(forย @petrichoravellichor, with loveโฆ happy st. valentineโs day 2020, my beautiful wifeyย <333)
Rating: Teen Pairing: Castiel/Dean Winchester Word Count: 1336 Tags: Dean POV, Canonverse, Pure Romantic Fluff
It was a Thursday when it happened.
The three of them had returned home from a hunt the day before. Took down a pack of Weres in Albuquerque and it had been an especially rough one, everyone getting pretty banged up. Sammy had come out of it worst off, but Cas had fixed him up good as new with a shot of grace to fix his bust lip and fractured wrist. Dean, however, had only suffered a few cuts, bruised ribs and a couple broken knuckles. So letting the angel use up more of his precious mojo was an obvious no-go, as far as he was concerned. What with heaven on its way out, who knew what was gonna happen to the few angels that were left? How long would their grace last, now their connection to God was severed? Dean wasnโt going to chance it, wouldnโt let Cas waste his grace on him. Wasnโt worth it. But that meant Cas insisting on keeping my eyes on you, as the dork had put it. Which Dean had found pretty funnyโuntil heโd wondered whether Cas meant his who-knows-how-many beady little (huge) true form peepers.
After crawling from his bed, Dean now walked, slowly, into the Bunkerโs kitchen. He was always slow these days, before caffeine. But the bruised ribs were definitely playing their part this morning if he were being honest with himself. Which he wasnโt.
Just as he realised he could already smell coffee, he spotted Cas, sat at the centre island, and straightened up his gait. Cas, with his own cup of black and honey, had that Greek statue nose of his buried deep in Deanโs old copy of Vonnegutโs Catโs Cradle. Dean had lent it to him so many damn timesโCas apparently liked to read it over and over and overโheโd eventually told the angel he could keep the dog-eared relic heโd stolen from a library somewhere in middle America in the mid-nineties, and heโd bought himself another copy from Goodwill.
Dean croaked out, โMorninโ, Sunshine,โ as usual.
Cas looked up. โHello, Dean.โ Man, Dean would never tire of those two words on Casโ lips. โIโve made you some coffee,โ Cas said as he got up to pour another cup. โOh, and I got some more of that maple-bourbon flavour syrup you pretend not to like when Sam is around,โ which he then pulled out of its hiding place at the back of Deanโs cupboard.
Dean looked stealthily over his shoulder in case said brother was lurking. โThanks, man. I owe you,โ he whispered.
โWell, you could easily repay me by allowing me to heal your woundsโฆโ Cas said, brows raised in hope.
โNuh-uh, nope. Ainโt happeninโ. One of usโll have to come up with another idea, Sneaky McSneakerson.โ
Cas glowered and huffed a sigh.
Dean smiled like a six-year-old.
โWell, Iโm at least going to check your wounds,โ Cas stated.
โNot even gonna let me drink my damn coffee first, huh?โ
โNuh-uh, nope. Ainโt happeninโ,โ Cas mimicked.
Dean glowered and huffed his own sigh. But then acquiesced all the same.
Cas walked around the stainless steel kitchen island to Deanโs side, his eyes now on the square of dressing protecting a nasty cut on the left side of Deanโs forehead. As he reached his destination, his right knee automatically slid between Deanโs knees to part them, allowing him to stand in betweenโand closer to Dean. Like, a lot closer.
Dean tried his best to take a slow and secret, calming deep breath.
It didnโt help. Now his sense of smell was just reaffirming what his heart was already screaming at him with each beat: Cas, Casโฆ Cas, Casโฆ Yes, yesโฆ Yes, yesโฆ
Cas peeled back the surgical tape and lifted the gauze to check the cut.
Then it just kind of happened. Dean was tired, hadnโt even had his first essential cup of Joe yet, let alone the necessary second. It was just a dumb joke, reallyโฆ
โHeh heh, eat your heart out, Doctor Sexy.โ
Cas stilled his ministrations, squinting those baby blues. He looked down at Dean who, with the full implications of what heโd just said now dawning on him, bit at his bottom lip and looked away. His cheeks burned like they were covered in gasoline and Cas were a naked flame.
Half a moment later, Cas simply continued with his business.
Dean was confused but thought heโd maybe somehow gotten away with the slip. He chanced a look at the angelโonly to blink his surprise at the smile that shaped not only Casโ pink lips but lit up his whole face, shining bright. Likeโฆ like actual sunshine.
And then Dean realised heโd never seen it, never seen this exact smile. He had a list of all of Casโ smiles catalogued in his head, like the list of his favourite Zep tracks or his favourite flavours of pie. There was the stoic one he used on most hunts, that didnโt quite reach his eyes; the nervous one that tended to tick at his beautiful chapped lips; the closed-lipped but warm one heโd often save for Sam; the dorky gummy one when heโd laugh at one of Deanโs hilarious jokes; the small, shy one that sometimes slowly climbed up one side of his pretty face when he thought Dean couldnโt see himโฆ and others too, mostly pretty similar but each with their own unique, minute differences. But this smile? It was different, brand new. It wasโฆ knowing. Elated. Smug, the bastard. But alsoโฆ hopeful? Mostly, Cas just looked genuinely happy. Like, really, really happy.
And that smile was how it started, how it happened. The new smile was what changed everything. Dean had stupidly waited eleven fucking years for that smile, without even knowing he was doing so. But it did it; it gave Dean what he needed to open a door, which he knew in his heart, Cas had been waiting to walk through.
Dean lifted his left hand to where Cas was replacing the gauze, and he took Casโ, bringing it to his cheek. He fought to keep his gaze trained on the love of his life, his shitty confidence trying to pull it away, his quick breathing trying to make him pass out. But he managed, even as Casโ inquisitive eyes locked onto his, to really look at Cas, trying to force his intentions to flow like Niagra through his pupils. Then, as Cas adorably tilted his head in question, Dean turned his head and pressed a soft but lingering kiss into Casโ palm, that brave gaze holding firm as his heartbeat that thundered in his ears.
And there it was, back again. That smile.
Then after what felt like a lifetime, like nothing had happened even though the whole world had shifted beneath their feet, Cas muttered, โYou may drink your coffee now, Dean.โ
Dean just smiled his own smile. It was a small thing but more open and truer thanโฆ than ever. And Casโ eyes told Dean that Cas understood. โAsshole,โ Dean muttered back. โStill gonna repay you, though.โ
Cas smirked a smirk heโd learned from Dean. โIโm sure youโll think of something.โ
And in that moment they didnโt need any more. Both knew what it had meant, what theyโd shared. Each knew what the other felt, it had moved through them in lieu of Casโ grace. They knew more would grow in time, like wild roses on a graveโDean, for one, would make sure of it. But on that normal, uneventful morning in an underground bunker in Lebanon, Kansas, the most beautiful shit in Deanโs entire life had occurred. And if it had meant even just a fraction of that for Cas, Dean was beyond happy. He wondered if the smile he felt growing on his own face looked anything like Casโ Deanโs Smile... Deanโs Thursdayโs Smile.
If Dean knew one thing for absolute certain though, it was that heโd never, ever forget even a second of the first time heโd kissed Castiel.
(unedited, please forgive me!)
