Dean felt his legs give out and was thankful the chair caught him. He looked at the papers in his hand and finally looked up to meet three worried glances before clearing his throat.
"What about...what about the honeymoon Cas?... what about our parents...you're just going to let them down like this?" Dean tossed the papers towards Sam's outstretched hand and scrubbed at his eyes before staring up at his soon to be ex-husband.
"We can still go on the honeymoon Dean... but not as husbands... more like friends...think of it as our last hurrah together before I leave... as for our parents I already spoke to them and they said they just want us happy so...I just need you to sign Dean...and then you can have your life back." Castiel sat down and glanced over at his brother who had a look of hurt and sadness on his face. He reached up and wiped the last bit of his tears before a glint of light caught his eye and he turned his attention to the wedding ring still on his left hand.
"What do you mean leave Cas? Where are you going and for how long?!" Dean watched as Cas played with his ring and slowly slid it off his finger. He bit his lip and ignored how much that small act hurt him even more.
"I uh...I called Bobby and Ellen...I'll be staying with them for a while until I find my own place..." Dean shook his head and watched Sam pass the papers over to Gabriel who immediately started looking through them.
"No." Sam glanced up at his older brother surprised at his answer and noticed that even Gabe looked shocked at Dean's answer.
"No? You're answer is no?" Castiel tilted his head in a confused manner before watching Dean stand up and walk over to kneel in front of where he sat. Sam and Gabe watched in confusion as well with the divorce papers clearly forgotten.
"No Castiel, I will not give you a divorce..." Dean reached up and grabbed tightly onto Castiel's hands and slowly slid Cas' ring back onto his wedding finger.
"YOU SELFISH PRICK!" Everyone glanced over to the now fuming Gabriel as he glared at Dean.
"Gabe...babe not now..." Sam made his way to the other side of the table and placed an arm around his husbands shoulders.
"No Sam! This is the perfect time, your brother has hurt mine for enough years and now when Castiel has finally decided to move on he says no?! Stop being such a selfish prick and give my brother his fucking divorce!" Castiel gave his brother a small smile and shook his head which made Gabriel sigh and slump into his husbands arms as they watched the two brothers in front of them.
"Why not Dean?" Castiel looked down at the man before him again and felt his heart shatter even more when his gaze was met with a sad tear filled one.
"Cas...I... please... God I'm so sorry I know I fucked up more times than I can count but if giving you the divorce means that my best friend is walking out of my life...I can't live with that...please...I know I don't deserve it but please give me one more chance...I can change...please angel..." Castiel felt his heart warm at his old nickname and he wasn't sure if that was what made him agree or if it was the fact that seeing the love of his life so sad practically killed him.
Either way he nodded and extracted his hands from Dean's before taking off his ring again and handing it to his best friend with sad eyes. "Okay..."
"Castiel! You can't be serious!" Cas shot his brother a glare that instantly quieted him and looked back at the kneeling green eyed man.
"Okay Dean...I'll give you one more chance... this honeymoon... well not really a honeymoon anymore but this vacation, if you can't manage to convince me that my feelings for you are mutual then when we come back...you will sign those papers and I will move in with Bobby...if at any time during the vacation I feel like you're going back on your word then I will call this whole thing off...understood?"
Dean nodded rapidly before pulling Castiel into a hug and standing up. Cas stood up as well and gave a small smile before heading to his room. He stopped at the steps and glanced back at the three boys before letting his eyes land on Dean again.
"I won't be making this easy for you Dean... I will let you have a taste of what I went through by the end of this vacation... now be a darling and clean up for me down here... I need time to think. I'll see you all bright and early." With that Castiel bit his lip and walked up the steps to his room while the other three looked around at each other and at the ring still in Dean's hand. When they heard the door close upstairs they finally grabbed their plates and threw the food away.
Everyone had lost their appetite and Dean watched as his brother kissed his own husbands forehead before whispering something into his ear. Gabriel gave Dean a disappointed look and sighed before nodding and pulling him into a hug.
