Chapter Text
This was the time. Another month later, and Dean was sure now. He talked with Mary for a long time one night and was positive. He was nervous as hell, but Dean didn't doubt himself. He talked to Sam next and all he got was pride and praise for his bravery and that Dean deserved it. And finally, Jack. The little eight-year-old was more than happy to hear what Dean told him, and even more eager when he heard what he said next. So, a week later, Dean was put it to work...
- - - -
A fair came to a town a few miles away and Dean suggested it to Castiel one morning. Sam was out with Eileen and Mary had just gone on a hunt.
"Figured Jack would like it," Dean said, drinking from his coffee mug. "He hasn't been to an amusement park yet and I don't think you have yet either so...?"
Jack was sitting beside him, hearing this and his eyes shinned, looking at Castiel with puppy dog eyes.
Castiel looked at him and then back at Dean, smiling softly. He could see the excitement and hope in Dean's eyes too and couldn't say no to that. "Of course. What time is it at?"
"Bright and early till dusk, so we can head out at any time," Dean grinned, putting his empty mug down.
"Alright, well you two brush your teeth first while I do the dishes," Castiel told them both, standing up and stacking their plates.
"Okay!" Jack grinned and scrambled to get off his seat, racing out of the kitchen in his pjs.
Castiel grinned at that, bringing the dishes to the sink. "He sure is excited. You sure you didn't tell him about this already?"
Dean smiled and came up behind him, hugging Castiel from behind. "Now why would I do that?" He asked, playing the innocent card.
Castiel chuckled, elbowing him softly. "Teeth darling," he said.
"What? You don't like my coffee and bacon breath?" Dean asked, then breathed in Castiel's face.
Castiel grinned and pushed Dean's face away. "Teeth now," he told him with an amused smile.
"Okay, okay, as you wish," Dean smiled and walked away.
Castiel smiled and went back to the sink, turning on the water. As he had learned many nights ago, 'as you wish' means 'I love you' in one of Dean's guilty pleasure romance movies.
- - - - -
Dean smiled, getting out of the car. They had arrived at the fair an hour later and walked up to the gate.
"We’ll follow you wherever you wanna go, whatever you wanna do,” Dean told Jack before he looked to Cas and smiled, wrapping his arm around his waist and pulling him close.
"But we need tickets first," Castiel cut in. "You can choose the games and rides," the angel told the Nephilim. "But we are able to say no to certain rides." Castiel set the few rules. "And let us be able to see you."
Jack just nodded before going to find the ticket booth, completely forgetting the final rule. Castiel sighed. Since Michael, Jack had been more childish, and now looked more like the child he was supposed to be. But there was low down now, so Jack was able to be more loose and free spirit, which Dean and Castiel encouraged of him.
Dean smiled and kissed Cas’s cheek. “Look at you, bein' all bossy,” he kissed his lips softly and slowly. “Okay, c'mon. Gotta buy the kid admission,” he said, following behind Jack to the booth where Dean paid for everyone’s admission, and they all got wrist bands to wear around the park.
Dean was lucky Cas set the rule they were allowed to decline certain rides. Dean would most definitely throw up on anything that spun.
Dean and Cas followed Jack first to the ride portion before the lines got too long. Cas went on most of the high rides with Jack and one of the spiny ones. The angel likes the roller coasters more than he thought he would, it being similar to flying in a way. When he and Jack got off, the kid instantly saw another ride. But it was more of a game.
"What's bumper cars?" Jack asked.
“Best thing ever!” Dean said, tugging Cas’s hand as he scrambled to pull Jack with him to the line. “Look. You basically just get in and try to bump the sh—the crap outta each other,” Dean said, trying to clean his mouth up a little. “C'mon we all get individual ones?” He turned and looked to Cas.
Cas watched Dean's eagerness but the explanation wasn't comforting. "But doesn't anyone get hurt?" He asked, following Dean into the line anyway. Jack was excited, watching the bumper cars currently playing.
“No, honey. It’s supported with rubber and stuff. You won’t get hurt. Don’t worry,” he kissed his boyfriends' cheek.
Cas gave him a side glance. "I wouldn't get hurt regardless. Jack maybe," though that was unlikely, it was easy to forget he was a full-on angel when he looked so fragile. "You are the one I'd have to heal." But if Dean said it was safe, then he trusted him. The line moved up till it was their turn. Jack got in the yellow car, Cas in blue, and Dean in the green one.
Dean hopped inside. “Okay, you've seen me drive Jack. Just steer wherever you wanna go. Pedal is the gas—makes it go,” Dean explained. When the horn was blown for the time to start Dean went to ram straight into Cas but was rammed by somebody else and knocked into the border of the little enclosure. He grumbled and backed up into the girl, whipping the bumper car around.
