Hello hello, friends. I just want to thank you for all the alerts and favs and blah blah, y'know how it goes. Interestingly, this story gets more views and alerts than the other one, but significantly less reviews. I guess I can't have everything, but if you'd just leave a review at least for this chapter so I'd know what you guys think, it'd be great! Now on to the story.

"…and then he just ran away!"

Gabriel stares at his brother and slowly blinks. From what he hears, there was no beautiful gay love shaking the foundations of the house. That's… that's pretty surprising. He expected Dean to jump at the opportunity of being alone with Castiel in a closed space that included a very inviting couch. He picked that couch himself to offer extra comfort! But no. Nope. Nada. Dean just ran off.

Gabe knew that touchy-feely crap wasn't Dean's thing, but he did kiss Cassie after he poured his heart out, so what made him change his mind? Hell, even Gabe would do Cassie if he was into that and the thought of screwing an angel didn't gross him out.

"I don't get it. I mean, before I left, I made sure you were absolutely fuckable!" Gabriel shakes his head, talking more to himself than to Cas. "I fluffed your hair so it'd look 'fucked just a minute ago' instead of 'fucked in the last few hours.' I even made sure that you wore the jeans that make your butt look really nice and the v-neck that reveals more of your collarbone than strictly necessary. How could he resist?!"

Castiel gapes at his brother, his head tilted. "Gabriel, that is not of import. I failed. I will never be able to pull Dean Winchester out of Hell."

Cas doesn't want to imagine the years of torture he'll receive for failing. He deserves it, of course, but that doesn't make the dread that swallows him any less reasonable. Angels can get very creative and they never let you forget. Sometimes the years of emotional torture drain the life out of you for centuries.

According to Michael, Dean will be the most important man on the planet Earth in a decade. His significance remains hidden from Castiel, but when Heaven demands protection for a human and is willing to free him from Hell, his role must be crucial.

"Now listen there, you little shit," Gabe bristles and pokes his finger at Cas's chest. "I didn't give you the sex talk and got a job as a friggin' teacher for nothing, am I understood?"

Cas's eyes widen, and he nods with a gulp.

"Good. We're going to seduce Dean Winchester even if it's the last thing we do, alright?"

Cas nods again.

"And that is why you're going to go and apologize to Dean right now."

That might actually be the worst idea that Castiel's ever heard. Not that he has a better one. It is so flawed that Cas considers going back to Heaven and begging for forgiveness. Castiel is not supposed to know Dean's whereabouts, therefore finding him in his motel room would be – what's the word? – creepy.

Begging for forgiveness. Facing Dean. Begging for forgiveness. Facing Dean. Somehow, begging for forgiveness seems like the better option.

"Will you drive me there or do I go on foot?"

Or maybe not.

Castiel lifts his hand to knock for the fourth time in the past five minutes. He'll have to face Dean sooner or later, he knows, yet waiting for later appears rather tempting right now. If Dean rejected him the first time, why should that change now? Gabriel's plan to offer friendship is plain ridiculous. Time's pressing Cas – not only he should have been done with this mission two days ago, but Dean's father would be done with the werewolves that the angels have planted very soon, too. And if they have to come up with another case for John in the same area, he might grow suspicious.

Cas hadn't realized he's been hyperventilating until he feels his heart stop. He clutches at his chest, and almost screams for someone to call 199 (later he wonders how in the name of God do humans remember that it's 911 when they're panicking), because he's having a heart attack. However, his vessel's heart keeps beating. Of course it's beating, he's an angel. He can't die. Right.

He steadies his breath and reaches to knock when the door flies open.

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Dean shouts (and Castiel restrains himself from scolding Dean for using a swear word and his half-brother's name in the same sentence).

His green eyes are blinking rapidly, boring into Cas, and if the angel squirmed under someone's gaze, it would be Dean's (but he doesn't, that's what humans do).

"What the fuck are you doing here? How do you even-"

"Dean, who is it?" a child's voice resounds from the tiny motel room.

"It's nobody!" Dean screams and shuts the door. "I'm waiting, Cas."

Castiel could begin the apologetic speech with any of the approximately one million words in the English language, and he chooses, "Was that your brother Sam?" Angels are not half as smart as one would think they are.

