Invisible (Castiel x Reader)

Minor Trigger Warnings: depression(?), bullying, parents arguing,

***
You had always been important to him. You were the most important thing, and Castiel wished you knew it.
He was first instructed to watch over you when you were in elementary school. You were a future prophet, which meant that you were precious. Michael asked Castiel to keep an eye on you, and to steer you away from harm. From that day on, you had an unseen guardian angel, your invisible warrior who was always with you, though you never knew.
Castiel was not familiar with human emotions. He did not know what a breaking heart felt like, but he imagined it was something like how he felt when he saw you crying yourself to sleep as your parents yelled outside. He wanted so badly to kiss your forehead and assure you that everything would be okay, but he knew that he was forbidden from revealing himself to you.
This feeling came again, years later, when the other girls began to bully you in middle school. Cas was enraged at how they could say such things about you, especially since none of them were true. He had never cried, but he wanted to when he saw you locking yourself inside the school bathroom and sobbing.
At this point, Castiel pleaded with the arch angels to let him comfort you. “(Y/N) is alone. She needs someone to be there for her. I believe that she would be benefited if I could reveal myself to her.”
"You know the rules, Castiel." Michael said sadly. "You cannot reveal yourself to your charge. I know it’s hard, but it is what’s best for her."
So Castiel continued to hide himself from you. Luckily, the bullying seemed to cease once you got to high school, where most students seemed to simply ignore you, although you had a few close friends. You were much happier in high school, and this made Castiel feel better. Although he still worried about you, of course. He was always worried about you.
Then, in your tenth grade year, you had your first real boyfriend. Cas was wary of the boy, mainly because of his fierce protectiveness of you, but also because something felt off about the young man. For several months, the relationship was good, and you were happy. Castiel began to think that he had worried for nothing. Then, one day, your boyfriend hit you. You were quick to break up with him, aware that letting the situation drag out would only make it worse. Cas payed your ex a visit, and beat the boy to a bloody pulp as a method of venting his anger. He was almost reassigned for that stunt, but was let off the hook as he had not technically revealed that he was an angel. You finished high school and graduated without further incident.
When Lilith began breaking the Seals of the Apocalypse, Castiel new that you were in danger. He could no longer he with you all the time, and America was about to become the center of the Apocalypse. He managed to get you to move to Canada for an indefinite time, and he desperately hoped that that was far enough away. He prayed to his Father every night for your safety, and checked in on you whenever he could.
And then he Fell. He rebelled from Heaven. He was on the run from his brothers, and he was confused. He had doubts. He wanted to help Dean and Sam prevent the Apocalypse. For the first time, Castiel truly felt emotions, something so human and so unfamiliar that it terrified him.
Even though he was no longer officially an angel of Heaven, Cas still felt fiercely protective of you. You were the only human, besides Dean and Sam, that he truly cared about, and he had to keep you safe. He worried that his brothers might take you away, or hurt you, in an effort to get Castiel to come out of hiding. And yet he felt inexplicably drawn to you, like he just had to see you. He had heard humans refer to this sensation as addiction.
His Heavenly power was fading fast, but he wanted to use what ability he had left to protect you. He flew to your house, knowing instinctively that you were inside. With a trembling hand (that was new; since when did angels get nervous?) he knocked on your door.
You opened the door, and Castiel suddenly felt like he was home. Your breathtaking (e/c) eyes swept his face, curiously taking in his features. He felt the strange urge to brush your soft hair back from your face, and had to fight it down. His face felt hot, and he wondered vaguely if he was blushing.
"(Y/N)," he breathed, finally able to talk to you, "You’re not safe here. Please, come with me. Let me protect you."
"Sorry, do I know you?" Your perfect face wore an expression of curiosity and then alarm as Castiel pushed his way into your apartment, closing and locking the door behind him.
He turned to face you. “I am Castiel, Angel of The Lord. I’m your guardian angel.”
You laughed. “Um, okay. How much have you had, man?”
Castiel sighed, closing his eyes. He heard your gasp as you saw the shadow of wings on the wall behind him. What he didn’t know was that you saw flashes of his true form, brilliant light that hurt your eyes. You sank down to the floor, unsure what to do.
"(Y/N), please." Castiel urgently knelt next to you, but his hand on your arm was soft and gentle. "We have to go. I will explain later."
You nodded numbly and crawled into his arms, allowing him to fly you back to where he was hiding with the Winchesters.
***
"I’ve been watching over you since you were a child." Cas explained gently, gripping your hand like he had wanted to for years now. "I wanted to show myself to you so many times, so that you would know how important and how loved you are. But I was forbidden."
"What’s changed?" You asked in a whisper, clutching his hand like it was a lifeline.
"I Fell." He stated simply. "I am hiding from my brothers. I Rebelled, and went against orders. I’m sorry to bring you into all this, but I have to keep you safe. You are the most important person in the world to me."
You blushed. “It’s okay. It… It feels good to finally have someone who cares. I’m glad I can see you know, Castiel.”
Your arms were around him before he knew how to react, and he slowly returned the hug, burying his face in your hair. Oh, how he had longed for this. It was then that he realized, with a sudden sinking feeling, what all these emotions must mean. “(Y/N)… Am I in love with you?”
"I don’t know, Cas." You murmured into his chest. "But if you are, I don’t mind."
You kissed his cheek. “I don’t mind at all.”