Castiel was pissed.

He generally tolerated Gabriel's silly tricks, his midnight pranks, his inappropriate comments – he did it for the sake of Sam, who truly disserved better, but hey – it wasn't his place – however it didn't stop Castiel from remaining pissed at a certain short, brown-haired prankster who was currently going to get beaten into the ground.

Castiel didn't usually let his anger show, it was a part of him he liked to keep close; when someone was angry it was as if they were drunk – who knew what they would say or who they would hurt. It was, unfortunately, something Castiel knew too well. It only took a few words spoken on a short temper so set off all hell while growing up. His brothers never needed much to start a fight, and Castiel was never one to feed the fire.

Regardless, he was about to have some rather particular words with Gabriel on his latest theft. It was bad enough that all week Castiel had been stressing over the upcoming final on Bankruptcy Law (and honestly why did every country have to have different procedures it was tiresome and unpredictable), but not only that, Gabriel chose that week to be even more of a dick than usual, resulting in several of Castiel's books going missing, being locked out of their apartment, and a horrendously barren kitchen due to of Gabriel's latest "experiments" in cooking. It was enough to drive anyone mad, and sharing a genetic code was not going to stop the blood from flowing this time.

Castiel stormed into the pathetic excuse for a living room their tiny apartment contained, spotting Gabriel lounging on the couch flipping through their small selection of channels, he stood directly between Gabriel and his television, with his arms crossed over his chest and a stern expression.

"What? I swear I did nothing this time, and if this is about the peanut butter, I promise I can clean that up!"

Castiel sighed. Whatever Gabriel did with the peanut butter, he didn't want to know.

"That, while horrid, is not what I mean," Castiel moved forward, leaning down over Gabriel and trying to look as threatening as possible,

"What I'm talking about is my brand new C&C Collier Pamphlet! It was the only copy left anywhere on campus, and you know how much ass kissing I had to do to lift one off of Crowley. Now I need it in my hands before you burn it!"

Gabriel sat up, meeting Castiel's gaze with enough nerve that he knew his brother wasn't lying when he practically shouted, "Hey! I did nothing of the sort! You know I would absolutely never interfere with your school work!"

Here Gabriel rested his body across the couch armrest and threw a dramatic hand over his face, looking like an innocent virgin sacrifice - which Castiel knew was not the case - and his display, while cinematic, rang true enough to Castiel that he felt his blood simmer down, quickly being replaced by panic – if he didn't get that book back in perfect condition, Crowley was going to skin him and wear him like a hide as an adornment to one of his fancy Armani suit.

"Besides my fretful little brother," Gabriel continued, rising from his position to grin at Castiel, "I'm sure you didn't mind getting to kiss a little ass for that book. It must've done you some good, for all the non-action you get. I mean really you should –"

"Alright Gabriel," Castiel snapped, "your point has been registered, you may cease speaking now."

Gabriel tsked, "Touchy, touchy little bro."

Castiel's love life was his own business, but it definitely didn't stop Gabriel, and every other member of his family, from constantly inquiring about it.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, doubtless another quip on the tip of his tongue, but knowing Castiel's tone well enough to see that he was treading on fragile ground, he thankfully kept it to himself.

"You know, maybe Sam took it. He has the same classes as you for the most part and he was here earlier, uh," Gabriel looked at his brother, eyes shining and eyebrows raising so high he thought they were going to fall over his head, "well, you know. Studying."

Castiel groaned. Just what he needed, more mental images of his best friend and his bother doing – don't even think about it.

"Well I don't see why you two would be studying in my room anyways, and if you are, don't tell me. Ever."

Gabriel laughed, standing up to saunter over and coil an arm around Castiel's shoulders, "You know we do actual studying sometimes, and he may have asked for the book, I don't really remember, but you should check with him. Also, while you're over, tell him I enjoyed our time together and that my grade has been improving greatly since our sessions started!"

Castiel huffed in disgust, throwing Gabriel's arm off as the man twirled away.

