Standing Together

Chapter 149

Castiel wakes up to the sound of quiet guitar playing in the other room. It's his favorite way to wake up, and it happens more and more often the longer they're in hiding like this. There's not much else to do, so Dean's been reverting back to his musical ways lately.

Castiel stays in bed for a few more minutes, eyes closed as he listens to the music. He's a little disappointed that Dean doesn't sing anything, but he can't complain about good music. He really lucked out when he fell in love with a musician. He can't imagine waking up in a silent house every single morning.

Eventually he decides to get up, if only to watch Dean play instead of just listening from afar. There's not much he finds more attractive than the sight of Dean playing guitar.

He follows the sound of the strings to find his fiancé sitting on the living room couch, his attention trained on his phone while his hands play the chords. Castiel remembers the first time Dean played guitar in front of him. He wasn't very good at switching chords without looking. It's amazing what a decade of practice can do for a guy.

Castiel watches him for a minute or two, just enjoying the moment, before he finally decided to make his presence known. "Whatcha playing?"

Dean jumps at his voice, but when the initial shock wears off after a moment, he gives his fiancé a smile. "Oh, hey, I didn't know you were up." He starts to put the guitar down, presumably to get up and give Castiel a good morning kiss, but sometimes kisses aren't the most important thing.

"I can't believe you're punishing me for waking up," Castiel says, crossing his arms with an exaggerated pout.

Dean pauses where he is, the guitar awkwardly half-resting with its base on the floor because he didn't finish setting it down. "I'm very confused."

"You're punishing me," Castiel repeats. "If I hadn't gotten up, I could still listen to you playing guitar. I can't do that if you're not, you know, playing guitar."

Dean chuckles. "I guess you've got a point there. Does this mean I can't stop playing?"

"That's exactly what it means," Castiel replies.

Dean picks the guitar back up and lays it across his lap again. He clicks his phone off, then starts playing again -- different chords than last time, Castiel notices; if he was playing a song before, he's not playing it again now. Castiel doesn't mind too much. Any music Dean makes is good enough for him.

Castiel sits down on the floor, crossing his legs and looking up at his fiance like a child at storytime. Dean smiles down at him, and it makes him smile, too. Things like trips to Disney World or shared time on talk shows are fun, but sometimes it's nice to just enjoy the quiet moments in their relationship.

"So," Dean says, "any plans for the day?"

Castiel shrugs. "Not unless Lucifer decides he wants company."

"I figured that was the case," Dean says. "It usually is."

"That it is," Castiel agrees.

They lapse into silence for a few minutes, and Castiel finds himself watching Dean's left hand like it holds the secrets to the universe. Watching him switch chords so quickly and smoothly is oddly therapeutic. He's always enjoyed watching people play guitar, but there's something special about watching Dean do it.

After a while, Castiel asks, "Is this a song I should know?" The chords almost sound familiar, but there are only so many chord progressions to choose from so any combination is bound to have been used before.

"Nah," Dean replies, "it's just a bunch of random chords."

"Makes sense," Castiel says. He likes playing random chords, too, so he certainly can't hold that against him. "Were you playing something when I woke up?"