Cheeseburgers and Pie (Chapter 10)
Second semester passes much like the first. Castiel even convinces Dean to take another visual arts credit, woodworking this time. They fall into the routine they’d had before the holiday break. Wake up, go to class, meet for lunch, go to class, meet for dinner, study, sleep, repeat. On the weekends they lounge around, Dean managed to find a working TV on the side of the road and stole the cable from their neighbors. They both watch Dr. Sexy MD, Castiel claims he only ‘puts up with it,’ though Dean saw him cry when Dr. Sexy lost a nine year old heart transplant victim on the table. On Dean’s birthday, Castiel offers him the first two complete seasons, saying something along the lines of Dean needing to catch up. They watch it together and neither of them can pay attention to homework.
Their life revolves around each other, though Dean makes damn sure it’s in the planet-and-moon sense, both needing each other to keep the balance of their lives, but never drawing close. Christmas had stirred up too many feelings that Dean was not willing to deal with. Sometimes they take walks on the campus together, but most of the time they sit at the pond and study or throw bread at the growing duck population.
About two weeks into the new semester, Dean bursts into the room, smiling like a madman and insisting that Castiel drop whatever he’s doing and come with him. Dean drags him enthusiastically across campus to the library where a short mousy haired boy and a gorgeous blonde are propped up against one of the entranceway columns. Dean bounces over to them, tackling the boy in a headlock. Castiel walks over calmly, suspicion sneaking into the blank expression he’s wearing.
Dean turns around, the smaller boy’s head still in his arms. “Cas! This is Ash! We used to hang out back in the day when I worked at Bobby’s.” Ash extends a hand from his crouched position. Castiel takes it and studies him a bit more, taking in his long hair and cut off flannel shirt, left unbuttoned over a long sleeved grey t-shirt. He looks like trouble.
“Pleasure.” Castiel states, giving his hand a short decisive shake. Dean lets Ash’s head go and turns to the girl, pulling her into an embrace.
“This is Jo, her momma has a thing for Bobby so she used to hang out around the yard too.” Dean teases, roughing up her curly blonde locks.
“Dean!” Jo exclaims, hurriedly trying to fix the mess. Dean chuckles and turns to Cas, smile wide and bright. Castiel can’t help but answer it with a small, yet cautious smile.
“I ran into them when I was picking up some books, and we got to talking. It’s their first semester here and well. Since we’ve grown up together we’re really comfortable with each other. I mean, I used to go over to Jo’s place and her mom would babysit us. And Ash, man Ash got me out of more scrapes in high school than I could ever have imagined possible. He’s a real genius.” Dean was rambling and Castiel stepped forward to place a hand firmly on his shoulder.
“Dean, the point?” It wasn’t a snap, but Dean could feel Castiel’s apprehension at meeting new people.
“Well, we thought, maybe, after the semester,” Dean pauses, taking a long deep breath, “Maybe we could all get a house.” Dean looks expectantly at Castiel. Castiel takes a step back, dropping his hand to his side and contemplating the idea. He’d never had so many people close to him in his life. The thought terrifies him because he doesn’t want to lose it all again. He studies Dean’s face, and then the faces of Ash and Jo. He stays quietly pensive for a moment or two longer before turning to Dean with a stern look.
“Dean Winchester,” Castiel starts, eyes fierce, “if this is just an excuse to throw a fabled ‘House Party,’ then there will be serious hell to pay. Some of us would like to earn our degrees on time.” Dean recognizes the remark for the ‘yes’ that it is and lets out a celebratory cry. That is how Dean and Castiel end up searching for available houses for lease on the weekends.
It takes them two and a half months to find a four bedroom house that they can all afford. It’s beaten to hell and needs some major renovations. But Dean is in love with it. Castiel, Jo, and Ash all step out of the Impala to look at it speculatively. Dean runs up the porch and steps proudly on the worn wooden planks. “I can fix it up. Give me the summer and it’ll be like new in the fall!” It takes some serious convincing, but eventually the other three agree to the purchase, under the terms that Castiel and Dean do the hard labor in the summer, while Jo and Ash go back to work to buy the renovation materials.
