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“Heellllloooo? Dean? You there man?”Charlie’s voice snapped Dean out of his thoughts. He had zoned out while watching her and Cas play some Lego Lord of the Rings video game. He snapped his eyes away from where they had gotten stuck in the region of Cas’ mouth. He must’ve focused there because Cas kept sticking his tongue out and biting his lip when things got intense in the game. The motion must have caught Dean’s eye, that’s all. “Sorry, yeah,” he said, straightening in his armchair and focusing on Charlie. “What'd you say?"Charlie rolled her eyes without looking away from the game, continuing to punch buttons on the controller. "I said, Cas hasn't seen Star Wars and that's a damn tragedy. We're gonna finish this game then take the pie to my room, get cozy and put on A New Hope , see if we can stay up late enough to get through Empire tonight. Do you want to join us? Or are you gonna be lame and go to bed early like your brother?"“I heard that!” Sam called from the kitchen.“Love you, Sam! Sleep well!” Charlie called over her shoulder.“Wait, you have pie? And Cas hasn’t seen Star Wars ?” Dean looked between his two best friends incredulously.“Yeah, silly,” Charlie said with a laugh. “I picked up a cherry pie when I stopped in the store for beer earlier, while you were grabbing the pizzas.”Dean’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Well, aren’t you a sneaky little redheaded ninja.” He hadn’t even noticed the pie when they'd gotten into the Impala for the drive back to the bunker.“So, you in?” Charlie asked, punching buttons and demolishing the horde of orcs trying to overwhelm her and Cas’ Lego Legolas and Gimli.“If there’s pie involved, of course I’m in,” Dean said. He picked up the beer he’d left to get warm on the end table and chugged the remains so he wouldn’t have to taste it. No sense wasting beer, even if it was warm.Dean watched as Charlie and Cas finished off the orcs and got to a save point. It had taken Charlie a while to teach Cas the mechanics of playing video games, but once he had it down they’d become pretty inseparable gaming buddies. The thought of his two best friends getting along so well brought a goofy smile to Dean’s face, but before he could zone out again Charlie jumped up from the couch, grabbing her beer.“Allons-y, bitches!” She turned, walking towards the kitchen. “I’ll grab the pie and the utensils. Cas, you grab the beer. And Dean, grab some extra blankets and pillows. We’ll meet in my room in T-minus 2 minutes,” she called over her shoulder.Dean stood, gathering the several empty beer bottles they’d already finished throughout the course of the evening.“I can take those,” Cas said, standing and holding out his hands, “since I’m going to the kitchen.”“Oh, sure,” Dean said, handing the bottles over. Their fingers brushed, sending an unexpected jolt of heat through Dean. “Um,” he said, eloquently, “thanks.” He turned and almost tripped over his chair in his haste to exit the room.Cas frowned at Dean’s back, wondering why he had suddenly seemed nervous. He couldn’t think of a reason, so he shrugged and carried the empty beer bottles to the kitchen where Charlie waited.“Cas,” Charlie hissed as Cas walked into the kitchen, grabbing his arm to pull him inside while popping her head into the hallway quickly before ducking back. “While Dean’s grabbing the fluffy stuff, we’re gonna have a little girl talk.”“But I’m not a girl, Charlie,” Cas said, frowning and looking down at his body. “If anything, the presence of a penis indicates I should be considered a boy, though even that’s not a reliable indicator and angels technically have no gender.”“Um,” Charlie said, blinking. “Okay, so this is technically not a ‘girl’ talk, but we need to talk. A private talk between besties, ‘kay?” She smiled conspiratorially.“About what?” Cas asked, frown deepening as he looked back up.“About Dean, silly!” She grabbed his shoulders and squeezed, smiling up at him briefly before moving across the kitchen, her red curls bouncing over her shoulders. Cas moved to the recycle bin and carefully set the empty beer bottles inside, minimizing their clinks.“I saw you two giving each other heart eyes all night,” Charlie continued. “I’m surprised Dean got through a single slice of pizza with all that eye-fucking going on, let alone the six he shoved in his face. I don’t know where that man puts all the food he eats. Dude must have a bag of holding for a stomach.” She shook her head as she grabbed a stack of plates out of the cupboard and set them on the counter.Cas tilted his head as he watched Charlie. He decided to stick to the pertinent questions and not to bother asking what a ‘bag of holding’ was. “What do you mean by 'heart eyes' and… 'eye-fucking'?”“I mean you and Dean, making the googly eyes at each other all through dinner,” she said, folding her hands under her chin and fluttering her eyelashes at him. “So, be honest with me, Cas, what’s that about?” she asked, moving the pie tin to set it on top of the stack of plates and grabbing three spoons out of the drawer.Castiel opened the refrigerator, sticking his head farther inside than was probably necessary in an attempt to hide the unexpected blush he felt warming his cheeks. He cleared his throat and grumbled, “I really don’t know what you’re referring to.”“Right,” Charlie said, dragging the word out. “I spent the entirety of my junior high and high school years in the closet and in complete denial about the gigantic crush I had on my best friend, Sarah. I know what it looks like when someone’s got a crush on someone they think they can never have. And you’ve had that look written all over your face all night.”“What do you mean?” Cas asked, emerging from the refrigerator with several beers.“I mean the dopey grins, the longing looks when you think the other’s not looking, the staring into each others eyes.” Charlie smiled at him as she gently touched his shoulder. “I’d bet my limited edition Darth Vader action figure that you and Dean are both pining for each other.”Castiel looked down at the beers in his hands. He thought about all the things Dean made him feel, how protective he felt about him. He thought about Dean’s smile and how it could light up an entire room. He thought about Dean’s laugh, and how unselfconscious it sounded when he was truly happy, how sometimes he’d fold forward like his body couldn’t contain his joy without collapsing in on itself. He thought about the way Dean hugged him anytime they reunited after spending more than a few days apart, fisting his hands in the back of Castiel’s trench coat and tucking his face between Cas’ neck and shoulder for the briefest moment before stepping away.He thought about how all of those things made his chest swell with warmth and a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. He thought about how empty and alone he felt when he was far away from Dean and couldn’t look into his eyes, watch a smile light up his face, or hear his laugh... and he felt something deep inside click into place. He looked up at Charlie, stunned and wide-eyed. “Oh.”Charlie squeezed his shoulder where her hand still rested, then let it slide down his arm. “You didn’t even realize, did you?” She smiled gently at him, then returned to the counter and lifted the stack of plates and pie. “Just give it some thought and we can talk about it more later if you want to. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” she said, then tilted her head in the direction of the hallway. “Come on, Dean’s going to wonder where we are.”Cas shuffled after her, lost in thought.
Dean had grabbed all the pillows off his bed and a couple of extra blankets from his closet, and tossed them in a pile on the bed Charlie had claimed as her own. That done, he looked through the blu-rays Charlie had stacked in the only bookcase in her room. He found the
Star Wars
box set and started to pull out the case for
A New Hope
when he realized he didn’t remember seeing a TV anywhere. He turned to look around the room. It was arranged almost exactly like every other room in the bunker, with a queen size bed against the back wall flanked by two end tables, a bookcase and the doorway on the adjacent wall, a desk against the wall at the foot of the bed, and a closet on the wall across from the door. No TV.
Dean looked down at the laptop on the desk and huffed a derisive laugh. There was no way he was gonna let Cas watch
Star Wars
for the first time on a tiny laptop screen. Especially when he had a good size LCD flat screen mounted on the wall above the desk in his room. He grabbed his blankets and pillows and headed back to his room, blu-rays in hand.
Entering the hallway, he saw Charlie and Cas walking toward him from the other end. “Nope, turn around. We’re doing this in my room,” he said, gesturing for them to head back the other way.
Cas and Charlie glanced at each other with twin frowns. “Why?” Charlie asked.
“I have a better set up, that’s why,” Dean said, coming to stand in front of Cas and Charlie.
“Oh, what, my laptop screen isn’t good enough for you?” Charlie said with a chuckle.
