Content: In which Dean opens up some more, an unwanted guest arrives and Castiel shows his badass side.
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Author's Note: Lots of stuff happening for one chapter *lol* Have fun!
And since I can't say it enough, THANK YOU!
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Somehow just a short while later Dean ends up being whisked away to do some manual labor around the house.
Castiel has no idea how it actually happened. After their breakfast in bed – and Castiel doesn't want to think about Gabriel's face when he told him about that afterwards, making Castiel contemplate once again if he maybe crossed some social line – he found himself running some errands. Emma hadn't been happy with him leaving, grabbing his leg and acting like Castiel would never return, but after some soothing words and promising her over and over that he'd spend the rest of his day with both her and her father, she eventually let him go.
He had been gone for merely an hour, not expecting any kind of surprises at his return, and now he sees himself confronted with Dean climbing on a ladder to fix one of the pavilion's beams, as it seems.
"Kali asked me," Dean says before Castiel's even able to open his mouth. "You can't say 'no' to the bride, right?"
Castiel sighs. "We actually hired some handymen –"
"Yeah, I know," Dean confirms. "But they're having car trouble apparently. They're gonna be late."
"Still …"
Dean offers him an easy smile. "It's really alright, Cas," he promises. "I'm actually glad to help, believe it or not. Jo took Emma to … well, I don't really know what the girls are up to actually, but nonetheless I got bored without them. So I went to Kali and asked her if there's anything I could do." He shrugs casually. "It's no big deal. Jo already told me that we might be helping with the preparations."
Castiel heaves a deep breath. "Yes, maybe carry some flowers or place a few seating cards. Not this."
"It's really okay, man," Dean cuts in, chuckling. "Who knows how long those guys take to figure out to get here. And we don't want any delays, right? Kali would probably get an aneurysm."
Castiel can't help thinking about his brother and the detailed groundwork he did. "More like Gabriel. And the poor wedding planner."
He notices the short woman nearby, gesticulating wildly at some of the kitchen staff, looking like the epitome of stress and lack of sleep.
But still, he can't stand the thought of using Dean's skills like this. He's a guest, not one of their workers. "Dean …"
"I don't mind, Cas." He sounds rather amused. "I'm actually quite happy to do this. I've never been good with lazing around while everyone else around me is working their asses off."
Castiel wants to argue that there is nothing lazy about enjoying some well deserved free time, but in the end he refrains from it. Dean actually looks quite relaxed, like a man in his element, and Castiel has no desire to further bother him with this. He seems rather content with a hammer in his hand and a purpose right in front of him, so Castiel seriously doesn't want to rain on his parade.
Besides, the sight of Dean in some lose jeans and a tight t-shirt isn't entirely unpleasant as well.
Not at all actually.
"You're very good at this," Castiel comments after a while. He offers Dean some nails since he feels awkward just standing at the sideline and watching, and Dean shoots him a grateful smile as he grabs a few out of Castiel's hand, brushing his skin lightly and making the man shiver in the process.
"Well, I guess I'm quite alright at fixing things," Dean answers, trying for modest. "I renovated our kitchen a while ago. And I built Emma this awesome bed I saw on the internet."
Castiel can safely say that no one, not even his closest kin, ever did something like this for him, and it's kind of wondrous how Dean is able to speak so casually about it. As if every single parent on earth builds some furniture for their children on a sunny afternoon.
"You are a remarkable man," Castiel announces solemnly and revels in the following blush on Dean's cheeks.
"Uh … thanks," Dean mumbles bashfully, turning his head a bit to hide the little pleased smile on his lips.
"Although I didn't expect anything else," Castiel continues. "I mean, your car is in excellent condition and it's fair to assume this is your work, right? It still looks the same as back in high school. Maybe even better."
Dean grins as he climbs down the ladder. "Yeah, my Baby still looks great, huh?" he says, pride in his voice. "I had to rebuild her up from the ground at one point. Everyone told me she was a total loss and I should say goodbye, but hey, I did prove them wrong, didn't I?"
