June 30, 2012, 8:37 p.m.—Deal Day

"I assume that you're willing to make a deal, since you've summoned me."

Dean was not surprised to hear the anger in the other man's voice, and he turned around to face him.

The Devil was not as looming as the legends and stories had made him out to be, but he did have an air of superiority. Standing in a black suit with a red tie, the fallen archangel looked like a regular business man, when it was so clear that he was not.

"What gave it away, Lucifer?" Dean answered back in a biting tone. He didn't want to have to resort to making the worst kind of deal possible, but he supposed that there was no other way to have what he wanted.

"Just hurry up and state your terms, Dean Winchester. Contrary to popular belief, I do not have all day." Lucifer sneered at the human, and Dean sighed.

The thoughts had started at the beginning of June. It had been two years since Dean had seen Sam in person, and he was proud of his younger brother for now graduating from Stanford, with his now pregnant wife Jess. Living in Lawrence, Kansas, Dean didn't see much of anybody anymore, but he did meet the strangest people because of his job as a mechanic.

As of late, Dean had been happy. He had a girlfriend, Lisa, and her son, Ben, and he had lived in a stereotypical American house. But Lisa had decided that she could do better than a mechanic and had left, taking Ben with her. Dean didn't know what to do at first, and he only had two weeks until the house rent was due. So he packed his bags and moved into the apartment building across the street from the shop. Life since then had been pretty crappy for him.

All Dean wanted was to feel that happiness again. To have someone in his life that cared for them as much as he would've cared for them. So he had summoned the Devil to make sure that his happiness would be in better hands than his own.

"I want to be happy. Truly, deeply, happy." Dean blurted out, going entirely against what his plan was. "I want a nice house and a nice job and somebody that I can love with all of my heart. And in one, I'll let myself be taken to Hell for all eternity to be tortured. But that's what I want."

Lucifer was silent long after Dean had stated the terms, and Dean was about to give up.

"I'll take it." Lucifer grinned manically and held his right hand out to Dean, who shook it cautiously. "You have until July 1, 2013. 8:37 P.M. to be exact." He smirked and crossed his arms. "And then I'll see you in Hell. Have fun, Dean Winchester." Lucifer pressed two fingers to Dean's forehead, and his world went black.

July 1, 2012—Day 1

Castiel Novak was having a bad day.

First of all, his alarm didn't go off in the morning to wake him up, so he was late for work. Then his car wouldn't start, so he was forced to take a cab to work. And after going through all that to get to work, he was fired for being late.

Not a good day at all.

Having a classic car from the sixties era was frustrating to Castiel at times, since he didn't know any place to take it to. Feeling a bit desperate, he had called his older cousin Luke for a place and had been directed to Singer & Son's Auto Repair and Restoration.

The two truck came by the house at around noon, and Castiel was glad he had dressed out of his suit and trench coat into jeans and a ratty t-shirt so his suit wouldn't get dirty in the dusty passenger seat of the truck. It only took them five minutes to get there, and when the truck brought his car into the garage, the young lady driving the tow directed him towards the lane in which his car was sitting in.

"You must be the owner of this beautiful car." A gruff voice sounded from behind Castiel as soon as he had reached his car, and he turned to see an older man, presumably the owner of the shop. "I'm Bobby. Your car's gonna need a lot of work."

"How much will it be?" Castiel asked nervously, knowing that he'd need to find another job soon to be able to afford both the house payments and the car damages.

"Go up to the counter there. Dean'll tell ya just how much you owe us in a few minutes or so." Bobby gave Castiel a reassuring smile and pointed at a man whose back was facing him. Castiel nodded his thanks and walked up to the counter.

"Um, hello." Castiel stammered out after a few minutes of just standing there, and the man—Dean, Bobby said his name was—turned to face Castiel.

"Hi." Dean's face broke out into a wide smile, and Castiel blushed at it. Their eyes locked, Dean's ivy green to Castiel's dark blue, and they couldn't seem to look away.

"Um, hi." Castiel muttered lamely, and Dean threw his head back to laugh, breaking their eye contact.

"You already said that." Dean laughed and shook his head before grabbing a pen and paper. He started scribbling on it as he looked into Castiel's eyes again. "Anyway, what can I do you for, man?"

"Well, I need to know how much my car will cost to be fixed." Castiel smiled and knew that he probably didn't make any sense at all, but he didn't care as he watched Dean's hands typing on the keyboard.

"Hm...seems like it'll be a lot." Dean turned the monitor towards Castiel, who paled at the amount on the screen.

