Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dean grit his teeth as he pushed back his plushy, warm comforter from his body and shimmied out of bed just to fall back into his sheets with a defeated grunt a moment later.

It was too fucking early.

Too early to get up, too early to get dressed, and certainly too early to go anywhere away from his comfy bed and socialize. But here Dean was trying to find any ounce of energy to go to one of Sam’s stupid artsy protests about saving bees or something equally as weird. Sure Dean was proud of the fact that Sam cared about all that saving-the-planet stuff, but not at six o’clock in the morning, and he didn’t understand why he had to go and help with… whatever it was that Sam detailed the day before. Dean was somewhat sure his job was to set up booths for people with honey and information about bees but he wasn’t really listening to his little brother because The Walking Dead was on, and that needed a helluva lot more attention than his sibling did.

In reality Dean was going to help set up a fair about the benefits that bees have on the environment and people’s lives, so his job was to help build booths for the vendors and anything else that Sam needed since he was the student coordinator. The fair was something that Sam and fellow students were doing for a school project at Sam’s college to earn extra credit, and since Sam was a major nerd he had volunteered quickly to be the lead on the project.

Fifteen minutes later and Dean was still curled up on his bed debating whether it was worth it to even go when his phone rang on his bedside table with Sam’s name glowing on the screen. Dean huffed out another tired grunt and reached over to pull it down near his ear and swipe at the screen.

“Mhm?” He mumbled into the phone, eyes still closed and body contorted into a weirdly comfortable position across his bed.

“Dean? What the hell? I told you to be here at six and its half-past!” Sam’s irritated voice had no problem waking Dean up. He squinted in the dim light of his room and ran a hand
through his ruffled bed-head.

“Relax, Samantha. I’m on my way” Dean lied as he tried to appease his little brother on the other line. He pushed himself off the bed and shuffled over to the kitchen’s clock to see if Sam was telling the truth about the time.

He was.

“I ask one thing of you and you can’t even help with this” Sam said incredulously. Dean could practically hear the head shake he was giving.

“Come on, Sammy, when have I ever let you down?” Dean quickly reached his bathroom to splash water onto his face and brush his teeth while setting his phone to speaker.

“Uh, let’s see” Sam said a little too eagerly over the phone. “Prom when I needed a ride and you said you would drive but hooked up with Cassy instead. When I moved out and needed help but you decided that my hot neighbor needed more attention than I did. When I had-“

“OKAY okay, I get the point.” Dean interrupted after giving his teeth a quick brush. “Look I can’t get anywhere with you hounding me so get off the line and go paper machete some bees or whatever it is you’re doing.”

“Is it too late to ask for a new brother?” Sam questioned dryly.

“Yes, goodbye Samantha” Dean said before hanging up and grabbing the nearest clean shirt and jeans in his mess of clothes on his bedroom floor. He ends up wearing an old AC/DC shirt with a pair of dark wash jeans. It’s a little colder than he thought it would be outside but it was too late to go back in to grab a coat. The fall months had proven to be colder than anyone expected to be in Kansas that year, and many blamed the cold-front from the north that was pushing its way into the Midwest. Almost like a premonition, the weather seemed to reflect Dean’s moods recently, both were cold and dreary in the past few months.

Since Dean’s breakup with Lisa in August, he had to deal with his whole world changing into a place without his long-time girlfriend. Most days were just Dean, the Hallmark channel, and take-out keeping each other company. It was a bad breakup in general, but the hardest part was when Lisa said it was because he wasn’t committed enough, she wanted somebody for the future not the present and she could tell he wasn’t really happy. All Dean could do was laugh at that. Which made things worse and Lisa angrier during the final fight. He knew he was happy, because if he wasn’t happy he wouldn’t have been with her for more than three years. He was a great boyfriend, he had thought while trying to figure out why Lisa would dump a catch like him, sure he had trouble remembering anniversaries and birthdays but who didn’t?

Sam was good at playing the dutiful younger brother and bringing Dean junk food and watching old 80’s films with him, but also trying to get Dean out again and seeing something other than the tv screen. Dean knew that this event for bees was one of Sam’s ways to push him out of his apartment. And to Dean’s irritation, it was working.

Dean slid into his 67’ Impala and drove the fifteen minutes to the Sam’s campus, where he easily found a parking space (because nobody in their right minds were at school that early) and walked a short distance to a large picnic area that was bordered sparsely by tall oak trees. It was a beautiful spot, Dean thought, and perfect for any event that needed room but also some scenery and fresh air. It was in front of one of the school’s old brick buildings, and looked like a ready-made post card for the school where students could play Frisbee or read. At that hour though the clearing was mostly deserted except for a few people scattered over the lawn setting up banners, which Dean couldn’t believe there were people who actually woke up before him.

Finally he caught the tall lanky shape of his brother by a booth talking to his girlfriend. She was carrying a box and rolling her eyes at Sam, looking as if she was debating whether or not to throw the box in his face. Dean walked over and slapped his brother on the back roughly.

“See? I told you I’d get here!” Dean exclaimed with a large grin while Sam jumped forward from the hit. “Hey Jess” Dean smiled over at the woman holding the box who responded the same.

