The Dreams of Princes

Part VIII

For about a week, Dean didn't have any plans for his bucket list, so the three just goofed off and pranked each other a bit. Dean got Cas twice, Sam got Dean three times, Cas got Dean twice, Cas got Sam four times, and Sam got Cas five times. As their little prank war and general antics went on, Sam confided in Cas that he hadn't seen Dean this happy since the whole Braeden thing started, and that somehow made Cas feel far less helpless than before.

One morning, Cas was on his phone in bed, video chatting with Gabriel so he could see that he was doing well and talk to him. Gabe was missing him a lot, and Cas could tell that it had been hard dealing with their parents on his own. Mid conversation, Dean burst into the room, followed immediately by Sam.

"Get up, Cas, we have places to be!" Dean said, jumping on the bed and knocking Cas's phone out of his hand. Gabriel shrieked indignantly through the speaker as his point of view was thrown, but Dean had no better luck, falling off the bed himself after he bounced oddly. Sam stood in the doorway, laughing at the spectacle that had been created.

Cas picked up his phone, looking at Gabe. Gabe had an eyebrow raised at him.

"What the fuck was that? Your friends?" He asked, and Sam and Dean crowded into the camera view.

"Oh, we're the best friends he's ever had. I'm assuming you're Gabriel? We hear all about you all, he never shuts up," Sam said, and Cas shoved him, causing him to go out of frame as Dean laughed.

"Cool, yeah. Nice to meet you guys. Sounds like you have plans, so I'll go. Talk to you later, Cassie," Gabe said, hanging up. Dean stood up, yanking Cas out of bed.

"Get dressed, asshole, and grab a robe, because we're going cliff diving today," Dean said gleefully. Cas had to admit, it was always something he had wanted to do. He smiled brightly, grabbing warm clothes so that he wouldn't be uncomfortable on the way home, and a robe for when he was soaked. He didn't have swim shorts, so he decided just to dive in black boxers, which Dean said would be fine, as that was what he and Sam were doing as well.

Once he was ready to go, he loaded into a more rough terrain vehicle with the Winchesters, and Sam let him have the passengers seat so that Sam could stand in the back through the open top. As they rode off to the cliff side and beaches, Cas found himself again intoxicated by the feelings that these two brought him. This week and a half had been the best days of his life. They truly, really had, despite all of the drama.

The cliff, it turned out, was only a twenty minute drive from the castle, since Brecori was a rather coastal kingdom. Dean stopped the car, and all three got out, throwing their clothes into the car and going in just boxers to the edge of the cliff. Cas avoided looking at Dean, knowing damned well he would start blushing. Dean looked at the two of them, grinning.

"Well, who's going first?" He teased, thinking he would have to. But Cas was not about to lose a challenge. Taking an immediate running start, he launched off of the side while flipping both of them off, leaving Dean yelling and Sam cackling. He heard Dean say he was going, too, and then Cas hit the water.

Surprisingly, the water was rather warm. He realized there were probably hot springs nearby, as the coastal areas in Brecori were known for the hot springs that heated the oceans near them. He swam up, taking a gulping breath, and he found himself immediately yanked down again. Spluttering, he came up to see Dean laughing and made a face at him. Once Sam had joined them at the bottom of the cliff (making quite the splash as he did), they swam to the area by the beaches where they could touch so that they could relax more. Sam stood in front of them, distracted, and Cas felt a light tap on his arm. Turning, he saw that it had been Dean. Putting one hand on Cas's shoulder, he leaned closer to him.

"I'm gonna put you on my shoulders, and then you splash him as hard as you can. That way there will finally be a height element for us," Dean whispered, and Cas nodded. Dean crouched under the water, and Cas sat on his shoulders as Dean stood, holding Cas's thighs to stabilize him. Cas shoved away the electric sensation of Dean's hands on his bare skin, trying to find his balance. As soon as he did, he pushed his hands under the water and splashed it at Sam.

And it was a lot. Sam got doused in what could only be described as a mini wave, and he turned around, yelling. When he saw them laughing, he retaliated, and they started a water war that ended in Dean losing balance and knocking both himself and Cas over. They came up, spluttering, as Sam laughed.

After a while more of just standing in the water or messing around, they went over to the beach, and Dean jogged up to get the car so that he could drive their stuff down to the beach. As he went, Cas watched him go, wishing that he could make himself stop feeling like this. Not because Dean was someone he disliked, but because Dean was someone who couldn't even remotely be interested in him. Between Lisa and Dean being straight, he was hopeless.

   Cas didn't notice that he had zoned out until Sam cleared his throat, and Cas jumped, looking over at him.

"Cas, you look kind of sad," Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"I..." Cas stuttered, not wanting to tell Sam. He decided he had nothing to lose. "I've had a crush on Dean since I got here. I know, it's stupid, especially since he's already trapped with Lisa, and super especially because he's straight. But I haven't been able to make myself stop."

Sam looked at Cas like he had three heads, and Cas got nervous, taking a step back. That was, he felt nervous until Sam managed to spit out, "You really think Dean is straight?"

Cas reeled back even further, confused. What on earth was Sam implying?

Unfortunately, he didn't have a chance to ask, because Dean came roaring down the beach in the car, parking and hopping out. Throwing down a towel for each, he tossed the other two their robes, but Cas declined, going instead for his clothes, which consisted of his favorite sweatshirt and black, fitted sweatpants. He felt far warmer, and he sat down on his own, dry towel.

They talked for hours, and Cas kept messing with his hair, knowing full well that it was drying terribly. Dean kept watching him play with his hair, seemingly mesmerized by it. Neither noticed, but Sam sighed every time, rubbing his face.

As the sun set, they all sat, watching, and Dean went to grab them all drinks from the car. Throwing each other person a beer, Dean sat and opened his own, sipping it.

Despite his clothes being on, Cas found himself shivering. Dean looked over, saw this, and decided he couldn't allow it.

"Cas, you know, we're close enough friends that if you're cold, you can come closer and get some body heat," Dean said, and Cas smiled and nodded. Scooting over to Dean, he settled under his arm and against his chest. Immediately, he started to warm up. He was embarrassed, but Dean didn't seem to notice or care.

So the three watched the sunset together, Cas curled against Dean, Sam slightly away from them. Despite how calm the scene seemed, there were an incredible amount of things gone unsaid between the three.

When the sun had gone all the way down and the temperature began to drop even further, they got back in the car and headed home. Cas collapsed into bed the first chance he got, trying not to think about what it felt like to curl against Dean, to feel Dean's chest rise and fall under his head. He lay there, wishing he had any chance with Dean at all. But between Lisa and whatever else was going on with Dean, he knew he didn't.

So he simply slept instead, dreaming of a world that could have been.

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Third part today? Maybe. I love this story so much. I'm having the best time writing it. I hope it's ok for the reader