AN: Happy holidays people! Hope Christmas was good for you all, as a New Years treat, here's a very long update! There will be a lot of dialogue, some character development, and the beginning of a Sam and Gabe bromance. So, enjoy! And don't forget to comment! (:

Dean strolled in to home-room on Monday morning wearing a large grin. He was still getting glares from some people, but ultimately the student population were being nicer to him; greeting him, calling his name as if they were old friends, and patting him on the back. It was bizarre after a week of almost-abuse, but it was something he could definitely get used to. He winked at Castiel as he walked past before slumping down in his seat besides Chuck.

"Morning. Good weekend?"

Chuck, still scribbling away in his notebook shrugged; "good enough. Have fun with Castiel?"

Dean's grin grew; "we had an awesome time! Watched films, went for a meal at Alfredo's, went for a drive... Spent Sunday watching the first three Star WArs films!"

"Sounds fun... You and him friends then?"

"Yeah... Ever think you'd be the friend of a friend of a Novak?"

"Never... So, what's it like?"

"What's what like? Being his friend?"

Chuck nodded, looking up for a moment.

"I don't know? It's unexplainable, he's really cool... He's up for anything I want to do, he's never seen any film that's awesome, so I get to teach him about them. Doing homework isn't boring, because he just explains things in a cool way... He said he's listen to Metallica and find some songs to like, just so we had something else in common... He's just, his sense of humour is awesome, and... Basically he's the best friend you could ever want..."

Chuck smiled; "good for you."

Dean smiled back and glanced over at Cas who was playing with his bag strap; his fingers drew Dean's attention, long and thin, the kind that were used in advertising hand-held products. Dean looked down at his own hands; he'd never thought about it before, Cas had nice hands, whilst his were scratched and scarred, one finger was a little swollen at the knuckle where he'd broken it and it hadn't fixed properly, and no matter how much he washed, he had grease and dirt under his fingernails. Dean scowled and folded his hands away on his lap where he wouldn't have to see them. He opened his mouth to say something to Chuck, but the class was called to order so attendance could be taken; instead Dean rest his head on his bag, staring up at the front whilst watching Cas out of the corner of his eye.

When the bell rang, Dean jumped from his seat over to Castiel, grabbing his shoulder gently. Cas spun round and smiled.

"English."

Dean nodded; "I know; come on."

Cas pulled his bag on to his shoulder and led the way out of the classroom, Dean quick on his heels. Neither said a word to each other as they took the short journey from home-room to English, sat down and got their things out. Dean mindlessly scribbled stars in the margin of his paper, staring blankly at the front of the class whilst next to him Castiel already had his books open, pen lid in his mouth whilst he wrote things in his notebook, skilfully holding and switching between two different pens in his right hand whilst he pointed to a line in his book with his left forefinger. Dean blinked a few times in rapid succession and glanced down at Castiel, frowning in confusion.

"Cas, the lesson hasn't even started yet," he pointed out in a hushed voice. Castiel shrugged, not even glancing up, still writing notes.

"Lots of notes to make Dean, besides, what's to talk about? We spent all weekend together, how much could happen in the few hours we were apart?"

"Well... We could talk about anything you wanted..."

Castiel finished the sentence he was writing and looked up at Dean; "such as? Would you be happy discussing the book?"

Dean chewed on his lip; "not really, I'm only a few chapters in and I'm not following, plus I'm not really the well-read kinda guy you are... But I'll be happy to listen to whatever you have to say about the book..."

A small smile spread across Cas' face; "even though it'll be very boring? And if you're not following the story itself I doubt you'd follow my theories on it."

"Well, I don't really, care? If you like it I don't mind listening, and you never know, you might inadvertently teach me something?"

Castiel chuckled lightly and pushed his notebook closer to Dean, before shuffling a little closer himself and starting his little speech about themes of the book and his own theories, backing it up with notes he'd made. Dean nodded along, understanding more of what Cas was saying than he thought he would, occasionally interrupting with questions or his own little ideas.

