Cas smooths down the front of his tuxedo jacket in the men's room mirror again. The gala really is a huge deal, if he wants Garrison Charities to keep on keepin' on – and freakin' Fergus Crowley, their biggest sponsor, is actually coming this year, and oh geez. It's been a stressful day, and he'll be glad when the night is over.

He also may be looking forward to what might happen at the end of the night.

Cas has given up on denial. He's been attracted to Dean since he apparated his hot ass into Cas's comfort zone a couple of months ago, and once they got past the bitching-at-each-other stage of their relationship, his crush only got worse. When he went to get his and Ruby's coffee early this afternoon, Dean had smiled at him and mentioned the gala again, and well, that's all Cas needed to suddenly turn into a high school girl and start planning in his head just how to get the message out tonight that he'd like to change his answer to Dean's offer from last month. He worries a little that said offer may not still be available, but he figures that with the way Dean's been looking at him (and the way he's been looking at Dean), it probably still is.

Once he's finally out in the gala room, though, his attention is taken up by all kinds of things, starting with last-minute adjustments and then shifting to greeting sponsors, friends, benefactors and beneficiaries. He sneaks a high-five to Ruby when the room starts filling up and she grins.

A hopeful sponsor, a friend of Ruby's named Meg, is telling Cas some ridiculous story when Ruby nudges him with her elbow and gestures to where Sam and Dean are walking in. Cas excuses himself and lets Ruby take over while he makes his way over to the door. Sam's got Jess on his arm – good, it'll keep Ruby at bay – and there's a bearded man walking next to Dean who Cas thinks he recognizes from the coffee shop. Sam must know him.

Sam sees Cas first and waves. Jess lets go of him to grab Cas in a tight hug while Sam shuffles his way over with his brother and friend. He hugs him with one arm. "Congratulations, man," Sam says, grinning. Dean smiles at him too, gives him a brief clap on the shoulder (sweet glorious contact), and then turns to the guy behind him.

"Cas, this is Benny Lafitte," he says. Benny puts out his hand and Cas shakes it firmly.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lafitte."

Benny chuckles. "Just Benny," he says. He's got a low southern drawl and he seems laid-back. It's easy for Cas to like him immediately.

"I've seen you around the coffee shop," Cas says. "How do you know these guys?"

There's a momentary pause. Dean shifts his weight. "Me 'n' Benny are dating," he says without catching Cas's eye, and Benny moves to place his hand on Dean's back.

Cas's face goes slack. The metaphorical walls of his plan crumble around him. Sam laughs at something Jess says and claps Cas on the back. He says something about going to find food. Cas isn't really hearing him.

"Oh," he manages to say after a moment, "really."

The corner of Benny's eyes crinkle and he smiles at Dean. Cas swallows hard. "Only for about a month now," Benny says, shrugging, and his damn stupid southern drawl is way too sugary-sweet for Cas to stand right now.

"How nice."

Dean is smiling, but he still isn't quite meeting Cas's eyes. "The party looks great, Cas," he says, "and so does your tux." Cas forces a laugh, thanks them for coming, directs them to the buffet, and steps into the hallway.

He is not, not prepared for this eventuality, because even if he thought Dean wouldn't still want him, he never thought he'd be dating someone else, and Cas realizes with a sudden surge of nausea just how selfish of a person that must make him. He squeezes his eyes shut and leans heavily against the wall. And the night is just getting started, he thinks spitefully. The door to the ballroom opens and he glances up to see Ruby.

"You should start your speech – " she starts, and then she really looks at him. She sighs pityingly, and walks over to him to put her hand on his shoulder. "Oh, Cas," she says, "boys are just dumb." And he can't think of a way to contradict her.

I...um. /hides face in hands/ I don't have much to say about this. Blerg.