Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A man gazing on the stars is proverbially at the mercy of the puddles in the road.
-Alexander Smith

It had been a long week for Castiel but it was finally Friday and the last of his students had been dismissed to the front office. He still needed to make sure he had everything ready for his Monday lessons but after that he was free to go.

His 5 year old niece, Claire, had chosen to go camping to celebrate her birthday and, after a few days of research, his brother, James, had found a camping ground in Lake Bob Sandlin State Park. It was located in a small town called Pittsburg two hours away from their homes in the outskirts of Dallas, Texas. Castiel had looked at the pictures online and it seemed to be the perfect spot to get away from the busy city and enjoy a bit of fishing, hiking and time with his family. 

“Dad! Dad! It’s time!” His 7 year old son, Jack, came running into his classroom and threw himself onto his back. The weight of his son almost made him drop the huge teacher edition book he had in his hands. With a sigh he tried to turn and look at his son but Jack’s arms were still around him, making it impossible for Castiel to give him the stern look he wanted.

“Jack, little bee. What have I said about jumping on me like that?”

“Not to.” His son responded with a shy voice, knowing he was in some kind of trouble. 

“Exactly. So why have you decided to do it anyway?” Being a teacher had helped Castiel with his son’s education. Having been doing it for more than 10 years already, he tried to make every moment a teachable moment.

“I’m just so excited, Dad! We’re going camping!” Jack jumped off his back and ran around the room until he stopped right in front of Castiel. They had carefully packed and loaded his truck with all sorts of things Jack thought they would need. He’d been even more excited than Claire for this trip. 

“I know. But remember you are a growing boy and might get us injured if you keep jumping on me like that.” Castiel tried to always be reasonable with Jack, helping him think through his actions instead of just expecting the boy to know what to do. 

“Alright. I promise to try and remember.” 

“I know you will.” Jack hugged Castiel around the middle, more calmly now, and looked around the room. "Can we go now?” 

“I just need to make some copies and then we can leave. Want to come with me to the copy room?” He knew his son was fascinated with the copy machine for some reason.

“Yeah! Can I help?”

“Sure. Just leave your backpack here. You don’t need to be carrying it all around the school.”

---

It had taken Castiel and Jack twenty more minutes to finish with the copies and gather their things from his classroom. They were finally in the car and ready to start their drive to the campsite. 

“Ready, Jack?” Castiel asked.

“Yeah!” Jack jumped in place, the car seat almost too small for the boy. He’d been thinking of finally exchanging it for a booster seat, but had decided to wait for Jack to grow a little taller. 

Castiel looked back at his son. “Don’t forget to buckle your seatbelt. Balthazar won’t start until you do.” 

Jack put on his seat belt with a soft ‘click’ and shouted, “Ready, Balty!”

“Try again using your inside voice ,Jack.” Castiel reminded him and tried to hide his laugh. He’d only named his old truck Balthazar to annoy Jimmy, but now it gave the vehicle a sense of personality.

“I’m ready, Balty.” He repeated in a softer, but not less excited, tone.

“Thank you, little bee.” He turned the key in Balthazar’s ignition and felt it splutter a little before starting. ‘That’s not a good sound .’ He’d been having some issues with Balthazar’s engine for a while, but refused to sell it and buy a new one like Jimmy had recommended. He loved his truck, it was the first he’d ever bought and was strangely attached to it.

“Balty, be strong for us.” He muttered and patted the truck's dash. With a sigh, he quickly drove out of the school’s parking lot. He’d been switching mechanics so much the last few years hoping to find someone reliable. The last place he’d taken Balthazar to had told him nothing was wrong with him, but still charged him more than $1000 in repairs. They probably had been hustling money out of him. 

Promising himself to look for a new mechanic when he returned from this trip, he petted the steering wheel lovingly. “Just take us there and back, Balty. I promise to find you a better doctor when we come back.”

---

It was almost dinner time when they arrived at the campsite. His brother and sister-in-law were waiting near the largest tent he’d ever seen. He was surprised they’d been able to build it by themselves, it was that big. His niece, Claire, was jumping up and down; he was sure if Jimmy didn’t have a hold of her hand she’d run all the way to the door of his still moving truck.

“Uncle Cassie! Jackie!” She waved at them from where she was standing.

“Claire! We made it!” Jack screamed back at her and waved back animatedly. 

“Jack. Remember to lower the window before you scream inside the truck.” Castiel reminded his overexcited son. 

“Sorry, Dad.” He said, then took off his seatbelt. “Can I get out now?” 

“Yes. Yes. Let me just finish parking.” 

As soon as he turned off the car, Jack's door was being opened by an exasperated Jimmy. With a quick ‘Hi, Uncle Jimmy.’ Jack jumped out of the car and ran to his cousin. It always warmed Castiel’s heart how much they loved each other. 

He was so distracted looking at his son and niece hug that he didn’t realize Jimmy was already standing by his door, opening it quickly and pulling him into a hug in greeting. It had only been a few days since he’d last seen his twin brother, but it felt like it had been forever. 

“Hello, Jimmy.” Castiel said into his shoulder.

Jimmy squished him, like he always did. “Hey, Cassie. Missed you.” 

“We had dinner together on Tuesday.” He pushed his brother away and walked to the back of the truck to start unloading things. 

“I know! But still, you didn’t answer my text this morning and I started to feel twin withdrawals.” 

“You are an idiot.” He answered with fond exasperation. “Now, stop whining and help me with this.” 

He knew that his relationship with his brother was a little too dependent. People, mainly romantic interests, had always complained that he was too attached to his brother. Those people hadn’t been worth his time. He loved his twin brother and would not change his relationship with him for anyone. 

“Geez, this cooler is heavy! What’s inside?” Jimmy helped Castiel carry the large gray cooler to where all the food was being stored. Jimmy and Amelia’s red cooler and other bags were already stored on the inside of their tent to protect them from forest animals. 

“Claire said she wanted hot dogs and Jack said he wanted burgers, so there’s all the ingredients for that. Eggs, ham and cheese for breakfast and some other things.” Castiel explained with a huff. 

“Bacon?” Jimmy looked up excitedly and did a quiet celebratory dance when Cas answered. “Yes, bacon too.” 

“And cake?” 

“Yes. Claire’s favorite.”

“You didn’t have to bother, Cassie.” Amelia walked up to them carrying a couple of bags full of chips and other condiments and placed them with the rest of the food. Then she gave Castiel a huge hug. 

“Of course I did.” Castiel had offered to bake Claire’s favorite cake weeks ago, when they’d first planned to join them. “She’s my only niece and I have to spoil her. Especially on her birthday.” Castiel returned Amelia’s hug and was not surprised when Jimmy came and joined them. 

“Twin hug!” They squeezed Amelia between them and made her laugh. “You are an idiot, James Novak, move away.” She pushed Jimmy and moved towards the truck to finish helping. Jimmy followed his wife without complaint.“You love it babe, don’t pretend.” 

Looking at them and being part of their small family always gave Castiel hope. He wanted something like that for himself. A man or woman that would be able to fit in their small family. What he had with Kelly, Jack’s mom, had been something completely different. He was grateful for Jack, of course he was, but that was it. Kelly and him had been friends in college and had dated for a bit. Their relationship fizzled out into a friends-with-benefits kind of thing by graduation. They’d kept it up for longer than was healthy and had finally decided to stay only friends when Kelly had started feeling the symptoms of pregnancy.

Kelly had denied any kind of help during the pregnancy and had signed a share custody agreement that gave him Jack most of the time as soon as was healthy for the baby to be without her. She was career-focused and only spent time with Jack a couple of weeks every summer. 

Jimmy and Amelia had been so much help those first few years, when he was by himself. They had moved in together and raised Jack together. Then Amelia had fallen pregnant and it went without saying that Castiel wanted to help as well. 

Only when Jack started kindergarten did Castiel feel comfortable moving out into his own apartment. Amelia and Jimmy didn't want him to leave but he felt it had been time. It had been one of the hardest things he had done in his life but still felt like it had been the right move. 

“Uncle Cassie! Uncle Cassie!” He was interrupted from his daydreaming by Claire. She was running his way with Jack on her heels. 

“Claire-bear!” He kneeled and caught her, throwing her in the air and hugging her with a spin. Her laugh was one of the best sounds in this world. 

“Did you bring it?” Claire asked with excitement, jumping up and down in his arms. 

“Did I bring what?” He knew she was talking about her birthday present, but pretended not to know and made sure his voice sounded confused. 

“My present, silly!”  Her voice was exasperated and it just made Castiel laugh internally. He gave Jimmy and Amelia a surprised look.

“Wait, I needed to bring a present?” He could see them trying their best not to laugh at their antics. 

“Yes! For my birthday!” 

“It’s your birthday? Oh, no. I must have forgotten about that.” His acting must’ve been pretty on point because even Jack seemed to believe him. As he expected though, his son came to Claire’s rescue. 

“What are you talking about, Dad? We did bring a present for Claire.” 

“We did?” 

“Yeah! We went to Target together to get it, remember?” 

“You’re right, I remember now! Why don’t you go get it and give it to Claire.” He let down his niece to let her run behind Jack towards the truck.

“What did you buy for her, Cassie?” Jimmy asked when he stopped beside him. 

“You’ll see.” 

Both of them stood and waited as Amelia helped Jack and Claire with a huge gift bag. The little girl didn’t wait to start digging through the paper in the bag bringing out a Tyrannosaurus Rex Chomp n’ Roar Mask.

“Oh my god, Cassie! You didn’t!” Claire’s squeals of excitement answer for him. His niece was obsessed with dinosaurs and the T-Rex mask Jack and him had gotten for her was an instant hit. Claire could not wait to put on and start playing dinosaurs with Jack. 

“Where did you find that mask?” Amelia asked as she approached them. 

“Jack found it in the dinosaur area at Target. We instantly knew it was the perfect gift for Claire.” 

“It is! We’ll just have to live with that roaring for the rest of our lives.” Jimmy laughed and gave his wife a big kiss. 

Castiel looked around and smiled, he couldn’t ask for anything more than this. It was going to be a perfect weekend, nothing could go wrong.

---

“No, no, no. Please Balty, don’t do this to me. Not this weekend.”

His truck was not starting. He kept turning the key but the motor wouldn’t even make a sound. All the lights turned on, which meant the battery was working fine, his gas tank was half full and he remembered to check the oil last week. 

He cursed his luck with mechanics while hitting his head repeatedly on the steering wheel. He knew something like this would happen, he’d been an idiot for believing those mechanics back home. He knew they’d been lying when they’d said his truck was fixed.

A tapping on his window made him lift his face from the steering wheel. His brother was outside and signaled for him to open the window. 

“What’s up, Cassie?” Jimmy had his fishing rod and a box of bait in his hand. He could see Amelia walking further back with Jack and Claire. They’d been fishing all morning and were ready to drive back to the campsite and cook lunch. 

“Balty won’t start,” Castiel confessed despondently.

“I hate to say ‘I told you so’ but I told you so.” 

“Jimmy–” His brother doesn’t even let him start a sentence.

“Do you ever listen to me? No! You had to go buy the ugliest truck in the dealership– .”

“Jimmy–”

“-you’ve spent more money on mechanics than you would’ve if you had listened to me and bought a newer truck.”

“James!”

“What!?”

“You are not helping.”

“Shit. I know. I’m sorry.” Jimmy looks around, as if he would find whatever’s wrong with Balthazar by just staring at him. “Did you take it into the shop after last time?”

“I did, and then I took him back twice after that. The mechanic there promised me he was ‘good as new’”. Castiel used finger quotes to make his point. 

“Well, he clearly lied.” Jimmy shrugged. “You’ll have to call a tow.”

“I hate calling triple A,” Castiel whined. “It’s a Saturday, and we are in the middle of Pittsburg, Texas. Normally it’s a two hour wait when I’m in the middle of downtown Dallas. Imagine how long we’ll have to wait here.” Resigned, Castiel grabbed his phone and started looking for the triple A app. 

“There’s nothing else we can do. Unless you suddenly know how to fix cars.” Jimmy walked to his own car. “We can leave Balty here and drive my car back to the campsite for lunch.” He called the rest of the family to join him while Castiel looked back at his phone and groaned. The app showed the tow’s ETA as 2pm. 

“Great.” He muttered, as he locked Balthazar and walked towards Jimmy. 

---

“Triple A is never sending anyone, Jimmy.” Castiel showed his brother his phone. “ETA has already jumped to 5pm. This is a disaster.” 

“Calm down, Cassie.” 

