"Mom, I can't find my – oh my god guys! What the hell?"
Dean forces his eyes open at the sound of Sam's voice, taking a few seconds to acknowledge his surroundings. He's on the living room couch, which isn't that big of a deal. He falls asleep all the time watching TV. So why does Sam sound so mortified? Unless he forgot to wear pants again. Nope, definitely wearing pants. There's a strange weight over his chest, though. He glances down and see's a familiar mop of black hair. Oh shit. Shit shit shit.
Castiel is snuggled into him, still fast asleep, arms wrapped around Dean's sides. One of Dean's hands rests on Cas's hip, the other tangled in his hair. Dean has a vague memory of realizing everyone else was asleep and deciding making out on the couch would be a good idea. It was seeming less of one in the morning light. Scratch that, making out was a fantastic idea. Falling asleep with Cas on top of him was the stupid part.
"Um." He says quietly, debating in his head the best way to get his boyfriend off of him. "Has mom or dad seen?"
Sam smirks, "I'd say you have five minutes. You better get out of any compromising positions."
"You're such a bitch." He mutters as his younger brother heads for the door.
Sam sticks out his tongue before ducking away, "Jerk."
As soon as Sam is gone, Dean shakes his couchmate's shoulder, "Cas, I hate to do this to you but you need to get up. Like, now."
Cas mumbles something unintelligible and snuggles in closer. So close that Dean is almost certain he's inhaling Dean's favorite Led Zeppelin shirt instead of oxygen.
He ruffles Cas's hair, "Come on, angel. You can sleep some other time."
Cas lifts his head slowly, until his eyes meet Dean's. He smiles sleepily, "I like it when you call me angel. But you only do it when you think I'm not really paying attention."
Dean blushes slightly, finally being called out on his secret pet name, "Okay, angel, I'll use it more often. You gotta get up now, though."
"Why do I –" Cas stops speaking midsentence, realizing where they are, "Oh."
"Yeah. Now move your ass before my dad kills us both."
Cas obliges and when Mary walks in a few minutes later the two boys are sitting and watching TV, one of Dean's arms hanging casually around Cas's shoulders.
"Good morning boys." She says as she messes with Dean's hair, "Castiel, I wasn't aware you were staying the night."
He glances at Dean before he answers, "Neither was I, actually." He takes a second to wonder if Gabriel worried about him, but then he thinks well it's Gabriel so he probably didn't even notice.
"Well, you're always welcome." She smiles, "Just make sure you boys are being responsible."
As soon as she's gone, Dean turns to Cas, "She knows."
"Yes."
"She's gonna put us through some awkward talk."
"Definitely."
"We need to get out of here."
"My thoughts exactly."
It's Dean's idea to visit the world's largest ball of twine (I mean, it's in Kansas, we're in Kansas, it's a landmark, what the hell?). He lets Cas shower first and when he walks into his room, the other boy is sitting at the desk, hair still damp, wearing one of Dean's AC/DC shirts.
Dean crosses the room in a few quick steps and drops a kiss in Cas's hair, "Have I ever told you I love it when you wear my shirts?"
Cas turns, rolling his eyes, "Only every day." He allows Dean a kiss before holding up a sheet of paper, "I got directions. Let's go."
Of course they would need permission before actually going anywhere. This was the less thought out part of the plan. Having to ask the person you were trying to avoid if you could go to the place where you were going to be avoiding them. Perfect. The job falls to Dean as the avoidee in question is his mother. He decides on a speed attack while she's gardening.
"Hey Mom, Cas and I are going to the gigantic ball of twine in Cawker City just for fun. I'm paying for gas, I have my phone, we'll be back before eleven. Kay thanks bye." He turns on his heel to make a run for it.
"Dean?" She calls after him. Shit. The obvious flaw in the plan has been exploited.
"Yeah?" He asks weakly, poking his head around the back door again.
Dean braces himself, but instead of a lecture on being responsible and using protection she just smiles and says, "Be careful, honey."
He nods before she can change her mind, "I - we will."
He grabs Cas from where he was waiting in the hallway and makes for the garage, "Leaving. Now."
The shorter boy glances at the kitchen, "What abut breakfast?"
"We'll grab something on our way out of town."
Cas groans his protest but climbs into the passenger seat of the Impala anyway.
They stop at the Novak house, where they find Gabriel in the kitchen in his tie-dye boxers (something that Dean will be happy never seeing again in his life). He nods his consent, slapping Cas on the shoulder and saying, "Have fun lil' bro." as he walks them back to the door. As they turn away he winks suggestively at Dean. Dean flips him off as they walk back to the car.
They pull over at a gas station near the edge of town. Cas runs in to buy breakfast sandwiches, cokes, and peanut M&M's, while Dean fills the car up with gas. After they pay, he slides into the seat, pops in a Metallica tape, and grins at Cas, "Where're we headed, navigator?"
The drive to Cawker City is three and a half hours long and would've been absolutely miserable for Dean if he didn't have Cas to talk to. Driving normally relaxed him, but this road had no scenery whatsoever. Just field after field after dry and boring field.
When the finally arrive in the actual town, Dean finds himself starting to doubt his decision-making skills. The place is tiny and seems to be barely inhabited. Some kids run into an alley when they first drive by, but other than that, there are not many signs of humanity. Until, of course, they reach the twine.
