a/n: Sorry for the delay! I hope you guys like it! Thank you so much to those that read and review! I love you guys so so much 3
The remainder of the day had been spent with the LEGOs. After hugging it out over their presents, the boys had put on Christmas music and cleared some space in the living room. Dean had dragged aside the coffee table, and had helped Cas shift the couch away from the center of the room.
Spilling the pieces out onto the floor and opening the instruction manual, Cas and Dean then began the painstaking process of assembling the Death Star.
Dean couldn't have been happier. He finally, finally, had a LEGO set of his own. Those meager bricks that he and Sam had found under the motel bed were nothing compared to the immense amount of them spread out before him now. And this time, what he'd build with them would actually resemble something, instead of the crude shapes he and his brother had put together in the backseat of the Impala all those years back.
But what hadn't changed from the last time he had played with LEGOs was that both times he was doing it with the people he loved most.
Cas seemed to be enjoying Dean's childish excitement as the older of the two enthusiastically immersed himself in constructing the Death Star. His eyes twinkled with amusement every time Dean finished building a specific part of the set and let out a triumphant cry. He made teasing remarks about Dean's little victory dances and immature squeals of happiness. Dean didn't mind, though. Not at all.
The time flew. They had only managed to build about half of the Death Star and were in the middle of having a sword fight using the tiny lightsabers that came with the LEGO set when Cas had yawned, prompting him to get 'stabbed' by Dean's lightsaber and 'lose' the fight. Getting up from off the floor and checking the time, Dean was surprised when the numbers on his phone read 9:30.
"Are you kidding me, Cas? It's only nine thirty and you're already tired?"
"Well, it's not like I can say that I slept last night."
That shut Dean up pretty quickly. If he was being honest, the previous night didn't do him any favors, either. He couldn't help but send a guilty look towards Cas, who accepted Dean's outstretched hand as the older boy hauled the freshman off the floor and into his arms.
"Well I'm here now, and something tells me that tonight will be different."
And it was.
Even if it took them a while to actually get comfortable.
"Cas, stop elbowing me in the freaking ribs," Dean whispered furiously as Cas shifted his position on the bed. Both boys had decided to sleep on Cas's bed instead of the one in Dean's temporary room. It was the bigger and more comfortable of the two, but even then it didn't give them much space to move around. The blanket was also better in Cas's room, but it, too, wasn't as large as they would have hoped for.
"Then you stop stealing all the blanket," Cas hissed back at him, yanking on the edge of the blanket that Dean had curled around himself, leaving none for Cas. Dean harrumphed and didn't budge. "Dean, I'm freezing my ass off here."
At that, Dean rolled over and splayed on top of Cas, wrapping his arms around him and snuggling into Cas's chest. "Better?"
Letting out a breath of air, Cas starting trying to shove Dean off. "No, you idiot. Get off of me!" But Cas's attempts to remove Dean from on top of him failed miserably as the older boy simply locked his arms in a viselike grip around Cas and refused to budge. "Jesus Dean, how many elephants did you eat today?"
"None, as a matter of fact. You're just weak."
Cas huffed. "Just shut up and give me back my blanket."
And after a while of outraged hissing and whispering back and forth, Dean relented and rolled back off of Cas, who immediately took possession of his half of the blanket and gave Dean one last glare before turning over to face away from him. Dean smiled and wrapped an arm around Cas's waist, pulling him back against him. Chest to back. Cas was tense for a few moments more before letting out a sigh and relaxing against Dean, who squeezed him tighter and rested his head in the nape of Cas's neck, inhaling the scent that had now become so familiar to him.
The previous night's tears and pain slowly went away, and all that was left was the sounds of them breathing in sync, wrapped in Cas's warm blanket.
xxxxxxxx
"Dean, I'm hungry."
It was near noon but until this point, neither Dean nor Cas had made any move to get out of bed. They had been content to just lay side by side and cuddle, not having a care in the world.
That is, until Cas's stomach started complaining.
"Dean, I'm hungry," Cas repeated again, poking Dean in the side. They were in a position where Dean's arms were around Cas's waist and Cas was facing Dean. At first that had meant kissing, but now it meant that Cas had access to Dean's ticklish sides.
Dean didn't appreciate that at all. He rolled Cas over and pinned Cas's arms to his sides so that they wouldn't be able to reach him. "No, this is comfy," he murmured into Cas's ear.
"I'm not saying that it's not comfortable, I'm saying that I'm hungry and that we should go eat something."
Dean shook his head. "No. I don't want to get out of bed."
Cas let out an exasperated sigh and tried to twist around but Dean held fast. There was no way he was letting Cas tickle him into getting out of bed. He was Dean Fricking Winchester. He was not going to be defeated by some meager-
"Aha!" Cas exclaimed triumphantly as he swivelled back around and started tickling Dean, and the older boy couldn't hold back the howl of laughter that escaped his mouth as he writhed under Cas's hands. He let go of Cas and his arms flew from Cas's waist back to his own as he tried to get rid of the fingers attacking his sides.
