Castiel slammed the waffle maker down squeezing his blueberry batter together. If he could just write one frickin' song to get the ball rolling then that would be just friggin' peachy. He groaned. A small beep sounded and he unhinged the waffle maker pulling out the fourth blueberry waffle. He grabbed the plate, swung by the stove and grabbed two pieces of bacon and eggs as well from Gabriel's frying pan which earned him an indignant 'hey!'. He whisked into the dining area clutching both plates in his hand.

Dean looked up from his stool at the counter and flashed him a playful smirk. "Hey there, Castiel."

The CEO smiled slightly. "Hello Dean." He placed a plate in front of Dean and one in front of himself. He leaned over the counter taking a big bite from his syrup drowned waffle. "My own special blend for blueberry waffles." He announced.

Dean pushed his coffee aside and rubbed his hands together pulling the plate closer to himself. "Can't wait!" He took a bite of one of the blueberry waffles and moaned. Castiel blushed furiously at the slightly erotic sound. "Mmm… God Castiel." His eyes fluttered shut and he opened them wide to look at him. "I swear man, I thought Gabriel's cooking was the best, but Jesus Christ! If you ever wanted to quit the big bad CEO game and work at a diner, I'd go there every day."

Castiel blushed even deeper and looked down at his plate taking a bite of his eggs. "Yes, well I must say I quite enjoy a good breakfast."

Dean chuckled with his mouth full of waffles. "How are you good at everything?"

The low rumbling laugh that emitted from Castiel's throat was intoxicating. Over the past week of seeing Castiel Novak every morning, Dean claiming that he was too busy to go grocery shopping, he had learned two important facts:

Castiel Novak was a giant mystery, dodging most of Dean's questions

And –

Castiel Novak never laughed.

So any chance Dean got – he did everything he could to make the stoic man smile. "What do you mean how am I good at everything?"

Dean took a sip of coffee. "Well, you run an entire corporation, you're a champ at Mario Kart, you manage to keep the rowdiest bunch of brothers I've ever met under control – not to mention your kick ass skills in the kitchen." He shrugged. "Sounds to me like you're pretty much good at everything that matters anyway." He smirked up at him playfully. "So, what's the secret? How do you do it?"

Castiel smiled and took a small sip of his honey infused tea. "To be quite truthful, Gabriel and I worked together at a diner in high school."

"Really?" Castiel nodded and Dean took another gulp of coffee. "Aren't you guys like multi-trillionaires? What'd you work at a diner for?"

The Novak rolled his eyes. "I had a lot of free time." He hesitated a moment before deciding to continue. "Actually, I only physically went to school for one year before I left." He frowned and cut out a piece of his waffle. "I was homeschooled in accelerated classes." He stabbed it with his fork. "Finished High School when I was sixteen. So when I wasn't homeschooling, I was working for experience."

Dean's eyes widened. "Sixteen?" Castiel nodded in response, his cheeks stuffed with breakfast. "So you really are a super genius?" He felt a cold settle in the pit of his stomach. Any chance he might have had with Castiel Novak was pretty much shattered at this point. What would a genius want with a bounty hunter/mechanic? He closed his eyes for a brief moment. Don't go there Dean, Sammy would kill you. Cas is just…. A friend. His eyes flew open. Besides, he was GQ's most eligible bachelor. He was probably one hundred percent straight. "How did you feel about your parents pulling you out of school?"

Castiel shrugged noncommittally as he toyed with his food. "They didn't exactly take me out of school…" He bit his lip shyly. "I just sort of-," He cleared his throat. "-didn't go." He shot a furtive glance at Dean before scooping up more eggs and stuffing his mouth full. Dean looked at him expectantly and he swallowed a painfully large bite of food. "School was an unpleasant experience for me, so I opted out to be homeschooled instead."

Dean raised an eyebrow disbelievingly. "Unpleasant? How was school unpleasant? When I was in school the rich kids always had all the friends."

Castiel groaned and set his fork down. "Yes, but I was in a private school. Everyone hated me." He was suddenly swept up in his memories. "Being the rich kid meant that nobody took you seriously. Everyone just thought I couldn't do anything for myself and insisted that I just bought my grades." He snorted. "It was ludicrous. So, I got mad and stopped going." He huffed proudly. "I figured if I could be homeschooled and graduate early and get into a better college than everyone else that they'd have to admit that I wasn't buying my way anywhere." He folded his arms and turned his head away.

