Cas doesn't get a chance to talk to or even see Dean until the following Monday at school (the whole 'Oh, Cas is the Prince of some random little Country in Europe' revelation occurred on a Friday).

As the limo pulls up to school, Cas is once again bombarded with reporters, as well as a bunch of people he doesn't know or talk to asking for his autograph. It's not until he spies the two little girls with hospital bracelets that he pauses.

"Hi, what's your name?" Cas asks softly, taking the pen and notebook from one of the little girls hands.

"Jessica." She answers.

"Well, I have a very good friend whose name is Jessica," Cas adds, signing it and reaching for the other little girl's, most probably Jessica's twin, notebook, "And what's your name?" he asks.

"Pamela." She replies.

"Well, that's a beautiful name. Are you two twins?" he asks. They nod, and he spends another few minutes talking with them, until Crowley ushers him off to AP Latin. That's when he spots Dean, sitting on the steps with his guitar, watching him. Cas gives a shy wave, and Dean starts, blushing at getting caught staring.

Dean catches him at his locker between classes.

"Ummm… hi." He finally says. Cas frowns at him.

"I don't like that you're being like this." He decides. Dean looks surprised.

"Like what?" he demands.

"Treating me differently than you normally would because of the… thing." Cas replies. Dean snorts.

"You mean the 'thing' where you're the sole heir to the throne of some rich European country? Yeah, there's that. There's also that you didn't even tell me. We've been friends for how long?" Dean snaps back. Cas slams his locker shut.

"I was going to! Fuck Dean, I only told Sam the day before the whole world found out, and I only fucking found out myself like a week ago! Of course I wanted to tell you! I just… you started to notice me more. When I looked different. And I was scared that that was the only reason you were noticing me more. So I was terrified to tell you the prince thing, because I thought…"

"You thought I was only in it for the hot, douchebag pod person version of you?" Dean asks quietly. Cas sighed and nodded.

"I can't help it. Before all this, I had three people, maybe, that talked to me in school. Now the whole damn building is my best friend. Shit, Meg has claimed to the local news we've been dating for the past 8 months." Cas replied, exasperated. Dean snorted.

"Doesn't anyone know you bat for the other team?" he asked. Cas shook his head.

"Not many. Though, my grandfather is surprisingly very okay with it. Probably because he's a bit on the bisexual side… and I really shouldn't have said that." But Dean snorted.

"Why don't you just announce it or whatever?" he asked. Cas sighed loudly.

"Because despite the fact that this is indeed the 21st century, something as big as the sole heir to the Genovian throne being gay still has to be 'handled with care'." Cas replied. Dean looked positively crestfallen.

"So… does that mean we're off for Saturday?" he asks. Cas blinks several times stupidly, then shakes his head so hard he almost gives himself whiplash.

"No, absolutely not. We're still on for Saturday. It's just… if we're in public… we need to be… discrete." Cas replied. Dean nodded slowly, an absolutely gorgeous smile blossoming across his face.

"Too bad. I really wanted to kiss you just then." He says. Cas looks at him dumbly for a second, then scowls.

"Tease." He accuses.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dean taunts, before taking his leave. Cas shakes his head, unable to wipe the grin off his face. It doesn't even matter that Dean didn't really answer the question, if he wanted Cas for Cas or Cas for his new status. The answer was obvious.

Cas was freaking out. This seemed to happen way, wayyy too much lately. But at least this was a semi good reason to freak out. He was meeting Dean in half an hour at Dean's place. His band rehearsed in Dean's garage. He didn't want to look stupid, but this was the first occasion he really had to wear the ridiculous clothes Crowley and Gabriel had picked out for him, and he didn't want to look like a 'pod person douchebag'. His mom was laughing at him a little.

"Are you nervous? My little Cassie, nervous to go on his first date." She coos, making Castiel send her an exasperated glare.

"Mother, please. It's not even really a date. His band and Sam and probably Jess are all going to be there too." Castiel replied, tossing another shirt aside. Anna snorted at him.

"Sweetheart, even I wasn't this nervous on my first date with Adam." She said.

"Adam?" Cas asked.