“Not when we have someone watching
Star Wars
for the very first time,” Dean replied, incredulously.
Charlie shrugged. “Alright, I guess I can’t argue with that.” She turned on her heel and continued in the direction of Dean’s room at the other end of the hallway.
Dean raised an eyebrow at Cas, who just stood there—feet glued to the floor, beer bottles cradled to his chest—as Charlie walked away. “Come on, buddy.”
He shifted the blankets and pillows to hold them under his right arm and reached out to turn Cas. The angel seemed to be frozen where he stood, staring at Dean with a sort of deer-caught-in-a-headlight look in his eyes. Something about it reminded Dean of their night at the brothel and he smiled at the memory, reaching his arm around Castiel’s shoulders and guiding him towards his room.
As they reached the door to his room, Charlie popped out. “I gotta make a trip to the little girls’ room. Don’t start without me!”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Dean said, gently nudging Cas through the doorway ahead of him and letting his hand drop. He followed Cas into the room and tossed his armful of blankets and pillows onto his bed. Cas stood awkwardly at the foot of the bed, beers still clutched to his chest.
“Just gonna stand there, Cas?” Dean said with a laugh. “You could set the beer down and get comfortable, take your shoes off, maybe even your jacket.” Dean blushed at the sudden image of Cas getting undressed in his room. He cleared his throat and ducked his head while he rearranged the pillows on his bed. “Did Charlie tell you how long this movie series is?”
“She did mention that it would take most of the evening to watch the first two movies,” Cas replied distractedly, setting the beers down on an end table. Dean moved on to fidgeting with the blankets, spreading them out across his bed. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Cas sat stiffly in the leather chair Dean had placed in the corner. Something was definitely up with him.
“Everything okay, buddy?” Dean asked, quirking an eyebrow at Cas. “You seem preoccupied.”
“I’m fine,” Cas said, though he wouldn’t meet Dean’s eyes.
“Okay, well... good.”
Something was wrong, and despite his hatred of chick-flick moments, Dean had to find out what. Before he could think too much about it, he cleared his throat and said, “I’m glad you’re here, Cas... I—” he hesitated, “uh, if you wanted to stay for a while, we could make up one of the bedrooms for you to use.”
That was about as close as Dean Winchester could get to saying
please, stay
, and he was suddenly nervous again. He turned back toward the TV and focused on getting the blu-ray out of the case and loaded into the player so he wouldn’t have to meet Cas’ eyes when he inevitably said he wouldn’t be staying long.
The silence stretched out between them for what seemed like an eternity while Dean tried to seem nonchalant and focused on putting the blu-ray into the player and pushing in the tray. When Cas finally did speak, Dean wasn’t quite sure he heard him right. He turned around. “What was that?”
“I said, okay. That would be nice,” Cas said, finally meeting Dean’s eyes. “I’d like to stay.”
For a moment, Dean was lost in the blue depths of Cas’ gaze, and a smile spread across his face as he realized Cas
wanted
to stay. Dean felt a warmth fill his chest, and he knew he was grinning like an idiot when Charlie walked back into the room. He didn’t even care. Cas grinned back at him, and Dean mumbled, “Awesome.”
Charlie looked back and forth between the two of them. “So... uh, you guys get the movie ready?”
“Just about,“ Dean said, turning from Cas, grin still plastered to his face. He grabbed the remote. and hit the power button to turn the TV on. “My turn to take a piss,” he said, handing the remote to Charlie. “I’ll be right back and then we can start it.”
Charlie looked at Cas expectantly as Dean left the room. “So? What was all the smiling about? What’d I miss?”
Cas clasped his hands in front of his stomach, elbows resting on the armrests of the leather chair. “I’m not sure,” he said, trying to suppress his grin, “but I think Dean just asked me to stay.”
“Stay? Like as in with him? In his room?” she said excitedly, trying not to start bouncing up and down with joy.
“No, not in his room,” Cas clarified, “just here, at the bunker. He wants me to stay.”
“Okay, that’s a good start,” Charlie began, “now come here.” Cas could see the wheels turning in her head and he wondered what she was planning, but he stood up and walked around the bed toward her anyway. “You are entirely too formal for seduction.”
“Wha... what? I thought we were watching a movie?” Cas spluttered. Maybe Charlie had helped him realize his feelings for Dean might not be completely platonic, but he wasn’t at all sure about trying to actually seduce him. He’d only attempted sex twice, both times ending in disaster, and the idea of trying to seduce Dean made his palms sweat and his chest tighten.
“Don’t you know that ‘watching a movie’ is code for seducing someone in dating lingo?” Charlie asked with an amused glint in her eye.
Cas spluttered some more, not entirely sure what he was actually saying in response, if there were actual words or sentences even coming out of his mouth. His brain was short-circuiting.
“I’m kidding,” Charlie laughed. “Kind of. It’s obvious to everyone else how you two feel about each other, and I think you should start doing something about it.”
Cas’ chest tightened further and found he was having a hard time taking a full breath.
“Whoa, calm down!” Charlie grabbed his shoulders. “No need to panic. Let’s just take a small step and get you more comfortable before Dean gets back.”
Cas watched her hands as she moved to loosen and remove his tie, then push his suit jacket off his shoulders. “Now take your shoes off, “she said, tossing the tie and jacket over the back of the leather chair. Cas followed her directions on auto-pilot. He was focusing too hard on slowing his breathing down to question her, and he toed his shoes off mechanically, nudging them under the desk. When he turned back toward Charlie, she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the bed.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” she said, pushing him down to sit on the edge of the mattress. “You just sit here and look cute, and I’ll get Dean to sit next to you. Then we’ll start the movie and I’ll feign sleepiness after a while, and leave to go to bed. That way you two can have some alone time, to do whatever it is you’re comfortable doing. No pressure, just spend some one on one time hanging out, ‘kay?”
Cas looked up at Charlie, warily. “I’m really not sure this is a good idea. Even if I have feelings for Dean, I’m really not his type—”
“What?” Charlie cut him off. “You have got to be blind then, Castiel. Because I’ve seen the way Dean looks at you, and you are most certainly his type, whether he’s ready to admit it or not.” She stacked the pillows up against the headboard, then ran around to the other side of the bed and flopped in the middle of the mattress, leaning back against the pillows. She patted the bed next to her, saying, “Come on, scoot up here and get comfortable! Dean’s gonna be back any minute!”
Cas moved toward the middle of the bed and leaned back against the pillows next to Charlie. As soon as he got settled, she grabbed his right arm and pointed to his shirtsleeve, “Okay, after the movie starts, I want you to unbutton your cuffs and roll them up to just below your elbow. Got it?”
Cas turned to look at her, narrowing his eyes. “Why?” he asked, heart ratcheting up at the sound of Dean’s footsteps in the hallway.
“Just trust me,” she whispered, pinning him with a stare as Dean walked through the doorway.
Turning toward Dean, Cas felt his chest lock up when their eyes met. He tried to smile like everything was normal, but his heart was pounding and his stomach was churning. He didn’t normally notice his vessel’s physiological functions now that he had his grace back, but he recognized this feeling as similar to what he had felt when he was in April’s apartment and she had leaned over to kiss him for the first time. Only this was much, much stronger.
Castiel struggled to take a breath and realized he was in trouble.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Charlie and Cas were cozied up on Dean’s bed, heads together and whispering conspiratorially. He was immediately suspicious but also miffed because he had called the bed, dammit, and here they were sitting right in the middle of the damn thing.
“I called dibs on the bed, guys,” he growled, “now move it.”
Charlie sighed dramatically and actually rolled her eyes at him, but she scooted over to the edge of the bed farthest from the door, saying, “Come on Cas, we gotta make room for the ‘Master of the Universe’.” She grabbed Cas’ arm and pulled him closer to her, into the middle of the bed. That left just enough room for Dean on the edge of the bed closest to the door, though he could tell it would be a tight squeeze.
