Archive of Our Own

Dean and Cas had had an incredible dinner that Christmas night, and wonderful moment after wonderful moment with every one, big or small, that passed. They’d spent a whole day curled together on Dean’s couch watching movies - a set of cushions now both of theirs, Cas would remember between scenes - and they’d even gone dancing one night; swaying in the content warmth of one another’s arms while the notes of I Can’t Get Started by Ella Fitzgerald filled the air around them.

It was the most perfect either of their lives had ever been.

Now, it was New Year’s Eve, and the two of them were walking up towards Nina’s house (technically her girlfriend’s house, but Nina all but lived there as well, since she was planning on putting her name down the next time the papers were reviewed), with a bottle of wine as offering, and a small plant as a holiday gift from Cas. (“It’s a cactus,” the former angel had declared happily the day he’d found it. “But look- the flowers!”) Dean had grinned, and told him it was a perfect present.

Once they’d ascended the steps, it was about 7pm, early enough that they’d likely be the first to arrive. Dean knocked on the wood slung over with welcoming streamers of tinsel and crepe paper, and the door opened to reveal a head of curly hair overlooking dark brown skin and a smile that was ear-to-ear. “Hey, Dean!” the woman said happily, looking over at Cas and taking the both of them in. “And you must be Castiel. I’m Laurleen Adewale, Nina’s better half- but everyone calls me Laur.”

“Hello,” Cas greeted, returning her strong handshake. Dean elbowed him gently, gesturing to the plant that was being cradled almost protectively, and the former angel coughed, a slight flush rising to his face. “Um...this is for you, and Nina,” he said, carefully extending the small cactus pot forward. “The flowers are phosphorescent, they- they glow, if exposed to sufficient sunlight.”

“Oh, it’s beautiful!” she breathed, holding it with just as much care as Cas had himself and glancing behind her for a place to keep it. “I love it. It’ll make the perfect addition to all the other houseplants we’ve amassed these past few months.” She then looked up, pulling her gaze away from the soft, chloroplast-filled masses, with eyes that widened in sudden realization. “Oh, god. You’re still standing outside. Come in, come in- you guys are the first ones here, but Nina should be down soon. Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly, leading them inside and closing the door with one heel. “It’s cold out there, but I’ll get the fireplace going in here in just a minute. Feel free to get comfy on the couches.” She glanced at Cas, hesitating for a moment, before leaning closer as if telling him a secret. “You can take a risk with the beanbags, but Nina has fought and will fight anyone who tries to steal them from her.”

Cas blinked, somehow feeling every fiber of the threat described. “I...do not doubt that,” he replied. “I think I will pass, thank you.”

Laur smiled, turning toward Dean. “Hey,” she said quietly, winking (though on her face the gesture was soft and innocent, where on another’s it might not have been so). “You look so, so happy, Dean. I’m beyond ecstatic for you.”

Dean smiled, looking over at where Cas had begun to walk further into the living room, just out of earshot from them. “Yeah, we are happy,” the Winchester murmured back. “He’s special, Laur."

I wouldn’t trade him for anyone.

“Hey, Laury, was that the door I heard?” Nina’s voice suddenly piped from upstairs, loud as it ever was (and probably always would be). “Have those two gay trash idiots gotten here yet?”

“‘Gay trash idiots’? Really, Nina?” Dean called back, while Laur held a hand to cover the laughter threatening to bubble for her mouth. “You’re one to talk,” the Winchester continued, picking up his verbal stride. “I saw you when you watched Brokeback Mountain for the first time. Come on, I brought wine. Put away that blunt you’re smoking and get the hell down here.”

Nina started laughing incredibly hard, as though infinitely pleased with herself for reasons she need never clarify, and something thudded to the floor before she came running down the stairs; her black bangs swept across her face like she was a living whirlwind. “Bold of you to assume I need a blunt to get like this,” she said, before leaning over to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek. “Did you meet Castiel, Laur? Is he here?”

