The Galaxy Clothes and Other Stuff store consisted of plaid, led zeppelin t-shirts, converses, worn out jeans, records from any band from before the 1970's and knick-knacks beyond your wildest wet dreams. It smelled of oil, metal and old leather. The constant pulsing of AC/DC and Metallica poured through the speakers creating an atmosphere that said "I'm manly". This store also just happened to be run by the macho-est guys in town, Benny Purgatory and Dean Winchester. A year ago Benny started the clothes store wanting to create a shop that provided articles of clothing that didn't look like the came from, and I quote, "yacht weekly" also to make a place for everyone to hang out after hours and would be freaking awesome. He also wanted the place to show colleges so he would be more than a student with a D average but he didn't mention that part too much.
Dean Winchester has always been into art (not that he would ever admit it) and was recruited by his best friend to be the graphic designer for the shirts. It wasn't til three weeks ago when their senior year of school let out that Dean accepted the position and him and Benny were business partners. Although this didn't create much of a change since Dean spent almost every day in the shop anyway.
The summer in Lawrence was scorching and the shop provided cool relief for all the new high school graduates but not until atleast 2 in the afternoon, because you wouldn't even consider waking Jo Harvell earlier unless you wanted your arm broken. It was 12 o'clock pm and Dean and Benny took their typical spots behind the counter sitting in the space behind it on their raven black beanbag chairs that, by the way, took Benny three months to save up for. It was perfect considering there was a wall between them and the door so not only did they have their own personal little nook, costumers couldn't see them right when they walked in the door giving them time to look professional before they saw them.
Benny was laid back on the chair staring blankly at the concrete ceiling, "Do you think we should paint it like dark purple or dark grey or something?"
"Paint what?" Dean was completely soaked into the chair, hands behind his head and eyes closed trying to catch a few Z's that he couldn't get the night before.
"The ceiling dude. Like our walls being dark purple and then everything else being black but then the ceiling being light grey, it doesn't look professional does it?"
"Yeah your probably right but who looks at the ceiling anyway?"
"Yeah… I guess you're right."
"But hey don't let me spoil your interior designer dreams, just tell me in advance what paint you want so I can get it cheap."
"Yeah…"
The last chords of Inject the Venom played out and the "Gunter glieben glauchen globen" of Rock of Ages flowed through the meticulously placed speakers, the echoes of the music being heard perfectly from there placement on the floor. They spent the next 2 hours laying behind the counter or helping the three costumers that came through the door. Dean was the customer service guy unless Benny has to take over if the customer is being "difficult" as Benny likes to put it or as Dean likes to put it "stupid and a complete pain in my ass".
The clock turned 2 and almost on cue Jo Harvelle bursted through the door with Ash and Charlie following closely behind.
"QUICK COME WITH ME! YOUR NEVER GOING TO FUCKING BELIEVE THIS!" She ran behind the counter swooping Dean up by the arm.
"Whoa whoa calm down for a sec! What's going on?" Dean looked at her excited face.
"There having a sale on tickets for the U2 concert but there giving out one ticket per person so one of you guys has to come with me because me, Ash, and you two are gonna want to come."
She took a deep breath waiting for their response. But after a moment knew they weren't understanding.
"Ok so if me, Ash and Charlie go get the tickets that means three tickets. So one of you guys has to come so we'll have 4 tickets so you guys me and Ash can all go!"
She looked at there faces expectantly and rolled her eyes.
"The tickets are 5 bucks."
Dean and Benny's eyes shot open and they both ran from behind the desk and towards the front door of the shop.
"Wait one of us is going to have to stay here and watch the shop." Benny said pointing at Dean quickly.
"Ok I'll stay but if you don't get a ticket for me I will have a heart attack and die and then haunt your ass." Dean said pointing back.
"Fair enough" Benny said running out the door.
Charlie stood blocking the door from Jo and Ash causally licking a Ring Pop, "Hey where's my thank you for standing in line with these idiots for the next few hours waiting to get YOUR concert ticket?"
Dean grabbed Charlie's head kissing it quickly, "Thank you, you are my queen." He said hands grasped together knowing that she would have no arguments with that.
"Thank you." she said sauntering out the door leaving Jo and Ash screaming at her to hurry the hell up.
