It was Saturday. Sarah and Castiel had agreed on spending their required together time then because neither had anything better to do. Mum and Steffie had promised to take care of Tim which worried Sarah a bit, but they didn’t have any other choice. Castiel lived alone because his parents travelled a lot for work, so they couldn’t get a babysitter from his side.

Sarah looked at herself on the hallway mirror as she made sure her hair looked good. She had tried to dress just like she usually did but ended up spending more time in front of the mirror than she had planned. She had curled very mild waves on her hair and picked jeans that highlighted her legs and matched with her boots. She didn’t know why she put in the effort since it wasn’t a date. Castiel wouldn’t care what she clothes she had on, and Ares even less.

She sighed and wrapped a thick cream coloured scarf around her neck. Winter really tried to come early. The past few days had been surprisingly cold, and it had snowed lightly during the night. Most of the snow had already melted from the streets, but a light layer of it remained on grass and shady spots. It made everything a bit more magical. The snow would all be gone before evening, but it still boosted Sarah’s mood.

Sarah brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear and made sure she had her phone before heading outside. She had told her mum she’d go for a walk without Tim. She didn’t want to mention Castiel because mum would surely start fussing and Sarah was already nervous enough. She didn’t want to listen to date advice for a meeting that wasn’t a date. She had already made it weird by putting effort in what she looked like.

Castiel already waited outside with Ares when Sarah arrived. The dog wagged his tail when he noticed her. They had been on a walk together on Thursday when it had been Castiel’s turn to take care of Tim. Sarah was still wary of Ares, but she didn’t feel nervous if he sniffed her anymore. She had even petted him few times.

“Shall we go then?” Castiel asked.

“Sure.” No need to say hello. Let’s just jump straight to the business.

They headed towards their usual park. Ares bounced around on his leash, excited about the crispiness of air, and eagerly sniffing light posts and bushes. This was just part of their normal walk routine, Sarah reminded to herself but glanced at Castiel more often than usually. The sun revealed a reddish shade on his brown hair. He had an earring on his left ear and chilliness of the air brought some colour on his cheeks. Castiel pulled up the collar of his leather jacket. He hadn’t bothered to take a scarf. The usual silence was there but it felt less awkward this time.

“Hmm. How are you?” Castiel asked. Sarah blinked a few times in surprise. She hadn’t expected small talk.

“I’m good. Nothing special really.” What an original answer.

“Those three haven’t pestered you?”

“They haven’t,” Sarah said. Mercedes did remember to glare at her every time she walked past but at least she didn’t spread her rumours and lies. Or if she did, Sarah hadn’t heard about it.

“Good.”

Sarah was about to ask how Castiel was doing when he stopped patting his pockets.

“Dammit,” he cursed.

“What is it?”

“I forgot my phone. I’m gonna go get it real quick,” he said and gave Ares’s leash to Sarah.

“Wh… No, I can’t take him,” Sarah resisted immediately. No way she could walk Ares. Was Castiel blind? She was afraid of the dog.

“Just go to the park and wait for me. I’ll be right back. You’ll be fine,” Castiel reassured and without listening to any complaints he headed back home. Ares realised his human left and tried to go after Castiel. Sarah had to use all her strength to stop him.

“No, no Ares. He’ll be right back. Let’s go to the park.”

“Park” was a magic word. It made Ares forget about Castiel and he rushed to the other direction. Sarah squeezed the leash and prayed there wouldn’t be any trouble on their way to the park. No dogs or little kids, please. Preferably no adults either, just empty streets. She was sure that if Ares decided he’d like to go somewhere, he’d go, and she couldn’t do about it but hang on.

Somehow, they managed to get to the park without any issues. Ares was becoming excited again, waiting for his chance to run free. The park was empty to Sarah’s great relief, but there was no way she’d let Ares run around like Castiel did. She’d hang on to the leash with her dear life and hope that Castiel would come back before the dog decided to run away.

As they walked towards a nice, comfortable and safe bench, Ares noticed a giant puddle in the middle of the gravel path, and he eagerly wanted to jump in it, but Sarah carefully guided him past it. Castiel probably wouldn’t like it if his dog was soaked. She sat down and squeezed the leash in her hands. How long until Castiel would be back?

“Ares, sit,” she said quietly but the dog acted like he hadn’t heard anything. He had realised Castiel’s absence again and stared intensely at the park gate. Sarah sighed. What on Earth had Castiel thought, giving the dog to her? This was such a bad idea.

