"I was exercising," Dean said, pulling the first excuse he could think of.

"You? And this late at night?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, man. 'The body is a temple' and all that crap."

"Sure…so, I'm going to let you get back to Cas now, okay? See you in a few days. Call if you need anything," Sam said before hanging up.

"Dammit."

"Are you ashamed of me, Dean?" Cas asked, leaning up on his elbows in the bed.

"No! Of course not. I just don't want to let my brother know I'm banging an angel of the Lord," Dean said, getting back in bed.

Cas didn't seem convinced.

"Look," Dean said, putting his arm around the man and pulling him close. "I could never be ashamed of you. Never. Let's get some sleep."

Cas didn't need sleep, but he lay his head against Dean's chest, listening to the rhythmic pattern of his heart as he slowly fell asleep. When Cas was sure Dean had fallen asleep, he sat up to look at him. He examined every inch of his face; his freckled cheeks and nose, the curve of his lips, his hairline, even the small creases next to his eyes. He looked so peaceful. Cas realized his attraction was more than just physical.

Somehow, over the years of hell on Earth and, well, just plain Hell, he had fallen in love with Dean Winchester.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Dean awoke early the next morning to find Cas still lying next to him. He looked over at the angel, who had a small smile playing around his lips.

"Sleep well?" Cas asked, and Dean nodded.

"I thought I'd go make us some breakfast," Cas said, starting to get up.

"No, how about we go out? There's a waffle place near here that's really good. Besides," Dean said, grabbing Cas' hand. "I'd like to show you off."

"Dean?" Cas asked suddenly, rolling over to look him in the eyes. "How do you feel about me?"

Dean stiffened. He wasn't good with talking about things like this. Hell, he couldn't even tell Lisa he'd loved her. He decided the best course of action was to ignore it.

"Damn, Cas, you know how I feel about you. Come on, let's get some clothes on and head out."

He climbed out of bed and lumbered to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes out of his bag on the way.

Cas was confused. Dean had said he knew how he felt. But he didn't. Cas needed to hear what was going through the hunter's mind. Unless…he didn't feel the same as Cas. Maybe he didn't love him, just like he didn't love nearly all of the women he'd been with. Cas closed his eyes tight as he tried to block the image of Dean with all of those different women. The thought hurt him.

"Cas?" Dean asked, poking his head back through the door. "You coming? I'm starving."

"Yes, Dean, be right there."

Cas was quiet during the drive to the restaurant a few minutes later.

"Everything okay?" Dean asked, finally picking up on the silence as they sat down to eat.

"I don't think so. Dean, do you know how I feel?" Cas asked him.

"Hungry?" Dean asked.

"No, emotionally. How I feel emotionally."

Dammit, there were those emotions again. Dean decided he'd go with basic emotions. Those were easier than complicated ones, right?

"I don't know, Cas, I'd say you're sad right now."

Cas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Dean could be so clueless sometimes.

"I am more than just sad. I'm confused by you."

"Confused? Why?" Dean asked.

"I know how I feel toward you. But I don't understand how you think I would know how you feel."

"Damn," Dean said, running his hand over his face. "You should know my feelings about you. I'm so obvious about it!"

"You mean because we had sex?" Cas asked, and several diners turned to look in their direction. "You have had sex with lots of women, and felt nothing for them."

"Keep your voice down!" Dean said, glancing around quickly.

"Are you ashamed of me?" Cas asked.

"I already told you no!" Dean said.

"Lover's spat?" the waitress said, pouring more coffee into Dean's mug.

"This is really none of your business, sweetheart," Dean said forcefully.

"Ah. I think it is," she said, eyes blacking out. Dean looked around the room and saw every set of eyes had blackened as well.

Dean sat back quickly against the seat, but Cas stood.

"Don't think so, sweetie," the demon said, flipping up the tablecloth to reveal an angel sigil. She slapped her hand to it and Cas was instantly pulled away.

"Nighty night," she said to Dean, and everything went black.

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

"Ugh," Dean groaned, trying to rub his battered skull. He couldn't move his arms; he appeared to be tied up.

"Every damn time," he said to himself.

Dean looked around the room. It was huge, covered in signs and sigils Dean could only assume were meant to hurt angels. He appeared to be in a warehouse, tied to a rigid wooden chair. He tugged his hands roughly again, but couldn't move them.

"Awesome," he said.

"Well, look who's up!" a voice said. Dean craned his head to the side to see the waitress walking toward him.

"Where are we? Where is Cas?" he asked.

"We sent him away. Can't have him angel blasting us to bits again, can we?"

"He'll come after me. I know he will," Dean said, trying to reassure himself.

"We're counting on it."

Dean realized this was a trap for Cas. And he was the bait.

"Don't you dare hurt him. Don't touch a hair on his head!" Dean growled.

The demon grinned maniacally as she walked to Dean. She leaned down right into his face.

"When we're done, there won't be any pieces larger than a hair anyway."

Dean's cell phone started ringing. The demon picked it up and answered.

"Hello, Sam," she said, and Dean could hear his brother's worried voice over the phone.

"Where do you have him?" Sam said angrily.

"Oh, now, where would the fun be in telling you that? I know you like to figure things out on your own," the demon said.

"How do you know anything about me? Wait…Meg?" Sam asked.

"The one and only. Bye, now," Meg said, before closing the phone.

"That was stupid. You should have just told him where I was if you're so desperate for Cas."

"Really? Then they'll know it's a trap. Better to let them find you through the GPS on your phone. Let them think they're outsmarting us," Meg said.

"It wouldn't be hard to do," Dean said.

"Cute. Get some rest. I assume seeing us tear your angel and brother to shreds will be taxing," Meg said, before walking to the door and closing it behind her. "But don't worry, you won't have long to suffer. We'll kill you after we make you watch them die."

Finally, she had gone. Dean knew right away what he had to do. He closed his eyes, bowed his head, and started to pray to Cas.

A/N Sorry for the bit of angst in this chapter, but I needed it to move the story along. Don't worry, I like happy endings.