"Sam, do you have to throw a freaking Christmas party?" Dean whines from the couch.
"Yes." Sam says from the stepladder as he hangs more colored ornaments on the tree.
"Why?"
"Because I am. Get over it and help me."
"Who's coming?"
"Bobby, Ellen, Jo, Ruby, and most of the neighbors, can you hand me that hammer?" Dean gets up and passes Sam the hammer from the tool box.
"Will there be pie?"
"Yes." Sam says as he hangs the mistletoe over the front door.
"Sam, do you really need Mistletoe to get your own girlfriend to kiss you?" Dean says irritatingly, Sam rolls his eyes and looks around the room proudly.
"Why don't you be helpful and go get one of the coolers from the back porch?" Dean rolls his eyes but wanders off to retrieve the cooler.
Guests start arriving around seven, neighbors Dean doesn't know but Sam greets warmly. He introduces Dean awkwardly and explains to several elderly couples that they are brothers not boyfriends. Most of the neighbors are Sam and Dean's age or fresh out of college and Dean wonders if there's a reason Sam wanted to live in a college town.
Bobby, Ellen, and Jo arrive fashionably late with four of Ellen's famous Apple Pies. Dean spends most of the night eating and drinking beer on the couch.
"Come on, Dean. Please pretend to be social." Sam says as someone else knocks on the door and he sweeps away to let Ruby in. She kisses him and kicks Dean's feet out of the way as she goes to drop off some wine in the kitchen. He sticks out his tongue and sips his beer. "Jerk." Sam says following Ruby into the kitchen.
"Bitch." Dean hisses after him.
Someone knocks on the door but Sam doesn't rush in to open it so Dean gets up and pulls it open. A young man stands on the stoop with some sort of casserole in his hands and snow collecting on his trench coat.
"Hi, I'm Castiel, you must be Dean." He says in a deep but warm voice. Dean nods and lets him in.
"I can take your coat for you." Dean says awkwardly. He hangs Castiel's trench coat on the wall and walks him to the kitchen.
"Hey, Cas, what did you bring?" Sam says, clapping Castiel on the shoulder. Castiel rocks forward a little and rubs his shoulder.
"Sweet potato casserole, it's my dad's recipe." He says proudly. Someone knocks on the door and Sam looks up.
"Dean, could you show Cas where the cooler is? I should get the door." Dean rolls his eyes and leads Cas into the dining room. They each get a beer and wander back into the living room where they sit and talk for a while.
They talk about their jobs. Dean is a mechanic and Cas is a high school history teacher. They share a few stories about crazy students and customers and sip their beers while people wander around talking. Jo sits with them for a bit before Ellen calls her for something. Bobby claps Dean on the shoulder and wishes him a slurred "Murray Chrithmers". Dean laughs as Sam rushes around like a mother hen tending to the guests.
Dean decides at some point that he likes Cas. He likes that he's quiet and calm but no afraid to say what he's thinking. He likes that he laughs and jokes and is still a little serious.
"Dean? Could you bring in the other cooler from the porch? We're running low." Sam says before rushing off to clean up a spill. It wasn't a question so Dean gets up.
"Can you give me a hand? The cooler's a little heavy." He asks Cas, who nods and follows him onto the back porch.
It's colder than they expected and the snow has already cloaked the backyard and cooler in white. Dean groans and they start digging the cooler out with their bare hands. Dean is digging when something cold and white explodes against his shoulder. He looks up and sees Cas, red cheeked and smiling, standing across the porch with a second snow ball in his hand.
"Cas…don't do it…" But Cas throws it and watches it explode against Dean's chest and he starts laughing. "You're gonna get it now!" Dean shouts, making a snowball and running after Cas.
"Dean…no…stop!" Cas shouts between laughs as he races into the snowy yard. Dean catches up and tackles him into a bush, smashing the snowball into his black hair as they fall. Dean pins Cas into the snow and Cas looks up laughing. Dean is still laughing when Cas goes quiet. "Dean."
"What?"
"Look." Cas points at the underside of the bush but Dean doesn't understand.
"What?"
"It's Mistletoe." Before Dean can think, he feels Cas's lips against his own. He doesn't react for a second and then he's kissing Cas back and he isn't even sure why but he doesn't care either. Cas is warm and soft against his freezing fingers and chapped lips. Dean slips his hand under Cas's shirt and rests it against his chest. Cas's right hand in in Dean's hair and his left hand grips tightly to Dean's cold, wet, t-shirt. They break apart, breathless and panting.
"That was…a lot of kissing." Dean says catching his breath and kneeling in the snow.
"It was a lot of Mistletoe."