"Oh, Mr. Milligan. That's his first name." she replied. Cas mimed retching at the thought of his mom and his debate teacher, and finally settled on a blue t-shirt (which was stupid tight, but he didn't really have a choice), and a pair of designer jeans that cost more than all his textbooks put together, but made his ass look really good (according to his mother. Which was weird and awkward, even if the sentiment was appreciated). A sensible pair of shoes and black leather jacket completed the ensemble. His mother looked ready to cry. Cas was really getting tired of being embarrassed and surprised all the time.

He walked the short distance to Dean's house, and knocked on the door. He tried very hard to ignore the two secret service agents that had followed him, and then stationed themselves in front of the Winchester house. Mary, Dean and Sam's really awesome mom, answered the door.

"Oh, Castiel! Dean mentioned you'd be coming over. Come in, sweetheart." She said. Cas couldn't help the relieved smiled that crossed his face. Even with all this royalty hullaballoo, Mary Winchester would always treat him the same; like he was just another one of her boys.

Cas followed Mary to the kitchen, where John was sitting at the table with Sam. Sam, being both awesome and a total ass, jumped up from the table and bowed so low, his nose almost hit the ground.

"Your Majesty!" he exclaimed, attempting to kiss Cas's hand. Cas slapped him on the face.

"I hate you. So much. And for future reference, it's 'Your Highness'. The Majesty thing is only for the king and queen." Cas snarked. Sam laughed at him, and dragged him over onto one of the empty chairs. John glanced up at him then.

"So… you have a date with my son?" he asked. Cas chokes on his words, and Sam almost falls out of his chair laughing.

"John!" Mary scolded, "Leave the poor thing alone. He's been through enough the last few days."

"Right, yeah. Prince of Genovia. I suppose I should be giving Dean a high five." John mused, unable to contain his grin. It was so, very, incredible obvious the whole 'prince' revelation didn't change a thing about him when it came to the Winchesters. So, everyone started laughing, which is how Dean found them when he came in through the garage door a couple minutes later.

"Mom, why are there two creepy guys in suits standing in front of our house?" Dean asks, not having spotted Cas yet.

"That… is my fault. Grandfather wanted them to tail me. To make sure nothing 'goes wrong'." Cas replied, giving exaggerated air quotes. Dean seemed struck dumb for a second, finally noticing Cas. And how fucking hot he looked in that leather jacket. He shook himself out of it fast enough for no one to really notice.

"Are you guys being horrible to him? Please don't." Dean sighed. Cas sniggered.

"Nah. Your father just wants to give you a high five." Cas replied.

"For scoring a prince and getting us in the good life." Sam adds. Dean flushed tomato red and groaned. Cas laughed at him, then rose to join him by the garage door.

"Shall we?" he asked, placing a hand on Dean's shoulder.

"Yes, please, get me away from these people." Dean replied. His family laughed some more, so Dean shoved Cas through the door pretty fast. He was met with a sight he wasn't really expecting.

The band wasn't there. There was just an old blanket tossed on the floor, with a big White Castle Hamburger's bag sitting on it. And only one light was on, making the garage rather dimly lit.

"… Dean?" Cas asked, turning to look at him. Dean was flushed with embarrassment again.

"I, uh. I thought if this was gonna be a date, it might as well be a proper one. I thought we could do dinner, and then maybe take a drive? I just finished the interior of the Impala. I'd like it if you got to see it first." Dean finally said, with a shrug. Cas gave him a blinding smile in return.

"I'd like that too, Dean. A lot." Cas replied, taking a seat on the blanket. Dean joined him without hesitation.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, until Cas brought up something he'd been thinking about since he arrived.

"Dean, your family seemed very… ok with this. Us. Our going on a date. That came out so, very wrong." Cas groaned, shoving some fries in his mouth to shut himself up. Dean laughed at him in response.

"Dude, they've known I was gay from the get-go. When I was in first grade, all the kids in the class played kiss tag. 'Cept I only wanted to kiss the boys." Dean replied, and Cas had to laugh with him.

"Is that why you never date? Because none of the boys at our school… caught your fancy?" Cas asked. Dean smirked at him.

