It was quiet out. The sun had set only moments ago and the first of the winter darkness began to loom over the snowy streets of Sioux Falls. The sky above was slowly filling with clouds, preparing themselves to rain a fresh sheet of snow down onto those brave enough to venture out into the icy chill of the night, which in this case just so happened to be Crowley.

It's where he'd been for upwards of an hour now. Standing at the end of the driveway with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets as he did nothing but stare out at the street in front of him, watching as the snow that littered the road wore down with each heat-filled car that drove past him. He didn't care that it was freezing. The cold didn't bother him, and whilst he could feel the sharp sting of it against his warm skin, it didn't cause him any sort of pain or discomfort.

If anything, it brought him a touch of relief to feel something other than the small pieces of his heart that had recently shattered inside him. The ones that now felt like they were flowing throughout his body, transferring the excruciating pain in which he'd succumbed to to every single part of him they could reach until they had paralysed him completely.

And they were close. He knew they were. He could feel it. The heartache deep in his chest was relentless. No matter what he did, or what he told himself might miraculously happen, it continued to chip away at his soul and he knew it was only a matter of time until he broke completely.

It's why he'd come outside in the first place, to try and stop it from happening. Why he tore himself away from Selina's body that still lay on the dining room table. Cold. Stiff. Withering away into nothing as the hands on the clock ticked tauntingly by. He couldn't handle being near her anymore. He couldn't handle seeing her like that. Watching as the colour of her skin faded and was replaced with the sickly shade of death as the seconds passed by in which the realisation that she was never coming back slowly began to weigh heavy on his shoulders. 

Crowley had never felt like this before. So numb, yet so paralysed with emotion that his whole body felt like it was three times heavier than it should have been. He hadn't even felt like this when he first had to let Selina go, because at least then he knew that she would still be out there somewhere. Breathing. Living her life, and whilst she may have been depressingly heartbroken, she would have still very much been alive. But now she wasn't. Now, because of his own stupid, idiotic decision, Selina was dead and the worst part of it was that he had no idea where her soul was.

No one could find it. Not himself, not Castiel, not even Heaven as a whole could pinpoint where Selina's soul was and perhaps that's why this was so much harder on him than it should have been. If she was in Heaven, then at least she'd be at peace, and even if she hadn't gone upstairs where she belonged and instead descended into the pit, he'd still have been able to find her. He'd have been able to track her down, save her from whatever torture she might have been enduring and bring her back to him. But he couldn't even do that as no matter how hard he looked or how many demons he had scouring every inch of Hell, Selina was nowhere to be seen.

Her soul was lost, and with it, so was his own. He was beside himself with grief — something he'd never once experienced and that's partially why he'd eventually ventured outside. He couldn't let those who'd come back into the living room see him crumble at the mere thought that he'd never get to see Selina again. That he'd never get to see the smile she had that left him weak at the knees each time he was lucky enough to be with her. He'd never get to hear her voice again, or the way she would snort softly each time he had her laugh until she cried.

He'd never get to feel the soft warmth of her touch on his skin when she would cup his face, drag her hands down his arms and chest or even something as simple as holding his hand. But worst of all, he'd never get to see the glisten in her gorgeous eyes when she looked at him, with so much love clouded over her pupils that he almost couldn't believe it was directed at him. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve her love, yet he was somehow lucky enough to have gotten it.

Only now, because of his own moronic decision, he'd never get a chance to tell her that — how lucky he was to have been able to be with her, regardless of how short a time together they had actually had. He'd never get to experience any of the things he loved about her again because the truth was that he had lost her. Hell, he couldn't even bring himself to look at a photo of Selina as he knew it would never compare to the real thing and if anything, it would destroy him completely to see her as she once was when he knew he'd never get to experience it again in person.

The fact of the matter is that he had lost everything . And the more time he spent staring off into space, the more he came to realise it had all been for nothing. He should have hunted down those who were opposed to their relationship and ended that, instead of ending the best thing that had ever happened to him — getting the throne of Hell, included.

Letting Selina go had been the worst decision he'd ever made in all his long years and now, because of that, there was a family in the house behind him mourning the loss of their beloved sister. The one who only ever deserved the best, and whose death they would more than likely never bounce back from.

Crowley could tell they blamed him for it, even if they didn't explicitly say so themselves, he could see it in their eyes. The way they looked at him, with tight knit eyebrows and tense jaws, it was only a matter of time before they snapped and that's another reason as to why he'd left the warmth of Jody's home and come outside. He didn't have it in him to deal with a grieving Sam, or an angry Dean, and so he hoped to remain alone until the harrowing time came where they had to burn Selina's body, after which they'd never see him again.

