It's Complicated

Chapter Four

He hears from Castiel again the following Friday.

The phone call comes during his lunch break, and when he sees Stacks' phone number flash across his screen, he blinks, wondering for a second if it's a mistake.

"Hello?" The word comes out almost reluctantly.

"Dean, it's Castiel."

"Yeah, hey, Cas."

There's a beat and then, "Hello, Dean."

Dean smiles. "Hey."A brief silence fills the line before Dean clears his throat. "So..."

"Oh, yes. I called because I'm going to the farmer's market tomorrow, and I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me." 

Dean's mind flicks through the several hundred times Sam's tried to get him to go to the farmer's market with him. Every time, Dean's scoffed self-righteously and asked Sam what business a guy like Dean would have showing up at a place like a farmer's market. "Uh, sure. Yeah. Farmer's market. Sounds... cool." 

As Castiel gives Dean a time and place to meet, Dean wonders if maybe he's in way over his head.

Agreeing to attend the farmer's market with Castiel has Dean up in arms even more than the tea-and-book-club thing.

The farmer's market isn't a place even Sam would take someone on a date, and so the morning he's supposed to meet Castiel on Lazarus Street, Dean stands staring at his closet for a good several minutes, wondering if he should wear a nicer shirt, something that will probably require ironing, or if something more relaxed will suffice.

He decides on a short sleeved Henley and one of two pairs of jeans without holes in them, and as he walks out his front door, he asks himself when the hell he turned into that guy.

Lazarus Street is a mess. Dean has to park about a block and half away, but when he sees Castiel waiting for him in the spot they agreed, a grey t-shirt and deep blue cardigan hugging his frame, the brisk walk Dean was forced to take just moments before becomes of minimal importance.

"So uh, how do we do this thing?" Dean wonders after they've greeted one another.

Castiel smiles at him with his head tilted to the side. His teeth aren't showing, but it's just as satisfying of a smile as if they were. "That's right, you've never been."

Dean rubs his hand over the back of his neck. "Yeah, this is kinda Sammy's thing."

"Sam. Your brother, right? The one you got the book for."

"Yeah."

Castiel guides Dean in a small turn, his hand warm against the small of Dean's back, and they head towards a long stretch of vendors scattered along either side of an open street.

There are bursts of color everywhere, bright, seasonal foods mixing with the colors of autumn hanging in the trees and dusting the ground, and Dean thinks maybe the place isn't going to be so bad after all.

"I have a list of things I need, but if you see somewhere you'd like to stop, by all means let me know."

Dean nods, and they make their way affably down the street, shoulders brushing, and hands skirting around one another's awkwardly.

Their first stop is for honey where Castiel insists Dean picks the flavors. After a taste test that may or may not include Castiel spoon-feeding Dean little samples of honey, Dean decides on a lemon infused one and the same vanilla flavor Castiel put in their tea several nights before.