A/N: I'm writing this for Camp NaNoWriMo... I hope you like this story! ^_^
Speacial thanks to ill-interrogate-the-cat for being an amazing Beta! :D
If you have any requests please let me know!
Chapter one
"Come on, Sam! You gotta meet Cassie!" Gabriel whined as he tried to pull his best friend's arm.
Sam huffed but let himself be dragged.
"Why do I need to meet your brother? It's not like we're dating or something!"
Ever since Sam stepped into his room at College, he became best friends with his roommate. Gabriel was everything he needed; he was fun, he made sure Sam ate and slept, he kept trying to make Sam smile, even -especially- after a really tiring day. Sam knew just how amazing Gabriel was, but he didn't want the other boy to become a peacock because he was good for him. Gabriel already had his own way of peacocking when he did something he enjoyed.
"Ugh! Saaaaaaam! You need to know him!" Gabriel whined as he led Sam to their building's common room. After a lot of work, Gabe got Castiel to agree and visit him at school. Despite being the oldest sibling, Castiel didn't like to baby Gabriel around much. He didn't like to impose himself on Gabriel's friends so he usually stayed far away from his brother's friendships. The only friend Castiel ever got to meet was a girl named Kali. The girl had been a hurricane in Gabriel's life and in the end, she broke his heart. "I invited him for dinner, so like it or not, you're gunna get to know him!"
Sam rolled his eyes. Gabriel was the kind of person to invite his brother over and not tell Sam a thing until five minutes to the actual dinner. Thankfully, Gabriel warned him earlier than that. That way, Sam would be able to cook something tasty for his best friend's brother. During the whole time he had been Gabe's roommate, Sam realized that the guy loved his brother. Every time he could, he would start babbling on how strange his brother was, or how differently he would do things, and in the end, despite having Gabriel telling him how weird his brother was, Sam knew that Gabe meant it in a loving way.
"If you say so…"
Dinner with Castiel went great. Sam and Castiel got along nicely, and that made Gabriel happy.
"AH!" He said as hugged both his brother and his best friend close. "My two favorite people got along so well! I'm really glad! How was I gunna ditch my brother for you Sammy-kins? There's no doubt I would choose you, but how would I get rid of him? We're family, so it would be a bit difficult to avoid him!"
Castiel rolled his eyes.
"Ever the drama queen…" He whispered.
Sam nodded knowingly.
"Indeed." He agreed.
Gabriel kept hugging them for a while more, he was too happy to oblige to what the other two wanted. As time passed, Castiel started growing impatient; he needed to get back to his own building.
"I really have to go now Gabe." Castiel told his brother. "It was nice meeting you, Samuel."
Sam nodded.
"Right back at ya. And you can just call me Sam." During the whole dinner, Castiel had called him Samuel, and now Sam thought it would be the best time to make him stop calling him by the name he recognized as his grandpa's. Samuel made him feel old, and right now, Sam only wanted to be young and enjoy his life.
Castiel nodded. Despite not being in his brother's life that much they were both in the same college, the only difference was the courses they were taking and the buildings they were staying. After living under the same roof for almost nineteen years, Castiel decided that he didn't want to be the center of Gabriel's pranks; that was when he chose not be his brother's roommate when he got into his college one year after Castiel got there.
"Alright, Sam. I'll see you guys later." And with that, Castiel left the room.
Gabriel grinned at Sam.
"What?" Sam asked as he started walking back to their room. Since they weren't allowed to cook in their rooms, their dinner was at the common room in their floor.
"I'm just thinking that it wasn't that bad. My brother didn't eat you; you still have all your teeth. It can't have been that bad, or was it?" Gabriel asked. He thought they went along pretty well, but he could be wrong. Sam could have just tried to be polite with Castiel and if Cassie didn't like Sam he would have pretended he liked him anyway. Castiel was always trying to make his brother happy, even when he didn't like or agree with the reason of said happiness.
Sam stopped and turned around so that he could face his best friend.
"Are you really that insecure? Your brother is a nice guy and I don't see why you would be so hesitant about this. I think we got along pretty good Gabe, so what's makes you not think that?" Sam was frowning. He didn't understand why Gabriel was behaving like that. The idea of introducing both of them had been his. He had been the one to arrange everything behind Sam's back. So what was the problem? Unless… "Are you afraid he doesn't like me? Oh God… Was it something I said?"
At that point, Sam started to fret about Castiel too. It didn't matter that Gabriel was his best friend, and that he had just met his brother… What mattered was that he possibly did something wrong that pissed his best friend's brother! What if Castiel didn't think Gabriel and him could continue being friends?! He couldn't have that happening to him! Gabriel was his best friend!
