New Years' Eve.
Maybe Lia should double-check her life choices.
8:49 a.m.
Lia woke up with a start.
That's how she wakes up every day, actually, but today it was in the literal sense. One that made her almost smash her skull against the headboard of her bed.
Auntie has been getting out of her shell more often ever since her sudden outburst on Christmas. It took her at least a day, but that didn't matter. She's been cleaning up (randomly), making meals (randomly), and offering to wash the dishes (she's only asked that once). Still – now Aunt Meredith's back to normal.
Normal, as in she belts out into song mode every second, making Lia want to cry sometimes (but that was because Auntie was getting louder, and louder, and louder each time she sang, hurting Lia's sensitive little ears and causing Lia's dad to scream at her and politely ask her to get the fuck out of their apartment now.)
(Auntie's every response was another song.)
But Lia wasn't mad or anything, because Auntie was Auntie – what could you expect? She was a woman of many masks. Also a woman with killer Celine Dione impersonation skills.
The thing was, sometimes Auntie didn't know when to back the hell off or when she was being too much. For example:
Lia was sleeping - peacefully and quietly; dreaming about the sun and the moon and the universe as a whole. Of the endless sky and the surge of stars.
It's pretty, really, when you think about it: how it naturally lights up the raven-colored darkness, how it guides people around. It's nice. Lia wants it all – the blue evenings, the black nights, and the pink sunrises.
But then – and she just knew it was coming; the good never lasts for her – a bashing cacophony tore her out of her slumber, and right when she opened her eyes, the striking sun exploded in her vision, making her partially blind for a few seconds.
"Rise and shine, Lianne! We're gonna be active today, so get up and wash yourself and do something with your hair, please – it really doesn't look good – then come eat the breakfast I made!" Auntie basically roared, her pearly white teeth making Lia's vision stutter again. Her smile was so, so big. Lia had the decency not to slap it right off her make-up filled face.
So then, Lia gave a whimper, laying back down and throwing the duvet back on her head and crawled deeper inside of it to absorb the heat.
In conclusion, Lia McDonald's life never began with a brush of a warm breeze like most; it began with a BANG that announced the arrival of something odd. And Lia wouldn't have had it any other way.
6:32 p.m.
"And then I said, 'You should probably eat your vegetables.' He didn't see it coming!" Auntie was howling, a single tear streaming down her face. "I was warning him for the future. Because if he doesn't eat his vegetables, he'll end up like one of those weaklings we see on T.V every day. God bless."
Lia's father looked disturbed, taking a bite of his forkful of pasta. "Interesting, Meredith. It almost sounds unreal."
"Why wouldn't it be real? Shut up, Hank. Buzzkill," Auntie muttered, narrowing her eyes. "Some people are humorless," she added, nudging Lia and 'subtly' pointing at Lia's dad.
Lia cleared her throat. "Auntie? Can you take me to a friend's house at eight o'clock or something? Just this once, I promise. I won't ask again."
She had canceled work just for this one event. If she wanted to be truthful, Lia had been thinking about Castiel's party for days. She already picked out what she was going to wear, which was obviously going to be judged by Alexy anyway, and she'd been planning on what she was going to avoid. Like pretzels. And people.
But what Lia's figured out (by watching a couple of shows to understand what the hell was going to happen there) was that no matter what occurred, she was going to end up being surrounded by teenagers. And it'll clash with her introvert personality.
She's been thinking about dropping out, saying "You are all disgusting dickheads, goodbye" or something dramatic, but this was a bit important. Being quiet and always at home wasn't great at all. It might be a big step into her life. Or whatever.
"But its New Years' Eve, Lia," Auntie whined, scrunching her nose in distaste. "You're supposed to spend time with me!" She pouted, tilting her head and batting her too-long eyelashes.
Lia's dad scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Go anywhere you want, sugarplum. Just don't get dragged by a couple of crazy kids, 'kay? And don't do anything stupid. Pinky here will drive you."
"Don't call me Pinky when you look like the splitting image of the giraffe in those Madagascar movies, Hank." Auntie looked so angry, her face was becoming the same color as her hair. Then she turned to Lia, huffing like a child. "Fine. Fine, I'll take you, Lia. I'm having an early nap." As she said this, she picked up her suddenly empty plate and strutted off, whipping her hair purposely (and violently) as she sashayed out of view.
