Carefully, Dean knocked on the door of Cas' room.
"Cas?" he could barely hear his own voice over the thumping of his heart.
No reply came, so Dean tried again.
"Cas, please. I'm worried about you. Talk to me, buddy."
Softly the door slid open, revealing blue eyes in a shockingly pale face.
"I will be ok, Dean." Cas' voice sounded odd and mechanic. Devoid of emotions.
Taking in the blank eyes, the deadpan face and the red rims around his eyes, Dean called bullshit.

"C'mon Cas. You know that ain't true." he said, putting his hand against the door.
Cas glared daggers at the hand, but didn't say anything.
"Come on down, bud." Dean tried.
Cas' deadpan intensified.
"No."
The rebuttal was blunt, harsh and final, but Dean wasn't having it. As Cas turned away and walked towards his bed, Dean pushed the door open further and leaned against the frame.
"Please come down..." he tried.
The smiteworthy glare Cas directed at him didn't hurt Dean as much as the clipped, brutal sentence Cas barked out.
"Dean! I said no!"

Dean's relaxed stance changed instantly into a determined one. He pushed away from the door and strode to where Cas sat. Squatting down, he caught his eyes and his hands.
"Talk to me." he simply stated, an honest offer to be a soundboard, someone to vent to.
Cas' façade broke, and those deep blue eyes turned sad.
"I didn't mean to... Dean, I'm sorry."
His voice was soft, pleading for understanding.
"For what, Cas? You didn't do anything wrong in my eyes. As I understood, Gabe and your grandma were bang out of order about something. I don't know or even care what. It hurt you enough to run up here and hide. So, talk to me."

Cas scoffed weakly, pulling his hands free.
"I did not 'run'." he protested, fingers placing the airquotes.
Dean merely shrugged.
"Not all running is actually walking fast. You ran, by calmly ascending the stairs. Don't bullshit me, Cas. Talk."
Cas curled into himself, arms folded around his midriff.
"Dean.. I can't..."

Seeing his friend and secret crush hurt so bad broke through all of Dean's defensive walls and he pulled Cas towards him, encircling him gently with his arms.
"Ok. Allright. Don't worry, buddy. It's fine. I'm just concerned. You're hurting, and I can't help if you don't talk."
The exhaled breath that warmed his shoulder, came out shuddering.
"This is actually helping already..." Cas admitted softly.
Dean smiled sweetly and hugged a little tighter.
"What? The hug, or the offer to help?"

Snuggling down into the hug, Cas sighed shakily.
"Both... and the compassion. The indisciminate acceptance, while you don't know what's going on."
Placing one hand lightly on the soft, ebony locks, Dean offered all the solace Cas needed.
"I don't need to know, Cas. I just need you to be ok. Deal?"
Cas hummed and finally hugged Dean back.
Firmly knocking his libido on the head, Dean stroked Cas' hair, quietly soaking up the feel of it brushing his palm.
Cas shuddered another sigh, and Dean started mumbling sweet nothings to calm him down.

Dean didn't keep track of how long they sat there, but after a bit, Cas pulled back.
His eyes were dry and soft, his cheeks sporting a light blush.
"Thank you, Dean. I feel much better now."
Fighting the desire to pull Cas back into his arms, Dean pulled up one corner of his mouth in a semblance of a smile.
"You're welcome. Wanna come down? I'm sure Sam has chewed Gabe out by now, for hurting you."

Cas sighed again, pulling back even more.
"Could you excuse me? I'm feeling rather tired and want to have an early night."
Patting his knee, Dean got up.
"Sure thing. You go to bed, rest up. We'll see you tomorrow."
When he closed the door on Cas, he leaned back against it, head in hand.
'Fuck... I'm soooo fucking screwed! He was so distressed, sad, and all I could think was that I wanted him to kiss me...'

Once he collected himself, he went downstairs.
"Well? How is he?" Gabe anxiously asked from next to Sam on the sofa.
Dean took in their positions, Sam's blush and Gabe's face, and concluded that they had been in the same situation as him and Cas.
Sam consoling, Gabe freaking out, ending in an awkward hug.
"Exhausted. You broke him, Gabriel. I don't think you should go up." Dean warned as Gabe stood after the first word.

"But..."
"No buts. He wanted to sleep. Go grovel tomorrow. I'm just here to tell you this, get my beer, and then I'm heading up as well. I need some time with my music and my Vonnegut."
Sam smiled teasingly.
"Vonnegut? Since when does he write for Busty Asian Beauties?"
Dean grabbed his beer, drained it in one go and shot Sam a mock glare.
"Shut up, bitch."
"Make me, jerk."

Tilting his head, Dean narrowed his eyes to hide the spark of fun in them.
"Is that a challenge, Sammy?"
"Only if you want to, De..."
Gabriel watched them like a ping-pong match.
"Guys, guys... don't fight..." he plead, golden eyes begging.
Dean smirked at Sam, who took his cue flawlessly.
"Oh we're not fighting... yet." he stated simply, standing up and taking a fighting stance.
"Bring it, sasquatch." Dean challenged, emulating him.

"No!" Gabriel suddenly called out, jumping between the Winchesters, arms outstretched.
His fingers brushed Dean's chest, and his other hand landed on Sam's ribs.
"I won't have this. I'm dead tired of the fight with Cassie, I will not allow you two boneheads to start falling apart like we just did. You're brothers!"
Silently, Dean signed Sam to take this chance.
Sam nodded once, suddenly picked up Gabriel and flung him over his large shoulder.

"Whoa! What the... Sam?" garbled Gabe in surprise.
Sam carried him to the stairs, one arm in the hollows of his knees, one hand on his butt.
"Dead tired, you said? Time to get you in bed too, angel."
Cheeks turning red, Gabriel just gaped at first, then he recovered.
"I'm no angel. And you're a yeti! Put me down!" Gabe called out, kicking his feet and pummeling his fists on Sam's back.
Dean noticed he wasn't really struggling to get down though.
"See ya, Sammy! Don't be up too long." he quipped and cleared away the last mess. No way they would be down here again today.
After that, he went upstairs, put his wireless earphones on and turned up AC/DC.