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It had been about five weeks since Dean first visited Sam at college and attended his class. They had decided to make Friday night dinners together a regular thing, Dean meeting Sam at the lecture hall after his last class, them going out to eat, and finding something else to do afterwards, before Dean dropped Sam off at his dorm around midnight. Sam greatly appreciated his brother going to the effort to spend time with him, but he couldn’t help noticing the way that Dean would scan the crowd of people leaving the hall every week, as though he was looking for someone in particular. Sam wasn’t stupid, he knew exactly who Dean was looking for, but he never said anything. This particular Friday Dean arrived at Sam’s lecture hall building about ten minutes before his class was due to end. Just as he was walking towards an empty seat outside the room Sam’s class was in, he saw a familiar dark haired figure hurry from the room, almost running in the opposite direction. Dean wanted to say something to him, after all he had been hoping to see him again since they first met, but he was clearly in such a hurry that Dean figured maybe he could catch him another time. Instead he sat in the seat he was originally walking towards and waited for Sam to be finished. Ten minutes later Sam emerged from the hall, and they were walking out of the building towards the Impala.
They made it all the way to the restaurant where they were having dinner, just chatting about their week, before Dean bought up Castiel for the first time since he had met him. “So, Castiel left early today. Seemed like he was in a hurry to.” He tried to sound casual, but he saw the small smirk that Sam sent his way.
“Yeah, he leaves about 15 minutes early every week. He was a little late leaving today, probably why he was hurrying.” Sam explained.
“Why does he leave early? I figured if he was a TA he would have to stay till the end of class.”
“Normally he would, but on a Friday he has a class directly after ours and it’s a few buildings away, s he leaves early so he can make it there on time. It’s not a good look is a senior is late to his own class every week.”
“Yeah, I guess that would look bad.” Dean said, looking expectantly at the waitress that was walking their way with a large juicy steak. As their meals were placed on the table Dean grimaced at Sam’s plate. “Why are you always so healthy. Live a little man, eat something with a bot of fat and flavour occasionally.”
“This does have flavour Dean, with the added benefit of being good healthy food.” Sam rebutted. Dean was always teasing him about his food choices, but he was pretty happy in the knowledge that he was definitely going to have less health problems than Dean in the future, considering Dean’s diet mostly consisted of burgers, fries, and other fatty foods.
“That plate is mostly green, leafy rabbit food. How much flavour could it possibly have?”
“More than you apparently think.” Sam said before talking a bite of his salad and making a small moan on purpose as though to prove a point to his brother. Dean grimaced again, whether at the choice of food, or the sound Sam made he wasn’t sure, but once he had swallowed he decided to turn things around on Dean, shifting focus away from himself. “Anyway, I’ve noticed the way you scan the crowd when my class lets out every Friday. Any reason why?”
Dean actually appeared to blush. “Uhh, no one in particular.”
“Hmm, so you haven’t been hoping to see Castiel every week?” Sam pushed, he didn’t want to be straight out cruel to his brother, but if Dean would just admit he had liked him and wanted to see him again, Sam could help him.
Dean sighed before he answered. “Maybe just a little bit. I don’t even know why?”
“Well, what is it that makes you think about him? Anything in particular that keeps your attention?” Sam was hoping that now he was talking, his probing wouldn’t cause Dean to shut down and retreat into himself the way he normally did when Sam tried to talk to him about feelings.
“His eyes. There is just something about his eyes.” Dean said, looking down at the table. He really wanted to retreat back behind his walls, but he had been working hard at trying to be more open with his brother.
“If you really want to talk to him again I can help you Dean. I have his schedule.” Sam offered.
Dean just shook his head lightly. “Nah, don’t worry about it man. How are you doing in that area? Anyone caught your interest?” Dean asked, once again shifting the attention back to Sam, and this time Sam bushed. “Sammy, what aren’t you telling me?”
“Well, there is a girl in one of my classes. I study with her. She’s really cute.” Sam said.
