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“I think that’s good enough,” Cas says, playfully batting Dean’s hands away from where he’s been fiddling with Cas’ tie for the last five minutes.
“I just want you to look good, babe,” Dean says, giving him a shy grin. “Not that you don’t always.”
“I’m running a stand at the farmer’s market, not a multi-billion dollar company.”
“Just let me be the overbearing boyfriend every once in awhile.” Dean smooths down the front of Cas’ white shirt, despite there being no wrinkles. Cas has opted out of his usual trench coat for once, and something stirs low in his stomach when he sees Dean’s eyes hungrily flick over his bare arms.
“Dean,” Cas asks, just to be an ass, “am I put together enough for your liking?”
“Yeah,” he breathes out, freckles standing out prettily against his red face. “S’ hot.” He licks his lips. “Sure we don’t have time for a quickie?”
“We don’t,” Cas says sternly, for his own benefit just as much as Dean’s. “The farmer’s market starts in ten minutes, so finish helping me set up. And remember, you still have to go grocery shopping after this.”
Cas spreads the cute bee-patterned tablecloth he got from a thrift shop onto the table. Dean grumbles and swears, but still helps Cas dig out the jars of honey from the boxes and put them on the display table.
Cas was still a little surprised at how supportive Dean had been from the very start, letting Cas build a beehive in the clearing behind their house, but part of that may have been due to Dean being able to ogle Cas from their porch while Cas was wearing shorts and wielding a hammer. Dean only grew more supportive when selling honey turned into an additional source of income for them, as Cas’ job as a librarian only pays so much.
It seems to have struck nine, because people start trickling into the large parking lot off the Gas ‘N Sip where the farmer’s market is held.
“Okay, I think that’s about as much as I can help you,” Dean says as he places the last jar of honey down. “Bye, babe.” He moves into Cas’ space and kisses his cheek, ever so softly. Cas smiles at Dean as he pulls away. “I’m off to buy food for my boyfriend who’s too lazy to get groceries himself.”
“It’s appreciated. And don’t forget to pick up some kale. Sam and Eileen are coming over for dinner later this week.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Dean snarks, but Cas can see that he’s smiling as he turns away.
“No problem, honey,” Cas calls after him.
No one immediately come up to Cas’ stand, so he takes the opportunity to observe the people around him. Garth and Bess Fitzgerald are selling jams and jellies in the far corner, matching smiles on their faces. Linda Tran and her son, Kevin, are underneath a long caravan canopy, selling carrots, tomatoes, strawberries, and any other produce one could imagine. Most of the customers seem to have gone to the stand right next to him, where Meg Masters has a bin of homemade dog treats out in front of her.
A regular customer of his, Charlie—a woman with bright red hair as bold as her personality—slips away from the pack and comes up to him. She asks for her usual two jars of honey, and Dean falls to the back of Cas’ mind.
“Is that a Star Trek shirt?” Cas asks as Charlie pays.
She looks down at her shirt as if she’s forgotten she’s wearing it. The shirt has the USS Enterprise on it in grey ink, with a bright rainbow trailing after it. “Oh yeah. I admit I was more of a Star Wars fan at first, but then my girlfriend got me into it and I’m a full on Trekkie now. What about you?”
“A similar situation.” Cas smiles as he remembers the night before—he and Dean had been curled up together under a blanket on the couch, a jumbo bowl of popcorn within easy reach, watching episode after episode of the Dr. Sexy marathon on channel 60. Cas had lived a sheltered childhood, with his parents more concerned about Cas not missing bible studies than watching TV, and Dean was the one to introduce him to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and similar franchises not involving Harrison Ford. Being with Dean has opened whole new worlds to him, in more ways than one.
Dean and Charlie would get along quite well, now that he thinks about it. They’re both nerdy, enthusiastic, and more importantly: as straight as wet spaghetti. Cas mentally makes a note to ask Dean to stay and help man the booth next week.
Charlie gives him a vulcan salute as she leaves. Cas attempts to make one too, but fails miserably, and instead just waves goodbye. Her giggle makes the slip up worth it.