"I don't think I can afford that." Castiel bit his lip as he spoke, and he looked down. Suddenly, a piece of paper slid in front of his hands on the counter, and he picked it up to read the writing.

"I'm sure we can figure something out, right?" Dean said with a grin, and Castiel looked up at him. "Tell you what. I'll fix your car up if you and those pretty blue eyes go on a date with me."

"I-uh, that sounds great!" Castiel managed to get out, and Dean chuckled. "Um, I'm Castiel."

"Hey Cas, I'm Dean." He replied, and while Castiel already knew that, he couldn't think past the nickname that Dean had already given him.

July 7, 2012—Day 7

Dean looked at the house where the car was parked and then back down at the address in his phone.

Dean was understandably nervous, considering that he had only really known Castiel for about two days. They had continued to text back and forth ever since they met at Dean's shop, and Dean was starting to really like the blue-eyed man. It surprised him because he never liked anybody right away before—Lisa being the exception—but Castiel was special.

"Yep, this is the place." Dean nodded to himself and got out of the car, walking up to the front door. Taking a deep breath, his finger pressed the doorbell, and Dean could hear it resounding throughout the house.

"Hello Dean." Castiel opened the door and smiled nervously at the mentioned man. Dean grinned and leaned against the doorframe.

"Damn, you look good in leather." Dean winked as he looked at the leather jacket that Castiel was wearing, and the latter blushed.

"You look good as well." Castiel bit his lip and stepped out of the house, closing the door behind him. Dean's breath hitched when Castiel stepped to stand in front of him, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Well, I was thinking that we go to dinner, and then we could do something of your choice." Dean said, taking Castiel's hand and leading him to his car. "That sound good?"

"Yes, it does." Castiel smiled and got into the car, and Dean hopped into the driver's seat after closing his door.

They drove off to the restaurant—which turned out to be Italian—and they spent two hours sitting at the table before they were forced to leave for closing time. Castiel had gotten situated in the car and decided that they should go to the lake to look at the stars.

Now the lake wasn't an actual lake—but the local teenagers had dubbed the field "The Lake". The lake was a field that got muddy very easily whenever it rained in Lawrence, and if you weren't careful, you could sink so far into the mud you couldn't get out. Right next to the lake there was a strip of gravel that was big enough for cars to park on, and there wasn't a single tree anywhere along the strip to block the view of the stars. Castiel though it was perfect.

Dean parked the car on the strip and pulled a blanket out from the back seat before getting out. "Come on, Cas. Let's sit on the hood. It'll be more comfortable and we'll get a better view." Castiel nodded and exited the car.

"Where should I sit?" Castiel looked at Dean laying on the blanket, and he patted the spot next to him.

"Here." Dean grinned and scooted over on the blanket. Castiel climbed on and plopped heavily on the blanket, his hand landing in Dean's. Castiel blushed red as he craned his head up to look at Dean, but Dean locked their fingers together, giving the shorter man a grin.

July 21, 2012—Day 21

Dean and Castiel had been texting each other back and forth for two weeks, and that night, Saturday, was their second date. The first one had gone pretty well, with a kiss on the cheek and a promise to text him when the car was fixed, but when Castiel had finally gotten his car back, the texts kept coming and coming. He loved the attention that Dean was giving him and had been pleasantly surprised to know that Dean didn't care whether he was a man or not.

"So, the movies?" Dean raised an eyebrow at Castiel's words, and he nodded.

"Yes. I heard that there was a good action film that was released in theatres yesterday, and I thought that you might want to go see it." Castiel replied, leaning back in the seat of Dean's car. "I believe it's called 'The Dark Knight Rises'."

"Really?" Dean sounded surprised that Castiel wanted to go see it, as it wasn't usually his sort of movie.

"It doesn't look like a good movie, but I don't mind taking you to go see it." Castiel shrugged and smiled at Dean. "And I promise not to hog all the popcorn."

Dean threw his head back and laughed while Castiel turned on the radio, searching for a rock station to listen to.

"Dude I love this song!" Dean said loudly over the volume of the music and he started singing along to the Led Zeppelin song that was blaring from the speakers. Castiel only shook his head and hummed along.

They reached the movie theatre fairly early, and they passed through the ticket and food lines quickly. The pair entered the designated theatre with a tub of popcorn being shared between them and a large cup of Cola each in their hands.

"Where should we sit, Cas?" Dean used the nickname often, and Castiel still hadn't quite gotten used to it yet.

"Wherever you think is a good seat to watch the movie from." Castiel replied in his usual manner, but Dean was not fazed as he picked the very centre seat in the very back row. Castiel followed him up there without a question.

