Hi! 13 for the destiel asks!
13. What is your ideal way for Destiel to go canon?
Honestly, I couldn’t imagine anything better than what we already got. I was always counting on a confession in the face of death with lots of tears and this is what we got. Now Dean needs to get his own ass into the Empty, drag Cas out and say what he has to say. And I don’t think any fanfic can ever beat Castiel’s monologue. This was perfect and beautiful and everything Dean needed to hear, it was also amazingly painful. I wouldn’t change a single thing here.
Maybe apart from the ‘painful’ part. Because I always lowkey wanted a drunk confession. Just the two of them having a moment with no outside danger forcing them to say what they have to say. Just them and their choices to confess, with a little help of booze, because okay, these two are so repressed that they need a little push. Little, not a world-is-ending kind of push.
So like imagine if they confessed to each other marvelously drunk, coming back from a bar where Sam left them, because these two were driving him insane and he just noped out of there after zeroing his second beer; so they stayed and talked, and laughed and looked at each other and for a moment there was this silence, where they were only staring into each other’s eyes and Dean was starstruck because the dimmed light of the bar was playing shadows on Cas’ face, and Cas was smiling brightly at Dean and Dean thought how did we even got there; Castiel on the other had never felt happier, the beer got into his head and he was dizzy but Dean was right there in front of him, laughing carelessly at the dumb jokes Cas attempted to make and it was the best sound ever but now Dean was staring at him with so much fondness, lips parted, and it was the most beautiful moment of his life; for a while it was just the two of them and the world around them just didn’t exist.
Then Dean chuckled and muttered something about going back to the motel; he seemed embarrassed and Cas didn’t want to admit to himself that his heart broke a little but he was going to cherish these few minutes that just passed forever, he thought. They stumbled out of the bar and Dean gave the impala a long tired look and shook his head ‘I don’t think I can drive, Cas’ he managed to say, eyes blurry, ‘We’ll walk then’, Cas shrugged it off, happy that they are going to have just a little more time together before they go into their separate rooms. The night was warm for a november, soft breeze dancing with the leaves on the ground, as they started walking, step by careful step. It was a slow walk, and the full moon just showed itself from behind a cloud.
‘I need to take a breath’, Dean said finally, leaning on the railing of the bridge they just reached. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He glanced at Cas and then looked at the river underneath them. His heart was racing. Because Cas was standing right next to him, close enough to touch, almost. Cas, and his dark messy hair, and reassuring smile and those stupid blue eyes, piercing right through him every time. But Cas wasn’t looking at him this time, his eyes were closed, he was breathing slowly, listening to the quiet whispers of the river, trying to focus on the smell of fallen leaves and the water. Castiel felt intoxicated; but he was sure it wasn’t the beer, at least not entirely. Emotions and feelings were still new to him and completely overwhelming. He wasn’t able to read Dean’s mind, and he had no idea what was expected of him. He wanted to say something but he didn’t even know what to begin with.
‘Cas’, Dean finally mumbled, and it brought him back to reality immediately. Cas slowly turned his head to face Dean, his eyes were bright and questioning, and Dean couldn’t look straight into them because he wasn’t sure what would happen if he did. Dean took another deep breath. ‘I wanted to...’ he grunted ‘To, uh, thank you.’
Cas looked confused. ‘Wh-- What for, Dean?’, he finally managed to ask, very quietly. He felt unsure and the fear started creeping in. This whole situation was new and he had no idea how should he react; at the same time he didn’t want to ruin this moment by saying something inadequate. He felt frozen and out of control. He was scared.
‘For... For everything, I guess. I never said that to you’, Dean finally let himself speak, and he felt instant relief. He knew he wanted to say it to Cas for a long time now, he didn’t even know how long, but he just couldn’t. The words were always stuck in his throat, and he always lied to himself that this wasn’t the time.
But tonight he felt he reached a breaking point. He felt it in the bar, after the fifth beer, when he looked at Cas like he saw him for the first time. Cas was laughing at something stupid Dean said about the guy who was playing pool or about the bartender; he couldn’t remember what it was and it didn’t matter anyway, but he looked at Cas and he couldn’t stop looking, because this was all he ever wanted. His brain froze after that thought, because it was something he knew for a long time now, he realized, but it was also something he never admitted even to himself. And when he suddenly did, when this thought appeared seemingly out of nowhere and despite all the walls he put around his heart, he felt finally free. He was free and completely, unconditionally in love.
