By the time Wednesday rolled around, Cas was running on two hours of sleep in total. His limbs felt like lead, but he trudged on anyway, making it through the morning with several burns and a small cut on his thumb. He closed just after lunchtime and Dean was waiting for him outside, leaning against the side of his car. Cas smiled and packed his bags and a couple of coolers in the back seat, then climbed into the passenger side.
Cas thought that the dashboard looked like it had been polished, and everything was slightly less dusty than the last time he'd been inside it. He sunk into the comfortable seat and sighed.
Dean got into the driver's seat. {Buckle up} he signed to Cas before putting the key into the ignition. The car purred and Dean smiled, pulling out of the space and out of town.
Cas stared out of the window for the first hour or so of their journey, only glancing over at Dean to watch him expertly manoeuvre the car. He seemed to be in his element, his fingers lightly flicking the indicators when needed, and firmly gripping the wheel when not.
Dean caught him staring out of the corner of his eye, and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Cas blushed slightly and looked away.
'So, how do you and Sam talk while you're driving?' Cas asked.
Dean glanced at him and used one hand. {F-N-G-S-P-L}
'What?'
Dean repeated the letters, but slower.
'Oh! Like a shorthand version of fingerspelling?'
Dean grinned and nodded. {S-M T-L-K, I S-P-L}
'"Sam talks, I spell". Wow, that's really smart.'
Dean just chuckled, but didn't sign anything else. Cas again sunk back into his own thoughts until they arrived at the market.
Rows upon rows of market stalls and food trucks had been set up in a large field, with all their owners' vehicles parked in the next field. A few people dressed in flourescent orange vests were directing the visitors into another part of the field to park.
Cas made for the fruit stalls first, with Dean trailing behind him. He became quite interested in a stall that was offering several kinds of homemade jelly in jars, as well as their selection of fresh fruit. He examined them closely.
'How long do these keep for?' he asked, holding a jar of strawberry jelly.
'Well unopened they can last for months,' the vendor said. 'But I probably wouldn't give it more than a couple of weeks once you open it.'
'Hmm, could be good for some jelly rolls,' he muttered. 'I'll take a few of these strawberry ones and that blackberry one looks interesting.'
'Awesome.' The vendor wrapped them in a paper bag, which Cas then placed in one of his own bags.
{I thought A-l-f-i-e or C-h-a-r-l-i-e did this for you} Dean signed.
'Looking for interesting ingredients is a lot more fun than grocery shopping,' Cas explained, picking up a shiny red apple at another stall. 'Besides, I have to look for ideas at some point.' He took some of the apples, then moved on towards the honey stand.
'Why don't you pick one, Dean?' said Cas, adjusting his bags.
Dean bent down and looked at all the jars of honey, eventually choosing one that said 'Orange Blossom' on it.
'That's a good choice,' said Cas, putting it in his bag. 'Do you want something to eat? There are some food trucks over that way.'
Dean nodded.
For a while, they wandered around eating a couple of hot dogs until they found themselves among a row of refrigerated vans. They all seemed to be selling some sort of meat or dairy.
'What do you think, Dean, should I start expanding my savouries?' Cas asked, looking at some deli meats.
Dean just shrugged.
'Yeah, you're right, I'm not equipped to store meat... Maybe some cheese, though?' he said, moving along to look at a dairy stand.
It had several different boards all covered in neatly arranged sample cubes. Cas tried a cube of cheddar. 'Nice,' he said to the vendor, but then was distracted by Dean tugging on his sleeve. 'What's the matter?'
Dean picked up a different cube of cheese and made Cas try it.
'Wow,' said Cas, eyebrows raised in surprise. 'That's a really nice brie. You think I can use this?'
Dean nodded enthusiastically.
'Yes...' Cas said slowly. 'I could go back to that guy with the cranberries and make some tarts...'
{I could really go for some pizza} Dean signed, looking at a small sample of mozzarella
Cas looked at it too. 'I could make pizza... Yeah, I'll take a wheel of the brie and a few mozzarella balls,' he said to the vendor, 'then we'll get some cranberries and tomatoes, and maybe stop for some fresh herbs on our way back to the car.'
{Sounds good to me} Dean signed, taking a couple of the bags from Cas.
They made their way back around the market and to the car, where Cas spent a few minutes packing the food into the coolers before getting back into the passenger side and waiting for Dean.
