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“I’m telling you, you need to talk to each other,” Charlie yells over the noise of the party and hands Castiel a beer from the ice chest. “He’s totally in love with you.” She leans against the kitchen counter of whichever house they’re at, casual, as if her words hadn’t just sent a warm jolt of shock coursing through his veins at the very idea of Dean having feelings for him. They’d been dancing around one another for months, their one mutual friend being Charlie, and Cas was nervous even agreeing to being at the same party with Dean.
Before he can reply, though, someone outside the house let out an obnoxious whistle, followed by, “The man of the hour has arrived!”
Soon after, Dean steps into the kitchen from the back patio, a guitar slung around his back and a grin as he calls back to the faceless voice. He’s wearing a red and blue flannel over a black t-shirt and his stressed jeans makes Castiel’s breath hitch in his throat. Dean sidles up to Charlie and slings an arm over her shoulder. “Heya, Bradbury, Cas.” He nods at him, smiling softly.
Castiel finds his voice after a moment and replies evenly, “Hello, Dean.” Cas hands him his own beer, unopened, which Dean accepts with another smile.
“You guys gonna head outside? Benny brought some fireworks and I’m gonna play later.” Dean hooks a thumb behind him and looks at them both expectantly.
“Yeah,” Charlie replies brightly. “Of course! C’mon, Cas.”
Twenty minutes later and Benny’s fireworks show ends in an explosion of white and blue, their school colors. Cas claps along with everyone else and pulls his cardigan around himself in a lame attempt at blocking out the night’s chill. He and Charlie are seated too far back from the bonfire and its heat can only be seen on the reddened cheeks of those standing too close. In the aftermath of the show the others call for Dean to play something and soon he’s seated on an upturned log, chatting with those around him.
“He’s just so magnetic,” Castiel sighs. “He pulls everyone in so quickly. It’s like he’s magic.”
Charlie laughs at him teasingly. “I think you’re too far gone to see your effect on him.”
Cas waves his hand at her and checks his phone as a distraction. In all of his twenty years of existence no one has attracted him more than Dean Winchester. He didn’t date much in high school, aside from the one friend he took to prom, and not even going to a larger university made him interested in dating. That is, until he met Dean, six months ago, at a study group Charlie hosted. Since that moment he hasn’t been able to get those green eyes, those freckles, those lips, out of his mind.
His thoughts are interrupted at the first chord Dean plays, and Cas sits forward, intrigued. He had known Dean liked to play multiple instruments, from passing conversations, but had never actually heard him. He knew he was already hooked before the man even began to sing.
“I call you when I need you and my heart’s on fire…” Dean’s voice is clear and rough as his fingers pluck the strings, finding the melodic chords in an easy fashion. Castiel watches as Dean’s eyes drift closed and his hands continue their journey across the frets.
“You come to me, wild and wired.” Dean opens his eyes and fixes them on Castiel, whose cheeks warm at the act. “When you come to me, give me everything I need.”
Around them, a few people whoop and cheer as they catch the moment between them but Dean just grins and pushes through. “Give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams.”
Cas is sure his heart is going to explode right out of his chest.
“Speak the language of love like you know what it means,” Dean winks, fucking winks, at him and, yep, he’s going to spontaneously combust in the backyard of a college party. Beside him, Charlie gives a small squeal and grabs Cas by the wrist.
“Mmm, it can’t be wrong. Take my heart and make it strong, baby.”
The song continues and Dean’s eyes never leave Cas. Other partygoers join in on the chorus but the tension in the air is palpable as it mixes with the heady scent of beer and smoke. The next verse begins and Cas feels himself falling, falling, falling. Harder than he ever imagined. As Dean sings the last note, plays the final chord, raucous applause breaks out and Cas rises from his seat despite his normal reservations. He strides across the grass, heart pounding in his ears, and kisses Dean deeply, fully, finally. Dean’s lips are soft and pliant, and everything Cas had imagined them to be. Dean pulls away first, his eyes questioning and – hopeful? Is that hope? Castiel kisses him again, one chaste kiss, before pulling back himself.
“You, Dean Winchester, are simply the best.”