Friday had progressed past lunch. Leon and Castiel were spending their free period in the basement, hanging out and writing new songs. Leon had a wide variety of ideas to present, and Castiel liked pretty much all of them. If only he could come up with the melodies as easily as Leon seemed to write songs.

Castiel stretched his arms and lied down on the concrete floor. He cushioned his head with his hands and stared at the dusty ceiling. The floor was hard and cold under him but provided a nice opportunity to straighten his back. He shifted his position and his joints cracked.

“I’m definitely needing this holiday,” he said, “I’ve felt like my brain is close to melting for months. So much has happened.”

“Yeah. It’s gonna be nice to just chill for a bit.”

“Just sucks that Sarah is leaving,” Castiel sighed. It was only a week but it felt longer. They finally had a chance to spend uninterrupted time together, and of course Sarah had to be hauled to some family gathering. Castiel unwrapped one of the two chocolate sweets they had received as celebratory Christmas gift from their homeroom teacher and popped it in his mouth.

“Little distance is good for the relationship,” Leon said.

“Says you. You’re taking Amanda with you. I’ll be here all alone.”

“She’s coming over today though, right? Do you have any plans?”

“We’ll probably watch a movie and make some food or something.”

“Watch a movie or make out while the movie plays on the background?” Leon asked, waggling his eyebrows.

“Like you and Amanda do?”

“Fuck off.”

Castiel laughed.

“You started it,” he said, “and well, I certainly wouldn’t be against making out. But it’s not the plan. I just want to spend some time with her.”

“You’ve turned into such a sap after you started dating Sarah.”

“I have not.”

“You’ve certainly hidden it well if it’s already been there. I never saw you like this with Rachel.”

“Well, she turned out to be a bitch so that might be part of the reason.”

“True.”

“But I don’t know. I guess she has changed me a bit. Like, I didn’t really care much about anything before. There was Ares, my parents I guess, and you– “

“Aww. I love you too.”

Castiel kicked Leon in the knee.

“–but now I think about her a lot. She makes me happy, and I want her to be happy. Sometimes I realize I’ve been thinking about a future with her. Like, how we throw graduation parties and stuff. Move in together. Maybe buy another dog. I know getting ahead of myself with it, but it just happens. It’s weird.”

“I get that,” Leon sighed, “I’ve been thinking about it a lot too. Mainly, because I still don’t know what to do with school. And there’s so much open with Amanda and if she gets into the school she wants. She’s brilliant so I’m sure she will, but the competition is tough. But thinking about that stuff has made me think about living together, getting married, having kids…”

“Kids?”

“Not yet obviously. Not in many years. But eventually.”

“I’ve never really seen the appeal in kids,” Castiel said. His eyes were focused on the grey ceiling. He couldn’t really imagine himself as a father.

“It is pretty early to think about stuff like that. The possibility of moving in sounds pretty crazy. Like, I am 100% serious with Amanda, but moving it feels like it just makes it more serious, you know? It puts new weight to the relationship.”

“Yeah. It feels like the stakes are higher. You’re starting to commit more and more, so it’s gonna suck if things don’t work out.”

A lot of people decided to split up after moving in together. They found new sides of their partner that came out when living in the same house that they might not have noticed while dating. Sometimes those differences were too big to live with, and it was easier to go on separate ways, or sometimes the people just weren’t ready to work hard enough to get past them.

“But you and Amanda are pretty much made for each other,” Castiel added, “so I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’ll become the perfect househusband and act disgustingly romantic every day, spoiling her.”

Leon laughed. That didn’t sound too farfetched.

“Sounds good. She’ll need a lot of spoiling if she gets in the vet school.” Or pre-vet school, or something like that. Apparently, Amanda needed some basic degree and work experience before she could get into the actual veterinarian school. It sounded way too complicated for Leon.

“True. She’ll have to learn a lot of shit.”

Castiel had a lot of respect for Amanda. Medical schools were crazy. He knew his patience wouldn’t be enough for reading thousands of pages of information about joints and nervous systems.

“Has Sarah decided where she wants to go?”

“Yeah, she’s gonna apply for graphic design in Hammersmith.”

“That’s great. How did we get such smart girlfriends?”

“No idea, but we’re super lucky they haven’t realized yet how stupid we are.”

Leon laughed too. Castiel was right. Their girls were definitely smarter than they were, not that Leon considered himself an idiot either. He got good grades and so did Castiel, but the girls came out on top still. But Leon couldn’t say he didn’t find it incredibly attractive.

Leon’s thoughts were cut off by the dim sound of the school bell ringing, signalling the end of the class. Castiel pushed himself to sit, and almost at the same second his phone buzzed with a message.

“Sarah asks where we are,” he said after checking his phone.

“Making sure you haven’t skipped completely, I bet.”

Leon’s phone buzzed as well. Castiel raised an eyebrow.

“You were saying?”

“Shut up.”

The boys packed their stuff and headed to meet up with Amanda and Sarah. Their progress on making music had been minimal outside of reading the different lyrics, but sometimes it was nice to just hang out and talk instead.

