5- Behind the mask

Chuck found himself a bit at loss in front of that gesture, but in the end he just hid a chuckle behind his hand when he ehard Gabriel mutter, "I'm SO glad that being the best man doesn't mean having to witness anything that goes further than the ceremony. Seeing how it carried off!"

And the party was grand, of course. What else could one expect when Selena was the one organizing! There was one moment though in which Dean would start feeling a bit too warm, and had to shrug off his jacket to carry it to another room. A jacket in which, forgotten since a while, the old photo of him, his brother and Castiel was laying around.

At some point during the evening, they were asked to fetch back a coupon that they were given at the very beginning of the wedding. Since Dean had forgotten his own in his jacket, Castiel offered to go look for it, and was soon fumbling into the pockets.
He wasn't expecting to find an old picture. He unfolded it wit curiosity, but incomprehension soon hit him. He did recognize Dean, and Robert. But he felt oddly familiar when recognizing... himself.
That's when the images hit him hard. Dean, broken and torn, in a hellish place, until he grabbed him and pulled him up. Dean, mad at him. Dean, beaten in numerous ways. Dean, smiling at him, talking to him. Dean, sharing a glance with him in the rear mirror of the Impala.
Dean, holding him in his arms, his face torn with worry and guilt.
Dean, kissing him for the first and last time.
He had no idea that he'd been standing there for a good while, lost in those memory flashes.

And since Castiel was missing since more than fifteen minutes, Dean ended up going to look for him, a bit worried. He entered the wardrobe room, and saw him standing in front of the chair where he remembered he had left his jacket. Completely still. He frowned, and walked up to him. "Cas, are you ok?" He lifted his hand and rested on his shoulder gently, not knowing that he was likely to scare him in that moment.

Castiel remained silent for a few more seconds, and he slowly turned around to face Dean, his face reading both fear, concern, and pain. "What is this?" he whispered, barely gesturing to the picture that he was now almost clenching in his hands.

Dean glanced down at Castiel's hand. His heart leaped in his chest, and then tightened unbearably when he realized just what it was - and as he lifted his gaze on Castiel's face, he felt nauseous, noticing the pained expression he was sporting. "If-" He ran a hand over his face. He had feared so much for this day to come, and it had to be right now? Damn it all. He took a breath. "Let's sit. I'll... I'll explain, just like it was explained to me. Ok?"

Castiel still seemed lost, and desperate for answers. He seemed about to look for a place where to sit with Dean, but there were so many questions in his mind right now, so many weird flashes of images coming to him. "Is this us?" he asked, in a whisper. The worst would have been to learn that this man on the picture wasn't actually him. That would break his heart.

Dean gently pulled him down on a chair nearby, and took one for himself, to sit at his side. He then took a deep breath and steeled himself, starting to tell that one painful, past story. "It's us", he answered, uncertain. "That's me, you, Bobby, and there's my brother Sam. We... we used to be all alive, together. Hunting... monsters."

"Monsters? What sort of monsters would we-" Castiel took a deep breath, frowning slightly. "How come we knew each other before?"

Dean bit his lower lip. He didn't really dare to look into Castiel's eyes as he told the same story Bobby had once told him. "Back when I was human, you... you were my guardian angel", he muttered. "After a while, you revealed yourself. And you couldn't revert back. Just like it happened to me." He took a deep breath, and then went on. "I guess, we were falling in love back then, too. But neither of us really ever admitted those. Apparently, I wasn't even aware either. And then-" He bit his lip harder. "-then, you... you died. It was only then that I understood what was tying us together, but it was too late. It wrecked me, bad. And God, he decided to give us a second chance at being happy together, like this. Me as your guardian angel, you, with a new human life."

Castiel's frown got deeper. "But-" He blinked. He blinked, and he remembered. His heart tightened in his chest, and he looked at Dean in confusion. "Why would Robert allow us to come back like this? If we wanted to find each other again, wouldn't it have been easier to either make us both angels, or humans from the start?"