“I can’t calm down, Jimmy. I need to start calling local mechanics and hope that someone is open and willing to help.” 

“Cas—”

Castiel ignored his brother and opened Google Maps, he quickly typed ‘mechanic’ and waited for the results in the area. There weren’t many, but Castiel clicked on the first one without even looking at the name of the place. 

“I just need to call.” Castiel brought the phone to his ear and listened to it ring. 

“Cas—” Jimmy tried to interrupt again. But Castiel lifted a finger to signal for silence.

“MCR Automotive Repair. Ruben speaking.” A bored voice answered.

“Hello. This is Castiel Novak, my car won’t start and I wondered if you guys could help.” Castiel hoped his desperation didn’t show much in his voice. 

“If you can bring it in, we can take a look at it.” was the answer he received. 

“I can’t bring it in. It won’t start.” Castiel really tried to be patient, but he wasn’t being very successful. He looked at his brother and shrugged, Jimmy rolled his eyes at the other person’s stupidity.

“Call a tow service and have them bring it here.”

“Okay. Do you know of a local tow service I could call? Triple A does not have anything available.”

“What am I, the yellow pages?”

“O-of course not, I just though–”

He was interrupted when Ruben started talking, his voice sounded impatient now, as if he was dealing with an idiot that didn’t understand simple instructions. “Look man, we’re open until three on Saturdays. If you can bring your truck in before then we might be able to look at it Monday morning.”

“Monday morning? But—” Ruben, the asshole, abruptly finished the call without even letting Cas talk. He looked at his cellphone’s screen and read the "Call Ended” message incredulously. 

“Did that just happen?” Cas asked no one in particular.

Jimmy was close enough to listen to him and said “I was gonna say, mechanics in small towns are very particular.”

“How do people stay in business when they treat their clients like that?”

“Let’s just try the next one.”

---

Half an hour later, Jimmy had given up calling after having a completely unnecessary fight with the person who answered the phone on the only call he had made. Castiel had just hung up on the fourth shop, none of them had tows or wanted to drive over to where Balty was parked. 

Amelia and the kids had walked back from the park and they were getting ready for a nap.  They had plans to stargaze tonight, so Claire and Jack needed to rest for an hour or two this afternoon if they wanted to be awake for that. Jimmy had immediately taken Claire and offered to put her to bed, running into their tent with his daughter in his arms. 

Inside his own tent Castiel was helping Jack lay down on his sleeping bag. The boy looked worried and asked, “Daddy, are we staying here forever?”

“Of course not, Jackie. Why do you ask?”

“Because Balty broke down and we can’t drive back home.” 

“We’ll figure something out, little bee. You don’t have to worry.” 

“But Dad, what about school, and-and work and-and our plants! Who’s gonna take care of them if we are stuck here?”

“Calm down, Jack, I promise to do everything I can to fix Balty. We’ll be able to drive back home in time for school and to take care of all our plants.”

“Are you sure?”

“I promise.” Castiel leaned in and gave his son a kiss on his forehead. 

“Okay.”

“Now close your eyes and rest. We want to watch the stars tonight and you need a nap if you want to be able to stay awake.” 

“Uhum.”

A few moments later, Jack was snoring softly. It always impressed Castiel how his son was able to fall asleep almost instantly. This time he was grateful that Jack had believed his promises. He wished he could believe them himself.  Crawling out of the tent, he found Amelia sitting on a camping chair drinking a glass of lemonade. 

“How’s it going with the search for a mechanic?” Amelia asked when she saw him walk her way. 

“None of the ones I’ve called are willing to help in any way and Triple A does not have an available tow in this area.”  Cas sat on the chair next to her with a groan. 

“Did you call everyone in town?”

“I did.”

“No luck?”

“No,” he said dejectedly. “But I left some messages. There’s still hope that someone will call me back, right?”

“At  3 pm on a Saturday?” 

With another groan and a mumbled ‘you’re right’ he opened the Triple A app again, the ETA message had changed to unavailable at the moment.

“At this rate, I’m going to be stuck here all week.”

“Don’t exaggerate.” He looked back at her, she grinned. “At least until Monday or Tuesday.”

“Ames! I don’t know if you realize the seriousness of this situation right now.”

She offered him a glass of lemonade which he grabbed with an exasperated sigh. “Listen to me, Cassie. If no one can help you by tomorrow, we can squeeze into our car and drive back together. We might have to leave a few things behind, but everything is replaceable.”

“What about Balthazar, I can’t leave him behind.”

“Your attachment to that truck has always been a mystery to me,” she said. “I’m sure he’ll be fine if we let someone know you left him here.”

“But–” 

His phone ringing interrupted him. He stared at the screen and said, “Someone is calling back.”

Amelia quickly took his empty glass. “Well, what are you waiting for? Answer it!” 

He nodded and answered the call. 

“Hello?” 

“This is Dean, calling from Winchester Garage.” Cas looked at Amelia and smiled, he could hear machines in the background and other voices talking. 

“Hello, Dean.”

“I heard the message you left and just had to call back.”

“Thank you! I really appreciate you calling back.”

“Let me guess, no one else has?” 

“No.” Castiel’s whiny answer caused Dean to laugh on the other end. 

“Well, what can I do for you on this fine Saturday afternoon?”

“Oh. Well my truck won't start and I’m not from around here so I’ve been calling everyone in the area and no one has been available to help.”

 “That sounds about right for this town. What’s wrong with your truck man? Battery?”

“No, I just had that changed. It’s been in and out of the mechanics back home and they had assured me it was fixed. Then I had a hard time turning it on yesterday, and it seemed a bit wobbly when I was driving here yesterday. This morning we somehow made it to the lake but it just wouldn’t turn on when we were ready to drive back. Luckily my brother drove there with us so we weren’t stranded.”

“Well, if you say that the battery is new there must be something wrong with the starter or the gas tank.”

“Ohh, well if you say so.” Castiel really had no idea.

“Have you been able to get a tow?”

“No, that’s another thing… every tow in the area seems to be in use or broken or something else. Triple A won’t help and no one has been willing to drive out here.”

“Right, right.” A moment of silence made Castiel’s stomach churn. This man was his last hope. If he didn’t help, he was going to have to leave Balthazar behind and drive home with Jimmy. “Give me one moment and I’ll call you back, this number is alright for that?”

“Yes. This is my number.”

“Give me five and I’ll call back, Cas.”

“Okay. Thank you, Dean.”

“No problemo.”

Once the call was over, Cas leaned back on the chair and held his cellphone over his heart. Hopefully Dean the mechanic will call back soon with some good news. If he didn't, Castiel would have to start thinking about how to move Balty back to Dallas. 

“So?” Amelia had been waiting quietly beside him. 

“He’s going to call me back.”

“Did he say if he was going to help?” 

“He didn’t say anything yet but hopefully.”

This whole thing had been a nightmare. It was supposed to be a fun weekend with the family. Fishing, hiking, sleeping under the stars… Instead his truck had broken down and not one mechanic in town cared enough to offer any help. 

“This is a nightmare.”

“I’m sure he’ll call back soon, give it time.” Amelia squeezed his shoulder and smiled. He looked back at her and offered her a small smile back. Even if this weekend was not as fun as he expected, he had his family to support him. 

---

A few minutes later Castiel, Amelia and Jimmy were sitting around the campfire. Then Castiel’s cell phone rang, making all three of them jump. 

“Shit. Are we really this tense?” Jimmy joked and motioned for Castiel to answer his cell. Castiel did so with a nervous laugh and a quick. “Hello.”

“Heya, Cas.”

“Dean?”

“The one and only.”

“I hope you called back to tell me you can help with my truck?” Castiel bit his lip and looked back at Jimmy. His brother and sister-in-law just stared at him expectantly waiting. 

“Yeah. ‘Course I am, I just need some information from you and I’ll do my best.” 

“Oh, my god! Thank you so much! You have no idea how much we appreciate this.” He smiled and nodded at his family who quietly celebrated and hugged each other. 

“No problem, man. Now just tell me where your truck is parked and I’ll go take a look when I’m done at the shop.”

“Alright.”

“Is your truck parked somewhere where it’ll be safe until then?”

“Yeah. It’s parked in the parking lot next to the fishing pond here in Lake Bob Sandlin State Park. It’s been there for a few hours already.”

“That’s only a 20 minute drive from my garage. Let me finish here and I’ll drive out there and meet you by your truck.”

“That sounds great.”

“I’ll text this number when I’m on my way there.”

“Thank you, Dean. Really. Thank you so much.”

“No problem, man. Just doing my job.”

---

Castiel was waiting by his truck when a black classic car of some kind parked beside him. He’d received a text from Dean twenty minutes ago letting him know that he was on his way. Jimmy had driven him here and promised to look after Jack until Castiel came back. 

“We’re going to have a great time, Cassie. We’ll save you a hot dog and a s’more for when you come back.”

Claire and Jack had not been happy when they had woken up to find out that Castiel needed to leave to get the truck fixed. But a promise to tell them each a story when they stargazed that night had calmed them both down a little. 

He quickly texted his brother, letting him know the mechanic had arrived, and then looked up as the man opened his car’s door. The first thing he saw was the huge tattoo spelling the word “Winchester” all across the right side of the man's neck and down his clavicle. Then he saw a cocky smile, perfectly symmetrical face and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen in his life. He was wearing a tight black shirt, oil stained jeans and black boots. 

“Cas?”

“Yes. Dean, right?”

“The one and only.” Dean walked around his car and offered Castiel his hand. Both of Dean’s arms were covered in tattoos as well. Castiel had to consciously try not to stare. He didn’t want the man to think he was a creep but he did risk a quick glance down and could see gears of all kinds and mechanic parts all along his muscled arms. 

“Is this the truck?” Dean moved around Castiel to look at Balthazar. “1987 Ford F-Series pickup truck? It looks to be in really good condition.” 

“Yes, thank you. I try to keep up with his visits to the mechanic but the usual shop I visited recently closed and the new one has been a disappointment. Things keep popping up when they assure me he’s fixed.”

Dean nodded and finished his walk around the truck. 

“Let’s hear him then.” He looked at Castiel expectantly.

“Sorry?” 

“Turn the car on, man.” Dean motioned with his hand for him to twist the key and chuckled. 

“Oh! Right.” He quickly got in and turned the key. The lights and the radio came on instantly but the motor only spluttered a little before dying again. “It’s been doing that all morning.” Castiel explained with a sigh. 

“Alright. Open the front for me.” Dean slapped the top with an open palm and stepped back waiting for Cas to pull the lever for the front to open. Once he did, the mechanic didn’t wait a moment to look inside. 

“I’m pretty sure I know what’s goin’ on but I want to be sure. Turn the key again.”

Castiel did as Dean asked and waited for his verdict. As much as he loved his truck he had never paid much attention to what was needed to keep up with it. He’d had a great mechanic back home that had taken care of it so he hadn't worried too much. Now he was suffering the consequences. 

“Yeap. It’s the fuel pump.” Dean said, cleaning his hand with a dirty rag he had in his back pocket.

“The what?”

“The fuel pump. Your motor keeps sputtering and won’t turn on ‘cause you have a faulty fuel pump. That means that your engine isn't getting the fuel and air mixture it needs to initiate combustion and power the car.” Dean explained calmly. 

“Oh. And you found that out just by listening to the car?” Castiel was really impressed. 

“Yeah man.” Dean shrugged. “It’s a pretty distinct sound.” 

“Can it be fixed?”

“Well, I can temporarily fix it but I wouldn’t recommend driving all the way back to where you came from with that faulty pump.” That made sense, it had been nerve wracking to drive all the way here with Balthazar spluttering off every hour or so.

“I have to be back in Dallas by Monday, though. Is there anything you can do to help me before then?” Castiel asked after a moment. 

“Umm,” Dean scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, I think so. First we need to find out if it’s the fuses or the pump itself that needs replacement. Both are fixable problems. I think I can find you a replacement for either one.” 

“Really?” Castiel asked hopefully.

“Yep. Let’s just get your truck to my shop and do a few more tests. Then we can go get the parts we need from a local junkyard. I know the owner.”

“Do we need a tow for that? I’ve been trying to get one out here since this morning.” 

“Don’t worry, we can get it running, just turn the key when I say.” He walked back to his car and opened the trunk. 

“Of course. Just tell me when.”

Dean got a hammer from the tool kit in the trunk of his car and walked back to slide face up under the truck. “Ready?” He asked. When Castiel answered in the affirmative, he hit something under the car with a loud ‘clang’ while screaming for Castiel to “Turn it!” They did that three times until finally Balty cranked up and was running with a loud rumble.

