AFTER ALL THESE YEARS

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Summary: In which Dean finds himself at a wedding as Jo's fake boyfriend against his will, groaning and complaining the whole time, but still trying to appear all handsome and perfect and utterly in love since he's an awesome friend like that (and since Jo would make his life a living hell otherwise). And just when he begins to think that it won't be so bad to eat tons of free food and let his daughter Emma enjoy the festivity his gaze suddenly meets the two bluest eyes in existence and the world stops to move for a moment.

Because of course the groom's brother turns out to be his old high school crush Castiel – the only person Dean was never able to forget – and things start to become really complicated all of a sudden.

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Tags: Alternative Universe, Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Pining, Dad!Dean

Pairing: Dean/Castiel

Author's note: So guys, this story is already finished lying in my folder and will eventually be 22 chapters and nearly 100k words long :D I'm trying to post the new chapters on a daily or at least regular basis (it really depends on my real life schedule and the minor final edits for this fic), so you won't have to wait too long!

Have fun ^^

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Dean should have known that something was up right from the start.

As soon as he found Jo on the doorstep of his apartment, presenting to him a six-pack and a bunch of Ellen's homemade burgers in a bag, cooing something about Dean needing a break and deserving someone in his life spoiling him once in a while – yeah, usually he would have become suspicious instantly.

Because that's so not Jo.

She's fierce and independent and sassy and though she occasionally does something nice for him, she always rolls her eyes at the same time as if the whole thing is a huge chore and she'd rather do a hundred different things than showing some kindness. She always wears an aura of "yeah, whatever, Winchester – be glad I'm generous for a change" and she's showing it publicly every chance she gets.

It's just her nature and Dean doesn't want it any other way.

So having her coming toward Dean out of nowhere, bringing free food and smiling in that sweet way of hers – Dean seriously should have known!

It smelled like a trap the moment he opened the door.

But, sadly, that night he had been so fucking tired and exhausted from a really long workday, customers annoying him for hours with their stupidity and stubbornness, and later on at home little Emma making a big fuss because she didn't want to accept that her bedtime wasn't the same as her dad's, so he can't exactly be held accountable for his very poor judgment.

He simply didn't have the energy to realize that Jo was luring him into her web.

He even was foolish enough to invite her inside and thank her for her surprise visit, feeling some idiotic happiness bubbling within his chest. Just like the oblivious moron he was.

"You work too much," Jo says, her voice unusually soft. She directs him toward the couch, even pets his hair for a second like he's a kid in need of affection, before preparing the food on a plate and serving it to Dean with a wide smile on her lips. "You need to rest once in a while."

Dean digs in immediately since there's honestly nothing better in the world that Ellen's famous burgers, feeling like a happy puppy because of the special attention.

Yep, he seriously should have realized that something was way off.

"You know, you need some time away from all of this," Jo continues. "No work, no responsibilities …"

Dean can't help but nod. He's unable to even recall the last time he took some vacation without having his cell phone nearby or stressing himself over Emma's ever-growing troublemaker abilities. He can't exactly remember what true and utter relaxation feels like.

"Yeah, sounds nice," he agrees.

"Then you should do it," Jo urges, nudging his shoulder. "Bobby told me you've got so many freaking vacation days, you could stay away from the garage until Christmas."

Dean frowns. "You talked to Bobby about me?"

Jo shrugs while looking casually enough to fool Dean's overtired brain. "We're just worried about you."

Dean decides to say nothing because he's never got a clue how to reply to people fussing over him for a change, so he fixes his gaze on his criminally delicious burger and stays silent.

"How about a nice weekend for a start?" Jo proposes. "Somewhere on the countryside, without any rush or loud noises. And since I know you'd never be comfortable without Emma, I could tag along as your babysitter. Gods knows I could use some proper vacation too."

Finally Dean feels the first gnawing sensation of suspicion at those words.

"You?" he asks incredulously. "Going on a vacation with me? To play babysitter?"

