BE WARNED. THIS A/N IS VERY LONG. BUT IT MUST BE READ. OR ELSE YOU WILL BE CONFUSED, AND I WILL BE ACUSED OF PLAGIRISM.

Hi. So. The other day, I was browsing some fluffy, adorable Dean/Cas fics. And I found this one on livejournel, by an author called liadan14. They are amazing. Look them up on LJ, and read everything they've ever written. It's gold. Anyway, she has this Supernatural/Princess Diaries AU/fusion fic. And I absolutely fell in love with it. I read it at least 8 times. And I wanted more. So, i searched the internets for similar crossover/fusions. And I was unsucsessful in finding any. So, I wrote my own. It borrows quite a fair bit from liadan14's original (which is called Tell Yourself It's Easy (And It's True)), becasue I loved their casting, and a number of her scenes worked for me, I just changed them up a little bit. Anyway, liadan14's fic kinda had it's own storyline. I stuck pretty close to the plot of the actual movie. Except the part where Mia goes to the beach with the jocks and cheerleaders. Cuz Cas totally wouldn't do that. So... I made up something else. But I won't tell you know and ruin the suprise ;)

So, long story short, THIS is my Supernatural/Princess Diaries fusion fic, with Cas playing the role of Mia, Dean as Michael (only not as boring and non-existant), Sam as Lily (only a guy), and Jess as Jerimaeih (only a chick... I messed around with genders a lot, lol). It's over 12,000 words, I finished it in two days, and it's my absolute favorite thing I've written to date.

WARNINGS

ALSO. Some general warnings: There is a LOT of swearing. Come on now guys. This is the cast of Supernatural. They're gonna put sailors to shame, even is this is a Disney fusion. And there is most definately boy kissing. LOTS AND LOTS of it. So... if SLASH is NOT your thing, leave now. This is a SLASH FIC. It's also my first one. I'm rather proud of it, seeing as how I'm so bad at writting gay p0rn. WHich is reference, by the way. In the second chapter. And it could be considered underaged (the characters are 17 & 18) depending where you live. I live in Canada. This is acceptable there. I apologise in advance if I offend anyone. ALSO. Genovia... not a real place. And I have no idea if the countries in the EU have no money. I thought that bit was funny. I used it. I'm not making any actual claims here. If anyone has any complaints, such as if you think the rating should be higher, or if I left something out in the Warning, please PM or review. I'll attend to it immediatly.

P.S. Here's a link to the fic by liadan14's fic. I HIGHLY recomend you read it. It's amazing... (and you know the drill, lose the spaces...)

http:/ / liadan14. livejournel .com /54593. html

DISCLAIMER: Yeesh, this one's gonna be a doozy... I DO NOT own Supernatural, or the Princess Diaries. The rights and ownership of those two mediums belong to Eric Kripke/The CW Network and Walt Disney Inc. respectively. I also do not own the idea for this fusion fic, that honor rests with the amazingly talented liadan14, who you should all go look up on LJ. I am not, have not, and will not profit in any way, shape or form from this fanfiction. It's just a creative outlet for my sad, lonely mind. ME NO OWN. YOU NO SUE. OR DELETE MY STORY, PLZ AND THX

"CASTIEL! Wake up, darling! You're going to be late!" Anna Thermopolis shouted up the winding stairwells of their renovated firehouse home. Cas groaned, and rolled out of bed. Not bothering with his hair, or a shave, he dressed in his school uniform half blind, then located his glasses in the cat house. Balthazar had a nasty habit of stealing them. Probably because they were shiny. Grabbing his tattered school bag, Cas slid down the fire pole, and obediently took the trash from his mom. Moving outside, he crashed his scooter in Mr. Shurley's trash cans, again.

"Sorry Mister Shurley." Cas said, tossing the bag in one of their brightly painted bins, "Have a nice day." He added.

"Not likely." Chuck muses, banging trash lids together for no apparent reason. He does that at least 5 times a week, so Cas ignores him in favor of beginning the long, mostly uphill, trek to school. He meets his best friend and fellow junior Sam Winchester about halfway. Sam wordlessly falling in sync with him, as is normal for them. The exchange a few words, but mostly scooter in silence.