"So this was published in 1949?"

Castiel smiled and nodded, flicking to another page in his notebook; "yes."

"...This is so creepily kind of, nearly accurate to what life's like now, well, apart from... I don't know, I'm not very good with words, you're the eloquent one, you know what I mean, right?"

Castiel chuckled; "I do. You know, if you really want to get a grasp on what Orwell was saying and what his views were, you might want to read some of the essays he wrote. In particular The Lion and the Unicorn. He wrote it in '41 and actually led to him writing the novel."

"...You think I should read an essay by him? I'm struggling reading his book!"

"Would you like me to write you a summary?"

"No, Cas. You've got your own work to be doing, and I don't really want to be his critic, I just want to pass the lesson!"

The smaller boy nodded and pulled his book over to his side of the desk; "yes, sorry. I forget sometimes people aren't as enthusiastic about work as I am."

Dean smiled; "don't worry about it, all your hard work is going to pay off one day. Better to be a nerdy brain-box than some, guy who, can't even, speak."

Cas managed another smile and looked up again; "thanks Dean..."

After English, Dean had two lessons without Castiel, both of which dragged on; Dean found himself doing serious work and wishing Cas was there to explain things to him. Whilst his Chemistry teacher was preoccupied, Dean pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Castiel.

"Dude, what the fuck are covalent bonds? Mind fuck!"

A grin spread across his face when several moments later he got a reply, explaining what covalent bonds were in a simple way.

"Thanks, you should tutor me, I might actually understand some of this crap."

"Of course Dean, if you wish."

All throughout the lesson, Dean and Cas text back and forth, discussing Dean's work and possible study-dates for Cas to help Dean understand the syllabus.

"Is tonight ok?"

Dean grinned and quickly shoved his books in to his bag; "sure. Time and a place."

"Let's discuss this at dinner. Do you mind if I join you? Only we won't be able to discuss much around my family."

"Yeah, no probs! See you in five!"

The bell finally rang; Dean slung his bag over his shoulder and jogged out of the classroom to the cafeteria. Becky was already at their table tucking in to her packed lunch. Dean went to join the back of the queue, but was shouted towards the front by Anna.

"Um, hi?"

Anna smiled sweetly; "hi Dean. Hey, I'm sorry about setting you up with Lisa, I thought she would have taken to you. Clearly you're no match for my big brother."

Dean grinned; "true, no one can seem to compete with Balthazar."

"Anyway, thank you for befriending Cas-"

"-Oh God, is everyone going to thank me for it?"

"Look Dean, you really don't know him as well as us, you've really made him happy. He used to be so passive, not really caring. Now he's smiling; last night when you left he stayed and talked to us instead of hiding in his room, it's been forever since he's done that!"

Dean chewed on his lip; "well uh... I s'pose you're welcome then."

Anna smiled brightly; "besides, you and Cas are adorable together!"

"...Meaning?"

"Just, you are!"

Dean eyed her suspiciously as she got her food, before he got his. He dropped his tray opposite Becky and grinned, sitting down.

"Still one of us then?" she grinned in return.

"Sure am. You and Chuck don't mind if I recruit someone else to join the loser-brigade do you?"

"Not at all, the more the merrier!"

"Good!"

He noticed Castiel stood in the cafeteria doorway looking around; Dean waved at him, a smile spreading across his face. Becky turned around and gaped when she saw Cas walking towards them.

"Dean, can you look after my bag?"

"Sure."

Cas smiled even more, dropping his bag beside Dean before going to get his lunch, being pulled to the front by Gabriel.

"Castiel Novak? I mean, I knew you guys were hanging out and everything but... He'll be sitting wuth us?"

Dean grinned; "yup."

At that moment Sam and Chuck slid up the table.

"What's going on?" Chuck asked before taking a hearty bite of his sandwich.

"Castiel is going to be sitting with us! Sam, did you know your brother was friends with him?"

