Dean couldn't stop noticing things about Cas. Like the way his eyes would light up when he smiled. Or the way he stood with his toes pointed inward. Or the way he would squint his eyes when he was concentrating really hard. The sheer amount of adorable that he exuded was like Dean's kryptonite. He had only been around Cas for two minutes and he was already hopelessly attracted to him.
"Hey Dean, you haven't introduced me to your friend yet. How rude." Lucifer pouted as he sidled up behind them. Dean sighed. He had hoped to introduce Luci to Cas later, after Cas had already met everyone else. Dean didn't want Cas to get the wrong impression of the sort of people they let work at the club. Lucifer was the only male dancer the club had on staff at the moment, and he was a bit difficult to get used to. He had been kicked out of the old club he had worked at, Room of Heaven, about a year ago and had been hired by Missouri soon after. Missouri believed in the inherent good in people, so she ignored his slightly manipulative personality in favor of his loyalty he showed for his family at the club. He wasn't a bad guy, exactly, just a bit misunderstood and hard to get used to.
"I'm Castiel. But you may call me Cas, if you like. Dean does." Cas smiled at Luci and tilted his head slightly in a way that was ridiculously attractive to Dean.
Luci grinned widely and glanced at Dean.
"Oh, he's given you a nickname already, has he?" he winked very suggestively at Dean before turning back to Cas and looking him up and down slowly. "He took a month to think of mine. He must have a great first impression of you."
Dean groaned inwardly and was just about to rip Luci's smug little smile off of his face when-
"Hey guys! Who's this?" Dean gave a sigh of relief as the chipper tones of Charlie broke through the tense silence.
"I'm Castiel. But you can call me Cas. Dea-"
"He's the new bartender." Dean interrupted Cas before he had the chance to give someone else ammunition to tease him.
"Hi Cas! What's up? Castiel is a cool name, by the way. My name is Charlie. I'm a dancer." She punctuated this with a fancy twirl and kicked her foot up above her head. Dean rolled his eyes. Charlie was awesome, but she was a show-off when she got the chance. Cas didn't seem to mind, however. He nodded appreciatively at the display and they exchanged a few more pleasantries before they moved on.
Everyone loved Cas. Everyone. Dean didn't think there had ever been such a consensus on something before. They were a family, sure, but they generally all disagreed on everything. But not this time. From Jo, who actually gave Cas a hug, to Meg, who managed to crack a smile that wasn't brimming with sarcasm, every single person was drawn to Cas. He was personable and charismatic, with a slightly naïve way of acting that was endearing and charming. It was almost otherworldly, Dean thought. It was like he was something more than human. And to Dean, he was more than human. He was like an angel. Perfect in every way.
That night during the show Dean was barely paying attention to the dancers. He was drumming mechanically, letting his hands do the work while his brain and eyes were focused on Cas at the bar. Cas smiled at everyone who he served. He was even nice to the waitress, Becky, who was a tad bit creepy. But he grinned and joked with her the same as everyone else. Dean was horrified at how much he already cared for Cas. They had literally met two hours before, and Dean was ready to stay by Cas' side forever.
Sam thought it was hilarious. He stopped by the club, to say hi and flirt with Gabriel, and he noticed Dean's obsession right away. It was kind of obvious, considering the fact that Dean was openly staring at Cas. So when Dean had his break and went to say hello to his brother, Sam wasted no time in getting everything out of him. Within two minutes, Dean had broken down and told Sam the whole story. The meeting with Cas, his perfect butt, the fact that everyone loved him. By the end of it, Sam was holding back a combination of joy that Dean had found someone and hysterical laughter at the despair in Dean's eyes. Dean didn't know how to handle it, and Sam could tell.
"Okay. Dean. Get this- it doesn't matter that you have no experience in dating. At all. If Cas likes you, he likes you." Sam was attempting to cheer Dean up with some brotherly advice. "Here's what you do. You go over there, give him a big smile, and just ask him out. Seriously, man, it's not that big of a deal. "
Dean considered this. Tomorrow was a Monday, so the club was shut down. They could go to San Francisco and drive around and go to a diner and the beach and walk around downtown if it wasn't too cold. But the actual act of asking him out was not going to happen.
"Dude. I am not asking Cas out on a date."
Sam leveled him with the bitchiest bitch face possible and just glared at Dean until he felt uncomfortable and gave in. No one could resist the power of Sam's bitch face.
"FINE." Dean was a tad bit annoyed. "Now go away I gotta get back to work. Gabe's in the back. Go bug him."
Sam grinned a lopsided puppy-dog grin and strode off, his tall physique pushing through the crowd. Dean watched him go with a grimace on his face, and then he glanced over to look at Cas again. And found himself staring right into Cas' eyes. Cas was drying a glass and staring openly at Dean. They both were still for a few seconds before Cas blushed a vibrant red and turned away. What the hell, Dean thought, Was he….looking at me? Dean's heart gave a little flutter as he thought of all the reasons why Cas would be staring at him. He shook his head to get out of his reverie and stood up, picking up his drumsticks and going back to his drums. His eyes flickered one more time in Cas' direction and saw him serving a girl a martini, before he started playing again.
He was actually going to do it. Dean Winchester, king of the one-night stands, was actually going to ask another person to go out with him. He took his hip flask from the pocket of his jeans and had a swig to give him some courage. Then he headed towards the bar where Cas was cleaning up for the night.
