(A/N)-So I'm really happy that the last chapter got a really positive response! To those of you who have reviewed, I love reading your thoughts and your comments always make me smile, you guys rock my world. I'm just playing in Kripke's sandbox, by the way-I don't own Supernatural. Lydia's mine, though, but nothing else. And, since I feel bad because I can't reply to anonymous reviews through PM, I'll respond to them here. So, lpwriter4life-Yeah, I'm a HUGE Beatles/John Lennon fan, can you tell? And I love Bobby's he's awesome to write for…Anyway, here's chapter 9!

Lydia was sure that, after their kiss in Central Park, she had finally worked out the issues between her and Castiel…Okay, actually, that was a total lie. She had absolutely no clue where she stood with Cas. She was hoping that they had finally worked out their issues and that they were together again, but she knew that it was mostly wishful thinking on her part. She hadn't heard from Cas in over a week. Actually, neither she nor Bobby had heard from Sam and Dean, either. And Lydia didn't even want to think about Sam and what was going on between them. She cared for him, a weird, warped way, but she slowly realized, as the week dragged on, that she was still in love with Cas and always had been. Whatever was going on between her and Sam, it had to stop. She just wished she knew how to make it stop.

Of course, things got interesting one night. Lydia was upstairs on her laptop. She started out looking a new case, but that stopped after about ten minutes and now she was on level ten of Burger Shop while listening to her music library on the laptop on shuffle. And reading some fanfiction on the side. What could she say? Fanfiction's addicting stuff. After a while, she heard her cell phone ring, and she picked it up. "Dean?"

"Lydia, hey," Dean said. "I got a question for ya."

"Shoot."

Dean took a deep breath. "You got anything you want to tell me?"

Lydia felt like she was going to pass out; he knew. Dean knew what was going on with her and Sam. But why would Sam tell him? She got that they were brothers, but it was still really personal. "Um, no…"

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Lydia felt a sudden rush of words come out, like they were forced; she couldn't stop them. "Besides the fact that I'm banging your brother and your girlfriend's a huge bitch, nope."

Dean was stunned. "Wait, what!"

"Shit!" Lydia clapped her hand over her mouth. "I have no idea why I just said that."

"I might have an idea," Dean sounded more tired than angry. Then, he asked, "You banged my brother?"

Horrified, Lydia started telling him everything. "Yeah. It started like three months after he came back. We're just fuck buddies, though, not a relationship. I mean, I liked him a lot, but he's kind of a dick."

Dean didn't know exactly what to say to that. "Okay…"

"Yeah, that's part of it. But mostly, I'm still in love with Cas," Lydia tried to shut her mouth, but she physically couldn't. "We were kissing in Central Park last week. I really love him too. I mean, Sam's way better in bed and has a bigger penis, but I'll take Cas any day."

"Whoa, whoa! Stop!" Dean practically yelled into the phone. "Lydia, I really don't need to hear anymore..." But Dean had just remembered what Lydia had said only seconds before. "Wait, why is my girlfriend a bitch?"

"Oh, simple," Lydia said. "Because she found out I was a stripper, because Bobby locked me out and I had to crawl through the window when I got home from work, and she freaked out and assumed I was going to steal you away. But you're really not my type, and you can be an asshole. Like, no offense, but Sam's my favorite. Then again, Bobby likes you better, so I guess it evens out." Lydia paused and thought for a second. "Did you know that Bobby loves Tori Spelling? He watches her show all the time."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Okay. Thanks, Lyd."

"Yeah, he also gets pedicures sometimes. He was drunk the one night and told me." Lydia's face was beet-red by now, but she still couldn't stop talking. "Did you know his first girlfriend was a…"

"Alright, talk to you later, kid." Dean hung up the phone before he could hear anything else. He was pretty sure that he was scarred for life.

Lydia stared at her cell phone, humiliated beyond belief. "Oh my God."

"It's not your fault." Lydia looked up to see Cas looking down on her. "Dean and Sam are working a case in Calumet City where people are being forced to tell the truth. Dean was just testing a theory, I assume."

Lydia nodded weakly. "Great."

Cas put his hands in his pocket and cocked his head to the side, looking at her closely. "Are you alright?"

"No!" Lydia snapped at him as she shook her head. "Sam's going to kill me for telling Dean that we were fooling around, then kill me again because I won't sleep with him, Dean's going to kill me for calling Lisa a bitch like that, and now Bobby's going to kill me for telling Dean all of his personal secrets." Lydia flopped down face-first on the bed. "I don't suppose you have a reason to kill me too?"

Cas, instead of answering her, went over and grabbed her hands and pulled her to her feet so she was looking straight at him. He wrapped his arms around her waist at the same time as Lydia put her arms around his neck, her eyes not leaving his for even a second.

"Hello." Cas told her, even though no words were needed; he was just happy to be in her presence.

"Hi." Lydia said quietly.

The angel planted quick kiss on her forehead. "How are you?"

"Fine." Lydia seemed quiet, withdrawn. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

Lydia held him even tighter; it didn't even seem real. After almost a year and a half of being alone, she had him back with her. She was irrationally afraid that if she let go of him, he'd disappear again. "No, not just last week. Like, this whole year. Since you left. I've missed you."

Lydia felt Cas nod against her shoulder. "I know. Me too."

"So how's the war going?" Lydia quietly asked him.

Cas smiled weakly. "Terribly." He looked back at her seriously. "You seem upset."

Lydia shrugged. "Yeah?"

"Why?"

"I don't know," Lydia confessed. "I mean, I'm happy that you're here and you don't completely hate me. But Dean probably does, and now Sam probably does, and it just seems like the world's going to hell, and sometimes I just feel like I've totally lost myself and I really don't know what else to do. Not to mention I'm freaked beyond belief that Raphael is going to kill you, and I'm just having a crappy day." She paused, looking up at him. "Does that make any sense?"

