Castiel didn't know what to think. Not of Dean nor of the situation he had found himself in, but rather of why... Why did he let himself get this carried away? He knew better then to go down this road, yet there he was, entering the dark forest of the unknown, carrying a little basket and humming carefree while the big bad wolf was hiding in the shadows.

He mentally groaned at his own stupid thoughts. Yes, he felt a strange pull when it came to Dean and his oh! so green eyes, but he wasn't being bewitched into wishing to be closer to the man. He was just... Lonely. And Dean seemed like he wanted to be his friend, so why not give it a go, right?

Maybe because he hurt you? Lied to you from the moment you met?- his brain helpfully supplied.

But he said he was sorry, he apologized and he... He was trying to redeem himself, he repented of his actions. And if he set aside the fact that Dean li... deceived him, and just focused on Dean and who he was as a person... He was interesting. He read some of the same books Castiel did and shared his opinion on the plots and characters, though Dean was a bit more enthusiastic. Actually, he was generally more enthusiastic, lively about everything. He was just so positive and easy-going and the kind of person whose smile would light up the room. That was probably why Castiel felt drawn - like a moth to a flame.

He couldn't stop glancing at him as he dried the dishes Dean washed, but he tried to focus on Dean's hands instead on his face, so as not to be caught looking. His hands didn't look too soft, like they were maintained, but they weren't too rough either, and were generally manly without the excess hair. All in all very nice hands. For some strange reason Castiel noticed them even back then, in his apartment, when Dean... Stayed over. His eyes would wander towards the man's hands when Castiel handed him clothes or passed the plate of food, a small thrill going through his system if their fingers brushed.

"You know... You don't have to stay and go through the boxes, if you have something planned, or you know... Whatever..." Dean said snapping Castiel out of his thoughts and it took him a moment to figure out what Dean was saying.

"I didn't make any plans." Castiel answered and wondered for a moment if this was Dean giving him an out or maybe that the man didn't want him around, close? If that was the case, he wouldn't have chosen this shelter and he wouldn't have asked Castiel if he would come to the shelter today, would he?

"Oh." Dean replied sounding as if he didn't expect that and Castiel blushed slightly. Did Dean think he was the kind of a person with loads of friends and weekend plans? "Well, uh, guess with you staying here then, it could be considered as plans, right?" Dean offered as if he could read Castiel's slight embarrassment. And strangely, it did make him feel better. Yeah. It was Friday and he had plans. Plans that involved sorting through boxes and boxes of stuff, but it beat staying at home alone and reading. At least here, he won't be alone. He would be with Dean. Huh...

"So, how you wanna do this?" Dean said wiping his hands in a kitchen towel, turning bodily towards Castiel. His piercing eyes made contact, so green and vibrant and filled with life. Wait, what? Do what? Castiel lost touch with reality there for a second, but luckily Dean kept talking, breaking the eye contact to put the towel down. "I was thinking we could store everything where it is supposed to go and with the excess stuff, we could use the boxes and sort it among them. You know - toilet paper in one box, soap in other and so on... What do you think?" The look in his eyes morphed into something with a bit of hope and Castiel didn't understand why it was so for a moment until it hit him - Dean was asking what he thought, if he liked his suggestion. He was hoping for an approval. He was hoping Castiel would like his suggestion.

"That sounds like a good idea." Castiel heard himself respond. He wanted to sound more enthusiastic, or at least give Dean a better praise, a nicer compliment instead of a plan, stupid 'that's fine'. He wanted to try and talk more, sound friendly, make small talk, be normal. So as they started walking towards the storage rooms, Castiel forced himself to ask "You, um... You don't have any plans for tonight either?"

The moment he asked, he felt as if the question might have been too personal, but then again, Dean asked him the same, so it must be fine. Besides, he really wanted to know more about Dean, and maybe even find out if he had a special someone waiting for him. Not that it really mattered, Dean couldn't possibly be interested in a guy like Castiel even if he was by any chance interested in men. Which Castiel didn't know if he was. What if he was?

"Nah. Nothing important. I was supposed to met a friend at Sidekicks saloon, but we could always get together tomorrow night. Or next weekend, she'll understand." Dean replied.

