Dean couldn't sleep that night after they kissed. It felt incredible, to feel Cas' lips press against his own, to feel them move with intent, so unexpectedly, Dean thought he might still be dreaming. He wanted it, he wanted to become this close to Castiel, he was more then aware of his growing feelings, but he hadn't expected Cas to want it, and so soon. They have known each other for almost two months, but considering how they met, considering what Dean did to him, he hadn't really thought he would earn his trust so soon. Did he even earn it?

Was the kiss something Cas thought he owed Dean, for letting him stay? Oh maybe he was just happy because he managed to finish his work and the kiss was a spur of the moment. What if he regretted it? It was very hard sometimes to figure out what Cas was thinking. At one point, Dean even had a fleeting thought that the man didn't want to help Charlie with the edits, but felt compelled because of Dean? He really needed to talk to him, to clear the air.

Dean was awoken by the sound of his phone ringing, Zeke's name on the display. He completely forgot the doc was coming to check on Cas. He answered the phone, Zeke telling him he was right outside and then went to open the door, considering he was too deeply asleep to hear the man knock. After he let him in, he went to get Cas, pausing before his door and taking a deep breath.

He looked so peaceful, snuggling into the pillow with both his hands under his cheek. So peaceful and so adorable. His hair was all over the place, sticking out and just calling for Dean to run his fingers thought it. His face was slightly flushed from sleep and he had the cutest pout on his lips. God, how Dean wanted to kiss him. But no, not before they talked. So he gently woke him up, explained the doc was there, then turned to walk out, thinking Cas would follow. But Cas didn't. There was an odd look on his face, almost sad, and Dean felt the overwhelming urge to hug him and just hold him. But what if that scared Cas, what if it was something Cas didn't want? God, this would be so much easier if they just talked.

"Hey, you okay... Buddy?" Dean tripped over his own words, cringing how he sounded, but he almost called him sweetheart, and he didn't know how Cas might react to it. Why the fuck didn't he just use his name? It was obvious, Cas' reaction to the whole 'buddy' thing, and Dean felt like an idiot. He came back and crouched next to the bed, and hoped Cas would answer his question. "Cas? What's wrong?" He prayed the man wasn't regretting what happened last night. But he was so sad and Dean just couldn't help but reach out to touch him, needing to show Cas he was there, for whatever he might need, needing to comfort him in any way possible.

"Nothing. All good now." Cas huffed a smile, leaning into Dean's touch, and flooded Dean with relief. Sure, he was still concerned, but if he had such a positive effect on the man, then Cas maybe wasn't sorry about what happened.

Yeah, no, he definitely wasn't sorry, if that kiss after Zeke left was anything to go by. God, he felt it down to his bones, the tingles that spread through his system just from the kiss. It felt so good. It felt so right. It felt amazing and Dean didn't want to stop, hesodidn't want to stop, he wanted to feel more, he wanted it to last forever.

It was with great regret he pulled away. He hated the look on Cas' face when he did, a mix of confusion and panic, but he had to talk to him. And he did. It was clear as day that talking wasn't Cas' forte, and maybe it was easier to act, leaving a lot to interpretation and plausible denial. Words couldn't be taken back once spoken. And maybe it wasn't that Cas didn't want to talk, maybe he feared of opening up, being vulnerable? Dean knew it could be hard, letting someone know how you feel and possibly face rejection, it could hurt a lot, especially if you were already feeling low. So Dean took it upon himself to lay his thoughts, his feelings out in the open, anything to help Cas say the words. He could only hope he wouldn't be the one to end up rejected.

"I want you." The three little words had such an impact on Dean, like air to a drowning man, and he wanted to breathe it all in, but he knew he couldn't. He had to reel it in, and ease into to. He wanted to tell him that he wanted him too, so badly, that he couldn't imagine a day without him, that he wanted to share everything with him. That Dean was in love with him. Fuck. He was a goner.

Dean hadn't figured he was leaning in, not until Cas started doing the same. And yes, he wanted to talk to him some more, but he also wanted so badly to kiss him again, he just let it happen. The kiss was much slower, tender and filled with elevating emotions, for a moment Dean felt as if he was swooning. And then Charlie had to call. But he couldn't be mad at her, not really, not after she practically gave Cas a job.

Speaking of the offer, why was Cas so reluctant to take it? He might be a bit shy when it came to meeting new people, but he jumped at the opportunity when Charlie needed help, and not only did he do an amazing work, he also enjoyed doing it, it was so obviously in his element as his fingers kept hitting the keyboard. Did it have something to do with Crowley? Dean decided he really should find out, but he didn't want to push Cas into it, it was easier and better to let the man open up on his own. Sometimes, it even seemed like, Cas expected him to push, and when he didn't, Cas was pleasantly surprised and eager to talk and act, instead of closing off.

