December 13: Lisa, Castiel, Dean

Lisa.

"Okay, Dean, enough." Lisa slammed her glass down on the kitchen counter, startling Dean out of his thoughts, yet again. "What's been going on? Why did you agree to come here today?"

"Huh?" Dean's brow furrowed. "I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout. I'm here 'cause I wanted to be."

Lisa let out a sigh. Seriously. Why were the cute ones always so slow? No, forget that, why were the cute ones that Jo Harvelle set her up with always so slow? Sometimes, Lisa felt like her best friend simply wanted to torture her by doing stuff like this. Dean Winchester appeared to be no different. Which was a pity, really, because Dean was really cute, but, hey, what could you do?

She rolled her eyes. "Don't try that crap with me. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You've been zoning out on me since the moment that you got here, so what's up? You got somewhere else to be?"

"Nothin''s up."

"Nothing, huh? Sure seems like nothing; maybe that's why you've been gazing out of the window at every opportunity you've got? What's the matter?" Her voice took on a brief jokey tone. "Are we that boring company?"

"No, no! 'Course not!" Dean corrected hastily, drying another glass and placing it back on the top shelf of the nearby cupboard. "Just got a lot goin' on right now, y'know?"

"Uh hu." Lisa folded her arms. "Like what?"

"Oh, y'know..."

"No, Dean, I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

"It's just stuff. Like, personal stuff. My own personal...I don't know what to call it. Crap."

"Right. And does this "stuff" involve Castiel Novak in some way, shape or form?"

Dean's immediate groan in response was as good as a verbal yes. Lisa shook her head, pushing her dark hair from her eyes. She could remember Castiel vaguely from high school, a shy, rather socially awkward student who ran the chess club and partially lived in the library and whom Dean had utterly adored with what seemed to be every fibre in his being. Well, at least he had, until Cas had left all those years ago. It was for this very same reason that Lisa had originally had qualms about Jo trying to set her up with the now single Winchester. Clearly, she was right to. No matter what he said, Dean obviously still had some kind of feelings for Castiel; anyone with a flicker of common sense could be able to tell that.

"Lisa. Please. I don't want to talk about this."

"So you'd rather wallow over it in silence, then? Great plan, Dean."

Dean sent her a look. "I've wallowed in it for a long time. Why stop now?"

"Your own mental health, maybe? C'mon, Dean, spit it out. It can't be that bad."

The Winchester paused for a moment, hands stilling over the piece of cutlery that he had been drying, before he exhaled heavily. "Okay, okay. It's kind of a long story, though."

"I can listen." Lisa raised an eyebrow, propping her elbows up on the counter and leaning forward, almost eagerly.

"I overheard Sammy and Gabe talkin' outside the bathroom about a week ago. I didn't think anythin' of it at first, but then I realised what they were sayin'. They said that Cas had a crush on me and was freakin' out because he didn't know what the hell to do about it."

Lisa's brow creased slightly. "That would make sense. Y'know, considering how he left the Roadhouse that night last week."

"What night?"

"You know, the night we met? That party that the Harvelles put on? Jo kind of pushed us together and then wandered off to talk to him - I think you were talking to Ash at this point and ordering drinks? - but I saw him looking over at us and then leaving in kind of a hurry. I thought at the time it was because he needed to puke outside or something. Hell, I didn't even recognise him until Jo found his brother on Facebook and showed me a picture."

"Really? That happened?"

"Do you think I'd lie about something like that?" Lisa questioned, before poking him in the arm before he could let out a groan and slide back into his inner monologue. "Don't stop there. What happened next?"

"Well, the next day I saw him on the way home. I didn't know why I did it, but I pulled over an' offered him a ride, which was freaking awkward as hell. We went Christmas shoppin' the next day too; that was pretty uncomfortable too, especially when that idjit Jimmy turned up too and started makin' all these comments. Cas didn't particularly like the fact that his little secret was bein' announced to everyone. He went as red as the freakin' ketchup bottles on the table. It was kinda cute, actually -" He stopped suddenly at the smirk on Lisa's face. "I mean, um - I felt kinda bad for him, y'know? Jimmy did the same thing to me back when we were in high school. He'd make all these comments about me "bein' sweet on his brother", as he kept puttin' it."

"That's adorable."

"More like humiliatin'."

"You're just too close to see it," Lisa replied, waving her hand in a dismissive fashion. "So, go on. What happened next?"

