Take Two - Chapter Thirteen - Destiel Fanfiction
Title: Take Two
Authors: islanderbib83 & pdlessard07 (pippin1983 & lotrspnfangirl)
Pairing: Destiel
Rating: R (may change)
Summary: Dean and Castiel get drunkenly married at 19. It's bold, it's rash, it's being young and in love. After Dean walked out, Castiel tried to move and after ten years, he's decided to marry again. The only thing standing in his way is his legal marriage. Dean, however, wants a second chance to prove that he's grown up, he's matured, but his love for Castiel has never changed.
Warnings/Spoilers: Angsty! Totally AU.
Beta(s): Huge thanks and hugs to oldbatj for working with us on this! Jude, you’re fantastic!
A/N: We own nothing! We are taking these characters and playing with them nicely. Our fic was based off of this prompt.. Bibi primarily wrote Dean and Dani primarily wrote Cas. Our eye banners are used to signify scene changes and not POV, even if they coincide. We just think the boys have pretty eyes <3
You can find Chapter One here.
You can find lotrspnfangirl fiction index here.
You can find pippin1983 fiction index here.
Castiel took his time pulling into the driveway, nerves fluttering through his stomach as he placed the car in ‘park’. Exhaling slowly he pushed the driver’s door and looked around the yard for the bird house Dean had mentioned in order to find the key. Thank God it was only five feet above the ground, all the way over he’d wondered about his ability to use a ladder in his nervous condition. Steeling himself, he took another deep breath, retrieved the key and stood on the front porch for a few calming breaths before unlocking the door and letting himself into the house.
Dean’s face was a happy grin when he heard the door unlock. Since Dorothy was sleeping, he didn’t call out for Cas, but hoped he’d just come straight into the living room.
Cas closed the door behind him and clicked the lock in place again. He placed the spare key on the window sill and turned around to find where Dean and Dorothy were.
Dean waited, feeling a bit stupid to be seen like this, trapped on the couch by his sleeping daughter, unable to tell Cas where to go. But after the earlier scare and Dotty being afraid to let Dean out of her sight, he didn’t want it any other way.
Cas hesitated for a moment more in the doorway before toeing off his shoes and stepping further into the foyer, looking first to the right and into the kitchen before choosing the left doorway. He was rewarded with the sight of Dean smiling at him from the couch, his little daughter curled up against him, asleep.
“Hey,” Castiel smiled and moved into the room further.
“Hey,” Dean half whispered. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“It’s really no problem, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else...” Cas replied honestly, sinking down in the recliner across from the couch. “How are you feeling right now?”
“Been better. But I’m with Dotty again and that’s all that matters,” Dean replied. “And you’re here too… so, apart from the pain, I feel great,” he smiled at Cas.
“How is she?” Cas gave him a gentle smile in response and let his eyes trail over Dorothy’s sleeping form.
“Better now. She’s, understandably, been pretty clingy, still cried a lot, but it’s getting better…” Dean sighed deeply, wincing a little at the pain he felt from breathing too deeply. “I wanna’ twist his balls off for Dot’s sake.”
Cas looked guilty and bit his lower lip, twisting his hands in his lap. “I’m so sorry, Dean… If I had known… if I’d had any idea he would follow me or anything... I’m so fucking sorry.”
“No! Please… don’t be sorry. Don’t … I mean … unless you regret kissing me...” Dean looked down.
“No,” Cas whispered, eyes flicking up to Dean’s. “Never regret it.”
“And … you really meant all the things you said? At the garage, in hospital … ?” Dean gulped lightly before anxiously meeting Cas’s eyes.
“Let’s get Dot upstairs, then we can talk.” Cas smiled and pushed out of the chair, crossing over to stand in front of Dean. “Yeah?”
Dean nodded. “Yes, let’s get her to bed.”
Cas leaned down and slipped his hands beneath Dotty’s back, lifting her carefully into the air. She shifted in her sleep, curling into Castiel’s chest but didn’t wake. Castiel looked down at her, her face calm and relaxed, peaceful. It caused a protective flutter in Cas’s chest and he held her tighter against him.
