Blue is the Warmest Color

Colors

Growing up, Dean's favorite color was always red. When he was old enough that his parents allowed him to choose a color for the walls in his room, he chose red. His mother made him settle on cream and add a red accent wall. His first car was a red Charger. His favorite shirt all through high school was a red flannel that he wore with practically everything, until the thing was so filled with holes that his mother tossed it one afternoon while he was out playing basketball with the guys. He even dyed his hair red once. Big mistake, but it was fun while it lasted.

As an adult, Dean settled on a red sofa set for his first apartment, as a spot of color against the plain white walls that he was not permitted to paint. Even his school colors had been red, white and gold in high school, and his football jersey hung framed on the living room wall, a fond memory. When he graduated college and got his first real job where he could put his hard earned degree to use and buy himself nice things, he decided to buy things for his kitchen. He settled on a mix of red and black dishes, adding in red dish towels, red stemmed wine glasses (not that he was a big wine drinker, but they accented the plates nicely), and other little touches. His brother liked to tell him it looked like a crime scene in his apartment with all that red, but Dean loved it. He was single, hardworking, and happy with his life. Things were good.

In the summer of his twenty seventh year things changed. He was invited to his friend Charlie's birthday. She was turning twenty five, celebrating her quarter century birthday, and he brought a bottle of red wine as a gift. The party was being held at her house, a place he loved visiting, and he was happy to be there. The music was good, the food was better, and he knew most of the people there. But he didn't know the man standing near the kitchen, sipping at a glass of the wine Dean had brought. He was alone, watching the room, but he didn't seem upset by the fact that no one was talking to him. If anything, he seemed comfortable. When he looked in Dean's direction, noticing how he was staring, he smiled.

The first thing Dean noticed was how beautiful the man was. There was almost something ethereal about him. He had full lips and messy dark hair, but it looked good on him. He was dressed in a form fitting white sweater with thin blue stripes, and white pants. Not something Dean would have worn but somehow it seemed to work perfectly for the man. It showed off his narrow waist and lean legs, and before Dean knew what was happening he was standing in front of this man, this stranger.

The very next thing he noticed were his eyes. They were bright blue, intense as they studied Dean's face, and as he introduced himself to the man, they grew wider, interest making them even brighter. His name was Cas, short for Castiel, and he worked with Charlie. As they talked Dean kept finding his gaze drawn to those blue eyes. There wasn't a single color in the spectrum that he could come up with to describe them. As Cas talked, his emotions were revealed in those beautiful orbs. One moment, as he spoke of something serious they flickered to an almost cerulean color, but then Dean would say something funny and immediately he would think they were bluer than the bluest cornflower to ever sit under a Midwest, summer sun. The man had Dean's undivided attention, and really, he didn't mind one bit.

Somehow they ended up on a date. Dean vaguely remembered asking the man out. What had struck him the most was how wide Cas' eyes became, as though he could hardly believe that Dean would want to take him out. When he had smiled shyly up at Dean, his eyes framed by the dark lashes behind which he peered up at him, Dean knew he had to get to know the man better. There were no pretenses with Cas. If Dean wanted to know what the man was feeling, all he had to do was look into his eyes. They truly were a doorway into this man's soul.

One date turned into two, and then into three, and still Dean was intrigued, finding Cas both fascinating and exciting, even when he refused to believe it himself. When Cas smiled, Dean saw that joy reflected in his eyes, and it was a breathtaking sight to behold. Three dates turned into six, and then into ten. Dean wanted to bring Cas home to meet his family.

Mary Winchester loved Cas right from the first moment she met him. She was the only other person Dean had ever met in his life who's every emotion showed brightly in her eyes, and when Dean introduced her to Cas, he could see the joy in them. His father was thrilled to meet Cas as well. So was Dean's brother Sam. Cas was nervous, Dean could see it written on his face, but most of all he could see it in his eyes. The man had no reason to be nervous though. Cas was the first person Dean had ever brought home to meet his family. Cas was special.

That night Dean took Cas back to his place. They had slept together before, and one of Dean's favorite things was to look Cas right in the eye as he came, as his body was filled with pleasure that radiated from his very core, it showed in his eyes. Tonight though, he wanted to hold Cas in his arms, to wake with him wrapped his embrace, and to see those blue eyes opening with the morning light that flooded into the bedroom. Cas was happy to do whatever Dean wanted. It was the first time Dean was asking him to spend the night, and he knew that was important. Dean was important.

The next morning Dean woke first. He lay there watching Cas sleep, the way his mouth was slightly parted, and how his thick, black lashes came to rest lightly upon his cheeks. He was absolutely perfect, in every way Dean could ever imagine. When the man finally began to stir, the morning sunlight pulling him from his slumber, and those blue eyes slowly opened, Dean's breath caught in his throat. In that moment he said the only words he could possibly think of. The words he had never spoken to another living soul, save for his parents.

I love you

Those blue eyes flew wide open with surprise and when he smiled up at Dean, they sparkled with unshed tears. Dean loved him in that moment more than anything in the world, and he knew he would love this man for the rest of his life. Cas said it back, and Dean knew it to be true, he could see the love radiating from his gaze when Cas looked at him, hear it in his words when he spoke, feel it in the kisses he pressed against Dean's skin. And Dean learned that yes, he could actually be happier than he already was.

Ten dates turned into fifteen, and then into twenty, and by then no one was keeping count anymore. They passed six months, and then a year, when they decided to get a house together. One year turned into two, turned into five, and still Dean found Cas to be the most amazing and interesting person he had ever had the privilege of knowing. He loved Cas more than anything in the world and he knew, looking into those warm, blue eyes, that Cas loved him just as much.

Dean had known for a long time now that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Cas, and so he gathered their family and friends one warm summer evening for Cas' birthday. Cas was turning thirty five and he thought Dean was just being sweet and throwing him a birthday party, but when Dean stepped out of the house, crossing the lawn with a single red rose in his hands and knelt down before him, those blue eyes widened more than they ever had before. As Dean pulled the little velvet box from his pocket and opened it, he looked up into his boyfriend's eyes. There was more love in them than he thought one person could be capable of expressing, and the joy that danced in them as he said yes and Dean slipped the ring on his finger was something he would never, ever forget.

Five years became ten, became twenty. They raised two children, saw them off to college, saw them married, became grandparents. Twenty years became forty, became sixty. Dean never once wavered in his love for Cas, and all he had to do was look into his husband's eyes and know that his love for Dean had never wavered either.

When they were reunited once more in heaven, the first thing Dean did was look into those eyes, felt their warmth, felt their love, and he knew, they would never be apart again.