"You're walking like you got fucked up the— oh yeah, you did."
"That was only funny the first twenty times you said it, Cas." Dean glares back at him. At this point, Castiel seems as if he's bragging about it, although he has no one other than Dean to brag to. Dean sees Castiel smirk as he tries to sit down on one of the kitchen stools, but shoots back up when he realizes that sitting is not in his best interest. Dean winces.
"It'll get better tomorrow," Castiel sits down on the stool easily with a plate of leftover apple pie.
"Showoff." Dean whispers under his breath as he begins to penguin walk to the couch. He places himself down carefully on the cushion, "I hope your apple pie is freakin' worth it!"
Castiel laughs in the background. Dean lays his head on the cushioned pillow and glares out the window. He doesn't even know what day it is. And to be frankly honest with himself, Dean couldn't care less what day it is. He's just calm. He's collected. He feels like all his insecurities about his body have just washed away and have been burned in a pit. He can finally take a deep breath.
Dean breathes and peers over to Castiel, chewing slowly and writing in what appears to be a tattered brown book.
"Whatcha' got there, Cas?" Dean asks. Castiel momentarily stops chewing and looks up to Dean but immediately looks back down. Dean furrows his brows, "Oh, I get it. Top secret. Sorry I asked, Mr. Bond."
Castiel looks up to him again and forks a mouthful of pie but doesn't answer. Dean clears his throat and huffs.
"If you must know, it's my journal." Castiel says, not bothering to look up from the pages.
"Was that so hard to say?" Dean comments. Castiel shrugs. What was the guy expecting? It isn't like Dean's going to read it or make fun of him or anything for having a journal.
Dean lays his head back on the couch pillow and grins. "Are you writing about how freakin' awesome last night was?"
Castiel laughs. "You'll never know." He winks slyly at him, "But I can't say you're wrong."
Dean smirks. Last night was, weird. But not the bad kind of weird, the good kind. The kind of weird that someone wants in their life; the kind that differs someone from the person sitting across from them. Yeah, Dean is still sore. Hell, he doesn't think he's ever been in this amount of discomfort, but it doesn't bother him. He feels okay; he feels okay that he's sore, that he's vulnerable and weak. Because he knows that the weakness is his strength.
Dean lays his head back down on the couch pillow. He can make out the soft flick of graphite on paper until he hears the slam of a book and Castiel's socks begin to drag across hardwood floor. Castiel plops down on the couch next to him. Dean laughs to himself when he sees tiny purple marks on Castiel's neck that resemble bug bites. Castiel notices his grin.
"You have them too, you know."
"Yeah, Cas," Dean lifts up his shirt and exposes his marked abdomen, "You turned into a real vacuum cleaner last night."
"Oh, I turned into a vacuum cleaner?" Castiel stands from the couch and turns his back to Dean, pulling his white t-shirt over his head and exposing his back, "At least I didn't turn into Wolverine."
Dean feels his cheeks blush. "I should probably cut my nails soon."
Castiel pulls his shirt down and gives him a sarcastic glare. Dean winks at him. They smile at each other for a few seconds before Castiel's hand brushes against Dean fingers. Dean looks down at his bare skin.
Sam's ring is still gone.
He forgot. It hits him like a bullet.
"Are you alright, Dean?"
Dean chuckles at Castiel's ability to pick up Dean's change in mood so quickly, like he has a sixth sense. Dean doesn't really want to talk about it, but he knows that it's okay to talk about it. So, he does.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just —" Dean clears his throat, "I left Sam's ring on the plane last week. Such a stupid mistake... I—I just hate myself for losing it."
Castiel looks at him delicately, with concern. His head tilts.
Dean doesn't like that look. It's Castiel's 'trying to understand' look. He can already feel himself to get a little angry at the fact that he's even thinking about Sam's ring, let alone talking about it.
Dean clears his throat. "Forget it, Cas. It was stupid to bring that up, just— just forget it."
"Do you want to go mini-golfing today?" Castiel asks suddenly.
Dean purses his lips and widens his confused eyes.
That was uh...random?
