I know some people were complaining about Dean and Cas' relationship moving slowly but you have to understand that's the way this world works. When demons court someone, they don't just fuck their brains out, that's not how their culture works.


The Title of This Sappy Romance Novel

Chapter Seven


The only reason Dean was going along with Sam and Jess while they went around doing wedding things was because there was a benefit to him.

Mainly cake.

"I cannot believe you actually agreed to come along with us." Jess said as they stepped out of Sam's car and headed down the sidewalk.

"The only reason he's coming is because we're going cake testing today." Sam threw out with a smirk, stretching out a wing to wrap it around Jess' shoulder.

"Oooohhh, is that so?" Jess teased and Dean huffed, lashing his tail across the sidewalk. Jess smiled warmly at him and Dean couldn't stay angry at her. Sam wound his tail into Dean's, tugged gently on it, and then let go. Dean smacked him with his spade but there was a smile on his face. This was his family.

The bakery was a place on the corner called Sweet Delights and was colored all in pale pinks, yellows, and creams. Dean mimed gagging at the sight of it and Sam scowled at him. Jess ignored both of the brothers and pushed the door open, making the string of silver bells over the door ring pleasantly. The inside of the shop was cream colored and brightly lit, saturated with the smell of baked goods and sugar. There was a display of wedding cake models in the window, a counter topped with a register and brochures and cake toppers stretched from wall to wall across the room, only a few feet from the door, and beyond that was a curtained entrance and a door that apparently led to the kitchen. A radio perched beside the cash register, playing classical music intermingled with quick bursts of news.

"Hello?" Sam called, pulling his wings against his back again and looping an arm around Jess' shoulders instead, "We had an appointment? Hello?"

"…crime rate on the drug market has been on the rise." Said the radio, "Police across Empyrean are attempting to pin down exactly where these new drugs are coming from. The latest sources may be pointing to Achre—."

"That's a downer!" Crowed a voice and short man strode out of the kitchen covered in flour and wearing a bright blue apron. He skipped over to the radio and cranked the knob until it was cooing out oldies instead. Then he turned to the trio, clapping his hands together and sending a mushroom cloud burst of flour into the air,

"So, you're the lucky to-be-weds!" The man grinned and a pair of silver-gray wings unfolded from behind his back, beating once to stir up the flour even more, "Boss is in the kitchen fighting with the oven but if you go right back there," He gestured to the curtain covered way behind the counter, "You can sample all our cakes back there, pieces freshly made for your pleasure. If you need anything, just scream really loud and ask for me!" The angel swept around and held open a hinged door to gain access behind the counter,

"Gabriel, at your service~!"

He bowed them dramatically through the counter and then spun around to hold the curtain open with his wing. Jess smiled and thanked him, Sam sent him an approving nod, and Dean ignored him completely, swiping his tail to the side as far away from Gabriel as he could get it. The angel beamed at him and Dean grunted in response before ducking through the curtain.

The small room on the other side was well lit with pale green walls and rows of tables covered in white cloth were spaced evenly across it from one side to the next. On each table was a three tier stand of plates each filled with tiny cupcakes or little trays with slabs of frosting on them. Dean took in a deep breath of air and grinned at the smell of freshly baked goods and sugary frosting. His tail waved back and forth in anticipation.

"Easy Dean," Sam joked, watching the glee spread across his older brother's face, "Remember, this is the cake for the wedding Jess and I are having. So it's not about you."

"Never said it was, Sammy," Dean replied happily, slapping his brother's shoulder as he went past, heading straight for the nearest table, "Never said it was."

For the next twenty minutes, Dean indulged himself with every combination of cake and frosting he could combine. Sam and Jess worked their way through slowly, talking quietly to one another as they went. When they reached one of the tables that Dean had devoured, Sam sent a scowl in his brother's direction.

"If you keep eating all this junk food, you're going to get fat." The youngest Winchester said and then stuck his head out the curtain, calling for Gabriel.

"So Dean," Jess said from across the table where Dean was working through his second batch of custard stuffed cake, "Jo told me you hooked up with an angel at The Roadhouse yesterday."

