Red Sky at Morning

Summary: Dean Winchester's life at twenty five isn't exactly what he expected; his brother's in the wind, his pro-surfing career is far behind him, and he has a steady job caring for the little penguins of Phillip Island. The peace in his life shatters when Dean meets Castiel, who is running from a past that he doesn't want to acknowledge, into a future that he knows cannot last. As things start to spiral out of control, Dean has to ask himself what really matters, and whether sailors were right – if a red sky at morning really does mean danger after all…

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Drug Use, Violence

March

The wind whips through Dean's hair as the buggy goes over a bump in the badly maintained fire trail. He leans back in the seat, keeping his eyes peeled for any wildlife that he could hit accidentally. He's already had to navigate over two different burrows, and he has no idea how the people he's following managed to avoid them, but he's grateful for it. The penguins inside would not have survived a car driving over them.

The summer heat is just beginning to seep away. The Australian summer doesn't impact the island as much because it's down south, but it still manages to make things uncomfortable. Dean wipes away a trickle of sweat that's threatening to run into his eye and blur his vision, cursing the inept tourists who had made their way to this part of the island, even though there's a clear 'No Entry' sign at the start of this track. The only reason the track exists is to make sure fire trucks could get out to this part of the island if the bush caught fire.

He catches a glimpse of the four-wheel drive as it crests the hill in front of him and then disappears. Dean growls softly to himself as he speeds up slightly, wanting to catch up as quickly as he could.

His phone starts ringing and he swears as he shoves his hand into his pocket and pulls it out, knowing that he shouldn't be using it while driving but needing to answer when he sees that it's Charlie's number.

"I'm still chasing these idiots," Dean opens with. Charlie sighs over the phone.

"We need you back here. Those people from the animal welfare group are here and they're demanding to see you."

"Tell them I'm busy doing actual work," Dean says, shoving the phone between his ear and shoulder to have both hands on the wheel.

"They're saying that they're going to stop people from coming in tonight and they're not going to move."

"Fuck," Dean mutters. "I'll get back as soon as I can, but I need to stop these guys first, okay?" The four wheel drive has stopped, and Dean can see two figures standing next to the car. As he gets closer, he sees that they're arguing over a map that's laid out over the hood. His jaw tightens in annoyance when he sees one walk around without looking at the ground at all, heedless of the burrows he could be stepping on.

"Okay, but hurry." Charlie disconnects the line and Dean shoves that problem to the back of his mind, needing to deal with these two idiots before thinking about the problems that awaited him back at the resort.

Dean throws the phone down on the seat next to him and stops the buggy, channelling his irritation at Charlie's information at the two men who are looking at him like they had had their hands caught in the cookie jar.

"Good evening," Dean says, fighting to keep his voice level. "Do you two know that this is a restricted area and that only rangers and the fire service are allowed on this road?"

One of the men takes a step forward. His hair is blonde, and when he speaks, it's with a British accent. "That's exactly what I was trying to tell Cassie. We're on the wrong road," he says, the second sentence obviously directed towards the good looking, dark haired man behind him. He looks disgruntled, and Dean doesn't know if that's because of the way the blonde man said his name, since he's willing to bet that it isn't 'Cassie,' or because he seems to have terrible navigation skills.

"I was certain that this was the right turn off," he says stubbornly. Dean sets his jaw and tries to breathe calmly.

"Well, it isn't. You two are in danger of destroying the native wildlife's homes and you could possibly kill a penguin if you stepped in the wrong place. This road goes through one of the more populated areas of the island, and it's a miracle that you haven't hurt anything. You both need to leave immediately." Dean is sure that his eyes are flat and hard by the time he's finished speaking, because both men are shifting uncomfortably, and neither are meeting his eyes.

"Very well," the dark haired one says, glancing up at him. Dean narrows his eyes slightly at the vibrant blue colour, but shakes it off quickly, trying not to notice his slim waist and tousled hair. "Balthazar, we should go."

Balthazar sighs and goes to walk back to the driver's side of the door. Dean sees the burrow a second too late, and his cry of warning comes a second before Balthazar's screech of alarm.

"Damn it," Dean mutters, rushing over to yank Balthazar's ankle out of the hole he had caused. There's a small chirp and Dean thrusts his hands into the loose soil, trying to find the penguin trapped inside. His fingers touch feathers and he gently grips the bird, pulling it out of the death trap its home had become. It's only a chick, and Dean hopes that its parents weren't in the burrow with it. He puts it down and reaches in again, trying to see if there are any other penguins inside. He has his arm in there up to the elbow, but he can't feel anything else, so he reluctantly pulls out and goes to grab one of the small penguin containers that he keeps for this exact reason. The penguin starts to freak out when he picks it up, but he only holds it for a second before depositing it inside the carrier and closing the lid, knowing that the dark would reassure the penguin.

He glares at Balthazar as he stands with the carrier in his hand. "And that is why you need to leave, before you manage to kill off our penguin population one chick at a time." Balthazar is sitting on the ground, rubbing his ankle with the other man crouched next to him. Dean fights the look of derision he knows is on his face. "All you need to do is follow me out. Surely you can accomplish that."

The two men nod, and the blue eyed man helps Balthazar up. Something in the touches they share sours Dean's mood further. It's obvious that they care deeply about one another, and it would be just his luck that any guy he finds attractive would already be taken. He shakes the thought out of his head. They were just tourists. He doubts he'll ever see either of them ever again.

Dean gets back into the buggy after making sure that neither of them step on any more burrows, turning it around and waiting for the others to do so as well. It takes them longer, and 'Cassie' is driving now.

He starts driving, taking the track that he knows doesn't have any burrows on it. When they get to the main road once more, the four-wheel drive drives off without thanks or even stopping to wave at him. The penguin sitting in the carrier behind him chirps, and he swears at the disappearing four wheel drive under his breath.

Fucking tourists.

Dean goes straight to one of the only veterinary clinics on the island. It's specially equipped to deal with the problems of the local wildlife, from wombats who had been hit by a car to penguins caught in fishing nets. It has everything needed to take care of the chick and Dean will give it to them to take care of before he has to go back to the resort and deal with the problems waiting for him there.

He pushes open the glass door that marks the entryway to the clinic and walks in. There are a few people in the waiting room at the front, all of whom look him over and then to the carrier he has in his hands. There's a large cage on the lap of one man, and the green parrot inside lets out a ridiculously loud squawk, making Dean wince and turn his head away from the piercing sound.

He knows the woman behind the counter, and he puts on a charming smile as he puts the carrier on the counter.

"Hey Jess," he says, smiling affectionately at the blonde woman. She smiles back at him and gestures towards the carrier on the bench.

"Hey there Dean. What have you got for me today?"

"Some dickheads were down on the fire trail that goes over to the south side of the island and one of them stepped on a burrow. I managed to pull this little guy out in time, but the burrow's gone, and there weren't any parents around."

Jess frowns at the box as the green parrot assaults his ears again. "Okay, we'll take him in. You heard from Sam?"

Dean feels his stomach clench as he shakes his head. Jess tightens her lips but nods sharply.

"Thanks Jess. You should come over on the weekend, yeah? I'll make dinner and we can catch up."

Jess shrugs slightly. "I'll call you if I'm free." Dean nods.

"Awesome. Look, I have to go. The animal welfare protesters are outside the resort again."

Jess shakes her head and sighs. "Seriously? I reckon they just took up a grudge against you."

"Charlie told me that they're demanding to see me, so they might have," Dean mutters. "Anyway, I'll see you later."

Jess calls out a goodbye that's lost in the bird screeching again. Dean pushes his way out of the clinic and gets back into the buggy, heading towards the outskirts of town and where the resort is. Phillip Island is small – Ellen never understood why John, and then Dean and Sam, wanted to live here. She had always said that Phillip Island was fifty k's south of Whoop Whoop, which wasn't exactly fair – Phillip Island was fifty k's south of Melbourne. It wasn't in the middle of nowhere. One of the biggest draws is the penguin season, where you can come and get up close and personal with the fairy penguins that call the island home. The protests had started last year but had really started gaining momentum over the last few weeks, causing Dean's work life to become a living nightmare. He has no idea what they're going to pull out of their pockets next.

He pulls up to the resort and parks in the spot near the entrance that is saved for the buggy that the rangers drive. He can see Charlie talking to several people with signs, obviously trying to keep calm, but Dean can see the tension in her drawn up shoulders.

"Hey," he calls out, successfully drawing their attention to him. Dean sees Charlie let out a silent sigh of relief as Dean is mobbed by protesters.

"Do you think it's right to take advantage of the penguins to make money for yourselves?"

"Do you think you could harm the penguins by doing this?"

"What happens to a penguin if a camera flash goes off near their eyes?"

"Hey!" Dean shouts. The people there all quiet, and Dean sees more than one phone pointed at him, probably recording. "The penguins are protected to the best of our ability, and the money that we make from the resort goes to funding the conservation projects in place. You know that our first priority is to the penguins and their health, and that you have no reason to be here, so get lost. Now!" He yells, when they don't move. They all scatter, and Dean runs a hand over his face before approaching Charlie slowly. The red head is standing near the entrance, and Dean can see the first visitors starting to approach, now that the mob of protestors are gone. As it gets later in the day and dusk approaches, more will come, until they are swarming with people who had come from all over the world to see the little penguins.

"Thanks," Charlie says. "How do you manage to do that?"

Dean shrugs. "They're just uni kids who are looking for something edgy to do. I'm sure it will die down eventually, but right now animal rights are the big thing, and they want to see something being done wrong close to home. They probably chose this place because of all the publicity and tourism that it gets. Probably hoping to make the paper."

"Probably," Charlie says. "Did you find those tourists?"

"Yeah," Dean nods. "One of them stepped on a burrow though."

"Oh no!" Charlie exclaims in dismay. "Were there any penguins inside?"

"I pulled out a chick, but couldn't feel any others. I already dropped it off to Jess, so the little guy should be completely fine."

Charlie nods, her faith in Jess complete. "Hey, are you sure she wouldn't mind being asked out? I know you said so, but you didn't really look convinced. I don't want things to get awkward."

Dean lets out a breath, thinking about his friend. "Jess needs to get out, even if it's only for one date. The last person…" Dean winces.

"Wasn't it Sam?" Charlie asks softly. Even though she doesn't know exactly what went down, she knows that Dean's brother is a sore spot. Charlie had been dealing with her own issues at the time, and after she had found the time to sit down with Dean again, everything had happened, and Dean wasn't really willing to talk about it.

"Yeah," Dean says gruffly. "It was. And she's still not over it, even though she hasn't seen Sam in nearly a year."

"And he still hasn't called?" Charlie ventures, looking worried.

"No," Dean says sharply. "And I think she needs distracting, so even if she says no when you ask her out, it might remind her that other people are out there." She needs to get over Sam, he wants to say, but he can't bring himself to say his brother's name.

"Okay," Charlie takes a deep breath, like she's steadying herself. "I'll talk to her. Thanks," she says, smiling at him.

The doors behind them open, and Dean looks over Charlie's shoulder to see Benny coming out of the resort. "Are you two done out here, or should the rest of us just keep slavin' away while you gossip?" He comments dryly, his accent curling around the words. Dean still isn't used to hearing the American accent, even though Benny has been here since before he was hired.

"We were just scattering the kids," Dean tells him. Benny snorts.

"They're still nosing around? I would've thought they'd be gone by now."

Dean shrugs. "I think they've got a vendetta against Dean," Charlie says. Benny's mouth twists into a smile.

"That they might. Charlie, you're on check out tonight, aren't you?"

Dean tries to hide his smile as Charlie nods. Benny is the highest person on the food chain around here. He answers to the foundations that they get charity from, as well as the government when they're asking about conservation efforts, but apart from that he generally manages to run things by himself. He's also the one who organises most of the shifts in the resort, and he would know that Charlie had check out tonight. He's just reminding her.

"I've got the Parade," Dean volunteers, and the other two glance at him.

"Good to know you're not completely useless," Benny says. Dean rolls his eyes, the sarcasm not getting past him, and Charlie chuckles.

Dean follows both of them inside, sighing as the air conditioning washes over him. There are a few people already in the gift shop, looking to get their souvenirs purchase before the Parade. It's a good idea, since there's usually at least a hundred people crammed into the shop after the Parade at this time of year. It's not as popular now as it is in December and January, but there are still a lot of people hanging around until early April.

Charlie goes over to open up her checkout, and Dean winds his way over to the lookout over the bay. The sun is setting, casting a golden glow over the ocean that echoes the fiery red in the sky. He's supervising the Parade tonight, but Adam is going to be actually speaking to the people who have gathered there. Dean will be there to make sure that everyone obeys the rules and doesn't do anything that could hurt the penguins. It is one of his favoured jobs, since he could enjoy being outside and watch the penguins while still getting paid.

He goes out to the boardwalk to start making his way down to the stands. Adam is already there, talking to some of the people who are already gathered. Garth is hovering near the front of the stands, looking out to sea as if he could see some penguins already. The sun is setting, so it probably wouldn't be long until the first penguins come out of the ocean.

Dean talks to some of the people who are standing near the edge of the railing closest to the ocean, telling them some of the history of the island and some facts that he knows Adam wouldn't be talking about in fifteen minutes. They're actively listening, but that changes when someone lets out a shout and Dean turns around to see one penguin near the breaking waves. He smiles, knowing that he had lost his audience, even though there wouldn't be any penguins coming out of the surf for a while. He walks over to the side where he starts directing people to sit in the stands, organising them so that they'll all have a good view of the beach. He can see the smaller platform of the Penguin Plus tour a few hundred metres away, out of the pool of light that the giant spot lights surrounding the stand bleed across the beach. They aren't on yet, but they would be soon.

