I told you it would be sooner than later! Bam! Check me out - two chapters in one week.

The Truth Hurts.

Dean attempted in vain to pry the pipe loose, and he had nothing to pick the cuffs with but it didn't stop his brain from working a thousand miles an hour to try and find a way out. Simple cuffs could not hold Dean Friggin' Winchester.

Right...

In truth, the metal of the cuffs was cold and hard, and the metal of the pipe, though slightly rusted and dripping, was ultimately even colder and harder. There was no strong-arming his way out of it.

He sat on the cold tile floor for at least a couple of hours, until morning.

By the time a sliver of dawn light was breaking in through the frosted plastic pane of the tiny bathroom window, Dean's wrists were red and raw from futile struggling and pulling in hopes that he could attempt to reach something to help him escape.

When he heard the flutter of wings, he was sprawled on the bathroom floor, trying to reach a forgotten bobby-pin. Castiel appeared above him, the expression on his face that of an adult who'd caught a child playing in glue, and felt kind of bad for the kid who'd managed to make a regrettable mess of themselves. Dean's felt his cheeks flush with warmth. Once again he was looking like a moron in front of the angel.

Castiel gave a heavy sigh and twitched two fingers towards Dean, who seemed as awed as ever when the cuffs simply popped open. He quickly scrambled to his feet.

The two stood there awkwardly in the tiny little bathroom.

Without the force of the Holy Fire keeping them together they both felt unsettled about sharing the limited space of the claustrophobic room, all of the wildfire of their previous encounter having left behind an uncomfortable burn. Neither could look each other in the eye.

"You ok?" Dean asked, his voice deeper and gruffer as if to compensate for his discomfort.

Cas nodded, looking around, shifting his weight.

"Good," Dean nodded, "let's go kick his ass."

Cas gave a small smirk. He nodded and moved to press two fingers to Dean's forehead, but stopped just before touching him. He noticed with a grin that Dean had his eyes squeezed closed as if he were preparing to get punched in the face or something.

When Dean didn't feel the expected fingers to the forehead and following lurch of his stomach, he peeked one eye open. He saw Cas smiling at him with amusement that almost leant itself to fascination, and Dean immediately blushed and tried to relax his face, utterly embarrassed.

Cas' hand moved toward him again, but this time four fingertips brushed against his cheek, sliding down to his neck, where Castiel's palm flattened to his skin. Dean's breath caught in his chest. The angel's hand wrapped around until his fingers were holding the back of Dean's neck, his thumb brushing the man's cheek.

And then finally, the Dean felt the feeling of the floor dropping out beneath him. But somehow the lurch in his stomach was less uncomfortable than usual. The entire experience, which only lasted but a split-second, was somehow less uncomfortable, more like being light-headed and less like being dripped through the center of the earth only to be ripped out the other side.

They landed on the sidewalk just down the street from the diner, in a little nook between buildings where no one would have seen them suddenly appear. It was just barely dawn.

Dean looked around, noting that his body wasn't in the instinctive tense panic that usually accompanied Cas zapping him from one place to another. He stretched a little, smiling at his good luck, "That was a lot easier than usual."

Cas simply stood there and looked at him, hint of a smile on his face. "The experience is significantly less uncomfortable once the human has given themselves completely over to trust," Cas said off-handed as he began to walk away.

Something in the statement struck Dean still as stone. Suddenly Dean was feeling a cold weight in the pit of his stomach.

Trust was a tricky thing with him. Love, sure, Dean thought maybe he could manage that. But trust? That was a true testament to his feelings for someone. Trust was true, absolute vulnerability. And in that moment, it scared him to realize that he was already so far gone with Castiel.

We should trust him, he's a great friend. Look at all he's given up for you, everything he's done for you. He's proven himself trustworthy.

That's different. It's easy to trust him with a cause, to stand by me in a fight. But...

But what? Trust is trust.

No, this is different. I don't know if I can... trust him with... this.

With your heart.

That sounds stupid.

Doesn't mean it's not the case.

