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It was 8:30 at night and Cas had been on the road for just over an hour. Rain was pouring hard, leaving the road slick with water. The sky was pitch, covered in clouds and rain obscured the view of the road more than a few feet ahead. Luckily, there were only a few cars on the road around him so he wasn’t too worried. There were still five hours of the drive ahead of him and Cas was hoping to get home by or before midnight. He had cruise control on and he was leaning back in the car seat, watching the road go by in front of him. Dean had just sent him a text message and Cas opened his phone to take a glance at it. He said something about how he and Sam were going out drinking.
Cas smiled at the message, glad Dean was able to have some fun tonight. He opened the message to send a reply and started typing it, keeping his eyes on the road, though there was no one in front of him or on either side. He had become rather good at messaging while driving, but with the weather as it was, he decided it was best to let Dean know that he wouldn’t be sending any more messages until he stopped. One word was typed before his car swerved horribly out of control. Cas dropped the phone into his lap and grabbed onto the steering wheel. He slammed his foot on the break and watched in horror as the car started spinning in circles.
There was nothing he could do as the car spun around across the road. His eyes focused on the wheel, that he held firm in one direction as he slammed on the breaks, though neither action did any good. He only vaguely recognized the flash of other cars’ headlights as his car flew past them, shouting curse words as he tried to regain control of his car to no avail. Just when he thought he would spin into oblivion, fly off the road into a ditch or worse yet, get smashed into by another car, his vehicle finally stopped. He’d started in the fast lane of a four lane highway and when he stopped, he was sideways across the slow lane and the shoulder.
When he stopped, Cas was still gripping the wheel tight, staring off in front of himself in utter shock and horror. He finally remembered to breathe, taking slow, shuddering breaths as he pried his hands from the wheel. Things began latently registering to Castiel, the sound of other cars zooming past, the fact that he was stopped half way on the road, that he needed to get OFF the road. Trembling hands reached up to press the button to turn on his hazard lights and Cas spent half a minute regaining his composure before he was confident enough to right his car on the shoulder of the highway. He waited until there were no cars around, backed up and straightened his car.
Safely on the shoulder, Castiel put the car in park and picked up his phone. His hands were still shaking as he began dialing Dean’s number, putting the phone to his ear and listening to it ring as his heart beat hard in his chest. It rang once, twice, three times. It kept ringing. Cas closed his eyes and swallowed hard until it went to voicemail. Pulling the phone back down, he hung up and dialed again. This time, Dean picked up on the third ring, the sounds of a restaurant or bar were in the background.
“Hey Cas, what’s up?” Dean’s jovial voice answered the phone. “How’s the drive?”
“Dean...” Cas’ own voice was weak. “I just spun my car.”
“WHAT?” Alarm was clearly evident in that one word. “Shit, Cas, are you okay, man?”
“Yeah... Yeah, Dean, I’m okay. Just... rattled.” His hands were still shaking. He could hear the background noise drop away suddenly, assuming Dean had left the building he was in to hear better.
“Where are you? Is your car okay?” Cas could tell Dean was relieved when he switched to business mode.
“I’m somewhere just north of Sioux City... The car is fine. I spun about six times but I stayed on the road, more or less, no one hit me and I didn’t ... flip it or anything. Apart from not being able to stop shaking, I’m okay.”
“Shit! Cas!” Dean sounded scared, which was a rare sound on him. Cas knew he was calculating how far of a drive that was from Kansas.
“I still have about five hours left before I get home...” Cas was starting to breath more evenly now, but he was still shaken, he could tell. “I’m going to try driving for another couple of hours then maybe stay in a hotel for the night... I don’t think I can make it the rest of the way home.”
“Do you need me to come and get you?” Dean asked and Cas knew he would.
“No, Dean... I’ll be okay. It would be ten hours before I got home if you did and you’d have to talk someone into driving up with you.”
“What? Why?”
“To drive my car back?” Cas almost laughed.
“Shit, you’re right...” Dean sounded resigned but not very happy about it.
“Dean, I’ll be okay. I’ll get a hotel and start again in the morning.” He tried to sound more confident than he felt at the moment.
“Okay, Cas, but you let me know the minute you get to the hotel and when you leave in the morning.”
“Sure. I will.” Cas assented.
“Good.”
“And Dean?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
He heard Dean exhale loudly on the other side of the line. “Man, I love you so much. Now get your ass home in one piece.”
