Chapter 11

Sam led Sarah down a spindly path to the ranch's guesthouse. "Now, Dean has a lot of great qualities, but I like to pride myself on being a romantic at heart."

"Isn't that a line guys say to get into a girl's pants? You know, emotional crap and all that like 'you complete me'."

"You're ruining this, Sarah."

"Oh, am I? You don't look very upset." She raised an eyebrow at Sam's barely suppressed grin.

They were fortunate that all the cameras were being used to film the night's elimination and they could just hang out for a few hours while events unfolded at the mansion. She supposed she would have to do an interview later about their "date" but it was worth having a couple hours away from the filming crew.

Sam made a show of holding the door open as Sarah stepped through the entranceway. Compared to the mansion, the guesthouse was small and intimate, decorated in warm colors and comfortable furniture. A fire burned from an old-fashioned potbelly stove in one corner and two glasses of champagne had been set on a table in front of an overstuffed burgundy couch.

Sarah moved toward the couch but Sam caught her hand. "Just a second; I have something you might want to see."

"Is that another bad pick-up line?"

"Quit it with the sarcasm and just come here." He led her up a flight of narrow stairs to a set of ebony colored double doors.

"Close your eyes."

"Not a chance."

He gave her hand an exasperated squeeze. "If I'm a romantic, you must be the complete opposite."

"I pride myself on frustrating sappy moments."

Words failed her though as Sam led her into the room. Tall arching windows cast the last of the afternoon light onto what must have been thousands of books.

Each wall was a bookcase; covers of every shape and size decorated the shelves and the smell of a million unopened pages pervaded the air. More books were stored on additional shelves that sat in the middle of the room as a centerpiece on an elaborate oriental rug.

Sarah proceeded to ignore Sam completely and ran her fingers over the titles, pausing over her favorites.

Sam cleared his throat. "So this is good? You can tell me if it's lame. I just thought…well Dean never appreciates this sort of stuff…this might be your only chance to see it—"

Sarah interrupted him. "Don't laugh, but I always sort of thought I might meet my soul mate in a library."

"Well, in that case," he walked over to where she stood, "the name's Sam Winchester. How do you do?"

Castiel smiled to himself and tossed a stolen key in the air. And here Gabriel thought he was the trickster; he hadn't even noticed when Castiel pickpocketed his room key as they exited the stables.

He had guessed correctly; his trench coat had been hidden under Gabriel's collection of exotic underwear. Which included a single pair of granny-panties he really didn't want to imagine his brother in.

The trench coat now flapped merrily in the breeze and he picked his way back to his room. Or, at least, it seemed to flap merrily—wearing it again felt like reunion to him at any rate. It was funny how wearing clothes he actually owned could bring such contentment.

He hadn't really seen Dean since he'd thrown that snowball earlier in the afternoon but the memory still brought a satisfied warmth to his chest. He figured they were even now; Dean had completely rejected his kiss and Castiel had creamed him with a mass of packed ice and sexual frustration.

He fiddled with the door handle and noticed a package sitting outside his room. Wrapped in brown paper, there was no named attached, but it must have been meant for him. Sarah had left earlier for her date with Sam and would have picked it up otherwise.

He deposited the package on his bed and stripped his boots off. A careful knock sounded from the partially opened door.

"Hello? Castiel?" Bela stood in the doorway looking rather uncomfortable.

"Bela? What are you doing here? I wasn't aware you even knew my name." His brows furrowed in suspicion.

Bela giggled. "Of course I know who you are! A pair of blue-eyes like yours is hard to forget." Was she flirting with him?

Bela seemed to realize how her comment might have come across and cleared her throat. "Geez, all I mean is that, yes, I know who you are."

Castiel didn't respond and Bela took it as a cue to continue. "So, you got the package I left?"

"You left this?"

"Well, it's not from me, it's from Dean, but yes, I dropped it off an hour ago. He asked me to."

Of course Dean would ask Bela instead of just doing it himself.

"Well, you can let Dean know I received it and can send him my eternal gratitude or something," he said with no small amount of annoyance.

Bela showed no sign of leaving however and moved to lean against the doorframe as she examined her nails. "I know we haven't exactly been the best of friends, but I was hoping I could wish you luck before you go."

"What?"

"You know—wherever you go after this. I'm sure all the contestants will be a little sad to watch you leave."

He felt like he was missing some important piece of conversation. "Sorry, what makes you think I'm leaving?"

She placed a hand over her mouth. "Oh! You didn't know!" She gestured to the package on the bed. "Dean sent that as a goodbye. I guess he feels a little bad about how the elimination's going to go tonight. I think it's sort of nice gesture actually."

