Once the food was on the table and everyone settled down, Charlie seemed to relax a little, as Ann noted with relief. Her girlfriend was smart and capable but she could work herself into a frenzy that was hard to take for anyone, herself included. But with the acute crisis averted, her spirits lifted.
"Man, this is good food. Thanks, Charlie."
"You're welcome, Dean", Charlie smiled warmly. "I would have made you a pie, but you know, kitchen is too small for everything at once."
"Yeah, well, don't worry. Cas doesn't like them, anyway."
"Cas doesn't like them", Sam repeated flatly.
"Yeah, man, you know that", Dean looked up from his plate at his brother, mouth so full that it was a miracle the words were understandable at all.
"Right, I know that", Sam rolled his eyes.
"What?" Dean made a baffled sound before stuffing the next bit of turkey in his mouth.
"Nothing", Sam shook his head.
"I wouldn't be upset about pie", Castiel chimed in. "I would eat it even though it is not my favorite. Because I am polite", he added with a pointed look at Dean.
Ann couldn't help but giggle while Dean groaned again.
"Leave me alone, Cas."
"Once you have managed an actual apology."
"Alright. I apologize, Cas. Alright? It was a mean thing to say to you. I won't do it again." Dean's voice was grumpy, but to Ann's surprise it also sounded like he actually meant it.
"Hmm", Cas thought about it. "Better. I accept the apology."
Dean heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Cas. It would be easier, though, you know? If you called me an – assbutt every so often. Just to get even."
"I do not get even", was Cas's stoic reply.
"No, I guess you don't."
Sam chuckled: "You should try it, really. It always makes me feel better to call him a jerk."
"Be quiet, you little shit", Dean grumbled.
"Jerk! See? Already feeling better."
Ann looked at Sam sideways. He wasn't feeling better, she could tell. All he did was trying to get back on familiar territory.
Dean rolled his eyes at his brother but he kept talking to Castiel. There was something serious about him tonight: "I know you are polite and I am not. I know you are caring about everyone including the bees and I am not. I know that you are a better person than I am, Cas. Honestly, I know it. There is no need to remind me at every opportunity."
Castiel immediately frowned. "I'm sorry", he said quietly.
"What for?"
"I hurt your feelings, Dean. I didn't want that. So I'm sorry."
"Jesus, Cas", Dean ran a hand through his hair. "It's alright. Who else would point out my flaws to me if not you?"
"Oh, would you stop with the chick flick, please?" Sam sighed exaggeratedly.
"What's your problem, Sam?" the line of Dean's jaw immediately hardened.
"You are! Just… just…", but Sam only threw his hands up in the air, defeated by the lack of vocabulary for this situation. Then he turned to Charlie. "Give me those keys, please? I think we need to go through with this. If just so that I don't have to guess and interpret anymore."
Charlie's eyes grew big. "Sam! You can't mean that!"
"Oh believe me, I can!"
Sam sounded dead serious and it was too much for Charlie. She started laughing.
Ann shook her head: "No, no, no, no. Over my dead body."
"They can always buy us new sheets", Charlie giggled.
"New furniture you mean. Cause I'm not touching nothing after they've been in there. No offense, guys." Ann shuddered.
Sam had started to giggle quietly, too, but had broken down on the table laughing by now. Or was it sobbing? It sounded painful.
Dean and Castiel looked utterly bewildered at the exchange, but finally a slow sense of mortified understanding spread over Dean's face.
That was the moment at which Ann couldn't keep her laughter in anymore, either. Dean's face slowly turning bright beet-red while Castiel just frowned slightly was too much for her. "Oh God, you two are just too much."
Dean did what he always did when he had no idea how to get a handle on things and tried to bully his way through the moment, his voice suddenly low and dangerous: "Sam? You wanna stop laughing and explain yourself. Right now."
"Oh, leave your brother alone, it's not his fault that we accidentally outed you", Charlie threw her napkin at Dean.
Dean caught it easily but then he just stopped mid-motion when Charlie's meaning caught up with him. "You did what?"
Ann kicked her girlfriend in the shin to get her to shut up. Messing with Dean when he was seriously pissed was never a good idea. "Nothing, Dean. We did nothing."
Charlie obviously judged the situation differently than Ann. "You're using Winchester logic on him? How do you think that's going to work? He invented it!"
"What the hell is wrong with you two? All that lesbian sex go to your brains?" Dean snarled, his whole body already in an angry forward motion when Cas laid a hand on his arm.
"It's alright, Dean. There is no need for this."
For a moment, there was a breathless silence in the room. Then Dean let himself fall back in his chair. He groaned and shook his head and for the third time tonight tried to rub the tension out of his face. "You all are going to be the death of me", he muttered. But the anger had drained out of him.
Sam's voice was soft when it filled the empty space after Dean's words: "It's only ever him, you know that right? You'd punch me but he lays one hand on your arm and your anger just dissipates."
For a second, Dean's shoulders tensed, but then he just settled for rubbing his neck awkwardly: "Yeah, well, what can I say. Cas is a good person. I don't want to disappoint him."
He half-smiled at Cas who ducked his head and smiled back shyly.
"You, on the other hand, are a jerk. So stop that", Dean told his brother.
Sam shook his head: "Dude, you've called me worse."
"Behold the maximum level of politeness Dean can reach", Charlie said with a sarcastic smile.
But since he had accepted Dean's apology, Castiel didn't let her get away with this anymore. He frowned disapprovingly: "You shouldn't make fun of him. He's trying."
"Yeah, right", Charlie replied drily.
But Dean just looked at Cas, took his hand for a second and squeezed it: "I can fight my own battles. But thanks for defending me, Cas."