City Lights

Dean wiped his brow as he stepped back from his work. His friend Benny came up and clapped him on the back. "You finally finished it, brother," he said proudly. Dean beamed back at him and admired the completed project. For three generations, the Winchesters had been building the new town in Kansas, and Dean had finally finished the half-built mess his dad had left him when he died.

For the longest time, building the town was Dean's only priority. The only other thing he cared about was Sam, who was off at college because he refused to take up architecture like the rest of the family. But then Dean met the one of the first people to move into one of the completed houses. He was dark-haired and blue-eyed, with softly defined muscles and a great misunderstanding of modern slang and sarcasm.

Dean was absolutely infatuated with the new man who had moved into the town. At first he and Dean just talked when the man needed help with something, such as a faulty light or moving a couch in. But soon he and Dean grew closer. They formed a tight friendship that became more than a friendship. It took a couple of years, but Dean finally managed to work up the balls to ask the wonderful Castiel to go on a date with him. They had been going out for six months now, and Dean had never been happier.

Dean checked his watch. "Shit, I'm going to be late," he muttered as he grabbed his jacket. Benny nodded and shooed him along. Before he left, Dean turned to Benny. "You know what to do?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do. You made it very clear exactly when to do it. Now go, or Cas'll think you stood him up," Benny assured him. Dean thanked him and hurried to his car.

Dean pulled up to Cas in a field ten minutes late. "Sorry," he apologized, "work was running late."

"That is alright," Cas said, smiling. "So what is this we are doing?"

"It's a hot air balloon ride, Cas," Dean explained as he led Castiel to the basket.

"But Dean, I thought you did not care for flying," Cas reasoned.

"Yeah, but it's just a balloon, not a plane. Plus, you like flying, so I can manage this."

They climbed into the basket together. Dean turned to Castiel. "You ready?" Cas nodded, so Dean lit the fire to inflate the balloon. When it was to full size, he untied the rope and dropped the sandbags holding the balloon to the earth. When the balloon started to fly, Dean grabbed Cas by the waist, half for romantic effect and half to try and keep his nerves under control.

They floated up into the darkening sky. Cas leaned over the edge of the basket to drink in the view of the newly built town in the light if the sunset.

"You like the view?" Dean asked. Cas nodded.

"It's beautiful. This is wonderful. Thank you, Dean." Cas turned back to Dean and gave him a small kiss on his cheek. Dean smiled and turned his head to nuzzle his face in Castiel's hair. They stood comfortably like that as they looked over the red lighting over the skyline. When the sun had almost completely set, Dean edged closer to the side of the basket and gestured to Cas to come over.

"What is it, Dean?" Cas asked. Dean did not respond, just looked excitedly down at the town. Cas turned his attention to the dark shadows of the buildings, wondering what Dean was staring at.

The lights began to turn on. But not in the random pattern like city lights should. Along all the rooftops, rows if blue lights lit up vibrantly. Castiel was awestruck as he looked over the blue lights, spelling out across the entire town,

I LOVE YOU CAS

Cas looked at Dean as his eyes teared up. His hand was over his mouth, and Dean hoped it was from excitement or another good emotion. Cas turned to Dean and threw himself into Dean's arms. "Dean, I love it. This is amazing. Thank you," he cried into Dean's shoulder. Cas then pulled back to look into Dean's eyes before giving him a long, passionate kiss. "I love you, too."