During his last hour Dean got a text from Lisa saying she wouldn't be able to come along with him and Michael after school. Dean sighed. For a moment he contemplated cancelling the whole thing but decided against it. Michael didn't deserve that. And after all Dean still liked the guy. As a friend.

But that didn't change the fact he got a very uncomfortable, tingly feeling every time he saw Michael. He wished Castiel had never told him how the other boy felt. He really shouldn't care this much but he did. Not about Michael being bisexual, hell he couldn't care less, but being the subject of it? It was just weird.

So when school ended, he was ready for even more awkward feelings.

Michael was already waiting for him at the parking lot, next to his car.

"Hi," Dean greeted him when he was within earshot. "Lisa couldn't make it, so it's just the two of us."

"That's too bad," Michael replied sympathetically.

"So what are we gonna do?"

Michael shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we can grab a bite first? At the Roadhouse?"

Dean couldn't help but grin. He'd told Michael how much he loved that place. "Don't need to say that twice."

"Want to take your car?"

"Sure," he answered and they got in.

They mainly spent the drive towards the diner in silence. Once in a while Michael would make some small remark but otherwise the only sound in the car was the Led Zeppelin music. Dean had expected it to be uncomfortable but surprisingly enough it wasn't, not really. It was as if they'd come to a silent agreement to just enjoy each other's company.

When they got to the Roadhouse, they were greeted by a smiling Ellen.

"Dean," she said. "Who's your friend?"

"Hi, I'm Michael," the older boy introduced himself while shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. I'm Ellen, Jo's mom. I've heard a lot about you."

Michael laughed. "Only the good stuff I hope."

"Sure thing, honey," she smiled and led them to a table. "You boys want to order now or should I come back later?"

"For me just the usual," Dean replied thankfully.

"Hadn't expected anything else." She looked at Michael. "What about you?"

After glancing a quick look at the menu Michael said, "I'll have the roast beef, bacon and cheddar sandwich please. And a coke."

"Alright, coming right up," Ellen smiled before leaving the two boys by themselves.

"So what's the usual?" Michael asked, curiosity clearly visible in his eyes.

Dean grinned. "Apple pie. What else?"

Michael rolled his eyes at him and mumbled he should have known. Dean couldn't help but laugh at him.

Ellen brought their food rather quickly and Dean dug in as if his life depended on it. Michael raised an eyebrow at him but apparently didn't bother mentioning it.

He then tried his sandwich and let out a satisfied moan. "Wow, this is good."

"I know, right?" Dean said through a mouth full of pie. "This place is awesome."

Michael laughed and continued eating. Dean sneakily glanced at him for a moment. Why had he ever thought this would be uncomfortable? Sure, at first he did think it was a little bit weird that Michael liked him, but now they were just hanging around together, it felt completely normal. They were friends, pretty good friends actually, even if they had only known each other for about a month. He wasn't going to give up on that for something so little.

Besides, he would get over Dean soon enough. If Michael wanted to, he could have plenty of admirers lying at his feet. He was handsome, kind and caring, honest and righteous. He knew what it was like to be a big brother, to be responsible for someone and Dean respected that above anything else. He didn't talk often about his brothers but when he did, his eyes lit up with pride. Dean knew what that was like. Michael was one of the best people he knew. Sure, he seemed a little reserved but Dean had come to know he was just being protective over his family. They actually had a lot in common now he'd thought of it. Obviously Dean was a bit more impulsive, shoot-first-ask-questions-later, that kinda thing, but he somehow liked it better that Michael compensated this with his calm, rational nature. They complemented each other. Maybe they would in fact be a nice couple. If Dean wouldn't be straight of course.

I mean, he's hypothetically definitely not unattractive, Dean thought while taking another bite of his pie. For a moment he allowed himself to imagine what a relationship with Michael would be like. Walking through the hallways at school together, having picnics in the park, they'd already done those things, but now Dean thought of them without all his other friends being there. Well, perhaps their brothers could join them, Sammy of course, Balthazar, Castiel, the tree guy whose name he'd already forgotten, maybe even Zachariah. He would like that actually. They were both way too serious for chick-flick moments, but occasionally they could do these little couply things like holding hands or giving a quick kiss. And of course the sex would be...