“Hi, Dean! You’re just in time to help me put these together” Jess motioned at the box in her arms and gave Dean one of her ‘Sam is irritating the hell out of me’ looks.

“Yeah make yourself useful and help Jess out, then you can grab a hammer and put together some booths.” Sam looked stressed but the crisp air made his cheeks flush so brightly that Dean couldn’t help but think back to when Sam was a kid and asking for another caramel apple at the hay maze, red-cheeked and hyper.

Dean reached up and ruffled his hair, “Relax, Sam. You look like Martha Stewart just died and left you as the next greatest event planner.”

“First of all: How do you even know who Martha Stewart is? Secondly: This event starts in two hours and we don’t even have booths up yet so telling me to relax is the last thing that’s going to help, Dean.” Sam says with stress edging every word.

Dean can tell Sam’s about to say something else but is relieved when somebody catches his brother’s attention behind them and Sam yells at them for putting up a banner backwards.

Dean looks over at Jess, “so when are you going to slip him a Xanax?”

“With the way things are going, very soon.” She chuckles. Jess walks over to the shade of one of the oak trees and sets down the box of pamphlets. On closer inspection Dean can see that the box is actually filled with sheets of paper that he suspects need folding into hundreds of pamphlets.

“Whoa” Dean says, realizing that they have just two hours to fold hundreds of papers.

Jess nods understandingly, staring down at the box. “Yeah, apparently when someone ordered these they didn’t understand that we had to do the folding. But it’s okay because we have plenty of help.” She looks around at the clearing and the few people who were rushing back and forth doing whatever Sam was yelling at them to do. “In fact” She murmured, “I see the perfect person to help us out.” She smiled and ran across to a man not far off in a light blue sweater.

Dean looked back down at the box and glared at it. So this was the thing that was going to waste away his Saturday morning? Sure he didn’t have anything else planned, but there was supposed to be a marathon of Columbo at one o’clock that he was looking forward to with his frozen pizza. So what if his only company was his tv for the past few months? Bobby let him have plenty of time off from the garage for the soul reason that he knew Dean would be having a hard time, and Dean accepted the position of depressed slug heartily. He longed for his couch and pajamas as the crisp autumn wind hit his bare arms and made him shiver. For what felt like the hundredth time that day he cursed his little brother’s damn academic integrity.

“Dean, this is Castiel Novak!” Jess called as she walked up with the man in the blue sweater. “He’s pretty awesome at origami so he’ll be great at this.” She explained while Castiel held out his hand and smiled politely at Dean.

“Hello, Dean.” Castiel said with a gruff voice that seemed misplaced with his bright blue eyes and pink flushed lips. The man had a light dusting of scruff that Dean thought made him look like an artsy-type. Probably a writer Dean assumed as he shook Castiel’s surprisingly soft hand. “Sam has talked a lot about you.” Castiel added.

Dean huffed a laugh. “All good things I hope.”

“Mostly” Castiel answered wryly.

Dean laughed, “maybe that’s a good thing, don’t wanna seem like too much of a saint.” As Dean was talking he was trying to remember where he had seen this guy before because now his face seemed overwhelmingly familiar and it was annoying the hell out of Dean not being able to place him.

Jess laughed a little too hard at that. “Don’t worry Dean no one in their right mind would mistake you for a saint!” She patted his arm reassuringly and bent down to work on the pamphlets.

“My father always used to say that a life well lived will never leave you pure” Castiel said, kneeling down by Jess at the box and peering into it. “I tend to agree.” He looked back up at Dean, not quite smiling but Dean noticed the small crinkles around his eyes that threatened a smile.

The look was somewhat unnerving and Dean couldn’t understand why. It wasn’t weird or anything, it just made Dean nervous and unsettled. Dean felt like he had to reply but couldn’t think of anything to say. Thankfully Jess slapped Castiel’s arm before the pause got too long.

“I’m going to tell Anna on you” She chuckled, pulling out a large stack of paper and placing it on a blanket that was under the box to soak up the morning dew.

“Yes, I’m sure my sister would love to reprimand me for anything she can get her hands on” Castiel said, grabbing a similar bundle of paper and shifting to sit cross-legged by the box. “Do you want a stack Dean?” He asked, looking up at Dean again.

Dean was staring at Cas still trying to figure out where he had seen him before when he was broken out of his thoughts. “Oh, uh, yeah sure.” He sat on the other side of the box and grabbed a stack that Castiel handed him, watching the two people across from him fold their papers first to figure out how to do it.

They sit there in silence for a few minutes while they fold before Jess asked Castiel about his creative writing project that he was working on.

So he was a writer.

Dean chuckled to himself, pleased that he got it right. Or at least he thought it was to himself but apparently he was louder than his mind assumed he was. The conversation stopped abruptly and Dean looked up to see Castiel watching him, his head quirked to the side and a bemused look on his face.

“Is that funny Dean?”

Dean’s eyes widened and his mind scrambled to find a good excuse without telling the truth and sounding like a total dick to someone he just met. “No! I just.. uh- I thought it was-“

“Does creative writing amuse you?” Castiel asked, his tone completely serious but his face fell back into the look Dean noticed before. Eyes crinkled and sparkling with a hidden smile.