Amanda and Sarah were standing at the end of the queue to the coffee machine. Leon kissed Amanda on the cheek right away. Castiel pulled Sarah into one armed hug and left his arm wrapped around her waist.

“Ready to start a winter break?” Castiel asked.

“Very. Still one class to go. I might die,” Sarah groaned.

“Please don’t. All my plans for today would go to waste. And I haven’t even got your Christmas gift yet.”

“Sorry to hear that my death would be an inconvenience to your plans.”

Sarah pulled a fake pout on her face.

“I guess I’d be a bit sad too.”

“Just a bit?”

“I’d be distraught, sad and depressed. Life would be empty and meaningless.”

“Alright, no need to exaggerate,” Sarah said and chuckled a bit.

“I’m not.”

Sarah blushed and Castiel kissed the top of her head. Amanda and Leon exchanged a glance; those two were too sweet.

“So how about you?” Amanda said, draping her arms over Leon’s shoulders, “would you be sad if I died?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course.”

The coffee queue moved, and they were forced to focus and move before anyone would start to nudge them forward. They already gathered some looks with their talk and displays of affection. Castiel dismissed them as people being jealous.

When it was finally their turn at the machine, Leon and Castiel got coffee, Amanda took a cup of tea and Sarah settled with hot chocolate.

Sarah took a sip and grimaced.

“Disappointment water again. It doesn’t taste like chocolate at all.”

She poured the drink down the drain and cleansed her mouth with cold tap water. She never learned her lesson with ordering drinks from the machine. They always disappointed.

Then, the school bell rang again to usher students back to their classes. Sarah sighed. One more lesson and she’d be free. But when only a little bit of time separated her from weeks of freedom, all the motivation to study was gone.

“I’ll see you after class,” Castiel said.

Sarah nodded and headed upstairs for her lesson. Maybe they’d watch a documentary or something. At least soon she would be free to spend her afternoon with Castiel. And she’d be sure to enjoy it.

Part 2.

When the school finally ended for the day, students practically flew out of the building to enjoy their three weeks of freedom. Castiel and Sarah were no exception. They wished a good holiday to Leon and Amanda, and then hurried towards Castiel’s house. Their walking pace was brisk; neither of them wanted to waste too much time. There were only so many hours they had together, even when Sarah’s mother had been lenient, and Sarah could be out until 9 pm. She had packed her bags the day before and taken care of all the chores in the house to encourage her mother to set a bit more relaxed curfew.

They arrived at Castiel’s house. The yard was empty of cars and all the lights were out in the house.

“My parents aren’t home,” Castiel noted with delight. Now they could chill without his mother buzzing around them constantly. Because she would without a doubt do that, and they wouldn’t get a moments peace.

Castiel unlocked the door, and Ares started barking in the kitchen. His leg was healing well, and the cast would be removed soon. He was allowed to walk around more, but he was still restricted to only the kitchen when no one was home, so he couldn’t jump on couches and strain his leg.

“Calm down, boy. It’s me!” Castiel called from the door, which did nothing to calm Ares. On the contrary, his barking turned into excited whining, and Sarah heard his nails scratch the tile floor as he paced around.

Castiel tossed his bag on the floor and marched to the kitchen. Ares whined louder, and he squirmed and wiggled on the doorway.

“Calm down. Sit. I’ll take you out, but you have to be calm.”

Ares tried to sit but he was too excited. Every time his bum touched the ground, he bounced up again. His tail wagged so hard it would’ve probably caused a bruise if it hit someone’s leg.

Castiel sighed and crossed his arms. After a few moments Ares finally calmed down, but then he noticed Sarah who had walked to the living room, and the same show started again.

Castiel raked his fingers through his hair in frustration.

It took three more minutes and a few stern words from Castiel, but finally Ares was calm enough to be released to the living room. He was on a short leash, but that didn’t stop him from bouncing towards Sarah the second the gate was moved out of the way.

Sarah hurried to meet him halfway, and she received several sloppy kissed from the dog, when she crouched down on his level. She sputtered and squeezed her eyes closed, trying to push Ares away with her arm.

“Ares,” Castiel hissed, and the dog sat down, practically vibrating from excitement.

Sarah took a deep breath and wiped her face on her shirt sleeve. She gave Ares a few head pats and scratched him behind the ears.

“I’ll take him for a really quick walk. Take something to eat if you’re hungry. I’ll be back soon,” Castiel said. He directed Ares towards the door. He put a sock on his cast to protect it from getting wet, and then they were out of the door.

Sarah headed to the bathroom to wash her face from the residue of slobber. When she returned to the kitchen, she paced around feeling awkward. This wasn’t the first time she was alone in Castiel’s house, but she still felt a bit out of place. She knew she could take any food she wanted, but she settled on making sandwiches with ham, lettuce, and tomato for herself and Castiel. She put a little saucepan on the stove for making hot chocolate. She needed to remove the sad excuse of a hot chocolate she got from school from her mind.

Sarah had managed to create the perfect balance of chocolatiness and sweetness in the saucepan when the front door opened. Castiel and Ares returned from their walk. Sarah heard cursing and scratching of paws against the floor, and soon Ares trotted over to her tail wagging and tongue lolling out of his mouth.

