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So, there’s a new neighbour moving in. Dean’s not entirely sure what to make of him yet other than that he's hot, and that something is off.
Dean’s glad his old neighbour Mr. Wilson moved out, don't get him wrong. The old fucker was grizzly, and not in the fun way like with Bobby where Dean can be an endearing but annoying little shit and get minimal flack for it. But he’s long gone now, dragged away by his only son to live with family.
He watches the new family slowly move in from the comfort of his own home, perfectly positioned across the street to snoop on them. They only have a scarce few boxes packed in the back of a minivan… What is that? A Toyota Sienna? Not a bad choice actually, mark that into the pros list.
What Dean's really focused on is the form of a man who can't be much older than Dean from the way he looks. He’s got grey on his temples and his beard is salted handsomely. He's dressed up like a hot suburban dad, with the curious addition of an LA Noire style trench coat. A young boy hangs off of his arm like a koala, blonde and bright eyed, pure puppy energy. Probably his kid if Dean has to guess.
No spouse in sight though. A single dad like Dean then? He can't make heads or tails of them.
“Dad, stop checking out the new guy, it's totally creepy.”
Dean freezes like he's been caught and turns back to his daughter Emma, who gives him a flat stare.
“I'm not checking him out Em jeez I’m just– seeing what their vibe is before we say hi!”
“We?” Emma groans.
“Yes little lady, both of us should introduce ourselves. It's good manners! C’mon, before it gets too late.” Dean says, shuffling her out the door.
Of course, Dean would never plan on showing up empty handed. He’s already baked 2 trays of cookies, all different flavours ranging from red velvet and triple chocolate chip. He doesn’t know what the new folks like yet, better to be safe, he totally isn’t overcompensating or anything.
“Dad this is so overkill. I thought we were just saying hi, not fattening them up to feed to a witch.” Emma comments ruefully.
Dean doesn't dignify her with a response as they walk up the porch.
So he thinks the new Dad in town is kinda sorta totally hot and he wants to impress him. So what? There's no correlation there.
“It’ll be fine ok? He’s got a kid who looks about as old as you are, these cookies will be gone by the end of the week.”
He’s pretty sure Em won’t complain too long anyways when he shows the extra tray he baked just for her.
Dean checks over the packed cookies one more time when he reaches their open door. His hands are a little sweaty and Emma is giving him major side eye for being such a wuss, but he manages to call out for someone.
“Hello? Anyone around? It's uh, Dean Winchester, I live across the street.”
A blonde head peeks from a door frame with a questioning frown before relaxing into a toothy grin.
“Oh, hello! I’m Jack.” The bright eyed boy says, hand held up in an awkward wave.
A towering figure comes up behind Jack, and Dean drags his eyes up the sturdy frame to see a similar frown at first glance. Like father like son, except Jack’s dad just tilts his head in confusion rather than adopting that sunny smile.
He really is handsome though, even more so up close. Like a dilfy professor with his blue cashmere sweater tight around his shoulders and khaki slacks hugging his thighs. Dean tries not to drool.
He also pretends not to notice the lack of a ring on his hand.
“May… I help you?” The man asks, low and baritone.
Dean’s brain blue screens at the sound of his gravelly voice, he doesn’t even register the question until Emma elbows him hard in the ribs and he grunts out in pain, glaring at her.
“Uh well– I just thought, you’re new here and you don't know us, and I like to bake. I'm pretty good at it too, I mean Emma likes them, right sweetheart?” Dean smiles nervously at Emma who rolls her eyes in second hand embarrassment. Dean clears his throat and keeps going regardless. ”Anyways uh we live across the street and wanted to welcome you so uh– you like cookies?”
Dean lifts up his box of baked goods, a little too eagerly as his grip slips and he fumbles to keep it from falling.
Cas eyes him suspiciously as Dean awkwardly chuckles, but Jack seems happy enough to walk up and peruse through the box.
“Woah! I don’t even know what these are but they smell good!” Jack says with a glint in his eyes.
Emma snorts at that.
“You’ve never had a cookie?”
Dean is about to admonish her for being snarky but Jack’s Dad interrupts by clearing his throat.
“He uh, just means that he’s never tried that flavour before, isn’t that right Jack?”
Jack and Cas seem to share a strange look before Jack puts on a face of understanding.
“O-Oh, yeah! That’s right, why is this one a different colour anyway?”
