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Castiel knew this was a mistake. As soon as the words left Gabriel’s mouth, he knew it. Why no one else realized this was a mystery to him. It’s not like he has idiots for friends. Maybe not Einstein level of geniuses, but intelligent enough to know a bad idea when they hear it. For some reason, whether it was the alcohol or he seriously misjudged his friends, they were on board with Gabriel’s idea. So, as always, Castiel was to be the voice of reason. With all of his heart, he stares Gabriel down and says, “Hell. No.”
“But why?” pouts Gabriel, lower lip sticking out like a fat worm.
“Because first of all,” Castiel says. “Since when have any of us ever been into haunted houses?”
“I like horror movies,” Gabriel huffs.
“So do I,” Meg pipes up. Gabriel and Meg high five each other.
“At least Meg doesn’t cower behind her date five minutes into the movie,” Castiel argues.
“But the whole haunted house is based off of classic horror movies,” Balthazar adds, pointing to his cell phone. Images of classic movie monsters appear on screen as he swipes through. “They’ll have Frankenstein, the clown from IT, they even have Krampus Cassie!”
“Which is weird since Krampus is a Christmas thing,” Anna hums as she reaches into the case of beer. “But the other stuff sounds pretty cool.” She frowns as her hand comes up empty. “Seriously guys?” Castiel sighs and begins his long process of getting up off the couch.
“See, everyone wants to check it out!” Gabriel says. “Besides, this coupon only works if all five of us go.”
“Well second of all,” Castiel grunts as he finally gets up. “If you don’t remember, we had an apple picking incident about a week ago.” Castiel hobbles over with his crutches to the fridge and points to another open case of the beer.
In a series of rather unfortunate events for Castiel, Gabriel and Balthazar had started a rotten apple war against one another. One of the rotten things hit a branch that still had a hive on it, and the three Novak boys took off running from the swarm of angry bees. Gabriel and Balthazar got stung a few times, but Castiel had tripped over a basket full of apples before reaching the car and sprained his ankle.
“No, we remember,” Gabriel says sullenly and looks off into the distance, clearly having a “war flashback” moment. He shakes his head and continues with, “But we’ll get you a wheelchair! I’ll push you around and keep you safe!”
“I’d feel safer with an inexperienced firefighter in a burning building than I would with you Gabriel,” Castiel huffs at his older brother.
“Don’t be such a party pooper Cassie,” Balthazar whines. “It’s Halloween time! We’re supposed to do things that will make us shit our pants in fright!”
“Not me,” Castiel responds with a grunt as he begins hobbling back to his place on the couch. “I’ll take a night of passing out candy to children or Hocus Pocus over any stupid scary stuff.” Meg pauses from shoving the next VHS tape into the old TV and looks Castiel dead in the eye.
“And that’s why you haven’t bothered asking Dean to the Halloween dance, right?” she smirks. The others let out a long “ ooooooooh! ” and Castiel tries to keep his bright red face as neutral as he can.
Castiel had met Dean Winchester in College Fitness their Freshman year. It was another semester of reliving the hell that was high school P.E. class, but at least Dean was there with a joke and a smile to make things not as hellish. The next semester, they found out they shared an astronomy class, and it only took a few more weeks (and Castiel noticing that Dean’s freckles were like beautiful constellations decorating his face) before Castiel admitted that he was helplessly in love with his new friend.
“N-no,” Castiel stammers. Anna and Balthazar snigger and Castiel lowers his head slightly. “It’s because I just know he’s already with Charlie.” They sober up quickly after that. Because while Castiel’s little group knew of his awkward and pathetic crush, they also knew about Computer Science major Charlie and how much easier it was for her and Dean to hit it off. Charlie was also in their astronomy class, something about her fascination with Star Trek as a young girl had quickly sparked conversation between her and Dean. Castiel couldn’t do much but watch as the two instantly became friends. They never left Castiel out of the conversation or their after class coffee runs, but Castiel wasn’t blind. He could see just how good they were for each other. Charlie was cool and smart, and Castiel was just… awkward…
“I still think you’re assuming shit,” Meg says, pushing the tape all the way into the built-in player on the TV. “Besides, last I heard from Sammy-Boy, Dean hasn’t asked anyone or gotten asked.” A small bit of hope flickers inside of Castiel, but he squashes it down with logic.
“I’m sure it’ll happen soon,” he replies. “I overheard Charlie talking about some big plans for this weekend. It’s definitely something extravagant to ask Dean out.”
