Chapter Text
"You have to drive."
Dean carefully swings the backpack off and puts it in the trunk of the car.
Cas freezes. "No."
"Dude, does it look like I can drive?" Dean points to his arm in the sling.
"Does it look like I can?"
"Jesus Christ." Dean rubs his forehead and lets out a laugh that turns into a sigh. "Good thing we're in the middle of nowhere."
"Why?" Cas tips his head to the side.
"You're gonna learn to drive!"
Dean claps his hand on Cas' shoulder and gets into the passenger seat.
This trip just keeps rolling downhill.
Castiel places his and Dean’s backpacks in the trunk. He leads Hunter into the backseat, closes the door after him, then sits down in the driver seat, reaching for his belt before realizing it's on the left side.
"Stick is super easy, you'll do great!" Dean encourages him. “Could you?” He gestures towards the seatbelt.
“Oh, yes, of course.”
Cas clips on his own seatbelt before leaning over Dean, careful not to touch his arm. He grabs the seatbelt and slowly places it over Dean’s arm.
Dean reaches into his pocket with his good hand and gives the keys to Cas. "Just turn on the car."
"How do I do that?"
Dean blinks at him.
"Step on the clutch, and put the key in there and turn it."
Castiel fumbles around with the key but manages to get it in. He looks down between his legs, the three pedals all looking the same to him.
"It's the one on the left," Dean says. "Step on it with your left foot.”
It’s harder than Castiel expected but he presses the pedal all the way to the floor.
“I can do the gearing and you just worry about the pedals, okay?”
Dean places his left hand on the stick between their seats and pushes it to the side and up. He takes off the handbrake too and then places his hand back under his elbow to support his bad arm.
“Just slowly press in the pedal on the right,” Dean explains, the sharp breath loud when he leans over to point, “that’s the gas. And then, at the same time, you slowly lift the clutch.”
Castiel lifts his left foot and presses the right foot to the floor. The car jumps forward and suddenly stops.
“Fuck!” Dean leans his head back, a pained expression on his face. “Okay,” he takes a deep breath, “clutch in again and turn the engine back on, and lift the clutch slower this time.”
Castiel tries again. This time, the car starts slowly creeping forward.
“Great,” Dean cheers the best he can, “continue down there and then to the right.”
The gravel under the car is loud, and on every bump in the road, Dean moans as they jump a little in their seats.
Castiel clutches the wheel, knuckles white against the black leather. He wants to check on Dean but he doesn’t dare take his eyes off the road. Slowly, he tries to turn the car to the right like Dean said, but he’s too slow and the left front wheel skids outside of the gravel road. Dean reaches over to the wheel and pulls it towards him to straighten up the car, groaning as he does it.
“I know the sign at the end there says stop but we’re just gonna drive so we don’t have to worry about the clutching,” Dean says. He leans slightly forward in his seat to look past Cas and at the road. “No one’s here, just drive onto the road.”
The car waggles a little as it works itself over the edge of the asphalt and on the road. Castiel feels his shoulders sink slightly down as the road flattens out and gets more steady.
“Ready to gear up?”
And with that, Castiel’s shoulders shoot back up. Dean takes his silence as a yes and continues, “Give a little more gas.”
The car speeds up slightly, starting to sound tired.
“Lift the gas and press in the clutch.” Dean puts his hand on the stick and changes gears when he sees Castiel’s feet move. “Slowly lift the clutch and press in the gas again.”
The car starts to rumble as they continue at the same speed.
“You need to speed up, Cas, to about 15 here,” Dean points to the speedometer on the dashboard.
Castiel didn’t know he could clutch his fists more than he already had, but he does and presses the gas slowly in, the arrow reaching a little under the white 20. That makes the car run smoothly and without much discomforting noises.
“Can we go faster?” Dean asks.
Castiel swallows hard and grinds his teeth together.
