Dean squeezes his brows together in the nook he's made in his pillow. He sighs and the used air stifles his exhausted lungs. He didn't want to close his eyes, but three consecutive days hunting was enough for him to fold. The dreams aren't so vivid if he drinks himself to sleep but Sam has confiscated the beer and whiskey and there isn't a decent liquor shop for miles. He cranes his neck sideways, turning his head for air and sucking in a lungful of the musty motel room. He shifts his knees across the bed in an attempt to sooth his thigh muscles, stupid tree monster, making him jump up and down all night; they'd still ache in the morning. He shifts onto his side and tries to forget about them.

The bathroom light is still on. Sam has a date and he looks like crap, which is Dean's fault, he insisted they keep hunting. But Sam could have slept in the car.
"Sam, tell her you have food poisoning"
"I'm not bailing Dean"
"You're not going to get laid anyway"
"It's not always about getting laid Dean."

Dean snorts and rolls over. Of course Sam would say that, he never gets laid. The sound of a can of deodorant signals Sam's time up in the bathroom. The light flicks off and he saunters out, ducking through the low doorway and swishing his girly hair out of his face.
"I'll see you later."
"I'll wait up."
Dean teases as he pulls the sheet over his face. The door closes and Dean groans. He should have asked Sam to grab him some food first. He's hungry and he isn't sure he'd make it to the local diner. He glances at the clock. It's only six-thirty; maybe this town has a Chinese place. He could order in some Peking duck.

He tries to sit up and a muscle in his back spasms. This really wasn't a situation he could call Cas for, was it? Maybe he could invite the guy around. What do angels do when they're not fighting or being stuck up, tight ass… you know what, Dean had never thought about it before. He just sort of assumed Cas only existed when he was around. He should call him.

"Hey, Cas! Come have dinner, if you have time. Bring Peking Duck!"
He yells. He's not there right away and Dean starts to think he must be busy. He drags himself into sitting position and opens the drawer in the motel side table. Sometimes there's a phone book or a bunch of pamphlets or something in there, not this time, just a bible. He raises one eyebrow appreciating the irony, sure Cas showed, just not in person.

But just then he does. There's a soft rustling and a slight breeze as if someone was opening a door. Castiel is standing in the middle of the room with two large bags of Chinese food. He looks bewildered but smiles at Dean all the same.
"Aw man, yes." Dean gets up, forgetting his pain and winces as he strides over to take one of the bags.
"I seem to have ended up with more than I intended. The man at the counter was very convincing."
"Yeah, they can be. It's cool. I'm sure we'll eat it all."
Dean takes the other bag and places them both on the table, rifling through and pulling out each separate container.
"They should still be warm." Cas says as if answering a question.
"Huh? Oh right, no I mean cool as in great."
"Oh."
"Sit down man, let's eat."
Cas stares at the food for a moment then sits and slides a container over. Dean starts on the Peking duck.
"m-This is really good, you get it here in town?"
"China." Cas states casually as he picks through the special fried rice. Dean's not as surprised as he might have been when they met. He takes another bite and savors it.
"Well I'm glad they suckered you into getting the pork" Dean puts a few pieces into his Peking duck container as Cas puts down his food and furrows his brow.
"Dean?"
"Yeah?"
He says through a mouthful of duck and pork combo.
"Are we dating?"
Dean coughs on his food and spits it into a napkin. He shakes the surprise away and smiles at Castiel.
"Why would you ask that?"
"You invited me for food. Is that not the tradition for dating?"
"Well, yeah, I guess it is. But I just called you here to hang out, you know as friends."
"Oh" Cas pauses for a moment and takes another bite of a dumpling he's been nursing. "I would like to invite you to come and eat food with me."
Dean finds he isn't so embarrassed to hear the words. You can't be embarrassed with Cas. He doesn't have the human standards to judge you by.
"You and me don't need to do that."
Cas just looks confused.
"This is one of those things you just sort of, let happen on its own."
"Dinner?"
"Yeah dinner and you know all that stuff."
"You mean like now."
Suddenly Dean is aware of being alone in a motel room with Cas, eating real Chinese food together and having a serious conversation. He rubs his temple and sighs so Cas keeps talking.
"You're uncomfortable talking about it. You don't have to tell me how you feel."

Of course he doesn't, Cas weaseled in under Deans shell a long time ago and he already knew how Dean felt. He'd worked it out despite Dean's best efforts to hide. But Cas still needed conformation, he still isn't sure if Dean was there with him. Cas waits patiently as Dean collects himself. Dean just smiles
"Tomorrow we should get Mexican."