One of Castiel's favorite things to do with Dean was to fall asleep surrounded by trees. Or at least watch Dean fall asleep while he was wrapped in the hunter's embrace. The two would find a nice spot in a clearing and lay on blankets at sunset. Sometimes Dean would bring a beer or two, but Cas made him limit himself when the two did this. He wanted to keep these moments sweet and memorable, and a wasted Dean wouldn't be as sweet as a slightly buzzed Dean if the hunter had to have any alcohol at all.
It had first started when they were finishing up a hunt near Placerville. They traveled up a few hours and found a nice looking motel alongside the wilderness. The brothers paid for the room, but Dean had told Sammy to go ahead and that he wanted to go hiking to blow off extra energy. Cas didn't even wait for any type of invitation but walked right beside Dean as he made his way around tree after tree. Eventually, the hunter became tired and found a patch of grass to sit on. His angel sat right down next to him and let the man wrap his arms around his frame. Dean fell asleep like that, and Cas found he didn't have the heart to wake the man up.
His favorite night of all was when Dean didn't even have a single drink and he had let himself forget about every war he had fought. He didn't think about all the people, the angels, the demons he had killed. He hadn't let himself remember his sadness and helplessness. The only thing that truly mattered in that moment was that Dean's arms were wrapped around him and he wasn't going to let go anytime soon.
"I love this," he had said in the silence. "I never knew I could feel so strongly about a moment in time. Being here, with you…it's the greatest feeling I could ever ask for."
Dean had smiled down at him, really smiled. It wasn't one of those smiles that he had been known for. It wasn't one of the smiles that only his lips displayed. This smile reached his eyes and made the skin around them crinkle in a way Castiel cherished.
And so the angel reached up and caught the other's face in his hands. He looked into green orbs before pressing his lips to the hunter's, slowly and sweetly and almost tasting the faint breath of apple pie. When he pulled away, he laid his head on Dean's chest and stared up at his face, mapping out each one of the microscopic details as he had done so many times before. But Dean didn't look away awkwardly like he used to when they had first met. These days, he'd just stare right back and get lost in those beautiful blue eyes.
"I love you, Cas," Dean had said.
And that was all Dean really needed to say. His eyes spoke the rest.
Maybe Castiel enjoyed the moments like these so much because he felt so unconnected from the chaos around him. Maybe it was because it made him feel as if he and Dean were the last two entities in existence. Either way, Cas wouldn't give up watching Dean fall asleep under the moonlight and the stars for anything in the celestial universe.
Castiel was pretty sure that if he were to be entitled to his own little corner of Heaven, that this would be what it was consisted of.
