"Love It or List It"

Pairings: Destiel (DeanxCastiel), SamxJess
Ratings: Teen (Rating will go up by the end)
Warnings: Fluff, domesticity, television show hosts, Designer!Dean, Realtor!Cas, language, consumption of alcohol, sleep issues
Words: 2483

Beta: Bree (bowtiesanddeductions), Jill (somanyjimifeels)
My Tumblr: talesfromperdition

Notes: This fic was inspired by the HGTV show "Love It or List It" in which a designer renovates a home to get the family to stay and a realtor tries to find the family a new house to move into.

Chapter 1

Most of the members of the build team were already there when Dean and Castiel walked into the bar. Dean pumped his fist into the air – a cocky grin on his face – and the rest of the construction guys and camera crew started to applaud. Castiel rolled his eyes, moving away from his friend and toward the bar, but Dean just wrapped his arm around his shoulders, guiding him there instead. Used to the production, the team turned their attention away from the show's stars and back to one another.

"Parents never want to move their kids out of their school zone, Cas," Dean said, still full of smiles at his victory. "It's one thing to take them over budget, but to take them an hour away? Yeah, right."

"You should have seen that house, Dean," Castiel frowned, trying to shrug his friend's arm off. Dean grinned and held him tighter. The look the dark haired man gave him was forced – a fake, angry glare – but Dean knew Castiel didn't really mind. If the realtor had won, he would be doing the same to the designer.

Dean and Castiel had been friends before they were signed onto the show, "Love it or List it," but only because both of them knew Sam. Even though it had always been Castiel's goal to be a Realtor, he still went to college on his parents' dime. Unlike the Winchesters, Castiel had come from money. He ended up being Sam's roommate – who was going for pre-law but knew he would end up doing construction with his dad after graduation anyway – and Castiel and Dean had met that first weekend of school.

There was a bit of a rivalry right out of the gate.

Dean, although he was a talented carpenter himself, had moved their father's company away from starting brand new houses and more toward the remodeling tract. At first, the three Winchesters simply remodeled houses, but when Dean found out he had an eye for interior design, they started making significantly more money when they stopped leaving a room bare and investing some of their renovation budget into furniture as well.

"Love it or List it" started as an project in one of Castiel and Sam's shared business classes; Sam was confident that Dean could make a couple love their old home again with renovation, but Castiel was sure he could get the couple to move to a different house that better suited them.

It had been hypothetical, of course. It was just an exercise in money management, but still, the idea stuck.

The show didn't actually take off until years later. After graduation, Castiel and the Winchesters had stayed in touch – all three of them lived in the same neighborhood in the same city – but years went by before anything became of Dean and Castiel's rivalry. After the death of their father, Dean and Sam were looking for something different. They pitched the idea to Home and Garden Television, and Castiel dropped a million dollar client to sign on.

That had been five years ago. Even though they had done over a hundred shows, the rivalry was still intact, even if the prize remained the same as their first days: loser had to buy the winner a drink after the show.

Castiel leaned his elbows on the bar, looking over the liquor. "Did you want a bottle of wine?"

"Come on, Cas, after all this time, you have to know what I like for my victory drink," Dean grinned, pulling out his phone from his pocket. "I get you wine, you get me whiskey."

"I just always think you'll magically become more cultured after a win," Castiel said, nodding at the bartender when he walked up. He ordered Dean's whiskey – something expensive from the top shelf – and got himself a glass of wine. Just because he was a gracious loser, he also got Dean a glass of snooty, fancy beer, and Dean couldn't help but smile at his co-host.

They'd been friends for ten years, working together for five, but it still surprised Dean that the realtor had managed to get under his skin and lodge himself there so comfortably. They both had a talent for reading people – in their line of business, their egos were often put aside by a frustrated client – but sometimes, Dean was sure he knew Castiel better than he knew Sam.

Sam had been quiet for the past week, taking Dean's orders silently – which was something that never happened – but they had been so busy putting the finishing touches on the house that the brothers hadn't gotten a chance to talk. There would be time tonight on the cab ride back to their neighborhood.

