Apparently the jukebox at the Roadhouse has every bit of music EVER. You'll see what I mean in a minute…

The Title of This Sappy Romance Novel

Chapter Six

Dean was planning for the very best Saturday of all time.

He was going to sit around the house in his boxers, marathon his way through the Indian Jones and Star Wars movies, and eat frozen pizza and popcorn all day.

It was one of those kinds of Saturdays.

But when he was a quarter of the way into Temple of Doom, his phone strummed a guitar solo beneath the audio and Dean let out a groan. He paused the movie and lazily allowed his tail scoop up his cell phone and bring it to him.

"This had better be good, Sam. I am marathoning Indiana Jones."

"Rrriiiggghhht." There was a slightly sarcastic edge to Sam's voice the Dean frowned at, "So, Jess is busy and it's been a while since the two of us have hung out so I was wondering if you wanted to go down to The Roadhouse together and grab a beer."

"We saw each other last Tues—."

"You can get one of Jo's bacon burgers."

"—day and I'm watching Star Wars—."

"And potato wedges."

"—after Indiana. Plus there's a frozen pizza with my name—."

"I'll buy."

"I'll see you there in thirty."

Dean dropped the phone, shut down his television, shoved his popcorn into the microwave, and scrambled around for some clothes. Yesterdays jeans and an old Metallica shirt with a hole through the dot in the "i" and a grease stain on the "m" from a day when the Impala was being testy were thrown on without a care. And as an after thought, he racked his hand through his hair a couple of times, rubbed at his horns to get any loose grit out, and then darted out the door, snatching up his keys and using his tail to close the door behind him. The demon trotted down the stairs, jogged across the parking lot to the overhang where his precious car was, and nearly jumped into the driver's seat.

When it came to food, Dean Winchester only ever moved that fast for one of Jo's to-die-for bacon burgers.

The Roadhouse, owned by a one Ellen Harville, was as busy as a Saturday afternoon could be at a bar-restaurant. Which meant it only had a handful of patrons; a few humans and Unnaturals scattered across the bar and one or two of them tucked into private corner booths.

Dean looked around for Sam, didn't seem him, and slid into their usual booth on the far wall underneath an upside-down wall clock that wasn't ticking. It had been put there by Ellen's not-quite-adopted-son–slash-family-friend, the Fae Gremlin known only as Ash during one of his drunken stupors. Fae Unnaturals indulged far too heavily in spirits and Ash was no different; he was a tech genius but his pensions tended to get the better of him. Why Ellen had never taken the broken clock down was just another mystery of the universe.

"Well, well, if it isn't the infamous Dean Winchester." Dean looked around from his contemplation of the upside-down clock to see Jo Harville, Ellen's daughter, walking up to his table.

"Infamous?" He said with a grin, "Don't let your mom hear you saying that, she'll think I've done something I shouldn't have."

"I can't believe you're scared of my mom," Jo huffed, shaking her head, "Lemme guess, just a beer?"

"And one of your amaaaaazing bacon burgers and a basket of potato wedges." Dean added, "Sam's buyin'."

Jo chuckled, "What's the occasion?"

Dean's tail twitched across the plasticy seat cover, "Uuuhhhmmm, pre-wedding jitters?"

Jo raised an eyebrow in a skeptical manner and turned to the kitchen to get Dean's order ready. Dean watched her go with only the slightest of frowns on his features. He didn't think Sammy was playing him but the Winchesters had been known to start some pretty epic prank wars between one another and sometimes it got nasty. If this was Sam starting in on Dean…but Dean couldn't think of a reason for it.

Jo returned to drop off his beer and he sat nursing it in silence, wondering where in the world his younger brother had gotten to. A few other patrons left The Roadhouse after fifteen minutes of waiting and Dean was starting to get annoyed. Sam had called him, therefore Sam should have been here first waiting for him. Jo arrived to serve him his bacon burger and potato wedges and he gave her a surly grunt in return, which earned him a scowl before she stalked off. Dean moodily picked up his bacon burger and opened his mouth to take a big bite.

That was the moment that The Roadhouse door jingled open and Dean looked up automatically.

And froze, the burger at his lips and his mouth wide open. His tail, which had been curling up at the tip, stiffened and did not move.

Standing just inside the doorway wearing a trench coat and a rather lost expression was none other than Castiel. His dark wings were pulled tightly across his back and his bright blue eyes darted across The Roadhouse, searching for someone. When they lit upon Dean, the angel blinked in surprise and the two stared at one another for a long moment. Then Cas shifted, appeared to think about it for a moment, and finally just walked across the room to slide into the booth across from Dean.

Dean slowly set his burger back down onto his plate, "Hey Cas, didn't expect to see you here. I'm waiting for Sam."

Castiel blinked at him and then let out a sigh, "And Jess asked to me to meet her here to discuss employment at the bookstore."

Dean's eyes widened as he put two and two together, "Those…they duped us!"

"This seems very much like something my older brother would do…" Castiel murmured, looking a little uncomfortable as he glanced around the establishment. His eyes went back to Dean and the demon swallowed thickly, "I apologize, Dean. If this is a…if this is an inconvenience, I can leave." And he moved to stand up.

Before Dean could think otherwise, his hand shot out and grabbed the sleeve of Cas' trench coat. Castiel stopped, staring at him. Dean yanked his hand back and said as nonchalantly as he could,

"Nah, it's okay. Stay. We're…it's cool, really."

He tried to ignore the way his tail was starting to curl around his leg.

