Soon, there was a routine in their lives. They’d wake up in the morning, sometimes early, and other times they slept in late. They’d share breakfast, and look for cases or clean the bunker once in a week.

Sam and Dean just did what they always did, killing those ‘evil sons of bitches’, as Dean always named them.

Every time they went away, Cas told them to take care, and every time they came back, Cas would sigh with relief. When Sam and Dean were away, the bunker was too silent.

Cas usually did research on cases, or was just reading a book. He enjoyed reading now that he was a human, it was a nice way of spending time while Dean and Sam were away.

He even had taken over the Winchester way of sleeping: don’t sleep unless you have to. Dean had asked Cas to get more sleep. “It’s unhealthy,” he had said.

“You do the exact same thing,” Cas had responded.

Dean sighed. “I have done it for years, Cas, I’m used to it.”

But Cas knew how to handle Dean. “You started somewhere too, Dean,” he said. He gave Dean a short kiss and went back to research.

What Dean and Cas, they wouldn’t call it a relationship. They barely kissed, because there never was time or Sam was around. The good thing about it was that they perfectly knew how to fixed the other’s tensed muscles by now, and they knew when the other was tensed.

They still hadn’t told Sam anything. Dean wasn’t ready for it, he didn’t know how Sam would react. Of course, Cas was their friend, but what if Sam wasn’t okay with it? They couldn’t throw him out of the bunker and things would get really awkward.

Sam however suspected something. Dean was happier than before, he smiled a lot more and it didn’t seem that the weight of the world was all on his shoulders any more.

 Not to mention the fact that one day Sam woke up and walked out of his room to find Dean and Cas on the couch, Cas snuggled up against Dean.

“He fell asleep against me, I couldn’t bring myself to wake him up and get him to bed, he was so tired,” Dean explained. Sam believed it, but there was something about the way Dean’s shone when he talked about Cas, or the way his arm laid protectively over Cas’ shoulders.

Sam hummed. Maybe they had put Cas up with a bit too much pressure lately. He wasn’t an angel any more, which had not only physically but also emotionally scarred him. And sure, Cas always told them he was fine, but Dean and Sam had done the same, even if they knew they were anything but fine.

As Sam walked to the kitchen to get coffee, he decided to wait till Dean came to him. If there was anything between Dean and Cas, they had to tell him themselves. Sam wasn’t anyone to spy in his brother’s business.

Then, one day, something strange happened.

Dean, Sam and Cas had just woken up, having breakfast at the kitchen table when something moved. It was one of the papers they had looked in for a case the night before.

Thanks to their hunter skills, Sam and Dean noticed the movement immediately. Both their heads snapped to the paper, Dean already unlocking the gun he got from under his seat.

“What’s wrong,” Cas asked.

Sam and Dean kept looking around. “It can’t be anything, this bunker is protected from literally anything. There is nothing that could come inside,” Dean said, suspicious.

Sam thought for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lighted up. “But what,” he started. “What if that what’s here, can’t go out because it was here when it died?”

“Kevin?” Both Sam and Dean said. “Kevin, you there?”

“Kevin?”

But nothing happened.

“Maybe he can’t show himself yet,” Cas said. “It’s the first time something like this has happened, and it costs a lot of energy.”

Sam and Dean nodded. Sometimes they forgot Cas had been an angel which meant he knew a lot more than they always thought.

“Let us know when you’re ready, Kev,” Sam added before going back to breakfast.

Even if Kevin had been their friend, it was weird knowing he had been there all the time. Dean wondered if he had seen Dean and Cas. If he knew.

Kevin likely, if he did, he’d probably have given Dean and Cas the privacy they needed. Not that they had done very much, they hadn’t any time and when they had, they were too tired.

When Sam went to bed first, Dean and Cas would be going to either Cas’ or Dean’s room. Other times, when Cas was too tired to stay awake any longer, he went to bed, only to wake up a few hours later to snuggle against Dean, who had sneaked into Cas’ bedroom.

Waking up wasn’t romantic at all. Most of the times, one of them woke up earlier and went out of bed. There was too much to do to stay in bed lazily. The mornings that they actually woke up around the same time, they’d just share a short kiss before getting out.

They weren’t that busy, it was just the usual: searching cases, doing jobs. It was just that before the bunker, they never had to clean a house or a room, never had to actually cook, or do grocery shopping.

