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At the moment of his birth, it turned out that Dean Winchester was not graced by the heavens with a guardian angel, as was common for all humans. Mary and John were understandably confused, wondering what could have gone wrong. It was certainly difficult to imagine their new-born son had somehow invoked the ire of Heaven so soon after his birth to be denied a heavenly guard. This made growing up confusing and frustrating to say the least. Sam had tried to explain what it was like, having an assigned angel. Guardian angels shared an unconditional love, a profound bond with their charges, and you’d always feel assured, protected, and most of all, complete. Dean wasn’t sure whether he didn’t understand, or didn’t want to understand.
The older Dean got, the less he started to care. Guardian angels supposedly made the world a more peaceful place, but that didn’t stop Mary from dying. It didn’t stop their father from going on a bender the months following the accident. It didn’t stop the emotional and verbal abuse their father inflicted in his drunken state. It didn’t stop their father from disappearing months on end, before finally he announced he’d be settling with another woman, never to return again.
Dean didn’t care, because his most self-depreciating thoughts on dark days whispered he really didn’t deserve one. He didn’t care, because there were other things to think about, like putting food on the table for his ever vertically expanding brother, having enough money to pay the bills and set aside a decent amount of money in case Sam would ever need it. He didn’t care about not having a guardian angel looking out for him when returning late from work one day, a drunk driver crashed into him and sent them flying off the road, and into the hospital for several weeks.
After all, who needs a guardian angel when you have a best friend who is a nerd for causes like test animals in the make-up industry and the disappearing bees, and who grows up to have a voice as if he’s sandpapering his throat every single day. Who needs supernatural protection, when you have a friend who has always been there for him, especially during John’s worst episodes, who assures Dean that he is worth something and he should stand up for himself. Who needs some incorporeal angel when your friend is at your hospital bedside every single day, ranting and scoffing about how insane your work hours are in the first place and that you should treat yourself better, but (gorgeous) blue eyes filled with worry and relief.
If Dean Winchester doesn’t care about some guardian angel and their profound bond – or however Sammy so poetically put it – then that’s because if he admits the warm and sometimes fluttery feelings he has for his best friend to himself, that seems pretty close to a profound bond to him already. It does take an inappropriate amount of time before one night, he asks Cas with a tremble in his voice, if he could take the other out for dinner and assures him yes, as in a date.
As for the angel Castiel, well, he wouldn’t have fallen from grace to be able to live life in the fullest side by side with the Righteous Man, enjoying every second, every detail of their profound bond even on earth, if he didn’t reply that question with a small smile, all joy and love contained in a short but heartfelt: “Of course, Dean.”