“So come to the haunted house with us,” Gabriel offers. “It’ll keep your mind off of that whole crap that’s going to happen.”
“Pass,” Castiel mutters, plopping himself down on the couch. “Besides, Dean works at that particular haunted attraction. Who’s to say that it’s not going to happen while he’s on his shift there. So, no thank you. I will sit and sulk in complete misery this weekend.”
“So help me Clarence,” Meg turns to fully face him. “I am not going to let you be a Halloween Scrooge this year. So either you come with us to the haunted house this Saturday, or you call Dean right now and ask him to the Halloween dance.” Anna and Balthazar let out another chorus of ooh’s and Gabriel has that excited husky dog grin on his face. Castiel feels his mouth go slightly dry.
“I’m… I’m not doing either one,” he responds. The group looks back at Meg.
“I don’t think I asked,” Meg replies.
“N...no,” Castiel says.
“You’re going to have to pick one Clarence, or else.”
“Or else what?”
“Or else I’m calling Dean and telling him what a big chicken you are because you won’t ask him out or go to the haunted house with us.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Oh yeah?” Castiel watches in sudden horror as Meg pulls out his phone (how the hell did she get that?!) and holds down the number three. The speed dial number Castiel had reserved for Dean. Castiel launches himself off the couch and towards his phone. Meg tosses it over to Balthazar, who puts it on speaker and passes it to Anna when Castiel scrambles backwards, and then Anna tosses it to Gabriel. The older Novak brother goes to run off but is promptly tripped over by the Castiel’s death grip around his leg.
“OWWW!” Gabriel shouts once he falls flat onto the floor. Castiel rapidly crawls over to his discarded phone and grabs it.
“Hello?” Dean answers on the other side. Castiel responds with a loud, “OOF!!” thanks to Gabriel pouncing on him and beginning a wrestling match. “Cas?”
“GET OFF OF ME!” Castiel shouts and swats at Gabriel.
“Cas, hey!” Dean’s voice instantly sounds worried. “Are you ok? Where are you?” For a moment, Castiel feels a warmth in his chest when he hears the care in Dean’s voice. It is quickly replaced with dread however when Meg scoops up the phone with a smirk.
“He’s fine Freckles,” Meg says into the speaker. “Just got into a tussle with his big bro.”
“Hi Meg,” Dean grumbles.
“Yeah, hey. Since you picked up, mind answering a question for Clarence here?” Castiel freezes up. “He’s just been dying to ask you.”
“Uh, ok?”
“Don’t hang up on Freckles now,” Meg hands over the phone with a smile as sweet as venom. Castiel finally retrieves his phone and looks at the screen.
“H...hello Dean,” he mutters.
“Hey Cas,” Dean sounds much more relaxed now and Castiel can’t help but smile. “You good?”
“Yes, Meg wasn’t lying when she said my brother and I got into a bit of a tussle,” Castiel shoots a glare at Gabriel, who he has pinned down with his elbow.
“Man, your friends are sort of assholes,” Dean chuckles.
“You’re on speaker you ass,” Balthazar calls out. The line goes silent.
“...Well shit,” Dean mutters. Castiel immediately takes the call off speaker. “Sorry about that.”
“Well, you’re not wrong,” Castiel says, earning him a lovely chuckle from Dean and some handfuls of snack foods being thrown at him.
“So what’s up?” Dean asks.
“Um well…” Castiel falls silent. He knew better than to believe Meg wouldn’t follow through with her threat. Hell, it’s part of the reason why he was already on the phone with Dean at the moment. Meg wasn’t a liar, not to Castiel at least. Which is why a part of him wants to believe her when she said Dean was still available for the dance.
“I was just… wondering Dean…” Eight words was all Castiel needed to say. Just a quick, “will you go to the dance with me” and this whole disaster could be over. No need to embarrass himself with Meg’s ruthless confession, nor subject himself to nightmares for a week by going to the haunted house.
“Yeah Cas?” Dean asks, and Castiel suppresses a shutter. Just eight words. He could do this. Even with eight pairs of eyes staring down at him, he could do this. The worst that could happen is that Dean turns him down. Then all of his stupid pining will have been for nothing, but hey, at least he’d know where they stand. Just beautiful Dean and awkward loser Castiel who has a pointless crush on him. He could handle the rejection. It… it would be fine!
“...”
“...”
