The next thing Celeste knew, warm fingers were cradling her head and a warm, damp washcloth was being pressed to her forehead. She groaned in pain. Her head felt like it had a bump the size of Texas. Slowly she opened her eyes. Those familiar bright blue eyes were gazing intently into her own.

"Castiel...?" She asked.

"Celeste! You're all right. I'm glad," he answered with that beautiful grin of his. She could stare at him for days.

"You fainted," he continued. "I was worried you would react badly. How's your head?"

Celeste furrowed her brow in thought. What had happened? Castiel's rough yet warm fingers were still gently cradling her wounded head. He was touching her. Oh god, he was touching her. She tensed, then relaxed. She could stay like this forever. Suddenly it all came back to her. Her eyes shot up at him in fear.

In an instant she had backed away from him and plastered herself against the far wall. She wasn't sure whether he was crazy, or she was going crazy.

"What...the hell?!" She panted.

Castiel looked at her with a mix of sorrow and exasperation on his face. He stood up slowly, raising his hands in surrender, as if to show her that he was unarmed.

"Celeste, like I said before, I understand if you are scared and you want to run..." He was speaking slowly to her, enunciating every word as if she was a child.

Her eyes darted from him to the door, and back. She was scared, all right. Scared and confused and tired of all this weird shit! But something kept her there against that wall. She couldn't move. She wouldn't. After everything, she stayed even though she knew she could be risking her life to do so.

Her mind raced. She forced herself to breathe slowly and think clearly. What had Castiel told her before she had blacked out? That he was a fallen angel. What the fuck?! Okay, calm down. There must be a rational explanation for this. Maybe he did escape from the loony bin. 'Great,' she thought. 'I've fallen for a headcase.'

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" She asked.

Castiel thought for a moment and said, "Do you remember hearing all those reports of people turning up out of nowhere in places like cities, mountains, and even in the ocean? Eyewitnesses said the people just fell from the sky?"

Celeste remembered seeing something on the news a couple weeks ago about this exact incident. She didn't really know what to make of it, most people didn't. Some people claimed the people had "fallen out of heaven", that God had turned everyone away from his gates to incur his wrath upon the Earth. But those people were crazy, right?

"Were you one of those people?" She asked.

Castiel was still looking at her with that pained look of sorrowful exasperation. "They were my brothers and sisters. They fell from heaven and turned human. I was already here but...I lost my powers..."

"Powers?!" She asked, her mind racing again.

"Yes. You see, angels have certain abilities that humans do not. But when I turned human, I lost those powers. And now...well, I'm just like you..."

"Wait, wait...if this is all true, what caused the angels to fall anyway? Did you piss off God or what?" She couldn't believe she was actually trying to buy into this crazy bullshit.

"No, not exactly. It's a long story..."

Celeste stared at the ground, her mind full of questions. "Okay," she started. "Let's say I actually believe you. I'm not saying I do! But...then that explains..."

"Why I only have a first name?" He started. "Why I only had one set of clothes up until now? Why I don't drive a car? Why I didn't need the use of money before? Why I didn't know how to register for a hotel because angels don't sleep? Why I don't know how to properly act around a beautiful woman such as yourself?"

Celeste's knees buckled and she felt faint again. This was all too much to take in at once. Castiel must've realized that she was overwhelmed because he said, "I'm sorry. I understand if this is all very hard for you to accept. Many people still don't believe in angels, or God, or monsters for that matter..." He chuckled to himself and Celeste wondered what was so funny. Monsters? Great.

Looking back at her with sympathy in his eyes, he continued, "Again, I understand if you feel the need to run away. If you wish, I can leave in the morning. You'll never have to see me again. You can forget about all this-"

"No." She exclaimed. She looked back at him, this time with longing, instead of fear. "Don't leave. Please."

Castiel looked taken aback at her response, but pleased nonetheless. Maybe he was crazy. Maybe she was crazy. Maybe the whole damn world was crazy. Maybe he was telling the truth, and all these things had been hidden from her, from all humans. Right now her mind was on overdrive and she was just too stressed out to care anymore. So she did the only thing that would take her mind off things for the moment.

She walked towards him with confidence, wrapped her hands around his head and kissed him hard on the lips. He was very surprised at this, and seemed to not know what to do. She realized this could be another human experience he was unaccustomed to. So she grabbed his hands, still stiff at his sides, and placed them gently around her waist.

The kiss was very awkward. Celeste was kissing him but he wasn't really kissing back. He needed a little bit more encouragement. So she ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. She knew he was excited by this because she could feel the bulge stiffening in his pants. Suddenly he gained enough confidence to move his hands down to her buttocks and squeeze. He kissed her back, and she noted how hungry he was for it. She whimpered at his touch.

He pulled away and asked, "Did I hurt you?"

Celeste chuckled and said, "No, silly. You made me very happy."

Castiel smiled his bright smile at her and said, "Does this mean I can be your boyfriend then?"

Celeste chuckled again and looked down at her feet, unsure of what to say. Everything was moving so fast. She had only known this guy for a week and she had just made out with him after finding out that he was an ex-angel. She must be going crazy. But she felt happy. And that was what counted, right?

"Well, if what all you said is true, then...we've got a ways to go before you can be my boyfriend," she admitted.

She noticed the look of hurt on his face. "What I mean is, there's a lot of human things you need to learn and understand first. I mean, I obviously like you. And you obviously like me. But I think you need to get the hang of this 'being human' thing, you know?"

Castiel looked at her with hope and said, "And you'll help me with that?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, of course. But you've got a lot to learn, so you'll have to be patient, okay?"

"If I get to be with you, I'm happy," he said with that brilliant smile of his.

Ugh. She could melt just looking at him. She ached to touch him again, to take things further. But she resisted, telling herself he was just like a naive child who needed to learn how to be a man before he could do things like...that...with her. And she knew that she was going to have to be the adult in this relationship. He would tempt her, but she had to resist, at least for now.

Sorry for the short chapter! Celeste and Castiel learn a lot more about each other in the next chapter...