“Okay, 20 miles it is,” Dean sighs and leans back in his seat, trying to relax. “We’re gonna drive on this road for about 20 minutes and then we’ll almost be at the hospital.”
“Okay.”
Dean moves in his seat, wincing a little. “I hope Charlie’s at work,” he murmurs.
“You know the doctors?” Castiel asks, eyes still on the road.
“And the nurses,” Dean chuckles softly. “I work there.”
Castiel nods. The road curves slightly and he tries to calm his stomach, the stuffy air and the non-breathable jacket making him slightly dizzy.
As if Dean can read his mind, he says, “You can roll down the window if you like.”
When Castiel doesn’t do anything, Dean groans a little as he leans a bit forward to grab the wheel with his left hand.
“I got the wheel, you can roll down the window, Cas.”
The air rushes in Castiel’s ears as the window is halfway down, but finally, he can take a proper breath. Little by little, the dizziness disappears, leaving him with a twisting stomach and clammy hands.
They sit in silence, all four eyes on the stretched out road in front of them, the leaves on the trees casting blotchy shadows over their faces as they slowly drive by.
A car appears behind them but barely for a second before turning on the turn signal and driving past them. Dean stretches out a hand again to keep the wheel steady as Cas’ breath shortens when the car passes on their left side.
“To the left here, we need to gear down.”
“What do I do?”
“Step off the gas, the car will start slowing down by itself,” Dean explains and Castiel takes his foot off the gas, letting it hoover in the air, not knowing where to put it. “Step on the clutch,” Dean orders and changes down to second gear. “Clutch slowly up and gas slowly down.”
This time goes even more smoothly than the others, but Castiel can’t wait to get out of the car and back in the passenger seat the next time they’re gonna drive.
“Okay, just park the car there somewhere, it’s not gonna be a lot of people here anyways,” Dean says and points to the empty parking lot furthest away from the hospital entrance. “Try to park between the lines, but it’s not a big deal.”
Castiel turns the car into the parking lot and tries to drive into a spot. The car bumps into the pavement, the front now higher than the back.
Dean screams out in pain and Castiel steps on the brake.
“Jesus Christ, Cas!”
“Are you okay?” Castiel’s voice is shaking.
Dean closes his eyes, head tipped back against the headrest. Castiel watches as he takes several deep breaths and the color returns slightly to his pale face.
“That—” Dean takes another big breath, “hurt.”
Dean opens his eyes and lifts the handbrake.
“Sorry,” Cas mutters.
Dean just waves him off and opens his door. He takes a step back and inspects the parking job.
“Eh, good enough,” Dean tries to shrug but only his left shoulder rises. “Can wait till I get my shoulder fixed.”
Castiel takes off his seatbelt and turns the ignition off. He takes the keys and gives them to Dean, who puts them in the pocket on the side of his thigh.
Side by side, they walk into the hospital, the waiting room almost empty except for three other people. Dean walks over to the reception desk and Castiel follows.
“Hey, Missouri,” Dean winks to the lady sitting by the triage sign. He places his hand under his dislocated arm. Castiel stands halfway behind Dean, unsure if he should sit down or stay with Dean.
“Dean, what brings you in on your day off, darling?” The woman behind the reception desk, Missouri, asks and takes off her glasses, letting them dangle around her neck.
“Had an accident, I think I dislocated my shoulder,” Dean explains and nods his head towards his shoulder.
“How on earth did you manage that?” Missouri puts on her glasses again to write something on the computer.
“Fell into the glacier, hit the back of my shoulder against the ice wall,” Dean explains.
Missouri takes a second to finish writing. “Any tingling? Broken skin?”
Dean shakes his head.
“Pain out of ten?”
“I don’t know,” Dean says. “Four, maybe?”
Missouri nods and keeps writing. “What about when you move it?”
“It’s not that bad,” Dean says. Cas glances over at him, and Missouri looks at Dean over her glasses.
“Show me,” she says, a brow raised, her chin resting in her hand.