Sam grinned; "yeah! They make a proper little pair, spend all their time together! Already had a couple of sleepovers and dates!"

"You're dating him?"

Becky's voice raised to a high-pitched squeal, even Chuck hadn't heard it go that high; the boys rubbed their ears in pain.

"What? No! We're just friends! What the Hell?"

"Aww, really? That sucks, you two make a cute pair!"

"What? Why do people keep saying that?"

"Maybe because it's true?" Sam laughed. Dean glared.

"Just, shut up, the lot of you! Especially when he gets here, don't make him feel awkward!"

"Don't have eye-sex with him then!"

"What's that s'posed to mean?"

"You two stare at each other all the time! Really intensely!"

Becky let out a little squeak, Chuck rolled his eyes as Dean shoved a forkful of food in to his mouth. Sam suddenly slid away from Dean on the bench, Dean turned around just in time to see Castil put his food down. A grin spread across his face.

"Hey guys, this is Castiel, Cas this is Chuck and Becky."

Castiel smiled and slid on to the bench; "it's nice to finally meet you, and hello Sam."

Sam grinned, mouth full of food; "hi Castiel."

Dean smiled at Cas as he began to tuck in to his lunch, not noticing Becky grinning and nudging Chuck.

"So what brings you to our table?" Sam asked, dragging Dean away from his Cas-gazing. Castiel shrugged innocently.

"Dean. We have some things to discuss."

"Oh yeah?"

"We're meeting tonight, to do some work."

"Oh nice, how much work will you get done though? Will you two not get distracted by each other or something?"

Becky squeaked again; Dean wished Cas wasn't in between him and Sam, because the youngest Winchester needed a fist in his mouth. Luckily, Castiel was socially-retarded enough to now realise he was teased. Unluckily, he was socially-retarded enough to not realise there were things you just don't say in everyday conversation.

"Well, I have found Dean to be very distracting when he's there, but it's just as bad when he's not; I can't seem to not think about Dean all the time."

Sam and Becky's grin double in size, Chuck blushed, embarrassed for Dean, whilst Dean began choking , a small chunk of chicken lodged in his windpipe where he'd inhaled it at Cas' revelation. Castiel frowned as Dean coughed and spluttered violently.

"Are you ok?"

The piece of chicken finally flew out in to Dean's hand, his face red and eyes watering. He dropped the chicken on to the side of his plate, grabbing for his drink and wiping the tears from his eyes. He eventually looked at Cas when he could breathe.

"Yeah, just inhaled instead of swallowed."

Dean finally noticed the grins on Sam and Becky's faces, he glared.

"You're sure?"

The larger boy's attention was drawn back to the innocent and concerned face of Castiel; he couldn't help but smile; "I'm sure. No thanks to my supposed friends and brother. Thanks for just grinning at me guys, it really helped!"

"What? I thought Castiel would have performed the Heimlich Maneuver!"

Dean glared even harder at his brother, hoping he was picking up the message of: "I'm going to fucking kill you in your sleep and make it look like an accident!"

"So Cas, ignoring these douchebags, where shall we meet tonight?" Dean asked, shifting his focus. Castiel smiled and took a small bite of his food, waiting until he'd swallowed to reply.

"We could go to the same café as the other day? What subjects do you want to cover?"

"Sure. Um, English? And Chemistry, definitely!"

"Very well."

"Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Um, yes, thank you."

"Sure thing... Is Gabriel working tonight?"

Castiel nodded as he took another bite, Dean decided to have some more of his food, hoping no on eowuld say something else to make him choke.

"Would you like me to show you where he works? It's a charming little shop, with an ice-cream bar."

Dean grinned; "sweet! We'll have to check that out!"

"I have to warn you, it's usually full of sickeningly sweet couples."

Dean could almost feel Sam and Becky's grins; "I'm sure it'll be fine, can't be any worse than Gabe, surely."

Castiel smiled; "very true."

