May 2015
Beep… Beep… Beep… Each sound of the monitor was like a nail to Dean's head as he sat in the hard chair beside Sam's bed in the hospital room. He tore his worried gaze away from his brother to look at the television screen. It was playing footage of the angels falling, the news calling it a 'global meteor shower'. Stupid Cas for not listening… Stupid trials for putting my brother in a coma… stupid angels for falling…
Dean groaned as a pair of lips started kissing him, starting on his shoulder, then moving to his neck, his jaw, and up to his temple, drawing him out of a deep sleep. "Cas, buddy, it's too early," he mumbled sleepily. "Come on, Dean. Sam is making us breakfast and then you and I have a date," Cas replied, continuing to kiss him lazily. "Would you please kiss me on the lips properly?" Dean grumbled in frustration. Cas chuckled, moving back down to comply with the request. "Just… a few… more minutes," Dean told him between kisses. "They're going to come looking for us, Dean."
"No, come back," Dean whined as Cas left the bed, crossing over to grab pants out of the dresser. "No," Cas smirked, grabbing a shirt next. "You get your ass out of bed and get dressed. We gotta go." Dean groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes. "I thought you were supposed to care about me." Cas chuckled. "I do care about you, babe. And because I care, I am telling you, you need to get that sweet ass out of bed."
"Mmmm," Dean groaned again. "Fiiiine." He sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Hey, was I at the hospital recently?" he asked, blinking sleepily in Cas' direction. "No?" Cas frowned, shaking his head. "Why?" Dean shrugged. "Must have been a dream… Coulda sworn I was in a hospital." He threw off the covers, mimicking Cas' ritual of grabbing clothes from the dresser and putting them on. Cas had started cleaning their discarded clothing items off the floor, dumping it all in the laundry hamper beside the closet.
"Cas, stop that," Dean rolled his eyes as he pulled a shirt over his head. "I like it tidy, Dean," Cas defended himself, placing the last few items in the hamper. "I know you do, buddy," Dean grinned, sliding one hand around the back of Cas' neck and pulling him in for a kiss. "Dean," Cas mumbled, pushing Dean back gently, "we really have to go." Dean groaned in annoyance, "Fine."
"Dean, Cas!" Sam yelled. "Breakfast is ready!" Dean furrowed his brow as he saw another flash of a hospital bed, his brother hooked up to multiple machines to keep him alive. "Told you," Cas laughed, pulling him away from the thought, and he rolled his eyes again. "You're all a bunch of cock blockers," he pouted, allowing Cas to take his hand and guide him out of the bedroom and down the hall to the kitchen.
"You're deep in thought," Cas mused as they drove into town for their date. "What are you thinking about?" Dean frowned over at him briefly before focusing on the road. "That dream keeps bothering me," he admitted. "The one about the hospital?" Cas asked. "Yeah… I don't know. It just felt so real, you know? Like it really happened, but…" Dean trailed off, trying to find the right words. "Tell you what," Cas said. "How 'bout you and I just enjoy ourselves for a few hours and we can figure out the rest later?" Dean smiled, nodding his head. "Yeah, alright."
He pulled into the parking lot of one of his favorite local diners he'd been wanting to take Cas for ages. It had an old-fashioned 50s theme complete with red and white checkerboard decor and a jukebox that played everything from The Beatles to Elvis. He led Cas inside, taking a seat in one of the booths in the back corner away from the other patrons. "Hey, Dean. The usual?" the waitress- Wendy- asked when she came by. "Two, please," Dean grinned, nodding. "Coming right up." Wendy sashayed off, her skimpy uniform leaving little to the imagination, just the way Dean liked. However, today he was totally focused on the man across from him.
"So…" he hummed, draping one arm lazily across the back of the booth, "are you used to not having your mojo yet?" Cas shrugged, eyeing the jukebox that had just started playing 'Twist and Shout'. "I don't think I'll ever get used to not having my mojo," he admitted. "Being human… is tiring. Having to eat, sleep… go to the bathroom…" Dean nodded in understanding. "Yeah. I know it's not entirely the same, but after Purgatory, it was hard getting back into a routine that included eating and sleeping again. I'd gotten so used to not having to during our time there, it was weird incorporating those things again."
"Precisely," Cas nodded as Wendy returned with their food- two milkshakes, burgers and a single plate of fries to share. "Enjoy," she grinned, sashaying off once more. Cas took an experimental sip of his milkshake, and Dean laughed as his eyes blew wide in surprise and he started chugging it down quickly. "Slow down. You're gonna give yourself a brain freeze," Dean warned him, grabbing a fry and pushing it between his lips, chewing slowly. The warning came too late; Cas pulled back from his straw, wincing and clutching his head. "Gah!"
