Work Text
"Cassie, I'm telling you! He was SO checking you out!" Anna's voice chimed through the hands-free device. Castiel shook his head even though she couldn't see him where he was at the very moment, inside his car, turning at the crossroads that led to his apartment."You are trying to fool me, right?" He asked slowly, eyes concentratedly fixed on the traffic. "No! I'm seriously NOT!" Anna sounded almost offended at his assumption. Driving the last few hundred meters and parking the car he could still hear his older sister rant about the stranger."Seriously! The way he looked at your butt already was-" Castiel sighed and let himself sink into the seat of his now parked car, his vision starting to blur.*When Anna had called him, he had agreed on picking her up, even though it had rather been because he wanted to pick up today's newspaper on the way to the bank. "How come you earn more than me and still have no car?" He had asked jokingly and the redhead had only replied with a soft laughter. "You don't really expect me to give up the free rides I get from you?" He hadn't said anything besides "Expect me to be there in time when you close." He had put on his beige trench coat and set off, wondering when his sister had started figuring out the days he was coming home early. Hmm.It was very late in the afternoon, early evening when he arrived at the bank Anna worked at as manager of the branch office. He had already got his newspaper and easily found a parking space and waited outside the brick stone building until he saw familiar bright red hair approaching the door and met his sister's eyes. "Hello, Anna." "Castiel! Thanks for coming!" She smiled at him. "Don't mention it." She was already done locking and double-checking the safety door and nodded "Let's go", when quick footsteps approached the siblings from behind. "Uhm- am I too late?", an exhausted voice asked, sounding as though the man had been running. The two Miltons turned in sync and faced a man about their age with dirty blonde hair and a visibly reddened face. "Yes, sorry. I just closed for today." "Ah, crap!" the man cursed. Anna laid her head aside, the way Castiel used to do it every so often when something confused him. "Something of importance?", she asked, professionally even after working hours. "Ah... No. Nothing that couldn't wait until tomorrow. ... Besides my rumbling tummy, maybe." He replied with a chuckle."What about this?" Castiel now fully took notice of the 'stressed work day' impression the other man gave off- a bit of his hair was pressed against his forehead, his posture was the one of someone who definitely had worked for hours and hadn't got to sit down once, plus his voice sounded as though he needed to drink something soon. "Just hungry." The stranger shrugged. He quickly explained how he had come to the bank for transferring some money from his bank account for paying the costs of his little brother's college. On the way there from the garage where he worked at his tummy had started making pretty clear noises but he was both out of food and money.Castiel had nodded to himself ever so slightly before he had pulled out a folded five dollar note out of his pocket and handed it over to the astounded stranger. "B-but -" That man is working hard for enabling his brother a college attendance. He just hurried for arriving too late after Anna had closed the bank and now didn't even had enough money for getting himself some food. In addition to this, he looks damn handsome. Not that Castiel would ever have dared to tell him this straight into the face."Get yourself a chocolate croissant or something alike. ...Enjoy it." He smiled shyly and felt a blush spreading on his face when the other man - oh jesus help him, these were beautiful freckles - returned the smile. "Thank you so much! I just... Thanks!" A genuine tone underlay his voice and Castiel found himself being offered a hand. "Dean Winchester." He took it gently and replied "Castiel Milton." "...Uhm, I don't mean to interrupt you two making friends", Anna's less professional and rather somewhat annoying-older-sibling-self piped up from beside them. "- but there's an appointment at eight p.m. I have to maintain and you promised to drive me home before that, Cassie!" Castiel sighed. "Yes, of course, Ann." Towards Dean he said: "You get yourself something to ear, yeah?" As though his tummy had heard the blue eyed man, it started rumbling and both men laughed at this. Castiel felt Anna dragging him away, her arm tightly slung around his left arm. He used his free right arm to wave his new acquaintance good bye and smiled like a fool without noticing it himself. Anna, though, did and turned around, only to see a similarly smiling Dean Winchester unconsciously obviously checking out her brother and, after some moments, turning to walk towards the near grocery store, his fingers playing with the five dollar note Castiel had given him without much hesitation. *Castiel stripped off his coat as soon as he had entered his apartment and lazily dropped it over the chair closest to him. He walked straight towards the mirror to get rid of his tie, as well. It took him longer than usual and he found himself looking at his reflection for a long while. How, he pondered, how could that stranger have possibly been checking him out? Him, Castiel, a mostly unnoticed guy who was the manager of the town's library who preferred doing the normal employee's tasks, like shelving books, when he had nothing else necessarily to do.He didn't know what to think of this, only blushed at the warm feeling the thought that Anna would never lie in situations like this and possibly had told the truth. *Anna had called him again and asked him whether he could - please...? - pick her up yet another time this week and, being the little brother who had felt responsible for everyone and everything all his life (and because he intended picking up today's newspaper on the way back from Anna's) he had said 'yes'. He brought Anna home after she had closed the bank and she smiled sadly when she told him, unaskedly "He wasn't there yet. Maybe tomorrow..." She sighed. Castiel did the same. How could he possibly ever have considered...* He had parked his car in the parking lot opposite the kiosk where he used to buy his (almost) daily newspaper and stepped towards the little shop when he saw a shadow approaching quickly out of the corner of his eye. He didn't pay too much attention to it, until a hand lightly tapped him on the shoulder, cautiously, in order not to scare him. Castiel turned his head to the side the other person was standing and was confronted by a not-even-that-strange face. "Dean Winchester!" He found himself saying and couldn't suppress a little smile that made the other man's heart melt. He had remembered his name!"Castiel! Castiel Milton, right?" He smiled, too, and Castiel nodded, blushed. Dean giggled lowly and, as though they were already in the middle of a conversation, matter-of-factly said "I really wanted to pay the money for Sammy's college today but I messed it up once again!" Another giggle and Castiel cocking his head later he continued: "I left in such a hurry that this time I left my purse with my papers, cards and everything at work! ... Fortunately, my boss is a good friend of mine, so he'll probably take good care of them until I get them back- but still..."He shook his head. "Silly me..." "Don't say so", Castiel told him within an instant and blushed even more as he realized he had just replied to a rather rhetorical statement by the other man. "Haha, it's okay, Cas. ... I can call you Cas, right?" Castiel nodded at the new nickname he had just been given. "Yeah, if I can call you Dean then, so that we're both on a first name base with each other?"Dean smiled at him and nodded. "Cool." They stood there awkwardly in silence for a moment and Castiel wondered whether he really still wanted to go inside the kiosk and get his newspaper and decided that he wouldn't do so today. At least not now when-
"Wanna meet up tomorrow around six? - I'll try to finally transfer the college money, think of my purse, and then we could have some small dinner somewhere? There is a nice Italian near here where I sometimes have lunch with my little brother and~"The rest of Dean's little rant went past Castiel almost unnoticedly and before he could even think of it more than enough to make up his mind he had agreed already and a dinner date to look forward to the next evening.*When taking off his tie that evening Cas found himself smiling into the mirror widely. He hadn't been that happy in a long while (and he knew Anna would from now on tell him 'she had told him, right?').*