Sarah stood in front of her wardrobe despairing. She had been trying to decide what to wear for the past thirty minutes but nothing seemed good enough. She was going for a walk with Castiel so the outfit shouldn’t be anything too fancy, but she wanted to wear something nicer than just jeans and a hoodie just in case they went somewhere else too. She had already emptied half of the shelves on her bed. If this was already so hard, what would dressing up for a proper date be like?

Sarah slumped on the pile of clothes her bed with a deep sigh. She was overreacting. They were going for a walk. The most important thing should be to make sure she wouldn’t get cold. Castiel wouldn’t necessarily even see what she was wearing. It didn’t matter. With that new thought in mind, Sarah set out for another excavation through her wardrobe. She had too many clothes, except when she needed something specific. Then she didn’t have enough.

After a few minutes of pulling things out and stuffing them back in, Sarah found a wine red knitted sweater. She had no memory of ever buying such a shirt, but it was in her wardrobe. Sarah pulled it on to see what it looked like. It was an off-shoulder model which added to Sarah’s confusion because she didn’t usually wear clothes like this. But she was happy to notice the shirt fit her quite well. The shirt wasn’t outrageously off shoulders but revealed just a bit and still stayed on nicely. Sarah swung her arms around, and since the movement didn’t cause the shirt to drop down, she made her decision. This would be the shirt. She picked a pair of jeans to go with the shirt and then stuffed rest of her clothes back in the wardrobe in a way that would probably cause an avalanche the next time she opened the doors. She glanced at the clock. She’d have to hurry soon.

The phone on her desk vibrated, and Sarah hurried to check the new message. Castiel had already sent her one to set the time for their meeting. It’d be in forty minutes which was why Sarah stressed about her clothes so much. She would have to eat something before going out.

Let’s meet at the cross of Oakley and Mapleton?

Alright. See you soon ^_^

The crossing of Oakley Street and Mapleton Drive was the one they passed every time when going to the park, and the quick way from Sarah’s house to Castiel’s. Sarah wondered where they’d be going while tying her hair up to a ponytail. She smiled at her reflection. Good thing that she had found this shirt. It made her feel pretty.

“Are you going somewhere?” mum asked when Sarah walked to the kitchen. She was preparing her third cup of coffee.

“Yeah, I’m going for a walk. I told you before that I would.”

“Are you going alone?”

“Yeah…”

“Where did you get that shirt?”

“I found it from my wardrobe,” Sarah said and pulled the shirt up a bit. “Thought I’d try it out.”

“Mmmhm. Have fun then. Don’t get too cold.”

“I won’t.”

Mum walked out of the room with the cup of coffee in hand. Sarah sighed and picked up an apple from the table. It’d do for a quick snack. Eating too heavy before a walk would be a bad idea. Stomach cramps would ruin the mood for sure.

The next thirty minutes were painful waiting. The time didn’t seem to pass at all, and Sarah paced around her room. She fixed her ponytail twice, changed it into a bun and then back to a ponytail. She avoided looking at her shirt because she was sure she’d start to question her decision to wear it, and it’d lead to another outfit disaster five minutes before she’d have to leave. A nagging thought about maybe she should really change clothes started when she grabbed her phone and little bit of money, just in case they went somewhere, but she ignored the feeling and marched out of her room.

She slipped the phone and the money in the pocket of her black quilted jacket. It would be better to have on a walk than her longer wool coat. She laced her winter sneakers and closed the zipper of her jacket. Once she had her beanie and mittens, and scarf wrapped around her neck, she headed outside.

Luckily it wasn’t windy anymore. Sarah had fed up with the constant biting wind that made life outside miserable. It was still quite chilly but nothing uncomfortable. Sun was casting its pale light through the clouds and made the world a little bit brighter. Snow crunched under Sarah’s shoes when she walked to the streets and headed towards the meeting place.

Castiel leaned against a stone wall with Ares sitting at his feet. He had arrived early, too impatient to wait at home any longer. He had been restless all morning, and Ares had picked up on it, pacing around and barking at nothing. So, Castiel had decided to head out to cool off.

