Castiel paled instantly. A sheer look of panic and terror crossed his face as he looked down at Lex. There was no talking his way out of this. She had seen them together. His mind started to race. It was all over, now. Goodbye school. Goodbye, Alfie. What were they going to do? What was he going to do?

While he was panicking internally, Lex wrote something down on the back of a receipt. "Come to this address today at about two," she said to him. "Bring Dean. He can bring Sam, too, if he wants," she added. "The code there is for the front gate," she said, indicating the four digit number beneath the address. With that, she walked away, leaving Castiel dumbfounded on the sidewalk.

He looked down at the address and his brow furrowed. What had just happened..? He felt numb, blinking small spots from his eyes as his mind still reeled. Lex had seen. She knew. And he reaction had been a harsh tone and to give him an address. What was she planning? What was at this address? More importantly: what would be waiting for them when they got there?

Once he had regained his senses, Castiel slowly made his way to Dean's dorm. He worked over in his head what he'd say. There was no way he would even dare tell Dean that Lex knew about them. He wasn't suicidal, and Dean's explosive temper was the last thing he wanted to worry about. He would most likely just say that they (and Sam for some reason) had been invited to come to the address that he held in his hand.

When he knocked on the door, it was Alfie that answered it, and he was smiling like he nearly always was. "Hey, Castiel," he said. "Come on in. Dean's at the shower, so he should be back pretty soon,"

"Thanks, Alfie," Castiel said with a small nod as he stepped into the room. The shelf they had built the previous day was packed with books, both Alfie's and Dean's, and looked great. Cas decided to take a seat in Dean's desk chair, and he relaxed the moment he had, though he was still tense from the confrontation with Lex. "You have any plans for today?" he asked after a few moments, his gaze shifting from the shelf to Alfie, who had positioned himself on his own bed.

"I have work at eleven this morning," Alfie responded with a small half shrug. "it's actually not a half bad place to work. The manager is great, my coworkers are pretty nice, plus I can get discounts for myself and friends,"

Castiel smiled. "Sounds nice," he said. "Though it is unfortunate that they are making you work on a weekend,"

"They had let me have all yesterday off, so I'm alright working today,"

Before he could respond again, the door opened and Dean strode in, wearing nothing but a towel, that was tied low around his hips. "Oh hey, morning, Castiel," he said casually as he closed the door. "What brings you to our dorm this morning?"

It took him several seconds to shake his head free of the thoughts that had come to him seeing Dean like that. "Invitation from Lex for this afternoon," Castiel said. "She said you can bring Sam along as well," he added.

Dean arched a brow. "Bring Sam?" he echoed, letting the towel drop once he had pulled on his boxers. "bring him where?"

Oh, hell… Castiel just shrugged. "No idea," he said, his eyes lingering for a moment on Dean's necklace, that lay high on his still-bare chest. "She was a little cryptic about it, just gave the address, time to come, and the code for the gate," he said as he looked at the receipt once before before deciding to tuck it into his pocket.

"The gate?" Dean said once he had pulled on his shirt. "There's a gate?"

"Apparently," Castiel said while Dean pulled on his pants. "Lex said to be there around two, and it's not too far from school. So there is plenty of time for lunch, and to get Sam, if you wanted to bring him with, that is."

"Don't see why not," Dean responded as he shrugged on his leather jacket. "Especially if he was invited. Though I admit, that alone makes me all the more curious,"

"Same here," Castiel said. "Though Im sure that it's nothing to worry about,"

"That's true," Dean said. "I need breakfast. Care to join?"

"Yeah, I could eat," Castiel said with a nod as he stood, watching Dean pull on his boots.

"Alfie, how about you?"

"Thanks, but no," Alfie said. "I want to do a little leisure reading before work,"

"See you later then," Dean said with a wave before he and Castiel walked out the door. "So, cryptic invite from Lex," he said casually as he stuffed his hands into his jacket pockets. "There anything more to that?"

Castiel shook his head, again not daring to say what had actually prompted the invitation. "I don't even know what the address is. Could be a house. It could be a country club for all I know,"

"Guess we'll find out when we get there," Dean said as they continued to make their way to the diner right off campus. "What are you thinking of getting for breakfast?"

"Other than a large cup of coffee, I'm not sure yet," Castiel said, kicking a small stone on the sidewalk. "What about you?"

"Possibly waffles, I'll see what the sunday special is first, though," Dean said as he kicked the same stone Castiel had. "Something on your mind?" he asked a minute later, kicking the stone once more.

