Chapter 7
Charlie and Sam are already firmly ensconced in a booth towards the back of the bar by the time Dean and Cas are ready to join them for the evening - there had been a slight mishap with someone's buttons getting torn off a shirt when someone else (cough, Cas) decided he absolutely, positively had to lavish Dean's body with a level of attention that would have had him condemned as idolatrous in another lifetime... Okay, in reality, Dean couldn't find his nice jeans and Cas wouldn't let him wear the ones that he'd spilt syrup down that morning. His version of events was much better and he'd already warned Cas that if anyone asked, that was the story they would be getting. Cas had narrowed his eyes in a manner that suggested Dean was a fucking dead man walking if he even tried to pull that shit. Dean was relatively sure he could take him. Like a solid 90% sure. If he got a couple of drinks in Cas just as a precaution.
Domestic grumblings aside, it was pretty nice to walk into a public place with Cas on his arm. His main goal might have been traversing the floor to reach Charlie and Sam, but he could multitask and scope out the appreciative glances of others at what a handsome couple they made. It was a redundant kind of affirmation, but Dean was petty enough to enjoy possessing things that other people wanted. And please, dear god, don't let Cas have developed mind reading abilities in the last 30 seconds or he was going to make Dean suffer for that idle thought. Obviously he didn't possess Cas. Obviously. It was just nice to know that other people found Cas as hot as he did. Looking only. Definitely no touching allowed.
Dean's adventures in Wonderland were brought to an abrupt halt by the realisation that they were already at Sam and Charlie's table and that three pairs of eyes were watching him with various degrees of expectation, incredulity and fond indulgence. He decided to reward Charlie's patience with him by sitting down next to her. Sam got a fond hair ruffle on the way which duly turned his expression to exasperation which paired rather nicely with Cas' baleful look as it became increasingly clear that he would be getting the first round of drinks in. He politely checked that Sam and Charlie would like the same again before turning from the table.
"Hey, blue eyes!" Dean was secretly delighted when several heads turned his way. Still have the old Winchester magic then.
"No."
"No, what?" Dean faltered slightly, because he wasn't actually trying to piss Cas off and his monosyllabic response was a little unnerving.
"No to 'blue eyes', but obviously I'm getting you a drink, Dean, don't be simple."
"Yeah, but I haven't told you what I want to drink yet, babe- CAS, definitely said Cas."
Cas' response was to tap his temple several times and then give Dean the finger as he walked away.
"Was he always such a prick or did I make him like this?" Dean wondered aloud before turning back to the table to see that both Sam and Charlie were making big old heart eyes at him. "Alright, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, what's up with you two?"
Sam's smirk said enough, but then Charlie chimed in with, "You guys are the stuff that Tumblr is made of." As she cupped her chin in both hands and proceed to stare at Dean.
"Tum-what?"
"Safer you don't know, dude, believe me." Sam shook away whatever mental image had been conjured by Charlie's comment. "I am glad to see that you're back to torturing each other purely for entertainment value, though - we were a bit worried for a while." The flippancy of the words was definitely at odds with the sincerity of his expression and tone.
"Dude, Cas and I are fine, we were always going to be -" Sam's scoff cut him off quite effectively. "Was it really that rocky from the outside?" Because, shit, it has been a fucking tsunami from the inside, but Dean had been hoping that they'd been keeping off the radar enough so that if things had gone south, there was still a salvageable friendship for Sam and Cas, and Charlie and Cas, but mostly Sammy - they'd been good friends long before Dean entered the frame. Sam had given Cas the time of day long before Dean was even aware of kid's existence.
"Dean, you're never as subtle as you give yourself credit for. You and Cas have been going backwards and forwards over the friendship line for years - in fact, I'm surprised there even is a line between you."
Dean will deny it until his deathbed, but he swears that as Cas appears to place the glasses on the table, Charlie mutters the words 'bond' and 'profound', but there is not enough pie in all the land to make Dean touch that Pandora's Box with a ten foot pole.