"Anyway." Lia's dad got up as well, stretching as he picked up the remaining leftovers on the table aside from Lia's full plate of pasta. "I'm gonna hit the sheets, too. Have fun, kid. Happy New Year, too, when it's twelve o'clock or something. Love you," he said, pressing a kiss on to Lia's cheek and then he was gone.
Lia sighed, spinning her fork until it was full of saucy noodles. She'll have to pray for success.
8:30 p.m.
Armin gave her the address to Castiel's house on the phone the other day, but not before he whined about how Alexy had been forcing him to wear hideous, funky outfits that were so terrible, the only way to get Alexy to stop was to cry loudly in the middle of the night until their entire family woke up.
Lia tried not to laugh – because imagining Armin cry was such a joke – but instead, she wished him luck and said words he wanted to hear, like "I'm so sorry," and "that must suck."
And now, as she brushed her teeth so hard she could taste the metallic flavour of blood in her mouth, she tried to ignore the twisting feeling deep inside her. It felt like something was going to go wrong, but it was covered with a layer with unwavering excitement. This could be good, if only she stopped thinking so darkly.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Lia sighed, licking over her aching teeth with her tongue. She breathed harshly, trotting out of the bathroom and batting her hair out of her eyes.
Auntie was standing by the door, looking tired and not-so-Auntie. Her eyes too dull and her perfect magenta locks were matted on her forehead like she hadn't even tried to wash up. It made Lia step back a little, to examine this new person in her home. All Aunt Meredith did was blink.
"Hey. You ready?" the woman asked – and even her voice sounded fucked up. Lia scrunched her eyebrows together and nodded. Aunt Meredith slipped on a pair of pink fluffy slippers and walked right out of the door.
Everything that just happened took a long time to register through Lia's head, and when it did, she felt like she's been slapped right across the face. Was Auntie sick? Tired? Homesick? Did she eat something disgusting or with chemicals that seeped into her brain and took over her body? Lia gasped, tugging on her leather boots and following her aunt.
Maybe Auntie was drunk. Her movements couldn't prove Lia's assumption, but the way she looked could. Auntie's usual bright face was now empty and hollow, her body bowed at the waist throughout their short walk to the car. She was definitely sick. Or something.
Once they were comfortably seated in Auntie's pink getaway car, Lia tugged on her seat belt and stared blatantly at her aunt, who was now paying attention to her nails, occasionally sniffing.
"Auntie?"
Said woman jumped at the mention of her name, muttering something under her breath. Finally, she turned, face-to-face with her niece.
"Are you okay?" Lia asked, tilting her head and felt her heart drop out of her chest when Auntie's face suddenly crumpled. "What happened? Are you hurt? Sick? Do you need—"
"Your dad is mean, Lia!"
Lia did a double-take, pulling a face and muttering curses. What the hell? Lia actually thought she was in need of medical attention, and all Auntie wanted was to gossip shit about her brother-in-law? Lia sighed.
"God, Auntie—"
Aunt Meredith cut her off. "I'm serious! He's always making fun of me and I never do anything! Plus, he's trying to make me do things I don't want to do and that's not fair." Auntie looked like a child, like she was trying to argue her parent into buying her the Barbie doll she wanted.
Lia actually felt like she needed to smack some sense into Auntie, but instead, she smiled. "It's okay, Auntie. My dad can be a big loser, I know. But don't let him get to you, 'kay?" She waited until Auntie nodded and then continued. "Because you're so much better than him."
Auntie's face suddenly lit up like a jack-o-lantern, her teeth so white that Lia could see them even in the dark when she smiled. "Thanks, Lia. You're right, you're dad's a big oaf and his head makes him look like Doctor Phil. Get it? Because it's heart shaped!" her booming laughter made Lia jump.
And then Auntie suddenly pulled the ignition and that was how Lia almost died.
8:55 p.m.
By the time Lia arrived, she was already smacked with the stench of alcohol and underage smoking. And sweat. Yup, can't forget that.
Apparently, Castiel didn't even live that far away. Just about ten minutes while driving. That was good, because Lia didn't want to stay in a car with Auntie anymore. It was too much to look at, anyway.
As Lia pushed past crowds of people – some attempting to play beer pong but failing miserably at it – she ignored the fast beating of her heart. God, there were pretzels everywhere. On the floor, on tables, being crunched by disgusting monsters and stepped on by other monsters. Pretzels. Everywhere.