However, it was as if the universe couldn't grasp that he needed to be left alone and instead continued to throw punches at him as soon enough, he began to hear the soft crunch of snow coming from behind him. He knew that meant that someone was approaching him, and given the lightness to the footsteps he knew it wasn't Sam, Dean or Castiel. More than likely it was Claire, who'd been the one to give him Selina's necklace back after breaking his heart even more by telling him Selina had taken it off seconds before she died.

But when Crowley turned, about to politely tell Claire he wasn't up to explaining the laws of the afterlife to her anymore, his heartbeat quickly slowed to halt as, it wasn't Claire who had been cautiously approaching him...

It was Selina.

Some way — somehow — Selina was alive and walking ever so slowly towards him , fiddling anxiously with the sleeves of her blood soaked jacket as she tried her hardest not to cry. And Crowley could tell that she was from the way her lip wobbled. From the way she bit absently at the skin on her bottom one, making him want to reach out and run his thumb down them just to stop her from doing so as over the course of her life she'd developed a bad habit of biting it until she bled.

Although this time, to Crowley's surprise, she stopped on her own — as did all other movements she may have been making as she came to a slow halt about ten feet in front of him. Her eyes were already glistening in the light of the moon that peeked through a crack in the dark clouds cascading over them, allowing Crowley to see that which he never thought he would again — her love, shining brighter than ever as she stared so deep into his soul he could feel it stitching itself back together.

"Did you mean it?" Selina eventually said, her voice cracking terribly as she wiped furiously at the tears that had leaked from her eyes. She'd already cried enough in the last few hours to fill a bathtub, she didn't need to cry anymore. "Will you really fight for me?"

The question was unnecessary, Selina knew that. She'd already heard the words fall from Crowley's very own lips, and she'd even gotten a sneak peek at the end of the life they might have to fight to look forward to, but she didn't care. She needed to hear him say it again. She needed to hear him , the present day version that she loved, say it to her soul, not just her empty vessel.

"Until it kills me," Crowley replied instantly, feeling his heart piece slowly back together with each small step she began to take towards him. He didn't know how she had heard him. Where her soul had been to allow her to know of the desperate pleas he'd cried over her body, but much like Selina, he didn't care. She was here. She was back, and she had heard him, and that's all that truly mattered to him. "Because I love you, Selina, and I never should have let you go."

"You did exactly what you were supposed to," Selina sniffled, once again wiping at her tear-filled eyes as Crowley narrowed his in question.

However, she didn't answer that question and before Crowley could open his mouth to ask it aloud, she had come running towards him and quite literally jumped into the safety of his arms, almost knocking him off his feet in the process of hugging him as tightly as her strength would allow her to. His arms wrapped around her instantly, his hands sliding beneath the cool leather of her jacket to feel the gentle warmth that had returned to her body.

Oh, how he'd longed to hold her again.

"God, I missed you so much," Crowley whispered into the crook of her neck, increasing his hold on her out of fear that she'd be so cruelly taken away from him again. "And I promise you, I'm going to do whatever I can to make it up to you."

"You don't need to do that," Selina said softly, drawing her head back just a little and forcing Crowley to lift his own back up to face her, allowing her to see the redness to his eyes and for once, it wasn't because of his essence. "I already forgive you and like I said, you didn't do anything you weren't supposed to."

"Darling, I do believe you've lost me," Crowley said in confusion, his eyes once again narrowing.

"Let's just say I got a sneak peek into how the universe really works," Selina replied, rather mysteriously to say the least — looks like ways of Death had rubbed off on her a little.

"Oh?" Crowley's eyebrows raised as his curiosity piqued. "Care to share?"

"Maybe one day," Selina said with a smile, which only widened when Crowley frowned playfully and it was kind of hard to believe they hadn't been together this whole time with how easily they fell back into the swing of things. "But for now..."

Selina cut herself off when she grabbed Crowley by the knot of his tie and pulled him closer towards her, kissing him as though it was the first time she'd ever tasted him and even to Crowley himself, it felt like that first kiss all over again. Hungry. Heated. Passionate. With all the appropriate hair gripping and face cupping one might expect, yet at the same time it was incredibly gentle. Soft and slow, as this time... they didn't have to rush out of fear of being found out as everyone Selina deemed as important already knew — which only seemed to add to the pleasure the kiss was giving her.

All in all, it was perfect. As though the stars had realigned above them and when Selina's hand dropped from around Crowley's neck to land upon his chest, she felt their hearts beat as one and she knew... Despite everything she had previously seen or learned, this moment right here was when she knew that they were truly meant to be together.

As the kiss went on and the more engulfed in the smell, taste and all round essence of the demon she loved it became almost too much for Selina to handle so soon after her resurrection and so she pulled away, gasping softly for breath yet never once allowing her hands to fall from Crowley's body or her forehead to part from his.

"I do believe your family just watched you do that," Crowley exhaled, equally as out of breath as he glanced briefly to his side to see the six pairs of eyes that watched them through the blinds.

