Dean and Cas were heading to follow up on a lead with Dean driving the Impala. Cas had tried to strike up a conversation with Dean but gave up within the first hour. Dean was in a bad mood and Cas knew better than to push him. Castiel suspected that his silent tantrum developed from the fact that he had not eaten in a few hours. Cas, of course, did not need to eat but he had become accustomed to Sam and Dean's human needs. Castiel had also learned to become wary of Dean's moods when he was hungry.

"Where are we headed again?" asked Cas carefully.

"Portland, Oregon" answered Dean, sounding irritated.

After another moment of silence, Cas asked bluntly, "Are you hungry?"

Dean shot a glance at the angel, wondering if he was serious. Cas looked innocently back and Dean rolled his eyes in a way that said, 'of course he's serious, he's always serious'.

"Yeah, a little," Dean answered half amused, half irritated, "Are you?" He asked jokingly.

"Of course not." Cas responded.

"Then why did you want to know?" Dean asked none to kindly.

Castiel paused before responding, knowing he should tread carefully.

"I have observed in the past that you become angered easily when you have not eaten for a long period of time. I was curious if that is why you are upset with me."

At the last few words, Dean's head whipped around to look at the angel, a look of surprise on his face.

"You think I'm upset with you?" Dean asked quietly.

"Well, actually, I think you are hungry and that is causing you to be angry with me." answered Cas, matter of factly, as if it didn't bother him. But in truth, Cas hated it when Dean was angry with him.

"I'm not angry at you Cas," Dean almost whispered, not looking at him anymore. Cas noticed him griping the steering wheel harder than was necessary, his knuckles turning white. Cas took this as a sign to back off. If Dean was going to tell him what was really going on, it wouldn't be because Cas pushed him. Even Castiel knew that pushing Dean to talk about his feelings rarely worked.

They sat in silence for a while until Cas gently prompted Dean.

"Who are you angry at then?" Cas asked.

"Well if I have to pick a person, then it would be Sam." Dean answered, glowering at the road.

"What did Sam do?" Cas asked again, taking it as a good sign that Dean answered his first question.

"Well for starters, he needs hair cut. Hair that long on a dude is bound to make anybody a little angry." Dean joked to avoid the question.

"Dean." Cas said.

Dean sighed, "He didn't come with us." Dean said simply. But Castiel was getting the idea that this was anything but simple.

"But that wasn't Sam's fault, you know he had to stay behind and guard the bunker. You are the one who suggested it." responded Cas, confused. He was used to Dean getting angry easily but he was rarely unreasonable in his anger.

"You think I don't know that?" snapped Dean, getting agitated. "But now we have a long drive ahead us, just you and me, and I have nothing to distract me from it."

He stared stonily ahead and his hand was gripping the steering wheel even tighter now. This time though, Castiel didn't back off because now he was starting to get angry. Dean was upset because he had to spend alone time with Cas? 'Is being around me really that bad?' Cas thought. The thought sent a shock of pain through the angel.

"I know that I am not as familiar with human emotions as you and Sam but I never knew that it bothered you so much" snapped Castiel. "Next time you can just leave me at the bunker instead".

Cas glared at Dean waiting for him to snap back. Dean had paled considerably at the angel's harsh words but he said nothing in return. When Cas realized that Dean had no intention of responding, he only became angrier. 'Fine' he thought, and throwing caution to the wind, he did something that was sure to make Dean the angriest he had ever been at Cas.

"What the hell?" Dean muttered, completely forgetting their argument.

The Impala had started sputtering and slowing. Dean guided his baby to the side of the road as the car slowed to a halt. Dean turned off the ignition and threw himself out of the car. Cas got out as well, though much more warily. Dean had popped the hood and was checking to see what was wrong, while muttering a long string of curses under his breath, as Cas waited silently for him to figure it out.

The angel had no idea what had come over him. He was so hurt by Dean's words in the car and had wanted the hunter to hurt just as much. Castiel shook his head in surprise. Just a few years ago and he wouldn't have even been capable of emotions at all, much less such strong ones. But Dean always did that to him. No other human could make Castiel feel the emotions that being around Dean did.

Cas stood by the passenger side door and watched Dean. He was frantically searching for the problem with his beloved car. He had taken off his jacket and pushed the sleeves of his flannel shirt up to his elbows. Castiel watched the muscles in Dean's arms and felt his stomach do an odd flip that he had grown to associate with watching Dean.

