Joke is on you

"You already know my idea. I say we just fucking 'Carrie' him," Dean repeated his idea to Cas with exasperation clear in his voice.

He didn't want to be here. This is not how he wanted to be spending his Friday night. Cas had called an emergency meeting between the two of them to brainstorm ways on how to get Gabriel back.

It had now been two weeks since Gabe tricked them into eating his ass steaks and Dean was so not over it. Apparently, neither was Castiel. Some of his ideas included, destroying his car with sledgehammers, posting his nude pictures on the internet and replacing his shampoo with Nair.

Cas shook his head as he paced around his living room. "Well for one thing, and I'm just throwing this out there, we're not in high school so we'll never go to Prom again. And two, we're not murdering a pig so we can pour its blood all over him."

Dean pouted and sank further into the couch. "But you teach at a high school," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I do. But I can't really take my brother to Prom. Now can I?," Cas questioned him rhetorically while smirking.

Dean rolled his eyes at him. "So, are you going to that Halloween masquerade thing?," he asked Cas casually while staring down at his lap.

He could feel Cas' eyes on him. "Why? Are you asking me out?," he asked back with humor clear as fucking day in his voice.

Dean blushed furiously. There was no way he was about to look into Cas' face now. "What? Of course not! I was just thinking about it is all," he defended himself.

He covered his face with his hand like a child and peeked through his fingers. Cas was frowning momentarily before his entire face lit up in excitement. "That's it!," he cried out while rubbing his hands together.

Dean lowered his hand from his face and tilted his head in confusion. "What are you talking about?," he asked, puzzled.

"Me and you," he started saying, coming to a stop in front of Dean and pointing at him, "We pretend to be boyfriends and go to this masquerade party. I know two things; One is Gabriel really hates you and two is that he never misses out on a chance to party."

Dean burst out into a fit of laughter. He threw his head back and wiped at his eye. He looked back at Cas and widened his eyes as he frowned. "Wait. You're serious?," he asked while his heart rate went up.

Cas nodded as disappoint showed on his features. Dean felt bad for laughing but it was just as crazy of an idea as destroying Gabe's car. They were supposed to hate each other so no one would believe it.

Cas' shoulder slumped over. "Just forget it. It was a dumb idea to think that you'd go along with it."

Dean stood up from his place on the couch and stepped over to Cas. He folded his arms so he wouldn't be tempted to reach out to him. He sighed then pursed his lips. "Look, if I agree to do this, do you think we can call this whole stupid thing off?," Dean asked him.

It wasn't like he didn't like Cas. Hell, he had more fun with him than he had with anybody else in a long time. But he also knew that this couldn't go on forever and they both needed to get on with their lives soon.

Cas looked up at him with his breathtaking ocean blue eyes. They looked pained for a moment before he nodded in agreement. "Deal. One last prank," he replied and held his hand out for Dean to shake.

Dean took it cautiously but shook firmly. "Deal. Consider us boyfriends," he said with a small smile.

Cas smiled back at him. One that actually reached his eyes that were usually filled humor. They now portrayed something much deeper and another emotion Dean couldn't quite put his finger on yet. "Fake ones, of course," Cas said casually. There was a hidden message in there somewhere. There had to be.

"Of course," Dean replied with the same amount of casualty. And if he held onto Cas' hand a minute too long, well that was only for him to know.

XXX

Two days. There was only two days until Halloween now and he could totally pull this off. He stepped outside to head to work and tried not to think about how it was inevitable that he would screw this whole plan up one way or another.

Sure, he was a great prank guy but this was a bit out of his comfort zone. How was he supposed to pretend that the guy didn't make his skin feel like it was on fire every time he touched him? Well, he'd gotten this far so maybe he could go a little longer.

"Hey, Dean-O!," Gabe's voice rang shrilly across the lawn causing a few birds to fly out the tree in Cas' yard.

Dean rolled his eyes but kept walking to his car parked in his driveway. "Dude, you gotta hear that. Even birds try to get the fuck away from you," he replied calmly, trying not to let his blood pressure spike up.

Gabe laughed and shook his head as his blonde hair flowed freely behind him. Why was he even still here? Didn't he live somewhere else? And why was he watering the lawn in his boxers at seven a.m.? He'd never understand this guy.

Dean shook his own head at him and opened his cars door. "Oh, hey!," Gabe called for his attention once more.

Dean turned his head slowly to him and gave him a tight smile. "What? Some of us have jobs to be getting to," he said bitterly causing another laugh to erupt from Gabe.

