Fire Roses

Supernatural AU: Childhood friends Jess and Castiel own their own floral shop, called Heavenly Arrangements. Sam is a big shot lawyer and his brother, Dean, is a local firefighter. Thanks to some sibling meddling, Cas and Dean are set up on a date and now Dean has a sudden obsession with roses… and a certain florist. Destiel, Jess x Sam

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Chapter One: Think of Me

"Castiel! I'm going on my lunch break!"

Looking up, Castiel saw Jess waving at him from the cash register. He smiled. "Okay, Jess. Enjoy your lunch."

"Do you want me to bring you anything?"

He shook his head. "No, thank you."

With a final wave, Jess walked out of the shop and the bell rang over the door merrily.

Still smiling, Castiel looked down at the arrangement he was currently working on. It was for a couple's anniversary, and the husband had requested a dozen red roses.

Castiel cut the stems evenly before removing the thorns. Lifting the flowers, he gently placed them in the glass vase that the husband had selected at the shop. Spreading them out, he placed small shoots of baby's breath in amongst the roses before spraying them with flower food to give them a dewy look.

Stepping back, he nodded, satisfied. He picked up the vase and carefully placed in inside the large fridge in the back to keep them fresh until the man picked them up later.

Wiping his hands on his apron, Castiel strode to the front. He was pleased to see a few customers milling about, and told them to seek him out if they had any questions.

Heavenly Arrangements had opened their doors over a year ago and had become quickly successful over the past few months. It seemed that the people in Lawrence, Kansas liked having flowers to brighten up their places.

The shop had been an idea that had bloomed (pun intended) when Jessica Moore and Castiel Novak had met on their first day of sixth grade. They had met in art class, having been partnered up for a project that involved drawing a vase full of flowers. Both Jess and Cas had bonded over their love of flowers and quickly became inseparable.

Plans for the shop had begun when Cas and Jess graduated high school and went on even when they went off to college. Castiel had stayed behind at the local community college, studying art history, while Jess had gone off to Stanford on a full ride scholarship.

Two years ago, she returned with her law degree and a ring on her finger. She had run into Sam Winchester, another Lawrence local, while they had attended Stanford and had quickly fallen in love and got engaged after three years of dating.

When Castiel heard the news, he had warmly congratulated his closest friend, before joking how it was a small world that Jess and Sam had run into each other at Stanford.

Jess had merely grinned and replied with a cheeky, "God works in mysterious ways."

Now with the shop open, Jess had time to settle down and was slowly making wedding plans. Sam had opened up a small law firm, which he called Winchester & Winchester, since his father, John, had helped his youngest son with its opening, being a lawyer himself.

"The family business," John had called it.

Castiel liked Sam very much. The very tall man was also kind hearted and intelligent and obviously loved Jess with all of his heart, which had him earning Castiel's approval right after learning of the engagement. He had known Sam while they had been in school together, and although they hadn't been close back then, Jess bridged the gap between the two men and now Castiel liked to think of Sam as one of his good friends.

Sam often talked about his older brother, Dean, but Castiel had yet to meet him. Sam told Cas that Dean had been shipped off to Iraq and would be returning home with honors in time for the wedding.

Jess also spoke warmly of the older Winchester brother, claiming that he had always watched out for Sam when they had been younger. But being four years older, Castiel never crossed paths with Dean at school, since he was in high school when Cas first met Jess then was off on his first tour by the time Castiel entered Lawrence High School.

Castiel remembered seeing pictures of Dean around the Winchester home, which he had visited on occasion after Sam and Jess had returned from college. Mary, Dean and Sam's mother, explained that Dean had never home because he had worked full-time at her brother Bobby's auto shop in town before joining the army.

Castiel, of course, knew of Bobby Singer. He smiled again when he looked at the order he had just completed. After all, the dozen red roses were there as a symbol of Bobby and his wife Ellen's twelfth anniversary. The gruff, rough-around-the-edges mechanic had strolled into Heavenly Arrangements the day prior to put in the order.

The front door bell rang again, breaking Castiel away from his thoughts. He was pleased to see Jo Harvelle-Singer step inside. She was Ellen's daughter from Ellen's first marriage and had been adopted by Bobby when he had married her mother.

Jo gave Castiel a wide smile before walking over to the register and leaned her elbows down on the counter. "Hey, Cas."

"Hello, Jo. How are you?"

"Good, good. Got my dad's order ready? He sent me to pick it up, he's held up at the shop."

Castiel nodded and turned to retrieve the roses from the back before placing it on the counter for Jo's inspection.

Jo lifted an impressed brow, stroking one of the rose petals. "You've outdone yourself again, Cas," she commented with a smile that warmed her deep brown eyes.

"Thank you," Castiel replied. "Your father has already paid for them."

Jo nodded before gently picking up the vase with both hands.

"Do you need any help to your car?" Cas asked, already moving to hold the front door open for her.

Jo flashed him another grin. "Nah. Thanks, Cas. Let's grab dinner soon, okay?"

Cas nodded. "Give me a call."

"You got it. See ya!"

Castiel watched Jo walk off to her truck before walking back inside the shop. When he reached the counter, the door swung open again and Jess' laughter filled the room.

Castiel turned to see her arm-in-arm with Sam, who beamed down at his fiancée.

"Oh, come on, Sam, it wasn't that bad," Jess said in a playful tone.

"Do you want to deal with Meg? The woman's terrifying. Why did we hire her as our wedding planner?"

"Because she's the best," Jess said, leaning up to kiss Sam's cheek.

Sam laughed, shaking his head. "All right, I gotta get back to work."

Castiel didn't miss Sam's slide of hand as he plucked a small stalk of flowers that were on display before he presented them to Jess. Sam pressed a kiss to her forehead and tucked the small, white flowers behind her ear.

Castiel smiled, looking away. He didn't miss what kind of flowers Sam had selected. White clovers.

Think of me.

When the doorbell jangled again, Jess strolled over to where Cas was standing. "Did Bobby get his roses?"

"Jo picked them up," he told her. "You just missed her."

"Oh shoot," Jess said, her lips twisting to a disappointed pout. The two women had also been friends throughout high school and were in the process of reconnecting over wedding plans, since Jo was going to be one of Jess' bridesmaids.

Castiel chuckled. "I'm sure you will see her soon. Lawrence isn't a large town."

"You got that right," Jess said with a laugh of her own. Then she gave him a mock-serious look. "Now, you go on your lunch. You've been working nonstop since opening."

"Are you sure-,"

"Yes, I'm sure," Jess cut in, rolling her eyes good naturedly. "Go."

Castiel removed his apron and walked to the back room, where he had kept his bagged lunch in the mini fridge stored there. He walked outside, blinking so his eyes would adjust to the bright sun.

He walked over to the nearby park, sitting down on one of the benches. He ate his lunch in comfortable silence, watching people walk their dogs and children play on the swings. He felt content surrounded by the sounds of people and the soft drone of bees from the nearby bush.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters.

Author's Note: Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. It's going to be a simple tale and full of Destiel fluff, with smut in the later chapters. And as you can probably tell, full of flowers and symbolism.

White clovers: Think of me

Please review!