My love for you is as permanent as the ink on your arms.

He got a text from Benny--again. He actually thought he could convince Dean to go to some stupid party when finals were on Tuesday. That would be quite the feat.

He texted him back; "You know I can't, I'm studying for finals."

And Benny quickly replied; "YOLO, Dean. YOLO"

Dean smirked to himself. "That's not true. We're living every second until death. YODO: you only DIE once."

Benny texted him; "whatever :p"

Dean grinned and got back to studying. He was currently focusing on quantum physics, which a lot of people thought was quite advanced, but Dean found it to be fairly simple. Then again, he was much smarter than the average junior.

He was using flashcards, his favorite technique for studying. Obviously he would have a partner for that, but no one ever wanted to join him. So, he always ended up studying alone.

"'The standard equation for a wave'," He read off to himself. "Easy one." He recited the equation with ease, never missing a beat. And when he flipped the card over, he found that he was accurate as well as fluent. "Perfect." He smiled to himself.

This went on for a few hours, and he occasionally switched from quantum physics to advanced mechanics and the like. As he studied, though, he soon came to realize something he'd never quite considered before. He was... lonely.

He had so many friends, yet, all at once, he was completely alone. Even with them by his side, he was always alone. It was as if there was a deep, black pit in his stomach that he couldn't quite fill. He decided that it had to have been due to his unique intellect, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind saying otherwise.

He soon decided that it was getting late, and he should get some sleep. Perhaps all he needed was some rest to get these thoughts out of his head. He put away his study material and tried to sleep, only to find that he couldn't. He was unable to sleep the previous night as well. This was becoming a problem for Dean lately.

Not only was he simply not tired, but he was positively restless. He quietly went to the kitchen and made a glass of warm milk, figuring that would help. And, of course, it did not. He tried counting sheep, which he didn't even believe would work. And he was correct. Then he tried calculating pi.

"3.14159265358... 97932384626433832795...02884197169399... 375105820974...944592307816... 4062862089986280348...2534211706798214... 808... 651... 3... 2..."

And it nearly worked, until he realized he wasn't really falling asleep. He just got bored. Of course. After all, calculating pi was such a simple task. Perhaps if he made it a challenge, then he could finally get some well deserved rest.

And it hit him; the square root of pi.

"Alright. Square root of pi. 1.77245385... 0905516... 0272981... 67483341- I give up!"

He decided that sleep was impossible and decided to take a walk. He usually took late night walks to clear his mind. He changed into some blue jeans and a white T-shirt and threw on a maroon hoodie as it was cold out. 52 degrees Fahrenheit to be exact.

He quietly walked outside and realized that the wind chill dropped the temperature to 39 degrees, and he zipped up his hoodie. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and started walking down the pavement, shoving his hands in his pockets.

He checked the time on his cell phone as he walked and realized it was 12:18. A bit earlier than his last late night walk. This was how he spent many Friday nights lately. Studying, insomnia, then walk. The walking helped a bit. Not with the sleeping, obviously, but it just overall... helped. With thoughts in general.

The first thing he thought of was his parents. And how often they've been fighting.

His mom, Mary, thought that his father, John, was spending much too many hours away from home. But he always said that it was because of his job, to which she would snap, "Since when do mechanics stay out all night?"

This usually lead to the "Who is she?" questions. But Dean knew that his father would never cheat. He was an honest man, he would never. And while they fought it out, they never took into consideration that the walls were quite thin. And there were two boys who could hear every word.

Perhaps this was why Dean could never sleep. He constantly had his parents' arguments looming over him. Perhaps it was all bottled up stress.

Then he remembered the way his little brother, Sam, has been acting at school recently. His grades were slipping, and he didn't seem to pay any attention in class. It kind of hurt seeing his brother like this. He knew exactly what was going on. He remembered the two of them talking, and Sam was afraid that their mom and dad were going to split up. No eighth grader should have to go to school with that in their head.

The whole situation was just too much for him, and it distracted him to the point where he didn't even notice the guy in front of him until he walked right into him.

"Hey!" He spoke with a rough voice and British accent. "Watch where you're going, you stupid git!"

"S-sorry." Dean murmured, clearing his throat.

"Wait a minute, I know you." He paused, thinking of where he might have seen him. "Winchester? The bookworm?"

"How did you-"

"You're Dean Lose-chester!" He cackled. "What do you think you're doing out here, geekazoid?"

"Just going for a walk." He spoke a bit sternly.

"At nearly half past midnight? That's a barrel of laughs."

