Author's Note: EARLY UPDATE, WHOO. I'm going out tomorrow (oh wow, what a first...), hence why it's a day early. So, okay. Wow. You guys are so amazing! So much support... *cries* I hadn't expected such a positive response, especially from just the first chapter! I guess everyone here just loves Destiel. :P

So a special thanks to these lovely people who reviewed: Chrissy, tii-chan17, bani86, liife2uck2, more-profound-bond, TimeLordsCompanion and missiontothestars. Also, big thanks to everyone who favourited/followed.

So yeah. I'll update again at some point in the next week, and I hope you guys all review this chapter too! It honestly really made my day, and I was in a constant state of, 'SQUEEE!'

~Rainbow Fruit Loop xx


~Praying for Redemption~
Chapter Two.

Though he didn't want to appear too enthusiastic at the thought of looking around a stranger's apartment, Cas made sure that he was ten minutes early to his meeting with Dean. He'd never liked being late to anything, but that was probably only because he didn't like all the attention that being tardy brought with it.

Cas didn't feel the desperate urge to own a car - why would he? He never left Lawrence - much less Kansas, as tragic as that was - and everything that he needed - milk, toothpaste, toilet paper, and caffeine - were all within walking distance from his apartment. So he didn't feel that he could justify spending money he didn't really have on a car, which had meant that he had ended up having to walk the four, painfully long miles required to reach Dean's apartment. And, as someone who participated in as little exercise as himself, it had not been a particularly easy or enjoyable walk.

And so now a tired, sore-limbed Cas was waiting outside of the apartment complex Dean had told him to wait at, his stomach tense and heavy in his anxiousness. He was trying to keep his breathing unwaveringly steady; he didn't think that hyperventilating as a result of his social ineptness would be a good way to meet Dean.

Sometimes Cas wondered whether he would ever be comfortable around people he didn't know. He hated how inadequate he often felt; shy and pathetic and weak. He sometimes wished that he held that undeniably bright spark of self-confidence that so few people had; brilliant and vivid and colourful.

But he didn't, and he hated that about himself. He would describe himself as dull, repetitive and monotonous; coloured in all different shades of the same dismal, dreary grey. It didn't matter how much he wished to be able to smile, because he just couldn't.

Cas sighed to himself in the cool air, pulled his grubby coat tighter across his chest, and cursed himself for not bringing a scarf, or at least something a little warmer than his present attire. It was a cold evening - not exactly surprising in the middle of winter, but he had been too nervous about his meeting with Dean to think about bringing a thicker, warmer jacket.

On the subject of his possible-new-roommate, where was Dean? After checking the time on his phone, Cas did have to admit that Dean wasn't due to meet him for another seven and a half minutes, but the oh-so familiar clutches of panic had taken hold of him.

What if he was waiting outside of the wrong apartment? What if he had misheard the address? What if Dean didn't really want to meet him, and had raced home from work early to hide in his apartment? Was he watching Cas from one of his windows, entertained by his obviously uneasy movements?

Though he knew he was being paranoid, Cas glanced upwards at the forward-facing windows of the apartment complex and scanned the windows, looking for an amused face. When he found none, he exhaled sharply, and dropped his eyes to instead scan the streets.

While he waited, Cas found his mind drifting. What would he do if he genuinely liked the apartment? Perhaps he would find a soft comfort in its presumably cosy warmth, a safe haven in living with another human soul? Perhaps he would, despite his undying and completely unprovoked abhorrence of people, come to actually like this Dean Winchester - though, surely he couldn't really believe that. But… Well, here he was, waiting outside a stranger's apartment, and that had to be a sign of something, right?

As he scanned the roads with half-attentive eyes, Cas noticed a car crawling up the road, slowing down to pull to the side. Now, he wasn't an expert on cars, not by a long shot, but even Cas had to admit that it was absolutely beautiful. He'd never be able to state the year or model, but it was sleek and black and obviously well loved.

After a few more seconds of what he hoped looked like casual observing, Cas averted his eyes from the glossy black car, because the remarkably handsome man who had been driving it was getting out, and Cas didn't want to accidentally make the oh-so dreaded eye contact.

For want of something to do, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time again; five twenty six. Four minutes. He pushed the phone back into his trench coat's pocket, and rocked lightly on the balls of his feet, feigning a relaxed attitude.

And then, suddenly, there was a firm, yet slightly hesitant hand on his shoulder, and Cas automatically shied away from the touch; flinching back in a way that was sure to offend the perpetrator. The hand withdrew hastily, and Cas turned to find himself locking eyes - and, damn, he had so hoped to avoid doing that - with the decidedly attractive man with the nice car.

Cas's initial thoughts were ones of panic - did he see me looking at his car? Does he want something from me? Do I come across as being a threatening person? He couldn't see any reason for this man to approach him, and so his mind automatically feared the worst.

But then the man smiled brightly, his breathtaking eyes going all crinkly at the edges, and asked, "Castiel?". Cas let out a slightly shaky breath, and found himself relaxing in a way that he rarely did in front of other people.

"Yes. Dean, I presume?" Cas asked, staring intently at the man in front of him. His scrutinizing ways often made people uncomfortable, but Dean just smiled a little more.

"Yeah. Hi, Castiel. Sorry if I'm late, there was a small crisis before I left work." he explained, stepping forwards and gesturing for Cas to follow him. "But I left my best man in charge, so hopefully everything should be okay."

Cas was silent as he followed the stranger into the main apartment complex, noticing briefly that everything seemed clean, warm and, well, expensive. He followed Dean towards the stairs and - noticing that Dean forwent the elevator - started the probably arduous climb.

Remembering his basic etiquette - he supposed he wanted to make a good first impression, if he really was serious about living with this man - Cas asked, "Where do you work?"

Dean turned his head around to flash Cas an acknowledging smile, before turning back to focus on the stairs. "I run a mechanics a few blocks away."

Cas nodded quietly to himself, filing the information away in his head under where the hazy title 'Dean Winchester' was forming.

"And you?" Dean asked, coming to a halt on the seventh floor. He pulled a key chain out of his pocket, and walked down the length of the corridor, jingling the keys as he did so.

Cas followed him, and wondered momentarily how 'I'm unemployed' would come across to someone who would be expecting four hundred and fifty dollars a month from him.

"I am currently unemployed," Cas started, not wanting their relationship to be built on lies. "But I used to work as a photographer's assistant."

"You interested in photography?" Dean asked, stopping outside of door number sixty six. He paused to give Cas his full attention - something Cas wasn't used to, outside of his treatment at the stupid therapy sessions he was forced to attend.

Cas gave a minute shrug, and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Not particularly. But I needed the work, and they were hiring. I couldn't afford to be picky."

Dean chuckled. "Isn't that always the way?"

"I suppose so."

Dean's eyes - unnervingly green, they were - flickered around Cas's face, his eyebrows drawing downwards in a mix of confusion and amusement for the tiniest of seconds.

He turned towards the door again, and, after swiftly unlocking it, pushed it open.

"Well, here we go."