Castiel reclined against the back of his rolling office chair and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. He had been sitting at his computer for what felt like hours now; punching numbers into the tiny boxes of the computer program that would later translate the information into a neat little graph, which he would send to his boss who would, in turn, send him yet another list of numbers to punch into the program so he could make yet another seemingly useless graph. He ran his hands down his face and peeked at the clock in the corner of his monitor's screen, it was two in the afternoon and he had gotten back from lunch around one-fifteen which meant he had only been back to working for forty-five minutes.

Forty. Five. Minutes.

"Oh God." Castiel groaned, letting his head fall back and squeezing his eyes shut. He hated this job.

"Ah, Cas, come on only two more hours and we're free." A familiar voice sounded behind him.

Cas opened his eyes and swiveled around to face Charlie who was smiling weakly at him. Her bright red hair was pulled into a low ponytail at the base of her neck and fell over her right shoulder, a stark contrast from the crisp white button-down shirt she wore today. Cas thought she looked funny in her office-dress-code-mandated business-casual attire. Charlie was Cas' best friend, his only real friend, he had several acquaintances, people he could chat lightly with over coffee in the break room, but he wasn't close to any of them like he was Charlie. She was genuine, and honest, and a little strange, and Cas loved her for it all.

"Yea, two more hours today," Cas retorted "And then we get to come back in and do it all again on Monday. And Tuesday. And every other weekday until we're sufficiently old and gray and they've all but sucked the life out of us." He wasn't feeling particularly on the sunny side today.

"Who took a crap on your breakfast bagel?" Charlie crossed her arms. Castiel rolled his eyes. "At least it's Friday." She reminded him cheekily before returning to her computer screen.

Friday. Yes, thank God, it was Friday that meant as soon as the clock struck four, Cas was free from his cubicle for two whole days. Not that he planned to do anything, maybe sleep late or catch up on some reading, but the point was he would be anywhere but here straining his eyes, staring at a too-bright screen all day long.

Actually, the thought of a lazy weekend brightened Cas' mood, if even just the slightest bit. He began planning all the things he would not be doing starting the minute he got home. He would not be setting his alarm to wake him up at the ass-crack of dawn so he could catch two different trains to make it to work half way across the city, in fact, he would likely not be waking up at all before noon. When he did wake up, he would probably not brush his teeth or comb his hair. Maybe he would change out of his pajamas? He doubted it. Cas decided he would not be leaving his apartment again before Monday morning if he could help it. A small smile was beginning to tug at the corners of his mouth as he finally began to resume the task of inserting data.

Cas numbed his brain so he could bear to finish the task set before him. He worked diligently, typing away at the numbers, and forced himself not to check the clock every two minutes. When he finally allowed himself a glance, he saw that it was coming up on 3:57. He saved his day's work, logged out of his account on the computer program, and brought up his time-clock, letting his cursor hover directly over the 'clock-out' icon, ready to strike as soon as the digital clock read 4:00 pm in 3...2...1...click.

Cas practically leaped from his seat, ready to bolt when he heard Charlie's voice again.

"Walk me out Cas?" She asked slinging her messenger bag over her shoulder, completely oblivious to the hurry he was in.

Cas willed himself not to sprint out the door, "Yea, sure," he rubbed the back of his neck.

They walked down the hall to the elevator side by side.

"So, wacha got goin' on this weekend?" Charlie inquired, reaching out to press the 'down' button on the wall next to the elevator doors.

"Nothing." Cas was practically ecstatic.

"Good," She smiled "Come out with me tonight for drinks?"

Cas felt his shoulders slump. Had she sensed his excitement about being able to be an absolute vegetable for the next 56 hours? Was this her sick idea of a joke?

"No Charlie." He whined.

"Please, please, please Cas?" She gave him her best puppy-dog eyes.

"Charlie I hate bars."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun!"

"You just want somebody to walk in with you. You always end up leaving me to try to pick up girls."

"So not true!" Charlie put a hand on her hip, clearly offended "I just think it's good for you to be around other people from time to time Mr. Antisocial." A bell dinged above their heads as the metal elevator doors slid open. The two bickering friends stepped inside and Cas leaned forward to press the button that would take them to the ground floor. "Besides," Charlie continued "You never know. Maybe you'll meet someone this time?"

