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Pulling Cas from the Empty had taken everything Dean had and more. To not say a word as he looped his arms under Cas and pulled him close felt like having his heart ripped out all over again. To not let the Empty know what they were attempting in fear they’d be stopped before they escaped. He’d lost Cas too many times and he was not losing him again.
Cas' mouth formed a word as their hands brushed together; his name on Cas’ lips as black goo spilled out past his teeth and across his lips.
“Don’t speak,” Dean whispered, pressing his lips to the shell of Cas’ ear as he used his torn sleeve to wipe the dripping blackness from Cas’ chin. Torn from fighting his way through the darkness; past demons and monsters Dean wasn’t even sure existed except for the shreds of his clothes as proof.
“Follow me,” Dean said, words just barely a ghost of a breath into Cas’ ear. He lingered for a second, letting his lips press ever-so-softly against Cas’ earlobe in a desperate fleeting kiss. If he couldn’t speak the words yet, couldn’t utter his own declaration until they were free, then he’d let his touches do the talking. A soft kiss here and a gentle caress there as Dean ran his hands over Cas’ body in the darkness.
Cas was alive; chest moving up and down in short little bursts beneath Dean’s palm. Cas’ fingers gripped against Dean’s collar in a fumbling grasp, and Dean pressed his fingertips firmly against Cas’ hipbone as he pulled Cas to his feet. Alive and in one piece. Time to get the hell out of here.
Wrapping his arm around Cas’ waist, Dean closed his eyes and trusted his instincts as they stumbled through the pitch-black back towards the portal he’d entered through. Distinctly, he heard the growling that had creeped around him a mere few minutes ago, and he used his free hand to slide the angel blade from inside his jacket. Bring on every single monster. Dean would fight them all and tear them to pieces in order to get Cas back. But then Cas was tugging urgently at his sleeve; a thick sense of fear palpable in the air and it settled on Dean’s tongue.
No more fighting. No more running away. Time to run forwards, together, into their future.
Fingers burning a print into Cas’ skin through the trenchcoat and suit, Dean used his free arm to push through the encroaching suffocating inky blackness. The threatening growls were getting closer; clawing at their clothes and trying to pull them back into the depths of nothingness.
Dean pushed harder; grip bruising against Cas’ side as they stumbled on.
And finally.
Into light.
Sharp bursts of brightness that had them both gasping for air.
Cas coughed and spluttered, the dripping remains of the Empty falling from his lips and onto the Bunker’s concrete floor. Tugging off the remains of his jacket, Dean wiped across Cas’ face again, removing the last traces of darkness and revealing beautiful blue eyes blown wide in shock.
Somebody pushed a glass of water towards them; maybe Sam or was it Eileen? Dean wasn’t sure. Whoever it was patted his shoulder and stepped away to give him and Cas space.
“Dean,” Cas whispered, voice hoarse and cracking on the word.
Pressing the water into Cas’ hand, Dean urged him to drink; watching as any lingering traces of the darkness slipped away and Cas was Cas again.
“Oh, Cas,” Dean murmured once Cas had finished the water, fingers smoothing through Cas’ hair and pulling him close until their bodies were pressed together.
There were a million things Dean wanted to say:
I’m sorry.
Please stay.
Don’t ever pull a stunt like that again.
Be mine.
Instead, Dean stroked softly down the back of Cas’ neck and tilted their heads until their foreheads rested against each other. Cas’ hands automatically settled on Dean’s lower back, and the touch alone was enough to have Dean shivering with pent-up emotions that were threatening to spill out between them.
“Tell me you meant it. Tell me you love me,” Dean gasped out. Please, please, please tell me you love me as much as I love you.
Cas nodded frantically, clutching at Dean’s back until Dean swore there was a new handprint seared across his spine.
“Dean,” Cas whispered, broken and etched with longing. “I love you.” Said quietly yet with so much devotion.
Dean yanked Cas impossibly closer, ghosting his lips against Cas’ in the faintest hint of a kiss. “I’m so in love with you,” he said. Not just love. But in love. Utterly, ridiculously, deeply head over heels in love with his best friend. Those words he’d been repeating every night while his finger traced over the picture of Cas in his wallet. Except now it was real. Fingers skimming over soft skin as opposed to glossy paper.
And then it wasn’t just fingers against skin.
Lips met in a frantic kiss, arms wrapping around each other in a desperate haste Dean hadn’t felt before. Their mouths collided together, sliding at just the right angle to have Dean shuddering and gasping for more.
He wasn't sure which of them was more desperate for this, but now that he'd discovered the taste of Cas' mouth against his own, he couldn't stop himself from diving in for another kiss and another as Cas' hands fumbled over Dean's torn flannel shirt. The desperation fizzled into Dean’s fingertips, and he scrambled to glide his touch over every inch of Cas’ body he could reach. Mouths moved as one as Dean’s fingers flittered over Cas’ neck and his jaw and down to rest over his heart.
Cas scrambled to pull Dean closer, one hand settling to pull on the loops of Dean’s jeans while the other wrapped around his back.
One second the kiss was hot and heavy as they panted into each other’s mouths, and then everything drained away until the press of lips was soft and slow. Dean traced the outline of Cas’ lips with his own, memorizing the way their mouths melded together. Cas tilted his head slightly, and Dean chased him; gentle caresses of lips seeking each other out to echo the words of love.
While their mouths softened into kisses like butter, their hands gripped even tighter; winding around each other until Dean was sure they had become one. He never wanted the kiss to end, and, judging by the fact Cas was puffing little gasps of air through his nose but still leaning into the kiss, he knew Cas felt the same.
Gently, Dean shifted the kisses until they were just ever-so-slightly brushing their lips together in chaste little pecks that felt even more tender than any of the deep kisses they’d just shared.
“Stay,” Dean whispered against Cas’ mouth, searing the words against swollen lips.
Cas finally broke the kisses, instead tucking his head into Dean’s shoulder as their embrace morphed into a frantic hug with hands clutched against waists. “Not going anywhere,” Cas murmured, pressing the confession into Dean’s throat.