Author's Note: This is part 1 of a hopefully long story.

A person can only change so many diapers in one day before he snaps.

Dean Winchester reluctantly puts the repulsive smelling diaper into a plastic bag and starts to tie it up, all the while under the alert eyes of the guilty source of the abomination. It has to be the fifth time he's dealt with one of Sammy's "special presents" today and it isn't even noon.

I swear the little runt does this on purpose thinks Dean, looking up to see Sammy's eyes directly on him with a smug smile plastered on his face, only confirming Dean's suspicion. Dean meets his stare with a glower, but he can't stay mad at him. Besides, it's not like it's his fault he isn't potty trained. According to their dad, it's Dean's fault. Just like how their mother's untimely death was his fault, the repossession of their 67' Chevy Impala was also his fault, his dad's habit of guzzling a six-pack or two every night is again, his fault, or how every crappy thing to ever happen in his family's life is automatically his fault.

And why shouldn't it be?

Dean is nothing more than a worthless freeloader who will never amount to much. Or at least, that's what his dad tells him when his drinking gets him particularly wasted, and it's what Dean is starting to believe. Dropping out of high school to take care of Sammy full time when their dad started to neglect his responsibility was the best and worst decision. It was the right thing to do because now Sam actually has a fighting chance at growing up as a mentally stable, well rounded person.

On the other hand, it's never a good idea to drop out of your junior year of high school when you have plans on going to college.

But since Sammy is safe and well, this is the right choice. Sammy comes first, always has, always will. College probably wouldn't have been filled with the smokin' hot chicks and wild parties he's seen from movies anyway, so he's not missing much.

Dean shakes his scrambled thoughts out of his head. Deciding that the diaper fumes are starting to get to him and he needs some fresh air, he scoops up Sam, his diaper bag, his phone and house keys and heads out the door without telling his dad where they're going. It's not like he ever cares anyway.

"Park!" squeals an elated Sam when he realizes they're going for a walk. He definitely wants to spend these all too precious minutes away from their alcohol stained house at his favorite place in the world. Dean grins at him in agreement. Park it is.

Dean rests Sam upon his shoulders and starts walking towards the park. It's literally only a 2 minute walk, but with Sam's curious eyes and his pleads for Dean to stop and grab everything interesting he sees, need it be a butterfly or a pine cone, the trip easily takes them a good 10 minutes.

They make it to the park with a diaper bag full of so called souvenirs and one very smelly toddler.

"For cryin' out loud!" Dean says through gritted teeth as he lays down a very innocent looking Sam on his back on a nearby park bench. He ruffles through the bag for several seconds, pushing aside 14 pine cones, 20 flowers of various colors, 10 leaves, 3 small sticks and a handful of grass to triumphantly pull out a diaper and some wet wipes. At least it's only a Number 1 this time. Dean then proceeds in the abstract art that is diaper changing, only to pause when he sees a stranger approaching him from the corner of his eye.

He looks up to see if the guy looks like a serial killer or not so that he can accurately decide whether or not he needs to protect Sammy. He never can be too careful. However, instead of the fiendish maniac with a hidden weapon he was expecting, he sees a guy about his age holding a baby walking towards them. Dean continues to change Sam's diaper, but keeps his eyes fixed on the stranger. He does this because A) He still doesn't trust that this guy is all sunshine and lollipops if he has the nerve to approach them, no matter if he is carrying a kid (whom he probably stole) and B) the dude is nothing if not mesmerizing.

The first thing Dean notices is his eyes. Now he's heard about getting lost in someone's eyes but this is freakin' ridiculous. Even from a distance he can tell that those eyes are a vivid blue. So blue he can't even begin to comprehend how they make the clear blue sky seem like a dull grey color in comparison. Directly above those too blue eyes lies a messy mop a dark brown hair. As the guy gets closer Dean notices that the guy is wearing a trenchcoat in the middle of June and it sends his creeper radar through the roof, but when he looks into those fluorescent eyes again, he comes to the conclusion that nobody would be able to posses such angelic eyes if they were up to no good.

The stranger gets closer still until he's a few feet from Dean. This is when Dean notices the stubble surrounding his plush, pink lips. Dean suddenly realizes that he has indeed been staring at the guy for some time and quickly focuses his eyes back on a fully changed Sammy, his cheeks burning a bright crimson. Dean pretends to be getting something out of Sam's hair as his blush dies down.

"Um, pardon me."

Startled by the deepness of the voice, Dean whips his head around to look at the stranger. Before Dean can say anything however, the guy continues.

