Me and my little brother, Sam, were at the state fair. Our father wasn't with us. He was still... grieving. After what happened to our mom. She recently died and dad couldn't wrap his head around that. We tried to get him to join us, but he was too sad.

I was almost eight at the time and Sammy was three. Just a week until my birthday, and I could shrug off the age of seven, and transition into eight-year-oldness.

We were having a great time at the fair. There were so many prizes to be won, so many rides to be rode, and so many snacks to be eaten. We ate so much cotton candy that day, we were about to burst.

We were walking aimlessly through the fair, with cones of cotton candy in our hands, and I had a red balloon. I kept looking around, when I saw a boy around my age walking blithely through the fair nearby. I noticed his eyes more than anything. They were so blue.

He was holding a balloon of his own, which was red like mine. In his other hand, he held a chocolate ice cream cone. He was bursting with joy until he tripped and let go of his balloon, the helium carrying it away. His ice cream was all over the ground, melting in the hot California sun.

I wasn't sure what to do. I felt bad for the poor kid. He sat up and watched his balloon float away. He started crying, and I knew I had to do something.

I looked down at Sam. "Stay here, okay Sammy?"

He nodded slowly, eating some of his cotton candy. I went over to the blue eyed boy, who was still on the ground crying.

I knelt beside him. "Hey, are you okay?" I asked softly.

He looked up at me with teary blue orbs. "I-I'm fine. I'm okay. But... Balloonie's gone."

"Balloonie?"

He nodded and pointed up at the sky, where his balloon was now nothing more than a red dot. "My b-balloon. I-I named him... B-Balloonie. And he's g-gone," He sniffed, another tear falling down his chipmunk cheek. "A-and I... I d-dropped my-my ice cream." He stammered.

"Here, want some of my cotton candy?" I offered, holding out the cone for him.

He gingerly took a small piece of cotton candy as I glanced over my shoulder at Sammy, who was being distracted by a butterfly. Cute little rascal.

"Th-thank you. N-no one's ever b-been so nice to m-me before. Th... thank you." He mumbled. I really liked this kid. He was cute.

"It's nothing. My name is Dean. What about you?"

"C-Castiel. M-my na-name is C-Castiel. Really, thank yo-you."

"Really, it's nothing. I'm here to help. C'mon, let me help you up."

I held out my hand, which he took in his own. I helped him stand, brushing the dirt off his clothes. I then wiped the dirt and tears from his cute little chubby cheeks. He looked so sad, but his eyes were such a happy shade of blue.

He sniffed. "Balloonie's still g-gone. I-I-I want my B-Balloonie back."

"Here," I handed him my balloon. "Have mine. I don't really want it anyway."

"N-no. I-I can't take y-yours. Really, I-I'm fine."

"I insist. I'll be fine without it. It's okay."

He reluctantly took the balloon, our fingers brushing as he grasped the string. I suddenly blushed for some reason. I could see him blush too.

"Th-thank you, Dean. I-I've never m-met someone as sweet as-as you."

I scoffed. "I'm not sweet. I'm just nice."

He suddenly flashed me a bright little smile. "Nope. Sweet."

"Oh really? Do I have to show you how not sweet I am? Cause I will."

He giggled. "S-sweet and f-funny. I-I l-like you, D-Dean."

I chuckled. "I like you too, Castiel. Jeez, that's a mouthful. How about Cas?"

He didn't even have to think twice before nodding his head enthusiastically. "You c-can call m-me anything, sweet b-boy." He giggled.

I smiled. "You gotta work on that stammer, Cas."

He frowned and looked down at his feet. "I-I kn-know. My d-daddy says that t-t-too."

I didn't mean to make him feel bad, which made me feel bad. I tried to brighten his spirits. "Hey, let's be friends."

He looked up at me happily, a bright smile lighting up his face. "I-I would l-love to be-be your fr-friend, Dean."