Dean was so in his own head that his legs had carried him all the way to the diner before he'd realized they'd been walking. When he looked up Cas was staring back at him curiously, squinting at him through the morning sun. Dean looked away immediately, luckily spotting his brother in the diner.

He immediately stormed into the diner, the restaurant's few patrons glancing at his warily, seeing the tone of his hasty approach.

Sam turned to see Dean and looked surprised.

"Not smart, Sam," Dean said gruffly.

"Uh oh," a familiar voice said behind him. Dean turned to see Randy Gunning and Evelyn sitting at the window-booth just behind him.

Diner Girl came out from the kitchen, smiling when she saw Dean and Castiel. "Oh, hey. You want some coffee? Just put a new pot on."

"Thought you weren't open yet," Dean noted suspiciously to Diner Girl.

"We're not. But he was asleep outside the door, waiting, when I got here," she motioned to Sam with a genuine smile. "Guess I took pity on him. Then these two showed up," she motioned to Randy and Evelyn.

"Oh yeah," Dean started sarcastically, "you're like the pied piper."

Diner Girl gave him an odd look, confused by the animosity in his tone.

"I... think it's the food," she offered honestly. "Whole town's got the munchies."

"Right. Well, I'm sorry to cut your breakfast club short, but you're gonna have to come with us ma'am. For questioning," Dean said in his most official tone.

She looked concerned, "Questioning about what?"

"I'm not at liberty to say right here and now. But trust me, you want to cooperate," he pulled out the handcuffs, the threat of them weighty in his hands.

Diner Girl's eyes zeroed in on them and narrowed, "Since when does routine questioning require handcuffs?" she sassed back nervously.

"Since I'm in the FBI and you're coming with me." Dean gave his best authoritative smirk, but his badass rouse was dashed.

"He's not," Sam clarified. "He's not FBI. He's lying. Technically, he's unemployed."

All eyes turned to Dean expectantly, and he remained still, trying to think of how to play this. "I've got the badge."

"Fake," Sam asserted calmly, really calling Dean out.

"I've got the gun," Dean grunted at his brother less than subtly.

"Not fake," Sam indicated, "but sure as Hell not FBI issue."

Dean found himself at a loss for words. Cas was standing just behind his shoulder, looking uncomfortable and impatient.

"She doesn't want to go with you," Sam stated calmly.

"Well, Sam, she has to come with us whether she likes it or not. Remember?"

"It... would be best..." Castiel tried to add.

"See, Cas and I agree. Two against one. We trump you."

Sam gave an off-handed roll of the eyes and muttered, "That's only because you guys are in love with each other."

Dean's face immediately flushed beet red. Cas merely rolled his eyes, slumping a little with irritation. The waitress had the decency to look as though she was worried such a statement could get Sam's ass kicked.

Dean could feel, very pointedly, that everyone's eyes were on he and Cas.

"Oh, they really are, aren't they...?" Evelyn said, her eyes wide as she examined the two men. "I knew you were smitten with someone, but I never guessed..." her eyes turned to Cas, and she looked him up and down blatantly.

Cas fidgeted under the scrutiny, unconsciously shifting closer to Dean.

"How are you even out of jail?" Dean shot at her.

"I want to see them kiss!" Evelyn spurted suddenly.

Dean's eyes widened in shock. His world screeched to a halt.

"I already have," Sam noted factually.

"Was it sexy?" Evelyn asked, coming over and wiggling her shoulder against Sam's arm.

Sam made a disgusted face, "I don't know how to answer that." He pointed to Dean, "He's my brother."

"I've never seen two men kiss," Evelyn stated, almost sadly. Her tongue poked out against her lip as she raked her eyes over Cas and Dean, as if trying to will them with her mind to just get down and dirty right then and there. They squirmed uncomfortably at the blatant attention, Dean's ears and neck getting hot, Castiel's eyes getting shifty.

"They're both so..." Evelyn bit her lip, a smile creeping over her lips. "I'm really excited about it now!" she clapped smiling. "Do it! Kiss him!" she commanded, too thrilled to contain herself.

Dean didn't even have his wits about him enough to argue back. He just stared, in disbelief. He felt like he was trapped in the epitome of his nightmare - socially pressured into addressing his affection for a man - for Castiel.