"Well, one did. He had these huge, geeky glasses, too big clothes, and carried so many books we all thought he was gonna be a hunchback. And he was the hottest guy I'd ever laid eyes on." Dean concluded. Cas was fire engine red at this point.

"We met when I was 13. And you were still attracted to me? I was awful looking." Cas said. Dean shook his head.

"Nah. You really weren't." he replied simply. Cas smiled at him, and they finished their meal in easy silence, stealing fries off each other's napkins. When they were finished, Dean dangled his keys in Cas's face, making him laugh.

"Yes, yes, alright. Let's go for a drive." He said. Dean smiled, wrapping an arm around Cas's shoulders as he opened the garage door. The two security guys immediately perked up.

"Prince Castiel?" one of them asked. Cas exhaled sharply through his nose. Dean gave him a gentle squeeze.

"We're just going for a drive guys, then I'm heading home. Go back to the consulate and get some sleep. I'll be fine. No one knows I'm here." Cas insisted. They both nodded, but stuck around until after Dean had pulled the Impala out of the driveway and into the street.

The drove aimlessly, in relaxed silence, hands intertwined on the seat between them. Dean broke the silence a while later.

"Do you want to go down to the beach?" he asked quietly. Cas nodded his approval, and Dean turned down the correct street. Once the Impala was in park, they hopped out, and Dean almost immediately reached over to take Cas's hand. Cas smiled up at him, and dragged Dean down the beach, laughing. They walked for a short way, until Dean stopped short, looking at Cas a little funny.

"What?" Cas asked. But before he could ask any further questions, Dean's lips were on his.

Cas shocked still for a second, not willing to believe this moment was actually, finally happening. He'd only been dreaming about kissing Dean Winchester since middle school. Then he groaned and kissed Dean back, wrapping his fingers securely in Dean's shirt while Dean's got one hand in Cas's perpetually messed up hair, and the other around his waist. Castiel gasped when he felt Dean's tongue across his lip, allowing his mouth to fall open and Dean to surge forward with his tongue, attempting to map out the insides of Cas's mouth with that alone. Cas tried to pull Dean closer, pulling lightly on his hair and clawing at his back, and ends up tipping them over backwards. They landed with a soft huff in the sand, Dean looking down at Cas from over top of him, before the not-quite prince yanked Dean down into another fiery passionate kiss. Tongues twining, lips smacking, it was dirty, loving and perfect, and Cas never wanted it to stop.

Being only human though, they eventually had to break for air. Dean rested his forehead against Cas's, and grinned down at him.

"Does this mean you'll be my boyfriend?" the older teen asks. Cas laughs softly, placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Of course, you idiot. I've only been crushing on you since we met." Cas replied, kissing him one more time. Dean grinned happily at him, getting up off the smaller teen and helping him up. They brushed sand off each other (Dean spending a little more time on Castiel's ass than strictly necessary), and returned to the Impala. Dean drove Cas back to his house, where they made out a little more in the front seat. Then Dean walked him to his door.

"You had fun, right?" Dean asked. Cas looked at him like he was a dumbass, and pecked him quickly on the mouth.

"That was the most fun I have had in ages. We should do it again. Soon. Very soon." Cas replied.

"Not a problem." Dean said, kissing him one last time, "Goodnight." He added.

"Night, Dean." Cas replied, watching Dean get back in his car before stepping into the house. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could ruin how perfect tonight was.

Except maybe school the next day. Where Sam thrusts a newspaper into Cas's face, his expression pained. And the front page image is, once again, of Cas. But this time he's with Dean. And they're making out on the beach. And Dean is on top of him. And it looks about 10x worse than it actually was. And there's another picture under that one of Dean kissing him goodnight in front of his house. And his whole world has just gone to shit again. For, like, the third time this week. And Cas can't take it anymore.

He finds Dean by his locker, and just lays the most ridiculous, drooling, tongue-riddled kiss right on him. Because he heard at least three people claim that the pictures were photoshopped, and he'll be damned if his life is going to hell, then the demons might as well have the facts straight. Then he storms to the limo Crowley still has parked outside, climbs in in record time, and let's himself cry for a little while. Because he basically just came out to the entire world, and dragged Dean right out of the closet with him.

