Standing Together

Chapter 138

"Kitty!" Alex cheers, pointing at the TV excitedly.

Claire laughs. "Yeah, Jack does have a kitty."

"Kitty!"

"You know," Lucifer says, "Jack's about to do something really, really big."

Alex just looks at him blankly.

"See, what we're looking at right now, millions of other people are watching, too," Lucifer explains. "And he's about to start singing, and there's gonna be a whole bunch of other people who are gonna be in the back, dancing. And then, when he's done, thousands of people are going to talk about this for a long, long time."

Alex looks just as confused as she did before.

"See, Jack is famous," Lucifer says. "Which means that there are a lot of people who know him, even though they've never met him. And they're all watching him, the same way we are right now, so they get to see him sing, too. And then all those people are gonna talk to each other about how much fun it was to watch it."

Alex stares at him.

"You'll understand someday," Lucifer says. "Just you wait."

They all turn their attention to the TV, where Jack is talking to the host, Ryan Seacrest.

"And any New Year's kiss out there waiting for you?" Ryan asks, half teasingly.

"Same as every year," Jack says with a shrug. "A kiss on the cheek from my mom." He waves at someone off camera. "You can't see her, but she's right there."

Ryan chuckles. "Now, you've never been to New York, right?"

"I've been a couple times," Jack says, "but never on New Year's Eve, so this is a new one for me. It's kinda weird, 'cause I usually spend my New Year's Eves sitting on the couch watching this with my mom, but being here is so surreal, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

"And you've performed a lot, you know, promoting your new single. How does this compare to your other performances so far?"

"Well, it's a lot colder, I'll give it that," Jack says with a small laugh. "But really, like, I've never performed in Times Square before, and being here is just so surreal. I don't know if it's just because we're outside and everything is so pretty and festive, or if it's how everyone seems genuinely excited, but the vibe here is just incredible. I can't believe this is actually happening. I'm just so lucky to be here."

"Well, congrats on an incredible year," Ryan says, then turns to the camera. "Jack Kline, coming up in just a few minutes, live in Times Square! We'll be right back."

As the camera starts to fade out, Jack waves at the camera, smiling, and Castiel flops onto Dean's laugh with the biggest grin on his face.

"What's that about?" Dean asks, amused.

"He's so happy," Castiel gushes. "I love when Jack's happy."

"Don't we all?" Dean agrees.

~~~

After the commercial break, Jack gives a fantastic performance of one of his newest songs for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve Party in Times Square. When his performance is done, the audience goes wild, and he just stands there, beaming with excitement in his eyes that can't be faked.

After a few moments, as the audience is quieting down, Jack says, "What's up, New York City?"

And the cheers continue.

"You know," Jack says, slowly walking across the stage but with his attention to the audience, "I've watched the New Year's ball drop every year since I was a kid."