Captain to my Bucky

Untitled Part 9

"What exactly did I miss?" Benny squinted in confusion as he looked between his friends. "You two are dating? When the hell did that happen? And since when have you been into guys?" He directed the second part at Dean specifically. Dean chuckled and found Cas' hand under the table, pulling it into his own lap to hold. They had broken the news to Cas' family and were not terribly surprised to learn that they had suspected their youngest son was gay, though Cas' dad seemed genuinely surprised to learn that he and Dean had actually not been dating that entire time. His parents didn't care much one way or the other. Apparently Gabe's flashy coming out declaration two years earlier had sort of numbed them to the shock. Cas' reluctance to actually tell his brothers had been for a reason. As expected, they both commenced teasing him mercilessly. Not about being gay, but about having a boyfriend. Gabe and his graphic descriptions of sex and Mike singing the kissing song were driving Cas nuts after a single day. If he ever heard that stupid song ever again...

After that they had slowly been coming out to their friends. Dean hadn't seen Benny for longer than thirty seconds most of the week. He'd been out the first two days with the flu, and then came finals. It was lunch on Thursday and this was the time Dean had chosen to tell him.

"Well...I didn't tell anyone I was gay. I wasn't sure how everyone would take it, Cas included," Dean admitted.

"Well it would appear that he took the news rather well," Benny drawled, making everyone at the table snicker. Cas leaned his head on Dean's shoulder, something he had quickly come to love doing. Anything that put him in physical contact with Dean made him happy though, and the way his boyfriend's thumb was currently stroking gently over the back of his hand was comforting.

"I just can't believe my gaydar was broken. You...I sort of suspected," Charlie pointed a finger at Cas, whose eyes widened at having been singled out. "But you, you always seemed so confident, and you charmed the ladies. I would have maybe expected you to be bi, but not gay. It's cool though, and I always secretly shipped you two. Guess that went canon," she said with a laugh. Dean grinned and kissed the top of Cas' head.

"Aren't you guys going to school close by too?" Their friend Ash asked from farther down the table. Dean nodded.

"Yeah, we'll be about ten minutes away. It's why we chose those schools."

"So, like are you two getting an apartment together?"

They had actually talked about that long before they got together and had decided that to save money, they would get a place together. Lynn was actually helping them search for a place they could afford once they lined up jobs. Cas had sent in applications to a bunch of places near the college campus while Dean was pretty sure he had lined up a job at a store on campus. School was starting in September, so they only had a few more months to line a place up. Dean was confident his stepmom would find a nice place. She was dogged when it came to such matters. He told Ash as much.

"That's cool. Maybe I'll come see you guys on breaks, if you're not back here visiting family," Ash said, grinning. Charlie and Benny murmured an agreement. Dean just didn't want to lose touch with his friends.

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Their daily routine hadn't really changed now that they were dating. Dean still went home after school, did his homework, his chores, and waited for Cas to show up after his own chores were completed. Sometimes they just sat and talked, sometimes they laid in Dean's bed, pressed up close to one another and kissing like it was the end of the world. Sometimes they sat and played video games. Dean had broken the news to Sam, who honestly didn't care, and life went on as they knew it. As graduation day approached Dean realized that soon, his and Cas' lives would be changing forever. They would leave their homes here in Kansas, venturing out into the wide world to start on the next chapter. It made Dean happy knowing he wasn't in this alone. Cas would be there with him, every step of the way. That alone made things a lot less scary.

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GRADUATION DAY

The morning of their graduation, Dean's stomach was in a knot. This was the last day he would see most of the people he had known for the last twelve years of his life, and he found that thought alone to be rather depressing. Mary was making sure they had everything they would need before they left the house, and Lynn was busy making sure Sam looked decent and had his hair brushed. Dean was pacing his room, occasionally eyeing the cap and gown that was spread out on his bed. A knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts and he crossed the room to open it.

"Cas? What are you doing here?" he asked as his boyfriend walked into the room.

"I told my folks I'm coming with you and your family. They're meeting me there," Cas replied as he turned to face Dean.

"I'm glad you're here. This shit is stressing me out," Dean admitted as he shut the door.

"I know. My mom was driving me nuts so I had to get out of there." Cas eyed his clothes. "You're not dressed yet."

Dean looked down at his jeans and the black tee shirt he'd put on that morning. "No. My mom bought me a freaking suit." He sighed and went to the closet to pull it out.

"It's too hot out for a suit, she has to realize that, right? Ditch the jacket," Cas said as Dean pulled a tan suit out of the closet.

"I need an undershirt," Dean mumbled as he laid the suit out on the bed. Cas was already at his dresser, fishing around in the drawer where his tee shirts were. He had expected his boyfriend to select one of the plain white tee shirts that he had, but instead Cas came up with the Captain America shirt.

"I can't wear that under a white dress shirt," Dean laughed. Cas cocked one eyebrow as he undid the top three buttons on his own white dress shirt. Dean grinned when he saw Cas was wearing his own Captain America shirt. He had wondered why the dress shirt looked a bit dark. Now he knew.

"This will be our little secret. Something special just between you and me," Cas said. Dean pulled his black tee shirt over his head and accepted the Captain one. He put it on and lightly traced his fingers around the shield as he smiled. When he looked up, he saw Cas was smiling too.

"You're my Captain," Cas said warmly. Dean's smile grew even wider.

"And you're my Bucky."