Today was going to be brutal. Dean wasn't sure there was enough coffee in the world to keep him going on an hour and a half of sleep, plus the lack of sleep from the night before. He was scheduled at the garage open to close and had agreed to pick up a shift at the Roadhouse that night. Sam was still sound asleep. He didn't have to be to work at the library until ten am. He was such a little nerd. But, hey, if working at the local library helped Sammy get a full ride to Stanford, Dean couldn't really tease him too much.
Sam had tried his best to persuade Dean not to work so many hours, but he wouldn't hear it. Full ride or not, Sam was still going to need money to get him through the school year, and Dean would be damned if he was going to let the kid pick up any jobs. Although they had a bit of money from the life insurance policy left from their parents' deaths, they both agreed that money should be saved for emergencies and maintenance on the house.
"Your job is to focus on school, Sammy," Dean was firm about it. "Keep up your grades. That's all you gotta do." Sam's protests fell on deaf ears.
Filling a travel mug with as much coffee as could possibly fit (and then some), Dean made his way out to his baby. As the garage door opened, he glanced over at Castiel's side door. A thought struck him suddenly, and he turned back into the house.
Digging around the junk drawer, he found pen, paper and tape. Well, duct tape. It would have to do. He quickly scrawled a note, and slipped over to the little brick house. He taped the note on the side door as quietly as possible. Cas' room was at the other end of the house, so it was more than likely that he wouldn't hear Dean anyway, but he didn't want to wake Cas up if he was still sleeping.
A little nervous about the gesture, Dean climbed in his car and headed to work. Perhaps the anxious jitters would be enough to keep him going for the day.
Castiel woke slowly. He savored the sensation of a fresh start in a new place. Adjusting to the layout of his bedroom, he took in the space around him. The window was on a different side, and it was smaller than in his old place. The french doors to the deck poured light across the bed, and Castiel stretched in it and curled back up, like a cat. He knew he didn't have too many more mornings like this that he could savor; the start of the school year was just a couple of weeks away.
Eventually, the call of his bladder won out over the call of his bed, and he got up reluctantly. Trudging to the toilet, he glanced at himself in the mirror as he passed. What he saw there made him stop. He looked...happy. Staring at his reflection, he noticed the lines around his eyes had softened. His skin didn't look so gray and lifeless. His eyes didn't look so dull. Anna had said he didn't look good when he arrived in Kansas, and he knew she was right.
When had it changed? How bad had he gotten that he noticed now the sudden change in his own appearance? More importantly, WHAT had changed it?
He supposed it had to do with...
With being close to the members of his family that he actually loved. With having the chance to start over fresh. With having a place that made him feel at home. With having neighbors who...who were so...welcoming.
He quickly pushed away thoughts about which specific neighbors may have had the most impact on his outlook as he finished in the bathroom. Out of habit, Castiel walked to the fridge to get some breakfast. It wasn't until he opened the fridge that he realized he still had absolutely no food in his house. He closed the fridge with a sigh. Turning around, he saw the slice of apple pie Dean had brought him yesterday. Perfect.
Filling a glass with water, grabbing a fork and the slice of pie, Castiel decided to go enjoy his breakfast on the deck in the sunshine. He made his way through his bedroom to the french doors and stepped out into the sunshine. The patio furniture, which also belonged to Gabriel, was a bit higher end than Castiel would have purchased, but was exceptionally comfortable. Turning his face to the sun, Castiel took a deep, cleansing breath and let it out on a contented sigh.
As he took his first bite of the pie, savoring the delicate flavors his brother had perfected, he moaned. Castiel let out a bark of laughter, thinking of Dean doing the exact same thing in the middle of the night not long ago. With pleasant thoughts and pie as his companions, Castiel savored the morning.
After a while, the lack of caffeine started to make Castiel's head buzz with the a dull ache. He decided groceries, with a stop at a coffee shop beforehand, would be the best plan for today. Gathering up his items, Castiel headed inside to get dressed and grab his wallet and keys.
Reusable bags in hand, he opened the overhead door to the unattached garage from inside the kitchen and pulled open the side door. A fluttering of paper caught the corner of his eye. The knob still in his hand, Castiel opened the door wider to stare at the note taped to it at eye level.
'Let me know if you need anything. -D' The note read in thin, slanted writing. The words were followed by what Castiel could only assume was Dean's phone number. He tried not to acknowledge the way his stomach flipped excitedly when he removed the note. Turning back into the kitchen, Castiel walked to the fridge and taped the note to it. He stared at it for a moment and smiled to himself.
He pulled the side door shut behind him as he walked out to the garage.
Shopping for groceries was tedious and uneventful. And expensive. Castiel hadn't brought a single food item with him from Michigan except herbs and spices: they wouldn't spoil on the long trip out. Staples like bread and milk were on the list, but so were things corn starch, honey, and flour. He had absolutely nothing in his cupboards. It took him the better part of three hours to get all the things he would need and want for a well-stocked pantry.
