Dean and Castiel had made it home for winter break and were greeted by Mary at the door.
"Hi, mom." Dean smiled and laughed as his mother embraced him. It had been a little over a month since he'd come home to visit.
"I'm so glad you're here, sweetheart." Mary kissed Dean's cheek before letting him go.
"Me too. It was a long semester." Dean walked by Mary with his suitcase.
Castiel stepped up after Dean. He and Mary shared a brief look before she pulled him close in a tight hug. He hugged her back with a wide smile on his face. Castiel had missed Mary more than he thought he would.
Mary whispered to him as they hugged, "I'm glad you're okay. I was so worried about you."
Castiel squeezed her a little and dropped his forehead on her shoulder. He wished he could thank her properly.
Mary let him go and walked them to the living room. Sam came down the stairs. He looked taller since they'd seen him last. Dean walked over to his brother and hugged him briefly.
"What did I say about getting taller?" Dean tousled Sam's hair.
Sam smacked his hand. "Yeah, I'll try to get better about that."
Dean went up the stairs to put his stuff away. Sam crossed the living room and smiled at Castiel.
"Hi, Cas."
Castiel waved and smiled at him.
"You glad to be home?" After the trouble they'd had Sam couldn't imagine him not being happy.
Castiel nodded.
They waited for John to get home and then they all went out to eat. Dean told them about Benny not finding another student to room with them. They were all relieved to hear that.
The following Monday, Sam was at school since high school went longer than college, and Dean's parents were both at work. Dean and Castiel were in Dean's room. Castiel had been reading and Dean was browsing the internet.
Dean asked, "When was the last time you did a drawing?" He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the angel with his sketch pad.
Castiel shrugged. 'I don't know. I haven't really felt the mood was right recently.'
"I guess not." Dean knew it was probably similar to his music. If he wasn't in the right mindset, he wouldn't play. "I think you should give it a try during the break. It used to make you really happy."
Castiel looked up and smiled. It did help calm him in the past. 'If the feeling strikes, I will.'
"Good." Dean let him get back to his book. They spent the rest of the day quietly to themselves.
The next morning, Castiel woke up earlier than Dean. The sun was just starting to rise. When he went to use the bathroom, he heard Mary downstairs. He used the bathroom and then went downstairs and found Mary cooking in the kitchen.
She jumped when she saw Castiel. "Oh, goodness," she put a hand on her chest and laughed, "I'm not used to you being here anymore. What are you doing up so early?"
Castiel shrugged and automatically signed, 'I wanted to help you.' It wasn't until she frowned that he remembered she didn't know sign language. It had become such a habit with Dean that he didn't think twice.
He found a piece of paper and wrote down what he said with an apology. She smiled.
"Thanks, sweetie, but it's your break. I don't want to make you work while you're here."
It's no problem. I don't do a whole lot at school and I want to feel useful.
Mary put a hand on his shoulder. "Okay, go ahead. I've forgotten what it's like having help around the kitchen."
Castiel helped with the pancakes while she made eggs for everyone. They were almost done when Sam stumbled downstairs while yawning. He greeted them with a mumble and sat at the breakfast counter.
Mary kissed his forehead and put a plate of food in front of him. Castiel waved at him. He stared at the plate blankly for a minute before picking up his silverware.
"How many days do you have left, Sam?" Mary was glad that Dean would be here when school let out so they didn't have to worry about Sam being alone while she and John were at work.
He cleared his throat before answering, "Ten."
She nodded. "That's not too many." Sam just grunted in response.
Sam had eaten and left with Mary before Dean and John came out to eat. John ate fast and headed to the station. Dean took his time and ate with Castiel. They spent the day watching movies and going out in the scattered snow that was falling all day.
They had been outside for a while when Castiel went back inside to get something. Dean continued kicking the snow to make it spray around him. He did this a few times before hitting a hidden patch of ice and slipping. His heart jumped as his feet went out from under him and he landed on his back.
Dean coughed as the wind was knocked out of him and the snow soaked into his hair. He heard the snow crunching as Castiel ran over to him.
'Are you okay?' Castiel had opened the door in time to see Dean's feet fly up and he landed on his back.
Dean laughed and let his arms fall open in the snow. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just bruised my pride."
Castiel shook his head and held out a hand. Dean took it and stood. He then saw what Castiel was holding.
