Turns out, shopping with Hannah was even more fun than anticipated. Maybe just because Hannah didn't have much of a frame of reference, but her face when she had first turned the corner and seen the mall… well, it was priceless. Her eyes widened comically and she turned to Charlie excitedly.
"There is so much on this ship!" she said. A smile tickled the corners of her lips.
"Yeah, they pack all they can on these things," Charlie said. "Actually, I can't believe this is the first we've heard of a vampire staking out a place like this. I mean, rotating food supply, plus anything else they could ever want. Seems like a good set up. Especially if you aren't down with the whole nest life thing." She looked to Hannah for a sign of agreement but the angel didn't even seem to be listening. She just looked from store to store rapidly. Charlie could practically see the gears in her mind turning.
"Which do we go to first?" Hannah asked. She leaned forward to get a better look at a shop down the hall. Charlie smiled at her widely.
"That is up to you, Miss Free Will," Charlie said. Hannah came back to herself enough to look slightly down at Charlie. Her eyebrows were drawn together.
"I really am beginning to understand why my father didn't offer us free will," Hannah said. "It is incredibly difficult." Charlie snorted.
"And this is just the shopping decisions," she said. Hannah's eyes grew more concerned and Charlie jumped back on the supportive train. "Oh, this is nothing!" she said, grabbing onto Hannah's arms. "This is the best kind of decision because you can't choose wrong! See, even if we go into one and you don't like it, we can go to a different one. That simple." Hannah lost some of her worry, but she still looked uncertain.
"True," she said. She observed all of the stores again. "Perhaps clothing? As I have never chosen my own clothing before?" Charlie clapped once, which seemed like a good decision at the time but she instantly regretted it. It made her feel less like a supportive friend-type-individual and more like an encouraging kindergarten teacher. Definitely not the message she was going for.
"Uh, great choice!" she said. "Let's go into this one." She led Hannah towards the store front. When she really considered it, this was probably the only store on the ship that sold actual clothing so that made things slightly easier for Hannah. She walked towards a rack, lingering near it with an unsure stature. Charlie marched forward and began grabbing shirts and pants off of racks that were Hannah's size. The angel looked at her wildly when Charlie dumped the mass of clothes on her arms.
"What are you doing?" she said. Charlie flashed a dazzling smile.
"Montage!" Charlie gave Hannah a shove when they got to the fitting room and she stumbled forward, weighed down by all of the clothing. Her eyes were back to that comically wide shape and Charlie laughed. "Just. Try something on. Then come out and show me. Yeah?" Without waiting for an answer, Charlie yanked the door shut and found herself a seat on the couch. This store was nice as hell. Charlie's favorite way to spend someone else's money was when it was on stuff that was far, far too expensive. The couch felt like it was covered in silk. Fuck, it might have been. She ran her fingers over it appraisingly. Yes, this was the perfect place to blow someone else's money.
"How's it coming in there?" she called. In answer the door carefully pulled open and Hannah emerged in a hideous pair of khaki pants and a polo shirt. She walked out uncertainly and stood in front of Charlie, shoulders bent forward.
"How are these?" she asked. Charlie shook her head.
"No, no, no," she said. "Not montage-y enough. First, show that hideous thing off with some flair. Stand up straight, turn around slowly. Yeah, that's it. Much better." Charlie smiled as Hannah finished spinning. The angel was smiling back at her softly, and her shoulders were held up higher. "Now, every time you come out: strike a pose. Can you do that?"
"I can try," Hannah said.
"Good," Charlie said. "One last thing." She pulled out her phone and laid it next to her on the couch. She selected a song and pushed play, turning up the volume slightly. They were alone in the back of the store and Charlie figured hell, they were paying enough for this damn cruise as it was, might as well play some decent music. "Now show me some more fabulous looks." She grinned and Hannah returned to the room. The next look was better, a blue sundress with lighter blue flowers on it. Hannah walked out with a bit more confidence and spun around without much rhythm. Charlie stood up quickly.
"Let me help," she said. "Sit there," she indicated the couch and Hannah plopped herself down. "Now watch and learn." Charlie walked into the fitting room, closed the door, and then emerged quickly with a wide swing of arms. She spun around in a circle, swinging her hips to the music. She finished it with a pose, putting her hands smartly on her hips and lifting her head high. She looked down to find Hannah grinning at her.
"I understand now, I think," Hannah said.
"Good," Charlie said. She put her hands out and Hannah grabbed them, allowing Charlie to pull her sharply to a standing position. They ended up standing close, Hannah stumbling forward against Charlie. They both smiled. Hannah spun them both around and deposited Charlie on the couch. Charlie started at the sudden shift. Hannah held a hand up and walked to the fitting room.