It annoyed Dean and he didn’t know why. “No, I just knew you were a writer that’s all.” Dean added a little too quickly with an edge to his words. He didn’t care now if he offended this guy.

Castiel let his smile go into a broad grin, “and how is that?”

“You look like one.” Dean said, motioning to Castiel’s body as if it was compelling evidence.

“Oh?” Castiel quirked a brow and looked down at himself. “Maybe I should give more effort into concealing my identity, since it’s so obvious.”

Just then Sam yelled across the clearing to Jess. Dean couldn’t tell what he was saying, he thought it was something about blowing up balloons, but he was too irritated to care. Dean didn’t wake up at the butt-crack of dawn just to miss breakfast and have to sit here with this pretentious asshole. Sam has never talked about this Castiel guy before so for all Dean knew he could be a creep who was… well, creepy.

Jess got up with a quick goodbye and ran across to comfort her boyfriend.

It was just the two of them now, folding papers in a silence that was bristling with Dean’s irritation and Castiel’s amusement.

“And your hands are too soft.” Dean added petulantly, as if it was a jab that would offend Castiel.

Instead Castiel just nodded solemnly. “Yes, I know. I’ve had many people say my hands are much too soft to be a writer’s hands.”

“No! I mean you have to be a writer because your hands are too soft to be doing anything else!” Dean didn’t know if Castiel was being annoying on purpose or by accident any more, maybe it was just his nature. “Look, just forget it” Dean huffed out. “It’s too early in the morning for this” he mumbled as he grabbed another sheet and folded it angrily.

“You’re folding those wrong” Castiel said, looking down at the stack of poorly folded pamphlets beside Dean. He pushed the box between them forward so that he could sit directly in front of the angry man-child. “Can I show you?” he asked Dean.

Dean was glaring openly at him now, choosing to give up on cordiality because he was too fucking tired anyway. He dropped the paper he was currently attempting to fold and nodded curtly.

Castiel grabbed another sheet and laid it between where they were both sitting. His fingers were strong and nimble as he slowly demonstrated the way to a perfectly folded pamphlet. Dean ground his teeth as he watched Castiel’s fingers dance nimbly over the edges of the paper.

“Does that help?” Castiel asked sincerely.

“Yeah.” Dean grabbed another sheet and did what Castiel showed him, but had trouble folding the edges. He cursed under his breath in frustration and wadded the paper up in his hands, throwing it away as far as a wadded paper would fly (which was about two feet).

“Dean” Castiel watched him closely which made Dean wish he could be the piece of paper at that moment. “It’s not that hard, just go slower.”

Dean responded with an annoyed huff of breath. He felt too close to this guy, like physically too close and he had to get away or get Castiel so offended he would walk off and leave him alone.

Castiel sighs and runs a hand through his wind-ruffled hair. “Have I offended you somehow, Dean?”

“No… I- I don’t think so.” Dean stares at the ground like a child and plucks at a few blades of grass.

Castiel chuckles, “well, if you figure it out let me know and I’ll apologize if I did” he smiles.

“That right there! That stupid smirk like you’re always laughing at me or something!” Dean exclaims, knitting his brows in an angry glare and pointing at Castiel’s mouth like it was a sentient thing.

Castiel opens his mouth as if to say something but closes it a second later, then opens it again rethinking whatever it was that stopped him. “Cas” he says softly.

Dean is so confused at this point that his mouth literally drops open, “what?”

“My friends call me Cas, I couldn’t remember if that was said or not when we were introduced…” For the first time since Dean met him, Castiel looked uncomfortable and started fidgeting with a half folded pamphlet.

“Oh,” Dean doesn’t know if it’s because of how early it is or if Cas is just weird but he can’t figure out this guy out. Dean’s usually the best at getting to know people quickly and figuring out what makes them tick. That’s how he got so good at one-night-stands before Lisa came along. Girl’s loved it when he actually took an interest in what they did for a living or what their hobbies were, after that it seemed almost too easy.

“Maybe I should go help Sam with something else…” Castiel said awkwardly as he shifted his weight to get up.

“You sure?” Dean said. He was starting to feel sorry for this guy, maybe he was being a little rude because of how badly his day started. “I mean, we’ve only made about fifteen pamphlets and I’m not exactly an origami master here.” Dean looked down at his humble pile of folded papers and felt guilty for not working harder at what Sam needed him to do. Instead he was fixated on this guy that he just met and seemed to have something against him.

Maybe he felt intimidated by him. Castiel was incredibly attractive, the kind of attractive that was both hot and endearing at the same time. His features were hard not to look at, Dean thought. His eyes were captivatingly blue with slivers of storm grey that somewhat tamed the wild cobalt that leapt from his iris. Dean also conceded that his lips were the most beautiful ones he’d ever seen, almost inhumanly soft looking and pink. The scruff that lined his angular jaw mirrored his hair which looked like he had just rolled out of bed after having the world’s most amazing sex..

