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Christmas.
It was in the air, in every cone of frost that clung to the trees and the fairy lights draped over and through their branches. Dean had never been much for the whole “holiday spirit” thing, if he was being honest with himself. Maybe it’s because he’d killed spirits for a living, instead of living, before he’d gotten to take a break.
Before he’d finally gotten to stop.
He sighed contentedly. Everything looked so much sweeter, so much easier when the weights of the world weren’t on his shoulders, and that included the scents of peppermint and pine faintly saturating the air; the small-town vibes this place had that meant wreaths hung over storefronts, and a thin layer of snow dusted over the sidewalks. Dean watched from where he sat on his park bench, the space beneath his eyes bright for the first time in years.
The holidays.
It turned out he really could enjoy them after all.
He checked his watch, and looked up to the passerbyers walking down the street, scanning the faces for the one he was really waiting for. When he found the familiar bundle of jackets, the soft smile just beneath the nape of a chill-bitten nose, he stood up, and his grin was ear-to-ear.
“Hey, Cas!” he called, waving the angel - now human, he reminded himself, but happy and alive - over towards him, and beginning to walk until the two of them met one another halfway. “You find your way through town okay?”
“Yes,” Cas told him, briefly shivering beneath the woolen weave of his winter cap as he fumbled to zip up the last one of his coats. “The woman at the bus station where I got off was very helpful.”
Dean rolled his eyes, knowing that woman would flirt with just about anyone.
“Come on, then,” the WInchester, clapping Cas over the back, and then deciding to let his hand stay there. “I’ve got a whole day planned for us.”
The two began to walk through the homey streets, and Dean found himself seeing more and more through Cas’s eyes and less through his own, matching his smile at every drifting snowflake or visual of children playing in the road. The air practically glinted as they went, and eventually they reached Dean’s first destination, a little espresso shop just large enough to fit two workers inside while the customers ordered at the window. The wood was painted a cheerful red, tinsel draped over the sloping roof, and the smell of coffee and heaven wafted over every nose in a quarter-mile radius. “Two hot chocolates, Nina,” Dean called happily, because of course he knew every employee who worked here, Nina especially (since she was the one who ran the place). “Extra peppermint in one of them, yeah? And don’t skimp on the cocoa.”
“Me, skimp on the cocoa?” Nina scoffed, the small elf-ear headband balanced over short, black bangs and olive-tan skin rocking back and forth affrontedly. “Dean Winchester, I am offended. After everything I have done for you.” She shook her head admonishingly and looked over at Cas, then grinned, leaning out the window to get a better look at him. “Heyy, is this your guy? The one you never stop talking about?”
Cas glanced at Dean, but the Winchester only laughed, nodding in confirmation. “Yup, he’s the guy. Castiel, meet Nina Villaseñor. She’s been the one keeping me fed and fueled the past six months.”
“Damn right. Castiel, a part of me will never forgive you for leaving us to deal with him,” she told him, “but my cash register gets the final say, and fortunately for you, she more than approves.” Nina extended a hand, and Cas shook it, before she turned towards her supplies and the milling customers waiting for their drinks. “I’ll be back with those hot chocolates in just a minute, guys. Don’t stray too far, or you might just end up under some mistletoe,” she said with a wink.
Before Cas could open his mouth in question, she’d swept her back to them, beginning to stir peppermint and grind cocoa with an artistry all her own.
“Mistletoe?” the former angel asked, turning to Dean. “What did she mean?”
Dean smiled and shook his head, laugh lines crinkling beside his eyes. “Don’t worry about it,” he answered. He looked up at a pair of birds perched just above them, and watched one preen the other’s feathers - noticing that Cas had begun to do the same, and by the time their drinks were ready, the two men, lost in their view of nature, had moved ever so slightly closer together.
“Here you guys go!” Nina called out, handing them two to-go cups with festive lace printed over the lids, likely designed by Nina herself. “The one on the right’s extra peppermint.”
“Thanks, pal.” Dean slid over a five dollar bill, and then stuck an extra twenty into the tip jar, winking at her just as she’d done at him. “And merry Christmas, beautiful.”
“You flatterer,” she laughed. “In front of Castiel? Really? What will people say?”