Whatever
, he thought. He had downed more than a few beers over the course of the evening, and he was feeling happily buzzed and uninhibited. He could handle a little close contact with his best friend. His best friend who no longer looked like his usual stuffy holy tax accountant self, all over-dressed in a tie and jacket. The tie was gone, the button down white shirt untucked, and the top few buttons undone leaving the collar open at his throat.
Dean swallowed roughly as his eyes slid down to stare at that newly revealed patch of skin at the hollow of Cas’ throat. He quickly looked away, clearing his own throat and reaching for the remote to start the movie. He kicked his shoes off next to the end table, and flopped down on the bed, refusing to let himself think about how naked Cas seemed without his jacket, tie, and trench coat. He also refused to notice how good Cas smelled when he was so close, like musk and... was that lavender? Yeah, it was definitely lavender.
“Are you gonna hit play, Dean?” Charlie asked, thankfully interrupting Dean’s train of thought, bound for no good destination.
“Uh, yeah, I was just thinking about grabbing a beer first.”
“I brought beer, Dean,” Cas said in his deep, gravelly voice that most certainly
did not
make little Dean twitch in his pants. “Didn’t you see me set them down earlier?”
“Oh, right... could you pass me one?”
Dean definitely needed another beer to get through this. Charlie grabbed a bottle off the table next to her and passed it to Cas, who held it out to Dean.
“Thanks, buddy,” he said, then realized his bottle opener was in his left pocket and he’d have to practically lean over onto Cas to pull it out. Well, he wasn’t gonna get all weird about personal space with an angel who had practically no concept of it. He leaned over, pushing into Cas’ shoulder with his own, and shoved his hand into his pocket, trying his damnedest not to sniff Cas as he did. He really did smell good. Dean made a mental note to find out what kind of laundry soap Cas used. Or maybe it was his shower soap.
But Dean wasn’t gonna let his thoughts go there; thinking about Cas in the shower was just weird. Maybe not a bad weird, but weird. He popped the top off his beer and took a deep swig, exchanging the bottle opener for the remote he had set on his lap earlier so he could hit play.
The trumpets of the opening theme song of
Star Wars
blasted his thoughts away, and he settled back against the pillows ready to lose himself in the movie and forget all about the uncomfortable thoughts the angel pressed against his side brought up. It worked up until the opening crawl started talking about the rebels stealing the plans to the Death Star, at which point another beer bottle was shoved into his line of vision. Cas was holding it out to him, though still reading the text scrolling across the TV screen. Dean looked from Cas to the bottle, then back again, confused. Cas didn’t drink. Was he trying to get Dean drunk? Not that Dean would mind that too much, now that he was apparently letting his thoughts go there.
“Dean, Charlie would like you to open her beer please,” Cas said without moving his eyes from the TV.
“Oh, yeah, sure.”
He reached for the bottle, wondering at the little thrill he felt when his fingers brushed against Cas’ as the bottle was transferred. Okay, something weird was going on... if Dean didn’t know any better, he’d think he was actually feeling the beginnings of a more-than-friendship kind of attraction to Cas.
The alcohol gave him courage, and he decided to push some boundaries and test out this new feeling. After popping the top off the beer, he leaned across Castiel’s chest to hand it to Charlie. He felt, more than heard the sharp intake of breath as Cas went completely stiff against him. That was interesting. He had been trying to test out his own feelings and hadn’t expected Cas to react at all. And he certainly hadn’t expected the resulting nervous excitement blooming in his own chest at the obvious effect of that small physical contact on the normally stoic angel.
Dean leaned back over to his side of the mattress, resolutely not looking at Castiel. He was in deep shit.
As the closing credits of
A New Hope
began rolling, Dean stretched against Castiel’s side. Neither of them had moved much at all through the whole movie. Cas had been frozen to the spot after Dean had leaned across him earlier to hand Charlie her beer. He hadn’t even remembered to roll his shirtsleeves up like Charlie had told him. And now the first movie was over and he had almost no idea what had happened because he had been too hyper-focused on the feeling of Dean’s shoulder nudging against his own with each breath he took.
“Time for a piss break,” Dean said, jumping up from the bed and half-jogging towards the door, “and when I get back, you two better have
Empire
queued up and the pie dished out.”
Cas thought he sounded happier than usual, and it made him smile. As soon as Dean was gone, Charlie shoved against his shoulder, almost knocking him into the spot where Dean had been sitting moments ago.
“What was that for?” he asked her.
“You’re up, Cas” she replied with a devious grin, “time to get serious.”
Cas didn’t like the sound of that.
Charlie jumped up and put the next movie in, then grabbed the pie tin and only two of the spoons. Bringing them back to the bed, she continued, “You gotta do the shirtsleeves thing for sure this time. Start as soon as we hear Dean coming back down the hall. And when he’s sitting next to you again, you get a spoonful of pie and do exactly what I do, okay?”
Cas nodded.
“Now watch,” she said, digging her spoon into the pie and bringing a bite up to her mouth. Cas stared in wide-eyed astonishment as Charlie moaned and closed her eyes, letting her head fall back against the headboard behind them as she slowly pulled the spoon out of her mouth. Then her eyes snapped open, meeting Castiel’s.
“Got it?” she asked.
“I think so,” Cas replied uncomfortably, “but—”
“Shhhh!” she interrupted at the sound of footsteps echoing from the hallway. Cas looked toward the door and his hands were suddenly too warm where they lay folded in his lap. Charlie nudged him and looked meaningfully from his eyes to his arms. He reached for the button on his right cuff and popped it out with shaking fingers, then began rolling the sleeve up to bare his forearm. He looked up and locked eyes with Dean, who froze in the doorway, eyes slowly drifting back down to Cas’ arm as he continued rolling the fabric.
Maybe Charlie did know what she was talking about. She leaned across him to grab the remote and hit play while Dean sauntered over to the bed. Cas reached for his left sleeve as the opening scene of the next movie began to play, but his fingers were clumsy and sweaty, and he couldn’t quite grasp the tiny button to get it through the buttonhole.
Cas gave a frustrated groan and was just about to give up and leave it when Dean grabbed his wrist and pulled his arm across his lap.
“Let me get that,” he said softly, and Cas’ mouth went dry.
“Thanks,” he croaked, expecting Dean to let go of his arm once the button was undone. But as he watched, Dean folded the cuff over and began rolling the sleeve up for him. Goosebumps trailed along his forearm as Dean’s fingers dragged against it, and he couldn’t look away from Dean’s hands.
Why was Dean doing this for him? Could Charlie be right about him having more-than-friendly feelings for in return? He felt a smile begin tugging at the corners of his lips, and he decided he wanted to find out for sure.
The last thing Cas wanted to do was make Dean uncomfortable, but he reasoned that testing the waters a little bit and cataloging Dean’s reactions couldn’t hurt anything. If Dean was uncomfortable, he would say something, as he always had before when Cas invaded his personal space or made a comment that could be construed as being a little too close to affectionate.
Cas waited and watched while Dean finished rolling the fabric up, and when he finished and brought his eyes up to Cas’ face, Cas let his hand fall to Dean’s leg. He held Dean’s gaze while giving the hunter’s thigh an almost imperceptible squeeze, saying, “Thank you, Dean.”
Cas watched Dean’s mouth fall open and his gorgeous green eyes dilate, then turned back to the movie and moved his hand back into his own lap. He felt Dean’s gaze on his face for a moment longer before finally sliding back toward the movie. Cas couldn’t completely suppress a small grin, and he turned slightly toward Charlie, who he knew had been watching the whole time out of the corner of her eye. He gave her a wink and settled back against the pillows, holding his hand out and glancing at the pie she still held in her lap.
“Oh... you ready for Pie, Cas?” she sputtered, handing the tin over.
“Did someone say pie?” Dean said, sounding slightly strangled.
