"Ya bitch is here with breakfast!" Gabriel yelled when Cas opened the door for him at 7:16 that morning. Cas held back a laugh as Gabriel practically ran into the dorm room with a bag of donuts in hand, stumbling a little from the sheer force of the speed he was going. Gabriel, once steady, placed the box on the table and opened it, waving to the selection of donuts. "Alright, pick your poison."

Cas reached a hand out and grabbed a french crueler, biting into it joyfully. Dean, however, took a double chocolate donut with chocolate frosting while Gabriel grabbed a simple chocolate frosted with rainbow sprinkles. Gabriel, with his donut in hand, laid onto the couch, sitting with his legs spread out.

"Gabriel, can you sit more appropriately?" Cas remarked, pursing his lips in distaste.

"Sorry," Gabriel remarked, stretching his legs out even further, "I'm too gay to sit normally."

Dean stifled a laugh, quickly covering his mouth with his open hand. Cas just sighed in mild exasperation.

"So," Gabriel bit into his donut, "how's your last weeks before finals treating you two?"

"Better than I was expecting." Dean murmured, munching on his donut. He moved a little more towards the box, letting his eyes scan over the selection of donuts. "I'm dying, of course, but my professors aren't giving nearly as much review as I was expecting."

"That's good." Gabriel murmured as he finished off his donut. He stood and grabbed another chocolate frosted, which just so happened to be the only other chocolate frosted in the box. "My freshman year was an absolute nightmare. The professors never stopped piling work on us. Pretty sure 80% of my class had at least 3 breakdowns in the weeks leading up to finals."

"Then I'm glad my professors aren't insane." Dean remarked, cocking his head. Gabriel let out a laugh, shaking his head.

"Yeah. You be glad."

Dean continued eating, and he finished off his first donut with ease. Once done, he grabbed his backpack and heaved it onto his back. "I got an 8 am class, so I gotta run."

"Bye, Dean." Cas said with a wave, standing up to give Dean a proper goodbye. Dean waved in return before walking out and closing the door. Gabriel waited for a moment, observing Cas's behavior as Cas continued to wave a little even after the door was closed.

"So that's the guy you're in love with, hm?" Gabriel remarked before Cas could say anything. Cas whirled around in surprise and spluttered. "Hm. I don't think he deserves someone as great as you, but he's your crush."

"Gabriel! I'm not-"

"Oh can it baby bro. I've known you since you were a baby, I know what you're like when you're in love." Gabriel pulled a lollipop from his pocket and popped it into his mouth. Gabriel then stood and closed the donut box, letting his eyes drift over to Cas. "You need advice, you come to me. I know how oblivious you are in love."

Cas averted his eyes right as Gabriel walked over to him. Gabriel gave him a quick pat on the back before walking out of the dorm. Gabriel quietly closed th door as he left, leaving Cas alone to his thoughts.

~~~~~

After leaving his dorm, Dean reached his 8 am class pretty quickly. It was mostly because he decided to speedwalk to his classroom, given how far it was from the dorms. Dean might've hated running, but he was the type who easily excelled at athletics. He tended to be the fastest runner in all of his gym classes, something he actually prided himself on.

It was quite cold that morning, something Dean loved. He had donned an old leather jacket his dad had given him, something that oddly was his most prized possession. Perhaps it was because the one thing he got completely to himself, the one thing that was his and his alone. It was the one thing that he had had his entire life.

He had, in addition, donned a plaid jacket and a regular black shirt, and a pair of his favorite jeans. They were very worn and ripped with plenty of holes, but they were comfortable, so Dean loved them just the same.

When Dean got to the lecture room, it was almost nearly full. Kids sat all along the seats, but Dean bolted for the seat that was almost always empty. Sure enough, it was empty that morning, as always.

Dean set his bag down and sighed as he sat. He stretched a little, letting the muscles he didn't even know were tense relax. And man, did that feel nice. He then pulled out his phone and checked to see if he had gotten any messages from Sam yet. None. Dean quickly typed a little 'good morning' to Sam before stuffing his phone away to lay his head down.

A few minutes passed, and Dean's head snapped up when he abruptly heard footsteps. His eyes gazed up to see Charlie in front of him. She waved numbly before setting her bag down, and then she sat down, wiping a stray tear from her face. She had been crying quite a bit ever since Dorothy dumped her.

"Hey, I got you something." Dean announced. He fumbled around in his bag, then he handed Charlie a small bag. She took it with mild disinterest, but she soon stared in utter shock when she unwrapped a small ravenclaw necklace.

"Dean, you didn't." She shook her head, letting her eyes gaze up to Dean. Dean nodded, and so she took the necklace and put it on, then took a second to admire it. She immediately turned and hugged him. "Thank you. Thank you so, so much."

"Anything for you, Charlie." Dean replied with a smile. The sudden radiance that glowed on Charlie's face made Dean beam with joy. She twisted the necklace a little with her fingers, gently playing with it. She then held it in her palm and took a picture with the other hand, her eyes glowing as she gazed at the photo. Dean just continued to smile.

Not long after Charlie sat down, the professor stood up and started the daily lecture. Dean put his chin in his hand and twirled his pen around in his hand. Charlie began to doodle swirls on her paper with a red fine tip pen, a small smile on her face. Dean was happy to see her smile. It had been a few days.

~~~~~

"How were your classes?" Cas inquired the moment Dean stepped back into the dorm. Dean sighed and put his bag down, letting it fall to the floor with a loud thunk.

"They were alright." Dean replied with a long sigh. He collapsed onto the small couch, not bothering to sit properly. As he yawned, Cas walked over to him.

"Well, I need to start Christmas shopping for my family. Mind joining me?"

