"Castiel, we need to talk," I started as I scrubbed the plates clean.

The rough fingers that had been dancing across the strings of his guitar, suddenly stopped. "Okay?" He said wary of what was going to come next.

Clearing my throat, it was a struggle to keep my voice steady. "My aunt's coming back in two days, and she is bringing some of my cousins with her. The thing is… because of the break in that happened recently, my aunt is moving us to a new neighborhood."

"Damn," Castiel sighed. "Guess I won't be able to come over as much. That really sucks."

Dipping my head to my chest, I quietly agree, "yeah. I'm going to miss you."

"Well at least we can see each other at school and over the weekends. It's not the end of the world!" Castiel reminded me. "Also, it's better that you're in a safer neighborhood, it'll make me worry less."

"So, you don't mind? It doesn't bother you?"

"Why would I…" Castiel set aside his guitar and hoisted me up into his arms. "Of course I mind. It means I'll have to go back to being at an empty house at the end of every day instead of coming here, but your safety is more important than my selfish wishes."

Bunching his shirt within the spaces of my fingers, I rested my forehead against his. "You know you are welcome to come over whenever you want. Aunty loves having you over."

"Just Aunty?" He whispered. I could feel his smirk when he gave me a peck on the lips.

Stifling a giggle, I snuggle closer to him as he climbed the stairs. "Why else would I invite you over to my house every chance I can than? I mean it can't be because I like having you over!"

Castiel huffed in displeasure and dropped me to my bedroom floor. "Fine. Lying little girls need to go to bed."

"What do you mean? It's only 7:30!" Playfully throwing a tantrum, I grabbed a discarded sock and threw it at Castiel.

Instead of going along with my mischievous act, he instead gazed at the floor. With bangs covering Castiel's eyes and most of his face, I couldn't read his expression. "Night," he whispered.

"Wait!" I shouted before he could turn the lights off. "What are you talking about, Castiel?" While he rubbed at his eyes, I wondered if he was sleepy himself. No. It almost seemed like trying to contain tears.

"I just think that if you go to bed earlier, you might get more sleep even if the nightmares do come." Pain pooled within his beautiful stormy grey eyes when he peered at me. "You've been getting them every night since the burglary, I was thinking, if you went to bed earlier, you might not be so tired the next day."

Wrinkling my nose, I stared at my boyfriend. He thought that was the solution? "Don't be silly, Castiel. The only way my nightmares have not happened is when you were near me. When I felt safe and protected."

"But even that hasn't worked all the time, it even seems like they are getting worse!"

I couldn't argue with that. Night terrors which had been inconsistent and only lasted a short while, turned into a regular experience during sleep making it so that I don't even get a few minutes of rest. Morphing from shadows and hurt into a vivid fantasy that bears a sort of pain one cringes at the thought of. My aunt told me that I started to have them because of the accident I experienced almost three years ago, but the diversity of agony and details I can recall awake did't remind me of the accident. If only the thoughts of my parents hadn't escaped me, did I think I could connect the dots. I was told that the two center figures of my life were the lapses to my mind because the grief of losing them was unbearable at the time. Maybe I could bear it now though. Not only did I have my Aunt by my side, Rosalya, Armin, Alexy, Lysander and especially Castiel offered a support that I wouldn't have even comprehended I would have after the accident. I'm stronger now too.

"Hey Castiel? Do you think I should go to a therapist to try and figure out if this my past does connect with these nightmares?"

Sighing in frustration, Castiel sat crosslegged down on the floor with me. With him running his fingers through my hair so pleasantly, I couldn't help but lean forward to get closer to the warmth radiating from the palm of his hand. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"That would be nice," I whispered. Crawling towards Castiel, I fit myself snuggly on his lap. Our breath mingled together as I tentatively glanced my lips across his. "I don't tell you how much I appreciate you enough, but I do hope you know, Castiel, that having you by my side brings me a lot of happiness." An unknown source of confidence fueled me as I scattered kisses on his jawline.