"I myself, never kissed a dude," Randy said conversationally. "Never really wanted to."

"But don't you want to see them do it?" Evelyn asked, practically in a frenzy.

Randy squinted at them a moment, making Dean feel like he was on a phenominally bad acid trip, and surmised, "I could stand to see it. For curiosity's sake," he nodded.

"Then it's settled," she turned to Cas and Dean, "suck face boys!"

Dean's blush, already scarlet, seemed to darken with the ferocity of the demand, he shot a sideways glance at Cas, who met his eyes with an awkward shrug.

"Oh... wow," Diner Girl said, not able to hold it in. She was mortified on their behalf. She seemed to be the only person left that was able to acknowledge that it was inappropriate and getting out of hand.

"Dooo it! doo it! doo it!" Evelyn began to chant. Randy joined in for the fun of it.

"Why does everyone keep demanding that I kiss him!" Dean yelled angrily.

Diner Girl looked at him sympathetically, as if worried Dean was going to absolutely flip.

Sam started joining in on the chanting, and Dean looked at him to say What the fuck? Sam just shrugged. He was clearly enjoying the peer pressure on Dean, as well as the group enjoyment of Dean's embarrassment.

"Alright, enough!" Dean yelled angrily, the vein in his forehead bulging.

But the three wouldn't stop.

Dean was visibly on the edge of some kind of attack, he was red and panicking - he couldn't stand the attention, and he'd barely come to terms with him and Cas being a thing to begin with. He rubbed his hand over his forehead shakily, about to snap, when suddenly Cas' arms were around him, pulling him in for a kiss that softened his tension before he could fight it.

Again.

Dean made a mental note to keep on guard because apparently Cas was a sneaky kisser. Like, some sort of expert in surprise lip-assault.

When Cas' lips met his own, Dean was thankful that Cas had turned him around and his back was to the spectators.

As soon as Cas' skin touched his own Dean could feel Cas pushing some sort of Angelic force through his system - it was a sensation he couldn't quite comprehend. A kind of control, serenity. As if warm saline was seeping through his body, pushing in his veins. Somehow he could feel its intent - to calm him. He fought it, stubborn ass that he was. But it was as if he could feel, more than hear, Cas' voice in his head, saying,

Don't panic.

Don't be afraid.

He felt Cas tracing his bottom lip with his tongue, pressing at the seam of his lips asking for entrance.

Dean gave it. But the sigh of relief was short-lived. It seemed as soon as that blissful feeling of Cas taking his mouth registered in his mind, Dean snapped back to reality.

And the sudden flash of Randy's camera helped that right along.

Dean pulled away abruptly, seeing Cas looking at him as if he was the whole world. Cas' eyes focused solely on him, a small smile on his lips as he brushed his thumb against Dean's cheek.

Dean wished he could reciprocate that serenity. But his mind was with their audience, still watching them slack-jawed.

Displaying such an intimate moment felt like a betrayal, it felt mortifyingly private, and Dean was so embarrassed he wasn't sure if he wanted to hit someone, or go hide in the bathroom again, and lie in the fetal position until he died.

He followed the first instinct that made sense, and stormed away, not stopping for anything - not even the pleading voices of his audience.

There was an awkward hum to the room in the silence after Dean left.

"Wow..." Evelyn said, completely awed, shaking her head and smiling.

Cas would have joined her in awing at the experience, if it weren't for the stinging weight of doubt in him. "I think perhaps that was not wise," Cas noted sadly.

Diner Girl gave him a sympathetic look. "Don't think he's quite ready for the parade," she suggested. But her reference to the Pride parade, and thus the insinuation that Dean wasn't quite done wrapping his head around what he felt for Cas, was entirely lost on the socially unaware angel.

"What parade?" Cas asked curiously.

She just smiled at him, and shook her head. "Oh boy," she sighed to herself.

Randy Gunning slipped the new photo into Castiel's breast pocket with a wink. "Another beauty," he said with a drawl and an endearingly honest smile.

Castiel sighed heavily.

