A/N: Alright folks, this chapter takes place after 12. Enjoy

Dean was sitting on the porch listening to Jody tell a story from her days as a sheriff. She had his full attention and was enjoying it. He was a good listener and showed that he was actually interested in what she had to say. It was easy to get carried away talking about the past with Dean. He was just young enough to look up to her, yet old enough to understand everything she was talking about. Crowley stood off to the side half listening to Kevin and Ash talking about plans for the perimeter. He hadn't known Jody very long but it made him happy to see her so at ease here with this new group. She had seemed a bit defeated with Gordon. It was clear to see that she was a smart feisty female but Gordon had made that seem like a bad thing. Here, everyone was accepted. It was refreshing. The plans to expand the perimeter and secure more houses was enough to occupy everyone's time. There was going to be a better future, something to work towards. Unlike before where you just found camp somewhere and hoped for the best. Dean said something that Crowley couldn't hear and Jody laughed loudly with her head thrown back. She clapped her hand over her mouth in surprise and embarrassment looking around with wide eyes. It made Dean grin and Crowley found himself smiling as well.

Castiel appeared suddenly out by a pile of burning zombies. Bobby jumped slightly and slapped the angel on the shoulder. The angel cocked his head to the side in confusion for a moment which caused Bobby to roll his eyes and shake his head dismissively. Benny laughed and joked about Bobby having a heart attack. Everyone had worked hard all day, it was nice to just spread out and take care of any necessary tasks while chatting with a couple group members. There was already quite a few of them here and there was talk of adding more. Crowley turned his attention back to Jody and Dean to find that Dean was staring out at the group burning zombies with a thoughtful expression on his face. Jody turned her attention to Crowley and smiled. She patted Dean on the knee before getting up to join Crowley instead. Dean blinked up at her in confusion, looking from Jody to Crowley before turning his attention back to the other group.

"How come you've never shared such interesting stories with me?" Crowley teased. Jody smiled.

"Never really got around to it." She studied his face for a moment. He blinked at her wondering what she could possibly be thinking with that look on her face.

"Did you ever think we'd end up here?" She asked after a moment.

"Well to be honest I was fairly certain we were both going to be painfully killed. Eaten alive most likely. Actually I came pretty close." Crowley smiled, his eyes searching out the angel once again. Charlie had joined the group at the fire and was talking animatedly but Castiel was distracted. His eyes were all for the zombies. They seemed to be a countless number of zombies day after day. The sound of Dean's laughter pulled the angel's attention in his direction. Crowley found himself curious as well. The two Winchester brothers were sitting together on the porch, Sam's eyes sparkling as he recounted a ridiculous story from Before. Jody leaned in closer to speak lowly to Crowley. He swallowed thickly, attempting to swallow his pulse.

"Everyone seems so happy." Jody smiled. Crowley nodded, not able to find words at the moment. Garth had grouped up with Jo and Meg. He was trying to teach them meditation techniques. From the look of it he was developing quite the crush on Meg. She seemed to be aware of it and enjoying it. Seeing this reminded him of something he'd thought about earlier. Bobby had Ellen, but so far everyone else seemed to be single. Benny flirted with everyone casually, and Dean seemed to have his own personal angel but so far everyone else was just focused on surviving. It was fairly relaxing, no pressure to couple up. Charlie was a lesbian but the only girl that swung that way was interested in a guy. It was an interesting group. Kevin left Ash to go join the others at the burning pile of zombies.

"I find it hard to imagine Gordon here." Crowley said thoughtfully. Jody laughed in agreement.

"There's so many survivors here. It's nice. Doesn't feel so hopeless." She sighed and looked out over the others. Crowley took the opportunity to study her happy face. She was a strong, beautiful, intelligent woman. Sure they had felt close before, especially with the times they'd faked a relationship to fool Gordon, but now there was nothing keeping her with him. There were plenty of attractive men here and Jody deserved the best. She turned her attention back to him and frowned slightly.

"You know, I never asked… What was your husband like?" Crowley asked. Jody laughed as though he'd just asked the most ridiculous thing.

"Well he was good friends with Gordon." Jody reminded him. She sighed and shook her head.

"Everything used to be so different, before all the drinking. Before I knew it he was hardly ever sober. He'd had an accident at work, got fired and just turned to drinking…" Jody frowned out at nothing. Crowley couldn't think of anything to say. He looked around in an attempt to collect his thoughts but his eyes landed on the Winchester brothers. They were looking at Jody somberly in understanding. It didn't take a genius to figure out that their father had been a drinker. They both glanced at Crowley for a moment before turning their attention away, returning to their previous musings as though nothing had happened. Crowley reached out and placed a hand on the sheriff's shoulder. She turned her attention back to him and smiled. They didn't need to voice their understanding at this point.

