Chapter Text
Cas watched as the ball left his hands and sailed through the air. It bounced on the rim once, twice, a third time then finally fell through the basket just before the siren sounded.
That was it.
They had won.
The cheers and whooping of his teammates sounded out around him as Dean launched himself into his arms.
“Way to go, buddy!” he yelled as he dropped to the ground and ruffled Castiel's hair.
This was the closest game all season and even though they aren't playing for big stakes, their little ragtag team was on the top of the ladder and really wanted to stay there. The guys were all patting him on the back, offering high fives and slapping him on the ass. Just your typical guy friend rough housing. Dean's hand didn't go anywhere near his butt though and Cas knew the reason why. Dean was considerate like that.
~~~~~~
Castiel and Amelia had been married for just over a year. Despite the pressure from his family and the church to marry straight after graduation Castiel had managed to delay it another year, convincing everyone that he wanted them both to have a solid footing in their respective fields of employment before their marriage. After the wedding when the inevitable and immediate questions of children had come up, Castiel convinced Amelia to wait a few more years so they could enjoy just being a couple together and also to pay their student loans down to a more manageable balance before adding in the extra expense of children.
When his work place gave him some free passes to the local recreation centre Castiel stumbled across a sign up sheet for a basketball competition and decided to add his name on a whim. He had played a little in high school, and it would at least give him an outlet for any pent up stress and also help with his fitness, after all he did sit behind a desk all day. At least that's the way he sold it to Amelia who wasn’t all that happy that he wanted to spend an entire evening out of the house each week.
Theirs was a marriage of expectation, at least that's the way Castiel viewed it. His family and community expected him to marry, so he did. And it helped him cover his shameful secret.
He had always known that on some level he was attracted to men, but it had been drummed into him his entire life that homosexuality was a sin, so he pushed those feelings deep, deep down and lived a life of repression. He loved Amelia in some kind of way. He was attracted to her and enjoyed their life together. Their ‘marital relations’ were satisfying enough that Castiel didn't find it a chore and actually did desire their contact, but here at the rec centre he could let a little of the real Castiel out and enjoy the contact with his teammates. All the casual touches, the high fives, the butt slaps, the hugs helped scratch that faint itch of something that leaked from that box he had kept locked, wrapped with a chain and a rock on top of just to be certain, and for a few hours each week he got to have that.
Amelia had asked about coming along to watch, but for Castiel this was his time. Just an hour or so a week where he could feel free and be himself. He told her he would be embarrassed as he wasn't that good and besides, it would clash with her women's bible study group. So she had never watched a game in the two seasons he had been playing and Castiel was grateful.
~~~~~~
He had only been playing with his team for a month when one of the players caught him as he was leaving and asked him if he wanted to go out for drinks on the weekend.
“Like a date?” Castiel had asked.
“Yeah, man. Like a date,” Dean had replied, all bravado and confident in his sexuality in a way Castiel could never be.
Something flipped in Castiel’s stomach. This handsome man was standing in front of him asking him out on a date like it was nothing. Castiel had tried his best to hide who he really was but obviously Dean had seen something the rest of the world had missed.
“Sorry. I’m married. I don’t think my wife would approve,” he said, lifting his left hand and flashing Dean the plain gold ring on his finger.
Dean stepped back slightly and laughed.
“Oh man! I’m so sorry! I never noticed that before.”
“I take it off while I’m playing,” Castiel explained.
“That would explain it. Sorry about that bud, no offence meant,” Dean had said, his smile still in place and completely captivated by said easy smile Cas had answered,
“None taken.”
“Well, no harm, no foul, right? But you can't blame a guy for trying. Anyway, I’ll see you next week, yeah?”
“Yes, you will,” Castiel had replied, slightly stunned by the whole interaction.
“Seeya later Cas!”
Cas…
Because he was Cas here.
“Goodbye Dean.”
Dean had slapped him on the shoulder and walked off, waving a hand as he left.
~~~~~~
Two weeks later Dean had approached him again, this time as they left the court.
“Heya Cas. Great game,” he said, falling into step beside Cas.
“It was. That was a great three pointer you shot.”
“Ah that was ninety nine percent luck. Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to join me for a totally platonic, no strings attached smoothie after?” he asked, crossing his arms at the wrist then spreading them out in a sweeping motion as if to clarify his point. “Benny was supposed to go with me but he’s wussing out!”
Benny turned as he heard Dean raise his voice.
“Hey, if my missus tells me I gotta get home and put a baby in her, then there's no smoothie in the world that's gonna make me pass up that offer. Even your pretty face ain't enough to stop me.”
