Chapter Seven: Bashful

Castiel did not trust the way Jess and Gabe had been smirking at each other behind his back ever since he went on his first date with Dean. He already knew that both of them had a hand in it and had rolled his eyes good naturedly at their meddling. He supposed it was all in good fun.

Besides, what did he have to get mad at? Ever since that night, him and Dean had been consistently going out to dinner, meeting for lunch, going for a drink when Dean got off work late.

No, Castiel had nothing to complain about. Not when he had someone as gorgeous as Dean smiling at him from across the counter, like he was now.

"You're staring," Castiel commented matter-of-factly, even though he still avoided Dean's green gaze.

"Yeah," the other man said, almost sighing.

Castiel lifted a brow at him, giving him a look that was meant to be stern, but it only made Dean smile more. "Don't you have a job to get to?"

"Yeah," Dean repeated, still leaning towards Cas.

"So you should go to work, Dean."

"You're right," Dean said, nodding. "But, thing is, you forgot something."

Castiel's brows furrowed as he looked at the arrangement in front of him. "I do not understand. I have the primrose, which is lilac as requested, along with the red carnations, although the colors don't match well if you ask me, but I did as they asked…"

Dean eyed the soft, creamy purple colored flowers that had bursts of red sprouting out from their stalks, which were the carnations making a bold statement within the softer colors of the other flowers.

Then he turned his gaze back towards Cas. "You forgot," he emphasized, "to kiss me goodbye."

Dean watched as Castiel blinked in the slow way that he did before blushing slightly. He grinned widely.

"Oh," Castiel managed. "I see. I should fix that."

"Yeah," Dean said again, his green eyes gleaming mischievously.

Castiel narrowed his eyes at Dean, knowing he had fallen right into the trap, but still leaned across the counter to brush his lips over Dean's softly.

"Get a room," Gabe called out from the back, which was quickly followed by Jess snickering.

Castiel met Dean's bright gaze. "Have a good day at work," he whispered, ignoring the other two.

Dean reached out to straighten the blue striped tie Castiel had on under his smock before giving him a wink. "I will now."

Castiel rolled his eyes. "Goodbye, Dean."

"Bye, Cas."

Ooo0ooO

When Jess walked out to the front, Castiel was helping a customer choose some flowers for her granddaughter. When he was finished, he gave her and his brother a stern look, which worked this time.

"You two do not act like your age," he stated, fixing some crooked lavender stalks in their vase.

"Aw, c'mon Cassie," Gabe sighed loudly, rolling his hazel eyes. "We're just teasing you."

"And your boyfriend," Jess blurted out before clapping a hand over her mouth and giggling.

Castiel sighed. "Yes, you two are very funny," he said dryly.

Gabe corrected him. "We're hilarious."

Castiel sighed, shaking his head a little. "I'm going to check the online orders," he said to Jess before moving to hang up his smock and heading to the office.

"My brother needs to learn to take a joke," Gabriel said gloomily.

Jess smiled. "Like you don't joke around enough for the both of you."

"That's not the point," Gabe said, waving away that comment. "He needs to loosen up or something."

"He just likes keeping things private," Jess said with a slight shrug.

Gabriel huffed, still looking miffed. He pursed his lips, obviously deep in thought.

Jess shook her head, smiling still.

The front door opened again and her smile widened. "Hi, Mrs. Winchester."

Mary Winchester smiled softly. "Jess, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Mary? Mrs. Winchester sounds so old."

Jess flushed. "Oh, I know, I'm sorry, Mrs.- Mary."

Mary's soft green eyes sparkled. "I just wanted to stop by to see how things were going," she said, looking around. "I'm still so impressed by everything you and Castiel have done."

Gabriel cleared his throat and Mary's gaze turned curious. "Oh, hello, Gabriel," she said, giving him a polite smile in turn.

"Hey, Mary. Looking to spruce up your garden?" Gabriel asked, having talked to Mary before about the small garden she had in her backyard.

"No, not today. I wanted to send my mother some flowers for her birthday. You said you do deliveries, yes?" Mary looked between Gabriel and Jess.

"Absolutely!" Jess said right as Gabriel mentioned, "Within a twenty mile radius."

Mary nodded. "My parents still live in their old farmhouse at the edge of town, about five or six miles away," she said.

"Oh, I know which house you're talking about," Gabriel said, grinning. "Out by the orchards. I used to bring my, ah, girlfriends out there."

Mary's expression turned into one of amusement. "Yes, you and every other person in Lawrence," she chuckled.

Gabriel gave her an innocent grin.