The chattering slowly fades away as Adam starts talking, using the portable microphone to make sure that all of the people can hear him.

"Welcome to the Penguin Parade! Tonight you're going to see some of the wonders of Phillip Island, the little penguins, as they waddle up to their nests, full of food for their chicks. March is the end of their breeding season, and soon they're going to start moulting, which means that they'll stay holed up in their burrows, but luckily you're here early." There's a muted laugh, and Adam continues the speech that he's completed hundreds of times. Adam is usually the one that runs this part of the tour and everyone usually leaves him to it, Benny assigning him this shift regularly. Adam likes it, Dean knows that, even though he sometimes swaps out with someone if he's having dinner out.

As Adam talks, some penguins hop out of the waves, their captive audience muttering and pointing as each penguin appears. Dean smiles into the wind, lowering the sunglasses on his head and covering his eyes to stop the glare of the setting sun. He grins at the people sitting on the stand, letting his enjoyment of the time and place eclipse everything else in his head, his love of the ocean and the penguins in it bringing out a smile.

All too soon Adam finishes his spiel and the people crowd forward, trying to get as close to the penguins as they could. They wouldn't get too close here, since they aren't that close to the beach, but they could still see the small penguins. Dean's approached by a few people wanting to clarify a few facts, and he begins talking again, enjoying the small crowd he gathers far more than having to deal with the few hundred people all at once.

With the sun set, only the floodlights are lighting up the beach. Dean casts a look upwards, but the lights are drowning out the stars and he can't see the Southern Cross. There are less people around now, most going back up to the resort to avoid the mosquitos that are beginning to bite Dean. Garth nods at him, and after he finishes answering a question a woman had, he starts to slowly walk back up. Garth will make sure that no one tries to venture off the path and try for a one on one with a penguin. Adam goes up half an hour later, and Dean stays until there aren't any more people on the stands before going up the path, following the last people. By then it's nearly nine, and he goes up to turn off the floodlights after locking the gate that goes down to the grandstand.

Charlie flashes a smile at him from where she's still serving customers buying merch. Dean loiters in a corner, watching the people milling around the gift shop to make sure that nothing dodgy is going on. By the time the gift shop is ready to close, there are only a few people left, and Dean goes around to them to quietly tell them there's only five minutes left until they're closing. The buses have mostly left, and Dean watches the last one pull out of the large car park. He lets out a breath and turns to see Ash and Annie starting the clean-up. Charlie grins and walks over to him, hooking her arm around his.

"Ready to head home?"

Dean nods. "Yeah. You need a ride?"

"That'd be nice," Charlie tells him. They bid everyone goodnight and head out. His Jeep is resting in the place reserved for staff cars and he opens the door to slide in.

Charlie gets in the passenger seat, and looks over to him as he starts the engine. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

Tuesday and Wednesday are Dean's days off, and Wednesday's and Thursday's are Charlie's. "I'm not going to party too hard without you," Dean says, smiling slightly at his own joke.

Charlie sniffs at him. "You make fun of me, but then on my days off you blow me off! I swear Winchester, you never do anything fun with me."

Dean smiles at her when he pulls up outside her house. "We'll do something this week, I promise."

She stares at him. "That's what you always say," she tells him disapprovingly.

"I mean it," he says as she closes the door.

"You always say that as well!" She shouts after him as he pulls out onto the road. He winds down the window to wave back at her before heading out to his house. Charlie lives in Ventnor, and it only takes fifteen minutes for Dean to get to his house in Rhyll. His place is near the beach, and he sets his alarm to just before sunrise so he'd be on time in the morning.

He gets ready for bed and climbs in, tiredness from the day dragging at him. His eyes slip closed, and he falls asleep without any wayward thoughts coming to plague him and keep him from sleep.

Beep beep beep be –

Dean presses the snooze button on his alarm, blinking sleepily. He's only had about six hours of sleep, but that's a good night for him. He pushes back his sheet and slides out of bed, covering his mouth as he yawns. He eats some Nutri-Grain – the breakfast of champions – and piles everything he needs into the back of the Jeep. By the time he's sliding his surf board onto the rack on the Jeep's roof the sun is beginning to rise, tinting the sky orange.

When he arrives at Woolamai, the sun is up. He coats what skin isn't covered by his wetsuit in sunscreen before picking up his board and heading down the stairs to the beach. He feels himself start to relax at the feel of the sand under his toes and he waves to some of the people he recognises who are already on the beach.

His board is his pride. Swirling black and silver give way to intricate designs and patterns of pentagrams and symbols, feathers and runes. The initials DW and SW are carved near the tail fin, something done when Dean and Sam had been on better terms. His board is his soul, and the symbols on it all mean something to him, even if they don't to everyone else.

He lets out a breath before running into the water. The power of the ocean surges around him, and the wind is up, so that means that the waves are high and begging to be ridden. Dean obliges, making sure that no one else is around and trying to take the same wave as him before he starts paddling back towards shore.

He feels the wave catch the board and slides his hands back to stand, the motion practised and smooth. It's not a bad wave for the first one of the day, and he focuses on his balance, staying upright as the water rushes around him.

The freedom of the water surrounds him and he feels the stress from the week draining away, leaving him calm and collected. He leaves the beach just before eleven, the sand and waves filling up with people by then. He flicks water out of his hair and carefully slides his baby into her cover and then onto the rack on top of his jeep. He takes a minute to towel off before putting another towel on the driver's seat to soak up any extra water on the way back to his house. By the time he gets back he's basically dry, and the salt on his skin is starting to irritate him.

He takes his board inside and takes the time to wipe the salt and sand off her before storing her properly in the coolest part of his small house. With that done, he goes into his bathroom and strips off the wetsuit and gets into the shower. He sets the water temperature low and washes everything off, feeling refreshed and relaxed from his time out on the waves.

By the time he's put everything away from his morning's activities, he's starving. Dean opens the fridge to stare at the very bare essentials.

I could drink the milk, he thinks, only to look at the best before date and cringe. He tries to ignore the fact that he drank that milk this morning as he pours it down the sink and grabs his keys, resigned to a trip to Cowes for this week's shopping.

Because it is midday on a Tuesday, there's nearly no people around, and he enjoys a traffic free trip, even though there's not really much traffic on the island anyway. That's reserved for whenever he makes the journey into Melbourne.

He pulls into the Woolworths car park (Coles is for losers, in Dean's opinion, and Aldi is for the people who plan their shopping trips a few weeks in advance) and check that he has his list in his pocket.

He's walking down the aisles, putting things as needed into his trolley, when he spots him.

The dark haired man from yesterday – 'Cassie' – is standing in front of the two minute noodles, staring at two different cups in his hands seriously, like it's the most important choice he will make in his entire life. Dean can't help staring, eyes drawn down his body. It doesn't help that the man is wearing jeans that look two sizes too small for him, and the button up shirt he's wearing is vibrant blue. Dean can imagine it bringing out the colour of his eyes.

The man looks up, and Dean yanks his eyes away from him, grabbing the first thing his hand touches on the shelf next to him. It's a pack of Tim Tams, what the hell, Dean doesn't even like the biscuits. But he can't put them back now, because the man is walking over to him, still holding both noodle cups.

"Hello," he says, voice rough.

"Hi," Dean replies, not sure what to say.

The man seems to be waiting for more of a response than that, so he seems thrown off slightly. "Did you get the penguin that Balthazar stepped on to the vet?" He asks, after a few awkward seconds have passed.

"Yeah. I delivered it to Jess, so it should be fine now. As soon as she gives it the bill of health it'll go down to the Wildlife Clinic to be released back into the wild."

The man nods. "My name is Castiel," he introduces himself calmly.

"Dean," Dean offers back. Castiel nods slowly.

"I apologise, Dean, for what happened yesterday. I did not read the map correctly, and Balthazar and I became lost as a result of it. We were both worried about what would happen to the penguin."

Dean quirks his lips up in a short smile. "As long as you don't do it again, it's fine. We all make mistakes."

Cas nods. "But I am glad that the penguin will be okay." Dean feels his opinion of Cas rise slightly. Anyone who worries about penguins is someone who is probably an okay person. "Balthazar was complaining about his ankle, which is why I drove off without saying thank you for guiding us out."

Dean shrugs slightly. "It's fine. Is he alright?"

"He should be, but I have deemed that he should not walk on it, so he's quietly fuming at home." Something in Cas's eyes lights up lightly at that, and he huffs out a small laugh. "He doesn't like being restricted to his room."

Dean can understand that. "You staying long?" Dean asks, because he has the air of a tourist about him, and the way he's trying to decide between the noodle cups tells him that he's not here to stay.

"Balthazar and I are touring several countries, staying a few weeks in each. We still have a week here, but it's the last stop before we go home." Cas's expression darkens for a second before he shakes his head slightly.

"Like a romantic getaway," Dean says, before wanting to shoot himself. Christ, why had he said that?

Cas tilts his head. "Not really, since Balthazar is my brother. We both just wanted to get away from home after completing our degrees." Cas doesn't look like he wants to keep talking about it though, so Dean changes the subject, trying not to feel relieved that Cas and Balthazar aren't dating.

"Well, it's a good place to visit," Dean says. "I'm surprised you chose to come here though."

"Balthazar wanted to stay in Melbourne, but I wanted to go somewhere quieter, and I chose here."

"Have you been down to the Penguin Parade yet?" Dean asks, wanting to know if he had missed Cas in the press of people when he had been down there.

But he shakes his head. "Not yet. We were planning to go on Friday, but I think Balthazar wants to head home early. He twisted his ankle when he fell into the burrow, and he's already seen everything he had wanted to in Melbourne. I was the one who wanted to see all of the nature reserves here on the island."

"What tour?" Dean asks, only because he wants to make sure that Cas is getting the best experience. Yeah, that's the only reason. It has nothing to do with the curve of Cas's lips or the rumble of his voice.

"Penguin Plus, I believe," Cas says. Dean feels himself smile for a second.

"That's the best one." The general admission is for people who hadn't done their homework, and the viewing platform is for people who don't care about the penguins at all. The Plus tour is the best one. "I'm taking it on Friday," Dean hears himself say before he can stop himself. He tries to avoid the urge to hit himself on the head, because he has no idea who is scheduled for Friday and he has no idea if they'll swap with him.

"Oh," Cas says, obviously surprised. "I suppose I'll see you there."

Dean nods. "Yeah, I guess. See you then."

Cas goes back to looking at the different noodles and Dean takes his trolley and slowly leaves him standing there, not paying attention to any of the products surrounding him. He reaches for his phone and calls one of his more frequent contacts.

"Dean?" Charlie asks when he picks up. "I'm not meant to be talking on my phone at work."

"Can you check and see who's leading the Plus tour on Friday?" Dean asks. "Please?"

Charlie mutters but a few seconds later there's the rustle of paper being turned. "Annie's leading, with Caleb as the extra. Why?"

"Can you check with either of them to see if they'd swap with my shift on Friday? What is my shift on Friday?"

"Yours is… Lock up. Neither of them are going to want to swap with you on that."

"Shit," Dean mutters. "Charlie, I need to be on the Plus tour on Friday."

"Why?" Charlie asks, curious. "You never change your shifts around."

Dean doesn't say anything for a few seconds and Charlie sighs. "I can't help if I don't know what's going on, Dean."

"I met someone, and they said they were going on that tour on Friday and I said I was on it, even though I had no idea what I was on," Dean says. "I want to swap so it doesn't seem like I'm some sort of lying creep."

"Ahh," Charlie says knowingly. "So it's a date?"

"No," Dean says crossly. "It's not. I'm working, Charlie. I can't go on dates while I'm working."

"But our jobs are social," she adds. "It wouldn't be too weird if you were talking to just one customer all night. Tell me about them. Guy or girl?"

"Guy," Dean admits. "Look, can you make it happen?"

Charlie sucks in a breath. "The things I do for you…" She mutters. "Sure, I'll figure it out."

"Thanks," Dean sighs. "I appreciate it Charlie."

"You better. Look, I gotta get back to work."

"Course," Dean replies. "You should swing by tomorrow."

"I will," Charlie tells him, and hangs up. Dean lets out a breath and leans back on the heels of his feet. He's standing next to the cheese, and he picks up a block before continuing on.

For better or worse, he's seeing Cas again on Friday.

Charlie does come over on Wednesday night, and against his better judgement, Dean lets her break out the alcohol. She has crashed at his house before and probably will again tonight, so she's not worrying about what she's drinking. Instead she's using all her tricks to ply Dean with as much liquor as she can to get him to talk about Cas.

"I told you, nothing is happening," Dean says, carefully pronouncing the words so they don't slur. "I met him on the trail, and I happened to bump into him at the supermarket. End of story."

"But is he dreamy?" Charlie giggles, putting her head in her hands and attempting to look seriously at him. It's hilarious, and Dean starts laughing, Charlie joining in a few seconds later.

"Well, yeah," he finally says, and Charlie bounces up and down a bit before stopping and looking a bit woozy. "You feelin' okay?" Dean asks her.

"Yeah," she replies. "Fine, fine. So, is he in it for the sex, or what?"

Dean rolls his eyes. "Not everything is about sex, Charlie."

