Chapter Text
"Castiel, good to see you. You're ten minutes early, but if you want you can start your shift now, it just won't be enough for me to pay you for that." Castiel's manager said once he put his bag down in the staff area.
"That's alright, Jess. Ten minutes isn't much." He got his nametag, attached it to his vest he wears for work, and went to his place behind the counter. He'd did everything else he'd normally do during his shift last night, so he didn't have anything to do until the first customers arrived. He had a feeling he knew who that customer would be. It was like every morning, after all....
After five minutes of standing expectantly behind the counter, the ding told Castiel he had finally come through the door.
Dean Winchester smiled and nodded in acknowledgement at Castiel, clearly trying to be polite without making it look like he was the reason he was here. As usual, Dean went over to the pie section, right next to the counter where Castiel stood, and got the one he always did. Without fail, Dean Winchester had come to that particular gas n sip and gotten the same thing - although sometimes with a coffee or other snack alongside it - for a month now. In fact, today was the thirtieth day this had happened.
"Just this today, sir?" Castiel asked in his usual manner, as he did to every customer that came through that door. Although he couldn't help think Dean wasn't every customer. They were nothing like friends, not even close, but there was that obvious warmth in Dean's smile that they both tried to ignore.
"Yes, please." Dean handed Castiel the cash needed to pay for the pie, and left, waving bye with his free hand as he did.
Castiel watched him go with a feeling of what might be sadness, which surprised him. They didn't even know each other, why the hell was he sad?
"Hey, little bro." Gabriel came in behind him, ruffling his hair as he went to stand next to him.
"Hello, Gabriel."
"That guy's here everyday," Gabriel stated, as if it wasn't obvious.
"Yes, I know that."
"He's also the first customer every morning," Gabriel was getting at something, but Castiel didn't have a clue as to what that something was. "Funnily enough, that's the time you work everyday."
"What are you getting at?" Castiel sighed. While Gabriel was the family member he was closest with, he was still incredibly annoying, and would do anything to tease his little brother.
"I'm just saying, maybe he wants to get to know you. Maybe friends, maybe.... more?"
Castiel didn't say anything, just waited for whatever Gabriel would say next.
"Just.... why don't you ask for his phone number next time you see him? Or at least his name?"
"Why are you doing this? What do you get out of it?"
"Oh, customer." Gabriel said. The brothers turned to look at the woman who placed two candy bars and a Monster energy drink on the counter. "Great choice by the way," he said to the woman, who smiled awkwardly. Castiel put the money the woman gave him in the register, and let her go.
"Have a nice day." Castiel and Gabriel said, the latter much cheerier than Castiel was, but he didn't smile often. Only when he needed to, for the customers, or when he found something funny, which didn't happen much. He didn't usually smile or laugh when he found things funny, unless there was a specific reason. "So, care to tell me why you care so much if I get to know this guy?" Castiel asked once the woman had closed the door behind her.
"I wanna see you happy, little bro. Especially since you basically got kicked out of the family."
"Hmm, thank you so much for bringing that up." Castiel said sarcastically. He wasn't totally good at being sarcastic, or recognising sarcasm, so he hoped that attempt was good.
"I'm sorry. They just can't handle your awesomeness." Gabriel said simply, as if it was obvious. "But seriously, whether or not you two hypothetically date or you're just friends, you deserve someone who can love you for you."
"Thank you, Gabriel. For caring enough about me."
"You're my brother, Cas. Caring's my job." Gabriel smiled at him, and patted his shoulder. "I've gotta go now. Jess said there might potentially be candy bars for me. Slightly old, but whatever. Have fun with the customers."
"Yes, 'cause there's so many of those this early in the morning."
"Hmm," Gabriel mused.
"What now?"
"Your sarcasm is getting better. Good job." Gabriel said and without another word, he went through the backdoor to find Jess.
The next day, Castiel came in at normal time and did everything he normally did each morning. Jess wasn't here yet, but Gabriel was. He was sitting in the dark for some reason, and flinched when his brother flicked the switch on.