As the semester winds down, Castiel warms up to Ash and Jo. He forms a friendship with Ash quickly, based on their increasingly intellectual conversations. Ash claims he was accepted to MIT, Castiel believes him and is baffled by the fact that Ash stayed in Kansas because he promised Jo he would. Jo and Castiel find it somewhat harder to bond. At first they’re both too guarded to talk to each other, but Dean gradually coaxes conversations out of them. They find that they are completely different, Jo has much more in common with Dean, but hold a mutual respect for each other that seems to make up for their lack of common ground. Dean is ecstatic that his old friends and his new friend are getting along, he’d been worried for a while, given Castiel’s ‘people skills’ and the fact that they had all jumped into the house together before really thinking about it. Castiel puts his worries to rest one day at lunch when Dean walks in and sees him sitting with Ash and Jo at their usual table in the cafe.
Castiel and Jo are talking intently about something but stop to look up at Dean. That’s not suspicious or anything. Dean smiles slyly and plops down next to Castiel in the open seat. “Hey, what are we talking about?”
“Discussing relationships in today’s time, and how maybe intentions aren’t as obvious as they should be.” Castiel states, staring directly at Jo, expression casually blank.
“And I was saying that maybe people should get their heads out of their asses and look a little closer.” Jos retorts, staring right back.
“Woah, woah, easy killers.” Castiel turns to Dean, breaking the staring match to give him a confused look. “Jo? Is somebody hitting on you, cuz you know they have to pass inspection first.”
Jo opens her mouth to speak, but Castiel cuts her off. “Yes, Jo’s experiencing advances from a boy in her class, but I feel like maybe they’re just friendly gestures.”
“I keep telling Castiel that they are, but there’s something in the way he acts that makes them different.” Jo explains.
“I remain unconvinced, and for the sake of not ruining the friendship they have formed, and possibly saving Jo from making a fool of herself, I have asked her to earnestly steel her emotions and remain on friendly terms until further evidence presents itself.” Castiel’s expression goes stern and Jo glares for a moment before leaning back in submission.
Dean turns to Ash for clarification but he’s busy drumming out the beat of whatever song he’s blasting from his second-hand Walkman. Dean decides that he actually isn’t that interested and leaves the table to pick up some lunch. When he gets back, everything has settled down. Castiel has folded one of his legs under him and stretched the other out, using Jo’s chair as a footrest while he reads his latest novel. Jo is digging into leftover pizza and Ash is still in his own world, nursing a bottle of Mountain Dew he’d pulled from his backpack. Dean takes his place and enjoys his lunch while making small talk with Jo about switching into the business program next semester.
“Okay, so, next week’s spring break.” Ash interrupts the silence that had fallen, whipping off his headphones as he relays his message. “Jo-Jo and I are going home to work. Are you freeloaders gonna go up to the house and try to start working it over?” Ash raises an eyebrow expectantly.
Dean thinks for a moment about the list he’d made when they’d walked through the house. “Yeah, I guess we could start stripping the paint and stuff, can’t get much done though since we don’t have supplies yet.”
“Oh, wah!” Jo snaps, “maybe you should go work instead and buy your own damn materials for that dump of a house you made us buy!”
“Even with renovation it’s still cheaper than anything we could afford!” Dean bites back.
Castiel closes his book calmly and leans forward as he pressed it firmly, but silently to the table. “Dean and I are happy to do the manual labor required. As I’m sure we would be happy to reciprocate funding. Though it would disrupt our agreement and throw the workload out of balance. To pay for materials while laboring for free, while you contribute less than your share? That seems to be an unreasonable request.” Castiel searches his friends faces, trying to coax one of them to challenge his statement. Dean and Jo sat back in their chairs, unable to say anything else. Castiel nods and stands. “Now, if you will please excuse me, I need to go to the library before class.”
Dean watches him go for a few moments before getting up and following him. Castiel’s been spending a lot of time in the library lately and now is a perfect opportunity to see just what he’s up to. Dean does his best to stay a safe distance behind Castiel. He enters through the side door while Castiel takes the front, then weaves his way through the rows until he is safely hidden behind a bookcase that gives him a direct line of sight to Castiel. Okay, so, email. It’s easy to see the screen from his hiding place and Dean moves his gaze to study Castiel’s face. Who the hell could he be talking to besides me? And Jo and Ash, but whatever. Dean’s stomach lurches as he watches Castiel’s face read the screen. His friend’s normally blank face pulls itself into a soft smile before he sets to work typing out a reply. Okay so, what the hell? Dean’s mind races around thoughts of who Castiel could be talking to. Not that it’s illegal to talk to people outside of your friend circle, but come on. The look on his face was ridiculous, he didn’t smile at anyone like that. Dean sunk to the ground to lean against the bookcase, overwhelmed by the direction his thoughts were taking.
