“Do you want to eat anything?” Castiel asked. Ares trotted to the kitchen to have a drink of water. Eating snow hadn’t quenched his thirst.

“No thanks. I’m good,” Sarah said with a smile.

“A drink then?”

She shook her head. The anxiety was surging inside of her now that they were inside. She was conscious about her shirt, her hair, her posture and even the way she was breathing. Did she breath too loudly? Was her mouth open? Oh no, her nose was a bit runny and she needed to sniff. Castiel turned around, and Sarah quickly sniffed, covering her nose with her hand to muffle the noise. She tried to take deep but quiet breaths to calm herself. Eating or drinking would’ve probably resulted in a disaster.

“Do you want to go to my room?”

“Sure. Why not.”

Sarah’s heart thumped faster when they climbed the stairs. She needed to stay calm.

Castiel squeezed the handrail. He could hear his heartbeat. Sarah was coming to his room. They were alone. His mouth was dry, and he quickly wiped his sweating palms on his jeans.

Sarah looked around in the room. She hadn’t paid much attention to the room last time since she had been distracted by her own insecurities and arguing.

Castiel room looked tidy. The walls were cream coloured, like other walls of the house with one dark grey accent wall. The covers of the double bed were also dark grey and there were three black and white pillows on the bed. Few guitars were in a corner next to a large bookshelf full of CDs. There were a couple of books in the shelf as well, struggling against the invasion of their natural habitat. Black cables covered the floor around the guitar corner like a lair of snakes. School books were a careless pile on his desk. A small green plant tried to gather the rays of winter sun in the windowsill.

She wandered to the CDshelf. Sarah carefully picked out a few cases, read the track list and put them back to their places.

Castiel walked behind her. He wanted to put his hand on her waist but resisted the urge.

“Found anything interesting?” he asked, and Sarah flinched.

“You have an impressive collection. I think my dad has a few of these too.”

“Oh, does he like rock as well?”

“He does. I remember he had a box full of CDs when he moved out.”

“Cool.”

Sarah picked up another CD, and while she was reading it, Castiel looked at her, absorbing the small details about Sarah he could notice. She had a tiny mole at the back of her neck. Some strands of her hair were darker brown. She had holes for earrings but didn’t wear any. She smelled like peaches. Castiel leaned closer and pressed a kiss on her shoulder.

Sarah tensed and a shiver ran down her spine, raising the hair on the back of her neck. Her cheeks flushed hot.

“You have a new shirt,” Castiel whispered in a tone that didn’t cool Sarah down at all.

“I-it’s old actually. But I had forgotten it.”

“I like it. It fits you well.”

Now Castiel placed a hand on Sarah’s waist and another shiver ran through her. Castiel was playing with her heart.

“T-thank you.”

Castiel leaned closer and pressed another kiss on Sarah’s bare shoulder. Then another one little closer to her neck, then another one, and another, all the way up to her ear.

Sarah was burning up from the feeling Castiel’s lips on her skin caused. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and her head felt fuzzy. Another kiss on the neck, and Castiel wrapped an arm around her, pulling Sarah closer. Her back toucher his chest. Castiel was warm, and his heart was beating just as hard as Sarah’s was. A kiss landed on her collarbone, and Sarah tilted her head slightly, offering her neck more. Excitement simmered inside her, adrenaline pumped in her veins. Castiel’s presence was intoxicating.

Eagerly Castiel took the offer and placed more kisses on Sarah’s neck, getting hungrier by the minute. Sarah could feel the tension in his body. She put her hand on Castiel’s, wrapping her fingers around his.

Castiel took a deep breath which Sarah felt as hot air against her neck. Before Sarah could process it, her head was fuzzy from all this, Castiel had spun her around so that they were facing each other. Castiel’s cheeks were burning. His whole body felt like it was on fire. Sarah looked at him in the eye and slowly raised her hand to touch his chin. Castiel stayed still, waiting to see what she’d do.

Sarah leaned closer, having to tiptoe so she could press her lips against Castiel’s. Her heat pounded in her chest. A group of fiery butterfliers took off in her stomach, sending sparks all over her body. Castiel responded to the kiss so eagerly it surprised Sarah. She wasn’t used to this. She was getting overwhelmed by all the emotions but at the same time she enjoyed all of it. Castiel’s hands wandered on her back and sent shivers all around her body. Sarah tried to do the same but ended up just placing her hands on his back. Castiel didn’t seem to mind.

