- Sparrow -
I take in the room as Cas bustles around in the tiny kitchen. It's very cozy. There's a TV mounted on the wall across from me, and fairy lights are strung up around the room. They give everything a mellow glow.
The walls are papered in some soft, dark reddish color that reminds me of Christmas. In front of me is a long, rectangular coffee table, surrounded on all sides by comfy-looking seating arrangements - plush couches, small armchairs, and a single wooden chair. Next to the kitchen door is a cube-shaped TV on a tall square cart. I peer past it just as Cas emerges from beyond the doorframe, carrying two paper cups. He hands me one with a smile.
"Thanks," I murmur, accepting it with both hands. Heat bursts into my palms, and I peer into the cup to see a rich, dark, steamy, fragrant liquid - hot chocolate. It smells incredible. I wait to take a sip so that I don't scorch my tongue.
Cas moves around to the other side of the coffee table, preparing to carefully sit down on one of the comfy-looking couches across from me. He settles there, blowing carefully on his hot chocolate. Then he looks up at me and notices my watching him. His face breaks into an unrestrained smile, like a little kid's, and I really want to look away or blush or laugh nervously. But instead I just smile back.
I look down at my hot chocolate. The surface swirls with bubbles, and I take a tiny sip. It's cooled down enough to not burn me, and it's delicious.
"So . . . how've you been, Sparrow?" asks Cas. He sips his own hot chocolate, his eyes straying around the room. I'm curled up on the couch, but Cas is leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs, with his hands and his drink on his knees.
"I've been good," I reply, not giving it any real thought. "How you come you're working today? Don't you have school?"
He shrugs. "Today was a teacher workday or something. We had the day off."
I nod, still looking at my hot chocolate. "Do you always work on days off?"
"Basically," he says. "I enjoy it. More so than the average person." He punctuates his last statement with a small laugh, and I like the sound. I like everything about Cas.
For a while we sit there in easy conversation until the hot chocolate is gone. When I look at my phone, forty-five minutes have passed.
"I should probably call my mom," I tell Cas, wondering why she hasn't made any attempts to contact me. "She'll probably be wondering where I am."
I call home and her cell, but don't get anywhere. The snowstorm must be messing with my signal. "She's not answering," I tell Cas.
He raises his eyebrows once as he takes a sip of his third hot chocolate. Then he puts the cup down on the coffee table. "Do you think she's okay?"
I feel a small jolt of fear. "I don't know."
Cas watches me for a moment. "Let me go check on the storm," Cas says as he stands up, disappearing out the door.
When he gets back, I've been twiddling nervously with my phone. My mom just won't pick up.
"It's still really bad outside," he tells me, and this time he sits down next to me on the couch. Some kind of thrill goes through me. I don't think anyone has ever willingly gotten this close to me, aside from my mother. I scooch away the tiniest bit, but still - his presence makes me relax and seems to charge all my nerves at the same time.
"My mom didn't answer," I say, turning my knees toward him so that I can see him.
He shrugs. "Maybe she had to take a quick spin in her TARDIS."
I laugh and instantly feel better. "Yes. We definitely have a TARDIS. It's in the upstairs linen closet."
"Well, remember to show me the upstairs linen closet next time I come to your house," he smiles.
Is Cas coming to my house? Cas is coming to my house. I'm having someone over at my house.
"Well, if… If you're going to drive me home, maybe you can come in for a little while." My voice seems to shiver. "My mom'll probably want to meet you. She doesn't often… meet my friends." I don't often have people over at my house, if that's not obvious.
Cas smiles. He looks down at his fingers. "Yeah, okay."
"Yeah, okay," I say in finality, smacking my palms against my knees.
My eyes drift to the TV.
"Hey, are there any movies in the kitchen or something?" I ask, motioning to the television. "Maybe in those cabinets."
He shrugs. "Possibly. I can go check it out-"
"No, I will this time," I offer, standing up and moving toward the kitchen. I'm curious.
