Standing Together

Chapter 94

"Hey, Dean?" Castiel says randomly one day as he's looking at the one Grammy award he brought to Massachusetts.

"What's up?" Dean says.

"Where do you keep your Super Bowl rings?" Castiel asks. "You have, like, three of them, right?"

"Yeah, I have absolutely no idea where they are," Dean says.

Castiel scoffs. "You lost your Super Bowl rings?"

"I didn't lose them," Dean says. "It's not like I was trying to keep track of them and then failed. I probably put them in a drawer somewhere and forgot about them."

"Can I look for them?" Castiel asks.

"Why are you so interested in my Super Bowl rings?" Dean asks.

"I don't know. I've never seen them before." He shrugs. "I'm just curious."

"If you really want to see them, I'll help you look," Dean offers.

And that's how Dean and Castiel end up digging through all the drawers in Dean's room for nearly an hour.

Castiel pauses his search when he finds a couple of photos in the bottom of a drawer. He pulls them out to look at them. The picture on top is a group of four people. There's a young woman, probably about their age, with beautiful blonde hair and a baby in her arms. Then there's a man with darker hair and a small beard, about the same age as the woman. Last is the little boy standing between the adults, and Castiel immediately pinpoints him as a very young Dean.

"Did you find them?" Dean asks, walking over to him.

Castiel quickly shoves the pictures back in the drawer. "Not yet."

Dean looks over his shoulder, trying to figure out what he was up to. "Looking at the pictures?" he guesses.

"Yeah," Castiel admits sheepishly.

"I almost forgot they were in here," Dean remarks, pulling them out.

"Are those your parents?" Castiel asks.

"That they are," Dean says.

"How old were you?" Castiel asks.

"Four," Dean says. "Assuming Sam was at least two months old at the time, I guess."

"You guys look so happy," Castiel observes.

"We really were," Dean says. "Funny how things change."

Before Castiel can ask what he means by that — it sounds too depressing, even for him — Dean puts the picture in the back, showing the other one. It's a group of six people at Bobby's house, and he immediately recognizes Sam, Dean, and Bobby, but the other three take a minute.

"Is that Mrs. Harvelle?" Castiel asks, tapping the familiar face.

"Yep, that's Ellen," Dean says. He taps the younger blonde and adds, "And that's her daughter, Jo." He taps the man with the mullet. "And that's Ash. I think you've met them before."

"I don't think so," Castiel says.

"No, I'm pretty sure you did," Dean says. "A few years ago."

"If I did, I don't remember them," Castiel says.

"I'll have to make you remeet them," Dean says. "Hey, you know what would be cute?"

"Me?" Castiel says teasingly.

"Not what I was going to say, but yes," Dean says, amused. "You've got a few polaroids on your table, right? And some photo albums from Charlie?"

"Yeah," Castiel says cautiously.

"What if we put all our pictures together on one wall?" Dean suggests. "And we put all your little photo album things on a table in front of it or something."

"The wall of nostalgia," Castiel says with a small smile. "I like that."

"Wanna find a wall now?" Dean asks.

"Do you have a wall and a table free?" Castiel asks. "That might be the important part."

Dean thinks about that for a moment. "Probably not."

Castiel nods slowly. "Okay... Ooh! What if we put them over the piano? And the books can go on top of it?"

"Would that affect the piano?" Dean asks.

"Probably not," Castiel says. "If they do, I'll just move them when I'm playing."

"Then let's do it," Dean says.

Castiel grabs the polaroids and takes all the photo albums from the closet, and Dean takes his pictures. They head to the piano, and Dean tapes his pictures high up on the wall. Castiel has to put his a little lower, because he's too short to reach that high.

"Wait, put that one at eye level," Dean says, stopping Castiel before he can put their first Polaroid on the wall.

"Why?" Castiel asks.

"Because it's cute and I want to see it," Dean says.

Castiel chuckles and does as he's told. It's probably a good idea, too. The pictures are more scattered now, with plenty of room for new ones. And now, whenever he's upset, he can just walk over to the piano and he'll see the picture of Dean making a funny face at the camera, and Castiel bursting out in laughter.

"This is cute," Dean says, looking at the wall with a satisfied smile.

"We'll have to add on," Castiel says.

"But we don't do anything worth taking pictures of," Dean says.

"Your existence is worth taking pictures of," Castiel says with a playful smile.

"You're adorable," Dean says, booping his nose. A look of realization dawns in his face. "Wait —"

Dean runs out of the room, and Castiel follows him quickly. Dean opens one of the kitchen drawers and pushes things around, and, after a few moments, he puts something down on the counter with a clink. There's a pause, then he finds another, and then another. He closes the door and turns to face Castiel with a triumphant grin.

"I found my Super Bowl rings!" Dean says proudly.

Castiel gapes at him. "We spent the last hour in our room looking for them, and they were out here the whole time?"

"Yep!" Dean says with a grin. Seeing that his good mood isn't going to put Castiel in one, he says, "But at least we have our wall of nostalgia. We never woulda made that if we didn't find the pictures."

Castiel crosses his arms, glaring.

Dean slowly puts his hands up and whispers, "Please don't hurt me."