// Castiel

"Cas! Cas! "

Castiel turned around and saw Dean, Gabriel and a very tall man- he guessed that was Sam- all running towards him. He shielded his face and as if on cue, Dean flung himself onto the smaller man and pulled him into a tight hug. He could see the red on everyone's faces. He could see the color of Dean's hair and the color of his brown winter jacket.

"Get a room you two." Gabriel rolled his eyes.

Dean pulled away from him and smiled widely. "Hey, Cas." He returned the smile and tried to control his blush as he was certain that Dean could see it.

"Hello, Dean. I- "

"So you're Cas?" The tallest man asked. "Dean talks a lot about you. I'm Sam." He smiled and extended his hand towards Cas. "Dean's brother."

Castiel smiled and accepted the gesture, shaking Sam's hand, holding back from telling him how much Gabriel talks about him.

"It's very nice to meet you, Sam. I'm Gabriel's brother. I see you've already met?"

Sam smiled and nodded. "Yeah. That's actually why we're here."

Cas gave them a confused look and Dean wrapped his arm around his shoulder. "We're going on a double date!" Dean said cheerfully.

Castiel's life flashed before his eyes.

"D-Double date?!" He squeaked. "I don't understand. I'm not very good at socializing and- "

"Nonsense! This is just us getting to know each other's brothers better." Dean said, wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Besides, we socialize pretty well."

Castiel blushed at the comment and sighed, a small, visible cloud of breath escaping his mouth from the cold. "Are we going to the diner you took me?"

"What diner?" Gabriel asked, curiously. Sam turned to him and smiled.
"There's this really cool diner Dean and I go to a lot. I know some of the employees pretty well so there's also that."

"Do they give waffles?" Gabriel asked seriously. Sam nodded and Gabriel smiled widely. "I'm sold." The group laughed and began walking in the diner's direction.

Castiel watched as his brother did his best not to hold Sam's hand. He felt sorry for him. He felt selfish. He had a soulmate. His situation was working out. But Sam wasn't Gabriel's soulmate. Castiel felt so selfish. Dean moved to hold his hand and it only made Cas feel worse.

The diner wasn't too far but it was still freezing so they all walked huddled together, which meant Gabriel's shoulder was pressed against Sam's arm, which meant he could see color, which lead to him whispering things to Cas.

"Look at that sign, Cas! It's green! "

"You're scarf is orange."

"Look at the sky! It's fucking grey!  Wait...I usually see grey. But hey, I now know they sky is grey in winter."

"Have you seen Sam's eyes? Holy crap."

Castiel gave him a reassuring smile and elbowed his side if he was staring at Sam for too long.

Dean would occasionally glance at Cas and smile softly. He would hide his face in his scarf if he was caught.

"So, I see you have more than one scarf." Cas whispered. Dean looked back at him and smiled. "Yeah, Cas. I do. Why would I only have one scarf?"

Castiel tilted his head to the side in confusion. He had no scarfs- well now one- but he used to not have any. Dean's new scarf was black and had small white dots on it- like someone splattered paint on it. Cas like it a lot better than the orange one he was wearing but he assumed Dean had no idea what color it was when he first bought it.

Castiel sighed again and squeezed Dean's hand, smiling to himself. He wish he didn't have to leave. He should just tell Dean he could see color. But he's kept it secret for so long that telling him would just make it harder to let Dean go. He wanted Dean to be able to move on.

But could he move on without a soulmate?

"Here we are!" Dean said, snapping Cas out of his thoughts. Dean opened the door for them and they walked inside, thankful the diner had a heater. The group walked over to a booth next to a giant glass wall. They removed their scarfs and beanies, setting them in their laps. Dean removed his brown jacket and hung it on the top of the booth.

// Gabriel

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. Hey, Sam. I'll be your waitress for today." They girl smiled.

"Hey, Charlie." Sam waved. "You cut you're hair!"

Charlie laughed and ruffled her short red hair. "Yep. Just wanted a new look is all. You like?"

