Standing Together

Chapter 23

Like all things, fireworks season does eventually come to an end, but unfortunately, it doesn't come with an automatic fix to all their problems.

Castiel stands in front of Dean's bedroom mirror, just looking at his face. He can't quite pinpoint what's off about it; just that he looks wrong. It must be the lack of sleep catching up to him. Even midday naps during their Destiel Disney Days — Dean's cheesy name, not Castiel's — can't make up for hours of sleep lost to the nightmares, a near nightly occurrence.

Castiel can't help but feel bad about it. He wakes Dean up every time, because the boy refuses to let him sleep on the couch to give him a full night's sleep for once. At least Dean does a good job at hiding that anything's wrong. Sometimes even Castiel forgets that he's probably just as tired, fighting to keep his eyes open at all times.

Suddenly, Dean yells, "Cas, look at this!" from the bathroom, his voice barely audible over the sound of the shower.

"Look at what?" Castiel yells back.

The only answer he gets is a vague, "C'mere!" and Castiel can't not go look at whatever it is has Dean so impressed

Castiel knocks on the bathroom door loudly. "Dean?"

"Dude, come look at this!"

Castiel slowly opens the door, and though he can't really see Dean, he does notice the boy's silhouette behind the cloudy shower curtain. "What am I looking at?"

"Hold on —"

There's a pause, and Castiel fiddles with his hands awkwardly until Dean flicks the shower curtain open. His naked body is covered in suds, and Castiel has to put in a conscious effort into keeping his focus on the boy's excited smile instead of his genitals.

"Look!" Dean shows Castiel his hand, his thumb and pointer finger making a circle with a thin filmy layer of soap between them. He holds it to his mouth, and a bubble barely begins to form before it pops. Dean groans in frustration. "It's too dry out there. Come closer."

Castiel cocks his head in confusion but does as he's told, looking into the shower but trying to keep a little distance so he doesn't get too wet. Dean presses his fingers together to prepare for another bubble, which he successfully completes. It floats around for a few seconds, but pops in the stream of the water.

"Isn't that awesome?" Dean asks excitedly.

"I'm not quite sure what just happened," Castiel says slowly.

"I blew a bubble out of soap!" Dean says. "I didn't even know that was possible!"

Castiel raises an eyebrow. "You called me in here just so I could watch you blow a bubble out of soap?"

"Yes! What, were you not impressed?"

Castiel rolls his eyes. "I'm marrying a literal child."

"You love it," Dean says with a grin.

"Yeah, okay, I'm leaving," Castiel says, and as he starts to go, he takes one last look at Dean's crotch because he just can't help himself.

"But bubbles!" Dean whines.

Castiel shakes his head at the boy and walks out of the room. He turns around as he closes the door, and he's a bit disappointed to see Dean holding the shower curtain in front of his body as he peeks out of the shower, just for something to hold on to. He didn't even get one last look. How unfair is that?

Castiel sits down on the couch, his legs swinging back and forth carelessly. Dean will be out in a minute, and they can go do something together. Until then, Castiel's just going to sit here.