"Hey, I've never seen you date anyone in my life," Charlie says. "And before you say anything, Lisa does not count. You didn't date her, you banged her for three days straight. I wouldn't have minded that," Charlie mumbles, looking over Dean's shoulder, eyes unfocused.

"Whatever," Dean mutters, elbowing her. She shrieks and has to concentrate on her wine glass for a second to make sure that nothing spills, but nearly makes it worse when she over tips it one way and nearly pours it out the other side. Dean grabs her elbow and steadies her, and she flashes a smile at him.

"So is he?" She persists, and Dean sighs.

"I don't even know if he's into guys Charlie. I told you, it's not a date."

"Right," she drawls. "Whatever you say Dean."

"You're drunk," Dean accuses.

"So are you," she tries to say back, and Dean lifts his eyebrows.

"I am not. We both need to go to sleep. I have work in the morning, you know."

"Yeah, and I don't," Charlie says happily.

"Come on," Dean says, capping all the bottles and standing with their glasses in his hands. He winces as the room spins for a second and then settles down. Charlie pouts at him but goes into the bathroom anyway as Dean takes a minute to clean up and then follows her to brush his teeth. She has her own toiletries here and he has his own at her house, which is a testament to how much time they spend together.

"Fine," she says after rinsing. "We'll sleep."

"The spare room is made up," Dean tells her.

"Good," she says. "If your alarm wakes me up one more time I'm going to hit you."

Dean grins at her as she walks into the spare room and shuts the door. He turns out all the lights and makes sure all the doors are locked before turning in himself.

His alarm goes off too soon. Dean grumbles and moves reluctantly and doesn't turn it off until Charlie hits the wall a few times. Even then he lies in bed for another five minutes before getting up.

He gets ready and is about to leave when Charlie stumbles out of her bedroom. Her hair is in disarray and Dean fights the urge to take a photo. She glares at him and he smiles at her.

"Sleep well?" He asks innocently.

"Shut up Dean," she mutters. He laughs and picks up his keys from their hook near the door and heads outside.

He pulls up to the resort in time to see Benny finish telling some of the workers off. They're currently trying to build an add on to the resort where injured penguins could be held for a short amount of time, but just by looking at the machines that the building crew had brought, Dean can tell that nothing would start today. Once the workers walk off, Dean approaches Benny, who's still puffing with anger.

"They just don't get it, do they brother?" Benny huffs. "Look at what they brought! As if I'd let 'em work with that… Decent chance of killing one of the little guys before you even started working on their refuge. Wheels everywhere, loud machinery covering up any sounds. Do you know that I found a burrow under the back steps last night?" He shakes his head. "The little ones are everywhere."

"Don't sweat it too much Benny," Dean reassures him. "They should have brought their other stuff. You called about ten times to make sure that they knew they had to bring the smaller machines. It's on them, not you."

Benny sighs. "True, true. But still, the thought of it…" He shakes his head.

"Let's go inside," Dean suggests. They walk in together, and Dean feels the cool air run over him.
"You need anything?"

Benny goes to shake his head and then pauses. "Actually, I do need someone to drop off some penguins to the Wildlife Clinic. I think the guy that you dropped off to Jess is one of them."

Dean nods. "Yeah, I can do that. They're in the usual place?"

When Benny nods, Dean goes over to where they keep temporary animals. There are three large boxes, and Dean moves them one by one so the animals inside have no chance of being dropped or banged about too much. He doesn't put them in the boot of his Jeep, choosing instead to secure them in the back seat for the drive down the road to the Clinic, which only takes a minute. There, he unloads them and gives them over to Jo, who takes them all and smiles at him.

"Thanks Dean. We should have these guys back in the wild as soon as they've healed up. Except the chick, of course. He needs to grow up, but as soon as he can take care of himself, we'll let him go." Jo peeks into the box on top of the pile, and Dean grins at her. He'd known Jo before she'd started kindy, and as far as he could remember, she had always wanted to be a vet.

"Awesome," he tells her. A movement catches his eye, and he frowns slightly. "Have you got visitors in there?"

"Yeah, a few who can pay the money." Dean swallows slightly as he sees the dark shock of hair that can only belong to Cas. "They're mostly just rich people who want to see animals up and close and have no danger of them getting rowdy. Dean? What are you looking at?"

Dean takes his eyes off Cas, but not before the other man spots him. "Ah, I know one of the people," he tells Jo, who narrows her eyes at him.

"Which one?" She questions.

"That one," Dean points to Cas, who is making his way towards them.

"Hello Dean," Cas greets him.

"Hey Cas," Dean replies. Jo lifts an eyebrow at him, but he ignores it.

"What are you doing here?" Cas asks him.

"I work around here," Dean replies, and sees Cas flush slightly. "I'm just delivering some animals to get rehabilitated and then released into the wild. The chick that Balthazar stepped on is in here."

"Really?" Cas asks. "Can I see him?"

"He's freaking out a little in his box, so maybe if Jo says so when he's in a burrow," Dean replies.

"Speaking of, we need to get them inside," she says. Dean picks up one box, Jo takes another, and Cas picks up the last box, which has the penguin chick in it.

"Be careful with that," Jo warns, and Cas nods, his face serious.

"I would never drop a penguin."

"Good," she sniffs. "Come on then."

Dean follows her to where she lets the two adult penguins out into the same enclosure. One immediately goes and dives into the water, while the other huddles on the land, not moving much or looking interested in the fish that Jo throws it.

"Hmm, we might have to keep an eye on him," Jo says. "There's a special space for the chicks."

Jo brings them to a dark burrow, and slowly coaxes the chick out and into it. "We'll feed him carefully, so he doesn't get used to humans," Jo tells Cas. "We want to release him, so he can't be dependent on humans to get his food for him." Cas nods, taking in the information that Jo is giving him.

Jo takes them back to the tour and Cas re-joins them. Dean waves at him and Cas lingers for a second, staring at him, before following the rest of the group into the next room. Dean bites his lip and looks at the door until Jo elbows him. Dean glances at her and narrows his eyes at her smirk.

"So… how do you know him?" Jo asks him, smiling.

Dean shrugs. "I met him the other day."

"He's the only person in that group who I was actually interested in," Jo says. Dean feels a half moment of panic before she continues. "He's a vet, you know. Knows what we're doing here, and appreciates it."

"A vet?" Dean questions, looking to the doorway.

"Specialising in birdlife, I think," Jo muses. "He's interested in the penguins."

"Huh," Dean says. "Anyway, do you need anything that I can grab you?"

Jo shakes her head. "After that lot leave, there are only the usual things to do around here. You can go back up to the resort."

Dean tries not to feel a pang of disappointment that he wouldn't be hanging around, so he wouldn't get to see Cas again. He shakes it off and bids Jo goodbye before driving back up to the resort. The rest of the day goes past and he's on lockup, since Charlie had swapped him with Caleb's shift tonight to swap with him again tomorrow. He watches everyone leave and closes up all of the gates and turns the lights off in the resort. There are still the people in the animal section of the resort, but they're running on a different schedule to him and he's not responsible for them.

He's tired by the time he gets home. He kicks off his boots to land beside a few pairs of thongs and other work boots before he crashes immediately. He gets up too early and can't get back to sleep so he spends the time in the morning trying to get up the nerve to call Sam. He stares at the phone in his hand for half an hour before tucking it in his pocket when he leaves for work.

By the time he's organising the Plus tour with Annie, he's feeling the strain of the late night and early morning. Annie frowns at him when he yawns for the third time in as many minutes.

"You feeling okay Dean?" She asks, concern hidden under an amused smile.

"Yeah," Dean replies. "Just didn't get much sleep last night. I'm fine, really."

"Right," Annie drawls. "Whatever you say. Do you want to go down first, or can I?"

"I'll go down first," Dean volunteers. It would mean that he had to entertain the first people who arrived at the platform before Annie got there to talk to the gathered people, but he didn't want to miss out on Cas turning up.

"Alright," Annie agrees. "You should probably head down then."

"Okay, see you when you get there," Dean replies, and starts heading towards the door. When he sees Charlie coming to intercept him he resigns himself to an interrogation.

"Dean," she says seriously. "If you don't tell everything that happens tonight, I am never doing you another favour again. Remember, I had to arrange this."

Dean sighs. "Yeah, okay, fine. I'll tell you what happens, but I have to get down there now, or he'll be there before me."

Charlie steps out of his way and sweeps a hand towards the door, bowing dramatically. Dean smiles at her as he walks out, taking the boardwalk through the heather that would lead him down to the platform near the beach, which is where the Plus people would have a very good view of the penguins coming out of the sea.

When Dean gets down there, there is only an older couple already seated. He greets them and tells them that if they have any questions, they should ask him about anything. They nod, and Dean goes to the corner of the platform. He tries to keep his eyes on the sea or the hill next to him, but his eyes keep straying back to the boardwalk where people would enter. His phone buzzes in his pocket and he digs it out to look at the text.

He there yet? (7:06pm)

Dean looks up again, but no dark haired figure is walking down the hill to get to the Plus platform.

not yet (7:07pm)

Charlie doesn't respond immediately, so Dean puts his phone back in his pocket. More people trickle down until he would say they have all the people for the night, which is about thirty. Cas still isn't here.

He sees Annie walking down to start the tour, and Cas hurrying right behind her, a tan trench coat wrapped around his narrow frame that makes him seem bulkier. It makes Dean smile, the disappointment that had been building up in his chest disappearing in a few seconds.

As soon as Cas gets close enough, he flashes Dean a smile. He finds a seat near the front and to the right, where Dean's standing, and Dean tries not to notice him too much.

With the sun setting rapidly, Annie must see some penguins in the sea, because she starts talking, not using a microphone because of the small audience and because it can frighten some of the small sea birds. There are no lights on the Plus platform either, which makes it an attractive way for the penguins to get higher up the island.

Annie's words wash over him, and he nods along, not really paying attention. The reason that this platform is so good for viewing is because when it rains, the water drains off right next to where the boardwalk had been built, washing sand into the bottom of the water's trail. This meant that no large plants grow there, and there is a nice, gradual, sandy ascent that the penguins can easily manage to get up to the island's higher points if they live there. The rest of the coast is rough heather and steep hills and cliffs, so it is far harder for the penguins to climb upwards.

Dean hears a small chirp and leans over the railing slightly to look down. Near the pole that's keeping the boardwalk suspended above the ground, a small head pokes out of a burrow, obviously awaiting a parent to come back and feed it. He smiles softly and looks back to Cas, who's gaze is focused on him, not Annie or the diving penguins in the surf just out to sea that some of the others are talking about. Dean feels pinned under that gaze for a second before Cas moves it.

"As you can probably see, the little penguins are diving in the breakers as close as they can to land. That's because they don't want to attract any predators that are out in the deep sea, but they don't want to walk up to their burrows just yet, because they feel exposed in the light to other predators, like foxes. But because the sun is setting, they should be coming in soon. They like dusk, since that's when they can hide the best. If you have any other questions, you can ask me or Dean, who's standing in the corner there." Dean waves to the crowd and a few of the younger members wave back. Annie smiles at the group. "The penguins will probably be coming in soon, so keep an eye out, and have a good night."

As if her words summoned them, Dean can see the first wave of little penguins making their way from the beach to the sandy creek bed. The group crowds around the barrier, and Dean steps away from it so that they can get as close as they can to the penguins.

Annie nods at him and takes up a stance on the other side of the boardwalk, so they can cover as many questions as possible. Dean is immediately set upon by an older man who wants to know why the penguins choose this island as their nesting place. As soon as Dean's answered that question he has another, and another, and usually Dean wouldn't mind it at all, but he can see Cas hovering a few metres away, obviously wanting to talk to him.

He finally manages to dislodge the guy by suggesting that Annie has a better answer to one of his questions. The man moves over and begins drowning the older ranger in questions, and Dean breathes a sigh of relief.

Dean's eyes slowly drift back to Cas, who is smiling softly at him. Dean swallows and smiles back shyly, and Cas stands up and walks over to where he is.

"Hey," Cas greets him softly.

"Hey," Dean echoes, looking down at the other man. "How're you doing?"

Cas shrugs. "Pretty well. Balthazar went home already. His foot was bothering him."

"When's your flight out?" Dean asks, because he needs to know how long Cas is going to be staying, how long he'll be randomly bumping into him.

"Next Sunday," Cas tells him. Dean sighs quietly, and then nods.

"You see them?" Dean asks, nodding to the penguins who are making their way past them, waddling along happily. Cas comes up to join him at the barrier and looks down with him to see them walking past.

"They're smaller than I expected," Cas admits.

"Little penguins usually don't grow bigger than thirty-three centimetres. They're pretty tiny."

Cas snorts softly. "I'm still not used to everyone using metric measurements."

"Uh, they're about thirteen inches, I think?" Dean scrambles to convert it to American measurements, though he's not quite sure if he got it right.

"I didn't mean that it was a bad thing," Cas murmurs. "I prefer metric."

Dean huffs out a laugh. "Yeah, me too."

They stand in silence for a few minutes and watch the penguins. Dean tries not to notice the strength in Cas's lean figure or how good he smells in the night.

Dean asks one of the women standing near the barrier to put her camera away, and she does reluctantly. Dean keeps an eye on her, just in case she whips it out again.

"Do you enjoy living here?" Cas asks him. Dean looks at him, trying to figure out what he means.

"It's good. I have the sea and the penguins and my job. Friends and the city is nearby if you want to head in while still getting the ruralish vibe from this place. I like it."

"Hmm," Cas hums.

"Why?" Dean asks.

