Castiel woke with a start, his eyes flicking open in defence against the terrible scene that had unfolded in his dream, in hopes of stopping him from witnessing his own self splintering and bursting at the bottom of a well.

Staring around his room as he remembered the difference between awake and asleep, his eyes fell on the figure of Dean lying beside him, one arm thrown over his stomach. Castiel smiled, resting on his elbows as he let himself drink in Dean's presence.

He thought of them, then, as a couple, and what they'd been through. The fights, the make-ups, the conversations, the silences. It hadn't been long, but they'd somehow slipped irreversibly into each other's lives.

"Cas, man, you keep staring at me and I'll have to do something about it."

Castiel flushed pink as he realised Dean's eyes had opened.

"I wasn't staring at you," Castiel protested, caught off guard when Dean used the arm he had flung over his stomach to pull him closer.

"Oh no?"

"No, I was… staring into space. You just happened to occupy that space."

Dean laughed, and buried his face in Castiel's neck.

"Liar," he growled, his lips brushing Cas's skin. "You love me."

Cas couldn't help but smile.

"I seem to remember making an oath that we wouldn't be together until Sam and Gabriel have reconciled…"

"Yeah but I'm irresistible," Dean smiled, looking like a sleepy cat.

"And cocky." Castiel grunted as he sat up, swinging his legs around to touch the floor. "And responsible for breakfast."

"What?"

"I have papers to grade. The sooner I get done, the sooner you will have the attention you crave so badly."

"Yeah yeah." Dean rolled his eyes, slowly moving himself. Castiel was already pulling on boxers and shrugging on his shirt, trying not to feel too happy as he glanced over his shoulder and saw Dean pouting as exposed skin became covered. Dean, for his part, was trying to create a magnetic field of laziness. "Like you don't want it worse than me."

"Dean," Castiel laughed, finishing with his shirt buttons and leaning over the bed, staring Dean straight in the eyes, "I had you figured from the moment you stepped into my office. And, gay or straight, you always have and always will be a horny little drama queen."

Dean might have been about to protest, but was cut off by Castiel's mouth pressed to his.

"You're an ass," he said, when they parted.

"An ass who's still expecting breakfast," Castiel corrected before practically flouncing out of the room.

(-*-)

It all happened rather suddenly. One minute, Dean and Cas were eating bacon and eggs together on the couch, and the next, Cas was barking into his phone, demanding his attorney make sense.

It was the mail-man that did it.

Dean knew this, because Cas went down to the lobby to get his mail, and five minutes later he came back, clutching a white envelope with his address peering through the plastic window, waiting to leap forward and destroy everything.

The letter involved a lot of overly formal blather, all typed neatly under a header declaring it came from the California Board of Psychology. The interesting bit, though, the bit that had drained any vestige of colour from Cas's face and caused him to slump limply into a nearby chair, and had rooted Dean to the spot with terror when Cas read it aloud, was the paragraph that read as follows:

"We are writing to inform you that, by anonymous complaint, you have been accused of abuse of your position, sexual involvement with a patient, negligence of a patient and sexually lewd behaviour in session. As this is a very serious issue which the board cannot afford to overlook, the complaint has been immediately referred to a trained Peace Officer for formal investigation. Your Peace Officer will contact you with details of the beginning of the investigation, but the Board strongly suggests you suspend all practices until the investigation, and any subsequent disciplinary action, has been completed."

Dean stared at Castiel, who was storming round the apartment and waving the letter, demanding his attorney get on the case. He tried to swallow the lump that had materialised in his throat, but it wouldn't move. He could barely breathe; everything was swimming and fading…

Castiel hung up the phone and looked over at Dean, suddenly the weak, nervous man full of quiet worry that he had seen when he first walked into his office, all those months ago.

"What… Do we..?"

Castiel shrugged, and sat down heavily.

"Do you want me to go? Or not?"

Castiel stared at the floor. Dean laughed, nervously.

"Well, c'mon Cas, give me something to work on."

"I don't know, Dean. I just…. Don't know."

Dean stood, staring for a moment at the door. Then, quietly, he walked to the kitchen and started making coffee. He held his breath, closed his eyes and clenched his fists against the worktop, trying not to hear the wavering sigh Castiel gave as he dialled Becky's number and told her not to come in until further notice.

(-*-)

Dean put on a smile for the end of the year, but if he acted interested in Sam and Gabriel's big mushy reunion, it was only because he welcomed a distraction from the dull ache of not seeing Castiel. They had decided to stay apart, until the investigation was over, for their own sakes.

But god did it hurt.

January first was a big day for Dean. For once, Sam was showered and starting to act like a human again, and actually looking happy. Dean punched him on the shoulder as he handed over a mug of coffee.

"Mornin' starshine."

"Hey. What time is it?"

"Ten. Got plans for today?"

"I dunno. Catch up on my sleep… maybe get booked in for a haircut somewhere… laundry…" Sam shrugged.

"Cool. There's hockey on tomorrow, wanna go?"

"Sure. I think Gabriel might have wanted to do something, but we can rearrange."

"Or he could come with."

"Sure, if you're… ok with that?"

"Yeah. Sure. I mean, I don't want to see you guys sucking face, but it couldn't hurt to hang out with the guy." Dean shrugged, and sipped on his coffee.

"So, what have you been up to? You know, while I was all…" Sam rolled his eyes back in his head and groaned.

Dean scratched his cheek.

"Little of this, little of that. Put new shocks on the car, finished reading that Dan Brown book, total crap… Had sex with a guy…"

Sam thoughtfully regurgitated his coffee all over the kitchen table.

"What?" He managed, after a choking fit.

"I'm gay now. And, uh, oh yeah, I fixed that thing at the back of the fridge that was making that clunk noise. See ya later."

Dean walked out of the kitchen, smiling at Sam's shocked face and wondering what he should do with himself.