(A/N)
This story is written for the Suptober 2021. Please enjoy! :)

It was a beautiful day.
Sunny, pleasantly warm - autumn once again showed itself from its most beautiful side.

Claire and Jack, their two children, would spend their day with Uncle Sam and Aunt Eileen today. Because Dean and Castiel had a date. Even though they had been together for years now, it was an unwritten law for them to spend time alone together for once. A romantic dinner, a little one-day getaway, a day on the couch or a picnic. And that was exactly what they had planned today.

They drove down the road sitting in Baby. Dean as driver, Castiel as passenger. For the way back, it would be the other way around. Castiel was the only one he would readily allow to do that. Sam had to ask for days, and then Dean would just grumble and hand over the key. But with Castiel...

The picnic basket and the cooler were placed on the back seat, Castiel had the picnic blanket folded on his lap. Music was playing softly, Dean softly tapping along to the beat on the steering wheel every now and then. Castiel held the blanket with one hand and looked out the window of his door. Their free hands lay, fingers intertwined, between them on the bench seat. Only the soft clatter of dishes and bottles could be heard otherwise.

At some point, Dean turned off the road and drove onto a dirt road. After a while he stopped, turned off the engine, looked over at Castiel and squeezed his hand. Castiel turned away from the window and looked at Dean. An almost shy smile came across their faces. At such moments, they always felt like newly in love teenagers.

They had first met in high school. They hadn't had any classes together then, and they'd been very different in other ways, too.
Dean - loud, cheeky and surrounded by many. Girls and boys alike.
Castiel - quiet, pretty much alone and never really interested in gossip or the students.
The exception had been Dean. Even when Castiel had first seen him, that day in the cafeteria, he had been smitten.

But he had never dared to get even close to Dean and his people. The fear that he would be laughed at was too great. His brother Gabriel had often tried to take Castiel to meetings. He knew some of Dean's companions, but he had eventually given up.

High school had ended quietly for Castiel. His only two friends at school, Meg and April, had hugged him and wished him well in the future. Gabriel, who was a year below Castiel, had patted him on the back and said that school was going to be really boring now. Castiel had smiled and ruffled his little brother's hair.

For Dean, high school ended differently. It was known that Crowley and Alistair would throw a huge party for all those who had finished school with them. Dean, of course, was one of the first to be asked, and knowing him, he had said yes.

Castiel, Meg, April and the other quiet ones would not go and they were not expected to do otherwise. Castiel had quickly run down to the basement at the end of the day and taken the last of his things out of the locker. Then he had gone with lowered head by the big entrance door. Here he had turned again and noticed that Dean, turned away from his people, had smiled at him. Castiel had stared at him, but when he had smiled back after what seemed like an eternity, Dean had long since turned away. With a smile on his face, feelings he would never forget, and tears in his eyes, Castiel had made his way home.

Two years later.
Castiel had finally been accepted to the university. He had left home and moved onto campus. Once in his room, he had almost walked out backwards. His roommate had been none other than Dean.

After the brief shock, Castiel looked at his former schoolmate.
Dean had gotten older, he had looked tired, he had not been as muscular. In short - he had given the impression of having had many worries.
Castiel had put his suitcase by the bed and then sat down on it. He had been nervous, but had also had a smile on his lips.

Dean, who had had headphones on, must have noticed the movement, because he had taken off his headphones, stood up, cleared his throat, and then turned around.
"Hi, I-" Then he had widened his eyes. "Cas?"
Castiel had laughed; Dean had looked like a cartoon character. Then he'd bristled. "You know my name?"
"Yeah, sure," was all Dean had replied, walking up to Castiel and hugging him. "It's good to see you again..."
Castiel had been totally surprised at first, but then had returned the hug and closed his eyes. For nothing in the world would he have let go of Dean at that moment.

All this just came back to Castiel's mind now. As so often when he thought about Dean and his life.

He let the picnic blanket slide into the footwell, moved closer to Dean, put his hands around Dean's face and kissed him. Dean made a surprised sound, but muffled by their joined lips, and returned the kiss. At some point they broke away from each other and looked at one another, cheeks flushed and breathless. Castiel's eyes glistened a little.

"What was that for?" Castiel turned slightly and looked out the window.
"For saving me from losing you a second time." Castiel had answered quietly and was now looking back at Dean. Dean stroked Castiel's hair out of his forehead, watching his hand do so. He brought that hand to Castiel's cheek and gave him a light kiss in the corner of his mouth. Then he let go of him, took Castiel's hand and squeezed it.
"Come," he said softly, and they got out.