She emerged in a flowy green skirt and a yellow tank top. She threw open the door and tossed her head back, her chin tilted sharply upwards, and cocked her hip. Then she marched forward and spun around quickly three times, the skirt flapping up around her.
"Oh," she said. "I like the way this skirt moves." She laughed as she came to a stop. She looked to Charlie with an unsure smile. "How was that?" Charlie gulped hard.
"That was, uh. That was perfect," she said. The song changed to another upbeat number and they both just sat there staring at each other. Hannah carefully fingered her skirt, not taking her eyes of Charlie's face.
"Shall I continue?" she asked. She had a different tone to her voice now that, had Charlie not known her, would almost have been called flirtatious.But this was Hannah. Honestly, the angel was fresh off the farm. No way was she picking up flirtatious yet. Hell, look at Dean and Cas. They had been dancing around it for seven years now. But here Hannah was… nah. No way.
"Oh, please do," Charlie said. Hannah smiled and returned to the fitting room. "You're already really good at this montage thing." They danced their way through a few more terrible outfits, plus a couple of good ones. Hannah flung the chosen few over her arms and walked up to the counter. The man at the front rung up the clothes and announced a total that was far above the worth of the number of items Hannah had chosen. Charlie whipped out her fresh new credit card with a grin.
"It's all on me," she said. She threw a wink towards Hannah for good measure, and the angel honest-to-god blushed. Charlie's heart jumped up to her throat. She was enjoying this far, far too much. And this was only their first store. Just wait until they got to the jewelry store. Jesus, at this rate Charlie was going to be buying her a damn diamond necklace. Hmmm, would she like a diamond necklace? Charlie thought. The man at the counter handed her the credit card back and she shook herself from her thoughts.
Hannah took the bags containing her new clothes from the man and held a couple in each hand. She weighed them, shifting them up and down a few times and smiling. They walked out of the store, Hannah still staring down at her bags. Charlie shot her a confused smile.
"What are you doing?" she asked. They walked across the way and towards a store that sold perfume.
"Sorry," Hannah said. "I was appreciating these items. They are the first things I have picked out myself and now own. They are my first real possessions. I didn't think of it until the man handed me the bags." She looked up to smile at Charlie. "Are we going in to this store now?" She marched forward, leaving her friend a few steps behind. Charlie gulped as Hannah made her way into the perfume shop, then followed her. She had just come to the very sharp realization that she would buy Hannah quite literally anything on this damn boat if she so much as asked.
"Well, everything looks great girls," Dean said. He awkwardly stood up and gave a shaky smile. "I think we'd better go back out and man our posts. Cas?" Everything was coming out weaker than he intended and he said Cas's name in an uncomfortable almost-whisper. Cas stood up behind him more abruptly than he was expecting and Dean took a big jump forward, then tried to make it look less weird than it had. He mostly failed. Hannah and Charlie both looked at him like he was out of his damn mind. Which, hey, probably fair.
"Riiiight," Charlie said, drawing out the word carefully. "Well, I'll come with you. I have to put my stuff in my room anyway. I'll be back in ten, Hannah!" They all walked together out the door, Dean and Cas keeping a stiff couple of inches between them. They were so focused on keeping a specific amount of space between them they practically could have been walking down the hallway with a ruler between them.
"So," Charlie said. They both looked at her abruptly. "What have you two been up to today?" They turned the corner towards Charlie's room.
"Who says we've been up to anything?" Dean demanded. Cas glared at him from behind Charlie's head.
"I just meant what have you guys been doing all day?" Charlie said. She squinted at him. "You're being weirder than usual, Winchester. Ah, here I am." She pulled out her key and stuck it in the door. She pushed it open and stopped just short of entering. She looked between the two of them again and shook her head. "Keep being weird, I guess. See you at dinner." She shut the door and Dean and Cas were left alone in the hallway. For a minute they just stared at her door in silence. Then Dean cleared his throat.
"You want a drink?"
"Oh god, yes," Cas said emphatically. Dean looked up at him suddenly and chuckled.
"Wow, blaspheming," he said. "Now I know things are serious." Cas gave him an uncomfortable smile. They made their way up the stairs and back to the deck in relative silence. Dean ordered a couple of drinks and they both sat down at the bar. Dean looked over to see Cas empty his in one gulp and then throw up a finger towards the bartender asking for another. He was actually impressed. Cas had done it with such surety and confidence. It was kinda hot and—and that was exactly why they were sitting at this fucking bar.
