~ Chapter 9~

The sun was shining, birds were singing, the sky was as blue as blue could be – a perfect day to get Castiel his boyfriend. Those two had been ogling at each other for about three months now, from the time Dean showed up, to now, early April, yet they'd only done anything when she had forced them, or when one of them was drunk. She had to hand it to Dean's drunkenness though– it did a lot of the work for her.

Then again, that was what, four weeks ago? Anna had no idea, but it had been a long time and that needed to change, and soon, before she got tired and bored of their non-antics. Balthazar agreed, seeing as they both had been friends with Cassie basically since they started school. They had both come to a consensus that their best friend needed some real action, not the kind that the dumbass had gotten himself into a few times last year with guys who just wanted to get in his pants. He deserved better than that.

How or why Balthazar believed Anna when she explained that Dean was what Castiel deserved, she had no idea, but the lack of questioning was pretty cool. Basically though, they had agreed that when Cas wasn't chasing or being chased, he was sad. Sad and boring, actually, and Anna had had enough of sad, boring Castiel. The dorky guy wasn't either of those things, but God, did he have a problem coming out of his little shell. Or maybe his closet. Whichever was more accurate.

All this was what spawned what Anna cleverly named "Operation Dean-Cas". She'd thought of it while at church for Easter, during spring break, and the idea and plan only blossomed and grew perfectly with each passing moment. She could barely focus on being a respectable family member at home during the holiday, rushing upstairs to the whiteboard in her bedroom to scribble down an idea or seven. It was the week after spring break though, a Wednesday, actually, and the scheduled start day for the operation and phase one.

Anna was in trig right now, the one and only class she had with both Dean and Castiel. Their teacher never really cared where Anna chose to sit every day, as she had one of the best grades in the class, and that gave her special rights or something. Either way, she sat beside Dean's usual seat partner today, a pretty, blonde girl named Jo Harvelle that worked at the local diner.

Anna struck up a conversation with Jo, ignoring the girl's brief look of confusion when she stole Dean's usual seat, but she lightened up eventually and reciprocated the small talk and whether or not last night's homework made sense, which it did, as long as you followed the directions in the book and not the teacher's. Castiel walked in sometime during this conversation, just nodding at Anna as he walked in, sipping from his travel mug as he took a seat in the back. People kept filing in, and Anna couldn't help but glancing at the door while organizing and reorganizing her notebook, waiting for a very confused Dean to wander in late, as usual, and have to go sit in the only remaining seat: one in the back beside none other than Castiel Novak.

The bell rang and therefore Dean walked in a few moments behind it, and all went according to plan. Anna gave him her best smile and wave, ignoring the puzzlement Jo shot at her and the annoyed look Dean shot at Jo, beginning to focus on the lesson the teacher was just starting. The lesson only took thirty minutes to give and when everyone's attention started dropping off, the teacher got the message and gave them an assignment to do until the bell rang.

Anna took this as an opportunity to stand up and sharpen her pencil, though she purposefully walked between Dean and Castiel's desks, hitting the pencil on Castiel's desk so that it fell between their desks as she walked away. She heard two simultaneously spoken sorry's before the pencil sharpener got too loud. When she turned around, Dean was bent over the bar of his desk, picking up the pencil while Castiel leaned forward slightly, watching him with what were probably red cheeks. The back of his neck was bright red anyways so either he'd gotten a gnarly sunburn over spring break, which didn't seem likely for Castiel, or he was just blushing because of Dean.

That, basically, was what phase one consisted of: doing everything in her power to make the two love-struck idiots to invade each other's personal space as much as possible. And it worked out pretty well, once Anna informed Balthazar of the plan. Hell, she'd even gone out of her way on Friday after class to explain to Jo what she'd been doing with Dean and Castiel. Jo had laughed at it but told her she thought it was clever anyways, and that she hoped it worked for Dean's sake. Apparently they lived across the street from one another and had known each other since they were babies, so Dean was like a brother to her; Jo offered assistance of her own too, saying that Dean needed to get in a solid relationship with someone, everyone who'd known him as long as she had agreed, and whether it was with a girl or a boy, she didn't care. Anna liked that about Jo, it made her stand out a bit more in her mind as a friend, or at least a valuable ally in this mission.

And that was how they formed phase two of Operation Dean-Cas.

/

Dean was sitting with Castiel again, and he was having a hard time trying to hide his undying excitement from Dean. He said that the only reason he kept sitting with Castiel and his small group of his friends lately was because he liked sitting with Jo, and she was taking to Anna these days. Anna and Jo weren't exactly two people Castiel would've put together as friends on his own, but they seemed to have a chemistry that drew people near them, including Balthazar and Inias who had been good friends for years because they were neighbors, and there wasn't anything to dislike about having a group of six instead of a group of three or four. Well, there hadn't been, really, until Friday at lunch.

Anna had assumed her increasingly usual spot next to Jo and across from Castiel, before she started directing all of her attention towards Dean, speaking in a tone of voice that though Castiel was unfamiliar with, was what he could identify as flirtatious. She would laugh a little too long at Dean's jokes or brush his hand with hers and practically begged for a goodbye hug after the bell rang to go to class. And with every irritating little advancement she made towards him, the more Castiel's stomach churned and ached. What had gotten into her?

