Dean wrinkled his nose slightly at the feeling of feathers brushing along it. "Cas," he mutters, turning his head to the side to bury his face into a pillow but only succeeding in getting another mouthful of feathers. He sputters quietly, eyes finally opening in the dim light of his bedroom. He squints for a moment to let his eyes adjust, only to be met with the angel's face not far away from his own.

"I'm sorry, Dean," Castiel says quietly. His hand rests on Dean's shoulder, covering the now scarred over handprint gently in an attempt to comfort the blonde in his sleep. His wings are wrapped protectively around the human, fluttering slightly as he hears the other sputter.

Dean lies atop one of Castiel's wings, a position that Dean had been hesitant about until the angel had insisted that his wings were sturdy enough to support his weight comfortably. The other wing is draped over the two men, encasing them in a canopy of black feathers.

The blonde shakes his head, dismissing Castiel's apology. "Don't you ever sleep?" he asks tiredly, with fondness in his voice.

After the events of the morning in which Sam left, Castiel managed to convince Dean to come inside to bandage his hand up and eventually got him to lie down and rest.

"I slept for a bit," Castiel explains in a hushed voice, "I couldn't rest for long. I was worried."

"About what?"

"You," he says simply, moving one of his arms to wrap around Dean gently in a sort of half hug. "I still have to watch over you."

Dean sighs out quietly, moving onto his back and staring up at the covering of feathers for a moment before reaching out slowly and moving his fingers along them gently. "You don't have to watch over me," Dean says. He stares ahead with half lidded eyes while he lies next to the angel, his mind seems to be somewhere else. His fingertips drag slowly against the soft feathers, letting his fingers card through them gently.

"Yes, I do," Castiel argues, "I need to know that you're alright Dean. I want to be able to protect you."

"Cas, that's not your job anymore, okay? You said it yourself, you can make your own decisions now. You don't have to watch over me anymore."

The angel furrows his eyebrows in confusion, frowning as he thought about what Dean said. "You misunderstand me, Dean," he corrects the other, "No one is making me watch after you. I am making my own decisions now. I'm deciding that I will stay by your side and protect you, just as I did in Heaven."

"I don't need you-" Dean begins, looking over to the angel with narrowed eyes. Upon seeing the surprised look on the angel's face, he stops and frowns. He knew that he was unintentionally taking out his anger toward his brother on Castiel. Suddenly, the thought of the angel taking what he says to heart and leaving him becomes too real. "No," he says, reaching up to take the angel's hand carefully, "That's a lie. Cas, I'm sorry."

The brunette tilts his head slightly, perplexed as to what Dean was talking about. "Dean, you have nothing to be sorry for-"

"I need you, Cas."

The angel's confused expression did not falter at the words, but instead intensified. He turned to face Dean better, lifting his hand up to hold onto it closer. "What do you mean, Dean?"

"I mean," he falters for a moment, trying to think of a way to put how he feels into words. "Just a little over a month ago," he begins again, "I tried- I wanted to-"

Admitting this was not easy for Dean. It was a decision that he was content with at the time, but he grew to feel differently over the past month.

"I wasn't happy when I woke up after I jumped," he continues, "I thought it was all a dream, I-... I was mad that it didn't actually happen, almost, disappointed in myself for not having acted on it sooner... I wanted to die."

"Dean-"

"No. Castiel, I need to say it, okay?" Dean grits his teeth, trying to hold himself together while he talks to the other, "I wanted to die... But when I found you out there, you were hurt and-... And you needed me. So I didn't think about it anymore. And I know that that isn't exactly a good way to cope with this kind of thing or whatever, but it took my mind off of it."

Dean is holding onto the other man's hand tightly, refusing to look up and meet the angel's gaze.

"It gave me something else to focus on instead of feeling sorry for myself. It gave me something to live for, you know? I guess that's what I had been missing before you showed up. But you gave it to me. You needed me and... I needed you. I still do, okay?" he finishes, gritting his teeth and his throat beginning to feel tight as he tries to hold himself back from getting too emotional.

Castiel is speechless. He never could have imagined that he meant that much to Dean. Of course he had hoped to have a positive effect on him, but could not have possibly fathomed that it was to this extent. "Dean," he says quietly, staring with wide blue eyes at the ex-hunter's face, "I need you as well. I- I love you." Castiel smiles happily, pressing a kiss to the back of Dean's hand.

"Yeah, yeah," Dean lets out a breathy laugh, "Profound bond, not romantic, deeper than that, and all that shit." He smiles and finally looks up at Castiel to see the angel frowning.

"Dean, I don't think it's like that anymore." At the look of confusion on Dean's face, he continues, "I mean it was, but that was a month ago. I've thought about it a lot since then. I know that you may not feel the same way but, I love you. Not like in a guardian angel sort of way. I mean, I have feelings for you," he pauses yet again before clarifying, "Romantic feelings."

Dean simply stares at Castiel's face for a minute, trying to decide whether or not he was serious. "You mean that?" he asks, not letting go of the hand in his own. He watches as the angel nods, then he looks down at the hand in his own.

Castiel stares at Dean for a moment, holding his breath as he waits for some sort of response. The blonde appears to be lost in thought for a minute before Castiel finally speaks up once again.

"Do you love me?" he asks hesitantly, not meaning to sound nearly as hopeful as he did.

Dean closes his eyes, squeezing onto Castiel's hand tighter as he thinks about it for a moment more.

"I don't know."

I'm wrapping up this story really soon, I think there's about four more chapters of it to write?

Also be looking out for the sequel that I'll start when this one ends!

The sequels going to follow Sam on his hunt.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the reviews! (Also if you like this just please review also. I literally check my emails ten times a day.. so yeah... )

Thank you for reading!