"Sam!" Gabriel called, trying to bring him back down to Earth. "It's not like that. You didn't want to meet him, so I was afraid you didn't like him… Cassie is my closest family member. I don't know where I would be if it weren't for him… I don't want to leave either of you, so I get a bit anxious while thinking about the possibility of one of you not liking the other…"
Sam sighed. There were very few moments when Gabriel let his guard down. This happened to be one of them. The only thing Sam could do when people cried around him was to hug them to calm them down.
"Shh…" Sam tried sooth him as he hugged Gabe. "He's a nice guy. And if you think I didn't do anything strange, then I think it's ok. He grew up with you, right?" Gabriel nodded. "Then he knows a little bit about what's weird." Sam said as he flashed a grin towards Gabriel's bitch-face.
"What are you trying to imply?" Gabriel asked a bit annoyed with Sam. He knew Sam was just trying to make him forget his worries, but being called weird by his best friend wasn't what Gabriel was expecting. Suddenly deciding to go along with Sam's joke, Gabriel jumped from Sam's arms and feigned hurt. "Are you calling me- me- weird?! Sorry if you can't see that what you called weird is actually FABULOUS!"
Sam laughed. Now that was the Gabriel knew!
A few weeks passed and as Gabe spoke to Castiel, he was reassured that Sam was good for him. If his brother liked Sam, then he could be happy with his life. No more dinners were arranged though. All of them had their own exams to take, so all their time was filled with studying and preparing for them.
As they finally ended their mid-term exams, Gabriel started nagging Sam.
"Saaaaaaammy…" He called.
"What?" After living with Gabriel during six months, he gave up trying to make his best friend stop calling him every nickname he could find.
"You got to meet my brother…" He started, trying to see if Sam knew what he was talking about. As Sam frowned, Gabriel sighed. Sam didn't know what he was talking about. "When do I get to meet yours?"
Sam's family was always a complicated theme. Gabriel knew it was hard for Sam; he never called home, he never talked about his family. That is except about his older brother. Gabriel heard so much about Dean Winchester that sometimes he wasn't sure if they had met or not. The way Sam talked about his older brother made him think about how Sam idolized him.
"I don't know… Dean is working. He finished college last year. He might not be able to come here…" That was bullshit and both of them knew it. From what Gabriel heard of the oldest Winchester, Dean was the kind of person to simply let go of everything if his brother asked him to.
"Are you ashamed of me, Sam?" Gabriel asked, the mocking tone of his voice trying to lighten the mood, even if he was afraid of Sam's answer.
Sam shook his head.
"That's not it, Gabe," Sam reassured. "Dean works at a garage nearby. He's the one paying the room's bills, and his own apartment's bills… Thankfully, I have a scholarship; otherwise, he would be the one paying that too. Dean works a lot, and I don't want to ask him to come here…"
"That's enough!" Gabriel said. "Your brother loves you, and if you don't invite him here, he will think you're ashamed of him or something. If you invite him, he will be happy to be around you. Sammy, when was the last time you two saw each other?"
Sam blushed. Gabriel was right. Sam hadn't seen his brother ever since he first walked into his room. That was almost seven months ago, and the only way Sam talked to his brother was through texts; and even those weren't as frequent as he wanted them to be.
Gabriel understood Sam's silence as his cue to continue.
"You will invite him to dinner today. I bet he'll be eager to see you!" Sam wanted to, he really did. But there was a little problem… As soon as Dean and Gabriel were in front of each other it would be the worst thing to have ever happened. They would either love each other or hate each other's guts. What drew Sam closer to Gabriel was the way he reminded him of Dean. If they got along well, Sam would probably have to run for his life! He could see both of them taking sides and pranking him. Oh God… Sam could see Dean telling Gabriel all his weak spots. But, on the other side, it would be nice to see his brother again. And Gabe was right. He got the chance to meet Castiel so Gabriel should have the chance to meet Dean.
Before agreeing, Sam sighed. It would be good to see his brother after such a long time.
"Hey-a Sammy!" Dean greeted with a grin. "Long time no see!"
Sam stepped out of the doorway and let his brother inside their building. Once again, it wasn't possible to cook in their rooms –and neither of them wanted to order take-out- so they had to be in the common room. Thankfully, it was a good enough place for everyone. Not many people actually cooked and ate there. Most of them went to the cafeteria, so the only people there during meals were actually Sam and Gabriel. Neither of them liked to go out of their building just to eat, it was so much easier to eat and be close to their bed. Dean stepped inside, and as soon as he was able to get the beer out of his hands, he pulled Sam into a tight hug.