Dean choked on his pie and started coughing violently. Why the hell had he just thought that?! He didn't want sex with Michael!

He looked up again, back to feeling very, very uncomfortable. Jesus, he had been so preoccupied imagining them together, he hadn't even noticed Michael had started talking again. Well, at least he had been a couple of seconds ago. Now he just looked at Dean worriedly.

"Are you okay?" he asked with a frown.

"Yeah, peachy," Dean answered while taking a good mouthful of his soda and clearing his throat.

"Are you sure, 'cause you seem a little... disturbed."

Well, you'd be disturbed too if you had just been thinking about... "I'm fine, thanks."

Michael shrugged and finished his sandwich. "Alright."

"So..." Dean tried to continue the conversation. "You were saying?" Please don't tell me you love me.

"Well, so I do wanna apply to Harvard or Yale, nothing ventured, nothing gained, you know."

College. I can handle college.

"But even so, what program am I going to pick? I don't know what I want to do for the rest of my life. I thought about Religion for a while. Or maybe something in Economics. Do you know what you're going to do after finishing high school?"

Dean laughed. "Dude, I'd be surprised if I knew the day before I started college. I mean, I honestly don't even know if want to go to college."

"So what do you want to do?"

He thought about it for a moment before answering, "Well, I always loved cars. Or maybe I can become a carpenter or something. As long as I can work with my hands, you know."

Michael smiled at him. "Yeah, I can see that, you being practical."

Dean smiled back. Then caught himself and stopped. Then did it again so it wouldn't seem suspicious. I'm such an idiot...

"Dean, are you sure everything's alright?" Michael sighed. "You've been acting weird... well, all day actually."

And apparently he hadn't been subtle about it. "It's nothing, man," he lied. "Just a bad night of sleep. And with everything that's been going on lately..."

Michael nodded understandingly. "Of course, you're absolutely right. But hey, if you ever want to talk about it..."

He looked Dean straight in the eye and for a moment the Winchester thought he was going to put his hand on his or something like that. Luckily, he didn't. So why did he feel a sting of disappointment? Stop it, would you? He's your friend. For fuck's sake, get your shit together, Dean.

"Thanks," he answered with a smile that felt very unnatural.

"So where do you wanna go next?" Michael asked and Dean knew it was gonna be a long day.

After the Roadhouse they wandered around the city a little, talking, hanging around at random places. It was quite nice actually. Or at least it would have been if Dean had been able to shake the strange feeling in his gut. He tried, he really did. And there were moments when Michael had his full attention, but then he always started to worry about what that meant. He found himself unable to come up with a conclusion.

A couple of hours later they got back to the Impala and he offered to drop Michael off at home. He remembered his way to the Shurleys' house and when they got there, he was surprised by how normal it looked in the light of day. It was still huge of course, but it didn't look like a party castle anymore.

"Thanks for the ride," Michael said and unlocked his seat belt.

"Sure man, no problem," he grinned.

The other boy smiled back at him. "And thank you for today. I needed a break."

"Don't we all sometimes?" he said and looked at Michael. Their gazes locked and Dean was startled by the Shurley's eyes. How have I never noticed how beautiful they are?

Michael gave him a small smile before opening the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dean."

He had never driven home so fast.

Sam was nowhere to be found and on his kitchen table lay a note from his dad, saying he got another job. Great.

He got out his phone and started texting Charlie.

'Hey I need your help with something'

He got a reply only seconds later: 'Sure, what is it?'

'I need you to get me somebody's number'

She tried to find out why he wanted it for a while but after a lot of avoiding she dropped it and about half an hour later she sent him the number. He called it immediately.

"Hello?" a deep voice answered.

"Castiel, it's Dean Winchester. I need to talk to you."

~~~

SPOILER ALERT!!! DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED SEASON 13 YET! (like me) (again)

I really need to stop looking at the Wikipedia page, because I just read that Dean is going to kill Luci. *Sam's bitchface* You better have a good excuse Winchester, 'cause nobody touches my Devil! Ugh, I hate spoilers. And my life...

Tbh, I don't think I enjoy Supernatural as much without Lucifer in it (don't get me wrong, this show is my life but still). When he was in the Cage, I was also kinda flipping through the seasons to get him back.