A/N: Just so you know, the song that keeps playing is I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You - Tom Waits and i will love that album until i die. Let me know how you liked the ending! :)

Part Two

This is it. He's had enough. Whatever it is that's causing this, he's going to kill it. He's ready.

But no, he's really not.

Cas goes out of his way to open a door for an old lady. Cas catches a butterfly on his finger. Cas steps into some sunlight. Whatever he does, it seems Dean is hellbent on falling in love with him. And Cas wonders if, deep down, Dean knows that Cas loves him so much it's killing him

The seventeenth Thursday, he tries doing something terrible, like causing a car crash with the wave of his hand. Dean just stares at him, horrified and disappointed, and then realises why there's more than one reason that he is.

"Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."

He stands again at the foot of Dean's bed, watching him sleep. Dean stirs as the alarm clock plays the radio. It's 6am and Dean's hand slaps out to shut off the music, sitting up and flinching when he sees Cas, as he does every time.

"Damnit, gimme some warning, would you?" he snaps as he pushes back the covers, swinging his practically bare legs out of the bed to pull on his jeans.

"Dean, I know what took Mr Hasselback."

"What? How?"

"I did some research while you were sleeping."

Dean frowns. "Couldn't have waited for me?"

"This way was more efficient, seeing as I don't sleep."

Dean eyes him, sizing the situation up. "Okay. Next time consult me or something, but, okay. So, what's behind monster door number three?"

"A trickster."

"Gabriel?"

"No, there are real tricksters. It's likely to be one of them."

"Wooden stake, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'm gonna call Sam, catch him up in case he's chasing some false leads." He dials speed dial #1 on his phone and has a brief conversation with Sam.

"How about we kill some time until nightfall?" he asks Cas, before flopping down on the bed and requesting his beauty sleep, and some privacy. Cas demanifests himself, and studies how a broken heart changes his perspective on the beauty of man. It doesn't.

Dean rises at 9am, grumbling about "why'd you let me sleep so long" while Cas regrets him waking up at all. Already dressed, Dean wanders into the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash out his mouth before grabbing his keys and making towards the door. He stops and turns when he realises Cas isn't with him.

"Cas, you coming?"

"Where?"

"Breakfast. There's a diner down the road."

"Isn't there room service?"

"Yeah, but it's not as good. Place like this, probably don't even have bacon. What are we coming to?" He smiles ironically and swings himself out the door. Cas follows on foot.

Less than a minute later, they're in the car and Dean is blasting the radio. It's a random rock song, of no symbolistic importance, and Dean is singing along, throwing his head back and being as loud and as bad as he wants, because he knows that Cas doesn't care, and won't tell him to shut it. This is probably the longest time Dean and Sam have been apart in years, and they don't even know it.

While Dean is preoccupied, Cas thinks about how last time was probably the last time ever that he's going to see Dean fall in love with him, with him waking up afterwards. He watches the man as he sings, having a small, carefree moment. He's in the car with a friend on the way to breakfast, and he's singing along to a song on the radio that he loves and hasn't heard in a while. This is a perfectly normal sentence, and this may be why Dean is enjoying it so much. Is that the only reason that Dean is falling in love with Cas? Because it's normal to fall in love with your best friend? Well, it's certainly not normal to do it like this.

The big questions come rolling around to the forefront of his mind again, more applicable this time. Will Dean love him when this is over? How much will he know? Why is the trickster even doing this?

And how did he know it would be worse than hell for him?

So Cas enjoys his final day with Dean, in this diner again, with that waitress again, and 'pig in a poke' and 'side of bacon' and the man who steals from the register and the man who's going to rob a mechanic and the man who dresses up as a bunny and the man whom he loves, irrevocably, completely, consumingly.

They spend the day doing nothing in particular, with Cas throwing Dean random questions about his childhood every ten minutes or so. Dean always answers and then asks why. Cas just shrugs.

They go to dinner that night, and Cas smiles as it's their first date and if all goes to plan, Dean will remember it. He won't know it's a date, though. But Cas will know, and he'll make it great.

Cas suggests the restaurant down the road, the fancy one with the foreign name, and Dean snorts and suggests McDonalds. Cas tells him he's sick of places like that, and so they compromise on a small coffee shop on the edge of town.

They set off at 7, Dean driving and singing again, rolling down the window and closing his eyes for longer than is safe when he feels the wind whirl through his hair. They're in a part of town Cas has never been to before, and he's seeing new people and new faces and it's thrilling and he wants to share it with Dean and kiss him and feel even happier. He doesn't.

