Sorry for the late update! I've not been in the writing mood the past few weeks.

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Week 4

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When Dean came back from his one-on-one date with Atara, Cas felt a little off. He couldn't figure out what it was, but he felt strange looking at Dean sitting with all the other guys, talking about his date with a rose pinned to his lapel.

He recognized the feeling later, when he went to bed. It was jealousy.

But he wasn't jealous of Dean for getting to spend time with Atara; he was jealous of Atara for getting to be with Dean.

That was definitely not a good thing. He'd worried about the possibility of falling for one of the other men when Balthazar first told him that they wanted him on the show. But when he talked to Balthazar about it, his brother assured him that it wouldn't happen. I mean, he would be busy with Atara, plus since he knew all the other guys would be straight, he wouldn't be as inclined to fall for them. At the time, that made sense to Cas. He rarely developed particularly strong crushes anyway. He wanted to love someone's personality before anything else. That could be one of the reasons he hadn't found love.

Cas wasn't expecting someone like Dean, though.

He'd never met someone he felt such a strong connection with. Dean was caring, kind, and hardworking. He'd endured tragedy like Cas had, and he understood what it was like to be alone. He also felt just like Cas did about how important family was. He said his dad had a friend he called Uncle Bobby that always used the phrase, "Family don't end with blood." Cas told Dean that Bobby sounded like a wise man, and Dean replied that he'd always thought so.

Cas never meant to fall for him. He wasn't even looking for a friend in the house, it just… happened. And now he was completely screwed. Because, while it was rare that Cas fell for someone, when he did, his feelings didn't go away easy.

He hadn't felt that kind of connection with Atara yet. She was beautiful, sure, and fun to be around. But he wasn't sure the romance was there.

Still, he focused his attention at her during the cocktail party and they had fun together. And he got a rose. Then at the end of the ceremony, Chris Harrison announced that they'd be going to Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Cas packed up and hoped for the best the next week.

…

Dean wasn't exactly excited about the group date. After his one-on-one, he wasn't looking forward to seeing the other guys with Atara. But he'd survive. At least he had Cas.

Plus, they were in the Bahamas. What's not to like?

In any case, the date ended up being amazing. They went to the Atlantis hotel and explored some of the Marine Habitats. Even better was the end of the night, when they sat underground by a window, looking into Predator Lagoon. Then they all got the chance to inner-tube through an underwater tube running right through the exhibit. Honestly, it made Dean a little nervous zooming forward while surrounded by tons of sharks. It was fun though.

The best part of the night, though, was when Atara gave him the group date rose.

After the date ended and they got back to Hotel Riu, where they were staying for the week. But Dean noticed Cas was staring into space a bit.

"You okay?" he asked.

Cas looked back over at him and smiled slightly. "I'm fine. Just not a fan of sharks, you know."

"You're afraid of them?"

Cas shrugged. "I guess a little. They're as intimidating as they are interesting."

"You have a point there."

"I think it was the teeth that did it. That display of a Great White Shark's jaw was…"

"Terrifying?" Dean suggested with a smirk.

"Concerning."

"Sure, Cas. Whatever. Hey, you want to go out on the town tomorrow? I want to see the sights."

Cas smiled. "That'd be fun. Are we allowed?"

Dean gestured to the ever-present cameraman in the room.

"If not, I'm sure we'll be informed."

Cas laughed, and they said goodnight.

The next day, they got dressed, packed their swimsuits and some towels, and walked out on the town. The cameraman followed, but no one stopped them.

The island was beautiful. The beach was covered with white sand and the water was stunningly clear. It was also a little warm, but not so warm it wasn't refreshing.

After they'd been at the beach for almost an hour, Cas suddenly went, "Oh! Should we have invited the other men? I didn't even think of it."

Dean stretched out on his towel.

"Nah. They can come out if they want. It's not as fun hanging out with them as it is with you."

He turned his head to see Cas blushing, and stifled a laugh. The guy was so shy and bashful most of the time, it was kind of hard to picture him as a badass fencer.

"Hey, do you think you can teach me how to fence?" he asked curiously.

"Dean, we don't have equipment. We don't even have sabers."

"I know that," Dean said, rolling his eyes, "But like, later. After the show."

Cas sat up and looked at him. "After? You would still want to be friends with me after this ends."

"Of course. I like you."

Cas blushed again. "What about Atara?"

"You mean what if one of us ends up with her? Well, I'm not the jealous type. Not usually. So I'd be okay if you ended up with her. And if I did, I promise not to rub it in your face or whatever."

"I'm not usually the jealous type either," Cas told him. "And I also enjoy your company."

"Good to know," Dean said with a little laugh. "It'd be a shame if the whole time we've been hanging out, you've been hating me."

Cas picked up sand and threw it at Dean.

Dean moved, but it still hit his head. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair. "That's gonna take forever to wash out," he complained.

He grabbed a handful of sand and threw it toward Cas, but the man had already moved.

"It's ON!" he challenged, laughing.

They chased each other around a small section of beach, chucking sand at each other. They started using wet sand, as that would form into balls they could throw easier. Dean won the war, in his opinion. He finally caught Cas and pinned him to the ground.