Lia winced, then winced again when she was pushed so hard she almost lost balance. Great.
Finally, she located Armin's head of dark hair and lanky, long figure. A hesitant smile was immediately pressed on to her face, and she shoved her way over to him, Alexy, and Kentin. This was good. At least she wasn't alone, right?
"Hey!" she exclaimed, placing herself comfortably on a chair beside the three boys. They looked very sober, which was also another thumbs up. Lia did not want to deal with more drunk assholes.
Kentin was nibbling on his thumb, shaking a little less than Auntie was. Lia frowned, raising an eyebrow. He turned to her, then jumped when he noticed she was staring back at him. "Hi."
Alexy sighed, shaking his head. "He thinks someone's stalking him." The blue-haired boy had a very endearing grin on his face, like he knew Kentin was stupid, but very cutely stupid. It made Lia smile too.
"I don't think, I know!" Kentin shouted, whimpering slightly. He stuck his hand through his hair. "And it's all Armin's fault because he wrote my phone number with a permanent marker in really, really big writing all over Castiel's walls! And I keep getting texts from someone I don't even have listed in my contacts." His green eyes suddenly widened. "What if they find me?"
Armin barked a roar of loud, booming laughter, doubling over and clapping his hands. "Best thing ever! God, Kentin. Calm down. They can't do that."
Lia rolled her eyes, ignoring Armin's choking noises. "Did you text back?"
"Yeah. I told them to stop or I'll, you know. Call the police." Kentin was fidgeting in his spot, sipping something (probably fizzy orange juice – Kentin wasn't the type to go against rules) in a red Solo cup. Although he was trying his best (or at least Lia thought he was) to look perfectly normal, his eyes kept flickering to his cell phone, which was placed next to his left leg and continuing to buzz with new texts. "Or my dad."
Armin slipped off of his chair, his laughter not even subsiding a bit.
Alexy patted Kentin's arm soothingly. "It's okay, Kenny. They won't do anything to you, I promise." Alexy was looking positively hyper, cheeks an abnormal pink color and violet eyes hazy.
"But what if they do come?" Kentin insisted. "Stop laughing, Armin!" he snapped suddenly, which did not help. "It's not funny. I could be getting stalked. My life is at risk!"
Armin just waved a hand and braced himself from his spot on the floor.
"They probably won't," Lia demurred, because Kentin looked beyond worried, and it might get Armin to stop laughing. It didn't, though, but she shrugged anyway, continued. "They don't even know what you look like."
Alexy nodded. "Yeah, Ken. So stop worrying and do something fun with me. Wanna dance? Eat? Sing some karaoke? What do you want to do?" Alexy was babbling, his words slurring together and bleeding into each other. Lia had to wait a few seconds until she understood what he said.
"I'm leaving." Lia scooted backwards until her wooden chair was against the wall, which was probably three feet away, and stretched. "Going to come back, though. I'm a little hungry. Do you guys want anything?"
Armin sat up, running a hand through his flaky, unruly hair. "Get me some of the shiny stuff this wonderful, strong camo-wearing boy is drinking," he said, point at Kentin and laughing once more before dropping on to the wooden floorboards and looking very much dead.
"It's sparkling cider, Armin," Kentin retorted, a frown pulling at his lips. He turned back to Lia, shaking his head. "It's beside the back door in a glass bowl."
Lia nodded, smiling widely and standing up. All she had to do was avoid disgusting, sweaty drunk people and the smell of pretzels. Easy.
9:26 p.m.
It turns out that it wasn't easy at all.
First of all, there were people everywhere. Some were locked in closets that were also everywhere,shouting and crying for help. Lia, of course, was too afraid to open the closets because she could get hurt. Yes, it was possible to be that selfish.
A part of her considered opening at least one, but Lia decided to stay in her own lane. Chances are those scary, helpless people were just screaming their lungs off for the fun of it. And yes, it is possible to be that obnoxious.
Second of all, there was a cloud of smoke hanging in the air from a group in the far left corner – that Lia was sure Castiel was a part of – chain-smoking and shotgunning. Lia couldn't see a thing, let alone fucking breathe, and she had to take a second every few minutes to rub her eyes from the stinging sensation.
