IMPORTANT NOTICE (READ): For those who didn't read it, this is the bran-spanking-new version, revamped version, of my Supernatural, Castiel and OC romance story "Gravity" like I promised I'd write-sorry for the long wait. Like I said before I made a few changes to my story and to Elliana's character and so on so forth-the rating of the story, too since I realized Elliana curses a lot and there will be a bit of sexual content that I want to be safe in rating. I seriously you all like this new version and if you do, or don't, PLEASE REVIEW so I know to continue writing this. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Supernatural.

Warning: CastielxOC romance, crude humor, cursing, alcohol and drug references, sexual content (the rating is for safety), drama, gore, and violence.

Chapter One: Thanks for the Memories

I'd be lying if I said that all my memories were good ones. I'd be lying even more so if I said the majority of my memories were good ones. I guess you could say I had a negative attitude, but I wasn't much of a liar and for those who knew me well enough knew perfectly well the truth in my words: I had few good memories growing up.

Of course, though, with the bad comes the good, meaning I did have good memories, not many, but I did. And all of those good memories until I was twenty-three-years-old pertained around a handful of people, particularly two boys.

The Winchesters. Dean and Samuel Winchester. Deano and Sammy. My friends. My family.

The majority of my fond memories were thanks to them and I remembered every single one of them because every last one was very precious to me.

I remembered the first time we met.

||Ezekiel and Mr. Winchester had business to attend to in the dining room thus, after I fixed them refreshments, I had been kicked out of the house along with Mr. Winchester's two boys, Sam and Dean. They told us to go play in the backyard.

Play? Seriously?

I never played with other people; I never really played. Besides, I knew I wasn't going to like those two boys; they weren't my type of people—then again, I was nine, so it was kind of silly to say such, but that's what I thought.

Dean Winchester, the oldest brother, was a teenager—around fourteen-years-old—and acted like one of those big, tough guys with the leather jacket and the cool, aloof attitude. AKA he thought he was pretty hot stuff. Then, there was his younger brother, who was a year older than I, Samuel and he was basically Dean's opposite. He was a very short kid—though, of course, I was much shorter—and was timid and quiet. Dean acted like an arrogant solider and Sam acted like a sheepish schoolboy.

In other words, I wanted nothing to do with them. They were just a couple of kids, who came with their dad to talk to my foster parent and when that was done, they'd leave and maybe or maybe not I'd see them again.

Either way, since generally hunting was a family business, I figured they were in training to be hunters of the supernatural and thus, when we were outside near the woods in the back of my house, I told them where Ezekiel's shooting range was. I told them as long as they took good care of the equipment and behaved, they could use whatever they wanted. With that, I took out my book to sit on the back porch to continue reading it.

Or that's what I hoped I'd do…

"You're not going to shoot with us, Elliana?" Sam asked me with those big, hazel eyes of his; there was the rare hint of innocence in those eyes considering his family's lifestyle. He was standing in front of me, barely looming over.

"No, thank you." I muttered.

Dean smirked, his eyes—greener than Sam's—twinkling mischievously. "What—afraid we might shoot better than you?" he teased arrogantly. He shrugged a shoulder, leaning against the rail of the porch, arms crossed. "Then again you are a lil' girl."

Deadpanning, I raised my head to look at the short-haired male. "…Shooting a gun, archery, or anything else concerning shooting a weapon has nothing to do with whether or not I'm little or female." I retorted. "It all pertains to the skill experience and basic physics."

He made a face, looking at me oddly and exasperatedly—I got that look a lot, so I wasn't put-off. "You're a mouthy squirt, aren't you?"

"Whatever." I said dryly.

Scoffing, the eldest brother turned away and started down the steps towards the woods in the direction of the shooting range. "C'mon, Sammy. Lets leave Miss. Smartass alone." he said gruffly.

"Coming," Sam replied softly, almost obediently before turning back to me. He didn't seem the least bit insulted or annoyed by the conversation between his brother and I or by my attitude. Instead, the shaggy-haired boy gave me a tiny, kind smile. "If you feel like joining us, you know where we are." He looked hopeful as he said that.

And I was taken off-guard, surprised by his warm invitation.

He gave me another smile, as I stared at him, and he turned and followed after his brother; I just watched him go flabbergasted.

