"So, what are we getting from here?" Dean asks as they step into Castiel's New York home.
"Well, first..." Castiel runs up to his bedroom to grab his first ever Grammy. He's definitely taking that one with him.
Dean follows him and leans against the doorframe, watching his fiancé look around the room for everything else he wants to bring. "And, just as an FYI, you don't need to bring your own clothes if you want to leave more room in the car for other things. I've got enough for both of us."
"I'm going to take you up on that, just because I'm too lazy to pack my own," Castiel says. It's not like he has any plans to leave the house for a while. No one is going to figure out that he's wearing Dean's clothes.
What else does he need? He has his Grammy. Next...
"If you're going to be stuck with me for another few months or years or forever, you're going to need something to do," Dean says. "I'm guessing you have a hidden supply of every single cheesy Disney movie in existence, right?"
"Oh, good call," Castiel says with a grin. "I hope you realize you just condemned yourself to a lifetime of watching Disney movies with me."
Dean gives an exaggerated groan. "Great. Really glad I did that."
Castiel leads his fiancé to his bookshelf filled with movies, and before Castiel can even begin to pick out his favorites, Dean bursts out laughing.
"Why the actual fuck do you have so many Bee Movies?" Dean asks.
"Lucifer gets me one for every birthday, Christmas, and concert he goes to," Castiel explains. "It's a whole thing. I've just come to accept it."
"My god, your brother is the weirdest person I've ever met," Dean says.
"Trust me, this is not news to me," Castiel says, pulling a couple movies off the shelf. Aladdin — he's always liked having the DVD more than owning the movie online — Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, Lady and the Tramp, Frozen, both Incredibles movies, Finding Nemo, Finding Dory...
"Moana?" Dean suggests.
Castiel looks back at him in surprise. "You want to watch Moana?"
"If I'm going to have to watch any Disney movie, I'd pick Moana in a heartbeat," Dean says.
"Why? It's not that good," Castiel says. "Not that it's bad, but it's not as good as Aladdin."
"Well, I like Moana, so if there's a chance I could convince you to watch that instead of Aladdin for the tenth time, I am not throwing away my shot," Dean says.
Castiel raises an eyebrow but adds the movie to his pile anyway. "And, for the record, we've only seen Aladdin six times, not nine."
Dean scoffs. "Right, because that's so much better."
Castiel just shrugs. "It's a good movie."
Ten minutes later, they're leaving Castiel's house with books and movies covering the entire floor of the back seat, on their way to pick up some fan mail. A few minutes into the drive, Castiel says quickly, "Pull over!"
"Woah, 'kay, what's going on?" Dean asks quickly, pulling off to the side of the road.
Castiel rolls down his window — this whole cranking thing is a pain in the ass — and calls out, "Hey, Amelia!"
The girl turns around at the sound of her name, her dogs still pulling her forward until they realize she's stopped, and they reluctantly allow her to drag them backwards to see Castiel.
"Castiel? What are you doing here?" she asks, a bit too surprised to really be happy about it.
"Just stopping by," Castiel says. "I saw Dog and I couldn't not stop you."
Amelia laughs at that, glancing down at the Australian Sheppard, whose looking up at the car window and wagging his tail. "Looks like he's happy about that."
Castiel sticks his hand out the window, just barely able to pet the dog.
"I'm glad you're here, actually," Amelia tells him. "I heard about the bombing. I'm glad to see you're okay."
Castiel just shrugs. What's he supposed to say to that? He's really not okay, but he obviously can't say that. Awkward silence will have to do.
"How long are you staying?" Amelia asks. "Moving back in?"
Castiel shakes his head. "Just a few more minutes, actually."
"Really? Where are you going, then? Back with your brothers?"
"No, actually, Massachusetts with — have you met Dean?" Castiel glances at his fiancé, who just looks confused. "Oh, sorry. Dean, this is Amelia. She was Misha's vet. Amelia, this is my fiancé, Dean."
They both say an awkward, "Nice to meet you."
"Well, don't stay away too long," Amelia says. "Dog's gonna miss you."
Castiel chuckles. "And I'm going to miss him, too."
~~
Castiel reads his fan mail on the drive back to Massachusetts, having a bit of trouble focusing with Led Zeppelin blasting through the speakers but ignoring it the best he can.
"Dear Castiel,
"Hi! I'm Alex, a 16-year-old fan from Florida. I've been a huge fan of yours for years, and despite running fan accounts on both Twitter and Instagram, you haven't seemed to notice me yet, so I thought I'd write a letter instead.
"I just want to thank you for everything you've done for me, without even knowing I exist. As someone who's struggled to accept that they're gender fluid in such a black-and-white world, it's really helped my self confidence to see how accepting people have been, seeing a fellow member of the LGBT+ community becoming so successful. It gives me hope that one day, I'll get to live in a world where people accept my gender identity like they do your sexuality.
"I don't know if you'll ever read this, and I'm sure you're busy, so I doubt you'll take the time to respond, but I just want you to know that I love you, and thank you so much for everything."
Castiel just looks at the letter for a minute, smiling. They even included their social media usernames, so he can follow them. That's just adorable.
Castiel pulls out the notebook he grabbed from his house and writes out a response.
"Dear Alex,
"Thanks for taking the time to write to me! I'm glad you've come to terms with your gender identity. I know that it's not always easy to be different, and not everyone else will understand it, but that doesn't make it any less real. I'm proud of you for being true to yourself. Don't ever let anyone convince you that you're not valid."
