The Perks of Christmas Tradition
Author's Note: Happy holidays everyone! This cute lil fic was fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it! I have no freakin' clue as to where this is in the canon timeline? It's after season 8, Cas is human, and all the angel drama isn't happening. Also, KEVIN TRAN WILL FOREVER REMAIN ALIVE IN EVERY FIC I WRITE. So yeah :P Try not to let all the sweetness rot your teeth ;)
Dedicated and written for Isi cuz she's awesome (Merry Christmas!)
"Okay, screw this. I give up!" Dean says as he throws down the hopelessly tangled Christmas lights on the floor. "Why do we even need a stupid tree? We've always survived without one," he continues. Sam rolls his eyes as he picks up the Christmas lights and tries to untangle them himself.
"That's because even Charlie Brown wouldn't want the crap we've tried to pass off as Christmas trees."
"Who is Charlie Brown? Is he a hunter?" Cas asks, confused. Now it's Dean's turn to roll his eyes.
"Tell ya later, Cas." Just then, a familiar redhead comes into the room carrying a box.
"So, I looked through your dungeon – which is still really cool by the way – and I think I may have found some more decorations?"
"Charlie, we haven't taken inventory of everything yet! We don't know what's cursed and what's not!" Sam says, more concerned than angry.
"Well, I'm still standin' so I guess it's okay! Also, Crowley? Just as much of a douche as Chuck made him out to be in the Supernatural books."
"It's still freakin' creepy that people have literally read our lives," Dean says.
"Oh, you don't know the meaning of the word 'creepy' until you've seen the darkest corners of the fan fiction world. You ever heard of Crobby?" Charlie asks mischievously.
"Crobby as in… Jesus, you don't mean–" Dean starts to say. Charlie interrupts him, raising her hands in surrender.
"Hey, don't ask if you don't wanna know."
"Well," Dean says loudly, clapping his hands together, "on that horrifying note, let's decorate this damn tree already."
Sam hands the perfectly untangled Christmas lights to Dean with a smug smile, and Dean takes them with a glare and a muttered "show-off" under his breath. Charlie is already digging through the box, looking at the decorations when she emerges with a beautiful angel figurine.
"Check this out! This will be perfect for the top of the tr– Oh. Um. I mean, uh…" Charlie trails off as she looks at Cas. He's staring at the small angel figurine with an undecipherable expression on his face. The whole room is silent, holding their breath as they wait for Cas' reaction.
After Cas had fallen, he had adjusted to his new human life surprisingly well. A little too well in fact. A part of Dean and Sam was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, for that one thing that would set Cas off and send him into a violent tailspin. So far, that hadn't happened yet.
Cas walks forward and takes the angel from Charlie's hands. He stares at its delicate features and traces its halo and its wings with his finger, almost in reverence. Then, Cas smiles. It's a tiny thing, just a twitch of the corner of his mouth, but it's there. That smile tells a story of nostalgia, of remembrance for something long gone.
Everyone in the room understands that smile.
Cas turns, walks to the Christmas tree, and places the angel on the top before turning back to face the group.
"It looks nice," he says simply. There's a moment of silence before Dean suddenly breaks it.
"There's some garland and tinsel and shit in the other room. Cas, you wanna help me with it?" Cas nods. Dean tosses the lights back to Sam, who starts to put them on the tree with Charlie's help.
A few minutes later, Dean and Cas re-emerge, Dean with garland wrapped around his arm and Cas with handfuls of tinsel. As they go to enter the room, Dean stops in the doorway. Cas gives him a questioning glance and stops too.
"Cas, you doin' okay? I mean, I know our Christmas is probably a bit different than what you and the God squad used to do, but–"
"Dean," Cas says, cutting Dean off, "it may be different, but it's… better. There's nowhere else I'd rather be."
