Roommates

Untitled Part 7

Sam arrived the next day, just in time for dinner. Dean and Castiel were up in Dean's room watching TV when they heard Mary calling to them.

"Sammy must be home," Dean said as he got up from the bed. "Come on and you can officially meet him. Last time wasn't really a proper introduction."

Castiel got up and followed Dean downstairs where Mary was fussing over her middle child, hugging him and kissing him like she hadn't seen him in a year, even though he only went to school two hours away. When Sam spotted his brother he grinned and pulled him into a hug.

"Hey, Sasquatch, how are ya?" Dean reached up to ruffle his brother's hair. Sam laughed and pushed his hand away.

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm good. Up to my ears in homework, but that's to be expected," Dean replied. Sam looked up to see Castiel watching him. It was with slightly less intensity than their first meeting. "Hey," he greeted him. Castiel smiled this time and nodded.

"Hello, Sam. It is nice to see you again."

"I'm gonna help Sammy bring his stuff up to his room. I'll be right back," Dean said. Castiel nodded.

"I'll wait in your room."

"He's staying in your room with you? Mom didn't put him up on the fold out couch?" Sam asked as they grabbed the bags and started up the stairs.

"Yeah, about that. Uh, I'm dating Cas now. He's not just my roommate anymore," Dean said as they deposited Sam's bags in his room.

"Holy shit, you're dating him?" Sam was genuinely surprised. "Are you guys like...having sex?"

Dean rolled his eyes. Leave it up to an eighteen-year-old to jump straight to sex. "No, not yet, and it's not because he doesn't want it, or because I don't. He's just not ready to take that step yet with me, and I'm cool with that."

"I thought he would be like Adam, not wanting to be touched and stuff," Sam shrugged.

"No, once he warms up to you, Cas is as normal as anyone else. He misses a few jokes here and there but he's really funny and really nice. And he's a nerd, like you. I think he might actually have read more books than you have," Dean said.

"I highly doubt that," Sam disagreed.

"Give him a chance. I think you'll really like him. And if he stares, don't take it personally. Sometimes he forgets to avert his gaze."

"He's in school to be a doctor too, right?" Sam asked.

"That would be why we're in medical school," Dean teased.

"Right, right. What kind of doctor is he going to be?"

"Pediatric oncologist," Dean replied.

"No shit. That's pretty cool." Sam was impressed.

"I found out why he stared so hard at you when we first met him." Dean said. Sam looked up from the bag he was digging in.

"Oh yeah? Cause that was kind of freaky, especially after what that guy down the hall said."

"Yeah, that was Aaron and I learned pretty quickly that he has a penchant for over exaggerating. It's cause your height intimidated him. It's funny because you're not all that much taller than me, but he'd never known anyone as tall as you and you were a stranger. He didn't know how to really react. After you left I talked to him a bit, but it took a few weeks before we really warmed up to one another. I think I really got under his skin and he was aggravating me too because of that, but we talked it out and then we realized we had stuff in common. More than just us both studying to be doctors. He's into comics and videogames, but we like the same movies, the same shows, the same books, and places to visit. We just fit together well," Dean explained.

"And you realized you liked him. Did you know he liked you too?" Sam sat down on his bed and waited to see how his brother would answer.

"The night I spoke to you, I went to that party with him. I kept reaching out to take his hand because he was so nervous. Parties are ok for him but strangers talking to him, that makes him nervous, and the party was packed. I thought he'd pull away but he didn't. He held on tight. Later we got to talking and I told him I liked him, and he told me he liked me too. We've been dating ever since."

"And...everything is normal? It's a normal relationship?" Sam was curious.

"Yes, Sam. There's nothing wrong with Cas, just like there's nothing wrong with you or me or Adam. A lot of people are on the spectrum. We just deal with shit and keep going. We all have quirks. It takes the right person to understand and accept them. I get Cas, and he gets me. I like him a lot." Dean started for the door. "Adam's over at his friend Jordan's, but he said when he gets home he wants to kick your ass at Resident Evil. You better be ready for it."

"Oh, he better be ready to get his butt kicked!" Sam cried. Dean laughed as he left his brother's room and crossed the hall to go into his own. Castiel was sprawled across the bed but he looked up, smiling when Dean walked in.

"Hello, handsome," he greeted his boyfriend. Dean smiled and laid out next to him.

"Hello yourself."

"I like your family, they're all very nice. I'm not sure Sam likes me though." Castiel turned on his side to face Dean and reached over to put a hand on his stomach. Dean covered the hand with both of his own.

"Nah, Sammy's just easily unnerved when people stare, and Aaron tried to scare us the day I moved in. Told us you were scary and had chased off your last roommate before we even got to the door. He had a misguided opinion of what you would be like. I, however, did not."

"I'll try not to stare." Castiel moved closer, curling into Dean's side and wrapping an arm around him.

"You can stare at me. I love your blue eyes." Dean kissed the tip of his nose and Castiel made a sound very close to giggling.

"I can't get enough of looking at you, Dean. You're so beautiful. I'm just glad my OCD isn't demanding that I count every single freckle I can see, though..." Castiel ran a hand up Dean's stomach to his chest, feeling how the muscles fluttered beneath his fingertips. "I would like a better look at the ones I can't see on a regular basis."

"You're getting better at the flirting. I....like it." Dean grinned and turned on his side to face Castiel.

"It's comfortable with you. I'm comfortable with you. And you're very attractive, Dean." He leaned in closer to kiss Dean, moaning as his boyfriend pulled him closer, rolling onto his back and pulling Castiel down on top of him.

"It's not fair, you making those kinds of noises. Teasing isn't nice." Dean kissed his way down Castiel's jaw to his neck, loving all of the sounds the man was making.

"I don't mean to tease you. I...think I'm ready...to do other stuff, other than kissing, but not here, not in your parents' house," Castiel said with a sigh. He loved when Dean kissed him like this.

"Mmm, I agree. We'll talk more about it when we get back to our dorm."

A knock at the door interrupted them. Dean sighed heavily as he got off the bed and went to see who was there.

"Hey honey, you have company." Mary was standing there and she smiled warmly at him.

"Charlie?" he asked. She chuckled.

"How'd you guess?"

"I'll be down in a minute. I'm sure she's enjoying a slice of pie and bugging Sam for the moment," he laughed.

"And you'd be right. I'll tell her you're coming down." She patted his cheek before walking away. He closed the door and turned around.

"Want to meet my other best friend?"

"Is it Charlie? I remember you telling me about her," Castiel asked as he got up from the bed.

"Yep. I'm warning you ahead of time, she's loud, she's obnoxious, and she's a bundle of energy, but she's into all of the same stuff we are. She's in school for computers." He took his boyfriend's hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it. "She's going to love you."

Castiel smiled. "I sure hope so."