The store was empty and the only sound was Take On Me by A-Ha streaming through the store. Dean enjoyed being in the store by himself for a few reasons. For example if Benny was here and if Dean would of put on this song Benny would never of let him forget it. So what if he enjoyed something other than 6 minute guitar solos for once? Not that he was hating but it was ok to mix things up once in a while!
Hours started to pass and Dean started feeling a little guilty about Charlie wasting so much time on concert tickets she wasn't even going to see. Charlie was never really a fan of their kind of music but she put up with it when they were in the store but if it was anywhere else she couldn't take it. It was 6:48 which meant 12 minutes til closing. He started his closing down routine covering the cash register with a tarp(why? He had no idea but Benny said it was some security thing so whatever) He turned off the lights in the back of the store hoping he could maybe chill on the beanbag chair and try to fall asleep before his friends came crashing back through the door with the tickets. He was daydreaming on his beanbag chair when all the sudden the doorbell rang indicating that someone was either coming or going out of the store.
Dean quickly broke out of his trance and quickly peeked behind the wall to see who it was. Out of everyone in the whole world, out of all the strange, out there customers he's seen in the last year, this was the last person he ever thought would walk through the doors of Galaxy clothing shop... and Other Stuff.
Dean hated school, he hated it with such a full out passion that if his hate for it would of climbed out of his body and created something it would have been a mix between Godzilla and those huge ass sharks that used to exist in the prehistoric times with the 50 feet teeth. Although his absolute loathing prevented him from wanting to even think about it there was a few things that made it not complete hell. Of course one of those things being his friends, and the other being Castiel Novak.
Dean Winchester was a pretty popular guy. He would be able to talk to whoever he wanted and well usually talked too much getting him detention almost every week. Although he was able to talk to the cheerleaders and was in with the football crowd(thanks to Benny) he always knew who his really friends were. He spent most classes goofing off and being yelled at. He didn't like the teachers thinking he was stupid or that he was a good for nothing failure, that's where the whole hatred of school came in, but he continued to goof off to make the whole high school thing bearable. The whole thing was a waste of time in his opinion knowing that he wasn't going to college and that he was either going to be taking over Galaxy or working with Bobby in the mechanic shop. He knew his "friends" (other than his gang of course) were fake and as soon as it was over they would drop out of his life fast. The only thing he would take from his four years and probably the only reason he didn't drop out of school the moment he got there was Castiel Novak.
Dean remembered the first time he saw him. He was walking to class Jo on his left and Lisa on his right. He was laughing at something Jo said and glanced to his left. That's when he met eyes with the most unbelievably breathtaking person he had ever laid eyes on. He only saw him for a second but everything stopped, he even thought the world was rewinding for a second. The blue eyed boy was wearing a dark blue sweater and black khakis. His hair looked like he just had the most amazing sex in his life and then tried to cover it up by taming it with gel, Dean wasn't buying it. The background behind the boy blurred out and all Dean could think about was how stunning this boy was. Dean was amazed, and to be honest a little horny.
Ever since that moment back in sophomore year every time he would go somewhere he would walk into the room and hope that the raven haired boy would be sitting there. It was stupid Dean knew, but it was something to look forward to. After graduating (which he did by the skin of his teeth) he thought he would never see the boy- Castiel again. He remembered after walking across stage and getting his diploma he looked for him in the crowd. He looked where the honors students were sitting and sure enough locked eyes with his smarty pants in-his-hottest-dreams lover. He remembered how the dark green of the gown contrasted the blue coasting water that was his eyes. This time though instead of the quick glances they stole before, Dean could see the slow breath Castiel let out and the small smile that beautifully graced his lips. He thought that memory could last him a lifetime.
And yeah the whole "suddenly being attracted to guys" was a new thing. I mean he had saw some guys before that he thought were particularly, you know, you could see why girls would want to date them, Castiel though, man, was on a whole nother level . He had a little sexuality crisis for half of sophomore year but then just adopted the thought process of that Castiel was just a really damn good looking guy and who cared if he stared or, thought about him sometimes, in bed. I mean he still loved chicks and stuff but, none had eyes like Cas.
But here blue eyes was again. He beamed back into his life like the first time Dean saw him. Dean quickly checked himself out in the mirror him and Benny conveniently hung in the nook in case any hot girls walked in. Of course Castiel was more important than any of those girls combined. Dean quickly composed himself trying not to think before going out there and hoping his charm and charisma would carry him like it usually does. Plus if he actually thought about what was happening he might faint so he just pretended like this was just some wonderful dream.
