Author's Note: Wow. Long chapter ahead. I hope you like it. Next chapter there will be a major plot development (I think - I haven't actually had the chance to start typing it yet, ops) so I hope you all enjoy-and, erm, stay tuned(?) for it. It's looking to be pretty fucking juicy.

Warnings wise, no smut in this chapter :( sorry. Next chapter, I promise. That said, there's still a lot of swearing. Please don't be offended.

also wow wow wow erm therednecklace is the biggest babe ever. No seriously. Every single one of your reviews makes me smile, and makes me feel super super happy. What a sweetheart.

On a similar note to that, if you have anything to say about the chapter, positive or negative, please do review! (But as always, please be polite.) All your reviews make me very happy, they really do, so please let me know what you think.

Enough of my ramblings. Time for chapter 12. I hope you all like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, or the song this fic is named after, or the band who wrote it. I basically own nothing. I am very poor. {No really, you have no idea. I'm broke af)


Chapter 12

When Cas woke up, Dean was beaming across at him from where he was lying next to Cas on their bed, his arms wound tightly around Cas' waist.

"Good morning, beautiful." Dean grinned excitedly, kissing Cas softly on his nose.

"Morning." Cas smiled sleepily back, yawning slightly. "What's got you so happy?"

"It's Christmas, Cas, of course I'm happy." Dean grinned again, kissing Cas once more. "D'you think Anna's awake?" He asked, getting up and out of the bed, and pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"I have no idea." Cas yawned. "What time is it?" He asked, too tired to look over to the clock on his bedside table.

"Nearly eight." Dean grinned again, tying up the string on his sweats and sitting back on the bed, pulling his legs up and crossing them underneath himself, looking more than a little childish.

"Nearly?" Cas repeated, moaning loudly and pulling the covers back over his head in a futile attempt to block out any light in the room, as well as Dean. "Come on, Dean, it's the holidays." He groaned.

"Come on, Cas," Dean replied, leaning across the bed and tugging at the sheets covering Cas' head from the rest of the world, "It's Christmas."

"I don't care." Cas grumbled in reply, his voice rumbling unhappily in his chest. "Give me another hour and I'll think about it. Anyway, there's no chance that Anna will be up yet, so there's no point in you trying yet, either."

"Fine." Dean groaned, crawling back into bed, next to Cas. He slid under the sheets and wrapped his arms tightly around Cas' body once more. Cas smiled gently and turned himself, so that he was facing Dean, and pressed himself tighter against Dean, nuzzling against Dean's chest. Dean's hand crept down and stroked absent-mindedly up and down the rope of Cas' spine, and Cas hummed happily at the touch.

"How long have you been up, anyway?" He asked sleepily.

"Oh, ages." Dean replied. "I don't know how long exactly. At least an hour." He bent down and pressed a kiss to the top of Cas' head. "I woke up at like, five, or something, but then I went back to sleep. A while after that, though, I woke up again. I was really excited." Castiel felt Dean grin against the top off his head.

"You're basically just a big kid, you know that, right?" Cas laughed, and Dean grinned again and placed another kiss on top of Cas. "And you've been up an hour?"

Dean nodded and made a happy humming noise of confirmation, and Cas could only roll his eyes.

"What did you even do to fill all that time?"

"Watched you sleep." Dean chuckled.

"Seriously?" Cas laughed.

"Yep." Dean nodded against him. "I basically just spent the time staring at you."

"You're such a creep." Cas laughed again.

Dean nosed at Cas' hair, and Cas could still feel the smile on his face.

"Only around you." Dean replied.

"Stop trying to romanticise you being fucking creepy." Cas laughed. "There's no excuse. –And, actually," Cas added, "Saying it's because you love me is even weirder."

"If it makes you feel any better," Dean laughed, "I was also trying to wake you by staring at you. Apparently there's this survival instinct that kicks in if you're getting stared at in your sleep, or something. I don't know." Dean shrugged. "Anyway, I was trying to get it to work on you."

"So you woke me up?"

"Yep" Dean laughed.

"Dick." Cas muttered.

"I really wanted to open presents, Cas." Dean said, his tone suddenly apologetic, although Cas didn't believe he really was sorry for one minute.

"How old are you?" He asked, laughing.

"I'm gonna ignore that comment." Dean chuckled, nudging Cas' side. "And I'd just like to add to my defence on the whole 'staring at you while you sleep' thing and say that you look really beautiful while you're snoozin'. Dead cute, really."

"Flattery isn't going to get you out of this one, Winchester." Cas grumbled. "You still woke me up."

"Yeah, but it's Christmas."

"I don't care." Cas whined. "I'm tired. Let me sleep, then we can go do the whole 'presents' thing."

"You're killing me, Cas." Dean whined.

"I'm really not." Cas laughed. "Although I do sort of feel close to doing so right now. Go back to sleep, Dean. Or, if you can't do that, just stare at me for the next hour or so."

"Fine." Dean laughed. He snuggled down closer to Cas, pulling the covers tighter around them. Dean's lips grazed the top of Cas' head for a brief moment, and his hand resumed stroking down Cas' spine.

