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Dean watched his boyfriend from across the crowded hall. Even here, from a distance, he was stunning. Dark hair, mussed in a way that should look untidy but seemed delicately orchestrated so every strand was in place. Beautiful eyes, too far to see the brilliant blue of them, however, the emotions they conveyed were easily readable . Squinting in confusion, widening in surprise, crinkling in joy ; Dean had always thought Cas had very expressive eyes. Unfortunately, his gorgeous tan skin was cruelly obscured by his suit, as were his lean muscles. It was a crime really, to keep all of that under wraps.
They’d only been dating for two months, but already it was beginning to dawn on Dean that this felt different. From their first meeting, at a crummy bar in town Cas had no business in but Dean frequented . Their connection had been aided by the free-flowing whiskey, talking until the early hours about absolutely anything and everything. The wa y Cas had blushed when realised what time it was. The quiet but fierce determination in his eyes when he said he’d take Dean on a real date. The chemistry, burning bright just below the skin the entire time.
Intoxicating.
At least, that was Dean’s opinion. In all of his life, in all his relationships (and there were plenty) nothing felt quite like Cas. He’d tried to keep it casual, but all too often he’d catch himself over-sharing or staring at Cas just because he could, just because he was his and he could so he would.
That’s how he found himself here, at Castiel’s brother , Michael’s, third wedding, surrounded by Cas’ family for the first time. He was sure he should feel uncomfortable, and in truth, once he thought about it, he was, but when Cas was by his side he felt as though he could make it to hell and back.
Just then Castiel’s brilliant eyes slid towards Dean from across the venue. Conversation forgotten, he stared at his boyfriend for a meaningful moment, a grin spread across his features. Dean grinned easily in response, being rewarded in a minute head shake from Cas, before he attempted to join in on the conversation again.
“And what’re you drinking, handsome?” A rounded voice came from beside Dean at the bar. Dean turned his head, meeting the gaze of a much shorter man, with light brown hair and honey eyes, his pointed face smirking at him. A man who, very obviously, was wearing a wedding ring, and apparently had no awareness of the eye-fucking Dean had already been involved i n . Dean fought the urge to retch. A few months ago (2 to be exact) he would’ve welcomed the attention, God knows he’d go for just about anything with a pulse, but now any thing that came to take his time from Cas was a distraction. Even the sun was selfish enough to hide each night, forcing Dean to only see Cas on the inside of his eyelids for a few hours, before he’d be blessed with seeing the true angelic visage of his boyfriend again.
“By the looks of it, my boyfriend’s just finished his beer, so one of them, if you don’t mind.” He levelled a stare at the man , raising an eyebrow for effect. Perhaps at an event of Cas’ family he shouldn’t be so curt, but he couldn’t resist. He was used to seeing sleazy fucks trying to get into his pants pale considerably when they saw what they were up against.
But to his surprise, the man grinned, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. “Hey, maybe Ca ssie was right about you after all kiddo.” He held out a hand for Dean to shake.
Dean just stared at him like he’d grown another head quite suddenly.
The man rolled his eyes, his hand still extended in greeting. “Gabriel, I’m Cas tiel’s brother.”
Only then did Dean raise his own hand to shake. He knew some things about Cas’ siblings but not a lot. For one, there was a lot of them, and he got on with all of them in varying degrees, from more or less despising his eldest brother Micheal, who’s third wedding he was obligated to attend today, to Anna, his little sister, who had him wrapped around her finger in much the same way Sam did with Dean.
“ Which one are you?” Dean questioned.
“The funny one.” Gabriel replied without missing a beat, turning at the bar to face in Cas’ direction as well, his elbows resting on the bar behind him much like Dean, but given his shorter stature, the position didn’t look quite as natural. “ He probably told you I put itching powder in his swim trunks just before his swim team try-outs in middle school?”
This caught Dean’s attention. Yes, Cas had most definitely mentioned Gabriel, talking at great length about what a trickster he was. The comments were, as usual, undermined by the way Cas’ face would automatically light up when he spoke of any of his siblings, even those he supposedly hated.
“Ah.” Was Dean’s only reply. By now he could see Cas getting into a heated exchange with another of his siblings, Balthazar, repeatedly running his hand through his hair as if checking it was still there given the stress he was being caused. Dean let out a chuckle low in his throat.
“Y’know,” Gabriel began again, “you’re the first .” His voice had quietened. Dean looked over at him, to see in surprise that he was gazing at Cas with much the same admiration he expected his own gaze held.
“Come again?”
“The first boyfriend he’s brought to a wedding.” Gabriel explained, his gaze not leaving Castiel even for a second as he spoke.
“Well don’t I feel special .” Dean rolled his eyes, turning around to lean his elbows on the bar again, gesturing to the barman.
“I mean it.” Gabriel spoke with a quiet intensity, turning to face Dean now. “ We’re a big family; there’s a wedding near every year. This is the third for Michael alone. Last year it was Annie’s, the year before mine, and the year before that, and the year before that. Never once has he brought along a boyfriend.” Dean turned to face Gabriel also now, taking in his appearance properly now. He wore a suit to the function just as most other men had, but instead of a handkerchief, a lollipop stuck from his breast pocket. His eyes h eld a fire which managed to make Dean feel small, despite being near a full head taller.
“ Well, Cas has always been… pr ivate.” Dean mumbled, considering the whiskey in his tumbler that had materialised (open bars man) as it swilled around the bottom.
“ Congratulations, Sherlock.” Gabriel deadpanned. “ He was with that asshat, Alfie, for 3 months before any of us even knew he existed. I never even met the one before that. Annie said he was a big bag of dicks though.” He smiled affectionately at his red-headed sibling from across room. “But still he turned up to these vanity projects alone. Sat here through Mom’s casual homophobia, and the flirting from cousins that are still probably too closely related for it not to be creepy , and through Mi ke’s jabs at his job. Never brought anyone along; I thought he was too embarrassed to show them the absolute picture of a functioning family that is ours.” Gabriel let out a bitter chuckle.
From the corner of his eye Dean saw Cas finish his conversation with Balthazar by slapping a heavy hand to his shoulder and saying something out of earshot. After a meaningful stare, he started making his way over to the two men at the bar, navigating the sea of relatives elegantly, dropping smiles and ‘thank you for coming’s and kisses to cheeks as he went.
Gabriel lowered his voice and spoke quickly to avoid the quickly approaching Cas form hearing. “What I’m trying to say is that he likes you, really likes you; now don’t fuck it up.” He said grimly, but there was a glint in his eye that betrayed some mirth.
Cas arrived before Dean could react, snaking his arm around Dean’s waist and reaching for his tumbler to take a bracing sip of the whiskey. His face twisted unpleasantly for a moment before he reformulated his expression into a grin.
“Oh Lord, what has Gabriel been chewing your ear off about, love?” His deep voice rolled over Dean.
Dean looked helplessly between Cas and his brother for a moment, not wanting to betray any of his conversation with Gabriel. Finally, he produced “Something about itching powder?” Rather lamely, but it earned a wide grin from Gabriel and a dark chuckle from Cas.
Dean was sure he could distantly hear Cas launching into a rant about the incident, but he scarcely heard him, favouring instead focusing on the laugh lines on his tan skin and the way his eyes made everything else in the room fade out to a blur.
He turned to Gabriel and gave him a look which he tried to inject with as much meaning as he could.
It was subtle, but Gabriel received the message loud and clear.
I won’t.