Tourists are swarming over what Dean decides is essentially a glorified knot. He loses all faith when Cas points out a sign using the ball to predict the weather. "We missed lunch." He points out eventually, just to break the silence basically yelling "why the fuck would you bring your boyfriend here, you dipshit?"
"I saw a diner a few streets over." Cas says, pointing helpfully.
Dean pulls away in the direction Cas pointed. When they reach the diner a few minutes later, Dean groans as he sees a lot of the tourists had the same idea. "Let's go somewhere else," He shifts the car into reverse. "I am in no mood to listen to stupid people discuss the wonders of one of the world's largest balls."
"Come on, Dean." Cas sets his hand on Dean's arm, "It'll be fine. Besides, I'm hungry." As if to prove his point, his stomach rumbles loudly.
Dean sighs, "Okay, fine. But only because your stomach friggin' begged."
They find an open booth near the back, away from screaming toddlers. "Promise me we're never having kids." Dean shudders as he flags down a waitress.
Cas grins, sitting down across from him. "One, that's a physical impossibility. Two, we're seventeen, Dean. I don't think we need to worry about it for a while."
Before Dean can respond, the waitress is there, handing them menus. She's pretty and in the days before Cas, Dean would've flirted with her shamelessly. She smiles widely and Dean doesn't like the way she looks at Cas, like he's something to eat. "How are you boys doing this afternoon?" Her nametag reads "Lottie". Dean hates Lottie.
"We're fine, thanks." He says shortly. Cas kicks him under the table.
His rude behavior doesn't deter Lottie, "Can I get you boys anything to drink?"
Dean glances at the menu, "Coke for me."
She turns to Cas, standing about as close to him as she could get without walking through the table, "And for you, handsome?"
That's the last straw. Before Cas can answer her, Dean reaches across the table and takes his hand, a little more forcefully than necessary. "He's taken." He says hotly.
Lottie immediately takes a step back, out of Cas's personal space where only Dean is allowed to be thank you very much, realization dawning on her face, "Oh! You're –" She cuts herself off, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know."
"It's fine." Cas says kindly, after shooting a confused look in Dean's direction. They don't normally broadcast their relationship. "I'll have water, please."
"Of course. Right away." Lottie hurries away, but not before Dean catches the blush rising in her cheeks.
As soon as she's back in the kitchen, Cas kicks him in the shin again. Hard. "Son of a bitch." Dean swears, reaching down to rub the surely bruising part of his leg, "The hell was that for?"
Cas glares at him, "For being so rude to the waitress."
"Cas, she was hitting on you! She wanted to take you out to her car after her shift and get down dirty. You didn't notice that?"
He wouldn't meet Dean's eyes. "I could have handled it."
Dean lifts his hand and runs it through his hair, "I know you could've. And I'm sorry, it's just – shit, Cas. I can't stand the thought of anyone else with my angel."
Cas finally looks up, smiling weakly, "I assure you, the feeling's mutual."
They hold hands under the table as they eat.
They drive by the twine again on their way out of town and Dean barks out a laugh, "This has to have been the worst idea I have ever had."
"I don't know," Cas reaches over to pull one of Dean's hands off the steering wheel. "It wasn't that bad."
"Seriously? Cas, we drove through nothing for four hours just to see some string and get into a stupid fight over a waitress hitting on you. That diner food sucked, too. I owe you, like, three good dates."
"Well," Cas plays with Dean's fingers for a minute, "We could make it more interesting."
Dean grabs Cas's hand before it gets past his thigh, "Don't even think about it. You are not giving me a handjob while we're anywhere near that monstrosity."
Cas signs and pulls his hand away, "Fine." He looks up in confusion as Dean pulls off onto a dirt road. "You just said –"
Dean cuts him off as he parks the car, "I said no handjobs. I wouldn't be opposed to some kissing, though."
Cas can't argue with that.
When the front seat is proven to be the most uncomfortable kissing spot ever, they move outside. Somehow they end up on the roof of the Impala (it was probably Cas's idea, he likes high places) and even though there's a rather high chance they're gonna roll off and break their backs on the gravel road, Dean decides it's awesome and they should do it more often.
It gets tiring after a while, balancing each other while the sun continues to dip lower in the sky, so they just lay side by side. Cas had just leaned over to bring Dean into a long, lingering kiss when there was the putter of an old engine as someone used the road for a U-turn.
A voice calls, "Homosexuality is a sin!" There was a time when comments like that would've gotten under Dean's skin, but for now he just deepens the kiss and points his middle finger in the general direction of the car.
They reenter Lawrence around eight pm. Dean starts in the direction of Cas's house, "It's late. You want me to drop you off at home?"
Cas looks down at their intertwined fingers, "I'd actually like to go to your house, if that's all right."
Dean switches the direction of the blinker, "That's what I was hoping you'd say."
He's never been more glad to be home. There's a note on the kitchen table saying Mary and John went to a movie and Sam's on a date with Jess, so Cas and Dean have the house to themselves. Dean briefly considers bringing Cas up to his room, but figures they've had enough for one day.
Instead, they go straight for the living room couch.