SUPERNATURAL

I DIDN'T MEAN TO FALL IN LOVE, BUT I DID

Author's Note:

Pairing: Dean Winchester/Castiel

Title/Lyrics: A Lonely September by Plain White T's

Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to Erik Kripke. I own nothing but the plot and make no money from this story.

"And I didn't mean to meet you then, when we were just kids

And I didn't mean to give you chills the way that I kissed

And I didn't mean to fall in love, but I did

And you didn't mean to love me back, but I know you did"

'No, Sammy, like this.' Dean put the baseball back into his brother's hands, which were really, really small. Sammy was only two, and though he could grab onto most things, baseballs were a bit too big. Dean had trouble too, though, so he just patiently waited until his little brother had a firm grip. 'Now throw!'

Sam squealed as he tossed the ball and Jo laughed as she ran across the grass to collect it. Mary smiled as she bounced Sam gently on her lap, and even Ellen was chuckling when Jo scampered back with the ball.

'Good job, Sammy,' Dean grinned, the proudest big brother the adults had ever seen. 'When you're bigger I'll show you how to hold a bat, too.'

'And I'll pitch,' Jo declared, earning another grin from Dean.

'Yeah, and we'll play with Ash and Chuck and Victor, too,' he said, making Jo nod.

'Not Meg,' she said, scowling, and the two adults chuckled. Jo and Meg Masters had hated each other since they were four and Meg had thrown sand at Jo. It had been all out war since then.

'Whatever,' Dean said and took the ball from Jo. He was about to give it back to Sammy when something across the lawn caught his eye. Dean frowned and looked up. There was a boy standing on the pavement, head tilted as he watched the two families play. He was weird; he was wearing adult clothes, like the suits John and Uncle Bobby had to wear when they went to meetings or court or whatever other important business adults did. He even had a tie on! Dean had never seen a kid wear a tie, and the boy looked about his age.

Mary and Ellen had finally noticed the boy, and Jo frowned at him as Ellen stood.

'Are you lost, young man?' Ellen questioned as she approached.

The boy blinked at her. 'No.'

'Okay,' Ellen hummed. 'Where are you from?'

The boy didn't answer; he just pointed down the street, where Dean could see a large truck parked as well as a big SUV.

'Oh, you must have just moved in,' Ellen said with a kind smile. The boy nodded. 'I'm Ellen Harvelle-Singer, and that's my daughter, Jo.' She pointed at Jo, who waved briefly. 'Want to join us? We have cookies and pie.'

The boy nodded slowly and followed Ellen across the grass.

'I'm Mary,' Mary gave the boy a friendly smile, while Sammy made grabby-hands at the new person.

'I'm Castiel,' the boy answered. His eyes were on Dean, and Dean wasn't paying attention to the conversation. Castiel had pretty eyes. They were really, really blue; like the sky, or the sky reflecting off water, or the bubblegum that Bobby and John sometimes let him and Jo eat when they'd been good. His hair was messy and dark, almost black, and Dean wanted to touch it and see if it was as soft as it looked.

'That's my son, Dean,' Mary said when Dean failed to say anything.

Castiel blinked. 'Hello, Dean,' he said.

'Hi,' Dean murmured, suddenly feeling shy. He looked down at his shoes and Marry and Ellen looked at each other, slightly confused. Dean had always been an out-going boy.

Dean hesitated before grabbing his plate of half-eaten pie from the small table between Ellen and Mary. He finally looked back up at Castiel.

'Want some pie?'

Castiel smiled. He smiled brightly and took the plate and thanked Dean, all without taking his eyes off of Dean's.

Dean Winchester was six-years-old.

And he'd just fallen in love.

~DC~

'I don't understand why she keeps leaving notes in my locker,' Cas declared as he slammed the door shut.

Dean snickered. Cas wasn't much shorter than him, so when he rounded on Dean they were practically at eye-level. 'Oh come on, man; she's got a crush on you.'

Cas wrinkled his nose, which just made him that much more adorable in Dean's opinion. Christ, he'd been in love with his best friend since he was six, and it wasn't something that was going to go away any time soon. At least, Dean didn't think it was. He'd tried dating Lisa Braeden when he was fifteen, but they'd broken up a few weeks later. Lisa had cut into Dean's Cas time, and Dean had barely seen his friend over the four weeks he'd dated Lisa. It just wasn't something that Dean could handle; he had to hang out with Cas for at least three hours a day. Lisa hadn't understood that, so she'd had to go.

'I already told Meg that I'm not interested!' Cas fumed, throwing his hands in the air. Dean bit his lip this time, holding back the snicker. 'Besides,' Cas continued, adjusting his backpack, 'I already have a valentine.'

Dean almost choked on his tongue and Castiel frowned, head tilted as he looked at Dean in concern.

'Are you alright?'

'You-You have a what?' Dean spluttered.

'A valentine,' Cas repeated. 'Somebody to give my affection to on February 14th.'

Dean just stared, mouth hanging open.

'I already have a present planned,' Cas continued, apparently oblivious to Dean's state. Which was freaking the hell out.

