When Castiel and Gabriel finally arrive to Charlie's house, there's a sleek, long black car parked out front. Gabriel points it out as the pull into the drive. "That's Dean's car, by the way."

"It's beautiful."

Gabriel laughs as they climb out of his beater car and walk to the door. "Be sure to tell him that. He might just marry you."

Dean is sprawled out on the couch with his head in the lap of a laughing red head. He sits up and smiles at Castiel and waves him over while Gabriel shamelessly breezes through the room to head towards the kitchen with a half-hearted wave. "Hey, Cas. You showed up right on time, the movie's just about the start." Behind him, the red head clears her throat loudly. Dean ducks his head and scratches at his neck once again. "Right. Sorry. Cas, this is Charlie."

"Hi!" She chirps. "I'm glad you showed because if Dean got anymore broody, I would've kicked his ass out."

"Broody?"

"Oh, majorly." Dean closes his eyes and leans his head on the back of the couch. "I hate you both," he mutters. "Can we just watch the movie now? Please?"

"Sure, Dean. Sam! Gabe! Come on. The Empire waits for no one!"

Dean laughs and Castiel fidgets on the couch awkwardly. Charlie must read his mind because the looks she gives him is one filled with incredulity. "You have no clue what I'm talking about, do you?"

Dean's eyes fly open and he stares at Castiel, his and Charlie's twin looks of disbelief make him squirm even more. "You're shitting me! Cas, no friend of mine is going to go through life without watching Star Wars. For Christ's sake. Charlie, start the movie, let Gabe and Sammy duke it out over the cookies, for all I care. This is an emergency situation over here."

Charlie nods at Dean's order, her face full of determination.

Halfway through the movie and Castiel can say he stopped paying attention the minute Dean inched closer to whisper discreetly which part of the movie was his favorite and which part Castiel needed to watch closely. In one scene, Dean grasps Castiel's forearm in excitement and points at the screen and Castiel could swear the entire living room could hear the pounding of his heart. He licks his lips and convinces himself that he must be hallucinating because there is no way whatsoever Dean tracked the movement of his tongue with his eyes only to mimic the gesture. No. Way.

As the movie ends, Sam is snoring from the floor, leaning against Dean's leg while he and Charlie decry the upcoming Disney addition to the franchise.

"As if the last three prequels didn't suck enough. Didn't the world learn with Indiana Jones and Die Hard? Leave the classics alone."

"Or at least wait until we're all dead to butcher them," Charlie states.

"Thank God you understand."

"Of course, of course. What do you take me for, some uncultured swine? Oh. No offense, Castiel."

"None taken." At that, Dean's watch chirps and he swears to himself before kicking Sam awake.

"Rise and shine, Sasquatch. We gotta go."

"Curfew?" Castiel asks disappointedly. One of the many (and there are many) perks of moving in with Anna and Gabriel rather than living at the boarding school is how much freedom she allows them. There's no strictly enforced curfew, she simply trusts them to be back at a decent hour when there's school. The day his father allowed him to transfer to Lawrence High School and move in with his cousins is one of the greatest days of his life.

"Yeah, kinda."

"Better take Sammy there home before his snoring wake up the neighbors," Gabriel snarks around a mouthful of cookies. Sam simply flips him over and wishes him luck with managing his diabetes.

"Thanks for having us over, Charlie. See ya, Cas-tiel."

"No problem, Sam. Have a good night."

Dean pulls Charlie into a tight hug. "Love ya, Dean."

He winks, "I know."

Sam groans from the corner. "Would you geeks hurry it up? Some of us actually plan on waking up on time in the morning."

"Later, Gabe."

"Dean-o!" and rather than wave like a semi-sane individual, Gabriel stands and salutes. Dean turns back to Castiel with a warm look in his eyes that Castiel will convince himself later on that he imagine as well. "See you tomorrow, Cas. Have a good night."

Castiel can feel the corners of his lips twitch up in a smile. "You as well, Dean."

The door closes behind them quietly and Castiel's heart warms at the rumbling of Dean's car as it takes off down the road.

..

…

..

Dean's alarm clock doesn't wake him up the next morning. Instead, he jerks awake at the sound of Sam's sneezes and muttered curses. Dean rolls over to glare of the bright green numbers illuminated on his clock, "6:02 AM" and drags himself out of bed to see Sam rummaging through the hall closet.

"Dude."

Sam looks up guiltily under his hair. "Sorry. I was just looking for a box of Kleenex." At Dean's raised eye brow, Sam holds up a hand. "Don't even go there."

"Wasn't going to say anything, Sammy. Scout's honor."

"That only applies if you've actually ever been a Boy Scout."

"Right. What can I say? I don't do shorts."

Sam's response is cut off by another sneeze and a grunt. "Are you getting sick?"

"No! Well…maybe? I think."

"Uh-huh."

"I'll talk to Andy today to see if I can stay over his place for a few days until I'm not contagious anymore."

"Sam."

"Dean."

"You don't have to go through all that. You heard what the doctors said."

"Dean, if I got you sick…"

"I'm back in school, remember? And it's January. Half the school is probably crawling with the flu by now."

Sam sighs. "I hate it when you logic me."

"Wisdom is one of the perks of being the older brother." He says as he turns to go back in his room.

"You're a year older, Dean. A year!"

"Whatever."

"Dean." The seriousness of Sam's tone makes Dean turn around to face him. His brother's face is drawn up in concern that not even his ridiculous hair cut can hide. His mouth is a thin line and his eyes show a wariness that Dean hasn't seen since Wichita. "I'm being serious. If you start feeling si—"

"I'll say something. I promise, Sammy."

"I'm going to find the antibiotics the docs gave us. And those Vitamin C tablets for you."

Dean grimaces. He hates those fucking things and Sam knows it but nods an affirmative anyway because despite what people seem to think, he hated being sick and will do any and everything in his power to make sure it doesn't happen again.

..

…

..