Jo loves Emma, that's for sure, and she would do anything for the little girl, but Jo simply isn't a kid person. Even after half an hour of coloring with Emma, Jo looks like she ran a damned marathon, and she often lacks the patience to listen to one of Emma's rambles about her friends and kindergarten teachers without pulling some kind of grimace.

Yeah, Jo just isn't that great with children.

So seeing her now, offering her services to entertain a five-year-old girl for hours, that's honestly the opposite of what Dean expected.

"I love kids!" Jo defends herself, pouting.

"Yeah, as a general idea," Dean says. "But actually spending time with them? Glittering stuff? Having tea parties? Hearing about Dylan Smith's new braces for the seventy-fifth time within the course of two days?" He scoffs. "That's really not your style, Jo."

"Maybe you don't know me so well," she counters, sounding offended.

For a second Dean feels guilty and he wonders if he seriously misjudged Jo and her desire to help him out, but at the same time he finds himself noticing the slight tinge of pink on her cheeks and the way she begins to fidget like someone who knows exactly that the other person won't like what they have to say.

"Okay, what's going on?" Dean prompts, setting the plate with the burger aside, though it breaks his heart doing so. But somehow he feels that he doesn't want some food in his hands when Jo eventually will get to the point. "Did you have a fight with your mom and need to get away for a while?"

Jo snorts. "That's a kinda constant state for us. But no, it's not Mom."

"Do you seriously just wanna go on a vacation, but don't have the money for it?"

Jo glares at him. "You think I'd scrounge my way through a nice weekend?"

Dean feels a headache coming along his way. "What is it, then?"

She bites her lips, suddenly hesitant, while her eyes are flickering towards the door occasionally as if she's contemplating to bolt any second now.

Eventually, however, she says, "There is a wedding …"

And admittedly, that's not what Dean anticipated, but he's flexible. "Okay …" he says, still wary.

"It's one of my friends, Kali," Jo explains. "We met during a bar brawl."

Dean can't help his smirk. "Figures."

"We know each other a few years now, I probably mentioned her once or twice. She's all elegant and classy, but at the same time so scary and ruthless. She loves the opera and skeevy pubs. She's a woman of many talents."

"Sounds like your kind of girl."

Jo's following grin is answer enough. "And she's getting married. I don't know the guy that well, but they've been on and off since the dawn of time, and obviously some months ago he finally bit the bullet and popped the question."

Dean nods along, although he still doesn't know what this has to do with him.

"They're the craziest couple ever," Jo continues, laughing. "I mean, from the outside they look like a freaking mess, but they're actually perfect for each other. They're both so outrageously unpredictable, there's probably no better match in the whole wide world."

"Yeah, okay, but what …?"

"And Kali asked me to be her bridesmaid," she adds enthusiastically. "She actually wanted to make me her frigging maid of honor, but she figured I wouldn't be happy with all the crap that's included in the job description, so she asked one of her cousins who just loves this kind of stuff." She rolls her eyes as though she can't imagine someone actually enjoying planning nice parties or whatever maids of honor do the whole day. "So I get a nice dress and a special seat, but not much responsibilities."

Dean vaguely recalls Jo telling him about this. But it's been over the phone and happened when Emma miserably sobbed into his shoulder after stubbing her toes just minutes before, so Dean didn't catch much of that conversation to begin with.

"They're marrying in two weeks," Jo says. "On Gabriel's estate because he's obviously some royalty or something. It's gonna be the whole weekend and …"

She starts to squirm once again, looking awkward.

"And?" Dean asks.

"Well, I don't know that many people there …"

Suddenly Dean gets a much clearer picture of the situation. "You want me to come with you," he realizes.

Jo pulls a face. "I mean, you're not the best company, but you're okay so far, so yeah."

Dean can't keep himself from sighing. Had all this fuss been really necessary? That doesn't sound so bad. "You have a tendency to make everything frustratingly complicated, Harvelle," he grunts. "Why didn't you just say so?"

Jo perks up in surprise. "You would do it?"

