It was the day before Christmas.
Cas woke up early, for the first time ever, and hurriedly got ready. They went down stairs so Cas could prepare a beautiful breakfast (he was one helluva chef) for his family. Dean felt so bad watching Cas stress over a family where he could barely tolerate half of them. He wanted to just hug him and never let go, protecting him in a cocoon of love.
Dean's thoughts were interrupted when Sam emerged from the hallway beside them. (But that wasn't the stair hallway? Where had he been?) Dean narrowed his eyes, watching him closely.
"Hey guys, Gabe said he'll be up in a minute." Sam muttered, not looking into Dean's eyes.
"Since when are you two on good enough terms to call him 'Gabe'? And how do you...?" Realization hit Dean like a fucking plane. "Oh Hellno, please tell me Cas hasn't woken me up yet and this is some freaky nightmare."
Cas was literally hunched over, one hand on the kitchen table, laughing so hard he was wheezing. Dean glared over at him before returning his gaze to Sam, bright green eyes flaming.
"I-it's not what you think! After you guys went to sleep, Gabe and I stayed up talking a little longer. We got onto literature, y'know he's actually really really smart, and he said that the basement had tons of books in it," Okay, that part checked out. Dean had seen the bookshelves on the tour. He was still very skeptical. "So, we went down there and we flipped through books and y'know... stuff." He finished lamely, a soft blush on his face.
Dean was about to ask him to define 'stuff' when Gabe pranced around the corner, planting a little kiss on Sam's cheek and winking at Dean playfully. "Hey there Sammykins, houseboy." He nodded at Dean. "Um, ya okay bro?" He chuckled at Cas, who was still trying to recover from his laughing fit, wiping his eyes.
"I am having a fantastic morning." Cas snickered, flipping the bacon on his big stove.
Dean quietly sat fuming, he didn't even notice when Michael silently entered, sitting as far away from Dean and Cas as possible, and ate his breakfast.
Gabriel left for an hour or two after breakfast, much to Dean's relief. Anna and Uriel weren't coming over, they wanted to do some sight-seeing while they were here. And Dean had no idea, nor did he care, where Raphael was. Probably sitting in his hotel room staring at the frikkin wall.
Sam soon left with the Impala, saying he needed to do some last-minute Christmas shopping. Dean was really happy that he got all of his done so he could lounge around with Cas, who was spending a lot of time prepping for Christmas. When they had a moment alone in the kitchen, Dean softly stroked Cas's hair, holding him close until he wasn't so tense.
"You really gotta relax baby. Everything's gonna go just fine. I promise."
-
"Ow! Ow what the fuck?" Dean yelped, being suddenly awaken to a sharp jab in the stomach.
"Oh I'm terribly sorry, was that too hard?" Cas was fully dressed in front of him, eyes wide, hair completely frazzled. He looked a little wild, it was cute. Dean glanced at the clock. It was 9am.
"Cas baby you gotta relax. I know for a fact that Anna and all them aren't even coming until noon. Now c'mere." He pulled Cas down on top of him and tickled him, making Cas squirm and giggle, before planting a long deep kiss on his lips. "Let's just lay her for a few minutes." Dean held one of Cas's hands in front of him, playing with the fingers. He did this a lot in the mornings they shared together, and it made him smile. He truly loved Cas's beautiful hands.
Cas looked down on him, eyes soft and shining blue, the morning light hitting him perfectly. He was really beautiful. "I love you." Dean whispered gently, mostly to himself. Cas's eyes went wide, his head tilting to the side in a classic Castiel Novak kinda way. He looked as if he was analyzing Dean's now-blushing face. It was kinda making Dean fidget, he had hoped for a better reaction.
Suddenly, he got it. Cas's face lit up in a big crinkly smile and he started to kiss Dean's face all over like an excited puppy. "I love you too, Dean. I love you very much."
Dean's heart dropped at that. Dropped, not in a good way, but he kept smiling. His brain was whirring, trying to process this. He doesn't really love me. He's saying that because you did. You saw the hesitation in his eyes. Had he? Yes you had. Yes. He must have.
