Dean and Castiel had met during their freshmen year at high school. Since Dean joined a little late Castiel had been asked to help him catch up and they had become instant friends despite their hugely differing personalities, but that was perhaps what they liked most about their relationship.

However, Castiel had been harbouring deeper feelings for Dean over the past few years which he knew the other teen didn't reciprocate. Dean liked hot cheerleaders and wild flings; Castiel was hoping for a much more emotional attachment.

Now it was their first year of college and Castiel feared he and Dean were drifting apart despite the fact they were roommates.

Castiel preferred to spend his evenings in the library studying for his history class whilst Dean was often out at parties with his fellow sport scholars.

It was on such a night that Castiel's quiet reflection on his day's work was interrupted.

Someone purposefully bumped the table he was sitting at, causing all of Castiel's books and notes to scatter on the floor.

"Hey!" Castiel was about to argue, but then he looked up and saw Dean's friends Gordon and Ruby smirking down at him. "Oh…hello" he said meekly before kneeling down on the floor to pick everything up.

"Hey, uh…I'm sorry. I don't think Dean's ever mentioned your name" Ruby jibed.

"He hasn't?" Castiel asked quietly.

"No" Gordon affirmed. "He said you were just his nerdy roommate. A real hermit type. A religious freak."

"Dean wouldn't talk about me like that behind my back" Castiel said as he glared up at them with a furrowed brow. "He's my best friend."

"Right" Ruby said with clear disbelief. "That's why he's going to the bar with us instead of being sat here with you."

"W-well I…I don't really drink a lot. So, th-that's why he wouldn't ask me to go" Castiel stammered as he stood up shakily.

"Or maybe it's just because he knows he'll have a better time with us without a religious nut judging him for having a good time."

"I would never judge Dean like that!" Castiel argued.

"Whatever" Ruby scoffed. "Don't you ever think about how much you're holding him back? He prefers to hang out with people more like him; like us. You should do the decent thing and move on."

The words cut Castiel like a knife. He wanted to believe that their accusations weren't true, but his own lack of self-worth would not allow it.

Ruby and Gordon walked off snickering to each other whilst Castiel sat back at the desk.

He tried to return to studying but it was difficult as the tears in his eyes caused the words to blur.

Dean hopped down from the wall he was sitting on when he saw Gordon and Ruby approaching.

"Hey! What took you so long?" he asked.

"We bumped into your roommate!" Ruby said with a forged tone of sweetness. "He seems…quiet."

"Yeah. I don't think he'd be able to keep up with us" Gordon said.

"Cas is cool" Dean said defensively. "He's my best friend. He's just shy because he doesn't know you that well."

"I'm not so sure" Ruby said. "I think it was more because he was hostile and jealous."

"What?" Dean said with a frown. "That doesn't sound like Cas…"

"He probably thinks we're a bad influence" Gordon added.

"Well he just needs to get to know you guys" Dean stated.

"Sure!" Ruby said. "Me and the other girls in my house were thinking about throwing a party on Saturday. Why don't you bring Cas along?"

"Yeah! That sounds awesome" Dean said enthusiastically.

"We can't wait" Gordon said as he and Ruby shared a sideways glance.

It was almost three in the morning when Dean staggered in the room.

Castiel always got anxious when Dean went out so he would wait up for him to make sure he got back safe, but that night he wasn't able to sleep anyway. Gordon and Ruby's taunts were still plaguing him.

"Cas, hey" Dean whispered as he stumbled over to his friend's bed.

Castiel was facing the wall and had the cover almost pulled over his head in the hope that Dean would think he was asleep.

It didn't matter though as he felt the mattress dip beside him as Dean laid down.

"C'mon, nerd" Dean said prodding a finger in Castiel's back.

"Please go to bed, Dean. I'm tired" Castiel said, hoping that in his drunken state Dean didn't pick up on the slight waver in his voice.

Apparently not.

"Cas?" Dean said sounding a lot more sober. He rolled Castiel over to face him and the redness surrounding the smaller teen's eyes was unmistakeable. "What happened?"

"It's nothing" Castiel sniffed. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not" Dean said sternly. "Tell me what hurt you so I can punch it."

Castiel didn't want to tell Dean about the things Gordon and Ruby Hs said to him because he believed they were right. Dean did deserve to have friends who were social. Castiel knew that sometimes Dean turned down invites just to stay with him and study or watch a movie.

