West Coast

Chapter Fifteen

'Me too. Thank you.' Cas shook his hand. 'I'll see you next week, Penny?'

'Yeah, next week.'

Cas stopped in front of Meg before they left. 'Thank you for all your help,' he said to her.

'Yeah, ditto,' Dean grinned.

Meg rolled her eyes, but smiled widely. 'All right, get going. I don't want to see you around here again, got it?'

'Yes, ma'am,' Cas laughed.

Cas waved to her one more time as they went out the front door.

He was immediately greeted by a gust of freezing air. He pulled Dean's jacket closer, and hurried over to the Impala. He pulled open the trunk to throw in his bag but stopped.

'What's up?' Dean asked, coming up behind him.

Cas slowly put the bag down, and reached inside the trunk.

The overcoat felt familiar in his hands, and he handled it gently. It looked like it was supposed to be beige, but it was covered in bloodstains. 'This is... mine?'

Dean nodded, uncomfortable.

Cas stared at it, his stomach twisting. It made him feel strange, as though a piece of his memory was fighting to make itself heard. He recognised it as what his hallucination had worn, and he wasn't sure if it was better or worse that he hadn't imagined all of it.

'Do you - want me to get rid of it?' Dean said apprehensively.

Cas turned the coat over. There was clearly a reason Dean had kept it. 'No,' he said finally. 'We'll keep it in here.' He gently put it back in the car and closed the trunk. 'Let's go.'

As soon as Cas opened the passenger door, Hoagie hurled himself out of the car, wagging his tail so hard it was a blue.

Cas lifted him up and hugged him, not at all bothered by the tiny tongue licking him all over. He climbed into the car, bundling Hoagie up in his lap.

Dean revved the car a few times, to show off the sound of the engine, then pulled out of the parking lot.

Cas sighed happily and looked over at Dean. He didn't speak for a moment, and rested a hand on Dean's knee before he did. 'I read some more of my files,' he said quietly. 'You've been taking care of me a lot longer than you told me.'

Dean fidgeted in his seat. 'Yeah, well, I owed it to you anyway.'

'You don't owe me anything, Dean.'

'Sure I do. You took care of me a lot longer than I took care of you, I'll tell you that for free,' Dean laughed.

'Why?'

'Oh man, when we were first together, I was a nightmare. I was crabby, I snapped at every little thing. I don't know why you put up with me, honestly.'

'I suppose I loved you.'

'Yeah, that, and I'm amazing in bed.'

'You don't need to tell jokes to make me feel better.'

'Hey, who's joking?' Dean patted Cas's hand, laughing, and Cas closed his eyes, leaning back in his seat contentedly.

The house was warm when they went inside. Cas assumed Dean must have left the heat on. The kitchen was different when Cas walked in. He couldn't quite put his finger on it. Something about the fridge and the kitchen cabinets. Dean had replaced the broken glass door as well.

'I've got a bunch of stuff to show you,' Dean said excitedly, putting Cas's bag down. 'I got this-'

But Cas interrupted him with an outstretched hand. 'We need to talk first.'