Their table is in the back, due to a wink and husky voice from Dean to the adolescent waitress. The lighting is soft and the air smells like nights in a beautiful city and there's a candle, because even if Dean isn't giving out I-love-you vibes (yet), Cas certainly is.

"Oh, good, a candle. Let me just burn my eyes out," Dean says happily, which Cas assumes is sarcasm. He hopes that Dean didn't just reference what he did to Pamela. He really is sorry about that.

"What's the problem?"

"Nothing, nothing. It's lovely."

"Dean."

"Shut up and look at the menu."

Cas obliges, though it's futile. He decides to order a beer, to appease Dean, because he loves him. Dean orders the lasagna. Then they're left with each other.

"I thought this place was a coffee shop."

"My research must have been wrong." It wasn't. He'd chosen it on purpose.

"So, Cas, how you doing?" Dean asks casually, not meaning anything by it.

"Fine. Yourself?"

"Can't complain. Things seem pretty normal right now. I ain't looking that horse in its big ugly mouth."

"That was graphic."

"Can't make an omelette without a few disgusting metaphors."

Cas laughs, to which Dean says, "You're getting better at this. You know, social convention or whatever. You actually get my humour now."

"I suppose so," Cas says, instead of telling Dean about all the practise he's had.

"I feel like I should repeat every joke I've ever told just so you get the full impact of how awesome I am."

Cas smiles, instead of telling Dean that he'd like that, a lot.

The food arrives, and as the crowds around them get thicker, one of the staff puts the radio on. It starts playing modern pop, so Dean asks their waitress if they could turn it to a better station.

"Well I hope that I don't fall in love with you, cos falling in love just makes me blue..."

Cas jumps as the song he's heard every morning for the past eighteen mornings surrounds him. He's still in the restaurant. Nothing else has changed.

"Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I've had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."

Dean sings along quietly and self-consciously as he stabs into his pasta. "You know this song?" Cas asks him.

Dean looks up. "Uh. Guess so. Comes on the radio a lot."

"You can say that again."

"What?"

"Do you like it?"

"Yeah. I guess. Why, it special?"

"No, I just wondered."

Dean gives him a look but ignores it. "Alright then, crazy. So, we hit up the Mystery Spot around ten?"

"Yes. It closes at eight, and the owner leaves around nine, so ten is sensible."

"My thoughts exactly." He keeps eating his food, and Cas nurses his beer.

It's not particularly special, seeing as they're talking about work and Dean has beef sauce on his chin, but the song is still playing and Cas finds that he loves it. He loves the words, the meaning behind them, the way they're sung, everything. He's fallen in love with the song the same way he's fallen in love with Dean, and they're both here at once, and Cas doesn't want it to end. But in place of the time loop, of the same day over and over, he's gonna get new days, new situations, and hopefully, Dean falling in love with him, forever. He doesn't get to enjoy Dean being in love with him with this, he doesn't get to bathe in its warm honey, and he will. Or will he? He will. He'll make sure. He can't let this get away from him. This has been the single most informative experience of his life.

"Well I turn around and look at you, you're nowhere to be found. I search the place for your lost face... guess I'll have another round.

"And I think that I just fell in love with you."

Before going to the Mystery Spot, they stop at the hotel to pick up their (Dean's) belongings, with Dean saying, "If we gank this guy, we can head off straight after, be back in Sioux Falls by sunrise."

Cas nods stiffly.

Dean picks up his things and heads out the door, but Cas stays for a few seconds, looking at the bed he'd woken up looking at for over two weeks. It looks different without Dean. He doesn't think he's going to miss it.

There's no music on the drive this time. Dean stares straight ahead of him, one arm slung casually over the bench, fingertips sometimes grazing Cas's shoulder accidentally. The streetlights light up his face occasionally. Cas sees that his mouth is set in a straight line, and wishes to kiss it undone.

He figures that they're not going to talk much once they get there, that this is his last chance, really, so he says, "Dean, I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything."

"Cas, we're okay. It's fine. We're cool." Dean glances over and looks him up and down. "You okay?"

"I'm not sure," he says honestly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Cas knows that he can't, and it kills him. "Maybe when we're done with the case."

Dean sees this for the "no" that it is, and nods once. Cas considers saying more, but he can't risk saying anything else, because they've done so much today, come so far, and he doesn't want to throw that away. He doesn't want Dean to forget this. Not this. Not today.

They turn into the parking lot and Dean turnes the engine off, getting out immediately. Cas follows. They pick weapons from the trunk and go through a vague plan before Dean lays a hand on Cas's shoulder and says, "It's gonna be okay."