“Okay, bad, eight out of ten,” Dean sighs, giving in.
“Mhm,” Missouri hums. “Did you take anything for it?”
Dean shakes his head again.
“Okay, let me take some notes and I’ll see where I can put you.”
“How busy are we?” Dean asks.
“The usual, you’re lucky it’s a Sunday. We’ll bring you in in a couple of minutes, probably.”
“You’re the best, Missouri.”
Missouri gives Dean a small smile and finishes up what she was writing.
“Who’s the handsome fella you brought,” Missouri asks and looks over her glasses.
Dean takes a step to the side so Missouri can get a good look at Castiel.
“Oh, this is just Cas.”
“ Cas? ” Missouri’s eyebrows creep up her forehead. “And is Cas gonna hold your hand?”
Dean blushes and clears his throat. “Nah, he’ll probably stay here.”
Dean turns to Castiel and softly touches his elbow.
“You can wait for me inside, too, if you want to,” Dean explains. “But if they’re gonna pop my shoulder back into place, it can get a little… weird.”
“Okay,” Castiel says, not really knowing what “inside” is, but he doesn’t want to be left alone here in the waiting room.
“So, Charlie’s looking after you, she’ll be here soon,” Missouri says.
“Thanks,” Dean answers, still looking at Castiel.
They don’t get time to sit down before a redhead in green scrubs walks out, face in a big grin as she sees Dean.
“I heard the handmaiden got his shoulder dislocated,” she says as she comes up to stand in front of Dean, poking a finger into his shoulder. Dean flinches away before she can touch him, but smiles at her.
“Happens when you’re protecting the Queen of Moondoor,” Dean winks.
“More like the dark handsome prince,” Charlie says smugly and looks over at Castiel. “Who’s your friend?”
“This is my devastatingly handsome friend, Cas,” Dean jokes.
Castiel blushes as Dean wraps his arm around his shoulders and pulls him forward as they start walking towards an empty bed behind a curtain. Dean doesn’t let Castiel go until he sits down on the bed.
Castiel stands awkwardly beside him, hands together, trying not to stand in the way. Charlie gestures for him to sit in the chair beside the bed. Castiel sees her give Dean a little smile and a wide-eyed look, and Dean slightly shakes his head.
“So, handmaiden, what happened?”
Charlie takes out a pen from her scrubs and starts filling out a form.
“Fell into the glacier, bumped my shoulder from the back,” Dean explains for the second time today.
Cas squeezes his hands together harder.
“Well, you know the drill, we’ll get some X-rays, and it’s Garth today. He’s just got a couple consults and then he’ll be in.”
Charlie slips the pen back in her scrub top, leaving the form on the bed beside Dean. Dean turns it towards himself and looks over it before turning it back again.
“Hey, Cas,” Dean cocks his head to the side, “I’m fine, I promise.”
Dean’s words don't ease up the frown across Castiel’s forehead, so Dean jumps off the bed and comes to a crouch before Cas. He places a hand over Cas’.
“Trust me, we see this kind of thing all the time.”
Dean squeezes his hands a last time as they hear someone come back with the X-ray machine.
The X-ray tech sets it up in no time. It doesn’t take long for a doctor to come in with a black and white film of Dean’s shoulder, the joint too far away from the socket.
“Gonna be fun popping this back in, Dean-o,” the doctor says and smiles at Dean.
“Wouldn’t exactly call this fun, Garth.”
Garth puts the film down to examine Dean's shoulder, carefully touching it. Dean still winces. Garth pulls Dean’s shirt by the neck to look down on his shoulder and hums.
Every time Dean winces, Castiel flinches, keeping his eyes on the ground as the doctor finishes his check and Dean answers his questions.
“You need to be more careful, Dean,” Garth says, stepping back, “we need both of your shoulders working here.”
“I’ll be more careful next time,” Dean says and salutes with his good hand.