Castiel found Dean down the street, leaning against his car, frowning down at the pavement. When the hunter looked up and saw Cas approaching, his face immediately set into an angry expression and he turned away from the angel to face the car.

Cas didn't speak. He simply came up behind Dean and stood there silently until Dean decided to speak first. Or didn't.

Dean gave an irritated huff and turned around to face Cas, that familiar mask of directionless anger in place. Cas could see right through it, so the fact that Dean bothered to be that way confused Castiel to no end, causing him to become just as irritated.

"You just gonna stand there and look at me?" Dean shot waspishly.

Cas said nothing. He stared and remained still.

"What?" Dean fired.

"You are a baffling human being, Dean."

Dean gave a mirthless laugh and turned around, wrenching the car door open. But he never got to get in, because then Cas hand was on his shoulder urging him to turn back around.

Dean's jaw flexed; he was full of rage that he himself didn't comprehend, and Cas being near him didn't help.

"I don't understand why you're behaving like this," Castiel demanded.

Dean shook his head. Of course you don't. You don't understand anything!

No, he doesn't. Cut him some slack.

He embarrassed me!

Why? Cause he actually admitted how he feels? You're right, he's evil - we have to kill him, Dean snarked at himself.

Castiel noticed that Dean was livid, and that he wouldn't look at him in the eyes. That bothered him more than anything. He stepped in closer to Dean, his own anger softening when he could feel the emotional confusion rolling off of the man in waves. Dean didn't look at Cas as the angel stepped in close, but he didn't move away either.

"I apologize for kissing you," Cas said, his voice rough with the awkwardness of the exchange. "I may have... misread the situation."

Dean couldn't think of anything to say.

When his apology was met by continuing tense silence Cas sighed heavily. "I assumed that..." his words ran out and he shrugged in frustration. "I don't know."

He could feel Dean's rioting emotions quell minutely, though the undercurrent of frustration was still humming deep and consistent within the man.

"Dean...?" Castiel was floating in the ocean without a compass. He had no idea what was going on between them, no reference, no concept of why Dean was angry, no way to know if he'd said the right thing or wrong thing just then. And Dean was absolutely no help at all. Cas was desperate for some direction. But Dean still wouldn't look at him.

Out of instinct more than anything else Castiel reached out and let his fingers rest underneath Dean's chin, trying to lift his face so he would look at him.

It was a sweet touch, longing, vulnerable - a prayer that Dean would just simply comply and allow himself to be seen.

Dean snapped.

He slapped Cas' hand away, jerking away from the touch as if it was entirely uncalled for.

"It's not gonna be like that ok!"

Cas' eyes were big and blue and confused and Dean's insides were churning with conflict - he loved that touch. But he hated how it would look...

Are we seriously that shallow?

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

With the noise in his head and the pull in his heart and the disheveled angel looking at him... Dean just needed time.

He needed a lot more time than the couple of hours that had passed since their kiss to deal with this. Things couldn't just change over night.

"It just - it can't be like that!" he demanded at Castiel, who simply tilted his head, trying to understand. Dean continued, unable to stop himself, "We're not gonna hold hands, and... and... go on dates, and let everybody we meet think that we're- that we - It's just, not gonna be like that Cas. It can't!"

Cas attempted to be placating, "It can be whatever we want it to be-"

"Oh, don't be naive. Just stop it. You're not even human. You don't even know what you're talking about."

There was a split-second where Dean could see the whisper of a wince flash across Castiel's face, evidence that he'd stung him. Dean knew he should regret saying that.

Cas leveled a look at Dean that nearly knocked the man off his feet.

That hadn't come out quite like Dean wanted, but the angel's jaw was set into a hard line and he got that look that said he'd be giving Dean the cold shoulder...

and Dean was unsettlingly relieved at the prospect of not having to talk about this anymore.

"Let's just, do the damn job and get the Hell outta dodge."

"Very well Dean," Cas said, his voice tight. It was obvious to Dean that he was mad.

But that was only because Castiel didn't want it to show that he was actually more confused than anything.

Sorry for any typos - this is hastily posted. I'm on a mission. Part two of this chapter on the way...