He was busy bashing his head against his knee when he heard someone clear their throat above him. He looked up, mortification instantly settling into his soul. Castiel was looking down at him suspiciously. “Dean, what are you doing here?”
“Checking out a book.” Dean said entirely unconvincingly. Castiel raised his eyebrow questioningly. Dean rose to his feet and pushed a finger into his friend’s chest. “What are you doing here?”
“Answer emails.” Castiel said cooly, eyes squinting shut as he pressed forward, making Dean’s finger poke harder into his chest. “But you know that.” Dean’s lips flounder, trying to form words. Castiel presses even closer, head tilting up and to the side to study Dean’s face with fierce eyes. “Why were you watching me?”
“Uh, Cas, personal space?” Dean says, trying to direct the attention off of his stalking. Castiel doesn’t move back though. Dean swallows hard and takes his own step back into the bookshelf. “I just, I was curious.” Castiel’s eyebrow goes even higher expression losing its ferocity and melting into confusion. “You’ve been spending a lot of time here, and, I don’t know. I just thought I’d see what was up.”
“Nothing is ‘up,’ Dean.” Castiel uses air quotes around the work ‘up’ and it takes everything Dean has not to laugh at the gesture. Castiel steps back into Dean’s personal space and all the humor runs out of Dean’s body, replaced by tension. “Are you envious of the library Dean?”
Dean flushes slightly under Castiel’s scrutinizing gaze and the accusation. “No. What? Cas, come on.” Castiel pushes even closer, digging Dean’s spine into the shelf. Castiel squints harder, pulling his features tight while challenging Dean’s response. Dean’s mouth gapes in the search for words.
Castiel holds his gaze for a few moments before his whole body shudders and Dean watches the stern mask fall away into laughter. “My apologies, Dean. I just, I wanted to mess with you.” Castiel manages between fits of laughter.
“Dude!” Dean punches his friend lightly on the arm. Castiel’s eyes are brimming with tears now as he tries to gain some composure back. Dean looks around and finds half the library staring at them, including the librarian who looks down right livid at the break in silence.
“Come,” Castiel says as he tugs Dean’s shirt sleeve and wipes the last of his tears away, “it’s time for class.” Dean nods, already assembling a plan in his head to get Castiel back for this. They walk towards their classes together in comfortable silence for a while.
“Sam.” Castiel says.
“What?” Dean stumbles a bit at the interruption of his own thoughts.
“I was emailing Sam.” Castiel states, keeping his eyes fixed towards the end of the sidewalk.
“Oh.” Dean says dumbly, not knowing what else to say. “How long’s that been happening?” He cringes at the tone of his voice, which is obviously not jealousy. Castiel doesn’t seem to notice.
“Since we left. He wrote his information in the journal he gave me.” Castiel adjusts his bag higher up on his shoulder and turns his head to squint at Dean in the mid afternoon sun. “He’s a wonderful correspondent.”
Dean’s stomach knots itself slightly as he tries to imagine the types of things his little brother could be telling Castiel. Like about the sex dream, which he’s still not sure if Castiel knows about. Thank fucking God there was only one. Or worse, Sam could have revealed Dean’s ridiculous elephant sized crush. Or embarrassing secrets from high school, like the panty photoshoot. Or literally anything that he has told Sam throughout his entire life. Dean’s stomach turns acidic at the thought. “Uh, yeah,” Play it cool, Winchester. “He’s great.”
Castiel nods assuredly and they casually part ways, mutually agreeing to meet back at their room and have a night in and order pizza. After class they spend the evening making plans for the house. Dean already has a composition book filled with lists of things that need to be done and diagrams for room layouts and carpentry projects. Most of the more decorative elements are from Castiel, however. Everytime inspiration strikes, Dean lets Castiel take the notebook and scribble down his interior design plans. Castiel has filled the notebook with clippings of fabric and cut outs from Better Home and Garden that he steals from the library, accompanied by his manic illustrations.