"You gonna draw something?" He tapped the sketchpad in Castiel's hand.
'I might. I feel like sketching.' The snowy background and Dean's rosy cheeks made him feel the urge to draw.
"Well, don't let me stop you." Dean brushed off the snow from his pants and continued walking around the yard.
Castiel went back to the house and grabbed a lawn chair so he could sit without being in the snow. He began with just drawing the tree in the yard and then focused on Dean. He was walking around and kicking snow around. When he got to the tree, he would pull on the branches to make the snow fall over him. The smile and laugh that caused gave Castiel the look he wanted in the drawing.
Castiel drew quickly and looked at Dean whenever he shook the tree again to get that image in his brain again. Soon it wasn't hard as it began snowing again.
Dean looked up at the flakes and smiled as they hit his face. He knew he wouldn't get a lot of snow living in Kansas so he always appreciated anything he could get.
The drawing was mostly finished and Castiel closed the pad so the falling snow wouldn't ruin the page. When he looked up, he saw Dean's arm move like he'd thrown something. He then felt a cold slap of snow in his face.
Dean laughed as the snowball hit Castiel square in the face. The angel sat in stunned silence briefly. Dean was worried that maybe Castiel wouldn't understand the concept of a snowball fight. He was proven wrong as the angel stood up and then crouched to make his own snowball.
That was how it started. Soon Dean was taking cover behind the tree and Castiel was using his wings to cover his face. They laughed and ran around the yard like children as the snow fell around them.
They didn't stop until Castiel's ungloved hands grew numb from the cold. Dean took the chair and sketchpad back while Castiel went inside to warm his hands. Dean opened the book and saw the new sketch. He smiled when he saw the snowy tree and his own smiling face.
That night Castiel had a dream, one that was very different from the kind he was used to having. It involved him and Dean but nothing bad or stressful was happening. He was fuzzy with the details but he remembered feeling Dean's arms around him and his face being really close to him. He had a feeling of longing and want. Dean kissed him in the dream and Castiel felt a rush of pleasure.
As the kiss deepened and Castiel could feel Dean's hands on the back of his head and getting close to his wings, Castiel twitched and woke himself up. He sat up quickly and tried to straighten out his thoughts. He looked at the bed next to him and saw Dean sleeping peacefully.
Castiel shook his head and took a few breaths. He was just dreaming. He'd never dreamt about Dean like that. He never dreamed about anyone like that. Castiel sighed and fell back onto his side. There was no reason to think about it too much. He knew Dean would probably never even entertain the idea of them being more than they are now. Even if Castiel was starting to think about it.
When Dean woke up, he was surprised to find Castiel still sound asleep. The angel usually always woke up before him. He figured he was just tired so he got up and went down to talk to his parents before they went to work.
A couple hours passed and Castiel still hadn't come down yet. Dean went back to his room and found the angel still sleeping. That worried him. He walked over to him and touched his arm gently.
"Cas?" He didn't get much response. Usually the angel was easy to wake up. "Cas?" Dean shook his arm a little harder.
Castiel shot up in bed, almost knocking Dean over. Both of them were taken by surprise. Castiel put a hand over his racing heart.
"God you scared me." Dean laughed as the angel rolled his eyes.
'Scared you?'
"Yeah, its 10:00 and you hadn't woken up yet. Then it actually took some effort to wake you up. Are you alright? You don't feel sick do you?" He hoped he hadn't made him sick by being in the cold and snow so long.
'No, I'm not sick. I just didn't sleep much last night. I had some dreams that kept me awake for a while.'
"Really? I'm surprised I didn't wake up. Usually I notice when you're having bad dreams." Dean felt bad. Castiel hadn't had a nightmare in a few weeks. There was another surge of them after what happened with Rick, which Dean felt horrible and responsible for, but none since then.
Castiel shifted and debated telling Dean what the dream was about. He didn't know how he'd react. 'They weren't nightmares. Just confusing dreams that kept me up thinking. Don't worry about it.'
Dean felt a little relieved. "Oh, alright. As long as you're okay." He took a few steps away from Castiel. "We have the house to ourselves again so we can do whatever we want." He smiled at him as he left the room.
Castiel smiled at him as he shut the door. He then grabbed his phone to text Charlie.
Charlie I think im in trouble. I had a dream about dean last night. A good dream.