“I can’t believe it was that easy.” Cas said to Dean when the man stopped by his window.

“Remember this is temporary. Hopefully it won’t sputter off on the way to my shop. Follow me, man.” Dean walked back to his car and got in. He quickly turned it on and drove away.

“Lead the way.” Castiel said, even though the man couldn't hear him anymore. 

On his drive there he thought about his very religious mother. He remembered how she would always pray when they found themselves in need. She believed that if you prayed enough ‘the lord will provide, Castiel’.  She’d tell him and Jimmy stories of angels appearing to family members to help them in their moment of need.

“They don’t look like angels, boys.” She’d told a younger Castiel and James. “They look like regular people living all around us. But the lord sends them to you. They give their help freely and disappear when the deed is done.”

He hadn’t believed her then. Now? Now he was sure he had just met a tattooed angel. Sent down from heaven to help him in his time of need.

Chapter Text

If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night,
I'll bet they'd live a lot differently.
-Bill Watterson  

Exactly twenty minutes later they were stopping beside a small Fina gas station. Castiel could see a small diner and a Dollar General on either side of the gas station but no garage. Dean drove around the corner and disappeared; Castiel followed him and found out that Dean’s shop was behind the convenience store. There were all kinds of cars parked in the area. 

Dean parked his car and signaled for Castiel to do the same in the general area of a garage door. 

“Don’t turn it off!” The mechanic told Cas as he left his car and ran inside the shop. A few minutes later the garage door opened and revealed a car lift, tools and car parts inside. 

Dean signaled Castiel to drive inside and stop the car over the lift. 

“That’s good.” Dean said as he slapped the front of the truck. “Turn it off.” 

“Now what?” Castiel asked as he turned off the truck.

“Now we check the fuses to make sure none of them are blown. Then we check the power, just to make sure that the fuel pump is receiving enough power.” Dean walked around his shop gathering a few tools. 

“And if all of that is working?” Castiel tried to stand somewhere where he wasn’t in the way. 

“If all of that is working fine, then we’ll check the fuel pump pressure. Give me a few minutes and I’ll show you what I mean. You can sit anywhere and chill for a few.” Castiel looked around and found a box that looked sturdy enough to sit on. He decided to text Jimmy, just to keep his mind occupied and his eyes away from the handsome mechanic. 

Jimmy: Great! Does he know what’s wrong with the car? 
Cas: He thinks it is the fuel pump. 
Cas: Checking now. 
Jimmy: He figured that out fast!
Cas: I know! I was impressed.
Jimmy: Any clue on when you’ll be back? Jack keeps asking.
Cas: I have no idea, but hopefully not too long. 
Cas: I’ll keep you informed. 
Cas: Tell Jack not to worry. 
Jimmy: I will, but you know he worries anyway. 
Cas: Tell him it will all be fine. 
Jimmy: I’ve got it all under control. We’re going for a dip in the lake as a distraction. 
Cas: Thank you. 
Jimmy: No problem, Cassie. 

“Alright, Cas. I checked the fuse and the wires that go to the pump and they are all working fine. We just need to check the fuel pressure. I have this gauge connected here.” He pointed to a small hose connected somewhere in the motor that had a gauge on it. “I’m gonna crank it on and you let me know if you see this hand move at all, capiche?”

“Yes, I capiche.” He walked over and took the gauge in his hand. Careful not to pull on it and detach it from where Dean had it. Once Dean tried to turn on the car, Castiel could see that the gauge was not moving at all. 

“Is it moving at all?” Dean asked from inside the car.

“No. Nothing.” Castiel answered when he saw the gauge stay on the zero.

“Let me try again just to double check.” When the gauge stayed on zero again, Dean walked back and leaned against the open front. He started removing the gauge while he explained what they needed to do next. “The gauge never moved away from the zero pound pressure; the fuel pump isn’t working at all.” Dean looked back at Castiel with a serious face. 

“And that means—?” Cas asked. 

“That I was right.” Dean folds his arms and leans against Balty. “You need a new fuel pump.” 

“Oh.” ‘Should I be relieved or worried about this?’ Castiel asked himself. His face must’ve shown his worry because Dean patted him on the arm and reassured him.

“Don’t look so worried, man. I know a guy that can sell us the part and I can replace it for you.” He walked over to his own car. “I can drive us there.” 

“You'd do that?” Castiel said, no one he knew did things like this for a stranger. “Right now?”

“Sure, man. If you buy the piece directly from the seller it’ll be cheaper and I’ll just charge you for the work. How’s that sound?” Dean asked with a charming smile and opened the passenger door for Castiel. 

“That sounds excellent, Dean. Really.” Castiel got in the Impala and looked up and saw a smiling Dean. He really was a very attractive man. 

“No problem man, just doing my job.”

---

Dean driving his classic car was a sight to behold. Castiel had a hard time not staring at the man. He knew he’d been staring too much anyway when he found himself able to picture Dean’s arm tattoos down to the smallest detail. They were full of machines. All kinds of motors and car parts surrounded by wisps of fire.

“Like what you see?” Dean was looking at the road when he asked Castiel. 

“E-excuse me?” Cas asked, hoping Dean hadn't caught him watching.

“The car, man!” Dean turned to look at him for a few seconds before turning back to look at the street.

Pretending to be staring at the car instead of at the man seemed to be a safe plan, so Castiel went with it. “It’s amazing. Chevy, right? What year?”

“1967 Chevy Impala. This is Baby. I’ve been taking care of her my whole life.” Dean said proudly and stroked the dashboard with a loving hand. 

“Really? Family car?” It had to be if he’d had it for that long. 

“Yeah. She belonged to my mother. Or more like, my father bought her for my mother.” Dean said softly, a look of melancholy on his face. 

“I take it they’re not around anymore?” Cas asked cautiously.

“No. Mom passed away when I was young. Dad checked out after that. Grew up with my uncle and my brother.” Dean explained quickly. Like taking off a bandaid. “You?”

After a moment of silence Castiel decided there was no harm in sharing a little bit of his life story with Dean. “It was just my brother and me growing up. Our parents stopped talking to me when I got my girlfriend pregnant in college and wouldn’t marry her.” 

“Really?” Dean turned to look at him but quickly looked back towards the road. 

“Yes.” Castiel said with a sigh. “They are very religious and old-fashioned. And I did ask Kelly to marry me but she didn’t want to. She had a job already lined up in Washington and didn’t want to change her plans to appease my parents.”

Castiel wasn’t sure why he was telling this strange man that much of his life story. But he figured Dean was helping him out and deserved at least a little something in return. If he wanted every detail of his life story, it seemed to be a fair trade to him.

“My brother moved to Dallas with me to help out when Jack was born. Amelia, his wife, was a great help when Jack was a baby.” 

“What about your girl? She didn’t stay with the baby at all?” Dean sounded heartbroken. Like a mother not wanting a child was something unthinkable. Castiel agreed with him but unfortunately, Kelly had not.

“Only for the first few weeks. She never wanted to be a mother. It was one of the reasons we had decided to break up after college. When she got pregnant I had to convince her to keep the baby.”

“Dude, that’s cold.” 

“She loves her son, don’t get me wrong.” Castiel tried to explain, he didn’t want this man to have a bad impression of Kelly. She had her issues but in the end was there for Jack when he needed a mother. “At the time she was worried her career was going to end before it started. I had to assure her I would take care of Jack. Now that he’s older she calls once a week and takes him for a few weeks in the summer.”

“So’s you and Jack, your brother and sister-in-law?” Dean asked after a while.

“And Claire, my niece. She’s turning 5 next week but we're celebrating this weekend with a camping trip. That’s why we are here.” Cas explained. 

“And your truck decided to break down during your family weekend?” Dean grimaced.

“Yes. Balty always was a diva. If you don’t pay attention to him he throws a tantrum.” It was what usually happened when he didn’t receive the care he needed. 

“Balty?” Dean sounded like he wanted to laugh.

“Balthazar, my truck.”

“You named your truck Balthazar.” Dean deadpanned. 

“Yes.” Cas said seriously. 

Dean threw his head back and laughed so hard Castiel was worried he would crash his car. 

“I can’t–I can’t believe you named your car Balthazar.” Dean said between laughing and driving. 

“What’s wrong with the name Balthazar?” Cas turned to look at the laughing mechanic, staring at the crinkles in his eyes. “You named your Baby”

“That I did.” Dean says with a grin. “Nothing’s wrong with the name Balthazar, man. Absolutely nothing.” 

---

They arrived at a salvage yard and Dean parked his car beside an old 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle. An older man wearing dirty jeans, a long-sleeved plaid shirt and an old Singer Auto Salvage cap, was walking around the back of the house toward them. Behind the house Cas could see old cars laying around and a yard full of recyclable metal. 

“That’s my Uncle Bobby. He’s got the part you need.” Dean explained before he got out of the car.

“Right.” Castiel followed Dean out of the car and stopped right in front of Bobby. The older man stared at Castiel with a frown and turned to look at Dean.

“So now that you need something you call, boy?” He sounded really pissed.

“I’m sorry Bobby. I’ve been busy.” Dean did his best to look apologetic but even Castiel could see this was something that happened a lot. 

“So busy you can’t pick up a damn phone.” the older man continued, folding his arms in front of his chest.

“Can we talk about this later?” Dean said quickly, then pushed Castiel a little in front of him, as if wanting to use him as a shield. “This is Cas. He’s the one I told you needed the pump.” Dean patted Castiel on the shoulder. 

“Cas, then? What’s that short for?” Bobby offered Castiel a rough hand. 

“Castiel Novak, sir.” Castiel said as he shook his hand. 

Castiel had the distinctive feeling of being back in high school visiting the principal’s office. Bobby just stared at him and scratched the back of his head and adjusted his cap.

“Don’t ‘sir’ me. Bobby’s fine.” The older man motioned for Dean and Castiel to follow him.

“1987 Ford F-Series fuel tank, right?” Bobby asked in a serious voice. 

“Yes, sir–Bobby.” 

He didn’t dare wait even one moment before following this man to wherever it was he was taking him. This was a life-or-death situation and he didn’t want to mess it up. Dean snickered behind him and followed them at a lower pace. 

---

Bobby sold him the pump for $50. Castiel was sure it was worth more than that but when he asked, Bobby denied more money than that and he didn’t dare argue with the man. 

“Told you Bobby was solid.” Dean had offered to drive him back to the lake. Castiel was ready to call an Uber for the ride back but when Dean insisted he couldn’t say no. Also getting back inthat Impala and looking at Dean for the rest of the ride back wasn’t something he could pass up. 

“Yes. Thank you again, Dean. You don’t know how much you are helping me right now.”

“I’m just doing my job, man.” Dean shrugged again. 

“Well, it’s more than all the other mechanics I called today are doing, that’s for sure.” Castiel said with a bit of disdain for all those other mechanics. 

“Yeah?” Dean asked curiously. “You call around?” 

“Jimmy and I did. We called mechanics around the area but none would help.” Cas nodded. 

“No one?” Dean looked sideways at him. 

“Well, some did agree to help, I just had to magically transport Balty all the way to their shop.” Cas explained with an exasperated tone to his voice. 

“Of course they did.” Dean said with a low chuckle. “I bet you talked to Cole Trenton. He’s an ass. Never take Balty there if you want a job well done.”

“I don’t think I’ll have anyone but you work on Balty ever again, Dean.”

“You can’t drive three hours every time you need to fix something on your car, Cas.” Dean said with a blush. 

“Of course I can, and I will.”

“Alright. I hope I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t.”

The rest of the drive was quiet. Castiel guided Dean through the street of the park and all the way to the campsite where his family was waiting for him. The sun was already setting so it was easy for him to see the fire in the center of the campsite. 

Jimmy and Jack were gathering what looked like long sticks on the far side of the camp. Amelia was watching Claire on the edge of the lake. He felt a little disappointment when he thought about all the things he’d missed today. But when he turned to look at Dean parking the car and turning the key, he couldn’t help but think that he’d had a good day anyway.

“Thanks for doing this for me, Dean.”

“Don’t thank me, man, you are paying me.” Dean insisted.

“Yes of course, but you are doing this job after hours and for less money than usual. Don’t think I didn’t notice your shop closes at 3 on Saturdays and doesn’t even open on Sunday. I saw the  schedule on your garage’s door.”

“Yeah well—” Dean shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. 

“Why don’t you stay for dinner? We’re making hot dogs.” Cas opened the door and left the car without waiting for an answer. The moment Jack saw him, he dropped all the sticks he had and screamed. “Dad!” 