And God, what had gotten into Dean? He was basically ignoring Jo and Castiel, something he never did, in favor of Anna, which was strange, if Castiel did say so himself. Dean seemed to be naturally charismatic when it came to people and he would include everyone in a conversation, which had been a bit more endearing than Castiel had expected, but not disliked. But now that Anna was just centering in on him, he was returning the favor and flirting back in such a sickeningly perfect way.

The ache in his stomach just grew and grew in the remaining two periods of the day, even when they were walking to their lockers and Dean started happily talking about how 'stoked' he was that he had the house to himself over the weekend and that he was going to throw a party or something. He had it all figured out too, how he was going to try to have it all in the backyard because his parents would kill him if there was a mess inside, and how he wouldn't have to worry about Sammy, his younger brother, being kept awake and complaining about how loud everyone was outside when he was trying to sleep because he would be at a friend's house for a sleepover. He mentioned too, how people were probably going to start showing up at around eight o'clock.

"It's going to be awesome." Dean was drumming on the door of Castiel's locker when he said this.

"I'm happy for you, Dean." Castiel gave him his best fake smile, though it felt extremely awkward.

"Thanks. I invited Anna and Jo too, in case you wanted to come?" Dean trailed off at the end, sounding a little sheepish, and it was a little hard to hear him, but he understood anyways.

"I'm not sure." They were walking towards the parking lot now, and Castiel was clenching and unclenching his grip around the book in his hand as he walked, trying to make sense of the haze of confusing emotions. He was annoyed with Dean, he really was, but he couldn't explain why that was to him; it was unrealistic that Dean would understand why he was irritated anyways, and Castiel couldn't even rationalize it to himself. He was greatly annoyed with Dean because he felt jealous? No. Well, yes, but he didn't plan on admitting that to him.

"C'mon, man, it'll be fun." Dean punched him lightly on the arm, and gave him a dazzlingly white grin accompanied with bright, stunning green eyes that left Castiel a little more than speechless; he nodded dumbly in agreement before they climbed into their separate cars. He doubted he even owned something adequate enough to wear to a party.

Castiel had made the mistake of showing up early, at 7:45 and was made to help Dean prepare the backyard for the party. That really just meant helping Dean set up an old folding table he found in his garage and blow up a few balloons to tie to the gate to tell people to go in through the side gate not the front door. Mary Winchester was apparently a stickler for the cleanliness of her home, like Castiel's mother.

"How many people are coming?" Castiel asked as they attempted to unfold and lock the table underneath the patio light, where it was easier to see the tiny rusty mechanisms of the table. He'd been meaning to ask that since he arrived, mainly because he was hoping not that many people would arrive, but knowing how people seemed to like Dean as much as he did, there would most likely be a lot of people.

"Depends on who shows up."

Castiel was right about his suspicion. Jo and Anna were there first, arm in arm as they strode in, sort of stumbling over each other as they did so. Dean greeted both of them for a little longer than Castiel admitted to liking, especially Anna, who had dressed herself in a pair of very skinny black jeans and a red top with almost no back. Jo was dressed decently at least, in a leather jacket that eventually was removed to uncover her own top of the same effect. They both looked very good, Castiel decided, but he wasn't attracted to them like Dean was. Then again, Dean was the life of the party, Castel realized as he watched as more people filed in through the side gate from where he sat, perched on the railing that surrounded the patio. He felt strange sitting there, and not just because the railing was cold and slightly uncomfortable. He liked Dean a lot, he had been realizing throughout the week and now continuing and speeding up while he sat on the railing, and though he tried not to feel jealous – he had nothing to feel jealous about – he still couldn't help it. People liked Dean a lot. Girls squealed and hugged him when they arrived and guys greeted him just as warmly, with some kind of hug that Castiel only ever saw guys give each other; it didn't seem fair, but Castiel wasn't being very fair. He and Dean were not involved in any way just because they spent time together occasionally and he knew it, but some insignificant and horribly stubborn part of him just kept denying that fact. Withdrawing his attention from Dean, Castiel found Jo next. Jo attracted a crowd of her own wherever she went, she seemed to glide with every step, the blonde hair of hers creating a certain bouncy, undeniable light about the girl that drew in everyone and created loud, friendly conversations. Anna had a similar effect, though she would mill about quickly, integrating herself into all the conversations she could, though it was interesting that no one minded her doing that. Dean exuded a similar presence as the host. Though he, along with everyone that Castiel could recognize was at least slightly inebriated by the end of the night.

Balthazar had arrived sometime during the night, or maybe he'd been around the entire time and Castiel simply hadn't noticed from his increasingly uncomfortable spot, but he approached anyways, carrying two cans of beer, greeting him warmly with a few jokes or two. He handed a beer to Castiel as he sat down silently and began people watching while Castiel could only look at the cold can of beer in his hands, debate whether or not to drink it and wonder why he was even considering this now.

