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Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural but if I did, there would definitely be more unicorns with rainbows coming out their asses included.

Chapter 6

Castiel was at the piano again but this time Dean sat beside him, his presence buzzing like an electrical current to his immediate left. His hands faltered in their perfect melody when a warm arm slid around his waist. They forgot what they were doing entirely when Dean's stubble grazed his neck.

Castiel focused on breathing. Dean pulled back and fixed him with a confident stare, like he knew the effect he was creating. So slowly, he could almost count the seconds as they ticked by, Dean hands drifted to his waist and then lower. Castiel gasped involuntarily when they cupped his ass.

Suddenly those hands were lifting him up and slamming him onto the piano in a satisfying crunch of notes. Faster than he could think, Dean stood between his open legs, bending him back over the instrument. He was warm and everywhere, hands flying over his throat, neck and chest. A hand worked his way under his shirt and he moaned at the contact.

"More," he croaked. "Need more."

Dean responded enthusiastically. Suddenly he was shirtless and grinding his hips into Castiel. A strange dissonant melody rose from the keys as their bodies rocked up and down. Castiel felt one of Dean's hands drift lower and heard the sound of a zipper being undone.

He sat up in bed, gasping for air. It was a dream, just a dream, he chanted to calm himself down and looked over at the clock. 5:15am. He groaned and ran his fingers through sweaty hair. He lay back down, aching and uncomfortable. Today was going to be a long day.

There was a new face present when he showed up at the breakfast table hours later. A long oak table sat facing a row of tall windows that looked out onto the snowy forest. During the night, snow drifts had piled up by the side of the house and were stacked almost as high as Castiel's waist.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw Dean and heat pooled low in Castiel's stomach as memories from the previous night flooded his mind. Sitting next to Dean though was another, younger looking man with a mop of chocolate brown hair that fell haphazardly into his eyes.

Dean stood up and the room fell silent. "I want you all to meet my little brother, Sammy."

Sam glared up at Dean familiarly like was continuing a long-standing argument. "It's Sam. Just Sam. And you can't call me little, Dean, when I could squash you just by sitting on you." He stood, revealing he was probably three or so inches taller than his older brother.

"Bitch," Dean replied good-naturedly.

"Jerk," came the automatic response. Castiel couldn't help but smile.

"Anyway," Dean continued, gesturing fondly to his brother, "Sam's one of the most important people in my life and any person I end up with is going to be spending a lot of time with him. So, I figure you all might as well start now."

A multitude of chairs scraped across the wooden floor as the group rushed to meet Sam. Bela was naturally the first one there, followed by a girl he recognized as Ruby. Sam looked fairly bewildered at all the attention.

"Man, that kid couldn't get more action if he were a wounded puppy." Dean had somehow approached without Castiel realizing and stood slightly behind him, invading his personal space. "Good sleep, Cas?"

Damn it. It was like the man knew. "It was adequate, thank you."

Dean huffed. "You're a weird one, you know that? It's just the way you say things sometimes…but I like it," he inserted before Castiel could take offense. "Isn't that the shirt you wore last night?"

"As of right now, it's my only one. I wasn't expecting to be around for breakfast."

"Well, I could say I'm sorry, but I'm not. It's good to have another dude around." He looked over at Lilith, who was repainting her fingernails at the table. "I don't get women."

Castiel wasn't sure if that was the answer he'd been hoping for, all things considered. He glanced at the women flocking around Sam. Surprisingly, Sarah was right in the thick of things. She hadn't been much of a groupie last night; it was odd to see her with a goofy grin plastered across her face.

Dean followed Castiel's stare. "It's nice to see him smiling for once. It's been a rough couple of years," he said, alluding to Sam's addiction and time in rehab.

"I'm sorry."

Dean rubbed one hand around the back of his neck. "Sam used to be so full of energy—he was dating this girl, Jessica, and studying law at Stanford. I didn't think my dad could be any prouder. Then, out of the blue, there was a fire in Sam and Jess's apartment building, and, well, Jess didn't make it. Sam was devastated and things just went downhill from there."

He paused, lost in reflection. "Sorry, Cas. You probably didn't want to know all that. I don't normally talk about it."

"My mother died giving birth to me. My father didn't stick around long after that and the only real parents I've ever known have been my older brothers. I understand what it feels like to lose people." A strong hand clasped his shoulder and he looked up into Dean's bright gaze.

"Life sucks sometimes, huh?"

Cas nodded. "Yes. It was a long time ago though, for me."

Dean squeezed his shoulder once more and then spoke as something else occurred to him. "Wait—you mean there's other Gabriels running around somewhere out there? Is that safe?"

Castiel moved to grab a plate from the breakfast bar and began loading scrambled eggs on it. He contemplated Dean. "Is it safe for Gabriel to being running around here?" he asked rhetorically.

"Touché."

Gabriel swept into the dining hall wearing a black "Yes, baby, it hurt when I fell from heaven!" shirt to steal Dean away. Dean looked like he wanted to protest but Gabriel put a hand over his mouth.

