"So, what's the real reason for you missing yesterday?" Sam asked, looking up from his lunch expectantly. Dean glanced down at the bench they were sitting at, ignoring the chatter of other college students as they passed over the campus sidewalk.

"I was drunk." Dean replied, taking a bite of the cheap fast food he had bought before he met up with Sam.

"Rough session?" Sam asked, leaning back and looking at the sky. Dean only pressed his lips together in a thin line.

"A bit. Hill pushed too hard again." Dean replied hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck with a frown on his face.

"I'm sorry, Dean. I really am." Sam replied, his own frown permeating his face.

"It's nothing, Sammy. I'm fine." Dean reassured, falling silent as he continued eating. He could feel Sam's stare and carefully avoided it, focusing on the bland food in his lap.

"What else happened?" Sam asked suspiciously, making Dean wince at his inability to his anything from his brother.

He put away his food, not really feeling hungry anymore. "I had an episode." Dean mumbled, his voice soft as he glanced at his brother almost guiltily.

Sam's eyes softened with realization and he pulled Dean into a one-armed hug with a soft sigh. "Did you get home alright, at least?" Sam asked, finally pulling away with concern in his eyes.

"No, Cas took me to his house for the night." Dean replied reassuringly, running his palms over his denim-covered thighs at the thought.

"Cas took you to his house?" Sam repeated, arching one eyebrow at Dean. "Did anything happen while you were there?"

Dean rolled his eyes as the mood turned into a lighter topic, shoving his brother with a good-natured groan. "Get you head out of the damn gutter, Sammy." Dean replied, shaking his head in his amusement. "No, nothing happened. We talked and ate breakfast and then I went home."

"If you're sure." Sam replied, his tone making it clear he didn't believe a word Dean said. "But even nothing happened, I think something should."

Dean furrowed his brows, staring at his brother. "What do you mean?" Dean asked, though he didn't get an answer as Sam bundled up his garbage before standing.

"Sorry Dean, we'll continue this later. I have some homework I need to finish before my next class." Sam replied, giving Dean a encouraging smile before walking away and leaving Dean in confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean sipped on a drink as he sat in the warm bar, careful not to repeat the same mistake he had made last time. Castiel was cleaning the counter beside him, despite it being spotless, with a watchful look in his eyes.

"Cats or dogs?" Dean asked, setting the drink down on the counter and meeting Castiel's stare with a smile. They had been playing this game for about an hour now, but Dean didn't mind. He got to learn a lot about Castiel this way.

"Cats" Castiel replied, glancing over as a customer called for him. "Answer when I get back. Bees or wasps?"

Dean wrinkled his nose as Castiel headed over to the customer. He had no idea what kind of question that was, but it still didn't beat 'cactus or grass' that Castiel had asked earlier.

"Bees." Dean announced as Castiel got back into hearing range. The bartender nodded in approvement, leaning on the counter.

"Cake or pie?"

"Cake." Castiel answered, only to arch on eyebrow when Dean let out a comical groan.

"Pie is so much better than cake." Dean explained with a grin, taking another sip and motioning for Castiel to give him another one. Castiel paused, thinking for several moments before his face lit up with a light dusting of pink across his cheeks.

"Want to go on a date or no?" Castiel asked, Dean's own blush following as soon as the question reached his ears. He choked on the drink that was going down, coughing hard and leaving his throat stinging with the effort as he flusteredly looked at Castiel.

"Ummm...Cas, I'm not really a guy you want to date." Dean replied, clearing his throat to get rid of the embarrassment he felt.

Castiel just tipped his head curiously. "Why not?" He asked innocently, making Dean looking away for a moment before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well...I'm not gay." Dean lied, trying to divert around the actual reason. Castiel snorted in obvious disbelief.

"Bullshit. I saw you checking out my ass the other morning." Castiel responded bluntly. "If it's because you have problems, I don't care. I want to date you for you and who you actually are behind all of it. You are a lot more charming and kind than you give yourself credit for, Dean."

"No, it's not that." Dean replied, though his heart skipped a beat at the words Castiel said. Nevertheless, his jaw clenched as Castiel stared at him with expectant eyes. His heart leaped to his throat, and he didn't think he would be able to do this.

"I don't want to fail you like I've failed every God-forsaken thing that I've cared about." Dean mumbled, clenching his hands into fists as he stared at the bar. It wasn't until Castiel's warm hand covered his that he slowly looked up, seeing the concern in the bartender's eyes.

"Failing is a product of trying, Dean." Castiel responded, his tone matter-of-factly. "But so is success. Isn't that worth trying for?"

Dean stared at him for several seconds, conflict creating turmoil in his stomach as he felt Castiel's thoughts made too much sense to him, or maybe he simply wanted to believe that he had a chance of happiness. Despite whatever it was, he couldn't stop the shy smile that began to make his way across his face, glancing down at the counter to hide the blush that was beginning to seep its way to his ears. "Do you want to date me that much?"

"Of course. I wouldn't have asked otherwise." Castiel responded, smiling. Dean finally sighed, draining the last of his drink as his heart urged him on with a quick and thudding beat.

"Fine. I'll go on a date with you." Dean replied, rolling his eyes to hide how hard he was trying to keep from cheering.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean stayed at the bar until almost two in the morning. He had just sat, planning over the date with Castiel. The bartender seemed so excited, and Dean couldn't help but catch onto the mood.

So when he told Castiel he was heading home, the bartender didn't even try to stop himself from leaning over and kissing Dean gently on the forehead. Dean left with his face bright red, but a smile straining his cheeks.