Week 9

…

Dean woke up in a seemingly unfamiliar room.

It took a few moments for the sleepy confusion to clear, and Dean almost laughed at the fact that, even for a few moments, he'd forgotten the events of last night. He looked over at Cas's sleeping form and grinned.

Cas had been cautious to move too quickly too fast, which Dean understood. Plus, due to his inexperience with guys, he was a bit nervous. A few days ago, the two men had talked about the reality of their future bedroom activities, and Dean had taken some time to think. He'd finally decided to let Cas take the lead, even though the idea terrified him. It was very much opposite of his usual role, in every way possible. But last night had gone so much better than he could have ever imagined.

Cas shifted in bed and Dean rolled over to plant a kiss on his jaw.

"Morning," he said quietly.

"Morning," Cas replied sleepily. A dopey grin slid onto his face.

"Breakfast?" Dean asked, too tired to come up with sentences longer than one word.

"Later."

Dean sighed and ran his fingers through Cas's bedhead. He kissed Cas again, this time on the lips, then managed a longer sentence, "We should get up."

Cas groaned and pulled the covers over his head. Dean retaliated by tickling him. Cas let out a surprised yelp and tumbled out of bed, making Dean laugh loudly, especially when the blue-eyed man stood up with his hair sticking up and wearing a Grumpy Cat-like expression. Dean slid out of bed on his side, and began walking towards the door, hoping Grumpy Cas would follow. He winced as he did so, all too aware of the literal pain in his ass.

Cas noticed and remarked, "Don't worry. You'll get used to it."

Dean raised an eyebrow, and Cas blushed.

"I mean… if you want to… again…"

Dean winked at him suggestively, then declared, "I'm gonna take a shower. Feel free to join, but no funny business. You gotta give me some recovery time."

"Deal."

They took a quick shower together, then afterward decided cooking was too much work and just ate some uncooked Poptarts.

Finally, the pair landed on the couch, flipping on TV, though neither were paying much attention. They were too lost in their own thoughts.

Dean was the first to speak.

"Cas?"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say I'm… I'm really glad I met you. It's been a long time since I was really… happy… with someone."

Cas blushed.

"What I had with Lisa… that was good. But I wasn't ready to be a dad. I'm still not really there. I mean, someday… But right now there's nowhere I'd rather be than here."

Dean was blushing so much then that he looked down, embarrassed at his comments. A few moments later, he felt Cas rest his head on his shoulder, and they sat like that for a few minutes, resting comfortably together in silence.

"I want kids too," Cas suddenly remarked. "Someday. It'd be great to adopt kids from the foster system."

Dean looked back up at him. "Yeah. They should have real homes too. What you went through was shitty- and I can't really fix that for you, but we could do that for other kids. Um… you know… in the future. Maybe. I bet you'd be a great parent."

Cas blushed again and added quietly, "You too."

There was another long pause, and then Cas broke the silence.

"The first episode of The Bachelorette airs tonight."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was wondering whether you wanted to watch."

"Honestly? Not really. I might watch the finale, though, just out of curiosity."

"I was thinking we might also watch the "Week Six" episode as well, so we know what the public has seen. But I agree, I don't really want to watch anything but that and the finale."

"I hadn't thought about "Week Six". It seems so long ago. But yeah, I do wanna watch that. Good idea."

Cas smiled.

"You know, it's crazy. Atara will probably be getting engaged next week. I can't believe its ending."

Cas's smile dropped right off his face, and he said quietly, "Yeah."

"What?" Dean asked, confused.

Cas sighed. "Next week... I won't be here."

Realization dawned, and Dean's eyes widened. "Shit, that's right. It's our last week together."

"I don't want it to end," Cas mumbled. "I don't want to be 500 miles away from you."

"Hey, nothing's ending. It's just distance," Dean told him. But even as he said it, he wasn't sure he believed it. Long distance relationships were incredibly difficult. And he had to admit, he didn't want to be separate from Cas either. But what was he supposed to do about it?

"Right," Cas mumbled. "Just distance"

…

The conversation dampened Cas's mood a bit for the rest of the day. That is, until dinner.

Dean had ordered pizza, and they were sitting around, waiting for it to arrive.

"Hey, Cas," Dean said. "I've been thinking about something."

"What?"

"You could move in with me."

Cas snapped to attention. Had Dean actually just asked…

"Are you serious?"

"Well… yeah. Pretty much. I'd actually love to have you live with me. My house has plenty of room."

Cas's jaw felt unhinged as it hung open, unbelieving.

"Do you want to?" Dean asked uncertainly.

"I… well, I have my job back in Illinois. I'm just taking a break. But I have been thinking about trying something different. Maybe teaching some community classes instead of focusing on just kids. I could teach self-defense."

Cas realized he was rambling, but couldn't seem to stop himself. His brain seemed to need to talk through the issue aloud to be able to come to a conclusion.

"Plus, I could work at your shop temporarily, until I can find something. Balthazar will be alone… but he did okay by himself before. I could ask Gabriel to check in on him. No, he'd just get Balthazar into more trouble. I could ask Hanna to do it, then. I think she lives nearby. I'll miss Pontiac, I really liked it there. But I've been all over the place- it doesn't really mean anything to me. Lawrence- that's where you grew up, where your family is. I mean, there's my family too, or my almost-family, but I think some of them live closer to here anyway. Samandriel lives a few hours away. Oh, and Charlie moved over here. Didn't she? Or maybe that was Anna."

Cas glanced over at Dean, who looked confused as hell.

"Is that… is that a yes? Or no?"

Cas paused to think through his ramblings again.

"Yes. Yes, I'd love to move in with you."

A wide grin split Dean's face. He thrust a fist into the air and shouted, "Yes!"

Suddenly he was on Cas's lap, kissing him like never before, hands exploring everywhere. Cas could barely breathe, but he certainly wasn't complaining.

"Yes," he repeated breathily between kisses, and then Dean focused in on his neck. Cas groaned and clawed at Dean's shirt, trying to undo the buttons.

He'd gotten about halfway there when the doorbell rang.

Dean pulled away with an irritated huff. "Damn pizzaman. Your timing sucks."

Cas had to agree.

…

Three bachelors attended the Rose Ceremony that week, and one of them left at the end of it, leaving two men to try and win Atara Kemmiam's heart.

Those remaining were:

Dustin Total

Edmund Jonathan

…

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