// Castiel

He hadn't left the house in weeks.

He sat for about a day at the door, not sure why he was crying. Anger? Sadness? Confusion? Happiness? It was probably all of them except for happiness.

Cotton had eventually come out from under Cas' bed and snuggled up in his lap, purring softly. Castiel smiled through his tears and closed his eyes.

He spent the next few days moping around the house. His house was a mess at this point. All of Dean's books were scattered on the table and the memory books had been thrown around the room several times.

He almost always forgot to feed Cotton but the cat would scratch on his legs as a reminder.

Castiel wasn't sure what he was feeling. But he hadn't left the house in weeks. He spent most of the time on the couch with the tv on, not really watching it- more like letting it fill the silence of the house.

Today was one of those days.

There was some cooking show on and Cas was staring at the wall. The woman was talking about oregano or something and all Cas wanted to do was crawl into a whole. He began dozing off when Cotton jumped on top of him and scratched his leg.

Castiel groaned and glared at him. "I fed you yesterday."

Cotton made a noise loud enough to wake the dead and stabbed his claws into Cas' skin.

He got extra food that afternoon.

+

// Dean

He wasn't sure what to do with himself.

All the shame and regret just came and slapped him in the face since Cas completely erased him from his life.

It had been a few weeks.

He did his best to work on his books but nothing made sense anymore.

Instead he spent his time writing more memories he had of Cas. He bought a bunch of small journals and was filling them all with stories of Cas. 

Chuck had been calling for days, asking for the draft. Dean never sent it and he stopped calling.

Today, Dean was writing about their first kiss. How could he ever forget it? It was one of the best days of his life!

Of course there was still more story in between his last memory (where Cas was drugged by Mike) and their first kiss.

On the topic of kisses, Dean began to think of the day at the Roadhouse where Cas kissed him whilst being drunk. That was a disas-

I was at the Roadhouse talking with some guy- Mike- when you came and beat him up cause he put something in my drink? It's all black after that...

Dean's eyes widened.

You beat him up because he put something in my drink...

"Oh my god..." Dean whispered.

Cas had remembered. Even if it was a little piece, he remembered something!

Dean laughed in relief and stepped outside before giving a loud 'WHOOP' to the sky.

((For anyone who doesn't remember- someone pointed out that when Dean asked if he remembered anything from being drunk in chapter six, Cas said the thing about Mike, which was actually a memory that he had forgotten. Instead of fixing it, I'm writing this))

There was hope. Dean ran back inside and finished writing in the journal. After that, he went to his computer and clicked shuffle on his Work Playlist. He went back to writing inna new journal as Stolen Dance filled the room.

When he had around eight memory books completed, he picked them all up, grabbed his car keys, put them in his car and drove to Cas' house, humming to himself.

He was too damn happy.

+

// Castiel / Cotton

At some point, Cas walked into the bathroom and realized he really needed to shave. And so he got to work. His legs were sore from Cotton's hunger calls and he was tired.

"Maybe I should just shave tomorrow." He sighed. "No, Cas, you've already started- yeah but it's not like I'm gonna leave the house anytime soon. Castiel just shave."

So he did. He finished shaving and he went back to sit on the couch. Cotton sat on his knee and watched the tv for the both of them while Cas just stared off into space. Cotton watched the old human on the screen put weird powdery stuff and liquid things on a fish. Cotton didn't think the fish needed all that pampering. It looked pretty dead to him. And why ruin a perfectly good fish? It looked as if she was only burying it in white ashes!

That's when she picked it up and placed it in a pan filled with- what was that? Oil? Water? Castiel usually made his food with that yellowy liquid so he assumed that's what it was. Almost immediately, the liquid began forming bubbles and making similar sounds that he would make if he was in a bad mood- which was often. Cotton's tail began twitching when she turned the fish over and it was cooked!

Cotton could have sworn he smelled that fish- but it didn't smell like fish...it smelled like- Dean?

His ears perked up and his head snapped towards the window. Dean was walking towards the door with a stack of books. Man, forget about the fish, Dean was here! Cotton meowed loudly and ran to the door. Castiel turned to him and sighed.

"What is it?" He asked, his eyes drooping. Cotton made another noise and began to scratch at the door.

"Cotton stop! What are you doing?" Then Dean knocked on the door. Cas fell to the floor and shushed the cat. "Cotton you know I hate answering doors."

Cotton glared at him and made a screeching noise.

"I don't care to find out who it is! If I answer, they could kill us or worse! Please stop making noise!" He whispered. So Cotton moved away from the door, jumped back on the couch, jumped onto the windowsill and jumped outside.

"Cotton, no!" Cas yelled. He quickly put on a pair of shoes and opened the door. He was met with something he should have seen coming.

Cotton was sat happily on a stack of books Dean was holding. Castiel glared at the both of them while Cotton innocently licked his paw and used it to clean his ear. Dean only smiled and shrugged.

"Hey, Cas." He said.

"What do you want?"

Dean chuckled nervously and bit his bottom lip. "I just wanted to drop these by..."

"You don't need to do that.

Cotton hissed and moved to sit on Dean's shoulder. He wrapped his tail around Dean's neck and seemed to give Cas a sort of cocky look.

"You told me you didn't remember anything." Dean said. Castiel rolled his eyes and leaned against the door frame.

"I don't."

"But you did."

"What are you talking about?"

Dean adjusted his grip on the books and looked him in the eyes.

"The day we went to the Roadhouse, I asked if you remembered anything while you were drunk. You told me you remembered Mike." Dean said.

"Yeah the douche who put something in my drink. You beat him up." Cas replied.