"What. Are. You. Doing. Here," Dean hisses.

"Listen Dean," Cas sighs, "I've made a mistake. I shouldn't have kissed you, and I am really sorry that I startled you this way. I didn't have any right to touch you if you didn't want to be touched. I don't want things to be awkward between us—we still have to spend some of our free time together, after all—and so I deeply apologize. I hope we can stay friends."

"That's touching," Dean chuckles humorlessly.

The last thing he feels like doing is laughing, but if he didn't he might just kiss Cas again. The poor bastard thinks that Dean didn't want to be touched. If he just knew that he wanted much more than that. He's had trouble with controlling himself since he met this kid and assumed that Cas could see that in his hungry (which is just a fancy term for horny) eyes.

And now he's okay with being Dean's friend. Dean doesn't do friends. They're right there on the list under 'feelings'. What good can friends do? Emotionally torture you and rip your heart out when they leave you, that's what.

Has Dean ever had a friend other than Sammy? He can't recall. It doesn't really matter.

"Look Cas, this is breakin' my heart, really," he fakes the sorrow in his voice exaggeratedly, "but I ain't really that interested in friends, sweetheart."

This better be a good thing to say, Gabriel. "Well, that's too bad, because you just gained one."

Dean's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

And that's it, ladies and gentlemen, Cas will spontaneously combust at any given moment now if Dean keeps glaring at him like that. His breath hitches and he's prepared to flee in case that Dean attempts to punch him (which would probably result in Dean's broken hand).

Eventually, the hunter erupts in laughter.

If Castiel said that the past thirty seconds weren't more intense than watching the world crash and burn, he'd be lying.

"Man, you always do that," Dean rubs his eye. "Stand your ground no matter what. I can appreciate that."

"But you would be much happier if you've never met me in the first place," Castiel finds out after digging in Dean's mind (a habit that must stop).

Dean's smile freezes. He scratches the back of his neck and looks away. "I'd be better off if I never met half of the people I've had the pleasure to meet."

The silence that falls is heavy and uncomfortable, forcing Castiel to speak.

"So, friends?"

Dean smirks. "It looks like I don't have a say in this."

"You don't. Mind going for a walk?"

Dean practically shakes with laughter. He can actually see Cas becoming a world leader one day. That determination and fight for everything he believes in would certainly help to make the world a better place. Smart, sophisticated, determined, persuasive, and attractive – now that's a combination that Dean appreciates. Or people. Yeah, people in general appreciate that. Not just Dean. Ha. Haha. Yeah.

A single raindrop finds its way to Dean's cheek, but he ignores it as he strolls next to Cas in companionable silence.

"I am not as brave as you think I am," Castiel shakes his head sadly.

Dean arches an eyebrow. Sneeze if you can read my mind, he thinks. No sneezing ensues. "Why would you say that? You always stand up for yourself and do whatever you want."

Cas chuckles darkly. "I just follow orders, Dean. Like the good soldier I am."

For a moment, the only sound they can hear is the storm in the distance that is quickly approaching.

"Then we have something in common, I guess."

Dean takes Cas's questioning gaze as an invitation to continue. He drops his gaze to the ground and kicks a random stone.

"I always do what my dad tells me to. He knows best, you know? Ever since mom died, he's been into… hunting. Deer and stuff. And he likes it when I join.

"In the beginning, I didn't like it. Not one bit. I didn't want to even hold a real rifle, let alone shoot something. Just because it ain't human doesn't mean it don't have feelings. But I did it anyway because he wanted me to and all I wanted was to make him proud.

"And now I guess I'm used to it. Soon enough I understood the thrill of the hunt. I kinda like it now and I suspect I'm gonna like it more and more as the years go by. Dad's the best at what he does and maybe one day I'll be the best and he'll be really proud of me…"

Dean takes a deep breath to steady himself and finally shifts his eyes back to Cas.

"I can relate," he mutters, and judging by the understanding in his eyes, Dean doesn't doubt he does.

That's another chunk of his life that he's shared with Cas. Son of a bitch. Now this stranger knows more about him than any other living person who's not family. So much about privacy. Dean's not very good at the whole 'not sharing any info, not feeling' thing around Cas, he's noticed.

