I Don't Deserve Love: Alternate Ending

Chapter 59: Apologies are Annoying

Castiel didn't ask for any more details about what my father said and I began to relax and enjoy the trip into town. Alexy preferred boutiques over the more common shops found in malls, but he had taken me here several times throughout the months we had been friends. I noticed with interest how much prettier the usual sites looked with a thin layer of pure white snow on top of them.

I asked how Demon was during the ride and Castiel spent the rest of the drive telling me stories of Demon's latest adventures. It felt so good to laugh and I wondered why Castiel put on such a harsh outer shell towards everyone when it seemed like he was a genuinely good and kind person at his core. The drive took less than fifteen minutes and Castiel was pleased when he found a spot right outside the food court.

"So what are you looking for?" I asked as we walked together towards the mall entrance and I held out one of my gloves to try and catch some of the falling snow

"I'm not sure. We can just wander around until I find something I want," he said with a shrug and I shrugged back in acceptance which caused him to smirk at me in amusement.

As we walked through the doors the sounds and smells of the busy food court, even at 10:30 in the morning, were impressive. I followed Castiel as he weaved his way through the various small tables set up in the eating area and past the many different restaurants. We finally came to the aisle and I looked first left then right, wondering where we should start.

"What is your favorite shop in here?" Castiel asked while unzipping his black jacket, showing off the thin black hoodie he was wearing underneath.

"I like the stuffed animal shop," I answered without hesitation. Castiel laughed and smirked at me, his grey eyes dancing with amusement.

"Why does that not surprise me?" he asked and I shrugged, not seeing any point in lying to him. "Well then, lead on," he said, gesturing towards me and I blinked in surprise.

"You want a stuffed animal?" I asked and he rolled his eyes.

"There's a first time for everything I suppose," he replied noncommittally but shoved my shoulder lightly in a silent prodding for me to take him there so I smiled and turned right.

I took off my gloves and placed them in the pocket of my jacket that did not have my phone in it then unzipped my jacket as well. I was surprisingly comfortable as far as the temperature went, so I left my hat on for now. It didn't take long to get to the store that I always came to see whenever Alexy dragged me to the mall and I looked up at the colorful sign with a smile before walking through the open entrance. The store was one of the smaller-sized ones in the mall, but they had shelves going all the way up the walls displaying stuffed animals, animal-themed blankets, animal hats, and much more. I wandered over to the wall of stuffed animals, ignoring the higher shelves with the supersized toys, and walked along the medium-sized aisle until I found what I was looking for.

"Look, Castiel," I said happily, pulling the black stuffed dog with brown ears and socks from the wall and showing it to him. "Doesn't this look like Demon?" I asked happily and Castiel quirked an eyebrow, not looking convinced.

"Its ears are all floppy. Demon's don't do that," he pointed out and I rolled my eyes.

"I didn't say it was an exact replica," I retorted with a chuckle before lovingly placing it back in its spot.

"How did you know that was there?" he asked, giving the dog a dubious glance before looking back at me.

"This is my favorite store. I've considered buying that before, but it's a little big. I prefer smaller stuffed animals since they fit on the bed better," I said with a shrug, moving on to look at the animal blankets. Castiel followed me as I browsed around, pointing out an item here or there that I thought was cute until we got to the area where the animal-themed hats were.