Cas fell back asleep to the sound of Dean's steady, calming breathing.

Of course, when he woke up again, it was because of Dean, too.

"Alright, Cas, it's nearly ten now, you've had ages. And I bet Anna will be up, too, now. C'mon, get some clothes on! Let's go!"

Dean tugged annoyingly at the covers wrapped tightly around Cas' body.

"Dean." Cas moaned, tugging back at them.

"C'mon, Cas, you promised."

"Fine." Cas grumbled, letting go of them. Dean pulled the sheets completely off Cas' body and Cas shivered, fumbling for some clothing. "You sound like such a kid right now, by the way." Cas mumbled, and Dean laughed and threw a pillow at his head. "Dean." He moaned again, but Dean just laughed once more and practically leapt across the bed, wrapping Cas in his arms again and kissing him on the lips.

"It's Christmas, Cassie." Dean grinned, rocking Cas slowly.

"I know." Cas moaned. "You won't shut up about it, for one thing." He pulled an old black t-shirt over his head. "Why're you so excited for this, anyway?" He asked, yawning a little.

"Presents." Dean grinned again.

"You have the emotional age of a five year old."

"Well, not my presents, actually. I'm really excited about watching you open yours." Dean beamed. "Specifically, your present from me."

"Oh." Cas smiled. "Why's that?"

"Because I wanna know if you like it—hopefully you will." Dean grinned again, kissing Cas on the lips once more.

"Right." Cas nodded, pulling on his sweats. "Well, I'm sure I will. And Anna will probably be awake by now."

"Awesome." Dean grinned, pulling Castiel out of bed. Cas groaned and opened his top drawer; pulling out some clothing for the day.

He felt Dean's arms circle around his waist, and Dean rested his chin on Cas' shoulder.

"What is it?" Cas asked, managing to huff a sigh and laugh at the same time.

"I love you, Cas." Dean grinned, kissing Cas on the cheek softly.

"And I love you." Cas replied, trying not to smile.

"Should we go wake up your sister?" Dean asked, still smiling.

"Alright." Cas rolled his eyes.

Dean grinned and pulled Cas by the hand out of the room—Cas couldn't help but chuckle at Dean's incredible childishness, and Dean beamed wolfishly at him as he knocked on Anna's bedroom door.

"Hey, Anna, you awake?" he called through the wood. The two were met by a loud groan. Dean smirked across at Cas, who laughed and rolled his eyes. "I can totally see the family resemblance right now." Dean grinned.

"Shut up." Cas laughed. "Anna?" He called again.

"Yeah, I'm up." Cas' sister called in response, although admittedly sounding very sleepy.

A few seconds later, she emerges from the spare bedroom, rubbing her eyes and looking slightly annoyed at both Dean and Castiel.

"You two are ridiculous." She mumbled. "This is a holiday; I shouldn't be waking up any time before eleven. At least."

"If it makes you feel any better, your brother totally had the same attitude earlier this morning." Dean grinned.

"That's reassuring." Anna laughed sleepily, rolling her eyes at Cas. "So why am I up so early?"

"Presents!" Dean beamed.

Anna laughed again. "Cassie; you do realise you're dating a guy with the emotional age of—what, six?!"

"That's what I said when he woke me up, too." Cas chuckled, and Dean elbowed him in the ribs.

"Should I get us all breakfast, then? Before we start?" Dean asked, still smiling childishly.

"Sure." Cas nodded.

"Sounds good." Anna smiled.

"Awesome." Dean smiled, walking over into the kitchen and opened the fridge. "We have a ton of leftovers from last night, should we just have those? We probably want to save space for the actual dinner bit, anyway." He called over to Anna and Cas.

"Fair enough." Anna shrugged. "Leftovers sounds good."

Dean pulled out the food from the fridge and set it on the kitchen table, getting out three plates and loading the food onto each of them.

"After this, I'm probably gonna have to get started on the actual Christmas dinner—there's a lot to do, so if you guys want to watch some TV while I do that, that'd be fine. There's probably some great Christmas films on right now."

"Awesome." Anna grinned. Dean brought over the plates and set them out on the small coffee table in front of the couch. "Should we get started on the presents, then? And we can give the ones for everyone else to them when they get here."

"Sounds good." Cas smiled.

"Oh, crap—I've gotta get my presents for you guys out of my bag—" Anna exclaimed, jumping up. "I'll be right back." She dashed off into the spare bedroom, and returned with an armful of presents, looking like she was struggling slightly with the heavy load. Cas rolled his eyes at Dean, who laughed quietly.

"Are you alright there, Anna?" Dean asked, still grinning. "You look like you could do with a little help."

"Yeah—I'm fine." Anna said, setting down the presents on the floor. "Let's get started, then." She grinned. "Aw, this is exciting. I love Christmas."

Cas laughed and leant under the tree, picking up his and Dean's present for Anna.

"Here." He smiled. "You can start us off. I hope you like."

"Thanks, Cas." She beamed, taking the present. Cas sat back down on the couch, next to Dean, who slung his arm round Cas' shoulders and kissed his cheek softly. Cas beamed and leant into the touch as he watched his sister opening he and Dean's present for her.