"She must be a very good friend..." Castiel started, somehow saddened by the fact that she might be more then a friend, when suddenly, his brain made the connection, and he blurted out "Wait, isn't that a gay bar?"

"Please don't tell me you have something against..."

"No! No, I just... I'm surprised."

"Why?" Dean asked with genuine curiosity. Castiel half expected him to be angry or defensive, because of his reaction. Castiel wanted to avoid any misunderstandings, so he took a deep breath and started to open up, much more then he normally would.

"Please, don't take this the wrong way. I have absolutely nothing against any type of sexuality, I... I am... I am homosexual myself. But I... I am not used to having it discussed so openly, and... That is what I found surprising, that you would just say it like that. I am not judgmental, I... I apologize..." Castiel spoke, stuttering and lowering his voice with every said word, realizing he just told Dean he was gay without even a second thought of how the man might react. Considering how things ended up between him and Daphne, one would think he would be a bit more careful and not wanting to face great humiliation like he did back then.

"It's okay, man. I get it. I don't really go advertising I'm bi, either. Charlie just likes that club because of their margaritas and she finds the crowd interesting. She is always dragging me to go there and be her wing man, and believe me that is way better than when she tries to be mine... She ends up scaring everyone away." Dean talked smiling, so carefree and uncaring, and it just swept Castiel away. He could listen to him talk all day... Wait, did Dean just say...

"Well... Let's get started. Wanna take a box each and see what's in them?" Dean said, and looked at Castiel with his green eyes, making the man loose all train of thought for a moment. As Dean's words replayed in Castiel's mind, he nodded and picked a box.

A few minutes later, he had hygiene supplies on one side, and the canned food on the other, while inside the box, he left two blankets. He glanced at Dean who seemed to have a similar idea, only since he seemed to have a bit more cans, he left those in the box.

"Um... Maybe..." He started, but startled when Dean turned to look at him. He had to clear his throat before he continued. "Maybe we could put the cans in one box and when it is full, take it to the kitchen?" He offered, and it sounded kind of stupid to him. Because that was basically Dean's idea from before, but that idea was for the supplies that were excess, not of the stuff that needed to be distributed around the shelter, like cans in the kitchen and blankets in the closet.

Castiel's brain groaned at him, but luckily Dean smiled so widely, Castiel felt overjoyed seeing it once more.

"Trade you my toilet paper for your can of beans?" He said and Castiel just had to reciprocate the smile. It was just so easy, being around Dean. The man had a knack for making Castiel feel good about himself and for lighting up the mood. His smile was so contagious sometimes.

All those things should scare a person like Castiel, but somehow they had an opposite effect, they made him want to act, made him want to open up and be as cheery and happy as Dean.

"My soap for a few cans of peaches?" Dean said next and Castiel huffed a laugh as he passed him the requested items and took over the soap. Soon they had enough in each box, so Dean said he would take the cans to the kitchen and would come back for the toiletries, so Castiel nodded and went back to work. When Dean returned to crack open the next box, they exchanged smiles and just dug right in.

It was around the 12th box that things started to get strange. Not because of Dean, but because if the things they started finding in the boxes. A few random items here and there, like spoons, scrunchies, pens, children's drawings, those were regular. But then they got to their first weird item.

"I am not sure what this thing even is." Castiel said eying the strange tube and turing it around as if he might be able to figure out what it's purpose was. Dean huffed a laugh when he saw what Castiel was holding.

"It's a bong, Cas."

"What's a bong?"

"You... You seriously don't know? You never saw, when in the movies, they... You know what, nevermind. It is used for smoking marijuana. We should probably throw it away." Dean replied. Castiel frowned down at the item in his hands, looking it over and trying to figure out how it was used.

"I think my downstairs neighbor uses these." He suddenly blurted out. He looked at Dean who gave him a confused look, making him blush, but feeling the urge to explain. "I had a friend in college who smoked and whenever I see my neighbor, I pick up the same smell, I am guessing it is marijuana. And I think I saw something similar in his apartment when I went to his place to ask for my measuring cup back."

"He didn't offer you any brownies, did he?" Dean asked and Castiel laughed. Of course he knew Dean was alluding to hashish brownies, but he was too embarrassed to say he already tried those back in college.

