Chapter Nine
"So Winchester, when are you coming back to New York?" Jo asked as soon as Dean picked up his phone after the third ring. He and Anna had been sat in a small cafe near Anna's apartment and Anna had just left him to retrieve their drinks form the counter when his phone had rung loudly. Dean was relieved when he saw Jo's name on the screen and not Pamela's.
"Why? Are you missing me so much already?" Dean asked. He heard Jo huff loudly down the phone and couldn't resist smirking.
"Huh, you wish." Jo snorted. "I just want to know because then you can be the one to answer constant questions about the endless photos of you and that Anna girl that have been splashed across gossip magazines and nearly every celebrity gossip blog on the internet. I'm being bogged down at work with questions, plus there is a party at my friend Petra's house on Friday night so I need my wingman." Jo explained while Dean glanced around the cafe. It was a small and cluttered looking place and it seemed fitting that apparently both Anna and Castiel spent a lot of time here drinking coffee.
"Since when have I been your wingman?" Dean asked.
"Since eighth grade when I developed boobs and you developed a pout." Jo said bluntly and Dean really didn't have an answer to that. "So when are you coming back?" Jo then asked sounding persistent.
"Probably on Thursday. Pamela left me a message that she wanted to meet me on Friday morning." Dean said as his stomach sank at the thought of having a meeting with Pamela after he'd been ignoring her phone calls since the morning before.
"Do you think it's about that film you're up for?" Jo asked suddenly sounding less mocking than before but that was probably because she knew how much Dean wanted this role. "What do you think Pamela is going to say to you?"
"Honestly? I have no idea Jo." Dean said. "Look, I'm having coffee with Anna right now, can I call you back later?" Dean asked and he heard Jo huff loudly again.
"Fine, you go off and flirt with the 'Win A Date' girl while I just stand here and serve overpriced coffee to the huddling masses of New York." Jo said. "I hope you realise that the internet is full of photos of the pair of you out and about in Chicago…how much do you hate camera phones."
"With a burning passion and you know that, now go back to work." Dean said as Anna came back to their table and placed a coffee in front of him. "I'll talk to you later Jo." Dean added.
"Catch you later Winchester, enjoy your flirting." Jo said before she hung up. Dean placed his phone back into his pocket before he looked across the table at a smiling Anna.
"is everything ok?" Anna asked curiously.
"Yeah, it was just my best friend Jo back in New York. She was wondering when I was going back and she always loves to mock me whenever my face turns up on the internet or in a magazine."
"She sounds…interesting. How long have you two been friends?" Anna asked before she took a sip of her coffee
"Since the dawn of time." Dean said with a chuckle "Well that's how it feels sometimes. We grew up together, she's more like a sister sometimes than a friend actually. An annoying sister but a sister all the same." Dean explained before he found himself glancing around the café again. Like the bar it had that mix of bookish looking students scattered around the place and it seemed as though many of them didn't have a clue who Dean was but every now and then he would notice someone look over at him and then double take. After a few moments he heard the familiar click of a camera phone. Dean truly hated that dickhead that decide people should be able to take a photo whenever and wherever they were. The amount of slightly fuzzy pictures that Jo had sent him, purely because she said his face looked funny in them, drove him insane. The day that she had discovered something call a GIF had been the day Dean's email had exploded with countless attachments from Jo of Dean pulling funny faces on the red carpet. Dean really hated the internet sometimes. Anna noticed Dean's face and gave him a sympathetic smile.
"That must get really annoying after a while huh?" She asked.
"Yeah…yeah it does. It sometimes feels like I can't go anywhere or be myself because people will constantly be taking photos of me and posting them up on the internet." Dean explained.
"I suppose you never really get used to it either do you?" Anna then asked. "I mean…Ruby sent me all these links to articles that are full of photos of you and I together…it's strange to see my face on the internet though I guess that's what you get from being famous right?" Anna added sounding slightly sad for a moment. For those few seconds that he looked at Anna for Dean felt resentful towards his fame because if he was just a normal guy then he could be sat in a café drinking coffee and not have to worry about having countless photos splashed across the internet.
"Yeah…I mean if I wasn't doing this, if I wasn't an actor, then I would be back in Kansas and probably working with Jo's mom Ellen or at the car repair shop that my friend owns but I wouldn't be happy because I actually enjoy acting you know? I enjoy becoming someone completely different for a while and playing out this whole different life…but the fame that comes with it…well it can sometimes get to me."
"God…you're so different for how I expected you to be…you really are." Anna said with a shake of her head. When she did that it reminded Dean of how surprised Castiel had been to find out that Dean wasn't the person he had thought Dean was. Dean wished it didn't remind him of Castiel, whom he hadn't seen all day because Castiel had been in classes since the morning, but it did. No, he was here with Anna and he couldn't think about Castiel at all. "I really expected you to be an egotistical jerk…well not a jerk but certainly more 'Hollywood' than you are."
