Hello again everyone! I wanted to update and say that the other SPN story I'm working on right now is DONE, and I can't wait to share it with you guys. Unfortunately, like twenty people have read it and it's been up a while by now. (Sadly, since I worked on it for months.) It's called Supernatural Hunger Games right now, but that might change in the future, and it's about 20k. I really hope at least some of you go check it out, and enjoy it! It's a tribute to a bunch of the older SPN characters, as well as Diestiel as hell. Also, I'm a lazy author, and did a timeskip to May in this story.

WARNING: Abusive relationships at the end of the chapter. This is just to further the plot, and I'm sorry. Just in case you need to skip it, I will provide a summary after that portion.

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-Middle of May-

Cas stumbled through the undergrowth, following Dean, as he had been for an hour by now. "Where are we?" He gasped out as he stumbled over a tree root. He kept his hand firmly in Dean's, even as Dean pulled him a little faster.

It was hot, it was humid, and Cas was pretty sure that at least one of the many bugs and spiders that had bitten him was poisonous. Also he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, and his stomach had been growling obnoxiously this entire trip.

"We're almost there!" Was Dean's only response, called back at him right before he ducked through one final tangle of vines and leaves, pulling Cas into a large clearing.

Cas's eyes went wide at this. "Woah."

"Thought I should finally get you out here alone, with all the stress and stuff that's been going on lately. It's just you and me." Dean grinned as he watched Cas take in the view. "Since I haven't been completely here lately. I even turned off my phone."

Cas nodded silently as he turned around and around, taking all of it in, looking at the green foliage and purple flowers that adorned everything in sight. There was a small brook running through the center of the clearing, and the water gurgled happily as the little stream passed them by. A soft light seemed to fill the air, dousing everything with golden light. It was beautiful.

Cas looked to Dean then, the same golden light was highlighting his jawline and making his emerald green eyes pop and sparkle. He couldn't believe that this beautiful man loved someone like him. He couldn't believe someone would put this much effort into doing something like this for him. It had been months, and he still couldn't believe his relationship with Dean.

Speaking of Dean, he had worn a tank top today, and that allowed Cas to see his own name written out on Dean's shoulder, which sent a certain sense of pride through him.

"Come over here." And then Dean was taking his hand again and leading him next to the little brook and they were sitting down on some kind of blanket, stereotypically checkered.

There was a basket on that blanket, and as they sat down, Dean watched Cas eye up the basket. "This was premeditated." He chuckled. "God I love you."

"I brought your favorite food…" Dean singsonged.

Cas let out a little gasp and his eyes widened. "You don't mean..?"

And from the little wooden picnic basket, Dean sleekly pulled out and revealed, with a lovely aroma that set Cas' mouth watering, two bags of White Castle drive thru.

Cas grabbed the bag that Dean handed to him gladly, and pulled out a jumbo burger. He bit into it gladly, his eyes closing as he savored the flavor. "My hero."

Dean was biting back laughter, deciding to instead bite into his own burger, watching his angel. His hand ghosted lightly over his jacket, before he reached into the woven basket again and pulled out two beers, passing one to Cas. "Worth all that hiking we did to make it here?" He asked him, already knowing the answer.

"Completely. If I knew my evening would turn out like this, I wouldn't have complained so much." Cas joked, only slightly serious.

"Oh please. You never complain. That's what makes you so wonderful." Dean rolled his eyes. "Trust me, your angelic cover wasn't permanently marred by one little 'are we there yet?'."

Cas let out another chuckle, staring deeper into Dean's eyes. He was beginning to count his freckles when Dean began to speak again.

"Have you ever thought of marriage?" The question started Castiel, and he jumped.

"What?"

Dean repeated himself. "Have you ever thought of marriage?" As he asked, he traced the name on Cas' forearm, the winding curves of the four cursive letters.