Okay, there was no third of all, only because the back door was very close to where she and the boys were sitting at, which also meant that the glass bowl of sparkling (alcoholic?) cider was there too. As Lia caught sight of the door, she ran, pushing over nasty couples that were kissing horrendously and feeling each other like they had no self-control, and as childish as it made her seem, it made her sick. It's like touching something slick and oily and unknown.
Lia sighed once she successfully made it to the snack table (with the glass bowl – can't forget that, can you?). Grabbing two cups, Lia picked up the big wooden spoon and poured her and Armin some, concentrating on not letting it spill. Finally, once the cups were filled, Lia set them down, smiling at her work. Good.
She picked up her cup and sipped it, spinning around to watch the crowds of people around the house and looking for people she recognized. Oddly, Nathaniel was here. Lia frowned. Castiel didn't seemed to be the type that invited people he really, truly disliked, but then again, it seemed like every student from Sweet Amoris was here. Actually, Lia was sure everybody from school was here.
All of a sudden, everything seemed too stuffy, like even if she tried, she wouldn't breathe in correctly. Lia set down her cup and made a break for the back door, eyes wide as she frantically waited for the air to hit her skin and clean, clear oxygen to breathe in.
Fortunately, it only took a few minutes to get to the door, and Lia sucked in a long breath as she stepped outside, leaning against the cold stone wall behind her.
Turning her head, she discovered that Castiel was standing right there, about to interrupt the fresh air with another cigar. She rolled her eyes. "Can you quit it? Your house is already filled with smoke."
Castiel seemed startled at hearing another voice, stepping back and almost dropping his lighter. He swore colorfully before looking at her. "Shit. Fucking stalker," he said, shaking his head. Once his fingers were steadier, he lit it and put it in his mouth, standing next to her with a look of content on his face.
"So," Lia begins, wanting to break the thick atmosphere that wasn't just filled with tension and discomfort, but smoke, too. She rolled her sweaty neck on the cool stone wall. "So. Nice party."
Castiel makes an indifferent noise, shrugging. "Thanks?"
"Where's Candy?" Lia didn't even want to say those words, but they just found a way out of her mouth without her permission. She shut her eyes, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood.
The red-head paused, cigarette hanging out of his mouth awkwardly, his eyes wide. "I don't know. She was supposed to be with me, but." He stopped. "I don't know."
Lia hummed. Maybe she was talking up Armin. Or maybe Kentin. She was probably with Nathaniel. "Okay."
"Why aren't you inside with video-game boy?" Castiel asked.
A genuine, throaty laugh found its way out of her mouth. Castiel was always assuming she spent about ninety-nine percent of her free-time with Armin, which was partially a lie. She, unfortunately, had other things to do. "I wanted to get something to drink for the both of us but it's too steamy inside. And crowded."
Castiel shook his head, a small smirk on his face. "Of course you were."
A comfortable silence followed shortly after Castiel's words, and Lia sighed, breathing in the smell of minty cold and – just something new. It made her eyes flutter shut, thinking about what was yet to come. It's nice.
Suddenly, there's a big, warm hand on her head, ruffling her hair, and Lia would tell Castiel fuck off if it wasn't so damn comforting. She leant into his touch, her smiling widening.
"You know," she began, letting out another long sigh. "It's not that bad."
Lia didn't even know what she was talking about, let alone Castiel, but he made still a noise of agreement. They stand like that until they both heard loud cheering, so deafening that Lia jumped and Castiel retreated his hand back like he got burnt.
Right, Lia thought awkwardly, wavering in her spot. Castiel didn't even seem bothered; he continued smoking in peace, puffing out shapes that blended into the night as they disappeared. I'll just go then. It seemed slightly weird, though, because she felt some kind of emptiness at the top of her head where Castiel fingers used to be and she felt a little mad. Not mad at Castiel for once, but at herself. She wanted to travel back in time to a minute ago, when Lia was thinking and Castiel was there – not talking, not moving – just there.
Lia stomped away into the beyond warm house, a dark cloud hovering above her mop of now messy curls.
9:52 p.m.
Armin was holding his ping pong ball with squinted eyes, focused on the final red Solo cup at the end of the wooden table. He looked up for just a moment and –
"Miss," Alexy said with a smile, and Lia snorted next to him. "Miss, miss, miss."
Candy flapped her hands in Alexy's direction and started jogging in place for no reason at all. She massaged Armin's shoulders. "C'mon, I bet Alexy you'd win this. You can do it! You are the contender!"
