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The drive was long. The sun had nearly descended completely below the trees, and they’d been driving since morning. Dean kept a watchful eye on Baby’s tank of gas, praying she’d make it to their destination. They were after a Rugaru in Indiana and Charlie had insisted upon tagging along. Though Sam and Dean always valued her company, she’d been solidified in their minds as the little sister they never had, and they were always uneasy when she put herself in harm’s way. But she was a damn capable hunter and stubborn as hell, so there was never much they could do.
As dusk crept onto the highway Dean tapped his fingers on the steering wheel to the Zeppelin cassette tape he’d had on for the past hundred miles, and Sam silently listened to a podcast in the passenger seat, likely about some cold case from the eighties. Charlie leaned her head against the Impala’s window, watching the forest whizz by while imagining a ragtag party of adventurers traveling through the trees. This was where she belonged. When Charlie was with the Winchesters or in Moondoor, she felt the most seen. She could be both a fangirl and a hunter, they weren’t mutually exclusive. It’s like she’d blinked and become like a character in her favorite stories - a fearless warrior who still had time to dress up for conventions. And Sam and Dean were like her older brothers. Found family was always her favorite trope… and now here she was.
She’d gotten to meet so many wonderful people in the hunting line of work, gentle and kind people somehow never hardened by the horrors they’d seen. Sam and Dean had introduced her to Jody and Donna, who she’d only met a couple times but considered her badass surrogate mothers. She’d always suspected there was some kind of spark between the two of them. She frequently hoped something would come of it. She’d met Garth, a goofy, spunky hunter who she’d instantly bonded with over comic books. She’d heard stories of Benny, of Ellen and Jo, of Bobby and Rufus… people of Sam and Dean’s lives that were gone too soon. Someone else she’d heard countless stories of was Castiel, the angel who’d appeared in a barn and announced he’d been the one to raise Dean from Hell. He was obviously a massive part of the Winchesters’ lives, yet she’d never crossed paths with him. He was always busy with “angel business.”
Though Charlie had never met Castiel, she often forgot she didn’t know him. With how much Dean talked about him it was like she was well acquainted with him already. And Dean talked about him… a lot. Any conversation they were having seemed to somehow concern Castiel. Charlie had once been telling Sam and Dean about the disaster of her adventure to a strip club when she was a teenager, which prompted Dean to go on a tangent about how it was the supposed end of the world and he “wasn’t going to let Cas die a virgin” and he’d dragged him to a brothel where Castiel had accidentally offended one of the girls and then they were kicked to the curb and Dean had the greatest laugh he’d had in a while and then they’d gone and sat on the curb for a while… this lasted for what felt like an hour. Sam had heaved several sighs to indicate to Dean that it was time to wrap it up. Didn’t seem to stop him. It was rare for Dean to ramble on about something this much. He had his passions of course - Scooby Doo, cowboys, that weird romance medical drama. Charlie had beared witness to a few speeches about things Dean had unnecessary amounts of knowledge about. Sam was the same way of course, about literature and monster lore. And Charlie herself could talk someone’s ear off for hours about the worldbuilding of The Hobbit or why Princess Leia was her favorite character of all time. But Dean… Dean had never talked this much about a person before. And this was a person he had a special nickname for, who he knew all the nuanced habits of, who he described with a tone of voice seeping with fondness, who his eyes twinkled when he talked about… holy shit.
Charlie sat up quickly in the backseat, causing Dean to catch her eye in the car’s mirror. “You good, kid?” Sam didn’t react, Charlie suspecting his podcast had lulled him to sleep.
Charlie smirked subtly. “Does Castiel ever come on hunts with you guys?”
“Uhh, sometimes, I guess. Dude’s busy. His mojo could really come in handy more often though. He can be kinda…” Dean waved his hand around while he searched for the proper word, “...smitey.”
“Uh huhhh,” Charlie glanced back out the window, nibbling on her bottom lip. “You know I’ve never met him, right?”