Castiel started walking towards his bed, pulling Sarah along. He broke the kiss for a moment to see Sarah’s reaction. She was flustered and out of breath but didn’t resist which Castiel took as an encouraging sign. He didn’t want to push Sarah too far, but he wanted more of her, and hoped Sarah shared the feeling.

Sarah’s legs met the edge of the bed, and she raised her eyes to Castiel. Her heart had climbed to her throat, and her fingers trembled from the adrenaline. Castiel gently pushed her on the bed. He leaned over her placing his arms on both sides of her head. Few strands of his hair tickled Sarah’s cheeks. Castiel’s chest felt tight, like his heart was about to burst from his chest. The heat was suffocating. He wanted to take off his shirt but worried it would scare Sarah. She seemed to like this but was still so uncertain.

Slowly, Castiel leaned closer again and pressed a kiss on Sarah’s lips. Sarah’s hands moved, and she touched his sides, gliding her hands to his back to pull him closer. Castiel obliged, deepening the kiss but soon their lips parted. Castiel planted a kiss on the corner of her mouth, then on her chin, then on her neck. More kisses on the neck. Sarah gasped when she felt a nip on the skin. Castiel kissed the spot again before moving forward, now kissing her collar bone, pulling the neckline of her shirt down to reveal more skin.

Sarah shivered when Castiel’s hands travelled down her body to the hem of her shirt. They slipped under it, and Sarah’s whole body tensed up. She gripped on Castiel’s shirt. Castiel stopped and looked at her. Sarah would’ve blushed but her face couldn’t get redder than it was.

“S-sorry but I…I don’t think I can yet…,” she whispered.

“It’s alright. Do you want to stop?”

Sarah nodded, and Castiel moved away. He sat on the bed and pulled one of the pillows on his lap. Sarah sat up as well. Her hair was dishevelled, and the blush had spread all the way down to her neck. She closed her eyes and took few shaky breaths to calm down. She pulled off the elastic band that held up the messed up ponytail and flattened her hair to make it settle again.

“I did like it,” Sarah said then. “It’s just a lot to…you know.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry if I rushed too much. I didn’t mean to.”

“You didn’t. You were good. I’m just not used to this.”

“You can always say if there’s something you don’t want to do,” Castiel said.

Sarah nodded. She glanced at the pillow Castiel was holding and then turned her eyes to the window. It was snowing again, or maybe wind whipped snow from the trees.

“Do you want some water?” Sarah asked then.

“I wouldn’t mind a glass.”

“I’ll go get some.”

Sarah jumped up. Her legs tingled and felt jelly-like, and her head hummed a bit when she made her way to the door. She made sure to hold on the handrail while going down the stairs. She had a feeling she could tumble down the steps if she wasn’t careful.

She passed through the living room and woke up Ares who was sleeping on the couch. He perked up and followed Sarah to the kitchen. She filled his almost empty bowl with some fresh water, and after a few times of opening the wrong door, she found drinking glasses. She filled two with water and took a big gulp from her glass. She felt the cold water travel down, cooling her burning body. Her heart had calmed down a bit which removed most of the fuzziness in her head. She filled her glass again and headed back upstairs, now with Ares following her.

When Sarah got back, Castiel had changed to a new looser pair of trousers. He was sitting on the bed with his acoustic guitar. Ares hopped on the bed and curled down next to Castiel. He scratched the dog behind the ear and then took the glass of water Sarah offered.

“Thanks,” he said and took a big gulp.

Sarah sat down on the edge of the bed and sipped from her glass. She was calmer now, although her cheeks were still warm, and her heart throbbed in her chest.

“What are you doing?”

“Just testing a few tunes,” Castiel said and strummed the strings. They let out a soft sound.

Sarah smiled and took another sip of water. Castiel continued to play the guitar, and after a while Sarah recognized the melody he was playing.

She closed her eyes and listened to the song. Castiel glanced at Sarah, and the soft smile on her face made his heart flutter. She was so beautiful. Her cheeks were rosy, and her hair framed her face just perfectly with the light that came from the window. She turned to look at him, and the smile on her face widened.

“What?” Castiel asked.

“Nothing… I just didn’t know you were this cheesy,” she said and nodded to the guitar.

“It’s a good song.”

“It is.”

Sarah put down the glass on the floor and lied down on the bed. Ares moved his head slightly to rest it on her stomach. She closed her eyes again. Her breathing was calm, and Ares’s weighed heavy on her.

The song ended. Castiel put his guitar away. He smiled at the sight of Sarah and Ares together. He reached out to his phone slowly to not wake up Ares. The opportunity was too good to pass, and he snapped a picture. And another one just in case the first one was shaky.

