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Despite going to the state college with a bunch of high school friends, Dean doesn't know anyone in his Intro to Psych class. He knows Charlie and Benny are both taking it, but he only found out that morning that they were in a different section. Which means that he, on the very first day of class during his freshman year, Dean walks into the large crowded lecture hall completely alone.
And Dean's a smart guy, but he doesn't know shit about psychology and he's so maybe he's a little intimidated and nervous being here on his own, so he promptly takes a seat by himself in the back and prays to god the professor won't call on him for anything.
He'd been so paranoid about the whole thing that he'd gotten to class ahead of time, plagued all night by dreams of showing up late with all eyes on him as he tried to sneak into class. Now, after setting up his notebook and textbook on the little foldable desk piece, he's bored. With nothing else to do, he scans the room and people watches as his classmates settle in.
His eyes are almost instantly drawn to the cute boy sitting right up front in the second row, two seats off center. Messy dark hair and a sweater vest (even though it's gotta be 90 degrees out). Dean almost regrets sitting so far away because now he wants a better view, but that train of thought is derailed by the professor coming in and immediately starting a lecture.
Three weeks into the semester and Dean's done for. Totally and utterly done for. Because the cute boy, always looking dapper in sweaters and button down shirts, isn't just cute. He's hella smart, answering questions and asking really thought provoking follow-ups to the professor's lessons. There are numerous occasions Dean's so entranced by him that he belatedly realizes he's tuned out a good ten minutes of class and then has to scramble to catch up.
Three weeks into the semester and all he knows is that the guy's last name is Novak. And he only knows that much from when the professor hands back tests.
And three weeks is way too long for him to keep sitting on his ass about this. Every day he tells himself today's the day just before he chickens out and ducks out the back door. But today, finally, he's really going to do it. Working up his nerve all class (and basically ignoring the whole lecture), Dean plans out what he's going to say to him.
Weaving his way through the crowd, he stops short of the guy and coughs awkwardly to get his attention. Unfairly blue eyes turn on him and he momentarily forgets how to breathe.
"Yes?" the boy prompts after it's clear Dean's officially lost the ability to speak.
"Oh, hi. I uh... Look, you're really cute and I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, but... Well, see, I've got this friend who works at the ice cream shop off campus and I was gonna go visit her and I thought maybe you'd uh... like to get some ice cream with me?"
His smile felt forced and a little awkward, mostly because he was internally cringing at how fucking stupid he sounded babbling on like that. Fuck, he was way smoother when he tried picking up chicks.
The guy looks shocked and is otherwise unresponsive, looking at Dean like he has two heads. The longer the silence stretches out, the dumber Dean feels for having tried this at all. He's probably straight or something, totally not interested and probably deciding whether or not it's worth punching him or if simply telling him off would do-
"I'd love to," he says in a rush and damn is his voice fucking beautiful. It should be illegal to sound so damn sexy. "Get ice cream with you, I mean. Should we uh, go now?"
"Yeah yeah, let's go. I'll lead the way." When the other boy turns around to pack up his messenger back, Dean fist pumps the air a few times in delight because he said yes.
"Winchester, right?"
"Yep." Dean beams at him, too pleased with himself that the guy knew his last name to bother supplying his first. "You're Novak, right?"
"I am."
The two walk out of the lecture hall together, shoulders occasionally brushing together as Dean leads the way. They chat a bit and Dean is thrilled to learn that not only is he physically attracted to Novak, but they click easily. The conversation flows so naturally it's as though they've known each other for years instead of having just met. It takes him a bit to navigate Novak's sense of humor, but soon he's got a feel for when the guy's joking versus actually being serious.
They're both laughing when they walk inside, Charlie at the counter looking curiously at the two of them.
Is that him? she mouths when Novak ducks down to investigate the ice cream choices.
Dean gives a small nod and a huge grin, knowing all too well how much Charlie's going to tease him about it later. Honestly, he couldn't care less at the moment. Charlie gives him a thumbs up before smoothing her face into something more neutral as Novak turns her way.
