Chapter Text
"Sammy move damnit! I'm gonna be late!" Dean was already standing by the door, yelling back into the recesses of their little apartment, frustration evident in his voice.
"No you're not. You're never late." Sam called back before finally stalking out of his room.
"I will be if you don’t move your ass and get in the car!"
"Shut up I’m going." Sam grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he slid out the door just barely avoiding the pushing hands of his brother. "Jesus, you're such a jerk. You have like... 40 minutes."
"You've never seen a nervous parent on their kid's first day then." Dean groused locking the door to their little apartment and following his brother out to the car.
"No but I've seen nervous parents in the pediatric ward." He said, one upping the green eyed man.
Dean glared. "Low blow dude. Just cause you picked med school doesn’t mean you get to pull that shit."
Sam just grinned. "To the hospital James."
"I’m making you walk from now on."
Dean made it to school with plenty of time to spare, putting away his things and making sure the room was set and ready for the kids. Not like it hadn’t been ready since the little orientation the week before. So sue him, he was excited too.
When he was finished he wandered back out to the front of the building to meet the students as their parents walked them from the carline. There were a few faces he recognized from the preschool classes, a few more he'd met at the orientation, but others were entirely new and he had to wait for introductions from their parents to match them up with names on his list. Most of these hid shyly behind the safety of adult legs, but Dean took pride in being the kind of teacher who could quickly earn the trust of his class, and by the time each kid had been convinced away from their parents, most were joining the group with an excited smile.
A man, younger than a lot of the parents made his way around a group of chatting adults. He had a little girl's hand clutched tightly in his and didn't stop her from hiding behind him when he pulled up in front of Dean, clearing his throat to get the teacher’s attention. Dean turned and green eyes skittered to a halt against impossibly blue ones. He just barely managed to stop his jaw from dropping open. The man who was now standing in front of him was possibly the most gorgeous person he’d ever seen. All bright eyes and bedroom hair. Slightly chapped lips begging to be kissed, stubble, and some sort of security uniform that hit the teacher right in the kink.
"Hey--I know... I'm sure you get this all the time." The man began quietly and fuck but if that wasn’t a voice that Dean could practically feel against his skin. God damn it. "This is Gail. I just--she gets nervous and she's been anxious about me leaving her anywhere since her M-O-T-H-E-R. If you could keep a close eye on her… you know? Make sure that she knows she's safe and if you get even the slightest problem just call me."
Instead of jumping the man Dean simply smiled and tore his gaze away, turning it instead to the beautiful little girl beside him. She had soft brown hair and her father’s blue eyes. He crouched down, bringing himself to her level. His smile was gentle and open. "Hey Gail. I'm Mr. Winchester. It’s nice to meet you.” He put his hand up against the side of his mouth as if blocking his words from the rest of the world. “You wanna hear a secret? Today is my first day of school too and I had to drop my little brother off at his school so I’m kind of nervous. You think you could help me today with the other kids? You look like you're really brave." He held out his hand
Gail shook her head and moved away from Dean, scooting closer to her father's legs, the strongest of all barriers in the little girl's mind.
Cas frowned and gently moved her out from behind him, pulling her into his arms for a hug and kissing her into her hair gently. "You can help Mr. Winchester, can't you, Gail? Helping people's the family business isn't it?"
Gail nodded slowly, though she was still clearly nervous as Cas guided her over to Dean's arms.
"Say 'Hi' to Mr. Winchester." The man guided and as he looked up he let out a breath. He hadn't even really looked at the man before and holy shit he should have let it stay that way.
"Hey there baby girl. We're gonna make it. I promise." It slid out before he could stop it. Normally he tried to steer clear of pet names and such at school since the children were his students and parents tended to get nervous when a teacher got too close, especially a male teacher. It really had nothing to do with who he was as a person, and everything to do with his gender and being a kindergarten teacher.
"Oh--uhm. I'm Cas by the way. Cas Novak." The other man’s voice rumbled in soft introduction and when Dean looked up from Gail his hand was already moving out to shake the other man's like a magnet pulling towards the north. "Dean Winchester." He replied with a slow grin. He was doomed. "Nice to meet you Cas. Is it short for something?"
"Yeah.... Castiel." He answered. "Sounds stupid.... I know. Cas sounds like a real name at least."
"Papa... gonna go play "the girl interrupted as she scooted away from her father towards the other kids seeming to gain confidence in the face of a teacher who wasn’t half so scary as she’d thought.
"Castiel." Dean couldn’t have helped the way the name sort of purred off his tongue if he tried. He was already internally berating himself. What was he doing?! Going for a world record in how many times he could act inappropriate around another human being on the first day of school? He glanced away for a split second- hoping to use the time to collect himself- to wave to another parent who was dropping their kid off. Two more then he'd have to take them inside. In the meantime though he could still talk to Cas.
Sam was gonna give him when he found out Dean had a crush on the first day.
"So what’s the uniform for?" And somehow that came out a little more husky than intended. He bit down on his tongue. Damn his libido for having a thing for uniforms.
"Oh... I…” He looked slightly uncomfortable but shrugged. “Actually... I work the night shift at the hospital... as the security guard. I work as a nurse during the day."