Upon their arrival at their esteemed private school, Grove High, the usual is occurring before classes. Lilith, Meg and Ruby are creating ridiculous impromptu cheers on the top of the steps, super-douche captain of the football team Alistair is making an ass of himself. And Jess is waiting for them, sitting by the bike racks. Sam's whole face lights up. He's got it for her bad, but he's way to chicken to say anything. She follows them into the front door.

"Ready for debate today, Cas?" she asks. Castiel groans.

"Fuck you, Jess. I had just forgotten about it." He complained, running his hands through his hair, making it stick up even more.

"Relax Cas, you'll do fine. You always do." Sam says. Cas sighs.

"I know. But they have me going up against Meg Masters, so it's just going to be horrifically painful." Cas replies. Jess pats him on the shoulder affectionately. There's really nothing she or Sam can say. There's a pecking order in high school. They just happen to be at the bottom of it.

It is horrifically painful. Meg is wearing this tight, revealing, rather slinky ensemble. No one really cares about what she's talking about (the pros of private school), because the guys are too busy checking out her tits and the girls are too busy eye-rolling. Sam is snickering next to him, and Cas could care less. His interests lie on the complete opposite side of Meg and her… assets. It's not really a big secret that he's gay, but no one expect Sam and Jess really even know.

Once Meg is done prattling on about the same two points for ten minutes, she takes a bow, flashes way more of herself than Cas could be bothered to see, and takes a seat. Cas goes up, makes his points about why private schools suck (which is easy, because he hates them), and sits down. The jocks sniggered and threw shit around the whole time; the cheerleaders ignored him in favor of giggling at the jocks. His teacher, Mr. Milligan, paid attention and so did Sam. He really could have cared less. Though, judging by the weird frowning-constipated face Mr. Milligan has going on, something is about to come and bite Cas in the ass.

He tries really hard not to think about it.

Which lasts until after school, when he's at his part-time job, teaching people how to rock-climb.

It's never a good thing when his mother turns up at work.

"Castiel, there you are." His mom says, smiling. Cas has to smile back. He loves his mom. She's awesome. She raised him all by herself, and a made a name for herself in the art world at the same time. She's bad ass.

"Hey mom." Cas says with a smile, accepting a kiss on the cheek without complaint.

"Your grandfather called." Anna says mildly. Cas drops his pen in shock. Anna catches herself, "Oh, no! The alive one. Who lives in Genovia? He wants to see you. He's here in San Francisco." She added. Cas sighs.

"Really? The grandfather I've never met, and only know about from horror stories you've told me about him?" Cas asked. His mom sighs.

"I know, baby. I know. But he wants to talk to you about your dad. Get to know you a little." She says. Cas scrunches his nose up a bit at that, but concedes. He's to go visit his grandfather at the Genovian consulate in San Francisco after work. But, his mother is not yet finished bearing crappy news to Cas.

"Is that all?" he asks. Anna frowns at him.

"No, actually. You're debate teacher called." Cas groaned.

"Was it that bad?" he grumbles. Anna laughed, and attempts to smooth her son's hair down.

"Actually, no. He said it was great. But he wants to meet me and discuss your social skills." She replies. Cas groans.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Sorry dear." She says, shrugging. Cas rolls his eyes, and goes back to work.

Upon his arrival at the Genovian consulate, Cas is reprimanded for walking on the grass, breaks the nose off an expensive looking statue, and tracks dirt on the immaculate floors. All in less than five minutes of being there. He is showed outside, where he sits at a dainty little table, set for tea. A short while later, a man he vaguely recognizes from the one picture he has of him, strolls out onto the lawn. He's a lot shorter in person.

"Hiya there. You must be Castiel. You look very… young." He announces, plopping down in the chair opposite Cas. Cas blinks a few times, and nods.

"Yes. Hello, grandfather." He said politely. His grandfather snorts, and dumps six spoonful's of sugar in his tea.

"Please, kiddo, call me gramps. Or Gabe. Whatever," he replied, taking a sip. Then he pulls a letter-sized black box from his coat pocket, "For you." He adds, sliding it across the table to Cas. Cas opens it, and stares blankly.

"Thank you…?" he says, more out of courtesy than anything else.

"That is the Genovian national crest. It was mine from when I was just a bit older than you are, and your dads after me," Gabe says, and the thing grows a little on Cas as he takes it out of the box, "Now, tell me, what do you know about the Genovian throne?" Gabe asks, sipping from his excessively-sugared tea cup.