"Kira," he moaned in delight as he tilted his head back. "It's rare for you to take initiative, but I like it."

Snickering at the soft gasps my usually aggressive boyfriend was making, I nibbled on the white smooth expanse of his throat. "I love you Castiel."

"Damn it. Maybe you should cool it a little bit, huh Kira?" Wrapping an arm around my waist, Castiel tugged me off of him and onto the floor. On his elbows with his face inches from mine, he glared. "You're putting me into a tight spot right now!" Encircling my wrists and pinning me onto the floor, to only give me a deep enthralling kiss. "You always have been one to test my patience though."

I giggled out a 'sorry' only for it to dissolve into the air uselessly as my mouth was once again captured. We spent the next few moments sharing kisses and tangling our limbs together. In the end we collapsed on the carpet, gasping for air.

"You've certainly gotten better."

"With what?"

"Truthfully? Everything. Kissing and would have thought that the little innocent Kira I met all those months ago would have turned into a kitty with some actual claws." Rolling on his side, Castiel pinched the tip of my nose lightly. "Hey, do you want to get ready for bed now? I'll go start a movie downstairs, so we can fall asleep on the couch again."

My limbs popped as I stretched. "Have both of the dogs been fed and are outside?"

"Yep."

"Then that sounds great. I'll put on my jammies and be right down."

Castiel brushed a few strands from my face. "I'm guessing you don't want anything with werewolves in it?"

"Of course!" I exclaimed.

Before leaving the room, Castiel gave me one last peck on the forehead. "I guess even when the kitty has claws, she is still a scaredy-cat."

It would be embarrassing to say how long I stood looking into the disastrous depths of my closet, trying to decide on what to wear. While he had seen me in my pjs last night, I hadn't been planning ahead for that to happen. If I had some sexy sheer nightgown, this wouldn't have been a problem. Even with the knowledge that no matter how much he complained, Castiel would always respect my wishes on how far our physical closeness would get, didn't help. What had added to my worry was the fact that I had a feeling that all my inhibitions about sleeping with him would not stop me. With that concept making a mark in my regular thoughts, I felt the need to appear more confident and more beautiful than ever.

This drive came from an ugly dark part of my heart, where it pounded in fear that this wouldn't be Castiel's first time. That his first time had already been stolen, by Deborah. Attempting to ask that question had always come with the fear that I would then be compared to her. That I wouldn't perform as well, and the last thing I wanted was him to be disappointed with me. Carving a deep sense of loneliness within me, I would have usually called Rosalya to talk about this. With her hands busy with Violette, I couldn't conceive a tolerable reason for bothering her with my petty problem. It seemed as though I was going to have to face this problem without the advice of my best friend to guide me.

In the end, I chose a sweatshirt and yoga pants to wear. As I walked downstairs, I could hear the noisy clashing of two robots. Entering the living room only confirmed my suspicions, he put on a Transformer movie. Seeing me step towards the couch, Castiel turned the volume way down and got on his back. It would have been funny to see just how far off his legs hung off of the end of the couch, if I didn't think of how uncomfortable it probably was. He patted his chest to gesture that I should lie on top of him.

"I don't think we should…" I really didn't want to talk to him about Deborah while lying there.

Castiel rolled his eyes and tugged on the end of my sweatshirt sleeve. "It's how we usually end up sleeping anyways."

Blushing at the reminder, I shook my head no. "I think you should sit up."

"Whatever," though sounding a little irritated, he complied. He began guzzling some bottled water as I twiddled my thumbs on the far other side of the couch. How could I bring up the topic delicately?

"Castiel if we… you know... would it be your first time?"

Coughing up water, he spluttered incoherently. "What-what? A-hack. Ugh" Coughing until his throat cleared, he stared at me with wide eyes. "Why do you care?"

Hmmmm. I didn't want to tell him the truth. It would sound so weak, so pathetic, but I couldn't just say I was curious. My hands wrung themselves as I bit my lip.

