Cas can hear something making a noise in the backseat, and his mind immediately decides that there’s a serial killer hiding back there. His hands grip the wheel tightly, wondering what the chances are of being able to jump out of his car before the killer makes his move, and even if he did jump out would anyone find him? It is two in the morning, after all-
Oh, Cas realises as he flicks his eyes up to the rear-view mirror. There’s no one there.
There’s another noise, but Cas just shrugs it off as a runaway bottle of water rolling around, or a stray burger box. Even though Cas has closed his car’s roof, there’s still a breeze coming in through Cas’ open window that must be making something get blown around.
Cas forgets about the strange noises as he begins to drive home, the roads almost empty at such a late hour. It’s a sight that Cas is accustomed to, being an insomniac. Sometimes he prefers the silence, the calmness, of driving after midnight.
Other times, it’s lonely as hell, but he doesn’t like to think about that for too long.
Around halfway home, the noises in the backseat gets louder, and Cas bites his lip anxiously. Just clutter moving around, he tells himself, there’s no one there. It seems as though it’s coming from beneath Cas’ seat, as if something is scratching the underside.
Cas shakes his head, willing his paranoia to go away, before reaching towards his stereo and clicking on some random station. Cas finally relaxes once the music fills the car- the noises no longer audible.
Everything is going fine and dandy until Cas suddenly sees something out of the corner of his eye, on the passenger seat. Cas tenses, his eyes slowly shifting to the side to see a squirrel, a damn squirrel, sitting on the seat next to him. It’s looking up at him with beady eyes, looking like it’s making itself right at home, as if he and Cas are buddies going for a drive.
The next thing Cas knows is that the squirrel is jumping onto his lap, and suddenly, it’s used Cas’ body as some sort of climbing frame to be able to jump out of the window. Cas, startled, flails a little- driving his car right into a sign post.
Cas groans. He’s not hurt, but he’s a little angry at himself. He’d just gotten the car, and now he’d crashed it because of a damn squirrel.
Running a hand through his hair, Cas lets out a long breath. Before he can wonder what to do now, whether he should ring for a mechanic or a ride or something, a car is pulling up behind him and a woman is rushing out.
“Are you alright? I saw what happened!” The red-headed woman frets, running around to Cas’ window. “Are you hurt?”
Cas shakes his head, but gets out of his car anyway. He can hear the faint noise of a baby crying, and Cas guesses it must be this woman’s child.
“I told my wife to call someone to come help,” The woman continues. “We know a cop, he’ll be able to help you, right?”
Cas blinks, a little overwhelmed. “Thank you for doing that, but I assure it wasn’t necessary-”
The woman places her hands on her hips, looking stern. “And what were you planning on doing, hm? Pushing your car home? Walking back into town?”
Cas shrugs.
“Charlie!” A woman suddenly calls from the other car. “I called Dean, he’s on his way!”
Charlie yells out her thanks to her wife, before turning back to Cas. “Dean’s a cop, he’ll sort you out, okay? And you better accept it.”
Even though Cas has never seen this woman before in his life, he feels obligated to nod and listen to what she’s saying. Charlie grins at his response, before peering over towards her car.
“I should probably get going, I need to get Jo and my kids home. Will you be okay here to wait for Dean?”
Cas nods, and once Charlie has made sure that he’s really really okay, she drives off in her car, leaving Cas to wait for Dean. It doesn’t take long for a squad car to pull up across the road.
Dean whistles as he gets out of the squad car, walking towards Cas, his eyes scanning the front of Cas’ car and the pole it’s wrapped around. “Defacing government property, huh?” Dean lets out a short breath. “That’s gonna cost ya.”
Cas frowns. “Is that customary?”
Dean’s eyes flicker up to meet Cas’, a weird look on his face. “I was kidding, dude. Shit like this happens all the time, it’s just a sign.” He waves a dismissive hand. “Getting this pimp mobile fixed, though? Now that will cost ya.”
“Pimp mobile?” Cas asks, looking at his own car. He doesn’t understand how owning this car would make him a pimp, or affiliate him with some sort of pimp. “I’m an accountant.”
Dean chuckles, shaking his head slightly, before turning to Cas’ car. He runs a hand across the hood, lightly tracing his fingers over the distorted metal. “I gotta friend who owns an autoshop. He’ll tow this baby for you, if you want.”
Cas nods in affirmative, and Dean pulls out his phone and quickly makes a phone call to someone named Bobby. Cas takes this time to study Dean, the way his bicep curls as he holds the phone up to his ear, uniform tight around his body.
Cas never used to have a thing for policemen, but apparently he’s very interested in this one.
“Alright, Bobby will be here in a half hour.” Dean says, smiling at Cas as he slides the phone back in his pocket. “I’ll wait with ya, and then I’ll give you a ride to wherever you were goin’. That sound good to you?”
“Oh,” Cas twiddles his thumbs awkwardly. “I’m sure I could have gotten my brother to pick me up, if you’re busy-”
“Nah, I ain’t doing anything,” Dean cuts him off, walking closer and leaning against the side of Cas’ car. “Besides, what if your brother said no? I can’t just leave you here by yourself.”
“Okay, then.” Cas replies with a small smile. “Thank you.”
“So, you gonna tell me what happened?”
“What happened?” Cas asks, before blushing. “Oh, you mean what happened to make me drive into a pole?”