"I know," Selina replied, with no indication that she cared if they had or not — as she didn't. She was tired of hiding Crowley from the world, so they were just going to have to get used to seeing her kiss him in front of them. "I sort of came straight out here after they almost hugged me back to death so they're probably still waiting on an explanation as to where I was."

"And where might that be?" Crowley asked curiously, his eyebrows rising once again.

"You'll see," Selina smiled, before leaning in to kiss him again. And, as if the moment couldn't get more perfect, it started to snow, and the moment she felt that first icy flake land on her nose Selina drew back just an inch and whispered softly, "I love you."

"I love you too," Crowley replied, watching as another snowflake floated down between them and landed directly on Selina's cheek. It melted on impact almost instantly, and when it absorbed into her skin, causing a small circle of light red to form he leaned in, pressing a warm kiss to the exact spot and sending a fresh wave of goosebumps over every inch of her body.

Soon enough the sky opened more and the falling flakes started to grow increasingly heavy around them. Selina pulled away and started to back up the drive towards the house, hearing the soft crunch of the fresh snow beneath her feet with each careful step she took. She then held out her hand, wiggling her fingers a touch as though encouraging Crowley to take it as it seemed like she was going to have to physically drag him back inside with her and out of the incoming blizzard.

"I don't want to cause any trouble," Crowley said quietly, clearly hesitant about going back inside.

"You won't," Selina assured him, even though she was on the fence about that answer herself. And Crowley clearly knew that as he still didn't move so much as inch towards her, causing her to walk back over to him and take his hand tightly in hers, feeling the never-fading warmth of his skin ripple across the brewing coldness of her own. "I want you to stay."

Unable to bring himself to say no to her under any circumstances, let alone so soon after her almost permanent death, Crowley's brow softened. He then stepped forward, bringing his free hand up to gently cup the side of her face and using his thumb to wipe away another moist drop of snow that landed just below her sparkling eyes.

"Then I'll stay," He whispered, causing a heartwarmingly wide smile to spread across Selina's face. She leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before eventually he allowed her to drag him all the way back to the house with her — where, once the door clicked shut after them those inside quickly scattered, not-so-nonchalantly acting as though they hadn't just been spying on the two of them through the blinds.

"You gonna tell us how the hell you're back now?" Dean asked the second they turned the corner into the living room, focusing his attention solely on his sister and not the demon whose hand she was still holding as it made him sick to even think about.

"Soon," Selina replied — a little coldly as she could tell what Dean was thinking by the way his jaw tightened each time his eyes flicked towards her. "I want to get showered and change into something more comfortable first, so in the meantime... Try not to kill each other." 

"No promises," Dean grumbled, before slouching down into the spare spot on the couch and immediately eyeing up the half drunk bottle of scotch that sat on the table in front of him — which didn't exactly help instil anymore confidence in Selina that they wouldn't kill each other whilst she was gone.

"Cas, I'm leaving you in charge," Selina said towards the angel, who was honestly the only one she could fully trust to keep the peace. He nodded once towards her in understanding, before flashing Jody an apologetic smile as she frowned disapprovingly at being overruled inside her own house.

Then, after she was sure too much damage wouldn't occur in her absence, Selina gave Crowley's hand a quick, comforting squeeze before she grabbed the bag she'd dumped in the corner of the room when they had arrived and headed for the stairs. It was like she hadn't just died bloody with the way she skipped up them, faintly humming the tune to an old rock song as she left her family and Crowley alone in the living room together.

She knew it was risky, lord knows she did, but she also knew they'd all have to learn to get along together if they ever wanted to live amicably. And if there was anything Selina wanted more than the last three months of her life back, it was to be able to live out the rest of it in peace.

However, that more than likely wouldn't be happening any time soon as the very second Selina disappeared from the top of the stairs, a thick fog of awkwardness and hostility swept over the entirety of the room. No one dared say anything. Nor did they risk looking anywhere other than the floor beneath them — not without Selina there to keep the peace anyway, as the last thing they would want was to have her come back downstairs to what would most likely be a deeply heated argument.

Or worse, a living room brawl that consisted heavily of everyone in the room fighting to keep Dean from brutally murdering Crowley. He'd already broken into that scotch again and was slowly sipping on it, which in hindsight may not have been a particularly good idea, but at least it kept him distracted... For the most part.

As for everyone else, they all stayed quiet and alert. Claire and Alex had gone back to bickering with each other over who had more room on the couch but aside from that, the faint ticking of the clock on the wall and Castiel's soft footsteps as he slowly paced before the window, the room had fallen into rather tense silence.

Only, to those blessed with the ability of what Selina had once described as supersonic hearing, there was one other sound that they could vaguely make out. One that could override even the most hostile of tensions. This one included. It was a sound which, whether it had been from Selina being dead or simply because she hadn't been the same since the break-up, neither Castiel nor ever thought they'd get the pleasure of hearing again.

