A/N: The winning fic for the Supernatural Monthly Challenge in May!
Today was May 2nd and Dean Winchester was not happy to be up at the ass-crack of dawn in front of his employer, Sara's Flowers. The manager of the -in Dean's personal opinion- way too purple building had asked Dean if he could train the new guy for the month of May. "Get him used to how things work around here," Ellen had said to Dean over the phone only a few nights before. "Teach him how to interact with customers, how pickup and delivery work. Things like that."
Which Dean had been all too happy to agree to, until he learned that agreeing meant that he had to be up at seven every weekend morning, because the trainee was a dick and chose that, of all times, to be his time slot. Who the hell was even awake at seven in the morning?
The answer came at Dean quickly as a man knocked on the window of the Impala. He was wearing a dark blue sweater with a pink shirt under it. His bright blue eyes blinked at Dean expectantly, and he pushed the door open, allowing the trainee to climb into his car. "Hello," the trainee said, his voice a low grumble, "My name is Castiel Novak."
Dean nodded slowly at the man's formality, reaching out to fist bump the man. This, however, ended unfortunately, as Castiel thought Dean was going for a handshake, and ended up shaking Dean's fist seriously. Dean was the first to drop his fist, watching as Castiel lowered his hand onto his lap before he spoke. "Okay," Dean said slowly, watching the way the man looked down at his hand and played with his fingers. "Well, I'm Dean."
"It is very nice to meet you, Dean."
When it seemed like Castiel had nothing left to say, Dean pursed his lips, starting the engine of the Impala. "Well then," he said to his companion, "Let's get started."
The first stop was one of Dean's regulars. Meg Masters seemed to be, as her surname implied, a master at getting the affection of every person in the town. It seemed like every weekend, Dean was delivering a new batch of flowers with a card inscribed with how much the person who sent it liked her or, god forbid, was in love with her.
Dean explained this to Castiel, who was looking out the window with a soft expression. Dean couldn't blame him. Though he took it for granted, the streets of Lawrence really did look beautiful around this time of year. The trees were getting their leaves back, flowers were growing in the freshly-cut grass. Dean sighed in content as he silently watched the streets. Perhaps working with Castiel wouldn't be all that bad.
Right as Dean had that thought, Castiel screamed out, "STOP!"
The Impala screeched to a halt under Dean's partner's command. Dean looked back, hoping that Castiel hadn't been hurt or, which would be much worse, that he hadn't driven anyone over. Castiel got out of the car quickly, squatting in front of it somewhere below the hood, and therefore, out of Dean's line of sight.
Dean sighed, wondering if he should really go out there to see what Castiel could be up to. When Castiel didn't rise for a moment, Dean got worried. He opened the door and got out of the car, shutting the door behind himself. His eyes quickly adjusted to the light outside of the Impala's tinted windows, and he nearly laughed at the sight in front of him.
A 5'11 man in a trench coat was kneeling on the ground, helping a group of young chicks cross the street.
"You all good, man?" Dean asked after all the chicks had crossed the road safely. Castiel watched them longingly for a second before nodding wordlessly. He got from his knees onto his feet fairly easily, looking over at Dean expectantly. Dean just rolled his eyes fondly, getting back into the Impala. His partner followed suit, stepping inside the car before shutting the door behind himself.
May 3rd marked the second day that Dean would show up in front of Sara's Flowers. This time, Castiel stood waiting for him, a white shirt under a green sweater. Dean said nothing of his fashion choice as Castiel got into the Impala. "Good morning, Dean," Castiel said upon entering the car, two cups of coffee balanced in one hand. "I brought you coffee. I wasn't sure how you liked it, so I just went with black. That is how I prefer coffee. Why ruin the primitive taste with other flavors?"
"A man after my own heart, buddy," Dean said, taking the cup offered to him. He took a sip, attempting to wake himself up. Castiel watched out the window, both hands over the coffee as if it were five degrees outside instead of the sixty that it actually was. Dean chuckled at the thought, starting his car and pulling out of the parking lot.
Between two deliveries, where Castiel was being particularly quiet, Dean flipped on his car's radio and was pleased to find that he had left a cassette tape in his car already. The sounds of AC/DC started pouring through the car's speakers, getting Castiel's attention. He wasn't frightened of the loud noise as Dean had feared he'd be. He looked over at the car's stereo system for a minute before asking, "Is this your music?"
"Yeah," Dean said with a proud smile. His music taste was something that he'd always been proud of. In his opinion, it was pretty awesome. "Dude, they're like, one of the best bands to ever make music."