Cas looks away, and Dean thinks that he might not want to answer that. "I'm looking to move from the States to somewhere else. It is one of the reasons I started this. I wanted to get away."

Dean doesn't ask what Cas wanted to get away from, instead brushing up against him gently, wanting to comfort him but not really knowing how to. Some of the tension leaks out of his frame, and Dean is thankful that's he's useful enough for that, at least.

Cas looks up at him, and Dean feels himself get locked up in Cas's eyes. God, what is he even doing with this guy? He has no idea if Cas is interested or not, and Dean doesn't know what he's even doing –

"Dean?" Cas asks.

"Yeah?" Dean answers.

Cas licks his lips, and Dean follows the movement involuntarily. "Do you mind… this?"

"Excuse me?" Dean asks.

Cas blushes slightly. "Do you mind us… meeting up like this?"

Dean stares at him for a few seconds before he realises that Cas is asking him if he wants to continue on their strange acquaintances-to-maybe-more-than-acquaintances. He swallows before he answers.

"Nah," Dean mutters, rubbing his hands over his arms where the cooling night air is giving him goose bumps. "I don't mind it at all."

"Oh," Cas says, and Dean is rewarded with what he thinks is Cas's first, genuine smile directed towards him. Dean immediately wants more smiles like that, and it fades far too quickly for his tastes. "Well, I don't mind it either."

"That's good," Dean tells him. They fall silent again, and Dean feels it out. It's not often that he finds someone that he can be silent with. He generally feels the need to be loud, to fill the spaces in the air with his words. He doesn't need to do that with Cas, and it's making him far more comfortable than if it were with any other person. He feels like they've known each other for longer than they have, and it's kind of weirding him out.

Cas doesn't leave. They talk while the other customers leave slowly, and Annie looks over at him when everyone else is gone and it's only the three of them on the boardwalk. Dean nods at her to go, and she does, casting one last look back at them before continuing. Dean is so caught up in Cas and what he's saying that he doesn't notice the time ticking by, and when the lights on the boardwalk and the floodlights on the other side of the beach turn off, he's left disorientated.

"Dean?" Cas asks, alarmed. Dean takes a step forward and runs into him, Cas's forehead bouncing against his nose.

"Ugh," Dean grunts.

"Sorry," Cas apologises, and Dean waves it off, before realising that the other man wouldn't be able to see that.

"It's fine," Dean replies. "Sorry, I didn't keep track of the time. Annie must have turned the lights off."

"It's dark," Cas says, and Dean smiles.

"It's night. But it won't be dark for long."

"What do you mean?" Cas asks. Dean fumbles around in the dark until he finds Cas's arm, and then hesitantly takes his hand. Cas doesn't say anything, and he doesn't pull away, so Dean counts that as a win.

"Wait a minute and you'll get it," Dean responds. He runs a hand through his hair and looks up. As his eyes adjust, the stars are getting brighter and he can see the surrounding area easier. Cas starts to look around as well, and Dean hears his breath catch as he figures out how bright it still is under the stars.

"It's not something that most people who live in the city understand," Dean tells Cas. "In cities, the lights are always there. Light pollution is one of the worst things about modern living, I think. You don't get to see the night for what she really is." Dean points out south, to sea. "When you're looking in this direction, there's pretty much nothing but open water until you reach Antarctica, and there aren't exactly a heap of lights there. It's pitch black, and because the ridge behind us is blocking the lights from Cowes and Melbourne, it's dark out here. Until you realise that it isn't." Dean takes a deep breath in, tasting the fragrances in the air. The salty tang of the sea and the heather's flowers compete with Cas's scent. It's earthy and human, and nice like so few people smell, and Dean likes it.

"You can see the stars," Cas murmurs, his face tilted upwards. Dean nods silently. Everything is draped in the deep blue of night, but besides that, he can see fairly well down the beach. Cas's eyes are a deep blue, different from the blue in the daylight, but still reflecting the colour of the sky. Dean tilts his head up and finds the Southern Cross in the sky, the familiar constellation calming him and reminding him of his mother.

Remember Dean. Those stars only look down on a few of us, and you especially. You belong among them – you're my shining star.

His hand is still tangled up in Cas's, and he makes no move to take it back, the warmth of the palm pressing into his own grounding him as he looks up to the swirling lights above them.

Dean walks into the resort the next morning feeling happy, even though he can feel tiredness dragging at his bones. He and Cas had stumbled back up to the resort in the dark, and Cas had bid him goodbye seriously, as if that were the last time they would see each other. Dean hopes that that isn't the case.

Garth tells him that some teenagers thought it would be fun to go and have a bonfire near the south cape of the island, and Dean shakes his head. With the fire ban from the summer still in place, if they'd been caught then they would've been charged, and could have even got gaol time if there'd been any chance of the fire spreading. They should be glad that Jody hadn't been patrolling that area of the island last night. The chief of police doesn't tolerate anyone breaking the law on Phillip Island, and Dean is sure that he'd run into her at the site, fuming at the idiocy of anyone who lights a fire in the current conditions.

Dean's just about to leave when Charlie comes out of the back room and pounces on him.

"How was your date?" Are the first words that come out of her mouth, and Dean winces, half regretting telling her anything about Cas.

"Well he was still out there with him when I turned the lights out," Annie comments as she walks past. "Just wanted to give you two a little privacy, in case you wanted to bang him right there."

Dean feels his face heat slightly. The two red headed ladies ganged up on him far too often for his liking. "Jesus Annie, I wasn't going to fuck someone on the boardwalk. I'd probably have to clean it all up."

"Definitely have to clean it all up," Tessa mutters as she walks past. Charlie laughs and Dean scowls at her.

"Seriously though," Charlie presses and Dean sighs.

"It was good," he admits.

"Great!" Charlie says. "Did you make plans to meet up again?"

Dean shakes his head and she frowns at him. "Really? You're obviously into the guy."

"He's leaving next week Charlie," Dean says. "What am I going to do, just hang out with him and get to know him in time to say goodbye in a week? If we meet up again, then fine. We meet up again. But beyond that, I don't think it's a great idea to starts something." Dean sighs quietly and rubs a hand over his face. It was really great talking to Cas last night. They'd chatted for about two hours while they'd been out there, and Dean had found himself laughing at some of the things Cas had said, and being interested in everything else. He doesn't usually hit it off with people so easily, but that's what it had been like with Cas… easy. Easy to find things to talk about and easy to listen.

Charlie pulls a face but reluctantly nods. "Okay, I get that. But you could at least sleep with him before he goes. When was the last time you got laid?"

Dean scowls at her but doesn't answer the question. He knows when he last got laid, and it isn't a great memory. Charlie knows that, and she's throwing it in his face.

"Charlie, that's really none of your business," Dean tells her.

"Well you were the one who had me organise your date," Charlie reasons. "And I have to deal with you bitching about how you haven't had sex in nearly a year when I get you drunk, so it's my problem then."

"TMI, Charlie," Krissy calls as she walks back into the storeroom to get some more boxes of inventory for where she's stacking penguin products on the shelf.

"Sorry," Charlie calls after her. She looks back at Dean, and he can see the concern hidden in her eyes. "Look, did you get his number at least?" Dean shakes his head and she looks like she wants to hit him upside the head. "Well, if he has any common sense whatsoever, he knows he can come here and look for you."

"Yeah," Dean mutters. "Look, I have to go and start cleaning up where that bonfire was last night. Jody's probably already there and mad that I'm not."

"Yeah, okay. You should probably go," Charlie says. "She's scary when she's angry."

Dean huffs and goes out to his buggy. It doesn't take long to get to the site – it doesn't take long to get anywhere on the island, really – and Jody is there when he arrives. Victor, her second in command, is standing next to their patrol vehicle, talking softly on his phone, so Dean goes straight to Jody.

"Chief," Dean greets, knowing that she dislikes the title. She glares at him from the corner of her eye.

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that, Dean?"

Dean grins at her. "Only once or twice."

"Once or twice a day," Jody mutters. "You have any clue that this was going down last night?" She asks, looking at the burnt out fire pit and the trash surrounding it, littered through the bush.

Dean shakes his head. "Nope. Can I start cleaning up, or do you need to take more time to examine everything?" Dean hopes the sarcasm in his voice will hit home, since Jody's probably been staring at the scene for an hour, but it flies right over her head.

"No, you can start cleaning. We've got everything we need."

"Okay," Dean says, already wiping sweat off his brow. It's going to be a hot day today, and he can only hope that it's one of the last ones before autumn comes.

Jody stares at everything until Dean presses a bag into her hand, and then she helps him pick up the trash, going through the nearby bush and getting everything so that no wildlife would eat it and get sick. By the time they're finished, it's mid-afternoon. Dean has spent the last half hour sweeping up ash.

"If you want, I can take all this back to Cowes and get rid of it there," Jody tells him.

"Really?" Dean asks. "You'd be okay with that?"

"Yeah, I can do it," Jody tells him. "It'll give you more time to be around the resort so that nice boy of yours can come around."

"Really?" Dean asks, exasperated. "Who told you?"

"Bobby called," Jody tells him. How Bobby found out, Dean has no idea. "Dean, we all think it's past time you started dating again."

"Why is everyone on this island so invested in my life?" Dean asks to the open air. He's probably got a better chance of getting a straight answer out of it than Jody.

"We all care about you, Dean," Jody says, frowning at him. "We just want what's best for you. And you haven't been as happy ever since…" Jody trails off and takes the last bag from his hands to put in the back of her patrol car.

That's because my baby brother's gone! Dean wants to shout at the sky. A year had passed and he still isn't happy because Sam left! His family had been screwed up enough before Sam had gone, and he's still trying to keep himself from falling apart some nights. There's been a reason that he hadn't dated, and it was because he wasn't ready to share anything with anyone else.

"We just want you to be happy," Jody finishes with.

"Yeah, well, I'm happy already," Dean grumbles.

"Right," Jody replies, rolling her eyes. "Totally happy."

"I didn't ask for your opinion."

"Well you're getting it anyway, just like you've got it for all of your life."

Dean snorts and gets into his buggy. "Well I don't need it," Dean informs her. Jody raises an eyebrow, but Dean starts his buggy up and drives past her, waving over his shoulder. Victor nods at him as he goes past, still on his phone. Dean wonders what he's talking about.

He heads back into town, intending to grab some lunch before heading back to the resort. The Subway in Cowes is one of the places he visits regularly, and as he orders his food, Bela winks at him over the counter.

"So, you doing anything on Tuesday?" She purrs, fluttering her lashes at him. "I know that's your day off."

"I'm not interested," Dean tells her, for what feels like the thirtieth time.

"Really?" She asks him. "I heard you were dating again, so obviously I'm the best choice." Why Bela of all people would know about Cas he can't begin to fathom, but he decides to just give up on trying to figure out how people know about his life right then and there.

"No, Bela," Dean tells her firmly. Bela sighs.

"One day, Dean. One day you'll bow to my charms."

"I don't think so," Dean tells her. She gives him his sandwich, and, like always, her number is scrawled on the napkin around the roll.

He bins the napkin as he walks out the door.

Castiel closes the door to his hotel room and pockets the key. He has to walk down the stairs because there's no elevator, and leaves the building. There's a Subway down the road from where he's staying, and it seems like a good place to get some lunch.

A woman with short hair and a nametag with 'Bela' on it serves him grumpily. Castiel wonders why she's in such a foul mood, but he doesn't mind too much, since she piles on too much food onto his roll and passes it to him. He gives her the money and she thrusts the change at him. He leaves, slightly concerned about the customer service, but taking a bite out of his roll anyway.

The bite threatens to fall out of his mouth when he sees Dean across the street.

He swears he has simply been bumping into the Australian, but he's vaguely worried that Dean will begin to think that he's stalking him.

Before he can dart away, Dean turns around and sees him. He lifts a hand and waves, and Castiel cannot do anything but wave back. Dean crosses the road, and Castiel sees the roll in his hands.

"Hey Cas," Dean says, smiling at him. "What cha up to?"

Castiel tries to quell the butterflies making his stomach roll. "Just getting lunch," he says awkwardly, holding up his food.

Dean nods. "Yeah, me too." He's dressed in his uniform, and its dark green only makes his eyes stand out. Castiel tries not to notice them, which is hard when he's staring at them.

Staring. He's staring again. Dean swallows and doesn't break eye contact until a piece of chicken falls out of his roll.

"Shit," Dean mutters. "Sorry."

Castiel looks down bemusedly at the chicken on his shoe. "It's alright."

"Let me clean you up," Dean says. He takes Castiel's napkin from his roll – Castiel notices that his is gone – and kneels down.

Castiel's heart doubles its rate and he crouches as well, not wanting Dean to be on the concrete alone. Dean is cleaning him up determinedly, and Castiel grabs his hand to stop him. Dean looks up at him, and Castiel is suddenly very aware of the small distance between their faces.

"It is fine," Castiel tells him. Dean frowns at him and pulls his hand out of his grasp to finish wiping the mess up. He stands and deposits it in the nearby bin, and looks down at Castiel.

"It might be fine to you, Cas, but not to me." He extends a hand and Castiel grabs it. Dean pulls him to his feet and Castiel holds onto his hand, not letting it go. Dean makes no move to remove it, and if Castiel breathed deeply enough, their chests would touch.

Dean coughs and Castiel takes a step back. He knows that he makes people uncomfortable when he stands too close, and he doesn't want Dean to be uncomfortable around him.

"Why are you here, anyway?" Dean asks him. "I didn't take you for a Subway guy."