Cas looked at him with open mouth, and he looked confused. Castiel felt his heart racing at a dangerous speed, it seemed like it wanted to desperately jump out of his chest and right into Dean’s hands, where it belonged. He felt he was sobering up and his head felt light and heavy at the same time.
‘You... You don’t have to say it, Dean’, he started cautiously. ‘I am glad to be here. I always was--’
‘No, Cas’, Dean cut him off, ‘I have to.’ The world around him was spinning, and Cas was the only fixed object, so he focused his eyes on him. ‘You... It’s good to have you here, Cas. And I mean it. You did so much for us’, he started, feeling the weight slowly lifting from his chest. It was a risk, it was probably the biggest risk he ever took, but he couldn’t help it, he always felt braver after a couple of beers. ‘You did so much for me’, his voice suddenly broke and suddenly he wasn’t able to say another word.
Cas stood there, frozen. He couldn’t believe what was happening. Dean's forest green eyes were staring intensely right into his own. It was like Dean wanted to speak but he physically couldn’t do it, and honestly, Cas could relate. At one second his mind was just a frozen void and right at the next one, unexpectedly and out of nowhere, words were madly rushing through his head, forming dozens of sentences all at once, rioting; everything he ever wanted to say to Dean was emerging from his subconsciousness into the surface, flooding his mind; he was drowning in emotions and unspoken words, it was all too much, too many; he felt like he was suffocating, so he opened his mouth to take a breath and then...
It just escaped through his lips, slipped right through it without his consent, and the world suddenly stopped and his mind went silent again. Cas blinked a couple of times, shocked but also strangely relieved; once the truth was out she was unstoppable. ‘Dean...’, he whispered, but all at once he was out of words. Thousands of them were just gone, leaving only four of them that ever mattered, that ever had meaning, echoing in his head repeatedly.
Dean looked like he was just struck by lightning. He also felt like it. The words he never thought he would hear hanged in the silence between them; it took a few seconds for them to sink in. For a moment Dean thought he was delirious, he almost expected to wake up in a second, in a motel bed, completely hangover, because this? This was simply too good to be true.
But suddenly everything just made sense. Everything just clicked and fell right into place and he was home. He was barely standing on his own two feet, on some bridge on the outskirts of some godforsaken town in the middle of nowhere, with the moon and stars shining brightly above him and the river humming underneath him, but he was home. Nothing ever felt this right.
After a long pause, he exhaled, smiled and--
‘Dean, I’m... I...’, Cas stuttered, ‘I shouldn’t--’
‘Cas’, Dean reached out his his hands and cupped Castiel’s face. He didn’t even have to take a step towards him, they already were standing this close. He pressed their foreheads together. ‘This is all I ever needed to hear from you’, he whispered, ‘You are what I need, no’, he quickly corrected himself, ‘you are what I want. I love you. I knew this for a while now.’ He wrapped his hand around Cas, as he said it, to keep him as close as possible, ‘I remember what it was like... I remember my life before you. I could never imagine going back to that. I just wanted you to know that’, suddenly the words started to flow more easily, ‘I am better with you around’.
Slowly he let go of the embrace and looked directly into Cas’ eyes, brighter than ever, but was it because of moonlight or was it Castiel’s very own light, Dean wasn’t sure. Cas wasn’t sure either, but the light was everywhere. Everything looked better, brighter, more familiar. So this is it, he managed to form a thought, this is how it goes. This is what the whole world is about, as he suddenly started to understand why some of the angels fell before him. This was worth everything. He reached for Dean’s face and stroked his cheek, wonderstruck how right it felt.
Dean was barely holding back a sob all this time, but this is not time for crying, he told himself, not now, when Cas was gently touching his face and looking at him with pure admiration. Dean couldn’t help but lean into the soft touch. Slowly he reached for Cas’ hand, leaned in more, and kissed the inside of his palm. It all felt too natural, so good and so right.
They stood like this for a good moment, feasting on it and letting the time pass. They weren’t in a hurry anymore, they were right where they were supposed to be. After some time they finally started walking again, and when they crossed that bridge they felt like they just entered a new beginning, a new world that belonged only to them, although in a way, nothing really changed; they were joking and laughing in no time, and when Dean slipped on the wet leaves on the pavement, Cas was there to catch him.
When they finally reached the motel, the moon and stars were already fading, and the sky on the east was slowly turning golden and pink. That night was the first of many nights to come when Sam had the motel room all to himself.