The three men were in the library, busy with research all afternoon. By the sundown, they still got jack. They just could not figure out if the weird weather and the suspicious deaths were caused by a witch or some stupid demigod.

They took turns to refill their glasses (water for Sam, brandy for Dean), make more coffee, get more beers or occasionally grab some food.

"I think we should call it a day." Sam said, slamming the book he had read twice. "It's useless until we get more data. I said we should get a good night's sleep and go to the police station for a patron or something we missed tomorrow first thing."

"I agree with Sam." Castiel exposed. "You two do look very tired and I can still stay here, doing more research."

"No, come on, Cas!" Dean protested, already closing his laptop. "You might not sleep, but hell, you're just as tired as we are. At least, I don't know, go to watch some tv, relax a bit." Dean stretched his arms and added, "Well, I gonna take a shower and then, miraculously, eight hours of sleep during a hunt."

Sam put the books he had used in their place and Castiel was collecting the dishes and empty bottles, taking them to the trash can.

"I think this bottle still got beer on it." Cas said, then he looked up at Dean, who was about to leave and offered "Do you want it?"

"Yeah, sure. Just throw it across the table." Dean said. The bottle slid until the hunter caught it. "Just what I needed. Thanks baby."

The two humans frozen. Dean tried to correct himself, but no words came out of his mouth. Sam looked at his brother and tried to contain his laugh, but his poor effort got him coughing. Castiel just finished his duty and before left the room, he just replied in his usual tone "You're welcome, Dean."

When the angel was out of sight, Sam just laughed out loud.

"Buddy, I meant to say Buddy... I got... Dude, come on, we're been here forever, my tongue just tripped a bit." Dean finally explained.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Oh my god, I should have recorded that..." Sam replied, when he finally was done laughing, and walked his way out of the library. "Anyways..." He said, tapping his brother's shoulder. "Sleep tight sweetheart."

Dean gave him a killer look and waited until he couldn't hear Sam footsteps. Then he walked towards his room. He was quite calm about the issue. Disregarding his moment of panic, he realized Cas hadn't notice anything, so there was no need to explain to his friend about his little mistake.

Castiel, now in the recreation room, had actually realized about the issue. Alright, maybe not entirely, but he wasn't as naive as he had been before, so he could tell something had happened when Dean changed his classic "buddy" for "baby". He tried to figure out by his own what it meant, but there was just one other occasion when Dean had called him like that and it was followed by "In a trench coat." And it was so different. That time, it had been used as a metaphor for how little use the brothers can give to the angel without his powers. But, now and with all they had been through, Castiel knew Dean wouldn't treat him like that. Besides, there context was inappropiate for it. He actually turned on the tv and put a silly movie on Netflix (The ones he watched on Sam's profile).

He noticed the male protagonist called that way the female character he was romantically interested in. Tired of this puzzle, he decided to follow Charlie's wise advice. "In case of doubt, google it." So he pulled his phone out of his pocket and wrote the word on the seach engine. It was generic and the first results were websites to name babies. It was a nightmare. He decided to use more specific terms and give some context, so, he searched by "Why people call another person baby" Now there was a couple of articles worth to look up. He navigated by the text, trying to get the highlights, but essentially he got in the same position he had started, basically because they were very well elaborated from an academic perspective and he knew Dean wasn't like that at all. So he wouldn't use the word with the meaning they gave to it. His eyes were back to the movie for a moment, he relaxed, trying to get the issue out of his mind. After all, if it was important, Dean would explain to him, like that time they were so close to almost touch each others lips and the hunter said it was because he was very drunk. But there was something in the back of his head, upsetting him about it.

"Alright" He said, exhaling heavily.

He thought about how to find what he needed to find without get himself in reading another fascinating but exhausting article. A dictionary maybe... then he remembered something that Claire said to him about slang and urban language. He wrote once again "Urban dictionary baby". He got on the webside and started to read the main definitions. Besides some strange ways to define a newborn human being, Cas excluded the ones that suggested sexual intercourse between the parties. After reading them all a few times, he decided to stick with the meaning he found more appropriate. "A person you love a lot and want to call them a cute name."

It was nice and it fit, Cas knew it fit. There was no need to ask because they just didn't talk about it. Not just yet.

Next morning the three men went to the police station, asking for further information. They figured that a witch was the cause of their nightmare, because she had got herself a powerful talisman that allowed her to take energy from nature forces. After a bit of struggle, some bruises, some coarse words ("son of a bitch" was the soften thing Dean said) they managed to finally kill her and destroy the object.

