Secrets and Camera Flashes

Chapter 65

After a delicious cinnamon roll breakfast, it's time for instagram pictures. The Harvelles go first, and Jess mans the camera. Why they're using a camera in the 21st century, Castiel does not know, but they are.

"Alright," Ellen says, "everybody line up in front of the tree!"

"Everybody," of course, excludes the Winchesters; no one is supposed to know that they're here, and this is purely for instagram purposes. Unfortunately, "everybody" does not exclude Castiel, so he has to join in.

Castiel stands on the end, with only Jo next to him. Ellen and Ash stand on her other side, and though Castiel can't see it, he assumes it looks fine. It's about as symmetrical as it can get: Castiel and Ash are the tall ones, so they're on the outside. Jo and Ellen are the shorter ones, so they're on the inside. He's next to his supposed girlfriend, which gives the cute factor to those not privy to the industry secrets of fake relationships. It's perfect, right?

Wrong.

"No, Ash, on the other side," Jo says. "Stand next to Cas. Gotta make sure everyone knows he's part of the family now."

Castiel really likes the Harvelles (and the Winchesters, too, for that matter), but he doesn't feel like part of the family. As long as the general public believes he does, though, it doesn't really matter.

Ash does as he's told, switching sides and putting an arm around Castiel's shoulders. Castiel does the same to him, and wraps an arm around Jo's waist. She leans her head against him, so he tilts his head slightly towards her.

"Everybody smile!" Jess says. She takes a few pictures from a few different angles, then lowers the camera. "What next?"

"Just me and Cas," Jo says. "We need our happy couple photos."

Ash and Ellen move out of the way, so it's only Jo and Castiel left in front of the tree. In true pseudo-boyfriend fashion, he gently moves her in front of him and puts his arms around her. Had they had any less experience in front of a camera, it would look like an awkward prom photo. Fortunately, because they've both made a lot of money just by posing nicely for cameras, Castiel knows it's going to look cute.

"People are going to eat this up," Jess tells them as she snaps a few more pictures.

Then it's the Winchesters' turn, with Jo manning the camera. They take their pictures in front of a plain wall with a Christmas wreath that was apparently bought just for this. Twitter fangirls are smarter than the FBI; if there was any possible way to prove that the Winchesters spent Christmas here, they would find it.

They all stand in a line as well: John, Dean, Sam, and Jess on the end. Castiel didn't realize it until now, but Jess is actually really tall. In her heels, she's even taller than Dean and John, though Sam still has a couple inches on her. They take a few normal pictures, and then Dean announces that they need to take some silly ones so he can make a slightly passive-aggressive caption. Castiel's not quite sure he wants to know what that means. The youngest three all make the weirdest faces, and John just laughs.

When this portion of the photo-taking is over, Jess says, "Sam and I brought some fake mistletoe to announce our engagement. Can we get one more picture with that?"

"Of course!" Jo says. "Go grab it. I'll be here."

Jess heads off to the room she and Sam are sharing, and everyone waits around for her to come back.

"Ooh, Cas!" Jo says. "We should get a mistletoe pic, too!"

Castiel has absolutely no desire to get a picture kissing under the mistletoe, but he doesn't want to flat-out say that. He usually wouldn't have a problem playing up a romance for the cameras, but it's different now that he knows Jo actually wants a relationship.