Honey Apple Pie

Chapter Eleven

Cas nodded.

'And I took the leftovers to the homeless shelter as well.'

'That's great, Alfie, thank you, I appreciate it.'

They worked together in a comfortable silence for a while, kneading and rolling. Cas thought again about Gabriel and remembered he would be visiting later on. He glanced sideways at Alfie and bit his lip. Since Sam and Dean now knew, he didn't see any reason why Alfie shouldn't. He didn't think Alfie would react badly, considering the amount of time he'd spent with Charlie, but that didn't make it any easier. He took a shaky breath and, with a dry mouth said, 'Alfie, I'm gay.'

There was a beat of silence, then Alfie said, 'Oh,' mildly surprised.

'That's why- that's why Mom and Dad threw me out.'

Alfie nodded. 'That makes sense.' Then he looked at Cas with a horrified expression, realising what he had just said and quickly backtracked. 'That's not what I meant - I mean, obviously they shouldn't have - I don't think that at all-'

Cas started laughing, mostly in relief. 'It's all right, I know what you meant.'

Alfie laughed nervously. 'Thanks for telling me, Cas. It must be hard for you, since Aunt Emily and Uncle Charles are your parents.'

Cas shrugged. 'I think I'm feeling better about it lately.'

'Good.'

They carried on working, Cas tackling the bread and Alfie getting started on the cake batters.

'So...' Alfie said after a while. 'What about Dean?'

'What about him?'

'Is he...?'

'What? No. I don't think so.'

Alfie looked doubtful. 'Are you sure?'

'Yes.'

'I don't know... But you like him, right?'

Cas groaned. 'Come on, Alfie, not you too.'

'All right, all right. I'm gonna go get the coffee started.'

Alfie hung around until just after lunchtime, and was getting ready to go when Gabriel walked through the door.

'Alfie!' he exclaimed.

'Gabriel,' Alfie said warily, glancing behind him in case he'd brought Emily back with him.

'Don't worry, just me,' Gabriel said, correctly interpreting Alfie's expression. 'Where's Cas?'

'Cas, it's Gabriel,' Alfie called, keeping his eyes fixed on Gabriel.

Cas came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel.

Gabriel whistled at the large bruise on Cas's head. 'That does not look like fun,' he said, pointing at it.

'It's fine,' Cas said, brushing it off. 'Here, I made some food for you.' He pulled a small basket out from under the register and passed it to Gabriel. 'Are you going home soon?'

'Actually yeah, I'm going home tomorrow morning. I figure it'll be safe, since we talked and everything.'

Cas nodded. 'You could visit more often, if you wanted.'

Gabriel grinned. 'I'll text Alfie and make sure you know next time.'

'Fine by me,' said Alfie. 'Do you want a coffee before I go?'

'Sure.'

Alfie handed him a cup and then said goodbye.

Gabriel hung around for the rest of the afternoon, charming all the customers and getting sprinkles everywhere when he tried to decorate some cupcakes.