“Yeah but you also agreed to hang out with me and been there for me when my friends were absolute dickwads,” Nick said. “That’s being good at friendship.”
O/O with @Caustic-Fraust-is-The-Pokemon-Champion
Cas sighed again and moved a bit closer. "Weren't your friends kinda being dickwads to me though? I just kicked one of them in the balls… which I totally don't regret, by the way. He deserved it."
“Yeah they were,” Nick admitted. “But you didn’t judge me for being their friend.” Shit, I hope he didn’t judge for me that, he added mentally.
"Well, I kinda did at first… I thought you were just pretending not to be an asshole in public. But obviously you're not, you just… didn't realize that your friends were being assholes."
“Yeah, I’m just dumb, I guess, or so busy trying to find the tiny bit of good in people that I ignore all of the bad.” Nick sighed. “Anyway.”
Cas shrugged. "Well, you know how to do all the things I don't, so clearly you're smarter than I am."
“I mean, school-wise, I’m smart, I guess,” Nick admitted. “Sometimes I just don’t seem to have much common sense.”
"Mm… I don't think I have much of either." Cas laughed. "I used to get into a lot of fights on the streets. And I ran away from home when I was twelve…"
Nick had no idea how to respond to that. “Why’d you run away?”
Cas flushed a bit. "Um… my dad and I… had an argument…" He mumbled. "I-I came out to him and he got mad about it. He started getting really rough with me, so I left… it was probably stupid, but I stand by it. The streets are better than living with him. He's dead now anyway, so I couldn't live with him even if I wanted to…"
“Oh, uh, I’m sorry…” Nick muttered awkwardly. “At least you have somewhere to live now, right?”
Cas nodded, looking away awkwardly. "They found me on the streets recently and now I'm in a foster home…" He sighed. "I don't know my foster parents very well. I've been kinda keeping to myself…"
“Oh, well, do they seem nice?” Nick asked, still feeling kind of awkward.
Cas shrugged. "I dunno… I think so? They're letting me be alone most of the time. I guess they're letting me 'settle in' or something."
“At least it’s a place to stay and food to eat, though? Like it’s not awful, right?” he asked.
Cas nodded again. "Yeah, they feed me… they're trying to get me to eat way more than I can, though, since I'm so underweight… but I can't eat so much at once after eating so little for so long."
“That makes sense,” Nick mumbled. At least his living conditions seemed good now.
"I'd throw up…" Cas sighed, fidgeting a bit more. "It's…. um… it's been years since I've lived with other people, especially people who aren't drunk and don't… you know…"
No, Nick didn’t know. “Don’t what?”
Cas flushed a bit, his heart starting to race. "Um… p-people who don't… hit me…" He whispered softly.
Nick blinked, a cold pit forming in his stomach at the point. “Oh…”
Cas stared down at the floor, clearly uncomfortable. "I… um… s-sorry…"
“Why are you apologizing?” Nick asked gently, still a bit taken aback. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
"I-I dunno, I just… I feel bad for some reason…" Cas sighed, unable to meet Nick's eyes.
“It’s not your fault,” Nick said, repeating himself from earlier. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”
Cas nodded awkwardly and looked away again. "That's… that's part of the reason that I ran away…"
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Nick repeated, upset on Cas’s behalf.
"It's not your fault, Nick…" Cas sighed. "It's mine. Or… um… his, I guess. I probably deserved it though."
“That’s bullshit,” Nick said before he could stop himself. “Sorry. But you did not deserve it.”
Cas flushed lightly and winced a bit at Nick's tone. "S-Sorry… I just… I guess I always thought it was my fault."