Dean watched Cas and swallowed hard around the lump in his throat the sight before him had caused. He got up shakily and pushed himself awkwardly off the couch. He moved past Cas. “This way.” he said in a low voice and started ascending the stairs.
Castiel followed him silently up the stairs. At the top, his arm brushed Dean’s chest when Dean held a door open a short distance down the hallway. The room was painted a soft lavender with a small nightlight casting pink and white stars onto the ceiling. Cas smiled at it and made his way over to the small bed, decked out in sheets decorated with repetitions of the word ‘Princess’ and crowns across them. Dean pulled the covers back, letting Cas lay Dorothy down. Once the child was comfortably situated Cas stepped back to let Dean tuck her in the rest of the way.
Dean tucked his little angel in, laying her teddy in her arms and kissing her forehead. Then he turned around, nodded at Cas and they left the room together.
Once Dean shut the door, Castiel reached for him, sliding his hand over his bicep and turning Dean to face him. He raised a hand, letting it settle gently on Dean’s cheek. “Are you really okay?” He questioned, the worry and guilt he felt washed over his features.
“Yeah. I’m okay. I’ll be fine again soon enough. Just need a little rest.” Dean replied, slightly leaning into Castiel’s touch.
“You should probably get some sleep too…” Castiel trailed off. “Are you taking any pain medication or anything? I can get you some Tylenol or water or anything you need, before you go to sleep?”
“I got some Tylenol, thanks. Thank you for taking care of us, Cas,” Dean replied, eyes fixed on the other man’s.
Castiel nodded quickly, sliding his hand back from Dean’s cheek and shifting uncomfortably. He didn’t know what to do, what would be appropriate. He licked his lower lip and looked back up at Dean. “Do you… uh, do you want me to stay the night in case you need anything?”
Dean’s eyes lit up as he looked at Castiel. “That would be great, yes. Well, only if you’re comfortable with it, though...”
“Yeah,” Cas nodded quickly. “I told Dad I probably wasn’t coming home… I can sleep downstairs if you want me to…”
“What … what if I choke on vomit?” Dean tilted his head a little. He had wanted it to sound like a joke, but he was actually afraid of it happening.
Cas’ eyes widened and he stared at Dean. “That… did the doctor say that could happen?”
“I still feel pretty nauseous whenever I move, and… I don’t know, maybe I’m overreacting, but … Cas, please stay with me.”
Cas swallowed hard and nodded. “Of course,” he whispered, his heart starting to jackhammer in his chest.
“I promise to stay on my side of the bed, to wear super thick PJs and to not touch you. Anything it takes for you to stay...” Dean offered reassuringly.
“I’m already here, Dean...” Cas whispered, taking a small step forward. “I remember how much you hate wearing anything to bed… has that changed in the last ten years? I think you being comfortable is what's most important…”
“I have a little daughter crawling into my bed sometimes, so, yeah, it has changed a little.” Dean smirked lightly, feeling happy that Cas remembered though.
“Dean,” Cas’ voice was still a whisper and he met Dean’s eyes carefully before continuing. “I’m going to kiss you again… if that’s okay with you?”
Dean froze, warmth pooling in his belly. He swallowed hard before he whispered, “…Okay.”
Slowly Cas slid his arm around Dean’s waist, pulling him closer, his eyes trailing Dean’s lips as he nervously licked his own. Cas’s eyes flicked up once again to meet Dean’s still staring at him, waiting for his move. He closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together, careful not to hurt Dean’s injured nose or any of the bruises on his face.
Dean relaxed into Castiel’s touch the moment their lips touched. He sighed softly into the kiss. Cas shifted them, kissing Dean with more passion, his hand moving to the small of Dean’s back. Castiel felt free, like all of the weight was off of his shoulders, like this was where he was meant to be.
Slowly Dean’s hand finally found its way to Castiel’s side as well, and Dean kissed back just as fervently, almost hungry for the lips and the man he had run away from all those years before.