Dean turned around the corner and stopped in his tracks. Castiel was browsing the shelf and picked up a Led Zeppelin bobble head holding it up close to his face and tilting his head curiously. Today he was wearing well fitted jeans, they weren't tight but just weren't like Deans lose holed ones. He was also wearing a dark blue hoodie(he sure did like dark blue) that was a little oversized and made him look somewhat more "teenagery" then "presidential" or "noble peace prize winner" then he usually did. Dean liked the more relaxed look but all he could think about was what was under the sweatshirt. Dean took a deep breath, composed himself and stood up tall before sauntering next to his unbelievably adorable man crush.
"Hey" Dean said trying to sound as suave as possible but probably sounding like a Fabio impersonator.
Cas was still looking at the bobble head but Dean could see his eyes get big and him gulping.
Oh shit did I do something wrong? Crap. He doesn't recognize my voice does he? Oh shit oh shit.
Castiel slowly turned his head towards Dean, mouth slightly agape and calm eyes that had an underlying tone of absolute pure fear. But of course, all Dean could focus on was how his face looked up close. Just like the first time he saw him the world rewinded. He noticed two things that he couldn't believe he missed always looking at a distance.
Castiels lips were like a pink tinted, dry land after a storm. They earth was cracked but the land was moist and overall the land was smooth and absolutely captivating, and motherfucking sexy. They were so tempting. It took Dean so much will power to shift his gaze and look him in the eyes, and when he did he thought there was not enough force in the whole world to get him to look anywhere else ever again.
His eyes weren't just a pool of water; they were the whole freaking ocean. They had the force of crashing waves and the beauty of a kaleidoscope of sun reflected colors rippling off the tides. They held a soul so pure and story so memorizing that his eyes could keep a adhd riddin squirrel occupied for hours. All Dean could think about was how happy he was that ocean eyes took a second to answer because if he didn't dean couldn't of processed it, no freaking way.
Castiel turned around slowly and faced dean head on and gave a shaky, "Hello".
They stood there for a second both looking at each other like they were the couple from Dear John at the end of the movie. Dean let out a breathy laugh and shook his head for a second before a smile grew on his lips.
Why the hell not?!
He stepped back and shot his hands out to his sides and let out an enthusiastic
"Welcome to Galaxy!" he let his smile show all the feelings he had inside at this moment.
He was happy they renovated the store last week and was proud of how freaking awesome it turned out. He was glad that when they met again it was on Dean's awesome turf and that he had home game advantage. In this moment right now was the two things he liked the most (aside from his friends anyway) his spectacular store and Castiel in it. Man did he look good in it.
Castiel's face was shocked at the sudden outburst but as soon as he saw Dean's smile he let out a breathy laugh and smiled politely at the ground. Dean let his hands down and Castiel looked at him from under his lashes for a second before tugging on his sleeves and looking around mouth still agape.
"Thank you." he said not making eye contact.
"Do you work here?" He asked turning his head toward Dean his eyes following a few seconds afterward.
Dean was still just struck by his eyes but managed to speak.
"Yeah I actually own it!" He said standing up taller and crossing his arms.
"Well half of it. Benny started it and I kinda just jumped on in." he said laughing a bit trying to not sound nervous.
"It's a very nice place. The painting job it beautiful." He said looking around admiring it.
Dean smiled a little. He redid the paint when they refurbished it.
"Well thank you, we try." Dean said trying not to smile like an idiot.
He wanted so badly to start a conversation. This is the first time they've ever talked but it felt like they have known each other forever, well for him at least it did. But Dean still didn't know anything about him. He wanted to know what kind of music he listened to and where he spent his time and if he wanted to make out with him as much as he wanted to make out with those chapped sexy lips. But then a thought struck him like lightning. What if this whole "thing" has been one sided from the start? Dean knew it couldn't be true I mean Castiel smiled at him when he graduated! But maybe he was just being nice. For the first time in his life Dean felt… venerable? He quickly pushed aside the feeling though and decided just to treat him just like any other costumer.
"Are you looking for anything in particular? We have everything from clothes to records to those stupid little knick-knack shit…"
Shit maybe he doesn't like cursing? Shit.