"This is my friend Charlie. We went to high school together. Charlie, this is Novak." There's a hint of question in his voice, wondering if the other boy will supply more. But he doesn't, so Dean doesn't push.
"And what can I get you today, Novak?"
"One scoop dark chocolate, one scoop strawberry ice cream, please."
"And you, big guy?"
"Uhhh," Dean quickly scans the ice cream containers. "Gimme that chocolate banana swirl, would ya?"
As Charlie sets to work, Dean raises an eyebrow at Novak. The boy huffs in exasperation. "What? I like chocolate and I like strawberry and I don't like having to choose between them."
His hands go up in surrender. "I didn't say anything. Sure, I thought it was weird, but I'm not here to question a guy's taste in ice cream."
Dean pays for both orders, gives Charlie a quick hug over the counter, then offers to walk Novak to his next class. It quickly becomes their thing, getting ice cream after class three times a week. Novak always orders the same thing, but Dean switches it up every time. He usually orders whatever the newest flavor is, from green tea to red velvet to one memorable time it was bacon.
("That's disgusting, Winchester."
"It ain't half bad, actually. Wanna try a bite?"
"... Yes.")
That also becomes their thing, calling each other by their last names. It takes Dean a while to get used to it, but he once he does he likes it too much to change it. They take turns guessing the other's first name, though none of their guesses are serious. Novak calls him everything from Bert to Alfonso to Jensen to Ricardo. Dean does the same to him, going as foreign as possible just to get a laugh out of Novak at how absurd the names are.
Charlie watches it all with amusement, carefully declaring herself neutral in the Great Naming Games of 2016 and refusing to tell Novak what Dean's real name is. And the one time they try calling her Consuela she makes a face and threatens to spit in their ice cream.
"What, you could totally pull of Consuela."
"Absolutely," Novak agrees. "Or perhaps you're more a Bernadette."
"Ew, no, stop. Do not pull me into your weird flirting name game. I will not be apart of this."
That shuts them up, both their cheeks going pink and eyes dropping to the ground (except of course when they sneak glances at the other to see their reaction to the idea that they've been 'flirting'). They don't talk about it, but maybe their hands almost touch when they leave the shop together.
It lasts the whole semester. Somewhere along the line, they start sitting together. At Novak's insistence, Dean joins him at the front of the lecture hall. Admittedly, his grades improve and Novak's shit eating grin makes Dean want to shove him into the nearest wall and kiss him senseless. He wisely refrains.
(And also doesn't point out that his grades are up because he doesn't lose half the class starring at him anymore. Why stare when he can casually stretch out his leg so that its pressed against Novak's?)
That's just the thing, though. This started as a crush and now they're friends, even if their friendship arguably started with a date. But somehow they fall into being ice cream/class buddies and nothing more.
The fall semester ends abruptly with Dean having to duck out pretty early to catch a bus back home for Christmas. It's not until the bus is pulling into Lawrence that he realizes he's a fucking moron. He didn't say good-bye and he never got Novak's number.
God, Charlie's never going to let him live this down.
He mopes about it all break, maybe loses a few hours trying to track the guy down on Facebook with nothing to show for it. Not all that surprising, Novak didn't seem like the social media type, but it's disappointing nonetheless. Dean can't be happier to get on the bus back to school because once he's there, he knows he'll run into him at some point.
This time, though, he won't forget to ask for his number.
Once again, the first day of class comes and Dean finds himself walking into a crowded lecture hall for Bio 100. He scans the room quickly to find a seat and does a double take when he sees Novak sitting in the back row. All the seats around him are taken, so Dean settles for the closest one he can find. He tries to get his attention, but class starts and the lights are dimmed for the professor's PowerPoint.
For the next ninety minutes, he sneaks glances at Novak. He looks different. Still painfully beautiful, but subtly different. Sometime over break he must have traded in all his preppy clothes for band tees and jeans, or maybe he's had them all along and has finally relaxed into college life enough to wear them.
At the end of class, the professor stops them from getting up and starts calling roll. "Sorry, sorry," he says, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose and not sounding sorry at all. "Hold on for a minute. Once you're called you may go."