His chest swells a little bit and at the same time he appears sheepish, as though he doesn't like talking about his own accomplishments.
Castiel, however, starts to frown. "What happened with your car?"
Dean's eyes widen a bit, obviously surprised that Castiel would even ask that question. "Um, I had this accident. About … about eight years after graduation, I think."
Castiel steps a little closer. "You had an accident?"
It probably wasn't just a bagatelle, considering his car got turned into a wreck.
Dean ducks his head. "Yeah, there was this truck driver. He fell asleep on the wheel and – well, missed the red light. I was at the wrong place at the wrong time back then."
Castiel feels something uncomfortable clench inside his chest. "Were you hurt badly?"
"Yeah, well …" Dean rubs the back of his neck. "For a while it actually looked like I wouldn't make it, to be honest. They told me my heart stopped several times the following days and they always had to revive me. I was in a coma for a while."
He seems nonchalant about it, as if all of this happened to someone else way back in the past, but there is a certain gleam in his eyes that makes it more than obvious that he's still affected by that incident.
And that's no surprise. Castiel already feels unsettled hearing this story, he can't even imagine living it.
And to think that Dean nearly lost his life, that he had been so close to watch his existence end …
That Castiel almost would never have seen him again …
Before he can overthink his next step, Castiel suddenly finds himself laying his hand over Dean's and squeezing it lightly. Dean's skin is warm and soft and Castiel actually has to suppress the urge to link their fingers to deepen the contact.
"That sounds awful," Castiel whispers. "I'm really sorry."
Dean merely gapes at him for a while, his expression absolutely unreadable. His gaze flicks between Castiel's face and their joined hands, like he can't decide where to lock his focus.
"Uh … thanks," he answers eventually, sounding all kinds of awkward. "But it's okay now, I promise. I mean, sometimes there is still some pain in my chest, especially when it's cold and wet outside, but it's manageable. A lot of people are off far worse than me."
Castiel heard about this before – people using phrases like "It could have been worse" to somehow shield themselves away and downplay the situation, the trauma and the pain, for their beloved one's sake, but also mainly for themselves as well.
Castiel wants to argue with him that there is no need to degrade the things he went through and that the acknowledgment of each and every single person's pain is valuable, but he isn't sure if this would be a proper thing to do. He feels the desire to say it rather desperately, he's got to admit, however, the tiny voice in the back of his mind advises him to shut up because it wouldn't be awfully polite to get into such meaningful and deep conversation with a man he barely knows and just met again after fifteen years.
"I'm just happy that Sammy and my dad didn't get that hurt, too," Dean says. "They were with me in the car. We just came back from Dad's new girlfriend – first time meeting the kids and everything – and well, Sam and Dad were arguing, as usual, and I was in the backseat because …" He halts, frowning. "Actually I can't even remember why I was there in the first place. I think something that I ate at Kate's made me sick and I wanted some peace and quiet in the back there … I guess …"
It's not unusual for patients who suffered through such a trauma to forget certain details of the incident or at least recall them quite foggily.
"Well, at least Sammy and Dad got off the hook, just some scratches and bruises," Dean continues. "That's the most important thing."
Of course Castiel would never contradict that it's a good thing everyone came out of this alive, even the Impala somehow, but he still feels the strong pull to reassure Dean that his suffering is valuable as well. That sometimes there are other aspects worth mentioning than simple survival.
But Castiel only hears Gabriel's voice in the back of his mind, reminding him to "try to human once in a while".
And since he sincerely doesn't want Dean to recoil once again, he stays silent on that topic.
Instead he says, "Well, your car looks really magnificent," because he knows that it's making Dean happy to talk about his automobile.
And as expected, Dean's eyes light up. "Yeah, right? I mean, it was a lot of hard work and so many people told me to not even bother. But in the end I did prove them wrong, didn't I?" He grins brightly. "And it got me thinking recently, you know? About, well … making some money with that."