“Hey there, cher, you got any honey left?”
Cas can’t hold back his smile as Benny—wearing a flattering brown and red flannel—steps up to his table. Benny’s his favorite customer, and part of the reason he’s managed to clear his schedule to have a stand at the farmer’s market every weekend without fail.
Benny is around Cas’ age, in his mid-thirties, though his beard and hair have more grey hairs than Cas’s. His eyes are kind, his laugh is infectious, and Cas is drawn to him like a moth to a flame. In fact, Cas has a sneaking suspicion that if he were single, he likely would have succumbed to Benny’s charms already.
“I don’t know, let me check,” Cas says, despite the long array of honey jars on the table before him. He flips open the little notebook next to him and pretends to scan the page. “I may have something for a… Denny Piefitte. Is that you?”
“No,” Benny says, feigning disappointment. “I guess I’ll have to come back next week, then.”
“Oh wait a second,” Cas says, flipping to a blank page and squinting at it real hard. “Ahh, here you are. Four jars of honey, correct?”
Benny nods. “You’re right, finally.” His expression softens, and he gives Cas a smile meant just for him, making his laugh lines all the most obvious. Cas has to look away, because having all that attention focused on him is blinding. You have a boyfriend, Cas reminds himself sternly. “Ça va? How’re you?”
“I’m doing well. Actually, I’ve made a new kind of honey, added some clover blossoms and cinnamon—amongst other things—while brewing it.”
“A new kind of honey, you say? Well, I’ll take a jar of that too. Some honey from my honey.”
Cas is used to Benny flirting with him, but the line still rattles him. A warmth settles deep in Cas’ chest, one he usually only gets from he wakes up before Dean and sees his boyfriend asleep in the covers next to him. Dean’s eyelashes would flutter minutely, cheeks rough with the scruff Cas felt on his thighs the night before, in the pale gold sunlight framing his face like a halo. Cas might even call it love.
Cas swallows over the lump in his throat. “That will be, umm, fifty dollars.”
“I think it’s more like seventy five dollars, cher.”
“Oh. Yes. You’re correct.”
Benny pays and Cas carefully counts over his change with shaky hands and packages the honey in a brown paper bag and hands the bag to Benny and watches Benny walk away while he feels like his whole world has been tilted off its axis.
When Cas comes back to himself, blinking five times in succession and letting out a deep breath, he looks down and notices a slip of paper on top of his notebook, with the words call me sometime, honey. 785 322 5206 written on it in loopy black ink.
Cas is fucked.
//
Dean has only made it about two steps into the new bakery down on 5th street when he decides it’s his new favorite place.
The bakery is small, with four little tables pushed off to the side. The only person occupying them is a man with curly hair who looks seconds away from falling asleep on the laptop out in front of him. A handwritten sign above the counter declares their prices. What really catches Dean’s attention, though, is the smell of freshly baked apple pie drifting through the air, making him think of this mom’s smile and the bright yellow apron she always wore while baking.
“Are you planning on buying something, or are you just going to stand there and look pretty?” Someone says in a gruff but pleasant voice, snapping Dean out of his thoughts.
A man is standing on the other side of the counter. He has kind blue eyes that reminds Dean of Cas, framed by a rough beard and flushed cheeks that makes Dean think of less innocent things. He’s wearing a tanktop that shows off his arms, tan and toned, smudged with flour presumptively from being in the kitchen, and over that he has on a pink apron with the words ‘kiss the baker’ on it that Dean would think was adorable if it wasn’t so hot.
“Oh, um, sorry,” Dean says, flustered.
“No problem. Can’t say I mind either, with how easy on the eyes you are.” The man throws in a wink that makes Dean weak in the knees.
“Are you the owner of this place?” Dean asks, sidestepping the blatant flirting.
“Yes. Benny Lafitte, happy to meet ya.” He holds out his hand over the counter, which Dean takes and shakes, definitely not thinking about how big Benny’s hand is, and how firm is grip is, and the other places he could be putting that hand.
