It was the end of something, or as Sam likes to say, 'It was the beginning of everything'.

Dean stared at his friend and sighed. He'd been trying to help him for the past month or so but Cas acted like he didn't need Dean's help, or more like he didn't want it, actually. Dean was a good friend. Hell, Dean was the best friend you'd wish for. He was the guy that everyone wanted to be friends with. The fact that he had so little friends, and most of them were part of his family, was by choice, not necessity. The reason as to why Castiel refused his help in this particular area was baffling. He knew what he was doing for once, why wouldn't Cas listen to his advice?

"Come on Cas," he tried again. "It's only one date. One stupid little date."

Castiel groaned.

"Dean, please. Stop it. I do not wish to go on a date with someone I don't know. Not after what happened last time."

Dean was then reminded of Estelle, the girl who had cheated on his best friend the year before. Dean called her the stupid, ugly, manipulative bitch. But only in his head.

It was all Sammy's fault, really. If he hadn't been high on his post wedding bliss, he never would have introduced Cas to Estelle and his friend would never have had his heart broken.

"Cas, I swear you're going to love Pam."

"Dean, I said no."

"Fine, be lonely and miserable for the rest of your life."

Castiel stared at him for a moment.

"That was uncalled for."

"Yeah well… your face is uncalled for."

Castiel rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe your five year olds are able to function as normal human beings after having you as a teacher for a year."

"Hey! I'm the best teacher they'll ever have, so shut up!"

Castiel smiled then. One of his real smiles, the kind that became rare after the Estelle disaster.

"So… Pam?" Dean asked. And he really felt like Castiel and Pam would be great together. She'd help him loosen up and he'd help her calm down a little. It was a win-win situation.

"Who is she?" Castiel asked, finally giving the idea some thought.

"She's the girl they hired to replace Crowley. She's awesome Cas, I'm sure you're going to love her. And she's going to love you. You guys have so much in common."

Castiel nodded and Dean knew he had won.

"You're so not going to regret this!"

He left his friend alone to go call Pam.


Dean was sitting at his usual table at the Roadhouse, shifting in his seat. He wasn't nervous, not at all. Okay, so maybe he was a little. Yesterday, for the first time in over a year, Castiel had had a date. A date that Dean had set up, so if it hadn't worked out, it was on him. And, to make matters worse, his friend was late.

"You're late!" he said, as soon as Cas walked in the front door.

"My apologies. Pamela asked me to go see her after work and I didn't notice the time."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "You were with Pam? The Pam you went on a date with?"

"Yes. Is it a problem?" Castiel asked, not sure why Dean was acting weird all of a sudden.

"What? No! That's fantastic! It means your date went well, right?"

Castiel nodded.

"It was pleasant enough."

"And you're going to see her again, right?"

"Yes. I think so."

"Good. Great, actually."

Castiel looked at Dean for a moment. "Why are you so interested in my love life?"

His friend shrugged. "You're my best friend, I want you to be happy. And, most of all, I want you to forget that big, ugly, manipulating bitch."

It startled a laugh out of his friend.

"Are you talking about Estelle?" he asked.

"Who else would I be talking about?"


Pam and Castiel had been dating for a couple of months now and it made Dean happy to see his friends happy.

"Hey Winchester," Pam said as she entered the teachers' lounge. "Did you know that your friend is terrified of weddings? I invited him to my sister's wedding and he refused. No explanation just… he's not going and I have no idea why."

Dean sighed.

"Before you Cas was engaged to someone. He loved her and I guess she didn't love him back because a couple of months before the wedding he got home early and she was in bed with someone. When he confronted her about it, she told him that it had been going on for a long time. Cas was devastated."

"What a… a… bitch. He's like the sweetest, most caring guy I know."

"Yeah well, she really was a bitch."

"I see. So what, I just let it go?"

"I don't know, you want me to talk to him?"

Pam shook her head.

"No thanks, I'll figure something out."


Jo had decided that inviting Castiel and Pam to dinner was a good way to get to know the woman that made her friend happy; after all, they'd been dating for a couple of months already. When Dean got home Friday night after work (man, he hated parent-teacher conferences; parents were the equivalent of the devil) Pam and Castiel were already there. Pam and Jo were in the kitchen doing… whatever they were doing and Castiel was playing with Lily. His little girl was pulling at Cas' hair and squealing, like it was the most amusing thing she'd ever done. Castiel just smiled at her.

"Hey Cas." Dean said and smiled when his daughter stopped was she was doing to throw her hands in the air. She really was Daddy's little girl. Dean picked her up and made airplane noises while he walked around the living room.

"Hello Dean."

Dean stopped the noises and looked at Cas, who hadn't stopped smiling since he got there. Castiel never smiled that much.

"Dude, why are you smiling?"

"Am I not allowed to be happy?"

Dean rolled his eyes. What a typical Cas thing to say.

"Yeah, you are Cas. I've never seen you smile this much since… well, never."

And it was true. Castiel wasn't a depressed person he just never smiled. Dean vaguely remembered a drunken conversation where his friend had stated that smiling was a waste of time and muscle because most of the time it was to be polite.

"Is it Pam?" Dean asked. He was pretty sure that was why Cas was smiling like that. "Did you have hot jungle sex or something before getting here?"

"Dean Winchester, not in front of Lily!" Jo yelled from the kitchen.

Castiel looked at his friend and frowned.

"I'm not answering that. It's not of your business."

"Yeah, well I don't really want to know. Seriously man, even with Estelle you weren't this happy."

His friend shrugged.

"I realize know that I wasn't really happy with her. I don't think I was really in love with her either; I asked her to marry me because it was the logical thing to do."

"So what? You're saying you love Pam?"

Castiel smiled.

"Maybe."

"Wow. Well good for you. Come on, let's go see what they're cooking, it smells good."

Both friends got up from the couch they were sitting on to go in the kitchen. Castiel was wearing a goofy smile and Dean would have made fun of his friend if he wasn't so happy for him.

All in all, he had a good life. Wonderful friends (and he was happy to put Pam in that category), a great family, a beautiful daughter and, most of all, the woman of his dreams. All that because of a kid in a trench coat that had moved across the street when they were eleven.

Which made him think… he should totally get Cas to watch the Power Rangers movie. The Mighty Morphing one, not the ones they'd made after that. Because, after all, that's when it had all really started.