They bought all of the decorations, only being able to afford it because everyone chipped in. It was starting to get late, but they decided to go decorate the school ASAP.

"Me and Jo can take my car," Charlie suggested. "And you two can take Cas's."

"Oh. Um, Dean," Cas handed him his keys. "You can drive."

"Y'know, since you're getting ready to get your license, you oughta drive."

"Yeah, well... do I have to?"

"Cas," Jo began. "You're getting better at it."

"No, I'm not! Remember that bicycle guy? He'd tell you I suck!"

Jo sighed. "Will you just sack up and drive the damn car?"

He was about to protest, when Jo gave him her persuasive, almost evil stare down. Most times, those eyes of hers worked.

"Fine," He took back his keys. "Guess I'm driving."

He got in the driver seat of his car and started the engine. He sucked at driving. He couldn't do this. He just couldn't. No. He had to. This was his first step toward independence.

But... what if independence sucked?

Dean got in the passenger seat. "You'll be fine, Cas."

"No I won't. God dammit, why are Jo's eyes so freaking persuasive?"

"Just relax, okay? No need to freak out."

"But... I'm so good at it!"

"Just keep your foot on the brake and switch to reverse."

Cas took a deep breath and did as he said. Foot on the brake, set to reverse.

"O-okay. Dean... I still suck at driving."

"Just check your mirrors and back out of the parking space. You'll be fine."

He took another breath and checked his mirrors. There was no one behind him so he turned his wheel to the right so he could back up.

"Dean... I - I think we're gonna die."

"I think we're not. Okay?"

He took in another deep breath and nodded. He couldn't do this. It was so difficult. No, he had to. He could figure it all out. With Dean's help, that is.

Before long, Dean guided him out of the near-empty parking lot, and on down the road. Cas was starting to get the hang of it as he drove down the unoccupied road.

But, every time they stopped at a stop sign, it was a bit of an abrupt halt.

"Sorry!" Cas would always shout.

"It's okay. You're doing good."

And after a long drive through empty roads, only passing cars every once in a while, they finally made it to the high school. Operation Figgy Pudding was under way.

They parked in the parking lot, and other than the rather crooked angle, it wasn't too bad.

Cas cut off the engine and got out of the car, shoving his keys in his pocket. He was happy to be out of that rusty, metal death trap.

"Can I just never drive again?" He pleaded.

"If you hate driving so much, why get your learner's permit?" Dean asked.

"Because that seemed like a good idea at the time!"

"If you just practice and practice and practice some more, you can get a lot better. There's always room for improvement."

"Yeah, but I'll never improve." He mumbled.

"Yes, you will! If you just-"

Charlie cleared her throat loudly, cutting Dean off. "Okay, if you guys are done, I believe we have things to do."

Cas nodded. "Right. Of course. Now, we want to decorate the building with as much red and white lights as we can. The multicolored lights are for the trees and... stuff. Put the reindeer out in the front, and... do whatever the hell you want with the tinsel and garland."

"Sweet," Dean grinned. "Sounds like a plan."

Charlie and Jo had the garland, and they began decorating the building with red and white while Dean and Cas had the tinsel and went to decorate the trees with the multicolored lights.

"This is gonna knock everyone dead!" Cas smiled, opening his box of lights.

"Yeah, that's the idea." Dean grinned, opening his own box.

"So... is there any outlets nearby?"

"Oh. That's uh... that's a good question," Dean looked around to find any, though his chances were slim. "I dunno."

"I can take a look around if you want me to." Cas offered.

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

While Cas went to search for outlets, Dean was left to think about that phone call. The none that made him feel so stupid. He asked her out.

Why would he do that? He didn't even particularly like her in a friendly way. Why... her?

He could've asked anybody. Somebody he was actually friends with perhaps. Or at least someone who wasn't such a bitch.

"Dean!" Cas's voice shook him from his thoughts. "I found an outlet!" He peered from around the corner of the building. "It's over here, c'mon."

Dean picked up his box of lights and followed Cas. It was one of those outdoor outlet... things that you basically stick in the ground and plug stuff in to it. It had four outlets on it, which surprised him. One outlet was unlikely enough, but four?

"Let's make sure these work." Dean plugged his lights into the top left outlet, and they suddenly lit up.

"Okay. Good. It works. Now we just need to decorate the trees and stuff, and-"

"Cas?"

"What?"

"Yeah, I don't think these lights are long enough."

Cas noticed the flaw in their plan. "Oh. Um... okay. Okay. We can, uh... we can figure this out. Right? I mean... people didn't achieve great things by giving up, right?" He chuckled uneasily.

"So what do you suggest?"

"I dunno! I didn't think this through!"

Dean sighed. "Well... I got nothing."

Cas sighed as well. "Okay, well, let's just decorate the ground with lights, and the tinsel can go on the trees."

Dean grinned. "Sounds good."

So they decorated the ground with the colorful lights, spreading them out far and wide. It looked pretty good in the developing sunset.

Dean looked out in the distance. "Hey, Cas. Look over there." He pointed to where the sun was beginning to set.

Cas looked in that direction. "Yeah. It's a nice sunset."

"When the sun touches the mountains, make a wish."

Cas grinned. "What?"

"It's something my mom would tell me as a kid. Just keep looking."

They kept watching the sun, which was inches away from the mountains peaks. They watched as the sun touched the tip of the highest mountain.

"Now. Make a wish, Cas."

They both made a wish, and it may or may not have had something to do with the person standing right next to the other.

They watched the sun turn the sky orange and pink before it slowly began to dip below the horizon.

They smiled at one another. "This is something you do every night?" Cas asked.

"Pretty much."

"I love it."

Dean smiled and went to the box of tinsel they set next to one of the trees. He pulled out a gold piece and wrapped it around Cas's neck like a scarf.