Cas noticed Dean go straight for him but was bumped by a teenage boy also. He took a moment to figure out the control and then turned to hit another person. Backing up, he accidentally hit Jack, but the kid just laughed and went forward to hit someone else. His laughter at the harmless game made Castiel smile and turned to aim for Dean.
Dean was into the game, whipping around and trying to hit someone else for a change in the game. He rammed into another person and Jack eventually bumped into his side in passing before the ringer turned off. Jack had a big smile on his face, but Dean just huffed. He was frustrated.
Cas had a small smile on his face as he got out of his car. That was a little fun. But he caught Dean's face as they left the arena and other people got into the cars. "Hey, you alright?" He asked Dean when they were away from the line. Jack was already looking for another thing to do.
Dean followed and grumbled. “I wanna go back and knock that lady out of her damn seat “ he growled, walking alongside the angel. He was just grumpy that he didn’t win.
Cas rolled his eyes and patted Dean's shoulder unsympathetically. "There, there sweetheart," he teased.
Dean rolled his eyes. “Oh, shut up,” he said crossed his arms, following Jack to a roller coaster. It was the upside down and curvy one that went super high in the air.
Jack looked back at them and smiled. “This one. I want to do this one next.”
Dean gulped looking up at it, shaking his head. “Cas, I can’t,” he looked at him seriously.
Cas nodded and looked to Jack. "Are you fine with us sitting out on this one?" He asked him.
Jack smiled and nodded. “Of course. I’ll stay where you can see me,” he said with a nod and made his way into the line.
Dean looked back at Cas. “Sorry. You know you don’t gotta stay with me…” Dean said, his eyebrows furrowing, feeling bad about his fear.
"It's okay darling," Cas reassured, giving him a small kiss to go with it.
"Get those fucking fags out of here! They're affecting my aim." There was a shout from behind them, a man at a prize booth.
Dean pulled away from Cas to look at the man, his eyebrows. Dean growled and was quick to size the guy up. “The fuck did you just say, asshole?”
"Dean don't," Cas said, holding Dean's wrist back. "You'll just aggravate him more, just ignore him."
"Take your faggot boyfriend and leave," the guy said at Dean. "No one wants to see that diseased shit."
Dean gritted his teeth and turned around to back away before the man spat out more hatred. “That’s it,” Dean cracked his knuckles before swinging and punching the guy straight in the face, making his nose leak with blood.
The guy stumbled back, people around them gasping at the sight. A few got their phones out too. He wiped at his nose; his hand covered in blood. "Fuck you cocksucker," he growled, voice a little muffled from his broken nose and threw a punch at Dean, connecting with his cheek. "Gonna beat the gay out of you."
Dean went back a bit at the punch, shaking himself back to clear vision. He threw another punch and kicked the man onto the ground on his back. He kept straddled him and kept punching at his face till he could only see the blood coming from the guy's face. “Fuck you, piece of shit,” Dean spit as he punched.
Cas came up to him when the guy fell to the ground. "Dean, that's enough," he said but didn't pity the injured man. They were making a scene and he wanted to get Dean somewhere he could heal him in secret. "You've made you're point."
The man glared up at Dean, blood thankfully and sadly not in his vision. He had underestimated Dean and knew he wasn't going to win. He was still disgusted at the two men, but he was in pain.
“Fuck you. If I ever catch you saying shit like that anywhere,” he leaned down to the man’s ear. “I will murder you,” Dean growled. No one, no fucking one, is going to ruin this night. Not the rides and most certainly not some homophobic son of a bitch.
Going ignored, Castiel leaned down and pulled Dean back by the shoulder before picking him up off the man. He set him down behind him. "Jack's almost done on his ride, he can't see this," Cas told him. He wasn't upset that Dean fought the man, but that Jack might watch this interaction.
The angel turned back to the man still on the ground, giving him a cold stare. He was already baffled at how strong Cas was, Dean being heavy on him. "Leave. I don't want you near our son."
The man's eyes went red again at that. Son?! Not only were they fucking but they had a shitting kid too?! He held back noises of pain as he tried to stand up but then security came and held him back.
"What happened here?" The security made asked the three men.
Dean swallowed thickly. He was good at lying. But he wasn’t a coward. And everybody had video evidence. “He was spreading hate speech. Yelling slurs. Your boys were nowhere so I took care of it,” Dean said, sniffing nonchalantly.
The guard looked from Dean to the bleeding man. "What about you?"
"I was just playing the game to win a prize for my daughter when I saw those two snogging behind me," he said, trying to turn it around on them. "No one wants to see that PDA crap, especially from two men."
"We weren't 'snogging'," Castiel cut in, the guard looking to him. Cas gave him a look of sincerity. "My partner doesn't like heights so I stayed off the ride behind us with him while our son went on it. I kissed him once and that's all."
