Bloody Bouquets

"Oh my god, please no... no.. no!"

Castiel was leaned over the toilet, clutching a bloody, yet beautiful scabious. It's soft purple petals stained red and covered in mucus. It's getting worse, he thought. Castiel began to lurch once again, coughing up more and more flowers, when he was done, the toilet was filled with the horrible plant.

Tears streaked down his cheeks as he sat back against the wall. He knew that he had to tell someone about his disease, and get some serious help. Castiel was already five months down the line, and as soon as the six months is over, so is he.

Few months ago, Castiel started to cough up little flower petals. He didn't think of it as much. Seemingly because he had been through much worse and some flowers weren't going to stop him. But then, it got worse. Castiel did look up his symptoms, but only a single article came up.

Hanahaki disease. A disease where there's a one sided love between two people, and Person A starts having flowers being regurgitated. In the beginning, only they would cough up petals but as soon as the time grew nearer, the bigger it got. Soon, Persons A lungs would be filled with flowers and ultimately, drowning and suffocating them.

The only cure was to make Person B love Person A.

If not, Person A would die a most horrible death. By flowers.

And Castiel knew for a fact that Dean Winchester, did not love him.

Whenever Dean would bring home a girl from some bar, Castiels throat would immediately constrict and he began to cough up the blasted plants. Dean didn't know about Castiels problem, and Castiel didn't plan on telling him anytime soon. The only person who knew was Sam, and he was trying to find a cure for Cas.

One night, as Dean and some random woman were "hooking up", Sam ran into Castiels bedroom excitedly.

"Cas! I think I found something!" He exclaimed happily.

Cas was weak from the effects of the disease, but he managed to break out a small smile. "What did you find?"

"Okay so get this, if Person A has hanahaki, there's a way where we can remove it without hurting the person. It's a difficult spell, but I can manage and-"

"Wait, so you're saying that I can have my.. "problem" removed from me without any changes? So I'll be unharmed?"

"That's the catch though, if the procedure goes well, person A will never have feelings for person B ever again."

That was a blow to the chest for Cas. He truly loved Dean. He would die trying to save him from whatever harm comes his way. The thought of that outcome was heart wrenching. He couldn't allow that to happen, he just couldn't.

"I'm sorry Sam, but I don't think we shou-"

"What do you mean? Your times almost up Cas! In just a few weeks you are sure to be dead, with a entire bush in your lungs! We can't lose you Cas, not anymore." Sam cried out.

"I'm sorry," Castiel stated more firmly. "But I cannot live with that outcome Sam."

And that was the end of that conversation.
——————
A week before Castiels death date, Cas was sitting quietly at the table. He tried telling Dean, but Dean would always ignore or wave him off. Castiel knew that in order to live, he had to do the spell. But would it be worth it? All this, just for Dean?

No, he thought. I'll give him one more chance and if he still doesn't listen, I'll get Sam.

"Cas? What's up man?"

Castiel looked up and saw Dean standing at the front of the table with a beer in his hand.

"Dean, I need to tell you something."

"Uh, shoot."

Castiel took a deep breath before opening his mouth.

"Dean I... I love you."

Deans face contorted in confusion. "Yeah, I love you too buddy..?"

Castiel clenched his fists, and his expression dropped. There was the proof. Dean went up to him and gave him a shoulder pat, saying that he was going out for the night.

As soon as he left, Cas picked up his phone and called Sam.

"Sam, we're doing that spell tonight."

————-
The spell went successfully, and Castiel recovered quickly. He no longer had any romantic feelings towards Dean, which saddened him. But he knew it was for the best.

Dean and Castiel went on more hunts together since Castiels "problem" was fixed. They shared some great memories on those hunts, and it brings joy to them whenever one of them brings it up.

Everything seemed to be backed to normal. Regular hunts, occasional arguments, research, exploring, ect. The only thing that was strange was that Dean contracted a stubborn cold. Castiel and Sam tried getting him to tell them what was going on, but Dean always denied it's existence.

Dean and Cas were back on a hunt, a vampire nest was tormenting a local town in Wyoming. They were awfully quiet this time. There seemed to be a painfully thick tension between the two. Seemingly, it was Dean who was creating the tension.

"Cas, buddy, I need to tell you something."

"Of course Dean, what is it?"

There was an hesitant pause, and Dean slowly turned red like, he was trying to keep from coughing.

"Cas.. I.. I think I'm in love with you man."

Castiels expression did not falter, nor did his words.

"I'm sorry Dean, but I don't feel the same way."
.......
"Oh."

The rest of the drive was quiet and uncomfortable. They made it to a shitty motel just outside of the town. Castiel went out to grab food for him and Dean. He left without saying goodbye.

And what was Dean doing?

Dean was hovering over the toilet, throwing up carnations.