The smell of spring air rushed into Dean's nose as he pushed open the front door his apartment. The freshness of the breeze soothed his mind and made him light on his feet as he strolled down the front stoop. He got into the Impala knowing that it would be a great day.

Dean turned up the radio and opened the windows of the Impala all the way down as he drove to the shop, taking in the happy activity of the people on the main street of the town he resided in. He was radiating excitement as he turned into the parking lot for mechanic shop he worked at.

As he entered the building, shouts of hello greeted him, which he gladly returned, recognizing each individual person just by their voices.

Dean leaned into an office, just to the left from where he had entered, and said, "What's up, Bobby?"

The older man reclined in a swivel chair, took off his cap and lazily waved it the Dean. "Same old stuff. Everyone's being an idjit as usual."

Dean chuckled at Bobby's routine response and went to go find a car to work on.

A few hours passed with Dean laboring over melted engines and ruined brakes. Though the work was arduous Dean enjoyed every last bit of it, being intrinsically talented at the job. Even when he was a young kid, he had helped his dad out whenever something went wrong with their Impala.

Dean was just about to take a quick lunch break when the sound of chimes rang through the shop, alerting the entrance of a customer. Dean turned to see who had come in, grinning at the sight of his younger brother. The grin wavered for a second as he saw that his brother was not alone. A man with strikingly blue eyes and dressed in a trench coat accompanied Dean's brother.

Sam's eyes scanned the room and quickly found his brother. "Dean!" Sam yelled and crossed the room to the grease-lathered man. They shared a hug and when they pulled away Dean began with the first thing to jump into his mind.

"Who's your friend?" Dean eagerly asked.

"Ah, yeah, he would be why we're here," Sam responded. "This is my new colleague, Castiel."

The stoic professor walked to the duo and put out a hand for Dean to shake. Dean was surprised to feel that the hand was smooth and warm, quite unlike the appearance of the professor.

"You may call me Cas, if you so desire," Cas's deep voice vibrated through the room.

"Okay, Cas," Dean tried out the nickname and liked the way it felt on his tongue, "How can I help you?"

"My car would not work this morning when I had to leave my residence. I had to call your brother to drive me to the university; I was unhappy to have inconvenienced him," Cas replied.

"It was no problem! Cas is a fun companion, he has great stories to tell," Sam exclaimed.

"I do love a good story…" Dean added as he looked the stranger up and down. "Maybe you tell me one after I fix your car."

Sam put a hand over his mouth to cover his smile. He had hoped that Dean would hit it off with Cas, seeing as Cas had made no friends other than Sam since he had arrived a month ago and Dean had been resistant to hanging out with friends since his break up with Lisa.

"Possibly, I have a class later in the afternoon, so it depends on when you finish the car," Cas said.

"Then we'd better move our asses, shouldn't we? I'll meet you guys at Sammy's car," Dean said as he went to go get a tool box.

As Sam and Cas exited the building Dean could hear Cas say to Dean's brother, "Sammy?" Dean could hear Cas's deep chuckle, which made Dean himself laugh inwardly.

Dean leaned into Bobby's office and saw him reading a how-to book about dating. Dean smiled as he thought about how happy Bobby was with Ellen. "I'm going out for a job. Friend of Sammy's. I'll be a while if that's cool," Dean said.

"Hmm, yeah, whatever…" Bobby replied, never taking his eyes from the book.

Dean went out the car and observed that Cas had taken the back seat of the Prius, leaving the passenger seat of Sam's car open to him.

"Cas thought it best if he let you take the better seat in case you wanted to talk to me," Sam said as Dean slid into the seat. "I tried to convince him otherwise but he was too stubborn."

Dean turned around and winked at the relaxed man. "Thanks," Dean said with a smile.

"My pleasure," Cas responded. Dean thought he saw the blue-eyed man blush.

The car ride to Cas's house seemed to take forever in Dean's mind. He couldn't seem to wait until he and Cas were finally alone and he could get more personal with him without the eyes of his little brother watching them.

Cas's home was small, with one floor, and seemed to be more of a shack than a house.

"I'm a minimalist, I don't care for much," Cas answered Dean's unspoken question, seeing the mechanic stare strangely at the house. Dean wondered if the inside was as sad as the outside.

Distracted, it took Dean a few moments to recognize the solar panels on the roof and the Prius in the small driveway. "Aren't those expensive?" Dean said pointing to the two pieces of technology.

"I said I was a minimalist, that doesn't mean I can't spend a little more on things that reduce my impact on the environment. I actually enjoy breathing fresh air and I'd like to keep it that way," Cas sassily said in response.

Dean shook his head, grinning at the unexpected sass. He approached the car then turned to wave goodbye to his brother.

Dean began his work on the car and quickly found the source of the problem. Cas came over and stood close to Dean as the man leaned under the hood of the car explaining what was wrong.

"It won't take long to fix, an hour tops," Dean said with a smile.

"Good, my class doesn't start for a few hours," Cas stated. "I'll get you some water."

Dean thanked Cas and enthusiastically got to work. After a little more than a half hour Dean straightened up, wiped his hands on a towel he had brought, and closed the hood of the car. Dean left his tool box by the vehicle and walked to the front door of Cas's humble abode.

When Dean opened the front door he yelled, "I'm coming in to wash my hands. I'm all done." A bit softer he said, "Be sure you're halfway decent."

Cas replied from, Dean guessed, his room, "Okay, I just finished a quick shower, so you can use the bathroom, it's on the left."

Dean entered the house and saw that it was homey adorned with cheap, comfy-looking furnishings. Passing a side table in the small living room he noticed a picture of Cas with two other men and a girl. Dean stared at the picture wondering who the people could be.

"Those are two of my brothers, Michael and Gabriel, and one of my sisters, Anna," Cas suddenly said, having appeared out of nowhere right next to Dean. Dean saw that Cas was only in a towel, water still dappling his smooth chest, but had already gelled his hair.

"Oh," Dean said, not knowing if in response to the information or from the surprise of seeing a sparsely dressed Cas. "I'm just gonna… uh… go wash my hands…" Dean said, walking around Cas and heading towards the bathroom. After closing the door behind him, Dean leaned on the sink with his hands and saw in the mirror that a bright red blush had seeped across his cheeks. He quickly washed his hands and left the room to see a fully dressed Cas, trench coat and all.

"So," Dean awkwardly started, "mind if we go someplace to get lunch? I missed my lunch break and I'm craving a burger and pie."

"Sure, we can take my car down to the diner on main street," Cas eagerly replied.

The men drove to the diner bonding over similar taste in music. They spent their lunch exchanging stories, laughs, and numbers.

When it was time for Cas's class, he dropped Dean back off at the garage. Dean waved goodbye and stood on the curb until Cas's car disappear onto another street. He turned and entered the shop with a look of pure bliss on his glowing face.