"I won't be able to buy much, but sure." Dean murmured, making no effort to move off of the couch. Cas exhaled a little and held out his hand, and after a few blank seconds, Dean took it. Cas pulled Dean up and Dean stumbled for a brief second before standing steady.

"Don't worry about paying." Cas took out his wallet and peered briefly into it. "I can cover you if you need anything extra."

Dean shook his head and grabbed his wallet, looking at the money that Bobby had given him for his December allowance. Bobby gave him $1000 a month, way more than Dean wanted. However, whenever Dean tried to fight Bobby on this, Bobby would insist that Dean needed that money, that he made enough to give Dean that much and that he would not take it back.
So far Dean had spent a little over $200, and most of it had been food; Cas usually bought food for the two of them, so Dean didn't have to pay for himself much.

"I'll be fine. You don't need to pay for me."

Cas turned and grabbed his keys, acting as though he hadn't heard the statement. He gazed over at Dean and cocked his head in the direction of the door. "You ready?"

Dean smiled a little and stood, fumbling in his stuff for his keys. Once his hands clasped the keys, he held them up proudly and made his way to the door. Cas held it open for him, the gentleman he was, and Dean, for once, didn't mind in the slightest. He walked out of the door and out into the dorm parking lot, striding over to the Impala. He dug the key into the lock and opened the front door, sliding over to unlock the passengers seat. Cas then climbed in, and Dean dug the keys into the ignition.

He drove to the nearby mall, which was surprisingly large for a town as small as theirs. Cas had plugged a gps in for directions, as Dean didn't know how to get to the mall.

The mall was fairly crowded for a tuesday, Dean thought. Cars littered the parking lot, so many of them that it was actually challenging to find a place to park.

It was, however, Christmas season, Dean reminded himself. Crowds weren't that peculiar in Christmas season.

After finally finding a place to park, Dean and Cas made their way to the mall entrance. They had parked near the JC Penny's, per Cas's request. Cas had said that JC Penny was the first stop on his list. When they walked into the store, however, Cas paused and stopped Dean.
"I know you said no money, but please take this." Cas handed Dean five twenties. "Buy something for your brother."

Dean shook his head, but Cas shoved the money into his hand and took off without another word. Dean groaned and stared at the money, eventually turning to stuffing it into his wallet. He muttered something under his breath as he began to walk to the nearest map of the mall. He had decided to buy his brother three things: a book on law, a new plaid shirt and something from Harry Potter. Dean didn't know exactly what from Harry Potter, but given that Sam was most likely a Ravenclaw, Dean wanted to get him something to do with Ravenclaw.

Dean sought for a plaid shirt in JC Penny's, taking to the men's section. Sam loved red, so Dean grabbed a red and black plaid shirt and took it to the cash register. The woman working there lifted her head and almost immediately smiled, as though it was rehearsed. She held her hand out and took the plaid shirt, placing it onto the table. She scanned it and lifted her head up once more.

"18.56." She spoke, holding her hand out. Dean gave her a twenty dollar bill, and she almost immediately dispensed it into the register and pulled out a dollar bill and some coins. "Have a nice day sir."

Dean nodded and took the bag with his purchase in it, and he clutched the bag in his hand. He then made his way to the next stop, which was Books a Million. Dean figured he'd find a law book there. Where better to find a book than a bookstore, right?

It took Dean a few minutes to reach the store, and it was surprisingly empty when he reached it. Other than the employees, only a dozen or so people were walking around in the store.
Realizing he didn't know what section was what, Dean turned his head and walked to the nearest employee. "Excuse me, where's the law section?"

The employee pointed to a section in the back right. Dean thanked him and walked over to the assortment of books, letting his eyes drift over them. There were guides, textbooks and even a few fictional stories, which had obviously been taken from a different section and misplaced. It took Dean a few minutes before his eyes finally landed on one, and he grabbed it. It was a guide for future lawyers or something like that, so Dean figured it'd be good for Sam.

Dean then made his way to the cash register, where an employee stood. They grabbed the book and scanned it diligently, not even looking up as they did so. When the scanner beeped, they looked up at the total, and then held out their hand. "21.30"

Dean handed them a twenty and two singles, to which the employee handed Dean a few coins of change. The employee dutifully wrapped the book in a bag, and handed it to Dean. When Dean began to walk away, the employee waved him off. Dean waved a little back as he made his way to the next store.

~~~~~

"You ready to go?" Cas asked when they finally met up after two hours of shopping. Dean glanced at him and nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

Cas heaved the five bags he was carrying and began to speedwalk towards the Impala. Dean dug the keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car, holding the door open for Cas. Cas ducked his head and began stuffing his bags into the car.

"You sure bought a lot." Dean commented as he watched Cas struggle to put his bags away. Cas let out a wry laugh.

"In my family, there's no such thing as a lot. You should see our tree." He shook his head a little as he pushed the final bag into the back, straining a little. "I don't know how we always afford all those presents at Christmas."

"Lucky." Dean murmured under his breath, digging the key into the ignition. He had always yearned for presents at Christmas, but the most he'd ever get was a few pencils or a new shirt.

Luckily, Cas didn't hear the remark.
Once all the bags were safely tucked in the car, Dean began to drive. By then, the streets were a bit more empty, and the drive back to the dorms was peaceful.

A month late but at least I'm trying!
Sorry for the hella long wait in between updates, I'm having really bad writers block with this story. That and I'm writing a series on ao3 and that's snagged most of my attention.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I hurried to write it over the past two days so it's rushed and probably poor quality, but I tried.
(I actually meant to upload this five days ago but it saved as a draft instead of publishing... whoops)
Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
~ Liz