“...does this group coupon for your haunted house work on weekends?”
oXoXoXoXo
“I hate you,” Castiel growls as he’s wheeled over to the ticket line.
“Hey, I gave you your shot,” Meg holds up her hands in defense. “You chickened out on asking Dean that night.”
“But look on the brightside Castiel!” Gabriel chirps. “We’re all here and we’ll get through this toge--” A thing on all four runs up to them and screeches. Gabriel and Anna scream as the actor with a werewolf mask swipes at them. Castiel kicks at it with his good leg and it scurries away to scare another group of teenagers.
He turns and glares up at his friends. “I hate all of you.”
“Next,” a voice calls. Castiel is still sulking until they come face to face with Charlie. Usually she radiated with excitement and friendliness, but at this moment, she seemed very solemn. Her bright red hair was thrown up in a lazy pony-tail and Castiel could see the faint smudge of her mascara from careful wiping under her eyes. She notices Castiel and gives him a small smile. “Hey Cas.”
“Charlie, are you alright?” he asks with a frown. She opens her mouth but closes it when her bottom lip trembles a bit.
“No, not really,” she mutters, punching into the iPad the number of their party. “But you know, life is shit and then you die alone with twenty cats, right?”
Castiel’s frown deepens. “Do you need to talk about it?”
“Nah, it’s ok,” she sighs and hands over the wristbands. “Don’t let my cruddy day ruin your fun.” She waves them off and they go to the next line to enter the attraction.
“So, obviously the girl is suffering from a broken heart,” Balthazar says. The group nods solemnly. “You think that means Cassie’s Dean rejected her?”
“Balthazar!” Anna hisses and swats him on the arm. “Now is not the time!” Castiel doesn’t have much time to consider Balthazar may have been right, because they were right at the front of the line. He swallowed hard as Gabriel pushed him through the entrance and into complete darkness. The hallway is narrow and the sound of howling wind and ghostly moans fill their ears. A yellow moon flickers ahead of them, letting them know this is the way to go.
“Something’s going to jump out at us,” Castiel says to his friends. “I just know it.”
“No,” Meg replies. “They don’t typically start the scares so s--” A hidden window shaped door flies open under the moon and a snarling wolfman lunges and swipes at the group. They scream, but none louder than Castiel. Gabriel squatted down to hide from the attacker, and pulled the handles of the wheelchair hard, nearly flinging Castiel backwards out of it.
“Gabriel!” Castiel hisses over Balthazar and Meg’s nervous laughter.
“Sorry! Sorry!” Gabriel adjusts the chair and ducks as the wolfman swipes at them again.
Castiel pushes through the fabric divider, taking them to a wide room decorated to emulate a forest. A fake river runs to their left and just ahead of them is a dimly lit cabin entrance and the yellow moon glowing above it. He crinkles his nose at the familiar stink of a fog machine but can’t deny that it adds to his anxiety. Good for the creative team he supposes.
“How’d they get a river in here?” Anna asks, slight awe in her voice.
“It’s a distraction!” Gabriel shouts, his voice rather tight. “Don’t let it fool you!” Nothing jumps out of them in this forest room. Castiel does however jump and grip at the seat when the cabin door swings open on its own. At the far end of the corner, stands a hunched figure, back turned towards them, making loud snarling noises over a table.
“Oh God!” Castiel squeaks when he realizes there’s a crying woman on the table.
“You have to run!” she shrieks and thrashes a bloody arm towards them. “Don’t let them get you!” The buzz of a chainsaw roars to life from behind them, followed by a strong push forward. Castiel glances back to see Balthazar shoving the group forward. A man in a hockey mask holds a chainsaw above his head in the doorway. Castiel faces forward as they hurry to the next hallway, just in time to see that same masked man jump out of another hidden window in the wall and lunge at them. Once again, Castiel has to brace himself from almost falling backwards.
"STOP HIDING BEHIND ME!" Castiel shouts at his brother.
"I'M NOT!" Gabriel shouts back. "I'M PROTECTING YOU!"
"Oh for fuck’s sake!" Meg hisses. She shoves Gabriel out of the way and pushes Castiel onward.
The forest covered hallway twists and turns, with only the yellow moon as their guide through it all. Anytime they made a wrong turn, a burst of air would shoot at them and cause the group to scream and retreat back into following the moon guide. Castiel was starting to hate that yellow moon.