Dean put his hand on Cas’s chest gently. “Look. It doesn’t matter if we kiss. You wouldn’t be saying shit if a straight couple did it. He was yelling slurs and cursing. It’s called minding your own damn business,” he looked down at the guy on the ground.
"Alright, calm down all of you," the security guard said. First, he turned to Dean. "This is a county fair, and we don't like any violence. There are kids here who come to have fun, same as you. They don't need two men fighting." He turned around though to the other man. "But we don't tolerate any kind of discriminations towards other people. Fighting isn't allowed but slurs and offensive terms don't leave people's heads. What you said was very offensive and disrespectful to these two gentlemen so I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
The man was baffled and angry. "You believe those two fuckers!? I didn't say anyth-" he was cut off by a woman playing a video of him moments before, cursing at Dean. His face paled a little and his eyes grew cold.
"As I said, leave or else you'll be kicked out."
The man growled and shook off the two other guards that were holding him back. "Fine. Faggot lovers." He stood up, stumbling before walking off to the entrance. No daughter with him.
Just another lie to cover his ass.
Cas looked to the guard, confused but grateful. "Thank you. Should we leave too?" He asked. They had been a part of the conflict too.
The guard shook his head. “No need. My sister is a lesbian. I understand what kind a stuff you guys gotta deal with. And you shouldn’t have to deal with stuff like This on top of it,” he explained. “Just promise if you guys have any more problems, you’ll let us handle it?”
Dean sighed and nodded his head. “Yeah, thanks officer.” The guard nodded and found his way off. Dean didn’t like cops at all. Although Jody and Donna were the exceptions because they had to keep their jobs. “C'mon, we gotta get Jack,” he sighed, grabbing Cas’s hand and walking over near the ride.
When Dean grabbed Cas's hand, the angel sent grace to fix Dean's bruising cheek and anything else that was injured.
The ride finished a minute later, Jack coming off with a big smile. "That was so fun!! Did you see how the car goes upside down?"
Dean smiled and patted Jack on the back, nodding his head. “Yeah, Buddy. Glad you had fun. You wanna go play racket ball?” He asked, raising his eyebrows.
"What's that?"
Both Jack and Cas were new to fairs and the games there and Dean was their guide.
Dean began to lead them over to the game as he explained how it worked. “…and it’s marked how many points. Just go as fast as you can,” he said as he arrived to no line.
“You ready? Cas you might wanna sit this out,” he extended his knuckles, cracking them. “I’m a pro. Used to play at the arcade when I could steal some quarters,” he said, putting in a dollar into the machine as the game started up.
Cas rolled his eyes but just watched him play. Granted, Dean was good. Something about Dean, a grown man, happy about an arcade game made Castiel smile.
Dean played with Jack and ended up beating him of course since Jack was new. He tried not to boast too much about it. “Cmon, try Cas. You can definitely beat him,” he smiled back at his boyfriend.
"I thought I was supposed to 'sit this one out'," Cas quoted. "Come on. We've been here for more than a few hours. You need food." Castiel's first instinct: Feed Dean.
Dean’s stomach grumbled in cue, Dean rolling his eyes with a smile. “Know me too well. Although I think ya just got lucky. Know Jack’ll beat ya,” he said, wrapping an arm around his angel’s waist and tugging Jack beside him with an arm around his neck.
Dean looked around. “There’s funnel cakes. Corn dogs are the same in the oven,” he scrunched up his nose and shook his head in dismissal. “I think they got certain donuts. Whatever you wanna try." He looked at the boy and then to his boyfriend.
Cas squinted his eyes but sighed and nodded. "Only for today, yes, you can have junk food for meals. Just means you'll be given more from my garden."
Dean rolled his eyes, but affectionately. "I can deal with you making me eat fruit in the morning. Eat me,” he tugged Jack to one of the stands to order a funnel cake. Jack got some with chocolate drizzled over it. Man after dean’s own heart. They all sat down at a picnic table to eat it, Dean kissing Cas’s lips softly all covered in chocolate syrup. Jack just smiled at them and content with his family. And excited for the rest of the evening.
Cas was surprised but smiled and leaned into it. The angel licked his own lips when he pulled back. He couldn't really taste the chocolate, but it was a cute act by Dean.
"You two are going to be all sticky by the time we leave," Castiel commented at the syrup. Then he swiped a thumb at the chocolate on the corner of Dean's mouth and licking it off his finger.
“We’ll live,” Dean smiled at him while Jack smiled too, eating the funnel cake still. “I was thinking I could play that game over there, huh? Win ya a prize?” Dean pointed over to the shooting game. He was good at guns—aiming. That he could do.
Cas saw where he pointed, and Jack looked too and suddenly got even more excited. "Yeah, win Cas something!"
Castiel smiled at the boy. He loved Cas and Dean because they made each other happy.
