Blue Eyed Stranger [COMPLETE]

Chapter 17: What keeps Dean Winchester up at Night?

A/N: Abuse tw for the end of this chapter.

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Gabriel and Dean are in his office, huddled around his computer desk with a huge greasy box sat between them. The room is full with the smell of melted cheese, pepperoni and all sorts.

"So," Gabriel starts, chewing loudly. "I don't believe that you got your twink a job." He says excitedly. "When are we gonna chat about your twink?"

Shooting him an evil look, Dean scoffs.

"Or your non-twink," Gabriel corrects. "When are we gonna chat about your non-twink?" He rephrases.

"Mhm," Dean pretends to ponder. "Never."

Gabriel tuts. "Never?"

He gets a nod back. "Never."

Kicking his feet up onto Dean's desk, Gabriel rolls his eyes. "What about the fact that he's a non-twink?" He comments.

"Can you stop calling him that?" Dean asks.

"I would if you told me his name." Gabe pouts.

Scoffing at him, Dean looks away. "You can wait until Monday."

"Oh, a big reveal. I love it." Gabriel nods. "Come on, tell me something."

"Something?" Dean repeats his words.

"Yeah, you know, something about him." His eyes roll for the hundredth time. "Like what makes him so special?"

Dean winces at him. "I never said he was special." Although Cas is special, he's never told Gabriel that, and he sure as hell isn't about to.

"You ran after this guy into a park, in the pissing rain, chasing a cat. You unnecessarily found ways to talk to this guy, meet up with him, for no reason.  You stalked him on the internet. Oh, and you hadn't even slept together until last night." He says, narrating Dean's own life to him. "Which just makes it that bit more special."

"Oh, give me a break." Dean mutters.

"Nah. I mean it was enough seeing that boner of yours when ya walked into work this morning, so this guy must-"

"Don't even." Dean cuts in, high-pitched, trying to hide his embarrassment that Gabe caught on.

"I am just saying, this guy must be doing something right." Gabriel shrugs in an innocent manner. "But the cracker is, ya even got him a job here. You gave yourself another reason to see him, when you don't need to, not even remotely."

Dean makes an inaudible noise. "Yes, I do." He says, borderline irritable.

"Why?" Gabe simply asks.

"Because," Dean shrugs. "Because..."

"Because," Gabriel repeats. "Why?"

"Because," Dean replies, hearing that word enough to give him a headache. "I want to see him."

Obnoxiously chewing on his pizza, Gabriel leans back. "So what?"

"So, I need a reason to see him." Dean scowls at him as it's obvious.

"Dean," Gabriel cocks his head. "What is so wrong with just asking a guy out?"

That question hangs in the air longer than Dean would have liked it to, but he has no justifiable answer without it sounding like exactly what Gabriel wants to hear.

"Because... I'm," He murmurs, looking down at his pizza and not feeling hungry anymore. "I'm not..." He says again.

He looks to Gabriel, who knows he finds this hard. Despite being the most annoying colleague in the world, Gabriel is one of Dean's only friends. Although he tries not to dwell on it so much, Gabe's the only one who knows anything about his personal life. He's the only person he's ever spoken to about things that have gone on outside of work. He knows about Sammy, he knows about his shitty dad, he knows about the guys he's spent nights with. He knows about the things that he doesn't even let himself think about.