I'm sorry to tell you we have officially reached the end of this story. I could probably keep expanding this 'verse forever, but I have a lot of other ideas I want to work on, and I decided when I started this that Sam's wedding would be the end point so I'm sticking with that.

If you have enjoyed this story, you owe a thank you to my awesome boyfriend and beta reader AJ. (Actually he's more of an alpha reader since he reads over my shoulder while I'm still writing the chapter.) He spent months very patiently convincing me that my writing was good enough to publish, and now he is heroically refraining from saying "I told you so."

Thank you to Soup Butterfly, HollieElisabeth, TayTaySparkles, and Cameron Blacks Reads for taking the time to share their thoughts, and thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or even just read this story. You are all invited to a pie party with Dean and Cas. You bring the pie. Dean eats it.

Disclaimers: The song lyrics are from Nick Cave's "Into My Arms". I may have taken some liberties with the pronouns. I was tempted to use the Hozier song that inspired the title, but it didn't fit the scene.

Chapter Nineteen

"Come here. Let me do that." Dean took the strip of white silk from Sam's shaking hands, deftly knotted it around his neck, and straightened his collar.

They were in their old bedroom at Bobby and Jodi's house. Jess was getting ready in the big master bedroom down the hall, and Dean had strict orders not to let Sam so much as poke his head out the door until Bobby came to get them. As nervous as he was, which was very, Sam was also kind of enjoying this quiet time, just him and his big brother, here in the first place he had ever called home.

"Lookin' good, Sammy," Dean said, reaching out to adjust the white rose in Sam's lapel.

"You too," Sam said with a grin. "I haven't seen you in a suit since … well, ever actually. What did Cas think?"

Dean turned pink. "He, uh … he liked it." He cleared his throat and changed the subject less than smoothly. "I got something for you and Jess."

"Dude, you didn't —"

"I know I didn't have to." He took a thin envelope from his jacket pocket and practically shoved it into Sam's hand. "Just shut up and open it, will you?"

Sam did. Considering he was a lawyer who literally got paid to translate complicated documents into normal-people-speak, it took him an embarrassingly long time to understand what he was holding. "You're … You're giving us your house?"

"Yep. It was already half yours, so I just transferred my half into Jess's name. Now you don't have to worry about paying rent, and when the other place is fixed up, you can sell it, put some money away for diapers and college funds and whatever."

"But ... Dean, where are you gonna —"

"I'm moving in with Cas." Dean's mulish expression softened, and he looked almost giddy with happiness. "He asked me a couple weeks ago, and I ... I gave it a lot of thought. I didn't make this decision impulsively, Sam. I swear. This … This is what I want. This is everything I've ever wanted, and I —"

Sam grabbed his brother in a crushing hug. Dean was startled, but he recovered quickly and hugged back. "I'm happy for you," Sam said. "For both of you. He's really good for you, Dean, and I'm so glad you found him and that you're happy. I love you."

"Love you too, Sammy." Dean's voice was a little choked, but that might have been because Sam was hugging him so tight.

~o0o~

"So when Sam first introduced me to Jess, my first thought was, Holy hell, this girl is so far out of my brother's league. And I'm gay, so if I can tell that she's hot, you know she is really smokin' hot."

Cas laughed along with everyone else. Dean was clearly uncomfortable with being the center of attention, but he was powering through it like a champ, and damn he looked good in a suit. And I'm the one who gets the privilege of taking it off him later, Cas thought smugly. It's gonna look even better on my … our bedroom floor.

"But then I got to know her," Dean continued in a more serious tone, "and not only is she absolutely perfect for Sam, she's also the perfect addition to this family. Our family is … Well, it's weird, and hardly any of us are actually related by blood, but as Bobby likes to say, family don't end with blood. A family is a bunch of people who look out for each other, who love and accept each other unconditionally, and Jess has been doing that since day one. Not just for Sam, but for all of us."

Dean's eyes found Cas's for a moment, and Cas knew he was included in that statement.

