Sam and Bobby returned on Sunday night to find Dean and Cas awkwardly manuveouring around each other and never looking each other directly in the eyes. Sam endured this until late on Tuesday night when they were sitting in Bobby's living room about to watch some action movie that Dean had picked. Sam and Cas were sitting on the couch and Bobby was in a chair. Dean, instead of taking the space beside Cas, cleared a stack of books and other papers off another chair and sat down.

Dean could feel Sam's eyes on him and when he looked over he could see a confused and somewhat incredulous look on Sam's face. Sam took a deep breath,

"Why are you avoiding Cas?" Castiel's eyes widened and he shrank back a little into the couch. Dean tried to defend himself but Sam spoke over him, "Don't even bother, Dean. I know something is going on. You haven't even looked at each other in days."

"Absolutely nothing is going on, okay? Now can we watch the movie?" Dean turned to the TV and opened his beer bottle, clearly showing that the conversation was over. Sam looked to Bobby as if to ask him to intervene. Bobby just shook his head. Sam reluctantly gave up. For now.

Later that night Dean was in the bathroom taking longer than necessary to brush his teeth so that when he returned to his mattress in the living room, Castiel would already be asleep on the couch. This plan was ruined, however, when Cas appeared beside Dean in the bathroom. They both looked at each other in the dirty mirror above the sink. After a little while Dean cleared his throat as if this would disspell the tension between them and then suddenly Cas spoke.

"Why have you been avoiding me, Dean?" he echoed Sam's words from earlier and Dean cursed his younger brother in his head for ever having brought it up.

"Cas, I..." but he realised he didn't have an answer. He definitely could not tell Castiel the real reason for his recent behaviour. Dean still didn't fully understand the real reason anyway. He'd always been a ladies man, how could he find anything to attract him to his male friend? Yet, as he ran through the last few days in his head, he realised there was a lot he could find attractive in Castiel. He admired a lot about him: his fierce loyalty, his childish innocence and even his stubborn nature. Not to mention that he had chosen a very nice vessel. Dean could not fault a single physical feature of what was now Castiel's body and he couldn't help but remember when his eyes had been drawn to his hipbones and he had to stop himself from wandering further south.

Dean seemed to snap back to reality when he realised he'd been standing in silence for about five whole minutes since Cas had asked the question. He stuttered a bit and Castiel looked at him and tilted his head in a way so familiar to Dean that he felt himself relax a little. Cas seemed to realise that he wasn't going to get an answer and reached around Dean to grab his toothbrush. Dean quietly gasped when Castiel's hand scuffed his hipbone, but not quiet enough to go unnoticed.

"You are very jumpy lately, Dean." Castiel commented in an offhand tone. Dean just nodded and continued with his teeth brushing. There was silence for a few minutes only broken when one of them spit into the sink and eventually terminated when Castiel turned to leave the room. Dean realised there was no way he could make excuses for his stalling now and he followed, flopping down on his mattress.

"Dean, would you like to sleep on the couch tonight? I imagine the floor is quite uncomfortable." Cas offered. Dean shrugged,

"Nah, it's cool."

"Or we could both sleep on the couch?" Dean's head whipped up to find Castiel's with a look of panic on his face. Castiel was just looking at him with his trademark head tilt, evidently not quite understanding Dean's over reaction.

"No. We shouldn't do that." Dean stated with authority.

"Why not?"

"Because it's...wrong."

"I don't understand. How is it wrong?"

"Because I'm not supposed to sleep with guys, okay?" Dean said this very fast and then wished he hadn't. He suddenly felt very embarassed and he turned around and lay down, facing away from Cas. He feared he had said too much. He doubted Cas would get the double meaning of "to sleep with" but he still feared that he'd let slip a secret he had never meant to reveal. His fears were realised, however, when Cas spoke again.

"I was merely suggesting we both be comfortable while we slept. I did not mean to insinuate anything else, Dean. I know that it makes you...uncomfortable." Dean opened his eyes at this. Castiel sounded disappointed and ashamed at the same time. Dean felt awful knowing that he had made Cas feel these two things when he had never wanted him to feel either.

Dean sat up and faced Castiel who was sitting on the couch with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands. He was wearing a loose white t-shirt, that used to belong to Dean, and a pair of boxers. Dean couldn't help but appreciate what he could see for a moment before he spoke.

"I'm sorry, Cas. I didn't mean to offend you." Dean had meant to go on but he didn't really know what else to say. He was getting tired having to deal with whatever it was he was feeling for Castiel lately. He had no idea what he was feeling but he knew it was something you didn't feel for your friends. He was a little jealous of Castiel right now. He had only just become human and he had just known his sexuality like he'd never or would never have to question it. Dean knew that right now his own sexuality was in tatters. A straight man did not mentally undress another male.

Cas kept his head in his hands when Dean apologised. Most of all he felt embarrassed. He had honestly not meant to imply anything. He felt stupid after saying it. He still wasn't used to the complexities of human relationships. He knew that Dean just considered him a friend and every time Cas was reminded of this fact something stung at the back of his eyes. He was feeling that stinging now and he could feel the palms of his hands getting wet. Eventually the tears escpaed his hands and started to fall to the floor.

"Cas? Are you crying?" Dean sounded concerned. Cas looked up from his hands into Dean's eyes. "Oh my god, Cas. I'm really sorry. I really didn't mean..." Dean trailed off and stood. He sat down next to Cas and hesitantly put an arm around his shoulders. "I know it's hard for you being human now but I promise I'll help you get through it. It's really quite easy. Most of it, anyway." He didn't really know if his words made any sense. He could feel Cas' shoulders shaking a little. Suddenly he let loose a sob.

All Dean could think to do was pull him closer. Cas leaned his head against Dean's chest and cried until his eyes ran dry. Dean stayed silent the whole time, he had a feeling that nothing he could say would be able to stop the tears. When Cas eventually fell silent, Dean assumed that he had cried himself to sleep. He felt awful. He knew that he was at the very least partly to blame.

Dean ran his hand through Castiel's hair in a soothing way and then very lightly pressed his lips to the top of Castiel's head. Suddenly Cas looked up into Dean's face.

"Shit. He wasn't asleep." Dean must have looked more embarrassed now than he ever had before.

Dean gulped as Cas looked deep into his eyes and then he was kissing him. It was slow, not like the rushed kisses Dean usually shared with people. Those were just a prelude to what was going to follow. But this kiss was different. It was passionate in itself and Dean found that there was a light feeing in his stomach to accompany his body's other reactions. Soon he could feel himself smiling into the kiss. He put one hand on the side of Castiel's face and the other on his waist.

When they parted, there was a quiet moment when they simply looked at each other. And then Dean started laughing. Cas looked offended until Dean wrapped his arms around him and pulled him onto his lap and lightly kissed him again.

"I would love to sleep on the couch tonight."

Thanks for the reviews! Dean still has quite a lot he has to teach Castiel so I have to find some time to get it all written so you don't have to wait too long for updates. Thank you again :)