Castiel shrugs. "My hotel is on the next street over. It is close by and not very expensive."

"Fair enough," Dean replies.

They stand in silence for a few seconds before Castiel gathers the courage to speak again. "Thank you. For last night. It was…" Wonderful, he wants to say, but he fears that that might be pushing it a bit too far. "Very nice. I enjoyed it."

Dean smiles at him, mouth curling up at the edges for a second before it disappears. Castiel wants to make it stay. The smile lights up Dean's face, making his eyes glow and changing his whole demeanour. Castiel is sure that he is avoided by people on the streets who do not know him, simply because he walks around with a half-scowl on his face most of the time. If he walked around with that smile on, Castiel is sure that people would be tripping over themselves to come and talk to him.

Including girls. His chest tightens. What is he doing? Does Dean even like men? Castiel hasn't found the right way to bring it up, either Dean's or his own sexuality. He bites his lip and Dean follows the motion. He's fairly sure that it means interest, but he's never been good with decoding other people's emotions, and he can tell that Dean keeps his hidden more than most.

"Thanks. I liked it as well. Livened up my night."

Because it was all just work for Dean. Castiel couldn't imagine seeing the penguins coming out of the water every week. The small creatures had been mesmerising, and Castiel is sure that he would not tire of it.

"I am glad," Castiel tells him, trying not to wince when his words come out graver than he had expected. Dean smiles at him again, and Castiel wonders why. He had done nothing interesting.

"You doing anything else today?" Dean asks him. Castiel had been planning on wondering through Cowes, maybe ending up on the beach, but that was swept aside in wanting to spend more time with the ranger.

"Nothing important," Castiel tells him. Dean looks down at his watch, and then back up at Castiel.

"I've got an hour. You want to go down to the beach?"

Castiel shivers slightly. "Yes," he replies. "I would."

On Tuesday morning, Dean gets up at his normal time. He prepares everything he would need to surf, and by the time the sun has risen, is already at the beach.

While the wind and water usually clears his mind of everything, today Dean can't help thinking about Cas. After they'd hung out at one of the tables on the beach at Cowes – it was not a date, no matter how much Dean wanted it to be – for two hours, Dean had needed to get back to the resort, where he'd had to spill his guts to Charlie to repay her covering for him.

They'd talked for most of the two hours, although some of the time had been spent simply staring at each other as well. Dean still hadn't found the guts to ask Cas if he was gay. It was stupid, and he knew it was stupid, but when he'd opened his mouth to ask, something else had popped out instead. He hadn't told Cas anything about Sam, but he'd talked about his work and his degree and his surfing and about Charlie and Jody and Benny. Cas had regaled him with stories about Egypt and Greece and Mongolia and Japan and Singapore, recounting tales of what had happened to himself and Balthazar. Most were light hearted and funny, and even those with a more serious note – like both Castiel and Balthazar getting robbed outside of their hotel in Peru – had been lightened by the way Cas had told them. The man had trapped him with his big, blue eyes and messy hair, and now Dean is taking the bait of his serious expression layered over someone with a good heart.

It hadn't helped that Cas had come into the resort on Sunday, asking after him. Charlie had gotten to him first, and had interrogated him. She claimed it was innocent questioning, but Dean knew better. He is also pretty sure that she invited Cas over to her place on her day off, but he isn't certain. Dean had walked in on Charlie telling Cas that Dean surfed, and he had caught the appreciative look on Cas's face. God, he just needed to ask him out and make sure that Cas knew it was a date. Even though Cas is leaving in five days. Fuck, he needs a drink.

He leaves the beach feeling irritated and wound up. It's the opposite of what he's used to, and it's jarring. What's even more jarring is when he looks up, and standing next to his Jeep is the object of his thoughts.

Dean looks down at himself. He's wet and sandy and carrying his board, and he'd already undone his wetsuit, which is hanging around his waist, leaving his chest bare. Well, at least it's one way to get his attention, Dean muses to himself wryly. He waves to Cas, who waves back, and then starts to walk up the stairs to the car park.

"Hello Dean," Cas greets him.

"Hey Cas," Dean replies. "Didn't expect you to be here."

"Charlie told me that this is where you like to surf," Cas tells him, looking out to sea. "I've been standing here for a while. You look like you know what you're doing."

Dean tries not to shift his weight. It would make him look uncomfortable. "I've been surfing since I was a kid, so I'm not terrible. It's just practise." Dean tries to brush away the compliment. He knows that he's better than most of the guys who surf on the island, but he's never been competitive about it, not since he was a teenager. For him, getting out on the water is a way to relax. Competition brings its own stresses and worries, and Dean would lose his way of getting rid of the tension that gathers in his chest and thrums under his heart.

"If you say so," Cas murmurs. "What do you usually do now?"

Dean's arms are already tired after the exercise of surfing, and having to hold his board is making them even more tired, but he refuses to let it rest on the ground. Cas's eyes haven't gone to his chest once. Dean bites down on nothing and then relaxes his jaw slowly.

"Clean up, go home, relax. Clean the house if it needs it and maybe go shopping. Watch some TV. Nothing much."

Cas nods. "I was actually just passing by. I have plans in the city today, but will you join me tomorrow?"

Dean's mouth goes dry. "Doing what?"

Cas shrugs slightly. "Whatever we feel like."

Dean forces his mouth to form the words that are blocking his throat. "Like a date?"

Cas's eyes go wary, and Dean wonders how many times he's been rebuffed before. "If you want it to be," he says in response. Dean looks at him for a few seconds, and Cas gets progressively more nervous until Dean takes a step forward and leans down, pressing their mouths together.

Cas's hands immediately come up, and Dean would have thought that they would have gripped his shirt if he'd been wearing one. Instead they rest on his skin and Cas seems jittery about it, sliding them up to tangle in his hair. Dean uses his one free hand to grip Cas's hip and bring him closer.

He leans back out of the kiss when he feels the temptation to slip his tongue inside Cas's mouth. The other man's breathing is louder than normal, and his cheeks are flushed. Dean smirks at him.

"Sure. I'll meet you opposite Subway tomorrow at ten?"

Cas nods, but doesn't move. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" Dean asks innocently, starting to pack all his gear away so he can go.

Cas narrows his eyes at him. "You are infuriating, Dean Winchester."

"I try my hardest," Dean says, and winks at him. The side of Cas's mouth twitches, and Dean counts it as a win.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Cas promises, and Dean nods. The other man goes to his own car – something he had hired – and gets inside after looking at Dean for a long moment. Dean watches him drive away, and lifts his hand in response to Cas' as it comes out of the driver's side window.

Dean takes a deep breath in and finishes storing everything. He slides into the driver's seat and doesn't start the engine, taking a moment to calm down. He'd kissed Cas. Holy shit, he'd kissed Cas. The thought knocks him over the head, and Dean feels giddy with it. And Cas asked him out on a date. They are going on a date. The man he had been admiring for the last week had agreed to go out with him.

It would be Dean's first real date in nearly two years. The first time he'd done anything with anyone since Sam left. He takes another deep breath and turns the engine over.

He hopes he doesn't screw it up too much.

Dean fidgets. He's wearing a button down top with jeans, and he hopes it's good enough for wherever they decide to go. Cas hasn't shown up yet, but Dean is twenty minutes early.

There's a bite to the wind that's blowing, and when Dean licks his finger and holds it up to gauge its direction, it's coming from the south. No surprise as to why it's so cold, then. Air that had been over Antarctica a few days before would still be cold, since crossing the Southern Ocean would do nothing to warm it up. Phillip Island is one of the first places to receive such a wind, as it's exposed to the open ocean.

This is one of the first cold days of the year, and Dean feels that with April approaching, it would only get colder from here on in. Winter always sinks its claws deep into the island, and Dean knows that it's a lot colder here than in Melbourne, even though the city is less than a 100 kilometres away.

He sees Cas coming down the street in that trench coat of his, head lowered against the wind. It's making his hair fly in every direction, and Dean suppresses a smile. The coat hides Cas's lithe frame, making him appear bigger and more bulky than he is. Dean wonders for a second if Cas wears it because he likes the coat, or if he had once needed to look bigger and stronger than he is, and the habit hadn't gone away.

Shaking the thoughts away, Dean greets Cas with a smile.

"I do not understand your weather," he says, having to speak up over the wind. "It was nearing thirty five degrees yesterday, and today I don't think it's going to make it past twenty."

"Yeah, well winter's coming. It'll be far colder soon enough." Dean isn't wearing a coat, since he's used to the colder temperatures. "Where are you from, if you're not used to the cold?"

"California," Cas says. "It's rarely cold there."

"Yeah, I'd think so," Dean replies.

Cas flashes a smile at him. "So where do you want to go?"

"Wherever you want to go. I'm not the visitor."

"I do not know the best places to go around here, Dean," Cas tells him. "As a local, you would know better."

Affection unexpectedly wells inside Dean. This man, who obviously has money and more money to spare, who debates over noodle cups and doesn't mind stumbling up a boardwalk in the dark with only Dean's hand to guide him, this man is choosing to spend time with him.

"Okay," he says, flashing a smile at him. "I know just the place."

He leads Cas over to his Jeep and opens the door to the passenger side for him. Cas raises an eyebrow but doesn't comment. Dean gets in and starts the engine, looking over his shoulder before he starts backing out of his parking space.

He thinks that Cas likes animals, and he's proven right when he pulls up to the place where they're going. It's a koala conservation park, and by the look in Cas's eyes, he hadn't been here yet. Dean pays for both of them while Cas wonders around the gift store – why the gift store is at the front of the park, he has no idea – and finds Cas looking at the different types of honey.

"There are so many kinds here," Cas says, not taking his eyes off them. Dean looks at them, not seeing much out of the ordinary, simply the blue gum kind, some apple honey, a bottle of… avocado honey? Okay, he admits he hadn't seen that type before. There were a few different types of lavender and one which didn't specify.

"It's just honey, Cas," Dean says, bemused. The other man nods slowly, but Dean is sure that he'd be coming back when they were done.

The park itself isn't huge, but Cas looks fascinated with the koalas that they can see. They're in time to catch a show, and Dean listens to one of the keepers talking while sneaking looks at Cas, who is listening with a serious expression on his face. When she's done, they keep walking around the boardwalks that are suspended above the bush floor, so they wouldn't interfere with any animals that make their homes on the ground. They have the chance to find one koala lower down in the trees, perching in the fork of a tree so near the walk ways that Dean is sure that he could reach out and touch it. He takes a photo of Cas, and then Cas insists on getting some of the other people nearby to take a photo of both of them. Dean hesitantly wraps an arm around Cas's waist, and Cas leans into him as they smile.

They buy food from the small café, and Dean grabs some chips while Cas orders a salad.

"Go see if there's anything you want," Dean tells Cas when he finishes, nodding over to the gift shop, which takes up the other part of the room. Cas hesitates for a moment. "Dude, I live here. You should take as much time as you want looking through this stuff, without me hovering."

Cas huffs. "Very well." He gets up and goes straight back over to the honey and Dean smiles, popping another chip into his mouth. By the time he's finished, Cas has several bottles of honey, a scarf that has the park's logo on it, and a koala fridge magnet. Dean puts the rubbish in the bin and comes up behind Cas as he's looking at the range of tea towels.

"You got enough honey?" He jokes. Cas looks up at him and then down at the jars in his arms.

"I like honey," Cas tells him. Dean scoops everything out of his arms and holds it while Cas continues looking around. He doesn't pick up anything else, and though Dean wants to buy these for him as well, he has a feeling that Cas wouldn't accept it.

He cashier puts Cas's things in a paper bag, looking slightly bored. They leave the park, and Dean leans up against his Jeep, looking at Cas, who leans on his car beside him.

"Thank you," Cas says softly. "I enjoyed that."

Dean smiles. "You're welcome." He looks around, but there's no one else in the gravel car park. Sliding closer to Cas, he puts his arm around him, tugging him in closer.

"What are you doing for the rest of your stay?" Dean asks him.

"My plane leaves on Sunday at one," Cas starts.

"In the afternoon?"

"In the morning," Cas sighs. "So no sleep. I'll sleep on the plane, I suppose. So I'm spending Saturday on the beach in Cowes and packing. Tomorrow and Friday I was just going to go in to Melbourne and look around. Nothing in particular."

Dean nods. "I can give the names of some cool places to go, if you want."

Cas brightens. "That would be helpful, thank you."

Cas gives him his phone, and Dean opens the notes and begins typing up places and things with their addresses if he can remember them.

He looks at the time while he's typing, and sighs inwardly. Charlie is coming over in an hour, and it'd take nearly that long to drop Cas off and get home. He gives Cas's phone back to him, trying not to get caught in the trap of his eyes.

"What are you doing for the rest of the day?" Cas asks him.

"Just having Charlie over. She said she'd swing by in about an hour," Dean tells him reluctantly. Cas's eyes widen slightly.

"Dean! You should have told me. I wouldn't have looked around for so long," Cas grumbles, lowering his eyebrows at him.

Dean shrugs. "It's no big deal. Charlie can let herself in if she needs to."

Cas is already getting in the passenger seat. Dean sighs and gets in himself.

"Still," Cas continues. "I shouldn't be holding you up."

Dean looks over at him before starting the engine. Cas's shoulders are tense and he's looking at his hands, which are twisting in his lap.

"Hey," Dean says. Cas looks up at him, and Dean holds the eye contact. "I said, don't worry about it. I've always got Charlie around to drive me crazy, but you won't be around to hang out with for much longer."