Dean tries not to pay too much attention to the odd exchange to answer Jack’s question.
“That one’s red velvet kiddo. One of my favourites.” Dean smiles kindly.
Jack nods, but instead of taking a tentative bite, he basically engulfs the cookie, shoving it in his mouth until his cheeks stretch into a disk, before swallowing it down.
Dean is about to jump to his help before he chokes, but Jack simply slams a fist on his chest and burps as the cookie sinks to his stomach.
“Uh, dude–” Emma begins with a laugh, but stops when Jack inhales another two cookies and declares his satisfaction with an eager thumbs up.
Dean doesn't know whether to be in awe or concerned, and Emma seems to be on the same boat.
“That was good! Dad, can I have another one?”
Cas looks mildly mortified, smiling tightly at Jack.
“Maybe later.”
Jack deflates at that but decides not to argue.
“Well I'm glad you like ‘em so much kid, good thing I brought two boxes heh. Say is there anywhere I can leave them…?” Dean trails off, looking towards Jack's dad.
“Oh yes, please both of you come in.”
Castiel seats them on some plastic covered bar stools in the kitchen while he takes the boxes, and takes a dish out of a newspaper filled box.
Emma seems weirded out by Jack as they talk between themselves, but at least it's an amused ‘You're a freak but that's kinda awesome’ kinda way from what he can tell. She does always go on about hating normies or whatever.
“I’m Castiel, by the way. I realise I haven't even introduced myself.” Castiel says, that frown settling back on his face, “But please, call me Cas. I find it's much easier on humans to shorten my name.”
Dean laughs a little at Cas' choice of words, smiling good naturedly when the man turns back to him with a questioning look.
Ok, so they are both kinda weird, an oddball family. Dean can roll with that.
Better than the judgemental white picket fence nuclear families in the neighbourhood. They tend to eye him judgmentally when he picks Em up from school in his worn out Led Zepp shirt and cargos. It'll be kind of nice to have another family around who are a little out of the norm, both in behaviour and appearance.
“So Cas, what brings you to Kansas anyway?”
Cas hums contemplatively as he pulls a plate out of a box and arranges the cookies in a layered circle.
“We needed a place to migrate to. This place was the more accommodating for our needs, easy to adapt to in the shortest amount of time.” Cas explains.
“And they have bugs! We don't have those where we come from.” Jack tags on.
Dean finds that a little weird, no bugs at all? He knows that there are a lot of creepy crawlies to find around here but everyone's seen a cockroach once before at least.
“No kidding? Well, Emma likes catching them so she can find ‘em in her bug index app. Maybe you two can go hunting together sometime?”
Jack glows in response and turns to Emma, 2 seconds away from exploding with excitement.
“Y–yeah, that's fine. I can teach you if you want.” Emma says with a shy smile.
Dean knows the other kids think she's weird for chasing after bugs with a net, as if she's too old for it. She's only 10 this year, Dean secretly hopes she never loses that part of herself, there's no rush to grow up. Hell, she never needs to in his mind.
He doesn't need to worry about Jack criticising her though, the kid leaps at the opportunity of joining Emma.
“That'd be awesome!” Jack says, beaming at Emma and asking her about the app.
Emma looks a little overwhelmed by his enthusiasm, but happy too. Well, Dean's glad the kids get along. He'd find it hard to fantasise about Cas if Emma was unhappy with the equation. Not that he's fantasising about Cas.
“How about we leave them to it and I can help you with the rest of the boxes?” Dean asks, clapping his hands together, ready to be of use.
Definitely not because he wants to get brownie points from Cas by being a helpful and generous neighbour.
“Oh um, that isn't really necessary. We didn't really bring much with us.”
Dean deflates a little at that, and Cas seemingly notices, flexing his hands awkwardly.
“But you might be able to help me with something else instead upstairs. If you don't mind, that is.”
Dean agrees quickly of course, springing up the steps as Cas leads him to the attic, sneaking some not so innocent glances at Cas' ass until they reach the attic ladder. Sue him, those khakis don't leave anything to the imagination alright?
“The previous owners said that their attic floorboards are quite old and might need to be checked over, but if I'm being honest, I have no idea how to tell.” Cas admits.
Dean puffs his chest, glad to be Cas' chivalrous neighbour who can help out with some handyman work. He worked as a tradee in his 20s for Dad, and while he hated the family business, he's glad for it now.
