Chapter Text
They had made a plan.
They had!
Everything was supposed to come together easily, slot together like puzzle pieces fitting to create the masterpiece that would be his and Dean's amazing wedding.
But life had intervened.
The seasons had changed, and so had Dean's appointment schedule. It was filling up so quickly that the therapist found he had no time between his breaks to meet Castiel and take him out -- something Castiel had loved ever since their first impromptu date.
And now with the wedding looming in a few months, Dean found himself rushing through his appointments, attending home visits and extending his interviews and appointments just to make ends meet. He hated that he was leaving his pretty fiance all alone to plan the wedding, and he was desperate to get through the day just so he could spend a few moments with Cas and just talk about them.
He knew how big a change this was for Cas, and he wanted to make sure the man was calm and happy, not overly anxious. They needed to plan this wedding together.
As the days passed, Castiel could see just how exhausted Dean was becoming, he'd come home with a smile, and they'd cling to one another as they watched TV and ate dinner, talking about plans for the wedding, the colour scheme, the flowers, the band, whatever. And then fall into bed together and just sleep.
Castiel didn't mind, not really, he was happy that he got to see Dean, to live with him, and eat with him, and just be with him, even if it was just them, in bed, wrapped around one another, too exhausted from the day to do anything but sleep.
But he could see the strain in his fiance's beautiful green eyes. And he didn't like that. Not at all.
So much so that Castiel stopped him the night he had arrived home after a long day, exhausted and falling asleep at the dinner table as they talked about the venue.
Cas told him that he would do this alone.
Without him.
Oh god.
He wanted his mother!
But Castiel knew that was impossible right now. His parents had travelled back to their town to tell his family that he was getting married. They weren’t returning until the next weekend.
However, Mary, Dean’s mother, was adamant that Castiel get a wedding suit from the same place she had gotten her dress and John, Dean’s father, had gotten his suit.
A bridal salon.
It was an actual, real life, honest to god bridal salon.
And Castiel suddenly had the image of Mary making him wear a wedding dress rather than a suit, and gushing over just how pretty he looked.
Castiel reached for the band around his wrists and pulled it, the slight rap of the elastic fabric snapped his skin, the ache allowing him to focus on the pain, rather than his anxiety.
Mary wouldn’t do that.
So what if he had been dressed as a girl the first time they had met. Mary didn’t really think that Castiel liked to dress like a girl, did she?
Well…if Dean asked…
No. No, no, no. He was not going to think about Dean now. Not when there was nothing he could do about his alpha’s absence.
The Winchester’s seemed to know the owner of the bridal salon, her name was Pamela and she was a lovely person. From what Castiel could ascertain, she was also very flirtatious. Mary had assured Castiel that Pamela would take good care of him and his anxiety.
But, unfortunately, they only had this weekend open for them.
Castiel had been so forlorn at the thought of not having his mother with him on such an auspicious day, they had done a lot together, and he wanted his mother there, it was tradition. He had been so upset that he had locked himself away in his room, not letting anyone in, not even Dean.
Through the silence of his anxiety, he could hear Dean speak to Pamela, trying to move the dates around, and then speaking to his mother, trying to explain that they could go to any other bridal store to get the suits. But that just made Castiel feel worse. This was Dean’s wedding as well. And Castiel was just being a pain right now. He couldn’t help the way he felt, but he couldn’t pour all of the work on Dean.
Dean stood, so disappointed, so lost and so unhappy with himself as he knocked on the door to Castiel’s room. Castiel could hear the sheer overwhelming emotion of uselessness when he spoke, asking for Cas to come out.
Castiel couldn’t bear to see him upset, so he told him that he’d do this on his own. He could do this, he would do this.
He’d be fine.
Well…he’d try to be anyway.
Dean, his beautiful alpha, his gorgeous fiancé, the perfect man that he was, had spoken to his mother, and together they sought to get everything done as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Goodness…Dean was so amazing. And Castiel was marrying him!
"Don’t worry my pretty omega." He had said before Castiel had left. "Everything will be fine."
But now that Castiel found himself standing in the middle of the bridal salon, he felt his heart beat race, felt his breath quicken. What if he tripped? What if he ripped the suits he was trying on? What if the outfits didn’t fit? What if he didn’t find a suit?
