Standing Together

Chapter 21

"Happy Americans-Have-Always-Been-Wicked-Selfish-So-We-Threw-A-War-To-Make-Britain-Just-Give-Us-Free-Stuff-And-Claimed-We're-The-Good-Guys Day!" Dean says with a grin.

"I'm confused," Castiel says. "What's the free stuff Britain gave us?"

"They basically fought a war for us to keep us safe and then had to fight a war against us to keep our friendship," Dean explains. "They wanted our taxes to pay then back for the defense they gave us, and we were selfish dicks and refused."

Castiel chuckles. "Why are you so anti-America on America Day?"

Dean shrugs. "I'm always anti-America. You just don't notice it because I never talk about it. Why would I spend more time thinking about our country if I don't have to? Now come on!" He grabs Castiel's hand and pulls him out of bed, leading him over to the kitchen.

"Are you going to tell me what this is about?" Castiel asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

He's known something was going on from the minute he woke up. Dean had run into the room and given him a hug — he must have heard Castiel's loud gasp, waking up from his nightmare — and told his fiancé not to get up yet before disappearing again. That was a few minutes ago, and Castiel was too confused and tired to ask questions.

Dean gently pushes Castiel into a chair at the kitchen table, sitting in front of one of the two plates on the table, accompanied by silverware and maple syrup. He grabs the two plates of pancakes, each with a tall stack on them, and asks, "Buttermilk pancakes or chocolate chip pancakes?"

"Why did you make pancakes?" Castiel asks, confused.

"Uh, because it's America Day?" Dean says as if it should be obvious.

"I didn't realize you celebrate Independence Day with pancakes," Castiel says.

"Of course you do!" Dean says. "It's the best holiday! You gotta have pancakes on all the best holidays!"

Castiel gapes at him. "You think Independence Day is the best holiday?"

"Hell yeah!" Dean says. "It's a day of good food and making fun of England. What's not to love?"

"Why would you make fun of England?" Castiel asks. "What is there to make fun of?"

"See, that's the problem," Dean says. "There's nothing to make fun of when it comes to Britain. I mean, they have Benedict Cumberbatch, for god's sake. So all America has in them is that we beat them in the Revolutionary War, and today is the only day that's relevant. Here, just take pancakes." Dean drops the two plates on the table, then sits down across from his fiancé, taking a stack of five pancakes at once and plopping them down on his plate.

"Are these the normal pancakes or chocolate chip?" Castiel asks, gesturing to the pile Dean took from.

"Choc," Dean says, mouth full of pancakes.

Castiel takes one of the milk pancakes instead, toying around with it instead of really eating. "So, is that why you like Independence Day? You're just upset that Benedict Cumberbatch is British?"

"Mm." Dean holds up a finger until he finishes chewing, then says, "No, it was just fun to celebrate growing up. My dad would take Sammy and I to the police station and we'd eat hotdogs and talk about how much we didn't want to go back to school."

"And that's why you made pancakes," Castiel finished. "You made pancakes because you used to eat hotdogs with police officers."

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds weird," Dean says. "But yeah, pretty much. Now eat your pancake, Cas. Staring at it isn't going to do anything."

Castiel chuckles and drips a little bit of syrup on it, then eats a single piece with an exaggerated bite. "Happy?"

"I'm actually kind of offended that you're not eating it," Dean says. "These are some damn good pancakes, if I do say so myself."

"I'm just not hungry," Castiel mumbles, then quickly changes the subject. "So, if this is your favorite holiday, what other fun things do you have planned out?"

"I don't know," Dean muses. "I think that after this, we should celebrate Steve Rogers' birthday by watching Captain America. Or, we could celebrate our victory against Britain by listening to the Hamilton soundtrack." He pauses, then says, "Yeah, you don't look very interested in either of those."

Castiel just shrugs.

"Alright, we can talk about what to do next when next comes," Dean says. "What I have planned out is a nice little cookout for dinner. I got us some hotdogs and hamburgers and chips and fruit trays with Cool Whip because Cool Whip is the best part of any healthy snack. We can even eat outside with little plastic plates and red Solo cups of beer; the whole nine yards. How does that sound?"

Just the thought of eating a burger makes him nauseous. He can't even bring himself to eat a whole pancake. But Dean sounds so excited, wearing that big smile he always gets when he does something cute just for his fiancé, and Castiel can't say no.

"Alright," Castiel says finally. "But I think I'm going to pass on the beer."

"I knew you were going to say that," Dean says. "That's why I got Hawaiian Punch, too."

"When did you have time to buy all this?" Castiel asks, gaping at him.

"Yesterday, when I bought us ice cream," Dean explains. "I couldn't miss a Fourth of July cookout."

"And you got all that just for the two of us?" Castiel asks, a bit surprised by how much he listed off. They can't eat all that.

"Yep," Dean says. "And anything we don't eat today, we can eat it later. We can have an Independence Week. It's gonna be great!"

Castiel chuckles. "You seem very sure of this."

"I am very sure of this," Dean says. "This is Winchester tradition numero uno."

"Really?"

Dean shrugs. "Nah, but it is something I like doing, and now I get to do it with you, so it's going to be twice as fun."

A/N Guess who forgot to publish this hours ago? Meeee!