Work Text:
Nostalgia: pleasant remembrand | Bittersweet feelings about a time which is now over
More like thanking it was over, Dean thought. He didn't truly remember his mother, but when she died, his father turned into a drunk asshole. But now? Sammy was at Standford with a great girl called Jess, and he had a flat with Benny and Kevin. Life was great now. So no, he didn't feel any *nostalgeous*, but that didn't mean he was the kind of guy to skip a party. Specially if it was being held by Charlie.
30 minutes and a few outfits later, he was at her door, beer under his arm, sporting his best Oxford jeans, a blue plaid button down and some nerd vintage glasses to meet the requirements of an 80s party, or nostalgia party as she liked to call it.
Charlie's parties were most definitely special, but in a good way, and almost everyone had them high up on their lists. The space was always divided in four: a music and dance zone, usually inside the house; also inside there were party games like Cards Against Humanity or Spin the Bottle, but on special nights she would get a karaoke set up; front yard was for couple-y stuff, and the backyard was for drinking or smoking, if that was your thing.
He left the beer on the ice cooler and went directly to the round of people playing Cards Against Humanity, sitting next to a blue eyed guy.
"Black card reads 'on christmas day my true love gave to me three French horns, two turtle doves, and...'. Could you help me?" the guy asked
"Sure, let me see your white cards. This one" Dean said after reading through, pointing the 'An indelible mental image that makes me want to scratch my eyes out' one. He also took the time to check him out, dark tank top that left perfect arms bare and leather pants that suited him even better. "First time playing?"
"Kind of, yes. Came here with my friend Meg, she almost dragged me, and five minutes later she left me for some random guy"
"Man that sucks. Well game's pretty easy, you have to answer the black card with the best white card you have in your hands, and by best I mean most depraved, evil, awful answer you can find. Dean, by the way" he was still invading his space since he got closer to see his cards. The guy smelled good.
"Castiel. Thank you, Dean" he said with a smile that reached his eyes.
"Hey, Imma grab another beer. Want some?" when Dean looked to his side, Castiel looked as uncomfortable as when Dean arrived. "Hey, you okay? Wanna go somewhere quieter?"
"Dean, as pleasant as you are, I do not want you, or anyone for that matter, to 'get in my pants' tonight"
"What? No! I mean, you look like you don't want to be here, and I know a really nice place for those situations, that's all"
Castiel ignored this in favour of smirking at the next black card. 'The person next to me is...'. He put down his card, 'pretending to be heterosexual', and faced Dean again.
"Alright let's go. I know a place who makes great milkshakes and has 3am pie, as they call it". Dean blushed at the card, muttering out 'I'm bi' as he followed Castiel out.
As he walked out, he expected Cas to be walking, or in a bike, but never in his life would he be taking something from the back of some weird eco-cra -he meant car.
"Dean, do you mind if I change into something more comfortable? I will explain to you later"
"As you please dude" Dean answered confused. A few minutes later Castiel came out of the car, wearing a pair of slacks and a sky-blue sweater that brought out the colour of his eyes.
"The place is nearby, I would say we go walking"
They both started walking quietly, until Dean broke the silence.
"Okay, what's up with the leather pants you were wearing?"
"Well, my friend Meg said we had to dress up, and that I would look better that way. It was a theme party after all"
"And so you dressed up as a punk?" Castiel nodded. "For a party you weren't into?" Another nod. "With the most unconfortable clothing you could have thought of?"
"Hey, what do you have against leather and tank tops?"
"Me? Nothing. But doesn't seem your style. Looked like it didn't belong to you, and it's kinda noticeable"
"And what about you, mister 'glasses-are-cool-now-and-I'm-such-a-nerd, how did you end up using those?"
"To be honest, it was the first thing I found at my place". They both laughed in earnest at this, and fell into a more comfortable silence.
That night they talked about everything; school, movies, books, why Dean despised the word nostalgia, why Castiel didn't really enjoyed parties. That was the first of many sunrises they watched together.
A few years later they were all playing Cards Against Humanity. Dean had asked Charlie for help, and she said she would take care of it. The black card was somewhere, and Dean's nerves were a wreck. Finally, someone read it aloud. 'The person on my side is...'. Everyone read their cards, and Charlie said 'Going to say something important'. Then Dean cleared his throat.
"As some of you might already know, Cas and I met on one of Charlie's theme parties, an 80s party to be more precise. I entered and beelined to the game, and I luckily sat down next to a punk guy who looked like he had no idea what he was doing there. Then with that same black card, he said that I was 'pretending to be straight', and with that we left. He changed back to his regular clothes and we went to grab some pie. Since then, there has been more pie, more sunrises together, talks of every and any topic I would never get tired of, and, as cliche as this sounds, everything is better when you're with me" He kneeled in front of him. "Castiel Novak, would you do me the honor of being my husband?"
"Yes. Yes, Dean, of course"