Dean was thankful for the distraction of pie to drag him out of the gutter his mind had detoured into the moment Cas had touched his thigh. He was almost positive that Cas had given his leg a squeeze before moving his hand away, and the reaction he had felt deep in his groin had completely derailed any rational thought process he may have managed to hold onto after walking in the room to see Cas rolling his sleeves up, baring his tan forearms.
And there his thoughts went again... he mentally shook himself and was about to reach for the pie when he heard Cas
moan
. Like a goddamn porn star or something. Where the hell did a celestial being learn to make a sound like that?
Dean’s dick twitched again, more insistent this time, and he dropped his hands to his lap to cover anything that might be about to make itself obvious. That’s all he needed, popping a boner sitting in bed with his two best friends while one of them practically made love to the spoon in his mouth.
Dean couldn’t look away as Castiel pulled the spoon slowly out of his mouth, dragging it across his bottom lip to suck every last bit of cherry filling off. Holy shit, he was fucked. Well and truly fucked.
Cas dipped the spoon back into the pie, then brought it back up to his lips, stopping just before it hit his tongue. Dean felt like he was in some kind of trance, unable to move, unable to drag his eyes away from Cas’ mouth and the smear of cherry filling along his bottom lip. Cas turned his eyes on Dean, and Dean felt heat bloom under the skin of his neck and spread up to his cheeks as he dragged his gaze up to meet Cas’ eyes.
“Oh, I’m sorry Dean,” Cas rumbled, “do you want a bite?”
Dean swore he could see a challenging glint in Cas’ eyes as he sucked his bottom lip in to lick off the cherry filling, and there was definitely a smirk going on as Cas brought the spoon up to Dean’s mouth this time, stopping a few inches away. Dean felt an answering smirk forming on his face, silently thinking
challenge accepted
, as he leaned forward and opened his mouth to take the proffered bite of pie. If an angel of the lord could make eating a bite of pie positively pornographic, well Dean Winchester could sure as hell do better. He caught Cas’ wrist and held his hand still while his tongue snaked out to lick the last bit of cherry filling from the spoon, maintaining eye contact with Cas the whole time.
He barely registered when Charlie got up and walked out of the room, mumbling something about a bathroom trip and being sleepy.
Dean finally broke eye contact after licking the spoon clean and reached for the spoon Charlie had abandoned in the pie tray resting on Cas’ lap. He dug in for a good-sized bite of the sweet filling and crust, and lifted it up to Cas’ mouth. A moan almost escaped his throat as he watched Cas envelop the spoon with his chapped pink lips. Dean covered it up with a laugh, suddenly feeling self-conscious as he lifted his gaze up to meet those sky blue eyes and realized Cas had been watching him stare lasciviously at his mouth.
But before he could pull away and make a joke, standard Dean Winchester coping mechanism in uncomfortably gay situations, Cas was shoving another bite into his mouth. Any joke he might have made died on his lips as he watched Cas’s tongue swipe out across his bottom lip to taste the pie filling smeared there from his last bite. Dean wanted more than anything to reach out and tangle his hand in Cas’ hair, to drag him closer so he could swipe his own tongue across those pale pink lips, but he was suddenly unsure.
He had plenty of experience with the ladies, and if Cas had been some random chick he met in a bar he probably wouldn’t have hesitated to take things further. Hell, if he was being honest with himself he probably wouldn’t have hesitated even if Cas was some random
dude
he met in a bar. After all, he could tell when someone wanted him regardless of their sex, and he had been curious thanks to a few close encounters of the male kind that he had experienced over the last couple of years. But he knew Cas was pretty inexperienced, despite being thousands of years old, and he didn’t want Cas to feel taken advantage of. Damn his morals for making a sudden appearance.
He swallowed his bite of pie roughly, cleared his throat and sat back against the pillows. “You’re not paying attention to the movie at all, are you Cas?”
Cas looked at him, a small grin pulling the corner of his mouth up. “Not really, no.”
Dean laughed, and it felt good. He turned back to the movie and tried to ignore the twitching in his fingers as he yearned to reach over and touch Cas. He was going to behave himself dammit, and if Cas wanted more from him, well he could make the first move.
Cas was confused. And frustrated. He could have sworn Dean had been flirting with him. As far as he knew from his limited experience as a human, people feeding each other pie while staring into each other’s eyes was not a platonic activity. Yet Dean had casually turned his attention back to the movie after a few bites, and Castiel could see out of the corner of his eye that Dean was already engrossed in the story again. He sighed and decided he would just enjoy the nearness of his best friend and try to ignore the urge to reach out and
make
him forget all about the movie.
Thirty minutes later, and finally engrossed in the story, he felt Dean slowly tip over so that his head rested against Cas’ shoulder. Castiel froze—Dean’s soft, steady breaths puffed against his collarbone, and he risked a look down at Dean’s face. His eyes were closed, his mouth slightly open and face slack. Warmth filled Castiel’s chest as he realized Dean had fallen asleep. He shifted slowly so that he could pull a blanket up and over them and slip his arm around Dean’s shoulders. Cradling Dean’s head on his chest, he held him there while he watched the rest of the movie, all the way through the end credits. He didn’t dare move even when the TV’s power saving mode shut it off automatically a little while later, lest he wake Dean and lose this closeness.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Dean was warm and cozy and he snuggled deeper into the nest of blankets and pillows surrounding him. He felt cocooned in warmth, and his sleep addled brain noticed, but didn’t really care much, that he never woke up feeling so warm or so safe anymore. He also slowly realized there was a warm body in bed with him. Being stuck in that liminal state between dreams and wakefulness, Dean really only registered that he felt good, and his arms tightened around the torso of the person lying next to him.He felt arms tighten around him in response, and a pair of legs shifted, one brushing against the morning wood Dean was currently sporting. Dean shuddered and groaned, thrusting his hips forward seeking more friction as he suddenly realized he was rock hard. Whoever he was grinding against gasped and pulled Dean even closer, smashing his face into a warm torso. Dean breathed in the smell of lavender, which seemed familiar for some reason he couldn’t quite place thanks to the lack of blood currently circulating through his thinking brain.His dreams had been good too, and Dean groggily wondered if he was still dreaming. He must be. He didn’t remember picking up any chicks the night before—in fact, he didn’t remember even leaving the bunker the night before. His brows furrowed as he tried to force his sleepy brain into reviewing the previous evening. He remembered pizza and beer, and lots of laughter around the kitchen table. And he remembered putting on Star Wars so Cas could watch it. And he remembered pie, and Cas sitting next to him—Dean froze. Was he snuggling up to Cas? Was he dry humping Cas ?“Good morning, Dean,” he felt Cas’ voice rumble through the torso underneath his cheek.Dean sat up and tried to extricate his arms from around the angel’s torso. He had been completely wrapped around Cas, one arm thrown over his hips, the other shoved under his lower back, a leg thrown over the angel’s thigh. Shit. There went his plan to let Cas make the first move.“Uh... morning,” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes so he wouldn’t have to meet Cas’ gaze. