Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 41

"I like that one," Dean announces. "Ooh, and that one," he adds a few moments later. "And that one. And — I just like all of these."

Castiel smiles sheepishly. "Thanks."

"I can't believe you never released these," Dean tells him, handing him his song notebook back.

"Well, I can only release so many songs," he replies with a shrug. And there's also the fact that these are more personal than the ones he usually releases. Even just showing them to Dean, he feels so open, so vulnerable. After all, his songs are a gateway into his brain, and that can be a scary place. It's not one he wants people to explore — especially not those closest to him, the ones whom he truly cares about.

"Hey, your birthday's coming up, isn't it?" Dean observes.

Castiel nods. "Yeah, couple weeks."

"Big twenty-one," Dean adds. "How're you gonna celebrate?"

Castiel shrugs. "I don't know. Sit at home drinking apple juice out of a juice box and watching Sponge Bob reruns like the mature adult that I am?"

"No way," Dean protests. "We're gonna celebrate. Well, you'll finally be old enough to drink legally. We could go to a bar. Or a strip club."

"Dean!" Castiel exclaims, a mixture of surprise and amusement in his laugh.

"Kidding, kidding," he replies, then adds with a real-like Lenny face, "The only one I want to see strip is you, anyway."

Castiel starts choking on air at that suggestion. Dean, being the awesome boyfriend that he is, just laughs at him.

"No, but really," he continues when Castiel has stopped dying next to him, "We have to do something fun. I say we should have a party. And by 'should,' I mean will. You don't have a choice. I'll drag you along whether you want to or not."

Castiel chuckles. "Alrighty then. I guess we're having a party."

"Awesome," he replies. "It's gonna be the best birthday party you've ever had."

"The bar's not very high," Castiel tells him.

"Don't tell me you've never had a birthday party."

"I have, just not a very fun one," he replies. "It's usually sitting at home eating cake and listening to Aerosmith."

"What are you talking about? That sounds great!" Dean jokes. "Well, now you'll always be able to say you had the best twenty-first birthday ever."

"If I'm spending it with you, it doesn't get much better," Castiel replies with a loving smile.

"You're so cheesy."

"You love it."

"I do," he concedes. "I really do." Dean slides closer, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Just like I love you." He presses a kiss to Castiel's cheek.

Castiel snuggles closer to him, resting his head on the older boy's chest. He yawns, his lack of sleep finally catching up to him. He closes his eyes, only anticipating it to last a few moments. He doesn't expect it to be the perfectly restful five hours that it is.

~~

Castiel wakes up eventually to find that Dean hasn't moved in the last few hours, encumbered by the sleeping boy. The lights are off, though, which makes it a much more pleasant experience waking up. He rubs the sleep from his eyes and sits up slowly with a yawn that sounds sort of like a mouse. He can feel Dean shaking slightly from silent laughter.

"'Morning," he whispers. "Well, it's only, like, one, but whatever. It's still morning."

"Really?" Castiel glances at the the clock by his bed. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't mean to kidnap you like that."