2012

Dean and Cas were lying on top of the Impala's hood, staring up at the sky. Sam was off with his new girlfriend, a girl he seemed to be completely over the moon about.

A regular, human, girl, thank god. Nothing demon or werewolf or non-homo-sapien about her.

Dean was jealous at first, and wary of any newcomer in their lives - convinced she was either evil or going to die on poor Sam. But now Dean was laying in the warm night air, thinking about how glad he was to see Sam happy like he deserved to be, as he and Castiel sat quietly under the stars looking like the picture of domesticated bliss themselves.

It was very easy now for them to be together quietly. There was a lot to think about in their line of work. A perpetual stream of, "did we do the right thing?"s and "what else could be out there?"s always crashing down on them with no definite answer available. So sometimes a man just needed to sit and think on it awhile, work it all out in his mind so he could do it all again tomorrow. Dean and Cas were no exception. In fact, they both enjoyed the peace they found together.

Nevertheless, Castiel squinted out at the night-blue desert as he started, "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Uh-oh," Dean teased.

"What does it mean to give someone a ring?"

Dean shifted, leaning up on one elbow to look at Castiel. "What, like a wedding ring?"

Cas nodded.

"I guess it means you want to get married. Like, you want to be together until death do you part or whatever. You want to be family." Dean watched closely as Cas considered this, nodding as his brow furrowed. "Why do you ask?"

"I want to give you this," he very unceremoniously pulled a silver band out of his trenchcoat pocket and held it out to Dean.

Dean stared at Cas, unable to say anything, and slowly took the band, turning it over in his fingers.

"I don't know how I feel about the logistics of a marriage as an institution," Cas stated flatly, "as in, I don't find the ceremony necessary or appealing. But I feel that you are the one I will love forever, and you are my family. And I think for a man it is customary to seal such a bond with a ring, correct?"

Dean was still staring. "...Did you just ask me to marry you?"

"You're not listening," Castiel huffed.

"I am! I am! I just..." Dean slipped the silver band onto the ring finger on his left hand, a bit vexed by watching the act itself.

It fit perfectly.

"You're smiling," Castiel stated. "That mean's yes?"

"Technically you didn't ask."

Castiel rolled his eyes, "Dean, will you take my ring?"

Dean shrugged, but the smile on his face was obvious. "Yeah, sure."

"Good," Castiel smiled and leaned back against the windshield.

"Would you wear mine?" Dean asked quietly, hypothetically.

"I would." There was no hesitation, it was stated just as a fact.

Dean tried to hide his smile, "Good."

But Castiel could always feel Dean's smile, even when he wasn't looking at him.

Dean could feel that they were both happy and content ... a rare occurrence.

A few weeks later Dean was driving the impala with both hands on the wheel when he felt Sam notice his new piece of jewelry, and its location - left hand, ring finger. He noticed that almost immediately after seeing it, Sam shot around to look at Castiel sitting in the backseat, focusing on the man's hand and noticing Castiel had one to match.

Sam gave a classic, "Huh," sounding almost impressed.

Dean smiled, pretending he didn't notice.