A figure approached them and Castiel straightened his posture slightly. Ares stood up as well, and his tail started wagging slowly and then picking up the pace as the person walked closer. He tried to go greet the person, but Castiel hold a tight grip on his leash. He didn’t want to scare strangers.

“Hi,” Sarah greeted and waved her hand.

Castiel stared at her for a few seconds without saying a word. He hadn’t recognized the girl.

“Hi,” he finally said, when she was close enough for him to properly see her face. It really was Sarah.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asked while letting Ares sniff her hands.

“I didn’t recognize you at first,” Castiel said, laughing a bit. “You don’t have your usual coat and boots.”

“Well, I thought I’d dress more appropriately for a walk,” Sarah smiled. “You’ve found yourself a hat.”

“It’s starting to get too cold even for me.”

“But still no scarf?”

“One step at a time.”

Sarah rolled her eyes. She had been wearing a scarf for almost two months now.

“Shall we go then?” Castiel asked and headed to the opposite direction of the park.

“Where are we going?”

“I thought we could go to the hiking routes we’ve gone to with school a few times. Ares really likes it there.”

“That sounds nice. I haven’t been there in ages. It’s a good change of scenery too.”

Sarah was happy she had chosen this sportier outfit. Walking in the paths in heeled booths could’ve turned out to be quite a struggle.

“I was a bit worried what you’d think about a hiking route. I don’t know how outdoorsy you are.”

“Ah, I don’t mind as long as there’s proper paths to walk on.”

“That’s a good start. We’ll train you to appreciate walk in the forests.”

“So, are you some kind of hiking expert? Going off the beaten path, just a man and his dog?”

Castiel laughed. “I wouldn’t say that, but we do like to go to our own adventures from time to time. Ares really likes it, and it is pretty relaxing. Sometimes it gives me inspiration for songs.”

“Do you write a lot of songs?”

“I try to. We’ve made a handful. Leon’s way more productive than I am. He has a pile of lyrics waiting for the melodies. I’m trying to make a new song for the contest, but I might not finish it on time. We’d need to practice it too.”

“I’m sure you can do it. Maybe you get some inspiration on this walk.”

“I really hope so.”

They passed through a small playground with a slide and two sets of swings, and through a wooden gate, and soon the forest spread right in front of them, trees covered in light layer of snow. The track that went straight from the gate through the woods was mostly cleared out from snow and other people had recently walked on it. Castiel headed left to a snowier path and gave Ares more leash so he could run ahead. Sarah noticed just now that Ares didn’t have his usual leash but a retractable one that allowed him to get several meters ahead of them and leave the path to walk in the forest if he wanted to. He seemed to enjoy the freedom.

“How was your visit yesterday?” Castiel asked.

“Good. It was really nice to see dad again. A lot of things happened actually.”

“Like what?”

“Dad introduced his new girlfriend.”

“Oh. That must’ve been a surprise.”

“It was. He hasn’t talked about seeing anyone, so I didn’t expect it at all. But she’s really nice, and they clearly fit well together. She’s a teacher. And very attentive…”

“What do you mean?”

Sarah looked at her shoes.

“Well… She asked if I have a boyfriend and I got flustered, and she immediately caught on that. Dad said that I don’t date but my face was all red and I couldn’t look at them, so she questioned his assumption right away. So, they kind of already found out about you…”

Castiel’s heart jumped, and he stopped walking. “What?”

“I’m really sorry! I didn’t mean to tell but she guessed it so easily I couldn’t really deny it. I know I should’ve asked you first.”

Sarah’s throat felt tight. She had messed up already.

“How did your dad take it?”

“Uh, well, he was surprised of course but I think he took it well. He wants to meet you. So, I don’t think he’ll send anyone after you.”

Colour drained from Castiel’s face.

“Send someone after me? Like a hitman?”

“What? No! He wouldn’t do that. He’d send a detective at most, but he knows I’d be angry about that, so I don’t think he’d do it either.”