"So," Dean said, clearing his throat. Cas held up a hand to stop Dean and took a new glass from the bartender and swallowed it in another single gulp. He seemed to think for a minute, then he set it down on the bar. He put his hand down.
"Dean, I love you," he said. Dean's prepared response shuttered to a stop. The world slowed down a little bit and the sounds of playing children back by the pool became muted to his ears. Cas just looked at him evenly, if a little uncertain.
"Oh," Dean choked out.
"I have loved you for a very long time," Cas continued, never breaking eye contact with Dean. "I have loved you longer than I knew how to identify it was love I was feeling. My heart burns for you, which is a human expression I never understood until I met you. I just thought you should know that before you say what it was you want to say." He nodded to show he was finished speaking and then folded his hands in his lap, still staring at Dean.
Dean had forgotten the English language. He knew there were words that existed in the world, but he couldn't seem to remember any of them. The blood in his head pumped more loudly than he remembered it had before. His fingers tingled a bit and his face felt very, very hot. He worked on remembering words first.
"I, uh," he tried, "huh." He finished off with a really fairly high pitched exhale. Cas just kept looking at him. Dean looked at the drink in front of him and quickly swallowed it, downing the full contents. He chuckled. "Ah, I see why you did that now," he said. Cas smiled gently and finally looked down and away from Dean. It was a small gesture but it wrapped Dean's heart and squeezed sharply. For a moment he couldn't breathe.
"Oh, get over here," he finally grunted. He leaned forward so far on his stool that he fell forward and out of it, crashing against Cas with slightly more gusto than he had intended. They collided, lips first, and Dean wrapped his arms around Cas, pulling him close as they kissed. They separated sharply when someone grunted. The pulled apart with an audible noise and looked up to see the bartender looking at them with a raised eyebrow.
"I know you have a room somewhere on this boat," she said. "Maybe use it." Dean flushed and took a step back.
"Sorry," he grumbled. He sat back on his chair and sent a bashful grin towards Cas.
"I don't mind," Cas muttered with the tiniest of smirks. Dean's heart did that thing again where it squeezed. He opened his mouth to say something but then stopped when he looked behind Cas's head. His expression crumpled first into confusion and then utter joy.
"Oh my god, look," he said. Cas turned in his seat sharply to see what was behind him. At first all he noticed was an ice sculpture of an eagle in the making, but then he looked slightly to the left. Where Sam stood. Well, was the wrong word. The youngest Winchester sat on the floor, leaned against the legs of the woman they had seen with him earlier, and had tilted forward eagerly as the ice sculpture was shaved and chiseled. Cas let out a burst of laughter that surprised him then quickly clamped his hand down on his mouth as Sam looked around. Luckily, he didn't notice them as he looked back on the demonstration with childlike glee.
"He's heavily intoxicated," Cas whispered from the corner of his mouth.
"He's fucking wasted is what he is," Dean laughed, also struggling to keep his voice down. He reached into his pocket slowly and pulled out a phone, raising it high enough that he could start recording. The man sculpting ice made a sharp movement and a slab fell off and to the deck, revealing what looked like the second wing. Sam's eyes bugged. He reached behind him wildly until he found the woman's legs and then tapped them, using his other hand to point.
"Didja see what he did?" Sam slurred. Dean finally looked up to the woman, who was the same as the night before, and who was also looking pretty fucking wasted. She swayed a bit under the weight of Sam leaned up against her.
"Wow!" she said, but it was more of a shout. The sculptor removed a few smaller pieces to define the second eagle wing and then stood back to appraise his work. Sam quickly attempted to shuffle to his feet, although he fell on his ass a couple of times in the endeavor. The woman tried to help, but Sam obviously weighed too much for her to do much good. She fell down on her ass just as Sam got up and then both fell into hysterical laughter. Sam pulled her up to her feet.
"I can't believe this," Dean whispered. He sounded absolutely giddy. Cas glanced over at him and saw Dean's grin was wide enough to spread across his whole face. He struggled hard not to laugh so his camera wouldn't shake, but his face turned bright red in the effort. The sight of Dean so absolutely full of joy, laughing while they sat together on a boat in the middle of nowhere spurred Cas to lean forward and plant a small kiss on Dean's cheek. The hunter blushed but turned a smile Cas's way.
"Charlie is going to be sad she missed this," Cas said. Dean's eyes widened.
"Oh, shit, you have to call Charlie," he said. "Tell her it's an emergency." Cas obediently pulled out his phone and made the call, urging that they hurry, then hung up with a large smile at Dean.
"They're on their way," he muttered. He looked back over at Sam, who was leaning on his new girlfriend heavily, so that they stumbled together. They both moved towards the sculpture.
