The next few days went by quickly for Cas, work at the shop, studying for the following week, and casual conversations with Dean when he showed up at the school. Dean and Castiel talked occasionally on the phone, though Dean said he had a lot of work at the garage to take care of. It didn't stop him from texting on his breaks, and calling before bed. Castiel treasured those moments, knowing Dean was taking time out of his day to think about him, and let him know just as much.

Castiel still had his doubts; it's who he was. He would occasionally think about Dean and how lucky he was to have such an amazing guy like him. But then, he would think about the women Dean had been with before, a 'notorious womanizer' as Sam had once put it. Castiel would worry himself with thoughts of Dean leaving him, deciding he wasn't really into Cas, or guys in general.

That maybe the 'extra work' was a woman on the side.

The thought made Castiel very angry, and very sad at the same time. He would try to put those thoughts aside, but he wasn't able to do it so easily. After all, wasn't it Deans wish to keep their relationship, or whatever they had, a secret from Sam, and basically everyone else?

Those thoughts bothered him but were put on the back burner when he heard Deans voice on the phone. Dean would talk to him, tell him about his day, make him laugh, and as about how Castiel was.

"I gotta say Cas, I know we saw each other earlier for a bit, but damnit, I'm missing you right now."

"I…I miss you too Dean."

"Really?"

"Of course. Do you know how hard it is to see you and not kiss you in front of everyone?" Dean chucked at that.

"I know, Cas, I feel the same way…I just don't know how to bring this up to Sam. I mean, it shouldn't be that hard. He's my brother, he'll understand." Castiels smile dropped when he heard the uncertainty in Dean's voice. He knew he shouldn't be the one to push to tell Sam, because Sam was the most important thing to Dean. What if, for some reason, Sam was unhappy about this arrangement? Obviously, if given a choice, Dean would choose Sam over him; it was no contest.

"It's ok Dean, I'm sure the right moment will come."

"I feel really bad though, Cas." Dean sighed. "It's not fair to you, to us. I…really like you. I keep thinking about other night in the car. It was the most fun I've had in forever. And not because of what we did, but just cuz I was with you, and I was happy and clumsy and you just smiled at everything. It was…awesome."

Castiel felt his heart swell at the admission from Dean. He had had the best time, and he couldn't've asked for more; though he had been wishing for more before the drive ended. But Dean delivered, perfectly, and completely made up for the spilt soda on his pants.

An incident like that wouldn't be enough for Castiel to leave Dean. He liked him too much, pined over him too much to care about something silly. He didn't obsess, at least he thought he didn't. But he wanted Dean to like him as much as he did. He hoped he felt that same tugging in his heart as Cas has.

"Don't worry about anything Dean. I'm enjoying my time with you. I can wait for you."

"Come with me on Saturday, Cas. After work we can go somewhere."

"I thought we were going to have a movie night."

"We can do that too, but I wanna do something else first. Wanna take you somewhere special."

"Ok, Dean, I would enjoy that very much."

"Awesome. Well, I should be going to bed. I'll text you later, Cas…" He paused as if to say something else, but after a moment and nothing else came, Castiel said his goodnight and hung up. He placed the phone on his chest and lie in bed, staring at the ceiling. It had become a habit nowadays, to access his day as he lay in bed. And after a good phone call like that, Castiel knew he would be sleeping soundly.

And Castiel did sleep soundly, so well in fact that he missed his alarm clock, so instead of waking up to his favorite song, an hour later he woke up to his phone ringing loudly in his ear. He groaned and nearly threw it across the room before realizing what he was about to do. He peered at his phone will one eye open to see his mother's name appear on the screen. He groaned again at his luck.

"Hello, mother." He said into the phone.

"Castiel! It's been too long since we've spoken! How are you?"

"Good, mother, just getting my day started. And yourself?"

"Oh, you know me, just trying to keep busy."

"So I hear."

"What was that, Castiel?"

"Nothing mother."

"Well, I just wanted to check in on you. Are you eating enough? Keeping your grades up? Do you need me to send you anything?"

"No of course not mother. I am ok. Eating just fine. School is fine. Everything is fine."

"That's very good to hear. You know you can talk to me about anything!"

Oh, if only that were true, he thought.

"I will be expecting you to come down here for thanksgiving, Castiel."

"Yes mother, but that's not for another month and a half."

"I know that of course, but I like to get a head start on the planning. Will you be bringing anyone?"

Castiels heart pounded in his chest.

"Uh, no, just myself."

"Oh, pity. Well, I'll keep a spot next to you open on the seating chart if you change your mind."

"Mom…"

"Now, now Castiel, you know I worry sometimes. I know you're still young, but your brothers both found their lovely wives when they were still in college and look how happy they are. I just want the same for you."

"Yes, but-"

"No, no buts. Just keep your chin up, and that perfect girl will come along one day. Perhaps she is closer to home than you think…" Castiel could almost hear the smirk in her voice.

Gabriel had warned him that she might be up to something. His mother had always worried about him growing up, not having any regular or long time girlfriends, she had this notion that he would be alone.

'I just want my baby happy.' She used to tell him.