Cas thought back to all Charlie's past relationships that had begun from an encounter at a bar. None of them had ended on what anyone might call good terms. "I highly doubt that." He scoffed.

"Well then just come for me," she bargained "It'll just be two friends, drinking beers and talking about how much we hate our shitty job."

Cas let out a sigh. How many times had she said that very same thing only to abandon him fifteen minutes after their arrival to chase down a pretty waitress? But he loved Charlie like a little sister and wanted to see her happy, so in the end, he caved and gave her what she wanted, just like always.

"Fine," he conceded "I'll go."

"Awesome!" She sang, bouncing lightly on her toes.

Charlie slid her arm through Cas' as the elevator came to a stop. The pair stepped out and walked arm in arm across the sterile lobby of the office building and out the front door, a triumphant smile was plastered across Charlie's features and Cas couldn't help but smile a little too seeing her so happy.

"So I'll meet you at Ellen's around eight-thirtyish?" Charlie asked, releasing Cas' arm.

Ellen's was a casual, nothing-to-special bar that tended to get a lot of traffic on weekends. It was mostly people trying to unwind and forget their troubles after a long week of work, but for some reason, it was one of Charlie's favorite places to try to find someone new to call her girlfriend. But it had pretty amazing cheeseburgers, and wasn't far from where Cas lived so he never complained too much when she chose it as their meeting place.

"I'll meet you at eight-thirty." Cas eyed her playfully. "None of this 'ish' business. Don't make me stand outside all alone looking creepy waiting for you again."

"I won't, I promise!" She was lying and he knew it. "See you tonight Cas." And with that, she turned on her heel and walked away.

Two trains and six blocks later, Cas was finally back in his apartment, absent-mindedly thumbing through his closet for something to wear out with Charlie later that night. Even if he wasn't thrilled about having to spend his Friday evening at a bar playing wing man for his friend, he still wanted to look at least somewhat presentable going out on the town. He checked his watch: ten till six.

Ellen's was only a short walk away from Cas' apartment. He could get there in about fifteen minutes if he took his time, moving at a leisurely pace, ten minutes if he walked a little faster. He definitely wasn't running late so there was really no immediate hurry to choose an outfit, but Cas hoped if he got everything he needed ready now, maybe he could steal a few quiet moments alone before heading out to face the weekend crowd that would certainly be bustling by the time he arrived at his destination. He selected a simple, slate gray t-shirt and a pair of dark denim pants. It had been warm outside on the way home, he remembered, so there would be no need for any sort of jacket tonight.

Cas stood in front of the mirror that hung on the back of his bedroom door and ran a hand through his dark, messy hair. He'd never been overly confident about his appearance, not that he disliked the way he looked, he just had never really seen anything terribly impressive about it either; but, he'd never had any trouble finding a partner so he figured he couldn't be all that bad. He cast one final glance at his reflection before grabbing his wallet, keys, and cell phone off of his dresser and stuffing them into his pockets. Cas made his way from the bedroom of his home through the living room and into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. As the cool, refreshing liquid washed over his tongue and down his throat he thought back to the last time he'd actually been in a relationship. It had been a while. Two years maybe, two and a half?

"Can't have been that long." Cas thought to himself aloud.

But it had been. Cas' last relationship had ended over two years ago when his then-boyfriend, Adam, had moved across the country to be closer to his family. Cas hadn't exactly been heartbroken, the relationship hadn't been a very serious one, Adam was just too young, but he was, to date, the last person Cas had been with in a very long time; he just wasn't a one night stand kind of guy. He thought about how Charlie had suggested that maybe he would be the one leaving the bar with a new beau tonight and he had to admit, it would be nice to have someone special in his life again. Not someone he met at a bar, obviously, he wasn't into the dating pool that he found there like Charlie was.

Cas mused over these things as he made his way to his couch. He sat down, turned on the television for white noise, and continued to sip his water, staring absently out his window at the city that was beginning to light up as dusk touched down. He stayed that way for quite some time before finally deciding he should make his way towards meeting his friend.

The air outside was cooler than it had been when Cas had arrived home and he briefly considered going back inside to grab a light jacket, but in the end, he decided against it and that the crisp air against his bare arms was more refreshing than uncomfortable. Block after block he trudged towards the bar, keeping his hands shoved in his pockets, observing the people around him. He wondered if maybe some of them were on their way to begrudgingly meet one of their friends somewhere too?

