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Castiel Novak clutched his Batman backpack tighter as he trudged up the steps into the school. The first day of third grade was equal parts scary and exciting since he was starting at a new school in a new place. The warmth and flat lands of Lawrence, Kansas was vastly different from the cold and mountains in Denver, Colorado, but when the advertising company his mother, Naomi, worked at expanded, she was given the promotion to take over things at the new facility. So she moved her omega husband and two alpha boys to the new town just in time for them to start school.His father, Chuck, walked behind him and his older brother, Gabriel, who was starting the fifth grade in the same building, walked beside him. Gabriel seemed much less nervous, but that was just his personality about life. Nothing phased him, nothing scared him, and he could turn any new thing in a grand adventure.“See you at the bus stop after school, Cassie. Bye dad!” Gabriel said as they passed the hallway with the lockers for the fifth graders. Castiel and Chuck waved and watched as he skipped down the hall. A hand on his shoulder made Castiel look up into the smiling face of his father, who nodded for them to keep moving in search of his classroom. When they found it, a brightly lit room with the name ‘Ms. Moseley’ by the door, they stopped. Chuck kneeled in front of Castiel and brushed a piece of lint from the front of his blue shirt.“You’ll do great today, Castiel.”“I know, dad.”“Mind your teacher.”“Yes, dad.”“Make some friends.”“Okay, dad.”“Be careful on the playground.”
“Daaaaad.”
“Alright, alright. I’m leaving. Love you, little alpha.”“Love you too, dad.”Castiel turned just as Ms. Moseley approached. Her smile was sweet and her eyes kind, her mellow beta scent calming. He felt much better after meeting her.“Hello there, young man. Did I hear correctly that you’re Castiel Novak?”“Yes ma’am.”“Well, I’m Ms. Moseley. I’m so glad to meet you. I put a little nametag on each desk, so why don’t you hunt for yours and take a seat. Unpack your backpack into your desk and find the cubby at the back with your name on it to store it.” She patted his cheek and moved on to greet the next student.Castiel walked up and down the rows until he found his desk. He was unpacking his backpack when the empty desk between his and the window became a flurry of activity. He watched as a beautiful blond haired omega and a small preschool aged boy with floppy hair and big hazel eyes helped unpack the backpack of his neighbor. When they had the supplies put up in the desk, the blond woman instructed her older son, who still stood with his head bowed, picking at the hem of his shirt, to find the cubby for his backpack before making her way up to the front of the classroom where Ms. Moseley was greeting students and parents as they entered.When Castiel looked back at his neighbor he realized the boy was holding the exact same Batman backpack that Gabriel had picked out for him.“Look!” he said excitedly as he thrust his backpack towards his neighbor. “We’re twins,” he grinned a gummy smile as the boy finally looked up at him. He was all dirty blonde hair, bright green eyes, and light brown freckles. The boy stared at Castiel’s backpack, then looked at his before blushing and nodding shyly.“What’s your name? I’m Castiel.” Castiel held his hand out like his mother taught him, but the boy just jumped and took off for the cubbies.“Dee don’t talk,” the little floppy haired boy said. “Mama says he’s shy. I’m Sammy.” Castiel said hello just as ‘Dee’ walked back up to them. He took his name card from the desk and showed it to Castiel. ~Dean Winchester~“Hello, Dean. It’s okay if you’re shy and don’t want to talk.” Castiel cocked his head as Dean pulled out a notebook and pencil and wrote in chunky letters, ~Thanks Cas. I’ll write you notes.~Castiel grinned a gummy smile at the note and the nickname and nodded. Dean’s mother came back and took Sammy’s hand. They said goodbye to Dean and left just in time for Ms. Moseley to start class.Later that day, when the class went to lunch, Castiel was digging in to his peanut butter and honey sandwich when Dean sat down beside him quietly and began eating his lunch. Sandwich finished, Cas chatted with Dean, making sure to only ask him yes or no questions so Dean could nod his answers.That’s how it went on for a while. Castiel and Dean sat beside each other in class, ate lunch together, played at recess, and they even rode the same bus and sat with each other there as well. They passed notes back and forth any chance they got. Dean still didn’t talk, in class or out, until one day a few months into the year. They were at recess, Castiel playing on the jungle gym with another little alpha named Meg when he heard some boys from one of the other third grade classes picking on Dean for being quiet. He jumped off the jungle gym and ran over just in time to see Dick Roman trip Dean when he tried to walk away.Dean hit the ground and Cas saw red. No one should be picked on for being shy, but he sure as heck wasn’t going to let anyone mess with his best friend. He stalked up to Dick and shoved him hard against his chest, making him fall back.“You leave him alone, you assbutt, or I’ll beat you up!” Cas stuck his tongue out and went to help Dean off the ground. Dean’s hands and knees were scraped from the rocks on the ground so Cas told Ms. Moseley what happened and was given permission to walk Dean to the nurse. He stayed with him even after the bell rang dismissing their grade from recess and everyone from class for the day. He stood over Dean protectively as the nurse cleaned his cuts, and then they raced back to the classroom to get their things before the bus left without them.When they curled up together on the bus seat and Cas held Dean’s hand to look at the cuts and make sure he was okay, Dean leaned over and whispered his first words to Cas out loud.“Since you protected me, I’ll be your ‘mega.”Cas was so stunned that Dean was talking to him out loud that he didn’t have time to react before Dean had pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.“Don’t tell…” Dean smiled and climbed over Cas as the bus came to a stop.The next day when they got to recess Dean tapped Castiel’s shoulder and whispered, “Tag,” before taking off. Cas grinned and took off after him, chasing him all around the playground. Dean climbed up to the monkey bars and moved across them as fast as possible, which was still faster than Cas could do, but once they darted around the merry-go-round, Cas managed to catch up and tackled Dean to the ground. They both came up laughing, Cas’s laughter loud and sweet, Dean’s silent but just as hardy.“Dean, don’t you know omegas aren’t supposed to run from alphas?” Meg said from her perch on the merry-go-round. “It will make the alpha want to mate you.” She wrinkled her nose in disdain. Dean stuck his tongue out at her and took Cas’s hand, pulling him along towards the jungle gym, giving him a sly smile and a wink before taking off again.The rest of the year was spent with their friendship blossoming and growing just like they were. One day towards the end of the school year, Dean slid a folded piece of notebook paper to the edge of the desk, getting Castiel’s attention. When he grabbed it, Ms. Moseley saw him and headed his way to take it away. He quickly opened it and read the contents before the teacher swiped it up and put it on the corner of her desk.