“Hey, Jack!” Castiel kneeled and opened his arms to hug his son. 

“I missed you! You took forevers!”

“I know. I’m sorry.” He said and petted his son’s head, moving his hair away from his eyes. He would need a haircut soon. 

“Hey, Cassie. Did everything turn out alright?” Jimmy walked up to him.  “And who’s this?”

“Oh.” Cas stood up and turned around. Dean had left his car and was standing staring back and forth between Jimmy and himself. “This is Dean.”

“Dean the mechanic!” Jimmy walked up to Dean and offered his hand. “James Novak. But my friends call me Jimmy. And you—you are definitely my friend.” He patted Dean on the shoulder when their handshake ended.

“Uh–Yeah. Nice to meet you too. Are you guys… twins?” Dean pointed back and forth between Jimmy and Castiel. 

“Yeah, we are.” Jimmy laughed at Dean’s surprised look. “That look never gets old, right Cassie? Come on, Jackie, let’s get the sausages ready for dinner.”

Jack and Jimmy walked away leaving Castiel with Dean. 

“So, hot dogs?” Castiel pointed back at the fire. 

“I’m gonna have to pass, I need to go back to the garage and start working on Balthazar if you want him to be road ready by tomorrow. Rain check?” 

“Rain check.” Castiel nodded.  

They walked together back to Dean’s car. Castiel couldn’t help but look at Dean’s magnificent back and shoulders. Their strength is noticeable through his black shirt. When Dean opened the door to his car and turned back to look at Castiel he had to quickly avert his eyes from the man. 

“I’ll text you tomorrow. Let you know when Balty is ready to roll.”  

“I’ll wait for your text.” Castiel nodded.

Once Dean was gone, Castiel walked back to where Jimmy was preparing dinner. He started helping his brother when he noticed the veggies they planned to cook were not completely cut. “Where’s Jack?”  

“He ran off with Amelia and Claire. They’re playing by the lake.” 

“Hmm.” 

They continued working in silence. He loved moments like this with his brother, where they didn’t need to fill the silence with useless talk. He’s only ever been able to do this with Jimmy. He was surprised when his brother interrupted their silence. “So, was that mechanic hot or what?”

“Jimmy!”

“What! He was totally your type too. With the tattoos and the green eyes.”

“Jimmy. Stop.”

“And that swagger. Did you notice his bowed legs? Talk about hot.”

“James Novak. You are married!”

“Well, I have eyes… and there’s no harm in looking.” Jimmy finished with a shrug and a toothy smile. 

“You are unbelievable.” Castiel glared at his brother’s smile and shrug combo.

“Call everyone, Cassie.” His brother had always been able to ignore his best glares. “We’re just about ready to cook dinner. Claire and Jack were looking forward to cooking over a fire.”

---

That night everyone was laying back outside staring at the cloudless sky. Castiel cuddled with Jack and stared at the millions of stars in the black sky. It always amazed him how light pollution in the city affected what they could see. Stargazing had been  one of his favorite things to do when he was younger. 

He could hear Jimmy whispering stories to Claire and Amelia. He turned to Jack and watched how his son stared at the sky. “Dad.” He whispered, as if raising his voice would scare the stars away.

“Mmm?”

“How are there so many stars? We never see this many at home.”

“Back home there are too many lights. We have to come to a dark place, like this forest, if we want to see all the stars in the sky.” Castiel explained quietly.

“Wow.” 

“Did you know that the stars sometimes tell stories?”  

“Really? Like what?” Jack cuddled closer to him. 

“Mmm. Well if you look closely, it’s like the connect the dots game we used to play. Remember?”

“Mhm.”

“Over there is a lion.” Castiel took the small boy’s hand and pointed at the nine stars that formed the Leo constellation. “Can you see it?” 

“Mhm. Like Simba”

“Exactly like Simba.” Castiel said, remembering his son’s obsession with The Lion King movie. “That is Leo, one of the oldest constellations known to man.” He made sure Jack had found the right constellation by placing their heads together, temple to temple. 

“The story says that in the past there existed a lion that liked to take women as hostages and keep them in his lair. Then he would lure warriors from all around to save the women. But he was very strong and none of them were able to defeat him.”

“What happened then?” Jack asked, keeping his eyes on the stars.

“Hercules came to save her. He noticed that none of the weapons the other warriors used harmed the lion. And that gave him an idea…”

Jack watched as Castiel lifted both his hands, palms open towards the sky.

“...he decided to use his bare hands.”

“Only his hands? To fight a lion?”

“Yes. Hercules was very strong and caught the lion in the air as he pounced to attack him.”

“Wow.” Jack lifted his own hands to mimic his father. “Who came up with all these stories?” Jack asked quietly.

“People in the past. Thousands of years ago.”

They continued to talk quietly until Jack fell asleep on his shoulder. Castiel turned to look at his brother and they smiled at each other. Today had been a roller coaster of a day. But a real life hero had come to the rescue. He didn’t know what he was feeling at the moment. But he certainly wanted to figure out what it was. 

---

Waking up early in the morning had never been one of Castiel’s favorite things to do. However, having a child under the age of 10 and working in an elementary school had helped him get used to the idea…somewhat.

Enjoying a cup of coffee with only birdsong for company was one of his guilty pleasures. Doing it in the middle of the forest, surrounded by family and the smell of campfire made it even better. 

“You're up early.” Amelia sat beside him on another camp chair. She had her pajamas still on and a bed head to rival his own. But it was early in the morning so he couldn't blame her for that. 

“Yeah. Hazards of the job.” He leaned down and served her a cup of coffee. She thanked him quietly and instantly drank a sip. It had always impressed him how Amelia could drink her coffee black and scalding hot. He’d always had to wait a few minutes to let it cool down and add at least a dash of milk. 

“So–” She started after a few minutes of silence. “Jimmy told me about the hot mechanic.”

“The hot—what?” Castiel spluttered.

“He said you like him.” She smirked over her cup of coffee. 

“How could he possibly know that?” He scoffed.

“He knows you, Cassie.” She touched his arm and leaned closer. “And I know you, too. You haven’t liked anyone since Kelly. You barely have any friends. This is new and it is good.”

“How can you know that? I just met the man.”

“And so what? You get to know him a little more and see if he likes you back.” She sipped her coffee.

“We’re going back to Dallas in a few hours, Amelia. You and Jimmy are out of your minds.”

“Cassie, let me tell you something. If you are not ready then that’s fine, but if this is because you think you can’t get to know a person that lives a few hours away, then you are just making up excuses. There are cell phones, zoom calls, all sorts of different social media applications you can use to communicate.”

He just looked at her. Could it be that easy? Could he stay in contact with Dean after this? He hadn't felt the connection he felt with Dean with anyone in a while. Not ever, if he was truthful.

“You really think I could do this?” 

“Why not?” She shrugs and stands. “Now it’s time to make breakfast. The gremlins will be awake any minute and if we don’t have food ready they’ll multiply and kill us.”

“You know I don’t like it when you call my son a gremlin.” 

“You know I only call him that because I love him. Now pass me the eggs and the cheese. I want omelets.”

---

Dean: Heya Cas.
Castiel: Hello Dean.
Dean: Got some good news for you.
Castiel: Is it Balty?
Dean: 😂
Dean: I still can’t get over that name. 
Dean: But yes. 
Dean: He’s good as new. 
Castiel: Thank you so much Dean!
Dean: 😀
Dean: No problem man. 
Castiel: When can I go pick him up?
Dean: He’s ready now if you are.
Castiel: We’re just cleaning up camp and Jimmy will drive me there. 
Castiel: 30 minutes?
Dean: I’ll be here. 

“Jimmy! Balty is ready.” Castiel walked to where his brother was gathering up all his things in the car. Castiel and Jack had piled up their things in a corner ready to put everything in the truck when it got here. Amelia was helping the kids gather up all their toys inside the tent. 

“Yeah? Want that ride now?” Jimmy cleaned his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. It was a warm day for the end of March. And they had all been feeling the sun as noon got closer.

“Yes. I can drive back and help pack up.”

“Mmm…why don’t you stay and chat with Dean. Amelia and I will finish here. All your things are already in a pile. We’re the ones that need to finish packing our stuff.” He walked to the driver side of his truck. “Come on.”

Castiel guided Jimmy to Winchester’s Garage in silence. He was excited to see Dean again. It would be his opportunity to see if the mechanic would be open to a long distance friendship. He knew he was attracted to Dean but he wasn’t even sure Dean liked men. So he would offer friendship and see where that took them. 

“Drop me off by that gas station. I need to make a quick stop there first.” Jimmy nodded and parked in front of the little convenience store. 

“Remember to take your time to talk to the guy. I’ll text you when we are ready and you can drive back.” 

Castiel looked back at his brother. He knew Ameilia and Jimmy only wanted him to be happy. Dean was the first person he’d shown any sort of interest for in years. “I’m not throwing myself at the man, just so you know.”

“Why not?” Jimmy asked with a smirk.”I’m sure I can give you more than an hour to spend with the man. You only have to ask.”

“I don’t want it to be only an hour. I want to get to know Dean and see if we can be friends first. Then I can ask if he’s interested in more.” Castiel explained. “Also, I don’t want to be thrown out if he ends up being straight.”

“He’s definitely not straight, Cassie.”

“How do you know?”

“I saw him checking you out?”

“You did not.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Whatever Jimmy. Just let me take this at my own pace, please.”

“Alright. I’ll text you when we are ready.”

Castiel thanked him and waved as he drove away. He walked into the small convenience shop looking for something to buy and share with Dean. Chips and a soda seemed like the only option, there wasn’t much variety in the store. When he walked all the way to the corner of the store and saw the beer. Who doesn’t like a cold beer after a night/morning of hard work? 

Without thinking too much about it he bought a six pack of Yuengling and paid. He walked to Dean’s garage and found the back open and Balthazar freshly washed under the sun. 

“You washed him?” He asked aloud when he saw Dean walking out of the store. 

“Course I did.” Dean smirked and placed a hand on Balty, smacking him twice with an open palm. “You take good care of him–I could tell– so I did the same and washed him for you.”

“Thank you, Dean.” Castiel smiled at the man. The attraction he felt towards this man was undeniable. And not just to his looks. Of course he was gorgeous, he couldn’t deny that. But his kindness was very attractive as well. Castiel appreciated someone that treated the people around him with kindness. “Here. I brought you a thank you gift.” 

Castiel lifted the six pack and walked toward Dean. “Oh man. Yeah. You read my mind, Cas.” He grabbed the six pack and placed it on the closest table, took one beer in each hand and passed one to Castiel.

“Oh no, they are for you.” Cas tried to push the beer offered to him away. 

“Na, man. It’s bad luck to drink alone. Have one with me.”

“I have to drive home, I can’t drink and drive.”

“You’ll be fine. It’s only one beer.” Dean insisted, shaking the beer in his extended hand.

“Okay.” Castiel took it with a shy smile.  “Thank you.”

Dean opened his can and said a quick ‘Cheers’ before he took a long pull. Castiel could not stop staring at Dean’s neck. The letters of the tattoo surrounding his neck glinted with sweat as his Adam's apple moved each time he swallowed. Looking away quickly, he opened his own can and took a sip, he didn’t want Dean to catch him staring. 

“Ahh. That hit the spot.” Dean leaned back against Balty and closed his eyes. Castiel was trying really hard not to stare but the man was making it hard. Literally. It was embarrassing how tight his jeans felt.

“You a beer man, Cas?” Dean asked after a moment of silence. 

“Yes.” Castiel answered quickly. “I like to drink one or two after work or on the weekends.”

“Me too.” Dean said with a smirk and finished off the first can. He quickly crushed it and threw it in a corner, then grabbed a second one. He opened it and took a smaller sip. “Thank you again, for this.”

“No. I should be thanking you. You saved me, you have no idea. I was close to despair when you returned my phone call. I really thought I was going to have to tow Balty all the way home.”

“Uff, that would’ve been mighty expensive.”

“And that is why you are my hero, Dean Winchester.” Castiel smiled and moved his beer Dean’s way in sign of a toast.

“Saved the wallet.” Dean threw his head back and laughed. 

“You always do things like this? Help strangers on your weekends?”

“Umm well, believe it or not, there isn’t much to do in this town on the weekends and I love working on cars. So this wasn’t that much of a hassle for me.”

“No family to go home to?” Castiel asked. “Girlfriend? Wife?”

“Na, no girl. Or guy for that matter. You?” He said with a smirk.

