Secrets and Camera Flashes

Chapter 14

"Jo, looking stunning, as always."

Jo beams at the compliment. "Aw, thanks, John."

That's the nice thing about having fake dated Jo for so many years — his whole family really treats her like she's one of them. John asked her years ago to call him by his first name, which is a rare feat that none of Sam or Dean's other friends or partners have managed to achieve.

"Is your mother here?" John asks. "I don't think I've seen her around."

"Oh, no, she has a cold," Jo says. "Figured she'd already seen the movie once, and she might as well let everyone else watch it without her sneezing all day."

"Well, it's probably for the best," John says.

Jo furrows her brows together. "What do you mean?"

"I think you're showing just a little too much skin for her liking."

Jo glances down at her dress. It's not entirely immodest — the dark green gown has two straps and reaches the floor. However, it also has a slit on the side all the way up to her hip, two cutouts outlining her stomach, and a low-cut top, none of which Ellen would approve of.

"You know what? That's fair," Jo agrees.

"Did you bring a plus-one at all?" John asks. "Anyone I can watch the movie with, since Dean seems to think it's not worth watching twice?"

Dean gives him his signature bitch face. "I said we're not watching it because we just watched it."

"And it's not worth watching twice," John finishes.

"It's got more to do with the interval between times than the number of times," Jo says.

"Oh, no, I know," John says. "I'm just messing with him."

Dean just rolls his eyes.

"Really, though, did you come alone?"

Jo nods. "Yeah — unless you count Dean or Castiel, but they kinda had to be here."

"Am I going to get to meet this Castiel?" John asks.

"You're really desperate for a conversation with anyone who isn't us, huh?" Dean says, amused.

"And Cas is pretty quiet," Jo adds, "so I don't know if he'll want to talk to you. He's probably going to hide until he can make his getaway."

"Well, he doesn't look like he's hiding," John says, looking past them.

Dean glances over his shoulder to see Castiel finishing up a red carpet interview. He certainly seems comfortable here, despite what Jo may say. He glances around as he walks away from the interviewer, probably looking for someone else to talk to, but he just happens to lock eyes with Dean instead. Dean nods once, just to recognize that they really did see each other, and Castiel gives him a small smile, and that's it.

Until it's not.

"Ooh, Cas!" Jo waves at him, stretching her arm up as high as she can to get his attention.

Castiel cocks his head to the side, but otherwise, he doesn't move.

"C'mere!" Jo calls to him, gesturing for him to join them just in case her voice doesn't carry that far.

Castiel makes his way to them awkwardly standing a few feet back. "Hi?"

"Hey, Cas, this is Dean's dad," Jo says, and she seems far more invested about then meeting than Dean is.

"Oh, hi." Castiel holds a hand out, which John shakes. "It's nice to meet you."

"You, too," John says. To both Jo and Castiel, he adds, "I hear the critics are loving your movie. How does it feel, being the two most popular people in America this week?"

Jo laughs. "Oh, it's fantastic. I have been stressing over this for a solid two years, and it's honestly going even better than I had ever hoped it would."

"What do you mean? This is how people feel about all your movies. You just have that charm about you." John smiles playfully.

"God, I wish that was true," she says. "Just because I've never been in a movie as widely hated as Cats does not mean all my movies are popular."

Dean coughs into his fist, saying, "But they are" as he does. Jo just shakes her head, amused.

"How about you, Cas?" John asks. "How are you feeling about your ever-increasing popularity?"

"It's a pleasant surprise," Castiel says.

"'Surprise'?" John repeats. "You didn't think the movie was going to be good?"

"I just didn't think it would be this popular," Castiel says. "It's just a love story."

"Perks of having a big name like Jo Harvelle in the cast, probably," Dean says. "And I'm sure it doesn't hurt when it's well-acted."

Castiel just smiles awkwardly, which almost makes Dean feel bad until he remembers that everything seems to make Castiel feel awkward, and it's not really his fault. It was just a reality check mixed with a compliment. What's there to make it awkward?

Unfortunately, John doesn't seem to realize that everything makes Castiel feel awkward, because he carries the conversation like an adult speaking to a child that barely knows them would — keep asking questions and hope for the best.

"I take it you're not super into romance movies," he says. "What type of movies would you rather do?"

"I'd like to try an action movie," Castiel says simply. He's certainly a man of few words, even if that's not the impression Dean got the first time they chatted.

"You've never done one of those before?"

"Not really."

"What about the angel-and-demon movie you did with Meg Masters?" Dean asks. "Didn't you beat a whole bunch of people up?"

"Um... kind of?" he says uncertainly, but he doesn't specify, which leaves Dean wondering what about it wasn't actiony enough.

Fortunately, Jo steps in to explain by putting two fingers on Dean's head. "Bam! You're unconscious!" She pushes her hand in Castiel's general direction. "Aha! You just flew across the room!"

Castiel chuckles. "Yeah, that's about how it works."

"I don't know, that looks like it might be more fun," John says.

Castiel just shrugs.

"Well, personally, I would like the ability to yeet anyone across the room," Dean says.

"You can do it if you take initiative," John says, and though it gives the impression of condescending parenting, it's obviously a joke, because his father wouldn't actually tell him to pick people up and throw them across the room.

Probably.

"For the record," Jo says, "if you ever say 'yeet' again, I will break up with you."

"That's what you said last time I said it," Dean reminds her.

"And look, we're breaking up soon," Jo says. "Funny how that worked out."

"Ah, but we're breaking up whether I say 'yeet' again or not," Dean reminds her. "So, really, I can yeet the word 'yeet' into every sentence and it won't change when you yeet our relationship in the garbage."

Jo sighs dramatically. "I think we should just break up now."

"What are you talking about? You love me!" To emphasize this, he presses a kiss to her lips. It may sound weird, considering they're not really dating, but they've kissed in front of the cameras enough that it doesn't phase either of them. And, of course, there's the tiny factor that is their friends-with-benefits status, but that's probably not worth even thinking of with John even in the same general vicinity.

"No, I don't," she says stubbornly. "I hate you. Very much."

Dean just laughs. Ah, Jo really is the best.