Is that Castiel's way of trying to get Dean's mind off of something, or did he just not care? Dean parts his lips to say something, but his lips only stutter until they close. Dean looks to Castiel again and he looks... serious. It had been a legit question. And although the idea of mini-golfing at first strikes him as childish...it can't hurt to actually be a child again for once, especially since he never had the formal chance to be.
Dean nods cheerfully, "Yeah, well get ready to get your ass beat."
Castiel looks at him for a few seconds and squints. "Well, seeing as though you had your ass beat last night, I wouldn't count on it." Castiel winks at him and then makes his way to the stairs.
Dean doesn't have a good comeback for that one.
The mini-golfing club is less than half his size and every time he bends over to hit the golf ball, everything hurts.
Hole One...seventeen more to go...
Dean bends — that doesn't work.
Dean tilts — that doesn't work.
Dean squats — that definitely doesn't work.
Dean huffs and just swings the club from a standing position. The ball doesn't even go anywhere close to the hole. Castiel laughs behind him and pushes Dean aside with his golf club.
"Step aside, amateur." Castiel sings. Dean raises his brows and crosses his arms. Castiel bends, and when he does it he looks back at Dean and grins, and then he proceeds to wiggle his legs as if he's getting into some sort of 'fancy golfing position'. He taps the ball with his club.
Hole in one.
"That's not fair, this one was easy, it had no obstacles." Dean spits at him, arms uncrossing and pointing angrily at Castiel's sunken golf ball.
"Dean, other than speed and direction, that was a really great putt." Castiel says proudly, leaving Dean at the start of Hole One to stare as he collects his golf ball from the hole and move onto Hole Two.
A few girls giggle behind Dean.
"There were no obstacles." Dean says to them before he stomps off to Hole Two. He hears Castiel chuckle in front of him.
Castiel stops and looks at the next hole, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He studies it for a moment.
"There's a hill on this one now," Castiel stops to look at Dean, "Think you can handle it?"
"I could slap you, you know." Dean grunts at him.
Castiel raises eyebrows in amusement. He turns and faces his left cheek to Dean and taps on the open skin, "Right here, then." Castiel taunts him. Dean huffs and steps forward and places his golf ball on the ground.
"That's what I thought," Castiel smirks.
"Damn, I haven't seen anyone bicker at each other this much since my grandparents."
Dean and Castiel turn to the unidentified voice behind them. It's one of the girls that were behind them at Hole One. Short, dark-skinned with puffy curled hair, she comes up to them and gives a warm smile, "You guys up for a game?" She asks, placing her petite hands on the hems of her jeans.
Dean looks to Castiel quickly and then back to the girl again, "Deal, but I get to be on your team."
The girl chuckles and nods, "Sarah, get over here." The girl says, and soon the other brunette is running from Hole One up to Hole Two, braided hair on each shoulder bouncing. The first girl turns to them again, "I'm Cassie, and this is Sarah."
"I'm Dean," He says, and then motions to Castiel who is standing behind him, "And that one right there who decided to wear a trench coat to play mini-golf is Castiel."
Castiel gives him a relaxed glare and sticks out his hand in front of the girls, in which they shake it gently, "Pleasure to meet you," Castiel smiles, "Excuse him, if you will, he's a sore loser. Very sore loser." Castiel looks to Dean and squints his eyes mischievously.
Oh my god I'm dating the Devil.
Dean gives him a sarcastic smile, "We'll go first." Dean offers, and Cassie's the first one up at the front of the hole.
And she does the same goddamn thing that Castiel does.
She slowly lines herself up at the front, opening and closing one eye and aiming cautiously. She wiggles her butt before she shoots, raises her golf club gently, and hits the ball.
Hole in one.
She sways around and twirls the gold club in her hand like it had been nothing at all.
"Let's see whatcha' got," Cassie grins to him. Dean shrugs. He knows he's doomed. He can already feel himself begin to sweat. He figures, for a second, that maybe if he prepares himself like Cassie and Castiel, that maybe it might work.
