I did a speed upload tonight, meaning this is freshly written, meaning there may or may not be more mistakes than usual. Don't judge me. And by the way, I love you.
Chapter Twelve: Your Guardian Angel
Castiel:
The days started to rush together into one big blur of dance. Dean and Castiel stayed average, neither in the top nor the bottom. They worked harder, if that was even possible, going to the studio to practice whenever they had free time. As soon as Kevin decided to join them, Jess came too, and then Meg and Jo and Balthazar. Sammy sometimes came to watch. Castiel would catch Dean out of the corner of his eye grinning brighter than normal when Sam was around, and the idea of a happier Dean appealed to Castiel so he made sure to ask if Sam wanted to come often. Castiel also caught Sam looking at Jess often, his big puppy dog eyes would follow her around the room as if he were in a trance. Once while Dean Cas and Sam were at dinner and Dean got up to go to the bathroom, Castiel asked Sam about it.
"So I see you've been . . . erm . . . looking at Jess." Oh yeah, he realized. He wasn't good at this kind of conversation. Sam fumbled with his fork and looked up at Castiel.
"Is it that obvious?" Castiel grinned a little bit.
"Well . . . I don't know about obvious. She is beautiful. I think if you tried talking to her you'd have a shot." Sam's mouth dropped open.
"Really?" Castiel was confused. Typically people like Sam knew they were gorgeous, thought they'd have a shot at any girl.
"Really." Castiel told him. Dean came back from the bathroom, wiping his hands on his jeans.
"What'd I miss?" He asked. Castiel looked up at Sam through his lashes, and caught the look Sam gave him. The look that begged, please don't tell Dean. So Castiel shrugged.
"Nothing really . . . Sam was explaining baseball too me."
"Again? Sam he'll never understand it." Dean groaned, sliding into the booth beside Castiel and bumping his shoulder. Sam laughed.
"I know he won't, it's a lost cause."
"I just don't understand . . . is short stop required to be shorter than everyone else? Could I be short stop if I were on a team?" Dean laughed and shook his head.
"You have got to be kidding."
"I know I'm not that short," Castiel rambled on, "But compared to you Winchesters I feel like a dwarf. I mean dear God Samsquatch over here is six four! How is anyone supposed to stand up to that?"
"You're not supposed to stand up to that." Sam said, throwing Castiel a bitch face. "You're supposed to look up to that." Dean and Castiel laughed and Castiel was forced into concession.
The third week Alfie and Delta got voted off, Delta threw a raging fit and stormed off the stage. Neither Dean nor Castiel were sad to see her go, but Alfie they would miss. They said their farewells to him and clung tighter to each other in the confines of their room.
Sometimes Castiel wished he could just tell the world about him and Dean. That when he felt stressed at rehearsal he could just take Dean's hand. That he could kiss Dean whenever, and rub his hand reassuringly on Dean's back like he had seen other couples doing. Dean had told Castiel that Jo seemed to know about them, but he swore to hell and back that he hadn't told her and that she wouldn't tell anyone. He liked the feeling of having someone else know their secret. It was like they had a confident, not that they ever told her anything. Just shared looks. Sometimes Castiel would catch himself smiling at Dean and then catch Jo looking and he would kind of think, I love him. And she would nod, I know. And smile. She made it clear she thought their relationship was precious which helped a lot when Dean had to do the sexy hip hop dance with her the next week. Dean shined during that routine, and Jo did as well, both of them originating from the hip hop genre. Castiel watched it on repeat sometimes.
The next week Sam finally asked Jess out on a date, and she accepted (Castiel suspected to Kevin's dismay) and they had a great time. They started dating regularly. Garth was in the audience that week, much to Castiel's joy and horror. Joy because of course he was excited to see Garth, and horror because that week was the unicorn routine. It was contemporary so of course Castiel was excited. They had Sonya, so that upped his excitement. Then the word unicorn came out of her mouth and he felt doomed.
"Unicorn?" He had asked her. "Really?" Sonya clapped her hands like an excited little gir.