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to uh... fall asleep... on you... and stuff.”He heard Cas chuckle behind him, “I don’t mind, Dean. You were very tired, and I didn’t want to move and risk waking you. I know you haven’t been sleeping well.”Dean groaned and mumbled something about needing to piss. He stood, thankful that he at least fell asleep in jeans so he wouldn’t be forced to walk down the hallway with a raging boner tenting his boxers.Dean stood and practically ran out of the bedroom and away from Castiel. That certainly had been an interesting reaction—one that left Cas a little confused, but not too worried. After all, Dean hadn’t said it wasn’t okay that they had fallen asleep together, and he hadn’t even made Cas leave his bed—two things Dean definitely would have done if he’d been uncomfortable enough. If anything, Cas was even more resolved to find out for sure if Dean wanted something more than friendship.As soon as the door was closed, Cas stretched his cramped arms and legs out then brought his hands down between his legs. Thrusting up into his hands, he squeezed his eyes shut as he relished the feel of pressure against his erection. The erection he had gotten instantly, almost painfully, the moment he realized Dean was aroused and purposely thrusting against his thigh.He imagined having Dean in his arms again, pushing his thigh between Dean’s legs. Rolling over so he could kiss Dean’s lips while they thrust against each other. He would slide his hand down Dean’s side to his hip, tucking two fingers into Dean’s waistband and following the slight curve of his belly to pop open the button of his jeans. He’d push his hand inside and wrap it around Dean’s cock, squeezing and pulling gently, sliding up and down, all the while devouring the soft groans and moans that he imagined escaping Dean’s mouth.A groan escaped his own mouth at that thought, and it turned into a growl as he rolled over in frustration, pushing his face into Dean’s pillow. And that was a mistake, because it smelled just like Dean, citrusy with a faint whiff of leather oil and an underlying musk that belonged solely to Dean. Castiel inhaled deeply, hesitating for just a moment before giving in to his body’s needs, thrusting his erection against the mattress, imagining Dean beneath him. After only a few thrusts, he came, Dean’s name a low growl eaten up by the pillow under his head.His body slowly unclenched as he came down from the orgasmic high of his first masturbatory experience since restoring his grace and becoming an angel again. He let himself sink bonelessly into Dean’s mattress, noting, but not really caring, that there was now a wet mess probably seeping through his pants and into Dean’s sheets. Part of him was oddly turned on by that, and he felt a twitch between his legs as he thought of Dean sleeping here later tonight. Dean would probably think that was creepy though, so before he could talk himself into leaving the mess to dry he used a little bit of grace to clean himself up. He didn’t bother moving though, still drifting in warm contentment and not particularly wanting to leave Dean’s bed. Soon, although he didn’t need it anymore, he fell asleep.As soon as Dean shut his bedroom door behind him, he booked it down the hallway to the bathroom. He made it to the doorway just in time to slow down and wave a quick good morning to Charlie as she stepped out of her room, before ducking into the bathroom and locking the door behind him. He leaned against the door and tried to slow his heartbeat and will his still raging hard-on down.A moment later, he pushed off the wall and turned on the faucet, splashing his face with the cold water. He gasped at the shock of it and wiped his eyes, lifting his head up and catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His cheeks and neck were flushed bright pink and his eyes were wide, pupils blown open. Shit. Dean knew he looked like a wreck. There was no way he could take a piss and leave the bathroom without Cas and everyone else in the damn bunker knowing he was turned on and horny as fuck. And all this from Star Wars and pie and snuggling ?“Ugh,” Dean grumbled, glaring down at his boner.He turned off the sink and walked over to the shower, turning the faucets on there. Once he got the water to an acceptable temperature, he pulled his flannel off and tossed it to the floor. He pulled his t-shirt over his head, holding back a gasp as it slid across his chest, the soft cotton causing just enough friction to send a shock of pleasure straight to his groin as it dragged against the engorged flesh of his nipples. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been this aroused. Goddamn Cas and his goddamn pornographic pie eating. Dean tossed the shirt in the general direction of his flannel, already popping the button on his jeans with his free hand. He tucked his thumbs into the waistbands of his jeans and boxer-briefs, pulling them both down at once and allowing his cock to spring free.“Oh, God...” Dean groaned, gripping the heated flesh at the base with one hand while pulling the shower curtain out of the way with the other. He wasn’t going to last long at all, he just had to get into the shower and contain the inevitable mess he was about to make. The warm water hit his chest and the spray did wonderful things to his nipples and the head of his cock, and Dean couldn’t hold back any longer. He leaned forward and braced himself with one hand on the wall in front of him, letting the water flow from the top of his head down his chest and over his balls, and he began stroking.Dean pictured Cas moaning around a mouthful of pie and he tightened his grip on himself. “Fuck,” Dean whispered as he wondered what it would feel like to have Cas moaning like that around his dick. He wanted to hold back and draw out the fantasy, make it last, but he felt too good to stop. He continued stroking from root to tip, twisting a little at the head, imagining Cas’ tongue flicking against the sensitive skin there. He felt a whine force its way out of his mouth as he sped up his pace and pictured Cas’ blue eyes looking up at him. Just when he thought he couldn’t possibly last a second longer he was coming, shooting white streaks on the shower wall in front of him, Cas’ name a ghost on his lips.He stood under the spray for a moment, milking the last drops of come from his body and trying not to collapse. Gradually his pulse slowed and his shaky legs began to feel stronger. He set about washing his hair and soaping his body quickly in case anyone was paying attention to how long he was in the shower. When he shut the water off and stepped out to dry himself, he realized that in his haste to escape he had completely forgotten to grab a towel. He hadn’t grabbed a fresh set of clothes to change into either.Well, he thought, chuckling to himself as he pulled on just his jeans over his damp thighs, if Cas was still in his room he was about to get a taste of his own medicine.Charlie’s eyes widened and she clamped her lips shut to hold in a giggle when she caught sight of Dean ducking into the bathroom. He was fully dressed, but that boy had an unmistakable glow about him, which when combined with the shifty eyes and mad rush to step over the bathroom threshold, just beamed “walk of shame”. The door clicked shut and she heard the lock engage as she walked by.Continuing down the hallway, she glanced at Dean’s door and was surprised to see it shut as well. Dean normally left his door at least cracked open, except for those rare times when he was in there doing whatever boys do behind closed doors. Probably cleaning his favorite gun. Charlie held back a snort at her own innuendo. She cracked herself up sometimes.She wondered if Cas was still in there, assuming he must be if the door was closed and Dean had left in the state she had just seen him in. She wondered what sort of state Cas must be in. Dean had probably freaked out about the precarious state of his heterosexuality and ran, leaving Cas in confusion. She hesitated to knock though, wanting to make sure Cas had privacy if he needed it. Instead, she continued down the hallway.Reaching the doorway to the kitchen, she saw a bead-headed Sam fumbling with the coffee maker. She sighed... how did any of these boys ever survive without her.She walked over to Sam and took the coffee pot out of his hands, shoving him bodily out of the way. Sam had a much bigger frame than her, but he could be as clumsy as a newborn moose when he first woke up, and she was able to move him pretty easily despite her small stature.“Go sit down, I’ll make the coffee.”Sam squinted at her and brought a hand up to scratch the back of his head as he fought off a yawn, managing to get out a “yeah, okay.”Charlie waited for the coffee to finish, then poured a cup for herself and a cup for Sam. “So,” she began, walking the cups over to the kitchen table where Sam sat rubbing his eyes and looking only slightly more awake, “I need your help.”Sam lifted his head and squinted at her. She shoved his cup of coffee toward him. “Drink this, and listen up Chewbaca. We need to get Han Solo, aka your brother, to stop being an idiot and stop pushing his ‘Leia’ away.” She used actual air quotes with ‘Leia’ in the hopes that Sam would catch on to which princess she was talking about.Charlie waited patiently, sipping her coffee while Sam took a drink of his. She could almost see the gears in his head struggling to wake up and get going. Maybe she should have waited till he finished the coffee, but she didn’t know how much time they’d have alone before Cas and Dean smelled the coffee and migrated this way.“Wait,” Sam said, setting his cup down, “you’re talking about Dean? And... Cas?”“Yes!” Charlie set her cup down just a little too fast, causing a bit of coffee to splash over the edge. “Tell me I’m not imagining how head over heels those two are for each other!”Sam just chuckled into his cup, taking another sip before answering. “Well, if you are imagining it, you’re not the only one. Did you see the way they kept eye-fucking at dinner last night? So gross.”