"Well, Gabe suggested that we play a game of hide and seek - Yeah, I know. Don't gimme that look. I got roped into the whole thing. Anyway, me and Cas hid upstairs and we ended up talkin' 'bout you an' dinner - Ow!" Lisa had reached out and whacked him on the arm as soon as the words had left his mouth. He rubbed the patch of skin to alleviate the stinging. "Jesus Christ, Lisa, give a guy some warnin'. What the hell was that for?"

"You mentioned dinner tonight in front of the guy who has a crush on you, Dean?"

Wow. Dean Winchester was more than just slow. He was oblivious.

"Yeah, now you put it like that...does seem a little bit of a dick move."

"A little bit?"

"Okay. A lot of a dick move. But, I didn't realise that at the time, and only had that mental breakthrough later. Anyway, a couple o'days ago, I went to the store to pick up some stuff and saw him there, talkin' to that Meg Masters chick."

"And?"

"Well, I never liked her - she was a bitch, so that wasn't my fault - and she sure as hell didn't like me. She started sayin' all this stuff, and Cas kind of freaked out. And now he won't leave the house, or even the damn room - he just sits in the corner and works constantly -"

"And you let him?"

"Well, yeah, but - Ow!" He winced, massaging his arm once again. "Sheesh, Lisa, it wasn't like that! He's not even speakin' to me!"

"Yes. And who's fault is that?"

"Okay, okay, point taken! But, still, I don't know what to do 'bout it. I mean, c'mon, the guy won't speak to me. How am I supposed to make amends?"

Lisa thought for a moment, tapping her chin with her index fingers as she hummed. If it were anyone else, she would have said something more stereotypical - chocolates, flowers, a boom box playing outside of a window, that sort of thing - but this was Cas. Cas Novak, who had spent almost three years obliviously blundering through life whilst being unaware that Dean Winchester was revering him on the sidelines and hopelessly pining after him. Normal, stereotypical methods wouldn't work.

"I'll tell you what you gotta do," she said finally. "Get your ass back to your house right this instant, sit in the damn room that Cas won't leave, get on your knees and freaking grovel for him to forgive you."

"Now, hang on -"

"Dean, this is not a time for your masculine pride to get in the way. Trust me, if Cas won't speak to you, you have to speak to him. Get in that room and just talk. He may not respond straight away, but he'll hear it, and he'll know. He's never not listened to you. And before you say anything, close the door if you don't want anyone to see you begging for forgiveness." Dean promptly shut his mouth. Lisa rolled her eyes. "Go on. Get your ass outta here. I'll finish up."

"Are you sure? I should at least stay and help you clean up -"

"No. Because I know you'll chicken out given enough time." She folded her arms. "One condition, you gotta call and tell me how it goes, yeah?"

Dean released the breath he'd been holding in, and flashed her a smile. "Yeah. Whatever you want. Thanks, Lisa."

"Just call me Matchmaker Extraordinaire," she said with a grin, before pulling a face seconds later. "On second thoughts, don't call me that. Ever."

Castiel.

"Cas!" A banging came from the bedroom door. Cas jumped slightly, his head flying off the keys of his laptop (not that he'd been sleeping or anything.)

"Jimmy? What are you - Is something wrong?"

"Yes. Something is wrong. With you." His twin brother stalked into the room without any warning, plucking the laptop from Cas' fingers and dumping it onto Dean's bed, slamming the lid down with a clatter.

"Jimmy -!"

"Cas, you are my brother. My twin. My mirror self. I love you, buddy, which is why I'm not going to just sit downstairs and let you wallow in self pity up here all alone."

"I'm not -!"

"Cas, when was the last time that you had a shower? Put on clean clothes? Had something to eat? Look at you! You're the most wallowing wallower that ever wallowed in the history of wallowing."

"I'm not sure that's a real term, Jimmy."

"I don't care! You're not sitting in this room alone for a minute longer." Jimmy nodded firmly to reaffirm his words. "And the first thing that we're going to do is get you into the shower - don't even try to argue with me on this - and then we're all going out. The Roadhouse do some really nice meals around this time."

"Jimmy -"

"What did I just say about arguing with me on this? C'mon, if you won't listen to me, I'll get Gabriel in here."

"I don't want to go if Dean's there." The words even sounded lame to Cas' ears, but he couldn't help it. It was the truth, after all.

He expected Jimmy to roll his eyes, but instead, his twin brother squeezed his shoulder. "Well, don't worry. He's not coming with us. It'll just be you, me, Amelia, Sam and Gabe. That sound better?"

The tension began to drain from Cas' shoulder. "Hm. That does sound nice. Alright."