Spring break goes as planned; between the two of them, Castiel and Dean managed to strip off all the old paint from the siding and go through the house to fix up any cracks or holes in the wall that would prevent Castiel from working efficiently.
On the last day, Castiel even goes to the local hardware store and picks up paint swatches. He makes Dean sit with him in the middle of each room and hold up different combinations. Dean pretends to be interested in the paint schemes but he’s too busy watching Castiel. When Castiel holds up a swatch and closes one eye, squinting at it and thinking about each choice like if he chooses the wrong one the world will collapse into nuclear war, he gets this gleam in his eye. It makes his eyes even brighter and more impossible, the blue standing out against his growing tan. Dean can’t stop watching him, taking in the way he furrows his brow while he considers each possibility, the way he bites the insides of his cheek or bottom of his lip slightly at the enormity of each decision, how he takes notes and mutters to himself, the way his eyes catch the light streaming in through the shade less windows and glimmer when he comes to a decision. He’s admiring the profile of Castiel’s face in the mid-day light when Castiel turns to him, eyes expectant.
“Hmm.” Dean nods, hoping that will answer whatever questions Castiel has just asked him.
“Dean.” Castiel rolls his eyes, voice exasperated. “I asked you to pick between these two palates. I cannot decide, and as this will be your room, you should have the final say.”
Dean looks down at the two pieces of paper in Castiel’s hands. One is a metallic grey paired with a blue that reminds him of the navy in the edges of Castiel’s eyes. The other is a chestnut brown paired with a mossy green. He pretends to consider the two as closely as Castiel has been studying every other selection in the house, but he’d made up his mind in an instant. “The blue and grey.”
Castiel smiles, “I’d hoped that was the one you’d pick.”
“What are you gonna do in here?” Dean asks as Castiel pushes himself off the ground and tacks the paint swatches to the wall.
“You’ll just have to see.” Castiel says mischievously as he exits the room, flashing Dean a playful smile before moving on to the bathroom across the hall.
Dean rolls his eyes and follows, leaning on the doorframe as Castiel tapes more paint samples to the walls. He spends the rest of the day watching Castiel work, trying to imagine the place as Castiel is seeing it. Dean had looked at Castiel’s plans; they were beautiful, so full of life and color. By the end of the summer the run down old home would be a palace, and it would be all theirs.
Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Epilogue |
Their life revolves around each other, though Dean makes damn sure it’s in the planet-and-moon sense, both needing each other to keep the balance of their lives, but never drawing close. Christmas had stirred up too many feelings that Dean was not willing to deal with. Sometimes they take walks on the campus together, but most of the time they sit at the pond and study or throw bread at the growing duck population.
About two weeks into the new semester, Dean bursts into the room, smiling like a madman and insisting that Castiel drop whatever he’s doing and come with him. Dean drags him enthusiastically across campus to the library where a short mousy haired boy and a gorgeous blonde are propped up against one of the entranceway columns. Dean bounces over to them, tackling the boy in a headlock. Castiel walks over calmly, suspicion sneaking into the blank expression he’s wearing.
Dean turns around, the smaller boy’s head still in his arms. “Cas! This is Ash! We used to hang out back in the day when I worked at Bobby’s.” Ash extends a hand from his crouched position. Castiel takes it and studies him a bit more, taking in his long hair and cut off flannel shirt, left unbuttoned over a long sleeved grey t-shirt. He looks like trouble.
“Pleasure.” Castiel states, giving his hand a short decisive shake. Dean lets Ash’s head go and turns to the girl, pulling her into an embrace.
“This is Jo, her momma has a thing for Bobby so she used to hang out around the yard too.” Dean teases, roughing up her curly blonde locks.
“Dean!” Jo exclaims, hurriedly trying to fix the mess. Dean chuckles and turns to Cas, smile wide and bright. Castiel can’t help but answer it with a small, yet cautious smile.
“I ran into them when I was picking up some books, and we got to talking. It’s their first semester here and well. Since we’ve grown up together we’re really comfortable with each other. I mean, I used to go over to Jo’s place and her mom would babysit us. And Ash, man Ash got me out of more scrapes in high school than I could ever have imagined possible. He’s a real genius.” Dean was rambling and Castiel stepped forward to place a hand firmly on his shoulder.