The next divider they enter takes them into a warehouse. Heavy chains swing above them and boxes block their vision to the entire room. A radio crackles in and out for a while before a frantic voice can be heard.
"Hello?!" It says. "Hello? Please! If anyone hears me, don't go to the warehouse! I'm begging you!" Anna whimpers and Castiel feels Meg walk faster through the winding box maze. "It's a death trap! You won't survive!" The boxes clear a path to an opening. Their exit and salvation. "You won't make it! Just run away from it! RUN!"
At the last shouted "run," there's a loud electrical pop and the lights shut off. Castiel and his friends scream as a strobe light begins flickering and a zombie jumps down from a stack of boxes and snarls at them.
Suddenly, Castiel realizes to his horror that the zombie is getting closer. Not because it was running towards them. But because Meg had thrown the wheelchair, and therefore Castiel, at the thing. He hears Anna's screams and Gabriel's panicked "GO! GO! GO!" as the zombie catches the chair.
Castiel’s body instantly freezes. He was alone. Trapped. Absolutely done for. He stops breathing as the zombie stares at him and the strobe goes completely off.
"Wow, your friends really are assholes," the zombie chuckles in the darkness.
That voice… Castiel knows it.
"D...Dean?!" Castiel squeaks out. The main lights turn back on and Dean, in zombie makeup, grins back at him.
"Hey Cas."
Castiel stares at him for a long moment, before he shoves Dean away. He throws his head back into a laugh. "You scared me! Holy shit!"
"I mean, it's kind of my job?" Dean laughs back. He looks up at the stack of boxes he had jumped from and waves. "Hey Jo, I gotta take Cas back to his friends, you mind?"
"I got it," a blonde woman with zombie makeup pokes her head from over the edge and waves him off. Now that the lights are up, Castiel notices that the jump wasn’t as high as he first thought. It looked to be about a six foot jump down and there was a sort of padding for Dean and Jo to not get injured on their landing. Castiel lets out a small sigh of relief when he realizes Dean is safe every night at work, then rolls his eyes at himself because of course that’s the most important thing to worry about while he’s been separated by his friends in a haunted house.
"Let's get you back with the other chickens," Dean chuckles and starts wheeling Castiel through the opening his friends had disappeared to. It's another dark hallway, but fortunately the actors were closing up their trap windows instead of jumping out from them. Castiel leans back into the chair, grateful there wasn't much happening anymore. He feels Dean's hand gently squeeze his shoulder. "You doing ok?"
"I'm just glad I'm not getting scared anymore," Castiel sighs, leaning into the touch a bit. "I still hate that stupid moon though." It's quiet for a moment before Dean abruptly stops and pushes Castiel forward with a "RAH!" That makes Castiel shout out a curse before he glares up at Dean who's laughing.
"Sorry," Dean grins. "Still my job to make you shit yourself." Castiel slums a little lower in his chair and pouts as Dean keeps going.
They enter another twisting hall and soon enter a room lit up by black light and full of mirrors. Slow haunted carnival music echoes through the room as neon painted shapes float around the air. Castiel gulps when he notices multiple masked clowns standing around certain corners.
"Found them," Dean says and points ahead. He begins jogging towards them and shouts out, "HEY!"
"IT'S FOLLOWING US!!" Gabriel, who was at the rear, screams upon seeing Dean. "RUN! GO!" The group immediately bolts and triggers two other clown actors to give chase through the maze of mirrors. Castiel frowns and Dean slows to a stop.
"Well shit," Dean sighs. He looks down at Castiel and gives an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. I can walk you through the rest of the maze if--”
“No!” Castiel says a bit louder than he intended. Dean gives him an amused smirk and Castiel clears his throat. “I-I mean… you’re still on the clock. I can…” He trails off and stares at one of the clown actors returning to their spot. The clown waves slowly at Castiel. He really doesn’t want to trek through this maze alone… Castiel shutters as he feels Dean’s breath on his ear.
“I’ll take you through our emergency exit,” Dean says, not having to shout over the loud music since he was closer to Castiel. Castiel turns his face towards Dean and feels Dean’s lips glide over his cheek. The logical part of Castiel’s brain knew that the cheek kiss was just an accident, a result of Castiel suddenly turning his face. Dean also immediately moved his head back at the quick contact, so that was another point to add to the logic of this being an accident... But that logical part of him was barely heard over the internal screaming happening in the rest of Castiel’s mind because “holy shit Dean just kissed him!”
