Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 192

"Where to next?" Gabriel asks.

Charlie doesn't hesitate to say, "Splash Mountain, bitches!"

"Wait, what is Splash Mountain?" Castiel asks, although the question is directed just as much towards Dean as it is Charlie.

"Oh, just a nice, slow long ride," Dean says.

"Then bam!" Charlie says, emphasizing the second word by clapping as loudly as she can in front of his face. "You fall down a huge drop!"

"Yeah, 'kay, I'm out," Castiel says immediately. "And also a big 'fuck you' to Dean for purposely leaving that out of the description."

"Castiel!" Lucifer says with an exaggerated gasp. "There are children present! Watch your fucking language!"

They all burst out laughing at that, which makes Alex start crying. Castiel cradles her in his arms and coos, "Hey, sweetie, shh. Smile. It's the happiest place on earth!"

"Which," Dean adds, "only rings true if you ride things, so, naturally, you gotta ride Splash Mountain with us."

"No!" Castiel says immediately. "No! That is not happening!"

"Just do it once and we'll stop bugging you," Gabriel insists. "Come on, Cassie! It'll be fun!"

Castiel presses his lips into a straight line as he thinks about that. Finally, he asks, "So, if I ride it once, will you stop bugging me to ride stuff?"

"We'll stop bugging you to ride this," Dean corrects him.

"Then nope."

"Please?" Dean insists. "It'll be fun! I promise!" Seeing that Castiel still isn't sold, he adds, "If you do it, I'll buy you a lanyard and some pins and you can start being all pin collecty, and then we'll get distracted by people's pins and we won't have as much time to force you to ride things. Deal?"

Castiel hesitates. He could obviously buy the pin trading things himself, but if they really aren't going to stop bothering him, he doesn't have much of a choice.

"Fine, but that's the last rollercoaster I'm riding all day."

"Yes!" Gabriel says excitedly, giving Dean a high five. "Mission accomplished."

"Luce, you gonna take Alex again?" Claire asks.

Lucifer shrugs. "Looks like." He reaches his arms out for Castiel to hand her back, but he shakes his head, changing his mind.

"You know what?" Castiel says. "I think I'm actually gonna keep Alex for now. You guys can go ride the splashy thing."

"You can't do that!" Gabriel whines

"And you can't keep dumping Alex on Lucifer so you can enjoy the rides," Castiel counters. "I don't really want to ride it. I'm pretty sure Lucifer does. This way, everyone wins."

"But I don't win!" Dean complains.

"You win by default because Lucifer's with you," Castiel replies. "Now go. Shoo. Have fun. If you don't find me here when you get off, I probably went for a walk, so call me. Bye! Go get wet!"

Most of the group reluctantly agrees, but as they walk away, Lucifer tells him, "You know, you didn't have to do that."

"But I really don't want to ride that," Castiel replies. "I might actually pass out. You, on the other hand, are weird enough to enjoy falling from the sky in a free floating vessel, so enjoy yourself."

As Lucifer hurries to catch up with everyone, Castiel begins to walk around the park aimlessly. He keeps his head down, hoping no one will notice him, despite being a head taller that most people nearby. He does catch a couple people with cellphones aimed at him, and he quickly turns his back to them, because he can't imagine the rumors that a picture of him holding a baby would spark.