Chapter Text
The first thing Castiel noticed when he stepped into the coffee shop and breakfast bar is how wonderful everything smelled. He was delighted by the rich aroma of the coffee, the smell of sausage and bacon in the air; The rich scent of cooking biscuits and eggs. It was heaven on earth, this little shop on the edge of campus. The second thing he noticed was the soft crackle of a record playing old jazzy music in the background. On the door hung a sign with the store hours, which Castiel already knew he would be memorizing stating "Open 5am-10pm. Breakfast Menu Available 6-11am". The promise of having fresh coffee and good breakfast food any morning he wanted was going to drain his bank account. He fell in love with the place even before he laid eyes on the handsome barista making another university student a cup of rich steaming coffee.
Nearing the counter, Cas bit at his bottom lip, trying to clear his head and wake up. It was 8 in the morning, and he couldn't believe he'd already lost his summer sleep schedule. Back home he would always wake up at 6 or 7 and go out for a run, but now that classes had started and he had to walk to class every morning for his first lecture at 9am, he was finding himself slipping into bad habits. He had heard about "Insomniac's Heaven" from his brother Gabriel over the summer, and had been dying to visit the cozy coffee shop for weeks now. He'd been going to school here for two years already, but somehow he had never run across this slice of heaven just a block out of his way on the walk to campus.
Reaching the front of the line (he was surprised there were so many students here at this hour, classes only started last week) Cas had to swallow down the sudden lump in his throat as he was meet full blast with a pair of the most stunning green eyes he'd ever seen hiding behind black rimmed glasses. The barista flashed a bright, confident white smile and asked for his order in a deep, rumbling voice that didn't make it any easier for Cas to focus on the task right in front of him. He was opening his mouth to respond when a loud noise suddenly caught his attention from behind the counter, and his eyes flashed over to another gorgeous male worker. He had a mass of dark hair on his head that nearly matched Cas' on raven color.
The barista's eyes followed his gaze, and a slight frown pulled his brows down in a little furrow. He rolled his eyes at the racket the other man was making as he brought out a large tray of fresh breakfast food to serve to waiting guests. The darker haired man smiled big over at the barista's glance as Castiel brought his attention back to the fairer haired man behind the counter. "I'm sorry, what was your order? Mike can be a bit loud and distracting this early in the morning." The two workers shared a look before the green eyed barista was looking back at Castiel for his order.
Cas' eyes flashed between the man named Mike, and the man at the counter waiting on him, soaking in the freckles, the green gaze, the sandy brown hair and the stubble coating his strong jaw and down his neck across his adam's apple. He cleared his throat and flushed slightly, shaking his head as he came back to himself. "Oh, no, no. It's alright. I envy his energy this early in the morning." He let out an awkward chuckle, his flush darkening as he saw the barista's smile grow. His eyes got stuck on silver as his eyes took in the fact the man had a silver ball stud just at the corner of his lower lip, drawing his eyes to those plush incredibly full and pink lips that were stretched into an easy smile. He felt his heart hammer in his chest, and struggled to breath. Fuck. He swallowed hard, again, and looked back at the menu over the man's head, pretending to look at the words he'd already glanced over.
"I-I'll, uhm, have a coffee, black, medium or whatever you call it, and uhm." He felt like a fool as he struggled to get his order out to the Adonis in front of him at 8 in the morning with a line of at least five people behind him waiting for him to get on with it already. "A-and one of your biscuits." He nearly groaned in relief when he got the words out, fiddling with his debit card as the man punched in the order with a quick flurry of fingers.
"Alright. One medium coffee and a biscuit coming on up." The barista said energetically, swiping the card and brushing fingers across Cas' when he handed it back. Cas nearly hyperventilated, realizing how ridiculous he was being that morning in front of a man he'd only seen once, who accidentally touched his hand when handing back his damn debit card. God, Cas must've look like a complete idiot blushing and stammering and hurrying to the little counter that would pop out his order in a few minutes.
