Baseball and Bass Guitars

Chapter Six - Perfect Game

"You weren't kidding." Dean grins down at Castiel in the middle of the school hallway right after being enveloped in the boy's warm embrace and kissed 'till he felt like he was floating, just like Cas said they would do. People must be talking. He thinks, but he doesn't care, he can't hear them and they aren't important.

"Did you really think I was?"

"Nope." Dean says, popping the "p" and laughing.

"Whoa, brother!" Dean is just about to lean in for another kiss when suddenly a hand claps him on the shoulder and a voice laden down with southern sweetness interrupts them. It's Benny, obviously. "Mornin's barely begun and ya'll have already started quite the commotion." He laughs; Dean figures he must have come to terms with his earlier reservations about Cas because it seems to Dean that Benny isn't phased at all by this.

"Benny." Dean grins and nods at his best friend as Pamela sidles up and joins their trio.

"So I see you've decided to go public. You do realize that there's pictures of you two making out already posted on pretty much every social media you could think of. I'm Pam by the way, the fun friend, hi." Pam sticks her hand out to Cas and smiles sweetly.

"Cas." Dean chuckles at the boy's raised eyebrows and watches the two shake hands.

"Okay." Pam, Dean, and Cas turn their attention to Benny, who looks like he's figuring out the best way to say something. "I may have been a total dick head and listened to gossip, and I didn't like you." Obviously this is directed at Cas. "But, I've come to my senses and I'm sorry. Because if Dean likes you then you must be a good guy."

"How sweet." Pam drawls.

"Shut it Pamela." Dean rolls his eyes without even looking at her, then grips Benny's forearm, thanking him silently.

Cas laughs, a sort of chuckle that reflects how uncomfortable he feels with Dean's friends, whom he barely knows. "Well, thanks man. But you know that even if you didn't approve of Dean's relationship with me, it wouldn't have changed anything. I like him, I'm pretty sure he likes me, and no one's opinions will ever keep me from him." Cas stands straight up, shoulders back, defiant and confident. Dean slips his hand into Cas's and squeezes it tight, thinking nothing but God, this guy is fantastic.

"Touche man, touche." Benny grins and holds out his hand. Cas relaxes a bit then and his face splits in a grin to match Benny's as the two shake hands.

Meanwhile, the hallways are full of whispers and furtive glances towards the group in the middle. Dean hears snippets of conversations as the four of them make their way through the school, Dean and Cas's hands still intertwined.

"Do you see-" "Are they together?" "Castiel and Dean?" "I thought Cas hated jocks." "Bet they're just fuck buddies."

Dean can't help the laugh that escapes his lips when he hears that last one, and obviously Cas heard it too if his amused scoff was anything to go by. The boys exchange a glance and nearly lose it. "People." Dean shakes his head in exaggerated disbelief.

"Agreed." Cas says, just as the bell rings to go to first period. "Oh by the way," Cas says in response to the bell. "I do actually go to class, despite what everyone, for some reason, chooses to say." And just like that, with a quick kiss on Dean's cheek, he's off down the hallway, leaving a laughing Dean in his wake.

The rest of the day is like one big whisper down the lane game every time Dean walks through the halls. He and Cas meet up in between classes when ever they can, not giving two shits about the whispers that grow even louder when the two are together. Benny, Pam, Garth, Ash, Anna, and all of Dean's friends welcome Cas into their lunch group with absolutely no issues. Cas, Dean can tell, feels pretty out of place amidst the "populars" but he soon warms up. Dean offered to sit with Cas's friends but Cas waved him off saying something along the lines of "I don't have any real friends Dean. No one I would let any where near you." The response left Dean kind of perplexed, but he didn't question it.