The Year of Redemption

Chapter 70: Hold Each Other

The next night, Castiel appeared in the living room. He looked tense, his back straight, his arms stiff at his sides.

Dean stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and walked over. He laid his hands lightly on the angel's shoulders and kissed him softly. Dean felt Cas relax under his touch, ever so slightly. "Thank you," Castiel whispered.

"What is it, baby?" Dean asked, looking into Cas's eyes and starting to massage his shoulders.

The angel shook his head. "It's just been a long day."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Castiel closed his eyes and shook his head again. Dean's hands wandered up and guided the angel's head to his shoulder. "That's ok," he murmured. "You're safe now. That's all that matters."

The angel's shoulders slumped, and he melted into Dean, letting the hunter hold him. He knew if he told Dean, he'd feel better. The hunter would console and encourage him, and he would probably have a better plan of action than the angel even did.

But Castiel couldn't. He couldn't lay that much on Dean. The hunter didn't need anything else on his mind, let alone an angel's civil war that Cas was currently losing. Plus, Cas couldn't risk bringing any of the battle down here, and if Dean knew too much, that's exactly what might happen.

Cas pulled away and looked into his lover's face. It was enough - more than enough - to come home each night and be held by this beautiful being. "Thank you," Cas said again, and before Dean could respond, the angel was on his lips, kissing him passionately, deeply. It was the kind of kiss you remember, because it makes your head spin and your chest burn and your stomach flutter - the kind of kiss that makes you fall all over again.

"Cas," Dean breathed when the angel finally let him go. Their faces were still close, noses brushing.

"Shh," Cas whispered. "Just..." His eyes flitted between Dean's, and his fingers reached up to dance along the hunter's cheek. Even after all this time, he was still fascinated by every inch of Dean, by the way he felt under the angel's touch, by the simple twinkling look in his eyes. "Are you tired, baby?" Cas asked, moving away just a bit to scan the rest of his love's face.

Dean's mouth turned into a smirk. "Don't you ever get bored of just laying there while I sleep?"

Cas smiled at him, then laughed. "No," he said sincerely. "I switch off between counting your breaths and your heartbeats... sometimes your snores," he added with another smile. "Then I replay them in my head all day long, and I know how many I have to count to before I see you again."

"Seriously?" Dean asked, and Cas nodded. "What kind of miracle made you perfect like this?"

Castiel wrapped his arms around Dean's waist. "The kind that's in my arms right now," he said.

Dean reached up to Cas's neck and pulled his face forwards. He met the angel's soft lips. "I love you," he whispered. "I can't say it enough."

"Me neither," Cas breathed. "Every day, every moment, I love you more. There will never be words to describe how that feels."

"Not even in Enochian?" Dean joked.

Castiel shook his head. "Not even in Enochian." Dean kissed him again. "All that it has are better jokes," Cas continued.

Dean shut him up with another kiss. "What do you wanna do tonight?" he asked.

"Anything." Cas didn't care at all what they did, as long as he had his angel. Doing anything with Dean was what he lived for. It was what he looked forward to every day. He had no idea how he had even existed without this man.