Hey everyone! This story is looking like it's nearing the end so hopefully I will have it finished within the next few days! Thank you all for continuing to read and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Dean was sitting next to Sam waiting for Gabriel to arrive, the reading was the following evening and they had so much to cover in such a short time. He'd told his brother all about Castiel, simply unable to keep it to himself any longer. He had to tell someone, it was killing him.

"What's so special about this guy, Dean?" Sam asked, genuinely curious. "To be honest, he sounds kind of strange."

"He's not just any guy, Sam. He's the guy." Dean remembered their dinner the previous night, they'd ended up drinking far more than they should have but Dean was thrilled to see that by the end of the night Castiel was smiling and relaxed, appearing to be enjoying himself. He'd learnt that Castiel's birthday was in a few weeks on the sixteenth of December and vowed to remember and do something nice for the man. He owed it to him.

They'd tumbled into a cab when the restaurant closed and Castiel had rested his head on Dean's shoulder the entire ride to his apartment.

The memory brought a small smile to Dean's face. "Man you've got it bad, don't you big bro." Sam smirked at him

"Shut up gigantor" Dean said, blushing furiously.

It was time, Dean was so nervous he could barely stand up without shaking. They'd coached Gabriel on everything he should and shouldn't say that night, but his stomach was still filled with butterflies.

If Gabriel didn't know how to respond to a question, all he had to do was make a joke about English people and their fancy words and look to Dean or Sam who would conveniently jump in with the answer.

Even Ellen was charmed by the man, a few compliments and a wink from Gabriel had her eating out of the palm of his hand, so Dean didn't have to worry about her being on his back the whole night.

The reading was going brilliantly, Gabriel handled the questions with ease, charming the audience with his humour and wit. One more question to go and then it was autographs and photos. Dean breathed a sigh of relief, the hardest part was over.

"Excuse me Mr Ackles? I was just wondering if it was true that you fell in love with the Englishman in your novel" Dean's head snapped up at the unmistakable voice and felt all the blood drain from his face.

Castiel.

Shit shit shit! He thought. Castiel wasn't even supposed to know about the reading, let alone be here asking questions.

He was so screwed; he and Sam hadn't briefed Gabriel on the Castiel situation, he hadn't thought it would be an issue!

"Erm… well they are all so handsome here. It was hard to resist the temptation" Gabriel stammered awkwardly.

Before he could continue to talk and perhaps makes things worse, Dean jumped in. "Right! Time for some autographs and photos now, Mr Ackles if you wouldn't mind."

"Mayday! Mayday!" He hissed at Sam who looked at him, bewildered. "What? It's going well! Gabe is great!"

"He's here, Sam. Cas is here! We cannot let me talk to Gabriel. There's no way that will end well." Sam's eyes widened in understanding, he nodded his agreement.

Dean watched Castiel at the end of the line of people waiting to get an autograph, when he reached the front; Dean tried to wrap things up. "Alright, well I think we'd best get Mr Ackles out of here now we have another venue to get to. It's been a long day for him. So thanks everyone for coming tonight!"

"Wait, Dean. There's just one more person. It won't take long!" Gabriel, oblivious to his distress continued to greet Castiel.

"What is your name sir?" Gabriel asked, polite as ever.

"Castiel Novak." Dean could see Castiel waiting for a sign of recognition by the author but there was nothing.

"Right, I will write, Dear Castiel, pleasure to meet you. Best wishes, Jensen Ackles." Gabriel handed the novel back to Castiel.

"I received your letter the other day Mr Ackles" Castiel ducked his head shyly, "I was pleased that you managed to reply to me. It was all a terrible mix-up with the letters but it all worked out in the end."

Gabriel was getting more and more flustered, obviously completely unaware about anything he was talking about. "Well… I was just really glad to… glad that I… It was…" Gabriel shot Dean a look of pure desperation.

Sam leaned down to Gabriel "Mr Ackles, sorry but we really should be leaving now."

"Yes!" Dean jumped in "we are already running late for our next engagement!"

Dean finally worked up the courage to look Castiel in the eye and was met with cold, blue eyes. "Oh, Dean." He said, disinterested. As if he'd only just seen Dean standing there "so nice of you to tell me about the reading tonight." His gaze narrowed.

"I agree, his behaviour was quite strange. But perhaps he didn't want to be too obvious in front of all those people?" Anna suggested.

