It was Monday morning already, and God knows Castiel was a serious student, as serious as they came anyway, but Mondays remained Mondays no matter what. He sighed, standing there, facing the mirror and trying his best to fix his hair- in vain.

Castiel was getting ready for his second week of school and despite the post-party euphoria being long gone already, he was still feeling pretty excited about it. The first week had consisted of pretty much nothing but receiving syllabus after syllabus and as interesting as it was to get an overview of what he would be studying all semester, he was now more than ready for the real thing to start.

The first thing he had had to worry about had been textbooks. They had received list upon list of reading materials for each and every class and he had already purchased most of the essential ones, planning on getting some serious reading done in preparation for in incoming classes. Castiel had already received his first one on that last Friday, freshly ordered from Amazon because, really, the campus bookstore prices had been simply outrageous. Two hundred dollars for a literature anthology... That had been ridiculous. He had walked out of the bookstore just as quickly as he had popped in, his face shocked, his eyes round and big as tennis balls and one of the store attendants had had pity on his poor soul, discretely letting a swift "buy it online- way cheaper" slip out. Ah, freshmen.

When it came to studies, he had always been called a serious, dedicated student in the past, both by his high school teachers and fellow classmates, though with any sort of resentment, and well, he could not say he particularly minded it. But the truth was simpler than that. He was merely interested in pretty much anything he got to study, really, just about anything, and that made going to school a lot more fun than it seemed to be for any of his classmates. He could only hope college would prove a similar experience..

He had not expected Friday's party at all though.

To be quite honest, he had been informed about it by the boy that lived in the room right across his, Gabriel, he remembered, on that very day. Their paths had crossed in the morning, when they both left for class. It had been around nine ten already and Castiel had been horribly worried about getting late for class, and while the other boy had seemed a lot more laid back about it, he had not seemed to mind when Castiel had literally run off after a short nod, a murmured "hello" in his direction along with a quick wave.

They had ended up meeting during lunch break, running into each other in the very middle of the Student Union Building. Well, more like, Gabriel had spotted him, then called him over, invited him to join his table where he was sat with another boy and a couple girls that Castiel had never seen before, not even around the dorm. They had all briefly greeted him then Gabriel had introduced them all rqther quickly and Castiel had barely caught the boy's name -Andy, or something of the like. Once everyone had been introduced, they all started eating again, Castiel included, and resumed their talk which revolved around a certain party.

The second Castiel had made the mistake of looking up, all eyes had been on him for a second, as Gabriel had proceeded to ask him if he was coming... and whether he had a date or not.

Castiel caught himself sighing as his thoughts drifted back to that day.

All in all, quite a lot of things had happened, and while he could not bring himself to regret any of it -especially not anything Dean related, not even the vomiting part-, he had ended up not getting any work done on that Saturday.

He was not used to college yet, college life and college customs, he was not even used to being around students and for that reason, he had to admit that his situation with Dean left him a little bit thoughtful. He did not know how conventional their way of meeting, of interacting was, he did not know whether or not he was supposed to tell anyone about it, but if he had to go by the way their Saturday morning had ended, well... Then it was probably going rather nicely.

Oh, who was he kidding. He had loved every second of it, awkwardness included. He had never had anything of the like with anyone in the past, and it was exhilarating. He suddenly realized he was just standing there in the middle of the room, smiling to himself like an idiot, and he mentally chastised himself and returned to packing his bag for the day.

Goodness, he could not even stop thinking about it, about their moment, and every time he did, he could feel his whole face heat up and all his motivation to get anything remotely serious done vanish.

So yeah, Saturday had been pretty amazing. He and Dean had eaten breakfast together in an empty kitchen basked in sunlight, for as expected, no one had been up yet. Dean had simply pampered him, taking out two bowls and filling them with cereals and milk, actual milk, then he had turned on the stove to boil some more milk, taken out some fruit out of the fridge and started peeing them and he just would not stop until Castiel found himself sitting there, at the table, with a full breakfast awaiting him, complete with steamy, wonderful hot cocoa, cut up pieces of apple, a glass of orange juice, those cereals from earlier and then there was bread on the table too, and more and Castiel just could not take it.