"It's from both of us, by the way." Cas said quickly as she unwrapped it.

"Oh, thank you, guys." Anna beamed, gazing down at the gift. "It's beautiful."

Dean and Cas had chosen a silver chain necklace for Anna, with an 'A' pendant on the end. It was pretty simple, although very pretty, and the A charm had been studded with rows of small crystals. Dean hadn't been at all sure of what to get Anna, due to the fact that he hadn't actually met Castiel's older sister at the time they were buying the presents for all their relatives together, so the two had chosen something fairly simple, although extremely lovely, that they had hoped Anna would like.

"You like it?" Cas asked, smiling.

"I love it." Anna beamed, lifting the chain out of its small box. "Thanks guys. C'mon, Cas, can you help me put it on?" She asked, holding up her long red hair and turning around, so Cas could do up the item around her neck.

"Alright." Cas sighed.

"Thanks." Anna grinned.

She moved her hair out of the way entirely as Cas fastened the piece of jewellery around her neck.

"Thank you, Cassie." She smiled at her younger brother. "How does it look?"

"Lovely. You look beautiful, Anna." Cas smiled at his sister. "You really like it?" He asked.

"I love it. A lot. Thanks so much." She grinned at the two of them. "How about I get out my presents for the both of you?" She asked, beaming at Cas.

"That sounds like a good idea—but Dean should probably open my present for him, first. That way yours will make a little more sense." Cas chuckled back.

"Wait, what?" Dean asked, looking at both Castiel and Anna. "What do you mean?" He enquired, looking a little confused, as well as slightly suspicious.

"There's no need to sound so scared, Dean." Anna laughed. "You'll find out what we mean in a minute."

"Right." Dean nodded, still looking slightly unconvinced by this, as well as a little cautious.

Cas laughed and reached for his present for Dean under the tree. It was a little heavy, but he managed to pick it up gently and hand it over to Dean.

"Here you go." Cas beamed. "I hope you like it."

"I'm sure I will." Dean grinned. "It's pretty big." He said, gesturing to the large, rectangular box, now sitting on his lap.

"Yes, it is." Cas agreed. "Go on, open it."

Dean probably looked a little too excited at this, but it only made Cas grin and laugh.

He ripped open the wrapping paper and beamed instantly at Cas.

"Seriously?" He grinned. "This is awesome, Cas!"

Cas beamed at Dean, who tore off the wrapping completely and examined his gift fully.

"A record player!" Dean exclaimed, sounding hilariously excited. "I've always wanted one!"

"I know." Cas laughed. "That's why I got it for you"

"You're so amazing, Cas." Dean grinned, leaning over to Cas and kissing him on the lips.

"That's not all there is." Cas smiled. "Look." He said, picking up the wrapping, and slipping out the record and sleeve he had bought for Dean, too.

"Cas, you're fucking awesome." Dean beamed, kissing Cas again.

"I believe you've already mentioned that." Cas laughed.

"Yeah, but a Led Zeppelin record, too? That must've been seriously hard to find."

"Yeah, it wasn't so bad." Cas shrugged, placing the Houses Of The Holy record on Dean's lap, too.

"When everyone comes round, we're cranking this shit up way high." Dean grinned. "No Christmas music bullshit."

Cas rolled his eyes and laughed, and Dean pulled him in for a hug again.

"Best present ever, Cas. Thank you so much." He said, kissing Cas' temple.

Cas laughed and returned the kiss.

"Alright, so, Anna's present for you." Cas said, pulling back.

Anna grinned and got up, pulling out her present for Dean and handing it over to him.

"This is why you had to open Cas' first." She laughed.

Dean unwrapped the far thinner package, and started grinning again. "So you two arranged this, then?" He asked, beaming down at the three Black Sabbath records that sat on top of the wrapping paper.

"Well, yes." Anna laughed. "Sort of. I had no idea what to get you, and so I called Cas and asked him for ideas—Cas explained what his present for you was, and then he told me what kind of music you like and suggested I got you some old records. So, there they are." She laughed, indicating down at the pile. "I hope you like them."

"I love them—thanks so much, both of you. Your presents kick ass." Dean grinned, and both Anna and Cas laughed. "I'm a bit scared that mine for you might not seem so great, now…" Dean confessed shyly, smiling sheepishly at Cas.

Cas laughed and elbowed Dean. "I'm sure yours is wonderful, Dean." Dean grinned and kissed Cas on the cheek.

"Okay, time for my present for you, Cas!" Anna exclaimed, handing a rather large and heavy box over to Cas.

Cas grinned at his sister and unwrapped the box, opening it up to peer inside and view its contents. Stacked inside were three books; "The Radiance Of The King", "The Unpossessed", and, Cas smiled to himself, picking the final book up, a copy of "Les Miserables".

"Hey, I know this one!" Dean grinned, picking up the book. "It's a movie, isn't it?"

"Yes." Cas laughed. "It was made into a musical. It's based off this novel, though, and although I've never before had the opportunity to read it, I've heard it's something of a masterpiece." Cas beamed at his sister. "Thank you so much, Anna."

