Castiel's eyes widen at the splash behind him and he quickly turns to the side to look back at the man who now sits in the tub behind him with his feet dangling out of the side of the bath tub.
The green eyed man winces in slight pain, shifting in the warm water uncomfortably as his wet shirt and jeans now cling to his skin. He growls in frustration, resigning to sit in the tub behind Castiel. Dean pulls his soaked shirt off and tosses it across the bathroom and into the sink. He then begins to pull off his jeans, doing the same with them and ignoring the desperate apologies coming from the angel's mouth. Luckily, he had nothing important in his pockets.
He huffs out a quiet "Forget about it," trying to force himself to relax and go back to washing the angel's wing. He suddenly feels nervous, being so exposed in such close proximity to the angel. It was even more unnerving when he remembers that the half man in front of him is completely naked underneath the suds.
"Hey, Dean?" the angel asks for the other's attention in a quiet voice, making sure to hold as still as possible as to not hit Dean again.
The ex-hunter does not speak for a moment, splashing water onto the jet black wings in front of him to rinse off some of the suds before picking the wash cloth up again. "What?" he asks a bit coldly, eyes narrowed.
Dean was not happy with Castiel at the moment. Sometimes it was too difficult to deal with him. The angel had no understanding of what was normal for the majority of humans. He did not understand personal space or common sense, which made him difficult to explain things to. And now Dean had to buy more shampoo and clean up the mess of water in the hall and on the bathroom floor. His clothes were soaked and he was in pain because of the way that he had fallen a minute ago.
The winged man must realize that Dean is upset with him. He keeps his head down and has to force a soft smile to take the place of his wistful expression. "Thank you for taking care of me," he says in a quiet but rough voice.
The blond goes completely still at that, hands pausing on the softness of the angel's damp wing. He waits a moment before letting out a slow breath. "Are you kidding me?" Dean asks, lowering his voice slightly to match the angel's volume. "You took care of me first," he reminds the blue-eyed angel. His hands go back to cleaning the dried blood off of Castiel's wings but he keeps his head down as he works. "Don't thank me for it...It's only fair that I take care of you now, right?"
Castiel fidgets at the words, slowly relaxing due to the soothing feeling of the taller man's hands working against his feathers carefully. "You do not have to take care of me, Dean," he explains, "but you decide to anyway. For that, I would like to thank you." He stares at the heap of bubbles in the water in front of him, running his hand up to disperse them absently. "If only there was something more that I could do for you," he thinks aloud, "Sadly, there really isn't much that I can offer in this form."
A frown works itself across Dean's face. "What do you mean there's nothing you can offer?" He splashes some more water onto Castiel's wings to rinse them off, reaching for the almost empty bottle of shampoo and putting some into his hands. Now that the dried blood and dirt was out of his wings, Dean could wash them properly. "You did a good job protecting me so far. Just consider this as a break," the blonde says, trying to reassure the half man, "Didn't you say you liked being down here, able to actually talk to me?"
Castiel frowns to himself, reaching in front of him to swat lightly at the bubbles there. "I do, Dean," he hurries out quickly, a sullen expression plastered to his face, "I just wish I could look after you like I use to... It is not that I don't like being here with you. I do, truly. I just feel so powerless."
Dean rubs the shampoo into the large wings, slowly massaging the soap into them. "Cas," he mutters quietly, trying to think of a way to soothe the other man, "You're doing your best." He wishes that he could have thought of something more to say on the matter, but it was hard to cheer the angel up when he did not really know how the other felt.
"I am," the brunette says with a quiet sigh. He feels himself slowly relaxing against the hands on his back. The comforting touch of the human accompanied with the warm bath water was beginning to make him tired. "I love you , Dean," Castiel says with a quiet, pleased sound.
"I know, Cas," he says with a sigh, "You tell me that a lot." What was he suppose to say? Despite how the angel constantly insists that he loves the hunter, Dean cannot wrap his mind around it. It seems so strange to him, that someone that he had never met until a week ago could care for him this much.
Castiel loses himself in his own thoughts again. He was not necessarily upset that Dean was not telling him that he loves him back. He wishes that the other man would, of course, but he knew that it took a while for Dean to be that comfortable with anyone. Castiel cannot recall a moment in the man's life that Dean had told someone outside of his family that he loved them. It just was not in the blonde's nature, so why should Castiel expect the other to requite his feelings? "I think I am tired again," the angel warns Dean as he feels his eyelids grow heavy.
"Alright," the taller man mumbles, "Just give me a minute to get you rinsed off." Dean really could not blame him; he was also beginning to feel drowsy due to the warmth of the water.
"I can do it," the angel mummers, reaching forward to unplug the water stopper.
Dean nods slightly, standing up and cringing at the way his soaked boxers stick to his thighs. "Just call me if you need anything," he tells the angel before stepping out of the tub and grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist. He pushes his underwear down and steps out of them, making sure to keep his lower body covered with the towel before making his way out of the bathroom and into his bedroom to get dressed.
He lets the damp towel fall to the floor and pulls on a pair of gym shorts and a light grey t-shirt. He then moves over to the bed, trying to stay awake. After about five minutes, he begins to feel himself drift off. He is mostly asleep by the time the angel walks into the room.
Castiel only wears a pair of Dean's sweatpants, since they had not bought him clothes of his own yet, nor had they found a way to make shirts fit around his wings. He had shaken his wings out in the bathroom, likely spraying water everywhere, which Dean would have to clean up when he saw it. However his wings, along with his hair, are still damp.
He notices the half asleep hunter lying in the bed and smiles softly, crawling in to lie beside him. Blue eyes watch the man for a few minutes, studying the even rise and fall of his chest and the way his lips part slightly in his sleep, eyelashes fluttering slightly.
Castiel cannot help but smile as he moves a bit closer, letting his wing fold over Dean gently to cover him protectively. "I love you," he utters quietly, thinking back on the first moment he had said that to the hunter. He remembers how Dean had told him that he could not actually love him because they had just met.
At this point, Castiel thought differently about the word "love." He was convinced at first that what he felt was very different from what humans considered it to be, but now he realizes they are not so different. Maybe the sort of love that Castiel means now is exactly what Dean had thought he had meant at first.
He smiles softly to himself and with a bit of hesitation, leans in to press a kiss to the forehead of the man sleeping next to him. It is brief and sudden, but it felt right. It was something that from what he understood, was an expression of love and affection. It was odd to think, but kissing Dean just felt as though it was the right thing to do. The thought of being "in love" with Dean occurs to him briefly.
A soft smile works its way across the blue eyed angel's tired face as he leans in once more to place another soft kiss to the blonde's face, this time on his cheek.
I love you.