“No prob Cas, I can take a crack at it for you.” Dean smiles good naturedly at him, heart warming as Cas smiles back, relief dripping off of him.
“Thank you Dean.”
Turns out the attic has been pretty neglected in general, the insulating wool is peaking through and peeling, and there's a draft that's concerning too.
“Hm, yknow what Cas, they were right. This place needs a little love, a lot actually. Could spruce it up for you… but I'd need some time to figure it all out. What do you say, you ok with me making a plan to redo this section? And don't worry about paying me or anything, call it a housewarming gift or whatever” Dean says, dusting his hands off from where he's inspected the walls.
“That's kind of you Dean really, incredibly so, but you don't have to go out of your way.” Cas says, looking a little surprised by Dean's offer.
“Nah man it's no sweat. Seriously ask Em, I love doing projects like these!” Dean reassures, hoping he isn't coming on too hard.
He really does enjoy putting his hands to work, but it'd be nice to have a legitimate excuse to be around Cas and get to know him better. Just to test the waters.
“Well, if you insist… Thank you Dean. I don't know that I've been offered such kindness before.” Cas says sincerely, his eyes going soft in a way that melts Dean's heart.
He's so screwed.
Dean and Emma head back home soon after, with phone numbers exchanged and an agreement to settle on a time for Dean to come over and work on the attic. There's a giddy swoop in his stomach as he re-enters his own home and not even Emma's knowing glare can take away the excitement.
“You're such a dork.” Emma says, exhausted of him already.
“Yeah yeah. I thought you said you were ok with me putting myself out there again anyway!”
“I take it back. You are so lame when you like someone, I had no idea. Ugh, were you like this with Mom?”
Dean thinks. Sure he was giddy about picking up a really hot girl at a bar, said her name was Lydia. 10 minutes later she was whispering sultry words in his ear about how he was gorgeous and she was in town for a few more days, taking him to her place without him even really trying.
But they were both young and eager, the feelings outside of fleeting passion and hormones weren't really there. Hell it's why they never started a relationship, even when Lydia turned out to be pregnant with Emma. They happily co parent her now, but it's never been more than a one night stand turned well natured friendship between them.
“No offence to your mom kid, cuz she's awesome, but I never really thought about going easy with her. This is uh… a little different.” Dean admits nervously.
He hasn't actually dated after he started raising Emma, there was the odd flirt with other parents on occasion but it never led to anything. Maybe he indulged in getting some hanky when he needed it, but dating? Hoo boi, he's been way out of his depth on that front for longer than he cares to admit.
Emma takes him more seriously after the admission, humming in silent contemplation as she makes her final judgments.
“Alright well, do what you have to I guess. But try not to be so… you about it.”
Dean holds out his hands, affronted by the implication that he is anything but a smooth operator in the field of middle aged romance.
Whatever, Emma's blessing might be riddled with second hand embarrassment but Dean isn't shying away from the challenge. He can do this.
Over the next few days, they communicate their free hours. Every other day, Dean spends his afternoons working in Cas' attic while Cas does some work from home. Government work he says, Dean hasn't thought to pry too much. At some point in his attic renovations, he notices that Cas' fences could use a fresh coat of paint and offers to do that for Cas too. Cas does ask him one time when he walks into Cas' house with paint buckets what Dean does for work. He still blushes at the admiration on Cas' face when Dean showed him pictures of a few commissioned furniture pieces he poured blood sweat and tears to make.
He lets Emma and Jack jump in to help with painting on that day. Cas was only mildly annoyed when they walked into the kitchen with paint splattered all over them, grabbing a towel and scrubbing their faces and hands. Even Dean's. A large hand at his jaw as Cas cleaned Dean's forehead with that cute concentrated frown of his.
Dean ends up finding several excuses to be over at Cas' over the weeks, but the other man never seems to mind his presence. A leaky pipe that Dean ends up fixing while Cas sits on the floor beside him cross legged, talking about how incredible Earth's concept of time is. Or a boiler problem that Dean assesses while Cas reads the newspaper at the kitchen table, asking Dean for the pop culture answers that escape his generally profound knowledge.
It's all well and good, hell Dean has been feeling so at peace with himself lately he doesn't know how to stop smiling. Except, Dean can't help but notice the… quirks that Cas and Jack express.