“I am right behind you, Nina,” Cas said, waving slightly, drawing her attention. “To answer your question, yes- Laurleen and I were introduced.” He smiled, shy but genuine in that sweet way of his. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Nina wrapped Cas in a hug before just as quickly whirling back to smack Dean in the arm, and then within a blink of an eye she was somehow already in the kitchen.

“I know, I know,” Laur said, laughing, looking at the expression on Castiel’s face. “How did I ever end up with someone with energy like her? I get that a lot.”

Cas blinked at her, surprised by the statement. “No, actually, I-” He broke off, clearing his throat once, and gathering his thoughts. “I believe the two of you complement one another well,” he told her honestly. He smiled, glancing at his own other half, a match many would’ve never expected themselves. “Some people simply belong together, despite what others believe to be insurmountable differences between them.”

Dean felt warmth rise to his face, and his eyes softened, feeling every word as he heard it.

He understood.

Because where countless couples only came together due to cupids and their arrows, and a checklist preordained before free will was truly born...this Righteous Man, and the former angel of the lord now by his side, had fallen in love despite the forces of heaven, and hell, and everything in between doing whatever possible to keep them apart.

Laur gave Cas’s shoulder a squeeze, and then slipped into the kitchen, leaving the two men alone together.

“So how long have you been holdin’ onto that one, huh?” Dean asked, his voice low, stepping forward and slowly placing his hands over Cas’s waist. “Coulda sworn you gave up trying to write poetry.”

The corner of Cas’s mouth twitched, and he swept forward to kiss Dean with the force of the grace that once saturated his veins, pulling away with a look that was almost smug when he saw that the Winchester had been rendered speechless. “A man I raised from perdition taught me that,” he said in answer. “See, he saved the world.”

“Huh,” Dean breathed, a hand hovering above his lips as if in awe. “Sounds like a hell of a guy.”

“That he is.” Cas smiled, then pulled him in for a softer embrace, pressing a chaste kiss to the curve of Dean’s cheek. “I’m going to go offer my assistance in the kitchen. Perhaps...you could inquire about music, before the other guests arrive?”

“You’ve got it. Hey, Nina,” Dean called, craning his neck so he could be heard through the home’s downstairs. “I’m gonna pop out your vinyl and get some tunes going, alright? I’d better not turn around to find you contemplating sticking a knife in my side.”

“Mothership is already loaded up, so knock yourself out,” she called back, as the scent of sizzling garlic began to waft around the curve of their walls. “But I hear a scratch on that disk, Winchester, and suffice it to say that your apartment will soon be looking for a new resident.”

“You nearly wrecked my copy of Who Made Who over the summer, so if you ask me, it would be more than fair,” Dean replied as he watched Cas walk away, and he turned to the shelf with the music collection methodically arranged by genre as well as era. But he knew he could never hurt a Led Zeppelin record, however much the owner might deserve it.

He flicked the player’s switch and lowered the needle, and soon the stilted chords of Good Times Bad Times began to saturate the air. He sighed, flopping back against the coveted couch cushions.

This was all he needed, he decided.

Good sound, good smell, good pillows…

And the feeling of Cas’s warmth brushed over all the rest.

The time passed and the album began to progress, and two more of the friends Nina had invited arrived- drinks getting passed around, courtesy of Laur and Cas, before Dean pulled the former angel into the crook of his arm and from then kept him at his side. The group caught up on one another’s holiday adventures, and the food was made - and eaten, fast. Nina almost clocked it, just to be able to use the numbers as blackmail later on, but by some miracle, Laur managed to keep their houseguests safe.

“So, anyway…” a young man named Caleb was now saying, taking a sip of his beer mid-story while the others all listened raptly. “I turn around, right, thinking the guy’s finally gone, you know, that he’ll maybe let me run my store in peace. But five minutes later, I hear a knock at the door, and see an entire gang of bikers, and a dude from city hall practically jammed between their engines. The whole gang! It’s like they were waiting just off the road or some shit, I swear. And since when does this town even have a gang, anyway? Then they shove the desk worker at me, and demand that I show him my vending permits. Like, what the hell! Why do they care so goddamned much about whether or not I’m legally licensed to sell them lettuce, cigarettes and engine parts? I don’t see any of you guys on my ass over it. Geez.”

