Dean woke with his alarm, shutting it off quickly as Cas grumbled his protest. With a quick kiss to Cas' forehead, Dean pulled himself from the limbs wrapped around him and slid out of bed. Every muscle was sore. The good kind of sore. The kind where you know you did something well. And Dean had most definitely been done well last night. Smiling at the thought, he dressed quietly, brushed his teeth, stole one more kiss, and snuck out the door.

Cas shifted into the space Dean had left, and pulled his pillow close. With a deep inhale of Dean's scent, he drifted back into the deep of sweet slumber.

The week passed in a lazy haze of domestic comfort. Dean called or texted Cas on his lunch breaks, they ate dinner together on the nights Dean didn't work at the Roadhouse, and Cas stayed more nights in Dean's bed than in his own. It felt so normal. So right. As if they'd known each other for years.

They moved in tandem, learning the other's body with hunger and thirst, yet somehow already knowing what the other needed, wanted, loved. To see them together was to see them both whole; a wonder to behold and a sight not to be forgotten.

The change that had come over both men was a relief and a surprise to all who knew them. So sudden, and yet so absolute, many questioned if it would last. Doubts slipped away, however, the more they saw the two together. By the end of the week, more of Cas' belongings found their way into the Winchester's house than had been in Fergus' after more than a year together.

Dean loved it. He'd never lived with anyone he'd dated. He'd never wanted them to be in his life so completely. With Cas, though, it was different. He didn't want Cas left out of any part of his life. Not even the mundane tasks like laundry and cleaning the bathroom – chores that Cas soon shared in.

The coming weekend marked the official end of summer. School would start, Cas would go back to teaching and coaching, Sam would start classes, but Dean's schedule would stay the same. It was time for one, last hurrah.

Every year, the Winchesters threw parties for Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. This year would be no exception. Dean ordered a keg and spent almost all of that Saturday making burger patties. Cas took advantage of the fact that Dean's hands were otherwise occupied with raw meat to rub and tease him through his jeans. Dean threatened Cas with the withholding of burgers if he didn't knock it off, to which Cas immediately backed away, hands up in surrender.

"But you sure as Hell better finish what you started later tonight," Dean cocked an eyebrow at him. With a reassuring, thorough kiss, Cas hummed his agreement.

Cas decided to make a fruit salad in a carved out watermelon for the party. And, although he teased him mercilessly for it, Dean ate more of it than anyone else.

On Sunday, more people, and more food, than had been at either of the other two gatherings Cas had been at before filled the backyard of the Winchesters'. Classic rock poured from the outdoor speakers on the deck, and laughter burst sporadically from conversations across the lawn. The whole neighborhood was there, plus Cas' siblings.

Elizabeth arrived in a dress of patriotic colors, her hair in pigtails. Benny was in his Lawrence fire department t-shirt like the one Dean wore, Jodi and Victor were in Lawrence PD shirts, Gabriel arrived in a foam Uncle Sam hat, Charlie in a Captain America tanktop and Dorothy in her army fatigue pants and olive-green tee. Bobby arrived wearing a well-loved POW-MIA t-shirt, and Ellen had a yellow ribbon pinned to her shirt. Everyone brought their festive mood.

Like last time, Elizabeth stuck close to Cas. Leaving his side only to go to Dean or her father, though Gabriel tempted her over briefly with the candy he always kept on hand. She didn't seem to mind him too much. When Sam would come close, however, she ducked shyly away from him. Benny said it was because she had a crush on him, but Dean teased that it was because he was a terrifying giant and she a tiny princess. When Jess arrived, looking like all kinds of temptation in a little white cotton dress, though, Sam disappeared.

The day wore on with yard games and laughter, cards on the deck and a make-shift slip-n-slide built from a giant tarp and the sprinkler spread out on the front lawn. Beer flowed and the grill sizzled.

As evening arrived, the crowd got a bit rowdier. A game of volleyball broke out where the slip-n-slide had been and by the time it was finished, the sun had gone down. Benny ran to his house to grab the fireworks he'd picked up for next to nothing after the 4th of July. The crowd gathered on the front lawn to watch the display as Dean and Benny lit them off in the middle of the road. Elizabeth, curled up on Cas' lap, was afraid of the noise. Sam, seeing her discomfort, disappeared inside for a moment and returned, tapping Cas on the shoulder with the noise-cancelling headphones. With a smirk, and an assurance he'd get them back, Sam helped Elizabeth put them on. Her ears guarded against the loud sounds, she leaned back against Cas to watch with delight.

They were all too preoccupied with the fireworks display to notice the tall, slim figure slip through the shadows and into the house.

Once inside Dean's room, Bela closed and locked the door. She moved around the room, taking in the changes that had been made since she'd seen it last. Books on the opposite nightstand. A phone charger plugged in and waiting. A laundry basket with clothes waiting to be put away. Clothes that weren't Dean's.

Bela's rage pounded through her. She stripped out of her clothes and pulled the covers of the bed back. He would remember her. She would make him remember. He would remember and then he would know that he was hers. He would always be hers!

Bela wound herself up in the sheets, rubbing her wrists and neck along the pillow she knew was Dean's. She pulled it close to catch his scent. But it had changed. A deep earthy, herbal scent wound its way together with Dean's. Her heart pounded in her chest and her vision was red with anger. Dean's scent was the only thing that should be there! Dean's and HERS!

She rubbed the pillow across her body, marking it with her pheromones as thoroughly as any human being was able. He would remember.

Once she was satisfied, she climbed from the bed and remade it perfectly. Reaching for her clothes, she stopped. She picked up one article and slid it up underneath Dean's pillow. He would remember.

Hastily, she dressed. As the men in the road set off the last of the fireworks, she slipped silently out the back of the house, unnoticed.