"Yeah… Too long," Sam agreed as he hugged his brother close.
It didn't take too long for Gabriel to jump in the middle of them and introduce himself to Dean.
"Yo! I'm Gabe, nice to meet you Dean-o!"
Dean looked at him intently for a few seconds before snorting.
"And who the hell is this?" He asked his brother. Of course Dean knew who he was. Sam told him about Gabriel; he even explained who hyperactive the guy was.
Sam rolled his eyes at his brother.
"That's my roommate, Gabriel Novak." Dean nodded, the guy was a bit weird, but if Sam and him were such good friends, than he must be a good guy.
Gabriel looked at Dean and smiled.
"From what I heard Dean-o, you are a bit like me…" Taking his eyes from Dean, to Sam, he smiled mischievously. "Sam, do you mind if I show the place to your brother? I want to ask him some things…"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Sam yelled in response. Of course he knew where Gabriel was going; Gabriel had been waiting for the right time to strike and find every dirty little thing about Sam, and now he had the perfect opportunity.
Dean was a bit lost, but he figured that Gabriel was just messing with his brother. The little he knew about Gabe was that the guy was a trickster. Almost every text Sam sent him told him every mischief his roommate pulled on him. Deciding it would be good for him to be around his brother a bit more, Dean went along with Gabe's plan.
"Yeah, you know what, Sammy?" Dean said, turning to his brother, "I'm gunna go with Gabe here and I'll see you later. You can keep the beer." Dean took two cans of beer and took them as he tugged Gabriel's sleeve and pulled him to one of the hallways. He had no idea where they were heading, but it was nice to see the bitch-face in his brother once more. It's been too long. "Come on, Gabe!" He urged as he let go of the other guy's sleeve.
Gabriel ginned and waved Sam goodbye. He followed Dean, a wicked smile in his lips. As soon as they were out of Sam's view, Dean stopped and turned to Gabe.
"What do you want to know?" He asked, a grin adorning in his lips.
"Thanks for teaming up with me. I found some stuff about him, but I can't find where he's ticklish… I really need to know! One of these days, he'll piss me off and I'm gunna get revenge at two AM, by tickling him awake!" Gabriel was enjoying the scenery in his mind a bit too much. He could almost see Sam's face jerk awake and laughing as much as he could handle, because Gabe was getting revenge on some imaginary thing Sam did to him.
Dean laughed heartedly.
"If you must know, you should go for his feet." Dean explained. "There's also a spot in his back; that makes him laugh every time. It's a bit below his neck. Every time he misbehaved as kid, I would yell at him, and when he pouted, I would just press that spot and he would laugh every time. Ah man… Good times!" The nonchalant smile in Dean's face made Gabriel remember when he and Castiel used to live together. Oh the pranks I used to pull on you, Cassie…
"Thanks Dean-o!" Gabriel smiled mischievously and looked at Dean trying to suggest something. "You grab, I do the dirty job?"
It didn't take too long for Dean to grin at him.
"Sure!"
"I hate you both!" Sam said in an angry voice. He sat down and kicked Gabriel's hand from his foot.
"Aw! Come on Sammy!" Gabriel said, trying to hold his laughter, but not succeeding. "It was fun!"
Sam huffed in annoyance and looked at his brother.
"I can't believe you would team up with him!" Sam tried to sound hurt, but his brother knew that tone too well to know it was fake.
"Sammy, you can't fool me dude! I live with you for almost twenty years, you gotta know by now that I won't be fooled by such a fake laughter! And besides, I think you need to laugh more! So you're welcome!"
Sam couldn't stay mad for very long. He wanted to, but Dean made it difficult.
Two pizzas and five beers later, Dean realized he needed to head back.
"Yeah guys, I kinda need to go." He wanted to stay for longer, but he had to go to work early in the morning. "It was fun and nice meeting you, Gabriel."
Despite tagging along in Gabriel's prank, Dean wasn't sure he liked the guy. He looked too much like a prankster for his liking, but as they say 'It takes one to know one'. He wanted to like Sam's roommate, especially because of Sam's connection with the guy, but there was something in Gabriel that screamed trouble. He wanted his baby brother to be happy, with his new best friend, but he kinda wanted to be sure he wasn't going to lead Sam through rough paths. Ruby had been enough trouble and he didn't need another person like that in his life.
Sam pouted as he heard his brother's words. As usual, he was sad to hear his brother had to leave, but it also made him happy to know that they were good; that they could have dinners like this one from time to time. They could all be with their brothers happily and there would be no problem at all.
