A/N: One of my favorite aspects of Dean and Castiel's on-screen relationship is the way they act around each other. Like, Dean is the cool upperclassman and Cas is the lost little freshman. I spend a lot of time in this fic talking about the way they look at each other, because I think that's a cannon piece of their relationship that shouldn't be lost.

Hope you enjoy chapter two! Reviews would mean the world :] Thanks for reading!

p.s. Just in case you're wondering, Keeping Close will extend through several chapters. More to come!

Chapter Two: Separation

That morning, as it was every morning, Dean Winchester rolled over in bed and tricked himself into believing that his life was normal. For just that moment upon waking, Dean allowed himself to believe that he was not who he was. In just that moment, he gave into the alluring concept of being someone other than himself.

On that particular morning, when Dean awoke in yet another grimy motel room with salt in front of the door and the shades drawn tight, he bypassed his usual ritual. He was far too distracted by the fact that someone was missing.

"Cas!" Dean's heart was hammering as he shot out of bed. There weren't many places to hide an angel in the room, so his search was left to simply calling out the angel's name. "Cas, damn it, where are you?"

Dean's pants and shirt were lying in a heap beside the bed. He must have woken up in the night and thrown them off; it was a habit of his. Quickly he pulled the clothes on and grabbed his cell phone from the pocket of his duffle.

Castiel picked up the phone on the second ring.

"Where the hell are you!" he barked. Dean yanked aside the curtain and could see the sun high in the sky, only slightly obscured by a sheet of hazy clouds. "You were only supposed to let me sleep four hours last night! It's almost noon!"

The angel's response came from behind him.

"You needed the sleep." Castiel drew the phone away from his ear and slipped it into the pocket of his trench coat. "I brought you breakfast." He offered Dean a carry-out bag from the burger joint down the street. There were inch-wide grease stains all over the heavy paper bag.

Dean snatched the bag away, annoyed at Castiel's disappearance, even if it profited with a bacon cheeseburger. "Well, thanks," he said gruffly. He glanced up at Cas, whose buggy blue eyes looked more somber than usual that morning. Dean sighed. It was really kind of touching that Cas had bought him breakfast (although Dean had no idea how Cas got the food, since he definitely didn't have any money). He sighed.

"Thanks for the food, Cas." Dean sat back down on his bed and tore into the food with fervor.

"It's going to rain." Castiel was at the window, gazing up at the sky.

"Huh? Dude, sit down," Dean said through a mouthful of deep-fried beauty. "You give me the creeps when you pull your monotone angel bit."

Castiel followed orders and sat down on the bed across from Dean. The way his shoulders slumped so dramatically made Dean pause.

"You okay, man?" he said. "You look like someone spit in your Cheerio's."

The angel looked up. There was something in his face that was always so…hopeless. Dean didn't like it. He'd seen Cas almost crack a smile before. That was a lot better. And last night, he'd been almost cheerful in the car. It wasn't until they got to the motel room that he'd started acting so strangely.

"I am fine," Cas replied flatly, his voice low and rumbling with a sort of authority that always caught Dean off guard.

For being such a geeky little guy in a trench coat, Cas had power in his voice. Dean couldn't help but think of that previous night, when Castiel had whispered something in his ear. "You're a wonder, Dean Winchester." Yeah, that's what he'd said. Even the memory ran a chill up the back of Dean's neck. In all of his early morning fantasies of being normal, he'd never thought or felt something as completely insane as he did last night. He almost wanted Cas to just come out and say there was something weird between them lately. Ever since Cas had stepped in to play Sam's role, it was like their connection, their friendship, had strung them closer. Dean wasn't the type to admit or acknowledge his feelings (really, he kept them in a fire-proof box in some forgotten broom closet deep in the back of his subconscious), and that was why it had taken every bit of nerve to ask Castiel, "Is there something going on here?" That was as deep into it as he could get. He couldn't ask what emotion it was that had made him so anxious at the angel's absence that morning. Dean managed to admit to himself that he was afraid of it.

