Chapter forty-eight

April 2018

A few months had gone by and Dean and Cas had gotten closer again. They joked and had conversations like new friends would and most of the time it was easy to forget the shared history they had. Most of the time.

They were finishing up their weekly lab report when Dean said, "Any plans for the weekend?"

Cas shook his head. "Nah, I don't think so. Probably will just hang out with my roommate. You?"

Dean smiled. "Yeah, I got a date with Lisa, this chick I met in yoga class. She's really cool."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yep, we've been on a few dates already. I really like her," Dean said, smiling as he thought about Lisa.

"That's good," Cas replied shortly.

That's when Dean realized who he was talking to and what about. "Um, sorry, this is weird, isn't it?"

Cas smirked at him. "Maybe a little."

Dean laughed at that and Cas smiled back at him. Then they switched subjects and Dean put it out of his mind. Everything was fine until he made eye contact with Cas That's when Dean felt something funny in his stomach.

And he only had one thought after: Oh no Not this again.

The weekend

Later when he was getting ready for his date with Lisa, he kept pacing across the floor of his dorm. He wasn't sure if this was a good idea. Sure, he had fun with her. She was nice and funny and smart. And let's not forget really pretty. But fuck, he didn't know any more if he should be with her. Cas had gotten into his head. Again.

After the date

It had been the right decision. He was right to break it off with Lisa. Dean thought as he changed out of his jeans and into his pajamas.

After he was done changing and brushed his teeth, he laid in his bed and dug his phone out of his pocket. He had a few phone calls from Cas and a few voicemails.

He figured he could listen to it tomorrow as he was pretty tired but then curiosity got the best of him and he pressed play.

And oh boy was he glad he did so.

The first message started out fine. Nothing unusual about it. Just Cas checking in and asking what was up.

Then the others rolled in. First Cas started to talk about goats and sheep. Then he talked about cats and how female cats were not consulted about a male cat's penis being sharply barbed along its shaft* The more messages there were, the drunker Cas sounded.

Towards the end of his messages, he revealed that he checked up on Dean by calling Sam during the year he and Dean weren't talking, that he didn't want to be a burden and that he still loved Dean.

In the dark of his dorm room, Dean grinned at his phone. Yep, it was definitely the right decision to break it off with Lisa.

The next day

Dean had texted Cas to meet up under the pretense of working on their project. Dean thought that if Cas knew what this was really about, he would never show up. Forget, showing up. He would never show his face around Dean. Dean knew him too well to know that Cas would be mortified.

They met at the café, got some coffee and then sat down outside on a bench in the campus square.

"You're not a burden," Dean said bluntly, getting to the point. "You're family."

"So, you heard them?"

Dean smirked. "Oh yeah, big time, I heard all of them. Especially your in-depth knowledge on cats."

Cas blushed, hid his face in his hands and groaned. Dean pried Cas's hands off his face. "Don't be embarrassed, it was cute."

"Cute?" Cas asked as his ears reddened.

Dean held his gaze. "Yeah, it was cute." After a few moments of silence, Dean said, "I think we should try at it again."

"At what?" Cas asked.

"At us," Dean said and before Cas could interject, Dean put his hand up and said, "Hear me out. I like you and you like me, I know you do after all of the messages you left me. We can try to date again. But this time take things slowly and see where they go. What do you say?"

Cas sat there for a several minutes as he mulled it over when he finally answered Dean and said, "Sounds like a plan."

"Good," Dean said and smiled.

"Good," Cas replied.

March 2020

"Holy fucking shit," Sam said on the other end of the line.

"What? What is it, Sammy?" Dean couldn't contain his patience for even a second when his brother, who usually didn't curse a lot, was cursing like a sailor.

"I got accepted into Stanford." Sam grinned. Dean could hear the smile in his voice.

"For real?"

"Yeah, I-" There was a big pause. "Shit, Dean."

"What?" Dean asked hesitantly.

"They're giving me a full scholarship," Sam whispered and if it was anyone else, they probably wouldn't have heard him but Dean managed to hear him anyway.

"That's- that's great, man," Dean laughed. "Mom and Dad would've been so proud of you."

"Yeah, I guess," Sam said and even though his brother was miles away, Dean could hear the uncertainty in Sam's voice.

"No, you don't guess, I'm telling you," Dean said with a big smile on his face. "And I'm proud of you too."

"Thanks, Dean," Sam said.

"Now go out and have fun. Me and Cas will be home on the weekend so go out and have fun while you can."

Sam snorted. "See you soon, Dean. Say hi to Cas."

"I will," Dean replied before he hung up the phone.

Sammy was going to start college in the fall. Dean couldn't believe it. It felt like just yesterday his brother had been a baby.

September 2021

Just a few months ago they were college students. Now they were done with college, living together and both had jobs. Cas was an English teacher working on his writing and Dean was a biomedical engineer, while working on his master's degree.

March 2022

They had had a quiet wedding at city hall. Only Sam, Bobby and Cas's sister, Anna were invited to the ceremony.

After pictures, Dean looked up at the sky, smiled and thought, Look mom, I married Cas, I'd told you I'd do it.

Things were looking up for them.