Sam may not have been the smartest man in the world, but he knew enough. He knew that making friends was important; social interaction was a basic human need. He knew that some people needed to be more social, while others didn't need it as often. Extroverted personality types, like Gabriel and Dean, needed near constant social interaction for their happiness, while introverts, like Castiel and himself, could thrive with barely any at all. What he didn't know was how their little group worked out so well.
It would stand to reason that Dean and Gabriel would be good friends. They both enjoyed being around others. They had similar interests and ideas of fun. They would go to the closest bar, on occasion, and play pool and drink. When they got home, Dean would tell Sam stories of all the good times he'd missed out on.
Dean and Gabriel were in the same boat. The older brothers that were trying to make sure their siblings were taken care of by working jobs they didn't seem to care much for in order to make sure there was food on the table and a roof over their heads. They seemed to lead very similar lives. So, they understood each other, and they got along well. All of this made perfect sense to Sam.
What didn't make sense was how Dean clearly favored the company of Castiel, anyway. Castiel, the grumpy introvert. How was it that his brother, who had every reason in the world to want to spend time with Gabriel, seemed to search for reasons to spend time with Castiel, instead? It was one of life's great mysteries. One that Sam intended to figure out.
Not that Castiel wasn't interesting, in his own way. He was incredibly intelligent, at times making even Sam feel like his knowledge wasn't up to snuff, which didn't happen often. He had a wide variety of interests and an overwhelming understanding of each of them. It was as if he'd never run out of facts about any one subject. The guy had to have spent his entire life with his head in a book.
But, most of the time, Castiel was serious. Dean told more jokes in a five minute conversation than most people told in an entire day. The best part was that Castiel never seemed to understand Dean's jokes. Castiel spent most of his time with a slightly confused look on his face, while Sam rolled his eyes, and Gabriel and Dean laughed about whatever nonsense his brother was spewing.
Castiel's sense of humor was very dry. He joked with them, but it wasn't a frequent occurrence. He deadpanned his jokes so accurately that it was hard to tell when he was joking. Dean had picked up on the whole thing easier than Sam, which was surprising. Most of the time Dean's laughter at Castiel's jokes was the only way Sam even caught on that it was, indeed, a joke.
On top of all this, Castiel seemed quite content to never leave his apartment, unless he had to. Even Sam had given in and joined the others for a night on the town a couple of times, but Castiel seemed to have no interest in those things. He seemed perfectly content to spend all of his time holed up in his home. As if the time they spent with the Winchesters, approximately once a week, was enough social interaction to satisfy him.
He was like the antithesis of Dean. So, what was it that appealed to his brother?
The weirdest part of the whole thing was that Dean had never before had a friend like Castiel. He'd always surrounded himself with people that were like him. Even Charlie, Dean's best friend back home. She was a huge nerd, but the most social nerd you've ever met in your life. And not even the internet kind of social. She spent her weekends LARPing, and going to renaissance faires, and generally being around large groups of other nerds.
Sure, he'd had a couple of more introverted friends, but never even close to the extent that Castiel was. Maybe that was part of the appeal. Maybe Castiel was a mystery that Dean needed to figure out.
Watching the way that Dean and Castiel interacted turned out to be a lot more entertaining than Sam had ever imagined it would be. He'd invited the Novaks over for dinner, even though there were no scheduled storms. His new mission had less to do with trying to help out a friend, and more to do with just figuring out what was going on.
Dean made one of his fantastic meals. Even though he had been working two jobs, he somehow still found the time to make gourmet meals for these occasions. Sam had no idea how he was doing it. With the way school was going, Sam was likely to forget to shower. He tried to take a little weight off of his brother's shoulders, and offered to help with the cooking, but Dean would have none of it. He kicked Sam out of the kitchen and told him to get some of his homework done before their guests arrived instead.
By the time the Novaks showed up, Sam had been able to finish an essay that wasn't even due until next week, and the smells coming from the kitchen were bordering on heavenly. Sam answered the door with a smile, and quickly ushered the men into the livingroom.
"Oh my god, that smells amazing." Gabriel gushed, nearly drooling. Not that Sam could blame him. He wasn't exaggerating. "I am so glad that you guys adopted us. Cas and I can't cook anything worth eating."
The grimace on Castiel's face said that he agreed with his brother's assessment. "And the food here is always excellent."
"Oh, stop. You're making me blush!" Dean popped out of the kitchen with a beer in hand and propped himself onto the nearest armrest. He was not blushing, but his grin said that he had taken the comment as very high praise indeed.
"Did you bring enough of those for the rest of the class?" Gabriel asked, indicating Dean's beer. He had never been shy about asking for what he wanted, which was actually one of the things the Winchesters liked about him. Some might consider it rude, but they were pretty straightforward people.
"There's more in the fridge. Your legs ain't broken." Dean waved an absent hand in the direction of the kitchen.
Sam's eyebrows raised. That sounded like an answer he would give Sam, not a guest. Dean was a consummate host, something that had never failed to amuse Sam. He seemed to like serving guests. When Dean saw Sam's reaction, he went on to explain.
"I think you guys hang around here enough that you're not really guests anymore. And when you graduate to friends, you have to get your own beers. Sorry." Dean said with a shrug. And that was true, too. Charlie had gotten so close that people thought she lived with them at their old home. She had a key and everything. She would just walk in, dig through the fridge, and eat all their junk food. It had never really bothered Sam, though. She had always been good at buying them a bunch to replace it with when she had the money.
"Well, crap. How do I un-graduate?" Even as he asked, Gabriel was heading toward the kitchen.
