When Sam saw Dean he knew something was up. Dean never usually looked this confused. He watched as he came him, dropped his keys on the side table, and plopped down on the love seat. Sam waited for him to say something, but he never did. Dean just switched positions a few times as if he couldn't find a comfortable position to think in. As soon as Sam turned back towards the kitchen, the phone rang. Dean still didn't move, which was way weird, because Dean usually raced him to the phone. Sam answered and it was Bobby.

"Hey, uh, Ellen is almost holding a gun to my head. She wants to have a family dinner tonight. She said she's cooking..." Bobby was cut off by Dean's outburst.

"Oh she better! That woman made me garden two days in a row last weekend!" Obviously Dean had picked up the other phone and was listening in. There was a scuffling sound as Ellen clearly ripped the phone away from Bobby.

"Now you listen to me young'un. You volunteered to help with that project and if I recall you were laughing most of the time." Her motherly voice echoing through the reciever.

"Yeah, yeah. Are you gonna make those stuffed burgers? What about that chocolate-oreo pie? Now that I'd plant a million trees for. Worms and all." Dean replied cheerfully. Ellen made a disgusted noise.

"Can we not bring up the worm incident?" They both laughed, obviously sharing some inside joke that no one else was in on. "As for your food choices, I made the pie earlier today. The burgers would be easy to fix." Sam smiled as Ellen fed into Dean's inner fat-kid. He never understood how his brother ate so much and so unhealthy, but still remained as in shape as he was. They all hung up shortly after and Sam went to find Dean again.

This time Dean was laying prone on the couch and tapping the beat from Living on a Prayer on the floor.

"Hey, Dean, you have anything on your mind?" Sam leaned against the ugly rose wallpaper the archway to the kitchen was decorated with.

Dean's head popped up and he kind of blushed, which was so unlike Dean, Sam began to wander if he'd been thinking of something he wouldn't like to share with the class, "Uh, no, not really. Just got a song stuck in my head."

"Dean, you only listen to Bon Jovi when you want to preoccupy yourself." Dean's eyes squinted and he rolled over.

"So, how is the Janie thing coming along?" Dean unsucessfully tried to change the topic.

"Her name is Jessica. She's great, and you're avoiding something. Who'd you go see today? Or any of the other days?" Sam crossed his arms and smiled at his older brother.

"I paint." Dean blurted as his face went red.

"I'm sorry, what?" Sam was totally confused.

"I paint. I go out and paint. I'm actually not bad. I have a vender named Lisa." Dean refused to look Sam in the eye. Dean thought this was better than telling him that he often visited with Cas and become all buddy-buddy.

"How come you never told anyone? Do you have pictures? How good are you?" Seeing that Sam was thuroughly diverted, Dean breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, I'm actually pretty good. Not to ring my own bell or anything. I have pictures." Dean scrolled through his phone and showed Sam.

"Dean, Ellen is going to be so pissed you didn't tell her!" Stopped and looked at one particular painting longer than the others. It was the blue angel painting that hung in Castiel's apartment. "This one is my favorite."

Dean looked down and chuckled, "Yeah, seems to be a theme."

/

Everyone was sitting at the table laughing and having a good time. Dean went around looking at everyone's face. Ellen and Jo, Bobby and Sam, then there was Charlie who was picking on Ash. The one person's face he didn't see, but wanted to see the most was Cas'. Dean stopped and almost curled into his own mind, but Ellen's outrage pulled him from his thoughts.

"Dean Winchester! How could you keep this a secret from me!?" She was scrolling through his pictures on his phone, that Sam had stollen out from under his hand at some point.

"Well, it's not like it's the manliest thing in the world. Besides, if you knew all my secrets, how could I keep my mysterious air?" He pursed his lips and put his hand on his chin, which made Ellen and Jo laugh. Bobby was just drinking his beer witih a smile on his face. Dean looked at Sam and realized he had been staring at him with a look on his face. Sam was slowly realizing that Dean was keeping something from him, but obviously couldn't place it yet. Turning back to the table instead of meeting his brother's stare he said, "Did you know that Sam has a girlfriend?"

As the group turned their attention to Sam, Dean swiped his phone back and took a picture of the piece of pie on his plate. He sent the picture to Cas' number and said "Now this is pie."

/

The next day at work Dean could not concentrate on the building they were trying to put together. Cas had replied to his text saying "Notes have been taken." Dean had smiled at the time, but now he is tossing himself back and forth. What the actual hell was going on with him. Cas was his friend sure,but this was just weird. He kept asking himself, why was he ok with watching Cas? Why was he ok with the thought Cas might like him, in a more than friends way. There has never been anything like this for him. Finally Dean gave up with the internal debate and started singing Wanted Dead or Alive. He got to the middle of the second verse before he realized that Sam had been right. He only sang Bon Jovi when he needed an internal distraction, and Cas was leading him to full on singing the stuff.

"What the hell." Dean muttered.