“No–”Castiel answered with a blush and a quick shake of his head. ”No girl or guy for me either. Just Jack.”

“Jack.” Dean smiled as he drank. “He’s got your eyes, you know?”

“Yes. Everyone back home says he looks just like me, he only has his mother’s lighter hair color and her smarts.”

“I’m sure you’re smart too, Cas.”

“Well, his mother works for the president of the United States so…” He ends the sentence with a shrug. People that knew Kelly always praised her intelligence and her drive to achieve goals that seemed impossible for the average person. 

“I’m sure whatever you do for a job is equally awesome.” 

“I’m an elementary teacher.” Castiel deadpanned. 

“See!” Dean said excitedly. “Teaching the future of Texas.”

Castiel shrugged. “It’s another thing my parents always held against me. They wanted me to be a lawyer or an accountant like Jimmy.”

“Why?” 

“Teachers don’t make enough money.” 

“That’s bullshit.”

“Yes, I agree. Another of the many reasons why I don’t speak to my parents any longer.”

“Yeah, my dad was the other way around. He didn’t see the need to go to college. I barely finished high school and started working for my Uncle in his salvage yard and he congratulated me. My brother, on the other hand. He got a full ride to Stanford and my dad was pissed that he was leaving the family and ‘wasting his time’. He wasn’t even an active part of our lives at the time and he thought it was his right as our dad to tell us what to do with our futures.”

“Mmm. I hope your brother left anyway? Stanford is a great school.”

“Course he left. And he’s doing awesome. Has a lovely wife and everything.”

“Good for him.” Castiel said and drank the last of his beer. That was when he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and saw a message from Jimmy.

Jimmy: We’re ready when you are.
Castiel: Omw!
 

“That was Jimmy. They need me back at camp to finish packing.” He would like to think that Dean looked a little sad at that moment but he threw Castiel a toothy smile.

“Well, it’s been a pleasure, man.” Dean clapped Cas on the shoulder and walked away to get Balty’s keys. “Let me just get those keys for you and you are free to go.”

“You also need to tell me how much I owe you.”

“Yeah man, don’t worry about it.” Dean gave Castiel his keys and waved him off. 

“Don’t worry about it? You cannot think I’m not going to pay for these repairs, Dean. Send me the total and I’ll zelle you the money.” Castiel crossed his arms and stood waiting. “I can wait.” He did a ‘go on’ motion with his hands and waited. 

Dean tried to stare him down and caved. “Fine.” Grabbing his cell phone from his back pocket, he texted Castiel the total. It was too low so he took the liberty of adding a generous tip to the total and smiled. “It was a pleasure doing business with you.”

Dean laughed and helped him close the door once he was in the truck. He lowered the window and looked at Dean one last time. “Thank you again, Dean. I will never forget this.”

“Don’t be a stranger, man.”

Castiel smiled and nodded and waited for Dean to step back before turning on his truck. It worked perfectly, roared to life with no issues. He reversed out of the shop and waved back at Dean. He promised himself to text Dean soon. 

---

Once they arrived home, getting Jack ready for bed and saying goodbye to his brother’s family made the afternoon fly by. Dinner and a shower before bed was the only thing on his mind after that. 

The next morning, he was getting his morning coffee ready in the Teacher’s Lounge when Meg, the fifth grade math teacher, stopped beside him. This was their morning ritual, if they had time, they chatted for a few minutes over morning coffee. 

“Clarance.” She said as a way of greeting.

“Good Morning, Meg.” 

“A little birdy told me about your tattooed mechanic.” 

“Jimmy needs to learn to keep his mouth shut.” He said with a long suffering sigh. 

“And where is the fun in that?” She served her usual unhealthy amount of creamer in her cup and slowly mixed it. She looked at him expectantly.

“What?”

“Did you call him?” She said and took a sip.

“No.” He said with a cold tone of voice. 

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s 7:20 in the morning on a Monday?” 

“Ah...”

“You and Jimmy need to get a life of your own and leave me alone.”

“Where is the fun in that Clarance? We are the boring settled grown ups and you are the single one looking in the ocean for the perfect fish.” She sipped her coffee again. “Your life is more interesting at the moment.”

“How is Benny?” He asked after her husband, trying to change the subject. 

“He’s perfect. Don’t change the subject.” 

“Mmm.” She knew him too well.

“You are planning on calling, right?”

“I’ll text him this afternoon.” He said with a shrug. “I don’t want to seem desperate.”

“You better. Distance should not be an issue.” She said as she walked out of the room.

“Did you talk to Amelia as well?” That comment made Meg laugh out loud. He could hear her laughing all the way to her classroom. His family needed a hobby. They were way too invested in his non-existent love life. 

That evening, after feeding Jack dinner, he sat on the couch watching one of his son’s favorite cartoon shows. He wasn’t sure what it was about but wasn’t paying attention either. His phone was in his hand. He was debating if he was going to text Dean or not when he got a text from Meg.

Meg: Text him.

Not a second after that he got a text from Jimmy. 

Jimmy: Text him.

Then he got a text from Amelia. 

Amelia: Text him. 

He even got a text from Benny.

Benny: Why is everyone telling me to tell you to ‘Text him’?
Castiel: Because they have nothing better to do than to bother me. 
Benny: That’s why we love them. 
Castiel: Indeed.

He opened the group chat he had with everyone and said:

Castiel: Everyone needs to get a life. 
Castiel: 
Meg: You love us Clearance.
Jimmy: Text him!!
Amelia:

With a huff he texted an all caps ‘FINE’ and opened Dean’s texting screen. He went for something neutral to begin with.

Castiel: Hello Dean.

He expected to wait a few minutes or even be ignored but he was pleasantly surprised to see the ellipsis that meant Dean was texting back right away.

Dean: Cas!
Dean: Didn’t think I would hear from you again!
Castiel: Is it okay that I texted?
Dean: Yea! Everything okay with Balthazar?
Castiel: Yes. He’s in excellent health thanks to you.
Dean: Way to make a man blush.
Castiel: It’s the truth. 

After a nail biting minute of Dean not texting back he decided to ask.

Castiel: What are you doing right now?
Dean: Dinner. 
Dean: 
Castiel: That looks delicious. 
Dean: The best burger in the area. 
Castiel: Did you make it yourself?
Dean: Hell yea!
Dean: You like burgers?
Castiel: They are Jack and my favorite meal. We enjoy them a lot.
Dean: I’ll prepare y’all one sometime. Your life will never be the same.
Castiel: Looking forward to it. 

They continued texting through the afternoon and into the night. Castiel sent Jack to bed and was laying on his own ready to turn in for the night when they finally said good night. He hoped Dean wasn’t only answering his texts out of obligation.

Chapter Text

Be glad of life because it gives you the chance
to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars.
-Henry Van Dyke

It was already April when Castiel realized he was going to have a long weekend soon. This was his chance to go back to the lake and invite Dean to spend some time with him and Jack. The first thing was convincing his son that going back to the lake was a good idea. 

“Jack?”

“In my room!” His son screamed from his room. When Castiel walked up the stairs and into Jack’s room he saw him surrounded by legos. He was building something intricate and didn’t even turn his way when he knocked on his open door. 

“What are you doing?”

“I’m building a new adventure world for Mario.” Jack loved Mario and Luigi, he had a lot of Super Mario legos and always built new worlds for his Mario and Luigi characters. Castiel was always impressed by his son’s imagination. 

“That looks really cool, Jack.”

“Thanks, Dad.” He said with a toothy smile. 

“I was wondering if you wanted to go back to the lake for some fishing and hiking?” He could see Jack thinking about it as he connected two lego pieces. 

“Are you going to be there this time?”

“Of course. I only left last time to get Balty fixed, you know that. This time it will only be you and me, Jack. Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Amelia will be staying here with Claire.”

“Just you and me?” Jack asked excitedly.

“Just you and me.” Castiel nodded. ‘And maybe Dean.’

“Okay! I wanna go.” 

“Okay. We just need to rent a camping site. Want to help me choose one?” He pointed down in the direction of his room where his laptop was. 

“Yes. I want to choose one near the river.” Jack stood and ran ahead of Castiel down the stairs and into his room. When he caught up to him Jack was already sitting on his bed with the laptop open.  

“Dad. I need your password.” He was staring impatiently at the screen and motioning for Castiel to hurry up.

“Alright, alright. Calm down.” He sat beside his son and pulled the laptop toward him. Quickly typing the password and opening the browser to access the State Park site. “Here it is.” He said when he found Lake Bob Sandlin’s map of campsites. 

“Do you want us to go to the same one as last time?”

“Yes! With the lake right there so that we can get our feet wet and play in the water.” Clicking all the options to select the right site he added an extra adult when asked how many people were going to be there. Hoping that Dean accepted their invitation.

“Done! We are going to go for two nights.”

“Yay!” Jack celebrated and ran around his room jumping on and off the bed until he threw himself on his back and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Dad!” 

“You are welcome.” He said as he watched his son run back upstairs to his room. It always made him smile when Jack showed his love for him this way. He loved that kid so much it was unexplainable. 

But as much as he loved Jack he was also looking forward to inviting Dean fishing with them. Texting and calling as they had been doing the last few weeks had been great. He felt like Dean was now one of his precious few friends and felt his heart speed up when thinking that he could be more than just a friend.

Laying back in bed he placed his laptop on his lap and opened the message app. Finding Dean right away he opened their conversation. They’d been talking about their favorite movies and their jobs and all sorts of things lately. 

Castiel: Do you like fishing?

Cas sent the question before he could second guess the invitation. Dean answered right away.

Dean: Are you kidding? I love fishing. My Uncle used to take Sammy and I all the time. 
Castiel: I’m taking Jack fishing in a couple of weekends.
Dean: In Lake Bob?
Castiel: In the small pond near the campsite where we were staying last time. 
Dean: You need to do it in Lake Bob.
Castiel: We’d need a boat for that.
Dean: I can get a boat. 
Castiel: You’d go with us?
Dean: Of course I’ll go with you.
Dean: Unless you want to go by yourself with your son.
Dean: I can still get you the boat.
Castiel: I don’t know how to drive a boat. 
Castiel: We’re gonna need you to be our captain. 
Dean: 😂
Dean: Aye aye sir!
Dean: When will you be here?

Castiel shared the details of their trip with a huge smile on his face. He was sure Jack would love to be on a real boat and would enjoy fishing in the lake instead of at the edge of a pond. That night he went to sleep with a hopeful heart. 

---

Two weeks later found Castiel and Jack getting their things ready in the campsite. The fire was already crackling and their tent was just about ready. The last few days had been miserable, time had slowed down considerably and Castiel didn't know how he’d survived work. 

Texting non-stop with Dean and planning what they were going to do with their time together had helped.  They ended up deciding that Dean would join them early the following morning and take them out to the lake.

Dean was borrowing a small boat from his friend Garth. It had been an entertaining afternoon when he’d Facetime’d Cas and told him the story about how he had met Garth. The man had offered to help fix his father’s classic car and almost ruined the whole thing. ‘Who knew someone could get that drunk after just one beer!’

“Dad!”  Jack distracted him from his thoughts. “Is the tent ready?” 

“Almost, we just need to secure it.”  He was distracted from his work on the tent by the sound of a motor that he recognized. When he turned around he saw Dean’s black Impala parking beside Balty.

“Dad. Who is that?” Jack grabbed his hand and hid behind him. He always had trouble when meeting new people alone. 

“That’s Dean. He’s my friend. Remember he helped us fix Balty the last time we were here?”

“Oh yeah!” Jack instantly calmed down.

“Heya, Novaks!” Dean walked up to them and offered a small cooler to Castiel. 

“You didn’t say you were coming tonight.” 

“Yeah well, surprise!” When Castiel grabbed the cooler, Dean kneeled in front of Jack and offered his hand. “Heya little man, remember me?.”

“I remember you, Mr. Dean. You helped dad fix Balty.” He took Dean’s offered hand and stared at it. “Cool! I like your tattoos, Mr. Dean.”

“Thanks, they are pretty cool.” Dean gave Jack a huge smile and flexed an arm to show Jack. 

Castiel tried not to envy his son too much when he started asking Dean questions and touching his arm. He cleared his throat and tried to calm his body’s untimely reactions. “Not that I don’t like that you are here, because I do, but I thought we were going to meet tomorrow morning?” 

Castiel walked over to the picnic table where his own larger cooler was and placed Dean’s beside it. “Yea, well I couldn’t wait any longer,” Dean said sitting in one of Castiel’s camping chairs. “And I did promise you homemade burgers.”

