Twist and Shout [not mine]

Chapter 7

June, 1972

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Cas got a ride with Sam and Jess to the airport, and the entire way there, he couldn't stop moving. He kept tapping his feet on the floorboard, tugging at the sleeves of his sweater, and pulling his glasses off to clean them, even though he had just done it minutes prior. Every now and then Jess would turn around and say something to him, maybe reaching out to playfully flip his hair. He would laugh and swat her hand away, and she would laugh too and turn around to say something to Sam.

He knew that most men that returned home from the war weren't the same men that they were when they left, but he had hope-he always had hope that Dean would still be Dean, and nothing would have changed. They hadn't exchanged letters, packages, anything, so Cas had no idea what Dean had been up toover seas; he had some idea, but he didn't want to think about that.

Jess turned around and reached back to flick Cas' hair again, laughing.

"You excited?"

"Of course I am!" Cas grinned pushed her hand away from his hair. He had actually attempted to make it look nice for today, and Jess kept reaching back to mess it up. He had tried to dress up too. He wanted it to be special;he wanted it to be good.

"Are you going to kiss him out there? In front of everyone?"

"Don't be absurd, Jess!" Cas barked a laugh, flipping the ends of her hair with his fingers, and she laughed softly, shaking her head. Sam rolled his eyes in the rearview mirror and Jess leaned across to kiss his cheek before turning back to Cas.

"It would be such a shocker, I bet!"

"It would, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to do it."

"Alright, enough about kissing my brother!" Sam chuckled, parking the car and cutting the ignition off. "We're here, so let's go see him!"

Cas stood beside Jess at the airport, and he could feel his hands shaking at his sides for a moment before Jess reached over and slipped her hand into his, squeezing it reassuringly. He squeezed her hand back, and she gently bumped him with her shoulder.

"It's going to be fine, Cas," she whispered. "He's going to be fine."

He nodded and squeezed her fingers again, the sound of a plane roaring in the distance as it went over the terminal.

The soldiers filed off of the plane, and Cas kept a lookout for Dean, standing on his toes to look over the heads of some people. He adjusted his glasses, pushing them further up the bridge of his nose, and Jess pulled her hand away from his to point at someone. He followed her finger and then he froze when Dean looked up at him, catching his eyes. His breath caught in his throat, and Dean smiled that wolfish smile of his.

"Cas-"

He didn't hear the rest of what Jess had said because he was already pushing past people, apologizing to a couple of them as he made his way toward Dean, stopping in front of him when he reached him.

"Dean," he started, but the words got stuck halfway. Dean's smile diminished to something quieter.

"Hey," he whispered.

Cas threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around Dean's neck, and he didn't care who saw them. Actually, he wanted everyone to see them. He wanted everyone to see how much he loved Dean, and how much he missed him, and if anyone didn't like, then they could just turn the other way. He melted against Dean when he felt arms wrap around him, Dean pressing his face into his hair, fingers bunching into his sweater.

"I missed you so much," Cas sobbed, pressing closer to Dean, and Dean hushed him, held him tighter.

"It's okay. I'm home now, it's okay." He looked around at the people whispering and loosened his grip. "We probably shouldn't make a scene here," he muttered, patting Cas' back in a more platonic manner.