And that was... Selina singing in the shower.

They never thought they'd get to hear it again so soon after she came back. They had both assumed it would take Selina a little while to get back to the roots of who she had once been as overcoming what she'd gone through was no easy feat that could be accomplished overnight. Yet here she was, back to her usual, carefree self and already comfortable enough to perform a solo concert in the steamy confines of Jody's bathroom — which, given that her resurrection had been a miraculous endeavour on its own, was just the cherry on top of a rather delicious sundae.

In fact, for Crowley, it was more like a handful of cherries as he couldn't even begin to describe how much he'd missed that sound. Missed hearing it as he lay in bed, forbidden from entering the bathroom after her as Selina was always so afraid she'd go home smelling like sulphur thus exposing their secret. She used to spend upwards of an hour thoroughly washing her hair and body, and the whole entire time she would sing, leaving Crowley with nothing else to do but sit back and bask in it. And boy would he ever.

There was never a moment of it that he didn't treasure. That he hadn't locked away inside his mind for rainy days as he leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes, shutting out everything that wasn't the, for lack of a better word, heavenly sound of Selina's voice.

And as he sat there now, his fingers tapping anxiously on his leg and his heart warming in his chest, the faint sound of Selina putting her heart and soul into parts of the most random songs that came drifting down the stairs was enough to make him forget about his surroundings. It was enough to make him forget that Dean was firing grim looks at him over the rim of his glass, no doubt cooking up ways he could potentially kill him without causing Selina too much misery and despair.

It was enough to make him forget that he'd just spent the last... However, many hours holding Selina's cold, limp hand as she lay dead next to him. But most importantly, it was enough to make him smile widely. Fondly even. As though he were hearing it again for the very first time, and with each melodic tone that left Selina's lips that smile continued to grow until it had caught the attention of every single person surrounding him. And, unluckily for him, the one that he least wanted to talk to right now, just had to be the one who went and broke the now comforting silence.  

"What are you smiling at?" Dean asked bitterly, watching as Crowley slowly shifted in his seat and forced the once love-filled smile to fall swiftly from his face.

Clearing his throat, Crowley's eyes shifted briefly towards Dean — just in time to catch the slight whiteness to his knuckles as he increased his grip on his glass at the mere handful of seconds in which he was forced to wait for an answer. He didn't even care if it was an appropriate amount of time for someone to take when deciding to respond, it was angering him — Intensely. Probably because it was Crowley, his sister's demonic boyfriend — God, it really pained him even thinking that — whose response he was waiting on.

Luckily though, before the eldest Winchester ended up whirling the empty glass directly at his head Crowley went against his better judgement and decided to answer with nothing more than the plain, heartfelt truth that Selina was singing. And just like that, both Sam and Dean's faces softened instantaneously.

Even Crowley himself couldn't stop the smile from tugging at his lips again when Selina interrupted her singing to swear at a bottle that had fallen over — before immediately getting back into her concert that caused his heart to flutter with each and every word.

"I never thought I'd hear that again," Sam said softly, despite the fact that couldn't even hear it himself.

But at least someone could and that's really all that was important right now. For him anyway. Dean on the other hand... Well, he didn't think that was any reason for them to celebrate as to him, Selina never should have had to stop singing in the first place. Yes, it may have annoyed him sometimes — especially early in the morning when her voice would drift through the bunkers vents and wake him up, but he had never wanted it to stop.

At least, not in the way that it did.

He never would have wanted Selina to have stopped singing solely because she was in so much pain that she could no longer bring herself to want to feel anything even remotely close to joy. Pain that he was still coming to terms with learning had all been because of a demon. That this whole ordeal — Selina's death, not to mention her deep spat of depression — had been entirely because of Crowley, and perhaps that's why this moment had pissed Dean off much more than it should have.

"You know, you have some nerve to sit there and smile ," Dean scoffed, uncurling one finger from around his glass to point directly at Crowley. "You have some nerve to come in here and act as though you aren't entirely at fault for everything that's happened lately."

"Dean," Sam warned, lifting himself from where he'd been resting on the arm of the chair. "Don't start this again."

"Oh, I never finished," Dean exhaled angrily, slamming his glass down on the table so hard it made the girls sitting across from him jump. He then got to his feet, catching a glimpse of trenchcoat from the corner of his eye as Castiel edged his way slowly, and nervously, towards him. "You see, I never got a chance to tell Crowley how the woman he "claims " to love so much had to be put on suicide watch for the past three months because she was so broken... So destroyed — because of him — that every single moment she had to live was nothing but complete and utter agony."

