"Happy new year," Dean whispered when he pulled back from the kiss. He gave Cas a smile before leaving the linen closet. He rejoined the party downstairs pretending his heart wasn't hammering madly inside his chest.

"Happy new year!" Dean chorused with everyone else. He inserted himself among the cheering and noise makers, passing around hugs and pats on the back as if he'd been there the whole time. Cas joined them moments later. Through the reflection of the mirror on the wall Dean was able to catch a look at Cas's face without making eye contact. He was blushing and looking everywhere, but Dean's direction. His eyes were wide and his hands kept rubbing the back of his neck, and loosening his tie as if it were chocking him.

"All right, all right. Everyone calm down for a moment. I want to hear everyone's resolutions!" announced Rufus as he popped a bottle of cheap champagne. Bobby was passing around its cheap plastic champagne glass counterpart.

"I'm getting a girlfriend this year," said Ash as Rufus filled him up. "Maybe it's time to settle down and hang up my hound dog ways." Dean laughed.

"I'm going to refrain from hacking into any government systems or programs for this whole year." Ash raised his bubbly towards her to show his empathy of how hard of a resolution that would be.

"The Samuel Colt Phoenixes are taking the damn regionals this year in baseball, dammit!" Rufus proclaimed. "Come on, Bobby. Your turn."

"Well, I guess it's a good time as any. I'm going to pop the question this year." The entire room burst into happy congratulations. The gruff man flushed, and then shrugged them all away muttering about "idjits" and "balls".

"Castiel, it's your turn," said Charlie.

"I don't have one. I don't usually make New Year's resolutions," he confessed.

"It's all right, Cas. I'll let you piggy back on mine. This year I'm going to introduce Cas to Star Wars," said Dean. Neither one of them looked at each other, not even when they all clinked plastic with each other and toasted to the promise of a happy year ahead. Charlie, Rufus, and Bobby left around one in the morning, around the time Ash and Dean took out the karaoke machine and sang off key, yet passionate renditions of mullet rock. By that time Ash and Dean were so drunk they barely registered the goodbye hugs Charlie gave them. Cas sat on the couch, content to be the audience in this sloppy concert. Ash ended up passing out on the couch like Thanksgiving, while Dean snored from his leather recliner.

In the morning Dean and Cas dropped Ash off on their way to the airport to pick up Sam. A block away from Ash's house, Dean asked Cas to change the music. He told him where to find the tapes in the glove compartment.

"Maybe some Led Zeppelin to start the new year right?" Cas nodded. He still hadn't looked at Dean all day. When he pushed in the cassette into the tape deck, Dean's hand found his. Dean kept his eyes on the road and kept silent as the beginning notes of Stairway to Heaven started. He dropped their hands to rest in the space between them, entwining their fingers as he did so. Cas didn't question any of it, not one bit, as they drove off. They stayed like that until the airport.


"So what did you two do while I was gone?" asked Sam later that night while Dean picked out their movie for the night.

"I taught Cas Texas Hold 'Em."

"Yeah? Maybe this means Dean will finally be able to have poker night."

"Hell yeah, that's the plan! How about Batman Begins?" Dean turned around to gauge their feelings on the matter. Sammy shrugged.

"Just a warning, Cas. Dean is going to get pretty weird. He's a little in love with Batman."

When Sam fell asleep a third way into the movie on the couch (which Dean fully expected, after all the giant hadn't stopped moving since they got home, and seriously jet lag is a very real thing), Dean moved from his recliner to the spot next to Cas on the loveseat. He sat so that their shoulders touched. After a few minutes, Dean turned to whisper in Cas's ear.

"You smell nice." Again Cas shivered as Dean's hot breath blew against the side of his face and neck.

"Thank you," he rasped back. He was sitting up straight and his face almost painfully focused on the tv. Dean smirked.

"So do you still want to move back into your old place?" Cas turned his head to face Dean. He was still leaning towards him and now their faces were as close as they had been back in the linen closet.

"No."

"Good. Because I want you right here." Dean licked his lips and Cas's eyes fell to them like a predator swooping down on its prey. The skin on Dean's face felt hot, and his brain became hazy except for the part that wanted to lean in to be closer to Cas. He felt the world shift around him and suddenly he was inching towards Cas's lips.

