._.__.~Felicity~.__._.

I brought Echo back inside and went upstairs to check on Castiel. I walked in and found him asleep. I half smiled.

"Castiel?" I whispered. No response.

I took off Echo's leash and set it aside, climbing into bed with my lover. I snuggled close to him, wrapping my arms around him. I nuzzled my face into the crook of his neck.

Echo jumped onto the bed with us, causing my smile to grow. I glanced over at her. She was just sitting there, wagging her tail like she usually does.

I looked back up at Castiel. I decided to give him a dream. Maybe the river again. That seemed like a good choice.

I slowly sat up, trying not to awaken Castiel. I looked over at Echo. I gave her a scratch behind the ear, which she enjoyed.

"Be a good girl while mommy's gone."

I appeared in Castiel's dream. We were once again at the riverbank. I kissed his cheek.

"Hello, lover." I smiled.

He grinned back. "Hello, Felicity."

"So, no hangover in dreamland, then?"

"No. For that, I am grateful."

"Yeah, I would be, too. Merry Christmas, my sweet Castiel."

He smiled and kissed me. "Merry Christmas, my sweet Felicity."

We both just smiled at each other. And just like that, it started snowing.

I chuckled. "Look at that. It's a white Christmas."

His smile grew. "Yes, in here. But is it a white Christmas out there? In the real world?"

"For the past week, forecasts have predicted a low percent chance of snow, but I think differently."

"Really?"

"Mm-hm. I predict... at least a foot of snow."

He nodded. "We shall see. When will we wake up?"

I bit my lip. "Once we're done making snow angels."

There was soon a decent layer of snow around us. Once I managed to conjure some proper winter clothes, I showed Castiel how to make a snow angel.

I laid down on my back with my arms and legs stretched out. I moved them in an up and down motion, shifting the snow until I made a snow angel.

"See? Just like that." I pipped.

He cocked his head to the right ever so slightly. He seemed confused, as usual. "How is this a 'snow angel'? I'm not sure how it resembles an angel at all."

I laughed. "C'mon, just try it!"

He reluctantly laid on his back, repeating the motions I had demonstrated. I helped him up, and we admired our side-by-side snow angels. I interlocked our gloved fingers, resting my head on his shoulder.

"This is gonna be the best Christmas ever." I smiled.

"Yes. But we will have to wake up first."

I sighed. "Yeah. That's the catch."

We both chuckled. "Felicity, if it snows at the bunker, can we make another snow angel?"

I looked up at him. "We can make a million snow angels."

"That seems highly unlikely. It would take several miles just for half of-" I cut him off by placing my lips on his, forced to stand on my toes to reach him.

I looked into his blue-tiful eyes. "Just shut up for a second, kay?"

He smiled, blushing a little, and nodded. He took my face in his hand that wasn't holding mine, and kissed me again. We stood there like that forever, until he interrupted the kiss.

"Do you... do you think we should wake up now?"

I screwed my mouth to the side. "I dunno. Do you think so?"

He shrugged. "Waking up is the only way I can think of to find out if it snowed. Although I may be in for a headache, that doesn't matter as long as I have you."

I smiled brightly and pecked his lips. "Okay. Let's wake up, then."

We awoke in our bed, side by side. We looked at each other and smiled.

"How's your head?" I asked softly.

"Better. Not terrific, but not as bad as it once was."

"Well, good. Now let's see if it's snowed yet."

We walked out of our room, toward the front door. I opened it up and was greeted by the sight of little flurries in the air. Snow.

We both smiled. Looks like the forecast can suck it.

"Oh! And we'll need the proper attire." I grinned and zapped on some winter clothes, some for Castiel too.

"Shall we make snow angels now?" He asked hopefully.

I chuckled. "Yep. Let's make some snow angels!"

Before either of us could even blink, Echo bounded out the door blithely, like she didn't have a care in the world. She was sniffing at the air, probably trying to catch the snow on her nose. Whenever she did, she sneezed.

She started licking at the air, catching the flakes on her tongue. She would even bite at the air trying to catch them.

Castiel and I both laughed. "Echo!" I called. "Come here, girl!" I whistled for her, and she came running. I got her inside, and I noticed Sam and Dean standing near the door.

"Hey, boys. It's snowing." I smiled.

Sam chuckled. "Yeah, I can see that."

"Wanna come outside with us? It'll be fun." I sang the last part.

"I think we can pass up this bit of, uh... fun." Dean smirked.

"Well, we are going to make angels of snow," Castiel informed. "And that is quite a lot of fun."