So lunch was spent doing just that. Dean talked about himself much more then he was accustomed to, but in return, he got a few pieces of information that he cherished. He was so happy that Cas loved Baby, astounded he knew so much about classic cars, that was one thing he hadn't saw coming. That, and having Cas look so good in his car. The way he would just relax and melt into the seats as if he was feeling at home. It was like he belonged there all along.

The one thing Dean hadn't told him yet, was that that car was the only thing he and his brother had left. He hadn't told him that his parents died in a fire when he was four years old, and Sammy was only 6 months. That uncle Bobby, or Robert Singer, the former editor in chief, took them in, bribing officers and judges to let the kids stay with him and not be put into foster care. That he raised them and that it was because of him that he became a reporter.

It wasn't that all of this Dean wanted to hide. It was more like he didn't want to bring Cas down, didn't want to ruin the mood. He would tell him one day, it wasn't anything important.

"Okay, where do you wanna go next?" Dean asked, really hopping Cas would say it would be okay if Dean wanted to take him to see Charlie. It was easy to hide his disappointment that Cas didn't choose that, because he wanted to go see Balth, and Dean understood. The place was his second home, the people there as close as he had to family, and it was natural to want to see them. Still, when Cas added, ever so shyly, that maybe they could go see Charlie after, Dean's chest filled with tremendous fondness. To see Cas trying, probably more for Dean, then for himself, however wrong that was - because he should be thinking about his own needs and desires and look out for himself, it still made him feel good. He wasn't shutting himself away like he did before, so it counts as progress, right?

Dean felt a pressing urge to lean and kiss him, just a quick brush of lips, a little peck on those soft lips, but he held back, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

Cas' eyes went wide as they drove closer to the shelter, and Dean couldn't help be amazed too. He knew Balth had offers to expend the shelter, money donations, since it was an election year, but he had no idea things would move so quickly. In just a few days that they were away, the rundown building next to he shelter was bared down, and they began redoing it, fixing it up for housing. There were three shipping containers, one set up for the workers and two fixed up to house people until the building was finished.

"Oh, wow." Dean let out getting out of the car.

"What... How..." Cas tried.

"I knew Balth had some investors lined up, but I had no idea things would move this fast." Dean said, as they approached the shelter where people were just finishing with dinner. Maybe they could help with the clean up? They saw Joshua and Zeke collecting the dishes while Meg and Lucas took turns carrying the trays, shooting one another knowing smiles.

"You... You knew about this?" Cas asked, bring Dean's attention back to him.

"I..." Dean was just about to reply when a hand landed on his shoulder, making him pause and turn, only to see Balth there, smiling widely.

"Of course he knew, this was the point, wasn't it?" Balth said and Cas turned to look at him, a start of a smile morphing into confusion. "That's why he chose to write about homeless in the first place. But I do have to say, the follow-up article about me... That's what started the avalanche."

"What... What do you mean?" Cas asked, while Dean had no idea how to act. He could feel his cheeks heating up, knowing exactly what Balth was talking about , but he didn't want to seem like he was gloating, like he was pleased it was his doing. He just oiled the machine, other people were the engine and the fuel, other people made it happen. He just pointed out the problem. No big deal.

"The article he did before, about the homeless, and the last one, about me and our shelter brought enough attention to make people act. We received a lot of donations and offers, the city even donated the vacant building and some big shots poured money into rebuilding it so that they could look good in front of it. But the bottom line is that the people get a more comfortable place to stay, running water and warmth for this upcoming winter, so we don't really care why they did it." Balth said looking over at both of them with a wide, pleased smile.

"And not only did he find my siblings..." Balth said, and much to Dean's mortification, Balth gave him a peck on the cheek before continuing "... he helped someone else find love..." He finished, trailing off and nudging his head in Meg's and Lucas' direction. Dean turned to see them walking out of the shelter, side by side, Meg giving Lucas heart eyes, while the blond seemed to try and play it cool, and failing spectacularly, before he rolled his eyes, swung an arm around Meg's shoulder and pulled her into a brief kiss. They were adorable.

Dean smiled widely too, looking at them. "They do look god together."

