Stronger Than Us Both

Weekends & Wandering

○Cas○

When I got up, Adam was taking a shower. I guess he was going to run every morning; I applauded him for being able to wake up early enough to exercise. I mean, as long as I didn't have to do it.

It was strangely quiet, and I didn't really like the way I could hear my alarm clock humming slightly. It was never this silent in my house; the lack of noise was definitely something I was going to have to get used to. I tried to go back to sleep, but it didn't work. I never realized how comforting all the sound was back home or how I apparently couldn't sleep in the morning without Michael snoring on the other side of my wall.

So, despite it being only eight, I got ready the second Adam stepped out of the bathroom, brushing my teeth and putting in my contacts after. Dressed in a random pair of jeans and T-shirt, I made my way to that coffee shop for some much needed caffeine. Twenty minutes later, I was standing at room 201 in the college dorms, waiting for my older brother to let me in.

I expected Gabe to look like a zombie fresh from its grave when he open the door, but he looked like he'd been awake for hours.

"Cas!" he said very loudly. Gabe immediately pulled me into his room, which surprised me even more than his appearance. "Peter's working right now, so we've got the whole place to ourselves. What's up?"

I looked around his room, yet I didn't see the mess his room in Claydon always held. Instead, it looked like someone other than my brother lived there. I almost asked Gabe if he was in the wrong dorm. Gabe sat in a chair opposite the bed that was surrounded with our family pictures and started spinning it. He never turned enough that he couldn't make eye contact with me, but the action was still pretty childish. I sat on what I presumed to be his bed.

"Oh, nothing really. I just wanted to come and talk."

"You're homesick, aren't you?"

I wanted to say that I wasn't, but I knew Gabe would see right through my lie. "Yeah, a little."

He smiled, spinning out of my sight. "Don't worry, when we go back for Thanksgiving break, you'll want the peace and quiet again."

"If you say so."

"So," Gabe began, turning to face me again, "what do you think about Glen Rock so far?"

I shrugged, pulling my legs onto his bed so I was sitting cross-legged. "It's a lot better than California, that's for sure. Everyone seems a lot nicer."

"Then, why were you yelling at people?"

Why did I not consider the fact that my family would know about Dean? Why did I think that anything was going to go my way? "You heard about that?"

He nodded. He didn't look as amused as I thought he would. I figured he would say something about me playing nice with the other kids before changing the subject, but he didn't. "It's only the second day of school, Cas. Come on. You're not really setting yourself up to make a lot of friends, are you?"

"Do you even know what happened? Do you know who I yelled at or why?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does!" My voice was ringing in the quiet room, and Gabe just looked disappointed. When I spoke again, I was a lot quieter. "It was Dean Winchester because he hadn't left me alone since school started. He was watching me in the locker room, so I raised my voice at him. And I have plenty of friends; you don't have to worry."

"I'm sorry. I'm your big brother: it's my job to worry about you." Gabe offered me a smile as he walked over to a minifridge that was hidden in his closet. He brought back two waters and handed one to me.