Dean flushes and lets go of Benny’s hand and rubs his sweaty hand on the fabric of his jeans. “Yeah, I didn’t just come here to gawk at you,” he says before he can stop himself. He’s always been a big flirt, and Benny is hot. “I smelled some apple pie as I was coming in here. Could I have a slice?”
Benny nods, ringing him up. “One slice of apple pie for, uh—”
“Dean.”
“—for a gorgeous specimen named Dean. Is that all?”
With a side of your dick, maybe. “Make it two slices.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re eating all this pie yourself,” Benny says. He shuffles over to the display, cutting two ginormous slices out of the apple pie there and putting them into a to-go box.
Dean sees the invitation for what it is. “No, I’m sharing the pie with my boyfriend.”
If Benny is surprised by his words, he doesn’t show it, but when Dean pays, Benny seems to be blushing. He hands over the pie without saying much more.
“Bye, have a nice day,” Dean says to him, a little disappointed by the sudden shift in tone.
“Bye,” Benny echoes back, frowning.
//
Benny’s number has been burning a hole in his pocket all day.
Cas got as far as pulling out his phone and typing in three digits, fully intending to let Benny down easy and tell him that he already has a boyfriend, before his hands started shaking so hard he had to put his phone down.
After wrapping up his stand at the farmer’s market, Cas had spent the rest of his day holed up in the library where he works. Dean had texted him wondering where he was, and Cas had lied and said he was covering someone else’s shift. He’s a coward, he knows, but he can't face Dean right now.
Cas comes home feeling awful. The first thing he does is throw the paper with Benny’s number in the trash can in the kitchen, which doesn’t leave him feeling any better. He gives one-word answers to Dean’s questions about what kind of take out he thinks they should order for dinner, and doesn’t manage to look Dean in the eye until they’re sitting on the couch together, eating pie that Dean says he got from a bakery he recently discovered, while a cowboy movie quietly plays on screen.
Cas doesn’t even try to hide the fact that he’s watching Dean more than the movie. His boyfriend is staring down at his plate of pie, eyebrows furrowed in thought. Dean hasn’t taken a single bite yet; that can only mean something is wrong.
“How did your day go?” Cas asks. His tone isn’t nearly as casual as he would’ve liked, he thinks.
“It went okay. I think I’m still recovering from dealing with the kids. They were rowdy all week.” Dean smiles a bit, and something in Cas’ chest loosens. It becomes easier to breathe. Dean’s a kindergarten teacher, and despite how much he complains about the kids, he knows Dean loves them. Dean is not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, but his dedication to his job and his students means that he drags himself out of bed at six o'clock every morning anyway, and consumes an amount of coffee that might kill a lesser man. The fact that Cas likes to give him the occasional early morning blowjob for extra incentive probably doesn't hurt, either.
“They’re six, so they’re allowed. Now the grown adults I have to deal with, who I don’t think have ever heard of the dewey decimal system, on the other hand…”
“You would smite them if you could?”
“Yes,” Cas says, smiling. He decides right then and there that he isn’t going to tell Dean about Benny. He also feels bad that he’s going to let Benny down by not texting him, but it’s better than the alternative: cheating on Dean, or having Dean break up with him.
“Hey, um,” Dean begins, looking nervous. “Do you remember how when we began dating you mentioned how you used to be into polyamory, and like dating multiple people at the same time? Like you did with Meg and Balthazar?”
“Yes,” Cas says, confused with why Dean’s bringing this up now. Does he know about Benny? “I am fully committed to you now. I promise.”
“A one-dick man, huh?” Dean says.
“Well, that’s what sex toys are for,” Cas deadpans.
Dean doesn’t laugh like Cas expects him to. Cas gives him a worried look. “What is troubling you?”
“I might have, umm, met someone today,” Dean says, ducking his head.
Cas stares at Dean in surprise, his full attention now on his boyfriend. “Wait, really? As in, you have a crush on someone who’s not me?” At Dean’s nod, Cas goes on, “What are they like?”