Instead he reaches for his beer, because Cas is a beautiful human being who knows Dean much too well for his own good, and blows him a kiss over the top of the glass before he takes his first drink. Cas keeps a menacing level of eye contact as he tips his head down to take a drink from his own glass, but there is a slight smile playing on his lips as he puts his glass back on the table.
There's a comfortable silence as everyone takes a drink and soaks up the atmosphere of the bar. Midweek's always a good time to come - sure there's some college kids hanging around the pool table and they're maybe a bit louder than Dean would prefer, but he's not that old. Plus, he's basically dating one of their peers. Which is a weird thought because not one of those kids actually looks like they should legally be in a bar. He could say something, get some IDs checked. He should say something - Christ on a cracker, when did he get so old? He takes himself out of his musings and scans the bar idly. Which turns out to be a spectacularly bad move, because he catches the eye of a blonde that looks like she's just walked in on her own ahead of all her friends so she's clearly looking for a familiar face to pass the time with. Lucky for her, and unluckily for Dean, he's definitely a familiar face...
"Dean! Imagine meeting you here - are you local? I didn't think this was your usual type of place!" She, Melissa, is all curls, curves and enthusiasm and Dean braces for one hell of an impact. She'd walked up with a startling level of familiarity and no context as far as everyone at the table but Dean is concerned.
"He-hey, Melissa," he coughs to clear his throat and deliberately doesn't look at anyone else even as he feels guilt prickle heat into his cheeks. Charlie could possibly help him out if she wanted to, but she's suspiciously quiet. "Good to see you. Night out?" He tries to edge back from the hand that comes to rest across the back of his neck and shoulders, but Melissa seems pretty intent on spending this conversation draped over his whole upper body.
"Yeah!" She enthuses, clearly not reading the tension screaming from his body. "The girls must be running late, but that means I get to spend some extra quality time with you." She beams at him, oh crap, this is definitely bad. "And meet your friends, of course." Fucking, fuck. Okay, this is really bad.
"Yeah, how about that... Melissa, this is my brother, Sam." Sam reaches across the table to take the hand that she offers him, he's bemused but cooperative. Dean's too afraid to look at Cas yet, but he's hoping that the fact that Melissa still has an arm means that he's in a benevolent mood. "Charlie, you remember Melissa, right?" Charlie raises her eyebrows at his vagueness but affirms his question. Okay, time to bite the proverbial. "And this is Cas...' He considers not adding the label, but the thing is, he's really, really fucking proud of the fact that Cas is his boyfriend, it's just that as soon as this introduction is made, he's going to have some serious explaining to do. "Cas is my-"
"Roommate." Cas supplies, out of nowhere.
"What? No!" Both Cas and Melissa turn to look at him, and if the prickles on the side of his neck are anything to go by, so do Charlie and Sam. But currently, he can only deal with so much, so he takes in Melissa's confusion and Cas' challenge.
"Melissa, meet my boyfriend, Cas." He hits the word 'boyfriend' with all the gravity that he can muster.
The table seems to exhale collectively at the same time as Melissa realises that her body language might actually be a little compromising given the context of Dean's relationship. She withdraws her arm gently and a smiles sheepishly at Cas.
"I've heard a lot about you," she offers.
"Really?" Dean's not sure if Cas' terseness is directed at him, Melissa or the situation, but it means that his voice is at a register that implies brain matter on the sidewalk is in multiple people's futures.
"No, not really." Melissa, God love her, tries to smile it out but her eyes are darting around for an exit. She sighs in audible relief when she spots her friends. "Okay, Dean - this has been fun." It definitely hasn't. "I guess I'll see you in class on Friday!" And with a casual wave to everyone else, she leaves Dean royally in the shit.
The table is quiet for all of two seconds before Sam says, "Class?" at the exact same time as Charlie says, "That's Melissa? Dude, you never told me she was so hot!"
Dean ignores both of them to seek out Cas whose eyes are trained on the grain of the table's wooden surface. He tracks the grooves with his thumb nail and doesn't acknowledge the nudge to his foot that Dean sends his way under the table.
Ostensibly what happened just now wasn't a complete and total disaster. This is all very manageable. He just wishes that someone else was managing it.
