the butterfly project | destiel

14 | firsts.

going back to school was hard at first for both boys. dean was still having daddy issues, and cas was worried about the rumors of where he'd been. dean assured him though that the only people who knew about his hospital stay were him and charlie. so they went.

dean announced to his close friends (benny, garth, crowley, adam, and kevin) that he and cas were soulmates and they all congratulated them happily. castiel's smile was grand. soon charlie and jo joined them at dean's table and they were one big happy friend group.

dean and cas spent their lunches now getting to know each other better. the little things like favorite colors and books they liked to read mattered now. they talked about their project that they still hadn't finished, they talked about the butterflies and how dean said he found them at the most inappropriate times. they talked about how dean walked into school with a bruise that day and how castiel shared it, they made jokes about how their soulmateship should've been obvious at that point but apparently it wasn't. they talked forever, getting so absorbed in their own little world that they'd miss when the bell rang to signal the end of class.

charlie and jo had broken up, but were still friends apparently.

"i've started to think that relationships just aren't for me." she said thoughtfully to cas when he asked her about it. "but i do love me some pussy though." cas smacked her arm and rolled his eyes before they both bursted into a fit of laughter.

it didn't make things awkward at the table, somehow. they said it was a mutual agreement.

dean and castiel were walking down the hall, hand in hand, before someone shouted from behind "get a room, losers!" dean turned around and was about to give the stranger a piece of his mind before cas cut him off.

"gabe?" he asked.

"the one and only." the short stranger said with a wink. castiel turned to his boyfriend.

"dean, this is my cousin, gabriel. he's in tenth grade. gabe, this is dean." dean shook his hand with narrowed eyes.

"so." gabe crossed his arms and looked dean up and down. "you're cassie's new boyfriend. you know, you two are the talk of the school. you've got the whole popular-kid-falls-in-love-with-the-antisocial-kid thing. it's got cliché written all over it." cas was about to cut him off and say that it didn't matter what he thought because they were soulmates, nothing would break them up, but before he could open his mouth gabriel continued speaking. "i approve." he said finally, and started walking away before taking one last look at dean. "only because your brother's such a fine piece of ass."

and then before anyone knew it dean was chasing gabriel down the hallway, the sound of laughter and sneakers screeching against tile rounding the corner.

~

bobby insisted on having a little get-together to celebrate cas getting out of the hospital, despite dean's protests. they dug up his and sam's secret stash of fireworks, the same ones alistair was messing with at that party. the party felt like a long time ago, but in reality it was only a couple weeks. dean loaded them into the impala and took off to bobby's.

the only people there were bobby, ellen, jo, dean, sam, castiel, michael, gabriel, and charlie. they wanted to keep it strictly family (charlie was definitely considered family at this point) as to not overwhelm cas. he was grateful.

the fun started as soon as the sun went down. ellen was grilling burgers, and bobby started to mess around with the fireworks. someone, presumably gabe, was playing music from his car speakers. every time he got anywhere near sam, dean would give him some serious side eye, but other than that they had lighthearted fun.

dean and cas were wrapped up in a blanket, sitting in the bucket loader of bobby's tractor. they had a beautiful piece of land. there were lots of green trees in most directions, but there was a small cliff where you could see a lake far down below. it was a bit chilly but it was one of the warmer nights they'd seen lately, and if you listened closely you could hear bugs chirping all around. dean had to remind himself that he lived here now, that he could see all of this whenever he wanted to. although there was one thing that made tonight extra special...

he looked over to cas and saw the light from the fireworks shine off his glasses. he smiled warmly at his boyfriend who was so absorbed into the light show that it was adorable. he brushed some hair behind cas's ear to get his attention, and cas was snapped out of his trance. he looked up to dean expectantly.

"i can't believe it took me so long to find you." dean said.

"don't say that." castiel replied. "we found each other at the perfect time. just when you needed me, i was there. and just when i needed you, you were there too. it was perfect." dean smiled fondly yet again, thinking back to all the times he and cas had been there for each other. subconsciously, he cupped castiel's cheek. he leaned in closely, and he could feel cas's hot breath on his face. finally, he closed the gap. yes it's cliché to say fireworks went off, but fireworks were LITERALLY blowing up behind them. they kissed long and slow, and everything about it was absolutely wonderful.

"you were right." cas said when they finally broke apart. "i'm so glad we didn't have our first kiss in that hospital." dean chuckled and so did cas and soon they burst out laughing at each other. gabe changed the song to "all star" by smash mouth and that ensued more laughter and before they knew it, everyone was singing along. quite loudly, actually. it was a good thing bobby didn't have any neighbors.

~

dean and cas were laying in dean's bed when he got the text.

from: john
to: you

are you fucking serious? you think you can just kick me out of my own home and then leave it a disaster? i don't know where you are, kid. but when i find out you're gonna be in trouble.

dean frantically shot up out of bed and shook castiel's shoulder to wake him up. "cas. cas!" cas grumbled unhappily but woke up nonetheless. "look!" dean shoved the phone in his face. he was hyperventilating and pacing around the room while castiel read.

"dean, i think you need to calm down a bit-"

"calm down!?" dean's voice raised a couple octaves. he kinda sounded like a girl.

"come here, dean." cas said sternly. dean sulked over to the bed and sat next to his boyfriend. "a beautiful man once told me that we could get through anything together." he started at the ceiling thoughtfully before turning back to dean, not missing the blush that crossed his cheeks at the compliment. "do you still believe that, dean?"

dean nodded dumbly.

"okay then. let me see your phone."

they spent the next hour constructing the perfect reply. it seemed so much smarter to do this by text, because your thoughts weren't clouded by emotions and you could say everything you wanted to say. the end product went something like this:

from: you
to: john

fuck off, loser.
i may have trashed your house but you ruined mine and sam's entire lives. i'm glad you don't know where we are, you'll never find out. you were the absolute worst at being a father. you hit me, for god's sake. in front of sam! not to mention all the times you got drunk, all the times you had us tiptoeing around you. kids aren't supposed to be scared of their parents.
lose my number, go find another family to ruin. i'm happy without you.

dean sighed contentedly when he hit send. he was still pretty anxious, but he trusted cas. he loved him.

and he knew that he was right. they fit together like puzzle pieces and made an amazing team. he felt invincible next to cas, and he knew they would be together forever.