Fireworks and Panties

Untitled Part 1

That was it. The last papers were signed, and the keys were in his hand; the house was his. Finally, he was home. Cas had never been so proud of something in his life as he was of being able to buy his own home. It was a cute little two bedroom with an absolutely enormous back yard that he planned to put all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and flowers in once all the snow had melted and he could get his hands in the dirt. It was quaint, big enough for him and his cat, Zola. That was all he needed. He was happy.

With help from a moving company, all of his belongings were moved into the house on a Thursday afternoon. The next three days were spent unpacking and finding a place for everything. Monday he was back at work. The next two months, as winter turned to spring, he found a place for everything and began working on his gardens. There were weeds to be pulled, grass to be reseeded, plant boxes to build, and more things he kept thinking up the more he got into it. The yard needed a lot of work.

He had spent hours planning out every flower bed, finding ways to maximize every inch of space while still having room to entertain. In late March he started building, adding borders and installing a fountain. Flowers, fruits and vegetables were added as well as a large herb garden as the weather slowly began to warm up. As he planted, he admired the neatly trimmed yards around his own. There was a young married couple in the house to the left with two small dogs that had barked at Cas the first few times they'd seen him, but now they wagged their tails and begged to be petted if they spotted him in his yard. The house to his right was owned by an elderly man who liked to do a little gardening himself, and Cas had enjoyed long conversations with the man about the various plants he was adding to his yard. He'd even shared a few cucumber and tomato plants with Mr. Edwards, for which the man baked him an apple crumble in thanks. Cas' yard backed up to another one that was even bigger than his own, though he had only caught fleeting glimpses of the owner. One Saturday, while he was busy planting some roses along the back fence, he had seen a man mowing his lawn. Another time he had seen the man exiting by his back door and walking to his garage. Cas tried not to be rude and stare, but the man was beautiful, tall, broad shouldered, with hair that looked dark blonde in the sunlight and brown in the shade. He found himself wondering about the man as he planted his roses, and he continued to think about him as he moved on to the berry bushes, the herb garden, and the bleeding hearts. At night, when he laid in bed, he thought about the man with the beautiful body. Was the man nice? Was he straight? Cas really, really hoped he wasn't.

It was the third week in June that things changed. Cas had a routine, but with the temperatures steadily rising he altered it, choosing to head outside the check on his gardens and water the plants before he got ready to go to work. This particular morning he had woken a bit earlier so he could go for a run, and when he got back to the house he stripped out of his sweat-soaked shirt before heading out to the yard in nothing but his running shorts to do some cool down stretches before he watered the plants. The cool morning air felt wonderful against his heated skin. The vegetable gardens were doing very well as were his medicinal flowers. The decorative ones were thriving despite the heat, and that made him happy. Little bees were already buzzing about as he carried the hose to the back of the yard. As he began watering the roses, he let his mind wander a bit. Movement in the yard in front of him caught his attention, and he smiled as he watched two squirrels playing tag in the grass. He noticed the lights on in the hot neighbor's kitchen. The curtains were open. Cas was admiring the flower beds under the window when he caught sight of his neighbor.