Waking up in Cas' embrace was a little less awkward this time around, but Dean still panicked a little. Maybe it was because he couldn't run and hide and pretend it didn't happen because Cas was awake and was holding him tight and staring at him with those damn blue eyes. Dean knew those eyes had seen his soul, every little part of it, the good and the bad. And still, they looked at him with softness he knew he hadn't earned.

Cas assured him he was okay and that his nose didn't hurt anymore. He still had slight bruising on his face, but he did look a little better, so Dean agreed they could go to the mess hall for breakfast.

Eve and Brandon both apologized for their overly competitive spirits, as they said. Earl made an off hand comment about men needing to be tough, while Rosemary just offered a sympathetic smile. Dean barely resisted rolling their eyes at them all.

Coming up to the display case, he caught part of a conversation between Meredith and Leyla.

"...I don't know, L, it sounds serious." Meredith was biting her lower lip.

"They better find a way to make it work, because if I am left stranded here, I am going to start kicking some asses." Leyla's eyes flared up, but in the next second she put on a wide, surprisingly not a fake smile. "Good morning, guys! How are you doing? Mer told me what happened."

"I am alright, thank you," Cas replied. "It is healing well, I am sure I will be up to a 100% percent in no time." There was some strange confidence in his tone that Dean really hoped it wasn't fake. Being rendered human hadn't been easy for Cas the first time around, and it wasn't any better now.

Hannah came during breakfast and informed them that, since they didn't get to play volleyball in the water yesterday, that would be their activity today, and before Dean got a chance to protest that, Hannah said the two of them were excused from participating, but that they could come down to the beach to enjoy the sun. She still seemed anxious through her entire speech and Dean didn't know if she was hiding something or if that was just her default setting.

Back in their cabin, Cas expressed his desire to go to the beach and Dean couldn't really deny him, so they changed into their…speedos and headed out. The others were already there, but Dean thought it would be best if they found a spot off to the side, so that they don't bother the others. (Or more likely not to be bothered by the others).

"Would you mind?" Cas asked, lifting a bottle of sunscreen and slightly turning his back to Dean. It made him pause, too many cheesy movie scenarios rushing through his head. Quickly dispersing any such thoughts, he took the bottle and squirted some on his hand, warming it up before spreading it over Cas' back. Quick and perfunctory, not letting his thoughts wander as to how soft Cas' skin felt or how warm he was or about the strong muscles beneath his fingertips. Once he was done, Cas turned back to him.

"Would you like me to do you?"

"W–What?"

"Your back? Would you like me to put some sunscreen on your back too?" That was not the direction Dean's mind took when Cas first posed the question. Still reeling in, Dean turned and promptly gasped when Cas squirted the cream directly on his back.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's okay, Cas, It's fine, just… Get on with it." He didn't mean to sound so harsh, but the words were already out, and he couldn't take them back. It was all forgotten the moment Cas set his warm hands over Dean's skin, rubbing the cream in. Fuck, it felt so good to be touched so kindly, so gently. So reverently.

His breath caught in his throat a few times, chest constricting the more Cas touched. It felt so nice and it had been so long, he felt something inside of him breaking. It confused him, why the tears started gathering in his eyes, but luckily, before any could spill over, Cas finished his ministrations with a loud "All done."

He laid there in the sun for a long time, trying to make sense of the emotions that swelled up, even if there was a part of him that didn't want to deal with any of it. So when Cas suggested they go into the water to cool off a little, Dean welcomed the idea.

While Dean practically leapt into the water, Cas got in only up to the waist, then used his hands to wet his upper body. Dean didn't want to think about his soft, tanned skin, and how it glistered from the water. Cas seemed insecure and maybe a little stiff, so Dean swam over to him.

"What's up?" He asked, but immediately remembered what might be wrong. Cas didn't know how to swim. "You don't have to go deep, you can just crouch down to dip your upper body in the water, or even sit on the seafloor." Cas nodded, still a little sheepish and did what Dean said.

Even in the shallow water, he still didn't seem comfortable.

"I'm sorry. I suddenly remembered, um… I remembered going into the water and releasing the Leviathan and…" Dean gave him a sympathetic look.

"Hey, if you want to get out, we can–"

"No, no, we need to cool down. And it is kinda nice… Um… Will you… Will you show me how to swim?"

Dean gave him a smile, then started explaining how floating worked, saying Cas needed to learn how to keep his head above the water before he could learn to move around without touching the seafloor.

They practiced that for a while before Dean started instructing him how to move his hands and feet to move around the water, promising that nothing will happen since Cas can always put his feet down and stand up.

When he managed to swim a lap around Dean for the third time, they both had big, goofy smiles on their faces. It occured to Dean, watching Cas play around in the water, that this would be one of the rare happy memories he would have with the angel.

He really wished there could be more.

Cas circled back to Dean, coming close, but not close enough to enter his personal space. Sometimes Dean wished Cas would forget about Dean chastising him about it, and go back to invading his bubble from time to time. Dean wished for a lot of things.

"Did you see it, Dean? I swam all the way over there and back!! I--oh!" Cas stood up so abruptly that his foot must have slipped somehow and suddenly he was falling forward, arms flapping uselessly in the air.

Dean caught him.

He caught him in his arms, holding tightly. He could hear Cas' short gasps, and feel his heart beating frantically, so he tightened his hold. They stood like that, caught in the moment, for a few minutes, Cas' hair tickling Dean's jaw. He held him until Cas calmed and then held him some more.

Cas should have said something, or cleared his throat and Dean should have released him and backed away after making sure Cas was steady on his feet.

Neither of them did anything remotely like that.

Instead, they just stood there as minutes ticked by. They probably would have stood there longer if Brandon hadn't catcalled and whistled, teasing them.

Cheeks burning red, they both parted reluctantly.

Regardless of that little moment (it really wasn't little at all), Dean had fun for the rest of the day. And when the night came, he found it was a lot easier to crawl into bed next to Cas, even press a little closer. He still felt pretty embarrassed by everything that involved any type of an awkward situation with Cas, but somehow they became almost normal. Expected at the very least.

And if he didn't want to look too deeply into that, and maybe keep having these little moments with Cas, well, who could blame him?