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Suptober 2021: Day 3 - Rainbows.
"There are a lot of rainbow flags and signs here." Jack pointed out as they drove through Kansas City.
They had the windows rolled down in the heat. It was a weekend in late August, they were heading back to Lebanon and decided to come via KC to pick up some supplies it was harder to find locally. Dean was regretting it now as they crawled through the packed street at a snail's pace. People were wandering everywhere, every parking space was filled.
"Oh, it's Pride weekend here. It's a time for LGBTQIA people and their allies to come together and show pride and solidarity with their community." Sam explained.
"What's LBTQA?" Jack said, his head practically hanging out of the window as he looked around at the colorful display.
"Gay people." Dean piped up from the driver's seat.
"It's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual." Sam said, pointedly. "As a community, they've long been discriminated against and this is a time they can all come together to show that they have pride in who they are."
"Something you wanna tell me, Sammy?" Dean snarked. Sam ignored him.
"I don't know what those things are." Jack said, sitting himself back down."
The Impala had slowed to a crawl as a large group of scantily clad people, crossed the road in front of them.
"It's to do with sexuality and gender identity." Cas said from the seat next to him. Sam continued:
"Lesbians are women who love other women, like Charlie, and Claire, and Kaia. Gay means men who love other men..."
"Like Cas and Dean!" Jack gleefully interrupted.
The car fell silent. It wasn't something that had really been discussed openly among the group since Cas had returned from the Empty. The silence stretched, becoming uncomfortable, when Dean finally spoke up.
"Yeah, kid. Like me and your dad. Although technically I think I'm one of the Bs"
Cas leant over to Jack and whispered.
"That's bisexual, which means that he likes women as well."
"Thank you Mr Wikipedia." Dean said, but there was no bite to it.
A pickup pulled out of a parking space just ahead of them and Dean wasted no time turning the Impala into the vacant space and killing the engine.
"Well, come on. We might as well go see what all the fuss is about."
From the sound of it, the main parade wasn't far away. They headed towards the noise and the music. Jack enjoyed himself, immensely. He was so busy gathering every flag, lanyard, and colorful piece of tat being given out on the street that neither he nor Sam noticed as Dean took Cas' hand in his, threading their fingers together.
It wasn't Dean's scene, it never would be, but there was enough going on around him that he didn't feel too self-conscious. He was a work in progress, but he loved Cas and he didn't want anyone to think he wasn't proud to be with him. They watched as people marched, banners flying high. Floats passed along the street, throwing out baubles. Jack insisted on having his picture taken with half of the people they saw. It was a good time, and no one batted an eye at two men walking along quietly, hand in hand.
***
It wasn't until several weeks later, that Dean saw the picture. Jack was going through the stack of photos he'd gotten Sam to print out. There was Jack surrounded by drag queens, Jack with a lesbian biker group, Jack covered with glitter and strings of beads. There was also one photo of Dean and Cas together, sharing a gentle kiss beneath a rainbow banner. The picture made him feel warm and kind of glowy inside. From then on, he didn't worry about what people might think when they looked at him and Cas together. Dean was proud.