"Well the music plays and you display your heart for me to see, I've had a beer and now I hear you calling out for me..."

The song plays in his head as he looks into Dean's eyes, seeing in them everything he wants to do, be, and be with. "I know, Dean. I've done this before."

"Yeah, I know, just. I worry about you, man."

"I'm an angel. I don't think your concern is necessary."

Dean rolls his eyes. "You know what I mean." Pause. "Emotionally."

Ironically, this kind of makes Cas want to cry. Only Dean understands how much his emotions confuse him, because he's not meant to have them. Dean understands how ashamed he feels of them sometimes, how much they hurt him, but how good they can be, too. Dean understands this because Dean is the same.

"That's very nice of you," is all Cas can think to say. Dean just pats him and says "come on" and walks towards the back door.

They split up as discussed, Cas taking the actual Mystery Spot while Dean takes the office and admin stuff. Cas holds his stake out in front of him, eyes constantly darting around, looking for the danger he knows is there. He has to find it before Dean does. He has questions Dean can't hear.

He looks around for ten minutes and finds nothing. Even though he can see in the dark, there isn't anything to see. He searches for anyone's presence, and feels nothing, but that's already been faulty in this place. He keeps his guard up.

And then he hears a gun cock behind him.

"Don't move!" cries a male voice, and Cas spins round to see that an old man is holding a shotgun out in front of him.

"Are you the trickster?" Cas asks, and the man flinches at how calm he sounds.

"Drop the stick!" he yells, motioning with his gun to the stake Cas is holding.

"Are you?"

Suddenly the old man laughs, letting his gun drop to his side. "Fine. I know guns don't kill you, silly. Just wanted a bit of dramatic effect."

"Who are you?" demands Cas.

"Oh, this? Sorry." The old man waves his hand and his whole body shimmers in waves before transforming into -

"Gabriel?!"

"Hey, little bro. Welcome to the fun house."

"You did this to me? You killed Dexter Hasselback?" He strides forward and grabs Gabriel's collar. "Why?"

"Oh, Hasselback was easy. Said he didn't believe in worm holes, soooo I dropped him in one!" He laughs, and it settles into a smirk. "Now, your thing? That was different."

"Why did you do this?"

Gabriel looks surprised at how hurt Cas sounds. "What?! No, I did a good thing!"

"Forcing me to watch the man I love fall in love with me and forget it over and over and over and over again?"

"Well, yeah. Look at it this way." He glances down at Cas's hand on his shirt, giving him a look. Cas just tightens his grip, and Gabriel sighs. "Okay, Mr Macho, your boyfriend's not here to impress. Cool your jets. Anyway, yeah. Look at it this way. Now you know how to do it right."

"What?"

"You and Deano were just skirting around each other. Now you know what's up. I taught you a lesson."

"Did you have to do it so cruelly?"

"Is there any other way to go, Daddy-o?"

Cas rolls his eyes, and lets Gabriel go, who brushes his shirt down and says, "Thank you. Now, you gonna kill me, or what? You know that's not gonna work." He waves a hand at the stake. Cas throws it to the side.

"So, does Dean, uh. Was it real that – does he really – uh."

"Does he really love you."

Cas nods.

"I don't know."

"So him falling in love with me – that wasn't real?"

"Oh, no, that was real. Well, not real. Think of it like this. If I hadn't been here, Dean wouldn't have fallen in love with you."

"So it wasn't real."

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying, I influenced outside things. Caused a few too many coincidences. The diner down the road with pie? The let-me-dig-in-my-friend's-trenchcoat weather? The old guy with the shotgun? All me. Well, some more literally than others." He waggles his eyebrows and pretends to shoot Cas with the shotgun.

"So are you saying that, under the right circumstances, Dean falls in love with me."

"Yep. I mean, that could be said of anyone. Like, if me and you were on a swan boat in Bangkok right now I might look at you a little differently if you know what I mean -"

"So I just need to find the right circumstances."

"Right. And make it real this time."

Cas frowns. "Are you trying to help me?"

"Duh. I'm your brother, and I ship it." He laughs. "In all seriousness, it was almost too easy."

Cas fiddles with the buttons on his coat, thinking. "So, he could not love me?"

"I swear it's like talking to a brick wall – I don't know. But go get him anyway, you nerdy little beauty, you."

Gabriel raises his hand, making to leave, but Cas stops him, saying, "What should I tell Dean?"

"Tell him it was me, I don't care. Say I'm very sorry and he'll get a free fully body massage from me personally next time we meet. Then tell him only one of those things is true." He winks, and clicks his fingers, and is gone.