“What’s her name?” Dean asked excitedly.
“Jessica. I was thinking of maybe asking her out, but I’m not sure.”
“Why not? Worst thing that can happen is she says no, it’s awkward for a little bit but then you move past it.” Dean advised.
“That’s true. Well we are studying together on Sunday so maybe I’ll ask her then.” Sam said, his words saying that maybe he wasn’t sure still, but his face said different. Dean could see the determined way his jaw was set when he finished his sentence. There was no doubt in Dean’s mind that Sam was resolved to asking Jessica out on Sunday.
They moved onto other topics of discussion as they finished their meal, deciding to just head back to Sam’s dorm to hang for a few hours. Sam had taken his gaming console with him when he moved into the dorms, so they played some games, getting very competitive and loud. It was lucky it was a Friday night, and from Sam’s knowledge so far, his floor of the dorm was mostly empty, so they didn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone. Sometime around 1 am they finally put the games away and Dean headed out, telling his brother to call him Sunday night and tell him how things went with Jessica in their study session. Sam had insisted that Dean take a copy of Castiel’s schedule with him, and Dean was busy looking at it as he walked towards the exit of the building, concentrating on what was in his hands so much that he didn’t notice someone running through the door until they literally ran into each other, the other person stumbling enough to fall and land on the ground.
“Ohh shit.” Dean said, stuffing the paper in his pocket and reaching out a hand to help the other person up, not noticing who it was at first. “I’m so sorry, here let me help you up.”
“Thanks.” The unknown person said, not looking into Dean’s face until he was standing again.
Dean felt his cheeks colour slightly as he realized who he had run into. “Castiel right?” He said, knowing exactly who he was, but wanting to pretend otherwise.
“Uh yeah. Dean?” Castiel asked. “Sam’s brother right?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry I knocked you down, I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Dean explained, hoping that Castiel wouldn’t be mad.
“Ohh that’s okay. I wasn’t looking where I was going either. Just as much my fault as yours. What are you doing here so late?” He asked casually.
“I was just hanging out with Sam. We lost track of time a little bit. What about you? It’s a bit late to be having a study session with someone isn’t it?” Dean questioned. He was pretty sure he remembered Sam mentioning that this building was a freshman dorm, so there didn’t seem like any other good reason for why a senior would be here.
Castiel looked down at himself, he figured what he was wearing would make it pretty obvious what he had been doing at this hour, but Dean’s eyes hadn’t left his face. “I live in this dorm. I was just out for a late-night run, helps when work gets too stressful.” He explained.
“Oh, I thought this was a freshman dorm.” Dean said.
“It mostly is. The top floor is senior’s though.”
“Right.” They stood their slightly awkwardly for a minute in silence before Dean spoke again “So what work had you stressed enough to take a run after midnight. It’s bit late on a Friday to be doing anything other than sleeping or having fun.”
Castiel smiled. “I was working on a paper for one of my classes. I usually do as much as I can on a Friday night, so I have Saturday free to myself. And I don’t really go out at all, so it doesn’t exactly impact my social life.”
“Well I guess that is a good way to get a day to yourself.” Dean agreed.
“It works for me.” They stood in silence again for a moment before Castiel glanced down at his watch. “I should probably get going then, got a paper to finish if I want a day off.”
“Ohh yeah, of course. See you around.”
“Bye Dean.”
Dean was just pushing the door open when he turned around and blurted out what he was thinking before he could process it all properly, so it came out as a jumbled-up sentence that made no sense whatsoever. “Did want go out me?”
Castiel turned around to look at Dean. “I’m sorry Dean, what was that?”
Dean took a deep breath and looked at Castiel properly before asking the question again in a way that made complete sense this time. “Umm, did you maybe want to go out with me sometime?”
Castiel’s eyes seem to get brighter, and a big smile spread across his face. “Yes Dean, I would love to.”