Never in my life had anyone wanted me to do anything with them, at least a kid, and acted so warm and hopeful when doing so. I was used to reactions like Dean's when I spoke to them the way I pretty much spoke to everyone. It was odd and a rare occurrence and I wasn't sure how to react. I was a smart kid, but I didn't know a single word to describe how I was feeling; I didn't know what to make of it all.

However, before I knew it, my stubby legs was taking me in the direction of the Winchester boys and before I knew it I was standing in the big, open area in the woods where Ezekiel's shooting was. There were racks of various weapons, ranging brow bows to shotguns and a bunch of targets were about the place. Dean and Sam were already at work with the proper equipment and for a moment, I watched them.

Dean was a very good shot and Sam…well, he was decent enough considering his age-he did hit the bullseye quite a few times.

I watched them for another moment before grabbing the usual gun I used when practicing and stepped up before a target a few targets from the boys. I took my stance, aimed my weapon, turning my head more so to the right so I was focusing more so with my left eye (the vision in my right eye wasn't nearly as good as my left), and fired. I did that until I was out of bullets.

I was about to reload when a big, warm hand was placed upon the top of my head. My strawberry-blonde hair was ruffled followed by Dean's voice, "Wow, nice job, Red. You only missed the bullseye a couple of times." He chuckled through his compliment.

Jumping, startled by his sudden closeness and words, I snapped my head up at him. I stared at him, once again dumbfounded by his niceness, not knowing what to make of it; Ezekiel never gave me encouragement like that, just a simple approving nod. I could barely managed to sputter a simple "thank you".

His grin grew and gave a playful teasing glance to his sibling. "You're even a better shot than Sammy over here and he's been doing it a lot longer than you, pretty sure."

"Shut up," Sam grumbled finding his jest the least bit funny.

I glanced to him and before, I could stop myself, I said somewhat kindly albeit very awkwardly, "…I could help you, if you'd like. It really is simple physics, anyone can learn it, even your brother here." I somehow managed to input a tiny joke at Dean's expense wanting to lighten the mood.

I heard Dean exclaim "Hey!", yet Sam smiled. "Yeah, sure, thanks."

I didn't understand it, but somehow, I felt a very tiny smile grace my freckled face.||

I remembered the first time I actually felt like part of their family when their father, John took me in after Ezekiel died.

||With pure annoyance and apprehension in my voice, I groaned out, walking blindly, "Dean, Sam, you know I loathe surprises."

"Oh, relax, Pippy Longstocking," my blindfold, Dean chortled amused. "You like this one, we swear."

I didn't know what I was more irritated by: the eldest Winchester brother's enjoyment at my expense or the ridiculous nickname he had dubbed me with—I really had to change my hairstyle or dye my hair, preferably the former. Either way, I groaned. Dean laughed again from behind me.

Suddenly, I cursed as I stumbled on a curb or a step. "Sammy, you need to tell me when there's a step or something! I don't want my surprise to be a broken face!" I scolded.

"Sorry," the boy apologized sincerely, yet laughing at the same time. He was acting as my guide, holding both my hands as he did so. I was tempted to glare at him, but I knew it would be moot considering Dean's hands covered most of my face.

"Step up," Sam warned. I stepped up and then, Sam and Dean continued to walk me forward until I felt the temperature in the air change.

It was summer in Louisiana, so it was very hot and now, I was in cool air, which either meant I walked into a cooler in a kitchen or an air-conditioned room. I concluded it had to be the latter as the smell of the motel room the Winchesters and I were staying in for a week or so ensnared my nose, along with the mixed scents that I associated the Winchesters with—fast food, gunpowder, leather, musk, and their own individual smells. However, there were new smells as well.

The smell of something sweet, something chocolate with a hint of icing.

Cake maybe?

My hands were released and Dean's hand was removed from my face, allowing me to stop and my big peepers to open and adjust to the light.

"Surprise~!" chimed the brothers happily.

And boy, was I surprised.

A small amount of confetti was thrown about, and there were a couple of streamers hanging on the few places they could be hung from. Finally, on the small, lopsided table in the middle of the room was a couple of very, poorly wrapped presents and a slightly mushed cookie cake with "Happy Birthday" written on it (smudged) in yellow icing. Three candles were stuck in it.

I had to look like a fish with wide eyes and my mouth closing and opening, no words coming out.

Finally, I managed to say, "Wh-Why?"