Castiel smiled and nodded, obviously relieved that Dean wasn’t angry. He grabbed another stack of papers and put the pile between where the two men were sitting. He didn’t move back away from Dean and was sitting about two feet away from him, and Dean could see in detail how Castiel’s cheekbones angled his face perfectly.

Dean resolved that he would try to be nicer, at least for today and for the sake of Sammy. He knew if he did a crap job with the pamphlets and was rude to one of Sam’s friends he would never hear the end of it.

“So Cas, how’d you meet the pain in my ass that I call my little brother?”

Castiel chuckled and Dean watched as his chest rose and fell under his too-large sweater. “We had a creative writing class together. I was already in the program and Sam had just decided to get a writing minor, so I helped him develop his sense of writing and he helped me with math homework.”

“Not into the sciences huh?”

“I’m afraid all of my energy has and will always flow more into the arts.” Castiel grabbed a finished pamphlet from Dean and examined it. “You’re getting better.” He smiled and placed it onto the finished pile.

“Always have been a quick learner” Dean chirped, taking another lingering look at Cas’ lips as the other man reached to get a new piece of paper. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Are we even close to being finished?” Dean asked, he looked into the box and groaned when he saw how many papers were left.

“I think Sam will have to be happy for fifty pamphlets instead of one hundred. The Bee Fair is going to start in an hour and we haven’t even set up all the booths or put on our shirts.” Castiel answered.

“The ‘Bee Fair’??” Dean stopped folding just for emphases. “That sounds like the name of a senior citizen band” He laughed. Castiel pursed his lips and squinted his eyes into an expression that Dean couldn’t mistake to be anything but annoyance.

“Bees are an incredibly important addition to our eco-system, Dean. Their gradual disappearance from our planet is no laughing matter.” Cas said as seriously as if he was preaching to a group of sinners on a Sunday morning.

“Yeah sure, but why that name- Waaait a minute, what do you mean shirts?”

Castiel broke into a small smile. “The Bee Fair shirts that Sam had printed especially for the workers and helpers! We’re supposed to put them on before people arrive so that they know who we are in the crowd.”

Dean chuckled humorlessly as he said “I’m not putting on anything that even remotely rhymes with ‘bee shirt’, buddy.”

“Then you’ll just have to face the terror of your brother after he finds you with no bee shirt on” Castiel shrugged and started counting the finished pamphlets to see how far they’ve come.

Dean sighed and looked over at his little brother across the clearing. He looked like he had a severe case of Napoléon complex but with about three feet more to his height. Jess kept by him and occasionally stroked his arm as if to calm him down.

Dean smiled at the memory of when they first met and Sam’s excitement at introducing Dean to her. His first thought of her was that she looked like their mother a little: long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a smile that could melt glaciers. She was good for Sam, mostly because she kept him down to earth and not too much into his studies that he forgot how to have fun. Dean remembered Jess introduced Lisa to him trying to get him to settle down. It worked for a few years until Lisa decided that Dean wasn’t good enough, he thought bitterly.

“Dean?” Cas’ voice interrupted Dean’s thoughts and his worried look told Dean that he showed more anger than he thought he was. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, sorry. Just thinking through some stuff.” Dean pointed to the pamphlets, “how we doin’ with those?”

“We have forty-nine. I thought the honor of folding the last one should be yours.”

“Just can’t get enough of my folding prowess can ya?” Dean joked, taking the last piece of paper and folding it expertly into a perfect pamphlet.

Castiel chuckled. “I can see the fame is getting to you, don’t forget where you learned your powers from.”

Dean was about to retort when Sam called to them both from across the clearing.

“Looks like the Queen Bee needs our help.” Dean griped as he and Cas got up from the cool ground and wiped blades of grass and dirt from his clothes.

Cas smiled at Dean’s awful pun, and Dean couldn’t help but smile back. It was starting to get like a trained response now; whenever Cas would smile Dean had to respond the same way. He didn’t know why, but it felt uncommonly natural to smile at Castiel. The only excuse Dean could give to himself was that they met somewhere before, maybe for a brief second, but long enough for Castiel’s face to be etched in his mind. The reason why he kept staring at Castiel’s face was because he was trying to place him in his memories, trying to understand why he felt so comfortable and so awkward around him at the same time, and why Dean was feeling all of this in the hour since meeting him. It was turning out to be a very weird morning.

The two men walked over with the bundle of finished pamphlets to show Sam who started to complain. Dean explained that people only take pamphlets to be polite and they wouldn’t need a hundred of them anyway while Castiel nodded in support. Sam eventually let them place the folded papers on the information booth and told them to put their shirts on because people would probably be coming early and it was already forty minutes until the Bee Fair officially opened. Dean rolled his eyes as Castiel showed him where the box of shirts were. They walked toward the end of the clearing and behind one of the booths were various boxes and trash could be hidden from the view of the guests.

“Oh hell no I am not putting one of these things on” Dean exclaimed emphatically while holding up a black and bright yellow striped shirt with ‘I’M HERE TO BEE HELPFUL’ written in bold letters on the back.

“Come now, Dean. It’s not that bad. You won’t be the only one wearing them.”Castiel pulled one out that was his size. “Here, I’ll put mine on first and show you that it won’t kill you to put it on.”

