It's the moment you've all been waiting for... the first 'date'! This was certainly interesting and challenging to write – I'm looking forward to know what you think! Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, you get free burgers or veggie burgers, depending on your preferences – once again, a plea for everyone to review this chapter so I know what you think. Your feedback keeps me going, and I love suggestions! Reviewers can have some love from Dean (and jealousy from Cas... jealous Cas is adorable!)

Thanks again to my awesome beta rdmnss! You're brilliant!

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of the characters. If I did, Destiel would be canon, Gabriel would be alive, and Metatron would never have gotten away with banishing all of the angels from Heaven *sob*

There was only half-an-hour before Castiel was due to arrive, and Dean was indescribably nervous. He hadn't actually had anyone over like this, aside from Sammy and Sammy's friends, since before his mum died when he was four. He had been too embarrassed to bring his friends home when they might see John drunk, and once he moved out here he had been too busy making sure Sammy was fine and scraping through his mechanics course to arrange dates. If this even was a date. Dean wasn't entirely sure if Cas had understood that this was intended to be a date – the guy was even more clueless about socialising than Dean was, and he hadn't thought that that was possible. All things considered, it was no wonder that Dean felt drawn to him – he probably saw more of himself in Cas than he would care to admit. Cas just wasn't as good at hiding it.

Trying to focus, Dean turned to face the mirror again and smoothed down the plaid shirt he was wearing. He hadn't known what exactly he was supposed to wear, so he had gone with a casual but nice shirt paired with a pair of his favourite, not too ripped jeans. Dean had a sneaking suspicion that Cas wasn't going to understand Casual and would arrive in a suit – either that or he would still be dressed in paint splattered artist clothes hidden beneath that ridiculous trenchcoat. Not that the clothes would be staying on if Dean had any say in it...

'No. Focus Dean.' He told himself. 'This isn't a normal one-night stand. This is Castiel. You can't proposition him on the first almost-date.'

Shaking his head to try and chase away the errant thoughts, Dean walked out and picked up the takeout menu that was lying on the sofa. He hadn't ordered yet, not sure which burger Castiel would want, but he figured that he could figure out what he wanted now. It would at least stop his thoughts wandering in inappropriate directions.

Dean had only just finished glancing over the list of options when his phone rang. Cursing to himself, Dean almost tripped over the battered coffee table trying to make his way back into the bedroom to find his phone. After chucking his pillows to the side of the room and almost tripping over a hammer he had abandoned on the floor, Dean finally spotted it under a pile of paper on his messy desk and grabbed it, recognising the caller as Sam.

"Hey, Sammy boy!"

"Hey Dean... look, it's about Jess again."

Dean sighed. "Sammy, you've been calling me, like, twice a day since I last saw you about Jess. You need to talk to her if you've got this many problems."

"I know." Sam paused, and Dean heard him take a breath. "It's just, she's an amazing girl, and I really do like her, but she's older and I think she's chasing more serious commitment, and I'm not ready for that. I'm 16, I want to check out my options before I settle down, you know? She doesn't get that."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Dude, if I was a chick and my boyfriend said he wanted to 'check out his options', I would be pissed too."

"Not helping, Dean."

"What do you want me to say? This isn't my problem, Sammy – I can't help you with this one. Talk to Jess, and if it's not workin', take a break to try and sort things out. I don't care."

Sam sighed down the phone. "You're right – thanks, Dean. I'm sorry about all this."

"Whatever. Bitch."

"Jerk."

Dean laughed, glancing at the time. "Listen, I've gotta go. You still dropping by here tomorrow like normal?"

"Oh! You've got your date with that student of Jess's – Cas! Try not to destroy his innocence too badly."

"Shut up!"

"I'm joking... but yeah, I'll see you tomorrow. I don't know if Jess will, though." Sam sounded sad as he finished the sentence.

"Bye." Dean hung up abruptly, really not wanting to continue that conversation. He loved his brother, he really did, but Sammy could be such an idiot sometimes and Dean didn't want to have to deal with someone else's issues right now. He had been caring for Sam all his life, but there came a time when you had to step back and show them that some decisions had to be made on your own.