Some of the tension bleeds out of Cas. "I suppose," he mutters lowly. Dean grins at him when he looks up, and that makes Cas smile in response.

"Yeah, Charlie won't be mad, especially since I'm hanging out with you."

Cas is silent until Dean is on the main road, headed back to Cowes. After that, he'd head to Rhyll, and meet Charlie around the time he'd said.

"Do you have any family?" Cas asks him.

Dean shrugs. "A brother in America." Even saying that little amount hurt. "Mum died when I was four, and dad when I was seventeen. It's just us."

"I'm sorry," Cas murmurs.

Dean doesn't look at him, keeping his eyes on the road. "It's doesn't matter. It was years ago, now." Over eight years ago. Fuck, had it really been that long? It felt like yesterday that Dean was cowering from his father's drunken curses and threats of harm, intermingled with slurs and drunken statements of how John had failed as a parent. Dean had always tried to shield Sam from the worst of it, but he hadn't always succeeded, to his chagrin. Coming into a room to see dad yelling at Sam usually cut deeper than anything John said to him.

"I have six siblings," Cas offers, and Dean takes a moment to look at him, eyebrows lifted.

"Seriously?"

Cas nods. "Yes. Anna, Gabriel, Balthazar, Samandriel, Michael and Lucifer."

"Lucifer," Dean repeats disbelievingly. "All of you are what, named after angels except Anna?"

"Anna is short for Anael," Cas admits. "But yes. Our parents were very religious."

Dean doesn't miss the use of the 'were,' but he doesn't comment on it.

"Jeez, you must have been picked on in school," Dean mutters.

"My brothers usually stopped any attempt, so I did not have to deal with that," Cas tells him.

"That's good," Dean says.

It isn't long before they pull up in the car park near Cas's hotel. Dean gets out and goes to stand next to Cas, who's rubbing his arms together to try to warm them up. As the day had progressed, it hadn't gotten any warmer.

There's a large four wheel drive next to them, so they're suitably hidden from view. Cas looks up at him and smiles slightly.

"I had a good time today. I'm glad you took me to the park, I enjoyed it."

Dean rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, well I didn't think you'd have gone there. It's tucked away. I'm happy you liked it." God, Dean, could you sound like any more of an idiot?

Cas's eyes crinkle and there's something real about it, like Cas had been smiling for Dean's benefit before, but now he's just happy. Dean's feels his breath catch and then he's leaning down before he can consciously decide to kiss him.

He slides his hands into the wild hair that the wind's been flipping around all day, feeling the soft strands tickling his palms. Cas sucks in a breath and kisses him back, a hand coming up to frame Dean's face and brush a thumb across his cheek. Cas's lips are chapped from the wind and Dean is getting tangled up in his coat, which is far too big, but he doesn't mind at the moment. Not when he has Cas to kiss.

Cas pulls back slowly, and Dean opens his eyes. When he smirks, Cas blushes slightly but doesn't look away. Dean is content to look at him for another few minutes or days, but his phone chirps in his pocket.

Cas blinks and lets his arms fall to his sides. Dean swears silently and pulls his phone out to see who texted him.

You're not at home? (4:19pm)

Worst timing ever, Charlie, Dean thinks to himself.

"Charlie?" Cas asks.

Dean nods. "Yeah, she's at my place."

Cas looks at his feet. "How long have you been friends?"

Dean thinks he knows what the other man is getting at. "A long time. All she's probably going to talk about tonight is how her asking out Jess went though. No matter what I might want to talk about, it's all going to about Jess and how nice she is."

Cas flicks his eyes back up at him and his eyes crinkle again. "I am sure you will be able to deal with it."

"Yeah," Dean answers. Cas takes a step back, and Dean fights the urge to take a step forward. "I'll see you around?" Dean asks cautiously.

Cas bites his lip and then nods slightly. "Yes," he says. "I would like that."

"Me too," Dean replies. He fights the urge to step forward and kiss Cas again. He doesn't want the other man to think he just wants to fuck. Okay, so he had been checking out Cas's ass, but he's here for Cas as a person as well. Which is weird, when he thinks about it. He can't remember the last time he wanted to date anyone.

Cas flushes slightly and his lips turn upward. Cas darts forward and touches their lips together for half a second before he turns and leaves, leaving Dean with nothing to do besides watch his ass as he walks away.

A smirk tugs up the corners of his mouth as he gets back in his car.

"So did you kiss?"

Dean runs a hand through his hair. "Charlie," he starts, but she keeps talking over him.

"Holy crap, you didn't have sex, did you?"

"No!" Dean says loudly. If Charlie got on that train, she'd never stop.

The red haired woman deflates slightly. "Well, at least you kissed him, right?"

"Yeah," Dean grumbles. Charlie grins at him.

"You're being so cute about this. It's probably because of the build-up of romantic tension you have shoved inside you, ready to explode out in a rush of cute dates and making out sessions."

Dean rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say. Did you ask Jess out?" He asks, changing the track of the conversation.

Charlie turns shy. "I did," she says, but she doesn't continue.

"And?" Dean presses. He's been watching Charlie and Jess dance around each other for the last few months, and before that they had been friends, if not that close. As soon as they had started getting close, it had turned into something more, something deeper. Dean had edged it along when he could, and he had finally managed to convince Charlie to ask Jess out when he had been certain that Jess was finally over Sam. Dean isn't sure if he's over Sam, but Jess deserves more than mooning over his idiot brother for the rest of her life.

"And… she said yes!" Charlie says, beaming.

"That's great Charlie," Dean says, smiling at his best friend. "Where are you going?"

As Charlie details her plans, Dean lets his mind drift for a few seconds. Even if they hadn't gone on any dates yet, Charlie's eyes are soft and fond as she talks about what she wants to do with the other woman. Dorothy and Gilda running off together had been a massive blow to her, and Dean had helped as much as he could to help heal his friend. It had been something to distract him, since it happened a few days before Sam left with Ruby to America. Without anything to take his attention, Dean fears that the darkness of those days might have driven him to alcohol and the warm anonymity of anyone who would share his bed.

Dean sighs softly as he listens to Charlie's plans. They are far more thought out than any of Dean's, and he hopes that Cas hadn't been expecting something as detailed as what Charlie is planning out. He shakes it off. Cas had been happy when Dean had dropped him off, Dean is sure of that.

Charlie crashes in her room, and Dean tries to go to sleep himself. His bed is too big, and even though he needs to go to sleep – he has work tomorrow – he can't. They hadn't drunk anything, and that just makes his thoughts clearer.

Cas would fit perfectly lying at his side.

A shiver of unease washes over Dean. He can't remember wanting to spend as much time with someone, ever. It's unsettling. He doesn't really get it. Okay, he gets it. Cas is smart and funny in his own, dead pan way, thinks about things, cares about the penguins, and is ridiculously attractive. Dean wants to spend more time with him, but he's leaving. On Sunday. Fuck.

Dean sighs and rolls over onto his side. Cas's wide, blue eyes look back at him until he blinks, and then his sheets are empty again.

Dean grits his teeth and closes his eyes, forcing himself to fade into the darkness of sleep.

April

Dean's about to go out for his run around the island to check up on all of the penguins when Cas walks through the resort's doors. He startles slightly as Cas's eyes land on him almost immediately. His hair is tousled from the wind outside, and it's sticking up in all different directions as he walks across the main floor, avoiding the few tourists who had decided to see what the resort does in the day time. Dean curbs the urge to touch him and keeps his hands to himself.

"Hey, Cas," Dean greets him. "Didn't expect to see you around."

Cas looks vaguely abashed. "I know you're working now…"

"It's fine," Dean says. He grabs Cas's hand and leads him outside. He leans up against his buggy and pulls Cas in next to him. It's warm if windy, and Dean pulls his sunglasses down over his eyes. His hat's in the car, and he'll grab that as soon as he gets in. The sun is unforgiving.

"What are you doing today?" Cas asks him.

"Just going around, checking up on the penguins. If I see any rubbish, I pick it up, any injured birds, I bring 'em back to Jess, and just make sure that everyone is okay. Pretty simple, really."

Cas nods slowly. "Can I…" He trails off, but Dean thinks he knows what he's trying to ask.

"You can come along if you want," Dean offers, and Cas' eyes crinkle in that smile of his that doesn't touch his lips.

"Yes please," Cas returns.

Dean goes to the back and pumps some of the sunscreen he has there out of its two litre container. He comes back and starts smearing it all over Cas, who startles and then lets Dean put it on him. Dean rubs it all over his face, then across his ears and down his neck. Cas's eyebrows start to lift when he starts rubbing his fingers under his shirt.

Dean winks at him and then puts some more on his arms, rubbing between his fingers and up to his shoulders. Then he returns to the boot and brings out a hat to put on Cas's head, a floppy one with a wide brim. The entire thing is done in under a minute, with nearly no time for complaint.

"I don't have an extra pair of sunnies," Dean apologises. He gets in and pulls his own hat on as Cas gets in the passenger side.

"That's fine," Cas says agreeably. Dean drives out onto the road before Benny can see that he has a passenger.

Cas seems genuinely interested in what Dean's doing. He keeps up his slow pace of twenty kilometres an hour, to make sure that he doesn't run into any wildlife, and keeps his eyes open for any burrows that are on the trail. Even if there weren't any last week, there could be some this week. Unlikely, but still possible.

Cas asks him questions about his job, what he does, and how long he's been doing it. Dean remembers that Jo told him that Cas is a vet, and he asks Cas, delighted to see the other man's cheeks flush slightly.

"Yes, I am. Who told you?"

"Jo, when I was over there." He doesn't mention that Jo also said that Cas is loaded. Dean had already guessed that, from how Cas just took a trip around the world.

"I specialise in birdlife, especially penguins. It's why I wanted to stay here, instead of in the city. I know it is one of the places in Australia where the penguins are so easy to get to and see."

"Huh," Dean says, looking at Cas for a second. They're heading up to the cliffs, and then down to where the penguins nest fairly thickly. When they get to the top, he cuts the engine and gets out, a concerned looking Cas getting out behind him.

"Dean?" He asks. "What's wrong? What did you see?" He's obviously looking around for something, and isn't expecting Dean to come around behind him and pick him up, arms under his knees and shoulders. Cas squawks and squirms a bit, but Dean simply tightens his hold on him and walks up the stairs to the lookout point.

Dean puts him down when they're up the top, and Cas huffs at him. "Was that really necessary?"

"It was necessary for me," Dean replies, sneaking in a kiss to his nose. Cas wraps a hand around his neck and brings him in close, locking their lips together.

Cas melts into him, and Dean runs his hands down his sides to come to rest on his hips, pressing them together. Dean doesn't let him escape, even when Cas makes a small sound against his mouth. He finally leans back when Cas hits him over the head. Dean smirks at him and Cas rolls his eyes.

"Look," he says, pointing out to sea. Dean turns around and sees several dolphins breaching the surf and jumping among the waves.

"Yeah, they're around here sometimes," Dean says. He nips Cas's ear and Cas lifts an eyebrow at him, making Dean blush slightly. They stand there for a few more minutes, watching the dolphins and the sea, before Dean starts walking back to the buggy, pulling Cas along behind him.

Dean goes even slower through the next part of the island. He points out the small burrows as he passes them, and they even see one penguin with their head poking out, seeing what the loud noise is. Other than that, it's a simple check-up. Dean doesn't see any evidence that there's been anyone else coming through this part of the island, and so he can relax and enjoy being outside with Cas in the fresh, sea air. They talk, and Dean finds himself falling for the small smiles Cas gives him and the way his hands move when he talks about something he thinks is interesting.

Neither of them talk about Cas leaving in a few days.

It's mid-afternoon by the time they get back to the resort, and the preparations for the night's Parade are already starting. Dean's on the early shift, so he won't be heading back home too late. Cas bids him farewell before hesitantly leaning up to kiss him. Dean keeps it light so he isn't tempted to start assaulting Cas's mouth in the car park.

Benny is with him on standby duty for the main Parade, so he goes down there to help him clean up the stands from anything the people from last night might have left. Every time he does this he gets a sour taste in the back of his throat, looking at all of the rubbish that people had so casually left behind to poison his environment. Today the bubble of happiness that comes from spending time with Cas is numbing it, but it's still there.

Charlie comes down, and Dean is sure that she's going to ask him what he was doing with Cas, because someone would have seen them together, and word would have gotten around to Charlie. Just as she's approaching, his phone rings.

Dean narrows his eyes at it when there are no contact details on the screen, and Charlie raises an eyebrow at him, asking who it is silently. Dean shrugs and answers.

"Dean Winchester speaking," he says, wondering who would be calling him. Probably a wrong number.

"Dean Winchester, I'm glad I got you. You're listed here as the emergency contact for Sam Winchester?"

Dean hadn't known that his brother had put him as the emergency contact, but his feelings about that are overwhelmed by his sudden fear for his brother. Why would someone be calling him about Sam if Sam weren't in trouble?

"Yes," Dean answers. Charlie must have seen something in his face, because she hurries up to him, a worried pinch to her features.

"I'm John Keeper, head of Law at Stanford University. Your brother was just admitted to a hospital half an hour ago, suffering from a drug overdose. He is currently unconscious, and we need to talk to you about some of the procedures that may be required."

Fuck.

"What do you need?" Dean asks, his voice shaky. Charlie is touching his arm lightly, but he shakes it off. He's talked through several questions about his brother's medical history, things that Stanford doesn't have on file. Dean keeps his mind blank, answering the questions as best he can without thinking about the reason that the answers are needed. Charlie's face has gone pale, and Dean closes his eyes so he doesn't have to see it.