"Ok! Ok, I surrender! I surrender!" Dean laughed out, letting out a breath of relief when Cas retreated his hands as the freshman rolled out of bed and stood up. Grinning, Dean followed suit, slapping Cas's ass as the freshman brushed past him, out into the hallway and then into the bathroom. Cas had playfully stuck his tongue out at Dean, and as Dean strode into his own room to change into a sweater and jeans. He smiled to himself at the thought of Cas's sleep ruffled hair. At his bright blue eyes. At his cute little nose, and perfect lips, and adorable smile, and Dean thought he could go on forever.
Dean slipped on a dark sweater and pulled on faded jeans, then as an afterthought he put on the new fuzzy socks that Cas had gotten him for Christmas. Walking out into the hallway, Dean felt how slippery the floor was under his socked feet. Smiling, he tried running down the hall and stopping suddenly, which sent him sliding along the floor. It was not unlike ice skating, and was just as fun. He did it again just as Cas was walking out of the bathroom. Cas danced out of the way when Dean tried to slap his ass this time and smacked Dean lightly on the arm before going into his own room to change.
Dean made his way downstairs and into the kitchen, running and sliding past the living room along the way. He had to admit, he was fairly proud at the amount of progress he and Cas had made with the LEGOs. If he had been doing it himself, it would have surely taken him at least a week, but yesterday with Cas helping him it had only taken them a few hours to get through almost half of the Death Star. That meant that if they had the time, they'd be able to finish it today.
On that optimistic note, Dean opened the fridge. Oh.
He heard Cas's footsteps on the stairs and closed the fridge, calling up, "We don't have any food."
Seconds later there were arms slipping around his waist and a chin resting on his shoulder as Cas asked, "What, no food at all?"
"Well, we have leftovers. From a few days ago."
Cas scrunched up his nose and Dean's heart fluttered. He looked adorable when he did that. Instead of mentioning it though, Dean nodded. "Yeah, that's how I feel about leftovers too."
"Any Eggs?"
"Nope."
"Toast?"
"Nope."
"Waffles?"
"Also no."
"Well that sucks."
"Yep."
There was a moment of silence before Dean untangled himself from Cas's embrace and spun around. "Lets go to IHOP!"
Cas didn't hesitate before nodding in agreement, and they both made their way to the door, shrugging on their coats and pulling on their boots. Dean snatched the keys to the Impala from the counter and they left the house.
There were a good few inches of snow piled on the roof of the car, and Dean tenderly brushed it off, murmuring something about how she must have been cold during the night. He saw Cas smile and roll his eyes before climbing into the car and waiting for Dean to finish getting rid of the snow.
Once he was sure that his Baby was clear, Dean slid in beside Cas and started the engine, all the while whispering soft apologies to the car about how he had left her out all alone in the freezing cold.
Cas snorted. "Sometimes, it seems as if the car gets more love than I do."
Dean grinned and pulled out of the driveway, bringing his right hand off the wheel and to Cas's, intertwining their fingers. "Nah, that's not possible."
Cas beamed.
They drove in silence, marvelling at the white blankets of snow that covered all the trees and houses and glittered in the sun. Dean had always liked the winter. Everything was always so beautiful when it was shrouded in the gleaming white powder. It all flickered in the sun, and although it hurt his eyes at times, the beauty of it was worth it.
"IHOP. There," Cas pointed at the sign by the road.
"No, I hop."
Cas's head swiveled towards him and he furrowed his brow. "What?"
Dean grinned. "You don't hop. I hop."
"I don't-" Cas then realized what Dean was doing, and fixed him with a bitchface that might even have rivalled the ones that Sam made. "Oh, ha ha. You're so funny."
Pulling into the parking lot, Dean leaned in and kissed Cas on the cheek. "You bet I am."
They both ordered pancakes. It had been a while since Dean had had any of those, and he savored each bite. Despite that, though, Dean couldn't find room in his stomach for the entire set of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and coffee he had ordered and had insisted on taking the leftover home so that he could finish them later. Cas didn't have the space to finish his whole meal, either, and had decided to take it home as well.
They left IHOP with full stomachs and high spirits.
Entering the house, they took their coats off and Dean watched as a smiling Cas hummed under his breath as he unwound the scarf from around his neck. Cas noticed Dean's stare and made a face, then grabbed Dean's hand and led him into the living room, where he dropped down next to their partially built Death Star and turned on some music.
At first there was an array of Christmas songs that came on, and Dean and Cas sang along to all of them. But then Cas got tired of those and switched off the radio, instead turning on a playlist on his phone. More specifically, his Bruno Mars one.
It was then that it hit Dean; the realization that he had never played for Cas on the guitar. Cas had always known that he had a guitar, and had known that he played it, but Dean had never once played for his soulmate. And now, Dean decided, would be a perfect time to fix that.
"I'll be right back," he told a confused Cas and heaved himself up from off the ground, sliding down the hallway in his fuzzy socks and then sprinting up the stairs. The last Christmas song that they had heard was stuck in Dean's head, and he belted out the lyrics to 'Let it Snow!' as he burst into his room and grabbed Baby 2.0 from off his bed.
