After hours of Happily Engaged love making the guys finally ended up asleep.

Dean had no idea how he could be so incredibly happy and sad at the same time. Adam, Sam, and Jess were leaving today and they weren't coming back for months. He had Cas, Bobby, Jodi, Michael, Gabriel, his staff which were more like family than most . He wouldn't be lonely but he'd be lonely, if that made sense. Dean didn't know what kind of life he would be able to have without his brothers. He really didn't like the idea of finding out, but he was going to have to get used to it. Cas was starting work in a week and then he'd be even more lonely.

"Ugh, my head hurts!" Dean whined.

"Dean I'm so sorry. But, you know this is what they want. You've done everything for them and now they are living their dreams. You have done an amazing job raising those two boys. They have been accepted into one of the most prestigious schools in the country. But most importantly, they have each other. You will be fine, we will be fine, everything's going to be alright." Cas whispered in his ear.

"You always know exactly what to say to make me feel better." Dean groaned almost as if it weren't a compliment.

"You can't wallow today, Your brothers are still here and they need you. You can cover yourself in loathing self-pity tomorrow." Cas said pushing him out of bed.

"You promise?" Dean asked.

"Yes but just for one day, only one day. Anything more than that and I'll have to use extreme measures." Cas teased.

"Mm now I just really want to know what extreme measures consist of." Dean said chuckling.

"Well you'll have to wait a couple days to find out! Come on babe everyone is waiting for us." Cas said making his way to the shower.

The shower went quicker than Dean would have liked but Cas was right they were already running late.

The drive to Bobby's seemed far shorter than usual. Probably because Dean was mostly distracted the whole way. He was trying very hard to wallow while he could because once he saw the happiness on their faces he'd never be able to feel bad about it.

They were all waiting on the porch swing with their luggage packed in and on top of the Durango.

"We could have helped with all that packing guys." Dean said stepping out of the Impala.

"Don't worry about it man, we didn't want to spend our last hours loading things in the car. We wanted to just hang out and chill." Sam said quickly.

"So what's it gonna be? Winchester Tradition?" Adam asked.

Castiel's brows furrowed in confusion with a slight tilt of the head that Dean found incredibly adorable.

"YES!" Jess, Sam, and Bobby said in unison.

"WOW! That's just creepy quit it." Dean replied.

"Okay" they said together again only this time Adam joined in.

Dean shook his head he knew if he said anything else they'd just be able to read each other's response. It comes with knowing each other so well. The only one who may have faltered would have been Adam. But, in the four short years he'd been with the Winchester family, he'd taken the name and the common behaviors.

When he was sixteen Adam had asked Dean if he thought it would be okay to change his last name. He said that if Milligan had been his mom's maiden name he probably wouldn't have wanted to change it. However, it was the name of the loser she married when John left her. He took off not too long after and Adam couldn't be happier about it. So Dean agreed and said he'd already been a Winchester his whole life, just because they didn't meet until he was sixteen didn't mean he was any less family.

"Dean, what is a Winchester Tradition?" Castiel asked, zapping his boyfriend back to the moment.

"Maybe that's not such a great idea." Sam said, like he was remembering something and simultaneously reading Dean's body language.

Dean was looking at the floor. Cas was very upset and confused about what was going on. If Castiel didn't know better he'd think Dean looked guilty.

"It's Pizza Hut, and Indiana Jones." Adam offered.

"That sounds lovely why shouldn't we?" Castiel asked.

'Yeah, whatever that's fine." Dean said still not looking up.

Everyone walked into Bobby's and Dean grabbed Castiel's arm.

"Look if you don't want to do this it's okay." Dean replied finally looking up.

"Why wouldn't I Dean?" Castiel asked.

"Oh, wow you really don't know? Sorry I guess I should tell you. Umm the night you were invited here for pizza, the last night I saw you before you came back I mean. That night, was also a Winchester Tradition night. Bobby and Sam thought it would be a good night for it since we just scattered Dad's ashes, and it should have been our last night here. Which in the long run, it actually was. Anyway what I'm getting at here Cas is; that was the night I broke your heart, well both our hearts. It was a Winchester Tradition Night. I've not really been able to enjoy them since. Not in the same way, I couldn't stop thinking about how that was the worst night of my life." Dean said almost on the verge of tears.

"Dean it's fine, unless you're gonna bring me out here and tell me you never want to see me again...AGAIN. You don't plan on doing that do you?" Cas replied teasingly.

"God No! I'd never do that ever again. I love you Cas that's not changing. It hasn't stopped for one second since I started, and we spent four years apart after only three partial days together. I don't think it's going to." Dean replied finally feeling like he could breathe freely again.