It was early afternoon, the sun was shining down from a blue sky and it was even still warm for October. Their jackets lay beside them. The sandwiches and most of the salads and other appetizers had been eaten. They lay on their backs looking up at the sky. As at the meal, where they had spoken only when necessary, so now they said nothing. It was nice sometimes to just be silent with each other.

"There's still Apple Pie, Dean," Castiel said at one point.
"You made pie?" asked Dean, rolling onto his side and straightening up a bit. Castiel looked at him.
"Yes. I know how much you love it. The apples are from our garden. Jack helped me pick them up." Dean stroked Castiel's eyebrow with his thumb, then put his hand to his cheek.
"You're amazing, you know that? Even when things aren't perfect, or we're fighting or something, you're always there. You can always be counted on, no matter the situation."

Castiel said nothing to that, he just put his hand against Dean's and smiled. He rose as well, sat down and reached into the picnic basket. Hidden under a cloth, was the box of Apple Pie. Castiel opened it, put a piece on Dean's plate and his own, and set the box aside again. Then he handed Dean his plate and waited for the reaction.

Dean took a piece and made an enthusiastic sound.
"Cas, this is fantastic. Just heavenly." Castiel grinned.
"Heavenly you say every time. Glad you like it." Dean, feeling Pie inhale, set his nearly empty plate aside, glanced at Castiel, and scrambled toward him. He took his plate from Castiel's hand, set it aside as well, and sat on Castiel's thigh.

"That your pie is heavenly is because-" Dean pushed Castiel's head back slightly and placed his lips gently on Castiel's. "It's because his baker is an angel." He kissed him gently. "But you're generally an angel, Cas." Dean kissed him again, and this time Castiel replied.

"Mmm, Cas-" But Castiel didn't seem to want to let him go at all. Now he let himself fall backward, pulling Dean with him. At first Dean propped himself up next to Castiel's head, but then lowered himself onto him. They kissed for quite a while and actually they didn't want to stop. They only allowed themselves this kind of kiss late at night, when the children were asleep, or like now, when they were alone.

A little later, Dean pulled away from the kiss. He was slightly dizzy, he needed air. Not that he regretted it. When he looked at Castiel, he seemed to feel the same way. Castiel laughed, still a little breathless.
"You're really killing me, Dean." Dean lowered his head, playfully but gently snapping at Castiel's throat, growling like a hungry animal. Castiel laughed again and pulled Dean's head into the crook of his neck. Then he spun them both around so that he was on top.

"You're just incorrigible." He kissed Dean, and now it was Dean who turned them back.
"And you're perfect." Dean kissed his cheek and then whispered in Castiel's ear. "And it's so cute that I can still make you blush after all these years."
"Ugh, Dean-" Castiel turned his head to the side, chuckling. "Stop it."
"No."
"Yes."
"No." Castiel spun them around again.
"Yes." Then he kissed Dean. They both sighed softly. When they broke away from each other again, Castiel looked at Dean seriously.

"Dean, your question from this morning..." Castiel tugged on Dean's ear. "Was that one in jest, or did you mean it?" Dean looked at him for a long moment, then stroked his finger across Castiel's nose and cheek.
"You mean- You're asking if I'm serious about the man I first saw when I was a teenager in school, the man I met again in college, the man who showed me what it could be like to be with another man, the man who helped me through every hard time, the man I couldn't imagine as a better partner and father to our children, the man I love more than anything-" Dean had to catch his breath. "You're asking if I'm serious about marrying this man? Of course I'm serious!"

Castiel looked at him with wide eyes. Then he cleared his throat.
"Dean, all of this is mutual. We've known each other for fifteen years and you haven't left my side for a day. No matter how hard it's been or how unbearable I used to be. You were all in when it came to adoption and you love our kids. These are just a few reasons why I love you. I really love you a lot and I would be honored to be your husband."
Dean closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again.

"Then so be it. We're going to get married and we're going to have an even better life than we had before."
"Dean. The main thing is you're here, the kids are here, and we stay healthy and happy. Everything else will come naturally As it has so far." He lowered his head and kissed Dean and this time the kiss was one that led more into an area that they shouldn't enter while they were in a public park with a lake where other people might pass.

Dean pushed Castiel away from him. "Okay, Cas." He cleared his throat. "Okay, this is where we stop now. We can keep doing this at home, but we're done for the moment. Now come here." Castiel snuggled up to Dean and they looked up at the sky as they continued to calm down. The sun was still warming, the sky was still cloudless and blue.
Castiel drew signs on Dean's chest, his head resting in the crook of Dean's neck. Dean softly hummed 'Hey Jude' and stroked Castiel's arm.

"Dean?"
"Mmm."
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"For making me never forget it now."
"What?"
"Blue Skies and Apple Pies."

(A/N)
I hope you liked the story?! I tried to write a happy and fluffy one. :)