Dean left after a few minutes, promising he would visit again soon. He wanted to be sure Gabriel wasn't like he originally though and for that he needed to stay close to his brother for the near future.
A few weeks later, they had fallen into an easy routine of having dinners with each brother every week. Sam and Gabriel started to know more about the other as their brothers spilled out some secrets of when they were younger. It only took them two months of weekly dinners to realize it would be much simpler if they simply joined both their brothers every two weeks to have dinner with them. The thought was turned into words by Gabriel.
"Saaaaaam, I think Cassie and Dean-o should meet. We are always having dinner with only one of them, why not have one big dinner together?" Not only did Gabriel want to have less trouble with dinners every week, but he also wanted his brother to meet new people. Gabriel was sure that his brother only had three friends at college: Gabe, Sam and Balthazar. Gabriel thought that introducing Dean to his brother would make him have more contact with people. Dean was an easy going kind of guy, he would be friendly with Castiel and maybe he would mock him a bit, but he would only do it in a playful way.
Sam also wanted the same for his brother. Ever since they were kids, Sam always saw his brother around lots of people, but after a while everything changed. Dean assumed he was bisexual, and some of his friends called him a freak and stopped talking to him. Sam wanted his brother to form new friendships with people that were nice.
Castiel and Sam started to become a more friendly around the third dinner; the awkwardness was put away when Sam asked if Castiel had any picture of Gabe going through all the phases of his life, starting with baby pictures and ending with the 'at-the-moment' Gabriel. Castiel was more than happy to show how chubby his brother used to be, how cute he looked when he was a five year old toddler, how puberty changed his features, and how he ended up. That was the moment Castiel started liking Sam more genuinely, at first he had his doubts, but after seeing Sam trying to embarrass his brother, he shoved those doubts away.
"Yeah, I think it's time they meet each other." Sam agreed.
And so it was settled. Sam called Dean and Gabriel called Castiel, they arranged the dinner to next Friday, but they decided to leave out the fact they were going to meet the other's brother, just in case they wouldn't show up.
Sam was starting to become impatient. Dean said he was on his way, but it seemed to Sam that it was taking too long. Castiel was sitting in one of the couches, talking with Gabriel, completely unaware of what was going to happen. Though he seemed to understand that Sam was preoccupied with something, at least that's what he thought when Sam started to pace around the room for no apparent reason while having his face all serious.
Gabriel looked at his brother and noticed something was off about him; he looked a bit sad and his voice wasn't as usual, it sounded like he was trying to distance himself from everything else. Gabe thought that if there was a problem his brother would tell him. There's no need to worry, if he needs me he will tell me.
It took more five minutes and a knock on the door to calm Sam down. Castiel found Sam's behavior strange, but he didn't say a word. He figured that if Sam managed to calm down, then it must be okay.
Sam opened the door and Dean's smug smile greeted him.
"Hey Sammy!" He said before hugging his brother close.
Sam hugged him back and sighed happy that his brother was there, and a but afraid of what his reaction would be when he found that they were going to have dinner with Gabe's brother as well. Sam's response was a bit different from what Dean expected it to be.
"What took you so long? I thought you had an accident or something! Next time please warn me if traffic is gunna slow you down, Dean!"
Dean looked at his brother and he understood just how concerned he had been.
"Sorry Sammy. I was leaving when one of my neighbors fell and the poor woman needed some help to get inside. After that I just needed to clean her wounds, she scratched her hands and knees. I couldn't just leave her there!" Dean reminded the fall and thought back on how he helped his favorite neighbor, just like she helped him tones of times before.
Sam sighed. There was no way he could argue with that, if Dean's neighbor fell, Dean was obviously gunna help her get back inside her place.
"It's okay, but please warn me next time." He begged.
Dean nodded.
"Sure thing Sammy."
Gabriel and Castiel were staring at Dean and Sam's interaction. Gabriel smiled, while Castiel looked confused. Slowly, Castiel pulled his brother's sleeve and whispered.
"Who's that?"
Gabriel looked at him and searched his brother's face so he could read him like an open book; just like always.
"That right there, Cassie… Is Sammy's brother: Dean-o!"
Castiel tilted his head, his eyes still fixed on the newcomer's face. He's handsome, Castiel thought as he watched the other man from across the room.
Sam looked over at his best friend and suddenly remembered about the only person in the room that didn't Dean.
"Hmm, right. Come here Dean." Sam said as he pulled his brother closer to where the Novak boys were sitting. "You know Gabe, of course. And I want you to meet his brother: Castiel." Sam looked at his brother before he looked at Gabe's sibling. "Castiel, this is Dean, my brother."