"Put your thumb against the roof of your mouth. It helps," Dean told him. It was quite the silly sight, watching Cas suck his thumb, but it seemed to help, just as Dean had said. "That was very unpleasant," the former angel stated, taking his thumb out of his mouth. "That's why you have to drink it slowly," Dean laughed, demonstrating by taking a small sip of his own shake. "It does taste very good when I can actually taste the flavor instead of the individual molecules," Cas mused. "Is that what food tastes like to angels?" Dean asked. Cas nodded.
"I think my favorite food now that I'm human is peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches. Not jam. Jam is unsettling. Although, these burgers aren't that bad either." Cas took a bite of his cheeseburger. "Yeah, PB and J is good," Dean nodded, chowing down on his own burger. "It was Mack's favorite sandwich growing up." Cas hummed, taking another sip of his milkshake. "Oh, here. Try this." Dean grabbed a fry, dipping it into his milkshake and offered it to Cas. "Open." Cas opened his mouth, allowing Dean to feed him the ice cream coated French fry.
"Oh!" his eyes widened in the same shocked excitement they had when he tried the milkshake for the first time. He immediately grabbed three more fries, sticking them in his own milkshake and shoving them all in his mouth at once. "That's a very pleasing combination," he stated matter-of-factly. "Agreed," Dean nodded, eating a few himself. As soon as they finished their dinner, they headed out to the Impala hand in hand. "Alright. So, do you wanna head to the movies now or do something else?" Dean asked. "Can we go on a walk?" Cas requested. "Whatever you want, buddy."
Leaving the Impala behind, they started walking down the street. Cas had started rubbing circles on the back of Dean's hand with his thumb as they went. "Why do you do that?" Dean asked curiously. "Do what?" Cas looked over at him. "That," Dean lifted their intertwined hands so Cas could see his thumb rubbing circles on the back of Dean's hand. "It's soothing," Cas mused. "Gives my mind something to focus on. Reminds me that this is real, that you're really here with me. Do you not like when I do that?"
"No, it's fine. I'm not complaining. Just curious," Dean shrugged, letting their hands drop back to their side. "Ah. I see," Cas nodded. They stayed there on the sidewalk, just staring into each other's eyes for a long moment. "We should probably get going if we're going to get to the movies in time," Dean pointed out in a whisper. "There's no rush," Cas whispered back, leaning forward and closing the gap separating them, pressing his lips against Dean's. Dean moaned into the kiss, Cas taking that as an invitation to stick his tongue in Dean's mouth. They stumbled backward into a nearby alley, Cas tugging at Dean's jacket to pull him along before slamming him against the side of one of the buildings.
His knee slotted between Dean's legs, earning another moan as his hands wandered beneath Dean's shirt to explore the skin underneath. "Cas," Dean gasped into his mouth, hands fisting the lapels of his trench coat before sliding up to his shoulders and settling loosely around his neck. "I love you," Cas murmured as he continued to make out with Dean. "I love you, too, Cas," Dean murmured back. For a few minutes there was nothing but wandering hands, heavy breathing and unbelievable tongue action as Cas continued to manhandle and grind against Dean, and then he said something that made Dean freeze underneath him.
"Will you marry me?"
Dean pulled back as much as he could while pinned to the wall, staring at Cas with wide eyes. "Will-? What?" he asked. Cas' blue eyes darted over his face as he tried to explain himself. "Well, I mean… I- I know it's not like we can legally get married. You're dead and I don't exist, but… I love you, Dean, and if I'm human now, I would like to spend the rest of my days by your side as your husband. If, uh, if you want to." Dean blinked, mind working to process Cas' words. Nervous, Cas backed up a couple steps to allow him space, wringing his hands as he stared at Dean. "I shouldn't have said anything," he continued rambling. "I'm going too fast. You don't want to. That's fine. Forget it. We can go to the movie now and we can pretend this never happened. I-"
He was cut short as Dean stepped forward, closing the space between them once more and pressing their lips together. "I'd love to marry you, buddy," he smiled, pulling back slightly, hands resting lightly against Cas' chest. "Mack's gonna be thrilled." Cas smiled back, shoulders relaxing in relief. "I think so, too." They headed back to the Impala, driving to a nearby park. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather go to the movie?" Dean asked. "This is fine," Cas assured him.
"Alright."
They got out, making small talk as they did a couple laps around the walking trail surrounding the park. "Are you sure about this?" Cas asked Dean nervously as they were heading back to the Impala to head home. "About marrying you?" Dean clarified, stopping to turn and face him. "Yeah," Cas nodded. "Yeah, Cas. I'm sure. You trying to say you're having second thoughts?" Cas shook his head, "No, of course not." Dean nodded, "Okay then. Let's get out of here and let Sam and Mack know the good news, huh?"
"Sounds good."