Cas felt his breath hitch. "Occasionally." He tried and failed to sound nonchalant, the ring in his pocket growing heavier. He still carried it everywhere he went, despite him having no idea when he was going to give it to Dean.

Dean narrowed his eyes playfully. "You do think of me in the aisle with you, right?"

Cas grinned. "No, I think of me, walking down the aisle, to meet my beautiful husband the White Castle burger and lovingly embrace him. We'll say our vows, and I'll do my best not to eat him, until…" Cas melodramatically clasped one hand over his heart, "Alas, it was not meant to be, and I will devour him in his sleep."

Dean shoved Cas playfully, belting out laughter. "You son of a bitch! You'll dump me for a white castle burger? Now I know where I really stand." Dean stuck out his tongue childishly, joking, and Cas began to chuckle.

"I'll always choose you over burgers, Dean." Cas looked into Dean's eyes, the later of the two looking away and blushing before blowing a playful rasberry in his direction.

"Have you?" the words seemed to escape Cas' mouth before he could do anything about them as he looked up at Dean and winced mentally. Of course Dean had thought of marriage

"Of course. I imagined many things about my marriage, but there's always one thing in common, no matter when I think of it." Dean said, looking into Cas' eyes.

"Oh?" Was there a certain type of flower Dean particularly liked? Maybe it was a chocolate fountain. Dean loved chocolate fountains.

Dean leaned in and Caught Cas' lips in his own. "You."

Cas looked at Dean. He was just a beautiful human being, and Cas didn't deserve this man in his life.

They sat there later into the night, until the fireflies began to come out. Cas' eyes lit up. Dean chuckled slightly. "Do you want to catch fireflies, Cas?" Cas turned to face him, his eyes shining and glistening with childish glee.

Dean grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up. "Come on, I'll race you. Whoever can get ten in his hand first wins."

"You're on!" Cas went to work, bounding after the tiny glowing bugs so happily and carefree that Dean just stared and looked at him for a while. He was beautiful. The way he acted, the tiny little things he did, all of it was just making Dean fall further head over heels for this man. It was dangerous, and it was intoxicating. Dean had never known he could love someone so much.

"I've got three already, Dean!" Cas' voice, tinged with pride, cut through his thoughts. Damn, he was good at this.

With a quickly muttered "Son of a bitch!" Dean began catching fireflies as quickly as he could, which actually proved to be much harder than he remembered. He and Sammy hadn't done this in years.

"I'm at four!" He finally called across the clearing to Cas.

"Six!" The response was immediate.

There was a long pause, punctuated by Dean scrambling about. "I'm up to seven now!"

"Nine." Cas grinned, looking up from his work and across the clearing at Dean, who let out another quick profanity at this. "And… ten." Cas stood up.

"How are you so good at this?" He cried out. He slowly began making his way over to Cas in defeat.

"This was my favorite thing to do as a kid, next to catching the bumblebees." Cas explained as he released his fireflies, sending them spiraling off into the night, blinking.

"Y-you caught bees?" Dean wasn't sure that he'd heard him correctly.

Cas just looked at him strangely. "Of course. You did not?"

It took Dean a solid twenty seconds before he spotted the small smirk on Cas' face, just barely tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I love you, you dork." Dean captured his lips in a kiss. With the fireflies blinking all around them and nobody but the two of them there, they stood together, gazing at each other.

•~•~•~•~•

-Later in May-

Cas' phone was ringing.

"Cassie, you gonna get that, or what?" Gabe looked at him in confusion, setting down his cards.

"What?" Cas jumped a little, Gabe's voice startling him. "Oh, yeah. Sorry." He looked down at his phone and saw Dean's caller ID, one of him sticking out his tongue. Grinning, he made to stand up. "I'll just take this, if that's ok?"

"Oh yeah, no problem Cassie. I'm only your brother, here to visit you when I could be spending quality time with my Moose. It's not like I turned down other plans or moved mountains to be here with you. Don't worry. Please, by all means, answer that phone."

