When Dean woke up, he had forgotten for a moment that he had been injured last night. One attempt to sit up reminded him. He groaned in pain and let his arm rest over his face. He looked over at Castiel. The angel was sleeping with a wing draped over his body and hanging over the side of the bed while the other one was tucked in behind him.

Castiel must have sensed Dean watching him as he stirred slightly and opened his eyes. He smiled sleepily and burrowed his face deeper into his pillow. He wasn't ready to get up yet.

Dean laughed quietly as the angel fell back asleep quickly. He took a breath and carefully pushed himself up from his bed. His ribs protested a little bit but it wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He left to use the bathroom and then came back to rest.

About twenty minutes later, Castiel got up and walked towards the door. 'I'm going to take a shower.'

Dean nodded to him. Once he closed the door behind him, Dean took out his phone and texted Charlie.

I kissed Cas last night

Dean waited a couple minutes with no response. He figured Charlie wasn't awake yet. That was proved wrong when there was frantic knocking on his door. He didn't have a chance to stand before Charlie busted into his room.

"I'm sorry, what?!" Charlie had her phone in her hand and was wearing purple pajamas. She paused when she saw Dean's bruised face. "What the hell happened to you?"

Dean sighed with a smile. "Good morning, Charlie."

He recounted the whole story for her as she sat on Castiel's bed and listened. It was the longest he'd ever seen Charlie silent.

"Who were those guys? You want me to take them down?" She couldn't believe someone like Rick had friends at all, let alone ones that would go so far to defend him.

Dean laughed. "No, I think Cas took pretty good care of them last night."

She nodded. "So, you and Cas…" she smiled at him.

"Yeah, I don't know what happened. I'd never really thought about it before, but I definitely felt something." Dean looked down at his hands. Kissing Castiel had felt amazing and Dean wondered why they hadn't done it before.

"I'm sure you did. It's pretty obvious that Cas is in love with you." Charlie stood and put her phone in her shirt pocket.

"What?"

"Oh come on, Dean. He's probably been in love with you for years."

"No he's not." If he had been, wouldn't he have noticed?

"You really never noticed?" She looked at him, hoping he was joking. "Didn't you wonder who Jo was talking about?"

Dean furrowed his brows. "She was talking about Cas?" Charlie raised her brows at him. "Is it really that obvious?"

She chuckled. "Yeah, it really is. I think you're literally the last one to know about it."

He sighed and dropped his head. "How long have you seen it?"

"You remember when we marathoned The Lord of the Rings the first time?"

"The day after Jo dumped me, yeah." Dean looked up at her as she shrugged. "That long?"

"I suspected it before, but that was when I knew for sure."

"What do I do?"

Charlie shook her head. "I can't tell you what to do. It's up to you."

"No, I mean, I'm his owner. Legally I own him. It's just weird for me to do anything with Cas when I'm in that position." He didn't want to live the owner stereotype.

Charlie moved to sit beside him. "Do you think of Cas as a possession? Is he a toy for you, or a pet?"

"Of course not!"

"Does Cas think of you as someone that owns him? Does he feel like he has to do what you say or want just because you own him?"

Dean shrugged. "No, I don't think so."

Charlie patted his knee. "Then you have nothing to worry about. You're not taking advantage of him or your position. Legal issues can be resolved."

"Thanks, Charlie."

She stood and was on her way out when Castiel entered the room. She smiled and signed to him as they passed each other.

'I'll text you later.'

Castiel was confused and turned to Dean when Charlie was gone. 'What was she doing here?'

"Just stopping by for a chat." Dean stood and took a couple steps closer to Castiel.

'Okay.' Castiel figured they were talking about what happened last night so he let it go. He was wanting to talk to Dean about that as well, but he wasn't sure if Dean did.

Dean went to his closet to change. He thought about what he wanted to say while he did so. He felt like something had to be said but he didn't know where to start.

He moved to stand by his desk and watched Castiel briefly. The angel was combing his fingers through some of his feathers that had been messed up by his shower. Dean had an urge to help but had never touched his wings before.

"Cas, can I ask you a question?" Castiel turned to look at him and nodded while he continued fixing his feathers. "Do you think of me as just someone who owns you that you have to obey?"

Castiel stopped grooming his wings and looked at Dean. 'What? No, of course not.' He didn't know where this was coming from.

Dean nodded. His throat tightened slightly as he started his next sentence. "How long have you had feelings for me?"

Castiel felt his eyes widen slightly. He could guess who'd told him about that. 'Charlie told you?' Dean kept a neutral face. 'About what I told her and the dreams?'

