Give Me Reasons

"And he didn't. He didn't say anything."

Sam glanced at Dean uncomfortably, hoping for a way out of this ridiculous conversation. His brother was no help though. Dean was studiously ignoring everything but the revolver he was cleaning. Meanwhile Castiel was waiting for a helpful answer. Sam was stuck between a rock and a hard place. "Mhm," he mumbled. "Um, so…" He inhaled deep.

Then inspiration struck.

He looked at his watch and said, "Oh, shoot."

Dean winced.

"I've gotta go grab that… pizza," Sam said very unconvincingly. "Sorry, Cas. I'll be right back." He jumped up to his feet and hurried out of the room before anyone could stop him.

Dean hung his head when the door slammed shut, leaving him alone with the confused angel. Sam had another thing coming his way when he got back, that's for sure.

"What should I do, Dean?"

"I don't know," he grumbled. "How about you leave it and focus on stuff here?"

"But why was he so flippant?" Castiel got up to his feet so he could pace in front of Dean. "He says he believes me, but maybe he doesn't. Maybe he thinks I'm lying. Or maybe he didn't understand what I had meant. Maybe he thought that-"

"Or maybe he's not interested," Dean interjected.

Castiel paused. "Is that possible?"

"It's possible that he's not interested in dudes. Yeah. Very possible."

He looked down at himself. "Oh."

"I realize that I am not a woman."

"Good for you," Harry said absentmindedly while sorting through some mail.

Castiel drummed his fingers against the table, a rare gesture of impatience that didn't go unnoticed. "Can't you make an exception?" he pressed on.

"Then he said that I'm pestering him about trivial things." Castiel had been brooding on the couch for the past few minutes. "So what if my vessel is a man? That can't be helped."

"Gonna grab some pizza."

"Oh, come on," Dean snapped after his brother who hightailed it out of the motel room with the car keys again. "You've got to be kidding me."

"It shouldn't matter what I look like, right? Dean?" Castiel looked up at him hopefully. "Isn't that what people say?"

"Don't drag me into this, Cas."

"Maybe it's something else."

"Is it because I'm an angel?"

Harry heaved a sigh and raised the newspaper up to his eyes to block Castiel from his view.

Castiel reached across breakfast and pushed the paper down. "Because that can't be helped either," he carried on. "I can't change that."

"He said that he never asked me to change anything."

"Time for pizza."

Dean scrambled up to his feet. "You aren't going anywhere," he blurted out just as the door closed behind Sam. "You little shithead…"

Castiel tilted his head at Harry. "You are in love with Ginny. That's it, isn't it?"

"He said that's none of my business."

"Pizza."

Dean groaned behind his hands.

"Maybe you haven't given it enough thought."

"And he said-"

"You're being too desperate!" the Winchester brothers exclaimed in unison.

Castiel snapped his mouth shut.

Sam massaged his head while Dean scowled. They were at their wit's end with this madness. It was time to put a stop to everything. They both sat down opposite Castiel. "We need to talk."

"… Alright."

"You've been stalking this guy for way too long," Dean said.

"That's creepy, Cas," Sam added.

"So lay off, alright? He's not into you, so lay off before he makes you lay off."

"Please. For our sake."

Castiel frowned at them.

Harry was mildly surprised when he realized that he had been in the same room as Castiel for over ten minutes and neither of them had spoken yet. He glanced up from the pile of laundry he was sorting through to find the angel by the window, staring out at nothing in particular. "Aren't you going to talk?" he asked.

"No."

He flicked his wand to float the folded shirts into the wardrobe. "Want something to eat? I'm having lunch soon."

"No."

He kept his amusement in check as he started pairing up his socks. "You came here to mope?"

"Yes," Castiel mumbled.

"I see."

"He's hopeless, Sam…"

"But I didn't say anything," Castiel interjected. "I laid off. You said-"

"There's no helping you, Cas," Sam announced with mounting despondence. "You're too far gone."

"But I haven't gone anywhere."