Dean chuckled and couldn't help but find the 25 year old billionaire's pout adorable. He shook his head. "So, did it work?"

Castiel uncrossed his arms and faltered, cheeks turning pink again. "Not exactly." He rubbed the rough stubble that glittered across his jawline sheepishly. "I think being forced alone with tutors, college professors and PhD candidates made me feel…" He swallowed and his hand fell from his face. "…trapped." He cleared his throat. "When I was seventeen I petitioned to be emancipated from my father. He was furious." Dean held his breath. This was the most he'd ever gotten out of Castiel and he didn't dare move and forced his face to stay impassive to keep the man from shrinking back in on himself. "I tried to explain to him that I needed to live my own life and get out of that town and try and make my own way somewhere else." He laughed humorlessly at the memory. "And then he told me if I couldn't make it in our town, then I wouldn't make it anywhere." His lips quirked into a slight smile. "So Gabriel and I packed our bags and left." His smile grew a bit more. "And Michael, Balthazar and Lucifer left our father's company and moved into their own careers." He looked up at Dean. "And it was hard. We were completely cut off from everything." He chuckled. "Slept mostly on hardwood floors in people's living rooms until-," Realization that he'd been talking nonstop danced across his face and he stood up straighter and shifted the almost finished waffle on his plate. "Well, when you're young, life is about finding yourself I guess and well-," He shrugged. "We all ended up working for our father in some way or another. Even Gabriel caters his events." He smoothed out his suit jacket and tie.

Dean finished the last of his coffee. "And did you?"

Castiel blinked at him a couple of times. "Did I what?"

"Find yourself?"

A warm smile spread across his face. "I did." He glanced down at his sport watch. "Well, I better be off to work." He grabbed their empty plates and flashed him a bright teasing smile. "Think you'll be okay next week? Gabriel and I will both be in New York."

Dean rolled his eyes. "I think I'll manage." He chuckled. "Although, I still don't understand why all of you have to go."

Castiel just shrugged. "A few times a year the Novak family has to attend conferences and shareholder meetings to maintain our authority and status. One week in New York." Dean noticed the troubled look in his eye and he shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Well then," He ran his free hand through his hair. "See you next week, Dean."

-[]-

Wednesday afternoon Balthazar and Castiel were sitting in their hotel suite. The Brit banged his head on the table on closed his eyes. "Castiel. I think this is it."

Castiel was sitting on the couch, legs folded underneath him as he turned the page to Slaughter House Five. "Mm. You think what's it Balthazar?" He asked absentmindedly.

"I think I'm gonna die."

Castiel looked up from his book and cocked an eyebrow. "You think you're gonna die?"

Balthazar lifted his head and swiveled on his chair to face Castiel. "Yes!" He replied earnestly. "If I listen to one more lecture, I think I might kill myself."

Castiel rolled his eyes and turned his focus back to his book. "Quit being so melodramatic. You're fine."

Balthazar snorted. "That's what you think! You know who's lecturing tomorrow?" Castiel ignored him. "Richard Roman." He drew out the name. His brother's head snapped up from the pages in front of him. "Yeah! That's right Cassie Dick Roman." He folded his arms and slumped further into his seat. "God that guy has his own special place in hell." Castiel shifted uncomfortably and moved to respond when the sound of their hotel door clicking open caught their attention.

Gabriel, Lucifer and Michael strolled into the room carrying to-go boxes from a pizza shop in the hotel lobby. Michael held up the box excitedly. "New York style pizza! Can't go wrong with that!" Castiel glanced down at his watch noticing that it was already 9PM.

Gabriel shook his head teasingly. "Relax Cassie, we're on vacation." He plopped down at the head of Castiel's bed and opened the box in his hand.

"I'd hardly consider this a vacation-,"

"Just shut up and eat some pizza." Whatever protests Castiel had fell as his stomach rumbled and the sudden smell of pizza overwhelmed his senses. He shrugged and plopped down at the foot of his bed, sitting cross-legged and reaching for a slice. Lucifer sat down beside him as well.

