A/N: I'm moving states in a few days so the next chapter won't be up for a few weeks. Sorry, I am going to be extremely busy for a while.

(One month later)

It was October and Dean was finally introducing Jo to Charlie and Castiel. It was a Monday so they had their last class together and headed to Dean's room. Charlie and Castiel were waiting for them.

"I'm so excited!" Charlie punched Castiel's arm in her excitement, making the angel wince. "They've been dating for like a month and a half now and he's finally letting us meet her."

Castiel laughed and rubbed his arm. He was happy to finally meet her too. Dean had missed several of their lessons with Charlie to hang out with Jo and he was starting to feel a little left out.

They both heard the door at the same time and turned to face it. Dean walked in followed by Jo. She had long blonde hair and was just a little bit shorter than Charlie. She was smiling when she saw them.

"Jo, this is Charlie and Castiel."

"Hi." She waved at them both. "Glad to finally meet you. Dean talks about you guys all the time."

"Oh really?" Charlie looked at Dean approvingly. "Well, I've been trying to get Dean to bring you over for a while."

Jo laughed and put an arm around Dean's waist. "Yeah, I've been a little busy with projects, sorry."

Castiel stayed back a couple steps behind Charlie. Jo seemed nice but he was still usually wary with any new people. She noticed him watching her.

"Hi, Castiel. I've really been looking forward to meeting you." Jo dropped her arm and moved a little closer. "I can tell how important you are to Dean."

Castiel smiled shyly and looked at Dean. He felt his wings puff up in happiness. He looked back to Jo and nodded. 'Thank you.'

"And I've never really had a chance to talk to an angel before. My family never had one."

"They're not really much different than us, Jo." Dean stepped up beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. "Cas is just one of the family."

They all went to a restaurant nearby for dinner. Jo talked about growing up with just her mom after her dad died when she was eight and how weird it was to be in a place with so many people. She'd grown up in a small town and couldn't believe the amount of students in her psychology class.

Over the course of the meal, Castiel began warming up to Jo more. She made Dean laugh and seemed to be a very good person. It made it harder to deal with the slight pain he'd get whenever they would hold hands or touch each other. He assumed he'd just gotten a little possessive of Dean's attention since moving in with his family.

They spent about an hour in the student services building after eating. Everyone talked about their classes and professors they had. Castiel felt a little out of place but listened intently while they swapped stories.

"I should be getting back. I've got an early class tomorrow." Jo stood while looking at her watch.

Dean followed. "I'll walk you back." Her dorm was across the quad from theirs and he didn't want her walking alone in the dark. "I'll see you back in the room." Dean waved to Castiel and Charlie.

"See ya." Charlie waved as they walked off together hand in hand. She sighed and hooked an arm around Castiel's arm. "Let's go."

Castiel smiled as they started back to the building. "Well she's nice."

'She is.'

"You're not too jealous are you?" Charlie looked at him knowingly.

'What?' Castiel stopped and looked at her.

"Oh come on, Cas. I saw the way you looked whenever they'd act all lovey dovey."

'I'm not jealous.' He pulled her along as he started walking again.

"If you say so."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Castiel waited for her to enter her side of the floor before going to his own. The room was blessedly empty when he got there. He sat on his bed and leaned against the wall.

He hadn't been jealous, right? He liked Jo and she made Dean happy. Why would he be upset about that? Sure he'd been a little annoyed that Dean had missed so many lessons with Charlie to hang out with Jo but he couldn't expect him to prioritize him over his girlfriend.

Castiel decided not to think about it anymore and pulled out his phone to play a game. Dean made it back about twenty minutes later.

"So, what'd you think of her?" Dean sat at his desk after taking off his jacket.

'I like her.'

"Good. She wasn't sure." He laughed. "She was worried you didn't like her at all. I told her that you just take time to open up to people."

'I didn't mean to give her that impression. She's very nice.'

