Dean hastily shook his worried thoughts away and whipped his head up, just in time to see his daughter launch herself at him.
“Whoa!” He caught her easily, and it took all his strength to plaster his signature thousand-watt smile on his face as she crushed herself into his chest, “It went that well, huh?”
He scanned the hall of the courthouse, spotting the new social worker and Tyler making their way over as the rest of the courtroom let out. Dean turned hopeful eyes to the social worker, who just shook his head.
No… Dean subconsciously tightened his grip on his daughter and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, closing his eyes in a desperate attempt to keep his tears at bay, they can’t do this.
“I-I tried, Daddy.” Taylor’s trembling voice was like a stake through his heart, “I-I told them everything but they-they….”
“Hey,” Dean forced himself to take in a deep breath and reluctantly backed her up enough he could see her face. He wiped the tears that were tracing down her cheeks with his thumb, “This is not your fault, you hear me? None of it.”
Her bottom lip was poked out and her eyes filled with fresh tears, “B-but I failed!”
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Important: This is the 2nd last fic of the year! I’ll be taking the last half of December and first half of January off from posting. I’ll be back January 17th, 2025 with the first story of the new year!
Written: 22.12.01
Words: 860
Fluff, Destiel, 2024’s 1st Christmas story
This fic is based on this head-canon prompt by the incredible DeanCasKiss. (Tumblr)
“I’m back!”
Cas brushed himself off as he made his way through the door. He had to use more strength than usual to push it closed against the howling wind. After a moment of wrestling, he leaned against it to catch his breath as it finally closed. He dropped his shopping bags and toed off his boots, ears perking at the silence that greeted him, “… Dean?”
“I, uh, I thought you weren’t coming back until later.”
Cas’ brows furrowed at the hesitant tone as he made his way up the small steps that led toward the living room, “The specialty store was closed, so I’m gonna have to go back out to get Gabriel’s present.” If it’s still in stock by then. He stopped a few feet away as he spotted the blonde up on the ladder in front of the mostly decorated Christmas tree. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed his husband’s tense back, “You need any help?”
“No, no,” The blonde quickly descended the ladder, tossing something quickly into one of the decoration boxes, not bothering to turn around, “I’m good.”
Cas let out a small chuckle as he ventured closer, “Think you could tell that to my face?” He slipped his arms around the hunter’s waist, wrapping him up in a tight hug, “What’s wrong, Dean?”
“Nothing.”
The angel gave his husband a pointed look before rolling his eyes as he noticed the blonde was staring at the ground, “Fine. Don’t tell me.” He let go of his waist, making his way slowly toward the kitchen, “Guess I’ll just go get started on the pies… alone…”
That got the blonde’s attention. He whipped his head up and took a half-step closer, “P-pie?”
“Uh-huh…” Cas nodded, unable to help the smile that crept up his face as he held the door open, “Are you too busy to help?”
“No! No, I uh,” The blonde flicked his eyes to the box before shaking his head, making his way over, plastering his signature thousand-watt smile on his face, “I’m never too busy for pie.”
“Just remember we’re making them and not eating them.” Cas chuckled, allowing the blonde to pass him. “Let me just grab the fillings and we can start.”
“No, wait!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Cas dashed away from the kitchen, making a bee-line for the box of decorations. He paused as he scanned the ornaments, what was he hiding from me?
After a moment of finding nothing, he frowned, looking up to a clearly embarrassed blonde, “I don’t get it. It’s just a box of decorations.”
“I…” Dean let out a heavy sigh, scrubbing a hand down his face, “It’s under the blue bulbs.”
“Under the…” Cas turned back to the box, brows furrowed. He carefully lifted the box of ornaments out, furrow deepening as he spotted a picture of himself, sitting inside a gold frame.
He pulled the picture out, eyes scanning it carefully. He opened his mouth after a moment, “I… don’t get it.” He flicked his eyes back up to the blonde, “Why would you hide this from me?”
“I…” Dean rubbed a hand at the back of his neck and gestured half-heartedly to the tree, “was gonna put it on the tree.”
