It wasn't cute.

That's what Dean kept telling himself, over and over in his head as he watched Cas pick out various t-shirts. Cas showed him each one and asked about the logos on the front, what they meant, why they were there, etc. Dean tried not to smile after each question, he really did, but each inquiry was just so curious and Cas asked them so seriously and it was just so... Not cute.

They were currently in a nearby drug store, rummaging through hats, shades, and fake mustaches galore. The trenchcoat was left at the motel (after much protest from a certain vampire) because it was decided that it would draw too much attention, which was exactly what they didn't need. So far Cas was in a baseball cap for some team no one heard about anymore, a fake mustache that resembled his own hair color as closely as possible, and before they left Dean was making sure that he swapped the freakin' Hawaiian shirt Cas picked out for a more reasonable one.

Dean would have felt better if he would have picked out a cooler shirt, such as a Batman one. But that wouldn't be right, since he was Batman himself, so Cas needed something like Superman.

"Dean," Cas said while holding up an AC/DC shirt to him, "What about this one?"

A huge grin spread across Dean's face as a glint of pride welled up inside of him. Dean was almost positive that Cas' taste in music was heavily influenced by him, since he was control of the radio and played non-stop tunes while they were at the motel.

"Yeah," Dean said without breaking his grin, "It's perfect Cas."

Cas gave a small smile, happy to have picked something that pleased Dean, and started to put most of the other shirts back. When he finished, he turned around to find Dean, but instead saw a couple of humans he didn't know. He turned around in a circle, trying to see where Dean went, and wondered why he would have left him. He figured he probably had a good reason and would be back soon, so he rummaged through the clothes again as he waited.

A few minutes later, Dean appeared in his peripheral vision and he released a sigh of relief.

"Dude," Dean said as he squirted a clump of sunscreen into his hand, "Don't move."

Cas obeyed and let Dean smear big globs of sunscreen all over his face and neck. It was cold to the touch and tickled with a ferocity that made Cas move and wiggle and try not to laugh. He involuntarily jerked his arm as the sunscreen was put on his neck, knocking the bottle out of Dean's hands and spilling some onto his shirt.

"For crying out loud," Dean said through gritted teeth as he inspected the sunscreen on his shirt, "Freakin' stay still!"

His raised voice got the attention of the people around them, so he lowered it to a whisper. "If you don't let me put this on or you don't put it on yourself you're gonna fry like a pancake as soon as we step outside." To a bystander this probably sounded like a threat, but it was merely the truth.

Cas gave him one of his famous glares and retorted, "Maybe if you didn't have such dainty hands -or at least let me put the cream on myself- we wouldn't be having this petty problem, now would we?"

Dean's eyes got wide at his friend's sudden sass and he blushed lightly. He had dubbed Cas as being sort of stuck up and only able to speak formally, but now he wasn't so sure.

Dean opened his mouth to say something, but a voice from behind him beat him to it.

"Castiel? Is that you?"

Dean watched the blood drawn from Cas' face as he looked past Dean to see who was talking. Dean turned around and saw a blonde haired, blue eyed, and fairly scrawny kid, probably a teenager. He was doing the adorable head tilt thing that Cas did sometimes and Dean already did not like him because that was Cas' thing, not this random guy's.

"S-Samandriel," Cas said, not daring to step around his human shield that was Dean, "W-what are you doing here?"

Based off of his sudden nervousness, Dean could tell that Cas felt uncomfortable around the guy, and so he could be a potential enemy. He didn't bother to move from his protective stance in front of Cas, rather he gave the stranger in question his best glower.

"I'm picking up sunscreen," the teenager said without breaking eye contact with Cas, barely even noticing Dean, "What are you doing here?"

Cas took in a breath to steady his nerves before answering, "I am getting sunscreen also."

Samandriel knit his eyebrows even closer together. "Is that so?" He shifted his eyes to Dean as if noticing him for the first time, "And who's this?"

Dean looked to Cas for an answer. "I was about to ask that same question," Cas said. "I'm Castiel," he said, shaking Dean's hand, "and you are...?"

Dean's confused expression melted away as Cas' plan dawned on him.

"Oh I'm Dean," he said while shaking Cas' hand for a bit longer than what was deemed necessary, "Thank you so much for the directions to the nearest gas station." Since his back was facing Samandriel, Dean added in a wink for good measure, causing Cas to bite back a grin.

They finally released hands and Dean made his way out of the aisle, deciding that it was best to give the two vamps some privacy. However, as curiosity got the best of him he stayed in earshot and went into the next aisle, reasoning that they couldn't need that much privacy. In the aisle next to theirs he picked an opening in between some cereal boxes so that he could still see what was happening.

There was a long beat of silence. Castiel refused to make eye contact whilst Samamdriel couldn't seem to get enough of it. He watched Cas like a hawk as he fiddled with the buttons on the AC/DC shirt he was wearing, and Dean resisted the urge to go help him get through the silence.

"So..." Cas said, in an attempt to quiet down the extremely loud silence, "See any good shows lately?"

Samandriel snorted instead of answering. "Where have you been Castiel?" He stepped closer to him and Dean's fists clenched. "You smell..." He took a big whiff of breath, "Different."

Cas kept his pulse steady to avoid Samandriel sensing his guilt. He knew what he was smelling was the blood Dean gave him, and he fought off a fond smile as he remembered how good it had been drinking it.

