Thanks for the reviews! Love you guys! Less than a week 'til new SPNs! WHEEHEEHEHEHE!

July 4, 2015

"You don't have to stay, you know?"

Dean looked up from his magazine in surprise. Cas was sitting up on the hospital bed in the ER, arms crossed over his chest, a grumpy scowl on his face.

"Where would I go?"

"Home. There's a lot to be done for the party, and I can just call you when I'm done."

"Nope. Stuck with me. No one wants to hang in an ER alone anyway." He flipped a page in the magazine, "'sides, Jo already hijacked all the food and took it to Ellen's."

Cas's scowl grows deeper, and Dean resists the urge to laugh at him. "It was our turn. Bobby and Ellen hosted last year."

"So?"

He huffs, and stares off into space, brows still furrowed. Dean frowns and sets the magazine aside. "Cas? What's wrong?" he gestures to his husband's ankle, propped on a pillow and covered with ice, "other than, y'know, the obvious."

"I wanted…I just wanted…" he sighs, all the fight draining out of him. Pulling himself from the chair, Dean settles lightly on the bed next to Cas, gently pulling him into his arms.

"What's wrong? This about more than just missing the barbecue."

"I just want this to be perfect. It's Ben's last 4th before he leaves for college, and I didn't want you to have to worry, or really do anything, I just wanted you to be able to enjoy the day, and now, I've managed to mess all of that up."

"Cas, it's not a big deal. It's not like you deliberately threw yourself down the stairs or something. You're damn lucky you don't have a concussion too, with that lump on your head. Look at this way, you'll get to park in a chaise all day, and we'll all wait on you. And, like you said yourself, at least it's not broken, right?"

To Dean's surprise, Cas bursts into tears. "I'm…I'm sorry, D-Dean. I'm sorry!"

"Sorry for what? You didn't do anything wrong, Cas!"

"I ruined our party, messed up the whole day and I…"

Dean shuts him up with a long lingering kiss, the kind Cas loves the best, the ones where he takes his time, pressing their lips together, tongue darting out to gently lick at Cas's lower lip, slowly taking it deeper, cupping his chin in his hand, pressing his tongue against Cas's mouth until the other man lets him in, tasting the salt from his tears and the lingering taste of the coffee he'd brought him earlier.

When they pull apart, Cas's cheeks are flushed and he's breathless, but the tears have stopped.

"Better?"

Cas sniffles. "I um. I don't know what happened there. I'm sorry."

"Probably the pain meds. They gave you morphine, right? That shit makes me nutty." Dean thumbed a tear off Cas's cheek.

"Possibly. But I um…I need…"

"Anything, Cas."

He smirked slightly, blue eyes twinkling. "I think I need more of your um…special medicine, Dr. Sexy."

Dean laughed, loud and long. "Dr. Sexy, huh? Mmm, so uh, I guess you're waiting for your prescription then?" He groaned, rolling his eyes. "God, could we be any cornier?"

"Yes," Cas growled, surging back against Dean, wrapping his hand around the back of Dean's head, pulling him in roughly, yanking on the short strands, and damn, Cas being rough? Yeah, that went straight to his dick.

Their lips crashed together, Cas dominating the kiss, pushing his way into Dean's mouth forcefully, not that he would have fought back in the least. Tongues tangle, breaths are panted into each other's mouths, and Dean can't hold back the moan that slips out.

This time, when they pull apart, they're both wrecked, flushed, Dean's even started to sweat a bit.

"Ahem."

Dean's eyes widen, and Cas chuckles. The doctor is standing in the doorway, huge grin on her face.

"So, I can wrap your ankle and send you home now, or I can go away for five more minutes."

Feeling his cheeks flush, Dean hides his face in Cas's shirt with an embarrassed, and embarrassing, whimper.

Cas chuckles.

"No way, I'm more than ready to go."

The afternoon is very pleasant, and as Dean predicted, Castiel is waited on hand and foot, no pun intended. He spends most of the day in one of the big chaise lounges in Bobby and Ellen's backyard, watching the kids splash in the pool. And by kids, he means Sam, Adam, and Dean, the overgrown children, who each seem to be making it their mission to drown their brothers.

Dean comes up sputtering for the hundredth time, wet hair plastered to his forehead, and he turns to grin at Castiel, and Adam uses this to his advantage, shallow diving and yanking Dean's feet out from under him.

The look on Dean's face when he goes down is nothing short of hilarious, and Castiel is still laughing when he pulls himself out.

Later, they all pile into cars and drive back to Lawrence, choosing spots along the Kansas River to watch the fireworks. Dean lays a blanket and some pillows across the hood of his baby, and Sam and Dean help Castiel up onto the hood.

Dean climbs up on the other side, and snuggles in close. The night is cool for July, and the sky is big, black, and cloudless, stars twinkling merrily.

Ellen passes around plates of apple pie, Bobby hands out beers and sodas, and everyone settles in to watch the fireworks.

"I love you," Dean whispers softly in his ear, and Castiel turns his head for a kiss.

They're still kissing when the fireworks start, but neither one of them bothers to stop and look.

Castiel and Dean are far too busy making their own.