Work Text:
Dean swallows roughly as he looks down at Castiel, who laid in the hospital bed, making his already small lover, looking ever smaller against the plain sheets. The white bandages contrasted against his dark hair and the fading purple bruises along the side of Castiel's face, Dean hesitantly reached out and brushes his fingers along his jaw and down his neck. This had become a routine for the older male as he watched his fiance lay in the hospital bed, and every day so far, he prayed that he woke from the coma that he had been in for the last two weeks.
Dean pulled the all too familiar uncomfortable chair closer to the hospital bed and took a hold of Castiel's hand, interlocking their fingers together and quietly talked to Castiel, telling him about how Sam was doing at work and how Bobby had finally proposed to Jody, and to Dean's relief, he felt his partner's fingers tighten around his own and he stands, his other hand stroking his fiance's cheek, "You can do it Cas, come back to me baby," he says almost breathlessly to him, rubbing the back of his hand.
Castiel's eyes flicker, struggling to stay open as he takes in the white ceiling and the harsh lighting. The next thing to come to him was the hand holding his own, assuming it was one of his brothers, possibly Gabriel or Michael, he turned his head to the side and was surprised to see a strange male beside him and holding his hand. Clearing his throat, he manages to say the most cliche but a true line, "Who are you?" as his eyes take in the form of the good looking male standing beside him. Dean, fighting back tears, doesn't let go of Castiel's hand "Cas, don't joke with me," despite seeing that his fiance was clearly confused, he was praying it was some sick joke and that his fiance remembered him but as his fiance pulled his fingers away and apologised, his heart broke, the tears threatening to fall and come sliding down his cheeks. "I'm your fiance," Dean practically whispered, barely keeping his voice from breaking, "We've been engaged for six months and dating for four years." He tells him hoping it would jog some memories but the apologetic blank look hurt worse than the confused question he had when enquiring about who he was. Dean wishes he had taken Bobby up on his offer to have him here, he really needed somebody's strength right now, he needed somebody to help hold him together at this point. "It's okay," Dean speaks up, "You will remember," he adds, though he wasn't feeling very hopeful.
Castiel smiled softly at the heartbroken man, "I am sure I will," he tells him, "maybe you can help me remember?" he says though it comes out more a question than a statement. "Maybe you could tell me how I ended up in the hospital in the first place?" he suggests as he looks around the bland hospital room, taking note of the cards and the stuffed animal sitting on the bedside table, and couldn't stop the smile from spreading on his lips.
"You were driving home from work, we were supposed to be going out on a date," Dean starts and pauses unsure how else to go on before swallowing, "They said you got to a junction and as you were about to cross it, a speeding car hit you." he tells the hospitalised man, the words tumbling out of his mouth. Castiel lays on the bed in shock, how could he not have been more careful. He nods his head though still surprised. "Where are my brothers?" Castiel asks as he turns back to the unnamed man and decides he really needs to ask him his name. "They went home earlier," Dean comments, "They come by every day, just like my brother and father," he says, making Castiel. "Erm, not to be rude, but what's your name?" He asks as he fiddles with the bed sheets. Dean smiles, finding his shyness endearing and bittersweet. "Dean. Dean Winchester," he tells him.
Castiel and Dean spend the rest of the night talking, and Dean tells Castiel about himself and about their relationship and their lives before Castiel falls asleep. Dean smiles and tucks him in and brushes a kiss to his head and sits back in the chair and allows himself to fall asleep.
The next few days pass in a similar manner doctors checking in on Castiel and they make some progress on his physical health, he gets visits from his brother, Gabriel and Michael, as well as Bobby and Sam. They try to get him to remember the last four years, which he couldn't. After a week and a half, he is allowed out of the hospital, after a long, long, debate and conversation, Castiel went home with Dean. Castiel had begun to remember little pieces here and there from over the years.
Dean carefully drives Castiel to their small modest house that they had been living in together for the past two years. Dean briefly glanced at Castiel who look blankly at the house and he gave a quiet sigh before helping him out and leading him inside. Dean showed his fiance around the house like he had done when he had brought the place, hoping it would bring forth some memories, sadly it didn't, so Dean figured he would have to do something else, just not at that moment. Dean took Castiel to the kitchen and got the two of them lunch and they both ate before Castiel went upstairs to take a nap in the guest room. Dean busied himself cleaning up and checking on Castiel before sitting on the sofa and wondering how he could get Castiel to remember who he was.
Castiel woke up around dinner time, and joined Dean in the kitchen, pausing slightly when he noticed that Dean was working on his favourite dinner, and had set the table up with candles in the middle. Castiel couldn't help but blush slightly as he walked in, his hands fidgeting with his shirt. "I'm not exactly dressed for such a nice dinner," he comments as he looks at Dean, who turned to look at him with a smile. "And I am?" he asked, he himself was dressed only in jeans and a well fitting shirt.Castiel smiles slightly and shrugs "I guess so," he says with a slight smile, his eyes gliding over Dean, before looking away again. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asks, his hands moving to his pockets as he tries to stop his fidgeting. Dean chuckles softly, "No, it's okay, I am almost done." he tells his fiance as he looks at him, unable to stop the smile from coming to his lips as he takes in his fiance. Cas grins "Okay," he says and takes a seat, watching Dean. Dean soon dished dinner up and sat across from Castiel, enjoying dinner with him. Like the first time, he had done this with Cas, he talked with him, just enjoying being with him and talking with him.