Sam and Charlie seem to be oblivious to the Cas situation at the moment, which is unusual because they're normally the chief cheerleaders to all of Dean's endeavours as far as Cas is concerned, but instead they press him to answer their questions.
Charlie's being the easier, he starts there: "Yeah, that's her. Dude, I think she might swing your way, I dunno though, she spoke about a high school boyfriend she followed to college... Blah, blah - big mistake, ruined the best years of her life... You know the drill." Charlie hums thoughtfully and then her eyes begins to canvas the bar for Melissa's friendship group - as if she can get visual confirmation of Dean's interpretation.
One down, two to go.
"And yeah, Sam; classes."
"Classes in what?"
Dean doesn't take his eyes off of Cas, despite Sam's evident enthusiasm.
"Paramedic."
Turns out watching Cas was the best choice he's very made. He gets to see the smile that spreads wide across his face - his chin's still down but he raises his eyes to meet Dean's and who knew you could find so much validation, pride and love in a single look. Sam's talking to him, he can hear the indistinct words of praise and encouragement being sent his away, but he doesn't dare take his focus away from Cas in case the illusion shatters.
"Sam." Cas' voice cuts through all of Sam's giddiness and he might even pause mid-word. "Would you mind getting some more drinks so we can celebrate properly?"
"But our glasses are still full... " he trails himself off, then quickly rises. "So everybody for another drink?" Then leaves the table without waiting for the reply that he knows wasn't forthcoming.
Dean holds Cas' eye as long as he can, but he never stood a chance against the master of long looks. He drops his head bashfully.
"I'm proud of you." Cas' voice is so earnest that Dean can't do anything but beckon him over to his side of the table, Cas being Cas ignores Charlie's vacated seat (and when in the hell did she even leave?) and instead drops into Dean's lap. He takes hold of Dean's face and kisses him with a warmth that makes Dean suddenly realise that it wasn't just about the paramedic thing.
"I'm proud of you too, you know that, right?" Dean asks as Cas pulls back. His silence makes Dean think that, no, he probably didn't. "Cas, I couldn't be more proud of the fact that you're my boyfriend - I would never, never hide you. Do you honestly think that after everything it took to get us here that I would douche out on you in front of an audience of strangers?"
Cas picks at Dean's lapel and keeps his head low.
"Cas, the whole diner knows we're dating. Hell, they probably knew you liked me before I knew you liked me. What's to be shy about now?"
"They're family, Dean." Cas appears to struggle about where to go from here in order to explain himself. Dean can be patient though, he's willing to wait for this.
"I just underestimated how important it was that you were proud to be with me."
"Cas," Dean says as gently as he can. He draws his hand to the back of Cas' neck to lift his chin so that they are both, gloriously on the same page. "I'm always going to love you. Always. One day, if you want me to, I'll stand up in front of all our friends and tell you that again. But for now, I need you to believe how very, very in love with you I am."
Cas reaches for his jaw and draws him in for a kiss, and because symmetry is important at a moment like this, Dean cups his jaw in return. It's a remarkably chased kiss, but it speaks of an understanding they've finally, finally reached.
"And if you still don't believe me, I could make excellent use of this available flat surface to prove to you and everyone else that you're mine." His grins wolfishly into Cas' cheek and is thoroughly rewarded by Sam balking and almost dropping the drinks on his shoes.
Cas laughs loudly and freely, and once his half-hearted efforts to move back to his own chair are thoroughly thwarted by Dean pulling him close, he settles his back against Dean's chest as he reaches for his drink to clink glasses with Dean, Sam and Charlie who looks a little flusher than usual. Dean's hoping Melissa is in a similar state.
He hums into his drink as they salute each other. Life is pretty fucking good sometimes. He wishes his mother could see what the little seeds of her family grew into. They're happy, they're together and they're loved. It's a pretty great legacy.
And because he's Dean Winchester and he can't let any good night be ruined by sentimentality, he dedicates a large portion of the rest of the evening to trying to convince Cas to let Dean blow him in the bathroom. Oh yeah, he's a classy motherfucker. But Cas loves him anyway.