In This Secluded Spot I Respond As I Wouldn't Dare Elsewhere

A Warning

The sun was starting to come up when Castiel woke. The room was still dark, and at first he struggled to recognize where he was. Sometime in the middle of the night Dean had rolled onto his back, and Castiel realized he had been sleeping on Dean's chest.

As carefully as possible he extracted himself from the length of Dean's arm, covered him halfway with the sheet, and returned to his own bed. Dean made a small noise and turned over onto his side again.

Castiel lay there, unable to take his eyes off Dean. Like the moon last night, the early rays of the sun were touching parts of his neck and chest. His face was still covered in darkness, but his shoulder, arm, and a glimpse of the bruised flesh of his ribs could be seen. It was beautiful. He was beautiful.

Castiel quietly got out his sketchbook and pencils, put on his glasses, and began to draw.

******

The next week of school without Dean was miserable. It was as much a suspension for him as it was for Dean. They toyed with the idea of Dean picking him up for lunch, but they decided it was better for Dean to stay away from the school completely. Castiel didn't want things to get any worse than they already were.

They spent as much time together after school as was possible, what little there was of it. Dean's father was livid about the suspension and had him doing chores around the house, as well as helping him clean up around the hangar at the base. Dean said he'd never seen so many greasy helicopter parts in his life.

The only good thing that resulted from the whole mess was the fact that Alastair had been suspended too. Tom and Brady had made themselves scarce whenever they saw him, unwilling, perhaps, to do anything without Alastair around. Life was surprisingly peaceful — if somewhat lonely — that entire week.

He was hoping Dean could spend the night again on Friday, but his father wouldn't allow it. He was being punished, he said, and didn't deserve to hang out and watch movies and have a good time. Castiel understood the reasoning behind it but was still sullen.

When Monday finally arrived, Castiel was uncharacteristically excited to go to school. His mother even packed him an extra lunch. She was sympathetic and seemed to understand how upset he was that he couldn't see Dean.

In homeroom, his face lit up as soon as Dean walked through the door. Dean winked and sat down beside him.

"Long time no see, stranger," Dean said.

"Dean. I've missed you."

"Same here, man." He leaned close to Castiel and lowered his voice. "And I'd really like to kiss you right now."

"I wish you could, but you'll have to wait until we're in our usual spot later."

"Ahh, lunch," Dean sighed. "It's always been my favorite part of the day, but now it's even better."

Castiel tried to hide the blush that crept up his cheeks and looked down at his hands.

"Oh, you're not allowed to get embarrassed. You love it as much as I do."

Castiel grinned shyly. "If it helps any, Mama told me she packed you something special."

"Ooh."

Mr. Zachariah interrupted the rest of their conversation with attendance and announcements, and then they were on their way to English.

"I wonder what your mom packed for me," Dean said. "An extra sandwich? Cupcakes? Tell me she gave me some Twinkies — "

Dean's words were cut off by Alastair bumping into him, sending him crashing into a locker. Dean righted himself and silently stood his ground.

"You're lucky I don't fucking kill you right here in the middle of the hall," Alastair growled at Dean, pointing a finger in his face. "I got suspended for a week because of you, and missed the game against the Coyotes."

"Sucks to be you," Dean lobbed back.

Tom and Brady looked at each other, and Alastair moved into Dean's space. "Be very, very careful how you talk to me, Winchester, or the next time I lay your ass out you won't be getting back up."

"This is gettin' old, Folterknecht."

"Yeah? We'll see, Winchester. You better watch your back. And your girlfriend's here, too."

Alastair pushed Castiel into the locker and out of the way, and took off down the hallway with Tom and Brady laughing behind him.