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Day 1: Relief
Dean had been sitting there for hours, chair pulled close to the bed, waiting for Cas to open his eyes.He'd never forgive himself if the angel didn't wake up. It had been far too much to ask, and it had nearly killed him."Dean?"Tears of relief streamed down his face at the sound of Cas's voice.
Day 2: Pasture
The old tan trench was laid out across the bed he and Dean had been sharing at the bunker for the last year. Castiel’s fingers traced the scars left behind by the many times his boyfriend had taken the time to stitch together the tears, like reminders or a tragic life they would no longer have to lead.“Its time to put that one out to pasture, don’t you think?” Dean’s arms wrapped around his waist tightly and he rested his chin of Cas’s shoulder.Nodding, Cas folded the trench for the last time, and he broke away from Dean, turning to hand it reverently to him as they finished packing the last of their belongings.
Day 3: Slow
I missed this one cries
Day 4: Spare
The first time Cas had come out to the garage and offered to help Dean repair the Impala, it had been painfully obvious the man knee jack shit about cars. But Dean enjoyed his company, and the earnest, intelligent man had been eager to spend more time with Dean, and to learn.Fortunately for Cas, Dean was a patient teacher. It was fortunate for both of them, if Dean was honest with himself.Looking at Cas now, surrounded by tools and spare parts, and looking hot as hell with grease covering his hands and smeared across his cheek, Dean couldn't regret a single moment he'd spent teaching him how to work on Baby.
Day 5: Tempt
It was a tempting proposition, trading his life of crime for a lifetime with Dean, but Castiel felt it was something he didn't deserve. He was unclean, his hands drenched in blood- but Dean was pure, sweet and good, the kind of man that wouldn't hurt a fly.He knew everything about Castiel and still chose him time and time again. That he'd done nothing to deserve forgiveness or love didn't seem to matter to Dean."Everyone deserves a second chance, Cas," he'd say, "and I like you to take that chance with me."
Day 6: Rock
Dean was sweating profusely from the heat of the spotlights and the pyrotechnics as he left the stage when the show was finally over. The adrenaline was still flooding through his veins and he felt absolutely unstoppable, as he always did after a performance- nothing like hundreds of thousands of people screaming your name to boost your confidence, you know?He handed the guitar off to one of the roadies and high fived who even knew how many people as he made his way back to his dressing room to clean up and change before the people with backstage passes were allowed to come back and meet the band. As incredible as all these things felt, nothing was better than opening the door to his private dressing room and seeing Cas laid out across the small couch, completely naked with nothing but a guitar to cover him.Being a rockstar was absolutely, every bit what it was cracked up to be.Day 7: Wash Castiel had been taken by the empty months ago, shocking Dean to his core- just when he'd finally been able to admit he loved the stupid angel, thinking that maybe they could be together. But of course, he was a Winchester and that meant he never caught a break, never got just live his friggin life and be happy.
Still, as long as Cas had been gone, Dean still kept his clothes. Every week when he was doing the laundry, his angel's shirt would be in the hamper, and each week he would hold it to his face, breathing in what was left of the scent of Cas and think long and hard about throwing it in with his clothes.
But he could never bring himself to wash away the smell of the man he loved.
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Day 1: Ignite
Dean didn't bother to hold back the tears as he dropped the zippo, igniting the canvas wrapped corpse of his husband.He should never have let Cas go on that hunt alone. Sam told him that if he'd been with the ex-angel, Dean's body would probably be on a pire next to this one. Dean didn't say he would have preferred it that way.Anything was preferable to living without the man he'd chosen to share his life, his very soul with; anything would be preferable to carrying on without the man he loved. Day 2: Rage Castiel had made it out of the building to Sam and Jack, but Dean was nowhere to be seen. Turning back toward the raging fire that was burning through their house, Castiel searched every possible point of exit for some sign or shadow of his husband.Seconds passed, more slowly than should have been possible as he waited. Dean would make it out, he had to. He nearly cried in relief when Dean came barreling out the front door, carrying a blanket-wrapped something in his arms-Puffers the cat, the idiot had gone headlong through the flames to save Castiel's cat. Day 3: Chase The siren was blaring, lights strobing and covering everything in flashes of blue, but Dean was driving too fast to care.The black Impala ahead of him was pushing a hundred miles an hour, and he had to keep up- couldn't let him get away this time, Castiel Novak had escaped him too many times already.This time, he'd caught the thief red-handed, but he'd slipped out of the building and into his car before Dean had the chance to arrest him.Adrenaline pumped through him, speeding his heart and breath, making him sink the foot on the gas pedal all the way to the floor.Failure wasn't an option- the only acceptable way for this chase to end was with Castiel in cuffs.
Day 4: Colour
They had been together for so many years, it was hard to believe the day had finally come. Dean stared intently into the deep blue ocean of Castiel’s eyes, somehow just as lost in the color as he’d been the day they met.Now, as they stood in front of all their friends and family, Dean wasn’t the least bit nervous about promising the rest of his life to Cas. He’d done that a long time ago, they were just putting it on paper now.Only two little words and he’d finally be married to the love of his life.
Day 5: Ice
Castiel’s fingers drummed his nervousness against the shining oak of the bartop. He’d never been into the idea of just hooking up with someone, but he was lonely and making the Tinder account had basically been an act of desperation.The ice clinked against the glass as he swirled the whiskey around in it- maybe another drink would ease his anxiety about meeting Dean Winchester in person for the first time.Cas didn’t have the time to find out. A tap on the shoulder and he turned to see the greenest eyes he’d ever seen and an open friendly smile-Dean was already there for their date.
