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“Excuse me, sir? I believe you’re in my seat.”
The man lifted his head and Dean’s eyes widened in shock. The man’s face was awfully pale, highlighting his bright blue eyes. He took a shallow breath before speaking in a gravelly voice. “Look, can you—um. Do you mind taking the window seat? I hate flying and I’m gonna puke at some point and I’d rather have the aisle. Please.”
Dean nodded. “Sure.” The man’s face instantly filled with relief. Dean shoved his backpack into the overhead bin and let the hatch fall shut before maneuvering around the guy to drop into his seat. He took his phone out of his pocket and swiped it open, mostly ignoring his seatmate.
They sat on the tarmac for another twenty minutes before they were taxied away from the gate, and Dean only looked up when he saw white knuckles gripping the armrest between the two of them.
“You okay, man?” A useless question, really. Obviously he wasn’t okay. He looked terrified. Dean reached out and set his hand on the guy’s arm. "Hey."
“Yeah,” he responded tightly. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Dean grimaced. “No you’re not.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his earbuds, untangling them and handing them to his seatmate, along with his phone. He looked up at Dean curiously, chewing on his bottom lip. Dean held out his hand closer to him. “You’re going to put these in and listen to music as loud as it will possibly go until we get up and steady in the air. Okay?” Dean raised his eyebrows, daring him to refuse.
The man nodded. “Thank you,” he breathed out. He took the phone and earbuds from Dean’s hand and plugged them in. Dean waited until he got situated before patting him on the arm.
Dean leaned back in his seat as the plane began to ascend into the sky. As the cabin started to shake with slight turbulence, climbing through the low clouds, Dean felt a hand grip his. He looked to his left to see his seatmate with a clenched jaw and eyes squeezed-shut, holding on to the phone in one hand and Dean in the other.
It was almost half an hour before Dean's hand was released. He flexed his fingers and looked over at the guy. He had pulled out the earbuds and was looking at him sheepishly. “Thank you. That really helped.”
“No problem,” Dean said, reaching his hand out. “I’m Dean.”
The man smiled before accepting his handshake. “I’m Cas.”