This is the third part in my 'Communication' verse, following 'Speech is Silver' and 'Silence is Golden' but you should be able to understand this without having read those two first. I hope you enjoy.

"Hi, honey, I'm back," Castiel greeted Rachel when she finally answered her phone.

"Cas, hi, how are you? How was it?" she asked, happy to have her best friend back. He had only been away on his silent retreat for a week but they spoke almost every day, so one week seemed like a long time.

"It was great. I have so much more energy now after that week. Enough to get me through the next year."

Rachel laughed at that. "I hope that's not the only thing that'll help you get through the next year."

"No, of course not. Hearing your lovely voice is also a big factor," he told her with a smile.

"It feels so good to finally hear you say that," she screeched in the most horrible voice she could manage and they both shared a laugh.

"No, seriously. I wouldn't know what to do without you," he said and he meant it. Rachel was always there to help and listen to him when he needed it. "I met someone there," he told her after a moment of silence from both of them.

"How do you meet someone at a silent retreat?" she asked, curious now. Castiel hadn't 'met' anyone anymore lately. He found someone for a few hours, maybe a night, when he felt like it but he never really talked about it and certainly not in the tone he had used just now.

"I don't know. I saw him and was intrigued by him. We didn't speak of course but there were looks and we went out on hikes, just the two of us," Cas tried to explain.

"That's it?" Rachel asked skeptically.

"Well, we did kiss and he spent the last night with me in my bed," Cas admitted.

"Castiel Novak, on a silent retreat? I hope you didn't wake everyone up," she chided.

"Rachel, what do you think of me? Okay, don't answer that. Nothing happened. We just slept. And when I woke up in the morning he was gone and had left a note with his number."

"Are you going to call him?" Rachel asked, sounding hopeful.

"Rache, I don't…" but Rachel interrupted Cas before he could finish his sentence.

"Let me rephrase that. You will call him. Or I will call him for you," she told him in a voice that didn't allow any objection. Cas hadn't been in a steady relationship for a long time and Rachel just really wanted him to find someone he could be happy with. And she was ready to take action and 'help' him, if he didn't do anything himself.

"Okay, okay. I'll see if he wants to meet up with me as soon as you get off the phone with me," Cas told her, pretending to be annoyed. "How does that sound?"

"That sounds great," she answered. "But remember, I'll know if you don't."

"I know you do. Bye, honey."

"Bye, Cas. Good luck."

Before Cas did anything about his love life though, he unpacked and thought about what to say to Dean. It had been easy being confident without speaking and when he was talking to strangers on his radio show it was different. He had actually never had much trouble talking to strangers or meeting new people. But now he was nervous, something he hadn't felt in a while.

Not since he had given up on relationships five years ago, when he had caught his boyfriend cheating on him. More than once. Since then he had just looked for a quick fuck when he felt like it and he was never nervous about those encounters either. He never saw the people he spent a few heated hours with again.

With one exception. His friendship with Rachel had started out as just another anonymous one-night-stand. But a few days later they had met at a supermarket and after the initial embarrassment on both sides, they had sat down for coffee and talked and somehow they had become best friends after that day.

Thinking about how he'd met Rachel made him feel less nervous but now he had unpacked and still didn't know what to say when he called Dean and he couldn't really stall any longer. In the end he decided to keep the not-talking-thing up a little longer and simply text Dean first.

But when he picked up his phone and started to type the message he suddenly felt like a coward for taking the easy way and he deleted the started message. He took a deep breath and then dialed Dean's number.

"Hello?"

The sound of Dean's voice, which he'd only heard once before, immediately calmed him for some reason and he wasn't nervous anymore.

"Hello Dean. It's Cas. From the retreat, do you remember?"

"Of course I remember. How could I forget? And I'd recognize your voice anywhere. I listen to your radio program when I get the chance," Dean told him and he sounded happy about hearing from Cas.

"You do? Really?" he asked in surprise. For some reason he hadn't expected that.

"Yes, I do," Dean laughed. "I like it. And you helped me with a big decision once."

"Really? I'd love to hear about that. Listen, do you want to meet up with me sometime, have a beer together?" Cas asked, not feeling the least nervous anymore now.