Jess folded her hands in front of her. "What kind of flowers does your mom like?"

"Well, let's see…"

Ooo0ooO

Later that day, Dean returned to Heavenly to find Castiel waiting for him outside the shop. He smiled when he saw how Castiel was gazing up at the sky with a contemplative look on his face while his hands were in the pockets of his trenchcoat.

"Hey, Cas."

Castiel gave him a small smile. "Hello, Dean."

This time, it was Dean who leaned over and kissed Castiel, more firmly, with his hands gently brushing either side of Castiel's face.

"Are you hungry?" Castiel asked, reaching over to take Dean's hand as they started walking down the street.

"I could eat. Do you want to go to the Roadhouse?"

"Sure."

And when they walked inside, they found their friends and family there, gathered together at one end of the restaurant. Sam and Jess were sitting together, opposite of Charlie and Jo, while Gabriel was talking to Kevin with a rather excited look at his face.

"Cas! Dean!" Jo called out when she spotted them, waving them over.

Ash appeared from the back, carrying a round of beer. Dean signaled for him to bring two more before they joined the others.

"How's it goin', Jo?" Dean asked, leaning down to kiss her cheek, as well as Charlie's and Jess's. He tried messing up Sam's hair and had to dodge a punch, before clapping a hand on Gabe and Kevin's shoulders, giving them all a grin.

Jo shrugged. She reached over and tugged her girlfriend's short, dark red hair. "We just all ended up here," she said, leaning back casually.

Castiel sat down next to Jess. "Hello," he said to the general group, rather than naming them off.

When Ash brought Dean and Castiel their beer, he dragged a chair up to their table before putting his feet up on the edge, eyeing the couple. "So are you guys, like, an item now?" he asked, pointing to Dean and Cas with his pointer finger and pinky. When Castiel nodded, he turned his hand. "Rock on."

"Aww," Charlie gushed, smiling broadly. "Cute!"

Dean rolled his eyes, giving them a dramatic grimace.

"I assure you, Charlie, Dean's behavior very much earns that sentiment," Castiel told her conspiringly, leaning in close for effect.

"Thanks, Cas," Dean muttered into his beer.

Everyone laughed.

"Poor Dean," Sam teased.

"Shut up, Sammy."

"Whatever, jerk."

"Bitch."

"Boys," Jo and Jess sighed in unison.

"That's creepy," Kevin said, giving them both an odd look.

"You're telling me," Charlie said to her friend. "Try hanging out with them more. It's like they got some telepathy thing going on."

Now Jo and Jess were grinning at each other.

"See!" Charlie exclaimed, throwing out her hand for emphasis.

The conversation then turned when Charlie asked Jess and Sam about their wedding.

"Is it going to be big or small? Oh, or is it going to be themed?"

"Not everyone wants a Harry Potter wedding like you, Charlie," Kevin said, sipping his soda, since he was the only one at the table who was too young to drink.

"Hey, I stand by my choices!" Charlie declared. "Who doesn't want to be Hermione in her Yule Ball gown for their wedding?"

"Normal people?" Dean suggested, earning a smack over the head.

"Don't make fun of me, Winchester, I know you're a huge Game of Thrones geek!"

"Yeah, because Game of Thrones is awesome."

"So is Harry Potter!"

"This is going to go on for a while," Jess commented, wincing as Dean and Charlie turned to face off, while Kevin watched with wide eyes and Gabe goaded them on.

"How are the plans going?" Castiel asked politely, despite the bickering at the other end of the table.

"Good," Jess said, smiling at Sam. He played with the ends of her hair absently. "I think it will end up being more on the small side."

"Fine, whatever, Dumbledork!" Dean exclaimed, throwing up his hands, signaling the end of the argument.

Castiel and Jess both rolled their eyes.

Ooo0ooO

After a few hours of drinking, eating, and lively conversation, everyone started leaving slowly, leaving Castiel and Dean at the bar by themselves with Ellen and Ash cleaning up around them. Jo had gone home with Charlie.

"I think a small wedding suits them," Castiel told Dean, in regards to Jess and Sam.

"Yeah, I never pictured Sammy having a large frou-frou wedding anyway."

"I don't believe Sam would ever do anything that could be called frou-frou."

Dean chuckled, finishing off his bourbon. "True. So what about you?" he asked, glancing over at Cas.

"What about me?"

"Do you ever think about things like that? A wedding?"

Castiel glanced down at his hands. "No," he confessed in a low voice.

"Not the marrying type?"

