ORANGE TREES REMIND REMI of his parents’ hometown of Veracruz in Mexico. His parents had their own orange trees, taking up so much space in their backyard. It also reminds him of Rosalia, how she loved to pick them in the summer. She used to dry the orange peels and put them in jars. He never knew why but he loved watching her put them in jars, tying silk ribbons around it. Her love for orange trees even led Remi to plant one right in the back of the garden when they first got their new house in the hills of LA.

She’d put the jars around their first house and for the longest time, oranges were the only things he could ever smell. Now, the smell of oranges only haunts him.

Anything that reminded him of Rosalia haunts him.

Oranges, paints, love songs.

Juniper.

He hates that he can never look at his own daughter in the eyes after the death of his wife. She reminds him of too much. Her hair, her eyes and her voice. The way she crinkles her nose in concentration. She looks exactly like her mother and he’s terrified. He’s terrified that she’s becoming so much like her mother, she’d end up the same way as she did and he feels clueless on what to do.

But Juniper is stubborn, like her mother. She’s a hurricane and every chaos she caused, he can’t control. There’s nothing that can stop Juniper from destruction and he’s just waiting for the day she would take him down with her.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Heidi asked after finding out what happened after her brand new Porsche had been crashed right into a pole and the one hopeful punishment that may set Juniper on the right track.

“I don’t have a choice,” He told her and maybe he even said it to himself to convince him this would be a good idea. They were in his office at the end of the hall in the dead of the night. Fettes College site was on the screen of his computer, right on the admissions page. He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache spreading over his scalp like a wild flame, “I just don’t know what to do with her anymore. Maybe if I send her away to a boarding school that’s able to discipline her, she’ll be able to find a new path in life.”

Heidi walked over to him and squeezed his shoulders, standing right behind him, “Maybe you should sleep this off?”

“I can’t!” His voice was loud, you would hear it if you stood out in the hall, making Heidi flinch slightly. Remi sighed, closing his eyes after realising he shouldn’t have yelled but he never apologised for scaring his new wife. He propped his elbows on top of his desk and let out a heavy breath, “I’ve tried sleeping this off for months but I can’t. I can’t ground her, I can’t take her phone away from her, I’ve taken her car off of her and I’ve taken her credit card away but that never stopped her from completely obliterating every path she’s on!”

Remi stood up from his chair and walked over to the cart of drinks in crystal bottles. He poured himself a glass of bourbon and downs it in one go, sitting down on the leather settee, staring vacantly at the painting over the fireplace.

Emotions were never a topic to be discussed with his parents, especially his father when he was younger. He was born into a patriarchal environment. Men were made to believe and understand that they should be responsible for who pays the bills and who sat at the head of the table. He was told men weren’t allowed to falter in the moment of vulnerability or even have a moment of vulnerability. Crying was out of the question. He was told men always had the answer to everything, even if they didn’t.

“I don’t know what to do,” He muttered, “I never know what to do.”

I don’t know what to do without you, Rosalia. I’m lost.

_______________

When Juniper does something that could get her into trouble, she feels like a superstar each time. In the moment she does it, she can feel how she has the world on the palm of her hands and how intently people would watch her. It feels like putting on a show, making people sit on the edge of their seats, anticipating for the best and the worst of Juniper Velazquez. The rush hits like an intense drug. But like any drug, you’d have to increase the dosage in order to get the same effect.

That’s where it went wrong for Juniper.

First, it’s the intense parties that always left messes all over the house. Then, there were fights in schools, getting her expelled twice from two different schools. After that, it just became a colossal accumulation of smashing cars, maxing out credit cards and destroying the house all to spite her dad and achieve something internal that only lasts for a fleeting moment.

But there’s a choice. There has always been a choice. She just never considered it until now.

“Periwinkle or chartreuse?” Myrtle holds up two colour cards as Juniper sits behind the desk, chin on the palm of her hand.

“Neither. They’re colours for some sad children’s hospital.” Juniper deadpans and sees the excited look on Myrtle’s face to drop completely as she looks through the colour palettes.

“Well, I thought either would look perfectly fine for the library,” Myrtle sighs and then holds up another two cards which are bright in colour, “Magenta or cerulean?”

Juniper frowns and shakes her head, “Myrtle, they’re both ugly. They’ll make this whole place look like a cupcake shop desperate for customers.”

