Chapter Text
To the outside eye, it seemed as if Lysander was snickering along when really he was snickering to himself. This was one of those moments where you could say you knew someone better than they knew themselves. Castiel was relatively closed-off with everyone except him, that is until a recent new girl had found her way into the halls of Sweet Amoris and in the sights of Castiel.
Deep in his heart perhaps, Castiel knew that he enjoyed her company. However, his bids for attention were so instinctual. Whenever she walked by, his eyes would follow the flow of her hair as his mind scrambled to make some snarky comment. Incredibly cool on the outside, or so the redhead thought.
His bestfriend noticed the way Castiel's eyes would lock in on Candy, shifting for her response. And when Candy would bite back at Castiel's comments, there would be a hint of a smile on Castiel's lips that would grow even bigger as they quarrelled. To some, it would look like they were fighting but to anyone with a pair of working eyes, the fondness between the two was clear as day. Lysander felt like he was back on the farm, watching the baby animals play-fighting.
"Hmm, don't be late for class, little girl!" Castiel shouted out to her, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.
She turned her head over her shoulder with a soft huff. "Worry about yourself!" she shot back, playfully rolling her eyes.
Castiel's eyes stayed fixed on her as her silhouette moved further away, fidgeting with her locker as she spoke to their other classmates.
"Not even trying to be subtle anymore?" Lysander finally spoke up, a hint of amusement but also genuine compassion in his voice.
"What?" the secret romantic scoffed. "What's that about?"
Lysander's eyes softened at Castiel's denial. "I guess I just thought that maybe... you had a crush?"
He stared blankly at Lysander before quickly contorting his face into one of blatant dismissiveness. "Pffft, are you serious? On that flat thing?"
"I never said I was talking about her," Lysander raised a brow.
"Well, she was just with us so I thought you meant that. No need to act like that."
Lysander nodded in response, letting go of the remark. "My apologies, I must've gotten you mixed up with Armin," he said, gesturing towards the boy and girl who were currently deep in conversation at the lockers.
Piercing blue eyes and a characteristic mischievous grin played at the lips of Armin as he looked down at Candy, who reciprocated his enthusiasm with her own giggles.
"Wha-?" Castiel furrowed his brows, his eyes trailing to where his best friend had gestured and the sight causing his insides to feel scrambled and uneasy. "You think he likes her?" he asked, eyes fixated on the two the entire time despite his indifferent tone.
He felt his shoulders slump slightly and jaw unclench just the tiniest bit when Candy began to walk away, ending the conversation with Armin. However, Armin was quick to grab her by the wrist and beckon her to stay, wanting to speak to her more. None of this was Castiel's business of course and Candy was her own person. God knows how many people had been a few minutes late to class because they were having fun talking to someone. At least, this was how Castiel tried to quell whatever difficult feelings were coming up for him.
"I've definitely overheard Armin make a comment or two about how hot she is-" Lysander began and this seemed to set something off in Castiel, who had catapulted himself off the wall and begun to storm over to Armin and Candy.
He had the urge to yank off Armin's hand but Don't be a dick he thought to himself repeatedly. In a rare twist of fate, his irritated gaze softened after the two stared at him curiously. "Candy..." he began gently, gulping a little. "I told you not to be late for class," he grinned, trying to act normal.
"...Oh yeah, I guess we should all probably head to class," Armin chuckled, not wanting to be on the other end of Castiel. "I'll see you later!" he ruffled Candy's hair, before giving Castiel a little nod and walking off to class.
She squinted her eyes at the action, smoothing her hair back down. "Since when do you care about being late for class?"
"I just remembered I haven't pissed off Nathaniel today," he quickly covered up, gently grabbing Candy's forearm and leading the way to class.