Once beyond the doorway, there's basically a tiny corridor of a kitchen. White cabinets on the top and bottom with a counter in the middle, and at the end, a yellow wall having numerous picture frames, with a water dispenser in the corner. I look closely at the picture frames. There are six of them going diagonally down the wall, and the photos are full of people - the employees of the Burgess Stop n' Save. I scan the photos for Cas and I find him in the fifth and sixth pictures, smiling in the second row both times. His smile always seems sincere. Under the label for his name, I can see that he has been the Employee of the Month for a consecutive seven months - apparently a company record. Seriously, with his level of dedication, how is he not manager yet?
I turn away from the photos and open a few of the top cabinets, looking for some movies of some sort. There are many boxes of coffee cups and coffee stirrers and packets of sugar. Under the counter I find a box of Goldfish packages, and I two. A snack.
When I emerge, Cas is squinting at the remote. He selects a button, aims it at the TV, and presses down on it hard. Static greets us.
"No channels," he says.
"No movies," I reply. I toss him the Goldfish and sit down slowly on the couch, looking at the TV. "Maybe we should check outside."
Cas pauses to consider the thought. Then a look of sheer realization spreads over his face, and he turns to me all of a sudden, like he's about to share a revelation. His blue eyes are wide.
"Sparrow", he states in a low voice. "We are alone. In a grocery store. Think of the possibilities." He opens his arms and spreads them wide.
He is right. We are the rulers of this grocery store. How many times was the idea of being alone in a mall or some store, with free reign of the whole place, the subject of my childhood daydreams? And why didn't I realize this an hour ago?
"You're right," I breathe, looking toward the door. Beyond it lies a world of things… and dead security cameras.
He glances at it, then back at me. Now his smile has turned devilish. I can hardly believe that the reigning consecutive Employee of the Month would even think of doing something wrong to his grocery store, but Cas is surprising me each minute.
He grabs my hand and pulls me off the couch, and we both laugh with delight as we head into some sort of adventure.
The walls are papered in some soft, dark reddish color that reminds me of Christmas. In front of me is a long, rectangular coffee table, surrounded on all sides by comfy-looking seating arrangements - plush couches, small armchairs, and a single wooden chair. Next to the kitchen door is a cube-shaped TV on a tall square cart. I peer past it just as Cas emerges from beyond the doorframe, carrying two paper cups. He hands me one with a smile.
"Thanks," I murmur, accepting it with both hands. Heat bursts into my palms, and I peer into the cup to see a rich, dark, steamy, fragrant liquid - hot chocolate. It smells incredible. I wait to take a sip so that I don't scorch my tongue.
Cas moves around to the other side of the coffee table, preparing to carefully sit down on one of the comfy-looking couches across from me. He settles there, blowing carefully on his hot chocolate. Then he looks up at me and notices my watching him. His face breaks into an unrestrained smile, like a little kid's, and I really want to look away or blush or laugh nervously. But instead I just smile back.
I look down at my hot chocolate. The surface swirls with bubbles, and I take a tiny sip. It's cooled down enough to not burn me, and it's delicious.
"So . . . how've you been, Sparrow?" asks Cas. He sips his own hot chocolate, his eyes straying around the room. I'm curled up on the couch, but Cas is leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs, with his hands and his drink on his knees.
"I've been good," I reply, not giving it any real thought. "How you come you're working today? Don't you have school?"
He shrugs. "Today was a teacher workday or something. We had the day off."
I nod, still looking at my hot chocolate. "Do you always work on days off?"
"Basically," he says. "I enjoy it. More so than the average person." He punctuates his last statement with a small laugh, and I like the sound. I like everything about Cas.
For a while we sit there in easy conversation until the hot chocolate is gone. When I look at my phone, forty-five minutes have passed.
"I should probably call my mom," I tell Cas, wondering why she hasn't made any attempts to contact me. "She'll probably be wondering where I am."
