Something had happened with Cas and Dean, Sam was sure of it. But he had no idea what. When they weren't talking about the case, the two avoided each other, Cas often leaving the house alone for hours at a time, Dean watching him go with a knowing stare.

It had started out subtle at first, Dean avoiding Cas's eye contact and answering in short, one word answers when the angel would ask him something. But slowly, it had progressed to Dean making weak excuses to leave the room whenever Cas was around, mumbling as he went.

And right now it had happened again, Dean taking his bowl of cereal to his room when he saw Cas, ignoring the small white puddle of milk that had sloshed out onto the floor as he went, leaving a confused Sam and a frustrated looking Cas in the kitchen. Cas's shoulders sagged a little as he rolled his head back in a very human display of defeat and disappointment before sitting down next to Sam.

There was a moment of quiet before the hunter looked at the angel, face serious. "Ok," Sam finally said. "What the hell is up with you two?"

Cas furrowed his eyebrows, pursing his lips in a display of confusion, shaking his head, but it was unconvincing to say the least. So, Sam continued to stare until he finally broke the angel's performance, resulting in Cas giving off a deep sigh. His shoulders dropped a little, his hands coming up to rest on the table as he laced his fingers together tightly.

"Alright," Cas finally exhaled, "It seems that Dean and are going through a bit of a. . ." he paused, then when he spoke again he talked faster.

"To be honest, Sam, I have no idea," he said, "Dean seems to be rather upset with me." He said it very bluntly, confusion painting his face. "All I did was bring up the feelings of unhappiness I've been sensing for awhile from him, hoping I could find a way to help."

And before Cas had reached the end of his sentence, Sam's eyes were widening in surprise. "You told him that you can sense his feelings?" he choked. It was one thing for Sam to know, but Dean? It'd probably be safer to reminisce about the apocalypse than to talk openly about his brother's feelings. And he was pretty sure his brother wouldn't feel comforted by the fact that Cas had unsolicited insight into the book of Dean. But Cas wasn't the best at subtlety, so Sam guessed he shouldn't be shocked that the angel would bring it up. Still, he waited for the rest of the story with interest.

Cas leaned back in his chair, sighing. "I didn't exactly tell him about my ability," he said, raising his shoulders slightly, his voice lacking confidence, "I just asked him if everything was alright since he'd seemed a little down lately. . ."

Sam tried to hold back a laugh as he let an "Oh Cas. . ." slip from his lips. He felt bad for the angel, but he'd been here too many times before to not find a little amusement in someone else being at the brunt of Dean's emotional instability. To anyone else, Cas's question would have been innocuous, but for someone so averse to feelings, Dean could be a bit of a landmine.

But the smile faded from his lips quickly and completely when he really noticed Cas's face. The angel looked crestfallen, staring at the wall pulling his hands from the table and back into his lap. His lips were pursed, eyes far off as if he were replaying the conversation again in his head.

And Sam realized it wasn't funny, because for some reason, this was very personal to Cas, and Sam wondered if there wasn't something more he was missing. . .

"Look," Sam said more gently, "Dean isn't really great at talking about his own feelings." And Sam found himself strangely putting a hand on Cas's shoulder awkwardly as if the angel needed comforting, though the hunter wasn't exactly consciously sure why he would.

"It's nothing personal," Sam continued, letting his hand fall back down.

And Cas stood up, nodding unconvincingly, "Of course," he said, pushing his chair back in and moving to leave while mumbling a "thanks, Sam" behind him.

Sam watched him go, a thought suddenly coming to him. "Hey Cas," Sam said quietly as the angel walked. Cas stopped, turning towards him. "Just curious, is Dean still sleeping in your bed?"

And Cas paused for a second, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Not anymore," he finally said, turning back around, and curiously, Sam thought the angel's voice had sounded a little sad when he'd said it.