Dean squinted his eyes. “Really? Damn, I could have sworn you had.”
“Nope. Just heard lots about him.”
“Lots,” Sam repeated groggily from the passenger seat.
“You know I’d sure like to meet him!” Charlie smiled and caught Dean’s eye once again. “He seems helpful and… dreamy.”
“Can’t say he’s really,” Dean cleared his throat, “your type.”
“Duh,” Charlie replied. “Just based on how you’ve described him…”
Sam and Charlie flinched as the Impala veered slightly off the road and into the gravel on the edge of the empty highway and swerved back onto the road.
“Fallin’ asleep, man? I can take over-” Sam started looping his wired earbuds around his phone.
“Nope. Wide awake. Fine.”
Charlie knew exactly what this was. The defensiveness. The nerves. When Charlie started catching feelings for that elf girl who came to Moondoor on Saturdays, she acted like this when the fellow LARPers first questioned her about it. She was going to crack Dean Winchester open if it was the last thing she did. Charlie had lots of roleplay experience, LARPing, D&D… but never before had she gotten the chance to play matchmaker.
Dean pulled up to their place of residency for the foreseeable future, patting the Impala’s hood as he exited the car. “Baby’s gonna need fuel first thing in the morning. The town we’re lookin’ for is just down the road.” Not listening, Charlie and Sam gaped at the structure before them. The “Jolly Sailor Motel” was built upon hilarity for many reasons, the most obvious being that it sat in a dreary and barren town miles away from any kind of water. The structure seemed to be intended to resemble a boat, but one could assume the architect saw a boat once and this was their attempt to depict it from memory. A huge wooden statue of some off-brand version of Popeye stood winking in front of the check-in office, certainly more unnerving than welcoming. “Anyone want to get our key-”
“Not it!” Charlie hauled her respective duffel out of the backseat and planted herself on the curb in front of the car.
“Not it either,” Sam said with a smug grin, feeding off Charlie's mischief. He took a seat next to her.
“We’ll see who’s smiling when I make you both ride the way back to Kansas in the trunk.” Dean turned on his toes and meandered to the check-in office, illuminated by a singular flickering light.
Sam extended his legs in front of him and reached to his toes. “You feeling okay after the car ri-”
“Sam, I need to talk to you.”
An immediate look of concern overtook Sam’s face. “Are you alright?”
“Oh, fine! I’m fine, seriously. I’ve just had a revelation.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “Okay, go on.”
“Dean’s smitten with Castiel, right?” Charlie rested her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands, eager to hear his reply.
Reaching his arms to the sky Sam let out a chuckle. “Don’t even get me started. ”
“Woah, wait, is there history here?”
“Charlie, you’re not the one constantly third-wheeling them when they gaze into each other’s eyes like nobody else is around. Neither of them will acknowledge it. It’s excruciating. One of them needs to make a move or I am going to feed myself to that Rugaru.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“I don’t know if either of them know it’s … allowed? I can’t imagine Castiel has ever had feelings this complicated before. And Dean… I don’t know. He doesn’t let himself be happy all that often. He’s pushed so many feelings down, I’d be shocked if he’s taken the time to properly confront these ones. He might not have even considered that Cas reciprocates.”
“You think he does? Like they’ve actually fallen in-”
“Absolutely.” Sam slowly sank down so he was lying on the concrete and facing the stars. “This could be so good for him, you know? I think sometimes he doesn’t think he deserves to be loved. But then here comes this literal angel who looks at him like he’s the only being in existence. They’re so good together already… they just need some kind of nudge.”
The jingle of a bell and a door closing down the way caused Charlie and Sam to turn their heads, watching as Dean approached, swinging the ring of the motel key around his finger. “What are you two talkin’ about out here?”
“Nothing,” Charlie and Sam said simultaneously.
Dean’s visible confusion dissipated after a moment as he approached the door and stuck the key in the lock. “All aboard, jolly sailors.”
