Cas had locked himself in the rightmost stall, freaking out over what Dean said. Of course he wanted to go out with him, but he was scared. He'd always felt like when people complimented him, or said they liked him, whether it was as a friend or in a romantic way, they were just lying. It was an uncontrollable filter in his brain and he felt insecure.

When Dean asked him out, he felt like he was going down the road to heartbreak. He felt like Dean was just lying to him. He didn't like him. How could someone like Dean have feelings for someone like Cas? He knew it was just a lie. Nothing but a twisted lie.

He heard the door to the restroom open. "Cas?" Dean's voice called out. Cas remained silent, hoping that maybe Dean would leave. He couldn't face him. "Cas, I know you're in here. Look, I just wanna make sure you're okay."

Cas gave up on his silence. "I'm fine. Just... you wouldn't get it. No one gets it."

"Get what? I mean, if you..." he lowered his voice, wary of anyone else who might be in there. "If you don't like me that way, that's fine. I get it."

"No, Dean, I... I do like you. I just..." he sighed. "I always have a hard time believing people when they think of me as anything more than a stranger. I mean... when people compliment me, or even say they like me, I just... I feel like they're lying. You wouldn't get it."

There was a slight pause before Dean spoke. "Cas... look, I really do like you. We all have insecurities, hell I do too, and that makes life difficult. But... when I look at you, I see... I see a hell of a guy. You... you like Harry Potter, maybe even more than I do. You love Captain America and Iron Man and other Marvel superheroes. Your favorite color is purple, your favorite song is Goner by Twenty Øne Piløts. So... yeah, I like you. A lot."

Cas had tears cascading down his face as Dean's speech came to a close. Could Dean have possibly liked him? Loved him even? He wasn't sure, but he wanted it to be true. He slowly opened the stall door, wiping the tears from his cheeks. He looked to Dean, this beautiful man who stood before him. He walked up to him, placing his head against his chest. Dean wrapped his arms around him, Cas returning the gesture.

Maybe it was time for him to take a chance. And if his heart got broken, then so be it. Dean was worth it.

~

They sat on the porch swing, talking it out, as they should have done in the first place. This time, they kept it argument free.

"Maybe we should say why we got mad," Dean suggested. "Do those 'I feel' statements like on Dr. Phil."

Cas sighed softly, nodding faintly. "Okay. I feel... like you don't trust me."

Dean grabbed his hand. "Of course I trust you-" Cas placed a silencing finger on his lips.

"'I feel', Dean. 'I feel'."

He rolled his eyes, grinning slightly. "'I feel'... like you don't wanna talk to me."

Cas placed a hand on the back of Dean's neck. I feel like you're crazy for thinking that."

"Well I feel like you bottle up your emotions because you don't trust me."

They both paused for a second, seeming to realize their issue. Cas was the first to speak. "We're both idiots, aren't we?"

Dean nodded. "I think so. Cas, I trust you with my life."

Cas took both of his hands. "And I trust you with mine."

"Then why are we fighting?"

He gave it some thought. "I have no idea."

"Okay, well... we have to come up with some way of preventing future arguments. Right?"

"Easier said than done, Dean. I mean, maybe now it'll be easier knowing why we've been fighting, but... I dunno. Maybe do the 'I feel' statements next time we feel like fighting." Cas suggested.

"Well I never 'feel like' fighting, but... yeah."

"I love you so much."

Dean smiled longingly. "I love you too, sweetie."

They kissed, happy to have gotten all of that out in the open. Though Cas, for whatever reason, didn't feel at ease. He felt rather dead inside. Dean noticed this on his face and was concerned. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm...-" He'd had enough of lying and saying that he's fine. He rarely was. "Actually, no, I'm far from it. I just can't explain it. But no, I'm really not."

Dean wrapped his arm around Cas's shoulder. "You... you wanna talk about it?"

He really wasn't sure. "Well... I'm not sure why I feel like this. It just happens sometimes. I dunno, I'm just tired, I guess. Or depressed. Or both."

"Well... describe the way you feel in one word."

He thought about it. "Empty."

Dean wished there was something he could do. There just wasn't. "I'm sorry, baby." He kissed Cas's cheek. "Do you need anything? You wanna be alone?"

Cas sighed just to sigh. "No." He rested his head on Dean's shoulder. "I really can't be alone right now."

Dean took Cas's hand, placing his lips gently on his fingers. "Okay. Do you need anything else? Some water?"

"No. I just want you."

So there they sat, Cas's head on Dean's shoulder, Dean holding him close. Soon, Dean noticed that Cas's breathing had slowed, becoming more relaxed. He couldn't see his face, but it seemed as though he had fallen asleep. "Cas?" He murmured. No response. He really was tired.

