A/N: How is everyone? Sorry for the delay! Omg, loving the season so far. Pretty sure I'm going to die tonight, but enough about that. Onwards!

Cas's mouth had never been so dry. His head didn't ache, but his body was lethargic. His stomach wasn't quite right. At first, he thought the low rumble he heard was his stomach talking, but then he heard his name. He opened his eyes and blinked.

Dean's bed. He was in Dean's bed. With Dean.

His friend's mouth was open, his breaths were even in sleep. His lips were so plump. Cas remembered quite vividly the feel of them moving with his. The memory was warm. He was warm. His brain hadn't caught up with him yet. It left him in a peaceful place where he could admire without being guilty or conflicted.

Dean was very beautiful. Cas was sure he wouldn't appreciate being called such, but beauty was the word that came to mind when he allowed himself to truly look on his friend. His face was pleasing to Cas; he didn't know any other way to phrase it. He didn't know if it was the symmetry or it was just the fact Dean had become very dear to him. He knew he liked Dean's freckles and the green of his eyes and his lips. He did like his lips. Beyond the kissing thing, Cas liked how expressive they could be. Or now, he liked the way they pouted as he sighed in his sleep, making those rumbling noises that Cas had heard earlier.

"Cas," Dean said his name so tenderly, Cas's breath caught. His friend mumbled his name again in his sleep. Was Dean dreaming of him, or did his idle mind understand Cas was there beside him?

Whatever the case, Cas discovered his already poor teenage impulse control was non-existent after a night of drinking. The thought he wanted to run his fingers through Dean's hair had only just crossed his mind before he was doing it. It was ironic, he thought. His inhibitions were supposed to be lowered when he drank, but he'd had enough sense then not to touch Dean like this. He'd wanted to. He'd wanted very much to touch him, but he knew it wouldn't go over well. Yet here he was, not drunk, and not thinking clearly at all.

Dean's eyelashes fluttered open and Cas's fingers stopped cold. He held his breath. Dean's eyes didn't focus. He smiled and to Cas's shock, his hand came up around his waist. "Cas," he mumbled again and snuggled closer. He pressed a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss against Cas's lips before his eyes closed again and his breath evened out.

For a long while, Cas didn't move. He couldn't tell if this was reality. Dean's lips were soft against his skin. His breath was hot and smelled less than pleasant. His body curved around Cas's. It was nice. Good. It only took Cas a few moments to decide he didn't care about whether or not this was reality. He liked it. He shifted, and when he moved, so did Dean. They both moved until Dean's head was tucked under Cas's, his arm snug around him. Content, Cas drifted back to sleep.

~0~

The first thing Dean was aware of was someone giggling. No. Not someone. Someones. The next thing he was aware of was that he was hot. Not attractive hot, though that was true enough. He was fires of hell hot. He was sweating.

"Did you get a good one?"

"A good one? I'm going to run out of memory on my phone."

More giggles.

"Oh, man. This is fucking priceless. Dean Winchester, you are so my bitch."

Dean's eyes snapped open. He was confused, at first, at what he was looking at. Then his body jolted when he realized he was staring at someone's chest. He tilted his head up. Cas. He was staring at Cas's chest. And he was burning hot because they were curled up together under the blankets. Not just huddled for warmth together, they were entangled. It was more than just Cas's arms around him and his arm slung over his friend's torso. Even their legs overlapped. And… well, certain other parts he didn't want to think about. "Son of a bitch."

He scrambled backward, ignoring Cas's grunt of surprise. He pushed himself up on his arms and stared in horror at the smirking faces of Jo and Tessa. "Smile," Jo said in a sing-song voice as she raised her phone to snap another picture.

Dean lunged for the phone, but Jo was too fast. He ended up in a heap on the floor. "Jo."

"Didn't mean to wake you, Dean-o. You looked so comfortable there. So." She looked over at Cas. "When are you going to make an honest man out of our boy here?"

"I, er…" Cas stumbled.

"Come off it, Jo. Erase those damn pictures."

"Oh, not on your life, Winchester."

"Jo!"

"Relax, Dean," Tessa said, stepping between him and Jo. She grinned. "You and Cas make a cute couple. Congratulations."

"If I see those pictures anywhere…"

"Oh, shut up, Dean. You know I'm not that kind of girl," Jo said. "This is for personal entertainment only. And you owe me, if you want to keep it out of Sam's hands."

"You'd better not."

"Don't be such a dick, Dean," Tessa said. "You're hurting Cas's feelings."

"My feelings are fine," Cas said.

Even in his panic, Dean could tell his friend's voice was flatter than usual. He glanced over his shoulder. Sure enough, Cas was sitting up, looking not at him, but at his comforter. "Son of a bitch," Dean said again. "Goddammit, my head hurts."

"Well, that's what we came up here for. There's Advil and water for both of you right there." Jo nodded at his desk. "We'll give you boys time to finish up."

The girls' giggling was clear through the door even after they closed it.

"Son of a bitch." Dean sat heavily on the edge of the bed, hanging his throbbing head in his hands.

"So you've said." Cas took a deep breath. "Dean, I don't know how-"

"You were drunk. I was drunk. It's fine. It's all fine. The girls know that. It's fine."

"Now we forget it ever happened."

Dean tilted his head and looked at his friend. Cas was staring again. His head was tilted down, but his eyes were on Dean. The air in the room felt thicker, full of static, and Dean didn't know why.

The same way it had felt when Dean kissed Cas. He hadn't forgotten. He thought about it too often to forget.

"Cas-"

"I'm having a craving. For hamburger and that spaghetti you made."