Castiel wished she knew what it was that made him happy. What made the day brighter for him. The gender, and now person in particular, that he wanted to bring home to the family, even after such a short time.

There had been one relationship his senior year with a guy named Balthazar. He was witty and clever, and charming. Castiel had begun to think that maybe that had been the guy to help him come out to his parents. He came so close to doing so. Until he found his lovely British boyfriend making out with another guy in the bathrooms. Needless to say, Castiel never came close to coming out after that.

No guy before could make him want to so badly. Except Dean. Dean was different. Dean was Dean. Funny and sweet, handsome and he could tell them was a bright soul hidden inside of him. He also knew Dean was smarter than he let on. Dean was full of life; he could tell with every conversation, every laugh. He was falling in love with him.

"I know mother." He said, sighing. "I will let you know if plans do change."

"Alright Castiel. Do not be a stranger. Please call me. And you don't live very far. We could always do well with a visit.

"Oh, no mother, I'm so busy with school, I wouldn't have the time to drive all the way up there."

"Oh, you're right. Don't want to take away too much of your day. Love you, dear, goodbye."

"Goodbye." He hung up the phone and tossed it on the blanket next to him. Nothing like his mother to wake him up completely from the beautiful dream he was having about Dean and a can of cool whip.

Castiel received a text from Sam the next day about him catching a cold and not coming to school. Cas told him to get well soon and continued on his day. Every once in a while he would receive a funny text from Dean, and it kept his spirits up. His head hurt from thinking about his schoolwork, and he let Dean know as much.

Ur a tough cookie Cas, you'll survive

Castiel smiled and shook his head.

When they school day was over for him, he sat down on a bench and looked up at the sky. It was a lovely day, cooler than before, with autumn peeking over the horizon. He stared at the clouds, finding pictures and shapes in them. He lay back on the bench, putting his elbows on it and zoned out the world for a few minutes while he looked up.

The only thing that brought him out of his musings, was a figure sitting down next to him. He could feel the person staring at him and he slowly turned his head towards the person. He found a tall, red headed girl smiling sweetly at him.

"Hello, Castiel, right? I'm Anna." She held out her hand for him. He shook it gently.

"Hello, Anna."

"I just want to say, I heard you read your research paper in front of class today, and I was very inspired by your writing."

"Oh, thank you. It was nothing." A lie. Castiel worked for day on that paper to make it perfect. Nature versus nurture was a touchy topic for him.

"It really was brilliant. I think it opened up a lot of people's eyes. You should do that for a living. Writing, that is. I think you could change a few things if you really wanted too."

"Well, I appreciate your feedback. I will keep it in mind for the future." She smiled shyly at him.

"Were you busy at all this afternoon?" She asked. Castiel thought for a moment and shook his head.

"No, I'm all done with classes. Just enjoying the sun before going back to my dorm."

"Oh, well, if you're not busy, do you want to grab some coffee or something." Castiel opened his mouth to respond but found himself suddenly silenced. He didn't know how to respond to her. His brain was telling him that she was clearly hitting on him, but his heart said she was just being friendly, and it was good to make new friends. Before he could reply, a hand came down a clasped onto his shoulder. He jumped a bit, startled at the suddenness, but when he looked up, he saw the smiling face of Dean standing above him.

"Hey, Cas, thought I'd surprise you. Wanna grab a late lunch?" Castiel grinned. He turned back to Anna.

"Sorry, Anna, it looks like I do have plans after all. Rain check?" He stood and Dean grabbed Castiels backpack from the ground, swinging it over his shoulder. Anna stared, mouth open slightly as she assessed what had just happened. Castiel looked over to Dean, who smiled and placed an arm around Castiels shoulder as they walked together to Deans Impala.

"So, what was that about?"

"Oh, Anna? She was complimenting one of my papers from class, and then asked me out to coffee."

"Coffee huh…were you going to say yes?" Castiel looked over at Dean, who was staring at the ground, avoiding his gaze.

"Would you have minded? After all, it's not like I was attracted to her."

"What? No, of course not! I was just wondering is all…"

"Dean Winchester, are you jealous?"

Dean puffed out his chest. "Jealous, Cas, come on, I don't get jealous."

"You sound a little jealous."

Dean looked over at Castiel, his eyes open wide. "Am not…just…want you to remember you're mine…I mean...not like mine mine, you're not an object, but what I mean is…" Castiel smiled as he watched Dean fumble with his words.

"Dean, do you want to be my official boyfriend so you never have to worry?"

"Yeah, Cas, I'd like that."

"Well, I already felt that way about us. So, now we have a title for what we have." Dean smirked at the comment and kissed Castiels temple.

"Awesome." He stated. "Now, let's get going. Chinese sound ok?"

Castiel enjoyed his lunch with Dean, who accompanied him back to his dorm. They sat and ate their takeout at the tiny table in Castiels room. When they were done, Dean looked around the room at Castiels belongings. He flipped through the many books that were scattered along Castiels half of the room, and made comments about the posters on the wall. Castiel enjoyed sharing his world with Dean, even if it wasn't much to share.

They ended the day by promptly putting a tie on the doorknob and making out, and by the time Dean left, Castiel was satisfied with his current love life.