Finally Cas pulled back, leaning his forehead against Dean’s, gasping softly for breath. “Probably shouldn’t make out in front of Dorothy’s door, huh?” He asked with a smile.
“Probably not, you’re right.” Dean agreed and slipped his hand into Castiel’s, lightly tugging him toward the master bedroom. Castiel allowed himself to be pulled along, his heart pounding in his ears as Dean pushed open the door and eased them both inside. Suddenly, Castiel was nervous, more nervous than he had been in a long time.
“Dean, should we talk… or…” He trailed off, looking up to meet Dean’s eyes.
“I guess we should.” Dean sighed. Kissing was good, but there were still too many things left unsaid. “May I lay down, though? I’m feeling pretty worn.”
“Yeah… of course…” Castiel nodded quickly and followed Dean over to the large queen-size bed that sat in the center of the room. He sank down to sit on one side after pulling back the covers and watched as Dean laid down beside him, fighting back a grimace from the strain the movement put on his ribs.
“So …. Cas …. what is this really?” Dean asked low. “Where do we stand? What do we want? No… what do you want?”
“I want to try this, Dean,” Cas whispered, laying back and turning so he could look at Dean. “I want to see where this can go. I… I realize now that I didn’t push you to sign those papers like I should have when I first came to town, and now I understand the reason for that… Balthazar just saw it before I did… even this morning, I thought I was fully planning on getting this done with and moving on with my life with him in New York.
“But then you had those papers, signed and ready, and it … it hurt. It hurt so fucking much… I don’t… I don’t know where this is going to go, if we can fix this and have a relationship, but I know that I want to try and I don’t want to submit those papers. I don’t think we need to act like a married couple, I don’t even think we are a couple. But I would like to be… I would like to… date you, I guess?”
Dean took a deep breath, pushing down the ‘yes, yes, yes’, that his head and heart were chanting right then. Castiel was still able to do that to him, make him lose all rational thought and act on impulse, but he now realized that if he wanted another chance, he had to learn to control it, before he got Castiel hurt again.
He drew in another painful breath, “Cas… I want to try this too. I wanted to the moment I recognized you when Dotty had knocked you over. I never wanted to sign those papers, and Balthazar being all snarky to me didn’t help. But I saw you hurting over how Balthazar and I weren’t getting along. I saw you hurting and… it broke my heart. I wanted you happy, and you seemed so convinced you would be happy with him….” Dean sighed deeply, trying to remember what he was actually trying to say.
“I was happy, I guess…” Cas started before shrugging his shoulders. “But I was never complete. I still used to think about you, all the time. I’m sure Balt knew it, in some sense, all along… It wasn’t fair to him, me not being ‘over’ you.”
Dean offered a small smile. “That’s what Bobby said … well, the other way around. I’ve never been over you. I’ve … I tried. I’ve been out on dates a lot lately, but mostly because I wanted Dotty to have something more family-like than just me and her …and I wanted to give her more than me dragging her along to work because there’s no one else to take care of her. It wasn’t so much about ‘me’ missing something in my life but what was missing from hers. But … well, the fact that nothing had worked out, I guess that actually had more to do with me missing something in my life, or rather someone...” Dean nervously pulled at his bottom lip with his front teeth. “Well, I guess what I’m trying to say…” he continued, having let go of his lip, “is that there was a huge Cas-shaped hole, and I’d really love to see if you still fit in there.”
“Dean… I have to know,” Cas chewed at his lower lip and pressed his hands against his sides to hide the fact that they were shaking. “Why did you leave in the first place?”
Dean closed his eyes and lifted his head to stare at the ceiling. “I,” he started with a shaky voice. Of course, Cas would have asked that question eventually and he, of all people, had the right to know. “I was scared. I was so scared… I had let other people’s opinions get to me instead of fighting for my own. My parents - my father had said our marriage was a mistake, and after hearing it again and again and again I started believing it, I thought you would be so much better off without me.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me, Dean?” Cas swallowed, closing his eyes for a moment. “You never had a problem talking to me before… If this is going to work? We have to be able to talk to each other...”