"Your brother should be out of hospital soon. We'll call you as soon as he is."

"Thanks," Dean says unevenly. He doesn't know what to think. The man hangs up, and Dean lets his arm fall slowly.

Charlie doesn't say anything. She knows him.

Several thoughts go through Dean's head at once, and he swears, making Charlie wince slightly.

"That bitch," he grounds out. A picture of Ruby fills his mind, and he wants to stab her.

"Who?" Charlie asks.

"Ruby. I fucking knew she was no good. I knew she was going to get Sam into trouble." Dean grinds his palms into his eyes, trying to distract himself from his growing headache.

"Dean," Charlie starts, probably going to try to reason with him.

"Do you know what time it is there?" Dean asks her. "Two o'clock. In the morning. That's when I'm being called."

"Dean," Charlie says, louder.

"I am so done with his bullshit," Dean continues.

"Dean!" Charlie shouts. Dean finally looks at her. There's worry in her eyes, and Dean remembers that Sam was her friend as well.

"Sam's going to be fine," she tells him. "As soon as he wakes up, he'll call you, I'm sure of it. Don't worry."

Telling him not to worry is like telling a fish not to swim, and she knows that.

Dean spends the rest of the night brooding, checking his phone every few minutes and trying not to scowl at the customers. He stays behind to lock up even though he doesn't have to, and when he's at home and Sam still hasn't called, Dean feels like he's being slowly torn apart. He wants to catch the first flight to America and bring Sam home, back to Australia where he belongs, with Dean, but he can't. He can't afford tickets to America and back. Sam only got over there because of his scholarship.

Dean doesn't even try to sleep, and when the morning rolls around, he swallows about a litre of coffee and heads off to work. Everyone knows by now what's happened, and Charlie doesn't even ask about it, seeing the shadows under his eyes and knowing the answer already.

The call comes when Dean's on his lunch break. He's looking at the food in front of him, not wanting to eat and not wanting to lie and fall asleep on the sandwich either.

His phone starts buzzing.

Dean snatches it up so fast he thinks he may have managed to break the sound barrier. Sam is flashing on the screen, and he shakily presses the button to answer the call.

"Sam?" Dean asks, not really believing that Sam is on the other end of the line. The chasm between them is something that's grown to be something insurmountable over the last year, and their relationship hasn't been stable since Ruby entered the picture, about a year and a half ago.

"Hey Dean." His brother's voice is flat and distant. The small hope that Dean had been carrying that Sam might have wanted an excuse to call shrivels.

"Stanford called," he says.

"I know." Sam sounds tired. He should be tired, after having an overdose. He's probably still in the hospital.

"Are you okay?" Dean's protective drives are working overtime, but they have nothing to work on. Sam isn't here.

"I will be," Sam tells him.

There's a tense silence. "They told me you overdosed."

Sam sighs and doesn't say anything, and in that silence, Dean hears the confirmation of it.

"Fuck, Sam. Was it Ruby? Were the police right about her?"

"You don't know anything about Ruby, Dean," Sam says, completely confident in his own judgement. Dean wants to wack him upside the head for the arrogance of it.

"Did. You get. The drugs. From Ruby?" Dean asks slowly, drawing the words out, so it's clear what he's saying.

"It doesn't matter," Sam tells him. Dean wants to scream at him, Of course it matters!, but he controls himself and swallows the words. They sit heavily in his stomach.

"I need help, Dean." Sam tells him, each word painful because of how obvious it is that Sam doesn't want to say them.

Dean wants to punch someone, and someone's name is Ruby. "What with?"

There's another silence that becomes drawn out. "I need money."

Fuck his entire life. "For the drugs?" Dean asks, voice rough and low.

"Yeah," Sam answers. Dean lets out a breath and runs a hand through his hair.

"How much?"

There's another pause, and Dean realises that he doesn't want to know how much debt Sam has.

"Forty thousand."

Dean lets out another breath and tries not to swear.

"And they need a family member here to sign me out of the hospital if I want to get out before the drugs are out of my system. Dean, that's probably going to be a month, and that's going to be a crazy amount in hospital bills."

Dean breathes in.

"Fine," he bites out. "But you're coming back here with me, Sam. You're not staying in America. I'll bring the money, but you're transferring back to MU, got it?"

Sam doesn't say anything, and Dean is suddenly certain that he's going to refuse, and Dean's going to bring him the money anyway. God help him, but he couldn't leave his little brother in trouble.

"Fine," Sam says. "Fine."

"Good," Dean tells him. "I'll call." He ends the call, without waiting for Sam's reply. He sits there with his head in his hands for a long time, and then he gets up to go and find Benny and ask for time off.

Dean's looking at flight prices to California, and they're making his foul mood worse. Everything is too expensive for the little money he has. He'd be able to fly there, but not fly back, and not pay what Sam needs for the hospital either, at least not seriously cutting into the savings that he'd stored up over the years. And by 'cut' he means all of it. And then some.

It's getting late, and Dean hasn't slept in two days, but he doesn't care. He takes another swallow of whiskey, the burn in his throat echoing the anger simmering in his gut.

The doorbell rings.

Dean blinks and goes to open the door, wondering who it is. If it's a salesperson, Dean is going to punch them.

But instead of finding a person in a business suit with a clipboard out and ready to barrage him with facts, he finds Cas standing on his porch.

Dean blinks a few times. He's sure that he's not that drunk, so Cas must be on his porch. Except Cas doesn't know where he lives. And Dean looks like the wreck that he is, so Cas is probably about two seconds from reconsidering their whole relationship, and then running for the rental car parked behind Dean's Jeep.

"Dean?" Cas asks. His voice is full of concern, and Dean doesn't know what to do with it. He considers shutting the door in his face, but when he tries to step back – to let Cas in or not, he isn't sure yet – the world sways, and he leans up against his wall, trying not to pass out.

Cas is by his side immediately. He puts Dean's arm over his shoulder and helps him back in to the lounge room, which is at the end of the hall running from his door. Cas sits him down and then sits next to him. Dean can't help but lean on him, tiredly conforming to his shape.

"What am I going to do, Cas?" Dean asks. He realises his voice is slightly slurred, and thinks that maybe he's had more to drink than he originally thought. Cas doesn't say anything, simply curling an arm around Dean. "How did you even know I live here?" Passes through his lips, before his eyes slide closed and he passes out.

Castiel looks down at the snoring man on his shoulder. He hasn't known Dean for very long, but it already feels like they know each other well. Castiel suspects that Dean has problems falling asleep when other people are nearby, and the fact that he did within five minutes of Cas pushing the doorbell means something to him.

There's an almost empty bottle of whiskey sitting next to the open laptop on the small computer desk, and Castiel hopes that that wasn't full when Dean started drinking. By the amount of whiskey that Castiel can smell on his breath however, he thinks it may have been.

Dean is sliding into the deep stupor of those who haven't slept and those who have passed out from alcohol. By the shadows under his eyes, Castiel is going to hedge a bet on both of them. He frowns slightly. Charlie had said that Dean had gotten some hard news and may need cheering up, but she hadn't said anything else. Castiel is sure that that's the only reason she gave him Dean's address.

Castiel slowly moves until Dean is supporting himself on the couch. Then he goes hunting, trying to find Dean's bedroom. There's one bedroom that looks lived in, but when Castiel opens the top drawer of the dresser to see if it is Dean's, there's an array of make-up and a hairbrush that has long, red hair in it. So this isn't Dean's room, then.

He keeps searching until he finds it. There's a double bed taking up most of the space, but there's also a beanbag in one corner and a small table that could fit the computer in the living room. The walls are plastered with surfing posters and rock posters, old concert advertisements for Led Zeppelin and Metallica contrasting against the vibrant blue of the ocean and gold of the sand. Castiel starts slightly when he recognises Dean in one of the posters. He doesn't know how the photographer got the shot, but Castiel isn't complaining. Dean's surfing in the middle of a wave, standing upright with his knees bent on his black board, although you can hardly see the intricate designs painted onto it. He's looking outwards slightly, not directly at the camera, but enough to see the look in his eyes. They're focused and alive, and look slightly blue, probably from the wave that is curling over his head. The caption is advertising the local surfing championships, asking if anyone would be able to beat their three year winner. With another glance at the younger Dean in the poster, Castiel realises that the champion must be him. When he looks, he sees that the poster is dated for nine years ago. Dean must have been a teenager in the photo.

Castiel returns to the lounge room, where Dean's slumped over on the lounge. He worms his arms under the other man and picks him up, grunting at the effort that it takes. He takes him to his room, walking quickly so he wouldn't have to hold him for long. He puts Dean down on his bed, trying not to make it too sudden, but Dean is oblivious to it. He arranges him in the recovery position, not wanting him to choke on his own vomit if he throws up when he's still unconscious, but he doesn't leave.

He hesitates next to the bed. He doesn't want Dean to be alone in case something happens, but it's late, and Castiel doesn't want to stay up for the entire night. He slowly takes his shoes and socks off and puts them next to the door. Then he takes most of his other clothes off, leaving him in his shirt and boxers. Dean hasn't moved, and Castiel doesn't think he will.

He slowly climbs onto the bed next to Dean. Only because I want him to be safe, Castiel tells himself. It has nothing to do with the fact that he's leaving in a few days and he finds himself unwilling to go. It's more than wanting to avoid going home, although he's already received several texts from Balthazar urging him to make his residence in Australia permanent just so he avoid ever having to come home and deal with his older siblings. He wants to stay with Dean, he wants to learn more about this man who has him so intrigued with not only the life here, but a life here. He's beginning to understand why all those other countries didn't hold the same appeal that this small town does, and it's more than the penguins that he could work with if he got a job here. It's Dean.

Castiel's never been in a relationship before, but he can almost imagine what it wold be like now. Dean had surprised him so much when he kissed him on the beach, and Castiel would admit that is had been a good first kiss. Dean had tasted like salt, the sea mixed with his own sweat. He looks at the man next to him and bites his lip. He's certain that it wasn't Dean's first kiss, but Dean must be twenty five or six, so Castiel can't blame him.

Castiel sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He doesn't want to go back to the house where he grew up. His year long trip with Balthazar is at its end, and Castiel is dreading facing Michael and Lucifer again. He knows that as soon as he arrives back in America they would find a way to meet with him, even with all the police 'protection' that he and his siblings qualify for. His two oldest brothers don't understand his degree or what he's interested in. All they understand is the business, and they would be working on getting Castiel to join even now. They would have plans in motion for all of the Novak siblings.

Castiel tries to put it out of his mind. He'd think about it later, when Dean isn't so close and doesn't smell so good, even with the layers of whisky over the top. Closing his eyes, he tries to fall asleep, attempting to not revel in Dean's nearness.

Dean wakes groggily. At first he refuses to open his eyes, not wanting his already pounding headache to get any worse. He rolls over, and feels someone else in his bed.

Fuck. Did he go pick someone up last night? Everything's a blur after the second bottle of whiskey got opened, and he would have been in no state to drive. Nonetheless, there's someone in his bed.

Bracing himself to see some random stranger lying next to him, he cracks his eyes open, blinking a few times to clear them. To his bewilderment, Cas appears in front of him, sleeping soundly. Dean blinks a few more times to make sure this isn't a dream, then pinches himself. Cas doesn't disappear, and he still needs to go to the toilet. It must be real then.

How on earth had Cas gotten here? He didn't have Dean's address, and Dean doesn't have his phone number. He attempts to sit up, and winces when a lightning bolt goes through his head. Ugh, he's hurting and regretting last night's drinking now.

He stands up and wobbles his way to the bathroom, where he has a cold shower and attempts to make himself presentable. He's sure he fails, but he just wants to go back to sleep, so he heads back to his room. Halfway there chills start to race over him, and he shivers, hurrying to get back to his room. He gets under the covers and wriggles over next to Cas, who's warm and lax. Just as he settles down, Cas takes a deeper breath and his eyes open slowly.

Dean blushes slightly but doesn't move. He's cold and shivering, and Cas looks at him in concern.

"Dean?" He asks, voice rougher than normal. "Are you alright?"

"Cold," Dean mutters.

Cas slings an arm over him and pulls him closer. "You are cold," Cas says, surprised. Dean just huddles miserably in his warmth, wanting his headache to go away and his stomach to feel normal again.

Dean drifts off again, and when he wakes up he's sweating. The blankets he had pulled over himself now seem excessive, and he kicks them off. Cas lets him go when he sits up, and Dean doesn't look at him. Shit, Cas probably thinks he's some sort of alcoholic. The question of how Cas even got to his house surfaces again, and he turns to look at him.

"Are you feeling better?" Cas asks. Dean looks at the time. It's almost eleven, and he's starving.

"Hungry, but feeling better," Dean answers. He stands and stretches. "I'm going to go and take another shower. You can just…" Dean waves around a hand before grabbing some clothes and heading towards the bathroom. Okay. That wasn't too awkward.

He showers again and finally feels like a human being once more. He comes out to see Cas looking through his cupboards, and a wave of longing hits him over the head.

He wants this. He wants to wake up with Cas in his bed and in his home. He doesn't want to be alone, and he doesn't want to cope with the fallout of Sam's decisions by himself. He wants to wake up to Cas next to him and have his ridiculously fluffed up hair to greet him in the morning.

Shit, he's so screwed.

Cas looks over to him, and Dean smiles weakly.

"Hey."

