*REUPLOADED WITH ADDITIONAL CONTENT BECAUSE I FUCKED UP AND FORGOT CASTIEL WAS WEARING HIS GLASSES*
Oh, my Chuck, you guiseeeeee. Only five more chapters (plus an epilogue) until I am DONE WITH THIS FIC. I HAVE LITERALLY NEVER WRITTEN SO MUCH FOR ONE STORY IN MY LIFE. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MEEEEEEEE.
I got promoted yesterday, too! I am now officially a third-class petty officer. It feels so WEIRD. But anyway, here is a delightful little (not so little - one of my longer chapters, actually!) Destiel chapter for you, sure to make you all hate me. Or love me. I'm not quite sure which.
Everything belongs to Kripke except Waffle House. Fuck that guy. I mean, seriously.
Bzzt-bzzt-bzzt.
"Damn it," he muttered darkly, fumbling for his phone which was charging on his nightstand. Who the fuck could be calling him at twelve-fifteen in the morning? If it was his boyfriend, he'd have no problem with cussing him out.
But it wasn't. To his surprise, he saw that it was Dean. "Hello, Dean."
"Hey, Cas. S-sorry, did I wake you?"
"Yeah, but…" He couldn't help smiling. "I'm not mad. What's up?"
"Just, um… Look, I know this is probably a lot to lay on you right now but Anna just left and I was wondering, y'know, if you weren't with Taz or something, if you maybe wanted to come over and hang out or something." Before Castiel could answer, Dean went on. "I'm sorry, I know that's a lot to ask of you, especially when you were asleep—"
"You said Anna left? Where did she go?"
Silence. "She left me. She broke up with me. She broke up with me to be with Raphael Burbank."
Dean is single. Dean is single. A foolish wave of hope crashed over him. He reminded himself that Dean was just calling him as a friend, that Dean was straight, that there was no way, even if he did like guys, that Dean was interested in him, that jumping all over Dean right after he got dumped was pathetic and desperate, and it brought his heart rate under control again.
Oh, and he had a boyfriend, too. That was also important.
"I'll be right over."
"You really don't have to if you don't want to, I just—"
"It's fine, Dean. Give me twenty minutes."
Dean sighed, and the speaker crackled in Castiel's ear. "Thanks, Cas. I appreciate it."
"Not a problem." He hung up and immediately reached for his glasses. Suddenly truly relieved for the first time that Mikey wasn't home, he snapped on the bedside light and rolled out of bed, hunting for a pair of pants.
Once he'd dressed, he charged to his car, cranked up the new stereo, and headed off to Dean's apartment.
He hovered outside of Dean's door. This is stupid. He knows I'm here. He buzzed me into the building. Still, he felt anxious, struck with indecision. He could just leave…
But that was even more stupid. He wanted to come in. He wanted to see Dean. He had no reason to just leave except that his life was just fine right now and he just had this strange feeling that this would change everything.
His brother was in love, his two best friends were with people they loved, he had a great job, and he was content with Taz. Yeah, he knew by now that he wasn't in love with him, but maybe it was better that way. Taz couldn't hurt him, couldn't break his heart with one look like way Dean could. Wasn't that better, easier?
Without conscious thought, his hand raised and knocked on Dean's door and then the door was open and he was staring straight into Dean's gorgeous emerald-green eyes.
His face cracked into a wide grin. "Hey, Cas. How are you?"
"Hello, Dean. Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
Dean shrugged. "Maybe." He took a step back. "You can come in if you want."
Castiel's stomach gave a loud growl, audible to both of them. He grinned sheepishly. "Do you mind if we went out? I kind of have a craving for Waffle House."
Dean smiled, too. "Sure, they have pretty good pie there. But we're taking my car, not that rust-bucket of yours."
Castiel feigned offense at the joking jab. "That truck has character! What do you drive, a Nissan Altima?"
Dean smirked and scoffed. "Hardly." He grabbed his keys and, twirling them around his finger, led them down the stairs to the back parking lot.
When they stopped in front of Dean's car, Castiel remembered that he had seen it at some point, but just hadn't realized it was his. A '67 Chevy Impala, black as night and sexy as sin, just seemed to fit Dean's personality, just like the faded Led Zeppelin shirt he wore now. Castiel suddenly had the thought that you had to be so cool to even ride in this car, and he was nowhere near cool enough.
Dean grinned, misunderstanding Castiel's hesitation. "Nice, isn't she? Let's go—pie is waiting. And I don't want to keep the pie waiting much longer."
Castiel couldn't help his chuckle as he finally slid into the passenger's seat and they roared out of the parking lot with a low growl of the Impala's engine.
