Dean's POV

The annoying beeping of his alarm woke Dean up at five in the morning, way too early in his opinion. He turned off his alarm and dropped out of bed, literally. Cursing under his breath and rubbing his back, he made his way over to his bathroom. He took a quick shower and brushed his teeth, then picked something to wear from his closet.

He was still yawning one hour later as he made his way downstairs. He could see Sam already at the table, eating breakfast and reading a book.

"Morning, Dean," he said without looking up.

"Morning," Dean grumbled back. He could see Sam smirk, but he wisely didn't say anything about Dean still being half asleep. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down across from Sam. "Where's Dad?"

Sam stiffened a little and Dean could see an angry glare in his eyes. "Where else?"

Dean held back his sigh and finished his cereal. Dad was never here. Ever since Dean had been old enough to watch over Sam, he had practically been absent from their lives. He only spent a few hours a day at home, and most if not all of them were spent sleeping. He didn't purposely ignore them, he just was more into his work than he was into being a father.

They finished their breakfast in silence and Dean headed to the living room. Plopping on the couch, he let out a little sigh. Today was his first day of senior year. He wasn't worried about finals or anything, he had already been accepted into a college. No, he was worried about Sam.

Sam was a great kid, he had lots of friends, but it was his first day of freshman year and Dean knew that there were some major dicks in their school. But he was just being overprotective, as usual. He'd be fine.

"Dean, come on! We have to go!" Sam's voice pulled him from his trance and he looked at the clock. It was already 6:50 and school started at 7:15.

He grabbed his backpack and headed out the door. They hopped into the Impala, a birthday gift from Dad, and started the quick drive to Lawrence High School.

When they arrived at the school, it took Dean five minutes to find a parking spot and by that time the bell had already rung. He gave Sam his schedule and they rushed off to class. He just barely made it into his seat in the back of his homeroom class before the second bell rang. The teacher gave him a disapproving glare, but he ignored her.

He pulled out his phone and debated on whether or not to text Sam. He eventually decided that it wasn't worth the risk, and put his phone back in his pocket.

The teacher started going over the rules, the same thing she said every year on the first day. Tuning her out, Dean let his eyes wander over the other students. He knew most of these kids, but none of them were friends. There was one boy who caught his attention, though.

Lawrence was a small town, and it didn't normally get a lot of new kids. When one showed up, it was kind of a big deal. This new kid was sitting right next to Dean, in the most secluded seat in the room

He was pretty tall from what he could tell, but not as tall as Dean. He had messy black hair, bright blue eyes, and was actually pretty good looking. The new kid was wearing a plain white dress shirt with a blue tie, black skinny jeans, and black Chucks. He didn't look nervous, as one would expect, but his face held an expression of extreme concentration.

He was drawing in a large notepad, the corner of his tongue poking out of his mouth a little. Dean decided that he wanted to be friends with this strange boy, but he had no idea why. He didn't know what to say to start a conversation, but luckily he didn't have to because the boy turned to Dean and spoke first.

Sam's POV

Sam raced through the halls, looking for his homeroom class. He managed to slip in just as the bell rang. The stern looking teacher had his back turned, and Sam quietly slid into a seat in the back of the room. He looked around, slightly disappointed when he didn't see any of his friends.

He pulled out his book and started reading, ignoring the teacher and other kids. Well, he was trying to ignore them. The boy sitting next to Sam had other ideas. He was poking Sam in the arm, trying to get his attention. Irritated, Sam turned around to tell him to knock it off, but the boy spoke before Sam could.

"If x plus four to the second power is equal to y minus twenty, would y equal x plus thirty-six, or x minus four?"

Sam blinked in surprise and stared at the boy. He looked to be about Sam's height and had dark blonde hair that came to the top of his neck. His eyes were honey colored and he seemed to have a permanent smirk on his face. Sam would have taken him for the annoying pest type had he not just asked a question like that.

"Uh, y would equal x plus thirty-six," Sam answered. "You have to add twenty to both sides to isolate y."

"Oh, right! I always forget that part." The boy scribbled something down on a piece of paper before shoving it unceremoniously into his backpack and turning back to Sam. "I'm Gabriel Novak."

"Sam Winchester."

Gabriel pulled out a lollipop out of his bag and put it into his mouth before pulling out another and offering it to Sam. Smiling, he took the candy and slipped it into his pocket even though he knew he wouldn't eat it.

"What are you reading?" Gabriel asked. Sam looked at the book in his lap, then back up at Gabriel.

"You probably don't read this type of book," Sam said. Gabriel rolled his eyes.

