Standing Together

Chapter 18

A/N I feel like when my updates are close together I don't get a lot of comments but I'm enjoying writing this book too much to do anything about it

They're lying in bed together a few days later when Castiel says, "I could be wrong, but hasn't it been a week since... you know..."

"Since you moved in," Dean substitutes, and Castiel can't help but feel a pang of gratitude for his avoidance of mentioning the terrorist attack. "I think you're right. Why do you mention it?"

"You said I could have my social media back after a week, remember?" Castiel says.

Dean lets out a long breath before saying, "Yeah, I guess I did say that."

Castiel cocks his head in confusion. "Something tells me you don't want me to reclaim my social media."

"No, not really, but I can't stop you," Dean says. "A deal's a deal, and your week is up. If you want to go back online..." He sighs and makes a gesture that Castiel can only read as go for it, I guess.

"Yeah, I should probably at least post something," Castiel says. "It's been way too long. My fans must be freaking out right now."

"Woah, okay, first of all, no, and second of all, also no," Dean says quickly.

"No what?" Castiel asks.

"You're not redownloading social media just for your fans' sake," Dean says firmly. "If you don't think you're going to enjoy it yourself, I refuse to let you have your phone until you change your mind."

"You can't do that," Castiel whines.

"I wouldn't have, if you didn't just indirectly admit that you don't actually want to get back online," Dean tells him.

"But I need to know what my fans are up to, or they're going to lose interest, and then I'm gonna flop," Castiel complains.

"I can tell you what they're up to," Dean says, a hint of exasperation in his voice. "Making drama — the same thing they're always doing."

"Yeah, but I still have to be around the drama so they don't get bored," Castiel insists. "If I disappear too long, I'll lose the interest of the general public, and without the general public, I'll lose streaming numbers and radio audiences, and without good streaming and radio success, my songs won't even get close to topping the charts for longer than two weeks —"

"Cas, I love you, but you need to shut up."

Castiel rolls his eyes. "Just because you don't care what people think about you doesn't mean I shouldn't. It's kind of the only reason I have a job right now."

Dean sighs in exasperation. "You are literally the biggest pop star in the country right now, if not the entire world, and you really think you're going to lose all your fans because you're not on Twitter for a little bit?"

"I'm not the biggest —"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Dean groans. "You are. You are 100 percent the biggest pop star in the country. You've broken record after record, you sell more albums than just about everyone in the history of ever, and I'd say probably 90% of people that live in an English-speaking country know your name. You're not going to lose all that by not going online. Now, do we agree, or do I need to take your phone?"

"What if I decide to just ignore you and redownload Twitter anyway?" Castiel asks.

"Then I'll be mildly annoyed but won't stop you," Dean replies.

"See, that's the answer I was looking for!" Castiel says with a grin.

"I'm serious, Cas," Dean says, definitely not as happy as his fiancé. "I told you I'd delete it for a week. Your week is up so I can't stop you, but I've been online and I promise you, it's bad. It's basically normal stan twitter on steroids. If you think you're going to enjoy it then go for it, but your fans are not worth sacrificing your mental health for."

Castiel hesitates, then sighs. "Fine. Can I make a different request, then?"

"I can't promise it'll be granted, but go for it," Dean says.

"Can we go back to my house, just so I can get some of my things?"

"Your house meaning New York or your house meaning the Novak house in Sioux Falls?" Dean asks.

"New York," Castiel clarifies. "I don't think there's a lot there I need to get, but it's where my P.O. box is. If I'm not going to be online, I'd like to at least read fan mail."

Dean shrugs, seeming indifferent to the idea. "Yeah, sure. Road trip?"

"Probably quicker than a plane," Castiel says. "When do we leave?"

Dean sits up, a slight smile on his face. "That's the beauty of a road trip. You can leave whenever the hell you want. We could leave right now, if you want; probably be back by eight o'clock tonight."

"Oh, can we?" Castiel asks excitedly. "I didn't realize we were that close. I'm gonna go to the bathroom, and then can we go?"

"That's pretty much what I just said, yep," Dean says.

So, Castiel goes to the bathroom, which isn't really relevant to the story except as a brief two-minute time killer, and when he goes back to their room, he finds Dean on his phone. The boy looks up when Castiel comes back, and says simply, "I have come up with a compromise."

"Does this one involve you taking off your shirt, too?" Castiel asks. "Because if so, I accept."

Dean chuckles. "No, but it does involve you using social media, which I'd think is a bit better."

"But you just spent, like, five minutes telling me it's not worth it," Castiel reminds him.

"Ah, yes, but that's where the compromise part comes in," Dean says. "I can go through your mentions, and I will like the best tweets, and then you can scroll through my likes, and you'll only find the good posts. Sound like a plan?"

Castiel grins. "You're really willing to suffer through my Twitter mentions for me?"

"Cas, I'm willing to do anything for you," Dean says. "Going through your Twitter is the least I can do for you."

"You're the best," Castiel gushes.

"I've already liked a couple tweets, if you want to start your twitter journey in the car," Dean tells him. "In fact, I will make it even better and leave my phone unlocked for you, so you can look on my account and not have to redownload the app and have to deal with the constant temptation to check it yourself." Dean holds the phone out to him. "Sound like a plan?"

"You really, really are the best."