Hey! So, sorry about the wait. This chapter is kind of intense, but the next one is the one you've been waiting for!

Chapter 34

A Ring of Confusion

Sam kept thinking, and the more he thought about it, he deserved every bit of yelling that Lexi delivered. However, there was no way on Earth that he was gonna give in.

After dropping the kids off at their houses, Sam confronted Lexi about interrupting the hunt.

Bad idea.

The hours-long drive home was a vicious cycle of yelling, awkward silences, glaring, and sleeping for the hunters. By the time they got back to the bunker, they were hardly excited to have to recap their adventures for Dean and Cas.

Lexi felt only lucky when they entered to bunker to Dean rushing the other way, demanding for the keys to the Impala, and high-tailing it through the door, muttering something about a lost wallet.

Sam and Lexi glanced at each other and decided not to worry about Dean's wallet. Instead, they continued their fight.

"You should have stayed in the car!" Sam shouted.

"And what would you have done then, huh? You wouldn't have been able to save those kids and I would be the one dealing with you and your pouty face for the rest of the night. Sorry, I'd rather risk my life."

"Why?" Sam retorted, throwing his jacket and a few duffle bags on the ground by the couch, "I would've been a lot more pouty faced if you had died!"

Lexi took this as a compliment, but quickly continued, "At least then I wouldn't have had to deal with it!"

"I can look after myself, Lexi! I've been a hunter for a long time. I've managed to survive without you 'looking out' for me!"

"Barely! You told me all the shit you and your brother have been through, I'm surprised you're both still breathing, there's no way-"

Sam raised his hand to stop Lexi, but his face wasn't looking at the huntress. Instead, he was peeking into the study. At one of the tables sat Castiel, trenchcoat and all, staring down at something in his lap. Lexi was about to sass the Winchester into next week, but once she saw Cas, she made eye contact with Sam. A silent truce. 'Later. For now, let's deal with Cas.'

And so they went, once they got close enough to be heard, Sam cleared his throat in an attempt to get his attention, or at least let him know that he's not alone. Castiel didn't budge. Lexi then, at full volume, asked "That was a hell of a hunt! What's up, Cas?". She walked into the room with a swagger about her that implied that she was just entering the room.

In a split second, Cas's eyes shot up, wide as a deer's in the headlights. He stood straight up and left all the color from his face in the now empty chair. A few moments felt like decades to the hunters. Castiel finally broke the silence by shoving a small something into his trench coat pocket and murmuring something along the lines of, "I'll be in my room,"

When Castiel vanished into the hallway, he left behind two very confused hunters.
"I'll go check on him," Sam said, but was stopped by Lexi.

"Nah. You go see where your brother's gone off too. I got it."

Sam shrugged and left the bunker as Lexi strolled down the hall towards Castiel's room.

Lexi wasn't sure what to expect. More angel juice? Existential crisis? Too much peanut butter, not enough jelly? The angel was pretty vulnerable to the weight of the world. Of all the things she had guessed, Lexi was definitely not expecting to see Castiel, angel of the lord, closely inspecting a golden ring.

Castiel was sitting on his bed, back hunched over his crossed legs with a ring in between under careful observation.

Lexi couldn't believe it. Wow, she thought, he was actually going to propose to Dean? I thought he was mad at him!

Now, Lexi didn't have any non-natural powers that she was aware of, (other than the whole grace thing, but she likes to think of herself as normal), but even a mere human could feel the wariness of the angel. She slowly approached the other side of the bed, the one farthest from the door, and sat down, placing a caring hand on the angel's back.

"You really love him, don't you?" Lexi asked.

Castiel opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Sam barging into the angel's room.

"-'s long gone. He said something about loosing-" both the huntress and the angel looked up at him, then Sam saw the ring, "-that. He was probably talking about that." Castiel and Lexi both looked at him. While Castiel's gaze was a hollow and sad one, Lexi's tore daggers into Sam's. Sam continued, "You weren't supposed to see that." Another empty look from Cas ended when he turned his face back toward the ring and the now empty ring box. Lexi spoke next.