The boys exchanged smiles, amused making my brow furrow bemused. Dean placed an arm around my shoulders giving me an affectionate shake. "Why? Cuz its your birthday, Lia!" he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Maybe to some people it was, but to me, no. In the orphanage or with my foster families, including Ezekiel, I never really celebrated my birthday. Heck, I was lucky I knew when my birthday even was and how old I was turning—today eleven. Thus, this whole scenario was a huge shock to me, I was very confused.

"I-I don't-" I trailed, shaking my head.

Beaming, Sam took one of my hands in his. "You're our friend, Lia, and you're part of the family now, that's why." he explained.

I stared at him astonished then, looked to a grinning Dean then, to the set-up in front of me then, back to the boys again. Then, I couldn't explain why or how, I was laughing and crying all at the same time and both for the first time in a very long while.

I was happy.||

I remembered the first time Dean defended me, making me feel like I could really depend on someone.

||If someone messed with me or Sam, I would mess with that person right back, which normally ended in a fist fight, which caused me to get into trouble with school, Uncle John, or both. Sometimes, They weren't even kids my age, sometimes they were older kids, who were a lot bigger than me. Either way, I had a short-temper and always defended myself or Sam; I knew how to take care of myself as I had always relied on just me.

So when I got in a fight with a bunch of highschoolers (I was near the end of middle school), who had been making fun of me because I was "playing in their territory" and I refused to leave, I thought I could handle the five of them with ease. However, the week before I managed to get hurt (I messed up my shoulder) during hunting practice upstate while hunting a monster, so my punches didn't pack as much of a…punch—no pun intended.

In other words, I was getting my butt kicked. Except, out of nowhere—then again, my sight was a little hazy at that point—Dean appeared and took those five freshmen out with ease. They ran off with their tails between their legs with Dean shouting obscenities and scolds after them—"Assholes", "Beatin' up a lil' girl, despicable ", stuff like that. Once they were gone, the young man turned to me and picked me up on the ground.

With concern and anger, he looked me over. "Awww, man, look at you." he frowned deeply. "They really messed you up, Lia." He added under his breath, "Dicks."

Brushing my curly bangs from my face, I glared up at him, my cheeks burning. "Why did you do that?" I wasn't sure if I was angry because he had defended me or because I had to have him defend me.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, his hands tucked into his jeans. "Other than the fact that they were kicking your ass?"—I glowered at him for that, my face turning redder.—"Cuz I had to, of course." he admitted.

"Had to?" I blinked.

Smirking good-naturedly, Dean ruffled my hair. "Yeah, had to, kiddo."

My brows furrowed for a moment, confused before I blushed furiously and kneaded my bottom lip with my teeth. I knew what he meant. Dean wasn't a mushy guy, but it was always easy to tell when he being affectionate. He was trying to say that he helped because he cared and because he cared, he'd always protect me when I needed it, I could always depend on him.||

I remembered the first time I realized that I had a best friend in Sam—including my first kiss.

||Like in the movies, I figured such a moment would be terribly awkward. However, it wasn't. I mean, it was awkward that people we would do something so embarrassing as kiss each other in a cramped closet with a high school party going on outside for seven minutes. Nonetheless, Sam and I weren't uncomfortable at all being locked in said closet together. We had been locked up in weirder and smaller places under odder circumstances thus, we did what we always did.

Talked.

I loved talking to Sam because it was so easy to do. We had a lot in common, in and out of school, among other things. Our conversations were never uncomfortable or awkward; it could go on for hours.

Then, Sam had to make it awkward.

"So…? Are we going to do something?" he asked after a moment of silence.

The closet had a very dim light, but I could see him as I looked across the closet at him, my eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Uh…what?" I blinked. I'd be lying if I said a little bit of blood did seep into my cheeks.

His cheeks burned as the male bashfully looked away and raked an uneasy hand through his chestnut brown hair. "I-I mean, w-we don't have to. I-I just figured s-since we g-got like…a min-minute left and stuff…" he stammered.

For a little while, I stared at him, thinking over his words. I had to admit, surprisingly, that kissing Sam was tempting, he was cute and he was my friend. However, he was like a brother to me. Then again, I rarely showed an interest in anyone and kissing someone was something I was curious about. So why not do it with someone I trusted and could stand for more than five minutes?

I voiced that, taking Sam off-guard before busted out laughing—I didn't understand why it was so funny. Once he calmed down, he said warmly, "You are a really weird girl, Lia."

I deadpanned. "…That doesn't make me want to kiss you."

