The day Dean finally wakes up sore, tired, and covered in sweat, slick, and come, but missing the painful urgency in his belly, he immediately closes his eyes again in relief. Thank the gods.

When he opens them and turns his head a little, his eyes land on Cas, who's still dead to the world. The alpha is on his side, one leg thrown over Dean's and his arm across Dean's chest, pinning him to the bed. His nose is squashed into Dean's shoulder, and he's doing some sort of combination snoring and growling thing that Dean resolves to not find cute no matter what.

As he watches his alpha sleep (creepy, he knows, but he gives himself a pass because he's tired), Dean thinks that he's been closer to genuinely happy in the last few days than he thought possible. Cas has been nothing but attentive, sweet, ferocious in bed, and gentle. He's been everything a partner should be during something as emotionally and physically draining as a heat cycle. Dean hopes he can be the same for Cas when he goes into rut.

No matter how nice it's been, though, Dean knows that it's over. They're going to go back to living stilted, separate lives. Not that they were never together before the wedding, but the last few days have been completely different. Dean will miss the dynamic they've made together. He hopes they can recreate it for his next heat.

Better get this over with.

He slowly disentangles himself from Cas' limbs, watching carefully to make sure his alpha stays asleep. Cas snorts and frowns a little, but doesn't wake up as Dean climbs out of bed.

As soon as he's on his feet, he has to bite back a whimper. He didn't realize quite how sore he is, but it's becoming clear fast. It's not just his ass, although it obviously hurts. His hips and his back ache from all of the contorted positions he's been in, the skin on his knees is a little raw, and the joints are making themselves known, too. His head is pounding and his mouth is dry and his belly is clenching in a combination of hunger and upset.

Dean feels like shit.

He manages to limp his way to the bathroom after deciding he wants to be clean more than anything else right now. He supports himself using furniture and walls, and he doesn't bother shutting the bathroom door behind himself. Cas has seen worse.

By the time he's standing under hot water, it's five minutes later and there are tears standing in his eyes. It's from frustration, he assures himself. It's just because he's still tired and hormonal. It certainly has nothing to do with him already missing his alpha. He's not sad, or affected in any way at all at the thought that he and Cas will go back to being a royal couple instead of just Dean and Cas.

Yeah. It's just frustration.

He's trying to get himself to bite the bullet and reach over to get the shampoo when the scent of concerned alpha mingles with his own emotional turmoil.

Damn.

"Dean?" Cas' voice is rougher than usual from sleep. "Dean, what's wrong?"

"Uh, what? N-nothing."

Cas does him the courtesy of not mentioning his overwrought scent or the way his voice cracks. Instead, Dean listens (turning around to look would take way more energy than he currently has) as his mate steps into the shower stall.

Even despite the temperature of the water beating at his chest, Cas' heat warms his back. Dean decides not to be ashamed of the way he leans against Cas, letting his mate take his weight.

"Shh," Cas murmurs against his ear. "I've got you."

Dean lets himself be manhandled, albeit gently, so he's leaning back against the wall. Cas looks around and reads several bottles until he finds Dean's shampoo. He considers helping, but the wrinkle of concentration on Cas' brow is too endearing, so he watches until his alpha's face clears in triumph.

Cas comes to stand just in front of Dean again and tilts his head to press a gentle, affectionate kiss to his lips.

"I'll take care of everything, sweetling. Your only job is to stay upright. Is that okay?"

Dazed, Dean nods.

Cas' fingers are gentle but firm as he shampoos Dean's hair, massaging his scalp at the same time. Dean moans and lets his eyes fall closed. Cas' scent is all pleased and warm. The alpha uses the detached shower head to rinse Dean's hair, taking extra care to keep it from his face.

Dean opens his eyes again in surprise when he feels Cas' strong fingers on the sides of his neck. Cas' gaze is on where he's soaping Dean's skin, now moving down to his collarbone and shoulders. He gently removes the bandage from over his mating bite and tosses it over into the sink before turning back and continuing his ministrations.

Dean is confused. What the hell is Cas doing? They're done, his heat cycle is done, it's obvious in his scent. Cas performed his duty to his country and his new mate admirably, several times over, but a duty it was nevertheless. This isn't a love match, it's at best an arranged marriage, a shady purchase at worst.