Dean curses himself for having a name so far down in the alphabet but grits and bears it. Novak's called about halfway through, obviously, and starts packing up. Once Dean rounds out the last few names, he jumps from his seat and nearly sprints to catch up with him.
"Hey, Novak!" he yells in a final attempt to keep him from disappearing out the door.
Novak stops and turns, squinting at Dean as he approaches. "Winchester?" and damn does he not sound completely confused and taken off guard. Dean's immediately relieved to know that Novak wasn't intentionally avoiding him but rather didn't notice they had another class together.
"Have a good break?"
"Yes," he says cautiously. Dean makes a mental note that his tone sounds off but doesn't address it.
"So, I was wondering if you maybe wanted to get some ice cream?"
The other boy seems genuinely shocked by this. Dean flounders for a second, but chalks it up to Novak's leftover surprise at learning they're both taking the class. After a taking a moment to recover, Novak smiles broadly. "I'd love to... But I can't. I actually work right after class at the library. Rain check though?"
Dean quashes the spike of sadness he feels at that and forces a smile instead. "Yeah, sure, no problem man." They share a lingering look, Novak visibly giving him a once over, then part ways.
The next class, Dean silently takes a seat next to Novak. Novak merely winks at him and moves his backpack aside to make room. The professor's strict, not putting up with chatter during the lectures, so they resort to writing each other notes or drawing obscene pictures in the margins of their notebooks. Their giggling sometimes gets them a few strange looks, but that usually just results in more giggling.
And yes, Dean is smart enough this time to get his number. They text occasionally, maybe a couple times a day. Novak will send him absurd memes and Dean will send movie recommendations. And also yes, Dean's too chickenshit to push for a non-ice cream related date, so the topics stay firmly in the safety of pop culture.
But things are different now. Novak seems a bit more relaxed, like the winter break really was good for him. Dean likes the new clothes. Loves them in fact, since they do a great job of showing off his toned arms, but sometimes he finds himself missing the old ones. And he likes how easy it is to make Novak laugh now, but there are a number of occasions he misses the way Novak would laugh with his eyes instead of this full body chortle he does now.
Basically, the guy's changed. Not a lot and not in any of the ways that really matter. He's still stubborn and smart, nice and easy to talk to. But Dean spends the first few weeks cataloging each difference. He'd be lying if he said it didn't take a bit of time to re-adjust, but he finds he likes both versions of Novak. Equally for sure and strangely enough, separately. He finds he misses the way Novak used to be even in the midst of conversation with him.
They're well on into the semester before Novak's schedule clears up and he has an actual day off work. Once the professor dismisses him with his customary roll call, Novak elbows Dean in the ribs. "So you wanna go for that ice cream or what?"
"Hell yeah, I want some ice cream. Let's get out of here."
On the walk over, they talk about the latest episode of Doctor Sexy, which is a little strange because Dean had thought Novak wasn't really into tv or movies. But his enthusiasm is genuine, so maybe the guy binge watched the show over break under Dean's insistence of how good it is.
Charlie waves cheerfully at them as they walk in but the store is packed. They shuffle to the back of the line, rough housing a little bit in a way that makes feel like a kid in elementary school trying to get his crush's attention. Not far off, except he's way too old to get away with play wrestling. Charlie ahems loudly to get their attention when it's their turn.
"Novak, it's about time you showed your face around here."
"Uh," Novak draws out the syllable. "Sorry?"
"Winchester says you've been busy all semester and couldn't make it out for an ice cream date." Dean wishes there weren't a counter in the way so he could kick her for saying the word date. He hopes the death glare he gives her is sufficient. She sticks her tongue out at him and yeah, probably not.
"You talkin about me, Winchester?"
Dean blushes and picks a spot on the ceiling to stare at. He cautiously sneaks a glance at Novak, whose broad smile makes him give an answering one. "I might have," he says coyly.
"Oh lord, they're at it again," Charlie mutters under her breath, effectively ruining the moment. "What can I get you boys so you can take your shenanigans elsewhere?"
"I'll take..." Dean shifts his attention to look along the list of new flavors. "Uhm how about the Vanilla Brownie Bites."