"Why didn't I notice?" Dean shook his head and smiled.

'You just didn't want to see it.'

He tilted his head and moved a little closer to Castiel. "What dreams are you talking about?"

Castiel closed his eyes. 'She didn't tell you about that?'

Dean laughed. "No, she never mentioned any dreams."

Castiel felt his face get red. 'It wasn't a big deal. I just had a dream about you over the winter break.'

"What kind of dream?" Dean couldn't believe that Castiel was blushing. He'd never seen him do that before.

He shrugged. 'A good dream.'

"Oh, a really good dream?" Dean smiled at the idea of Castiel having a sex dream about him.

'Not that good, Dean. It was just about you kissing me.' Castiel looked down at his feet. He never thought he'd be telling Dean about that.

Dean smiled. "You have those a lot?"

'That was the first one. I don't have them often.' At least he didn't before. Now he wondered if he'd be having them more often.

Dean was surprised to learn about that. After everything Castiel had been through, he never thought he'd want or think about something intimate with another person.

'Well, you know how I feel. What about you? How do you feel about this, about us?' Castiel was nervous to ask since Dean wasn't one to want to talk about his feelings too much, but he needed to know.

Dean had expected the question but was still unsure of the answer. "I care about you, Cas. You're a part of the family, you always have been." He thought of how best to describe what he was feeling and was having a hard time. "I feel comfortable around you and I want you to be happy."

'And if you make me happy?' Castiel looked at him with a sparkle in his eye.

He huffed out a laugh. "I guess I need to give you whatever makes you happy, huh?" Castiel shrugged. "Do you want me to kiss you?" Dean leaned down slightly, bringing their faces close together.

Castiel's breath hitched slightly and he tilted his face closer to Dean and nodded. Dean closed the space between them and kissed Castiel. He kissed him back and wrapped his arms around Dean's neck.

Dean put his arms around Castiel and kissed him harder. He ignored the twinge of pain in his face and pressed himself against Castiel.

They kissed for a minute before Dean finally had to pull away. His bruises on his face were hurting too much. Castiel nuzzled his face slightly before stepping back.

"You know, I never thought you would be okay with anything like this after what you went through before."

Castiel was confused. 'Okay with what? You mean kissing?'

Dean nodded. "Yeah, any type of intimate activity. It would be understandable."

'I guess. I don't have an issue with kissing, Dean. You're the only person I've ever kissed.'

"Really? I just assumed your last owner…" Dean shook his head.

'He never kissed me. None of them ever did anything that intimate. That wasn't what they wanted from me.' Castiel shrugged.

"Oh, I see." Dean frowned in thought. "So, I'm your first kiss?"

Castiel smiled and nodded. 'My first, yes. My only one.'

Dean felt a sense of pride at that. His face grew warm and red. "Well, hopefully I don't mess that up."

'I don't think you will.' Castiel smiled at him again.

Dean laughed. "Good."

Later that day, Dean was sitting in one of the restaurants on campus and was waiting for someone to meet him. He had texted them earlier and asked to talk.

"Hey, Dean."

Dean turned and stood as Jo walked to the table. She frowned when she saw his face. He had told her briefly what had happened, but not everything.

"God, your face. You just can't catch a break can you?" She sat at the table with him.

"No, apparently not."

"Is Castiel okay?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, he's fine. They never even touched him."

"Good."

They ate in silence for a moment before Dean spoke again. "So, the reason I wanted to talk to you was that after Cas beat up those guys, he kissed me."

Jo's eyes widened briefly. "He did?" Dean nodded. She sighed. "Finally."

Dean chuckled. "That's how Charlie felt about it too. It took me by surprise."

"Really?" She raised a brow at him.

"Yeah, obviously I'm completely clueless." He shook his head. "I just wanted to let you know that I understand now, why you left. I didn't realize the extent of my feelings until then. I'm sorry that you were in that position, Jo. You deserved better."

"Thanks, Dean. It wasn't all bad. I know you cared about me, it just wasn't the same. I like you and Cas. I miss you guys."

"We miss you too. Now that I finally get it, maybe we can all be friends again? I wouldn't want you spending all your time alone."

Jo smiled. "Well, I'm not alone. I have a boyfriend, actually."

"You do?" She nodded. "That's great."

"Yeah, we started dating right before the break."

"I'm happy for you. You deserve to be happy."

They chatted while they finished their meals and then parted ways to their dorms. Dean felt a lot better knowing that he and Jo were in a good place and that she was seeing someone.