Cas shot him a long look before accepting the call. "Hey Babe, what's going on?" He asked. He could hear Gabe snickering behind him.

"Cas. Can I come over? I don't want to be a burden, but-"

"Of course, Dean. You don't have to ask anymore, you should know that." Cas chuckled.

"Oh, that's a relief. I'm kind of… outside your door." Dean chuckled slightly over the phone, but it came out more forced than Cas knew it should have.

"I'll be right there." Cas raced down the stairs, wrenching open the door to see Dean shuffling awkwardly there, phone still to his ear.

"Hey." Dean said softly.

"What's wrong, Dean?" Cas looked him over nervously.

"I don't think Mom is going to get the divorce to work." Dean sighed heavily as Cas let him in. "John's lawyer swung everything so that even if she can get a divorce, he'll take eighty percent of all of her assets and general wealth, as well as the house." Dean's face fell. "It's not possible to live off of twenty percent of what she has now, it's just not possible, Cas."

"Oh, Dean." Cas frowned, unhappy to see Dean this upset. "Come on," he lead Dean to the kitchen, where he began to prepare tea for him as well as Dean's coffee, with a splash of cream and half a spoon of sugar, just the way he liked it.

"Sammy's over there now, trying to work something out. I assume that Gabe came here?" Dean accepted his coffee with a quiet "Thanks," and took a slow sip.

"Hey Dean-o." Gabe appeared in the doorway, but the way he said Dean's name this time wasn't happy and cheerful. He sounded mournful, and the soft way he said it made Cas' heart ache painfully.

"Gabe." Dean raised his coffee mug to him, and Gabe moved to sit next to him.

Dean took another sip of his coffee and winced. "Cas, Angel, you got anything stronger here?"

"Dean, no." Cas frowned slightly.

Dean sighed. "I just hope everything turns out ok…"

"Dean, I'm sure everything will be fine." Cas sat himself down on Dean's lap, straddling his waist and looking him right in the eyes.

"Cas…" Dean looked at him as well, his hands sliding their way to his waist.

"Aaanddd… this is my cue to leave the house. Have fun guys." Gabe winked at Cas again, who rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at him.

Cas turned back to Dean, and he kissed him softly. "Everything will be ok."

•~•~•~•~•

-June First-

They were having a pool party of sorts, with a big hole in the ground filled with chlorine water and giant inflatable rings and those martinis with the little umbrellas. It was Gabe's idea, since everyone had seemed upset about something lately, or at least uptight. Everyone was enjoying the rare eighty something degree day, and splashing around together.

"Catch me, my moose!" Gabe took a running leap at Sam and took him down flailing into the water, as Gabe ran into him with all of his considerable weight.

They both came up spluttering and laughing, causing Dean and Cas to chuckle fiercely. "How on God's green earth was I supposed to catch you?" Sam said jokingly.

"With your big sasquatch muscles, of course!" Gabe patted Sam's arm reassuringly. "I believe in you. Maybe next time."

Sam just shook his head. "Why am I married to you?" He chuckled before capturing Gabe's lips in a kiss.

"Eww, gross! Kissing in public Sammy, I thought you were above that!" Dean took a sip from his martini and giggled. Sam just stuck his tongue out at his brother.

"You all are such idjits." A gruff voice came from the side of the pool, and they turned to see Bobby and Crowley standing there, smiling.

"You made it!" Sam grinned. "Bobby, long time no see!"

"And how are my newlyweds?" Bobby smiled while Crowley began to make himself a martini. "Haven't seen you since you were in the aisle."

"We've been like peas in a pod. Samshine here just can't get enough of me." Gabe proclaimed boldly, making kissy lips at his husband.

Sam just rolled his eyes and pushed him further under the water. "Can I get an alcoholic beverage over here?"