"That probably comes from being raised in Kansas…and not really having much of an ago. I mean, I'm just a normal guy really."
"Yes because every normal guy has their face all over Times Square."
"Ok, apart from that I'm a normal guy. It's not like I'm one of those actors who goes a bit crazy with their fame and thinks they're the greatest thing in the world. You know, the ones who only ride unicycles everywhere and will only eat organic vegetable grown in their own garden that have been blessed with a moon spell or some bullshit like that."
"Do you actually know people like that?" Anna asked.
"You see some crazy things when going to Los Angeles" Dean said with a slightly chuckle.
"I can imagine…" Anna said between smiling and then sipping on her coffee again. She opened her mouth to say something else when her phone went off with a text message alert. Rolling her eyes slightly she unlocked her phone and read the message. "Gabriel. He's got home alright though he's pissed off that we made him go back home." Anna said. Dean found Castiel and Anna's brother actually pretty amusing though it was clear that they couldn't handle him for more than a few days. Anna had sent Gabriel to the train station to get a train back to Lincoln earlier that day despite Gabriel's protests. "It's a good thing he's gone back home actually, he would have just driven you insane with countless questions about your films."
"Yeah, Castiel said that." Dean said.
"He had a point." Anna said. "Apparently he kept Castiel up half the night with inane babbling. When he left this morning Castiel was holding the biggest thermos of coffee I have ever seen. If he's made it through his lectures today without falling asleep then I will be shocked though they're talking about books and that is what Castiel lives for." Anna said with a casual shrug.
"Yeah, apparently he loves books as much as you art, according to Castiel anyway."
"Probably. I could walk around most of the gallery and art museums here with my eyes closed and still tell you all of the paintings. I spend far too much time in them." Anna said slightly gushing as she spoke.
"It just shows that you're passionate about something, it's nice." Dean said and Anna smiled brightly at him. The way that Anna's face was lit up with her smile made Dean smile himself. She seemed so happy to be here with Dean and yet Dean felt like a bit of a jerk because every now and then he realised that the way Anna's was smiling at him made Dean smile not because she was smiling but because he had made her smile like that…it felt entirely selfish and made Dean feel like a bit of a dickhead.
On Wednesday night Castiel was hurrying back to the apartment after a late lecture had run on for longer than he thought. He was tired and desperately just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for about a week despite all the coffee he had drunk during the day to keep himself awake. Hurrying through the lobby he gave a few of his neighbours' curt nods before he started the climb up the stairs towards his apartment. He was walking down the hallway and nearing the door when he heard Anna's laugh and the low rumble of Dean's voice. God, Castiel was very tempted to just turn the other way and go to see Alfie but his bed was seriously calling him. Maybe he could sneak through the apartment unseen and just throw himself into his bed. That plan was shot when he opened the door.
"What's that noise?" Castiel asked when he walked into the apartment and heard a bizarre whirring sound coming from the kitchenette. The sound did not belong to their coffee maker which was really the only appliance he and Anna ever used so Castiel was at a loss as to what it could possibly be.
"That would be the oven..." Dean said from the kitchenette in the same voice you would use when explaining something to a small child and Castiel was very tempted to glare at him. "I've been here for three days and not once have I seen you or Anna eat something that wasn't pre made or something that you just added water to." Dean added as Castiel walked over to the fridge and was shocked to find fresh vegetables, fruit, cheese and meat on the fridge shelves.
"The small weird looking green stuff is called okra apparently...I have no idea what it is either." Castiel heard Anna say from the couch.
"Yeah I think your whole kitchen is in shock from there being fresh goods in it." Dean said as he bobbed his head in time to the music playing from the radio. It took Castiel a moment to place it as Fleetwood Mac, whom his mother used to listen to all the time when he was a very small child. She used to sing Dreams to he and Anna before they to sleep. The thought made Castiel smile for a moment before he noticed Dean watching him. Looking away Castiel glanced over to the oven. Now that he knew Dean was cooking he realised the smell from the oven was baking bread with a hint of garlic.
"I didn't even know the oven still worked after that time I tried to make grilled cheese." Castiel said in surprise and the look on Dean's face just before he burst out laughing was priceless. Castiel wasn't sure what was so funny about him attempting to make grilled cheese but part of him just wanted to say something else Dean would find hilarious just to hear that laugh again and see the wide smile on Dean's face.
"God, no wonder that poor thanksgiving turkey suffered." Dean said between snorts of laughter as he glanced up at Castiel with that damn smile. Castiel was very tempted to be a dick towards Dean just so he would stop smiling but that really wasn't what he wanted at all.
