A/N: So, no angst! This is really new to me.

If you're still reading this, I thank you. I hope this doesn't disappoint, and it's not to overwhelming. Lots of people introduced and a totally different Castiel. So, I hope no one's disappointed!

Once again, thanks for all the comments, follows, and favorites. I *hearts* you all!

Also, because someone commented on AO3 - when Dean calls Cas "kid" he's using it as a term of endearment. Sure I like to think Cas looks younger in this fic (I have a pic on Pinterest - PM me for link), but it's not like that. Another thing, Cas is 31. Dean and Lisa are 36.

Chapter Nine
They Say an End Can Be a Start

October '14

"Good Morning. Today's forecast calls for blue skies."

Castiel picked his phone up off the bedside table and tossed it across the room. It landed with a light "thump" on the carpet and the opening notes, a muffled mixture of drums, violin, cello, keyboard, and bass, continued to play.

Sun is shinin' in the sky
There ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped rainin' everybody's in a play
And don't you know
It's a beautiful new day hey, hey

He groaned, burrowing his head under his pillow to stifle the music a bit more, as well as hide his face from the sun that crept through the cracks in his blinds. 'Room darkening' my ass, he thought. He had bought the cheap pieces of crap on clearance at Wal-Mart and unless the day was rainy or overcast, he woke up to very unwelcome rays of sunshine in his face… as well as that annoying song blaring from his phone.

He was surprised his phone hadn't bitten the dust by now, since it had hit the wall three out of the fourteen times he had thrown it. He could fix both problems, but he was lazy, and would honestly forget about them until the next morning when he didn't have the time to do anything about it.

Jerking the pillow up and flinging it over the opposite side of the bed, he heaved himself up to a sitting position, emitting another groan at the sound of bones popping. Wiggling his toes in the soft carpet below he stretched his arms upward and finally made an effort to stand up. This was met with an even bigger stretch, one which had him standing on his tip toes, fingers not quite grazing the ceiling. The sound of more bones popping gave him more joy than it really should, mainly because of the fact that the sound would drive Balthazar insane, so he never got to really enjoy popping his joints. But now… now he spent way too much time doing it.

After making sure he'd gotten every last achy, tense joint loosened, he walked over to pick up the phone which was still playing.

Hey there, Mister Blue
We're so pleased to be with you
Look around see what you do
Everybody smiles at you

Rolling his eyes at the last verse, he swiped his finger across the screen to dismiss the alarm. Taking the phone with him to the en suite bathroom, something he was glad his new apartment had, he sat his phone on the sink and started up the shower. He set the water to that perfect mixture of hot and cold, with a bit of extra cold to wake him up. The bathroom was decorated in neutral colors and the only thing that made it his own was the black 221b Baker Street shower curtain he had purchased shortly after his roommate had gotten him addicted to Sherlock. As the water adjusted Castiel brushed his teeth, and then decided to hold off on shaving, his stubble wasn't too bad today. Shedding his pajama bottoms, which he wore sans boxers, he stepped under the spray of water and was instantly alert.

Just what he needed!

Castiel exited his room dressed cozily in form fitting denim, an oversized chocolate brown sweater, and brown combat boots, loosely tied. He continued to run his towel over his hair as he walked the hall between his and his roommates room, making sure his hair was dry enough to not drip down his back. Coming to the end of the hallway which opened to the living area, he saw his roommates 5'8'' form slumped over their dining room table, busily typing away on his laptop.

When Castiel had decided to go back to college, all he had was what little money he had saved from his job. So he had dug up what he little had left of his dignity and called Balthazar.

They talked for a couple of weeks, the conversation going back and forth between them and Balthazar's parents, before finally landing on a decision. They sold the house, and every last thing in it. His parents, of course, wanted their cut, so the money was split accordingly. With his portion, Castiel decided to use his saved money for an apartment, and the "earned" money for college. He knew he'd eventually have to do loans, so he got a part-time job at a coffee shop five miles from the apartment.

The apartment complex he ended up settling with was affordable and close enough – one mile from campus – came fully furnished and included a roommate matching service. The furnishings were okay enough, well except for the blinds in his room, but he couldn't complain too much. It saved him more money, right?

His favorite thing about the entire housing complex was the roommate service, because honestly, he couldn't have done better himself.

Kevin Tran was 19, a sophomore majoring in language studies and minoring in religious studies. While Castiel had always, and now even more so, been a night owl, Kevin put him to shame. The kid went past night owl and just didn't bother going to sleep; his record was going over three days without sleep. Castiel had finally lured the boy, that was 12 years his junior, off to the boy's bedroom to sleep. The boy crashed for nearly the whole day. He didn't speak to Castiel for two days. It was then that Castiel knew they'd get along perfectly.

