Sam and Eileen made a pit stop to a little surf shack before meeting Dean and Cas at the beach so they could grab some beach towels and foldable chairs to sit on by the ocean.

"Did you pick up some beer?" Dean asked when Sam pulled his car up to the lot across the road from the beach.

Sam sighed and grabbed the two six-packs he got at a gas station, as well as some various snacks. Dean eagerly took the items and then shoved them into Cas's arms, who just rolled his eyes at the human.

"Here, gimme these," Dean said as Sam took the folding chairs out of the trunk. "I'll get everything set up."

Sam watched as his older brother and the angel crossed the road and made their way to the beachfront. They both looked happy; truly happy. It made the younger Winchester smile to himself a bit.

"So are you ready for a fun day at the beach?" Eileen said, carrying the set of new large towels.

"Actually, yes. I feel like we all deserve it."

Sam and Eileen decided to go for a walk along the shoreline while Dean bullied Cas for never learning how to swim. The angel looked completely out of his element, eyeing the vast ocean warily and diving out of the way when Dean tried to push him into the water.

"Should we help him?" Eileen asked, pointing at Cas's mortified expression.

"Nah, I'm sure he'll be fine," Sam answered with a dismissive wave of his hand.

He was an angel, after all. Was it even possible for an angel to drown? Sam didn't think so.

After absorbing the mid-morning sunshine and picking up some seashells, Eileen decided they should probably start walking back to the main beachfront area. They'd only been gone for about forty-five minutes, but in that time a lot seemed to have happened.

Cas was soaking wet and only wearing his dress shirt and suit pants—which were both coated in sand. Dean, meanwhile, had discarded his flannel and t-shirt and was sunning himself on one of the beach towels. He looked extremely smug, even as the angel was glaring daggers into the back of his head.

"Whoa, what happened, Cas?" Sam laughed, approaching the two.

"He pushed me," the angel answered with a scowl.

"It was hilarious," Dean chimed in from his spot on the sand.

"Need I remind you that I am a celestial being?" Cas said angrily. "Do not test me, Dean Winchester."

"Oooh, I like it when you're angry," Dean replied flippantly with a wink. "It's very sexy."

In response to that, Cas's face turned red—either from his rage or possibly from embarrassment, Sam couldn't tell—and he reached a hand out toward the water. A giant wave suddenly splashed ashore, effectively covering Dean in saltwater and some stray pieces of seaweed.

Cas gave a smug smile as the eldest Winchester let out a long string of expletives and stood up to remove the seaweed from his skin.

"I think Eileen and I are gonna just... sit over here," Sam said, pointing to a spot farther inland.

He didn't want to be in the middle of whatever was about to happen between his brother and Cas. The two clearly weren't really angry with each other, but still. Casualties were still a possibility.

Cas couldn't help but stare at Dean's tanned skin. He'd seen the human shirtless in the past, but now... How was it possible for him to be that hot all the time? Looking at Dean Winchester was not unlike looking at the sun. He exuded a kind of natural leadership ability and power that Cas had always admired. Now he just... found it kind of sexy as well.

"Oh, you're so gonna pay for this!" Dean was saying. "You are so dead!"

"You pushed me in the water first!" Cas protested. "That was just karma for your actions!"

Dean began to chase Cas around the beach while Sam and Eileen just watched from the sidelines and laughed at the two. Eventually Dean managed to tackle the angel to the ground, which turned out to be a very bad idea when Cas flipped himself around so that he was facing the human. With their faces so close together, nearly touching, it was almost impossible for Cas to not kiss him.

"No PDA at the beach!" Sam shouted from afar.

The two didn't move, though. Dean's gaze was intense, daring Cas to do something. The angel could've easily pushed the human off of him, but he was too busy staring into Dean's emerald eyes to do so.

Finally, after a few beats too long, Dean let go of the angel and stood back up. He helped Cas to his feet and then pulled him in close for the ghost of a kiss. The resulting look on Cas's face caused the human to smirk.

"You're too easy," Dean said teasingly.

Cas faltered, at a loss for words. Why was this happening to him? He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that Dean actually loved him. It felt too good to be true.

"My clothing is ruined," Cas said stupidly. "It's covered in sand."

"You could always just take it off," Dean suggested with an eyebrow waggle.

Again, Cas was at a loss. He knew he was probably blushing, what with how uncomfortable the human was making him.

Well, uncomfortable wasn't quite the right word. He was embarrassed, more than anything. He wasn't like Dean. He didn't know how to be smooth or flirt. He didn't have any good comebacks.

