Chapter Text
“I know we haven’t been together for a very long time..but I love you so, so much and I know that I don’t ever want to go back to a time when you weren’t in my life or in Claire's life...so that being said...Dean Winchester, will you marry me?”
Castiel looked up from his kneeling position on the living room floor, holding up the small velvet box, and swallowed down the nerves that were plaguing him. There was nothing to be worried about here, everything would be fine. His fingers tightened around the ring box as he waited for an answer to his question.
“Of course, I would love to marry you Cas so we can be together, have more babies and have lots of hot monkey sex but alas, I have fallen in love with Meg and it can never be,” came the answer in a tone that was filled with a dramatic mournfulness made for daytime soap operas.
Huffing in frustration, Castiel forced himself up off the ground, pointedly ignoring the slight ache in his left knee (he was not old enough for joint problems) and sat on the couch. He turned to glare daggers at the brunette next to him.
“Dammit Meg!” he growled angrily, smacking his friend, who was giggling uncontrollably, firmly but not overly violently on the arm. “Can we get through at least one practice without Dean falling in love with you or passing out in an over-excited stupor or revealing his long denied dream of running away to become a go-go boy/cage dancer?”
They, or really Castiel, had been trying to work on his proposal to Dean for the past three hours. When Meg had come over for her usual weekend visit, the dark haired man had obviously not been hiding his secret well and in short order found himself spilling his guts to her in the sunny kitchen while Claire played outside on her swingset, showing his best friend the ring he’d bought.
Meg of course had been ecstatic for him; she had always been the one encouraging him to remarry after Amelia died in childbirth but Castiel had always brushed her off saying that he wasn’t ready for that and that why bother since he hadn’t found anyone to be with. Being the invasive caring type of friend that she was, Meg did of course try time and time again to set the single father up on date after date but finally relented when he practically begged her to leave him be, to let him handle his own romantic affairs.
This had all been before Dean of course.
Ignoring Meg’s continued laughter in favor of getting lost in his own thoughts, Castiel stared down at the ring that was nestled in the dark velvet box in his hands. He still wasn’t sure if he’d gotten the right one.
What if Dean didn’t like it?
It was pretty plain but then he didn’t think Dean, who preferred ratty t-shirts and jeans and who was in general not very fussy, was the type of guy who wanted a very flashy ring. He’d found this at a small jewelry table in the mall; the vendor had handmade all the items she’d been selling and her work was impeccable, much better than anything he’d been seeing in the actual jewelry stores. When Castiel had given the silver haired woman a brief description of Dean and his personality, she’d brightened and said she had just the thing. It was a slightly thicker band in silver with an eye-catching Celtic inspired pattern. At the time he’d believed that there was no doubt that this was the one but now...
“Maybe I should try looking at another ring,” he said, mainly to himself, as he ran a finger over the polished silver metal. There was still time to return it; the ring was still within the thirty day return period. Maybe that nice lady would exchange this ring for something that would be better suited for his boyfriend. If he remembered correctly she had mentioned she would be at the mall for another three weeks so there was time to return---
Castiel was drawn out of his thoughts abruptly by a sharp slap up the back of the head.
He yelped, more in surprise than in pain, and turned to look at Meg who was staring at him with an elegant brow raised. “What the hell was that for Meg?”
“No, just no,” she said vehemently, reaching over and closing the lid on the ring box with a dull click despite Castiel’s noise of protest. “You are not going to go there Clarence. That ring is perfect; your lover boy is going to be over the moon when he finally looks at the thing, which probably won’t be for several hours after you propose because I can guarantee that two minutes after he says yes, you two are going to be going at it like rabbits.”
Castiel scowled at her though he could feel his cheeks flushing slightly, embarrassed that he and Dean were so predictable. Not that he could deny his friend’s statement, not after that time Meg walked on the two of them making out in the kitchen when they were supposed to be getting the sides for the Labor day picnic out of the fridge.
“Really? You two can’t be trusted to go get potato salad alone?” she’d said in that non-plussed drawl of hers as she’d stared them down, an eyebrow raised and arms crossed. He and Dean had been frozen in horror at being caught; Castiel had been perched on the counter, legs spread wide to fit Dean between them while both their arms were wrapped tightly around each other. There had definitely been no explanation for their kiss swollen lips, flushed faces and mussed hair that didn’t come with a heap of embarrassment.
