The next day was just a glimpse into the insanity that would soon become the norm of Christine's life.
She hadn't slept well at all the night after her first real visit with Gabriel. So when she droned her way into her kitchen to grab an equate, she almost didn't notice the cupcake on her counter with a note beside it that read
Have a great day sugar!
Love,
Gabriel

She frowned at the sight of it and left it where it sat.

When she got to school, she was pretty surprised that she didn't see Gabriel once. Which didn't make a difference because she was paranoid the entire day.
She was lucky enough to get off work before 6, which meant she could make the drive back home while it was still daylight out.
The events of the crash still making any trip at night a bit more daunting then it had been before.

Once at Cherry Crest, she as always, struggled to juggle her books and bags as she worked to unlock her door.

"Need a hand?"

Gabriel threw his head back in laughter when Christine nearly jumped out of her skin, dropping almost everything she was working so hard to carry.
"Good to see you too." He winked, bending down to pick up her things.
She quickly snatched them from him, and ran into her apartment, closing the door in his face.
But when she turned around, she ran directly into him, once again dropping her things.
She let out a proper yell, and clocked him in the jaw... which did nothing but break her own hand again, causing her to scream out in pain.

"Damn it Chris, you'v got to stop doing that." He scolded, trying to keep in his laughter.
She felt his fingers at her forehead and the pain subsides in an instant.

"Then don't just pop up places!" She shot back, clearly angry and a tad embarrassed.

"Well how else am I supposed to get in and spend time with you?" He said, walking to her kitchen, stealing a kiss on the cheek as he passed.
She quickly swung at him again but missed as he picked up the pace.

"You didn't eat the cupcake I left you." He commented.

"No, I didn't."

"How come?" He asked, picking it up and eating it himself.

Christine grabbed her things and moved into the living room.
"Because I wasn't in the mood for a cupcake. Especially one given from you." Her tone was harsher then she had intended for it to be.

Gabriel watched in silence as Christine settled down onto the floor between the couch and table, unloading book after book and multiple journals onto her coffee table and spread them out in a specific order only she understood.

Gabriel moved to sit on the couch and watched her silently scar over the pages.
It wasn't even two minutes later when Christine let out an audible huff, turning her attention from her work. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all." He countered with a mouth full of cupcake. "What are you studying?"

"Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"None of your damn business!" She shot.

"Touchy touchy."

"I am not touchy."

"Sugar, you're in danger of exploding. You should destress or something."

Christine felt a pair of hands slowly snake their way to her shoulders. Evasive maneuvering the hell out of dodge, she stood suddenly and hopped out of reach.
"You know what? You're right. I'm gonna take a shower. Feel free to let yourself out." She said quickly, practically running to her bathroom.

Gabriel just sat there on the couch chuckling to himself.
Why was it that he always fell for the hard to get type.

------------------

It had been a week of these visits after school.

Gabriel would help her with the door.

She'd shut it in his face.

He'd reappear in her apartment to lounge in her living room for a few hours making small commentary here and there, watching her study until she was ready to start her bedtime routine, and he would promptly leave.

It was Friday night, and after much bickering, Christine finally shut Gabriel up about going out to town.

She sat in her bed with the sheets over her head, the flashlight on her phone providing light to read the book she held in her lap.

So her stalker said his name was Gabe, and he was an archangel. It didn't take a degree in theology to put the pieces together.
Every night that week she had spent an hour before sleep reading up on books of biblical lore and the messenger archangel Gabriel, along with any sort of information regarding the Genesis 6:2 passage.

Christine was just aware enough to hear a slight creak in the wood floor and the subtle sound of breathing in her room.
She had all but stopped breathing and freezes, assessing what to do. There was an intruder. Should she scream? Stay still? Act like she were asleep?
In the midst of processing her options, the sheet was lifted quickly from her over her head and she let out a scream. She didn't even notice the book being taken from her hands.

Realizing nobody had shot her, she opened her eyes to see Gabriel standing by her bed, book in hand.
"G-Gabe?" She stuttered between labored breathing.

"Are you reading up on me?" He gestured to the book, features set in a smug smile.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?!" She screamed, scrambling out of bed.
In the heat of the moment, she had forgotten she was only waring a tshirt and a pair of undies... Which did not go unnoticed by Gabe.