"Except that was a year ago!" Dean yelled. He let the books fall to the floor and Cotton jumped off him in fear. He quickly ran and hid under a pile of cherry blossoms on the floor.

"You know what actually happened a few days ago? We got drunk, you figured out who I was and you tried making out with me! I couldn't just take advantage of you like that! Especially when you didn't remember me! But instead you tell me about the time I 'saved' you. You know I'm right. I wrote it in one of the books I gave you. I wrote about it." He approached him and placed his hands on Cas' arms. "Please Cas, I know I'm almost there. You remembered something about me. Let me help you remember the rest..."

Castiel's eyes were watering and Dean placed his forehead against the other man's head. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, whispering pleads.

Castiel moved away from him to look at him better but they were still too close.

"I- I told you...to leave me alone..." He whispered in between tiny sobs. "I don't remember anything!"

Dean ran back to the scattered books and picked one up before rushing back to him.

"Everything you need is in these. Please Cas just- "

"Why wont you just tell me yourself?"

Dean sighed and rubbed his hand against his face. "Ironically enough, I'm not a very good story teller." He chuckled.

Castiel shook his head and crossed his arms. He groaned out in frustration and pressed his hands against his head. A single tear escaped his eye and Dean pulled him into a tight hug.

"Shh...it's okay, Cas. It's okay." He whispered, rubbing Castiel's back and kissing his head. They somehow ended up swaying back and forth and continued to do it until Cas had calmed down.

When he did, Castiel just let his hands fall to his sides and he just leaned against Dean. Dean tightened his grip around him.

"You know...this one time...I told you I was going to take you on the nest date ever. That you would never forget it- it would be the best day of your life! You know where I took you?" Dean asked, beginning to laugh.

"Where?" Cas asked in a quiet voice.

"I took you to the supermarket to watch these two lobsters fight in the lobster tank."

Castiel scoffed and pulled away from him.

"You did not do that." He gasped. "Oh my god, you did not do that!"

Dean laughed and shrugged. "I actually did. You know the best part?"

"What?" Cas asked, wiping his tears away.

"When I came to pick you up, you were dressed in some pretty fancy shit."

"Oh god!" Cas laughed, covering his face. "I don't believe you!"

"Oh ho! I have the pictures to prove it!" Dean said pulling out his phone. Castiel quickly stared at the screen as Dean pulled up a series of pictures of Castiel standing in front of the tank in some pretty fancy (shit) clothing. The others were of Dean cheering for one of the lobsters. And there was one of just the lobsters and their stand off.

((Blow Us All Away just started playing))

Then he pulled up a video.

"Dean, why are we here?"

"What do you mean why? Look at these lobsters!" Dean said from behind the camera.

Cas laughed and undid the first three buttons of his shirt.

"My lobster is totally gonna beat the shit outta yours." He said as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt.

((Hey ya'll look pretty good in your frocks! How 'bout when I get back we all strip down to our socks? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ))

Dean laughed and began cheering loudly for the lobster on the right.

"Excuse me, you can't do this." A man in an apron said, coming up to the tank.

"Whoa, why? Frederick is about to beat up Bartholomew's ass!" Dean said.

"You're disturbing the customers."

That's when Castiel leaned against the tank and smiled at the apron man.

"Listen sir, this man here," he pointed at Dean, "Has promised me the best date of my life. Now I can tell you that this is thus far, the greatest date of my life. Besides, I'm sure these poor lobsters are always so bored and have nothing to do with their lives before you slaughter them. Please let us enjoy our date and give these lobsters they best day of their lives."

"Oh shit! You go babe." You could hear Dean whisper.

The apron man glared at them and rolled his eyes. "Fine. Just keep it down."

Castiel turned back to the camera, smiling widely and motioned for Dean to come forward. When he did, Dean set the camera on a small avocado stand behind them. He smiled into the camera and went back to Cas.

They both knelt down to see the lobsters better and quietly continued to cheer for Frederick and Bartholomew.

The fight when on for some time and they had begun to gain a small crowd- both the lobsters and the boys.

A few moments later before the small lobster- Bartholomew- somehow managed to push Frederick against the tank and then the apron man took Frederick out of the tank and slaughtered him.

"No! My Frederick! My prize lobster!" Dean cried.

((ALEXANDER COME BACK TO SLEEP.
I HAVE AN EARLY MEETING OUT OF TOWN- fUKc))

"That makes Barry the winner!" Castiel yelled and the people around them cheered, a few of them groaning in disappointment.

Dean was left pouting until Castiel kissed him and the small crowd the had gained went wild.

They pulled away laughing and Cas gave the camera one last smile as Dean kissed his cheek before turning it off.

"We went to see a lobster fight." Cas said in disbelief. "And it was epic."

Dean laughed and put his phone away. "It was really epic."

The sun was setting and Cotton had gone back inside. The boys had gathered all Dean's books and brought them inside Cas' messy home.

After apologizing for the mess, Castiel wiped a few more tears from his face and laughed. "I wish I could remember it..."

Dean smiled at him and kissed his head. "You will. You've already remembered a little bit. Don't worry."

"But what if I don't?" Cas looked up at him worriedly. "What if I don't remember anything?"

Dean sighed and placed his hand on Cas' chin.

"Then we'll just have to rewrite our story." He whispered before kissing him.

And Castiel kissed back, suddenly feeling at home.

Cotton was happy for them but he wished he had seen the finished product of that fish.

Wow lobster fights? Really Ana? Really?!

Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and I'm sorry for the Hamilton interjections- it's 4AM.

Also it's July 9th and I'm not ready for Lin to leave.

A. Ham