Dean quickly finished eating his "breakfast." Because they'd already lost their head-start on the day's drive, he also took a shower and dressed in fresh clothes. All things considered, he was feeling good as he and Castiel climbed into the Impala and headed for Oakland County and its festering vampire problem. Dean cranked up the Nirvana and peeled out of the parking lot just as the rain started.

"Dean, may I ask you something?" Castiel asked after several minutes of silence.

"Sure, Cas."

"Last night, when you asked if anything was…going on here, between us… What did that mean?" The angel stared unabashedly at Dean, which made it suddenly difficult for the man to keep his focus on the road.

Dean swallowed past the nervous lump in his throat. Seriously? That damn angel was going to make him explain it? Dean's jaw tensed, his teeth rubbing together.

"Uh, I didn't mean anything in particular," Dean said rather lamely. "Well, I guess I was sorta wondering why you got up in the middle of the night and started whispering sweeting nothings at me, but…" He let the reply drop off, feeling for all the world like a class-A moron.

It may have been a trick of the eye, but Cas looked sincerely embarrassed.

"I apologize for disturbing you last night," he said softly.

Dean sighed, a frown appearing on his tanned face. The rain was beating down harder now, so hard that the windshield wipers had to work double-time to keep up. Dean didn't really like the idea of two hours in the car, in the rain, with a mopey angel, so he did something risky. He kept talking.

"I sleep better when you're there, Cas." The comment was meant to seem off-handed and simple, as most of Dean's statements were, but the words stuck in his throat like peanut butter. Even though he wasn't looking directly at him, Dean could sense a shift in Castiel's body language. He had the angel's attention, and so he continued (against his better judgment). "I know it sounds crazy, I know, but it's the truth. Ever since I got out of the pit, I've had these nightmares. Every night, nightmares about the things I did down there. I never thought they'd get better, much less stop. Well, they haven't stopped. They probably never will. But…it's different when I know you're there, Cas. Maybe because you're the one who got me out of there, I don't know, but it's not like when I'm with Sam. When you're with me, I just… I relax."

Dean chanced a look at Castiel. It wasn't as bad as he expected; Cas wasn't looking creeped out or anything (not that Cas normally displayed his emotions physically, to begin with).

"Is that true?" Castiel said.

Dean cleared his throat but could only nod.

"Hm."

"All you can say is Hm?" Dean said, sounding affronted.

Castiel's eyebrows lifted, his hands raising palms forward in a kind of defense. The reaction was so out of character that Dean was caught off-guard. "It's just that I thought you were always so relaxed because of the beer you consume while you drive, which is when we spend most of our time together."

The two of them looked at each other flatly until Dean cracked into a wide smile and gut-busting laughter. Even after all this time spent with Castiel, he forgot what an idiot the angel could be.

"Thanks for makin' me sound like some kinda alcoholic!" Dean chuckled. He would have sworn he saw a flicker of a smile spark onto Castiel's face, but it must have been drowned out by the rain.

Two hours brought them – finally – to Oakland County in all its vampire-infested glory. It was two-thirty by the time they checked into a motel (again booking two queen beds).

"Yeah, Bobby, we're here." Dean propped his phone between his ear and shoulder as he flipped through a newspaper he'd picked up in town. The front page was all about the "brutal slaughter" of a troupe of teenagers down at the beach. Oakland County bordered on a lake and a small crop of woods, where Dean was guessing the vampires were taking refuge.

"Bout damn time," was Bobby's reply. "You said you were gonna leave at the crack 'a dawn today. What took you so long?"

"Over slept," Dean said with a glance at Castiel, who was flipping through the motel's advertisement for a place called 'Dirty Harry's.' He had to hide his chuckle as he looked back to the newspaper.

Bobby grunted on the other end. "That angel there with ya'?" he said.

"Maybe. Why?"

"Just don't really know how much we can trust him, is all." Well, Bobby was nothing if not honest.

"We can trust him," Dean said. His tone said there was no room for negotiation on that point.

"All right, boy, don't get your panties in a twist. Now do you know how to find the blood-suckers?" he said, back to business.

Dean pulled over a map of the area. There were several abandoned homes in the area, as well as an old meat processing plant. He'd marked each possible location on the map, but his hunches were telling him to focus on the processing plant. "Yeah, I've got it all worked out."