Dean has no idea what do with that. Cas' blunt honesty always catches him off guard. With Cas, honesty is always pure; it never holds some secret agenda, he's not trying to get anything from you, he just… says it. Dean sputters as he looks into those sincere blue eyes, trying to come up with something to say, when he hears Charlie burst out laughing. Dean turns to look at her. He sees Charlie whisper something to a confused looking Sam, who in turn looks up a little in their direction and starts to laugh as well.
"Mind telling us what the hell is so funny?" Dean asks. Charlie just wriggles her eyebrows suggestively and points up. It's then that Dean remembers just exactly what holiday it is and his blood runs cold before he even sees the traitorous trademark green leaves and white berries.
He and Cas are standing directly beneath a sprig of mistletoe.
The look of horror on Dean's face mixed with the confusion on Cas' just makes Charlie and Sam laugh harder.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Dean cries.
"It's traditiooon!" Charlie says in a sing-song voice. Dean turns to Sam with desperate, wide eyes.
"Sammy, come on, back me up here." Sam grins and shrugs his shoulders.
"Can't argue with tradition, Dean."
The glare that Dean shoots his brother would wither a lesser man, but Sam just laughs again.
"I don't understand," Cas says. Dean groans.
"When two people stand under the mistletoe at Christmas, they have to kiss!" Charlie says, nothing short of delighted.
"Oh," is Cas' simple reply.
"It's stupid, man. Don't worry about it," Dean says gruffly. Cas tilts his head and looks at him.
"I'm sorry that the idea of kissing me is so abhorrent to you," he says in a monotone and, although his face is expressionless, Dean could swear that he detects a hint of hurt.
"Jesus, Cas, that's not what I– Oh, for fuck's sake, fine!"
Then, before Cas can fully process what's happening, Dean grabs the front of Cas' shirt and pulls him close, capturing Cas' lips with his own. Cas drops the tinsel in shock and his eyes widen before closing automatically and leaning into the warm – albeit rather aggressive – kiss.
After a moment, the kiss softens and their lips break apart with a small pop, their heads still close together. Dean's eyes are slightly hooded and they look a bit confused and wait, is Dean leaning back in again? Cas starts to follow his lead when suddenly they hear a snapping noise and Dean whips his head towards the sound, ultimately breaking whatever spell they were under mere seconds ago.
"Are you taking pictures?!" Dean yells as he runs after Sam, who's laughing as he holds his phone out of Dean's reach. Charlie giggles as she watches the antics of the two brothers. Cas just stands there, unmoving as he slowly touches his fingers to his lips. He tries to understand what just happened, or if it means anything, if it changes anything, but amidst all these thoughts, one stands out as clear as day.
He'd really like to do it again.
"Come on, Sam! It'll be like old times!"
"We are over thirty years old, Dean, so no, I don't wanna go play in the snow."
"Liar."
It had snowed about two feet the night before, a rarity for Kansas even in December, and Dean plans to take full advantage of it because it's almost Christmas and why the hell not?
"You know you want to," Dean says, smiling.
After a few minutes of Dean's whining, Sam reluctantly gives in and the pair goes off to gather the troops. Charlie catches one look of their winter clothing and is automatically in. Dean finds Cas in his room, reading a book (on further inspection, it's Vonnegut and Dean tries not to read anything into that). He's a bit hesitant at first, but Dean quickly convinces him. They pass Kevin on his way out of the kitchen, sandwich in hand.
"Hey, long time no see! We're headin' outside, you in?" Dean asks. Kevin gives a world-weary sigh.
"I still have a lot of work to do on the tablet," he says.
"Aw, come on, man! You already missed the tree decorating, where's the Christmas spirit? Five minutes. That's all I'm asking." Kevin just glares. Dean shrugs.
"Well, suit yourself."
As Sam, Charlie, Dean, and Cas head out the door, Dean catches sight of what Cas is wearing and stops him.
"Dude, it's like 14 degrees out there, you're gonna need more than a hoodie," he says. He grabs one of his extra jackets for Cas to throw on, including a hat and some mitts. He surveys the newly bundled up Cas.
