Chapter 7

Gabriel walked into the sitting room with a bemused look on his face. The couple were curled up together facing each other; Cas' hands were on Dean's chest, his arms wrapped around her shoulders, their foreheads touching. Gabriel could tell the Dean was good for Cas, brought her out of her shell a bit. He walked through to the kitchen, walking on his tiptoes so as not to wake the kids, he poured himself a glass of chocolate milk before going back upstairs, muttering to himself about having Dean round more often if it meant he could get a good night's sleep.

The smell of pancakes wafted through to the sitting room. Cas breathed in the smell; she loved it when her brother cooked, for one she didn't have to worry about doing it herself and she could blissfully ignore, yet savour the taste of, the amount of sugar Gabriel put in everything. She opened her eyes, the bridge of Dean's nose was millimetres away from hers. She giggled at their proximity. Dean groaned, not an early morning person, she figured the nicest way to wake him up was to kiss him gently. She closed the distance between them. He smiled against her mouth and tightened his grip around her slight frame.

"How does pancakes sound?" she asked.
"Mmmm", he grumbled.
"Come on, Gabe makes the best", she persuaded.
"Alright", Dean agreed, sleepily untangling himself from both Cas and the blankets, pushing himself up of the sofa and reaching out a hand to help Cas up.
She giggled at the sheet marks across his cheeks.
"You usually in such a good mood in the morning?" he questioned.
"Nope. Just haven't slept that well in a while..." she replied, slightly embarrassed.
"Me neither", he grinned, "we should do this more often."
They padded through to the kitchen, the cold of the tiles waking them up further.
There was a note from Gabe on the table; 'morning lovebirds, pancakes in the over, maple syrup in the cupboard. I'm seeing Alice today so I'll catch you later. Have fun.'
"Sit down; I'll bring the stuff over" Cas indicated to the table.
"No, I'll make the coffee" he smiled sleepily.
Even though she had seen him almost every day for the past couple of weeks, she hadn't seen him looking as gorgeous as he did now, his hair ruffled from sleep, his eyes giving off a warm glow, his t-shirt creased down the front, where she had been lying not 5 minutes before. She hadn't felt so refreshed for a long time. She caught a glimpse of herself in the window; the dark rings already looked lighter.

She pulled the plate out of the warm oven carefully and carried it over to the table, careful to put it down on a mat. There were enough singes on the table cloth from Gabriel's drunken cake making.
Dean brought the coffee pot over to the table, kissing Cas on the top of her head before sliding in opposite her.
"So what are we going to do today?" Dean asked, cocking his eyebrow before taking a mouthful of pancakes and grinning.
"I don't know..." she said honestly.
"Well I have to take Sammy to karate at 11, but after that..., he looked out the window at the grey clouds, "the weather's not great so you could come over to mine and watch star wars?"
Cas laughed at the eager expression on Dean's face.
"Sure, but as long as we watch the Phantom Menace. It's my favourite."
"Okey dokey" he smiled once more his mouth full of pancakes, a trickle of maple syrup escaping at the corner of his mouth.

"Do you want a shower?" she asked, aware that Dean would probably like to wash.
"You go first, I'm gonna finish these" he smiled cheekily, a mischievous glint in his eye, "your bro is a really good cook."
"You should try the brownies."
"I'm guessing he has a sweet tooth" he said accurately.
"You don't know the half of it" she smiled before getting up and making her way upstairs. "I'll be out in about 10 minutes", she called, shutting the door to the bathroom.

The warm water poured down over her. The pounding, working out the kinks she had acquired from sleeping on the sofa. It also provided her with a moment to gather her thoughts. She was going to his house. The house where he lives. She wondered if it would smell of him. Probably, was the result she came to. She realised that she had been stood, her eyes fixed on a chip in the tile where her brother had obviously dropped something. She snapped into action, shampooing then conditioning her hair, before shaving her legs. Nothing was going to happen she thought, almost convincing herself that it was ok to look pretty and have smooth legs.

She stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around under her arms. She looked in the mirror, 'I look like the girl from the ring she thought to herself', with her black hair dripping around her shoulders. She pulled another towel off the rack, careful to leave one for Dean, and tied her hair up in a turban.

Stepping out of the door, she almost crashed into Dean walking across the landing.

"Sorry." She said embarrassed.

"Don't worry about it Angel, it was my fault." Dean smiled back.

"Bathrooms free", she said, stepping to the side to let him pass.

"Okey dokey, I'll see you in ten then", he winked at her before walking into the bathroom.

Cas heard the water start a few seconds later and realised that she had once again been staring off into space, and padded across the carpet into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.