They keep walking in an agreeable silence until the light drizzle becomes downpour.

"We should head home," Dean suggests.

Cas nods. "Take care, Dean."

And then he disappears behind the heavy curtains of water.

Castiel breathes heavily as he shuts the door of his fake house, wiping the raindrops from his (or his vessel's, that depends) face.

Gabriel is completely, utterly out of his mind. Friends with Dean Winchester. Cas might not know much about humans, but he's been around for a few millennia, and from what he can tell friends don't penetrate each other. Wouldn't this new acquired friendship only complicate his mission?

Castiel is not dumb, he does have friends. Anna's been a great friend to him until she fell, and Balthazar is definitely very close to him. However, they're angels, or rather multi-dimensional wave-lengths of celestial intent. They don't 'watch movies' or 'hang out' as Dean suggested they could do from time to time. They certainly do not attend high school, which Castiel will have to endure for a little bit longer.

"So what? You Dean's buddy now?" Gabriel wiggles his eyebrows and hands Cas a cup of hot chocolate.

Why he does that is beyond Castiel since he doesn't feel cold or thirst. Still, he accepts and mutters his "thank you." He pointedly ignores Gabriel's question.

"Did it not go well?" Gabriel frowns.

"No," Castiel takes a seat and lets his eyelids fall, "it went well enough. He accepted my offer of friendship."

"That's super!"

Castiel narrows his eyes. "How is that 'super'? I don't know how to proceed now, Gabriel. I am oblivious to the secrets of human friendship, and I certainly can't stay only his friend."

Gabe's mouth curls in a sneer. His poor, little brother has obviously never watched porn. Human friendships between two people (or an angel and a person, whatever) who are attracted to each other and repress their sexual tension never last. He's seen enough Hollywood chick-flicks (and intros to porn movies) to know that.

Cassie might not be aware of lusting after Dean yet, but his want is as clear as day. Gabe can just feel it. The way Cassie looks at Winchester like he's the most precious thing that God's ever created speaks louder than words. Gabriel has looked at women the same way many times before. Cas wants the hunter even if he doesn't know it yet, that's for sure.

Or maybe Gabe just imagines that because he desperately hopes Cas won't fail.

"Everything will come naturally, Cassie, believe me."

"I hope you are right, or so help me, I will smite you."

Sam sighs for the umpteenth time while doing his Math homework. He wants to be a lawyer, not a mathematician! He fully understands why everybody hates Math. He's never really had any trouble with it per se, but it's just so boring. Whose idea was it to combine letters with numbers and think it's okay? And what kind of idiot takes Algebra in eighth grade? That's right, Sam freaking Winchester.

He can't even distract himself with Dean since that dumbass left. Sam isn't an idiot – when his brother said that nobody was there and abruptly left, he knew that Dean wouldn't be returning home tonight.

Or, at least, so he thinks until the motel room's door flies open.

It takes Sam one quick glimpse to realize that something's wrong with Dean. He's not referring to the soaked clothing that clings to his body or the fact that he clearly hasn't shaved in days. (Hopefully, he's not going through his 'beards are cool' phase that all the grungy teens consider so great.) It's the mixture of confusion, shock, and even a little bit of pleasure on his face.

"Dean? What is it?" he inquires with curiosity. Anything's better than the Math homework.

Dean blinks slowly and looks at Sam as if he didn't notice he was sitting there the whole time. He tilts his head and speaks incredulously. "I think… I think I have a friend, Sammy."

After a moment, he freezes and his eyes widen. "Oh shit, Sam, I have a friend!"

Screw homework. This is definitely a story Sam longs to hear. Dean just doesn't do friends; it's not his thing, as he often repeats.

"You wanna tell me about it?"

Dean peels off his shirt and licks his blue lips. "Not really. What I wanna do is take a shower and possibly puke my guts out."

Before Sam gets a chance to ask more questions, Dean closes the bathroom door behind him.

If a magic genie—like the one from Aladdin, not those bastards that kill people—appeared in front of Sam and promised to grant him one wish, he wouldn't think twice about it. Meeting Dean's new friend just became his number one priority.