Broken, a Destiel Story

Part 23

"How'd it go with Jack?" Cas asked as Dean walked into their bedroom later that night.  The angel was already in bed, his hands tucked under his pillow and the blankets draped over his legs, leaving his bare chest and arms exposed. Dean looked exhausted.

"Better than I expected, honestly," Dean said, changing into his cheeseburger pajama pants. "He's staying, so that's good."

He slid under the covers next to Cas and rested his head on the pillow, facing him. Cas moved close to him and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. Dean closed his eyes, feeling so undeserving of the angel's affection and compassion, his loyalty and love.

"I couldn't sleep in our bed without you, Cas," he said, as the angel rested his head back on his own pillow. He wasn't sure why he confessing this, but somehow he felt that Castiel deserved to know. Maybe in a way he felt that if he admitted everything he'd feel better about messing up so badly.

Cas gave a slight smile. "I figured that when the bed was still made," he commented. "I wasn't going to mention it, though." He reached over and stroked the hunter's cheek, gazing into his eyes.  "You're done, Dean," he said. "Done beating yourself up, done apologizing, done confessing, doing penance, whatever you want to call it. You're done."

Dean nodded. He rested his hand on top of Castiel's which was still lingering on his cheek, and closed his eyes, feeling the angel's warmth on both his face and his hand. He stayed in that moment for a little while longer, knowing in his soul that even though he felt so unworthy, he was in fact, so very deeply loved. That this beautiful, broken, fallen, incredible angel, had chosen to love him, to forgive him, over and over again, every single day.   And it overwhelmed him to the point that he felt a single tear slide down his cheek, and then the angel's thumb wiping it away.

"Even your tears are beautiful, Dean," Castiel said with complete sincerity, staring at his boyfriend's handsome face. "But why are you crying?"

Dean slid Castiel's hand off of his face and placed his hand on the angel's cheek instead, propping himself up on his forearm. "Because I know how much you love me," he said. "And I can't believe it." A few more tears fell as he stared at Castiel, and then without saying a word he moved closer and kissed the angel. He couldn't believe how wonderful it felt, to finally have the angel back, to have Castiel's lips on his again, his strong arms around him,

Castiel ran his fingers through the hunter's hair as he kissed him, slowly, tenderly. He had missed this so much. "Dean?" he said, when their lips finally parted. The hunter stared down at him, his tears dripping onto Castiel's face.  But he didn't care, and Cas didn't seem to either.  In fact, he reached up and softly kissed the tears, causing Dean to blush fiercely. "I will always love you," he said. "If you believe anything, believe that."

Dean closed his eyes and smiled, letting out a sniffle as Cas lowered his head back onto his pillow, and then the hunter lowered his lips to the angel's once again.