“Maybe we should be,” Laur teased, from when she and Nina were nestled together on the beanbag they’d dragged next to the sofas. “You really do still have that baby-face look, you know.”

Caleb gave a sound of disgust, and Dean laughed, reaching over to smack his shoulder. “Ignore the loopy crew of the Milano over there, Cay,” he said, aware of the exact moment that Nina’s combative fire was ignited anew. “Your engine parts are damn good, legally stocked or not.” he then broke off. “Maybe I should have a talk with those guys, though.”

“Wait, hold up,” a young woman named Kamala said, leaning forward when a thought occurred to her. “One, yes, please talk with the gang and please let us get it on camera. But second, if we’re committing to the Marvel references here...then those two have got to be Moondragon and Phyla-Vell. One of the best badass lesbian comic couples in recent history. They were adorable in the 2019 Infinity Wars event. And, like, every arc they were ever a part of together.”

Nina’s eyes widened, as if she couldn’t believe she’d never thought of that before. “Kamala, you genius,” she breathed. “And these two lovebirds,” she said suddenly, swinging her gaze at Dean and the once-angel tucked against his shoulder. “Hulkling and Wiccain. Boom.”

Dean choked, coughing and processing the implications of that all at once. He’d had a lot of time for comic reading these past six months, and he hadn’t exactly been dry-eyed sitting there and reading the Young Avengers arc Nina had thrown at him wherein those two characters had literally saved the world with a kiss in the void of space. Because even if not both of those things at once, he and Cas had very much done both (whether or not the others in the room were aware). Besides, Wiccain’s blue eyes, the self-sacrificial streak, the magic that could blur with the memories of angel grace without very much effort?

“...well damn,” Dean said, slowly finding himself pulled back to reality by Cas’s fingers threading through his, stroking the skin between his thumb and palm in a gesture of mild concern. “Guess you got it in one, huh?”

“Who are the characters they are talking about, Dean?” Cas asked. “You grew very lost in thought, for a moment.”

“Oh man,” Kamala said, leaning over as far as she could from her position on the floor so that she and Cas could both see the phone in her hands. “Finally, education time. So, Moondragon- her father was this musician named Arthur Douglas, right, but he-”

“Dude, if you start on Drax’s backstory, you’ll be talking through next week,” Caleb said, cutting her off. “Besides, he asked about Hulkling and Wiccain. Here, gimme the phone.”

Kamala made a face of sadness, but sighed, handing it over, and watched her friend scroll through the open fandom wiki page.

“So Hulkling,” Caleb began, rolling up the sleeves of his tshirt and adjusting the old cap on his head. “He’s this cross of two powerful species of alien, the Kree and the Skrulls, which basically means a lot of people have it out for him about his role in the universe, the conflict between these empires he’s supposed to spearhead, blah blah blah. Pretty cool dude, though, he’s got some cool powers. He’s had a few breaks, but he’s been in the fighting life most of his run because damn if he’ll leave the people who need him hanging. And then, Wiccain, well, he’s the son of a reality-bending, chaos-energy-creating mutant named Scarlet Witch, but his destiny and his magic are a whole ‘nother thing. He’s done a few things that he regrets, you know, made mistakes that got people hurt when he was trying to do the opposite, but he’s a really good guy.” Caleb then grinned, trying to find an image of the comic pages he wanted. “The two of them get married eventually, by the way, it’s pretty great. Plus, there’s this scene in the 2013 Young Avengers arc where their Space Gay energy basically saved the universe? So go figure.” He leaned in, whispering loudly enough for everyone to hear. “You guys should totally roleplay those panels sometime.”

