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This was a horrible idea. Beyond horrible. And yeah, Dean knew that his brother had shitty ideas every now and then, but this one certainly took the cake. Sure enough, Dean’s friend Jo had helped out as well. Those two freaks were always conspiring against Dean, which is how he had ended up at this dreadful speed-dating thing in the first place.
‘It will be good for you to meet some new people’ Jo had said.
‘I really hate to see you alone, man’ Sam had added to make it even worse.
Because seriously, the last thing Dean needed was pity from his family and friends.So what if he was thirty and single? It wasn’t the end of the world… Regardless, that did not stop the people closest to him from trying to set him up with other people at any given chance.
Hence the reason why Dean was currently faced with some guy named Garth who was talking his ear off. The only good thing about this was that apparently every ‘date’ only lasted seven minutes.
“My mother always used to say; frogs, frogs can’t be trusted. Frogs are a sign of evil. When you see a frog in your backyard, Garth, you run. You need to pack your things and leave. That’s what she said… And I carry that with me still…” Garth was talking and talking, but Dean wasn’t really listening.
Dean did notice that Garth looked positively teary-eyed by now, so whatever he had been trying to share with Dean must have been pretty deep. Dean tried to be polite about it, but instead caught himself disbelievingly gawking at… What was his name again? Oh right, Garth. The guy was a total nutcase.
An annoying beeping sound caused Garth to shut up at last. It signaled that it was time to switch, a fact about which Garth seemed to be more upset than Dean. He said a prolonged goodbye before reluctantly getting up from the chair and moving on to his next victim. Dean mentally chastised himself for using the word ‘victim’ to refer to Garth’s next ‘date’. Garth was probably a good guy… Deep down.
A blonde girl took the seat across from Dean now, and she gave him a wicked grin that said ‘I’m so excited to be here, I might faint on the spot’.
“Hey there…” Dean offered, awkwardly smiling back at the girl.
“Oh hiiii! So my name is Becky, Becky Rosen. You might have heard of me, actually. I was the girl in the commercial for Moo-Moo cheese sticks.” She rambled, now smiling at Dean the same way the average psycho-killer would have.
“That’s… That’s awesome.” Dean muttered, already knowing that this was never going to happen.
And then Becky actually started to sing the song that went with aforementioned commercial. Dean vaguely recognized it. Becky was smiling so widely; it was an inch away from downright scary.
Dean tried to ignore his feelings of secondhand embarrassment and act like he was interested, but his attention already wavered. He discreetly surveyed the room to see what else was going to come his way, and suddenly a guy with wild dark hair and bright blue eyes on the other side of the room caught Dean’s eye. The blue-eyed man was talking to a girl, a redhead, but he looked rather bored. Bored, but attractive. Very attractive. A quick calculation learned Dean that there would have to be at least five more switches until the guy would meet him...
And then the guy suddenly glanced right back at Dean, making eye-contact across the room. The fiery look in those blue eyes practically turned Dean’s insides into a gooey mess, and as if that wasn’t enough already, the guy actually smirked at Dean. Dammit… He had probably caught Dean staring at him. This was going to be awkward as hell once it was time for their so-called date.
“And then my cousin said, she said; milk is so overrated anyway, you should go for cheese! And guess what, I took her advice, I auditioned for the role of Moo Moo’s cheese girl, and they gave me the part!” Becky was grinning like a maniac by the time she finished her story.
Dean repeated the word ‘awesome’, again. He hadn’t heard a single word she’d uttered.
The beeping noise announced another switch. Dean mentally prepared himself for yet another weirdo, and so he was utterly unprepared when it was the handsome guy with the amazing blue eyes who nonchalantly fell into the chair across from him.
“Hello there.” The guy said, looking almost a bit smug.
“You…” Dean paused and pointed to the table on the other end of the room where the good-looking man had still been sitting less than a minute ago. “You skipped ahead!” He accused.
The man examined Dean’s face with an amused smile as he made himself comfortable at Dean’s table, scooting his chair closer so that his knees were lightly touching Dean’s. “Perhaps I did… But let’s keep that our little secret, shall we?”
The guy proceeded to wink at Dean. Dean’s knees were starting to feel like jelly. When Dean finally found his voice, he guessed that asking the beautiful stranger’s name would be the best way to start.
“So… Want to tell me your name, Mr. Cheater?”
The man chuckled, teasingly raising his eyebrows at Dean. “It’s Castiel, although if you prefer Mr. Cheater…”
Castiel… The name was as unusual as the guy himself. Dean repeated it out loud.