Gabe walked to the other side of the lawn to get that area but continued to smile cheekily at Dean. "I just wanted to say sorry for the other day. It was my asssteak," he said in a way that made it clear that he wasn't sorry in the slightest.

Dean nodded and pursed his lips. If he wasn't quite on board with the plan before then he really was now. All he wanted to do was wipe that fucking smug look off of Gabriel's face.

He gave him a false smile of happiness and waved his hand in the air casually. "Don't worry about it, man! You got us good and we're even now," he lied with ease. He couldn't wait to see the look on his face this weekend.

Gabe's eyebrows shot up in surprise at Deans acceptance. He turned around and shut the water off before tossing the hose to the side. He placed his hands on his hips while squinting in Deans direction.

Dean continued to smile at him. He couldn't slip up and give himself away. Gabe was like a hound dog. He'd be able to sniff their plan out from a mile away if he let him.

"Huh," he said mostly to himself. Dean could see his frown deepen as he rubbed his chin in thought.

Deans lips pulled up into a genuine smile now. It felt good to be the one that's two steps in front of him. It felt real good. He gave Gabe one last wave before he slid into the drivers seat and slammed the door.

He took off down the road and took another glance in his rearview mirror at the stop sign. Gabe was looking at his car as he scratched his head in what was most likely confusion. Dean let out a loud laugh now that he was in the comfort of his own car. He was finally one up on the Novaks. He could get used to this.

XXX

At lunchtime, Deans phone rang out causing Led Zeppelin to fill the air in his office. Dean placed his hamburger down and wiped at his mouth before swiping at his phone to answer it without checking to see who was calling.

"Hello?," he answered while wiping his hands with a napkin from the takeaway bag.

"Dean," Cas' voice shot through his ear causing chills to run down his spine. His voice was rough, gravelly and just screamed out sex. He didn't think that he'd ever get used to it.

"Cas," his name came out in a heavy breath. He didn't mean for it to come out that way but there was something about the other man that always made him act this way. Especially, when he caught him off guard.

"Are you free tonight?," Cas asked him, thankfully ignoring the way Dean said his name. Cas' own voice sounded nervous and unsure. Another first.

Dean nodded as his mouth fell open until he realized that of course Cas couldn't see him and he'd need to actually reply out loud soon. Dean closed his mouth and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Uh, yes. I'm free. As usual. But not like I never get offers because I do. I just choose to stay home all the time," he rambled. He face palmed himself and squeezed his eyes shut. 'Get it together, Winchester,' he thought bitterly to himself.

Cas laughed at his monologue. God. Even his laugh was sexy. He had no chances in Hell in making it through Halloween night. "I'm sure they're all just pounding down your door to get a date with you," Cas replied to humor Dean.

Dean grimaced at himself and frowned. He needed to get it together or miss out on a chance to get Gabe back. Because that's all this whole thing was about.

"So?," Cas asked again. Reminding Dean that he forgot to reply. Again.

Dean nodded again and attempted to swallow down the uncomfortable lump in his throat. "What did you have in mind?," he tried to ask coolly.

"Well, since Halloweens two days away and I know for a fact that you don't have any nice suits in your closet, I figured we'd go shopping after work. We need to look the part. Then, I thought it would be practical to have dinner afterwards," Cas replied. His tone was cool, calm and collective.

Dammit. Why couldn't Dean be as in control as Cas was of everything? "Um, yeah. Sounds fun," he answered him trying his best to copy Cas' tone.

"Really?," Cas asked, incredulous. "You're not even going to comment on the fact that I've seen your closet without permission?," he questioned with a dry chuckle.

"Hm?," Dean asked him as his eyebrows knitted together. He was too busy imagining being in a public setting with Cas in a sort of 'date'.

"The time I broke into your house," Cas deadpanned.

Dean shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "It's okay. I've done the same thing to you," he replied casually.

Cas bellowed another laugh and all Dean could see in his head was his beautiful smile and blue eyes that crinkled when he laughed. "That's true. I'll see you tonight. We'll just ride in your car. Say about six?," he asked.

A wide smile spread across Deans face as he nodded. "Okay. I'll see you then, Cas," he confirmed.

"Bye, Dean," Cas said before ending their call. Dean placed his phone back down onto his desk then ran his hands down his face. He lifted his head up and looked at the clock on the wall.

It was only 2 p.m. which meant he had two hours until he got off then another two to get ready. He could do this. He just had to keep telling himself that. And maybe Cas wouldn't be able to figure out how he really feels.

He stood up and walked out of his office. His burger long forgotten and the biggest smile he's had all week planted permanently on his face.