One of the first weekends when Dean was helping Cas for example was kinda weird. Emma was at her mom's for the weekend so Dean was finding company in Jack and Cas instead to get rid of his lonely mood, talking about Jack officially starting school on Monday. Cas had set two plates of what Dean later found out were bacon and eggs on toast. He couldn't tell at first because it looked like a blackened smoky amalgamated mass of charcoal instead. The weirder part was Jack chowing down on it like he couldn't care less about the taste of ash in his mouth.
Dean tried to be polite and chew the disintegrating bacon, failing miserably as the displeasure shuttered over his face. He cooked them all a fresh batch when Cas took back his plate like a kicked puppy, gave him a few pointers too about how to work a stove.
He has no idea how they were both surviving before if Cas was this bad at cooking, but maybe he and Jack just had resilient taste buds?
But then there's the day Dean was teaching Cas how to cook spaghetti. It had become a bonding activity for Dean to teach Cas some easy dinners while their kids played mario kart. He loves it, and he didn't want to ruin their little happy place, so when he came back from the bathroom to see Cas fishing out his wooden spoon from a piping hot pot of water with his bare hands, he said nothing.
He figured maybe Cas didn't have nerve endings there, or had really resilient skin! He didn't want to read into it more than he should, because it didn't really matter. Cas was still a stand up guy that he was really into.
It all came to a head when Dean was over yesterday though, something he couldn't ignore anymore.
Jack was showing him his science project, a miniature volcano that every grade school kid does one time in their lives. Cas was busy with some important phone calls all day so Dean opted to help Jack out when he found him struggling at the kitchen island.
They had a great time working on it together, having fun painting the foliage and setting up the volcano. Except, when Dean was about to test the volcano with the vinegar and baking soda combo, Jack yelled ‘Krakatoa!’ and the volcano started to erupt with real fuckin’ LAVA.
Dean freaked the fuck out of course, pulling Jack away from the table in a panic as the volcano bubbled and melted down the island's surface top.
Thankfully Cas ran back into the room hearing Dean's totally manly scream, spotting the active volcano and going wide eyed. He urged Dean to take Jack out to the porch while he handled it and while Dean wondered just how the fuck Cas was gonna ‘handle’ this, he didn't think twice about keeping Jack safe.
Cas called them back in a few minutes later, and aside from the liquified remains of the island and hardened magma, everything else seemed ok. Cas couldn't give him an explanation that day on how he actually stopped the lava. Actually he hasn't talked to Dean since that day. He tries not to let it hurt, but being frantically kicked Dean out to do the 10 metre walk of shame back to his home wasn't fun.
Moreover, Dean is starting to suspect the duo are mutants or something. That's the only conclusion that makes sense to him right now considering their inhuman abilities, which does include Cas carrying a stack of steel frames for the garden house Dean is building for him with ease. Hot? Absolutely. Totally not humanly possible? Becoming more likely every day.
Dean is supposed to be over today to make his final finishes to the attic, and considering Cas' has seen his message that he's on his way, he assumes Cas is at least ok with it still.
Dean’s light on his feet when he knocks in the door, determined to figure this out and move forward.
“Dean, i–it's good to see you again.” Cas says when he opens the door stepping out on the porch with him, up close and personal with a nervous smile.
Dean's brain overloads with the proximity to his gorgeous neighbour and the fact that Cas thinks it's nice that he gets to see Dean again. He realises just how much he missed hearing Cas' voice and seeing his stupid handsome face.
“Dean?” Cas asks, seemingly perturbed by Dean's choked silence.
Dean nods with a tight smile “Yeah, you too man.”
He sighs in relief when Cas beams at him and leads the way upstairs.
He leaves Dean to get set up, promising to return with some snacks and that lemonade he liked last time he was here. It gives Dean a few moments to collect himself. If he's gonna have any shot of charming Cas’ tight thigh-hugging pants off and talk to him about all the weird occurrences, he needs to get it the fuck together.
“Here you go, I'll set them here so you don't trip over them.” Cas says, pacing a tray of small biscuits and lemonade down.
Dean thanks him and grabs a biscuit to nibble on while he observes the room, turning back to Cas to ask him a question but freezing when he finds Cas is observing him.
“You uh, got any questions before I start?” Dean prompts.
“Oh, well, I was just wondering how to help, but as we both know, I'm not good with human architecture .”