Dean had to laugh. "Grease and starch. Yeah." He cleared his throat. "Come on, Cas. We got ramen and bacon downstairs. We'll feel better then."

~0~

Cas was distracted. And confused. He remembered waking up earlier that morning to find Dean so close. Again, it was Dean who kissed him. Of course Cas was well aware Dean had been mostly asleep when he did it, but still, his subconscious had most certainly realized it was him. Dean said his name so many times, he had to know it was him.

Was he missing something? Cas was clueless when it came to the ins and outs of relationships and attraction. Attending school for the first time was an interesting experience. It seemed to come so easily to everyone else, but Cas was lost. A number of times, girls had attempted to flirt with him. He only knew because after they had wandered away with dejected looks on their faces, Dean or Jo would tell him he was an idiot. They'd always said it in good humor, so Cas hadn't taken them or the girls' intentions too seriously.

That was another thing. Most of the flirting, attraction, and whatever else masqueraded as love amongst high schoolers seemed ridiculous. It made his fellow students silly. And melodramatic.

Yet, for all their silliness, Cas found himself falling into the same patterns he'd seen over and over again in his classmates. That morning, in a room full of friends, his eyes were stuck on Dean. He watched the way he interacted with Tessa, Jo, and Ash. Cas had eyes. Tessa and Jo were attractive women, and Dean, as he had stated multiple times, was attracted to girls. Yet they were girls who were his friends. He shoulder bumped them, laughed with them, joked.

The way he touched and looked at Cas was different.

Or was it? Was it Cas's imagination?

Cas raked his hand over his eyes. Stupid. He was being stupid. He resented it. In his life, he'd felt many things, but stupid was not one of them.

A warm touch on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts. "Hey, Cas." Dean leaned in close so he could put a plate of his promised greasy breakfast in front of him. He grinned. "Eat up."

Cas's skin tingled where Dean had touched him. His cheeks burned hot, a fire that shot through his body and settled right at his groin. He swallowed a groan as he shifted in his chair, self-conscious as though his friends could read his mind. He kept replaying his family and faith's lectures on the distraction of lust.

Lust. They always made it sound so vile, but the experience of it was quite different. Though Cas ducked his head and tried to concentrate on his food, he couldn't help but be aware of Dean. Someone had turned the heat up, and Dean was walking around in sweatpants and a gray shirt that hugged his lean form. He grabbed the orange juice from Ash and drank straight from the carton, waggling his eyebrows as Jo told him he was an asshole. Cas stared at his neck and wondered if his skin there tasted different than his lips.

Cas shook his head hard. What in the hell was wrong with him? It didn't matter that Dean confused him. Dean had repeatedly said it wasn't what he wanted, Cas wasn't what he wanted. And Cas shouldn't want him. It was…

No. It didn't feel wrong. It felt anything but wrong. Torturous at times, like then when he couldn't stop thinking about his friend- but not wrong.

Tessa snapped her fingers in front of Cas's face and he jumped. "What?"

She laughed. "Man. You're out of it. Are you feeling okay?"

"Fine. Thank you."

"You hold your liquor pretty well. I'm impressed," Jo said.

Dean clapped Cas on the back as he sat down in the chair kitty corner from him. "Course he does. Cas is tough for a little nerdy guy."

"I asked if you'd heard back from any of your colleges yet," Tessa said.

"Oh. No, not yet."

"Where did you apply?"

Cas felt guilt and irritation on the heels of that. For his friends, it was such a simple question. "NAU, of course. And a few other places. California, mostly." Though it was ridiculous, he tensed, waiting for his friends' condemnation.

"Ah, California. Who doesn't want to move to California? What's wrong with Phoenix?" Jo asked.

"What's wrong with NAU?" Ash said. "Everyone always wants to leave. I like Flagstaff."

"Don't worry, Ash. NAU is the only place I applied," Dean said. His tone was light, but when Cas looked up at him, he could see the tightness around Dean's eyes. "Not like I could afford anyplace else even if I did get in."

"Plus I'm pretty sure your dad and your brother would kill each other."

Dean made a face, but he didn't argue. Cas's was disgruntled at the idea Dean would limit himself for his brother's sake. He wanted to argue, but was he any better? Yes, he'd applied beyond NAU, but he knew in his heart of hearts he would be unable to walk away from his family. Leave Samandriel with Raphael? That didn't bode well at all, no matter what Samandriel said.

The conversation moved on before Cas could formulate an argument.

By the time John and Sam came back, everyone was in a suitable condition to go back home to their parents. Cas collected hugs from the girls and Ash. They also each put a flash drive in his hand.

"Dead Like Me. Sherlock. Firefly are all on there," Tessa said. "The essentials."

"Books?" Cas was confused.

She ruffled his hair. "Shows. Educate yourself."

"Classic Star Trek. New Star Trek. All the Marvel movies," Ash said.

Jo winked. "Porn. Lots of porn." She laughed when Cas did a double take to see if she was serious. "And books. Vonnegut. Palahniuk. Oh, and The Fault In Our Stars, because everyone should read that."

"Vonnegut and Palahniuk. Can't argue with that. Just be careful with that other one, Cas. I don't know what it is, but Jo throws in a genuine chick flick every now and again," Dean said. "Come on. I'll take you home."

It was only later when he was alone in his room that Cas realized he had a text from Jo. There were no words, no teasing despite the image attached. It was the picture from that morning: Dean and Cas fast asleep, clinging to each other.

Cas stared at the picture for a long time.

A/N: Many thanks to barburella, jfka06 and songster.

Well. What are you thinking, hmm?