Time Will Tell

A Bad Breakup

Cas drummed his fingers nervously on the table, and held his coffee tightly. He'd put on a clean shirt - he had a bad habit of wearing the same clothes for ages - and washed his trench coat. His eyes scanned the room, looking for Dean. He had really liked Dean when he was younger. Now he felt strangely possessive, that he had to get Dean to move in with him before any other arrangement could be made to take his friend away again.

Unexpectedly, his heart leaped into his throat as he saw a stranger enter the cafe. Dean still looked like he had a kid, but taller, muscular and very handsome.

Cas waved his arm to catch Dean's attention.

"Hey! Dean!" He shouted, hoping his voice sounded relaxed and welcoming.

Dean turned at the noise and looked at him.

"Cas!" he called happily.

Cas noticed that his voice was extremely pleasant to listen to. He hoped Dean would talk a lot when they shared the flat.

"Hey man, it's been ages," Dean slapped Cas on the back as pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Yeah," Cas said, smiling and feeling like an idiot.

"Would you like to order?" Hannah had appeared at their table. "Another of the usual, Castiel?" She asked, winking.

"Yes please," Cas replied.

"A whiskey for me," Dean ordered cheerfully.

Hannah looked at the two of them, frowned, and disappeared.

Dean grinned. "Nice girl."

Cas groaned. "I'm just not interested," he sighed, "but I can't tell her. She'd be so upset." He thought of a way to change the subject. "I heard you were doing an apprenticeship somewhere."

"Yeah, I was working with my uncle," Dean replied. "Singer's Auto Repairs."

"Why did you leave?"

Dean's face fell. Uh-oh. Bad question.

"I had a bad breakup," Dean began slowly. "I was living with this chick called Lisa, and she figured that neither of us were aging, so she wanted to break up and find her soulmate or some crap." He blinked hard. "I said we could tell fate to go screw itself, but she wouldn't listen. I guess that finally gave me the incentive to come back and start my degree. Uncle Bobby was always telling me I should, but I wanted to stay with Lisa."

"I'm sorry," Cas said quietly. He wanted to comfort Dean, but thought Dean wouldn't appreciate it.

"It's probably for the best," Dean answered, accepting his whiskey from Hael and taking a long draught. "So, how're you going?"

"Good," Cas replied thoughtfully. "My course is very interesting."

"What are you studying?"

"History and modern languages," Cas said. "I was considering Fine Art, but I wanted to focus my efforts on one subject."

Dean huffed amusedly. "Nerd."

"What are you going to take?"

"Double in engineering science and mathematics."

"And I'm the nerd?"

Dean laughed out loud this time. "You look like a nerd."

Cas huffed indignantly. "I do not."

"Yeah you do. Anyway about sharing an apartment -,"

"You can move in right away," Cas said far too quickly, then cursed himself for sounding so enthusiastic.

Thankfully, Dean didn't look awkward. On the contrary, his eyes lit up.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed. "I haven't got a lot of stuff, so would it be too crazy if I could move in today? I don't want to couch surf at Sam's any longer than I have to."

"Of course," Cas replied, feeling a smile spread across his face. "I've still got some stuff to clear out of the spare room, but with your help that won't take long to clear away."

"Awesome," Dean said again. "I'll grab my bags and meet you at your place?"

"You know where I live?"

"I'm not a stalker, mate, Sam told me."