"Awesome! Maybe you know my brother then? Sam Winchester? He’s a med student there. Tall..." He raised his hand above his head. "Long hair, looks like a lost puppy." It didn’t matter what reality the man lived in, the fact was, he would always be ridiculously proud of his little brother. "He works in Peds this rotation."
"Oh! That makes sense! I knew I'd heard the name Winchester somewhere before!" He grinned. "Yeah? I've been trying to get into that section" he teased.
The teacher grinned. "I think he might actually stick this one out. Guess working with kids runs in the family hmm?" He chuckled. "He tried surgery before, didn’t like it." The man shrugged and noticed the last of his wayward students being brought to the curb by their parent. "Whelp that’s my cue." He gave a little smile that said what can you do? and slowly backed away towards his hoard. "It was real nice meeting you Cas. And don’t worry about Gail. She'll be just fine. See you at the end of the day." Before he could stop himself he winked and turned around, only giving the other man enough time to smile and nod. "Who’s ready for the first day of school!" The kids picked up on his excitement and all made their own excited and cheering noises. With a deftness that spoke of years of practice Dean had them lined up and ready to go in under a minute before he led them into the building and away from the gorgeous man with endless blue eyes.
At the end of the day Gail was the last student to be picked up. It wasn't that Castiel had wanted to stay to tend to a crash... but there he had been. When he saw Dean waiting with the little girl he let out a breath. "Thanks for waiting... I'll send someone next time... I don't want to be that guy..." he reached out a hand to shake after his daughter had ended up securely on his shoulders.
Dean only smiled widely and took the man's hand. His palm was warm and his grip sure and it took the teacher longer than it should have to let go. He'd later berate himself when he let his fingers trail over the inside of the man's hand as they let go.
"It’s not a problem, really. Besides, Gail and I are getting to be good friends aren’t we?" He grinned widely up at the little girl. "You've got a brilliant little girl Cas. And she made some new friends too."
Cas didn't seem to notice that it was probably entirely inappropriate, the way the teacher’s hand lingered. He liked the feel if someone else's hands on him. Someone who wasn't so young she didn't understand that sticky was not the proper state for fingers. "I know she's brilliant...” He heard himself saying. “She’s her mother's daughter." He turned his head slightly to smile up at her before his attention returned to the teacher. "Dean--” he stopped himself cold when he realized that his question was going to be stupid. Instead, he came up with a new one. "Is there anything we should be doing at home?"
Dean watched him for a moment. He’d noticed the way Cas’ mouth had opened around a question only to derail at the last moment. Instead of commenting he gave a little shrug. "We're practicing our letters this week. Just the basics. But Gail knows them all already don't you baby-girl."
Oh, Sam was really gonna kill him.
The man smiled. "We've been working on it." He nodded. "She's pretty darn good if I say so myself... I'm a bit biased though... not sure she could be anything but perfect to me."
"We're moving to reading after that,” Dean continued. “…so if you need something to do then I suggest starting to read with her but I have a feeling you do already." He grinned. "Oh. And have her bring a glue stick on Wednesday. It was on the list but we couldn't find it in her bag. She doesn't need it tomorrow but on Wednesday we're doing some crafts."
He finally managed to stop babbling even though his mouth opened again to say something but he snapped it closed.
Fuck it.
"Ah... if you have... any other questions... I told a friend I'd stop by their bar sometime this week. It’s a little place called the Roadhouse." He flushed feeling instantaneously stupid. "We could always talk about it more there. Let me just say now though, for the record..." And he was smiling again. "Ellen- the friend and owner- makes the best pie you'll ever have." He laughed. "And make sure to agree with her."
Castiel didn't know what to say when Dean asked him out for a drink. His mouth opened with an immediate yes but instead what came out was, "I am working the night shift... all week..." he said under his breath.”Except Thursday... we could meet then maybe?"
The green eyed man couldn’t have helped the slight tension that built in his shoulders when Cas said he was working all week if he'd tried. He was already nodding and smiling, ready to say it was fine and apologize. But then the man was saying that Thursday worked and he could have shouted for joy. Instead he kept the smile. "Thursday is fine. I'll see you then. And you!" He turned his gaze on Gail. "I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow. We'll see if you still remember all your letters then too and make your Papa extra proud."
"Sammy... I’m so screwed." Dean dropped down into a chair at the kitchen table, picking solemnly at a fraying corner of the tablecloth.
"What did you do this time? There a cold going around again? Cause the last thing I need right now is to be sick." His brother asked, not bothering to look up from where he was chopping up something green and mildly healthy looking.
"No. There’s this kid."
"Boy or girl."
"Girl."
"Name."
"Gail... Jesus would you just shut up and let me tell the story?!"
Sam turned long enough to cast an epic bitchface in his direction but quieted.
"Anyway it’s not about the kid. It’s her dad."
Sam only raised his eyebrows.
"I asked him out...." Dean turned his head resolutely aside. He would not look at his brother. Not for a million dollars.
"You what?"
"Him...the dad... I asked him to the Roadhouse. What is wrong with me?!"
"Man... that’s even a new level of slutty for you. First day. Gotta be some sort of record."
Dean could only groan in agreement.