Standing Together

Chapter 58

Dean just wiggles his eyebrows at him before turning back to the box. He looks overly serene for a few moments. Then, out of nowhere, he starts aggressively stabbing the top of the box. "Die! Die, you stupid little box! Die!"

Castiel doubles over in laughter, which makes Dean start laughing, too. When Castiel sits back up like a normal person, he says, "I should have known better than to trust you with a knife," though it's barely audible through his laughter.

"You really should have," Dean agrees. "But even if we disagree on the method, at least we agree that the box must be opened. Ready?"

Dean flips the now cut flaps of the box open to reveal what has to be hundreds of CDs, with a note that says, "Enjoy the entire discography of every single singer you've ever defended on Twitter, as well as some of our personal favorites that you've probably never heard of."

Both boys burst out laughing at this. They begin taking the CDs out, stacking them by artist just to see who the rest of the Novaks and the Winchesters have decided to introduce him to. It has to take at least 15 minutes, but soon, not only have they pulled out and sorted every single CD, but they're also in alphabetical order by the artist's first name.

The last CDs in the box, laid out flat along the bottom in one full layer, are all of Castiel's CDs. Dean takes one out and studies the cover intently for a moment.

"I don't think I've ever heard of this Cass-teel person before," Dean says. He hands the CD to his fiancé. "He's, like, wicked hot. I would totally tap that."

Castiel playfully smacks him on the head with the CD. "Why are you the way that you are?"

"I don't know, Cas, but you're welcome."

They put all the CDs back in the box, keeping them in alphabetical order. Next is the other gift from the Novaks and Winchesters, which Lucifer says is mostly for Castiel but also for Dean. It comes in a much smaller box, which probably means it's not quite as weird as the first gift, which is comforting. Castiel carefully removes all the wrapping paper and slides the box out.

"Oh my god," Castiel says quietly. "Is that..." He opens up the cardboard box and finds a note on top, which Castiel reads out loud.

"'It's become a tradition over the last few years for me to make you gifts that involve a bunch of pictures. They're usually really cute, and you gush over them like I handed you a block of gold, and the hours I put into them are totally worth it. But it occurred to me this year that it's no longer a time to look at the past like you would with a scrapbook. You're engaged, and that means you're going to start building your future with Dean. What better way to maintain my cute picture spree while focusing on your future than to let you save these memories yourself? So here's your very own personal Polaroid camera. I've already made sure it's all set up for you. Take some pictures with Dean in my honor. Love, Charlie & co.'"

Castiel takes the camera out of the box and just looks at it for a few moments. Finally, he says, "I thought it was cool when I saw a Polaroid camera, but the note just makes this so much cuter."

"What did we do to deserve Charlie?" Dean says with a fond smile.

"Hey, Dean, say cheese!" Castiel holds the camera out in front of them, beaming. Dean sticks his tongue out at the camera, and Castiel starts laughing just as he takes the picture. It prints out fairly quickly, and Castiel shakes the plain white picture around for a minute. The color starts to fade in, but not entirely. Castiel puts it down on top of the camera box to look at later.

"That's it from you guys," Dean says to Lucifer. "Now's your chance to make your speedy exit."

"Did you guys get each other gifts?" Lucifer asks. "Because I want to stick around for all of it."

Dean shakes his head in amusement. "Well, it's your funeral." He reaches under the tree and hands Castiel a wrapped up shoebox. "It's honestly a really shitty present, so please remember that I love you and I tried."

Castiel chuckles. "I'm sure it'll be great."

"No, don't say that," Dean says quickly. "If you get your hopes up, you're gonna think it's even worse."

Castiel raises an eyebrow. "Okay, well, I'm sure it will suck."

"Thank you! Much better!"

Castiel shakes his head in amusement. He unwraps the box and takes the lid off to find a much of little stuffed Disney tsum tsums — which, for those of you who live tsum-tsum-less lives, are little stuffed animals that are about the length of your finger, and you can stack them and make cute little Disney character pyramids and they're beautiful.

"Oh my god!" Castiel scoops some of them out. "The hell do you mean, it's a shitty present? They're so freaking cute!" He throws them up in the air, and, as they fall back down, Castiel yells, "Confetti! It's a parade!"

Dean laughs. "I'm glad I didn't completely fail my present shopping."

"Dean, this is the cutest thing I've ever seen," Castiel tells him. "I'm going to put them everywhere. I have an entire army of squishy Disney characters. I could rule the world!"

"I think you're shooting just a little too high on that," Dean says, amused.

"Nonsense!" Castiel declares. "This is my key to world domination."

Dean shakes his head. "Well, hey, you do you."

Castiel grabs the last box under the Christmas tree and hands it to Dean. "Merry Christmas."

Dean unwraps the box to reveal yet another shoe box. Where do they get this many shoes? He carefully takes the lid off and puts it to the side. When he sees what's inside, he slaps a hand over his mouth, just staring at it silently.

"They're not the ones you lost, if that's what you're thinking," Castiel says. "And I know they can't replace the ones your dad left for you. I just thought, you know, if you're going to be driving places, you might want some cassette tapes to listen to, so these are the ones I remember you had. It's not all your old ones —"

Dean cuts him off by wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug and pressing their lips together. Castiel doesn't hesitate to kiss him back, even if he's a little surprised by the reaction.

"Thank you," Dean says quietly. "Thank you so much."