In all the time that Dean had known him, Cas had never expressed an interest in anybody. He'd already come out to his friends and family over a year ago, but he'd never looked twice at any of the guys they went to school with. Dean had hoped that maybe- just maybe- Cas hadn't shown an interest in anyone because he was interested in Dean. Now Dean felt that hope snuff out.

'I'm going to go to his house after school, give him my present, and then tell him that I love him,' Cas said.

'Love?' Dean croaked.

'Mm-hmm,' Cas nodded, smiling when he looked back at Dean.

'How... how do you know he feels the same?' Dean asked.

Cas smirked. 'I know,' was all he said before turning and walking down the hall.

Dean followed. Slowly. His body felt like it weighed a tonne, and his feet dragged as he walked. He'd never felt this terrible in his life. He hoped his mom had pie.

~DC~

Dean slammed the front door shut and tossed his bag aside. It was February 14th and school had just finished, meaning that Cas would be packing up his present for his soon-to-be boyfriend and heading over to his house. Dean practically ripped the fridge open and hunted around for pie. He'd eaten half of the apple one Mary had baked yesterday, and was hoping to finish it off.

'What's wrong, sweetie?'

Dean jolted and turned. He hadn't noticed his mom when he'd stormed in, and offered her a small smile. 'Nothin',' he lied and grabbed the pie. He stuck it in the microwave to heat up and grabbed a fork, tapping it against his hand as he waited.

'This isn't nothing, Dean,' Mary said, waving at his body. 'What's wrong?'

'Nothin',' Dean shrugged again.

Mary pursed her lips before asking, 'Does this have anything to do with Cas' valentine?'

Dean jumped and turned wide eyes on his mother, who giggled. 'How'd you know?' he demanded.

'I overheard Cas talking to Sam about it a week ago,' Mary admitted. 'Apparently he wanted advice on what to give his crush.'

Dean scowled and crossed his arms, a pout tugging at his lips. Stupid Cas and his stupid boyfriend and his stupid present.

'Aren't you happy for Cas?' Mary questioned. 'He's finally found someone that he's interested in.'

'Yeah, it's fantastic,' Dean said, voice ripping with sarcasm. 'It's awesome and perfect and good for Cas!'

Mary out-right laughed when Dean threw his hands in the air, and then bit her lip when someone knocked on the door. She raised an eyebrow at Dean, who huffed and tossed his fork aside. Oh, this was going to be good, she thought with a smile.

Dean was grumbling under his breath as he answered the door. Sure, he wanted Cas to be happy, but he wanted Cas to be happy with him. Not some stupid boy who wouldn't understand Cas' quirks and call him a freak instead of realising that Cas was just awesomely weird. He wouldn't watch Doctor Who with Cas and read books with Cas and bake pie with Cas. No-one would ever be good enough for Dean's best friend. Hell, even Dean wasn't good enough, but at least he knew Cas the best!

Dean sighed and scrubbed at his face before opening the door-

- only to freeze, and then frown.

Cas was standing on his doorstep, a box in one hand, a bright red rose in the other. He smiled shyly and pushed his glasses back up with the hand that was holding the rose.

'Cas?' Dean gaped.

'Happy Valentine's Day, Dean,' Cas responded.

'What...' Dean trailed off, his mouth failing to work.

Cas huffed and carefully opened the box, which Dean recognised from The Roadhouse. Inside was an apple pie... or, two apple pies that had been cut up and rearranged to make a heart. Dean almost fell over.

'Cas?' he tried again.

Cas smiled. 'Will you, Dean Winchester, be my valentine?' he questioned.

Dean gaped a bit more. 'M-Me?' he stuttered.

'Yes, you!' Cas rolled his eyes and shoved the pie at Dean. Dean took it so it didn't fall, and there was no chance in hell he'd waste pie. Pie was the very best thing on the planet.

'Why do you think I've been staring at you for the past ten years, Dean?' Cas demanded. 'I've been in love with you since we met! And I kept waiting for you to make a move, 'cause you're Dean Winchester and you always go after what you want! You never did, so I had to take things into my own hands.'

Dean stared at him. Blinked. Stared a bit more. 'I'm your crush?' he finally asked.

'Yes,' Cas nodded.

'I'm who you were talking about at school yesterday?'

'Yes.'

'You... you...'

'I want you to be my boyfriend,' Cas finished for him.

Dean blinked. 'Really?'

'YES!' Cas shouted and rolled his eyes for good measure. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them, and tucked the rose into Dean's plaid pocket. He patted it once before grabbing Dean by the shirt and tugging him forward. 'Dean, will you be my valentine?' he repeated.

Dean gaped. 'Uh... y-yeah,' he finally stuttered.

Cas grinned. 'Excellent.' And then he kissed him. Dean grinned as he kissed him back, making Cas chuckle.

'Shut up,' Dean mumbled.

'Never,' Cas replied.

Dean Winchester was sixteen-years-old.

And he'd just fallen in love all over again.

"And I didn't mean for this to go as far as it did

And I didn't mean to get so close, and share what we did

And I didn't mean to fall in love, but I did

And you didn't mean to love me back, but I know you did"

– Tom Higgenson [Plain White T's]

{Fin}

Author's Note: No idea. I was listening to the song, and bam. So there we go; I hope it wasn't too bad :)

Cheers,

{IBegToDreamAndDiffer}