Angels in the Kitchen
Chapter Ten: Romance is overrated
Castiel stares at the milk in his hand curiously. Dean asked him to pick up milk from the store a few minutes from their house, since he is busy getting Sam to take a nap. He was actually excited to go off and do something on his own, but now he is regretting it. Who knew there were so many different kinds of milk? 1%, 2%, whole milk. How is he supposed to know how much milk Dean wants in his milk? He never paid attention to it in the fridge, and now he could kick himself for it.
"Need some help?" A voice calls and Castiel turns to see a beautiful woman with long brown hair. "You look a little lost."
Castiel nods, holding out milk, "What milk is good for a toddler, and a moody man in his twenties?"
The woman laughs and comes closer, looking into the fridge, "Hmmm…most people prefer 2%, if that helps."
Castiel stares at the carton confused, "I don't understand why there are percentages. If they want milk, would they not want it to all be milk?"
"Well, I'm not a milk historian, but I do know each type of milk has a different taste." She smiles at Castiel and holds out her hand, "I'm Lisa by the way."
"My name is Castiel," He says, awkwardly taking her hand. "It is nice to meet you."
"I hope your moody friend and the toddler like this milk." Lisa says and Castiel frowns.
"Dean is not my friend, really. We live together and are raising Sam." The angel explains, "It's my job to keep him happy."
Lisa giggles, "Ohhh, so it's like that. How sweet, I'm sure with a boyfriend as cute as you this Dean is happy."
Castiel frowns, contemplating what she is saying. Boyfriend means romantic, doesn't it? "No, I am not his boyfriend." He begins before getting an idea, "He is single, you seem nice, you two should date."
Lisa laughs, "You're asking me out for him and not you?"
"I have no interest in dating," Castiel explains, "But Dean needs someone. He likes brunettes in their twenties, you seem to fit that."
"I suppose I can meet him at a restaurant tonight." Lisa shrugs, giving Castiel her phone number, "Have him call me."
Castiel stares down at the piece of paper, feeling a mixture of pride and concern. He can make Dean happy with a woman, and he can tell Lisa is a good person, but there's something he doesn't like about it. When Dean is finally happy, he has to leave them. There's nothing he wants more than to stay on earth with Sam and Dean, though. Looking up from the paper he sees Lisa is gone.
It is not his place to choose Dean's route in life, so he must give him this paper. It is important that Dean is happy. Sam will be happy, too, which has also become important to Castiel. He is simply being selfish, there are important things for him to do in heaven as well. Probably.
"Hey, Cas, you got the milk!" Dean exclaims when Castiel enters the house, "Oh good, you got 2%. I got worried, since I didn't tell you what kind to get…" He stares the angel down, "You don't look too hot. Don't tell me you did something ridiculous like sample all of the milk, drinking all of that at once can make you sick. Or, well, it can make a human sick."
"I am not sick, Dean, thank you for your concern." Castiel says, his eyes going down to his pocket. Now is the time to give it to him. Or he could ignore it and just get rid of it another time.
"Cas, dude, you okay?" Dean asks and Castiel sees the concern in the man's expression. He is such a selfless man, Castiel would be awful to deny him this chance.
"I have procured you a date for the evening." Castiel says, handing the paper to Dean, "Her name is Lisa and she is very knowledgeable in milk, despite what she says." He sees the look on confusion on Dean's face and leans in, "Don't worry Dean, she is a brunette."
Dean blushes, pushing Castiel away, "Personal space, Cas! Besides, I don't have time to date! I don't want to date!" He huffs, handing the paper back to Castiel. "You go out with her."
"I have no interest in such things." Castiel points out, "I know you want to date, Dean, it is alright to go out to dinner once. I will watch Sam. You should enjoy yourself." He says, gently placing the piece of paper back in his hand. "Lisa is a good woman, call her and take her on a date. I suggest not going to a strip club, though."
Dean laughs a little before sighing in defeat and heading for the phone, "I'm doing this for you, Cas. I will support your decision to become an awful pimp."
Castiel gawks at the man in horror, "That is not funny, Dean!"
Dean looks at him with a smirk, "I'll find you a nice pimp hat and cane while I'm out."
"Dean, I would never sell the flesh of others! That is a sin! An angel peddling humans to one another for carnal pleasure would be a first class ticket to hell!" Castiel explains and Dean laughs.
"Well then at least I would know we'd be meeting up after I die." He jokes as he rounds the corner into the kitchen.
The angel gasps, "That is not funny, either, Dean!" He looks to Sam to back him up, but the child is laying on the floor giggling, so instead he decides to just chase down Dean. "You are a very good man, Dean! You're not going to-!" Castiel goes quiet when he sees Dean leaning against the counter with the phone, his pointer finger against his lips to signal silence.