Castiel perks up. He detects a note of tentativeness in Dean's tone, indicating that he hasn't talked about this openly with many people before. "What do you mean?"
Dean drops his gaze, watching his shoes rather intensely all of a sudden. "Well, one of Bobby's customers … the other day he saw my Baby and Bobby told him the whole 'car wreck' story. And that guy got very interested 'cause he bought himself an oldtimer a while ago and was still looking for someone reliable to fix the beauty, you know? Make her sexy again."
Castiel nods in understanding. "I assume that not everyone knows their ways around classic cars."
Something in Castiel's voice makes Dean huff in amusement. "Yeah, what can I say, it's not easy. The parts alone …" He shrugs. "In the end I took the job. It was a lot of fun and I started thinking … maybe, one day, we could make this into serious business."
Castiel has to admit he know fairly little about the restoration of classic cars, but he can imagine that people who love these kinds of vehicles are more than inclined to spend a big amount of money to see their purchases well cared for. Furthermore, the subliminal excitement in Dean's tone alone seems worth following that path without any kind of hesitation.
"Considering your car's appearance you'll probably be famous in no time at all," Castiel says, meaning every single word of it.
And he revels in the sight of Dean's responding blush.
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Dean's actually surprised how easy it is to talk to Castiel.
Granted, Dean still has the urge to stutter and get flustered most of the time the guy looks in his mere direction, but at the same time it feels just right somehow.
He doesn't talk about his accident very often. He can't stand the memory of the pain and fear and the long way through physical therapy and his friend's encouragements until he finally had been himself again. But with Castiel the words just flowed out of him.
It felt good to share this with him.
As well as mentioning his business idea. He actually hasn't really spoken about it to anyone ever before, not even Bobby. However, now, with Castiel praising the beauty of the Impala, Dean just couldn't help himself. He's always been proud of his Baby and he just felt the need to share her story with Castiel.
And so he finds himself talking about the potential restoration business and delights in the fact that Castiel actually encourages him instead of shooting him down. Castiel is probably the most honest guy on the planet and most likely absolutely incapable of lying, so he's not merely humoring Dean to be polite or something.
If this would be a shitty idea, he'd say so.
Without sugarcoating it.
Admittedly, classic cars are not exactly Castiel's forte and he's not the best person to ask if there's any future in the business, but Dean has been doing a lot of research the last few months and he's confident enough that it's worth the risk. And Castiel doesn't even seem to doubt for a second that Dean would be able of running such an operation and turn it into a success.
Yeah, it feels good having someone like Castiel giving him the thumbs up.
Really freaking good.
"Maybe I should finally talk with Bobby about it," Dean says. "I mean, we don't have to make super big changes at first. Maybe just a job here and there at the beginning. Check if there's any future there."
Castiel nods. "That sounds like a reasonable plan."
"And perhaps I should pick up some business classes again," Dean finds himself saying. "I actually got myself registered a few years ago, but … well, then the whole thing with Emma happened and I dropped it again."
He never regretted his decision – getting some kind of balance between his job, classes and a newborn baby would have been impossible at best –, but now he thinks there might be the time for some alterations. Emma would be in school soon, John, who actually turned out to be a surprisingly good grandfather, already offered more than once to help Dean out and Bobby would more than likely be inclined to adjust Dean's schedule at the garage to make this all work out in their favors.
It's at least not completely impossible anymore.
And with Castiel looking at him like that and talking about how it's never too late to see your dreams come true, it seems more than doable.
"Dean!" he suddenly hears a voice calling his name, making him startle. "There you are!"
And then someone wraps their arms around him, pressing both their bodies closer, and Dean needs a moment to realize that it's Jo and that he's not supposed to push her back as if he's been electrocuted.
"Jo," he says, hoping that Castiel doesn't notice his teeth grinding.
"I'm feeling like I haven't seen you all day," Jo continues, totally ignoring Dean's warning undertone. "What have you been up to?"