"Not much." Cas admits, easing the silver chain the crest hangs on around his neck.

"Well, currently, the country is being ruled by the dowager King, Gabriel Florian Alexi Renaldi." His grandfather continues.

Cas tries his damndest to look interested.

"That would be me." Gabe adds.

Castiel drops his teacup. It shatters.

"…What?" he stammers out.

"But seriously, call me Grandpa Gabe."

"But… that means…. My dad…. Me…. YOU… holy shit…" Cas babbles, attempting not to freak out as a smartly dressed server swoops in to clean up his destroyed tea cup.

"Whoa, calm down Castiel! Really, long story short, when your father died, it left you the only and rightful heir to the Genovian throne. 'S how it works." Gabriel continues, despite the fact that Cas is, like, 90% sure he stopped breathing.

He's a prince.

A FUCKING PRINCE.

The prince of some obscure little country, known for its pears and being the only member of the EU to have any actual money. He was going to pass out.

"Anyway, basically, all this really means is you can rule." Gabe adds. It's then that Cas's brain comes back online.

"Rule? I can't rule a country! I wouldn't know what to do! I hate monarchies! You don't even want me! I'm gay!" he blurts. Gabe laughs at that last one.

"Not really a big deal nowadays." He comments. Cas stares at him for 15 seconds without blinking, then does the only thing he can do. He bolts.

Castiel confronts his mother the second he gets home.

"You lied to me. For seventeen years!" he shouts the second he walks in the front door. Anna flinches.

"So I hear you're gay." She says, trying to sidetrack him. Cas scowls at her.

"Don't act like you couldn't already tell. What I'd like to know is why the hell you kept it a secret from me that my dad was a freaking prince! That I'M a prince! As if I wasn't enough a socially awkward freak! Let's add a fancy-ass tiara to the mix!" Cas shouts, stomping around the kitchen. Anna sighs, leaning against the counter.

"I thought I was doing the right thing." She finally says. Cas scoffs.

"The right thing for who?" he demanded.

"For all of us!" Anna insists, "If we, your father and I, secretly divorced, he would be free to marry a woman in Genovia who could produce heirs, and I'd be free to live my life with you! I mean, please, we met in collage! I was young, I wanted to paint! Can you see me walking one step behind someone for the rest of my life? With rules and regulations and the waving thing? I was scared!"
"Well, living with a mother who lied to me for seventeen years is scary too!" Cas fires back. Who the hell ever said he was bad at debate? Cas slammed down the orange he hadn't even realized he picked up, and moved to go upstairs.

"Where are you going?" Anna asks, following him.

"To straighten up the royal bedchambers!" he snarks, stomping up the winding stairwells. His mother follows, waiting for him to finish his bedtime routines before she starts talking again.

"After the divorce, we all discussed it. Your father and grandfather agreed to keep their distance, so you could have a chance at a normal childhood. Free of ridiculous emotional complications. We were going to tell you when you turned eighteen. But then, your father died, and things changed, Castiel. We were trying to protect you." Anna insists quietly.

"I don't feel protected." Cas replied, deadpan. Anna sighed, looking sad and tired. She walked out of Cas's door.

"Goodnight." She said, as she pulled it shut. Cas flopped down onto his bed. His cat crawled up next to him.

"Oh, Zaza. You're so lucky you have no idea who your parents are." Cas groaned.

"I've never ridden in a limo," Chuck Shurley mused, banging his trash lids together again, "Hey, Becky! You seen my notebook?" he shouts moving back into the house.

Cas almost vomits when he sees what's waiting for him in the kitchen that morning. His grandfather is there, talking to his mom.

"Oh, no. None of this, not again. I'm going back to bed!" Cas says, throwing his hands up and turning away.

"Castiel, please, the three of us have to talk." Anna pleads.

"Oh, okay. Is there anything else about me and my life I should know? Maybe a prophecy made at my birth saying I would become dictator of the world some day?" Cas snarks. Gabriel actually laughs at him.

"No. But you did have a very nice christening." The king snarks right back. Cas blinks at him.

"Yesterday… did not go well. Would you please just listen to you grandfather?" Anna pleads. Cas sighs, and turns his attentions to the man in question.

