Dean turned to see what Castiel was looking at, and a blur of darkness as someone walked away quickly passed along the small gaps between the shower door and the wall. As if someone had been looking in on them. "Hey," he barked, making it echo angrily off the walls, and wrenched the door open. He leaned out to look. Shadowy footsteps pounded the tile floor. Whoever they were, they had bolted. The door to the bathroom swung violently as they ran off. Dean turned back to Cas, his jaw clenching. "He's gone."

"Jesus. What was that?" Castiel mumbled, embarrassed, as he quickly dried off and began to get dressed. "I mean I know we're sharing a shower, but if you can hear us and figure it out, why do you need to look?"

"We are kinda hot," Dean offered jokingly. The dirty look he got from Cas surprised him. Dean hesitated. Was Castiel embarrassed to be seen naked? I mean, I guess on some level it was violating, but all guys looked the same. Right? Dean dressed steadily, putting his stuff up, confused at the agitation in his best friend. "I mean it was probably a guy, we're all guys," he tried. "He's probably just uncomfortable with us sharing a shower. Does it bother you that much that he saw you…?"

Castiel looked away and hastily pulled on his shirt, ignoring him, and buckled the belt of his jeans with too much concentration.

Dean stared at him as he fumbled with his things. "Cas, it's all right to feel bad. Not to seem like a big player, but a lot of people have seen me naked; I guess that's why it doesn't bother me. But you're a handsome guy, you know." He made a thoughtful bob his head as he raked his eyes over Castiel. "You actually look great naked."

Shyly, Cas rubbed his face, and stopped moving around long enough to glance at Dean. The compliment had broken his anger. "I apologize," he said softly, "I… In high school, when I was bullied they used to bully me… in the locker room." He looked down at his hands. "They used to taunt me and tell me I was all sorts of stupid things. I looked… small; that I was ugly, things like that." Warm green eyes listened with a sharp guilt in them. Cas looked at his feet. "But those stupid things still got to me. I started to believe them." He gave Dean a sad, sheepish look. "I don't anymore. But I don't… people that I don't trust, I mean… anyone. I'm worried about what they would think."

"If anybody thinks anything bad about you, I'll personally punch them so hard that they never think straight again," Dean declared, "and give them an unprofessional tongue piercing if they even mention something like that." Warm hands touched Castiel's clean skin, sliding under his soft cotton shirt and grasping at the gentle swell of his belly, rubbing the bumps and curves of his abs and chest. The dark haired boy sighed into Dean's touch, his dark stress easing away. He held on by the back of his neck and hugged him. "I love you. You look amazing, Cas." Dean murmured, pulling him close and brushing his lips along his neck. "You're packing. And you're the only guy I've ever been attracted to naked - that alone should be enough to convince you."

"It is," Cas smiled as Dean drew back to look at him. He drank in the love in his eyes. "Having you act the way you do around me… You give me confidence, Dean. You made me see that they were just assholes. And they were. But I need convincing sometimes, and you convince me. Just your touch washes away anything they ever made me believe." They kissed slowly, with an uncanny tenderness, and parted long enough to be plutonic on their way back to the room. They walked together and nothing stirred. No one came forward to apologize, or taunt them. All they heard were fans buzzing and lazy conversation behind shut doors and Benny and Garth shouting adamantly over video games. Back in the room, Cas changed into his work clothes and Dean called Sam, and they got their things and left to wait for Sam to come. On their way down the hall, a door creaked open behind them and it made both of them whirl around. It slammed shut so quickly they didn't see who had been behind it, but they did see which room might hold their peeping tom – and it was the one right beside theirs.

Dean and Cas exchanged anxious looks. That means they'd probably heard everything they'd been doing, too. "Do you think he's the same one who keeps calling Ricky?" Cas whispered as they walk out into the parking lot.

"Maybe. When I come back tonight, I'm gonna find out," Dean replied darkly.

Castiel fell silent. When Sam pulled up, they climbed into the car and thanked him profusely for giving up the car for a week. He waved them off. "Couples need their freedom," he teased, making Dean smack him. They dropped Cas off at work with a kiss good-bye, and on the way to Sam's college to drop him off, Dean told him about their stalker. "Sounds like you've got a punching bag," Sam laughed, and Dean shook his head.

"I don't know, man. I mean we're not bothering anybody. We keep to ourselves. I'm just starting to be comfortable with this, and some jack ass is trying to butt in."

"I don't know, Dean. Maybe he's just curious."

"What do you mean?"

