When Castiel returned home from class he found his roommate Gabriel still packing for his weekend camping trip.
"It looks like you've packed everything but your mattress" Castiel commented with some amusement as he sat down on his own bed to take off his shoes.
"Trust me, if I could bring that too I would" Gabriel claimed with a grunt as he was sat on his rucksack in an attempt to zip it up.
"There is no way you'll be able to carry that" Castiel claimed.
Gabriel shot him an annoyed look consisting of a stern frown and a childish pout.
"That better not be a height joke, Novak."
"I wouldn't dare, Milton" Castiel chuckled. "You know that I won't steal your stuff, right?"
"Yeah, because I've licked it all" Gabriel said lowly.
Castiel grimaced. "Ew?"
"I'm just kidding" Gabriel said with some strain as he heaved the rucksack onto his back. "Okay, I'm ready to hit the road. Now, here is a list of emergency contacts" he said as he handed Castiel a small post-it note. "Don't want you to get into trouble since I can't be here to save the day."
Castiel frowned as he read the note. "This just says nine-one-one and then the number for the pizza place down the road."
Gabriel looked confused. "Well, yeah. What else could you possibly need?"
Castiel smiled at him softly. "You know what? I think that I might actually miss you."
"N'aw" Gabriel said patronisingly as he walked over and then patted Castiel's shoulders. "I know you will."
Castiel rolled his eyes. "Have a nice time, okay?"
"I'll try. I hope you survive without me!" He pulled Castiel into a bone crushing hug. "Love ya!"
As soon as Gabriel left Castiel flopped down on his bed with a contended smile. He loved his roommate but he was actually looking forward to having the space to himself for the weekend.
To start his time of relaxation Castiel decided to get a nice hot shower.
When he returned to the room Castiel was stood in front of the mirror drying his hair, wearing only a pair of white boxers, when he swore he felt something brush across his foot.
He looked down with a frown but didn't see anything so he assumed it must have been his imagination.
That was when he saw the little creature with eight legs scurry out from under his desk and hurry across the room to take cover under Gabriel's bed.
Castiel's eyes widened with horror as the realisation hit him. That giant hairy spider had just touched him.
Castiel really hated spiders.
So much so that he screamed and ran.
Dean was heading down the hall to his room when he heard the distressed cry.
He stopped with a concern frown and was about to knock to find out if whoever it was needed help, but then the door flew open and a gorgeous and almost naked man was stood before him.
The guy's captivating blue eyes were wide with fright and his lean yet muscular chest was heaving from heavy breaths. His wet and dishevelled hair only added to his mysterious appeal.
"Please, you have to help me!" the strange student whimpered as he grabbed Dean's arms and spun him around so he was protected behind the taller teen's back.
Dean straightened his posture and puffed his chest out a little.
"What's the problem?" He asked, making sure to sound as empowered as possible.
"Th-there's a spider in my room" Castiel explained shakily.
Dean went rigid. "What?" he said with underlying concern; he too was not very fond of spiders.
"I-I'm really scared of sp-spiders" Castiel said as he nuzzled further into Dean's back.
Dean regained his determined stance; this dude was cute and Dean wanted to be a show off - there was no point in denying it.
"Okay, no sweat" he said as nonchalantly as possible. "I'll get rid of your little squatter...um?"
"Castiel, sorry, and you are?"
"Dean."
"Hello, Dean."
"Hey, Cas."
Dean took a deep breath and strode into the room with as much gravitas as he could muster.
"I-It went under Gabriel's bed" Castiel said, pointing with a shaky finger as he stayed hidden by the doorway. "He usually takes care of them but he just left for the weekend."
Dean nodded and looked around for something to capture the spider with.
Meanwhile Castiel was edging into the room, trying to make out that he wasn't as much of a wimp as first impressions might imply.
That went bust as soon as he saw the spider run out into the middle of the floor again.
Both students shrieked and jumped onto Gabriel's bed, clinging to each other for comfort.
"I'm sorry, I lied; I hate spiders too" Dean confessed.
"What are we going to do?" Castiel asked.
The little creature had returned to under the bed; Dean hated the thing for blowing his cover and thought it was probably enjoying mocking him.
"We could...burn the whole dorm down?" Dean suggested with an almost concerning amount of seriousness.
Castiel stared at him with bewilderment with a few moments before replying with an equal amount of seriousness. "We'll call that plan B."
Dean nodded as if to say that was fair enough.
"Okay I have another idea" he said as he started to take his boot off. "The third Harry Potter movie."
Castiel blinked feverishly. "What?"
"You know the scene where he's trying to capture that book that bites your ankles?"
"I've never seen those movies" Castiel replied.
Dean's eyes widened as he raised his eyebrow. "For real?"
Castiel nodded and Dean tried to hide his outrage by turning back to the task at hand.
"First, we draw the little shit out" Dean said as he leaned off the side of the bed, holding his boot by the laces.
He waited for silence so they knew that the spider wasn't scurrying around and then dropped the boot with a loud thud.
The spider immediately came out to see what the noise was.
"And then we smush it good!" Dean cried in an almost warrior like fashion as he positioned his still booted foot over the spider.
"Dean, wait!" Castiel exclaimed. "Look."
They watched the spider climb up the boot and crawl inside.
"Quick, now you can just put it out the window instead of killing it" Castiel said.
"Alright" Dean said. "That's...kinda sweet considering you hate them."
"Not enough to want to hurt them" Castiel stated.
Dean cautiously edged forward and picked up the boot before flinging the window. He turned the boot upside down and watched the spider crawl out onto the wall.
Dean held the boot in front of him which the spider has momentarily resided in and shrugged before throwing it out the window as well.
"There was no way in hell I was going to put that on my foot again" he deadpanned.
He was surprised when Castiel jumped off the bed and flung his arms around him.
"Thank you so much" he mumbled into Dean's chest. "Not many people would stop to help a wet stranger who has no clothes on with such a pathetic problem."
"It's not pathetic" Dean assured him. "Everyone has fears, and honestly I..I thought you were kinda cute."
Castiel pulled back and smiled with a small blush in his cheeks.
"Would you...maybe like to stay the weekend?" He asked quietly. "I-I mean, Gabriel's bed will be empty of course so you can sleep there, and I don't want to risk being on my own during another spider attack" he half joked.
"Sure that sounds great" Dean said. "And we are watching Harry Potter" he added seriously.
"Yes" Castiel smiled. "That sounds wonderful."
Gabriel returned to the room early on Monday morning.
He grinned when he saw Castiel snuggled up against a strange man's chest in Castiel's bed. They seemed to be fast asleep, but naturally Gabriel could not allow that to continue.
"Rise and shine lovebirds!"
Both the other teens shot up looking startled.
"Gabriel?" Castiel squeaked.
"Well done Cassie, I see you've bagged a hottie" Gabriel smirked. "You going to introduce us?"
"Uh, Dean this is my roommate Gabriel. Gabe, this is Dean my uh...my new spider hunter."
"With benefits I see" Gabriel chuckled as he sat on his bed.
"I think I should go" Dean said sheepishly. He kissed the side of Castiel's head and gathered up his things. "I'll see you tonight?"
"Yes. See you later" Castiel said with an adoring smile.
Dean left and Gabriel crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at Castiel with an amused smirk.
"What?" Castiel asked with a sigh.
"I never got smooches" Gabriel said, pretending to be insulted.
"Yeah, well you're not six foot tall with handsome looks and a charming personality" Castiel jibed.
He ended up with a pillow thrown at his face.