"Hello."

There doesn't seem to be much else Dean can say, so he walks over to Cas and closes the cupboard door. "I can make brunch if you'd like?"

Cas lights up slightly. "I would like that."

So Dean starts getting out eggs and bread and cooking utensils. Cas insists on helping, so Dean asks him to take over toasting the bread and chopping up tomatoes and mushrooms. It isn't long before there are two heaped plates sitting side by side on the bench, and Dean wonders at how well they work together.

Cas takes one plate and sits at the counter. Dean sits down next to him and starts inhaling his food. Cas watches him with amused eyes, the skin at their corners crinkling slightly.

"Dude, how did you even get here last night?" Dean asks between putting food into his mouth.

Cas looks down at his plate. "Charlie called me and told me that something had gone wrong, and that you might need cheering up. She gave me the address."

Dean stops chewing, feeling himself laid bare under the careful scrutiny of Cas' piercing blue eyes. Cas isn't pressing for details, would not ask, but Dean can see that he wants to help, however he can. Just like he probably helped put Dean to bed last night and didn't argue this morning when he said he was cold.

Dean shrugs with one shoulder. "It's my brother. He got admitted to hospital two days ago. Overdose."

"Is he alright?" Cas asks him, concern written on his face. Dean does his best to ignore it, hoping that if he doesn't see the best parts of Cas, it'll hurt less when he leaves.

"The doctors say he'll be fine, but he has to have someone in his family sign him out of the hospital before he's clean who'll take responsibility for him. Since I'm the only family he has, I have to do it, but there's no way I can afford a plane over there and back." Dean sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "Not to mention that Sam needs money for the drugs. I don't want to know how he's holding them off now. I'm bringing him back here, whatever it takes," Dean promises, leaning back and popping his spine. "I just need a cheap flight over there."

Cas looks pensive for a few seconds as he digests the information. "Where is Sam?" He asks.

"He's at Stanford. Got a full ride," Dean replies, grudging admiration creeping into his voice.

Cas blinks then huffs and shakes his head. "I went to Stanford as well, but that was mostly because it was the best school near where I lived. My brothers… worry," Cas says, after a long pause, and Dean is sure that isn't what he means.

"You still live in California? With all the travelling that you do, I'd think that you moved around where you lived as well." Dean asks.

Cas shakes his head. "No, I've lived in Cali all my life. And since Balthazar went home early, I still have two plane tickets. To Palo Alto."

Dean looks over at him and Cas's mouth edges into a smile. "Are you serious?" Dean asks.

Cas nods. "What a strange coincidence," he murmurs.

"I don't believe in coincidences," Dean counters. When Cas tilts his head at him, Dean feels like he needs to explain. "The chances are just too crazy that that just happened."

"So someone planned it? Who?"

Dean shrugs. "I don't know. I just know that for once, they're not screwing me over completely."

Dean helps Cas pack, and he drops his rental car off early. Dean calls Charlie and tells her what's happening, and she's silent for a moment when he reveals that because Balthazar left early, Cas has an extra plane ticket.

"That's nuts," she says.

"I know."

"The Universe is giving you more chances to be with him, Dean. Don't waste it. You said he was looking to move, convince him to move here! You're gone on him, I can tell."

"It's his life Charlie," Dean mutters. "Look, just let Benny know I'm going to be back soon, okay?"

"Benny doesn't care when you get back, just as long as you and Sam are safe," Charlie tells him. "You've got all the time you need, Dean."

Dean thanks her and hangs up. He doesn't pack much for himself besides a toothbrush and some extra clothes. He isn't planning on staying in California for long.

Dean drives them to Melbourne. He can park in the Roadhouse's car park for a week. Dean thinks that Ellen wants Sam back almost as much as he does, and when he had told her what had happened, she had been silent for nearly a minute, then she told him to go and pick Sam up right that second.

Dean gets out at the Roadhouse, and Cas does as well, looking at the bar. It used to be only the first storey of the building that it's in, but a few years ago Ellen bought the four levels above it, and now the Roadhouse is a place to stay as well as somewhere to go to eat good food.

They're just in time for dinner, and Dean flashes a smile at Cas. For some reason the other man had stuck around during these last few days, listening seriously and offering Dean his extra plane ticket like it was nothing. He shoves his hands into his pockets and walks across to the entrance, Cas following him.

Ellen is behind the bar, like normal. Dean spots a seat in the corner, one of the booths, and he goes over to it. Cas slides into the seat opposite him. He's still looking around. Dean hasn't told him much besides that Ellen is his foster mother, and he looks interested in where Dean had lived for a year.

"Ellen runs the bar every night," Dean tells him. "If anyone starts any shit, she throws them out herself."

Cas blinks and a thoughtful look appears on his face. "She's dedicated to this establishment, then."

Dean snorts. "Yeah, you could say that."

Dean orders his usual when a waiter comes around and Cas looks over the menu, studying the choices intently. He eventually orders the same as Dean, and Dean nods.

"That's the best thing on the menu," Dean tells him.

"I thought so. You would know, doubtless having eaten here enough times to have had everything."

The corner of Dean's mouth curls up into a smile, and he nods. "Yeah, you could say that."

He isn't looking forward to saying goodbye to Cas, and if he judges the look in Cas's eyes correctly, Cas isn't looking forward to it either.

"All passengers boarding the FQ518 flight from Melbourne to Palo Alto via Singapore please proceed to boarding lounge four."

Lounge four is crowded. There are people with American accents everywhere, and Dean's having a hard time sticking close to Cas. The roiling of his stomach isn't helping either, and he's trying to shove down the urge to throw up, and they're not even on the plane yet. He hasn't been on a plane in years, and he isn't happy about breaking his streak.

Cas looks over at him as they get in the line to board, and the space between his eyebrows crinkles as he looks at Dean in concern. "Are you feeling alight?"

"Yeah," Dean replies shakily.

"You don't look alright," Cas tells him.

"I'm just…" Dean trails off and continues when Cas cocks his head. "I'm just scared of flying. Terrifies the shit out of me."

"Oh," Cas says. Then his eyes narrow. "Then why is Sam making you fly across?"

"Sam isn't making me do anything," Dean growls. "I am hauling his ass home as soon as I get there."

"Alright," Cas agrees, although Dean thinks he still looks concerned. However, it's a bit hard to decipher Cas's poker face when he's concentrating on keeping his dinner down.

They scan their tickets and the woman lets them through. The crowded lanes in the plane aren't making his feeling of claustrophobia any better.

Cas must see his face paling, because he deposits Dean in a seat. It must be theirs, because Cas then puts his luggage up above him. Dean closes his eyes to try and calm himself down.

Dean feels his seat move a little as Cas sits down next to him. Almost without his consent, his hand finds Cas's and grips it tightly. Cas startles slightly, but doesn't try to take his hand away.

"You're going to be fine, Dean," Cas tells him, and Dean finds himself relaxing marginally at his low voice. He puts his earphones in with his one remaining hand and starts the song list already on standby. Cas doesn't comment, but he squeezes Dean's hand slightly.

Dean thinks that with Cas here, it's going to be a little bit easier to get through the trip.

He's right. Cas does make it easier.

He only throws up twice, once when they'd hit some turbulence for half an hour over the ocean, and once when they're landing for the second time in America. The stopover had been hell, but thankfully it had only been for forty minutes, and they hadn't had to get off the plane.

Dean staggers off the plane and into the airport. He leans up against the wall for a few minutes, and then Cas touches his shoulder. Dean cracks an eye open to look at him. Cas is smiling softly, and he has Dean's carry-on bag with him.

"You left this behind in your haste to get out," Cas tells him. "Will you wait here while I get my luggage?"

Dean nods, and Cas disappears into the crush of people. Dean slowly feels better, and by the time Cas comes back, he's got his back up against the wall and is watching people pass by. There are so many people in the airport, and Dean is once again reminded that California has more people in the one state than Australia has in the entire country.

"How are you getting to the hospital?" Cas asks him.

"One of Sam's friends said they'd pick me up," Dean tells him. He picks up his and Cas's carry on and starts walking towards the entrance. Cas follows, and they're standing outside too soon. Pickups are one way, and Dean can see the sign for the bus in the other direction, which is what he guesses Cas will be taking.

"So…" Dean says, not really sure what to say.

"Thank you for taking me around your island," Cas says simply, and Dean is hit by the urge to stay in contact with him, which is crazy. Cas is going to move to some country far away and never think of him again. Even so, Dean finds himself digging through his pockets for a pen and a scrap of paper. He pulls them out and scrawls his number on the paper.

Cas's eyes widen slightly when Dean gives it to him. "My number," Dean says needlessly. Cas's eyes crinkle, and he tucks it into his wallet.

"I see."

Dean ducks his head to meet Cas as he moves upwards. Dean leans into the kiss, trying to commit his taste to memory. He doesn't think he'll be seeing Cas for a while, or maybe never again. All he knows is that Cas has gotten him to see how closed off he is. He'll try to change that, he thinks to himself.

"Hey, get out of the way," a man says as he walks past, bumping Dean even closer to Cas. Cas smiles at him softly, and Dean feels him put something in his pocket. He raises his eyebrows, but Cas only smiles softly.

"Don't open it until later."

Dean frowns for a second but nods once. "Okay."

They stand there for another few seconds, staring, until Cas speaks.

"Farewell, Dean."

"See ya, Cas," Dean says. Cas takes a step back, not breaking eye contact. He finally turns, and lifts his hand, saying goodbye. Dean feels something lodge in his throat, and he makes himself turn around to where people could pick up travellers. He had known that Cas was leaving. Known it. So why are his eyes watering?

He angrily wipes at them and goes to find his ride.

Castiel leaves the airport, and heads towards the bus station. He's still humming from the kiss and from being in the city that he knows, and he can almost feel the slip of paper with Dean's phone number on it burning a hole in his wallet.

It takes time to navigate the crowded streets, and it doesn't take long before Castiel is cursing the mob of people. He's sure that California has more people in it than all of Australia, and he's also sure that every one of them is on this street at this second.

Someone hits him from behind, and Castiel feels a hand in his pocket.

"Hey!" He calls out after the boy that had just taken his wallet. "Thief!"

There's a mill as people look around, but Castiel has lost him in the crush of people, and he grits his teeth. There are two police officers walking towards him, and after asking him a few questions, they tell him that they'll call him if they find it, which they won't. He despondently walks towards the bus station and purchases a ticket with the ten dollars he had had in his other pocket. At least it was enough to get him to where he would change to the bus that would take him out to where he lives.

It's only when the bus has already pulled out into the busy city traffic that Castiel remembers that Dean's phone number was in his wallet.

"Shit," he mutters lowly to himself.

"Sam, I'm not signing you out until you tell me what happened."

Sam heaves a sigh and looks out the window. Dean refuses to cave. He hasn't talked to his brother in over a year, and this conversation is reminding him of the reasons why.

"I told you," Sam replies.

"You told me the bull you told the police. Tell me what actually happened Sam, or I'm going to leave right now."

"Fine," Sam mutters. He looks at the door, which is closed. There aren't any other people in the room, so he doesn't have a reason not to spill.

"It's because of Ruby," Sam starts, and Dean bites his tongue until he tastes blood. How many times had he told Sam that she was bad news?

"Did she give you the drugs?" Dean asks, because Sam is here because of an overdose.

There's a stiff silence until Sam continues. "Yes," he says tautly. "She did. Look, I was supposed to deliver some drugs to a supplier, and Ruby hit me with a needle and I blacked out. When I came to in here, there were several of the people there who I was meant to give the drugs to. I tried to tell them where it was, but they told me that Ruby had taken off with them, and that I needed to reimburse them."

Dean runs a hand over his face. "Fuck, Sam."

Sam looks down at his hands. "Yeah."

"I have the money," Dean tells him. It's all of his savings plus some, but he had managed to borrow some from Charlie. She wouldn't mind when he paid her back. "But you have to come home, Sam. That's my price."

Sam deflates a little. "I paid their fine, and I don't have to go to gaol since they can't prove I was intending to sell anything and they didn't find anything at my apartment. I guess I should be happy for that, at least. Ruby cleared the place out."

There's a knock on the door, and Brady, the young man that had dropped Dean off, pokes his head in. "The doctors want to know if you're signing him out."

Dean looks at Sam. Sam swallows and then nods. "Yeah. He will."

Brady nods and closes the door again. "We're not done talking about this," Dean warns.

"Okay," Sam replies quietly. Dean shakes his head and leaves. Brady goes in as Dean sits down on one of the chairs in the hallway. His fingers find the thing that Cas had put in his pocket when he shoves his hands in his pockets, and he pulls it out. It's an envelope, slightly crinkled now, but sealed. In a flowing cursive, 'Dean' is written on the outside.

Dean frowns slightly and opens it. He unfolds the piece of paper inside. The first page is a note, written in the same cursive.

I do not know exactly what happened with your brother, Dean, but I do know that you can't afford to fly back to Melbourne. Take these as my thank you for taking me around the island and letting me catch a glimpse of what you do there.

Castiel

Dean looks at the next page, and his heart shudders and then beats quicker. It's two plane tickets for tomorrow, headed from Palo Alto back to Melbourne. Dean bites his lip when he sees that it's already been paid for.

He shakes his head slightly and puts it back in his pocket, then goes to find where he can sign Sam out of the hospital. He's not letting his brother make mistakes that could have been prevented, and from now on, Dean's going to take care of him, just like he should have been doing for the last year.

The tickets in his pocket seem heavier than they actually are.