Charlie starts scooping it into a cone for him, puts a spoonful of sprinkles on it (and bless Charlie for that - she knows how much he loves them but is too embarrassed to actually ask) and hands it over. Dean immediately digs in, licking his way around the top of the cone suggestively once he sees Novak looking.
With obvious effort, Novak pulls his eyes away. "I'll have a scoop of Pistachio with the Vanilla Bean, please."
Charlie nods and starts moving to get the ice cream, but then abruptly stops and looks up at him like he's grown a second head. "Uh, what?"
"One scoop Pistachio, one scoop Vanilla Bean. In a cup please."
"Oh. Okay." She shrugs it off and starts getting his ice cream.
"Dude," Dean says around a mouthful of ice cream. "What's up with your ice cream?"
"Hmmm?" Novak hands over some cash, enough to pay for both of them, and starts walking over to the nearest booth. "Oh, I'm a big fan of pistachio, but too much of it's kind of overwhelming as a flavor so I get the vanilla to balance it out."
Dean takes a seat across from him. "You giving up on Dark Chocolate and Strawberry?"
The spoon freezes halfway to Novak's mouth. He lowers it back to the the ice cream and licks his lips. "What?" he enunciates very carefully.
"You used to always get Dark Chocolate with Strawberry. Now all of a sudden you're switching it up." He licks a trail of ice cream before it can drip onto his hand. "You have an eventful break or something? You've been a bit different ever since you came back."
When he looks up, Novak looks closed off. "Do I now?"
"Hey, don't get me wrong!" Dean immediately backtracks. "I like it. I mean, I liked you before, but I like you now too. And I'm babbling so I'm gonna shut up before I have to put my foot in my mouth again."
They eat in silence and Dean's pretty sure he fucked things up. How he managed it, he's not sure, but Novak's too quiet and not looking nearly as cheerful as usual.
"You liked me last semester?" Novak asks, though his tone is unreadable.
"Yeah," he breathes out, relieved that the other boy's talking to him again. "A lot."
Slowly, he takes another bite of his ice cream and sucks on the end of his spoon. "And you like me this semester?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Even though I'm different?" Novak prompts. He points the spoon at Dean in accusation
"Yes." And he rolls his eyes and motions to where they are, back at their ice cream dates. "Dude, obviously."
"You like me more how I was last semester or how I am now?"
"Honestly?" He feels a little uneasy admitting this, but he figures there's a reason Novak's asking. "I kinda like both. I've been uh... I've been missing the old you a bit lately. Not that you're not still awesome, cuz you are, I just wouldn't mind seeing the sweater vests again or the confused head tilt when I quote Game of Thrones."
"So, just to clarify, you like both versions equally? And wouldn't mind getting more of both?"
"Yeah I guess."
Novak relaxes at that, a gummy grin Dean's reward for speaking so openly. "Good to know.'
They fall back into their usual easy banter after that, and Dean breathes a sigh of relief that he's still got a chance.
Their Bio class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays, so Dean's not expecting to see Novak for another couple days. When he gets a text early Wednesday morning, he figures it's a funny cat picture or maybe a comment on last night's Doctor Sexy. His heart skips a beat when he reads the short message.
Novak: Meet for an ice cream date? 2:30?
That's a no brainer (hell, he'd skip a class if he needed to) and he texts back a quick Def - see you then.
His classes pass in a blur because all that runs through is head on repeat is a mantra of Novak called it a date Novak called it a date Novak totally called it a date. He has to mentally force himself to walk and not sprint to the ice cream shop because he's so damn excited. He's gonna kiss Novak, that much he's decided. Put all his cards on the table because there's no way he's not interested, right?
He sees Novak standing outside talking to someone. He's back in his fall semester clothes, a trenchcoat over a button down and sweater. Fuck, it's so hot that Novak would totally dig out that getup just because Dean said he missed it. When Novak catches sight of Dean, he nudges the guy he's talking to and gestures with his chin. His friend turns around, and Dean's life spins on its head.
Because he's seeing double. A second Novak, this one in a hoodie and skinny jeans, but identical blue eyes and dark bedhead.