"That's not all." Anna laughed. She picked up the box, which Cas had placed on the floor while he was looking through the books. "Look." She grinned excitedly, picking out two candles in glass cylinders. "They're book scented." She laughed.

Dean immediately started laughing, too. "That's awesome, Anna!" He grinned. "It's so Cas!"

"I know!" Anna laughed too, winking at Cas, who sighed and rolled his eyes at both his sister and Dean, although cracking a small smile and chuckling lightly, too.

"Thanks, Anna." Cas rolled his eyes again. "Where did you even find all these?"

"Oh, they have a bunch of crazy stuff online for book-lovers, and I thought they'd be pretty perfect for you." She winked, taking a bite of food, which up until now, Cas had almost completely forgotten about. "As for the books? I found them in this cute little shop near where I live—it's also where I found Dean's records. It's got a bunch of great old classic stuff there—you know, music, books, and etcetera. It's really awesome, I'm thinking of visiting it more often, to be honest."

"Well, thank you." Cas smiled again. "I look forward to reading these—" He said, gesturing to the books, "And, yes, lighting the candles will be fun, too." He rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Merry Christmas, Cas." Anna beamed at her little brother, and Cas returned the look and pulled her towards him for a hug.

"Right, Cas, that just leaves Dean's present for you." Anna grinned at Castiel.

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "Just a word of warning, though, Anna: You'll probably find it impossibly sappy."

"Right, noted." Anna nodded, wrinkling her nose slightly. "Thanks for warning me. If that's the case, I'll probably take this opportunity to visit the toilet, if that's alright with you guys."

"That's fine." Dean winked, and Anna ruffled Cas' hair as she walked past him, making Cas huff a sigh at his sister, while she giggled and made her way into the bathroom.

"So, my present." Dean grinned, turning to Cas. "It's not very original, but I hope you like it."

He smiled adoringly at Cas—sending flutters of happiness through Cas' system, and handed him a small, relatively flat rectangular box, about the size of Cas' hand, from around the size of his fingertip to the heel of his palm, which was wrapped in pale blue paper. As Dean placed it in Cas' hands, he stroked his fingers down the length of Cas' and gazed at him dotingly.

"Thank you, Dean." Cas smiled up at Dean.

"Before you open it, Cas," Dean started, "I want you to know that these past few months with you have been the best of my life, and I just wanted to say how grateful I am, and that I love you more than anything."

"I love you too, Dean." Cas beamed, blushing slightly red. Dean smiled and let go of Cas' hands, and Cas leant into Dean as he unwrapped the gift.

He opened the small box, and his breath caught in his throat as he gazed at the beautiful item. In the box lay a handsome silver chain, with tiny, engraved, silver wings stretching out across at least half of the length of the chain—between where they would meet was a small rectangle of platinum, and words were embossed onto it. Cas lifted the bracelet up and read the small, elegant writing engraved on the rectangle;

For Castiel, My Angel,
My Friend, And My Everything,
You're All That I Could Ever Need.

Cas' throat dried. "—Dean…" He tried to say.

Dean's hand found Castiel's and squeezed it tightly.

"It's so beautiful." Castiel whispered, his eyes clouding over. "Thank you so much."

Dean's mouth twitched upwards gently.

"Here," He said softly, picking up the chain and wrapping it round Cas' wrist. His fingers stroked at Cas' hand as he fastened it as tenderly as Cas thought humanly possible. Cas looked up into Dean's eyes when he was done doing the chain up around Cas' wrist, but Dean's hands remained there as he gazed back into Cas' eyes. His fingers continued to stroke gently up and down Cas' wrist as he leant forward as kissed Cas lovingly, slowly, on the lips. Cas moaned quietly, happily, and Dean was beaming when they pulled apart. He pushed his other hand through Cas' hair softly.

"I really mean it." He said quietly, wrapping his arms tighter around Cas and pulling him towards him.

Cas nodded and smiled. "Thank you so much, Dean. It's beautiful—it's—" He broke off. He didn't know what else to say.

"I'm glad you like it." Dean whispered softly, nosing at a place just below Cas' ear. Cas smiled and leant into the touch as Dean sighed happily against his neck.

"I love you." Castiel beamed, and Dean pulled apart and kissed him again, gently, on the lips.

"And I you" Dean returned, grazing his hand against Cas' face.

"Are you two done yet?" Anna asked, exiting the bathroom.

"Yeah, pretty much." Dean grinned, his hand trailing down Cas' neck to rest affectionately on his arm.

"Great." Anna rolled her eyes. "You two are just a bunch of saps, you know that?"

"You're just jealous." Dean winked. "Happy Christmas, Cas." He beamed, turning back to Castiel, and stroking calmingly at his arm.

"You too." Cas returned, beaming. "To the first of many."


"Aw, Cassie, I'm going to miss you"

"I'm going to miss you too, Anna." Cas rolled his eyes as his sister pulled him towards her for a hug that could, quite honestly, be described as bone crushing.

"You'll have to call me—a lot more often than you do now. I like knowing how my little brother is getting along."