Hauling their duffels into the room, a cacophony of ocean-themed mismatched wallpapers bombarding their fields of view. “Christ,” Dean snapped, his hand jumping to cover his eyes. “These interior designers need to be sued.”
“Hey, we’ve seen weirder.” Sam craned his neck to examine the full scope of the room.
“I can’t say I’m terribly opposed to it honestly,” Charlie remarked. “It’s kinda artsy!”
“Art is subjective.” Dean hurled his duffel bag onto the pull-out couch.
Charlie pursed her lips and rocked on her heels for a moment, considering her best course of action. “Hey Dean, does Castiel have a phone?”
“Yeah, he’s just god awful at using it. Too many emojis, all the time.”
“Cute.” Charlie glanced at Sam, who raised his eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders, unsure of the direction she was going. “Is that how you normally get a hold of him?”
“A lot of the time we can just call him down, and he sorta poofs in.”
“Nifty.” Charlie was genuinely impressed by this notion. She’d never witnessed anyone just “poof in” before. “Maybe you could call him… now! I know it’s late but don’t you think he’d like to hang out with us? I’m sure we’ll be up a while longer.”
A long beat passed as Dean seemed to consider this thoroughly. Finally he lifted his gaze to the ceiling. “Castiel, who art thou in Heaven, we have a friend who’d like to meet you.”
In a quiet beat of wings, Castiel appeared by the door and softly smiled, tilting his head at Charlie. “Charlie Bradbury. Sam and Dean have told me about you.”
Charlie couldn’t stop a giant grin from spreading across her face. This was the angel she’d heard so much about. A real angel - the Winchesters’ best friend. And the one who Dean had fallen for, and vice versa. It was too cool. She dropped her duffel bag off her shoulder and gave Castiel a hug, feeling like she could be swallowed whole by his frumpy trenchcoat. “It is so great to meet you, dude! I’ve heard loads about you and all your adventures with these dopes.” She jerked her thumb behind her.
Charlie watched as Castiel glanced behind her at the Winchesters. Sam waved. Dean seemed to take a much needed deep breath, exhaling, “Hey, Cas.”
“Hello, Dean.”
Charlie slowly turned her head to Sam and mouthed ‘oh my god.’ Sam closed his eyes and nodded in agreement.
“Anything in particular I can assist with?” Castiel tilted his head once again like a bewildered dog.
“We just wanted to have you over,” Charlie responded, sitting on the edge of one of the twin beds. “We start our Rugaru hunt tomorrow but in the meantime…” she gestured with jazz hands to the whole of the room. “...slumber party!”
Castiel looked wearily at Dean. “I’m unfamiliar.”
“Castiel,” Charlie said sternly, immediately standing back up, “you mean to tell me you’ve never been to a slumber party?”
“I assume it is a human custom.”
“Totally. They’re fun! A lot of the time people watch movies at sleepovers. Any objections?”
Sam glanced at the walls. “There’s…not a TV in here.”
Reaching into her duffel bag Charlie pulled her laptop. A mischievous smile tugged at her lips. “I can pirate any film. Suggestions?”
Dean won the movie vote because Castiel sided with him, and likely would have regardless of the film. Sam suggested Good Will Hunting, Charlie naturally suggested the first Harry Potter movie, and Dean suggested The Lost Boys. Charlie propped her laptop up on a chair between the two twin beds and instantly claimed the spot next to Sam, forcing Castiel and Dean to sit next to one another. They tried to sit as far away as the small width of the bed would allow, but they were inevitably close. Close enough that their shoulders bumped.
* * *
Charlie was up to something. Dean knew her well enough now that he could easily tell when she was acting weird, and it was certainly obvious when there was something she wasn’t telling them. She kept casting glances in his direction while the movie played and whispering unintelligible things to Sam. Dean tried to pick up what the two of them were saying, eventually starting to drive himself crazy. It seemed like Cas was the only one actually watching the movie - leaned up against the headboard, his legs extended in front of him and crossed at the ankles, hands fidgeting slightly - he looked comfortable. Once Dean gave up on trying to solve Charlie’s mysterious plotting, he still couldn’t manage to focus on the movie. Cas was right there , laser-focused on Charlie’s computer, tilting his head every now and again when a new plotpoint arose. He probably had so many other things to do… Heaven business to attend to, angel siblings to be talked out of trying to run the world. And yet here he was, lounging on a motel bed next to Dean, close enough that they were sharing body heat. Dean couldn’t stop looking at him. He wondered if he noticed.
