Chapter Text
Dean woke up slowly, languidly stretching his muscles and blinking his eyes open. There was a low level of light streaming into the room around the curtains, reminding him that he'd managed to sleep all night without waking up once. He wasn't used to the amount of sleep he was managing to get nowadays, and still found himself feeling shocked when he woke up and wasn't instantly exhausted. The space beside him in bed was just starting to go cold, telling Dean that it was definitely time to get up, and the house crackled with magic in a way which made Dean feel alive.
He walked downstairs, his robe - well, his borrowed robe - wrapped tightly around his body to keep himself warm, and listened to the music he could hear coming from the kitchen. He could smell breakfast, the delicious scent of bacon drifting up the stairs and enticing Dean to walk even faster. There would be enough breakfast for him no matter how late he was, but he didn't trust Gabriel not to eat all the bacon before he could get there - the older familiar was a force to be reckoned with then it came to food.
"Good morning," Cas said, a smile audible in his voice, when Dean walked into the room, sensing his arrival without even needing to turn around, their magic bond leaving them acutely aware of each other's presence.
"Morning," Dean smiled in response, walking over to wrap his arms around his witch's shoulders and plaster himself against his back. They were still in their honeymoon phase, having only completed their witch and familiar bond earlier that month, though to be honest Dean didn't think this would ever stop, even after they had been bonded for years Dean was certain he would always want to be by his witch's side.
"Ahhh, he awakens at last," Gabe grinned from the kitchen table, already tucking into some pancakes with way too much syrup. Gabriel was Castiel's older brother, and - unfortunately - technically the adult of the house, no matter how he acted. Both of Cas' parents were dead, and his brother had taken him in as soon as he'd needed a place to stay, despite the fact he hadn't spoken to his parents - who were very disappointed in his choice to open a candy store, no matter how successful it was - in years.
Despite the fact they bickered constantly, Dean and Gabe actually got on pretty well, and Dean honestly spent half his time questioning if this was real. He had a witch he adored, his witch had a family - however small - that Dean was already feeling a part of, and the area Cas lived in was beautiful, with some wonderful people who Dean couldn't wait to get to know better.
He'd known for years that one day he would follow the call and find his witch, but he'd never thought everything would be so perfect when he did so.
“You know you missed me,” Dean joked back, “no coffee until I get here after all.” He stepped away from Cas in order to start the coffee maker and make a pot of coffee for everyone, ignoring Gabe’s middle finger. They all knew what Dean was saying was true. For the first couple of days, when he’d woken up in the morning the coffee would be already brewed and ready, however it hadn’t taken them long to realise that despite the fact the coffee maker did all the work, Dean somehow managed to brew it better than anyone else. And so now Dean had to deal with the fact that he had to brew his own coffee in the morning, rather than just waking up and having it be there.
No matter how much he grumbled, he secretly loved it. He loved having a place in the house, however small it might be.
“Yeah alright, now hand me the coffee,” Gabe grumbled, and for a moment Dean swore he could hear the other familiar’s animal voice bleeding into his words. Gabe really was grumpy before he had his coffee in the morning.
“Don’t be rude Gabriel,” Cas sighed, just sounding tired, though Dean could see the tension in his back. Cas was still very protective of Dean, and due to their still new bond, he sometimes struggled to find the difference between a threat to his familiar, and just basic teasing. He would calm down some more once their bond stabled out, and once they had been together a little bit longer, but for now it was what it was.
“Don’t worry Cas,” Dean murmured reassuringly, brushing up against Cas’ back as he handed him his mug, before turning to hand Gabe his. “Gabe’s harmless. We both know I could eat him if we were both in animal form.” That gets him a smile from his witch, and a glare from Gabriel.
“Yeah, I know you could,” Cas smiled in agreement, leaning backwards to press a kiss against Dean's lips, his gratefulness that Dean was his familiar was clear in every movement, and Dean wasn't sure he'd ever get used to being cared for so completely, to being wanted in every move someone made.
“Hey Lovebirds! Stop being sappy and especially stop planning to eat me!”
Dean had been living in their house for long enough to recognise the pride and joy in Gabe's eyes. He would tease them about being overly sappy until the sun went down, but Dean knew he was just glad that his brother was happy.
“Give me two days and it won’t just be a plan,” Dean muttered with a glare, having to bite back his smile as he held up plates for Cas to dump the food onto, so they could finally get into their breakfast.
They all settled into their seats, chattering and bickering over their food as they planned out the rest of their day. Dean needed to go back home soon - his old home. His home was with Cas now - to get his stuff, and introduce his witch to the rest of his family.
There was just one problem. He was terrified.
Everyone back there was expecting Dean to return back with a nice female witch holding his hands and smiling lovingly up at him.
And yeah, Dean had the smiling lovingly and holding hands with his witch down, but Cas wasn’t a girl and Dean had no idea how his family would feel about that. He didn’t know their opinions on same sex witch-familiar relations - which was just silly because they definitely both loved each other, but they didn’t choose it either. They were together because that's what the calling told them to be. Because that's what destiny told them was meant to be. Having a problem with that was just stupid, and really just undermined everything the soulmate marks said.
Believing that didn't stop any of Dean's nerves though.
"Come on Sweetheart," Cas said softly, grabbing Dean's hand and pulling him to his feet, "we're going to watch a movie." Dean knew that Cas could sense his stress, and was just thankful that his witch knew him well enough to know how to help.
Dean didn't bother asking which movie, he just trusted Cas to pick one they would both like, and headed to the couch, shifting into his wolf form just before hopping up. His tail flopped over the edge of the seat as he waited for Cas to grab the remote and join him, plonking his head into his witch's lap as soon as the other man sat down.
"Yeah, I love you too," Cas whispered with a smile, opening Netflix and running a gentle hand through Dean's fur. Cas picked some documentary - which, if Dean had a working human mouth, he would argue wasn't a movie at all. In the end all he could do was huff, but he knew Cas got the message. "We both know you're not really going to watch it," Cas pointed out, which was true, but besides the point.
Dean let out another quiet huff, crawling forwards until he was as curled up in Cas' lap as he could get, his large wolf frame almost drowning Cas in fur as he tried to bury himself in his witch's embrace.
"It's okay," Cas promised him, pressing a light kiss to Dean's furry head and gently rubbing the base of his ears, "your family won't care about who I am as long as I make you happy, and even if they do care, you have me now. I'll always be with you." Cas’ hand shifted until his hand covered his handprint on Dean’s shoulder, his hand fitting the darker patch of fur perfectly.
It was a promise they both knew Cas would keep.
"You'll never be alone again."