Castiel hated February. Every year without fail, Meg, his best friend, teased him relentlessly about being single on Valentine's Day. And every year, the Gas-N-Sip collected money for the American Heart Association.
The campaign itself was for a good cause. Castiel had no problems with any organization that advocated for healthier living. But he hated asking people if they would like to donate. Castiel believed that if people really wanted to donate, they would. They didn't need to be badgered about it.
But Zachariah Adler, the head manager had made it clear to Castiel that he needed to ask every customer, every time.
Today was the first day of this year's campaign and Castiel had already been yelled at six times by people who insisted that they had donated the day before and how dare they be asked again. Castiel didn't point out to them that there was no way they could have donated yesterday and just silently endured the abuse until he could finish their transaction and get them to leave.
As soon as the last angry woman was out the door, Castiel groaned and lowered his head onto the counter. He didn't understand why charity drives brought out the worst in people, but it was the same story every year. People who had already donated who were angry about being asked again, people who felt Gas-N-Sip prices were already high and resented being asked for more money, and people who wanted to rant about how all charities were just crooked schemes to steal money from decent, hardworking people.
The chime above the door announced the arrival of a new customer and Castiel hurriedly pulled himself together, plastering on his best customer service smile.
The smile became a lot more genuine when he saw that the man who had walked in was his favorite customer.
Dean was one of the mechanics who worked at Singer Automotive half a mile down the street. He stopped in pretty regularly on his lunch break to buy snacks for his coworkers and sometimes came in before his shift to get gas and a cup of coffee.
He always patiently waited his turn in line without complaint, no matter how long the line was. If things were particularly crazy and he had to get back to work before it was his turn at the register, he always put his stuff back where he found it and walked out without throwing a fit.
Manners alone would have elevated Dean above most of Castiel's customers, but he was also an incredibly attractive man. His grease-stained coveralls didn't do much for his figure, but those vivid green eyes and freckled, boyish good looks were so charming.
"Hey there, Cas," Dean said cheerfully as he stepped up to the register with a handful of Slim Jims and a chocolate bar.
"Hello, Dean."
Castiel greatly appreciated how Dean always greeted him by name, treating him as person instead of a soulless retail drone. Since Dean's name was printed on his coveralls, Castiel had returned the favor.
The snacks were rung up all too quickly. And now it was time to test the depth of Dean's goodness.
"Would you like to donate to the American Heart Association?" Castiel braced himself for annoyance or outrage.
But Dean continued smiling pleasantly. "Sure."
"How much would you like to donate?"
Dean peered into his wallet. "Let's go with twenty bucks."
Castiel was elated. It was the largest donation he had ever gotten. Surely that would keep his boss from breathing down his neck for a little while.
"Thank you for your generous donation." Castiel collected the money from Dean and handed him one of the paper hearts and a marker.
"'Everyone has a reason to give. Who's yours?'" Dean read from the heart. He looked up at Castiel with a raised eyebrow.
"You can put your name if you'd like or the name of someone you care about. Of course, you don't have to write anything at all if you'd rather not," Castiel was quick to assure him.
He had once made the mistake of suggesting an elderly woman put down the name of a family member when she had asked what name to write. For his trouble, the woman had screamed at him for five minutes straight that he was wishing cancer on her family.
Zachariah didn't like to see any hearts left blank, but Meg was all too happy to write vaguely dirty names like Mike Hunt or Ben Dover on all the blank ones. Castiel no longer took offense to her actions. As long as no customers yelled at him about it, he didn't care what she did.
Dean jotted down his chosen name quickly and slid the heart back across the counter.
"Castiel is why," the heart proclaimed in bold block letter.
Castiel's face felt hot. "That's…that's my name."
"It sure is." Dean winked and gathered up his snacks. "See you 'round, Cas."
Castiel's cheeks still felt pleasantly warm as he watched Dean leave.
It was still early February. He had almost two weeks to deepen this little glimmer of mutual attraction into an actual relationship.
Maybe for the first time in his life he wouldn't have to spend Valentine's Day alone.