"Hell of an entrance you made," was Castiel's only response.

Dean smirked. "I aim to please," he said. "Wasn't expecting to see you there, and Alfie had been reading when I left,"

"That's your excuse for coming back in in only a towel?" Castiel said, trying not to sound exasperated, his eyes widening slightly.

The taller of the two could not help but to laugh at his reaction. "I could practically see what you were thinking," Dean said as his laughter tapered off.

"Luckily Alfie didn't notice anything," Castiel muttered as they reached the diner. "We could have been in a lot of trouble,"

"You got a point. But something tells me that we can trust him," Dean said as he opened the door, leading the way to a small booth by the window. "At least I certainly hope so… I like the kid,"

"Yeah, so do I," Castiel said, smiling to the waitress as she came over. "Morning, Jo," he said.

"Morning boys," she said. "I'll have your coffee right out," she added after setting down their silverware and the little cardboard coasters. Once she had, she was back behind the counter getting their coffee. Less than a minute later, both Castiel and Dean had steaming mugs in front of them. "I'll give you two a bit to make up your minds," she said before going off to check on some of the other patrons.

Dean began to sip at his coffee, his eyes going to Castiel before he picked up his menu, watching as Castiel did the same.

—

At around quarter after one, Dean and Castiel arrived at Sam and Dean's foster father's place. It was where Sam was living, and where Dean would be when school vacations came up. Without bothering to knock, Dean and Castiel walked inside, soon being greeted by Bobby. "About time you two showed up to say hello," he said, sounding aggravated before he smiled, greeting each of them with a hug. "You two idjits being careful while at school?" he added, his voice taking on a sight edge.

"Of course we are, Bobby," Dean said defensively. "How's Sammy?"

"Still a little bookworm. Still won't shut the hell up about his girlfriend," Bobby said, shaking his head a little. "He's on the phone with her right now, and thank God for that. The more he talks to her the less he talks to me about her,"

Dean chuckled a little. "Well, whenever he's done, a friend of ours invited him and us somewhere today," he said as he sat on the couch with Castiel, smiling when Castiel immediately sat close, his head resting on the leather-clad shoulder.

"Just somewhere, eh?" Bobby said.

"That's all I know," Dean said. "I swear. Besides, she's a good girl, I'm sure there's nothing to worry about,"

"Yeah yeah," Bobby said. "Can I get you boys something to drink?" he asked.

"yeah a beer would be great, thanks Bobby," Dean said with a wide grin.

"Nice try, boy, but no beer-"

"-until January 24th, I know, I know," Dean said, smirking now.

Bobby muttered about how Dean was going to drive him to an earlier grave before bringing out two bottles of soda, handing one to each of them. "How have your classes been going? You passing, right boy?"

Dean looked offended. "Of course," he said. "Though I wouldn't be if it wasn't for Cas," he added, taking a sip of his drink. "Why aren't you asking him if he's passing?"

"Because Castiel's a good kid and I know that he is," Bobby said sarcastically. "Still don't know why he's wasting his time on you," he added with a smirk.

"That's cold, Bobby Singer," Dean said, leaning back into the couch and pulling Castiel closer as he took another sip of his soda.

Bobby just chuckled, taking a sip of his beer as he looked at the two. "You'd better be careful," he said. "All this talk on the news about Dick freakin Roman's heir bein' in California. Naturally every college and town is speculatin' he's at their school, but hell I been in town and that Crowley kid certainly is a sure fit,"

"You're not the only one who thinks so," Castiel said. "Everyone on campus is talking about it,"

"Just keep your noses clean, you hear?" Bobby said, concern edging into his normally rough voice. "Dean you know what you mean to me, and Cas, hell boy you're like a son, too. Don't want anything to happen to either of you,"

"We're careful, Bobby don't worry. Cas spends a lot of time with his friend Lex," Dean said. "And Dean is the biggest flirt on campus," Castiel said, sounding less than happy with that part of the situation.

"Well that ain't much of a change, really," Bobby said, shaking his head a little. "..still… good that you're careful,"

A few silent minutes later, footsteps were heard on the stairs. "Did I hear the Impala?" came Sam's voice, and soon the tall sixteen year old appeared. Damn kid had become taller than Dean, which was a constant annoyance for him. "Hey Dean, hey Cas," Sam said as soon as he stepped into the living room, tucking his phone in his pocket.

"Heya, Sammy," Dean said with a smile. "You got any plans for this afternoon?" he added

"Uh not really, why?"