"Yeah, she is. I'm glad you like her." He stood and went to the closet. He gathered his clothes to take a shower. Castiel was asleep when he got back so he worked on homework until he was tired.

That Friday, they were in Charlie's room for their sign language lesson. Dean was frustrated that Castiel seemed so good at it while he was still having trouble.

"Well, you've missed half the lessons, Dean. What do you expect?" Charlie rolled her eyes. "Oh hey, I wanted to ask you guys, there's gonna be a Pride dance in the Student Center in a couple weeks. I'm going. Did you want to go with me?"

'Pride dance?' Castiel hadn't heard of that before.

"Yeah, the student government is hosting it to promote equality. It's free, and trust me, it'll be a lot of fun."

'Sure I'll go.' He looked at Dean.

Dean was a little wary. He had no problem with it, but he always felt like the others there wouldn't want him to be there. He wasn't gay after all.

"Dean?" Charlie raised her brows when he looked at her.

"I don't know. Not sure I'd feel welcome there."

"Why not? Are you against the queer community or our right for equality?"

"Of course not."

"Then you're welcome. Most everyone will be in costume and it'll be a lot of music and dancing. You can't miss this."

Dean looked at Castiel. The angel shrugged. "Okay, I'll go."

"Great! Ask Jo if she wants to go too."

"Sure."

When they got back to the room, Castiel asked Dean about what a Pride dance was.

"It's a dance that's targeted for people like Charlie." Dean wasn't sure how to explain it. He'd never been to one.

'You mean someone that's gay?'

"Yeah, that and all the other orientations under the rainbow. I think it's meant to celebrate their identities and how far they've come with equal rights."

'Oh, I didn't realize there was an issue about that.'

"Sure there is. We've watched enough movies and shows to see some of it be brought up."

'I thought that was just made up for TV drama.' The idea of others being hated or abused just because they weren't straight didn't make any sense to the angel.

"No, it's very real. I guess that's not something angels deal with?"

'I don't know. I've never heard of such a thing. I know from the few other angels I've talked to that none of them really care about gender. Love is love, and when you find your mate it doesn't matter.'

Dean had missed some of the words Castiel had signed but he got the main idea. "Is that how you feel, Cas?"

He thought about it for a minute and shrugged. 'I've never really thought about it before, but yes. I don't really care what gender someone is. I've found many different people beautiful and couldn't imagine limiting myself to a single gender as far as a mate goes.'

"Oh, well, you learn something new everyday." Dean was surprised. He'd never seen Castiel express interest in anyone, and given his abusive past that would be understandable. Maybe that was a question he could bring up in angel studies.

Jo wasn't able to come to the dance due to a group project she had to work on, but the boys met up with Charlie and they left together. Charlie was wearing a renaissance style costume with a crown. Dean and Castiel hadn't dressed up. Since it was so close to Halloween, no one gave her a second look as they crossed campus.

"You guys could've gotten into the spirit a little bit." She shook her head at their lack of costume.

Dean laughed. "We didn't really bring any costumes when we moved here."

"That's no excuse." She hooked her arm in Castiel's as they walked.

The angel was smiling as they continued to bicker about costumes as they walked. He had been looking forward to this night. He hadn't done a whole lot outside of the dorms or family house. It would be interesting to spend the night out with a group.

They entered the Student Center together and could hear the music as soon as they crossed the threshold. Charlie grabbed their hands and led them through the building to the dance.

Music was thumping and the lights were flashing through the open door. Charlie pulled them both into the room behind her. She was right about the costume thing as most of the people there were in elaborate costumes with a lot of makeup.

Charlie dragged them to a table were a couple other people were waving at her. The boys recognized one as her roommate.

"Charlie, you made it!" Her roommate, Gilda, stood and waved to them. "Nice to see you guys again."

"You too." Dean had to shout over the music to be heard. The two girls behind her greeted Charlie with hugs and then took her out to the dance floor.

"That was Bela and Cassie. We're all theatre majors." She glanced at them as they all danced together.

