Strings Attached

Chapter 34

Kevin shakes his head. "No way. She'd be giggling so loud, we would have known she was there before she even got there."

Castiel chuckles. "Yeah, that's probably true.

"'Sup, bitches?" Charlie greets them, hurrying to meet up with them.

"Hey, Charlie," Castiel replies.

"What took ya so long?" Kevin teases as if he didn't just get here a couple seconds ago.

"Well, I'm sorry I have a longer walk," Charlie replies, not sorry at all. "And that I have short legs."

"You should be," Kevin replies jokingly. "So, are we out here to do anything, or...?"

"I'm just out here because I don't want to have to deal with the cafeteria," Castiel replies. "You're welcome to go eat if you want to."

"No way," Charlie replies immediately. "We wanna stay with you! Right, Kev?"

Kevin nods. "Yep. What she said."

Castiel can't help but smile. He actually finds himself glad that they're staying here with him.

"Where's your other friend?" Charlie asks. "Is he coming?"

"He said he would," Castiel replies. "He probably just has longer to go."

"Well, he needs to hurry up," Charlie says. "I wanna meet him."

But when Castiel hears a voice yelling, "Stop! Stop!" he knows Garth isn't coming anytime soon; not on his own.

Castiel wheels himself over to the sound, his arm aching from working it so hard. This would be much easier with two arms, he thinks glumly. He manages to find Garth, but unlike yesterday when they met, there are four people here with him. Castiel doesn't spend the time trying to figure out who's new here. Instead, he attempts to break up the fight.

"Hey!" Castiel yells as soon as they're in sight, still rolling his way over to them. When the bigger boys turn to look at him, Castiel says a quick, "Go," to Garth, who ducks under the distracted boys and runs off, standing behind Castiel, but at a distance.

"Aw, little Cassie here to save his new boyfriend?" Crowley teases.

"He's not my boyfriend," Castiel snaps.

"Oh, no, of course not. Still hung up over me, angel?"

In a strange burst of confidence that he will likely never feel again, Castiel decides to give them a much longer answer than any of them expected, Castiel included. "Well, technically, I guess you could say that. See, I don't have time for a boyfriend, because I'm too busy dealing with being in a wheelchair because you guys are too much of a wimp to deal with the consequences of your actions.

"But let's say I did want a boyfriend. You know, hypothetically. What makes you think I would ever even think of you? Because, way I see it, you stand for everything I hate. The whole lot of you do.

"And I may have fallen for you once, and I'm actually grateful for that. It's strange how remembering things can change your perspective of them. Because if I hadn't had the chance to hang out with you, I wouldn't have realized that you aren't worth my time. You may be popular, but you aren't cool.

"Which makes me wonder why you spend your time on me. And maybe it's because you know that I have it way better than you do. I don't have any sort of reputation to uphold, obviously. That was torn to shreds years ago, and you guys practically lit the remains on fire.

"So I can have fun, and I don't have to worry about what other people think of me. And it may have taken a few broken bones and some really annoying amnesia to help me realize it, but that's what really matters. So you guys go hang out with your popular but boring crowd, I'll go hang out with my unpopular but awesome friends, and let's call it a day, huh?"