This was good. Maybe once Cas slept it off, he'd feel better. He kissed the top of his head, whispering, "I love you, Cas."

~

"-understand me?" A strange man standing before Cas seemed to be awaiting an answer.

"Sorry, what?" He became confused.

"Everything I've just said is quite important now get going!"

Suddenly he was in an empty classroom, one that looked a lot like his science class when he was in seventh grade. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but he walked up to the desk, opening the top drawer. He seemed to remember something the man said.

"You must find the stone. It's a very dangerous weapon."

Cas stared down at the stone, picking it up with his gloved hand. He also noticed that he was wearing gloves. The man's voice rang in his head again.

"You will need these gloves. Trust me, you don't want to know what will happen if the stone makes contact with your bare skin."

He held the stone, still not sure what he was doing here. He also noticed that this was all far too easy. He saw the door, walking towards it. As soon as he opened it, there was a flock of people there, for whatever reason mostly females he noticed, all yelling and trying to get the stone. Cas remembered something about this as well.

"For some reason, the stone emits some kind of pheromone. It attracts people, luring them to their deaths, like a Siren. The gloves will also protect you from that pheromone, keeping you from wanting to keep the stone all to yourself."

Cas pushed his way past the crowd without anyone touching the stone. He eventually lost them, making it to another classroom where a teacher sat at her desk.

He approached her, all sorts of in a panic. "Hey, um, a bunch of girls, they're trying to kill me!"

She looked very bland and uninterested. "Say that again, sir?"

"They're trying to get this stone and-" He suddenly realized something. "Wait. The stone makes people attracted to it. So why aren't you...?" He looked at her more closely, until her eyes flashed black.

He then fled from the room, somehow finding the group of people again. Suddenly, he tripped, the stone flying from his hands. A petit girl with long blonde hair grabbed it. Cas tried to call out, but no sound made it past his lips. Everyone else suddenly stood in a soldier stance, watching her. Cas got to his feet, watching her slowly disintegrate. She held the stone out in front of her, a smile on her face. Cas cried for her, as her body crackled and she resembled an ancient statue.

Moments before she crumbled, she threw the stone to him. But looking at his hands as he caught it, he realized his gloves were gone.

Before he turned to dust, he found himself in an empty white room, all the lights off save one spotlight shining down on him and the only other person in the room; Dean. He was glad he found something that made him happy in this strange and twisted situation.

"Dean, I'm scared."

"I know, but it's okay. The game's nearly over now."

"Game? What game?"

"Look at your hands."

Cas looked down at his hands, finding nothing noticeably wrong with them. "What about them?"

"You don't see it, do you?"

He sighed, tired of all these half-ass answers. "What don't I see?"

Dean paused. "You don't have any."

He gave Dean a confused expression, looking back down at his hands that were there clear as day. "What are you talking about?"

But Dean had begun to disappear. Cas grabbed his hands. "Dean, don't go." Out of nowhere, tall men in blank white plastic masks wearing black suits closed in on them, moving swiftly and silently. "Dean, don't go! Wake up! Wake up!"

"Cas, wake up!"

Cas snapped awake, back on the porch swing with Dean. "Wh-what?"

"You were dreaming."

"I noticed," Cas sassed.

Dean rolled his eyes. "You were calling my name. I thought you were having a nightmare."

"You aren't far off. Dream, nightmare, whatever I had, it was weird."

"What was it about?"

Cas described to Dean what he saw. The stone, the girl, and, well, Dean. It was so vivid and bizarre, and the thing he remembered most of all was the blonde girl. It was horrifyingly real, and the image was permanently burned into his skull.

"Don't worry Cas, it was just a dream. People don't typically turn to dust."

"I know, but still. I was so scared. Don't people usually have nightmares at, y'know, night? Not... mid-evening, or whenever? What time is it anyway?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.

Dean looked at his phone. "12:37."

"We should go inside. I could use something to eat."

Dean nodded, finding himself to be a bit peckish as well. He stopped Cas at the door. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Like you said, it was just a dream."

(A/N: I should just mention here real quick that Cas's dream is actually based on a dream I had once. Actually, just before I wrote the dream, I had the dream. Having the dream inspired me to write the last part of the chapter. A few things are different, like there was no man telling Cas what he was doing (I just added that so the readers better understood what was happening), there was no black eyed woman (that was just a nod to the SPN fandom 😉), there were no men in masks (I just thought that'd be cool), and instead of Dean, I was talking to Cas, but I was Dean. Weird, right? Everything else was more or less the same.

QOTD: Other than Destiel, what's your OTP?

AOTD: Phan 🦁⚫️💙