Hello all. New chapter, mainly focused on Dean and Cas. It's a little on the short side, but I thought I'd give it to you as a little break from all the plot related stuff that's been going on. Plot will resume next chapter, and arguments will be had. But for now, enjoy this chapter and please tell me how it is in the comments below! ~mayday5~

The flight had finally landed. Cas and Dean both climbed off the plane, walking towards only building in the airstrip. Dean tugged on the doors, but they were locked.

"So what now?" Dean asked. Cas shrugged.

"Well, I was going to leave town before Gabriel came and go back to my apartment in New York... He started, but he hesitated. He didn't want to leave so soon.

"You don't have to go yet." Dean said, as if he was reading Cas's mind.. "I mean, you can come over to my house to stay if you need to." He looked over at Cas hopefully. Cas did want to go, but he suddenly felt insecure. It would be the first time he had visited Dean's house since back when they first met, and he didn't want to stretch their still-fragile relationship.

"Well…"

"This isn't just an invitation. I want you to come." Dean encouraged him.

"Okay, fine. But only because you insist. I don't want to be a burden to you."

Dean grinned as he went to call Sam to ask him to pick them up. "Oh, Sam is going to be so surprised to see you." He chuckled.

"I hope I make a good impression." Cas commented.

"Are you kidding? He's already salivating over your music, I'm sure he'll love you, just like I-" Dean stopped. "Just like everyone else." He finished. Fortunately, Cas didn't seem to notice his mistake, but the unsaid words still echoed in his mind. Just like I do.

Sam picked up the phone. "Dean? Why are you calling so late? Isn't it almost midnight there?"

"Well, we flew home this morning and we're currently waiting at an airstrip. Gabriel let us use his plane, but decided we didn't need a car when we arrived, for some reason." He grumbled. "Can you come pick us up?"

"Us?"

"Yeah, Cas and I both came."

"Wait, Castiel's there too?"

"Yeah, genius. And we need someone to pick us up." Dean snorted. He heard scrambling in the background.

"Yeah, yeah, okay I'm coming. I'll be there in 5." Sam said, and hung up abruptly.

"Okay, then." Dean muttered.

"Is he coming?" Cas asked. Dean nodded.

"Yeah, we'll have to wait a bit, though."

"That's fine." Cas said. They both stood in the empty lot, at loss for what to say.

"So, Cas, how's touring around the country?" Dean finally broke silence.

Cas shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. It's very busy."

"You on a break or something right now?" Dean asked.

"Yes. Our next tour starts in early December. I'll have to return back to New York in about a 2 weeks to practice and get ready."

"Oh," was all Dean replied.

"What about you? Anything interesting of late?" Cas asked.

"Nah, not really. I ain't got much free time with my dad priming me up to take over the company." Dean was suddenly struck with the reminder of what Sam had told him a couple nights back. Their father was missing. Had he been found yet?

"Dean?" Cas asked in a concerned tone. "All you alright?"

"Yeah." Dean nodded, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "It's just, so much has changed, y'know? I'm not the same person I was ten years ago. Shit's happened and my whole life is screwed up and I don't want to bring you into this mess. I'm just not used to being happy, and you are one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I don't want to ruin this too."

Cas looked at him. "Good things do happen, Dean."

"Not in my experience." Dean said softly. The rumble of an engine and the sound of wheels driving over gravel alerted them to Sam's presence.

"Hey." Sam said. "Sorry I'm late. I had some things to take care of."

"It's fine. You were right on time." Dean climbed into the passenger seat, leaving Castiel to sit in the back.

Sam's eyes widened when he saw Castiel. "Um, Mr. Novak, I'm so honored to meet you. I mean, I have met you before, but you were unconscious and so was Dean and your brother had to introduce you, so I don't think that really counts, but I'm a big fan, and I can't believe Dean knew you before, he didn't even tell me-"

"Sam." Dean smirked. "You're blabbering. Shut up and take us home, will you?" He said.

"Yeah. Um, yeah. Of course. Sure." Sam blinked, starting on the drive home. "So, Gabriel told me that you two used to be together. I don't recall you mentioning that, Dean."

"What? No, we weren't. We were never together."

"Well, actually, we are now." Cas stated. Sam whipped his head around and looked at Cas.

"Wait, are you two…?" Sam looked between Cas and Dean.

"I guess so." Cas said. At the same time, Dean shook his head.

"It's not like that." Cas furrowed his eyebrows, a hurt expression on his face. Dean quickly tried to fix his statement. "I mean, we are, but- I don't know. Can we not talk about this now? Please?" Dean asked. Cas turned away, looking out the window, and Sam looked at his brother, concerned. But he knew better than to press and instead struck up a conversation with Castiel about his music. Dean sighed and looked away. He had only been with Cas for a couple hours now and already he had fucked things up. Nice job, Winchester.

The car ride seemed to go on for an eternity, even though the airstrip was only a few minutes away from their house, so Dean was very grateful when they finally pulled up in the driveway. Except for the fact that there was another car there. Dean climbed out of the car and knocked on the window of the other vehicle. The window rolled down, revealing an attractive blonde.