"Good luck Deano... I have a high dislike for you right now but you and Cas found a way to hopefully fix things...don't screw things up this time huh? I really love living in the same house as all of you and I really enjoy having you as a brother in law no matter how annoying you are." Gabriel pulled away a little and looked up into Dean's sad eyes and rubbed his arms gently.
"You know what you're doing wrong Dean...fix it... I hate seeing you both hurt." Dean nodded and gave a small smile before looking over Gabe's shoulder at Sam and bit his lip.
"Can I...Gabe can you give us a moment?" Gabriel glance over to Sam and back to Dean before nodding and standing on his tiptoes to give Dean a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Good luck again Dean. See you in the morning." Dean smiled and nodded again once Gabriel pulled away and headed towards his and Sam's room.
Sam watched his older brother while clearing off the table and motioning to the wall. "You're cleaning that."
"You have an amazing guy with you Sammy...I know I'm an ass and I'm sorry...but seriously Gabe makes you happy and that's all I want...I just...I don't want you guys hurt by what other people say.." Sam quirked an eyebrow and paused in his job.
"You have an amazing guy too Dean...Is that why you keep switching from accepting to disgusted? Did someone hurt you for who you like Dean?" Dean shrugged and started scrubbing the spaghetti off the wall and it was only when he finished sweeping the food off the floor that he responded to his brother who was now leaning against the counter.
"It's none of your business Sam..." When he met Sams deadpanned glare he sighed and nodded.
"But it wasn't me Sammy... I just wanted you and Gabe and Castiel to be safe..." Sam frowned and thought for a while before finally replying.
"Wait, was this when we were in elementary and high school? Dean was this why you always came home with bruises or scratches?!"
Dean nodded and made his way to the sink and started washing dishes while Sam followed and picked up a towel to dry them.
"It started in second grade. Kid named Crowley picked on everyone and anyone... Castiel seemed to be the easiest target for him because he was openly gay. He would say the nastiest things he could manage and when I found out I went to him...I tried to find a way to keep him away from you guys because I couldn't stand to see the scared look Cas had in any of your guys' eyes." Sam watched as his brother washed the dishes and connected the dots.
"So you told Crowley to take it out on you...let me guess you told Crowley you'd take everything he wanted to do to us without complaints or telling anyone if he left the three of us alone?" Dean paused and shrugged before finishing the last plate.
"Castiel somehow managed to forget about his second grade year and everything that happened then so... I never brought it up and whenever I saw Crowley coming towards us I would send Cas away saying I needed to go to practice or I had to run some errands for a teacher or I would just send him to go get me something from a classroom on the other side of the school..."
Sam frowned and thought for awhile, "Wait! you did those things to me also! and I'm betting money you did it to Gabriel too." Dean gave a small smile and shrugged.
"It was a lot harder with that little munchkin, the only way I managed to get him away from me was if I bribed him with candy or you." Dean chuckled softly at the memory of Gabe smiling widely every time he sent him to find Sam.
"Wait...I wasn't gay though why would you keep doing it for me? and Dean if that was what happened then why do you act the way you do with us? You're starting to be just as bad as this Crowley guy..." Dean bit his lip and sighed before turning and leaning against the counter next to his older brother.
"I figured I should keep you away from Crowley in case he wanted to be a dick to you too, it had nothing to do with whether you liked guys or not. Hell I didn't even know you liked guys until the wedding... and I only...I don't mean anything I say Sammy... I just... I want to open your guys' eyes to the fact that the real world is out there and their not too fond of people married to the same sex...I was trying to toughen you guys up and I know now that it was a mistake..." Sam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose taking in all the information his older brother just told him.