Dean acted wounded then laughed carefree and easy at the teasing then turned back to face Cas.
“So what do ya say? Wanna take pity on this ugly guy and keep him company for an hour or so?”
Cas thought about it for a moment, slightly confused that Dean would be calling himself ugly when Benny had called him pretty, but he guessed it was one of those social things he had never really managed to grasp. He smiled at Dean.
“Sure,” he replied as he shouldered through the change room door. “And if I don't look at your face, I might even be able to keep the smoothie down.”
Dean's laughter followed him into the room.
“Sounds great, bud. I’ll meet you by the cafe.”
~~~~~~~
Cas had beaten Dean to the cafe and waited for him by the door. He heard Dean’s boisterous laugh before he caught sight of the man. He was walking with Benny and seemed to be teasing him, something about ‘bro’s before ho’s’, but then pulled the guy into a quick hug and sent him on his way with a ‘good luck’. Benny thanked him and then left with a wave and a nod in Castiel's direction. Cas gave him a nervous little smile in return.
“Heya Cas, ready to go in?” Dean asked with a hand to Castiel's shoulder.
“Yes, I’m ready,” Cas replied.
Dean shot him a smile and opened the door and gestured for Cas to go in before him. They maneuvered their gym bags and bodies inside and approached the counter.
“What are you in the mood for?” Dean asked, his head tilted up so he could scan the menu.
“I’m not really sure. I’ve never been here before and I’m not really much of a smoothie drinker,” Cas replied with a little shrug.
Dean turned to look at him with surprise.
“Really? With a bod like yours I was sure you drank these on a daily basis.”
Cas blushed a little and looked down to hide the little smile on his lips.
“We just eat healthy and don't indulge in fast foods much, Amelia likes to cook,” he admitted.
“Huh, well okay,” Dean said looking back at the menu. “Menu’s up there, just let me know what takes your fancy.”
Dean gestured to the board and Cas squinted up at the writing.
“There's a lot of choices up there,” he said as he looked over the variety of smoothies on offer.
“Do you want me to choose for you? I’ve had almost every one of them,” Dean offered.
“That would be great,” Cas replied with a relieved sigh.
Dean gave him another of his trademark grins and looked back at the board. He stepped forward and the server behind the counter approached them.
“Hi Dean. Good to see you again,” the kid greeted him.
“Yeah, good to see you too, Max. This is Cas. He’s on my team,” Dean said, pointing in Castiel's direction.
The kid, Max, gave Cas a nod in greeting and Cas lifted his hand to wave back.
“So, what can I get you tonight?” Max asked.
“I’m going to have the Coffee Dream and for our smoothie virgin over here, you're not a vegan or anything are you?” Dean asked, suddenly turning in Cas’s direction.
“No. Not a vegan, no allergies,” he added just so Dean knew.
“You like coffee?”
Cas is pretty sure his eyes glazed over at the mention of the caffeinated life giver as Dean just nodded and smiled again.
“Caramel?”
Cas nodded.
“Cool, so Cas will have the Salted Caramel Latte,” Dean said, turning back to Max.
Dean insisted on paying for the smoothies as he had forced his selection on him. They hovered by the counter and waited while Max made the drinks then sat at a table.
“I’m not a virgin you know,” Cas said as he stabbed his straw into his drink, shattering the awkward silence that had descended on them.
Dean looked up confused.
“I know that. You’re married,” he replied before sitting back to take a large sip of his own drink.
“No. I mean with the smoothies. I have had them before. I just don't have them a lot,” Cas explained.
Dean looked up at him with a frown then began laughing.
“I’m sorry man. I didn't mean to question your beverage consuming prowess or anything.”
“That's okay. I just wanted you to know I'm not a complete novice when it comes to drinking yogurt,” Cas replied with a smirk and a shrug.
“Good to know.” Dean's chuckles had subsided and he leaned back in his chair. “So, tell me about yourself.”
“What do you want to know?” Cas asked before sipping his own drink and looking at Dean.
“I don’t know. Where did you grow up? In a perfect world, what would be your dream job? What's your favourite food, colour, that kind of thing? We’ve been playing together for over a month, and I feel like I know nothing about you,” Dean said with a shrug.
“I grew up here. I guess I enjoy what I’m already doing otherwise I wouldn't have wasted all those years at college. My favorite food is a PB&J, but don't tell anyone, and my favorite color is green,” Cas said as he looked up into Dean’s green eyes. He stabbed at his drink with his straw again and stared at Dean.
“What?” Dean asked as he noticed Cas’s scrutiny.
“Nothing,” Cas replied with a shrug. “Not that I'd know, but those questions give off a first date vibe.”