"I'm not very fond of this music," Castiel admitted, turning his attention from the stereo system to Dean's face. He seemed to study Dean intently for a minute before continuing. "I am fonder of classical music. Have you ever heard the classic works of Beethoven?"
Dean chuckled at his partner's question. "You know, buddy," he said with a smile, "I can't say that I have."
"It's truly a masterpiece," Castiel said. He went quiet then and didn't say anything else until they got to the next stop.
If Sam noticed Dean listening to the works of Beethoven over that week, he didn't say anything.
Dean was beginning to become more and more invested in Castiel Novak. He found himself looking forward to the next weekend that he would get to see Castiel. The man had a certain way with words, with people. He knew exactly what to say and when. Everyone seemed visibly relaxed around Castiel.
Other than that, the man was extremely clueless. He didn't know when Dean was being sarcastic, and asked about as many questions as a kindergartener on a sugar high would. However, Dean decided, Castiel was good company. He was quickly becoming the highlight of Dean's week.
May 9th was just the beginning of one of the busiest weekends of the year for the flower shop. It seemed that everyone wanted to get their mother a bouquet of flowers. Dean had ten on the backseat of his car and a whole bunch more in the back. They had no time to waste if they wanted to get all of the deliveries out by that day. Usually, it wouldn't be a problem if he couldn't do them all in one day, but Dean knew that there would be people who, at the last minute, decided that their mother needed flowers.
And so, it was with a heavy heart that Dean realized that the Impala had a gotten a flat tire on the parkway and was slowly sinking to the ground. Dean pulled over as quickly as he could, his wide eyed companion looking at him questionably.
Dean got out of the car, trailed by Castiel, who today was wearing a yellow shirt under a white sweater, even though it was about 70 and he didn't even need a sweater at all.
Dean groaned as he saw the tire, walking away from the car. "Son of a bitch!" He called to no one in particular. He watched in despair as cars on the parkway passed the pair of them before calling a tow truck.
"Yeah, my car got a flat tire and now we're stuck on the side of Ward," Dean explained to the woman who had answered the phone. Castiel stood at the other side of the Impala, his head tilted questionable as Dean spoke to the person on the other line.
"Fifteen minutes?" Dean asked for confirmation, nodding when the woman made an affirmative noise. "Thank you very much." He hung up the phone, sighing in defeat to Castiel. "They said they'd be here in fifteen minutes."
Castiel nodded silently, getting back into the car. That was probably a good idea. Dean didn't want to be stuck standing on the noisy parkway with everyone passing him by. He got in the car as well, slamming the door shut behind himself. The two men sat in silence for a second, Dean pissed off and Castiel just generally quiet, before Castiel spoke out. "Let's play a game."
"A game?" Dean asked, anything less than bemused.
"Yes," Castiel said softly. He sat in silence for a minute before announcing. "The question game."
"Alright," Dean said. If he had nothing to do for fifteen minutes while waiting for his baby to be fixed, he could at least spend it learning more about the man he had been doing deliveries with. "I'll go first. You got any family?"
"I have a lot of brothers and sisters, yes," Castiel said. "I am the baby of the family, and my brothers and sisters are quick to treat me as such. We had a wonderful father growing up, but he's not around anymore. My mother died when I was quite young, and I have no recollection of her. My eldest brothers, Lucifer and Michael, look back on her with fondness. She had a love of animals."
"And of sweaters?" Dean asked teasingly. Castiel looked back at Dean, oblivious to the fact that Dean had just attempted to make a job. "Never mind. It's your turn to ask me something."
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Castiel asked.
Dean chuckled at how flirtatious that question seemed before answering. "Nah, I'm a free man." He smiled at Castiel, "How about you, Novak? You got a woman tying you down?"
"No," Castiel said simply, his cheeks reddening. "I am actually gay."
"Oh." Dean said. Sensing that it was all Castiel wanted to say on the subject, Dean moved onto something saver, "So. Do you like to cook?"
It took more than fifteen minutes for the tow truck to finally show up, but neither boy noticed. Though Dean wouldn't be willing to admit it, he almost wished it had taken the tow truck longer. Castiel was interesting, and funny, and extremely good-looking. But those thoughts were dangerous. Castiel was just a trainee. Barely even his friend.
The next two weeks flew by in a blur. Between thousands of flower deliveries, Castiel's tidbits about animals or plants that Dean swore he actually listened to, it seemed like they would have an infinite amount of time together. They had somehow grown to become best friends, with many shared laughs, such as the chocolate incident.
The chocolate incident was actually pretty horrific, and Dean was sure that the only reason Ellen didn't fire the both of them was because they were the best delivery people on the team. When Dean had called Castiel the night before, and swore he told the other man to bring the flowers, he actually asked Castiel to bring a box of chocolate. And so, when Castiel climbed into Dean's car, the pair just drove off without saying a thing about it.