Dean had an answering smile on his face now. “Cool, umm well when is a good time for you?”
“What about next Saturday night?” Castiel suggested.
“Perfect. I’ll pick you up here around 7?” Dean asked.
“Okay, I’ll see you then. Goodnight Dean.” Castiel said.
“Goodnight Castiel.” Dean replied.
Dean was smiling the whole drive home. He had a date with Castiel next week. He was so excited he barely slept that night and called Sam nice and early to tell him what had happened. Sam was happy for him, but quickly hung up, grumbling about it being to early on a Saturday to be awake.
As Saturday drew closer Dean’s excitement turned into panic. He had no idea what to do for a date. For a long time now he hadn’t been the dating type, he was more the one-night stand type, but he wanted more than that here, at least he thought he did. By Thursday he still hadn’t come up with a good idea, and considered asking his uncle for help, but that was also going to be embarrassing. Instead he waited till he had gotten home from work and called Sam for help. At first all Sam did was laugh at Dean, but when he had calmed down enough to speak he suggested that Dean should just take him out for dinner and then maybe a movie afterwards. Dean felt less panicked after talking to Sam. He searched nice restaurants online to find a good place and called to make a reservation, deciding that he would see how dinner went before making definite plans for the movie. Perhaps Castiel would prefer to do something else.
On Friday Dean had his usual plans with Sam, and despite hoping he would find a way to run into Castiel again, even if only for a minute, he didn’t see him. They mostly managed to avoid the topic of Dean’s date, especially when Dean asked Sam about Jessica and it then became quite difficult to shut Sam up. Apparently he had asked Jessica out in their study session the previous Sunday and she had said yes, so Sam was taking her out the next night. Luckily Dean found out he wasn’t planning on taking her to the same place he was taking Castiel. He didn’t want their first date to be awkward, well even more awkward, than it was already going to be by his brother being in the same place. For the first time since they had started their Friday night tradition, the brother cut this night short, Dean leaving Sam’s dorm at around 9 to head home. Sam had a lot of work to get through that weekend for his classes and needed all the spare time he can manage to get it all done. When Dean got back to his apartment he sat watching TV for a bit, then checked on what movies were currently playing in town in case Castiel did want to go to a movie after dinner, he wanted to at least be somewhat prepared, before heading to bed.
The next morning Dean when about his usual morning routine for a Saturday morning. He made breakfast when he had finally dragged himself out of bed, which was basically just a protein shake, and headed to the gym. Sam would always tease him about getting fat because of the way he ate, but as much as Dean was definitely quite a bad eater at times, he did still take care of his body through supplements and working out. After about a three-hour gym session Dean headed home for a shower and to pick out what he was going to wear for the night. That was where Dean got stuck. He hadn’t been out on a proper date in years and had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to wear. In the in he gave up and decided to call his cousin Jo for help. She answered almost immediately.
“Hey Dean, long time no speak!”
“Hey Jo. I know it’s been a while, sorry. I need your help though.” Dean said.
“Sure thing, what’s up?”
“I have a date tonight and I have absolutely no idea what to wear.” Dean explained, gritting his teeth after he had finished his sentence as he could imagine the look of shock on here face right now and the words he was about to hear from her as well.
“Oh my god!! Dean-o has a date! Does this mean that the apocalypse has started?” Jo was shrieking through the phone so loud that Dean had to pull it away from his ear before the high frequency made him deaf.
“Jo, gonna need you to stop shrieking before it makes me deaf.” Dean said when he heard the other end of the line fall silent.
“Okay, sorry. I just can’t remember the last time you actually went on a date. Alright, grab your computer and lets jump on skype, that way I can see what you look like.” Jo suggested and hung up as soon as she was done. Dean sighed and put his phone down before walking into his room to grab his laptop and boot it up. As soon as he had it turned on he got a notification asking him to join a a skype call so he accepted and his cousin’s face popped up on the screen, looking like she was sitting at her desk in her dorm room.