“What do you mean, ‘not that you’d know’?” Dean asked, leaning forward. “You must have had a first date with your wife, unless it's been that long. Were you childhood sweethearts or something?”
Cas shook his head and smiled ruefully down at his drink.
“Amelia and I have known each other forever. We grew up together and I guess we were hanging out so much that at some point we realized we were dating. There had always been a kind of expectation in our community that we would marry eventually and, I suppose, it all became inevitable. So no, there wasn't ever really a ‘first date’,” Cas explained, using finger quotes to punctuate his point.
Dean sat silently for a moment after Castiel's unexpected confession.
“Wow, that kind of…” He shook his head and then sat back again. “Anyway, you don’t need to worry about it. If this was a first date, you’d know.”
“And how would I know?” Cas asked.
“Because I’d be checking out your boobs.”
Dean grinned at Cas while steadfastly holding his eyes before eventually breaking and flicking his eyes quickly down to Cas’s chest and back up again. Cas was momentarily stunned at first and then burst out laughing.
And just like that an unlikely friendship was born.
~~~~~~~
Their post-game smoothie became routine. Sometimes one or more of their other teammates would join them, mostly Benny, Garth or Caleb, but more often than not, it was just the two of them.
Mostly their topics of conversation were light and casual. Occasionally they were deeper. Cas learned about the loss of Dean’s mother at an early age and life on the road and about his brother at Stanford. Dean learned about Cas’s life growing up in a tight knit Christian community.
Dean was there for the loss of Cas’s beloved grandfather and Cas was there for Dean throughout all of his relationship ups and downs. From the one-night hookups to the beginning his courtship of Cassie ‘she might be the one’ Robinson, Cas had been happy for him but also felt something strange and sharp inside when Dean had told him the news. He was also there six weeks later to comfort Dean after he revealed she had broken up with him when he admitted to being bisexual.
But Dean would always bounce back and just a few weeks later he was dating a guy named Lee. Cas didn't really like the sound of the guy, especially when Dean admitted that Lee would get upset about Dean's weekly basketball games. Lee had attended once or twice and sat stern faced in the stands and had hustled Dean out quickly afterwards. Cas kept his mouth shut through all of it as Dean seemed happy and Cas was his friend and would support that happiness.
“So, how long have you and Amelia been married?” Dean asked one night when Lee had been working late so Dean didn't have plans and was able to hang back for their weekly catch up.
“Um, just over two years now.”
“Cool. Are you two thinking about having kids soon?”
Cas knew Dean was just asking because their teammate Benny and his wife were about to finally welcome a new baby soon, but it still made something unpleasant crawl inside Castiel's chest.
“I guess. We’ve talked about it, but I would rather be in a more secure position financially before we have children. Amelia would have happily had six by now if we could but, kids are expensive. I have a good job, but we also have our student loans to worry about and the mortgage.” Cas sighed.
“Yeah, but kids are also great! They're like little versions of you and, I don't know, they're hard work, but worth it you know?”
“I know. And I do want kids eventually, but I just don't think now is the right time. Amelia's loans should be paid off in about two years, so I think by then I'll be ready for them.”
Dean stared at Cas across their table.
“You're scared,” he said softly.
Cas turned his head quickly to look at Dean with wide shocked eyes.
“No! I don’t…I just think…”
“Hey, I get it.” Dean said, holding his hands up. “Kids are scary. They’re so tiny and fragile. They depend on you for literally everything! And there’s the diapers and teething and skinned knees and never knowing if you're doing it right or you're going to mess them up, but then there's their smiles and giggles and their little fingers and toe-beans and the hugs and the unconditional love and that newborn smell!” Dean sighed happily as he sat back.
“You sound like you know a lot about babies,” Cas said.
“I practically raised my baby brother, plus have a few friends with kids.” Dean shrugged and reached for his drink.
“Do you want kids?” Cas asked.
“Sure. I want a bunch of ‘em,” Dean replied before taking a drink from his smoothie.
“But you’re dating a guy,” Cas points out.
“Yeah, but there's fostering, adoption, surrogacy. I have options.”
Cas watched Dean for a minute.
“Could you see yourself having kids with Lee?” he asked.
A strange look passed across Dean’s face before he schooled his features.
“Sure,” he answered with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
After that he quickly changed the subject to something much lighter until Dean’s phone sounded. He read the message and reached for his bag.
“This has been great, but Lee’s finishing up now.” Dean stood and slung his bag over his shoulder and picked up the empty smoothie glass. “See you next week?”
“Of course. I wouldn't miss it.” Cas smiled and watched as Dean disappeared out the door. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something about his friend that had him worried.