"Their posse's probably pretty big, Dean. Make sure you're careful. Damn I wish Sam was there with you." Bobby sighed heavily, and Dean could picture the way he would lift up his trucker hat and scratch his balding head.

Dean nearly winced. "Yeah, me too. But don't worry, I'm not alone on this one." His eyes again returned to Cas.

When Dean finally hung up the phone, he leaned back in his chair and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. What he wouldn't give to have Sam's help on this job.

"We cannot start the hunt until the rain stops, correct?" Cas said. Lighting had started flashing a while ago and the wind was looking brutal.

"Looks like it," Dean said. He sighed again and got to his feet. "I'm gonna take a shower." He pulled his shirt off and went to his duffle, looking for a clean change of clothes.

Castiel was looking pointedly at the large scar like a burn on Dean's left shoulder. Dean caught the look and lifted his arm, inspecting it himself.

"You literally lifted me out, then, huh?" Dean said, running his opposite hand over the mark.

Cas nodded. "Yes. It nearly killed me to do, but it was vital that I get you out of Hell."

Dean chuckled dryly. "Yeah, thanks for that."

In fluid steps, Castiel crossed the room, drawing unconsciously close to Dean. Unlike usual, the man didn't try to put more distance between them. He didn't even think about it. The angel's eyes had him fixed. Castiel raised his hand and placed it lightly over the scar on Dean's arm. Dean felt the skin prickle; he shivered.

"I am more relaxed around you as well," Castiel said. "I thought you should know that." His gaze was meaningful and weighted. His hand did not leave Dean's arm; in fact, the fingers clenched as if they were unwilling to let go.

The two men stared at each other, eyes flicking over their faces. They both appeared to be frozen, drawn together as if by some outside force. Dean could feel some kind of attraction keeping him rooted to the spot. His mind was absent and only instinct remained. In that one second, everything changed.

Dean leaned forward and pressed his lips to Castiel's.

There had been many kisses in Dean Winchester's life. From the stumbling and awkward to the heated and passionate, kissing was nothing new to him. Kissing a man, however, that was a new one. The kicker was he wasn't even sure why he did it. But now that Cas was reacting, there didn't seem to be room to backtrack now.

The angel pushed his lips back against Dean's. In some inane part of his mind, Dean wondered how Cas knew how to kiss; the dude was an infinitely old virgin, for crying out loud. He felt Castiel's grip on his arm grow tighter, and without thinking, he put his own hand to Cas' shoulder. They were keeping each other bound.

When they pulled away and Dean took a breath, his brain kicked back in. Stumbling, he backed away from the angel. He held up a hand as if warding Castiel off.

"S-sorry," Dean said thickly. He couldn't look at Cas. His eyes were drawn to the floor. Inside, his mind was reeling with self-repulsion and disbelief. Had he really just gotten to first base with a guy, much less Cas? The lingering feeling on his lips told him yes, and quite loudly.

"Dean," Castiel said. He took a step forward, but Dean kept his hand in place, blocking Cas from getting closer. "Dean it's all right."

"No it's not right. I shouldn't have done that. I— Cas, I'm sorry." Dean grabbed his discarded shirt from the floor and pulled it on, along with his jacket. "I-I've gotta go. I need a drink." He still couldn't look at the angel.

"Let me come with you."

"No," Dean said abruptly. He looked up at Cas. The guy looked like he'd been punched in the neck, but Dean thought for a moment he saw a blush on his cheeks. "I'll be back soon." Lightning flashed outside; thunder shook the room.

Castiel looked toward the window and back to Dean. "It is not safe. The vampires—"

"I'll be fine." Dean's voice was flat. He got the car keys from the bedside table and walked outside before Castiel could convince him to stay. If he did stay, Dean knew that the night would take him further down the rabbit hole than he cared to go.

That kiss was stupid, Dean decided. He wasn't gay. There were at least a dozen satisfied girls who could vouch for that. Still, Dean was willing to admit to himself that his feelings for Cas were a little…unconventional. It could have been the fact that Castiel was the only non-douchey angel he knew. There was a respect there, that was sure. So maybe that's what it was. Just respect and a friendly guy bond.