"He'll have less of a chance to miss if you aren't jostling him," Kentin grumbled, "you're not even playing, Candy, he's my partner."
"No, please," Lia snickered. "By all means, continue to distract him. I can't wait to win!" She laughed when Armin rolled his eyes, groaning.
"Can't distract me," Armin retorted. "I can win this with one eye open, Lia. I am nondistractable."
Nathaniel, who was standing on Lia's farther left, made a noise of annoyance. "Not a word."
"Fine. Indistractable."
"Still not a word," Alexy added, blinking innocently a million times when Armin shot him a dark glare.
Armin sighed, dropping his arms. With the slightest slur, he said, "I've had a lot of things to drink in a short span of time. Give me a break. I think I can make up a word or two sometimes."
"Don't listen to them, Armin," Candy said. "Listen to me. Listen to my voice."
Kentin taps the table with his index finger impatiently. "Are you trying to talk him out of a coma?" he said, and Armin snorted so loud that Lia assumed he pulled something. "Anyway. Candy, stop. As I said, I'm his partner."
Candy reached out, twisting Kentin's nipple before he could block. "I don't know when you started getting so quippy, but I'm not here for it."
Kim, who was knocking shoulders playfully with Violette beside the red cup, let out a big laugh, shaking her head. "He probably got it from you, Candace, you know, since you two used to be so close and all. You rubbed off on him over time." She ducked when Candy threw a random plastic fork at her.
"The past is in the past, Kim." Kentin had a very prominent blush high on his cheeks, the tips of his ears redder than Lia thought was possible. They could be mistaken for really big jalapenos.
Candy gasped in faux horror/anger. "Irrelevant!" She turned to Armin. "If you win, I'll blow you under the table!"
Lia snickered once again. "Dirty tactics! Dirty, dirty, dirty tactics." Armin was laughing, too, but he was also blushing. It made Lia a little jealous, but she wasn't surprised. Armin and Candy seemed closer than Lia thought, and it – it looked real.
Because if Lia looks closer, at their secret smiles and tentative touches, Lia could tell. Yeah, Armin liked her. Candy seemed to like him back, and that was the thing that made Lia sick to her stomach, and she doesn't even know why.
So she smiled when Armin nodded at her from afar, making sure she was all good. He smiled just as wide and threw the ping pong ball – and, miraculously, it went in the cup.
11:23 p.m.
Time went by quickly, and Lia found herself collapsed on one of the couches, trying to get some shut eye before the New Year began. To be honest, Lia had never stayed up as late as this. She'd go to bed by 10:30, because her weary little brain could never handle that much television. Sleep was an important part of Lia's life.
But it was quite hard to fall asleep when (perhaps) fifty-nine people were yelling and crying and singing around her. She declared herself tired right when she saw Armin and Candy escape upstairs hand-in-hand, and seriously, Lia just wanted to go home. She just didn't want to tell anyone because a) who would she tell besides her four friends who have disappeared and b) she didn't want to be a wimp.
And anyway, most people were shoving each other to look out the window or go outside to see the small fireworks that were being tested. They were bright and loud, as Lia could tell, with colors that bleed into each other like mixed paint. It was beautiful.
Except Lia was never going to see them if she wanted to go to sleep badly.
So Lia forced herself to sit up, blinking sleep out of her eyes. She huffed. This wasn't easy. Of course it wasn't – Lia was turning eighteen soon and she still had troubles sleeping over her bed time restriction. Disappointing, she knows.
Alexy was lying on Kentin on the other couch next to her, forcing Kentin to tousle his hair. Alexy was the only reason Kentin was still around, maybe, because wouldn't move a centimetre away from Alexy's side – which, if she wanted to be honest, was cute. She groaned from her spot for attention-needing purposes and watch their heads snap toward her.
"I feel like I'm gonna puke," she said. When Alexy and Kentin both started to slowly smile, she glared. "What?"
Alexy laughed first, followed shortly after by Kentin. "I knew it. You can't handle one party!"
"Yes I can!" she bit back defensively. Alexy raised a brow and Kentin shook his head. "Guys. I can, really. I'm just a little worn out. Nothing too big." She twisted her mouth into something that hopefully resembled a smile.