Castiel stumbled out of the bathroom inside the house, leaning against the wall for cold, comfortable support. People were leaving now, as it had been hours since the party began and Balthazar handed him the beer; he could see the car lights through the window in the hallway and it dawned on him that it would be a good idea to go home too. Well, at least it had seemed like that until Dean walked in through the back door and almost crashed right into him in the dark.

"Who the hell is this?" Strong, stable hands gripped at his shoulders.

"Castiel." His name sounded slurred when he said it, leaning into the hands and Dean's personal space involuntarily.

He could hear Dean swallow hard for a moment, felt him shift his weight before he responded. "Cas, you okay?"

He nodded into Dean's neck and lifted his head, trying to get a good look into his green eyes while starting to laugh. "I drank too much."

"Yeah, I can tell."

The hands at his shoulders moved to his sides, which tickled a lot and made him squirm around for a few moments. "C'mon, I'll take you home, where's your car?"

"Wait," Castiel slightly pulled away from Dean's steady hold and slowly gained his balance, some voice in his head crying out against the idea that he normally wouldn't dare let himself even consider. Let it be known that being as drunk as he had been was an experience.

Castiel reached up with unsteady hands, cupping Dean's face in them as he inexpertly leaned forward to plant a kiss that was a little harder than he had intended. Then again, in sobriety, he wouldn't have intended to do this at all. Of course he had thought about it previously in a non-intoxicated state, remembered their first forced kisses, and the next not-so-forced ones, but those were behind them now, weren't they? He and Dean had talked this out, hadn't they?

"O-okay Cas, c'mon." Dean broke the kiss and had nimbly curled his arm around Castiel's waist, half-dragging him towards the front door and the car outside.

Castiel let himself be moved along like this, trying to be helpful and move his legs to walk for Dean, but they weren't really functioning as they ought to have in any normal situation, so he just let himself be hauled across the front lawn by Dean, his legs sort of dawdling along with the movement as best they could. He was probably going to have to thank Dean for this later. For the carrying, and the driving home and the party, and for everything, really.

"Where're your keys?" Dean's calm, soothing voice again.

"I don't know." He mumbled in complete honesty. He really didn't know. They were probably in his back pocket, but something told him Dean driving his car wouldn't be good. He wouldn't have a ride back to his house or something. He could hear Dean sigh audibly though, before there was some more annoying walking and then he was practically thrown into the passenger seat of a car.

He attempted to straighten himself out while Dean shut the door and moved around to the driver's seat. He wanted to regain his sobriety and fully-equipped thinking process was what he wanted to do, but since that wasn't an option, Castiel settled for fumbling with the seatbelt in the dark. It was a peculiar little thing that he could barely see; he could only see the metal of the seatbelt because he held it in his hand and it was cold and shiny and light bounced off of it from somewhere. The clasp however, was another story – he couldn't see it, and it was very smooth and kept slipping out of his hands when he tried to jam the shiny metal into the belt repeatedly and as fast as his drunken body would allow.

"Alright, don't hurt yourself," Dean soothed seemingly from out of nowhere, and his warm hands took their place over Castiel's and guided them so that he could finally buckle the seat belt. Castiel felt strangely accomplished.

"Thank you." He mumbled, looking up at Dean who was now studying the car with a key in his hands, probably trying to find the ignition.

They were off and moving within moments, and Castiel let himself rest against the safe, cushy seat. Had it always been this comfortable? He didn't think it had been, but then again, maybe the driver's seat wasn't like this seat. Maybe this seat was special. It probably was. Dean was special too. The seat and Dean had that in common – they were both very special. They both provided comfort in ways Castiel didn't expect, but in ways that he couldn't reject either. He couldn't really ignore the attraction he had to Dean anymore and he knew that way too well, the feeling of Dean's soft lips against his was hopefully a very permanent memory. The seat was pretty comfortable too, if Castiel was just going to be very honest here.

"Cas?"

He hummed in response, noticing that the car had stopped, though he was now staring very intently at Dean. His features were just fascinating. And pretty. Very, very pretty.

"We're here. You can get out now." Dean looked out the window for a moment before looking back at Castiel, jabbing a thumb towards the darkened front door of the home.

"Thank you, Dean."

Getting the seatbelt off was easier than putting it on, and for that, Castiel was grateful. He undid the belt and fumbled with the cold handle of the car door before opening it and stepping out, accidentally slamming it too hard. If he had been sober he might've paid more attention to the way Dean winced at the slam, and made a mental note to be more careful around his car for future reference, but he wasn't sober, so really, all of that wasn't accounted for. Hopefully he would remember tomorrow.

The air outside Dean's car was colder than he expected, and Castiel wrapped his arms around himself as he staggered up to the front door, hobbling up the steps before falling to his knees at the door mat on accident, but staying on the ground because he knew there was a house key underneath the mat. It must look funny, he thought to himself with a brief chuckle, Castiel on his knees trying desperately to get something out from underneath a welcome mat. It could also very well look strange, even pathetic, but funny was more preferable in this situation.