Chapter 2:
The next morning Dean was surprised to wake up alone in the bed. Had Cas not come home last night after the study group? That was unusual for him; he had only ever done that once before. It was his first year of law school and he had fallen asleep in the stacks in the library during finals week. He had called Dean right away though to tell him where he was and what had happened. Dean checked the time and saw it was almost 10 am; Jo and Charlie would be there soon. Dean grabbed his cell to see if Cas had called or left a new message; there was nothing so Dean sent out a quick one.
*Hey, missed you last night. Where were you? I know today is your last final. Hope it goes well, I know you'll ace it because you're awesome. I love you and will see you when you're done. Dean*
Once Dean hit send the doorbell rang. Jo and Charlie were there to help him move into the new place. Dean glanced one last time at his cell before opening the door for the girls.
Ten hours later, one hospital trip, 12 stitches in Charlie's hand, two pizza's, and a lot of cursing later, they had moved everything into the new house with no sign of Cas. Dean had kept checking his phone all day to see if there were any messages or missed calls. There hadn't been. Cas's final exam had ended over three hours ago and still no word from him. Dean had begun to worry when the sun started setting and Cas hadn't showed up.
"Where the hell is he?" Dean asked exasperated.
"I don't know but he owes up a lot for doing this without him." Charlie huffed from the chair she occupied.
"Yeah he does. I mean jeez how many books can one guy own? It's like a damn library in there now. I have never seen so many books in one person's house." Jo complained.
"He has a thing for books. At least they're interesting books from all over." Dean said looking around the room at all the boxes.
"Well we should get going. Gotta get Charlie home and resting with that hand of hers." Jo said standing up, "Thanks for the food and entertainment."
"No problem, thanks for helping me out today. Again, I'm sorry about your hand Charlie. I didn't realize the corner of the bed was that sharp." Dean offered a small smile towards the girl.
"It's cool Winchester, you just owe me since I'll be out of commission for a few days. Not sure how my boss will take that. We have a big computer coding project coming up." Charlie said with a smile. Dean leaned in to hug the girls as they walked through the front door. Once they made it to their car they waved at Dean and drove off.
Dean sighed deeply and stared at all the boxes scattered through out the house. At least he had labeled them and placed them in the correct rooms, so packing would be semi easy. He decided to start with the kitchen since it seemed like the biggest job. At around midnight he called it quits. He had gotten at least half the kitchen done and was tired. There was still no sign of Cas and Dean had sent him like thirty messages and at least a dozen voicemails. Climbing the stairs to their new room Dean changed into his pajamas. He opted for his grey/blue long pants and a soft gray t-shirt that he loved. It was all about comfort tonight. As he climbed into bed he heard a car pull up outside the house. He walked over to the window and saw Cas stumbling out of a strange car. Worried he hurried downstairs and threw open the front door as Cas stumbled up the front steps. Once Cas passed the threshold into the house Dean slammed the door.
"Where have you been? I've been trying you all day! You never responded and I was getting worried." Dean demanded.
Cas blinked at him, "I went out for a few drinks with my study group to celebrate us finishing finals and school."
"You went out drinking and didn't think to call and tell me?! I was here moving all this stuff with Jo and Charlie while you were drinking?! Un -freaking -believable! I've busted my ass the last few months to get us moved, I haven't complained once about the hours, I haven't taken away from your studying because it's important, I ran my shop AND did the entire apartment on my own and the ONE FREAKING DAY I NEED YOU, you're out drinking." Dean hollered.
"We were celebrating Dean. It was important. We finished law school, that's a big deal and I think I have the right to party a little after all the hard work I did." Cas bit back.
"You have every right to celebrate but not on the one day I needed you to be here to help move into OUR new home. Not on the one day I needed to have the person who I plan to live with for the rest of my life here to make sure everything went smoothly and make choices with me about the house. Instead my friends came and helped. Instead of it being me and you choosing where the sofa and chairs went Jo helped, instead of you helping me set up OUR bedroom Charlie did and when we did, the bed she sliced her hand open and we had to go to the hospital! Instead of you being here for that, you were drinking with your study group." Dean yelled. Cas opened his mouth to reply.