The response was almost immediate. What?! Cas had a sex dream?
Castiel rolled his eyes. No not a sex dream. He was kissing me. It kept me up a while last night. I don't know what to think.
It was just a dream Cas. Everyone has something like that at some point. It doesn't help that you're in love with Dean. I'm assuming you didn't tell him?
Not the details no. Should I?
Idk do you want Dean to think about something like that? If you want to plant the idea in his head, you could.
I feel like that would just make it weird. I've never had a good dream about anyone before.
Lol get used to them. You'll probably have them more often. I can't tell you what to do. Do whatever feels right.
Would you if you were in my place?
Probably but I'm not one for subtlety in these matters. If I was all heart eyed for someone and thought they were the same for me, I would make them think about it too so they would know I felt like they did. Hopefully that made sense lol
Yeah I think I get it. Thanks Charlie I'll let you know what happens.
Okay later!
Castiel put his phone down and got up to dress for the day. Once he was dressed, he went downstairs. Dean was watching TV in the living room.
"Hey," he smiled at him and patted the couch.
Castiel sat by him and watched the show on the television with mild interest. All he could think about was what to do about that dream. Part of him told him to just keep quiet, while the other part was curious as to how Dean would react. The first part won out and he ended up just sitting by Dean silently while he watched TV.
Most of the break was that way. He had dreams about Dean most nights and then felt strange around Dean all day. He never told Dean about it.
Towards the end of December, Sam was out of school and they celebrated Castiel's 20th birthday. He had asked that they not go out to eat like they usually did for birthdays. Mary baked him a cake and they ordered pizza at his request.
The whole family was home and they sat in the living room together eating the pizza and cake. Castiel sat on the floor in the middle of all the furniture so he could open his presents for all to see.
He had gotten clothes from John and Mary. Sam had gotten him a couple books he was interested in. The one from Dean was a professional quality camera. He thanked everyone and took all his presents upstairs. Dean followed him.
"You like everything?" He had been a little nervous buying the camera. He wasn't sure what Castiel would think.
Castiel nodded and turned to him while holding the camera. 'This couldn't have been cheap.'
Dean laughed. It wasn't, but he didn't mind. "No, not cheap. I wanted you to have a good camera so you could take pictures for any drawing you might want to do of it later, or just to take nice pictures."
'When did you get this?' He spent most of the time with Dean and didn't see him buy this.
"I bought it online and had it shipped here. I couldn't ruin the surprise."
'Thank you, Dean. I really like it.'
"Good. Happy birthday, Cas." He moved across the room and pulled Castiel into a hug.
Castiel's heart skipped a beat as Dean got closer. He returned the hug and wanted to hold it longer but Sam cleared his throat from the doorway.
Dean pulled back and turned to look at his brother. "What?"
Sam was smirking. "Mom is gonna go get some milkshakes and wants to know if you guys want any."
"Uh, yeah I do." Dean clapped Castiel's shoulder and walked by Sam to go talk to his mom.
"You too, Cas?" Sam asked once Dean was at the stairs.
Castiel nodded and went to the desk to get a piece of paper to write it down. Sam entered the room while he wrote.
"So, you and Dean are still pretty close, huh?" Castiel nodded. "That's surprising after you having to be so close to him physically at school."
Castiel laughed as he handed the paper to Sam. He took a couple steps to the door and then stopped and looked at Castiel.
"Have you told him how you feel about him yet?"
He felt icy dread go through him. Sam knew? He looked behind Sam and then back with a worried look.
Sam saw the instant change with Castiel. He had just been guessing by the looks they'd shared and missed from each other. Clearly he was right.
"Don't worry. I won't say anything to him." Sam took the paper downstairs to his mom.
Castiel stayed in the room for a while. Was it that obvious to everyone around him? If it was so obvious, why hadn't Dean guessed yet?
He eventually shook off his worries and went downstairs. They all ate their ice cream when Mary got back.
The following week they all celebrated Christmas, followed by New Years. Castiel spent the holidays testing his new camera. He really enjoyed taking pictures and would continually fill up the SD card so he had to keep putting them on his computer and starting over.
After Sam started school again in January, the days felt like they moved faster and soon Dean and Castiel were driving back to the university. Mary packed some food with them and made them promise to come back in a couple weeks for Dean's birthday. They promised and headed to school.