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Dean had taken a few plus ones to weddings before so this shouldn’t be a big deal.
Then his brain reminds him that those plus ones weren’t Cas.
After scrubbing his hands over his face in an attempt to massage the sleep away, Dean turns to look at the clock on their hotel room’s bedside table.
7:12 AM
He can’t believe Sammy is getting married today— in about eight hours but who’s counting.
Nerves start to course through every inch of Dean’s body as he crosses off steps on his mental checklist as best man . He has the rings, the marriage license, and mini shots of Fireball ready to go. The speech he’s supposed to give is mostly written and he’s coordinated with Jess’s sister for their grand march entrance. All he has to do is shower, shave, and get ready by 1PM for family photos.
Piece of cake.
Or it would be if he wasn’t absolutely terrified of the rest of the evening.
Dean’s never been shy about his sexuality— at least not once he figured it out for himself— but it’s always just worked out that he’s been single or with women at these things. He’d only brought an actual plus one once (the rest of his wedding dates being acquired as the night progressed.) He remembers bringing Lisa to Garth’s wedding and being only half as nervous. Because she was everything his family expected of him while still being the pistol he needed to keep him on his toes, there was little to be nervous about. The wedding was ultimately their last hurrah. Their timing just wasn’t right for anything longer than the year they had– truth be told, the timing never seemed to be right. Anyone willing to stick around longer than one night was few and far between but the connection always fizzled out or they met someone better suited for the life they were hoping to lead.
In Lisa’s case, it was someone who wanted to be a father. Not that Dean didn’t want kids but rather he wanted more time before taking that step. Lisa was willing and ready at the ripe age of 23 and to be honest it scared the shit out of him. So they called it quits and she ended up finding the perfect man a few months later.
Dean still gets invited to their son Ben’s birthday parties.
There’s a least a dozen stories just like that in Dean’s history book– for a while he thought he was destined to be everyone’s stepping stone to their happily ever after.
Then he met Cas.
Blue-eyed, quick witted, dry comedian, hot as hell Cas who he fell for in one look down a grocery store aisle. It’s only been five months but he’d swear on Baby that he’s lived lifetimes with this man.
Cas is different from Dean’s previous plus ones.
Cas is… Cas.
And Sam knew that when he upped Dean’s invite to include a plus one and looked at him knowingly. He wasn’t trying to push Dean into something he wasn’t ready for, but rather give him a nudge into proving how serious he is about Cas.
Of course, promising Sam he’d ask and actually asking Cas were two very different tasks.
Dean laughs to himself as he remembers the night he actually had the balls to ask. They were walking home from the Roadhouse and even the substantial amount of liquid courage he’d downed wasn’t stopping him from being a nervous wreck. The question came out practically incoherent. Luckily for Dean, Cas always seems to know what he is trying to say. Cas made it easy as always– a soft smile and a gentle nod before kissing Dean senseless was his only response. In fact, it was so easy that Dean needed to text his boyfriend the next day just to make sure Cas knew he’d agreed to accompany Dean to Sam’s wedding.
Sam’s wedding.
And here come the nerves all over again.
As if on cue, the weight next to Dean begins to shift and he feels a light peppering of kisses down his spine. Dean can’t help but smile to himself before Cas even speaks. “Morning,” a slight pause as Cas yawns, “You really shouldn’t be so nervous, Dean, I can feel the tension practically radiating off of—“
Mid-sentence Dean has repositioned himself to be facing his boyfriend which allowed a perfectly timed kiss to end the lecture he was positive Cas was about to give. He truly didn’t want to dwell on the nerves he wishes he wasn’t feeling. It’s not that he isn’t proud to be on Cas’s arm, or even to be bisexual, but rather the publicity of it all.
He’s always been bisexual in the way that’s easy for the general population to digest— women in public and a few men in the shadows.
There’s no telling how his family will react when faced with a plus one they can’t brush off in some sort of straight passing bullshit.
Dean just hopes he isn’t dragging Cas into a warzone.
“I’m not stressed.” Is all he can say and both he and Cas know it’s a downright lie but Dean appreciates that Cas let it slide for the time being. Cas smiles at Dean shyly before reaching forward and combing one of Dean’s unruly bangs into the rest of his hair.
