It had been three years since Castiel Novak last saw Dean Winchester. War had been a bitch and the two best friends didn't leave on the best of terms. Castiel had written a note for Dean, confessing his love for him right before he left for Afghanistan the next day. It was a wonder how Cas survived war, each night he wondered what would happen when he got home. He had nobody else to go home to other than Sam and Dean, and Dean most likely didn't want to see him ever again. So Cas had written home to Sam, telling him that he was coming back home Saturday, and all the details such as where the plane was landing and at what airport. He never received a response, but hopefully Sam would be there waiting for him once he landed, or else Cas would just have to walk to Sam's house and tell him off.
War had changed Castiel, he was no longer the quiet weakling he was three years ago. He was no longer afraid to speak up for what he believed in and on top of all, he had closed off his heart, not letting anybody see his true emotions, especially when people asked him if he was going to see anybody special once he was back in Kansas. He had always just laughed and said no, he was only going to see his brother, Sam, and left it at that. Cas thought of Sam, surely he would want to see him, but Cas couldn't help but doubt that. If Dean had shown anybody the note that Cas had written all of his emotions on, they all would think different of him, maybe that was why nobody ever written Cas when he was away.
Cas had gotten on his plane at 4pm that Friday morning, calming his nerves as he thought about what was going to happen once he got home, in the long plane ride ahead of him, Cas had contemplated thirty-two different endings to what would happen when he landed, all of them resulting in Dean punching him in the face for embarrassing him. Cas bit his lip as the plane landed two hours from Lawrence, Kansas, and he stood up to grab his bag from the carry-on bin.
Cas walked off the plane, and took several deep breaths, trying hard to calm his nerves that he never had, even in the middle of war. Cas walked to the baggage claim, not yet seeing Sam, but knew that he would be there, not doubting for a second that he wasn't there. He heard the buzzer go off, alerting the people that the bags were now coming, and he stood by the baggage claim, waiting for his cameo duffel bag.
Cas grabbed his bag, but still saw no sign of Sam. "Maybe he's waiting outside?" He questioned himself and walked outside. The sun was blaring and Cas looked at his clock, it was already two, he had flown for at least 8 hours, but he knew it had been longer. He looked around when suddenly his heart stopped and he dropped his bags in surprise, across the parking lot sat a black '67 Chevy Impala, and leaning against the driver's side door was no other than Dean Winchester himself. Cas swallowed, having half a mind to just turn around and walk away, but somehow he didn't, he just stared. Soon Dean looked up after checking his watch, and he saw Cas. Castiel stood still as Dean walked over to him, smiling at Cas as though nothing had happened the last time they saw each other. Cas stood even more still as Dean wrapped his arms around Cas and gave him a friendly hug.
"Hello Dean," He said, his voice as deep as ever. He was trying to figure out what was going on in Dean's mind, but just like before, he couldn't figure out the man who he loved.
"Cas! You have been gone way too long! I got your bags, come on let's go, everybody is waiting on your return!" Dean said, grinning as he looked at his friend once more. Cas picked up his duffel, but left his other bag for Dean to carry, not wanting to seem rude by not letting him carry a bag. He walked it over to the trunk of the Impala, not saying anything as Dean loaded both of the bags for him. He sat in the passenger seat, closing his eyes as he remembered all the times that Dean had forced him to go on crazy teenaged adventures, that only led to them getting in trouble. Cas put on the seat belt, still thinking of the one time when Dean picked him up at midnight, just to drive him way out-of-town and sing happy birthday to him. He still remembered arguing with Dean about why he had to go out-of-town to sing happy birthday, and Dean only offered him this, "Because that way nobody can hear my awful singing voice." Cas laughed a bit as he replayed that entire night in his head, then hearing the driver's door shut Cas opened his eyes, transported to the real world, where Dean sat right next to him, humming Metallica, as though nothing had changed between the boys in the three years Cas was gone.
"So, how was war?" Dean asked as he started the car, looking at Cas. His best friend had changed a lot in three years, he seemed to hold himself higher, a sign of having confidence. He also looked like he was holding something back, like he was afraid to be himself around Dean.
Cas looked at Dean, who was staring at him, "War was….war, you can not expect war to be good, you just hope for the best." He was being simple, he knew that, but he wasn't about to tell Dean that almost every night his body ached for him. Dean just nodded and started to drive.
"So I'm not supposed to feed you yet, Sam and Bobby want to meet up for dinner once we're back in Lawrence, but if you want food, just tell me to pull over and we can get a burger or something," Dean tried to fix the strange atmosphere that was now created.
Cas bit his lip, if Dean was going to act like nothing happened, then he should too. He let himself smile. "I am rather hungry, I do not care where we stop, as long as you like the food there." Cas looked out the window and at all the buildings that were around them. Dean stopped soon after at a small burger place. Parking the car as he looked at Cas.
"Cas, are you sure you are okay? You seem different, like I don't know… Distant."
"Dean, I just got back from war, I'm not trying to be distant, I am just hungry, and tired," Cas was lying, but the small smile that played on Dean's lips let Cas know that Dean believed him. Cas got out of the car before Dean could ask any more questions and walked inside the diner, getting a booth for two people.