It's Sad to Eat Pie Alone

Four

"Hey, Cas!" Charlie exclaimed, sliding into the chair across from him in the caf.

"Hello, Charlie. You look quite happy today," Cas observed.

"I defeated that boss in Dark Souls 3 I was talking about yesterday, and I understood my morning science lecture, so I'm having a good day so far," Charlie said proudly, taking a big bite of pizza.

"If you need any help with your classes I would be happy to assist," Cas offered. He was getting comfortable around Charlie, mostly because she didn't always need a second person to carry on a conversation and Cas rather enjoyed listening to her rambling about Harry Potter or World of Warcraft or whatever else she was obsessed with that day.

"Thanks, Cas, I may take you up on that. How's your life going?" Charlie asked him.

"I'm doing very well in my classes," Cas told her. Charlie nodded and waited for him to continue, but he didn't say anything more.

"Is that it?" Charlie asked, smiling.

"Is there supposed to be more?" Cas asked, looking confused.

"Normally people have more happening in their lives than just their classes, yeah. How are things with Dean?" Charlie asked him.

"Dean attempted to take me to another party last night. I declined," Cas said simply.

"I saw Dean at that party. He looked like he wished you were there," Charlie told him.

"I don't like parties very much," Cas said. Charlie nodded.

"Yeah, I can tell. But did anything else happen since I last saw you? C'mon, man, gimme the scoop!" Charlie persisted enthusiastically.

"Not much of interest has happened, Charlie. Except that Dean complimented me yesterday," Cas told her.

"Really? What did he say?" Charlie asked.

"He told me he liked my eyes," Cas said, almost shyly. Charlie raised her eyebrows.

"He did? Interesting..." she said, giving a small knowing smile.

"What is interesting about that?" Cas asked her.

"Nothing. I've gotta fly, Cas, I'll see you later!" Charlie said, standing up and whisking her plate away, waving as she went.

***

That night, Cas was studying, which was normal, but Dean was also in the room, which wasn't. Cas wasn't sure why Dean was there, but he didn't mind. Thunder cracked outside and Cas jumped. Dean glanced over at him, then took another bite of the slice of pie in front of him.

"You okay over there, Novak?" he asked, smiling.

"It just startled me," Cas muttered, embarrassed.

"Hey, I'm not judging, I just-" Dean was cut off when there was another large rumble of thunder and the lights cut out. All of a sudden, a scream cut through the darkness, making Dean jump.

"Good god, Novak, it's just the lights, they'll be back on in no time!" he exclaimed. Cas jumped up from his chair, breathing heavily.

"Dean... Dean... it's dark..." Cas said with a panicked and shaky voice, stumbling forward and knocking into Dean's desk.

"Hey, hey, Novak, what's wrong? Calm down!" Dean said, taking Cas by his shoulders and holding him still.

"I'm afraid of the dark, Dean! I... oh my god..." Cas was crying at this point, in a panic.

"Hey, calm down. It's ok. It's ok," Dean said, trying to calm Cas down. Cas shrank down to a crouch, hugged his knees and crying. Dean crouched next to him.

"Okay Cas, come with me, were going to find a flashlight," Dean continued. Cas looked up at the use of his first name, momentarily distracted. Dean smiled, something he could barely see in the dark. Dean helped him up and took his hand, leading him out into the hall. He then proceeded to knock on every door until he found someone that let them borrow a flashlight, then led Cas back to their room, where they spent the rest of the night sitting under the sheet on Dean's bed with the flashlight on, talking.

"Are you okay now?" Dean asked him. Cas was slightly distracted by the fact that Dean was still holding his hand.

"Yes Dean, I... I believe I'm ok. I'm sorry I freaked out," Cas answered, looking ashamed.

"Don't apologize, Novak, It's nothing to be ashamed about," Dean told him.

"I'm afraid of the dark, Dean. That's hardly anything to be proud of," Cas said, staring at his knees.

"Well I'm afraid of flying. That's not very manly," Dean said, trying to make Cas feel better.

"But being afraid of flying is much more logical than a fear of the dark." Cas picked at his pants.

"Cas, you don't need to be ashamed around me. I'm your friend," Dean said, squeezing Cas' hand. Cas head snapped up when Dean said that.

"Friend? Did you say... friend?" Cas asked, looking surprised and confused.

"Well don't look so shocked, Cas..." Dean muttered. He was the one that was staring at his knees now.

"You called me Cas," Cas observed, watching Dean.

"It is your name..." Dean said, but before either of them could say anything more, the lamp flickered back on and Dean quickly let go of Cas' hand.

"The power's back now. We should sleep," Dean said, pulling the sheet back over their heads and turning the flashlight off. Cas slid off Dean's bed and stepped towards his own, but then he paused, staring at his empty bed.

"What's wrong, Novak?" Dean asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"I... I'm still afraid, Dean," Cas said. Then he shook his head.

"It's okay, I'll be fine," he continued, crawling into his bed. He heard Dean sigh and glanced over to see him beckoning him over.

"Come on, Novak," Dean said tiredly. Cas waited for a second, then walked over to Dean shyly. Dean rolled over to the side of the bed and Cas crawled in next to him and laid down, his arms practically glued to his sides. He stared at the ceiling for a minute, but then he started to get distracted by the sound of Dean's breathing, until he fell into a deep sleep.