment in the city and works as a comedian on the weekends and as a bartender on the weekdays. He comes home and visits on Mondays and Thursdays.” They turn a corner and head for Cas’ house. He looks and sees that no one is home. His mother must have went to the store.
“At least he’s on his own and making it.”
“Yeah. Ma didn’t want him leaving so soon, though. She thinks we’re growing up too fast,” Cas said. “Unbeknownst to her, though, Gee has been saving money since he was in tenth grade to move out as soon as he could.”
“Why?” Dean questioned.
“Same reason why Dad goes on missions with his church every year. Privacy, I guess,” Cas sighed. They came up to the porch and Cas took off his bag and sat on the steps. He then motioned for Dean to join him.
Dean took his bag off to sit. “Where did they go?”
“Uh, I think Zimbabwe this year. I really don’t keep track. Dad just goes to spend time with this woman from another chapter of his church. I think he actually likes her,” Cas looked around and continued. “I don’t know if Ma knows or not. Gee and I found out a few years ago when we went with him on a summer mission. We never went again after that. Dad doesn’t know we know. It’s all screwed up.”
“It’s not my place to pry, but why doesn’t he just leave and be with her?” Dean inquired.
“Because he is about a year or so of becoming CEO of his job and this will make him look bad, and she lives in Oregon. He can’t be transferred without starting at the bottom again. He’s worked at this job for twenty years. I guess “love” doesn’t triumph everything,” Castiel joked. “I would tell Ma but it just isn’t my place. Gee and I both agreed to not tell her nor Anna.” Dean looked at Cas and noticed his eyes were damp. Not full of tears but not dry either. More like in the middle.
“Cas, I miss this.”
“Miss what, Dean?” Cas questioned.
“Us. Our friendship like how it was in middle school. What happened?”
Cas looked away and responded. “All I remember is that I told you that I had a crush on you and then we went to eighth grade and we didn’t have any classes together so we didn’t talk.”
“I remember messaging you a few times but you never talked to me anymore. You just became quiet and introverted again like how you were when we first met,” Dean said.
Cas looked around and started to watch a squirrel. Oh, how he wished his life was as simple as eating nuts and scurrying around.
“Cas?” Dean tapped at his shoulder. “Are you alright.”
“Yeah, Dean. I’m fine. But I don’t know. I just didn’t have many friends and just went to school and came home. I never really had much of a social life.”
Dean joined Cas and kept his eyes on the squirrel. “Until Charlie came to school,” Dean pointed out. Charlie came to the school a sophomore and she and Cas became instant friends.
“Yeah. Charlie’s cool.”
“You know, I could see you two as a couple. I’m sure everyone could.”
“Dean, you know I don’t like girls. Everyone does. It was literally blasted freshman year,” Cas recalled. Freshman year was a horrible time for Cas. Zach and his friends found out Cas was gay and started teasing him. They went to the office and said it on the intercom they kept repeating it until Mrs. Benson came in wrote them up. Mrs. Benson has always been a fair principal. If you did something wrong, then you got in trouble, no matter who you were. Whether you are the quarterback or a chess club member, you were treated the same and that’s what Cas loves about her.
“Yeah, well, you should’ve seen the face Zach made when I told him I was bi? It was great,” Dean laughed. He told Zach he was bi after he’d seen him tease a middle schooler for holding hands with another boy. Dean told him and then he punched him. Dean had always been popular but he never liked bullies, especially Zach.
“I remember that going around school but I never believed it,” said Cas. He watched the squirrel bury his acorn and ran up the tree. He sighed.
“Some rumors are true.” Dean grabbed Cas’ shoulder and he looked up at him. Dean leaned in and kissed Cas on the lips. It was quick and soft. As he was pulling away, Cas looped his hand around the back of his neck and pulled him back in, kissing him.
“Yeah? Maybe I’ll keep an open mind next time,” Cas said with a laugh. He let go and watched as the squirrel started to chase another one around the yard and up the tree again. Dean reached for his bag and opened it. He pulled out the candy and showed it to Cas.
“Care to share?” Dean asked.
“Sure,” Cas agreed.
They sat and ate the candy, watching as the squirrels chased each other. This was the continuation of an old friendship and the start of a new relationship.