"Dean...you protected us all your life... you trying to toughen us up by being a total homophobic dick isn't helping us get ready for the real world... I get you're the oldest of us all by a couple months and you think it's your responsibility to take care of us but you need to realize we grew up...we can handle the real world Dean... you have to stop with all the hurtful words because you're slowly killing each and every one of us... look at Castiel and Gabriel...look at me Dean...do we look like we all still have the same happiness in our eyes that we did before we got married?... your words tore us apart Dean whether you meant it or not... but we forgive you, because your family and we love you..." Dean looked up at his taller younger brother and felt his eyes get watery again before looking at the floor.
"I'm sorry Sammy... I didn't mean to hurt you guys this much, I'm so sorry..." Sam nudged his brothers shoulder and smiled when their eyes met.
"We forgive you Dean... but you need to look in the mirror and decide if the person looking back at you is someone you're proud of being...if it is well... you know where you'll find us. If it's not... then the next question you need to ask is how do you become the person you can look at and be proud about." Sam smiled wider when he saw Dean's tear slip from his eyes. He chuckled softly and pulled his big brother into his arms and hugged him tightly.
"Damn you Sammy...I feel lady parts growing already bitch..." Dean mumbled softly into his brothers chest.
"Good you needed to talk your feelings out jerk." Dean smiled and pulled away and looked up at his brother.
"Sam... you're not gay but...how are you and Gabriel managing so well with this wedding thing?" Sam shrugged at Dean's question and thought for a while before answering.
"I thought I wasn't gay Dean but...now I'm not so sure... honestly...Gabriel has always been my best friend and I guess over the years I just grew so close to him that I ended up wanting to always see him happy...it hurts me when he's sad, mad, sick, in pain, or anything other than happy... When they announced the wedding yeah I was hurt but because Jess dumped me...honestly I found that I accepted the idea more than I thought I would. I promised him I would try to fall in love with him and when he saw that I really was making an effort the look in his eyes...God Dean... it made my heart ache to kiss him and make him keep that look on him everyday from now on... and I kept my heart open Dean... I feel like I'm slowly falling in love with him and I'm just.."
"Happy..." Dean smiled at his brothers emotions flooding through his face as he finished his sentence for him. Sam smiled and nodded at Dean.
"Yeah Dean...happy...I'm just so happy, happier now than I ever was with Jess and I just feel like I'm constantly on cloud nine... I want you to be this happy Dean... I know you can so I'm rooting for you and Cas jerk...don't let me down." Dean huffed a laugh and nodded as Sam turned and walked towards his room where Gabriel was waiting for him. He opened the cabinet and took out a bottle of whiskey, a glass, and grabbed some ice before sitting at the dining room table again.
Dean sighed and thought about everything that happened and found himself playing with Castiel's ring as he took a drink from his glass. He didn't bother with anything else except the alcohol in his hand and that's how Sam found him the next morning as he was getting some coffee brewed.
Castiel woke up bright and early and finished fixing his bed before he jumped into the shower. When he got out he smelled the freshly brewed coffee and smiled.
"Someone must've gotten up before me." Castiel smiled and walked downstairs fully dressed and ready for their flight. When he got to the dining room he tried to hold back his laughter as he saw Sam leaning on the counter watching Gabriel draw on a knocked out Dean.
Gabriel smiled and looked back at Castiel, "Check it out Cassie, Deano the dinosaur is dead to the world. Sammy and I got up early to brew coffee and make sure we're not forgetting anything again and found him knocked out here at the table with an empty bottle of whiskey and clutching your ring. Actually now that I think about it...he won't let go of your ring, maybe there's hope there somewhere." Gabriel gave his older brother a wide grin as he proceeded to write 'idiotic moron' on Dean's forehead.
Castiel smiled and watched as Gabriel nudged him awake and when that failed he watched as the short male went to grab a glass of water and poured it over the snoring boys head. Dean jumped up and groaned at the sudden headache that formed and rubbed his eyes as the other three boys started laughing.
