“Hey, could you read the proposal part for me?” Castiel asked from in front of his laptop where he was typing his English essay.

Sarah stretched and put her German book down to grab Pride and Prejudice which was lying next to her. Castiel had assigned her to read out quotes and check page numbers since Sarah had read the novel so many times she basically remember it from memory.

“All of it?”

“Yeah.”

She flipped open the right page and started to read slowly, so Castiel would have time to type it out: “’In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.’ Elizabeth’s astonishment was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, doubted, and was silent.”

Sarah paused for a moment so Castiel had time to catch up. His keyboard clattered furiously as he wrote.

When Castiel grunted as to signal he had finished, Sarah continued: “This he considered sufficient encouragement, and the avowal of all that he felt and had long felt for her, immediately followed. He spoke well, but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed, and he was not more eloquent on the subject of tenderness than of pride.”

Castiel let out a deep sigh. Why did the writers always have to be so long-winded in their speech? Did they not think about the poor people who would have to type these things out for their stupid essays?

“His sense of her inferiority —of its being a degradation— of the family obstacles which judgment had always opposed to inclination, were dwelt on with a warmth which seemed due to the consequence he was wounding, but was very unlikely to recommend his suit.”

“This guy’s an ass. Who proposes to their love and says in the same breath ‘oh yeah by the way your family is a terrible embarrassment?’ Like, yeah they are terrible but why would you say that?” Castiel muttered while typing.

Sarah laughed. Despite Castiel’s original insistence that he couldn’t care less about the book, he was very eager to comment on it. Sarah thought it adorable.

Castiel continued typing an analysis of the quote and how it tied in to the theme of the novel, and Sarah turned her attention back to her own book. She rolled up the sleeves of the hoodie which kept sliding down to cover her hands. She had felt cold, and Castiel had borrowed her one of his hoodies. Sarah felt like she might drown in it, but it was so comfortable and warm that she considered never returning it.

Sarah rolled on her stomach so she could more easily run her finger along the list of words on the two pages in front of her. Half of them were already a jumbled mess in her head. Sarah sighed. She had barely caught up in understanding what they had learned the past few months and the teacher was chugging forward on the lessons with terrifying speed. Sarah was worried that soon she wouldn’t be able to keep up at all. It’d be disheartening to fail when she was so close to finishing the course.

While Sarah tried her best to grasp the mysteries of German language, Castiel let out a deep sigh and stretched his arms. He had written three entire paragraphs —one of which was basically just the quote of the proposal— and it was time to take a break. He saved his work and closed the laptop lid. He glanced towards the bed where Sarah was focused on reading and smiled.

Sarah vaguely noted the mattress bending under her when Castiel climbed on the bed. She was focused on reading, mouthing the words as she went past them, fumbling on the pronunciation more than managing to do it fluently.

A cool breeze tickled her neck, and Sarah shuddered. She turned her head and saw Castiel’s face inches away from hers.

“What are you doing?”

“We should take a break.”

“We need to study.”

“We’ve studied hard enough.”

“Maybe you,” Sarah muttered and turned back to her book. She needed to finish this.

Castiel sighed. Sarah was clearly too stressed. He leaned closer and the pressure on the mattress made Sarah’s book slide down from its place against the pillow. She straightened it with a huff.

Castiel blew more air on her neck, and Sarah shivered again. She swatted a hand towards Castiel’s direction, but he dodged it easily. He gave her time to read few more words before kissing the top of Sarah’s head.

Sarah huffed again, but she had to bite her lip to hold back the smile that tried to push its way on her lips. Castiel was a dork. But she refused to let him know that she liked it.

Castiel’s kisses continued, but Sarah was adamant in not giving in. The end of the word list approached, and she made sure to read each word carefully, even though impatience brewed in her stomach.

When got to the last word, she slapped the book closed and rolled on her side to look at Castiel who had been kissing her and teasing her the entire time. He had an innocent look on his face. One eyebrow rose slightly in a silent question: “What?”