"Too late! There's no going back now." Dean said smugly, throwing a smile at Castiel as he stole Gabriel's seat on the couch next to him. "You want a beer, Cas?"
"Yes, please." Castiel smiled back at him. He didn't even seem offended that Dean was sitting so close to him.
"Hey, Gabe! Grab your brother a beer while you're in there!" Dean yelled toward the kitchen with the most ridiculous grin on his face.
"What!? His legs aren't broken either!" Came the petulant reply.
"Geez, Gabe. It's called being polite."
They spent dinner with Dean sandwiched between the Novaks on the couch, while Sam got to take the lone chair. He felt a little bad that he always ended up in the chair, not having to share his space with anyone else, but he was too large to sit on the couch with two other fully grown men and anyone be comfortable. At least with this seating arrangement they were only a little bit too close for comfort.
Actually, the seating situation turned out to be exactly what Sam needed. Although, the observations he was able to make only served to confuse him further.
Dean just seemed so comfortable with Castiel. Dean didn't seem to mind sharing his space with the other man at all. Not that there was much space to begin with, but the gap between Dean and Gabriel was clearly larger than the one between him and Castiel.
When Castiel leaned forward to place his plate on the coffee table, he used Dean's arm to balance. Then, Dean used Castiel's knee for leverage to push himself up from the couch when he went to take the dishes to the kitchen. It was almost as if they were finding excuses to touch each other unconsciously.
It was a sign of Dean's fondness, actually. He was a very tactile person, and had always had an easier time of showing his feelings through touch. Sam was able to express himself in words, but Dean hadn't been that lucky. It had taken him a while to decipher his brother's language, but now he knew what it meant when his brother pat him proudly on the back, or punched his shoulder when he was picking on Sam and didn't want him to take it too seriously. He knew his brother loved him every time Dean tried to bear hug the air out of his lungs whenever they spent any significant amount of time away from each other.
The question was, how was Dean so partial toward Castiel already? Of course, Castiel acted a little bit like a child when he was afraid of the storms, and Dean had the protective instincts of a mother hen. Dean didn't know much about comforting others, but he did what he could. So, a comforting hand would not seem out of place. But that didn't explain the touching when there was no fear, though.
And it wasn't as if he reacted any differently when Gabriel touched him. He didn't jump out of the other man's grasp or anything. So, what was it that made Sam think it was different with Castiel?
They were staring at each other, again. Since Sam had started his study of Dean's odd behavior around Castiel, he had noticed that this was kind of a theme. Did they have some kind of silent communication that only they could hear?
Dean wasn't really the type to develop that kind of deep understanding of another person. Sure, he and Sam could communicate that way when they needed to, but they had been very close as children, and it had only gotten worse since. It was understandable; they had spent nearly their entire lives together. Was it possible that Dean was really coming to understand Castiel that well?
That didn't seem possible, though. They had only known each other for a short amount of time. It wasn't even as if they spent a lot, or even any, time alone. How could they have managed to get that close with Sam and Gabriel there to hear and see all of the same things they had? Dean spent more time with Gabriel than Castiel, anyway. And they didn't seem to have silent communication.
There was a tiny little niggle in the back of his mind that had been telling him there was something else going on here. He didn't know what it was trying to get him to find, though. It was as if there was something right in front of him that refused to be acknowledged. And then it happened, and everything fell into place in his mind.
The staring had gotten to the point that he felt the need to cough or something to distract them. Before he could, he saw Dean's eyes flick down to Castiel's lips, just briefly, and then his tongue swept out to moisten his own.
Sam was honestly gobsmacked at the action. He remembered suddenly, when he'd seen Dean behave like this before. Back in middle school, when he'd had a crush on Rhonda Hurley. Way back when Dean had never even kissed a girl before. He'd acted this exact same way. As if he was imagining kissing her, but also the kick to the balls he might get if he attempted it.
Now he was looking at Castiel the same way.
Sam's entire world was tilting on it's axis. He had never seen Dean look at a guy like that before. Sure, the guy was a little too fond of Dr. Sexy, but Sam had never had reason to think he was actually interested in men.
So, that's what this whole thing was all about. Dean had been showing all of the signs of attraction, and Sam hadn't been able to pick up on it because they were directed toward a man. Did that make him closed-minded? Or was it understandable, since he'd never seen his brother attracted to another man before?
Sam suddenly got a flashback of a time when their gay friend Aaron had said something that sounded like a come on toward Dean, and his brother had reacted so foolishly that they'd all made fun of him for weeks. And another time when they had been at the police station, bailing Charlie out after a huge mix up about weapons on her way to a Renaissance faire. The male officer behind the desk had smiled oddly at Dean, and he'd turned into a flustered mess. Sam had thought that Dean was just uncomfortable around cops, but maybe his brother had always been attracted to men, and had just been in denial the whole time.
Sam had been too blind to see it before. He had made fun of his brother for acting strange and just laughed off all of these weird occurrences. He'd been a terrible brother not to have picked up on this sooner. That was all about to change though.
College was when you were supposed to experiment with these types of curiosities, and although Dean had chosen not to go to college, Sam wasn't going to let that stop him. It didn't hurt that he couldn't really think of a better candidate than Castiel. He was the kind of level headed person that could even Dean's personality out a little bit, and had the kind of quick wit he'd need to keep Dean on his toes.
Now, Sam would just have to watch for signs that Castiel was interested, too. He didn't want to push his brother toward Castiel until he knew for sure that the other man would be receptive toward his advances. It would not help Dean come to terms with this side of himself if the first guy he went after turned him down.