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Sam’s eyes switch between Dean and Cas. Shouldn’t they be doing something?He waits patiently for his turn. Dean has dibs on Cas, always has had dibs on him. Sam isn’t blind, he knows there’s something going on between them, the kind of thing that he doesn’t really wish to figure out and that makes him want to leave them alone for a bit.None of them is moving. They’re engaged in staring, Cas with his sweet and gentle face and Dean shamelessly oogling back.Granted, Castiel caught them completely offguard. After what’s got to be one of the worst days in Dean’s life, he had finally started to show signs of loosening up a little and focusing on his goals. Now Cas is here, standing across the street. He seems almost unreal, a freshly rendered ghost next to a telephone. But he is breathing and blinking. Sam has many questions, and wants to know so many details. But at this moment only Dean matters. Whether he wants to hug Cas or punch him Sam doesn’t know, but he has to let him decide.Actually, scratch that.With his brotherly instict he feels something well up inside Dean. He’s not sure what it is, but if nothing happens, he is probably going to explode.Sam takes a step. “Cas, good to see you.” he says and hugs the angel. “Uh, can we catch up in a minute? There’s something... over there... that looks interesting.”And with that he ducks and gets out of the way.***Cas’ face softens more when there is only Dean left to look at him.“Dean,” he says. Dean wants to pull him closer, feel him and see whether he’s real or just an apparition. He saw Sam give the angel a hug, but he won’t believe it until he has him safe in his own arms.Cas smiles shyly, breaking eye contact and looking to the ground.“I’m...”“Don’t.” Dean says. “Don’t apologize.”“I wasn’t going ... Well, maybe I was.” Cas tilts his head, watching something in the distance. “Everytime I return, I feel a little wiser,” he adds. “But still I never can find the words to explain myself properly. In that aspect, the two of you will be always ahead of me. So I can’t help wondering, is it worth it? Is it worth missing you so much each time I have to leave?”Dean bites his lip and breathes out. He lets out a short laugh.“Probably not.” he answers. “Cas, I... I know should ask you what happened, but frankly, hell if I give a damn.”“It’s rather trivial, really.” Cas says. “Hell doesn’t have anything to do with it, fortunately. Neither does heaven. I suppose there’s still a lot we haven’t explored.”He blushes and blinks at Dean. In the next second, Dean is crushing into his arms, being hugged back, relishing in the feeling of being held by his beloved friend, however awkwardly and longingly. He presses his forehead into Cas’ neck so that no one can see the tears, even if Cas probably can feel the small sobs on his own chest.He lifts his head and gives Cas a messy and wet kiss, not caring about the street they’re in, not caring for anyone peeking at them. If he could have chosen a place to kiss Castiel, it probably wouldn’t have been here. But it needs to be here, it needs to be now. There is no other way to tell him right away how much he never wants Cas to leave again.Cas understands, by the way he wrinkles his forehead while looking back at Dean. There’s no need for them to prove each other anything else, and there’s more where that came from.“I’ll explain everything in the bunker.” Cas says finally and follows Dean to the car. Sam returns in a hurry, he opens his door and lets Cas sit in the front, next to Dean. Cas hesitates for a moment, but doesn’t resist for long. There’s the prospect of Dean touching his hand while driving.Sam adjusts his legs in the back seat as good as he can, and tries to start a conversation, poking around the topic of Castiel returning without being too intrusive. He’s not getting very far. Castiel seems to be distracted.Dean doesn’t need to ask. He knows exactly what happened. A miracle.