The two brothers shared a smile. "Cool. Don't worry about a thing, Cas. I'll take care of it all."

Dean.

"Hey, Jo." Dean slouched on the bar stool with a sigh.

"Winchester! Back so soon?" Jo winked at him as she slid a beer towards him. "I thought you were done with all your moping? Whoa." She nodded to the flowers that he'd laid out on the desk - pink roses, tied with a decorative bee ribbon. "Nice. Who you tryin' to impress?"

"No one, apparently," Dean grumbled, taking a long swig of the drink in front of him. He'd spent a long time thinking about Lisa's words during the drive home, and he'd eventually come to the conclusion that, if he was going to do this and grovel for Cas' forgiveness, he was going to do this right. Which was what had led him to taking a detour on his travel back to the house, during which he had spent many minutes trying to pick out a bunch of roses that would accurately represent what he wanted to say. Not red, because he wasn't going for the sexual approach, and not white, because it wasn't their freaking wedding day (and also because Dean certainly had not fantasised about that a few times over the years - he had not). In the end, he had gone with pink. That accurately represented his current feelings towards Cas, right?

He realised, as soon as he got inside, that he shouldn't have wasted so much time choosing the damn colours of the stupid flowers. The house was completely silent, a note on the counter left to him, Mary and John, explaining that the rest had gone to the Roadhouse a few hours ago and taken Cas with them. Those bastards.

Jo shook her head. "Ah. I see. Lisa was right; you are hung up on the Novak guy. Pity, really. I was hoping that you'd get on with her, but no matter. What do you want me to do with these? Throw them in the trash?" She gestured to the roses.

"No!" Dean almost spat out his beer in an attempt to guard the flowers (he hadn't spent ten dollars on them just to get them thrown in the trash, no matter how overpriced they had been). "I'll just give them to Cas later."

"Why wait? He's right over there if you want to make a move." Dean glanced over his shoulder, following her gaze to where it rested: Sam, Gabriel, Jimmy, Amelia and Cas all sat clustered together in one of the tiny booths that the Roadhouse offered, the table in front of them littered with glasses that had probably once been filled with some kind of alcohol. Cas was in the middle of laughing at something Sam had said, long and loud, his cheeks flushed, his eyes bright, freshly out of the shower. He looked happy, happier than Dean had seen him in a long time. He was about to turn back to his own drink and complain about this fact to Jo, when Cas suddenly stood, saying something about it being his turn to get the next round (to which the rest of the table occupants cheered rather rowdily and Jimmy clapped his brother on the shoulder), and slid out of the booth, stumbling a little, until he regained his balance and made his way over to the bar.

"What can I do for ya, Cas?" Ash greeted him, a smile on his face.

"Five beers, please." Cas shoved a collection of bills across the counter, leaning against it and letting his eyes roam freely as he waited, stopping when he noticed Dean mere metres from where he was standing.

"Hey, Cas," Dean greeted, trying to sound nonchalant in front of the suddenly uptight expression on the other man's face.

"Dean," he replied. "What're you doin' here?" There was a slight slur forming on his words, Dean noticed.

"I just...y'know, came to bring you these." He scrabbled around for the roses, practically shoving them into Cas' chest. "For you, man." Cas eyed them suspiciously and Dean quickly elaborated. "You know, for bein' an ass earlier this week. And, you know, for bein' an ass since December first when you got here. I've been a shitty friend, and I just - Cas?" He frowned. "Cas, why are you laughin'?"

"Because." Cas dumped the roses onto the bar counter beside the glasses of beer that were starting to appear. "Y'don't get it, d'you, Dean? Y'don't understand."

"Then help me understand! Make me understand, Cas, because I don't -" He was cut off rather promptly by Cas, who rolled his eyes, grabbed the front of his shirt (the one that he'd changed into recently, because he didn't want to show up looking like a slob) and yanked him forward so that their lips clumsily collided into an alcohol-soaked kiss. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough to wipe Dean's mind completely void of...well, anything, really, other than shock.

Cas pulled back rather suddenly, almost sending Dean tumbling off his bar stool. He suddenly seemed a lot more sober, his blue eyes wide, the irises seemingly even bluer around his dilated pupils.

"Cas?" Dean managed. "What -...?"

"M'sorry. I just..." Cas stayed still for another moment, still clutching the front of Dean's shirt in his fists, before dropping his hold on him and turning on his heel, almost sprinting from the Roadhouse, the sound of concern from the others following him, along with Gabriel's indignant cry of, "Hey! Where's my beer?".