He tightened his grip slightly on Cas before burying his doubt away in the little vault he was collecting his insecurities in. They rolled around a little more, tickling and giggling in between kisses like little children, before Dean finally had to get up and get ready. When they got downstairs, Michael was already quietly sitting in the living room, while Gabriel and Sam were nowhere to be seen. Dean grumbled. He really didn't like to think about them doing gross stuff in the basement with him only two floors away.
Cas was cooking french toast when Sam and Gabriel finally emerged, no doubt drawn by the smell of delicious food. Dean glared at Sam, who feigned innocence while shoving french toast in his mouth quickly.
"So, when do we get to open presents?" Sam asked, sounding very much like a young child. Sam and Dean had never really had a Christmas with an actual full family that they could remember, and this was going to be their first in many many years. Sam was clearly excited.
"As soon as the others arrive, we will begin passing out gifts. It should not be that long until they are here."
They had actually just finished eating when the others arrived, much to Sam's excitement. He ran into his room to get his gifts as everyone else gathered around the rather large tree in the corner of the living room. When Sam rejoined, it was decided that Anna would hand out her gifts first, then the other visiting siblings.
Cas got some pretty amazing stuff from his family, despite the weird relationship they all had. Anna gave him a free all-round trip to Hawaii for two, Gabriel got him a big box of assorted fine candies, Michael gave him a free trip to some fancy spa (he still totally hated Michael) and Raphael gave him a several first-editions of his favorite books. It was pretty crazy. Suddenly Dean was feeling a lot more inferior, and by the look on Sam's face, his brother was too, glancing at his gifts in a sad sorta way.
Anna apologized greatly for not getting Sam and Dean anything and they shrugged it off with a "It's cool, we didn't either. We didn't know each other." and she cheered up. She was an adorable girl.
Finally, it was Dean's turn to give out his gifts. He handed Sam a big box filled with games and a large set of drawing utilities. (Sam had taken up drawing, and he was honestly really good at it. He mostly sketched weird monsters and demons, making up little back stories and ways to defeat them, like with salt or iron.) Sam smiled brightly and hugged Dean closely. Now he had to give Cas his present. It was well-wrapped, probably the hardest Dean had ever tried to wrap something, and Cas smiled fondly at Dean, as if it were already perfect. Cas unwrapped it delicately,his long fingers moving quickly. When he opened it, a large crinkly smile crossed his face, and he squeezed Dean's hand tightly before holding up his gift: It was a beautiful small crystal statue of an angel.
"Dean, this is so thoughtful, I lo-"
"Hold on! That's not all I got you!" Dean exclaimed in a rush before running out of the room, much to Cas's confusion. Sam just grinned brightly. He knew exactly what the other gift was, had helped Dean get the courage to give it.
Dean jogged back to his seat, an acoustic guitar that he had stashed in Sam's room now in his hands.
"Cas.. I'm not sure if you remember, but on our first date, we went to our coffee place, and it was open mic night and you got up there and you sang.."
"Let It Be." Cas blushed, understanding hitting him.
"Well, I'm not nearly as good of a singer as you. But.. I wanted to return the favor. I was kinda hoping it'd be more private," He looked around at Cas's family. Sam was grinning like a dummy, Gabriel had his regular smirk and a sucker in his mouth, Anna was tearing up already, Uriel had a toothy smile, Michael look apathetic (fuck you Michael), and Raphael just looked... Well, he looked normal. Raphael doesn't really have emotions.
"Um.. well.. here we go." He strummed out the beginning and began belting out the song, locking eyes with his love, focusing only on them and the gorgeous blue they were. He saw Cas start to cry, and his heart broke a little, even though he knew the tears were from happiness. When he finished, Anna was crying along with Cas, and even Uriel's eyes were a little wet.
Cas took a few seconds to calm down, holding Dean tightly, getting his shoulder wet with tears. "That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard." He whispered before pulling back and kissing Dean gently.