The hardest part of all was getting out of bed in the morning, they never had a place to stay, so every morning, they were afraid that one day, they had to leave again. That one day, they’d wake up in a crappy motel room again.

Meanwhile, Kevin kept trying to make himself visible for Sam, Dean and Cas and after a full week, he finally got it.

It was a normal day, Sam and Dean were sitting at the table, doing research and Cas was reading a book. They heard a whisper and suddenly, Kevin appeared n front of them. “Hi guys,” he said.

“Kevin, you did it!” Sam almost yelled, happy to see their friend again.

“Yea it takes a lot of energy, but after a while I figured it out,” Kevin replied. “But I’m just wondering… why am I here? I didn’t leave anything behind, did I?”

Sam, Dean and Cas shared a painful look after which they explained Metatron had closed the gates of heaven.

“So I won’t see my mom again?” Kevin asked. He looked sad, which reminded them of how young Kevin actually had been before he died. He hadn’t deserved any of this.

“I’m sorry for you. We’re searching on how to open the gates again,” Cas told him.

They talked for a few more minutes when Kevin said he could feel himself slip away. Sam decided this was the right moment to say what he had been avoiding all the time.

“Kevin…” he started, swallowing. “Kev, I am so sorry, I never meant to kill you, I just… I was still in there, telling Gadreel to stop. I told him you were my friend but he didn’t listen. It felt horrible, and I am so sorry this had to happen to you.”

He held back his tears. This is what he had been struggling with ever since Kevin’s death. For a long time he didn’t dare to touch either Dean or Cas, worried he did the same to them. After a while, he got better, but he still felt bad about it.

“It’s okay, Sam. I know it wasn’t you who killed me. I forgive you, just… please, try to open the gates soon. I know you’re all busy,” Kevin looked at Dean and Cas and gave them a small, knowing smile. “But I really want to know if my mom’s doing okay.” And then he just disappeared.

“I promise,” Dean said, knowing Kevin could still hear them. “I will do the best I can for you, I owe you at least that.”

They fell silent, and then they went back to what they were doing, glad to know their friend wasn’t mad.

After a few days, Kevin had improved his skills and was able to be visible almost all of the time. Sometimes, he and Cas even played a game of chess, Kevin always winning. It was nice to have Kevin there so Cas wasn’t alone every time Dean and Sam had a job to do.

When Cas and Kevin were alone, they talked a lot. About humanity, being an angel, or being a prophet, even about being a ghost, how weird it all had felt.

When one day, Kevin asked Cas about him and Dean, Cas got all red and started stuttering, causing Kevin to laugh. “I knew it already, I’ve been dead for a while, remember,” he said. “Are you ever gonna tell Sam?”

Cas told him he didn’t know. “Dean doesn’t want to tell him yet, but I think Sam is suspecting something.” He sighed.

“I can see why, both of you are a lot happier now that you’re together,” Kevin told him.

That night, Cas thought about what Kevin had said.

Was he happy?

He was happy, and not only because he had Dean. He had a family. His family was one ex-blood junkie, one ghost, and one I-say-I’m-fine-but-actually-it’s-eating-me-from-the-inside-guy he had fallen for, but it was his family.

He never had seen the angels as he had seen the people he was with now. The way Sam and Dean acted around Bobby was so loving, he had never known it could be that way. He had been with the angels because that’s what God wanted, but the only ones he actually missed were Balthazar and Gabriel.

Suddenly, he thought of something. He sat right up in his bed. “How do humans do this?” he muttered, and held his hands together.

“Gabriel, I don’t know if you can hear me, but this is Castiel. I was glad to hear you are still alive. I just wanted you to know Sam and Dean are doing fine. I wanted to thank you for healing Sam when I couldn’t. We’re trying to find a way to open the Heavenly gates. I miss you Gabe. I know what feelings are like, and I miss you.” He paused.

“I hope I’ll be seeing you soon. Uhm, amen?” he finished and sighed again before drifting away in a peaceful sleep.

A/N Hello there! I hoped y'all liked this chapter. From now on, I will post probably only once a week, I need to study and I have exams for 2 weeks. I hope this isn't a problem for you. Thanks for reading and feedback is appreciated :)