*Keep running!* I kept telling myself, but I knew I couldn't 'keep running' forever. My head was aching, my heart was pounding, and I was so exhausted that I felt as if I was going to pass out at any moment. So, I hid behind another building to take a short rest.

"Phew…..I think I ran far enough." I whispered to myself; although, I wasn't too sure I had gotten far enough. Still, I really needed that rest. I leaned up against the building wall for a few minutes to catch my breath. And the moment I got back up again…

*SLAM!* Someone grabbed a hold of my sweater jacket, slamming me back against the wall. "Well, well, if it isn't the little runaway." It was really dark out by then, but I knew that voice all too well. Lysander. He stepped in front of me, putting one hand on the wall, blocking any chance of my escape; and the other on my face.

"Darling, why do you keep running away from me? You know you can't escape forever." I just stood there, terrified. "I-I'm sorry…."

"Are you really?" He shot back at me. It was obvious he didn't believe me, but I didn't blame him for that; I was obviously lying. "Please don't hurt me…." I begged him. He remained silent for a moment as I stood there, shaking in silence, waiting for his reply. And then, he said…..

"….I gave you many warnings, but you heeded not a single one of them. I gave you my love! 'Don't ignore me'; that's all I ever asked of you! All I wanted was to talk to you and spend time with you and form a relationship together! I wanted your love! But you couldn't give that to me, could you?! You couldn't care LESS about me! Don't you realize how much that hurts me?!" I didn't reply, but instead thought *Hurts him? I don't even think he has anything to hurt.*

"I'm sorry Darling, but how can I care about your feelings when you clearly don't care about mine?" Lysander moved closer to me until our faces were only centimeters apart. He then whispered in a slightly harsh tone "It's time for your punishment." I became really scared now; I had no idea of what he might do. Well…..maybe a slight idea. *Oh no…he can't!*

"Luckily for you, I've got a kind heart, so I'm going to give you a choice." He waited for a moment before continuing. "You can either give in to me and do this at my house, or…." He trailed off for a moment. "If you decide to fight against me in any way, I have no problem stripping you down right. here." *What?! In the rain?! Is he crazy?!*

I just stood there staring at him, terrified. I had no idea what I was going to do. All of a sudden, there was a flash of lighting, thunder soon came afterwards. I heard footsteps coming down our way, but it was still way too dark to see who it was. It was then that I heard a familiar voice.

"Julia?!" Just by hearing that, I could tell who it was. "Nathaniel?! Is that you?!" Right now, the sound of Nathaniel's voice couldn't have made me any happier. I wished for nothing more than to burst out of Lysander's grasp and run straight into Nathaniel's arms. Of course, for the time being, this was impossible; Lysander isn't an easy guy to escape. However, that didn't stop Nathaniel from trying to save me.

"What's going on?!"

"Stay back! Who are you?!"

"O.O …."

"None of your business! Listen buddy, I don't know who you think you are, but that's my girlfriend you're messing with!"

*turns to me* "Oh, so there's another one, Darling?"

"O.O" …."

"Get AWAY from her!"

Nathaniel tries to push Lysander to the side, but Lysander doesn't budge; apparently Nathaniel isn't as strong as he thought. Lysander throws a punch at Nathaniel, barely hitting him on the side of his face. Although he's not as strong as Lysander, Nathaniel is pretty quick and can easily dodge him.

They kept fighting each other until eventually Lysander had had enough and pounded Nathaniel against the ground, keeping him there.

"I've had enough of this!"

"Ngh…."

I could tell Nathaniel wasn't getting up anytime soon, so I sprinted out of there as fast as I could, hoping to find some kind of hiding place.

It wasn't long after that when I looked back and saw Lysander catching up behind me. And fast. I quickly ducked into a small space between two buildings. I knew he would keep following me, but my strategy was to zigzag in any direction I could to confuse him and hopefully get him away or at least slow him down.

I ran, ducking into every small space between every building I could squeeze into (as long as there was an opening on the other side, that is; I was very careful not to hit a 'dead-end'.) I kept going until my legs were burning (even in rain), and even then I wouldn't stop. I was THAT desperate to get away from Lysander, it didn't matter to me what I had to do!

Unfortunately, my 'plan' didn't work. Lysander followed me through everything, not even slowing down once. He even almost caught me a couple times, which I would then avoid by turning a sharp corner and disappearing for the next two seconds. Eventually, I had reached a housing district. It was then that I realized I had no idea where I was. This was a part of town I'd never been to before, and running around in an unfamiliar area would only lead to trouble.