Dean breathes out a string of laughter. Cas has this way of saying things that always catches him off guard. He likes a guy with his own brand of weird. Cas never seems offended either, just tilts his head and smiles unsurely at Dean's amusement.
“That's ok man. How about you hand me some tools when I need them?”
That way he has an excuse to keep Cas near him and talk his ear off too.
“Oh! Yes, I can do that. I have a fearsome grip.”
Oh Dean will definitely be storing that info for later thank you.
Cas strides towards Dean's laid out tool set, kneeling down to look everything over with eagle eyed inspection. It makes Dean chuckle again before he gets back to the work he's supposed to be doing, a hopeful warmth in his heart as he claps his hand together, ready to start.
They spend about a couple hours up there together, slowly working on the walls and Cas intermittently providing coffee and snacks when they both need a break. They get into a routine of Dean asking for tools, Cas handing him the wrong tools everytime and Dean then having to show him which tool it was. Cas eventually asks him why there are so many tools for one job, grumpily observing the hilt of a hammer, to which Dean amusedly teases him for the next 15 minutes. He’s pleasantly surprised when Cas playfully snarks back at him every time.
He definitely could have gotten the job done about an hour earlier if he wasn’t spending time teaching Cas what the tools were and pausing to tease and educate Cas on his extensive lack of pop culture knowledge. But he wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else right now. Cas makes him laugh his ass off with his dry remarks, and he hopes he gets to have this everyday at some point.
They’re having a good natured debate about romcoms, now that Dean’s taught him what they are, when Dean finally finishes the last touches. He dusts himself off and admires his work, turning back to Cas who looks at him fondly.
Cas might be awkward and quiet and keeping a big secret about being part of the X men, but Dean’s happy to navigate the choppy waters of a newfound friendship with a mutant if it means he gets to see more of Cas’ small smiles and deep chuckles whenever Dean manages to land a joke on him.
“Once you’ve seen one romcom you’ve kinda seen them all I guess, but that's the comfort of it for me.” Dean says while wiping sweat off of his forehead.
“Well perhaps you could show me sometime. I will be needing all the media training I can get, evident by our conversation.” Cas says with a tired sigh.
Cas offers to let Dean shower there once they’re done in the attic, but considering Dean lives right across the street (and that he's a customer to the water pressure in his master bedroom shower) he politely declines. Plus, he doesn’t know if he can resist the urge to walk out in just a towel hoping Cas might bump into him and see what he's been missing.
Emma decides she's having a sleepover when Dean is about to leave, swept up in teaching Jack how to beat a nasty boss in Zelda. Cas insists on Dean coming back for dinner with all of them together, and who is Dean to decline a perfectly nice invitation?
“If you’d like, we could also talk after the kids go to sleep. I realise I was more in the way than helping you today, but I was enjoying our talk, our time together. And– I believe I owe you an explanation for the other day.” Cas says anxiously, looking away with a troubled expression.
Dean takes Cas’ nerves as a good thing, because it means he probably cares, he feels bad about keeping secrets. All he's wanted these past few days is for Cas to open up for him, so he's not about to go running out when it gets hard. He already promised Cas he'd be there for him, he intends to keep true to that.
“Yeah man. I-I'd love that actually. And don't sweat about getting in the way, I’d rather have you there, hopeless helper or not.” Dean says, refusing to hold back his wide teasing grin.
It does the trick though as Cas rolls his eyes fondly, frown disappearing and his dimples replacing the worry on his face as he smiles, taking Dean’s damn breath away once again. Fuck. Dinner is gonna be a nightmare if he has to pretend not to be falling for the guy already.
About an hour later, Dean is fussing about at home after showering, head buried in his closet with Sam on facetime. He's trying to find something nice but still casual but also not too similar to what he wore when he saw Cas earlier today.
“Dean, it's a family dinner. He's seen you dirty and sweaty and gross all the time. Why do you care now?” Sam says unimpressed, munching on his Açaí bowl.
“I care because he only sees me all dirty and gross in a worn out metallica t-shirt I forgot to wash 2 days ago. I gotta show him I can clean up nice and that I'm not some gutter rat. Now, how about this shirt?” Dean says, holding it up to his chest in front of the camera.