Dean rolls his eyes. "I didn't say that," he makes himself clear. "But you seriously don't need to act like you're asking for my kidney or something."

Jo grabs one of his french fries and huffs a laugh. "Believe me, asking for one of your kidneys would be easier," she mumbles, a light red coloring her cheeks.

She obviously still uncomfortable about the whole thing and Dean can't imagine why. Asking a friend to attend a wedding with them doesn't really sound like nightmare material. Dean expected far worse.

"So you'll honestly be there?" he asks, lifting an eyebrow. "In a nice cocktail dress, of all things? Drinking champagne and talking about the stock market?"

He can't picture it at all, he's gotta confess. Jo has always been a down-to-earth girl, enjoying simple things like skinny jeans, drinking contests and knife plays. She is feisty and intimidating while handling a bar filled with drunk giant men with relative ease, having no shred of mercy or kindness in her bones.

Imagining her at a nice and probably very expensive wedding, trying to behave and smile sweetly at some super wealthy dukes or princes, seems like the oddest thing Dean is able to think of.

However, Jo scoffs. "It won't be like that," she counters. "Yeah, Gabe is fucking rich, but he doesn't act like it at all. I actually had no frigging idea until Kali told me about it. The first time I met him he was worse than some of our regulars at the Roadhouse." A smile plays around her mouth, apparently reveling in the memory. "And the major part of Gabriel's friends are most likely as inappropriate and impossible as he is. It's gonna be a huge and very excessive party, that's for sure."

Okay, Dean's gotta admit that doesn't seem so bad.

"And you want me to come with you because I'm your best friend in the whole wide world and you'd cry not being in my presence for a couple of days?" Dean teases, leaning backwards a bit when Jo lets out a deep growl and looks at him as if she's considering punching him in the face.

"Very funny, Winchester!" she snarls, probably only refraining from using proper violence because she's in desperate need of that favor. "I'd be happy to avoid your ugly face for a while."

Dean smiles crookedly. "Fine, if you don't want me as your plus one –"

"After the wedding," Jo cuts in instantly, glaring at him. It's more than obvious that she's torn right now. She never learned how to ask something politely instead of using threats and insults and she's got some serious trouble to appear somehow nice enough to convince Dean. It's most likely killing her inside to play the kind and charming girl.

Poor little Jo.

And Dean can't help feeling determined to not make this too easy for her. "Of course I have to check my schedule first –"

"You're free that weekend," Jo pipes in. When Dean instantly narrows his eyes, she adds, "Like I said, I talked with Bobby. He told me to drag your sorry ass as far away as possible."

Dean feels affection and annoyance at the same time. Bobby shows his love in very unique way and Dean is once again more than happy to have him in his life.

"So you would do it?" Jo asks, her voice full of disbelief. "You would go with me?"

Granted, it's not Dean's idea of fun to go to a fucking wedding of all things and he can think of at least a thousand things more enjoyable than that, but damn it all to hell, it's obviously rather important for Jo and his big-brother-instincts are always kicking in when Jo is looking like that.

So yeah, he can jump over his own shadow if it'd make her happy.

Dean always had a weak spot for the ladies in his life.

"It doesn't seem awful," Dean eventually offers. "And it means much to you."

"It does." Jo nods in agreement.

"And there will probably be a lot of free food."

Jo smirks. "Tons. More than you're able to eat."

"Doubtful, but I'm up for a challenge," Dean teases. "And Emma …"

"Like I said, a fucking estate!" Jo reminds him. "So much space and a pool and a lot of other kids and so many animals like dogs and horses. She's gonna have the time of her life."

That does indeed sound quite perfect. Emma had been a bit difficult lately, most likely bored by their daily routine, and though Dean tried to shake it up a bit with different activities, it's more than obvious that a whole change of scenery would be a good thing for her.

A delighted and quite excited little girl is at least a lot better than the moody piece of work he almost had to chain to her bed about an hour ago.

"Well, I guess … maybe I can find some time," Dean agrees.

