*EDIT: Because of the ensuing emotions contained within this piece (and the few people who've suffered from it), I'm issuing a warning. You WILL cry by the end of this. However, you may or may not love it, too. (I cried when I wrote it so...)

It was late morning when Dean woke up to the soothing feeling of cool, dry fingers stroking his short hair. He groggily remembered Sam waking him up a short while before to say he was going out for a run. Dean had just grunted in reply and fallen face-first into his pillow, shoving his arms underneath to lie on his stomach.

But he instinctively knew who it was petting his head gently without looking.

"G'morning, Cas," he said quietly, finally opening his eyes to see a smiling angel lying shirtless next to him.

"Good morning, Dean," Castiel replied, his touch never faltering. "Did you sleep well?"

Dean made a happy humming noise in reply, smiling. Warm sunlight filtered through the window and around Cas, making the angel glow with a soft golden light. They lay there, surrounded by a warm quiet, content to see the smile in the other's bright eyes.

After a while, Dean turned onto his side, disrupting Castiel's methodic touch. But Dean scooted closer to his angel and put his arm around his waist, his other hand twining fingers with Cas. Their foreheads touched and their eyes closed as they moved closer to each other. Dean sighed with bliss while his hand squeezed Castiel's.

"I wish I could wake up like this every morning," Dean whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Cas asked light-heartedly. "You do."

Dean's eyebrows furrowed together and he decided to open his eyes and look around. What he found was not the cheap motel he and Sam had fallen asleep in. Instead he was in a large master bedroom with ash colored walls and a flat-screen TV resting on the dresser directly across from the bed. The door was nudged open and a purring black cat entered the room, launching itself onto the bed to nuzzle Dean's chin.

"Where are we?" Dean asked, slight paranoia setting in. He liked the room and being next to his lover, but he was confused beyond belief.

Cas gave him a funny look. "We're at home, Dean."

"Home?" Dean echoed. He let go of Castiel's hand and sat up in bed, disturbing the cat, who mewed in annoyance but quieted when Dean ran a hand down its back.

"Yes. Home." Cas sat up beside him and put a hand on his forearm. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Uh," Dean stuttered. "Not really."

A look of concern overcame the angel's features as he pushed Dean back down. "Then, rest. I'll go make some breakfast. You might feel better after eating something."

"Okay." Dean looked around warily but his eyes were involuntarily drawn to Castiel's ass as he left the room wearing only black, silk boxers. "What the hell…" he muttered. The cat just purred loudly beside him and flicked an ear in his direction.

A while later Dean woke up again as Cas sat on the bed beside him. He held a tray carrying a plate of eggs and bacon and a cup of steaming coffee. Dean had to admit it smelled heavenly and his stomach grumbled just looking at it. Sitting up, he dug in, which made Cas laugh softly.

"What?" Dean asked around a mouthful of egg. Cas didn't reply, he just smiled to himself and scratched the cat under its chin before standing up and heading into the bathroom where Dean heard the shower start. He came out shortly after and began getting dressed in jeans and a button down shirt.

"Feeling better now?" Cas finally asked when he was finished, sitting beside Dean again.

"Definitely," he replied, revealing his content face and leaning back.

Cas just smiled happily. "Good. Are you up for work today?"

"Work?"

"Your shift starts in two hours. I've got to get going pretty soon though. The children need me!" Cas took the tray and planted a quick kiss on Dean's mouth before leaving the room. "I'll pick you up at six," he called over his shoulder.

"Children?" Dean whispered to himself, even more confused than before. Before long, however, he heard a garage door open and close and the sound of his Impala as it drove away past the window.

Dean got out of bed and stretched. The cat was still sitting at the foot of the bed and Dean noticed it had a collar. "Sammy," he read off the tag and smiled to himself. Glancing through the window Dean looked down upon a regular suburban neighborhood complete with various joggers with their dogs and a few small children playing in the yard of one house.

"Where the hell am I?" he mused aloud. Wandering to the closet he fished out a pair of fitting jeans and a red flannel shirt from what seemed to be his side and meandered towards the shower. Half an hour later he was dressed up in his regular apparel and heading downstairs. He came upon a fairly nice living room with a leather couch and another TV along with a huge bookshelf filled with hundreds of DVDs.

"Awesome!" Dean exclaimed, reading off a few of his favorite titles. He ran his hand across the shelf and made his way to the kitchen which was filled with chrome appliances and black marble counters. "Damn," he mumbled, opening the fridge to find it full of food and beer. A smile was plastered on his face even as he noticed a small corkboard on the wall next to the fridge.

Tacked there he saw photos of himself and Cas, grinning like idiots, drinking beer, together with Sam, and kissing under fireworks with the words "New Year's 2012" scrawled in what looked like his own handwriting on the bottom of the picture. Cas looked so happy, and so did he. Then he noticed the picture of himself out front of a mechanic shop with Bobby's arm around his shoulder.

"Bobby?" he whispered in awe. "Alive?" The photo next to that was Castiel and Sam looking like best friends outside an elementary school. "Knew it," Dean laughed, his fingers tracing the edges. He remembered what Cas said about his shift and checked the time.

