Lightning Does Strike Twice

In Castiel's Eyes

One Year Later

The beach was so beautiful at night. The soft lights from the buildings and the setting sun reflected in the water that lapped gently at the sand. Dean and I sat at one of the bars close to our hotel that was right by the ocean, so we had the perfect view. I looked over at Dean, who was finishing off his drink. His leg was bouncing up and down like it had been all day, which was driving me crazy. But I wasn't going to complain about it or anything else because this was a long needed vacation and I loved Dean for bringing me here.

When he told me that we were going on vacation to celebrate our first year of being debilis, I wasn't expecting a trip to the Caribbean. Really, I wasn't sure that he was serious until we started packing. Part of me was suspicious, but I was just excited to go to the beach again. After living in California for so long, I was missing the ocean. Besides, it was the Caribbean.

When Dean's drink was finished and he paid, he laced his fingers through mine. "Let's take a walk," he whispered in my ear. It wasn't long before we found a spot that was relatively empty to watch the sunset.

"This is so beautiful."

Dean squeezed my hand. "It really is."

We fell into this peaceful quiet as the orange sky faded and a billion stars took its place. The sounds of the island's animals, the soothing waves, the hum of other people, and the soft music playing from the bar all mixed together into the perfect melody for our show. Then the music switched to a familiar song: I Don't Want to Miss a Thing.

I looked up at Dean, whose features were lit up by the shrinking sun. He didn't seem to notice the shift in music. "It's our song." I took Dean's other hand, so he could face me. "Remember that night? We danced to this song." I closed my eyes for a moment, just long enough for me to hold on to the memory. That night was one of the first that came back to me, and I've been especially protective of every detail. The warmth from Dean's hands and the way I could pinpoint each one of his freckles in the moonlight. How my heart pounded against my chest because the intimacy of the situation made me nervous but also because I knew I loved Dean. The light pressure of Dean's lips on my jaw right before he began singing softly in my ear. And the lyrics that I remembered so clearly out of everything. There were days that I couldn't remember my siblings' birthdays, but I always knew the words to our song.

He had this bemused expression, and I realized he recognized the song when I did. Probably before. "I remember."

"Do you want to dance?"

Dean laughed, but pulled me close to him so we could sway to the music. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

And we danced like that, his hands on my waist, mine around his neck, just like we did all those years ago. The water touched my heels as the chorus played a second time, but I didn't care. The ocean could've swallowed me into the waves, and I wouldn't have minded at all. I started to sing along around the second chorus but hummed the last few lines.

And right as the final chords played out on the beach, Dean pulled away from me. I let my hands fall to my side, suddenly that nervous eighteen-year-old again. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Dean closed the distance between us as quickly as he created it, giving me a kiss. "Everything is so perfect, Cas," he told me as he rested his forehead against mine. "I love you."

I covered his hand that was on my cheek with mine. "I love you too."

"No, I say that, but that's not what I mean." What? "I don't just love you." Dean straightened up, holding both of my hands between us. "Those words are so small compared to how I feel about you. And I wish I knew what words could compare to my feelings, but I get so lost when I try. I don't know how to tell you how important you are to me. I don't know how to tell you how much I love our lives. I don't know how to tell you how much I love you. All I know is that I want to spend the rest of my life with you and that I don't want to miss another thing with you. I've already missed enough. I wish I could tell you how I feel, but I've never been great with words. So I'll show you how I feel instead." He let go of my hands to reach into his pocket and get on one knee. Dean held out a small velvet box with a simple gold band inside. I covered my mouth, trying and failing not to cry. "Castiel James Novak, will you marry me?"

Everything was so clear in that moment. This trip and the walk on the beach. Why he was so nervous today and why the bar just so happened to play our song.

I was so incredibly lucky to have Dean. The fact that he did all of this. Forgiving me, moving with me a year ago, the Caribbean, the proposal.

Dean is proposing to me. He's really proposing to me.

It seemed like a dream that we were here, that he actually wanted to marry me. And it was a dream I never wanted to wake up from.

Looking down at Dean holding that ring, I knew I never had to. It was going to be the two of us forever, like it was always meant to be. It was destiny that we met in the first place and a miracle that we got a second chance. I didn't need a third to know what I wanted or what the right answer to his question was.

I fell to my knees in front of Dean, kissing him more forcefully than I anticipated. We almost lost our balance, but Dean steadied us and wrapped his arms around my waist. "Yes," I half-shouted, half-laughed. "Yes. Absolutely yes."

Dean's hands shook slightly as he put the ring on my finger. He was still nervous, even though he had to know my answer. There wasn't a chance that I'd say no to spending the rest of my life with the man I loved so much. I touched the band before wiping at the tears that still hadn't stopped. Dean looked speechless, like he wanted me to fill the silence with the perfect words. Maybe he wanted me to say something meaningful in that moment, something one of my characters would say to end the story. Maybe he wanted me to voice the thoughts he couldn't. But I didn't know what else to say, and I was always told to show, not tell. So I kissed him again to show him how much I loved him. I kissed him to show him what those thoughts inside me felt like. I kissed him to show him a piece of our future.

Because no words can end out a story that's only beginning.