“Okay, Castiel… I guess I already know two things now; your name, and that you like to cheat.”
Castiel laughed, a soft ringing sound that was music to Dean’s ears. “I’ll have you know that I don’t usually cheat, but this was for the greater good.”
“Uh huh, sure. Whatever makes you feel better.” Dean matched Castiel’s teasing tone and grinned at him.
Castiel grinned back, seemingly enjoying their banter as much as Dean did. “So, correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it’s about time that I get a name in return.”
“Right…” Dean blushed, suddenly feeling stupid. “My name is Dean.”
“Dean…” Castiel said slowly, as if testing how the name sounded when it fell from his lips.
“That’s right.” Dean said, still feeling flustered. “So Cas… Do you come here often?” He threw in a joke to break the ice some more.
It worked. Castiel was laughing again, but he did answer Dean’s question. “To be fair, no, Dean. This is not something I ever would’ve done voluntarily. If it weren’t for my obnoxious brother Gabriel and my pushy sister Anna, I would probably be at home right now, reading a book on the couch.”
Oh yeah, that was definitely something Dean recognized. If it hadn’t been for Sam and Jo, he probably would’ve been on the couch too, watching the game.
“Man, don’t get me started! I’m only here because my brother and best friend forced me to go. They actually threatened to kidnap me if I refused.” Dean confessed.
They both chuckled at the irony of the situation, but it was a good conversation opener. Soon they were talking about siblings, friends and family. And then they were chatting about jobs, and from there they moved on to random personal stories.
Dean didn’t even notice the beeping noise when it went off. He was too busy listening to Castiel telling him about a prank that Gabriel had once played on him, and he was even more busy drowning in those beautiful pools of blue.
“Dean?” Castiel said, gently nudging his knee against Dean’s own.
“Hmm?” Dean replied dreamily, giving Castiel a goofy smile. He was already so gone on this guy; if he didn’t know better, he’d say that someone had slipped him a love potion or something.
“Our time is up…” Castiel announced, sounding nearly as sad as Dean felt.
When Dean managed to drag his eyes away from Cas’ intense gaze, he noticed that people everywhere were getting up from their seats and switching tables. Dean sighed but nodded in defeat. Castiel got up from his chair, and immediately Dean missed the warmth of Cas’ knees against his own.
There was a disappointed stare between the two of them. An impatient looking brunette girl suddenly appeared beside Cas, claiming that it was ‘her turn’ and that Castiel needed to get going.
“No wait, Cas…” Dean protested as he got up from his seat as well.
Castiel eyed him curiously.
Dean took a large step towards Castiel, so that they were standing impossibly close. “I have one more question…” He said, already gathering all of his courage for what he was planning to do next.
“Alright, go on.” Cas said with a hesitant smile.
“Do you… Do you kiss on a first date?” Dean blurted it out before he had time to regret it.
Castiel’s smile stretched wider. “Not usually…” He answered, licking his lips. “But for you, I’d be willing to make an exception.”
Dean was too dazed to determine who had made the first move, but he did know that all of the sudden, they were kissing. Soft, willing lips were moving urgently against Dean’s, and one of Dean’s hands found its way to the nape of Castiel’s neck, playing with the soft silky strands of hair there. The catcalling and whistling that sounded all around them was what snapped the two men out of it.
Dean could feel his cheeks burning because everyone was staring at them, but Castiel seemed unfazed by their little audience. He leaned in to whisper in Dean’s ear. “I’ve wanted to do that since you first caught my eye, Dean. That’s why I cheated.”
“Sirs? I must kindly ask you to keep our guidelines in mind and move on to the next table.” One of the organizers tapped Castiel on the shoulder. The woman looked kind of annoyed by Dean and Castiel’s little chick flick adventure, and she grimaced disapprovingly. Her hands were tightening around the clipboard that she was carrying around.
Both Dean and Castiel snorted, but Cas gave the woman one of his most charming smiles and nodded in agreement. However before he walked away, he gave Dean another chaste kiss on the lips.
“I’ll see you again soon.” Cas vowed, and Dean felt how he slipped something into Dean’s hand.
When Castiel turned and stalked off to a new table, Dean stared at the little piece of paper that the man had given him. It was a business card, with Castiel’s name and phone number on it.
Unlike one would expect, Dean had actually read the guidelines. It was not allowed for any of the participants to exchange contact details until forms were filled out and the matches were made by the organizers after the dating sessions.
Dean smirked and shook his head as he stared at Castiel’s retreating back. “Cheater.”