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“Come on, Castiel, over here.”
Castiel was quickly pulled out of his thoughts and looked from the lush array of flowers to Sophia, one of the bridesmaids, then walked over to her.
Objectively, the botanical gardens where the wedding would be held was beautiful.
While he and Dean commented on it as they arrived, Castiel was thankful that the actual wedding and reception would be held inside two venues on the grounds instead of outside.
Finally, he could admire flowers from afar without worrying about becoming an allergic mess.
The wedding occurred without a hitch. Since he and Dean were both groomsmen for their college friends and brides, Heather and Catherine, they were able to get a front viewing of the ceremony.
There were laughs and tears throughout and Castiel’s relaxed disposition only changed when it was announced photos would be taken outside.
Now, he here was along with Dean, a few of their friends from college as other groomsmen and bridesmaids, and a couple of the brides’ friends he met only a few weeks ago trying not to sneeze.
Surprisingly, he hadn’t sneezed so far. Although his nose twitched with waves of irritation that grew and waned as they smiled for pictures, he held them in.
When Catherine asked if his allergies were as bad as they were in college, he shook his head. It wasn’t a total lie, especially after finding his favorite concoction of various antihistamines to keep his allergies in check, but it was also because he was sure if he opened his mouth, he’d sneeze.
Castiel slipped his arm around Sophia, the bridesmaid he was paired with to walk down the aisle, and smiled softly at the camera. While he stood for the picture, another familiar itch bloomed in his nose.
The photographer held the camera up to his eye. “One, two─”
“Heh-eisSCHew!” Castiel leaned away from Sophia to sneeze into the crook of his elbow. He sniffled and blinked away the tears forming in his eyes as he looked up with a huffed laugh. “Sorry about that.”
Sophia smiled. “Bless you. Ready to go again?”
“Yeah, of course,” Castiel said, glancing at Dean from the corner of the room with the rest of the wedding party. He didn’t want to look too far into the concerned expression on his partner’s face. “I’m ready when you are.”
Castiel sniffed once, long and hard, and smiled for the camera. After three pictures, his nose couldn’t stop twitching. He sniffled once then unwrapped his arm from Sophia to follow the group to another area of the gardens to shoot.
Dean caught up with him as they walked, lowering his voice so Castiel could only hear them. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Castiel began then continued when Dean narrowed his eyes. “I’m just a little snee…hehhh… HempTSCHhuh!” He caught the sneeze on his wrist and sniffed before he looked at Dean with a soft smile. “Sneezy. I’m fine, really. Please don’t worry.”
“You know that’s impossible,” Dean said. “Hopefully we’ll finish soon.”
Castiel nodded then sniffed, feeling the congestion build in his sinuses. “Hopefu… hih! hehktSHHHew! Heh-TssCHEW!”
“I thought your allergies weren’t as bad now?” Catherine asked. Dean and Castiel pulled away from their conversation and turned to her. She stepped away from the group and walked to them, frowning when she saw Castiel. “Your eyes look terrible. I bet you’re miserable. We’ll─”
“Heh-ISSCHHiew!” Castiel sneezed into the crook of his elbow. “Heh… hih.. Hiih! EeeSSHH! Heh-erSSCHew!” When he sniffed again, his congestion stayed and became all the more apparent as pressure pressed against his sinuses and bled into his voice. “Excuse me. I’ll be fine. Promise.”
Although Dean and Catherine exchanged wary glances, they kept their mouths closed. Castiel was grateful for it and followed them to the group again. While he tried to keep his promise, it became harder as time passed.
Typically, his hay fever began slowly and he could go for hours in the spring, summer, and autumn without dealing with allergy fits until the afternoon. Now, being surrounded by various plants and colorful flowers, the familiar itch quickly surfaced and remained.
Every few moments, the burning sensation flooded his nose until he bit his tongue to hold back the impending sneeze. Instead, the reaction came out in frequent small hitches that he tried to keep quiet and watery eyes that burned with irritation.
