"Ouch," Dean said, pulling his head back at the sudden sting of a scratch on his cheek, waking him up. He blinked his eyes against the dim light seeping into his room from the hallway. "What the—" he started, but was cut off.

"Sorry, she ran away from me. I told her not to come in here!" Cas said cheerfully, scooping the tabby kitty off of the bed with a smile.

Dean propped himself up on his elbows, narrowing his eyebrows. "Cas. . ." he said slowly and sleepily, as if talking to a naughty child, "I thought we agreed on this," he said. "The bunker's too small for another animal besides Sam."

But Cas was sitting on the side of the bed, propping the small kitten's head beside his own as he looked at Dean with a pleading expression. The tiny kitty let loose a baby meow to add to the effect. And, in his sleepy state, Dean found himself softening to the mix of blue eyes, and tiny cat ears, trying not to think about how weak he was becoming.

Dean sighed, letting his head drop back to his pillow. "Three weeks," he finally said, his voice defeated. "She can stay until you find her a home." His eyes were closed, but Dean could swear he heard Cas's smile it was so loud.

"No longer than three weeks," Dean said again to drive the point home. Cas nodded absently in reply as he made his way to the door, smiling from ear to ear, talking quietly to the tiny ball of fur smashed up against his cheek.

Shit, Dean thought, rolling over to try and catch some sleep after throwing a pillow at the happy couple as they exited his room. It was a bad idea and Dean knew it, but he was too tired to do anything about it now.

Cas decided to name her "bubbles," to Dean's chagrin. Still, she wasn't staying forever, so who was he to argue? But one thing was clear, Sam loved bubbles, too. Every time Dean walked into the shared living spaces, one of the two grown men could be seen with a small ball of fur attached to their stomachs, chests or shoulders like a little mound.

Then, as the cat started becoming more comfortable, she started taking over the hallways, scratching at the molding and bounding through any room with an open door.

And, soon enough, she was everywhere. Dean tripping over her as he walked. Bubbles jumping up on the counter as he ate breakfast, trying to lick the milk out of his cereal bowl. Surprise fur attacks as she jumped on him from behind the couch. Tiny teeth locking onto his barefoot toes while he was trying to catch up on his favorite Netflix show.

But, it turned out, the favorite thing the kitten liked to do was to jump on Dean's face, early in the morning, and wake him up.

One particular morning, the cat pounced on him so hard, he was left with a bright red stripe across his cheek as he groaned and woke up.

"That's it," he said, angrily scooping up the tiny fur belly of the kitty with his gigantic hand and stomped to Cas's room, brandishing the animal in front of his face as the door opened.

"I've had just about enough of bubbles!" Dean said angrily, pushing the kitten into Cas's chest. "Three more days and then she has to go," Dean said, his jaw tight.

Cas looked like he wanted to argue, but after a moment, he nodded slowly as the kitten purred against him. "Ok Dean," he said, his voice sad.

The next morning, Bubbles didn't drink Dean's milk when he ate his cereal. She didn't nip his toes with her little teeth and there were no new scratches on his face when he woke up. In fact, he didn't see her anywhere the entire day. Or Cas.

He could hear the tiny mewls coming from Cas's room as he walked by later that day, though, and part of him started to feel a little guilty. Later that day he knocked on Cas's door hesitantly.

"Come in," came Cas's muted voice, but when Dean opened the door, he couldn't see him anywhere. Slowly, he rounded the bed to see Cas sitting on the floor, holding the sleeping kitty inside his arms.

Dean sat next to Cas on the floor, noting the way the angel looked adoringly down at the tiny ball of fur.

"You been in here all day?" Dean asked, feeling his chest tighten a little.

"We didn't want to bother you," said Cas, his eyebrows furrowed, the hurt evident in his voice.

Finally Cas looked up, his eyes crystal blue and bright, making Dean's chest hurt even more as he said, "Besides, I'm going to have to say goodbye soon. . . " he said.

And suddenly, Dean felt a lump in his throat.

"I—" he started, but then stopped. He looked at Cas and then the kitten, feeling his heart melt a little.

"Damn it," he said suddenly standing. He made a beeline for the impala without another explanation. He had some pet store shopping to do.

It was the middle of the night when he heard the quiet meow of the kitty next to his face in the dark.

This time Dean smiled a little. "Hiya bubbles," he said reaching out for her when his hand landed on a warm human arm.

"What the—?"

Cas's voice suddenly came from the dark. "I'm sorry, Dean," he said frantically. "She ran out again and I wasn't fast enough to close your door. I know you keep it open 'cause it's hot and so I came in to get her, but it's so dark in here, I've been feeling around the bed for her and I can't find her—"

Suddenly, Dean laughed. "Found her," he said as a tiny weight curled up against his chest, laying down.

"Sorry, I'll take her" Cas said again, and Dean could feel the dip in the bed as Cas reached out for her.

But in a second, Dean's hand was around Cas's wrist, stopping him.

"It's ok," he said suddenly. "She can stay."

Cas paused. "Are you sure?"

Dean smiled at the warm weight laying on him. "Yeah," he said. "turns out Bubbles isn't so bad," he said, starting to pet the fur between her ears.

Dean looked at Cas barely able to make out his features in the dark, but feeling a sense of warmth coming from him, too.

"You can stay, too," Dean said timidly, clearing his throat, "You know, if you want to."

There was a pause, and then suddenly, Cas's warm body was laying by him, snuggling up against his side next to the kitten.

After a moment he could feel the quiet rumble of Cas's words against his chest as the angel spoke: "Did you mean bubbles can stay tonight, or. . . forever?" he asked timidly.

"For good." Dean said, smiling down at the two of them. Both of you, he added to himself. Then a little more quietly: "I'm pretty sure I could get used to this."