“Are you sleeping?” he asked Sarah.

“No,” Sarah replied after a long moment of silence.

She opened her eyes and covered a yawn with her hand.

“But I might be soon,” she added and tried to sit up, but it didn’t work out. Ares was fast asleep on her, and she didn’t have a heart to wake up him up just yet. “What time is it?” Her phone was still in the pocket of her jacket.

“Quarter to four,” Castiel said.

“What? So late?” Sarah jumped up and scared Ares awake. He huffed and Sarah scratched him behind the ear as an apology. “I need to go home.”

She had forgotten to message mum about ‘going to town’ so she probably worried where she was. Sarah didn’t want to make mum angry and inspire her to set curfews. She flattened her hair. The side of her neck stung a little as her fingers brushed over it, but she was in too much of a hurry to pay attention to it.

Castiel got up as well and they headed downstairs together. Ares stayed in bed and just rolled to his other side, stretching out to full length now that the humans weren’t taking up space from him.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at school then?” Castiel asked. Sarah wrapped a scarf around her neck and nodded.

“Have you remembered to do the English homework?” she asked.

“Of course… Whatever it was we were supposed to do.”

Sarah sighed. “We have to write an analysis about one of the short stories in the collection we read.”

“Ah right. That one. I’ve almost finished that. I think.”

“Good to hear. I’ll have to go now. See you tomorrow,” Sarah smiled. She looked at Castiel, hesitated a few seconds and then pressed a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. When she tried to leave, Castiel grabbed her arm and pulled her in for another kiss. Sarah smiled a bashful smile against his lips. Her heart fluttered.

“I really have to go now. I had a lovely day today. Thank you,” she whispered and reluctantly took steps towards the door. This time Castiel let her go. He wasn’t sure if he could let Sarah leave at all if he held her back any longer. He was filled with a desire to be with her. When she kissed him, Castiel thought he’d burst from the emotions inside him. For the first time in a while, he was hoping for a Monday to come quickly.

Sarah walked home with her head in the clouds. Just a thought of the day’s events pulled a joyous smile on her face. She had never been happier.

“I’m home! Sorry I’m so late. I decided to go to town, but I forgot to let you know,” Sarah said while taking off her outdoor clothes. Her mother’s office door was closed. Steffie came to the hallway from her room.

“Don’t shout. Mum is working,” Steffie said.

“Oh, okay. Has she been working for long?”

“All day. She gave me lunch and then she went back in again.”

Sarah nodded. So, mum probably hadn’t even realised Sarah hadn’t come earlier. She could’ve stayed longer. But on the other hand, it was better to play it safe and not take risks. She could see Castiel as much as she wanted so it was better to come home at sensible times.

“Are you hungry? I can make dinner if you want?” Sarah asked.

“I am! I want meatballs and spaghetti.”

“Okay, let’s see if we have the ingredients for that.”

Mum came out of her office an hour later rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly. Sarah and Steffie were just finishing all the dinner preparation and setting up the table.

“Oh! You have made dinner. You’re so lovely. Thank you, girls.”

“Have you finished with work?” Sarah asked.

“For today, yes. I don’t think I can look at the screens any longer,” mum sighed and sat at the table.

“How was your walk?”

“Oh, it was nice. I went to the hiking route and visited town as well.”

“That’s great. I should go for a walk as well. I need some fresh air.”

They continued to chat about various things. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed, and Sarah enjoyed this time together. It was nice to just talk and enjoy tasty food together.

After dinner Sarah went to her room. She needed to take off the sweater. It made her way too warm, and she wanted to switch to something more relaxed.

She pulled the shirt over her head but stopped halfway through when the shirt moved her hair from covering her neck. There, at the side of her neck, little below the ear was a dark red bruise. Sarah’s stomach dropped. She tossed the shirt on her bed and moved closer to the mirror. The bruise was still there. She touched it and it felt sore. She rubbed it but it didn’t disappear. She licked her fingers and scrubbed the bruise again in case it was dirt. It wasn’t.

“Oh no,” Sarah whimpered. She remembered the nip on her neck. This was surely the result, and she wasn’t happy about it. But she had a scarf somewhere. She could use it at school, and no one would notice. Now she just had to keep this a secret from mum. Sarah pulled her hair to cover her neck. If she didn’t turn her head much the bruise wasn’t easily visible. Mum probably wouldn’t notice. She wasn’t the sharpest when it came to details in things other than her art. Sarah decided she would stay in her room for the rest of the evening as a precaution. Then there was no risk of anyone seeing what had happened.