Dean momentarily froze, something about those descriptions hitting home in a way he didn’t want to admit. A way that was real, but real in a respect exclusive to the past. He’d gotten out, he reminded himself, exhaling and repeating the words in his mind. He’d found the holy grail.

He cut off his thoughts, and made an affronted noise in reply, then glanced over at where Kamala had taken back her device and quickly shuffled across the living room floor to Nina- the two women (as well as Laur) beginning to point and giggle at something hidden from view. The word “cosplay” was audible, as was a hushed sound of delight followed by, “look, look, a discount!”

“Something tells me Dean here’s gonna be getting a bunch of spandex in the mail sometime in the next week or so,” Caleb remarked, looking over at Castiel. “If you guys need a photographer afterwards, give me a call.”

Cas met Dean’s eyes, and cocked a brow in questioning, but the Winchester just took another deep breath and let it out; trying to convince his body to go back to being relaxed, and his mind not to get too invested in just how good the stitching patterns for a Wiccain-esque cloak might look on Cas at the end of this.

“Hey, morons,” the Winchester said, checking his watch. “It’s almost eleven. Final hour Rockefeller, music, fireworks, not harassing the guy who fixes your cars for a living? Any of that ringing a bell? Where the hell’s the tv remote?”

Before he could finish the question, the length of plastic in question was being hurled toward his head, and he managed to catch it just in time, Cas narrowly ducking out of the object’s path.

“Hey,” Dean called out, fixing the offender with a glare only partially born of jest. “You break him, I break you, got it?”

The room quieted, and an apology was murmured as Dean settled his arm back over Cas’s shoulders, tugging the man who would always be his angel that much closer to his side.

“My hero,” Cas whispered, his breath brushing the area just beneath Dean’s ear.

“If you got out of everything we’ve been through, then no way in hell is the domestic life going to see you get hurt,” Dean replied, his voice low, and something in his tone rough in a way that suggested the life he’d left behind was staking a comeback in his mind. “Not on my watch, damnit.”

Caleb, from where he’d been sitting, made sure to stop listening, well aware that this wasn’t meant for him to hear.

But he understood.

The twenty-seven year old storerunner had seen the look in Dean’s eyes when he’d first arrived, and more than once in the months that followed, however much the rest of the tense form had managed to learn to relax. It was the remnants of war burned into a stony jaw, the ache of loss and fear etched into the gaunt shadows above his cheeks.

This man had seen things.

But Dean was doing better, now- especially since Cas had come to stay.

As far as Caleb was concerned, it was a good place to end a year.

Finally, after some murmurs that were likely of the soothing variety, the television blinked on, and a segment of music began to croon through the sound system mid-song- quickly recognized as a slow cover of My Way by Frank Sinatra.

Nina stood from the divot that had formed around her in the beanbag, and held out a hand with a sly smile for Laur, who smiled and accepted it in kind. They linked fingers and began to sway, moving this way and that; prompting the coffee table to be pushed aside and their happy giggles to ascend that much higher towards the ceiling. “Come on!” Nina said, looking over her girlfriend’s shoulder at the other couple in the room, waving a wrist and motioning to the empty space on the floor beside them. “Dancing! It’s a party!”

Dean glanced to his left, and found himself met with a willing twitch in the corner of his better half’s mouth as Cas rose to his feet, and made the same gestural offer. Caleb let loose a whistle, happily clapping with Kamala at his side as the two men got up and both couples began to dance, smiles alight on all their faces as the lyrics continued to circle.

My Way transitioned into Don’t Make Me Over by Dionne Warwick, and then You’re The One by The Vogues, by which point everyone was up off their seats, shimmying with the music to their heart’s content and laughing as a group.

“Dean, since when can you dance?” Kamala asked, a grin painted over her face. “And more importantly, how did you find yourself a man who can too?”

At this, the Winchester glanced over at Cas, whose delicate movements: just a shift in the rotation of the shoulder here or a contented tap of the foot there, truly were a graceful sight in the midst of their colorful chaos.

