West Coast

Chapter Sixteen

'Awesome. You hungry?'

'Very,' said Cas, shifting so he was sitting up properly. He slowly got out of the chair, his muscles aching in protest, and shuffled over to the dining table.

Dean stared at him as they ate, barely paying attention to his food.

'What are you looking at? Is there something on my face?'

Dean smiled. 'Nah, I'm just looking to look.' He ate a couple more bites, then pointed his fork at Cas. 'If you're gonna be walking around, you gotta eat more food. You'll need the energy.'

'I think I can handle that if it's always this delicious.'

Dean laughed at him. 'Really, though, I'm proud of you for today.'

Cas squirmed in his seat. 'Thank you.'

Cas kept his word and walked for at least an hour every day. He used the same route, and could soon remember where he was going, though he kept his map with him anyway, just in case. He devoured the lunches that Dean left for him, happily watching his weight gain.

The seasons turned, but as the weather slowly warmed, Cas came across a new problem.

The square became populated again. Those people that knew Cas left him to his own devices, but those that didn't often stopped him to ask him about Hoagie.

'Please don't touch him,' he found himself repeating.

'Why not?' one little girl asked. 'He's so cute.'

'He is very cute,' Cas agreed, 'but he's working and he can't be distracted.' The girl seemed almost convinced until her mother came over.

'Pet the doggy, sweetie,' she said.

'Excuse me, ma'am, please don't distract my dog,' Cas said politely.

'He has a job, mommy,' the girl said.

'Don't mind that, sweetie, it's okay,' the mother said, barely even looking at Cas.

The girl hesitated, looking between Cas and her mom, but then crouched down to pet Hoagie.

Up until that point, Hoagie had been very well behaved, standing stock still at Cas's side, until the girl moved closer to him. He dipped his head, wagged his tail, and let the girl scratch behind his ears.

Cas cringed slightly at Hoagie's lapse in concentration, but to the little girl's credit, she only distracted him for a moment, then retreated, giving Cas an apologetic look.

Cas snapped his fingers and Hoagie returned to his position at Cas's ankle.

'See, that wasn't so hard, was it?' the woman said, rolling her eyes before walking away.

Cas bit his lip, not moving from the spot he had stopped in, even when the woman and her daughter were long gone. They were less than half way through their walk, and Hoagie was still eager to go, but that interaction had drained Cas more than he would care to admit. He circuited the green once more for Hoagie, then returned home. Once there, he wandered about the house, trying not to let his fears get to him. He lost track of time, and by the time Dean got home, he had been pacing for hours, thoughts of what could happen to him if Hoagie was distracted at the wrong time swirling through him at lightning speed.

'Hey, I picked up some burritos, you want one?' Dean called out from the kitchen, frowning when he got no response. 'Cas?'

He found Cas still pacing in the hallway, running his hands through his hair.

Cas stopped when he saw Dean, but even though he had stopped moving, he couldn't quite seem to catch his breath.

Dean hurried over, and Cas immediately grabbed his shirt, bunching the material tightly in his fists.