And we are finally back on track! Don't forget to vote for your favourite chapters when the story is finished~
Written by IwRiTe4yOu (lucifers-otp)
"Dean, Sam! Gabriel and Castiel are here!" Mary called up to her sons.
Sam came tromping down the stairs, still getting used to his longer legs after the huge growth spurt. Dean was running down beside, trying, and failing, to push his brother out of the way to reach the bottom first. Mary laughed as they both lost their footing and fell down the last four steps, landing side by side on the stomach at their mother's feet. Gabriel snickered in the doorway and Castiel stifled a laugh.
Mary smiled down at her boys. "Put on your coats. Gabriel suggested that you go out caroling, and I think it would do you two some good to see something besides the inside of your rooms this Christmas break."
Dean automatically groaned. Anything that Gabriel suggested was instantly never a fun idea for him. Sam grinned at the idea and grabbed his coat from the nearby coat rack and was instantly out the door. Castiel came inside and offered Dean a hand up and looked at him apologetically.
"I tried to talk him out of it, but he somehow roped me into going as well. If you come then we can suffer together." Castiel suggested.
Dean huffed, as long as Cas was going to be there it shouldn't be too bad. Mary handed her oldest his coat and he trudged outside to join his brother and Gabriel.
"Alright," Mary began, "Since it's a weekday, people really aren't go to appreciate it if you're knocking on their doors after ten. And if you come home by ten-thirty I'll make hot chocolate and some other snacks."
Sam nodded; he was obviously going to be the one who remembered to keep track of the time. Mary smiled and closed the front door, telling them to have a good time. As they headed down the street, instantly Gabe grabbed Sam's hand and Dean intertwined his fingers with Castiel's.
"Okay! So here's the gameplan." Gabriel chirped. "I think we just head straight down this side of the street, duck into all of the cul de sacs, and about two or three miles down the road, when we hit the Harvelle's, we cross the street and come back down the other side."
"Gabriel, I don't really know about you," Dean started, "But I'd really rather not see anyone from school. And we're twenty-one for god sake; don't you think that caroling is a little childish?"
"Not when we have baby brothers who are only seventeen and eighteen." Gabriel explained. "Besides it brings Christmas spirit!"
Sam chuckled, "It's a great idea Dean. I mean we haven't gone outside to enjoy the snow and company of Christmas since the break started. One night of caroling isn't going to hurt anyone."
Dean grumbled but continued walking with them up to the first house. They decided on their repertoire. First they would sing Silent Night, then We Wish You A Merry Christmas, I'll Be Home For Christmas, Let It Snow, and Deck the Halls, on a rotation, switching at every house.
Gabriel knocked on the first door and everyone else in the group began to get a bit nervous. They hadn't practiced together or decided on a key so this could be either a great miracle, or a horrible disaster.
Fate obviously decided on the latter because the noise that was made by the four different boys each trying to sing their own timid rendition of Silent Night was easily the most horrifying thing they had heard all year. The couple that had opened the door graciously ignored the strangled cat sound they had made, smiled, thanked them and bid them a Merry Christmas.
As they walked away Gabriel was distraught. "That sounded horrible. Okay, let's stop for a second." He put his hand in front of them all to stop them as they reached the sidewalk. "To avoid any further embarrassment such as that, I vote that we should start each song with a soloist and have everyone come in with them so that we can be on the same key at the very least."
Dean laughed sarcastically, "And who you suppose we should have start us off? Me or you?"
Gabriel grinned, "Nah," he squeezed Sam's hand, "My moose should. He has the voice of an angel."
Castiel nodded, "I agree. Sam does sing well. He was fantastic playing a lead in the fall musical this past year."
"Then it's settled!" Gabriel said gleefully. "On to the next house! And this time Sam sings first. Our song is 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'."
Sam hadn't gotten a chance to speak on his own behalf before he was being pulled in the direction of the next house. He guessed he was okay with it, he enjoyed singing, so he really had no objections.
As they pulled the screen door open on the next house, Gabriel let Sam knock on it when he knew that he would be ready. The older couple was a bit slower getting to the door. But when it opened Sam started in all the same. After the first line, Castiel had caught onto his key and nuances and joined. Not long after Gabriel and Dean has started singing.
They sang the chorus of We Wish You a Merry Christmas through twice before they stopped. Glad for the complete turnaround in their performance. The woman began to cry and her husband was watching them smiling.
"It's been years since anyone has come caroling by our house. We thought that the wonderful tradition of bringing others joy had died, but you managed to bring back such great memories."
The woman looked up through her tears, "Please come in and have some gingerbread cookies. It's the least we can do to repay you for such a wonderful performance."
Gabriel smiled his usual grin at them, "We'd love to, but there are some other people just down this street that have yet to hear us themselves. And we really want to bring joy to everyone we can just like we did for you. But we'll definitely try and catch you on our way back around!"
He turned the group around and began to push them down the sidewalk. The gentleman and woman waved at them and thanked them again. Gabriel stopped them again to rendezvous on the sidewalk.
"This is why we should go caroling," he explained. "Because even while you don't fully appreciate it, someone will."
They continued on through the houses, continuing their song rotation. No more grumbles or complaints were heard from Dean, and Castiel even looked happier about being on their caroling trip. They met several other couples who were overly delighted to hear them, a gentleman who had just lost his wife that used to sing carols all the time, and several younger people that seemed uninterested.
The Harvelle's enjoyed the performance and asked for an encore. As they were heading down the other side it was becoming quite chilly and they wrapped themselves tighter in their coats and clung closer to each other. One house offered them hot chocolate for their spectacular performance which they all graciously accepted.
Ten o'clock rolled around and they were across the street from their house. None of them could feel their toes but the smiles on their faces were permanent and warming. When they stepped away from the house onto the sidewalk they reminisced about the night.
"Nothing beats the older woman from the beginning," Sam stated.
"I don't know Sammy," Dean interrupted, "That old gentleman just kept crying and offering us money to sing more. I feel bad for the poor guy seeing as he just lost his wife and all and we reminded him of her, but his genuine interest in our caroling felt pretty good."
Gabriel laughed, "You sound like you got pretty into it the Dean-o."
Castiel smiled, "He'll never tell you, but he secretly enjoys bringing smiles to people's faces."
"Is that right?" Gabriel asked, chuckling a bit.
Dean grumbled and tried to hide his blush, muttering a smile, "Screw you Cas," at his boyfriend.
Castiel chuckled lightly and spoke to the other two. "Well shall we head back and try to regain the feeling in our limbs?"
Sam and Gabriel nodded eagerly and turned, racing each other back to the house. Cas looked at Dean who was still muttering some choice words under his breath. Cas laughed and Dean glared at him.
"I may be a softy," Dean admitted, "But you love that about me."
Castiel looked at Dean and smiled, then leaned over and softly kissed his hunched over boyfriend. "I do, you wouldn't be you otherwise."
Dean grinned at his boyfriend and grabbed his hand so they could walk back. Gabe and Sam were already inside the house sitting at the table while Mary made hot chocolate and asked them about caroling. As Dean and Cas sat with them at the table, they talked excitedly about all the different kinds of people they had met, and how many people they had made smile.
When the hot chocolate was ready she poured out five cups and joined the overgrown boys at the table, grinning at her sons, and her obviously soon to be son-in-laws. Everyone at the table was smiling, caroling had been fun, but home was where they felt the Christmas spirit the most.