Somehow, the blast from the angels had actually stopped Amara. The shockwave was pretty devistating, but the towns nearby also seemed to be pretty resilient.
Sam was back from Hell. Dean was still gonna give him an earful, but he was glad he was okay. Unfortunately, Sam's trip back had something to do with Gabriel saving Sam, so the two of them were off doing god knows what. Oh, yes, there would be words with Sam later.
But none of that was what bothered Dean.
As he sat alone in his room in the bunker, the things Amara had said to him buzzed around his brain like bees.
Cas knocked on Dean's doorway even though the door was open.
"Come on in," Dean said.
Cas walked in and sat next to Dean on his bed. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Dean said, "Yeah. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? The Darkness is gone, Heaven seems to have figured itself out, Hell's back to following Crowley without question, everything's great."
"Are you coping well with the calm, then?" Cas asked.
"We earned a break, Cas," Dean said.
Cas asked, "Then, what's bothering you?"
Dean looked at Cas. That son of a bitch was always so perceptive. "Some of things Amara said are bugging me," he said.
Cas turned himself to face Dean and asked, "What things did she tell you?"
Dean sighed. "She said she saved me," he said, "And that we had a bond. And that I was the first human she'd met."
Cas nodded slowly, gaze far off. "What bothers you about those things?" he asked.
Dean said, "It just seems so familiar."
Cas smiled sadly to himself and looked at Dean. "Those are things that I've told you, Dean," he said.
Dean paused. Well, that answered one question, but it quickly spawned another.
"Why would Amara tell me stuff that you've said to me?" Dean asked.
Cas took a deep breath like he was steeling himself against something. If Dean didn't know better, he'd think the angel looked nervous.
Cas said, "You said before that Amara makes people feel loved. She told that girl from the Lizzie Borden case what she needed to hear to feel loved. So, it kind of makes sense."
"And how does that make any sense?" Dean asked, even more confused.
Cas sighed and said evenly, "She probably said stuff that I've said to you, because she wanted you to feel loved. And I love you."
Dean turned to look at Cas so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. "You what?!" he asked in shock.
Cas got up from the bed and said again, "I love you." He headed for the door.
Dean was on his feet before he even knew what he was doing. He rushed over to Cas and grabbed the angel's arm.
"You can't just leave after dropping something on me like that," Dean said.
Cas said quickly, "Well, you didn't seem to be taking it well, and it's been my experience that when you don't like what I have to say, giving you space is usually best."
Dean pressed his lips to Cas'. At first it was soft, gentle, loving.
Then, Cas kissed him back.
Dean pushed Cas up against the bedroom wall and kissed the angel roughly, thoroughly. Cas kept up, his hands exploring Dean's back and neck, his tongue doing things Dean had only ever dreamt about. Seven years of repressed emotion flooded into the kiss, making it desperate and hungry.
But soon, Dean needed air. And he needed to figure out what this all meant. And oh, God, he just made out with Cas. What the hell was he thinking?
Cas must've felt Dean's panic when he broke the kiss, because Cas' hand came up to rest on Dean's shoulder.
"Relax, Dean. Do you want to watch something on Netflix? I could make some popcorn," Cas said.
Dean smiled. That sounded nice. And simple. And fantastic.
"Can you make popcorn without burning down the bunker?" Dean asked.
Cas sighed and said, "That's not funny, Dean."
"Well, I remember what happened last time, and-"
"I put out the fire before you even noticed, so I don't see how-"
Dean grabbed Cas' hand and laced their fingers together. "Netflix sounds great," he said.
Cas smiled the brightest smile Dean had ever seen. It was beautiful.
They walked towards the lounge area where Dean had the big TV set up.
"But seriously, Cas, let me worry about the popcorn," Dean said.
"I am perfectly capable to popping a bag of popcorn. The directions are right there on the bag. I know what I'm doing."
"Okay, I get it. Let me just grab a fire extinguisher."
Cas let out a long, frustrated sigh.
Dean grinned. This was gonna be great.