"You know what, never mind Cas. I'm going to bed. I've had a really long day and I'm tired." Dean said quietly turning and walking up the stairs. Cas watched him go and then glanced around the room. It was set up nicely, lots of boxes still lying around but the furniture was set up just the way Cas would have chosen. He began to slowly walk through the house, first the formal living room, then the kitchen, through the den/ family livingroom and ending on the back four-seasons deck. Everything was laid out nicely, all the boxes labeled with which room and what was in them. Dean had thought of everything when it came to the move.
Cas began feeling guilty that he hadn't really helped at all. Looking around he noticed the kitchen was almost totally unpacked. Dean had done most of this on his own without Cas's help and had never complained once to Cas about it. He had done it all while running his own business too. Cas was feeling really guilty now and couldn't believe he had been such an ass about the whole thing. He really should have come over right after his final and helped, he had promised after all. Crowley had been so convincing though. He had pointed out what was a few more hours, Dean was a big boy and could handle it. Besides Cas deserved a nice break after all his hard work in school.
Cas walked back through the house to the stairs and began to climb them with every intention of apologizing to Dean. He would be there all day tomorrow to help unpack everything and help Dean with whatever it was he needed done. After all this was their home now. Cas pushed the bedroom door opened and glanced at the bed; Dean was sound asleep, laid out on his stomach. Cas wasn't going to wake him up; he had was probably tired after moving everything today. Shuffling into the room Cas opened up the dresser and pulled out his nightclothes. He pulled on a pair of blue plaid sleep pants and a navy t-shirt. He carefully climbed into bed, making sure not to disturb Dean. Cas closed his eyes and listened to Dean breath before he slipped into dreamland.
Cas woke up to a strange noise in the new house. He reached over for Dean but his hand touched nothing but cold sheets and pillows. Cracking his eyes open he saw the clock on the end table illuminating the time.
"3:15 in the morning." Cas mumbled out, hearing the noise again. It sounded like soft music was playing downstairs. Grumbling a little Cas threw off the sheets and got out of bed determined to see what was making that noise. He quietly slunk down the stairs and peered around them towards the kitchen. There he saw Dean unpacking more boxes and dancing to Frank Sinatra in the kitchen.
Cas rounded the stairs and headed into the kitchen, "What are you doing Dean? It's three thirty in the morning."
Dean didn't even glance in Cas's direction, "I couldn't sleep, so I decided to keep unpacking. If the music is bothering you I'll turn it off and you can go back to sleep." Dean stated a little coldly.
Cas sighed, "Dean about earlier, you were right, I was being an ass. I'm sorry about that. I should have come home and been here to help you out. There's no excuse for it. I knew how important this was and I just brushed it off. You've been so wonderful about this whole move and my lack of help in it."
Dean didn't look at Cas; he just continued to put dishes away in the cabinet. Cas watched him intently waiting to see what he would do. Eventually Dean's shoulders fell and he shuffled over to the next box. Giving up hope Dean would talk Cas took three big strides across the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Dean from behind. He buried his head into the back of Dean neck, "I'm really sorry Dean. I don't know how to make it up to you. I love you and I suck." Cas whispered into Dean neck.
Dean sight and dipped his head down. After a few moments of silence he turned around in Cas's arms and pulled him close placing his head against Cas's neck.
"It's alright Cas, I understand. School is hard and you needed to blow off some steam after having some incredibly stressful months. I love you too and we have all of tomorrow to get everything the way we want it."
Cas hummed against Dean neck, "I love the way you set everything up. It's kind of perfect actually."
Both of them stood there a few more minutes listening to each other breath and the music player. Soon the song faded out and a new one began to play. Dean began a slow rocking motion back and forth with Cas and adding some feet shuffling. Cas laughed as he realized what Dean was doing. Soon they had moved to the middle of the kitchen without letting each other go. Both moving in a slow circle together, wrapped in each other's arms with their faces buried in each other necks as Sinatra crooned out "Just the way you look tonight".
They continued to sway and move in a circle pattern around their new kitchen until the song ended. As the final notes played Dean pulled back a little to stare into Cas's eyes.
"God, I love you so much Cas." Dean murmured.
"I love you too Dean." Cas replied back tilting his head upwards. Dean took the hint and dipped his head down to kiss him. They both lingered on each other mouths enjoying the moment.