“Well, hello. Did you have a good walk?”

“It was terrible,” Castiel grumbled as he walked in, “No ears. Tried to eat everything he saw and chase every pigeon.”

“He just has a lot of energy. You would too if you were cooped up inside for months.”

“I know,” Castiel sighed. He understood that it was hard for Ares to suddenly be so restricted on what he was allowed to do. He was used to running in the dog park, jumping around, and going on adventures in the woods. And now he could only be in small rooms with no running, minimal playing, and short walks. If Castiel was in the same situation, he’d probably lose his mind.

“I can’t wait to see him run again,” Sarah said and scratched Ares behind the ear. He’d have the biggest zoomies in history.

Sarah gestured Castiel to sit at the table. Sarah poured their mugs full of steaming hot chocolate. Castiel took two sandwiches on his plate. He broke off a little piece of the bread when Ares came to rest his head on his leg.

They enjoyed the first few bites of their sandwiches in silence. A yoyo of drool stretched longer and longer from the corner of Ares’s mouth before it snapped and dropped on the floor when Castiel tossed him another piece of bread.

“I was thinking we could watch a movie?” Castiel said, “I don’t know which one, but we have some DVDs and streaming services.”

“That sounds good. We won’t be short on options at least.”

“Definitely not. We can make popcorn as well.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Sarah loved popcorn. If it could’ve sustained her with enough nutrients, she would’ve eaten it all the time.

They finished their sandwiches and cleared the table. Castiel stepped in the puddle of drool Ares had dribbled on the floor and winced.

Sarah loaded the dishwasher, and then Castiel sent her to browse the DVD collection while he got the popcorn started.

Sarah opened the drawers of the tv stand. Ares trotted over to see what she was doing.

“What should we watch, Ares? Romance? Action? Fantasy?”

Ares sniffed a few cases, but nothing seemed to appeal to him because he returned to kitchen. Sarah smiled and picked a few movies for closer inspection.

“Is there anything you haven’t seen yet?” she asked.

“Uh, I have probably seen most of them apart from some romance stuff. Mum likes to watch them. Not really my cup of tea.”

Sarah sighed and put Sleepless in Seattle back in the drawer. She wanted to pick something they’d both enjoy, and she wasn’t surprised about Castiel’s attitude towards romantic movies. Although, she had a feeling that Castiel would like some of them more than he’d expect if he just gave them a chance.

Furious popping sounds interrupted Sarah’s search for the film, and she walked to the kitchen. Castiel was shaking the pot to make sure every kernel would pop. He had a big glass bowl and a tiny jar next to him on the counter.

Castiel poured the popcorns in the bowl and sprinkled pink dust over them and shook the bowl to coat everything in the dust.

“What’s that?”

“The secret family popcorn spice mix,” Castiel winked.

“Ooh. What’s in it?”

“It’s a secret.”

“You’re no fun,” Sarah huffed and took a handful of popcorn. They were sweet and little bit of spicy. There was a hint of garlic in there too.

“I love this,” she said, “this is super good.”

“I know. It’s amazing.”

Castiel grabbed the bowl and walked to the living room with Sarah and Ares following close behind.

“Did you pick the movie yet?”

“Not yet. I think we should check what is streaming if you don’t want anything romantic. It’s easier to find stuff when you can filter things out.”

“True.”

They settled on the couch. Castiel wrapped an arm around Sarah’s shoulders, and she leaned against his side. With the remote in hand, Castiel flicked through the recommendations. Some movies made him wonder if he should put them on because they sounded so boring it would be easy to focus on other things… But he decided against it. Like he had said to Leon, he had no ulterior motives.

“How about this one?” he said and stopped in front of a movie labelled as mystery and comedy.

“When wealthy crime novelist dies at his estate, the police begin probing. But someone mysteriously also engages a debonair detective to investigate. The cops and the detective begin questioning the family and staff. But they soon find that not one suspect – and they’re all suspects – has a story that even begins to clear their name.”

Sarah read out the description for the movie. She hadn’t watched this one before, but she had heard people talk about it. Apparently, it was really good, and it did look and sound fun based on the promo image and the blurb.

“It sounds nice.”

Castiel pressed play and pulled the popcorn bowl to his lap, and they settled in a more comfortable position. Ares took a spot at their feet on the floor, optimistic that there would be some popcorn casualties and he’d get his share of the treats as well.

Part 3.

The movie started and their hands dug into the popcorn bowl. Sarah tried to control her urge to chow down on the popcorn. When she was alone, she usually emptied a bowl of popcorn before the first twenty minutes of the movie had passed. She didn’t want to act like a glutton now, but it was extremely hard since the spice mix Castiel had used made the popcorn taste amazing. She wasn’t sure if she could happily return to salted popcorn after this experience. She might have to steal that spice mix or wrestle the recipe out of Castiel somehow.