"No. It wouldn't. Deborah and I did it early into our relationship." I didn't want to hear this. "Actually, I don't think I was even ready to go all the way, but she insisted and I thought we were in love," he gave a scary patronizing laugh at that. "She didn't seem to place any value on going that far with me, so I pretended it meant nothing to me either. If only I had noticed the fact that she just wanted to do it no matter who it was with, we probably wouldn't have lasted long. There is so much you can ignore and avoid in the person you love."

"I'm sorry." Castiel had seemed a little more than hurt when he spoke about his past relationship. It seemed as if Deborah had left a bigger scar than I had originally thought. Brutal honesty of his made me open up to my own reason for wanting to know. "I was already pretty sure that you two had done it, but I wanted to make sure because if not, than I would be worrying about nothing."

Intrigued by my last statement, Castiel finally turned to meet my eyes. "What are you worried about?"

Feelings of helplessness and panic began to make my heart beat wildly in my chest. Seeking some source of comfort and grabbed Castiel's pant leg to ground myself. "I'm wo-o-orried th-th-at I wo-on't be able t-to make you ha-appy. That I'll disappoint you because you have already experienced better," I whooshed out at the end. The words couldn't get off of my tongue fast enough.

Hurt bloomed across Castiel's features. Then all I could see was blackness of his t-shirt as he gave me a crushing hug. Falling back onto the couch, he heaved me up on top of him and into the exact position I was trying to avoid only minutes ago. "Kira, you will never have to worry about anything that happens with me in the bedroom. Knowing you are willing to give me the privilege of experiencing something so sacred with you, is enough for me." He pulled me towards him until I was towering over him. Thick black hair becoming a curtain between us and the world. "You already have beaten Deborah without even trying. She put any part of herself into doing it with me. It was all action without the connection. You consider not only a physical but an emotional action. Kira, you value and treasure taking that step. That's a part of you I love. You see taking each step deeper into the relationship a gigantic thing because to you it represents opening yourself up more." Swiftly, Castiel put some blankets on top of us and turned off the lights. Not being able to see anything only made his next words vibrate within my self. "It doesn't matter if you choose to make love to me now, later, or never, I'm already happier than I ever was with Deborah. Good night, Kira. I love you."

It took a few minutes for the erraticness of my heartbeat to finally calm down. Castiel's steady breathing did help. Blissfully content with where I was at and who I was with, my eyelids closed on their own accord as I sunk into sleep. It didn't matter that only in a few hours would I awaken in terror, right now, at this moment, nothing terrible could touch me.

I was watching Dajan shoot baskets after school. The day itself had been uneventful. Violette was home packing and Armin had took the day off. There was no drama whatsoever.

Castiel and I were about to head home, but Castiel had said something about going to the basement with Lysander. He had told me to wait here. Apparently, basketball practise was over, but Dajan told me he practised every day.

"Are you doing better in that class I helped you with?" I casually called out with my boredom ever increasing.

Dajan paused in his free throws and turned to look at me. "Yes. Thanks to those tips you showed me, math has gotten much easier. Has Castiel grades gotten better, I mean he is dating one of the smartest girls in the school."

"They are passable," I sniff. Truthfully, my grades had slightly dropped too. Ever since Castiel and I had started going out, our weekly study dates had switched from studying to dates. "But he has also started trying harder in school and that is what makes the real difference."

Dajan lazily spun the basketball on his finger. "I'm sure Castiel's ego wouldn't allow him to appear dumber than his girlfriend, that, and he wouldn't want anyone to think bad of you for dating him."

"No one would dare think that. I'm sure Castiel isn't someone who would let people's idiotic comments bother him."

Dajan snickered and shrugged his shoulders before shooting again. "It's true that other people's opinions on who he is as a person doesn't bother him, but I think the story is a bit different when it comes to you."

Every shot Dajan made, it effortlessly made it through the net. "Who is better at basketball, you or Castiel?"