“It looks the same as the last one but in a lighter colour, which honestly might be a good choice. It brings out your eyes.” Sam says, thumbing at his eyes as Dean grumbles in the mirror again. “Dean look, from the way you talk about Cas I can already guess that he doesn’t really give a shit even if you wore a damn diaper. You don’t have anything to prove Dean, he should like you for you.”
“Yeah… maybe you're right.” Dean replies, a distant look in his eyes.
“About being yourself? Good, I'm glad Dean. You’re a great guy and I'm sure Cas sees that too–”
“No about the shirt dumbass, it does bring out my eyes. Let's hope Cas thinks so too. Ok bye bitch, thanks for the help!”
“Dean–!” Sam calls out before Dean promptly hangs up and throws the shirt on and his tightest slacks.
His hands are a little clammy when he knocks on Cas' door and thinks back to the last time he was this nervous. Maybe when he picked Lisa Braeden up for highschool prom, her Dad glaring at him from the window like he was dead meat. Luckily he doesn't have to face anyone's wrathful judgement now– well other Emma maybe.
“Dean, you're here.” Cas says frazzled and out of breath as he answers the door.
Dean takes in Cas’ dishevelled appearance and puts away his immediate thought of ‘Mm hot’ in favour of figuring out why Cas has sauce stains all over his shirt or why there's a smell of bitter smoke in the air.
He doesn't get to respond before a loud beeping starts to blare inside the house that has Cas cursing in some foreign language and running back in.
Dean follows him hot on his heel, flashing a wry grin at the kids perched on the couch, concerned looks on their faces as the adults move in panic.
“Just– stay there guys, me and Cas have got it handled!”
He steps into the kitchen only to find Cas taking out a dish of baked pasta with his bare hands, staring dejectedly at its scorched blackened exterior.
“Cas–” Dean starts, but in doing so he startles Cas who looks caught as he holds the probably extremely hot dish of pasta.
Dean tries not to laugh at Cas' deer in headlights look, clearly on his last straw of anxious energy, but considering how awful he is at keeping this secret, he can't help but find it funny. He still gives Cas some comfort by walking up to him grabbing oven gloves and taking the dish out of his hands to dispose of the rock hard pasta.
“Hey don't sweat it Cas ok, shit happens. We'll order a pizza.” Dean says with a pat to Cas’ arm.
Cas grabs Dean's hand and moves it to hold with both of his own, thumbs brushing over his knuckles. It makes Dean's neck warm to have Cas touching him, but he sees Cas worried frown and ducks down to meet his eyes.
“Hey big guy, you ready to talk to me yet?” Dean smiles good naturedly at him.
Cas looks up at him with pitiful eyes.
“Why haven't you confronted me yet? You've had every reason to.”
Dean sighs this time and squeezes Cas' hands.
“Dude I could tell it was something you were really scared about. I'm not saying that the lava and the random mini heart attacks you give me whenever you do something reckless are something I wanna ignore forever, but I just wanted you to tell me in your own time.”
Cas hums distantly to himself, silence resting between them as they both stare at their joined hands. Eventually, Cas takes a deep breath in and nods resolutely.
“Alright, I'll tell you everything, but Jack and Emma should be involved too.”
Dean lets himself be led to the living room where Jack and Emma have built a pillow fort together, asking them to come out of the kingdom of Mondoor so they can have a little talk as a family.
Dean looks to Cas who's already looking back at him, something akin to hope in his eyes when he begins to speak up.
“I'm sure the two of you have noticed that Jack and I are not… ordinary humans.”
Jack sits up straight when he realises the direction of the conversation, but Cas pets his hair and smiles at him reassuringly before looking back at Dean and Emma
Emma eyes him, confirming telepathically that there's no way she didn't notice, so they both turn back to Cas and nod.
“I know that I have not been honest with either of you, but I don't believe it's conducive to continue this charade. You are nothing but kind to us and– if Jack and I are to settle here, I'd like it to be with the happiness that we can be ourselves. At least some of the time.”
“Cas hey–”
“Please, allow me to finish Dean. I want you to hear everything I have to say before you offer me your kindness again. Just in case you feel like you would rather reserve it.” Cas interrupts, his face painted like he couldn't bear to lose Dean's kindness but unwilling to fight for it.
Idiot, he doesn't even realise that he can have that and more if he just asks.
Cas continues on as Dean silently stews with his emotions.