So what is Cas still doing here? He should be at breakfast, showing off his new mated scent (but keeping his bite secret) and maybe sharing one or two risque stories of the more athletic positions he and his new omega tried. Not… Not here. Not still here, carefully still taking care of Dean. Dean should be alone in this shower, working through the pain on his own.

He lets these thoughts chase one another around as Cas lathers the soap first down Dean's left arm, then his right. As he does, he also massages the ache out of each muscle, all the way down until he's massaging each one of Dean's fingers individually. He then moves back up to knead at the broad muscles of Dean's chest, keeping his touch light over sore nipples.

Dean jumps a little when Cas drops to his knees. The alpha chuckles a little and leans forward to press a gentle kiss low on Dean's belly.

Tears spring to his eyes again as he's forcefully reminded of pups. He knows the chances that he's pregnant are slim to none, but he suddenly wants it so bad. The alpha kneeling in front of him, who's being so gentle with him, Dean can see him being so good with pups.

He doesn't realize that he's whining a little until Cas' hands are at his hips, rubbing soothing circles into the skin there. "Shh, it's okay, Dean, I've still got you."

Dean manages to beat back his emotions through sheer force of will and nods at his alpha. "Sorry," he rasps.

"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for," Cas says firmly.

He goes back to running soapy, almost reverent (though Dean feels a little silly even thinking the word) hands over his belly, then down his hips and thighs. He kneads the long muscles in Dean's legs, his calves, them moves down so he's washing his feet. He even takes the time to wash between each of his toes and the bottoms of his feet.

Finally, he sits back. "Turn around," he orders softly. Dean complies, grateful for the opportunity to close his eyes and rest his forehead against the tiled wall.

Cas stands and starts at his shoulders again. He washes Dean's back with just as much meticulous attention as he did his front. When he gets to his ass, Dean stiffens, but Cas' fingers remain gentle as he cleans tender flesh. He doesn't linger there, but continues down Dean's legs.

He helps Dean turn back around and positions him under the spray, making sure he's completely rinsed off. Dean watches in disbelief as Cas then runs a cursory shower for himself, tearing his own mating bite bandage off with much less finesse and scrubbing his own body quickly, without nearly as much care as he showed Dean's, even though he's got to be just as sore.

Once they're both free of soap, Cas turns the water off and helps Dean step out of the shower. The omega is too surprised, too confused to say much of anything as Cas takes one of the fluffy white towels from the shelf and pats him dry from head to toe. Then, after drying himself off rather quickly, Cas shocks Dean again by easily scooping him into his arms, bridal style. Dean yelps and clings to his alpha, who chuckles, making his chest rumble soothingly against Dean. He knew, from the several days of marathon sex, that Cas' alpha strength is nothing to dismiss, but it still boggles his mind to be carried like he weighs nothing.

Cas lays him gently out onto the bed, then starts fussing at his mating bite again (it's been reopened quite a few times over the last few days). That's it for Dean.

"Uh… Cas?"

"Hmm?"

"What, uh…" It's not like he wants this to stop. His inner omega is going fucking nuts at all of the pampering, all of the ways Cas is taking care of him. It's so much more than Dean ever expected from his life when he walked into the School for the first time, so much better. So, it's not like he wants it to stop, it's just making him off-balance.

He has no frame of reference for this behavior, outside of… Well, outside of Mary and John. Dean's parents are deeply, deeply in love with one another. He's watched his father dote on his mother, and vice versa, but he didn't expect that he'd get to have that same sort of interaction with his alpha. Especially since he resigned himself to going to the School and being bought.

So what, exactly, is going on here?

"What is this?"

Cas looks up at Dean's eyes again, continuing to dab at the bite on his neck with disinfectant, and tilts his head. "What is what?"

Dean gestures between them. "This."

"This… Us? Are you asking… About us?"

Dean rolls his eyes. "No! No, Cas, I'm asking what the hell you're doing."

"I'm disinfecting your mating bite." Cas' frown is deeper.

"Not… No, not…" Dean takes a deep breath and tries to sort out his thoughts. "Cas," he says finally. "I'm asking what you're doing, with the pampering and the washing and the carrying. Is this residual heat hormones? Because that would actually make some sense. Is it something else? Am I putting off helpless vibes? Because I'm not, helpless, you know. And I don't-"

Cas' fingers, gentle but firm again as they grasp Dean's chin and make him look back at the alpha, shut Dean up as he looks into those blue eyes.

"Dean, stop." Cas' voice, too, is gentle. His eyes are searching Dean's face, and he's not sure what Cas finds there, but it keeps him talking.

