Alright, so we have the third chapter. Hope you guys like it!

Two and a half hours later, Dean had fallen asleep with his head on Castiel's shoulder and Krissy laying over the man's feet. Sam and Castiel were keeping up a quiet conversation, both deciding to just let Dean sleep. He looked tired and after a few minutes of hesitant questions it was easy for Castiel to realize that Dean had a hard time sleeping. Still, looking at the younger man, it was easy for Castiel to see how many years slumber took off of Dean's face.

"I won't ask how it happened. That's Dean's story to tell me."

"Good. I wouldn't have told you anyway," Sam replied, giving the man a pointed look.

"I wanted to say that while I was talking to him today I gleaned that he doesn't really have many chances to go out with friends, or do many things on his own. I have... experience with that loss of free will, almost. It's never easy. I'm sure that you're worried for him a lot, and it's a good idea to make sure that he's alright, but maybe letting him decide things out of the house every once in a while would be nice. Take him to the movies to listen to the newest action film or something. Get him new CDs. Losing your sight like he did can't be easy, and being treated like an invalid probably makes him feel worse about it," Castiel pointed out.

Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair at Castiel's words. "How would you know? You can't have been in a situation like this before. Dean is.. unique," he said in response, though his argument was weak.

"I'm in the military. One of the men I worked with, Ezekiel, saved the rest of our team by taking the brunt of a grenade blast. He miraculously survived, but he lost a leg from the knee down and he went blind as well. He practically went mad from being treated like a child and not being allowed to make his own decisions," Castiel explained, carding his fingers through Dean's hair as the man curled against him in his lap.

Sam looked contrite, sorry for asking, but thinking about the things he could do to keep that from happening with Dean. "I have to work a lot. It's hard," Sam said softly. "I make enough to keep us afloat, and I worry about Dean walking around alone, even if he has Krissy. We can't afford the medical bills. He doesn't have a way to see cars, can't just stop random people and ask which way something is."

Castiel fidgeted for a moment before he looked over at Sam again. "I could spend some time with him. He needs more contact with people and I have plenty of leave to take weekends off," he reasoned. "And I like Dean. He's kind and compassionate, and it's a shame to see him so lonely. He deserves more than what life has given him."

Sam nodded in response before turning off the TV. "We should probably get him into bed. He always wakes up with a stiff neck when he sleeps on the couch," the younger man said conspiratorially, a grin on his face. Castiel smiled in return and waved off Sam's offer of help, easily lifting Dean and carrying him to the bedroom marked as his.

"I'm fine sleeping on the couch," Castiel assured when he came back into the room. "I'm shorter than either of you and I'm unexpectedly imposing on you. Besides, I assure you, I've slept in far worse conditions." Castiel smiled at Sam, taking the blanket from the back of the couch and toeing off his shoes. "I'll be fine here. And I won't leave in the morning until after Dean knows that I'm fine. I wouldn't want him to think that I was taking advantage of your hospitality."

Sam smiled awkwardly at the man. "Alright," he agreed. "I'll see you in the morning, then, I guess. Sleep well, Castiel."

Castiel nodded at the man before settling on the couch and closing his eyes as he pulled the blanket up, letting himself drift off to the sound of Dean's dog, Krissy, breathing at his feet.

When Dean woke up, as per usual, it was to utter darkness. No red through his eyelids, no sunlight except where he could feel it warming the skin of his face. But different, though, was the smell of cooking food. That was... different. He knew that they had everything they needed for a real breakfast, but Sam was usually gone before Dean woke up, off doing some lawyer-y thing, so he stuck to a bowl of cereal or a piece of peanut butter toast. But this smelled almost heavenly. That was bacon and toast, eggs, and... was that... pancakes?

It took a moment of thought to realize who could be cooking this. Castiel must have spent the night, for real. Part of him had expected the man to just leave as soon as Dean had fallen asleep. That he had just been humouring him. But if Castiel was here, then that meant not only was Sam okay with it, but Castiel hadn't left. He must have actually liked hanging out with him. Things like that didn't happen often. Not for him.