Of course at this moment he wanted to smack the boy on the back of the head. Castiel had gone to bed around 3ish, Kevin had promised he'd be heading to bed soon. It was now a quarter to eight. Walking behind him Castiel stopped and leaned in toward his ear, "Kevin, you know that thing we discussed… what ever happened to it!"

The shock of Castiel having snuck up on him should have sent the kid into cardiac arrest, the yelling bit at the end though – that didn't help. Kevin jumped, and if Castiel hadn't already moved away he would have gotten his chin rammed by the top of Kevin's head. This action nearly sent Kevin's coffee cup spilling across his laptop and Castiel had to wonder how many cups of coffee the kid had had, and if there was any more coffee left?

As if reading his mind Kevin pointed in the direction of the tiny kitchen to their right, the smell of fresh coffee wafting toward them. Forgetting all about his qualms with Kevin, Castiel made his way excitedly toward the caffeinated brew. Granted it wasn't as good as the kind at the coffee shops, but he didn't have time to get there. And it was free. So Castiel didn't complain too much.

Rolling his eyes, Kevin stood up, and after making sure he backed everything up, he shut his laptop down and followed Castiel into the kitchen. Kevin knew he looked like he just walked off the set of The Walking Dead, his black spiky hair now disheveled – and not in the sexy way. His large child-like black eyes were heavy with under eye bags, and his natural tan skin tone had now taken on a slightly paler complexion.

"Yes, I know what we discussed, but I got a bit distracted. And besides, Mr. Pot, when are you finally gonna go to sleep at a decent hour, huh? At least my body knows what to expect, yours is on a constant roller coaster ride. I'm still amazed at the way you manage to function."

Castiel smirked and poured some coffee into a thermos, making sure to pour enough cream and sugar to take the edge off the bitterness. "Yeah, yeah, I know. If it starts to become too much of a problem I'll look into getting some help, okay? But until then, you go to bed or the laptop comes with me!"

All Kevin could do was scoff as Castiel walked past him, snatched up his backpack, wallet, and keys, and made his way out the door.

Castiel ran down three flights of stairs and to the bus stop, leaning against the sign post just in time to see the shuttle pull up. Sure he could walk the mile to campus, but that didn't include the walking distance to the building he needed, which the shuttle bus could take him to in half the time.

The ride was quiet. All of the students aboard were like Kevin, twelve or more years younger than him and obviously not morning people. Not that he minded, he wasn't much of one either, and the quiet gave him time to think.

He tried not to delve too deep into questioning things that had happened in the past, something he had a habit of doing since he had moved. College and Kevin kept him distracted for the most part; it was partially why he started getting less and less sleep. Sleep led to dreams, dreams led to memories, memories led to bad thoughts. Kevin didn't need to see that side of him, so Castiel started to sleep less and less over the fourteen months they had known each other. But he didn't tell Kevin that. He doubted that Kevin had even noticed the gradual change in his sleeping pattern up until recently.

He hadn't noticed he had fallen asleep until the shuttle bus came to an abrupt stop, sending his head, which had been pressed against the window, forward and jerking him awake. Quickly gathering his things and looking around, he let out a sigh of relief that no one had noticed his little slip up. Perhaps these past few nights of three – four hours of sleep were taking a toll on him. Or perhaps it was Kevin's words getting to him – yeah, that had to be it.

Nodding to himself he followed a girl with blue spiked hair and piercings to Bartlett Hall. He would be early for his Psychology of Personality class, but it would give him ample time to study. Something he just might have faked doing last night.

The large university library was his home away from home; it was easier to concentrate on studying here. At the apartment he would be all over the place, finding things that needed to be done instead of what was actually important. If it weren't for the library he'd be out the obscene amount of money these past semesters had cost him and back home with his mom.

It would be a blow his 31-year old ego wouldn't be able to handle.

Going cross eyed from staring at his psychology book too long, he switched over to his precalc book. At least he wouldn't be looking at words very much, and by the time the numbers got blurry it would be time to leave to get ready for work.

He wasn't too far off.

By the time he ran through the doors of Shot in the Dark it was three on the dot. His hair was freshly washed, but not as dried as he would have liked. His black long-sleeve button down was slightly rumbled from the fight he had gotten into with his car. His slacks weren't any better. He was just glad they were black since he was pretty sure they had oil stains somewhere – though he wasn't sure how they got there.

Shot in the Dark had started out as an old abandoned two-story brick building, chunks of mortar visible here and there, giving the building "character" as Lisa Winchester as put it.