“I meant the cash register,” the Winchester teasingly clarified. “I’m sure the people will understand.”
“Ah, of course,” she said. “Hey, by the way,” she began to ask. “New Year’s at Laur’s next week? You gonna be there?”
“What, five hours of watching you make out with her in the corner while dated music plays on vinyl?” Dean grinned. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Idiot. Alright, I’ll let her know. Now scram, get out of here. You’re scaring the tourists, and I’m sure you’re dying to show Castiel around.” She looked at Cas, smiling at his reddened cheeks once again. “You’ve got yourself a good one in him, my friend,” she told him. “I, for one, hope to see you around.”
“I hope so as well,” Cas replied honestly. He took a sip from his cup, and he was momentarily startled by the heat, before finding his whole body sigh as the sensation gave way to the dizzying warmth of chocolate over his tongue. “Wow,” he exhaled. “Doubly so, now that I’ve tasted this. You have true skill.”
“Glad you like it,” she beamed. “Bye now, both of you!”
Dean and Cas waved back, and then began to walk once more, taking a path that wound from the small espresso shop out towards an open park/nature trail which was currently filled with the richness of the holiday afternoon.
“I hadn’t realized just how comfortable you’d grown here,” Cas remarked, steadily nursing his drink but coming up for air (if only to make the incredible-tasting beverage last). “I underestimated just how much time fits into six months.” He blushed slightly, and let his gaze slip slightly towards the pavement. “I missed you,” he admitted at last.
Dean looked at him, and felt his face soften, reaching over to gently hug the former angel from the side. “Me too, man,” he murmured, leaving his arm where it was. “These six months...I just needed time, to figure some things out. And god, Cas, I’m…” he broke off, and laughed, laughed because the world was alive around him and not ending; because he could; because for the first time in so long, there was nothing stopping him. “I’m happy, in this little town. A couple of years ago, I would’ve never thought I could do it, but I did. My version of an apple pie life, and I can actually live it, without having to worry about anything bigger than fixing cars and paying off my tab at Nina’s.” He sighed, feeling the truth behind every last word he spoke. “I found it, buddy,” he said quietly. “I found our holy grail.”
“...our?” Cas repeated, watching the green eyes that danced contentedly - peacefully, he realized - over everything that surrounded them, from the strands of fairy lights strung between streetlight poles and the colorful sweaters knitted and pulled to cover tree trunks.
Dean looked at Cas as if surprised, mentally replaying what had come out of his mouth, but he only smiled shyly, a slight grin peeking out from beneath the reddish tone of his cheeks. “Yeah, Cas,” he said. “Ours...if you want it.”
Cas looked down into his cup, and smiled, barely having to ponder for an answer. “I do, Dean,” he answered. “If this place has become your home, then I will be happy here. Because if this is your home….then you are mine.”
Dean stilled in his tracks, and opened his mouth to say something - anything, god, anything he could think of, if any words could string themselves together at all - when something caught his eye, and he glanced up, a piece of the lump caught inside his chest utterly softening when he realized what it was.
Mistletoe.
“I love you, Cas,” he whispered aloud, and without waiting another moment, he pulled his angel towards him; abandoning their cocoa and gently pressing their lips together, in a gesture that was impossibly warm despite the winter, more so than either of them had ever imagined it could be.
“And I you,” Cas breathed once they pulled away, his heart somehow spinning as though it were ascending to heights greater than his wings had ever taken him. “Would you...would you go to dinner with me, tonight?”
Dean’s mouth quirked. “I think you might’ve gotten things a little out of order,” he remarked.
Cas smiled. “We would’ve eaten tonight, regardless. But if you say yes, we simply get to do it with more...fun.”
“True.” Dean laughed. “Yes, Cas. I’ll go to dinner with you.”
They began to walk once more, their fingers slowly threading together as fresh flakes of snow began to fall, and the sound of ornaments distantly twinkling together was indistinguishable from the feeling of happiness.
“Merry Christmas, Dean,” Cas murmured, resting his head on Dean’s shoulder.
Dean pressed a soft kiss to the top of Cas’s hat, smiling to himself all the while.
“Merry Christmas, buddy.” He paused, for only a moment.
“It wouldn’t have been the same without you.”