“Why?”
The blonde sucked his teeth in annoyance, letting his eyes go skyward, “Are you really gonna make me say it out loud?”
Cas spun around to face the tree, holding up the picture, “I don’t get it! Why would you…”
His question died on his lips as he saw the ladder again and the realization finally hit him. He couldn’t help the swell of love he felt in his chest as he turned back around, face melting at the hunter’s absolute embarrassment, “You were gonna put me at the top of the tree.”
It wasn’t a question, but the blonde reluctantly nodded in response, anyway.
Cas rushed backward, wrapping the blonde up in another tight hug, this time also capturing his lips. Though he wasn’t expecting it, Dean wasted no time in kissing his husband back.
The raven-haired man pulled back after a breathless moment, wide smile still on his face, “Let’s do it.”
“D-do what?”
Cas rolled his eyes before backing out of the hug, climbing up the ladder to place the picture of himself on the top of the tree. He gently rested the picture against one of the top-most branches, curling a few others around the edges of the frame to ensure it stayed in place.
Once he was happy with the placement – and sure it wasn’t going to crash to the floor – he carefully climbed back down the ladder, wiping his hands on his pants, “There.”
He turned around, chuckling as he spotted his husband’s confused look, “What? You don’t want me up there anymore?”
“No, I just, uh…” Dean shifted his weight from one foot to the other, blush sweeping across his cheeks, “What about the party? When everyone, y’know…”
“Pfft, please,” Cas waved a dismissive hand before leading the blonde back toward the kitchen, cheeky grin on his face, “It’s not weird to have an angel at the top of the tree.”
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Sam rolled his eyes as he handed the steaks off to his brother, “I’m only 5 minutes late, Dean.”
“Yeah, well, it might as well be an hour,” The blonde shook his head, fiddling with the barbeque dial, “You know how old this thing is. It doesn’t hold heat correctly.”
The giant shook his head, grabbing a beer from the cooler, “Why didn’t one of us get him a new one for his wedding, again?”
“Because Bobby wouldn’t use it.” He kicked the side of the grill, holding one hand above the grill to check the temperature, “Not until this one finally dies.”
The youngest leaned in, peering over his brother’s shoulder at the dark grill, “…You sure it’s not already dead?”
“Don’t think so.” The blonde turned the dial again, practically willing the grill to heat up, “Maybe we could just order steaks.”
Sam scoffed, “How are we supposed to do that without Bobby noticing?”
Dean’s eyes flicked up to where his kids and father figure were playing – chasing each other around one of the junk cars a few feet away. He slapped one of the steaks onto the grill, shoulders deflating in disappointment as it made no noise.
He brought his eyes back to his brother, lowering his voice, “Make the call on the front porch. Don’t let anyone see you.”
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Reminder: This is the last story of 2022! I’ll be taking the last half of December and first half of January off from posting. I’ll be back January 13th, 2023 with the 1st fic of the new year!
Written: 22.08.10
Words: 499
Fluff, Destiel, 2022’s New Year’s fic
“Well I’d rather you did something I actually needed help with, like the decorations, or the appetizers, or warming the pie up in the-”
“Pie?” Dean raised an eyebrow, “You said the store didn’t have any pie.”
The shorter man huffed, “You really don’t listen, do you?” At the continued confused look, he shook his head, taking a few steps backward to finish his bowtie on his own, “I said the store didn’t have any, which is why I had to make them myself. I was in the kitchen baking all day yesterday! What did you think I was doing in there?”
Dean shrugged, moving to sit back on the bed, scratching his bare knee, “I don’t know. Making appetizers?”
Dean took a long sip from his beer, eyes on the kids. He choked on it as he spotted Taylor’s swimsuit. He coughed, pulling the beverage away from his mouth, “W-what the hell is she wearing?”
“Her bathing suit.”
The blonde scoffed, pointing an accusatory finger at his little girl – who was definitely too young to be wearing a two-piece, “That is not her bathing suit!”
