Honey Apple Pie

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Dean breezed around the apartment, almost glowing for the next few weeks. He loved his new job, and even found himself willing to do overtime.

{I'm pleased for you} Cas said one evening.

Dean had come home late, and brought a lot of food with him. {I'm making a feast} he told Cas, grinning.

Cas watched him happily, his feet curled underneath him on the couch. He did miss Dean's daytime visits to the bakery, but it was worth it to see Dean so relaxed and happy.

Dean then made so much food that they had to invite Sam and Jess over to help them eat all of it.

They both slept deeply that night, neither disturbed by nightmares, or Sam and Jess in the spare room.

Cas quietly slipped out of bed the next morning, careful not to wake Dean up. His hours were a lot more regular now, but Cas was still up earlier than him most days. He grabbed a snack for breakfast and carefully closed the front door behind him, making sure Gracie was on the right side of it as he did so. He hummed quietly to himself as he walked to the bakery, twirling his keys in his hands. The sky was blue, and thin white clouds scudded across it. It was still cold, but Cas caught the faint smell of spring on the breeze.

He put his key in the door, but froze as he glanced up at the window.

Giant red letters had been graffitied across his window, reading 'HOMO'.

Cas stared at it for a moment, struggling to process what he was looking at, his veins turning to ice. 'Oh, God,' he whispered, then threw himself inside the bakery. He grabbed a bucket and a sponge, and stumbled back outside with it. How many people had already seen this? He wet the sponge and scrubbed at the paint, but nothing happened.

'It's not coming off,' he muttered, scrubbing even more frantically. 'It's not coming off.' He kept scrubbing it anyway, his scrambled brain unable to think of something else to do.

'Are you all right, dear?'

Cas jumped, dropping the sponge. 'Mrs Holden,' he said, seeing who it was. He looked up at the graffiti, knowing he wouldn't be able to cover it up.

'Oh dear,' she said, seeing the graffiti. 'That won't come off easy.'

Cas shook his head miserably.

Mrs Holden rubbed his shoulder. 'My grandson is what they call transgendered,' she told him. 'He has a lot of experience with this kind of thing. I bet he could get this right off.'

'Really?' Cas said, wringing his hands.

'Oh, sure. You get back in there and make some of your delicious food, and I'll call my grandson.'

'Thank you,' Cas said.

He went inside the bakery, tucking the keys behind the register, and shakily pulling out his phone.

Come by the bakery if you have a minute, he texted Dean.

He tried to go about his regular routine, but kept losing track of where he was.

About an hour passed, and there was a knock on the door. Cas went out and saw a man standing at the door.

'You must be Cas,' he said, reaching out to shake Cas's hand. 'I'm Chase.'

'Nice to meet you,' Cas said politely.

'I noticed your graffiti problem. Come on, I'll show you how to get rid of it.' He shrugged off his backpack and pulled out a bottle of paint thinner, a spray bottle, and a razor.