The movie, in Dean's opinion, was epic, while Castiel disagreed. But he couldn't really say anything as he had been watching Dean more than he had been looking at the movie screen. Castiel was fascinated by the expressions that flashed by on his face during the movie, and he only looked away whenever Dean turned to look at him.

"This was fun, Cas." Dean smiled at Castiel as they left the movie theatre, Castiel still holding his drink from the movie. "Even though you weren't even watching the movie." Castiel was surprised, and he looked at Dean, who winked at him in return. "I can feel it when your eyes are on me, Cas."

"Well I still had fun." Castiel smiled and sipped his drink. Dean slipped his hand into his without a word, and Castiel's smile grew wider as he gripped onto Dean's hand lightly.

"What are you drinking?" Dean suddenly asked, and Castiel raised an eyebrow.

"You were there when I ordered the soda, if I recall correctly." He retorted, and Dean blushed.

"I wasn't paying attention." Dean said with a sheepish grin. "I was watching you. Like you were doing to me in the movie theatre."

"Well I'm drinking Mr. Pibb." Castiel smiled and held out the cup. "Want some?"

"I've never had that before." Dean made a face before shrugging and wrapped his lips around the straw. The pair stopped walking down the strip mall as he took a drink, and Dean made a pleased noise. "Hm, interesting flavour. I like it."

"Good, cause I don't know if I would be able to forgive you if you didn't like my favourite soda." Castiel said, and he took another sip of the Mr. Pibb, closing his eyes. When he pulled the cup away from his mouth and opened his eyes, Dean was suddenly closer than he had been before.

"It's some pretty good soda." Dean whispered, his eyes flickering down to Castiel's lips, and Castiel licked them. Dean closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to Castiel's, the latter closing his eyes as well. The kiss was short and sweet, but it was (in Castiel's eyes) a perfect first kiss.

"Well, that was unexpected." Castiel mumbled against Dean's lips, and they pulled away from each other just enough to look into each other's eyes. Dean looked slightly nervous, but that quickly melted into a smile when Castiel began to laugh quietly. Soon enough, they were both laughing.

"I think I like Mr. Pibb better when it tastes like you." Dean said quietly, leaning his forehead against Castiel's, and he blushed.

It was the ending to a perfect night.

August 18, 2012—Day 49

"Why didn't you tell me that your birthday's on Monday?" Dean said, running a hand through his hair as he talked on the phone with Castiel. "You come back that day and I'm working and that means I can't hang out with you on your freaking birthday, Cas."

"Dean, it's just the day where I turn a year older. It's not a big deal." Castiel was trying to calm Dean down, but he wouldn't listen.

"Cas, of course it's a big deal! You turn 38 in two days and I won't get to see you because you'll be back from Pontiac and I'll be my work and I just want to see my boyfriend on his birthday and give him a present Cas, is that too much to ask?" Dean took a deep breath after he stopped talking and he could almost hear Castiel grinning.

"So I'm your boyfriend now?" Castiel asked, and Dean grinned on his side of the phone line.

"If you'll take me." Dean shyly replied.

"That is the best birthday present I could ever receive." Castiel spoke quietly, and Dean grinned before hanging up.

August 20, 2012—Day 51

Dean couldn't think while working that day. He was under the hood of a car trying to figure out what was wrong with the engine, but he had been thinking about the same problem for three hours.

"Dean." A voice said from behind him and Dean straightened up quickly, hitting his head on the hood.

"Dammit Bobby, don't startle me like that, seriously." Dean set his tools down and looked at Bobby with crossed arms. "What's up?"

"Look," Bobby sighed and crossed his arms as well. "I know why you're distracted, boy. Just go and have your fun today."

"Bobby, I can't, I gotta stay here and work at the garage!" Dean protested. He knew that Bobby wanted him to loosen up, but this was a paying job that he couldn't afford to lose this time.

"It's a slow day." Bobby replied gruffly. "And you haven't had a single day off since you started working here. Just take it and leave already."

"You sure?" Dean bit his lip, still not sure if he should or not.

"Get out before I change my mind, Winchester." Bobby growled as he stalked off to his office, and Dean grinned, pulling his phone out to text Castiel.

Dean drove straight to Castiel's house, not bothering changing out of his mechanic's clothes since they'd probably be staying in that day. Dean got out of his beloved '67 Chevy Impala and almost ran up the driveway to the front door. He pressed the doorbell and leaned against the doorframe. After a few second, the door opened to Castiel's smiling face.