I kept running along the sidewalks of this unfamiliar housing district, unsure of where to go next. Lysander was still chasing me, but he wasn't as close behind as before. *I guess he did get tired…* And honestly, I was tired from running as well. *Well…..there is some distance between us….maybe I could hide if I'm quick about it.*

That's what I told myself, even though I knew it was completely hopeless. But at this point, I didn't care; at the soonest opportunity I could, I ran up and jumped into a row of bushes beside someone's house. *This is bad…now I'm trespassing! .*

I hid silently in the bushes, but I could still hear Lysander's footsteps fast approaching me. *…..I'm done for. -.-* It was at that moment when whoever lived there stepped outside and turned the porch light on. "Hey! Who's out there?!...Lysander?" I remained silent, still in those bushes, frozen in terror. I didn't hear Lysander reply to this guy either. *Wait…..the guy who lives here…knows Lysander? Come to think of it…I know that voice.*

This 'mystery guy' spoke again. "What are you doing here?! In case you haven't noticed, we're not friends anymore! So what are you doing at my house?!" Lysander remained silent. "…..She's here, isn't she?" My eyes widened at that. *Could he be talking about…? o.o* Lysander still said nothing. "Isn't she?!"

"…..I have to go." I heard Lysander say quietly, and listened as he walked away. I hoped that the other guy would go back inside and forget about the whole thing so I could make my escape. But instead….

"I know you're there somewhere. Get out here!" He shouted into the night. *...no…* I thought to myself; all I wanted was for him to go away so I could go home. That was all. "Tsk fine, have it your way. Demon, find her." *Demon? Castiel! O.O* I realized right then and there that the guy who was talking just now…was Castiel.

After a few seconds, I heard something rustling the bushes I was hiding in, and in poked a doggie's head. "Demon~! ^w^" Demon barked once, then pounced on me and started licking my face. "Hee Hee~ Stop it~! w" I pushed Demon off me and noticed someone standing there. "Good boy, you found her. Let's go, Slim." Castiel grabbed my arm and pulled me up, then walked me into his house, Demon following close behind.

"Sit." Castiel told me as soon as we were inside. I picked a spot on his couch and sat down. "Wait here." He left for a moment, then came back with two towels. He gave one to me and threw the other around himself, sitting down next to me.

(Demon just shook himself off. w)

"Ok. I want you to tell me what just happened. Why was Lysander there? Why were YOU there? WHAT is going on?" I looked down for a moment before replying "Well….Lysander was chasing me."

"Why was he chasing you?"

"He wanted to punish me because I ignored him."

"….because you ignored him?"

"I didn't talk to him for two days. At all."

"And he was going to punish you? How?"

"I'd…rather not say."

"No, tell me, Slim. What was he going to do to you?"

"He said if I fought against him, he would strip me down..."

*sighs* "Alright, you know what? This ends now. I'm not letting him near you again. I'm not letting ANYONE near you again. In fact, I'm not letting YOU out of my sight again!"

"But wait. If I'm not allowed out of your sight, doesn't that mean…..?"

"Yeah. You're staying here. With me."

"OaO But….I-!"

"We can go to your place to get your stuff after school tomorrow. But then that's it. You're done living there."

"OAO Wait! That's not-!"

"Fair? Yeah, I don't care."

"OAO But-!"

"It's bedtime."

"A"

Castiel stood up and grabbed my hand, dragging me to his room. Once there, he closed the door behind him and motioned me to get into bed. "Go on, Slim." "Ok…." However, knowing that there was only one bed in the room, I was inevitably reluctant to do so.

Castiel turned off the lights and crawled into bed next to me, wrapping one of his arms tightly around my waist. "Hey…..it's ok. I'm not that bad." It was dark, but I could still tell he was grinning at me. I smiled back, but I was still a little nervous inside. I mean, I knew Castiel wasn't going to try anything, but I just didn't feel ready to move in yet. It was all so sudden.

"Goodnight Slim…." He whispered into my ear. "…I love you." He kissed my forehead and rested up against me, keeping me as close to him as possible. As for me, well….I was still too shocked by his words to even think about falling asleep. *Loves me…? Castiel…..? o.o* Just that thought alone took me a good half-hour to get through. And then…..

*AAAAAAHH! Nathaniel! What have I done?! OAO Is he ok? Where is he right now?! I should've stayed! Aaaah, I'm such a terrible person! .*

I felt like the worst person in the world for leaving Nathaniel out there, injured in the rain. I just ran away, only thinking of my own well-being. What was wrong with me?! There was no way I could sleep now. Not even at five in the morning. Nope.

My thoughts haunted me for what seemed like forever. And yet, I knew this was still going to be what it already was. A VERY. LONG. NIGHT. *Ugh….. -.-*

How I wished for morning to come…