"Don't you move from that bed, do you hear me?"

I couldn't help but chuckle as Auntie pointed a threatening finger at me. Her boss had called her enraged and in a panic because something happened to the project that Auntie was helping him with. I could hear his loud voice declaring over her cellphone's speaker that if his only competent employee couldn't come in then he was going to fire all of the other imbeciles and do everything himself. She argued vehemently with him but I finally told her that if she didn't go I would feel guilty for the rest of the year and she reluctantly told him she would come in for a few hours.

"Auntie, I already feel better. I'm nice and toasty and there are plenty of leftovers that I can warm up for dinner," I reassured her gently. Auntie scoffed and muttered under her breath a very unflattering curse on her boss. "Really, Auntie. I'll be fine," I insisted soothingly.

Auntie sighed heavily and reached down to give me a hug. I was surprised to see that she was wearing a very conservative outfit for her. Her boots only had a two-inch heel on them and her outfit was made up of black, tan, and cream, instead of her normal pop of intense color that she seemed to naturally gravitate towards. With one last kiss and reassurance that she would be back as soon as she could, she left my room. After a few seconds, I heard the front door of the apartment open and then close again.

Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was a little after 2:00 pm and after a moment's hesitation, I reached for the book that Auntie had placed on my desk next to my sun fairy statue. Absently I read through a chapter but realized that I hadn't retained anything of what I had just read. With a sigh, I set the book back down.

Feeling a little guilty, I slowly slid off the bed and stood up. My body felt a little heavy but my headache had gone away after my nap and I gently stretched my arms up and over my head. The stretch felt great and I slowly made my way out of my room toward the living room. It made me happy that Auntie was so concerned about my health, and I felt terrible for scaring her so bad, but I felt restless from spending the entire day in my bed.

After mentally battling with myself over whether I was disobeying Auntie if I went out for a quick walk, my tapping toes finally decided for me. I quickly bundled myself up in my winter clothes, not bothering to change out of my pajamas since I was just going to take a quick walk around the apartment. I blinked in surprise when I reached into my coat pocket and didn't feel my white gloves but then I remembered how I left them in Castiel's grip and shame washed over me.

With a heavy sigh I pulled out a pair of thin black mittens from the small box Auntie kept on the top shelf of the coat closet and pulled them on. After making sure that I turned off all the lights, I slipped out of the apartment and breathed in the fresh air of the beautiful day. It was sunny but a chill in the air nipped at my nose and I smiled at the beautiful snow that was covering the ground like a fluffy white blanket.

Once again promising myself that I would just walk around the perimeter of the apartment complex, I closed the door quietly behind me and locked the deadbolt. Pocketing the key I walked down past our neighbor's silent flat and towards the uncovered stairs. I was surprised to see that there wasn't any snow piled on the steps and I wondered if the complex maintenance team had come and shoveled the stairs earlier that day.

I looked up at the cloudless sky and let out a long breath into the air. Disappointment briefly filled me but then I chuckled at myself, realizing that I had been hoping to see my breath fog up in the air like it did last night.

"Winter is cold, but it really is beautiful," I said quietly to myself.

Stepping off the last step I turned to walk on the sidewalk next to the parking lot and I heard a short intake of breath. Looking up I felt myself freeze as my eyes met familiar steel grey ones that looked as shocked as I felt. Neither Castiel nor I moved as we stared at each other silently. Castiel blinked, and the brief second where his grey eyes were closed freed me from my paralysis. I felt my feet slide back and then forward as my mind raced, wondering what I was supposed to do.

"Are you feeling better?" 

The concern in his voice halted my weird shuffle. I slowly nodded, forcing myself to raise my eyes and meet his gaze once more.

"Castiel, I... I'm really sorry," I breathed out. To my surprise, Castiel's shoulders sagged and he let out a breathy chuckle.

"Didn't I tell you to stop apologizing so much?" he asked in a gently teasing voice. 