“He’s a baker. A really hot baker.” Now that Cas has given him permission to speak, Dean’s talking practically a mile a minute. “With blue eyes like yours, and hair just as messy, though he’s a bit more buff. No offence, Cas, because I fucking love your runner’s body. But he looks like he could pick me up and fuck me against a wall without breaking a sweat, ya know? How sexy he is aside, he’s also really kind, and nice, and funny, and probably the flirtiest motherfucker I have ever met.”
“Oh. Oh. He sounds nice.” Cas is at a loss of words for what to say.
“Pretend I didn’t say the whole fucking against a wall bit,” Dean says. He shovels pie into his mouth in a way that would be gross if Cas didn’t already love him. “You’re taking this all better than I though you would.”
“I may have also, uhh,” Cas pauses to clear his throat. “Met someone. Six months ago, actually, was when he first started coming to my stand at the farmer’s market. We got to talking, became fast friends, and then he started flirting with me.” Seeing Dean’s perturbed expression, he quickly adds, “I didn’t cheat on you, I promise.”
“No, it’s not that, it’s just… you met this guy six months ago and you’re only just telling me about him now? Meanwhile I tell you about meeting a guy the same day.”
“Well, I didn’t believe it would go anywhere, but then today he gave me his number. Which is why I’ve been avoiding you, actually.”
“Aww Cas, you ol’ dog,” Dean says, wearing an expression that Cas would think was proud in any other circumstance.
“I threw the number away, though,” Cas says. “It’s in the trash can in the kitchen.”
“So I can call him, ask to meet up, and beat him up,” Dean says so seriously that Cas is afraid for a second that he isn’t joking, but then he sees the twinkle of humor in Dean’s eye. “No, but really, what should we do now? Knowing that we both have a crush on other guys? And no matter what happens, I’ll still stick by your side, Cas, I promise. So don’t worry about that.”
Cas lets out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “I suppose… we can meet each other’s crushes, and see where this goes? Do you have a way to contact your baker?”
“I mean, I know where he works, but that’s about it.”
“So we can meet at his bakery, I suppose. Your crush won’t know that we’re setting up this makeshift interrogation slash date scouting, but that’s the only downside that I can see. I’ll dig the phone number out of the trash and text my honey buyer to meet there at ten tomorrow morning, if that’s okay?”
Dean nods, seeming to know that Cas wants to do this as soon as possible. “Deal.” He then eyes up the last bit of apple pie left on Cas’ plate.
“You can have it,” Cas says, rolling his eyes.
//
Benny doesn’t really know what to expect after getting Cas’ text. It’s a bit odd for his crush to ask to meet at the place where Benny works, as he’s pretty sure he hasn’t told Castiel he’s a baker, but perhaps Castiel just really likes pie. Or maybe he’s planning to kill Benny and hide his body. Whatever it is, Benny’s willing to roll the odds, with a man as cute and thoughtful and kind as Castiel on the line.
He starts on some honey macarons, letting Andrea deal with customers for a change, getting lost in the rhythmic kneading of the dough. Just as Benny’s finished icing the macarons, he hears voices outside that sound familiar. Wait, voices, plural?
Benny leaves the kitchen, and is happy to see Castiel standing on the other side of the counter. It’s a bit of a shock to Benny’s system, to see him in the bakery Benny built from the ground up, instead of amongst a bunch of middle-aged moms and hippies and the Kansas sun. Benny is definitely happy to see him, though, and probably would have gone around and embraced him in a bear hug if it wasn’t for who Benny sees standing next to Castiel.
“Oh, hey Dean,” Benny says, a bit confused. His mouth doesn’t seem to know whether to smile or frown. “Did you come back in for some more pie?”
Then Benny takes them in more and realizes that they’re not standing next to each other, but with each other. Familiar, comfortable, leaning into each other’s space in a decidedly not brotherly way.
“Wait, Benny, you work here?” Castiel asks, looking as confused as he is. “And you know Dean?”
“Yeah, I served Dean a few slices of pie yesterday,” Benny says, hoping that will clear something up. And flirted with him, because he was super cute and adorable and Castiel hadn’t texted him back yet and he’d been feeling put off. After Dean left, Benny had felt even worse, like he had somehow cheated on Castiel, but Benny knows that if he hadn’t already expressed interest in Castiel, he would have given Dean his number.
