Destiel Trope Collection 2026 | Day 24: Everyone Knows But Them
imaginaryprotagonist | @imaginaryprotagonist
Rating: Mature
Word Count: 4,266
Main Tags/Warnings: Friends to Lovers, POV Others, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Jealousy, Implied Smut
Summary: Dean and Cas are best friends and roommates. They’re also in love with each other, and the only people who can’t see that are themselves. Their friends and family can’t take it anymore, conspiring to get them to admit their feelings at Charlie’s annual summer barbecue.
Will you be my Valentine | @krexhatespushups-blog
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 15,147
Main Tags/Warnings: Teacher Dean Winchester, Librarian Castiel, Fluff, idiots in love, Castiel and Dean need to use their words, Dean has a crush on Castiel, Dean loves a man in a sweater vest, Charlie can't deal with these idiots, everyone knows but them,
Summary: Dean is a kindergarten teacher at NorthStar Elementary, Cas is the new librarian and Dean is head over heels. He doesn't make the best first impression and tries to make up for it with coffees and baked goods. Watch Dean fall over himself while convincing himself that Cas doesn't feel the same way. Caught in the middle of these idiots is Charlie. Will they ever realize they both feel the same way?
Whatever Makes you Happy | @krexhatespushups-blog
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 27,629
Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Unverse-coffee shop, Songwriter! Dean, Coffee shop owner! Castiel, Dean Winchester has self-worth issues, Mutual Pining, if there were anymore pining it would be setting a forest, Dean Winchester POV, EVERYONE KNOWS except Dean, First Kiss, destiel endgame, show burn, but once they get started they can't stop
Summary: An aspiring songwriter, Dean Winchester spends his days in the local coffee shop, which just happens to be run by the most gorgeous man he has ever seen, Castiel Novak. This gorgeous man becomes his muse, songs flow out of Dean’s pen with the speed of a rushing river. Unfortunately, just like getting his songs heard, Castiel is just another thing Dean can’t have. He’s had his heart broken by a straight guy before and he can’t go through that again. Thankfully, Dean meets Lee Webb who is an amazing singer, AND he’s actually interested in Dean. Will Dean stay with the man who’s a sure thing or will he risk everything for whatever makes him happy?
Dean Winchester and the Belly Button Piercing | @teeparadigm67
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 34,800
Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Divergence, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Canon-Typical Violence, Past Dean Winchester/Original Female Character(s), Pierced Dean Winchester, Fluff and Smut, Flirty Dean Winchester, Openly Bisexual Dean Winchester, Castiel doesn't understand flirting, Idiots in Love.
Summary: Dean Winchester was 23 when he got his belly button pierced.
It was during a time in his life when everything felt like it was in turmoil (long before he even really knew what his life being in turmoil truly meant). He never intended to go out and get any piercings—his father would have never allowed it. For 20-something years it had been his best-kept secret… that was until one fateful night when a hunt went wrong and his best friend had to swoop in and help patch him up, catching an eyeful of his elusive secret.
Castiel’s infatuation with his best friend took a dangerous turn that night (not that he wasn’t already treading treacherous waters with his feelings towards the man). He had already known that Dean had a piercing, but he had no idea it was still functional, and equally had no idea that a piece of jewellery, Dean’s own slice of quiet rebellion, would have such a profound effect on him. Now Castiel can’t help but want him and his fading grace is doing very little in hiding his… indiscretions. The idea of it slowly drove him insane.
And what makes it worse… Castiel was certain Dean was doing it on purpose.
You're Invited, Maid of Honor | @seidenapfel
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 39,347
Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Weddings, Wedding Planning, Mutual Pining, Repressed Dean, Closeted Character, Coming Out, Love at First Sight, Alcohol, Drunk Dean Winchester, Partial Memory Loss, Hangover, Oblivious Dean Winchester, Oblivious Castiel (Supernatural), Fluff and Angst, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Everyone Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, First Time, Anal Sex, Bottom Dean Winchester, Past Cassie Robinson/Dean Winchester, Past Lisa Braeden/Dean Winchester, Past Donna Hanscum/Dean Winchester, Minor Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, Minor Ellen Harvelle/Bobby Singer, Past Charlie Bradbury/Meg Masters, Minor Charlie Bradbury/Gilda, Minor Benny Lafitte/Dean Winchester, Minor Donna Hanscum/Jody Mills, Past Balthazar/Castiel (Supernatural), Enemies to Lovers
Summary: Time flies, and suddenly a deal is up. A stupid deal Dean once made with his best friend.
If neither of them is married ten years later to the day, they're going to tie the knot — with each other.
As Dean is slowly getting used to the thought of marrying Jo Harvelle, a letter arrives on his doorstep and his entire world turns upside down. The wedding invitation leaves no room for doubt: Someone else is going to marry Jo.
Still in shock, Dean agrees to be her Maid of Honor. It’s his only chance to sabotage the wedding and prevent it from happening.
Yet, he doesn’t anticipate Jo’s fiancé. Castiel Novak is everything Dean isn’t. He steals Dean’s breath from the very first moment. Dean can’t compete. Worse, Dean comes to the sudden realization that he probably isn’t as straight as he has always made himself believe.
A Snowball’s Chance | @bunheadkitkat19
Rating: Teen & Up
Word Count: 44,165
Main Tags/Warnings: Idiots in Love, Dean Winchester is Bad at Feelings, Dean Winchester is Bad at Flirting, Fluff, Domestic Fluff, kitten adoption, Cat Owner Castiel, Domestic Team Free Will, Domesticity in the Men of Letters Bunker, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Getting Together, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Castiel and Dean Winchester Being Idiots, Everyone Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Coming Out, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Queerplatonic Relationships, mild miscommunication, Bets & Wagers
Summary: The world has finally stopped ending. Castiel is in love with Dean. Dean is head over heels for Castiel. What more could it possibly take for these two idiots to finally stop dancing around each other? Several more months, an ill-conceived bet, a chaotic (and almost thoroughly unhelpful) group chat, a sexuality crisis, and almost the end of Sam’s sanity, apparently.
Oh, and also a kitten!
Playing Hard to Get | @salamitsunami1
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 97,921
Main Tags/Warnings: Top!Castiel/Bottom!Dean Winchester, Stanford Era, Jock Castiel, Jock Dean Winchester, Best Friends to Lovers, Angst with a Happy Ending
Summary: Dean and Cas are close. Inseparable, even. Anyone who knows them would tell you that much. They met in freshman year, been roommates and teammates and everything in between since then, and Dean’s thinking it’s just that — the not living together anymore thing — but it’s been a little weird between them since they made the move off campus and back home to Sioux Falls. Cas must be feeling it too because it’s not three days later that he’s signing them both up for the local rugby team, which, given how messy their last season turned out, is probably a bad idea. Cas needs it, though, and Dean needs Cas, and so even though it is a really bad idea, he’s gonna do it anyway. Game on.