“I know, right?” Charlie tried to keep her voice quiet, but her enthusiasm for playing matchmaker was getting the best of her, especially now that she had Sam on her team. “So,” she took a deep breath, preparing to give Sam the run down on her progress so far, “I talked to Cas last night. I think he didn’t even realize how far gone he was over Dean until I asked him about it. And I gave him some pointers then left the two of them to finish Empire Strikes Back in Dean’s bed last night.“Last thing I saw was them two feeding each other spoonfuls of pie and alternating staring longingly into each other’s eyes or at each other’s lips. It was absolutely disgusting and I thought for sure they’d finally gotten out of their heads and were about to get into each other’s pants.” Charlie sucked in another deep breath and continued, despite the ‘ew gross’ look on Sam’s face. “But this morning, I ran into Dean in the hallway, fully clothed but obviously flustered. He disappeared into the bathroom like a level 90 rogue, and I’m pretty sure Cas is holed up in his room dealing with the aftereffects of one of Dean’s heterosexual freak outs.”Sam was watching her with eyebrows raised and a half grin. “Huh,” he said.“Huh? That’s all you have to say? Your brother’s obviously in love with Cas, and Cas is in love with him, and WE need to work together to make them realize it so we can clear the air of all the damn U.S.T. around here. It’s hard to even breathe around those two.”“U.S.T.?”“Unresolved. Sexual. Tension. Like insane amounts of it.”“Yeah,” Sam started, setting his coffee cup down and smiling fully, “Okay, I’m on board with that. You got a plan?”“Why yes, my good sir, it happens that I do...”Through a sleepy haze, Cas registered the click of a door opening and light hitting his eyelids. He grumbled at the interruption of his sleep—it was something he had grown to love when he was human, but was only able to indulge in rarely since getting his grace back. It was really only possible if he was seriously injured or, as he had just found out, if he overloaded his vessel with a flood of good feelings and oxytocin. Orgasms were definitely one of the more pleasant advantages to having a human vessel. Cas smiled into Dean’s pillow and snuggled it closer.“Hey, sleeping beauty,” Dean’s voice rumbled from somewhere above him, and Cas was startled into full wakefulness when a hand slid into his hair and a drop of cold water splashed against his cheek. He turned over to look up at Dean hovering above him, hair darkened with water, small drops glistening on his eyelashes and sliding down his stubbled cheek. Castiel watched a drop follow the curve of Dean’s jaw and roll down his neck, and as his eyes followed its path he realized Dean was shirtless.Without thinking, he reached out to touch, letting his fingertips slide through droplets of water that clung to the smattering of golden hairs across Dean’s chest. Dean sucked in a breath as Cas continued dragging his fingers down, noting, but purposely avoiding a hard nipple on his way to stroke down Dean’s stomach. He looked back up and stilled, letting his fingertips rest on the edge of Dean’s jeans, not daring to go further until he knew for sure this was what Dean wanted.The look in Dean’s eyes told him everything he needed to know, confirmed that Dean wanted this, wanted him . Pupils blown wide in their green depths, Cas watched Dean’s lips part as he swiped his tongue out to moisten them.“Dean,” Cas said, surprised that his voice still worked. He wanted to confess his intentions, ask for Dean’s consent, make absolutely sure that this was okay before he pulled Dean down and kissed plush pink lips that were just begging to be kissed, begging for Cas to kiss them. The last thing he wanted was to make an assumption and act on it before Dean was truly ready, and ruin any chance they might have had at whatever it was they were standing on the precipice of. “I—”A knock at the door startled them both, and Dean jumped off the bed yelling, “What?” between clenched teeth, sounding just as frustrated as Cas felt. Cas almost whined when Dean walked over to his dresser and pulled out a clean t-shirt. He was fast converting to the opinion that clothes were unnecessary, and Dean especially should not wear them, ever.With his voice muffled by the door, Cas could just make out Sam saying, “Dean, coffee’s ready. And I think I found us a case.”“Yeah, okay,” was Dean’s gruff reply. “Pour me a cup, I’ll be right there.”Cas got out of bed and began gathering his things, suppressing a frustrated sigh.“So, I’ll uh, see you out there,” Dean said, though he made no effort to leave.“Okay,” Cas said, standing and watching Dean. His cheeks were still flushed and a slight grin quirked the corner of his mouth. Cas felt an answering smile tug at his lips.“Okay,” Dean said, turning towards the door and walking right into the chair at his desk. He threw Cas a sheepish grin, then walked around the chair and pulled the door open. With his hand on the doorknob, he glanced back at Cas. “Um, maybe you and I can go for a drive later? If this case doesn’t pan out?”“I would very much enjoy that, Dean.”“Awesome,” Dean said with a shy grin, then left the room.Cas smiled to himself, finally understanding what the term “butterflies in your stomach” was all about. He couldn’t wait for their drive.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Dean sipped his coffee as Sam explained the case he had found. He was only half-listening—the other half of his brain occupied with thoughts of Cas. Had he imagined that Cas had literally been about to kiss him before Sam had so rudely interrupted them? Had he really
wanted
that?
Yes, he definitely had. Despite the fact that he’d never kissed a man before, he wanted that with Cas. He just had to figure out how to get Cas alone again, and he was sure he could get his kiss.
“Dean,” Sam barked, snapping fingers in front of Dean’s face.
Dean jumped, realizing he’d completely stopped listening to Sam, then frowned. “Dude, knock it off.”
“You’re not even listening to me,” Sam whined.
“Of course I’m listening.”
“Okay, so what’d I just say?”
“You were talking about the case and stuff,” Dean tried to bullshit. He looked to Charlie where she sat to Sam’s left for help, but she just shrugged and gave him an innocent smile. He scowled at her.
Sam wasn’t having it. He fixed Dean with Bitchface No. 57 and sat back, crossing his arms.
“Okay, fine,” Dean said with a sigh, “you caught me, I wasn’t listening. But in my defense, you interrupted my, uh… morning routine. And I haven’t even gotten to finish a cup of coffee yet. So what’d you say that was so important? I’m listening now.”
Sam sighed, pursing his lips. “I said it seems like this is a vengeful spirit who’s after couples.”
“Cas and me’ll do it,” Dean blurted out, then froze, staring at Sam like a deer in headlights.
Sam raised an eyebrow. “Okay,” he said, drawing the word out.
“Got a problem with queer couples?” Dean said with a frown, hoping to deflect some heat onto Sam.
“Of course I don’t, Dean,” Sam said with an exasperated sigh, “but how are you, Mr. Straight Guy, gonna manage to play half of a queer couple convincingly?”
Charlie laughed. “Have you seen Cas and Dean together, Sam?”
Sam frowned in thought.
Before he could think too hard, Dean spoke. “Look, we’re professionals—”
Charlie snorted.
“Zip it, Red,” Dean said, jabbing a finger in her direction. She just smirked at him and sipped her coffee. “We’re professionals and we can pull this off.”
“Okay,” Sam said, holding his hands up in a pacifying manner.
“What can we pull off?” said Cas, entering the room and heading straight for the coffee pot.
“Uh, this case,” Dean said, standing and making his way to the hallway. “I’ll explain it on the way. We should get packed.”
“Do you even know where you’re going, Dean?” Sam called after him.
“No, but you’re gonna email me all the details,” Dean called back, booking it to his room.
Cas tapped Dean’s door with his foot, trying not to jostle the two cups of coffee he held in his hands.
A moment later, Dean opened the door and stood, staring at Cas.
“You left an almost full cup of coffee,” Cas said holding Dean’s cup out. “Figured you wouldn’t want to let it go to waste.”
“Uh, thanks, Cas,” Dean said, taking the cup and sipping.
“So what’s this case about?”
“Sammy didn’t tell you?” Dean asked, turning towards his bed where he had his duffle laid out and half stuffed with clothing.
“No, he said you’d want to do that.”
Dean snorted. “Of course he did.”
“So? What’s it about?”
Dean stuffed a couple t-shirts in his duffle. “Just a vengeful ghost.”
“Okay, nothing special about that.”
“That goes after couples.”
“Oh,” Cas said, then after a few seconds, “Oh.”
Dean focused on rolling up a pair of jeans and stuffing them in with the t-shirts. “And I kinda volunteered us to pose as a couple, but if you don’t feel comfortable, I totally—”
“Dean,” Cas interrupted. “I’m comfortable with it if you are.” His voice sounded closer and Dean turned his head to find Cas standing just behind him at his left shoulder. His eyes were dark.