The shirts were long sleeved and seemed heavy enough so that the workers wouldn’t freeze to death while helping around the fair. Dean was secretly thankful because he was only wearing his light t-shirt and was getting colder by the minute, but Cas was still wearing his bulky sweater and had to change from that into the lighter shirt. Castiel reached around himself and pulled off his sweater with some difficulty since it was so heavy.

Ever since Dean was in middle school he had been enrolled in sports because that’s what his father said a boy should do. He would always work hard to be the best player on the football field because that’s what made John proud. As his high school career came up though, Dean’s efforts in sports started to change and his locker room experiences morphed into something that scared even him. It started with a few glances at boys that would come in and change, then a few longer glances that would catch muscles pulling taught and sweat-damp backs. He kept those feelings secret from everyone.

Everyone except Sammy of course who found his secret stash of gay porn under his mattress one afternoon during Dean’s senior year. Dean confided in him and Sam promised to never tell their father, and to this day Dean was still deeply hidden in the closet.
Dean had hidden his sexuality well, and while playing sports didn’t let anyone know about it. He had been in locker rooms and played rough house with his friends constantly and didn’t bat an eye at a half-naked man, but at that moment he forgot all of those times and watching Cas take off his shirt was like the first time seeing dick-on-dick action late at night in his room.

Cas was sculpted like an athlete and Dean watched entranced as Cas’ biceps and forearms flexed while he folded his sweater and grabbed the bee shirt. Seeing more of his body, Dean realized how tanned Castiel was. He looked like he ran in the sun every morning and then Dean had the image of Cas in running shorts in his mind and felt his dick get very interested in that image.

“Dean?” Castiel quirked an eyebrow. He stopped while putting his shirt on and just stood there with his arms half-way through the bee shirt half naked and looking drop-dead gorgeous.

“Yeah?” Dean’s voice surprised him when it came out hoarse and he realized his throat was desert dry.

“Is something wrong? You look like you’re going to be sick.”

All Dean could think about was why the world hated him so much that it allowed Cas to stand there half-naked and watching him while he tried to think up an answer. At one moment he felt about a thousand emotions that pummeled him like a tsunami. He was surprised, irritated, embarrassed and aroused at the same time.

“Umm, yeah I’m fine…” He croaked out, looking everywhere but the golden planes of Castiel’s chest and torso. “You gotta be cold though.”

Castiel shook his head willfully, “I actually like the cold. I suspect it’s because I was born in Alaska and absorbed some of the native heartiness.” He finally pulls the yellow and black shirt over his head and glides it on while Dean takes a secretive glance at the protruding lines of Cas’ hipbones.

“Alaska? Your parent’s move around a lot?”

“You could say that. My father and mother were both in the military and my siblings and I travelled to various bases when the occasion arose.”Castiel pulled out a shirt the same size as the one he just put on and handed it to Dean.

Dean smirked when he looked at the size, “You got a large in that box instead Cas?”

“Yes,” Castiel was holding back a laugh at Dean’s over-confidence. “But I think the medium will do just fine” he grinned and patted Dean consolingly on the arm.

Dean pouted for a moment before putting on the shirt over his short-sleeved one and realizing it fit just the way it was supposed to.

“Perfect” Cas said admiringly as Dean glared down at himself wearing the ridiculous bee shirt.

Dean looked at Castiel expecting him to be laughing still and saw he was completely serious. Sure he was still smiling, and his eyes were gleaming with amusement in that adorable way
that made his nose crinkle, but Castiel was staring at Dean’s body and saying that word like it was scientific fact. Dean felt his heart thud harder and a heat climb into his face that he knew was a severe blush, a feeling he hadn’t felt since he first met Lisa, and even that wasn’t as scary or intense.

“You mean the shirt or the whole outfit?” Dean tested the waters to see if Castiel was actually serious or just really good at being a dry comic.

“I mean everything.” Cas looked into Dean’s eyes and seemed to be analyzing every bit of him. His memories, thoughts, ideas, dreams, beliefs. Dean met so many versions of Castiel since that morning that it made his head spin. The cute artsy Cas, the caring Cas who travelled a lot as a kid and had a sister, the amazingly hot Cas with bed-hair that drove Dean crazy, and the Cas that took apart every atom of your being in a single glance. Dean’s mouth hung open and he tried to form a thought but all he could think of was if Castiel actually said what Dean thought he said.

“Oh”

OH?? Dean groaned mentally at his suave. That’s it? That’s all that Dean-the-woman-killer could think of saying to the hottest guy he met since… well, ever?

Castiel broke their heated stare first and huffed out an awkward laugh that was more breath than anything else, while running a hand through his messy hair. Dean thought it might be a nervous tick since his hair looked like it was constantly in a wind tunnel. It was the best nervous tick Dean had ever seen and formed the awful thought of making Cas all fidgety and anxious and watch him slowly become undone; running a hand through his hair and biting those perfect lips until Cas became flushed and wrecked and moaned for more.

“S- sorry” Cas stammered out. “That was too forward of me.” He avoided eye contact with Dean and started putting the box of shirts away and throwing a few pieces of trash into a nearby bin. Dean thought it was adorable that Castiel was looking for something to do because he thought Dean was awkward and wanted to move on for his sake. Of course at this point everything Cas did was endearing to Dean.

