"So he asked you out? Looks like you don't need my help. Congrats, little bro." Gabriel was enjoying a bright red sucker while Castiel took note of their inventory and relayed the events of the previous night.

"He didn't leave me with a number, or address," Castiel said, counting the hyacinths.

"Huh. Speaking of addresses, you're not worried at all that he just happened to know your address without asking?"

Castiel sighed. "He probably asked someone."

"Well, it wasn't me. I'm pretty sure he's stalking you."

"Dean is not stalking me."

"He is, for sure," Gabriel said.

"Gabriel-"

"Ask him when he comes back to the shop. Ten bucks says that he did."

"I'll take you up on that. But what if he doesn't? Come back to the shop, I mean?"

"He said he was a mechanic, didn't he?"

"Yes. Are we out of lillies?"

"I think so. Anyway, there are only a few mechanic places in town, so get in an accident, and go to one of them, and hope he's there. Then, after he finishes fixing your car, you can follow him home-"

"I'm not stalking him," interrupted Castiel. "Or getting into a car crash hoping that I get my car fixed by him." He glanced at the clock. "Can you help me restock? We have ten minutes until we open."

The next ten minutes were spent trimming, restocking, arranging, and coming up with legal, non creepy ways to get an answer to Dean.

By the time the "come in, we're open!" sign had been put up, Castiel had shot down most of Gabriel's suggestions, including but not limited to stalking, kidnapping, getting in a car crash, and slashing his tires. There was one decent suggestion Gabriel had given him; asking for an address or phone number under the pretense of flower delivery. It was the most legal thing he had come up with that didn't involve wrecking his car.

In order for that to work, Dean would have to come back to the flower shop. Castiel wasn't sure when the next time that would be.

The morning was slow. A handful of customers came and went. The sun had arked far past its zenith, and the sky was turning to an orange and purple ombré before the bell rang, and Dean walked in.

"Hi," he said. Dean seemed extremely nervous, or self conscious. What Dean had to be self conscious about, Castiel wasn't sure. Between the way he smiled, the way the light caught his eyes, and everything else about him, Dean was practically perfect.

"You take care of this guy, Cassie," Gabriel said with a wink. "I'm just going to take care of some stuff in the back." He vanished into the back room, leaving Castiel alone with Dean.

"Hello, Dean," Castiel greeted him. "How are you?"

"Good," Dean said quickly. "Really good. You?"

"I'm doing very good as well."

Castiel looked at Dean carefully, committing the details of his face to memory, not for the first time. The green eyes, the amber hair, the soft lips. Freckles dotted his face like stars, Cas noticed. How had he not seen that before?

He stared for a few moments before realizing that he was staring.

"So," Castiel said awkwardly, "what are you here for?"

"I was thinking that, uh, you could choose?" Dean said, giving him a small, quick grin.

"Yes, of course." Castiel began bustling around, grabbing flowers from various containers. "How did your bouquet work? Did you ask the guy out?"

"I, er, I did." Castiel could feel Dean's eyes on him as he trimmed the stems of a few scarlet ipomoeas. "I don't have an answer yet, though."

"I'm sure you'll get one soon." He began to arrange the bouquet, sticking small stalks of Jerusalem oak amongst the colorful blooms.

"That's what I'm hoping," Dean said.

Castiel grabbed a marker, and scribbled something on the inside of the wrapping, before wrapping the flowers. He passed the bouquet to Dean, fingers brushing each others'. "Here."

"Thanks. How, uh, how much?"

Castiel gave him a small smile. "This one is free, Dean. I'll see you around?"

Dean stared at him for a moment before responding. "Yeah. Thanks again, Cas." He left, and the bell above the door rang.

Castiel watched him go, the corners of his lips still turned upward.

"You didn't ask for his number," Gabriel noted. "I take it that you're planning to slash your tires, then?"

"Gabriel-"

"Remember, only slash three of them, so that your insurance will cover it. Never four."

"You can stop coming up with your absolutely crazy plans," Castiel told him. "Dean has my number. He'll get back to me, and without me having to replace my tires."