Castiel kept staring, though this time it was to Dean's eyes and not just his face. He noticed the freckles, but he decided that Dean's eyes were what he should focus on.
"Hello, Dean." Castiel said, his eyes never leaving Dean's.
At first, Dean thought it was a bit odd that Gabriel's brother was staring at his eyes, but that was until he actually looked at the guy. He had beautiful face and gorgeous blue eyes. Damn that guy is hot. Oh fuck! What was his name again? Cassiel? Castile? Can't risk looking like an idiot.
"Hey Cas." Castiel smiled upon the nickname and Dean felt happy to see such a beautiful smile in such a pretty face. Deciding it wouldn't do any harm to throw a pick up line, Dean added. "Was the fall from Heaven very painful? 'Cause you must be an angel."
Castiel smiled shyly and finally looked away from Dean's face. He felt a bit embarrassed that Dean was flirting with him, but he also felt the blush creeping to his cheeks. Cas never had been a very social guy. He was awkward in all situations and he knew that if someone flirted with him –which didn't happen that much- he didn't know what to do. He didn't know how to react except look away and try to hide his blushing cheeks.
Gabriel looked between the oldest brothers and smiled. I think we're getting somewhere! Looking briefly at Sam, he could see the same though in his best friend's smiling face. I think they'll get along really well! There you go, bro! I got you a new friend!
Despite their plan, Sam and Gabriel didn't plan on the other two getting along so quickly. They expected a lot of dinners before either of them to be comfortable with the other, but that didn't seem to be the case. Dean and Cas talked throughout their dinner, exchanging their opinions about all the subjects that came up to them.
"So, Dean-o…" Gabriel started, trying to push a new subject into the table. "How's the garage?"
Dean was a mechanic, and what he really wanted was to own his own garage, but for now, that seemed impossible. Paying school loans, helping Sammy with bills… It was a bit too much for him to suddenly buy a place and create his own business. Maybe in the future that would be an option, but right now, not so much.
"It's good, Gabe. Bobby said that there's a new car coming and that I will like it. I hope it's a good car, though there's no car prettier than Baby." He grinned.
Sam smirked. Dean had always had a thing for 'muscle cars' but there was one thing that never changed- his 1967 Chevy Impala was the best of all muscle cars.
"How can you compare a baby to a car?" Everyone looked at Castiel, who looked genuinely intrigued.
Silence remained for a few seconds before Sam and Gabriel started laughing. Dean gave his best to keep his straight face and not laugh at the other guy's ignorance, but it was impossible. Castiel looked really confused, and his expression only got more confused when they started laughing.
"Ah-" Dean tried to calm himself after a few minutes. "Cas, you're a really funny guy."
"I don't understand," Cas said, trying to comprehend what Dean meant.
The one who ended up explaining it was Gabriel.
"Cassie, Dean-o was talking about his car," he said, giving his best to calm himself down, but laughter always found its way back to him. "Baby is his car's nickname."
"Oh." Castiel couldn't say much more. His cheeks flushed red and his eyes focused on his plate. "I see…"
Despite all the laughter -and how funny the situation was- Dean felt sorry for him. It wasn't his fault that Cas didn't know what he was talking about; no-one ever told him. It was as simple as that.
"It's okay Cas. You didn't know," Dean said, trying to make the other guy feel a bit more comfortable in the situation. Dean was known for many things, and one of them was pride of was his car; if no-one told Cas of his love for the Impala, how could he laugh about that. Dean knew too well how to embarrass himself in all kinds of situations, so he always tried to make people see it was okay to let that happen from time to time. "Those two dicks never told you about my car, because they're jealous of my Baby, she's the prettiest car I've ever seen, and believe me, I've seen lots of cars. The way she purrs when I turn the engine on… It's the best sound I've ever heard. You gotta have a ride in her someday; I'll take you to the highway, the windows rolled down and the volume in its highest. We'll be above the speed limit, but that's the only way you can feel just how amazing she is." Dean was smiling brightly and once Castiel looked at his eyes, he saw that Dean meant those words. He planned on taking Castiel with him and to show him the beauty of his car. The thought of Dean and him being friends warmed him up more than he thought. His blush was even more visible. No-one ever cared about him so much as this. No-one cared enough to offer a ride through the highway just to feel the wind in their face as they rode an awesome car. The memory of earlier that day was still too clear in his mind, and having someone ask him to simple go on a ride with was the happiest he could go at the moment.
"Thank you, Dean," Cas said, trying to cover just how happy he felt. "I'd like that a lot." However, it was impossible to hide his smile. Castiel was too happy to control the way his lips quirked up.