"Good. You've been invited with me and Cas somewhere by one of our friends,"

"…where?" the younger of the Winchesters asked.

"No idea," Dean said with a smile. "Thrilling, isn't? So go on, get your damn shoes on and lets get goin',"

Sam gave a skeptical look before shrugging. "Alright," he said before going to grab his shoes.

"We'll give you a call later," Dean said, hugging Bobby once more as he and Castiel stood to leave. "Might come by for dinner, too,"

"Don't strain yourself," Bobby said, but he smiled as he returned the hug to Dean, hugging Castiel as well.

—

A couple minutes past two Dan came to a stop in front of a large, black, wrought-iron gate. A large brass 'C' adorned the center. "…nice gate…" he muttered, before looking to his left, his attention falling on the keypad to the gate. "Cas, what's the code?" he asked, ignoring his brother who was leaning forward from the back seat to get a better look at the gate.

"Uh.. 8427," Castiel said after double checking the receipt.

Dean punched it in and watched as the gates slowly opened. Once they had, he drove forward, following the long driveway. Several trees of varying size and species blocked the view of wherever the drive led, until they went around the final turn, and a large manor came into view. "…holy shit…"

Standing on the front steps was a man with dark blonde hair, a smile playing on his lips. He held his hands behind his back as he watched the old Impala pul up and stop.

Dean was the first to step out of the car, still looking up at the manor. Sam and Castiel were as shocked as he was. "What the hell is this place?" Dean said.

"Welcome," the man said in answer to Dean's statement, holding out his arms as he did so, "to the Crane Estate. My name is Gabriel. I am the he… head of the household,"

"By "head" you mean-" Castiel began.

"In charge of staff and everything else, really," Gabriel said with a smile. "This place would fall apart without me," he added, his smile shifting to a smirk. "So," he clapped his hands together. "Dean, Castiel, Sam, shall I give you a brief tour?"

The three of them stood still though, looking at Gabriel as though he was speaking anohther language, until Castiel finally spoke up. "Y-yeah… sure," he said. What the hell was going on here?

"Wonderful. Follow me," and with that, Gabriel turned on his heel and led the inside, where they were greeted by a rather grand entrance hall.

Sam was the only one of the three who didn't contain his awe. "Dean, look at that chandelier!"

"I know, right?" Gabriel said with approval. "Over two-hundred years old, from Paris," he chuckled. "There's more to be seen, this is just the entrance hall after all. I'll spare the more mundane today, that can come later. As I said, brief tour. Kitchen first?"

How big was this place if they were going to be 'spared the mundane'? What was more, why was Gabriel talking as if they would be spending a lot of time here? Why were they being given a damn tour?! Too many questions, but all Dean could say was "Yeah… sounds good," as his eyes still lingered on the chandelier.

"Don't bore the company, Gabe," said a smirking redhead as she walked past them, looking as though she was on a mission.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, knowing where she was going, but unable to stop her. "That's your job," he said before returning his attention to the group. "That's Charlie. She runs the security systems, computers just… basically, if it has a computer chip, she's your girl," a dark haired woman passed them a few moments later, smiling a little as she nodded to the group. "And that is Charlie's girlfriend, Glinda. She's the head gardener and groundskeeper. Girl has a green everything. Could grow an immaculate herb garden in the Sahara I swear. And her strawberries are heavenly," he added, his tone making it all to clear he ate several of them.

However it was something else that Gabriel just said that snapped their attention. "Did you just say girlfriend?" Dean asked, not entirely sure that he had heard right.

"Yes, now keep up, kitchens are this way," Gabriel said as though this was nothing out of the ordinary, leading them through a hall that was on the right side of the entrance hall. Soon enough, they entered the rather nice looking kitchen, that along with several cabinets and an industrial fridge, also had substantial counter space, not to mention a nice island with several barstools. "There are a few different cooks, all with different schedules, that's on the fridge, but you could always cook for yourself, just be sure to clean up," he continued. "Free run of the cabinets and fridge, but if you finish something, make sure you add it to the grocery list, also on the fridge," he then turned abruptly to look at them. "I say 'free run', but don't touch the blue cabinet. That one contains Lex's personal snacks, and wrath of Hell will rain upon any who touch her food," he paused, "her words, not mine," he smiled. "Dining room is out the door on the far left of the kitchen, but it's scarcely used as there is never that much company. Holidays is the only time, and that's just because she has all the staff eat with her," he paused once more. "Anyway! Library next," he pointed his fingers past the group. "Thisaway," and with that, he walked out of the kitchen, not bothering to check that they were still following him.