Dean bites his bottom lip and tries not to look like a fish squirming to escape the fisherman's firm grip. Instead he pats her back awkwardly and answers, "Uh … nothing much. Breakfast, handling tools."
Jo chuckles. "The usual then."
And then she pulls them even closer and Dean seriously fights the urge to call her out on that.
After all, he agreed to play the happy couple, right? And happy couples do hug occasionally, as far as he knows.
Dean dares a quick glance at Castiel who took a step back as if to grant them some privacy, his expression so freaking unreadable probably not even the world's best decoders would've been capable of cracking that.
"Just hold me," Jo suddenly hisses into his ear, sounding the opposite of nice and cuddly all of a sudden.
Dean arches a brow, wondering if he maybe did something wrong, and he needs a moment to notice that Jo's unusually tense. Since they arrived at this place she had been a ray of happy sunshine (with some Jo-typical mocking and teasing thrown into the mix here and there) and the sudden switch in moods is suspicious enough to make Dean nervous.
"You're alright, Jo?" Dean whispers, sneaking another peak of Castiel to make sure he doesn't overhear. "What happened?"
Jo scoffs. "What do you think, Einstein?"
Dean can't help but pull a face as he realizes there's basically only one thing – or one person, to be exact – that could ruin her day.
Ethan!
Speak of the devil, just a second later he spots a painfully familiar figure standing with Gabriel at the other side of the big pavilion, looking all kinds of out of place in his super fancy Armani suit next to a mud puddle.
Dean groans lowly. Why the hell is the douchebag here already? From what he gathered he actually thought Ethan would show up for the bachelor party at the latest or maybe even the wedding itself, not days earlier.
"What's the asshole doing here?" Dean presses through gritted teeth.
"No idea." Jo sounds as happy about the whole thing as he is. "Gabe's mom probably gave him an early invitation or whatever. Or perhaps he just came over to spoil our fun."
Sounds believable enough.
God, Dean seriously hates that guy.
"Excuse me," Castiel suddenly raises his voice, "is everything alright?"
For a second there Dean considers to just wave him off and not bother them with their problems, but before he's even able to make up his mind, Jo beats him to it and explains, "That guy over there is my ex. It didn't end well."
Castiel seems surprised for a moment before glancing over to the man speaking with his brother. "Ethan McGallan?"
Dean feels how every single muscle of Jo's body begins to cramp at the mention of his name. "Yep," she confirms grimly.
After that revelation Castiel stays quiet for a while before eventually announcing, "You're better off without him. He's an assbutt."
Jo wrinkles her forehead and studies Castiel like she isn't sure whether the guy's right in his mind or not, but Dean finds himself bursting into laughter. Once again Castiel proves perfectly that he's the embodiment of bluntness and honesty.
"You're right, he is," Dean agrees easily, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm telling Jo all the time."
Okay, granted, he used some more colorful curse words in the past, mostly accompanied with some rude gestures as well, but the point still stands.
"Yeah, yeah," Jo grumbles. "I have terrible taste in men. Present company included."
Dean scowls. He didn't agree to be someone's fake boyfriend to get insulted. "You can sleep on the couch tonight, if you want."
Jo scoffs. "Oh please. Even the couch in that room is bigger and more comfortable than the bed in our apartment."
Dean leans forward and whispers into her ear, so quiet that Castiel can't overhear, "My apartment. Mine."
Jo glares at him, clearly not appreciating Dean's correction, and Dean already expects some snarky retort coming his way, but then suddenly her face transforms, an almost sunny smile widening her lips, and she purrs, "You're right, Dean. We really should look for a bigger place. It's about time, don't you think?"
Dean furrows his brows, puzzled by her sudden change in demeanor, but just a moment later he gets his answer when Ethan suddenly appears next to them, his posture so straight even the stick up his ass seems to have a stick up its ass. Jo obviously noticed his approach and instantly morphed into a loving girlfriend that dreams about a bigger place with the love of her life or whatever.