When they finally got to the woman's house, Dean asked Castiel, "Did you get the flowers?"
Dumbfounded, Castiel looked at the box in his lap. "No," he replied slowly. "I got the chocolate."
Dean nodded slowly, taking it in before opening his car door. "Well," he announced as he stepped out, Castiel following suit, "I guess she gets a lot of chocolate then."
Two weeks flew by so quickly, and before Dean knew it, it was the 31st of May and Dean was outside the flower shop to pick Castiel up for his very last shift.
Castiel approached the Impala slowly as always, wearing a pink shirt and a purple sweater. "It is my most expensive," he explained to his partner upon entering the vehicle. "I thought I would wear it for this special occasion."
As silly as the wording seemed, Dean understood what Castiel meant. It did seem like a type of special occasion. Though Dean refused to admit it, he was going to miss driving Castiel around for delivery runs. Maybe he would ask Castiel if he needed help from time to time, but it wouldn't be the same. By then, he would have experience. He wouldn't need Dean to show him the ropes anymore.
They stood outside the house of a regular, Jessica Moore. She was getting a box of chocolates delivered to give to her girlfriend later. It was their anniversary, Jess explained on the phone to Dean earlier, sounding absolutely smitten.
They rang the doorbell. Castiel stood in front of Dean, a box of chocolates hugged tightly to his chest, as if he was the one presenting his girlfriend with the gift. Jessica opened the door, a smile on her face. A large Labrador stood behind her. As Dean was working out the payment, "half off because it's your anniversary," Castiel leaned down to play with the dog.
The dog suddenly jumped up at Castiel, knocking him onto the ground. As fate would have it, this was also the moment when the lid of the chocolate box flew off, sending the chocolate flying onto Castiel. The impact of the dog crushed the chocolate into Castiel's expensive sweater.
Jessica gasped in horror, pulling the dog off of Castiel. "Bad Fluffy!" She reprimanded the dog, who walked behind her and away from the two delivery men. Dean went over at Castiel to check out the damage to his sweater. Chocolate was smeared all over it, and Castiel looked at it in absolute horror.
"I am so sorry!" Jess apologized. Castiel stared at the sweater in horror still, and so Dean spoke again.
"Hey, don't worry about it." He said. Jess shook her head, taking a piece of paper. She quickly wrote something down in the neat cursive that all girls seemed to possess before handing it to Dean. "Here," she said, "Go to my laundromat. Tell them to charge me for the damage I caused."
Dean was about to deny her request, but Castiel had this terrified look on his face still, and Dean was thankful for any help he could get for getting the other man happy again.
And so that's how they wound up in a 24/7 laundromat, a box of McDonald's fries each in their hands. Dean had declared that Castiel looked a little shaken and needed something to eat. Of course, the other man had chosen McDonald's. He was so unpredictable.
"Great last day, huh?" Dean asked, his eyes following the spin cycle. Castiel shrugged, his eyes flickering to Dean.
"I didn't mind," He said softly. "I mean, yes, it is terrible that my sweater got ruined, but it's never bad to work with you." The two men held each other's eyes for a minute before they both looked back nervously at the machine. They watched its cycle for a moment until Castiel looked like he was about to burst. Unsurprisingly, the angel spoke again. "I mean," He said, "This entire month has been a joy. Seeing you so dedicated to your job, Dean, it's breathtaking. I only hope to one day build a relationship like you have with each and every customer." The two stood in silence for another beat before Castiel added, "And, you know, if one day you'd like to build a relationship with-"
But Dean, as always, was one step ahead of him. He pressed his lips to Castiel's, one hand tilting the other man's head up to his. He put the container of French fries down before wrapping an arm around Castiel's waist, his fingers curling around the little bit of chub there. Castiel was warm and melted into the kiss, tentatively placing a hand at Dean's cheek.
They were broken apart by an old woman who passed them, sneered, and called, "Don't do that in public! For heaven's sakes!"
They both looked over at the woman before their eyes flickered to each other. Dean chuckled softly and Castiel smiled back at him, as silent as ever. The machine beeped to a stop next to them, but neither of them really wanted to let go.
The next Saturday, June 6th, Dean doesn't have to get up at the ass-crack of dawn. Instead, he's stopped in front of Castiel's house. It's seven in the evening when Castiel comes out, special occasion sweater on with a white shirt under it. He looks a little stupid, but Dean wouldn't have it any other way.
The new trainee picked a more reasonable time, but he isn't half as good as Castiel.