“What can I say, Juniper? This place is a rut and we kinda need people to come in so if we look like a desperate cupcake shop, then so be it.” She states and haphazardly throws the two cards into the pile with a huff.

She senses her desperation in Myrtle’s tone and steps out of the desk and shuffles through the card. Myrtle has been stressing over improving the library for a while now. It’s not the best-looking building out there. It’s ugly, actually. Very ugly.

“Okay, look,” She nudges Myrtle and holds a card, “Maybe we can do lilac. It’s soft and it doesn’t cause me a headache.”

“I guess you’re right.” Myrtle nods, almost regrettably, and takes the card, studying the soft hue. She clicks her tongue and holds onto the card as if it were a lifeline and if she were let to go, everything would collapse around her, “I really need this library to stay up.”

She sees the frustration and the desperation in Myrtle’s face; how she’s looking down at the lilac piece of card as if it had the answer to everything. Juniper only has a few days left of her community service and soon enough, this whole library will rot away in the back of her head as it already seems to be but it means a lot to Myrtle and something in her heart tells her that she should at least try and do something.

“What about we do something?” Juniper quirks a brow at Myrtle suggestively. She lifts her head up and her eyes see the anticipation in Juniper’s face.

“What do you mean?” Myrtle says coyly.

“I mean,” Juniper starts with a grin on her face, “Let’s set up bake sales or a book adaptation movie night! I’ll even get Castiel to help me paint the library for you-”

A suggestive smirk appears on Myrtle’s face as if she knows something Juniper doesn’t and cuts in, “Castiel?”

Juniper clears her throat, “Not important, Myrtle. Get your head in the game! Anyway, I’m thinking we can do a bake sale or a photo booth -- I hear one of the rich moms are doing a little carnival thing to raise money for the orphanage as if she doesn’t have enough to give out to everyone here in LA,” she waves her hand blithely, “Anyway, it’s the thought that counts. What I’m trying to say is maybe we can set up something at the carnival and raise money for this little… shabby place.”

“We don’t have funds to begin with,” Myrtle shakes her head with a devastating sigh.

Juniper frowns, “You are talking to a Velazquez. I’ll pay for any expenses. I’ll even recruit some helpers that can help us out. We’re gonna keep this little library going, okay?”

The lady in front her looks at her for a moment, seeing the glint of excitement in her usually-stormy eyes and lets out a soft scoff as if something wondrous happened before her. Juniper feels how long Myrtle is staring at her and asks:

“What?”

“Nothing.” Myrtle props her hand on her hip and clicks her tongue, “It’s just that there’s something about you, Juniper. You and I both know you can’t wait to get out of this place and spend your time shopping at Melrose or something. Why?”

“Why Melrose? I mean, I don’t really go to Melrose. More like Rodeo Drive-”

“No,” Myrtle interrupts, laughing, “I mean, why do you want to help?”

Why does she want to help?

Juniper finds herself smiling as she replies, “A friend told me about the Japanese art of kintsugi. It’s the art of mending broken pottery and you can see where it broke, like scars on a human body. It shows that just because there’s a crack in something, like how rundown this library is, it doesn’t mean it’s the end of it. It just means that you can always piece it back together.”

Myrtle is giving her a look now. One that seems curious as well anticipating something. Juniper rolls her eyes.

“What now?” She asks.

“This friend of yours,” Myrtle wags the colour card at Juniper’s direction, “Keep ‘em around. They sound very forgiving and that’s a gift.”

“He really is.” Juniper says to herself quietly as Myrtle turns to head towards the back of the library.

The day goes on slowly as per usual and Juniper keeps eyeing the door, counting down seconds until someone, perhaps Castiel, to walk through and save her from her boredom. And she keeps thinking about the necklace he wears and how he never fails to wear it. Surely it isn’t a fashion statement. It should mean something, right? Maybe it was his dad’s, or his grandad’s. Juniper also wonders if he runs his fingers through his hair too much. Does he do it because he wants to fix his hair or is it just a habit? Does he do it when he’s nervous? Does he get nervous around her?

Why is she thinking about him so much?

Why do these questions matter?

“Hey! Lady!” A high-pitched voice makes her jump. She scowls and turns her head to the voice, where a little boy is standing at the side of the desk with an obvious frown. His blue eyes narrow down into slits as his hands come to his waist, staring up at her, “I’ve been standing here for a while. I need help!”

Juniper breathes harshly through her nose, inwardly rolling her eyes and smiles sickly down at the child, “What can I help you with, kid?”