"Well he might be… in the closet. Maybe he likes you two… or something."

Dean stared out the windshield with a bewildered look on his face. "Like a threesome?"

Cackling, Sam hit the steering wheel with the heel of his hand. "Dude, I don't ever wanna think about that again," he winced, "But yeah, maybe. Or he could just be afraid of you. Some people are scared of gay guys - they think they'll get treated by gay men like they treat women."

Sitting back, Dean blinked. He had a point there. Gay guys he'd seen that were flamboyant chased straight guys around like guys chased girls. They called them out and whistled at them and got all handsy. Got all outlandish over them when they were drunk. The parallels were obvious now that he thought about it. He had no words for the clarity of that explanation.

"That's why I'm ok with it," Sam offered. "I mean, you're my brother. Whatever you want is… totally ok with me. And we're both pretty respectable with women. We don't ever treat them obnoxiously; we aren't afraid of the karma. So maybe just douchebags who actually are, are the ones afraid of gays."

Dean watched Sam walk off across the campus after they'd parted ways. He sat behind the wheel of his baby and sighed. Ok, so maybe this stalker kid was just afraid of him. Or liked them. He wasn't gonna lie, that thought was flattering, but at the same time he didn't want to share Castiel. Besides - Cas didn't want anyone except him to see him naked. His sturdy shoulders, the curve of his collarbone, the curly dark hair on his chest, the flesh of his stomach, the snail trail down the front of his boxers… Blushing, Dean pulled back out onto the road and drove back to his own campus. He'd just talk to this kid. That's all. Just a talk.

Dean parked the Impala and checked his watch. He'd pick Castiel up at nine. It was hardly five thirty; he had plenty of time to kill. Going back into his building, he walked down the hall, his eyes seeking out the stalker kid's door. He knew a few kids on their hall – tough Benny and dorky Garth, arrogant Uriel and crazy Frank, a ton of wrestler kids, some who liked to keep to themselves – but the room to their left had two tall, silent kids in novelty t-shirts who hardly left the room let alone went to class. They constantly had headphones on so it was not shocking they had no clue Dean and Cas were banging. But the room on the right had only one kid, as far as he knew. His roommate had gotten drunk and fallen out a window and been expelled. He didn't know who it was that was still there, or what their deal was, though. All Dean knew was that he transferred from another college at the last minute for some reason.

Walking up to his door, Dean glanced over at the stalker kid's room. He didn't want to do this. But for Cas, he had to. He had to mark his territory. Anyone who peeps is a creeper – and because Castiel was anxious about it, the guy had to know he was hurting someone by doing it.

Time to man up. Sighing through his nose, Dean put back his shoulders and walked to stand in front of the mystery door, knocking twice. He felt pretty powerful in his leather jacket and black t-shirt and scuffed-up jeans and boots. His glare was in place, and so was his clenched jaw. Let somebody mess with him. Almost two minutes later, the seconds ticking passed with exaggerated length, the door knob turned and the door cracked open slowly. Dean expected a short, stocky jerk with a scowl and a douche-stache trying to challenge his life style. But instead he actually just got a kid.

The guy was skinny. He was Cas's height but with no muscle. He had rumpled, dirty blonde hair and big pale blue eyes, his façade more like a deer in the headlights than a stubborn jerk like Dean imagined. There was a very cute high-schooler look to him in his long-sleeve, awkwardly striped shirt and khaki shorts and thick athletic socks. His thin limbs knocked together. He rubbed one arm with a slender hand, longer and thinner than Cas's hands, and looked at Dean with a guilty look on his baby face. "Yeah?" He cleared his throat and try again. "Can I… can I help you?"

Dean's anger just about faded. He looked seventeen, eighteen years old. Blinking, he just gave the kid a confused look. "Yeah, uh, actually you can." He cleared his throat. "My friend was spied on in the shower today, and he didn't appreciate it." Flashing the kid a smile, he put his hands on his hips. "You wouldn't know anything about that, wouldja?"

The guilty look on his face was accented nicely by a bright blush. "I'm sorry," he blurted, "I'm really sorry. I just… you guy are… I…" He put his hand on his forehead and stared at the floor passed Dean. "I don't know what's wrong with me." Looking up at Dean again he gulped. "Are you gonna kill me?"

Dean put up his hands, still recovering from the shock of getting an apology. "No, I'm not," he said kindly, studying the boy's face. "Want to tell me why you were looking at my friend naked?"

He got a wide-eyed look. "I thought he was your boyfriend," he blurted.