Dean called 'bullshit,' even on his own thoughts. He cared about Cas. Yes, he was attracted to him. He didn't know why. He didn't care to figure it out just then, either. All Dean wanted to do was drink a beer and flirt with the closest thing in a skirt.

Oakland County was almost a real city, not one of those single traffic light towns. It was a nice change; it meant more women and more bars. Dean drove toward the downtown area, and it wasn't until he pulled into the parking lot of some place called Trapper's that he realized he'd left his cell phone back at the motel. He knew he should go in get it just in case Cas needed to find him, but he didn't think he could face the angel just yet.

The moment Dean entered the bar, he understood where it had gotten its name. There were four large ornate cages stationed throughout the room, and in each cage was a big-chested girl wearing a black leather bikini. Around each cage were a ring of seats, almost all of which were full of wide-eyed men. The lights were low and music pumped loudly from unseen speakers. Dean grinned. His strip bar senses were definitely on overload tonight.

The last thing on his mind was Castiel, and that was just the way Dean wanted it. He would deal with their kiss later. Now, he could see a very pretty girl working the bar who looked in need of some shameless flirting.

"Hey," the girl said, smiling, as Dean settled himself into a barstool. "What can I get 'cha?"

Dean grinned, looking her over. She had loosely curled brown hair and a noticeable tattoo on her collar bones, displayed by her conveniently low-cut blouse. "Budweiser, please," he said.

"Sure thing." She grabbed a bottle from beneath the bar and uncapped it for him. As he took the first sip, her smile reappeared. "I'm Lana," she said.

"Dean," he replied. His eyes returned to her tattoo. It was some sort of snake curled around the hilt of a knife. Weirdly biker-guyish for such a pretty girl. "I gotta say," he said, "that is quite the tattoo."

She giggled and put her fingertips to it. "I know it's a bit weird."

"I like weird," Dean said. He also liked the way Lana's lip-gloss looked in the low lighting. Even as he started thinking about kissing her, his mind flashed back to the motel room. He took another sip of beer to drown out thoughts of Cas. "So what's the story behind it?" He gestured to the tattoo.

"Oh, it's just something that me and my friends all have," she said. "We all got the same one, right over our hearts." She grinned at Dean, leaning against the bar. The way her cleavage looked in that position wasn't lost on him.

"How sweet," Dean said, chuckling.

The two of them talked, flirted, and laughed for nearly two hours. The other men in the bar were too concerned with the girls in the cages whom they'd never have the chance to bring home. Dean, on the other hand, stuck with Lana. He was no amateur, and he knew how to get laid.

"What do you say we go to my place?" Lana said in Dean's ear. "It's too noisy in here." She laid a soft kiss at his jawline.

It may have been the two beers he'd drank, but that sounded a-okay to Dean. He told Lana to lead the way.

Outside, the sky was growing dark. The storm was still raging. Dean and Lana bent against the wind on the way to his car (Lana had explained she didn't have a car, and that a friend always drove her to work).

"Oo, this is the coolest car," Lana gushed, running her hand along the Impala's exterior.

Dean glanced up at her, grinning. "Ain't she pretty?" He fumbled with the keys. In all that rain and wind, he couldn't get the key to go in the lock. In the frustration, he didn't notice Lana come up behind him, but he did notice when she put a hand to his lower abdomen.

"I want you, Dean," she said, standing on her toes to talk in his ear again. "After all, you smell so good."

"I smell—?"

Something dawned in Dean's brain just then. Like a click, he realized he was being stupid. Her tattoo. The way she looked at him like he was something to eat. Damn, he should have seen it before!

All of Dean's revelations were lost to the brutal smashing of his skull against the car door. In a flash of lightning and pain, Dean fell to the ground in a heap, unconscious and bleeding. Lana knelt down beside him, a pleased smile on her face. She ran one finger through the crimson line on his forehead and licked off the blood.

"Oh Dean," she said. "I can't wait to introduce you to my friends."