Dean had blushed when he had noticed Castiel's stunned expressions, and Castiel had felt like kissing it off of his face but he had held back, feeling sort of shy all of a sudden.

Dean had mumbled something about Castiel being a bit too scrawny anyway, before leaning into his side as he had started sipping on his very own hot cocoa, and okay, Castiel had felt insanely happy for one second, because he sure as hell was not scrawny, and Dean was definitely just treating him like a princess.

He had whispered a single 'thank you' before digging in, leaning back into Dean's side as he did so. Neither of them had pulled back when people started waking up and walking into the kitchen. Most of them had been outsiders to the fraternity house, just like him, and they had just waltzed in to chat a little and grab a cup of coffee before leaving to return to their own dorms.

At that point, Castiel had not had anything planned for the day yet, but as he saw them all leave the dorm, one after the other, he had started feeling like maybe, maybe he should leave as well. What if Dean had loads of things to do -heck, he probably did! What if he was just being sweet and overly nice, not telling him because he did not want to make him feel bad, not wanting to let him know that he had a thousand things planned for that afternoon and- oh goodness, what if Castiel was behaving as nothing but an insensitive, obnoxious guest while Dean was being a selfless, perfect host? As those thoughts had started crowding his head, he had panicked and, without so much as looking Dean in the eye, he had pretended to have some things to do in the afternoon -which was so untrue it was almost ridiculous, his only plans that far consisting in reading some of the materials he had received for his classes while listening to sappy music.

They had been sitting pretty close before he had opened that big mouth of his, Dean sipping on a cup of cocoa while leaning lightly against his shoulder, and the moment Castiel had stood up, the poor guy had struggled to put the cup down precipitately, choking down on his drink yet quickly grabbing Castiel's hand and asking him for his phone number. Which Castiel had given without thinking, pulling his phone out of his pocket, so nervous he had almost dropped it to the floor. They had both had that awkward little chuckle once they were done exchanging numbers, slowly looking up into each other's eyes.

When Castiel had eventually left, he had seen this random guy walk into the kitchen and stare at them both, then smirking at Dean with a knowing look.

Castiel had practically run out of the house at that point, his ears burning in embarrassment.

Oh, what on earth was he doing!

Castiel had been studying the whole day, and the day after that too, just reading non-stop, barely stopping for a sip of tea. He had found himself strangely missing the taste of cocoa, and he had been feeling the need for some caffeine in his system once he had reached his sixth hour of studying in a row, yet all he had found on his shelves was green tea.

To tell the truth, he had also felt too lazy, or too... too... too 'something' to do so much as take a step out of his room.

Having received yet another one of his books in his mailbox on that morning, though, he had been provided with the opportunity to study for all of his Monday classes, which had made him feel a little bit better about the whole thing. At least, he would be prepared.

He had not been able to stop himself from thinking about Dean all Saturday long though, which had undermined his studying quite a bit.

He had then been worrying about him all Sunday, wondering if the fact that he had not got a text by then was normal, if he should send one first, maybe, or if... Or if Dean was just not all that interested in him in the end.

Eventually he had remembered that he had only taken the time to take Dean's number and then promised to send him his own through a text.

He had realized that on Sunday night, right before going to bed and he had frozen right on the spot, feeling like an icecube the size of his head had been trying to make its way down his throat.

Shakily, he had taken his phone and typed a message, praying that it would not sound as awkward as he felt while writing it.

Dean,
I am so, so sorry, I completely forgot that I had yet to give you my phone number.
Here it is.
Sorry, I am not very good with phones.
Nor messages.

As no answer had come directly, he had bitten his bottom lip, then typed some more.

Well to be quite honest, my people skill are quite far from excellent as well.

He had pondered some more, before adding a quick "This is Castiel. Just FYI."

That night, he had tried to sleep for hours, and failed miserably.

And there he was, on that bright and wonderful Monday morning, heading out for class.

He met Gabriel once again as he exited his room, and they walked to the dining hall together to grab something to eat on their way to class. Castiel was definitely not used to New Mexico's weather nor to that crazy sun, pressing down hard on his skin, but he was quite glad to be away from his hometown and its chilly mornings.