Dean looked at Castiel, a look of concern, shock, and even confusion on his face. He was relieved to see that Castiel wore a very similar expression. Not only was this place insane, but Gabriel seemed to be the last sort of person who should be in a position of power, and he had brushed off the fact that two employees were homosexuals. Not that that wasn't a welcome thing to see, but it just didn't happen. What kind of place was this?

While Castiel and Dean shared their looks of concern and had slowly started to catch up, Sam was now walking in stride with Gabriel, asking questions about the decor, the manor itself, and what was in the library.

"Cool your jets, kiddo, we're almost there," Gabriel said with a laugh. "I take it you're a bit of a bookworm?" He added, looking to Sam as they began to go up the main staircase, heading down a hallway.

Sam nodded, almost eagerly. "Dean teases me about it sometimes, but I think he's just jealous that I've had better grades than him since I was in preschool," he said with a smirk as he looked back at his older brother.

Dean had heard that part, and he gave Sam a brief, sarcastic glare. "Bitch,"

Sam's smirk shifted into a crooked smile as he responded, "Jerk," before turning his attention back to Gabriel.

With an unnecessary flourish, Gabriel opened both library doors. "Here she is," he said. The library was by no means small, but it was not massive beyond comprehension, either. Several armchairs, each with their own reading lamps, and eve a few love seats sat here and there among the shelves. "A number of first editions," Gabriel said as he stepped in, turning around as he did so, so that he now walked backwards. "And all the classics of literature. A umber of books that, as Lex puts it, 'are the only ones worth reading'," he paused, and glanced to Sam, who looked as though he was about to wander off. "Plenty of time to peruse later, we have a tour to finish," he said, putting his hands on Sam's shoulders to spin him around, leading out of the library once more. "So there are a few studies that are always up to use, except for Lex's personal study… ah here," he said once they had turned down another hall. "Game room," he opened the door to reveal a sizable room, and it put all other game rooms to shame.

Fuzball stood in a corner, along with a few vintage pinball machines. There was air hockey, pool, and even ski-ball. And empty table and chairs was situated near a shelf that was filled with various board games. Games that utilized the television were shelved under the sixty inch plasma. However what seemed to make this room over-the-top though was the Twister carpet that was in the center of the room.

"Boy, when you say game room," Dean said with a whistle.

"Fantastic, isn't it?" Gabriel said proudly. "Alrighty, if you gents follow me once more, I'll show you to your rooms," without another word he turned and started down the hall once more.

"Wait, what?" Castiel said doing a double take.

"Our rooms?" Dean said, still rooted to the spot.

"Don't like repeating myself," Gabriel said without turning around. "Try and keep up, shall we?" he added.

Shaking off their surprise, the three of them nearly ran to catch up to Gabriel, catching him as he started to go up another less than grand staircase. Once up them, he led down one of the halls, and stopped outside of a door. "Alright, Sam, this is your room," he said, smiling at the youngest. "Go on, check it out,"

After a moment, Sam opened the door and went inside. It was large for a bedroom, but the space was well utilized. A computer desk sat along one of the walls, there were a few bookshelves, and of course, a large bed. Sam laid down on it almost instantly, staring up at the ceiling. "This is amazing…"

With a smirk, Gabriel looked to Dean and Castiel. He clasped his hands together before pointing with both his index fingers. "Your room is this way," he said before continuing down the same hall.

It took Castiel a moment to realize that Gabriel had said room. Singular… not plural. Looking to Dean confirmed that he'd realized this as well.

Lex turned from the opposite end of the hall, standing by a door before they had reached it. Seeing this, Gabriel sighed in relief and smiled. "Fantastic. You can take it from here?"

She nodded to him. "I've got it from here, Gabriel, thank you," she said before smirking a little. "Charlie again?" she asked, trying not to laugh.

"Just another day," he responded before putting a walkie-talkie off of his belt. "Bradbury, get out of my office," he said without so much as a greeting.

"How did you know?" came the response a moment later from the other end.

"Because I'm not an idiot," he said before looking up to Dean and Castiel. "It was a pleasure meeting the two of you," he said. "Take up Lex's offer, you won't regret it," he added before he turned and started to walk off. "You had better put everything back the way it was!"

"There's no organization!" came Charlie's protest. "Not color-coded, not alphabetical… it's chaos!"