So, why the hell not? His little princess would be happy. His friend would be happy. His stomach would probably be quite delighted too.

And, most importantly, Jo would owe him a huge favor.

Seriously, the best part!

"Since you and Bobby obviously already planned the whole thing …" He sighs exaggeratedly. "Yeah, okay, I'm gonna be your knight in shining armor, saving you from interacting with strangers and dying of boredom."

Dean grins widely and opens his arms in invitation, expecting a squealing Jo going in for a crushing hug and thanking him a hundred times while simultaneously weaving some well-crafted insults and mockeries into her constant stream of words.

But no such thing happens.

Instead Jo hesitates, biting her bottom lip and looking kinda guilty all of a sudden. "There may be one tiny little trifle I didn't mention yet …"

Once again suspicion grips Dean tightly. "What is it?"

Jo avoids his gaze. "I don't need you to go as my friend."

Well, Dean's really got no clue what she's insinuating. "But?"

"I need you there as my boyfriend."

Now Dean is exceptionally glad he put the plate with food aside because he's sure as hell he'd have dropped it at this particular moment. There had been a lot of things he expected to happen today, but this …?

Not even in his Top Thousand.

He stares at Jo with big eyes, absolutely unable to form any kind of coherent sentence. What do you reply to something like that?

"Jo …" he begins, only to stop himself immediately since his brain didn't catch up yet.

Is she really saying what Dean thinks she is saying? Is that her way of confessing some deeper feelings he had no freaking idea about? Granted, he knows that Jo had some little crush on him when they'd been young, but that's like ages ago and Dean actually believed that they surpassed this eternities ago.

But maybe not?

"Jo, listen …" God, Dean hates to talk about emotions and whatnot, especially if he's unable to give the answer the other person desires.

"Oh, dammit, Winchester, I'm not about to give a love speech!" Jo interrupts, snorting as though the mere thought is completely ridiculous. "Don't get your panties in a twist! You're like my brother, that would be super gross!"

Dean couldn't agree more and finds himself heaving a sigh of relief.

That would have been indeed all kinds of wrong.

"I don't want you as my boyfriend." Jo makes herself very clear by scrunching her nose as if a big pile of garbage would be lying underneath her nose. "I only need you to pretend."

Dean blinks a few times, trying to wrap his head around her words. "Pretend …?"

"Well, I thought about just introducing you as my date, you know, but boyfriend sounds way more permanent," she continues, ignoring his dumbfounded expression. "I haven't really planned the details yet and there are a lot of things to consider –"

"Wait, wait!" Dean interjects, holding up his hands in warning. "Are you saying … are you seriously saying …?"

Jo shrugs like it's no big deal. "Yeah."

Really?

Dean scoffs and shakes his head in disbelief. "That some kind of joke, right? You watched some stupid chick flick last night and figured it'd be hilarious to screw with my head, haven't you?"

"I don't watch this sort of movies, you know that," Jo contradicts, clearly offended that Dean is even suggesting such an atrocity.

"So, what is this then?"

Jo pulls a face. "A favor?"

Dean shifts his weight on the couch while sorting the jumbling thoughts in his mind. "Is there a hidden camera somewhere, recording this dumb prank?"

Jo's whole body turns impossibly tense. "It's not a prank or a joke or whatever. I'm serious about this! I can't show up as a single woman at this wedding."

Dean stays silent for a while, hoping against all odds that Jo would burst out laughing the next second, taunting him mercilessly for even considering this whole fucking shit might be true. But instead she just stares at him, her gaze more intense than he ever witnessed before.

Damn, Dean really should have known that something was up the moment he opened that damned door.

He pinches the bridge of his nose, hating his life once again. Why can't it be simple and normal for a change?

"Are you kidding me?"

Jo's eyes are suddenly very big and wide and a serious competition for Sam's puppy dog look. "It's just for a weekend …"

"You want me to pretend to be your freaking boyfriend?"

"Maybe three days tops …"

"Jo!"