Castiel’s eyes widen comically. “Babe,” he says, turning to Dean, and Benny’s brain isn’t ready to register that yet. “This is Benny, from the farmer’s market. I think he’s the same Benny as your Benny.”
“Oh,” Dean says, eyes even wider than Castiel’s, looking like he’s just discovered the secret to life itself.
Benny makes his way around the counter. “Wait a minute now. Does anyone want to fill me in? Castiel, I thought you were here to go on a date with me, but now you’re here with the guy I flirted with yesterday, and you two seem to be married or something?”
“Dating, not married,” Dean mutters.
“Yeah, like that clears anything up.”
Castiel looks at them in turn. “I think we need to talk.”
//
Dean can’t believe his luck.
The guy he has a crush on, and the guy his boyfriend has a crush on turn out to be the same guy? That shit only happens in Hallmark movies, he’s pretty sure. Or maybe it was a porn he watched. Ehh, same difference.
Dean nervously hops his leg up and down under the table as Cas explains the situation to Benny. He’s trying to not allow himself to hope they might get to have some sort of threeway relationship, or at least a threeway, but it’s difficult. Dean wants Benny in their life, in any way they can get him. Dean likes Benny so much already and he’s only just met him. Plus Cas likes him too, and Dean more than trusts his judgement.
“Okay, Okay,” Benny says, interrupting Cas’ third explanation of their situation. “I think I understand now. So do you both want to date me?”
Dean bites his bottom lip. “I mean, if you want. Or you can just date Cas, I don’t mind. I mean, whatever works for you. I don’t want to intrude on your guys relationship, since you’ve know each other for months before Benny met me. Though that doesn’t mean Cas is any less of my boyfriend, just—”
“Don’t worry, cher,” Benny interrupts his stuttering. “I like you too. I think you’re the hottest person that’s ever walked into my bakery. Even with Castiel sitting right next to you.”
Dean blushes to the tips of his ears.
“I tell him that everyday, yet he still doesn’t believe me,” Cas says. He smiles at both of them softly, in a way Dean’s only seen directly at him. It’s intimate. Dean’s not jealous, though. He knows Cas has heart enough for the both of them.
“Well then, how do you two feel about a date tonight? At the Roadhouse down the street? Is seven okay?” Benny acts all mighty and confident, but Dean can hear the nearly inaudible shake in his voice and knows how much he’s afraid of being turned down.
“That sounds awesome. I hear they serve good burgers,” Dean says, stomach already grumbling at the thought.
“I’m a big fan of burgers too,” Cas says.
Dean knocks their shoulders together. “I know you are, babe.” He directs his next words at Benny. “I wouldn’t recommend offering to pay the bill, though. Cas will end up ordering like three burgers. With a side of fries each. I was broke within like a week of dating him.”
“Was it worth it?” Cas asks him, as if he doesn’t know the answer.
“Hell yeah it was.” Right now would be the time Dean would say some sappy shit, but Benny’s sitting right across from them, and Dean’s not quite that conformable with him yet. “Have you seen your ass?”
“Seconded,” Benny says, giving Cas a heated look. Again, it should be weird, but it isn’t. “Oh, and before I forget, I made you guys something.” He gets up from their booth and goes over to the kitchen, coming out a moment later with a platter of desserts.
Dean’s an avid cooking show consumer, and though he’s never seen a macaron in real life, he can tell that Benny looks to be holding a plate of them right now. They have orange frosting, with a cute little bee decal in white on them.
“Don’t mind if I do,” Dean says, grinning, reaching for one. As soon as he bites into the macaron, he tastes a familiar flavor, one he’s licked off homemade pies and Cas’ chest. “Is this made of Cas’ honey?”
“Yes,” Benny confirms.
“Jesus,” Dean moans. “Another thing on the list of what I didn’t expect to find sexy about you. Cas, do you mind if I marry Benny right here and now?”
“Not at all. Though I do expect to be included in the consummation.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way, babe.”