It's almost noon now. Castiel is busy making lunch for himself and Dean, while he's watching TV and muttering something to his chin. Before that he asked if there was anything he could do to help, but Cas said that he should just relax. It is, after all, his birthday.
"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?"- he asks hopefully. The constant re-runs of his favourite TV-show are making him go crazy. There's something very wrong with knowing an entire episode by heart.
"I guess you could go turn on the washing-machine and put the laundry in."- Cas smiles softly from the kitchen. He's worried about Dean's health all the time, seeing as he turned 83 today, but Dean is so stubborn, always asking to do something and help around the house. He'll get hurt one day, just like he did when that djinn gave him a pretty nasty hand injury, rendering him unable to hunt ever since. He hasn't held a gun, let alone a knife, for over ten years, and it's slowly driving him insane. But having Cas around helps a bit, at least he's not lonely. Sam comes around every so often, when he's not on a fancy vacation with his wife or teaching at Stanford University. Pre-law, of course, old habits really do die hard.
Cas looks down, fighting the worry on his face and burning in his eyes, putting on a fake smile as soon as Dean walks back into the room.
"I put the softener in, too."- Dean smiles softly, sitting back onto the couch and looking out the window. His eyes focus on the white snow, gleaming strangely in the morning sun.
"Thank you..."- Cas says quietly,- "I'm sorry, Dean."
"For what?"
They share worried looks, staring into each others eyes without saying a word for a couple of minutes.
"I'm sorry for being so worried about you, It's just that... I want to protect you, and I can't do that if you're out all the time hunting or doing normal, dangerous things. You need to be careful."- says Cas after the silence grew awkward.
"Honestly, Cas, I appreciate you trying to keep me safe, but I can't just sit around all day. I don't wanna feel so useless all the time."
"You're not useless..."- Cas sighs, pretending to be focused on the food so he wouldn't have to face Dean.
"Not when you let me do things, I'm not. I get that I'm ageing and you aren't, but dammit, I'm capable of mowing the lawn and taking the trash bags out every once in a while, you know."
"Fine... If you're that eager to get out of the house, we can go visit Sam tomorrow."- Cas bows his head, defeated. Is it really that irrational of him to want to protect the man he loves? Is it so bad that he wants to keep Dean safe, even if that means keeping him home all the time, or accompanying him when he goes out? No, he doesn't think it is.
Dean smiles triumphantly, nodding slowly in agreement. They silently continue what they were doing before the discussion.
It's 6pm now, but the sun is shining brightly in the sky, sending light into the otherwise darkened living room. Dean's reading the newspaper and Cas is reading one of his favourite books and waiting for their water to boil, so he could make some tea. When they visited Dean's doctor last month, after he had a bad fever, he said that Dean should drink as much green tea as possible, and to avoid alcohol and coffee at all costs, which was tough for him to do considering his habits. Cas makes him drink one cup a day, keeping track carefully and ignoring his disgusted face when the cup is placed on the table.
Cas hears the beep of the laundry machine and hurries to get the clothes out before they wrinkle up. He returns a couple of minutes later with a basket full of dried clothes ready for folding, but makes a detour towards the kitchen to fix up the tea. From there he notices something wrong with the way Dean's breathing; he coughs and then resumes to breathe heavily and slowly, which seems strange. He makes the tea and carries the cup in one hand and the basket in the other.
"If you drink it all by the time I get back, you can finish my pie."- he smiles fake, examining Dean. He's still breathing in an off way, which makes Cas worried, and his eyes are puffy and watery. He knows what this means, and the conclusion makes his heart sink.
"The one with the cream crusts?"- Dean asks cheerfully, looking into Cas' eyes with a wide, but weak, smile on his face.
"Yeah, the one with the cream crusts."- Cas nods, kissing Dean's head before turning around with tears in his eyes. He turns around to look at Dean one more time before going to fold the laundry, knowing that it would be the last glimpse of him he'll ever see. He doesn't make a face when the hot tea touches his tongue. On the contrary, he takes a large sip of it and continues watching TV, coughing heavily again. Cas smiles.
He'll eventually come back and see that Dean's body has tilted slightly, resting on the side of the couch. His hand is still gripping the empty cup of green tea, like he was ready to put it on the table, oblivious to the fact that he had taken his last breath.
They'll be reunited in their own patch of Heaven a couple of minutes later, after Cas throws away the uneaten pie and hugs Dean's motionless body, ready to go meet him once again. He'll keep the vessel and join his one love in the garden where their wedding was held all those years ago, holding his hand and walking along the flower patches 'till the end of time.