With anger now coursing through his veins and his teeth clenching, Crowley got abruptly to his feet, forcing Sam and Castiel to each take another step towards them should that living room brawl well and truly break out. For a moment, that's where this was leading. To an anger-induced fist fight, and they were fully prepared to deal with that. They were fully ready to pull the two of them apart by the scruff of their collars and put Dean to sleep in order to calm the situation down.

Only, as Crowley went to square up to Dean in order to begin in giving him a stern piece of his mind before knocking him off his feet, as he fully intended to, he suddenly stopped. Then, his shoulders sank low and as quickly as his anger brewed, it was gone. Replaced with nothing but the strong sensation of guilt as... Dean was right. Selina's death... Or rather, her apparent suicide driven by her inability to deal with her heartache anymore had been entirely his fault and deep down, he knew... He knew that he deserved this. He knew he deserved to have his ass handed to him, both physically and verbally, by those whom he'd forced to pick up the pieces of the woman he loved.

Therefore, he simply couldn't bring himself to argue back. Nor could he even bring himself to stay another second in that room and before Dean could egg him on any further into that fist fight, Crowley vanished, leaving those left in the living room rather puzzled at his sudden abandonment of an argument that he normally would have pleasantly enjoyed participating in. But like he said, he wasn't in the mood to argue. Especially over something such as this, so instead he opted to go to the one place... the one person rather , whose blame for this was the only one he'd ever truly take to heart.

Selina — who, thankfully, was now out of the shower and fully dressed in a pair of clean, comfy pyjamas as opposed to the bloody outfit that was now a reminder of what had happened. She was still in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror with her hair dripping wet and leaving dark spots on the fabric of what was once Sam's favourite red t-shirt, the shade of which matched the flush on her cheeks perfectly and it wasn't all that surprising to see that the rest of her skin was also still a deep shade of red.

Crowley knew well that she often enjoyed her showers hot enough to almost burn her skin and by the steam still covering the bathroom mirror, today was no exception. She'd absolutely had the dial turned up as far as it would go, yet for once it didn't bother him to see that she was willingly putting herself in a situation that could potentially be bad for her. All he cared about was the fact that she was here to put herself in that situation and for now, that's the only thing he cared about.

Taking a small step forward, Crowley watched as Selina raised her hand and in one quick swipe she had erased the steam that once covered the small oval mirror, allowing her to see that Crowley was now standing behind her and by his guess, not to mention the small jump of her shoulders, she absolutely had not been expecting to see him there.

Nevertheless, she was glad he was and so, still gazing at him in the mirror, Selina smiled. Warmly. Lovingly.  And not just with her lips, but with her eyes as well and that was all Crowley needed to feel his heart practically burst in his chest as he never thought he'd get to see that, particular smile again. Then, without his mind having a clue as to what his feet were doing, he moved towards her — until there was nothing more than an inch separating them and, almost nervously, he raised his hand, lightly brushing his fingertips up the length of her arm as he never once drew his eyes away from the reflection of hers.

For a moment there, when he saw that oh so addicting smile, he couldn't help but think that this had all been a dream. But now, as his touch increased in pressure and Selina began to lean back into him, he came to realise that this was very much real life. She was alive. She was here. And most importantly, she had forgiven him. Somehow, she'd found it in her heart to forgive him for everything and by her next words, it was almost like none of it had ever even remotely happened.

"If you wanted to see me all soaped up and naked, I'm afraid you're far, far too late." Selina flirted, hooking her teeth over bottom lip as she slowly began to turn around in the light, comforting hold he had on her.

Only, Crowley wasn't here to flirt with her. Surprisingly. Nor was he here to see her all soaped up and naked — which was even more of a shock as he'd never once shrugged off the opportunity to see that or acted as though it hadn't bothered him. No, this time he was here for one thing and one thing only.

To hug her.

And he did. Instantly. The second he remembered why he'd come up here instead of staying downstairs to fight with Dean, he wrapped his arms around her the very moment she faced him and within seconds, he had pulled her as tightly against him as he could without hurting her.

It had very clearly taken Selina by surprise to be pulled into such a tight, lung-moving restricting hug when things had started out so soft and gentle. For a moment, she was nothing more than a stiff board against his body as it took her mind a second to realise what was happening. But when she did. When she came to realise what had most likely happened downstairs and what Crowley needed from her, she immediately loosened up and slipped her own arms around his body as best she could, holding him equally as tight and feeling as he shifted the position of his head in order to bury his face in the crook of her neck.

At one time, such vulnerability from Crowley would have shocked her deeply. To see a demon so in touch with their emotions as Crowley was, was such a strange thing for a hunter to experience. Not to mention rare. Or rather, non-existent to be exact as in her lifetime, Selina had only ever come across two demons who were capable of showing emotions. Crowley being one of them, of course, and as for the other, well, she hadn't exactly met him herself but she'd seen the videos. The ones which opened up a whole new wave of opportunities for them when they learned that demons could be cured.