"You look great."

"I remember you two." Charlie said, pointing at Dean and Cas then she pointed at Gabriel. "But I don't know you."

"Oh this is Gabriel," Sam said. "He's a new friend of mine."

Gabriel waved at her and stared out the window.

"Nice to meet you." Charlie narrowed her eyes. "Now what'll you be having?"

Dean and Cas ordered the exact same burgers and milkshakes because why not. Sam also ordered a burger but less extreme than the first two along with a vanilla milkshake. Gabriel went all out with waffles and pancakes and a cherry soda.

Charlie finished writing their orders and placed the pen behind her ear. "I'll be back with your order soon, boys." She smiled and walked away.

"So...you know her pretty well, huh?" Gabriel asked Sam, narrowing his eyes at Charlie as she walked away.

Sam looked back at him and smiled widely. "Yep. She's one of my best friends. I usually help her scope other waitresses in different restaurants."

"Hmm...okay...are you telling me she's gay?"

"Yes. Very, gay."

Gabriel decided not to ask anymore questions. He didn't want to invade her privacy- no matter how curious he was. He chewed on his bottom lip and stared out the window again.

He did his best to ignore how much Dean was flirting with Cas. How happy they were- and Cas hadn't even told Dean they were soulmates! Gabriel gritted his teeth at how unfair it was. If he found his soulmate- he'd be so excited and happy to share it with the world. Not hide it like Cas-

"Here we go, your pancakes and waffles. Feel free to use any of the syrups to your left." Charlie said as she walked over to them with the plate on the palm of her hand.

"Here, I got it." Sam said, taking the plate. "Thanks." He turned to Gabriel and handed him his meal. Gabriel's fingers brushed the back of Sam's hand and he flinched as the color filled Sam's eyes. In the background he could see the different shades of pink that the diner was and how vibrant Charlie's hair was.

"Thank you..." Gabriel mumbled as he set the plate in front of him.

Yeah...if he found his soulmate, he would shout it to the entire city. Yet, he found Sam and didn't mention it to anyone...he was keeping it secret. That just proved how much he and Cas were alike.

Charlie had left, telling them she'd be back with their burgers.

Dean and Sam began to talk about something Gabriel didn't find interest in. He grabbed the strawberry jam from the containers to his left and spread it over his waffles. He wasn't sure what his brother was doing...probably just quietly listening to his soulmate and Sam.

He cut off a perfect triangle from the waffles with the right about of jam on it and bit it off his fork.

The taste was bland.

He hated it. Maybe the strawberry wasn't meant for the pancakes.

There was a loud crash and a baby started crying. Gabriel was snapped out of his thoughts and turned to stare at the mother who was doing her best to calm down her child. There was a broken plate on the floor.

"I got it! Someone please take my table!" Charlie yelled into the kitchen before running to the scene with a broom and lots of towels.

Castiel had gotten up to help the mother and Dean just followed him. Gabriel felt a sour taste in his mouth. Then his stomach dropped.

He had been left alone with Sam. His soulmate. Sam didn't know. It was unfair to both of them- maybe they could work things out. Maybe Sam didn't need to be his soulmate. They could be happy without the rules of society.

Gabriel slowly swallowed any lump of nervousness that was building up and tapped Sam on the shoulder.

Sam turned around and smiled at him.

"Yeah?"

Gabriel swallowed again. It wasn't working.

"There's something I...I need to tell you..." He began, looking down at the red leather seats.

"Yeah, shoot."

"Well I- "

"Phew! Sorry about all the commotion guys. Sometime these things just happen." Their new waitress sighed as she came up to them with two trays of food. Sam's head snapped back at he smiled at her. Gabriel's entire world shattered. Perfect moment, rUINed.

"It's no problem. My brother and his date are helping Charlie."

The girl nodded and began placing the burgers and drinks in front of Dean and Cas' empty seats and one in front of Sam.

