How Do You Know?

First of all, I would like to give a big shout out to Dawnie-7 who not only practically reviewed every chapter of this story so far but almost the majority of the chapters for Twist the End as well. Thank you very much Dawnie-7 and I totally appreciate your enthusiasm in your reviews, they make me laugh sometimes.

So tell me guys, how weird was it seeing Alistair as almost a good guy? I mean...he helped Aria. Now I feel weird just for typing it...

Anyways, if anyone was at all curious about the incantations Past Aria did to get to the surface, I just typed in some stuff in Google Translate, went from English to Latin, so if anyone actually knows Latin and it's wrong, I apologize. I hope you figured the basics to it was that she was demanding to be brought to the surface.

It hurt.

Dear Lord did it ever hurt.

"Relax." Dane chuckled lightly, smiling at the dark haired woman who sat before him with her hand outstretched, a cut across the palm.

"I...I'm not used to pain." Arianna admitted truthfully. She never felt pain down in Hell but she was never going to tell him about where she truly came from. Dane only thought that she had some sort of memory loss. She felt giddy whenever she looked at him and saw the care and emotions in his eyes. She didn't miss her home whenever she got those looks. As he wrapped up her hand, it was all she could do to keep from bursting into a large smile.

In the week she had been on Earth, she had rarely been away from Dane. He was the sheriff but she had been able to stay with him unless there was some sort of trouble. He usually made her stay back when there was trouble. The best part about this place was that it seemed void of any supernatural creatures. No demons, no monsters, no hunters...nothing. Arianna was free from recognition and she loved it.

"There we go, all better." Dane concluded, tying the cloth in place. Arianna smiled brightly, unable to help it. "Don't be grabbing anymore knives by the blade now, alright?"

"Of course!" Arianna agreed, nodding. Dane chuckled and turned her hand over, kissing the knuckles lightly. "I really like you."

"Well I really like you too Miss Arianna." Dane replied.

"No...I mean like...really...really." Arianna explained. Dane's green eyes lifted to the blue-green ones in front of him. "Very...really." She wasn't sure why she did it but the moment compelled her to lean forward and press her lips to his. She paused then leaned back, her eyes on the ground, cheeks going red. His hand cupped her cheek gently and she lifted her eyes to his.

"Miss Arianna...will you accept my proposal of a courtship?" Dane asked, grinning. Arianna paused then smiled brightly and kissed him again, this time getting a very welcome reaction.

***SL***SPN***SL***SPN***SL***

No one spoke.

There was no noises in the room aside from the soft breathing.

Even the Angel with no understanding of human idioms and behaviour stayed silent as everyone mulled over the new information on their recently revived friend.

Aria toyed with her locket carefully, trying to figure out everything she had just heard. Her brain refused to work however, knowing the words but not processing them. She was never more glad to have Dean with her than at that moment and she felt eternal gratitude for the fact that he hadn't moved away from her after hearing what she was. Instead, they sat together on the bed, his arm around her shoulders, hand gently rubbing her arm, her head on his shoulder as they remained quiet. This was a lot to digest for all of them and she just hoped when it all sunk in that they'd be able to deal with it somehow. She didn't want to have just come back, only to lose everything again.

"I understand vaguely that this is a...trying time for humans." Castiel's voice broke the silence and all eyes turned to him. "There are other things I must see to. If you require my assistance, I...I will do what I can."

With that, he was gone, and everyone was silent once more.

Lily glanced up at Sam, biting her lip when he didn't look at her. She knew him well enough by now. Knew that he had questions for her, how could he not?

"Lily and I are going to let you guys have some alone time to figure this all out." Sam spoke up suddenly, turning all eyes to him. "We'll see you guys in the morning."

"Yeah...okay, night." Dean muttered.

"Good nights guys." Aria whispered. Sam and Lily nodded before they walked out of the room and moved to their own. Lily kept her eyes on the ground as she followed a step behind Sam, unsure what to say or do.

Was he mad? Angry? Curious? Did he miss everything said and focused solely on the fact that his girlfriend had named the intruding Angel? She hadn't said anything since that single word passed her lips. Dean and Aria didn't seem to have noticed but she was sure Sam had and that worried her.

He held the door open and Lily cautiously walked in. He stepped in after her and closed the door, turning the lock in place. Somehow that single click made her feel trapped as she slowly turned around to look at him.

"How do you know him?" Sam asked softly. Lily just looked at him, unsure of how to answer. Sam sighed, his eyes closing. One of his hands curled into a fist. "Damn it Lily, how do you that Angel? How do you know Castiel? You said his name, now how do you know it?"

"I...I don't..." Lily started.

"Don't you dare say you don't know him because I know you do!" Sam snapped, opening his eyes to look at her. Lily flinched and stepped back. "Just...tell me...how?"

