The way Dean proposes is so messy and rough and desperate like
Soon as he gets Cas out of the empty he grabs him and pulls him close so hard and fast that their heads knock together and for a minute everything is fuzzy again and Cas sees stars but once the sound around him sharpens back up enough to understand he realized Dean is holding their foreheads tight together, still in a standing embrace, choked words fighting for dominance over sobs trying to claw their way out and just barely winning as he growls the words almost against Cas' lips.
"-leave me, okay? Stop fucking leaving me. Dont leave me, don't... I'm asking you to stay, okay? I can't take another... just st-"
And Cas, blinking wide-eyed and confused and still kinda blurry from the Empty, then being ripped out of the Empty, then the possible concussion (affectionate), just kinda mumbles out "...okay."
And Dean pulls their heads back - both of them, as Cas realizes Dean's hands are still forcefully bracketing his face, and he lets himself be moved about like little rag doll because he's still having a little trouble thinking straight - in order to lock eyes and bites out
"Promise. You gotta fucking promise me, Cas. Do you promise?"
And Cas might be still be reeling a bit and touch fuzzy around the edges but this is a question he can answer. This is something he knows to be true - that he would always promise Dean Winchester anything he wanted.
"Okay... okay, fuck-" and Dean suddenly lets go, leaving Cas to stumble back a bit still wobbly on his feet. Luckily Sam is there with a supportive hand at his back and a teary-eyed grin as Dean angrily fumbles with something on his hand. "Okay. Okay then, you fucking promised. You promis- c'mon you son of a b-"
Then Dean finally manages to wrench Mary's too small ring off his finger. He grabs Cas' left hand and slams it desperately onto the appropriate digit. Cas winces a bit at the force, leaving a sort of lasting twinging sensation and realizing rather belatedly that oh, he can feel pain now can't he? But he doesn't have very long to process that before Dean is grabbing his shoulders this time and tugging him out of Sam's support.
"There! There, now you've promised! Now you can't-... you can't-"
The sobs Dean had been swallowing back are clearly gaining the upper hand in their battle against the english language, and he shakes his head and looks down at Cas' aching hand as he tries to catch his breath. Whatever he sees seems to only increase his panic, however, and Cas starts to lean in and lift his hand - he intends to ease Dean's emotional turmoil in the usual manner, but as he reaches out to brush Dean's temple with his grace his hand is grabbed at the wrist and he's yanked into a sudden, bruising kiss.
And for the first time since losing Cas, Dean finally lets himself pray.
The waves of longing and stay and need and forever and love hit Cas hard enough to feel even as the last of his grace fades away, reorienting him enough to register his own arms having encircled Dean's waist and the fervent desperation between them simmering down as the touch of their lips shifts from crushing to feather-light.
"I'm gonna say it out loud," Dean murmurs against them, his own adrenaline wave from the success of the spell suddenly crashing hard.
"You don't need to, Dean. I heard your prayer. I understand-"
"No, I need to, Cas. I need to. You... you deserve it. Just... just give me a little time, man, please. Just a little time."
"All of it, Dean." Cas is exhausted, and aching, and the fuzziness that was chased away by the last prayer he'd ever hear is starting to creep back in, but this? This he can be sure about. "I'll give you all the time I have left. Every hour. Every second. Dean... I love you too,"
Dean shoves his head into the crook of Cas' neck, hiding his red face from Jack, Sam, Eileen, and Rowena as his single minded focus subsides and he suddenly remembers there are others in the room.
"...but I would very much like to lie down now please. "
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