But for now, Dean held up his phone, catching Castiel by surprised when the realtor turned around, holding Dean's whiskey and beer. He frowned as Dean snapped the picture, and rolled his eyes when the designer ignored his alcohol in favor of his phone.

"This was a really good picture of you," Dean teased. "You always take the most adorable loser photos."

Castiel frowned, saying, "At least I'm adorable. You look like a kicked puppy when you lose." Dean grinned at him, even though he had enough loser photos of his own to know that it was sort of true, and he pocketed his phone, taking his drinks from his friend and leading the both of them back to the rest of the cast and crew.

Dean sat down next to his brother. Sam's beer glass was already empty, and the normally talkative man was sitting quietly, hand around the glass, looking at it as if he wasn't really seeing it. A second later, Dean felt Castiel sit down next to him – sitting his bottle of wine and two glasses down before settling in his chair, knee knocking against Dean's – and Sam still didn't look up from his glass to acknowledge either of them.

Even when Castiel poured both glasses and held one out to the younger Winchester, Sam remained lost, only turning to face his friends when Castiel called his name.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Sam said, taking the glass. Castiel took a sip of his own wine, raising his eyebrows at Sam in silent question. "I've just had a lot on my mind this past week."

"Trouble in paradise?" Dean joked, but when Sam just sighed and turned his attention to swirling the liquid around the wine glass, Dean looked at Castiel. The realtor's eyes were huge, shocked, and he took another large sip of his wine. The elder Winchester turned back to his brother. "Sam? You and Jess had a fight?"

"What?" Sam turned back to his friends, looking from Dean's concerned face to Castiel's large, worried eyes and he forced a small chuckle. "No, we didn't fight. It's nothing like that."

"You realize that you're the only one of the three of us who has ever been able to hold a relationship, right?" Dean said, tipping the top shelf whiskey back and drinking it in one go.

"It's true," Castiel chimed in. "What hope do us mere mortals have if the two of you are fighting?"

"We aren't fighting," Sam sighed, again. He turned back to his wine. The last time Jess and Sam had fought, it had been a minor disagreement about flower arrangements at their wedding. They had been a rock solid couple since they met in college. "We're pregnant."

For a minute, Dean was silent, trying to process the words. They seemed to be Greek, like it took some deep, thoughtful translation. When it clicked, Dean was grinning, standing up to wrap his arms around his brother. The rest of the cast and crew – those who had overheard anyway, were all applauding – and Castiel was standing up as well, waiting his turn to congratulate his best friend.

The reaction at least had Sam smiling, if a little frazzled, but after handshakes and hugs, Dean could see the joy slipping from Sam again as he sat back down. Once again, he and Castiel shared a look, before they turned their attention back to Sam.

"You're nervous?" Castiel asked, and Sam looked up at him.

"I'm terrified. I don't think my genes are all the best for parenting. Look at my dad…"

"Hey, dad, did the best he could after mom died," Dean said, out of habit more than out of necessity or honesty, and for once, Sam didn't fight it. "And screw him, anyway, Sammy. You're going to be a terrific dad. There's nothing to worry about."

"Well," Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, there is. See, when Jess and I moved into that house, I promised her I would do a bunch of work on it. Then dad died, and then the show got started, and I never really had time to do it." Sam looked back into his wine glass. "And now she wants to move to a move-in ready house."

"Your house is move-in ready," Dean insisted. "Sure, the kitchen is dated –"

"Ugly," Castiel clarified.

"And it doesn't have an open concept or hardwood floors, but dude, you have history there. You have memories there."

Castiel leaned forward, looking around Dean at Sam. "I could find you a move-in ready home."

"Sam isn't moving," Dean said, perhaps louder than he meant to, and turned to glare at Castiel. Never one to back down, Castiel glared right back. "I can renovate his house for him. I can add a sweet new nursery and an office for Jess. That house has a lot of space and he isn't fully utilizing the rooms."