“You’re such a child, you know that, right?” she said with hint of laughter in her voice.

Castiel didn’t answer. He pulled Sarah in a kiss which she responded to eagerly. Castiel’s hands slipped under the hoodie while Sarah draped her arms over his shoulders.

“You look so good in this. I want to take it right off,” he muttered against Sarah’s lips between kisses.

“Isn’t that a bit contradictory?” Sarah chuckled, “and I’ll get cold if you do.”

“I’ll warm you up.”

As a confirmation to his intentions, Castiel moved on top of Sarah, letting his hands wandered on her body.

Sarah squinted her eyes.

“Do you ever think about anything else than making out?”

Castiel pursed his lips as he pretended to think the answer long and hard.

“Sometimes,” he said, “I think about food sometimes.”

Sarah laughed and cupped Castiel’s face in her hands and kissed him.

Castiel’s lips moved to her chin and neck.

Sarah’s cheeks were bright red. She started to feel like she’d boil under the hoodie.

“You wanted to take off the hoodie, right?” she asked while drawing circles on Castiel’s shoulders with her thumbs.

Castiel hummed in agreement. He grabbed the hem of the hoodie and started to pull it off. Sarah wriggled out of the comfortable warmth of the hoodie. As she had suspected, she shivered. Losing the hoodie felt the same as stepping out of bed in the morning. A cruel world of coldness outside the cocoon of warmth.

Sarah wrapped her arms around Castiel, and they lied down on the bed next to each other. Castiel rubbed her arms to warm them up, and Sarah snuggled close to his body heat. She wasn’t that cold really but wouldn’t say no to a chance to cuddle.

“Besides food and horny, has there been space in your thoughts for other things, like what you’d like for Christmas?” Sarah asked.

Castiel snorted. He hadn’t expected to hear the word ‘horny’ out of Sarah’s mouth. Maybe his influence was rubbing on her.

“Not really,” he said, “I don’t really know what I’d like to get. Maybe underwear? Could always use more of those.”

Sarah’s cheeks flushed.

“I’m not buying you underwear.”

“Aww, why not?”

“It’d be too embarrassing.” She was barely able to buy underwear to herself without blushing. Just a thought of going to men’s underwear section made her face heat up.

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“What would you like?”

“Oh. I don’t really know either. I guess I’m in the same boat as you.”

“Can I buy you underwear?” Castiel asked with a teasing smirk on his face.

Sarah’s blush deepened.

“I mean, if you really want to, I won’t say no, I guess. But I’m fine with like a sketchbook or a pack of pencils too.”

Oh gods, thought of Castiel buying her underwear was even more embarrassing.

“I’ll keep them as options,” Castiel said and smiled. “What’s your size?”

Even though Castiel’s tone was joking, Sarah’s face resembled a tomato. Castiel was so nonchalant about this. She muttered the answer against his chest. Her cheeks burned. Was Castiel being serious?

Castiel rubbed Sarah’s shoulders and back with his hand. He had made Sarah flustered and wasn’t sure if it was good thing or not. She was so cute when she got embarrassed, but maybe he had gone too far? But he was semi-serious with his suggestion. He wouldn’t mind buying something nice for Sarah, but would it be too early? Or too embarrassing to her? Maybe it’d be best to get something more casual. A set of underwear probably wasn’t what guys gave their girlfriends after only few months of dating.

“I was thinking I could bake cookies for Amanda and Leon,” Sarah said then, breaking the silence, “do you think they’d like them?”

“I’m sure. Leon has a terrible sweet tooth.”

Sarah smiled. She could get started with her plans then. Maybe Amanda would like to go shopping with her?

“Has this been a long enough break? You still need to finish the essay?” she asked, trying to wriggle out of Castiel’s hold.

“Hmm, few more minutes?”

“….Fine.”

