The tickets arrived in the mail one October morning, addressed to Bobby Singer and Dean Winchester. Bobby told Dean to open it while they waited for dinner to cook (believe it or not, Bobby was a damn good chef), and when he did, three grey and red rectangles fell out with a note paperclipped to them.

It's in San Francisco in a month. These are amazing seats. Bring Cas. Sam and Jess have tickets too. There's someone I want you to meet. – Adam

His half-brother's cryptic message didn't make sense to him, or Bobby, but he looked at the ticket and saw it was for the national touring performance of the musical Rock of Ages.

Musicals weren't Dean's scene, or Bobby's for that matter, but they were definitely Cas' thing.

"I'll go if you do, boy," Bobby grumbled. "Hell, Adam's been real good about keepin' in touch with us and bein' a part of this family; we should do this for him 'cause he's obviously real excited about somethin'."

"Yeah, I'll go. Lemme just call Cas, let him know."

Dean headed upstairs to his bedroom, dialing as he walked. The number was engraved into his memory now, having spent six months calling and texting and looking for it at every chance. It rang once, twice, before Cas picked up.

"Hello, Dean."

"Hey," he breathed, and okay, that sounded really girly but goddamn sometimes he missed that deep, rumbly purr of a voice. "I got a proposition for ya."

"Really? What would that be?" He could practically hear the smile on Cas' face.

"A month from now, I've got fifth row seats for Rock of Ages in San Francisco. Sam and Jess and Bobby and Adam'll be there – it's Adam's treat. He told me to bring you, and I'd really like to seeing as musicals really aren't my thing but I know you love them." He took a deep breath. "Come with?"

"Of course! I have wanted to see that show since it premiered on Broadway. I think you'll like it, Dean, it's not a normal musical by your standards."

"Oh yeah?"

"The score is all classic rock from the 1980s. I believe the opening number is Sister Christian, and then it goes into a rendition of Just Like Paradise and Nothin' but a Good Time." Cas chuckled, low and deep. "Look up the soundtrack, it's fantastic. I'd love to talk to you, I miss you, but I have a class in twenty minutes and I'm not even close to ready. I will text you later."

"Bye, l- talk to you later then."

After Dean hung up, he realized two problems: one, he missed Cas way more than he should considering they talked on a daily basis. Two, he was gonna say something completely different before he ended the call, and he was really glad he caught himself because what the actual fuck Dean Winchester.

Yeah, he needed food. He was just lacking food.

"Dean, get your ass down here if you want it while it's hot!"

He told himself he wasn't gonna think about it during dinner.

He did.

It was a week until Rock of Ages, and Dean was in complete denial about how bad he had it for Cas. Maybe he actually was in love with him, but that didn't mean he had to admit it.

Dean Winchester didn't do love, thank you very much.

Regardless of whether or not he acknowledged his feelings, he hopped into the Impala (which had been tenderly repaired and practically rebuilt by his loving hands) at four in the morning and started driving to Stanford. Cas had a single dorm this year, thank god, and he had plans to crash with him for a few days before heading out to San Francisco for the show.

In the car, he popped in the mix tape he'd made for the drive down – all the songs from the musical, in their original versions. He still hadn't listened to the soundtrack because he doubted a bunch of theatre geeks could do them justice, but he had looked up the songs they'd used in the show. It had a good core group of songs, for sure, but he was very skeptical as to whether or not he'd actually like any of them.

He rocked out to David Lee Roth, sang along to Starship (but he would never tell a soul he enjoyed "We Built this City" because it was just a crappy band and a pretty crappy song that was damn catchy), and performed air drums to Twisted Sister. It made the drive go a little faster, and he pulled off to a dingy little motel around midnight. He'd made good time – he was just eight hours away, and if he started driving again at eight AM and went non-stop, he'd arrive just after Cas' last class. He got a room, grabbed some junk food from the vending machine, and headed in, flopping on the cleanest bed and flipping on the TV to catch the rest of the Royals/Angels game that had gone into extras. He texted Cas a smiley face as he got into bed, knowing he'd be up writing his psych paper still and he'd be really confused as to what the hell Dean was doing that'd make him text that.

He put his phone in the nightstand drawer and got comfy under the covers, watching Alberto Callaspo hit a walk-off homer into the rocks to end it.

He slept easily that night, and dreamt of Cas again.