In History, Castiel and Dean volunteered to do some research in the library whilst Anna and Gabriel copied up notes. Instead, the cousins spent their lesson gossiping.

"I told him they were adorable together, I think he seemed to consider it. And earlier I overheard Becky Rosen talking to her friend about them. Apparently they spend a lot of their time staring intensely at each other, they make a totally cute couple, they've been on dates but aren't dating, and... Cas said he can't stop thinking about Dean at all, and Dean began choking on his food! They're going out again tonight too."

Gabriel grined; "if we all keep hinting they'll understand. Where are they going toight?"

"Same café, Java I think, and they're going to drop in and see you."

"ah, I'll whip out the big guns. Hey, Dean owes Crowley a favour doesn't he?"

"I think so..."

"Let's see if we can speed this along even more!"

Anna's phone vibrated on the desk; she quickly picked it up and read the message. She grinned and began texting back.

"What is it?" Gabriel asked, beginning to sketch more women.

"Ruby's in a lesson with Sam, who's telling Jess about Dean's man-crush on Cas and how he keeps teasing him because it's funny and makes him squirm."

Gabriel chuckled; "get his number! I think we should include him in on the conspiracy. If there's one person that might make Dean see sense it'd be the one person in the world he'd die for."

Anna nodded and began texting back; "on it."

Several moments later, Gabriel was keying Sam's number in to his phone, before messaging him; "it's Gabe, we need to talk, meet me afterschool?"

"Strange how I give Ruby my no. and now you're texting me. What you want to talk about?"

"Curious huh? And I want to talk about our Cas and Dean."

"What about them?"

"I want to include you in our plan to get them together."

"I'm in!"

Gabriel laughed, showing Anna the texts.

"This is going to be easy! I give them less than a week until they're declaring their love for each other!" Anna smiled.

"I think you should have a girly talk with Cas. Normally he doesn't respond to your feminine nonsense, but keep the conversation on Dean, and just maybe..."

Anna laughed and picked up her phone to text one of her many cheerleader friends. Gabriel decided to do a small amount of work before the lesson ended so as not to incur the wrath of Castiel for spending an hour doing nothing; when he and Dean will no doubt return with pages upon pages of work. He opened his textbook and groaned, already feeling homicidal at the idea of mindlessly copying from a book. Before the lesson ended, Cas and Dean returned with a lot less work than Gabe thought they would.

"Wow, Cas, where's the work?"

A flush of pink spread across the small boy's face; "well, there wasn't much to find out that we didn't already know, and uh, we kind of got distracted."

Gabriel grinned; "by?"

"Just the internet. We looked at song lyrics, Chuck Norris facts, general crap that wasn't blocked, which wasn't much," Dean replied, packing his things away.

"But Cas! You never get distracted from work!"

Castiel blushed again; "Dean's very distracting when he wants to be."

"Is it his ass? Because day-um! I don't swing that way but I would!"

Anna and Gabriel laughed as Castiel's cheeks went bright red; Dean blushed too but had a grin on his fce.

"Don't swing that way? Why were you checking out my ass?"

"It's all Cas talks about, thought I'd take a look myself!"

If Castiel could have made like a hedgehog and curled in a ball and rolled away, he would have. Instead he kept his eyes fixed on his shoes, fiddling with his tie nervously.

"Gabriel's lying. I don't, talk about your... Your um..."

Dean smiled and gripped his friend's shoulder; "I know, Gabriel's just an A-grade douche!"

"Yes, he is!"

Gabriel laughed; "you're right, Cas, I'm a dick, I'm sorry!"

"Of course you are."

The final bell rang, the class all but ran out of the room; Gabriel rushed to meet up with Sam before Dean. The youngest Winchester was stood by his locker with Jess, holding hands and smiling soppily at each other.

"Gigantor!"

Sam spun round and smirked; "Pipsqueak! Sorry Jess, I've got to talk to him, I'll text you later."