"Rise and shine sleeping beauty. Plane leaves in a couple of hours and you're the only one left to shower before we head out." Sam brought his brother a cup of coffee as Gabriel went to climb on top of the counter to reach the cabinet that held his candy. Castiel moved to the kitchen to grab himself a cup of coffee as well.
By the time Dean was ready and they were on the road to the airport it was 10:15 am. They finally managed to get to the airport by 10:30 am and went immediately to check in. When they boarded the plane Castiel noticed there were three seats in each section. Gabe and Sam ended up having the three seats in front of Dean and Castiel all to themselves. Dean ended up being next to the window and Castiel sat down in the middle seat, he looked over to see Dean completely tense and laughed softly when Sam and Gabriel turned around in their seats and started making fun of him.
Castiel watched in amusement when someone tapped his shoulder softly when he turned to look behind him he felt his heart flutter slightly and couldn't decide whether he should be happy about that or wary.
"Hey bud, do you mind if I sit here? I already asked a stewardess and she said it's fine...I would sit in my seat in the back but some kid kept kicking my seat and I just had to move." Gabriel watched as his brothers cheeks slowly started getting red and glanced over at Sam. By the look Sam was giving Gabriel he had noticed also and when they both looked to Dean, Gabe couldn't help but bite his lip in happiness when he saw Dean had forgotten all about his fear of flights as he glared at the stranger talking to Castiel.
"O-oh..u-uh n-no.. not at all it's all yours, by all means take it. My names C-Castiel by the way, but you can just call me Cas...or whatever you feel like... just figured you should know s-since we're going to be stuck sitting next to each other in uh such...such a closed space... and I mean sorry if you really didn't want to know my name, I just thought it'd be polite and stuff... but yeah I mean yes you can sit here...I mean if I didn't scare you away with all my blabbing and ugh..I don't usually babble or stutter but you're just so...hot..sorry I'll shut up now.." Castiel felt his face flare up and looked down at his hands embarrassed.
"Benny." Castiel looked up to see the man smiling as he shook his head and watched Cas in amusement and blushed brighter as he squirmed in his seat.
"My name is Benny, and you're not too bad yourself handsome. No you didn't scare me away either, just thought I should let you know. Besides... all of your babbling was pretty adorable. I'm glad I was able to move seats."
Gabriel watched the sight before him and decided to intervene before Dean reached over and strangled the guy. Or before he reached over and strangled the guy. Gabriel cleared his throat loudly and waited until all eyes were on him.
"Hi there. Gabriel, brother of young handsome Castiel there, I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting." Gabriel extended his hand and squeezed tightly when the guys hand slipped into his.
"I do believe I've been denied the pleasure. I see the handsome genes flow in the family. Quite a strong grip you have there kid." Sam cleared his throat and glared at the man still holding his husbands hand.
"I'm glad to see everyone getting along so well... now if you don't mind..." Sam reached over and forcefully pulled Benny's hand off Gabriel's before continuing."Getting your hands off of my husband. While you're at it, keeping the flirting to a minimum." Gabriel smiled and linked their arms together as Benny held up both hands in defense.
"Hey man, I didn't mean any harm. I'm not a homewrecker. Don't worry uh..."
"Sam. My name is Sam, and I'm glad you're not a homewrecker, aren't you Dean?" Sam quirked an eyebrow to his older brother who was still fuming and glaring at Benny. Castiel looked over to the man next to him and couldn't help but feel mad that Dean looked ready to murder Benny.
"Dean calm down." Castiel hissed softly through clenched teeth so only Dean would hear. Dean gave Cas a shocked face and mumbled.
"Calm down? while my husband is fucking ogling and accepting another mans flirts and compliments right in front of me? Are you fucking kidding me right now Cas?!" Dean hissed back softly and flinched at Castiels glare and words.
"Welcome to how I felt everyday since I fell in love with you. Now you need to calm the hell down." Dean sighed and nodded before draping his arm around Castiel and forced a smile on his face as he met Benny's confused eyes.