Crowley takes him straight to the Genovian consulate, and Cas wastes no time walking into Gabriel's office.

His grandfather looks pissed, worried, mad, and about 100 other things. And he has three copies of that fucking newspaper on his desk. Gabriel takes a deep breath before he begins talking.

"When I said, that you being gay was fine, I meant it. And I still do. It is not a big deal to me. But I thought it was clear that we had to handle the situation with care." He finally says, slow and drawn out and unlike Castiel has ever heard him talk.

"You think I wanted this? We had no idea someone was watching. No one except you, my mother, the security detail and Dean's family knew I was going to be at his house. And no one but Dean and I knew we were going to be on that beach. I don't know how someone found out. This is not how I pictured telling my peers I was homosexual. This is not how I planned on telling the nations of the world I was going to eventually be, like, the first openly gay king ever. I can't do this, grandpa. It's killing me, and now it's ruining Dean's life too. I… I just can't." Cas replies, just as slow and drawn, but his voice hitches at the end, and silent, angry, upset tears roll down his face.

Gabriel is silent for a good long while, digesting everything his grandson has just told him.

"I understand. We had an agreement; you did not have to take the crown. I respect your decision to remain out of the royal family. However, I still want you to come to the ball. You are still family, and the invites to your friends have already been sent out. We'll have a nice time, and this can all be over." Gabriel replies. Cas nods slowly, wiping tears from his face as he leaves the room. As soon as the door to his study shuts, Gabriel puts his head in his hands, and allows himself five minutes to be upset and cry about losing his grandson, probably for good. Because later, he has to go back to being the king.

As much as he hated to do so, Castiel still went to school the next day. The limo rolled up to Sam and Dean's house, and the brothers were waiting outside for him. Sam gave him a hug, and Dean just held his hand. Sam says something about Alistair, the captain of the football team, bragging all day yesterday that he'd seen Cas arrive at Dean's house (spying from his home across the street), and had called the local paper to follow them when he noticed they left in the Impala, without the security detail. Cas didn't even have it in him to be pissed. He was just too tired.

School, if possible, was even worse today than yesterday. Though, that was probably because Cas had only attended school for about 5 minutes the day before, and denied his classmates the opportunity to make fun of him some more. There were pictures of him and Dean taped up all over their lockers, the bathrooms, and the hallways. The janitors were doing their best to take them all down, but new ones were getting put up in their places. Cas just wanted to know who had the patience to cut out 100 individual pictures from the front page.

There were the usual random shouts of 'fags', 'homos', and just 'GAY' screamed very loudly. There were also a few more creative slurs, such as 'Prince Cockstiel', 'Prince Pucker-up', and a bunch of people asking if there was still sand in some rather private places. Cas just grin and bared it, ignoring them all the best he could, and sticking close to Sam, Jess, and Dean the whole day.

At noon, Cas managed to regain some of his dignity. Alistair, Lilith, Meg, Ruby, and a bunch of other jocks and cheerleaders were just razzing on him, seeing as he didn't have the same lunch time as Sam or Dean. Jess was there, but there's only so much the spunky little blonde can do. Cas had been trying to enjoy the ice cream Jess had brought him, until the teasing and the name calling just became too much for him. He strolled up to Alistair, and smeared the chocolate and sprinkles all over his football jersey. Alistair screamed like a little girl, and yelled at Principal Deveraux to do something about 'the psycho homo prince'. Deveraux was more than happy to act as though he hadn't seen anything, and Cas left the lunch courtyard with a smile on his face, arm-in-arm with Jessica.

After the final bell had rung, Dean found Cas hiding out on the rooftop tennis court, waiting for most of the student body to leave, so he could avoid harassment on his way to Crowley and the limo. Dean plops down next to Cas on the bottom bleacher, and sighs.

"I had no idea he was watching." Is all he says. Cas shakes his head, taking Dean's hand in his own and squeezing tightly.

"No one could have. My grandfather's highly trained Genovian security detail didn't even know. It's not your fault. I should never have let you leave the house with me. I fucked everything up. I outed you to the whole damn world." Cas babbled. Dean shut him up with a kiss.

