Stay (the sequel to "Forget Me Not")

Chapter 7: Toy soldiers

"Can't believe you haven't been shitfaced at least once by now. Kid-free n' all. Must be breakin' some kinda birthday law or somethin'" Benny said. "I'll treat ya, Castiel, don't worry 'bout it."

They were just stood in the hallway, about to jam their feet into their shoes. It bothered Cas how cool Benny was, strikingly similar to Dean actually. But he couldn't very well sulk about it all night, not when the guy treated him so nicely.

Cas took a step back to get out of their way. He accidentally stepped on something hard and spiky, causing him to wince. Looking down, he found one of Grace's tiny, green toy soldiers at his feet; the little man had a wide stance and aimed his thin gun in front of him. One day last year, they had been watching Dean's favourite animated movie, Toy Story, and a month later Dean found a bag of those soldiers at a yard sale when delivering a handcrafted dining table to a family in the next town.

"Ay oh! If you're buying, I'm always thirsty" Dean said with a laugh as he tied up his boots, one foot up on a stair step.

"Is your name Cas too now?" Benny grinned.

Dean grinned back.

"For you, twinkle toes, I'm whoever y'want me to be."

Benny gave his shoulder a hard push. "Shut up."

They both headed outside. Dean suddenly turned back, pulled Cas in with one arm and kissed him. A warm rush came over him. He felt like biting Dean's lip, but he knew how Dean would interpret that; it was like a great big ON button to bite Dean's soft lower lip, so Cas refrained.

"Don't tell him all about me. My issues, my story, you know" he said when he managed to get his face an inch away from Dean's. "He doesn't need to know how messed up I am."

"Sure. Whatever." Dean shrugged a shoulder.

"No, you're not messed up" Cas said in Dean's voice, making a face. "You're totally sane. And the best looking guy I've ever met" he continued jokingly. He felt unsure, but that's what he had hoped Dean would say. Of course, no one really talks like that in real life, clichés be damned.

Dean chuckled. "Well, I don't know about that last part" he said teasingly.

Cas pushed him away, forcing him to take a step back. He laughed again and kissed him.

They followed Benny out to the Impala on the driveway. The glossy black finish looked impeccable in the summer sun. Cas noticed a fruit fly on Dean's sun kissed forehead. They drove past the church on their way through town, towards Ellen's bar on the outskirts. Cas had to roll his eyes at the new message on the board outside of the big church tower in white stone. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

Benny must have caught Cas' eye-roll in the rearview mirror, from his seat in the back.

"What's up?" he asked.

Cas jumped a little. He met Benny's eyes in the mirror.

"It's just my father. He speaks to me through the church message board" he answered with a sigh.

"What, you mean, like, big G?" He almost seemed to want to burst out laughing. Dean chuckled as well.

"Cas' dad owns the church" Dean explained, never taking his eyes off of the road in front of them.

"I prefer to not answer when they call me" Cas continued. He was slowly starting to warm up to Benny's joke, but it felt awkwardly late to laugh at it now, so he stayed quiet.

In a gap between the passing car and the next, Dean did a sudden u-turn over to the other side of the street, sliding into an empty parking spot next to the sidewalk right outside of Ellen's. The tires screeched in protest and Cas nearly joined in. He held on to the car door and the dashboard, and braced himself in his seat. Dean and Benny both cheered and shouted from the excitement, even after the car finally came to a halt. They got out of the car. Cas kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to seem boring by complaining about Dean's reckless driving.