I would like to start this by saying that I don't own Supernatural or any of its characters (as repeated on my profile). I would also like to thank you for reading this story. Please read and review!

Dean sat in the Impala, pulled over at a gas station so he could text his boyfriend. It had been a pain in the ass, sneaking away with the Impala so he could drive back to Cas' place several towns over, but he'd be damned if he let John drag him away without letting him say goodbye to his boyfriend.

Cas, you up? -D

Yes, Dean, I'm up. -C

I'm on my way over. Sorry I left so suddenly, J sprung it on us. I barely had time to throw my things together. -D

You shouldn't bother coming over. I think it's clear that things are over between us. -C

Over? Cas, we can make this work! -D

You made it clear that we can't when you left without even texting me. -C

I couldn't! By the time I had a chance we were in a dead zone! -D

Excuses, Dean. I was sitting in that restaurant for an hour. -C

My brother has forbidden me from seeing you again, anyway. -C

...Cas, please -D

Please don't end us this way. Give me a chance to make things right -D

Fine. I'm still angry at you. -C

I'll be outside. I'm angry, but I still love you. -C

Dean smiled at the last text, pulling the Impala back onto the road as he turned toward Cas' house. He started a text to Cas, driving with one hand and keeping his eyes on the road as he scrolled absently through his contacts to Castiel's name once more. He pulled it up, rolling to a stop at a sign. There was no one behind him, or in front of him, so he stopped and wrote out the text.

I'll be there in a few. Love you, babe. -D

The text sat there, waiting for him to press send. He smiled down at his phone before he looked both ways, glaring through the dark to look for headlights. None were there, so he rolled smoothly forward, and then came the sound of crunching metal, shattering glass. A sharp, searing pain throughout his body just as his thumb hit send on the phone. And then black.

Castiel wasn't expecting another text from Dean so soon, but he smiled when he read it. They didn't use pet names often, but it was meaningful when they did. Dean really was sorry about their fight. That was something. He wasn't pleased with his boyfriend (or with Michael), but he was always going to be willing to forgive him.

I love you too, Dean. -C

Dean woke with a gasp to a world of agony. What the hell had just happened? There wasn't anyone there seconds ago... Trying to focus, he blinked out of the pain to search for something he could do without it hurting, but even lying still seemed to hurt. It would probably be better to move something so there could be an excuse for there to be pain. Everything was cold now, too. Even the night air that had been balmy just moments before. His phone was still in his hand, the faint, 'Message Sent' screen popping up every other second. He twitched his thumb, pressing the 'ok' button, and it stopped. He went back to the contacts, found Castiel's. Hit call.

Castiel's phone started buzzing in his hand. It was... Dean? But he had just sent a text? Why would he need to call?

"Hello? Dean," he asked cautiously, though he would be happy to hear Dean's voice again.

Harsh breathing echoed down the line, heaving breaths and a wince of pain before he heard Dean's voice, rough and wet.

"C-cas... Y-y... y-you the-there?"

"Dean? Yes, baby, of course I'm here! What's wrong?"

Talking hurt. But hearing Cas' voice was nice. Soothing rather than the grating pop and hiss of cooling metal, and the quiet snapping of tiny sparks. "I w-was being c-careful. P-promise. B-but. I-I... I th-think s-s-someone c-crashed int-to me. A-and I-I c-can't r-really move... I-I think m-my l-legs are trap-pped, I can't... c-can't f-f-feel them. B-but I-I h-had to h-hear your v-voice ag-again. I... I'm c-cold, Cas. W-why's it so cold?"

There was silence on the other end of the line and Dean wondered briefly if he had hung up on Castiel by accident. Then, "Dean, you need to get out of the car. It could blow up still. I... I can't lose you, Dean."

Dean smiled, though Castiel couldn't see him, though it stretched his skin and christ almighty it hurt. But he smiled."I-I th-think I'm a-as g-good as d-dead anyway, C-Cas. I c-can't move, and I'm cold. I th-think I've s-stopped shivering, and th-there's something wet ru-running d-down my s-side. I-I... I th-think it's blood. S-so I w-want you to kn-know that I l-love you, so, so m-much."

Castiel listened to Dean with an opened mouth, hand covering most of his face. He wanted to cry but couldn't bear to do anything to overpower Dean's voice.

