Author's Note #1:

Looks like the underlined stuff stayed in the last chapter, thank goodness lol, so I'll keep using that method for now :) I hope y'all are enjoying the story thus far! :D I know I'm giddy to be writing this already! :'3 This chapter is named after a song by OneRepublic :D

Chapter 3: Counting Stars

Castiel spends much of the following day in a sort of rut; he wants to keep writing but he can't keep lying to himself. He knows where this obsession with Dean will go because he's done it before (to an extent.) When he has his mind set on someone, he thinks about nothing else and he's afraid he'll become so obsessed with the man in his imagination that he'll become even more socially awkward and his brother will be left with no other option but to stick him in a loony bin. Just as he was thinking about deleting the document, he received a call on his phone and he nearly jumped out his skin. When he checked the screen, he saw that it was his sassy, black editor, Barbara, and he hastily answered. It's never a good idea to miss one of her calls, intentional or not.

"H-hello?" he asked.

"Hey, baby doll, how is your manuscript coming along?" she asked cheerily.

"Actually-"

"Hold on. Don't tell me that you haven't got anything written, Castiel! We're counting on your zombie novel!" Castiel will never comprehend how quickly she can jump to conclusions.

"Now, hold on, Barb! That's what I'm trying to get at!" Castiel took a breath before continuing, "I'm working on something...it just isn't a zombie novel," answered Castiel with hesitation. There was a silence on the other end and he started to get worried that his editor was about to yell at him. "Barb?" he whispered.

"What is it about?" she asked with a strain to her voice and Castiel knew that she was trying to keep calm. She was prone to violent yelling so Castiel was counting his lucky stars that she sees him as breakable and has always tried to be a little less hard on him than her other authors.

"It's...it's well it's going to be a romance story. A gay romance story," he answered tentatively.

Barbara said nothing for a moment and Castiel was getting increasingly nervous before she released a breath and finally spoke, "This might actually be better than the zombie book. There's that whole equality thing going on right now and I think we could ride your story on the tail end of that train. Send me what you've got so far, honey, and I'll see if I like it. I'll email you in a little bit, alright sugar?"

"Yes, ma'am." The moment they hung up, he began to panic even more. She will definitely notice that he wrote himself into the story and he isn't ready to answer any questions about it right now but he has no choice except to send it anyway. Maybe he should have written a decoy story to appease her in the meantime? Too late now. He opens up his email and attaches the document to an email to her and sends it off. In order to distract himself from the impending reply, he continues to write.

"I actually have several favorites and I would rather not bore you with talk of them. I tend to ramble," answered Castiel with a shy smile.

"Sweetheart, I've got nothin', if not time to waste," said Dean with a meaningful look towards the blue eyed man that made him shiver. Dean could see how he was effecting the man in front of him and it's becoming obvious to himself how quickly he's falling for the accountant. Who knew I'd fall so fast? Dean asks himself.

Castiel is now fidgeting nervously across from the mechanic and his heart started to beat a little faster at the term of endearment he received. "I have a very large affinity for a lot of older authors: Shakespeare, Dante, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Brothers Grimm, H. G. Wells, Jules Verne...to name a few. I love the witticism that often littered older works, for example: Shakespeare's works were drowning in sexual innuendo that often escaped the notice of even the original audiences to which they were performed. I admire Dante for his courage to speak up against the atrocities of the Catholic church of his time. Doyle was the author of the universe's favorite sleuth: Sherlock Holmes. The Brothers Grimm wrote delectably gruesome renditions of popular fairy tales-" Castiel stopped abruptly in embarrassment, he knows that Dean had said that he didn't mind but he really didn't want to overwhelm him either. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't intend-"

"Cas, it's fine. Really," replied Dean with a chuckle. "It's really awesome that you're so passionate about something, man. Someone would have to be a dick to not respect something like that. So anyway, have you written anything yet? You know, on your free time? 'Cause I'd totally like to read anything you've got written," he says sweetly.

Castiel just sits there in shock for a moment. No one he knows has ever been interested in his dream career choice enough, other than his brother, to ask to see what he's written.

"Cas? Hello?" Dean asks as he waves a hand in front of Castiel's face. When sees he has his attention again, he smiles and asks, "Dude, you ok?"

"Yes. My apologies. I just...no one has ever asked me that. Usually I am met with an awkward glance and change of subject," Castiel answers honestly.

"What? Seriously?"

"Yes. Seriously. And to answer your question: I have only short stories written...I haven't gained the courage to write anything of novel length."

Dean looks at the azure eyes in front of him in shock. Why doesn't this man have someone behind him, pushing him to write? Having grown up in an encouraging home, he finds it difficult that Castiel's family didn't find it in them to give him a push. When he asks, he is met with a somber answer.

"I...my older brother Gabriel has been the only one supportive in my family about my writing career. My parents, however, never wanted that for me; they aspired for me to have a 'reliable' job and that is what I did."

"Cas...that's the saddest shit I've ever heard in my entire life and we're gonna fix that right now." Dean gets up from his seat and gestures for Castiel to do the same. "Come on, we're going to your place and you're gonna show me some of your stories and I'll order pizza for us, ok?"

Castiel merely nodded and followed Dean out of the diner.

Upon arrival to Castiel's little apartment, Dean pulled out his cellphone and dialed up his favorite pizza place after asking for the address from the smaller man. Castiel is now thumbing through his binders of documents in his office with a nervous quake to his hands. He takes a deep breath and grabs the binder with his favorite pieces in it. He makes his way to the living room where Dean is having a beer and looking around taking in his surroundings. Castiel silently hands the binder to the older man and takes a seat next to him on the couch.

After a few minutes, Dean breaks the silence, "Wow, Cas, that was great. Riveting. Dude, you could take that and make a full book out it!"

"You think so?" asks Castiel unsure of himself.

"I have no reason to lie to ya, Cas."

Castiel smiles despite his reluctance to trust the opinion of someone he just met because he can tell that the man in front of him is being sincere. He can feel it in his bones; this man, is going to change his life.

Before he can continue writing, Castiel is jolted from his writing-induced trance when he hears a notification that he has received an email. He takes a deep breath and opens it hesitatingly.

Honey,

I gotta say, you haven't written much but I'm certainly hooked! I won't tell my boss that you've changed your prompt on us until we're handing him a complete manuscript but that means you've got to deliver for me, Castiel. I don't just put my ass on the line for anybody. I want weekly updates from you, sweet cheeks.

-Barbara

P.S. I see that you've written yourself into your story...it's risky but no one knows the real you and, quite frankly, you're too cute to NOT write a steamy novel starring yourself and who is sure to be the hottest mechanic in America. I always knew you had a kink for dirty, sweaty men; it's always the quiet ones, isn't it?

Castiel releases the breath he's been holding and smiles at the screen. He orders Barbara her favorite flowers and chocolates as his way of saying thanks. He returns to his story but he feels he's had enough for now and saves his progress for the day. It's still mid afternoon so he may come to write some more later in the evening but at this moment, he's too happy for words.

Author's Note #2:

OK, so...before anyone asks...this ain't inception, I ain't writing a story within a story within another story lol Dean liked what he read and that's all that matters plot-wise XD