Chapter Text
Castiel Novak huffed into his frozen hands and quickened his pace. In the brief walk between his apartment and the small campus diner that was his destination it had begun to snow. It had already started to coat the sidewalk and he could feel the thick flakes collecting in his sable hair. As he hurried along he breathed into his bare hands, trying to increase the temperature on his exposed appendages. He just hoped he could make it into the warmth before his fingers caught frostbite. Who forgets gloves in Kansas in January? He thought angrily to himself.
Concerned more for his aching hands than attention to his surroundings, he did not see the boy kneeling next to the building until Castiel was tripping over the other man.
“Whoa!” the strange boy cried, quickly pulling his lit cigarette out of the way of the stumbling Castiel. He reached out his unoccupied hand in an attempt to steady Castiel, but it was to no avail and Castiel quickly found himself flat on the cold ground.
When Castiel looked up, all he saw were concerned green eyes staring down at him. “You okay?” they asked, and held a hand out to help him up. Blood rushed painfully to Castiel’s cold cheeks as he nodded but he held a hand out to accept the assistance up.
“Sorry,” Castiel said softly, before letting go of the other man’s gloved hand. “I didn’t see you there.”
“I noticed,” he said wryly, a slight smile upturning his lips. “I might be partially to blame for that. I was trying to escape the wind while supporting my habit.” He held up his cigarette in explanation. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?”
Castiel quickly realized alert green eyes were roaming his body, examining him. “Cold, but otherwise no worse for wear,” he said quickly, pulling his hand out of the other boys hand to brush the snow off of his backside. “Nothing some hot chocolate won’t fix. What about you?”
The boy smiled and Castiel couldn’t help thinking that he would like to see that smile more often. “Nah! I have had much worse.”
“Good,” Castiel said softly. They stared at each other for a moment, before finally Castiel cleared his throat and said reluctantly “I guess I should probably go,” gesturing towards the door of the diner. “I’m meeting someone and I’m pretty sure I’m already late.”
The other boy’s face changed. “Oh. Of course. Well it was nice meeting you.”
“You too.” Castiel was reluctant to leave but forced his legs to move away from the other boy, who went back to puffing on his temporarily forgotten cigarette. He looked back as he opened the door to find a pair of attentive eyes still trained on him. He gave the stranger a small wave as he walked through the doorway.
Castiel shivered as he entered the warmth of the diner, only then realizing exactly how cold he had become talking with the other boy. The diner he frequented so often was warm and homey, and always smelled of some delicious specialty. Today it smelled like the fresh sourdough bread that was apparently the bun for their burger of the day. Castiel shook off the snowflakes that had collected on his head and tried to find his lab partner among the crowds of patrons. He finally spotted him sitting in a small booth in the back corner. Benny had commandeered one of the tables, papers spread across every available surface. When Castiel hurried over and slid into the booth across from him, Benny looked up with an easy smile. “I thought you stood me up, brother,” his cajun accent low and easy.
“Sorry,” Castiel said. “I was… I was held up.” He started to pull his notes and books out of his bag to join Benny’s on the table. Castiel had been rather reluctant when he was forced to pair with Benny for this project - a desire to meet new people was a trait Castiel rarely possessed - but Benny had pleasantly surprised him. Despite his gruff exterior Castiel had quickly found Benny to be a hard worker who took their project very seriously. Castiel had thought on more than one occasion that he would be a bit disappointed when their project was over and he didn't have an excuse to hang out with the other man.
Once Castiel was settled Benny quickly began updating him on what he had worked on while waiting for Castiel to arrive. He was so wrapped up in their project that Castiel did not realize someone had walked up to their table until he heard Benny drawl, “Well, hello Dean.” Castiel looked up to find a steaming mug had suddenly appeared under his nose, being handed to him by the green-eyed boy from outside. Apparently this must be Dean, Castiel concluded. He cocked his head, analyzing the boy with the mischievous smirk who was standing before him. “What’s that for?” Castiel finally asked softly.