"Thanks. I will" Cas promised, although he highly doubted he would manage to remain true to his word. He was very busy, after all.

"And you, Dean," Anna turned to talk to the light brown haired man, "You be good to my little brother."

"I wouldn't dream of being anything else" Dean grinned, with a wink, although his face quickly turned into one of surprise as Anna pulled him towards her for a hug.

"I'm glad he's got you." She beamed.

Dean returned the look to Anna, and gave Cas a small smile and a wink, and Cas had to supress a happy grin of his own as a result of this. He started fiddling with the chain around his wrist, something which he had been almost unable to stop doing since Dean had given it to him—somehow, it was a hugely comforting factor in Cas' life—although not almost as calming as Dean himself was.

"Just to say," Anna said, both her face and tone suddenly turning quite serious, "If you hurt him, I'll fuck you up." She ended the sentence with a wink, but Cas still cringed internally, and Dean raised his eyebrows in response. "Just kidding." She added with another wink when she saw the death glare Cas was fixing her with. "It was great meeting you. You and Cas make a great couple."

"Thanks." Dean smiled again. "And it was great meeting you, too. I hope you enjoyed your stay here."

"Oh, yeah." Anna grinned. "It was lovely. Thanks again. And, um—happy New Year, you two! I'll see you soon, I hope!"

Anna picked up her cases and awkwardly attempted to both wave at Cas and Dean and continue carrying her luggage. Cas smirked and waved back at her.

"Bye, Anna. See you!"

The two of them watched as Anna entered the airport, struggling slightly with her many bags—they had given her a lift down there to say their final goodbyes before she left, which they felt was actually a fairly important thing to do, as none of them were very sure when Anna would be able to visit again. On top of this, they'd thought it would be common courtesy to help with the busload of luggage that Anna had brought with her.

It was December the thirtieth, which meant that that evening, Dean and Cas would be watching fireworks together to celebrate the new year. Cas thought it would be a nice way to spend the night—they had, after all, been to see fireworks very early in their relationship together, and it would be a nice reminder of that night together. His mouth twitched upwards as he recalled that evening that they had spent with each other—it had been the first time that Dean had told him that he loved him. Cas had felt happy enough to burst at that moment.

Nobody had ever made him felt as loved as Dean made him feel.

"So, tonight." Dean said cheerfully, as the two of them got back into Dean's car.

"Yes, what about it?" Cas asked.

"I was just thinking, what would you like to do as well as watching the fireworks? Like, we could go get some food beforehand, if you want, or we could bring some food to eat while we're watching them. Like, a picnic, or something."

"A picnic sounds good." Cas nodded. "Where are the fireworks going to be?"

"Not in the park that you took me to the last time. I think it's a place quite near the city centre, so we'll have to set off quite early if we want to get there in time and get good seats."

"That's alright." Cas smiled. "Are Jess and Sam definitely coming too, then?"

"Oh, yeah, I think so." Dean nodded. "I mean, they were the last time I checked."

"How are the two of them doing? Like, as a pair?"

"Pretty alright, I guess." Dean smirked. "Sam's never been that good around girls, so it's quite impressive he's managed to get this far, to be honest." He laughed, and Cas chuckled a little, at this, too. "But yeah, they're doing good, I think. Sam likes to think things through, quite a lot, so me and him are pretty different on that front. I tend to jump into things a lot more than he does—"

"I've noticed." Cas smirked. Dean batted him with his free hand as he drove.

"Shut up, Cas." He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, yeah, he's usually just a lot more cautious when it comes to this kind of thing. I guess we'll have to just wait and see if they get really serious or not. Sam really likes her, though, I can tell. I hope they last, Jess is pretty great."

"Yes, she is." Cas nodded in agreement.

"So, like I said, I think the two of them will be coming tonight. Is that alright?" Dean asked, glancing over to Cas.

"Oh, yes. That's fine." Cas smiled. He had found that he particularly enjoyed Sam and Jess' company, and while he would have also liked to have spent the evening alone with Dean, he was sure it would still be great with those two additions.

"I reckon it'll be pretty fun." Dean smiled. "And afterwards, they'll head home, and we can do whatever we like."

"That sounds wonderful." Cas smiled.

Dean pulled up the car outside of the apartment block, turning off the ignition and turned to Cas, taking his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"What's wrong?" Cas asked, sounding a little concerned.

"Nothing." Dean grinned. "This week has just been really good, and I just wanted to thank you."

"Right." Cas smiled, still a little confused.

"I mean it." Dean grinned. "You make me so happy."

"You make me happy, too." Cas returned, the smile still pulling at his lips.

"Good." Dean grinned. "I'm glad." He opened the driver's door and got out of the car, and Cas repeated the action on his side of the car, too.

"Do you want us to start making the picnic, now?" Dean asked as they got into the elevator.

"Sure." Cas smiled, taking a hold of Dean's hand again and giving it an affectionate squeeze.

Dean grinned down at Cas and kissed him softly of the forehead.

