After a rather easy hunt, they had decided to celebrate. Sure, it had been an easy hunt, a dumb vampire that was leaving trails all over the place, practically begging to be killed, but they had a rare night off, a night off where they could sit back, relax and drink a couple of beers. Of course, they were never fully relaxed; they'd unconsciously worked out all the exits, scanned the bar for anyone suspicious, and chosen the best seating area where they could escape from easily. That meant they were farther from the bar but safety always came first, even if it was unconsciously.

After his second beer, Dean squeezed Cas' leg, leaning in "Move over Cas, I need a piss."

Castiel's head cocked to the side for a moment, as if to process this information, then nodded and moved out of the way, letting Dean pass, Dean not resisting the urge to kiss him lightly on the lips before going. He heard Sam groan dramatically but he ignored that, smiling at Cas before going to the rest room.

When he came back, he frowned slightly as he saw that Cas wasn't with Sam, but shrugged it off. He needed to stop being so over protective, he knew that, but he couldn't exactly help it. Cas had fallen and he wasn't invincible anymore (well he wasn't before, but he was pretty damn close to it) and Dean couldn't help but worry permanently about Cas' wellbeing. It had took him a week to agree to letting Cas come hunting with them, and even then he was told to stay back and only intervene if needed. Cas had frowned but not said a word, Sam just sighing but letting it go. Dean knew he was being ridiculous, that Cas could probably look after himself but just the thought of him getting hurt pained him.

"Cas gone to get the next round?" Dean asked, shaking his empty beer bottle, as if more beer would magically appear.

"Yeah," Sam frowned, "But, er, don' get mad okay but-"

"But what?" Dean interjected, already feeling his stomach tightening.

"I think, er, Cas is being hit on," Sam winced, as if Dean was going to somehow pin this on him and punch him in the face for it.

"What?!" Dean frantically looked at the bar, searching for Cas and that damn trench coat he was still determined on wearing. He found him instantly, standing there as awkward as ever as the guy next to him put his damn hand on his arm. Without a thought Dean was up on his feet, anger rising.

"Dean, just don't shoot him!" Sam hissed a warning.

"I'll do whatever I damn like Sammy," Dean growled back, storming his way to the bar. He reached Cas and forced a smile on his lips. Castiel's scared, wide eyed expression broke into a small smile when he saw Dean, though his posture still stiff. Dean snaked an arm under his trench coat, around his waist, feeling Cas' body relax instantly, leaning into Dean's. Dean turned his attention to the guy that still hadn't taken the hint and walked off, giving him one of his best impressions of Sam's bitch face.

"Who's this Cas?" he asked, not taking his eyes of the guy that was still fucking smiling at Cas like he was his prey.

"Dean, this is Matthew."

"Nice to meet you Dean," Matthew grinned lopsidedly and Dean fought the urge not to knock the smile off of his face.

"Hmm," Dean murmured, before looking back at Cas, "You got the drinks yet?"

"Yes, I was just bringing them back when Matthew started to talk to me about my attire," Cas frowned, not taking his eyes off Dean, apparently oblivious to the fact that Matthew was still smiling at him, his hand still on his arm.

"Yeah, I was just saying, it's great that he puts effort into it, y'know, wearing a suit, that sort a thing? Not many people dress nice anymore," Matthew looked Dean up and down at this, a grimace on his face "I think some people need to put more effort in their clothes like this guy."

"Well that's just fascinating," Dean narrowed his eyes at the smug look on this guy's face, then turned to face Cas, who looked more than a little bewildered "But you're right, Cas always looks great. He likes to look good for his man don't you Cas?"

Castiel smiled shyly at this, blushing slightly when Dean nudged him with his hip. Matthew's eyes widened and then looked down, as if he'd only just realised that Dean was fucking attached to Cas, his arm tightened around his waist like a death grip. Yeah, cause it wasn't obvious.

He raised his eyebrows "Oh, so you guys are together? I never realised man."

No shit Sherlock. Dean's brows furrowed even further because the guy still wasn't fucking walking away and his hand was still on Cas' arm and if this guy didn't walk away soon Dean was going to very gladly put a bullet in his skull.

Then the guy's face turned into a smirk again "It's just, you two don't exactly go together do you?"

