Chapter Text
FRIDAY MORNING
Cas frowned at her reflection in the mirror, unsure about the tank top and shorts that she was dressed in. "Are you sure that this outfit is OK? What if it gets cold?” she tugged on the hem of the shorts her friend Anna had loaned her. They were shorter than she was used to and the top was loose with a strange asymmetrical hem. She shrugged at herself and made a mental note to avoid raising her arms due to the sliver of skin that showed when she did. She had no idea why these clothes were so much better than her original outfit of slouchy jeans and a t-shirt. Anna had insisted that Cas borrow some clothes that were more appropriate and ignored her arguments about comfort.
Anna's face appeared in the mirror, “stop fussing with it, you look great and the weather forecast is for a low of like 85, you won't be cold.”
“If you get cold you can always find someone to cuddle up with! I bet there'll be lots of cuties at the festival!” came the ever helpful advice from Charlie who was lounging on Cas' bed while Anna finished getting ready. Cas barely contained the eye roll at her rambunctious friend's comment. She had been coerced into going to this thing anyway, hooking up was definitely not on her radar.
Anna giggled, “Don't look so mopey Cassie, we won't abandon you in pursuit of hot bodies.”
“I promise nothing. Nothing!” Charlie yelled with guests as she hopped off the bed. “Y'all are my friends, but if I find a nice lady it'll be later, bitches!”
Cas and Anna laughed at the exuberance of their friend. Charlie grinned at them and shrugged unapologetically before flopping back on the bed. Cas looked at herself in the mirror again, she was slightly uncomfortable in the borrowed clothes, but Anna and Charlie had agreed that the outfit she had picked out for herself was not going to work for the crowd at the weekend long music festival they were attending. Anna caught her eye in the mirror and smiled. Cas lifted one side of her mouth in an attempt to smile back. Her friend gently pushed her away from the mirror, “We already decided that's what you're wearing, now get out of the way or I'll never be ready to go.”
Charlie patted the bed, “Come on over to the chill zone. If you don't let princess Anna finnish her routine, we'll never make it to the concert.”
Cas laughed and sat down, “you live with her, how much time do we have to kill?”
Charlie narrowed her eyes and examined the girl in front of the mirror, “We haven't gotten past hair yet, so I'd say enough time for me to school you at Mario Kart.”
“You don't think that since this is my room and I own the game I might be pretty good at it?”
“Challenge accepted! Now pick your player!”
More than a few games of Mario Kart later found Charlie admitting that Cas was pretty good at the game, though she still won in the end. Anna had finally finished getting ready, but Cas and Charlie protested Anna's attempt to force them to leave before the championship was decided. Anna cheered them on, but refused to pick a side and simply rooted for whoever was behind in each race.
Eventually the three girls made it out of Cas' apartment and piled into Charlie's yellow VW Beetle. Cas settled in the back seat, content to let the other two girls bicker about the music and best route to use to get to the concert. Once they were on the road Anna and Charlie sang along as loud as possible to songs on the radio that Cas didn't recognize. She was glad that her friends were so happy and proceeded to zone out watching the landscape roll by.
***
FRIDAY AFTERNOON
Dean was bored, Bobby had insisted that he took a whole weekend off and then kicked him out of the garage early on Friday when he had protested. Two in the afternoon was a little early to go to the bar, even for Dean, but he didn't want to spend the whole afternoon in his lonely little apartment. He'd decided to drive around and enjoy the unseasonably warm weather, blasting his music with the windows down while the impala roared down the back roads. That had lasted until he had to stop for gas and remembered that he wasn't made of money and his baby was not the most fuel efficient car. So now he was driving back into town at a more sedate speed, wondering what he was going to do for two days.
He checked the clock when he got close to the Roadhouse, four pm wasn't too early to stop in to the bar as long as he stuck to beer. And maybe Jo would be home for the weekend and would have a suggestion for something to do.
He parked in the mostly empty parking lot and grinned when he saw Ash's truck parked around back. The sometimes bartender, always computer geek, might be able to find something to keep Dean from getting bored if Jo wasn't around. As long as that something didn't include hacking into government agencies again, Dean amended. He didn't feel like getting into that much trouble if he could help it.
He had barely made it through the front door when Ellen spotted him, “Dean Winchester, what are you doing here so early? Did Bobby finally kick you out of his garage?”
Dean felt himself blush a little and rubbed the back of his neck on his way across the room to where Ellen was leaning behind the bar. “Yeah Ellen, he kicked me out for the whole weekend. He said, and I quote, ‘I don't want to see your idjit face until Monday morning at 8am’ then he gave me my keys and pushed me out the door.”
“I'm not surprised, he's been telling me for months that he was going to if you didn't take a real day off.” Ellen said as she held up a pint glass, Dean nodded and Ellen moved down the bar to fill it at the taps on one side of the U-shaped bar.
“I took a couple days off to help Sammy move out of his dorm, you and Bobby make it sound like all I do is work.” Dean grinned as he caught the full glass sliding down the bar.
“Dean, you helped your brother move three months ago, you can't blame the old man for worrying that you work too much.”
Dean was surprised that it had been that long, his trip to California seemed like it had happened just a few weeks ago. “Fine, fine, I've accepted the forced time off, is Jo going to be around this weekend?”
Ellen wiped the bar absently and smiled, “she's supposed to be coming by tonight then she's meeting some girlfriends from school at a music festival near Minneapolis tomorrow.”
Dean knew how protective Ellen was of her daughter and was surprised by the plans, “You're letting her go to some festival in another state unsupervised?”
“Now who said she was going to be unsupervised?” Dean clenched his jaw at the predatory smile the older women was giving him.
“Why do I get the feeling you and Bobby were both involved in me having this weekend off?” Dean finished his beer and motioned for another one. Plying him with beer was the least Ellen could do since he knew that he'd agree to whatever plan his surrogate parents had cooked up. She refilled his pint and leaned over the bar toward him.
“Bobby may have owed me a favor and I may have called it in to ensure you'd be free to go to the concert with Jo. She's very excited that you want to go to this thing, by the way.”
Dean thought about saying no on principle, but Ellen had anticipated that by already telling Jo he was going with her. And that he was excited about it. He hated to disappoint Jo who was not only the little sister he never wanted, but also a fierce fighter who would probably kick his ass. He sighed and downed the rest of the pint in his hand.
“So you have a ticket for me? I'll have to Google this thing and pick out a couple of bands to pretend I want to see.”
Ellen slid a slip of paper across the bar with a big smile on her face, “Bobby owes me ten bucks, he thought I'd have to wait for Jo to threaten to kick your teeth in for you to agree to it.”
“I like to think I've matured beyond threats of violence being my only motivation. Plus it's got to be better than hanging out in my apartment all weekend.” He grabbed the ticket off the bar and slid it into his back pocket, “I'll see ya later Ellen, I've got research to do.” He tried to keep his tone light and shoulders loose as he walked out of the bar despite the ball of anxiety in his stomach. How bad could a weekend festival with a bunch of teenage girls be?