FRIDAY (9:12am)
Cas barely had time to finish up his breakfast that morning as Jo found him and dragged him back upstairs to get ready for the rehearsal. Cas had picked out a navy blue dress shirt and a tie to go along with his slacks. For Dean, he'd chosen a nice sweater vest, which Dean didn't seem too against wearing.
The wedding rehearsal turned out to be the longest, most terrifying event in Castiel's entire life. And he'd gone to medical school. Jo turned out to be the wedding planner he never really wanted, and as much as he loved her, she was a perfectionist; therefore everything had to be in excellent order.
Jo paced around the park, hands in the air yelling "Cas, stand over there! No, not there. What are you doing? Dean, put your cell phone away, you are not that popular. Jess, you cannot be moving around so much. Is it really necessary to send Sam air kisses right now? Come on people work with me here."
Cas wanted to run away with Dean and just hide under the shade of one of the beautiful trees surrounding them. This would all be perfect tomorrow, though, right? It was normal for everything to be dreadful on the day before the wedding, but on the wedding day, things had to be okay. That was how it worked, wasn't it?
(1:37pm)
"Alright," Jo said, giving herself a round of applause. "We are done for the day. Tomorrow is the real deal, though, so be ready. I want this wedding to be one of the greatest ones in the history of weddings."
Dean groaned. "Would you shut up already?"
Jo narrowed her eyes. "Excuse you, Dean, but I am taking care of business right now."
"Yeah, I know," Dean said. "It's my wedding. Chill out, dude. You don't see Cas and I throwing a big fuss over this. We rehearsed all morning. Now let's go eat all afternoon." Dean reached for Castiel's hand, but Jess stopped him, standing between them.
"What the hell?" Dean protested.
Jess smiled apologetically at both of them. "We're going to break into groups from now on. It's incredibly bad luck for a couple to see each other the day before the wedding. So say goodbye until tomorrow at the altar."
Cas grimaced. He didn't like these "luck" rules. Whoever came up with them, and why did they have to follow them? All he was looking forward to at the end of the day was to spend the night in bed with Dean. Now he wouldn't even have that because they couldn't see each other anymore? This is so rude, Cas thought.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Dean asked, staring at Cas.
Cas shrugged, reluctantly. "I suppose I'll see you again tomorrow."
"But…" Dean started, and immediately trailed off. He sighed, resigned. "Okay, whatever. I'll see you then. Just remember: no lap dances."
Cas smiled, walking closer to Dean. "None."
Dean wrapped his arms around his shoulders tightly, and Cas wrapped his around Dean's waist, taking in the soft fabric of his clothes, and the way they smelled of his cologne.
It would be a terribly long day and a tortuous night without him.
(3:41pm)
Cas grunted as he heard and felt the untying of his week-old knots that had built over his year-long ones. The stranger's massage was not as good as Dean's had been, but it was a close second. Cas realized that his bachelor party had been very pleasant so far. He was now lying comfortably in a white bed at the spa, next to Jessica and Jo. All he had left for his wedding was to relax.
"Mary and Ellen must be really enjoying their mud baths," Jessica said, smiling as her back cracked and cracked.
Cas exhaled deeply. "They're missing out on great massages."
Jo snorted. "They're big gossips, is all."
Cas turned his head to smile at Jo. "I could tell you put a lot of time and effort into the rehearsal. Thank you. I apologize for any inconveniences Dean and I caused you. We are a little stressed out and a lot nervous."
Jo wrinkled her forehead as her back cracked. "Dean doesn't bother me. You'd think I'd be tired of him by now, but I like his feisty attitude. He's not as sassy as that Sam, though."
Cas chuckled quietly. "No one could be as sassy as Sam."
(6:22pm)
"He leaves his underwear on the bathroom floor every day," Mary continued with the round table confessions about the men in their lives. "I have to chase him around the house for him to get him back in there and pick up his undies."
Ellen laughed, slamming her fist on the table. "That is good blackmailing material I'm gonna have to use on John."
Mary shook her head, smiling.
"It's my turn?" Jessica asked, looking around the table. "Alright, um, I caught Sam talking to his hair once. Yeah, I'm not joking. It was actually really, really cute. It was at night, and he thought I was already sleeping—and this was back when we recently moved in together—anyway, he was brushing his hair in the bathroom, and then he said 'You are growing so fast, I'm going to need to trim you real soon, buddy.' I had to hide my face in my pillow so he wouldn't hear me laughing."