Cas began to feel the tiniest bit guilty about messing with Impala when Dean said "It doesn't make sense, she should be running fine." He sounded bewildered. He stood for another moment and then repeated slowly, "She should be running fine." Now Dean was looking at Castiel with a strange mix of emotions on his face. Cas recognized dawning realization and the start of anger and also a little bit of impressed awe. But all of that was quickly taken over by anger.

"What did you do?!" Dean almost yelled.

Cas stared stonily back at Dean trying not to betray anything but he had lifted his chin defiantly. That was all the answer Dean needed. In three quick strides, he reached Castiel and grabbed him by the front of his trench coat.

"Fix her" was all Dean said, his voice now dangerously quiet. Cas thought he might have preferred Dean yelling from a distance. His closeness was not helping Cas keep his thoughts straight.

"Whatever you did with your angel mojo, undo it." Dean demanded.

"No" Cas managed to get out. Dean's eyes flashed angrily and Cas rolled his eyes and quickly added "Not until you tell me why you are angry".

"I'm angry because you broke my damn car!" Dean yelled.

Cas looked steadily into Dean's eyes.

"The real reason." Cas stated.

Dean's face paled again and his heart started hammering in his chest. As if just now realizing how close he was to Cas, his breathing quickened and he pushed roughly away from the angel.

"Dammit Cas!" Dean yelled, not looking at the angel. "I knew I should have stayed at the bunker and sent Sammy instead". His voice was quiet now and he looked, not angry as Cas expected, but very serious, as if he was preparing himself to do something difficult.

Cas, who was still leaning against the car where Dean had left him, asked "Well then why didn't you?!" Cas was yelling now, "Is being around me so bad?" He asked the question like a challenge but really he was finally voicing his real concerns. And he was terrified of the answer.

Dean whipped his head up once again to see the fear that Cas was trying to conceal in his eyes.

"No Cas. That's not it." He had a rare look of serious vulnerability on his face. He took a step closer to the angel. "Look Cas, this is hard to explain but I-" he sighed. He looked right into Cas' eyes as if searching for something. "You know what, fuck it." He closed the distance between the two of them, close but not quite touching. Cas' stomach did its usual flip and then dropped completely as Dean reached out took Cas' face in his hands. Cas had never been touched like this before and his complete lack of experience must have shown on his face because Dean said, "You can tell me to stop."

Castiel said nothing.

He could hear Dean's heart beating and could feel his breathing quicken. Cas gasped in shock as Dean pressed his lips against his own. His entire body felt like it was on fire. A flame that started with his lips and moved through him causing his body to react without Cas meaning it to. Cas leaned into the kiss and grasped Dean's flannel shirt in his hands and pulled the hunter's body flush against his. Dean slid his right hand up to tangle in the angels hair and his left slipped around Castiel's waist as he crushed him against the car. Dean groaned as Cas pushed his hips against the hunters. Castiel broke the kiss gasping for air but still gripped Dean against him. He pulled back enough to look into Dean's eyes, which were very dilated.

"Cas, I-" Dean started to say but Cas stopped him by crushing his lips against Dean's again, as if he need proof that the first kiss had actually happened. Cas ran his hands up Dean's chest causing him to shudder. Dean rolled his hips against Cas' causing Cas to groan and break the kiss once more.

"Dean, I don't- I don't know what's happening to my body." He gasped. Cas laid his head on Dean's shoulder breathing heavily. He could feel a tightness against the zipper of his jeans that he didn't understand.

"I know Cas, I know. That's why I, why I didn't want to do this." Dean said, struggling for words. "But then you broke fucking my car," he continued sounding irritated again, "and forced my hand. I didn't know how to explain my behavior so I decided to show you instead. You seemed to enjoy my explanation though." Now he sounded pleased with himself.

"I still don't understand, Dean. Why are you angry with Sam? Why are you angry with me? Why did you think kissing me would help explain all of it?" Cas fired off all of these questions in his gravely monotone voice that betrayed no emotions. But Cas was more confused than ever. Not that he hadn't enjoyed Dean's explanation but that was beside the point. It didn't make sense.

Dean lifted Cas' chin and forced the angel to look at him.

