July 18th 2014

Castiel was freezing.

Bobby had sent him down to the storage basement to grab a new ream of paper for his printer and as soon as Castiel reached the bottom of the stairs, it was a though someone had thrown a bucket of ice water on him.

Moving quickly, Castiel headed over to the shelve that housed the paper and picked up one of the solid white packages, trying desperately to ignore the fact that he could barely feel his fingers.

"Holy fuck," he whispered, his body trembling from the cold.

Trying to stay focused, Castiel forced himself to move back toward the stairs with every intention of dropping the paper off at Bobby's office before heading to the garage to get the longest, warmest hug from his boyfriend he could manage.

Smiling at the thought of Dean, Castiel honestly couldn't believe that they had been legitimately together, out in the open, for three months.

Of course, those last three months hadn't been exactly easy. And they had even had a few major setbacks, the biggest one being Dean's decision to drop out of school just one week before graduation.

However, although Castiel had not supported Dean's decision to drop out, he did understand it.

Dean was in the middle of a huge custody battle with his father for Sam and he needed to prove to the court that he could support his younger brother if he became his legal guardian. And to do that, Dean had to have a full time job which was why he became Bobby's daytime mechanic and opted to withdraw from his last semester of high school.

Plus, it wasn't like Michael and the rest of Dean's ex friends had made it easy on him to stay in school. Truthfully, between the verbal abuse and the beatings Dean took so Castiel wouldn't have to, he was almost relieved when his boyfriend called it quits.

But still, it upset him that Dean was so close to graduating but didn't, and he hated that his boyfriend had pretty much given up on his hopes of going to college and playing professional football.

Sighing loudly, Castiel struggled to put his troublesome thoughts in the back of his mind in favor of returning to his task at hand. There was no use dwelling on the negative anyway, not when things between Dean and him were better than they'd ever been.

The two of them actually talked now. They expressed their feelings in a healthier manner and worked through any issues that came up in their relationship.

They also went out a real dates as well.

Dean held Castiel's hand in public, let him rest his head on his shoulder during a movie, and made it a point to tell him every day just how happy he was to be his boyfriend.

And it didn't matter that Castiel was leaving for California in less than two months because he knew Dean and him were going to be okay. Which, as far as Castiel was concerned, was all that mattered.

They'd figure out the rest later. They always did.

Smiling happily, Castiel began to walk up the stairs, a ream of paper tucked under his arm when he heard the faint sound of scratching coming from behind him.

Whipping his head around, a chill washed over Castiel's body when he saw what he could have sworn was a pair of red, glowing eyes staring at him from the far corner of the basement.

"…H-hello?" Castiel called out to the ominous figure looming in the shadows.

"Cas, move!"

Jumping violently, Castiel had just enough time to scramble to the side before Dean ran past him, throwing what seriously looked like salt at the form of a pale, gangly woman who disappeared into thin air when the substance hit her.

"Get upstairs, now!" Dean ordered, shoving a very confused and equally as stunned Castiel up the old, wooden steps of the basement.

And when they were safely in the dimly lit hallway, Dean slammed the basement door shut behind them, bending down pour a line of salt in front of it.

"…Wh-what the hell was that?!" Castiel shouted, barely able to concentrate with the sound of his heart pounding rapidly in his ears.

Leaning back against the door, Dean gave his boyfriend a sly smile, clearly amused by the horrified look on his face.

"Well…I guess it's about time I told you what I do for a living," Dean chuckled as he reached forward to run his fingers through Castiel's hair soothingly.

"Wha-what? You mean…you aren't a mechanic?" Castiel asked, completely dumbfounded.

"Technically, yeah but that's just my day job, baby," Dean told him. "First and foremost, I'm a hunter."

"…A hunter?" Castiel repeated, titling his head to the side curiously.

"C'mon, Cas, let's get you a chair and a glass of water. Once you've calmed down a bit, I'll explain everything," Dean cooed as he grabbed Castiel by the hand and lead him to the small kitchen area in the shop.

And even though he followed without hesitation, Castiel knew, he just fucking knew that what his boyfriend was about to tell him was only going to complicate their situation even more.

Not that he was surprised. Dean Winchester didn't do anything unless it was complicated.

Yet, Castiel loved him anyway.