Standing Together

Chapter 70

"This is so weird," Castiel breathes, looking around in wonder.

"What's weird?" Dean asks, confused.

"It's just, I never go to stadiums like a normal person," Castiel says. "I'm usually parked in the back with a limo and a couple security guards. Now we're in an actual parking lot with all the normal fans."

Dean chuckles. "What a nice, humbling experience."

The have to park pretty far away from the stadium, which is probably more annoying for Dean than it is for Castiel. He crutches along the parking lot, Castiel by his side and watching him carefully.

"Are you sure you don't want to get the wheelchair?" Castiel asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Dean says, just slightly out of breath. "What I would like is to have two fully functioning legs, but this is good enough."

They cross the parking lot as quickly as possible, but there's still a bit until the stadium opens, so they have to find something to do while they wait.

"I haven't really walked around here before," Castiel tells him. "What's there to do outside of the stadium?"

"Not a lot," Dean says. "We could go get lunch, I guess."

"Sure?" Castiel says uncertainly. "Is there anywhere good to eat?"

"That's an excellent question that I do not have an answer for," Dean replies. "I'm sure they have some food somewhere. Wanna just walk around and hope for the best?"

"Sounds good to me," Castiel replies. "Lead the way."

~~

They haven't made it very far when Castiel starts complaining, because it's what he does best.

"It's so freaking hot here," Castiel whines. "It's February! Why am I sweating?"

"Oh, I don't know," Dean says sarcastically. "Couldn't have anything to do with the sweatshirt covering literally your entire body."

Castiel rolls his eyes. "But if I take it off, people are going to recognize me."

"Well, yeah, no shit," Dean says. "I'm pretty sure people are already hoping they'll find you here, just 'cause it's my team playing. Now here are two guys walking around, one of which is on crutches. Trust me, the second one of your fans sees your face, it's over for you."

"So what do I do?" Castiel asks. "I'm pretty sure I'm gonna pass out if I keep this thing on any longer."

"You can either leave it on and suffer in the heat, or you can take it off and suffer through the people," Dean says. "It's gonna suck either way."

"So what should I do?" Castiel asks.

Dean shrugs, which looks weird as he's crutching along the sidewalk. "We could go back to the impala and wait in there. No hoodies necessary."

Castiel hesitates. "Are you sure you can make it all the way back to the car?"

"Yeah, sure," Dean says dismissively. "I have killer arm muscles. You just can't tell 'cause I have my flannel on."

"No, trust me, I can tell," Castiel says. "Well, we might as well go back to the car."

"Then let's be as inconspicuous as possible and turn around," Dean says. "Maybe we'll make it to the car in peace."

~~

Eventually, it's time to head in the stadium, and they take their seats all the way in what would be the nosebleeds of a concert, but it's probably not too bad for a football game. They can see the whole field with no problem, even if the people on it are going to be tiny.