"Hello, Lisa? This is Dean, the friend of that weirdo Castiel you met earlier." Dean says before listening to whatever Lisa is saying that causes him to laugh. "Yeah, he is trying out to become a pimp." The man teases, looking over to a now glaring angel, "Anyways, he has informed me you are a milk connoisseur and I must go out to dinner with you because of this. Yes, five sounds good. Alright, I look forward to meeting you." He goes to hang up before she says something that stops him. "Hm? Am I hotter than Cas? …Hell yeah I am. Besides, Cas is more cute than hot. Like some little kid trying to be a grown up."
Castiel would yell at him for that when he hangs up, but he's not sure if it is an insult or a compliment. He is fairly sure it is an insult. "I am not a pimp, nor am I a child trying to be an adult."
"You look like a child." Dean mocks.
"I only look a year younger than you, Dean." Castiel reminds him. "Your date is at five, so hurry up and get ready."
"What? That's three hours away! What do I need to do that will take five hours?" Dean asks as Sam comes in.
"Shower." Sam says.
"Find a decent outfit to wear." Castiel adds.
"Brush your teeth."
"Fix your hair."
"Find socks." Sam gestures to Dean's bare feet.
"That match." Castiel gestures to a laundry basket full of different socks.
"Lecture Cas for an hour on what he can and cannot do." Sam points out and Castiel goes to say something else when Dean relents.
"Okay, okay, I get it!" The man groans, "I'll go get ready." He grumbles, heading into the bathroom to take a shower.
"Will he be okay?" Sam asks and Castiel shrugs.
"From what I have learned from TV and books here, the fact he is handsome will protect him from his own stupidity." The angel says, making Sam laugh. In a little over two hours, most of which was them searching for presentable clothing, Dean is prepared. Then, as Sam predicted, he gave Castiel a lecture for half an hour on what to do and what not to do. With that he was off to go to his date, leaving Castiel and Sam alone.
"Hey, Cas, what are we gonna have for dinner?" Sam asks and Castiel shrugs.
"Whatever you want."
The little boy looks up at him wide-eyed, "Let's have a date, too!"
Castiel tilts his head, "Why?"
"Dean got a date with you and now this girl, I want a date too!" Sam explains and Castiel nods.
"Alright, what should we have for a date?"
"As a new couple on our first date, we must make dinner together." The boy says, heading into the kitchen with Castiel following.
"What will we put in it?" He asks as Sam gathers random things.
"All of this!" Sam answers, laying down three cans of diced tomatoes, ground beef, onions, and a slew of powders Castiel is unfamiliar with.
"Um…alright." Castiel pulls a chair up next to the counter, and away from the stove, for Sam. He has learned enough from Dean and Kevin now to be decent with making food, so he pulls out the mincer, setting the blade inside and leaving it unplugged for now in front of Sam. Chopping the onions into wedges, he then hands them to Sam to place in the mincer and close the lid before Castiel plugs it in and the boy can press the button. It doesn't take long before he is cooking the beef and diced onions in a sauce pan.
Once they are cooked he uses the electric can opener to remove the lids before allowing Sam to carefully pour the tomatoes and some water in. That's when they pull out the seasonings. Sam grabbed a lot of them; chili powder, cayenne pepper, crushed red peppers, garlic powder, and oregano. Castiel doesn't know what any of them are, so he allows Sam to put in as much as he wants of each. They wind up with three tablespoons of everything. When it is finished, Castiel allows Sam to set the coffee table in the living room with the fake candles and plates before they both sit down to eat.
"A toast!" Sam exclaims and Castiel nods, clinking their glasses together and taking a drink before they both finally dig into their meal. They both immediately drop their spoons and gulp down their drinks. "It's hot, Cas! Why is it so hot?"
"The seasonings we added must have been spicy ones." Castiel mumbles against his cup.
"What do we do?" Sam whines and Castiel thinks for a minute.
"Maybe if we add more tomatoes, it will dilute the spice." The angel reasons before Sam jumps up and runs into the kitchen to gather more diced tomatoes. They go about their plan, with Castiel murmuring something into the pot when Sam isn't looking to help dilute the spices. This time, when they sit down to eat, it is much better.
"Yay! It's yummy now!" Sam exclaims and Castiel nods, "We are having a good date now!"
"Certainly better than my first." Castiel agrees, making the boy laugh. They spend the rest of dinner discussing different things, like Sam's daycare, Castiel's time in heaven, and Dean's friends. It is a nice time, something Castiel will miss when Dean ends up with Lisa, but that is his job. He will simply watch them from heaven after this. It's not the same, but it will do.