"I don't give a flying fuck about the whole damn world. My family already knew, and that was all that mattered. And I finally had you. I absolutely refuse to lose you over this." Dean said with more conviction than Cas had ever heard him speak with. Castiel sighed, running his free hand through his hair.

"It won't matter after tonight anyway. This was the last day for me to accept the crown, and I already told them no. I'm not going to be the prince after all." Cas says. Dean looks shocked.

"But… I want you to be. I want the world for you, Cas. I know it's going to be hard… but I'll stand by you, through all of it. If you'll let me." Dean replies. Cas huffs out a humorless laugh.

"I'm not cut out for this, Dean." Is all Cas will say. He stands, kisses Dean one last time, and makes his way down to the limo. Crowley takes him straight home, where Gabriel is waiting for him in his living room.

"For you." is all he says, handing Cas the box that his Genovian crest had been in, from the day he first met Gabriel. He opens it, and it's just empty. Cas huffs out a small laugh.

"Thanks, grandpa." He says, taking a seat across from the King.

"I return to Genovia the day after tomorrow." He says simply. Cas nods sadly. He's going to miss the goofy man, "I also wanted to mention that the press scandal from the whole… kissing on the beach incident has died down considerably. I know it's still probably horrible at school, but on the international playing field, we've all come to the understanding that you are young, a little naïve, and that it wasn't your fault that it all came screaming out like this. So… no worries on that front." Gabe adds with a smile. Castiel can't help but smile back.

"Thanks, grandpa." Cas replies. Gabriel gives him a softer, more loving smile this time.

"The truth is… I've been thinking about it a quite a great deal, and I think, you would have made a wonderful Prince of Genovia. People think princes are supposed to learn how to sword fight, and marry a pretty princess, and look prefect all the damn time. But it is so much more than that. It's a real job." Gabriel says. Cas sighs, looking down.

"You are and extraordinary person, Grandpa. But I don't think I'm meant to do this. I'm so afraid that I'm going to disappoint the people of Genovia, that I'm going to disappoint you." Cas finally says, raising his eyes to meet hos grandfathers.

"Well, I have faith in you." Is all Gabriel will reply.

"I'm a writer, you know," Chuck says. Crowley glances at him from the corner of his eye, "I write smut, you know. Porn." Chuck adds, "Didja ever read Supernatural?"

"No." Crowley replies.

"It's a big hit. I wrote a character like you once. He was a demon." Chuck says.

"I'm not a demon." Is all Crowley says. Chuck looks at him with a bizarrely critical eye.

"That's what the character said."

"I'll see you tonight then." Cas says, kicking off his shoes to practice some yoga. It always helped him relax when he was stressed out. And fuck, has he been stressed lately.

"Ah, I do have one more little favor to ask," Gabriel says as he's heading for the door, "I need you to formally renounce your title, for the press, at the ball."

"Make a speech?" Cas asks carefully.

"Yeah, Cassie. A speech. Those things where you stand up and talk to people with microphones and cameras. Just pretend their bugs you're about to squash on a windshield. I'll have Crowley pick you up…"

"Uh, no," Cas says quickly, a dumb-ass plan formulating in his head, "I promised I'd let my mom drive me. You know. She wants to take me to my first ball, or whatever."

"Allllllrighty then. I'll see you there." Gabriel says, squinting a tad suspiciously at his grandson, but he takes his leave nonetheless.

"Oh, grandpa!" Cas calls out as Gabriel reaches for the door, "I am sorry." Cas blurts, feeling really bad about giving all this royalty up for the first time. Not because of his own problems, but because of how sad Gabriel seems to be about letting him go. The king sighs, turning back around.

"Oh, Castiel. You are first, and foremost, my grandson." Is all Gabe says before he's striding across the room and hugging the stuffing out of Cas. Cas hugs him back tightly. Once Gabe finally releases Cas, he gives him a smile, and heads for the door once again, "Don't be late!" he calls over his shoulder as he leaves. Cas sighs loudly at the empty house, and flings himself backwards over the couch. Then he's in motion.

Cas runs all around the upstairs hallways, grabbing bags and flinging stuff in them. He knocks the empty box Gabriel brought him to the floor, leans to pick it up, and doesn't notice the envelope that falls out of the bottom of it. Balthazar moves to lie on top of the new object in the room, and Cas starts talking to himself.

