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“Boys.” The sharp voice commanded attention like a gunshot. “Choose a girl.”
Many almost jumped right off their chairs, eager or nervous. Slowly, a few beats later, Castiel rose from his seat and started wandering half-heartedly towards the opposite end of the room. It was his mother who wanted him to learn to dance, so there was no escaping this. But his stomach felt like lead, and his arms were as heavy as if they were held down by anchors.
“What can I do? You must help me!” Castiel had cried in despair the previous evening to his older brother. But Gabriel hadn’t been much help. “Do the opposite of whatever they expect of you,” was all he had said.
Yes, I will do that, Castiel thought, and his heart stopped trying to escape through his throat.
He was barely halfway across the dancefloor, and most of the others were already in pairs. A few girls were still sitting, and another boy was making his way towards them. Castiel made a beeline to the same destination. The other boy was still some steps away from a girl, who was getting ready to accept his invitation. But that’s when Castiel broke in. He grabbed the outstretched hand, and yanked.
“No, you dance with me!” he said, as he put his other arm tightly around the boy and led him away from the stunned girl.
“Let me go!” the boy shrieked, but Castiel refused. Instead, he got up on his toes and pecked his partner on the cheek. Green eyes big as saucers glared at Castiel in shock. Looking livid, the instructor stormed over. And with a force that would have defeated any unopened jam jar, she wrenched them apart.
“Get out!” she roared, looking like she wanted nothing more than to kick Castiel straight through her closed door. But Castiel didn’t give her the chance. He fled out and down the stairs with a mixture of fear and excitement.
Outside, Castiel stopped to catch his breath, and laugh. He’d done it! His brother was a genius! The warmth of his triumph died, however, with a cold gust that sent chills through his thin suit. Oh no, he had forgotten his boots and jacket upstairs! How was he going to explain this at home? The door clicked open, slammed shut, and someone said, “Hey, you!” Goosebumps shot down Castiel’s spine as he turned.
It was the green-eyed boy, arms full with Castiel’s clothes.
“Oh. Thank you.”
But the boy didn’t go back upstairs. He just stood there, scrutinising.
“Did she kick you out too?” Castiel finally asked when he couldn’t take the silence any longer.
“Yeah.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be. Thanks, actually. I definitely owe you one,“ he added and served up a smile that hit Castiel like a missed step down the stairs.
“I’m Dean.”
“Cas - er …tiel. Castiel.”
“Your tie is the wrong way, Cas…”
“Oh.” he looked down and saw that it was true. But at the same time as he reached to fix it, so did Dean, and their hands crashed. There was another awkward pause as their gazes shifted from the tie to each other’s faces.
Dean blushed and harrumphed.
“Wanna hang out?” he asked and failed to sound completely casual.
“Okay.”
They wandered down to the park in silence. Castiel couldn’t stop himself from time to time quickly glancing over at Dean, getting the feeling Dean was doing the same. It was cold. Maybe that’s why they drifted into each other’s personal space as they made their way through the playground.
That didn’t explain the increased fidgeting from Dean, until he suddenly stopped. Castiel got worried he was trying to find a polite way to announce that the hanging out session was over.
“You can kiss me again, if you want to,” Dean blurted.
For a very long moment Castiel could do nothing but stare at this handsome boy opposite of him who was blushing with such furiosity his freckles drowned in all the red. In an hour, he had gone from being obedient and friendless, to somehow getting blatantly flirted with by a guy who had been banned from dance lessons because of him. Lonely little Castiel felt his heart melt. And for the second time that afternoon he got up on his toes, and kissed that burning cheek.
By the next time they got to the swing set, their arms had somehow gotten linked.