"Hey. Private property." Dean said. "No parking."

The blonde smirked. "I know. I was waiting for Sam." Dean stepped back and let Sam get a view of the woman.

"Hey Sammy. D'you know her?" He asked. Sam eyes widened.

"Yeah. Um, yeah." The woman stepped out of the car, leaning against it. "Ruby, this is Dean, my brother. Dean, this is Ruby."

"His girlfriend. She announced. Dean whistled.

"Woah, Sam, you didn't tell me you had a thing going."

"Uh, yeah, um, I forgot." He stuttered.

"You forgot?" Dean snorted in disbelief.

"Come on, Sam. We have to go." Ruby said, grabbing Sam and dragging him towards the car."

"Go where?" Sam looked like a deer in headlights, glancing back and forth between Dean and Ruby.

"Our date." She said, shoving Sam into the car.

Dean smirked, waving at the couple as the pulled out of the driveway. "Have fun Sam!" He yelled.

"Shut up, jerk." Sam called back.

"Don't forget to use a condom, bitch!" Dean shouted gleefully at the retreating car. Beside him, Cas laughed.

"You're just like Gabriel sometimes. He would do that to me too, tease me all the time. It annoyed me to no end."

Dean shrugged, relieved that Cas was talking to him about something normal. "It's part of the older brother code. You gotta tease them or else they get too cocky." He said solemnly.

"I was never cocky." Cas said. "Gabriel did it for fun."

"Can't help with that. But I don't blame him. You're cute when you're embarrassed." Dean said, and then blushed, clearing his throat. "Anyway, let me show you inside." They stepped in and Dean led Cas through the halls. Cas looked around, absorbing the layout of the house and the intricate details in the architecture of the old house.

"Hey, Dean?" He asked. "Is that a music room?" Cas peered through the doorway.

"Yeah, my dad bought a bunch of these instruments but we never use them. You can go look inside if you like." Cas bolted into the room before Dean finished his sentence, sliding into the sleek bench of the grand piano. He lifted the lid, dusting off the keys gently. Dean chuckled, entering the room after him. Tentatively, Cas pressed a key, wincing when it was horribly out of tune.

"Sorry." Dean apologized, taking a seat in a nearby chair. "We never used it, you'll probably have to tune it a bit." Cas shrugged, reaching into the piano.

"It's fine. My grandmother's piano was frequently out of tune. I often had to do it myself." Cas searched around until he found a tuning wrench in a box, and brought it back to the piano. It took a while, but the piano was finally tuned, and Cas sat down at the bench once more. He started to play a short, lively tune, and Dean leaned forward, watching him intently. When Cas finished the song, he looked over and saw Dean staring at him.

"What?" Cas asked defensively. Dean shrugged, smiling.

"Nothing. I just like watching you play. You seem happy." Dean commented.

"Yeah. It brings back many memories from my childhood. Like this song. It was one of the first I ever learned, and I'll always associate it with the last Christmas that I remember my family celebrating together. I played it for them then." Cas sighed contentedly, closing the lid of the piano and turning towards Dean. "Someone of my skill should be playing complicated music, but I've found that it's always the little songs that make me happy. The small minuets and serenades from my childhood are all tied to all the good memories I have."

"Yeah, it's always the small gestures that are the nicest." Dean smiled at Cas.

"And the smallest words that hurt the most." Cas replied coolly. Dean winced.

"No, Cas, come on, it's not like that." He started to apologize, but Cas brushed him off.

"It's fine Dean. I shouldn't have said that. It's fine." He repeated. Dean snorted, walking over to sit next to Cas on the piano bench.

"Like hell it is. I was being stupid back in the car. I didn't want Sam to know yet, so I blew you off and told Sam it was nothing. But this isn't nothing to me Cas. This relationship, you, it's everything I have, and I'm sorry for hurting you." He apologized seriously. "I mean, this is what I was talking about, about screwing things up. We've only just started this and I've already made you hate me." Dean sighed, pushing his hair back from his forehead.

"I don't hate you." Cas said softly to him. "I don't, really. And I get it. There's so much history between us, and I don't want to mess things up so soon either. This is new to me too. You were my first love, Dean, and we've waited this long for this to happen. I can wait longer for everyone else to know. If you don't want to anyone to know yet, I'm okay with it being just us for now."

Dean looked up at Cas in awe "Just us." He echoed softly. "What did I ever do to deserve a boyfriend so amazing?" He smiled gratefully at Cas.

"I've been asking myself the same question." Cas murmured. He leaned forward and kissed Dean lightly, ghosting over his lips.

"What was that for?" Dean asked. "Not that I minded." He said quickly. Cas shrugged, putting his arm around Dean and lifting up the piano lid again.

"Nothing." He said. "It's just that the last time we were in this position, I never got to kiss you."

"Or teach me how to play." Dean pointed out.

"Or teach you how to play." Cas agreed. "How about we remedy that?" Dean grinned.

"Sure thing, my magnificent music maestro." He sang.

Cas snorted. "You're going to have to stop that alliteration if we're going to be dating."

"No can do, my perfect piano-playing prodigy." Dean shot back.

"Shut up and watch me play, will you?"