Castiel smiled again glancing around.
"Yeah I was actually looking for some new clothes. I've been wearing this preppy clothing for a long time and I've always wanted to try something… darker? I thought that about going to a new college would be a good time to experiment…"
Oh God…
For a split second he thought about saying that if he wanted to "experiment" he would be available anytime, but that thought quickly passed.
"Well we definitely have anything you might need!" Dean said.
Castiel looked around for a second quizzically before landing his eyes on the tarp covered cash register,
"I'm sorry were you closing up?"
It took Dean a second to take his eyes away from Castiel to see what he was referring to. When he did he put his hands up,
"Pshhhh no I- I was just being lazy and packing up early."
"Oh well I can just head out if you would like to close down." Castiel rubbed his arm not making eye contact.
"No no really I'm just lazy" Dean said trying to act cooler than he was. This may be the only time he'll see Castiel for… forever. If this is fate giving him another chance he wasn't going to fuck it up.
"Really it's no problem for me to return tom-"
"No. Stay"
Dean said looking at Castiel intently almost a little pleadingly. Cas looked at him and his eye brows raised a little and he swallowed smiling so slightly you would notice if you weren't staring at his lips, which is of course what Dean was doing.
"Alright." Castiel said and Dean and his eyes were locked.
Dean was lost and honestly had no intention of saying anything. He really thought he would never see this guy again. It's incredible to think that he may have never talked to this guy. He's already changed everything.
I can't believe I never went and really looked at him up close, he's so gorgeous.
Dean smiled now too, shaking his head a bit.
Oh God I just said gorgeous, what next am I gonna buy a Barbie playhouse?
Castiel broke the silence,
"Um well I'm obviously this kind of style…" he motioned around the room, "impaired, what would you recommend?"
Dean took a deep breath composing himself with an open smile still staring at Castiel.
Wow.
Now he nodded his head and coughed,
"Well it depends, are you wanting to buy a whole new wardrobe, or just looking for one outfit or.."
Dean was now back in his element walking backwards arms out to his sides with an overly expressioned face.
"Um well maybe I'll just try it out first.. I don't know how my families going to react so just a few different outfits?" He looked at Dean questionly like he never shopped in his life.
Dean tried to hold back his laugh with Castiel looking like such a lost puppy. If he was good at anything it was making people feel comfortable in the store and that's what he was going to with him.
"Yeah that sounds great! Well all the clothes are back in this area" Dean paused for a moment "would you like me to help pick stuff out or…"
Please say yes please say yes…
"Uh yeah that would be great, if you don't mind and all." Castiel looked right at him through his eyelashes.
"Hey it's my job! Right this way…" he bowed a little guiding Castiel to the back area, he was smiling.
The back of the store was a little darker now with the lights off and Dean wasn't able to see his genius little crush so well. It was unbelievable to look at this part of his shop he's seen so many time before and see his long lost love- crush, long lost crush standing in it, in all his preppy clothes glory.
Castiel started picking out shirts fast like he knew exactly what he wanted and is finally able to get it. Dean smiled a bit, all the shirts he was picking out were some of his favorites he designed. Dean started to pick out jeans he thought would look good with them.
"So your family, they like the whole "straight A penthouse style" type of clothes." He looked over at Castiel who was completely focused on the clothing looking like he was calculating at the designs and color in his head.
"Yes, I actually think they will be caught quite off guard after seeing me in this stuff, but I'm about to leave to go to college soon anyway and they can't control my life all away there."
"Wow, I never took you as the rebellious type." Dean said without thinking.
"I mean, you don't look it at least" he was back flinching a bit.
"I'm not, I just like this style, I don't think clothes measures your intellect like they tend to think."
It was obvious the he was in some fight with his family about something, but Dean was able to make him feel better which is all that mattered right now.
"Tuesdays Gone" by Lynard Synard played on the stereo now and Dean couldn't stop looking over at Castiel. He knew this was some sign, or just something that he was in the shop now. Dean definently wasn't going to let this opportunity pass him by.
"You wanna go try some stuff on? I picked some jeans out."
"Yeah, sounds good." Castiel said.
Standing up only a few inches away from Dean. The song was coming to end,
"Tuesday's gone in the wind, Tuesdays gone in the wind"
They looked at each other in the eyes, and Dean knew he had to spend the rest of the summer with this man.