"Perhaps it's the excessive amount of sunscreen I'm wearing," Cas said in his best attempt to be convincing, "It's a different brand from what we usually buy."

Samandriel's glare turned lethal as he stepped so close that he was inches away from Cas' face. "If I didn't know better," he said while Dean tried to contain his anger in the next aisle, "I'd say you smell like blood, brother." He paused. "But I do know better," he said as he took a step back, "And I also know that my nose must be stuffed up because the immense amount of blood it's telling me you've recently digested is impossible, considering what Raphael told us."

Cas kept his curiosity contained and kept his face blank. "Please refresh my memory brother, to which commandment are you referring to?"

Raphael was the feared leader of their pack of vampires, and what he says goes. His demandments ranged from little tips such as always having non-blood stained teeth in public, all the way to the pack not being allowed to drink O- blood in the winter. Of course, Raphael was allowed to break any of his rules, but that was besides the point. Considering that he was the alpha, the oldest living vampire in their regimen, they figured that he was entitled to certain privileges and knew better than most.

Castiel, however, did not think this way in the slightest. He was constantly breaking the small commandments out of spite. He believed that Rapheal was a terrible and cruel leader, and he had good reason to. Raphael's punishments were always extreme and undignified, and everyone knew who his favorites were.

Samandriel was one of those favorites.

"The most recent one," Samandriel said, "He has instilled upon us a blood cleansing. He says that we must go at least one week without a drop of blood, so that we will build up will power and our appreciation for the precious substance will increase."

Castiel clucked his toungue in disapproval. Vampires as old as him were able to go a while without blood, but all of the recently turned vampires would undoubtley suffer great pain from the withdrawl. It was highly unlikely that Rapheal would obey his own laws anyway, so why was he being so unnecessarily difficult?

"Castiel," Samandriel said, breaking through Cas' thoughts. "You know what I have to do now."

Castiel scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion, and then his eyes went big in realization.

"You wouldn't," he whispered.

Samandriel sighed. "Castiel there are multiple offenses against you at present. You smell as though you've rcently bathed in blood, you've been missing for days, you're socializing with a human, that shirt you're wearing looks ridiculous-"

Cas had to draw the line. "The last two "offenses" you listed aren't even offenses, and how dare you insult my choice of attire." Dean was glad he said something before he got the chance to because he was seconds away from revealing his hiding spot and drop kicking the blonde guy for the both of them.

"I hope you understand why I have to report this to Raphael," Samandriel finished. Dean watched Cas' shoulders tense up, which only confirmed that this was a bad sign.

Cas thought quickly. He had to think of a way to convince Samandriel, one of Rapheal's most trusted play things, to not rat him out. So he thought of a plan.

"Well," Cas said, "What if, theoretically, there was a way I could get you your own share of blood? You wouldn't even have to kill anybody."

Various emotions painted Samandriel's face: confusion, skeptism, suspicion, even slight horror as he realized that Cas wanted him to betray Rapheal, his trusted superior.

Cas had to admit that it wasn't a very good plan.

Instead of answering, Samandriel used his vampiric speed to get out of the store. He moved so fast that it was almost as if he vanished, the rustle of nearby papers being the only proof of him even being there in the first place.

Dean came into the aisle with Cas. Cas' back was turned to him, so didn't see him approach. When Dean put his hand on Cas' shoulder, he jumped a little. Cas whipped around to face whoever was making contact with him, and relaxed when he saw that it was only Dean.

Dean gave his shoulder a light squeeze and said, "It's ok man, don't listen to the little runt. Who does he think he is anyway?"

As he spoke, Cas felt the back of his eyes heat up, and he noticed his heart rate quickening. He tried to concentrate on what Dean was saying, but all he could focus on was the inevitable. He knew that once Raphael caught wind of his rebellion, he'd be hunted down, and that meant any "accomplices" would be severely punished too.

He was endangering Dean. How could he have been so blind? Of course this was bound to happen; it was all his fault. He tried to listen to the encouraging words Dean was saying (didn't he know it was hopeless?) but all he could focus on was protecting Dean, and what their next move would be.

"-all we have to do is make a plan and then we can get through this." Dean gave a gentle smile and released Cas' shoulder. Cas returned the smile as he noticed how Dean had said "we," meaning he would help fight a battle that wasn't his. Cas couldn't tell if he respected that decision or if it just made him worry more.

Nevertheless, the human's optimism in such a dire situation made his insides grow warm, and before he realized what he was doing, his arms were coming up and pulling Dean into a firm hug. It took Dean a few seconds to register exactly what was happening, since Cas moving towards his neck area was never a good sign, but when it clicked he timidly lifted his arms to hug back. It took all of his willpower not to delicately run his fingers through Cas' presumably soft hair, so he couldn't help but grip Cas' shirt to try and restrain his wandering hands.

The hug went on way past the amount of time of an average hug, neither of them willing to let go just yet. Finally, Dean pulled away, but let his arms linger around Cas, and locked his green eyes on Cas' blue ones. Before he spoke he noticed a new emotion in Cas' eyes, but he immediately waved the possibility off because it didn't make sense. Why would Cas, a bajillion year old vampire, feel safe in his arms?

He cleared his throat and said, "They're not gonna get ya you know, not on my watch." Cas looked away and shook his head. "I'm serious," Dean continued with a humorless laugh, "They won't get you because I have a plan."

Cas' eyes flicked back up to see a mischievous smile on Dean's lips.