"So, what about you?" Jody asked. Crowley rose his eyebrows questioningly at her. She rolled her eyes.

"You never really talked about yourself. Were you married?" She clarified. Crowley laughed and let his eyes wonder out over the others. The Winchester brothers had ventured out to join the others in the yard. Benny had brought up a new topic of conversation that involved showing scars from near-death experiences. He was showing the group a scar at the base of his neck. The others leaned in to get a better look while he laughed it off. Apparently coming close to being beheaded was funny in retrospect. There weren't really any interesting scars for Crowley to share, not that he would if he had any. Jody was patiently waiting for his answer. He wanted to tell her everything and he actually came close to letting it all spill out before he stopped himself. What was it about her? He had a feeling she had gotten many a confession in her day as a sheriff just by being patient and kind. He sighed and risked a glance in her direction.

"Ah, married no. Never that." He finally confessed, keeping it short. Jody looked surprised and didn't know whether to believe him or not. Crowley smiled and headed out to join the others before he could spill his heart to the sheriff. Jody stayed behind for a moment before following him out to the others. Sam was showing a decent sized scar on his side, he gestured to Dean and the older brother seemed to be in pain. Sam's eyes landed on Jody and they shared a moment of understanding.

"Who was driving the car?" Jody asked. Dean's eyes flashed to her in surprise and he frowned.

"Our dad. He'd been drinking… Anyway, this is nothing compared to Dean." Sam looked to Dean apologetically. Dean looked around at the others' expectant faces and rolled his eyes before lifting his shirt. He had a similar scar on his abdomen and when he turned around to show his back it was clear that he'd been impaled by something. There were a few other minor scars but nothing as serious as the first.

"The whole thing is pretty much a blur for both of us. We don't even remember being taken to the hospital. Apparently our old man had wrecked the car, flipped it a few times… The nurses said Dean threw himself over me to protect me…" Sam smiled gently at his brother.

"Not that it did much good." Dean grumbled. Sam shoved him playfully and they shared a look before turning their attention back to the others.

"How old were you guys?" Kevin asked.

"Sam was what twelve?" Jo asked. Dean nodded.

"That was the final straw for John. He had his kids taken from him and wasn't allowed to see them grow up…" Bobby shook his head angrily. Ellen placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Thankfully they had someone willing to be a good father to them when they needed it." Ellen smiled. Sam and Dean agreed. Bobby cleared his throat and looked around at the others.

"So what about you, Sheriff?" He asked. Jody smiled at him and casually pulled her shirt down to show a scar from a previous gunshot.

"The doctors said I was lucky to be alive. Attempted robbery during my first week as sheriff. The shooter was a confused teenager that didn't mean to pull the trigger." Jody pulled her shirt back up and found Dean's green eyes. She hadn't told him any of the near-death stories, choosing only fun stories. He looked at her in awe and it made her smile.

"The worst thing that ever happened to me was the zombie apocalypse and even now…" Kevin shrugged, looking embarrassed. Ash patted the younger boy on the back.

"You act like that's a bad thing, man." Ash laughed.

"Yea, be thankful for having such luck." Jody smiled and looked to Castiel.

"Any fun stories, Castiel? Close calls?" Crowley asked. The angel looked around at the others, his eyes landing on Dean.

"Nothing before all this." Castiel answered simply. Crowley looked at him strangely.

"Oh that's right, you didn't tell the new people about being a human." Meg pointed out.

"Human? I thought you came down to help out as an angel." Kevin frowned slightly.

"We were offered a chance to be born into the human world and live a full human life. A few of us took this opportunity only to find ourselves in this mess. We were called back to heaven, but I didn't want to go." Castiel told the group. The original members of the group all smiled to themselves, knowing the story and knowing what the new people were going to ask next.

"Why wouldn't you go back to heaven?" Crowley frowned. Castiel licked his lips, eyes flickering briefly to Dean before looking around at the others.

"I chose to stay with my friends." Castiel answered.

"So you got to stay here as an angel?" Kevin asked.

"He died. Human Castiel was killed by zombies protecting me." Dean answered, looking to his angel friend with a sad smile.

"So I guess you've got us all beat, huh." Jody teased Castiel. She rested a hand on Dean's back comfortingly.

"You died? And Dean was there?" Kevin asked with a pained expression. He looked from one man to another. It was pretty clear to everyone that these two were more than simply friends. Kevin couldn't imagine losing someone so important. He'd been separated from his mother during the craziness of the apocalypse but he truly believed she was out there somewhere.