“Took you long enough to get online.” She said by way of greeting.
“I had to turn the laptop on, it took a minute to load.”
“Whatever, I want some details before I help you though.” She said, smiling almost wickedly
Dean groaned. This was not what he wanted to talk about. “Fine, what do you wanna know?”
“First, name and where you met them.” Dean noticed the way she specifically didn’t say him or her when asking her questions. Dean had been pretty open about his sexuality since he was in high school and realized he was bi-sexual, at least around his family anyway.
“His name is Castiel, and I met him at the college.” Dean said.
“College? What the hell were you doing at a college?” Jo asked in surprise.
“I was visiting Sam, we hang out every Friday night.” Dean explained.
Jo wanted some more details, so Dean gave in and explained how he had fist met Castiel properly, and then what had happened we he asked him out. “Now can we get to the clothes please Jo.”
“Alright Dean. What are you doing for this date?”
“Dinner, then I guess we shall see what happens later. I’m thinking about a movie, but I don’t know what Castiel will want to do.”
“Okay, so start with pants. Do you have either black jeans or slacks?” Jo asked, twirling a pencil around in her hand as she talked. Dean suspected she was doing some of her own college homework right now as well as helping Dean.
“Uhhh, I don’t know about slacks, but I definitely have some black jeans.” Dean got up and started rooting around in his closet trying to see if he did in fact have any black pants but couldn’t find any so he grabbed out a few pairs of black jeans instead.
“If any of them have rips, whether they were designed that way or you have ripped them yourselves doing whatever stupid shit it is you do, out them away.”
Dean had a quick look through the pile and threw half of them back in the closet. None of them were bought with rips, but he had managed to rip plenty of them himself. “Alright, what now?”
“Are any of them loose, like the kind you would wear to the garage?” Jo asked.
Dean had a look. “Yes.”
“Okay, not them then. How many pairs do you have left?”
“Two, one tight and one extremely tight.”
“Okay, try them both on and let me see.”
Dean disappeared into the bathroom to change, not feeling particularly comfortable changing in front of his cousin, even if she was busy focusing on her work when she wasn’t talking to him. Fist he tried on the very tight pair, having a quick look in the mirror, and realizing that they show off a lot more than he was perhaps comfortable showing off. “What about these then?” He asked Jo as he walked back into the bedroom.
Jo looked up from her book and whistled. “Looking good Winchester. But maybe a little to tight for a first date in a nice restaurant. Try the other pair.”
Dean went back to the bathroom and tried on the other pair, feeling a lot more comfortable in this pair of jeans. Jo was just looking up as he reentered the bedroom again. “Much better. Now what shirts do you have. Show me some.”
Dean went back into his closet and looked for his best shirts, grabbing them out and throwing them on the bed. As he kept looking he came across a pair of black pants in a gift bag that he had never worn, the tag still on them. “Hey Jo, I found some black pants, should I try them?”
“Definitely, but first I want you to show me some shirts.”
Dean held up some shirts and Jo chose three for him to try, one red, one black, and one green. Dean went to the bathroom and changed into the pants, getting a thumbs up from Jo, then just stripped his shirt in his room to try the ones she had picked out for him. In the end Jo picked the green shirt, saying that it worked best with his skin tone and his eyes. Dean thanked her a lot for helping him, and noticing the time said he needed to go so he wouldn’t be late.
“Bye Dean, good luck! Let me know how it goes.” Jo said, waving at the camera.
