Imaginary Lover

Chapter 19

It has been many moons since I posted an update but that's because life got in the way. I haven't given up on the story and I am concluding it soon. For my new readers, I hope you enjoy the story and for the ones who have stuck by me, I could not be more grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for reading. It means the world to me. 

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In the weeks leading up to graduation, Dean and Castiel continued to try to work on their relationship while also turning in group projects, presentations, studying for final exams, and research projects. Spring semester was, to say the least, the busiest of all semesters because time seemed too short. They tried to spend time together, whether that was sitting in the library and working on their respective projects or at each others' houses.

Before long, Dean was standing up in front of class with his group presenting their project. This was his last day of classes and start of the summer. Right on time too given how many movies were starting to come out. He called it the "Summer Movie Season" and had planned to see several movies on their premiere day over the next few months. Cas's final day would be Monday, followed by graduation on Mother's Day. He tried not to think about it too much, how little time they might have left. Two years meant something to Dean; all that time and effort and love invested in one individual. He honestly never thought he would ever love someone as deeply as he did Cas after all that he'd been through in previous relationships. To even be faced with the possibility that he would not have Cas as a part of his every day life felt unimaginable. He didn't want to live a life where he was apart from the one person who made him feel complete, who was the best bonus he could ever have asked for.

They hadn't spoken about it since that day at the lake but Cas had been trying to spend more time with him. They went on more dates, more being around each other. Even the texting had resumed after that conversation. It was difficult to understand what the change meant. What if it was compensation for guilt, for Cas leaving because of a job or graduate school or, as much as it made him anxious, because they had not had sex? Dean chose to think it was because Cas was attempting to create a normal pattern of life for them, something that would continue even after graduation because Cas had chosen to stay.

Yes! That had to be it. This was leading up to Cas telling him, maybe on Graduation Day, that he was staying on for his Master's degree here and they would have all the time in the world to be together. The idea of that lit up an inferno of happiness within him. Daydreams started flying through his mind faster than he could comprehend them. Hiking trails, walks with Bones and maybe their own dog, Sunday brunches, biking for marathons, and maybe, even, living together. Dean felt goosebumps from head to toe as the image of waking up to Cas every day settled into him. Morning coffees and dog walks, playful showers and food fights. Now that he saw it, he didn't want to let it go. He saw the rest of his future in his mind, a beautiful future that he wanted for them. It didn't necessarily have to be in this city, it could be anywhere.

He may not have wanted to admit it before but he was starting to become comfortable with the idea that he would follow Cas to wherever. As long as Dean could figure out a job around where Cas wanted to be, he would do it. Why he wanted to follow him to the ends of the Earth, he could not explain. It was pure feeling and he wasn't sure if even he understood the complete depth of it.

Often, his mother's voice would invade his mind and ask him to reconsider, rethink what he was considering. To give up one's autonomy to pursue another person was not, in any way, shape or form, rational. She had always told her children to make decisions based on their wishes, desires, and goals and not let anyone else be a factor in that decision making. He had been ignoring that voice, his reasoning being that Cas and him had been together for a long while and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him. They had been practically engaged since they exchanged those rings that first Christmas. The memory brought a smile to his face and he raised his hand to look at the TARDIS ring sitting on his finger.