"Dean I love you too, now let's go enjoy Jessica's and your brothers' last day in Sioux Falls for a while." Cas replied as he pulled his hand leading him toward the door.

They had a blast laughing and talking over the warm cheesy pizza. Dean of course flipped out when he realized Cas was an Indiana Jones Virgin. Although Castiel was quick to inform him that the term virgin could not correctly be used to describe someone who hadn't seen a specific movie, no matter how "amazingly epic" it was.

They were all on some sort of warm puppy high after the movie marathon. It was nearly time for the "Road Trip Posse" to leave. That is what they were calling themselves at that point. Nobody but them thought that was a good idea but they let it go.

Everyone standing around the Durango trying desperately not to get emotional. Overall, it might be working but only on the exterior.

"I swear to God if you start crying right now, I'm going to officially disown you both. It's not like we don't talk constantly or have Skype where we can see each other! Hell Jess isn't even crying, I swear sometimes I think we are both more man than either of you." Adam said teasingly.

"You don't understand yet Adam, you've not been away for months at a time. You don't know what it's like to finally get a few months of family time only to have to abandon it again." Sam replied.

"Don't be such a little Bitch Sammy." Dean said, only barely keeping himself from tearing up. He chuckled hoping it would keep the wet droplet from slipping past the thin barrier of his eye lid.

"Whatever Jerk, just know that I know you're crying like a baby on the inside." He said laughing back at his brother.

Dean's not sure if he hates or loves his newest sibling when she starts with the "I'm going to miss you hugs." He was doing so well, he'd convinced himself the tears were not close by. He still pulls her close for an "I'll miss you too Jess."

Next it's Sam and he notices a little tighter of a squeeze when he starts to pull away. "You'll be home before you know it Samsquatch." Dean pulls tighter in return.

"I hate Gabe!" Sam said indignantly.

Everyone laughed for a moment before Adam stepped up to take his turn at brotherly hugs. Dean started to feel like he was some sort of Merry-Go-Round at this point.

"You'll be fine Dean, Cas is here and who knows maybe we'll be back soon for a wedding." Adam teased.

Dean didn't know when he'd gotten to the point in his life where his brothers' were more concerned about his ability to cope than their own but he didn't like the feeling.

"Dude I'm fine." He says back defensively.

Adam just gives him a bitchface. Dean thinks about how he's taken so much from Sam over the last four years.

Even Carrie pulls him in for a hug. Why not, he thinks. He has become partial to the younger girl. If he's not mistaken he sees Adam is taken with her even more so.

They all make their way through Cas and Bobby too Dean can't help but smile at how they all treat Cas like he was always meant to be there. It kind of feels like that to him as well.

Eventually they watch the SUV head down the dusty winding road.

"Come on in boys, sit around and share a beer with me." Bobby demands.

"Sure thing." Dean replies.

They walked into the kitchen together and sat down. All the sudden Bobby goes pale and looks at Cas like he's a ghost.

"What's that son?" Bobby asked.

"You mean they didn't tell you?" Dean asked.

"Didn't tell me what boy?" Bobby looks to Dean for answers now.

"I uh, I asked Cas to marry me last night." Dean said smiling.

"You mean to tell me you have been engaged for nearly 24 hours and you didn't even think to mention it to me?" Bobby asked.

"Sorry Bobby, I assure you we both expected the others to have already told you last night." Castiel responded.

He was more nervous than he had been their entire relationship. He knew Bobby liked him well enough. But his approval of Cas marrying Dean wasn't set in stone or anything. He could positively hate the idea. What if he wasn't okay with it? What if he told Dean that Cas wasn't good enough for him. What would he do? Would Dean really disobey Bobby's wishes to stay with him? If he did, would he then grow to resent Castiel for driving him away from his only father figure left in the world?

Castiel rubbed his temple and Dean could see the stress rising on his fiance's face.

"Bobby put him out of his misery and tell him you're fine with this." Dean chuckled.

"Castiel you okay over there?" Bobby asked smiling.

Cas was slightly reassured by the smile on the older man's face.

"Yes, I'm fine Bobby. It wasn't planned or anything. I honestly don't even think he would have done it if I hadn't found the ring." Castiel awkwardly chuckled.

Dean blushed slightly feeling the embarrassment flooding to his cheeks. Technically, he guessed Cas was probably right but that didn't mean he regretted it or wouldn't have done it eventually anyway.

"You're probably right, guess we should be glad you found it. God only knows how long it would have taken him to do it on his own." Bobby said laughing and playfully punching Cas on the shoulder.

They spent most of the night at Bobby's only leaving when it was almost closing time at the diner.