“I will, thank you for all your help Jo, couldn’t have done this without you.” Dean waved back and then disconnected, shutting down his laptop and finding a good pair of shoes, then brushing his teeth just to make sure he didn’t have bad breath, grabbed his wallet, keys and phone and headed out to the impala. His video call with Jo had taken a lot longer than he had originally thought that it would, and even though he had time still, he was worried about being late. Arriving at the college and parking outside Sam’s dorm building, sitting in the car for a few minutes and breathing deeply to calm his racing nerves. When he checked his phone and saw he had about 5 minutes left he got out of the car and walked into the building. As he entered the building lobby he realized he didn’t know what room Castiel was in, and they hadn’t discussed a specific meeting point. He also didn’t have Castiel’s number to call him. Dean was about to freak out about this when he heard someone walking down the stairs and turned to see Castiel there. Dean’s breath caught in his throat, Castiel was wearing slacks just like Dean’s except in a navy blue paired with a light blue shirt.
“Hello Dean.” Castiel said, shifting nervously as Dean continued to stare at him.
“Hi Castiel.” Dean finally said when he managed to speak again.
“You can call me Cas instead of Castiel if you want.” Castiel said.
“I like Castiel, but Cas is certainly easier to say.” Dean said, smiling lightly.
Castiel smiled brightly. “It is much easier to say, I prefer it as well. Castiel is an easy name for people to make fun of.”
“I guess I can see that. Are you ready to go?” Dean asked, nodding his head towards the doors.
“Absolutely.”
They walked out to the car and Castiel looked impressed. “You a car person?” Dean asked hopefully.
“Not really, but I do know a sexy car when I see one.” Castiel winked and Dean was momentarily stunned. The trip to the restaurant was more comfortable than Dean had expected it to be, even though it was mostly in silence. It was a companionable silence. When they arrived at the restaurant Dean tentatively took Castiel’s hand as they walked from the car to inside, not sure if Castiel would welcome the contact or not, but Castiel simply slipped his fingers through Dean’s and squeezed slightly as though to reassure Dean that the contact was in fact welcome. As they sat down they started to talk about themselves, learning things about each other.
Castiel talked about his family, how he had two brothers, one was his twin and the other was older. His twin Gabriel was at the same college as Castiel, studying art, whereas his older brother Michael owns his own business, and Castiel himself was studying English literature with the hopes of working for a publisher after graduation, maybe even writing a book of his own. Even though he was close to his brothers, he was much closer to his cousin Anna. Dean talked about his family to, glossing over Sam as Castiel already knew him, talking about how his parents had passed away when he was in high school in a car accident, how he had then lived with his uncle Bobby, and Aunt Ellen who had gotten married when he was eight, and how Ellen’s Daughter and Bobby’s stepdaughter Jo was one of his favorite people in the world. He talked about how he had never gone to college after high school but had gotten a full-time job at his uncle’s garage where he had already been working part time since he was about 15. Castiel told Dean all about his job as a TA and his current classes, somehow finding a way to make it all sound more interesting to Dean, and Dean in turn described some of his daily life as a mechanic which Castiel seemed very interested in. They even discussed what to do after dinner and agreed on a movie to watch. By the time they had finished their dinner and paid the bill, something they fought over for about five minutes before Castiel gave in and allowed Dean to pay it on the promise that he would be the one to pay for the movie, they both appeared to be having a great time, no awkwardness present at all. Until they arrived at the movie theatre that is.
Dean kept to his word and let Castiel pay for the movie tickets and popcorn. As they were walking from the concession stand to the stairs up to where the theatres were there was a loud yell that caught their attention.
“Cassie!!!” Castiel didn’t even turn around at first, just groaned as though he was in pain and closed his eyes, until a second yell was made, then he turned around.
“Gabe. What are you doing here?” Castiel asked as a man run over and wrapped his arms around Castiel, Castiel reluctantly hugging back after a moment and a squeeze from the smaller man.
“I would have thought that was obvious considering we are in a movie theatre. I’m seeing a movie with some friends, what about you?” Gabriel asking, eyeing Dean suspiciously.
“I’m on a date Gabe.” Castiel said stiffly.
“Seriously!! Wow, little Cassie got himself a date. Nice work bro.” Gabriel said excitedly, punching his brother lightly on the arm.
“Little?? We are the same age Gabe.” Castiel protested.
