When Dean was six, he made his first friend.

The boy's name was Castiel. He had horribly messy black hair, eyes that Dean swore were the bluest things he'd ever seen, and an intense love of bees. Bumblebees, to be precise. Everyone in their first grade class thought Castiel was weird because he preferred to spend his time reading or drawing or daydreaming, and had no interest in cars, sports, or anything else a normal little boy was supposed to love.

They met when Dean walked into the bathroom during lunch and found a large third grader making fun of Castiel for the oversized trench coat he always wore. The day ended with the boy going home early and with one less tooth than he'd come to school with, Dean getting banned from playing during recess for a week and bruised knuckles, and Castiel with a new friend.

When Dean was eight, he and Castiel got into their first fight.

It was over something extremely stupid. Castiel didn't want to play tag during recess, Dean didn't want to spend half an hour inside when it was so nice outside, things were said that shouldn't have been, and both boys ended up storming away from each other with tears in their eyes.

Not even five minutes later they were hugging and apologising profusely to each other, and they made a pact to never fight ever again. Being eight, they had no idea that that promise was completely unrealistic, but they were best friends, and they'd try for each other.

When Dean was ten, he had his first kiss.

The girl's name was Amara, which Dean thought was a very prissy name. But Amara lived up to it, and had a reputation amongst the fifth graders as being the most popular girl in the grade. She'd already had four boyfriends that year, and she'd decided that she wanted Dean next. Thanks to the fact that no ten year old can keep a secret, Dean found out about her plan to woo him, and managed to avoid her for a while.

But she eventually cornered him at lunch, and proceeded to press a wet kiss to his lips. And of course, that was when Castiel walked into the room. His eyes narrowed and he glared at Amara, and Dean did his best to plead for help with just his eyes. That day, Castiel went home with a note for his parents explaining why he wasn't allowed to play during recess for a week, Dean went home and washed his mouth out with the strongest mouthwash he could find, and Amara went home with exactly one handful of hair less than she'd come to school with.

When Dean was twelve, he got his first boner.

He and Castiel had decided to go to the pool after school one Friday, and because Castiel was extremely scatterbrained, he'd forgotten to put on his swimming trunks before leaving the house. He made Dean wait outside the pool's bathroom while he changed, and seemed to take forever. Dean was considering just leaving his friend, but then the door opened and Castiel stepped through it.

He'd never really considered things like how hot a body someone had or how good in bed they'd be, but he couldn't help the way certain parts of his anatomy reacted to Castiel. Cas was in no way hot - he was just starting puberty and still looked pretty prepubescent - but he was good-looking enough for a horny twelve year old to find his friendship turning very awkward very suddenly.

When Dean was fourteen, he went to his first school dance.

The girl he'd asked was named Cassie, strangely enough, and though she was funny and pretty and the captain of the cheer squad, he still found himself disappointed when he walked into the gym with her on his arm. He'd wanted to ask Castiel to go with him, but he didn't know how his friend would react to it.

Castiel's date was a girl named Hannah, and she absolutely refused to leave his side, glaring at Dean every time he tried to talk to Cas. He ended up watching Castiel more than he paid attention to Cassie, and the girl had quickly grown tired of him and left to dance with some jerky blonde football player. Dean didn't notice. He was too busy ignoring the jealousy flaring through him at the sight of Castiel with his hands on Hannah's waist as they danced.

When Dean was sixteen, he broke his first bone.

He and Castiel were at Dean's place, doing stupid teenage boy things, and had decided that it would be an excellent idea to climb to the roof from Dean's bedroom window. Well, Dean had decided that. Castiel had called him an idiot and tried to dissuade him. Needless to say, it didn't turn well. He ended up having to go to the hospital to get his arm fixed, and Castiel yelled at him the entire ride there.

And on their way back home a few hours later, Dean was falling asleep in the passenger seat and was tired enough that he almost missed Castiel telling him how glad he was that Dean was okay. Almost.

When Dean was eighteen, he had his first true internal battle.

It was time for him to go to college. Both he and Castiel had been accepted to the same school, but it was two states and four hours away from the home town that they'd never left and the little brother that Dean didn't want to leave alone with their father. On the one hand, he really wanted to go to college and experience campus life, but on the other, Sammy had always relied on him since their father wasn't the best parent.

Eventually, he decided to go, but only because Castiel's older brother Gabriel, who owned a very successful bakery near Sam's school, promised to keep an eye on Sam for him. So Dean packed his bags, hopped into the Impala, and drove off to start his new life with Castiel in tow.

When Dean was twenty, he had his first kiss with a boy.

As far as first kisses went, it was his best yet. Definitely better than that disaster from fifth grade. He and Castiel were in the dorm room they shared, playing MarioKart and eating Ramen noodles at one in the morning instead of sleeping like they should have been. Dean was in second place, much to his chagrin, and Castiel was in first. The little bastard was so unbelievably smug about it, too, and when he won the race, Dean decided that he needed to be brought down a notch.

The tickle fight lasted for a solid twenty minutes, and ended up with Dean straddling Castiel's stomach on the floor, empty containers of Ramen scattered around them and both of them flushed and panting from laughing. He didn't know which one of them leaned down first, but one second they were simply staring at each other, and the next Castiel's lips were fitted against his, and it tasted like noodles, and it was perfect.

When Dean was twenty-two, he attended the first graduation he'd ever actually been excited about.

College was a much bigger accomplishment than high school, and Dean was ecstatic as he was finally handed his certificate. He could see Sam, his father, and Castiel's family in the audience, and he waved as he crossed the stage. Castiel had already gotten his certificate and was waiting for him, and as soon as Dean stepped off the stage he was swept up into his boyfriend's arms.

The party that Gabriel threw to celebrate lasted a full eighteen hours, and Dean didn't remember most of it. The eldest Novak knew how to throw an awesome party. The food was great, the company was great, and the entertainment was great. At one point, the cops had been called. Dean was pretty sure he remembered there being a camel in the pool behind the Novak house, and he woke up in a tree in the park two miles away the morning after. It was the most fun he'd ever had.

When Dean was twenty-four, he helped to plan his first wedding.

He wasn't happy about it, but Sam was getting married. Apparently, a lot had happened between him and Gabriel - who was eight years older than him - when Dean had been away at college four years prior. He'd been suspicious at first, of course, but then he'd seen how sickeningly in love the two were, and even he couldn't deny that they were made for each other.

He and Castiel had been put in charge of most of the preparations because Sam was terrible when it came to this kind of thing, and because Gabriel was a man-child who couldn't be trusted with anything. Dean had never realized just how much work went into planning a wedding, and he hoped to god that he never had to do it again. But it was so, so worth it.

When Dean was twenty-six, he met his husband for the first time.

The man's name was Castiel. He had horribly messy black hair, eyes that Dean swore were the bluest things he'd ever seen, and an intense love of bees. Bumblebees, to be precise. Everyone at the wedding thought that Dean was the most handsome person there, but Dean couldn't keep his eyes off of Castiel.

He looked devastating in his black tux and blue tie, and when he smiled nervously at Dean while walking down the aisle, eyes alight with joy, Dean swore he felt his heart stutter. He couldn't believe that this amazing man was going to be all his, and he barely managed to stop staring long enough to complete the ceremony. And then they were kissing again, and it was just as perfect as the first time, and just as perfect as every time after that.