So he cracks his neck, leans forward, painfully, closes his left eye as he positions the golf club at his feet. He even wiggles his butt. He breathes in the cool air and lets a small gust of wind pass by him, careful not to let the breeze screw-up his technique.
And he ends up making a fool of himself and missing. He hits too hard and the ball rolls off the course and onto the side-walk.
"Dean!" Cassie shouts.
"Well sorry, I didn't expect to be playing with Tiger Woods over here!" Dean shouts as he hustles to get his golf ball. Castiel's faint laughing sounds like someone is shouting next to his face.
Next up is Castiel.
Dean watches his routine, his cute little butt shake, his tender swing, and then the quick sink of the golf ball. Castiel unhurriedly walks to pick up the ball from the hole.
"I don't know how you do it, Cas." Dean comments. Castiel grins.
"It's the one thing that I'm good at." Castiel responds.
Next to go is Sarah, who just so happens to be just as bad as Dean, maybe a little worse. She misses the ball completely on her first swing, which makes Dean feel a little better about himself. It takes her five shots before she gets it in.
The rest of the game is pretty much exactly like the first two holes. With Castiel and Cassie getting as many hole in ones, pars, bogeys, and birdies they possibly can, and with Dean and Sarah either running out of swings or making it in by the time they reach the sixth swing. Dean is a little better than Sarah, though, which doesn't totally shit on his day.
When they finally make it to hole eighteen, Dean and Cassie are leading. Good thing Dean chose Cassie, or he would've been fucked. Castiel and Sarah go first this time, and Castiel gets it in on the third swing and Sarah on the seventh. They banter at the other side of the course while Cassie and Dean set up for their shots.
It's getting dark out, and at the moment, Dean wants nothing more than to just go home, lay on the couch, have a beer, and have Castiel curled against his side. As much as Castiel has pissed him off today, Dean can never stay mad at him for more than 2 minutes.
Cassie bends down at Dean's feet to tie her shoe lace that had become loose. Dean tenses up a little. He can see down her shirt. He can see skin, plenty and plenty of skin, and the white lace bra that she's got underneath her shirt. But...it isn't affecting him. At all.
But, I love boobs? Everyone loves boobs?
Dean makes a disgruntled face. Why isn't it affecting him? Why doesn't he care? And why in the absolute fuck doesn't he have a boner? Cassie's an attractive girl, slim and charming, big brown eyes and full lips. Why isn't he into her?
Slightly confused, Dean looks up and across the green tarp, to where Castiel and Sarah are still chatting. Dean watches Castiel for a moment, the way he stands, hands folded at his chest, the way he listens and talks, head tilted attentively with his eyes squinted slightly. He watches his lips move, as they smile and sway.
"I remember when someone used to look at me like that."
Dean snaps out of it and looks at Cassie, "What?"
"Nothing," She says apprehensively, twirling her golf club and getting into position to swing. She gets it in on the third swing. Dean on the other hand, runs out of swings. But they still win.
Castiel comes up to Dean at the end of the game and nudges him, "Good game. Guess you're not as bad as I thought you were."
Dean smirks, "Guess you're not as good as I thought you were." He laughs. Castiel rolls his eyes. The girls come back from returning the golf balls and clubs . They give the boys mild grins.
"Thanks for the game, guys." Sarah says kindly to them.
"Yeah, me and Dean kicked your asses." Cassie laughs. Dean and Sarah look at each other uneasily, "Okay, I kicked Castiel's ass." Cassie laughs and hands a piece of paper to Dean, "Let me know if you guys ever want to go for round two." She grins, laying out her arms and wrapping them quickly around Castiel's shoulders to hug him. Sarah does the same. Cassie faces Dean and opens up steady arms.
She smells fruity, like peaches, and her arms wrap tightly around the back of Dean's neck.
"Don't let him go," She whispers in his ear, slowly releasing coiled arms from his body. Dean nods. Castiel gives them both a nervous stare. Sarah hugs Dean, and they say last goodbyes before they go their separate ways.
Castiel looks at Dean while they're walking back to the car.
"What did Cassie say?" He asks.
Dean grins and looks at him, "She said you suck at golf."