Anael turned to face Cas when she could feel his gaze upon her again. "What are you doing?" she asked him, amused.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" he asked in response.

She snorted. "I do, actually."

He side-eyed her before shaking his head in amusement. "Never change, Anael."

"Don't plan on it. But thank you, Castiel - you're sweet." Falling for him - actually, anyone - hadn't been part of her plans but she she couldn't bring herself to regret it.

"Not always." He grinned at her and winked.

Anael stared at him in shock for a few seconds before she cupped a hand over her mouth and tried to muffle her laughter. "Is that one of Dean's moves? How much have you picked up from the Winchesters? Please don't do ever do that again." Still laughing, she surged forward and kissed him.

"I don't know what I was thinking," Cas admitted once Anael pulled away.

"You weren't," she retorted, a smile on her face.

"Presumably not." A moment of insecurity hit him and he frowned for a second. "You're happy, aren't you?"

"Of course I am. Yeah, hunting is disgusting and I can't wear my designer clothing while working with you morons but this bunker is pretty nice. And I like helping people. And this ragtag group of fuck-ups are fun to hang out with." Not that she'd ever admit it to their faces - she loved insulting Sam and Dean on a daily basis.

"I'm going to tell them you said that."

"Don't you dare." Anael snuggled in next to him and reached for the remote so they could find a movie to watch on Netflix - unfortunately it took them half an hour before they could agree on something.

Cas wrapped an arm around Anael, his attention divvied between her and the movie. Once the credits started to roll after it was over, he exited out of Netflix and turned off the TV. "I only retained maybe half of it."

"Well, that's because you were too busy paying attention to me. Which I like, by the way, but we chose this for a reason."

He stared at her, his gaze burning into her. "I am deeply in love with you, Anael. You don't have to say it back but I just thought you deserved to know." He couldn't go another minute without telling her that he was head over heels, something he hadn't quite expected when Anael chose to join on a permanent basis.

Anael shivered. "You love me?"

Cas nodded. "I do. Are you still lonely?"

"Not so much anymore. You gave me a family. Even the nougat loving, formerly soulless son of Lucifer is someone I'd protect with my life. As for you? You had my heart after you gave me those antique, lightly cursed but beautiful earrings in a shitty dinner, even though I didn't know it yet. I am so in love with you, Castiel." Loving him scared the fuck out of her but she was learning it was okay to be vulnerable, that caring about people wouldn't hurt her. Sure, they all had bad days, but they were all still figuring their shit out.

He beamed and pulled Anael closer to hug her. "I'm glad to hear it."

"You're suffocating me," she teased.

Cas pulled back with an an apology but grabbed her hand and led her to his bedroom. "Figured we deserved some privacy."

"I am game for whatever you want to do." Her gaze bore into him and he shuddered.

"Glad to hear. Let's just lay down for now. You know how Jack tends to interrupt at inopportune times - I'm pretty sure Sam and Dean are to blame for that, by the way."

"Fucking trolls. We'll get them back someday," Anael vowed but the glint in her eyes gave her away.

Neither Castiel nor Anael had been looking for love but it had found them and they were happier than they had been for a long time. And neither of them were really lonely anymore since they had each other, which was definitely a plus. And sure, they were polar opposites, but that's why they were attracted to one another in the first place. Everything else was just a bonus.