The next morning, Beth was roused from her sleep as sunlight came streaming in through the window and painted the insides of her eyelids with bright colours. She let out a soft moan, rolling onto her stomach and shifting closer to the source of heat beside her.

"Good morning."

Beth's eyes snapped open and she came face-to-face with Castiel. The angel was bare chested and covered by her duvet. She held a hand to her forehead in confusion… until the memories from the previous night came flooding back. To her surprise, she found that she didn't regret what had occurred between them, in fact, she quite enjoyed what had happened.

"Morning," she mumbled, offering him a smile that quickly turned into a loud yawn. A warm hand settled between her shoulders, drawing her attention back to Castiel's face.

"Dean called again," he said, handing her phone to her. "He wants us to meet them immediately."

Beth didn't speak as she took the offered phone. She blinked up at him. Once. Twice. Three times. Castiel frowned back at her.

"What's wrong?"

"I… I can see your halo," she whispered in amazement, her eyes locked on the spot just above his head. The air around him shifted subtly and then two large wings were folded tightly against his back. The pitch black appendages looked awfully cramped in the small space. "And your wings. Oh, they're beautiful."

A surprised look settled on Castiel's face at her statement and he glanced back over his shoulder, watching his wings flutter restlessly before settling against his back. When he turned around again, he realized that Beth had been watching his wings too.

"You can see them?" Beth nodded to confirm his question. "It's because you're half-angel," Cas realized.

"Really?"

"It only makes sense," Castiel started, settling down beside her again. Beth moved closer and propped herself up on her elbow, resting against his side as she looked down at him. "You have your powers now, you'll be able to do a lot more than you could before. You'll be able to see a demon's true face now too."

"Why can't I see yours?" she asked curiously.

"You're still part human, Beth. If I unveiled my true self to you, it could have everlasting side effects."

"Hmm, that does not sound good," Beth mumbled. She stretched out her limbs for a few minutes until her bones popped and she breathed a sigh of relief. She sat up, brushing her messy waves into a loose ponytail at the back of her head. "We should probably get back to the others. Dean'll be going crazy by now."

"That would be a good idea."

The two of them moved slowly, pulling on their various articles of clothing in a relaxed pace. When they were both fully dressed, Castiel stood up and offered a hand to Beth. She took it and lifted herself up off the bed. She leaned down and grabbed her bag, pulling the strap up onto her shoulder.

"Cas… I just wanted to thank you for last night," Beth started awkwardly. "You were there when I needed you. So, thank you."

Castiel didn't say anything, he didn't need to. He cupped Beth's face and kissed her gently before releasing her with a small smile.

"First one to Sam, Dean and Jesse wins," Beth uttered breathlessly and then she was gone, barely leaving Castiel time to register her words before he followed after her, flapping his wings as fast as he could to keep up with her.

"Hey, Beth," Dean started awkwardly, gaining his younger sister's attention. "I know you said you didn't want any presents but we all got you some things anyway."

Beth perked up slightly at the mention of presents as she stared at Dean expectantly. "You got me gifts?"

"You're only 19 once, Bethany," Sam told her, mock serious. "Might as well enjoy it."

Her brothers both reached into their duffel bags and pulled out a small pile of newspaper-wrapped gifts and set them on the table in front of Beth.

"We got you a cake too!" Jesse said, walking over to her and setting a box beside the presents. "Vanilla frosting with strawberry jam in the middle."

"You guys really didn't need to do this," Beth whispered, her eyes trailing over everything. Dean reached out with a hand and squeezed her shoulder gently.

"Just open your presents, princess."

Beth nodded and reached out, picking up the smallest wrapped object first. She quickly tore the paper open until she was able to pull the gift out. It was a small, dark blue box and she opened it to reveal a necklace with a small, golden owl charm on the end of it. "I love it, thank you." She passed it back to Sam who clasped it around her neck.

"I'm glad you like it. I wasn't sure if you would," Sam admitted. Beth smiled reassuringly up at him before she turned back to her presents.

A little while later, Beth had opened all of her presents and had made a wish and blown out her candles, all 19 of them. Her small family had devoured the cake within minutes. Dean had gotten Beth a couple of books to keep her occupied on their road trips. Sam had also gotten her a bracelet to go with her necklace and Jesse had gotten her a scarf with musical notes on it and Castiel had somehow managed to track down the photo of Beth, Adam and their mom that Beth had left behind in the Green room.

"This has been a really good birthday," Beth murmured from her spot on the couch with her head resting on the side of Cas' thigh.

"Glad you think so," Dean replied. He reached down to a brown paper bag beside him and pulled out a battered, old looking journal before handing it over to Beth. "This was our dad's journal. I thought you might want to have a look through it."

"…Thank you Dean," Beth whispered, running her fingers carefully over the fragile clasp that held the book shut. She clutched the book to her chest, knowing that every supernatural creature her dad had ever faced was written about in the journal she was currently holding onto for dear life.

"Just don't lose it."

"I won't, I swear." Her eyes flickered up to meet Castiel's. The angel had a look of understanding in his deep blue orbs and Beth found herself smiling almost bashfully up at him in response. Cas brought his hand down slowly and began running his fingers through Beth's soft, long brown hair.

"Happy birthday, Beth."