The little boy sighs dramatically and holds out a tattered copy of a Batman comic, “Do you have something that won’t tear if I touch it?”

She blows a raspberry and takes it from him, inspecting the edge that is barely being held together. Juniper shakes her head at the little boy, “This is, unfortunately, the only copy of Batman that we have that I know of. I guess we can tape it together?”

The frown on the boy seems to accentuate as his eyebrows crease together, “Taping it is not good enough. I need it to be in pristine condition. This is a library. How is this the only copy of Batman?”

“Kid. Listen.” Juniper grumbles and squats just enough to reach his height, “This library is crumbling apart as we speak. Having an extensive collection of your superhero comics is the least of our problem. Now, unless your parents are willing to sell you for a couple of thousand, we’ll get you your Batman comic that won’t disintegrate in your clammy little hands but we might have to hurry before they harvest your kidneys.”

The boy blinks once. Then, twice before he takes one step back, his beady little eyes still on Juniper before he turns in his Crocs, suddenly making a fast beeline towards the exit. Juniper smiles solemnly at the sight of the scared little boy, stumbling through the doors and almost running into a person.

And then Juniper realises it’s Castiel, almost knocking over the small boy. He steps aside and watches the boy run down the steps where his parents are waiting. He turns his head towards the direction the boy was running from and sees Juniper, standing behind the desk as usual.

She’s frozen as he smiles at her which she’s learnt that it’s something he does often and that it makes her unable to look away. Castiel makes his way towards her now with both hands behind his back. There’s a look on his face which tells her he’s hiding something for her. She can feel the palms of her hand sweat and she hates how her mind is racing at the sight of his smile that’s directed towards her and only her.

“Hey.” He greets, stifling his smile as he leans against the desk coolly.

“Hey,” Juniper’s eyes dart to his arms which are hidden behind his back, “What’d you got there?”

“Well, I hope you’re hungry because,” he pauses for dramatic effect and brings out the brown paper bag from behind him, putting it down in front of her, “I brought you some waffles. Surprise.”

Juniper can smell the sweetness of the vanilla and the beckoning scent of cinnamon. She can imagine the drizzle of maple syrup and the banana slices, like the ones they had last night from the diner in West Hollywood.

“You shouldn’t have.” Juniper feels her cheeks turn red, hoping that he doesn’t realise.

“Oh, I insist,” he leans over the desk, arms folded and his tender eyes studying her every feature, “And I also insist that you come with me.”

Juniper snorts, “You know I can’t. I’ll have to hang around until 3.”

“Hey.” Castiel snaps his fingers at her, almost in an accusatory way, “You know the rules, June. Waffles make good days, right?”

He then looks at her with an amused smile on his face, like he just did something and he knows he did because Juniper’s smiling so wide, wider than he’s ever seen it and brighter than he could ever think it could be. Her eyes are sparkling and she can see how it starts to water but the smile on her face keeps it from falling.

She’s speechless.

The smile on his lips soften. “Look, Juniper. We all have bad days and some may experience it more than others but I want you to have a good day and a million more. I want you to have an infinite amount of suns, waffles and everything this universe has to offer you to keep that smile on your face.”

“You don’t have to do this, you know.” She feels her heart skip. It feels like she’s standing at the highest point of the world and she’s about to fly right into the clouds and blue skies.

“Come and have a BDE with me -- the Best Day Ever. Right now.” He’s not asking her. He’s telling her. Castiel seems too impatient and then hikes right over the counter, standing right in front of her and feels her breath brushing against his skin. “We’ll go to the museum. The planetarium. Go get more waffles. Whatever you want.”

Usually, nothing stops Juniper from wrecking the world around her but she knows if she skips a day of community service, it’ll only make matters worse for her with her dad who already seems determined to ship her to some boarding school. And it’s times like these, where there is a boy involved, that the outcome wouldn’t be any different than any of her previous antics.

“You know, I can’t.” Juniper forces herself to say.

A smug, playful grin reaches his face. He reaches to her face and taps her nose, “That’s where you’re wrong, June. You’re free for today.”

“What?” Juniper looks at him in scrutiny, scoffing, “That’s funny. This is a court-ordered community service.”

“Details, details,” Castiel groans, waves his hand as if to physically clear the technicalities that prevent her from leaving with him. He knows that this is unusual coming from a girl like Juniper and he can’t believe he’s trying to convince her to leave with him. He takes her hand and steps around the desk with her, slinging her bag over his shoulder and takes the brown paper bag again. Castiel is now dragging her towards the doors.

