Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 196

The cart begins to move backwards just a little bit, preparing to slingshot itself. Castiel holds on impossibly tighter to his restraint, pushing himself back into the seat as much as he can.

Three.

Two.

One.

And they're off. Castiel can't help but scream, and though he quickly clamps his mouth shut, it's not before he sees the flash of the camera, bright enough that he notices it even with his eyes closed. He can hear the music, and though he's sure it's supposed to feel loud, Dean would play "Love in an Elevator" in the impala louder than this ride is.

Castiel tried to focus on the song. He knows the words. He's been singing it since he was young. It's a nice distraction. It's even better when the song switches to "Walk This Way," an Aerosmith classic. He used to write the words out to practice cursive as a third-grader. Obviously, he had no idea what it meant, but he had heard the song and liked it, even before he got into classic rock.

He feels a pang of relief when the ride stops, but he doesn't open his eyes until it's moved up to where they get out, and the restraints lift up. Dean is laughing, and Sam and Gabriel seem to have enjoyed it, too, god knows why.

Castiel climbs out of the cart after them, hugging his arms to his chest as if he can stop them from shaking by holding them still. Dean is so wrapped up in his conversation with his brother that he doesn't notice Castiel hanging back until he tries to point out the picture, only to realize his boyfriend isn't there.

Instantly, Dean walks away, pushing through the crowd of guests hovered around the photos to find Castiel leaning against the wall a few feet away, still shaking.

"Cas?" Dean says uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

Castiel just nods.

Dean doesn't seem to buy it, because he steps closer and wraps his arms around him. "Hey, it's okay," Dean whispers in his ear. "You're okay. It's just a ride."

Castiel nods, because he's not sure how to respond to that. 'Just a ride' doesn't really help the fact that he was just blasted into a dark tunnel and flung in giant loops at what has to have been at least 60 miles an hour, but its the thought that counts, right?

"Cas, you're shaking. What's wrong?" Dean asks quietly, a sense of urgency in his tone.

"Nothing," Castiel mumbles. "I don't know. This just happens."

"Is it a panic attack?" Dean asks.

"I don't — I don't think so." But then again, how would he know? "It just happens. School presentations, before shows sometimes — it only lasts a few minutes. I'll be fine."

He isn't sure how long a few minutes is, though. He can still remember sitting on his hands so no once could see them shaking after his social studies teacher called him out over something in eighth grade. He genuinely can't remember what it was to save his life, and he's not even sure it was something bad, but he was still shaking when he got to his locker after class. It's been years since this happened, though. Who would have thought a damn rollercoaster would bring it out again?

"You're telling me you would start shaking like a freaking vibrator when you had to do a presentation in school, and in a month you'll be performing for a crowd of a quarter of a million people in England?" Dean says skeptically.

"That's a... nice... visual..." Castiel laughs, slightly unevenly.

Dean rubs his back soothingly for a few moments before stepping back. "Better?"

Castiel nods. It's true; he's stopped shaking as much, so he is doing a little better, but he doesn't know if he'll actually be back to normal for another few minutes. He'll just pretend he is. Dean won't notice, right?

"So, how about we don't ride that again?" Dean says with a small, playful smile.

"Yeah, good plan."

A/N So I had to write a story for my creative writing class and it meant I couldn't really write anything else and not having written any of my fanfics for a couple weeks really killed my motivation to actually do it but I'm bored so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