"It's organized chaos, and it's how I work,"

"That doesn't even make sense, Gabriel!"

"Don't care! You're not the one who is working in there!" Gabriel said. "… and stay out of my candy dish!" was the las thing they heard of the conversation before Gabriel turned down the end of the hall, becoming out of earshot.

Dean whistled. "Crack staff you got there,"

"They certainly have their moments," Lex said with a smirk.

He chuckled. "Yeah, I'll bet," he said before the smile slipped off his face quickly. "Ok. Wat the hell is going on here?" Dean said, his voice taking on a sharp tone.

"Dean…" Castiel said slowly, but Dean shook him off.

"No. I want to know. You bring us here without saying why and since we arrived, it has been one question after another!"

"Because I saw you with Castiel," Lex said in response. "At the game,"

Dean's expression shifted from confused anger to skepticism. "And this is how you respond? What your solution is?"

Lex sighed a little. "The two of you have little to no time together at school," she said, looking at Castiel for a moment before she looked back up to Dean. "..and I know that I don't help with that, wanting to use free time to study with him," she paused. "…but I can offer the two of you this. So that now, you'll have time together, and you won't have to hide when you are,"

"But…why?" Castiel asked after a moment.

Dean was in agreement. "Cas has a point… why? No one is like that. No one just does something like this,"

Lex gave a slight sigh, crossing her arms. "I guess that's why I am," she said. "Why I do. It's not earth-shattering, and hell, it's a pebble of good in an ocean of bad, but it's the best that I can do," she indicated the door that was to her left, "Your room. If you take my offer, that is,"

There was a moment of hesitation from Dean then. "What's the catch?" he asked, his eyes narrowed a little. He still was not sure this was as it seemed. It was too good to be true. It had to be.

"Don't tell anyone about this. Not in deep detail, anyway," Lex said. "I value my privacy, and don't really want everyone in town and school to know that I'm wealthy. It tends to complicate things in more ways than one,"

That was really all…? Again, it seemed too good to be true, but Dean couldn't help but believe her. He smiled and held out his hand. "Deal," he said to her.

With a smile, Lex accepted his hand and they shook. "Thank you," she said to him. "Now go on and check out your room,"

"We should be the ones thanking you, Lex," Castiel said before hugging her as Dean went into the room.

"Sorry if I scared you," Lex whispered before breaking the hug. "It wasn't my intention at all,"

"It's alright," Castiel said to her.

"Cas, check this room out!" Dean called.

After giving a small smile to Lex, before he entered the room. His eyes widened before he blinked in surprise. The room was bigger than Sam's was, and in Castiel's opinion, it was far nicer. Two dressers as well as a large closet were along one of the walls. Two desks, each with a computer were along another, set close together, with a small shelf in between them. There was a door that led to their own private bathroom as well. In the center of the room was a single four-poster king iszed bed, made up with dark blue covers.

Castiel seemed dumbfounded. "…Is this really ours..?" he asked.

"It is if you want it," Lex said as she leaned in the doorframe, watching the two with a small smile as Dean went to look at the bathroom. "So… will you accept my offer?"

Dean stepped out of the bathroom and smiled at her. "Yeah, yeah I think we will," he said. "We'd be crazy not to, after all," he added.

"How soon can we move in?" Castiel asked, trying not to sound too eager.

Lex laughed a little. "Right away. It's move-in ready, after all. That's why I told you to come this afternoon instead of right away. Wanted to get things ready for you,"

Dean had been smiling, when he cursed. "I forgot about Alfie," he said, covering his mouth for a moment.

"He's welcome here, too," Lex said. "That is, if you think you can trust him. After all, it's more than just my privacy at stake here,"

"He's a good kid, but I'll be sure we can trust him before asking," Dean said. He was hoping that Alfie could e trusted. Without him there, he had a feeling that Crowley would give Alfie hell, and he certainly did not deserve that. He then looked to Castiel. "Looks like we've got some packing to do," he said with a small smile.

Castiel's own smile widened. "Let's just hope that Crowley's not around. I could do without being questioned,"

Dean pulled Castiel close. "Well, fuck Crowley," he said. "If he asks questions then we'll think of something to say. Avoid certain parts of the truth,"

With a smile, Castiel allowed Dean to pull him close, and he closed his eyes for a few moments. He was still a little worried, but he trusted Dean, more than anything. This was almost like a dream… but it was tenfold better because it was real. He and Dean were going to be living together.