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His phone is ringing.
Fuck, it's like 2 am and his phone's ringing. Who the fuck is calling him at 2 in the fucking—
Incoming Call: Cas...
His heart stops beating for a second, he swears.
"Cas?" he whispers, barely daring to let himself hope.
"Dean. I'm at the front door, I can't get in. The warding must have been re—"
Dean ends the call. He can't breathe. Lucifer's dead now, it can't be him. He pulls a dirty t-shirt over his head so he doesn't run through the bunker in just his boxers. Please, please let it be him...
"Move, Miracle, move, move." He practically sprints to the front door as his phone rings again in his bedroom.
His feet pound up the stairs and his fingers grip the door handle. "Please," he begs, but he doesn't know who he's begging to. He twists the handle and pulls open the door.
There he is.
Dirty trench-coat and all.
"Cas, Cas, oh, God, Cas, Cas Cas Cas—" Dean's legs turn to Jello and he lunges at Cas, throwing his arms around his angel's neck, squeezing him tight so he doesn't leave, doesn't disappear again, isn't stolen away right in front of his eyes.
"Cas Cas Cas Cas Cas," he whispers harshly, tears streaming down his cheeks into his mouth, but he can't even care because Cas is here, he's back, he's here in Dean's arms, and his knees finally give out when Cas' arms wrap around his back to return the embrace.
"Cas, fuck, I love you, too, I love you, I'm sorry I didn't say it then, but I love you, I love you so much—" And Dean can't think of any other way to say it so he just kisses Cas right there in the doorway of the bunker.
"Hello, Dean." Cas smiles softly, resting his forehead against Dean's. "Jack brought me back. We fixed Heaven, and he sent me down here to you."
Dean presses his face back into Cas's shoulder and sobs. "You were gone, I didn't tell you and then you were gone, I'm so sorry, Cas. I love you, Cas, I love you," Dean mumbles into the damp patch of Cas's coat.
"It's alright, Dean. I love you, too. Let's go downstairs."
Cas practically carries Dean down the main stairs and into the kitchen. Dean's clinging onto Cas at the kitchen table when he remembers Miracle.
"Miracle! C'mere, girl!" he calls, whistling quietly. She comes galloping in, immediately loving on Dean and subsequently Cas as well.
"Sam is awake," Cas murmurs to Dean while petting Miracle's head.
Dean hums, leaning into Cas's shoulder, his warmth and Dean's sleepiness lulling Dean into comfort. He only startles awake when he hears Sam say Cas's name, realizing suddenly that he never told Sam about Castiel's confession, and Sam's gonna be so weirded out to see Dean cuddling Cas at the table, oh God...
"Cas? Cas, holy shit, you're back! Jesus Christ, it's good to see you, man."
Cas untangles himself from Dean and stands to meet Sam in a hug, while Dean is left disoriented and cold.
He reaches out to Cas again and Cas grabs his hand. Sam raises his eyebrows, but says nothing more. "It is late, y'know. We should get back to bed. Miracle, come on."
"Hey! Gimme back my dog, you've got Eileen to keep you warm." Which was true, but now Dean also had his angel, but Sam didn't argue.
Sam knew. Of course he knew. Cas and his brother had been dancing around each other going on eleven years now. The clinging just now simply confirmed what he had already known.
So instead of pointing it out or even saying anything about it, Sam just smiled and left for his and Eileen's room.
"Let's go to bed, Dean," Cas suggests, and who is Dean to argue? He's still skating across the fact that Cas loves him, that he's here, that he's alive.
Cas sits Dean down on the bed, then turns to sit in his chair in the corner of the room.
"Cas? What're you doing?"
"Dean, you know I don't sleep."
"I know that, but can't you just... turn off for a few hours? Come lay down, you're not gonna sit in that fuckin' chair your first night back here." Dean gets up and digs a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt out of his drawers, hands them to Cas, then helps the angel undress.
"I'll be damned if you spend the night it this whole suit, too. Comfy clothes. PJs."
Cas gets changed, then crawls into the almost-full-sized bed next to Dean. They lay there facing each other for a few moments before Dean starts crying again.
"I missed you so goddamn much, Cas. You were gone, forever, and I couldn't do anything to get you back. I was trying to keeping going, for you. I have Miracle and there's that job application on my desk, but I just... I'm so sorry, Cas. You mean so much to me and I'm so sorry you had to die for me to tell you." He balls up his fists in Cas' shirt (his shirt that Cas is wearing). "I'm sorry I was such an idiot, Cas. You had to sacrifice everything to save me from my own mistakes again, and I couldn't even save you this time."
Cas wraps an arm around him and brushes his fingers through Dean's short hair. "Dean. I'm here. You're here with me. That's all that matters, now." Miracle leaps up and nuzzles in between the man and the angel. "Yes, and how could we forget about you, Miracle?"
"She's a spoiled brat, but I guess that's my fault. If you want her to get down, I'll get her down."
"It's okay." Cas pauses for a moment before continuing, "I love you."
"I love you, too, Cas," Dean replies.
They fall asleep with their arms draped over each other and their dog, finally content. Finally happy, without any strings attached.