Stanford never failed to remind Dean of all the cheesy teen comedies he'd seen. He felt like he was walking onto a film set as he left the registrar's office. Cas had texted him earlier – Prof. Henricksen gave us a two day extension on our paper. I don't know whether I'm mad or relieved. – and he'd asked what building Henricksen's room was in. It was in Jordan Hall, so he'd driven there and parked Baby where she'd be visible from the exit. He leaned against her and felt like he was a main character in that cheesy movie as he waited for Cas to come out.

He spotted him quickly: faded AC/DC shirt that Dean had lost four months ago, old jeans with a few holes in the legs, sneakers, and sunglasses. He was looking down at his phone, scrolling through something – emails, probably – and walking on autopilot. Dean pulled out his phone and shot him a quick text.

Look up, doofus.

He watched Cas stop walking, smile, and tap the screen. His expression changed from happy to confused as hell, and he looked up. His grin, an actual grin with teeth and everything, lit up the commons area and he walked quickly over to Dean, backpack thumping at his back as he did.

He slid into Dean's arms with familiar ease, leaning up to kiss him slowly and sweetly. "What are you doing here?" he asked, unable to hide the happiness in his tone. "The show's not for another few days."

"Missed you," Dean, kissing his hair, mumbled, smiling all the while. "Thought I'd come crash with you before we left. Surprise."

Cas chuckled against his chest. "You are something else."

"You've said that to me before. Quite a few times, actually."

Cas hands were on his chest and he felt Cas' lips on his own before he was being shoved away. "Drive. There's an excellent Chinese restaurant just off campus. I will treat you to dinner."

Dean couldn't say no to that, so he walked around the car and slid in behind the wheel, smiling as Cas got in and tossed his bag into the back seat.

"Staring at me isn't going to get us there any faster, Dean. You'll have plenty of time for that later."

He was still laughing as he pulled away.

Throughout dinner and until they arrived at Cas' dorm later that night, Castiel's phone wouldn't stop lighting up with texts about the mysterious bad boy he'd kissed and driven off with. He copied and pasted the same response to each one: He's my boyfriend, he's not a bad boy, mind your own business.

Dean kissed him roughly for calling him his boyfriend, and it progressed and progressed, months of sexual tension uncoiling.

When they got back into bed, sated but no longer sticky, Cas nuzzled into Dean's neck. Usually, Dean didn't cuddle at all, but Cas was so damn cute when he was sleepy and he had it really bad for him. Cas was the exception to the rule.

He was finding out that Cas was the exception to pretty much every rule.

He drew lazy circles on Cas' bare back as they lay together, smiling at the pleased humming coming from him. He hadn't been this intimate with anyone since Cassie, and they'd only lasted four months, starting out hot and burning out quickly. He was really freakin' happy that this thing he had with Cas was lasting longer and burning just as hot as ever.

"You're thinking too much, Dean, relax."

"How did you…"

"You have tensed up considerably. Whatever it is, it isn't important now. Just enjoy this moment. Enjoy the afterglow."

So yeah, maybe he was in love with Cas. He said shit like that and he understood Dean better than even Sam could sometimes. He was practically made for Dean.

He pressed a kiss to Cas' lips, sinking down into the sheets and curling up with him, legs threading together. "You're freakin' awesome, you know that?" he mumbled, letting the urge to sleep slowly take over.

"I am aware, but it's still nice to hear it." He kissed Dean's chest and sighed. "I think I am in love with you."

Dean's heart stuttered and his breath hitched. "You… what?" He wasn't gonna believe it until he got a full explanation because what the hell please god let this be real holy shit fuck I hope he's not lying.

Cas pulled away a little, and Dean fought the urge to pull him back in close. "You don't have to sound so angry, Dean, I don't expect you to reciprocate the feelings. I know that you are emotionally stunted."

"No, I'm not mad, just… what? I… I don't understand, man, you gotta spell this shit out for me."

Sighing, he rolled his eyes. "I have never felt this strongly about any man I've been with. When I saw that you were here, it was as if everything bad about the afternoon had melted away and all that mattered was the fact that you were physically here and I could hold you and kiss you and be with you. You are the most important person to me, Dean, and I do not know if that's healthy, but it is how it is. I am in love with you."

Twenty thousand different thoughts were zooming around Dean's head. He couldn't quite believe his luck because the world's most perfect guy had apparently fallen in love with him and they'd just had some mind-blowingly good sex and they were cuddling and Dean loved him too and…

"Fuck."

