Dean was meeting his brother and their friend Castiel for dinner.

Sam and Castiel worked together at the same law firm so they had been friends for a couple of years before Dean actually met Cas. Dean had been annoyed that Sam had not introduced them sooner; Castiel was hot. He was smart, funny (in an awkward sort of way), and he liked burgers; those were basically the three things Dean liked most in a guy.

He was dubious about asking Castiel out though as he knew it would irritate Sam who was very protective of his unusual friend. Unfortunately Sam knew Dean's track record with guys and wasn't going to give him any praise for it soon.

Dean arrived at the diner and despite being a few minutes early he was not surprised to see that his brother had still arrived before him.

"Where's Cas?" Dean asked with a frown as he approached the booth.

"Hello to you too, brother" Sam said with a faked smile. "I'm fine, thanks for asking."

Dean rolled his eyes as he sat down. "Don't get your panties in a twist, Samantha."

Sam sighed deeply and shook his head. "Cas has had a friend staying with him for the past few weeks so they've been out sightseeing. I said Cas should bring him along."

"A friend?" Dean repeated; his envy was not at all masked. "Cas has a friend?"

Sam looked confused. "Yeah. You ever had one of those?"

Dean shot him an unimpressed look. "I just always assumed we were his only friends. He's not exactly a social butterfly."

"Well he said that he and Balthazar had been friends since they were kids."

"Balthazar?" Dean said with an amused scoff. "What kind of pretentious name is that?"

"Wow" Sam said with a smirk as picked up the menu.

"What?" Dean asked.

"You only know this guy's name but you're already prepared to rip him to shreds" Sam pointed out. "If you're that worried about Cas finding a boyfriend then hurry up and ask him out yourself."

"I am not!" Dean protested with more force than he meant to. "And you wouldn't let me ask Cas out anyway."

Sam looked at his brother incrediously. "You're a grown ass man, Dean; you don't need my permission. It's just that Cas is my best friend and you're not exactly renowned for being in committed relationships. You just sleep around and get a free breakfast in the morning."

"Okay, you're saying that like it's an insult but I'm not seeing it."

Sam took a deep breath and placed the menu down to look his brother sternly in the eyes. "I will not let you hurt Cas. Please, just be serious with me, for once."

"Alright" Dean replied as he met Sam's gaze. "I promise you that I would never intentionally hurt Cas. I really like him, Sam. I've never been this sure that I want to be with someone in my whole life."

"Then quit pining and do something about it" Sam encouraged. "Seriously, I feel like I'm caught in the middle of a teen drama and its coming up to prom."

"Okay, you can stop with the sarcastic comments too" Dean said firmly.

Sam raised his hands in surrender.

"Hello!" A voice called and the brothers looked around to see Castiel approaching with an unfamiliar man.

"Hey, Cas" Sam smiled.

"Sam, Dean, this is my friend Balthazar" Castiel introduced.

"It's a real pleasure" Balthazar said with a smooth English accent as he shook Sam's hand and then Dean's.

The two other men sat down – Balthazar next to Dean much to the older Winchester's dismay.

"Cassie has told me a lot about you" Balthazar claimed.

"Really? He's never mentioned y- ow!" Dean shot his brother an annoyed glare as Sam had kicked him under the table.

"Dean what's wrong?" Castiel asked.

"Nothing" Dean grumbled. "Just, um…really hungry. Stomach cramps."

"So, what was it like for you two growing up together?" Sam asked.

Dean discreetly sighed to himself before turning to look out the window whilst this Balthazar guy ramble on; this was going to be a long dinner.

The following day Sam was in his office finishing up some paperwork when Dean stormed in without knocking.

"What the hell is that guy's problem!?" Dean immediately started to rant.

"I'm guessing you mean Balthazar" Sam said despairingly as he slumped back in his chair.

"Yes, Balthazar" Dean repeated with distain as he paced the room. "If that is his name…it's way too badass!"

Sam sighed. "Dean, we've been over this. If you're concerned about Balthazar moving in on Cas then you have to tell Cas how you feel."

"He's British, Sam!" Dean stressed. "British. That's like one of the sexiest accents there is; I can't compete with that!"

Sam couldn't help chuckling. "Dean you're over thinking this."

"Am I?" Dean said as he threw himself down on the sofa in the corner of the office. "He and Cas have been friends since they were kids; he probably knows Cas way better than I do. And he wore those damn tight fitting jeans and that low-cut shirt…."

"Are you sure you don't have a crush on Balthazar?" Sam teased.

Dean breathed deeply. "No, it's just…he seems so freakin' perfect and it's just making me question whether I'm actually good enough for Cas."