Of course, Dean didn't leave the house all that often, so it wouldn't, but... still. It was refreshing. He groaned as he sat up and stretched, making sure that he was actually wearing clothes before he got up and started towards the kitchen, smiling fondly as he heard Krissy's nails clicking towards him on the floor. "Hey, girl," he murmured as she came close and rubbed her head against his hand. "Is that Cas in there? Hmm? Is he spoiling you," Dean murmured, almost cooing the words as he played with the dog.

"Well, not quite. But Sam told me it was alright to put a little bacon grease in with her kibble," Castiel said, making Dean start slightly.

"Dude, did you know that you make no sound when you walk? It's kind of trippy," Dean said as he turned to face the source of the voice. "And yeah, that's fine. She'll probably love you forever," he said with a laugh. "What'd you make? It smells great."

Castiel chuckled, and Dean briefly thought to himself that it was a very nice sound to listen to. Castiel had a nice laugh. It was full and deep and rich and only added to his impression that if he were to fall in love with a voice, Castiel's was most definitely one that he could do so with.

"Nothing much. I made bacon and eggs, and pancakes if you want some. Sam said that there was syrup in the pantry, but I wasn't able to find any," the man admitted. Dean laughed softly at the words.

"Sasquatch probably put it on some shelf normal-sized people wouldn't think to look. Try looking at his eye level and you'll probably see it," Dean suggested. "He wasn't as tall as he is now, I don't think, when I went blind," Dean chuckled at the wording, but continued, "but he was still oddly large and he did the exact same thing then, so I don't think he'd change that habit now."

Castiel nodded before remembering that Dean couldn't see it. "I will try that, then," he said as he turned. "I set up a plate for you with some bacon and a few pancakes. I don't know how you take your eggs so I figured I would make those to order." After what Dean could only assume was a few moments of searching, Castiel made and exclamation of triumph, making him believe that the man had found the syrup on a taller shelf. "You were right about looking up a shelf," Castiel agreed as he came back into the kitchen, voice no longer muffled by the pantry and sounding rather sheepish. "I'm not used to going through other people's food stocks, actually, so I was just looking where I usually keep things and hoping for the best."

"Well, that's pretty much all I ever do, so don't worry about it," Dean said with a grin and a laugh, managing to find the plate Castiel had set up without burning himself and bringing it to a spot at the table, settling in and taking a bite of the bacon. "This is really good. Did you get yourself a plate? Don't worry about the rest of that for now, this is good, it'd be a shame to eat it alone. 'Sides, I like talking to you and it's harder to hear over cooking food," Dean teased.

Castiel was a little glad that Dean couldn't see the blush forming on his cheeks at the teasing words even though it looked like the man could pinpoint exactly what was going on. "Of course," he agreed, putting together a plate for himself before coming over to the table and sitting across from Dean much like they had been set up the day before in the coffee shop. "Thank you for letting me stay the night, Dean," Castiel said softly, though he knew the man would hear it. Dean grinned broadly in return to the statement.

"No worries, man," he assured, "I really liked hanging out last night. I know that it makes me sound like a teenager but it's true. I mean, sure, it kind of sucks that your brother forced you into it, but it was nice to have you over." Dean shrugged, still grinning, before he continued eating again.

"Thank you, Dean," Castiel said again before continuing his own meal. "I'll have to be leaving soon for work, but if you'll allow it, I would love to come over and visit sometime soon."

"Yeah, I'd like that too," Dean agreed, finishing off his plate with a content sigh. "Call ahead and let me know. Sammy won't mind, he knows that some of my friends will drop by every once in a while since it's easier than me meeting them. Any time you want to come over is fine with me. Seriously, if Gabe is pissing you off at three in the morning on a Friday, feel free to come over and crash here. I mean it. Sammy won't mind, I'm sure he'll even get you a key. He seemed to like you last night," Dean joked.

"I'll definitely come over again soon, then," Castiel replied with a smile.