December came quicker than anyone was really expecting. The first day of December was met with a light snowfall, enough to cover the ground. Dean had woken up on the first day of December to this snow, and he had ran outside and played in it until the snow melted later that day. Dean had never gotten to fully appreciate snow as a kid. He had seen it, but it was rare for him to have an entire day to just run around in the snow and play.

The first week of December was almost at its end by now. Dean woke up on the first Saturday of December to the smell of waffles and a mug of hot chocolate.

"Here you go." Cas spoke, handing Dean a mug of hot chocolate. "Drink up. I have waffles made, too." Dean took the mug and began to drink deeply. After a few seconds, Cas turned back to face Dean. "Oh, I have to visit my siblings today, so I'll be back at ten or so tonight."

Dean nodded, glancing briefly towards the window. Cas caught himself staring for a second too long and tugged his attention back to cooking waffles before Dean could notice Cas had been staring.

Once the waffle iron dinged, Cas opened it and laid out the waffle on a plate. He walked over and laid it on the table, where Dean had sat down. Cas placed a container of syrup down as well. Dean began to pour syrup onto his waffles until they were half-drowning in syrup. Dean then shoveled forkfuls of waffle into his mouth, not bothering to eat slowly. Even after being out of his father's clutches for over five months, he still ate like the food would be thrown away if he didn't finish it in time.

By the time Dean was done eating, his phone lit up and started buzzing with a call, so Dean excused himself and held the phone up to his ear.

"Dean?" Came a wet voice, shaky and unstable, as though the speaker had been crying. Dean almost immediately recognized it as Charlie's voice.

"Charlie? What's the matter?" Dean asked worriedly.

"Dorothy dumped me." Charlie sobbed, her voice breaking. "Can- can you please take me somewhere today? I need to get my mind off of her."

"Of course, where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere. Surprise me."

"Alright. I'll pick you up in half an hour." Dean then hung up and turned to face Cas. "My friend got dumped, so I'm gonna need to take her out today to cheer her up."

Cas nodded in understanding, and Dean grabbed a few clothing items and began to get dressed. Cas too began to get dressed, and the two were both ready within minutes. Dean grabbed his keys and walked out to the Impala, dug the keys into the ignition and started he car. Cas had insisted a sibling of his would be picking him up, and so Cas just stood outside and waved goodbye to Dean as he waited for his sibling to arrive.

Dean drove and drove and drove until he finally reached the girls dorms, and he parked in the parking lot and slid out of the car. As soon as he did, he heard a voice yell his name, followed by a blur of red and suddenly he was engulfed in an embrace. Charlie wrapped her arms around him and sobbed, and Dean ran his hand through her hair and on her back, trying to calm her down. He managed to coax her into the car, and her crying slowed. Dean handed her a couple tissues and she sniffed pitifully.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Dean asked, tilting his head. Charlie barely lifted her head, before she tilted her head low and to the side and shrugged her shoulders. Dean placed a hand on her cheek and wiped some of her tears, then clasped both hands on the steering wheel. "C'mon. I got the perfect place to cheer you up."

He dug the keys into the ignition and started the car, then drove and drove and drove, all the while letting Charlie have complete control over the radio. At one point, she turned the radio off and began playing her own music, which consisted mainly of Panic! At The Disco, Imagine Dragons, Set It Off and more rock/alternative bands.

When Dean finally parked the car, they were stopped outside a large mall. Charlie raised her eyebrow in curiosity, but Dean grabbed her by the hand and dragged her into the mall. The first stop was a salon, where he took Charlie and told her she could get her hair cut however she wanted it. Her hair had grown a bit, so she opted for a shorter style. Dean also paid for her to get a full mani-pedi (albeit she did opt out of getting her nails actually painted and chose to just get them cleaned up) and he sat and waited for Charlie to be done.

~~~~~

It was not even half an hour after Dean left when Cas heard the familiar roar of his brother's van become louder outside his dorm room. Cas smiled and grabbed his trench coat, tugging it on before he ran outside to greet his brother.

Lucifer was leaning against his van, which was an extremely light shade of pink with random red paint splatters here and there. His boyfriend, Michael, stood next to the doors of the van, cocking his head as he saw Cas walk towards them.

Gabriel was already sitting in Lucifer's van, a grin on his face when he saw his little brother. "Cassie! Hey!"

"Hello Gabriel." Cas monotoned as his older brother waved feverently at him. Cas opened one of the van doors and sat in the seat next to Gabriel, as Lucifer and Michael both made their way to sit in the front seats.

"You ready to go home, lil bro?" Gabriel asked, glancing eagerly at Cas, who just nodded plainly. "Alrighty. Let's go!"

~~~~~

Dean got back to the dorm late that night, after spending an entire day with Charlie to cheer her up. After getting her hair cut and nearly buying out an entire Hot Topic, Dean was satisfied that he had cheered her up.

By the time he got back, Cas had already returned from his family's house, and was laying half-asleep on his bed. When Dean set his stuff down, the noise caused Cas to stir.
"Mm?" Cas mumbled, before his eyes drifted over and settled on Dean. "Oh, hello Dean."

"Hey, Cas. Didn't mean to wake you." Dean murmured, shuffling through the bag of stuff he had gotten from Hot Topic.

"You didn't. I wasn't really asleep." Cas replied, stretching a little. "But I am going to go to sleep, so goodnight."

Dean peered briefly at Cas, before he turned to walk to the bathroom. "Goodnight, Cas."

And for some strange reason, that small little remark made Castiel smile. And it was that moment that Cas realized, he was falling in love.

I am so so sorry for the complete lack of updates this past month. I've been busy writing a marvel series on ao3 and I've hit a road block with this story. This chapter is super short and hella crappy but I hope y'all liked it anyways. Thanks for being so patient  <3