Dean looked at the three girls and had to smile. He hadn't met any of Charlie's friends before. "So, are you all…like Charlie?"

Gilda chuckled. "You don't have to be gay to be here, you know."

Dean laughed uncomfortably. "I know, I was just…curious."

Castiel tried not to smile as Dean grew embarrassed by his question. Gilda didn't seem to mind.

"I myself am bisexual, Cassie is straight, and Bela," Gilda paused and seemed to consider how to answer, "she doesn't really care about labels."

"Oh, fun." Dean looked at his feet as Gilda turned to look at him. "Well, nice to see you." Dean grabbed Castiel's arm and led him away before he said any more stupid things.

Castiel let himself be led away by a red faced Dean. He laughed once they were by the refreshments.

"Shut up, Cas." Dean shoved him gently. He felt stupid enough without the angel laughing at him.

A few songs later, Charlie found them and forced Dean onto the dance floor. He grumbled the whole way but accepted his fate. Castiel watched in amusement as Charlie danced him around by his wrists. He could see Dean holding back a smile the whole time.

Castiel thought about joining them, but he worried his wings would be in the way or that he'd hit someone with them by accident. Although, several people had costume wings on and were slapping a lot of people with them and no one seemed to care.

Eventually, he didn't have a choice. Charlie released Dean and dragged Castiel out. He went willingly and just kept his wings pulled into his back tightly as they danced. He felt a little awkward since he'd never danced before, but it was dark and no one was paying attention to him.

Dean was getting a drink as Charlie and Castiel danced. He watched them and had to laugh at Castiel's worried face and stiff movements. Charlie just laughed and tried to help guide him to the beat.

As he was standing by the table and drinking, a guy dressed as a cop in a very tight uniform walked over. He was looking Dean up and down.

"Nice costume." The man spoke as he picked up a drink.

"What?" Dean turned to face him.

"You're dressed as the guy that's going to dance with me." He raised a brow and took a drink from his cup.

Dean let out a short laugh. "Wow, does that usually work for you?"

He flashed a bright smile at him. "Usually."

"Well, I'm flattered, but I'm not interested." He put up a hand and turned back to watch his friends dance.

"Too bad." He moved closer to Dean so he could talk lower. "I have cuffs with this uniform and was hoping to get to use them."

Dean choked on his drink and had to cough as he talked. "I'm sure you'll find someone who'll take up that offer. Excuse me." He put his cup down and moved away as he tried to clear his throat.

"Looks like Dean is gettin' picked up." Charlie shook her head as Dean moved away clutching his chest.

Castiel followed Charlie's gaze and saw Dean and the other man watching him. Something hot burned in his chest for a brief moment, but he shrugged and looked away. 'I'm not surprised.'

'No kidding. Dean's too good looking to be left alone at a thing like this.'

Castiel laughed and shrugged again.

'What? You haven't noticed how attractive Dean is?'

'I don't think about it.' Truth be told, Castiel did think about it, a lot. He tried not to since Dean would never think anything of him besides being his angel and friend.

Charlie studied his face a minute before signing back. 'Liar.'

'I'm not.'

'Yes you are. Come on, Cas. I'm gay and I know how attractive he is.'

'He's my friend.'

'So? Gilda is my friend too, but that doesn't mean I don't think about dating her or making out with her.'

'Dean wouldn't…' Castiel dropped his hands and shook his head.

'What?' The angel shook his head again. 'You don't think he'd think about you like that?'

'I don't think Dean would even be comfortable with the idea.'

'You don't know that. He's here after all, isn't he?'

Castiel sighed and just kept dancing. He didn't want to talk about it. Whenever he thought about it much, he would get upset.

After turning down the third guy to approach him, Dean was considering joining his friends as they danced but could see they were having an intense conversation. He tried to catch some of it but they were going too fast for him to read. He thought he caught his name. Dean cursed himself for missing so many lessons.

