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Taking a step back, Castiel looked over at the fruits of his labour for the last time. It was a spectacular cake, even if he said so himself. Six tiers, a fluffy lemon sponge with a blueberry compote and lilac-infused cream. It was decorated with flawless white fondant, and blue and green sugared flowers. It stood, tall and regal, the most spectacular wedding cake that Castiel had ever created without a doubt.

Sam and Jess were worth it.

Castiel was happy for them, truly. Still, he couldn’t shake the wistful as he dreamed of his own wedding, to Sam’s brother and love of Castiel’s life, Dean. They’d been together for seven long years. Engaged for almost two. Yet with Dean’s career as a naval engineer requiring long hours and Castiel’s own couture wedding cake business taking off, landing him with a six-month waiting period, they’d never had time to arrange anything.

Yet when Sam had announced his engagement, blushing and shy, Dean had taken an immediate vacation and promised Sam he wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. That Dean would plan everything for him. He had done an admirable job, dragging Castiel around venues and testing caterers. He’d even recruited Charlie to officiate the ceremony. Pleased by Dean’s renewed interest in weddings, Castiel had tentatively reminded Dean they had yet to set a date for their own nuptials.

“Sure, but I gotta focus on Sammy first, Cas. He’s my little brother. His happiness is the most important thing to me.”

That had stung.

Unwilling to voice his concerns, Castiel had volunteered to make the wedding cake for free, as part of his gift to Sam and Jess.

Now the big day was here. Dean had spent last night over at Sam’s to stop him from fretting and suffering from cold feet. Castiel had dressed in his tux alone, and even though he was meant to be making his way to the church, he’d been unable to resist stopping by his bakery, even though Anna and his apprentice Jack would be bringing the cake to the reception later.

The sound of the door chiming drew Castiel’s attention and he turned to see Sam, dressed in his own tux, complete with blue waistcoat.

“Sam? Shouldn’t you be at the church?” Castiel asked, alarmed, looking across at the clock.

“So should you,” Sam reminded him. “Dean was looking for you. There was an issue with the flowers, so he’s handling that while I came to get you. We should go, or Jess will beat us there.”

Castiel nodded, unable to help grinning at Sam widely. “Are you nervous about today?” He teased. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Sam snorted. “You got that right,” he muttered. “I can safely say that nervous isn’t my main emotion right now. Oh, that reminds me, Dean gave me this for you. Said something about both my best men needing to match.” He fixed a boutonniere into Castiel’s buttonhole.

Castiel blinked as that registered. “Both? But I thought – Dean’s your brother, and I would never presume…”

“After all this time, you think you’re not my brother just as much as Dean is?” Sam nudged him gently. “Sorry I didn’t ask you sooner. Dean said the pressure would stress you out.”

“I’d be honoured,” Castiel replied, roughly, feeling a lump in his throat. “We should go.”

The ride to the church was quiet, with Castiel still reeling from being asked to be Sam’s best man. He’d never even considered dual-duties with Dean, especially since Dean had taken care of almost everything, and Castiel was sure he could throw a speech together off the top of his head. He had seven years of material, after all.

They hurried into the church, but instead of making their way into the nave as expected, Sam pulled him into one of the side rooms. “Wait here for two minutes, okay? I’ll get Dean, he’ll need to coordinate with you about… uh… the rings, I think?”

Sam disappeared into the church, leaving Castiel confused but content to do as he was instructed. When Gabriel appeared moments later, Castiel stared at his brother.

“Sam invited you?”

“Actually, Dean did,” Gabriel gave him a shit-eating grin. “You haven’t figured it out yet, have you? This isn’t Sam’s wedding, Bucko. It’s yours.”

Castiel’s jaw dropped.

“Dean planned everything, because he knew you were too busy. Got your input on the venue, the caterers, hell, you even designed your own wedding cake. He’s in there and he wants to marry you right now. So what do you say, kid? Want to go marry your dreamboat?”

Tears filled Castiel’s eyes and he wiped them away furiously, giving a nod. His heart felt like it was going to explode down his chest as he took Gabriel’s arm and let the sound of the wedding march fill his ears as he finally understood what was going on. His knees felt weak as he walked, his hands trembling as he passed row after row of their friends, their family. But Castiel didn’t see any of them. He only had eyes for Dean.

Each slow step down the aisle felt like torture when he could see Dean standing at the front, so far away and yet so close. Castiel wanted to break away from his brother and run to his future husband, but a lot of planning had gone into this and Castiel would be damned if he did anything to ruin it, or make it anything less than perfect.

When he eventually reached Dean, and he took the warm, familiar hand that was waiting for him, his strength returned. The pounding of blood in his ears faded and all that remained was love. Unconditional love for the selfless, beautiful man in front of him. Castiel clung to Dean’s hand tightly feeling tears well up again, but when they clouded his view of Dean’s face, he blinked them away.

“Those are happy tears, right?” Dean whispered, a spark of uncertainty hidden deep within his green eyes. “If this isn’t what you wanted –”

Castiel cut off any self-deprecation with a kiss that he knew was meant to come later, but he didn’t care. In the pews, their friends and families laughed, but Castiel heard nothing. He just felt Dean’s laughter against his lips and then arms were encircling his waist and pulling him in close. Their lips parted and then Dean’s forehead was resting against his own.

“I love you,” Castiel choked. “So much.”

“I love you more,” Dean smiled. “That’s a ‘yes’ to marrying me, right?”

Castiel pulled back, reaching out to take Dean’s hands again with a wide smile on his face.

“I can’t think of anything I want more.”

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