Title: The Mistletoe Hung
Rating: PG
Pairing: Dean/Castiel
Beta:
metaalluWarnings/Labels: AU, season 6
Summary: Dean doesn't see the point in having mistletoe up and Castiel makes a midnight visit.
Dean’s hoping this is a nightmare.
It’s a Christmas party from hell.
Dean’s not a big fan of Christmas parties. He discovered this at Lisa’s and the endless string of parties they went to that December. He knows Lisa didn’t mean to, but he started feeling like she was dragging him along to show him off.
Sam hung the mistletoe in the door way. “In case you want to make any moves,” Sam joked.
The jerk.
The party is mostly hunters and a few of Sheriff Jody’s friends. Then Lisa shows up.
Dean tries to figure out if he should avoid her, trying to figure out why she’s there. Then Cassie shows up.
Then Anna.
That’s when he’s sure this is a nightmare. Like he’s dreaming why won’t he wake up nightmare. Not the waking nightmare his life normally is.
Somehow all three of them manage to corner him under the mistletoe and it’s freaky how they’re not saying anything. They just advance on him until he’s under the mistletoe.
Then Cas walks by and Dean does the thing he’s always wanted to do. That thing he’s never had a good excuse to do. He grabs Cas by the collar and pulls him under the mistletoe with him.
“Hey, Cas,” he says before he bends in and plants one straight on Cas’s lips.
Cas crumbles to dust under his hands.
Dean wakes up with a gasp. “Shit,” he hisses. He rubs his hand over his face and glances over at Sam.
His brother’s face is mashed against the pillow with his arm jammed at an awkward angle. Sam still sleeps like a colt with no control of his limbs.
Dean rubs his face again and slides out of bed. The wood floor is cold even through his socks. “Stupid dream,” he mutters softly, padding out of the bedroom.
They’re holed up at Bobby between hunts and though it’s almost Christmas, there is thankfully no party in Dean’s future. Especially not one with all his exes showing up. He goes down the stairs and pauses to glare at the doorway between the living room and the kitchen.
Sam had really hung mistletoe there. Just like he’d dragged a tree in. Sam’s determined they’re going to do Christmas this year. Which, yeah, okay Dean did that to him once too. He sort of understands it.
The mistletoe is doesn’t get. Unless Sam’s just a fan of making walking through doorways awkward.
Dean heads into the kitchen and pulls out a glass. He runs the water and fills it up, then gulps it down. Setting the glass in the sink, he stands watching the snow fall through the window above the sink for awhile.
“Dean,” Cas says from behind him.
The sound of wings that heralded Cas’ arrival is the only thing that keeps Dean from jumping out of his skin.
“I really need to put a bell on you,” Dean sighs, turning around.
Cas hasn’t been around much, not since they stopped him from opening purgatory and almost cost him the war. Dean’s still sure he did the right thing. They were losing Cas to all those souls he kept eating.
Dean would rather Cas be pissed and himself than hopped up on souls, or worse, dead.
Cas tilts his head to the side. “I don’t require a bell.”
“Then call first,” Dean suggests.
Cas glances away. “I assumed you would be asleep.”
“So this was creepy watching Dean sleep time again?” Dean asks without much bite.
“No,” Cas says.
Dean raises an eyebrow.
“Yes,” Cas amends.
Dean sighs and crosses him arms as he leans back against the sink. “If you wanted to see how we were doing you could have come during the day.”
“I’m aware I’m not welcome here,” Cas points out, shifting uncomfortably.
Dean resists rolling his eyes. “We took down the anti-angel wards,” Dean points out. Not that his last conversation with Cas had gone...well.
They’d wound up scream in each others' faces until Dean thought they’d come to blows. Instead Cas had taken off without another word.
“You do not welcome me here,” Cas corrects. “After all I’ve done, I’m aware you do not trust me.”
Dean pulls his fingers through his hair. “Cas, you were working with Crowley.”
“You have worked with Crowley,” Cas snaps.
“You wanted to open purgatory,” Dean counters, taking a step towards Cas.
Cas doesn’t leave the doorway. “I wanted to defeat Raphael. I wanted to protect you and Sam!”
“You tore down the wall in Sam’s head,” Dean snarls. “You kill Rachel, you were going to kill Balthazar.”
Cas’ eyes drop away from Dean’s gaze. “I made errors. I have accepted this.”
“Then you understand why I’m having trouble trusting you again,” Dean points out.
Cas raises his hands slightly then drops them. “I didn’t come here to fight with you, Dean.”
Dean’s shoulders slump. “I don’t want to be fighting with you, Cas. But we’re stuck here.”
“I don’t wish to be stuck,” Cas says softly. “I want us to be...what we were before. I want to fix our bond.”
Dean takes a few more steps towards Cas with no real purpose. “I’m not sure how we get unstuck.” He thinks of his dream, of Cas crumbling to dust under his hands. He swallows hard. “Maybe we can’t get past this.”
Cas looks miserable. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it, Dean.” He meets Dean’s gaze then drops it again. “I miss what we had.”
“Well, we can’t have that again,” Dean says stubbornly. “We have to move forward.”
“Into what?” Cas asks in frustration.
Dean doesn’t know. “I don’t know, Cas.” He’s close enough to Cas to touch.
It was so easy in his dream to reach out and grab Cas. He didn’t think then, he just acted. He grabs Cas by the trench coat, steps forward, and kisses Cas.
Cas is still under his mouth, unresponsive.
Dean draws back with a nervous laugh. “Uhm, mistletoe,” he says, pointing up.
Cas stares at him, unblinkingly. “You kissed me.”
“You were standing under the mistletoe,” Dean hedges, pushing his fingers through his hair.
“Is that how we move past this?” Cas asks. “Is this what we need to become?”
Dean looks away. “Just leave it, Cas. You don’t have to --”
Cas grabs Dean’s shirt and pulls him into a rough, passionate kiss. “Do not presume to tell me what to do, Dean.”
Dean just nods. “This doesn’t fix everything.”
“It would be foolish if it did,” Cas tells him, stroking the line of Dean’s jaw with his thumb.
Dean takes that as an invitation to lean in and kiss Cas again. Cas kisses back as if he only knows one speed. Fast, hard, now.
Yeah, this is going to take work. But Dean’s sure it’ll be worth it.
He might even thank Sam for hanging up the damn mistletoe.