Maybe tomorrow

Pairing: Dean x Castiel

Word Count: 800ish

Warnings: fluff

A/N: Hello hello! This is my gift for the fandom, in order to celebrate Dean's birthday properly. I also wrote a Dean x Reader story, if you prefer that pairing ("Fireflies tonight"). Happy birthday, Dean. You deserve the best.

You can also find me on AO3 and Tumblr. Feedback is always appreciated by a writer! Enjoy!

It's Dean's birthday and life's never been so kind to him like today. He's sitting on a deck chair next to Cas and Sam. Toes in the sand, hawaiian shirts and sunglasses on. Dean's inhaling the scent of the sea, while he's listening to the noise of the waves, eyes closed and a sense of bliss in his mind. It's like he has found peace, for once.

"I can feel the sand in my trench coat," Cas suddenly says, making Sam laugh.

"Dude, that's why I suggested you to wear a shirt like ours barely an hour ago," he replies.

Dean gets his sunglasses on his forehead with a finger in order to look at Cas. It's hilarious seeing a very ancient being like him wearing a trench coat at the beach. Crowley would have laughed too. He smirks.

"Hey Cas, I've got another shirt, if you want to change it," Dean offers.

Cas sighs, then he agrees.

"Fine."

Dean gets up to accompany Cas to change. They ask a guy who works at the beach bar for the bathroom key, then Dean positions himself in front of the door as if he were a bodyguard, while Castiel enters the cabin.

"Hey Dean, I forgot to take my shirt. Could you pass it to me please?" Castiel asks.

"Yeah, sure," Dean says, struggling to open the door Castiel hasn't locked. It looks faulty, the knob barely moves. "Here," says Dean handing him the shirt. "Thanks," says Cas.

Dean tries to get out, but the handle breaks in his hands.

"Cas, I think that we've got a problem," Dean says, turning around to notice Cas undoing the bottoms of his shirt. He gulps.

"Don't worry, I'll just get you out from here with my wings later," he says, then he gets the white shirt off.

Dean is still looking at him. He's staring, but Castiel doesn't seem to notice. It lasts a second, but Dean is watching at the scene like it comes from a movie: his firm chest, his pink lips, the pale skin... it's all too much for him. He had never thought about Castiel as something other than a friend, maybe mostly because he didn't let himself doing that, but now he's thinking that for once, claiming something for himself wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe he can have a gift for his birthday. Something that he really wants, this time.

"Don't," he says, while Cas is fully dressed now, breaking the silence in the cabin.

Cas looks at him confused.

"What?"

"Don't get us out. Not yet. There's something I need to tell you," Dean says. His lips are quivering.

"Dean, is everything okay?"

And you know, it's just the way he says his name, Dean, with the tongue that rolls over his palate, that makes him shiver. It's the fact that he never told that with a sparkle of love, but rather annoyance, that hits him right in the chest. The fact that he can see his Adam's apple vibrate when he makes those four noises. A breath in a day in which you can't even catch one. Dean's name on the tip of his tongue.

"I know I said that you, me and Sam being at the beach together was the perfect birthday gift and I still mean it, but... I just wanted to ask you for another gift, if that's possible."

Cas put a hand on his shoulder, getting really worried about him.

"Dean, you're scaring me. What happened?"

"Nothing happened, it's just that... I never got something to me, because I thought I couldn't do that, but now I'm forty-two and maybe I should just claim something for myself. Something I would like to experience for the first time and I hope he doesn't ruin our friendship, man, I really do," Dean says.

"Dean, nothing could ever break our friendship. We've been through much together, you and I," Cas says and somehow, those words remind Dean of all the times he wished they were more than friends.

Dean swallows, his hands trembling while he takes Cas' cheeks into them.

"Please, don't be scared," he says, looking at his lips, whispering like it was a prayer.

And maybe it is. Because when he kisses Castiel for the first time, he feels like every prayer he said, every wish he asked, have been granted. Cas has always been the most significant wish he had ever asked.

When he looks into Cas' eyes again, he doesn't see fear, but rather confusion.

"I'm not scared, Dean. I just don't feel..."

"The same way? Yeah, I get it," Dean interrupts him, disappointed. He should have seen it coming, after all.

"No! I don't feel enough experience about this," he says and Dean's heart feels so relieved, now.

"Well, neither am I. I guess we'll just learn how to make this work, together."

"I would love to," Cas says with a smile. "Maybe tomorrow, though. Today, I just want you to enjoy your birthday."

Dean caresses his cheek.

"I can do that."

Best birthday ever.