"Always and f-forever. I lo-" The line cut off and Castiel wondered what happened. He called the police, voice frantic as he told them that there was an accident and he wasn't sure where, but it was at an intersection. There weren't many leading into the town or inside it, so it shouldn't be too hard to find. Castiel ran out of the house and pulled Michael's motorcycle away from the house, starting it and riding it away from his house, hoping that Dean was still alive.

It was five minutes before he showed up, and he had been hoping against hope. But it had been useless - Dean's car was mangled beyond repair, glass blown out to the sides. Doors and front twisted into unrecognizable shapes.

Cas didn't even feel the tears streaming down his face until he pulled off the helmet and exposed his cheeks to the heated summer night air. "Dean! Dean, baby, answer me please," Castiel yelled, putting the helmet back on the bike and pushing himself forward to go to Dean. He could see his boyfriend sitting in the front, and he had to choke back a sob. "Dean?" His voice wobbled with unshed tears as he approached. The phone had clearly fallen from his boyfriend's grip, as it was lying innocently on the floor on the passenger side. Everywhere he looked, Dean was covered with glass and blood.

"C's..." Dean's voice was a raspy husk of the rich, full tenor that he was used to. "M'sorry... D-didn't..." Dean's eyelids were fluttering as he turned his head to look at his blue-eyed boyfriend through the shattered window.

"No, baby, it's not your fault," Castiel insisted, forcing himself to hold back tears. "Please hold on for me, please, I can't lose you, not like this!" Looking down, he could see that Dean's legs were pinned between the door, the seat, and the center console, and looked crushed. He was glad that his boyfriend wasn't feeling that - he assumed it was agonizing. "I'm going to get you out of there, okay?"

"Don't think... I-I-I c-can," Dean whispered, eyes closed as one hand flew to his bleeding side. Castiel could see, now, the large shard of glass that had cut through Dean's abdomen. "Love you, angel. Y-you... y'know th-that, r-r-right?" Castiel choked back a heavy sob as his boyfriend looked up at him, green eyes wide and trusting and full of love despite the pain that he had to be in.

"Of course, Dean. Of course I do! I'll.. I'll love you until my dying breath, baby," he whispered, hope burning in his chest as he heard ambulance and police car sirens coming closer. "Just hold on for me baby, everything is going to be okay. I love you so much, and I know you love me too. We're going to get through this, okay?" Castiel had reached into the car to hold onto Dean's hand, and he smiled weakly at the boy, eyes full of tears.

Dean just smiled back at him, eyes focused solely on Castiel's, and squeezed his hand. The smile didn't drop from his face as his hand went lax or his eyes went distant, the love, the emotions simply disappearing.

"Dean..? Dean? Dean, baby, wake up for me," Castiel cried, tears falling in earnest now. "Dean?! Please, baby, please don't do this..." Castiel clung to his boyfriend's hand, staring at those dead, green eyes and that damnable smile even as EMTs and cops surrounded him, pulling him away from the car. He only let go when his fingers were pried from Dean's, and simply collapsed, sobbing, begging for Dean to be alright.

He barely registered someone wrapping a blanket around his shoulders, couldn't hear aside from the ringing in his ears. When he looked up, realizing that they were pulling Dean out of the car, he tried to get up, surprised when his knees buckled under him. His boyfriend's body moved lifelessly, positioned by the paramedics. He sobbed when he heard a "Clear!" Through the ringing in his ears, and shook his head, watching as Dean's chest moved up, but nothing else happened. "Clear!" Another time, and still nothing. That same soft smile was still on Dean's face, saying so many things even his death to Castiel.

I love you. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Please don't forget me. Goodbye. I love you. I love you. I love y-

It was odd, Castiel would realize about a week later at the funeral, that such a pointless death that hurt so many people - Sam, John, Ellen, Jo, Bobby, Benny, Pamela, Charlie, Ash, him - that it would happen on such a nice night. That the light of his life was snuffed out just like that on such a beautiful night. It was shock, people were saying, that was the reason Castiel had yet to speak to anyone.

It wasn't shock. He just didn't have anything to say anymore.

Anything he needed to say could be said with a single, damnable smile.