After a good ten minutes of keeping an eye on the gate, Ares became bored of standing. Sarah smiled a bit and gently brushed the dog’s short hair with her fingertips. Ares turned to look at her, and Sarah pulled her hand away. But Ares leaned against her leg and encouraged by it, Sarah reached to touch his back. The dog’s tail thumped loudly against ground when Sarah scratched him, and a big smile climbed on her face.

“You’re a good boy,” she said and scratched him behind the ear which made his leg thump against ground too. Ares wasn’t so bad after all.

Then, carried by the sound of hasty footsteps, Castiel appeared at the park gate. Ares bounced up and charged towards his dear human. Sarah was forced on her feet. She tried to slow down the dog, but Ares was too strong, and he effortlessly dragged her along.

“Ares, wait,” she wheezed while stumbling behind the dog, but it had no effect. Castiel laughed at the sight while walking closer. Sarah realised that they approached the giant puddle at great speed and started to panic. She didn’t want to run through it and decided to let go of the leash. Unfortunately, she made the decision a few seconds too late. Ares had already jumped in the puddle and splashed through it. The ground around the puddle was slightly more slimy and slippery from all the water. Ares pulled Sarah with such force that she slipped on the mud and fell on her back. Air escaped from her lungs and her head banged against the ground. She was dragged in the water before the leash finally slipped from her hand. Cold and muddy water soaked in her clothes. She lied in the puddle, unable to move. She gasped for breath. A sharp pain throbbed in her head. The world was spinning and getting hazier. And then she was swallowed by darkness.

Sarah was floating in the dark. She felt a vague, throbbing sensation in her body. Coldness surrounded her and her ears were humming. Then she felt shaking, once, twice. Her eyelids fluttered slightly, and she was pulled back to reality. A sharp pain struck her immediately.

“Aaah,” she wailed. Near her a person sighed in relief.

“So, you are still alive,” a voice said. Sarah managed to open her eyes a little and saw Castiel crouching next to her, looking worried. Sarah realised she was lying on solid, dry ground. Castiel had dragged her out of the puddle.

“Wh…what happened?” Sarah asked and rubbed her face smearing mud on her cheek. She started to notice the wetness and cold. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling.

“You fell,” Castiel said. “Ares got a bit too excited and dragged you around. You slipped and took a dive on that puddle. Are you hurt?” Ares bustled around them, excited about this whole scene. He wanted to see what was going on and give Sarah a kiss if there was a good opportunity.

Sarah tried to sit up, but another wave of pain struck her head.

“Yes,” she whimpered. “My head and back…” She touched the back of her head. She could already feel a bump rising.

“Should I call an ambulance?” Castiel asked. He should’ve done it right away, but his only concern had been to wake up Sarah.

“No… I’ll be fine, probably,” Sarah said and tried stand up. Her vision blurred, but she didn’t give up and pushed herself into standing position. Her ears hummed, and her head was spinning. The whole park swayed around her and she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. Before she even realised, she was leaning heavily forward, on her way back to the ground. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her and stopped her fall. Sarah closed her eyes to stop the world from spinning.

“I’m gonna help you to my place,” Castiel said. “And then we can see how you feel and if we should call the ambulance.”

“Okay,” Sarah sighed. She would’ve liked to go home but didn’t have strength to argue about it. And mum would fuss if she went home like this, so maybe it was better to make a quick stop at Castiel’s first.

Their walk back to Castiel’s house was slow. Every spot in Saran’s body ached. If they tried to walk too fast, she got dizzy and they had to stop for several minutes to let the world around her settle again. Ares walked next to them calmly, like there had never been any scene involving him.

“I’m sorry about this,” Castiel said after they had walked for a while. Sarah was starting to feel little better. The humming in her head had stopped but Castiel still had one arm around her just in case. She leaned heavily against the boy and shared moisture of her coat with him.

“It’s alright.”

“Ares didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not blaming him.” If anything, she blamed herself for not letting go earlier.

Sarah’s words made Castiel relax. People were easily prejudiced against dogs like Rottweilers that had an unfairly bad reputation. He had worried that Sarah would blame Ares too because ‘Rottweilers were untrainable and unpredictable’. But he was happy he had been wrong.

“But I have to say, it was quite a flight,” Castiel grinned. “Haven’t seen a performance like that probably ever.”

“Oh, shut up,” Sarah muttered but laughed a bit afterwards. Her fall must’ve been a remarkable sight.

“Why didn’t you let go of the leash?”

“I was going to, but I didn’t have time. He’s really strong and everything happened fast.” She hadn’t had time to react. One second she had been sitting on bench, two seconds later she was swimming in the puddle.

