One Question Each

The date wasn't going too well. It'd been going wrong from the very start, to be honest, and that wasn't even due to the tie-problem.

Cas had been looking forward to this date so much, and now it seemed like everything was over before it had even begun when Dean set his cutlery down, leaned forward in his chair and said: "Castiel?"

"You look amazing", Charlie said, as Castiel stood in front of the mirror checking his hair. "I think. I mean that's what you're supposed to say as a best friend, right? Yes, I guess you look amazing. Not that I'm any judge..."

"Thanks.", Castiel said pointedly and shot her a look.

"... shutting up now", Charlie promised and tried her best to look like she didn't enjoy teasing Castiel.

Cas remained standing in front of the mirror insecurely.

"I don't think you could do any better", Charlie tried convincing him when he kept pulling at his tie unhappily.

"Shouldn't I go with the dark blue one?", he asked. "I should, shouldn't I?"

Charlie only half laughed and mainly frowned as she said: "Dean asked you out while you were wearing your work clothes – anything looks better on you than that nightmare!"

Cas sighed: "The blue vest is not that bad..."

"It's a catastrophe!"

"So is this tie! I look like a moron wearing it!"

Castiel pulled the tie over his head unceremoniously and stormed off to his bedroom, leaving Charlie shaking her head, casting a worried glance at the door. At this rate, Dean would arrive while Cas was still debating whether he looked better wearing a blue tie or a black tie.

If this Dean guy was any good, he wouldn't mind the outcome of the tie-question any way.

But then said guy was so late that Castiel was beginning to think he'd stood him up. He waited for another twenty minutes, then started to change into his slacks disappointedly. Had he really just spent ages preparing for a date that wasn't going to happen?

There was a knock at the door while he only had his trousers on and no shirt, and his hair was a mess (he'd been pulling at it in growing frustration for quite some time).

Charlie had gone to work and wasn't there to open the door for him.

"Just a minute!", Cas yelled and grabbed the first shirt he could find, his heart beating fast in his chest – what if Dean changed his mind at the last minute because he left him waiting at his door?

The second he had the shirt on he yanked the door open and tried his best smile.

Later on, Charlie speculated on how Cas must've looked in that moment. She enjoyed the idea immensely: He had his shirt on back to front, his hair was a mess obviously not meant to look this way, and he had crisps of potato chips stuck to his slacks.

Dean was far too embarrassed of being this late to mind.

"I'm sorry I'm late", he said, running a hand through his hair nervously, "I forgot the time, I was working on that Impala and then I was already on the way when I realised I didn't have my phone with me so I couldn't call you..."

"That's alright", Cas said, "I couldn't decide what to wear, to be honest."

He was still smiling brightly while Dean's gaze wandered over Castiel's clothes. He was suddenly hyper aware of the jumbled up look and started to question Cas' fashion choices, so missing his chance to say something, anything that Castiel might have been expecting.

When Dean missed the opening to say something even faintly reminiscent to a compliment, Castiel looked down and remembered that he'd changed into slacks. He turned a deep red colour that even worked its way down his throat and over his ears.

He had never felt this embarrassed in all his life.

"Hang on a minute, please", he murmured hoarsely and hurried towards his room, leaving the door open for Dean, who gingerlystepped inside.

Cas was back before Dean had much time to look around the apartment Castiel shared with Charlie, which was just as well because the chaos inside didn't look much better than Cas' hair had done a minute ago.

When they finally made it to the restaurant Dean had picked, their reservation had fallen through since they were an hour and a half late, and the waitress merely smiled at them in mock pity and sent them packing.

They ended up at another restaurant after some searching, but it wasn't as nice, and by now they had managed to run out of stuff to talk about and an uneasy silence had settled between them, only punctuated with occasional remarks about the food or the weather.

That was why the date didn't go too well.

It was Dean who finally set his cutlery down, leaned forward in his chair and said: "Castiel?"

Cas was afraid to look up, fearing that Dean would call off the date he'd so long been looking forward to. He did look up eventually, though.

Dean's voice was low: "I'm sorry to tell you, but I hate first dates."

Castiel's grimace turned into a sort of amused snort, which made Dean smile for the first time in a while, creating crinkles around his eyes as he continued: "I'm serious! I mean, first dates always start off the same way, with casual remarks about work and weather and then they turn into a full on interview. I've been on enough job interviews and first dates, I really don't have to go through the routine again."

He hesitated and Cas smiled at him encouragingly, taking another sip of his wine.

"So I have a proposal instead..."

Castiel nearly choked on his wine.

Dean froze and turned bright red.

Then they both burst into laughter, finally breaking the ice.

Once they had calmed down, after some frowns and head shakes from other patrons in the restaurant, Cas asked Dean to continue on with what he'd been saying.

"I thought that maybe we could be allowed just one question each, to get to know each other better, and then stop and discuss our answers for a while, avoiding further questions for a while."

"Just one question each?", Cas asked and eyed Dean uncertainly.

"Is that your first question?"

"I could ask you the same", Castiel grinned, starting to like the idea better. This felt more like the careful banter they'd come up with at the garage before Dean had asked him out.

"Now, you start", Dean suggested, "since I've already come up with the idea. But try to make the question really count."

Castiel thought for a while, trying to come up with something important enough to ask. There was one ever present question he wanted to ask whenever he was on a date. It was an obvious choice and yet far too personal for a first date. He hesitated, while Dean waited patiently, giving Cas his full attention.