"Grrrrrrrruuuuggghhhh." Sam turned over on the couch.

"I better wake up Sammy and send him to bed. Can't be late for the first day of school tomorrow," said Dean. He got up and poked Sam on the ribs. After some shuffling and more poking, Sam got up and made his way upstairs. "I swear he's like half zombie," said Dean when they heard Sam shut his door.

"I should get to bed myself," said Cas. He stood up, and in the moment and a half it took him to do so, Dean managed to find words.

"Or you could stay here and make out with me."

Okay, so it wasn't exactly Shakespeare.

Cas's wide eyed look of shock only increased Dean's desire for him. Neither dared move. Finally, Cas spoke.

"That would be better." Dean walked up to him, but he wasn't sure what to do with his hands when he got there. He chuckled at himself. He hadn't been this unsure of his body since he was fifteen.

"Do you want to sit down?"

"If you prefer," answered Cas. Dean nodded because he was sure his knees where going to give in soon. They sat down and faced each other. Dean reached over and placed his arm on the back of the loveseat. His other arm lingered in the air for a moment until he finally settled it on his own thigh. Cas kept his hands together in his lap. They briefly caught each other's eyes, then both blushed and looked away.

"Geez, Cas. We look like a couple of scared freshmen." Cas's mouth turned up into a small, but easy smile.

"We are a couple of scared freshmen, Dean." That was enough to calm Dean's butterflies in his stomach. At least enough for him to take a deep breath and take the plunge. He closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss Cas's lips.

He missed.

They both fell to pieces in quiet laughter.

"I thought you were supposed to be some sort of Casanova?"

"Yeah, me, too. I don't know, Cas. You just make me nervous. I feel like I'm in the sixth grade and this is my first kiss."

"Dean Winchester, the picture of confidence and self assurance, nervous?"

"Only around you," said Dean in a small voice. The air in the room immediately thickened and the two men stared at each other. They leaned towards each other, this time both of them aware and prepared for it.

They kissed.

It was slow and soft. Dean's mouth seemed to fit just right with Cas's. Dean's lips spread open as he worked his mouth against Cas who accepted Dean's kiss with equal pressure with his wide and plush lips. He let himself drown in the feel of Cas's mouth. Each time he delved intyo a deeper kiss, Cas would just kiss back with the same desperation. Finally Dean could no longer hold back and his hands found Cas's waist. His body begged him to get closer, and he headed.

In a flurry of hot kisses and whimpers, Dean's mind could only hold on to two thoughts: Cas and closer.

Cas's own hands were wrapped around Dean's back, forcing their chests against each other. Dean could feel the heat grow in his groin, but couldn't remember how to gain friction there, he was so wrapped up in Cas.

"Cas, geez. You're so hot," said Dean through heavy breaths.

Castiel took this time to worship Dean's jaw line all the way to his ear. Dean moaned when Cas followed the trail of the most outer part of his ear with his tongue in a sinfully slow motion. Dean may have shivered, he wasn't sure. Cas's lips and tongue moved down and found a spot between the juncture of Dean's jaw and neck that ripped a gasp from the green eyed man's chest. Dean felt him smirk and then he stationed himself there at that spot, making base camp.

Dean unraveled.

Like a sweater with a loose thread, or a book with a broken spine, Dean unraveled.

He was moaning uncontrollably, his hips humped air until finally he found Castiel's thigh. Cas held his ground and kept nipping, sucking, and licking against that spot on Dean's neck. His strong arms held Dean close while the other man's roamed all over Cas; his arms, his back, his hair. Dean gripped those soft locks tight in his fist as Cas worked him. He didn't realize how hard he tugged at Cas's hair, but it only seemed to encourage Cas.

Dean threw his head back as Cas aligned their hips, then proceeded to grind into him. Dean was on his back on the too small loveseat before he knew it, and all he could do was bite the top of Cas's ear as they dry humped.

"Fuck, you're driving me crazy," Dean whispered. He could hear how rough his voice sounded. Cas moaned and Dean felt a hot jolt of lust curse through his body. "I'm so fucking hard, Cas."