I blinked and felt torn between smiling and frowning. Swallowing quickly I took a hesitant step closer to him, briefly taking in his rosy cheeks and nose and wondering how long he had been standing outside of our apartment.

"Why aren't you at school?" I asked quietly. 

I knew that I should be brave and talk to Castiel about what had happened yesterday... but the memory of the hurt in Castiel's eyes was making me second guess myself. Castiel shrugged, digging his hands further into his jacket pockets while looking at me steadily.

"Yuki texted me during Government and told me you woke up and seemed to be doing better. I figured you'd want to rest today but when lunch came around I just couldn't sit still and I walked here before I realized what I was doing," Castiel admitted with an awkward shrug.

Happiness briefly surfaced inside me but then I shook my head and told myself to stay calm. I had no right to feel happy that Castiel was concerned about me. Suddenly I blinked and looked up at him, narrowing my eyes as I once again took in his rosy cheeks.

"Have you been outside my apartment since noon?" I asked incredulously. Castiel smirked at me and shrugged casually.

"Not the whole time. I almost left an hour ago, but... I thought if I waited until 3 or so then I could knock and pretend I was checking on you after school got out." 

I shook my head and glanced up at the apartment.

"Did you want to come inside? Aren't you cold?" I asked with concern. 

To my surprise, his smirk slowly turned down into a frown and he looked at me with a piercing gaze. I swallowed uneasily and tried not to look away from him.

"If you're feeling better I think we should talk," he said quietly but firmly. I swallowed once again and rubbed my arm, not because I was cold, but more to just give my hand something to do.

"Yah, I guess we should," I agreed quietly. 

Slowly I breathed in the cold air through my nose, mentally preparing myself for the possibility that Castiel's face would twist with disgust when I told him that I had done what he hated: Made problems for my parents. I had just steeled myself to tell him the truth when he took a step closer to me.

"I meant what I said yesterday," he said firmly. I blinked, confused as to why he had begun our talk instead of me.

"About..." I struggled to say, but Castiel interrupted me.

"I meant it when I said I want to be with you. I want to be the person that you want to confide in and come to if you are sad or upset. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change my mind about that," Castiel said with a hard edge to his voice, almost like he expected me to argue with him. 

I swallowed swiftly and tried to keep the hope that was attempting to bubble up my throat and make me say something irresponsible at bay.

"Castiel, I..."

Suddenly thick fingers grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me backward. I yelped in pain but before I could twist to see who my attacker was a terrifyingly strong hand clamped onto my left wrist and twisted my arm roughly in a direction it did not naturally go. A familiar sweet and sour chemical smell washed over me and a small whimper escaped me. Bile rose up my throat and I struggled to push it down as I forced myself to look up and see a familiar white scar across my father's downturned lips.

"Opal! Let her go!" Castiel demanded in a growl. 

Father yanked my arm back further and I couldn't keep from yelping in pain as my shoulder strained to stay in its joint.

"Come any closer and I'll break her arm, lover boy," Father spat out and his words seemed to drip with acidic poison. 

Castiel immediately halted and slowly raised his arms up in a pacifying gesture as Father began moving backward, dragging me along with him.

"Sensei," I gasped, trying to ignore the pain in my arm and scalp. 

Father didn't bother looking down at me but continued making his way slowly towards the back of the parking lot. Castiel began to take slow steps after us and I whimpered as Father's strong grip tightened excruciatingly over my wrist.

"I said stay away!" Father barked angrily and I was briefly surprised at the raw hatred that seemed to be pouring from Castiel's entire body as he stared at my father behind me.

"Let her go," he repeated forcefully. 

Father laughed his barking laugh that always seemed to feel like a slap when I heard it, but I was surprised when his grip on my wrist loosened slightly.

"Go home, boy. This useless girl seems to have forgotten a promise she made to me and she needs a little reminder," Father said as he roughly shook the fistful of hair he had, causing me to stumble as he continued to back away.

