Dean

Dean sits in class next to the empty chair that Cas usually occupies. Some days the chair seems more empty than usual. Today was one of those days.
As the teacher drones on about useless facts and dates, Dean tries to ignore the several pairs of female eyes trained on him, the owners giggling and whispering.
It's not that Dean isn't used to having girls be attracted to him and trying to get him to sleep with them (and having always obliged), but now that he and Cas knew each other's feelings, he felt a strong sense of loyalty to the guy.
A folded piece of paper lands on the Winchester's desk, and he looks up to see a pretty brunette--Lisa, if he remembered correctly--looking up at him through her thick lashes.
A note? Seriously? What are we, 12?
Dean sighs and opens the note, mostly just to humor her. As expected, a 10 digit number is written in neat little print.
Dean mouths across the room at her, Nope, and flicks the note back at her, eliciting a frustrated sigh and a pouty face from her. He has to consciously stop himself from rolling his eyes out of their sockets.
When class let out, Lisa corners him in the hallway, her bright eyes staring up determinedly into his own.
"May I help you?" Dean says, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, yeah, you can. Why are you ignoring me? You've been flirting with me since the beginning of the school year, and now that that emo creep who sits next to you is gone, you haven't said a word to me. Are you and him a thing or something? I knew he was gay, but you?" Lisa says angrily.
Dean is disoriented at first with all the accusations fired at him, but soon regains composure, "What? No! We're best friends, and he's not a creep! Or emo. Fuck off, Lisa. No wonder you can't get laid, being such a bitch all the time." he adds, his internal conflict manifesting itself in anger and desire to hurt Lisa.
Lisa slaps him, hard, and turns on her heel and stalks away, muttering something about boys and low standards.
Dean sighs heavily, the absence of Cas weighing on him more than ever. Just two more weeks till he discharges.

***

Castiel

The hospital was a boring place.

Castiel was finished with therapy for the day, and "independent recreation" was scheduled for the rest of the evening.
"I can't fracking believe I'm still here."
Cas looks up to see a tall black man come over to sit by him, setting himself down heavily with mock exhaustion.
"You and me both, Jeremy." Cas replies, laughing a little. "Only, if I remember, I didn't set fire to a fucking house," he adds cattily.
"Dude, it was one house, and it was my ex. Don't tell me you've never wanted to do shit like that."
Cas rolls his eyes, "Wanting to do crazy--illegal shit is not the same as actually doing crazy illegal shit. I'm a practical angel compared to you."
"Damn straight you are," Jeremy says suggestively, tracing Cas's jawline with a skeletal finger.
"Man, you know the rules, no touching. Plus, your fingers are freaky thin. Go eat something and we'll talk."
"Nah, dude, I know you're a taken man. Yeah, I seen that blond hottie who visits you every day. Don't try to deny it."
"I wasn't denying anything, Jesus Christ, literally everyone here knows him." Cas says, rolling his eyes again.
The two are quiet for a minute, enjoying the temporary quiet of the dayroom. Cas counts in his head exactly how many more minutes he has until he gets to see Dean again:
234 minutes.
Just under 4 hours.
He can do this.
"So what exactly did you do to get stuck here? You depressed? You cut yourself? Or are you a psycho like me?"
"That sounds a little like pride to me," Cas says, trying to steer Jeremy from the topic he'd been avoiding for 2 weeks.
"It's not pride, it's acceptance. Don't dodge the question though. There's criteria for getting landed at Hillside. You don't just come here because you got daddy issues."
Cas inhales deeply, "Okay, you win. I'm depressed and I self harm. I don't eat. I throw up. I get panic attacks. Stereotypical mental patient."
Jeremy laughs, shaking his head and making his dreads bounce. "Dude, I thought you was a serial killer. You're pretty normal, to be honest. You got you whole life ahead of you, man! Why you in a place like this when the entire world is yours for the taking? You're smart, you're attractive, you have a boyfriend who loves you, and you have the most stable family life of anyone here. Get you head outta you ass and take you life back!"
Cas contemplates what Jeremy said. He supposed everything was true. He kept getting caught in these loops of negative thinking, always assuming the worst and looking at himself through a distorted filter. Coming to Hillside had really given him perspective.
Cas looks at each of the 23 patients in turn.
Meg. Angry and manipulative, never going to be able to have someone love her.
Ruby. Drug dealer and heroine addict. Her body is all but ruined.
Chuck. Literal god-complex. He's got years of recovery ahead of him.
And now him. Castiel James Novak. A depressed, suicidal, anxious, self-loathing mess. But, in comparison, his demons were conquerable. He had the most life left to live than anyone here--if he chose to continue it.
"You know..." Jeremy says, breaking into Cas's revelation. "You really have got a good chance kiddo. I'm not hopeless, but I got a long way to go. You, on the other hand...everything that is wrong with you can be fixed. Scars can heal the same way the mind can. Your scars," he reaches over and pulls up Cas's sleeves, exposing the bandages, "they're gonna be there for the rest of you life. You gonna have to deal with that. But your mind? That can heal almost completely. If you work hard, if you stay out of places like this and 'work your recovery' as they say, you gon' have a great life. I can see it."
Cas nods, emotion filling his throat as the truth hits him. He has hope. He will beat this. He is stronger than he once thought.
"You should be a therapist instead of a drug dealer. You're better than Dr. Iris."
Jeremy laughs, shaking his head again. "Nah, man, I can't handle people whining to me all day about they problems and shit. You're not too bad, but the rest of the world? They crazy."
Cas laughs quietly, suddenly happy.

Suddenly hopeful.