"But he acted as though he didn't know who I was, when he clearly does!" Castiel wasn't about to let slip to Anna that he'd sent a picture of himself with his letter to Jensen Ackles.

It was Anna who had told him about the reading Jensen Ackles was doing, she was in a bookstore when she had seen a poster on the notice board and sent Castiel a message, asking if he was going.

When he'd arrived, he'd been pleasantly surprised to see that the reading was being held at Bobby's bookstore where he had bought Jensen Ackles' book from. Back where it had all started.

"Maybe he was just embarrassed?" He suggested "Or shy. Maybe he wasn't expecting to see me there and was simply surprised."

Anna nodded her agreement, "that's probably it. Once he meets you a few more times, he may get more comfortable."

"It was strange though," Castiel mused. "Dean seemed almost guilty that I was there. We were together only a few nights ago and he never said anything. He knew how important it was to me."

It was all too strange. Castiel chose to focus on the memories of seeing Jensen Ackles in the flesh instead.

"Ok I have a new plan" Dean announced to his brother the next morning, "You have to get Gabriel to call Castiel, pretending to be Jensen Ackles"

"What? No!" Sam exclaimed, "Dean, you can't keep lying to the man. It's just going to make things worse!"

"No, this will fix things" Dean was sure.

He explained the plan to his brother. Gabriel would call Castiel, apologizing for his odd behaviour and saying he was so overcome by seeing Castiel in person that words failed him, and by the time he'd gathered himself it was too late. Castiel would love that. Then he would ask to have dinner at his café, on the sixteenth of December, Castiel's birthday and coincidentally the only night of the week the café would be closed. Meaning, the two of them would have a romantic dinner on their own.

"Make sure that he tells Castiel to keep the dinner to a secret. Tell him especially not to tell me because I might interfere. That way it will be less suspicious" Dean ignored the incredulous look on his brother's face.

"Then, when Jensen Ackles' agent a.k.a. you, calls to cancel on his behalf, he will be so fed up with Ackles that he will give up on him and I will swoop in and be the one he turns to for comfort." Dean finished.

"You do realise this sounds like the plot to a terrible Lifetime movie, and that these things never work out in real life, right Dean?"

Dean chose to ignore his little brother.

Castiel was bustling around the small kitchen of the café, checking the ovens and the array of food in various stages of preparation in the kitchen, making sure everything was perfect. He'd set the table for two with his finest cutlery and put a CD with some soft, French music on in the background.

He took a sip of wine, and then a sip more. For nerves, he told himself.

He'd worn a brand new shirt that Anna had given him for his birthday that morning; it was made of expensive silk and according to Anna brought out the colour of his eyes.

Everything had to be perfect tonight, Jensen Ackles sounded so sincere on the phone and Castiel couldn't help thinking that tonight may be the beginning of his happily ever after.

A knock on the door brought him back to the present. There stood… a giant bouquet of roses. But to his surprise, the man who stood behind them was not Jensen Ackles. It was Dean.

"Heya Cas" Dean said with a wide grin.

"Dean! What are you doing here? The restaurant is closed tonight." Castiel told him, still trying to figure out what the other man was doing there.

"It's December sixteenth! You're birthday. I figured I'd made you pretty mad the other night by not mentioning the reading by Jensen Ackles, but honestly Cas… Can I call you Cas?" He continued when Castiel nodded. "I completely forgot to even mention it. So this is my making it up to you." He smiled shyly.

Castiel couldn't deny he was touched by the gesture but he wanted Dean to leave before Jensen arrived. "Thank you Dean. These are lovely. I didn't even think you'd remember my birthday was today."

"Cas, I remember everything important about you" Dean replied softly, ducking his head shyly.

"That was so sweet of you Dean, but I'm sorry… I'm actually going to be busy in a moment" he gestured at the candlelit table.

"Oh crap! Sorry Cas. You're expecting someone! I gotcha. Wow popular man! Watch out Ackles, you've got competition!"

Cas felt himself turning red at Dean's words. "A quick toast to your birthday before I get out of your hair?" Dean asked. Unable to say no; after all he was about to kick the man out right after he'd brought him flowers, Castiel poured them each some wine.

They were draining their glasses when the phone rang. "Probably someone booking in, it will go to message bank" Castiel explained in answer to Dean's questioning gaze.

