A/N: Alright so this is my second fic, and I plan for it to be several chapters. Hopefully it isn't too bad, and it is unbeta'd, so any mistakes are mine and spellcheck's. Please please pleeeease review. I will love you forever and send you internet cookies shaped like the Impala. Ok, on with the show….

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Dean Winchester was bored. He was sitting in an English class, bored out of his skull, trying to understand how he had been forced to take this class. Everyone seemed like a complete idiot, and he was fairly sure none of them had actually read the book they were supposed to be was only the second week of college, and already all he wanted was to get his syllabus, his final project assignment, and make tracks for the door. He was about to leave and just visit during office hours to pick up a final project assignment then when his teachers voice broke into his thoughts.

"Next up, your final project will be a partner project, because I know how you all enjoy those." Here most of the class rolled their eyes or groaned or started whining. The rest began frantically looking around the room, trying to figure out who was smart enough to do the project for them. "You and your partner will analyze how the quote 'love is a special kind of sadness we're all addicted to' from literary critic N. E. Ko applies to life and/or a literary work." More groans as students thought of the agony and boredom of writing a literary analysis paper. "You must have at least six sources, none of which may be Wikipedia, and yes, I will be checking these sources so…" Mr. Greer continued to drone on, but Dean wasn't listening. Like the rest of the class, he craned his neck around to see who he would partner with, though he was mostly looking for someone whom he wouldn't want to throttle after five minutes of listening to their thoughts on how Hamlet "so totally overreacted". One of his high school friends, Alec, waved to him, gesturing to the cute brunette next to him with a thumbs-up. Dean returned it, looking around, wondering who else he could pair up with. Suddenly, he turned his head, catching a glimpse of black hair and azure eyes at the back of the class.

Something told him to ask this kid to be his partner. Dean wandered over and asked somewhat awkwardly, "So, uh, you got a partner already?"

The other man looked up at him "No, I planned on doing this alone, and I have a feeling with you, I would wind up doing all the work anyway, so please, find another jock friend of yours to work with."

Dean was taken aback. All he asked was if the guy had a partner! "Look, it has to be a joint project, so you can't do it alone, and since I only have one friend in this class, who already has a partner, I wanted to ask you. But you know what? If you're just going to make assumptions, I'll ask Greer if we can work alone. Because I don't need some damn engineering major, or pre-med or whatever, assuming I can't do the work."

The other man looked at Dean, his eyes widening slightly. "Oh I'm…I mean I didn't…if you really wanted…Do you want to be partners?" The other finally managed.

"Not if you're going to be such an asshole about it," he replied.

"I'm sorry, we really seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot, don't we? I'm Castiel Novak. Would you like to be my partner?" asked the man, Castiel.

"Fine. I'm Dean, by the way, Dean Winchester. And I'm not a jock."

"Alright class, seems like everyone has found a partner, so you are all free to go," interrupted Mr. Greer. "Don't forget, my office hours are posted outside my door, and we will be working on this in class, so I will see some of you at the end of the year."

"So, what's your next class, Dean Winchester?" asked Castiel.

"Just Dean, please. Dean Winchester makes it sound like I'm an actor or something. And I don't have one, this is my only Thursday class," replied Dean. "So Cas, want to come back to my dorm and work on this? We may as well get started early."

"Sounds good. So," asked Castiel as they made their way through the mass of students trying to leave, "if you're not a jock, what are you? You obviously work out, and I've seen you on your morning run a couple times. So what? If you're not into sports, why do you so much emphasis on being physically fit? If you're trying to look hot, you really are succeeding."

They were out in the quad now and Dean turned to look at Castiel with shock on his face. "Excuse me?"

"I said you look hot. Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mention I was gay?" quipped Cas, a somewhat cynical smirk on his face. "Going to run off now? Ask the teacher if you can work alone? You can, you know, it won't bother me."

"No, no I…I was just…Sorry. You caught me off guard for a second. And of course I still want to work with you. There's nothing wrong with being a little different," replied Dean, making it Cas's turn to be shocked. "And that's bullshit, that it wouldn't bother you. My brother is bi, and I know how much it hurts him when people don't accept him."

Now Cas was completely taken aback, is mouth opening and closing like a fish as Dean turned back and started walking toward his dorm again. After a moment, Cas caught up to him, walking alongside him for a while. Finally, they arrived at the door to Dean's building and Cas just stood there for a moment while Dean held the door open. Then he smiled and walked past Dean into the building. Dean smiled back and led him up to his room, opening it and leading Cas into a small but clean and well-organized living area with a kitchen area along one wall.

"Well, here we are, my very own paradise. I'm a total neat freak, but it's normally not this clean, just as a forewarning. My roommate Gabe is kind of a slob, and seems like a total jerk until you get to know him.

"It's nice," said Cas, having been brought up to be polite. "Shall we start working on the paper?"

"Sure. I figured we would analyze the quote as it applies to real life. I mean, love makes a lot of people sad. Especially if someone they love leaves, or if they love someone who doesn't love them." Dean stopped, looking at Cas. "Any ideas?"

"Well, a literary analysis should involve some sort of literature," said Cas, his head tilting to one side, thinking. "Perhaps we could incorporate Romeo and Juliet, how love eventually causes six deaths, though indirectly for the most part."

"That's a pretty good starting place," commented Dean, now sitting on a couch with a notebook in hand, taking notes. He motioned Cas to sit next to him. "Ok, so if we start with Romeo and Juliet, we can segue into life and… seriously, would you sit? I can't stand it when people hover."

"Sorry" said Cas a bit awkwardly, sitting on the couch with a couple of feet between him and Dean.

"S'okay. Alright now…."

The two of them worked on the essay for several hours, eventually sitting around eating pizza, flshing out the essay, thinking of how they could research it. Cas finally got comfortable with Dean, sitting next to him, pointing out places in the notebook where Dean had made a mistake or could add something. It was nearly two am when they finally stopped for the night. Cas was yawning and practically leaning on Dean to stay upright, while Dean was staring at the notebook, trying to figure out what was missing. Eventually he gave up, realizing Cas was leaning on his shoulder, snoring quietly. Dean smiling, thinking of when Sammy was a kid, and gently laid down Cas, grabbing a blanket from the closet and laying it over him before carefully removing his shoes and setting them next to the pillow. Then he made his way to his own room, falling asleep immediately.

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So what did y'all think? I thought that was a pretty good place to break it. Please R&R, reviews are love, and love makes the world go round, So if you don't review, the world could stop spinning o.O