“It’s hot chocolate. It's for drinking,” the other boy said, his grin widening slightly.
Castiel couldn’t resist an eye roll. “I mean, why did you get it for me?”
Dean shrugged slightly. “Call it an apology for earlier.”
“I told you,” Castiel insisted. “No apology is required.”
“Either way, you said you wanted hot chocolate, and unless it is invisible I see you haven’t gotten one yet, so…” he trailed off with another small shrug and a gesture towards the drink in front of Castiel.
Castiel smiled. “Well, thank you. It wasn’t necessary but it is appreciated none-the-less.” He took a sip of his hot beverage, delighting in the pleasant warmth it spread through his system.
Benny, who had been watching this exchange with amusement, finally joined the conversation. “I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”
“I know everybody,” Dean said with a smile to the man across from Castiel.
“I thought that was only reserved for members of the opposite sex,” Benny retorted, grinning back at the other man.
“I make exceptions from time-to-time,” Dean countered, moving his easy smirk from being directed at Benny to Castiel.
Castiel couldn’t help returning the grin before stating “We weren’t actually introduced before. I’m Castiel.”
“Castiel.” He seemed like he was experimenting with how the name rolled off of his tongue. Then he raised an eyebrow. “That’s an unusual name.” He held out a hand and Castiel gladly accepted it to shake. “Well, Castiel. I’m Dean.” Castiel felt a little thrill where their fingers met and he wasn’t sure if he was pleased or upset when the handshake ended and the feeling went away.
“Dean’s my roommate,” Benny added.
“Luckiest thing that ever happened to him, getting stuck with me freshman year,” Dean teased, pushing at Benny until he moved enough so Dean could slip into the booth next to him.
“You two have been roommates since freshman year?” Castiel couldn’t help his surprise. Everyone he knew had hated the people that they had been forced to room with their first year.
“Yup!” Dean nodded. “What about you?”
“I despised my freshman roommate. My older brother also goes here and we have an apartment together. Not sure what I will do when he graduates but it’s not a bad arrangement for now.”
"Oh?" Dean said, raising his eyebrows slightly. "Are you guys from Kansas?”
“No,” Castiel said with a shake of his head. “But my family moved here shortly before I started school.” Castiel paused. “Despite the fact that my permanent address is now in Kansas, my knowledge of the state is limited almost exclusively to the KU campus.”
That answer clearly upset Dean. “We will need to remedy that,” he said in a voice that left little room to argue.
“Because this area is such a tourist destination?” Benny replied before Castiel could say anything.
“There are lots of things worth seeing!” Dean bit back defensively.
“Oh really?” Benny countered. “Name five things.”
As the three of them chatted, Castiel realized he couldn't remember the last time he had found it so easy and effortless to talk with someone else. Finally Benny gave Dean a shove towards the edge of the booth. “Okay, brother. You need to get your distracting ass out of here. We have a project to work on.”
“Sorry about that,” Castiel said to Benny once a grumbling Dean walked off.
“No worries. I know how he is.” Benny said amicably. “Although…” he continued as he started picking through the notes scattered around the table, “Dean is not normally a social person, at least not around people he doesn’t know. I’ve never seen him take to someone so quickly.”
Castiel wasn’t sure what to make of this information. “I’m flattered?” he hesitantly stated finally.
Benny nodded as if to say Castiel should be. “Dean is fiercely loyal to his friends. His friends are his family. To have him consider you a friend… that’s an honor.”
“What about his actual family?” Castiel couldn’t help asking.
“It is basically just Dean and his brother. But that’s his story to tell, I think.” Finding the papers he was looking for, Benny turned to Castiel, now in work mode. “Okay, for our project I was thinking…
Hours later Castiel trudged through his apartment door. He and Benny had stayed at the diner until it closed. He was exhausted but he felt like they had made some significant progress over their project. He wearily shouted a quick greeting to his brother, in case the other man was home. Gabriel kept odd hours and Castiel was never sure when he would be present.