Meg had walked past them towards the fridge, rolling her eyes, to grab the bowls of potato and macaroni salads he and Dean had been sent in to retrieve. “Animals,” she’d muttered to herself as she’d left the kitchen.
Their return to the backyard had been an interesting experience to say the least.
“Dean and I express our emotions in other ways besides sex you know,” Castiel argued, trying not to let the remembered embarrassment from that memory get to him only to have Meg’s snort of disbelief cause him to blush yet again.
His friend was looking at him with an almost exact replica of that expression from Labor day, all the way down to the crossed arm; it was a bit spooky to be honest. “I’m well aware of how sappy you two can be Clarence,” she replied, reaching out to snag the ring box from his hands before Castiel could even process what was happening. He squawked indignantly but Meg continued speaking, “And because I know you two saps so well, I know for a fact that this ring is fine and old Deano is going to definitely going to say yes, probably before you can even get the damn words out so you can stop worrying, Captain Tightass.”
Hmm...Captain Tightass, that is a new one, he thought to himself as he made a grab for the ring box. “Give me that back right now, assbutt,” he shot back without much heat.
Okay maybe his name game needed a bit of work but Castiel was preoccupied with his attempts to pry the ring box out of Meg’s iron grip. Gathering his energy, he launched himself forward, hoping to take his friend off guard but of course the she-devil was expecting that.
All this led to a very childish wrestling match, complete with name calling, on the sofa followed shortly by a location change to the floor which resulted in the pillows being tossed to the floor, the TV remote being flung to a far corner of the living room and Castiel being pressed face down into the carpet with a bony knee in his back. His attempts to cry ‘uncle’ were muffled by the ground, not that his friend would have heeded them anyway.
“Now,” Meg said, her voice a bit breathless from the struggle. She held the ring box out in front of him so that he could see it. He attempted to free an arm and snatch the precious item but was unsuccessful. How could such a small woman be vicious and crafty? The answer of course was that she did indeed possess demonic powers. “Since I know that you plan on proposing next Saturday when little Miss Claire comes to sleepover at Auntie Meg’s, I’m going to save you from yourself once again and keep this in my possession.”
After one last thrashing attempt for freedom that only succeeded in him whacking his head of the apparently very solid leg of the coffee table to his left, Castiel went limp. It was time to concede defeat and part of him could admit, very grudgingly of course, that the little monster on his back was really trying to do what what best for him.
“Alright, alright,” he huffed in annoyance, turning his head awkwardly in an attempt to look up at Meg. “You’re right as always.” Hopefully this flattery would distract the brunette long enough for him to negotiate his escape. “Now please let me up, I need to check on Claire.”
There was a bit of pensive humming and Castiel felt manicured nails tapping thoughtfully on his shoulder blade. “Hmm...I suppose but only for the child,” she finally agreed, shifting off of his back to stand but not before scrubbing roughly at his hair to mess it up and cackling at his indignant protest. “I’m keeping the ring though.”
“You go on a shopping spree again Meg?”
To say that Castiel rose quickly to his feet at the unexpected sound of his boyfriend’s voice did not do the movement justice; it was as if he were catapulted up from the carpet, his heart pounding and causing a short lived twinge in his knee, only to see that Dean was indeed standing in the doorway that led to the backyard. He was looking at him and Meg, an amused smirk on his face. Claire darted through the open door shortly after and threw herself at his boyfriend, clinging to his leg and giggling, causing the other man to look down and smile softly. The sight had Castiel’s panic taking a backseat to warm fuzzy feelings for a second, something that seemed to happen anytime he witnessed Claire being affectionate with Dean, before being brought back to reality.
How long had his boyfriend been standing there?
How much had Dean heard?
Had he been standing there when Meg mentioned when Castiel was planning to propose? That had to be it. Oh god, Dean knew; there was no way the other man hadn’t head. Meg’s voice wasn’t exactly quiet...
Castiel was saved from his tumultuous thoughts by Meg speaking.