"That's because the basement isn't finished, Dean," Castiel said. "That house is going to cost a lot of money to fix up to meet their needs, but he could sell it and help finance a more appropriate home for his growing family."

"I don't want him to move," Dean hissed. "He lives right down the street from me, Cas. If you find him a place, you're going to move him into a different state."

The hosts were glaring at each other, friendship forgotten in a moment of rivalry, and neither of them noticed the way many members of the cast and crew had fallen silent, watching the bickering with some interest. Money exchanged hands – it wasn't uncommon for their friends to bet on the outcome of their fights – and even though it was Sam's problem to begin with, he was the only one brave enough to step between the pair of them.

"Guys, it's fine," Sam said, putting his hand on Dean's shoulder. The elder Winchester continued to stare Castiel down, refusing to be the one who looked away first. "Jess and I have a couple of months to decide what we're going to do. She isn't that far along yet, and…"

Castiel's eyes never left Dean's when he said, "Yes, but later into the pregnancy, she won't be able to lift heavy objects due to the fact that her center of gravity will shift, not to mention the hormones involved with pregnancy cause tissues and ligaments to soften, which could result in her injuring herself if she tried to lift heavy loads. Therefore, if you are going to move, it is safest for her to do that as soon as possible."

The tension in the room seemed to dissipate as Dean turned to look at Sam. When the brothers turned back to Castiel, Dean asked, "How do you possibly know that?"

"I have a lot of brothers and sisters," Castiel said, breaking eye contact in favor of pouring himself some more wine. "Military brat, remember? We moved a lot."

"Well, either way," Dean said. "Sam doesn't want to move, so…"

"I'm not against moving, Dean," Sam said. "I just want what's best for our family. I'm not married to the house, but I like living close to both of you. I like the park that's across the street from our block, and the school district we live in is excellent. I wouldn't want to move far away."

"You might not have to," Castiel said. "Our neighborhood is an up-and-coming development and with the way markets are right now, there are several listings within a five block radius between the park and the school that haven't been sold yet."

"Yeah, but Sam, I can make your house work for you again," Dean begged. "All I would need is…"

"You two need to shut up," Kevin, head of the production team, said. He was sitting a table away with most of the camera crew, and he rubbed his head as he looked at them. "If it's such a big deal, we'll make it part of the show."

"Uh, no, Kevin. We're alright, really," Sam started, but Dean grinned.

"No, Sammy, this will be awesome. That way, we'll have the time to actually do your house, and I will get another public victory."

"Actually, what will happen is that Dean will increase the overall value of your home, which will help your budget with the resale," Castiel said, and Dean rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to form a come-back, but Sam stopped him.

"Look, I'll talk to Jess tonight, okay? I'll see what she wants to do about it. But I'll tell you right now, guys, we're not going to do this if it's just going to make the two of you fight. A little on-screen rivalry is one thing, but you haven't really fought since the time we remodeled Cas' mom's kitchen, and I cannot have a repeat of that."

Dean looked down into his beer, and with a quick look at Castiel, he was glad he had the common sense to look ashamed as well.

"If the two of you promise that you won't get too wrapped up in winning and actually want to help us, then I'll talk to Jess about it. But seriously, I can't go back to college."

"We promise, Sam," Dean said.

Castiel added, "We just want to help."

"Alright," Sam said.

For a moment, the Winchesters and Castiel sat quietly. Soon enough, Dean and Castiel both got their phones out – Dean drawing up a rough layout of Sam's first floor on the app he used for remodeling, and Castiel logging on to whatever site he used to find listings – and Sam sighed again.

After a second, Castiel's phone went off. Dean turned to look at him, and Castiel frowned and shoved his phone in Dean's face.

"Why do you always put my loser faces on twitter?" Castiel demanded.

Dean laughed. "Well, my followers think you're cute when you lose. What can I say?"

"I hate you," Castiel said, but without any real venom.

This time, when Sam sighed, Dean completely ignored it. He already knew exactly what Sam was thinking, and he didn't want to hear it.