There were only a few months left until the wedding, just a few months for him to fret and freak out, to plan out every single detail.
But Dean, his beautiful, sweet alpha had told him not to worry.
He knew Cas well enough now to know what he wanted. Castiel still got the final say in everything, but without any of the thought. All he had to worry about now was finding a suit.
“Find something comfortable,” Dean had told him. Castiel was only going to wear the dress for a few hours. Dean wanted him to be as comfortable as possible.
Cas wanted to make him happy.
He stood next to his best friend, Sam, his Sam's husband, Gabriel and his future mother-in-law, Mary, looking up at the daunting building before them.
Pamela’s Bridal Salon.
He and Dean had worked together and made both of their parents happy. The wedding day would start at the church the Winchester’s went to, where they would say their vows, put on their rings and the reception would happen in a hall in the late afternoon.
They’d be extremely tired at the end of the day, but Castiel was happy he was making both his parents and his future in-laws happy.
Sam brought him out of his thoughts by pushing open the glass doors and ushering Castiel into the room. Castiel followed his friends and stepped into the room.
It was amazing. There were racks on the side filled with plastic covered dresses. There were mannequins by the windows dressed in beautiful wedding dresses, all different styles and fabrics.
Oh god…
A pretty, older woman with beautiful dark hair and a happy smile rushed over to them, taking Mary into a large hug. She then turned to Sam and gave him and Gabriel a hug to.
“Thanks for coming,” Pamela said with a bright smile.
Mary shook her head. “Of course! We always come to you,”
Pamela nodded, somewhat smugly. Then turned to Sam and Gabriel once again, her pretty smile brightening.
“Congratulations on the wedding,” She said, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but I know you both looked amazing in my suits,”
Sam rolled his eyes. Mary ushered Castiel forward, the young man stumbled in front of them, sucking in a deep breath and trying to force his anxiety down. He snapped the fabric on his wrist again.
“This is Castiel,” Mary said, her smile was just as bright and beautiful.
“Dean finally got snapped up, eh?” Pamela said, tilting her head to one side and giving Castiel a once over. “You’re pretty cute, we’re gonna have a good time.”
Castiel snapped the elastic on his wrists once again, feeling slightly intimidated by the boisterous woman watching him.
Oh god…
~~
Dean had finally finished his last appointment for that day.
He ushered the old woman out of his office, smiling at her as she closed the door behind him. Once the door clicked closed, he dropped his head on the mahogany, letting out a loud sigh.
Today had been long!
He just wanted to get home, get something good to eat and lay on the sofa, preferably with his beautiful angel wrapped around him, snuggling into him, and just do what couples did.
His thoughts ran to Castiel. And just like that, his phone began to buzz.
Reaching for it, he noticed the caller ID and smirked. Picking up the phone, he placed it to his ear.
“Castiel’s alpha,” he smirked. But his smirk vanished when he heard the exasperated breathing, faint sobs and something crashing in the background, “Cas, Cas, baby. Are you okay?”
“A-alpha?” Castiel sounded like he was crying.
Worry enveloped Dean as he held the phone closer to his ear. “I’m here sweetheart, shall we try face timing?”
He heard Castiel’s affirmation, and heard him press a few buttons on his phone, soon Dean got the notification for face timing and pressed on confirm. The image of Castiel on the other end nearly made his heart break.
Castiel wasn’t crying, but his pretty eyes were brimming with unshed tears, his wrist was red raw under the elastic band, his hair was in disarray – most likely from trying on too many clothes, and running his fingers through them countlessly – his skin was pale and his pretty lips were trembling. His breathing was quick and his pupils were wide.
All in all, his baby looked anxious as hell.
“Baby, breathe with me.” Dean said, taking in deep breaths and letting Castiel follow. It took them a few minutes but Castiel finally stopped hyperventilating. “That’s it, my pretty omega, I’m right here,”
“D-Dean, I’m sorry,” Castiel murmured, looking down. “I…I can’t do this…”
Dean shook his head. “No baby, I’m sorry for letting you go alone,”
“Your mother is very helpful, but I…” Castiel sucked in a shaky breath as he tried to breathe deeply once again. Pushing back his anxiety to talk to his anchor, his alpha.
