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Their anniversary had been well over a week ago, but with both of their hectic schedules neither of them had had time to do anything special. The table they had booked for the Italian restaurant down the road had been cancelled when an unplanned surgery came up for Castiel at work, and the few days after had Dean working a later shift at the police station.
On the morning of their anniversary, Castiel had inadvertently woken Dean with a kiss and they’d whispered anniversary wishes to one another, but that had been the extent of the celebrations.
With their schedules back to mostly normal, they’d managed to see each other more often in the evenings, though neither of them had spoken about doing anything special.
Dean sat on the couch, patiently. Castiel would be home anytime now unless a surgery ran late. It was a common problem when you were married to the best neurosurgeon in Midwest.
An idea of how to celebrate suddenly struck him and while cheesy and probably embarrassing, he decided to go for it anyway. Hauling himself up from the couch, Dean pulled the ladder down to their attic and climbed up. It was dark and musty but he knew roughly where his dad’s old guitar was. He found it tucked away in the corner, dust settled upon it thickly. He swiped it away with his hand and smiled, a few stickers decorated the box, mostly hunting resort stickers and on opening, the guitar inside was pristine.
*
Castiel opened the door and barely managed to hang his trenchcoat and toe off his shoes before he wearily dragged himself into the living room. Dean was already there, flicking through the TV channels aimlessly. He looked up as Castiel sat down heavily next to him and fell towards Dean’s shoulder with a groan.
“I had ten hours of surgery today,” Castiel grumbled. He felt Dean press a kiss to the top of his hair and he rested his hand on Dean’s stomach, tracing random patterns into his t-shirt. “I swear my feet are going to fall off.”
“I’m not sure that’s possible.” Dean commented lightly. “Did you manage to eat at the hospital?”
“Does a packet of chips and three cookies count?” Castiel lifted his head to gauge Dean’s reaction. Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“I’ll go make you a sandwich. Peanut butter and jelly? I bought you some more of that huckleberry jam from the farmer’s market the other day.”
“Ooh,” Castiel marvelled. “You’re my huckleberry,” He cooed.
Dean laughed and extricated himself from where Castiel was attached to him. The warmth of Dean’s body disappeared and Castiel missed it, feeling a wash of tiredness come over him. His eyes were just about to close when Dean came back in, clutching a plate of sandwiches and a glass of milk. He felt ten years old again, sitting at the table for supper. Castiel would always steal half of Gabriel’s milk, and in turn, Gabriel would kick him under the table and then eat half of his sandwich.
Castiel’s stomach rumbled and he almost inhaled his sandwich but slowed enough to savour the taste of the new jam. He sipped at his milk before setting the empty glass on the coffee table.
“Go to bed, Cas. I’ll be up soon. I’ll just do the dishes and I’ll come up.” Dean kissed Castiel tenderly as they both stood up.
*
Dean quickly rinsed the dishes off and stacked them on the drainer before grabbing his guitar and heading outside. Their security light came on and he hoped Castiel wouldn’t notice.
He picked up a small handful of stones from the edging and waited for the bedroom light to come on. As soon as it did, Dean threw a stone. The first one missed and hit the wall just below the window. He had better luck with the second one and it hit the window. When Castiel didn’t come to the window, he threw another and then another.
Finally, the curtain moved and Dean saw Castiel peek around the curtain. Dean grinned and pulled the guitar around to his front and began to strum the strings lightly.
He only began to sing once Castiel cracked open the window, Dean could just about make out that his husband was just wearing his robe. God, he was handsome, always had been, Dean swiped his tongue over his lips.
“You should have seen by the look in my eyes, baby,” he began. He watched as a smile crept over Castiel’s face. He knew this song. It was one Dean sang frequently. “And I meant every word I said, when I said that I love you, I meant that I love you forever,” Dean sang louder. It wasn’t that late in the evening.
Castiel suddenly disappeared from the window but Dean kept on singing, he knew his husband wasn’t going to ignore him, especially when he’d put on a bit of a show. Instead, he slowed down until he saw Castiel’s silhouette behind the backdoor screen. Castiel had stuffed his bare feet into his running shoes, mashing down the backs but not seeming to care too much.
“And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you, ‘cause it's the only thing I wanna do,” Dean smiled as he sang and Castiel beamed, eyes closing to the gentle strum of the guitar.
Dean drifted to a finish and he only just managed to swing the guitar around to his back before Castiel looped his arms around him and nuzzled into his neck.
“Love you, Cas. Happy Anniversary.”
Castiel’s arms tightened around him. “I love you too, Dean. Thank you for the song. It was very sweet.”
Dean shrugged lightly, pressing a kiss to Castiel’s lips. “One of our favourites, you deserved it. C’mon, let’s go inside and up to bed. You look shattered.”
“Yeah.”
Dean followed Castiel up the stairs and they both changed into their night clothes. It was still early, but if that meant they got to lie in bed with each other for an extra hour, then that was fine with Dean. It had been far too long since they’d been able to do this. Everything was always such a whirlwind, so this - just lying with his husband in the quiet after a cheesy anniversary celebration – was perfect.
Castiel rested his head on Dean’s shoulder, arm thrown over his chest as they breathed in sync. Dean’s hand ran up and down Castiel’s back soothing him to sleep after his hard and long day. Castiel tilted his head up, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion and they kissed lazily for several minutes until they were too out of breath to carry on. Castiel fell asleep easily, Dean wrapping him up in his arms and Dean followed not long after.