"Yeah Sammy, I am happy he's not a homewrecker, I'm Dean Novak-Winchester by the way. Brother of Samuel Winchester Novak and brother in law of Gabriel Winchester Novak. Oh and Husband of said handsome Castiel." Dean spat towards the surprised Benny.
"Oh wow...umm awkward... Sorry Brother, didn't mean any harm. I didn't realize he was married." Dean nodded and gave the man a look that said he obviously should have known.
"Yeah, well we're heading for our honeymoon so... if you don't mind, backing way way off." Gabriel and Sam snickered softly as they watched the scene in front of them.
"Right, sorry man. I'll just uh... I think I should find another seat." Benny stood up as Dean nodded and said, "Yeah, that'd be for the best. Thanks Brother"
Benny nodded a goodbye to each boy and let his eyes linger far too long on Castiel before he turned to go find another seat, only when he was sat down did Castiel turn to face Dean completely pissed.
"What the hell Dean! That was so mean and rude of you!" Dean shrugged as Gabe and Sam took that as their cue to turn around in their seat.
"He was flirting with my husband right in front of me and you expect me to sit by and watch?" Dean questioned angrily.
"That's exactly what I want you to do Dean because in case you've forgotten, that's exactly what I did for you! That's exactly what we agreed to when we got married and that's exactly what I did when you flirted with the girls, God Dean! he could have been the one to pick up the pieces for me and you just sent him off!" Castiel huffed and crossed his arms as he glared at Dean.
"Yeah well, you're married to me Cas, and whether you like it or not this is our honeymoon. I will not stand by as you bat your eyes, blush, stutter, and flirt your ass off in front of me on our honeymoon." Castiel scoffed and shook his head before unbuckling his seatbelt and standing up.
"You will go and apologize to that man when we land Dean or so help me I will burn and ruin every fucking pie that you ever get. Oh and in case you forgot, I said I wouldn't make this easy for you and I meant it! Oh yeah by the way, this isn't our honeymoon Dean! Don't fucking forget, this is just a vacation to see if you can actually change!" Dean bit his lip surprised at the honesty Cas spouted and blushed when he couldn't deny anything that he said. Dean looked down at his wedding ring on his hand and nodded not meeting Castiel's eyes.
"Alright Angel..." Castiel nodded once and huffed before sliding into the seat next to Sam and putting on his headphones for the rest of the flight. Sam and Gabriel heard the conversation between their brothers and Gabe nodded when Sam motioned that he was going to take the seat next to Dean.
When Dean looked up and saw the two boys had switched seats he looked up at his brother, "I'm not sure how to win him over if this is how he's going to act the whole time were there Sammy..."
Sam sat down and patted his brothers arm, "He's not wrong you know...he's giving you a taste of what he went through...but something tells me this isn't over so uh keep an eye out for Benny yeah? He seems to have picked up on the fact that there's trouble in paradise." Sam motioned towards where Benny kept stealing glances back at Castiel. Dean sighed and nodded.
"I don't know what happened...I just got so mad at them both for flirting right in front of me and when Cas mentioned the terms of our marriage and this honeymoon/vacation it just hurt so bad to hear." Sam chuckled and nudged his brother.
"You were jealous Dean... looks like you have some form of feelings for your best friend after all. Oh hey you know what I just realized?" Dean thought about Sams words as he hummed softly to show he was listening.
"You're not freaking out that we're in the air." Dean met Sam's eyes before glancing out the window and seeing only clouds. He groaned and closed his eyes tightly as he took deep breaths.
"Fucking thanks for the damn reminder Bitch"
Sam chuckled and grabbed his book to keep reading before replying, "You're welcome jerk." Sam laughed softly when he heard Dean's response.
"Asshole"
Dean sighed as Sams words kept playing through his head and hoped the flight would be over soon so he could get started on finding a way to make Castiel forget about ever wanting to divorce him.