At some point the exhaustion of their long drive from Lebanon caught up to Dean and he drifted off. He couldn’t pinpoint when it happened, it just did. As he felt himself coming out of a deep sleep, he squinted his eyes open and the room was pitch dark. As his eyes adjusted he saw Sam fast asleep on the opposite bed and Charlie across the room on the pull-out couch. He supposed he was grateful nobody woke him up, he probably desperately needed to catch up on sleep. He assumed Cas had left already, despite neglecting to take the time to look around the whole room.
Dean closed his eyes again and adjusted his head on his pillow. He was still vaguely sitting up like he had been while the movie was playing, and why was his pillow so…
A hand gently ran through his hair and an intense shiver passed through him. The hell? He opened his eyes once more and subtly turned to glance to the right of him, where Cas still sat, head hung slightly. His hand drifted over Dean’s head, softly fiddling with his short, spikey hair. It was such a tender, comforting gesture that made him feel like he might just melt into a puddle on the bed right then and there. Was Cas even aware he was doing this? Dean’s head must have slumped to Cas’ shoulder as he slept. He shifted slightly, attempting to avoid drawing attention to himself. A whisper broke through the darkness beside him. “Have I woken you?”
Shit. “No, Cas, you’re fine.”
A beat of silence passed between him. Dean knew it made sense for him to pull away at this point, but he sure as hell didn’t want to. Castiel’s hand continued to rake through his hair. “You seemed to be having some kind of bad dream.” Cas’ voice was hushed yet still deep and gravely, a deadly combination that was materializing feelings in Dean that he didn’t want to acknowledge. “A ‘nightmare,’” Cas added with air quotes, a go-to gesture of his. “Charlie told me this would calm you down. I hope I haven’t overstepped.”
Of course she did. All the asking about Cas, the whispering to Sam, this suggestion… he knew what she was doing.
Dean knew what he felt for Cas was different from platonic or brotherly love. He’d known this for a while. Something had clicked long ago, perhaps it was on the roadside when he’d returned from the messed up future that Zachariah had thrown him into to teach him a dumb lesson. But now, it scared him to no end that someone had noticed , it meant those feelings were visible to other people apart from himself, it made them seem real. It meant Castiel might notice too. It often plagued Dean that Cas likely would never reciprocate whatever he was feeling; human emotions as messy as this were presumably unbeknownst to angels. Their friendship was too crucial to Dean, and if it meant keeping Cas around, he would keep his cards hidden. But maybe his cards were on the table way more than he’d thought… It certainly didn’t help that he could never manage to shut up about Cas.
Dean found himself unintentionally leaning into Castiel’s touch. Nobody had done this before, at least not since he was a little kid and Mary would read to him in bed and trace shapes in his hair. Touches with Cas were often fleeting, like both of them were worried it was wrong. A quick hand on the shoulder, a hug cut short… it tended to only be when one of them returned from presumed peril that they granted themselves longer. This arrangement was completely out of their wheelhouse. “Seems to have worked.” Dean let his eyes flutter closed. “You’re good at that. Didn’t think angels could be this… gentle.”
He heard Castiel exhale. “Not all of us are. You’ve seen that for yourself.” Cas twirled a lock of Dean’s hair around his finger. “I admire how gentle humans can be. It’s something I always want to work to resemble.”
The room fell silent. Dean knew that no matter how genuinely fantastic this situation was, it had the potential to get awkward fast. There was no falling back asleep, not for Dean and obviously not for Cas. They needed a change of scenery. “Wanna get out of here?” Dean wrinkled his nose at how intensely cliche that came out.