Day 6: Prisoner
Dean felt like a prisoner in his own home. His alpha meant well, he knew, but for fuck's sake, he was pregnant- he wasn't an invalid."You're distressed, Dean," Castiel said, probably scenting the frustration that was rolling off of him in waves."Cas, I love you but you are making me crazy- I'm not even showing yet and I feel like you won't let me do anything. Hell, you just need to back off and let me go back to work, okay?"
Day 7: End
Dean leaned back comfortably in his rocking chair, sipping at a cold beer and sharing a sunset with Castiel. In the end, it didn't matter how many times they'd saved the world, or how much they'd sacrificed to keep other people breathing.What mattered most were these quiet moments they had together, now that they neared the twilight of their lives, and making the most of them. Dean had learned to enjoy so may things that he never would have bothered with in his younger days- too busy with fighting the good fight and all that.Now, he was content to hold his lover's had as the rocked silently together on the porch of the home they'd made together.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Day 1: Coffee
Dean was struggling to stay awake, catching himself more drifting more than once and thankfully before his face slammed down into his textbook... mostly. As he did most nights when he was up this late studying, Dean wished he'd never decided to go back to school.That wasn't really true- he knew that this would help him in the long run, and it wasn't even that the material was difficult; it was just so goddamned tedious.His phone rang and he answered it, "Hey.""I'm coming over," Castiel said, his voice a deep gravel that woke Dean more thoroughly and in more ways than coffee ever could.
Day 2: Whisper
Dean was hovering at the edge of the precipice, waiting for his lover to let him tumble over. The gentle glide of sweat-soaked skin and the fingers pressing into flesh and holding tightly like they were afraid to let go overwhelmed his senses.He was so close, unable to contain the broken sounds of pleasure as Cas rocked into him-slow and steady, filling and stretching him so perfectly and drawing their love-making out for as long as he possibly could. Dean pulled Cas's face down to his own to capture his lips in a deep, passionate, sweet kiss.Their lips broke apart, and Cas leaned forward, his warm breath fanning across Dean's ear as he whispered, "you're always so good for me, so perfect," and Dean cried out a release that he could no longer hold back.
Day 3: Memorandum
Dean stood in front of the office’s copy machine, waiting for all fifty copies of the latest memo to print so he could distribute them into everyone’s individual mailbox. It was well after five, and everyone but Dean and Mr. Novak had left for the day- of course, Dean always found a reason to stay after hours when his boss worked late.It was ridiculous, Dean knew, to stay late nearly every night- even when there was no work left for him to do- in the hopes that his super hot boss might try to put the moves on him, especially when he knew it would never happen, Cas was far too ethical for that despite the way Dean had caught him staring when he thought no one was paying attention.Fortunately, Dean had recently put in for a job at another company, one that would come with a promotion and a raise- in fact, the memos he was copying were the very last thing he planned on doing for this company.He walked into Mr. Novak’s office and when the blue-eyed man looked up at him he said, “I quit,” before circling to the other side of the large desk and pulling his now ex-boss up into a kiss.
Day 4: Host
Many years had passed since Castiel left his place in the ranks of the Heavenly Host to watch over Dean Winchester, the Righteous Man who would be the true savior of humanity. At first, he watched from afar, refraining from influencing the man’s choices and letting fate lead where it was meant to- but it hadn’t quite worked out that way.Dean Winchester bucked fate every chance he got, taking humankind’s free will to a level Castiel had never before witnessed, so much so that the angel finally decided he had to intervene and guide the man back to his Righteous Path- this also didn’t work out the way he’d planned.Clearly, Castiel had spent far too much time away from Heaven because instead of leading Dean down the road he was meant to follow, he allowed Dean to lead him astray of his own path- they became friends first, lovers much later (and after much coaxing from Sam Winchester).Still, they’d managed to save the world without the help of fate, and Castiel couldn’t regret his own turn from his path, because without it he would have missed the greatest thing that the life of a human or an angel has to offer- the chance to love, to be loved, and to choose love of one’s own free will.
Day 5: Dead
They seemed to follow everywhere Cas went- the eyes of all the Deans Naomi had made him kill. Even though he knew that they weren't him, the real Dean, he couldn't escape it- the pain or the guilt that sat heavily in his chest, crushing his heart until he was sure there would be nothing left of it.Even now that he'd escaped Naomi's control, the eyes followed Cas around in his dreams- nightmares- and the only thing that could comfort him was the shining green eyes of the very real, and very alive Dean Winchester.Perhaps one day when Dean asked Castiel what was wrong, he would tell him. But for now, he would continue to take his solace in the fact that when push came to shove, Cas's feelings for the elder Winchester had stayed his hand and kept him from following through with Naomi's commands.
Day 6: Chaos
Everything had gone to shit again- Jack was sick, probably dying, and Michael was banging at the door in Dean's head, trying his damnedest to escape the deep freeze.The only thing that made sense in the chaos was Cas. Maybe they weren't overly showy or open about it, and maybe Dean hadn't told Sam yet- though he was pretty sure his perceptive brother already knew- but they were finally together. Dean had finally wrapped his head around telling Cas that he loved him, that he needed him in his life for more than just healing, or any of the other angel powers he used.The occasional, incidental touches, the looks they shared, the moments when they got to sit at a diner table alone and talk- they were the only things keeping Dean's head above water now, and there was no way he would drop himself into the ocean in that box as long as he had Cas by his side.
Day 7: Record
Dean was tired of fighting, especially over something as stupid as Cas going on a hunt alone. None of them went on hunts alone anymore, it was too dangerous with Michael out there, but Cas in his infinite stupidity was sure he could handle this one. Not a chance in hell."I am capable of doing this on my own, Dean," Cas argued again."You know, for the record, I don't want you to go alone because I love you, not because I don't think you're capable," Dean replied.