Keep It Simple

Chapter 1

   "Dean!" Cas yelled into the kitchen of the small diner, "someone's coming in."

   The someone in question was a middle-aged biker lady with badly dyed blonde hair smoking a cigarette. The bell above the door gave a light jingle as she pushed her way through the door, swaggering over towards Cas.

   "Well don't you just look the cutest," she slurred, leaning into Cas' shoulder. "Get me a black coffee, honey. I don't have much cash, but I could pay you in other ways, if you know what I mean, you hunk." She gave a suggestive wink to Cas, slapping him on the ass as she slunk over to one of the tables.

   Cas stiffly walked into the kitchen to relay the order to Dean. In just a few moments, Cas returned with a cup of coffee. "The cook would like to remind you that you must pay in American currency to purchase the coffee," he said, setting the coffee down in front of her. "And he would also like to tell you that the hot waiter is taken."

   "That's okay with me," the lady smirked. "You can bring him too."

   At this, Dean came out of the kitchen, wiping greasy hands on his apron. "Ma'am, I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you are going to bother my husband like this." Cas grabbed onto Dean's hand, partly to prove that they were indeed married, and partly for support. "We greatly appreciate you being a customer here, but you cannot treat your servers like this."

   "You know what?" The woman slurred, "I'll just leave. I refused to be served by faggots, no matter how good I hear the coffee is." With that, she stormed out the door, leaving the bell ringing into the silence.

   Cas leaned his head on Dean's shoulder, his face crestfallen. "Dean, you can't let us lose customers like that. I could have handled her."

   "And let her treat you like that?" Dean said, shocked, taking Cas' hands into his own. "It's my obligation to help you out."

   "That's very kind of you, Dean," Cas said, "but we need the customers, especially with Sam and Gabe's restaurant next door. They get so many more customers than us."

   "That's because our brothers have always pretended not to be in a relationship," Dean snarked. "Even after they got married. That really helps in a community like this."

   Cas leaned over and gave Dean a quick kiss. "Alright, Romeo. Get back to the kitchen; I see another customer coming."

~

   The same woman shoved her way into Sam & Gabe's Bistro, stumbling between the crowded tables directly towards the bar. Sam Novak looked up from the glass he was washing, smiling kindly to the lady. "Welcome to Sam & Gabe's Bistro," he said, "I'm Sam. Would you like anything to drink?"

   "Hey, hot stuff," she mumbled. "I'm Crystal. I need the strongest thing you got. I just came from that place next door. You know Winchester's Diner?"

   Sam smiled knowingly. "Yes, I know about Winchester's Diner. What about them?"

   Crystal sneered and downed her glass, motioning for another drink. "One of my friends told me how good the coffee was, but I didn't expect it to be run by faggots! Turns out the cook and the waiter are married! I can't believe it. At least the people here are sensible."

   Sam turned his back to Crystal, pretending to grab a bottle of wine from the shelf to hide his face. "Mhm. Do you want a table?"

   "No, I just wanted the alcohol." She slapped a twenty dollar bill on the counter and left, giving a sly wink to Sam on her way out. "Thanks, sugar."

   Sam walked back into the kitchen where Gabriel Novak was working, going up and wrapping his arms around his waist. Gabe jumped and stepped away from the oven, turning to face Sam. "Sam! Don't sneak up on me while I'm at the stove! I've told you- are you crying?"

   "No. I mean- maybe. I mean- there was this lady, Crystal, and she-"

   Gabe walked over to the door, flipping the sign to closed. "Sit down and tell me the whole story."

   "Well this woman named Crystal, she came in. She was obviously drunk- no Gabe, I'm fine- and she was talking about Dean's shop. She was saying that she would never go there again because it was run by a bunch of faggots. I know I should have said something, but I didn't want to lose a customer, and-"

   Gabriel sat down next to Sam and put his arm around him. "Listen. Some drunk bitch at the bar doesn't mean anything, okay?"

"I know, but I feel so bad for Dean and Cas. They don't get half as many customers as we do, and they're really struggling." Sam sighed and rested his head in Gabe's lap while the shorter man ran his fingers through his hair. "I just wish there was a way for them to not lose as many sales as they do. I know there's nothing we can do, but I still feel bad."

Gabe's phone rang suddenly. He quickly picked up the phone, standing up and shushing Sam. "Yeah, hey Dean," he said into the phone, putting up a finger to silence Sam. "Yeah, we got the lady too. It really messed Sam up."

"I'm fine, Gabe." Sam protested, standing up from the chair. "Give me the phone." Gabriel reluctantly handed the cell phone over to Sam, giving him a quick kiss and heading back into the kitchen. "Hey, Dean. Yes, I'm fine. Yeah, I got the lady. She was pretty rude about you guys. Can you think of anything worse than calling someone a faggot behind their back?"

"I can think of worse," Dean said solemnly through the phone. "Calling someone a faggot to their face."

"We can't let this go on. You lose so many customers simply because of your relationship, Dean. You have to do something."

And so on a bright summer morning, a plan was hatched.