"She's not going with you," Castiel growled and his voice reminded me of when Demon growled menacingly at Dakota back on Coral Bay Beach. Tears sprung to my eyes as Castiel continued to inch toward us.

"And who's going to stop me?" Father spat with an evil amusement in his tone. Castiel scowled heavily at him and took another tiny step forward.

"I will. She doesn't belong to you," Castiel said firmly. Father laughed again and pulled a little harder on my arm, causing me to screech before I could stop myself. Castiel instantly froze and a look of anguish crossed his face. "Stop it! You're hurting her!" he yelled.

"I can do whatever I want. She owes me," Father spat maliciously.

I closed my eyes as emotions raged inside of me. For my entire life, I had always accepted that that was true. I ruined my parents' lives and the least I could do was allow Father to take his frustrations out on me... but I knew that Auntie would be furious if she found out that I had been hurt, and I didn't want Castiel to see what might happen. 

What am I supposed to do? What can I do? I thought to myself desperately.

"Just because she's your daughter doesn't mean you can do whatever you want, you pig!" Castiel yelled. My nose flared as I took a sharp breath of air and looked at Castiel in shock.

"Walk away, boy. You have no idea what this worthless girl did to me," Father growled dangerously while jerking me back a few steps, causing me to stumble. 

Fear raced up my spine. I knew that tone. That was the tone saying he was about to lose control.

"Castiel, stop. Please..." I pleaded as I got my footing back but continued to be dragged backward by Father.

"Opal hasn't done anything to you!" Castiel spat at my father, ignoring my pleas. Father's grip tightened on both my wrist and hair and he growled ferociously.

"You don't know anything, you stupid pup. My life was perfect before this mistake happened," he said, shaking me violently. 

I whimpered as my shoulder strained even harder. I knew if he used a little more force it would be dislocated and if that happened then I would be next to useless if things escalated any further. Surprisingly though Father continued to speak and relaxed his pulling slightly.

"I studied with karate masters across the country and won dozens of tournaments. One night when I was walking around looking for some guys I could rough up I happened to stumble on a mugging. I stepped in and beat the group without any problems and it turned out that the guy who had been getting mugged was some kind of business mogul. He asked me to be his personal bodyguard and I moved into his mansion. There I found the most beautiful woman in the world."

I swallowed swiftly, glancing awkwardly back at Father's face, and found myself listening intently. Why is he telling Castiel all of this? Is it because he's drunk? From the smell that seemed to be radiating from every pore of his skin, it was obvious he'd more than a little to drink.

"It didn't take long before I claimed his daughter as mine and the fool was thrilled. We got married and her dad gave me everything I asked for. I bought myself a building and equipment and created a karate school. But I had a problem." 

Father's voice turned darker and I bit my tongue as he squeezed my wrist even harder.

"I needed an heir. Someone to carry on my legacy and someone I could turn into a Karate Champion. But my wife didn't want kids. I finally wore her down and she agreed to have one baby. We planned out everything perfectly, we followed all of the old superstitions and did everything to make sure that she would have a boy. And yet this," Father shoved me forward so suddenly that one of my feet slipped in the snow and I crashed to one knee. 

Castiel took a step forward with fire dancing in his grey eyes but Father lifted me roughly back to my feet and continued backing away.

"This worthless girl is what I got stuck with. This useless mistake took all of my plans and ruined them in an instant," Father snarled ferally and if he hadn't been pulling my head back by my hair I would have hung my head in shame.

"You can't blame Opal for ruining your life just by being born!" Castiel snarled and I blinked over at him in shock. "If you needed a boy so bad why didn't you just have an affair?" he asked with a dark scowl and Father chuckled without humor.

"You really picked a dumb one, Mistake," Father hissed. Castiel glowered angrily at him, taking another step closer. "If I had an affair my wife would have left me. And if my wife left me then all of her daddy's money would be gone too," Father spat as he yanked me another step farther into the mostly empty parking lot.