Everyone busted into loud, melodic laughter. Cas held his stomach as it was starting to cramp due to laughing more than he ever had in his entire life combined.
"Cas," Jess said, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes. "You're up. Tell us an embarrassing story about Dean."
Cas gulped, loosening the tie around his neck. He ran his hands up and down his non-alcoholic drink in front of him, trying to come up with something interesting to tell. He straightened up and smiled as soon as it hit him. "Okay, here goes. Dean and I went to the park one day, and I couldn't figure why he was so opposed to going at first. Well, we were just walking around a trail, when a tiny little Chihuahua comes up from behind us, apparently after having escaped its owner's leash. Dean started running away from the dog, scared out of his mind. He ran up to a bench and stood on top of it until the owner retrieved the dog."
Jo spilled some of her drink out of her mouth, while everyone else laughed breathlessly.
"Bachelor boy wins," Ellen said, raising her cup in the air. "To Cas."
"To Cas," everyone repeated.
Cas clicked his glass with theirs and finished his drink.
"Let's go find us some strippers now," Ellen said, slamming a few bills down on the table and picking up her heavy purse. "I got me a bunch of single in here."
(7:43pm)
"This is a den of iniquity," Cas shouted over the loud, pounding music. "I should not be here."
Jess shook her head, looking amused at the panicked face Cas was wearing. "We have been here for over an hour. You have to relax."
"I didn't know the strippers would be so sexual about their dancing," Cas admitted. It wasn't like he'd seen a stripper before in his life. He thought they were just attractive dancers.
Ellen returned to their table, laughing hysterically after having placed yet another single into an ecdysiast's tight underwear. "This is the best way I have ever spent my money."
"Come on Cas, loosen up!" Jo said, smiling. "Mom, hand me one of your dollars. I think Cas should take one to that tall one with the stripped undies."
Cas swallowed, feeling his throat dry, and shifting uncomfortably in his seat. "I don't think that would be such a good idea. What would Dean think?"
"Dean isn't here," Jo winked. "This is your bachelor party. Be a bachelor!"
Mary smiled calmly from her seat, sending him a warm look. "Dear, you do not have to do anything you don't feel comfortable with."
Cas looked around their table, then back at the dancers, especially the one with the stripped undies. You wanted the full experience, Cas, so go ahead and get it.
Jo offered Cas the single Ellen had given her, and Cas took it, gulping down his fear and standing up. He took a few steps closer to the stage, where wild girls were screaming their lungs out, which simply wasn't healthy. Cas looked back to the table, where the girls watched him anxiously. Cas fisted his hands and approached the stage.
The dancer in the stripped underwear noticed him, sending him a daring smile, and then he turned his back to him, giving his own ass a slap. Cas winced, blinking at the man who stepped back and shook his trousers mercilessly in front of him. He seemed to want Cas to place that dollar bill right in between the others. Cas extended his dollar, steadying his shaking hand.
The ecdysiast made this task extremely difficult, for he wouldn't stop shaking his ass in rapid movements. Cas had grown tired of waiting for him to steady, and simply held his back with his free hand to keep him still while he buried the bill behind the fabric of his stripped underwear. The dancer turned his head to his side and winked at Cas, continuing his shaking. Cas nodded politely at the man, not wanting to be rude.
Cas' heart was beating fast with excitement as he walked back to the table. Everyone cheered at him, as if he'd accomplished the impossible, and Cas sat back down, wearing a small smile.
"Do you want me to arrange a lap dance with the guy?" Ellen asked, laughing hard. "Dean doesn't have to know."
Cas shook his head. "I think I've had enough interaction with exotic dancers for my lifetime. I am now ready to wed."
"Lover boy has lived it all," Ellen shouted, digging in her purse and pulling out another stack of singles. "Good thing I still haven't."
(11:31pm)
Jo, Mary, Ellen and Jess had all fallen so deep into sleep, they were gracefully snoring. Cas had been the only one who'd declined all the alcohol beverages. He'd promised Dean once that he wouldn't drink a single sip of alcohol if Dean didn't either, and he intended on keeping that promise.
Somehow, everyone managed to fit perfectly on the bed, very tightly, as it appeared, but Cas took a deep breath as he eyed the couch in the room, the only vacant space to sleep in. He walked over to it and made himself comfortable. This would be a long night.
