Secrets and Camera Flashes

Chapter 72

A/N IF YOU CAN WATCH THAT VIDEO AND FEEL FINE AFTERWARDS YOU NEED TO LEAVE /hj

Despite Dean's reassurances, by the time the sun sets, Castiel is beginning to think once again that this isn't going to work out. They haven't even gotten another minute alone, never mind time to do the do. Dean and Jo managed to bully Sam and Jess into giving up their remotes after an hour -- at which time Ash also offered to give Castiel his controller, but Cas shot him down -- and the game went on for a long time. It looks like he didn't sign up for a few more days of sex; he signed up for video games.

Castiel watched the game while Dean and Jo were with him, listening to the two crack jokes -- typically at Sam or Ash's expense -- but when Sam and Jess took their place on the couch, he'd stopped paying attention. He didn't get much writing done, but what he did manage to get down on Google Docs was, at least in his opinion, pretty good. He's fairly content with how the afternoon went, even if it mostly consisted of writing, laughing at jokes about a game he wasn't playing and was only half-watching, and not having sex.

An hour or two after dinner -- some very delicious mac n cheese -- Dean taps Castiel on the shoulder, and Castiel feels his heart jump. Is it happening? Is it finally happening?

"You know," Dean says, "I completely forgot to show you this Wayward Sisters video I saw this morning."

"I'd want to watch it if the invitation is still open," Castiel tells him.

"Alright, c'mon," Dean gestures for him to follow him. "I bookmarked it on my laptop just for you."

Castiel takes that chance the moment he gets it, and the two of them head off to Dean's -- err, Jo's -- room for some privacy (but not before Charlie gives her friend a real-life Lenny face). Dean closes the door behind him, and Castiel wants nothing more than to just have sex here and now. Unfortunately, there's something they need to do first.

"Hey, can we talk real quick?" Castiel asks.

Dean cocks an eyebrow. "Wow, that was exactly what I was gonna say. Like, word-for-word."

"Oh." He's not sure he likes the sound of that. "Do you want to go first?" If Dean's going to say he's changed his mind in the last few hours, it would probably be best to start with that.

"Uh, no, you can go first," Dean says.

"Oh, okay..." Not quite what he was hoping for, but he's already probably going to make things weird; he doesn't want to make them any more awkward by making a bigger deal out of this than necessary. "I just wanna, you know, make sure that we're both on the same page."

Dean seems taken aback by that. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, this is just 'no strings attached,' right?" Castiel asks.

"Yeah, 'course," Dean says without a moment of hesitation. "If that's what you want, then hell yeah. I'm the number one proponent of friends with benefits."

Castiel breathes a sigh of relief. "Okay, that was actually a lot easier than I thought it was gonna be."

"Hey, no stress," Dean says. "This is a stress-free zone. There is a no-stress fuck-zone."

Castiel bites back a laugh. "Thanks. I think." God, he's so fucking cute. How can a guy be both that hot and that cute? It should be illegal.

"Was that it?" Dean asks.

"Almost," Castiel says. That one went pretty well; he just knows this second part is going to be very awkward. There's absolutely no way for this not to be awkward. In fact, he's not even quite sure he should say it; he just doesn't want to not bring it up in case it makes things awkward down the road.