A/N: I love Destiel, and I love Destiel AUs. I feel like I'm constantly writing them. Here's one of the many I've got tucked away in a folder for all my ridiculous fanfics. If anyone's interested in me continuing this, please let me know! I write them anyway, but it's nice to get some feedback. ;D
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.
"5:56. Really? That's it?" Castiel Novak muttered to himself, looking up at the clock for the twelfth time in the past five minutes.
The conclusion Castiel was forced to come to was that there were dark forces in play here and someone was slowing down time. What other explanation could there be, really? 6:00am seemed to come more slowly each day.
"Would you calm down? Dude, stop watching the clock. You don't get off for another two hours, anyway," Castiel's coworker and best friend, Gabriel, said with a shake of his head, unwrapping a Jolly Rancher and popping it into his mouth.
"Shut up," Castiel muttered, shooting him a dirty look. He was not on good terms with him at the moment; Gabriel had thought it would be funny to loosen the cap on the creamer so when Castiel tried to pour some into a customer's coffee, it fell off and poured all over his clothes.
"I said sorry, Cassie. What more do you want?" Gabriel asked with a snarky grin.
"Shove it."
The bell over the door rang, and in that instant Castiel was enormously grateful to Gabriel, because arguing with him had made the time pass more quickly, and it was 6:00. Immediately losing all interest in his conversation with his so-called friend, Castiel eagerly stepped up to the counter and greeted the customer he'd been waiting for. "Hi, what can I get for you?" He asked with a bright smile.
The man's surly demeanor softened a little at Castiel's greeting and he gave a small smile in return. "Black eye, vente."
Castiel had started brewing the drink before the man had even finished speaking; every day, at 6:00am on the dot, the man came into the coffee shop where Castiel worked and ordered the same drink. It had been going on for nearly a month now, ever since Castiel got switched from the night shift to this god-awful morning shift. It had been horrible at first, but this man had quickly made work something to look forward to.
"Hey, don't I know you?" Gabriel spoke up, startling Castiel. He glanced over at the man, whose brow was now furrowed in confusion. "Yeah, you're Sam's brother, right? Dean?"
Dean's gorgeous green eyes narrowed. "How do you know Sammy?"
"We're in a couple of classes together at school. I've seen you come pick him up before," Gabriel explained.
Visibly relaxing, Dean asked, "You studying to be a lawyer, too?"
Castiel snorted at the thought of Gabriel practicing law and it earned him a glare and a swat on the back of the head. "Nah, I'm majoring in business."
"He plans to open his own clown college," Castiel supplied, laughing even as he received another swat. He sat Dean's coffee on the counter in front of him and said with another smile, "Have a nice day." Dean tried to hand him a five, but like every other morning, Castiel shook his head and said "On the house."
And like every other morning, Dean hesitated before finally smiling back. "Thanks," he said, taking his coffee and heading out the door.
Castiel waited until Dean left to open the drawer and put in the cash to pay for Dean's coffee, having forgotten Gabriel was standing there until the man whistled. "So that's why you were watching the clock. I can see why; the man's gorgeous."
"Shut. Up." Castiel ground out through gritted teeth, turning bright red as he counted out exact change.
"Hey, Cassie, let me help you out. I'll ask Sam about him. I have classes with him today."
"Don't you dare," Castiel hissed, spinning toward Gabriel with fire in his eyes. "I will never forgive you."
Unfazed, Gabriel grinned and unwrapped another piece of candy. "Wanna know what Sam's already told me?"
Castiel said nothing, only glared at Gabriel as his face turned redder. Gabriel shrugged and said, "I'll tell you anyway. Sam says their mom passed away when they were very young, and their dad worked away from home, so Dean's been taking care of him for a long time. Their dad died a couple years ago, too, while Sam was still in high school. Dean works as a mechanic, and Sam says he works his ass off to pay for Sam's schooling. Won't let Sam get a job, though; wants him to focus completely on school. I guess he works 12-hour shifts every day."
"You know quite a bit about Sam's family. You guys spend a lot of time talking?" Castiel asked, smirking.
Gabriel grinned back. "Yeah, I like him. He's gorgeous and a total sweetheart. Not to mention brilliant."
"Sucks for you, then. A smart guy would never fall for a dumbass like you." Castiel thought receiving his third smack of the day had been well worth it.
"Whatever, man," Gabriel muttered, untying his apron. "I need to get home and get ready for classes." He winked, his cheerful attitude returning quickly. "First class of the day with Sam, gotta look my best, y'know."
Castiel chuckled and waved as his friend left the store, the bell tinkling as he did so. It was going to be a long shift.
It was finally 10, and Castiel had never been more grateful in his life that his shift was over. He liked working, he really did, but today he could think of nothing but Dean. Dean. What a fitting name for the broad-shouldered, tough-looking, uber-masculine guy. That wasn't usually Castiel's type; in fact, it had never been his type, but there was something about Dean that made his heart stutter in his chest.
Lost in these thoughts, Castiel almost ran smack into the very man he'd been daydreaming about. "Dean?" Castiel said, surprised. "What are you doing here?" His face flushed immediately and he looked down at the ground.
"Hi, uh, Castiel, right?" Dean said softly, looking for confirmation. At Castiel's nod, Dean said, "So I got a text from my brother a little bit ago."
"Oh?" Castiel managed to force out, his heart pounding in his chest. He was going to murder Gabriel.
"Hnn…yeah." Shifting uncomfortably on his feet, Dean continued. "Sammy says your buddy told him you've got a thing for me."
Blood was just going to start pouring out his ears at any second. "Uh, well…"
Dean shook his head, as if realizing that was an incredibly embarrassing statement and he was excusing Castiel from responding. "I, um…I never realized you were gay. I'm straight," Dean said, confirming what Castiel had already known – and yet it still disappointed him. "I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea from me letting you pay for my coffee in the mornings. I honestly didn't know…" He trailed off.
A genuine smile spread over Castiel's face. "Don't worry about it, Dean. I wasn't paying for your coffee because I want to get in your pants. I just…like you," Castiel shrugged, finding it easier than he'd expected to say it out loud. "You seem like a nice guy, and I wanted to do something nice for you. I hope that's okay, and I hope knowing about my little crush won't keep you from coming back in the mornings."
Dean smiled back, a nice, wide smile, one Castiel had never seen on his face before, and he couldn't stop his heart from fluttering. "I'd really like to do something nice for you, too, Cas. Let me take you out for lunch to make it up to you?"
Biting his lip, Castiel cursed his life and his bad luck. "I would love to, but I can't. I have a meeting at 11. Maybe some other time?" Castiel asked hopefully.
"Oh," Dean said, looking a little disappointed. "Well here." Dean grabbed a piece of scrap paper from his left pocket and a tiny, grubby pencil from the right. He scribbled something down and then passed it to Castiel. "That's my number. Text me and we can figure out another time then, yeah?"
Nodding eagerly, Castiel said, "Yeah, that sounds great!"
"Awesome. I should get back to work now, I guess. See you tomorrow, Cas," Dean called as he walked away.
"See you!" Castiel yelled back; he clutched the paper in his hands tightly and smiled – it was going to be a great day.
As he walked to his car, Castiel pulled out his cell phone and first typed a quick text to Gabriel: "I hate you. Burn in hell." But to be honest, Castiel wasn't mad about Gabriel telling – something the annoying twit he'd been friends with since nearly birth would already know. The opportunity to get lunch with Dean as friends was much more appealing than yearning for something he couldn't have from across the counter at the coffee shop.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed 3