"Stop harassing Cas!" Sam admonished. "Save that shit for when you guys are alone, please!"

Dean rolled his eyes, unfazed. Cas, on the other hand, took the shift in attention to zap himself away from the beach to get some clean clothes. He felt bad about stealing, but he didn't have any money on him. He told himself he'd go back later and pay for the clothing.

He changed out of his soaked dress shirt and pants into khaki shorts and a white t-shirt. He felt completely out of his comfort zone in the outfit, but it was all the surf shop had to offer. He also slipped on some tan sandals so that he wouldn't be walking around barefoot for the rest of the day.

On his way out of the dressing room he made a split second decision to grab a pair of sunglasses to complete the look for good measure.

His little trip probably only took ten minutes, but when he got back to the beach Dean was not happy.

"What the hell, Cas?" he exclaimed. "Where did you—wait. What are you wearing?"

"Well, since you ruined my clothes I had to get a new outfit," the angel answered in a mildly annoyed tone.

Dean appraised the outfit—his eyes lingering on Cas's body for a bit longer than was probably necessary—and eventually gave a look of approval. Not that he'd ever admit so aloud, the angel knew.

"You know I hate it when you just zap around like that without giving us any warning," the human said, back on his tirade. "It's... stressful for me."

"I'm sorry," Cas said sincerely. "I didn't mean to upset you."

Dean's expression softened slightly. "Just don't do it again."

Cas nodded. "Okay, Dean."

The rest of the day progressed smoothly enough. Dean insisted that he teach Cas how to play beach volleyball, to which the angel replied, "Don't you think that might be a bad idea, considering how enhanced my strength is compared to yours?"

Cas couldn't talk the human out of it, though, so he and Dean teamed up against Eileen and Sam. The angel didn't really understand the game at first, but once he got the hang of it he actually enjoyed it quite a bit. He tried to only use half of his normal strength—roughly that of a human's—and was successful until he accidentally hit the volleyball a bit too hard and ended up breaking Sam's nose.

Dean found this to be wildly hilarious, probably because he knew it was an injury Cas could easily fix, so he didn't feel bad about laughing at his younger brother's misery for a few minutes.

"I'm so sorry!" Cas exclaimed, running across the sand to the other side of the makeshift volleyball court.

Sam was clutching his nose, clearly in pain, though he tried to laugh it off. "I've had worse," he joked.

"I think that's enough volleyball for today," Eileen said, casting a glare at Dean.

Cas frowned and put two fingertips on Sam's forehead. His injury healed almost immediately.

"I really didn't mean to do that," the angel said, feeling bad.

"It's okay, Cas," Sam smiled kindly. "No permanent damage was done, so it's all good, man."

He patted Cas on the shoulder before walking over to his brother, who had finally calmed down a bit. The angel, meanwhile, watched as Eileen started getting everything they brought to the beach ready to be packed up in Sam's car again.

Shortly after the two had first met, Cas asked her if she would like him to restore her hearing. She turned him down on the offer, which had at first confused the angel.

"It's a part of who I am," Eileen had said. "I'm okay with it."

Cas respected Eileen for her decision. She seemed like a very strong woman, which was something he admired about her. She also seemed like a good fit for Sam. The two had a lot in common and always looked content together. The angel was happy for them both.

On the way back to the motel Cas debated whether to bring up the issue of the box again to Dean. He understood the human's worry, but Cas could get the box and be gone before anyone even noticed. It would be too easy.

"So I was thinking that we should start heading back home tomorrow," Dean said, breaking the silence before Cas could.

"It's a two day drive already, so if we want to make it to the auction in New York by next week, we'll need a few days. Unless we take a plane, I guess. But I'd rather drive."

"Dean—" Cas started.

"No," he interrupted. "Either we all go or no one goes."

Cas sighed, "Okay, fine. I'll zap all three of us there, then. I'm just saying, though, it'll be more complicated with more people. It won't be as easy to sneak around undetected."

"Sam and I have broken into tons of places," Dean said, a hint of pride in his voice. "We usually never get caught."

"Yeah, 'usually' is the key word here. Look, whatever's in the box probably holds immense power. We can't risk any monster or demon or even angel getting their hands on it until we figure out exactly what it is first."

"I know that, Cas. I'm not stupid. We promised it to both Death and Rowena, though. Only one of them is gonna end up getting it and the other is gonna be pissed. If its contents turn out to be as bad as you think they are..." he trailed off and shook his head. "Do we just not give it to either of them? Can we get away with that?"

