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Dean was bored as hell. He’d been at home for three days straight and he was growing tired. His best friend Charlie had tried to talk him into going out but he wouldn’t do that. Not until he got his publisher’s call, anyways. It had been a week since he had sent Rupert the first draft and he had no answers yet. As a last measure he had decided to stay at home until he knew something about the book, just to be sure that he didn’t miss the call or something. Above it, he was nervous. For the first time in his writing career, he had the courage to have a gay character as principal character, and he wasn’t sure about how would everyone react. He guessed they didn’t like that content judging for the lack of feedback.
The only other time when he had felt so nervous had been when he had come out to his parents, and he definitely didn’t like the feeling.
He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the bell ring until the second time. Everyone close to Dean knew he wasn’t going to come out of the house. He had told everybody who would possibly stop by, so he wasn’t sure who was knocking.
“Maybe its Sam,” he mumbled. His brother had tried to convince him to go out since he had made the decision of staying home. Maybe he had grown tired of Dean saying no and he had plans of actually dragging him against his will. “He’s got classes, though,” he remembered. As much as Sam cared for Dean, he knew this wasn’t that urgent. It would another story if he had been home for over a week, if that ever happened, Sam would surely be standing in Dean’s doorstep.
He sighed and got up from the couch he had been sitting in for what felt like hours. His legs cracked as he walked towards the door, and once he opened he couldn’t held back a gasp.
Castiel, the next door neighbour was standing there with a small smile in his lips. You have to understand that Castiel is cute, and by cute, I mean cute. Since he had moved to this apartment, he had been dreaming of an opportunity to actually talk to this man, and seeing him in his doorstep made him think he was dreaming.
“Hey,” the man said. Man, his voice was so deep it could have dragged Dean to hell. He couldn’t help but bite his bottom lip while studying his neighbour’s face. Castiel had deep blue eyes that were brighter than the ocean, his lips where chapped and pink, and those two things made an explosive combination.
“Hello.” Dean’s own voice was deep, but he felt like a little kid. He felt even shy. Now, you have to understand that Dean hasn’t felt shy since third grade, not even when he told his parents he liked dick. But then, this man comes and it’s like he’s back to being conscious about everything. Hell, he didn’t shower that morning out of laziness and he was definitely regretting it. “What has brought you here?” he asks after clearing his throat.
Castiel’s cheeks started to redden and he looked at the floor for at least four seconds until he finally looked at Dean. “I’m Castiel Novak, I live next door.” He nodded. Of course, Dean had to be the creepy kind of neighbour who knew who this man was even if he had never talked to him.
“Dean Winchester,” he replied.
It couldn’t be this why Castiel had come to his house, he thought. Yeah, they had never been officially introduced, but the blue eyed man had been living in the building for at least five months now, and he had never even tried to reach Dean. So that left him wondering.
What he did definitely not expect was Castiel’s words after that. “I was wondering if you had eggs.”
And hell, it did throw Dean back. He frowned, “I’m sorry, what?”
The man’s cheeks had gone fully red now, and he looked away again. “I’m making pancakes, and I need eggs but I thought I had back home and I didn’t buy them, and it’s too late to go and buy some so I was wondering if maybe you could give me some.” After all the rambling, he looked at him again. Dean couldn’t stop the smile after seeing this cute guy rambling and making himself even cuter.
“Uhm, yeah, I think I have some. Do you need anything else? You know, the flour or the baking powder, the butter…?” he asked. He only realized what he had said when Castiel’s smile grew wider.
“You know how to cook them?” he asked, something similar to hope burning in his eyes.
“Uh-yeah.” He smiled, somewhat embarrassed.
Castiel didn’t think about it the same way Dean did because he let out a happy squeal, “please, please tell me how to make them. Like summarize it to me or something please. I have this horrible recipe I found online but I don’t quite get it. Who would have said it was so difficult?” He let out a laugh, and Dean didn’t tell him how it was actually an easy recipe and just laughed along.
“Obviously,” he said, again shyly. “The first thing you need to do is get a large bowl. It has to be big enough so everything fits in it. And you put there the flour, the baking powder, the salt and the sugar—”
“Wait salt,” Castiel interrupted with a whine. “It didn’t mention the salt in my recipe. I’ve got none!”
“I can give you some, don’t worry,” Dean smiled politely. And man, the smile Castiel gave him after that, it made him giddy. “So, in another bowl you have to mix one egg and a cup of milk. Once you’ve done that, you have mix it all.”
“Sounds easy now that someone speaks English instead of bakery slang.” Dean snorted at Castiel’s words and the older man smiled. “It is true, I didn’t get a single word of that damned thing.”
“Right,” Dean teased with a half-smile.
“So, what do you do next?”
“You just grab a pan, heat it up, put some butter on it and then you put the mix into the pan until the pancakes look cooked. That how I do it,” he explained with a small smile.
“How much time more or less?”
Dean frowned trying to think about it but then he just shrugged “I don’t really know, it depends I guess. Not more than ten minutes, though.”