“Well, yeah,” Dean grins. “I’m guessin’ it wasn’t for the scenery.”
“Um,” Cas hesitates. “There was a squirrel-”
“A squirrel?” Dean exclaims, and Cas frowns at him for interrupting the story.
“There was a squirrel in my car, and it was sitting in the passenger seat-”
“Wait, wait. You had a squirrel in your passenger seat?”
“Are you going to repeat everything I say?”
“Dude, I’m sorry, but-” Dean breaks off into a round of laughter. “You had a freakin’ squirrel in your passenger seat. Like it owned the place or something! Did it give you gas money?” He asks, before bursting into more laughter.
“Dean, it’s not humorous. I crashed my car.”
“Hang on, so you saw this squirrel and you just crashed?”
“Not exactly.” Cas fidgets some more. “The crashing happened when it jumped on me-”
“No way, man,” Dean calls. “No freaking way. You’re makin’ this up, aren’t you?”
“No, Dean. The squirrel jumped on me and then climbed up my arm to jump out of my window!” Cas tells him, frustrated at the fact that Dean’s still laughing, while Cas’ car is still sat there behind them, in ruins. “Would you please stop laughing? You’re a police man. You’re supposed to be helping, not finding my misfortune amusing.”
Dean looks over at Cas, before falling into more laughter at the grumpy almost-pout that Cas has on his face.
“Man, what I would do to see a video tape of that.” Dean says, wiping the corner of his eyes with the sides of his index fingers. “At last I can cross this off of my cop bucket list. Car crash caused by non-gas paying squirrel, check.”
“I’m sure if this had happened to you, you wouldn’t find it comical.” Cas huffs, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Dude, I can’t take you seriously when you’re doing that cute little grumpy face,” Dean chuckles.
Cas is almost visibly startled by the fact that Dean’s just called him cute, but is distracted by a tow truck pulling up and parking in front of Cas’ car. A bearded man wearing an old baseball cap jumps out, and makes is way over to Cas and Dean.
“Hey, Dean.” The man, that Cas guesses is Bobby, says. “You Cas?”
Cas nods, and Bobby turns to look at his car.
“This is pretty busted, boy. What d’you do, crash into a blender?” Bobby asks, making Dean burst into laughter once again, no doubt thinking about the squirrel. Bobby looks at him as though he’s grown another head, but doesn’t comment.
“Can you fix it?” Cas asks, worried. Even though Dean says it’s a pimp mobile, Cas likes his car a lot, and wants it back in working order as soon as he can.
“Oh, sure.” Bobby answers. “I’ll tow her in and start on ‘er tomorrow. If you come to the shop on Thursday she’ll be ready for ya.” Cas thanks him, and then Bobby is off to get the car onto the towing hook, leaving Cas with Dean once again.
“How ‘bout that ride, huh, squirrel boy?” Dean asks, smirking down at him, and Cas can’t help but smile back.
“Okay, um-” Cas frowns, studying Dean’s face, trying to think of an apt nickname for him. “Freckles.” Cas decides after a moment, sounding happy with his choice.
“You really are somethin’, you know that?” Dea replies with a chuckle, before waving to Bobby and leading Cas to his squad car. “Okay, let me just get the handcuffs and I’ll put you in the back.”
Cas freezes, eyes wide. “In the- in the back?”
Dean groans playfully, tipping back his head. “Cas, man,” Dean says, placing a hand on Cas’ shoulder. “I was kidding. You can sit in the front, but the handcuffs are still there if you want them.” Dean winks, and gets into the car.
Cas quickly goes around to the other side and climbs in the passenger seat. “I think I’ll do without the handcuffs.” Cas answers. “My brother has been arrested several times and says they’re quite uncomfortable. Furry or bust is his motto.”
Dean bursts into laughter once again, before pausing. “Wait. Who’s your brother?”
Cas winces. “Gabriel Novak.”
“The kid that built his own spaceship and pretended to abduct people?” Dean exclaims. “Man, I don’t know whether to hate him or admire him. That was one of the best pranks I’ve ever seen, made my job hell, though.”
“Try living with him.” Cas replies dryly.
The rest of the car ride goes smoothly, the conversation easy as Cas points out the way to his house. Once they get there, Dean pulls onto the sidewalk and they sit there for a moment, unsure of what to do.
“Well, uh-” Dean begins, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Thank you for the ride, Dean.” Cas says, before unbuckling his seat belt and moving to get out of the car.
Dean grabs Cas’ wrist, pulling him back gently. “Uh, would it be weird if I asked for your number?” He asks, voice quieter than usual.
Cas smiles, pulling out one of his business cards and handing it to Dean. “Only if you never mention the squirrel thing to me ever again.”
“No way, Cas,” Dean grins, sliding the card into his shirt pocket. “You’re not going to live that down ever. Not even when we’re like eighty.”
Cas pouts once again, but there’s no malice behind it. In fact, his insides are a lot like a mushy, melted marshmallow right now- Dean basically just implied that he wanted to know Cas forever, didn’t he?
Dean seems to notice the implication of what he’s just said, too, as he blushes slightly. “Uh, I mean-”
“Just remember, Dean,” Cas cuts him off. “Gabriel is my brother. If you annoy me with the squirrel thing, then I’ll be able to get revenge.”
Dean grins, squeezing Cas’ wrist. “Lookin’ forward to it, Cas.”