Garth rolls his eyes, as if he knows Dean’s not gonna keep his word.
“It looks like it’ll be one straight pull,” he says.
“You think so?” Dean asks, his good hand fidgeting with the material on the bed.
“Yup,” Garth nods. “I’m thinking some morphine for pain, and some midaz, pull it back in. You won’t remember anything.”
“Yeah, okay,” Dean says. “Can you chart me for some ondanse, too? I don’t wanna vomit. Poor guy has been through enough.” Dean kicks his leg out, the tip of his boot hitting Castiel’s knee. He looks up to meet Dean’s eyes and Dean winks.
Charlie comes back, and takes out the needle for the IV. Then she sticks it into the crook of Dean’s elbow.
“Oh God,” Castiel breathes out as he sees the blood in the tube of the IV. All the other four people around the bed look at Castiel and he starts to feel warm. Charlie puts a bandage on to secure the IV and then she puts a comforting hand on Cas’ arm.
“Cas, maybe you should wait outside in the waiting room,” Dean suggests.
“I’ll follow you out,” Charlie says. She gently pushes Castiel out of the chair and they walk out.
Castiel opens his jacket fully and takes it off as they walk back. Charlie leads him to the empty side of the waiting room, telling him they’re soon gonna be done. Castiel bunches his jacket into his lap, the rainproof material rustling between his clammy fingers.
The waiting room is silent and there’s just another woman in there, sitting across Castiel, sniffing and blowing her nose into a Kleenex. The noise is loud in the empty room, but what sounds like a scream takes over and echoes down the hall. Castiel whips his head towards the door he had just walked through, his knuckles white around his jacket. The scream is faint and stops after some seconds. Castiel sits on the edge of his seat, heart beating loudly in his chest, ready to be drowned out by another scream, but it doesn’t come.
He sits there for ten minutes and then he sees Charlie and a new nurse come through the door. He gets up to meet them but they take his arms and sit down beside him, dragging him down with them.
“How is he?” Castiel asks with a shaky voice.
“Oh, don’t you worry, sweetie, he’s in good hands,” the new nurse says. Her name badge reads Pamela.
Castiel breathes out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“You must be Castiel?” she purrs, looking up at him from under long lashes and black eyeshadow.
“Yeah, yes, I am.”
“We’ve heard so much about you,” Charlie jumps in, her grip on his forearm, comfortable but strong.
“I didn’t know Dean spoke about me to his colleagues,” Castiel admits, getting nervous about what they might think of him. “What has he said?”
“Oh, nothing much,” Charlie says and claps his arm. “Just that you two go hiking sometimes.”
Pamela giggles and Castiel turns his head towards her, wondering what’s so funny about that.
“Well, Dean said he wanted to see you,” she says as her laugh dies out.
Castiel feels anger boiling in his chest. Why didn’t they just start with that?
All three of them get up and the two nurses lead Castiel back down to the cubicle Dean is in. The curtain is drawn and Castiel hears some low moaning coming from the inside.
“Charlie,” Dean groans from the inside.
“Yeah, I’m here with Castiel, Dean.” She pulls away the curtain and Cas sees Dean sitting up on the bed, legs sprawled in front of him, his arm in a new sling that looks more sturdy than the one Castiel had made. “You wanted to see him, remember?”
That makes Dean giggle and he gestures for Charlie to come closer. “Did I?”
“He’s still a bit out of it,” Pamela tells Castiel. “Totally normal.”
Castiel watches Dean pull Charlie’s head down so he can whisper in her ear. Dean’s hand covers the back of Charlie’s head, messing up her hair. He pulls away and looks at Cas, his eyes a bit hazy and red-rimmed, before looking back at Charlie and giggling. He leans in to whisper something else, then looks back at Cas and winks, slows and uncoordinated with both eyes, before leaning his head back into the pillow.
