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A series of footsteps outside grew steadily louder as Dean filled the Keurig with water and started the percolator. When the key scraped the lock, he pulled down a third mug from the cabinet. Sam trotted inside and came to a rest just inside the kitchen, running a hand through his hair and breathing heavily.
“Dude, don’t sweat all over the floor.”
Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed a water bottle from the fridge. “So that new gym finally opened.”
“The one around the corner? Awesome, I thought they’d never finish construction.”
“Yeah,” Sam panted, “I went ahead and signed Jess and I up. You should too, it’s way cheap.”
Dean shrugged. “I might. It’s definitely closer than Lifetime.” He slapped Sam’s hand away as it reached for the pile of bacon he’d been shoveling onto a tray. “Shower first, then maybe I’ll let you eat in my kitchen. You stink.”
Sam flicked Dean sharply on the ear and trudged toward the stairs, calling over his shoulder, “I’ll see if the grump is awake.”
A series of grumbles and muffled curses followed the sharp knock at Castiel’s bedroom door. Dean felt the familiar flutter in his stomach at the sound of his best friend’s voice. He smiled to himself and went back to piling food onto three plates. By the time Castiel wandered into the kitchen, rumpled and bleary-eyed, Dean was on Sam’s laptop, Googling the new gym.
Several long gulps of coffee later, Castiel squinted at Dean. “Didn’t Sam ban you from his laptop?”
“He’ll get over it. Apparently that gym on 5th opened, so I’m checking out membership prices. It’s fuckin’ expensive, though.”
“What’s fuckin’ expensive?” Sam stepped into the kitchen, still rubbing a towel over his head, and peered over Dean’s shoulder. “Didn’t I ban you from my laptop?”
Castiel stuffed a forkful of eggs into his mouth and explained, “That new gym is expensive apparently.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “Really? Jess and I signed up as a couple for like fifty bucks a month.”
Little drops of coffee landed on the keyboard when Dean tried to hold in his spit-take. “Dude, seriously? It says on their website that a single membership is seventy dollars a month!”
Glaring at Dean and wiping down the keyboard, Sam grumbled, “Well, sign up for a couple’s membership, then.”
“And just who would I do that with? I don’t have a Jess.”
With a tilt of his head, Castiel offered, "You could sign up with me. I'd prefer to go to a gym that's a bit closer to the house."
Dean stared at him for a moment, desperately hoping that Cas didn't notice the growing blush on his face, before shrugging a shoulder. "Yeah, why not? Saying I'm gay with my roommate probably isn't the worst thing I've done for money."
"Great, let me shower and we can go." Castiel stacked his dishes neatly in the dishwasher and stepped out of the kitchen.
Still munching on a banana, Sam smirked at Dean. "You two are adorable when you get all domestic."
"Shut up, bitch."
***
An hour later Dean parked the Impala below the Grand Opening sign at the gym. He glanced at Cas, who was already unbuckling his seatbelt, and opening his door, calm as ever. A deep breath and a brief struggle with the seatbelt later, he followed into step behind his friend.
Finding the office and beginning the signup process was simple. It was when Dean cleared his throat and explained that he and Cas would be signing up as a couple that the manager gave a small pause.
"You two are...a couple?"
"Yes," Dean stated emphatically, while Cas gave a firm nod.
Another pause.
"What, you want to see us make out or something?"
The manager paled. "Oh, no, of course not. I'd never ask—no, you're fine. Um. Here." He thrust the rest of the paperwork at them and sat back, shuffling through random papers on his desk. "Let me know if you have any other questions," he stammered earnestly.
Dean smirked to himself and signed his name at the dotted line.
***
When they finally got back into the Impala, Castiel let out a chuckle. "He was totally going to ask us to makeout."
"I know man, that was freakin' hilarious! You could see the moment he heard the word 'lawsuit' in his head."
"Yeah," Cas giggled, "It almost makes me feel bad for lying about it."
Dean shrugged. "Well if they didn't practically require a blood sacrifice to register alone, maybe they wouldn't be getting any fake couples. Let's go home, I'm starving."
"We had breakfast like an hour ago."
"...and?"
***
Fortunately, Dean and Cas shared similar work schedules, which usually led to them going to the gym around the same time. The first time they went, there were two treadmills left open on the far end, so they ended up jogging alongside each other for an hour. Dean noticed the gym manager walk by them a couple times, seemingly unable to stop staring. He and Cas exchanged a knowing glance and continued with their workouts.
The second time they went, Cas wanted to work on his bench press, so Dean offered to spot him. He didn't think about how it looked until the manager walked by again and nearly stumbled while openly staring at them. When he hurried off to the front desk and attempted to look busy, Dean felt his whole body flush when he looked down and saw the way Castiel's head was practically at Dean's crotch. It didn't help when Cas later offered to switch for him, and Dean couldn't get his palms to stop sweating, being that close to Castiel's lap.
By their third visit, when Dean and Cas had decided to do laps in the pool on what appeared to be the one day the manager felt like taking over lifeguard duty, Dean was a mess. He had trouble containing his stupid, giant crush on his best friend and roommate on a regular basis, let alone when they're being watched for signs of affection.
Cas swam up to Dean and gently nudged his arm. "Are you alright?" He asked, slightly out of breath. "You kinda zoned out on me, there."
"Yeah, fine," Dean reassured him, nodding jerkily.
Following Dean's gaze to the lifeguard stand, where the manager was perched, Castiel huffed, "Dude's creeping you out too, then? I feel like he's always watching us, hoping to catch us groping each other or something."
When Dean let out a small chuckle, Cas met his eyes and continued, "Maybe we should just kiss in front of him."
Dean spluttered for a second, unable to process the suggestion.
Castiel laughed at his reaction. "Come on, it'll be funny. Don't you want to see the look on his face?"
Searching for any sign on Castiel's face that this was some kind of prank, Dean nodded. "Uh, yeah. It would be funny."
"So let's do it."
"O...kay." Dean couldn't control his thudding heartbeat as Cas leaned in, the amusement in his face fading into something much more serious.
When Castiel's lips finally pressed against his own, Dean melted into them. At the small gesture, Cas became much more enthusiastic, opening his mouth against Dean's and pushing his tongue in. It was all Dean could do to remain standing in the water, grabbing onto Castiel's hair and lower back for support. Cas copied the motion, digging his fingers into Dean's scalp and skimming his hand over the waistband of his swim trunks.
Dean pulled back a little, taking a breath and glancing over Castiel's shoulder to find that the manager had suddenly become very interested in his phone.
"Come back here," Cas mumbled against his lips.
"The manager isn't looking," Dean whispered back, not at all sure why he was arguing with the idea of getting more of this.
"I don't fucking care. You kissed me back," Cas panted, "Don't stop now."
Dean grinned at Cas and then dove right back in, sucking on Castiel's bottom lip and wondering how far they could go before getting kicked out.