He was absolutely sure he hadn't ridden in this car before, especially because he had never been Dean's friend until a few months ago (if that), but he had a strange sense of déjà vu, of familiarity. He didn't mention it to Dean, though. Instead, he said, "So, Anna."
A strange look crossed Dean's face. "Yeah. Anna."
"She just left you?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry. It must have been quite a shock."
"A little, but to be honest, I also kind of expected it. And actually, I was planning on doing the same thing. We were missing something. I mean, it did kind of sting a bit when I found out she was leaving me for someone else, and I get the impression this thing she has with Ray Burbank has been going on for awhile, but I really can't be mad at her." He paused for a moment while they idled at a stop light. "That would just make me a hypocrite."
Castiel didn't quite know what to make of this revelation, but disappointment flooded through him, followed quickly by guilt. Stop it, he ordered himself. You have no right to be upset. You have Taz. Dean doesn't like men anyway. It's not always about you, Novak. So what if Dean already had someone else? That was good. They could all move on. "Do you think you'll still be friends with her?"
"I'd like to be. She is really nice and I still like her. But just as a friend. And I'm pretty sure she feels the same."
Castiel just wanted to change the subject. After all this was over, he was going straight to Taz to remind himself of what he had. "That's good." Change of subject time. Feigning innocence, he took off his glasses and wiped off an imaginary speck from the lens. "Hey, when did you get this car?"
If Dean noticed the abrupt way Castiel segued into a different topic, he didn't mention it. "She was actually a gift from my dad. He got her when he was about my age, and he never got rid of her because he knew she was going to be a classic. He taught me and Rachel to work on her and because I had more interest in her, he gave her to me just before I went off to college. So I've had her for about nine years but she's been in my family for about thirty-five. She still runs great, too—not that I have much choice. My dad would probably kill me if I didn't take care of her." They pulled into the parking lot of the closest Waffle House and Dean cut the engine.
It was just after one in the morning when they walked through the door into Waffle House, but there were still a few people there. It was an amazing thing that the restaurants were open 24 hours, but it made sense because waffles always tasted better when you were drunk (according to Gabe) and a lot of people came by Waffle House just after all the bars closed for the night. It was pretty convenient, too, because Waffle House was cheap.
"Hey, guys," a tired-looking but still very pretty waitress called over. "Just take a seat and I'll be with y'all in a minute."
Dean picked a tiny table for two by a window and Castiel slid into the seat across from him. Even though he knew immediately what he wanted and there was no need for him to look at the menu, he examined it anyway, taking off his glasses, setting them on the table, and purposely avoiding looking at Dean. He enjoyed it too much, and he was really trying to behave himself. Dean needed his support right now, and he was being utterly selfish.
But damn, he really enjoyed looking at him. He had to admit that to himself as he chanced a quick peek up at the other man.
Dean, too, was looking down at his menu, staring intently at the pie selection before twisting around to check out the pie revolving in the little case by the register. At that moment, the waitress came over.
"Morning," she said cheerily, flashing an extra-wide smile at Dean. Castiel burned with jealousy but reminded himself again that he had no right. "What can I get for you?"
"Coffee, black, and a slice of that cherry pie you have."
Castiel tried to convince himself he was okay with him smiling at the waitress like that. Dean was single now, after all, and he could flirt with whoever he wanted. He slid his glasses back on. "Coffee, two eggs over easy, and two slices of toast."
"White or wheat bread?"
"White."
"And any cream in your coffee?"
"No, thanks."
"Alright. And do you want whipped cream on your pie?" This, she addressed to Dean.
His grin widened. "Of course."
Castiel wished that mischievous grin was aimed at him, but he simply studied his menu after she went back to the grill and put in their orders. He wasn't sure how much longer he could go on torturing himself like this. It was getting ridiculous.
This was a bad idea. He shouldn't have come here. He should have gone to Taz's place last night. He shouldn't have come when Dean called because now it was more clear than ever that the flame he had for Dean hadn't died, and that he'd never be enough for him. It wasn't fair, that a man that good-looking was only into women. Castiel had certainly never seen him look at another guy like that, anyway. Not that he wanted to—in fact, it would probably just make him feel worse about himself.
The pie and their coffee arrived two minutes later and the waitress made a bit of a show of spraying the whipped cream on Dean's pie. Castiel pointedly ignored it, hoping it didn't show on his face. Once the waitress moved away, Dean dug in, making noises of approval that were so pornographic, they had to be illegal. Castiel absently opened up sugar packets and dumped them into his coffee, stirring it to distract himself until his eggs and toast appeared.
"You okay?" Dean asked suddenly, focusing on him.
"Huh?"
"You put like eight packets of Splenda in your coffee."
Eight? Castiel counted the empty packets and realized Dean's estimate was off. There was actually eleven. "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Just distracted." He took a test sip of his coffee and made a face. Way too much sugar.
