December 21st: Dean

Dean.

"This, right here, is why I hate Christmas." Dean let out a grumbling noise to accompany his words, as he glared down at the potatoes in the shopping cart like they had wronged him in some way.

Cas rolled his eyes as he walked alongside his friend, heading out of the grocery store and towards the Impala. "You always were a drama queen come Christmas time."

"Am not!" Dean protested, giving the cart a kick for good measure, maybe to show just how much of a drama queen he wasn't. (Because he totally wasn't, okay?) "I just don't see why we had to leave this stuff 'til the last freakin' minute. We've had practically a month to sort this out."

"Sometimes it just gets on top of you," Cas replied, sounding rather absentminded as they braved the later December chill that was whirling around the parking lot. Thank Christ they'd found a spot close to the entrance; Dean wasn't sure that his toes would have survived if they'd had to search the lot for the Impala.

"Hm," Dean replied, suddenly having rather inappropriately-timed flashbacks to the ice rink incident that weekend when he found himself sprawled on top of Cas. He would be lying if he said that he hadn't given it a second thought over the past two days that had since followed - like, he would be lying a lot. But, what could he do? Cas had already made it perfectly clear that he had no interest in discussing anything to do with that stupid kiss that night at the Roadhouse, and it seemed that anything remotely related to romance was off the cards too.

Well, it could have been worse. A lot worse. It wasn't like Dean was unused to heartache at the hands of Castiel Novak and his pretty blue eyes. Not that he'd ever say that in public, and certainly not when Cas was in earshot. He didn't want to creep the guy out even more than he already had done during the duration of this vacation, after all.

Cas, however, wasn't even paying him that much attention. He was focused on something at the other end of the lot, where something of a small crowd had gathered, the sound of music and clapping drifting over to the spot where the Impala was stationed.

"What's going on over there?" He nodded with his chin in the direction of his gaze.

"Hm?" Dean's eyes followed the same path as Cas', not really all that interested in what was going on all the way over there, especially when home was a short, few-minute drive away and filled with cosy socks and hot coco."Oh. No idea. Probably some kind of charity thing, what with it bein' Christmas an' all."

Charity appeared to have been the wrong term to use; Cas' eyes lit up with a newly kindled interest. "We should go check it out."

Dean snorted. "Uh, no, we shouldn't. I don't particularly want to - Cas! Hey! Where are you - Come back!" Cas had taken off, not having listened to his reply, practically sprinting across the parking lot in order to see just what this "charity thing" was really about. Dean stared after him for a few seconds - they still had bags of groceries to unload into the back seat, and he still wanted to get home - but eventually, he sighed loudly, slammed the Impala door, and raced off after his friend for fear of losing him in amongst the crowd of last-minute Christmas shoppers that swarmed all over the place.

"Cas!" It took him a few minutes to catch up with the Novak, finding him gathered with the rest of the group that they had been observing from their spot by the car. "What are you doin'?"

"Listening to them play." Cas nodded towards the three-piece band in front of them, his foot tapping along the frosty ground in time to the beat of the song that they were performing. "They're from the animal sanctuary, apparently. They want to attract new volunteers."

Dean resisted the urge to let out a groan. Cas had always had some kind of fascination with animals. There was absolutely no chance that he'd be able to drag him away now for at least another twenty minutes. He folded his arms, hugging himself to try and conserve what little body heat he had stored up from being inside the grocery store (which had been lit like a furnace). Cas didn't seem bothered at all by the cold; the only thing that he seemed interested in was the board displaying cute pictures of puppies and kittens that stood behind the band, things that would not keep Dean occupied for the long length of time that he knew he would be standing out in the cold for. Thank God there hadn't been bees on that board too, or Cas would have never been dragged away until it was nightfall and the grocery store manager threw him out.

Dean shivered again. How the hell would he not die from hypothermia in these conditions?

"Hey, Cas." He nudged the other man in the side. "Let's help 'em out a bit. Drum up some audience."

"What do you mean?" Cas finally dragged his eyes away from the animals, only to frown at Dean in confusion.

"Like this." Dean grabbed the hand closest to him and pulled him in, wrapping the other arm around his middle and shuffling backwards, practically dragging Cas along as he stumbled and lost his footing. "Dance with me."

"Are you serious?"

"Deadly serious."

"In public?" Cas raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think that you went for this sort of stuff."

"It's Christmas, isn't it? The season of givin'. I can sacrifice a little for the animals."

Cas caught his balance and began to follow his lead, letting Dean step back and forth and spin them around a few times. "How generous of you," he snorted, trying to avoid the looks they were getting for the shoppers who had began to gather around them.

"I'm a generous man, Cas."

"I remember."

"You'd better." Dean was silent for a moment, before swallowing. "Hey...Cas?"
"Yes?"

"I know you didn't really wanna talk 'bout it, but that business at the Roadhouse a couple o'weeks ago."

"Dean -"

"No, no. Let me just say this, okay? Then we never have to bring it up again, if you don't want to."

Cas nodded after a brief, half second pause. "Alright. Carry on."

"Thing is...that kiss...it, well..."

"It...?" Cas prompted.

"Well, it got me thinkin'. 'Bout a lot of stuff."

"What sort of stuff?"

"You. Me. You and me. That sort of stuff."

Awareness dawned in the pair of bright blue eyes. "Oh. You mean...that sort of stuff?"

"Look, Cas - You don't have to say anythin' right now - I was just thinkin'-...I know that there's a lot of bad water under the bridge and all that...Basically-" He cut himself off with a huff of frustration. This shouldn't have been so difficult. Dammit, they've already gone through this whole awkward process once. "Thing is, Cas...I was wondering if, like, perhaps, you might wanna go on a -" He was silenced for a second time by a sudden noise of surprise from Cas, who had stepped on a patch of heavy frost, left over from the snow the previous day. His foot slid, causing him to almost lose his balance again, his body starting to fall backwards towards the concrete.

"Whoa!" Dean, thankfully, still had his balance this time, tightening his arm around the other man and bringing him back up, so that their faces were level again, almost as if it was some kind of elaborate waltz move. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Cas replied, although he sounded a little breathless. "Fine." He glanced out of the corner of his eye towards the shoppers still crowded around them, some clapping, one cat-calling in the background. Not that Dean could blame them. To someone who hadn't had the full view of what had just happened, it was probably so easy to get the wrong idea.

Except that you were just about to try and ask your ex out again, the little voice that sounded like Sammy reminded him again. Well done, Dean.

"Dean?"

"Hm?"

"I said, do you want to start heading home?"

"Home?" He repeated, probably looking as dazed as he realised that he sounded.

"Yeah." Cas raised an eyebrow. "Preferably before we both skid over again. I don't want a repeat of what happened on Saturday."

But I might.

"Sure." Dean dropped his grip on him after making sure that he wouldn't slip over again, rubbing the back of his neck.

Dammit. He'd been so close. Now he had to start this whole process of getting the courage to ask Cas all over again.

But...

Tomorrow was always another day, right?