"At least tell me the title."

"Peter and the Starcatchers."

Gabriel's eyes widened and he smiled. "I love that book! It's such a good series!"

"It's a series?"

"Yeah, that one is the first. Then there's Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, Peter and the Sword of Mercy, and the last one is called Bridge to Neverland. Personally, I think that the last one ruined the whole book series."

Sam and Gabriel talked for the whole period, first about the book series, then about anything that crossed their minds. Sam found that they actually had quite a lot in common and was delighted to find that they shared six of their eight periods.

The boys walked to their next class together, and sat next to one another in the back of the room so they could talk without the teacher noticing. Sam felt a buzzing in his pocket and pulled out his phone. It was a text from Dean, of course.

Dean: How's high school so far?

Sam: It's fine. I met this kid named Gabriel, he just moved here.

Dean: Is his last name Novak?

Sam: How'd you know?

Dean: Cuz I just met his brother.

Sam: Cool. Do we have the same lunch period?

Dean: Yeah, why?

Sam: I want to meet Gabriel's brother and I want you to meet Gabriel

Dean: Sounds like a plan, Sammy. See you at lunch.

The bell rang and Sam put his phone away. He turned to Gabriel excitedly.

"My brother just texted me, he said he met your brother."

Gabriel smiled. "What a weird coincidence, two pairs of brothers becoming friends like this. Assuming my brother and yours actually are friends, that is."

They were forced to stop talking when the teacher started passing out work, but the rest of the classes flew by, and before he knew it, it was lunch.

Castiel's POV

Castiel groaned when he got up. It was his first day at a new school. He wasn't nervous, he just thought that school was annoying. He showered and ate breakfast quickly, and then went to wake his brother Gabriel.

He was a little surprised when he found the boy already dressed, sitting on his bed and scribbling madly in a notebook. Gabriel never got up on his own, ever. Ever since he could remember, it had been his job to look after the youngest Novak.

Their parents had gone missing a few years ago, and the four younger Novak children, Gabriel, Castiel, Raphael, and Lucifer, had moved in with their eldest brother Michael. Lucifer and Raphael were away at college, and Michael was busy with work, so the only person left to take care of their younger brother was Castiel.

"Michael woke me up, I've already eaten, and yes, I'm ready to go whenever you are," Gabriel said before Castiel could even ask anything. He checked the time and saw that they had only twenty minutes to get to class on time, and the school was a good ten minute walk away.

"Good," Castiel said. "Then let's go, we're going to be late." Gabriel and Castiel grabbed their stuff and headed off to made it with ten minutes to spare, and Castiel helped Gabriel find his classroom before heading off to his own.

When he finally reached the room, he ignored the curious stares and chose a seat in the very farthest corner so he wouldn't be disturbed. He pulled out his notepad and pencil and started working on the drawing he had started last week.

It was a picture of a pair of wings, looking so life-like that Castiel felt he could touch them and feel feathers. He loved drawing feathers, loved the tiny details that would take hours to complete. He was so absorbed in his drawing that he didn't realize someone else had walked into the room until he sat next to Castiel.

Out of the corner of his eye Castiel could see a guy, taller than himself and pretty handsome, actually. He had bright green eyes, dirty blonde hair and lots of freckles. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt with a brown leather jacket over top, dark blue jeans, and Timberlands. Castiel went back to his drawing after his little analysis. He needed to get this done, and he only had a few more strokes to make.

Finally finished, Castiel put down his pencil and turned to the kid sitting next to him. He put his drawing onto the guy's desk.

"What do you think?" he asked. He had to admit, he was showing off a little. But he knew he was very good and just wanted a little appreciation of his talents.

The kid looked startled for a moment before turning to the drawing. Castiel saw his eyes widen and felt a little bit of pride bloom in his chest.

"You drew this?" the kid asked.

"Yup. I've been working on it for a week. Do you like it?"

"Yeah, this is incredible!"

Castiel smiled and ripped the piece of paper out of his sketch pad.

"Keep it," he said, handing the drawing over. "Art is supposed to make others happy, so it wouldn't make sense for me to hold on to it."

The kid smiled and carefully slipped the drawing into his binder, then put the binder back into his backpack. "I'm Dean Winchester," he said.

"Castiel Novak."

"That's a pretty strange name."

"Tell me about it. My parents went a little overboard when they named me."

Dean laughed and Castiel laughed with him. The two talked for the entire forty-five minute period, then found that they shared five classes. They went to their next class and sat next to each other. Dean knew quite a lot of people in this class, but didn't ostracize Castiel. He introduced Castiel to all of his friends, and Castiel found them to be really nice, especially this chick named Charlie Bradbury.