Pamela pushes Castiel into the cubicle with a sly smile, grabbing Charlie’s elbow and dragging her out. Charlie gives Castiel a soft smile and closes the curtains.
“Hey, Cas,” Dean mumbles.
“Hello, Dean.”
“See, I told you I would be fine,” Dean says and smiles softly. He closes his eyes for a second. “How did you get here? I thought you were in the waiting room.”
“You asked for me,” Castiel sits down in the chair, pulling it a little closer to the bed.
“Oh, did I?” Dean says.
“Yes.”
“Well, I told you I’d be fine.”
“It didn’t sound like that from the waiting room,” Castiel says and tries to meet Dean’s unfocused eyes.
“Nah, I’m fine,” Dean shrugs. “I was pretty tough, I bet.”
“Well, you were screaming.”
“No way, you sure?” Dean asks and leans forward, but then back again when he almost tips off the bed. “Really? I don’t remember that at all.”
Castiel smiles softly and leans back in his chair, a lot more relaxed now that he knows Dean is okay. Dean leans his head back against the top of the bed.
“Cas…”
“Yes?”
Dean mumbles something more but Castiel doesn’t catch it. He leans in a little closer as Dean mumbles again, but then Dean falls quiet and his breathing evens out.
Castiel watches the rise and fall of Dean’s chest, listening to the small snores sometimes escaping his lips.
Time passes quickly like this and Charlie soon sticks her head through the curtains to check up on Dean’s monitor. She takes some notes before slowly waking Dean up, shaking his good shoulder.
Dean groans and awkwardly stands up, leaning against Castiel, who has come up beside him.
Charlie checks that the sling is still fastened properly.
“I know you know, Dean, but no driving today, no signing any legal documents, definitely no beer, and ‘cause you’re a dumbass who does dumb shit, no going back to the glacier for a few days.”
Dean hums and reaches up to cup Charlie’s cheek.
“No doing dumb shit, got it.”
“Missouri will call you tomorrow about your shifts, okay?” Charlie grabs Dean’s hand and brings it down to his side. “You got someone at home with you?”
Dean hums again and nods. Castiel glances over at him.
With Dean’s good arm slung around his shoulders, Castiel walks Dean out to the car, putting Dean into the passenger seat and fastening his seatbelt.
Getting in the driver’s seat, he pats down his pockets for the car keys before remembering he gave them to Dean. He carefully pats down Dean’s pocket, jacket pockets, inside and outside, until he feels the keys in his pants pocket. He opens the zipper across Dean’s thigh, startling Dean, but he doesn’t open his eyes. The material on his pants is stretched across his thigh and Castiel reaches into the pocket with two fingers to grab the keyring and drag out the keys.
He puts it into the ignition and takes a deep breath. He can do this. Clutch, ignition, reverse, handbrake, clutch up and gas down. He backs the car out of the spot, grateful for the still empty parking lot.
It’s easy for Cas to navigate to Dean’s address, but Dean still mumbles the directions every now and then.
Gently nudging Dean out of his seat, Castiel manages to get him up and walk into the house. Dean collapses on the sofa; Castiel takes off his boots and finds a blanket to put over him, making sure he is covered.
Castiel takes a glance over Dean, the steady rise and fall of his chest comforting as he sits down in the armchair beside the sofa.
The blanket over Dean rustles as Dean turns.
“Don’t tell anyone we drove illegally,” Dean mumbles, pressing the side of his face into the pillow.
Castiel smiles. “No, of course not.”
Dean hums and snuggles deeper into the couch. After a minute, he opens his eyes slowly and says, “Thanks, Cas.”
Before Cas can answer, Dean has closed his eyes and turned back onto his back. Cas leans over and pulls the blanket properly up over Dean where it had slid down.
“No worries, Dean, no worries.”