"Maybe." Dean muttered through a mouthful of cake before he swallowed. Jess made friend with everybody and Dean was quite suspicious about the idea that she used this talent to wheedle into Dean's personal life in a way only Sam could. There was a shuffle from behind him and he looked around to see Gabriel come through the curtain chatting happily at Sam.

"Well, are you bringing him to the wedding?"

"Who?" Dean turned back to the all-important cake and reached for another piece.

"Castiel."

There was a whoosh, a whirl of silver-gray feathers, and Dean found himself shoved against the wall with Gabriel crowding into his personal space. There was a dark frown on the angel's face and his hazel eyes glared at Dean who glared right back, his tail arched around to the side in a sinister manner. Over Gabriel's shoulder, he could see Sam step in front of Jess and spread his wing slightly to protect her, his tail taking its own threatening stance.

"You're the one my little bro's been chasing after, the one he told me about every night on the phone? It's you? A demon?" The angel's wings were flared wide over the tabletops in his agitation, the light catching his feathers and lighting up their edges a steel bladed silver, "He told me last night that he'd finally hooked up with you."

"You gotta a problem with that?" Dean growled, "You got a problem with demons? With me dating your younger brother?"

Gabriel tilted his head to the side, looked Dean up and down, and then stepped back, folding his wings at his back as he did so. He lifted his chin in the air and let a smile spread across his face, "No, I don't have a problem with you. None at all. However," A thundercloud crossed his features, "If you hurt Castiel in any way…I will make sure it's the last thing you ever do."

Smoke curled out of Dean's mouth with his next words, "I've got a younger brother too and I'm courting Castiel, you asshole. If you were smart, you'd figure it out yourself."

A wicked grin split Gabriel's face and he slapped Dean on the shoulder before stepping back, "All right, I think that's enough posturing for today. Just know I'm watching you, Dean-o." And he flicked two fingers from his eyes in Dean's direction, backing out of the room as he did so.

The two demons and the human watched him go until the curtain had folded back into place. Then Jess and Sam turned to give Dean judgmental looks. Dean scowled at the two of them in return and stuffed his hands into his pockets, his appetite for cake officially ruined.

"Sam," He muttered, "Why couldn't you have gotten pie instead?"

Sam groaned and rolled his eyes, "You don't have pies at weddings, Dean."

Dean didn't believe him.


Monday rolled around and Dean had to deal with a teacher's meeting that evening. It was dull and too long and he really didn't see the point of his attendance as he really had nothing to contribute. But he remained all the same, chin in his hand and elbow on the desk, tail dragging lazily back and forth across the floor and his thoughts on a black-winged, blue-eyed angel waiting for him at the bookstore.

Much to his annoyance, the meeting went on longer than intended because one of the second grade teachers got into an argument with the principle and a first grade teacher about classroom policies that made Dean groan and want to beat his head against something. In the end, the meeting did not get out until 7:30 and Dean was annoyed, tired, and starving. He steered his car to the nearest place with a burger and devoured it with relish along with a box of fries, a chocolate milkshake, and a slice of raspberry pie. When he'd finished and paid, he flopped into the seat of his Impala and sat there quietly in the chilly interior for a moment, thinking. Then he pulled out his cell phone and called Castiel.

It rang several times and then went to voicemail. Dean hung up and tried again. This time, Castiel answered with a flat and somewhat tentative, "Hello?"

"Hey Cas."

"Dean, please do not call me when I am at work."

"You answered."

There was a crackle of quiet from the other end of a phone line and then Castiel said, "Did you need something?"

"What time do you get out of work?"

"About 9:30. Why do you ask?"

"I'm going to come visit you."

"Dean, what—." But Dean hung up and dropped the phone into his pocket. He was figuring on Castiel not wanting to look bad at work by calling him back.

Dean started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. But instead of heading directly for the bookstore, he made his way towards a place about a block over. He'd never been there before but he knew it was there because he'd passed by it plenty of times and could only hope it was still open at 8:00 at night.