"Whoa!" Castiel withdrew his arm and blinked alarmedly at Lucifer'voice.

"What! What?" His heart started beating rapidly and he clutched his wrist.

Lucifer's mouth was still gaping open and he shook his head. "I'm sorry." He smiled. "It's just been awhile since I've seen your tattoos. I forgot that you had them."

Castiel held out his arm and inspected it curiously. He was so used to wearing long sleeves, he'd almost forgotten that they were there. Lucifer took a bite of his pizza and wiped his hands on his sweatpants. "Let me see 'em again!" He took Castiel's left wrist and held it closer to him. The youngest Novak crossed his right arm over and dug into a slice of pepperoni as Lucifer inspected him. They ate in silence for a few minutes before anyone spoke again. Lucifer looked up from his arm. "Why'd you get this 'Brace for Impact' again on your forearm?"

Gabriel broke out into a fit of laughter and Castiel glared at him. "Remember when he got super drunk when he was barely twenty-one and we lost him for like 3 hours after a show?"

Michael started laughing as well. "Yes! There was that guy that had been eyeing Castiel our entire set… God what was his name again?"

Balthazar snapped his finger. "Zeke!"

Michael nodded. "Right! Right! Zeke, the tattoo artist!"

Lucifer's eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! And you got 'Brace for Impact' on your forearm so that every time you got into a bar fight and you'd throw a 'bow the person had been warned." The brothers all laughed and Lucifer dropped his arm grabbing another slice of pizza. "I forget, do you have any other tattoos than your sleeve?"

Castiel swallowed his piece and scanned his arm from shoulder cap to wrist admiring the colors covering every inch of skin. Gabriel answered for him. "Well he's got the wings on his back!"

Balthazar laughed, mouth stuffed with pizza. "Don't forgeht thah beesh on hish hipsh!"

Castiel groaned as his brothers laughed at his expense for the second time that evening. His thoughts shifted to his conversation with Dean before they left. "Hey um," He tried to hunch over his pizza to ask his question as casually as he could. "Do you guys remember what it was like when we left dad?"

Michael gave him a knowing smile. "You mean packed everything in our cars and just took off for Los Angeles to 'find our dreams'?" He teased.

Lucifer laughed. "Find our dreams and hit every single bar along the way to try and get them to let us play shows there."

Michael shook his head and smiled at his twin. "I don't envy you guys, singing back up was cool for like three months, but I was much happier being your manager."

Balthazar chuckled. "We played a show every night until Castiel's voice gave out and he caught that dreadful cold."

Casitel smiled at the memory. "That's when I started writing more songs for Lucifer to scream." There was a comfortable lull in conversation as they continued eating.

Michael walked to the mini fridge and started passing out beers to his brothers. "It's crazy how we ended up back with dad, huh?" He let out a light breathless laugh. "I just never thought I'd see the day when dad had a change of heart."

Castiel furrowed his eyebrows and stared down at the bottle of Coke Michael had tossed him. They knew so little… Michael and Lucifer worked at their father's law firm having spent years in law school. Raphael had always loved working of Novak Industries despite his lack of skills in business. Their father created a record label for Balthazar to sign on bands and Gabriel got the start up money for his diner. The youngest Novak darted his eyes to the side. Change of heart my ass…

Castiel Novak had a gift. The ability to read people like an open book, to sway business deals in his favor. He was charming. Charismatic. Intelligent. Observant. Logistical. He had the ability to look at a single problem from many angles before making a decision.

So him and his father made a deal.

Castiel would come to work at Novak Industries if his brothers could follow their dreams. He never thought he'd get the chance to sing again. In fact, he'd put the idea so far out of his mind it was almost unbelievable that they were at it again.

He froze clutching the Coke in his hand. "Right back at it again…" He mumbled.

Balthazar looked up. "Oh!" He tossed his half-eaten slice of pizza in the box. "Oh! I know that look!" He scrambled across his bed and swung his feet off. "Cassie's got a song."

Gabriel paled. "He's writing a song?"

"We left home with no kind of back up plan, and everyone we knew that we couldn't stand…"He muttered again. His head snapped up and he looked pointedly at Balthazar, his cerulean blue eyes were sparkling. "My guitar."