"Uh Castiel, It's Sam… er... Sam Wesson. Jensen Ackles' agent. Look I hate to be the one to tell you this but he had an unexpected visit from an ex of his tonight. It… well it looks like things are going to work out for the two of them so I'm afraid he won't make it tonight. Sorry."

Beeeeeep

Dean felt so terrible watching Castiel fall to pieces in front of him. It was obvious the other man was trying to hide himself from Dean, turning his back to him. But Dean could see the other man's shoulders shaking as he cried.

All he wanted to do was comfort the other man, but this was all his fault. He didn't know what to say to the other man. Finally he decided to play dumb to get Cas to talk.

"You were meeting Ackles? Oh goodness, Cas I'm so sorry. That's just terrible. You deserve so much better than him." Dean meant every word. Castiel was such a good man and Dean… Well obviously Dean wasn't.

Castiel turned to him, gripping his glass so tightly Dean was afraid it was going to shatter in his hand. "He… He said such wonderful things on the phone. He wanted to see me." Castiel's voice broke and he started to sob.

"Shhh" Dean soothed, putting his arms around the other man and holding him to his chest. He held the other man until his sobs started to subside.

Gently he pulled the other man off his chest and held him at arms length, looking him in the eye. "You know what Cas? Forget Ackles, he's a dick for not realising how wonderful you are. You must have spent all afternoon cooking all that food and it smells wonderful. I won't let him ruin your birthday. "

He poured them both more wine and sat down at the table. Castiel gave him a watery smile "I'm very glad you are here, Dean."

After dinner and far more wine than Castiel had been planning to drink, he went to the kitchen to grab desert. He closed the fridge door and found himself pressed up against Dean's chest.

"Dance with me" Dean whispered.

Castiel nodded, not trusting his voice and wrapped his arms around Dean, swaying gently to the music.

They stayed that way for almost four songs, Dean holding Castiel close, and Castiel resting his head on Dean's shoulder, eyes shut.

The music stopped and Castiel lifted his head to find Dean staring down at him, something unidentifiable in his eyes. Then the other man leant down and captured Castiel's lips with his own in a soft, chaste kiss.

When their lips parted, Castiel moved closer and pressed them together once more, deepening the kiss and coaxing a low moan from the back of Dean's throat.

Their clothing ended up on the floor of Castiel's bedroom as they stumbled their way towards the bed, constantly kissing and touching. Neither one willing to stop touching the other long enough for them to undress.

At last they were free of the clothing that was restricting them. Castiel stood, blushing under Dean's gaze that raked over his body from head to toe. "Beautiful" Dean breathed almost reverently, "I knew you'd be perfect."

Dean gently pulled him down on top of him, Castiel groaning at the feel of their bodies fitting together like they were made for each other. "Dean" Castiel panted, "I want… I want to feel you in me."

"Fuck, Cas" Dean swore, his breath catching "where do you keep…"

"Top draw, hurry Dean" Castiel almost whined, he was so hard and he needed Dean to do something before he went crazy.

"Shh baby, I gotcha" Castiel wanted to scoff at the pet name but his brain lost all ability to function when Dean's finger found that spot inside him that made him cry out.

By the third finger, Castiel was shaking "Dean, now. I need you, right now" He panted.

Dean slid into him, inch by inch until Castiel was begging him to move, he was so full. So full of Dean and it was perfect.

It was over far too quickly, Castiel coming apart in Dean's hand with a few short strokes, screaming Dean's name so loudly he thought he'd probably scarred old Mrs Watson across the hall.

"Cas" Dean moaned, coming apart only a few moments after Castiel.

Castiel's last thought before sleep took him, was that Dean Winchester was the right Mr Wrong.

They slept tangled together all night.

Castiel woke pressed up against Dean's chest, strong arms around him. He felt warm, and safe. Something he never felt, even with Balthazar.

Dean kissed the top of his head and murmured something about a shower before getting up and heading into the bathroom.

Castiel lay in bed for a little longer, basking in the feeling of safety that Dean gave him. Eventually he got up, planning to make them a big breakfast.

He saw Dean's jacket lying on the floor where they'd tossed it last night while they were hastily ripping each other's clothes off, smiling happily at the memory, he picked it up and put it on the bed. Dean's wallet fell out of the pocket, scattering coins and receipts on the floor.

Bending down to pick them up, one in particular caught his eye, he turned it over to see his own, creased face smiling back at him.

Why on Earth did Dean have the picture of himself that he sent to Jensen Ackles in his very personal letter?