West Coast

Chapter Seventeen

'Why don't you do both?' Dean said, when Cas explained his dilemma. 'Go to the gym one day, then take Hoagie running the next day.'

'Oh,' Cas frowned. 'Why didn't I think of that?'

''Cause you got whacked in the head and now it doesn't like to do stuff,' Dean shrugged. 'No big deal.'

Cas snorted. 'Whatever you say Dean.'

Cas eventually took Dean's suggestion, and went to the gym every other day. He ended up training with Zane most times, and it wasn't long before his reflection began to look a lot more substantial.

On the days he went running, Cas usually took a nice long shower at home, rather than a quick one at the gym.

He was walking through the house with a towel wrapped around his waist, but he stopped dead in the archway between the living room and the dining room. Dean and Benny were both sat at the table.

'Dean,' he said, surprised. 'You have work.'

Dean shrugged. 'I took the afternoon.' He smiled at Cas, but it seemed strained.

Cas's eyes strayed to Benny.

'Well hello, Cas,' Benny said with a slight smirk. 'You're looking well.'

'Thank you,' Cas said, nervously looking between Dean and Benny.

'Don't worry, this is just a social call,' Benny told him. 'Aside from me being his sponsor, I am also Dean's friend.'

'Of course.'

Dean cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. 'Was there something you needed, Cas?'

'Oh, uh...' He put a hand to his head. 'I came in for something...'

'Work it backwards,' Dean said patiently. 'You can do it.'

'I uh - I was in the shower...'

'Uh huh.'

'No, I got out of the shower, and then... and then, I was thirsty,' Cas said slowly, 'so I came to get my orange juice. I left it - I left it... here!' He spotted it on the table next to Dean and reached over to grab it.

Dean swallowed and pushed the glass closer to him. 'You, uh, want to go put some clothes on there, Cas?'

'Oh. Right.' Cas took his glass with him, but as he walked away, he could have sworn he heard Dean groan.

Spring eased itself in and Cas smiled at the daffodils beginning to push themselves up through the grass in his garden. There was a lot more to do, at least according to his old calendar, and when he wasn't in the gym, he was digging through the soil in the garden. Jody would stop by once a week to help Cas with his beehives, and once he was finished with that for the day, he would paint. Mostly flowers, and sometimes bees, and occasionally a painting of Dean or Hoagie. As the weather warmed, he stopped needing to check the light switch for the porch light altogether.

Cas paid close attention to Dean, trying to figure out what he was feeling. He began to notice things about Dean; the confident way he walked, the way his stubble lay along his jawline, the careful way he styled his hair every morning. He came in sweaty from work one day, and Cas couldn't take his eyes off Dean.

Dean turned his head and squinted at Cas.

'What?' said Cas, looking Dean up and down.

'Why are you looking at me like you want to-' Dean cut himself off and flushed bright red. 'Never mind,' he muttered, before stomping off to the bathroom.

Cas shook his head, not entirely sure what had just happened, and went back to his painting of the hills outside the window.

Cas was half way through a painting of a beach one sunny afternoon - the same one he'd painted before, the one that had one large, grassy dune, the one he'd visited with Dean - when the side door opened, and he heard Sam's voice.