Kentin did one of his looks that made her squirm in his seat, like he knew something she didn't. "Okay. Whatever you say." He leant back in his seat, shutting his eyes and continued to ruffle Alexy's hair.
Lia got up in an act of fury and walked away, pushing past people dancing to a remixed version of a familiar song, an angry frown poking at her lips. She can handle this. Alexy and Kentin don't know what they're talking about.
Lia realized shortly after her physical outburst that she didn't even know where she was going, and she stopped mid-step to think over what she was going to do. Everyone – four people – she liked enough were all occupied; hidden in the mass of dripping-in-sweat students with too bright eyes and too slack smiles. She groaned in frustration.
Standing on her tippy-toes to see above roaming teenagers, she squinted, trying to locate God-knows-what. She huffed again and carried on, pacing and pacing until she reached the back door again. She paused, shutting her eyes and feeling the cold air that streamed out of the door. It was freezing, but Lia was wearing a thick, long shirt that stopped at her knees that could keep her warm. Finally, she turned around, only to bump into Castiel.
Castiel looked as immaculate as he did earlier – as nonchalant as he ever did – his features a bit more distinct under the blue moonlight. Lia wanted to scream, to tell him to go away, because Lia felt looser than she ever did, and she didn't want to say anything she would regret. So she smiled, attempting to side-step him, but he stopped her there.
"Hey."
"Hi." Lia felt like vomiting all over his boots.
And that was that.
11:53 p.m.
They ended up sneaking upstairs – purposely ignoring the room that Armin and Candy supposedly went in – for Castiel to show Lia the rooftop. The entire floor was black marble, shiny and completely ridden of any snow, and Lia tried not to gasp but she definitely stared. It looked cleaner than clean; untouched and sharp, with sliver railings that held it all together.
Lia was the first to move. She ran, actually, her excitement bubbling inside of her, almost. All she did was watch, her fingers grazing over the railing and tipping her head back to look at the stars, each and everyone one of them, and Lia wished Armin was here. He might've acted like it wasn't a big deal, or something, but she knew him. This was beautiful.
She must have said it aloud because Castiel laughed. "It's the only reason why my parents bought the place was because of this." He gestured to the view, an embarrassed smile on his lips. "Nice, isn't it?"
Lia breathed out an answer, a mumbled 'Yeah' that was stolen into the biting cold air. She shoved her fingers into the pocket of her shirt, inhaling pine trees and short winters and new beginnings and Lia felt like she was floating, all the way up until she can't breathe anymore. She sighed, the movement so dizzying she shifted in her spot.
"Five minutes until we're into the New Year," Castiel interrupted, and Lia had never enjoyed Castiel's presence as much as she is now. Hell, if she wasn't drunk, she would have pushed him off of the rooftop by now for disturbing her peace.
She can hear the loud eagerness downstairs, the chattering of the guests while they count of every minute that goes by. Lia smiled then, wider then she did all night – because it reminded her of Saturday nights with her family in the tiny apartment above a sweet little bakery, having playful banter and just being there together; it made her heart twist hopelessly in her chest.
Time ticked down fast – and suddenly there was just a minute left until twelve a.m. Castiel came closer, step by step, until suddenly he was right beside her, listening to the cacophony below them and waiting. She looked at him once from the corner of her eye – at his pin-straight red hair; his dark eyes – and bit her lip. What to say?
Now, they're counting off seconds rapidly. Fifty seconds became forty seconds became thirty, and Lia found herself counting along out loud. Twenty. She turned to Castiel.
"You think things are gonna change?" she asked, wind blowing through her hair.
Castiel laughed again, sudden and slightly hysterical. He covered his face with his hand, and if she hadn't noticed before, she could now see he was dead ass drunk. He gives a smooth smile. Ten seconds remaining (she calculated).
"I guess they will," he responded. Was he talking about Candy? He chuckled once more, the fireworks making his jaw line stand out. "Happy New Years', Lia."
And just like that, Castiel leaned over and smacked a sloppy kiss on to her cheek.
again, i'm late. lol.
my awesome, sweetly honest friend Amandaaaaaaaa took the time to admit that this was a really slow-burn relationship, so I decided to speed it up a little. except i'm still late. also, there is side Armin/Candy; one-sided Castiel/Candy; and a bit of one-sided OC/Armin.
hope you guys enjoy it! thank you so much for reviewing & favorite-ing the story, I really appreciate it :-)!