He saw another guy making his way over so he moved toward his friends at a quick pace. The song changed to one with a loud and heavy bass. Everyone was jumping as he pushed through them to get to Castiel and Charlie.

"Hey guys." He put a hand on their arms and joined their dancing circle.

"Get tired of being eye candy over there?" Charlie laughed and jumped. She had to stop as her crown slipped.

"Yeah, I've never felt so objectified." He smiled and let himself forget about it for now and danced.

"Dammit!" Charlie pulled her crown off roughly. "I need to go fix this. I'm sick of it falling off." She left to find the bathroom to fix the crown.

Dean moved to stand in front of Castiel and kept dancing. Castiel seemed to withdraw some when Charlie left. He made eye contact with the angel before signing to him.

'You okay?'

'Yeah, I'm fine.' Castiel smiled and waved off any more questions.

Dean didn't buy it, but just kept dancing. He grabbed Castiel's wrist and pulled him a little closer. His wings were dangerously close to someone else.

Castiel kept dancing as he moved closer to Dean. He was getting tired but he didn't want to stop. He liked being here and the way the lights hit Dean's face as they flashed. When he stared a little too long, Dean seemed to notice and looked at him. Castiel dropped his head and pretended to look at his shoes briefly.

The music shifted to a slower beat. Castiel grew nervous quickly. 'I think I'm gonna take a break. My legs are getting sore.'

"You sure?" Castiel nodded to him. "Okay." Dean was going to follow him, but Charlie got back and wouldn't let him leave.

Castiel stood off to the side for a while and watched the group of students dance together. He had only been there for a song or two when another angel walked over to stand next to him.

'Your owner drag you here too?'

Castiel looked over at the other angel. He was about his height and age. He had blue eyes and slightly long dark brown hair. 'I'm here with my owner and our friend.' He nodded to them dancing together.

'I see. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy being here, but it's not too bad.'

Castiel nodded in agreement. 'I've never been to something like this.'

'I have. My owner took me to her proms and homecomings in high school. It wasn't much fun to sit at a table for four hours while everyone else enjoyed themselves.'

'I'm sorry.'

He waved a hand. 'It's okay. I like my owner. Her family has been good to me. My name is Inias by the way.'

'I'm Castiel.'

'Hi, Castiel. You want to dance?' He moved to stand in front of him.

He was taken aback by the question. Part of him wanted to say yes, but he didn't know if he should. 'I'm not much of a dancer.'

'I saw you doing a pretty good job earlier.' He smiled and took a small step closer. 'If you don't want to that's fine. I just figured I would ask.'

Castiel considered it. Inias was attractive and it's not like he couldn't dance with anyone he wanted. He glanced at Dean and saw him and Charlie laughing as a few other people joined their dancing group.

'Sure.' Castiel smiled and he walked to the dance floor with Inias.

When they reached the crowd of students, the song slowed and the crowd started pairing off. He got a little nervous again, but Inias moved close and grabbed Castiel's right hand and waist.

Inias was a good dancer and was easily leading Castiel through the song. Castiel was having fun as he didn't have to think while moving along with Inias.

'You're not too bad for someone who doesn't dance much.'

'You're just a good leader.' Castiel smiled.

Charlie glanced up and saw two angels dancing across the floor. She did a double take when she realized one of them was Castiel.

"Oh, looks like Cas found himself a partner." Charlie laughed and pointed when Dean looked confused.

Dean followed Charlie's finger and saw Castiel dancing with another angel. His jaw dropped and he had to fight the urge to go over there. He turned his back for one minute.

"There a problem, Dean?" Charlie held his arms and turned him to face her. "He can dance with anyone he wants, right?"

"Well, yeah, of course." He shrugged and smiled. "It doesn't matter to me."

Charlie just nodded and kept him moving. She pretended not to notice how he kept looking at the angels.

'Is that your owner?' Inias had noticed the guy Castiel had indicated earlier watching them.

'Yes.' Castiel made eye contact with Dean briefly before turning to look at Inias.