The next day, Cas stands outside Dean's house, balancing a bowl in one hand as the other knocks on the door. Inside, Dean's voice yells that it's open, and Castiel walks in, taking off his shoes in the hallway. On the sofa, in front of the fireplace, sits Dean, feet up and arm in the sling. His jaw is slightly more blue and purple today than yesterday. The fireplace crackles warmly, but Dean is still laying under a thick wool blanket.
"I brought some soup," Castiel says and walks into the kitchen. "Thought you might need it."
"I need something stronger than soup," Dean answers from the couch. He tries to move to get more comfortable but ends up wincing in pain.
"How are you?"
"Fantastic," Dean says through gritted teeth. "Never better."
"Sorry you fell into the glacier." Castiel takes out a pot and puts the soup into it to heat it up.
"Dude, it wasn't your fault. It happens."
Dean breathes out sharply as he sits up, the blanket pooling around his waist. "And it's not the first time, either, so it's fine."
Castiel turns his back to the stove, absentmindedly stirring the pot as he looks at Dean.
"You've fallen into a glacier before?"
"Yeah, like three times." Dean stretches his healthy arm. "And about a hundred times for practice. How else would I know how to rescue someone?" Dean asks and tips his head towards Cas.
"I didn't know you had to actually fall into a glacier to practice rescuing someone," Castiel says and turns back to the stove. The soup begins to bubble and Castiel lets it for a couple of minutes before turning off the heat. He gets a bowl and pours half the pot into it.
"Here you go."
Dean leans forward, taking the spoon from the bowl, and blows on the soup. He brings the spoon to his mouth, carefully tasting.
"This is really good, are there potatoes in this?" he asks.
"Yes, my father taught me how to make it," Cas explains. "It's good for when you're sick."
"Aren't you gonna have some?" Dean takes another spoonful.
Castiel sits down beside Dean on the sofa. Dean grabs the end of the blanket and drapes it over Castiel's lap.
"No, I left the rest of the soup in the pot so you can heat it up when you get hungry again."
Dean straightens up and smiles at Cas. "Thanks."
They sit in silence as Dean finishes his soup before leaning back and settling down on the couch. Their legs bump under the blanket and Castiel pulls away a little to settle against the couch armrest. He brings his legs up in front of him, Dean's thighs so close he can feel his body heat.
"How long do you have to wear the sling?"
"We usually tell patients a week or two, but," Dean shrugs, "I'll probably take it off after a couple of days."
"Shouldn't you follow the nurses’ instructions?"
"Dude, I'm a nurse."
"That doesn't make you invincible, Dean."
Dean only hums in response. He pulls his legs up onto the couch and mirrors Castiel's pose.
"I'm actually surprised you're still here," Dean smiles. "Thought rescuing me from a painful death would scare you back into the city."
"There's not much more for me to do in the city, so no," Castiel says, "I'm staying here until the beginning of the new year.” Castiel takes a deep breath. “And I need to move out of the house, and I don’t want to do that before Christmas,” he adds.
"Oh.” Dean raises an eyebrow. “Oh,” he repeats as he realizes what that meant. “You’re staying that long?" Dean asks, avoiding the subject of Cas’ wife. "You'll be sick of me by then," he laughs.
Castiel smiles softly, glad to see Dean in a better mood than how he left him yesterday.
"I think I'll manage," Castiel says, "unless you drag me out on the glacier again."
Dean bursts out laughing, then winces in pain brought on by the sudden movement. He places his good hand on his heart, the angle of the hand weird on his chest.
"I swear, I will not drag you out on the glacier again." He drops the hand and uses it to pull the blanket over himself better. "Glacier season is over now, anyways."
"I wouldn't mind another hiking trip, though," Cas says. "The one we took last week was really nice."
Dean hums softly and nods.
Castiel leans his head on the back of the couch, enjoying the slow heat from the fireplace hitting the side of his face. The soup bowl is empty in a few minutes and Cas is happy that Dean enjoyed it. Beside the bowl stand two candles and a small empty vase. Castiel wonders if the vase is usually full.