Dean was done talking to this boy now. "Whatever. I'm just gonna leave now." He tried to walk past, until he was grabbed by the arm.

"Nuh uh. You're not walking away so easily. I've been planning on messing with you in ways that'll make your head spin, Lose-chester."

"Let me go!" He tried to writhe out of his grip, but it was clear that this guy was much stronger than him.

"Hey!" A deep voice called from behind the boy, making him turn around. "What the hell is your glitch, Crowley?"

"Novak. So we meet again. Care to help me toss this kid in a dumpster?"

The boy, Novak, scoffed, approaching the two of them. "Go to hell, douchewad."

"Please. Have you met me? I'm practically their king."

"Let the kid go, asshat." He growled, intimidating even Dean. Of course, it could have had to do with the leather jacket with spiked shoulders, or his short, dark Mohawk with an icy blue flare on top.

"Why should I? Because you asked so nicely?"

"Because if you don't, I'll rip your skeleton out of your asshole and tie your empty meatsuit to a tree and wear your ribs as a hat."

This was a boy to fear, Dean could tell. His fiery glare, his thick eyeliner, his brass knuckles, not to mention the several tattoos covering his arms. Dean was actually kind of worried about what he would do to him once he was done with Crowley.

But Crowley merely scoffed. "You're bluffing."

"You really wanna test me, bitch?"

There was a moment as Crowley's anger flared, and he stared this Novak down with pure hatred in his eyes. "Go cut yourself, Castiel. I hope you die." He let Dean go, shoving him into Castiel, and walked away.

Dean gathered himself, stepping away from Castiel. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, dusting himself off.

"You okay?" Castiel asked him. "I know Crowley can be a real dickface." These odd insults fascinated Dean to no end.

"I-I'm fine. Uh, thanks."

"No problem. I make it a habit to impart justice upon the world."

"No offense, but you... don't look the justice type." He noticed Castiel's many piercings on his ears, lips, and nose, and the small one on his left eyebrow, and the red toothpick in his mouth.

Castiel grinned. "So I've been told. So, what's your name?"

"Oh, uh, Dean. Dean Winchester."

"Cool. You can call me Cas. Y'know, I think we go to the same school. You go to Edlund?"

"Yeah. I'm a junior there."

Castiel grinned. "Get out! I'm a junior, too! Funny, we don't have any classes."

"Well, I'm a bit... advanced. Are you... advanced?"

He laughed. "Hells to the naw. Just regular classes that I'm regularly failing."

"Oh. Y'know, if you want, I can tutor you. Which classes are you failing?"

"Uh, every one of them except PE and lunch."

"Well, lunch isn't really a-" He stopped when he caught Castiel's incredulous look. "Oh. Joke. Funny."

"Gee, tutoring. Sounds lame ass."

"Well, we can make it fun, I'm sure."

He scoffed. "Oh yeah. Nothing more fun than math and stuff."

"I'm sure there's a way to make math fun. Like when I was in middle school I invented Mathgammon."

Castiel chuckled softly, finding all this amusing. "Dean, I appreciate it, but I'm not really looking to be tutored right now."

"Please, I need to repay you for helping me out. Also, I could use a study buddy."

Cas sighed, not really wanting a study buddy. "Can't you find anyone else?"

"No. Everyone I ask just blows me off. My brother just hates studying, and my parents are always too busy fighting to care, and even when they do find time, they just complain to me about their problems."

Cas seemed to take pity on him, and finally gave in. "Fine. Just a little bit of study time."

Dean grinned. "Okay. Just a little bit."

"So, where should we meet? Your house, the library?"

"Well, I guess we can meet at my place."

"Sweet. Where do you live?"

Dean gave him his address, happy that he finally had a legitimate study partner. Not to mention he was going to tutor him. He could impart his near limitless knowledge of the sciences upon this boy that he met on the street.

"Okay, when should we meet?" Cas asked.

"How about tomorrow? At 6:30."

"I can swing it. Sweet, it's a date!"

Dean chuckled weakly. "No, it's not a date. It's a study session."

"Whatever you wanna call it, sweetie," Cas winked. "See you tomorrow at 6:30." And he walked away, leaving Dean blushing on the sidewalk.

Who did he just invite to his house?

He walked back home, letting out a long yawn as he walked through the front door. Perhaps now he could get some sleep. He snuck back into his bedroom, closing the door softly behind him. His parents were unaware of his midnight walks, which was why he had to be so stealthy.

He yawned again and took off his jacket. He found that he was too tired to change clothes and ended up collapsing on the bed, falling asleep in an instant.