"Dean, you're here!" Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean's waist, obviously not caring about the fact that Dean was covered in oil and grease and whatever else he might have gotten on his clothes at the shop.

"Of course I am, Cas." Dean wrapped his arms around his shoulders and kissed the top of Castiel's head. "It's your birthday. I wanted to be here."

"But you have to be at work." Castiel pulled back and pulled Dean into the house, shutting the door behind them.

"Bobby told me to take the day off. I haven't since I started working there, so he told me to take it off and come to see you." Dean said, and then he kissed Castiel.

"As adorable as you two are, Castiel, I'd rather not see my little brother snogging his boyfriend." A voice rang out from the kitchen, and the pair broke apart, both of them blushing. Dean looked towards the kitchen and saw a smartly dressed man leaning against the wall, an amused look on his face.

"And who are you?" Dean couldn't help saying it, and Castiel laughed. He took Dean's hand and led him to the kitchen.

"Dean, this is my older brother, Balthazar Roche. Balthazar, this is my boyfriend, Dean." Castiel squeezed Dean's hand and introduced them with a smile on his face.

"Why the different last name?" Dean blurted, and Balthazar laughed.

"I like him, Castiel. He's very straightforward." Balthazar said, and Castiel blushed. "Castiel's adopted, and our mother decided to keep his last name the same instead of changing it to Roche like our family name." Dean nodded his understanding and smiled.

The trio stood in the kitchen for well over four hours, just talking about Castiel's birthdays, the funny things that Balthazar had gone through when Castiel went through his pranking phase with their cousin Gabriel, and Dean reluctantly told a few of his own embarrassing stories. By the end of the day, the three men were almost in tears from laughter.

"This is the best birthday ever." Castiel said once they were all done laughing about how Dean had pranked Sam and in return had to wear his hair pink for a month at school.

"I'm glad." Balthazar said, and then he stretched his arms upwards. "Well, it's getting late, and I have a flight back home to Manhattan tomorrow, so I will be taking my leave." Dean and Castiel said their goodbyes, and Balthazar left the house.

"I really mean it Dean." Castiel said. "This is the best birthday I've ever had."

"But I haven't even given you your gift yet." Dean said, and Castiel pouted.

Dean knew that he didn't have all that long with Castiel, at most about ten months left before he was taken to Hell. But he wanted Castiel to remember him. So picking the birthday present for his boyfriend took a lot of thinking through, but Dean decided that it was perfect.

Dean reached around his own neck and unclasped the demon head necklace that Sam had given him when he was twelve.

"Dean, I can't take something that's yours." Castiel tried to say against it, but Dean wouldn't hear it. He took the necklace and unclasped it again, closing the clasp when it was around Castiel's neck.

"When I was twelve, my dad had finally gone off the deep end with drinking. My mom had died eight years before, so I can understand why it took such a toll on him." Dean started to explain, and Castiel frowned, but let him continue on with the story. "He was drunk all the time, and he tried to hit Sammy once, so I called Bobby and he came and picked us up, taking us to his house. Sam was understandably upset since I had jumped in the way of Dad's fist before he could hit Sam, but the kid was eight. And I couldn't let that happen." Dean took a deep breath and slid his hands down Castiel's arms to hold his hands.

"So how did you get the necklace?" Castiel asked in a soft whisper, and Dean took in a shaky breath as he continued.

"It was Christmas Day when we went to Bobby's that year, and Dad had gotten mad at Sam for trying to give him a Christmas present." Dean laughed humourlessly and shook his head. "I don't know why, but I do know that my younger brother's got the biggest heart in the world. Put him in a room with a murderer and he'll turn the guy into the best crime solving detective the world's ever seen." Castiel smiled a bit at Dean's words, knowing that if he stayed quiet, the story would continue. "So we got to Bobby's and Sam hands me this horribly wrapped package. It was wrapped in the comics of the Sunday paper, and I was mad at him for giving me a gift that wasn't supposed to be mine. But I opened it as soon as he broke out the puppy dog eyes, and I instantly loved the necklace. I have no idea where Sam had gotten it from, but I never took it off after that. Not until now." Dean finished with a whisper, and Castiel's eyes were brimming with tears.

"Wow, I feel special." Castiel said, somewhat jokingly, and Dean grinned widely.

"You are special, Cas." Dean said, and he wiped the stray tears away with a gentle thumb. "And if you'll let me, I'll prove it to you. For the rest of our lives if you want me to."

"I would like that." Castiel said, biting his lip, and they spent the rest of the night trading lazy kisses and stories from their past.