Cas then pulled out a gift and handed it to Dean. Dean tore it open with much less finesse than Cas had and ogled at an original Bon Jovi record, signed by the man himself. "Nuh uh" he mouthed before looking up at Cas, who was grinning now. "You little shit." Dean smirked, tickling Cas until he squealed. Gabriel cleared his throat, making the two men blush.
"If you all are done now, I believe it's Sammy's turn to take the floor." Gabriel turned to Sam and grinned. "Go on, Sammykins."
"Th-thanks Gabe." Sam said, tossing a gift towards Dean and Cas. Dean received some nice accessories for his car, much to his glee, and Cas received an old piece of literature that wasn't even IN his huge collection. Dean didn't even think that was possible. Finally, Sam sheepishly handed Gabriel a gift.
"Aww Sammy, for me? You shouldn't have." He smiled brightly, ripping open the package. "Oh Sammykins I love it!" It was an old-fashion box full of pranking material: itching powder, whoopee cushion, invisible ink, prank gum, a hand buzzer, and several other pranking commodities.
"I will treasure this forever." Gabriel grinned, passing a gift over to Sam. "I just happened to pick up a gift for you myself."
Sam smiled brightly and delicately opened the box, only to shut it immediately, his face turning a crimson red, eyes widening.
Gabe smirked. "Candy isn't the only thing I sell at my little shop."
"What the hell did you get my brother?" Dean glared at Gabriel.
"Relax houseboy, it's just a few.. edible garments, and a movie yours truly starred in."
Sam hid his face, his ears going even darker red as he clung to the box.
Just then, Michael spoke up, his voice calm and emotionless. "I suppose your entire family is made of fags then." he sneered at Dean.
Dean hopped up from his chair, getting right into Michael's face. He noticed that Michael was a couple inches taller than him, but didn't care. No one talks about Dean's family. "What the fuck did you just say to me?" He growled, eyes so dark they were nearly black.
Anna reached to try to grab Dean, but he jerked away from her. "Nobody touch me!"
"You heard me." Michael snarled.
"If you think I'm going to take you insulting my kin laying down, you are very much mistaken." Dean yelled, voice cracking in anger. He raised a fist and punched Michael in the face, sending the man stumbling back. Michael grimaced, feeling his jaw and bleeding lip, before rearing up and charging at Dean, tackling him. Dean could hear the rest of the family yelling, Sam and Cas screaming for Dean to stop, but he didn't care. His blood was on fire and he wasn't gonna take this anymore. His barriers were completely breaking.
They rolled around, punching and kicking and yanking at anything they could reach, Dean screaming obscenities at Michael, until Raphael and Uriel were finally able to hold them, Uriel grabbing Dean by the arms and Raphael gripping Michael around the waist.
"Easy now kid, easy now." Uriel attempted to calm Dean to no avail. Dean was shaking with pure anger, his eyes brimming with tears. Dean could feel blood running down from his lip and he was sure his eye would be blackened the next morning.
"NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW HIM TO SAY THOSE THINGS ABOUT MY FAMILY! YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT, I'LL KILL YOU!" Dean screamed, kicking furiously at the air. Michael stood straight and rigid, panting heavily yet unrestrained, face red, several places bleeding and already bruised. Good.
Cas was standing by Sam, still clutching his little angel with white knuckles, eyes filled with fear, tears running freely down his face. That look would haunt Dean's dreams. "Dean, p-please calm down!"
"NO CAS I WON'T! I DON'T BELONG HERE! I NEVER WILL!" You're way too good for me! And we all know it! He stopped kicking but was still struggling against his bonds. His voice lowered from a scream to a hoarse yell, now directed at Cas. "We aren't meant to be together Cas! Clearly, I can't even compare to you! We'll just end up hurting one another!" There's no way you could love someone as unimportant and insignificant as me. He finally managed to jerk free and started to walk away. "I'm done, we're done! I think it's best for us both if I just go!" I'll leave you before you can leave me. He stomped towards the door, blood still pumping in his ears, blocking out all other sounds.
He yanked his coat off the rack, knowing his keys were in the pocket, and slammed the door. He didn't look back.
He didn't want to see his beautiful broken angel.