"Okay, closer to four days. I promised I'd help with the preparations for the wedding …"

While she keeps rambling about flower arrangements and seating plans Dean rolls his eyes, wondering once again why he didn't bother to look for some better friends when he still got the chance.

"You can't be serious!" he grouches, grinding his teeth. "Why the hell would you want me to do that?"

"Dean –"

"No, no, I deserve a straight answer!" he cuts in instantly since Jo once again seemed like she would avoid the question. "Why don't you wanna go without me? You'd be a single bridesmaid, the guys would probably fight for your attention and you'd enjoy every second of it. Why are you so eager to ruin that?"

Jo doesn't answer right away but simply gazes at her shoelaces as though they're the most fascinating objects she's ever seen.

Dean narrows his eyes, feeling kinda wary confronted by this very unusual behavior. "What is going on, Jo? Usually you would tell me about your cunning plan to seduce the best man."

The corners of Jo's mouth twitch upwards for a moment. "Well, I met him once, the best man. Gabriel's brother, that is. He's very dreamy."

Dean tilts his head. "So why would you miss your chance?"

Jo drops her gaze and finally announces, "Ethan will be there, too."

Dean blinks a few times, stunned.

Okay, he's gotta admit, he didn't expect that. He hadn't heard that name in more than a year, didn't even think about him as soon as Jo had stopped throwing plates and vases on a regular basis and instead started smiling again at some point.

"Ethan?" he asks tentatively. Although he believed Jo to be over that pathetic asshole, her current expression makes it plain as day that there are still some feelings involved. "Your douche ex?"

Jo nods, sighing in a way that means defeat. "Yeah. That one."

The self-centered and egoistic bastard who dumped Jo like a hot potato after eleven months together because he got horny for another chick. The selfish and heartless sonuvabitch that pressed a kiss on Jo's forehead, said goodbye and kicked her out of his apartment they just had began to share a few weeks before that.

Dean had been fucking furious at the time, more than eager to punch the guy's face repeatedly, and only Sam and his stubbornly reasonable arguments prevented him from committing a serious felony which might have gotten him in a lot of trouble. After a very heated discussion he even refrained from visiting Ethan's place and at least threaten him the good old Winchester style with an impressive display of muscles and death glares because Sam argued that the dude was super rich and most likely had ten expensive lawyers at display that could make Dean's life a living hell just by looking at the guy funny.

So yeah, Dean never really got the satisfaction of ripping the idiot to shreds and spread his remains in the desert.

All he was able to do was be a good friend to Jo and keep silent and supportive while she ranted and yelled and threw stuff through the room.

God, how Dean hated that asshole!

"Ethan's gonna be there?" he asks, not sure how to feel about that.

"Yeah, you know." Jo shrugs. "I actually met Ethan through Gabriel. Apparently his mom is best friends with Gabe's mom or whatever, so I eventually met him when I picked up Kali for a night out. And well, he was nice and charming at first, that frigging actor, and I was dumb enough to fall for that." Jo huffs, obviously still angry at her past self. "Kali wasn't exactly thrilled to have to invite him to the wedding after everything that happened between us, but it'd have been considered really rude to ignore his motherfucking existence."

"Damn!" Dean mutters.

"And he won't be coming alone," Jo continues, her voice dark. "He's gonna take that woman with him. You know, the bitch he left me for."

Dean frowns. "They're still together?"

Jo nods, looking quite bitter about that. "Kali told me there are rumors about a big proposal Ethan is planning some time soon."

Dean pulls a face. Shit, that must be really freaking hard.

Granted, he never got along with the guy the few times they actually had to interact, but Jo clearly felt enough for his sorry ass to endure his presence for way longer than any other man before him. And though Dean never understood what Jo saw in Ethan, he accepted her decision and kept from voicing any kind of unwanted opinion.

"So you can see why I don't want to go to that wedding alone? Unattached? So clearly a freaking single since we both broke up?"

Yeah, Dean clearly understands her point of view.