"Cassie, in a few weeks, we are having a ball. I was, and still am, hoping to present you to the press as our prince at that ball. You can have until then to decide if you want to accept the crown or not. But, let's face it, you're going to need some help," Gabe says, eyeing Cas up and down. "And it's not just me saying that. I speak for the entire Genovian parliament, and the royal family."

"And I speak for this family." His mother adds. Cas gives them a humorless laugh.

"Well, excuse me. I don't have a family, with either one of you, because you ignored me for seventeen years, and you lied to me for seventeen years. Families don't do that stuff to each other." He grouses, stomping out the front door. He promptly freezes. Gabriel catches up to him a moment later.

"Ah, I see you've met Crowley. Crowley, my grandson, Castiel." Gabe says, smiling fondly at the man dressed head to toe in black. Wearing sunglasses, and a gun. Standing in front of a limo. That has little Genovian flags on it. In front of Castiel's house.

"That's a limousine." Cas says stupidly.

"Ah, takes after his granddaddy." Crowley teases. Gabe scowls at him.

"This one is yours. It'll take you wherever you want to go." Gabriel adds, before hopping into the second limo and zooming off. Cas rather gracelessly stumbles into his limo, and tries not to feel horribly awkward during the ride. Though, he does ask Crowley to make a stop.

Sam's mouth is hanging open when Cas steps out of the limo parked in front of the Winchesters house.

"Umm, did I miss something? Are we… going to a wedding?" Sam asks, stupefied.

"No, school, actually. This is the surprise ride. And this is Crowley." Cas says, pointing to the creepy man in black. Cas denies Crowley when he tries to open the door form them, and insists he park a block away, so Cas doesn't look like a total freak when he gets to school. The day is painful; he suffers though gym, but feels a little better after talking to Sam on the way back to his place after school. He doesn't tell him about the whole stupid prince business, because, yeesh, just no. But it's nice to at least talk to someone about his dad, seeing as all those painful memories are being drudged up on him again.

That, and Cas knows that Sam's older brother, Dean is at Sam's house. And Cas has kinda sorta had the biggest most ridiculous crush on Dean Winchester since he realized he was into guys. The problem is, Dean never dates. Like, ever. Sam teases him relentlessly about it. So Cas has no idea if Dean even likes him. He's friendly enough, and actually rather attentive to Cas, but Cas isn't dumb enough to assume things that might not really be there.

"Hey, Cas." Dean greets with a smile when they walk in. Cas blushes just a smidge, and smiles right back.

"Hello, Dean." He replies. It kind of looks like Dean goes a little red too, but that's probably just the room. It's very warm.

"Another geek project, Sammy?" Dean teases. Sam scowls at him.

"Ever gonna get a date, Dean?" Sam shoots back. Dean definitely blushes this time, slinking away to the garage. They hear the sounds of a guitar strumming a few minutes later. Did Cas mention on top of Dean Winchester being incredibly sexy, he also can sing and play the guitar? And he's a mechanical genius. And basically perfect. But that's just Cas thinking.

They get their homework done, then Cas has to take off for his first day of what his mother (and Gabe) have unofficially dubbed 'prince training', which Cas thinks is beyond stupid. But he's not going to argue. The faster he gets it over with, the faster these people will get the hell out of his life.

At lessons, his grandfather insults all his clothes, his hair, his walking, sitting, posture, and basically everything about him. Then he corrects it. Cas kind of wants to scream. Or die.

When he gets home, his life gets worse.

"Hey, sweetheart?" his mother asks, trying to sound nonchalant.

"What mom?" Cas asks, from his position curled up in an armchair, reading.

"You know how I went to talk to your debate teacher, Mr. Milligan?" she continues. Cas's brow furrows.

"Yes…"

"Well, he's a very nice, employed, and not a tattooed or troubled man. And he asked me out. And I said yes." His mother replies. Cas closes the book on his face.

The next day isn't much better. Before the end of the school day, Cas sneaks off into the bathroom to change into his new 'grandfather approved' attire. It's mostly just the same as his school uniform, but a size tighter, and the slacks are black instead of navy blue, and his jacket lacks the school crest. He's miserably trying to flatten his disastrous hair when Dean Freaking Winchester opens the door and freezes. They both stare at each other for a long time, until Dean breaks the silence.

"Wow." He says. Cas winces.

"Is it that bad?" he asks. Dean shakes his head.

