Secrets and Camera Flashes

Chapter 62

Dean plays around with Castiel's dick for a while, but obviously doing so for a full two-hour movie would be a bit much. He ends up stopping when Jo cuddles up with Castiel, and he will admit, a big part of that decision is out of guilt. He knows Jo can't tell what's going on — Cas is a master of subtlety; even Dean is impressed — but it still feels like he's betraying her.

Eventually, the movie ends, and people trickle out of the room to go to bed. The only ones who don't leave are Charlie, Castiel, and Jo, who already fell asleep on his shoulder. That puts Dean in the awkward position of trying to determine whether he’s still welcome here, and whether staying would be weird even if he is welcome.

Fortunately, Castiel makes that easy for him when he asks, “Do you still want to watch Die Hard?”

Dean scoffs. “I always want to watch Die Hard.” He looks between the two girls in the room. He'd sort of expected Charlie to stick around, but having Jo here too kind of ruins the mood. He loves her to death, but things are a little different when Cas is involved now. “I’m also fine with holding off until tomorrow if you don’t want to watch it while pretending to be Jo’s pillow, though.”

“No, please, I need entertainment,” Castiel says. “I can’t move.”

Dean chuckles. “In that case, we’re totally watching Die Hard -- but not on DVD because this isn’t 2008.”

Castiel rolls his eyes, but the smile on his face is enough to assure Dean that he didn’t take it personally. Dean grabs the Roku remote and opens Amazon Prime, and, despite being on the Harvelles’ account, Die Hard has already been purchased. Did he purchase it once? He doesn’t remember watching it here. Granted, there is usually a lot of drinking on Christmas, so it’s entirely possible he did and then forgot. He presses play, and it’s movie time.

They make it about half an hour into the movie before Castiel makes his first comment, which is just, “Do you have this entire movie memorized?”

Dean, who had proudly been mouthing along to every single line, replies, “Obviously.”

Castiel doesn’t respond, so Dean glances over for a glimpse at his reaction. Castiel looks over at him at the same time, an amused look on his face, and Dean can’t help but smile. Oh, the inherent homoeroticism of watching 30-year-old movies with another man.

Jo just happens to pick that moment to wake up and completely kill the mood.

Jo squirms against Castiel's shoulder and rubs her eyes. "Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It's fine," Castiel says, and Dean genuinely can't tell if it made him uncomfortable or not. No wonder Jo is so frustrated. It's impossible to know how the guy feels about anything.

Jo eyes the tv. "So, we're really watching Die Hard, huh?"

"Yep," Castiel says simply.

"You're welcome to go to bed," Dean tells her. "It was really just the two — three? — of us that wanted to watch it. You don't have to tough it out with us." He knows her well enough to know that she would stick around just to be near Cas if no one stepped in, but he also knows she doesn't care about this movie in the slightest. There's really no reason for her to stick around when she's obviously already tired and has all day tomorrow to spend with Cas.

"I don't know; I might stay and watch," Jo says. "I haven't seen this in years."

"Well," Dean says, "then welcome to the party!" He can't deny that this reaction is brought on mostly by guilt because he knows he's been a shitty wingman (and a shitty friend — he did give her crush a blow job, after all), but he also really wants to think this is a chance to get Jo to fall in love with his favorite Christmas movie. He would kill for it to become a Christmas Eve tradition.

"Thanks," she says with a smile.

Castiel stretches, which he can finally do without fear of waking Jo up — though it does involve pushing her head away from his shoulder, which might be the whole point. "I don't think I can sit on this couch any longer than I already have, so I'm gonna take the floor."

As he talks, there's some subtle movement under their shared blanket. If Dean hasn't already known that Castiel's pants were undone, he never would have realized the guy was fixing them. It only takes a few seconds, and then he's on the floor with Charlie, leaving two very disappointed people behind.

Jo stays to watch the movie for another few minutes, but she does eventually excuse herself to go to bed. That means Dean was, unsurprisingly, correct: she really was just here for Cas.

As soon as Jo is out of the room, Castiel moves back to the couch. The lack of subtlety here is astounding, from both Jo and Cas.

"You know, Charlie," Dean says, "There's another spot on the couch if you wanna take it."

Charlie glances up from where she's lying on the floor. "Nah, I'm good."

Dean raises an eyebrow. Well, to each their own.

Nothing of interest happens during the movie (except, of course, the movie itself; it's almost more fun to watch how enthralled Cas is than to watch the action), so we'll skip that part of the narrative. By the time the movie ends, Charlie has fallen asleep and Castiel has never looked more awake.

"So?" Dean asks. "Did you like it?"

"That was awesome," Castiel says. "Way better than I'd thought it would be."

Dean grins. "Finally, someone who appreciates good cinema!" Most people only watch things with him out of obligation; he's glad he finally found someone who actually enjoys it.

"I think this was a fair trade," Castiel says. "I got you into Wayward Sisters; you got me into Die Hard."

"Ah, not fair yet," Dean says.

Castiel cocks his head to the side, squinting.

"There are five Die Hards," Dean tells him. "You gotta watch at least the first four to call this even."

Castiel pulls out his phone to check the time. "I was going to say we could watch one now, but holy shit it's late."

"Raincheck, then?" Dean asks.

"Raincheck," Castiel agrees.

"In that case," Dean says, "I should probably go to bed." He doesn't really want to, but he doesn't want to overstay his welcome, either. It's not like they can say or do anything fun, either — there's the obvious risk of someone walking in from the kitchen, and he doesn't want to risk Charlie waking up to see or hear them.

"Yeah, I should probably go to sleep, too," Castiel says, and he seems equally as reluctant. Alone time doesn't come easy, and at least for Dean, it's hard to pass it up. He would like to assume Castiel feels the same. "I finally get the couch instead of the floor, so that'll be nice."

"You know, you really could have taken Jo's bed," Dean tells him. He would have been satisfied on the floor. That had been the original plan, after all.

"God no," Castiel says immediately. "I don't want to share a bed with her, especially now that I know she likes me."

Dean glances at Charlie, making sure she's still asleep before cracking a joke that she probably shouldn't hear. "You didn't seem to have a problem sharing her bed with me today."

He wasn't quite sure how that would be received, so it's a relief when Castiel chuckles. "Well, what can I say? You made it worth my while."

Now this is the type of conversation he likes. Unfortunately, it is still late, so Dean makes the difficult decision to call it quits for the night. "Tomorrow?"

Castiel shakes his head, which is disheartening until he holds up his phone to show the time. "Later today, you mean."

"Oh, touché," Dean says. "Wanna go again later today?" He'd like to think his implication is obvious, but he hopes the meaning would be lost on anyone else if they happen to overhear.

"If it works out, I wouldn't complain," Castiel says.

Dean grins. "G'night, Cas."

"Night," Castiel says. "Merry Christmas."

"I think this is on track to become the best Christmas yet."