A/N: Dean's a regular, and Castiel is a barkeep. Human!AU
Dean watched from across the room as the man behind the bar wiped it down in continuous circles. He watched as the man with wild brunette hair and bright blue eyes made drinks with an ease that only came with years of practice.
Despite the fact that Dean could officially be dubbed a regular, he'd never really spoken to the man, never learned his name. He was only given small smiles and short nods. Dean remembered his voice though, when he was lucky enough to hear it. It was low and rough and, for a moment, disconcerting. Such a deep voice for someone so…
Dean shook his head and took another drink from his glass then swished the brown liquor around, getting up to courage to go and talk to the mysterious man with the wild brunette hair and bright blue eyes. That is, until some jackass started screwing with one of the other bartenders, Jo.
Dean was a bit more familiar with Jo, seeing as they had gone out for a short period of time. They weren't right for each other and they parted ways on a positive note.
So when he saw some dipshit smack her ass as she passed, he perked up. He knew from experience that Jo could take care of herself, but there were four guys at the table who were now whistling and catcalling.
Dean took a quick glance at the barkeep, only to see his usually kind eyes filled with a hardness that made even Dean fear for the guys if they touched Jo again.
Thankfully one of those guys was stupid enough to grab her around the waist and pull her against him, because he was itching for a reason to knock the guy out. But before he could stride over there and lay the guy out, there was the barkeep.
How did he even get there so fast?
The blue eyed man took Jo's forearm and pulled her out of the man's grasp. He ignored her annoyed glare at having come to her rescue and kept his eyes trained on the man's face, daring him to do something.
"I suggest you leave now." The men laughed.
"Who the hell are you, man?"
"My name is Castiel. And it is time for you to leave." The man closest to… Castiel stood up. Castiel was considerably short compared to the man, who towered over him, but in a way Castiel seemed so much more powerful.
"Who's gonna make us?"
"I will."
There was a long, tense moment where Castiel bore holes into the man's face and it was obviously unnerving all of the men. The dipshit who was holding this stare off with Castiel gave an annoyed grunt and walked out with his other dipshits trailing behind.
Dean finally walked up to the two of them.
"You okay, Jo?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. I would've been fine even if he hadn't come up," he said as she slapped Castiel's arm. Castiel turned to face Dean and Jo, the previous hardness and unnerving sense of power diminished from his eyes.
"You could just thank me," he said with a smirk. Jo smiled and patted his cheek as if he were her little brother.
"Thank you, Castiel," she said, then disappeared behind the bar. "You want a drink, Dean?"
Before Dean could answer, Castiel spoke again. "I'll get the drinks. You've just finished a double shift. Go home." He instructed.
Jo laughed and grabbed her backpack from behind the bar.
"Don't have to tell me twice. I'll see you later. Bye, Dean!" She said with a wave as she flounced right out of the bar.
"I think I'll have that drink." Castiel smiled and walked behind the bar while Dean sat across from him on one of the stools.
"Anything specific?"
"Just a beer," Dean said. He watched as Castiel rolled up his sleeves and used the bottle opener to pop off the cap. He handed it to Dean and leaned against the counter.
"You've become a regular fixture here, you know."
Dean took a swig, shrugged, and gave Castiel a sly smile.
"I've got my reasons. I'm Dean, by the way."
"Castiel." Castiel held his hand out to Dean, but the movement seemed awkward, like he rarely made physical contact with people in general. Dean smiled and shook the man's hand.
"Castiel…that's a strange name." Castiel took his hand back and shrugged.
"It's an angelic name."
"Can I call you Cas?"
"If you'd like."
After a short time of comfortable silence filled with the background music from the old jukebox and Cas cleaning behind the bar, Cas finally spoke up.
"So why is it you come in here so often?" he asked curiously. Dean bit on the inside of his cheek in nervousness.
"There's someone here that I find very intriguing," he said honestly.
"Who would that be?" Castiel asked, pausing in his work to look up at Dean with those eyes. Dean couldn't hide from those eyes.
"You." he spat out finally.
"Me?" Castiel said, sounding genuinely shocked. "You've never spoken to me…"
Dean sighed, "I was building up the courage to finally talk to you tonight until the Band of Dumbasses were grabbing on Jo." Cas smiled.
"I've been waiting for you, Dean." Dean took Cas's hand in his and intertwined their fingers together.
"Well, I'm sorry to keep you waiting."