"No, no, good wow… you got a date?" he asks. Cas blanches.

"No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous Dean." He replied, returning to trying to fix his hair. He hears Dean snort something that vaguely sounds like 'not that ridiculous, Cas', and then Dean moves closer, easily prying the comb from Cas's suddenly limp fingers.

"Here. Let me…" he says, wetting the comb, careful not to drip on Cas's nice new shirt, and gently flattens down his unflattenable hair. Cas is mesmerized by both their closeness, and how gentle Dean is being with him. He can feel the callouses on Dean's work roughened hands, from all his engine repairing and playing the guitar so often. But he's so incredibly careful with Castiel, like he thinks he's going to break him. When Dean is finished, it takes him a while to remove his hands from Castiel's hair. They drop loosely by his side, and they stare at each other some more. Cas has always loved Dean's eyes. They tend to stare at one another a lot, so Cas has fallen rather in love with the mossy, perfect shade of green that Dean's eyes possess. Dean almost seems to be leaning in closer, when Castiel's phone rings shrilly. They both flinch, and Cas gives Dean an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry. I'm late. I… I'll see you tomorrow. Thanks." Cas adds, awkwardly putting a hand on Dean's arm, before basically running from the bathroom. When he gets to the limo a block away from school, Crowley is glaring at him.

"His Majesty does not like it if anyone other than himself is late." He grumps. Cas snorts.

"His Majesty clearly didn't attend regular high school." He replied. He swore he saw Crowley smirking in the rearview mirror.

Prince lessons, if possible, are even worse that day. First, Gabe ties him to a chair, and forces him to learn about silverware and how to eat properly at big fancy state dinners. Then they have dance lessons. And Gabe makes him dance with Crowley.

"Since you're gay, you'll have to learn both sets of steps. Both the lead and the follow. Never know who's going to ask you to dance." Gabriel prattles on as Cas and Crowley each take a turn in the lead position.

The dance lessons start off just awful, since Cas has two left feet, but then it gets better, and eventually, he can confidently both lead and follow. Then he is dismissed.

Though, as he's passing by the window looking into the room he was just in, he sees his grandfather in the arms of Crowley, the both of them staring rather reverently at each other, dancing the most beautiful, slightly erotic dance with one another. And suddenly, Cas understands why the whole gay revelation didn't really faze grandpa Gabe.

Cas feels awful as he blows Sam and Jess off for the second day in a row, running like a crazy person out of the school and to the Genovian consulate. He slides into the meeting room on his shiny black leather shoes. Gabe looks torn from being disapproving and impressed.

"You're late." He simply says. Cas sighs.

"Sorry."

"And where the hell is Azazel?" Gabe demands.

"Send in Zaza." Crowley barks into his mic. A creepy looking guy with almost yellow eyes burst into the room, flanked by two women in shiny pink dresses and big sunglasses.

"Bonjourno," Azazel drawls. Cas is finding it difficult to take him seriously, seeing is Zaza is what he calls his big fat lazy cat. Then they guy gestures to the women, "My assistants, Cassie and Lisa."

"Great, fantastic, thanks for coming." Gabe adds. It's obvious the guy is making him as uncomfortable as he's making Cas, and he hasn't even done anything yet.

"Your Majesty." Azazel says, getting this crazy look in his eye. He kneels down in front of Gabe, and starts excessively kissing his hand. Gabriel looks like he wants to puke. Crowley looks like he wants to punch the guy. Eventually, Gabe has to extract his hand.

"Let's not waste time. Let the 'art' or whatever begin." Gabriel says, rather diplomatically.

"Yes, of course, where is the handsome lad?" Azazel asks. Gabe gestures to Castiel, and when the guy turns around, he lets out this ridiculous scream.

"He… is handsome. Let us… take a closer look." He decides.

Which is how Cas ends up basically strapped to a chair, with his glasses crushed, his hair cut and styled like a fashion model, and his freaking eyebrows plucked. He wants to melt into the floor and die. At some point, Crowley left, and when he returned, he had this horribly smug look on his face, which kind of freaks Cas out a little bit. He also had a bag. With clothes. Clothes that probably cost more money than everything Castiel has ever spent money on in his entire life.

