The two pulled over for the night at a cheap motel on the side of the highway just inside the state of New York. They'd driven over Lake Champlain and entered the new state with a few minutes of light left before the sun lowered over the horizon and brought out the stars.
Dean, of course, wanted to admire the stars for a bit. They could easily sleep in the car, but Castiel insisted on a motel room, like it would be cleaner than Dean's prized Baby that he'd been sleeping in for months.
So that's how Dean ended up sitting himself on the hood of the Impala while Castiel showered in the dirty motel room. As he gazed at the stars, Dean thought about how nice it was to have a night off, even if it was in an unconventional way. Comfort and security was something he'd taken for granted until it had been ripped away from him, and, now that he was on the road, he didn't want it back. He wanted to drive all day, sometimes all night, and see places he'd never seen before. He liked the idea of having no where to go. He liked having nothing to do aside from stay on the roads and stick to the speed limits, which was something he didn't even do sometimes.
Most of all, he liked having someone to share it with. Sammy, his brother, would have never done this. He would have planned things out, not be like Castiel and just get in the car and leave everything behind. It made Dean miss his brother, thinking about him, but Dean knew he'd see him soon. After all, it was a cross-country trip. They could swing by Stanford in California and visit him, even if it was brief.
And that lead to Dean thinking about Castiel. The guy was a genius, at least by Dean's standards, who put himself down so often. Castiel was smart and could actually put those smarts to use and create people and a story, while Dean sat around wasting away and making drinks. What good was that? Castiel could do anything with his own little creatures. He could kill them, give them new life, change their personalities, put them through hell and pull them out the other side. And yet, when he did that, he threw it all on the ground as called it garbage.
Sam had spoken to Dean about Castiel's book and told him it was one of the most beautiful things he'd read, but somehow Dean couldn't just tell Castiel that. He needed a way to tell him and make him believe it.
***
Castiel stepped out of the shower and dressed quickly, noting that Dean wasn't in the room. He looked out the window the find Dean leaning against the windshield of his car, seated on the hood. A smile grew on his lips as he scrubbed his hair dry and dropped the towel on the dusty chair in the corner.
Next thing he knew, he was relaxing next to Dean on the hood of the Impala, wet hair freezing in the night. After a few minutes of silence and staring at the sky, Castiel whispered. "What are you thinking about?"
"Our trip," Dean replied quickly. "What if it was a bad idea?"
"I doubt that," Castiel frowned. "I doubt it's a bad idea. We both wanted to get out of there, Dean, and it's too late to turn back now."
"What do you mean?" Dean looked over at him, and for some reason Castiel realized he had never really appreciated Dean's looks, especially in the moonlight. "Too late to turn back?"
"We're in New York," Castiel smiled. "Not the city, but the state. We're out of that town, Dean. We aren't in Montpelier anymore."
"I know that. What does that change?"
"We don't have to go back," Castiel said, as though it was obvious. "We don't have to return, there's nothing there for us, other than a few things. But everything we don't have with us is stuff we can get back. We could start somewhere else."
"You say that like we'll do it together, Cas."
Castiel blinked and looked down at his hands with a small smile. "Well, I wouldn't just abandon the guy who saved me from a life of drunken boredom, right? What kind of person would that make me?" He laughed. "Plus, Dean, you're the one with the car." That made Dean laugh that thrown back head, all in laugh that Castiel couldn't deny he loved. Castiel grinned and patted Dean's hand lightly. "Come on. Let's go inside. It's warmer there."
"Doesn't look as nice, though," Dean replied, and Castiel was too busy getting off of the hood of the car to notice Dean said it while looking at him admiringly.
***
Dean rested on his stomach in the bed, watching Castiel sleep beside him.
The only room left had one bed, and Castiel had insisted Dean stay in the room with him and not out in the car. He refused to let Dean sleep on the floor as well, and Dean wasn't about to let Cas sleep on the floor. The only option left had been to share the bed.
Dean sighed and watched as Castiel took a breath. His companion's head dropped down, facing Dean. As he watched Cas sleep, Dean again questioned the trip. Was it a good idea to go on a cross-country trip with a straight man that he had a horrible, all consuming crush on? After all, that crush grew everytime Dean learned something more about Castiel, and he was bound to learn even more on this trip. What if it blew out of proportion and Dean did something stupid again? That had been a majority of the reason he left the town- his stupidity.