“I...I’d like that,” Castiel finally manages to say. Dean straightens back up and turns Castiel towards a dark space in the room. A hooded figure holding a small flashlight nods and pushes open a hidden door. Castiel notices that the door has the bright green “EXIT” sign above it, and he begins to wonder how many other emergency exit doors he missed in his terror.
On the other side of the door is a well lit hallway with photos decorating the wall. Each photo had a year printed at the bottom followed by the text “CAST AND CREW.”
“I never realized just how much history this place had,” Castiel comments as they continue down the long hallway.
“Oh yeah, it’s been here for a while,” Dean says. “I think it’s been here since the fifties or something. That’s why there’s so many pictures here.” He stops them at one particular group photo and points out a woman. “That’s my mom right there.” Castiel leans forward and squints. A woman wearing a nurse outfit and covered in blood scowls back at him.
“She worked here as well?” Castiel asks.
“Yep,” Dean pops the P. “It’s how she met my dad.”
“No kidding?” Castiel smiles up at Dean.
“Yeah, Dad’s buddies dragged him along through this place when the theme was Nightmare Asylum. Mom jumped out from behind one of those patient curtains, and my Dad got so scared he just…” Dean holds out one hand and uses the other hand to make a falling motion, ending with a loud clap.
“He fainted?” Castiel blinks.
“Yep!” Dean chuckles. “Fell like a friggin’ pine tree in December.” Castiel laughs along with Dean at the image. Dean begins walking again and continues his story. “Well, my mom was an actual nursing student, so she broke character to make sure he was ok. They got him out pretty quick and to the hospital and she stayed with him the whole time. She wanted to be sure he was ok, and well… After a few more 'meetings by chance,’ Dad got the courage to ask her out and the rest is history. They say it was ‘Love at first fright.’” Castiel snorts at the pun. “I know right?”
For the remainder of the walk down the hall, Castiel is thinking about the story of how Dean’s parents met. He can’t help but notice some similarities between them and the events that happened between Dean and himself. Being dragged to this haunted house by a group of friends, getting the living daylight scared out of them, even being taken care of in a sense by the other person who scared them. Castiel looks up to Dean and when Dean smiles back down at him, he’s made up his mind.
Maybe it was because he was still feeling adrenaline from being scared senseless just a few minutes ago. Maybe it was because Castiel had accepted that he would be having nightmares for the next few weeks and so this decision couldn’t have been any worse. Whatever the reason was, he knew what he was going to do next.
“Hey Dean?” Castiel says just before exiting. “Would you… like to go with me to the Halloween dance?” Dean stops and Castiel can’t look at him quite yet. Not until he feels certain that his face isn’t red anymore and his heart won’t burst out of his chest.
“The dance next Saturday?” Dean asks quietly. Castiel nods, already dreading what the tone in Dean’s voice meant. Dean lets out a long sigh. “Sorry man… I already promised I would go with Charlie to the dance.”
“Oh,” Castiel says quietly as his shoulders slump. “I see.” He thought he had adrenaline on his side to save him from any heartbreak from rejection, but it quickly vanished at Dean’s words. His heart aches as his assumptions become reality. Dean and Charlie were together, and his stupid crush was all in vain. Charlie was right about the whole “dying alone with twenty cats” bit.
“Yeah,” Dean sighs again. “It was sort of a last minute thing because her girlfriend--well, I guess ex- girlfriend--broke up with her this morning.”
Castiel slowly looks up at Dean. “Wait, her girlfriend?”
“ Ex- girlfriend,” Dean corrects him.
“...Oh,” Castiel says. The information processes a little longer in his mind. Suddenly a memory resurfaces in Castiel’s mind. It had been buried because Castiel was half asleep during this late night hangout with Dean and Charlie, but he distinctly remembers Charlie proudly proclaiming that while Cas was the G and Dean was the B, she was the L (and therefore got to pick the movie that night). Castiel lets out another, “ Ohhh …” Well, he sure feels like an idiot jerkface. “So… that’s why she seemed so upset at the ticket booth.”
“Yeah,” Dean says in a sad tone. “She had this whole romantic get away planned for them and she just got dumped out of nowhere… Benny and I tried to talk her out of coming in, but she insisted on coming to get her mind off of everything. Anyways, after that, Charlie, Benny, and I promised to go all together to the Halloween dance as a sort of middle finger to us being single this holiday season. Well, Benny has Andrea, but she’s studying abroad in Austria this semester, so he’s on his own for a bit.”
