It had been a week since Cas had made his confession, and still the bastard had not held up on his promise. Every day, Dean found an excuse to be alone with the angel – telling Sam to go make a pie run, telling Sam to go grocery shopping for his bunny food, or even just telling Sam he was sick of his face and that they needed an hour apart.

The last one was always entertaining – the younger Winchester would scoff, roll his eyes, but grab the keys to the Impala and head out anyway. It was the method Dean had gone with today, his feet propped up on the motel room's coffee table. Cas was sitting near the window, paying neither of them any attention, until Dean further provoked the little brother. "What's the matter Sammy – too much of a girl to argue?" Cas' head whipped around just in time to notice Sam's hand grab something off of the counter, hurling it in his older brother's direction before grabbing the keys and taking off.

A hard object collided with the side of Dean's face, and upon further inspection – it was an empty beer bottle. The door had already shut and closed behind Sam before Dean yelled to him again, an indignant look plastered across his face. "Weak!" He expected better from his brother; more of a fight. That's what made the whole thing fun. Chuckling, he placed the bottle down and turned to the angel, who had once again turned to face the window, probably knowing by now what Dean was up to. Nowadays, the man was always thinking about something – and it made Dean's head hurt, trying to figure out what it was. "Cas," he called out to him, impatience quickly taking over his senses. "You promised, man. We need to have this talk."

It wasn't like him to want to talk about feelings. Hell, he hated chick flick moments. The last thing Dean needed was for anything he said to seem as though it could be from some goddamn Hallmark card. But Cas had been acting strange lately, and it bothered him far more than he'd ever want to admit. This was getting past the point of blowing over; and though Dean didn't like emotions, he still possessed them.

"I told you Dean. All in good –"

"Cas, I swear to fucking hell if you say 'all in good time', I will find a way to punch you, and make it hurt."

The eldest Winchester had raised himself up from his bed, crossing the crammed space at the motel easily. The angel did not respond, and the anger he felt, welling up inside him, was beginning to surface. "Don't you dare think of doing anything stupid, Cas. I swear I'll trap you in a circle of holy fire until you tell me what the hell is going on up inside of that childlike head of yours." Dean knew he was being harsh – but Cas wasn't giving him a choice. The guy sulked around all day, unless they were hunting. And then he looked so lost sometimes that even Sam noticed.

"The last time we talked," Dean went on, stepping closer to the angel's side, "You told me you were afraid you might kill yourself. Well I'm sorry," his voice was grating, emotional words hard for him to say due to being so out of practice. "But I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're not allowed to give up Cas – I won't let you."

The angel's eyes lifted, his head tilting in Dean's direction only after everything was silent once again. Dean opened his mouth, ready to continue, but Cas interrupted him.

"It's not that simple, Dean. You assume I'm plagued only by guilt. But I believe," Cas' face hardened, his jaw clenching minutely, "I believe I should still be in Purgatory. I believe I should still be doing penance. And Dean," he went on, low, dangerous – intimidating even –, "If I wish to do penance, I will do so. I am an angel. You are a man. There would be no way to stop me."

That hurt. Dean felt his stomach clench, his gut telling him that Cas was going to do something stupid – and very, very soon.

"Holy fire," he spat out before thinking, the words coming fast and desperate, "For God's sake Cas –"

"That's what got us into this mess, Dean. God. My disobedience. Do not mention his name in my presence again. I feel we have touched upon this subject enough. Trust me. I'll only do what I feel is best – what will help everyone."

Cas was talking like someone with a death wish; and Dean recognized it only because he remembered exactly what that felt like. He remembered exactly how often he wished to fall asleep and never wake up, but knowing that he would have to keep going because of his family. But his family didn't need him – that had been proven on multiple occasions. And now he watched the angel turn his head, his eyes going back to the window in order to avoid more arguing. Something inside of him longed to speak up again. But instead his face hardened, the reflection of the window allowing him to see the darkening of his green eyes, the set of his own jaw and tensing of his muscles.

"I will trap you, Cas." In truth, he should be saying something far more comforting. But hell, it was hard to comfort him when Dean had no idea what he was thinking. "Just – like I said, nothing stupid."

His hand touched the angel's shoulder, briefly, lingering only a second past how long he would touch any other soul. Cas was different though; he just didn't know how – or why.

Dean's steps took him back to bed, his body melting into the cheap mattress after sliding a quarter into the vibrations slot.

So this was his way of letting Cas alone for a minute; his way of allowing them both to cool off, and to think more logically about the situation. Cas would never hurt himself. The idea was idiotic, in any sense. Dean's facial features lifted after only a few moments, a smile reaching his eyes for the first time in days. While he wasn't happy with what Cas said – Cas spoke to him. And in that, Dean was hopeful he'd be able to figure out just what Cas had planned. Almost out of nowhere, Dean's eyes shut, heavy with how much emotion he'd been showing. His sleep came quickly, brought on almost miraculously, a feeling of peace drifting over him and making him smile.

He did not notice then, when the angel touched his face. He did not notice then, as the angel whispered, only to disappear soon after the words were said.