Dean and Castiel are alone in the living room later that day when Castiel finally brings it up.

"Dean?" he says hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think this friendship thing is working out."

"What? Why?" Dean asks quickly.

"Because I don't know you," Castiel replies. "Like, I know what you've told me, but I don't really know who you are." It's not really true; Castiel has a lot of his memories with Dean back. It makes this even harder to do, but he knows he has to.

"I'm sure you'll remember me soon," Dean replies. "Until then, just pretend I'm a new friend of yours."

"I can't. I'm sorry, Dean."

Castiel avoids looking at him, not wanting to see the broken expression he wears. "Cas, don't do this. Please."
"I'm sorry."

And that is the end of their friendship.

~

The next day, Lucifer drives Gabriel and Castiel to school. Almost immediately, Charlie finds them, and she bounds up to the younger boy excitedly.

"Hey, Castiel! And, uh, you."

Gabriel laughs. "Don't worry. I'll get lost for ya." He walks away, making Castiel jealous that he can do that.

"So, what's new, Castiel?" Charlie asks.

Castiel frowns. He really doesn't want to have friends, but he likes Charlie. Sure, he's barely spoken to her, but he's already decided she's one of the nicest people out there. Maybe he'll let himself have one friend. Just one.

"Nothing," Castiel lies, as if he didn't remember some life changing facts last night. "How about you?"

"Same," Charlie replies. "Life is too boring. Can I bring you to class again today?"

She sounds so excited, he can't say no.

"Sure," Castiel agrees.

"Yay!"

She wheels him over to his first class, and they chat for a while outside of their rooms. Finally, people begin to show up, and Castiel rolls himself to his seat. Charlie tries to help him, but Castiel brushes her offer off. He can do this much.

Charlie goes to her class as well, and Castiel is stuck in the lonely back corner that he loves so much. Everything is nice and quiet for him. That is, until Sam Winchester sits down next to him.

"Hey," Sam says quietly.

Castiel looks up at him in surprise. He forgot Sam said he was in this class.

"Hi?" he replies uncertainly. Why is Sam talking to him?

"I know we aren't really best friends or anything, but I've got to ask. What happened with you and Dean?"

Castiel frowns. He should have known that was what this is about.

"That's none of your business," Castiel replies.

"It's my brother," Sam reminds him. "That makes it my business. He's been sulking around since last night, and it's getting really annoying."

"He'll live," Castiel replies simply. "And so will you."

"Yeah, but seriously, what's going on?" Sam asks. "He looks like a lost puppy. Like, it looks like you found a little puppy on the streets, brought it to Nebraska, kicked it in the gut, and left it there. You can't just go around kicking little puppies in the gut in places far away."

"I never kicked a puppy," Castiel says, confused.

"No, Dean is the puppy that you metaphorically kicked," Sam explains.

"Oh."

"So whatever happened between you two ends now, and you need to go find him and make up," Sam finishes.

"That's not going to happen," Castiel replies.

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Seriously, Castiel. I don't know what happened with you guys, but stop it."

"Dean will get over it soon, and it'll all be fine," Castiel replies.

And though Sam tries to reason with him, by the end of class, he's given up. Castiel is too stubborn. They both know that nothing Sam says will help.

~~

Castiel refuses to go to lunch. Charlie wants to go with him, but he manages to convince her to eat with Kevin instead of following him. He goes to his next class with the intention of waiting outside the door until someone opens it for him.

He hears a loud banging sound, getting his attention immediately. He's grown all too familiar with the metal clanks and the loud thuds. He hears indistinct talking, and possibly some sobbing. Though every fiber of his being tells him not to go, he decides to check it out anyway.

Crowley, Alastair and Azazel are standing in one of the hallways, a small, wimpy looking boy pinned to the locker in front of them. There are tears streaming down the boy's face as he looks up at them, fear in his eyes.

"Hey!" Castiel yells, getting their attention.

"Beat it, angel," Crowley snaps. "This isn't your place. Not anymore."

Castiel knows he should probably back down, but he doesn't. "Why not?" he demands.

"You're out of commission," Alastair replies. "For now, anyway. Tell ya what. As soon as you get out of all that plaster, we'll come back to you. Deal?"

"No," Castiel says, knowing as he does that he's being an idiot. "Leave him alone."

"Really, angel? Would you rather take his place now?" Crowley asks.

Castiel hesitates. He absolutely despises when they mess with him, but something makes him want to stop them from hurting this boy. Maybe it's because he reminds Castiel of himself, or how he used to be. Back when he was small and new to the world of high school torment. Back before being beaten to tears became the normal for him. Maybe Castiel just wants to save this boy before it's too late, before the boy breaks like Castiel did a long time ago.

"Yes," Castiel says, his voice shaking despite his best efforts to keep it strong.

Azazel laughs. "You're going to regret that."