“Dean, the point?” It wasn’t a snap, but Dean could feel Castiel’s apprehension at meeting new people.
“Well, we thought, maybe, after the semester,” Dean pauses, taking a long deep breath, “Maybe we could all get a house.” Dean looks expectantly at Castiel. Castiel takes a step back, dropping his hand to his side and contemplating the idea. He’d never had so many people close to him in his life. The thought terrifies him because he doesn’t want to lose it all again. He studies Dean’s face, and then the faces of Ash and Jo. He stays quietly pensive for a moment or two longer before turning to Dean with a stern look.
“Dean Winchester,” Castiel starts, eyes fierce, “if this is just an excuse to throw a fabled ‘House Party,’ then there will be serious hell to pay. Some of us would like to earn our degrees on time.” Dean recognizes the remark for the ‘yes’ that it is and lets out a celebratory cry. That is how Dean and Castiel end up searching for available houses for lease on the weekends.
It takes them two and a half months to find a four bedroom house that they can all afford. It’s beaten to hell and needs some major renovations. But Dean is in love with it. Castiel, Jo, and Ash all step out of the Impala to look at it speculatively. Dean runs up the porch and steps proudly on the worn wooden planks. “I can fix it up. Give me the summer and it’ll be like new in the fall!” It takes some serious convincing, but eventually the other three agree to the purchase, under the terms that Castiel and Dean do the hard labor in the summer, while Jo and Ash go back to work to buy the renovation materials.
As the semester winds down, Castiel warms up to Ash and Jo. He forms a friendship with Ash quickly, based on their increasingly intellectual conversations. Ash claims he was accepted to MIT, Castiel believes him and is baffled by the fact that Ash stayed in Kansas because he promised Jo he would. Jo and Castiel find it somewhat harder to bond. At first they’re both too guarded to talk to each other, but Dean gradually coaxes conversations out of them. They find that they are completely different, Jo has much more in common with Dean, but hold a mutual respect for each other that seems to make up for their lack of common ground. Dean is ecstatic that his old friends and his new friend are getting along, he’d been worried for a while, given Castiel’s ‘people skills’ and the fact that they had all jumped into the house together before really thinking about it. Castiel puts his worries to rest one day at lunch when Dean walks in and sees him sitting with Ash and Jo at their usual table in the cafe.
Castiel and Jo are talking intently about something but stop to look up at Dean. That’s not suspicious or anything. Dean smiles slyly and plops down next to Castiel in the open seat. “Hey, what are we talking about?”
“Discussing relationships in today’s time, and how maybe intentions aren’t as obvious as they should be.” Castiel states, staring directly at Jo, expression casually blank.
“And I was saying that maybe people should get their heads out of their asses and look a little closer.” Jos retorts, staring right back.
“Woah, woah, easy killers.” Castiel turns to Dean, breaking the staring match to give him a confused look. “Jo? Is somebody hitting on you, cuz you know they have to pass inspection first.”
Jo opens her mouth to speak, but Castiel cuts her off. “Yes, Jo’s experiencing advances from a boy in her class, but I feel like maybe they’re just friendly gestures.”
“I keep telling Castiel that they are, but there’s something in the way he acts that makes them different.” Jo explains.
“I remain unconvinced, and for the sake of not ruining the friendship they have formed, and possibly saving Jo from making a fool of herself, I have asked her to earnestly steel her emotions and remain on friendly terms until further evidence presents itself.” Castiel’s expression goes stern and Jo glares for a moment before leaning back in submission.
Dean turns to Ash for clarification but he’s busy drumming out the beat of whatever song he’s blasting from his second-hand Walkman. Dean decides that he actually isn’t that interested and leaves the table to pick up some lunch. When he gets back, everything has settled down. Castiel has folded one of his legs under him and stretched the other out, using Jo’s chair as a footrest while he reads his latest novel. Jo is digging into leftover pizza and Ash is still in his own world, nursing a bottle of Mountain Dew he’d pulled from his backpack. Dean takes his place and enjoys his lunch while making small talk with Jo about switching into the business program next semester.