“You brought burgers?” Cas asked.

“Yep,” Dean pointed at his cooler, “and a small grill to cook them on. If that’s okay with you guys. I don’t want to intrude on your father and son trip.”

“What do you think, Jack? Grilled burgers for dinner?” 

“Yeah!” Jack jumped up and down and threw his arms in the air.  “I love cheeseburgers!” 

Castiel helped Dean bring a small grill from the back of his car and watched as Dean showed Jack how he got the fire ready for grilling. Jack asked all sorts of questions, like he usually did, and Dean answered them patiently. ‘He’s perfect.’ Cas thought, as he watched Dean carefully show Jack how to flip a patty. 

---

“It’s time for bed, Jack.” The little boy was falling asleep in his chair. 

“But dad… I want to watch the stars tonight.”

“We can do that tomorrow. You had a full day today and need to rest.” Jack agreed after a yawn interrupted him for the third time. 

“I’ll clean up out here.” Dean offered.

“You don’t have to–”

“But I want to, man. You go put Jack to sleep.”

Once Jack's sleeping bag was ready for him, Castiel helped him get in before he started a short story to help him fall asleep. 

“Dad,” Jack interrupted him. 

“Yes, Jack.” 

“I like Mr.Dean. He’s cool.” 

“I like him too.” 

“He’s gonna take us fishing tomorrow, right?” Jack was fighting sleep and his words came out mumbled.

“Yes. Very early in the morning. So close your eyes and sleep.” Castiel kissed his son’s forehead and ran his hand through his soft hair to help him fall asleep. Once Jack was snoring softly, he left the tent. 

He found Dean sitting by the fire eating some marshmallows.The light of the fire made shadows dance across his face and the darkness of his tattoos popped against his light skin. Strong forearms resting on his knees, and biceps making the short sleeve Led Zeppelin shirt stretch to its limit. He turned and caught Castiel staring but before he could say anything Dean winked and smiled. 

“Marshmallow?” Dean offered. 

Castiel was sure the man didn’t know how handsome he was. He only nodded and sat beside him grabbing the offered marshmallow.

“I love these things.” Dean talked with his mouth full of marshmallow but quickly swallowed before continuing. “They are the best over a fire. When you can get them crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, it’s like an orgasm in your mouth.” 

“Mmm,” Castiel blushed furiously and hoped the fire didn’t reveal how much those words affected him. He furiously stabbed his marshmallow with a stick and started toasting it over the fire. As soon as he could get away with it, he shoved it in his mouth to keep himself from blurting something he would later regret. 

Dean sat quietly beside him, using his own stick to stab another marshmallow and shove it beside Castiel’s above the fire. He could swear that Dean was throwing him side glances but Castiel was so distracted staring at the tattooed arm now stretched before him that he was sure it was his imagination. Then, his marshmallow caught fire. 

“No! Blow on it! Quick!” Dean took Castiel’s hand and moved the marshmallow away from the fire. He started blowing on the burning ball of sugar until it went out leaving behind a black mess. “Oh, man. Now it’s ruined.”

Castiel just sat there, frozen. Dean was holding his hand, sitting so close to him, he was almost on top of him. Castiel could see every fire-lit freckle of his face. his sharp cheekbones, long eyelashes, the dark design of his neck tattoo. 

Castiel had to clear his throat. “It’s— ahem—it’s okay,” He was sure Dean could see him blush and quickly moved to look away and took the burnt marshmallow with his index and thumb, lifting it out of the stick. “I like them like this.”

“No you don’t.” Dean said

“Yes. I do.” To show him he was saying the truth, Castiel ate it all in one bite. 

Dean made a grimace, “You are a weird dude, Cas,” then chuckled. “But I like you.” 

Castiel, mouth full of bitter, burnt marshmallow, smiled and shrugged. On the inside, though, his heart sang. ‘He likes me!’

---

The next morning Castiel was up before the sun, he had everything ready for their fishing trip but wanted to make himself a cup of coffee before they left. He sat on a chair and listened to the morning birds while a cup of water heated up in the embers of the fire. 

He still had a hard time believing that Dean had brought them dinner. He wasn’t sure if it was healthy to like someone as much as he liked Dean. His heart sped up every time he saw the man and his thoughts never strayed far from him when he wasn’t there. It had been harder than expected to say good night to Dean and watch him drive away last night. 

This was only the second time they spent time together so Castiel didn’t want to come on too strong. He hadn’t done this in a while so he was taking things very slow. Friendship is the foundation of every relationship anyway so he was happy to do that before he made his intentions clear. 

He was almost done with his coffee when Jack came out of the tent rubbing his eyes. He was still wearing his pajamas and had forgotten to wear shoes so his socks were full of leaves and dirt.

“Good morning, Jack.” Castiel pulled his son to sit on his lap and cuddle for a few minutes. 

“Morning, Dad. Are we going fishing now?” Jack said sleepily.

“Yes we are,” Castiel said with a kiss to his forehead.”You just need to change clothes and use the restroom. I’ll make you a PB&J sandwich while you do that, okay?”

Once Jack was back they were both eating their sandwich when they heard a truck stop by. It was Dean but he wasn’t driving his Impala,instead he was in a different truck with a small fishing boat attached on the back. 

“Morning, Novaks!”

“Good morning, Mr. Dean! Do you want a sandwich? It’s PB&J. My dad made them.” 

“I would love a PB&J!” Dean walked up to them with two large to-go cups of coffee. He handed one to Castiel and took a bottle of OJ from his pocket and handed it to Jack. “A little birdy told me you like OJ, Jack. Did I get that right?”

“I love orange juice!” 

“Excellent!” 

Castiel mouthed a ‘thank you’, a second cup of coffee was just what he needed to completely wake up. Dean answered with a smile and a wink before he took a huge bite of his PB&J. They spent some time finishing breakfast and packing some snacks for their fishing trip before jumping in the truck and driving towards the lake. 

---

“I got one! I got one!” Jack jumped up and down with his fishing pole in both hands. Dean ran to his side to help him with his catch. “Okay little man. Slowly reel it in. Remember not to pull on it too fast or your fish might escape.”

“Slowly. Slowly.” Jack muttered as Castiel quickly brought out his phone and started recording the whole thing. Dean was standing behind Jack, tattooed arms around him, helping him hold his fishing pole. “Keep it steady, Jack. When you see the splashes on the surface it means you almost have it and we’ll need the net.”

“Dad! Dad! Bring the net!” Jack screamed excitedly without looking away from the water surface.

“Not quite yet, but sure. If you want to be ready, Cas, bring the net over.”

“I can’t. I need to record this. You pass him the net, Dean.” Dean turned to look straight at Cas’ phone and he could see the green of his eyes reflected with sunlight. He now had two reasons why he was never getting rid of this video, that was for sure. 

“Fine, fine.” Dean said, looking at the camera with a fake pout. “Keep it steady, Jack. I’ll be right back.”

“I got it! Slowly...” Jack’s attention stayed on the water and on the fishing pole while Dean walked to the other side of the boat to grab the net. 

By the end of it Castiel had an awesome video of his son catching his first fish and Jack was ecstatic. Dean had given them this chance and he would be forever grateful.

---

It was already closer to dinner than lunch when they all made it back to camp. All the fish they had caught had been too small to keep so they had to return them to the river. Thankfully Jack had been okay with that and had even named each one before saying goodbye. 

“Jack. It’s time to clean up. Then you can spend some time with your legos before dinner, alright?” The small boy smiled at his dad and tiredly walked towards their tent. “Yes, Dad.”

“He’s gonna fall asleep in there, isn't he?” Dean asked from behind him. 

“Yeah, he probably is.” Castiel smiled at Dean and threw himself onto one of his picnic chairs. “I could probably use a nap myself.” 

“Well,” Dean sat on the chair next to Castiel. “I have around an hour before I have to take the boat back to Garth. He’s gonna use it tomorrow and I promised to have it clean and ready for him.” 

“Oh.” Castiel hoped he didn’t sound too disappointed. “Do you need help with that? I could probably—”

“No, man,” Dean interrupted him with a shake of his head. “One of my men from the shop promised to help. He’ll be waiting for my text. You stay here with Jack and enjoy the rest of your trip.”

“Come back for breakfast in the morning? We’re making scrambled eggs before we drive back to Dallas.” He tried to convey how much he wanted Dean to join them in the morning. He didn’t want Dean to leave right now either. 

With a chuckle Dean nodded. “I’ll bring the drinks.”

Once Dean was gone, Castiel walked back into his tent where Jack was indeed asleep over his legos. He carried him over to his sleeping bag and decided that they both deserved a nap after the morning they’d had. He could worry about dinner when they woke up.

---

The next time Cas invited Dean camping was the middle of May. He took Friday off and excused Jack from his classes. There’s a meteor storm happening that weekend and they had plans to stay awake most of the night to watch it. Castiel even asked Jimmy for his big two-room tent.

Castiel: Hey Jimmy. Could I borrow your tent?
Jimmy: Sure. 
Castiel: Thanks. I’ll go pick it up after work today. 
Jimmy: Why do you need it? What happened to yours?
Castiel: Mine is fine. I just need more room this time. 
Jimmy: Why?
Castiel: I invited Dean to watch the meteor storm. 
Jimmy: Really!?
Jimmy: Way to go Cassie!
Castiel: Nothing is going to happen. Jack will be with us. 
Jimmy: Bummer. 
Castiel: 🙄
Castiel: I’ll see you later. 

---

Castiel didn’t want to admit that he was struggling, but he was struggling. He had never put together a tent this big by himself. Jack, bless his heart, wanted to help but he was short and the canopy in the middle of the L-shaped tent was just too tall for him. 

“Dad, I can’t reach.” 

“I know, Jackie. Just give me a minute and I’ll go help you on that side.” He had to get the top plastic set up first before he could pull the four legs all the way up. Jimmy had specifically told him that the canopy had to be set up first before the rest of the tent, ‘ it’s the frame that keeps everything together, Cassie.’ he’d said.

“Heya, Novaks!”

“Mr. Dean!” 

Jack dropped what he had in his hands and ran to Dean, who was walking their way with a duffle bag over his shoulder and a large cooler in his hands. 

“Hey, little man! How are you doing?” He placed the cooler on the picnic table and kneeled to hug Jack.

“I’m helping Dad with the canopy. It has to be set up first.”

“Yeah? I bet you are the best helper.”

“I’m too short.” Jack said with a pout, which made Dean laugh and turn to Castiel. “Need a hand, Cas?”

“Yes please.” Castiel sighed. Might as well accept help now and stop this torture.

---

“Dad, do you ever wonder what stars are made of?”

Jack layed over their picnic blanket squeezed in between Castiel and Dean, stargazing. They’d been staring quietly at the sky, waiting for it to turn dark enough so that all the constellations around them were clear to see. He turned to look at his dad and smirked.

“I don’t wonder, ” Castiel answered with his best Timon voice. “I know.”

“Oh,” Jack giggled and quickly looked back up at the sky. “What are they?”

“Well they–”

“They are fireflies!” Dean interrupts. “Fireflies that then got stuck on that big bluish black thing.” The man pointed with a tattooed arm at all the stars around them. His answer made Jack chuckle.

“Wait, you—-” Castiel tried to explain but his son’s chuckling voice interrupts him.

“Oh, gee. I always thought they were giant balls of gas burning millions of miles away.” Jack can’t hold his laugh and hides his face on Dean’s side. 

“Jackie, with you–” Dean turned and started tickling Jack. “--everything is gas!” 

Castiel laughed along with them until his cheeks were hurting from smiling so much. Once Jack stopped laughing quite so hard he turned to look at Dean. “I didn’t know you liked children’s movies, Dean.”

“Like them?” Dean looked mockingly at Castiel. “I love them.”

“You’re funny, Mr. Dean.” Jack said once again staring at the starry sky above them. Dean just chuckled and messed Jack's hair before staring up at the sky as well. “I’m awesome, kid.”

Castiel lifted an eyebrow before laying back down as well. He waits a few seconds before saying in a very serious voice. “Well, somebody once told me that the great kings of the past are up there– watching over us.”

“Really?” Jack says in fake awe. 

“You mean a bunch of dead guys are watching over us?” Dean continued. 

“Pfff” Jack can’t hold in his laughter and that prompts Dean and Castiel to laugh as well. The three of them laugh so loudly the people from the campsite next to them start shushing them.

---

After an hour or so of companionable silence Castiel heard Dean call his name softly. He turned his head to look at him and saw Jack had fallen asleep with his head leaning on Dean’s shoulder. 