"Those are for you," Dean breaks the silence and nods towards the knitting needles and ball of yarn beside the vase. "It was a surprise but now I won't be able to finish them soon anyways."
Castiel lifts himself a little up to look at it.
"What is it?"
"Mittens. It's an old traditional star-pattern," Dean explains. "From Central Europe, I think."
"They're beautiful," Castiel whispers and leans forward to carefully pick them up. "And they're for me?"
"Yeah, you don't have any proper mittens and winter's coming," Dean shrugs.
Castiel folds out the half-knitted mitten and looks at the black and white star-shaped pattern on it. The wool is even softer than the socks Dean had knitted for him, comfortable and airy under his fingers.
“Thank you, Dean.”
Castiel looks up at Dean, feeling pressure build behind his eyes.
“Dude, it’s just mittens, you’ll get frostbite otherwise.”
Castiel doesn’t say anything, just chuckles wetly.
“I’ll finish them when my shoulder’s better.”
“Thank you,” Cas repeats.
He puts the half-knitted mitten back on the table and sits back on the couch again.
“What time is it?”
Castiel checks his wrist watch. “Five twenty-three.”
“Wanna stay for dinner?”
“That would be nice.”
“Great! I’m making burgers!”
Dean rips off the blanket and plants his feet on the ground.
“How will you do that with that arm of yours?” Castiel asks.
“With your help, it’ll be easy,” Dean grins and pushes himself up from the couch. “Come on!”
Castiel sighs with a smile forming on his lips and gets up to walk into the kitchen.
Dean cocks his hip to one side as he opens the fridge, his sweatpants low on his hips. He raises one foot to push down the pant leg on the other as he checks for ingredients. His t-shirt slides up his back when he bends down to pick up a head of lettuce. He puts it on the counter and bends down again to get two tomatoes and an onion.
Castiel stands in the middle of the kitchen completely frozen. Dean turns around, tomatoes in his hand, and raises an eyebrow at Cas. They stand there for a second before Cas feels a blush spread up in his cheek and he goes over to the counter to find a cutting board and a knife.
A few seconds later, Dean comes to his side and places the vegetables on the board.
“You chop, I’m on grill,” Dean says and opens the freezer to take out some frozen patties.
He takes out a pan and places it on the oven. By pulling the pack of patties close to his body, Dean manages to open the box with one hand. He scoops up a patty and places it in the pan, the sizzling loud in the small kitchen.
“One or two?” Dean asks as he places a second patty in the pan.
“Two, please.”
Dean lets the two last patties stay in the box and takes out a spatula to flatten out the two in the pan.
Castiel has cut the tomatoes in slices and he peels the onion before cutting it too. Dean comes up beside him to rinse the lettuce, struggling to get the water between the leaves with only one hand. Castiel smiles a little when Dean gives up and instead pulls some leaves off to wash them individually. When Dean’s done, he leans back on the counter and watches Castiel cut the rest of the onion.
“You know there’s a festival next weekend?”
“I didn’t,” Castiel answers and pulls apart some of the onion rings. He puts them on one side of the cutting board, the tomatoes on the other.
“You should come, it’ll be fun,” Dean says and leans in a bit closer. “Ellen’s gonna have a stand, so you won’t have to struggle up the mountain for her beer.”
“That would be nice to avoid, yes.”
“So you’ll come?” Dean raises his eyebrows.
“I’ll have to see.” Castiel leans past Dean to rinse his hands in the sink behind him. “Are you going to be there?”
Dean grins. “Of course! You’ll find me with beers and burgers.”
Castiel moves past Dean and picks up the spatula to flip the burgers on the stove.
“It’ll be super fun, Cas, you’ll love it!”
“It would be nice to see more of the town.”
“Exactly! I’ll show you around!”
Castiel puts down the spatula and looks up at Dean, whose eyes are bright with excitement.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes.”
Dean squeezes Cas’ arm. “You’ll love it, I promise!”