“Castiel, what the hell are you doing? I said I can’t leave!” Juniper digs her heels into the wooden floors.

“And I told you you were wrong, right?” He looks over his shoulder.

“What? Dude, what are you saying-”

“I called Myrtle this morning. Don’t worry about it, okay? Trust me.”

Is that why Myrtle signed her slip earlier than usual?

She smiles for a second until a frown disrupts it. “My dad has to pick me up. It’s a whole thing. Trust issues, you know?”

“June.” He says her nickname lowly and it makes her heart swell. Castiel’s hand is still holding onto hers and she can feel him squeezing lightly, a small act of reassurance that’s making her heart race. “Like I said: don’t worry about it and just trust me.”

“Fine.” She lets the smile break loose and he immediately takes it as a green light and proceeds to skip out of the library.

_______________

They sit on the hood of Castiel’s car, overlooking LA in its glory as they eat their waffles in comfortable silence with the tree giving them just enough shade. It almost looks the way it should be; the clear blue skies, the bustling city beneath them and the picturesque palm trees surrounding the city. It’s gorgeous on the outside but it’s corrupt and it decays the ones who harbour this place. But even though the ugliness and gaudiness of it all, Juniper is oddly forgiving of the city and all its imperfections.

“How do you like LA so far?” She asks and takes the last bite of her food, pulling her knees to her chest and scans the view in front of them.

“It’s interesting.” Castiel had finished his food earlier on and is only sipping on his milkshake from the diner. “I’m pretty used to terrible traffic but LA takes the cake.”

Calm is something Juniper hardly ever gets to feel. Each day either feels like a terrible rush or the slowest and for a while now, the only thing that seems to balance out the two are the drugs. They’re not the best solution to everything but it helps and she hates to admit that she has to rely on them most times. It gives her so much yet at the same time takes much more from her.

But as she sits there, as he talks about San Francisco, his favourite places there and his bedroom he had in his old house, she feels like she’s floating away in a reverie of bliss. For once, she doesn’t feel like she has to do something to just simply feel. All she’s doing right now is sitting on the hood of a boy’s car, feeling the warm sun kissing her skin and no damaging thought taunting her in her head. She wishes it could be like this forever, in the city that sings and dances into the night with its lights.

Castiel hops off the hood, stretching his arms over his head as he overlooks the city. Dressed in what seems like his regular go-to outfit; jeans, a flowy button-up which is breathable for the Californian summer heat and a pair of scuffed-up sneakers, he looks effortless as well as timeless, like he belongs in some 80s movie.

“City of Angels, huh?” Castiel flashes his smile over his shoulder, his eyes slightly squinting from the blaring sun. He looks so picturesque, especially in this light.

“Sadly, the city doesn’t live up to its name,” Juniper feigns a heartbreaking sigh, leaning back on her elbows. “This place is crawling with demons.”

“Well,” Castiel starts and by the sound of his tone, Juniper can tell he’s about to challenge her statement. He walks towards her, standing by her outstretched legs and holds her ankles, shaking them lightly as if he doesn’t have her attention already, “You see this city differently, don’t you? You see the beauty underneath all the ugly it has to offer. I know you do. I can tell.”

Juniper shakes his hands off her ankles and throws her head back to look up at the sky, restraining herself from saying anything. She feels like an alien if she admits this city is much more than just glitter over blood.

“Don’t you?” He repeats and hops back onto the hood and lays next to her.

“How would you know?” It comes out in a mutter, almost inaudible for him to catch.

Castiel hears her though and shrugs, “Just by the way you look at it just now. It was like you were watching a movie you’re never going to get tired of.”

She rolls her eyes half-heartedly and glances at him, “And how does that even look like?”

“Like you’re in love.” He replies, matter-of-factly.

Juniper’s eyes downcast immediately at the word that comes out of his mouth. She feels nervous all of a sudden, like some unspoken truth that even she has not realised yet. He’s observant and it scares her how he almost sees right through her like there’s a part of him that already knows her.

She lets out a forced cough, clearing the lump in her throat and flicks her hair off her shoulder, staring back at the palm trees, “What about you, then? Do you see the city the way it is?”

“I'm inclined to reserve all judgement, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and made me the victim of not a few veteran bores,” Castiel says like he’s reciting a poem, in a rhythm that doesn’t quite make a song just yet.