Jess smiled, pecked Sam on the lips and went to join her friends. Gabriel grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him up the corridor away from where Dean's locker was.

"So what do we need to talk about?" Sam asked, hoisting his bag higher up his shoulder.

"Right, Castiel has a crush on Dean, a really bad one, and coincidentally, it's his first ever crush. Balthazar, Crowley and I had a plan to try to get them together because it's obvious Dean likes Cas. A lot of us are already in on it, and with any luck Cas will see the light, but we need someone on Dean's side to give him a good kick up the ass."

Sam grinned; "I can do that, and really, Cas fancies him?"

"Spend more than five minutes with them, it's clear as fucking day! Also, check this out from Saturday night!"

Gabriel pulled his phone out and showed Sam the picture he'd taken of Castiel and Dean asleep together. Sam burst out laughing.

"Oh my God! Dean cuddles? He insists he doesn't, I mean, I've caught him cuddling his pillows before but he always denies it!"

"Your big brother likes to spoon, Sammy... So anyway, what's your plan of action?"

Sam chewed on his lip; "well, it won't be easy. I could get him to admit he likes him but... He's never asked anyone out in his entire life. Every fling or relationship he's had, he was approached... I don't think it's going to start with Castiel... So unless you can get Castiel to ask Dean out...

Gabriel sighed; "ok... We'll cross that bridge when we get to it... They've got another date tonight, I'll make sure to make it romantic. You need to have a heart-to-heart with Dean-O... This should work!"

"Yep. Anyway, I've got to meet Dean."

"And I've got to text Balthazar and bring him up to speed... See you later Samsquatch!"

Sam laughed and elbowed Gabriel playfully; "later Gabriel."

When he got home, Gabriel immediately ran up to his room and sat in front of his computer. In a few moments he was in a Skype call with Balthazar.

"Another date, huh? I'd vomit if it wasn't actually so adorable!"

Gabriel laughed; "tell me about it! I'm going to give them some overly-romantic ice-cream-sundae when they come in. Two straws!"

"Good plan! ...Sammy's in on this now, did you say?"

"Yeha, he's going to sit Dean down and give him the talk."

"Oh good..."

There was suddenly a timid knock on Gabriel's door, Cas poked his head round.

"Cas!"

Balthazar grinned; "hey little brother!"

Castiel smiled meekly and went to stand in front of the screen to greet his brother; "hello Balthazar."

"So Cassie, how can I help you?"

"I was wondering if you could put some songs on my iPod?"

"Yeah, what songs?"

"Just some, Metallica? And some uh... Def...-"

"-Def Leppard?"

"Yes."

"Castiel! That Winchester boy hasn't gotten you listening to rock and roll has he?" Balthazar demanded, chuckling. Castiel smiled sheepishly.

"Just a few songs."

Gabriel grinned; "help yourself, I'm off for a shower before work."

He jumped up, grabbed a few things and went to the bathroom; Castiel sat himself down in Gabriel's desk chair, plugging in his iPod.

"So Cas, Gabe says you're out tonight."

"I'm helping Dean with his work, he's finding it difficult."

"You know-"

"-Please don't, Balthazar. I know you and Gabriel are up to something."

"We're just trying to help. We want you to be happy, and we've never seen you as happy as you are with Dean!"

"He's just my friend, he doesn't like me like that, and he certainly isn't gay!"

"Oh how wrong you are! He does like you like that! His crush on you is as obvious as yours is on him! And whilst he isn't gay, he's actually just like you, a pansexual. You only differ in the way you're asexual and he's a horny bastard!"

Castiel frowned; "who told you that?"

"Gabriel. Dean told him the other."

"...You won't be insulted if I say I don't believe you?"

Balthazar laughed; "ask Crowley, he was there! Ask Dean!"

"I'm not asking Dean about his sexual orientation!"

"Ask Sam then! But I'm telling you, when you two finally pull your fingers out, you won't be his first boyfriend!"

"Can we stop talking about Dean please?"