On their way back to the bunker, the brothers agreed on getting some supplies for their home. After the last afternoon, they were running out pretty much everything, so they stopped in the gas n sip close to the bunker. Sam purchased for fuel while Castiel and Dean went inside, to get groceries. They filled two baskets and got some items on their hands. Finally, they went to pay for everything. A woman packed all the products for them, except the six pack of beer. When Dean paid, he stared at her for a couple of seconds and asked "Can you give us a bag for this?"

"No, sorry. Company policy. Ecofriendly and all that." She replied, mechanically.

"But-" Dean was about to reply when Castiel took the beers on his free hand.

"I can take them, there's no need to argue about this honey, let's go." The angel said, heading to the door.

Dean blushed violently and followed Cas as fast as he could. Outside, and before reach the car, he called for the angel. "Hey, Cas..."

"Yes Dean?" Castiel asked, tilting his head a little, his eyes bright blue.

Dean just couldn't. Besides, he didn't know what to say. "Wanna some help with that?" He pointed the bags the angel carried.

"No, I'm fine, thank you."

They put everything in the trunk and Dean drove straight home, without looking at Sam, but time to time glancing at Cas through the mirror. The angel looked so innocent as always.

Now his mind was a mess. Because "honey" was such an improve from "Dean", that he could just roll with it. He actually was afraid of Sam making fun of it and Cas felt embarrassed enough to stop. The word came out so easily from his friend's lips that he almost smiled remembering it.

Back in the bunker, after a nice meal (microwave burritos) they took some rest and "me" time. Sam got a book and went to his room, Dean cleaned his weapons and took a little nap, while Castiel was watching tv, this time on Dean's account. (He had become a Doctor Sexy junkie as well). When he was about to rush his third episode of the night, Dean showed up. Castiel looked back at him and gave him the brightest smile on the world. "I think you told me about this episode, it's the finale of season four."

Dean smiled briefly and walked in. "Yeah, it's pretty cool. But eh... buddy..." He was glad the word came up right this time. "Can we talk for a sec? Just pause it a bit..."

"Yes, of course." Cas said, pausing the tv. "What's the matter?" He stood and faced the hunter.

"Look, Cas. Yesterday..." He decided to change his perspective. Perhaps would be easier if he got Cas to explain himself first. "Why did you call me- like that in the store?" He asked.

"Oh... you mean 'honey'? I just thought it was a nice way to call you, that's all." Castiel explained. "But if it bothers you, I can change it or just... not use any nickname for you." He offered.

Dean looked at his hands while Castiel was talking. Ok, that didn't make it easier at all. "It doesn't bother me." He said, regretting it. He had to keep it together, but it was Cas calling him 'honey', give him a break. "I... Look, I called you 'baby' by accident. It wasn't what I meant. I know social behaviour is still tricky to you, but calling each other by cute names looks like..."

"Like we are close. I understand, Dean, I looked up the definition and found some interesting stuff." Castiel put Dean out of his misery. "And yes, probably it's a bit out of normative for friends, but it's ok with me."

"What it said? When you looked up? What it said?"

Castiel replied, he had memorized the meaning and when he noticed Dean blushing and a bit stressed, he added "But... I like it. I mean... It's a nice way to show affection and I know you... had affection towards me. It's like when you call me sunshine in the mornings, or other silly name you give to me. I know how difficult is for you to show affection, so I'm glad you do it in any way you're capable of." He explained with calm, their eyes met. "I just wanted to show you my affection."

Dean fought his silly smile. When he surrendered, he looked at the tv and said "Well, I'm glad we talked. Now, season four finale? Mind if I join you?"

Castiel made a gesture inviting the man to sit on the couch, next to him. Personal space was a long forgotten rule, but this night it was just ridiculous. Dean's thigh was nearly touching Cas's and the man glanced over his friend so often and for so long that he was actually looking more at the angel than the tv. By the middle of the episode, Dean stretched his arms and deliberately, he let one behind Cas head. His fingers started to rub the angel's hair softly. When he found the skin on his neck, Castiel got tensed and without looking at the hunter, he asked "Dean, what are you doing?"

"Showing affection." He replied.

Neither of them looked at each other, but suddenly Cas placed his head on Dean's shoulder. The man smiled and adjusted his body to fit the shape of Cas's side. They finished the fourth season and got to half of the fifth without moving.

Next morning Sam found them in the very same position, sleeping quietly.