"He...he's..." She could have said anything, given any answer to cover up. But looking at Sam, seeing the beginning of the betrayal in his eyes, she just couldn't cover up the truth. "He's my boss."

There was a few things Sam was prepared for. He almost expected her to say something along the lines of Castiel being some guardian Angel to her. Things might have been easier if she had. But he wasn't prepared for her announcing her employment under the Angel. He wasn't prepared for all the things that would be implied. He wasn't even sure what that implied.

"What...exactly does that mean?" Sam asked.

"It means that...he's...I'm...I'm a lower level...Angel." Lily announced. Sam paused, absorbing that on top of what he had just learned about his childhood friend. "I...lived...I was human...a hundred years ago. When I died, I went to Heaven, and Castiel...quite literally took me under his wing. When Aria died, there was preparations made and I was to be sent down here, help you and Dean but not tell you what I was."

"So...when we found you..." Sam started to ask, drifting off after being unsure how to complete the question.

"The mess was real, but I just joined in after it happened." Lily explained. "It was meant to...appeal to you guys. Better nature and all. I swear I didn't know it resembled how you found Aria until you told me the story. I was just told where to go and how to act." She pulled at her fingers, watching Sam as he refused to set his eyes on her. She could feel tears threatening to spill out, her vision blurring due to the waiting waters.

"And what about this?" Sam asked quietly, almost afraid to give voice to the question that could tear him apart.

"This?" Lily asked, knowing what he meant but wanting him to say it.

"You and me, the kissing, the sex, the...feelings." Sam stated. He lifted his eyes but couldn't bring them past her shoulder. He focused on a freckle sitting next to her neck. "Is it all just...cover? Was any of it real?"

"I wasn't supposed to act on anything." Lily whispered. Sam went still, waiting for more. His breath halted in his throat as the seconds ticked by. "I...before the witch's spell, I felt things. Things I wasn't sure about at the time, it all felt too foreign. Then...after the witch's spell...a part of me was screaming to take your memory of it or...or tell you that...it was something that we needed to get out of our systems...nothing more."

"But..." Sam whispered, unconsciously taking a step towards the girl in front of him.

"But I saw you." Lily continued. She closed her eyes, feeling the tears roll down her cheeks. "I...I woke up and...I looked at you. I touched you. I couldn't do it. When you woke up, I broke. I didn't fake anything, all of this was real on my end."

"The other day...when you came into the bathroom." Sam muttered, a slight frown of concentration crossing his face. "You were going to tell me something."

"I was going to tell you...everything." Lily explained. "All of this about me. I couldn't keep it up, not after the stories. I just...got distracted." She sighed as her eyes drifted over Sam's body, counting the buttons on his shirt. Sam paused then looked down at himself, suddenly realizing what she meant. When he looked back up, he finally looked at her face, took in the tears and broke down.

She didn't see him move until he was right in front of her, his hand tilting her head up to look at him. When their eyes met, he leaned his head down and pressed his lips to hers. She jumped a little, surprised at first, then quickly succumbed to the gesture, relieved.

"All real?" Sam asked once more, pulling back only enough to get the words out.

"I swear Sam." Lily replied strongly. "It's all real."

"Thank God!" Sam muttered. His exclamation just made Lily laugh at the irony before she kissed him again.

***SL***SPN***SL***SPN***SL***

"Now what?" Aria asked quietly. Dean looked down at her, a little surprised that she wasn't asleep. He had made her lie down after a while and they had been quiet for most of the time they had been alone. She wouldn't look at him and it worried him just a bit as he watched her toy with the locket around her neck.

"Now...nothing." Dean muttered. "We just keep doing what we were doing, living as we were living. We deal with everything as it comes, if it comes."

"Castiel said that Crowley is using us." Aria pointed out, tilting her head up to look at him.

"I ain't handing over my soul to anyone so don't you worry." Dean assured her, leaning down slightly to kiss her forehead. "That sucker is mine and that's how it's staying." Aria couldn't help but laugh slightly at that and Dean felt her shoulders loosen up under his arm. She tilted her head back down, resting it on his chest and sighing, watching his foot wiggle to some imaginary beat.

"Be sure to keep that in mind if we get married." Aria joked. When there wasn't any laughing, she looked up at him again and raised an eyebrow. "You know I was a kidding with that right?"

"What part?" Dean asked curiously.

"The getting married part." Aria replied, laughing slightly.

"Oh...right...cool." Dean muttered. Before Aria could ask, he was pulling her to him and kissing her. Momentarily forgetting she even had a question, she relaxed against him and returned the gesture happily.

Okay so trouble has been avoided...for now. But we all know with my stories, that is NOT a continuing thing. There's a lot more to be revealed. FYI: I plan to have a little flashback bit thing at the start of each chapter with past Dean and Aria to tell what happened with them because at some point, Aria will remember.