"Sorry to disturb you," he says (which makes Dean thinks this is being set up, no one can be that polite), "but I noticed that you have some wet wipes."

Dean simply stares without realizing it, trying to place a proper color to match his eyes. What kind of other worldly blue is that? Cerulean? Sapphire perhaps?

"My baby brother Gabriel seems to have wet himself," he continues, not noticing Dean's staring, "and I was hoping you could be so kind as to lend me a few of those wet wipes so he doesn't develop a diaper rash."

Dean is still staring and the mystery guy is simply staring back, as if that is the natural response. Several seconds pass before Dean snaps out of his trance suddenly and turns to look at the wet wipes on the bench, his cheeks burning a bright scarlet.

"Oh um, y-yeah," he stutters, causing his blush to become brighter and more evident. "Sure you can have some." He scolds himself mentally for sounding as nervous as a middle school girl.

Clumsily, he pulls out three or four wet wipes and hands them to the guy, trying his best to avoid eye contact. Dean dares to glance up and he sees the guy's head tilted slightly to one side, expression perplexed and brow furrowed. His breath catches when he realizes those big blues are locked on him again. He feels as though the awkwardness in the air is so thick by this point it can be cut with a knife. Luckily, Gabriel's piercing screech fills the air and forces the stranger to break eye contact. For this Dean is relieved, but also strangely disappointed for reasons he can not place at the moment.

"Oh hush," the guy says, concern for his brother present in his face. Looking at Dean he says, "Do you mind if we sit next to you for a bit?"

Not wanting to sound like a girl talking to her crush again, Dean doesn't say anything but he simply puts Sammy on his lap and scoots over to make room.

"Thanks," mumbles the stranger as he situates himself and his brother on the bench, "Come here often?"

Dean is momentarily thrown off by the way the guy's choice of conversation starter is a pick up line, but then he responds, "To the park? Yeah, a few times a week. Haven't seen you around though." He looks away and back into Sammy's long, brown locks, to avoid staring into the stranger's eyes again. He might not be completely up-to-date on social graces, but he is sure getting lost in a stranger's eyes more than once is just not acceptable.

"Yeah," the guy says as he changes Gabriel's concoction, "My family and I just moved in." He looks at Dean to find him staring into his brother's hair, then he goes back to changing the diaper. As soon as he looks away, Dean looks up to see, to his disappointment, the guy is still looking down.

"Oh! Where are my manners?" he says as he fishes out a diaper from his backpack, "Here I am telling my life story and we haven't even been properly introduced yet. My name is Castiel Novak, by the way. What's yours?"

A grin tugs on Dean's lips as he hears the guy's name, and he can't help the question he blurts out. "What kind of name is Castiel?" He meant for his tone to be light and joking, but somehow it came out sounding mocking. Dean quickly turns his head away to look at an elderly woman walking several different breeds of poodles as he feels his face redden. Today is just not his day.

Castiel doesn't seem to take the question as an insult. Instead, he smiles and looks up at the same old lady. "My parents are very religious," he explains, "All of their children are named after angels." Dean turns to look at a still smiling Castiel and Castiel meets his gaze. Dean reasons that the social graces rule doesn't apply if the other person starts the staring, so he doesn't look away.

Their "moment" is interrupted by another deafening screech from Gabriel and Dean thanks the high heavens that Sam isn't nearly as whiny, even though they look about the same age.

"What's wrong now?" Castiel says as he turns a freshly changed Gabriel to face him, face scrunched in confusion. "Are you hungry?"

Gabriel slowly nods his head while wearing a full blown pout that nearly breaks Dean's heart. An idea pops into his head and before he can fully think it over, he's already saying it.

"So, um, Cas?" Castiel's eyebrows raise at the nickname as he looks away from his brother to look at Dean. He notices that Dean's cheeks are still bright red and Cas is starting to think that maybe that's his natural skin color, or possibly an allergic reaction to something. He wants to question Dean about it to ease his concern, but Dean is already continuing. "Sammy here and I were thinking about going to that new diner across the street from here after our little adventure to the park. Do you think, maybe, you and Gabe would, um, like to-"

"Accompany you?" Cas interrupts, much to Dean's relief. If he couldn't understand why simply talking to the guy was so stressful, why did it seem like a good idea to invite him to lunch? He nodded quickly and directed his attention towards a falling leaf by Castiel's ear. "I'd, I mean, we'd love to." Cas flashes him another one of those genuine smiles and jeez, this guy smiled a lot. Dean wasn't quite sure if he could get use to the somersaults his stomach did every time he witnessed one of those smiles.