Sorry about the delay. Vacation time. Hope you'll enjoy.
Early October somewhere not to far from New York City and then in NYC
(Dean POV)
Dean closed his eyes for a second, gathering himself together before he approached Cas' table. "Hello stranger. Nice seeing you again." He slumped down in the chair across from Castiel, "You mind?"
Cas looked up, momentarily startled and a flash of that same old fear was in his eyes, but then his face lit up with a bright smile. "Sure, I was hoping you'd come."
Dean was a little taken back by the response. Cas was behaving quite different from the last time they sat together. "Oh yeah? That's nice, I guess." Dean wanted to give the guy a hug but remembered the reaction he got the last time he touched him. He settled for a quick pat on Cas' arm, "I'm happy to see you too, and even more happy to see you smile."
Castiel twisted his hands and looked down before meeting Dean's stare, "I…I wanted to thank you." He glanced back down, focusing on the pie for a moment, "You, you were there in my moment of despair and you…I am grateful."
Dean could feel himself blushing. He didn't think he earned the gratitude. "Oh I didn't really do anything. I couldn't even help you with what I promised." He wanted so much to reach out and take Castiel's hand. "I was—" The words stopped short in his throat as Castiel's eyes finally met his again.
"You were here and you cared. That's all that matters."
Dean had to swallow hard to conceal the emotions that were ripping through his body.
"So you're okay? No more crazy thoughts?" He smiled, hoping he wasn't being too forward. Castiel furrowed his brow for a moment and smile shyly, "I guess not, I, I mean," he sighed and poked at his pie, "It was just a bad break-up. I, I overreacted." He popped a piece of pie in his mouth before he turned to Dean again.
The new waitress came over and asked if Dean was ready to order. He gave her a quick glance over, noticing that she was just as hot as Garth had mentioned. In another time and place Dean would've hit on her.
"The usual," he said with his eyes back on Cas. "Uh," she uttered and Dean realized she couldn't possibly know what that was. "Forget it; just give me pie and coffee."
Not waiting for a response, Dean turned his attention back to Castiel. He watched as Cas slowly reached for his cup and took a sip. "You from around here?" He asked, remembering that Cas never answered that question last time.
"No, well, no. I, I live in the city. Not too far from the Village."
Dean nodded approvingly. "Oh, that's…so you're well off?" The apartments in that area were expensive. Dean had been there for a party once, he had a general idea. "What do you do for a living?" Dean was a little worried his questioning was turning into a third-degree but Cas didn't seem to be bothered by it.
"I'm uh, I'm not rich, but I have a decent income." Dean noticed the guy blush a little. "My apartment is probably the smallest one on the block though." He put his fork down and fully raised his head, staring at Dean, "What about you? You live in this neighborhood?"
Those eyes made Dean a little breathless. He was glad for the momentary distraction of the waitress bringing him his pie and coffee. He took a sip. "I live above the store. With my dad," he cleared his throat. "I mean I have my own apartment, sort of."
He felt stupid. Revealing the fact that he was still living with his dad was kind of embarrassing. Castiel just smiled and nodded, "So you have a very short commute to work, that's nice."
Dean wanted to change the subject. He didn't like talking about himself. He made mention of the cabin and that he was going up alone as he finished his pie. He looked at Cas for a moment, "How come you ended up here the other day?"
It took a while before Cas answered, he was slowly chewing at his pie. A flash of deep sadness traveled over his face. "I, I really don't want to talk about it."
Dean lifted his hand to give Cas an encouraging pat but stopped when those blue eyes flared up in panic. He put his hand back on the table, "Sorry, won't mention it again."
Cas shifted for a moment and let out a sigh. "My girlf—my ex lives nearby."
Dean felt himself squint as he lent back in his seat. Cas had a girlfriend, that was a surprise. Dean had been convinced that Cas was batting for the other team. He prided on himself with being good at reading people, and he'd been pretty sure that Cas was a semi-closeted gay man with issues.
Dean had been wrong before but not very often. It didn't throw him off though; he was always up for a challenge. He also had been forced to admit to himself that the feelings he's developed for the guy ran deeper than anything he'd previously experienced.
He pretended to concentrate on his coffee while secretly watching Cas under half-lidded eyes.
He was startled when Castiel suddenly looked up, their eyes meeting. "What?" He questioned when Dean realized he'd been staring—caught staring at that.
"Oh, sorry, I was in my own world for a moment," he chuckled. "Just remembered that you never told me what you do for a living."
Castiel frowned, "Oh, boring stuff." He let his eyes pan the room before settling back on Dean. "Computer's…I mean, mostly software." He looked embarrassed, Dean couldn't understand why.
"Wow, I'm clueless when it comes to that. I wish I knew something because my laptop died on me."
Dean could've sworn there was a sparkle in Cas' eye before he looked down shyly.
"I, I can look at it for you. I mean, if, if you want?"
Immediately Dean saw this as an opportunity to hang out with Cas again. "Sure. I can go get it now?" He glanced at the clock on the wall, "I, I'm sorry, I've got to get back to work." He got up and put some money on the table, "Come on, I'll get my computer."
(Castiel POV)
When Dean came into the diner he seemed genuinely happy to see Cas. Not that Cas was a genius when it came to understanding subtle facial expressions, but the bright smile was a clear giveaway.