“I suppose I should start from the beginning. Our environment before, or where we came from I should say is… Well it may be hard to believe– hence why I was so hesitant to tell you the truth, I just didn't know if you would take me seriously and then hate me for being cold with you only to tell you something so absurd and then hate me more–”
“Cas. I don't hate you, you idiot. Just tell us, we have your back, right Em?”
“Dad's right, your a good person Mr. Novak… and I like it here. That won't change just because you're an alien or something.” Emma says with a roll of her eyes and Dean laughs at the suggestion.
Except Cas and Jack go silent, looking away awkwardly.
“Oh sonovabitch. You're serious?”
“This is my serious face, yes.” Cas says flatly.
“We come from the angel nebula!” Jack elaborates.
“Angel nebula… I've heard of it, but isn't that lightyears away from our solar system? How did you even make it here?” Emma asks.
“Holy shit Cas please tell me you have a spaceship hidden underground or something. I have got to see that. I mean, can anyone else say that they've been inside an actual UFO because their best bud is an alien?!” Dean excitedly smacks Emma's arm to inform her of how lucky they are, promptly tamping down his elation when she glares at him.
“Dean, we don't have a spaceship.” Cas informs with an amused smirk, but relieved that both Dean and Emma seem to be taking it well.
"We teleported here!" Jack announces.
No one gets to react to that, because the pizza man rings the doorbell.
"We aren't done here!" Dean says, scurrying to the door
They air it all out over some meat lovers pizza and Cas seems to be much more relaxed as he shovels greasy slices in his mouth. A weights been lifted off of him, and Dean is glad for it because while he never expected to be having the hots for an alien, he isn't stepping off of the gas anytime soon.
“So why did Jack and you come here anyway?” Dean asks tentatively, he has a guess but he doesn't want to step on any toes.
“Jack's mother, Kelly, passed away when he was very young.” Cas explains, his tone low and sad, not quite a whisper but still a mark of the loss he still feels. “We were close friends, so she declared me as his Godfather when she was pregnant with him. His father Luke is, well–”
“He's awful.” Jack says, a reproaching frown forming on his face.
Cas puffs out a breath of laughter that eases the tension, and Dean smiles as Jack gestures devil horns at Emma.
“Yes, yes I suppose he is quite awful. He was a rebellious soul, nothing like many of the conservative rule followers that we descend from. But he was cruel and cold in different ways, he wasn't even there for Jack's birth.” Cas says darkly, breathing out to calm himself, “Hence why she entrusted him to me instead. I gladly took Jack under my wing. It's been us ever since.”
Dean hums, proud of Cas for raising his boy with love and acceptance, even if he wasn't his own at first.
“You said you needed to migrate here, sounded like you were in a rush to get out too. Did something change?”
Cas eyes him guardedly, his shoulders going stiff.
“For years we lived relatively peacefully, albeit we were scrutinised by our peers for the way I raised Jack to embrace his emotions and freedom to express it. But his father has resurfaced from his absence and expressed interest in meeting Jack. I couldn't let that happen, he'd only mean to take Jack away from me.” Cas says shakily.
Jack notices his anxious breathing and walks over to wrap himself around his father, little arms wrung around Cas' neck. Cas immediately hugs back, enveloping Jack in his arms.
There's a pause, and then Emma stands up to speak.
“Well, that's not gonna happen.” Emma declares, a fearsome look painting her face.
Cas and Jack look up at her as she moves towards Dean.
“Me and Dad.” She says, slapping both her chest and Dean's, “We're gonna look after you. Right Dad?”
Emma looks at him expectantly, and Dean smiles in deep admiration of how brave his daughter is. He might not be a perfect parent, but damn he must have been doing something right to bring up a hero like her.
“Hell yeah sweetheart! Emma's right Cas, you don't gotta worry about being alone in this. Luke comes knocking on your door, then I'm just a phone call away. Emma and I have got your backs” Dean declared, hi-fiving Emma who in turn, smiles proudly at him.
Jack laughs happily at their bravado, smiling gratefully at them. Cas shakes his head, huffing out in exasperated laughter by the duo's antics. But when he looks up at Dean's eyes, he has a watery smile in place. Dean has the sudden urge to lean over and kiss it better, really drive in just how much Dean would do for him.
Instead he pats Cas on the face and ruffles Jack's hair to show his affection in a controlled amount rather than bursting through the dam.
Cas laughs gorgeously at Dean's playfulness, and Dean's heart melts at the sight. Paternal heartthrob, check. Cas is going through the list of men Dean considers his type like a damn wrecking ball.