He laughed again before scooting next to me. He blushed, but was grinning. I just sat there, staring up at him, figuring that he was going to do it any second. And then, he did. It was chaste and short, but warm and pleasant. When he pulled away, Sam asked hesitantly, "So?"

"It was nice, thank you." I figured that was the best thing to say, but hey, I was being sincere.

Sam laughed again, hugging me. "You are the weirdest best friend, but I guess I wouldn't want anyone different, let alone get my first kiss from." He was blushing when he said that, but he was completely honest.

I just shook my head, ignoring the heat in my cheeks. I honestly wouldn't want anyone else to be my best friend either—though, it was the first time I had ever thought we were; it made me happy to hear so.||

I remembered how much I truly missed and loved the boys after reuniting with them again, how complete I felt again-not to so cliched or anything.

||It had been nearly six years since I had seen Sam and to say that I wasn't overjoyed to see that baby-faced male again would be an absolute lie. He had left for Standford when I was sixteen and I had felt like a part of me went with him. He was my best friend and my brother.

Thus, when Sam and Dean stepped out of that familiar black '67 Chevy Impala to come help me with the supernatural issue I was having at Cornell, as if my body had its own mind, I ran up to the tall male and threw my arms around him. He had been taken off guard, but he regained his footing, chuckled softly, and embraced me back just as tightly.

"I missed you," I also said without thinking. I was hardly ever this affectionate, but I didn't care. Sam was here and that was all that mattered. His warmth was still the same, his smell was still the same, and I cherishing it.

"I missed you, too, Lia," he whispered in my ear, tightening his grip around my tiny frame.||

||I was waiting for it, hoping for it, desperately. We had just ridded Cornell of all the ghosts that were killing other dancers at the school and I had shown Dean that I could still handle being a hunter, that I wanted to continue being a hunter, to continue hunting with them. However, when Sam had brought up the idea, too, Dean said nothing; he wouldn't even look at me. Thus, I figured he didn't want me, he didn't care about me anymore; he was going to leave me behind again.

Yet, there the eldest Winchester was standing before me, panting slightly, having caught up with me before I entered the building of my dorm, having blurted that he wanted me to come with them.

I blinked, staring at him bemused. "But I thought-"

"Look, Elliana," he cut me off, catching his breath. He made a face, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck. "I was an ass four years ago. A big ass and I shouldn't have dealt with the whole Lucas thing in the way I did, but…" he drifted, scowling.

"But what, Dean?"

"…But I was scared."

"Scared?" That was something I thought I'd never hear him say—at least when he knew people were listening.

The handsome male gave a stiff nod. "Yeah. I honestly thought I was going to lose you that day and…and…" He sighed, smoothing his short, light hair back. His optics looked to me. "Lia, I'm good at this stuff, but I might as well say since I don't got much time left to say it…I'm sorry. I screwed up and I shouldn't have had done what I did. I can't expect you to forgive me for being such a dick and I want you to come with Sammy and I, but-"

"Okay," I interjected calmly.

He arched an eyebrow, taken aback. "O-Okay?"

"Yeah, okay. You're forgiven and yes, I'll join you guys." I responded simply. Honestly, all I had wanted was a simple apology. Dean rarely said "sorry", so when he did, even if not directly, I knew it was sincere.

"Really?"

"Yes, Deano. You guys are my friends, the only family I have left, and I'll damned if I don't help you guys find a way to keep you from going to Hell. No fucking way am I allowing that to happen nor am I gonna let some demon bitch get Sammy. So yeah, you're forgiven and yes, I'll go with you guys."

"Oh," he blinked before chuckling and smiling. "Well, that was a lot easier than I thought it would be." I just shrugged. "So do we hug it out "chick flick" style?" he joked, that usual twinkle back in his eyes.

"Help me pack my shit and lug it to the car and I'll think about it." I claimed dully, yet cheekily, turning to head into my dorm building.

"Hey!" whined Dean, trailing after me. "That's not fair! Sam got a hug, no strings attached!"

"Suck it up."

"Tch. Bitch."

I punched him in the arm for that, but I was happy. I had missed Dean and I was overjoyed that he had missed me to; we were going to be a family again.||

I remembered so many things with them. All of my good memoires pertained to them, even if they came out of something painful. They were my friends, my family, and for so many years I had wanted to thank them for such, but…

Now they were gone.

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