Take Care of My Baby

The following day, when Dean and Castiel finally emerge from their nest of blankets to face real life once again. It's always nice to get lost in one another, to take a day off from the harsh lines of humanity in order to revel in the hard lines of their bodies. The only downside is the fact that it makes returning to the everyday that much more difficult.

Dean and Castiel don't quite let one another go throughout breakfast. Sam sits across the table and occasionally eyes the lovers with something that appears to be a subdued concern mixed with joy for the two. No one feels up to actually cooking, so they opt instead for making a mountain of toast and snacking on that alongside their coffee.

"Any plans for today?" Sam asks as if the sight of Castiel practically sitting on Dean's lap is a usual spectacle. In truth, it seems as if it's going to become one.

The two lovers share a look, and Dean shrugs. "I gotta work." He takes a swig of his coffee. "You comin' with, Cas?"

"No," the man says.

Dean looks a little taken aback by that. "Why not? You always come with me."

"I have some homework that needs to be taken care of at the library today," Castiel says with a shrug. The statement holds some truth to it, just enough to keep him from feeling guilty about masking his true intentions.

"Want me to pick you up when you're done?" the older man offers.

Sam snorts. "Do you even know where the library is, Dean?"

"Can it, bitch." Dean flicks a piece of crust at his younger brother. "I know where the freakin' library is."

"When you get lost and have to call me, I wanna hear you tell me I was right."

Dean rolls his his eyes and turns to Castiel. "So, you want me to pick you up?"

"That would be nice, Dean. If I finish early, perhaps I'll stop by the garage."

"That'd be cool." They seal their plans with a gentle kiss that's so damn adorable that Sam has no choice but to make a disgusted noise and avert his eyes. He doesn't miss Dean's middle finger being waved in his direction, however.

When they're able to keep their lips apart, Castiel asks, "What about you, Sam? What are your plans for today?"

"Class with Jess. I'll probably spend some time at her house afterward. Nothin' exciting," the younger Winchester shrugs. "Hey, since we're heading past the library anyway, do you want a ride?"

"That would be great, Sam," Cas agrees, smiling.

"Speaking of, I should probably head off. Bobby's probably gonna skin me alive for callin' in last minute and takin' a personal day," Dean says as he stands up and stretches out his sore muscles.

"Whatever, Dean. You haven't ever missed work. Bobby's probably thanking his lucky stars that he didn't have to see your face yesterday," Sam scoffs. Dean flips him off once again.

"Shut up. Go off with your girlfriend and do your learnin'." It's a lame comeback, and Dean knows it, but he's distracted by the hand that Cas has on the back of his thigh. He ruffles Cas's hair, then leans down to kiss him goodbye. "See you later, Cas."

"Goodbye, Dean."

With a wave at the whole room, Dean makes his exit. Almost as soon as he's gone at a safe distance, they can hear Jess's truck pull into the driveway.

"Ready?" Sam asks with an excited grin.

"I suppose." Despite his attempt to be nonchalant, Cas is nearly brimming with excitement.

They both jump up from the table, grab their respective bags, and hurry out the door as fast as they can without running. Jess is letting her truck idle in the driveway, and she, too, is bearing a huge grin.

"Hey, Cas!" she exclaims as he and Sam pile into the car, Sam in the front and Cas in the cramped backseat.

"Hello, Jessica. It's been far too long," he greets her. In response, she turns around and drags the man into a hug.

"Just call me Jess, okay?"

"Okay."

Jess puts the car in reverse and pulls out of the driveway, catching Castiel's eye in the rearview mirror as she does. "So, are you excited or what? Oh- do you know the size of Dean's finger? It might be hard if you don't."

"I have one of his rings." Cas holds up the ring he swiped from the nightstand that morning. He feels a little bad for doing so, but it isn't as if he's actually stealing. It's for a good cause.

"Woah. That's actually a really good idea," Sam says.

Jess eyes Sam with a smile lighting up her face. "Yeah, Romeo, if you'd have done that, maybe my ring wouldn't have been hanging off my finger when you tried to put it on."

"It wasn't that bad." The blush deepening Sam's cheeks, however, tells a different story.

"It won't be so bad once we get it fitted," she says brightly, patting Sam's shoulder.

Sam rolls his eyes, but he reaches over to hold Jess's hand. It makes Castiel feel that secondhand happiness that comes from seeing someone else in a stupidly blissful and sappy romance, but it's paired with that jealousy that reminds him that he'll never stop worrying about how others will react to his stupidly blissful and sappy romance.

It's a little awkward after that because no one is quite familiar enough to make conversation, and Jess and Sam don't want to be rude to Castiel, so Jess asks if anyone would be opposed to her turning on the radio. When they tell her to go ahead, she cranks it on a local station. Sam and Jess belt out one of Billy Haley & His Comets's hits together until they make it to the small jewelry store in town.