"Sound like she's left you anyways, so let Opal go and go find another woman to have a baby with," Castiel said with a growl, taking another firm step forward. 

Sharp pain from a firm kick to the back of my knee caused me to crumple and I dropped to my knees while trying to hold back a whimper. Mercilessly, Father yanked me back up, straining my shoulder socket as he continued to hold my arm at the unnatural angle it was in.

"No. My wife wasn't enough; now she's even turned my sister against me. She's coming with me and I am going to make sure she understands that no one gets away with messing up my life," Father spat out angrily.

Castiel's eyes flicked towards mine and I could see a brief look of fear flash through them before he suddenly rushed forward. I yelled a warning but quick as lightning Father pulled me to the side and let loose a powerful kick that caught Castiel square in the chest. He went airborne for several seconds then crashed to the snow-covered pavement, gasping for breath.

Time seemed to stand still for a moment as I watched Castiel gasping on the ground. A key to a lock I didn't know existed suddenly clicked into place and hardly without thought I balled my free hand into a fist and then savagely thrust my elbow back into Father's solar plexus. Father grunted and his grip on my hair loosened. In one fluid movement, I arched my back, dipped my head under Father's arm, and spun so that my arm straightened into a natural position.

Turning my trapped hand around to grip his wrist I yanked him forward and smashed my foot into his shoulder. Father growled in pain but his grip on my wrist loosened enough so that I could rip it away from him. I swiftly ran to stand in front of Castiel, who was trying to move back to his feet as he coughed. My entire body was shaking as I set myself in a defensive stance.

"Don't you touch him," I warned, my voice shaking as badly as the rest of me was. "You can do what you want to me, but Castiel has done nothing to you. He's done nothing!" My voice had grown in strength and volume as I spoke and I realized that for the first time I had something that was more important to me than trying to please my forever angry father. No matter what, I would not allow him to hurt the people I loved.

"You haven't done anything either, Opal!" 

I blinked in shock and turned to look over my shoulder at Castiel as he boosted himself up to his feet while rubbing his chest. Castiel's eyes met mine but then they widened as they flickered past me. He lunged forward, pushing me forcefully out of the way just as my father sprang towards us.

I turned and felt a scream catch in my throat as Father walloped Castiel with blow after blow. Castiel took them with heavy grunts of pain and leaped forward, tackling Father to the ground. The two rolled across the snowy pavement but Father popped up, having trapped Castiel underneath him and began punching his face savagely.

"No!" I yelled, running forward and letting loose a powerful sidekick to Father's unprotected ribs. He was flung off of Castiel but was quick to get back to his feet.

I didn't have time to check on Castiel and it nearly killed me to jump over his still body, but Father had already set himself into an offensive stance. I dodged his first punch and got in close, letting loose three punches straight into his stomach. He jumped back slightly and kicked out at my knee. I jumped up high, over his attempted kick, then threw myself back into a backward handspring as he punched towards me.

Father's roar of anger followed me and as soon as I popped back into a standing position I found myself on the defensive. I blocked his punches by swiping his arms away from me with my forearms and at the first opportunity, I savagely kicked at Father's groin. He gasped in shock-filled pain and stumbled one step back. Setting my mouth in a tight line I began to spin, dropping down and sweeping one of my legs behind Father's and causing him to crash onto his back with a puff of snow.

My body was shaking from adrenaline, fear, and pain, but I stood over my father as he gasped for air and tried to keep myself from crying. I had always sought Father's approval. I had always craved his and Mother's love and to prove that I deserved to be called their daughter. But I had never been good enough and I always accepted my punishment for that. Anger began to rise up through my entire body as I stared down at the man I could only call Father in the privacy of my mind.

"I won't let you hurt them," I said firmly. Father glared up at me from his position on the ground as he continued to gasp for breath. "You've hurt me my entire life, Sensei. But I will not allow you to hurt Castiel or Auntie. Ever." My voice devolved into a low growl that I had never heard myself make before.