We went back over to Sammy, who was still waiting where he was supposed to. "Cas, this is my little brother, Sammy."

"Hiya, S-Sammy!" Cas smiled.

"Your eyes look like tha ocean." He mumbled in that childlike way.

I laughed a bit harder than I should've. Cas giggled a bit too.

"Sorry bout him. He says all the wrong things."

"It's ok-kay. He's b-better than my b-brother. Big bro-brothers are the wo-worst."

"Hey! I'm a big brother!" I joked.

He seemed to take it to heart. "I-I'm sor-sorry, D-Dean. I-I di-didn't th-think ab-bout th-that."

"Hey, it's fine. I was just joking. Do you have any other family?"

"The-there's my daddy and my-my m-mommy a-and Ga-Gabriel my big br-brother and my baby si-sister Anna."

"There's just me, Sammy, and my dad. My mom... died two and a half months ago."

"Oh, I-I'm s-sorry. I di-didn't kn-know that."

A wave of sadness washed over me at the thought of my mom. "It... it's fine, Cas."

He suddenly wrapped his arms around me, causing me to blush again.

"Um... Cas, what're you doing?"

"M-my mo-mommy says... hugs are f-for healing."

I smiled, growing more and more fond of this cute little kid. "Wanna go on the Ferris wheel with me and Sammy?"

He looked up at me with bright blue eyes. "Sure!"

We bought tickets for the Ferris wheel and got on, Cas bursting with excitement. It's like he'd never ridden a Ferris wheel before.

I sat in the middle with Sam sitting on my right and Cas on my left. He was just so excited and I couldn't help but smile. This was the most adorable kid I'd ever met.

Pretty soon, we started moving. Cas squealed with delight as we got higher and higher. But it wasn't long before he looked a bit anxious.

"D-Dean. W-we're getting... re-really high. Are we s-supposed to g-get this hi-high?"

I held his hand. "Don't worry, Cassie. You're not gonna fall. You'll be okay."

"Dean... it's re-really s-scary up here. I-I've never b-been so high up be-before." He leaned into me, burying his face in my shoulder, wrapping his arms around my own, keeping a tight hold of his balloon.

"It's okay, Cassie. I won't let you fall. You'll be fine."

We soon reached the top, and there was a beautiful view of the sun setting on the horizon. It barely touched the mountains beyond, turning the sky into a perfect blend of pink and orange, the colors merging into one another, splashing over the blue the sky already was.

"Cassie, look." I smiled, urging him to see what I saw.

He briefly looked up, and had to do a double take. He gasped slightly at the beautiful sunset. He smiled brightly. "Wow." He whispered.

"I know. Pretty, isn't it?"

"Uh huh," He nodded. "Dean... th-this is the-the best d-day of my l-life."

"I'm glad. I'm glad you're having a good time. If you're happy, I'm happy."

He yawned and stretched his arms a little. "The s-sunset is ma-making me s-sleepy."

I smiled and held him close. "Well don't fall asleep yet, Cassie."

He sighed lightly. "I'll t-try."

"Do or do not. There is no try."

He giggled. "O-okay, Yoda."

It's official. This kid is awesome.

"Are you here with your mom or dad?"

"Um... yeah, a-actually. I-I should pr-probably go f-find him. Why?"

"Uh, no reason. Just wanted to make sure you weren't here alone."

"Hey, a-after the f-fair, do you wa-wanna come over t-to my house?"

I grinned. "Yeah, as long as it's okay with my dad." I had a feeling he wouldn't care, since all he ever cares about is moping these days.

His smile grew, and he tried to suppress his excitement. "I-I've never had a fr-friend over be-before."

"Really?"

He shook his head. "I... I've n-never had a friend b-before." He seemed a little sadder.

"Well now you do. Now you have a best friend."

He immediately lit up, wrapping his arms around me again. I laughed and hugged him back. Cute kid. Really cute kid.

"M-maybe you can sl-sleep over!" He looked up at me excitedly.