Over the past two days Castiel had managed to keep himself busy enough to not be in the apartment much. He'd spent time in the library writing up his essay and actually attempting to socialise with a few people from his classes. He could tell himself that it was because he needed to both get his essay done and gain some more social skills but he had to admit to himself that it was because he was avoiding Dean Winchester as much as physically possible. Now the smile that Dean gave him was making him grateful that he'd stayed away but it was actually impossible to look away. This was not good at all. Dean was here for Anna, not Castiel so he needed to stop thinking about the damn movie star already before it became painfully obvious that he may or may not be starting to like a guy he thought was a complete and utter moronic asshole up until two days previous. Though Castiel thought that classing it as liking Dean might have been a bit stupid seeing as it less to do with liking Dean and more to do with kissing Dean on the lips and passionately discussing literature.
"So what do we owe the pleasure of your cookery skills?" Castiel asked raising an eyebrow at Dean.
"Well I'm travelling back home tomorrow so I thought I'd make you something that didn't come from a packet" Dean explained as he stirred a large saucepan full of rich looking sauce. Castiel was amazed at the sight of the saucepan actually, he'd been convinced they didn't even own saucepans. "Anna said you didn't have anything against Italian food so I'm going with that." Dean said glancing up at Castiel again with a look like he was trying to seek Castiel's approval.
"Um...no, no I don't have anything against Italian food." Castiel said dumbly as Dean smiled at him again. Dean really needed to stop smiling at him like that because it was swiftly becoming a problem. "You really don't have to cook for us...for Anna..." Castiel said quickly correcting himself because it was obvious that Dean was only doing this for Anna.
"God, you're eating something that isn't Ramen noodles for the first time in days, stop being silly." Anna said coming up next to Castiel and nudging him in the side with her elbow. Dean smiled at him yet again as he opened the oven and pulled out a try of garlic bread that smelt amazing.
"I have work that I really need to do though...and I'm pretty tired from my day in lectures." Castiel said trying to think of any excuse not to sit with Dean and Anna.
"Castiel will you just sit and eat with us? It's nice to have people that actually appreciate my cooking. Jo always complains whenever I try to cook her things. I think she's convinced I'm secretly trying to poison her." Dean said rolling his eyes at Castiel before he moved over to grab the only plates that had survived the post-Ryan voicemail plate smashing. Dean quickly served up their food and the three of them made their way to the coffee table where Castiel and Anna normally ate.
"So where did you learn to cook?" Anna was asking Dean while she sat down on the floor next to Castiel.
"In Italy actually." Dean explained while he placed a plate of fresh garlic bread onto the table. Seriously that garlic bread looked, and smelt, really good. "I was there shooting a film-"
"The remake of Roman Holiday?" Anna asked because she was that much of a Dean Winchester fan. Castiel resisted groaning at the memory of that film which he had been forced to watch at the cinema three times despite his constant protests.
"Yeah, well while I was there I had a few lessons with this great chef and he taught he an awful lot about cooking" Dean explained as he grinned at Anna. Castiel took this moment to take a bite out of his food and damn, it was good.
"Holy shit..." He muttered and when he looked across the table at Dean he saw a huge and proud looking smile on his face.
"Good?" Dean asked.
"Can you stay forever and just cook for us?" Castiel asked more to do with the food related orgasm he was having than anything else...well he hoped he could pass it of as that either way. "Um...yeah it's good..." Castiel then muttered looking away from Dean's proud smile.
"My God I think Hell just froze over, my brother was nice to you." Anna said to Dean with a chuckle.
"I think it can happen when he puts his mind to it." Dean then said also chuckling. No, it was more like when Castiel let his guide down and forgot that he was supposed to actively dislike Dean Winchester because it was easier than anything else. Castiel returned to eating his food and was determined to not look at Dean or Anna and swiftly settled on looking down at his food. He really did have to admit that Dean was an amazing cook and going back to eating Ramen noodles was going to be depressing no matter how much he loved Ramen noodles.
"Where are you going?" Anna asked looking up at Castiel with furrowed brows and a quizzical look.
"I have work that I really need to do Anna." Castiel said.
"I made pie for dessert" Dean called but Castiel shrugged his shoulders. He really needed to get out of this room as soon as possible.
"Castiel-" Anna started to say but Castiel just shrugged his shoulders again and walked into his room as quickly as he could. Things were fine until he remembered that he had let Dean sleep in his bed the night before. Fuck…why couldn't he have just made Dean sleep on the floor? Castiel would be glad when Dean just went back to New York because then Castiel go hopefully go back to just think he was an asshole and a useless actor. Having Dean here was making Castiel forget that he was supposed to hate the guy and yet he couldn't stop thinking about Dean, the Dean he'd gotten to know over the past days thankfully and not the Dean Winchester whose face was pretty much everywhere.
By the next morning Castiel had finished all the work that was due for the next two weeks, rearranged his bookshelves alphabetically by author and also sorted out his socks which hadn't done since…well he'd never actually sorted his socks so that was first. I guess that's what happens when you're determined to ignore your twin sister and the millionaire movie star she may or may not be dating/seeing.
