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Act I of Heaven Came Down is almost over. Dean and Cas have found a way to get Dean back home to HunterCorp, and he has to go—even though he doesn't want to. But with Michael and Lucifer after him, staying in the Endverse means that everyone he cares about at Camp Chitaqua will always be in danger. This is the only way.

(Sneak peek of chapter 12 below!)

Dean nods. He can tell the conversation is wrapping up, which means… it’s time. Already. He’s sick with nerves and grief. Worried about Cas getting away if they somehow manage to pull this off. Petrified about what might happen to Cas once the angels realize he was involved. He’ll never know the answer to that question, and it’s a unique type of devastation to realize that. He presses into Cas and wraps his arms around his waist. One more hug. Cas’s arms settle around Dean too. He takes a few deep breaths, tries to will the smell of Cas into his long-term memory—sweat and pot and whatever grace smells like. Cold and blue. The smell of cold and blue. He turns his head to kiss Cas’s cheek, and tries to memorize the way Cas’s stubble feels against his lips, too. Dean doesn’t tell Cas about the Castiel from his world. He’s not going to. He doesn’t want to mar Cas’s memory of him, and maybe that’s selfish. It’s a burden that Dean can carry alone. He doesn’t want to pile anymore anguish on Cas than he already has. Cas gives Dean his angel blade and tells him to use it if anything goes wrong, if any angels try to attack him or keep him away from the portal. Dean slides it up his shirt sleeve. “This is all going to happen very quickly, Dean,” Cas says, one hand squeezing Dean’s shoulder hard, “Promise me that you'll run for that rift the moment the stone powers it up.” Dean nods, his face buried in Cas’s neck to hide the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. “Bye, Cas,” he says, and he places one final kiss to the juncture where Cas’s jaw and ear meet. “I’ll miss you.”

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Pairing: Dean/Cas Length: 2.5k Tags: Fluff, Mild Angst, Pining, First Kiss, Canon Divergent   Read on AO3

A special thank you to @braezenkitty for being my awesome beta <3

“You just gotta get laid,” Dean said, reseating the burger beside the pile of fries on his plate, this time with a big bite missing. “Or a decent kiss, at least.”

He crumbled a napkin between greasy fingers, tossed it to the middle of the table. Shoved his shirtsleeves up one more time as he tucked his black fed tie under the table ledge and away from the plate. “It’d loosen you up, buddy. And maybe you’d quit tryna live vicariously through horny eighteen-year-olds.”

This was because of the door-to-door canvas. The couple at the park who’d been all over each other, that Castiel hadn’t been able to stop looking at—even after the old, blue-haired lady at 512 Bakersfield Court had made a comment. “Your partner likes to stare…” like she’d never in her seventy-five years of life seen someone curious about such a thing.

“If only that was the first time I heard it, too,” Dean’d smiled back from her stoop, the sharp sun cooking them both in the stuffy Tennessee heat. A marked jab to Cas’ ribs, and a walk to the nearest pub later, and Dean was bringing it up again, because, of course he was. Why talk about the case?

“I only glanced at the couple in the park,” Cas sighed. “It’s not a recurring issue. It doesn’t mean anything.”

Dean laughed, lipped his beer bottle, and took a stout drink. “Sure,” he said. “Glanced at them. Glanced at those girls holding hands last week—though, I’ll give ya that one. I gave ‘em a couple once-overs too.”

“Dean—”

“Point is, it ain’t the first time, and you’re a damn liar.”