Nothing Is Impersonal (the mixtape)

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They were on their way home, riding in the Impala. Three Days Grace was on the radio - that didn't mean anything to both Cas and Dean, so the latter changed the station. There was some country music. Cas briefly glanced at the radio then and Dean decided to keep it there.

"You know I can insert some of these," he spoke up suddenly and opened one panel gesturing at the stack of tapes.

They both thought about the mixtape Dean had given Cas the previous time that the angel tried to return not so long ago, but Dean insisted he keep it, as it was a gift.

"Do you keep all your mixtapes prepared to give out to people?" he asked with some kind of sadness in his voice.

Dean just smirked and shook his head, "No, but... I do have the copy of the... you know... um- the mixtape I gave you," he pulled it out.

"If you don't mind I could put it in?" he asked, with both hope and insecurity in his voice.

It was one thing to give it to him, but completely different to share that experience of listening to it with just Cas as music always meant so much to Dean.

"And we could listen to it... together?" he added then, voicing his thoughts and putting a lot of meaning out there with them. It suddenly felt like such an intimate offer.

Yes, Dean would often play his music in the car, lots of times riding with Sam, and with both Sam and Cas. But he knew Sam didn't care much about his music and didn't listen to it as closely as he did - Dean had noticed. But this was a rare situation for Dean as this was the first ever mixtape he'd made for someone and it consisted of the songs that, as if, spoke through his soul and revealed his feelings.

Cas was observing Dean at that point - the way he always does. And simply, he just answered, "Sure."

So Dean, with a bit of a shaky hand, put the cassette in.

Once it was in, and the music was playing, the lyrics seemed to be clearer then ever and both of them listened to it intently. They couldn't help but draw parallels between the words of the songs and their lives. Cas could only think about Dean and himself, meanwhile Dean also had other associations, because he'd been listening to these songs for many many years, even before he knew anything about the angel's existence. Nevertheless, his thoughts were mostly the same as Cas's. It was a perfect harmony.

Cas would catch Dean staring at the road, almost smiling, deep in thoughts. Sometimes they would exchange glances as they do or even smile properly at each other. Cas would comment occasionally that he really liked one song or another, at which Dean would just beam and add that those were his most favorites and just the greatest ones in general. And Cas was so happy just seeing him like that. Appreciation can really do that, he thought.

Also, after about the 4th song, Dean would sing along to some parts, at first not very loud, but then, very passionately. Cas would just stare at him with adoration. He himself would join Dean sometimes, humming to some of the songs, which really surprised Dean and he started grinning like crazy. He'd never heard the angel sing or hum ever before. That was very peculiar to him.

Something like an hour passed, but they didn't really notice that time. It was the most splendid hour they shared - sort of an ecstasy. It seemed their souls really bonded during that ride, as they were acting purely intuitively with almost no conversation going. Their smiles were big, they were both happy. They even laughed a few times.

When the last song ended, the silence arose, but it was okay as they were still in that headspace, very slowly returning to reality. When they did come to their senses though, they shared a glance and felt a tad bit uncomfortable. They were asking themselves: what now? The road still wasn't over, and they were still in just each other's company...