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They lay under the twinkling stars of the night sky. It was perfect. The calming sound of trees rustling in the breeze and the occasional cricket filled Dean with joy. He turned to Castiel, to see what they thought of this place only to be met with an empty expression on their face. Castiel began talking but it was silent. Hell, all the sounds around the two on them had been silenced. Dean tried to tell Cas he couldn't hear them but, before he could react properly to what was happening, everything went dark. Dean scrambled to get to his feet, but ended up being pushed back down by an unseen force, leaving a heavy weight on his chest. He was falling, deeper and deeper. He tried screaming for help, and was once again left in the deafening silence. A quiet ringing noise began and it got louder and louder. Dean's heart began beating faster. He closed his eyes in an attempt to distract himself.
And then it stopped...
His eyes burst open and he shot up to the sound of his phone ringing. Another dream. He checked to see who it was and decided the call from his brother could wait. He got off the sofa and heard a bottle fall to the floor as he did so. Dean threw on his dressing gown and made his way to the bunker's kitchen. It was getting late so he decided he might as well drink his coffee and prepare food for himself before getting dressed properly. After about an hour of sitting in the quiet room, Dean called Sam back, just to see what he wanted. After two rings he picked up.
"Hey, whats up?."
"Where are you, man?"
"I went out to see Eileen. Decided you could use a rest so we left you to it for the day."
"Alright. Well, don't get yourself killed Sammy."
"You too Dean."
Dean hung up and checked the time. 15:58? Ok that was late, even for him. He sat in the library, mindlessly flicking through a book, taking nothing in from it.
He tried to pass time by wandering the halls. A small draft makes him pull his dressing gown tighter around his body. As Dean slowly gives up on finding something interesting to do for the what was left of the day, he decides to head back to his room and tidy the mess he had left behind.
As he finished throwing the last empty bottle out and fixing his sheets to a somewhat reasonable state, his phone rang. Expecting it to be Sam, Dean hadn't read the name displayed on the cracked screen.
"Hey, Sam. What's up now?"
"Hello, Dean."
The rough, tired voice that responds catches Dean off guard. He backs towards his bed and sit down.
"Cas?" He says, "this better really be you. If this is some kind of trick there'll be hell to pay."
He could feel anger and fear bubbling up within him. He hoped it really was his friend on the other end, he wasn't in the mood for dealing with anyone else right now.
"Dean, it's me. I need you to come and pick me up. I can't fly to you."
He still felt skeptical but his desperation to see Castiel again leads him to ask where they are and with that he hangs up and grabs his keys.
Dean ran out to the garage as fast as he could and practically threw himself into the car. He drives out to the town Castiel said they were at. It wasn't too far away but every moment Dean wasn't with them felt more and more painful. Only when he had stopped at a set of traffic lights had Dean remembered he hadn't gotten dressed yet. He knew Castiel wouldn't mind but it made him feel self-conscious nonetheless.
He pulled up into a parking spot at the gas station Castiel said they were near and waited, on high alert for anything off. The situation still felt odd. The call was so out of the blue Dean wasn't sure whether to trust it or not but looking in the Impala's mirror and seeing Castiel made all his doubts melt away.
That was undeniably his Castiel.
Dean stepped out of the car and into the cool breeze of the mid-afternoon Thursday. He raised his arms and hugged Castiel who returned it gratefully. They stayed like that for what felt like hours before Dean pulled away, hands still holding Castiel's shoulders to ground himself.
"How?" Dean asks feels tears prick at the side of his eyes.
"I don't know. I just woke up in this random town. I couldn't fly to you. I seem to have lost my grace," they had a sad smile on their face, "I missed you."
"I missed you too buddy," Dean cringed at the word, remembering their last conversation before Castiel was taken.
Castiel's smile dropped slightly, clearly noticing Dean had something to say. They tilted their head in that familiar way as to encourage Dean to speak.
"Can we... can we talk about that goodbye?"
"Yes. I apologise if i have made you uncomfortable," Castiel looked down, "I hope we could be as we were before, Dean."
Dean's hands dropped and gently held Castiel's. Cas looked up and met his eyes. Both if them now had tears falling down their faces as they held eye contact, both scared the other would leave any second.
Dean reached up and held Castiel's cheek as he closed the gap between them. Their kiss was short, sweet and full of all the words Dean was too scared to say. It was perfect and Dean hoped it was to be the first of many. They smiled at each other as they pulled apart.
Castiel looked down once again but this time they were staring at Dean's attire. Dean felt his face grow warmer as he became more embarrassed of the situation.
"Where are you pants?" Castiel asked, still staring at Dean's bare legs.
"I didn't exactly have time to get dressed, man. Give be a break."
"I would have waited," Castiel looked him in the eye again, "I would wait however long I needed to ensure I could be with you again."
Dean felt himself break at that. He leaned into Cas and sobbed. He had missed them more than he would ever care to admit. But he had them back. They were here, alive, safe, together. It's all Dean needed right now. He laughed to himself and stood straight.
"Lets go home, Cas."
Cas smiled and nodded.
The drive back to the bunker was in comfortable silence, Castiel leaning against Dean's side and Dean's hand resting on their thigh.
Dean lead Castiel into the kitchen of the bunker once they had returned. Cas leaned against the counter as Dean grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and hands one over.
"So, you're human now?" He asks to finally break the silence. The question had been bugging him since Castiel had said they couldn't fly.
"I suppose so," Castiel returned taking a sip from their bottle, "I haven't thought too much of it. I guess I'm scared to admit it."
They fell back into another silence, this one not quite so comfortable. Dean silently thanks his younger brother for having perfect timing as he calls through the bunker that he was back. He got to the kitchen, seeing the light was on and dropped the bags in his hands as he saw the two stood together, impossibly close.
"Cas?"
They smiled, warm and welcoming, "hello, Sam. It's good to see you again."
Sam looked to Dean for confirmation that Castiel was indeed stood in front of him. Dean nodded and smiled back. Sam launched himself at Cas and caught them in a tight hug.
Dean chuckled at the sight of it, Castiel's face surprised by the attack and Sam's full of relief.
"How? When? What happened, dude?" Sam looked between the two of them as he fired the questions and stepped back again.
"Long story," Dean replied.
"It's good to see you again Cas. Don't go disappearing like that again. Had me worried for you," Sam looked over to his brother, "not to mention Dean wasn't holding up too good with you gone."
Castiel's smile dropped and they looked over to Dean, a sorrowful look in their eye. Dean brushed it off, deciding it was best to discuss that later. Or never, he didn't really mind.
The three of them spent the evening together watching a film Sam had picked out. Well, Sam watched a film, occasionally glancing over at Dean and Cas who seemed too preoccupied staring at each other to be paying any attention to the screen in front of them. Sam didn't mind, he knew what they meant to each other. If anything he was glad they were like that, their long stares at each other before were sweet but there's only so much he could handle before feeling the need to shout at them to just confess already. Who could blame him? Everyone was thinking it.
The credits started to roll and Sam cleared his throat, bringing his brother and Castiel put of their trance and declared that he was heading to his room to rest. They both said their goodbyes and said they would head off soon too. Dean turned off the TV and held Cas' hand as he took them both to his room. Their room.
Castiel changed into some clothes Dean handed them and they climbed into the bed together. Dean heaved out a content sigh and rested his head on Castiel's shoulder, slowly drifting off to sleep but this time, he had Cas right there beside him.
"G'night Cas. I love you, y'know that?"
Castiel smiled and pressed a kiss to Dean's head. "I love you too Dean."
And with that they both drifted off.