MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY LITTLE SOCK PUPPETS! x

December 25: Gabriel, Dean, Mary, Castiel

Gabriel.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS!"

"What the -?" Jimmy let out a muffled noise of complaint, squinting as he lifted his head out from underneath the pillow. "Gabe!" He aimed a kick in the intruder's direction. "Piss off!"

Gabriel beamed at his younger brother, sitting at the bottom of the bed with his legs crossed, bouncing as he spoke and rousing Amelia from her slumber too. "Cheer up, Jim-Bob! It's Christmas morning! No one's allowed to be grumpy on Christmas morning!" He tugged at the duvet like an excited five year old. "C'mon! Sammy's already downstairs getting some coffee on the go, and Mama and Papa Winchester are preparing the presents!"

"Oh, hooray," Jimmy replied, without enthusiasm, which earned him a shove from the bottom of the bed and caused his legs to slide out from under the warm duvet, his feet hitting the floor with a gentle thud. "Fuck. It's cold."

"It's called winter, Jimmy." Gabriel gave him another shove, almost sending his brother's entire body onto the floor. "Now, come on, up! We'll start without you if you don't get a move on!"

Jimmy waited for another few seconds, before he let out a groan and pulled himself into a sitting position, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as he did so. "Okay, okay, fine, I'm up."

"Great!" Gabriel leapt off the bed, beaming widely. "I'm gonna go get whoever's still alive out of Cassie and Deano and then it's time for presents!"

"Wha'?" Jimmy blinked, obviously still asleep. "Cas an - Gabe, I really don't think that's a good idea -!"

Gabriel rolled his eyes, bounding out of the room anyway, practically dancing across the landing as he neared Dean's room. He hadn't heard any noises coming from the room since his brother-in-law had gone crashing in yesterday evening, so either they had sorted it out or both of them were dead by now.

Whatever had happened, it was sure to liven up Christmas.

"Cassie?" Gabriel gave a light tap on the closed door, pausing for a moment to listen for any sounds of movement. "Cas? You still alive in there?" Receiving no answer, the older Novak pushed down on the door handle and let the door open ever so slowly in an attempt to make as little noise as possible. "Castiel?" He peered around the door, before he stopped, a shit-eating grin breaking out over his face as he took in the scene in front of him. Dean and Cas were curled up on Dean's bed, atop the duvet, using Cas' trenchcoat as a makeshift blanket; Dean and all of his limbs were wrapped around Cas like he was some kind of human pillow, whilst the younger Novak had his face buried in the head of dark blonde hair, the material of Dean's shirt caught in his fist, almost like some kind of comforter.

Gabriel stayed watching them for a few more minutes, enjoying the looks of contentment on both of their faces, ones that had been seven years in the making, not having the heart to wake them. He shook his head - daft idjits, he thought to himself - before he quietly backed out of the room and shut the door once more, smirking to himself as he turned to go down the stairs.

All's well that ends well, as Sam had once said, and, in Gabriel's mind, this Destiel pie malarkey had ended incredibly well.

Dean.

Someone was singing.

It was faint, and far away, but it was there alright, pulling Dean out of sleep and back into consciousness, back to the real world, back to the warm body huddled underneath him, getting louder and louder with every moment that passed, until the sound of it reverberated from somewhere close to his ear.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas...There is just one thing I need..."

His mouth pulled up into a smile and he burrowed closer, nuzzling into the fabric of the other person's shirt.
"I don't care about the presents, Underneath the Christmas tree..." Fingers began to card through his hair in time to the soft singing. "I just want you for my own, More than you could ever know...Make my wish come true..."
Dean shifted his head slightly so that he could join in with the last line. "All I want for Christmas is you...Jesus Christ, you are a freakin' sap, Cas."

A chuckle came from somewhere close by his shoulder. "I learnt from the best."

"Assbutt."

"Hey. That's my line."

Dean smirked, raising his head marginally so that he could look Cas in the eye, nudging his nose against his chin. "Hi there."

Cas' blue eyes twinkled as he smiled. "Hello, Dean."

"What time is it?"

"Uh..." Cas unwound one of the arms from around Dean's shoulders and stretched his fingertips across to the bedside table, managing to retrieve his phone. "Just gone eight thirty. Gabriel texted me an hour ago...said that we look cute sleeping together like this. Looks like you can't hide much in the Winchester house."

"You mean you've only just realised that?"

"What can I say? I'm an oblivious idiot." Cas placed a gentle kiss on Dean's forehead. "Guess the others must be downstairs already." He let the phone drop onto the bed covers. "What do you think? Should we venture out into the real world just yet?"

Dean pretended to consider for a moment. "Nah. They've managed this long without us. They can take another twenty minutes."

"Agreed." Cas returned his arm to its original position. "Agreed wholeheartedly."

Mary.

"There you are!" Mary clapped her hands when she noticed her eldest son finally shuffling into the living room at eleven AM, dragging a rather bedraggled-looking Castiel Novak behind him, their fingers tightly intertwined. "I was just about to send Sammy up there to make sure that you were still alive!"

Sam looked rather put out by this. "Why would I have to be the one who interrupts whatever they've been doing up there?"