Castiel fidgeted with the bottom of his shirt of a moment, looking at the floor before dragging his eyes to meet Dean’s. “Could you just like… help me?”
The man was extremely shy while asking this and it almost made Dean drop to his knees because the man was just too beautiful, too cute. Definitely, too hot.
He had promised himself that he wouldn’t be leaving the house, however, he had his very cute neighbour in front of him, trying to convince him to help him cook pancakes. That had been actually the plot of a porn video he had seen a long time ago, and remembering that fact made him even more flustered.
On one hand, he had to stay home to make sure he got that call, and he was desperate. However, he hadn’t had any news in a week and there was no guarantee he was going to receive that call today. Plus, he knew Rupert had his phone number, and if he did call and he wasn’t there to answer, he would call. And, last of it, he just had to go. It was Castiel who was at his doorstep, the man he had been daydreaming of since the moment he had moved. God, he’d be an idiot if he didn’t accept going to the man’s house. Even if that invitation wasn’t a date or anything, maybe Dean would be able to know more about his neighbour’s life, maybe even know if he was into guys.
“Uh-yeah, I can be there in ten minutes, I have to change.” He looked at his pyjama bottoms and his dirty shirt. And in that exact moment he realized how much of a slob he looked like.
“Great! Thank you so much, Dean,” Castiel exclaimed. And Dean knew he wouldn’t regret his decision just because he would see how wide and bright the man0s smile was, and he would have given anything to see it again.
They said goodbye and as soon as Castiel was in the way back to his house, Dean runned upstairs and took his phone to text Sammy.
Dean: Cute neighbour just came and asked me to summarize how to make pancakes. I’m going to his house to teach him.
Sam: Wait, are you actually going out of that cave you call your house?
Dean: Ha, ha. Yes, Sam I am.
Sam: Good luck, and don’t be too hard on the guy, some people aren’t cooking masters like you.
Dean: Whatever, Sammy.
He dropped the phone in his bed and run to the closet. “You better have some good closes in there, Winchester,” he mumbled to himself. He hadn’t done the laundry for at least three weeks, and the only jeans he had kept clean were his brother’s. He groaned. It was that or some baller shorts that would definitely make him seem like a slob. Of course, he chose Sam’s jeans and a green tee shirt he found at the back of his closet. The tee was way too old for him to remember when had he wore it the last time. He did notice, however, that it hugged his body and made him look good enough, so he smiled knowingly. Maybe, if Castiel was gay, or even bi, they could go on a date sometime, (a time when he had clean clothes) he’d have to find out.
When he was ready, he pocketed his phone and rolled up the bottom of the jeans. He got out of the house with a big smile and made his way to the house next door. When he rang the bell, he felt how a shiver went down his spine. It had been a long time since he had gone to an estranger’s house and he was quite nervous. It didn’t make it better that this stranger was hot, cute and basically Dean’s platonic crush.
“Hey, Dean, come on in,” Castiel said as soon as he opened the door.
He had been all smile-y since Dean had told him he knew how to cook pancakes and it made the man curious. What could be so important? Maybe he was practicing for his partner. Man, Dean really hoped it wasn’t that.
Castiel guided him to his kitchen, even if he already knew where it was since their houses had identical distribution. “So, you are the chef, where do we start?”
Dean laughed as Castiel handed him a large bowl. He couldn’t help the sweet smile when he saw the man struggling to get all the ingredients from the cabinets and decided to help him.
“Thank you so much for this, Dean,” he said shyly as he shot him a small smile.
Dean wondered how a man could be so pretty and not stop the world with just one cute smiles he seemed to always be showing off. “It’s alright, really,” he answered. If it had been any other person, Dean would have probably sent them to hell at the moment they had suggested he left the house. But he didn’t think he would be able to do that to Castiel, not considering he had a little crush on the man. “So, why are you making them?” he asked.
Please no girlfriend or boyfriend, please no girlfriend or boyfriend, please no girlfriend or boyfriend, Dean chanted in his head.
The man seemed to hesitate before he cleared his throat and managed to whisper “I’m having dinner with my brothers and I wanted to come out.”
This made Dean frown, confuse. “With pancakes?”
“I’m pansexual, and I guessed this could be a fun way of doing it. I know they will support me. I have already lost every contact with those who can’t understand my life choices.” There was a fierce tone in his voice that made Dean shiver in the good way. For a moment, Dean thought Castiel was giving him an ultimatum, but it was funny since he himself was gay.
He smiled and nodded. “It’s a good way to come out, I guess. I did when I was seventeen and when my father almost beat me up to death I went to live with my uncle,” he explained, shrugging. It had been a lot of years ago and he was already over it, almost. “You’re lucky to have someone who supports you.”
He looked at the blue eyed man and saw that much sympathy in his face that it almost knocked him. He didn’t like when other people had sympathy for him, but he didn’t tell Castiel, because for some reason, it didn’t feel half bad when it came from him.
“That’s horrible, Dean” the man whispered. “My father wouldn’t have taken it good either. Look, he’s really religious and he’s the kind of man who sticks in the past. When I discovered I didn’t really like just girls, my hatred for him grew that much that I snapped at him and left. I don’t doubt he would have me disowned as soon as he found out.”