They stick him in this tight black t-shirt, designer jeans that are two sizes smaller than anything Cas would ever buy on his own, these black leather shoes things that he's pretty sure cost as much as Dean's car, and 'artfully' muss his hair one more time. Then he's presented to Gabriel. His grandfather's jaw actually drops.

"Well… I'll be dammed. There was a prince in there after all." He says. Then he smiles. And Cas can't help but feel a little proud.

However, when he returns home to find out that all his old clothes and uniforms have been replaced with 'Grandfather and Crowley Approved' versions (meaning tighter, more expensive versions), he returns to his previous state of just generally pissed at the world.

In an attempt to make up for ditching him yesterday, Cas has Crowley swing by Sam's place so they can pick him up. Dean is sitting out front, screwing around with something small and mechanical, when he spots the limo.

"Yo, Sammy! Car's here!" he shouts, hopping off the steps and strolling down to open the door. And then Cas is right there, in his new, one size tighter school uniform and new haircut. And Dean just stops in his tracks. And they stare at each other.

"Hi." Cas finally breaths, remembering the last time they were remotely alone together, in the bathroom at school. He blushes under Dean's rather dumbfounded expression.

"Dean, don't think you're always gonna get a ride with us… holy fuck. Who turned you into a douchebag pod person?" Sam gasps. Cas grimaces.

"Is it that bad?" he asks.

"You look ridiculous." Sam deadpans.

"Well, I know it's shorter… and the clothes are tighter..."

"It's weird." Sam decides.

"A very attractive weird." Dean decides. Cas's whole face turns red, and he and Sam bicker good naturedly about Cas's new 'preppy douchebag' appearance. But Cas can't get his mind off the way Dean was looking at him. Like he wanted Cas.

When they arrive at school, Sam is still badgering him about the new look. Finally, once Dean is walking away (after a rather, in Cas's opinion, heated look back at Cas), Cas snaps.

"You know what Sam? Just because you have that ridiculous floppy-ass brown hair and those stupid puppy eyes does not mean you can bitch about me!" he shouts. Sam looks really pissed.

"Whatever Cas. I know you're keeping something from Jess and me. You're not seriously going to stick to the 'my grandpa made me get a makeover' story." Sam rips back. Cas sighs, running his hands through his hair, returning it almost back to its previous, disastrous, pre-makeover state.

"Fine, fine! I'll tell you, just, ugh. It's so ridiculous," Cas groans, pulling Sam behind a tree, "Do you know what Genovia is?" he asks quietly. Sam frowns at him.

"Yeah. It's a really little country famous for pears and being the only member of the EU with actual money." He says. Cas sighs.

"Yeah, so, the crown prince was killed in a car crash two months ago." He says, and waits for Sam to get it. At first, he's giving Cas a first-rate bitchface of confusion, then Cas see's the light bulb go off behind Sam's eyes.

"Your dad died in a car accident in Genovia two months ago…" he whispers. Cas nods.

"Yeah, turns out he was kind of the heir to the throne. And since he's dead, that makes me rightful heir." Cas mutters.

"HOLY SHIT!" Sam exclaims Cas winces and shushes him.

"You can't tell anyone! It's literally a royal secret. Especially don't tell Dean." He adds. Sam raises an eyebrow at him, but doesn't comment. With Sam knowing Cas is about as straight as a slinky, it's easy to assume he's guessed what a ridiculously massive crush Cas has on his brother. But Sam, the awesome best friend he is, never says a word.

The whole day is just too weird for Cas to deal with. Jess gushes ridiculously over his new look. He catches Dean staring twice as much as usual. And people he doesn't even know randomly come up and say hello to him. And he swears to god, at one point, he's sure Lilith squeezed his ass while he was walking down the hall with Sam. Sam simply finds the whole thing extremely hilarious, especially since he now knows Cas is a prince, and most of the days proceedings are decidedly not-princely.

Last period, however, things start to look up.

Cas has a free study block that period today, and had intended to just go to his prince lessons earlier than usual, so he could be done them a quickly as possible. However, Dean catches him as he's coming out of the bathroom, changed into his 'Gabriel and Crowley Approved' attire.

"Hey, Cas! You busy?" he asks. Cas is about to answer yes, but Dean keeps on talking, "Because there's this new coffee place or whatever that opened down the street, and I was wondering if you wanted to, you know, go check it out." Dean adds quickly. Cas feels his face breaking into this enormous goofy grin, but he can't help himself.

