Standing Together

Chapter 45

The finish the song by 9:00 that night. There's a bit of an argument over how much Castiel will sing on the track — Jack wanted to split it equally, but Castiel wanted to do more of the backup vocals, and leave most of it to Jack. They eventually reached a compromise, where Castiel sings the second, much shorter verse, as well as part of the bridge, and everything else is just backup vocals. It's enough to keep his fans interested, but not too much that it's not noticeably Jack's song.

They leave the studio together, which, Castiel realizes almost immediately, is a very bad idea. Not only are the paparazzi still waiting for him, but there are fans with cell phones trained on them, too. Castiel keeps his head ducked, as always, and tries to follow Jack to his car, but the kid freezes when he sees everyone waiting.

Castiel nudges his back. "Come on," he says quietly, not sure if Jack can hear him over the yelling but positive no one else can.

It's not entirely clear if Jack starts moving because of Castiel or if the shock just wore off, but he does start walking again, and quickly. Unlike Castiel, he smiles for the cameras and waves at the fans, and hopefully, that means the cameras are going to be trained on him and not Castiel, who wishes he was anywhere but here.

Castiel sits in the front seat of Jack's car, which is definitely not where he wants to be right now. The cameras can still see him, and even the windows can't keep out the sound of his name being yelled over and over.

As Jack pulls out of there, he says, "You don't seem very surprised by those people."

Castiel shrugs. "It's the reality of being famous. I've pretty much come to expect it."

"So that happens a lot?"

Castiel sighs. "Pretty much."

"So how do you get away from it?" Jack asks.

"I sit at home and keep the windows shut, basically," Castiel says. "There's not a whole lot else I can do."

"Wow, that's horrible," Jack remarks. "I can't even imagine that."

At this rate, you won't have to imagine it pretty soon.

"You get used to it," Castiel assures him. "It hasn't made too much of a difference." That's a complete lie, but he doesn't want to worry the kid. He seems to be getting popular. This will probably be his life soon.

"But, like..." Jack pauses, thinking of how to phrase this. "Can I ask a kinda personal question?"

"Go for it," Castiel replies.

"How do you and Dean, like, go on dates?" Jack asks. "Doesn't that gets hard with people watching and taking pictures?"

Castiel chuckles. "That's actually part of the reason I didn't have a boyfriend until Dean showed up. We don't really do 'dates.' We just kinda sit at home and watch a movie or make cookies or something."

"Do you ever wish it was different?" Jack asks.

Castiel thinks about that for a moment. "Honestly, not really. I mean, I do wish we could go places without people bothering us, but I think I'd rather stay home with him than go out somewhere anyway."

"Really?" Jack says, surprised.

Castiel chuckles. "Yes, really. Why, are you scouting out relationship advice for yourself?"

"What?" Jack bursts out laughing at that. "Not a chance! I've got a career to focus on. Why would I want a girlfriend?"

"I don't know, you're asking a lot of questions for someone not interested in a relationship," Castiel says teasingly.

Jack shakes his head in amusement. "Why do adults always do that? Not all teenagers are lovesick puppies, you know."

"I know, I know, don't worry," Castiel says. "I thought it was annoying when people used to do it to me. I just wanted to spread the annoyingness, and you're the only one I can actually do it to."

"The curse of being a teenager," Jack says with a laugh. "But I'm really not interested in a relationship. I just think you and Dean are a really good couple."

"Funny, because I think me and Dean are a really good couple, too," Castiel says playfully.

Jack laughs. "I'm glad we agree on that, at least."

~~

By the time Castiel gets back to the hotel, it's almost 9:30. He strips down to his boxers — he's too lazy to dig through his suitcase for his pajamas, so this will have to do — and grabs his phone, which he hooks up to the charger next to his bed. It's only when the screen lights up that he realizes he has a text. When did he get that?

He sits down on his bed and unlocks his phone. He only has one new text, which is sort of nice. He doesn't like to have an overwhelming number of notifications. But who's this from? He probably should have checked before he unlocked his phone.

Today at 7:52 pm

Dean: I'm off to bed, but I'm keeping my phone nearby, so if you need anything, just call me. I know it's early in Cali, but since I won't be around when you go to bed, good night, Cas. I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow <3

Castiel can't help but smile. He's just the cutest. Castiel locks his phone and puts it on the bedside table, facedown so the light doesn't bother him. He lies down in bed and closes his eyes. What better way to fall asleep than to a cute text from Dean?

~~

Castiel looks over at the alarm clock. 1:00 am, and he's still awake. Well, isn't this just peachy? The night's half over, he can barely keep his eyes open, and yet he can't sleep. What's he supposed to do now?

Castiel groans softly and sits up, running a hand through his hair. There's no way this "sleep" thing is going to work out. He doesn't even know why. He never gets a perfect night's sleep in hotels, but this is excessive. What's wrong with him?

He sighs and rests his head in his hands. He misses Dean. He may not serve as an instant sedative, but lying awake late at night isn't as bad when he's wrapped up in his arms.

Castiel looks over at his phone. He could call him. Maybe just the sound of Dean's voice will help. But it's still early in Massachusetts, even with the time difference, and Castiel doesn't want to wake Dean up. There's no point in making them both suffer.

Castiel sighs and lies back down. This is going to be a long night.