When they finally arrived at Castiel’s house, the worst dizziness and nausea had dulled. Sarah was confident she would survive home.

“Thanks for your help. I think I’ll head home now,” Sarah said when they stopped.

“What? No way.”

“I’m feeling better already,” Sarah protested. She didn’t want to be a bother. And she wanted to change to clean, dry clothes as soon as possible.

“Well, if you say so,” Castiel said and stepped back leaving Sarah without support. He didn’t believe that Sarah was feeling as well as she said.

Everything went well for a few seconds; Sarah took a couple of steps, but suddenly her ears started ringing again and the dizziness returned. Castiel caught her when her steps staggered, and she started to lose her balance.

“Sorry, but I’m not gonna risk you passing out in a ditch on the way back,” Castiel said and walked her to the front door. “I’m not suitable to be a single father.”

Sarah laughed and followed Castiel in. The warmth of the house was welcoming after chilliness of outside and the wet clothes. Ares dashed to the kitchen and Castiel closed the door behind them. Sarah took off her wet coat and scarf, hanging them up on a coat hook. Her clothes were sticky against her skin.

“Do you want to take a shower?” Castiel asked and picked a piece of dead leaf from Sarah’s hair.

“No. I’m fine.”

“Really? You have mud in your hair.”

“I’m telling you, I’m fine. I don’t need a shower,” Sarah said but Castiel already headed towards the bathroom.

“If you’re worried that I’m gonna peek, don’t even think about it. I’m not interested,” Castiel said. Sarah sighed. She didn’t seem to have any choice in the matter. Castiel acted surprisingly kindly and she didn’t want to be unappreciative.

“Towels are in that cupboard. You can put your clothes in the dryer. It’s easy to use,” he instructed before walking out and closing the door. For a few moments Sarah stood still, looking around the bathroom. A few big-leafed plants sat on a shelf next to the towel cupboard. A big milk glass window let in a lot of natural light. Everything looked clean.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Sarah mumbled to herself as she started to undress. She couldn’t have even imagined she’d take a shower Castiel’s house. She left her underwear on a small stool with her towel and put her other clothes in the dryer.

She walked to the shower and drew the curtain as her cover. She walked slowly and was ready to lean against the wall for support. Bowing down to take off her socks had made her head hurt again. The last thing she wanted was to pass out in Castiel’s shower.

She switched on the water and comfortable warmth washed over her. It felt like she was being reborn. The warm water rinsed very piece of coldness and uncomfortableness from her. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the refreshing feeling.

A loud knock on the door made her jump and close the shower. She covered herself with her arms.

“It’s me,” Castiel said. “I brought you dry clothes you can borrow”

“Oh, o--okay,” Sarah said. Her heart was fluttering when the door opened, and she saw Castiel’s figure through the shower curtain. But soon the door closed again. Sarah noticed she had been holding her breath. She turned the shower back on and rubbed her hair a bit to wash all the dirt out of it. She didn’t dare to touch any of the soaps or shampoos.

Ten minutes later Sarah walked in the living room wearing Castiel’s dark grey joggers and a red hoodie. They were too big for her but felt so soft and warm Sarah thought she might melt in them. Her hair was still damp, making the dirty blonde slightly browner, and to Sarah’s eyes a slightly more likeable colour. Her hair was a huge mess because she hadn’t found a hairbrush anywhere and there was only so much she could fix by using her fingers. She tried to flatten her hair a bit more to make it look better.

Castiel was sitting on the couch with Ares curled up next to him. When he heard footsteps, Ares jumped up and trotted to greet Sarah, sniffing her clothes carefully. She carefully patted his head. Castiel turned to look as well.

“Feeling better?” he asked, and Sarah nodded.

“Yes. Thank you for letting me use the shower. I really appreciate the help.”

“Well, I have to make sure you don’t die on my watch. They might accuse me of murder.”

She walked to the couch and sat on the other end of it. Ares jumped in the middle and rested his head on Sarah’s lap. Castiel handed her a mug of hot chocolate.

“Thank you,” Sarah said and took a sip. It tasted nice and warmed her up from the inside.

“He likes you a lot,” Castiel said looking at Ares.

“He’s a nice dog,” Sarah said and scratched him behind the ear.

“He’s usually reserved towards strangers, but he was curious about you from the start, even though you were afraid of him.”

“Why did you trust me with him? You knew I was afraid.”

“I shouldn’t have pushed him to you like that. It wasn’t fair from me and I definitely didn’t expect this to happen. But I gave him to you because I trusted you’d look after him. You seem like that kind of person,” Castiel said and Sarah looked at him surprised. Her cheeks felt slightly warmer. “But don’t let it get to yourself,” Castiel said and coughed a bit. “You still got dragged after him like a doll.”

