"No. No, of course not." The lie flew from Dean's lips faster then he could have hoped. "Never." Cas gave a brilliant smile.

"I shouldn't be, but I'm glad." Dean rolled to the side so he was no longer hovering over the smaller boy. They turned to face each other, entwining their fingers naturally- it was a position they had been in many times before. "One more thing?" Dean nodded. "Promise me you're done with her?"

"I promise." Cas gave another grin and pressed his lips to Dean's in a sweet kiss.

"Thank you." he murmured, closing his eyes.

"Thank you." Dean whispered in reply. They two boys fell asleep wrapped in each other. Despite everything changing, nothing had actually changed- Cas and Dean had always been Cas-and-Dean.

For the first time since Cas left, Dean slept without nightmares. There were no endless hallways, no screams of his loved ones- or himself. When he woke, he and Cas were completely intertwined- arms around waists, legs tangled together. He smiled at peaceful looking Cas. As he gazed at his sleeping friend- boyfriend?- his smile slowly faded as guilt swept through his mind. Every time he had ever told Eve he loved her forced it's way to the forefront of his thoughts. Whether by text, during sex or when they said goodbye. Slowly, memory by memory, Dean regained control of himself.

'Look at Cas. Look how happy he is. He wouldn't be that happy if you had told the truth. Man up, Winchester.' He pressed a soft kiss to Cas's head and pulled him that much closer before closing his eyes. He sleepily breathed in Cas's scent, though sleep didn't come.

The next day, Dean invited Cas to his mom's house, but he declined in favor of more sleep. With a promise to be back later, Dean went back to his childhood home.

"Sammy? Mom?"

"Hey, Dean!" Sam came running down the stairs, smiling widely.

"Hey, man. Where's mom?"

"She went to the store." Dean nodded.

"Okay." he put his arm around his little brother's shoulders. "What do you say we go do something?"

Cas woke up not long after Dean left, suddenly sure how to finish his book. He threw off his blankets and raced to his spiral bound notebook before he could forget. He would completely rewrite everything he had so far. Make the love interest like a brother, then kill him off. Kill the main character on the last page. Once Cas opened his notebook, the words began to flow like the blood in his veins. Ink smeared over the paper, staining his hands. He was hunched over the table, completely in the story. Which was why he didn't notice the front door open several hours later. Why he didn't hear the voice.

"Hey, Freak!" He didn't respond, and everything went dark.

Dean and Sammy ended up going for a walk in a nearby park. After leaving a note for their mother, they climbed into the Impala and drove away, Sam chatting happily in the front seat.

When they got to the park, they started walking through the trail-filled woods. After a while, Sammy stopped talking- he couldn't think of anything else to say. After enjoying the silence for a while, Dean shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked a pebble in front of him.

"Cas kissed me." A few steps later, he kicked the rock again. "I kissed him back." Sam kicked the pebble when it skidded to his side of the path, patiently listening. "I... love him Sammy." The last part was mumbled. "And I told him." He smiled to himself, blushing and refusing to look at his brother. "He loves me too."

"I know." Dean nodded- he wasn't surprised. It seemed like everyone knew before he did. Sam handed Dean his phone after a moment. "Scroll left." Dean looked at the screen- it was a picture of him and Cas, asleep. They were cuddling, heads on the same pillow. The next few were much the same, Cas and Dean sleeping in various places, various positions. After that, several shots of them while awake, leaning towards each other, smiling and looking into their eyes. Coming to the end of the pictures several minutes later- Sammy had at least 50- Dean handed the phone back to his brother, who pocketed it.

"You're a creeper for having those." Sam laughed and shoved his brother's shoulder.

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

The light flicked back on and Cas spun around. Eve took her hand off the light switch and put it on her hip.

"Where's Dean, Freak?" Cas blinked rapidly several times, attempting to make sense of Eve in his house while his mind was still off fighting with the Blood Queen.

"What?"

"Where's Dean. He's not answering my texts." Cas blinked a few more times before answering.

"Uh...I...uh..." Eve sighed dramatically.

"Look, I get that you're stupid or something, but this isn't the time for this. Where the Hell is Dean?" Cas blushed deeply, already cursing his shyness. He was too tired - and frazzled- to channel Castiel Novak just now.

"Doesn't..." The blonde girl began tapping her fingers against the counter impatiently.

"Any day now, Freak." He tried not to blush- he did. But he failed miserably.

"Idon'tknow." Eve narrowed her eyes.

"Please. Like that idiot would go anywhere without telling you. Just tell me where he is."

"Ifhedidn'ttellyouhedidn'twantyoutoknow." Cas smiled, pleased he was able to string together a full sentence. In a flash, Eve was right in front of him.

"What the hell are you smirking about, loser?" Cas blinked another few times.

"...huh?" Eve's eyes narrowed more, and with ringing decisiveness, she slapped Cas in the face.

"Look here, you little asshole. I messed up. I need to get back with Dean for a little while. It's going to happen whether you tell me where he is or not." She leaned in close to Cas, crossing her arms over her ample chest. "But maybe, once I've got him wrapped back around my finger, I'll take it easy on you if you tell me where the fuck he is." Slowly, Cas raised his hand to touch his cheek lightly as his eyes struggled to fill with tears of humiliation, rather than pain. He shook his head slowly, and grabbing his notebook, made his way to the bedroom, closing and locking the door behind him. Eve looked on with shock.