"Nope, you don't get a say in this, Dean-o. It's time for the first challenge and for you to disappear." Dean's eyes drifted to where Sam still stood. "Oh, I didn't tell you? Sam's introducing the first task."

Sam shrugged. "Guilty as charged I'm afraid."

"Okay ladies, Cas, say goodbye to Dreamboat here."

Cas rolled his eyes, Lilith blew a wet kiss and a girl named Meg held up her hand in a heart shape.

As soon as the pair of them had left, Sam stretched and cracked his knuckles. "Right. Time to tell you about the first challenge then."

The remaining contestants were an interesting group. Cas tried to look at them objectively. The biggest contender was obviously Bela Talbot; rich and beautiful, she could have anyone she wanted. Gabriel had supplied some information on each girl late last evening and from the sound of it, Dean's father had specifically requested her.

There was also Ruby and Lilith, two sisters and from what he could tell, queen gossips. Another girl with short white-blonde hair named Meg trailed behind them, obviously looking to be included in their group.

Anna was the only redhead in the room and moved quite gracefully; Gabriel mentioned she had been a professional dancer. Finally, three girls he had yet to meet, Jo, Rachel and Cassie sat quietly at the table finishing their grapefruit halves. Sarah sat nearby, still looking at Sam like he was the most interesting person she'd ever met.

And then there was him. Forced into the spotlight, onto a program he had no interest in. Or tried to convince himself he had no interest in. Whenever Dean was around, his traitorous body seemed to think the exact opposite.

It would still be better to be eliminated as quickly as possible though he concluded; he wasn't really sure why Dean had kept him in the first place. Dean would go home with one of these girls and live a very normal happily-ever-after. There was no chance at all that his family would ever approve of a blue-eyed, trench coat-wearing cameraman with only the wrong sort of connections.

If Dean wanted to attend a low budget film festival, Castiel was the guy to see. If he wanted to go into the family business and run for office someday...Castiel didn't live on the kind of planet where people did things like that.

Sam spoke again and Castiel was jolted from his reverie. "So I'm just going put it out there…Dean loves to eat. A lot. Not gonna lie, the amount he can eat in a single day is fairly disgusting." He flashed a smirk at the camera like he knew Dean would be watching it later.

"That's where you all come in. If Dean's going to be with anybody, he needs to be with someone who can cook. So the challenge today is actually pretty simple; each of you will be cooking a meal for Dean. If he likes yours the best, you win."

Ruby ran her fingertips over the back of Sam's hand. "And what's the prize, handsome?"

Sam looked vaguely uncomfortable. "A date with Dean." All heads snapped to attention at that.

Castiel stared in frustration at the other dishes. He couldn't cook. He ate cereal, toast and orange juice for nearly every meal of the day.

Anna had created an elaborate French breakfast from her homeland, composed of delicate looking pastries. Jo had made a vegetarian casserole from a recipe her grandmother had handed down. Even Sarah had whipped up a thick beef stew and homemade rolls.

Bela had refused to cook, citing that she paid people to do things like that for her. She wasn't worried about her chances with Dean. She said something to the effect that Dean would have to be a one-of-a-kind moron to eliminate her and sat at the counter, reading a fashion magazine instead.

Even without Bela, it was still fairly hopeless. Not that Castiel wanted to win or anything. Screw it, he thought and rummaged around in the freezer. He'd cook what he always cooked when his brothers came over. He fired up the grill—he might be the only one who ate it, but at least he'd enjoy it.

With no small satisfaction, Dean surveyed a table covered in different meals. Ahh, Sam really knew how to pick a challenge.

He paused over what looked like a green casserole. "Not even gonna try that. Too healthy. Pass." Sam looked fairly appalled with him, but so what? He could eat it if he wanted.

The French pastries were next. "Delicious, but not really what I'm all about."

The lasagna was okay, someone's egg dish was a little runny and the beef stew gave him pause. "Not terrible," he commented.

The last dish caught his full attention. "Yeah, this is a no brainer. I don't even need to taste this to call it a winner." He bit into the juicy bacon-cheeseburger anyway. "I love you, baby," he told it.

Dean looked up at Sam, a little burger juice running down his chin. "So who's my date with, Sammy?"

Note: An anonymous review informed me that there is another "Bachelor" themed story on the site. I would just like to say that it has never been my intention to copy anyone else's idea. I started writing this about a month ago when my cousins forced me to watch a Bachelor marathon. It popped into my head and I just started writing.

To be fair, I looked up the word "Bachelor" on the site's search engine and lots of other stories, in varying fandoms, cropped up. As much as I would love to be original, I am definitely not the first person to use this sort of idea!

I was unable to find the story the anonymous reviewer referred to, but I would just like to apologize to the author and reiterate that I really had no idea. But I have to say, we must both be awesome people to think so much alike! Good taste = Good taste:)

Again, thanks for reading the story and it's so excited to be publishing it!