Castiel looked over at Dean and saw him texting someone. The teacher chose that moment to get up and start prowling around the classroom. Dean didn't notice, but Castiel did.

"Eacher-tay oming-cay," he hissed loudly. To his surprise, Dean immediately put away his phone and pretended to be working on the assignment they had been given.

"Anks-thay," he whispered when the teacher had passed.

"Oo-yay owe-knay ig-pay atin-lay?"

"Of ourse-cay. Oh, hey, I just texted my brother, Sam, and he said he met your brother Gabriel. They want to meet up with us for lunch."

"Okay," Castiel agreed, and the time until lunch flew by.

Gabriel's POV

Gabriel and Sam exited the lunch line with their trays in hand. They scoured the bustling cafeteria for their brothers. Sam nudged him and pointed to a table by the open window, where Gabriel could see Castiel and another guy who Gabriel assumed was Dean.

The two freshmen made their way over to the table and slid onto the bench across from the seniors. Castiel smiled at Gabriel.

"How's high school going?" he asked.

"Not any different from middle school," Gabriel answered. Beside him, Sam nodded. "Oh, Cas, this is my friend Sam."

Sam looked at Dean. "Dean, this is my friend Gabriel."

"Hi," they all said in unison, then laughed. Sam and Castiel quickly discovered their similar interest in books and started talking about the symbolism of the Patronuses in Harry Potter, something that Gabriel already knew far too much about. He eyed the rabbit food on Sam's plate with disgust, then dug into his own sugar filled meal.

Dean was watching Sam and Cas with amusement as he ate his pizza, and Gabriel and him laughed when Sam and Cas both had to stop and pant for air because of how much they were talking. Dean started humming a song by the Beatles, and Gabriel dropped his lollipop onto his tray.

"I love that song!" he exclaimed. Dean looked at him like Christmas had come early, then his face turned into one of mock suspicion.

"No way!" he said. "You're too young to know the Beatles."

Gabriel narrowed his eyes and heard Cas mutter a quiet "Uh-oh". Cas knew how Gabriel was about proving points, and how much of a drama queen he was. To prove Dean wrong, Gabriel decided to take drastic action. He stood up on the bench and soon everyone was looking at him. He opened his mouth and belted out the lyrics to Hey Jude, the song Dean claimed he was too young to know.

He couldn't help the smile that split his face when he started singing. His brother may have been gifted with artistic talent, but Gabriel was an amazing singer and he loved using his voice to perform. By the time he had finished the song, Sam and Dean were staring up at him in awe, Cas looked like he would die from embarrassment, and the entire cafeteria was applauding and cheering.

Still grinning like an idiot, Gabriel took a few bows before sitting down again. He gave Dean a smug look as he bit into his cupcake.

"That was...incredible," Dean finally managed. Gabriel smiled wider and turned to his brother.

"I ike-lay ese-thay inchester-Way's," he said. Sam snickered.

"E-way peak-say ig-pay atin-lay, oo-tay," he said, and Gabriel blushed.

"Good to know," he mumbled, ignoring Castiel and Dean's laughter, and focusing instead on the many people coming up to tell him what an amazing voice he had.

All too soon, lunch was over and the four found themselves parting ways again. Sam and Gabriel headed off to history while Dean and Cas went to math. Gabriel and Sam had to run to get to class on time and they were panting by the time they reached the classroom. Laughing breathlessly, they entered the room and found two seats in the back, as usual.

"I have a confession to make, Sam," Gabriel said. Sam turned towards him expectantly and waited. Gabriel fidgeted for a few seconds before leaning in and whispering conspiratorially in Sam's ear. "I suck so bad at history that up until last year I thought the Revolutionary War was fought in the 1990's."

Sam snorted, causing several people to look back at them. Sam laughed into his elbow, muffling the sound and Gabriel couldn't hold back his own chuckles.

"I'll help you," Sam promised when their laughter fit subsided.

"Thanks," Gabriel said. "You know, I wasn't kidding about that Revolution bit, I really did think it was a 90's thing." That set them both off again and they had a hard time keeping the laughter as quiet.

When the laughter died down, Gabriel looked over at Sam. He had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard and his hands were clutching his stomach. Gabriel felt a little rush of warmth for Sam, his first friend in a new town. He even thought of Dean as a friend, even though he didn't know him as well as he knew Sam.

Gabriel had been a little nervous about starting high school with no friends, but it seems like he had nothing to worry about after all.