Count Down To Six.

FIFTH.

It was the night before Castiel and Dean were supposed to start in their freshman year of college at the University of Kansas when Dean first told Castiel he loved him.

Dean was sat on the park bench, next to Castiel sipping on a soda, relaxing in the cool summer breeze of late august. Castiel was doing the same, leaning into Dean only slightly as it was too hot out to be much closer than that.

Dean took a moment to look over the surrounding area before speaking up.

"I got my final schedule today" Castiel already knew that, but Dean liked hearing Castiel talk to him. Castiel turns to look at Dean, smiling softly as he does.

"Yeah, Dean. I slept over last night" He chuckles, leaning closer and kissing Deans cheek, gently, before turning back to his drink. Dean smiles a bit wider, looking over Castiel before finally speaking up, not being able to hold himself back anymore.

"I love you, Cas" He says, Castiel seems to freeze slightly, looking down, not meeting Deans eyes.

"I like you, Dean...I'm just not sure I'm at that point yet.." Castiel says after maybe ten minutes of silence.

Deans fight or flight kicks in, he wants to run away, hide. But instead he stays, looking at Castiel.

"That's okay..Just, when you're ready, don't let my feelings force you to say anything you don't mean..I'll wait for you" Dean assures, looking over Castiel once more before looking away around the park.

Castiel feels his nerves wash away with Deans words. He was thankful Dean didn't ask many questions and was understanding as well. He didn't want to break up with Dean, he could even seem them getting married someday, he just didn't love him yet.

"Thank you for being understanding" Castiel replies to Dean, turning towards him and kissing Dean softly, pulling away a moment later.

It was disappointing Castiel didn't yet feel the same way, but Dean would do everything in his power to eventually get Castiel to feel the same way.

At the end of their first semester Castiel broke the news to Dean. It wasn't necessarily bad news, but it really wasn't good either. 

"Dean, I have to tell you something" Castiel said. Pulling Dean to sit in the desk chair of their small dorm room. Dean watches him a bit weirded out as Castiel usually wasn't nervous about things, unless it was very serious, and serious scared him.  

"Yeah..uh shoot" Dean replies. Leaning forward slightly, taking Castiels hand in his. Castiel watches Dean with sad eyes, before finally speaking. 

"Well, I got accepted to a different-better college" Castiel explains. He looks at Dean for a reaction, seeing Dean smile at him brought two things to his mind, either Dean didn't understand what he was saying or he was really the most supportive boyfriend ever. 

"Dean...I'm moving to New York..The college, it's New York University.." Castiel trails off, frowning as the smile falls from Deans face.

Swallowing thickly, Dean nods. Taking a deep breath before speaking up, nearly ten minutes after Castiel makes it known. 

"I'm proud of you" Dean says simply, before speaking once again. "It's okay that you're moving because we'll find each other again. Across stars, or millions of miles." Dean nods, scooting the chair a bit closer to Castiel, gently cupping his cheek. 

"What do you want this to mean? I-I'm okay no matter what you choose, if you want to break up with me or not, because when you love something, you have to let it go, and if you come back, then I'll know it's meant to be" Dean smiles weakly, watching his boyfriend. 

Castiel smiles, he was so thankful for Dean, he just wished he could stay here, but NYU gave him more opportunities. He needed that a little more than he needed Dean, he was glad Dean understood. 

"I don't wanna break up, we'll just be...long distance until I come back..and I'll be back during the summer, and Christmas break" Castiel assures, kissing Deans nose. "I'm glad you understand that I need to do this" he adds as an after thought. 

Dean did understand, even though he didn't like it, he would never tell Castiel that. He knew what Cas wanted to do and he was more then supportive. If this meant only seeing him a few times a year that would be okay, because Castiel deserved a good school, and a good future and eventually they would be back together for good.