A/N: Dean and Cas's first date! Because of length this chapter is being split up in to two parts. I hope you like it!
Their plan for Saturday is to do whatever the mood calls for. Usually, he likes to plan out each day to the fullest. But for Dean, he's willing to try out a planless day.
Dean supposed to come to his house at noon. Except when he agreed to that time, he completely forgot that his parents would be home. Meaning that Dean would meet his parents.
It's not like Cas doesn't like his family. Unlike his friends' parents who argue and spend time deciding who gets the kids this weekend, his parents sit down at the table together and plan family vacations. And they're pretty okay with the whole gay thing, though sometimes they have a hard time telling who's a boyfriend and who's just a friend (it took months to convince them that Alfie and him were just friends).
His fear is that they'll be too friendly and inadvertently embarrass him. So, as a precaution, he locks all the photo albums in a drawer and tells his parents that Dean is "a new friend". Luckily Gabriel is at tennis practice, so he won't be around to pull a prank on him or say something embarrassing. He's hoping Gabriel won't come home till after they've left.
He cleans his room thoroughly then messes it up again, so it doesn't look too clean. But it's no use. His room isn't intricate or beautiful. It's just an accumulation of objects.
At exactly noon, the doorbell rings. He runs downstairs, takes a deep breath, and opens the door.
Dean is standing there with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Cas is so happy he almost wants to cry.
"Hi," Dean says. He holds out the flowers. "These are for you."
His shirt shimmers in the sunlight and his hair is beautifully unkempt. He stands patiently on the front step, waiting to be invited in.
Cas feels the flowers crush between their shirts as he leans forward and kisses Dean. He can tell Dean is surprised; he's surprised at himself as well. Once Dean recovers from the initial shock he kisses him back with a smile.
It's wonderful.
"Hello, Dean." he says.
"Hi," he says back.
"Come in," Cas says. He hears his parents come downstairs. In one glance they see the flowers and their entwined hands. He knows immediately that they know Dean is more than a new friend.
He doesn't care.
"It's nice to meet you," Dean says.
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well," his father says, putting his hand out to shake.
Dean looks around at the living. He can see the curiosity in his gaze at he checks out the wallpaper filled with angels and the pillows laid out on the floor. His mom asks if they want pancakes, even though it's noon.
"I'm all for it," Dean says. "I mean, if you want to."
"Do you want to?" he asks.
"If you do."
"Are you sure?"
"Are you?"
"I'll get started on the pancakes," his mother interjects. She heads to the kitchen.
"You should put those in water," he says, pointing to the flowers. "They're lovely."
They both blush. Cas heads to the nearest vase. While he's putting the flowers in it hits him—a few minutes ago he kissed Dean and Dean definitely kissed back. He's in the living room, talking to his father. The boy he wants to kiss again is waiting for his mother to serve pancakes.
Cas is this close to freaking out.
Taking a deep breath to keep his cool, he walks back to the room to hear his father say, "Look at how scrawny he is!"
He sees his dad and Dean huddled up in front of the wall of embarrassing photos he forgot to take down. The wall is like one big "before" picture (not that the "after" is any better). It shows how in the span of fifteen years he's gone from pudgy to gawky to awkward to lanky then back to awkward. At least he was only really pudgy as a baby.
"Pancakes are almost done!" Mom shouts.
They head to the kitchen, with his father in front. He sneaks a glance a Dean. His face looks perfectly amused.
"Do you mind?" he asks.
"No. I'm having a good time." he assures him.
Dad, Dean, and him sit around the table as his mom dumps pancakes on the plate. "Is that—?" Dean starts.
"Texas? Yes, yes it is." Cas replies. He's so used to his family's weirdness that he's forgotten how it might look to others. His mom likes making her pancakes into states or countries. And by making, he doesn't mean blobs of batter that kind of sort of look like California. He means with precise detail and with little stars etched in where the capital should be.
As they eat, his parents sneak glances at Dean, and he sneaks glances at them. Finally his dad breaks the silence.
"So," he starts. "How long have you been living in town?"
Just as Dean opens his mouth to answer, Gabriel bursts into the room with a lollipop in his mouth and a trail of tennis sweat.
"Who is this?" Gabriel asks, plopping down into a seat and putting some syrup on a Minnesota pancake.
"Dean." He doesn't say anything else and Cas likes that.
"Cassie brought home another gay boy?" he says, then sighs. "Why can't you bring home any cute sophomores? Don't you have any cute lady friends? Dogface (Anna) doesn't count."
"You just blew your chance, man." Dean says, stepping before he can reply. "I was going to introduce you to my friend Jo, but it's too late now."
"Is she hot?" Gabriel asks as he grabs Arkansas.
"I think she's hot, and I don't even swing that way." he says. Gabriel nods in approval.
Gabriel starts talking about practice, and after a while they are ready to leave. "I'd like to meet her!" Gabriel shouts as they head for the door. They laugh as they head down the front path.
"Where to now?" Cas asks.
"The park," Dean says. Cas can't help but agree.
They hold hands all the way to the park. Cas loves the warm, rough feeling of his hand. It seems everyone at the park is in a good mood as well. An old man and old woman are sharing an ice cream cone, a group of kids are playing hopscotch, and a large group of Boy Scouts (larger now that gays can join) learn to play the guitar from a retired monk.
They sit down by the pond and start talking about their favorite books and paintings. This is a new kind of experience for him. He's lived in a small town his whole life, where the people he's dated have already known him for a long time. But he likes finding out new things about Dean that no else knows. He's entirely new to Dean, and Dean is entirely new to him.
"I don't do this very often," Dean says. "You know, dating."
"Neither do I," he confesses. It's true, he hasn't. Not since Balthazar.
"It's been a while." he says quietly, looking away.
"You don't have to tell me," he says, even he though he wants to know.
"No, it's okay. I have to tell someone eventually, right?" Dean says. He tries to chuckle but it only comes out sad.
"It's really not that interesting…" Dean says.
And he tells him his story.