"So I come here a lot and I've never seen you here?" Sam questioned. The girl looked at him and smiled.

"Yes, I started working here the day before yesterday. I'm Jessica. You can call me Jess." She extended a hand towards Sam to shake.

Sam took her hand and Jessica dropped the (thank god they were empty) trays she was holding. They clattered on the floor and caught the attention of a few people.

"You..." Sam whispered. Gabriel narrowed his eyes at them in confusion. At least that's what he made it seem like. He knew exactly what was happening but he pushed all behind denial.

"My soulmate?" Jessica continued, eyed wide. A few people in the diner caught on and began wolf-whistling at them. Gabriel had a front row view.

"How has it taken me this long to find you?" Sam said, standing up. Jessica just laughed and began talking, but Gabriel tuned her out. He tuned everything out.

He lost his appetite.

// Castiel

"There...everything's okay, little man." Dean said, patting the baby's head. Castiel smiled at the sight and in relief that he finally stopped crying.

"Thank you so much." The woman said, wiping her own tears away.

"It was no trouble at all." Cas said and nervously took Dean's hand.

"Okay you two lovebirds. Get back to your booth. I'm sure Jessica has already served your food. Don't want any bad reviews just cause you thought the food was cold." Charlie said, cleaning the last of the mess and pushing them away with the end of the broom.

They made their way back to their table and saw Sam waving one of the waitresses goodbye. He had a weird smile on his face. Castiel wasn't sure what it meant.

"Who was she ?" Dean asked, waggling his eyebrows at his brother.

Sam fell into his seat and sighed happily. "I finally found my soulmate."

Dean's hand flinched. They both took quick glances at Gabriel who was staring at his food, eyes wider than usual but deprived of the life they once had.

"A-And that would be...?" Dean continued.

"Jessica!" Sam practically shouted and Gabriel jumped. "The girl I was just talking to! She's new here and we introduced ourselves and shook hands and I fucking saw color! Her eyes were like this blue slash green color and her hair was blonde and oh my god."

Castiel smiled at Sam, showing his support but looked back at Gabriel. He had pushed his food far away from him, almost touching Dean's plate. He was staring out the window again. He wasn't sure if the scene would be worse in black and grey or in full color.

"Gabriel, what did you think of her?" Sam suddenly asked, turning to him.

Gabriel began tapping his index finger rapidly on the table, his jaw slack. "She seems great."

Sam seemed to notice something was wrong because he placed his hand on Gabriel's shoulder.

"Sorry, I totally forgot. You wanted to tell me something?"

Gabriel went still. "Oh it's nothing important. Just that these waffles suck. I think the strawberry jam messed them up or something I don't know. Maybe I should have used blueberry or just regular syrup- you know what? I have to go." He said. "Excuse me, Sam. I need to get by."

Sam stood up and let him out of the booth. "Where are you going? You didn't even eat."

"I just said I thought they sucked." He fished in his pocket and pulled out his wallet, placing money on the table. "There's my share and a tip for Charlie."

"But where are you going?" Sam asked again.

"Work." Lie. "Later." He said, placed his beanie really far down his head, zipped his jacket all the way up that it covered his mouth and walked out of the diner.

""I don't know about Gabriel but these waffles are so freaking good!" Dean said, his mouth full.

Castiel glared at him. Dean swallowed the food and chuckled nervously.

Sam spent the rest of their "double date" staring at Jessica. He left her a generous tip and his number.

Poor Gabe...

Thank you guys for 3K! YOU GUYS ROCK! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Also I haven't updated this since the beginning of 2016 and now we're like at the end. I suck at writing.

Any request to celebrate? Please message me if you do! It can literally be anything! A new book idea? More soulmate au ideas- regular au ideas.

Want me to write more often? Maybe write more in one chapter or a little less? Just message me and I'll try to fulfill your request.

School starts in a week for me. Sorry to all of you who already started it. And those who still have quite a good amount of time left- I envy you.

Ana •