Cas studied him curiously. "Is that a good reaction or a bad one?"

"I love you too, Cas."

It felt weird to admit it to someone else, let alone himself. The words felt strange on his tongue but good to say because it was like his whole world had changed and gotten lighter. The smile on Cas' face alone was worth the weird sensations, and the lazy, slow kisses afterwards were just as amazing.

They drifted off slowly, still tangled together, smiles still on their faces.

Spending time on campus while Cas was in classes made Dean long for college, even though he'd never wanted to go before. He was happy with his GED and his job at Bobby's, and he didn't want to change that, but seeing how the whole college thing worked made him wish he'd had the experience.

Sam had the day off and took Dean out to a coffee shop nearby for breakfast and a talk. He gushed about Jess and law school and life, and Dean teased him about it because he was acting sappy.

"Dude, you pulled a card out of the cheesy rom-com handbook when you showed up here. That was like, teen movie shit right there. Don't even talk to me about sappy."

"Bitch."

"Jerk."

Jess showed up halfway through their conversation, pulling up a chair and kissing Sam's cheek before turning to Dean. "So you're totally in love with Castiel and don't even deny it. I saw that stunt you pulled and goddamn, Dean, if you didn't light up when you saw him."

He absolutely didn't blush.

"See, Sam? Lovesick. Don't worry, Dean, it's actually really freakin' cute and I really want you guys to work out." She placed a hand on his and smiled, and he remembered why he loved his brother's fiancée so much.

"Sam, I dunno why the hell she's with you, but you better not fuck it up between now and the wedding."

Sam bitchfaced, Jess and Dean laughed, and everything was normal in the world.

The forty-five minute drive from Stanford to San Francisco was chaotic as hell inside the Impala. Sam and Jess were dancing and singing along – loudly – to the radio, which Cas had tuned to a showtunes station that was broadcasting rock operas in honor of Rock of Ages. Cas was humming and tapping his feet, and Dean just wanted to rip out his hair because no one should have made a musical out of a shitty wanna-be punk album like American Idiot.

It couldn't have ended quickly enough.

They parked in a garage just down the street from the theatre, Dean being an asshole and taking two spots. "You try rebuilding Baby all by yourself and then let her get dinged," he said when Sam made a comment.

No one else said a word against it.

Adam was waiting outside the theatre's doors, a wide smile on his face when he saw the Winchesters and their dates. "Hey guys, I'm so happy you made it."

Sam and Dean both pulled him into individual, somewhat awkward hugs – they were trying to be more loving and welcoming. They really liked Adam, but it was weird to think of him as a part of their family unit.

"Where's Bobby?" Sam asked, looking around as Jess and Cas both said their hellos. "He make it yet?"

"Yeah, he's just around the corner grabbing some candy for the show. He wasn't too happy when I told him they didn't sell it inside."

He led them in and Jess handed out the tickets she'd tucked in her bag. Bobby joined them in line at the turnstiles, and the doors opened ten minutes after that. Their tickets were scanned by a little old man in a full tux, and he cheerily told them to enjoy the show. Jess patted his hand and thanked him for their group, and Dean noticed Sam watching with his big gooey puppy dog eyes.

It was so ridiculous Dean couldn't even tease him.

Adam showed the usher his ticket and he led them down to the fifth row, pointing to the middle group of seats. "There you go, Mr. Milligan, sir," he said. "If you need anything else, feel free to ask one of us."

"Thanks, man."

"Wait, sir? What the hell kinda people do you know, Adam?" Dean followed him into the row, Bobby, Sam and Jess leading the way. "You better explain."

"So you know how I said there was someone I wanted you to meet? Well, she's kinda the lead role in this. And we're kinda dating."

There was a fair amount of squealing from Jess and congrats all around. The theatre filled as Adam told the story of how they'd met. ("I was filming a short for the Broadway network about the touring cast of Rock of Ages because it was the new blockbuster musical, and I interviewed her and she seemed really cool, so we talked off-camera and kind of just… started dating? I dunno, I asked her out to dinner and we went from there.")

The lights went down and the curtain went up, music blaring from the pit, where there was a full rock band and orchestra. The guitarist was awesome, which Dean was happy about, and then a character onstage starting singing "Cum On Feel the Noize" which led into an intro monologue, followed by the first verse of "Just Like Paradise." He hated to admit it, but the group of voices sounded awesome together, and there were some pretty killer harmonies.