It's never easy to meet an ex and it's especially uncomfortable when things didn't end very well and you've got the feeling you didn't accomplish very much since the last time you saw each other. At least Dean recalls vividly his chance encounter with Cassie in the supermarket a few years back, just several months before Emma's birth. She talked animatedly about her husband, her great job and their little baby boy while Dean felt like an absolute failure right next to her because the sole things he had to show at the time was his simple mechanic job and a one night stand he got pregnant.

So yes, Dean can totally see Jo's point there.

"And it would drive Ethan crazy seeing you with me!" Jo says with emphasis. "He was jealous of you throughout our whole relationship."

Dean wrinkles his forehead. That's the first time he hears about this. "Really?"

"Someone told him I used to have a crush on you five billions years ago," Jo explains, rolling her eyes. "And Ethan is this insecure and super possessive pile of trash that doesn't know how to deal with competition, even imaginary one. He seriously tried to keep me from seeing you, even made some kinds of ultimatums, á la 'Him or Me' bullshit!"

Dean grits his teeth. That fucker sincerely attempted to ban Jo from Dean's life? Who the hell does the asshole thinks he is?

"I hate that guy!" he grunts. "Even more so than before!"

"Then come along to the wedding!" Jo urges. "Let's play the happy couple and rub it under his nose. See him squirm and pull those ridiculous faces."

It does sound very promising.

However …

"Emma," Dean counters, the corners of his mouth pulling downwards. "What about her? Are we gonna lie to her? I can't do that."

That's the one thing he swore to himself he would never do. Okay, admittedly, some little, socially acceptable lies like the whole Santa Clause/Easter Bunny deal are allowed, but that's about as far as he goes. He won't start lying about his personal life because that's seriously not the kind of father he wants to be.

"We don't have to lie," Jo contradicts.

Dean raises a brow. "Oh really? So we're gonna show up and introduce you as my girlfriend and then what? Do you wanna explain the situation beforehand to her and make her lie to all the other people instead? Let her be part of this scheme?"

That sounds even worse.

Jo, however, scoffs. "Oh please, she's five years old. We don't have to explain anything to her. She doesn't even know what 'girlfriend' really means. It'll be fine."

"And if people ask her …?"

"What? You think she'd rat us out?" Jo shakes her head with so much conviction Dean finds himself almost believing her without a second thought. "What would she tell the people there? That you love me? Yeah, you do, you know that. That I'm around all the time? That I'm spending the night more often than not –"

"We really have to talk about that one," Dean interrupts. "Your place isn't so bad that you have to crash in my guestroom all the time."

"It's a freaking dump and you know that, Winchester," Jo argues. "And in this specific case it actually serves us very well. We don't lie to Emma and she won't lie to the people at the wedding."

Dean grimaces when realization hits him. "Jesus Christ, we actually are in some kind of relationship, aren't we?"

Jo grins brightly. "And you're just noticing that now?"

Dean grunts, reluctant to deem this with any kind of response. Instead he grabs one of his fries, shoves it inside his mouth and tries to look as judgy as possible.

"You're really insane, Jo," he states. "The whole thing is crazy."

Jo nods. "I know," she says, totally unashamed.

"And you're okay with that?" Dean wonders. "Lying to your friend? Kali or what's her name?"

Jo scoffs. "Oh no, you can't lie to Kali," she counters. "It's humanly impossible, she sniffs every lie within a ten mile radius. However, since this charade was her idea to begin with, I don't see much of a problem."

Dean rolls his eyes. Jo obviously found her soulmate.

"I sincerely hate this," he says with emphasis, waggling a fry in front of her face.

"Yeah, I know."

"And I don't wanna do this."

"I know."

Dean sighs. "But you'll probably bug me to no ends about this shit, right?"

"Oh, I will," Jo promises.

And Dean has no reason to doubt her. She's like a pitbull getting its teeth into someone's leg and she won't let go until she's satisfied with the outcome.

Dean doesn't have any hope that he'd be able to escape this whole mess unscathed.

Dammit, he really shouldn't have opened that freaking door!