Castiel was amazing by his own performance during their conversation. Inside he was a total mess but he managed to hide it. Then again he has had years of practice hiding his innermost feelings. He'd done it so well at times that he even managed to fool himself on occasion.
The whole time he sat with Dean he contemplated another meet up, something that would make it natural for him to interact with Dean again. Coming to the diner on a random yet regular basis would look suspicious. Dean mentioning his laptop dying was a gift. He had no clue if he could fix it but he was positive he could at least identify the problem.
If it was a software problem it would be a piece of cake to fix. He had built his first computer at fourteen, but he still had slight issues with hardware. Laptops were kind of tricky in the first place.
He followed Dean across the street and opted to wait outside of the store while Dean retrieved his laptop.
Dean didn't have a bag so he brought out a backpack for Cas to carry it in. As he handed it over it looked as if Dean wanted to and possibly go in for a hug, but he merely stretched out his hand instead. Cas took the offered hand and this time, this time it felt good. It was a quick handshake and Cas promised to call as soon as he knew what was wrong.
On the train back to the city he pulled out the laptop and took a glance at it. It seemed fairly new so he found it hard to believe it could've been worn out already. He tried to turn it on but the battery was probably drained.
Once back home he made himself a quick dinner while he plugged the laptop in and charged it. An hour later he turned it on without problem. Cas sighed when he realized that it was password protected and wondered if he should give Dean a call already. He knew he could probably hack into it anyway but that would be unethical.
After a brief back and forth discussion with himself Cas decided to wait till Monday. He didn't want to push it. He now had a reason to call Dean and he was determined to drag it out as long as humanly possible.
Back at work on Monday, he was called into his boss' office. Mr. Crowley met him with a bright smile, "Mr. Novak, I'm impressed." He gestured for Castiel to sit. "When you left early on Friday, I put Mike to work on the code you were debugging but he couldn't find any flaws with it."
"Oh, sorry, I, I forgot to tell you. I just, I didn't have time to run it so—" Mr. Crowley waved him off, "This means that we're ahead. If you want more time off you're welcome to it. You've got about a week's worth of hours at your disposal."
The thought of having that much spare time terrified Castiel a little bit. If he was going to take time off he needed to plan it out. He needed to go somewhere. Get away from everything for a while. Sitting alone in his own apartment was out of the question. Spending it with his family was even more horrifying. "Uh, sorry sir, but I, I don't want to do that right now."
Mr. Crowley chuckled, "You're unbelievable. Next month we're starting a new project and I want you on it, so please consider using the time up before then." Cas nodded tentatively, "Okay…maybe next week, or the one after? I'll let you know. Maybe I'll just book a ticket to the Bahamas." He smiled, knowing that was never going to happen.
Mr. Crowley stood up, "So anyway, you made my day Mr. Novak. Go home. Consider this a free ride. You'll be paid in full for today." Castiel looked up at him dumbfounded, "Uh, but I—"
Mr. Crowley gestured and ushered him out of his office, "Go home, have fun. See you tomorrow." A few minutes later Castiel was on the street and didn't have a clue as to what to do. He wanted to call Dean but decided to text him instead. It was less intrusive and Dean could answer whenever he had the time.
Need a password. –Castiel He sent it as he made his way to the subway and began to tuck the phone into his pocket, presuming Dean was busy with work and wouldn't get back to him till later. He had barely let go of it when he felt it vibrate. Winchester0124.
He sent a quick thank you and headed home. Using the newly acquired password he logged in; it didn't take very long to realize that Dean's computer was riddled with malware. The virus protection program had expired months ago and Dean probably didn't know how or to renew it.
After spending a few hours trying to fix it he came the conclusion that he had re-format the entire hard-drive. That was definitely a reason to call but he still hesitated, he didn't want to finish too soon. A part of him wanted to hold onto Dean's computer for as long as possible.
After a quick trip to pick up some Chinese take-away, Castiel ate slowly. He wanted to call so badly. He played with his phone for a while before he put it down. "Tomorrow," he said to himself, "tomorrow I'll call." The thought hadn't even left his mind when his phone vibrated on the table.
Castiel rarely had the sound on because it was intrusive and distracting at work and outside of work he hardly ever got phone calls. He looked at it curiously and saw Dean's name on the screen. With trembling hands he pressed the answer button. "Novak," he answered in his usual way without even thinking.
"Hey! I was just wondering, uh, how's my computer doing?" For a moment Castiel was tongue tied. "Uh, I, well…I was going to call you." He took a deep breath, "It's bad." He heard Dean draw a breath before speaking, "Okay, is it a death sentence?"
Castiel chuckled, "No, but I have to wipe your hard-drive clean. Anything you want me to try to save?" It took a moment before Dean answered. "Yeah…no. I don't know. The pictures maybe, if it's possible." Cas was about to answer but Dean continued, "Don't worry about it, if you can't save anything. It's okay."
Castiel didn't want the conversation to end and wracked his brain for something else to say. He wanted this to last. "They're forcing me to take time off." He squirmed in his seat once he realized what he had just said. Dean didn't need to know this. He attempted to fix it by rambling about his overtime and excused himself for even bringing it up.
The silence on the other end bothered him slightly, had he lost the connection? He was about to hang up, disappointed, when he heard Dean's voice, "Why don't you come with me to our cabin?" Castiel wasn't even able to comprehend the words before Dean pressed on, "A week in the mountains will do you good."