"I'm sorry dad, but I can't be a prince! I'm gay, damn it, and I am not Gabriel Renaldi, and… and I just. I can't do it, okay! I'm scared." Cas babbles, throwing more of his stuff into bags, "Come on, Balthazar, it's time to pack, let's get your things," Cas demands. Balthazar looks at him and meows, " Zaza? What have you got there?" Cas asks, getting down on the floor to pick up the big, fat cat, putting him in his carrier, "Come on, Balthazar, we're going on a trip. We're going to Colorado, where we can climb some real rocks." Cas mutters, mostly to himself. Then he spy's the letter Balthazar had been laying on top of. Grumbling to himself, Cas picks it up and opens it without much care. Then he realizes who it's from.

My Dearest Son,

Today is your seventeenth birthday. Congratulations. I present to you this family crest, so that you may have a little piece of your family here in Genovia with you always. It is a custom in my family to pass on a piece of wisdom when one reaches this age. I pass it on to you as my father passed it on to me. Castiel, courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all. From now on, you'll be traveling the road between who you think you are, and who you can be. They key, is to allow yourself to make the journey. I also want you to know, I loved your mother very much, and still think of her often. Happy birthday, my Cassie.

All my love,

Your Father

Cas stares at the letter for a good, long while, mindlessly mopping tears off his face. Then he makes his decision.

"The trip is off, Zaza." Cas announces, letting the cat out of his kennel and rushing around the room. His ridiculously fancy, stupidly expensive tuxedo is hanging at the back of his closet. He gets it on as fast as he can, tucking the Genovian crest under his shirt, ignoring the state of his hair, and racing down the stairs. Then he hears the thunder crack, and it stars to pour rain. Cas bites back a scream of frustration. He was going to have to scooter to the consulate. And now he has to do it in the rain. This was going to destroy his shoes. Flinging open the front door, Cas is met with a slightly startlingly, but very welcome sight.

Dean is there, leaning against the Impala, standing under a big blue umbrella, looking smug and very sexy in his own tuxedo.

"Man, finally! I thought I was going to have to come in there," Dean gives him a wolfish grin, "The King and Crowley thought you were going to make a run for it. They sent me to intercept. Though, I gotta say, I was expecting more bags and less ridiculous sexiness in that tux." Dean says easily. Cas smiles so wide his face hurts, and launches himself at the older boy, kissing the life out of him. Eventually, he has to pull back, because he is already crazy late.

"Come on, we gotta go. If I miss the speech thing, then I lose the crown." Cas says quickly. Dean gives him a blinding smile.

"I knew you'd come around." He replies, kissing Cas one more time before opening the door for him. Cas jumps in the car, and Dean breaks the vast majority of speed and safety laws getting them to the consulate.

Gabriel is sitting in an ornate but very uncomfortable chair, tapping his foot relentlessly. He has just sent off yet another reporter attempting to get an interview before the official statements, and they are running out of time. Gabe jumps to his feet when Crowley and the Genovian Prime Minister, Robert 'Bobby' Singer, approach him. But Crowley is frowning.

"No, sire." He says simply, shaking his head. Gabriel sighs heavily.

"Then it's time." He says simply, shrugging and tipping his head so the crown he wears almost falls off. Then he makes his way to the podium in the press room.

"His Majesty, the King!" someone announces as Gabriel takes to the stand. He puts on his best king smile, and begins.

"My fellow Genovian's, and honored guests. Good evening. I apologize for the delay, and may I say, welcome, to our grand Genovian Independence Day Ball. Thank you so much for your patience. I have an announcement to make. My grandson…" Gabriel is interrupted by someone clearing their throat to his right. He turns, and is met with the sight of Castiel, dressed up as princely as can be, Dean grinning at his side. Crowley is there as well, giving Gabe a positive nod. The king feels his heart lift, "I… would like to announce that my grandson has arrived. Castiel, would you care to say a few words?" he asks, gesturing for Cas to come forward.