Cas nearly fled the shop when he had his things in hand, and forgot that he had gotten there early so he could sit down and take his time to admire the shop. He repeatedly called himself an idiot for running at the first sign of a hot boy the whole walk to class the rest of the morning. It's not like the man knew he was gay, that he was completely smitten already. The poor man probably thought he was just tired and half asleep, like the other students stumbling through the doors as he retreated.
He hid for a week, before he ventured back. Even with just a simple biscuit and coffee, Cas could tell the food was heavenly and fresh, and he wanted to see what their non-breakfast menu options were besides coffee. Maybe he'd finally found his study spot for the semester.
Walking back into Insomniac's Heaven at 3pm on a Thursday, Cas was relieved and terrified that the places was much emptier than it had been the last time he ventured in. The alluring scent of cinnamon and vanilla mingled in the air and his mouth watered as he made his way to the empty counter. It took him a moment to realize that no one was there to take his order just when the back door swung open and the hot barista he'd had on his mind all week walked out with a fresh tray of muffins that made Cas actually moan at the aroma wafting his way.
To Cas' horror and humiliation the man heard the little rumble of sound and cracked a smile his way as he set the tray down to be sorted into the right spots after a moment. He laughed softly at the look of embarrassment on Cas' face and came closer as he wiped his hands on the apron around his waist.
"Hello again!" A flash of white as the man's smile spread wider was distracting enough Cas barely realized the man's words of recognition.
"I've been here once. How did you recognize me?" Cas blurted with a squinty eyed look before he realized his mental filter was screwing up again. Damnit, that was why he hated social interactions and had never been in a relationship before.
The man's eyes twinkled behind what Cas recognized now were very generic 'hipster' glasses. He hadn't even thought about how cliché they were with them sitting on that pretty face and an old record playing in the background. He thought it recognized the Eagles. "I have a good memory." He winked. "Another black coffee and biscuit?"
Cas openly gaped, shaking his head at the man's snort of laughter in response. "H-how!" He wondered what those eyes looked like completely exposed to the light, with no glasses to cast shadows around his features, and the full force of forest, emerald, grass, sea foam green.
The man stuck his hand out suddenly, smile still in place as Cas got lost in the thought of green eyes changing to so many different colors in different lights, with different emotions. "Name's Dean."
Cas blinked stupidly, staring at the hand before rushing to slot his narrow fingers in against the callous rough hand offered to him. He nearly moaned again. "Castiel." He squeaked.
"So was that a yes to the bc and b?" Dean quirked his brow up in question as his hand slid back over the counter. Cas was still struggling with the constant chant of 'greengreengreen' in his head as he noticed flecks of gold in the light.
Castiel laughed softly at the way Dean shortened his order and shook his head, forcing himself to focus. Focus, Cas, damnit. "No. Plain black coffee is reserved for early mornings when I need nothing but bitter scalding flavored water on my taste buds to help wake me up." He couldn't believe he'd said that, and his baby blue eyes darted up to green hoping to see if they'd changed hue. "No." His eyes flashed to the tray of slight steaming muffins and he licked his lips unconsciously, thinking about those calloused hands working the ingredients together in a bowl. Fuck. He was helpless. "I would like one of those though." Dean probably used a mixer, anyways. There were at least two dozen muffins there. He was fantasizing. He was hopeless.
"Good choice. I just finished making them. Cinnamon and vanilla with a splash of brown sugar on top. From scratch." Dean said with pride.
Cas was floored again. Hot and a good cook! Fuck him. "Dear lord it's like you want my taste buds to melt." He said under his breath, flushing in realization that he couldn't shut up in front of this man. "Anything you'd recommend to go with it?"
Dean's contagious smile still stretched his lips as he plucked one of the fresh muffins from it's spot and handed it to him. "Hmm. We have some good french vanilla coffee, or I could make you a specialty drink with a thousand carbs and a bucket of sugar in it." He offered with a teasing glint in his eyes.