Castiel nodded. "In a way." But it still didn't make Lydia feel any better. Cas felt like an idiot, but he started awkwardly moving to the music. At least he got what he wanted; Lydia burst out laughing and literally couldn't stop.

"Oh my gosh! Never do that again!"

Cas looked slightly offended. "Why?"

Lydia shook her head, still laughing. "You can't dance."

"How do you know?" Cas furrowed his eyebrows.

"I just saw you!" Lydia's smile was bigger than it had been in a while. "That was terrible!"

"Fine," Cas challenged her. "Then you try it."

Lydia snorted. "Please, I'm twice the dancer you'll ever be, buddy."

Cas almost completely forgot about the war, about Sam, about Dean-about everything. He knew, in the back of his mind, that he and Lydia didn't have much time, but he could at least make that time count. Smiling, he asked mischievously, "You think so?"

"Oh, I know so." Lydia smirked.

Cas shrugged and said, "Fine," but then quickly scooped her off her feet and held her in his arms. "That any better?"

"C'mon, Cas!" Lydia protested, still smiling. "Put me down!"

"Make me." Cas couldn't help but lose himself in the moment. He wasn't at all acting like the solider he should've been; he was acting like a child, but he didn't care.

Lydia, thinking quickly, brought her hand down and poked the angel in the ribs. It worked; Cas nearly dropped her and stared at the ceiling, tight-lipped.

"You're ticklish!" Lydia exclaimed, excited.

"Lydia…"

This was great. She had no idea how she had gone so long without knowing this vital piece of information, but this was just priceless. Lydia tickled Cas' rib again, and he jumped, almost dropping her again.

"Unfortunately, my vessel is very sensitive to…" Cas never finished his sentence, because Lydia's fingers were now dancing up and down his ribcage, and he dropped her and collapsed on the bed, laughing harder than he ever had before. An angel of the lord, actually laughing. It was almost beyond belief.

"Enough, enough!" Cas caught both of Lydia's hands in his and found himself still smiling. "You are one of the strangest humans I've ever met. And you're incredibly frustrating sometimes."

"So I've been told." Lydia smiled back at him, trying not to blush. She knew that it was ridiculous-an angel of the Lord and a stripper who hunted monsters were acting like stupid teenagers in love-but she honestly couldn't have been happier. She quickly shut her eyes and kissed him on the lips, breathing in his scent and tasting his mouth. She moved her hand to caress his cheek, and tried not to cry with happiness when she felt Cas kiss her back, his tongue now in her mouth. Their kisses grew even more heated and more passionate, and Lydia sat up, tugging off Cas' trench coat and the rest of his clothes until he was wearing nothing. At the same time, Cas was tearing off her clothes just as quickly. He had missed her so much…

Compared to the last time they had sex, this was much shorter-only about ten minutes. Cas and Lydia, gasping and breathing heavily, lay next to each other, both of them staring at each other.

"You know Bobby's downstairs?" Lydia was trying to catch her breath. "He might've heard us."

Cas nodded. "I know."

Lydia thought for a second. "Wanna go again?"

"Yes." Cas had barely said that one syllable before Lydia was on top of him again, kissing him passionately and running her fingers through his hair. Cas started moaning with pleasure and grabbed her tightly, kissing her even more passionately.

Sometime later, Bobby Singer went upstairs, going to see if the girl had found anything about a new case. He was about to knock on the door when he heard Lydia breathing heavily. "No, not there…Cas…oh my God! Oh my God, Cas!"

Bobby had heard enough. He slowly crept downstairs, returning to his study. That's what he got, he supposed, having a twenty-five year old girl living in his house. At the same time, he was beaming with pride. He had been rooting for Lydia and Cas since day one; there was just something right, something natural about the two of them. And the way that Cas looked at her, it reminded him of the way he had looked at his wife long ago. Still, he'd rather not hear anything they were doing in that room. Nothing would ever erase those noises from his mind.

Three hours later, they were finally done. Cas was holding Lydia in his arms as they just lay there silently, neither saying a word.

Until…

"Castiel?"

Cas looked at Lydia, playing with her hair. "Yes?"

"I love you." Once Cas saw the look in her eyes, he knew immediately that she meant it. She really loved him. That fact alone made him happier than he had been in over a year.

"I love you too." Cas kissed her lips again, then her forehead one last time. Then, he only sighed. "Lyd, this war…I don't even know what I'm doing. I feel like I'm losing, but then I think maybe, just maybe, I can win…" Cas buried his face in her hair. "I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life."

Lydia shut her eyes, hating what she was hearing and what she was saying. "I'm scared too. If you lose…what Raphael will do to you…"

"He'll take me away from you," Cas raised his head to look her in the eyes. "I'll die over and over again, slowly and painfully, until the end of time. I'll never get into Heaven, and I won't be able to see you ever again."

"Don't talk about that," Lydia was nothing short of terrified, yet kept talking. "Is there anything I can do? Can I help a little bit, so you can win?"

Cas shook his head firmly. "Lyd, no. You saw Raphael, how he is. If he finds out about us, he will punish you too. And if you help me, he'll show absolutely no mercy."

Lydia groaned, frustrated. "So there's nothing we can do?"

Cas kissed her cheek gently. "If I find something to help us, I'll tell you. But until then…" he shrugged. "We enjoy each other's company as long as we can."

"And not fight anymore?" Lydia smiled, turning her body to face him again.

Cas nodded and started tracing random patterns on her arm. "Yes, that would be beneficial."