The top floor had three windows trimmed in a purple that Castiel was told was "KSU purple." He had just nodded. The main floor had two large windows trimmed like the ones above them. In between them were glass French doors trimmed with silver. A metal, rectangular sign, in black and "KSU purple" hung between the floors with the name of the establishment in simple lettering.

The interior was always what captivated Castiel to this day. Distressed, dark walnut, hardwood floors and the exposed brick walls certainly went with the "neglected" theme Lisa was had gone for, but that's where it ended.

The common area was scattered with oversized, chocolate leather chairs that had dark walnut arms and legs. There were tables and stools in matching wood colorings as well.

From the walls hung string lights mainly focusing on 26x33 black and white framed photos. No one knew who took the pictures of abandoned buildings from around town. The only clue people got was the person worked there. The counter tops that customers ordered and picked up from were made of laminate that were almost black. Above the entry to the kitchen were a set of stairs that led upstairs to Lisa's office.

Castiel ducked underneath the counter, wheezing as he struggled to breathe, and staggered forward. Giving into fate he sat down and leaned against the cabinets, just as Lisa came from the kitchen. Her brow furrowed in worry as she spotted her star employee. Castiel was always on time, sometimes even early, patient, kind, and put together. The Castiel before her was well, for lack of a better word, a mess!

Kneeling down in front of him, to which quickly turned into her sitting down, she wrapped her arms around him. The man immediately broke down at the warm, loving touch. He hadn't been held like that in months, and to have someone hold him without expecting something in return… well, it was a relief.

Lisa had always been the motherly type, and even though she was only five years older than him, she made him feel like he was back in his teens. Maybe it was the warmth in her chocolate brown eyes, or the way she always casually dressed, yet in a professional manner. Or maybe it was the way she never talked down to anyone even when the fucked up. She wasn't above anyone, and never made any indication of thinking it.

He hid his face in her shoulder, his body convulsing with the force of his tears.

When was the last time he'd cried?

Had it really been that long?

Wow...

Another wave of tears came along with the realization. Without any self-control he hugged Lisa and held on for dear life. They ignored the fact they were surrounded by other employees, and that customers were giving them strange looks.

Lisa held onto the younger man until his sobs turned into hiccups. Satisfied, she untangled herself, stood up and extended her hand. With his hand in hers she pulled him up and dragged him up the stairs to her office. Once there she immediately demanded the reason for his melt down fifteen minutes ago.

Had it really been fifteen minutes?

He told her about his day so far: his lack of sleep, the small confrontation with Kevin, the fact that his old car had decided to be a tease. She had spit and sputtered before finally starting when he left to come in for work. She would stall out at every other stop light. It was finally a half mile from Shot when she stopped working all together. It ended up being too much for him and that's what found him where he was now.

Lisa smiled sympathetically at him, pulled out her cell phone, and tapped out a quick message. Her grin was mischievous when she looked at him from her perch on her desk.

"Well, I've got one of your problems solved, or I will in less than an hour. As far as the sleep problem and your roommate… is your sleep problem really that bad? Because if it is, don't wait for it to start affecting your personal life, at least not as bad as it is now."

She held her hands up in surrender at the glare she was received. "I'm not telling you what to do, but maybe you should see someone about it. I just don't want you getting hurt. What if you were to fall asleep at the espresso maker from exhaustion?"

Castiel scoffed, Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Just give it some thought, okay? Now, if you're feeling better, get your ass out there. 'Cause I've gotta get out of here soon. Big date tonight!" she exclaimed, her huge smile deepening the crinkles around her chocolate brown eyes.

"Oh, that's right! It's your anniversary isn't it? Which year is it again?" he questioned, head tilted in earnest curiosity.

"Thirteenth. It's hard to believe we've been married that long, that we've known each other even longer…" her voice trailed off, her eyes glazing over as if lost in thoughts of when she and her husband first met.

Castiel told himself he never wanted that, but to do that he had to ignore the sound of his heart cracking a bit more. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she began talking again.

"Speaking of, Castiel, when are you going to find someone? You've been here a year and not once have I heard about you going on a date."

Lisa appeared to want to say more but was interrupted by the vibrating of her phone. Glancing at the phone, then at Castiel, she held a finger up as an indication that she needed a moment to check it. He was more than happy to let her; it would give him just enough time to escape into the openness of the shop.

Watching her nod to the phone, obviously in response to the text she'd received, she tapped out a response and looked up just as Castiel was slipping out the door.

"Castiel, there's help coming for your car in about thirty minutes. So if you could let me know when they get here, I'll handle it. Okay?"

