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“Again, what did she ask you to do?” Castiel wondered, breaking a reindeer-shaped cookie in half.
“To get your number. She said you’re cute and that she wants to get to know you better,” Dean explained, taking a sip of the black coffee steaming from the plastic cup.
“Interesting. Why didn’t she talk to me in class? We have a few lectures together,” Cas said, taking a bite of the cookie, feeling like he wasn’t getting from Dean the whole truth.
Something just didn’t add up. Not one of Dean’s friends was shy, they were all either in cheerleader team or in football team, every one of them fit and confident. Why would Jo have a problem with asking him out?
“I honestly don’t know. She said you’re intimidating,” Dean let out, sounding like he believed her.
“Really? Jo’s the most popular girl on campus and I’m just some guy that’s friends with the best football player, it doesn’t make any sense,” Castiel insisted, making Dean blush at the compliment.
“Yeah. So, can I pass your number to her?” Dean asked, scratching the nape of his neck.
“How about me and her skip the awkward texting phase? Tell her to come here tomorrow afternoon and we’ll talk, though I don’t think this will work out,” Cas agreed, hoping that they wouldn’t click together and that he could just tell her there’s no sense in dating when there’s nothing going on between them.
As much as he liked all of Dean’s friends, he wasn’t particularly interested in anyone. He had a crush on Dean.
It was pathetic, really. They were chosen by an English Literature teacher in high school to do a project together and that’s how it all began. They kept hanging out, even way after the high school ended and they went college together. At some moment, though, Castiel realised that Dean wasn’t just a friend for him. He couldn’t tell when exactly it happened, but the feeling was there and no matter what he did or who he dated, it just didn’t go away.
“Awesome. I think she’ll go for it,” Dean admitted, snatching a cookie from Castiel’s plate, “Guess I’ll text you what time she can be here tomorrow. Okay?”
“Sure,” Castiel replied and got up from the chair, “I’m sorry, but I have to go, Dean. I need to finish putting together an assignment for Photography class. See you on campus,” He added, putting on his coat and tying a scarf around his neck, the beautiful blue matching his eyes.
“Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow, Cas,” he said as his friend turned around and got out of the coffee shop.
It turned out to be a difficult day for Cas.
He got a text from Dean around 7pm that Jo would like to meet him the next day around 5pm. He also added that she would be sitting at the table opposite to the door. From that moment, Castiel couldn’t help but wonder how to politely but confidently turn her down, without letting her know that he had a crush on Dean.
Not coming to the coffee shop at all would be rude and that wasn’t something he would do to someone. Texting Dean and telling him to call all of this off would be as bad.
Guess he had to be honest with her and make her promise that she wouldn’t tell Dean what he felt, because he didn’t think the feeling was mutual. It would only destroy their friendship and that was the only constant Castiel had in his life.
He couldn’t let that happen.
The whole next day was a nightmare. Cas kept thinking about meeting Jo later and that meant he couldn’t focus on anything, but running through all the possible scenarios.
He shouldn’t have agreed to meet her in the first place, but if he didn’t, Dean would ask him why he didn’t want to try dating. That would reveal his secret as well.
It seemed like there was no good way out of this.
Finally, Castiel’s last lecture ended and he had only a few minutes to get to the coffee shop he was supposed to meet with Jo at. As he was walking, the snow was falling from above, making him admire the view a bit more than usual. He had to admit he loved winter.
He was a dreamer. A romantic. A person that appreciated the beauty hidden everywhere in the world, even in the places where people didn’t suppose it would be.
And he managed to discover that part of Dean as well, even though nobody knew that it’s been there.
In no time, Castiel found himself in front of the coffee shop, his heart beating so fast he thought it would jump out of his chest. He took a deep breath and got inside, the smell of fresh-made coffee making him relax a little bit.
The place was full of people, but that wasn’t surprising, considering how popular it was among the students. What surprised Cas, however, was the person sitting where Jo was supposed to be sitting.
“Dean?” Castiel wondered as he walked to the table and sat in front of his friend who was blushing and avoiding Cas’ gaze.
“Yeah. I need to tell you something and this seemed like the perfect place and time,” Dean let out quickly, fiddling with the sleeves of the oversized sweater he was wearing.
“Of course. You know I’ll always listen to you,” Cas admitted, his mind desperately trying to come up with an explanation as to why his friend was there.
“I know, but this is something I’m not sure you’ll like. Hell, it might end our friendship, but I just can’t hide it anymore, I have to say it,” he responded, his fingers drumming rhythmically against the table.
“I’m confident that, no matter what it is, we’ll still be friends,” Castiel reassured him, making him smile nervously.
“We’ll see about that one, Cas. Now or never,” Dean took a deep breath, then continued, “I think I, well, I think you’ve become more than a friend to me and I hope I’m not just a friend to you, either.”
“Do you mean what I think you mean?” Castiel wondered, leaning a bit toward Dean, for the first time hoping that Dean might be actually feeling something for him.
But what if he wasn’t right?
“Dammit Cas, you’re not making it easy,” Dean chuckled then slowly put his hand on Castiel’s hand, entwining their fingers, “Is this okay?” He asked, nervousness clear in his voice.
Castiel’s response was to squeeze his friend’s hand with a smile. Then, Castiel closed the distance between the two of them, stopping mere inches from Dean’s face, his eyes on level with Dean’s mesmerizing emerald ones.
“Is this okay?” He wondered and Dean cut off anything he might’ve wanted to say after that, claiming his lips in a sweet and short kiss.
It was only a brief touch, but Castiel felt like he was floating. His heart wanted to sing to the heavens that Dean Winchester was feeling the same way as him.
They pulled away after a while, smiling widely at each other, their hands still connected.
“How long?” Dean asked, reaching for Cas’ other hand and entwining their fingers as well.
“Since we graduated high school,” Castiel responded, short of breath, suddenly realizing when exactly he thought about Dean as more than just his friend.
“Me too,” Dean admitted shyly, “I guess we’re not friends anymore, right?”
“Dean, we’ll always be friends. However, I think the term boyfriends suits us better now,” Castiel suggested and Dean nodded, suddenly at loss of words.
“Yeah. I agree,” he said after a short while, his gaze fixed on the person he wanted to be with since he remembered.
Guess that dreams do come true, after all.