A/N: My fic for the Supernatural Monthly Fic Exchange in April
It was the first day of April and a fresh start for Castiel Novak. He had recently graduated college and found the courage to leave home, leaving behind all of his siblings except for his pain-in-the-ass older brother Gabriel, and moved to Lawrence, Kansas to become a veterinarian. It had always been his life dream to work with animals and be away from his judgmental family, who hated him ever since the day that he came out as gay, and now he was finally living his dream. It felt amazing.
In the few weeks that Castiel had been working at the clinic, he had noticed that there were a few regulars. Everyone in Lawrence was absolutely lovely to him so far, and their animals had been a joy to work with. Castiel noticed an influx of baby animals, which made him smile. It seems that the whole world was having a fresh start right along with Castiel. It was the happiest he had felt in a while.
"Sprinkles looks fine, Mrs. Jones," Castiel followed the older woman down the hallway to walk her out. Mrs. Jones was a wonderful woman, though she could be a little paranoid that her cat, Sprinkles, was sick. "I think it was just a little bit of an overreaction."
"Better safe than sorry, Dr. Novak, that's what I always say," Mrs. Jones replied. Castiel smiled at her, she really was a sweetheart, before stopping at the waiting room.
"That's very true. Have a lovely day, Mrs. Jones!" Castiel watched the elderly woman as she walked out before looking back down at his clipboard. He crossed off Mrs. Jones' name before scanning the rest of them for his next client. It was a name that he had never seen before, and he called out hesitantly to the room, "Winchester?"
Suddenly, a man a little older than Castiel stood up. He was absolutely gorgeous, with brilliant blond hair and eyes that seemed like they could pierce Castiel's soul. For the first time since he had moved to Lawrence, Castiel felt his heard physically flip in his chest. The man smiled, grabbing a small dog from the ground before flashing Castiel a brilliant smile, "That would be me."
Castiel smiled back tentatively, relaxing a bit at the sight of the dog. It was perhaps one of the cutest dogs he had ever seen in his life, a young Labrador with yellow fur that was clinging onto Dean like a lifeline. "Right this way, Mr. Winchester," Castiel said once he had regained the ability to speak.
Mr. Winchester followed Castiel down the short hallway wordlessly, for which Castiel was thankful. Though he was usually fairly good at small talk, he found now that no words were coming to his mouth. He pushed open the door, letting Mr. Winchester through with the dog first. Castiel stepped inside after him, closing the door behind the two of them.
Castiel smiled at the puppy when Mr. Winchester put it on the floor, crouching down so the dog could get to know him. "What's this little guy's name?" Castiel asked, looking up at the man. He could have sworn he saw Mr. Winchester checking him out, but didn't say anything.
"Pastel." He answered with a smile. "I didn't name him. My younger brother bought him for me and said he already had a name."
"Pastel's a cute name," Castiel said, standing up to face the man again. "I'm Dr. Novak by the way. I'm one of the primary veterinarians at this animal hospital."
The man smiled at that, holding out his hand, which Castiel shook. "I'm Dean," he said. There was a moment of silence between the two of them before Dean cleared his throat. Right, Castiel thought, looking back down at Pastel, who was staring at his owner with wide eyes, this is business.
"So what brings you and Pastel here today?" Castiel asked, motioning over to a chair in the corner for Dean to take a seat. Dean took the hint, sitting in the chair.
"He's never been to a vet before and I just wanted to make sure he wasn't sick or nothin'." Dean answered. Castiel picked up the puppy, putting him on the table. Thankfully, Pastel was cooperative and the exam went by rather quickly, without Castiel having to say anything to the pet's owner.
"Well, Pastel seems like a happy, heathy little guy," Castiel said. Dean smiled at the news, standing up to hook a leash back onto the collar Pastel had. Castiel noticed with a smile that both were a pastel blue. "I would just go to the front and have Joanna schedule an appointment for him to get his shots before you take him to a dog park. But other than that, you're free to go."
