It's been about two weeks since Dean had started seeing Castiel.
The only person who knew about their relationship was Benny. He hadn't even told his brother, Sam, yet. He didn't want to ruin any piece of this peace he had so far.
It was a Saturday night. He was seeing Castiel so often, but he had to limit himself and make sure he cut out his time for the usual Saturday nights with Benny.
Jo was tending the bar that night and she brought a round of drinks for the two as they played pool.
Benny hit the cue ball into the pocket and they both said 'awwwhhh' loud enough for the whole bar to hear.
"I think you've had to much to drink." Dean laughed, cutting them off from anymore drinks.
"Kill joy." Benny straightened his cap with a grin and Dean aimed for another ball. "No, I'm stripes!"
They finished their game and started small talk about the mechanic shop.
"How you doing anyways." Benny changed the subject, starting another game. He painstakingly put all the balls in the triangle, shifting them around with his strong fingers. "I hardly ever see you anymore."
"I'm good. Staying busy. Ya know-with work and stuff." Dean's stomach clenched a bit.
"Sure." Benny snorted. "I saw how you looked at him that night."
His mouth suddenly felt dry, forgetting how to answer a question. Was that even a question? He couldn't remember.
"Yeah." That was about all he could make come out of his mouth.
"You want to talk about it?" Benny shot another solid ball into the pocket.
"Not really." He said, trying his best to skirt out of the conversation. He hadn't talked to Benny, or anybody for that matter, about Cas and it was already starting to make his palms clam up. He wiped them on his jeans and hit another ball.
"Come one man." Benny pressed again. "You haven't been focused on anything lately."
"I know." Dean admitted, finishing off the last of his beer. "I have just been busy."
"With him."
Dean couldn't figure out if his tone was harsh, indifferent, or sympathetic. Maybe it was a little of all three.
"Benny, you really got to be like that?" He gripped the pool stick with both hands, knuckles whitening. Benny shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck.
"I'm just looking out for my bud, ya know?"
"I came out tonight to have some fun, with my friend. I don't want to get into this just yet."
"I wasn't attacking you." He said, defensively.
"Can we just play some pool?" Dean begged and Benny nodded. Fifteen minutes passed, and Dean was doing really good, until he hit the cue ball into the socket.
"Damnit." He hushed.
"I want to meet the guy." Benny started again. Dean opened his mouth to warn him not to go down that road, but Benny held up a hand to stop him. "I know, I know. Maybe we can get together for a few beers sometime."
"I don't think that would be a good idea." Dean blurted, thinking about the last time Castiel got drunk.
"Why not? Am I gonna scare him off?" He crossed his arms over his chest, his pool stick tucked in by his elbow. He was a pretty buff dude, now that Dean thought about it. He looked like he should be lifting weights, not working in an auto body shop.
"No, it's… He and alcohol don't mix well."
"Lightweight?" Benny laughed.
"Something like that…" Dean trailed off, with a distant grin plastered on his lips.
Once their game was over, the pair started heading to their vehicles and stood out in the parking lot.
"Seriously though." Benny said before climbing into his car. "I gotta judge 'em for myself."
Dean nodded and tipped his head goodnight, climbing into the Impala.
"Hey Baby." He greeted, sliding the key into the ignition. He turned his phone on and checked the messages.
I know you are out with Benny, but can you tell me if I left my coat at your apartment?
It's on the banister at the bottom of the stairs
He waited for Cas to reply before starting the car. Thirty seconds later, Cas was probably off the couch and down the stairs when Dean's phone buzzed.
That's embarrassing…
Don't mention it
Dean had to smile at himself on his way home.
He took a shower, started a desperately needed load of wash, and threw himself into the recliner positioned in front of the television. He picked up a nearby blanket, throwing it over his chest.
God, it still smelled distinctly of Cas.
He visited yesterday for Dean's lesson on early horror movies. It ended up with Cas slipping his head onto Dean's shoulder for the last half of the movie.
Dean was alone for the suspense of King Kong. Alone except for the fact that the patch of warmth next to him slipped under his arm, and eventually laid his head into Dean's lap. He put a hand through the thick, black hair and focused on every strand his fingers came across, instead of the damsel in distress on the screen.
"Cas, you awake?" He asked the lump curled up next to him. He chuckled and grabbed a blanket from the floor, throwing it over Cas. He didn't move, but he could've swore he saw him smile.
Dean inhaled deeply. It smelled like sweet coffee, his sweat from the day's work, and the strange mix of mint toothpaste.
What would I do without you
It wasn't a question, but Dean answered anyways.
I don't know. Night Cas.
The next day, Castiel was waiting for him after work. Dean got off early that evening, so he didn't have to introduce Benny to Cas just yet.
"Returning the favor?" Dean asked, remembering his unexpected visit at the diner a two weeks back.
"I thought we could go to a movie. I already made reservations, so you can't say no." Cas smiled at him
"Which movie?" Dean asked, shrugging into his favorite leather jacket.
Cas stared at him, blankly, almost cursing Dean for asking the question.
"Fuck, I can't remember." He clenched his fists, looking at the clear, blue sky. Dean has noticed that when Cas can't remember something, that's exactly the face he pulls. Blank and then anger at himself washing over his face.
"It's okay, we'll find out together." He clapped a hand on his shoulder, and let it fall back at his side. "Do you remember the time?"
"I actually wrote that down." Cas said, pulling a post it note from his zip up hoodie. The movie started at 6:45. They had about two hours before they had to be there.