Castiel's stomach dropped. He didn't know why he had hoped otherwise considering the events of the past twenty-four hours. He ran his hands through his hair and glanced at his open suitcase. It was finally time to pack then. He knew it was coming so why was there a funny prickling sensation at the corner of his eyes?

"Want some help packing?" Bela offered, but her tone sounded a little too bright for Castiel to think she felt anything other than glee at his departure.

"No thanks," he said curtly but his voice cracked a little.

Bela studied him and carefully selected her next words. "At least you know beforehand. That way you won't be totally humiliated at the elimination. I mean, it's terrible to get rejected on live television, but at least you can be prepared."

Castiel's eyes narrowed and he brushed a little bit of hot wetness from his cheek. Bela was sorely mistaken if she thought he was going to stick around for the elimination.

"Right. Of course this is more preferable. Thank you for helping me see the positives in this situation, Bela."

Bela's mouth quirked. "Of course, Castiel. My pleasure. I'm glad we could part on such a nice note."

A nice note indeed. He still wouldn't have been surprised to discover the woman was descended from Medusa. With a last little wave his direction though, Bela finally left.

Castiel started throwing clothes in his bag but the package on the bed caught his eye. He slowly unwrapped it, taking the time to lift each individual flap instead of ripping the wrapping apart.

His eyes slammed shut when he saw the label on the box inside. Why did Dean do this to him? He couldn't just let Castiel hate him when he left, he had to go and buy the one camera Castiel had been saving for and the exact reason he had agreed to the show in the first place.

Damn the man, he thought brokenly and threw the box against the bedframe. As soon as he had done it however, he rushed to grab the package; afraid he might have damaged the device. He sat on the bed and cradled the camera, wishing that Gabriel were there.

Sarah sipped her champagne around as she studied Sam. "This isn't exactly the kind of date I expected. I guess I figured we'd spend more time talking about Dean."

Sam flushed. Crap. He'd totally forgotten about his brother. It was surprisingly easy to do once they got on the subject of books. "Umm, right. Dean. Anything you wanted to know in particular?"

She smiled and took another sip. "Nope."

Sarah was different than Jessica had been. Where Jess had been sweet and shy, Sarah was passionate and vocal. Jess had held his hand and let him know how much she loved him but Sarah made him laugh and kept him guessing. It was just different and Sam found he liked it. Too bad Sarah was here to date his brother.

It wasn't until Sam noticed Sarah's expectant expression that he realized she'd asked a question. "Sorry, what was that?"

She shook her head and sighed. "I said, what do you think about this sort of thing? The show and all that?"

"Do you want the answer where I tell you what a kick I get out of watching Dean being an idiot on television or the truth?"

"The truth, obviously."

Sam took the time to put his thoughts together. "Single Ladies was never Dean's idea; our dad just came home one night and announced that Dean would be doing it to help repair the family reputation. I don't think it ever even occurred to Dean to protest."

He looked around guiltily, like Dean might round the corner at any second. "It was all my fault though—after everything the papers printed last summer and what with Dad running a reelection campaign—he thinks we need all the positive press we can get."

"It wasn't your fault Jessica died, Sam."

Sam felt his throat close up. "How do you know about that?"

"Castiel told me—I hope you don't mind."

"No, no, it's just hard to talk about still. And the stuff I did afterwards…"

"But you stopped. You're clean, right?"

"Yeah, but nobody looks at it that way. All they'll ever see is a recovering addict. I'll never live it down and now Dean's paying the price with this stupid show that he never wanted to do in the first place. Heck, the guy's probably gay, at least for Cas, but he'll still marry one of these other girls to make me look a little better."

Sarah laid her hand deliberately over Sam's. "Sam—I don't know what you see in yourself, but all I see is a man who loves his older brother and a guy who would volunteer to ride with a girl who's irrationally terrified of horses. You don't have to live in your mistakes and your brother doesn't either."

It was only after Sam relived their conversation later that night he realized Sarah hadn't been upset when he implied Dean preferred Castiel.

Bela turned a small envelope over and over in her hands. She had read the contents several times and each time made her angrier than the last.

I'm a total idiot, Cas. Just thought I should say that to start out with…

I liked the kiss, okay? A lot…

Please stay. I can't stop thinking about you. I know this isn't much, but I noticed you checking out one of these on set….

So I'll see you tonight?

She read it one more time and then carefully threw it in the fireplace. Dean was lucky to have her, really. He didn't know what he wanted, but she did. And he definitely didn't want some nobody cameraman. It was a good thing she has stumbled upon his pathetic appeal before Castiel did. Who knew what might have happened otherwise if Castiel had read the letter first?

She applied a fresh layer of crimson lipstick and slipped into a tight silk dress. Dean was going to get what he wanted tonight. She would make sure of it.

Sorry there wasn't any Dean time in this chapter but the plot (What? There's plot in this?) had to move forward!