"All right, Cas. We're here!" Jess exclaims. She parks the car and turns around to the backseat to smile.

"Thank you for the ride, Jess. And for helping me with this, Sam. It means a lot to me," Cas says sincerely. He makes to leave, but Sam reaches over with one quick exclamation of "wait!" and holds onto his arm.

"Cas, I just... I think I should just warn you about Dean," Sam says in a rush.

Castiel's heart sinks. So many people have warned him about Dean and have tried to tell him what's good for him. He was hoping that the people closest to Dean, the ones who actually know him, might have something better to say.

"It's nothing-" Sam cuts himself off with a wave of his hand. "Just let me explain, okay?

"Dean is... he's almost kind of allergic to commitment. He's only had a few kinda-serious relationships in his life, and most of them haven't ended well for him. So it makes him scared to trust people. You and him seem to get along real well, though, and it seems like he's willing to make some changes for you. I just don't want you to be surprised if he... gets distant for a while."

"He won't be gone long, though," Jess chimes in.

"Dean really, really likes you, Cas. I've never seen him get this close to anyone outside of family, 'side from Bobby," Sam assures him. "He will come back. He just might get a little freaked out if he thinks about commitment as a concept instead of as a reality."

Castiel, for his part, doesn't particularly understand the difference between committment as a reality and a concept, other than reality is just the concept applied. But he nods as though he knows the meaning behind Sam's riddles, and the younger Winchester grins at him and claps him on the shoulder.

"Go get 'em, Cas."

They exchange goodbyes as a formality, and then Cas takes his leave of Jess's car, watching as it pulls away.

When Cas walks into the jewelry shop, he isn't quite sure what to expect. The last time he set foot in one was about ten years ago, when Zachariah had been burdened with the task of babysitting the younger Novaks but still wanted to go out and buy something nice for his then-girlfriend's birthday. All in all, Blake's Jewels surely isn't as intimidating as it seems once you get past its very formal exterior.

"Is there something I can help you with?" the girl at the counter asks. Castiel abruptly notes that she's what people would easily peg as beautiful: long and curly brown hair, perfectly applied cat eyeliner and red lips, an a smile that magnifies her every already wonderful feature by hundreds of times. Her nametag labels her as Sarah.

"I'd like to purchase a ring for my friend," he tells her.

Sarah's smile brightens. "What sort of occasion is it for? Engagement or -"

"Oh, no, nothing like that," Castiel cuts in hurriedly. "My friend is male. It's a graduation gift." He's proud of the lie that he's crafted. It easily shifts the blatant suspicion away from him.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to assume," Sarah apologizes. A soft pink blush tints her cheeks with the signs of embarrassment. "Anyway, is there something special you had in mind?"

"I'd just like something simple. Not boring, of course, but my friend is not one for embellishments."

"Right over here we have our selection of men's rings." She leads Cas over to a glass-topped case. "They're mostly engagement rings, but I'm sure they could easily double as a graduation gift. If you need anything else or want to see something out of the case, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you."

With that, Sarah returns to her previous post. Cas hardly notices; he's already inspecting the selection of rings before him. He makes sure he looks at each one in detail, but one stands out immediately, and it continues to hold his attention. In reality, it's not much, but Cas knows that that's just what Dean would like. It's a simple silver band with a thinner black band wrapped around it. Perfect.

"Excuse me," Castiel says quietly. Sarah glances up at him. "I have a ring that I'd like to purchase."

"Already?" she asks with a grin, but once he shows her what he has picked out, she sobers up. "You made a great choice. This one is one of our more durable pieces. It's great for a graduate." She looks over at Cas. "Do you know what size you need?"

Cas pulls out Dean's simple silver ring and hands it over. "I believe that this is the proper size.

Sarah takes the ring, donning a slightly-awed smile. "Y'know, I don't think many other people have ever given me another ring as measurement. It's a good idea. Let me go see if we have this size in stock." She leaves him standing at the counter as she retreats into the storage room for a few minutes. When she returns with a small box, Cas breathes a sigh of relief at having it in stock, and he accepts the box as well as Dean's silver band with open hands. "This should be the right size. If you could just check to see if it's to your liking..."

Cas nods in thanks and compares the two rings. They're almost an exact match as far as size is concerned.

"Graduation season is a little far off, isn't it?" Sarah asks out of the blue. It startles Castiel for a few moments, as he hadn't anticipated the question.

"He's a college student, and he started a semester late," he lies smoothly. "It's one of the valuable life lessons he's learned in his time with Dean.

"Ah," Sarah nods in understanding. "Anyone I know?"

Cas shakes his head. "He's a friend from my old hometown." He hands Sarah the box with the new ring and pockets Dean's old one.

"Are you all set, or can I get you anything else?" she asks.

"I believe I'm finished, thank you."