Dean stops dead in his tracks, brain trying valiantly to make sense of the situation but coming up with nothing. Luckily for him, he's saved by the two Novaks approaching and stopping right in front of him.
"Winchester," they say in unison. "Funny seeing you here."
"I... What?" he squeaks.
"This is probably our fault for not getting on a first name basis last semester," trenchcoat Novak says. He extends his hand to Dean. "I'm Castiel."
"Castiel," Dean repeats dumbly. He automatically accepts the hand and shakes it. "I'm uh, I'm Dean."
"Hello, Dean." Castiel points to the hoodie Novak. "This is my twin brother, Jimmy."
"Hey Dean." And he punches Dean's shoulder in greeting.
"Hi." Fuck he's mortified. Only he could be so blind to not realize he had a crush on two people. Granted, very similar people, but still distinctly different. Hell, he did notice they were different and never put two and two together. "God, you two must think I'm an idiot."
"I'm actually impressed we got ourselves this far," Jimmy jokes. "And it's probably for the best, otherwise you and Cassie here would've been banging months ago and left me out in the cold."
"It is fortunate, in some ways," Cas adds, "that you simultaneously developed feelings for both of us. It makes this next part much smoother."
"I uh, I have no idea what you guys are saying." And he doesn't. He has an idea but there's no way they're saying that.
"Well, most twins might make you choose," Jimmy says as he steps forward to crowd into his space. "We are in the unique situation, however, of offering both."
"Both?" Dean stutters.
"Both of us," Cas clarifies, stepping in just as close as Jimmy had. "Why make you choose? We're open to sharing."
"We are very open to sharing."
"So... you guys are okay with that?" His voice lilts oddly at the end as he tries not to sound too hopeful or interested, in case they're fucking with him.
"As long as you're okay with us having both too."
Dean groans at that and maybe pops a boner right there on the street because god does that open up a whole bunch of fantasies he hadn't thought of. (Fantasies he no doubt would've pictured once his brain had caught up to full realization that the Novaks were twins. Hot, sexy twins that were both into him. That's jerk off fodder for a solid month at least.)
Both brothers lean in together, reaching Dean's lips at the same time. It's the most intense kiss Dean's ever experienced, even if it's only the chaste press of lips because it's three sets of lips. He mirrors the small movements they make and tries to chase them when they pull away.
"That a yes?"
"Fuck yes it's a yes." Dean's not stupid enough to turn this down. No way.
"Great." Castiel smiles at him and reaches for his hand. Dean lets their fingers thread together. "Should we go get that ice cream?"
Jimmy's fingers find his other hand and starts pulling him towards the shop. Dean follows willingly, squeezing both their hands and thanking his lucky stars for this fortunate turn of events. Someone up there must like him because this is better than he ever could've dreamed of when he first approached Cas.
Charlie's eyes bug out a little at the sight of Dean squarely between the twins. She takes in all three of them, their comfortable stances and interlocked hands. There's a silent 'oh' but she doesn't miss a beat.
"Where the hell can I find myself two pretty lady twins because, Winchester, this seriously isn't fair."
"You're just jealous."
"Yes," she says emphatically. "I am extremely jealous. You ever, and I man ever meet an attractive pair of female twins, you will immediately drop whatever you're doing to play wingman."
Dean shrugs. Considering how much of his pining she's put up with over the school year, it's not a hard concession to make. "You got it."
"That goes for you too, Novaks."
"Do they have to be identical, because our cousins Hannah and Anna-"
"Oh man, Aunt Naomi would freak! We should totally set them up with if they come visit."
"Uh, absolutely." Charlie pulls out a napkin and scribbles her number on it. "You give this to them and whenever they're in town have them call me." Dean gives her a look as she slides the napkin over to Castiel. "What? I may be gay, but I know attractive men when I see them. These two come from an excellent gene pool and I want in on that."
Fair point, he supposes, so Dean lets it go. "You gonna let us order now or what?"
"Yeah yeah. Novak 1 and 2, I assume I can get you your usuals. For you Dean?"
He looks back and forth between the twins before turning back to Charlie. "I'll have one scoop Strawberry, one scoop Pistachio please."