Obviously, there was a common theme with both demons in that they'd been exposed to copious amounts of human blood before they were able to experience such emotions, but despite all that, it was still such a strange thing to see. Yet, no matter how much may have baffled her to see Crowley cry or to have him express genuine feelings to her, Selina would never change it for a second. Not even when she felt her neck begin to dampen again — and this time, it wasn't because of her hair.

Crowley was crying again and it broke her heart to see him like this so she pulled back a touch, once again causing him to lift his head to face her. He could see himself in the mirror over her shoulder. How weak he looked. How pathetic he was with his red-rimmed eyes and the tears that rolled slowly down his cheek, but he didn't care. He'd almost lost his one true heart and soul for good, and if that wasn't reason enough to be overtly emotional, then he didn't know what was.

"I thought I'd lost you for good," Crowley finally let out, forcing down the thick lump that was trying its hardest to rise up his throat.

"I know," Selina said softly, bringing her hands up and using one thumb to wipe away the lonesome tear that had rolled down his cheek before she cupped his face entirely.

And when she did, he could have wept.

"But I'm here now, and I'm not going anywhere," Selina carried on, drawing both her thumbs across the lining of his beard — the same way she knew would always bring him comfort and if anything, only brought his tears on more given that he thought he'd lost it forever. "I promise you that."

"Can you promise such a thing?" Crowley asked hesitantly, his heart breaking just speaking the words let alone hearing what she may respond with. "With the way Dean is..."

"You let me worry about Dean," Selina cut him off, her voice stern as she seethed internally over whatever nonsense her brother might have spewed downstairs to have Crowley like this. "He'll come around eventually... Especially when he learns the truth."

"Truth? What truth?"

"That you and I are destined to be together... And that we always were," Selina confessed, watching as Crowley's eyes slowly widened as the realisation of what she was so clearly implying set in in his mind.

"Are you saying..."

"We're soulmates, Crowley," Selina said plainly, hearing the shuddered, shaky breath Crowley sucked in as he tried to comprehend what he'd just heard.

He'd always known soulmates were real — rare nonetheless, but completely real. Carved into the very fabric of the universe by the Gods themselves and to hear that he was a part of it? He almost couldn't believe it. Not just because he was a demon and didn't technically have a soul, but because, even in his human life, he hadn't done anything even remotely deserving of a soul mate.

Selina had though. She'd done more than her fair share of soulmate worthy deeds, so perhaps this wasn't about him at all. Perhaps this wasn't hisreward for things he'd done, but was in fact, all about Selina. About her reward for the things she's been through. The things she'd sacrificed to make the world a little safer for those living in it.

Of course, Crowley could think of about a million other things she deserved as a reward more than him. But if he was what she truly wanted. If she really desired to spend the rest of her life with him, then he wouldn't deny her that. He couldn't. He loved her, and most importantly she loved him, which soulmate revelation aside was a miracle in itself given his history. But if Selina could look past that. If she could forgive him... If she could love him despite the things he'd done, then so could he. He had to. If he ever wanted to live happily with the woman he loved then he needed to let go of all of that, and he most certainly had to stop taking what those around him said to heart. 

"And I have this to prove it," Selina carried on, dropping her hand and digging quickly into her pocket to produce a small, silver bullet from within. She held it up between her thumb and forefinger, watching as Crowley's brows knit together as he tried to place the bullet in the mass of memories that resided in his mind.

Then, a few seconds later, his eyebrows shot back up and his eyes widened, "Is that..."

"The bullet that should have killed you?" Selina finished for him and Crowley nodded. "Mhm, and the only reason it didn't kill you is because I was the one who pulled the trigger."

"I always wondered how that happened," Crowley exhaled, reaching up to gently take the bullet from between her fingers.

"Death said that no matter how hard we might have tried, we'd never have been able to kill one another."

"Death?" Crowley repeated, closing his fist around the bullet and glancing back up at Selina. "Is he the one who had your soul?"

Selina nodded, "He wanted to talk to me before he sent me back."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the old suit for bringing you back to me but I have to ask... why? Why would he do that of his own free will?"

"Because it wasn't my time," Selina said, once again drawing Crowley's eyebrows together. She then went on to tell him everything. What she'd heard. What she'd seen — well, most of it. She left out the ending and the fact that Crowley turned human for her as she didn't want to overwhelm him. Or scare him, as he could be quite skittish and question-dodging when it came to their future together so it was for the best that she keep that to herself for now.

Other than that though, she told him everything and spared no detail either.

By the end of it, Crowely was overwhelmed with a wide range of emotions — relief being the most prominent of them all as he gladly came to learn that their continuing relationship would no longer pose a risk to Selina's life. He didn't even feel as much guilt and regret as he had done over letting her go in the first place. As had he not, then by the sounds of what had been written in her death book he really would have lost her for good and if the way he'd been early was any indication as to how he'd have managed with that, then the chances are he wouldn't have been alive himself for much longer afterwards.