Cas could see Ellen's up ahead. It appeared to be crowded, just like he assumed it would be, but no where in the steady stream of people walking in and out of the building did he see Charlie. Not that he was terribly surprised. He felt of his phone in his left pocket and wondered if he should call and see where she was, but he knew exactly how that conversation would play out; 'I'm two minutes away Cas, I swear. Just wait outside, I'm so close. Two minutes, promise.' Cas rolled his eyes at the imaginary dialogue. He decided he might as well wait outside, just like imaginary Charlie had asked him to. He slumped against the brick wall at the far corner of the building and kept an eye out for her, waiting to see her flash of red hair bobbing along any time now.

Two minutes came and went. Then five. Ten. Eleven. Twelve...

Cas sighed and shook his head. He hadn't expected any different and was still disappointed. He continued his people watching, but now his focus had shifted from the people walking beside him on the street to the people filing in and out of the bar. All sorts of people were at Ellen's tonight, some Cas had never seen before, but of course all the regulars were there too, like Ash who'd been going back and forth between inside and out several times in the past fifteen minutes Cas had been waiting for Charlie to arrive. His cringe worthy, outdated hair cut and sleeveless tee-shirt put Cas in an easier mood; Ash was a good guy. Cas was pretty sure he'd spotted Bobby walk in a moment ago as well, he'd recognize his signature ball-cap and worn out blue jean look anywhere. Cas especially liked Bobby. He was always friendly, although almost everything he said was tinged with sarcasm, but that didn't take away from the fact that he was full of excellent advice when it was needed. A small smile played on Cas' lips, maybe he didn't mind spending his evening here as much as he'd originally thought?

Cas continued to scan the mass of people until his eyes landed on someone he'd never seen before. It was a girl, and she was very pretty, beautiful really. She had long blonde hair that fell in spirals down her back, fair, flawless skin, and her sparkling blue eyes were accentuated by her smile that made them crinkle at the edges as she stared into the face of the, equally as handsome, young man that she was with, her boyfriend Cas presumed. He was tall, well over six feet, had long shaggy brown hair, and his smile was just as infectious as the pretty blonde girl's as he leaned down to plant a chaste kiss on her lips. 'Of course' Cas thought to himself 'All the cute one's are straight.' But even he had to admit they made a very beautiful couple.

Cas found himself still watching the pair, they looked so happy together. He could see their lips move as they spoke back and forth to one another, but couldn't hear anything they were saying. It looked as if the girl was asking her boyfriend a question as he craned his neck one way, and then another, as if he were searching the crowd of people for an answer. He must have found it, Cas observed, as he watched the boy's mouth move like he was calling out to someone and then waved them over with his arm.

Reflexively, Cas' eyes moved in the direction the boy's attention seemed to have been turned to as he searched himself for who he might have been summoning. Cas couldn't pick any one certain person out at first, but then, a second man stepped forward to join the two love birds.

And for a moment, Cas was certain his heart stopped beating.

As handsome as the boy who had come tonight with the pretty blonde girl was, he couldn't possibly compare to the man who had just appeared. The first thing Castiel noticed about him were his eyes, Cas had never seen a shade of green exactly like them. They were so much brighter than his muted green military jacket that accentuated the broadness of his shoulders. His dark blonde hair was cut short, but was groomed very nicely, and his smile, although not quite as blinding as the boy or girl's, made Cas' stomach feel as though it were full of feathers.

Panic, hot and dense, suddenly replaced the feathers as Cas searched frantically for another person to come forward and take the vacant spot at the man's side, but relief washed over him when the group exchanged a look and a few words that made it seem that everyone was accounted for and that no one else would be joining them, not at the moment anyhow.

Cas didn't believe in love at first sight, but he was fairly positive that the person standing a few yards away, was the most beautiful man he had ever seen.

"I'm here!"

Charlie's voice behind him nearly caused Cas to jump out of his skin. He whirled his body around so quickly she took a step back, throwing her hands up in mock defense.

"Whoa there," She smiled "Easy boy. Didn't mean to spook ya."

Cas blinked at her, trying to break the spell the handsome stranger had put him under, "Sorry..." he apologized, trying his best to snap out of it "I was, uh, I just saw, erm, something just caught my eye for a minute." He turned to look back at the spot that the something had just been standing in, to find it empty. Not even the happy couple were anywhere he could still see, and Cas' heart dropped to his feet.