I call home and her cell, but don't get anywhere. The snowstorm must be messing with my signal. "She's not answering," I tell Cas.
He raises his eyebrows once as he takes a sip of his third hot chocolate. Then he puts the cup down on the coffee table. "Do you think she's okay?"
I feel a small jolt of fear. "I don't know."
Cas watches me for a moment. "Let me go check on the storm," Cas says as he stands up, disappearing out the door.
When he gets back, I've been twiddling nervously with my phone. My mom just won't pick up.
"It's still really bad outside," he tells me, and this time he sits down next to me on the couch. Some kind of thrill goes through me. I don't think anyone has ever willingly gotten this close to me, aside from my mother. I scooch away the tiniest bit, but still - his presence makes me relax and seems to charge all my nerves at the same time.
"My mom didn't answer," I say, turning my knees toward him so that I can see him.
He shrugs. "Maybe she had to take a quick spin in her TARDIS."
I laugh and instantly feel better. "Yes. We definitely have a TARDIS. It's in the upstairs linen closet."
"Well, remember to show me the upstairs linen closet next time I come to your house," he smiles.
Is Cas coming to my house? Cas is coming to my house. I'm having someone over at my house.
"Well, if… If you're going to drive me home, maybe you can come in for a little while." My voice seems to shiver. "My mom'll probably want to meet you. She doesn't often… meet my friends." I don't often have people over at my house, if that's not obvious.
Cas smiles. He looks down at his fingers. "Yeah, okay."
"Yeah, okay," I say in finality, smacking my palms against my knees.
My eyes drift to the TV.
"Hey, are there any movies in the kitchen or something?" I ask, motioning to the television. "Maybe in those cabinets."
He shrugs. "Possibly. I can go check it out-"
"No, I will this time," I offer, standing up and moving toward the kitchen. I'm curious.
Once beyond the doorway, there's basically a tiny corridor of a kitchen. White cabinets on the top and bottom with a counter in the middle, and at the end, a yellow wall having numerous picture frames, with a water dispenser in the corner. I look closely at the picture frames. There are six of them going diagonally down the wall, and the photos are full of people - the employees of the Burgess Stop n' Save. I scan the photos for Cas and I find him in the fifth and sixth pictures, smiling in the second row both times. His smile always seems sincere. Under the label for his name, I can see that he has been the Employee of the Month for a consecutive seven months - apparently a company record. Seriously, with his level of dedication, how is he not manager yet?
I turn away from the photos and open a few of the top cabinets, looking for some movies of some sort. There are many boxes of coffee cups and coffee stirrers and packets of sugar. Under the counter I find a box of Goldfish packages, and I two. A snack.
When I emerge, Cas is squinting at the remote. He selects a button, aims it at the TV, and presses down on it hard. Static greets us.
"No channels," he says.
"No movies," I reply. I toss him the Goldfish and sit down slowly on the couch, looking at the TV. "Maybe we should check outside."
Cas pauses to consider the thought. Then a look of sheer realization spreads over his face, and he turns to me all of a sudden, like he's about to share a revelation. His blue eyes are wide.
"Sparrow", he states in a low voice. "We are alone. In a grocery store. Think of the possibilities." He opens his arms and spreads them wide.
He is right. We are the rulers of this grocery store. How many times was the idea of being alone in a mall or some store, with free reign of the whole place, the subject of my childhood daydreams? And why didn't I realize this an hour ago?
"You're right," I breathe, looking toward the door. Beyond it lies a world of things… and dead security cameras.
He glances at it, then back at me. Now his smile has turned devilish. I can hardly believe that the reigning consecutive Employee of the Month would even think of doing something wrong to his grocery store, but Cas is surprising me each minute.
He grabs my hand and pulls me off the couch, and we both laugh with delight as we head into some sort of adventure.
NEEEEEEEE ALL THE EXCITEMENT! Can't wait for the next chapter!!!!!
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