Then Dean abruptly switched gears and addressed his brother directly, tuning out everyone else. "You … You're more than my kid brother, Sam. You're my best friend. You're the one who's always been there through the good times and the bad, and some of the bad times were really friggin bad, but you stood by me no matter how little I deserved it. And you're right that I have a tendency to think of this as a one way street. I'm the big brother. It's my job to look out for you, and I forget that I can also ask you for help. But the thing is, most of the time I don't even need to ask. Somehow you can just tell no matter how hard I try to hide it, and you will not leave me alone until I talk about my damn feelings."

Sam laughed harder than anyone else, but Cas suspected that the tears glittering in his eyes weren't just tears of laughter. A few other people were also dabbing surreptitiously at their eyes, including Bobby.

"I've been kind of dreading this day," Dean said when the laughter had died down, "because in my experience change has usually been a bad thing. But these past few months I've started to realize that even when you're already happy and you really like your life, things can still change for the better." He raised his glass. "So here's to my awesome brother and my brand new, much less annoying sister. I hope that you keep getting happier with every day you spend together. To Sam and Jess."

"Sam and Jess," everyone echoed. Cas joined in the toast with water. He had enough trouble keeping his balance without adding champagne bubbles to the mix.

Sam hugged Dean, and Jess kissed him on the cheek, and then Dean returned to his seat beside Cas.

"That was beautiful, my love," Cas said, putting his arm around Dean's shoulders.

"Thanks." Dean leaned into him, their heads coming to rest against each other. "God, I hate public speaking."

"I know. But you did it anyway. For Sam. I'm so proud of you."

The music had started up again, and couples were moving out onto the dance floor that had been set up in the middle of the yard. Jess was twirling in her husband's arms, flushed and radiant with love, and Sam was looking at her like she was the only person in the universe. Bobby and Jodi were swaying gently on the spot, gazing into each other's eyes. Charlie and her girlfriend Jo were taking turns dipping each other and giggling like children.

"Could I persuade you to dance with me?" Cas asked tentatively, unsure if Dean would be comfortable with that in front of so many people.

But Dean said without hesitation, "Hell yeah. I thought you'd never ask."

~o0o~

The sun had long since set, and Bobby and Jodi's backyard was aglow with red, white, and blue lanterns. The soft light made Cas's eyes sparkle and gave his face an almost ethereal quality, like those old paintings of angels bathed in celestial radiance. Or maybe Dean was just tired and buzzed from the champagne and hopelessly head over heels in love with the man in his arms.

He didn't recognize the song that was playing. It was one of those girly-indie-rock-love-ballads that Sam liked and that Dean would normally insist did not qualify as rock and barely qualified as music, but right now he was kind of into it. The singer had a rough but tuneful baritone that reminded him of Cas's voice, and Dean found himself really listening to the lyrics.

"I believe in love, and I know that you do too.
And I believe in some kind of path that we can walk down me and you.
So keep your candles burning. Make his journey bright and pure
That he'll keep returning always and evermore
Into my arms."

"I love you," Dean whispered for Cas's ears only.

"And I love you," Cas murmured, tipping his head back to invite a kiss.

Dean accepted the invitation. He intended to keep it PG, but he quickly gave up on that and lost himself in the taste of Cas and the talented dance of his tongue which seemed determined to map out every inch of Dean's mouth and claim it as Cas's own personal territory. When they broke apart they were both breathing heavily, and Dean had to spend several seconds mentally disassembling the Impala's engine and naming the components to calm the potentially embarrassing situation in his pants.

"Can we go home?" Cas said hoarsely. "I really want to be alone with you right now."

Dean glanced over at Sam and Jess. They were in their own little world, completely lost in each other's eyes.

"Yeah," he said. "Let's go home." He couldn't say the word without grinning like an idiot. Home. The home they now shared. He didn't think it was possible for him to be happier than he was in this moment, but he was prepared to be proved wrong.

Bye for now. Don't forget to leave a review =)