He doesn't really want to do that. He thinks you're strange and boring. And you're actually hoping he'd want to be in a relationship?

"I'm just stressing about a paper I've got to hand in next week" Castiel lied.

Dean scoffed with disbelief.

"Cas, don't sweat it. You're the smartest person I know" he said as he pulled the smaller teen into a tight hug. "You work too hard, but good news! Ruby's having a party at the weekend so we can go and cut loose, yeah?"

"Ruby invited me to a party?" Castiel asked suspiciously.

"Yeah! It would mean a lot to me if you guys could be friends" Dean said.

"Okay" Castiel replied with a small smile. "For you, I'll go."

"Thanks, Cas" Dean mumbled. "Okay, I'm just gunna-"

The taller teen rolled off Castiel's bed and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Dean" Castiel said with exasperation. "C'mon, I'll help you get in to bed."

"I'd appreciate it."

The sheer noise coming from Ruby's house when they arrived was enough to put Castiel on edge. There were already drunken people staggering around outside, vomiting or having sloppy make out sessions.

"Dean? I don't know if I can do this."

"Sure you can" Dean said encouragingly as he took Castiel's hand. "We just need to get inside and get you a couple of drinks to loosen up."

Castiel took a deep breath and nodded his head vigorously; reminding himself that he was doing it for Dean.

"Okay."

Dean led Castiel into the house and they had to weave their way through mounds of people before they found Ruby and Gordon stood at what appeared to be 'the bar'.

"Hey Dean!" Ruby grinned as she pulled him in to kiss his cheek, glaring at Castiel over Dean's shoulder as she did so.

"Let me get you guys a drink" Gordon said.

He turned so that Castiel and Dean couldn't see what he was doing. He poured out two beers into red cups, but in one he added an extra ingredient.

"Thanks man" Dean said as Gordon handed him a cup. He started to down the beer straight away.

"Oh, yes, thank you" Castiel said meekly as he sipped at his own.

"C'mon, man, you can do better than that" Gordon encouraged as he tipped Castiel's cup further up.

The smaller teen started spluttering but he managed to gulp down half of the drink.

"That's more like it!" Ruby grinned. "C'mon, boys, let's dance!"

As they moved to the part of the living room where everyone else was dancing Dean was pleased to see that Castiel was already looking more at ease. He had a smile on his face as Dean spun him around and he continued drinking without a fuss.

In fact, it was Dean who after a couple of hours found himself falling behind. He was surprised to see Castiel still going strong as he bopped around with Ruby; he just appeared to be gaining more and more energy.

"You want another beer, Cas?" Gordon asked.

"I think he's had enough, dude" Dean scoffed.

"Dean, don't be such a killjoy" Ruby scolded.

"Yes, Dean" Castiel said. "You're the one who wanted me to have a good time."

"I know but…this isn't like you, man" Dean said concernedly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel great!" Castiel exclaimed. "C'mon, Dean, dance with me!"

Dean couldn't help but smile at how happy and carefree his usually socially awkward friend looked, and he couldn't be the one to ruin it.

"Okay" he conceded.

Another hour or so passed and Dean started to notice a change in Castiel's demeanour again.

His movements had slowed down and he was severely sluggish, and he looked like he could barely keep his head up let alone his eyes open.

"Cas, you still doing okay, buddy?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, yeah 'm fine" Castiel mumbled. Dean wasn't convinced at all.

"Well…I think it's time we headed back. I'm just going to take a leak."

"Okay, fine" Castiel said waving his had dismissively.

Dean rolled his eyes before hopping up the stairs to the bathroom.

When he returned he was surprised to find Castiel, Ruby, and Gordon had all disappeared.

Dean's fear only grew with the more crowds of people he pushed through; he couldn't see Castiel anywhere.

He eventually made it outside of the house and stumbled around the back.

He was horrified by what he found.

Gordon was holding on to Castiel's wrists whilst Ruby was grinding up against Castiel's rear.

Dean could see Castiel was struggling against them, but his movements were extremely weak and like he couldn't co-ordinate anymore.

"G-Get off" Castiel slurred as he felt Ruby's hand slip beneath the waist of his boxers. "P-please stop."

After hearing his friend's desperate and broken words Dean started to run over to help him, but that was when he saw a glimmer of silver come from a knife which Ruby had pulled from inside her jacket.