“Okay, so, next week’s spring break.” Ash interrupts the silence that had fallen, whipping off his headphones as he relays his message. “Jo-Jo and I are going home to work. Are you freeloaders gonna go up to the house and try to start working it over?” Ash raises an eyebrow expectantly.
Dean thinks for a moment about the list he’d made when they’d walked through the house. “Yeah, I guess we could start stripping the paint and stuff, can’t get much done though since we don’t have supplies yet.”
“Oh, wah!” Jo snaps, “maybe you should go work instead and buy your own damn materials for that dump of a house you made us buy!”
“Even with renovation it’s still cheaper than anything we could afford!” Dean bites back.
Castiel closes his book calmly and leans forward as he pressed it firmly, but silently to the table. “Dean and I are happy to do the manual labor required. As I’m sure we would be happy to reciprocate funding. Though it would disrupt our agreement and throw the workload out of balance. To pay for materials while laboring for free, while you contribute less than your share? That seems to be an unreasonable request.” Castiel searches his friends faces, trying to coax one of them to challenge his statement. Dean and Jo sat back in their chairs, unable to say anything else. Castiel nods and stands. “Now, if you will please excuse me, I need to go to the library before class.”
Dean watches him go for a few moments before getting up and following him. Castiel’s been spending a lot of time in the library lately and now is a perfect opportunity to see just what he’s up to. Dean does his best to stay a safe distance behind Castiel. He enters through the side door while Castiel takes the front, then weaves his way through the rows until he is safely hidden behind a bookcase that gives him a direct line of sight to Castiel. Okay, so, email. It’s easy to see the screen from his hiding place and Dean moves his gaze to study Castiel’s face. Who the hell could he be talking to besides me? And Jo and Ash, but whatever. Dean’s stomach lurches as he watches Castiel’s face read the screen. His friend’s normally blank face pulls itself into a soft smile before he sets to work typing out a reply. Okay so, what the hell? Dean’s mind races around thoughts of who Castiel could be talking to. Not that it’s illegal to talk to people outside of your friend circle, but come on. The look on his face was ridiculous, he didn’t smile at anyone like that. Dean sunk to the ground to lean against the bookcase, overwhelmed by the direction his thoughts were taking.
He was busy bashing his head against his knee when he heard someone clear their throat above him. He looked up, mortification instantly settling into his soul. Castiel was looking down at him suspiciously. “Dean, what are you doing here?”
“Checking out a book.” Dean said entirely unconvincingly. Castiel raised his eyebrow questioningly. Dean rose to his feet and pushed a finger into his friend’s chest. “What are you doing here?”
“Answer emails.” Castiel said cooly, eyes squinting shut as he pressed forward, making Dean’s finger poke harder into his chest. “But you know that.” Dean’s lips flounder, trying to form words. Castiel presses even closer, head tilting up and to the side to study Dean’s face with fierce eyes. “Why were you watching me?”
“Uh, Cas, personal space?” Dean says, trying to direct the attention off of his stalking. Castiel doesn’t move back though. Dean swallows hard and takes his own step back into the bookshelf. “I just, I was curious.” Castiel’s eyebrow goes even higher expression losing its ferocity and melting into confusion. “You’ve been spending a lot of time here, and, I don’t know. I just thought I’d see what was up.”
“Nothing is ‘up,’ Dean.” Castiel uses air quotes around the work ‘up’ and it takes everything Dean has not to laugh at the gesture. Castiel steps back into Dean’s personal space and all the humor runs out of Dean’s body, replaced by tension. “Are you envious of the library Dean?”
Dean flushes slightly under Castiel’s scrutinizing gaze and the accusation. “No. What? Cas, come on.” Castiel pushes even closer, digging Dean’s spine into the shelf. Castiel squints harder, pulling his features tight while challenging Dean’s response. Dean’s mouth gapes in the search for words.
Castiel holds his gaze for a few moments before his whole body shudders and Dean watches the stern mask fall away into laughter. “My apologies, Dean. I just, I wanted to mess with you.” Castiel manages between fits of laughter.
“Dude!” Dean punches his friend lightly on the arm. Castiel’s eyes are brimming with tears now as he tries to gain some composure back. Dean looks around and finds half the library staring at them, including the librarian who looks down right livid at the break in silence.