Neither Sarah nor Castiel had expected the movie to be as interesting as it was. The plot sucked them in thoroughly and there was no interest or thought given to any other activities. They were both too focused on gathering details and trying to pick the mystery apart, although without much success. They tossed few ideas between each other, gasped at new revelations, and reworked their theories. Sarah clutched Castiel’s arm when the killer was revealed. She hadn’t expected it. But then followed a plot twist.

“There’s no way,” she muttered under her breath.

Castiel laughed.

“This story is fucking wild.”

Sarah nodded.

“I have no idea what I’ve just watched, but it was amazing.”

Sarah felt flabbergasted. There had been so many twists and turns in the story that her head was spinning. But she also felt a rush of excitement. That must’ve been one of the best movies she had seen in a long while, maybe ever.

“I’m super glad we picked that,” she said and grab few pieces of popcorn. They had become so engrossed in the movie that they had forgotten to eat the rest of them.

“Same. I have to recommend that to Leon.”

Castiel put the popcorn bowl on the table and stretched his arms and back. Sarah straightened herself as well, and her back popped a few times in relief.

Castiel got up to fetch them glasses of strawberry flavoured water.

“Do you want to watch another movie?” he asked while sipping the drink.

“Sure, why not.”

This time they picked a comedy that was in the “trending” section of the website. Sarah nestled close to Castiel after grabbing a handful of popcorn.

They watched for a while but soon Sarah’s mind started to wander. She wasn’t a fan of the movie. The situations were too over the top, and the movie leaned into very low-brow humour way too often for her liking. She glanced at Castiel who watched the movie but didn’t seem too interested in it either. He sometimes stretched his mouth into a small smile when the intended funny part came up, but most of the time he had a completely straight face.

Sarah started to play with one of the strings of Castiel’s hoodie while trying to pay attention to the movie. Her fingers brushed the skin around Castiel’s collarbone when she had wrung all of the string around her fingers. She let go, and the roll unravelled. Then she started again.

It didn’t take long for Castiel to notice. He turned his head slightly to Sarah’s direction with an amused smile on his face.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing…”

Still, her face heated up in a blush.

“Are you bored?”

“Maybe a bit. This isn’t a good movie. We could do something else.”

Castiel’s eyes searched Sarah’s face. Did he read the tone of her voice and that shy smile correctly?

“What did you have in mind?”

A safe question. No risk of saying or interpreting anything wrong, and Sarah had the control of the situation.

Sarah bit the inside of her lip as she pulled Castiel closer from the strings of his hoodie. She leaned in to meet him halfway and kissed him shily on the lips.

“I like this suggestion,” Castiel hummed against her mouth.

Castiel wrapped his arms better against Sarah and pulled her on his lap. The kisses deepened quickly, and their bodies were pressed against each other. Castiel’s hands ran up and down Sarah’s back and sides. Sarah’s fingers explored the warm skin just under Castiel’s shirt collar. Castiel’s lips abandoned Sarah’s mouth and started trailing kissed onher jaw and neck. At the same time, he gently pushed Sarah down on her back on the couch.

Sarah let out a laugh of surprise when she found herself lying on her back, Castiel looming over her. Her cheeks were flushed, and she felt hot. She cupped Castiel’s face with her hands and pulled him into a kiss. Castiel quickly continued his kissing adventure on Sarah’s neck. It tickled and made Sarah squirm.

“What are you doing?” she giggled, when Castiel pulled up her skirt to kiss her stomach.

A loud bark startled them both. Ares had woken up from his nap and stared at the couple. He barked again with a sharp tone and pushed himself closer.

“Ares what are you doing?” Castiel asked, trying to usher the dog away.

But Ares continued barking at Castiel with growls mixed in. The fur on his neck was fluffed up.

Castiel sat up and immediately Ares pressed his head on Sarah’s stomach, staring at Castiel. She could feel the low growl vibrating in his throat.

“Oh my god, is he defending me?” Sarah asked.

She sat up as well and moved away from Castiel.

“Ares come here. I’m fine.”

Ares seemed to calm down, although he still threw a stinky side eye to his owner’s direction. Sarah gave him a few head pats.

“I can’t believe it,” Castiel said.

Ares was a rottweiler, so he had natural guarding and protection instincts, but he had only sometimes showed it and only for “protecting” Castiel from other dogs.

“He must’ve thought you were attacking me,” Sarah said. The realization made her laugh. “He thought you were a bad guy.”

“Ares, I’m disappointed. I thought you knew me better.”

Ares continued to glare at Castiel and didn’t leave Sarah’s side.

“Let’s test the theory,” Sarah suggested, “come here.”

Castiel moved closer, wrapping his arms around Sarah, and trying to push her on the couch again. Sarah let out a little squeal to amplify the performance.

Ares started barking again. He jumped up and down on the spot and tried to climb on the couch to push himself between Castiel and Sarah.

Castiel raised his hands in the air.

“Alright buddy. Good job protecting her. Well done. Can I at least sit next to her?”

That Ares did allow, and Sarah was even able to snuggle against Castiel’s side. But the moment Castiel tried to put an arm around Sarah, Ares became wary.

“Ares says no making out on the couch,” Sarah chuckled as she scratched the dog behind ears.