"Yeah, sure, I'd love to. Just let me text someone quickly here…" he adds, notifying Crowley to come pick him up from the coffee place whenever he and Dean are finished.

They walk there in relative silence, bumping shoulders and occasionally brushing hands together. Cas grabs them a seat, and Dean gets the drinks. Once he returns, the comfortable silence becomes just a smidge awkward.

"So… how you been?" Dean finally asks. Cas shrugs.

"Alright, I guess. Stressed. And stupid busy. But alright." He replies, "How about you?" he asks. Dean grins.

"Things are starting to look up." He replies, hesitantly sliding his hand across the table, and laying it on top of Cas's. Cas blushes furiously, but glances up and gives Dean a smile. Dean grins back, squeezing Cas's hand and intertwining their fingers.

Yeah, things are definitely looking up.

And Cas is most certainly almost three hours late for prince lessons.

And he doesn't give a fuck, because he's pretty sure he's dating Dean Winchester.

The following morning, things get even better. Then they go to shit.

Cas is walking with Dean from the limo, up the block to school. Sam had spilled the entire contents his pencil case in the back of the limo, so now Crowley was supervising while he picked up every last little thing off the immaculate floors.

Dean's walking a little closer than he was yesterday, and their fingers bump even more often than before. He breaks the comfortable silence after a few minutes.

"So… my band is gonna be playing next Saturday." He says, not casually at all. Cas laughs a little.

"A real gig?" he asks, already knowing the answer. Dean blushes and shakes his head.

"No, just rehearsing some new music and stuff. You should come. We could have White Castle Burgers." Dean wheedles. Cas grins.

"Like a date?" he asks. Dean blushes and looks down.

"Maybe. If you want it to be." He replies. Cas hooks their fingers together for a moment before letting go.

"Sounds good to me." He replies. Then they hear Sam yelling.

"Wait up, wait for me! Not you, I don't even know you! Hello, guys!" he shouts. Dean and Cas pausing snickering as Sam runs up.

"Done cleaning, Sam?" Cas teases.

"Yes." He grumbles. Then they notice the chaos of students and reporters in from of the school.

"What's going on?" Cas wonders aloud.

"Dunno. Let's check it out." Sam replies. Jess appears at that moment, just as lost as the rest of them. Cas happens upon one of the dozens of reporters standing around outside the school.

"Hi, there, um, what's going on here? Who exactly are you waiting for?" he asks. Then Meg yells out from the top of the stairwell,

"Look, there he is! That's Castiel Thermopolis!" Cas's eyes double in size, and he sends a panicked look at Sam. The reporter lifts his camera right in Cas's face.

"We're waiting for you, prince!" he says, snapping a photo of Cas slack jawed and completely surprised.

"Cas!"

"Prince Castiel!"

"Your Highness!"

"Prince!"

"Castiel!"

A million voices are shouting at him, and Cas is panicking, being shoved away from Dean and Sam.

"Sam! Did you tell!" he yells helplessly. Sam is shaking his head.

"No! I never said anything!" he pleads. Cas is being slowly maneuvered up the stairwell when he catches what Dean says next.

"Why are they calling him prince?" Dean asks, and Cas's stomach just fucking drops. They just got together, kinda. Now this stupid royalty thing had fucked it all up.

As Cas is slowly being chased up the stairwell, Principal Frank Deveraux appears at his side, quickly rushing him into the building along with Mr. Milligan. He looks around in vain for Dean and Sam, and hears Lilith spewing some bullshit story about all the times Cas has supposedly taken her out on dates.

The next thing Cas knows, his sitting in front of Principal Deveraux's desk, the newspaper being shoved in his face. And his photo is on the front page.

"What?" he says weakly, snatching the paper away from the administrator.

"Our phones are ringing off the hook." He says solemnly.

"Cas," Mr. Milligan says from behind him, "Your mother's on her way." Cas nods slowly. This isn't happening. It can't be. Not like this.

And then the phone rings.

"Deveraux. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uuuhhhh-huh." He hangs up. "The King is coming." Is all he has to say on the matter. Cas wants to sink into the floor.

Gabriel storms into the office, looking more upset and worried than Cas has ever seen him. He takes one look at his grandson and starts ranting.

