Honey Apple Pie

Chapter Nineteen

Over the following weeks, Cas thought that he'd well and truly lost his phone this time, though it wasn't such a great loss. He felt bad about not contacting Charlie more, but it allowed his mother's request to slowly fade from his thoughts.

Dean was in and out of the bakery regularly, spending the least amount of time he could at work. He tried to hide it, but Cas noticed him getting more and more uneasy over time.

'Why do you stay there?' he asked one day, as Dean mooched around his kitchen after a morning of work. 'You're talented. You could go anywhere, and I'm sure there are mechanics near where Sam works.' To his surprise, Dean blushed. 'What?' he asked.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck, then signed, {This one is closer to you}

Cas too felt his cheeks redden. 'Don't stay somewhere that you don't like on my account,' he said, rolling out some pastry. 'I'm not going anywhere.'

{I like being close to you} As if to illustrate his point, Dean wrapped his arms around Cas's waist from behind, and slid his hands underneath Cas's apron.

'Hey, now,' Cas murmured, 'not in front of the pastry.'

Dean raised an amused eyebrow.

'It's too young for any of your shenanigans.'

Dean chuckled and spun Cas around. {Then maybe we should go in the other room. We wouldn't want to scar it so young} He kissed Cas fiercely, not allowing him to say anything just yet. {What do you have that for?} he asked eventually.

Cas cleared his throat. 'I, um, used to live in there. Before Charlie found the apartment,' he mumbled, slightly flustered.

Dean nodded, then went back to kissing Cas and allowing his hands to wander. Cas began gently guiding him towards the back room. Dean ran a hand through Cas's messy hair, but as he did so, caught sight of his watch. He broke away abruptly. {I have to go} he signed. {I'm late for therapy}

'Wha- Dean!' Cas said indignantly.

{We'll finish this later} he said with a wink, before dashing out of the front door.

Cas groaned once he was gone, and held his head in his hands. He forced himself to focus on anything else, splashing cold water on his face. Soon, he was back to normal, and got on with making the cupcakes for that afternoon.

At the end of the day, he began his usual routine, when Sam burst into the shop.

'Sam, what's wrong?' Cas asked.

'Have you seen Dean?' Sam said breathlessly.

'Not for a few hours, why?'

Sam ran both hands through his hair. 'Uh, okay, let me know if you see him.'

'Wait, Sam, what's going on?'

Sam bit his lip, hovering around the front door. 'I got a message from Dean's therapist. She said they had an uncomfortable session. He got upset and stormed out, and he left his phone behind. I don't know where he is. I was hoping he would be here... I gotta go. Let me know.' Sam went back out the front door.

'But Sam, I-' the door snapped shut. '-don't have my phone...'

Cas dropped his normal routine, and instead scoured the bakery again, pulling out all the baking trays and mixing bowls and patting along the back of all the cabinets. He was clattering around the kitchen so much that he didn't hear the bell ring on the front door, and when he got up to check under the register, he nearly ran head-first into Dean coming into the kitchen. He reeled back in surprise, then caught a look at Dean's balled-up fists, his clenched jaw and swollen, red eyes.