You cannot shoot him. It would be wrong to shoot him. Dean counted to ten in his head, trying to breathe slowly as if that would calm the rage inside his head. He looked at Cas, who was frowning, his head tilted, showing that he had no idea as to what was going on. He had no idea that this guy wanted to get in his pants, for all Dean knew, Cas just thought this guy was being extra friendly and was now confused when he seemed to be insulting their relationship.

"I don't know, there's you," Matthew smiled at Cas, letting his eyes flicker over his body, then he turned to Dean with disdain, "And then there's you."

"I don't understand the difference, what are you trying to say?" Castiel finally spoke, his voice full of confusion, his head shaking slightly.

Matthew leaned into Cas, his face so close that even Cas was alarmed and he was Mr 'I Invade Personal Space' himself, "What I'm trying to say angel, is that you can do so much better."

"Right, that's it," Dean's fist smacked right into the guys nose, and he watched with satisfaction as his head snapped back, his face a mix between pain and surprise. Because Dean could handle the guy insulting him, hell, he could even handle the guy telling Cas that he deserved someone better because it was true in Dean's eyes. But what he couldn't handle was this smug bastard calling Cas an angel because it was too soon for saying shit like that, too raw and he'd even felt Cas tense up at the word and that shit wasn't going fly with Dean.

"Dean," Cas said startled, his eyes wide, staring at Dean with an expression that Dean couldn't decide was of agreement of Dean's actions or not. But then Dean had bigger fish to fry as Matthew's fist suddenly collided with his jaw, making Dean stumble back, hitting against a table which led him to the floor. He heard Sam shout his name from afar as he rolled his tongue over his teeth to make sure that they were all still intact. They were. He looked up and then groaned because Cas had turned to Matthew, his jaw and fists clenched, and Dean could spot that look from anywhere. This was Cas' smiting face and as much as Dean wanted this guy to drop dead, he didn't really think that Cas smiting him on the spot in the middle of a crowded bar was exactly a good idea. But then Dean's stomach tightened when he remembered that Cas wasn't an angel anymore, he couldn't smite the guy and he didn't know whether Cas had momentarily forgotten this or he just planned to beat the guy to death. Either way, alarm bells rang in Dean's head as he realised that Cas could actually get hurt here and he was no way letting that happen. He jumped to his feet and stood between Cas and the dick (why was he still fucking standing there with that smug look on his face, he didn't know), trying to force eye contact between him and Cas.

"Move out of the way Dean," Cas spoke, looking beyond Dean, his eyes ablaze.

"Hey Cas, calm down alright," Dean said, standing as close to Cas as possible, completely blocking out his view of Matthew. Cas' eyes flicked upwards to Dean, the anger in his eyes faltering slightly, but it was still there.

And then Sam was suddenly there, and he couldn't see Matthew's face, but he was sure that he didn't have that smug look anymore. He silently thanked the universe that they'd given him a giant for a brother because Dean knew that Sam could look menacing when he wanted and could terrify people merely with just his hugeness. He felt Matthew walking away, probably running away if he was right in the head, because no way was he going to be able to defeat a hunter who'd been to Hell and back, a giant, and an extremely pissed off ex-angel.

Castiel tried to manoeuvre Dean out the way to follow Matthew but Dean wasn't having any of it. He gripped tightly onto Cas' forearms, not caring that they were probably getting odd looks their way. He ignored Sam's 'what the fuck' expression and focused solely on Cas.

"He hurt you Dean," Cas growled, "Move out of the way."

"No. Look at me, I'm fine. Besides, I hit him, he hit me, that's the end of it alright?" Dean retorted, because hell, he's walked away with a sore jaw, and he was pretty sure he'd broken the guy's nose so that meant that Dean had won the fight anyway.

"Dean," Castiel started, but Dean cupped Cas' face, and kissed him softly, cutting him off. When he leaned back, Cas' face had relaxed slightly. Well, he didn't look like he was going to go off and kill anyone anyway.

"Come on, let's go," Dean waited for Cas to nod, to show that he was calm, and then he let go of his face, grabbing Cas' hand, and led him out of the bar, ignoring the stares they got from everyone. Sam followed, a look of exasperation on his face.