"No," Castiel repeated. "I just… I never… I never thought it was in the cards for me, so to speak."

Then his blue eyes met Dean's, full of some unspoken emotion.

Dean stared back before losing his nerve and looking away first. He cleared his throat. "We should, uh, go."

Castiel nodded, standing to follow Dean out of the Roadhouse, after saying goodbye to Ellen and Ash.

They headed back down the street, holding hands again. They ended up at the small park where Castiel liked eating his lunch during breaks and they sat at one of the benches, looking up at the night sky.

"Moon's almost full," Dean said after a full minute of silence.

Castiel nodded again. His eyes squinted slightly as he studied the constellations. Without really thinking, he began talking about them, telling Dean the stories behind them. He pointed to the lyre constellation that represented Orpheus and his musical lyre, as well as others.

Dean listened quietly as Castiel explained to him the way of the stars. Of course, he wasn't watching the stars now, he was too enamored by the sight of Castiel, and how the stars looked in the reflection of his blue eyes.

Dean smiled when Castiel's eyes kept squinting, as though searching for another cluster of stars to talk about. He didn't mind. He could listen to Castiel talk all night.

"Of course, some stars are easier to see at dawn, like Venus," Castiel was saying. "But some are always visible, like Sirius, since it's the second brightest star in the sky. Sailors used it to navigate the ocean."

Then Castiel blinked, as though now realizing how long he had been talking. "I'm rambling," he stated, now purposely avoiding Dean's gaze.

"Cas?" That got Castiel to look at him. "You don't have to do that."

"What?"

"Be embarrassed when you tell me things, or when I'm looking at you."

"Staring at me," Castiel corrected. Then he clasped his hands together. "I know. I'm still…getting used to it."

Dean reached out to pull Castiel's hands apart to replace one with his own, linking their fingers together. "I like you, Cas. I like you a lot. I don't mind if you talk to me about constellations. Hell, you could talk to me about the grass growing and I'd still listen."

"Oh," Castiel whispered, squeezing Dean's hand.

Dean leaned over and pressed his lips to Castiel's cheek, feeling it heat as Castiel flushed.

Castiel then turned to look at Dean before Dean leaned over to kiss him on the lips this time, making Castiel sighed softly. Dean's lips were warm and insistent, but soon Castiel found himself gripping Dean's shoulders tightly as their tongues slid together, causing both of them to moan.

Pulling apart, both men were breathless, while Castiel leaned his forehead against Dean's. His grip on Dean's shoulders hadn't loosened yet.

"It's late," he breathed against Dean's mouth, still trembling slightly.

"Yeah. I'll walk you home."

Ooo0ooO

The following afternoon, Dean smiled when he saw Gary approaching him while he worked at the station, this time fixing a tire on one of the trucks. In the teen's hands was a vividly colored arrangement.

Nestled in the orange rose petals was a small note- "Those sweet lips. My, oh my, I could kiss those lips all night long… Good things come to those who wait."

Dean's eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled.

"Hey, Rufus! I'm going on lunch!"

By a stroke of luck, Dean managed to work it out to where Jess arranged for flowers to be delivered to Castiel's without the other man finding out, since he had been on his own lunch break when Dean had arrived to Heavenly.

So when Castiel got off work, he returned to his place only to find a small pot of flowers waiting for him at his front door. He stooped and picked up the clay vase, which was painted a deep blue that faded into a dark green.

The purple and white flowers grabbed his attention, with their splattered petals, like pastel-colored paint had been flicked over the white petals. The curled petals looked thicker than they actually were and were clove-scented.

"I could make you satisfied in everything you do/ All your secret wishes could right now be coming true/ And be forever with my poison arms around you…"

Castiel nearly shivered as he pushed open the door before closing it with his foot, not taking his eyes off the note that had been left with the flowers.

Then he turned the arrangement and paused, noting the soft pink, multi-petaled flowers nestled amongst the gillyflowers on the other side.

And there was also another note that read- Remember what I said before.

"You don't have to do that… be embarrassed when you tell me things, or when I'm looking at you."

"Oh," Castiel said to the empty room, a smile tugging at his lips while his cheeks turned as pink as the peonies.

Ooo0ooO

Disclaimer: I do not own SPN.

Author's Note: The note from Castiel is a quote from The Intern by Jess C. Scott. The lyrics are from the song Angeles by Elliot Smith. Go listen to Jensen Ackles's cover of it!

Please review!

Lilac Primrose: Confidence

Red Carnation: Yes

Orange Rose: Passion

Gillyflower: The bonds of affection

Peony: Bashful