Dean turned to fully face Cas, glancing at his lips and licking his own. “I’m comfortable with it.” He leaned forward. “Maybe we should practice though. You know, being a couple, doing couple things.”
“Like kissing?” Cas said, voice barely above a whisper.
“Yeah,” Dean said, dropping his eyes to Cas’ lips.
The sound of Charlie clearing her throat caused them both to jump back. “Sorry to interrupt, guys,” she said sheepishly. “I mean,
really sorry
. But I just wanted to say, if either of you wants an out on this I’m more than willing to step in. I may not be straight, but I think I can pretend pretty good.”
“Charlie,” Dean said, a hint of frustration lacing his words, “we got this. I promise.”
“Okay, okay,” Charlie said, backing out of the room.
The mood now ruined, Dean turned to Cas who smiled shyly at him.
“I should go get packed,” Cas said, motioning towards the door but making no move to leave.
“Yeah, me too,” Dean said, still staring at Cas. Dean’s phone dinged then, drawing his attention. He dug his phone out of his pocket and looked down at the screen, seeing a new text from Sam with an address. He probably already had a new email with all the case details too. He looked back up to find Cas had moved to the doorway.
“Meet you at the car in ten?” Cas said, then added, a bit awkwardly but with a hopeful smile, “Honey?”
Dean grinned and snorted. “Yeah, babe.” Cas left with a smile and Dean turned back to his duffle bag, not bothering to suppress the huge grin still stuck on his face. It had felt completely normal calling Cas, babe. He couldn’t wait to try out some others and kept his mind busy coming up with a list while he finished packing: sweetheart, sugar, sunshine for sure, angel might be a bit too on the nose but he’d try it out anyway, and
lover
. He shivered at the thought of calling Cas his lover, of Cas
being
his lover.
I am definitely not straight
, he thought as he opened the end table drawer and grabbed lube and a package of condoms. He tossed them in his duffle bag and zipped it up, taking one last look around the room to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything important, then made his way to the garage.
The open road called to Dean, and he settled back against his seat, easing off the gas a bit for better gas mileage. He loved his Baby, but she was a thirsty bitch.
They were somewhere in Nebraska, driving down I-80 heading west towards Wyoming and the hotel supposedly haunted by a ghost who hated happy couples. After Sam had given him the run down as he was throwing his and Cas’ things into the Impala’s trunk, Dean wasn’t so sure there was even a case. Only one couple had died, and while it was suspicious that it was a murder-suicide involving a happy couple, by all accounts, there wasn’t much evidence pointing to the supernatural. Other than the ectoplasmic substance found on the murder weapon and accounts of black eyes.
But it had been a chance to get some alone time with Cas. Some couple time. Even though they weren’t actually a couple, Dean was excited by the possibility. He’d jumped at the chance to explore that possibility without thinking twice.
Cas sat in the passenger seat to his right and Dean kept trying to sneak glances at him without being obvious about it. Now that he was admitting to this thing he felt for Cas, he found he couldn't stop looking at him.
“So,” he said, and Cas dragged his attention away from the laptop he was using to read up about the case, turning blue eyes on Dean. “Finally got our drive, huh?”
“We did indeed,” Cas said, smiling a conspiratorial grin. “Although we still haven't had a chance to practice being a couple.”
“Oh, right,” Dean said, feeling butterflies in his stomach. “How about the next time we stop for a rest?”
“I'm feeling like I could use a rest now, Dean,” Cas said, eyes hot on the side of Dean's face.
“Oh,” he said lamely.
“That means you should pull over,” Cas said, and Dean glanced over to see a smirk on his face.
“Okay, yeah, I can do that.” He noticed a wide pull off area up ahead and lifted his foot off the gas, letting Baby slow to a crawl before pulling her off the road and putting her in park. “We're stopped,” he said, turning the engine off.
“Yes, I can see that,” Cas said, still smirking. He looked so confident, but he didn't move closer. Dean’s palms began to sweat.
“So,” Dean said, not at all sure what was going to come out of his mouth next. He could be confident around random women in bars, but this was different, and not only because Cas was a dude. This was his best friend, and he didn’t want to screw this up. Dean licked his lips and scooted across the bench seat a little ways towards Cas. Cas watched him, a speculative look in his eyes. “You gonna meet me halfway, or what?”
“I could do that,” Cas said with a smirk, staying where he was.
Dean rolled his eyes. “You asshole,” he said leaning forward and grabbing Cas under a knee and around a bicep and tugging him closer. “Come here.”
Cas barked a laugh. Their knees bumped. Dean couldn’t look away from Cas’ eyes, lit up with laughter. God he was gorgeous.
When Cas licked his smiling lips, Dean’s eyes tracked the movement. He leaned forward, close enough that he could feel Cas’ breath on his lips, then looked back up to find Cas watching him, pupils blown. He leaned even closer and let his eyes fall closed, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of Cas’ mouth.
Cas drew in a sharp intake of breath, and turned his head slowly, dragging his lips across Dean’s. Dean couldn’t stop a tiny moan from escaping as he surged forward, capturing Cas’ top lip between his own. Cas pressed forward, digging his hands into the lapels of Dean’s jacket and pulling him closer. Dean slid his hands around Cas’ waist and let his lips fall open to deepen the kiss.
The quick blip blip of a siren interrupted them and Dean drew back regretfully. He turned to look out the back window and sure enough, there was a cop parked behind them. The door opened and a stocky officer stepped out, shutting his door and walking towards the driver’s side of the Impala. Dean scooted back over to his side of the seat and rolled down the window.
“Mind telling me what you’re doing parked on the side of the highway?” the cop asked, leaning down to look inside the Impala and give Cas a slow once over. Dean felt anger curl in his belly.
“We’ve been driving a while, Officer…” Dean squinted at the man’s badge. “Officer Bailey. Just wanted to stop and take a break, stretch our legs,” Dean said, giving Bailey what he hoped looked like a convincing smile.
“Right,” Bailey said, staring them down without a hint of friendliness in his face. “License, registration, and insurance, please.”
Dean gathered the paperwork and handed it over. Bailey walked slowly back to his car, opening the door and ducking inside, presumably to call Dean’s information in and check him out. Dean could have, and probably should have, flashed the officer his FBI badge but he hadn’t had one handy. He hadn’t been thinking about getting pulled over, he’d only been thinking about getting out onto the road with Cas by his side.
Dean looked over at Cas to see him watching the cop car in the rearview mirror. He hadn’t bothered to scoot back over, so he still sat almost in the middle of the bench seat. He wanted to reach out and grab Cas’ hand, reassure him everything was going to be fine, but Bailey had been giving them the stink-eye from the get go and Dean had a feeling it stemmed from seeing the two of them engaging in an intimate activity. He also got the feeling that engaging in more intimate activities, like holding hands, would not be looked upon kindly.
Another part of him—a slightly larger part—thought he should give Bailey a big fuck you and hold Cas’ hand just to piss him off.
He grabbed Cas’ hand.
Cas looked over at him with a smile, and Dean’s heart melted. He didn’t really give a shit what this homophobic cop thought. When Bailey came back up to the window with Dean’s paperwork and Cas moved to pull his hand free, Dean gripped it tighter, squeezing to let Cas know it was alright.
“Everything checks out,” Bailey said, leaning over to talk through the window. “You're free to go, but look fellas, I don't care what you do, just keep it behind closed doors and off the side of the road, alright?”
“Yes, sir,” Dean said, nodding as the cop left with a tap to Baby's roof. The asshole could’ve kept his hands off Baby, but at least he’d let them go without any issues. It could’ve gone much worse.
Dean let go of Cas’ hand to turn the key in the Impala's ignition, watching in his rearview mirror as Bailey got back into his patrol car. He pulled slowly back out onto the highway and brought the Impala up to speed before glancing over at Cas. “Guess we'll have to continue practice later.”