"I'm not sure what I anticipated when I went to the Omega Ball, I admit. I was planning on simply finding someone to mate, maybe someone who smelled nice. I planned on mating them, marrying them, and impregnating them, then setting them up somewhere nice, but ultimately out of the way."

Dean's heart thuds in his chest, his breath going short at this confirmation of his fears, but Cas is still talking, so he tries to listen.

"But you're so… Irreverent." Cas' voice is fond, now, and his scent is pleased again. "You're brave and reckless, but you sold yourself to take care of your family. You manage to keep Michael and Lucifer thinking that they're smarter than you, but you easily keep up with Gabriel and Kali when they have conversations about any number of advanced subjects. You're still, these several weeks later, surprised when someone refers to you with a royal acknowledgement."

Dean blushes hard at the affection in Cas' words. Shit. "Uh…"

Cas' refocuses on Dean's eyes. "I know that… I know this didn't begin the way either of us wanted it to. I know this isn't the mating of your dreams, or even really of your choice. But I…" And here, Cas blushes a bit himself and his eyes dart away. "If you're willing, that is, I'd like to… Ah, I'd like to try to make you happy. Here, with me, while we try to give this a real chance to work."

That… Is not what Dean was expecting to hear.

"A real chance?"

Cas nods.

Dean just stares at him for a second, because Cas, himself, has been a bit of a surprise. Cas is smart, with dry humor and a quick wit. Cas cares more than he thinks he does, and he's a favorite around the castle staff even without trying. He's caring and kind and thoughtful and quiet and...

And maybe, maybe, Dean has caught a few feelings for his alpha. So maybe Cas' idea isn't a bad one.

"With me?" He clarifies again. "You want to try to make this a real relationship, not just one for show like Michael and Amara or Lucifer and Lilith? With me?"

Cas nods again, earnest.

Dean smiles a little. "Uh, yeah. Okay, alpha." He palms the back of his neck shyly. "We can give it a shot."

Cas' answering smile is brilliant and alpha relief and elation flood the air, making Dean grin and his own scent turn pleased and happy. They just stare at each other for a few beats, lost in (though Dean will never admit it) one another's eyes. Dean's thinking about all of the potential they have now, and getting a little giddy about it (lingering hormones, he's sure), when they're interrupted by Dean's cell phone ringing from the other room.

Dean blinks. "Uh."

Cas is frowning a little. "Who in the name of the gods would be calling you right now?"

"The only people who have my number are my family."

At that, Cas gets up immediately and strides out of the room. When he comes back, he has Dean's cell phone in his hand. "Then you should answer," he says simply as he hands it over. "I'll go get us some food so you can have some privacy."

Not quite with his permission, Dean's hand darts out to wrap around Cas' wrist. They both stare at the point of contact before Dean can bring himself to speak.

"I, uh… You can stay," he says quickly, before he's completely unable to continue with this chick-flick moment. "If you want, I mean."

Cas' smile is bright again, but he doesn't do anything but nod. Dean nods back before tapping the screen and putting the phone to his ear. "Heya, ma."

"Dean!" Mary's voice is relieved, happy. "How are you, baby?"

Cas is cleaning up the supplies he used to disinfect Dean's mating bite. His own bite isn't nearly as open, what with alpha healing and the fact that Dean only really bit him the one time. He's clearly listening, but he's going about his own business. He's unselfconscious about his nudity, moving around the room comfortably, and he's gorgeous and strong and Dean thinks he might be a little bit in love with him already.

"I'm good. Really good."

"The wedding was so lovely, but you had to leave so fast. Was your heat okay?"

"Mom," Dean whines. Cas is crawling into the bed now, done with his clean-up, and Dean automatically curls up next to him. Cas wraps his arm around his shoulders and presses a kiss to his forehead, and Dean feels inexplicably cared for. He hides his face in Cas' chest.

Mary is laughing softly. "Oh, now that you're married I thought you wouldn't be embarrassed by talking about this!"

"It's not that," Dean grumbles. "You're my mom."

"Oh, hush," Mary admonishes without heat or rancor, "and tell me everything about your alpha."

Cas chuckles in delight, Mary squeaks when she realizes Cas is right there, Dean groans in embarrassment, and everything is looking more and more like it's gonna be all right.

- I know this chapter is shorter, I'm sorry, but I'll make it up to you with the next one.