"I can't believe you got a bird out of that thing!" Sam said, speaking at an almost shout that left the sculptor wincing. "Like, you are so talented! So fucking talented, man." He put one of his huge hands up to pat the sculptor on the back, making the poor guy stumble a couple of feet. Dean kept his eyes roving the deck until he saw Charlie and Hannah burst through a door, looking battle prepped. He shoved at Cas and then waved his hands frantically until Charlie noticed him.
"Look!" he mouthed towards her, pointing at Sam. Both of their heads slowly turned and Dean got a special amount of pleasure in watching them drop their battle stances in favor of disbelief and finally full-bellied laughter. He waved them over and they quickly snuck around behind Sam so he wouldn't notice them.
"Oh my god, you were right," Charlie said. "This was absolutely an emergency." They watched in pure bliss as Sam gestured towards the sculpture again.
"It's just so beautiful!" he said. The woman nodded. Sam looked at her. "Don't you think it's beautiful? I think you're beautiful!" The woman smiled. They leaned together and began to make out vigorously right there on the deck. The sculptor rolled his eyes and waved at the rest of the spectators to indicate he was all finished before grabbing his cart of tools and rolling away. After a few more long seconds, Sam and the woman pulled themselves apart.
"You're beautiful too!" the woman shouted. Sam grinned one of his huge, puppy dog grins.
"I am?"
"Oh, yeah!" they were both still talking far too loudly. The crowd that had been building around them slowly dispersed, people leaving with a few rolled eyes but mostly good natured smiles. It seemed like they were wrapping up the real show so he clicked the button on his phone and stopped recording.
"I'm so glad I was here for that," he said solemnly.
"Me too," Charlie said, also solemn.
"The highlight of my trip so far," Cas said. Dean gave him a raised eyebrow and Cas clumsily swallowed a smile. "Well, maybe not my highlight."
"Is he alright?" Hannah asked. Sam was stumbling heavily now, and Dean knew if he landed on that woman she was going to end up crushed to death.
"Oh, maybe not," he said. He leapt forward, crossing the deck quickly and catching Sam. "Hey, Sammy. Had some drinks, did you?" he asked. Sam gave him a gummy smile.
"Hey, Dean!" he said. Dean winced and leaned away from his shouts. Sam gestured at the woman in front of him. "This is Eva!"
"Eva, pleased to meet you," Dean said. He reached out and shook her hand. "Well, I hate to do this but I think I need to put my little brother to bed." Eva pouted her lips.
"But we were having fun," she said. She hiccupped and stumbled. Cas came up behind her quickly and caught her arm before she fell.
"And I think it might be time for you to sleep as well, Eva," Cas said. Eva nodded drowsily.
"Yeah, prob'ly," she said. She turned and leaned against Cas, practically nuzzling him. Dean raised a teasing eyebrow and Cas glared at him.
"Eva," Dean tried, "you want to tell us where your room is so we can get you there?" Eva pulled her face into an intense thinking expression.
"Ummm," she said. She put her hand up to her chin and tapped it. "3065?" she said. Dean shrugged.
"Might as well try it," he said. Cas adjusted Eva in his grip so she was standing up straighter. Sam leaned against Dean and mumbled into his shoulder, leaving a bit of drool. Dean rolled his eyes then pushed Sam's head so it was facing outwards. "What was that, Sammy?" he asked.
"You smell like Cas," Sam said. He giggled and rolled his head back, smiling. Dean cleared his throat and avoided looking at what he assumed was a smirk from Charlie.
"Hannah, you want to give me a hand with sasquatch here?" he asked. The angel quickly jumped to Sam's other side and offered more support. Dean sighed under the weight as he thought about how far away their rooms were. "Well, this should be fun," he tried.
They did eventually get Eva back to her room. She had given them the right number after all. They found the key in her pocket and helped her open the door before depositing her softly on the bed. Then they got Sam back to his room, with help from all four of them, and dumped him unceremoniously. They all poured out of the room and collapsed against the walls in the hallway, breathing deeply.
"You know, I think it was all worth it for seeing Sam that drunk," Charlie said. They all looked at each other and broke into peals of laughter. Dean slid down to the floor, tears beginning to eke out the corners of his eyes. Even Hannah and Cas leaned forward, putting their hands on their knees as they tried to calm their laughs.
"Well, I'd say that was a solid day one of cruising, wouldn't you agree?" Dean asked. They all nodded through their laugher and he grinned, leaning his head back against the wall. He looked over at Cas, who was flushed from carrying Sam and laughing. He was smiling and looked utterly happy. Dean's heart squeezed again.
