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”I don’t like this. Like, any of it.””I know, Dean,” Castiel says patiently for what has to be the tenth time. They’ve been on the road for 15 hours now, and Dean still doesn’t trust Castiel behind the wheel of the Impala. If only Dean knew what Castiel has in store for him.“I mean, you don’t even have a driver’s license!”“My driving is adequate. When I possessed Jimmy, I observed his knowledge of many things.”“Yeah? Did you miss the part about social interaction?”Sometimes with Dean it is easier not to reply, despite how tempting it is. Castiel thinks that it may have something to do with “rhetoric questions”, although he hasn’t quite grasped the concept yet.“Mind your blind spot!” Dean says through gritted teeth. Not for the first time, Castiel considers making him fall asleep. Things would go a lot smoother. Not as entertaining, though.“Dude, keep your distance to the other lane!”“Dean, you should get some sleep. You have been awake for more than is strictly healthy.”“You should shut your piehole,” Dean mumbles, but it is without anger.“Are you hungry?”“Dude, I’m fine. I mean, I would be, if you’d let me drive. What’s the point of all this, anyways? Aren’t there any hunters in Arizona that could deal with this crap? Why are we driving halfway across the country?”Castiel thinks that these are all rhetoric questions too, because he and Dean have discussed the case multiple times, and Sam is the one who suggested that they go, and Dean knows why they are going.Or, he thinks that he does.“All the signs point to an angel attack. I do not feel comfortable letting another hunter deal with this, when we are less than a day’s travel away. Someone could get hurt.”“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”Dean opens the glove department, closes it again, opens it, closes it one last time. If Sam was here, he would yell at him to stop. Castiel doesn’t mind all that much.“Are you sure that you don’t want to stop and eat something?”“If it means that I can drive?” Dean gives him a hopeful look, one that Castiel is sad to break, and turns away once he has gotten his answer.“We only have about two hours left.”Dean falls silent, a series of expressions passing on his face but he settles for something quite neutral. Castiel is enough of a multi-tasker to dare sneak prolonged glances at him, marveling at the beauty of this human, this man that considers him, an angel, to be his friend. They have had their ups and downs, but for now, Dean seems content with his presence. It feels as if Castiel has regained his trust to some extent, and it is a precious thing that he will not risk losing again.“Seriously though,” Dean says suddenly, and Castiel has a hard time understanding what he is referring to.“Seriously what?”“Couldn’t you pick up on some people skills while Jimmy was still around? Would’ve made things a lot easier. I mean, for starters, you wouldn’t have had to bust my eardrums.”“Social interaction is…different from plain knowledge. If Jimmy spoke fluent Spanish, I would have been able to pick it up, however-““I thought you said you spoke every language that existed.”“It is just an example, Dean. This is different. Reading facial expressions, understanding sarcasm-““Yeah, I noticed.”“-references, body language. There are a million factors to consider.”“But you’ve got it all figured out now?” Dean says, and even though it is an honest question and not an accusation, Castiel feels a bit offended by it. Maybe Dean doesn’t enjoy his company as much as he thought. He is not, after all, human. Spending long periods of time with him must be exhausting.“No,” is his short answer. Dean probably isn’t interested in the long-“Hey, what’s wrong? Did I piss you off?”Castiel doesn’t reply to that, which only spurs Dean’s worry. It is in moments like these that he finds it difficult to adapt to human behavior. Are Dean’s intentions genuine? Or is he simply trying to placate him?“Cas, don’t go all stone-faced on me, come on.”Castiel doesn’t know what to say. Is he upset? Maybe. He can’t be quite sure.“Hey!” Dean waves a hand in front of his face, and Castiel doesn’t know what he wants, and he doesn’t really have anything to say, and he stays quiet.“Fuck you,” Dean says without emotion, and leans his head against the door. Good. He should really get some sleep.
One hour of complete silence later, Dean has slept for a total of ten minutes, and Castiel takes a left and stops the car on the side of the road. Dean jerks awake and gives Castiel a look that borders on scared.No, not scared, exactly. Maybe worried? Worried that Castiel might really be a demon that is going to slit his throat and leave him bleeding out in a ditch?Possible, but not today. Dean has a right to be suspicious.Castiel is nervous. He is about to do something that he is not completely sure that Dean will appreciate, and if he doesn’t, it might put a strain on their relationship.However, Dean has been riled up and tense for the past few months, while simultaneously been tired of hunting, of everything, it has seemed like, and Castiel has been worried sick and tried to come up with something to do for him.Even though he would never admit as much to Sam and Dean, he has read every book of the Supernatural-series that Chuck the prophet wrote. And there was one particular thing that stuck with him.He has confided in Sam and asked for his opinion on the idea, and Sam had looked so genuinely happy and pleased that Castiel had decided to go through with it.Now, Dean clears his throat and gives Castiel a suggestive look. Castiel understands enough to know that it translates roughly to “What are we doing?”, although probably with a few curses thrown in.“Do you trust me?” Castiel asks, seriously pushing his luck today. Dean just frowns and shrugs, but a part of Castiel needs him to answer this simple question.“Dean, do you trust me?” he asks again, and Dean visibly relaxes, he sinks deeper into the seat and the lines between his brows smooth out.“Yeah. I do.”“Close your eyes.”“Why-““Please.”Dean nods, closes his eyes, and only protests with a few grunts when Castiel ties a blindfold over his eyes.“You are so fucking dead,” Dean snorts, but Castiel can hear the humor in his voice.He pulls back onto the road and drives a little faster than before. Dean doesn’t say anything.Forty minutes later, they have reached their destination, and Castiel finds a place to park the car. He then gets out, opens the door on Dean’s side and guides him to his feet as well. There is quite a lot of protests and curses and “I’m gonna kill you”-s on the way, but Castiel focuses solely on keeping Dean from tripping. He can only hope that Dean will react positively to this.Once they have reached a good spot, Castiel pulls them to a stop and turns Dean around.“Fuck, Cas, you better not have pulled me into some purifying-ritual. I like my soul the way it is, tainted and all. Ain’t no way you’re gonna-“Castiel pulls the blindfold off, and for the first time since he laid hands on Dean Winchester in hell, the hunter is rendered speechless. His mouth hangs open a little, words stuck half-way on his tongue, and his eyes are flickering back and forth. Castiel instantly knows that the expression on his face is one of pure awe.“Cas-“His voice is low, rough, and sounds younger than Castiel has ever heard, and in this moment, Dean is more beautiful than ever.“Cas,” Dean repeats, begrudgingly tearing his gaze away from the view to meet Castiel’s eyes. Yes, he is so, so beautiful. “Did you just take me to the Grand Canyon?”“Do you like it?”Castiel may have poor skills when it comes to reading people’s expressions, and he may have some difficulty with understanding what humans really mean when they use body language instead of words, but in this moment, Dean’s emotions are written all over his face.“It’s beautiful,” Dean whispers, and his eyes never leave Castiel’s.