She raises a brow, side-eyeing him.

Castiel gives out a short chuckle, “The Great Gatsby. It’s a great book, June.”

“You are definitely not made for this city,” Juniper’s elbows start to ache so she lays down completely, her hair spewing around her like a messy halo. She’s so close next to him, a mere inch before her shoulder touches his. Castiel’s hand moves from his stomach to beside him, his pinky finger grazing against the side of her hand, softly sending shivers against her skin.

“You ready for the next stop?” He pokes her side.

She drapes her arm over her eyes and peeks one open to see him, “What do you have in mind?”

“You’ll see.” And there’s that grin again that makes her wonder so many things but she’s not going to get into it just yet, only because she doesn’t want to. He pats her knee sporadically, “Come on. Let’s go.”

The next stop is an art museum. The building is painted teal with big bold yellow letters sitting at the top with the word ‘EXTRAVAGANCE’. The foyer is colourful with all the colours of the rainbow painted on the walls. The name of the art museum is on the wall too, where there is a long desk which almost resembles a wave in front of it with a young man, his hair as blue as the walls on the outside, sitting behind it on his phone.

“An art museum?” Castiel hears the scrutiny in her voice as he takes the entry tickets from the young man. Juniper looks around the foyer, her dark eyes scanning the bright lights and the painted clouds in the ceiling. Her nose is scrunched, “Didn’t peg you for some art snob.”

“This isn’t just an art museum, June,” Castiel says and walks her to the entrance, which is an archway made out of flowers and leads into a dark tunnel. Right at the end of it is a white door, with roses all over the surface. He steps into the hall, turns around and says, “It’s an interactive art museum. The person who made this place wants people to feel art.”

Juniper sees the excitement in his face and walks through the tunnel with him and that’s when she realises they’re standing on a platform and the walls are rotating, making them feel like they’re floating in space. The walls of the tunnel are starting to shift with violet and orange hues, almost replicating the galaxy. There’s music playing too but it’s soft and it rumbles gently. She can feel the bass beating at a gentle pace.

She has never witnessed something so mesmerizing as the galaxy that spins around her.

“Check this out.” She hears Castiel and feels her hand being pulled through the door made out of flowers and finds herself in a dark room with the tall ceiling occupied by what looks like stars. She feels her gasp catches in her throat as her eyes settle on the scattering lights above them which are floating mindlessly. There are a few other people in the room, occupied by the walls with their hands tracing the surface to see stars following their fingertips. Everybody seems to be in love with having the cosmos following them but Juniper can’t look away from the ceiling, watching the different constellations floating together.

Castiel puts a pair of headphones over her head and she can hear the soft musical hum that the stars are dancing to. It makes everything a little different now with the music corresponding to the gently flashing lights to portray the galaxy. She even feels like she’s swimming along with the stars as it starts to descend on them from the ceiling, disappearing into their skin and raining into the palm of her hands.

The music starts to pick up its pace as the stars start to float upwards again before it abruptly falls over them again, making Juniper laugh in awe. Castiel dramatically bows in front of her and takes her hand before taking her into his arms as if they were a couple in a ballroom. He spins her around under his arm and sways her to the music. The other people in the room are watching but it just feels like it’s only the two of them.

He spins her around again and again and she can’t help but laugh as the lights speckle down on them. It feels like a dream and everything looks like it’s coming out of a movie scene.

Then, the lights dim and the music fades, the stars slowly dissipating into thin air. Juniper’s chest heaves as she catches her breath, meeting Castiel’s eyes under the dim lights. She gets reminded of the night at Ash’s party and the anger and frustration she felt that night and how much she sought solace from little white lines; and then, seeing him. His kind eyes.

Castiel pulls the headphones off his head and rests it around his neck with one giant smile on his face. Juniper snaps herself out of the trance and does the same as the room lights up again and she can hear the music starting in the headphones again.

“How’d you find this place?” She asks when she follows him into the next room, where typical frames are hanging up on the wall. Instead of still portraits or a painting of some random barnyard in France, there are moving pictures.

“My mom searched up ‘Places You Should See in Los Angeles’,” Castiel replies as they watch a video by a Dutch photographer and artist, Frans Hofmeester, who took videos of his daughter every single day for 20 years and compiled it all together. He’s watching it with a dazed look in his eyes, like his thoughts are elsewhere but here, “They mentioned a couple of cool places if you skip In-N-Out and that pink wall they like so much.”