They decided to throw the bong away, setting it in the box marked Garbage. A few more oddities found their way into the boxes, like a zipper head, an eraser, a box of toothpicks, and the absolute winner - a small butterfly collection. Dean thought that one was a keeper and Castiel agreed.

There were also useful things they didn't expect to find - like a few good pots, three Swiss army knives and super glue. They also found clothes and shoes, some of those almost new.

Once again, Castiel was the lucky one to find something weird. "What is this?" He asked looking over a sort of a tube with a small hose attached to it and a little pump, like the one you would see when a nurse took your blood pressure.

"That, Cas... Is a dick pump."

"Ewwwwww..." Castiel shouted out as he threw the item away from himself, and somehow managing to catapult it straight into the Garbage box. Dean tried to hide his laughter as Castiel ran past him and into the bathroom to wash his hands.

"Sorry." Dean sympathized with a small comforting smile on his face. "You know, we are almost halfway through this, maybe we can call it a day and start fresh tomorrow?" He offered after Castiel went to run his hand over his face, then realized that hand touched the penis pump, making a disgusted face at his own hand.

"Yes, I think that would be wise." Castiel replied still staring at his hand, and it wasn't until Dean picked up the last box of cans to take to the kitchen that he snapped out of it. "I'll take the blankets and pillows to the closet." He did as he said, then came back for the last box filled with toiletries, only to find Dean picking it up. The man gave him another small smile before turning to put the box away. Castiel found himself easily returning the smile, something he wouldn't have done before and as much as that fact was confounding, it wasn't unpleasant at all.

They tidied up a bit, then locked up that section of the shelter as Balthazar instructed them. They checked the people staying at the shelter, but most of them were already asleep, so they just left them be and headed out the door. Outside, Dean paused, for some reason looking adorably embarrassed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Can... Can I walk you home?"

"I don't know, can you?" Castiel shot out, surprising the shit out of himself for being so bold, instantly going wide-eyed and pale. But Dean laughed and all his fears and discomfort just washed away with that sound.

"MayI?" Dean asked still smiling and Castiel found himself smiling back and feeling lighter then ever before.

"You may."

So they started walking, Dean throwing glances at Castiel, and he noticed, but chose not to say anything or even look back until they reached Castiel's apartment building. "So I um... I guess I'll see you tomorrow, huh?" Dean asked, and Castiel felt a bit playful, so he decided to answer with a hint of tease in his voice.

"Maybe."

It was worth it to see more of that radiant smile of Dean's and that spark in his green eyes. It wasn't until much later, when Castiel laid in bed, that he started to doubt his actions and question his every move and every spoken word. Being around Dean, the man made everything seem so easy, and now that he wasn't with him, his old fears and light phobias started to creep back in. More nightmares followed that evening, but not nearly as intense as they can be, and Castiel wondered if it had anything to do with Dean, even if a part of him knew that it did.

When Castiel walked into the shelter that morning, he found Dean in the kitchen, standing over the stove. "Hello, Dean."

"Jesus Christ! Cas! You scared the shit out of me!" Dean said as he whipped around, taking his eyes of the pot of boiling eggs. As he turned, he unintentionally brought his hand closer to the pot and as the water bubbled, it splashed around, a few drops landing on his hand. Dean immediately withdrew it, hissing and Castiel was next to him in a second, a worried expression on his face, mixed with some guilt.

"It's just a few drops, it's fine." Dean said smiling as Castiel inspected his hand. There were a few red spots on the skin, clearly nothing life threatening, and as Castiel looked up at Dean and saw the smile, he froze, letting Dean's hand drop from his. Shame washed over him, not just because of the fact that Dean got burnt cause of him, but also because of the way he was acting. He had no business taking and holding Dean's hand like this.

"Well, if it isn't two of my favorite helpers." Balthazar said as he and Alfie carried in a large tray of cooked ham. Castiel gave him a questioning gaze, they normally served oatmeal for breakfast, it was nutritious enough and cheep enough to work in favor of quantity over quality. Since Balthazar offered no explanation, Castiel figured it was a donation by a random restaurant (it happened on occasion), he doubted Balthazar would spend more money then necessary. "Meg just arrived too. If you want, you can get cracking on those boxes, we can get the breakfast covered. That way, you would be out sooner, have the Saturday night off..." Balthazar offered.

