Work Text:
Dean woke to the smell of breakfast cooking and smiled, wriggling himself deeper into the thick duvet and enjoying the residual warmth before opening his eyes. He rolled over to look at the digital alarm clock and, after noting that it was already past 10, picked up the small envelope with his name on that was resting against the lamp on his nightstand. It hadn’t been there last night.
Turning it over in his hands he recognised Castiel’s neat handwriting and smiled again, wondering what his angel was up to. He opened it up and pulled out the card, little heart shaped sequins and glitters falling out onto his lap as he opened it and he groaned at the booby trap. That had probably been Sam’s suggestion.
Stay in bed
Castiel’s beautiful cursive instructed and Dean was happy to oblige, brushing the glitter from the quilt and tugging the pillows until he was comfortably half sitting and then snuggling down into them and closing his eyes again. He was down with whatever Cas had planned, especially if it involved whatever delicious treats he could smell.
He’d drifted off into a light doze when he heard a loud thud, muffled swearing and then the bedroom door swung open and Castiel stepped inside bearing a tray laden with food. It was all Dean could do to hold his laughter in at the comical sight of Cas, turning it into a yawn quickly before he could hurt the man’s feelings. Somehow Castiel had managed to get flour everywhere, there was what looked like egg in his hair and he had a wide smudge of syrup on his cheek. But he looked so proud of himself as he crossed the room and set the breakfast tray down on Dean’s lap, pulling cutlery from his pocket and handing it over happily.
Dean set the tray aside and Cas looked confused but then he drew the angel in for a kiss and Castiel hummed happily and returned the kiss, twining his fingers with Dean’s resting on the bed.
“Good morning,” Dean mumbled and Castiel smiled, resting their foreheads together.
“Good morning, Dean, eat your breakfast,” he sat back and let Dean put the tray back on his lap.
Castiel had gone all out fixing everything he knew Dean liked. There were pancakes, crispy bacon, scrambled eggs, waffles, mushrooms fried in butter… Dean’s mouth watered at the spread.
“What’s all this in aid of? And you know I’m never gonna be able to finish all this,” he picked up the cup of coffee and sipped it then dug in to the food with enthusiasm.
“That’s okay, I just wanted you to have all of your favorite things,” Castiel smiled, watching Dean eat lovingly. “And I wanted you to have something special on Valentine’s.”
“Va- oh shit,” Dean’s face was stricken, he’d completely forgotten Valentine’s Day was coming up. Now he no longer had any reason to pick up desperate chicks it had fallen under his radar. “I, uh, I didn’t think we did V-Day,” he said nervously.
“I know, but this year I wanted to do something nice for you.”
Dean chewed slowly, carefully considering his next words. “I didn’t get anything for you, Cas,” he confessed.
Castiel laughed and shook his head. “You’ve already given me more than I could ever wish for, Dean. And in any case, doing something nice for someone you love just so you can get something in return is not really an admirable sentiment...” He looked mildly confused by the concept and Dean laughed.
“No, I guess you’re right,” he agreed, spearing a triangle of pancake on his fork and lifting it to Cas’ mouth, “will it make it up to you if I tell you I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything in my whole life?” He tried to make it sound casual, joking even, but the sentiment was true.
Castiel took the offered food in his mouth and chewed it, his cheeks coloring at Dean’s words and he nodded happily. “You don’t have to make anything up to me, Dean, but I will never tire of hearing you say that,” he smiled.
Dean finished up what food he could eat and set the tray aside again, pulling Castiel into his arms and licking at the smear of syrup on his cheek teasingly. “You’re filthy,” he chuckled then kissed Cas tenderly, “thank you for breakfast.”
“You’re welcome,” Cas rumbled, climbing into Dean’s lap and kissing him for a while, soft, gentle kisses that said more than words ever could. Dean ran his fingers up into Castiel’s hair and then pulled away, grimacing.
“Urgh, you have flour everywhere Cas, c’mon – shower.” Not intending to take no for an answer Dean lifted Castiel – who was always surprised Dean could actually pick him up – and slid out of the bed, trotting into their attached bathroom.
They emerged a short while later, scrubbed clean and dressed quickly at Castiel’s insistence; he had more planned for the day and it was already eleven o’clock.
Dean was glad he’d insisted Castiel learn to drive when they got in the car, wherever they were going it would have ruined the surprise if Cas had had to give him directions. He never broke the speed limit (“laws are put in place for a reason, Dean,”) and he messed with the radio settings, but it was worth all that to see him bobbing his head to the music as he checked his blind spot for the third time before switching lanes or hear him singing tunelessly along to some song Dean probably couldn’t have told you three lines from.
“Maybe God wasn’t such a dick after all,” Dean said suddenly after they’d been on the road about fifteen minutes.
Castiel shot him a sideways glance and raised an eyebrow. “How so? I mean, why the sudden change of heart?”
“He made you, didn’t he?” Dean went red, something weird had come over him today, he wasn’t usually this sappy. Still, he’d make an exception just for today – Cas deserved to hear everything Dean could think of today. “And nobody’s forced you to return to Heaven, they’re letting you stay with me...” he trailed off and frowned. “Damn, I’m lucky.”
Castiel laughed which made Dean smile, he loved the sound of Cas’ laugh and was glad it happened more often now. They rarely hunted anymore and Castiel had slowly started leaning more human mannerisms, but his laugh was still Dean’s favorite.
“I’m the lucky one,” Cas said quietly and Dean looked down at his lap.
“I dunno about that,” he mumbled, “you’re a frigging angel. You’ve seen my whole species grow up, but you still picked me outta all that...” Dean had realised this before, but the reminder always overwhelmed him.