“Can’t believe I’m being cockblocked by my own dog.”

“Don’t say words like that in his presence,” Sarah gasped and covered Ares’s ears. “And I mean… we could always go to your room…”

Castiel’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“Really?”

“Yeah… I don’t know if I want to, you know, yet. But we can do something….”

“We can do whatever you want or nothing at all. No pressure.”

“I know.”

Castiel stood up from the couch. He wouldn’t say no to an opportunity to continue their moment, especially when Sarah made the initiative. He nudged Ares with his foot.

“Alright boy, you brough this upon yourself. Back to the kitchen.”

Ares looked very displeased but followed after Castiel. He threw him a few snacks before returning to the living room.

Sarah had turned off the tv and stood awkwardly by the couch. She had suggested this, but now she started to feel awkward again. What if Castiel was disappointed that she didn’t want to do it? Maybe she should’ve just picked another movie to watch. But she did want to be with Castiel in some way. They wouldn’t see each other in a while. This felt like a good thing. It was just the nerves making her doubt things.

Castiel offered his hand to Sarah who took it. She squeezed his fingers. This wasn’t anything serious and worth getting stressed about. She pulled a smile on her face. She wanted to experience things with Castiel and there was no other way to do it than just doing it.

Knowing that Castiel would understand and respect anything Sarah said calmed her mind. It gave her confidence when she was allowed to move in a pace that was comfortable to her. Most of the hesitation melted away from her when they headed upstairs. Castiel brushed her palm with his thumb, and the touch soothed her nerves.

When they got to Castiel’s room, he closed the door behind them and turned on the lights.

He turned to face Sarah and wrapped his arms around her waist. He seemed to sense Sarah’s nervous energy even though her nerves were slightly calmed down.

“Do you want to continue where we left off? We don’t have to. We can just listen to music or play games. Or whatever you’d rather do.”

“I do want to,” Sarah said, leaning against Castiel’s chest. “I’m sorry I always get like this. Everything’s fine in the moment, but if I stop to think, I get nervous. It’s not like I don’t want this. I do. But I start overthinking.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: we don’t need to rush anything. I want our thing to be long-term, so I can wait. We’ll go with a pace that’s comfortable for you.”

“I love how understanding you are.”

Sarah’s hands moved up to Castiel’s shoulders, sliding over his stomach and chest.

“I try my best. I want you to be happy.”

“I am.”

Sarah’s voice had lowered to soft whisper that brushed against Castiel’s neck. She was so sensitive and gentle. It ignited a spark in Castiel’s chest. The grip of his hands on Sarah’s waist tightened as he tugged Sarah closer to his body.

“Good.”

His words were low and quiet when his lips brushed against Sarah’s lips. When she didn’t shy away from the contact, Castiel deepened the kiss which Sarah responded to happily. Talking to Castiel always helped her with the nervous feelings. All the kissing helped too. When she could only focus on the pleasant buzzing in her head and the heat growing in her body, she felt bolder and more confident.

Castiel started to guide them towards the bed, and soon they were lying down, a tangle of limbs, wandering touches and heated kisses. Castiel’s hands slipped under Sarah’s shirt, pushing it up while he explored her body. Sarah gasped softly when his fingers brushed over a sensitive spot on her side.

The hem of the shirt was already over her chest, so Sarah tossed it off completely. A cold shiver ran down her skin, but Castiel pulled her closer, and his warmth suppressed it soon. Sarah’s fingers fumbled on Castiel’s shirt, pulling it up as well. Her other hand ran over the faint shape of abs on Castiel’s stomach, his chest, and his sides. Castiel pulled off the shirt and threw it on the floor.

Sarah pulled him closer into a deep kiss before Castiel started trailing kisses down her neck to her collarbones and chest. Sarah felt a light nip of teeth on her skin and gasped.

“Wait, don’t leave marks.”

Her grandparents had a hot tub which would certainly be used during the next week, and Sarah didn’t want to explain hickeys on her body to her mother and cousins.

Castiel nodded and pressed a conciliating kiss on the spot. It was slightly red but shouldn’t bruise. He focused on kissing his way down Sarah’s stomach. He could feel her shiver under his touch. Sarah clutched the bedcovers, and her eyes fluttered closed. All the spots Castiel had kissed felt warm even after he moved on.

Sarah’s eyes opened, and she pushed herself up with her elbows when Castiel’s fingers fiddled with the button of her jeans.

“Can I? I’ll stop whenever you want.”

Sarah took a breath and nodded. She trusted him.

Castiel opened the jeans and tugged them lower and then pulled them off completely.

Sarah’s legs twitched when she instinctively tried to pull them closer to her body, but she forced herself to relax. Everything was fine.

Castiel looked at her and kissed her ankle, moving up her leg slowly. Sarah slumped back down on the bed and pressed her head against the pillow. She gasped again when Castiel’s mouth reached the inside of her thigh. She shuddered.

“Can I touch you?”

Sarah’s heart thumped louder in her chest.

“Y-yes.”

Her voice quivered, and her breath hitched when Castiel pulled her underwear down to her knees. Her legs jerked from the touch of his fingers. Her heart hammered in her chest. She grabbed the bedsheets again. A soft moan escaped from her mouth.

