Work is pretty uneventful. There hasn't been a new (non-gang-related) murder in at least a month so Castiel and Charlie have just been working on older cases, which is remarkably less fun than taking on new cases but equally as important.

Eventually, it's time to go home. Today is Charlie's day to drive, and Castiel spends the car ride staring out the window. He's really glad it's not raining today. That would be a little too cliche, even for his taste. Charlie tries to talk to him a few times, but, as he's done all day, he doesn't give them much of a response.

It takes Castiel far longer than it should to realize that the way they're going is not, in fact, the way to his house. Off the top of his head, he can't think of a single interesting thing that exists down here, short of, like, McDonald's. He gives his friend a puzzled look. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," she says with a smile.

"Charlie..."'

"C'mon, just trust me," they say. "It's gonna be fun, I promise."

"I don't want to have fun right now," Castiel says. "I just want to go home."

She sighs dramatically. "You've been so boring all day. I don't know what the fuck is going on, but I am determined to unboring you."

"I don't want to be unboringed," Casitel whines.

"It's a good thing I didn't ask you, then, isn't it?"

Castiel groans, but they've made it pretty clear that he doesn't have a choice so he reluctantly shuts up. Wherever they're going, he hopes it's somewhere that he doesn't have to do anything. He's really not in the mood to pretend he's having a great day.

"And viola," Charlie says, pulling into a parking space in the middle of god-knows-where.

Castiel's eyes scan the nearby buildings. A bank? That can't be it. Burger King? She knows he prefers McDonald's -- and who parks at a fast-food restaurant, anyway? There's a craft store, too, but that doesn't sound right. There's...

Oh, hey, it's a bakery! He's never been here before. He's never even heard of it. Braedon's Bakery, the sign reads. This is definitely the one they're going to. He can feel it.

Charlie slides out of the car, so Castiel does the same. Within seconds, Charlie is standing next to him, beaming. With a grin, they tell him, "I am going to buy you so many cupcakes, you're never going to want to consume sugar ever again."

"Charlie, you don't have to --"

"Ah ah ah!" She puts a finger to his lips. "I am buying you food and you cannot stop me." She takes her hand back. "Now, follow me. I am about to show you the store of your dreams."

Castiel raises an eyebrow, but he reluctantly follows her inside. There are only two people in the building, both behind the counter full of sweets. One is a woman, probably about their age, and the other is a kid, maybe 10 years old. The boy is at the counter where he's organizing the baked goods, presumably to add the muffins on the counter to the collection. The woman is towards the back, frosting a cake that almost looks too beautiful to eat.

"Hi, welcome to Braedon's Bakery!" the boy greets them. "My name's Ben, and that's my mom, Lisa." He points at the woman in the back with his thumb, and she gives a small wave before turning her attention back to her work. "What can I help you with?"

Castiel can't help but smile. He's such a cute kid. Castiel likes him already.

"Hey, kiddo," Charlie says. "I am here to buy my friend an uncomfortable amount of good food, and you and your mom never disappoint with that. So, what does the chef recommend?"

"Hmm..." Ben looks down at the display for a few moments, then back up at Charlie and Castiel. "What type of thing are you looking for? Chocolate? Frosting? Cupcakes, muffins, pies...?"

Castiel looks at Charlie for an answer, but they're just looking at him. It looks like this is entirely up to him now. He's not decisive enough for this.

"Surprise me," Castiel says finally. As an afterthought, he adds, "But no pie." He always associates pie with Dean, and that's the last thing he's trying to do right now.

Ben nods thoughtfully. "How about... " He taps the glass with one finger. "Chocolate cupcake with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting? It's one of my favorites, but if that's too much chocolate..."

"It sounds great," Castiel assures him. He definitely does like chocolate.

Ben reaches in and pulls a chocolate cupcake out. "Anything else?"

"Get him, like, four more things," Charlie says.

"Charlie, you don't have to --"

Charlie puts a finger to his lips. "I am buying you sugar and you cannot stop me." She puts her hand back down by her side. "Ooh, can we get two of your mint cupcakes? I love those."

"Sure thing!" Ben pulls out two more cupcakes, and he puts all three cupcakes in a plastic container that seems to be meant for four.

Charlie must notice that, too, because they ask Ben, "What's your favorite cupcake?"

"Hm..." Ben scans the array of food in front of him. "I think...: He points to one, though Castiel can't make out which one it is. "The chocolate-covered strawberry ones are really good -- and I'm not just saying that because I was the one that made them."

Charlie chuckles. "Alright, Cassie, how does that sound?"

Castiel shrugs. "I do like strawberries." It's like a healthy cupcake except it's not: his favorite type of food.

Ben takes a strawberry cupcake out and puts it in the cupcake container, which he then closes and slides across the counter towards them. "Still looking for more?"

Castiel is about to tell him "no," but Charlie beats him to it. "How about, like, two more things. Like..." She points at something and, once again, Castiel can't tell what she's looking at. "That one. The yellow one. Yellow is cool."

"A slice of lemon loaf cake?" Ben asks.

"That sure sounds like a thing, sure," Charlie says.

Ben puts a piece of that in another plastic container. "And what else?"

Charlie looks at Castiel. "This is it. This is the last one. You better choose well."

"Charlie, I don't really want --"

"You better choose well," they repeat, and it sounds much more threatening than any food-related sentence should.

"Okay, okay," Castiel says quickly. "Um..." He thinks about it for a few moments. How about... "Is that coffee cake?"

"It sure is," Ben says. "Do you want some of that?"

He nods. "I think so."

Ben takes a slice of coffee cake and puts it in the same container as the lemon loaf cake. "Anything else?"

"Nope," Castiel says quickly, before Charlie can try to buy them more food. "This is great, thank you."

Despite Castiel's insistence, Charlie pays for the entire purchase. "It's a gift," she kept saying, "and you don't pay for gifts." CastieI leaves ten dollars in the tip jar anyway. It's the least he could do.

They head back to the car, and Charlie decides that they're sitting in the trunk to eat. CastieI sees no point in arguing — it's impossible to change her mind about anything — so that's what they do.

CastieI takes a bite of the chocolate cupcake — which is the best chocolate cupcake he's ever had — before he asks the question they're been on his mind for the last ten minutes. "What's the special occasion? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure my birthday isn't for another couple months."

"Do I need a special occasion to give my best friend a night out?" Charlie asks.

CastieI just cocks an eyebrow and waits for the real answer.

It doesn't take long to break them, and the real answer in question is, "You just seemed sad today, and I figured the two best cures to sadness are sweets and friendship, so I decided to give you both."

"I'm not sad," Castiel says immediately.

"I know you would say that," she says, "which is why I wasn't actually gonna mention it. I was just gonna force-feed you from my new favorite bakery and hope you just thought it was me being me. Apparently that did not work."

"No, it really didn't," he says.

"Well, I tried," they say with a shrug. "I know you're 'not sad,' but if you had been sad — you know, hypothetically — you know you can talk to me, right?"

"I know, but it's not something I want to talk about," he says. "You know, hypothetically." There's no point in pretending it's nothing when she clearly already knows it's something. "But thank you."

"Any time, buddy," they reply with a grin. "Now finish your goddamn cupcake. I want you to try the mint one next."

Castiel smiles. Maybe this is the distraction he needed.