On the counter he noticed a closed laptop and thought he might as well find out where he works if he's going to go. The screensaver showed up first and brought another grin to Dean's lips as it showed Cas holding up their cat and kissing its nose. The cat looked terrified and Dean attempted to stifle his laughter though there was no need. He searched the name of the mechanic shop and found it was about a quarter of a mile away and figured he'd just walk.

When the time came, Dean grabbed his favorite leather jacket from the hook beside the door, which he slid on and locked the door behind him. He began walking down the porch steps, shoving his keys in his pocket where they jangled at every step. He took a deep breath of the cool air and left the yard behind him as he headed to work. Along the way various neighbors waved to him from their porches or yards or cars as he walked leisurely past. He waved back, happy even though he didn't recognize any of their faces or know their names.

"Well look who finally decided to show his sorry ass!" Dean heard a gruff voice call out as he arrived at the shop. Dean glanced around and found Bobby's face grinning at him like he always used to.

"Bobby!" Dean called out, meeting the man in a bear hug that Bobby seemed to find very surprising.

"You drunk or somethin', boy?" Bobby asked skeptically, raising his brows and readjusting his hat.

Dean grinned. "Nah, Bobby, I'm just happy to see your old ass still kicking." Bobby gave him a look but took it in stride and clapped Dean on the shoulder.

The day passed without much incident. Dean met with customers and fixed the cars and easily fell into the pattern like he'd done it a million times before. It wasn't long before six o'clock rolled around and Cas drove up in the Impala.

"See you later, Bobby!" Dean called out, sliding into his jacket and heading out towards Cas. He got into the passenger side of the car and greeted Cas with a kiss on the lips. "Where to?"

Cas sniffed him and gave him an appraising look. "Home first so you can shower and change. Our reservation is at seven and you know Sam hates it when anyone is late and it involves him."

Dean groaned but his heart leaped a little at the prospect of seeing his brother in this life. Before long they were home and Dean cleaned up quickly and dressed in a slick pair of black slacks and a dark gray shirt with a blood red tie. Cas dressed similarly except with a white shirt and a dark blue tie. Dean laughed aloud when he noticed that Castiel's tie was backwards. It seemed fitting, however, so he didn't point it out even when Cas asked why he was laughing.

They arrived at the restaurant with two minutes to spare and found Sam already waiting, Amelia sitting beside him. They both were laughing and stood to hug Dean and Cas in welcome. Dean nudged his brother with his elbow and motioned at Amelia with his eyes and a grin. Sam punched his arm playfully and they all sat down for dinner.

A couple of hours later Dean found he'd drank just one too many beers. He found it slightly odd that it only took a couple bottles to give him the buzz that only five or ten used to bring him. But Dean didn't question it as Cas took him home. They got ready for bed together and it was just after ten when they crawled into bed together.

Dean's lips sought out Castiel's in the darkness. After a moment though he settled in, content with just being near his lover and having his arms around him. "Cas," Dean began a while later. "What if all of this is just a dream?" He was slightly afraid of the answer but it seemed Cas was already asleep and couldn't answer it anyway.

Dean quietly slid out of bed and padded to the window as he had that morning. The street was quiet and all the houses were dark but there was still a feeling of bliss filling the air that Dean could almost see. Everything was vivid and strong and sweet, so unlike the life he'd lived just the day before.

"And what if it is just a dream?" Dean heard a distantly familiar voice say behind him. Dean turned to see his half-brother Adam standing near the bed where Cas was quietly sleeping. But he had a hard expression on his face and instinctively Dean knew that this wasn't Adam.

"Michael," he said accusingly. Dean's hands balled into fists at his sides. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Relax, Dean," Michael replied with an easy half-smile. "Haven't you been wondering what this is?" Dean glared but didn't answer. "Well, it is a dream, if you must know. But it's also your life. Or, rather, it's how your life could have been if certain circumstances hadn't occurred." Michael stepped closer to the sleeping Cas and trailed a hand across the sheets.

"Don't touch him," Dean spit through clenched teeth.

That same cocky smile overcame the angel's features once more. "But," he continued as if Dean hadn't spoken, "as it happens, God just decided to not be around and not answer your prayers or even little Castiel's prayers before he decided to swallow the Leviathans… God could have stopped it," Michael whispered, looking down at Cas. "But he didn't. And now this," he spread his arms and brought his eyes to Dean's, "is eternally unattainable." A slow smile spread on his lips and a low laugh erupted from his throat.

That laugh followed Dean and echoed in his ears as he woke to someone shaking his shoulder.

"Dean? Dean!" Sam's voice called out as Dean recognized his brother's strong grip as the one shaking him awake.

"M'up, m'up" Dean mumbled into his pillow. He smelled cheap motel and knew he was back in the real world.

"Rise and shine, Dean, we gotta get a move on," Sam told him uncharacteristically. The younger man patted his brother's shoulder and moved to the bathroom.

Dean waited until he could hear the sound of the shower running before finally allowing himself to shout into the softness of his pillow and bang his fist on the bed beside him. He turned over, taking deep breaths, and closed his eyes. He felt a single tear slide down his face as the vivid images of his dream tortured him behind his eyelids.

"Cas…" he whispered.