Castiel kept an eye on Sarah’s expressions while his fingers moved. His body was burning with building heat. His chest was tight when his heart thumped wildly. He wanted to give Sarah everything so badly, but he didn’t want to push her too far.

He sat up for a moment to kick off his jeans. They were too much in the situation, too restricting and too tight. Then he returned his attention to Sarah again. Her breathing had become heavier. Her face was flushed red. She looked so beautiful.

For a moment Sarah felt cold and lonely when Castiel moved to remove his own jeans. The realization that he was removing clothes made a tiny spike of panic shoot through her body, but she ignored it. Castiel wouldn’t do anything without asking.

She gasped again when his touch returned. Heat built up in her body. She was panting. Electricity tingled in her stomach, and when Castiel switched his fingers to his tongue, it all erupted at once. Her back arched and she cried out. She covered her face with her hands in embarrassment.

Castiel returned to her side and gently moved her hands.

“All good?” he asked inspecting Sarah’s face.

Sarah wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his neck. Her pulse was still thundering; Castiel felt it. Concern climbed its way in his stomach. Did he go too far? Was this too much for her?

But Sarah’s quiet words quickly eased his worry:

“All’s good.”

The whole experience had been overwhelming but also satisfying and exciting. She had felt good.

Sarah pulled her underwear back up, and the movement made her aware of Castiel’s condition, when her hand brushed against his lower body by accident. Castiel twitched.

Sarah explored the reactions on his face when she touched him again. Castiel grunted and bit his lip.

“You don’t have to–”

“But it’d make you feel good?”

Castiel nodded.

“Then I want to do it.”

Sarah had no idea what she was doing. Feeling Castiel under her touch like this was so weird, maybe even a bit scary. She kept her eyes on Castiel’s face and focused on things that clearly made him feel good.

At one point, Castiel’s mouth crashed against Sarah’s. The kisses were full of heat and want, and they pushed Sarah to be bolder in her movements. She tugged his underwear down and pressed her body closer. Castiel gasped. His breathing became more ragged. He was trembling.

“I’m gonna–”, he muttered but the sentence was cut off when the heat that had been building up in his body erupted.

He gasped and clutched Sarah so hard it almost hurt. He buried his face against her neck. His heart beat so hard Castiel thought it might burst out of his chest. He couldn’t think straight. Sarah gasped as well, feeling the hotness spreading on her stomach. She wrapped her arms around Castiel, and they stayed entangled together until Castiel’s breathing evened out.

“All good?” Sarah asked quietly.

Castiel loosened his tight grip her and pressed soft kisses on her shoulder.

“Yes.”

Castiel felt shaken. He hadn’t had an experience like that ever. It had been so intense. His body was still buzzing and tingling. Castiel smiled and brushed strands of hair from Sarah’s face. Her ponytail was completely messed up. He pressed a tender kiss on her lips.

“I love you.”

Sarah smiled and nuzzled against him.

“I love you too.”

The kind of happiness Sarah had never felt before filled her chest. She felt happy and content and loved in Castiel’s arms as the rush of emotions from earlier started to calm down. And from the way Castiel held her, Sarah guessed he was happy too.

It would’ve been nice to spend the rest of the day snuggling together, but they had to get cleaned up. Sarah’s cheeks were still flushed when they had refreshed themselves and gotten dressed again. She couldn’t stop smiling which in turn made Castiel smile, and soon they were sitting on the bed and giggling at nothing in particular.

Sarah felt light, like she was in a fluffy cloud. Castiel kept pressing soft, tickling kisses on her neck.

The situation might’ve escalated into something more heated again, but the sound of car stopping outside pulled the teens out of their cuddle bubble. Sarah’s cheeks caught a deeper shade of red. She had completely forgotten about Castiel’s parents. Good thing they had come home now and not earlier when she and Castiel had been…busy.

The door opened downstairs and soon they heard Audrey’s voice mixed in with Ares’s barks.

“Castiel? Are you home?”

“Yes, upstairs”, Castiel shouted back and then sighed. He moved from the bed and offered his hand to Sarah.

They headed downstairs hand in hand, and saw Audrey and Franz dragging in bags full of groceries.

“Oh, hello Sarah. Lovely to see you,” Audrey said smiling.

“Nice to see you too.”

“I hope you’ve had a nice day. Have you done anything fun?”

Audrey’s gaze jumped between Sarah’s and Castiel’s faces. Castiel willed his face to stay neutral. Sarah wasn’t as successful, but she hid it by looking at the small paintings hanging on the wall.

“We watched some movies,” Castiel said and walked down the last few steps.

He grabbed one shopping bag and carried it towards the kitchen. Sarah helped with a lighter bag.

“Christmas shopping?” she asked.

“Yes. We decided to go get all the groceries done now before the big rushes start next week. Franz has no patience for standing in queues.”

“Funny you say that because I very vividly remember that it was you who complained today that the queues were moving so slow,” Franz said as he appeared carrying two more bags.