~Do you love me, do you wanna be my friend? And if you do…
Well then don't be afraid to take me by the hand if you want to.
I think this is how love goes.
Check yes or no.~
Below it there were two little boxes, one with a big ‘Y’ and the other with a big ‘N’.When Ms. Moseley dismissed the class for recess, she pulled Castiel aside and handed him the note and a pen with a wink. He quickly checked the ‘Y’ box and handed his beloved teacher her pen back before racing out to the playground to find Dean. When he handed the other boy the note and saw his face light up at the answer, he knew just as much as he knew that his favorite food was a peanut butter and honey sandwich, that Dean would be his mate.They stuck by each others sides all through school, and with Castiel’s help, Dean was coming out of his shell. He still wasn’t talkative, and didn’t make many friends, but he did have a close few other than Cas, like Charlie and Benny. It was Cas that Dean went to when he aced the science test he’d been stressing over, just like it was Cas he went to when he kept having nightmares after Dick Roman beat him up. It was Dean that Cas went to when his dad finally said he could get a kitten, just like it was Dean he went to when his mother left his dad for the executive director of the company she worked for. They were together at Dean’s house, making homemade pies with Mary and Sam when Dean went into heat for the first time. No one was surprised when it immediately triggered Castiel’s first rut. Mary drove him home while Sam helped stock Dean’s room with water bottles, granola bars, and fresh towels. When Castiel made the football team, Dean immediately tried out and made the cheerleading squad so they would still be able to go to every game together. Castiel’s ‘prom-posal’ to Dean their senior year was a throwback to their elementary days. He stood up on a table in the middle of lunch with a huge yellow poster board that read in glittery blue letters:
~Do you love me, do you wanna be my friend? And if you do…
Well then don't be afraid to take me by the hand if you want to.
I think this is how love goes.
Check yes or no.~
Just the same as Dean’s letter all those years ago, below it were two boxes, one with a big ‘Y’ and the other with a big ‘N’. The only difference was next to the boxes, one little word in red.
~Prom?~
It didn’t take a genius to know when Dean stalked right up onto the table next to Cas with a big black market that he would check that ‘Y’ box.There was little fanfare when they mated just out of high school. The matching bites on their necks were just the physical and legal proof of the bond that had been between them from the very beginning. They celebrated with their close friends and family, then spent the rest of the summer before college just enjoying being well and truly mated to each other. Castiel went to college and got his degree in nursing, while Dean went for his degree in mechanical engineering. They moved into their dream house two years after graduating college.The day Cas came home from work to see Dean holding a little purple and white stick with tears in his eyes was one of the happiest of his life. They welcomed their first pup, a little alpha named Emma, into the world exactly six months and fourteen days later. Two years after that was their second alpha, Claire. Another five years later, and they held their tiny omega son Jack in their arms.Now here they are at their twenty year anniversary of the day they mated, Dean instigating a chase around the house, through the kitchen, up the stairs and down the hall, around the bed and through the door to their balcony. Cas catches him and pulls him back into the bedroom and onto the bed where he settles over him and stares down at him adoringly. People warned them all the time that eventually they would be through the ‘honeymoon phase’ and have to settle in to ‘real life’. But seeing the starry-eyed gaze of his mate looking up at him, he knows this is their real life.Last night he had taken Dean out in a white limousine to celebrate their anniversary. Dinner, drinks, dancing, then making love in the back of the limo. Tonight they would celebrate with their family. Thirteen year old Emma, eleven year old Claire, and six year old Jack would be over with Sam, his mate Jody, and their pup, Alex, as well as Gabriel and his mate Donna.After a filling dinner, Cas finds Dean watching his pups play in the yard with their cousin. He leans against his mate’s back and rests his chin on his shoulder. He wraps his arms around Dean’s waist and holds him close.“Happy anniversary, ‘mega.” He says, recalling Dean’s first words to him. Dean turns in his arms and strokes his cheek.“Happy anniversary, alpha,” Dean replies, pulling a crinkled up note from his pocket and handing it to his mate. Cas steps back so he can open it, reading those words that still make his heart beat fast nearly twenty-eight years after he first read them.
~Do you love me, do you wanna be my friend? And if you do…
Well then don't be afraid to take me by the hand if you want to.
I think this is how love goes.
Check yes or no.~
And next to the ‘Y’ and ‘N’ boxes:
~20 more years?~
He couldn’t check ‘yes’ fast enough.