The Dreams of Princes

Part X

Dean realized what he had said and spluttered out, "Not in a weird way, I mean. It just looks good on you."

Cas smiled at him, knowing damn well that that wasn't true at all. Grabbing Dean's hand, he found that he had more energy suddenly and began to drag Dean back onto the floor. "Come on, Dean, dance with me!" He said, laughing.

Dean obliged, letting himself be dragged into the throng. The two ended up dancing face to face, inches apart because of the intense crowds. Cas didn't mind it a bit, but Dean seemed so nervous he was tripping on his own feet. Cas laughed and jokingly grabbed Dean's hips, dragging him closer.

"Come on, Dean, don't be so shy! Dance with me!" Cas joked. Immediately after saying it, Cas tripped himself, leading him to pull Dean's hips flush against his own by accident. Dean sucked in a sharp breath and backed up, hard, leaving Cas feeling lonely and out of his depth. Dean made a face that could be vaguely described as nausea, turning away from Cas.

"I'm gonna go get a drink. I don't feel so great," he shouted over the music, and Cas shook his head as Dean left. By this point, he was completely certain that Sam, Claire, and Ben had all been right. Cas continued to dance, having a great time and trying to shrug off Dean's weirdness and let him figure it out on his own time. At one point he saw Sam and waved, and Sam smiled and waved back.

Everything was going great, and Cas was having a blast. That was, until he felt hands snake onto his hips that he didn't recognize the feeling of. He immediately stiffened, shocked.

Turning sharply and shoving, he saw a man he didn't recognize behind him. The man put his hands toward Cas's waist again, a sickly smile on his face. Cas just stared at him in horror as he did.

"Oh, come on, sweetheart, don't be like that," he said, trying to touch Cas again. Cas snapped out of his frozen state and slapped his hands away, making the man grow angry immediately.

"Who do you think you are, huh? Don't be so difficult," he snapped, grabbing Cas before Cas could react and shoving his lips on Cas's. Cas slapped the man, breathing hard as the man backed up, shocked and angry. Cas was about ready to kill this motherfucker, if he were to be honest. But it seemed the man invading his space had the same thoughts toward him.

"You little-" the man fumed, stepping forward. But someone stepped between this drunk asshole and Cas. It was Dean, Cas realized, looking around him slightly to see the situation unfold.

"Don't you dare," Dean hissed, his shoulders tight. Cas hadn't seen him this angry at anyone but the Braedens. "You stay away from him."

"This is none of your business, pal," the man said, sneering at Dean. Dean laughed, gesturing to Cas to move forward. Cas stepped up to stand right beside Dean, a smirk finding its way into his face.

"Oh, so it isn't my business that you're harassing the prince of Haland right now?" Dean said, pulling of his own mask as Cas did the same. "And it doesn't matter that you just disrespected your own future king?"

The man paled dramatically, stepping backwards immediately. He started to stutter out an apology, and Dean put a hand up, silencing him.

"Enough. Get the fuck out of my party," he said, and the man ran. Putting the masks back on, they realized that no one else had seen the scene going on due to the volume and lighting of the place. Dean rested his hand on Cas's shoulder, and Cas jumped, realizing that he was shaking. Despite how satisfying the ending had been, that had not been a pleasant situation.

"Cas, let's get you a drink. You could use it," Dean said, and Cas nodded. He let Dean lead him to a seat and get him shots, letting them take off the edge of the stress. After plenty of time and a lot of booze, Cas was feeling a bit better.

Cas leaned his head on Dean's shoulder, still anxious and shaky despite the alcohol taking some edge off. He felt Dean tense slightly, but he ignored it.

"Thanks, Dean," he whispered. "That was awful."

Dean looked at him as Cas sat up, and a strange expression came over his face. As if in a trance, Dean leaned forward, closed his eyes, and brushed his lips on Cas's own.

Cas kissed back, loving the gentle feeling after the disgusting behavior he had dealt with earlier. Dean's hands moved to cup Cas's face, and Cas sighed contentedly into the kiss. As if he had just realized what was happening, Dean jerked back, an expression of horror on his face. Cas stared at him, angry and somehow feeling to blame for this extreme reaction.

"What?" Cas said, hurt. "What did I do?"

"Nothing, it's... it has nothing to do with you," Dean said, exhausted. He rubbed a hand down his face as he put his elbow on the bar, sighing. "I just... I shouldn't have done that, really, I shouldn't have. We can never be anything more than what we've been in the past. We just can't. So let's just forget that it happened and move on."

Cas stared at him in disbelief. Forget that it happened? If he "really shouldn't have," then why the fuck had he bothered to initiate it? Cas was about to snap as he felt the alcohol and the ridiculous situation combine, but Dean checked the clock and swore, cutting off anything Cas was going to say.

"Shit, we need to leave. I have a meeting at seven," he hissed, standing. "Cas, stay here, I'm going to go find Sam."

After disappearing into the crowd, Cas saw Dean turn a few times, and then he lost sight of him. He let out a scream of frustration, hitting the bar a few times with his fists. It was loud enough that no one noticed, thank god. He put his head in his hands, trying to process what the fuck had just happened. Minutes later, Dean came back, Sam in tow.

"Come on, Cas, we're getting you home," Dean said. Cas stood, ignoring Dean and charging out of the venue as Sam walked behind. They got into the car, and off they went. Cas stared out the window, refusing to acknowledge Dean in any way. Sam seemed to notice something was wrong, but he didn't say a word about it. Cas was grateful, because if Sam had, he may have snapped and screamed at Dean. As angry as he was, he was hurt. What the hell was Dean thinking if he was just going to let Cas get hope and then tear it out from under him?

It only took a few minutes to get to the castle, and then all three went their own ways. Cas went to his room, falling into bed as he began to cry. He knew it shouldn't hurt so badly that Dean didn't really want him, especially since he hadn't even been sure he'd wanted him in the first place. But the fact that Dean may feel the same and still didn't want to pursue it or even acknowledge it was what hurt the worst. Because it meant that no matter what Cas did, the Braedens had won. Cas had failed Sam, and he had failed to bring out what hope Dean had for life.

He knew it wasn't his fault. But it still felt damn well like it was.

He lay there for hours, crying off and on. Sometimes he felt angry, sometimes he felt crushed. After hours of that, the sun had risen. But Cas finally cried himself to sleep. A fitful and uncomfortable sleep, but it was still sleep.

And all he dreamed about in all of that time sleeping was Dean, and how much he wished he could fix it all. How much he wished he could undo everything and just vanish.

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Short boi because REASONS chief