Sarah couldn’t help wondering how much they were going to eat in the next week. Was there going to be a banquet Castiel didn’t mention, or know about?

“Because we had frozen foods,” Audrey protested, “I can’t put defrosted food back in the freezer.”

“Yes, of course,” Franz said but winked at Sarah.

Castiel was already halfway through unloading his grocery bag, but he had stopped to crack open a box of dog biscuits. Ares sat at his feet in full attention, drool already hanging from the corner of his mouth.

“Are you staying for dinner, Sarah?” Audrey asked as they started to unpack their bags too.

“I don’t know,” she said, eyes shifting towards Castiel. She wanted to, but she wasn’t sure if she should. She knew she was welcome but always felt awkward about staying. Dinners were family time, and she didn’t want to get in the way.

“She is,” Castiel said and tossed Ares a biscuit.

“I don’t want to impose…”

“Oh, you’re not. And it’s no bother anyway. We were planning on having pizza today so there will be no extra effort needed on cooking,” Audrey said and pulled out three boxes of frozen pizza. Each one was big enough to feed two people so there would be enough for Sarah too.

“Well, if you don’t mind, I’d be happy to stay.”

After they had unpacked all the groceries, Castiel released Ares to the living room. He grabbed a handful of dog treats before going after the dog. Sarah followed them, and Franz joined them as well, settling in front of the tv.

Castiel sat on the floor. Ares walked to him, sniffing his closed hand that had all the treats inside. Ares eagerly offered his paws to Castiel before he even had time to ask. Castiel gave him a treat and then dropped the rest on the floor next to him.

“What tricks did you teach him?” he asked from Sarah. “The chin thing and what else?”

Sarah had taught Ares tricks to keep him from getting bored, since he couldn’t play as much as normally with his cast on. Ares had been a very good student and eager to do anything for a treat. Castiel didn’t remember all of the tricks so he hadn’t practiced much.

“Let me show you.”

Sarah scooted over, sitting next to Castiel. Franz paid half attention to them while watching the news. She picked a treat from the floor, and Ares’s attention snapped to her immediately. Sarah raised her left hand in front of her, making an L shape with her thumb and index finger.

“Chin,” she said.

Ares leaned forward and pressed his chin on Sarah’s thumb, nudging closer. Sarah smiled and gave him a treat.

“Good boy.”

Then she formed a circle with her hands. Ares pushed his nose through it before Sarah could even give him a command.

“You’re so smart.”

Ares’s tail wagged as he gobbled another treat. Drool was overflowing from the corners of his mouth.

Castiel couldn’t help smiling while he watched Sarah make Ares name all the fingers in her hand in random order. Ares covered her hand in slimy drool in the process. The dog’s accuracy was slightly questionable since his snout touched at least three fingers at once, but an attempt was made. It was hard to believe that just few months earlier Sarah had been too nervous to even be in the same space as Ares. Now she fed him treats and didn’t even flinch when Ares sometimes nipped her fingers by accident. She wiped her drool covered fingers in her jeans.

“Ares is so smart. I’m proud of him,” Sarah said and patted to dog on the head when the last treat had been eaten. Ares had correctly “guessed” in which hand Sarah kept treats. It was all based on code words, so it wasn’t actually guessing, but Castiel had been impressed the first time he saw it, before he knew how the trick worked.

“And I’m proud of you,” Castiel said and wrapped an arm around Sarah’s shoulder.

“What? Why?”

“You’ve become so comfortable around Ares. Before you didn’t even want to touch him.”

Sarah smiled a bit and scratched Ares behind the ears. She realized Castiel was right. Somewhere along the line she had stopped worrying about Ares. He was a big goofball, and there was nothing to worry about. Even if he was too eager sometimes, he never hurt on purpose.

Franz listened to the exchange and smiled to himself. He was happy that Castiel had found someone who got him to show his feelings and emotions. Castiel had always been rather serious and preferred to spend time alone. While dating Rachel, it had been more noticeable. But now he was sitting in the living room with his parents —already a rare sight— but he also acted so warmly and caringly towards Sarah. For a father, it was a joy to see. All he wanted was for his son to be happy, and now he clearly was.

For a while they watched tv, and then Audrey brought three serving plates full of pizza to the living room table. Ares perked up immediately, but Castiel commanded him away.

“Feel free to take whatever you like,” Audrey said as she brought another set of plates for them to pile their slices on.

Everyone eagerly followed the advice. Sarah took pieces of mozzarella and chicken pizzas and sat on the couch next to Castiel. It was safer to be away from the floor level because Ares patrolled there like a hungry shark, waiting for someone to give him bits of pizza crust.

“I heard you’ll be out of town for Christmas?” Audrey said, turning to look at Sarah.

“Yeah. I leave tomorrow with my mum and sister to spend the Christmas at my grandparents’. They live a few hours away.”

“That must be nice.”

“It is. A lot of my other relatives should come over as well. A big family gathering.”

She hadn’t seen some of her cousins since last Christmas. They weren’t close, but it was always nice to see them.

“We should arrange some kind of dinner where we could meet your parents as well,” Audrey said, excited about her idea. “Wouldn’t it be fun, darling? We could all get to know each other better and talk about our kids.”