“Don’t apologise,” Dean reprimanded him. “You want me to come over?”
Castiel sat down on the seats around the bridal changing rooms, giving Dean a view of the white shirt and green tie he was wearing. The starkness of the red on his wrist only looked brighter and rawer under the pure white. But his Castiel really did look like an angel.
A dishevelled one, but an angel none the less.
“I have to do this,” Castiel said after a few moments, taking in another deep breath. “I promised you,”
“You don’t have to force yourself,” Dean retorted, settling down on the chaise lounge in the middle of his office, his gaze not leaving Castiel’s moist eyes. “We can do this another time, or I’ll get someone else to do everything, I’ll think of something,”
“Thank you Dean, but no.” Castiel said defiantly, confidence seeping in him the more he spoke to Dean. “I promised your mother, and I will go through with this.”
Dean smiled at his confident angel, glad that Castiel was actually making himself do something that was outside of his usual self. Just the fact Castiel was letting someone else dress him, touch him, talk to him. It made Dean so proud of his fiancé.
“I’m here if you need me babe,” He said, giving his support.
He was definitely going to go to the bridal salon as soon as he was able to, because even though Castiel was being so brave right now, he didn’t want his angel to feel completely out of his elements.
“Thank you Dean,” Castiel murmured, leaning forward into the phone.
Dean chuckled as the phone went dark for a few seconds before Castiel’s face leaned back until it was back in full view.
Yup, Castiel just kissed his phone.
“Why’re you laughing?” He asked.
Dean shook his head. “I love you,” he murmured, leaning forward to do the same thing Castiel had done. It felt weird kissing his phone, but seeing Castiel’s face light up when he leaned back was more than worth it.
“Now get back out there and rock,”
Castiel nodded, standing up and saying a long goodbye to Dean. As soon as the phone clicked off, Dean opened the door to his office, seeing the pretty redhead sitting at the reception desk.
She looked up at him, smirking. "What's up boss?"
"Charlie, cancel my appointments for today," Dean replied, watching as she nodded and got straight to work on cancelling his last appointment for that night. Sure, Dean would get an ear ache from Charlie, and the client, but his fiance was more important to him. Dean thanked her.
Returning, he packed his things and made his way out of the office and to his Baby. Getting into his car, he revved her up and almost sped out of the parking lot.
He needed to get to his fiancé soon.
~~
Castiel tugged at the frills of the suit Pamela had made him try out, it was pretty, white with hints of silver and green here and there, to accent the colour of his tie.
But Castiel wanted this frilly monstrosity off.
This wasn’t what he had pictured. And it was comfortable at all!
He wanted to rip the sheer fabric from his body and just run into the bridal room and call Dean again, he wanted to hear his voice. But he didn’t dare do that now. He could do this!
Mary was being so nice, so consoling. And it seemed she had read Castiel’s mind when she turned to Pamela and asked her, “Do you have something more…simple?”
Castiel let out a sigh of relief as Pamela pried off the sparkly blazer and laid it on the rack. She then rifled through the black suits. A few moments of the sound of screeching hangers being forced from one end to the other on the rack, Pamela appeared with a gorgeous simple, black suit.
As soon as Castiel put it on, he felt his heart beat flutter. He stared at himself in the mirror and couldn’t help but suck in a deep breath at the sight. The suit was perfect. It fit well, and had little green accents in the pockets and collar that would match the tie he had taken off a few moments prior. And it felt super soft and extremely light and dextrous.
Castiel felt comfortable in this suit.
It was just what he wanted.
“Perfect,” Mary gushed, holding her phone up and taking a few pictures of him in the suit. Sam and Gabriel had their phones out too, taking videos and pictures of Castiel in his chosen suit.
Castiel reached up to straighten his hair, wanting to let them have a better picture, but he just let his hands fall, it didn’t matter. No. Not really, this was for him.
With his skin pale and almost sickly looking, his hair a mussy nest of curls, and his eyes almost bloodshot with the tears he had forced not to let out, he looked like a complete wreck.
But it didn't matter. Because this was it. This was the suit. This was what he was going to wear when he married Dean. When he married Dean!
Dean was going to love this…
…he hoped.