"Hmm… something's missing…" Dean ponders, before he goes and grabs a scarf. Just as he's wrapping it around Cas' neck, Cas suddenly tips forward and, without warning, kisses him. Without really thinking about it, Dean kisses back before he realizes what he's doing and quickly pulls back.
"Cas, what the hell…?"
"Mistletoe," Cas replies, looking up. Dean follows his gaze and sure enough, there it is. Dean rolls his eyes, trying hard to stamp down the confusing thoughts he's starting to have about his best friend.
"Seriously? Another one? Whatever, let's go," he says before leading the way.
Cas smiles widely at Dean's retreating back and follows.
Over the next few days, Dean finds himself getting caught more and more under the mistletoe with Cas. Some days, they're alone and some days, it's in front of Sam or Charlie. At first he was annoyed, then he was indifferent, and now – dare he say it – he's actually starting to look forward to each encounter.
But he tries not to think about that too much.
He's in the bunker's garage, tinkering with some of the old cars, when someone appears in the doorway.
"Dean?" Cas calls.
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Sam needs your help with some research." Dean sighs.
"Alright, be there in a sec."
He grabs a nearby rag to wipe the grease stains off his hands and walks back to where Cas is still waiting. When he gets there, Cas cups the back of Dean's neck and brings him in for a quick kiss. When they break apart, Dean doesn't even need to look up to know what's hanging there. Cas opens his mouth to say something, but Dean interrupts him.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Tradition. I get it." Cas just gives a small smile and walks off down the hall in the direction of his room, while Dean heads to the library. When he gets there, he finds Sam with his nose in a book, Charlie on her laptop scrolling through some site called Tumblr, and Kevin with the tablet frantically scribbling symbols on paper.
"So, we got a case?" Dean asks Sam. Sam looks up, his eyebrows pulling together in confusion.
"Um… no… Why? You got something?"
"What? No, I thought you– Cas said you needed my help with some research."
"Oh. Well, thanks, but I'm not really looking into anything right now?" Dean frowns.
"Then why– Whatever, doesn't matter." Just as he goes to leave the room, he stops and, as an afterthought, continues, "By the way, just while I have you all in the same room, can you quit it with the friggin' mistletoe already?" Charlie and Sam start chuckling a little and even Kevin cracks a smile.
"Yeah, I mean it was hilarious the first time, but man, Sam really took the initiative with all those other times!" Charlie says, jokingly elbowing Sam in the side. Sam's chuckles die down as he takes in her words.
"Me? I thought it was you?" Charlie raises her eyebrows as her laughter falls silent as well.
"What? No, I only did it the first time, when we were decorating the tree!"
"Then who the hell keeps hanging the damn things?" Dean asks, frustrated. He shoots a pointed glare at Kevin.
"Hey, don't look at me! I had nothing to do with it," he says.
"Well, it sure as shit isn't me!" Dean exclaims. All of a sudden, Charlie's eyes widen.
"Oh. Of course," she mutters.
"Care to share with the rest of the class?" asks Dean, annoyed.
"What if it's Cas?"
"Why the hell would Cas be doing it?" Charlie rolls her eyes.
"Haven't you noticed how happy he's been lately? Dude, his eyes practically twinkle every time he looks at you!"
"I just thought he was feeling festive! It's the guy's first Christmas as a human after all!" Dean says, his mind reeling with the new (or perhaps not so new) information being hurled at him.
Charlie gives him a look that clearly says, You know I love you, but you're an idiot.
"You should talk to Cas. I've seen the way you look at him too," Sam pipes up. Dean gapes.
"It's not– We're not– We're just friends!" Dean sputters. Sam gives him a look similar to the one Charlie just gave.
"Friends don't look at each other like nothing else matters, Dean."
Dean considers more vehement denial, but instead just sighs.
"Fine. I'll talk to him."