Luckily for him, the lights were still on at Tutelary when he pulled into the parking lot. But Dean hesitated before climbing out of the Impala; this was new territory for him and he wasn't sure he knew what he was doing. Tutelary was a small, square building that looked like it was made out of black marble and shiny steel in the pale white light spilling from its bright neon sign. Dean's tail twitched nervously as he stepped through the glass front doors into a tiny space where there was another set of steel framed doors plated with frosted glass. He swallowed before pushing those open and edging between the security alarms standing sentry on either side of the double doors.

The inside of the shop was cool and very bright with a thin white carpet and white walls painted with swirling black designs. Around the walls were long display cases with polished glass, there were smaller ones in the middle of the floor, and against the far wall was a metallic looking counter where two demons were chatting quietly with one another. They were both dressed in perfectly pressed black suits and Dean suddenly felt out of place in his worn out jeans and leather jacket. There was some sort of soft jazz playing quietly over the speakers that was pushed so faintly into the background that, even in the quiet, it was barely there at all.

"May I help you?" Asked the female demon of the pair as she stepped out from behind the counter. She was in her late thirties, by the look of her, with straight white horns and a pale pink tail that she held professionally. Her metallic badge said her name was Lilli.

"Er, yeah," Dean shifted on the spot, not sure what to do with his hands so he ended up drumming his fingers into his thigh, "I, uh, I'm…I just started courting and I need a gift, you know, to make it solid and I heard you guys cater to courting and bonded demons so…" He trailed off with a lame shrug, tail curling at the tip.

Lilli just smiled knowingly, "Of course, I understand completely. If you follow me over here, we have a large selection of necklaces and bracelets that are perfect for—."

"Oh, uh, no, wait, sorry, I should have clarified." Dean interjected hurriedly, "She's not a—I mean, he's a, well, he."

Lilli blinked and then nodded with a smile, "My apologies, young man. I believe Lucas would be better suited for this. Lucas, dear."

The male demon who had remained at the counter, fiddling with the computer, looked up as his name was called and trotted out from behind the counter, trading places with his female coworker. He was a bit stocky and average looking but his horns were thin and bright red, two sprouting from each side of his head and one from his forehead. His tail flicked at the floor as he walked, it too a strangely bright red shade.

"Hello, I'm Lucas but you can call me Luce. What can I help you with?" The demon held his hand out and Dean grasped it with a firm handshake.

"I'm Dean and I need a gift to solidify a courting." The words came easier this time and Dean found that he enjoyed saying them.

Luce smiled like he'd been there before and led Dean over to a display case, "So this man of yours—I'm assuming a man because Lili called me over here—what's he like?"

"Uh, kinda stoic, I guess. Quiet." Dean had to siphon through several words that he would use to describe Castiel, trying to be discreet, "He works in a bookstore, likes books, obviously, um…he wears a trench coat and he's an angel."

Luce couldn't stop his eyebrows from rising but he didn't say anything to that statement. Instead, he directed Dean's attention to the display case in front of him. Beneath the glass was a large display of pristine watches, all polished a glowing under the lights overhead. Silver, gold, silver inlaid with diamonds, gold inlaid with topaz, wristwatches, watches on necklaces, pocket watches, and even a classy little thing you could clip onto your belt. Dean blinked at them all and then felt a little faint because he had no idea if he could afford anything in here. The look must have shown on his face because Luce chuckled.

"All of our prices are negotiable," He promised and then dropped his voice, hiding his mouth behind his hand so that Lilli couldn't see, "And we're pretty cheap here anyway. We're the only place around that cater specifically to demonfolk so we try to do good in all circles."

Dean gave a weak smile and looked back at the watches on display. All of them looked very nice (except for a few exceptionally gaudy ones that hurt his eyes just to look at) but Dean just couldn't see Castiel wearing one of them. A wristwatch just didn't seem to suit the dark-winged angel. He instead switched his gaze to the pocket watches; they seemed more like Cas' style.

"Do you guys do engravings?' He asked, still sweeping his green eyes over the watches.

"For extra."