"Uh, yes, thank you, your Majesty," Cas stutters out, moving forward to take his grandfather's place at the podium. He glances out into the audience. His mother is there, beaming at him. Sam and Jess are there too, holding hands and smiling. Cas is happy they finally got it together. Dean's parents are even there, and Mary looks like she might have some tears in her eyes. Cas takes a deep breath, sure of his decision, and starts to talk;

"Good evening, everyone. And thank you all once again for attending tonight's Genovian Independence Day Ball. As has become public recently, I am in fact the son of the late Crown Prince of Genovia, and yes, I am gay," a few nervous chuckles spread through the room. Cas takes a deep breath and continues, "You'll have to excuse the way this was handled. I only discovered I was royalty a few weeks ago, and was slightly unprepared for the consequences of that," this gets a few honest laughs, which pushes Castiel to move forward, "A few hours ago, I was ready to pass up the opportunity to follow in my father's footsteps as heir to the Genovian throne. I'm two weeks away from turning seventeen, and not much scares me quite like the idea of responsibility. However," Cas takes one last, steadying breath, and solidifies his choice, "However, I would not be able to live with myself if I made such a terrible, egotistical decision. There is nothing," he raising his eyes from the audience, looking straight into the camera pointed at his face, "Nothing I would rather do than make a difference in the world, and the very best way I can achieve that is by accepting my responsibilities as heir to the throne, and promising to do my very best to see to the needs of the people of Genovia, and the people of the world," Cas pauses, smiling a little to himself as he finishes, "This morning, I woke up, and I was Cas Thermopolis. But, tonight, and from now on, I will be Castiel James Thermopolis Renaldi, Prince of Genovia."

There is ecstatic applause, which makes Cas smile and release the breath he didn't realize he was holding. There's Gabriel returning up to the podium to give him a hug, and his mother smiling so wide at him, it looks like her face is about to crack. Then Crowley comes forward with this simple, small gold circlet crown on a big purple pillow. Gabriel picks it up and grins at Cas.

"This was my very first crown. It was my one of my favorites, and I'm hoping it will be one of yours as well." He says. Cas ducks his head instinctively, allowing his grandfather to settle the circlet on his head. It weighs heavily on his ears, but it's a good kind of heavy.

"Grandpa… you had all this ready. How did you know I'd even be here?" Cas asked. Gabriel smiles at him.

"Because I recognize the same spirit in you as… someone else I know," he says. At Castiel's questioning look, Gabriel gives him an almost smarmy grin, "Me." He says, making Castiel laugh and hug him again. The Prime Minister starts singing the Genovian National Anthem, and Gabriel offers Cas his hand. Castiel smiles, taking the offered hand, and the two of them stand before the podium, and everyone gathered there.

"His Majesty, King Gabriel, and His Royal Highness, Castiel, Prince of Genovia." Prime Minister Bobby Singer announces. The crowd breaks out into applause again, and Cas and Gabe smile pretty for the cameras.

Then it's time for the dance.

Castiel had known for the get-go that he was to make a big fancy entrance with Gabriel into the ballroom, and then they were to start off the ball with a dance. Gabriel was dancing with the Prime Minister's wife Ellen, and Cas could dance with whoever he wanted. He just hopped his chosen partner was up for it.

After a few touch ups to his hair and clothes by Azazel, Cas took his grandfather's hand once again, and they walked, heads held high, into the immaculate consulate ballroom. Everyone bowed as they walked past, which made Cas a little uncomfortable, but he supposed he better just get used to it.

Ellen meets Gabriel out on the dance floor, and Cas casts a nervous glance around the room, looking for Dean. He'd lost track of him since he'd gone up onto the podium. Cas spied Sam and Jess, and supposed if all else failed, he could probably get Jessica to dance with him.

It was then that Dean slowly stepped out from behind his freakishly tall little brother, glancing sheepishly around as he came up to Cas.

"Bow." Cas whispered. Dean complied, both of them giving shallow little bows before Cas took Dean's hands, putting one at his waist, and the other in his right hand. He placed his left on Dean's waist as well.

"I have no idea what I'm doing." Dean whispered. Cas grinned.

"Don't worry. I do. Just… follow my lead." He whispered back. Dean laughs softly, and then they started to waltz across the dance floor. Other couples started to join them then.