“We do, and I will… I will do my very fucking best to talk to you … I have no idea, Cas, why I couldn’t back then … I just snapped and … running away from my problems was what I had learned from him … I’ve grown up, Cas, I know now that what I did was wrong, but before …? I’d felt too ashamed to try and contact you. Can you forgive me? Not the running away part, you know, …but the not contacting…”
Instead of answering Cas rolled over closer until he was hovering over Dean’s body, careful not to put any weight on his chest or his ribs. He leaned down and met Dean’s lips with a soft kiss. “Already done,” he said with a sweet, gentle smile.
Dean’s eyes lit up brightly as he smiled up at Cas. “You’re still that same amazing guy that I fell in love with. I so want this to work.”
“I do too, Dean,” Cas agreed, smiling back at him. “So much… You should probably get some sleep. What, uh, what are we going to say to Dotty if she wakes up before we do?”
Dean laughed softly. “I have no idea… you can think about that, I explained the other time...” he winked.
“Oh… thanks,” Cas laughed and kissed Dean again before shifting back over to his side of the bed. He settled the covers over both of them and found Dean’s hand with his, intertwining their fingers together. “Sleep well, Dean.”
“I will now.” He squeezed Castiel’s hand lightly. “Thank you for being here.”
Cas smiled back and shut his eyes. He felt like his heart was on fire, his body was floating, even though the events of today were ones he wished had never happened. If that meant getting here, where they were right now, he wouldn’t change a thing.
Castiel awoke to the faint buzzing from his phone and he groaned as he fished it out of his pocket. Dad flashed across the screen and he silenced it quickly, tossing a look over at Dean who was still fast asleep. Castiel smiled; Dean always looked so peaceful, relaxed when he slept, like nothing bad, in the entire world, could ever reach him. Carefully, Cas leaned over and pressed his lips gently against Dean’s forehead before slipping out of the warmth and comfort of the bed and into the hallway to call his Dad back.
“Cas?” His dad answered on the second ring. “You okay? I know you didn’t know if you were coming home last night… but I thought I would’ve heard from you after you dropped Balthazar off…”
“Yeah, so sorry, Dad. I should have called, but…” Cas said and made his way downstairs to leave the sleeping Winchesters to their peaceful slumbering. “I ended up going to Dean’s.” Silence met him on the other end. “Dad?”
“Yeah, I’m still here... You, ah, spent the night then?”
“Yeah…” Cas answered as he moved into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. He glanced at the wall and saw it wasn’t even seven a.m. “Why are you up at the crack of dawn?”
“I’m still going to worry about you, even when you’re old and grey like I am,” Chuck replied with a laugh. “Look, Cas…” He cleared his throat and Cas paused with his hand on the coffee pot, waiting. “I know that there’s a lot of history between you and Dean, and you know I just want you to be happy, but don’t… don’t rush into this, okay? There’s a lot you have to think about.”
“I know, Dad. I just spent the night to help him out with Dot, it’s not like I’m moving all of my things halfway across the country to move in with him or anything.”
Chuck sighed before continuing. “I just don’t want you rushing into anything.” His like before was left unsaid but hung heavy in the air. “You know what you deserve to have and I don’t want you to be hurt again.”
“I know, Dad.” Cas had a hundred different retorts and arguments to throw back at him. Dean wouldn’t do that, hurt me again. We’re going to work on things, we’ll be happy. This is going to work. But the fact of the matter was that it had been ten years, and as much as Castiel still loved Dean? That was the Dean of his childhood, the one sleeping upstairs had grown up and changed. And his Dad was only looking out for him. “We’re going to take things slow… I suggested dating, seeing how that works.”
“I’m proud of you Castiel,” Chuck whispered, his voice gone soft. “Don’t think I’ve told you that enough, but I am. You know what you’re doing.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Cas replied happily, smiling at the phone. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? And I’ll let you know if I’m not coming back tonight.”
“Alright, love you.”
“Love you too, Dad.”
| Chapter Fourteen |