The next day true to his word, Cas let Dean sulk in bed. He spent the better part of the day curled up with him while watching sappy brotherhood bonding movies. The marathon kicked off with Goonies, then moved to A River Runs Through It, and so on until the last one Four Brothers. Castiel didn't understand why Dean wanted to watch these movies, but he didn't deny his love. He indulged him enough to bring him breakfast in bed, a variety of sweets, lunch, and dinner. Cas even went as far as switching the depressing movies, when he'd finished them.

Being cuddled up with Cas in bed all day really did a world of good for Dean's foul mood. He knew he couldn't sulk forever but it was nice to know that his fiance' understood why he needed this time to work through what was going on inside him. Dean understood even more just how lucky he was to have Castiel that day.

Castiel laid in bed while Dean was still fast asleep. He twisted the silver band on his finger. He took it off briefly just to get a closer look and he was astonished. His breath had literally been taken away from him. He read over the Latin phrase repeatedly. In all the excitement he'd overlooked the smaller details of the ring. Something he was glad he'd eventually done. He smiled knowing exactly what he needed to do today.

That morning, Dean woke up to a very enthusiastic Castiel. Dean could feel the pressure on his thighs and the soft kisses around his ear. But he wasn't fully awake until he felt the impossibly tight squeeze around his throbbing cock.

"Jesus Cas, trying to do it without me?" He asked. Dean's voice even more deliciously raspy from the early morning wake up call.

"I figured you'd get with the program soon enough." Cas teased.

"You can hop on any time you like. I won't complain." Dean said laughing until he felt Cas push down even further on top of him.

They both moaned in pleasure as they were pushed completely together.

Castiel gave Dean a moment to fully awaken before he began pushing and pulling himself on and off his partner.

Dean's hands instinctively went to grab Castiel's ass and squeeze the perfect rounds.

"God you're perfect." Dean mumbles as Cas arches his back and lets his head fall backward in pleasure.

His body naturally thrusting upward against his partners thighs.

"Fuck, right there Dean right there." Cas said shuddering through the enticing prostate stimulation.

Dean continues his thrusts hard and fast.

Dean looks down and sees Cas' hand pulling up on his slicked, long, and hard dick. His mouth waters uncontrollably.

Soon after he feels the hot liquid squirt on his stomach and thrusts harder into Cas before letting himself follow.

"Damn that was fast. How long were you messing around with me before I woke up?" Dean laughed.

"Not too long, just really excited this morning." Cas replied.

"Any specific reason why?" Dean said curiously.

"It's just what looking at your body does to me." Cas replied. It was the truth, but there might have been a significant detail he failed to mention at that moment.

"I'd say I'm sorry but I'm not." Dean said laughing again.

Later that day when Dean was running the grill Cas walked down and wrapped his arms around Dean's waist.

"Dean, I'm going to eat dinner with Gabriel and Michael tonight. Do you need anything while I'm out?" Castiel asked

"Nope I'll see you later angel." Dean responded.

Castiel didn't want to lie to Dean so he did actually go to dinner with his brothers. However, before that he went to visit Bobby.

His charger took that gravel road with ease even though Castiel's heart was beating out of his chest.

Bobby heard the engine's rumble and headed through the bay door.

"Not that I'm complaining son but weren't you just here a few hours ago." Bobby asked.

"I wished to speak with you alone, I hope that's okay?" Castiel asked nervously.

"Of course. What's on your mind? Bobby said holding the door open so he could make his way inside.

"I know the engagement was a surprise, and I know that it's probably redundant right now but I thought, you being Dean's father figure.. I thought I'd ask for your permission to give him this." Cas said holding out a small silver band similar to his own only the engraving was different.

"I'll talk to Sam and Adam as well of course but I wanted your blessing I guess, even though it seems pretty clear that you're okay with it." He finished.

Bobby chuckled. "Sure thing son, I've seen that boy not quite happy for far too long to ever consider telling you no. I appreciate you asking even though it doesn't matter what this ole coot thinks." Bobby said.

"Your opinion is always of value, and not only to Dean but to me as well. Thank you so much Bobby, I don't know what I'd do without him." Cas replied

They hugged again and Castiel was starting to think maybe the older man wasn't as anti-hugging as he'd once believed.

Once he got to his childhood home, he found Gabriel's laptop and logged into Skype. Thankfully Sam's handle was logged in.

He quickly sent a message.

KnowingAngel18: Hey Sam are you busy?

TexasBoy81: Hey Cas, it's Jess. Sam's carrying the last of the luggage in, I'll go get him.

KnowingAngel18: Sure thing, I'll wait right here.

TexasBoy81: Cas everything okay?

KnowingAngel18: Yes, but if you've got time I'd love a minute to video chat.

