A/N: Cas decides to take control in getting the others more comfortable.
Warnings: Sexual references, sneaky Castiel, domesticated Dean, and Gabe having a freak-out.
-MWM-
Gabriel left for work only reluctantly – Castiel had to forcibly push him out the door – and then Cas and Dean were left alone together. Dressing took longer than usual, with the pair constantly finding excuses to touch each other, then Cas spread out his classwork on the bed while Dean went to fetch the morning newspaper.
"This one's not bad," he muttered a little later. "Ugh, no, bad area."
Castiel grinned to himself. Dean hadn't realised that he was speaking his thoughts, but it was quite entertaining. More so than his current assignment, anyway.
"Oooh, this one!" Dean then shoved a listing underneath Cas' nose. "That one, we should get it!"
"…You only want it because of the name of the suburb, don't you?"
"Well, it's cool. But look at the house, it's in a decent area, not far from shops – and it says it needs some work. I could fix it up for us! I did maintenance for a while for Crowley, it couldn't be that much different."
"When's the showing?" Castiel grinned up at him again, and Dean quickly scanned the ad again.
"Friday morning at eleven. You free then?"
"'Fraid not. Gabe should be if he finishes up his project tomorrow, the two of you can go check it out."
Dean paused, shifting slightly. Naturally Cas caught the motion and gave him a sceptical look.
"I'm not sure that's a great idea," Dean muttered. "We're still not really comfortable around each other…"
"Dean, you'll be looking at a house and deciding whether or not you want to buy it. There doesn't have to be any romantic overtones. I'll say the same thing to Gabe when I get home tonight – I can't always be here as a buffer."
"Yes, sir," Dean saluted, grinning.
"Oh, shut up."
-MWM-
That night, Gabriel came home to find Dean asleep on the couch. He grinned a little and went to the kitchen in search of food, only to pause. Taped to the fridge was a page torn from the newspaper, one listing circled. Written next to it was a note from Dean: We're going to check this one out on Friday. Cas' orders. Your dinner's in the oven, should still be warm, leave a plate for Cas.
Gabriel smiled a bit more, looking over the listing, then he checked the food, surprised. Dean had turned out to actually be a decent cook, and now there were two plates of casserole in the oven. The oven was on a low heat, so the food was at a perfect temperature for Gabriel to dig in. Which he did.
By the time he'd finished and was using some bread to mop up the liquid, Dean had roused himself and was sitting up on the couch, rubbing at his eyes.
"Hey Gabe." Pausing, Dean tried to remember when he'd started calling Gabriel that, then shrugged. Something he'd picked up from Castiel, most likely.
"Hey," Gabriel nodded back, finishing the last of his meal. "That was good. Haven't eaten since breakfast."
"Glad you like it," Dean grinned easily. "Danni taught me. Figured I should have something respectable to offer whoever I decided to settle down with."
"She was sure you'd settle down?"
"Eventually, yeah. She pretty much adopted me and Sam, and was determined that I'd find something better for myself."
"It was mentioned that Crowley helped raise Sam, too…" Gabriel paused.
"Yeah, sorta," Dean shrugged. "He paid for everything. One of the stipulations for getting Sammy into this really posh school, was that he had to keep his grades up and meet with Crowley. So he was sort of like a rich uncle."
"That you slept with," Gabriel commented.
"Well, yeah. Started a few days after I turned eighteen. Before that he never made any advances, since he saw me as a kid. Then we slept together whenever it was convenient – it wasn't a relationship at any point, if that's what you're worried about."
"Not worried," Gabriel sat down near to Dean on the couch, turning to face him and resting his head against the back. "Just curious… your life's been so different. I guess I don't really understand the things you've done or been through."
"Maybe," Dean looked down, considering. "It didn't seem that odd at the time. I just kept doing whatever it took to keep Sammy safe. Not that he forgives me for it now. At the time, he seemed to understand my need to protect him."
"Hmm." Gabriel frowned. Sam had been trying to reach out to his brother while they were there, he'd seen that, but he didn't know the whole story.
"And I guess I really don't know what you and Cas went through," Dean continued. "I mean, I took up drinking, but never got into anything stronger."
"Yeah, that was a shock," Gabriel nodded. "I don't think I've ever been so scared as when Cas ran away from here and blew a guy in the park for… something, I don't even know what it was. But he didn't have any idea who I was, just kept trying to kiss me and rub against me. He was so out of it… I managed to get him to sleep it off, but if he'd been determined, he could've overpowered me."
The two stayed silent for a moment, each digesting the knowledge they'd gained.
"Gabe, Cas can't come to the showing on Friday. Are… are we gonna be okay together?"
Gabriel took a deep breath, then nodded.
"We kinda have to be. Look at us now, we're having a conversation when Cas isn't here. We can do this."
"Okay," Dean nodded, and reached out to gently rub the back of his fingers across Gabriel's cheek. The older man closed his eyes, and found that it was quite pleasant. Dean clearly cared about him, perhaps not as much as he cared about Castiel, but they could do this.
-MWM-
"I want it."
"Gabe, we have to look at it first," Dean stifled a laugh.
"Don't care, it's in San Gabriel! I want it!" The shorter man was shifting in the seat of the Impala, chewing on a stick of raspberry liquorice Dean bought for him at the gas station. He'd quickly remembered that the best way to appease Gabriel was to offer him sugar of some variation.
"We're here," Dean pulled up outside their potential new house. Both men looked it over, then shared a glance. It didn't look anything special, but it wasn't obviously run down.
The inside was in fairly good condition, other than the horrible paint job.
"First thing to go is the pink living room," Gabriel muttered.
"Deal. Then the puke-green bathroom." Dean agreed.
By the time they left, it was decided – it needed a complete re-decoration, and the yard needed work, but this was going to be home.
-MWM-
"So, how'd it go?" Cas looked up from the couch as the others walked in from their day-trip. Gabriel shrugged, then paused and looked at him sharply.
"Didn't you have a class to go to?"
"Nope," Cas turned back to his book. "Whatever gave you that idea?"
"You did…" Dean narrowed his eyes, as Castiel proceeded to look innocent. "You just wanted us to spend today together without you there."
"Pretty much." Cas continued to read, a small smile on his face.
Gabriel and Dean both looked at him, then at each other, and nearly identical looks of mischief crossed their faces.
"Fine," Gabriel stuck up his nose. "Come along Dean, we'll have our noon-time shenanigans by ourselves."
"Righto," Dean put his arm around Gabriel's shoulder, bending down a little to press a kiss to Gabriel's temple as they walked to the bedroom.
"Hey!" Castiel stood quickly and ran to tackle them both. This ended with all three in a pile on the floor, Gabriel trapped on top of Dean with Castiel sitting astride him. He was strangely comfortable with that, especially when Cas leaned forwards to kiss Dean over his shoulder, making sure to nip at Gabriel's neck on the way down.
Gabriel moved to wrap one leg around Castiel's hip, noticing that Dean was doing the same. As a result, Dean's rapidly growing erection was pressed against his arse, while Castiel was slowly grinding down against him – and it was suddenly too much.
He let out a whimper, starting to struggle, and Castiel immediately jumped back as though burned.
"Gabe?"
"I… I can't!" Gabriel scrambled up and disappeared into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
"…Fuck," Dean muttered, seeing first-hand the consequences of his previous actions.