'You aren't gonna be in trouble or anything are you?'

'No, he's just protective of me.'

'Really? Is that a good or bad thing?' Inias kept an eye on the other guy as they moved.

'It's good. I've been through a lot and he helps me feel better, safe.'

'That's good. I guess we're both lucky in owners.'

'Currently at least, yeah.'

When the music picked up again, Inias released his hold on Castiel's hand. They continued dancing.

Dean couldn't take it anymore and turned away from Charlie to make his way to Castiel. He barely heard her questions as he walked away. He wasn't sure why he felt a little bothered but before he knew it, he was next to the angels.

"Hey, who's your friend?" He hoped it sounded friendlier than he felt.

The angels moved apart slightly. 'Inias.'

"Oh, you use sign language? That's cool." Inias held out a hand to Dean. "Inias."

"Yeah, hi I'm Dean." He shook the angel's hand.

"Hope you don't mind me borrowing your friend for a minute." He smiled.

"No, I was just curious." He put his hands in his pockets. He felt stupid now for bothering them. What had he been worried about? He should've known Castiel was fine.

"I should be getting back to my owner. She needs some supervision sometimes." He turned to Castiel. 'Nice to meet you. Thanks for the dance.'

Castiel smiled at him. His eyes widened when Inias leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, very close to the corner of his mouth. He lingered for a few seconds before pulling back and leaving.

Dean had been just as shocked as Castiel and had to clear his throat before speaking. "Well, he seemed nice. Sorry if I broke something up."

Castiel shook his head. 'It's fine. It was nice to talk to another angel.'

Dean nodded. They stood awkwardly for a moment. Luckily, Charlie arrived and broke the silence.

"Hey, come on." She grabbed both of them and dragged them back to the center of the floor.

Dean groaned. "God, Charlie, don't you ever get tired?"

"Nope." She smiled and got them all dancing.

It was almost an hour later before they were able to get Charlie to let them go. Dean pulled Castiel aside and they sat at one of the tables.

"Man, I feel so out of shape." He was taking deep breaths and could feel his legs protesting already.

Castiel was a little tired but was faring better than Dean. He let his wings relax behind him and watched the crowd. Most of them were dancing, the others were in small groups around the tables and laughing while they talked. As his gaze passed the door, he saw a familiar face and had to look twice.

Castiel grabbed Dean's arm to get his attention and pointed at the door. Dean stood up and saw Jo standing by the entrance looking through the crowd. He smiled and quickly made his way across the room.

He stood from the table and watched as Dean hugged Jo and kissed her. That slight twinge was back in his chest and he had to look away. He suddenly didn't want to stay.

Dean led Jo to the table. She waved to Castiel. "Hi, Cas."

Castiel waved back as he sat back down. He could see Charlie making her way over.

"Joanna!" She hugged the blonde with a laugh. "Dean said you weren't coming."

"My group project ended sooner than I thought it would. I thought I'd stop by a minute. I can't stay." She looked at Dean when she said that.

"Oh come on, a few dances won't hurt." Dean pulled her close and smiled.

Jo put a hand on his chest. "I'm so tired, Dean." She laughed. "I'll take a raincheck."

Dean frowned. "Well alright." He kissed her again and then let go and stepped back.

"Have you guys been having fun?" She looked between the three of them.

"Oh yeah!" Charlie exclaimed and put an arm around Jo. "We've been doing a lot of dancing and getting hit on." She looked pointedly at Dean and Castiel.

"Should I be jealous?" Jo looked at Dean with a smirk.

"No, I had to break all their hearts and turn them away." He smiled back at her and then glanced at Castiel. The angel seemed strangely detached from the conversation as he didn't look at any of them.

"I better go." She waved to them and took a step away.

"You have someone walking back with you?" Dean didn't want her walking alone at night.

"Yeah, a couple of my group are in the same dorm as me. They're waiting for me. See ya." She waved again and made her way out of the room.

