Ring Pop

"That's our best seller, sir. Three point six carats."

The man, Samandriel, looked nervous. Castiel was fairly used to this. Garrison Jewelers was incredibly high end and incredibly expensive, and their best selling ring was over two hundred thousand dollars.

"Should I even ask how much this is?" Samandriel sighed. Castiel's face betrayed his thoughts, and Samandriel sighed again. "What do you have under six thousand?"

Castiel ushered him to their cheapest set of diamonds. "One point two carats, slightly flawed, nearly colorless, princess cut," he explained. "This one is $5,400."

"Do you think she'll like it?" he asked. "I mean, it's kind of small, and not really fancy."

Castiel cocked his head to the side. "Does she love you?"

Samandriel's eyes wandered, and a little smile spread on his face. "Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And I love her."

Castiel slid the show box across the counter. "Then I believe a ring pop would suffice. If she loves you, it doesn't matter. Though, this is a nice step up from candy."

Samandriel smiled, and Castiel rang him up. He loved working at a jewelry shop, especially in the engagement ring department. Castiel would never admit it, but he loved love. More than anything, he wanted to be in love. He wanted a ring pop on his finger. But the last time he tried, it hadn't worked out so well.

Samandriel left the store. Castiel would have to live vicariously through his customers, pretending that every one of them had a beautiful love story and lived happily ever after.

"Cassie, I just scored big time," Gabriel popped in out of nowhere, and Castiel jumped.

"Jesus Gabriel," he slowed his racing heartbeat. "What did you do this time?"

"That guy," he pointed to the man in a suit walking out the door. "He just dropped two million on diamonds for his wife. Do you know what kind of commission that is? I'm rich!"

"How the hell do you do that?" Castiel grumbled. Commission may be a promising five percent, but Gabriel managed to blow every other salesperson out of the water. Including Castiel.

"Hey, I put this charm to good use," Gabriel leaned on the counter. "It's a gift and a curse. I'll let you have the next one. And I'm buying you dinner tonight!"

Castiel sighed when the shorter man skipped off. Yeah, he made a decent living, but no amount of money could pay for happiness. And Castiel wasn't rich or happy.

The soft thump of the door turned his head. Gabriel gave him a thumbs up, and Castiel rolled his eyes. "Good afternoon! Are you looking for anything in—" Castiel stopped, breath catching in his throat.

A modern Michaelangelo's David stood in front of him, hands in his pockets and green eyes sweeping over the store. He wasn't their typical customer, but the bowlegs and Zeppelin t-shirt didn't stop Castiel's heart from racing a thousand miles a minute.

Stop it, he chided himself. He knew better than to get attached to their customers. This man was probably here to buy a ring for his girlfriend, or maybe a necklace for his wife.

"In particular," Castiel remembered to finish.

The man's gaze fell on Castiel, and he gave him a wide-eyed sort of smile. "Uh, hi." As he approached, Castiel took the time to identify all the shades of green in his eyes until he was right at the counter.

A crash sounded behind him, most likely Gabriel communicating that he needed to hurry up and say words because there's a customer here and he's hot.

"I'm Dean," the man said, blinking quickly.

He held out a hand, and Castiel took it. "Castiel," he replied, trying to keep his voice even. Customer, he's a customer, ask him about his engagement. "Are you looking for an engagement ring today?"

The little half-smile dropped off Dean's face. "Actually…" he trailed off, swallowing thickly. At a loss for words, he pulled a little velvet box out of his pocket and set it gently on the table. "I'd, uh, like to return this."

The thinly-veiled sadness on his face broke Castiel's heart. They stood for a moment before he remembered he had to do his job here.

"Do you have your receipt?"

Dean held out the bits of crumpled paper from the transaction, and Castiel read them with a frown. He'd purchased the ring over 60 days ago with no insurance. The ring, upon further inspection, was very expensive. Maybe he couldn't afford the insurance.

"It's past the return timeframe, I'm afraid," Castiel began, "but we can buy it back for 75% of what you paid for it."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's a lot to lose." Castiel couldn't argue.

"May I ask what happened?" Castiel asked after a moment.

"Yeah, uh," Dean mumbled, staring at his hands like he wanted something to fiddle with. "Her name was Lisa. High school sweethearts, y'know? We were together for a long time, but it turns out I—" he closed his mouth, then opened it again, words rushing out. "I slept with one of my groomsmen because apparently I'm gay as fuck, so."

Castiel's mouth dropped open. This adonis was self-proclaimed gay as fuck? As in, Castiel would be in his potential partners category?

He mentally smacked himself. His customer was sharing the story of the end of his relationship, Castiel should not be lining up to claim him. "I'm so sorry," he said instead. And it was true. Castiel was sorry that Dean was hurting. He knew what it felt like to come out at a bad time.

The corner of Dean's mouth pulled up. "Don't be sorry. I needed to be who I am." He shrugged. "It was just a pretty bad way to go about it."

Castiel chuckled, and Dean's grin widened. They stared at each other for a second, Castiel lost in that green. Dean deserved more. "If I may say," Castiel began, and stopped. "Sorry, I shouldn't—"

"No, go ahead," Dean leaned on the counter, waiting.

The Novak tugged on the collar of his shirt. "I was just thinking… it seems like you want a relationship, if you were carrying the ring around for so long. Why not save it? I have no doubt you'll find love again."

"You think?" Dean's hopeful grin sent a little shiver up Castiel's spine.

"Definitely."

"I'll take your advice, then," Dean snapped the box closed and pocketed it. They stood for a moment, just looking at each other. The conversation was over, Dean would turn and walk out the door and out of Castiel's life any second now. Should he give Dean his number? Would that be inappropriate? Technically he wasn't a customer per se. Maybe—

"Cassie, my bro!" Gabriel slapped him on the back, and Castiel could barely hold back a glare. "You helping this nice customer?"

Dean looked amused as Castiel fought for composure. "Yes, thank you Gabriel. Your assistance isn't needed here. We've just finished."

"Great." Gabriel popped a lollipop in his mouth. "Then you're good to go on break." He gave Castiel a look. "A long break."

"You're off then?" Castiel turned back to Dean, who looked a little apprehensive. A small whoosh told him Gabriel had fled, and he sent a mental thank you to him.

"It appears that I am."

"Would you, ah, want to get a coffee with me? Just for a minute? You can tell me your tragic backstory too." Castiel must have had a stupid grin on his face, because Dean's smile grew.

"Yes," Castiel said quickly, already ripping off his name tag. "Yes, that would be lovely."

They walked out the doors side by side, and Castiel couldn't help but imagine the ring in Dean's pocket on his finger. He didn't even really care, he'd take a damn ring pop from that man any day.