Something shifted in my father's expression and I felt my body stiffen instinctively but before I could leap away Father leveraged his body so his feet popped up and he spun them sideways, slamming with the force of a speeding truck into my side. An audible snap rang out from my side and I yelped as pain exploded through my chest as I sailed through the air. I crashed to the ground in a heap, desperately trying to convince my battered body to get back up.

My head flopped to the side and I saw that Castiel was beginning to stir. He groaned loudly and turned so that our eyes met for a brief second. Blood was dripping from his nose and his split bottom lip and tears began swimming in my eyes.

Trying my best to ignore the pain I stretched out a hand towards Castiel and I yelped when a heavy boot crunched onto my wrist. I weakly kicked up towards Father, but he swiped it away with ease. His boot lifted from my wrist but he then kneeled down, placing one knee on my stomach and grinding it in mercilessly, causing blinding white lights to flash across my vision as my chest screamed in pain. Just as my vision had turned from fragmented to only somewhat fuzzy I watched as he reached down and circled my neck with his herculean hands. I reached up and pushed against his wrists but I might as well have been a twig trying to stand up to a hurricane for all the good it did. Father's hands tightened and I desperately tried to get air down my slowly shrinking airway.

Seemingly from miles away, I heard someone calling my name, but I couldn't move. As the pain in my neck and in my screaming lungs increased I felt my eyelids fluttering as I fought to stay conscious. What strength I had in my hands began to seep away and I felt them slowly loosen their death grip on my father's wrists.

I'm sorry, Auntie. I'm sorry, Castiel...

Just as I was about to sink into a pit of black oblivion Father's unyielding hands were wrenched from my throat and air suddenly flooded into my starved lungs. Coughs tore up my throat as my lungs seemed to reject the life-giving air. Tears streamed from my eyes as my entire body seemed to be screaming at me and white-hot pain raced through my chest as my coughs continued.

Gentle hands wrapped around my shoulders and I held onto Castiel's arm desperately as my coughs slowly began to subside. I tried to blink the tears away to clear my blurry vision. Confusion descended on me as Castiel murmured soothingly in a shaky voice as he rocked me slightly, causing a sharp pain to go through my chest at every rock. Looking over, my mouth dropped open in terror as I saw two men trading blows in the otherwise silent parking lot.

"Shin Woo," I choked out of my injured throat. Castiel held me tighter as we watched the two men fighting.

Suddenly Shin Woo sprang forward, planting his hands on Father's shoulders and flipping over top of him. Before Father could turn around Shin Woo landed and lashed out a kick at his back, causing him to fall on his face in the snow. Shin Woo was on top of him in seconds, bringing his hands behind his back and kneeling his entire weight on him. Father kicked and bucked but Shin Woo kept him down. He shifted his leg to pin one of Father's arms against his back so he could reach his other hand up to mash his face into the snow.

"That's enough!" he growled angrily. Father roared unintelligibly and Shin Woo looked over at me and Castiel.

"Call 911!" he ordered, his voice strained from the effort of keeping Father down. 

Castiel instantly pulled one of his arms away from me and pulled out his cell phone. Tears continued to stream down my cheeks as I looked at Father struggling on the ground against Shin Woo. I could hear Castiel speaking to the 911 operator and describing what was happening but my attention had been caught by Shin Woo's fierce gaze.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a grunt as he continued to shove Father's face against the ground. 

I nodded silently as tears continued to stream down my cheeks. Shin Woo let out a shaky sigh and a strange movement caught my eye.

My eyes widened as I saw Father slip his right arm from under Shin Woo's leg and in slow motion, I saw him stabilize himself against the ground and then used his arm and right knee to tilt himself explosively up on his side. Shin Woo yelped in shock and lost his hold on him. Like a viper, Father sprang right for Shin Woo and the two men began to roll across the ground just like he and Castiel had minutes earlier.