Cas’ fingers came to a halt in Dean’s hair. “Where would we go?”
“Baby’s hood is a pretty damn good place to see the stars.”
“Your car?”
“Yes, dumbass, my car.”
Their whispers faded into the darkness for a moment. “Okay. I’d like that.”
Dean felt stupid for not realizing how much more of a somehow inherently romantic alternative this was. He and Cas were now lying side by side against the windshield of the Impala in the motel’s parking lot, having snuck out of the room as stealthily as they could manage. Dean prayed Charlie didn’t wake up to see them gone, she might jump to conclusions. Might assume the two of them had gone to the car to… God, what was he thinking?
Cas cleared his throat. “The stars do look nice from here.” His voice was still vaguely hushed. His shoulder bumped Dean’s. Dean couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Normally the silence between small talk made him feel like his shirt collar was going to strangle him, but silence could feel comfortable with Cas. Everything with him was so… easy. Sure, he could be a pain in the ass. They’d had their fair share of fights, of betrayals, of silent treatments. But they always ended up back together. Dean never felt like he had to perform in front of Cas, to put up any walls of feigned macho masculinity. Cas always felt kind of like a breath of fresh air.
“Hey, I’m uh… I’m glad you came. Charlie wanted - she just…” Dean tipped his head back to rest on the windshield. “What I’m trying to say is you didn’t have to stay.”
“I was glad you called,” Cas replied, interlacing his fingers atop his stomach. He seemed to contemplate something for a while. “Dean, I’d like to thank you.”
“Huh? What for?”
Cas turned to face Dean, his eyes genuine. “For a very long time I was simply seen as a soldier. But you and Sam, you were the first to treat me like a friend. You’ve taught me what it’s like to be cared about. What it’s like to feel.”
“Where’s all this coming from?”
“I didn’t used to feel anything. Now I’ve felt everything . Joy, shame, sorrow, jealousy, contentment… love.” Cas seemed to place particular emphasis on the final word. Dean felt a surge in his stomach. This couldn’t possibly be…
“Oh yeah?”
“Yes. For the world, humanity, my friends…” Cas’ words dropped off as his eyes briefly flickered to Dean’s lips. Dean’s eyes widened. He cleared his throat.
“Anyone in particular?”
“Mhmm.”
Dean’s gaze danced to Cas’ mouth this time, but unlike Cas he couldn’t manage to look away. His lips were parted slightly, chapped, and straight up gorgeous. He couldn’t tell if he was crazy or if he and Cas were starting to lean towards one another.
“Somebody I know?”
“Mhmm.”
They were close enough now that Dean could feel Cas’ exhale on his lips. Holy shit, this was happening. God, how was Castiel this smooth? Was there a real chance his feelings for him were mutual? Were they seriously about to -
A scream echoed through the parking lot. Dean immediately reached for the gun tucked in the back of his jeans and reluctantly slid off of the car. Absolutely heinous timing - he hoped he and Cas could take a raincheck on whatever was just about to happen. The source of the scream was nowhere to be seen, until a woman came sprinting barefoot down the sidewalk, clutching a pair of high heels in her hand. A snarling sound came next from a humanoid creature bounding after her, twitching like a zombie. “There’s our Rugaru.” Dean cocked his gun. “Cas, wake up Sam and Charlie. Tell them to grab lighter fluid out of the trunk. We’ve gotta flambé this son of a bitch.”
Dean swore he could see Cas’ cheeks flush red in the darkness. They nodded slightly at one another to indicate ‘go-time’, and Dean took off in the direction of the screaming.
* * *
Charlie’s wonderful dream about rescuing a beautiful damsel from a dragon was interrupted by someone violently shaking her shoulders. Startled, she scrambled out from under the covers and saw Castiel looming in front of her bed and Sam urgently pulling on a jacket behind him. “Dean and I have seen the Rugaru. He said to grab the lighter fluid from the trunk,” Castiel said, his tone flat yet desperate.
