"Hey babe, I'm home!" A tall and muscular blonde slammed the bright red door to his apartment behind him. He walked briskly to the small kitchenette where he sat a large duffel bag on the island with a clank.
As he peered inside the fridge for a little something to drink he felt two arms wrap around his waist and a chin rest on his shoulder. "Welcome back, Dean." The green eyed man grinned. "I hope your day was more productive than mine."
Dean turned around to face the other man, running his fingers through his thick black hair. "Asthma giving you trouble again?" He smiled weakly, squinting his electric blue eyes like he always did when he'd done something he wasn't supposed to do. "Cas, you can't keep pushing yourself like that." Dean gave him a concerned look.
Castiel only rolled his eyes playfully. "Oh, don't worry about me," he said breathily, glancing over to the dark green, canvas duffel bag. "Did you get that new camera equipment you wanted?"
A smirk played across Dean's lips. "Of course I did." He unzipped the bag, revealing a shiny, sleek, black camera with a matching tripod, microphone, and light system. "Top of the line, professional, high definition camera; matching accessories sold separately." The proudest look was plastered on Dean's tan, freckled face. Through months of endless toil he had managed to save up enough money through his meager Youtube earnings to buy this special camera. He had insisted against letting Castiel help him pay for the thing, even though he made quite a bit more than Dean with his job as a college professor. Finally attaining his dream made his heart sing. Though the real reason he loved the camera so much was because its color scheme resembled that of his black 1967 Chevy Impala which was his pride and joy.
"I'm so proud of you. Want to have a drink to celebrate and then I can help you set this thing up?" Castiel knew he had said the right thing when Dean began grinning from ear to ear. "I'll take that as a yes."
The blonde nodded vigorously and pulled two bottles of IPA out of their grungy dorm sized refrigerator. Pop! He removed the cap of the first bottle and handed it to his husband. "You're going to love it Cas! It's absolutely perfect." He gave Cas the impression of a puppy drooling over a fresh milk bone, which made him chuckle a little. Pop! Dean tossed the second cap into the bin and took a swig.
Wires ran all across their tiny living room, threatening to trip anyone who may dare to tread upon them. Taking extra care not to step on a particularly thick black cord, Dean made his way across the room where Castiel was diligently typing away on their shared MacBook. "Hey, Cas," he tapped on his shoulder, "is the hdmi cable completely plugged in?" A soft mhm answered his question. "Can you check again?" Dean said shakily. The last thing he needed was for something to be wrong with his brand new camera.
Cas just looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Have you turned on the outlet strip?" A look of realization washed over Dean's face. "Give it a shot." Cas returned to his typing.
Crouching down to reach the outlet strip, Dean flipped the red button on. "And I am a total idiot." The orange charging light on the camera began flashing. He heard a soft chuckle from across the room. Picking up his brand new camera, he pressed record and aimed it at the man sitting in the plush, green bean bag. "Smile for the camera!"
The moment Cas whipped around and saw the red recording light he groaned. "Dean, you know I don't like to be on camera!"
Dean's perfect lips formed into a smirk. "Don't be shy! You look like a million bucks!" A squirtle plushie came flying at Deans head. "Ha! Don't be that way!" He pouted defiantly.
It was becoming increasingly difficult for Cas to hide his grin.
Beep! Beep! Beep! The obnoxious alarm clock blared at eight in the morning, prompting Castiel to slam his hand down on the snooze and dive back under the covers in hopes to snuggle with Dean. It was too early for college, too early for being awake. When he threw his arms over to the other side of the bed he wasn't surprised to find it empty. As usual, Dean had gotten up at the crack of dawn.
One foot on the floor at a time, Castiel told himself. The floor can't be too cold, right? Wrong. He grimaced when his tired feet hit the chilly wooden floor boards. That was always, without a doubt, the worst part of the morning. But being used to having frozen feet, Cas made the effort to stumble to his chestnut dresser and put on slacks and a white button up shirt. He sighed in relief when he slid on his socks and shoes. Ah, no more frostbite.
He dashed into the kitchen, his head still spinning from standing up too quickly earlier, and noticed a plate full of toast and a hot mug of tea beside it. English Breakfast Tea, he discerned from the scent. A smile graced his lips.
"Morning" Dean said from his laid back position on the sofa. He was sipping on a cup of coffee and browsing the Internet, as he usually did in the mornings.
Cas grinned. "You didn't have to do this. Though it's incredibly sweet."
"Do what?" Dean winked. "Eat up babe, don't you have four lectures to go to today?"
This was so like him. Being thoughtful was definitely Dean's strong suit. "Five. Do you mind if I take this to go?"
Dean popped up from his seat as Cas walked towards the door. "Hey, be safe today." He planted a firm kiss onto Cas' lips and handed him his inhaler. "Love you."
Cas nodded and smiled. "I will be. I love you too."
The Café was swamped with college girls as usual, leaving Cas the only open table next to a pair of obnoxiously giggling girls, who he immediately recognized as students from his ten after two lecture. It was about one thirty and he still had forty minutes until his next lecture.
A loud shriek from the table across from him broke his razor sharp concentration on grading essays.
"He's totally hot, Jo!" The girl with curly black hair giggled.
"He's my future husband!" The blonde girl said.
"Not if I get him first!"
Just as Cas was beginning to wonder if those two would ever shut up, a piece of their conversation managed to grab his attention.
"Oh my god, Lisa, Dean just posted a video!" Jo giggled at her phone. "It's an apartment tour!"
Dean posted the apartment tour already? "We can watch it later, we should probably get to the lecture." The two girls gathered up their bags and walked briskly out of the Café.
"Now, what can you tell me about Pablo Neruda's style of poetry?" A lecture hall full of bored young adults stared blankly at the Professor at the front of the room. A few had their hands raised. "Yes, Mister Singer?"
A boy in the front row spoke. "He likes to make use of repeating lines?"
"Close, but not quite what I'm looking for." Castiel Novak scanned his pupils for someone willing to answer but two girls in the back row that were giggling caught his eye. They were both looking down, the light from a phone illuminating their faces. Cas sighed and walked up the stairs to the two girls who were whispering to each other while watching Dean's apartment tour on YouTube. They were so absorbed in watching Dean show off his model car collection that they didn't notice their professor standing behind them.
The blonde girl whispered, "What kind of car do you think he drives?" To the other girl who shrugged her shoulders.
Cas cleared his throat loudly. "Don't ever get Dean Winchester started on his car. He will never shut up." The two girls looked up at him, dumbfounded, as he held out his hand for the phone. "You'll get it back at the end of my lecture." Feeling a little bit smug, Professor Novak sauntered back to the front of the classroom and resumed teaching.