As if on cue, the buzzer rang, breaking Dean's trail of thought and bringing back the nerves that he had been fighting earlier. Smoothing out his shirt once again and absent-mindedly fiddling with the collar, he walked over to the intercom and pressed the button to talk.

"Yeah?"

"Um, hello... it's Castiel. How do I get into the building?"

Dean chuckled at his obvious obliviousness. "Do you not have this system where you live? I have to let you up – hang on; I'll unlock the door for you."

Dean heard the sound of Castiel fidgeting as he signalled for the door to be opened.

"Right, you can come on up now. See you in a few."

There was no reply, so Dean just awkwardly stood by the door waiting for Cas to come up.

A few minutes later, however, and there was still no sign of him. Confused, Dean opened the door and almost fell backwards in shock at the sight of Cas standing there, staring very intently at the wall above the doorway with a confused look on his face.

"Woah, Cas! Knock next time, ok?"

Cas just titled his head to one side in an adorable manner and continued to stare at the apparently blank wall above the door.

"Um, okay... do you want to come in?"

Cas finally looked down, meeting Dean's eyes. "That would be nice."

Dean stepped back, unsure of what exactly to do. This was even more awkward than he had thought it would be.

Cas wandered in slowly, his hands in the pockets of his ridiculous trenchcoat, glancing around inquisitively, like Dean's apartment was some kind of great mystery. Dean tried to gently close the door behind him, but naturally it stuck and refused to close, forcing Dean to body-slam the door with a loud bang, causing Cas to spin towards him and stare wide-eyed at what had caused the commotion.

"Sorry, it's broken." Dean explained gruffly, stepping in. "So, um, do you want a drink? I've got beer, squash, coke, water, whatever."

Cas shuffled strangely before gingerly sitting down on the old couch, his trenchcoat bunching up underneath him. "I'll have a beer please, thank you."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "You actually drink beer?"

Cas frowned. "I thought it was normal to drink beer in this kind of situation? From what my brother Gabriel has said, that is the general social convention."

Dean shrugged. "I suppose. I mean, it's what I normally drink, but then I'm not exactly the greatest role model for all of this." He paused while he grabbed a couple of beers. "You have a brother, then?"

"Yes. I come from a large family, but Gabriel is the only one who I am still in contact with. The rest of my family... is strict. We don't get along." Cas's voice was as emotionless as normal, but his eyes betrayed a hint of sadness.

Dean nodded, handing Cas his beer and pulling the top off his own. "That I can relate to. My mum died when I was four – house fire, something to do with faulty electrics or somethin' – and my dad, well, he was never the same. Half the time he was drunk, the other half he acted like an army general – do this, do that, don't do this, look after your brother, don't let me down. It was hell, to put it simply. When Sammy got his scholarship, Dad refused to let him go – he said he didn't want his son turnin' into some posh toff. So I basically packed our stuff, told dad we wanted to lead our own lives and if he wouldn't let us then he couldn't be part of them, and left. Got a college place near Sammy so I could look after him and, well, that's been it."

Cas was gazing at Dean with such intensity that Dean had to look away, embarrassed.

"My parents were very religious." Cas said suddenly, breaking the silence. "They had a plan for everyone in the family to follow – get these grades, go to this school, then train to become Vicars and join these churches. My brother Gabriel and I never wanted that life – Gabriel wasn't religious, which to my parents was just about the worst thing that could happen, and I was always more interested in art than anything else. Gabriel supported me, but as soon as he turned sixteen he left to open a sweet shop with a friend, and I was alone. My father was much harsher to me after that, as I had no-one to look after me. He would hit me sometimes, although I undoubtedly deserved it for refusing to follow the correct path."

"No, Cas, don't say that!" Dean reached out to put his hand on Cas's shoulder. "Trust me, Cas, from what I've seen you're an amazing person, and no-one deserves for their parents to hit them. That's horrible. Even my dad wasn't normally that bad – he saved that for the furniture."