"I wasn't supposed to see it!? You knew about this? God, Sam! I know I'm new and everything, but I'd like to think I'm important enough to be one of the first one's to know that Cas was gonna propose to Dean!"

This time, confused looks were targeted toward Lexi, and Sam gave a low huff of a chuckle, "You think you understand what's going on here?" Sam asked Lexi, stepping into the room.

"Well, duh," Lexi stood to address the Winchester, "Cas and Dean had a thing a while back and now they're fighting for some stupid reason that's probably Dean's fault but Cas still loves him, so he got him a ring and is planning to propose and why are you laughing!"

In the midst of Lexi's rambling, Sam had started to chuckle, "You've got this all wrong! Dean was the one who got the ring for Cas."

Even though Lexi took in a huge gasp of air, her lungs felt as empty as ever as she realized the sadness of the situation. She took a slow exhale and sat back down, next to the angel who was unmoved by the discussion. "Are you okay?" Lexi asked him.

Castiel looked up at her with eyes as big as saucers. Lexi thought about how Cas had totally learned the puppy dog eyes from Sam. Castiel was silent for a moment, then looked back to the ring and began to speak.

"You are both aware of my understanding of the human race," he said, eerily calm, "and, though I have only just become a part of it, I have been watching over the Earth for thousands of years. However, in those thousands of years, I still fail to understand the true perception of a golden ring. I'm afraid I may be jumping to conclusions. Would you mind explaining?"

Sam and Lexi glanced at each other and began to explain. Sam told Castiel of the purpose behind the ring and the meaning attached to it. A few times, Lexi would interrupt to add a hint of detail or a consoling hand on Cas's arm. Though occasionally the angel would ask a question or for 'that last part' to be 'rephrased', he mostly stayed silent. A few times, he welled up with tears and leant against Lexi for comfort as they fell. Sam just continued to explain. By the end of the third hour, Castiel, for the most part, finally understood.

There was a ring.

A ring for Cas.

A ring from Dean to Cas.

A ring that Dean had bought.

A ring that Dean had hid.

A ring that Castiel was not supposed to find.

A ring that Castiel had found.

A ring that was meant to be worn on Castiel's left ring finger.

A ring that was more than a ring.

A ring that was love.

Lexi looked at her watch as it beeped to tell the time. 7 o'clock. Sam suddenly realized one thing that they had been forgetting. Dean had left to go find the ring, but the ring wasn't out there too find. Dean would be back soon.

Sam and Lexi looked at each other with a knowing glance. Dean cannot find out about this. However, it seemed their mental conversation wasn't so private.

"He'll be home soon." Castiel attempted to break the silence, but more nothing just filled the void. The quiet remained for some time while every hunter in the room thought about what to do when Dean gets here, but they all seemed paralyzed. Especially so when they heard the door to the bunker open and close and the heavy footprints of a man on a mission.

"Dean." Lexi managed, but Sam was already running out of the room and into the hallway. A few feet from the door, Sam ran into his older brother, attempting to stop him from storming all over the place, but to no avail. Dean merely proceeded at a slower pace towards Castiel's room.

"Let me through, man, it's been a rough day. I've got to talk to Cas, I think he found-"

And there it was. All of a sudden, Dean was standing in the doorway to Cas's room. When he looked inside, he saw Castiel, his angel, sitting on the edge of a bed, holding a velvet box that protected a golden band.

"Why."

In that one word, Dean fell apart. Standing up straight and stepping into the room, Dean knew that this was his chance. Maybe his last chance and saving what they had. With a deep breath, Dean spoke.

"Let me start from the beginning."

EEEkkkk! So excited. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. I hope you guys liked it! Comment to tell me what you think. We always love to see comments. Thanks a million! ~Ad&Al