Before I knew what I was doing, I exploded to my feet and began streaking toward the fighting men. Castiel called after me but I ignored him and the white-hot pain in my side. Instead, I focused on Father who had just stood up and brought his foot back in preparation to smash it into Shin Woo's nose. Hardly without thought, I launched myself towards him, smashing into his back. Within milliseconds I wrapped my legs around Father's waist and my arms around his throat and then I viciously threw my weight backward.

Father stumbled backward and the growl that emanated from his chest sounded like a crazed grizzly bear. Swallowing past my fear and inwardly begging for forgiveness I leaned forward, wrapping my arm tighter so that my right elbow was pressed tightly against my father's throat and my right hand gripped my left elbow for added stability. I wrapped my upper left arm around father's head to keep him from trying to headbutt me. A sob of guilt and remorse tore from my aching lungs but I bit my inner cheeks and squeezed.

Father spun around, trying to wrench me off of him, but I clung to him tighter than ever. After a few seconds, Father's breathing was becoming strangled and he stopped spinning. Instead, he began to wham one of his fists into my right knee and the other he brought up to try and wrench my arm from around his neck. I squeezed my arm so hard it felt like my nails were going to pierce my flesh but I kept squeezing and no matter how he pulled at me my arm stayed firmly wound around his neck. He redoubled his efforts in hitting my knee and I screamed when he hit me at the perfect angle to pop my kneecap out.

"Opal!" Castiel's voice yelled.

Gritting my teeth I ignored the flames of pain racing through my body and continued to squeeze my arm. Slowly Father's body began to tilt. My sobs intensified as he dropped to his knees but I didn't let go until I could feel him pitching forward. Before I was trapped by his body I clumsily unlocked my grip and tumbled away from Father's unconscious body. Pain lanced from my dislocated knee and my probably broken rib as I lay on the ground crying for all I was worth.

"I'm sorry, Sensei," I heard myself gasp through my sobs as I looked over at Father's fallen form.

Castiel ran over to me and seemed unsure of what to do as he looked towards my bent leg and went noticeably pale.

"You better be sending an ambulance," I heard Castiel say into his cell phone before he dropped it to the ground and placed both of his shaking hands on my cheeks.

"Hey, shhh..." he said in a shaking but soothing voice. I tried to control my sobs as I looked through my swimming vision up into his fear-filled and bloody face. "Just look at me. Help is on the way," he said, his voice still shaking.

"Castiel, give me that chain!" Shin Woo barked from somewhere out of my line of vision. 

Castiel removed his hands and fumbled with the chain that was almost always hanging from his belt loops.

"It's just decorative, man," Castiel said in a shaky voice as he held it out. 

Shin Woo's hand, with several split and bleeding knuckles, entered my peripheral vision and took the chain from Castiel.

"Better than nothing," he grunted. 

I moved my head to the side, taking a second to enjoy the cold snow under my cheek as I watched Shin Woo wrap the metal chain tightly around Father's hands behind his back.

My attention shifted back to Castiel as he knelt down next to me and gently cupped my cheeks in his gentle, wonderfully rough hands. Worry and fear were swimming in his expression as he seemed to be looking at every inch of my face twice. My eyes traveled from the large bruise and cut on his right cheek, his split lip that was beginning to scab, and the trail of blood from his nose that looked like he had attempted to wipe away but had just smeared to his left cheek.

Fresh tears bubbled from my eyes and my chest spasmed with pain as a quiet sob escaped my throat. Castiel's eyes clouded with even more worry and he bent down closer to me, murmuring soothingly to me and asking me to hold on.

"Castiel... I'm sorry..." I gasped out haltingly as I continued to cry. Castiel furrowed his brow and shook his head.

"Why are you apologizing? Scratch that, don't talk. Just rest, Opal," he ordered with a shaky voice. I shook my head slightly between his surprisingly warm hands.