The knot of anxiety beginning to subside, Castiel sighed, grabbed his keys and slipped his old sneakers on, before hurriedly leaving the house. He realized too late that he was ill-equipped for the harsh Kansas winter in his simple t-shirt and jeans, but it couldn't be helped, it was only a short drive to Sam's after all.

Castiel drove quickly, the longer that book was out of his possession, the more likely it was destroyed or sitting ruined in a grain silo. Arriving at Sam's took all of three minutes at the rate Castiel was going, and as he slid out of the car, he caught a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the window.

Insane was the first word to come to mind.

His red cheeks were beginning to numb his face as he considered his reflection. With his ripped-at-the-collar t-shirt that showed more skin than was comfortable for this time of year and wind-beaten hair, it looked like he just rolled out of bed after sleeping for a year. Which really wasn't too inaccurate.

Well it couldn't be helped, and Sam had seen worse from him.

He jogged up the driveway where a shiny, old style, Chevy black car was parked – strange, especially considering Sam didn't drive, instead frequently riding his bike or receiving rides from Gabriel – but perhaps he had a change of heart.

Castiel knocked on the door, shivering as a particularly cold gust of wind flew by. He knocked again, much faster and louder this time, hoping that Sam would answer soon before he froze to death.

The doorknob turned, and as it opened, Castiel huffed in relief,

"Goddamn it Sam, you know that I'm freezing my ass out – " his words stopped in his mouth and Castiel halted where he stood.

Standing before him was someone who was definitely not Sam. Standing before him was what looked like a compilation of every wet dream he'd ever had, and then some. Castiel glanced over the stranger's face, the crazy green eyes, the freckles across the bridge of his nose, the radiating heat, already making Castiel's insides turn over just by looking at the man, and when the fucker opened his mouth to speak, the words were lost on him as he stared at the man's pink lips, wondering what would happen if he slammed this man against the wall and started sucking on every available surface of him.

Castiel shook himself out of his fantasy before he acted unaccordingly, long enough to hear the man say, "– and Sammy has told me a lot about you."

Holy shit, that voice!

Castiel found himself once again not paying attention to what the man was saying, rather choosing to listen to the faint southern drawl in that voice that was going to be present in his mind later that night; wondering what he would say and what the sexy accent would sound like late at night after being fucked. His head swam with the possibilities.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

Castiel felt a hand on his shoulder and heard someone snapping in front of his face as he resurfaced once again from his overactive imagination. The man was closer now, and Castiel could smell leather and engine oil on him, making his slight arousal marginally worse, when Sam's head popped up behind green-eye's shoulder, making a face and muttering, "Quit scaring him, come on Dean."

Dean. That name registered faintly, Sam's brother!

His brother . . . Castiel for the life of him could not remember if the man was single or not. Sam pulled Castiel inside where it was warmer, but Castiel still found that, compared to the radiating heat from Dean, the house was chilly.

"You look like hell, did you run here?" Sam asked as the three moved to the kitchen where Sam began to heat water for coffee.

"No," Castiel began, managing to not glance again at Dean, "I drove, but I believe I was not entirely prepared for the cold."

"No shit." Dean quipped, sitting on a stool, arms crossed, regarding him thoughtfully – I must look like a mess – Castiel attempted to straighten his hair but only managed to make it stick up at a slightly different angle. Dean chuckled and continued, "Do you even know what Kansas winters are like? I mean damn, just a shirt? And a ripped one at that."

Dean eyed Castiel's torn shirt, eyes lingering on his exposed collarbone, not that Castiel was paying any close attention at all to where Dean's eyes were roaming.

"I mean Sam tells me you've been going to school here for years, I can't imagine you still don't know how the winter works."

Castiel's eyes narrowed, unsure whether Dean was joking or actually intending to be mean, but an amused laugh from Sam reassured him.

"Dean, be nice. So what do you need? I assume it must be important if you didn't even bother getting dressed?"

"Yes, I'm here on urgent business. I need to know where my copy of C&C Collier went, it has disappeared and I nearly killed my brother this morning when I couldn't locate it, did you take it?"

The water heated and Sam handed Castiel a cup, looking slightly guilty.