"Too bad she couldn't stay." Charlie leaned on the chair in front of her.

"Yeah." Dean sat back in the chair he'd used before. "How late does this thing go 'till, Charlie?" He checked his watch and saw that it was already close to eleven.

"Midnight, at least." She smiled and bounced to the beat thudding through the room.

"And I'm sure you'll be here until it ends right?" Dean smiled, already knowing the answer.

"You bet your ass I am."

Dean nodded. "Of course you are." He looked at Castiel and could see that the angel was getting tired as well.

"Dean," Charlie leaned forward on the chair again, "you can leave any time you want to."

"We don't want to put you out."

"No, I mean I'll stay and you can go."

"You can't walk back by yourself that late at night."

"I won't be alone. My roommate is here, my other friends are here. We'll all be walking back together. You don't have to worry about me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, don't stay just on my account." She waved a hand and then picked up some buttons that were on the table. "Just don't leave without taking a button!" She handed one to both of them before bouncing back to the group of dancing students.

Dean looked at the button in his hand. It was a rainbow colored circle with an equal sign in the middle. He smiled and clipped it on his shirt. Castiel followed suit.

They sat silently for a few minutes before Dean grew bored. He looked at Castiel. "You getting tired?"

Castiel shrugged. 'Some.'

"Wanna just stay a few more songs? Then we can go." Castiel nodded in agreement. Dean smiled. "You want to try and find Inias before we go?"

'Why?'

Dean shrugged. "I don't know. You two seemed to hit it off. I wasn't sure if you wanted to try and get any information from him." Dean was confused by the slight anger he felt when he thought about it. Why would he care if Castiel was interested in another angel? He should be happy about that, right?

'No, its fine. We had a nice conversation and dance.'

Dean nodded and they fell into silence again.

It was about 11:45 when they decided to go after the current song ended. They found Charlie on the dance floor and danced with her as their farewell. She hugged them in turn before letting them go.

Dean sighed as they left the building. The cool October air cooled his warm skin. It had been hotter in there than he'd realized. He put an arm around Castiel's shoulders as they walked.

"That was fun." Castiel nodded in agreement. "Glad Charlie thought to invite us."

They were crossing the quad when a few older male students came into their sights. They were walking in the opposite direction. Castiel immediately pulled his wings closer and moved a little closer to Dean.

When they were close to passing them on the sidewalk, Dean's arm tightened around Castiel slightly. He could tell the others were giving them a strange look. As they passed, one of them snickered.

"Couple queers, figures."

Dean immediately stopped and turned to face the group as they continued on. "What?" He said it loud enough they could hear him. The group stopped and turned back to them. "What did you just say?"

Panic filled Castiel as the group moved closer again. He grabbed Dean's arm, not wanting him to do anything stupid.

"I think you heard me." The boy that had said it stepped forward.

"I did, and I think you should apologize." Dean tried to take a step closer, but Castiel tugged on his arm.

"Why? Not like I was lying." He reached forward and flicked the button on Dean's shirt. "It's not surprising. You owners only like getting angels for one thing anyway." He sneered as Dean's face grew red.

He had forgotten about the buttons. His face was hot in anger. "Some owners, maybe. Not me. Now, apologize to us for throwing that word at us. You shouldn't say that to anyone."

"Make me." The older boy stared at Dean briefly before laughing and leading the group away.

"Asshole." Dean whispered it and made a move to chase after them. He wanted a fight. Castiel held his arm tight and dragged him back the other way. "Cas…"

Castiel stepped into his vision. 'Don't.'

"Cas," Dean shook his head but Castiel demonstrated his superior strength and forced Dean to move away from the others.

'Just let them go.'

Dean sighed heavily and went with Castiel reluctantly.

When they got back to their room, Rick was there and made a comment about the buttons as well. Dean yelled at him to 'fuck off' and left for the bathroom. Castiel glared at Rick until he got in bed. He was laughing the whole time.