Dean was guessing that Cas had responded to him via flower, the way he had asked him out. That would be great, if he knew what all those flowers meant.

Fortunately, it was a Thursday, which meant he didn't have to work, and had all the time in the world to google what all those flowers were. Lucky for him, he didn't have to.

When he went to unwrap the flowers and stick them into a vase he had gotten, there was a note written in black marker on the inside of the wrapping.

jerusalem oak and ambrosia; your feelings are reciprocated.

scarlet ipomoea; attachment.

coral rose; desire.

yellow lily; i'm walking on air, gaiety.

white violet; let's take a chance.

(605) 277 - 2888

Dean grinned.

Cas had said yes.

He was going out with Castiel Novak.

Dean couldn't believe that he had said yes.

He couldn't stop grinning, even the next morning as he headed to work. Couldn't stop while he worked on a crappy Honda and got grease sprayed all over his clothes.

"Whatever you're on, I need it," Kevin said halfway through the day.

Dean laughed. "I'm not on anything," he said cheerfully.

"Well, Goofy, you're never this happy," Charlie mused. "Kevin's got a point. You're definitely high."

"I'm not high." Dean insisted, trying to stop smiling. It didn't work.

Charlie and Kevin looked at each other, unconvinced.

"If I was high, I'd share, okay?" Dean said.

"Tran in there is underage, you'd better not get him hooked on anything!" Bobby called from the other room.

"I said 'if,' Bobby! Anyway," Dean continued, "I'm not. So stop asking."

Kevin opened his mouth to keep asking.

Dean turned to Charlie. "What's your plan with Gilda for next week?"

"They loaded her with an extra shift at the hospital," Charlie said. "She's not going to be able to celebrate on our anniversary. We're holding off a week. I've still got the tickets, though."

"That sucks," Dean said. After a moment he added, "You planning to do anything with those tickets?"

"You want them?" Charlie offered.

"I'll pay you back," Dean told her.

"I still owe you for picking up my shift last summer so I could join Gilda to LARP. After you have your movie night with some girl, then we're even."

"Thanks, Charlie."

He knew exactly what he was going to do with those two tickets.

The grin stayed plastered on his face long after his shift had ended.

Dean drove home, blasting Led Zeppelin, and in an impossibly good mood. He was going out with Cas, he had a great plan for their first date, the sun hadn't set yet, and traffic was minimal. Things couldn't get much better.

The first thing he did when he got home was order takeout. Food was important.

The second thing was text Cas. He had stared at his phone stupidly for a few minutes before typing out:

Hi, this is Dean

How are things going?

How are things going. Wow. He was sure Cas was swooning over his romantic texting skills.

Cas probably hadn't even seen the message, the shop was still open and he'd be working the counter. He was surprised when he got a reply not ten minutes later.

Hello, Dean.

Things are going well. The shop is pretty quiet. Gabriel is taking care of the counter right now.

Dean had never been nervous when he texted, but messaging with Cas had to be the exception. This was the perfect spot to ask. Just a simple, "you doing anything on Saturday night?" But was it too forward? Dean hadn't really been in a lot of real relationships. He didn't know how to do this sort of thing. Mainly, he would just pick a chick up at a bar, they'd spend the night together, and that would be all. Sure, there had been Lisa, and Robin before her, but that was it.

He should just do it. Type it out, hit send, and let Cas respond. Yeah. That was how texting with people worked, right?

Dean messaged back quickly, before he could lose his nerve.

Next Saturday night, you up for remedying your lack of Star Wars knowledge?

If you're available, I mean

A little bubble appeared to show Cas was typing.

Potentially.

So long as you're still willing to watch Titanic.

Dean sighed. He couldn't believe he was agreeing to watch Titanic.

I guess sacrifices have to be made

Cas replied right away.

Yes, they do.

What time?

Dean fumbled for the tickets. He hadn't looked at that.

Want me to pick you up at 6:30? We'll have time to grab some dinner before the movie that way

Cas' response was affirmative. A moment paused before another message came through from him.

I need to go back up front to help out. Talk to you later?

The reply was easy that time.

Sure thing, Cas