Balthazar sighed; "fine. I'm going to make a cup of tea. If you're gone before I get back, have fun."

Castiel smiled meekly; "thank you."

Gabriel jumped around his room looking for his work shirt, Castiel long since gone to go out with Dean. Balthazar was watching him with a grin on his face and a cup of tea in his hand.

"So quick, what did he say?" Gabriel asked, finally finding his shirt.

"He doesn't believe Dean fancies him... He also knows we're up to something."

"Damn, I really need Sam's help... Dean needs to get in there before Cas gives up. Even more annoying, Dean doesn't ask people out, they always ask him!"

"Well Cas isn't going to bloody do it, is he!"

"Maybe this won't be as easy as we thought."

"Unless the youngest Winchester can work miracles!"

"Here's hoping he can! Anyway, must dash! See you!"

Dean and Castiel stood outside Gabriel's place of work, staring at the displays in the windows.

"So this is where Gabriel works, huh?"

Castiel nodded; "yes... We don't have to go in if you don't want to."

Dean laughed and threw his arm over Cas' shoulders; "come on Cas, we'll be fine. I'll protect you."

A small smile spread across the smaller boy's face as Dean pulled him in to the shop. It was decorated top to bottom with Halloween decorations; fake cobwebs, skeletons and mummies and werewolves, there were goblets full of green fog-producing liquid, and a witch that cackled when people walked past it.

"Gabriel must love all this," Dean laughed, getting a good look around.

"Oh I do! Afternoon boys!"

Dean and Cas turned towards the voice; Gabriel was leaning on the ice-bar counter, grinning.

"Sit! You've got to try my newest creation! Hoping to market it properly for Valentines!"

Dean hopped up on to one of the stools, whilst Castiel eyed Gabriel suspiciously. Dean suddenly caught his attention, he was smiling and patting the stool beside him. Gabriel grinned and rushed about making the ice-cream. Castiel looked over at Dean, going to smile, but grimacing instead. Dean noticed and frowned.

"Is there something on my face?"

"No not at all, just, behind you!"

Dean craned his neck around to see a couple, two seats up, kissing passionately, hands all over each other. Dean chuckled and turned back to face Castiel.

"How do they balance on that? I could try that and fall off instantly!"

Cas smiled; "must they do it in public?"

"Do you want to swap so you don't have to look at them?"

"Please!"

The two boys slid off their stools, without thinking about; they squashed each other. Castiel instantly flushed bright pink as Dean's body was pressed against him. Dean smiled nervously.

"Well, we didn't think this through," he laughed, grabbing Cas' shoulders, trying to edge around him. Gabriel appeared instantly, grinning.

"Now kiss!"

He gestured for them to lean in to each other. Dean glared and managed to squeeze past Castiel, hopping up on the stool. Cas took a deep breath and climbed up to his seat, glancing at Dean before turning to Gabriel.

"Aww, you kids! Don't tell me you're against P.D.A.s!"

"Please go away Gabriel."

"Give us our ice-cream first!" Dean interjected. Gabriel rolled his eyes and served their ice-cream sundae, sticking in two straws and one spoon, before finding other customers to serve. Dean grabbed the spoon first, piling some of the chocolate ice-cream, before holding it in front of Castiel. Cas paused before leaning over, taking the spoon in his mouth; Dean grinned.

"Good?"

Cas nodded.

"Not poisonous or anything?"

Castiel swallowed and smirked; "so that's what this was? Me testing for poison?"

Dean laughed and took a spoonful of the vanilla; "nah, I just thought you'd like to try it first, I'm a gentleman like that!"

"As charming and nice as you are, chivalrous isn't a word I'd use to describe you."

"What? I'm so chivalrous! I hold doors open! I've held them open for you; I put others' needs before my own..."

"Dean, I've never seen you like to anyone... Apart from me... Not even to Sam! In fact, I watched you barge past him and close the door in his face!"

"Well, that's Sam..."

