Dean and Cas checked into the hotel and easily found a room with two beds that they could stay in overnight. They dropped their belongings there and after asking several locals, they found a restaurant that wasn't too far from where they were.

Cas was walking down the street and admiring the town that they were in. It was right on the edge of the Rocky Mountains, so looking east would grant him with a beautiful view of the mountains.

"You know, Dean," Cas said, "If I wasn't so bent on getting to getting to the west coast, I think I would want to live here."

"Really?" Dean said, turning his head sideways to look at his friend. "Why is that?"

"I don't know." Cas said, pausing for a moment. "Actually, I do know. It's because of the mountains. There's no mountains in the midwest. But here..."

Cas and Dean both stopped moving for a moment in order to look at the mountains. They were so huge, but yet looked so tiny.

"Yeah, I know what you're saying." Dean said. He glanced over at Cas, who was still looking at the mountains. There was so much wonder in his eyes.

Cas broke his gaze from the mountain and looked back at Dean, who had to pretend that he wasn't just staring a moment before.

"Come on, let's go to the restaurant." Cas said, starting to move back down the road.

Even aside from the mountains, both boys found the town they were in rather quaint. It was small. The street they were on was considered the main street of the town, and there wasn't much on it. Just a few hotels, several restaurants, and a couple locally owned shops. In the entire city there didn't seem to be a building that stood above 70 feet. It was dusk, and all of a sudden a bunch of string lights turned on. They were strung around the trees, on the lampposts, criss-crossing the street, going from building top to building top. There had to be thousands of them.

"Wow..." Cas said, but so quietly that he barely registered that he spoke at all.

"Now you really want to live here." Dean said, more of a joke than anything.

"Of course." Cas said, continuing to walk under the lights. He was walking at a brisker pace than Dean, his head turned upwards. Cas stopped walking a couple feet in front of Dean and turned around to face him.

"This is so beautiful." Cas said, standing under the lights. The wonder in his eyes hasn't left. Instead, the wonder spread to his entire face. His smile was that of a child who's just seen the stars for the first time. His eyes were sparkling from the lights. Cas looked so, so happy.

Dean smiled back at him, feeling his heart ache. Dean didn't really know why, but when he heard Cas's childish laugh the feeling multiplied.

Dean walked up to join Cas, clamping a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, buddy, let's go get dinner."

***

Cas and Dean found the restaurant, which was only a few more blocks down the street. It was a pizza place that was nearly full, except for a few tables in the back. They split a pizza that had pepperoni on one half and sausage and mushroom on the other half. It was the best pizza that Dean said he'd ever have, but Cas insisted that Chicago deep crust pizza was still superior.

***

The lights had been on for a while after Dean and Cas got out from the restaurant, so the street was illuminated as they walked back down to the hotel.

"This has been fun, Dean." Cas said. "I'm glad you convinced me to do this."

"Me too." Dean said. He glanced at a locally owned jewelry store that was across the street. "We should go in there."

Cas looked over at it. "Why?"

"Because fun and I don't want this night to be over quite yet." Dean said, grabbing Cas's wrist and dragging him across the street.

The store was about the size of a convenience store and was packed wall to wall with handmade jewelry. Necklaces and rings, bracelets and earrings. There was a middle aged woman sitting behind the cash register, reading a magazine. The store was completely empty, so Cas and Dean walked around it freely.

"Ooh, Dean, come look at this!" Cas said, pointing out a necklace. Dean walked over to admire it. It was string necklace with a marble tied onto it. The marble was green, almost like the hue of a candy apple.

"Wow, that's really pretty." Dean said.

Cas picked it up and held it. "It's like the color of your eyes."

"You've looked into my eyes before?" Dean said, a smile creeping onto his lips.

Cas immediately regretted what he had just said. "Oh no- I mean, of course not... I've never- well, your eyes are... um..." Cas said, his face feeling hot. "Your eyes are just like... so green that it's hard- it's hard not to notice them."

Dean smiled. "It's okay, buddy." He glanced over the assortment of necklaces similar to the one Cas was holding. He picked up one with a sky blue marble. "Here, this one looks like your eyes."

"I wonder how much they are." Cas said.

"Hey- ma'am!" Dean called to the woman behind the register. She looked up from her magazine. "How much are these necklaces?"

"Eight bucks for one." She said.

"Cas, we should totally get these!" Dean said. "They're cheap and they can be like friendship necklaces or whatever!"

"Really?" Cas asked. "We're going to be that cheesy?"

"Yes! Absolutely! I'll get the one that looks like your eyes and you'll get the one that looks like my eyes." Dean said.

"It's just so stereotypical..." Cas said, even though he was secretly hoping that he would end up getting it.

"Come on, it'll be fun because it is cheesy! I'll pay for them." Dean said. "Cas, please."

"Sure, fine, whatever." Cas said.

"Yes!" Dean said, taking the necklace from Cas's hand. He brought them up to the counter where he paid for them using cash. Once purchased he handed the green one back to Cas while putting the blue one around his neck. "This is awesome, dude!"

"Yeah, it's pretty cool." Cas said, trying to ignore the feeling in his stomach and his heart.

"Let's go back to the hotel and call it a night." Dean said, adjusting the necklace.

"Alright, I'm coming." Cas replied.