"Dean, what the hell?" Sam exclaimed as soon as they were outside.

"He deserved it Sam," Dean hit back, still gripping onto Castiel's hand.

"Dean is right Sam. He deserved to be hit, in fact, he deserved a whole lot more," Cas' nostrils flared, glancing back at the bar.

Sam sighed "You're only saying that because the guy socked your boyfriend."

Dean internally groaned because now Cas was being reminded of what happened and he swore he heard a low growl escape Cas' lips. He gripped onto Cas' hand tighter, because he knew Cas was close to storming back into that bar and Dean wasn't going to let him.

"No I am not Sam. Before he even laid a finger on Dean, he still deserved it. He was saying," his eyes flickered to Dean, "inappropriate things. In reality I should have been the one to hit him in the face, not Dean."

"Yeah, alright, I believe you," Sam shrugged, forgetting all his annoyance, his lips quirking upwards, "at least you didn't shoot the guy Dean."

Before Dean could reply, Castiel muttered, "Yes, well, we should have."

Sam looked at Dean warily, silently telling him to calm his boyfriend down. Dean threw his car keys at Sam, telling him to wait in the car for them. Sam just caught the keys and stalked off to the car muttering something about 'my stupid brother and his overprotective boyfriend.' Dean supressed a smirk at that, instead turning towards Cas, brushing his hand across Cas' hair, then leaving it on his cheek.

"You need to calm down alright Cas, just take a breather."

Castiel frowned, "I am breathing Dean."

"No, that's not what I-" Dean rolled his eyes, "Never mind."

"Let me see," Castiel frowned, turning Dean's head, ignoring his protests. He lightly brushed his fingers against Dean's jaw, and Dean mentally kicked himself as he winced at the touch because that just seemed to piss Cas off further.

"You should have at least let me hit him once Dean," Cas scolded, letting his hands droop to rest around Dean's neck.

"Cas, what's the big deal, you see me getting hit in the face all the time. What's so different about this time?" Dean asked and it was true. Cas never got this angry when Dean was getting nearly killed by a ghost or a demon, and that happened a lot.

"I expect you to get attacked by monsters Dean, what I do not expect is you to be attacked when we are at a bar celebrating. I don't even understand why he was attacking you in the first place Dean."

"Because he was hitting on you," Dean retorted, not really surprised that Cas hadn't understood what the guy was trying to do, or who he was trying to do.

"He wasn't hitting me Dean," Castiel's head tilted, and Dean smiled affectionately, because all the anger had gone from Cas' face now, it was just filled with utter confusion.

"The guy wanted to get into your pants Cas," Dean said simply.

"How was he-" Castiel's eyebrows raised, "Oh."

Dean chuckled at his reaction, kissing Cas' forehead softly.

"Even so, he should not have said those things Dean. He shouldn't have said-" Cas started, pausing to take a deep breath, closing his eyes.

"Shouldn't have said what Cas?" Dean said softly.

"He should not have said that I deserved better than you Dean."

"So this is what this is about?" Dean asked, finally understanding why Cas had reacted the way he did.

Castiel's eyes flicked upwards "Yes Dean. I do not like people saying those things about you, especially when you seem to believe them."

Dean opened his mouth, but no words came out. He couldn't lie to Cas, he just couldn't, but he didn't want to admit that Cas was right either. But he was right, everything that Matthew the dick had said about Dean was true. He didn't deserve Cas, didn't deserve all the sacrifices that he'd made for him. After everything that Dean had put him through, he didn't deserve to have Cas in his arms.

"Dean, you are everything to me, everything."

"How can you say that Cas?" Dean's voice cracked.

"Because it is true Dean and you will soon believe it yourself because I will continue to tell you until you do. And that, Dean, is a promise I will never break."

And with that, Cas leaned in, just resting his chin onto the curve between Dean's neck and shoulder, wrapping his arms around Dean tightly. Dean froze for a moment, closing his eyes, letting the feeling of Cas holding him be the only thing he felt. He slowly wrapped his arms around Cas, keeping his eyes closed, just focusing on Cas and only Cas.

"I love you Dean," Cas murmured, his mouth muffled into Dean's shoulder.

"Love you Cas," Dean whispered into Cas' neck.