By the time Castiel got home, it was nearly noon. He made short work of the refrigerated items, smiling each time he saw Dean's note, and set everything else out on the kitchen table. He needed to sort out where he was going to put things. After the third time of trying to find the perfect cupboard for the baking ingredients, Castiel was getting frustrated. Maybe lunch would help.
Making himself a quick sandwich, Castiel sat down on the couch. He took his first bite, and thought I wonder what time Dean eats lunch? On a whim, he decided he'd send Dean a text. Just to let him know he got the note, of course. Not to see how his day was going, or anything like that. That would be weird. Right?
Dean had, so far today: dropped a wrench, overfilled a simple oil change, called three people by the wrong names, and almost dozed off under an engine. When he knocked over a socket set, Bobby finally spoke up.
"The Hell's the matter with you, boy? You been drinkin'?"
"No, Bobby. I haven't been drinking. I'm fine," Dean snipped at him.
"Don't get pissy with me, son, I ain't the one droppin' shit." Bobby retorted. Dean huffed a sigh.
"'M sorry, Bobby. It's not you, it's me-" he chased a socket around the garage floor.
"Damn straight it's you, boy. What's got into ya?"
"Couldn't sleep. Only dozed off for about an hour," Dean softened a bit.
"Somethin' on your mind?" Bobby knew it was no use asking Dean to talk about his feelings, but if it was going to interfere with Dean's work, that made it Bobby's business.
Dean would be damned if he was going tell Bobby that he couldn't stop thinking about Cas: what was he doing? did he get Dean's note? what if the wind blew it away -that was stupid, he'd put it inside the screen door-? A million other questions raced each other through Dean's brain all morning.
"Uh, just...thinkin' about Sammy leaving next fall..." Dean lied. Bobby knew it was a lie, but didn't press the issue.
"Well, why don't you go take your lunch now. You can finish this up when you get back." Dean nodded and turned toward the break room. "And hurry up with this one. I gotta Grand Am needs new brakes yet today."
Scrubbing his hands and face with icy water made a huge improvement to Dean's ability to focus. He grabbed his lunch out of the fridge and went to sit in the air conditioned break room. Dean pulled his phone from his back pocket, set the timer for thirty minutes and laid it on the table before he sat down.
He had just taken a bite of his sandwich when his phone buzzed. Furrowing his brow, he saw he had a new text. Dean didn't recognize the number. The 616 area code was a mystery to him. He didn't want to hope, but...
'Hello Dean'
That was all it said. It was either really creepy, or kind of adorable – depending on whether or not it was actually from Cas. He wasn't sure how to respond.
'Hey,' he sent back. Dean stared at his phone for a moment, willing it to offer up more information.
'I got your note. Thank you'
Dean's heart beat hard. It was Cas. Dean's hands shook the slightest bit as he typed a response. From lack of sleep, he told himself.
'NP. Evrthg ok?'
It was a couple of minutes before his phone buzzed again, and Dean was starting to get anxious. WAS everything okay?
'I'm fine, yes. I just wanted you to know that I got your note.'
Oh.
Dean tried not to be too disappointed with that. While he tried to come up with something to send back, his phone buzzed again.
'I hope I'm not disturbing you at work.'
Dean smiled. 'Nope. Eating lunch. :)' The response came quickly this time.
'Me too.'
'What r u eating?' Dean still had more than half his lunch break left. Might as well chat with Cas while he had the chance.
'Ham sandwich'
Dean chuckled at that. 'Me 2. U finally make it to the store?'
'I did.'
They texted back and forth for a while about what Castiel had done so far today and how much unpacking he had left to do. Dean told Cas about the monumentally shitty day he had been having so far.
Before Dean knew it, the alarm on his phone went off, and he had to head back to work. Much as he didn't want to end his conversation with Cas, he knew Bobby would have his hide if he wasn't finished with the Buick he was halfway through in the next hour.
'Thx for the chat. Gotta run, lunch is over. C u soon!' Dean ended.
'Hope your day gets better' Cas returned.
Dean smiled to himself 'it already has.' He saved Cas' number in his phone before returning it to his pocket, threw his trash away and headed back to work.
Castiel set his phone down on the coffee table and stared at the words there until the screen went to sleep. He heaved a sigh. Not good. It seemed like the more he tried to resist the temptation of getting too close to Dean, the harder and faster he fell. Running his hands through his wild hair, Castiel stood and headed back to the kitchen. The lunch break was exactly what he needed to be able to focus on the task of setting up his kitchen.
Around four, Castiel's phone buzzed. He had moved on from the kitchen, and was working on setting up his bedroom.
'Dinner?'
It was from Anna.
'Sure,' he replied. 'When and where.'
'Pick u up 6:30. M & G are coming 2.'
It would be nice to see Michael, he had been out of town for the last week, and Castiel hadn't seen him since the Fourth of July. Gabe, on the other hand...
Well, he had two hours before he had to get cleaned up. That should be enough time to get his room set up.