It was not long before they started talking about Friday night's party and the way it had ended for both of them.

"I was wondering if you came at all, Cassie" -Castiel purposefully ignored the new nickname, musing that 'Cas' was much cuter, for some reason-, "see, I didn't see you at all on Friday night. Which could have mean one of two things. You either did not come," the boy started, watching Castiel's face intently, "...or you spend the whole evening in nice company, going all the way to heaven and back, again, and again, and again... if you see what I mean." Intense winking.

Castiel's mad blush was enough to tell Gabriel exactly what he wanted to know, and although he smile turned wolfish, quite surprisingly, he did not push the matter.

Instead, he chose to explain to his new friend how he had found himself a 'delicious' girl named Daisy and had got to "pick her little flower" against the biggest fridge in the kitchen, in a disturbingly high amount of details.

If Castiel found himself a little bit thrown off at first, he ended up laughing at Gabriel's jokes despite himself. Gabriel was funny, Castiel liked him.

They picked some breakfast on the way, cinnamon rolls, a couple pieces of toast and fresh melon in two little plastic cups, and right when Castiel was starting to think Gabriel had dropped the matter, the boy turned to him, his eyes squinty, his smile close to delirious.

"Alright, now come on. Who's the sweet babe who did the dirty with you, Cassie boy?"

Instantly, Castiel turned a bit shifty and unsure, biting his lips nervously.

"Um... I... I don't know if I should tell you..." He barely started, and Gabriel blinked then chuckled through a mouthful of cinnamon roll -which was kind of disgusting, and made Castiel realized that of all the things they had bought for breakfast, Gabriel had already eaten everything but the melon. He hurriedly shoved a few pieces in his mouth.

"Alright sweetheart, no worries, I won't tell anyone you gave your little flower to a boy, no worries."

That had Castiel choking on his melon. He let out a few strangled noises before Gabriel shook his head with a smirk.

"Ahh, entirely too predictable. Well, thank you for confirming it for me- but rest assured, Cassie, I really won't tell. I know how some people tend to react when you tell them you like dick- I really don't give a rat's ass, though, so you're fine. Now can I get a name?"

Castiel was still a bit surprised but, looking up to Gabriel, he pondered a bit and decided to trust him.

"Dean" he eventually whispered, "His name is Dean."

Gabriel almost spat the last bite of his cinnamon roll right there.

"Dean... that hot frat boy? Man, you know how to pick them."

Of course, there was a wink to go with that and Castiel was a bit embarrassed, for sure, but he also felt a bit of pride, for some reason, his cheeks burning hot all of a sudden. Well, Dean was hot...

They parted ways eventually and he headed for the Literature building, where he would be having his first class, Study of Literature, and he took out his phone to check the time... only to find a few messages from Dean, in response to his own. He opened them as fast as technology permitted it, and let out a strangled noise as he read them, his face turning bright red.

Hey Cas
Sorry, I saw your texts pretty late last night, didn't wanna reply and wake you up
Tbh I was getting kinda worried so, yeah...
Hope you're not feeling sick anymore

Oh goodness, Dean had replied.

And he was apparently still typing.

Without even checking the time, as he had initially intended to, Cas just got inside the building, walked to his class and sat in there without even giving a single look around himself, his eyes glued to his phone's screen.

Thank goodness, he was a bit early, which left him a bit of time to type a reply, as fast as he could.

I am so sorry, I should have remembered to text you, but I had honestly forgotten that you did not have my number, and I was not so sure whether or not it would be alright for me to text you first, and when would be a suitable moment so as not to sound overly clingy or desperate.
I am feeling very well.

He thought some more, chewed on his lips a little, then went on.

Despite all my vomiting, I really liked that night, Dean.

He was going to wait for an answer yet the professor chose that moment to walk in. Castiel was about to slide his phone back into the front pocket of his back when Dean's reply flashed on the screen.

God, are you always that cute, man?