Dean felt happy to see the way Castiel was smiling. He managed to make a new friend, one that seemed truly happy to simply have a bit of fun with him.
"You choose a day and we've got ourselves a date!" He said happily.
Gabriel's mouth was wide open. He had never seen his brother find himself a friend so quickly, let alone a date! Castiel's sexuality never helped him with that, being pansexual, he didn't care about a person's gender; to him it didn't matter, he liked a person for who they were and you might even say he liked their personality instead for their gender. And unfortunately for him, [or so Gabriel thought] Cas never found someone who had a personality he liked enough to have a date with. It saddened him to think that his brother hadn't met someone amazing that made him fall in love with, but on the other hand, he was happy that there hadn't been any douchebag out there to break his brother's heart. There was also the fact that ever since he stepped inside the common room of their floor, Castiel looked truly happy.
Sam was happy for his brother, he seemed to like Castiel, and for what he knew, Castiel was a nice guy. They seemed to understand each other well, even if they had only met about an hour before.
Castiel smiled brightly at Dean and nodded.
"I have an exam tomorrow morning but I'm free until the next round of exams."
Dean started searching his mind for his schedule and he was thrilled when he remembered that he wouldn't be the one to close the shop during the next two weeks. The employees at the garage took turns to close the garage –and of course to open it early in the morning-, and every week it was a different one of them. Since it wasn't a big garage -there were only three workers in there- which was the reason why Dean had two weeks of not closing the shop. He just had two more days of staying there alone at eleven PM and opening it at seven AM, and then he only had to be there at nine in the morning and he would be a free man during the evening starting at four PM. It was a nice deal, but there were some days when he covered for one of the other two. Adam and Jo usually asked him to stay behind so they could have a date or so, and he wouldn't mind, because he liked his work.
They didn't mind reattributing the favor when Dean had dinners at Sam and Gabe's. There were, of course, other days when the other two decided Dean had had enough work for the week, and said that that was their way of paying him back for staying behind while it was their week, and made him leave earlier. Jo and Adam were good guys and Dean liked working with them. The memory of how just last week Adam asked him to close the garage for him made him smile, he could ask Adam to do it for him this week.
"Tomorrow evening sounds good for you?" Dean asked.
Castiel wasn't expecting their date to be so soon. He wasn't even sure if Dean was joking about making it a date or not. He wasn't sure if answering yes would make him sound desperate, but he also didn't know if saying no would make him look like an asshole. He didn't want to be an asshole, he would much rather be considered desperate than an asshole.
"Yes. Tomorrow evening sounds good," He answered truthfully; his smile still in his face as they continued their dinner.
The rest of the meal went peacefully, some casual comments about their lives, how much their neighbors sucked, how mean some teachers could be and some sarcastic comments from Dean on how happy he was that his student life was over. Had anyone joined them in the common room, they would have thought that they all had known each other for years. The way Dean and Castiel looked so comfortable around each other made it seem like they had been best friends since forever. Both Sam and Gabriel saw that as well. They had the common thought of how amazingly well their plans to introduce their siblings had went; they had been the best idea both of them ever had ever since their weekly dinners started.
The only moment when they shut up was when some music started playing.
'All the single ladies (All the single ladies)
All the single ladies (All the single ladies)
All the single ladies (All the single ladies)
All the single ladies. Now put your hands up
Up in the club
We just broke up
I'm doing my own little thing
You decided to dip
And now you wanna trip
Cause another brother noticed me
I'm up on him
He up on me
Don't pay him any attention
Cause cried my tears
For three good years
You can't be mad at me
Cause if you liked it
Then you should've put a ring on it
If you liked it
Then you should've put a ring on it
Don't be mad
Once you see that he want it
If you liked it
Then you should've put a ring on it
Uh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Uh, oh, oh, oh, oh'
Before he moved to grab his phone, Gabriel let it play for a few seconds…
"Oh! That's right! That's my phone!" Gabriel said trying to sound as if he didn't notice it was his phone. Sam rolled his eyes, that song only became Gabe's ringtone after Sam expressed his hatred towards it. Gabriel felt like he needed to punish Sam for saying such a thing about Beyoncé's song. "Hello?" Gabriel said his voice letting everyone know that he was amused. "Oh! Balthazar! How are you?" Castiel shifted his chair, looking at Gabriel expectantly. "Yeah, he's here. Why do you ask?" Please don't tell him. Please don't tell him. Please don't tell him. Castiel thought, though it was in vain. "You WHAT?!" Shit. "Why didn't any of you say something?!" Gabriel was silently throwing daggers through his eyes in Castiel's direction. "An- What do you mean, you broke up?! When did you guys even get together?! We- Well thanks for warning a guy!" Gabriel sounded pissed and Castiel wanted nothing more than to run away and hide; his brother always turned into a different person when he was pissed at something. "You know what? FUCK YOU, BALTHAZAR!" And with that he hung up.