"Do you see now why I was so quick to forgive you?" Selina asked softly, continuing to draw her thumbs along the lining of Crowley's beard as she loved the feeling of how he'd lean into her touch with every gentle motion.

"I do," Crowley nodded, "But don't think I won't be spoiling you every single chance I get."

"You know I could never say no to a little spoiling," Selina chuckled, leaning in to peck a soft kiss to the smile that had widened on his face. She then drew back a touch, guiding her eyes from his lips up to his own and staring deep into them, watching as the love she'd once longed to see directed at her stood loud and proud in the centre of them. "Promise me something..."

"Anything."

"Promise me that this is it... That there'll be no more messing around... No more secrets. No more pain... Promise me that from this moment right here, no matter what might happen down the line, that it'll be just us."

"I promise you," Crowley said softly, his heartwarming as even though Selina had heard from Death himself that the two of them were destined to be together, she still sought out assurance from him. He raised his hands, taking hers from aside his face and placing a soft kiss to both of wrists, feeling the gentle beat of her pulse beneath her skin. "From this moment forth, it'll only ever be us."

With a sniffle, Selina smiled. Then, before her heart could burst from her chest and land in Crowley's hands she leaned in, pressing the sweetest, most tender kiss to his lips that he had ever felt. And that she had ever given as in all her life — all the people she'd been with, she'd never once kissed any of them like this. She'd never once loved any of them like this and truthfully, it still scared her a little to feel such deep and intense love for one single person — especially when she knew she still had to explain that love to Dean and try and get him on board with the whole demon-hunter relationship.

But if anything, that love only gave her more strength of which she needed to be able to do so. After all, she was essentially going to have to fight for it and if there's one thing Selina was a near expert at, it was fighting for those she loved. After all, her entire life had been about fighting for her family therefore she knew that one measly talk with Dean about growing up and getting over the whole all demons are evil mindset he had would be easy.

Perhaps even more so than she would have thought as when Selina eventually ventured back downstairs after sending Crowley ahead of her whilst she finished up, she soon found out that Death had paid a little visit whilst she was gone. Not to reap someone, as people might expect, but instead to tell those she had left waiting for answers exactly what she had been upstairs telling Crowley.

Honestly, it had come as such a relief to find out Death had spilled the beans himself. She really didn't have it in her to ramble on about all that again, and something told her he'd probably know that. They were connected after all so chances are he'd felt her strong reluctantly to want to tell everyone that her and Crowley were soulmates and opted to spare her the hassle of having to do so herself so soon after coming back from the dead — which she greatly appreciated and she couldn't help but think he deserved a little basket of mini muffins as a thanks.

In the meantime though, with the truth finally out there, Selina felt as free as she could ever possibly dream of being. In fact, she felt so free that when she entered the living room to find everyone, minus Dean, in a slightly better mood than when she left them she didn't choose to sit on the small gap on the sofa between Dean and the girls like she would have at one point. No, instead, she opted to sit in the adjacent arm chair... Right on Crowley's lap. 

However when she did, pecking a short and sweet kiss to his lips when he wrapped one arm around her waist the second she leaned against, Dean let out a scoff of disgust and stood up, grabbing his bottle of scotch before heading for the door as he'd rather stand outside in the cold than have to witness anymore of public displays of affection. At that, Selina's once happy mood seemed to outwardly deflate. Her shoulders sank and a frown tugged at her lips as she sighed. Guess having Death explain that she and Crowley were soulmates just wasn't enough to warrant Dean's blessing, so it looked like she was going to have to have that dreaded conversation after all.

"I'll be back in a sec," Selina whispered, flashing Crowley a thin-lipped, partially reassuring smile as she slid off his lap and quickly disappeared out the door after Dean before he could make sure she was okay — or even give her his coat as she was heading out there with nothing but a short-sleeved t-shirt covering her upper half.

Selina felt the intense chill the second the front door closed behind her, but it was too late to go back inside as Dean had already spotted her from where he stood — against the Impala with his arms folded and snowflakes already coating the back of his head as he stared aimeslessy down at the ground. He hadn't touched the bottle of scotch yet, which sat on the roof of the car with the same amount of alcohol in it that there had been when he left, so perhaps this conversation wouldn't go down as badly as Selina couldn't help but think that it would.

"Dean, I know you're mad at me," Selina said carefully, followed by the soft crunch of her footsteps in the snow as she made her way towards him. "I know you're pissed that I fell in love with Crowley..."

"That's not why I'm pissed," Dean interrupted, yet he never even bothered lifting his head from where he was staring at his own footsteps.

