The large house was almost completely silent, save for the low hum of the TV- which was only on for background noise as an attractive brown haired woman sat cross legged on the sofa, a jar of red nail polish resting on the coffee table as she expertly began doing her nails. She might not have done it in a while (more time than she really would like to admit) but it seems to be one of those things one never forgets how to do. She smiled proudly at the almost-perfect looking nails.

Her phone rang and for a moment, she debated on letting it go to voice mail so she could have time to finish her nails. She'd been hoping to be done by now, seeing as how she wasn't even dressed yet and was still residing in a pair of blue silk pajama's that had always been her favorite pair.

But when she caught sight of her mothers name on the caller ID she decided against it. Her mother hadn't called in a few weeks, and honestly she was up for a talk. She answered with a smile. "Hey mom."

She placed the phone between her shoulder and her cheek because she was running low on time if she was going to go at the time she'd been hoping to. She shook her still-wet hand in attempt to speed up the drying process.

"It's been a while." Her mother replied, and Lisa could hear the smile in her voice. Her mother always had been quite cheerful, even when the situation didn't call for it. "I was wondering how you've been."

"I'm good. I'm actually heading out here in a little bit. Ben's over at his friend's house for the night." Lisa replied, somewhat distractedly as she began on the other hand. It felt like a nice treat, doing her nails like this.

"Oh? Where is Dean taking you?" Her mother asked, and boy if that didn't feel like a punch in the face. Slowly, Lisa set down the nail polish, her happy mood diminishing for a moment.

"Uh. Nowhere mom. Me and Dean… aren't together anymore." She said slowly, being careful over her words- as if the wrong word would land her in hot water. Which, it probably would.

"You and him broke up? Oh sweetie, what happened?" She asked, her voice dripping with sympathy. Lisa's dark eyes trained themselves to the TV as she decided on the truth.

"Lets just say Dean's got a few hickies on his neck that weren't from me." Lisa replied with a soft snort at how bold the sentence sounded even to her.

Her mother tsked softly, like she was about to begin scolding Lisa like she'd done when she was young. "Your father told me that boy was no good. Always flirting with the ladies…"

That, earned a soft laugh from Lisa, unable to hide it. "Yeah well, the funny thing about it is that the hickies most definitely did not come from a pretty girl."

"Wait… what?" Her mother asked, confusion in her tone.

"Dean's been meeting a pretty little thing, but it isn't a girl…"

Three Weeks Earlier

Dean grinned as he walked into the gym. It wasn't his first time there. Not even close. He wasn't one of those people who just stopped by the gym once a year to tell people they went to the gym. He came as often as his time schedule allowed. Mostly because whenever he went there, all of the problems on his mind were washed away with sweat, and often times blood if he decided to try his hand at boxing.

The gym owner, a British dude who was somewhat of an asshole flashes him a grin that Dean had the unrealistic urge to wipe of his face, and the guy hadn't even said anything yet. Whatever. Despite the annoying owner, the gym was perfect, and it was his favorite place to be. He walked past the owner without a word, easily beginning his normal workout- starting with the bench press.

He'd barely gotten through them when a familiar face walked over to him, a bright grin on his face. Gabriel was another problem in the gym, but much less of one than the owner, who he'd un-affectionately dubbed the king of hell. He was annoying, and seemed to never have outgrown his pranking phase that most people got as teenagers.

"Hey Dean-o." He said in his usual cheerful tone.

"What do you want?" Dean asked flatly, because the last time he humored Gabriel he ended up with the clothes in his gym bag being replaced with a tutu and thong. And like hell was he going through that again. He'd had to wear his sweaty gym clothes home.

Gabriel held his hands up in surrender. "Whoa whoa, calm down. I was just going to ask you a favor." He replied, and his voice sounded so innocent Dean almost believed it.

"What?" He asked hesitantly.

"My younger brother's in town for a while, I wanted to see if you'd box with him. He's actually decent, thought you might like an opponent that you didn't beat in three seconds." Gabriel replied smugly.

"And why is that a favor to you?" Dean asked, although he had to admit his interest was peaked.

"I bet Crowley twenty bucks Cassie would win." Gabriel admitted after a moment, and Dean grinned. Cassie? Wasn't that a girl's name, he almost asked, but didn't.

"Anything to make you lose a bet." Dean replied, getting up and walking to the decent-sized boxing ring that was set up in the corner, much to Gabriel's delight.