"Gabriel?" Dean says in disbelief, still holding his stake out ready, squinting in the fluorescent lights of the women's bathroom. "What the hell was he doing here?"

"He was just, uh. Around."

"Around?" Dean does airquotes with his fingers, eyebrows raised. "He was around and he decided to kill a guy? And you just let him go?!"

"He apologised." Technically.

"Since when does that count for anything? Oh, sorry I murdered millions of people, but they didn't let me into art school?"

"Did you just make a Hitler joke?"

"Cas!"

"That's very distasteful -"

"Why did you let him go?"

"He flew off, I don't know where." Cas hates seeing Dean so mad at him. Then he has an idea. "Here." He dips his hand into the inside pocket of his trenchcoat, pulling out the amulet and holding it out for Dean to see.

Dean stares at it, his whole body tensed. "You – how long have you had that?"

"I picked it up right after you threw it away."

"When were you gonna give it to me?" Dean's hands are balled into fists by his sides. Cas just seems to be making him more mad. He backtracks.

"I thought you didn't want it. I saved it just in case you ever tried to look for it."

"That wasn't yours to take, Cas!" Dean is yelling now, and Cas squeezes the pendant in his hand so that he doesn't cry. He's very confused, and lost, and in love.

"I'm sorry. I thought it was for the best."

"Don't, don't give me that crap. Just – I'll meet you back at Bobby's, okay? Leave me alone for a while." He holds out his hands. Not to pull Cas in, but to push him away.

Cas obliges.

"Welcome home," Sam greets as Cas appears in Bobby's living room. "Clear everything up?"

"Yes," Cas answers, because he's too tired and sad to go into detail.

"Awesome. Where's Dean?"

"Driving."

"You didn't go with him?"

"No."

Sam frowns. "You alright?"

"Fine."

"Alright, well. That's good." He pats him on the shoulder and walks off to get a beer. Cas sits down on Bobby's couch for a day until Dean gets back.

"Dean, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, Cas. I overreacted. It was nice of you to save it for me. I do want it back, actually."

Cas hands it to him. They don't touch.

"Thanks. We cool?"

"Always."

Dean smiles awkwardly. "Uh, good. I'm hungry." He walks towards the kitchen.

"There's a place not too far from here that does pie. Would you like me to pick one up for you?"

"Sure, Cas," shouts Dean from the other room. "That'd be great."

"I brought you lunch." He hands Dean the bag from the seaside shack in Delaware.

"Hey, thanks." Dean pulls out the burger and takes a bite. "That's good. Hey, I think I've had this before," he says with his mouth full, then swallows. "Anyway, Bobby wants to see you."

The vampire puts its teeth dangerously near Cas's throat. "You move, he's dead."

Dean just attacks it and yells at Cas afterwards for being so stupid.

"Dean, maybe you should have a nap before we head out. You may not sleep for at least twenty four hours."

"Shut up, I'm fine. Let's go."

Cas disappears for a few days.

"Hey, Cas. Where you been? We need you to translate something."

"Dean, something else happened to me at the Mystery Spot."

"What Mystery Spot?"

"The case we worked a few months ago."

"Cas – now isn't really a good time. I'm pretty busy. Raincheck?"

The days seem even shorter than they did before. Every day, Cas tries something that worked before. He ends up repeating them. Nothing works. No change in Dean. No change in Cas, either.

He gives up after seven months, resigning himself to unrequited love. It's not so bad, he figures. He gets to spend time with Dean, talk to him, share things with him. He can remember their time together perfectly; he can replay it in his head whenever he wants to kiss him. That's just as good.

It's obvious that work comes first to Dean. And that's okay. Work comes first to Cas, too. He forces it to.

He pays attention, though. Close attention. To the way Dean smiles, says things, looks at him. He's not kidding himself, he knows there's nothing there. He's still looking for it, though. He still believes.

One day, Dean is about to make a beer run. He shoves a twenty in his back pocket and turns to Cas, as he always does, to say, "You need anything?" Cas shakes his head, and Dean turns to go. But he pauses at the door. Cas glances over to see why, and Dean looks away, and leaves promptly, and nothing more is said of the matter.

A few weeks later, Cas is reading a book, unconsciously running his fingers up and down the worn spine. He breathes in the old smell. It's his second favourite smell in the whole world. He looks up when he hears a small noise to see Dean leaning against a doorframe, looking at him. Cas expects him to look away, but he doesn't. This time, Dean keeps looking. This time, Dean smiles.

Cas smiles too. Day 1.