Castiel’s heart melted at that moment. Dean looked at him and grinned, he used his free hand to pet Jack’s head lovingly.

“I can move him if he’s bothering you.” Castiel whispered and started moving to wake Jack and walk him to his sleeping bag but Dean stopped him.

“Don’t wake the kid. He’s fine.” Dean whispered back. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yeah. I don’t mind being a pillow for a few more minutes.” 

Castiel leaned back down but couldn’t really look back at the sky. The view down here was more than he could handle at the moment. Dean kept a hand on Jack’s head and leaned his cheek down to rest on the top of the boy’s head. 

“You know,” Dean started quietly. His eyes were still looking at the sky. “This reminds me of stargazing with my brother. He would always fall asleep on me. Just like this.” He looked back at Castiel and smiled softly at him. “Those were good times.”

“You don’t spend that much time with your brother anymore?”

“Not since he moved to California.” Dean said with a sigh. “Once he was out of this town he never wanted to come back.” 

“Mmm.” Castiel looked back at the sky. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to live so far away from Jimmy.

“The day he told me he was moving away for college we were stargazing just like this.” Dean added after a moment of silence. 

“Really?” 

“Mhm. I knew as soon as he invited me that he was going to tell me something important. We always shared our most important secrets with the stars. There were a lot of shooting stars that night too, so when he told me he was leaving I knew he was not coming back.”

Castiel turned to look at him again. “How could you possibly know that?”

“Uncle Bobby told me once that the Greeks and Romans believed that the appearance of comets, meteors and shooting stars were omens. They were signs that something good or bad had happened or was about to happen.”

“Your Uncle told you this?”

“Yep.”

“And you actually believe that?”

“Don’t know man. Maybe?” 

After a moment of silence Castiel took a deep breath and asked. “What do you think this meteor storm means for us?” He could feel the moment Dean turned to look at him and he slowly turned to share an intense look with the man. 

“Something good?” He asked quietly. 

“Yeah?” Cas asked softly. 

Dean looked at him and let his cheek fall on Jack's head. “Definitely.”

---

Dean: How does it feel to be free for the summer?
Castiel: It is the best feeling of the year. 
Castiel: I’ll be itching to go back to work in 3 or 4 weeks. 🤷
Dean: 😂
Dean: Any plans?
Castiel: I was actually going to the lake for a week next month.
Castiel: Would you like to join us?
Dean: I’ll have to move things around for work but it sounds doable. 
Castiel: Let me know when you know?
Dean: Deal
 

---

Castiel knew he was staring. The text on his screen was distracting him from everything around him.

Dean: I’ll be there.

Castiel was having dinner with Jimmy, Claire and Jack when he got an answer from Dean. He stared at his phone so long that his brother noticed. And Jimmy being Jimmy couldn’t help but ask.

“What’s going on?”

“Dean said yes.” Castiel answered without context.

“Yes to what?”

“To spend a week camping with me and Jack.” Cas explained. Instantly Jimmy covered his mouth with his hand and shushed him and turned to see Claire and Jack still talking to each other.“Are you crazy?” He said in a whisper. “If Jack hears you he’ll never agree to go to Kelly for those two weeks.”

“Why would he go to Kelly?” Castiel's question was muffled under his brother’s hand but Jimmy heard him well enough. 

“Because, little brother, you are going to spend that week with Dean– alone.” He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way. 

“Alone?”

“Totally alone.” Jimmy repeated. 

“But I already told Dean that Jack was coming with us.” His brother rolled his eyes. 

“That’s okay, don’t even mention it to him again. That way, when he gets there and sees that Jackie is missing you can tell him that Kelly called ‘unexpectedly’ and asked to spend a couple of weeks with him.” Jimmy even used finger quotes to make his point across.

“Do you think that’s a good idea?”

“Of course it is. How many months have you been dancing around each other? Three, four?”

“Five.” Cas confirms.

“And you said you guys had a moment when you went stargazing last time, right?” Jimmy asked his brother excitedly.

“I think so?” Castiel wasn’t sure if that had been a moment , like his brother wanted to think but it had been something . 

“So, there you go.” Jimmy leans back against the backrest of the booth they were sitting on and crosses his fingers over the table. “You can use the week to ‘get to know each other better’ if you catch my drift.

It did sound like a good idea. Maybe not the part where he had to lie to Dean. But everything else sounded like an excellent idea. He needed to call Kelly right away. 

---

To say that Castiel was nervous would be an understatement. He’d been mentally preparing for this week ever since Dean had agreed to spend it with him. Jimmy had convinced him to send Jack to Kelly and use this week to confess his feelings for Dean. 

It sounded like a good plan if Dean liked him back. Otherwise it would be a disaster. Jimmy had helped him come up with a plan. He had to tell Dean about his feelings as soon as he got there. If Dean felt the same they could have an awesome week together. If Dean didn’t, Castiel would drive back and spend the week eating ice cream and drowning his sorrows in whiskey. 

“You can do this, Novak,” he hadn’t talked to himself in years. Now, alone in his car, he was still trying to convince himself he was doing the right thing. It had been a few months and he had to admit that Dean was one of his closest friends. If he wanted any sort of romantic relationship with Dean he had to put himself out there. 

He arrived before Dean, like he had planned to and started building up his tent. Dean was bringing his own so he didn’t need to borrow Jimmy’s larger tent anymore. (He was hopeful that they wouldn’t even need a second tent and share his.) He was staking down the guide ropes when he heard the Impala parking behind him. Dean wasted no time leaving the car and walking up to him. 

“Heya, Cas! Where’s the little guy?” 

He wasn’t sure he was imagining things but Dean’s behavior was sending him red flags. He seemed to have something on his mind, something he wanted to share. His breathing was labored and he kept scratching the back of his head.

“Kelly called and asked to spend a couple of weeks with Jack. It was all very last minute or I would’ve told you.” He explained with a confused tilt. “I hope that’s okay?”

“What?” Dean asked distractedly. “Oh, yeah, yeah. That’s cool.” Dean turned away from Castiel and muttered a quiet ‘Fuck’ . When Castiel followed where he was looking he found a white honda parking beside Dean’s Impala. 

“Who–” He was about to ask who was in the car but Dean interrupted him before he could say anything. “Listen Cas, this was not part of the plan at all. Whatever she says, it’s not true.” Dean had placed his hands on his shoulders and was staring straight into his eyes. The desperation in those green orbs was easy to see. “I told them not to tell her where I was–”

But before Dean could say anything else they saw a brunette walk up to them. She was wearing very short shorts and a white, almost transparent tank top with a black bra underneath. 

“Dean, you didn’t tell me about your little trip this week. The guys back at the garage were very tight-lipped. I had to convince Gordon to tell me where you were.” She walked all the way to where Dean was standing. When Castiel looked back at Dean for an explanation the man looked furious. The woman didn’t seem to notice as she grabbed his arm and plastered herself all over his side. 

“I told you I was busy, Lisa,” Dean said, defeated. 

“You don’t seem very busy to me.” She finally noticed that Castiel was standing on the other side of Dean, staring. He wasn’t sure what the expression on his face showed but the woman didn’t seem to realize anything was wrong. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

That seemed to prompt Dean into action and with a sigh and an annoyed look he turned to look at Castiel. “Cas, this is Lisa. Lisa, Cas.”

He was prompted to move and offer his hand by the expectant look on Lisa’s face. He offered his hand and tried his best to sound friendly and welcoming. “Castiel Novak. It’s always nice to meet more of Dean’s friends.”

Lisa looked at Dean in confusion before she turned back to look at Castiel. “Friend? Hasn’t Dean told you?” Dean tried to stop her, but wasn’t successful, then she said three words that broke his heart. 

“I’m his girlfriend.”

Chapter Text

For my part I know nothing with any certainty,
but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
– Vincent Van Gogh

‘I’m his girlfriend. His girlfriend. Girlfriend.’  

Castiel could hear Lisa’s voice on repeat in his head as he stared at her. Dean had a girlfriend? Why had he never mentioned her? He’d been flirting with Castiel all this time and he had a girlfriend? 

“O-Oh.” Was the only thing Castiel could say. 

His heart broke into a million pieces and it took every ounce of power he had to not break down and cry right there in front of Dean and Lisa. He couldn’t believe it. This was all so wrong. His throat was dry when he tried to swallow and ended up looking away from them and back at his tent. 

“I–I have to finish setting up my tent.” He awkwardly moved away from them before they could say anything. He hoped having something to work with would be enough to help him process what he’d just learned. 

He tried to concentrate on his set up but he couldn’t help but notice that Lisa and Dean were having a heated discussion. Dean seemed angry about something and Lisa was trying to calm him down. Castiel wondered if this was Dean’s backhanded way of letting him know he was taken? Or maybe she found out Dean was going to spend a whole week with someone that wasn’t her and didn’t feel comfortable with that?

Maybe Dean had been flirting with him all this time and had planned to start something with him without telling his girlfriend? ‘He wouldn’t do that. Dean is not like that. He’s a good man.’ the reassuring voice in his head sounded a lot like Jimmy.

‘If he’s such a good man, why didn’t he tell you he had a girlfriend already?’ 

He realized he couldn’t see what he was doing anymore because his eyes were full of tears. Castiel shook his head trying his best to get rid of them.  ‘No.’ He sat down on his legs in a kneeling position and fisted his hands to stop them from shaking. ‘There has to be a reason for this.’ Taking three deep breaths he tried to calm himself. 

A hand on his shoulder startled him. He turned to see Dean looking down at him.

“Cas. You alright?” Dean looked defeated, his eyes were sad and his shoulders drooped down. But most of all he looked guilty. 

“I’m okay.” Castiel hoped he didn’t sound as devastated as he felt. 

With a sigh Dean crouched to his level and looked him straight in the eye. “Listen, I know what this looks like but I can explain–

“You don’t need to explain anything, Dean. I understand.”

“No. You don’t and I do need to explain things to you.” But before he could say anything else Lisa called him away. 

“Dean. Come help me put up our tent.” She had all the materials already spread around the floor in front of her.

With an irritated sigh. Dean turned to look at her. “Give me a minute.” He said to her, then he turned to look at Castiel again. “Let me take care of this and we’ll talk, just know that whatever you are thinking… that’s probably not what’s going on here.”

Castiel didn’t understand what Dean was trying to explain. Not what you think it is? This was exactly what Castiel thought it was. He’d been an idiot again and fallen for a straight man. Not only a straight man, but a taken one. 

“You shouldn’t have followed me here!” Screams made him turn back to where Dean and Lisa were talking.

“Of course I followed you, Dean. You’re mine.” Lisa did not bother to keep her voice down. She looked up at Dean through her eyelashes and had a firm grip on one of his arms. 

“The hell I am.” Dean pulled his arm away from her grip. “It’s been a year, Lisa! It’s time you got it through your thick skull that we’re nothing to each other.”

“What about Ben? He’s your son.”

‘Dean has a son?’ Castiel thought but Dean’s exasperated scoff quickly distracted him.

“Ben is not my son.” Castiel could tell that Dean was quickly losing patience.”You have to stop saying that he is.” 

“Of course he is. He–” He cut her off. “He’s not! There’s DNA tests that prove it.” 

Castiel had the perfect view of Lisa, he saw how the look on her face turned from easygoing to pissed in a second. “But he could be!” She pushed him and stepped closer, her face angry now. “He could be your son if you just wanted him. Instead, you’re always here, spending time with these strangers.” She pointed at Castiel accusingly.

“You cannot use Ben against me, Lisa.” Castiel could only see Dean’s back, but he could tell from his stance that he was pissed and ready for this conversation to be over. “You need to go back to Matt, or Pete or whoever you are with this week and forget about me.” 

“I can’t.” she started crying. “I love you, Dean.”

Castiel wanted to feel bad for her, he really did, but he just felt indifferent to her apparent suffering. He could only hope that Dean didn’t fall for her, truly awful, acting.

“Yeah, I’m sure you love me very much. Me and the other five men you were fucking at the same time.” Dean's voice was soft but cold. Castiel could barely hear what he said next. “Leave, Lisa.”

“But Dean–” She tried again. 

“Just go!” 

The coldness of Dean’s voice made Castiel jump in place. He’d never heard the man’s voice sound so cold. Hearing Dean talk and sing always warmed him up inside. This time it was different.

“Fine!” Lisa grabbed as much of her stuff as she could carry and finally left.

---

Everything was quiet as they watched Lisa drive away. Castiel wasn’t even sure what he’d heard. Did Dean have a girlfriend or not? Did he have a son? He didn’t want to speculate based only on this one conversation but to say that he was very curious and confused was putting it mildly.