"We could always just lie and say we couldn't find it," Cas suggested. "How would they know if we're not telling the truth?"

"Well, Rowena knows where we live, for one thing. So does Death, actually. If we keep it from them and they find out, we'll be royally screwed."

"We could give them a fake," Cas said. "If it's a book or something, we could probably fake it."

"Why would it be a book?"

"I don't know. Rowena's a witch, right? So maybe it's some ancient spell book or something."

Dean seemed to consider this possibility for a moment. "Why would Death want it, though? If it is some kind of spell book?"

Cas shrugged, "Leverage against Rowena, maybe? She is the Queen of Hell. Maybe she did something to piss Death off and now they want revenge."

"That's possible, I guess," Dean agreed.

"Okay... so I zap us all out to New York to retrieve the box. Sounds like an easy enough plan, right?"

Dean scoffed, "We both know nothing is ever easy for us, Cas. Easy is for normal people, which is something we aren't. Hell, you technically aren't even a person—no offense."

"That's true," Cas said. "Seeing my real form would burn out your retinas."

Dean made a face, "Thanks for that visual, Cas."

"What? It's true!"

"Does it feel weird to be in a human body?" Dean asked seriously.

"At first it did, yeah. But now I'm pretty used to it," Cas answered. "Back when I was in Heaven, way before I ever visited Earth... Well, things were a lot different back then. Angel ranks really used to mean something. I had a lot of... responsibility."

Dean nodded, "You were a lower rank than you are now though, right?"

"Yes. But now it doesn't really matter. Now it's just about... showing off, I guess."

"The angel you spoke with back at the motel, what rank was she?" Dean asked, glancing over at Cas.

"Same as me, a Seraph. I guess Jack must've made some new ones to replace all the ones that got killed during... well, everything that's happened over the past decade."

Dean took a moment to process this, then said, "Do you think they'll end up being a problem?"

Cas let out a humorless laugh, "Not in your lifetime. It'll take centuries for them to rebuild what Heaven once was. Maybe even a millennia."

"Well, one less obstacle in our way, I guess," Dean said with little relief.

"We'll be okay, Dean," Cas said sincerely. "We always are."

Dean didn't look too sure about that, but he didn't contradict the angel. He pulled into the motel parking lot just as Sam stepped out of Eileen's car. Cas followed the two Winchesters into their room with his saltwater soaked coat and suit jacket. He left the waterlogged dress pants and undershirt when he changed into new clothes, figuring that he could easily replace those pieces some other time.

"I should probably take these to a dry cleaners," the angel announced, showing Dean the dirty clothes. "I'll be back soon."

"Can you bring back a pizza? I'm starving," Dean said, tossing Cas some cash for the requested food.

"Um... sure," Cas replied.

Sam rolled his eyes, "He's not our personal DoorDash, Dean."

"I do not know what that is, but I don't mind," Cas said, smiling.

"See? He's happy to help out, Sam," Dean said to his brother, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Okay, now I just feel like you're patronizing me," Cas frowned.

"Oh, no. No, no. Never," Dean insisted, though he was smirking a little.

Cas sighed and zapped out of the room before Dean could say anything embarrassing. The angel had to travel quite far to find a dry cleaners that was still open, since it was past sunset. While he waited for his clothes to be cleaned—the ladies inside said that it would probably take a couple hours—Cas decided to get some replacement dress pants and a new button-down. He had enough money with him to buy a decent quality pair of trousers and a crisp white button-down. He also got a new dark blue colored tie.

After picking his freshly cleaned clothes back up Cas got a pizza as per request of Dean. It was around ten in the evening when he arrived back in the motel room.

Sam was asleep on one of the beds, a book still open in his hands. Dean, meanwhile, was in the adjoining bathroom taking a shower.

Cas set the pizza down on the little table near the door and then debated whether he should put his freshly cleaned—and new—clothes on. Even though his social skills weren't the best, he still figured it would be weird to change in the middle of the motel room. Well, he wouldn't think much of it, but he knew it would probably bother the Winchesters.

He couldn't change in the bathroom, though, since Dean was currently in there.

Well, he'd just change quickly. Yeah. No one would even notice.

Cas quickly tossed his clean clothes on the unoccupied bed next to him and then shrugged out of his t-shirt and khaki shorts. He also kicked off the tan sandals.

The angel had just put on the newly bought dress pants when Dean—still shirtless—walked out of the bathroom.