It's Sad to Eat Pie Alone

Seven

Cas was ashamed of his breakdown, but Dean didn't mention it again, thankfully. Cas did catch Dean giving him strange looks on several occasions, though. After a few days, Cas finally met Lisa. It was lunch on Thursday, and Cas was heading for a table with Charlie and Meg when Dean intercepted him.

"Hey, Novak, why don't you come eat with us today?" Dean said, dragging Cas towards a table in the opposite direction.

"I- uh..." Cas mumbled as Dean pushed him down into a chair.

"Benny, Lisa, Macloude, Zach, Anna, this is Castiel Novak," Dean said, introducing everyone. Cas was especially nervous to see the guy who he'd bumped into at his first party, but Zach didn't seem to care.

"Ah, the famous Castiel..." Benny said in a Cajun accent. Cas looked around tensely at all of them, his eyes lingering on Lisa for a moment before moving on. They attempted to include him in their conversation, but he kept mumbling and tripping over his words and eventually they stopped asking him questions. Cas was perfectly happy to eat his lunch in silence and let them talk without him, especially as it gave him a good chance to observe them. They mostly talked about parties and their families. At one point, Cas saw Dean take Lisa's hand, and his face reddened. He excused himself quickly after that and went back to his room and texted Charlie.

Are Dean and Lisa dating?

It took several minutes for her to respond.

Not to my knowledge, but I doubt I'd be the first to know. Why?

Cas sighed.

Just curious.

He tried studying, but all he could think about was Dean and Lisa. He wondered if they were together right now. He began pacing around the room, his head filled with so many thoughts it was going to explode. The phone call with Naomi wasn't helping anything, and Dean still confused the crap out of him.

Later that day, Dean came back to their room, but he wasn't alone. Lisa was with him.

"Hey Novak!" Dean said, smiling.

"Hello, Dean," Cas said, watching Lisa with a bewildered look on his face. Dean laughed.

"Relax, Novak, It's just a girl. You've seen one before, right?"he teased. Cas blushed.

"Of course I have, Dean, I have many sisters at home, and there have been multitudes of females at the numerous parties you have taken me to," he protested. Dean chuckled.

"Leave the poor guy alone, Dean, or he's just going to melt into a puddle of awkwardness and embarrassment," Lisa said, smiling. Cas turned away and opened his laptop, his face completely red now. Dean jumped up on his bed and Lisa sat at his desk and they started talking.

"So did you hear about Nick getting thrown out?" Lisa asked.

"Really? What did he do this time?" Dean asked.

"What hasn't he done?" Lisa replied. Cas sank further into his chair.

"Well, he deserves it," Dean said.

"What do you think, Castiel?" Lisa asked. Cas looked up sharply.

"I... Uh, I guess... um..." he stuttered, flustered.

"Don't hurt yourself, Cas," Dean said, laughing.  Cas blushed again, rather uncomfortable that Lisa was in their room. Dean and Lisa talked more about the goings on at the college for a while until Lisa decided to leave.

"See you tomorrow, Dean," she said, kissing him. Cas' stomach jerked and he watched Lisa leave, wondering why he didn't like her.

"You have been even more awkward than normal today, Novak," Dean observed.

"I suppose I have," Cas said.

"So what's up?" Dean asked him.

"What do you mean?" Cas replied to Dean's question with another question.

"What's going on that's making you so extra awkward?" Dean elaborated.

"Nothing," Cas said, going back to his laptop.

"Fine," Dean replied, opening his own laptop. Dean didn't leave at all that night except for going to the store to get a pie.

***

Dean spent the night with Lisa on Friday. It was weird for Cas to be alone and know that Dean wouldn't be there until the next day. Then on Saturday, Dean dragged Cas along with everyone to dinner, where he got smushed into a booth between Dean and Macloude. Sitting so close to people made Cas uncomfortable, and the food wasn't even that good. After that, Lisa hung out with Dean at their room. It was even more uncomfortable for Cas as the time was divided equally between talking and making out. His stomach kept knotting itself up in ways Cas had never felt before, and he could feel his dislike of Lisa growing. He spent another night in an empty room.

He ended up going to Starbucks with Charlie on Sunday. He was rather overwhelmed as he'd never been in a Starbucks, and this fact entertained Charlie to no end.

"You've never been in a Starbucks?" she asked for the fiftieth time.

"I've already told you, Charlie," Cas said, taking a sip of his coffee. Charlie shook her head slowly, then changed the subject.

"So what do you think of Dean and Lisa?" she asked him. Cas shrugged.

"Dean can do whatever he wants," he said. Charlie raised her eyebrows.

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy?" she asked.

"Of course not. What would I be jealous of?" Cas said. Charlie narrowed her eyes.

"Do you like Lisa?" she asked.

"Actually, for some reason, I don't. I have no idea why, she's a nice enough person, but something about her..." he trailed off. Charlie sat back in her seat, a knowing smile creeping across her face.

"What do you think about Dean?" she asked.

"You know what I think of Dean," Cas said, confused.

"Tell me again. Tell me about Dean," Charlie said.

"Um... Ok, well, he's nice. He's a bit of a party boy, not very dedicated to his school, but smart. And he's kind. Most people won't see it, but he's a good friend. And he has very beautiful eyes," Cas told her, staring off into space with a small smile on his face.

"Oh my god, you blind man!" Charlie exclaimed, startling Cas so bad he almost fell out of his chair.

"What? I'm not blind, what are you talking about?" Cas asked, bewildered. Charlie reached forward, and, smacking him upside the head, said:

"You're totally in love with Dean Winchester!"