They both chuckled. "Yeah, okay man. You go have fun without us. Snow isn't really our thing."

I sighed. "Suit yourself. C'mon, lover." I took Castiel by the hand and we went outside.

There was a fresh blanket of snow, and not much there. Not quite "snow angel" worthy yet. So I scooped up some snow and shaped it into a ball.

"So, lover, do you know what a snowball fight is?" I asked Castiel.

"Um... I'm not sure."

I grinned mischievously. I took my snowball and threw it at him, hitting him in the chest. I smiled at his reaction. He was utterly confused.

I made another snowball and showed it to him. "Snowball. Fight. Put two and two together, lover." And I threw it at him.

He tilted his head to the side. "I thought it was considered rude to throw things at people."

"C'mon. It's just snow. Go ahead. Try it."

He bent down and made a snowball, staring at it intently. He looked back at me and, very meekly, threw it at me. No, scratch that, to me.

I caught it in the air. "Castiel, you're supposed to throw it at me, not play catch. Come on, like this." And I threw it at him, the snow in the ball dispersing once it made contact with his chest.

He made another one and threw it at me, this time, with a bit more force.

I chuckled. "There you go." I made another and threw it.

He smiled, clearly enjoying himself. He made some more and threw them all at me one by one, while I was trying to get out of dodge. As I defended myself against the brigade of snowballs, I made some ammo of my own, throwing it whenever I got the chance.

At some point, I slipped and fell to the ground, the thickened blanket of snow cushioning my fall. I continued throwing snowballs from the ground, persistently being pelted by Castiel's.

He started getting clever, and shoved a big pile of snow on top of me. I laughed at our crazy little antics.

"Okay! Okay! Uncle! Uncle!" I yelled.

He cocked his head again. "Uncle who?"

"No, that means I surrender!"

He chuckled and helped me up, only to have me tackle him to the ground, covering the two of us with snow.

"I thought you surrendered!" Castiel laughed.

"So what!" I giggled.

We laid there in the snow laughing our asses off. I'd never had so much fun in the snow my whole life.

We both started to settle down, my head resting on his chest as I lay on top of him. My smile was glued to my face as I listened to the sound of Castiel's beating heart. It was beating so fast. I sighed happily.

"This is shaping up to be the best damn Christmas ever!" I exclaimed.

"Indeed." Castiel concurred.

"Shall we make snow angels now?" I looked up at my lover.

He smiled down at me. "We shall."

I got off of him, laying down next to him as we made our snow angels. We both kept laughing at nothing until we got up to see our creations.

I pecked him on the cheek, only to have him look down at me and press our lips together. As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I felt my leg pop. Like in the movies when the couples kiss, and the girl's leg sort of kicks up. That's what I did.

Suddenly, Castiel pulled back. "Oh my god." He muttered.

"What? What is it?"

He looked me in the eye. "Did I tell Sam and Dean I love them last night?"

I burst into laughter. "I'm afraid so."

He gulped. "Oh. Um... that was an accident, I swear."

"It's okay. That's what happens when you drink too much eggnog."

He sighed lightly. "Believe me, it will never happen again."

I nodded. "Let's go inside and make some hot cocoa. Sound good?"

He smiled. "It sounds wonderful."

We went inside and made two mugs of hot cocoa, which was just milk with chocolate syrup stirred and heated up in the microwave for about a minute. We put some mini marshmallows in there and went and sat down in the library.

We sat side by side, my head resting on Castiel's shoulder. I was blowing into my mug to cool down the cocoa. Castiel just looked confused.

"What're you 'confuzzled' about now?"

He looked down at me. "Two things, now."

I sighed lightly and smiled. "C'mon, what's wrong?"

He sighed. "I... I'm not confused or anything. It's just that... all this time we've been together, not a single thing has come between us."

"Well, that's a good thing, right?"

"Of course it is. It's just... I can't help but feel apprehensive about our future. I feel like there is something just around the corner ready to... ready to put us to an end."

I gave him a look of sympathy. "I know, but you can't focus on the negative. Remember what I told you?"

"I know, but... your wings-"

I put a silencing finger on his lips. "No. That won't happen, Castiel. Okay?"

He sighed lightly. "I just want to... I want to be with you without the thought of something terrible happening. I'm trying to think positively, but... it is growing increasingly difficult. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for worrying about me. C'mon, let's just celebrate Christmas without a thought in our heads. Okay?"

He reluctantly nodded. I smiled at him.

"We can start with the presents, then."