"Are you still coming over after your shift?" Castiel asked, moving his cellphone from one hand to the other. He picked up his cup of coffee and sat it back down in the living room, letting himself fall down onto the couch.
"Of course I am," Dean answered, huffing at Castiel's idiocy. As if he would pass a night alone with Castiel. Dean never went to college but he is not stupid. The fact that he didn't go to college had nothing to do with his intellect in the first place. His father just didn't have the money, so Dean started working in Bobby's garage. He loved the job and it paid the bills, Dean never complained.
"Good." And with that, the conversation was ended.
Dean let himself in Cas' apartment a few hours later. Cas had given him the key when he moved into the apartment. They had been close since high school, so this wasn't a surprise. Dean did get a tingly feeling when he received the key, as if he had gotten a privilege nobody else had. And maybe, in some ways, he did. It made him feel happy and important, the way Cas always made him feel.
That's why Dean fell in love with him in the first place. There was just nothing he could do about it.
Not because of some gay scare, he was actually very comfortable with his sexuality. It was more the risk that Cas wouldn't feel the same way and of course the soulmate thing.
When Dean first met Cas, he prayed that it would be Cas, but it wasn't. Instead of "Oh, I'm so sorry" he got "Any time" after Cas saved him from some bullies who had it out for the new kid.
It was a disappointment because Cas was already really good looking back in high school, but eventually, Dean got over it. He did get an amazing friendship out of it which was already more than he thought he would get.
Dean knew that Cas took the whole "soulmate tattoo thing" not too seriously, however, he couldn't help but feel like he would never be good enough. He wasn't Cas' perfect match, nor will he ever be. That's why Dean gave up and tried to push down his feelings as much as he could.
Which was hard, especially when Cas was standing in front of him, with his t-shirt and dangerously low sweatpants.
"Hello, Dean." Castiel stepped forward and hugged him for just a second before stepping back and handing him a beer from the counter.
Dean smiled awkwardly and took the beer, gulping down half of it in one go. "Thanks."
"Tough day at work?"
"Yeah, something like that," Dean responded, taking a seat on Castiel's couch. He felt a weight sitting down next to him, a sudden warmth radiating from his right side.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No."
Castiel shrugged and turned on Netflix. Dean didn't want to talk and he wasn't going to push him. If it was something important he would have told him, right?
"Okay, how about we take a walk and get some pie?" This immediately put Dean in a good mood. Cas turned the TV off and grabbed his coat, watching how Dean did the same.
The walk was short and nice. The sun had not gone down yet and there was a nice breeze to keep them from overheating.
They found their way to the aisle with the pie quickly. If you were friends with Dean, you could do this blindfolded.
Suddenly someone smacked into Dean's side nearly falling. Dean took a hold of her arm to keep her upright.
"Are you okay?" Dean asked in a mild concern.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," the woman said, smiling sheepishly.
They both realized what the other said and the world stopped turning for a second.
"It's you!" the woman exclaimed, her mouth agape and her eyes wide. "I'm Lisa."
Dean shook her hand, not quite believing this himself. "Dean."
The woman was undeniably beautiful, even Cas saw that. The pain of his heart shattering into one thousand pieces was undeniable too. He just lost every chance he had with his best friend.
Dean and Lisa went on a few dates, which went well because they were soulmates so it couldn't go wrong. Eventually, they got into a relationship and Dean moved in with her.
Meanwhile, Cas was still heartbroken and saw his best friend less and less. The usual hanging out after work suddenly vanished into thin air. Dean had someone to go home to now. They still texted, however, that isn't enough.
Dean liked Lisa. She was nice and pretty, but she wasn't Cas. He realized this after a few days moving into her apartment. But this was supposed to be his soulmate. How could he love his friend more?
Dean stayed with her for another week before he broke it off. He wasn't happy and that was more important than whether it is his soulmate or not. She was understanding, thank God, and a little sad. But she noticed that something wasn't right in their relationship.
Dean ended up knocking at Cas' door after a long talk with Lisa. Cas opened the door, hair ruffled, bleary eyed from sleep and in his pajama's. Dean had not seen anyone more beautiful than Cas in that moment.
"Dean?" Castiel could ask before Dean stepped inside, closed the door without looking and kissed Cas, hard. Castiel stood frozen for a mere second before he melted, losing himself in the kiss.
"We shouldn't," Castiel whispered, "you have Lisa, remember."
"I broke up with her," Dean whispered back, kissing Castiel once again, this time instantly deepening it.
Castiel's hands wove around Dean's neck, pulling him even closer. Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel's waist, turning them and pushing Castiel against the door. One of Castiel's hands found their way to Dean's hair, softly gripping the blond strands.
"Why did you break up with her?" Castiel asked after they pulled away to catch their breaths. Dean's pupils were dilated and his emerald eyes a shade darker.
"Because it didn't feel right," Dean simply said.
"But you're her soulmate!" Castiel exclaimed, confused at this whole ordeal. Dean should be with her, not with him. He wasn't Dean's perfect match. He would never be good enough.
Dean saw the internal struggle in Castiel's eyes and kissed his forehead softly to make Castiel relax. "I know. But that doesn't matter. I want to be with you."
Castiel hugged him tightly as if Dean would vanish if he let go. "I want to be with you too."
Four years later and their relationship was amazing. It was everything they were looking for and both wondered if the world made a mistake by not putting their first words as the tattoo. That's how Dean came up with the idea.
After all this time, Cas still worried if Dean was going to realize Cas wasn't the one for him and pack up and leave. Dean told him many times that it wasn't like that and that Cas was the one for him. With this idea, he was going to prove it.
"Dean?" Castiel called after opening the door to their apartment. It still made him smile, this is their apartment now.
"In the bedroom," Dean shouted back. Cas made his way over to Dean and tilted Dean's chin back once he arrived to give him an upside down kiss. "I want to show you something."
"Okay?" Castiel replied, sitting down next to Dean.
"I love you," Dean said, slowly unbuttoning his shirt. "That's why I did this."
Castiel's eyes watered the moment he recognized the words inked on Dean's forearm. "Any time" those were the exact words Castiel had said when he met Dean for the first time.
"Say something?" Dean glanced over at him, worry and nervousness lingering in his eyes. "You hate it, don't you?"
"No, Dean, I love it," Castiel said quickly, pulling Dean in a bear hug. "I love you."
The smile Dean gave him was beaming and Castiel couldn't help but smile along.
"But I still have my words," Castiel frowned staring at his own forearm. Dean's words, well, Lisa's words had vanished once Dean broke it off. It rarely happened, soulmates almost always ended up together, but it they didn't, the tattoo disappeared.
"That's okay," Dean whispered, gently kissing Castiel's cheek. "It's just a reminder for you that I'm yours."
"I'm getting your words tattooed," Castiel said with a strange sense of determination. Nothing could stop him from doing so.
"You don't have to."
"I want to," Castiel said, taking Dean's hand. "Now."
About three hours later they were walking outside the tattoo parlor, both grinning wildly. Dean had gotten his tattoo on the arm where the original tattoo was placed at birth, on the right forearm. Castiel got his on the same place, but on the left forearm. It was way more special to them now. Because if they held hands, their tattoo's brushed.
It didn't matter what the tattoo at birth said. It didn't matter who their soulmates were. They chose each other, which was, in their eyes at least, more special than blindly getting into a relationship just because someone was their soulmate.
In their eyes, they were the perfect match.