"Believe me, they are good for one another. Meg has been so much nicer to people, they think she's her own twin, and Lucas is so crazy about her, he negotiated giving more information in exchange for reducing her sentence." Balth said, then added with a secretive tone, almost like a whisper. "She's here voluntarily." Cas and Dean both gasped at the same time, then chuckled, both at the information and at their reaction, while Balth just kept smiling and looking very pleased.

Since there were a lot of people now working around the shelter, there wasn't much to help with, but Cas and Dean still took on washing all the dishes from the dinner. There was twice as many, because there were workers there to feed too, the food provided by the construction company along with a few restaurants, but it was easy to wash them, since the shelter now apparently had two dishwashers. Still, they loaded them up, washed the things that couldn't go into the dishwasher and worked side by side to make the kitchen spotless. Meg came in to tease them a bit, but without any malice in her voice and finally, to brag about her new boyfriend. Alfie came too, and they were thrilled to hear he was doing so well at school, all A's and extra credits. Dean suggested he might even be eligible for a scholarship and both Alfie and Cas beamed up at him, like he hung the moon. Dean felt his face heat up again.

He didn't know if he was still red in the face when they said their goodbyes and climbed inside his car, but he damn sure felt that heat rise back up when Cas smiled at him from his seat, leaned in and kissed him once, briefly, then scooted back to his side, shyly averting his eyes. Dean wasn't sure if Cas wanted everyone to see, but when he glanced out through the windshield, he could see Meg's brow raised amusingly and Balth's wink'n'smile.

"You still up to go see Charlie?" Dean asked as they pulled out of the parking spot. The shift in the air was almost palpable, and when Dean glanced Cas' way, he saw his shoulders slump and his head hung low. "Hey, we don't have to, if you don't want to. We can do something else or go back to the apartment." He said, and meant it. Charlie could be a bit... Too much sometimes, a complete opposite of how Cas was, and he didn't want Cas to feel pressured into meeting her. She was joking when she invited him for an interview, knowing well that the job was his no matter what, considering his excellent performance.

Cas' heavy sigh fell hard on Dean's chest, the action telling more truth than Cas' words. "Alright. I suppose we could go see her."

"If you don't want to..."

"No, I do. I do. It's just that, I thought we... No, never mind. I would really like to meet your friend, Dean." Cas said, and he must have managed to convince himself it to be true, because he had a small smile on his face, and not an ounce of anxiety in his bright blue eyes. But what did he mean by that 'he though they...' What did he think?

Dean contemplated what Cas might have meant all the way to his work building, not noticing the silence in the car until he pulled into the parking lot.

"Are you sure..."

"I am." Cas interrupted with a reassuring smile, setting his hand on Dean's knee as he turned towards him. "I look forward to seeing where you work and meeting your friends."

"Well, since it's this late, there will probably be only Charlie and a few other night owls, but that's it. Everyone else probably went home already." Dean said it, and could see some of the weight lifted off Cas' chest as he took a deep breath and smiled more sincerely.

On their way down to the basement, where the digital department was located (because it was new and they only had room for it there), he shot Charlie a quick text to tell her they were coming and to tell her to try and reel it in a bit.

"Hey, Red!" Dean called out, his voice echoing through the vast space.

"Over here!" She called from a desk to the right, a spot right under a high window that was the only source of light during the day. Dean knew it was her favorite spot. She was busy typing something so fast, Dean thought the keyboard would catch on fire. However, as soon as they came near, she stopped, turned more bodily towards them and grinned widely. This is where she would normally scream a high pitched 'Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!', but instead she just said a plain "Hello."

"Hello." Cas said, the way he normally did, but it somehow lightened the mood. "I am Castiel Novak."

Charlie's face twitched for a split second, probably unnoticed by Cas who had his hand stretched out to her. The smile was everpresent as she shook it, throwing Dean one meaningful glance. "Castiel. What an interesting name, I didn't know Cas was short for Castiel."

Oh, shit. He knew he forgot to do something, just couldn't remember what it was. Cas paused, probably remembering his name being used in Dean's article, and would have been left standing there confused and uncomfortable if it weren't for Charlie and her amazing ability to make everyone feel at least a bit better.

"I just love names that end with -iel. Like Daniel... Nathaniel..."

"Ariel..." Dean dropped in, making Charlie pout and Cas smile.

"What can I say, we redheads gotta stick together." She said, throwing her hair back with a flick of her wrist.

"I must say, I had no idea why Dean kept calling you Red, but I do understand now." Castiel commented.

"Well, yeah, there's that, but there is also her ability to solve the toughest problems with the simplest solutions. Like Frank Moses in R.E.D."

Castiel frowned and did his trademark head tilt like he would any time he didn't get a pop culture, movie or music reference. "Oh, man, don't tell me you haven't seen R.E.D?"