"When I schedule Pastel for his shots, can I request you again?" Dean asked. Castiel raised an eyebrow at the request, because no one had ever asked him that before, before slowly nodding.
"I suppose you could," Castiel said, "Though there are a lo-"
"See you then, Dr. Novak," Dean said with a smirk, walking Pastel out of the room. Castiel quickly shut the door behind the man and his dog, leaning against it. He took in a deep breath, trying to clear his thoughts, but only one thing remained on his mind for the rest of the day. Dean Winchester.
By some sheer work of God, Castiel got deathly sick the day that Dean scheduled for Pastel to get his shots, and he had Samandriel take his shift. He trusted Samandriel, a student veterinarian, more than half of the well qualified doctors in that office, and he knew that the student would be nice to Dean. For some reason, he cared about that.
Castiel was on a lunch break on the first day back to work after his mysterious illness had passed when Samandriel slid into the room. "Dr. Novak," The twenty year old said, a blush on his cheeks that never seemed to go away. "I'm sure this probably isn't very professional, but Mr. Winchester wanted to tell you that he wishes you get better soon."
Castiel couldn't help the smile that spread across his cheek from that. "Thank you, Samandriel," He thanked the student, a blush spreading across his cheeks as Samandriel walked out, closing the door behind him.
Dean had been thinking about him.
"How's Pastel been?" Castiel asked when he next had Dean and the young Labrador in his office. Pastel had gotten more and more comfortable with seeing Castiel, and he was easily one of the most cooperative animals Castiel had worked with during his time in the clinic. It was one of the many reasons why he enjoyed seeing the dog.
The other reason, Dean, smiled at his dog before replying, "I'm just a little concerned. He hasn't been eating as much and he seems a little down. He's also had a little bit of a runny nose. I thought I would just check up on him."
"Better safe than sorry," Castiel said, petting the dog slightly. It was true, he didn't energetically pick his head up like he usually did whenever Castiel touched him, "I just want to perform a blood test on him."
"Alright," Dean said, picking up the dog and putting him on the table. One of Castiel's least favorite parts of working with animals was seeing them sick and in pain. He picked up a needle from a bin, disinfecting it with a wipe before walking over to the dog. He pet Pastel's head a little before slowly pinching the needle into his skin, wincing at the way the animal softly whined in pain.
Once he had collected enough blood, the took a small paper towel, holding it to the wound, "Keep this here until he stops bleeding," He informed Dean, who placed his hand over Castiel's in order to hold the paper towel. Castiel's heart leapt at the contact. "I'll be right back. I just have to run a test on his blood."
Castiel walked out of the room, closing the door behind him before walking over to another room. It contained a machine for running blood samples on, which was actually quite high-tech and genius in Castiel's mind, and he put the tube in it, turning it on. He wouldn't have to do anything but check on it in five minutes, but he didn't exactly want to go back to Dean. The sexual tension between the two of them was palpable.
"So," Jo said from the doorway. "What's the deal with you and Mr. Winchester?"
Castiel jumped when she spoke. He hadn't been aware that anyone had been in the room with him. "The relationship between Mr. Winchester and me is strictly professional," He said, turning his attention to the machine in front of him so that Jo couldn't see the way that he blushed when he said Dean's name.
"Sure it is," Jo commented, sitting next to Castiel on the small bench in front of the machine, "Is that why when you said his name you blushed like I was talking about the guy you took home last night?"
"I didn't take a guy home last night," Castiel said quietly, his face flushing a deeper shade of red at the thought of what he would do if he got to take Dean home. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
"It's a figure of speech, Castiel," Jo said, drawing out her co-worker's name teasingly. "Look, all I'm saying is that if you have a thing for Dean, you should go for it. I mean, he's obviously into you."
"You don't know that," Castiel said, though he knew his expression was too woeful for Jo not to pick up on the disappointment in his voice.