"This again?"

"What?" Dean grinned.

"The tinsel scarf is so passé."

"I think it's beautiful. So fabulous, Cas." Dean laughed.

Cas laughed with him, but his mind was racing. Beautiful? What did that imply? What did he mean by "beautiful"? Did it mean he thought Cas was beautiful or was he just being a goof?

"C'mon. Let's decorate some trees." Dean handed him some more tinsel.

Cas looked at his tinsel pieces. Some gold, some green, some blue, either dark or icy. He took some gold and tossed it on the tree haphazardly.

"This is nice. We'll bring Christmas to this town, and they're gonna like it!"

Dean chuckled, decorating some of the same tree. "Yeah. This'll do the trick."

"Maybe that Christmas party will work too."

"Yeah, I bet."

They looked over the tree, which was covered in many colors. It looked pretty good.

"I think things are going pretty well here." Cas grinned.

"Yeah, for now." Dean grinned back.

They continued decorating the trees until there were no more to decorate. It was dark out, a full moon lighting up the sky, and Christmas lights lighting up the campus.

"I think we're good." Cas decided.

"Yeah. The trees are all decorated, the lights are perfectly strewn, and Jo and Charlie have decorated the school building. Pretty damn nice."

"Where are Jo and Charlie?" Cas wondered.

And all of a sudden, Jo and Charlie approached them with their hair all askew, their clothes a bit wrinkled and mismatched. Jo was wearing Charlie's Panic! At The Disco tee while Charlie wore Jo's Green Day shirt.

"So, are we leaving?" Jo asked, a bit short of breath.

Dean and Cas attempted to conceal their smiles. "So... whatcha doin'?" Dean asked.

"What? Is something wrong?" Charlie asked, equally short of breath.

"Oh, no, nothing's wrong," Cas replied. "Unless you want it to be wrong." He chuckled, Dean joining in on the laughter.

"What're you guys talking about?" Jo asked.

"Oh come on!" Dean exclaimed. "It's obvious what you two were just doing!"

"What are you talking about?" Jo played coy.

"Yeah, we weren't doing anything." Charlie added.

"Except each other." Cas caused them both to burst into laughter.

Jo scoffed. "What? You're being ridiculous!"

"Jo, we were totally doing it, just 'fess up." Charlie deadpanned.

Jo looked over at Charlie incredulously. "Charlie!"

"Yeah, just admit it; we get more action than they do."

The boys stopped laughing and looked at Charlie blankly. "Huh?" Cas squeaked.

"Yeah. But, hey, it's okay. You boys'll get laid one day." Charlie feigned comfort.

"Pfft, are you kidding?" Dean played it cool. "I've had tons of sex. Loads of it. I - I make Barney Stinson look like a chump."

"Oh really?" Charlie clearly wasn't buying it. "When was the last time you got some?"

Dean scoffed. "Uh, last night. Duh."

"Dean, you were with me last night." Cas murmured in Dean's ear.

"Yeah, I meant before that."

"Okay, sure. C'mon, we should get going. It's late."

The girls began to walk to their car while the boys just stood there. "What just happened?" Dean asked.

"I'm not sure. But we should go."

"Yeah. You gonna drive?"

"Maybe you should. I'm exhausted." Cas got his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Dean.

They got to Cas's car, making their way out of the parking lot. Cas was absolutely exhausted from all that decorating. He was surprised by how much it wore him out.

"So, should I drive home, then you can drive yourself home? I mean, this is your car."

"Dean, that would be illegal. Learner's permit only, remember?"

"Right. Damn. So how should we do this?"

Cas shrugged tiredly. "I dunno."

"Do you... do you just wanna stay at my house?"

Cas sighed lightly, his eyelids becoming too heavy. "Sure. Why not? Cool."

"Alright. I can drive us to school tomorrow then."

Cas groaned. "Ugh. School."

Dean grinned. "Hey, you're required by law to go. I suggest you follow the law."

"You... sound like Gabriel."

"Hey, I only preach the truth."

Cas yawned, the feeling of sleep taking him over.

._.__._.

He awoke a little while later to the sound of Dean's voice. "Cas, we're here."

He slowly opened his eyes, looking around until he saw Dean in the driver's seat, opening his door. He didn't want to get up. He was perfectly content in the passenger seat of his car. It was surprisingly comfy, and Cas was fine staying there.

His door opened, which caught him by surprise. "I don't wanna go. You'll have to make me." He grumbled.

Dean chuckled. "Fine. You asked for it."

Cas felt Dean lift him out of his car, and he was fine with that. He was too exhausted to object anyway.

He cuddled into Dean's chest, listening to his heartbeat. This felt nice, a bit too nice. It was a bit too... snuggly. No, that wasn't Dean's intention. It couldn't have been. There was no way he was gay. Certainly not for Cas.

He soon felt himself being lowered into a warm bed. It was a nice bed. Dean's bed. The bed where Dean slept.

Holy shit, he was sleeping in Dean's bed.

This was happening. For real. He wasn't sure he could handle it. He liked this boy, and now he was sleeping in that boy's bed. Whoa.

He felt Dean lay down beside him, and he must've thought Cas was asleep, because he whispered, "Goodnight, Cas my angel."

Angel.

Angel.

Angelangelangelangelangel holy shit, no!

This was a dream, he was sure. It couldn't have been real. He wanted this too much for it to be real. No. He - it - how - no! No freaking way!

Angel. He said angel. He motherfucking said angel! But why? How and why? Why and... how?

Angel. That word was most definitely used there. For some reason. This was too much. Maybe he meant something else by angel. Maybe it was just some family thing. Yeah. They were like family. More like the friend zone.

Cas hated the friend zone.