Cas opened his eyes after having drowsed to sleep for a few minutes, as he heard the quiet thud on the door. He wrinkled his forehead, feeling lazy in the little ball he'd made of himself on the couch, wishing the visitor would simply leave so he wouldn't have to get up.
The thud continued, and Cas budged, cursing in his mind as he made his way to the door, placing on his fuzzy slippers and trenchcoat to cover up his pajamas. Cas opened the door, making sure to show his clear annoyance at being disturbed.
Dean stood on the hallway, sending Cas his biggest smile—the one usually reserved for nighttime when they were alone and in bed together.
"Dean," Cas muttered, debating on whether to shut the door on him or not. "I thought we weren't supposed to see each other. Should I turn away?"
Dean rolled his eyes, rocking on his heels playfully. "I came to kidnap you."
Cas narrowed his eyes, cocking his head to the side. "What are you up to?"
Dean smiled wider, shrugging. "I found a place. I want to take you there right now."
"What? No, we're supposed to be sleeping right now, Dean. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. I thought this was bad luck, and you can say I am being absurd at believing in this, which I don't, but perhaps—"
Cas didn't see it coming, as Dean pulled him out of the room and slammed him against the wall in the hallway. One second Dean's hands were on his hips, gripping desperately at them inside his trenchcoat, his tongue sliding deep inside his mouth, and the next, Dean was shoving his hips rhythmically against Cas, making him gasp and tangle his hands on Dean's hair. Dean wouldn't let Cas breathe for much more than half a second, as he took his mouth again with his lips, offering small velvet kisses after rough passionate ones. Cas hated to admit it, but he was melting at Dean's mercy.
When Dean finally pulled away, Castiel felt like falling on his knees, weakened of his strength. Dean held him tightly, chuckling quietly in his ear.
"Are your legs tingly enough this time?" Dean whispered.
Cas nodded his head, unable to come up with coherent words.
"Good," Dean said, seemingly pleased. "Are you coming?"
Cas nodded again, feeling numb as he followed Dean down the hallway, and then up a set of stairs that seemed to be for emergencies only, but in his haze he didn't really care. Dean opened a door at the end of the stairs, and they found themselves at the rooftop of the Westin hotel, in which the only thing offering a source of light was a large swimming pool.
Dean led Cas to the chairs aligned across from the swimming pool, lying down on one of them. Cas did the same, wincing a little at the coldness traveling through the thin fabric of his pajama bottoms as his legs touched the chair. Cas watched Dean, realizing that Dean was watching the night sky above them. Cas followed Dean's gaze, folding his hands on top of his belly as he registered the graceful moon surrounded by countless stars.
"You're beautiful," Dean murmured.
Cas turned to look at him, but Dean was already watching him intently, and nothing but sincerity was on his face. Cas couldn't help smiling like an idiot, hearing those words coming out of Dean's lips.
Dean grinned, and it was beautiful even in the darkness of the night. "What?"
"You've never said that to me before."
"Sure I have."
"No," Cas said patiently. "You've said I'm sexy, hot and many other things alike, but never that."
Dean blinked, raising his eyebrows in clear surprise. "Huh. I didn't know that."
"Yeah."
Dean gazed into Castiel's eyes, and Cas wondered if this was why Dean became so nervous every time he studied Dean this carefully. "Thanks. For pointing that out I mean. I want you to always tell me things like that. You notice much more than I do. It's nice."
"I love you."
Dean sighed deeply, getting up from the chair and walking next to Cas, extending his hand in front of him until Cas took it, and Dean pulled him up and into his arms. Cas didn't understand the whole point of this action, especially when Dean started swaying them slowly in the same place.
"What are you doing?" Cas finally asked.
"Tonight we're the sea and the rhythm there," Dean sang in quiet murmurs against his ear.
Cas shivered, remembering the first time Cas played that song for Dean on the piano, and the events that transpired after that moment.
"The waves and the wind and night is black," Dean continued, pressing soft kisses below Cas' ear.
Cas pressed closer to Dean, tightening his hands around him, and setting his chin against Dean's shoulder.
Dean continued swaying them at a slow pace, humming parts of the lyrics and singing the others. "Your hands they move like waves over me. Beneath the moon, tonight, we're the sea."
Cas felt Dean unwrapping his arms around him only to hold his hand and spin him around. Cas went along with it, and when he made the full turn, Dean smiled sweetly at him, swaying them some more.
"You're very easy on your feet," Cas whispered close to Dean's ear.
Dean gave a quiet chuckle, humming the rest of their song.