"My point still stands Dean. You've only acted like a gentleman to me."

Gabriel could overhear their conversation and was using a lot of self-restraint to not march over and scold them for being so thick. Instead, he found something to busy himself with on the other side of the shop, behind the counter. He leant on the counter, watching his cousin and Dean flirt, as was his plan - feeding each other the ice-cream, resting their foreheads together as they sipped at the straws at the same time. He took pictures of their "private moments" and sent them to Balthazar and Sam. The usual reply he got from Balthazar went along the lines of: "aww, so cute! They make an adorable couple!" Whereas the typical response from Sam was usually: "hahahahahahahaha! OMG! What a bunch of girls!"
Eventually, Dean and Cas finished their ice-cream, paid and left. Gabriel sighed, his main source of entertainment having left for somewhere more private where they would probably kiss and stuff, so he resorted to harassing Sam.

"So when are you and Jess going to... ;)"

"OMG Gabe! We've been dating 3 days!"

"Your point is...?"

"It's none of your business!"

"Fine. Let me know when it happens though, yeah? I'll throw you a party!"

"No!"

"Fine! No party!"

"I'm not telling you when I lose my virginity!"

"Whatever, Dean will!"

"...I won't tell him either!"

"Haha! He'll know, it's a brother things."

"What happened when you lost yours?"

"Me, Balth and Crowley got drunk watching sexy films!"

"You watched porn?"

"No! Sexy films! They had a plot and a lot of nudity! On my 17th he took me to a sexy show!"

"Seedy strip club?"

"Fancy burlesque show... When you come of age I'll take you!"

"No thanks."

"You'll like it, I promise!"

"You have 3 years to persuade me."

Dean and Castiel were sat on the hood of the Impala, parked by the lake again. Unlike the other night, it was pretty cold as the sky was completely cloudless. Castiel had tried to explain the clouds acted like a blanket, keeping all the warmth underneath, and without them all the warm air escaped; but Dean just shrugged and replied with:

"Whatever, I don't really feel the cold. Not after my Alaskan winter."

Castiel smiled and wrapped his arms around himself; "lucky you."

Dean smiled meekly and stared out at the lake, noticing Cas shivering in his peripheral. He shrugged off his leather jacket and draped it over Cas' shoulders.

"If you're cold, I can take you home."

Still smiling, Castel shook his head and pulled the jacket tighter round him, Dean's body-heat already warming him; "no thank you. I'd much rather be here and cold than be at home. My family are even more insufferable to be around."

"Sorry to hear that. At least you have stability; Sam and I have only unpacked clothes, all our possessions - the little we have - are still packed up. We don't want to get comfy only to move a week later?"

Cas frowned; "you're leaving?"

"No, we're here to stay, but it's just ingrained in us, we rarely stay anywhere longer than a couple of months."

"Why?"

Dean let out a loud sigh, Castiel bit his lip, afraid he'd crossed some kind of line.

"My dad's an engineer, for the military, and has to travel a lot. It was fine until my mom died in a car accident."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine, it was eleven years ago. But when she died, we had to travel with him. So, for eleven years, Sam and I have lived out of a suitcase, never having any real friends. The only home I've known is this baby. Slept in her more than a bed. And by sleep I mean lie in a state of semi-consciousness whilst my dad snored in his alcohol-induced sleep - he's not an alcoholic, but sleeping in the drivers seat isn't something you can accomplish without booze - and Sam kicked me. The back seat is big, but not big enough for 2 six-foot guys, his leg would spasm all night.
"The second night we were here I couldn't sleep, so I crept out of the house and tried to sleep in the car. Only I couldn't sleep because there was no snoring and no kicking... I've gotten used to beds now, though."

Cas smiled meekly; "why did he leave you the car?"

Dean shrugged; "half compensation for the life he made me lead - not that I blame him, at all - and half just as something familiar for me to have. He'd always planned on giving it to me when I learned to drive, ever since I was born, but, things changed."