“N-“ Dean began to object with the eventual goal of getting Cas back to the flirty-sultry stage of interaction between them, but Sam had other ideas.

“Dean! I need help decorating the booths” Sam came up behind Dean and started laughing at him in his bee shirt. “That’s priceless!” He snickered and pointed to the lumpy striped shirt on his older brother.

Dean gave him a withering glare. “We gotta work on your timing, man.” He groaned softly to his brother so that Cas wouldn’t be able to hear.

Sam frowned in confusion “what?”

Castiel came up from throwing random bits of trash into the bin, “I can assist as well, Sam.” He said in a serious tone.

“Cas, can I talk to you for a minute?” Dean interrupted. He had to do something and quickly before it got too weird between them. He felt awful for not telling Cas that what he said sent shivers down his spine and that his looks made his whole body tingle in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time.

Sam grunted and shook his head, “No way, you guys have been goofing off all morning and these booths won’t decorate themselves.”

Dean could have killed him right then and there.

“Yes, Dean. We should get back to work, I think I understand what you want to say anyway.” Cas responded solemnly and followed Sam to a collection of tables with balloons and flyers
that had various bees all over them.

Great.

Not only was he newly single and hidden deep in the bisexual closet, but the world was apparently against him and wanted Dean to suffer while watching the hottest guy he ever met feel like he was just rejected.

Dean bit out a silent “sonofabitch” and followed behind Sam and Castiel who were already working on the booths.

Chapter Text

“Basically anything with bees on it gets hung up and taped to the tables.” Sam explained and demonstrated with a cartoon cutout of a giant honeybee.

“I don’t know Sammy, don’t you think you’re going a little too kitschy with this stuff?” Dean asked, examining a stuffed bumblebee dressed in a teddy bear costume.

“This whole fair is a way to get people to realize the importance of bees to our natural environment, if that means putting out stuffed bees that look like bears then so be it.” Sam replied, grabbing the bee out of Dean’s hands and hanging it up at the front of the table.

Dean looked over at Cas on the other side of Sam (or at least as much as he could with a giant moose between them), and wished he could get at least a few minutes alone with him to let Cas know Dean would like nothing better than to look into his eyes like they were an hour ago and maybe more. But Castiel looked like he was trying harder than anything to avoid eye contact with Dean.

-

An hour later and the bee fair was in full throttle. Students, teachers, and locals came to check out the small booths with informative pamphlets and honey samples. Dean was surprised by how many people actually came to walk around and most families brought their kids to play at the balloon animal station. Mostly, Dean kept towards the back of the fair near the end of the clearing. He didn’t want to get in the way and knew practically nothing about bees so he thought that if someone wanted him he’d be called, but if not it’s better to stay out of the way.

Staying on the sidelines also gave him a chance to hardcore creep on Castiel without being noticed.

For the rest of the fair, Castiel hovered around and kept busy by talking to anybody who wanted bee info. He seemed happy to discuss the topic and somehow, even in the stupid bee shirt he looked amazing. Maybe Dean was imagining it when he thought Cas was interested in him, maybe he was just being friendly and it came off as the kind of flirting that made Dean weak in the knees. Dean wouldn’t have been surprised if his breakup with Lisa made him hypersensitive over that stuff, and he just wanted Cas to be interested in him so he made it up in his head. It was hard to imagine Castiel’s mood change though.

-

A little while more into the fair and Dean was bored to tears. He started to feel awkward watching Castiel and began to wander more into the array of booths, bee helpers, and people. He went up to the booth with honey samples and tried a floral infused honey. He had to admit that this fair gave him a new appreciation for bees and what they did, and he was maybe even thankful that Sam woke him up that early and told him to help out. When he looked back over to Castiel he was definitely thankful.

Dean was just shoving past a throng of fifth graders on a road trip when he bumped into someone who smelled like the inside of Abercrombie and Fitch.

“Whoa there cowboy!” The man exclaimed in a British accent. He was about six inches shorter than Dean and looked like a car salesman ready to sell anybody an old clinker.

Dean felt something cold and wet soak into his side and then noticed the red slushie the man was holding was spilled all over his bee shirt.

Great. Sammy won’t be happy about the giant red stain on Dean’s bee stripes.

“Son of a bitch” Dean groused as he pulled at the stain as if it was going to just fall off.

“Ohh Sorry about that” The man said when he noticed the red blotch. “But I’m sure nobody will notice the stain when they can stare at a face like that!”

Dean pulled back, surprised at the man’s bluntness. “Excuse me?” He asked tightly, he already felt slimy just being around this person.

“Balthazar!” Castiel’s voice called a little ways away. “What are you doing here?” He asked as he stepped up to the two men.

Balthazar smiled at Castile like he knew him and flung an arm around his shoulders. “Cassy! There you are, I’m completely impressed at this little affair here, you have done a fantastic job.”

Castiel peeled his friend’s arm from him, “Thank you for your support Balthazar, but Sam is the one you should be complimenting. He’s the coordinator of this event.”

