Strings Attached

Chapter 52

"Being an idiot is my specialty," Lucifer replies.

"I've noticed."

After a few minutes, Castiel sees Baby pull up in the driveway. Is he referring to the car or Dean? You'll never know. The Winchesters and Adam come inside, once again not knocking because they practically live here, and there's no point in wasting the time to knock every time they come.

Sam walks over to Gabriel and gives him a kiss, something Castiel has always thought more or less cute, but now it's more nerve wrecking than adorable. How is Castiel supposed to greet Dean? They're not on that level yet, right? Are they? Castiel has no clue.

Thankfully, Dean puts up a hand for a high five as he walks over, making it very clear for Castiel what he's supposed to do.

"Heya, Cas," Dean greets him with a grin.

"Hi, Dean."

"Quick! We need Destiel moments!" Lucifer shouts.

"Remember that 'not being an idiot' thing we talked about?" Gabriel reminds him with an amused smile.

"Remember that 'being an idiot is my specialty' thing we talked about?" Lucifer retorts.

"Remember that 'shut up or I'll make you shut up' thing we haven't talked about yet?" Dean counters. "Well, now we've talked about it."

"Only if you two do cute shippy things together!" Lucifer replies.

"What does that even mean?" Dean asks.

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Lucifer chants at the top of his lungs. Gabriel and Sam join in as well, making the cry three times as loud.

"Will you guys just shut up?" Dean says, annoyed.

"We're literally telling you right now what to do to get us to shut up," Lucifer reminds him before resuming the chant.

Dean turns to Castiel and kisses him, so sudden that it takes Castiel a moment to kiss back. He expects Dean to stop when everyone stops chanting, but instead, Dean just wraps his arms around the other boy, pulling him closer.

"This is beautiful," Lucifer whispers.

Dean and Castiel pull apart, but it's hesitant. Had they not had an audience, they wouldn't have stopped, and Castiel finds himself wishing they were alone.

"You guys are perfect," Lucifer tells them, wiping a fake tear from his eye. "So beautifully perfect."

"He's lying," Samandriel says. "It's gross. Get a room."

Adam and Anna nod in agreement. Sabriel seems indifferent, and... Shouldn't there be someone else here?

"Where's Michael?" Castiel asks.

"He's right —" Lucifer looks around and stops talking for the first time in his life before finishing, "He was right here."

"Everyone is disappearing on us today!" Anna observes.

"I'm still here," a faint call comes from somewhere nearby. "I just got sick of you guys."

"You love us!" Lucifer shouts back.

"Not a chance!" Michael replies.

"He's lying," Lucifer whispers loudly. "He's just jealous that he doesn't have a relationship as beautiful as you guys do."

"Of course he doesn't," Dean replies. "No one is as beautiful as me."

"You're a horrible boyfriend," Sam tells him. "You're supposed to say Castiel is the hot one, not you. Welcome to the dating world."

"But then he'd be lying," Castiel says.

"Then you're lying to yourself," Dean replies. "And no, that's not because Sam told me to say it."

Castiel scoffs. "Yeah, totally. Sure."

"Really," Dean insists. "You are perfect." He gives Castiel a brief peck on the lips, causing the other boy to blush slightly.

"Thanks," Castiel murmurs, embarrassed. "Hey, Dean?" he says, changing the subject so he doesn't feel as awkward.

"Yeah?"

"You used to make fun of me for being gay," Castiel reminds him. "And now you're...?"

"Yeah..." Dean scratches the back of his neck, and Castiel realizes he swapped himself feeling awkward for Dean feeling awkward. Oops. "That was, um... Not my best moment. Or moments, I guess. But I didn't realize I was... Bi, I guess... Until a couple months ago. Besides," he continues quickly, "studies show most homophobes are usually at least sorta gay, at least according to some link title on Twitter I saw."

"Really?" Castiel says in surprise.

Dean nods. "And I don't think I'm the only one from the team," he adds.

"Who else?" Castiel asks. Some part of him is aware that this is gossip, but he's sure he's been the topic of their conversations before, so he doesn't care.

"Crowley," Dean answers.

"Seriously?"

Dean nods. "Oh yeah. You ever wonder why he was the one that went out with you last year? He definitely wasn't pressured into it. I wasn't there at the time, but I've heard it was his idea. Probably because he thinks you're hot and, let's be honest here, he's not wrong."

"Wow," Castiel replies. "I was not expecting that."

Dean shrugs. "Well, you learn something new everyday."

"I'm beginning to get that."