“I see,” Castiel nods. It’s silent between them as Dean opens the door and wheels Castiel outside. He’s a bit lost in thought as Dean takes him back to the ticket booth. Part of Castiel feels ashamed for his pointless pity party when Charlie was the one having the rights to a pity party, and the other part of him was mortified and thinking of ways to blackmail each of his friends into not ever uttering a word about his worries of Dean and Charlie being a thing.
“But uh… Cas?” Dean’s voice breaks Castiel’s train of thought. “I just… wanted to let you know I totally would have said yes to you… just so we’re clear.” Castiel looks up at Dean. Even though it’s dark and there’s very limited light, Castiel swears he can see a slight blush underneath the gray of Dean’s zombie makeup. “And now I feel like an ass for saying that and not letting it go anywhere. Like a teaser for a movie that’s never going to come out with a sequel. So uh… Benny’s got a skype date with Andrea tonight, and Charlie was going to have a girl’s night with Gilda and Jo. I don’t have any plans after my shift so uh…” Castiel holds his breath as Dean stops and finally looks down at him. “You want to grab some hot chocolate or something afterwards?”
“I’d love to,” Castiel replies with a grin.
“A-Awesome!” Dean grins right back. Castiel feels a new spring in Dean’s step as he finishes the trip over to the ticket booth. “I still have like another hour or two, plus getting all of this beauty makeup off, so I can text you and pick you up. Does that work?”
Castiel hums thoughtfully. “That should give me enough time to chastise my friends for leaving me to die alone in a haunted house, so yes, I believe that works.” Dean barks out a laugh once he parks Castiel’s chair next to the booth. Charlie looks at the two of them and a wide grin spreads across her face.
“Are you supposed to be working, Dean?” she teases slightly.
“I’m going, I’m going,” Dean says. He kneels down to put the breaks of the wheelchair into place. He doesn’t get up right away, and before Castiel can ask if something’s wrong, he feels Dean’s lips on his cheek. Castiel turns and stares wide eyed at a nervous Dean.
“See you later,” Dean mutters shyly before sprinting off. Castiel blinks a few times then places a hand on his cheek and slumps so far on the chair he nearly falls off. Charlie catches him by the shirt and laughs.
“Finally!” she chuckles and pulls Castiel straight up again. “I was wondering when one of you was going to make the first move. I guess I owe Meg twenty bucks since Dean asked you out first.”
“Wait,” Castiel looks at Charlie. “Meg? You and her had a bet?”
“Yeah,” Charlie sighed. “We have English together and sort of got talking about it once we realized we both knew you two. She was super convinced you’d never ask him out, and well, after the phone call earlier this week… I guess I should have handed over the cash right there and then.”
Castiel frowns. “For the record, and you can ask Dean, I asked Dean out first.” Charlie blinks at him. “I asked him to the dance a few minutes ago, but he informed me that you were all going stag.”
“Oh gosh!” Charlie places a hand on her mouth. “Cas I’m so sorry! I had no idea! I can tell Dean--”
“No, it’s fine,” Castiel says, holding up his hand. “Dean explained to me what happened and I’m fine with it.” Sadness returns to Charlie’s eyes and Castiel gently takes her hand. “I’m sorry about your breakup.”
“It’s…” Charlie begins. She pauses then lets out a long sad sigh. “It’s life I guess…” Castiel nods. He remains quiet as Charlie helps out a large group with their tickets.
“Hey, for the record,” Charlie says once the rush dies down. “I really am happy that you guys are going to give it a try.”
“Thank you Charlie,” Castiel says. “I must admit...” Charlie looks at him and Castiel swallows. He was going to apologize for his assumptions, but it seemed all of his courage had been used up in asking Dean out earlier. “I feel a bit guilty that I’m on the opposite end of this relationship thing than you are…” He promised himself he’d take her out to lunch and explain his stupidity and let her laugh at him.
Charlie shrugs and smiles a smile that actually reaches her eyes. “Hey, I get twenty bucks out of this, and you two finally get to graduate away from the mutual pining stage of this. It’s a sort of win-win.”
“I wish I didn’t have to subject myself to nightmares for this to have happened,” Castiel glares at the haunted attraction. “But, I suppose if it wasn’t for my asshole friends… Dean and I never would have had our ‘love at first fright’ moment.”
Charlie lets out a long groan and Castiel chuckles to himself.