There was something about the way she looked at him that caused his spidey senses to go crazy, but he just nodded and closed the door behind him. He told himself that Lisa would never meddle in his love life, but she had never brought it up before now.

Shaking his head, he told himself it was nothing and started doing what Lisa paid him to do – working.

Why the fuck Lisa needed to be told when the tow truck arrived was beyond him. You could have heard that thing when it left whatever shop it came from!

It was as he was putting the finishing touches on the Coconut Nutella Latte – a drink that his co-worker, Amaris, had created – that he heard the truck grow louder as it approached. Handing the drink over and thanking the customer, Castiel ran for Lisa's office, only to nearly run into her.

The excitement on her face made him remember that wariness he had felt earlier. Now he felt like a small, defenseless animal being handed over for the kill. Ignoring their near collusion, she turned him around, looped her arm in his, and dragged him in the direction of the front doors.

Through the glass doors he could see the large tow truck. A fresh coat of grey paint, "L & W AUTOS" stamped across the doors in dark red paint, and a phone number beneath the name.

Leaning against the back side of the truck was a man just slightly taller than Castiel, but with more muscle than he could ever dream of having. His arms were crossed in front of his chest causing his blue and white plaid shirt to strain against his biceps. One leg was stretched in front of him, the other bent so that his foot was pressed against the truck. He was clad in faded boot cut jeans that had rips in the knees, more than likely caused from years of wear. A pair of brown working boots peeked out from under the hem of the jeans, the toe of each shoe scuffed.

As Lisa pushed opened the doors still dragging Castiel, who had now fallen behind her, the man pushed himself away from the truck. When the man reached for Lisa's hand and kissed her knuckles, Castiel wiggled his away from Lisa's grasp and moved back toward the doors.

Lisa shooed the man away with her free hand and laughed. "Thanks for coming on such short notice, Benny. I know you have such a full schedule on a Friday night," Lisa joked, a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she winked.

"Why cher, you know I come running every time you call, especially when it's to help your 'favorite employee' as you said. Which, speaking of, must be –" he looked around, eyes landing on Castiel, " – you."

Castiel looked down shyly, when he felt a blush creeping across his cheeks. He knew that his face would soon be bright red, especially at the sound of the man chuckling.

"Name's Benny Lafitte, owner of L&W Auto."

Castiel jumped at the sound of Benny's thick Cajun voice, not realizing the man had closed in on him.

Looking up, he saw that Benny was pointing to the black beanie he was wearing; white lettering spelling out the word "BOSS" was spread across the front. Castiel couldn't hold back the giggle that bubbled up and past his lips. The sound earned him a brilliant toothy grin that was framed by a light brown beard dusted with grey. His blue eyes the color of the autumn sky, sparkled with mirth.

The sound of Castiel's giggle caught Lisa's attention and brought her over. She looked at Castiel inquisitively, and he told her what Benny had said. This earned Benny a slap at the back of his head, and the yanking of his beanie off his head in the process.

"CO-owner, you mean. Dean would have your ass on a silver platter if he heard you lying to people again. He's still pissed over that prank you pulled last week, so don't push your luck, Lafitte."

This time it was Castiel who looked at Lisa inquisitively, head tilted.

"Dean has a thing about cats, and Benny thought it would be funny to put one in Dean's locker at work. It scared the shit out of him when he opened his locker to a pissed off cat," Lisa explained.

Benny howled in laughter at the memory and Lisa punched his upper arm in response.

Shaking her head at Benny as the man tried to catch his breath; she turned to Castiel and gave him a quick hug. "I'm heading out, but call me if you need to talk or run into any trouble." She glared at Benny who smiled innocently. Lisa rolled her eyes in response. "Anyway, just call me, and go with Benny to show him where your car is and he'll bring you back here so you can finish your shift. I'll see you on Monday, and remember what I said earlier. Just think about it."

She gave him another hug and walked off in the direction of her car, leaving the two men alone on the side walk in front of the coffee shop.

"So, let's go get that car of yours. Not that it's going anywhere." Benny winked at him, almost flirtingly, before turning and heading to the truck and climbing in. Castiel followed suit. They made their way in uncomfortable silence the half mile to where his car was. Castiel mentaly cursed Lisa the whole way there.

When Benny dropped him off at Shot thirty minutes later he handed Castiel a white, plain looking business card. The front had the name, address, and phone number of the mechanic's shop, and when Castiel turned it over he found another phone number messily written out. "In case you need a ride while your car is out of commission" was Benny's excuse.

Later that night after catching a ride with a co-worker back to his apartment, he tucked the business card in his wallet.

Just in case he needed a ride.