“Fast food and Instagram.” Juniper isn’t expecting anything different that is being recommended to people on what to see in Los Angeles. “It says a lot.”

He chuckles, “Yeah, but then you find places like these. It gives you hope.”

“You are an old poet writing on parchment paper,” Juniper tells him and it sounds like an insult but he takes it as a compliment.

“I think that’s cool,” He states, a smile replacing the dazed look in his face as he watches the video in front of them, “In a world where a plate of pasta gets liked by a couple of hundred people, I think poems on parchment paper are beautiful in comparison.”

“I bet you don’t have Instagram.”

“And I bet that you do.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“Let me guess. A couple of thousand followers?”

“Last time I checked, I was at 18 thousand.” Juniper chuckles, “But I don’t know about now. My dad took my phone off of me.”

She imagines that her phone is locked away somewhere, probably the safe. Juniper has already tried to find it like any other time he’d take it away from her as a form of punishment like he’d put it in one of the drawers in his room or stashed away in the closet. But she knows her dad isn’t getting softer at every chaos she has pulled and she can’t break into the safe. Not that it’s worth to try anyway.

They wander around the exhibit for a little bit longer, putting their headphones back on and listening to the next song that is playing for that particular art installation. One of the frames is a video of the changing LA skies and how it changes from blue to violet, reminding Juniper of all the nights she had been angry and desperate for a distraction.

They move to the next exhibition which doesn’t compare what Juniper has seen so far. Castiel presses a button on the remote the guy handed him at the front and it changes the music as Juniper’s eyes scan their surrounding in awe. Roses dangle from the ceiling with purple and pink lights rippling all over the walls, like a tidal wave. Castiel soon disappears into the wall of roses and Juniper can only find herself following him.

“Spending my nights alone, waiting for you to call me,

You’re the only one I want by my side when I fall asleep,

Tell me what I’m waiting for, tell me what I’m waiting for,

I know it’s hard but we need each other,

Know it’s hard but we need each other…”

When she finds herself between the rows of roses, Juniper realises it almost mimics a maze that she doesn’t mind getting lost in. She stands in the middle, running her fingers over the rose petals, seeing how the purple and pink light break through, casting wonderful shadows all over her and all over the flowers. And then, she closes her eyes and just stands there and lets herself drift with the music and the roses that caress her skin.

“And we all out lookin' for, lookin' for God so we never see it in ourself,

Shit, divine intervention move in stealth,

It's hard to tell what the prayer compelled,

You can find me dancin' in between the raindrops,

Tryna find a way to make the pain stop…”

She feels a harsh tap on her shoulder. When she opens her eyes, she can see Castiel taking off, running away from her. Usually, she’d hate this. Running and playing childish games but she soon finds herself meandering around the floral walls, trying to catch him. She eventually gets to him, only because she hid behind a curtain of roses and when he ran by, she tagged him and now it’s his turn to chase after her.

Her heart is beating wildly against her chest as she runs, laughing as the song carries them. She feels 10 again, playing with her friends in the backyard when things were a lot easier and simpler and that her biggest concern back then getting to the TV just in time for her favourite show to come on.

She runs and she runs, right through the flowers. It’s a huge installation and she feels like she’s running for eternity through the maze; and it’s like if she runs fast enough, she’ll get to the other end and maybe then, Juniper will see and feel every sliver of peace this world has to offer.

The exit is right there and when she’s about to step right through, back outside of the maze made out fo roses, Castiel grabs her wrist and tugs her right into his chest. Juniper can feel herself caught in the moment, as the song starts to fade into an end and she’s unknowingly standing in his arms. She feels her back being pressed against the wall and there’s a dangerous gap between them that seems to minimise itself as she watches him slowly moving in. Juniper pulls the headphones off her head, her eyes still trained on his and that smile on his face that never seems to go away.

The lights break through the flowers, casting beautiful broken colours over his face. Juniper can feel the hesitance in the air but she’s feeling brave and he looks far too beautiful under this light.

Just as she gets on her toes, the beat in her chest crescendos, Castiel abruptly takes a step back, seemingly unaware and oblivious to the space that was about to minimise.

“We should get going, it’s almost three,” He begins to walk towards the end of the maze. Before he steps out, he flashes one more grin over his shoulder, “But it doesn’t end here, June. We still have the rest of the day.”