Cas eased back down into his seat as Dean picked up his bacon burger and took a big bite, looking everywhere but at Cas as he chewed. Castiel sat there awkwardly, his hands in his lap, staring at the tabletop because he had no idea what else to do. Dean swallowed and used a free hand to nudge the basket of potato wedges at Cas, urging him to take some. Castiel smiled, just a little, and plucked one up, nibbling on it as he let his eyes roam around the room again, his wings twitching against his back. Jo, having apparently noticed Dean was now sharing his booth, trotted over and paused when she saw it wasn't Sam.

"So Dean, who's your friend?"

Dean swallowed his second bite of bacon burger, "Jo, this is Castiel. Cas, this is Jo Harville. Her mom, Ellen, owns this place."

"Pleasure." Castiel said, holding out his hand. Jo shook it briefly with a smile and asked him what he'd have. Castiel ordered a beer and a small glass of water and took another potato wedge. Jo left. Dean took another bite from his burger and realized he'd have to pay for it after all. Castiel shifted in his seat and plastic-leather beneath him creaked. One of the patrons at the bar coughed. The jukebox was warbling out "Love Song" by The Cure, playing verses about being alone together and feeling at home and feeling young. Dean wished it wouldn't. He finished off his burger and sucked in a deep gulp of beer. Jo brought Cas' drinks and Castiel mimicked Dean. The awkward silence thickened.

"Dean—." Cas began and then balked and couldn't finish his sentence. He dropped his blue gaze to the tabletop and followed the patterns of the wood grain.

Dean swallowed, clenched his jaw for a second, and then took in a deep breath. He let it out very slowly, thought about thinking about what he was about to do, reconsidered, and said as slowly as he could,

"Castiel, may…can I court you?"

Cas raised his head and it tilted to the side in that way Dean knew meant he didn't understand. And, sure enough,

"I'm sorry, Dean, I'm not sure I understand what you are asking."

"Court you. Can I…oh." It had suddenly occurred to Dean that angel culture might be drastically different from demon culture, "Look, um, in demon society when—when someone wants to…" He fought to find the right words that wouldn't so stupid, and corny, and like a bad romantic comedy, "When a demon finds someone that's not just a one-night stand or—or something, someone who's…fuck, special. When we find someone we really, really like, we court them as a potential…as a potential…"

Feelings, personal life, and Dean Winchester. Which one of these just doesn't belong here.

"A mate?" Castiel finished and Dean nodded, "Dean are you asking me out?"

"Yeah." Dean mumbled and then felt silly for simply not asking it that way.

Castiel fiddled with his beer bottle, rolling the neck between his fingers so that the bottom scraped across the tabletop. He glanced away from Dean, looked back, away, and then back again and Dean thought maybe it really had been a bad idea to ask.

But then the angel's wings shuddered and Cas said in a low voice, "I was going to ask you. I kept trying but I…couldn't."

Dean smiled and leaned forward, folding one arm across the tabletop, "So? Can I?"

"Court me?" Castiel repeated, "I…what exactly does that mean?"

Dean chewed on a potato wedge as he tried to think of the best way to explain. Growing up a demon, his culture and traditions seemed like a natural thing. He had never imagined trying to explain them to someone else.

"Demons have…we've got all these rituals and traditions that we live by," The Winchester said and bit into another potato wedge, "We can mate with whoever we want and that bond is forever, we only ever choose one mate. But as long as we're still single, we can court as many times as we want until we find…you know, that someone or whatever."

Castiel made a humming noise in his throat, "Angels generally mate for class and wealth. Angels of low class want to marry into a high class and such. There's a complicated hierarchy that exists within all the angels in an area, usually determined by bloodlines and…wing color." At this, Cas pulled his own dark wings close behind his back and Dean's brow furrowed.

"You guys live with a ranking system? That's…weird." The demon admitted, his tail coiling around his beer bottle to lift it to his hand. He didn't miss the way Cas' eyes tracked the movement, "I mean, don't get me wrong, we've got a lot of rules and stuff we live by but it's kind of…loose."

"What do you mean by loose? I'm not sure I understand how rules can be loose."

"Well," And Dean settled back into his seat in preparation for a speech of sorts, "Like our mating rituals; we've got guidelines about how we go around courting our potential mates but they're kind of vague so we can get away with a lot. And there are days that are sacred to us, like the New Moon of October. It's an extremely intimate night for us, nobody works or anything, but families get together and celebrate their bonds. Family is really important to us; it makes us who we are. What?" Because Castiel was smiling.

"It just sounds very wonderful," The angel admitted, "Family getting together like that…"

"Do you have any family around here?"

For a second, something flashed across Cas' face that looked almost like panic and pain. But just as quickly it was gone and he was shrugging and picking at another wedge, "Just an older brother. He's kind of a dick."

Dean laughed, "I'll tell you a secret, Cas: Older brothers are supposed to be dicks."

Castiel smiled and scooted closer to the table, "Yes." He said in a low voice and Dean blinked.

"Yes what?"

"Yes to your question, Dean. You have my permission to court me."

Dean beamed and his tail slipped under the table to wind gently around Castiel's leg. The angel jerked in surprise and his wings flared slightly. But then he smiled in return and reached across the table to weave his fingers together with Dean's.

"Shouldn't I ask your older brother if it's all right for me to court his kid brother?" The demon asked, half joking.

"No. I think it's my turn to be a dick to him." Castiel responded with a cheeky smile.

There was a click and a whir from across the room and Hellogoodbye started singing "Baby, It's Fact" from the jukebox. Dean glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Jo standing over the machine, sending a grin in their direction.

Dean didn't leave her a very decent tip when he left The Roadhouse hand in hand with Castiel.