Castiel walked down the hallways, looking for Dean. He still doubted himself. He felt for the drawing in his back pocket for the fifth time that hour, his hands shaking. He looked up again to see Dean standing there, looking around. Castiel rushed over to him, but before he could do anything, Dean spoke.

"Cas, I... I'm so sorry, I... I never should've left you..." Castiel just put a finger to Dean's lips. Now that he was here, he knew. He knew what he wanted to do, what he had to do.

"I... Love... You..." he said slowly. The words hurt coming out, and they sounded mangled and raw, but the look on Dean's face was worth it.

"What?" Dean breathed.

"I love you... Dean," Castiel repeated. He saw that beautiful spark return to Dean's eyes.

"I love you too," Dean said, leaning forward and kissing him. Castiel didn't fight it this time, he didn't think about it, he just started kissing back. When they broke apart, Castiel and Dean were both grinning.

***
"Dude, give me the remote!"

"No way, Dean-o."

"Oh my god, Gabe, just give it to him!"

"Stay out of it, husband stealer!"

"Gabe, we've been over this. Jess did not steal me from you."

Cas watched his friends bickering, smiling. They were all about to go off to college, they'd all be leaving within the next few weeks, but they had been almost inseparable for a year. Gabe, of course, wasn't going anywhere, but he was okay with it. Cas didn't want to be separated from Dean. He was actually nervous about it, because they'd taken to sleeping in the same bed so that Cas wouldn't have nightmares. When they'd first gotten together, after Cas had started talking again, he'd cried almost every night. Not because he was sad, but because for ten years, he'd never felt truly happy, and now that he was, it felt so good. Talking had been hard for a while, after so many years of silence. But Dean never got over it, and to see Dean's giddy face, Cas would've kept talking forever.

"Guys, will you shut up! I'm watching something, here!" Cas grinned as Sam, Dean, Jess, and Gabe all turned on Charlie. His mother may have died, but now.... it was okay. He had a new family now.

Thanks so much for reading, guys! I really enjoyed writing this, and I know some of you really enjoyed reading it. I especially wanted to thank Otaku_pigtails and 2strangefangirl .You guys are the best readers I have ever, or probably will ever have. You are the absolute best, and if either of you ever have a Destiel au you want written, just let me know. It's the least I can do for you guys. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.