A small looking boy, who Dean presumed to be "Cassie", was sitting against the ropes, already awaiting his opponent. Dean nearly laughed. The boy- well probably man, but he had such a baby face it was hard to tell- was a lot smaller than Dean was. He was fit, but at the same time he was lean, where Dean had muscle. So much for Gabriel's bet. But at least he really was a guy.

When dark haired male saw him, he took a step forward slowly. When Dean was close enough, he saw that his eyes were a shade of blue Dean had never seen before, and he blinked in surprise when he noticed how pretty they were. Wow, weird thought. Cas gave him a slightly shy smile, his pink lips curving upwards.

"You are Dean?" He asked softly, and Dean didn't miss the slightly odd way of talking Castiel had. It sounded too formal on his lips. To each their own, he guessed.

"In the flesh." He replied. "And you're Cassie?" He asked in amusement, raising an eyebrow.

Cas tilted his head to the side in odd confusion before looking back at Gabriel. "My name is Castiel, please don't call me Cassie." He replied, nearly cringing. There was that formal talk again.

"So, Cas, Gabriel tells me he thinks you can beat me?" Dean asked, his voice light and a playful smile on his face. He didn't really take this too seriously. Especially not when the person he was up against was like half his size.

At the sound of the word Cas, Castiel gave a funny look, as if surprised by the nickname. But he seemed to let it go, probably deciding it was better than Cassie, and nodded.

The match was actually a lot closer than Dean had thought it would be. Castiel might not have matched up when it came to strength, but he was a lot faster than Dean, and managed to avoid most of the hits he tried to land on the smaller male. Dean still won, earning him a small pout from Gabriel and a laugh from Castiel, along with a promise to do it again sometime.

He honestly didn't know why he was so excited.

Lisa heard the shocked tone of her mother's voice ringing in her ear. "Do you mean Dean is gay?" She asked in disbelief. Lisa couldn't blame her for that one, she'd been pretty shocked too.

"Well I mean, he's been supposedly straight for 23 years, and it's no secret he loves girls. So I'm guessing he's bisexual or something along those lines." She laughed softly.

"How are you so sure? I mean, meeting someone at a gym hardly sounds like secret love confession." Her mother pointed out, and Lisa couldn't help but agree.

And she's right. Assuming that he's screwing everyone he talks to would make her sound like she was absolutely insane. She'd never been the jealous type. She was confident in herself, she knew she looked good. She knew a man would be lucky to have her. But with Castiel. She didn't know. But she saw something between them. Sometimes it's not what they particularly do (although it is that sometimes too), it's the way they look at each other. Like a princess meeting her prince…

Two Weeks Earlier

"Dude, it's been a while." Dean smiled at his new-found friend, sitting across from him at the coffee shop they agreed to meet at. Castiel gave him a bemused look.

"We saw each other yesterday, Dean." He replied, lifting the mug to his lips, which were producing a ghost of a smile as he took a drink. Dean didn't know why he stared at them for so long. He really didn't!

"Yeah, well that's a while." The taller of the two replied with a small smile, wondering why his face was suddenly painted red. He needed to stop that immediately.

"I suppose so." Castiel replied slowly, although he still looked like he was on the verge of laughing.

"So, what's up? How have you been liking the visit?" Dean asked.

"Interesting. I haven't talked to my brothers much, and until recently I thought they wanted nothing to do with me. So it's nice to know I still have family that will talk to me." Castiel admitted slowly.

Dean wanted to ask. He really did. He wanted to know what made Castiel think that his family no longer wanted him around. Because whatever the reason, he was sure he would want to punch Cas's family for even trying to get rid of someone like him. I mean, could they not see how amazing he was? Dean barely knew him and knew he was perfect… or well… pretty close. But he kept his mouth shut on the matter, not wanting to push any boundaries Castiel didn't want to answer.

"Does that mean you're going to be staying for a bit longer?" He found himself asking hopefully. He didn't like the sound of Castiel running off and leaving so soon.

"I actually think I might be staying for a while." He smiled softly. "I've been looking at apartments around here."

"You're just going to up and move?" Dean asked in surprise. Not to get him wrong, he loved the idea of Castiel moving down here. There was something about him Dean couldn't place, but really liked about his new companion. He was just shocked.

"Well I don't have anything keeping me where I was. And living in this town has serious perks." He replied with a slight shrug to suggest it was no big deal.