"CAS! TI! EL!" Dean screams from the entryway down the hall, making Sam and aforementioned angel stop eating. Before they can get up, Dean is stomping into the living room and lifting Castiel up from the ground. He drags the confused angel into his room and shuts the door before talking quietly. "Are you an idiot?"
"Of course not." Castiel says, "Did you not like Lisa?"
"She was amazing!" Dean hisses, "But you know what wasn't?"
"The restaurant?" Castiel asks and Dean groans.
"She's pregnant, Cas! You set me up with a pregnant woman!"
"Oh, she was not showing. It must be recent."
Dean nods, "Yeah, it's recent, about three weeks ago her ex knocked her up! Before breaking up with her because of it! So tonight I had to be an asshole as well and turn her down, a pregnant woman, in public! Luckily she is a classy woman who didn't throw a fit, but I still feel like an ass, you son of a bitch!"
"I did not know, three weeks is too young for the soul to develop, so I couldn't sense anything." Castiel explains, "I just want you to be happy."
He can see the anger sap out of Dean immediately, his grip loosening on Castiel's shoulders. "Cas, I know all of the movies and books you look at say that romance is an end-all cure-all, but it's not. Finding a great woman will not magically make me happy, especially a pregnant one. I am twenty-one and already have a little kid to take care of, I could never handle two right now, or in nine months. This is the real world, Cas, and while angels are apparently part of it, a magical cure-all romance is not."
"So falling in love will not help, you will not get therapy, what can I do to help you?" Castiel asks, getting annoyed, "Because you are not making this easy. I care about you, Dean, I care a lot. Not because it's my job, but because I like you and your brother. I just want you both to be happy."
"You know what I need? Stability. You have brought that," Dean admits, a blush coming to his face, "But you will leave someday. I could meet the love of my life, but they could leave too. The only thing stable in my life is Sam, until he gets older and goes off to college. How can I be happy knowing that?" He asks, staring down Castiel. "A person's stability is normally their parents. When they move out they can always return to them, when they need money they can always ask them, when they just want to vent about something bothering them they can always talk to their parents. I don't have that anymore. I'm going to do my best to give it to Sam, but who will give it to me? No one.
"I know, adults shouldn't be hung up on that or whatever, but I'm only twenty-one. That's barely an adult by this generation's standards. All my dreams have gone, I will never get a degree to take over Bobby's garage now, and the chances of me marrying someone in the future is going to be difficult. Sure, Sam likes you, but he doesn't like just anyone, and I sure as hell won't be with someone he doesn't like." Dean sighs, sitting down on his bed. "There is nothing that can make me happy at this point."
Castiel watches Dean lie back in his bed, muttering curses about chick flick moments, and for a moment he feels relief. Followed by immeasurable disgust in himself. He's actually relieved Dean needs him, and can't be happy. Does he want to stay that badly? Yes, he already knows he does. Logically, he should pull back from them and approach this all from a distance, but instead he sits down on the opposite side of the bed, lying back to his head meets with Dean's in the middle.
"You can be happy, Dean. If your stability is not already rooted, then you create it for yourself. Your friends will always be here for you, and while Sam doesn't like Benny, he likes the rest." Castiel turns his head a little to look at Dean, "There is nothing stopping you from getting what you want, but you. I will do everything I need to help you. Go back to college, I will take a job and watch Sam. I will stay as many years as you need me for your dream to come true and your stability to be made." The two of them stare at each other for a moment, and Castiel feels a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, until Dean turns his head and sits up.
"It will take at least two years for college, but you won't be taking a job. Your job is Sam. I will work my schedule around classes." Dean says, getting up off the bed. "I suppose, if you stay as long as I need you to, it can work…"
Castiel sits up and stares at the man, sensing a small part of his sorrow fading. "Yes, it will work." He assures him before a loud knock comes from the other side of the door.
"Dean! That was my date! Give him back!" Sam whines from the other side, earning Castiel a dark look from Dean.
"His what now? Did you agree to a date with my three year old brother?"
Castiel shrugs, "Anything for the Winchester boys." He says before leaving the room and joining Sam back at the coffee table.
"You can eat some too, if you're hungry Dean, but you have to eat at the couch away from us." Sam explains, "Cas is my date tonight, no interfering!"
"Wow," Dean rolls his eyes as he heads to the kitchen, "Third wheel at my own house. To a toddler and an angel no less. How will I explain to mom that Sam's first crush was an angel?" He groans, making sure it's loud enough for Castiel to hear.
"She already knows." Castiel assures him before the sound of falling bowls can be heard from the kitchen. "Oops."
A/N: Someone said to use Lisa, which was a brilliant idea because I had no clue who I would use, and it gave me the chance to go different places with it. Anyways, never paid much attention to Lisa, so not sure how I did on her personality. Not that she was in here long enough for it to make a huge difference. As per usual, sorry it took forever.