"Dinner?" Dean suggested, holding out his hands.
"Starving." Cas grinned, lowering his head, like he wanted to remember that smile for the worse of days.
"Give me a second, I forgot my wallet in the break room." Dean said. "Stay right here." He tossed his keys to Cas and retreated back into the shop.
"You forget something again, boy?" Rufus hollered from his office. Dean poked his head in and threw some sarcastic comment right back at him. Rufus shook his head and went back to a stack of paperwork.
Dean opened his locker, and stuck his hand underneath a plaid shirt piled at the bottom. He fished his wallet out of the pocket of a jacket and shut the locker once again.
He stopped dead in his tracks as Bobby stood in the threshold of the break room.
"Dean, are you aware there is someone in the Impala?"
"Yeah. It's… A friend of mine."
"Never seen him before." Bobby crossed his arms, and readjusted his baseball hat.
"New friend of mine." Dean corrected, letting his fingers run over the doorway. He knew that wasn't a sufficient answer for Bobby, his surrogate father, but Bobby let him pass.
"I know you ain't telling me something. Stay out of trouble." He gruffed, stepping away from blocking the hallway.
"See you later, Bobby!" He called and strode down the back hallway, out to the main floor, where he hit another obstacle.
"That him, right?" Benny asked, seeing Dean out of the corner of his eye. He wiped his hands on his cloth that was tucked in his back pocket.
"Yeah." Dean stood next him, looking out the window at Castiel. He looked so comfortable in the passenger seat of the Impala. Almost too comfortable. His feet were propped up on the dash, and he had his head, lolled against the window. He left him there for two minutes, and Castiel had already fallen asleep. Even though Cas's shoes were on his Baby, Dean smiled to himself, trying not to let Benny see.
"Go have a good night." Benny snorted, turning his back on the scene, going back to working on another car.
Dean yanked the door open, and Cas startled up right in his seat.
"What, were you raised in a barn? Shoes off the dash." Dean scolded lightly.
"D-Dean… What? Where am… Why am I in your car?" Cas said, hands fluttering around, trying to grasp something that made sense at that moment. Dean had seen that look before.
"Don't remember?" Dean asked him. Cas shook his head, with a sad glare. He tried to keep Cas calm as he explained they were going out to dinner and a movie.
"What time?"
"6:45." Dean slipped his hand, sure Benny couldn't see it from the window if he was still watching, onto Castiel's knee cap. He massaged little circles, feeling Cas's bones underneath shift with each circle.
"Okay." Cas breathed, inhaling deeply, just like he always did when he got out of it for a second.
Dean waited a minute for Cas to nod to him, giving him permission to go. "And no, I was not raised in a barn."
On their way to Dean's favorite burger joint, Cas started slipping back into the comfort of conversation. They talked about their day, and the cars that came in the shop that day. Dean could tell Cas was hardly interested in motors and their functions, but he put on a brave face as Dean started talking about some of the prize cars and shit cars that came through the shop. As long as Cas had something in his mouth, he could put on a tolerating smile at the right times, making Dean feel heard.
Cas pushed his fries around and eventually sank back into the booth, stomach full. Dean reached over the table as he fished through the rest of his food, finishing off what seemed like every grain of salt.
"That's disgusting." Cas smiled at him. "How can you eat so much?" Dean grinned at him through a mouthful of food. He shrugged, and almost chocked when he felt a food creep up his thigh. It rested on the inside of his leg, and the smile on the other mans face was content.
"Getting a little risky there, Cas." Dean scolded lightly, but he liked the reassurance that someone else was with him. He pressed his legs together, trapping Cas's shoe between his thighs.
"Real funny, Dean." He said in his gravelly voice. "Let go, we're gonna be late for the movie."
The movie wasn't that exciting. Standard action movie with fighting and a happy ending. Except the main character almost died, but they couldn't remember the storyline exactly. They sat in the back of the theater, Dean slipping his fingers into Cas's. Their palms were pressed together the entire time, and Dean didn't pay much attention to the screen when Cas tilted his head towards Dean's kissing him slowly.
They only made to much noise once, when Cas moaned softly during the death scene. A woman turned around to yell at them, but when she saw their hands intertwined, and their faces close, she turned right around with a surprised face. Dean simply chuckled lightly, sucked on Cas's bottom lip and pulled him closer to lay his head on his shoulder. He had to hide a hard one on the way out.
Dean dropped Cas off back at the auto body shop, where his truck was parked in the emptiness of the street.
"Text me when you get home." Dean called as Cas made his way around the car and to the drivers side.
"You worried about me, Winchester?" Cas teased in a deep voice, letting his arms rest on the rolled down window.
"Only when you leave." He blurted, gripping on to the steering wheel with both hands.
"I don't really know what to say to that."
"Me either. I just hope you don't forget it." Dean could feel the chick flick crap crawl out of his throat, but he couldn't stop it. Cas just looked at him with a strong expression. He couldn't tell if it was confusion or lust.
Cas dipped his head into the Impala and devoured Dean in one smooth swoop.
Lust.
When Cas pulled away, forcing Dean to push down a sudden urge to pull him into the backseat.
Cas waved his fingers as he unlocked his truck. Dean watched him speechless, holding onto the small scent of the other man for as long as he could before pulling out onto the road too.
A/N: Thanks for reading! have a good rest of your summer if I don't update sooner!