He lets the other boy go, who immediately runs away from them. Suddenly, Castiel finds himself pinned against the wall, his wheelchair lying on its side nearby. He doesn't even know how it happened, but he doesn't care. He'll let them do what they want, and he'll be the only one to pick up the pieces, just like he always is.

"Hey!" a voice yells down the hall. Castiel recognizes it immediately as Gabriel. What's he doing here? "Leave him alone!"

Whoever was holding Castiel up — Castiel gave up on keeping track of the fight a couple minutes ago — drops him. He falls to the ground, fortunately moving his legs out from under him so he doesn't land on the cast or boot.

"What do you want, Gabriel?" Alastair asks, annoyed. "We're kind of in the middle of something here."

"I want you to leave my brother alone," Gabriel replies.

"Oh, right. I forgot you were brothers," Azazel says. "But he asked for this, so quit complaining."

"He didn't ask for this!"

"Yes, he did," Crowley replies, looking down at Castiel. "Didn't you, angel?"

When Castiel doesn't respond, Crowley kicks him in the ribs, and Castiel is glad he had two weeks to heal from their last fight, because it would have hurt way more if he didn't.

"Didn't you?" Crowley repeats. "Come on, speak!"

Castiel groans at the kick, then manages to get out, "Yes," one weak word that satisfies the boys.

"I don't care," Gabriel replies. "Leave him alone."

"Careful, Gabriel," Alastair says in a low voice, his tone a warning. "We may tolerate you because of Sam, but you could easily end up being the next Castiel."

"The Novak legacy," Azazel adds. "The school punching bags. And maybe it would be carried on to your little brother and sister, too. Who knows?"

"I would much rather be a 'school punching bag' than a grade-A douchebag like you," Gabriel replies, not missing a beat.

"You say that now, but you wouldn't last a day," Azazel replies. "You could be one of us, you know. You don't even have to join the team. You just need to stop spending every single moment of every single day thinking about how people feel bad just seize the moment."

"I'll pass," Gabriel replies. "Now fuck off."

"What did you just say to us?" Alastair demands.

"I'm sorry, are you deaf?" Gabriel asks. "I said fuck off."

"Looks like the Novaks are going to leave their legacy," Crowley says. "Faggot and Idiot. You should know better than to talk to us like that."

"Oh, really? Because your feelings aren't very high on my list of things I give a fuck about," Gabriel replies.

"And your wellbeing isn't on mine," Azazel replies.

Castiel is sort of aware of Gabriel getting shoved into a locker, but he can't really find it in him to care. His head hurts too much to really care what's going on right now.

"What the hell?" Sam demands, marching down the hall angrily. He pulls Azazel off of Gabriel, who staggers a bit, trying to find his balance after being thrown into the locker. "Seriously, what the hell?"

"Sorry, Samantha," Crowley replies, obviously not sorry at all. "Your boyfriend got in the way."

"He's not my boyfriend," Sam corrects him. "But leave him alone. And while you're at it, leave Castiel alone. Hell, why can't you just leave everyone alone?"

"Wow, Sam, I always knew you were soft, but this is low, even for you," Azazel says.

"Get lost," Sam snaps. "I'll deal with you at practice."

"We'll be waiting," Alastair replies before he, Azazel, and Crowley walk away. It's not a walk of shame, and they clearly aren't fazed by what Sam said. It was enough to get them to leave, though, and Castiel is grateful.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel asks, kneeling down next to Castiel, who is sitting on the floor with his back against the wall.

"Yeah, that — that was nothing," Castiel replies. "I'm fine." He reaches for his wheelchair to pull himself up. Gabriel tries to help him, but Castiel brushes him off.

"Okay, seriously, Castiel. Enough with this 'independent woman who don't need no man' crap," Gabriel says.

"I'm sorry, I don't — I don't know what you mean by that," Castiel replies, puzzled.

"I mean stop pushing everyone away," Gabriel clarifies. "I don't know what happened that made you decide it was a good idea, but it's not. And whatever memory you got back that made you decide to stop talking to us again, I wish it never came back, because you need someone to look out for you. I think we proved that today."

"I appreciate you guys trying to help," Castiel replies. "But I really did ask for this, and it's not your place to stop it."

"You asked for it," Gabriel repeats, his skepticism clear in his tone. "You went up to them and said, 'Will you please beat the fuck out of me?'"

"Yes," Castiel replies.

Gabriel facepalms. "Why the fuck did you do that?" he asks, exasperated.

"They were picking on another kid."

"And what, you felt left out? Wanted in on the fun?" Gabriel asks, starting to sound angry at Castiel's decision making.

"No, I just... No."

"You just what?" Gabriel demands. "What made you think that was a good idea?"

"I just didn't want him to turn out like me," Castiel says quietly.

Gabriel doesn't say anything for a moment, but when he does, it's not at all what Castiel expected.

"Well, I'd fucking hope not."

"Gabriel!" Sam hisses, smacking him on the shoulder.