“Ooh, is this Sam? Yum” Balthazar practically drooled out as he leered heavily at Dean.

Castiel barely looked at Dean since first addressing Balthazar, but he had stepped between his friend and Dean as if acting like a body guard.
“No” Cas practically growled out. “This is Dean, Sam’s brother. What are you doing here Balthazar?”

“Well after receiving your texts I threw on some pants and rushed over here to see for myself.” Balthazar winked at Dean “and Cassy you were completely right.”

“Right about what?” Dean asked, peering over Castiel’s shoulder and watching as a bright blush colored Cas’ cheeks and neck.

Balthazar pulled Dean aside from where he stood behind Castiel so as not to let Cas hear. “That you’re a hot piece of ass, Dean.” He whispered in Dean’s ear. “What do say we get out of here and find something fun to do together?”

Dean felt a hand slide from his back to grab the slope of his ass, but before Dean could do anything to get the slime-ball off him, Castiel moved like a flash. He shoved his friend away from Dean’s space roughly and the other man tripped as he tried to regain his balance. “Get your hands off him, Balthazar.”

“My, my, Cassy. No need to be so jealous, if you wanted him for yourself all you had to do was say so.”

“Nobody invited you here. Leave Balthazar.” Cas grit out as he stood in front of Dean in a defensive stance that looked like he was ready to strike with his fangs bared.

Balthazar flung his hands up and backed away. “Alright I know when I’m beat. But Dean,” He looked at Dean with a predatory gaze. “Call me if you ever want to have some real fun.”

Dean could see Castiel clench his jaw from where he was standing. Balthazar swanked away through the crowds of other fair-goers and Dean was happy to see him go. Not only was that one of the smarmiest encounters he had in a while, but Cas was obviously ready to launch at him with his claws out and ready to tear.

“Cas?” He said softly touching his shoulder.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, Dean.” Castiel murmured. “I had no idea he would have driven down here just to embarrass me and hit on you if I had known I would have told him to promptly-“

Dean held up his hands to stop the string of words flowing out of Cas’ mouth. “Its fine Cas” he smiled and lingered in the deep blue of Cas’ stare.

Dean cleared his throat and stuffed his hands in his jean pockets, suddenly aware that he didn’t know what to do with them.

“So uh, ‘hot piece of ass’?” Dean smirked at the panic on Castiel’s face.

Cas rubbed a hand down his face and hid behind it, probably hiding an embarrassed grimace. “Those were Balthazar’s words, not mine” he mumbled behind his hand.

“What were yours?”

Castiel lifted his head up to peer at Dean, “what?”

Dean stepped closer into Castiel’s space. He could smell Cas’ aftershave or cologne, maybe it was his shampoo, but whatever it was it made Dean want to get intimately close with the scent. Know it as a memory and a fact. He could make out sandalwood and vanilla and some other scent that Dean wouldn’t have cared about yesterday but now he needed to know everything about it.

Castiel’s eyes kept fluttering to Dean’s mouth.

“What were the exact words you used to describe my ass, Castiel?” Dean’s heart was pounding in his throat again as he watched Cas’ eyes dilate at his darkened tone. And even Dean had to admit his voice came out gravelly enough for a porno, but the need to touch Castiel was clawing at him now. He was so close he could see small beads of sweat at Cas’ temple and wanted to know the feeling of Cas’ stubble scratching his throat, his chest, his stomach.

As his eyes raked over Cas, Dean felt like this feeling was something he was missing but didn’t know until now. He felt like he was in some sort of stupid chick flick but didn’t even care because Cas was starting to do that cute frowning thing he did, and up close it was even cuter.

“I- I thought you weren’t interested?” Cas mumbled solemnly.

Dean looked up and noticed they were standing right in the middle of the clearing, surrounded by children, teachers, and college students. He grabbed Castiel’s hand and pulled him towards an alley between the university’s main building and a smaller one. It wasn’t too far from the fair but offered the two men an escape from the many people occupying the clearing. It also offered Dean a nice wall to manhandle Cas against.

“I’m very interested” Dean rumbled hoarsely, waiting with his hands on Castiel’s hips for the other man to react. He hovered just above Castiel’s lips and it felt like torture not to lean in a little closer and taste them.

He didn’t have to wait long as Cas lunged forward a moment later and took Dean’s invitation with more force than Cas’ insecure eyes showed a second before. Castiel kissed with demanding heat, relishing each moment their lips crashed against each other and pulling moans out of Dean that sounded like desperate mewls against the soft flesh of Cas’ mouth.

Cas’ hand grasped at Dean’s hair and pulled softly when he wanted more access to Dean’s mouth, his other hand roamed along Dean’s chest and mapped out the soft contours of his muscles and stomach.

Cas was touching Dean like he was a sacred object. His lithe fingers grazing Dean’s torso until he met the strip of revealed stomach at the waistband and dipped under his shirt to caress Dean’s skin. Dean let out a desperate moan when Cas’ fingers lingered on a nipple and kneaded it with the pad of his thumb.

Dean bit at Castiel’s bottom lip and caused Cas to gasp when he pressed in closer to grind his lower half against Cas’ groin. Dean could feel Cas hot and heavy each time he rutted against him but he needed more.