All Dean could think about was kissing Castiel and how good it would be to have his fiance back in his arms, to hold him like he used to, to be able to pull him into his arms and kiss him. "You okay?" Castiel asks, causing Dean to blush slightly as he nods as he realises that he was staring. "Yeah, I am fine," he says to him. "I have just missed you. I know that you don't remember me but I've really missed you," he says, adding "and I am glad that you are okay." The angel smiles at the other man, "I am glad as well. And I may not remember you, but you know me and you are entitled to feel the way you do Dean." he says to him. Dean smiles and reaches over and cups his cheek, his thumb brushing over his jaw, "Still so wise." he comments as he subconsciously leans forward to kiss his angel but holds himself from going through with it. Castiel smiles as he leans into the warm rough hand, his blue eyes flicking down to the hunter's lips then back to his hypnotising green eyes. Dean swallows hard and then pulls back, his hand sliding down off of Castiel's cheek as he sits back.
For the rest of the week, the urge for Dean to kiss Castiel was incredibly overwhelming. He missed being able to freely express his love for his angel, he missed holding him and he certainly missed sleeping in the same bed. Just sleeping. Dean was trying to get Castiel to remember him. Castiel was getting better, he remembered bits and pieces, more than he had before, which was giving Dean hope.
Dean approached Sam, his brother, for help, he didn't know what to do concerning Castiel. He and Sam were sitting in a small coffee shop, drinking coffee. "Sam, what do I do? I can't keep this up. I need...I need to do something, I am close to breaking, Sam, I want him back." he says to his younger brother. Sam gives his older brother a soft look. "I know De, I take it you're trying to jog his memories, maybe you can try and recreate some of the dates you've been on and just I don't know, create new memories with him, for both of your sakes, see if you can get him to fall in love with you again," he says to his brother. Dean nods his head. "Yeah I'm trying to jog his memories and maybe you're right, maybe I need to create new memories with him and redate him," he agrees. "Thanks, Sam," he adds and Sam clasps his brother's shoulder, "No thanks needed,"
Only two days after his conversation with his brother, Dean had asked Castiel on a date, much to Castiel's surprise but also his delight. Despite his asking, Dean wasn't sure what to do for their dinner date, until he came up with a genius plan, one he had had before, one he knew that Castiel had loved before, he packed a picnic with lots of both of their favourite things along with two blankets. He drove the two of them out to an empty field and parked up, climbing out, enjoying the bewildered look on Cas's face. He grabs one of the blanket's and laid it out on the grass before going back out and grabbing the picnic basket and the other blanket. He smiled seeing Cas beam and set everything up and brought his fiance with him. Cas licks his lips and shyly drops down beside him. Dean smiles and reaches over and takes his hand. Cas smiles and holds his hand as the two of them enjoy the picnic and each others company. The two of them talk as they eat and once they finished eating, Dean turns on the radio, pulling Cas up and into his arms as the two of them slow dance together, causing Castiel to laugh.
It takes three more weeks, and two more recreated dates and two new dates before Cas started to remember things about Dean that were unprompted. Castiel had started to remember about Sam and Bobby and other things from the past four years but there was still a large gap in his knowledge, but he was getting better.
Castiel walked out of the guest room that he had been staying in for the last six weeks, he headed down the hall to the garage where Dean was working on Baby. Nervously, Cas licked his lips and knocked lightly on the wall as he entered. Dean turns his attention to his fiance and smiles. "Hey, are you okay?" he asks, knowing that Castiel didn't come to the garage often and hadn't come into the garage since he had been injured. "I'm okay, I was just bored," he admits with a slight shrug of his shoulders. Dean chuckles softly as he moves over to him, "Is there anything you would like to do?" Dean asks his fiance who pauses for a short while before slowly nodding. "There is something I have been wanting to do for a little while now," he say and awkwardly shifts before looking back at Dean and before Dean could ask, he leans up and presses his lips to his fiance's. Cas couldn't believe how soft Dean's lips were and how Dean moaned under him, becoming pliant under him. Dean, on the other hand, was thanking his lucky stars that he could kiss his fiance again. Dean instantly felt everything slip back into place, he felt the pressure and the worries ease. Dean couldn't stop the moan escaping his mouth as he tugged his angel closer to him.
Slowly, Dean pulled back, allowing himself to breathe, although he kept Castiel close to him, Dean kept his hand on Castiel's lower back. "What brought that on?" he asks him and Cas smiles shyly "I just wanted to kiss you," he admits as he wraps his arms around him before he cuddled into him. "I missed kissing you," he says quietly, having remembered they kissed all the time before he had gotten into the accident. "I missed it to Angel," he tells him, "And I missed you," he says rubbing his back lightly.
"I love you, Dean," Castiel say looking at the hunter who had taken such good care of him, "Thank you for looking after me, and making me fall back in love with you," he says softly.
" Oh Cas, I love you too," Dean says to him as he presses his lips to his in a quick kiss. "You have nothing to thank me for," he tells him.