"No. I.. need to... apologize. You got... hurt... Because..." My sobs intensified so much that I couldn't even get the words out to apologize.

"Shhh. Opal, this is not your fault. It's that monster that did it," he said with a growl in his voice as he looked over at my still unconscious Father. The sound of sirens reached my ears and I desperately tried to stop myself from crying.

"N-no. Castiel, if I... had told... you the truth... then..."

"Opal, just rest. You don't have to worry about it," Castiel said, the shake in his voice slightly less pronounced as he looked up towards the directions the sirens were coming from.

"But... you were hurt..." My voice cracked terribly as sobs continued to bubble up my throat.

A strange anger filled Castiel's eyes and suddenly he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. My eyes widened in shock and for a moment all of my pain and thoughts were overtaken by my incredulous brain processing the fact that Castiel was actually kissing me. After a few long seconds Castiel pulled away and glared down at me.

"Stop talking already," he growled at me.

I blinked in shock at him, too stunned to even nod in acknowledgment. A look of confusion and then guilty shock loosened Castiel's angry expression and he rested a hand over his eyes, wincing slightly when he brushed over his purpling bruise.

"Shoot. That was your first kiss, wasn't it? And I've got blood on my lip. Dang it!" Castiel lowered his hand and gently placed two fingers over my lips that were tingling slightly.

"Just forget that happened. I'll come up with a better way for you to have your first kiss. That didn't count," he said firmly. Suddenly his eyes widened and he pulled his fingers away from me.

"Oh, flip. You never said that you liked me back, did you? I'm so sorry, I'm such an idiot!" 

I blinked rapidly, my brain slowly coming back to normal and reminding me that my body was very much in pain, but I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at seeing Castiel so anxious. Castiel stopped his frantic rambling and looked down at me as I chuckled. I felt my lips twist up in a smile and after telling my arm a few times that I really did want it to move, it finally obeyed me and I reached up to touch Castiel's uninjured cheek.

Castiel looked down at me with caution in his steel grey eyes and I felt a small tear escape my eyes, but this time for an entirely different reason. Slowly I extended my thumb and brushed it lightly against the corner of Castiel's bottom lip. He blinked slowly down at me and I swallowed past my bruised throat to make sure my voice would come out properly.

"I'm not sure what it feels like to love someone other than Auntie," I breathed out honestly. Castiel didn't move as I gently stroked his split lip with the very tip of my thumb. "But I want to stay with you too. Always."

Castiel's eyes widened at my quiet declaration. The sirens from before were much louder now but Castiel didn't move his eyes from mine as we stared at each other. After a few breathless seconds, his lips quirked up in a gentle smirk, and the teasing light that I had come to look forward to livened up his grey eyes.

"Even if I tease you every day?" he whispered. 

I chuckled, trying to hold in my wince as my ribs and chest sent a shock of pain through me at the jarring movement.

"Even if you tease me every hour, I still want to stay with you," I whispered back. 

Castiel laughed, a true laugh without any mockery or teasing and I grinned up into his handsome features.

Sounds of screeching tires were followed by the running feet of several police officers and right behind them, paramedics came onto the scene. Everything was a flurry of activity for a little while and soon Castiel's face was replaced by a paramedic asking me if I could tell them what kind of injuries I had. I calmly told them I was pretty sure I had broken a rib and my knee cap was most likely dislocated since I couldn't bend my knee. 

The paramedics fussed over me, several of them pointing at my throat, but after a minute several paramedics all lifted me gently onto a stretcher and took me into an ambulance. I sighed in relief when Castiel and Shin Woo both came into the back of the ambulance with me and as the ambulance sirens turned back on and we made our way to the hospital I felt my mind slowly fading into unconsciousness as I squeezed Castiel's hand firmly

A/N So... Sorry about all the violence. I hope I wasn't too graphic for anyone. This chapter was really important though because it was the first time Opal has ever stood up to her dad and realized that what he was doing was wrong.