“Dean-”
“Where the hell did she get that?” He whistled, waving his daughter over, “That better not of been a present.”
“Relax, Dean.”
“Relax? Relax?” The blonde let out an incredulous chuckle, “My baby girl is wearing a bikini!”
“It’s not a-”
“How can you be so calm about this?” Dean shook his head just as Taylor came up to him. He cleared his throat, softening his voice, “Hey, Sweetheart. You having fun?”
“Yeah!”
“Good, good.” The blonde rubbed a hand on his chin, giving her a once over, she might as well be naked! “So, uh… w-where’d you get that?”
“Get what?”
Dean let out a nervous chuckle, gesturing to her bathing suit, “That… thing.”
“My bathing suit?” Taylor’s face lit up as the blonde nodded, “Dad got it for me!” She did a little twirl, tiny pink skirt flying up as she did so, “Isn’t it pretty, Daddy?”
Dean swallowed hard, “Y-yeah, it’s…” He turned bewildered eyes to his husband, “You bought that for her?”
Crap, the blonde swivelled around in the chair, trying not to look as guilty as he felt as Cas came down the stairs, “Cas! H-hey,” He stood, in a failed attempt to block the wall, “What, uh, what’re you doing up?”
“Still adjusting, I guess,” Cas reached the bottom of the stairs, tired eyes flicking up to the wall, “You’re hunting?” He walked a few steps closer, wrapping the blonde up in his arms, “We just got you back!”
Dean let out a nervous chuckle, “I-I know. I just…” he let his voice trail off as he tried to think of a good lie, backing out of the hug.
“Is it important?”
Dean blinked in surprise, “What?”
“What you’re hunting,” the angel took a step closer to the wall, tilting his head to one side as he studied it, “Is it-” his sentence cut off into a sigh as he got a closer look, “Crowley?” He turned, raising an eyebrow, “You’re still hunting Crowley? After you almost died?”
“Cas-”
The angel took in a huffing breath, “You’ve been back all of two weeks, and you’re already planning on jumping back into the fire?”
Dean held his hands out in mock surrender, “I can explain!” At the raised eyebrow, Dean sputtered, running a hand through his hair, “H-he’s… he’s up to something! I don’t know what yet, but he is. I know he is.” At the scoff, he pointed to the wall, “Look! I saw him at Sam’s wedding. He snuck out right before the ceremony to make some shady deal. And when I followed him-”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Cas pinched the bridge of his nose, “That was the reason you left as they started down the aisle?”
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It seemed that even just the word of him spending time with Dean was enough to start the rumour mill.
Not that he blamed them – Cas could hardly believe he was at the notorious Dean Winchester’s house himself. His reputation wasn’t based on nothing, after all. Girls would giggle about their sleepless sleepover weekend’s every Monday at their locker’s, much too loudly for them to be trying to keep it secret. Hell, even the foreign exchange student who hadn’t yet learned English knew about Dean’s reputation.
Cas shook his head, doing his best to dispel his thoughts, and focused instead on the movie. If Dean did try to make a move, he could always tell him he wasn’t comfortable with doing anything.
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Dean’s eyes swept over the guests, and he groaned as he spotted Bobby sitting with Crowley, oh, great.
“What is it?” Cas looked out in the direction he was starring at, “Oh,” he rolled his eyes, “They’re sitting on the opposite side of the church, don’t you dare start anything.”
Dean turned to his angel, offended, “I wouldn’t start anything.” He pursed his lips as his eyes slid back over to the pair, “I just… I didn’t expect him to be here, that’s all. He’s not exactly Sam and Gabriel’s biggest fan.”
Cas rolled his eyes again as the music started, and everyone stood, “He’s probably just here as Bobby’s plus one.”
“Yeah…” Dean let his voice trail off as he watched his brother and Gabriel start down the aisle. As they made their way toward the front, his eyes flicked back to the pew Bobby was in, and he instantly started scanning the church as Crowley was no longer standing beside him. Where did he…? He spotted the demon walking quickly down the side of the pews, headed toward the back of the church. Yeah, I don’t think so. Dean wiggled passed his daughter – to the end of the pew that wasn’t closest to the aisle his brother was walking down – only to be stopped by a questioning look from his angel, “Bathroom.”