Dajan didn't hesitate in his answer, "Me, by a long shot."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Dajan," Castiel snarked as he strolled into the gym with his hands stuffed in his pockets. "Come on, Kira, we can head to your house now."

"Okay." Carefully, I stood up from my spot on the bleachers and began to make my way down.

Dajan did a quick layup before turning back. "Kira isn't dating you for your basketball skills, Castiel, so there is no reason to lie to her about how much you suck compared to me."

"You only believe that because all you do is play basketball and all you talk about is basketball. Some of us actually have lives outside of sports."

Dajan mockingly gasped. "The guy who used to only talk about music and complain about Nathaniel is actually giving me advice on how to live my life?"

"Used too? Dajan! That's still all he talks about," I exclaimed. Sharply glaring at me, Castiel crossed his arms and began to tap his foot.

Enjoying seeing how Castiel reacted to his teasing Dajan chimed in again. "Kira I said used too because now he has three topics; music, Nathaniel and you. Actually, now that I think about it, Castiel talks more about you than the student council president."

Flushed in embarrassment, Castiel looked ready to whap Dajan on the head. Instead, Castiel walked to where I was and offered his hand.

I gratefully took his outstretched hand. "Glad to know I'm beating Nathan at least."

"I didn't know it was a competition," Castiel muttered threading his fingers through mine. Beginning to be tugged towards the exit, I turned around to wave goodbye to Dajan.

"I'll see you later Dajan!"

Dajan grinned at the two of us. "Just so you know, Kira, if you ever get tired of Castiel, you can always find me right-"

Castiel shut the door with a bang. "Annoying guy," he mumbled in exasperation.

"Hey! What were you doing with Lysander in the basement anyways?" I asked, changing the subject.

Castiel swooped down and forcefully kissed me. I could feel my knees began to weaken underneath the surprised onslaught. "It's a surprise," he suggestively breathed into my ear.

"Oh," was all I could squeak out.

The two of us drove home together to find my aunt's car overflowing with packed boxes. Even our driveway had various household items strewn upon the concrete.

"Kira! Castiel! You can help me with taking the rest of the stuff over to the new house!" Aunty shrieked enveloping both of us into a bear hug.

"Hold on, Aunty. What are you talking about?" I puffed struggling for air.

She let go of us to only grab both of my shoulders. "While I was away, I was looking up houses on the internet for us to move into. I found a great one, in a nice neighborhood, not to far away from here and it was at a great price, so I bought it! Castiel can you please be a dear and help me with this blasted couch?"

Flabbergasted at just how fast things were moving, I froze in shock as I watched my boyfriend quietly help move the couch into the back of a strange truck. "Whose truck is that?"

"Oh! It's your cousins! Didn't I tell you that she just went through a divorce and got all this nice stuff now? They are the ones moving to Sweet Amoris! Anyways, this is her ex-husbands truck but since she got most of the stuff, she is letting me borrow it and then she is going to sell it. Would you like to buy it, Castiel?"

"I have my motorcycle and Kira, so I'm good."

Aunty wildly exclaimed, "Oh? You got your motorcycle fixed? Since when?"

"Awhile ago, but Kira doesn't like how dangerous it's, so I don't ride it around as much anymore. I didn't think you guys were going to move away right when you got here."

Her hand fluttered in a waving motion, and Aunty smiled broadly. "Thank you so much for taking care of Kira up until now. It has been a real pleasure having you as our neighbor, Castiel. You don't need to worry though. The new neighborhood is only 10 min. away from here, and she can still pick you up for school. I'm not trying to separate you two or anything like that. Both of you are good for the other one, and even being Kira's aunt and guardian, I can still recognize the bond you two share."

"Aunty," I sniffled overwhelmed with happiness that I had such a great person like her around me.

She only gave me a tight squeeze on the shoulder. "Don't cry, Kira! You and Castiel still need help me with the rest of this stuff. I've spent the whole day traveling back and forth, so this is the last of it. Now, aren't you excited to move into the same neighborhood as your cousin and second cousins? I'll tell you all about them as we finish this."