"What the hell? How did this happen? No one knew! Not a damn person in this fucking ridiculous American city knew that he was the prince. And somehow, it's on the front fucking page of the New York Times." He raves. Crowley puts a placating hand on his shoulder. Gabriel takes several deep breaths, and then accepts the tea Principal Deveraux hands him.

"I don't know who could have told, grandpa. I didn't…" Cas begins. Then one of the minor security guys bursts into the room. With Azazel. The hairdresser.

"Speak." Gabriel commands, in the most kingly voice Cas has ever heard him use.

"Your Majesty… it was I who told the press about the prince. I outed you," at the sharp looks he receives from almost everyone in the room, he backtracks a tad, "Not like that, I would never imply… But! Not for the money. Zaza hates money, he spits on money! There was no money. Well, there was some money, I mean each ring… the point is, it was pride, and ego that drove me to know that royalty would see one day the beauty was mine! The hair was mine! That I, Zaza Daemon, was responsible…!" Crowley cut him off. Gabe prissily gestured him out. Crowley took great pleasure in manhandling the hairstylist out of Principal Deveraux's office.

"…Well, shit." Frank finally says, breaking the tense silence. Gabriel sighed, yanking at his hair a little.

"Crowley, can you please show Principal Deveraux the security plans to ensure Castiel's safety?" he asked tiredly. Crowley grumbled his reply, and lead Frank from the office.

"You know, before all this, Cas was just a normal little kid…" Anna started saying.

"He was never normal," Gabriel replied, "He was born royal. We put up with press shit every day, and we'll do it again."

"You don't have to do this, you can get out of this whole thing, right now." Anna insists, taking ahold of Castiel's shoulders.

"Your mother is right, Castiel. We did have a deal." Cas sighed heavily.

"Alright, alright. I'll think about it. And let you know soon." Gabriel snorts at him.

"Such a diplomatic answer. Polite, but vague. You would make a fine Genovian Prince indeed."

Cas was most certainly hiding. He was up on the rooftop tennis court, perched under a big black umbrella, watching Crowley score a few too many one handed baskets. He sighed heavily. He hadn't seen Sam, or Dean, since this morning. Cas was freaking out just a lot.

"Holy fuck, finally! Cas!" Castiel whipped around at the sound of Sam's voice.

"Sam." He sighed, the tension draining out of his shoulders.

"Prince Cassie, you are officially the most popular being in school. Everyone wants to be your friend. Or creepily take your picture." He babbles.

"I hate that nickname, you know." Cas grumbles, joining Sam up on the bleachers.

"Yeah, yeah. But Jess made me this list of all the reasons you shouldn't have to be a prince. And she insists I read it to you. Number one, no privacy." Sam reads off.

"And isn't that the fucking truth." Cas sighs.

"Number two, you have to look like a pod person super douche all the time." Cas has to laugh at that one.

"And number three?" he enquires, then frowns when he sees Sam blush.

"Number three… how are you ever going to go on nice dates with my brother, if the whole world is stalking you?" he mutters finally. Cas is so shocked, he loses his footing on the slippery step and lands gracelessly on his ass on one of the bleachers. He and Sam stare wide-eyed at each other for a few seconds, and then they burst out laughing. Crowley comes over, mostly to make sure Castiel hasn't killed himself, then leaves them to it.

"What am I gonna do Sam? Is he mad?" Cas finally asks. Sam looks very uncomfortable, but being the awesome friend he is, still answers.

"No, he wasn't mad. More like so shocked he couldn't even speak. He doesn't think he's good enough for you." Sam answers. Cas gives a hollow laugh.

"As if. He's perfect." Cas says. Sam makes some spectacular fake gagging sounds.

"Dude. That's my brother." Sam retaliates. Cas snorts, then sighs.

"I wanted to be able to tell him. He shouldn't have found out like this." Cas mutters. Sam pats his shoulder.

"It'll turn out alright Cas. Trust me."

Even after all that ridiculous shit, Cas still somehow ends up roped into a horrible royal dinner party the same night as the big reveal. Which he manages to ruin rather epically by launching a grape in just the wrong direction. Thankfully, Gabriel thinks this is hilarious, and they spend the whole next day together. In that time, Cas really starts to see some of himself in Gabriel. Especially in his Grandpa's newfound love of White Castle Hamburgers and old school photo booths.