Gasping moans echoed in the small alley and Dean felt like his whole world was crashing and being born at the same time in that dark secluded corner. Cas seemed to belong there, connected to Dean like a puzzle piece that Dean had never known he needed until now. Castiel’s mouth was like fire against his and kissing him was a thirst Dean couldn’t quite quench.

If all of his one night stands and the horrible break up with his only long-term girlfriend was the beginning of this, Dean thanked whatever higher power there was for all of it. The crummy hotel rooms, the lonely feeling after, the feeling of not being enough for Lisa, it was all worth it just to taste Castiel like he was the last man on earth.

Cas slid his hands from where they clung to Dean’s hair and chest to fumble with the button on his jeans, and Dean thrusted forward greedily into Cas’ groin to rub against his growing bulge just to see what noise Cas would make. He wasn’t disappointed either. Cas let his head fall forward onto Dean’s shoulder and groaned the most delicious moan Dean had ever heard in his life.

“Dean” Cas pleaded, stilling his efforts on Dean’s jeans as if his limbs turned to mush.

Dean unbuttoned Cas’ jeans and shifted them down around his thighs. “It’s okay, baby. I’ll take care it.” He murmured against the crook of Castiel’s neck. He mouthed at the soft skin there while slipping his hand in Cas’ boxers and gripping his length. “I’ll take care of you.”
Dean groaned as Cas arched into Dean’s touch and started thrusting into his grip.

“Fuck, Cas” Dean couldn’t see much in his position, nestled against Cas like he was his life support, but he could feel how large Cas was by how he filled his hand. He had to use overstated hand movements just to cover all of him while stroking and twisting his hand along the base and tip.

Dean felt his own cock strain against the confines of his jeans and he cursed himself for choosing the slim fit pair that morning. He took his other hand away from where it clutched at Cas’ hip bone and unzipped his own pants while still stroking Cas fervently.

He reluctantly released his hold on Cas to lick a stripe down his palm and grabbed both of their lengths in his hand, pumping rhythmically until Dean felt precome bead down the heads of their cocks and coat his hand, making their skin wet and creating gratifying sounds as Dean fucked them both with his hand.

“Shit, Dean. Shit I’m-” Castiel sighed, fingers gripping Dean’s shoulders so hard that Dean could feel where there would be bruises lining his arms the next day. Cas rocked against Dean’s grip while repeating his name in a whisper between needy groans like a prayer that Dean wanted so badly to answer.

He grabbed Castiel’s tousled hair and pulled back so that he could fuck his mouth with his tongue. Exploring the heat and sucking at Cas’ lips while a familiar heat formed at the base of his cock. He was so close, and based on Castiel’s moans he wasn’t far behind.

Dean didn’t want this end, he was scared of what would happen after. It was always the same scene that played out after something like this. The awkward goodbyes, the sickening feeling that he would never see Cas again. And he definitely did want to see Cas again.

He wanted to know what Cas looked like in the morning, while he was still drowsy and fresh from sleep, or when he’s irritated and salty from a fight. He wanted to see Cas lazy and drifting off into sleep, wanted to see him playful and flirty. He was scared of not being able to learn every aspect of Castiel, and slowed his strokes enough to stave his quickening orgasm a little longer.

Dean gave Cas a last lingering kiss before pulling back and watching Castiel. Which was a mistake if he wanted to stall anything. One look at Cas, mouth-parted, pink lips bitten and wet, hair wrecked, pupils blown wide with lust, made Dean’s knees weak and his cock pulse in his hand.

He came with a choked cry against Castiel’s neck as he pumped their cocks together hard and fast, cum pooling in his hand. Cas came shortly after, gripping at Dean’s body and making wounded moans that sounded like the most beautiful song in the universe.

They stood there for a few minutes, panting in each other’s ragged breaths.

“That was…” Castiel paused to catch another breath. “Amazing.”

Dean huffed a laugh. He was still nestled against Castiel’s body and sure as hell wasn’t going to move away first.

“I thought you needed convincing” he smirked against Cas’ skin. He could feel the rumble of Castiel’s laugh as it vibrated against him.

“Maybe we should, um, go back into the fair. Sam will get suspicious if we’re gone for too long.”

Dean shook his head and nuzzled in closer. He could feel the awkward goodbye coming and wanted this moment to last longer. He wanted more of Cas’ voice and skin against his, and he could almost identify that third scent if only he had more time.

“Sam’s too busy reciting everything he knows about bees to worry about us.”

Cas threaded his fingers through Dean’s hair. “Dean, this may be a bit too forward again, but…”

Dean pulled back and grimaced at Cas. “Cas, we just fucked in an alley, I don’t think it can get more forward than that.” He smiled at Castiel’s blush.

“I was hoping we could go get coffee after the fair?”

Dean grinned a wide, relaxed smile and pulled his arms around Castiel’s waist. So maybe this wouldn’t be like all the other times, maybe this could be so much more than Dean ever had before.

“Yeah Cas, I’d like that. ‘Course I have to warn you, this hot piece of ass is an expensive date.”