“On it,” Charlie replied, pulling on her high tops and rushing to the car without tying them. Nearly stumbling over her laces she grumbled to herself, “ Curse my gay-ass lace-up shoes.” Sam called her name from the doorway and tossed her the keys. “You want me to dr-”
“Dean loves his car more than anything, but he trusts you. I’ll grab the fluid, then gun it.” Sam threw the Impala’s trunk open and scooped up three jugs of lighter fluid, then landed in the passenger seat.
Careening out of the driveway in Dean Winchester’s most prized possession, Charlie hoped to the gods she wouldn’t hit anything. She was famous for bumping curbs. Dean was out of his gourd to trust her with this. “Where did Castiel go?”
“Probably blipped ahead to find Dean. He’ll back him up till we get there.”
Charlie scanned the streets. “What on earth were they doing up so late anyway? I thought Dean fell asleep.” Her mouth dropped open. “You don’t think the two of them were-”
“Ew. Charlie. Not the time. Watch the road.”
A gunshot rang out from a clearing of trees and Charlie swerved the car to be parallel to the curb. “Didn’t hit it!” she cheered as her and Sam tumbled out of the car. Sam tossed her a jug and they bolted into the trees. They followed the sounds of snarling until they found Dean, holding off the creature with his gun aimed.
“Finally,” Dean groaned. “Douse this thing, would you?”
Charlie and Sam splashed the writhing creature with the fluid from behind, and Dean sparked his lighter and tossed it to its feet. The monster caught flame and hissed, reaching out to try and slash the three of them with its nails. They waited as it crumpled to the floor and was reduced to a pile of ash.
“Well that was horrifying,” Charlie remarked. “Hey, did Castiel leave?”
“There was a woman the Rugaru was chasing; he healed her and brought her home. That thing must’ve jumped her on her way back from a party.” The three of them approached the Impala. “Baby better be unscathed or I’m leaving you both in Indiana.”
* * *
Dean pulled the car back into the motel parking lot, instantly reminded of what had transpired out there earlier. He hoped Cas was waiting for them inside. To his dismay, as he swung open the door, he was met with an empty hotel room. Sam and Charlie followed inside, and Sam closed the door behind them. “Sit down, Dean.”
Dean’s eyes narrowed as he slowly rotated to face the two of them. Sam and Charlie both stood in front of the door with their arms crossed like bouncers at a nightclub. “What is this, an intervention?”
“A bisexual intervention,” Charlie responded, pointing her finger at Dean. Of course. Charlie and her self-proclaimed “excellent gay-dar.” This conversation was happening now, and he had a feeling neither of them would let him leave until he admitted what they wanted to hear.
“Guys…”
“Dean, man, we don’t want to invade your privacy or anything,” Sam began. “This is your business and we know that. But dude… it’s so obvious. You’ve gotta do something about it.”
Maybe they’d shut up if he played dumb. “About what ? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Charlie glanced at Sam and then back at Dean, who’d now flopped back on one of the beds. Her voice became gentler and more serious as she said, “You love him, don’t you?” Dean felt his stomach clench. Straight to the point. He hated being called out like this. He hated when people addressed his feelings before he’d fully processed them himself. He hated how right she was.
He loved Castiel. It was a kind of love he’d never felt before and would probably never feel again. Being with Cas made him feel whole, and every time he thought he’d lost him it felt like a part of him had been stripped away. When he thought of spending the rest of his life with somebody, all he saw was a goofy trenchcoated angel who didn’t understand his pop culture references.
How crazy love could be.
Dean pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes. “And what do you expect me to do about it?”
“Tell him, Dean,” Sam replied. “You have to talk to him. We’ve seen you two together. Cas is just as far gone as you are.”
With what Cas seemed to be implying in the parking lot, they had a point. Dean dragged his hands down his face. “We almost…” He cut himself off with an anguished groan.
Charlie’s eyes narrowed. “You almost… what?”
“We almost kissed before the Rugaru showed up,” Dean spat out.