"Ah, ah, ah" she said smirking at Dean and running the tip down Castiel's spine.

"One more step and our hands might slip" Gordon warned.

"D-Dean?" Castiel asked, squinting as if trying to work out if it really was his friend. "Dean, p-please help me!"

"C'mon, Cas" Ruby said in a condescending tone. "We just want to have some fun." She nipped at Castiel's ears.

"D-Dean" Castiel whimpered.

Dean had never felt so scared and helpless, yet angry in his life. He desperately wanted to help Castiel, but one false move and his best friend might end up with a knife in his back.

"It's okay, Cas" he said despite himself. "I promise it will be okay."

He tried to ignore the cruel laugh Gordon gave.

Castiel wasn't listening to Dean though. He was panicking, and on top of that his head was really spinning and he felt like he was going to be sick.

The music from inside the house suddenly sounded very muffled and he couldn't remember where he was anymore or what was going on. He just knew that he wanted to sleep.

Dean watched in terror as his best friend started to fall limply to the ground.

Ruby and Gordon stood back in shock as Castiel passed out on his side.

"Cas!" Dean called as he finally found the courage to run forward.

He was aware of Ruby and Gordon escaping, but he didn't care. Castiel's safety was the most important thing now.

"Cas" he said pleadingly as he dropped to his friend's side, but the smaller teen wasn't responding.

With shaky fingers Dean checked for a pulse and found that it was overly rapid.

A couple of girls suddenly came stumbling around the side of the house.

"Call an ambulance!" Dean yelled at them. "Now!"

When Castiel started to wake up he groaned as he shuffled his head around on the pillow. His whole body felt heavy and the room seemed too bright.

"Cas?"

He recognised the voice but it took him a while to put it to the owner, until said owner was hovering over him with a very worried expression, red rimmed eyes, and holding onto his hand as if he feared Castiel would disappear.

"Dean."

"Yeah, buddy, I'm here" Dean said. He raised Castiel's hand and brushed his lips against it.

"What happened?" Castiel asked with clear confusion.

"Last night…Gordon and Ruby spiked your drink and you collapsed" Dean said sadly and with a hint of aggression.

The events of last night came flooding back to Castiel like a horrific nightmare and he started shaking with fear.

"Th-they harassed me."

"Hey, it's okay" Dean said as he sat up on the bed and ran a hand delicately through Castiel's hair. "The cops have got hold of them now. They can't hurt you. I promise."

"I'm sorry" Castiel whimpered. "I-I tried to get on with them. I- I wanted to do it for you. They were right; I do hold you back-"

"What?" Dean interrupted.

"Gordon and Ruby. They said you thought I was a freak a-and that you deserved better friends-"

"Cas" Dean interrupted, sounding like he was in utter disbelief. "I love you. You've been my best friend for years and those bastards hurt you. I wish you'd said something and I would have stopped talking to them immediately. If anyone hurts you I want nothing to do with them. I'll always choose you."

"Really?" Castiel sniffed.

"Yes" Dean implored. "I'm the one who should be saying sorry. They tried to manipulate me too and I should have seen it. I… I could have lost you, and I don't what I'd do if I-"

"Ssh, it's okay" Castiel said as he pulled Dean down so that the taller teen's head was resting on his chest. Castiel stroked Dean's side as he gasped from trying to hold back tears.

"Let's just agree there is no one to blame except Ruby and Gordon" Castiel said. "Okay?"

"Okay" Dean nodded. "But if they don't get prosecuted then I swear I'll-"

"I know" Castiel interrupted before the taller teen could get carried away.

"How do you feel?" Dean asked as he sat up again.

"A little sore and headachy but I think I'll be alright."

"Yeah, the doctor said he's hoping to let you go this afternoon."

"That's good."

There were a few moments of silence where the boys didn't know what to say, but were just happy for the comfort and relief each other's presence was providing.

It was Castiel who eventually spoke again.

"Dean…when you said you loved me…did you mean…?"

"Well…yeah" Dean confessed with a sheepish grin. "If that's what you want it to mean too."

Castiel grinned wildly.

"It's what I've always wanted it to mean."

Dean smiled softly as he leaned in towards the smaller teen and their lips met for the first time.

It was like something had finally been completed, and like they would never allow anyone to try and tear them apart ever again.