"This is a movie?" Cas asked carefully, as if he would be ridiculed if he was wrong.

"It is an awesome movie! In fact, any movie with Bruce Willis is great in my book. I can watch Fifth Element a million times and never get sick of it. Die Hard is the ultimate Christmas movie and he was so charming in Hudson Hawk. And omg, how adorable was he is Whole Nine Yards with Chandler?!" Charlie said, then leaned lower as if she was about to share a secret. "Seriously though, I know the dude could be like my father or something, but he is the only one in the world that could flip me." She added with a wink and Cas was so adorable, not knowing how to respond to that.

He blushed slightly, his eyes definitely falling on her rainbow pride pin, an odd glint in his eyes as he caught his lower lip between his teeth. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but was holding back for whatever reason. "I know I wouldn't mind." He said too shyly, his words a quiet whisper.

"Wouldn't mind what, Cas?" Dean asked, but Charlie already figured out, barely containing her laugh.

"Wouldn't mind Bruce Willis flipping me."

"Oh my God!" Charlie finally bust, while Dean just stood there, jaw dropped, staring at him.

"Dude! You are hilarious!" She said and Dean looked at her, then back at Cas, only to see him blushing rose red, but with a smile on his face. So it was a joke. A good joke. Dean definitely fell for it. "Oh, did you see the look on his face?! He was such a Ross for a moment." Charlie said, barely catching her breath.

"Was not!" Dean protested.

"Were too!" Charlie threw back.

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"I was not!" Dean whined.

"Were too! And Cas here agrees with me, doncha Cas?" She said putting Cas in the spotlight, like she knew it would make him uncomfortable, and Dean would want to rectify that. Before Cas could fall into a pit of panic, Dean surrendered, albeit with a pout.

"Fine! You win. Can we change the subject now?"

"Sure. Have you decided Cas? You gonna come work for us?" Charlie asked, putting Cas in spotlight again. Dean knew he didn't like it, but he resisted the urge to come to his aid this time. Truth was, it was a great opportunity for a guy as talented as he was. Good money, great working hours, possibility of working from home, full dental, paid vacation. It really was a no brained, and Dean couldn't figure out what was holding him back, but was hoping to find out.

"I... I don't... I don't think I can." Cas finally replied, followed by a deep sound of defeat. Dean might even get what he was hoping for.

"Why not?" Charlie asked, her tone calm and soothing. Cas' eyes darted the ground as if he was figuring out what lie to say, before looking up at Dean with those sad baby blues of his. For a moment, Dean had a terrible thought that it was because of him, which didn't make sense because they were sorta okay now. Right?

"I... I used to work, or I still do, kind of, for... For Crossroads Publications Inc. and I..."

"What's that asshole got over you?" Charlie interrupted and Dean's eyes snapped at her. Sure, he knew Crowley dabbled in light blackmail, but Cas always made it seem like he was indebted to him, like he borrowed money, bit that he was being blackmailed.

After another heavy sigh, Cas explained that somehow Crowley ended up with the only copy of his novel, a hard copy, and that he also had a digital one, but was accidentally deleted. Something pinged on Charlie's laptop and she excused herself to check it out, but Cas kept his head low, his eyes to the ground, probably feeling ashamed and foolish. And even though Dean felt there was more to the story, for the first time he cared more about comforting Cas, then about finding out the truth.

He reached and ran his fingers down Cas' forearm, guiding the palm of his hand around Cas' wrist to the pulse point, slowly reaching lower until he had the man's hand in his, their fingers intertwined. Cas glanced at their joint hands and there was the smallest smile on his face, but he didn't look up.

"Did your novel have a title?" Dean heard Charlie ask, but he didn't pay much attention, his heart aching for Cas, his mind filling with anger towards that sleazebag.

"Dragon scared of heights." Cas replied. God, how Dean wanted to find that British dickbag and punch the living daylights out of him.

"Oh, that's an interesting name. So I take it it's about dragons?" Charlie said, her fingers working the keyboard.

"Mostly about one dragon. He was a hunter, he and his brother sought out mythological creatures and he got turned into a dragon." Cas replied. He did say that Crowley 'misplaced' his novel, but Dean didn't buy that for a single second. He probably wanted to take advantage of Cas, make him work for him for less money.

"You have an approximate word count?" Charlie asked.

"I managed to round it up to exactly half a million words." Cas replied with a huff, sounding nostalgic and sad. He did mention Crowley was interested in publishing, and Dean thought it might have been a rouse, a way to manipulate Cas to stay on board. Though, knowing Cas, as little as that may be, the novel he had written was mostly likely awesome, and Crowley would want to publish it. Maybe he wanted to try and up his share?