Dean shrugged lightly. "I.. before my memories were removed", he started, still looking away. "Before that, apparently I asked to be your guardian. I felt like I had failed you, in my previous life, and you were burdened by being an angel, and it brought you to your downfall. That's... that's why. I wanted a chance to protect you, this time, so you wouldn't get hurt, or die because of me."

"..." Castiel ran his hands on his face. "Your memories had been removed? So you mean- you didn't remember me at first?" He didn't really know how to feel about this. Relieved that Dean fell in love with him nonetheless? Disappointed on his previous's self - which he didn't even remember - behalf, for having been forgotten?

"..." Dean shook his head weakly. "I didn't. I... actually still remember so little..." He held his head in his hands, then covered his face. "I just know what Bobby told me, a little while ago. Some memories started to appear in my mind. They're painful, and- and-" He couldn't go on. He could still see Castiel dying in his arms.

Castiel's frown finally softened, and he extended his arm to lay his hand on Dean's. "I- I've had some too," he awkwardly explained. "Just now. Maybe... we could tell each other about them, if they are too strong. It might help."

Dean peeked between his fingers when he felt Castiel touch his arm, to look at his hand. He sighed deeply, but then decided to take a hold of it, gently squeezing it. "I keep... seeing that one scene. You, dying in my arms. I could do nothing to save you, and... and I never managed to tell you how much I loved you", he whispered softly.

Castiel smiled softly. "But we're here, now, Dean. I know how much you love me. You burst into my anatomy class to tell me you loved me," he gently chuckled. "From what I've seen, our previous life had a lot of sad moments. But I'm glad to think this one is filled with happy moments for us."

Dean's mouth curled into an embarrassed smile, when he was put in front of such a cute, awkward memory. "That's true. We are living now. It's no use, to wallow in the past. Especially since it was such an unfulfilling one!" His smile opened up a bit more, becoming a bit more shy. "I want this second chance of ours to give us what we never had." He had actually remembered something he had meant to do, now that he was talking about future, and having something he never had...

Castiel smiled back at Dean. "Like... the opportunity of being together?" He gently squeezed his hand. And took a look at that old picture again. "We did seem close. But I don't think I could live by your side for years without the opportunity to love you."

"Me neither." Dean took a deep, deep breath. Then he seemed to reach a sort of realization, as he had gathered up his courage. He took a hold of Castiel's hand with both of his, holding it tight, and looked at him straight in the eyes. "Then, let's never lose that opportunity again." He hesitated. But that was not the moment to hesitate! "Marry me."

Castiel's face instantly lit up, and he chuckled. "Okay," he told Dean with a soft smile. "I like that idea." His cheeks had flushed slightly red, and he looked really, really pleased by that offer.

Dean's face lit up as well, with some relief too. Well, as if Cas was going to say no! Right? "Awesome", he answered mindlessly, a large smile on his face. He actually felt so suddenly giddy, his chest bursting with affection, that he had to lean in and kiss him right now, immediately.

Castiel chuckled again and replied to the kiss lovingly, his chest swelling with happiness. He had to part away from Dean when he heard some footsteps, until Wade - Selena's dad - showed up and rolled his eyes.
"Oh boy, everyone thought one of you had fainted or something. Well, are you two too busy making out or are you going to take part to the game, at least?" He was smiling kindly, with a glint of amusement in his eyes.

Dean's face reddened suddenly. "We- we weren't- actually, we-", he stuttered one, two times, before surrendering and just getting up, feeling deeply embarrassed. "We're coming right away!"

"Oh yeah? And if you were not making out, what were you two doing," Wade gently teased them on their way back.
"Dean proposed to me," Castiel replied with a soft smile, not even shy about it. But maybe he should have thought about it before he told it to one of the most talkatives dads of the evening.

Dean was about to sputter out an excuse - he would have probably said something ridiculous, before he got interrupted by Castiel's admission. "Yeah, that's how it- CAS", he exclaimed, turning right away to his boyfriend-now-fiancé, looking utterly embarrassed. "We should have waited to tell that..."