"Hey Dean, I saw that Sam was here earlier. Do you know if he's still here? I can't find him anywhere and I want to talk to him." The unwelcome tones of Luci floated out from behind Dean as he marched purposefully to the bar. Dean stopped and sighed before turning around. Luci was still in full dance getup- slacks, suspenders, no shirt, and a bowler hat. Grimacing, Dean told him that Sam had already left, but that he would be back next weekend, like he always was. That was a lie, Sam was actually in the back with Gabe, but Dean knew Sam wouldn't want to deal with Luci right now. Luci slumped his shoulders sadly.
"Alright then. I guess I'll see you in a couple days, then. Good-bye."
"Bye man."
Dean watched Luci walk towards the lobby and frowned. Everyone knew about Luci's crush on Sam, including Sam. But Sam would never abandon his hope that Gabriel would come around and they would run away into the sunset together. So Sam just politely turned down Lucifer's advances and focused on his goal of getting Gabriel to love him. Personally, Dean was happy Sam preferred Gabriel. Gabe might be a bit mischievous at times, but he wasn't as manipulative and potentially psychologically damaging as Luci.
A sudden shattering of glass jolted Dean out of his thoughts and he whipped around to see Cas staring at the broken pieces of the bottle he had just dropped. Cas looked up at Dean with wide eyes and mouthed Oops. Dean laughed and walked over to get the broom to help sweep up. When he came back with the broom, he saw that Cas had gotten a trash can and had started to pick the pieces up with his bare hands and throwing them away.
"Hey, Cas. Use this broom instead. I don't want you to cut yourself."
"I'll be fine, Dean." Cas looked up at Dean and smiled. "Don't worr-OW."
Dean immediately bent down next to Cas and took his hand gently in his own. Cas' thumb had a long jagged gash on it that was bleeding quite profusely.
"Dammit! Sorry Cas, I was distracting you. Come on, I think Gabe has some bandages in the back."
Cas gave a small smile and nodded.
"Don't worry, Dean. It's not your fault I find you so distracting."
Now what the hell does that mean?
Dean wasn't very good at reading subtext.
On their way backstage, they passed by Sam and Gabe. Gabe was putting costumes away in the closet, and Sam was sitting on a table nearby, his legs sprawled out everywhere.
"…nice shirt you have on. Is it new?" Sam wasn't exactly a genius in the flirting department. He mostly relied on his good looks and boyish charm.
"I've had this shirt for years. It's not really that exciting, Samsquatch." Gabe rolled his eyes at the man and turned away to put a costume in the closet. Dean was very surprised to catch a blush spread across Gabe's cheeks and a smile touch his lips. Maybe Gabe isn't as unaware of Sam as I thought. Huh.
Dean found some bandages in a makeup box (Gabe wasn't very organized) and they sat down so Dean could put one on Cas' thumb. It was very quiet backstage. Everyone but Bobby and Missouri had gone home, so Dean and Cas were basically alone. All Dean could hear was his own heartbeat and Cas' slow and gentle breathing. He was holding Cas' hand, their fingers slightly intertwined as Dean wrapped the bandage around the wound. Dean pressed it on, and then rubbed it gently with his finger to get it to stick. The friction between Cas' hand and Dean's hand was sparked. It felt like their hands were on fire. They were only holding hands, and barely even that, but Dean had never felt closer to another human being in his life.
"Um…Cas?"
"Yes Dean?"
"Do you want to…maybe….go to San Francisco with me tomorrow? You can't live in San Jose and have never seen San Francisco. Well, I mean you can, but it's nice to go. If you want to. I'll go with you. You know, we could…go together. Um." Dean stopped talking and looked down at his hands, cursing his inability to communicate with attractive young men. He looked up again when he heard Cas' giggle.
"That was very…unimpressive." Cas was giggling in between words. "You…'we could go together um'….Dean…"
Dean was horrified at this reaction. Cas was laughing at him? He had tried to be normal and just ask him out, but now Cas was openly mocking him. Dean scowled and stood up. He was about to stalk off when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't go." Cas had stopped laughing and was standing, looking at Dean with a serious expression on his face. "I'm sorry for laughing, it's just that you are very adorable when you are flustered and I couldn't help myself."
"…You think I'm handsome?"
"I have eyes, Dean."
"So, since I'm so adorable and irresistible, will you go with me tomorrow?" Dean's heart leapt with hope.
Cas grinned broadly and nodded in answer. Dean felt a rush of happiness and pleasure run through him and he reached down and hugged Cas, swinging him around once. Cas wrapped his arms around Dean's neck and stared into Dean's eyes, his face inches away from Dean's. Dean could feel Cas' mint-scented breath on his lips. He leaned forward until his lips were brushing against Cas' softly. The contact between the two was charged. Where their lips touched each other, it felt like kissing flames. Their bodies were inches away from each other, the heat radiating between the two. Reaching down to Cas' lower back, he pulled Cas' hips closer to him and leaned in further to press his mouth against his.
"Mmmm…no…" Cas pulled away gently before Dean could start kissing him and stepped back. Dean started panicking again. He was so nervous around Cas; he couldn't tell if he had done something wrong. He saw Cas notice the worried look in his eyes and smile sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, Dean. I…can't kiss you. Yet. Perhaps someday. But for now, let us just go on an adventure to San Francisco and enjoy it." Cas glanced at Dean shyly. "Is that all right with you?"
Dean really wanted to kiss Cas. Really badly. He could still feel Cas' lips burning on his own. But if Cas was uncomfortable for some reason, then he would just have to wait. He cared too much about Cas to let a little thing like kissing get in the way.
"That's fine, man." Dean grinned reassuringly. "I'll survive."
Cas sighed gratefully and slid his hand down Dean's arm to his hand, taking it in his own. Dean shivered. He couldn't wait until tomorrow, when they could go to San Francisco and hold hands all day while exploring the city. That was all he wanted.
Well, that and a burger.