"Oh yes, really. It is going to be magical!" She told them. Castiel felt doomed, the situation was made worse when Meg started referring to him as "her unicorn" Castiel groaned and put a hand to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Can we please go back to Angel face? Please?" Meg winked at him.
"Not a chance unicorn." Causing Castiel to look up at the ceiling as if praying, why God, why?!
The routine was actually quite good and got a big applause, it was memorable, Castiel had to give Sonya that. He actually had to wear a horn on his forehead and dance without knocking it off. As Dean held him in his arms that night he kissed where the horn had been.
"So . . . do you get to keep it?"
"Keep what?" Castiel asked, not liking where this conversation was going.
"The horn!"
"NO."
"But it's so sexy-,"
"No absolutely not."
"It makes me . . . horny."
"Oh my God shut up!" Castiel demanded, shoving Dean away from him. Dean chuckled and kissed Castiel again.
They had been getting closer and closer lately. Dean had respected Castiel's wishes to take it slow, but sometimes Castiel wished he didn't. Sometimes Castiel wanted so badly to just rip off all of Dean's clothes and not care if everyone in the mansion could hear them screaming through the walls. He forced himself to stay restrained, but his reasons were beginning to chip away like ice. Why didn't he want to have sex right away again? Why not just go for it? He couldn't seem to remember at all.
That was the week Castiel had decided to surprise Dean with a date. He went to the store and packed a picnic lunch, complete with champagne, grapes, cheese, and a loaf of bread. He then went back by the house and grabbed a blanket and told Dean to come with him. They didn't tell anyone else where they were going, they didn't tell Kevin or anyone, Castiel made it clear he wanted to be alone with Dean. They got to the studio and Dean grinned.
"So what's up angel face? What're we doing here? And what's in the basket?" Castiel sat the basket and blanket aside, and went to plug in his ipod.
"I heard this song the other day, and it made me think of us. I was trying to think of ways to surprise you, to treat you, and as always dance came to my mind." Castiel walked across the room, bringing himself breathtakingly close to Dean and taking Dean's hand in his. He didn't miss the way his heart skipped a beat when their skin made contact. He realized something right then. He loved Dean. He loved the way Dean smiled when he saw him. He loved the way he looked so peaceful when he was sleeping, the way he ate nothing but cheeseburgers and pie and still looked like a God. He loved the way Dean loved Sam, how loyal he was. He loved the way Dean danced, how he filled Castiel with confidence.
I will never let you fall
I'll stand up with you forever
I'll be there for you through it all
Even if saving you sends me to heaven
The song rang out as they floated through the studio. "Dean I think I am in great danger of being in love with you." Castiel whispered, unable to find his voice. He looked up at Dean, waiting for rejection, but was only met with the shining love he had come to know so well in return.
"Oh Cas . . . I love you too." Dean picked him up and spun him, causing his heart to leap into his throat. "I love you and I love this and I never want to stop dancing with you." Castiel kissed him and their movement stalled, but to Castiel it felt like all the movement in the room just picked up faster. Their bodies and souls seemed to flow into one being and dance all around them. When finally, they pulled apart, Castiel led Dean over to the discarded picnic basket and set up their picnic. "You are so romantic babe! What was that song called by the way?" Dean asked, sitting beside him on the blanket and opening the champagne with a loud pop.
"It was called 'Your Guardian Angel' by Red Jumpsuit Apparatus." Castiel told him, smiling. The look on Dean's face made Castiel's heart jump for joy. He looked completely and totally in love, that was the only way Castiel could describe it.
"Cas c'mere, I need to kiss you now." Castiel laughed and made his way over to Dean, feeding him a grape and then kissing him in turn. He tasted like bubbles and sweet grape juice.
"I just want you to know . . . I'm here for you now. Forever. Like you're always here for me. I love you. And by the way, I might be saying that too much, stop me if-," Dean kissed him again, carding his fingers through Castiel's hair.
"You could never say that enough my angel." They sat on the blanket and talked and ate until it was the wee hours of the morning and they had to rush home to get a little bit of sleep before Dean was cranky all the next day and they were both chugging coffee like air.