"Hey, I still need to ask my dad about it. Keep your shorts on."

"Okay... s-sweet boy." He giggled.

I just sighed and shook my head. He was cute, but one of these days, I'd tackle the little guy.

After the Ferris wheel, we decided it was getting pretty late. Cas gave me his address and phone number and I gave him mine. I was a little impressed that he remembered his address so well. It took me ages to memorize mine.

"O-okay. I-I should go f-find my d-daddy." He looked down at his feet shyly.

I smiled. "You want me to come with you, don't you?"

He looked back up at me with puppy dog eyes. "W-will you?"

I chuckled and decided to help him find his dad. It was difficult, as there was a sea of people.

"Okay, what's your dad look like?" I asked as he, Sam and I walked through the fair.

"Um... h-he's really tall... he has a b-beard... he wears g-glasses... um... a-and he's re-really skinny."

I just smiled and shook my head. "Okay. That really narrows it down."

"I-I'm sorry I c-can't be more useful. I... I'm never much he-help to anyone."

"Hey, I'm sure you're tons of help."

"T-trust me, I-I'm not."

Pretty soon, I spotted someone who matched his description. "Hey, what about that guy?"

He followed my gaze, smiling a bit before walking toward him. "That's him! Daddy!" He called out for the man.

The man heard his voice and saw him running up to him, and he smiled down at him. "Hey, Castiel! Where'd you wander off to?" He knelt beside him.

"I... I was... t-trying to... find you. But... I tripped and... f-fell. I... I dropped Balloonie, but... Dean gave me... his." He gestured back at me.

The man saw me and Sam and his smile grew a bit. "Oh. Are you Dean then?" He asked me.

"Yeah. And this is my brother, Sam." I looked down at Sammy, who was just looking at everything.

"Daddy... I was... h-hoping to... invite Dean o-over. But... he has to... a-ask his daddy first."

"Well, if it's okay with your father, it's okay with me," He assured me. "I'm always telling Castiel he needs to make new friends. Isn't that right, sport?" He ruffled Cas's hair.

Cas groaned. "Daddyyyy! S-stop iiiiiit!" He whined, fixing his wavy, almost curly hair. But it kept sticking up all over the place.

"Where is your father?" Cas's dad asked me.

"He didn't come with us. We walked from our house which is pretty close. You can actually see it from the Ferris wheel."

Cas gasped excitedly. "Daddy, the Ferris wheel is amazing! Have you ever tried it?"

"Yes, I've been on a Ferris wheel," He chuckled. "Well... Dean, we're gonna be leaving in a little while. Maybe we can give you a lift up to your house and you can ask your dad about coming over. Sound good?"

"Yeah. Sounds good."

"Oh, and my name is Mr. Novak. That is, Shurly-Novak. You can just call me Chuck."

He gave me and Sam a ride to our house. He had a nice-ish car. Sam, Cas and I sat in the back. I got the left window seat while Cas sat in the middle and Sam sat on the right side. He should've had a booster seat, but it wasn't a long drive.

Once we arrived, I got out of the car, taking Sam with me. I walked in the house where my dad was watching TV on the couch. As always.

"Uh... dad, I'm gonna stay over at a friend's house. Is that cool?"

He just nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah. Yeah. Fine."

I honestly felt bad for him. He loved my mom, and she... died. I was hurting too, but I at least managed to get out of bed in the morning. After all, I was usually the one taking care of Sammy.

"See you tomorrow then."

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah."

I didn't really need any extra clothes. I'd be fine with what I had. I got back in Chuck's car, who drove to his house.

"A-are you okay?" Cas asked me, noticing my forlorn look.

I shrugged. "I'm fine. Fine."

I just stared out the window, watching the cars roll on by, the pedestrians walking down the sidewalk. I really wasn't fine. I was the opposite of fine. After everything that's happened to my family, I was the friggin poster boy for not fine at all.