He stared at the phone, his eyes wide, his cheeks beet red. Another reply came, and this time he held back a chuckle as he put the phone away properly

Yeah, you probably are. Anyway, you're welcome to come puke into my toilet any day, Cas ;)

The texting went on throughout the day, yet through much more punctual messages, as they were both busy with classes.

Castiel found himself bumping into Gabriel again around lunch time, both of them heading for the lobby area of the SUB once their morning classes were over.

This time, however, it was only the two of them. Castiel learned, to his dismay, that once Gabriel started talking, there was no stopping him. Not even with food, which appeared to be his one passion in life, because really, why should he stop talking to take a mouthful of anything when he could just talk through it?

Castiel had to admit listening to Gabriel's ranting was rather fun, as he learned about the sexual adventures of the whole campus, yet he also just couldn't take his phone out and type an answer right under his nose, which proved rather frustrating.

Dean turned rather quiet in the afternoon. Castiel assumed he had classes and he was simply busy studying, but he started worrying a bit when night time came and he still had not received a reply to his last message -sent out at five thirty nine.

He then found himself particularly idiotic for worrying over a late reply to a text from a boy he had met two days ago. He could not help it, though.

Around nine thirty, Castiel heard a familiar beeping sound that pulled him straight out of his studying daze.

Hey, Cas, I was wondering
How do you feel bout cookies in general?
Or more like right now?
Cause I just got a couple, and I uh, might have bought an extra one

By mistake

You know

Twenty minutes later, they were meeting by the tables in front of the main convenience store on campus, to eat cookies. Just like that.

Castiel had forgotten everything about classes and homework by the time Dean had chuckled at some of his silly blabbering and reached out to brush a piece of chocolate from the corner of his lips.

Heck, he had forgotten his own name, and he was starting to forget how to speak now, as a strangely not-so-awkward silence stretched between them. Dean was just looking him in the eye like he had on Saturday morning, before Castiel had left the fraternity house.

"...Thank you, Dean. For the cookie." Castiel mumbled eventually, then cursed himself for ending the 'moment'. He wanted to sound grateful, or cool, or heck, just plain happy, but apparently, around Dean, the only attitude he could pull off was 'socially challenged'.

Dean grinned nonetheless, his slightly flushed cheeks making him all the more charming. Castiel was glad that at least one of them was apt to show some emotion.

Eventually, Dean glanced down at his watch and sighed, his shoulders dropping.

"Man, it can't be that late already." He frowned, and so did Castiel as he realized two hours had passed. There was no way in the world they could have spent two hours just staring at each other's face while munching on cookies- no, ten minute tops, not two hours.

Dean must have been thinking the same, because the left corner of his mouth pulled up in a sort of half smirk that did things to Castiel's stomach.

"You must've used some of your mojo on me, Cas, cause I could have sworn we arrived here just ten minutes ago."

Oh goodness, he was perfect, Dean Winchester was perfect, and though Castiel wanted to voice it, all he could do was stand there, rigid, a stupidly happy and bashful smile on his face. Dean just chuckled again, then bumped into his side lightly, playfully.

"Now come on, babe. I'll walk you back, alright?"

Castiel learned the hard way that Dean was not only a very good flirt, he was also an absolutely gentleman -though the 'Vomit Incident' should have been a hint.

Indeed, as Dean walked him back to his door, once it was time to say goodbye, he just stood there, facing him, then leaned in a little, right into his personal space and Castiel found himself definitely not pulling back.

He expected a stolen kiss, but what he received instead was a soft nudge of Dean's nose against his cheek, and his insanely deep voice whispering right into his ear.

"Goodnight, Cas."

By the time Castiel trusted himself enough to open his eyes again without shuddering, screaming or vomiting all over the place, Dean was already walking away. He leaned against the door, shaking a little, and missed the way Dean looked back at him before he turned at the corner. He let out the breath he had been holding.

Dean Winchester, grade A gentleman.

And absolute, royal tease.

Hey guys!

Sorry, I made you wait a bit for this one, but it was worth it, wasn't it? I wanted it a bit longer than usual, and here we go!

Let me know if you're enjoying it this far! And let me know if I should brutally murder one of them in the next chapter- you know, for some added drama!

Love you, dears-