Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 58

"My turn?" Gabriel asks excitedly.

"But this was your present," Harry reminds him.

"No, that was my group present. I've still got to give him my present," he clarifies.

"Did this whole 'don't bring gifts' thing not register with any of you?" Castiel asks, but he can't stop smiling enough to even pretend to be annoyed.

"It registered that you didn't want them, sure," Gabriel tells him. "But that don't mean we can't give 'em anyway. I'll be right back."

He runs off to their room, which makes Castiel wonder how he managed to hide it from him. He returns with one hand behind his back, the other one holding a piece of white paper folded in half, like a child's homemade card. He hands it to his brother awkwardly.

"You know I'm bad with words, but, uh... Here."

Castiel takes a moment to look at the cover, littered with little rainbows and expertly drawn unicorns. In addition to the typical "Happy Birthday, Cassie!" it also reads in smaller letters, "This cover still isn't as rainbowy as you!"

Castiel gives his brother a really? look, and he just sticks his tongue out at him. Castiel shakes his head in amusement and returns his attention to the card, opening it up.

The inside has one side with a unicorn in front of a rainbow background that he colored with colored pencils. Looking closely, he can see the name tag reads "Casti" before being cut off by the limited amount of it that can be seen.

He chuckles to himself before reading the note on the other side, each tiny letter written in a different color neon pen to make another rainbow. It's very rainbow-themed today.

"Dear Castiel,

Welcome to the world of cliché openings. First of all, happy birthday! I can't believe you're 21. You're just a little baby in a trench coat. You're not supposed to be 21 yet!

I know we don't chat much when we're apart, but I hope you know that I cherish every moment we spend with together. I know, total cliché, but so is this whole card so deal with it. I love just chatting with you and cracking jokes with you and listening to Lucifer recite the Bee Movie with you. Well, maybe not so much that last one, but you make it more bearable.

The last few years have been a wild ride. From Crowley to Dean to Henrickson to Taylor Swift, you've been through a lot, good and bad. I'm glad I've gotten to share the journey with you.

Love,
Little ol' cliché Gabriel"

"I think this warrants a hug," Castiel tells him.

"This is turning into some chick flick," Gabriel jokes.

"Hey, you started it, you gotta follow through," Castiel replies, standing up and giving him a hug, which, despite his complaining, he returns without hesitation.

"And one more thing," Gabriel adds when they pull apart. "Obviously, I had a little bit of a rainbow theme going on there because... Well, you're one the rainbow. You live the rainbow, you feel the rainbow, and now, you can eat the rainbow." He hands him a large resealable bag of Skittles.

Castiel laughs. "Only you, Gabriel. Only you."

"Well, you know me. I'm the city's black market candy dealer," he replies with a shrug.

"Did anyone else get him anything?" Lucifer asks.

"I did," Michael says when no one else speaks. "It's not as sweet and sentimental as I'm sure everyone else's was, but..." He pulls out a folded piece of lined paper from his pocket and hands it over. "You already know that I can't draw so I didn't make a card, but it's something."