You'll never know dear, how much I love you

At the sound of the Impala on the driveway, Castiel looked up from his work. Dean’s heavy footsteps sounded on the pavement. Cas looked at the clock as he heard keys in the lock.

Dean was trying to be quiet, he probably hadn’t seen the light in the living room where Castiel was sitting. But even from far away, Castiel could hear his soft breathing, the shuffle of his feet as he got out of his jacket.

“I’m still awake.” He called and a moment later, Dean appeared in the living room. His hair was a mess, his clothes dishevelled and there were smudges of ash on his face, together with something dark, red or brown. Blood. There had been at least one fire tonight, Cas knew.

“Angel, shouldn’t you sleep? It’s late.” He looked tired, exhausted even, but at that moment he only seemed to worry about Castiel, which was crazy. Cas had been safe, at home, with the door locked, grading harmless high school papers while Dean was out there saving people from burning fires, which gave him at least ten different ways to either die or get heavily injured.

“Dean, you’re injured. What happened? Are you okay? Come on, sit down, I’ll get you-“

“The blood’s just from a nosebleed; don’t worry about it.”

Castiel’s fingers shook as he pushed the grades and his half empty cup of tea aside. He made Dean sit down on the couch, on which he agreed right away. He put his feet on the table with a soft groan as Cas gently touched his face.

“That’s not just a nosebleed, Dean, tell me.”

Castiel looked at his husband sternly, who looked back partly amused, partly sorry.

“I fell, from the ladder, which is pretty stupid, but I’m fine. Honestly.” He gave Cas a tired smile while he examined the scratches on his face.

“I’ll clean your face. No, stay here.” Without listening to Dean’s protests, Cas hurried off and came back a minute later with a bowl and a first aid kit. He settled on his husbands lap and started to softly pat a wet cloth on Dean’s dirty and scratched cheek.

“You should be a nurse.” Dean joked. His arm slid around Castiel’s waist to secure him. “Why didn’t you go to bed? You knew I had a late shift.”

Castiel didn’t answer right away, busy with putting ointment on the red spots.

“I couldn’t.” He admitted. “I couldn’t go to sleep without you. Without knowing…”

It had always been that way. Dean working late meant no sleep for Cas until he heard the familiar sounds of Dean coming home. He pretended to be asleep for a few times, just to make Dean feel less bad, but he could only relax when Dean was with him.

His job frightened Castiel constantly, he knew the dangers. But he also knew how important it was for Dean to do this, and he would never make him get another job.

“I’m here now.” Dean said gently. His fingers traced a familiar pattern on Castiel’s back, blindly marking the birthmarks there. “I will always come back, you hear me? I’m not leaving you.”

“You can’t be sure.” Castiel said, they had this conversation many times. He patted the last blood away and cleaned up the water and kit. As he washed his hands in the kitchen, Dean stood behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist and pulling him close.

“And you can’t promise me you won’t get hit by a car tomorrow. We’re both vulnerable. We all are. And that’s scary. I’m just taking advantage of that to save other’s.” He kissed Cas’ hair as he relaxed against his shoulder.

“I know. I’m just- scared.” He turned around.

“I know.” Dean repeated before kissing him tenderly. “But so am I. That means we care, right? Come on, let’s go to bed.”

As Cas slid under the covers and snuggled up to Dean, he finally felt comfortable. Dean’s warm, strong arms felt protective around his body, and lying on his chest to hear his heartbeat was one of the most comforting things ever. Dean pulled him closer, as if lives depended on it.

“Saturday tomorrow.” He slurred, his voice deep and thick.

“Yes.” Cas whispered, smiling, because they both had a day off.

“We could stay in bed all day… Or go out, if you want.”

Castiel smiled again as he felt Dean’s nose in his hair.

“We’ll see.” He didn’t mind what they would do, as long as they would do it together.