The guest room he was staying in was at the very end of the hall, which gave him plenty of space to slide down to the stairs. Breaking out in a run, Dean was now almost hollering the chorus to the song as he stopped and let the socks bring him the rest of the way down the hall.
"The lights are turned way down low! Let it snow, let it snow, let it- JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, SHIT!"
He had realized too late that he was skidding too fast and too close to the small console table near the stairs, and his eyes widened at the sight of the glass vase on top of it mere seconds before he collided with it, and his singing turned into loud cursing as he threw his arm down, barely catching the vase before it could shatter on the floor.
"Is everything ok up there?" Dean heard Cas's voice carry from the living room. Letting out a relieved breath and putting the vase back into its place, Dean firmly decided that he should probably keep his sliding to a minimum around breakable objects and carefully edged down the stairs.
"Yeah, it's all good," Dean said as he swung into the room, brandishing his guitar and dropping down onto the couch. He saw Cas's eyes widen slightly at the sight of Baby 2.0.
Dean smirked. "Keep your drool to yourself, please and thank you. She doesn't like getting looked at like that by anyone but me."
Cas stuck out his tongue and reached across to his phone, turning the music off. No sooner did he do that than Dean grabbed his hand and hauled him onto the couch, drawing him closer and pulling Cas down into him so that they were sitting chest to back. Dean's mind quickly flashed to the previous night, where they had been in almost exactly the same position.
In fact, Dean realized that he had slept better yesterday than he had in days. At least, certainly better than the sleep he had gotten the night of the fight, if he could even call it that. It had mostly been hours of curling in on himself on his bed and trying not to let his tears go. He couldn't say that it had worked.
And no matter how much he had wanted to hate and blame Claire for the death of his mother, Dean found that he couldn't. He just couldn't. Not when he had lived with her, eaten her food, laughed with her, built snowmen on her lawn. Not when he had fallen in love with her son.
He simply couldn't find it in himself to hate her.
And, Dean decided, that maybe that was for the best.
Because everything that he could have ever wanted was right here.
Dean placed the guitar in Cas's lap and moved Cas's arms and hands so that they were placed in the correct places on the guitar. All of Cas's protests of "but I don't know how to play" were shushed, and Dean maneuvered the fingers of Cas's left hand so that they were pressing the right strings.
"Now this is an original composition of mine. It's called 'Just the Way You Are' and it definitely wasn't written by Bruno Mars."
Cas rolled his eyes, but all pretenses for annoyance swiftly vanished as Dean started moving, muscles flexing under Cas. He went slow, shifting his fingers and Cas's on the guitar neck. Cas's right hand, though, got the gist pretty quickly, and soon was strumming the strings without the help of Dean's hand, which strayed and wrapped itself around Cas's waist.
Dean started singing.
Oh, your eyes, your eyes, make the stars look like they're not shining.
Your hair, your hair, falls perfectly without you trying.
You're so beautiful and I tell you every day.
Dean felt Cas's breath hitch in his throat, but he kept singing.
When I see your face,
There's not a thing that I would change, 'cause you're amazing
Just the way you are.
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for a while.
'Cause Cas you're amazing
Just the way you are
Cas's left fingers were getting used to the chords now, and Dean carefully took his own hand away, letting Cas play by himself. He reached across Cas's waist so that he had both arms wrapped around it and held Cas to him as Cas played. Dean rested his chin on Cas's shoulder and sang, slowly and quietly.
But he meant every word.
Before they knew it the song was over, and Cas eased the guitar to the floor and twisted around, wrapping his arms around Dean and burying his face into Dean's shoulder. Dean felt Cas's shoulders shake slightly.
"Aww, did I make you cry?" Dean joked.
The muffled "No" didn't sound reassuring at all, and Dean tightened his arms around Cas, pressing him to his chest. Without thinking, Dean's hand immediately went to Cas's head, and he absentmindedly started running his finger through Cas's hair, feeling Cas melt into him.
Even with the comforting silence that surrounded them, Dean still almost didn't hear it; the whisper of "I love you" that Cas breathed into his shoulder.
Feeling his heart grow almost three times bigger, Dean smiled against Cas's hair. "I love you, too."
The moment seemed to stretch forever and ever, but was cut off abruptly by a sound from outside.
A car's engine.
Cas pulled back from Dean and Dean saw that his soulmate's eyes held too many emotions to make sense of. Love. Guilt. Sympathy. And fear.
They turned their heads towards the sound of keys in a lock, and Dean wasn't sure how he felt about the words that came out of Cas's mouth.
"Mom's home."
Another a/n: I'm honestly so so so so so so so SO SO SO sorry that this took me so long! But school is over, so maybe, hopefully, I might be able to update more. No promises tho.
Idk why, but this chapter just gave me a lot of problems. I couldn't seem to get into the flow of it and had some severe writer's block. Basically, I just had a tough time with it. If I'm being really, truly honest, I wouldn't say that this was one of my best works. Personally, I don't really like this chapter and I'm sorry if it wasn't everything u guys hoped for.
Small disclaimer: I don't know anything about the guitar, so for any of you guitar players out there, if anything seems wrong to you plz lmk so I can fix it. Thnx