•~•~•~•~•

-In a broken down house-

The windows were all broken or boarded up. The lawn had never been tamed, and weeds grew through the sidewalk and everywhere else. The attic had long since been overtaken by spiders, and though there were several rat traps scattered around both inside and out, not a single of the rats infesting the house had been caught to this date. The air conditioning consisted of a loud and poorly operating fan in one corner of the living room, and the ratty couch was occupied completely by one very drunk man. A woman was in the next room over, with her short hair tied back into a small ponytail, trying her hardest to stitch up part of an old pair of jeans. The uneven legs on her chair rocked every time she reached across the table for something. A breeze whisked through the house, but there was an uneasy silence about everything while the man waited, not very patiently, and even the rats seemed to be holding their breath.

Then there was the sound of shattering glass, and a small child's scream.

"Where is that boy?" A loud and furious voice was next to brake the cautious silence in the household. "Kelly, where is your fucking kid?"

The man waited a moment longer before shouting again. "Kid, if you don't get your ass down here in three seconds, I'm going to-"

The woman with short brown hair turned, and stormed up to the man, bags prominent under her eyes. "Just because you're not his father, Lucifer, doesn't mean you can keep treating him this way! Jack's a person, just like you and me, he's not your personal slave!" She snarled, and by his eye roll and immediate response, it was obvious that this was not the first time they had had this argument.

"He's an unmarked, Kelly! Those people never turn out well, you know why? Every single unmarked in history has gone on to royally fuck up society in some big way! This kid's going to be a school shooter, or a mass murderer, or spend his life behind bars! They're evil, Kelly!"

"What, like you?" She shot back, her tone biting. "Just because I took you in after Jefferson died doesn't mean you can come strolling in here and treat my son like crap! You're no better than him, Mr 'I Don't Need A Soulmate!'"

Lucifer ground his teeth unhappily, his fists clenched as he looked down on the shorter woman. "This is not the topic at hand, Kelly!"

"Oh, and what is? That he broke your lousy beer bottle? So what?"

"The kid's bad news, Kelly!"

"He's ten, Lucifer, ten! Breaking one stupid bottle isn't some sign of him being the Oncoming Storm! For the love of god!" Kelly's fists were clenched, but there was fear in her eyes.

There was a harsh sound, the sound of skin on skin, and Kelly let out a harsh cry as she fell back. Lucifer growled down at her. "Now look what you made me do." He mockingly called down at her as she struggled to sit up.

"I want you out of my house," Kelly's voice wavered, but she stood her ground. "by tomorrow morning."

"Oh please, you always say that when I'm drunk." Lucifer rolled his eyes and turned away from her near sobbing form as she scampered away, presumably to find Jack and get out of here. "Kid! Where are you? Get me another bottle now and I won't be too mad at you!"

There was a slight scampering noise, a few whimpers, and then Jack came into view, his whole form shaking, his hair disheveled, and his clothes covered in dust bunnies from wherever he was hiding. Carefully, his tiny fingers handed Lucifer his beer, his eyes teary.

"There you are, you little shit." Lucifer growled at him once more. "How's your neck? Have they stopped asking you questions about it in school?"

Jack slowly pulled down his shirt, where fading purple marks encircled his entire throat. He shook his head, and more tears began to spill over the edge of his eyes.

"Well then, this time I'll just have to hit you somewhere they won't see, ok Jack?" Lucifer grinned sadistically, raising an open palm threateningly.

Jack flinched, not saying a word.

•~•~•~•~•

SUMMARY: Jack is abused in his household and Lucifer is a dick to both Kelly and him. DON"T WORRY I LOVE JACK THINGS WILL GET BETTER.

So yeah sorry this chapter was a lot of establishing backstory too, so yeah. But nothing can get any worse for Jack at least, right? I know i already included Luci in the story, but she was a girl, so let's all look past that, ok? :) Also yes, Lucifer is unmarked, as well as Jack. Comment to let me know what you think is gonna happen with Jack in the story please! Any questions, comments, concerns at all? Let me know! Thanks for listening!