“You are not gonna let me forget it, are you?” Sarah sighed but smiled a bit.

“Definitely not. Sadly, I didn’t get a video of it. It would’ve been even better.”

“Oh, I’m happy there’s no evidence,” Sarah said. “Now nobody’s going to believe you if you try to spread the story.”

“Dammit,” Castiel muttered.

Sarah chuckled a bit and took another sip of her drink. Ares snored loudly on her lap. He had fallen asleep quickly. A comfortable silence settled between Sarah and Castiel and they enjoyed their chocolate drinks in peace. Ares and the clock on the wall were only sources of sound. While Sarah relaxed on the couch, her muscles started gradually hurt more and more. Moving would be difficult in the morning. Luckily it would be Sunday so she wouldn’t have to go anywhere.

Over an hour passed while they sat in silence. Even though she ached, Sarah felt warm and comfortable and sleepiness began to creep over her. Her eyelids were heavy and closed by themselves, her head nodded to the side and she jerked awake. How embarrassing, she had been close to dozing off. Sarah peered at the clock with her tired eyes and realised how late it already was. She should go home. When she moved to stand up, Ares raised his head and left a slobber stain on the trousers.

“I should probably head home,” she said. She had been a bother for a long enough time. And mum would soon start to wonder where she was.

“Are you sure? Are you feeling better?” Castiel asked.

“Yeah. I’m alright,” Sarah replied and stood up. It hurt her back, but it didn’t seem serious. At least her head didn’t hum anymore. That had to be a good sign. Ares jumped down from the couch as well.

“You can keep the clothes. Return them whenever,” Castiel said and put his mug on the table.

“Oh, thank you,” Sarah said.

Her own clothes were already dried when she went to take them from the dryer. Castiel gave her a bag where she could put them. “Thanks. I’ll wash your clothes and return them soon.”

“Yeah, no hurry. I don’t use them anymore.”

“About Tim’s care shifts,” Sarah said as they headed towards the door. “I can take him tomorrow and you can have him on Monday. Easier to hand him over at school, don’t you think.” It’d mean three days of taking care of Tim for her, but she didn’t mind.

“Yeah, fine by me.”

“Cool. And thanks again for the help.”

“No problem. Take care and send me a message when you get home, so I know you haven’t died on the way.”

“I will.” Sarah smiled as she put on her coat which was still damp but would do for the fifteen-minute walk home.

“Well, bye,” she said and opened the door.

“Bye.” The door closed and Sarah was gone. Castiel sighed and returned to the living room. Ares had settled back on the couch and was sleeping on the spot Sarah had been sitting on.

“You like her, don’t you?” Castiel smiled when he sat next to the dog. Ares snorted and continued snoring. “She’s not too bad. She didn’t get scared by your little show.”

Sarah walked home slowly because she didn’t want to take any risks of dizziness suddenly returning, but she got back alive and well. Every inch of her body ached, but she was still quite happy. She had seen a different side of Castiel today and it made her feel good. Castiel clearly knew how to be nice when he wanted to.

“I’m home!” she announced when walking in. She couldn’t hear a crying baby or see any signs of chaos, so she assumed everything was alright. Unless they had managed to break Tim. She hung up her coat and kicked the wet shoes from her feet and hurried inside.

Mum and Steffie were sitting in the living room watching tv. Tim was seated next to them and looked to be in one piece still.

“Oh hello. We’re having a movie day,” mum said when she noticed Sarah. “Your doll is in perfect condition, don’t worry. We’ve taken good care of it.”

“We took it for a walk!” Steffie said. “I pushed the carriage.”

“Thank you. I knew you’d look after it well,” Sarah said. She picked Tim up and felt relieved he was fine. “I’ll go to my room,” she said.

“You won’t join us in the movie watching?” mum asked.

“I have homework to do.”

“Didn’t you wear different clothes when you left?”

Sarah was already out of the room and didn’t reply. How could she even explain all of it?

Sarah closed the door of her room and put Tim to sleep in his doll bed. She took out her phone but before she could open the message app, she received a message instead.

Are you home yet?

Yes. I just got in. I was just about to let you know.

Good. Sorry again about today.

No problem. I still enjoyed the day 😊

Sarah bit her lip over the last sentence. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that. But it was true. Despite the little incident, it had been a good day. Her phone vibrated again to sign a new message.

Me too.

A soft warmth filled Sarah’s chest and she smiled as she put the phone away.