A/N It looks like everyone enjoyed the end of last chapter! ;)

Castiel doesn't know how long he sits there with his head buried in his hands when he feels a light touch on his back.

"Hey, Castiel," Gabriel says gently. "You want to go home?"

"No," he mutters.

"Are you sure? It's pretty hot out here. C'mon. I can drive and I'll pick up your car later, okay?"

"I said 'no,'" Castiel repeats, but there's no force behind his voice. He doesn't really care what happens now.

"You can't stay out here all day," Gabriel tells him.

"Yes, I can."

Gabriel sighs, and Castiel can hear the boy sit down next to him on the bench.
"You want to talk?" he offers.

"Do I ever want to talk?"

Gabriel sighs again. "Right. 'Course not. Well, if you're just going to sit out here, do you mind if I stay with you?"

He must assume the silence is permission, because Castiel doesn't hear him get up. They sit together in silence for what feels like an eternity.
Finally, Castiel peeks between his fingers and looks at his brother out of the corner of his eye to see him on his phone. Well, that would explain how he managed to sit still for this long. From the look of it, he appears to be on Twitter, but Castiel can't really make anything out on there.

Deciding he really doesn't care, he closes his small peep hole between his fingers and closes his eyes, almost as if he's not here at all. Is this what death is like, minus the pain in his chest every time his thoughts drift away? If so, it doesn't sound that bad.

~~

Eventually, Gabriel does leave, but Castiel stays behind. There's no way in hell he's going home yet. Knowing his brothers, he'll be greeted by a much too enthusiastic Lucifer when Castiel just wants everything to stop. He loves Lucifer to death, but he's just not in the mood to deal with him.

"Hey, buddy, you okay?"

Castiel looks up to see a boy about his age standing next to him, looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm — I'm fine," Castiel lies, offering a small smile.

"Are you sure?" he asks. "You've been here for a while. If you're waiting for someone, I don't think they're gonna show."

"No, I'm alone," Castiel replies, and he doesn't just mean right now, here at the ice cream place.

"Oh. I'm sure this is a long shot, but are you Castiel Novak?"

Castiel gives him a halfhearted smile. "I am."

"Well damn," he says with a slight laugh. "I heard you were in town, but I never thought I'd actually get to meet you. My name's Ryan." You know, because there are, like, two important guys from SPN that aren't in this story, so the author's gonna save them for later. "My sister's a huge fan of yours. Pop music's not really my thing, but I have to admit, you're pretty freaking good."

Castiel chuckles. "Thanks. It means a lot."

Actually, it really doesn't at the moment, because nothing really means anything to him, and he'd like to get back to sulking now. Unfortunately, he has to pretend to be a nice person, even though that's the last thing he wants to do.

"Can I take a selfie so I can show my sister?"

"Sure."

So they take their selfie, and after a few minutes of chatting that Castiel really doesn't want to deal with, Ryan leaves.

As much as Castiel doesn't want to go home, he knows he probably should. It's been hours since Dean... since he got here. He lets out a long breath, then makes his way over to his rental car.

The drive is both painfully long and far too quick, and then he's home. He pauses outside the door, his hand on the doorknob. It's not too late. He could turn around and make a run for it. Then again, all he really wants to do is face plant into his bed and ignore the outside world, and if walking past his brothers is what it takes, that's what he'll do.

He opens the door slowly, hoping to avoid making any unnecessary loud squeaking noises from the old hinges. Somehow, even with his nearly silent entrance, Lucifer knows he's here, because he walks up to the door... calmly? He's being calm. What the hell?

"Hey, Castiel," he greets his brother with a smile. "What's up?"

Castiel makes some noise that can only be described as "Mm," walking away without really looking at the older boy.

"You should come hang with us," Lucifer says, but Castiel ignores him.

He knocks on the door of his bedroom, checking to see if Gabriel is there. When he comes to the conclusion that it's empty, he walks in and shuts the door quietly, flopping onto the bed with his face buried in his pillow.

He did pretty good today. He managed to keep it together, even if that meant sitting in isolated silence for hours. But all alone here in his room, he breaks down in tears. It's not like he has anything left to cheer him up. Not anymore.