Strings Attached

Chapter 82

Is there anything Dean Winchester is not good at? It was bad enough when he was just hotter than Castiel. It's not fair that he's also amazing at football, basketball, and baseball. Like, why? Why does this boy have this much perfection and where can Castiel but it?

"You did amazing!" Castiel gushes as Dean meets up with him after the game.

"Thanks, Cas!" Dean replies with a grin. "Do I get a hug, or am I too gross?"

"Come here." Castiel gives him a big hug, not even caring how sweaty he is from playing.

"In other news," Dean adds when they pull apart, "how're things going with your record deal? Are you Bon Jovi yet?"

Castiel chuckles. "You think I could be anything like Bon Jovi? This record deal is going nowhere. Oh, and apparently, they're already failing, which is why the picked me up. But I have a single being released a week from tomorrow."

"Seriously?" Dean exclaims in surprise. "That's ridiculously soon."

Castiel nods. "Definitely," he agrees. "But they're hoping it'll help keep them alive. I doubt it, but hey, whatever happens happens. It'll be on iTunes at noon, so I'll buy it just so it looks good."

"I'll buy it, too," Dean assures his boyfriend. "And God knows Charlie will. I'm sure your family will, and I'll buy it in Sam's phone and he'll be so confused about what it is. And Kevin and Garth and Donna probably will, too. See? That's a lot of people already. You're gonna be famous!"

"I don't see that happening, but thanks," Castiel replies with a smile.
So that's, what, twelve people, if his family counts? And maybe the extended family, because knowing Lucifer, they'll hear about it. If they sell is at 69¢ like a lot of lesser songs are, it's gonna make almost ten dollars. That's basically nothing. Oh well.

Castiel couldn't care less about the money himself. He just wants to make sure Wayward Records succeeds in not dying, but that's not likely. Castiel may have saved the school newspaper, but this is different. There's no way he's going to save an entire company.

"This probably isn't the best time to bring this up," Dean begins, and Castiel immediately decides he doesn't want to hear this. "But you know how I told you Bobby and I were talking about colleges?"

Castiel nods slowly. "Uh huh..."

"Well, I decided I'm going to USC," Dean tells him. "So once the summer ends, I'm going to California."

Hearing this makes Castiel's heart sink. Sure, he wanted Dean to go to a nice college, but now the weight of it really sinks in. He's not going to see Dean at all once the summer ends. It'll be months, at least.

"Oh," Castiel replies, trying to hide his sorrow. "Well, good for you, Dean. I'm — I'm glad you're going to a good college."

"But that doesn't mean anything has to change between us," Dean adds quickly. "I mean, you were right. Long distance things can work out sometimes. We can still chat every day. I'm willing to make it work if you are."

Castiel nods. "Definitely. I'm not giving you up that easy."

"Good." Dean gives him a quick kiss. "We'll get through this, and then we'll be back together. Alright?"

"Of course."

~~

"You WHAT?!" Charlie yells the next morning, loud enough to get a few looks from surrounding people. "And you didn't tell us sooner? Et tu, Brute."

Castiel chuckles. "Yeah, sorry. I don't have an excuse this time. I just didn't feel like texting it."

"But you're gonna be famous!" Charlie squeals. "You're gonna be super famous as of Sunday at noon!"

"Not so much," Castiel replies. "I don't think it's going anywhere. Even the record company doesn't think so. But if you guys wanna tune in, you know the station."

"I'm gonna be there!" Charlie announces. "I'm gonna listen to it and cheer you on and then buy your song and everything's gonna be awesome because you're awesome and this whole thing is awesome!"

Castiel gives her am amused look. "I think you're exaggerating this a little bit."

Charlie shakes her head. "Nope! Not at all! This is awesome! Castiel, you're gonna be the next Taylor Swift!"

"Everyone keeps saying that," Castiel observes, thinking of Lucifer. "I don't really want to be the next Taylor Swift."

"Bon Jovi, though," Dean adds with a knowing smile.

Castiel nods. "Bon Jovi is where it's at," he agrees.

Charlie rolls her eyes. "Yeah, sure. But you're totally Taylor Swift. Just saying."

"How am I Taylor Swift?" Castiel asks.

"I mean, you both write your own songs —"

"Bon Jovi did that," Castiel tells her.

"Okay, um... Taylor Swift plays guitar."

"Bon Jovi did that, too."

"Um... Taylor Swift writes songs about her ex boyfriends. Can't say Bon Jovi did that. So you're gonna get famous writing songs about your ex boyfriends."

Castiel and Dean glance at each other almost subconsciously. They're both thinking of the same thing — the conversation they had the Saturday before. Is that going to tear them apart? Is that going to be the reason Castiel writes sad songs about him?

"Not, of course, that you're gonna have any more exes," Charlie adds quickly when she notices the tension. "You guys are perfect together and nothing's gonna happen to you two." She looks between them, and she can tell what they think about her save. "No? Not working? Oops. But you guys are the ideal couple so don't mind little ol' me and get back to being adorable."

When nothing happens, she pushes Castiel into Dean. Dean's arms immediately shoot out and catch the other boy, holding him to his chest. They both laugh softly, their eyes locking. Castiel tips his head up and kisses the taller boy, who smiles and kisses him back, both of them ignoring the fangirling going on next to them.