She rings up Castiel's purchase, and even though he spends a good chunk of his savings on the ring, he knows it's worth it. There aren't many ways that he can outwardly express his love for Dean, and he doesn't mind going the extra mile to do so. Dean may act humble upon receiving it, but Cas knows the man will be inwardly thrilled.

____________

The upcoming weekend is Sam and Jess's anniversary, and it's also what has been termed D-Day.

Sam is nervous as hell when he begins the adventure of getting ready for his date with Jess. He even calls Cas and Dean into his room to guide him through it because almost every simple decision is magnified by a thousand. Even the simple decision of which suit jacket to wear (and Sam doesn't have many of them) becomes something near an existential crisis.

After they give Sam a snack and calm him down, Dean and Castiel take a seat on Sam's bed and give him their opinion on each of the outfits he picks out.

"Oh my god, I'm going to pass out," he mutters as he fumbles with his tie in the mirror. Dean dramatically rolls his eyes and ambles over. He swats Sam's hands away and fixes the tie himself.

"You're not gonna pass out. You're gonna go to dinner, and you're gonna get down on one knee, and you're gonna ask Jess to marry you," Dean tells him as he straightens out Sam's dress shirt. "And then you're gonna have a wedding where everyone cries, and you'll have a bunch of disgustingly cute kids."

"Shut up, Dean," Sam mutters, but he can't help smiling. He already feels calmer by just having Dean there and talking him through this. He's never really been sure how Dean would react to his marriage plans, but so far, everything has been going smoothly.

"You're lookin' pretty slick, Sammy," Dean says when he takes a step back to admire his younger brother. And he does; Sam hardly ever has an excuse to get dressed up - hell, Dean doesn't think he owned a suit until after Dad died - but the kid works the damn thing like it's nobody's business.

Sam punches Dean on the shoulder, smiling all the while. He might have a swarm of butterflies throwing a wild party in his stomach, but he's never been so happy before in his life. All the people he loves and cares for in the world are here with him or will join him later. Even Cas is becoming a constant fixture in Sam's life, one upon whom he looks with fondness and friendship.

"What do you think, Cas?" Sam asks suddenly, turning to the other man to model his outfit. Cas is a little taken aback, as he hadn't been expecting an outward request for his opinion, but it only takes him a moment to recover.

"I think that you've made a fine choice, Sam. Jess won't be able to say no, though I'm sure the thought never crossed her mind."

Sam stares at him for a second before his smile widens and he laughs. "Yeah... yeah, I guess."

"Aw, c'mon, Sammy! Don't doubt yourself. You look like an actor from one of those action pictures, all suave and shit," Dean butts in. It earns a dramatic eye roll from Sam as the man turns to fix his hair in the mirror. As he does, a knocking sounds at the front door.

"Oh, shit," the younger Winchester mutters in anxiety, knowing that this means Jess is here.

"I'll go tell her you're still primpin' and preenin'," Dean smiles as he ducks out of the door before his brother can do anything about it aside from call his name in annoyance. It forces him to get finish smoothing down his hair in a hurry, allowing him and Cas to chase after Dean a moment later.

The man has only had time to open the door and invite Jess in when Sam rushes out, but he stops almost as soon as he sees her. She's donning a white halter dress with her hair curled and pinned back just a little bit. She looks absolutely radiant, and it takes a few moments before anyone feels qualified to speak.

"Jess..." Sam murmurs as he walks up to her, "you look so beautiful."

She only has time to smile before he leans down and pulls her into a sweeping kiss. It lasts long enough that the rest of the room gets a little awkward, and Dean clears his throat loudly to surprise the two of them.

"Sorry," Jess laughs a little breathlessly as she offers a sheepish smile to both Dean and Castiel.

"No worries, just save the face-sucking until we're a safe distance away," Dean tells them, holding open the door. "Now you kids better get goin'. Don't wanna be late for your reservation or... however that works."

Everyone exchanges their goodbyes with smiles on their faces. Dean throws a thumbs up to his brother when Jess turns her back, and Sam responds by grabbing the door and slamming it shut before his brother can shout anything vulgar.

And just like that, Dean and Cas are left to their own devices. They're both happy for Sam and Jess, but they're also excited for the alone time that the date gives them, and they've made plans of their own.

"Wanna head out right now?" Dean asks after he waves Jess and Sam down the street.

"We have to prepare to leave first."

"Well duh. Not gonna leave without the food," the older man laughs. He grabs Cas's hips and pulls him forward so that their foreheads are touching. Dean grins and pecks Cas. "Whattya got on the menu?"

"Come help me and you'll find out," Cas says coyly, slipping easily from Dean's grasp. He heads for the kitchen and ignores the kicked-puppy murmurs of protest that come from Dean's general direction.

"That's no fair!" he calls as he chases behind Cas.

"Neither is making me do all the work." He doesn't offer any more explanation, and even though Dean grumbles about having to do work on their date night, he follows after.