Cas smiled weakly, but it didn't reach his eyes. "My teacher's at school were concerned that I was withdrawn, and they started asking questions. I refused to tell them anything because I was afraid of what my father would do. However, when I got new of this art scholarship I finally told the school everything, just in time to leave and come here. I don't know what happened next – I cut off all contact with my old life, just like Gabriel did. I do miss my family sometimes, but I understand when I've failed them and I'm not wanted."

To Dean's horror, Cas started to sob quietly. Setting down his half-drunk beer, Dean hesitated before wrapping his arms around Cas in a soothing hug, running his hand up and down Cas's back. They stayed like that for some time, Cas tucked into Dean's arms, before Dean realised that Cas had stopped crying and was just sitting there, slightly tense. Feeling a bit awkward, Dean moved back and disentangled himself, picking up his beer and taking another gulp.

"I'm sorry." Cas apologised in a low tone. "I haven't talked about my family with many people."

"It's fine, Cas." Dean smiled. "Let it all out, I'm here for you." He felt like such a pansy saying that, but Cas smiled gratefully, and Dean knew it was worth it just to see his eyes light up like that.

There was silence for a moment, before Dean noticed the takeout menu on the floor.

"Oh! We should probably order some food, shouldn't we? Sorry, I forgot about that."

Cas blinked. "Yes. I'll have a double cheeseburger please."

Dean nodded. "Coming right up." He picked his phone up and wandered into the kitchen area, dialling the number. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Cas just sitting there, staring into space. Dean took the opportunity to rake his eyes over Cas's body. It was a pity that he was still wearing that trenchcoat, underneath it he probably looked even more amazing...

Dean allowed his thoughts to wander as he rattled off his order, fantasising slightly about Cas. It probably wasn't right to do it, especially not with him here, but he was just too cute to resist. Besides, the guy had basically just spilled his life story to him, so he must like Dean in some way, even if it was just as a friend. So that was progress.

Finishing the phone call, Dean chucked his phone to the side and walked back over to Cas, grabbing another couple of beers on his way.

"So," he commented, handing Cas one of the beers, "did you want to choose a movie, or just keep chatting?"

Cas looked deep in thought for a moment. "When you held me earlier it was nice," he said.

Dean's brain short-circuited. "Um, uh... what?"

"When I was crying and you held me, I liked it. We could do that again."

At this point, Dean had to physically restrain himself from leaning over and ravishing Cas. He was so innocent and clearly had no idea what he was doing to Dean.

"Um, ok." Dean fought to keep his voice normal and his body under control as he shifted over to put his arms around Cas.

Cas made a satisfied noise as he leaned into the embrace, his head on Dean's shoulder. His own arms moved hesitantly around Dean like he was unsure of what to do, resting lightly on his back. Dean resisted the urge to close his eyes and just breathe in Castiel's scent, instead fighting to remain in control of the situation so that he didn't do something he shouldn't.

"You're very hard for me to draw." Castiel suddenly said. "It's hard to capture someone so beautiful; it never seems to turn out right. Even the photographs don't show how incredible you look."

Dean screwed his eyes shut and tried to count to ten. He wasn't a chick, so being called beautiful wasn't a compliment he normally received, but coming from Cas it was extremely hot, and he really wasn't sure how to respond.

"Seriously, Cas, I'm not that good-looking." Dean replied. "I'm ordinary in every way. You on the other hand – you should see yourself, dude!"

"I do see myself." Cas responded, confused. "Every morning in the mirror, when I get out of the shower.

Cas in the shower. Dean's thoughts zeroed in on that one thing.

'Stop it!' Dean tried to tell himself. 'Stop that right now! This isn't appropriate, he isn't trying to flirt with you, he doesn't understand...'

'Cas in the shower. Cas naked, with water running down his body...'

It was almost a relief when the moment was broken by the arrival of the takeout.

Please please review so I know what you thought! You'll make my day!