Fame Crazy (Sequel to Strings Attached)

Chapter 59

"I'm about to go to a bar for the first time ever," Castiel tells his phone, glancing at the camera briefly before returning his gaze to the real world because knowing him, he'd walk into something in the half a second he spends not watching where he's going.

"It's gonna be lit," Gabriel adds.

"No one says 'lit' anymore," Charlie tells him.

"Gabriel still says 'fam,'" Lucifer replies. "He's just really behind the times."

Everyone files in the room, "everyone" being Michael, Lucifer, Gabriel, Castiel, and Charlie. The author has never been to a bar, so, unlike most places in this book that are based off of places that actually exist, this is a total guess and may not be anything like a bar at all.

They follow Michael around, not because they think he knows where he's going but because at least they can be confused together. He finds the bar easily, and everyone approaches it together because no one wants to be the odd one out.

"Hey, Michael," the man behind the bar greets him. (A/N A+ to you if you can guess who he is before I tell you at the end of the chapter.) The first thing that comes to mind when Castiel sees him is large — in more ways than one. He's a heavier man, probably closer to Chuck's age than theirs, but much closer to their height than Chuck's. Granted, Chuck is pretty short, so that doesn't take much. "The usual?"

"Something stronger?" Michael requests.

"Sure thing," he replies, reaching for a drink to pour him.

"Thanks, Jay."

"I'm sorry," Lucifer says loudly, attempting to be heard over the loud music. "You have a regular now?"

Guessing something's about to go down, Castiel mutters, "Be right back," before turning off the live stream and stowing his phone in his pocket.

Michael nods slowly. "Yes... Is that a problem?"

"Yeah, it is!" Lucifer replies as if it's obvious. "I've spent the last four years never coming to a bar because I thought no one I knew drank, and it turns out that not only do you drink, but you come here so much, they even know you by name!"

"You never asked if I drank, so I can't say I see why you're upset with me," Michael replies calmly.

"Because you've been sneaking out here without me!"

"It's not 'sneaking out,'" Michael tells him. "It's just, like... going. I come here when I want to get away from the house."

"So, away from me," Lucifer surmises.

"No, Luce, that's not what I —"

"I get it," he interrupts. "You don't wanna hang out with crazy ol' Bee-Movie-obsessed Lucifer. I understand. That's — that's fine."

Michael sighs. "You know that's not true."

"Really? Because that's what it looks like to me." With that, he walks away, ignoring Castiel and Gabriel calling after him.

Michael just turns back to Jay. "Maybe something even stronger?"

Jay chuckles and pours him a drink. "Boyfriend?"

"Brother."

He seems mildly surprised at that. "Bit clingy for a brother."

Michael chuckles, but it seems more of a tired laugh than an amused one. "Tell me about it," he mutters, taking a sip of his drink.

"Well," Castiel says with a glance at Gabriel. "That just happened."

"Should one of us go find him?" Gabriel asks.