He felt bad for the man, but tried not to show it, just because he guessed Castiel wouldn’t like sympathy more than him. He handed the man a bown with milk and an egg “mix this up while I work on this other thing.” He pointed to his own bowl that had flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in it. It kind of looked like sand, and when Castiel pointed it out, Dean couldn’t held a chuckle.
When it was time to mix it all up, he grabbed Castiel’s bowl and poured the content on his own bowl. “Mix this up.”
“My arm hurts already” the man pouted, and Dean almost groaned at how cute Castiel looked with those pretty pink lips all scrunched up.
“Your coming out, your pancakes,” he said with a grin, raising his arms.
“Ugh, okay.” They stayed in silence for a moment before Castiel added, “I think I will remember the recipe just because I’m suffering with it.”
Dean laughed and grabbed his phone while the other man mixed the ingredients. He was eager to text Sam and tell him how pretty his neighbour was, but he was still at Castiel’s house, so he just summed it up in a text.
Dean: Update, cute neighbour now knows how to make pancakes.
“Is this alright?” Castiel asked showing the smooth batter the mix had turned into. Dean nodded, pocketing his phone. “What now, chef Winchester?”
“Do you have a pan?” he asked.
“Am I not enough for you?” Castiel asked jokingly. Dean could see how proud the man was with his pun, and he had to shut himself up before stating that he was way more than enough. Instead, he just rolled his eyes with a playful smile. “Okay, okay. They’re in that cabinet.”
Dean grabbed a medium sized one and put it in the stove. He pointed to the butter Castiel had taken out of the fridge and showed Castiel how to do it. The first pancake was his, and it looked so good his mouth started watering. It was a shame he wouldn’t be able to taste them. “Come on, try it.”
He saw Castiel pouring a small quantity of batter into the pan. The man seemed even more proud of himself than he had been after his pun. That was until he accidentally touched a hot part of the pan and hissed in pain.
“Cas!” Dean yelped, fast going to the man.
“Oh, shit” Cas whined, clutching his burned hand in the other. “How the hell did I manage to fucking touch the fucking pan? God, it hurts.”
Dean grabbed the man’s hands and made him look at him in the eyes. “It’s okay Cas, I’ve burned my hand hundreds of times, it’ll go away in a few hours. You won’t even remember it happened tomorrow, okay?” The man nodded. Without even thinking about it, Dean blew into his wound. He had done that a hundred of times, for himself and for Sammy too, and it was almost a reflex, but when he saw how hard the other man was blushing, he stopped and took a step away. He didn’t even know if he had gotten too near him and he didn’t want him to be uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, again shyly.
“It’s okay. Uh-thank you, Dean.” Castiel smiled softly at him and it sent butterflies all over his body. Hell, he could even feel them in his fingers, just below the skin.
They stayed in silence for a couple of minutes until the blue eyed man spoke again. “You called me Cas,” he noted.
Dean blushed even harder than before. He had been so worried about Castiel’s well-being that he hadn’t realized. “I-I’m sorry.” He was such an awkward boy when he was embarrassed.
“No, it’s okay, believe me. It was… uh-nice, to have someone calling me that,” Castiel blushed, “my brothers usually call me Cassie, and I hate it so much. After all these years I don’t fight it anymore but I don’t let anyone else call me that.”
“It’s cute,” Dean said, his smile growing wider. “I do that to my brother too. His name is Sam but I always call him Sammy, since the day he was born. A friend of mine called him that once and he almost punched the guy. It wouldn’t have been a waste because he was an asshole but yeah.”
Cas laughed at that. “You’re nice,” be blurted out before his eyes went wide and he slapped a hand in his mouth. Dean blushed again and Castiel groaned. “Why am I so weird?” His voice came out muffled because of his hand.
“It’s okay, I think you’re nice too,” Dean admitted, looking away.
They stayed in silence again, but it was just a couple of seconds before Cas, again, broke it off. “Would I be lying to myself if I thought I’d have a chance with you?”
That left Dean with his mouth wide open. He composed fast and then smiled shyly. “Not at all.”
Cas smiled brightly again and Dean looked at his bright blue eyes. He’d be damned if they weren’t the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen. “How about you give me your number and we can go out sometime?”
Dean nodded eagerly and gave his digits to the man. God, he didn’t even care he looked desperate, Castiel was just so handsome and so nice and so easy to talk to…
“I should head back home now,” he said quietly.
“Okay, thank you for your help, Dean,” the other man answered just as quietly as he had.
“Maybe you can text me later and tell me how it goes with your brothers?” He was hopeful Castiel wanted something with him. And that something to be more than just a fling, he had had more than enough of those.
“Absolutely.”
He walked Dean to the door and they said goodbye with a short, awkward hug before Dean went home. He was grateful he had gone to his neighbour’s house instead of staying home.
He checked his phone and saw Sam had texted him.
Sam: Does cute neighbour now know anything else???????????
Dean smirked.
Dean: My number.