"Why'd you do that?" He groaned.
"Why are you sitting here in the dark?"
"For mysteriousness. I was waiting for you, and I wanted to jumpscare you. But I didn't actually realise you were here until the lights turned on."
"Pity. You're getting worse with your reactions. You're clearly getting older." Castiel teased.
"Excuse you? I'm the only one allowed to say shit like that." Gabriel said, pretending to get offended.
"We should get the place ready for opening up."
"Jess is sick by the way. She won't be here today."
"Okay. Good to know." The brothers go through the door which leads to behind the counter, and they get the place ready for customers. That mostly involves just unlocking the front door, flipping the signs to closed, and repacking some of the shelves.
After a little while, their first customer - Dean, as usual - arrived. Gabriel noticed, but not Castiel, as he was busy, so he nudged him, and whispered something in his ear.
Castiel made his way to the counter to greet Dean.
"Hey, sir." Dean said, and smiled, but it looked tight, and slightly awkward.
"Good morning. Your usual?"
"Uh, yes please." Castiel got the pie from the glass shelf it was laying on, and Dean got his money out to pay for it.
"Anything else? Coffee?" Castiel suggested.
"Yeah, sure. I'll have a-"
"I know what you'll have. I remember." As soon as he said it he mentally kicked himself. That sounded like he was a creep, which he wasn't. He'll never want to speak to Castiel again....
"Oh, great. I've gotta hit the can, I can leave this here, right?" Dean put his pie on the counter.
"Yes, you can. I could put it behind these boxes if you're worried about something happening to it."
"Awesome. That's great. Thank you." Dean went to where the toilets are located, and as soon as he was out of earshot, Gabriel came over to talk to him.
"That was so fucking creepy, little bro. I know you didn't mean it, but-"
"Yes, I am aware of that. Unfortunately only after I already said it, but I didn't notice a change in his expression that might hint he found that weird, unless he's just really good at hiding stuff like that, but-"
"Castiel, you're overthinking. Why don't you just.... ask for his name when he comes back out?"
"What if he thinks I'm creepy? You just said it was, and I already thought that as soon as I said it-"
"It's a name." Gabriel interrupted his little brother again. "You can't be called creepy for asking someone's name, especially if that someone's a customer you've had for a month."
"Over a month, actually."
"What?"
"Yesterday it was 31 days since he first came in here. Today it's the 32nd."
"Yeah, maybe don't mention that to him when he comes back out. Other than that, you're doing a great job."
"He's coming out now. Go away." Castiel gently pushed his brother away, and he went back to putting things on shelves. He finished making his coffee, and put it next to Dean's pie. "Here you go," he said to the customer, handing him his pie and coffee.
"Thank you, sir."
"So...." This was it. He was going to ask. Not that it was a massive question, but it felt huge to him. Actually, hell no, he couldn't do it. "Anything else?" Fuck.
"No, thank you. Have a good day."
"Y- yeah. You too." He muttered. Gabriel was whispering at him angrily, gradually going closer and closer to Castiel, until they were directly on other sides of the counter.
"You idiot! I thought you would do it. Why didn't you? Will you do it tomorrow?" He asked, not leaving any room for Castiel to answer the questions in between each one.
"Well, I'm sorry, Gabriel. I couldn't do it. I may or may not do it tomorrow, but that's a whole day away. I got too scared. It's not my fault." Castiel hissed back.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you, little bro." Gabriel apologised, as sincerely as he could. "I've just seen the way you look at each other. It's frankly very adorable and stuff, and I want you to know each other properly."
"I understand you mean well, Gabe, but it's my life, not yours. My life has no effect on yours. Now please stop involving yourself like that in our lives."
"Fair enough. I'll stop." Gabriel said, but Castiel wasn't certain if he believed him or not. Hell, who was he kidding? This was Gabriel, of course he wasn't actually going to stop.
The rest of the day went by as usual, and as Castiel went home after his shift, he was trying to work up the courage to ask his main customer for his name and phone number tomorrow. No more backing out, he was actually going to do it this time.