Sam's concern immediately peaked buy the sudden seriousness in his brother's tone.

"Dean, it doesn't matter what you think of Balthazar; it's matters what Cas thinks about you. He's not going to show interest if he doesn't know you're interested."

"But doesn't that just suggest he doesn't feel the same?" Dean argued.

"Not necessarily. You know that Cas isn't the most outspoken guy; he might just be as nervous as you are."

Dean immediately snapped up into a sitting position. "Do you know something that I don't?" he asked suspiciously.

"I plead the fifth" Sam replied.

"Don't try and lawyer yourself out of this!" Dean argued, but Sam remained silent. "Fine" he said as he stood up again. "I'm going home to plan what I'm going to say so that I don't make an ass of myself."

"Yeah, I'd set aside a good day or two for that" Sam said. "And no putting on accents or V-necks!"

"You never let me try anything I want to do!" Dean exclaimed before storming back out of the office leaving Sam laughing to himself.

Later in the afternoon Castiel knocked on the door of Sam's office and only entered when the younger Winchester said it was okay; Sam appreciated that a lot now.

"Hey, Cas" he smiled.

"Hello, Sam" Castiel said as he took a seat opposite the other lawyer's desk. "Have I done something to upset Dean? He seemed very distant at the diner yesterday."

"No, you haven't done wrong anything, Cas" Sam assured him. "He's just…dealing with some stuff right now."

"Is…is it about Balthazar?"

"Well…"

"Please, Sam. I don't want to lose Dean."

"Okay. I know that you like Dean and you're scared about it going wrong and jeopardising the relationship you already have, but I'm certain the he is in love with you, and I can't say that about any other person that he's been with."

Castiel's eyes widened with shock. "Dean…Dean is in love with me?"

Sam winced with embarrassment. "Yeah, sorry, I thought you could tell? I've never seen him be so polite and tentative to anyone."

"You know that my people skills are rusty, Sam" Castiel pointed out. "I'm not great with reading signals and emotions."

"Yes, well, Dean himself is pretty emotionally constipated" Sam said. "Just…don't be scared to take a chance, okay? I think that the two of you need to stop tiptoeing around; you'd be a lot happier for it. Plus Dean knows that if he hurts you I'll kick his ass."

"You're right" Castiel said with a determined nod. "And I promise I wouldn't do anything to hurt Dean either."

"Cas you once pull over on busy roads to herd ducks out of the way. I'm not concerned about you hurting anybody."

"Okay" Castiel said with a small smile. "Thank you, Sam."

"Don't mention it. You just need to be patient with Dean so that he can get his head straight."

"I will."

When Castiel went to answer a knock on his door the following morning he was surprised to find Dean stood outside with a bunch of flowers.

"Hi, Cas" he said with an unusually meek smile. "I got these for you. From an actual florist! Not a gas station."

"Thank you, Dean" Castiel said with a warm smile in return as he took the bouquet. "They're lovely. And you actually knocked! It must be a special occasion."

"Well…hopefully" Dean chuckled.

"Please, come in" Castiel said as he lead Dean inside. "Would you like some tea? I bought some back from this lovely tea shop Balthazar showed me."

"Really? A British guy took you to a tea store?" Dean mumbled. "Tea is there solution to everything; he really didn't put a lot of thought into that date."

"It wasn't a date" Castiel blushed. "I don't feel about Balthazar that way and I know he doesn't see me that way either; he's like my big brother."

"Oh…I see" Dean said as they took a seat on the couch. "I owe you both an apology. I was sort of an ass the other day and that wasn't fair or him or you. I'm sorry for how I acted."

"So you were jealous? You thought I was dating Balthazar?" Castiel asked with some amusement.

"Well…yeah" Dean confessed sheepishly. "You see…the thing is…what I've really wanted to say this whole time-"

"I love you too, Dean."

Dean blinked feverishly. "You…you do?"

Castiel bowed his head and grinned. "Yes. And I understand why you've been apprehensive about asking me to be in a relationship; I have similar fears."

"Yeah, but now we can face those things together" Dean reasoned. "And I just grossed myself out with how cheesy that was."

"It's okay. I thought it was sweet" Castiel assured him. "So, where exactly do we go from here?"

"I think that I should do this properly" Dean said as he took Castiel's hand in his own. "Castiel Novak, will you go on a date with me?"

"Yes, Dean Winchester, I will" Castiel beamed. "Um…I'm not great with reading these types of situations. Should I kiss you now?"

Dean smirked at the lawyer adoringly and leaned in to press their lips together tenderly. He pulled back and caressed the back of Castiel's soft hair.

"That was nice" Castiel commented.

Dean could only laugh. "I love you, you dorky little guy."