“Well, practice doesn't have to mean just kissing,” Cas said, grabbing Dean's hand. Dean turned his fingers up to lace them through Cas’ and gave him a quick smile before turning back to the road.
A few hours later, they pulled up in front of the Plains Hotel in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was a tall, imposing building, and Dean hoped they weren’t given a room too high up. Not that he was scared of heights or anything, it just made him a little uncomfortable to think of all those floors between them and safety if they needed to escape quickly. And okay, maybe the height thing was a little bit of an issue. He’d just stay away from the windows.
Dean gave Cas a smile and stepped out of the Impala, opening the trunk and grabbing his duffle bag. When they both had their bags, he shut the trunk and walked over to the valet on duty. “Take good care of my Baby,” he said, handing the pimple-faced boy a twenty dollar bill along with the keys, “and there’ll be another twenty in it for you when we’re done here.”
“Yes, sir,” the boy said, then hopped into the Impala and drove her off.
“She better not come back with a single scratch on her,” he grumbled as he and Cas walked towards the large glass front doors. A bell boy held one of the doors open for them, and he and Cas stepped into a large, open lobby, with a giant picture of a herd of buffalos being chased down by a cowboy hung over the front desk. Dean smiled. This was his kind of place.
He looked over to find Cas watching him and smiling softly, and he cleared his throat and turned towards the front desk. A woman, probably in her mid-forties with a bouffant of soft blond hair, greeted them with a wide smile. “Hello, sirs,” she said cheerfully, “how can I help you?”
“Reservation for Jones, Brian,” Dean said, giving the woman a smile. She typed the name into her computer and waited a moment, then her face lit up.
“Ah, yes, Mr. Jones,” she said, looking up at Dean then turning her wide smile on Cas. “And the other Mr. Jones, I presume?”
Cas looked at her with a furrowed brow, and Dean nudged his arm to get him to respond. “Uh, yes,” Cas said, looking slightly confused. “That is me, Mr. Jones.”
The woman’s smile never faded. “Well, let me be the first at the Plains Hotel to tell you congratulations. We have you booked in the Honeymoon Suite.”
“Great,” Dean said with a strained smile. That meant they’d probably get no sleep because the damn ghosts would be in the room with them. Hopefully they kept it quiet tonight, letting Dean and Cas get some rest before the shit hit the fan.
He accepted the keys from the woman and half-listened to her spout off directions to find the suite — take the elevator to the top floor, hang a right and go to the end of the corridor. Shouldn’t be too difficult to find. He thanked the girl and tugged Cas over to the elevators. He ignored the nervous butterflies in his stomach as he hit the button for the top floor. Just had to stay away from the windows.
As soon as the door to their hotel room was closed, Cas was on him. Dean didn’t even get a chance to think about closing the curtains. Cas dropped his bag then pushed Dean’s off his shoulder, grabbed at his lapels and spun him around, backing him towards the couch at one side of the room. When Dean’s knees hit the edge his legs buckled and he sat with a grunt.
“Cas, what the—”
Cas climbed into his lap, straddling his legs, and Dean finally caught on. They were finally alone, no Sam or Charlie or asshole cops to interrupt. He was finally gonna get his kiss.
And then he did.
Cas’ lips crashed into his and Dean moaned involuntarily as his hands moved to rest on Cas’ thighs. The thick muscles tensed as Cas leaned forward to press closed mouth kisses to his lips, hands cupping Dean’s jaw like he was something precious. When Cas’ tongue teased at his bottom lip, Dean opened to him. He tasted faintly of teriyaki beef jerky, but Dean didn’t care, this was
Cas
, and they were kissing.
Finally
.
The stubble was a bit weird, Dean mused as Cas’ lips moved against his, but not in a bad way. He slipped a hand up to the back of Cas’ neck to grip his hair and turn his head to the side, then kissed across Cas’ jaw just to feel the stubble scrape against his sensitive lips. Cas moaned and Dean couldn’t help but bite gently at the bolt of his jaw, drawing a gasp from Cas.
“God, Cas,” Dean whispered against the skin just below Cas’ ear. Cas shivered. “Want you so bad.”
Cas whined and shifted in Dean’s lap, trying to get closer, and suddenly there was a hard length pressing against his dick. Dean groaned and brought both hands to Cas’ ass, pulling him even closer and increasing the pressure against his growing erection as Cas’ mouth found his again. He rutted against Cas, licking into his mouth. If they didn’t slow this down he was going to come in his jeans like he hadn’t since he was a teen.
Pulling back, Cas stared down at him, blue eyes dark. Dean almost whined at the loss of Cas’ mouth on his, and leaned forward for another kiss, but Cas stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Dean, I—”
Dean sat back, waiting for the rejection, the “we shouldn’t be doing this” speech. His heart sank in his chest. “Yeah, Cas?” he asked gruffly.
Cas looked away and Dean’s heart sank even further. He couldn’t even look at Dean now.
“I want you to...” Cas said, then hesitated before bringing his eyes back to Deans, “I want you to fuck me.”
The words went straight to Dean’s cock and he suddenly realized he wanted nothing more in the world than to be inside of Cas. He
needed
it. “Oh, god, Cas,” he moaned leaning forward to capture Cas’ lips again. Cas kissed him back, soft lips moving against his, and Dean’s heart was soaring. “I want that too,” he said between kisses. “So bad. Wanna be inside you.”
Cas moaned as Dean pulled him closer again, rocking against him. “You’re wearing entirely too many clothes to be able to fuck me, Dean.”
Dean pulled back long enough to shrug out of his flannel with Cas’ help. He was just starting to tug at the hem of his t-shirt to pull it over his head when a muffled ringing sounded from beneath him. But Cas was loosening his tie and unbuttoning his white dress shirt and there was no way in hell Dean was even looking at the damn thing long enough to turn the ringer off. It stopped by the time he got his shirt off anyway.
He reached up to push Cas’ shirt off his shoulders, letting his eyes drink in the sight of all the bare, tanned skin of Cas’ lightly haired chest as Cas pulled the shirt off his arms. “God, you’re gorgeous,” he said, reverently dragging his fingers over Cas’ arms, shoulders, pecs.
Cas leaned forward for another kiss, his tongue probing Dean’s mouth as Dean’s hands slid around his back. His phone rang again. Definite Sam code for “pick up your fucking phone, it’s important, jerk” and he couldn’t ignore it without paying a hefty price.
Dean sighed and Cas sat back while he leaned over to dig his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the screen. “It’s Sam.”
Now it was Cas’ turn to sigh. He dropped his head to Dean’s bare shoulder as Dean hit the answer button and brought the phone to his opposite ear.
“What Sam?”
Sam prattled on, oblivious as usual about the fact that he was being a giant cock block. Dean half listened to something about the couples all having marital problems kept under wraps while nuzzling at Cas’ neck, then Sam asked how the case was going.
“Uh, great, yeah,” Dean said, running a thumb over Cas’ hip. “Real good.”
“You haven’t even started working it yet, have you?” Sam said with a snort.
“Sam, we just got here, what do you expect?”
“Nothing,” Sam said, and Dean could hear the smile in his voice. “You’re right, it’s late and you had a long drive. You and Cas should just enjoy your evening and get started in the morning.”
“No, you’re right. We should at least go down to the bar and ask around,” Dean said, suppressing another sigh as Cas got up off his lap and began redressing. “I’ll call you in the morning and give you an update.” He hoped Sam got the hint and left them alone for the rest of the night.
Sam said goodbye and Dean hung up. “Sorry,” he said, grinning ruefully at Cas who was buttoning up his shirt.
“It’s okay, we are here to work a case after all,” Cas said, bending to pick up Dean’s t-shirt from the floor and tossing it to him. “But we’re finishing this later.”
There was a bit of growl in his voice in those last words, and Dean shivered. “Hell yeah we are,” he said, standing and grabbing Cas around the waist. He pulled him in for another quick kiss, then stepped back to pull his shirt back on.