“You were the first human worth choosing.”
They fell silent after that, Dean embarrassed by his sudden sappiness and Cas simply comfortable listening to the music as they drove. Eventually they pulled in to a parking lot and Castiel jumped out, moving around to the trunk to pull a duffel out while Dean got out, looking around confusedly.
“C’mon, it’s just over this hill,” Castiel seemed excited and held his hand out to Dean, who took it and followed with a laugh. On the other side of the hill was a massive screen and people were wandering across the field from all directions, setting up blankets and picnic baskets. “It’s an outdoor movie theatre,” Castiel enthused, as if Dean hadn’t been able to work that out, “and they’re playing the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.”
“The...” Dean laughed, shaking his head in disbelief before wrapping his arms around Castiel and kissing him, “Cas, you’re awesome. How did you even find this?”
“Sam helped me search the internet,” Cas confessed, “now help me put the blanket out.”
They settled down, curled together on the blanket comfortably – Cas had even thought to bring some cushions and other small comforts in case the grass wasn’t springy and soft – and Dean looked at his boyfriend adoringly. They rarely went out on dates, preferring to stay in and enjoy each other’s company than risk the disapproving scrutiny of the general public, and rarer still was Dean the one being treated so he couldn’t help being constantly reminded of just how lucky he truly was.
And so what if he spent more time watching Castiel than watching the movie? He’d seen it a dozen times before and in any case Cas was more beautiful than Galadriel, in Dean’s opinion. About halfway through The Two Towers Dean’s stomach started to growl and Castiel laughed, hopping up from the blanket without a word and returning to the car. He came back hauling a massive picnic basket and Dean wondered for a moment how Cas had managed to fit it in the Impala’s trunk.
He began to set out all kinds of food from cold cooked meats to sandwiches, dainty little parfaits to no less than five different flavors of pie; he’d even brought paper plates and plastic cutlery for the truly authentic picnic experience. Dean kissed him until his head span, and then kissed him some more, laughing when Castiel told him the food would get eaten by ants if they weren’t careful. Cas finally managed to get his own back by tickling Dean into submission and then fed him tidbits once he was pinned to the blanket. Dean taught him to put a piece of food half into his own mouth before feeding it to him so they could kiss as they ate and he used the new skill enthusiastically as they worked through their picnic, largely forgetting about the movie.
They eventually watched Bilbo and Frodo sail out across the ocean on the screen as the sun set behind them, casting a golden glow over the picnickers. Sated and happy Dean didn’t want to move until the credits had reached an end. He pulled Cas to him and the angel rested his head on Dean’s chest, listening to his heart beat. It was surprisingly mild for February, though Dean was glad they had brought sweaters with them.
“Dean?” Castiel said quietly.
“Mm?”
Castiel fidgeted a little, trying to find a more comfortable position. “I’d like to always be able to do this.”
“Valentine’s Day shit? If you want to, Cas,’ Dean mumbled sleepily, carding his fingers through Castiel’s hair. “Whatever makes you happy makes me happy.”
“No, what I mean is... just being together, always.”
“Course we will, well as long as you don’t mind helping me out when I get old,” Dean laughed.
“Can we get married?”
Dean spluttered and they both sat up, Dean’s eyes wide with surprise. “Married?”
“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Cas said hurriedly but Dean silenced him with a kiss.
“Of course I want to, I love you,” he replied quietly, moving back to look deep into Castiel’s eyes, “I’m just surprised, that’s all. Of course I would love to marry you, Cas,” he beamed, his heart racing, soaring on a wave of love and emotion.
They kissed for a while, Dean trying to tell Castiel how much he meant to him without all the sappy words that he only messed up anyway, until finally Cas pulled back and pressed a small box into Dean’s palm.
“I understand that it’s traditional to give a woman a ring to symbolise engagement, but I didn’t feel that was appropriate since neither you nor I are women,” Castiel said, his cheeks tinged pink, “so I wanted to give you something else, something more precious.”
Dean looked at Cas, emotions threatening to overwhelm him. “Cas, you didn’t have to…” He crossed his legs and then opened the box, watched closely by Castiel.
Inside, nestled on satin, was a small glowing pendant.
“Is that… your Grace?” Dean looked at Castiel, shocked at the enormity of the gift.
Castiel nodded in a roundabout way. “Some of it, yes. I can’t leave all of it in the hands of a human, Gabriel took the rest back to Heaven where it will be safe. But I wanted you to have a part of it. A token of our love, like the Evenstar from the movie, if you said yes.”
“Cas, what if I hadn’t!” Dean lifted the necklace out of the box, his fingertips tingling where it touched the glass vial that contained Castiel’s Grace.
“Then Gabriel would have returned the rest of my Grace to me had I asked for it.” He took Dean’s hands in his own, pressing the necklace into Dean’s palm. “I want to be with you for all our lives, I want to grow old with you, I want to be with you always as your lover, your partner, your friend. Not standing by your side while I watch you wither away, Dean, I couldn’t bear it.”
Dean was crying now and he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have cared if all their friends were standing right there beside them. Lunging forward he caught Cas in a tight hug, the pendant clutched desperately in his hand. “Yes, please, I wouldn’t have asked but I need you, Cas, with me, here,” he mumbled, hoping he made sense. “I love you.”
“I love you too, Dean. And I knew you’d say yes,” Castiel’s expression was cheeky - another human trait he’d picked up.
“Yeah, well,” Dean looked bashful, “I’d be stupid not to.”
The credits finished rolling and they packed up their picnic in the dim evening light, walking back to the car hand in hand as a soft light gleamed on Dean’s chest.