Dean felt Cas grind into him harder, less controlled, desperate for friction.

"You like it when I talk like that, Cas?"

"Yes," groaned Cas. Dean bit his lip at the sound of Cas's voice. It was already rough, but now it was dirty and private, and only for Dean.

Dean grabbed Cas's face and pulled him in for a kiss. Their mouths opened wide and tongue lapped against tongue, hands roaming freely, wildly at each other.

"You're so fucking hot. You've got my dick so hard," whispered Dean. He watched with wide eyes as Cas sat up, eyes closed, hair mussed, lower lip caught between teeth. He began to grind against Dean with abandon, their barrier of clothing still on separating their heated skin. "Do you want me, too, Cas?"

"Yes. Dean, I-" Cas's words failed him, but Dean wanted to hear him. His name never sounded so sexy as when Cas threw it out in the throes of such lust.

"Tell me."

"Dean-" Dean bit his lip. "-I've wanted to fuck you since the first time I saw you."

"How?" Dean sat up and kissed Cas's neck while the blue eyed man continued to grind their hips. "How did you fantasize about fucking me?"

"I imagined you kneeling in front of me, sucking me off while I held onto my desk for support," Cas confessed. "I thought you were some Greek god when I first saw you. I've never seen anyone as handsome or as perfect as you."

"Fuck, Cas. You're so fucking sexy. Fucking nerdy, awkward bad ass. What did you do to me?" Before Cas could answer with what he would like to do with him instead, a giant thump sounded on the floor above them.

They scrambled apart with Cas jumping into the empty recliner across the room. Sam came downstairs, rubbing his eyes.

"Are you guys still up? Don't forget we can't be late, Dean. Death is supposed to have a reaping tomorrow."

"Yeah, Sammy, I know. We were just about to go upstairs," said Dean. Sammy nodded as he yawned, then headed back up the stairs.

"Night, Cas."

"Goodnight, Sam. Pleasant dreams."

Dean and Cas exchanged blushes when the moose like teacher disappeared up the stairs.

"It is pretty late," said Dean.

"Yes."

They stared at each and Dean chuckled nervously again.

"You know, tomorrow Sammy has a thing at Bobby's, so that means we'll have the house to ourselves for a couple of hours." Dean could feel the heat spread across his face.

"Oh. Good," Cas replied, not able to help the smile spreading across his handsome features. "That's good."

Dean gave him a shy smile before they headed upstairs to their own respective bedrooms.


Black patent leather shoes, black wool overcoat hanging on broad shoulders, black fitted suit, black slicked back hair, black eyes, black cane, and a sunken demeanor strolled through the halls of Samuel Colt High School. The sea of students parted, naturally making (and staying out of the) way of Death.

"Why do you call him Death?" asked Cas after the superintendent and Chuck passed his and Dean's classrooms.

"Because Chuck just about dies every time that guys visits." Dean flashed a smile at the teacher across the hall as a wave of scurrying students scrambled to get to class. Cas smiled back with a faint blush that stirred the butterflies in Dean's stomach. Actually, let's say it stirred the bats in Dean's stomach because that sounds less girly, and no matter what had transpired yesterday, Dean Winchester was not a girl.

Yeah, bats. . . Dean could work with that. He was like the Batman of Sioux Falls anyways, so . . .

Dean's classes dragged on for what felt like forty years. Thoughts of bats and Cas's mouth kept distracting him, which wasn't too bad as his students all seemed to still be on vacation mode. Still, they all trudged through it together, starting the new year fresh with The Great Gatsby. Dean's last class before lunch let out, and before Dean could gather his things, he felt a strong grip on his arm.

"Cas."

Dean's eyes darted to the now closed door, then up to the blue eyes that stared intently at him. Cas leaned down and kissed him hard. Thankfully he was sitting down otherwise he may have done something unbearably embarrassing. Like swoon.

And seriously, Dean Winchester did not swoon.

Swooning was for Disney princesses, and for love struck school girls, and not for manly men with muscles, and stubble, and testosterone.

Then Cas's tongue entered his mouth and suddenly all thoughts of swooning fell from Dean's mind.

