Dedicated to BooksAreGOLDEN, for gently reminding me I have a responsibility to this story. I'll try to update more regularly

Immediately upon arriving at his family's house, Dean was pulled into a hug by his mother, quickly followed by his little brother.

"Come on, guys," he laughed as he ruffled Sammy's hair. "I haven't been gone that long." Neither mentioned that it felt like forever. Instead, Mary smiled.

"Why don't you come talk to me in the kitchen, honey?" Dean took a half step away.

"Oh, uh, I, uh, I told Sammy we'd hang out." He avoided looking his mother in the eye. "We'll definitely talk before I go back home though, okay?" When Mary nodded, her feelings clearly hurt, Dean grabbed his brother's hand and dragged him up the stairs. "C'mon Sammy." he muttered.

When they reached Sam's room, and the door was securely closed behind them, Sam whirled on the older boy.

"What was that, Dean?" he demanded. "Why won't you talk to mom?" Dean sighed and flopped onto the bed.

"She'll wanna talk about Cas and I really don't wanna do that right now. And I don't feel like changing the topic every time she brings it up either." Sam huffed irritatedly, but didn't rebuke him further.

"You wanna watch Star Wars?" Dean grinned- never had he been happier that his little brother had a tv in his room.

Dean's weekend passed quickly, as did Cas's- until Sunday afternoon, when he finished the first draft of his book. He still needed to transfer it to his computer, but the ideas were all down, the story finally freed from his brain. He was happy with his work, and bounced around the house excitedly, searching for Dean to tell him the good news. Cas was slightly irritated when Dean was nowhere to be found, but quickly pushed the feeling away- if Dean wanted to go out he was perfectly within his rights. Deflated, he sent Dean a text with his news and waited, staring at his phone for the response. It never came.

Feeling vindictive, Cas texted Adam.

Dean called goodbye to his mom as he hurried from the house, having managed to avoid their talk all weekend. He knew it would hurt her feelings, but he didn't want to talk about Cas. Every time Sam had tried to bring it up he had shut him down, and by late Saturday, Sam stopped asking. It was dark outside when Dean made it back home, and he wondered if Cas had already eaten- if Cas had even eaten anything all weekend. When he opened the front door, warm smells of cooking wafted gently to him. He smiled dreamily and followed the smell to the kitchen, halting when he heard more that one person in the kitchen. Slowly, he approached, until he could make out the words-

"...and he won't let it go," that was Cas. "and it's making everything so awkward. I just want to forget, pretend it didn't happen."

"Cas, you guys need to work at this. Ignoring it will only make it worse." Dean struggled to place the voice as he crept closer. "If you want your relationship to work out you need to try and forgive him." Dean froze when he finally recognized the voice- why had Cas gone to Adam? Was he making the other boy so uncomfortable that he was willing to ignore that Dean was his best friend first, boyfriend-type-person second? He heard Cas sigh.

"Maybe."

"Do you love him or not, Cas?"

"Of course, but he-"

"Do you think he makes your life better?"

"Yes, but he doesn't-"

"Happy enough to be worth it?" Adam pressed.

"Yes!" Cas exclaimed.

"There you go." The kitchen fell silent. Putting on his best 'I wasn't eavesdropping' face, Dean entered the room.

"Hey, Cas. Adam." Cas had the grace to look abashed.

"Hello, Dean."

"Hey." Adam did not look ashamed. In fact, Dean had a sneaking suspicion that Adam wasn't at all surprised to see him. "I'll get going, then." Adam announced after an awkwardly long silence. He stood and pulled Cas into a side hug before smiling at Dean and leaving the room. A moment later, he poked his head back in. "Cas was worried about you." he looked pointedly at the author before leaving again. Both boys stayed silent until they heard the front door close behind him.

"I left a note..." Dean began hesitantly, hands shoved deep in his pockets. Cas turned to him, confused.

"You did?" Dean's eyebrows pulled down.

"Didn't you see it? I left it in front of the coffeepot." Cas shook his head slowly.

"It wasn't there."

"I'm sorry, Cas. I swear I left a note." the writer nodded.

"You can't be blamed. It probably fell somewhere." He paused. "Where were you?" Cas asked the question like he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer.

"I was visting with Sammy." Tension released in Cas's shoulders.

"Oh." Dean heard the relief and guilt washed through him. Dean slowly advanced towards Cas as the boy turned back to the food on the stove. Tentatively, Dean wrapped his arms around Cas's waist and put his head on the other boy's shoulder.

"Is this... is this okay?" Cas leaned his head against Dean's for a long moment before answering.

"Yeah."

"Promise?" The author huffed a laugh.

"Yeah." They were silent for a moment.

"Promise?" Cas knocked his head with Dean's gently.

"Yes, Dean." Dean smiled and briefly squeezed the smaller boy.

"Can we... I hate to say it, but can we talk about it?" Cas sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

"Not yet. We will. Just... not yet. Okay?" Dean nodded slightly.

"Okay."