"Sure, how about tonight?" Dean asked boldly and Cas smiled.

"Sounds good," he answered and they agreed on a place and time and then ended the phone call to continue their conversation face to face that night.

But when Cas was ready to leave and went outside to get in his car, he was surprised to see Dean Winchester outside his house, leaning against a gorgeous black classic car, obviously waiting for him. This he had not expected from the man who couldn't even look him in the eye on the first few days of the silent retreat. He walked towards Dean and awkwardly stopped a few steps away from the man.

"You're picking me up?" he asked.

"Yeah, I thought, since I pass your place anyway we don't both need to drive."

"But I never told you my address," Cas said, not ready to get in the car yet.

"Wasn't that hard to find. Listen, you don't have to ride with me if you don't feel comfortable with it. I just couldn't wait twenty more minutes I guess," Dean said with a half smile and Cas finally shook off his surprise and got into the car.

"No, it's fine. I was just surprised that's all. I didn't expect you to be so…assertive after what I saw of you last week," Cas told him as Dean cranked the engine and pulled away from the curb.

"Last week I wasn't this assertive," Dean admitted. "I went on the retreat to find myself and I think I did. With your help." He briefly looked over at Cas, who was glad that it was dark in the car because he thought he might have blushed at the words and at how sincere Dean had sounded when he said them.

They drove in silence until they got to the bar where they had wanted to meet and didn't speak again until they both had a drink in front of them.

"So, what did I help you with, with my radio show?" Cas asked, remembering Dean's statement from earlier.

"You made me realize that I should end my relationship. I wasn't happy anymore. I had only just realized that I didn't really love Lisa and that I actually wasn't into women at all anymore. Maybe I never was and just tried because it was what the people around me expected. But you told someone to get out of an unhappy relationship sooner rather than later and I found that that was true for me, too. It wasn't pretty but not ending it would have only made things worse. She wanted to get married," Dean explained and didn't look at Cas but stared at his hands, which were wrapped around his glass.

"And then you went on the retreat to find out whether you made the right choice," Cas guessed and Dean nodded.

"I hurt both of us so much. I needed some time to think. But now I know it was the right choice. Thanks to you. Without you I wouldn't have taken that step and without you I wouldn't have known about a silent retreat and ever thought of going to one. So thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm glad I could help and that I met you there. I haven't got the best track record with relationships myself," Cas said and then explained about what had happened to him and how his life had changed after that last relationship.

"We should take things slowly, don't you think?" Dean asked after listening to Cas' story and Cas agreed.

They stayed at the bar for a long time and talked, getting to know each other better and enjoying the other's company. They sat there until the bar closed and when Dean drove Cas back home, they decided to meet again the next day. They had so much to talk about.

When Dean stopped the car in front of Cas' house, he got out as well and met Cas on the passenger side of the car.

"So, tomorrow?" Dean asked.

"Tomorrow," Cas agreed and as Dean turned to get back in his car, Cas held on to his sleeve, stopping him, pulling him closer.

"We don't have to take things quite that slowly, do we?" he asked, his face barely an inch away from Dean's.

Dean swallowed. "No, I guess not."

And then Cas' lips were on his. It was a gentle touch at first. Just like the kisses they had shared at the retreat. But Cas didn't pull away again. He waited for Dean to adjust to the feeling, to the kiss and to respond. Which Dean did after a few seconds.

He parted his lips slightly and Cas licked along them before slowly pushing his tongue past the lips into Dean's mouth where it was greeted by Dean's tongue. The kiss was careful and tentative. Cas didn't want to go too far. He kept things slow and gentle and didn't go further than just meeting Dean's tongue. When he pulled away, he saw Dean smiling and knew he had made the right decision.

With another brief kiss on the lips he said goodbye and walked up to his house, turning around at the front door to see Dean still standing there, watching him. He smiled and let himself inside. He had had a great time on this date, for the first time in five years and he needed to call Rachel right away to tell her how things had gone. She wouldn't mind that it was the middle of the night and even if she did, Cas didn't care. He needed to tell someone about his night.