Just as Cas's hand began to roam the flat planes of Dean's chest, the door knob jiggled and both teachers jumped apart. Dean scowled and crossed to the door, opening it to reveal Death and Chuck on the other side.

"May we come in?" asked Death.

"Sure thing," said Dean. He stood by Cas as both men entered his classroom.

"Mr. Richings, this is Mr. Novak. He teaches freshman and sophomore English, and Poetry across the hall," said Chuck, jerking his thumb in the direction of Cas's classroom. Cas and Death shook hands.

"Pleasure. We need to speak with Mr. Winchester privately."

"Of course," Cas said.

"I'll meet you at the table," said Dean. He awkwardly punched Cas on the shoulder. All three men in the room looked at Dean with cocked eyebrows. Dean cleared his throat and smiled weakly. When Cas left the room, Chuck and Death rounded on him.

"Am I in trouble?" Dean suddenly wondered if he could have done anything recently that would warrant a private visit from the superintendent. There was that pie incident at the senior art show, but that was two years ago. Maybe that softball thing with those dickheads from the next county over? No, that was last year. Surely there was a statute of limitations on pranking douche bags?

"No, Dean. It's actually the opposite." Chuck beamed at him. "You've won South Dakota Teacher of the Year."

". . . Holy shit."

"Yes. Well said. I'm here to personally congratulate you on this crowning achievement, as well as inform you that you are expected to accept this honor in two weeks in Chicago," said Death.

". . . Is this a joke? Are you pulling my leg?"

Death actually rolled his eyes.


"Shut up!"

"Congratulations, Dean!"

"Wow, man. Good job."

"Are you sure they have the right Winchester?"

Dean shushed his lunch table, not wanting the whole school to find out. "I know, it's unexpected. I can't believe it, either. I asked them if they were sure, if there was another Dean Winchester, or if they meant Sammy, but then Death smacked me on the shin with his cane. He said it was an accident."

"Dean, you're an amazing teacher. Shut up about not believing it," said Sammy.

"So what now? Do you get a trophy or a fancy award ceremony?" asked Jo. Dean answered through his first mouthful of turkey on rye, eyeing his watch as he did so. The talk with Death and Chuck lasted longer than he expected.

"I have to go to-" Dean swallowed, "to Chicago in two weeks. I'm supposed to accept a check from the state for the school. Thirty thousand dollars."

"Whoa, Dean. Whose going to decide where that money goes to?" asked Lisa. Dean shrugged.

"Chuck, I guess."

"Yeah, because Chuck is so good at making decisions that will displease anyone," said Sam. "He'll probably end up holding one of those staff meetings that lasts all day until we decide among ourselves. Remember last Spring when we spent two hours debating what color to paint the teacher's lounge?"

"Rufus has been pushing for new uniforms and fixing up the field," said Dean.

"But band hasn't had new instruments since I started working here," added Charlie. "And what about the Drama department? They never get any funding. The traveler curtain is half patched up with duct tape!"

"We still haven't replaced Science Lab C since that small fire Dean set three years ago," said Ash.

The rest of lunch passed with Dean shoving as much of his sandwich into his mouth while the rest of the table speculated who might get the funding, and who should get the funding. Under the table, where no one could see, Dean and Cas's knees touched, simultaneously reminding and promising them both of stolen kisses.

Today was certainly a good day for Dean Winchester.


A/N: This chapter was meant to be a lot longer, but I was so excited to update. The next chapter will be longer, over 5k words at least, and I think this is a good spot to split it. Plus there's some smutty smut smut in this chapter, so it's not all bad, I hope.

Thanks for all the reviews, I am overwhelmed by the positive response from last chapter. I was especially proud when I completed that chapter, and I feel like you guys can feel how much effort was put into it! Thanks for all the favorites, follows, and comments! I am encouraged, especially with the comments.

Special thanks to it-will-be-anarchy, and MatildaMavis!

Oh! And I have a tumblr now. CassiopeiaMercutio dot tumblr dot com! I want to follow more blogs, and if anyone knows any good Destiel fanart blogs, let me know! Also, I want to start testing out story ideas through there, so find me and let's be internet friends! I need a fanfic soundboard.