Nobody made Cas feel as loved, as cherished as Dean did. His hands were always caring on Cas' body, always gentle and adoring. His kisses, although often rough and filled with desire and lust, were also always filled with love and devotion. Cas couldn't imagine kissing anyone else. He couldn't imagine what other hands would feel like, when they took hold of his own, or pushed themselves affectionately through his hair, or cupped his face and stroked his cheeks.

He didn't want to imagine.

Dean was all he wanted in life. Dean was all he needed.

"You alright, Baby?" Dean asked, grazing his lips against the top of Cas' head as the elevator pulled to a stop at their floor.

"Yes, I'm absolutely fine." Cas smiled, tugging at Dean's hand as they stepped onto the corridor. "Just thinking."

Dean smiled again and pressed a kiss to Cas' cheek. Yes, Cas liked those kisses too. The ones that Dean stole quickly, or pressed to his body for only a moment, the ones given specifically so Cas knew that Dean loved him. Cared for him. That Dean would never leave him. Those kisses made him incredibly happy, too.

"We should probably start taking down these decorations." Dean stated, as they entered their apartment and Dean closed the door after them. "It's bad luck to keep them up too long, you know." He winked at Cas, slipping his arm around Cas' shoulder.

"Oh, come on, Dean. You don't really believe that, do you?" Cas asked, grinning and leaning a little closer against Dean.

"Of course I don't." Dean rolled his eyes and grinned back. "But let's not risk it, anyway."

"Fine." Cas laughed, leaning his head on Dean's shoulder. "Tomorrow we can take everything down. Including the tree. It's shedding needles everywhere."

"Alright." Dean nodded. "That sounds good. But face it, the tree smells freaking awesome."

Cas rolled his eyes again and walked over to the kitchen.

"Oh, come on," Dean started in disbelief. "You don't think so, too? I fucking love that smell!"

"Yes, Dean, it smells nice." Cas laughed. "But we're really not going to keep that thing up for the whole year, are we? Just for the sake of your nostrils?"

Dean laughed and walked over to Cas, ruffling his hair before approaching the fridge and opening it, pulling out some beers. "Whatever." He shrugged, grinning. "I can just wait until next year. And we'll get an even bigger one then, anyway. It's fine."

Cas beamed at Dean and got out some bread to begin making the sandwiches with. That was another thing about Dean that he loved. Dean was honest. Dean would say he loved Cas whenever he wanted Cas to know. He said it when he wanted to stay with Cas. He said it when he thought the two of them would still be together in the very distant future. Sure, he'd often get a little embarrassed over it, he would stand awkwardly and stiffen up and bite his lip uncomfortably as a red tinge crept across his adorably freckled face, but that just added to the charm of it. Dean was honest and loving and very, very cute and everything that Cas had ever wanted. Even if he hadn't always realised it.

"Are you really going to bring beers, by the way?" Cas laughed, glancing over to the bottles Dean had just taken out of the refrigerator.

"Sure. Why the hell shouldn't I?!" Dean grinned at Cas, and Cas chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm really excited for tonight." Dean beamed, and Cas couldn't do anything else but smile back at him.

"Me too."

"It'll be like when you planned our date together. And we went to the park and watched those fireworks. It'll be really cute." Dean grinned.

"I know." Cas laughed.

"That night was the first night I told you I loved you." Dean spoke quietly as he walked over to Cas, still making the sandwiches, and slid his hands around Cas' waist, kissing down Cas' neck. Cas shivered and leant back against Dean, closing his eyes for a moment.

"You remember that?" Dean asked, smiling into the crook of Cas' neck.

"Yes." Cas nodded. "Of course I do. How could I forget?" He smiled.

Dean hummed happily against Cas for a moment.

"Well," He started, "It was the first time I properly told you I was in love with you. I'd kind of mentioned it before, but I'd never said it too explicitly. I was a little embarrassed." Dean grinned.

"I remember." Cas laughed. "But you were always cute when you were embarrassed. You still are, for the record." He grinned, and he felt Dean chuckle against his skin.

"You just like seeing me uncomfortable. That's all." He laughed.

"Well, in fairness, it can make a pleasant change from all your confidence and cockiness."

Dean laughed again and dragged one of his hands up Cas' arm, and stroked gently at Cas' hair. Cas found himself sighing contentedly and closing his eyes once more, almost involuntarily.

"You love me for it." Dean grinned against Cas' skin.

"It's very difficult not to, believe me, Dean."


"So we're meeting Sam and Jess there?" Cas asked as Dean got into the impala and started it up.

"Yep." Dean nodded. "I think Sam felt a bit embarrassed getting a lift from his older brother. Normally it'd be fine, but not in front of Jess, apparently." He grinned.

"Fair enough." Cas shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess it is. It's also that he'd probably feel a bit childish sitting in the back of the car with his girlfriend."

"That's understandable, too." Cas smiled.

"Yeah, it is. But anyway, if I did bring him along in the impala, without Jess, that is, he'd be all whiney, and complain about how he wasn't sitting in the front of the car."

"Right. Wait, why would that be a problem?"

