Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 44

"Was it me she was foolin'?
'Cause she knew what she was doin'
Then I knowed love was here to stay.
She told me to
Walk this way! Walk this way! Walk this way! Walk this way! Walk this way! Walk this way! Walk this way! Walk this way! Just give me a kiss!"

The two burst out laughing, jamming out in the middle of the street with the wind blowing their hair around in the cutest way possible.

"Schoolgirl sweetie with a classy kinda sassy
Little skirt's climbin' way up the knee
There was three young ladies in the school gym locker
When I noticed they was lookin' at me."

"No, people legitimately are looking at us," Dean observes, glancing out the window.

"Eh, let 'em," Castiel replies carelessly.

"You do realize you're famous, right?"

Castiel nods. "It's been said, yeah."

"And that you're, like, an A-list celebrity?" Dean adds. "People look over and they don't just see a couple of dudes jamming out. They see the best singer ever, Castiel Novak, having a ball with this other guy. It's like you're literally trying to draw people's attention."

Castiel groans in annoyance. "Great, yet another person more concerned about my public appearance than my personal life. Yay."

"No, Cas, I'm not..." Dean trails off with a sigh. "That's not what I meant. You know what? If you want to jam out in the impala, go right ahead."

"You killed the mood," Castiel complains. "It would just be stupid now. Thanks a lot."

Dean rolls his eyes. "My sincerest apologies, Cas. I didn't mean to interfere with your fun."

"Something tells me that wasn't actually very sincere."

"I wonder why," Dean says sarcastically, pulling into the parking lot of the grocery stores.

All is going well. They get their pie and wait in the line for the checkout, and then...

"I'm sure this is a long shot, but are you Castiel Novak?"

He turns around to see a girl of probably about ten looking up at him hopefully. He smiles to hide his annoyance. He loves talking to fans, but come on. He just wanted to get pie.

"I am," he tells her, his smile becoming a little less fake at seeing her face light up. "What's your name?"

"Amanda," she says shyly.

"Nice to meet you, Amanda."

Amanda glances at a woman behind her, who gives her a reassuring smile. She looks up at Castiel again, fiddling with her hands nervously.

"Can I have a picture?" she asks softly.
"Of course!"

Amanda waves the woman whom Castiel assumes is her mom over, and she takes a picture of them with her cellphone.

"Thank you!"

"No problem," Castiel replies with the same kind smile he wears whenever he's talking to people that only know the 'professional' Castiel Novak.

"Can — can I have a hug?" she asks hopefully.

"Of course."

Castiel kneels next to her so they're closer to the same height, not because she's incredibly short — she's probably about average height for a ten-year-old. He's just too tall for this. He gives her a hug because he obviously can't not give her a hug.

Amanda pauses, then tells him, "You should get a pet."

Castiel squints his eyes and tilts his head in his typical confused manner. "What?"

"Like, Taylor Swift posts pictures of her cats on Instagram. You should get a pet, too, because you never post on Instagram," she explains.

Castiel fights back a laugh, replying instead, "I'll think about that." Granted, he has no intention of ever getting a pet because animals scare the crap out of him, but she doesn't need to know that.

"Yay!" She looks behind him, then, because even though she's obviously shy, she really wants to talk to him, she asks, "Is that your boyfriend?"

Castiel glances behind himself to see Dean waiting for him, pie already paid for. He gives Castiel a smile when he notices him looking, which he returns before returning his attention to Amanda.

"No, just a good friend," Castiel lies. He lies a lot for the sake of his public appearance, so he knows she'll believe him.

She looks at him again for a moment before saying, "That's too bad. He's no Harry Styles, but he's up there."

Castiel bursts out laughing at that. What makes it even better than the fact that it's true is that it came from the mouth of a ten-year-old.

"I can't deny that."

"I'll give it two months, three tops," she adds thoughtfully.

"You have as much faith in us as my brother," Castiel laughs. Well, as much faith as he had before they were dating, at least. Now he doesn't need faith because they're already together.

"We don't want to take up all your time," Amanda's mom says. "I'm sure you have things to do. Thank you."

Castiel doesn't bother telling that he has literally nothing planned for weeks, instead saying, "No problem. It was nice to meet you."

"You, too."

"Thank you!" Amanda squeaks.

"Come on, sweetie," her mom coos, pushing her gently towards the food. She pauses and looks up at him to add quietly, "Amanda's a huge fan of yours. She doesn't know it yet, but I got us tickets to your second concert here because she's been begging me for years."

"I'm glad she gets the chance to come," Castiel replies, not sure what else to say to that.

"Just... take care of yourself," she adds. "I know you like to pull stunts like that obstacle course thing, but there are people counting on you, and if you got hurt... It would break her heart. She really loves you."

"I will," he assures her. "Thanks." Because something like that means a lot, even from a stranger.