The sun was beginning to set as Dean drove them back towards town. Cas was more relaxed than he had been in days, and his eyelids grew heavy. The motion of the car and Dean's music playing quietly relaxed him further until he was fast asleep.
The next morning, Cas awoke to the sound of his alarm, in his own bed. Gracie was curled in the crook of his knee and he reached down to scratch the top of her head. 'What are you doing in here?' he mumbled to her.
She purred quietly, then rolled herself over to let Cas get up.
He walked into the living room and realised he was wearing the same clothes he had been wearing the day before, minus his socks.
He then noticed that a bowl and a fork were sitting on his drying rack, next to the sink. He went over to it and picked up, frowning. He hadn't made anything the night before. Then he heard a noise behind him and whirled around, pointing the fork.
It was Dean, standing in the doorway of the spare room in a baggy white t-shirt and his boxer shorts. He held up his hands defensively.
'Dean?' Cas said incredulously. 'What are you doing in my apartment?'
Dean nodded at the fork and motioned for Cas to put it down.
'Right, sorry.' Cas put the fork away in the cutlery drawer.
Gracie came out of the bedroom and rubbed up against Dean's legs, then jumped up on the counter, waiting expectantly for her breakfast.
{What, were you going to fork me to death?} Dean signed, laughing slightly at his own joke.
{Maybe another time} Cas joked back. {Why are you here?}
{You fell asleep in my car. I drove you around for a while, but it got late. I was tired when we got here and didn't think I should drive anymore. I ate some of your noodles. I hope you don't mind}
{Of course I don't mind}
Dean went up to the counter, ruffling his hair. It was unstyled and looked soft to the touch. Cas kept his hands at his sides. {You sleep like a log} Dean smiled. {I walked you in here and you didn't even open your eyes]
Cas blushed sightly. {Where is all the food we picked up?]
{I put it away at the bakery before we came back here}
Cas nodded and sighed. Despite the fact that he'd finally gotten a good night's sleep, he was still feeling fuzzy and slightly lightheaded, but he ignored it and began getting ready for the day, feeding Gracie.
'You can stay here if you want,' Cas called from the bathroom as he switched on the shower.
When he was finished, he went out into the living room, wrapped in a bathrobe, where Dean sitting on the couch, playing with Gracie, until she saw him and ran over to him. She rubbed her face against his leg, but stopped half way through and swiped at his leg when she realised it was wet.
'Hey, that's your fault for not checking first,' he said to her, swatting at her. She ran back to Dean, tail held aloft indignantly.
{It's sweet how you talk to your cat}
{She gets upset if iI don't}
Dean laughed and Cas went to get dressed. He quickly dried his hair and shoved on his shoes. 'Here's the spare key,' he said, giving it to Dean. 'Make sure to lock the door when you leave.'
{I'll drop by the bakery around lunchtime}
'See you then.'
Cas rushed down to the bakery to get started, stopping a few times when he felt dizzy. He was slower than he would have liked during his morning prep time, and didn't end up making the brie and cranberry tarts that he wanted, however he did manage to make a pizza base, ready for lunchtime when he would make it for Dean.
Alfie arrived at the usual time, but immediately looked alarmed when he saw Cas. 'You look awful,' he said. 'What's wrong?'
'Nothing,' said Cas, waving him away. 'I'm fine.' He took a large gulp of the water that he'd been carrying around with him. He fumbled with the batch of cupcakes he had been attempting to decorate and put them out on display.
'If you insist,' Alfie mumbled, before pulling out his phone and sending a quick text.
Cas checked his watch then began on the pizza, carefully blending his tomatoes and herbs into a thick pizza sauce and allowing it to simmer on the stove for a while. Then he spooned and spread it on the base he'd made earlier, along with slices of the mozzarella and herbs on top.
By the time it had finished baking, Dean had arrived, so he put it up on the counter and sliced it.
Dean ignored it, however,ad came around the counter to look Csa directly in the face.
{Something's wrong] he signed.
'I'm fine' Cas said.
{You're shaking}
{I am not} Cas pushed past him but stopped at the corner of the counter. He had been a little dizzy before but now the entire room was spinning. He grabbed hold of the counter, but it wasn't enough. His vision went grey at the edges, then everything lurched sideways and he smacked his head on the counter, out cold before he even hit the ground.