Then it segued into another monologue over the guitar intro of "Nothin' But a Good Time" and as the hot male lead sang, Dean realized he could totally be into this musical.

Cas smirked when he saw Dean tapping his foot, and poked him. Dean looked, saw his expression, and stuck out his tongue before turning back to the stage for the rousing finale of the number.

The next number started with a quiet monologue ("Hey, Kansas!") and a slow piano intro. "Sister Christian."

Adam tapped Dean's arm and motioned at the hot blonde onstage – "Sherri" according to the other characters. "That's her," he mouthed.

"Good job, Adam," Dean replied, because she was beautiful, sexy, and obviously talented if she was the lead.

And her and the hot male lead met onstage and they had chemistry. How the fuck was Adam not jealous as shit?

A few numbers later, and finally the romantic stuff came on. Adam's girlfriend was singing "More than Words" by Extreme, and Dean felt Cas grab his hand, stroking gently with his thumb. Fuck, this was cheesy and so stupid and absolutely perfect.

When it was time for "Here I Go Again," Dean realized how amazingly talented Adam's girlfriend was, because her voice was absolutely beautiful, and she harmonized wonderfully while dancing her ass off, and that took a lot of skill.

Dean was totally in love with the show when it came time for her to be sassy as hell, and he was rocking out to "I Hate Myself for Loving You" – until, of course, it turned into "Heat of the Moment" by Asia, because then he was too busy laughing to pay attention. Sam was bitchfacing at him all the way from his seat – he'd routinely woken up Sam with that song every day for three months, just because Sam hated it more than anything else. He got some looks from the people around him, but he was not expecting Asia.

By the time "Don't Stop Believin'" came on, Dean was emotionally invested beyond all reason with these characters and he refused to be emotional over the finale.

The standing O Dean and Adam started brought the house down. Adam's girlfriend – MacKenzie Dryden, according to the program – was tearing up onstage as she watched Adam walk down the aisle, a large bouquet of red roses in his arms. He handed them to her with a smile, and she blew him a kiss.

"C'mon," he said as he pulled on Dean's hand while the cast was still bowing. "Stage door. She's gonna let us in."

The six of them scurried around the theatre, headed outside, and then down an alley. A grey door swung open and MacKenzie waved them in, motioning for them to move quickly.

Backstage was chaotic, full of people dressed in all-black with headsets, actors trying to get out of their costumes, families of the cast hugging their loved ones. Adam and MacKenzie kissed quickly as she led them backstage to the green room, where she started shedding her clothes.

"Whoa!" Dean said, recoiling. "Want us to leave or something?"

"Dude, I do this for a living. You get used to people seeing you in your undies. It's no biggie. Hi, I'm Kenzie, by the way."

She was chill. Dean could dig her.

"I'm Dean, this is my brother Sam, his girlfriend Jess, my boyfriend Cas, and Bobby," he said, making introductions. "We're Adam's half-brothers."

"Adam told me about you! You're the couple that met in the hospital, right?" She smiled as she stepped out of her jeans and into a pair of plaid sweatpants. Adam handed her a black tank top, which she put on over her bra, and a baggy hoodie that read NYADA on the front. "You guys are just as cute as I pictured."

"I know, right? Absolutely precious," Jess added.

"Okay, enough cooing over me and Cas. Seriously. How about we flail over Kenzie's awesome performance?" She blushed, making Dean smile. "I'm not even a musical person, but dammit, I loved that show."

"It was really incredible, Kenzie."

"I ain't much of a musical guy but I could tell you got some serious talent. You better keep on performin' 'cause you're goin' places."

"We booked dinner," Adam said as he slipped an arm around Kenzie's waist. "There's an amazing restaurant Kenz has been raving about and I've wanted to try it. There's a booking for seven, my treat."

Adam started to really become a part of the Winchester family unit, MacKenzie won everyone over with her charm and stories from the stage, and Cas and Dean didn't stop touching – hands, knees, arms – the whole night, until Jess made Dean confess that he was in love to the whole table. (MacKenzie bought him and Cas a huge slice of cheesecake. They didn't complain.)

And so another chapter in the wacky life of Dean Winchester closed, but a whole new book opened, because Cas was in love with him, he was in love with Cas, and that led to a whole plethora of possibilities.

Starting with an apartment together in Sioux Falls.