“Well, what can I say,” Dean joked, winking when the former angel caught his eye. “When you’re shopping in heaven’s catalog, you’re bound to get a good bargain.”

Caleb groaned, and Kamala only snorted in concert.

“This is why your contact name in my phone is Dean Wincheddar,” the younger friend replied, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “I can’t believe one of my best customers is so damn cheesy. Corny. Cringey.”

“You know the synonyms won’t make him stop,” Nina remarked, laughing, sweeping the bangs from her brow. “It’s in his DNA.”

“Personally, I don’t mind it,” Cas said, stepping closer and leaning in. “What Dean’s charm lacks in...smoothness, he more than makes up for with his other qualities.”

Caleb, Kamala and Nina all howled in delight, and Dean was in shock, unsure if he’d sure heard that correctly.

“You- did you just say lacking, in smoothness, Cas?” Dean blinked, his chin cocking to the side. “The hell do you mean, lacking?”

“You’re simply special, is all,” the once-angel replied innocently, and then, reading the mood of the onlookers, shaped his face into a smirk; before taking Dean firmly into his hands and dipping him low from the waist. “Very, special.”

Cas pulled the Winchester back up in a single fluid motion and spun him from in front, positioning himself so he could sway with his back pressed against Dean’s stomach, and the audience members went still, more eyes wide than not and more than one hand delivering a pat on the shoulder to the man for whom their respect was more than doubled.

“Damn,” Nina breathed. “You get it, Castiel.”

“Guess now we know who the smooth one is,” Kamala said in agreement.

Dean decided not to acknowledge the comments, and instead leaned into the space behind Cas’s ear as the music on the television slowed; for a moment the two of them allowed to feel like there was no one else in the world. “Where’d you learn that move, huh?” the Winchester asked, his tone low. “That’s twice in one night you’ve left me speechless, you know that?”

Cas only smiled. “Twice in a lifetime of opportunities to do it again and again.”

“Hey!” a voice rang out, breaking the couple from their reverie. “Hey hey hey, five minutes till midnight! The fireworks are starting!”

Cas loosely twirled away from the brace of Dean’s arms and then fell back against the couch, taking his other half down at his side. Everyone settled into their spots of comfort as the shining, powdery lights filled the screen in front of them, and distant bangs sounded off in the town around them; their corner of the universe beginning to awaken in the spirit of anticipation.

“And now, ladies and gentlemen, we find ourselves in the final ninety seconds of the year,” a voice narrated, words pitching and soaring as the flash bangs dispersed in the city behind them. “Pull close a loved one, a friend, a family member- anyone with whom you wish to spend this next measure of all our lives.”

Nina snorted slightly at the directness of the message, but her face softened when she felt Laur’s hand tracing her cheek, and the woman who prided herself on chaos allowed herself to be nothing more than that simple touch and what it did to her heart.

Across the room, Dean looked to his right to find the blue of Cas’s eyes fixed solely on his own, those azure depths so sincere and so full of love that it almost made the subject of that devotion believe that he’d never had to endure anything else.

“I love you, Dean Winchester,” Cas whispered. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

“Cas…” Dean murmured. There were words catching at the edge of his lips, words that scared him, but felt so right that he refused to deny it any longer than he already had.

So at long last, he opened his mouth, and…

“Will you marry me?” the two of them breathed at the same time.

There was a collection of seconds wherein time ceased to exist, and somehow the hushed caress of their mingling breaths overtook even the final countdown to those which preceded it. The space where their gazes wove together was like the richness of ink acquinating itself with paper, like a half of a soul finding its match and vowing never to be alone again.

Their hearts rose, and this slice of the earth completed its lap in the same moment that their lips met- brimming with love against love, life against life.

“Yeah, Cas,” Dean whispered, as the cheers ascended around them. “I wanna share it with you.”

“This year…”

And every single one of the rest.