"What? It's true! I wouldn't want him turning out like Castiel either. Because, let's be honest here, Castiel, your life sucks. And the way you handle it sucks too. As soon as things get bad, you push everyone else away, when you should be doing the exact opposite. And I could deal with you pushing me away. I didn't like it, but I could deal. But Dean was possibly the best thing to ever happen to you. You finally had the chance to make a friend, and you threw it out the fucking window."

Castiel attempts to roll away, but he can't move faster than two people with two functioning legs, and Gabriel stops him, moving the wheelchair back into the wall and not allowing him to move.

"You can't keep running from your problems," Gabriel tells him. "So tell me, honestly, what is going on? What changed that made you stop talking to us?"

"I don't know," Castiel lies.

"Bullshit. It happened after you started remembering stuff. What memory do you have that is so bad, it's made you decide not to talk to us at all?"

"I don't know," Castiel repeats.

"Dammit, Castiel! I know you're lying. What is your problem?"

"You don't want to know," Castiel replies. "Trust me."

"Trust you? Why would I trust you? It's not like you ever return the favor."

"If that's supposed to be an insult, it's not working. I already know that."

"I'm sure you do. But I don't care. That's not the point here. You're my brother, Castiel. I want to help you, but I can't do that if you don't talk to me."

"Not that that's stopped you from trying," Castiel mutters under his breath.

"What are you talking about?" Gabriel asks.

Crap. He wasn't supposed to hear that.

"Castiel!" Gabriel claps his hands loudly in front of Castiel's face. "What are you talking about?"

"You really want to know?" Castiel asks.

"Damn straight I do."

"I never asked for your help because I knew you would make it worse. I know why I'm like this, with the wheelchair and stuff. When you went to talk to Alastair, Azazel, and Crowley, they got mad that because they thought I told you what they do to me and... Well, this happened."

The shock on Gabriel's face makes Castiel wish he had kept his vow of silence.

"They did that because of me?"

"No," Castiel says quickly. "It was because I was stupid and didn't tell you to drop it."

But that's not what Castiel thinks is the stupidest thing he did. He should have barricaded the door when he tried to kill himself. The fact that the thought never occurred to him until now surprises him, but if he could have just made sure Gabriel couldn't get to him in time, he wouldn't have to deal with this.

"No, you did tell me to drop it," Gabriel reminds him. "Like, a hundred times. You just never said why."

"Well, now you know."

Gabriel exhales slowly, processing this. "Man, I'm sorry, Castiel. I didn't realize..."

"It's fine," Castiel assures him.

"It's not fine," Gabriel replies. "Now you're in a wheelchair for, what, six weeks?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine." He's used to this. Not this bad, maybe, but pain in general.

"I don't know how you do it," Gabriel says.

"What?"

"This. My back is killing me."

Castiel chuckles. He thinks that's bad? He could never last a day in Castiel's life, that's for sure.

"You know, laughing at people's pain is generally considered rude and sadistic," Sam tells him.

"I'm not laughing at his pain," Castiel protests. "I'm laughing at the fact that he's in pain from that. There's a difference."

"Barely," Gabriel replies. He groans, pressing his lips together in a tight line as he stretches his back. "No, seriously though, this hurts."

"Suck it up," Castiel and Sam say at once.

"Great, guys. Thanks for caring," Gabriel says sarcastically.

"If it makes you feel better, I don't really care about anyone, so it's nothing personal," Castiel replies.

"That was a lie," Gabriel says. "You care about Deano. So you should go make up, like, right now. Or before we get home. Please."

"Why before we get home?" Castiel asks.

"Because Lucifer will not be happy if his OTP sinks before it even sails."

"What does that mean?" Castiel asks, puzzled.

"You don't want to know," Gabriel replies. "Now, go talk to Dean."

"No."

"Why not?" Gabriel asks in a whining tone.

"Because."

"Please?"

"No."

Gabriel pulls out a bag of skittles and pulls out a red one. "Pretty please with a cherry skittle on top?" He holds it out to his brother.

"No."

Gabriel groans. "Dammit, Castiel, stop being so annoying and stuff!"

"No."

Gabriel makes a strange, inhuman noise that can only be described as one of excessive anger.

Sam laughs. "Calm yourself."

"Okay, seriously? This is your brother, too," Gabriel reminds him. "You should be joining me and Lucifer on ship Destiel."

"I feel like ship is a bit much," Sam replies. "How about friendship Destiel?"

"What are you even talking about?" Castiel asks.

"Nothing," Gabriel replies. "But just know that you are now part of a twenty dollar bet so let's go."

"We never said that," Sam protests.

"What, you don't want to bet?" Gabriel asks.

"Oh, I'm taking this bet," Sam replies. "But we never agreed to it. Until now, anyway."

Gabriel waves a dismissive hand. "Technicalities." He turns back to Castiel. "Alright, now you're center in a bet. So go find Dean."

"Fine," Castiel replies, starting to wheel away. When Gabriel tries to help him, Castiel brushes him off. If Gabriel helps, he'll see that Castiel has no intention of finding Dean at all.