Secrets and Camera Flashes

Chapter 68

Jo flops down on the couch by Castiel's side, drunk out of her mind, and he knows this isn't going to be fun. She curls up against him, resting her head on his shoulder, and puts a hand on his chest in a very poor attempt at flirting.

"Hey, 'boyfriend,'" she says with a grin.

Castiel looks up at his other friends helplessly, but Dean and Charlie are both trying not to laugh (and not very well) and no one else would understand what's wrong with this — which is, of course, everything. It looks like he's on his own.

"You know," Castiel says, gently moving her hand away, "we're not actually dating."

He almost hopes she tries to make a move, one so obvious and impossible to ignore that he can turn her down for good. He can't just reject her because she's flirting, but if she would just ask for something more, he could say no and end it right here. Tomorrow would come, he'd assure her that it's fine and that he knows she was drunk so there's nothing to be embarrassed about, and they could all go on as normal (but without her fruitless attempts to get with him).

Unfortunately, it's not that easy, and she doesn't just ask him out on the spot. Instead, she says, "I know, but you're still my boyfriend. You can google it. Google would say you're my boyfriend."

Castiel chuckles. "I mean, yeah, I guess it would, but that just proves that you can't believe everything you read on the internet." God knows there are a lot of lies about him out there, both lies that he's pushed and lies to tear him down.

"But the internet's usually right," she insists. "Like the internet thinks we're having fun and we are having fun so that means the internet is right."

"You got me there," Castiel says because he's not dumb enough to think that arguing with a drunk girl is a good idea. She's not entirely wrong, either; he'd be lying if he said he wasn't having a little fun. These last few days have been an interesting mix of nerve-wracking and very enjoyable, and he's glad he came.

"And since you're my boyfriend," Jo continues, "I think you should stay another couple days and we can be boyfriend and girlfriend for even longer together."

"I don't think so," Castiel says, which is his polite way of saying "Not a chance in hell." He really has enjoyed the last few days, but he said he was leaving tomorrow and he intends to stick with that.

"Why not?" Jo whines. "You gotta stay! Haven't you had fun? Don't you love us?"

"I do," Castiel says, which is true, "but I also have to leave."

"But why?" Jo asks. "Why can't you stay? Because I think you should stay."

Castiel throws out the first lie he can think of — which, conveniently, is the first lie he can usually think of: it's Charlie's fault. "Charlie's gotta go home tomorrow, so I'm going back with her."

Usually Charlie would play along with any lie Castiel spits out about her. Unfortunately, drunk Charlie is a very different Charlie than protective best friend Charlie, and she cuts in with, "I don't gotta be home 'til the third for work. I still got over a week 'til I gotta leave."

"Are you sure?" Castiel asks, a not-so-subtle hint. "I thought you had to go home tomorrow."

"Nah," Charlie drawls, "I could stay for a whole 'nother week and a half and not miss a day of work so I'm good."

Castiel narrows his eyes. This isn't helping.

"Well, would ya look at that?" Dean says with a smirk. "Now that you got no reason to leave, you can hang out for another few days." He bounches his eyebrows and adds, "I'm sure there's plenty to do to keep ourselves entertained."

Castiel has to admit, the subtle sex reference is enough to make him consider it. They never did get around to going all the way, and the odds that they'd be able to sneak around once he leaves are almost non-existent. He's been daydreaming about sleeping with Dean for months now. Can he really pass up his one opportunity?

Finally, he says, "If I can find two plane tickets out of here, then maybe Charlie and I can stay for a couple days."

"Dude," Jo says, "I got a private jet. You don't have to worry 'bout plane tickets."

"Oh." Sometimes he forgets that Jo is richer than he'll ever be. "Well, cool, then." He probably shouldn't be making plans to stick around while the owners of the house are drunk, though, so he adds, "I'm not going to mention this conversation tomorrow and Charlie's not going to mention this conversation tomorrow..." He gives Charlie a pointed look. "But if you remember it and you still want us to stay for another couple days, I think that would be okay."

Jo laughs, using the moment to once again "subtly" put her hand on his chest. "'Course I'm gonna remember! How could I forget that my boyfriend wants to stay longer?"

Castiel starts to try moving Jo's hand away again, but if it didn't work last time, it's probably not going to work this time, either. He decides to just leave it. He's honestly not expecting her to remember much of tonight, if she remembers any of it at all. It should be easy to pretend this never happened — though that doesn't bode well for his chances of staying another couple days. It will be nice to have a few days with just Charlie before he heads to Canada to film, but he can't deny that he's going to be a little peeved to miss his chance to sleep with Dean Winchester. Wouldn't that be a legendary first fuck?

"Then I guess it's settled," Castiel says, not that he believes it. "You mention it tomorrow and I'll stick around."

"Yay!" Jo squeals. "This is the best Christmas present!"

"Agreed," Dean says, a small smirk gracing his lips. "The gift that keeps on giving."