“I may have purchased an item of jewelry that may or not be obscenely expensive,” his friend lied easily. Nothing in her tone gave any indication that she was currently lying out her ass and from his frozen position, he saw Meg deftly slip the velvet box into her pocket. “Cas was being a boring sensible person and trying to get me to return it.” She then quickly but skillfully maneuvered the conversation to what Claire had been doing outside.
Thank God for crafty best friends, Castiel though begrudgingly to himself. He wasn’t exactly thrilled that Meg had gotten her own way; there was obviously no way to get Dean’s ring back from her, not with Dean in the room, but at least his boyfriend seemed to accept the explanation.
It also helped that Claire was distracting the other man with her antics. His daughter was attempting to use Dean as a jungle gym, hanging off his various limbs while Meg and him conversed. The other man even crouched down at one point to allow her to scramble on to his back with a squeal of excitement. Castiel walked over to join in on the conversation, hoping that he sounded as if nothing were a miss.
Not long after the heart attack inducing close call involving the ring, Meg announced she had to be leaving, mentioning that she had an article to write. She stood up from the couch; they had all settled in the living room, Castiel and Dean together on the sofa with Meg in the chair, so the adults could talk while Claire had set up shop in the corner containing her toy box so could promptly relocate all the contents of said toy box to the floor.
“See ya Dean, bye bye little miss,” Meg said as she navigated her way through the sea of toys so she could crouch down and give Claire a big hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek. Claire giggled loudly and squirmed in her arms. The brunette stood up and walked over to grab her purse and doing so caught Castiel’s eye. “You be a good boy now Clarence,” she said, looking at him with an expression that very distinctly said ‘Don’t spend all week freaking out, moron.’
Resisting the urge to argue since Dean was in the room, he parroted back the farewell along with Dean though he may have tried to mentally smite her despite the smile on his face. Meg grinned devilishly before waving and showing herself out.
Dean sighed and patted him on the thigh. “Want to help me get supper around?”
Nodding, Castiel stood up to follow the other man into the kitchen; Dean began rifling through the fridge, pulling out ingredients for a casserole and asking him to get the big pan from the cabinet. While he was reaching up to grab the glass pan, Castiel decided to enact the first part of his proposal plan before he chickened out.
“Meg mentioned that she would like to have Claire over next Saturday night,” he said casually, at least he hoped he sounded that way. He placed the casserole pan on the counter where Dean was working before leaning a hip against his workspace. “Something about taking her to a spa day on Sunday. I thought, since we’d have the house to ourselves, maybe we could have a nice night in.”
At first the other man was silent as he flitted over to the stove to fiddle with the oven and Castiel immediately jumped to the conclusion that Dean already had plans for next Saturday either for himself or the both of them; he started reaching for his mental folder of backup plans when he felt his boyfriend come up behind him. Castiel relaxed unconsciously back into the firm warmth of Dean’s chest as the other man rested his hands on his hips, fingers gripping firmly
“Mmm, that sounds like a fantastic idea,” Dean hummed in his ear. Castiel shivered slightly in response to the other man nuzzling at the sensitive skin behind his ear and the side of his neck. Lips brushed his the shell of his ear as Dean continued, “You, me, a nice dinner and a date with the couch followed by our bed; that’s pretty much the best night ever in my book. We haven’t had a night alone for awhile.”
Dean’s hands began to just barely wander under the hem of his t-shirt and Castiel was slowly forgetting the reason he started this whole conversation. The Meg-voice in his head snapped at him to focus.
He reluctantly turned so he was facing Dean. “That’s true, between work and Claire, we haven’t really had some time for ourselves so I thought it would be nice to have some alone time.”
His boyfriend smiled contentedly and leaned down to kiss him lightly before pulling away to get back to supper. “Sounds like a date to me, Cas. Though I think I could be persuaded to give you a preview of coming attractions tonight,” he said, shooting a flirty wink over his shoulder.
Castiel laughed at the other man, Dean was still such a flirt despite the fact they’ve been together for about a year; it was just one of the many reason he was going to propose.
“It’s a date,” Castiel replied, feeling a fresh wave of determination to make this wonderful man his husband washing over him and wiping out most of his nerves.
Hopefully it would be a date that neither of them would never forget.