The Third Wheel

Sam was jolted out of his sleep as the Impala bounced over a pothole. He crinkled his eyes as the sun hit his face from the windows of the Impala. He checked the time to realize that he had been out for about half an hour. His thoughts drifted back to the vampire hunt that they were returning from. They had almost escaped by the skin of their teeth. If only Castiel hadn't shown up on time, both Dean and Sam would have been turned into vampires by now.

He tilted his head to look at Dean in the driver's seat, whose eyes were set on the road. Slowly, he averted his gaze to the back of Castiel's head, who was now looking outside the window. He wondered when Dean and Castiel would tell him the truth. They needed to know that he was okay with it. He then wondered whether he would really be okay with it? Castiel was, after all, their close friend. He was almost like family. How would this development change things?

He then noticed Castiel slowly place his hand over Dean's hand that was clutching the gear. Sam quickly looked out of the window.

'Oh Man. Not here. Not now' Sam thought. He then realized that though he was okay with it, he had no idea how he would deal with their displays of affection in front of him. This was a whole new arena for him. It felt different. He had seen Dean flirt and make out with a whole lot of girls before, but this was a first. Castiel leaned in and kissed Dean on the cheek. Dean momentarily took his eyes off the road and faced Castiel who then kissed him full on the lips.

Sam closed his eyes instinctively. He wouldn't want them to feel uncomfortable if they realized that he was awake. And for God's sake, he wished Dean would keep his eyes on the road. The rest of the ride consisted of them whispering little nothings to each other. They were unaware of the fact that Sam was awake. Sam tried not to eavesdrop on their conversation and tried to fall asleep. He hated himself right now as sleep seemed so far away right now. He pulled his jacket over his head which he rested on the window as his teeth clattered to the Impala's vibrations.

Sam woke up the next morning to a strong, delicious aroma. Looks like Dean was baking pie. Sunlight streamed in through Sam's window. Last evening had been especially difficult to deal with. Castiel and Dean tried to hide their affection for each other around Sam, and Sam pretended like he didn't know. He hoped they'd tell him soon so it wouldn't be so weird all the time. Sam rolled out of his bed, brushed his teeth and dragged himself to the kitchen of the bunker. The heady smell of the apple pie made his stomach rumble.

He rubbed his eyes and almost did a double take when he saw Castiel standing in the kitchen. He was wearing the T-shirt that Dean was wearing last night and suddenly Sam's legs felt wobbly. He was obviously not supposed to acknowledge the fact, but damn, were they even trying to hide it? Maybe they wanted to drop subtle hints before telling him. Whatever they were doing, Sam just decided to go with the flow.

"Good morning, Sam." Castiel said in his deep voice.

"Morning" Sam replied hoarsely, "When did you wake up?"

"Curse of the Angel Grace Sam, I don't sleep" Castiel said and smiled at Sam

"So you decided to bake pie?"

"Yeah, Dean likes p-" Castiel stopped mid sentence.

'Too late' thought Sam. This was getting more and more awkward.

Castiel cut a slice of pie and served it to Sam. Sam was about to ask Castiel to have some pie too but realized he didn't eat anything either. Sam took a bite of it and felt literal explosions in his head. It was like eating heaven itself.

"Oh my God, Cas. This is really good!"

"Thanks Sam."

Just then Dean walked into the kitchen still rubbing his eyes. He yawned and said,

"Hey Sam. Hi Sweetie"

Sam's fork fell to the ground with a loud clank. Yep, it got more awkward. He slowly lifted his gaze to meet Dean's, who now looked pale and wide awake. To Sam, this was all weirdly hilarious somehow. Dean had obviously not realized what he had said until it was too late. The whole world seemed to have stopped still. Castiel slowly slipped another plate of pie on the table attempting to cause a distraction. Sam grabbed another fork and dug into his slice of pie. He felt Dean and Castiel exchange nervous looks. Dean dragged a chair opposite Sam and sat down on it sheepishly, as Castiel lingered in the background. He took a bite off the pie and inhaled sharply. Sam hoped he would not hold back a complement because of what had happened.

"Th- this is…" Dean's voice cracked, "It's good Castiel."

'Wow' thought Sam. Dean had gone from 'Sweety' to 'Castiel' in two, most awkward, minutes. Sam didn't even remember the last time Dean had called Castiel that. It had always been 'Cas', at least for as long as Sam remembered. Sam and Dean ate their breakfast in complete silence after that.

There were a few times after that awkward breakfast when Sam had walked in on them sharing 'moments', which were not necessarily intimate, but they were weird as hell. He had made up his mind now that if they wouldn't tell him, he would let them know that he knew and that he was perfectly okay with it.

The next evening Sam carefully approached the library of the bunker, making sure that he wasn't intruding on another one of Dean's and Castiel's private moments. He held in his hand a large, hard-bound copy of the book 'Exorcisms through the Ages'. Sam had been captivated by the vast collection of books in the bunker library. He felt like a kid in a candy store every time he walked through the endless rows of huge book shelves.

He set the book down with a thump and skimmed through the pages. He was so captivated by the book that he didn't even notice that Dean had come in a few minutes ago and was now sitting right opposite him. He shuddered when Dean cleared his throat.

"Oh my God, Dean. You scared me."

"Er… Sorry." Dean said looking visibly nervous. He was trying to meet Sam's gaze, but was finding it really hard.

"Is everything okay, Dean?" Sam asked noticing Dean's discomfort.

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine." Dean said a little too quickly.

Sam gave him a scrutinizing look. Something was off.

Dean cleared his throat again. He was fidgeting in his seat like his pants were on fire. Sam spotted Castiel in the doorway. He suddenly knew what was going on and waiting patiently for Dean to open up.

"Sam, er… there's something that…er…" Dean shot Castiel a nervous look. The angel also seemed nervous but not as much as Dean.

"Yes, Dean?"

"There's something I need to… we… need to tell you."

Dean took a deep breath. He looked like he was about to throw up. Sam waited patiently. He appreciated how much courage it was taking Dean to finally admit the truth.

Dean let out a nervous laugh. He was probably trying to find the right words to form a legitimate sentence. He finally looked up directly into Sam's eyes. Sam gave him an encouraging look.

"Sam…er… Cas-Castiel and I, we…we're…" Again he stopped in mid sentence. He probably didn't find the right word. Castiel shuffled nervously in the doorway. Dean was so close.

Dean inhaled sharply and finally said, "Cas and I, we're to-together". He moved his right hand in a slow sweeping motion. He sighed deeply. He looked nervously into his brother's eyes.

Sam leaned back on his chair and exhaled slowly. He was relieved he didn't have to play pretend anymore. And more than anything, he actually felt very, very happy for Dean. He closed the book he was reading, dragged his chair back and stood up. Dean found it hard to read the expression on his brother's face.

Sam couldn't keep his face straight anymore. A smile broke through his lips.

"I was wondering when you'll were going to tell me… That's great, Dean!"

Dean laughed with relief as he stood up and threw his arms around his brother. Dean was not the hugging type, and the fact that he engulfed Sam in a bone crushing hug proved how happy he really was.

"Cas." Sam said, looking at Castiel whose face was now beaming with happiness. "Come in here buddy, group hug." Sam said and wrapped his arm around Castiel and Dean. He was happy for the both of them. He felt elated as he held the two most important people in his life.

"Let's celebrate!" Dean barked as he broke off from the hug.

"Definitely" Sam agreed.

Dean then planted a gentle peck on Castiel's lips and Sam smiled looking at the two of them.

Nope, it wasn't weird anymore.