Cas couldn’t help but smile, “I will.”
He drove on for another hour, then checked into the first motel that didn’t look like a shit hole and passed out for the night after texting Dean that he made it to the hotel. Castiel was bone tired, worn down from the emotional trauma of nearly dying. It occurred to him that he could very easily have flown off the road into the ditch, or spun the other way into the cement wall that separated the highway. He could have been hit by another car, caused a massive pile-up on the highway. He could have died and so could others. As he drifted off to sleep, he thanked whatever was up above that he survived and that his car was okay.
The next morning he woke early and felt better, so he started out on the road. Nearly three hours into the drive, he felt like he might fall asleep on the road. It took jumping through radio stations for songs he knew and could sing along with just to keep himself conscious. Dean would have been amused to hear him singing along to the radio, since he so rarely did it, but it was the only entertainment he had at the moment. It worked, too, which was all that mattered. He needed to get home, he needed to be off the road and out of the car.
When Cas was finally nearing home, he received a text from Dean reading, “Hope your drive is going better today.”
He smiled at it, because he was just pulling onto a road near the shop that Dean worked at. He sent a text back staying he was near home. Dean had been planning on working today and Cas figured that’s where Dean would be right now. He usually worked on cars when he was nervous, bothered or just generally needed to not think about certain things. Instead of going home, Cas turned his car in the direction of the shop. It wasn’t far from home and he’d rather see Dean, anyway.
After parking the car in the shop’s lot, Cas got out and walked towards one of the open bay doors that Dean typically worked in. He kept his eyes sharp for Dean, but it wasn’t until he heard the sound of a tool clanging to the ground that Castiel caught sight of Dean hurrying towards him. Before he knew it, Dean was pulling him into a rough, nearly clinging hug. It took Castiel’s breath away as he returned it.
“Shit, Cas, oh my god, am I glad to see you.” Dean said, voice hoarse. His arms were crushing as they held onto Cas. One hand held the back of his head, fingers clinging to Cas’ hair.
“I’m home, Dean. Safe and sound.” Cas said, trying to be comforting as he returned the hold, rubbing his hand along Dean’s back.
“God, I was so worried.” Dean buried his face against the crook of Cas’ shoulder and neck. That’s when Castiel felt the wet drip of tears against his skin and realized Dean had started crying.
“Dean... I’m okay, really. I’m fine.” He tightened his hold around the other man, feeling his throat get tight with emotion. Dean wasn’t really the type to cry at just anything.
“Don’t ever do that again!” Dean said harshly, pulling back enough to grip Castiel’s arms and look him in the eye. Green eyes were filled with pain and distress, they were rimmed red and the bags under his eyes told of the sleepless night he must have had.
“Dean, I’m sorry I worried you. I’m really okay, I’m home now.” Not knowing what else to do to calm Dean, Cas did the first thing that came to mind and kissed him, just to show that he was really here in Dean’s arms and really okay.
Dean’s hands moved from Castiel’s shoulders to cup his face, kissing him back with such desperation that Cas felt his knees almost go weak. He held onto Dean, fingers clinging to the back of his shirt. People were surely staring by now, customers and maybe even a few of the workers (though everyone who worked at the shop knew about their relationship). Neither of them seemed to care.
The kiss went on for a long moment, both of them just showing how glad they were to be together again. As they broke apart, Dean chuckled lightly, brushing his thumb along Castiel’s cheek. “Got some oil on you... sorry about that.”
Cas laughed and shook his head slightly, “I don’t care.”
Dean rested their foreheads together and just smiled. They hugged each other for a moment longer before Cas yawned hugely and said he needed to get back to the house before he passed out. After promising to text Dean the moment he got in (even though it was only a five minute drive), they kissed once more and Dean let Cas leave. At home, he would shower, throw his oil-stained clothes in Dean’s work clothes hamper and pass out in their bed, only to wake when Dean came home and climbed into bed, freshly showered and naked.
There, in the privacy of their bed, Dean showed Cas just how much he missed the man and how thankful he was that Castiel returned home in one piece. Alive and well. He worshipped Castiel’s body, showered him in affection and touched him like he was the most precious thing in the world to Dean. After nearly losing Cas the night before, he might have realized just how important Castiel was in his life. Dean kissed him like he’d never let him go again.