As Gabriel tried to collect himself, Castiel shrank in his chair; he couldn't think of any other place he could hide from his brother, it would be better if they just got together with this then and there.
"Castiel," Gabriel said. Sam recognized just how pissed Gabe was. He never spoke of his brother with his full name, it was always Cassie this or Cassie that, and never just the plain and cold Castiel. "When were you gunna tell me that you and Balthazar were together?"
Cas gulped and tried to hide himself, but he knew it was impossible. There was no way he would be able to hide from his brother.
"You don't tell me about your relationships, so I didn't see the need to tell you about mine." Despite his attitude, Castiel was thinking about how he could reason with his brother. Their roles had always been reversed, Cas was the oldest but Gabe was the protective brother. So every time something happened with Castiel, Gabe demanded to know immediately, so that he could take care of the problem right away, even if all he could do was try to support his brother. He simply wanted to know what had happened and how he could help.
"Don't try to be funny, Castiel! I had to find out through Balthazar that you two were together for three months?! Why didn't you tell me?" Gabriel didn't sound pissed anymore; he sounded hurt. His mind was telling him that Cas didn't trust him enough to tell him he had a boyfriend. "And I only found out because he broke up with you in the morning and you weren't answering your phone now! He said you left as soon as it happened and he was becoming concerned that you haven't shown up in your dorm yet! Cassie…" Gabriel looked at him, his eyes searching for his brother's. "Why didn't you say anything? I saw just how sad you looked but I thought you would tell me something was wrong!" The hurt in his voice was what made Castiel feel worse.
"I'm sorry, Gabe… I liked Balthy for a while, and we gave it a try. He cheated on me and we broke up today. I guess I didn't tell you because I didn't want to think about it. That was on my mind for the last thirteen hours, and all I wanted was to think of something else." Castiel didn't dare looking at Dean. Maybe Dean thought he was just using him to forget Balthazar. Maybe Dean thought that Cas didn't care about him. Maybe he hurt Dean for agreeing to go out with him so quickly after breaking up with Balthazar.
Gabriel sighed.
"It's okay, Cassie… I just wish you had told me. We could have gotten drunk together like in the old times! You would forget everything and I would have been there for you."
Castile smiled slightly at his brother's words.
"I don't need to get drunk to forget what happened. This dinner took my mind away from things well enough on its own." His smile didn't last long, though. He felt like the opening a hole in the floor and hiding in there until he had calmed down enough. He had indirectly said that agreeing to go out with Dean had distracted him enough to forget about his last boyfriend. He felt like he had doomed any possible friendship/relationship with him before it had even started. "I think I'm gunna head back now."
Gabriel didn't like the way Castiel was reacting. He didn't want Castiel to leave. He wanted Castiel to stay and talk to him; why couldn't he see that?
Sam was in glued to his chair. All he knew about Castiel was that he seemed exactly the opposite to what just happened. Gabriel told him about how shy Castiel was, how he only had one friend named Balthazar, how he wanted to make Castiel meet new people. Yet here he was, listening to his best friend saying that not only during the time he met Castiel, the guy had a boyfriend, he broke up with said boyfriend. He was shocked that Castiel had tried to get a date with his brother, but he couldn't blame him. When Sam and Ruby broke up, Sam felt drawn to a girl and he tried to forget Ruby the best he could, even if that meant ignoring what happened by starting something new. That was how he got into the amazing relationship he was with Jessica Moore, and he wouldn't trade what he did with anything else.
Sam looked at his brother. Dean looked sad, as if he was thinking that Castiel only said he would go out to make Balthazar jealous. How could Dean not see that Castiel looked extremely happy around him? Maybe it was because this was their first time around each other, but Sam could see that Castiel looked much more alive when he was talking to Dean, than he had ever seen him during the all the times they had their weekly dinners. Sam could see the difference and he recognized his attempts to create something new with Jess in what Castiel did with Dean. Dean also looked happy around Castiel. But Dean always looked happy; he was the type of guy who always had a smile in his face, and tried to joke every chance he got. And now looking at him and seeing the dejected person that he looked like. It was sad.
"Cas, please don't go." To the Novak brother's surprise, Sam was the one to say it. "You don't need to tell Gabe anything. We just wanna hang out with you. If you don't think you're ready to go back to your dorm, you can stay with us for tonight."