"What's up?"
Castiel shook his head. "It's nothing."
Dean gave him a look that said he knew he was lying. "Come on, tell me. I woke you up at midnight. The least I can do is listen to your problems, right?"
"You're the one who just got dumped. Shouldn't I be the one listening to your problems?"
"We already covered this. I'm fine. Anna and I are still friends. Yeah, it sucks, but I'm not devastated or anything."
The waitress came by and dropped off Castiel's food, but Dean barely paid her any notice, and neither did Castiel. "Then why am I here, exactly?" he asked, failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice.
Dean looked a little hurt at that. "Because I wanted to see you. I thought we were friends."
He felt incredibly guilty now. "I'm sorry. We are friends."
"Then tell me what's on your mind."
He really wanted to, but he couldn't. Not right now, anyway. "Maybe later," he murmured, pushing his eggs onto his toast.
The next ten minutes passed by pretty quietly with neither one of them really saying anything. Castiel regretted his snappishness but he couldn't screw up what he had right now with Dean and possibly what he had with Taz by admitting how he really felt. He'd never forgive himself if Dean never looked at him the same way again. Still, when the waitress came back with the bill, he snatched it up before Dean even had a chance to look at it and went to pay for their food.
"You didn't have to do that," Dean said once they were outside.
Castiel shrugged. "It doesn't bother me."
"Thanks."
He nodded, and then decided to ask the question he'd been mulling over since they fell silent in the restaurant. "When you said you couldn't be upset with Anna because that would make you a hypocrite, what did you mean?"
Dean blinked. "It means that I like someone else. I thought that was obvious."
"She's lucky."
"Who, Anna?"
"No, I mean the other girl."
"Oh. Yeah, I think so, but I can't quite figure out how he feels about me." Dean grinned.
Everything screeched to a halt in Castiel's head. "He?"
"Yeah. Oh, something funny you may not have known about me—I like guys and girls. Are we going back?" He opened the driver's side door for emphasis.
"So, what you're telling me is that when Anna broke up with you for Ray Burbank, you couldn't be mad at her because you have feelings for another guy?"
Dean nodded. "Basically, yeah. You can't leave out the part where I don't know if he likes me or not."
The whole world was swimming in Castiel's head. It wasn't quite clicking in his head—he heard the words Dean was saying but he just couldn't process it. Dean is single. Dean likes guys. Dean likes one guy in particular. Dean likes one guy enough to not be upset when Anna dumped him for Ray.
Castiel could only stare at him for a minute, their eyes locking and a moment of heat sparking between them. Fuck it. He was done fighting this. Frustration and lack of sleep had given him the right amount of courage and insanity because in the space of about two seconds, he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to Dean's.
He expected Dean to push him back, to look embarrassed and tell him that it wasn't Castiel he wanted, to punch him, to break his heart, but none of that happened. A moment later, Dean was sliding his arms around him and deepening the kiss, one hand diving into his hair and tugging, tilting Castiel's head to meet Dean's mouth better. The way he was holding him, Castiel realized, seemed to say, Mine. You're mine. You're mine, and I'm not letting you go.
Dean moved his hand and deftly slid Castiel's glasses off, and then Dean's tongue swept into his mouth and Castiel moaned softly, gripping the soft fabric of Dean's well-worn shirt to keep himself standing. He pressed himself closer so there was no more space between them and now Dean was groaning, tightening the arm around Castiel's waist.
Castiel could taste the cherry pie still on Dean's tongue and it had never tasted so good before. He could stay like this forever, darting one hand up to run his fingers through Dean's soft, short hair and running the pad of his thumb possessively over Dean's cheek. And then Dean pulled back a bit, just enough for him to whisper, "Scratch that. I guess he does like me." And then he flashed Castiel that mischievous grin, and he couldn't help but grin back.
"Dean Wesson went from being single to 'It's complicated.'"
OH MY GOD YOU GUISE. YOU GUISEEEEEEEE.
DAMN IT ALL. Okay, now then...I would hazard a guess that this fic will be done in three weeks or less, if we count on two updates a week. From June 22 to July 02, I'll be on leave visiting my cousin and his wife in Los Angeles (and from June 11 to June 15, I'll be going to a school and not on the ship because she'll be underway), so during that time, updates may be faster because I should have better access to the internet. I'm pretty freaking excited. I'll definitely have this fic done by the time we deploy, and I should also have Flash and Little Glass Vial finished by then, too. Probably won't have Finishing Touches done though, and I'm not even thinking about starting to post that gangster!AU I was talking about. Nowhere near enough time to finish. But you can bet your ass that when I come back, I will definitely be updating them all!