"Ok, so get this. Three young women were kidnapped from the small town of Freedersville just a few days ago. Two of them were hiking or jogging close to the huge wooded area to the north of town and the third was taken when she was passing through in her car. The car was found abandoned by the side of the road, apparently it crashed into a tree and she was nowhere to be found."* Charlie said and finally brought Dean's attention.

"What?" Dean asked, at the same time as Cas almost shouted "You found my novel?"

"I have to say, I love this chapter title -I'll be right back. Pinky swear." Charlie stated with a smile, backing away from her laptop and tuning it towards Cas and Dean.

"You... Oh my God..." Cas said, looking overwhelmed, his eyes tearing up as he kept looking at the screen. "Th... Thank you..." He barely managed, glancing at her, before bringing his eyes back to the screen.

"You know, we do know a few other publishing houses that would be happy to take a look at this, see if any want to pick it up?" She added, sticking a USB drive into her laptop and typing some more, but Cas just remained frozen, staring at the screen. Dean gave Charlie a look, telling her silently that they could talk about it later, seeing as how Cas was a bit emotional now. "Yeah, you think about it, alright? We can talk about it Monday morning, when you come to work?" She added, snapping Cas out of his daze.

"Monday? Work?" He stuttered, looking ever so adorable, with such relief and hope in his eyes, probably unable to believe that his life is turning for the better.

"Yeah. If you want." Charlie said, handing him the USB drive.

"Yes. Yes, I would... I would like that very much. Th... Thank you." he said, still looking a bit dazed.

His expression hadn't changed all thought their ride back to Dean's apartment, it was like he was in a state of shock, and if it wasn't for that lingering smile on his face, Dean would have started to worry. When they got back, Cas walked over to the couch, like he was on an autopilot, plopped down on it, and after a full minute, let out such a relieved laugh, Dean couldn't help but laugh with him too.

"You okay?" Dean asked, even if he knew the answer.

"I am... Better than okay. I am... I feel amazing! I can't... I can't believe she just... She just found it, like that."

"Don't tell anyone, but Charlie has some mean ass skills when it comes to computers." Dean said, as he walked towards the kitchen. "You wanna bear?"

"Sure. Please. And of course, I won't tell a soul. I am so grateful for what she did."

"Glad to hear it. Here you go..." Dean said, handing Cas a bottle and sitting down next to him, taking a huge swing of his own.

"Dean." Cas said, his tone a bit more serious, and Dean brought his bottle down, then turned to look at Cas. "I am grateful to you too. Grateful for you. You... You helped me out more then anyone ever did and you... Thank you." Yeah, Dean blushed at that alright. He tried to brush it off, to tell Cas it was no big deal, that anyone would have one the same, but the man made sure Dean knew it was in fact a big deal for him, and that they both knew well, not many people out there would take in a homeless person and help them get back on their feet.

"I don't know what you possibly see in me, but I can tell you care about me, sincerely. I have been fooled before, but I do think you are honest with your intentions." Cas said, and it struck a cord with Dean. He had been fooled before? What did that mean? Had someone hurt him? That would explain his trust issues, but as much as Dean wanted to know, he couldn't ask. He had to wait until Cas wanted to tell him.

"I am, Cas. I felt drawn to you since the moment I saw you. And you are funny and interesting and intelligent, and so easy to talk to. And you have the most amazing blue eyes, I swear, when you look at me, it feels like you can see all the way to my soul." Dean said, having no idea why he was getting so sappy all of a sudden, but stopped caring as soon as he saw Cas smile.

It didn't matter who leaned in first, all that mattered is that he was kissing those soft lips again, tasting them, and feeling like he was on the top of the world. He had his hand on Cas's shoulder, the other cupping his cheek, and Cas leaned into the touch like a man starved. Dean knew, he would give him anything he ever wanted, anything he asked. And when those shy fingers ran through Dean's hair, raising all sorts of goosebumps, and Cas deepened their kiss, Dean felt he took a leap from that highest point and soared up into the clouds.

Too soon, Cas pulled back, his lips kiss swollen, his eyes hooded and fuck, staring right down to Dean's core, rendering him speechless and motionless, and also highly aroused.

"Can we watch a movie here tonight?" Cas asked.

"Anything you want."

"I think I would like to see R.E.D."

Quotation from the first chapter of "Dragon!Dean is still scared of heights" written by wolfie180g on AO3.