After a few more second of hopeless thinking, Dean closed his eyes and willed himself into sleep.
What felt like two minutes later, he was shaken awake by strong, yet gentle, hands. "Wake up, Dean," Castiel said too cheerily for a fresh from sleep Dean's liking.
"Go 'way, Cas," Dean grumbled, covering his head with the pillow. "I'm sleepin'."
"I have coffee and food," Castiel bribed. "I know you like coffee and food."
Dean groaned again and pushed Castiel's hand off of his shoulders as he rolled over and sat up, pillow falling from his face into his lap. "Whatever, just give me the coffee. And don't tell me it's that decaf shit my brother likes."
"Decaf? No way. Disgusting," Castiel pushed a warm cardboard cup into his hand and Dean popped the tab of the lid and allowed himself a long, scalding drink of the black coffee. "Good?"
"Good," Dean rasped before another drink. "Hot, but good. Thanks."
"No problem. There's a breakfast sandwich on the table." Castiel's voice seemed to be getting further away. "I'm going to change. I brought in your bag too."
Suddenly Dean had a realization. "Wait- did you take my car?" He stood up from the bed, coffee in his hands.
"Yeah," Castiel replied sheepishly through the bathroom door. "How else would I get food and coffee?"
"Dude-" Dean started, then sighed. He'd probably have to get used to Castiel driving his car if they were driving across the country. Dean was sure he wouldn't be able to drive all the time. "At least tell me you brought her back in top condition."
"As top as possible," Castiel replied, the sound muffled further. "I had to start it eight times."
"Yeah," Dean snorted, taking another sip of coffee. "Probably did. She's stubborn." He found himself wandering over to the table and ate and drank his coffee in silence, eyeing his bag and trying to figure out if Castiel grabbed the correct bag from the trunk. Eventually he stood and unzipped it, sighing in relief when he was met with clothes. He pulled out a t-shirt, over shirt, jeans, and underwear. He changed and put his dirty clothes in the bag, figuring everything needed a wash anyway.
Castiel walked out smelling like mint toothpaste, which Dean stole out of his bag as he passed him on the way to brush his own teeth. He smirked and followed through with his plans, handing the toothpaste to Castiel when he walked back out, receiving a glare in return.
"At least I gave it back," Dean grinned. "If you were anyone else I probably wouldn't have."
"Asshole," Castiel smiled at Dean, eyes still slightly angry. It made Dean laugh as he pulled his boots on and laced them while sitting on the bed. "Where to today?"
"I'm not sure. Like you said, I'm just going wherever. We should come up with a system though. A way to choose which way to go."
"We could flip a coin and call the direction."
"Good idea," Dean leaned forward, elbows on his knees as he looked Castiel over. "You got a coin?"
"No. Do you?" Cas looked sideways at Dean, zipping up his bag.
"You think I'd ask if I had one?" Dean chuckled when Castiel looked embarrassed.
"Right... Right. You don't have one. Neither do I. That idea is out." The man looked down at the canvas in his hands, jaw jutting out while he thought. It caught Dean's attention like it was a flare going off. The small movement made Dean's lips quirk up in a smile as he filed the memory away in his stupid file for stupid Castiel, right in front of jaw stubble.
***
Not long after that did they leave. They left without deciding on a method of choosing, heading in whatever direction they felt like going, which happened to be toward New York City, the one huge place where they were liable to get lost.
As soon as Dean got a glimpse of the sign proclaiming the amount of miles away from the city that they were, he took a right and lead them far away from the city. "We'll go there some other time," he sighed. "Definitely not now. We'd get lost, Cas, and Baby isn't up for slow stuff. She likes it fast and dirty, not slow and dirty."
Somehow, Castiel got the idea that Baby wasn't the only one who liked it that way.
"Fine," he sighed anyway, realizing Dean was right. Even though he wanted to go to New York City, he knew it would be good if they went when they wouldn't get lost so easily and knew they could enjoy the city. "Promise me we'll go sometime?"
"I promise," Dean laughed. As usual, Castiel smiled. "We will go to New York City one day, Cas."
"Thank you!" Castiel laughed, holding up his phone. "I recorded it. There's no backing out now, Dean!"
"Oh, you asshat!" Dean shouted, smacking Castiel's arm. "I will get a hold of it and delete it, you mark my words."
