Dean looked at his reflection in the dark car window, running his fingers through his hair until it was sitting exactly the way he liked it.
"Would you get over here?" Sam said, who had been holding out a cold bottle of beer for him for almost a minute.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Dean said, finally turning away from his reflection. He joined his brother sitting on the hood of the car, staring up at the sky. They had taken something of a detour out in to the desert, away from civilisation and the city lights so they could watch the stars like they used to when they were younger. The silence and the stillness helped lay to rest the worries and expectations that ran constantly around in their heads. Sam looked over at Dean.
"Your hair looks exactly the same as it did when you rolled out of bed this morning."
"I think I look fabulous," Dean said, with a supermodel style pout. Sam laughed and handed him his beer.
"Jeez, Dean, how gay are you?" Dean was about to laugh off Sam's question, but some strange kind of determination took over him. He put his bottle on the ground and turned to his brother.
"I'm not going to lie to you, man. I am gay. Well, bi probably." Sam grinned over at him but his smile dropped when he realised Dean wasn't kidding.
"Are you serious?" There was a long pause as Dean braced himself to let go of the secret he had been holding so tightly to.
"Yeah, me and Cas are a thing," he said, trying to make it sound as casual as he could.
"You're… what?" Sam asked. He was staring at his brother with apparent disbelief, mouth slightly open.
"We just hook up from time to time, it's not a big deal."
"Hey," Sam said, sharply, his demeanour changing rapidly from surprise to anger. "You'd better not mean that, because if you're leading Cas on I will kill you." It was Dean's turn to look surprised.
"Uh… this wasn't exactly the reaction I was expecting."
"Give me a break Dean, the entire planet knew about your feelings for Cas before you did. But you'd better not screw him over. He deserves better."
"Okay, Sammy, chill," Dean said raising his hands in surrender. "I'm into him, okay? Like, a lot." Sam's aggressive expression dropped and a smile spread across his face.
"I knew it."
"Let's just put a pin in the emotional crap, I don't wanna talk about it."
"Do you love him?" Sam asked, grinning at him like a lunatic, as though he had been waiting for this moment for years.
"Shut up, Sam."
"Yeah, but do you?"
"I said can it, Sam. I'm not talking about this."
"He loves you."
"I know that."
"So do you love him?"
"Sammy I swear to God if you don't drop this subject I will drop you."
"Fine," he said, exasperated but still amused, tossing his empty bottle in to the cooler and retreating back into the car. Once the door slammed shut, Dean glanced quickly up to the star-littered sky.
"I don't know if you heard any of that," he said in to the silence. "But I do... y'know… love you. Or whatever."
"I love you too," came Cas's deep voice from beside him. Dean almost leaped in to the air with surprise. Cas was standing just an inch away from his face, a little smile on his lips. Heart still banging against his ribs, completely forgetting that Sammy was in the car, Dean took Cas's hands and pulled him in to a kiss. A few seconds later, Sam started pounding on the horn of the car and cheering.
"Can we go?" Dean asked, feeling suddenly flustered by his audience. The words were barely out of his mouth before they disappeared from the dark, sandy expanse of the Arizona desert and reappeared in what looked like an incredibly expensive hotel room. Dean felt himself relax instantly now that he was alone with Castiel. "Where are we?" he asked.
"Dubai."
"Sweet," Dean said, eyeing up the huge television, the king sized bed, and the entire apple pie waiting for him on the end table. He caught Cas's eye and grinned, putting his arm around the angel's shoulders and pulling him in beside him, pressing his lips to his forehead. "I love it."
"I thought you might."
Sam sat in the car for a short while, trying to wipe the grin from his face. He couldn't believe that Dean and Cas had finally acted on the fact that they were completely and utterly devoted to each other. It was about time they got a bit of happiness, they deserved that. Sam slid over to the driver's seat, ready to start the long drive back to the motel. He reached for the keys in the ignition but his hand fell through the air, finding nothing. He glanced around the car, checked his pockets and then realised that the keys were still in Dean's jacket.
"Son of a bitch," he muttered. For a second he considered hot-wiring the car, but Dean would almost definitely murder him if he started stripping wires and tampering with his Baby. So instead, he stepped out of the car in to the almost complete blackness, grabbed two blankets, another beer and a bag of chips from the trunk and settled down for a long, cold night in the dark. He should have been pissed, angry at Dean for forgetting all about him, but he could feel the involuntary smile still on his lips and knew that he didn't mind one bit.