A week later he received a call from someone at L & W Autos (Lisa must have given them his number since he's pretty sure he never gave any information) letting him know that he needed to come down to answer some questions about his car. He felt like he was being asked to come down to a police station to be integrated about a theft.

After class he took the bus downtown, and was shocked when he stepped off the bus in front of the shop.

The color scheme matched the truck that Benny had been driving a week ago. Dark grey vinyl siding covered the building and the front sides were edged with grey stones, a shade lighter than the siding, making them stand out in contrast. The windows, which were above and below an attached lean-to pergola, were outlined in white on the inner side, then dark red on the outer side. Above the top windows was a simple sign with the name of the auto shop.

The entrance door below the pergola, framed by two large windows, was painted the same scheme as the windows. The right side of the building held the garage portion. There were three small and two large lifting doors, each white and outlined in dark red.

Readjusting his backpack, he walked nervously into the garage. Immediately his nose was assaulted by the smell of oil and grease, his ears by the sound of the whirring of an electric impact wrench. The lobby, much like the outside, was not what he expected. The floors were black granite that shined like that were waxed on a regular basis, or never walked on. Along the wall by the entrance and wrapping around along the left hand wall, was a leather couch. A large 52" plasma TV hung from the corner straight ahead.

To his right was a plain black counter with several car accessories and a cash register, behind it were two large windows that showed various cars being worked on, and a simple door leading into the garage.

"Can I help you?"

Castiel yelped and spun around, clutching the strap of his backpack as he did. He had been so caught up in the news headlines airing on the TV that he hadn't realized someone had entered. Well, not until that deep, gruff, 'I can die and be okay with it', voice spoke.

He was also okay with the fact that the voice belonged to one of the sexiest men he'd ever seen. Damn, he was starting to like this place!

Though he couldn't see below the waist, what he did see made him inwardly groan.

A tight, black, short sleeved Henley strained against a well-developed chest and matching arms. A bit of a belly gave away from the illusion the man might have been sporting a six pack. His skin was slightly tanned, most likely faded from spending so much time in the garage. The dusting of freckles along his nose and under his eyes showed he wasn't inside all the time. The man's firm jaw was covered in fine stubble and Castiel couldn't help but notice his cleft chin.

Castiel hadn't realized he'd been staring until he heard someone cough and repeat the question from earlier.

"Er… Um… Yes, I received a call earlier regarding my car. My name is Cas-"

"Castiel! I was starting to think you were avoiding me."

He tore his eyes away from the man, whose intense green eyes were starting to show some annoyance, in the direction of a Cajun accent. Looking toward the door that led to the garage, stood Benny in a dark blue jumpsuit, his name etched in white at the top left corner.

Castiel couldn't help but blush as both men stared at him for two entirely different reasons.

Benny came around the counter and placed his arm around Castiel's shoulder. "Dean, this is Castiel, the one Lisa was telling you about."

At that statement one of Dean's eyebrows cocked up in amusement, the annoyance slowly fading. He ran his hand through his sandy blonde hair, nearly missing the oil smudged on his forehead. "Yeah, I had Emmett call him this morning about his car. Was actually gonna see him if he'd thought about getting a new one, or at least putting this one out to pasture, because I hate to say it, she ain't worth it kid."

The nonchalant way that Dean talked about his car was just too much for him. Pushing Benny away, he let his backpack slide from his shoulder and fall to the ground as he stormed to the counter, hands balled up into fists. No one and he meant NO ONE, talked about his car that way.

He didn't realize he'd spoken that part a loud until Dean smirked at him and Benny barked out a laugh. "First of all, don't call me kid. Secondly, I thought you said you had him call because you had some questions for me, not to give me some goddman automotive advice. Because believe me, at this moment, you'd be the last person I'd come to for it. So what the fuck did you want to ask me?"

The room fell quiet; the two mechanics looked at each other over Castiel's head.

"I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to sell her to me for spare parts. I'd be willing to pay you-"

"Fuck no!"

Dean looked at Benny, his eyes shooting back and forth between Castiel and the other man in a silent plea for help. All he received was a shrug and a mouthed "sorry brother."

So Dean sighed and squared his shoulders. He could do this. He'd dealt with tougher customers than this, and what was Castiel but a college student and a fucking barista at Lisa's coffee shop.

An hour later found Castiel sitting at the bus stop outside the shop. Benny was scheduled to drop his car off at the apartment complex tomorrow morning. She might not run, but she'd still be his.

The only thing he was worried about was what Dean Winchester was going to say to his wife, and if he'd still have a job after all this.

Fucking Winchester!

Castiel punched the bus stop sign.

Edited November 8, 2014