Standing Together

Chapter 17

They're both out cold by the movie's end, and this time, Castiel manages a few hours' sleep before he's woken from yet another nightmare. He sits up with a start, pressing a hand against his chest and feeling his heart pound against it.

"Mm?" Dean hums, opening his eyes slowly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Castiel whispers. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breathing, calming himself. "I think I'm just going to sleep on the couch instead."

"What?" Dean sits up quickly at that, taking his fiancé's hand. "Why can't you just stay here?"

"I'm just gonna keep waking you up," Castiel says. "It's not fair to you."

"No, what's not fair to me is that you're not giving me a choice," Dean says. He puts an arm around the boy, holding him close. "I didn't bring you home just so you could go sleep on the couch, Cas."

"And I didn't agree just to wake you up every couple hours," Castiel counters. "I'm sorry, Dean. I know this isn't what you signed up for. Let me at least try to make it easier for you."

Dean lets out a long breath. "I guess it's not." With a slight smile on his face, he continues, "No, what I 'signed up for' was you, and if I have to get woken up every couple hours to be with you, then so be it."

"Dean..."

"It wasn't a conditional marriage proposal, Cas," Dean says. "I'd rather have you, cursed or not."

"'Cursed'?" Castiel repeats, an amused smile passing over his features. "You think I'm cursed?"

"I think that the lemons life is giving you are hella old and long past their expiration date," Dean replies. "But you're still making lemonade, no matter how bad it is."

Castiel chuckles. "You know, I almost understand what you just said."

"Really? I wasn't even expecting to get that far," Dean says jokingly.

They lapse into silence, and Castiel lets his head fall onto Dean's shoulder, closing his eyes but willing himself not to fall asleep again. Anything to avoid the nightmares.

"You know," Dean says, holding up Castiel's hand, their fingers interlaced, "I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure most people don't wear their engagement ring to bed."

"Mm," Castiel hums. "But I like it. It's kind of comforting, in a weird way. I don't know. It's hard to explain." He feels his cheeks start to burn, face flushed with embarrassment. God, he sounds so sappy right now. Dean's probably rolling his eyes at it.

But instead, Dean just squeezes his hand and says, "I think it's cute. Just don't let it fall off. You don't want to lose it."

"Trust me, I have no plans to lose it," Castiel says. "I just don't want to take it off."

Dean holds Castiel's hand to his mouth and kisses it. "You're adorable. You know that, right?"

"No, you're adorable," Castiel counters.

"No, you're adorable," Dean says playfully.

"No, you're adorable."

"No, you're the best at making overused white girl memes cute," Dean says, earning a small laugh from his fiancé.

Castiel bites back a yawn. "This white girl memer is tired."

"This white girl memer is going to stay here and not sleep on the couch," Dean replies.

"Dean —"

"Did that sound like a request?" Dean asks.

"But —"