Castiel was sitting at his desk at home on Saturday morning, trying to find a catchy slogan and a story for the ad of a new energy drink. He worked as a freelance ad writer, so he had no regular office hours. He worked whenever he had a job and inspiration struck.
But today his mind was blank. He was tired. His brother had woken him in the middle of the night because he'd been partying with friends somewhere close by and had been too drunk to drive himself home and too cheap to call a cab. Now Jimmy was asleep on his couch and Cas had given up trying to fall asleep again after a few more hours of lying awake and was now trying to work.
He was just blankly staring at the picture of the energy drink, when his cell phone beeped. Surprised he got up to get his phone and check the message. He didn't know who it could be from. He didn't have many friends, so not many people ever texted him. Mostly the messages he received were from his brother but Jimmy was still asleep on his couch.
Hi, hot stuff. Too bad you had to leave last night. When am I going to see you again? Can't wait to see if you look as fine without clothes as you do with. Call me. xxx
Castiel rubbed his eyes and then read the message again. It didn't change. Clearly someone had sent this text to the wrong number. Since he had nothing else to do and it sounded as if this stranger was trying to arrange a date, Castiel decided to text back and let the person know.
Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. You must have the wrong number.
He didn't have to wait long to get a reply to that.
Damn, I double-checked. This is the number the guy gave me. You sure you're name isn't Jimmy and you weren't at the 'Roadhouse' last night?
This made Castiel stop to think for a moment. Jimmy was his brother, but surely he wouldn't have confused their numbers. Jimmy was a pretty common name after all, so this was probably just a weird coincidence.
No, sorry. I know the place but I've never been there. My name is Castiel and I didn't go out at all last night. I hardly ever go out, actually. I'm afraid someone might have given you a wrong number on purpose.
Just a few seconds later his phone beeped again with the answer.
Sorry to bother you so early. I think you might be right. Probably his name wasn't even Jimmy. Too bad, he was real cute. I'm Dean by the way.
That text just proved that it couldn't have been his brother Dean was referring to, because Jimmy definitely wasn't into guys. For some reason he enjoyed this conversation with the stranger though and he replied to Dean's message.
Don't worry about it. I was up anyway, trying to work. But I can't concentrate so this was a welcome distraction.
I'm happy I could be of service. But working on a Saturday morning? I feel sorry for you dude. What do you do?
Cas smiled at that and texted right back. He wasn't tired at all anymore, having way too much fun exchanging messages with a stranger.
I'm an ad writer. I need to promote an energy drink but I have absolutely no ideas. And I do freelance work, so I can work whenever I want to.
Cool. I think I'd like to work when I feel like it. But I'm a mechanic at my dad's garage and can't do that. But I do get weekends off and can go out to meet people. Who give me wrong numbers so I can talk to interesting strangers.
Castiel stared at his phone's screen. Dean thought he was interesting. He had never even met him and thought he was interesting. No one ever said that. Mostly people called him boring and that was also the reason why he had so few friends and wasn't in a relationship. But maybe this impersonal messaging helped him to open up because in just a few minutes he had told Dean more about himself than he usually would tell a stranger face to face.
Must be nice working with your dad. Mine left years ago and I haven't seen him since. I work alone from home.
Sorry to hear that. Yes, it's nice but it can be very stressful, too. Doesn't it get lonely when you work alone from home?
No, I'm kind of a loner. Sometimes my brother visits but I don't really mind being on my own.
Still, that sounds kind of sad. Oh, I gotta go, my brother is calling. Bye.
Cas had to realize that he was actually a little disappointed that Dean had to go but of course talking to his brother was more important than exchanging messages with a complete stranger.
Okay, bye.
After that last text he went to the kitchen to get some coffee and saw that his brother was up by now, too.
"Who have you been talking to?" Jimmy asked.
"No one. Someone just had the wrong number," Cas explained.
"Ah, well, I don't want to burden you any longer. Thanks for letting me stay here tonight. Good luck with your work," Jimmy said and then gathered his stuff, hugged his brother and left.
Castiel went back to work and had to find that his conversation with Dean had actually inspired him and a few hours later he was done with the ad and just needed to check it once more before sending it out to his client.
At night, when Castiel was just getting ready to go to bed Dean texted him again.
Sorry for not writing you again earlier. My brother needed some advice and came over for the rest of the day. Did you get your work done?
Don't worry about it. I didn't actually expect to hear from you again. We don't even know each other. And I did get my work done, thank you. Could you help your brother?
I'm glad to hear that. And yes, I could help my brother. Uhm, you don't think this is creepy, do you? Us texting like this without even knowing each other?
No, not creepy. A little unusual maybe but not creepy. I'm actually enjoying this.
They kept talking for a long time that night and for the next day and the next, until the next Friday came and with it a text from Dean that made Cas stop for a moment and take his time to think about his answer.
You wanna meet up tonight? At the 'Roadhouse'?
Castiel thought for a long time. Did he want to meet Dean? He really liked the guy and going out wouldn't hurt. And they would be in a public place should Dean turn out to be some creep. In the end his curiosity won. He really wanted to meet the guy, he already liked him very much and he could use another friend, a really close one. All his current friends weren't very close to him and most had been Jimmy's friends first and had accepted him into their group on occasion.
Sure, sounds good. 8pm at the bar? I'll be the one in the trench coat.
Cas had thought about how they would recognize each other and figured a trench coat would be a good piece of clothing for that.
Awesome. I'll be the one in the old leather jacket.
As the time to leave drew nearer, Cas started to feel nervous and he questioned his decision to go. But he couldn't cancel now and he didn't really want to. Finally it was time to go and since the bar wasn't far from his house he decided to walk.
A few minutes later he entered the bar and looked around. He had no idea which of the guys in there might be Dean, so he just stood there a little forlornly and scanned the room, feeling awkward.
"Jimmy! So it was you after all. You really got me," a man with dirty blonde hair and bright green eyes said and pulled him into a hug.
"Uhm, Dean?" Castiel asked a little surprised.
"Yeah, Jimmy, dude I really thought you had given a wrong number and it was you all along."
"Uhm, no sorry. I'm Castiel. I do have a twin brother whose name is Jimmy, though," Cas explained when realization hit him. Jimmy had set him up and given his number to Dean on purpose. But he didn't mind. Dean looked great, even better than he had pictured.
"Oh, wow, I guess we've both been had," Dean laughed. "Can I get you a drink?"
They went to the bar and drank a beer together, talking about their brothers and then they left and went for a walk, ending up in front of Castiel's house a while later.
"Why do you think your brother did this?" Dean asked when they stood in front of the door, not quite ready to end this night just yet.
"He probably thinks I need more friends."
"Or a boyfriend? He was flirting with me pretty good last week. I think he was trying to find out if I liked guys," Dean asked, looking hopeful.
"Possibly," Castiel answered quietly, letting himself being pulled closer to Dean.
"I enjoyed this night. We should do this again sometime," Dean whispered, his face only a few inches from Castiel's.
"Yes, we should," Castiel agreed and their lips met in a tender kiss that lasted for a long time, before they said their goodbyes and Castiel went into his house with a great smile on his face.
"Thanks Jimmy," he whispered when he closed the door behind him, watching Dean walk down the road to get his car.