"Yeah, living near family is always good. And there are more jobs than we can handle." Dean reasoned, happy at the thought more than he probably should be.

"Yeah, there's that. And there's the fact that there's an extremely attractive person living here I seem to have my eyes on." Castiel replied, calmly despite the words.

Dean definitely didn't feel his heart ache at the words. Most certainly did not. Because that would be bad of him. Cas was a grown up. It was normal for him to want to date. Dean had Lisa, why couldn't Cas find someone nice. Why was he even thinking about this? Dean shook his head slightly, trying to rid himself of the nasty thoughts. Of course Cas could date. It'd be good for him.

"Hope it works out for you." He managed, a smile on his face as his mind raced in worry. The question as to why he cared so much, was beginning to bug him.

They fell into a silence after that. Not an awkward one, one of peace and contentment as Dean watched Castiel stare out the window to the Autumn leaves that were just beginning to turn red and orange. Soon, they would be falling from their homes and people would be raking them, their children most likely destroying their work by jumping into it. But all in the name of fun.

"You know, I'm not a particular fan of coffee." Castiel admitted softly after a few moments, a small smile on his face as if he'd just accidentally admitted the secret to life.

"Then why did you agree to come to coffee with me?" Dean asked with a laugh.

"Because I assumed you would be disappointed if I didn't come." He replied, and it wasn't entirely wrong. He paused before adding in a much more hesitant-seeming tone. "And because I wanted to see you."

And Dean would be damned if he said that didn't make his heart flip, not that he would ever admit it.

Before Lisa knew it, it was three am. Too late to go out now, she realized. But she didn't really mind. Her mother was practically on the edge of her seat on the other line, and Lisa was almost sure she heard the sound of popcorn on the other line. It was like a story night, apparently. She laughed softly to herself.

"Well don't leave me in suspense, what happened?" Her mother asked when she realized her daughter had stopped speaking. How this had gone from a comforting conversation to a movie Lisa would never know. "Did your boy-toy tell him?"

"Well, lets just say right now, I'm at home and he's not." She replied softly, although her tone betrayed no hurt.

She didn't mind, she really hadn't thought her relationship with Dean would work out. She wasn't foolish. And she was sure he'd still be over for Ben's sake… so in reality there was no harm done. It wasn't like he left her at the alter, or married her for ten years before discovering his love for their pool boy. Because that would be messed up and unforgivable. But in this case, Lisa was more troubled by the fact she wasn't asked to join.

Present

Dean grinned softly to himself, helping Cas unpack boxes. It was late. So late that it was now technically considered early. But neither of them were tired yet so they continued. Cas had been wary of his help at first, not wanting to rope him into it (although Dean had pointed out that there was a chance it was going to be their shared apartment eventually, so it was his job to help. Cas hadn't seemed to agree) but Dean was actually having fun. It seemed like every box they opened Dean figured out another piece of the puzzle that was Castiel Novak. From little trinkets that apparently were in the family for years, to little tea cups he'd gotten while on vacation. Each had a story, and he wanted to hear them all. Cas seemed happy enough to tell them, and while it might make unpacking much slower, it was worth it.

Dean wasn't surprised when a smaller body landed on his lap, curling into him for warmth. It wasn't particularly cold inside the apartment, but Castiel always complained of being cold. In reality, he just wanted an excuse for Dean to hold him, not that Dean would admit he knew that. It would injure his pride to admit he liked cuddling- which he totally didn't like doing at all. It was all Cas, and Dean was just trying to be a caring new boyfriend.

"Dean Winchester, I bet you're the talk of the town right now." Castiel laughed after a few moments of silence, and Dean glanced down to see a pair of bright blue eyes looking up at him. "Mr. Straight-As-An-Arrow leaving his girlfriend for the new guy in town."

Dean chuckled, nodding in agreement. He was sure people were having a field day on that topic. "Yeah, they'll get over it eventually. Someone will do something else, and they'll forget all about it."

Castiel nodded. "Hey… Dean?" He asked, his voice soft and his eyebrows furrowing the way they usually did when he was thinking hard on something. "Do you think this will last between us?"

Dean paused, trying to think of a good answer. "Maybe. If it's supposed to, then hell yeah. But if not, at least we'll be able to make some pretty good memories along the way."

And for now, that seemed to be the perfect response.