Cas felt his insides flutter as he realized Dean had just read him like a book. He couldn't stand overly sweet drinks and all that whipped crap that topped off the blended coffee drinks. "Finally someone that understands!" He let out a dramatic sigh and smile, courageously staring right into Dean's dazzling green eyes. "French vanilla would be perfect."
Dean chuckled, stretching as he walked over to the coffee machine, loading up the coffee grounds. Cas didn't even realize he was supposed to go wait at the other end of the counter as he watched Dean's hands work. Dean didn't comment as he filled the machine, set the cup under the nozzle and listened to the machine flood the coffee grounds with boiling water. "I get yah, man." Dean said, as if they were long time buddies. "Coffee is best when the natural flavors are there. I can't stand all that milk and sugar. Once you go black, you never go back."
Cas couldn't help the startled laugh that came from him at the usually sexual saying being used so casually to refer to coffee. Dean glanced over at him from the side and a shy smile crept across the man's features as Cas responded, oblivious to the look the other man threw him. "No wonder this place is so popular." He shook his head at himself. "Great food and drinks, and entertaining staff." He glanced up at Dean quickly as his cheeks flushed. "I bet you get a lot of regulars."
Dean hummed in response, bringing over the drink and handing the cup over with a gentle smile. "Sure do. I gotta show off my amazing memory some how."
"Well color me impressed. I still don't remember half my teacher's names." He couldn't believe he was still talking to the hot barista, or that the muffin in his hands was as delicious as it smelled. He was in heaven, he told himself again.
"What're you studying?" Dean asked, leaning on the counter with an interested tilt to his head. There were a few other customers off in the corners studying with headphones in their ears, and there was no one else in line right now. It was like it was just them, and Cas soaked it up.
"Ah, uhm, English Lit." He said shyly. He knew the look he was going to get, the way Dean would snicker at the fact that the nerdy little bookworm in the coffee shop was a cliché. That the old vest he was wearing over the gray button down shirt tucked into his pants made sense now, that the shoulder bag with all his books in it should have given him away as the stereotypical nerd that he was. He nearly choked when he realized Dean's response hit none of those points, and that, sure his eyes darted down Castiel's appearance, but he didn't give him that mocking look he was used to.
Instead Dean tilted his head in thought and pressed his tongue to the side of his cheek, pushing it out a little before humming out a little "My baby bro's big into English Lit. He was just ranting to me the other night about how he almost wanted to change majors just to have Prof. Lincoln again."
Cas stared at Dean with big blue eyes, surprise easy to read on his face.
Dean glanced shyly away, rubbing the back of his neck and continuing. "He's always getting me to read these big poetry books and novels." He laughed to himself. "I'm not very good at understanding it all, though. I bet you could wipe the floor with my understanding of Shakespeare or Chaucer."
Cas just stared, mesmerized. "Wow." He said out loud, without realizing it. "I...I uhm." He cleared his throat. "I could talk with you about some, if you ever wanted clarification or anything. I mean, I'm not...I wouldn't wipe...I uh, I'd love to have someone to talk to about it, that is, you know to get back into the essay and interpretation mindset of things for classes." He felt so stupid! He barely knew Dean and he was practically insulting the man by saying he was smarter than him. He was so awkward, he didn't know how he even lived with himself.
Dean surprised him again, though, with a delighted exclamation. "I'd love that!" He said warmly. "Maybe I can actually hold a conversation with Sammy about what I've been reading for once."
Cas felt himself sink back to reality, flushing as he looked up, relief washing through him. "Oh. I…" He didn't expect Dean to agree. "I guess I could stop by some time then, when you're not busy…"
Cas walked away with a stupidly goofy grin on his face, Dean's cell number written on the back of his hand, and a book discussion date scheduled for the next week when they were both free. Castiel felt like he was walking on clouds.