"Alright yeah, go ahead," Cas agreed. "Then we can spend a few more hours, but we'll need to get going before it starts getting dark out."
Dean smiled and dusted his hands off of powdered sugar and went to play the game. Dean walked away from the food portion of the fair and to the shooting game he had seen. He got in the short line and waited his turn. As he stood in line, he was starting to sweat a little. All day, he'd been looking for opportunities, moments he could that would be memorable. But nothing seemed right. Nothing seemed like Cas. It had to be perfect.
So, when Dean got to the front and won the game easily, he just picked a prize and went back to his family. Back over to the table, Dean handed Cas the stuffed horse he picked out. He picked one that looked just like Star, the horse Cas had gotten to know months ago.
“For my best guy,” he said, kissing the angel’s hair. "The best horse."
Castiel chuckled when he saw it and gladly took it. "Thank you, Dean," Castiel said. He stood up holding it and looked at the two. "You ready or want to play some more games."
Dean looked at him and then the rest of the park and took a breath. This wasn't right.
"Yeah, let's go home," Dean said. He saw confusion on Jack's face but gave him a reassuring nod.
"Can we come back another time?" Jack asked, standing up. "If not here, somewhere else?" He had fun with his dads.
Dean smiled and looked at his boy, nodding. “Course. Anytime we get the chance, we’ll come. Promise,” he patted Jack on the back. He threw their plate away and wrapped his arm back around Cas’s waist. “Yeah, I’m ready if you are, angel.”
Cas nodded in agreement. The three walked to the car and Castiel got in, scooting closer to the driver's side, Jack behind him.
The ride back was quiet, Castiel leaning against Dean, eyes shut, and Dean in the driver's seat. He looked to Cas and then back at Jack in the rear-view mirror. They had a silent conversation, where Jack smiled and nodded to Dean at the end of it. Then Dean continued to focus on driving.
He parked at the front of the bunker this time, instead of in the garage in the back. Castiel was confused for a moment, but Dean just shut Baby off and got out of the Impala. Castiel watched him and got out too, Jack following him.
Dean smiled at him, feeling nervous as he held his hand out to Cas.
Castiel looked at Dean with a smile too, but he was a little more concerned. Was something wrong? But Dean didn't say anything and just led the angels to the door of the bunker. He let go of Castiel's hand and opened it for him, letting him go in first.
Castiel looked at Dean and Jack in confusion but walked in. The two followed him in and down the stairs but when Castiel was starting towards the hall, he didn't hear any footsteps behind him.
"Cas," he heard instead the shaky voice and Castiel turned around, wondering if Dean was gonna say what was wrong but instead was awe struck, frozen where he stood.
Dean was a few feet from the end of the stairs, standing with his hands fidgeting in front of him. Jack was sat on the last step of the stairs, smiling as wide as he had all day.
"Cas," Dean said again, his voice a little steadier. "It was two years ago in this exact spot when you knew I loved you," he said. "I couldn't say it yet, but I'd been in love with you for years. How you seemed to give a shit about humanity and could put up with all the crap I threw at you. I'd fallen in love with your curiosity and the way references and metaphors went over your head. How you'd tilt your head when you didn't understand."
"I fell for everything that made you the real Cas. The true Cas, not the soldier of heaven you were when we met. The one who could follow a honeybee in the garden or sweet talk a horse like I talk to my Baby." Dean smiled at the memory. "You were everything to me and to this family."
"I'd learned early on to bury what I felt and what I wanted, hearing my dad's voice in the back of my head. And when I felt something different for you, and wanted something different, I buried that too." Dean shifted his leg wanting to look away from Castiel's eyes, and he did, but they were back a second later.
Castiel hadn't said a word and moved a muscle, standing in silence as Dean said his speech, trying to figure out what was happening.
"I didn't want to hope because hope was what often went bad or turned out worse. You were an angel, and I was a dirty human, damaged and broken in too many ways. I've seen hell in the flesh and made decisions I shouldn't have. My life has been hell and for most of it, I felt like I deserved it."
Dean swallowed, already knowing the wheels in Cas's head were turning, wanting to tell Dean he was wrong. But Dean beat him to it.
"And then you showed up and at every turn you chose me, you protected me, you saved me." Dean's voice broke and he willed himself to remain tear free. "You saved me in so many ways and you freed me in a way I never let myself imagine. You showed kindness and caring and love in a way I never got to experience. Unconditional love and I didn't feel like I deserved it." Dean gave a weak smile.
"I still don't. God, I don't deserve you and this life and the thing we have, but I have it and goddammit, I don't want to lose it. I love our life. I love our son. I love the stupid love-sick things and the little moments. I love you Castiel. But..." Dean smiled wider now, tears prickling in his eyes. He lowered onto one knee and took out a box from his pocket. "I'd love it more if you'd be Castiel Winchester. So; Angel, will you marry me?"