"Because Sam whining drives me fucking crazy." Dean laughed. "And A: You sit in the front passenger seat, next to me, whenever you're here. No questions asked. You're my boyfriend, of course you do. And B: I drive. This car, at least, anyway. She's special." He grinned, shrugging, to which Cas only rolled his eyes. "So Sam would have to seat in the back seats. That's non-negotiable. That's why he wanted to drive up to the city with Jess, on his own. Also because he probably wanted some alone time with her." Dean laughed.

"How did he and Jess meet?" Cas asked, feeling a little surprised that he hadn't already asked either Sam or Jess this.

"Oh, in college." Dean replied. "'Cause, y'know, Sammy went to law school, and all. So they're both super smart. A lot of the time, I have no fucking clue what the hell it is they're talking about."

"In fairness, if you started talking mechanics or cars to them, they'd have no idea, either." Cas replied, giving a gentle smile to Dean.

"Yeah, true, but it doesn't take much of a genius to understand machines."

"I beg to differ." Cas laughed. "You could spend years trying to teach all that stuff to me and I'd have no clue. It takes a special kind of intelligence to understand. Don't rule yourself out."

Dean smiled too, at this. "Cheers, Cas. You kind of do wonders for my self-esteem, you know."

"Yes, but I'm not sure that's a particularly good thing, a lot of the time." Cas laughed.

Dean grinned at Cas from the driver's seat. "Anyway," He said, rolling his eyes and laughing, "We'll be meeting Sam and Jess there, so keep an eye out for them when we arrive. I want to be able to get a place as soon as possible, so we actually get good seats."

"Alright." Cas nodded. "I'll look out for them."


"Hey, Sammy!" Dean shouted when he finally spotted his brother in the crowd—which wasn't too difficult, actually, considering the guy was like freaking big-foot. "We're over here!" He yelled.

Sam spotted them over the heads of all the other people, crowded around the grassy area, all looking either a little confused and lost, or very stressed, or both. He pulled at Jess' hand, and pointed over to where Cas and Dean were standing, slightly away from the crowd of people—neither had particularly fancied getting crushed that day, anyway. Dean saw him bend down and say something to Jess, but he couldn't make out what, although she turned her head and saw them, then grinned to both men, waving at the two of them. Sam and Jess wound and weaved their way out of the crowd, and finally, stood next to Dean and Cas.

"Hey, guys." Sam greeted, smiling. "Sorry about that. It's pretty crowded this year, huh?"

"Yep." Dean nodded. "It sure is. Heya, Jess." He said, turning to Jess. "How was the journey?"

"Alright, thanks." She smiled, taking another hold of Sam's hand. The giant goofball of Dean's brother looked down at their hands, an expression which could only be described as crazily excited awe written across his face, his cheeks a bright red. Dean smirked at Jess and she laughed, rolling her eyes knowingly. "What about yours?" She asked, tactfully ignoring Sam's gaping mouth.

"Yeah, it was good." Dean grinned. "Should we go find a place to sit?"

"Sounds good." Jess nodded. She tugged at Sam's hand, who seemingly snapped out of his awed daze and followed her, hell, the only word that Dean could think of that accurately described Sam's action was obediently. His brother was like a freaking puppy.

After not too much searching, the group found a decent place to sit, away from most of the people, with a pretty good view.

"Here looks good." Dean nodded. "We've got food and beers, by the way." He grinned, taking off his backpack and putting it on the ground. Jess laid out a picnic blanket and they all sat down on it.

"Awesome." She smiled. "I bet tonight's going to be great."

"It sure will be." Dean beamed. "Hey, how long until the fireworks actually start?" Dean asked, turning to Cas.

"Well, they go off at the New Year, so at midnight." Cas laughed. "Look, they've set up a timer so we can all tell."

And so they had. Cas pointed over to a giant display—it looked like one of those digital alarm clocks, but in mammoth proportions—it was about at least as tall as Sam, probably taller by a fair amount.

According to the timer, they had around an hour until midnight, which meant around an hour until the display.

"Alright, so we've got a while." Dean smiled. "How about we get started on some of the beer? And the food, too." He added, glancing at Cas, who chuckled and rolled his eyes at Dean.

"Sounds good." Jess nodded, smiling.

Dean grinned and unzipped the bag, pulling out the boxes of food and a few of the bottles of beer.

After that, they wasted around forty minutes pretty easily, by joking about and talking a lot—conversation flowed pretty easily between all of them—although some douchebag was playing a bunch of 'inspirational' music from speakers to get the crowd all rallied up for the fireworks and the new year celebrations, but it sure as hell didn't make Dean feel any kind of optimistic about the upcoming year, if that's what they were going for with this 'feel good' shit.

Looking at Cas. That made Dean feel optimistic. The mess of dark, sexy hair that Cas could never seem to tame; his awkward manner; his long words and piles of books; his fucking soul piercing eyes that gave Dean shivers every time they looked at him. That's what this New Year would be about. Cas.

For once in his life, Dean knew exactly where it was that he was going, and he was happy about it. Cas was everything that he needed. All that he could ever want.

In the shit-storm of Dean's life, Cas was like a lighthouse; and Dean now knew exactly what it was he wanted to do with himself and his future.