"No?" Selina said, in disbelief to tell the truth yet she couldn't help but allow her voice to break with her next sentence — as it had been what she feared from the very day she gave into temptation. "Because from where I'm standing it seems like you can't even be in the same room with the two of us together... At least, not without looking like you want to murder the man I love right in front of me."

"You know I would never do that to you," Dean said defensively. It may have been on his mind at one time or another but he would never , ever even think of doing such a thing if he knew it would hurt Selina — regardless of whether or not it involved Crowley.

"Then what is it?" Selina asked exasperatedly, taking another step further into the icy tundra that had become Jody's driveway. "What is it that's made you so pissed that you can't even stand to look at me?"

"It's because you didn't trust me, alright?" Dean blurted out, a little more harshly than he meant and even Selina seemed so taken aback by his abrupt and rough voice that her eyes had started to water. It could have been from his tone or simply the snowflakes that coated her lashes, but either way Dean hated that they were and with a regretful sigh he straightened, finally lifting his head to look her in the eye. "You told everyone the truth about you and Crowley except me... Me?

"How do you think that makes me feel? Huh? To find out that Cas , someone you didn't trust for an entire year when you first met him, knew before I did?" Dean carried on, pushing off the car to take a few slow steps towards her, "I get telling Sam, you know the twin thing, but Selina come on, I'm your big brother... I looked out for you. I protected you from dad your entire life and you couldn't bring yourself to tell me?" 

"You don't think I wanted to?" Selina said, her voice cracking as she choked through her words. "You don't think I wouldn't have given everything to be able to tell you, because I would have. I'd have done whatever I had to in order to finally tell you, but Dean how could I? How could I have risked telling you something as big as that when every single time Crowley had been around you threatened to kill him?"

"That's only because I didn't know that you..." Dean hesitated, unsure whether he could bring himself to say it. "That you... You...

"That I love him?" Selina said softly for him, and Dean nodded. "So now that you know... Are you saying you don't want to kill him anymore?"

"If it'll hurt you, then no... I don't want to kill him anymore," Dean said seriously, before his lips curled upwards into a playful yet scheming smile, "But that's not to say I won't lock his ass in the dungeon anytime he annoys me."

"You always were such a flirt, Dean," said Crowley himself, who had suddenly appeared beside Selina and made her jump once again — as well as making Dean roll his eyes before reaching out for his bottle of, now incredibly chilled, scotch.

"What are you doing out here?" Selina asked, glancing to her side to see Crowley in the process of taking off his coat.

"Making sure you don't freeze to death," Crowley replied, wrapping his coat securely around Selina's shoulders and engulfing her in the warmth of his body heat that still lingered in the fabric. She pulled it across her chest, only now feeling the chill of the air surrounding her and in that moment, as she tilted her head down and took in the alluring scent of his coat, she couldn't be more grateful.

"Thank you," she whispered, smiling briefly over the edge of the dark fabric that she still had pulled up against her chin.

"You're welcome, darling," Crowley replied, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and feeling as she leaned into him as he placed a soft kiss against the side of her head.

"You really love her, don't you?" Dean asked, the smile on Selina's face and the look in Crowley's eyes when he saw it being all he needed to know that Crowley wasn't just doing all this as some sort of evil plot to get back at them for the trials.

"More than you know," Crowley replied sincerely, watching as Dean pressed his lips together tightly and slowly nodded his head. He then stepped towards them, causing both Crowley and Selina to suck in their breaths as they couldn't help but think he was going to do something stupid.

But all Dean did, or rather all he said was the only thing he'd truly care about when it came to his sister's relationship, "You take care of her."

"I plan to," Crowley said, and it was all Dean needed to hear for him to nod once and head back inside out of the cold.

At that, Selina let out all the air she'd been holding in her lungs as what she could only describe as a weak chuckle. She never thought it would be that easy to get Dean on board with their relationship, and she had fully intended to have to fight for it. And hard too, as Dean was more stubborn than her and that was saying something. But by some blessed fate, all he'd been annoyed about was her having not told him the truth. To think, had she just manned up and told him all those weeks ago then maybe things wouldn't have been as hard as they were and perhaps she wouldn't have felt so nauseous all the time either.

But no matter how much she wished she could, she couldn't change the past. All she could do was alter the future and hopefully for the best. She already saw how it ended, but how it got there? Well, that was something to look forward to and now that she was back and no longer had to live her life in the shadows... She simply couldn't wait to get started.

-
and that's a wrap on Selina and Crowley!

but fret not, a sequel of this is in the works... however i don't think i'll be posting it until I have a good portion of it written as its taking me longer than usual to write these days and I hate making you lovely readers wait upwards of a month sometimes for chapters so yeah, it might take a while but once it's posted you'll get frequent chapters so hopefully that'll make up for the wait!

you can also follow me on Tumblr, or if you have Wattpad, to get a little sneak peek behind the scenes - my user on both is winchesterszvonecek :)