Ruined

Kind, reasonable, thoughtful. It wasn’t love or an admission of wild, passionate feelings, but he realized he liked her three words more. Love would have been easy, another easy lie in a long line of lies. Love would be easy to dismiss.

But kind, reasonable, thoughtful couldn’t be brushed off. They wriggled in and made themselves at home and breathed air in between the ache in his chest.

Cas laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it all. Was he really grateful that his wife hadn’t killed him?

My wife didn’t smother me with a pillow! Must be love!

she also didn’t look at him the way her mother looked at her father. Like the world would go up in flames if something happened to him.

the only way to find peace was to kill everyone who threatened it.

Fear is your power.

“Then choose better next time.”
It was such a simple statement that she almost told him it was too late. But when she lifted her head and met his eyes, he stared at her with such sincerity that it was impossible to disagree.

EM’S FIRST THOUGHT
was What luck!

Cas cocked an eyebrow. His father had a way of making everyone smile, and he tried not to give in too easily.

You were born useless, but you don’t have to be helpless, her mother used to say.

She smirked at his back. He was going to have to work much harder to fool her.