Dean blew off the earlier comments and made spaghetti listening to Metallica, much to Sam's horror and Adam's pleasure.

It didn't take them all that long though to be dancing in the kitchen and having a garlic bread fight.

He took his leave with a, "Clean up the kitchen" and a smirk. The boys had let out equally annoyed yells, but Dean grinned, knowing that they would do as he asked.

Dean's first impression of the Blue Castle was that they had hired the wrong guy. He had never actually seen the place, the owner had hired him on Ellen's good word and a picture.

It was huge and rich. Everything looked new and clean...like he could eat a bacon cheeseburger off the floor and he wouldn't die. It sort of scared him.

He walked through the door, making his way to the bar. The owner had posted him here, "Because," she'd said, "You're gorgeous."

He wasn't sure what that meant but he wasn't going to argue with money.

A dark haired woman grinned at him, waving him over as she poured a drink, "You must be Dean."

Dean grunted slightly, sliding behind the bar, "Does everyone know who I am?"

The woman's brown eyes grinned at him, then her mouth slowly followed, "You're in a small tourist town, even if you don't stay, gossip travels like wildfire. I'm Lisa by the way."

Dean nodded his head in greeting, before turning at the sound of a deep voice. Even though they had met only once, and spoken very briefly, he knew that voice. Dean looked towards the noise and saw Castiel serving an older couple. He grinned, lifting his hand for a short wave and smiled even wider when the dark haired man cocked his head to the side.

"You know Castiel right? He lives next door to you."

Dean nodded at Lisa, snapping back to reality when an older man in a suit sat down in front of him. He was shaking slightly, rubbing his saggy eyes, and Dean watched him for a second, "What can I get for you?"

"Scotch. Don't care how you do it, just give it to me."

Dean raised an eyebrow but made the man his drink, sliding it over, "Rough day?"

The man shook his head, "Just got kicked out of my house. I'll be here all night."

Dean shot Lisa a look before turning back to the man, "What type of car do you drive?"

The older man looked confused but he shrugged slightly, "A BMW, why?"

Dean hummed a little before sliding over a glass of water, "An expensive one?"

The man snorted and Dean took that as a yes, "Well think about how your car would feel wrapped around a tree. I know life sucks, man. I understand when your loved ones leave you high and dry, but you got to think about that car."

Dean stared into the man's eyes begging him to understand, watching as his brown eyes tumbled from anger, to sadness and then to humor.

The man pulled some cash out of his suit pocket and set it on the bar, before heading towards the door, "Yeah, I guess you're right man. Thanks."

He took the money and realized the guy had given him a twenty as a tip, "Do we do a tip bucket?"

He looked over at Lisa and saw her staring at him with a smile in her kind eyes, "Nah, you keep what you make. Good job Wesson."

SNSNSNNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

"I'm sorry."

Sam glanced down at his little brother's head in his lap and stopped rubbing his hands across the small amount of hair on Adam's head, "For what?"

"For what I said today...I know Dean tries hard. Hell, Dean's busting his ass."

Sam tensed a little looking back at the TV, "Its fine. You didn't mean it like that."

Adam sighed, snuggling a little closer to Sam, "Why won't he let us help Sam...?"

It was the question that Sam asked himself, and Dean, everyday. He wanted to take the burden off of Dean's shoulders even if only by a little. The man had been taking care of them since Dean was six...

"I don't know, Adam; he wants to give us what he never had. He wants us to go to Harvard or Stanford or…something."

His little brother lifted his head, and Sam felt his heart clench at the sad, angry look in his eyes, "I don't want to go anywhere. I want to stay with Dean; he's one of the most important things in my life. I'll go to a local college...or a University close by..."

Sam smiled at his little brother, who actually wasn't so little anymore, "I know Adam, I don't want to leave Dean either. If we left...he wouldn't-."

They didn't need to finish those thoughts, they both new that Dean would crumble if he was left alone, if his brothers left him.

Adam leaned forward and kissed Sam, "I love you. You're the most important thing in my life."

Sam smiled into the kiss and brought his hand up to yank Adam closer to him, "I love you too, Adam."

SNSNSNSNSNSNSSNSNSNSNSNSNSN

Dean learned quickly that sixty percent of Blue Castle was made up of women. Single, married, or widowed women, and it didn't seem to matter which it was, they all seemed to like Dean.

Lisa did her fair share of attracting men, and some of the women. It might not have been the fairest of methods when hiring someone but it worked.

By the end of the night Dean's pocket was lined with twenties and phone numbers, and he was grinning from ear to ear. He hadn't made this much money in a long time.

They were cleaning up when Castiel and another woman, Beth plopped down at the bar, "Good Job, Dean."

He grinned at Castiel and saw the man blink and look down at his hands. Beth was laughing with Lisa before catching Dean's eye, "Hey, I'm Beth, the other's are gonna stay after and hang out. You in?"

Dean smiled, ignoring her 'come hither' look and shook his head, "Nah, I have to get home."

He saw Lisa and Beth move back in surprise but he ignored it. It was second nature now. "New place and all, you know how it is."

No one thought he could be a dad, that he looked old enough to take care of two boys, but he'd been doing it since Sammy was two and Adam was only a few months old. Not that he would explain himself to strangers, anyway.

When he got to his car he saw Castiel walking down the street and he pulled over and honked, "It's gonna rain Cas, I'll take you home."

He saw the man hesitate before opening his door and sliding in, "This is a nice car."

Dean smiled at the simple statement, but he could hear the impressed sound in Castiel's voice, "So Cas, what do you do besides work at the Blue Castle."

Dean watched the road but he could feel the man staring at him intently, "I write."

He had guessed right about Cas, pegging him as a writer or an artist trying to make it big, but working to pay the bills.

"What type of stuff do you write?"

He glanced over and saw that Cas was still watching him, maybe waiting for Dean to push him out the door or chop him up with an ax. For some reason Dean found that he liked being near this slightly odd man, "Poetry and fiction. What do you do?"

Dean chuckled slightly as he turned down their road, "Work at the Blue Castle and the factory, and take care of my little brothers."

There was silence for a couple minutes before Castiel said, "What do you like to do?"

The question took him by surprise, and he just stared at the road. He didn't think about this question because it didn't matter. He was here for Sam and Adam, and he made sure that they all survived. He didn't have time for himself. He didn't want time for himself...

"I love taking care of my brothers, having that connection, that belonging. But..."

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he jumped slightly, it burned. It was searing hot and shot tingles down through his whole body. He felt Castiel jerk back, "But what?"

He could hear the breathlessness in Castile's voice and he cleared his own, trying to concentrate on the road and his thoughts, not on the man with a dancer's body, sitting next to him.

"I love to fix cars. Make old things new. I like to...to paint." He had never once told anyone that. It was a secret he kept tucked away because opening it back up left him wanting and wishing.

"Why don't you paint?"

Dean pulled into his driveway, clenching the wheel and looking at the house; it was dark, though he thought he could see Adam's reading light on, "I live for my brothers. They need support and stability, painting can't supply these things and besides it…"

He cut himself short, tensing even more before turning to look at Castiel. This strange man whose eyes were sad and thoughtful…ancient like red wood trees.

"I like you Dean."

The words sent tingles into his stomach and he laughed, rubbing his hand over his eyes and through his hair, "I like you too, Cas."

"Saturday...I'm going grocery shopping...would you like to go?"

Dean stared into those blue eyes for a moment before grinning, "Yeah. That would be great, those boys are like bottomless pits."