“Actually, I’m a few minutes older.”
Castiel sighed and turned to Dean, who hadn’t made a sound through the entire interaction. “Dean this is my twin brother Gabriel, Gabe this is my date Dean.”
Gabriel held his hand out and Dean shook it politely. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. I gotta say, I can’t remember the last time I met someone my brother was interested in. Actually I’m pretty sure I never have.”
“Well not everyone is like you Gabriel.” Castiel said, shotting his brother a look that clearly told him to get lost.
“Alright, no need to get angry Cassie, I’ll leave you two alone. Have a nice night, ohh and Dean, don’t hurt my brother or you’ll have me to deal with.” Gabriel warned.
“Gabriel!!” Castiel hissed.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Dean responded, slightly scared at the look he was getting from Gabriel, even though the man was a lot smaller than him.
“Good. See you later Cas.” Gabriel said and ran back over to his friends.
Dean and Castiel turned to look at each other before continuing to walk to the theatre their movie was playing in. “I’m sorry about that.” Castiel finally spoke as they were taking their seats. “Gabe and Michael tend to be very protective of me. I know I’m only a few minutes younger than Gabe but for some reason they see me as the baby that needs protection more than Gabe even does.”
“That’s okay.” Dean said understanding completely. “I am the same way with Sam, I get where he is coming from.”
“It’s so embarrassing though, I was really hoping he wouldn’t run into him tonight.” Castiel said.
“You knew he would be here?” Dean asked curiously.
Castiel half nodded half shrugged. “I knew it was a possibility, he is here most Saturday nights with his friends, but the place is big enough I was sure we would be able to avoid him.”
Dean simply smiled at Castiel as a reply, hoping to make him feel a little better. At that moment the lights went down and the movie started to play. About half way through Dean decided to try his luck with the oldest move in the book, yawning and dropping his left arm around Castiel’s shoulders. Dean could make out a small smile appear on Castiel’s face at this, and about five minutes later he responded by placing his hand just above Dean’s knee.
Overall it was a good first date, and Dean was quietly confident that Castiel would want to go out again. Dean certainly wanted to see Castiel again. They held hands the entire drive back to the dorm building Castiel lived in, and Dean walked him all the way up to his room on the fifth floor. Castiel looked a little like he wanted to invite Dean inside, but Dean didn’t want to push it to far too fast, and the slight hesitation that Castiel had made Dean sure that he was also not sure about pushing things to fast. Instead Dean spoke.
“I had a great night tonight Cas.”
“So did I.” Castiel said smiling. “It was much better than I expected it to be.”
“You thought it wouldn’t go well?” Dean asked teasingly.
“Not exactly. I’m just so shy I figured it would be incredibly awkward and you would decide you never wanted to see me again.” Castiel explained.
“Well, I can assure you that I certainly want to see you again. That is of course if you do to.”
“I definitely do.” Castiel said, leaning in towards Dean slightly. Dean took the hint and leaned in himself until their lips pressed softly together. The kiss was chaste at first, deepening slightly when Castiel licked his way into Dean’s mouth a little bit. It was when Dean moaned lightly at the feeling that Castiel pulled back, smiling. “Are you free next week?”
“I’m free whenever you are.” Dean replied, slightly out of breath after their kiss.
“Well maybe you can text me and we can work something out.” Castiel suggested.
Dean was all for that, so he put his number into Castiel’s phone and called himself so he could save Castiel’s number as well. Castiel opened his door and took one step backwards into his room, before leaning forward again to place one quick kiss on Dean’s cheek.
“Goodnight Dean.”
“Night Cas.”
Dean left the building with what he was sure was the biggest smile he had ever known on his face. He was so glad that the night had been a success and he couldn't wait to see Castiel again. Meanwhile inside his dorm room, Castiel couldn’t wipe the smile off his face, and he was eternally grateful that his roommate wasn’t home yet otherwise he was sure he would be facing a thousand questions about his night.