"I heard you thinking about me." He deadpanned. "I wondered why you never indulge me on your studies. But really? You're researching me?" He snapped his fingers and her bed side lamp came on, illuminating the room better than her phone could.
"You could have just asked me what you wanted to know."

Christine sat back down on the edge of her bed and tried to hide the small blush in her face.
"I didn't figure I'd bother you with it." She lied.

"You don't trust me." He said more as a statement then a question.

Christine felt a pang of guilt, but was quickly squashed and went on defense. "Do you blame me?! I mean come on. An angel? You aren't supposed to exist. And you just pop up and drop the I'm in love with you bomb... I don't know what to believe. So I did the research myself."

Gabriel couldn't blame the poor girl sitting in front of him. He understood and was impressed by her taking the matter into her own hands.
He just didn't know how to convince her that he had hands at her disposal as well.

"Well, you seem to have gotten pretty far in this book. But Iv gotta warn you that lore isn't as spot on as your stuffy old professors like to believe." He sat himself down at the foot of her bed, kicking his legs up near her pillow. "In the end, these books can only portray what humans have picked up on... And no offense toots, but your kind have an uncanny ability for missing the obvious."
She shuffled over under the sheets the opposite way, facing him.
"Ask away." He encouraged.

"What?"

"You'v got questions, I can see in that pretty little mind of yours. Ask me."

Christine paused and just looked at him. What did she want to know?
She leaned over the edge of her bed and plucked a spiral from her book bag and flipped through her notes.

"Alright." She swallowed before reading through her scribbles. "You are the Gabriel in the bible, yeah? The messenger mentioned in Daniel 8:16, Luke 1:19, Luke 1:26, and Luke 1:31?"

"Yes mam."

"All the mentions were you? So the name Gabriel isn't a reused one... there aren't more angels named Gabriel?" She continued.

"All me." He winked. He felt Christine shift her weight under the comforter. In his fathers name, it was so difficult to keep this slow.

"Anything that the books got wrong?" She asked, looking up from her notes to him.

He pondered this, arms crossed.
"Archangels are described in most lore as the lowest ranking angel, just messengers. When really, it's kinda the opposite. Me and my bros at kinda the top dogs in heaven."

"Your brothers? Um... Michael, Zachariah, Raphael, and Lusifer?"

She felt his legs stiffen at the last name. "Yeah. Two dead and two crazy." He grumbled to himself darkly.
It was the first time Christine had seen him anything but happy.

"I-I'm sorry." She stuttered.

He just shrugged. "Technically, I'm supposed to be considered dead too as far as heaven and hell know. That's why I'm laying low at the university."

"Why do they think you're dead?"

"Lusifer... he killed... well... He killed what he thought was me. But if word gets out that I'm still alive, heaven'll clip my wings so to speak. They'll never let me get to far again. And now, I say off the radar for your sake."

"My sake? What does your hiding have to do with me?"

His expression grew serious. "You'd be a target for blackmail on both sides. Which they would pay for, obviously, but I'd really rather you not get tangled up in all of that crap." He explained.

Christine was silent. What was she suppose to say to that? "Oh." Was all that came out.

"Don't worry," he quickly added. "I wouldn't let anything happen to you." He said casually, leaning against the foot post.

"If you hadn't gotten involved with me at all that wouldn't even be a possible option." She shot. Something inside her regretted the words the second they escaped her mouth. It was harsh and uncalled for. They were just talking. Possibly for the first time, civilly to one another.

He just looked at her. Her features almost shocked at what had come out, but her brows furrowed tightly together in an attempt to stand her ground.
"You're right princess, it is my fault. If you get smited by an angel, or ganked by a demon, it'll be my fault. But I seriously don't think you realize what I'm capable of."

She could feel him easing his way closer to her end of the bed. His eyes a deep gold that was hooded under the shadows of the dimly lit room.he almost could be considered intimidating.
Christine felt herself press harder into the headboard. His kind smile lax, and his attention fully focused on her face.
"I will never let anything on, under, or above this earth ever get to you." His voice was low and quiet. "I can see you still have questions about me, and you. My feelings, and my....intentions. But tonight... isn't that night sugar." He slowly rose his hand in between them, and flicked his fingers in a snap.
Instantly, Christine slumped back into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Gabriel took in the sight of her.
He carefully eased the blankets further up her body until she was completely tucked in.

What a productive night.