And well, Dean can play along with that. After all, he mainly agreed to this whole charade to wipe that stupid look off Ethan's face. So he pretends to not have spotted Ethan's presence and says, with a soft undertone in his voice, "I guess a house would be quite nice, I guess. With a garden for Emma and –"
Dean leans forward and whispers nonsense into Jo's ear, knowing fairly well that she'd catch up on that. And indeed she begins to snicker as if Dean just made a very salacious comment and presses herself closer to her 'boyfriend'.
"Jo!" Ethan's voice interrupts their little game. "How nice to see you again."
He didn't change much, Dean can tell. Not just the looks – same hairstyle, same clean shaven face – but the whole package. His composure, the constant expression on his face as though everyone else in his near vicinity is inferior to him.
Dean still has no frigging idea why Jo even fell for this asshat. Or deemed him at least worthy to be in her company.
Probably the sex was good enough to fry Jo's brain for a while.
"Ethan!" Dean answers, his voice cool. "What are you doing here?"
Ethan arches his brow. "You didn't know I was coming?"
He seems amused, most likely sniffing some potential relationship drama with Jo keeping quiet about her ex-boyfriend's attendance for the wedding.
However, Dean merely huffs. "Of course I knew," he says. "Jo told me right away. I just wasn't aware that you'd arrive so early, that's all."
"Me neither," Jo grumbles underneath her breath.
Ethan pulls on the sleeves of his expensive jacket. "Well, I figured my presence might be valuable as early as possible. You see, Gabriel and I are good friends, so I'm fairly sure he doesn't mind me being here to help with the preparations."
Dean honestly can't imagine anybody not minding that douche being nearby.
And he's confirmed just a second later when suddenly Castiel pipes in, "And I'm fairly sure you are gravely mistaken."
Ethan blinks confused, his gaze roaming toward Castiel. It's quite obvious that he didn't even notice that there's another person present.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Ethan asks icily.
Castiel simply smiles sweetly in return. "I'm Gabriel's brother, Castiel. You may have heard of me."
Judging by Ethan's expression the guy hadn't even the foggiest, but he still feigns recognition. "Oh yes, of course. Gabriel talked about you many times."
Damn, he's seriously a bad actor.
"I sincerely doubt that," Castiel counters. He still sounds cheerful, like he's just pointing out some nice fun facts, but there is a shadow crossing his features for a split second that says otherwise. "Considering that my brother isn't very fond of you at all, I don't see him talking with you very much apart from the necessary basics."
The vein on Ethan's forehead starts to throb. He's evidently not very pleased by Castiel's mere existence. "Excuse me?"
"The last time my brother mentioned you was about two weeks ago," Castiel explains calmly. "And as far as I remember, he called you 'a crappy piece of vermin' he would never have invited if it hadn't been for his mother. So I don't see how Gabriel could be glad about your early arrival. Quite on the contrary, I'm sure he would have been quite happier with you never showing your face around here."
Shit.
If anyone would ever ask Dean to pinpoint the exact moment he fell in love with Castiel, this was it!
Hell, even Jo looks all kinds of love-struck as she stares at Castiel in amazement.
Meanwhile, Castiel continues smiling as though he isn't aware of his word's effect. He looks so polite and innocent you almost miss the glimmer in his eyes.
"Has your plus one arrived yet as well?" he asks. "I can arrange for both of you to be shown to your room. It's not our best – because again, neither Gabriel nor Kali really care about you –, but it's decent enough. And I've heard that shared bathrooms are quite beneficial for social interactions. I guess you'll get very acquainted with the other guests living in your wing during their stay."
Jo's jaw goes very slack, apparently not sure whether she's witnessing an actual event or whether she's dreaming about her ex being roasted so freaking bad you can almost smell it.
Meanwhile, Dean grins from ear to ear, recalling all the good old high school times when Castiel antagonized so many people just by outright telling the truth.
It's a beautiful thing to watch.