"I ain't got any plans, but if you are sure you don't need me for breakfast, I can dive right back in." Dean replied.

"Me too." Castiel added, and after Balthazar nodded, both of them retired to the back rooms, to the storage. They worked silently for an hour, picking up where they left off yesterday. It wasn't until Dean took away their first box of cans and unperishable food to the kitchen and came back with two bottles of water that they finally exchanged words. "Thanks." Castiel said as Dean handed him one.

"Balth says the breakfast is almost done and once they finish serving, we could have whatever there is left. I already ate this morning, but even I can't say no to ham and egg sandwich." Dean said and Castiel just nodded. He could eat too. Dean kept looking at him as if he was waiting for Castiel to say something and when he didn't, Dean kept talking. "My brother says I am weird, but I like mayo with boiled eggs. You think that's weird?"

"No. I find that mayonnaise helps diminish the dryness of the cooked yolk." Castiel replied, not stopping his sorting. Dean went back to working on another box, but didn't stop making small talk.

"I know, right? I mean, it's not like I put mayo on a pizza."

"Ketchup is for pizzas." Castiel replied.

"Exactly! Thank you! He calls me weird, yet he is the one that puts sea food on pizza or pineapple, ugh!" Dean replied and laughed at Castiel's disgusted face.

"Must be nice. To have a brother."

"Has his good and bad sides. He can be annoying little shit sometimes, but I still love him." Dean replied and Castiel just hummed at that. "I take it you don't have siblings?" Castiel shook his head. "I can't even imagine that. I was 4 when Sammy was born and we did everything together." Dean said and Castiel gave him a small smile. The next half hour passed in silence again, both of them working on separating the items in the boxes into food, toiletries, clothes and blankets, interesting trinkets to keep and garbage. They found a nearly dead plant, a stapler, a few interesting books and an old Tetris game they decided to keep, as well as some bottle caps, a broken clock and some random junk like papers and broken plastic pieces they all threw in the garbage box.

"You know... I never asked you what do you do?" Dean asked and seemed to want to add something more, he opened and closed his mouth, deciding against it.

"I... I proofread and edit books."

"Oh." Dean said, clearly interested in the fact that they were actually in the similar line of business. "For which company, if it isn't a secret?" Dean added, curious.

"Crossroads Publications Inc." Castiel replied, and hated how cut off his answers were. Why couldn't he talk like a normal person? Why couldn't he be a bit more talkative, a bit more... interesting?

"No... You work for that douche Crowley?" Dean said and Castiel was surprised by the reaction, even though he shouldn't be. He learned just a few days ago just how big of a douche Mr. Crowley could be. "Man, that guy... Have you been working there long?"

"A few years."

"And lemme guess, he underpays you. No, don't answer that, I know he does. He thinks that since his workers don't have strict deadlines and can work from home that it gives him the right to cut their pay. A friend used to work for him, so I know." Dean said and paused, contemplating something for a moment before he started talking again. "Listen, if you ever decide you had enough of that asshole and want to find something..."

"Hey, guys, breakfast is over, so if you wanna grab a bite of the leftovers..." Alfie popped in and interrupted them. "... Better hurry up, so that I can get started with the dishes." He ushered them, and Castiel completely let go of whatever it was a Dean was tryin to say. Truth was he already had enough of Mr. Crowley, but knew well he couldn't walk away from him just yet.

As they ate, Castiel remained silent for most of the meal, while Meg kept picking around, asking Dean a bunch of questions and laughing when he told her it was none of her business. Still, Meg was far too cheery to be her normal self, and when Balthazar pointed it out, she said she learned that her boyfriend was getting out of jail within a week.

"They are letting Kincaid Foster out? How?" Dean asked frowning. Castiel knew Meg had been with a criminal and was working at the shelter as part of her punishment for helping him, but that was where his knowledge of the matter ended. Obviously Dean knew more.

"Good behavior. Cade played nice and got out on parole." Meg replied with a wink.

"Nobody gets out that fast. Something's up, Meg." Dean said, making it sound like he was trying to warn her. She just pff-ed at him and ignored him. "You really should stay away from him, Meg. I mean it." He said seriously, but kindly and Castiel caught something strange in Meg's eyes as she looked back at Dean. She didn't respond, she didn't say or do anything aside from finishing her last nite and leaving the table. Balthazar gave Dean an approving nod, probably agreeing with his statement, so when Dean glanced his way, Castiel offered a small smile.