"Gotcha," he said, before dropping a handful of wet sand onto the man's chest. He spread it around, and then got off Cas.

"Maybe we should go back now," Cas suggested. "I don't think my body can handle any more sand."

"Wimp," Dean joked.

"Assbutt," Cas replied.

Dean snorted, and a laugh exploded from him. "'Assbut'? Really? That the best you could come up with?"

Cas frowned at him, but his eyes told Dean the man didn't mind the joking.

"Alright, alright," he finally relented. "Let's go."

They packed up and went back to the hotel to hit the showers. When they got there, Cas sorted out whose towel was whose, and gave Dean his.

"Make sure you shake it out before you hang it," he reminded Dean.

"Yeah, yeah," Dean said dismissively. He went in the bathroom, and did what Cas has told him to. Something came flying out of the towel, though. A piece of paper.

Come to my room after you're done. Be discreet.

-Cas

Dean guessed that meant he was supposed to ditch the cameras, or get there without them following. Cameras weren't actually allowed in bathrooms or bedrooms, but they could hang outside and record sound coming from the room. Dean wondered what Cas wanted to say to him that was so secret.

Well, he was about to find out.

…

It hadn't even been a week since Cas realized his feelings for Dean. But no matter how hard he tried to push them away, he couldn't. No matter how many times he tried to tell himself that Dean was straight and this wouldn't amount to anything, he couldn't believe that.

And then Dean had to go and invite him out. It felt like… well, it felt like a date. Cas was having trouble figuring out whether Dean was flirting with him, or whether he was that was naturally. And then he was pinned to the ground and he wasted to kiss Dean more than anything. And Dean went and rubbed wet sand all over his chest and that was so arousing. Cas's heart was beating so fast and loud, he was worried Dean would notice.

By the end of the day, he decided he needed the truth. He didn't think Dean was really interested in him that way. But he wouldn't be able to let go of that little hope unless Dean rejected him. Which, by the way, he also really didn't want to happen. But better now than later. The longer Cas continued like this, the stronger his feelings would get, and the more heartbroken he would be later.

He wrote out a little note to give Dean, then decided to slip it in his folded towel so the cameras wouldn't notice. This was going to be bad enough without a cameraman filming them.

Cas took his shower quickly, hoping he'd gotten all of the sand out of his hair. Then he put on a t-shirt and lounge pants, sat on the end of his bed, and waited for Dean.

Dean did show up, which Cas supposed was a good thing. The taller man came and sat next to Cas on the bed.

"What's up?" Dean asked in a hushed voice. Not quite a whisper, just low enough not to attract attention.

"I…" Cas swallowed thickly and continued carefully. "I wanted to be honest with you about something. I didn't want cameras involved because… well, I'm embarrassed."

Dean put a hand on Cas's shoulder.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I promise not to tell anyone if you don't want me to. I'm a good secret-keeper."

Cas smiled at him nervously.

"Thanks. I didn't mean for this to happen. And by the time I realized it, it was too late to just ignore. I wish I could ignore it, but I can't. I just hope you don't hate me after."

"I could never hate you," Dean said gently.

Cas took in a deep breath. Dean's assurances were making him a little less anxious, but now he liked Dean even more, which made him dread the inevitable rejection even more.

"Thanks," he repeated. "So, it's like this. I don't know if I'm really interested in Atara. She's wonderful, but I see her more like a friend than someone I might want to marry."

Dean nodded. "That's okay. If it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be. Don't beat yourself up about it."

"That's the thing. I'm disappointed that I haven't connected with Atara, but I don't feel guilty about it. Anyway, that's not why I wanted to talk to you. There's something else."

Dean waited patiently while Cas collected his thoughts.

"I think I am falling in love," he finally said. "But not with Atara. It's… it's you. I have feelings for you."

Dean's eyes went wide, and Cas stared into the green depths of them, waiting for some kind of reaction besides surprise.

When he couldn't find any, he gave into what he really wanted to do: kiss Dean. If nothing else, at least it would shock him out of his frozen state.

Cas gently grabbed the back of Dean's neck and pulled them together so their lips met. It was meant to be brief, but then Dean responded, moving his lips against Cas's slowly. It caught Cas by surprise, but he was definitely glad. He followed Dean's example, kissing back softly and relishing the feeling.

Finally, he pulled away. He opened his eyes and looked at Dean, whose eyes were trained on the floor. He slowly lifted one hand and touched his lips.

"I have to go," Dean murmured abruptly, and he got off the bed and left the room quietly, shutting the door behind him.

Cas just stared after him, trying to figure out what the hell just happened.

…

Eleven bachelors attended the Rose Ceremony that week, and two of them left at the end of it, leaving nine men to try and win Atara Kemmiam's heart.

Those remaining were:

Benji Columbus

Castiel Novak

Dean Winchester

Drake Lyndon

Dustin Total

Edmund Jonathan

Keith Grace

Mitchell Davies

Paul Sanders

…

REVIEW!

So yeah, that happened. And they're both still on the show. You'll find out more about all of that in the next chapter. Hopefully, I'll get back on track with my writing. (Reviews can help with that.)

AND I STILL NEED DATE IDEAS IF YOU HAVE ANY! PLEASE LET ME KNOW!