Back in Blackberry

Chapter sixteen

Charlie knew. Cas shouldn't have brought up his family, but he had and now she knew. Cas was nervous as they drove to the theater. Sam had taken Charlie's usual seat in the front, so Charlie was next to Cas. She didn't say anything the whole way, and neither did Cas. If Sam and Dean noticed, they didn't say anything.

When they got there, Charlie finally spoke.

"Why don't you two go get us some popcorn, I'll wait here with Cas," she said.

"Okay," Dean agreed, and he and Sam walked away. Cas didn't say anything.

"So... Cas," Charlie started. Cas still didn't say anything.

"Naomi, Anna, Hannah, Michael, Luc, and Gabriel. Is your name really Castiel?" She asked. Cas didn't know what to do, he couldn't walk away.

"I... I don't know what you mean," he said eventually.

"Don't shit with me. You're Jimmy Novak, aren't you?" She asked. Cas flinched at the name.

"I- I-" Cas stuttered. Charlie sighed.

"I'm sorry. It just kind of pisses me off to find out that my friend has been lying to me. And Dean. How do you think Dean is going to respond when he finds out you belong to one of the most famous celebrity families in America?" Charlie asked. Cas sat down right there on the floor. He'd been afraid of this.

"Please don't tell him. Castiel is all I ever want to be. The Cas that sits in a bakery every day, your Cas. Being Jimmy... it was awful. Please don't tell Dean," Cas said, starting to cry. He felt Charlie take his hand and realized she must have sat next to him on the floor.

"I'm not going to tell him. But J- Cas, you can't keep this hidden from him forever. You have to tell him at some point," she said. Cas wiped the tears off his cheeks.

"I know. I just need time to figure out how. Thank you for giving me that," Cas said.

"You're still my friend, Cas. Now let's stand up, the boys are coming back," Charlie said. They both stood up.

"Oh and... Charlie?" Cas started.

"Yeah Cas?" Charlie asked.

"I'm sorry I lied," Cas said. Charlie just hugged Cas.

"You would not believe that popcorn line," came Dean's voice as they let go.
"Well let's go!" Charlie exclaimed, suddenly back to her usual self. As they all started walking, Cas couldn't stop thinking about the thousands of different ways Dean might react to the news that Cas had lied, and suddenly he wanted to be anywhere else but near Dean. He had managed to forget about his family since he met Dean, but now that they'd been forced back into his head, he wasn't sure he'd be able to forget again. And that terrified him.