He signs his name in large, loopy letters that could easily be seen a few feet away. He's heard of people putting his letters on their walls, back when he used to read and respond to fan mail much more frequently, and he's always liked the idea of his fans walking into their bedrooms to see his signature on a personalized letter to them.
Next letter!
"Hello. My name is Meredith. I am a sixth grader at Carson Middle School in Carson, Nevada. For my English class, I was given the assignment to write a letter to a celebrity I admire, and I chose to write to you.
"I have grown up listening to the pop radio, and cannot remember a time when I did not consider you my favorite singer. I have always enjoyed listening to your lyrics because they have more meaning than many of the other songs on the radio.
"If you receive this letter, please sign and return the notecard inside the envelope. Thank you for your time.
"Sincerely,
"Meredith Benson."
Castiel can't help but laugh at that. This is so cute! They must be learning how to write a business letter, judging by the heading and the formality of it. He pulls out the notecard hiding inside the envelope and signs his name, and, on a separate piece of lined paper, he copies down the same type of format for a business letter just for the purposes of whatever lesson this was before writing out his note.
"Thank you for writing to me! I'm sorry I'm late. I hope it didn't affect your grade. I know that late June is probably too late to help with your English assignment, but I'm returning the card anyway. It truly means a lot to me that not only do you like my music and my lyrics, but that you decided to send your letter to me. I hope you have fun going into seventh grade next year!"
He puts the notecard inside the letter and folds it up, then puts it aside with the original letter and envelope. And next!
"I'm sure you're busy with your tour and putting together your next album and doing promo things, but if for some reason you're reading this letter, thank you! I've been listening to your music since your first interview with Jody Mills, and since then, I've been to 12 of your concerts in 4 different cities, once even getting a high five as you walked through the audience, bought all your albums, and collected hundreds of dollars worth of merch. Needless to say, I'm a big fan. I just want you to know that you've been such an inspiration to me since your first song dropped when I was in middle school. I've made countless new friends through your music, both online and in person, and even met my boyfriend at your show four years ago. You inspired me to come out to my very religious family nearly seven years ago, and fortunately, they came to accept my sexuality pretty easily. You've always been such an inspiration to me, and I just want to thank you for being you."
This one comes from a boy named Richard, who must be in college now, if he was in middle school when Castiel met Jody. That's crazy to think about. Castiel decides to write him a quick letter, too; again, thanking him for writing and saying that he's glad his family has been supportive and that he's found a boy he loves and all that cliché stuff before moving on to another letter.
"I wanted to send this letter to you since you came out as suicidal, something I think most people forgot about, but it stuck with me for so long, I knew I had to write this. I came out as gay when I was 15 and then agender when I was 17, and my parents were not happy about it. They basically disowned me. They sent me off to college as soon as they could and wouldn't let me back home. That was about eight years ago. Coincidentally, you were making your debut at around that time, and my roommate at the time was obsessed. She'd always play your music and watch your interviews and it felt like every week, a new piece of your merch would show up. Listening to your songs and your story was always so inspiring. Once, when I was in my junior year of college, I decided I was going to kill myself. I had everything set up. I had written a note and hung up the noose and everything. The only thing that stopped me was remembering that my friend had gotten us pit tickets to your next concert, and I didn't want to die before I saw you in person. You literally saved my life, and I am so thankful for it. When I heard that you were suicidal, too, I knew I had to tell you this story. I don't know what bad things happen to you when you're rich, but whatever it is, you can't die. Your mere existence saved my life. Imagine how many other lives you may save just by being alive. So please don't ever try to kill yourself again. I love you too much."
Castiel wipes a tear from his eye. He's definitely not throwing this letter away. This person — Sam — definitely deserves a response. He spends about ten minutes writing one, taking up a page and a half. God, this is so sweet yet so sad.
And, the last letter of the chapter because it's already hella long and very pointless.
"Yo Im Alfred (but not a butler) (maybe) and Im playing truth or dare with sum of my friends at collage and I just got dard to right you a leter and I know your never going to read it and they all know your never going to read it to but Im dooing it anyway. Your the definition of a gay icon and your also like hot as fuck and I'd totally hit you up if you were single and you no not the biggest celebrity in the history of ever. Thank you so much for making Dean Winchester cum out of the closet to because as a new england boy I have to say I luv the Patriots, but nowing that there's a bisexual icon like Winchester makes it so much better (and he's 100% the hotest guy on the teem) I know your always talking about how much you lov your fans. Do you love me enough to let me have him for a night? Im like super drunk right now but like if he gets drunk too then that's consent right cuz if were both equally drunk neither of us are taking advantaj of the other, so that cant be rape rite? So like hmu my address is gonna be on the envelope when I fill it out so just like send him over and if u want to come too Id be down for a threeway if you are just let me kno."
Castiel bursts out laughing. He's seen a lot of weird things these last few years, but a drunk gay man writing a letter asking to fuck his boyfriend is not one of them.
"Hey, Dean, Alfred the drunk not-butler wants to know if you want to get drunk and have sex," Castiel says, still laughing just at the thought.
"I recognize all the words you just said, but when you put them in a sentence, they lost all meaning," Dean says. "What just happened?"
"Some drunk college kid wrote me a letter," Castiel tells him. "It's a beautiful thing. You'd hate it."
"I'm so confused but okay," Dean says. "If it's really that bad, you should send it back to him with your own letter just so he knows what he wrote and he knows you saw it."
"I kind of want to keep it," Castiel says. "Maybe I'll send it back and photocopy it so I have a copy."
"No, send him the copy," Dean says. "Let him see that you're keeping the actual letter. He's going to hate himself. It's gonna be great."
Castiel just laughs. "I'm totally doing that."