“Greetings, baby brother,” Gabriel cheerfully replied, poking his head out from the kitchen. “What has kept you out so late tonight?”
“Benny and I were working on our project.” Castiel threw his keys on the table by the door and walked over to flop down on the couch. “We made some decent progress on it.”
“Aw! And here I thought you had met someone.” Gabriel teased. “It is okay to get a life.”
Castiel leaned back into the couch with a sigh. “As I've said before, I just don’t think that is a good idea, Gabe.”
Gabriel sat down next to him and put a hand on Castiel’s shoulder. “Dad and Michael don’t have to know anything about it, Cassie,” he said with an uncommon display of seriousness. “You deserve to be happy too. Even if those homophobic religious zealots don’t understand or approve.”
Castiel smiled weakly at his brother. “I’m afraid they will find out.”
“They won’t find out.” His brother was so adamant that Castiel desperately wanted to get swept up in his trust on the matter. His paranoia on the issue was too strong to allow that, however.
“But what if they do?" Castiel countered. "They will stop paying for my college. I'll be forced to move back home. College is the only way I can get away from them.” Castiel started to panic just thinking about the idea of having to live his whole life under the thumb of his father and eldest brother.
“Cassie… look at me!” Gabriel held his shoulders and looked him in the eye. “If that happens, we will find a way. Just remember you will always have me, little brother.”
“Thanks, Gabe.” Castiel gave his brother a weak smile and a hug, trying to take comfort in the one person who accepted him for who he was.
Castiel stood up, grabbing his backpack as he headed towards his bedroom but was stopped by his brother’s voice. “Cassie, just promise me something?”
“Anything," he insisted.
“Let me know when you are going to fill in Dad and Mike about your lifestyle choices? You know how much I love a good show!!”
Castiel grabbed a cushion off of the nearby armchair and tossed it at his brother. “You’re horrible,” Castiel said with a smile.
“It’s why you love me!” Gabriel sing-singed after him as Castiel headed into his bedroom.
Castiel grabbed his phone out of his bag before he wearily fell into his bed. As he glanced at the screen before plugging it into his charger he realized he had a text message from an unknown number.
Hey Cas! The text read. It’s Dean. Hope you don’t mind I got your # from Benny.
Cas? was Castiel’s initial reply to Dean, and then added a second message. I don’t mind.
Yeah. Cas. I thought you needed a nickname, came the reply. Then a moment later …plus I wasn’t sure how to spell your full name. ;-)
Castiel smiled in reply. It’s spelled Castiel, but Cas is fine. I like it.
Good :)
Castiel thought for a moment before deciding how to reply. Finally he typed It was fun hanging out with you today. You should join me and Benny again. He held his breath, waiting for a reply. He was rarely this forward, but he desperately hoped to see Dean again. He wouldn’t text me if I was never going to see him again, though, he thought. Would he?
Dean's quick reply made Castiel's stomach drop with disappointment. I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t think Benny would appreciate that. Benny thinks I’m a bit of a distraction.
You kind of are! Castiel couldn't help agreeing, despite how much that fact disheartened him. Before Castiel could respond, however, his phone was beeping with another message. Perhaps instead we could do something else? Maybe I could show you around. You can’t live here for years and not see any of the area.
Castiel couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face at Dean's text, however also couldn't help pointing out the obvious. A lack of transportation would be to blame for that.
I have a car, Dean responded. That text was quickly followed by a second one. You can meet Baby! Oh Cas! You’ll love her!!
Castiel could feel Dean's excitement through the phone and his stomach lurched. Did Dean have a girlfriend? Not that it was any of Castiel's business. He and Dean were friends. Nothing more. Are we even friends? We’ve known each other for six hours!
Okay, Castiel typed finally.
How about tomorrow? Do you have class?
Only one in the morning. I’m free after 11.
Great! We’ll meet at 11. I know a great place for lunch.
Cas agreed and threw his phone on the bed. Apparently he would be spending the afternoon with Dean and Dean’s girlfriend. What had he just gotten himself into?