Ethan himself doesn't appear to know how to deal with that. Of course he's angry, that's fairly obvious, but at the same time he's so fucking dumbstruck that he's only able to gape at Castiel and probably wonder if this is for real.
In the end he decides to pass over Castiel altogether and trains his gaze back on Jo. "As I see the quality of your acquaintances hasn't improved very much since the last time we saw each other. It's a shame that you obviously didn't listen to my advice."
Jo snorts. "You mean when you told me over and over again that I need friends with more decent manners?" Her lips curl upwards. "I'm quite happy where I am right now. Thank you very much."
Ethan looks like he has a lot to say to that specific topic, but Dean has about enough of the guy's attitude. He glares at the scumbag, hard, making it crystal clear that he should consider his next steps very carefully if he doesn't desire a fist smashed into his face.
And thankfully Ethan always has been a frigging natural in reading death glares. He's probably dealing with them on a daily basis.
So instead of getting all condescending and douchey, he merely presses a, "I'm happy to hear that, Joanna," through his gritted teeth before he turns around and stalks off without even a goodbye, see you later, assholes.
It's magnificent.
As soon as Ethan's out of their line of sight Jo suddenly throws herself into the arms of a very startled Castiel. "That was awesome!" she exclaims, probably way too close to the poor guy's ear. "That stupid look on his face – brilliant!"
Castiel's cheeks begin to flush. "It was nothing –"
"You need to marry me!" Jo states, laughing aloud. "No objections!"
Castiel blinks, apparently a bit overwhelmed by her enthusiasm. "Um …"
Dean rolls his eyes. "Leave him alone, Jo," he orders. "You're not as cute as you think you are."
She sticks her tongue out. "Oh, I am, Winchester. I really am."
Dean merely scoffs, not at all eager to get into their usual bickering, especially not with Castiel next to them. So instead he gently yet firmly untangles Jo from Castiel while suppressing the surprisingly forceful wave of jealousy at seeing someone else in his arms.
"You can't marry him!" another voice suddenly pipes in, young and high, and Dean suddenly notices his own daughter clutching at Castiel's leg and glaring at Jo reproachfully.
Dean curses silently underneath his breath, chiding himself for completely missing her being nearby. Of course it makes sense now, Emma left with Jo a while ago after all, but Jo's sudden girlfriend act and Ethan's entire existence distracted him for a minute there.
His chest constricts briefly as he wonders whether she caught up something she wasn't supposed to witness – some cussing or inappropriate phrases –, however, revisiting the scene in his head once again he figures that apart from the tension in the air the whole thing hasn't been that bad.
At least Emma doesn't look traumatized. Only a bit possessive while she's still grabbing Castiel's leg.
"You wanna tell me that I can't marry Cas?" Jo asks, clearly amused. "Why? You wanna do it?"
Emma shakes her head vigorously. "No. Daddy's gonna marry him!"
"Okay!" Dean hastily cuts in to prevent further damage as fast as possible, fighting back a blush in the process and hoping that neither Castiel nor Jo notice his dilemma. "How about we grab something to eat? I'm starving! Watching stupid exes put into their places always makes me so hungry."
And before someone is even able to answer, he reaches for his daughter, pulls her into his arms and walks off into the main house's direction without looking into anybody's eyes.
Though he can't help spotting a soft smile on Castiel's lips and Dean inevitably finds himself wondering what it might mean.
Is it a reaction to Emma's imprudent announcement or is he simply charmed by her sweet nature?
Damn, the guy is incredibly hard to read.
"You're gonna marry Cas, not Jo!" Emma's obviously already set in her ways. Dean at least knows that tone in her voice very well, not even the threat of getting no dessert for the next few years would be capable of changing her mind on that matter.
Yeah, Dean is officially doomed.
Between juggling with Emma's erratic behavior, the perfect boyfriend act for Jo, the constant urge to break Ethan's nose, and his growing crush – no, feelings, definitely FEELINGS – for Castiel, Dean has honestly no idea if he'll make it out of this weekend unscathed.