Castiel Novak grunted, struggling to hold up the canvas. In the interest of fine architecture of the campus, there were beautiful winding staircases. They happened to be inconveniently situated on his path back to his apartment.

He held the oversized portrait carefully, protective that the picture wouldn't hit the brass banisters that lined the stairway. He had another four floors of stairs to go. The painting was slipping out of his hands every few steps. He stopped to re-grip the canvas.

These stairs were hell. Castiel made a mental note to get to the gym. Being an art student was not great for his physical fitness. He looked at the canvas, and the watercolor of his sister stared back at him. She hadn't seen it in completion, only what he gave in for an assignment. Because of this, he wanted to give it to her for her birthday. Castiel reminded himself that spending his extra time in the gym would reduce the paintings he hd finished. He stayed relatively fit thanks to a fast metabolism and walking all over Chicago.

He stretched before he picked the painting back up and continued his climb.

Castiel held the painting to the side of his body, so he could see the stairs in front of him. He watched each step climb the steep marble staircase. One misstep and he'd break the canvas.

He heard footsteps quickly running up the stairs behind him. Castiel tried to move to the side toward the banister, but his movement made him slide.

Castiel threw his weight toward the banister. A hand grabbed his left arm, steadying him.

"Woah there, buddy. You alright?"

Castiel couldn't see of whom the deep voice belonged to over the giant canvas. He lowered it to see a tall, muscled man. He had a five o'clock shadow and wore ripped jeans. A rolled-up maroon button down hugged his arms. Underneath, he wore a grey v-neck that had white paint on the bottom hem. Castiel could see a tattoo of a gun wrapped in a rosary peeking out on his right arm. Thick dark trees springing up from his wrist covered his left forearm.

Castiel spent too much time studying the man, and forgot to respond. The man was just smirking at him, still holding Castiel's arm. His green eyes sparkled at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks."

The man smiled broadly at him. "Can I help you carry this? The canvas is huge and I don't want you killing anyone. Especially not yourself."

Castiel felt like he'd carried this too far to stop now. He was no quitter.

"I've got this, thank you."

The man let go of his arm, but stayed, crossing his arms and pressing, "How much more do you have to carry that monster?"

Castiel exhaled, "Four more floors."

The man's jaw dropped. He shook his head at Castiel, and said, "Of stairs? Why didn't you take the elevator?"

Castiel rolled his eyes, and adjusted himself and the portrait to start walking up the stairs again. "There is no elevator in this building." He resumed walking up the marble staircase.

The man followed. "Is that what they told you? There's one just down the south side of the building."

Castiel stopped. He lowered the painting again and looked at the tattooed stranger beside him. "If that's a joke it is not an amusing one." He started walking again.

The man followed, "I swear. I can take you there! Just let me help you carry that. Give you a break."

Castiel stopped again on the landing and spun to scowl at him. "If there is an elevator in this building, why aren't you on it?"

The man smiled and shrugged. "Needed the exercise."

Castiel sighed. He looked up at the staircase that he would have to climb with the huge canvas. He glanced back at the man, who looked absolutely smug.

He groaned. "Fine." Castiel grabbed the top of the canvas. "Grab the bottom," He commanded.

Tattooed Stranger smirked and grabbed the bottom of the canvas. He nodded to the left side of the hallway. "Go left. The elevator is only like 50 feet away."

Castiel waddled down the hall, focused on getting to the fake elevator. Sure enough, there it was. No wonder he always missed it, it was pushed back into the asymmetrical wall so that you couldn't see it. Castiel pushed the button.

He set his side down so that only Tattooed Stranger was holding it up.

He grinned, "Told you so."

Castiel rolled his eyes. The doors opened and Castiel reached out and grabbed the painting from Tattooed Stranger. He leaned against the wood paneling inside the elevator.

Tattooed Stranger followed him inside. Inside the elevator, the man had a better look at the portrait.

"She you're girlfriend?" He asked

Castiel shook his head. "My sister, Anna."

Tattooed Stranger tilted his head at the picture. "It's pretty. I like how you made her hair whist around her face. It looks almost like water."

Castiel looked at the man curiously. Tattooed Stranger glanced back up on him, catching his eyes. He smiled. Castiel's face warmed under his gaze.

The man raised his eyebrows at Castiel, his green eyes darting across his chest and leanly muscled forearms. "I've never seen you on campus before. What's your name?"

"Castiel."

He made a face of disbelief, but it morphed back into a pleasant smile. "Well Cas, I'm Dean Winchester."

The elevator chimed and the doors lurched open. Castiel lifted his portrait and walked out the elevator doors. He turned to see Dean smiling back at him.

As the doors closed, Dean shouted, "Hope to see you around, Cas!"

Castiel had a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't be able to avoid Dean if he tried.