Cas’ eyebrows shot up, “Now?”
He gave a half-shrug, “I’ll be back before they say ‘I do.’ Promise.”
Cas shook his head and let him pass, “You’re worse than the kids.”
Dean gave him an apologetic smile before practically running down the side of the church, eyes going back to the demon. Where is he going? He made it to the open doors at the back of the room, and ducked out, doing his best to not look suspicious as the doorman gave him a weird look. He scanned the small foyer for the demon, pit dropping into his stomach as he watched him round a corner with someone who definitely wasn’t working the wedding, that can’t be good.
“Are you, Dean Winchester seriously trying to tell me that you’re not going to be there for your brother?”
“Cas, he doesn’t-”
“And since when has that ever stopped you?” Cas took a few steps closer to his love, giving him a pointed look, “You’ve spent 99% of your life doing what was good for your brother – whether he liked it or not – but now you’re just gonna roll over and do what he wants?” He shrugged, backing off a few steps, “I never thought I’d live to see the day Dean Winchester abandoned his brother.”
“Whoa, hey,” Dean took a few steps closer, voice hard, “I’m not abandoning him. I’m doing what he wants.”
Cas rolled his eyes, “He wants you at the wedding!”
“But he said-”
“Right, yeah. Because you’ve never said something you didn’t mean when you were angry, right?” He placed his hands on the hunter’s arms, holding his gaze, “You not being there will only make things worse.”
Dean opened his mouth to reply, but closed it silently a moment later. He searched the angel’s face before sighing, “You’re right.”
Cas blinked at him in surprise, “I-I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
The corner of the blonde’s mouth turned up into a smile, “You’re right, okay? I know I should be there, and I want to be there, but I just…” he ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t know how to-”
“Listen,” Cas shook him slightly, “No one is saying you need to unlearn all your internalized hatred overnight. He’s only asking that you try. Do you think you can do that?”
Dean nodded before wrapping his angel up in his arms, “Thank-you.”
“Wow,” Cas backed out of the hug after a minute, cheeky smile on his face, “I was right and got a thank-you?” He bumped the hunter’s arm, “See? You’re getting better already.”
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Dean stepped to the side of his notebook, turning expectant eyes to his love, “Cas, focus. You know what this is.”
Cas was on the edge of the couch, head tilted, brows furrowed, “Is it… an apartment building?”
“No!” Dean stomped his foot, tapping the marker next to his drawing, “C’mon, man! You’ve gotta get at least one!”
“A… School?”
“Time!”
Dean threw the marker down on the table, running a hand through his hair in frustration, “Fuck!” He made his way back over to the couch, collapsing in a huff as he picked up his beer, “I can’t believe you didn’t get any.”
Cas let out an exasperated sigh, “Well it’s not like you helped much. You can’t just tap next to your drawing if I don’t get it – you try to draw something else!”
“Whatever.” The blonde took a long pull from his drink, “This is a stupid game.”
“You only think that because you guys are losing.” Gabriel smirked at the hunter from where he was sitting, placing the timer down, “I thought giving you an extra round would at least get you one point.”
Dean shot a look at the angel, “Well maybe the game is rigged?”
“Pfft, please,” Gabriel waved a dismissive hand, “I don’t need to rig a game to beat you.”
“Listen here you candy-loving, brother-crawling-”
“Dean!” Bobby shot the blonde a pointed look, “Maybe it’s time we switch games.”
“Maybe it’s time we switch partners.”
Cas scoffed, “You think this is my fault?” He pointed to the notebook, “Maybe if you didn’t have the artistic skills of a kindergartener we would’ve actually won a round!” Cas turned back to the notebook, eyes squinting as he starred at the drawing, “Seriously, what the hell is that?”
“Anyone else here can clearly see what it is!” Dean turned expectant eyes to his brother, “Right, Sam?”
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