Charlie’s jaw went slack. “You what? ”
A quiet flap of wings caused everyone’s heads to turn. Castiel had appeared in the corner of the room and was rapidly approaching the bed Dean was laying on. Dean pushed himself up by his elbows, vaguely frightened by the incoming angel. “Cas, what’re y-”
Castiel grabbed Dean’s hand, yanked him off the bed, and the two of them vanished into thin air, leaving Sam and Charlie utterly shocked and confused.
In the blink of an eye they were in the war room of the bunker. Dean felt his brain shutting off as Castiel dragged him into the hallway and into the first available room, shutting the door behind him and flicking on the light. He began to fully short-circuit as Cas pressed him up against the door, hands anchored onto the collar of his jacket. “Woah, cowboy.”
Cas took a visible deep breath. “I’d like to continue what we began earlier today.”
He looked nervous. Dean felt like he’d hardly ever seen Cas like this. He was attempting to shield it with his usual stoic demeanor, but Dean could see through it. Dean was nervous too. And turned on, and shocked, and elated, and a mix of about a million emotions. He looked Cas in the eye. “That makes two of us.”
Tightening his grip on Dean’s jacket, Cas rocked forward and pressed their lips together. It was messy at first, a clunky bumping of tongues and teeth, but eased into a deliberate rhythm. Cas kissed him like nobody ever had, in a gentle, slow, intentional way that made Dean feel weak in the knees. He flinched as Cas’ stubble brushed against his own - that was a new one. It was Dean’s first time kissing a guy, or at least a guy-shaped being, and it was just as startling and terrifying as it was absolutely thrilling. His hands found a natural place on Cas’ hips inside his trenchcoat. Dean kissed Cas for all the times he wanted to when he turned up alive after he was presumed dead. He kissed him for all the times he wanted to when they held eye contact for a beat too long. He kissed him to thank him for saving him from the rack and leaving that stupid handprint on his shoulder.
Dean slid his lips slowly down Cas’ neck, nudging his dress shirt aside to reveal his collarbone. Sucking delicately on the skin, Dean felt like electricity was passing through his nerves every time Cas responded with a noise of enjoyment. Cas grasped onto Dean’s waist with one hand and tipped his chin up with the other to meet his lips again. They finally pulled away, breathless, their foreheads pressed together.
“Uh, about what you implied earlier, before we…” Dean let his words trail off as he struggled to process that what was happening was real.
“That I love you?”
Dean pulled away, eyes widened. “Straight to it, huh?”
“I’ve spent enough time conditioned to be ashamed of a feeling like this. I’m proud of it now. I love you. I have since the beginning.”
“Jesus, Cas.”
“Please, don’t feel pressure to say anything now. I know it’s-”
“I love you too.” The words poured out of Dean, like a dam breaking. He’d spent so goddamn long worrying about what he felt for Cas. If he was allowed to feel that way. If there was a flicker of a chance his feelings were reciprocated. Now that he knew that they were, nothing seemed to be holding him back anymore. He figured it was finally time to pull his head out of his ass and commit to something that would make him happy. Put all his cards on the table. “I can’t help it. I never could.” He ran his thumb over Cas’ cheek. Cas reached up to grasp Dean’s hand and pressed it to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on his palm. Dean felt like fireworks were being set off in his chest. This damn angel was going to put him into cardiac arrest.
Cas examined his and Dean’s hands as he laced their fingers together. “What do we do now?”
“Wait until Sam and Charlie get back I guess. You saved me from a hell of a long drive. They better take good care of Baby.”
“Your car?”
Dean smiled, feeling so spectacularly head over heels for this idiot. “Yes, dumbass, my car.”
“In the meantime, we could kiss more?”
Dean chuckled, glancing at the ground to hide how flustered he felt. “Where have you been all my life?”
“Heaven, Dean.”
“Well, they must be missing an angel.”
“They are-”
Dean shut him up with a kiss. Castiel was always too literal. But then again, that was just one of the many things Dean loved about him.