“Okay, cool…” Castiel’s stomach wrenched. He hadn’t expected this. Sarah had wanted to keep low profile but now his dad already knew. Castiel didn’t care if everyone in school found out, but Sarah’s parents made him nervous. He didn’t know much about them, and it sounded like her dad was very protective over his daughter. Did he usually send detectives after people?

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t plan on telling him yet. I wanted to wait and make sure you were fine with it too, but I messed up right away instead. But I swear my dad isn’t scary or anything. He’s nice, and I’m sure he’ll like you.”

“It’s alright, don’t worry. If you think it’ll be fine, I believe you,” Castiel smiled.

“Okay. I still feel bad about it though. I didn’t say when we’d be coming to visit so we can go whenever you feel ready. There’s no rush to it at all.”

“Sounds good.”

The nervousness remained in the back of Castiel’s mind. What if Sarah’s dad didn’t approve of him? His parents had already met Sarah and liked her, so he was sure they’d be more than happy to hear they were dating. But Sarah’s dad had never seen him, and only knew what Sarah had told. Castiel knew he wasn’t exactly the dream boyfriend either. He probably ticked a lot of boxes in ‘what to look out for in your daughter’s boyfriend’ list. How could he make a good impression? Rachel’s parents hadn’t really cared much. They hadn’t even had formal introductions. The first time Castiel had met Rachel’s parents was when he ran into her mother in the kitchen after staying over for the night. Castiel had a feeling that kind of thing wouldn’t roll with Sarah’s parents.

“Did you tell Leon yet?”

“Yeah. He called a bit after you left to ask how things went.”

“That’s nice that he was concerned about you. How did he react?”

“He was happy. He said if he had waited for any longer, he and Amanda would’ve asked Lucy to help us.”

“Is she like some kind of matchmaker?”

“I suppose. She’s been dating Leon’s brother, Morgan for about three years now. And he’s at least as clueless as Leon is. I think she helped Leon and Amanda together as well. Maybe someone else too, I don’t really care. I’d rather not have other people get mixed up in my relationships.”

“Yeah, it tends to get more complicated when more people get involved,” Sarah said. Not that she had any personal experience on such things. But she had seen enough romance movies to know what happened when too many people tried to stir the same soup.

“And we managed just fine without anyone’s help,” Castiel grinned.

“Well Ares helped maybe a little bit.”

“Not on purpose though. He’s too dumb for that.”

“He’s not dumb! He’s just a bit silly. He tries his best.”

She looked at Ares who was pulling a stick from under the snow, not realising it was a a tree sapling and still firmly stuck on the ground.

“See? He’s trying...”

A small piece of the tree gave in and snapped, and Ares fell back from the sudden disappearance of resistance. The dog sat in the snow with a little part of the twig in his mouth.

Sarah burst out laughing, and Castiel snorted and shook his head. The dog really was dumb. But at least he enjoyed himself.

Ares continued to run ahead of them with the twig in his mouth. Sometimes he shook his head or put the stick between his paws and shredded pieces of it.

They continued walking and enjoyed the forest air. Sarah threw a few snowballs at Ares who failed to catch them all but eagerly jumped at them when they had already hit the ground and broken to pieces. Sarah had lost her sense of time and place and had no idea how long they had walked or where they were. She just followed Castiel but then she saw the same wooden gate they had come from. Castiel reeled Ares back to a shorter leash. The walk was over.

“Do you want to come over?” Castiel asked when they walked through the playground. “It’s still not too late so your mum probably won’t worry.”

“That’s true. I could just text her that I’m going to have a walk around town or something. So, I could be longer…” Sarah blushed at her words.

“That sounds like a plan.”

And with that agreement, they headed towards Castiel’s house. Sarah’s stomach pinched. She had been at his place many times already but now it felt different. They were dating so it put a different weight on the sentence ‘do you want to come over’. Even if Castiel’s question was completely innocent, Sarah couldn’t shake the nervousness of the thought. But there was a tiny bit of excitement mixed in with the nerves. She had a chance to be alone with Castiel. It’d be nice no matter what they did. And she knew Castiel would respect her wishes, like he already had if they decided to do things. They could just have fun and enjoy each other’s company before the school week would start, and they’d be swamped in homework.