"I'm not angry at you Cas. Or at Sam. I was angry with myself because of what I was feeling about you. I'm-" he sighed and looked down for a moment and then back up, "I'm attracted to you Cas. But I don't know why because, I mean, I'm straight. I only like girls except, apparently, when it comes to you." He looked exasperated. "When I said I was angry with Sam, I was really just scared about what would happen if you and I were stuck in a car together for a long time. Clearly for good reason." He gestured at the two them still pressed up against each other. He sounded nonchalant but his eyes showed how shocked he still was.

"But why were you scared of this happening?" Cas asked.

Dean hesitated before responding. Cas could tell they were finally getting to the part that had Dean so freaked out.

"Well, for one thing, I didn't know how you would react. I'm not used to caring about being rejected. I get rejected by girls all the time. But I was afraid of you rejecting me." Dean looked like this conversation was getting a bit to girly for him. But he pressed on anyway. "The main thing though, is I have never been attracted to a man before Cas. This is unfamiliar territory for me. When I was getting ready to kiss you a minute ago, I had no idea if you even wanted me to. If you had been a girl, I would have been able to tell easily." Dean sounded frustrated and vulnerable in a way that Cas had never seen before. He let his forehead fall so that it rested against Castiel's. After a long moment of silence, Dean growled "Say something, Cas, please."

"I'm sorry, I'm just trying to process this. It's all very new to me as well. What did you call it? Unfamiliar territory? Well even though this unfamiliar for you, at least you have instincts you can follow. 'Unfamiliar' doesn't even begin to describe what this is for me." Cas' voice was low and unsure.

Dean's lips quirked up. "I think you have more instincts than you know." He whispered.

Dean was right. Cas reacted to an instinct that he didn't even know he had. He took Dean's face in his hands and pressed a kiss against his lips. It started as simple reassurance but slowly it turned deeper. Dean was pushing Cas against the car again, his lips parted Cas' and his tongue explored the angels mouth. Cas groaned in response and his hands found the belt loops in Dean's jeans and pulled him closer, rolling his hips against the hunter's. The tightness in his jeans felt amazing when pressed against Dean. Castiel pulled away yet again and Dean groaned in response and buried his face in the angels neck.

Gasping, Cas asked, "Dean, what the hell is happening to my body right now?"

"It's normal, Cas. I know it's probably weird but I promise it's normal." Dean's voice was muffled against Cas' throat, where he was kissing him. Cas tried to calm his breathing but the way Dean was kissing him made it very, very difficult.

"I'll take care of you Cas, I promise."

Dean's hand, which had been in Castiel's hair, moved down along his chest and stoped right above Cas' button on his jeans. Cas noticed that Dean's hand was shaking and he realized what Dean was planning on doing. He had spent enough time on Earth and around the Winchester's to know what came next. Dean was going to touch him. And he was nervous about it.

Cas gasped and said "Dean, you don't have to."

Dean froze. He pulled away from Cas and looked at his face. Dean was so uncertain it nearly broke Castiel's heart. Dean who was always so confident, was so unsure about himself in this moment.

"Do you not want me to?" Dean asked.

"It's not that. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. Also, we are on the side of the street and anyone could drive by." Cas pointed out, his voice gravely.

Dean looked at the street as if he had just remembered it was there. He stepped away from Cas and suddenly Cas regretted saying anything at all.

"Then let's go. It's about to get dark anyway and we need to find a motel."

Cas felt a bit dizzy at the idea of spending the night in a motel with Dean now. So much had changed in such a short time.

Dean looked at him and grinned as if guessing his thoughts. Then he leaned forward and kissed Cas. This one was not like the others. It was soft and slow. A promise of more to come.

Dean pulled away and stepped back from Cas again. He turned to the Impala, his gaze turning sour. "Is my car going to work now?" He asked accusingly. His irritated expression had returned.

"Yes", was all Cas managed to say.

"Good", Dean responded. Dean reached up towards Cas and he thought for a second that Dean was going to pull him in for another kiss, but then Cas felt the palm of Dean's hand smack him on the side of the head. Cas gaped at Dean.

"That was for my car." Dean said as he walked around the car to the drivers side door.

"Did you really just smack an Angel of the Lord on the head?" Cas asked amused.

Dean stopped and looked at Cas across the top of the car.

"Yep" he responded, "and if that 'Angel of the Lord' ever touches my baby again, I'll kick his ass."

Cas smiled. 'We'll see' he thought.