They went back to work, and with only a quarter of the boxes left, they figured they would be done before the late lunch. They chatted more, about casual things like weather, books, tv shows and movies and Dean was astounded that there was a person out there that hasn't seen at least one Star Wars movie, so he joked he would have to correct that. Needless to say, Castiel blushed at the implication, but dared say nothing.

Dean just came back from putting another box of food away when Castiel came back with the box of toiletries he couldn't fit in the supply closet. It was Dean's idea to stack them up on the shelves they cleared out in the storage room, and Castiel agreed.

With the last box cleared, Dean went to put away the few cans of food he had while Castiel packed the rest of the toilet paper in the very last box. He took it to the storage room and tried to figure out where to put it, since the shelves here we're pretty packed too. There was one last spot on the highest shelf, so he brought the ladder and started to climb. He just barely lifted the box above his head to put it in place when the ladder wobbled under him and he sucked in a breath, thinking he was going to fall.

A breath of relief escaped him when he managed to stabilize himself, huffing a laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. It wasn't something heavy he was carrying, it was just toilet paper. He reached to place the box on the shelf once again and in that moment Dean entered the room and said his name, startling him. The ladder wobbled again, but this time, Castiel lost his balance and shouted as his legs slipped. He heard Dean yell his name again and the next thing he knew, he hit the soft ground with a loud crack.

It wasn't the soft ground, it was Dean he landed on, sending them both crashing to the ground. The loud crack didn't come from him, but from Dean, and by the the looks of it, from his back. Dean's face was contorted in pain as Castiel laid on top of him, so he quickly scrambled off, but not too far. "Dean! Are you... I'm so sorry, I... Are you alright, what hurts?"

"Only my pride for thinking I can catch you." Dean said with a huff. "And maybe my back, a little bit. But I'll be alright. Just wanna... Just gotta lay here for a bit."

"I'm gonna go get help." Concern covered Castiel's face.

"No, nah, that's... I'm good. Just gimme a sec."

"Are you sure?"

"Stay." He said, his expression soft and pleading. The air around them suddenly grew thick, making it very hard for Castiel to breathe, but he still nodded and stayed, his eyes trained on the green in Dean's. He listened to Dean breathe for a minute before he tried to get up, grunting, and Castile instinctively reached and grabbed his hand to help him up. Dean's back cracked again as he stood up straight.

"See. Good as new." Dean tried to joke, but Castiel didn't find it so funny.

"You should go to the hospital, have them check that out, that can be good. You can't just be fine."

"Seriously, Cas, I'm good."

"But I... I am heavy!" Castiel tried and Dean laughed at his argument.

"Yeah, you are. But it was worth it." He said and there it was again, that buzzing in the air Castile could feel crawl under his skin. He had no idea what it was, and didn't have time to consider it as Dean slowly, but steadily turned and started walking back towards the main hall.

Since Dean wouldn't listen to him, Castiel decided to tell Balthazar who quickly decided Dean wasn't needed for today and should go home and rest. Dean's expression seemed a bit hurt when he looked back at Castiel, but he still smiled warmly at him before he left.

Castiel spent the rest of the day thinking about him while he helped make the lunch, while he cleaned and ate the leftovers. His thoughts kept wandering back to Dean even after he got home and tried to finish Mrs. Rosen's cheesy book, but eventually had to call it quits, with only two chapters left.

He kept thinking about Dean as he laid sleepless in his bed, looking up at his ceiling, wondering what was it about that man that attracted him so. Sure, there were others that tried to make him smile, that were just as full of life as Dean was, but none of them could bring Castiel out of his shell as easily as Dean could.

That night the nightmares came again. And as Daphne mocked and laughed in his face as Zach tied him up again and breached him with minimum preparation while he cried and wailed and whimpered, it was Dean that came to his dreams and punched Daphne in the face and pushed Zach off of him and out the window. He untied Castiel, caressed his sore wrists as he held him close, rocking back and forth, repeating that it will all be okay.

And Castiel believed him.

Until he woke up the next morning in an apartment that was on fire.

Author's Notes: WHAM! *shouts and runs away*