Standing Together

Chapter 55

A/N I'm officially more than 20 chapters ahead in this book which means the one I'm working on now won't be published for 3 weeks and idk if I have this type of patience but I know it'll be worth it when I can't write during the school year and have some things prewritten but ughhh okay have a book

There are only six NFL teams that have a game on Thanksgiving. Dean just happens to be on one of those teams.

Castiel doesn't do anything for the day. There's really nothing to do. It's hard to be thankful when you're all alone, stuck inside the same house you've been in for months. Instead, he chooses to celebrate the occasion by sitting in bed and reading wattpad fan fiction.

It's around noon when he gets a phone call from Lucifer, and he doesn't hesitate to answer it. He needs entertainment, and Lucifer is always the best source of it.

"Hi," Castiel says.

"Happy Turkey Day!" Lucifer says excitedly.

Castiel chuckles. "Well, it's not quite Turkey Day here. No fun meals or anything."

"Oh, yeah, because Dean has football today, right?" Lucifer says. "Are you gonna watch the game?"

"I never watch the games," Castiel says. "Why would that change today?"

"Wait, why don't you watch the games?" Lucifer asks. "And why didn't I know you don't watch the games? I watch all the games. You need to get better at your game-watching."

"But I'm always really paranoid when I watch them," Castiel says.

"What, paranoid that he's enjoying having all these hot guys lying on top of him?" Lucifer asks teasingly.

"What? No!" Castiel says immediately. "I'm worried he's gonna get hurt!" He pauses, then asks, "But are they hot guys? Not that I'm worried, I just..."

Lucifer laughs. "You're totally jealous."

"No way," Castiel says immediately. "I'm just curious, that's it."

"Mm, sure you are," Lucifer says. "But honestly, I got no idea if they're hot because they're all wearing helmets, but the shoulder pads definitely aren't doing them any favors."

"I like how none of these reasons involved being straight," Castiel says.

"Well, duh," Lucifer says. "I may be straight, but I still have eyes. Just like you can't deny that Carrie Underwood is one of the most beautiful people on the planet. Sexuality is irrelevant."

Castiel chuckles. "Okay, I see your point. Hey, speaking of girls you think are hot, how's Claire doing?"

"Nice segue," Lucifer says. "She's doing good — or about as good as you can do with a nine-ish-month-old baby in the house."

"Is said baby doing good?" Castiel asks.

"That's an excellent question," Lucifer says. "Unfortunately, she's tiny and doesn't speak English, so I can't get you an answer. I can, however, assure you that she's alive — or was a little bit ago. I think she's just sleeping now. She better not be dead."

"I'm going to assume you're just being you when you talk about Alex possibly dying, just because I think you'd probably murder everyone in your general area if she was," Castiel says.

"You're not wrong," Lucifer agrees.

"I feel like I should ask why you called before you go off on a tangent," Castiel says.

"That's a good idea," Lucifer says, but doesn't answer the question.

Castiel rolls his eyes. "Hey, Lucifer, why did you call?"

"Good question," Lucifer says. "Well, I've basically been kicked out of the food-making club because no one trusts me to help make Thanksgiving dinner, so I've kinda been aimlessly walking around for a while, and then I realized you'd probably be just as bored as me, so I called you and now we're here."

"Well, I am bored, so nicely done," Castiel says.

"What are you and Deano having for Thanksgiving?" Lucifer asks.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what are you having for dinner?" Lucifer asks. "Or even what are you doing for fun to celebrate the brutal slaughtering of our friendly neighborhood Native Americans? Just, what are you doing in general when he gets home?"

"Nothing?" Castiel says uncertainly. "Dean's gonna be gone all day. I'm just kind of sitting here, waiting for him to come home so we can go to bed."

Lucifer scoffs. "Seriously? What kind of holiday is that?"

"A football one," Castiel replies.

"This is so inspirational," Lucifer says. "All these brave young men are sacrificing their family time to grace our TVs with their presence. They truly are braver than the US Marines."

"Well, I wish they were less brave," Castiel says. "I want my boyfriend back."

"No, you want your fiancé back," Lucifer says. "I did not spend months helping Dean plan a trip to Disney and stressing over whether you'd say yes or panic and run away just to let you keep calling him your boyfriend."

"Oh, I'm very sorry," Castiel says sarcastically. "I want my fiancé back." What Lucifer said takes a moment to sink in, and there's a pause before Castiel asks, "Did you really think I would panic and run away?"

"I considered the possibility," Lucifer says. "I mean, I didn't expect it, but you're an awkward cinnamon roll. I wouldn't put it past you."

"Okay, but I'm an awkward cinnamon roll that loves his then-boyfriend-now-fiancé and was already sort of expecting to spend the rest of my life with him," Castiel says. "Why would I not say yes?"

"Because you're an awkward cinnamon roll," Lucifer repeats. "That doesn't mean you're a sociopathic cinnamon roll that will never experience love. You just kinda freak out easily, and I wasn't sure if you were gonna be like 'fuck no, oh shit I meant yes' or something. You gotta remember that you're, like, super dramatic. It's really not out of the realm of possibility."

"I want to deny that but you're actually not wrong," Castiel says. "That kinda does sound like something I'd do."

"Now I'm curious," Lucifer says. "You obviously handled that really well, or you wouldn't be engaged right now, so, like, did you know he was going to propose?"

"How would I have known he was going to propose?" Castiel asks.

"I don't know. Were you suspicious?" Lucifer asks. "Sudden impromptu Disney trip that wasn't all that sudden because we told you five months in advance? Kinda weird? And the fact that me and Dean put it together without help from an actual mature adult that would know what they're doing?"

"I just kind of assumed you guys just wanted to do something fun," Castiel says. "You know, get the whole family together for the first time in ages."

"I like how you refer to it as a family like it wasn't two families, a couple cousins that are only lowkey the family, and a few friends," Lucifer says. "But we truly are one if you believe."

Castiel shakes his head in amusement. "Whatever you say."

There's a pause, then Lucifer says, "Okay, my little human is crying and I gotta make sure the monster under he crib didn't come out so I will talk later. Bye!"

Castiel chuckles and puts his phone down. Well, that was a shockingly entertaining conversation for one so short.