He absentmindedly continued to build his tent, waiting for Dean to make a move. He walked around carefully putting every piece together until it was ready for him to start throwing in the rest of his things. 

He started walking toward his truck, his sleeping bag, quilts and clothes were still there, when Dean grabbed him by the arm. 

“Cas,” he said breathlessly. “Don’t leave please. I can explain everything.”

When Castiel turned to see him he found red rimmed eyes staring down at him. At that moment he decided to hear Dean out. Nothing Lisa had said mattered, he wanted to hear the real story directly from this man. 

“Don’t worry, Dean. I’ll hear what you have to say.” Castiel patted Dean’s hand. “I just need to go get some of my things.”

“Right.” Dean let go of him quickly. “I’ll get my things ready as well.”

With a nod Castiel turned and walked towards Balty.

---

The sun was already setting when Castiel was finished setting up camp. Sitting on his favorite camping chair, he watched as Dean set up the firepit with some new logs. After hiding for a moment in his car and calling Jimmy, he’d calmed down a little. Telling his brother how he was feeling and listening quietly to some advice in return had helped.

Jimmy had helped him think through what he was feeling. Talked him down from an ‘unnecessary confrontation’, as he called it, and made him promise that he was going to wait for Dean to start the conversation and listen. He was going to stick to his plan and tell Dean how he felt… Castiel could make his move and hope that Dean felt the same. 

He’s distracted from his thoughts when Dean sits on the camp chair beside him with a sigh. He looked better than before, but still tired and sad. 

“Hey,” Castiel couldn’t help touching Dean’s arm, lightly tracing some of his tattoos with his fingers. “Are you okay?” Dean looked at him, he couldn’t really describe the look on his face, it wasn’t sad. More like… defeated?

“I just–Lisa she–” Dean ran one hand through his hair in frustration. “She wasn’t supposed to be here.”

“You didn’t want me to know about her?”

“No. I didn’t.” Dean confirmed quickly. “But not because she’s my girlfriend or anything. We had a thing almost a year ago. It wasn’t even a relationship. She was just a one night stand that kept coming back.” He turned to look at Castiel. The fire and the setting sun made shadows and warm colors reflect on Dean’s skin. His green eyes sparkled with unshed tears. 

“It was easy, what I had with her. No feelings, no baggage, just a way to let off some steam without the hassle of looking for someone every time I went to the bar.” Dean shrugged. “We never said anything about being exclusive or in a relationship of any kind. Like I said, easy.”

Castiel really didn’t understand that. It had been so long since he’d been in any kind of relationship and one night stands were not something he’d ever considered but he nodded for Dean to continue. 

“One day, not even a month after we’d started seeing each other, she told me she was pregnant and that the baby was mine.” Castiel watched as Dean scratched the back of his neck. ”I was gonna do the right thing, you know? Take care of the baby.” 

“Mhmm.” Castiel nodded, he’d done the same for Kelly and Jack so he could at least understand that. 

“But then she started talking about weddings and moving in with me and that was just too much. She wasn’t the person that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, you know? To spring all those plans on me was crazy.”

“I can understand that.” Castiel agreed with him. “Was there something that prompted her to start planning those things? Did you maybe say something to her?”

“No! I’d never even invited her over to my place. We’d only ever met at the bar or at a motel. I was gonna look after my kid but, to actually marry her?” Dean shook his head. “No way, man. No way in hell.”

“So what did you do?”

“I called my brother. I needed someone to talk to and he’s a lawyer so… he probably had some good ideas.” 

“Did he help?”

“He flew down from California, said me having a kid on the way was more important than anything he had going on.” Dean's expression changed to something soft. 

“That was nice of him.”

“Yeah. I really didn’t want to distract him from his life in California, but we hadn’t seen each other in a couple of years, so he insisted.” A soft smile covered Dean’s face before he turned serious again. “He also helped me find out Lisa was lying.”

“What?”

“She approached him and offered him a good time when he was waiting for me at the bar.” 

“No!” Castiel covered his open mouth with one hand. 

“Yep.” Dean nodded. “She didn’t even bother to go to a different bar to pick up other guys. She was still trying to convince him when I got there.”

Still with his mouth covered Castiel shook his head in denial. How could a person even think of doing that? “With your own brother?”

“To be fair, she didn’t even know I had a brother.” Dean shrugged.

“That’s not an excuse! She was trying to insert herself into your life, talking about marriage, telling you her unborn child is yours and at the same time she was propositioning a stranger at the bar? How could she?”

“That’s Lisa in a nutshell.” Grabbing a beer from a cooler at his feet, Dean offered one to Castiel before he taking a long swig of his. 

“Did she find out Sam was your brother?” Castiel asked after drinking a little of his own beer. 

“Yeah. She tried to deny she’d been trying to get him to sleep with her but Sam confirmed it and told me to get a paternity test as soon as possible.” Leaning down to throw another log on the fire Dean continued. “Apparently she’d been sleeping with a bunch of other guys at the same time as me.”

“And I’m guessing the baby was not yours?”

“Turns out, she was already pregnant when we met, so I didn’t need a test.” Dean says, nodding. “She disappeared after that.” He leaned back and turned to look at Castiel. “I hadn't seen her in months. Didn’t even know she’d had the baby, or who the real father ended up being.”

“So, today…?”

“She came into the shop last week and probably overheard me talking to the guys about taking a week off. She then proceeded to invite herself, even when I repeatedly told her I wasn’t gonna be alone.” Dean explained in a serious voice. “I didn’t want you to misunderstand what she said–”

“When she said she was your girlfriend,” Castiel interrupted him. “ I couldn’t believe it. I–I just wanted to spend this week with you, just you and me. I even made sure that Jack was with his mom and then she was just here and started hugging you and saying all those things...” He looked at Dean and tried to keep his voice steady. “It really hurt.”

“Wait.” Dean smiled. “You made sure Jack was with Kelly?” 

“I really really wanted to spend this week alone with you.”

Dean grabbed both Cas’ hands in his. “You have to know that I was really looking forward to spending more time with you too, Cas. I can’t stop thinking about you.”

“So I wasn’t imagining things the last time we got together?” Castiel asked shyly, looking down at their hands. “My people skills are kind of rusty, so I wasn’t sure.” 

“There was definitely something there, Cas.” Dean winked at him. “I’ve been flirting my ass off since we first met.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, man.” Dean made sure to stare at Castiel straight in the eyes before saying. “You think I would cook my special burgers just for anyone, spend a whole day fishing together, or stargaze all night long with just anyone?”

“Umm.” Castiel was sure he was blushing and looked down to hide his reddened cheeks from Dean. 

“You and your kid are special, Cas.” He felt Dean’s hand on his chin and could do nothing but stare back at Dean as he said, “I’m the one that isn’t good enough for you.”

Taking hold of the hand holding his chin, Castiel shook his head. “Don’t say that, Dean.”

“I’m a small town mechanic with a GED and a give them hell attitude.” Dean shrugged.  “There’s nothing special about me.” 

“That’s not true!” Castiel insisted. “Before I met you, I was living my life for Jack. Day after day, year after year. And I won’t ever regret it, seeing him grow up, learn, live. It’s the greatest achievement of my life but I was alone.” Castiel chuckled,  “And then I met you. The only mechanic in town that works overtime for a stranger.”

“Hey, what can I say, you left me a compelling voicemail.” Dean smirked. 

“You just came barreling into my life, hammer in hand and kindness in your heart, and never left.” Castiel traced the contour of Dean’s face down his cheek and across the tattoo over his neck. “Because of you I learned what it was to really care. I learned what it was to really love.”

They stared at each other in silence, the cracklin of the firewood the only noise that could be heard over Castiel's beating heat. Shit , he’d just confessed his love for Dean. Did Dean feel the same? Had he been too fast? Maybe he needed to take it back and wait for a better moment. 

“I–”

“I love you too, Cas.” Dean interrupted. “I fell in love with you a long time ago.”

Green eyes stared right into blue, the light of the fire and the strength of their love making colors shine through them. Castiel could barely contain tears of happiness from falling down his cheeks. 

“You did?” He asked, his voice low and rougher than usual. 

“Yeah.” Dean chuckled. “I love you and I love Jack. I couldn't imagine my life without you two in it.”

“Dean, I–” but before he could say anything, Dean pulled him by the shoulder and kissed him. His lips were warm and soft against Castiel’s. Still a little bitter and dry from the beer they’d drank, but Castiel didn’t mind. 

He could feel Dean’s breath just above his lips and tilted his head a little, an invitation to deepen the kiss that the other man didn’t miss. Lips parted slightly as an extra invitation, Castiel felt Dean’s tongue slip inside. A hand on his lower back ignited something as Dean leaned closer, lips never parting completely. 

“Cas,” Dean said against his lips. “Not that I don’t love what we are doing, but we need to relocate. These chairs are not the best for these activities.” Castiel looked down at the cheap Osark camping chairs they were sitting on. Both were dangerously leaning on two legs instead of four. 

“Right.” Castiel leaned back until his chair was on four legs again. Standing carefully he offered Dean one hand and asked. “Want to join me in my tent? I have a large sleeping bag already set up inside.”

Biting his red kissed lips Dean didn’t wait for Cas to ask again. Taking Castiel’s hand he stood quickly. “Lead the way, Cas.” 

---

Later that night Castiel felt his iWatch vibrate on his wrist. He looked at the screen with bleary eyes and saw a text message from Jimmy. Dean was still sleeping beside him, an arm wrapped around Castiel’s naked chest. He cuddled closer and leaned his head on Dean’s tattooed shoulder, kissing it softly and reached over the sleeping man to grab his phone. 

He made sure that the light on his screen wouldn’t bother Dean before he swiped it open. Jimmy had texted him a few times already. He started with:

Jimmy: How did the talk go? Everything okay?
Jimmy: Is she-who-must-not-be-named there to stay?
Jimmy: Did the asshole break your heart?
Jimmy: Tell me so I know if I have to go beat him up or hug him.

Followed by:

Jimmy: Cassie? Are you having sex? Or are you bawling like a baby?
Jimmy: I’m going to assume one of those is why you are not answering. 

And finally:

Jimmy: Okay. Amelia is telling me that I’m annoying her with my worrying. 
Jimmy: Send me a smoke signal. I need to know that everything is okay. 

Castiel rolled his eyes at his brother's antics. 

Cas: Yes. 
Cas: We talked.
Cas: All is well.

Instantly the ellipsis signaling an incoming text message appeared. 

Jimmy: TELL ME EVERYTHING!
Cas: No.
Jimmy: CASSIE
Cas: Later. 
Jimmy: 👀
Jimmy: What are you doing?
Cas: None of your business. 
Jimmy: Are you naked?
Cas: I’m turning my phone off. 
Cas: Love you. 
Cas: Goodbye.

He turned off his cell and threw it somewhere over his head, he closed his eyes and cuddled the man beside him. Dean’s soft snores lulled him back to sleep.

---

Warm kisses woke him up the next morning. He could feel Dean’s scruff on the back of his neck and soft wet lips moving slowly. 

“Mornin’ sunshine,” Dean breathed into his neck. 

Castiel turned around to share a quick kiss with Dean. “Hello, Dean.” He traced Dean’s freckles with the tips of his fingers and then brushed his longish hair back. Staring into Dean’s green eyes he smiled quietly to himself. “I still can’t believe you are here.”

“Believe it, sunshine.” Dean smirked. “There’s no place I'd rather be.” 

“Me either.” Castiel chuckled. “I’ll have to thank Balty with a special visit to the mechanic. He needs a tune up and maybe some new shoes.” 

“Oh?” Dean lifted one eyebrow. “Do you have a specific shop in mind?”

“Mmm,” Cas grabbed his phone and turned it on. “I think I still have the number of my old mechanic.”

“Don’t you dare!” Dean threw himself on top of Cas and fought him for his phone. Cas took advantage of their new position and wrapped his legs around Dean, pulled him down and kissed him under his chin. Dean looked down at him with a serious face. “I’m the only one that is allowed to look after Balty, you hear me?”

Cas smiled a toothy smile and nodded. “Yes, Dean.”

“Good.” Dean sealed their promise with a kiss. 

Cas could not believe the series of events that made this moment possible. Things like this only happen when the stars align.

So many things we worry of
so many heartaches find
their way into our minds and hearts
of every single kind
but tis a fools game, we should know
for all will be just fine
we cannot change what’s meant to be
when the stars align.

The end.