The next sound is the signature Skype ring and Castiel clicked accept.

"Hey Castiel what's up?" They asked.

"I know that you were here for the whole proposal and it's probably redundant but I've just talked to Bobby and I'd like to ask your permission as well. I'd like to give this to Dean." He fumbles with the silver and holds it up to the camera.

"Is that the same one Dean bought for you?" Sam asked

"No but it's surprisingly similar." He replied with a sneaky smile.

After the Aww's from the entire group Adam included, they proceeded.

"Where'd you get it? I didn't see any more like that at the store we went to." Adam asked.

Castiel blushed and his smile grew even wider.

"Would you believe I bought this in Europe nearly four years ago on impulse. I've never even worn it." He replied.

"No way!" they said in unison.

"Dean's right that is creepy." He said laughing.

"Dean has no idea what his said does he?" Castiel continued.

"I don't think so, I didn't get a close enough look at it or I probably would have tried translating the Latin. Does it say something stupid?" Sam asked.

"No quite the opposite." He says smiling.

"Well either way, you have our blessing. We think of you as family already." Sam responded while Adam and Jess shook their heads in agreement.

"Thank you so much, I feel the same way. I miss you guys already. I need to get home to Dean now though. I'll talk to you soon!" He said.

"See you soon Cas." They disconnected the call after their goodbyes.

He ate quickly with his brothers and rushed back to the Diner.

Dean was laying on the couch when he walked into the apartment.

"Stand up Dean." Castiel ordered.

"Something wrong Cas?" He asked as he also obliged.

Cas fell to his knees.

Dean laughed. "Cas all you had to do was say so."

Dean looked down and saw a new emotion in Cas' eyes.

That was the moment Cas brought the other knee up and pulled the ring from his pocket.

Castiel tried to speak but his emotions were getting the better of him.

Dean took the ring examining it.

"What the hell? Are you giving my ring back Cas?" Dean said shocked.

"No! No I'd never! Dean that is my ring for you." Castiel replied. The fear had knocked the ability to speak back into him.

Dean examined Cas' hand and sure enough the silver band was still slid on his ring finger.

"That's weird I didn't see any more rings like that one at the store." Dean said curiously.

"That's because I didn't buy it there." Castiel replied with a slight smirk.

"Where'd you get it Cas?"

"Dean will you marry me?" He said now having the ability to ask.

"Yes, of course Cas! But where'd you get this."

Castiel stood up and kissed his fiance.

"Sit down Dean, it's a relatively long story and extremely hard to believe but I want to tell you where I bought this ring." Cas answered.

Dean sat and pulled Cas onto the couch beside him.

"I was walking up a side street during one of my trips into London. I'd been over there for about six months, it was a particularly bad day for me. No specific reason or anything I just missed home, I missed my brothers, I missed you. I found this cute little antique jewelry store and walked in. I searched through the cases until I saw this small silver band sitting against a stand of red velvet. I bought it on impulse, and they put it in a box and then a bag for me. I sat it down with the rest of my shopping when I got home and then I moved it in the desk drawer in my room. I forgot about it for almost the entire time I was over there. The only time I remembered it was during the packing to move back here. I knew I wanted to bring it home but even then I didn't put it on my finger." He stopped taking a breath.

"Dean, I believe that when this ring was made it was forged as a set of two. It says: cras amet qui nunquam amavit; which means; May he love tomorrow who has never loved before. I believe that the one you bought for me is the other. It has the other half of the phrase. It says: quique amavit, cras amet. Which translates to; And may he who has loved, love tomorrow as well." He says as a tear rolls down his cheek.

"I had never known real love until I met you Dean, I loved my family sure, and they loved me in their own way. It wasn't the same kind of love you share with your family, though mostly I think that was because I'd never really learned how to love someone properly. You loved the one who had never loved before. I know it's incredibly far-fetched but I believe I bought this ring for you and I didn't even know it. You had no idea what the ring you purchased said, you bought it half a world away from the one I bought, and yet here they are together two parts of a whole. I would never have believed this happened if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. Dean I love you so much and I want to thank you for bringing love into my life." He finished. Completely crying at this point.

Dean was floored, he had to admit it was incredibly unbelievable. Dean had a life full of reasons not to trust the impossible. This wasn't something he would question though, he was far too selfish for that. He just wanted to wrap Cas in his arms forever and never let go.

"I love you too Angel." He said as a tear rolled down his face when the other man pulled him in close.

They spent the next few days in bed before Castiel obsessed over preparing his lesson plans before the semester started. Dean would randomly slide his hand across the broad shoulders and reassure him that everything would be great. Castiel couldn't have been more grateful for that.

=FIN=