Dean leans into the gentle touch and they kiss long and slow. Cas smiles into the contact and Dean is pretty sure his heart bursts out of his chest. He’s about to deepen the kiss when he hears his ringtone for Sam blast loudly through the hotel room. “Fucking cockblock. I swear he does this on purpose.” Cas just chuckles, knowing full well Dean will answer anyway. Dean sighs loudly when Cas hands him his phone but steals one more kiss effectively letting the phone go to voicemail. Dean laughs into Cas’s lips before pulling away reluctantly, “Duty calls, I guess?”
Cas nods as he smiles softly before kissing Dean’s forehead and heading to the bathroom to clean up. Dean can’t help but follow his almost naked boyfriend’s path to the bathroom with his eyes— so enamored with the sight he almost forgets why they’re out of bed in the first place.
He snaps out of it and swipes to return Sam’s call. His brother answers on the first ring, “Morning, Sammy! Let’s get ya hitched!”
. . .
Turns out family photos really suck.
Or maybe that’s just family photos with John Winchester.
Dean’s never been more pissed than he is right now. “What do you mean Cas shouldn’t be in any pictures?” He’s whispering harshly and trying to keep his voice down, and glancing at his blissfully unaware boyfriend as Cas keeps up an animated conversation with Jess’s friend from high school. “He doesn’t have to be in all of them, but one with the family is the least we can do.”
From the way his hands are moving Dean can tell they’re talking about bees.
He loves when Cas talks about his damn bees.
“The least we can do?! Please, Dean. You've only been together for what? Two months? And I refuse to pay the photographer to photoshop him out when you inevitably break up.” John crosses his arms which usually tells Dean his decision is final.
Dean’s not taking that shit today.
He’s about to go off on his dad when the bubbly photographer starts calling for “the Winchester side” and everyone starts lining up. The photographer shifts everyone around a bit, making sure Sam and Jess stay in the middle with John and Mary on Sam’s side and Dean on Jess’s. He knows better than to ruin Sammy’s day with his beef with their father so he smiles brightly and shoves down every piece of him that wants Cas by his side.
In between shots, he glances towards his boyfriend to find him staring right back at Dean. Cas looks absolutely stunning in his dark blue suit coat and unbuttoned collared shirt and if Dean told him as much before photos which of course led to a quick round of hand jobs in the lobby bathroom and them being five minutes late? Well that’s their business.
Worth it.
Cas is smiling at Dean so proudly right now that Dean feels the blush start to crawl it’s way up his neck. He’s not used to being wanted and flaunted but man if he doesn’t enjoy being shown off as Cas’s.
The photographer signals for the next photo and Dean is ready to walk towards Cas when Sam speaks up, “Wait, one more with this group!” Dean begins to roll his eyes in jest at Sam’s exorbitant amount of photo requests as Sam continues, “Castiel! Get over here!”
Dean practically feels his eyes light up as he looks eagerly towards Cas. For a nanosecond, he forgets all about his conversation with his dad. Then he looks towards Sam to see John whispering something in his ear and the anger he felt before starts to bubble to the surface all over again.
It’ll be any minute now and Dean won’t be so great at controlling his temper— Sam’s perfect day be damned.
But then Sam is leveling with their dad and he hears a sentence that may be the best thing he’s heard his brother say in years, “It’s our day, Dad. Jess and I want Cas in these pictures. You’re welcome to sit this one out if you’re so opposed but he's Dean’s boyfriend and he’s part of this family whether you like it or not.”
Cas walks up just in time to overhear the end of Sam’s monologue and Dean is worried he’ll take his father’s bigotry to heart but it seems he’s latched onto another part of Sam’s sentence entirely. He looks at Dean who can tell he’s fighting with the tears threatening his eyes before leaning in to whisper softly, “I’m family, huh?”
The hesitation makes Dean’s heartache. As the photographer gets them resituated Dean contemplates the best way to answer that question.
He settles on a decidedly public display of absolute admiration. Kissing Cas’s cheek tenderly he whispers in his ear as the photographer counts down the shot, “Of course you are, sweetheart, for as long as you’ll have me.”
When the shutter clicks, Cas leans into Dean’s back ever so slightly— a silent thank you and promise being made and documented for the world to see.
And, according to Cas a few weeks later as they go through the gallery, that picture is his favorite smile of Dean’s in any photo all day.