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Dean stares out over the water, sipping a cocktail that tastes suspiciously girly, but hell, does it taste good. He wiggles his toes in time with the music playing on his phone, humming along with the lyrics of “Whole Lotta Love.”
It’s been almost two years since it all ended, since they actually won. Heaven is up and running, the gates of Hell are closed, and Purgatory is nothing but a forgotten memory. There’s still the odd monster or ghost out there causing trouble, but that’s someone else’s job now. Dean Winchester is retired, thank you very much. It’s still sometimes hard to come to terms with the fact that this is his life now. A tiny bungalow, sun, surf, cocktails and the person whose ass belonged in the empty seat to his left.
“Sam and Eilleen’s wedding invitation arrived.” Dean hears over his right shoulder, as if Castiel popped up on cue. Not that ‘popping up’ is something Cas has the ability to do anymore without his wings, but he did move with a cat-like silence that kept Dean on his toes.
Dean smiles up at Cas and takes the piece of paper being held out to him, skimming over the details before setting it on the little table between their beach chairs. “So I guess we’re headin' back to Kansas in six weeks,” he says as Cas takes the seat next to him, slumping down and burying his toes in the sand. Dean gives him a head to toe glance, the sight of the former angel dressed down in swim trunks and a tee shirt still jarring, even after all this time.
“It would appear so,” Cas answers before snatching Dean’s drink off the table and taking a long pull from the bright green straw. He hums approval as the flavor of it bursts across his tongue and holds on to the cocktail, claiming it as his own now. Dean just huffs a laugh and shakes his head, accepting that he won’t be getting it back. Now that Cas eats, Dean enjoys nothing more than seeing him enjoy new things, and not for nothing, Cas was nothing short of delightful if you got him tipsy.
“I’m happy for him. He deserves it,” Dean finally says with a hint of melancholy as he glances back at the invitation.
“You miss him,” Cas says casually.
Dean shakes his head with a smile. Even without his angelic abilities, Cas still reads Dean better than anyone. Lingering profound bond or some shit, Dean supposed.
“Yeah, ‘course I do,” Dean admits. “But I’m happy for him. He never wanted to hunt in the first place. He did the job out of obligation, but he could never be content in the life. He’s happy now.”
“And you?” Cas asks, shifting in his seat, nervously. “Are you happy?”
Dean smiles at him and spreads his arms wide. “Look at this place. Yeah, I’m happy.”
“Sam has the life he always wanted and you finally got your toes in the sand. Seems like it was all worth it.” Cas says with a soft smile.
“That’s not all I got,” Dean says, returning Castiel’s smile and reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. “And you? Are you happy?”
Castiel draws in a breath of salt air and sighs. “I’m here. I’m happy.”
Dean frowns a little, a familiar hint of guilt curling in his ribcage. “You’re human.”
“Yes, and I’m not in the Empty. I get to go to Heaven when I die. It was worth it. I’m happy,” Castiel says before polishing off the dregs of Dean’s drink, grimacing when he finds it’s mostly ice water at the bottom of the glass. He sets it aside and wipes the condensation from the glass on his shorts.
“It’s strange,” Dean says, thoughtfully. Cas looks over at him with a head tilt, looking so much like the angel he met in the barn a decade and a half prior, and nostalgia washes over Dean. “Being happy, being left in peace. It’s strange. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop like it always does.”
“We’re free now, Dean,” Castiel says firmly. “It’s over.”
“I know, man. I guess I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
Sometimes at night Dean still wakes from nightmares, the result of leftover fears from their former lives. Sometimes, he jerks awake with a scream, nervous sweat clinging to his body and fading flashes of blood and gore at the forefront of his mind. Sometimes when that happens, a strong arm reaches out across the bed and wraps around him, pulling him against a solid chest and whispering to him that everything is ok. A pair of plush lips press a kiss under his ear and a deep voice rumbles, I’m here. That voice always convinces Dean that he’s safe, and he relaxes back into his pillows, knowing that everything is, in fact, ok.
“I’ll get there one day.” Dean says before picking up the invitation again and wiggling it at Cas. “Ever think about it?”
“It never even crossed my mind as a possibility,” Cas says with a shrug.
Dean’s shoulders slump sadly, and he tosses the paper back on the little table.
“At least not until recently,” Cas continued. “Now? Sometimes, yes.”
Dean smiles over at Cas. “Yeah, me too, Angel.”
Dean leans back in his chair, sighing contently as the breeze ruffles his hair. He glances over at Cas, smiling at how happy he looks. He has a few grays at his temples that taper down, getting denser in his sideburns. They're newly acquired since going mortal, but mostly, he looks the same as he always has. Same blue eyes, same confused squint.
Castiel reaches across the narrow space between their chairs, palm facing the sky in invitation, and Dean just smiles over at him and takes it, lacing their fingers together and squeezing tight. He studies the way the sun seems to make Cas glow ethereally in a way that will never let Dean forget Cas was once a celestial being. For a fleeting second he thinks, I would marry the fuck out of him, and maybe he would someday. For now though, they’re happy and together, and that’s more than either of them would have dared to dream for only a couple years ago.