Later that night, Dean lies in bed, unable to sleep. His mind is positively buzzing with thoughts. He's tries to figure out what he should say to Cas, what that would mean for them, if he wants it to mean something for them. Does he really want to… be with Cas? He keeps going over the last few days in his mind, moment-by-moment, kiss-by-kiss, and he thinks that the answer might be yes.
And that scares the ever-loving shit out of him.
He throws the covers off of himself and gets up, deciding that a man can't think properly on an empty stomach. When he gets to the kitchen, he hears scuffling sounds in the next room. He peeks his head around the corner and his eyes widen slightly.
It's Cas, standing on a small footstool, hanging mistletoe.
By pure process of elimination, Dean had already known that Cas was the one doing all this, but it was a whole different thing to see it with his own eyes. He considers confronting Cas right then and there, but thinks better of it and slips back quietly to his room, remaining unseen.
The next day, Dean waits for the right moment to talk to Cas in private and it comes when he notices Cas sitting alone on the couch watching TV. He appears to be fascinated by an infomercial for some blender. Dean sits down on the couch next to him, but not too next.
"Cas, we gotta talk." Cas immediately turns off the television, giving Dean his full attention.
"What is it?" Dean sees no point whatsoever in beating around the bush.
"I know that you're the one who's been putting up all the mistletoe." Cas' eyebrows raise a fraction in surprise before he averts his eyes to his lap, seemingly embarrassed.
"Oh."
"Yeah. So, uh, I guess I was just wondering… why?" Cas looks up again.
"I assumed the answer was obvious."
"Enlighten me then." Cas takes a deep breath.
"I… After the first time, I realized that I… liked kissing you."
Now that Dean hears the words out loud, he's struck a bit speechless. His stomach twists in knots that may be out of happiness or fear, he's not sure. He imagines it's a bit of both.
"I apologize, Dean. I never meant to make you uncomfortable. I'll stop."
"No!" is Dean's immediate reply. He coughs and continues, "I mean, uh… you didn't. Make me uncomfortable, that is. I… liked kissing you too." Cas' eyes widen like this was the last thing in the world he ever expected to hear. After a moment of silence, Dean decides to jump in with both feet.
"You know… now that we've shared our girly feelings… You don't have to make sure we're under mistletoe before you kiss me," Dean says. Cas has no reaction to that and for a second, Dean thinks he's messed up big time until suddenly, Cas smiles widely at Dean and practically mauls him as he throws his arms around Dean's neck and crashes their lips together. Dean chuckles into the kiss before bringing his arms around Cas.
This kiss is different from the others. There's more weight to it. They aren't dancing around their feelings by participating in some dumb tradition because everything is already out on the table.
Dean slips his tongue into Cas' mouth, something he hasn't really done before in their previous kisses. His actions are well received and the kiss steadily grows into a full-on make out session as Dean maneuvers Cas until he's lying back on the couch. Dean looks at the sight beneath him, at the mussed up hair, the stunning blue eyes that now look near black with pupil dilation, and the parted kiss-swollen pink lips that Dean can't help but capture again with his own in another heated kiss. Just then, someone walks down the hall and into the room.
"Hey guys, Charlie wants to know if you wanna watch It's a Wonderful Li– Oh, come on, really?! I'm happy you guys have worked it out, but seriously, bedrooms are made for a reason," says Sam, trying to avert his eyes. Dean and Cas break apart, but make no effort to move. Dean turns his head and gives Sam a wolfish grin.
"Just makin' the Yuletide gay, Sammy." Sam rolls his eyes and thankfully walks out of the room. Dean turns back to look at Cas, who's smiling up at him like nothing else matters and Dean finally understands what Charlie and Sam were talking about.
"Merry Christmas, Dean," Cas says softly. Dean chuckles.
"Merry Christmas, Cas.
Author's note: So there it is! Feedback is very much appreciated and again, HAPPY HOLIDAYS :D