Castiel paused, not looking at Dean, before starting his own story; "I don't know my dad. Or my mother. She died when I was born, something to do with having two children in rapid succession. But I've been assured by Balthazar and Uncle Raphael she was a true angel. Really selfless, used the family fortune for good, donating to charity, starting her own, going to impoverished countries to help out... That's where she met my father actually. In Ethiopia... they built a well together and fell in love."

Dean chuckled; "romantic."

Castiel smiled; "if you don't mind mosquitoes, faeces and a village of dying people."

"Didn't stop your parents."

"Their love was too strong."

"But wait, what about Zacahria?"

"...I don't like to speak ill of Casey, but she was a real witch of a step-mother. Played on my father's grief of my mother's death for years. Zacharia was born. My dad travelled a lot just to be away from her, divorced her when he found out she'd hit Balthazar.

"What?"

"He was acting up around Zach, she overreacted and slapped him. Raphael was straight on the phone, she received divorce papers two days later."

"Wow. Does Zach ever see his mom?"

"No, she left, never to be seen again. That's why he's so bitter, especially to Balthazar. He blames him."

"Damn... So what happened to your dad?"

Castiel shrugged, gripping the lapels of Dean's jacket tightly; "I heard he died. None of us actually know. None of us would recognise him if we passed him on the street. Discounting my infancy, I can remember meeting my father, four times? I only know what he used to look like from pictures. Raphael actually says Balthazar is the spitting image of him."

Dean frowned; "dude. That is just so messed up!"

Castiel smiled; "it's fine. I'm thankful I've always been surrounded by family."

"I suppose you're lucky in that respect."

"Very. Blessed, almost. I'm not even bothered I never got any parental love... Although Balthazar said it's actually damaged me emotionally."

"Well, I have daddy-issues too, let's wallow in self-pity together!"

"How?"

"We eat lots of ice-cream and chocolate and watch chick-flicks."

Cas chuckled and finally put his arms through the leather jacket's sleeves; "I think I'll pass, thank you. I'm not the self-pity kind of guy."

"Me neither. But still! Chocolate and ice-cream!"

"Well what are we waiting for?"

They both slid off the hood of the Impala, standing in front of each other, smiling.

"You know, Cas, you look pretty fucking badass in my leather jacket."

"Um, thanks?"

"Maybe you should go as Indianna for Halloween!"

"No, I certainly don't have the confidence."

Dean slung his arm around the smaller boy and pulled him closer; "you're so damaged, Cas. And you don't even realise."

Cas' face flushed pink - it was happening too often in Dean's presence; "is that a bad thing?"

"Nah, everyone's damaged in some way. For you it means if you ever get a girlfriend, she'll stick around. You kind of scream out 'fix me' and some people dig that. You're what some people call a project."

"Oh..."

"Don't be offended. Any girl would be lucky to have you, you have a lot to give. Emotionally."

"You think that?"

"Yes, I almost envy what lucky soul gets you."

"What about you? Aren't you emotionally damaged too?"

"Yeah, but I'm a real project. No one's prepared to take me on, and if I'm honest, I've never really been prepared to let anyone. I've had a string of one-night-stands and week-ling relationships. The longest was three weeks with a guy called Ash. He was just weird, but cool. Could have lasted longer but we moved."

"Balthazar wasn't lying!"

"He said I was a project?"

"No, he said you dated men."

"Oh, yeah, I'm that much of a man-whore I don't care if I'm sleeping with a man or woman."

Castiel frowned; "I don't think you're a whore. I think you crave love and confuse love with sex... You need to let someone... 'Take you on', as you word it."

Dean let out a deep sigh, unconsciously squeezing Cas gently; "and where am I going to find someone to take on someone as emotionally crippled as me?"

Castiel surprised himself with his level of self-restraint when he didn't shout out "ME!". Dean shrugged and let go of Cas, going over to the passenger door, opening it.

"Come on Cas, your gorgeous carriage awaits!"