One day, Dean was certain, he would build up the balls to drop down onto one knee and ask Cas to marry him. He'd never actually thought about marrying anyone, ever, before Castiel. The thought had barely crossed his mind, even with his most serious relationships—of which, there were admittedly, very few. But with Cas? The thought crossed his mind every time he looked into those goddam beautiful eyes. Every time Cas smiled at him, or laughed at something Dean had said, and Dean had wanted to punch the air with happiness. He never wanted to have to go without those things.

Cas was the thing—the person Dean would never fuck up with. Never ever.

"Dean?" Cas asked apprehensively, rubbing Dean's shoulder gently to get his attention. "Are you alright?"

Dean snapped out of his daze and turned to Cas. "Sure I am." He grinned. "I've got you, haven't I?"

Cas laughed and ducked his head, blushing, and Sam rolled his eyes and put on possibly one of the best bitch faces Dean had ever seen on him, which was actually saying something.

"Dean, seriously?!" Sam sighed.

"Shut up, Sam, you're just jealous, 'cause you haven't got the guts to say that kind of thing to Jess, yet."

Sam's face instantly went this freakishly deep red colour, which was hilarious for Dean to watch, and Jess giggled and slid her hand into Sam's.

"That's alright, Sam." She grinned up at him. "Hopefully when you do, you won't be as corny."

Sam blushed even more, but laughed, as did Cas and Dean.

"It's true." Cas laughed. "Dean is one of the corniest people I've ever met."

Dean elbowed Cas, still laughing. "Geez, Cas, I thought you were supposed to be on my side."

"I'm only being honest." Cas shrugged, grinning at Dean.

"Hey, we've only got a few more minutes." Sam said, pointing over to the countdown. Everyone around them was doing something similar, and there was now an even more palpable sense of excitement in the air amongst the crowd of people.

"Yeah." Dean grinned. "You're right—now we've only got a few more minutes 'til they quit with this fucking awful music."

"Aw, come on, Dean, doesn't it fill you with hope for the year to come?" Jess winked, laughing at Dean's annoyed expression.

"I can't say it does." Dean grinned back.

"They should play Heroes by David Bowie." Cas said, looking over at the clock, too. "That always makes me feel optimistic."

"Anything would be better than bubble-gum pop, to be honest." Dean shrugged, taking another swig of his beer. "Unless it was Sam's country shit."

"There's nothing wrong with—" Sam started, looking offended.

"Oh, Sam, please." Dean interrupted. "There's everything wrong with it."

"What music would you have playing, then?" Jess asked, smirking at Dean and Sam.

"Eye of the tiger." Dean grinned, causing everyone to immediately start laughing.

"What?" Sam laughed.

"It's a classic." Dean stated, laughing. "Plus, it makes me feel pretty determined to do shit, I don't know about you guys. That's what you need in a song for the New Year."

"Whatever." Sam rolled his eyes.

"One minute!" Somebody shouted over the crowd, and everybody turned back to the timer.

"Geez, everyone's gonna do that annoying counting-with-the-timer thing, now."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Cas shrugged.

"No, there isn't, but they're gonna start it now. With a minute to go. You're only supposed to do that shit when there's like, ten or twenty seconds left. Twenty, at the most."

And sure enough, everyone around them had started counting down with the timer.

"See?" Dean rolled his eyes. "Fucking douchebags. I'm not counting down until the ten second mark, as a form of silent protest."

"Please, Dean." Sam bitch faced again. "You're being anything but silent right now."

"Shut up, Sammy."

"Thirty seconds." Jess beamed, her voice filled with anticipation. "I hope the fireworks are good."

"They'll be great, I bet." Dean grinned as he watched Jess slip her hand back into Sam's, who looked like he felt his New Year had just been made completely fucking awesome.

He slipped his own hand into Cas', who beamed up at him. God, he'd never get tired of that smile.

Ten seconds.

Dean grinned and started counting down with everyone.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

He looked back down at Cas. He'd never love anyone else like this. Never ever.

Three.

"I love you." He whispered softly into Cas' ear.

One second.

"Happy New Year!" Everyone shouted, as a tidal wave of fireworks were set off.

Cas beamed at Dean and pulled him down for a kiss—Dean made a startled noise of surprise, although this didn't last long, and his hands found their way into Cas' hair as the flashes of the fireworks continued overhead, their bright flashes still blinking in Dean's eyes, despite the fact he had closed them as he got lost in Castiel's mouth, to Castiel's lips.

He finally pulled back, grinning down at Cas, who's smile was incomparable. Cas grinned and pointed over to Jess and Sam, who were sealed to each other in what looked like a pretty fucking intense kiss—Sam looking some weird combination between seriously surprised and absolutely elated.

"About fucking time." Dean smirked, winking at Cas, who laughed quietly and leant in closer to Dean.

"Happy New Year." He beamed.

"You too." Dean chuckled in return, kissing Cas on the forehead again. "It's gonna be a good one, I can tell."

Cas laughed and nodded, glancing back to Sam and Jess, who had, at last pulled apart, Jess giggling slightly, and Sam a bright red, a stupidly happy grin slapped across his face.

God, Dean's brother was such a dork.