Cas's mom was smiling at him from the arms of Mr. Adam Milligan, Sam and Jess were discretely making fun of Dean for having to dance in the 'chick' position, and John and Mary Winchester were grinning happily at both their sons. Crowley came onto the dance floor as well, cutting in to Gabriel's dance with Ellen. Everyone took it easily in stride, the whole 'Genovian Royal Family is gay' revelation really being old news at this point.

After a respectable full dance, Dean dropped his arms, taking Cas's hands in his own, and leading him out to the gardens. Cas could vaguely hear Crowley joking in the background,

"Awe, he had the same idea I had. But now the garden is occupado!"

Dean turned in an almost full circle, before finally looking at Cas. His eyes tracked over the younger man's new clothes, the face that was so, very familiar to Dean, up to the royal circlet of gold resting on his head. Dean took a deep breath, and said the one thing that had been bugging him since the whole prince revelation come to light.

"Why me? I mean," he pauses, his eyes once again resting on the crown adorning Cas's head, "You're a prince. I'm probably just going to be some blue-collar mechanic." Cas gives him a wry smile.

"Because it's always been you. Just because I'm royal, doesn't mean I'm gonna be any different that I was before. I mean, come on, yes I'm going to have to live in Genovia for a little bit, but I'm still going to go to school and…" Dean cut off Cas's babbling rant with a kiss.

Cas will still wonder, years later, if Gabriel and Crowley had been watching them, because almost immediately after their lips touched, the lights and fountains went on in the gardens, illuminating them in an almost magical glow.

Cas pulled back, taking in their stunning surroundings, and looking up at Dean, beautifully illuminated in the garden's glow. And there really only was one thing left to say;

"I love you." Dean blinked several times in shock, before swooping in for another, more passionate kiss than ever before. He pulled away after a minute, to whisper against Cas's lips,

"I love you too. I always have," Before diving in to recapture the prince's lips. They could vaguely hear applause from inside, but Cas could seriously, for sure this time, not give a fuck. Because he was DEFINATLY dating Dean Winchester now.

Epilogue

After an extremely fun night of (some rather bad) dancing, mostly with Dean, but also with Castiel's mother, Sam, Jess, and even Dean's mom, Cas snuck Dean out of the ball and up to one of the topmost bedrooms in the Genovian consulate, where they… solidified their rather profound bond for one another. Crowley didn't even bat an eyelash when he found them there the next morning, naked and kissing under the sheets. All he said was to get packed and get ready to go. The plane to Genovia was off in 5 hours.

Cas sighed, leaning back into the rather plush and comfortable seat on the private royal family jet as they flew over the European countryside. He toyed with his Genovian crest with one hand, the other firmly clasped in Dean's. The entire Winchester family, along with Jess, Anna, and Mr. Milligan were coming to spend the whole summer with Castiel in his (he could hardly believe this) palace. They were all returning to the States in the fall, so Cas, Sam and Jess could finish senior year at Grove High, while Dean intended to take some collage classes in mechanics, as well as work with his band in his free time.

"Prince Castiel," Crowley said from behind them, where he was sitting next to Balthazar (who was resting comfortably on his royal kitty pillow), "Look out the window, and welcome to Genovia." Crowley adds.

Cas leaned over to peer out the window, Dean beside him.

"Whoa." Dean breathed in his ear. Cas laughed jubilantly, and turned his head to capture Dean's lips in an exuberant kiss, before turning back to stare at the expansive palace that was to be his new home. Cas could definitely get used to the Prince gig, especially if it meant he got to hold on to Dean, and their families, through it all.

A/N: TTAAAAAAAAAAAAA-DDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Man, I love this story. I'm so proud of it. And yeah, I know the title is stolen from a Kelly Clarkson song. But I heard it on the radio the day after I finished this, and I was like, "that's the title. Right there'. Anyway. What did YOU think? Too much plagirism? Not enough? Was it good, was it bad, did you love it, did you hate it, did you even like it? REVIEW, GUYS! Tell me what you thought!

*Edit* Oh, by the way! There's a link to an image of what I imagined Cas's golden ciclet crown to look like on my profile. Go check it out!