Cas pushed his astrophysics book across the table and dropped his head onto his arms with a sigh.

"How are you doing, buddy?" Dean asked sympathetically.

"Sometimes I think astronomy was a mistake," Cas said, lifting his head and letting it drop onto his arms again. Dean smiled at his friend.

"Oh don't be stupid, Cas, you love space. You've just got senioritis," he said. Cas sat back up and dragged his book back over.

"Did you ever wonder if you'd chosen the right major?" He asked.

"As soon as they told me I'd have to do advanced math," Dean said with a laugh. "But it's too late to change now. You'll be okay, you always have been. You're a genius, Cas." Cas smiled.

"Thanks, Dean. I have to say, I didn't take you for a mechanical engineer the first time I met you. Or any time after that," he said. Dean stood up, picking up his now empty bowl and putting it in the sink.

"It still shocks me, too. Especially when I show up to my classes. But I made it this far. Oh hey while I'm thinking about it, I have a date tonight," Dean said. Cas sighed and closed his book.

"Really? Again? C'mon, Dean, I have to study," he said. Dean grabbed a beer bottle out of the fridge and took a swig.

"Relax, I'll be quiet. Unless you're just protesting because you're jealous," Dean said with a smirk. Cas rolled his eyes and laughed.

"If you don't let that go, I'm going to have to kill you one of these days. It was a stupid crush, and I'm over it, okay? So deflate your ego," he said.

"What can I say, the ladies love me, the men love me... honestly, it's a shame God didn't make me bisexual. Denying me to the men was such a cruel move," Dean said, staring into the distance, a smile desperately trying to break through his stoic face. Cas stood up and pinched Dean on the arm.

"Just be quiet tonight, okay? Please? But thanks for waiting until we all had separate bedrooms to start bringing girls by, at least. Now I'll be in my room. See you tomorrow morning," Cas said. Dean just grinned and Cas headed into his room.

Cas settled into his chair at his desk and opened his book again, but he found his mind wandering. He had gotten over his crush on Dean back in the day, but it still hurt to see Dean bring all these girls home when Cas couldn't meet anyone even remotely interested in him. The last guy he'd dated was someone named Met in sophmore year, and that was a total disaster. Met had turned out to be a bit of a psycho.

Cas pushed his hand through his hair and tried to focus. He really wanted to finish this chapter today so that he could relax over the weekend. Cas heard someone walk in the door and start talking to Dean. It was probably Benny, he was over at Dean and Cas's apartment more often than not these days. It didn't bother Cas much, but he wondered how long Benny would be able to stay since Dean had a date. Dean was serious about his dates.

Cas realized that his mind was wandering again and refocused his efforts to studying. He'd thought enough about Dean when he was a freshman, he didn't need to pick the hobby back up now.

***

  The door to the apartment slammed closed and Cas jumped up from where he'd been napping after finishing his studying. Cas was about to go out into the living room - usually slamming doors meant bad date - when he heard a woman giggle and realized it was just a special occasion. Of course Dean had to wake Cas up, now he was getting hungry, but he really didn't want to deal with talking to a date. It was always easier when Cas didn't make his presence known. Cas rubbed his eyes and grabbed his phone, looking at the time. 9:40. This was going to be a long night.

  It took twenty minutes for Dean to move out of the living room, at which point Cas snuck out and grabbed some of Dean's leftover chicken curry and hurrying back into his room to watch Netflix until he could fall asleep again.

***

  As soon as Cas walked out of his room the next morning, he regretted it. The first thing he saw was a girl wearing one of Dean's band shirts and not much else.

  "Oh. Hi, uh... I guess you're Dean's roommate," the girl said. "I'm Diane." Cas nodded and smiled tensely.

  "Yeah, I'm Castiel. Dean's asleep, then?" Cas asked. Diane nodded. Cas sighed, deeply uncomfortable.

  "Do you... want coffee?" He asked. Diane shook her head.

  "Oh no, I don't want to intrude. I'll probably get going soon anyway," she said. Cas went about making himself some coffee, avoiding looking at Diane as much as possible. When he'd gotten up it hadn't occurred to him that Dean's one night stand might be out of Dean's room.

  "You aren't going to try to stay?" Cas asked. Diane laughed.

  "Oh no. I'm not so self obsessed that I think I'm what's been missing from Dean Winchester's life. I see this for exactly what it is," she said. Then just leave, there's no need to hang around.

  "Oh, okay." Cas turned back to Diane and tried to find somewhere to look that wasn't creepy.

  "Hey, you're gay, right?" Diane asked suddenly. Cas froze. Holy shit this girl doesn't know how small talk works.

  "Yeah, what's it to you?" Cas said, crossing his arms. Diane grinned.

  "I just - I have this really nice friend, his name is David, and-"

  "You want to set me up with him? Why?" Cas asked, his patience wearing thin. Diane blinked, clearly hurt.

  "Well I just thought-"

  "You thought wrong. I don't need the hand outs of my best friend's hook ups, okay? I'm not that pathetic," Cas said, grabbing his coffee and taking a swig, ignoring the fact that it didn't have cream or sugar. Diane looked offended.

  "Well fine then. I should go," she said.

  "Yeah, you probably should," Cas agreed. Diane headed back into Dean's room, slamming the door on the way in. Cas turned back to the counter, making himself some toast as he heard Dean and Diane talking in Dean's room. It was only a few minutes before Diane stalked out of the apartment.

  "So you met Diane," Dean commented after a few seconds of silence. Cas turned around, sighing in defeat.

  "This time it was her nice friend named David. This is the sixth time one of your dates has tried to set me up. Am I really that pathetic, Dean? Am I?" Cas asked, taking another angry swig of his coffee. Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes.

  "They mean well. Probably," he said. "I'm sorry that happened." Cas shook his head, not knowing what else to say.

  "Do you want coffee?" He asked eventually.

  "Dear god, yes. I got so hammered last night," Dean said. Cas chuckled.

  "Hey, you owe me for this, by the way. I see more excellently made food heading my way," Cas said as he passed Dean a cup of coffee. Dean took a swig.

  "You know, I was thinking, instead of forcing me to cook for you again, maybe I could give you a more long-lasting gift," Dean suggested.

  "Yeah? Like what?"

  "Well, you want to get guys, right?" Dean asked.

  "Yes... Dean, are you about to set me up?" Cas asked. Dean laughed.

  "No, I remember what happened last time I tried that, and it won't happen again. I was thinking I'd take you on a date myself," Dean said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Cas choked on his sip of coffee and spent the next few seconds coughing.

  "I'm sorry, you what?" Cas asked as soon as his coughing fit was over.

  "Well, you need a fun night out, and I figured I'd give you some tips. And if nothing else, I can show you what a good date is supposed to be like. C'mon Cas, whatdaya say? Go out and have some fun tonight?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows. Cas paused for a moment, thinking it over. He supposed it could be fun.

  "Okay, I guess. What time?" Cas asked. Dean winked.

  "I'll pick you up at 7:00," he said before heading back into his room. Cas rolled his eyes. He wasn't sure if this was actually a good idea, but he supposed there was only one way to find out.