Struggle - A Destiel High School AU

Chapter Five

It's ten PM and Dean waits outside the diner. He looks around and wonders if Cas will even show up. But a couple of seconds later, he sees a boy showing up around the corner. Castiel has traded his beloved trench coat for a red hoodie and he looks different in the light of the dirty street lanterns. They smile at each other, glad that they both made it. "Did you sneak out?" Dean asks when Cas is close enough to hear him.

"Yeah, don't worry, I've done it before." Castiel says and Dean is clearly surprised by his answer. "Do you want to get some coffee?"

 Dean nods and follows Cas into the crowded diner.

The diner is full of people. Truckers, locals, teenagers. There are a lot of familiar faces in this place, it makes Cas feel anxious. He looks away, making sure he doesn't make eye-contact with any of the people who go the same school. He spots an empty table and walks towards it, assuming that Dean would follow.   "Hey! Dean!" a voice shouts. Dean looks around and sees the group of jocks sitting around a way too small table. They smile at Dean, but not the way Cas smiled at him. Their smirks reveal that they assume Dean is their friend in the most shallow way possible, but they still think they're better than him. "Come sit with us." Caleb, the one who looks like the stereotypical teenage boy, says as he makes a waving movement with his hand.

"Sorry, but I'm hanging with Cas." Dean says, loud enough so both the guys and Cas can hear it.  Castiel sits at a table, tapping his tense fingers on the painted wood. He wishes Dean would just sit his ass down already instead of having a loud conversation with stupid people.  

"Cas?" the one with the blonde hair asks while looking up at Castiel's table. Cas can feel the guys stare at him and it makes him extremely uncomfortable. "The weird Novak kid? Really, why would you hang out with him?"

Dean gets mad and defensive the moment the blond dude speaks those words. "Shut up, will you?" He looks at Cas and can see the regret on his face. Cas is wondering why on earth he thought it was a good idea to go somewhere with Dean, after everything that had happened in the past few days.

"Did you just tell me to shut up?" the blond one raises his voice and stands up, but one of his friends pulls his jacket and makes him sit down. "Calm down man. But seriously Dean, you shouldn't hang out with that creep." he says, looking serious.

Dean decides he has had enough of their crap, so he turns around, expecting to see Cas sitting at the table, but there's no-one there.  

Castiel leans against a building, thinking about how cold it is outside and how crappy he feels inside. He walked out of that diner, not because he felt offended by the words spoken there, but because those words are the truth. They are completely right, and that's why he expects Dean to stay inside while Cas stands here on the dirty streets. Cas slips his hand into the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt. He feels the cigarette and the lighter sitting in his pocket. Cas stares at the cigarette and it reminds him of how he sneaked into Uriel's room a few days ago, to steal one from his (not so) secret supply. Castiel had put it there out of curiosity, wondering if it could really put you out of your misery for a couple of minutes, in case of an emergency. This is an emergency.

He puts the cigarette between his lips and tries to light it. After a couple of attempts, he succeeds and takes a drag. Cas inhales the smoke too deep, triggering a cough attack.

"Cas?" Dean walks out of the diner, looking for the boy. The street lights reveal a silhouette standing on the other side of the road. Also, he hears a loud coughing noise coming from the same place. "Cas?" he calls again. He crosses the road without hesitating and sees Castiel leaning against a building, with a burning cigarette in his hands. "Are you smoking?"

"Not really. I just wanted to try it out, but I nearly died. I guess smoking isn't really my thing." Cas says while throwing the cigarette on the ground. He smirks, but his eyes reveal his sadness.