Dean looked at his brother, a bit hurt to see that he was taking Castiel's side, but he understood that he just wanted to help Castiel. After a breakup people can be really hurt and Castiel seemed a bit of a sensible kind of guy. He might need some kind of support to keep on going, even if it was just for that one night.
"I think I'll get going. I need to open up the garage in the morning. Good night guys." Dean said, slowly lifting himself from his chair. He wanted to make sure Cas had all the support he could get from Sam and Gabe, and that would only happen if he left.
Castiel closed his eyes. He didn't want any of this to happen. He was tired of his brother's attempts of trying to help him. Sam was a good person, but Castiel didn't need his help either. All he wanted was to be left alone for a while. Taking a sharp intake of oxygen to his lungs, to slowly exhale, he finally opened his eyes and spoke.
"I'm gunna go too. I don't want to stay. Thank you Sam… Gabriel. But I think I'll get going. I just need some fresh air and to be alone."
Gabriel knew that after his brother decided on something it was almost impossible to get him to agree to convince him otherwise. He sighed and nodded.
"If that's what you need, then I hope you at least visit tomorrow." He wanted his brother to be sure that he could visit anytime, just so that he was sure he was okay.
Castiel wasn't sure if Dean's offer was still standing. It probably wasn't… Castiel answered after pondering on his words for a while.
"I don't know… I'll see what happens. If I'm free I'll come here." He promised.
Dean looked at the Novak brother's interaction, a bit lost, and tried to understand what was going on after all. He understood what happened until that morning, he just wasn't sure why Castiel agreed to go out with him, or even why he wanted to leave after his brother said he could avoid his ex-boyfriend during that night.
Castiel didn't say anything else and simply moved past the table, grabbed his trench coat and walked out of there. Dean gave his last goodbyes and walked out of there too.
As he neared the last flight of stairs, he heard a soft sob. Dean looked around and saw someone curled up in himself.
"Hey, are you okay?" Dean asked, as he approached the person. It didn't take him long to understand the one crying was Castiel. "Shit. You okay, man?"
Castiel looked up and saw Dean near him. He wanted to go away from them all. He thought that Dean was only making an excuse to leave him alone, and if he left Dean would stay a bit more with the others. Without answering, Cas curled up on himself even more.
"Cas… You should have stayed with them, dude. Break ups are though."
Castiel wanted to laugh at those words. Dean just didn't understand.
"You don't understand." Castiel told him. Upon Dean's frown, he continued. "I'm not on the verge of breaking. I'm not that bad… I'm crying because I realized that I didn't like Balthazar as much as I thought. I'm crying because the only thing I felt when I walked in on them was that Balthazar had to change the sheets. I'm crying because I thought I was in love when I clearly wasn't. I was sad because I thought I'm not capable of loving anyone. I'm afraid I can't love anyone. That's why I'm crying. I don't want to go back to my dorm because I'll be reminded of that. Balthazar will say he is sorry and to give him another chance… But the only thing that actually bothered me was that he didn't love me either. I thought he loved me… But if he cheated on me, he clearly doesn't. What if no-one will ever love me? I'm scared of that." He couldn't keep talking. His words got stuck in his throat. He had just poured his heart out and that wasn't something Castiel usually did. Castiel was the shy guy who lived with his best friend, and that no-one talked to. He simply didn't pour his heart out to others…
"It's okay Cas… If he did that, maybe it was for the best. You understood that neither of you loved each other. You should be thankful that you understood that before you found yourself married to him, while you're in love with someone else." Dean tried to sound cheerful. His heart was broken by Castiel's fears. The way he sounded so sad… As if he didn't have any hopes of finding a nice person that would love him with all their heart. "You know what would do you good?" As he saw Castiel shake his head, he smiled. "A ride in the Impala… It does wonders to people. It will clear your head, I promise." Upon Castiel's shocked face, he laughed. "How about we have our date a bit earlier than it was supposed to?"
Castiel thought he was dreaming. Dean was too good to be true… How could he offer to go out with him just to cheer him?
"You have work early in the morning… You just said so…" He said, trying to reason with Dean. "And I have my test in the morning… I need to sleep."
Dean sighed.
"I'm not taking a 'no' for an answer Cas. Please answer me honestly. If I took you home right now, would you go to sleep?" Castiel shook his head. "That's what I thought. And don't worry about me. I'll just ask Adam to open the garage for me." And so he took his phone from his pocket to arrange everything with Adam. A few texts later, Dean was smiling brightly. "It's all settled. Can we go now?"
Castiel still didn't believe this was happening to him. But as Dean offered his hand to help him rise from the floor, Castiel smiled and took his hand.
"Yes."