"Even as a human, our Castiel was an angel." Meg smiled. The others agreed easily. Castiel looked around at them with a soft smile.

"So you have your life as an angel and a life as a human? You remember everything?" Kevin asked curiously. Castiel gave the teen his full attention and nodded.

"My human life was incredibly brief in comparison with my life as an angel." Castiel admitted.

"It's so crazy to think angels actually exist." Jody shook her head, staring at Castiel in awe.

"And zombies? You thought that was a possibility?" Bobby joked.

"Hell no. It's like the whole world is changing right before our eyes." Jody looked out to the zombies on the other side of the fence.

"We should head inside. It's getting pretty cold out." Ellen wrapped her arm around Jo. The others agreed and headed inside.

Dean wanted to stay behind to make sure the fires were completely out. Castiel chose to stay outside as well, which came as no surprise.

"Everyone seems to be getting along pretty well." Castiel said conversationally.

"Yea…" Dean responded, staring down at the charred zombie remains. The two stood in silence for a moment. "Do you think it's ever going to get better?"

"Eventually. I'm afraid all we can do for right now is focus on surviving and saving other survivors." Castiel answered. Dean moved to stand closer to the angel. Castiel offered a weak smile and Dean found himself unable to look away. He wanted to pull the angel close, kiss those lovely pink lips. Who would have thought Dean Winchester would fantasize about kissing another man. Yet here he was, craving the feel of his best friend's lips against his. Castiel tilted his head slightly, giving Dean a questioning look. Dean laughed nervously and looked towards the house. He was seriously considering just going for it.

"Dean?" Castiel asked worriedly. He wasn't sure what to do where Dean was concerned. Dean turned his attention back to the angel and searched his eyes.

"Man this is hard." Dean muttered, licking his lips before biting the bottom lip. Castiel frowned.

"What's hard?" He asked.

Castiel's mind was getting carried away with all the possibilities. Dean looked around for a moment and smirked at the garden shed. He stalked off in that direction and Castiel stayed where he was, confused. Dean rolled his eyes at his friend and gestured for the other man to join him. Once they were both by the shed together, Dean shoved an unsuspecting Castiel against the shed wall and reunited their lips. Castiel was pleasantly surprised by this sudden change. He let himself relax and enjoy this moment. Dean wanted him, wanted to kiss him. He smiled into the kiss at the realization. Dean pulled away just enough to search Castiel's face. He had a feeling that even if they kissed a thousand times he'd never get over the excitement of seeing his friend so close. What if Castiel hadn't come back as an angel? Dean had gone down this road a million times. He knew ever since that fateful day there was no way he was leaving that room alone. If Castiel had turned into a zombie, that was going to be it for him as well. And how crazy was that? The thought of losing Castiel—especially because it was his fault—was unbearable. He'd rather die too. Dean had always felt drawn to Castiel, never wanted to be apart. Maybe he'd fallen for this angel long ago. A strange whirlwind of feelings swirled inside of him making him feel sick and elated at the same time. Castiel's blue eyes held concern again, so Dean kissed him softly to reassure him. He felt as though his whole body was shaking and he wondered if Castiel could feel it too. He pressed his forehead to Castiel's, eyes closed, and tried to control his heartbeat, school his breathing. Castiel's hand was a soothing warmth against the back of Dean's neck, his other hand slid beneath Dean's coat to rub soothing circles against Dean's back.

"I'm so stupid." Dean whispered.

"Dean, what-" Castiel was interrupted by the look in Dean's green eyes up close. They simply searched one another's eyes for a moment before Castiel closed the small distance between them, reuniting their lips once more. The kiss was gentle, unhurried. Dean's fingers traced the line of Castiel's jaw, his thumb brushing over his chin until he urged Castiel's mouth open with the slightest pressure. Castiel complied, head resting back against the shed wall. Their tongues met with increasing hunger, Castiel's hands no longer comforting but urging Dean closer.

"Cas, I-" Dean breathed, pulling away from the kiss. He was dizzy from the rush of endorphins and suddenly at a loss for words. Seeing Castiel try to recover enough to be able to listen to him only made things worse. "Cas…"

Castiel pulled his best friend back into the kiss with a smile, knowing that Dean was struggling to express emotions. It was becoming too easy to imagine that perhaps Dean loved him back. The way he loved Dean.

A/N: I intended to get more up to make up for the time I was gone. Hopefully this will do for now. I get to work on earning my rating soon. I never intend for slow builds to be so slow, but here we are. Stubborn characters and such. Off to exams I go. Supernatural tonight (so excited!)