Cas opened his eyes, the white room around him slowly coming into focus. He looked around, deducing that he was in a hospital room. His field of vision was restricted by the fact that he was to weak to sit up or move around too much yet, but he could just barely see that someone was sitting at the end of his cot. Carefully, Cas shifted himself, just slightly, so that he could get a better look.

Dean was slumped over onto the bed, his breathing quiet and even. He rested his head on his arms, and the sunshine that streamed in through the open window basked him in a warm light. Cas smiled as he realized that Dean had probably been waiting for him to wake up all night.

Cas struggled to look over at the door as he heard it creak open. "Cas, you're awake...!" Sam said quietly, striding over to his bed and pulling up an extra chair.

"Sam..." Cas mumbled, his voice rough from underuse. "So Dean must have told you..."

"He wouldn't say what happened. Just that you stabbed yourself trying to gank that demon... You know, he called right after he brought you here; sounded really upset. Kept saying stuff about how it was his fault... He'd never admit it, but he cares about you, Cas. A lot." Sam whispered, looking over at Dean.

"I know."

"And," Sam continued, "I happen to know that it's mutual... What is it with you two that makes it so hard to convey your feelings between each other, but so obvious to everyone else...?"

Cas could feel himself blushing, but he was too tired and full of pain killers to care. "D'you know how long he's been there for...?" He asked, closing his eyes while simultaneously trying not to drift off again.

Sam turned and checked the clock hanging on the wall behind him. "Four and a half hours? It's been about that long since I got here, and he was already asleep by then." Sam crossed his legs, leaning back in the uncomfortable folding chair.

Cas made a noise of acknowledgement, but his hold on consciousness was failing, and the bed just suddenly felt so comfortable... "Tell him he's an idiot for worrying..." He mumbled, his words slurred slightly due to exhaustion.

He knew that Sam had answered, but by then, his senses had been dulled, and he drifted off to sleep, comforted by the thought that for once, someone was watching over him.

It was dark outside when Castiel woke up again. The curtains were closed now, but a dim light, most likely from a street lamp was shining through the gap between them.

"Dean...?" He whispered, craning his neck to see if the hunter still sat at the foot of his bed.

He noticed a piece of paper taped to the frame of his bed and grabbed it, feeling pain shoot through his side as he reached above his head.

'Cas,' The note read, 'Went back to the motel for the night. Be back tomorrow to check on you. Oh, and I left a few things for you on your nightstand too.' Though it wasn't signed, Cas could tell from the loopy handwriting that it was Sam who had written the note. He reached over and felt around on the small table beside his bed, ending up with two protein bars, a few magazines, and a newspaper. Tabloids tended to confuse him, so Sam had instead picked a few on classic cars. He felt his lips quirk up into a small smile.

Cas had just been about to unwrap a protein bar when he heard movement to his right. He carefully turned himself onto his uninjured side. "Hey Cas." Dean whispered, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey... Why didn't you leave with Sam..?" Cas asked quietly, trying to lift himself into a sitting position. A stabbing pain shot through his left side, and he gave up on his efforts with a wince.

Dean got up from his chair, feeling stiff. He pulled a pillow off of the bed and sat leaning against the nightstand. "I dunno." He looked up at Cas, his eyes catching the dim light. "I just... It's my fault that you're in here in the first place, so..."

"Dean... It's not your fault..." He whispered, his voice wavering.

"It is, Cas. I practically used you as bait..." Dean looked down at his knees. "I'm sorry..." He refused to make eye contact with Cas again, and they sat in a strange mid conversation limbo.

Cas was the first to speak again, his voice soft. "You weren't the one who stabbed me."

"Exactly. Cas, I couldn't do it. I had the opportunity to exorcize it, I had the chance to kill it... I had the chance to do something, and I couldn't. You had to fucking stick a knife in your side because I... I couldn't..." He trailed off, his eyes still fixed on his lap.

Cas reached for Dean's hand, grasping it tightly and mumbling, "Dean, not everything comes down to choice or chance. I heard what you said in the impala; your refusal to hurt me. That's what made me do it. I did it to kill the son of a bitch, but I also did it so the demon wouldn't have a chance to hurt you. I care about you Dean, and I can't stand to see you blame yourself for every bad thing that happens to your friends. I thought that if I was the one to kill it, you wouldn't take it as hard... Obviously I was wrong, but..."

Dean took Cas' hand between both of his and stared up at him through the darkness. "I don't think I could handle any more of my family dying." He said, his voice barely audible. "Mom and Dad, Ellen, Jo, Bobby... There's been enough death in my life. No matter who or what causes the death, I still blame myself. I blame myself because I... Because I feel like I could have prevented it. Somehow... If I had managed to convince mom never to go into Sam's nursery, if I had just seen that transport truck coming and warned Sam, if I'd killed those hellhounds before they got to Jo, if I'd gone back for Bobby and let Sam bring the van around by himself... I could have saved them..." He brought their hands close to his face, and Cas could feel a tear drop onto his palm.

Cas leaned over the side of the bed and cupped the side of Dean's face with his free hand, capturing his lips in a chaste kiss. "None of it is your fault Dean." He said soothingly, "You didn't know any of that would happen. You can't save everyone." Cas wiped the tears from Dean's cheeks, and placed another kiss on his forehead.

He could feel his stitches pulling, but he ignored the pain for the moment. "Come lie with me... It can't be comfortable sitting on the floor like that."

"You sure...? I mean, I don't mind staying here, I've slept in worse positions than this before. Besides, there's not enough room for both of us..." He was avoiding eye contact with Cas again.

"I'm sure." Cas muttered, moving as close to the edge of the bed as he could without falling off. "Get your ass up here." He closed his eyes and felt the grip Dean had on his hand relinquish.

He held back a smile as he felt Dean crawl into the bed, his elbow pressed up against Cas' stomach. Cas rested his head on Dean's chest, wrapping his left arm around his torso. He could hear the steady beat of Dean's heart, calming, reassuring and just the thing he needed. He inhaled deeply and smiled into Dean's shirt. "Better?"

"Better." Dean chuckled, pressing his nose into Cas' hair.

Admittedly, Cas wasn't even really tired at first, but as soon as Dean had cuddled up next to him, he felt like he could stay in this spot for the rest of his short, mortal life. He felt safe and loved, and he never wanted it to end.

"Can you... Sing to me?" Cas murmured, blush creeping onto his cheeks.

Dean smiled and carefully wrapped his arm around Castiel's back, pulling him closer.

"Hey Jude... Don't make it bad... Take a sad song, and make it better..."

The pain from his stab wound faded as he started to drift off, yawning and nuzzling his head into Dean's chest. He knew this had been the song Mary sang to him each night.

"And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude refrain... Don't carry the world upon your shoulders..." He started to hum the rest, gradually letting his voice drop, quieter and quieter until he was sure that Cas was asleep. He closed his own eyes and let out a sigh of contentment, giving in to the sweet warmth of his own fallen angel.

A/N: Whoo boy that chapter was fluffy... So how was it you guys...? Satisfying? :3 Thanks to my reviewers again! Chapter 8 will probably be the last one, so if you guys have any suggestions for what I should do for it, send 'em in! :D