Secrets and Camera Flashes

Chapter 33

Jo and Castiel are going on another date, this time, instead of going somewhere public, their date is at her house. He's not entirely sure what to expect from a private date. Usually, they just try to look cute for the cameras. They don't have to do that anymore. It's going to be interesting, and not necessarily in a good way.

There's only one paparazzo outside Jo's house. He must be a hired shot, here to show the world that Castiel just went to Jo's house for a day inside. It's entirely possible he wasn't hired at all, too — he could have just been given the heads up, and he wanted to get the shot to sell to TMZ or Perez Hilton or someone obnoxious like that.

Castiel avoids looking at the camera, but he does purposely give the guy a good shot of his face. It makes the photo a lot more valuable. If he's going to do them a favor and show the world these photos, he might as well get paid the big bucks for it.

Jo opens the door for him with a big smile and a hug that lasts just a few seconds too long. The paparazzo definitely gets a good shot of that. Jo steps back to let him inside and closes the door behind him. Looks like that's all the paparazzo is getting today.

"Welcome back to my house, this time featuring a bigger mess," Jo says.

Castiel chuckles. "I can't keep my house clean to save my life, so I get it."

"Just so you know," Jo adds, "Dean is very impatiently waiting by the phone to hear whether you want to FaceTime, because I had to hang up with him when you showed up — but you don't have to say yes, obviously."

Castiel shrugs. "Yeah, sure. I wouldn't mind talking to Dean."

"Cool, let's go!"

Jo takes his hand and leads him to the living room, where her phone is hooked up to the TV as she FaceTimes Dean. Of all the times Castiel has spoken with Charlie, this has never occurred to him. He's sure he could figure out how to get this to work with a little help from Google. He only gets to see Charlie in person during the holidays, so this could be a nice change of pace.

Dean answers the FaceTime call, beaming. "Hey, if it isn't my two favorite people on the planet!"

"You know," Jo says, "there are other people for you to talk to. It doesn't have to be us."

"Well, yeah, but the only other people I want to talk to are people I'll see in a couple weeks for Halloween, anyway," Dean says. "And I won't get to see you for Halloween this year, so voilá, here we are."

"Uh huh," Jo deadpans.

"Oh, Jo, did you hear that Cas is officially my new go-to tv show recommender?" Dean asks.

Jo raises an eyebrow. "I did not hear that."

"Yeah, he got me hooked on Wayward Sisters, so now I trust him with my life," Dean tells her.

That seems to surprise her even more. "You guys watch Wayward Sisters?"

"I know, it looks really bad but it's actually fantastic," Dean says. "You need to watch it."

Jo just looks to Castiel.

He shrugs. "Yeah, it's a good show."

"I don't know if I can force myself to watch it," she admits. "I will try to refrain from making any negative comments about it when you guys are around, but..."

"Fine, be that way," Dean says, crossing his arms.

"It is a good show, though," Castiel adds.

"Plus, I think you would ship the two main characters," Dean adds. "'Cause Cas is the only one I know that watches it, and he thinks Kathryn and Yadira are just friends, so I don't have anyone to talk to about how gay they are for each other."

"Then tell Sam to watch it or something," Jo says. "Or Jess, even. One of them is gonna take the bullet for you."

Dean scoffs. "Like I would ever admit to my brother that I'm watching Wayward Sisters."

Jo rolls her eyes. "Hey, Cas, do your brothers know you watch it?"

Castiel pauses. He knows she's only asking because she's expecting him to say they do, which she can use to prove that Dean is being stupid. But Castiel totally forgot that he's supposed to have brothers, so that completely caught him off his guard.

"God, you, too?" Jo shakes her head. "The toxic masculinity in the room right now is scaring me. You know you can admit to liking shows about girls, right? And not just sexy, sexy girls in bikinis?"

Castiel purses his lips and doesn't answer. He has genuinely never witnessed someone reach a conclusion that was so completely incorrect while still making complete sense. He risks a glance at Dean, expecting him to break the silence, but Dean just looks confused, too. The annoying thing about this setup, though, is that he can't tell who Dean's looking at. Is he confused by Jo's remarks or Castiel's silence?

Finally, Dean says, "Welp, what can I say? Toxic masculinity is my middle name... names... my middle names..."

"Nice, Dean," Jo says sarcastically. "That was a very coherent response."

"Oh, shut up."