“Come,” Castiel says as he tugs Dean’s shirt sleeve and wipes the last of his tears away, “it’s time for class.” Dean nods, already assembling a plan in his head to get Castiel back for this. They walk towards their classes together in comfortable silence for a while.
“Sam.” Castiel says.
“What?” Dean stumbles a bit at the interruption of his own thoughts.
“I was emailing Sam.” Castiel states, keeping his eyes fixed towards the end of the sidewalk.
“Oh.” Dean says dumbly, not knowing what else to say. “How long’s that been happening?” He cringes at the tone of his voice, which is obviously not jealousy. Castiel doesn’t seem to notice.
“Since we left. He wrote his information in the journal he gave me.” Castiel adjusts his bag higher up on his shoulder and turns his head to squint at Dean in the mid afternoon sun. “He’s a wonderful correspondent.”
Dean’s stomach knots itself slightly as he tries to imagine the types of things his little brother could be telling Castiel. Like about the sex dream, which he’s still not sure if Castiel knows about. Thank fucking God there was only one. Or worse, Sam could have revealed Dean’s ridiculous elephant sized crush. Or embarrassing secrets from high school, like the panty photoshoot. Or literally anything that he has told Sam throughout his entire life. Dean’s stomach turns acidic at the thought. “Uh, yeah,” Play it cool, Winchester. “He’s great.”
Castiel nods assuredly and they casually part ways, mutually agreeing to meet back at their room and have a night in and order pizza. After class they spend the evening making plans for the house. Dean already has a composition book filled with lists of things that need to be done and diagrams for room layouts and carpentry projects. Most of the more decorative elements are from Castiel, however. Everytime inspiration strikes, Dean lets Castiel take the notebook and scribble down his interior design plans. Castiel has filled the notebook with clippings of fabric and cut outs from Better Home and Garden that he steals from the library, accompanied by his manic illustrations.
Spring break goes as planned; between the two of them, Castiel and Dean managed to strip off all the old paint from the siding and go through the house to fix up any cracks or holes in the wall that would prevent Castiel from working efficiently.
On the last day, Castiel even goes to the local hardware store and picks up paint swatches. He makes Dean sit with him in the middle of each room and hold up different combinations. Dean pretends to be interested in the paint schemes but he’s too busy watching Castiel. When Castiel holds up a swatch and closes one eye, squinting at it and thinking about each choice like if he chooses the wrong one the world will collapse into nuclear war, he gets this gleam in his eye. It makes his eyes even brighter and more impossible, the blue standing out against his growing tan. Dean can’t stop watching him, taking in the way he furrows his brow while he considers each possibility, the way he bites the insides of his cheek or bottom of his lip slightly at the enormity of each decision, how he takes notes and mutters to himself, the way his eyes catch the light streaming in through the shade less windows and glimmer when he comes to a decision. He’s admiring the profile of Castiel’s face in the mid-day light when Castiel turns to him, eyes expectant.
“Hmm.” Dean nods, hoping that will answer whatever questions Castiel has just asked him.
“Dean.” Castiel rolls his eyes, voice exasperated. “I asked you to pick between these two palates. I cannot decide, and as this will be your room, you should have the final say.”
Dean looks down at the two pieces of paper in Castiel’s hands. One is a metallic grey paired with a blue that reminds him of the navy in the edges of Castiel’s eyes. The other is a chestnut brown paired with a mossy green. He pretends to consider the two as closely as Castiel has been studying every other selection in the house, but he’d made up his mind in an instant. “The blue and grey.”
Castiel smiles, “I’d hoped that was the one you’d pick.”
“What are you gonna do in here?” Dean asks as Castiel pushes himself off the ground and tacks the paint swatches to the wall.
“You’ll just have to see.” Castiel says mischievously as he exits the room, flashing Dean a playful smile before moving on to the bathroom across the hall.
Dean rolls his eyes and follows, leaning on the doorframe as Castiel tapes more paint samples to the walls. He spends the rest of the day watching Castiel work, trying to imagine the place as Castiel is seeing it. Dean had looked at Castiel’s plans; they were beautiful, so full of life and color. By the end of the summer the run down old home would be a palace, and it would be all theirs.
Chapters: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Epilogue |