“It could be nice,” Franz agreed.

Sarah shifted in her seat. She had no doubt her parents wouldn’t like to meet Castiel’s parents. They would love an opportunity to get to meet them and embarrass Sarah by telling stories about her and learn more about Castiel and his family. But mum and dad both in the same room? There would be more tension than necessary.

“I can ask them,” she said, “I’m sure they’d be happy to meet you.”

“That’s lovely. I’m looking forward to meeting them. What do they do for living? I don’t remember if I have asked already.”

Castiel shot a warning glance at her mother. She was always so nosy.

“Oh, well my mother is a comic book artist. She does other illustration work as well. My dad… he’s the CEO of TechIT.”

Franz and Audrey stared at Sarah in surprise, which didn’t help with her embarrassment. She usually didn’t talk about her father’s job because of reactions like this. For Sarah, it was just another job, but so many people saw it at something special and amazing. It was amazing and impressive for sure, but he was still just a person.

“That is something I wouldn’t have expected,” Audrey said, fumbling for words. “Very different career paths.”

“Yeah…”

“I must say, you don’t seem very rich,” Audrey continued.

“Mother,” Castiel said with a warning tone.

Sarah let out an awkward laugh.

“Well, that’s probably because I’m not. Dad’s the one that has money.”

“Of course. You just see all these spoiled kids who have rich parents on tv and start to think they’re all like that. But of course, not all parents throw money at their kids. You are a very smart and level-headed girl. It’s good to see.”

Sarah smiled but didn’t even know what to say.

“But it must’ve been disappointing to your mother to divorce from a man like that. The artist’s income is surely different from CEO’s. Hell, even we can’t really brag with our money. All the travelling happens on company’s dime.”

“Alright, thank you for embarrassing us, mother. Sarah and I will finish the dinner in my room,” Castiel said finally. He couldn’t listen to his mother babble any more. Sarah was basically squirming in her seat, and still mother just kept going. Castiel shot an annoyed look at his dad too. He could have said something to silence his wife.

Castiel took one big pizza plate in one hand and Sarah’s hand in other and headed upstairs tugging Sarah along.

“What did I say now?” Sarah heard Audrey ask before she and Castiel walked up the stairs.

Castiel closed the door after they were in his room. He laid the pizza plate down on his bed.

“I can’t believe how stupid she is,” he grumbled and gathered the remotes to his tv before climbing on the bed. “Talking about your family’s money like it’s her business.”

Sarah followed after Castiel on the bed and snuggled to his side.

“It’s fine. She didn’t mean anything bad. Everyone’s always interested. It’s either ‘your mum must not earn much, starving artists etc.’ or ‘Woah, it must be nice to have a rich dad. You can get whatever you want.’”

“It’s still stupid. It’s not their business.”

Castiel turned on the tv and skimmed through the channels but didn’t find anything particularly interesting. He sighed and set the channel on some random action film for now. They could change it later. Maybe watching explosions and heroes punching villains would take away the edge of the annoyance simmering in his chest.

The movie proved to be good background noise for their eating; entertainment for the eyes while they enjoyed the pizza. Sarah had no idea about the plot, apart from that aliens were apparently attacking the Earth. It was still enjoyable to watch.

After they finished the pizza, Castiel pulled Sarah closer to his side and wrapped an arm around her. Sarah rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. Her stomach was full of good food, and she was in the best company. She was happy.

Sarah looked up at Castiel and reached closer to press a soft kiss on his lips. Castiel blinked in surprise, but he managed to respond to the kiss before Sarah pulled away.

“What was that about?” he asked, “Not that I mind of course.”

Sarah blushed.

“I just wanted to do it,” she said. It had felt right.

“Well then, please feel free to do it again.”

Sarah laughed but did as requested. She placed her hand on his chest for support and kissed him again. The kisses were salty and tasted like pepperoni and cheese.

Castiel hummed against her lips. He slid his hand from Sarah’s shoulders down to her waist and pulled the girl on his lap.

Sarah smiled and draped her arms around Castiel’s neck. Their kisses were soft and lazy, full of affection but empty of any need to take things further. They wanted to enjoy a moment together. Sarah closed her eyes as their kisses deepened. She pressed her forehead against Castiel’s. His hands rested on her hips, and his thumbs drew soft circles on her back. It was nice to just be close to each other.

As much as they wanted the day to last, eventually the clock approached the time set for Sarah. She sighed as she gathered her stuff, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Castiel hovered around her, trying to find something to do or say.

Sarah buttoned her coat slower than usual. She didn’t want to leave. They would be apart only for a week, but in that moment if felt like such a long time, even though she knew it would pass quickly. Sarah sighed and looked at Castiel.

“I’ll call you.”

“You better. Text too. And I’ll call you too.”

“I had a fun day.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Castiel pulled Sarah in for one last kiss before she opened the door and walked out. Castiel sighed as the door closed. The week would go quickly. He would see Sarah again soon. But before that, he would have to get through the holidays with his family. If only he could’ve gone with Sarah.