"S'not like you don't know from experience, Samsquatch," Gabriel commented from the other side of the room, causing Jimmy to choke on his glass of whiskey and Sam to grab the nearest item - the pair of fluffy socks Dean had gotten him - and hurl them in his fiancée's direction.

Dean grimaced. "Seriously, you guys are so dirty minded. We weren't doin' anythin' unsavoury, right, Bumblebee?" He squeezed Cas' hand as he spoke; both him and Mary smiled at the use of his old pet name. Adorable habits die hard, after all.

"Well," Mary began, not really wanting to interrupt the moment. "Since you're both here, I guess we should hand out your presents now."

"Yeah." Amelia rummaged around the pile of presents still sitting under the Christmas tree, passing the smallest one over to Dean. "This one's from Jimmy, Sam, Gabe, and I. You'll understand when you open it."

"Oh?" Dean quirked his eyebrow up, tearing at the wrapping paper with his free hand, letting out a snort when he saw what it was. "Mistletoe. Haha. You guys are freakin' hilarious." He sent a sideways glance at the Novak sibling next to him. "How 'bout it, Cas? Audience demand and all that."

"Like you even have to ask." Cas rolled his eyes, stretching up on his tiptoes and bumping his nose gently against Dean's before pressing their lips together, amongst the cheers and catcalls that came from the others in the room, none of them louder than Mary's delighted cries at the happiness etched across her son's face that didn't appear to be shifting any time soon.

Castiel.

"Want a hand with that?" Cas padded across the kitchen in his fuzzy socks, pushing up the sleeves of the Christmas sweater Dean had bought him.

Dean smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks, Angel."

"No problem. You might need it now that we've got Bobby and Crowley to feed as well as my brothers." Cas began to empty sprouts onto the collection of plates that cluttered up the counter in front of them, letting his shoulders press against Dean's as they get to work serving up the Christmas dinner, nodding his head in time to the Christmas track that was currently playing from the speakers in the other room.

"Cas?" Dean began suddenly, breaking the comfortable quiet.

"Hm?"

"I know that this is water under the bridge and all that, but I gotta ask...why didn't you tell me? 'Bout havin' to go home early for work? I mean, I know you said about not wantin' Christmas to be awkward, but that just...doesn't feel like the only reason. Was there another reason?"

Cas was silent for a moment, before he nodded. "Yes. There was another reason."

"What was that?"

He paused in his routine. "I didn't want to say goodbye. Not just to you, but to Mary and John, Gabe and Sammy, Lawrence in general. I wasn't ready to go home yet. And I was worried that, if you had...y'know, asked me to stay, I wouldn't have been able to tell you no, regardless of my job. I didn't want to be forced to make that choice: I can't give up my career, but I didn't want to waste another chance with you. You see what I mean?"

"Yeah. I see exactly what you mean." Dean heaved out a breath, placing the carving knife down on the counter. "Look, Cas, I don't want to be left here and have to watch you skip town again."

"I understand, Dean -"

"Which is why I wanna come with you."

Cas almost dropped the saucepan in his hands. "You - What?"

"I want to come with you," Dean repeated. "Back to Pontiac. If you'll have me, of course."

"But - but -" Cas shook his head a little as he tried to muster up a complete sentence. "- But, what about your family? About the garage? About -?"

"Sammy and Gabe have got their own lives to live. They're gettin' married, maybe startin' a family of their own. They don't need me hangin' around here all the damn time - and I'm not havin' my baby brother leavin' home before I do." He rolled his eyes. "And I talked it over with Bobby earlier. Pulled him aside when Crowley was entertainin' you all with his business man lingo. He said that, if it's what I want, I should go for it, no matter how sad he is to see me go. He'll put in a good word for me with the garage in Pontiac where one of his old buddies works. Illinois has got plenty of cars to fix up after all." He flashed a smile at the younger Novak beside him. "So, what'cha think? You got room in your apartment for one more?"

"That depends." Cas returned the gesture with a smile of his own. "Are you willing to follow me all the way to Illinois?"

"Cas, I'd follow you all the way to the freakin' moon if I had to."

"Well, then." Cas rested the saucepan back on the counter and reached up to wrap his arms around Dean's neck, bringing their foreheads together. "I guess the answer has got to be yes, hasn't it?"

"Freakin' sap," Dean mumbled fondly.

"But I'm your freaking sap," Cas replied.

"True, true. You are." Dean leaned in further, letting their lips meet, settling his hands on the small of Cas' back and rubbing soothing circles through the knitted sweater.

"Oh, Jesus Christ, guys, not in front of the food!" Jimmy's voice from the doorway prevented them from going any further. Cas smirked as he pulled away and caught sight of his twin brother's horrified expression.

"Yeah!" Sam chimed in, letting his head fall to rest on top of Gabriel's. "Get a room, you two!"

"I don't know what's worse," the blonde Novak commented. "Them fighting, or this."

Dean rolled his eyes, but kept his arm wrapped firmly around Cas. "Merry freakin' Christmas, Bumblebee."

Cas pulled his eyes away from the gathering at the kitchen door to smile up at the other man. "Merry Christmas, Dean."

The End.

Phew! We got there, guys!

Thank you so, so, so much to everyone who read/followed/favourited/reviewed this story! I love you all so much!

I'll see you all soon for some more Destiel, my little sock puppets! Until then, Merry freakin' Christmas, and a happy New Year too! xx