Dean made a humming noise of acknowledgement and peered closer at the selection. Then he settled back on his feet and pointed, "That one. That one right there."

"Did you want to add an engraving to it?"

A sly sort of smile spread across Dean's face, "Yeah. Yeah I would."


It was pushing closing time when Dean finally showed up at the bookstore, looking a little harassed and breathless. He ran a hand through his hair, fingers scraping against his horns as he approached the checkout counter, and Castiel tracked each movement with a careful, cataloguing eye.

"You're very late." He chided softly when Dean leaned against the countertop and the demon smiled.

"I had something I had to do."

"Was it important?"

"Very important." There was a teasing edge in Dean's voice that made Castiel twitch his wings. Something about Dean Winchester set the angel off; his gruffness, his stubbornness, the way he scowled at the world, the way he was so intently focused on his family. Cas didn't know what it was but he liked it. For all he knew it might have been everything.

"Was it Sam?" The angel asked.

"Nah, Sammy's probably busy bangin' his fiancé. Oh, by the way," A frown appeared on Dean's face as he remembered something, "I met your brother. And you're right, he is a dick."

Castiel was mortified. Gabriel had made no mention of meeting Dean during any of their conversations on the phone and he knew how Gabriel worked. He'd no doubt pinned Dean to a wall and bit his head off about dating his younger brother. It was no secret that Castiel was gay and Gabe had taken it in stride, even supported him, but he was horribly defensive of Cas (though Cas could hardly blame him, given what they'd been through) and had a tendency to chase away Castiel's potential partners with his teasing, mocking, and trickster ways.

"Whoa, Cas, you look like someone just stuck a gun to your head, chill out." Dean reached across the counter and squeezed Castiel's hand in a reassuring manner, "He didn't scare me off. I'm here, aren't I?"

"Yes, I just…" Cas licked his lips and wormed his fingers into Dean's grip instead, squeezing in return, "I apologize for my brother's behavior Dean. We've…a lot has happened. I hope he didn't give you a bad impression of me."

"Bad impression of you?" Dean chuckled and tugged Castiel closer as he leaned over the counter, "I was more worried about a bad impression of me." And he pulled Cas in for a kiss. It was a quick thing, a brief brush of the lips, but it sent a hot shiver through Castiel's body and made his wings flap wildly once or twice.

The demon pulled back with a grin, "Wow. And that was barely a kiss. Hey, I've got something for you."

"What?" Castiel blinked in surprise, "A gift?"

"It's traditional." Dean responded and there was a tentative smile on his face, "The demon who asked their partner for permission to court solidifies the courtship with a gift." The demon reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small white box tied with a black ribbon.

"Here? You want me to take it here? In the store?" Castiel's fingers were already wrapping around the box and intertwining with Dean's.

"No one's around." Dean hummed, his tail curling up into the air, the spade on the end flattening so that it looked as though he had no spade at all.

Cas glanced up and let his blue eyes dart around the shop. There were no patrons around. The barest hint of a smile appeared and he tugged the ribbon off the box. Then he plucked the top off the box and froze, eyes widening.

"Dean," He breathed, "This is… unprecedented."

"Gotta say, that wasn't the word I was expecting."

"It's just that I have never owned anything like this before." The angel admitted as he lifted the gift from the small box. It was a silver pocket watch on a polished chain. On the lid was engraved a simple, delicate letter "C" and on the back, carved in tiny curling letters, were the words "To Castiel, From Dean W". Cas let the watch spin on its chain and then turned to stare at Dean who was watching him was a mixture of anticipation and trepidation and didn't look a little uncomfortable.

"Thank you." The angel said, "I mean it, Dean. No one has ever given me a gift like this before. Except perhaps once but that gift and this are…" He trailed off, shaking his head. Words were inadequate, silly things that were getting stuck in his lungs and shoved his heart up into throat so that even if he wanted to speak, he couldn't.

"Good." Dean said and shifted awkwardly.

"Yes," Castiel said in a low, choked sort of voice, "Yes, it's very good."

And he reached across the counter to grab a handful of Dean's shirt, drag him forward, and plant a very firm kiss on his lips.