"I-"
Thankfully, the machine gave a loud beep, cutting off Jo before she could even get her sentence out. Castiel stood up and looked the results over before sighing softly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go tell Mr. Winchester that his puppy has the flu."
"The flu?" Dean asked when Castiel walked into the room, clipboard in hand. Dean was sitting on the table next to Pastel, petting the sleeping dog in a comforting manner, "Is he going to be okay?"
"He should be," Castiel answered, sitting on the other side of Pastel. "We just want to keep him here for overnight testing, just to make sure he doesn't get worse. You could pick him up in the morning."
"And would you be staying with him, Dr. Novak?" Castiel went to answer no, he didn't watch dogs overnight, they had college kids that did that, but the way that Dean looked up at him, so hopefully, like Castiel was the only one in the world that he would trust with his dog-
"Yes." Castiel answered, smiling at the way Dean's eyes lit up at the news, "I'll make sure nothing happens, and if anything does, we'll call you right away."
They didn't pay those college students enough. Even though he had downed about five different cups of coffee within the past twenty minutes, Castiel still felt the inexplicable need to climb into a cage, which was cushioned, unlike the chair he was sitting on, and taking a nap next to one of the animals they had in overnight watch.
Castiel jumped at the knock on the door. It was four in the morning and the earliest shift started at seven, so he had no idea who could possibly be at the clinic that early. He checked all of the cages to make sure they were locked and the animals would be okay if he stepped away for a minute before slowly and quietly exiting the room, walking down the dark hallway quietly.
Dean Winchester stood behind the glass door, wearing a black sweatshirt and a pair of loose sweats. He had his hands in his pockets, though he took one out to wave at Castiel. Castiel sighed instinctively at the sight of him, pushing open the door to let him in.
Dean stepped in and was silent for a minute, letting Castiel speak, "What are you doing here? It's four in the morning."
"So," Dean said, his voice still rough with sleep, "I know this probably isn't allowed, but I just really wanted to see Pastel. Do you think I could just sit with you? I promise I won't interrupt your work or anything."
Castiel chuckled slightly, "Really, all I was doing was drinking coffee and trying not to fall asleep." He looked down at his feet and then back down the hall, his eyes stopping on the room where all the overnight animals were. His boss would kill him if he let Dean stay there without reason, "Really, I'm not allo-"
"Please?" Dean asked, and the way he said it, so soft and broken in way that Castiel had never heard before was enough to break the veterinarian's resolve, "I just really want to see my dog."
"Alright," Castiel sighed, leading Dean down the hallway. "You just have to be quiet." He led Dean to the room, stepping inside quietly. He motioned over to the cage where Pastel was and let Dean sit on the floor in front of his dog. Thankfully, Dean didn't try to rouse the sleeping animal, and instead just watched him with a small smile.
Castiel sat next to the man, "Your girlfriend doesn't mind that you left home to be with a veterinarian at four in the morning?" He asked quietly.
Dean chuckled softly, not looking away from the cage. "If I had one, I'm sure she would." He looked back at Castiel for a second, scooting so that they were in line with each other. "What about you? Your wife cranky about you working the night shift?"
"Thankfully, I'm blissfully single," Castiel replied. Dean hummed softly, turning back to his dog. They watched the animals for a few moments in a comfortable silence, and Castiel had almost fallen asleep before Dean mused, "Dr. Novak? Could I ask you something?"
"Sure," Castiel replied, but instead of speaking again, Dean just slowly moved towards Castiel until they were no more than an inch apart. Dean's eyes flicked down to Castiel's lips before he closed the space between them, pressing his lips to the veterinarian's. Castiel stilled in shock for a moment before melting against Dean. He hadn't been kissed in so long but somehow, Dean's lips pressed against his at four in the morning, felt right.
"Do you think I could stay the night?" Dean asked against Castiel's lips.
Castiel's eyes flickered open and he wrapped an arm around the man's waist slowly, "If you keep doing that, I have no objections to you staying."
Castiel almost missed Dean's chuckle as he connected their lips again.