“Well, it should be safe here. After all, we are lightyears away from where we were. It'd be a large risk for Luke to come here just for Jack.” Cas mutters, petting Jack's hair.
“Mhm, he was visiting Uncle Gabe in Keppie!” Jack says.
“Keppie? That's a new one.” Dean frowns and laughs.
“It's short for Keppler-127. Another exoplanet that has a small colony living on it. Full of miscreants and free loaders. Much like my brother Gabriel.”
Dean can't wait to hear all the weird freaky alien shit once the kids are in bed, because Gabriel sounds like his kinda person.
Bed time is thankfully a relatively peaceful affair once they've got the pyjamas on and settled into bed. Cas even reads them a book at Emma's request, and the room sits enraptured by Cas' soothing, mellow rendition of an overconfident family going on a rudimentary bear hunt. Throwing in little comments about their ‘overzealous and irresponsible parents’ that make everyone laugh.
Dean catalogues every shy smile Cas gives him whenever he manages to make Dean hide his laughter behind his hand.
Cas grabs some beers for them both when they reconvene in the living room. He doesn't even try to hide it as he watches Dean attentively as he cracks their beers open by the bottle caps.
“That's seriously impressive Dean, where did you learn to do that?”
“Just a college party trick man, I think one of the frat bros who I was flirting with taught me.” Dean laughs, blushing as he realises he's given himself away.
Not to say he's not proudly out these days, but Cas is someone he's interested in. Hell someone he's getting pretty dangerously close to already. Forgive him if he's a little bit anxious to see how Cas will react to the knowledge Dean enjoys dudes too sometimes.
“Ah, I believe I missed that phase of life. We didn't particularly endorse party culture where I'm from.” Cas says, holding up the bottlecap to the light as he frowns at it like a confused puppy.
“The liking guys part or the college parties?” Dean asks daringly.
Cas turns to him and smirks, sending a rush up Dean's spine.
“I had no trouble with the former. Well, it was certainly troubling at one point … but I'm more at peace with myself since those days.” Cas takes a swig of his beer as he reminisces.
Dean raises his eyebrows in gentle curiosity, and Cas clears his throat to continue.
“My uh, former squad leader. I didn't want to accept it then, but I was very attracted to him. He was probably when I first realised.”
“Oh yeah?” Dean replies easily, mentally noting that Cas is a vet.
“Mm. He had a nice ass.” Cas shrugs.
That has Dean barking out in laughter, revelling in Cas' continued talent to say the most unexpected thing. Cas watches him smugly, clearly proud that his brand of comedy has such an effect on Dean.
“Yeah I guess it's pretty unavoidable then. A hot guy's ass is a weakness for us all.” Dean says, still chuckling to himself.
Cas nods, his cheeks flushed as he stares at Dean with a slightly more heated look that has him choking on his laughter.
“So uh, no one else back home you dramatically left behind like a jilted lover?” Dean half jokes, nervous to know if Cas was already in love before coming here. And if Dean even has a chance.
“No, I've never taken a lover actually.” Cas admits, a rouge to his sharp cheeks.
“Oh… never wanted one?”
“I didn't say that. Though, that would have been true, until now of course.” Cas says, daringly, underlaced with heat.
“You saying your sweet on me Cas? Cuz um, the feeling might be mutual space cowboy.” Dean admits, taking a pull from his beer.
Cas takes the beer out of his hands, and places it on the table to cup Dean's face and direct his gaze. What looks back at Dean is the full force of his ocean blues, filled with depths of adoration.
“You know, I always found humans so peculiar, fascinating even. But you Dean Winchester. You are a marvel. I've never known any being quite as loving as you.” Cas says, stroking his face tenderly.
Dean doesn't know how to respond to a cosmic being stating that Dean is the most impressive and benevolent creature in the universe, so instead he acts, planting a solid kiss on Cas' mouth and losing brain cells when Cas kisses back tenfold.
No literally, Dean feels like he's being caressed and licked by 10 tongues and holy shit is it hot.
“What the hell was that?” Dean says weakly, knees trembling as he hangs on to Cas shirt.
“Perks of dating an extraterrestrial?”
Dean laughs into Cas' neck and kisses up his jaw to make out with him some more, knowing that he and his little family of freaks are gonna be just fine.