He wiped the tears from his eyes with a curled knuckle then smiled for the next picture. He wondered how many photographs Catherine and Heather truly needed.
“Alright, the last one. Make it count!” the photographer smiled at the group as they stood under a walkway lined with massive lilac trees. “One, two, three!”
As the flash went off, Castiel ducked into his closed fist and brushed against Dean’s shoulder. “HEH-iiSCHH! EaaSCHHoo!”
“Oh, wait,” the photographer said as he frowned as he looked at the picture on the camera. “Someone’s sneezing. Let’s do it again.”
Castiel sniffed shortly and straightened again. Finally, he gave in and rubbed his nose with the back of his wrist. He focused his attention on the photographer and breathed in from his mouth because he was sure he’d sneeze if he took another breath through his nose.
He just needed to make it through one more picture.
The photographer lifted his camera again. “Okay, smile!”
“Hihh.. heh…” Castiel’s nose flared as he tried to smile. Immediately, his face scrunched up as the flash went off and he hastily sneezed into his hands. “EiSCHH! EiSSCHew! HaISSCHHiew!” While his breath began hitching again, he felt someone grab his arm. “Hih! Heh… heh… hiiihhh! NktSHH! TssCHEW!”
Dean looked at Castiel once the other man caught his breath. “We’re going inside. You’re miserable.”
Castiel was thankful for Dean for many reasons. It seemed that the other man always knew when to take control when Castiel’s allergies and stubbornness got the best of him.
Now, with red, swollen and watery eyes, congestion that pressed against his sinuses, and an unrelenting irritating itch that stayed in his nose and throat, he needed Dean to pull him to his senses.
As they walked into the reception venue, Castiel sneezed in fits of three or four with increasing desperation. They made their way into the building and into the empty men’s restroom.
Dean stayed quiet as Castiel leaned against the sink’s counter and let out his usual full sneezes without care. In actuality, Dean was sure that Castiel couldn’t suppress them if he wanted to.
“You almost made it,” Dean finally said as Castiel’s sneezing began having small moments of pause. He continued after Castiel sneezed a triple. “It’s sweet that you wanted to try for Catherine and Heather but I’m sure that the garden would have killed you.”
Castiel grabbed some paper towels from the dispenser next to them then blew his nose. After he scrubbed it, his aquiline nose grew an irritated red hue. “Or at least sneezing for longer.”
After suffering in the garden, Castiel didn’t want to call out Dean for his dramatics. It didn’t matter and, in the end, he was right after all.
“Thank you fo-hihh! HehktSHHHew!” Castiel kept the paper towels to his nose for a moment before he lowered them to continue. “Pulling me out of there. I was so stubborn,”
A small smile formed on Dean’s lips until he suppressed it quickly. “Yeah, well, you’re always fine, aren’t you? At least the photographer got all the pictures except the last. Do you want to head to the reception? I’m sure it’s starting now. You have your Claritin in the car.”
If Castiel was alone, he probably would have done just that. He would have pushed through his allergies for his friends. Now, with Dean and another impending allergy fit on the tip of his nose, he wanted to go home.
“I’m actually kind of worn ou… hehhh! EiSCHH! Ahh… eekTSCHhkh!”
“We could go home and watch movies in our pollen-free and air-conditioned house instead,” Dean continued with a soft smile when Castiel nodded. “Alright, we can tell Catherine as we leave.”
Castiel pushed himself off the counter and slipped his left hand into Dean’s, throwing away the used paper towels before they left the restroom.
Thankfully, Catherine was completely fine with their plan and apologized profusely for Castiel’s reaction.
Of course, Castiel insisted that it wasn’t as bad as she thought and secured a plan to get together after her honeymoon. After they said their goodbyes and headed out of the venue, Castiel couldn’t wait to go home and spend the evening with Dean.