That made Castiel so nervous he finally did burst out with his question: "When did you know you were gay?"

Cas remembered his long, weird, painful way of getting to know that he was different from other boys his age only too well. He still felt all the refusals, the disappointments, the confusion and the hurt that accompanied them.

Dean must have sensed the story behind Castiel's question. On sudden impulse, he leaned over the table and laid his hand over Cas', sending a shiver down Castiel's spine as he gently squeezed it reassuringly.

Then he pulled his hand back, like he was surprised with himself for being so straightforward.

"I'm not really sure when I knew", Dean admitted. "But according to my Dad, I knew early on. He used to tell me about this one time when I was in Kindergarten and had decided to get married. You know, like little kids do in play pretend. But Dad says I'd really set my mind to get through with it. He and Mom were really surprised when the teacher told them that I was playing house with another boy, but they didn't think too much of it at the time. But Dad remembered when I came out, and he told the story more than once."

Cas tried to hide his envy, remembering how hard it'd been for both his parents, who were very religious, to come to terms with their son being gay. His father had come round eventually and so had Cas' brothers, but his Mom was another matter altogether. She didn't really talk to him anymore.

Dean, who'd been watching Castiel's face carefully, reached out for him again. This time, he didn't pull his hand back again.

"What happened to the boy you wanted to marry?", Cas finally asked, forgetting the one question rule, just like Dean apparently had since he shrugged and answered: "He moved away with his parents before I started elementary school. I don't even remember his name, to be honest."

Castiel snorted: "I didn't think you'd be so shallow as to forget the name of your very first lover!"

Dean acted indignant and pouted: "I was a kid, I barely knew how to hold a pair of scissors!"

They smiled at each other for quite a few moments, then Dean let go of Cas' hand while a waitress cleared their plates. Dean ordered coffee and dessert for both of them.

"What about your question?", Castiel asked.

"I'd like to think about that one for a little while longer. You're okay with that?"

Cas nodded. Since he didn't want their conversation to come to a halt again, he remarked: "I actually moved with my family when I was around that age. We moved around quite a bit, because my Dad had to change jobs a few times."

"That's hard on a kid", Dean observed and raised an eyebrow.

"It was alright, I guess. I didn't know any better, and I got to see quite a lot of places when I was young."

"Do you remember much about that time?"

"Only bits. I was too small, and apart from Lawrence we didn't stay anywhere for long."

Dean looked flabbergasted. "Lawrence? Lawrence in Kansas?"

Castiel nodded and looked just as surprised as Dean had before when Dean told him he was born in Lawrence and lived there until a few months ago, when he moved to work in his grandfather's garage.

"Now that's quite a coincidence", Castiel said, "Now imagine if we'd..." His voice failed, and they looked at each other as they ran through numbers and probabilities and then both decided to discard the idea again, starting to laugh simultaneously.

"That'd be weird", Dean remarked.

"Yeah", Cas offered, "like fate had a hand in us meeting or something."

Their dessert dishes were empty, their coffee cups dry and still they kept talking. Neither one of them thought about the bad beginning of the date anymore. It didn't really matter since even Cas' dishevelled look had made Dean weak in the knees, and even though Dean had arrived too late, Castiel was far too happy he did show up in the end to mind in the least.

They made it back to Castiel's and Charlie's place in perfect mood, beaming, happy, maybe a bit drunk on Cas' part, and they didn't really want to stop talking there, either. There were still so many things they wanted to know about each other.

Cas mustered up his courage to ask Dean if he wanted to come in, but Dean shook his head. When Cas looked disappointed, Dean leaned forward slightly and carefully brushed his lips against Castiel's. Cas eagerly responded, deepening their kiss. When they broke off for air, Dean squeezed Cas' hand and whispered: "I won't come in tonight because I want to take things slow and not because I don't want to. I... I want to do everything right with you, Cas."

"In that case, I'm okay with you leaving... but maybe you could kiss me again for goodbye before you leave?"

Dean grinned and grabbed the lapels of Cas' jacket to pull him close. The kiss lasted even longer than before, and it felt even better.

"What about your question?", Cas asked, their lips still inches away from each other.

"My question...?"

Cas loved – yes, that's what he thought – the way Dean's cheeks were flushed from their kiss, his pupils slightly dilated as his eyes narrowed in thought. Then Dean smiled and the crinkles were back again as he asked his remaining question: "Will you go on a second date with me, Castiel?"

Cas and Dean were three months into their relationship when Dean's parents invited them for dinner. Castiel was just as nervous about his clothes as he was before their first date and Dean only barely calmed him down, but at least this time they were punctual.

Cas got along with Dean's parents very well, and it was not really surprising for either of them when John Winchester told the story of kindergartner Dean and his very first boyfriend.

"You know, it's curious, Cas – that boy's name was similar: Cassie, or at least Dean called him that. That's why we were so surprised when the teacher told us he was a boy and not a girl... Why are you looking at me like that?"

Cas had dropped his spoon and stared at John with mouth wide open, while Dean was frowning, murmuring: "Didn't you tell me your nickname as a kid was..."

"Cassie. Exactly."

There were a few moments of incredulous silence, then the four of them burst out laughing.

It really is an amazing coincidence, now, isn't it...?

The end.