"Oh. Right, sorry about that, but yeah I do have it, when I was over before, you know, -" Castiel held up a hand, shaking his head while he let out and exasperated sigh, "I know, studying. But you have the book? It is all that is important right now, Crowley would murder me if I lost it."

Dean laughed, "Aw, I'm sure Sammy wouldn't mind protecting you! He wasn't born a giant for no reason!" He winked as Sam ran a hand through his hair, giving Dean a grimace, "I really wish you would stop calling me Sammy, we're not twelve anymore."

"Oh apologies Samantha, I'll do better in the future!" Dean grinned at Sam's sputtering and glanced at Castiel – holy shit did his grin transform his face into something hot, Castiel found himself once again dropping into a fantasy of heated moans and strong hands, before stopping himself – he needed to focus.

"You know he's practically a girl anyways, right?" Dean's eyes crinkled again as Sam choked out, "I think I'll get you that book back, one minute."

Sam left the kitchen to retrieve the stolen item, leaving Castiel alone in a room with Dean Winchester.

Dean shook his head, standing up to stretch his arms over his head, the hem of his shirt rising just enough to show the waist band of his low slung jeans and Castiel was not looking but he swore he could see abs on the man.

Fuck.

He could not have a thing for Sam's brother. He just couldn't. It would be too strange. Wouldn't it? And he didn't even know if the man was gay for god's sake, what right did he have to assume that he would have a chance with someone like Dean? Look at him!

Castiel's musings were interrupted by a sudden invasion of his personal space, courtesy of Dean and his deep, knowing eyes.

"You know," Dean whispered, his breath brushing over Castiel's face, making his heart beat faster and his eyes widen, "you actually don't seem all that bad." Castiel though his heart was going to stop completely. Or beat directly out of his ribcage. One or the other.

He knew Dean was a flirt, Sam had said as much, but he also had never said anything about him being interested in men; maybe he didn't know?

Dean leaned even closer, backing Castiel against the table in the small kitchen. All the blood rushed from Castiel's face and relocated into somewhere much more incriminating.

"Just know that if you fuck up, the name 'Winchester' isn't just a title." Dean leaned his head to Castiel's ear, voice dropping an octave, "I've been hunting for years and believe me when I say I know how to use a gun."

Castiel shivered, barely managing to suppress a muttered, "I'll bet you do." His efforts earned him a confused look from Dean before he retreated, smiling over his shoulder as Sam stomped into the room, oblivious as Dean was about Castiel's red face and slightly aroused state courtesy of the incalculable tease standing in front of him.

"Sorry it took so long, but I found it and it's perfectly fine." Sam handed the red book to him, and Castiel's relief was obvious as he took the book and cradled it to his chest, glancing between Sam and Dean before stammering, "Ok, uh thanks Sam, I guess I'll, um," he looked at Dean and quickly glanced away again after seeing the slightly feral expression on his face, the words I know how to use a gun bouncing around in his mind doing things to him that it really shouldn't, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

Sam laughed as Castiel made his way to the door, and he was almost free from the stifling aura of Dean when suddenly, the man was there again, pressing against Castiel briefly to reach the door and open it for him, the cold air making it slightly easier to breath around him.

Dean eyed Castiel up and down once again, licked his lips and said, "Well it was nice meeting you."

"Uh, you too, I guess." Castiel could swear he heard Dean's chuckle all along the drive to his apartment.

What the fuck just happened.


Dean smirked as he closed the door.

Just like his baby brother to bag the hottest guy on campus. But not exactly fair for him, now was it?

He sauntered back into the kitchen thinking about that soft hair and deep growls when Sam looked up and gave him a knowing smile, "Dean, I think you two get along well. You could practically bottle the tension in the room."

He laughed, "Well, it seems Gabe and I work well together."

Sam shot him a surprised look, "Dean, that wasn't Gabriel. That was his brother, Castiel."

Dean's jaw went slack and his mind blanked for an instant.

"Castiel?" He hesitated.

"Yeah, Gabe is much shorter and has lighter hair." Sam walked out of the kitchen leaving Dean to his thoughts.

The brother.

Not Sam's boyfriend.

Huh.