Castiel smiled and pulled Sarah in a kiss. If he forced to work on school stuff, at least he could take full advantage of the breaks.

Sarah hummed against his lips. She grabbed a handful of his shirt and tugged him closer. Maybe Castiel had a point. This was definitely more fun than studying German.

“Oh, by the way,” Sarah said pulling away, “I decided where to apply for college.”

“You did? That’s amazing.” Castiel kissed her on the cheek. “What did you pick?”

“Hammersmith’s. It’s the place that offers a degree in graphic design. It feels like the most interesting option. I’m also applying for a few schools that offer General Arts degrees but graphic design’s gonna be my focus.”

She had thought about it long and hard. The school would be far from her home, and from where Castiel most likely would be going to. That fact had been holding her back on the decision. She had been scared to go too far away. But the more she had looked into what career in graphic design would entail, the more it had started to interest her. She wanted to try it out. She would have to move out at some point anyway. And during the past few weeks she had started to feel more confident in their relationship and herself. She had talked about her troubles with making a decision with Castiel, and he supported her. They could survive a long-distance relationship. She was sure of it. Castiel was sure of it as well.

“I’m so proud of you,” Castiel said and hugged her. “You’re going to get in for sure. You’re so talented.”

“I’m decent I guess,” she muttered, blushing lightly.

“I may be biased, not that it matters when it comes to facts, but you are a great artist. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Sarah mumbled something that could’ve been an agreement, but it was impossible to say.

Castiel leaned closer and kissed Sarah’s cheek. And then the other cheek, her chin, lips, forehead, ear, lips again…

“What are you doing?” Sarah asked and squirmed in embarrassment.

“I’ll keep kissing you until you admit you’re a good artist.”

To reinforce his message, Castiel planted another kiss on her lips. And another one, and another one. The kisses grew longer and deeper, until Sarah had to break the kiss to catch her breath.

“How can I say anything when you kiss me like that?”

Her cheeks were red, and her heart thumped in her chest.

“Oh, sorry. You’re right. Let me fix that.”

Castiel continued to press light kisses on her jaw and neck, and they made Sarah shiver. He moved lower, and Sarah had to bite her lip.

“There’s a fault in your strategy,” she said her voice quivering. “What if like this?”

“Hmm, I think it’s a win-win either way. Either you admit that you’re talented or I get to kiss you more and you get to enjoy it.”

“You’re too smart.”

“I have my moments,” Castiel chuckled. “So, do you admit?”

Sarah bit her lip.

“I think I might need a bit more persuasion.”

“I like this new side of you,” Castiel hummed.

Sarah gasped when Castiel pressed a kiss on the hollow of her throat. She was playing a dangerous game. She should just admit her defeat, but she enjoyed this too much, this affection and attention she had never experienced before. Her eyes fluttered half-shut, and she wrapped her arms around Castiel’s shoulders.

She listened to the kisses a minute longer until she decided it was enough. She started to feel bad for Castiel.

“Your lips are gonna get chapped if you keep up,” she said to Castiel. “So, I admit I am a pretty good artist.”

“Hmm, I guess I can accept that.”

“You’d better.”

Sarah pulled Castiel into a quick kiss before rolling to sit up.

“Back to studying now. That essay is not gonna write itself.”

Castiel slumped on the bed.

“Do I have to?”

“Yes. Now, go.”

Sarah pushed Castiel on the bed, and he scrambled on his feet when he was about to fall off.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go,” he sighed dramatically.

Sarah laughed and picked up her German book from the floor where it had fallen. It was hard to focus on words on the page when her mind kept wandering back to the soft touches and kisses. She bit her lip to pull her focus in. She had asked if Castiel ever thought about anything else than making out, but perhaps she wasn’t much better… Sarah glanced at Castiel’s back and blushed at the thought. She slapped her cheeks. Studying first, kissing later. She wouldn’t get in the college with sloppy grades.