As he didn't have any lectures or classes that morning Castiel was sat on his checking through his emails though most of them were either from Gabriel who was complaining about several mindless things or they were updates from literary blogs that he followed. He was clicking onto a link when there was a knock on his bedroom door. He hoped it was Anna over Dean because even if Anna questioned him about why he had gone to bed so early last night that would be better than talking to Dean.
"Cas?" Castiel heard someone call. "Castiel?" He looked up from his laptop and watched as Dean walked into his room holding his car keys. "Hey man, I just wanted to say goodbye. Thanks for letting me crash here and everything. It was good meeting you." Dean said hovering in the doorway looking awkward. Castiel did this nervous little twitch that made him feel like a complete moron as he moved his laptop away from him. He rose off his bed cumbersomely and ran his palms against his jeans as he felt them begin to sweat. God, he seriously needed some help.
"Yeah…it was good meeting you Dean." Castiel said reaching out to shake Dean's hand because it seemed like the politest thing to do. Castiel would have preferred to insult Dean because then it would make it easier for Dean to hate him but it really didn't seem like the right time for that at all.
"Wow, you didn't call me 'Hollywood Ken'." Dean said with a playful smile.
"Yeah, I'm putting my mind to it." Castiel said sarcastically and he really wished that Dean would stop smiling at him because it was making it harder to mock Dean. Dean chuckled and instead of shaking Castiel's hand he pulled him into a quick one armed hug. Dean was solid, warm and had the type of body that you just wanted to hug. It was not helpful for the situation at all.
"It was really good meeting you Cas…Castiel." Dean said when he pulled away. Castiel was resolute in his decision not to look at Dean but he couldn't help it. God, he never realised that Dean had freckles dusted across his face. Yes, none of this was helpful to the situation.
"You too Hollywood Ken." Castiel said giving Dean a sardonic smile and he was sure he saw Dean's own smile waved for a moment and a completely different look replace it but then the smile was back and Dean was nodding his head. He looked at Castiel for one more time before turning away and walking out of the room leaving Castiel alone. "Fuck" Castiel muttered under his breath before throwing himself back onto his bed, hitting his bed on his laptop in the process. "Ow.." he groaned hating himself for that moment in time..
Dean banged his head against his steering wheel and let out a low groan of annoyance that was more at himself than anyone else. He'd literally just said goodbye to Anna and yet all he was thinking about was the fact that he'd hugged Castiel. He'd hugged him. Of all the boneheaded moves he could have done hugging Castiel was near the top of the list. He'd promised Anna that he would speak to her as soon as he could and yet now all he could think about was how for a brief moment he thought that Castiel had hugged him back. Fuck, Dean really was in trouble and he had no one to blame but himself…and maybe Castiel…
Ok this drive back to New York was going to a long one that could only be helped with music so loud that it forced Dean not to think. Looking through his collection of CD Dean pulled out one at random and shoved the disk into the CD in the dashboard. The sounds of ACDC filled the car and Dean settled himself back in his seat and tired as hard as he could to not think about either Anna or Castiel…especially Castiel.
By the time Dean got back to New York he was tired, stiff from not really stopping and there was a pretty bad ringing in his ears from the constantly high volume of his music. On the plus side he hadn't thought about Anna or Castiel…much.
He was happy to reach his building though, sleeping in his own bed and waking up to the New York skyline was something had missed over the past several days.
"Have you just stayed here the entire time that I was away?" Dean asked throwing his jacket down onto the nearest chair and waltzing over to where Jo was sat.
"I was doing my duty as a good friend by watering your plants and getting your mail." Jo said smiling happily.
"I don't have any plants in this apartment." Dean pointed out.
"Ok I snooping through your mail, eating your food and watching your flashy TV, does that make you feel better?" Jo asked rolling her eyes heavily.
"Not really." Dean said.
"Well tough because that's what I've done. Now sit down so you can tell me all about your lovely jaunt to the windy city…oh and you need more cereal." Jo said. Dean sighed and sat down next to Jo. She handed him a bottle of beer and was soon badgering Dean over what had happened in Chicago. Dean told her everything apart from the very obvious fact that he might have been developing feelings of…something for Anna's overly sarcastic brother that Dean was pretty sure still didn't actually like him as he'd gone out of his way to avoid Dean over the past few days. Jo was actually a good listener and nodded at all the right parts of Dean's story and didn't make half as many jokes as Dean thought she would make.
"Oh apparently you should call Sam." Jo said after an hour of Dean telling her about his trip to Chicago.
"And how would know that?"
"Because he told me that you should call him." Jo said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Dean refrained from rolling his eyes at Jo.
"He couldn't have just called me?" Dean asked.
"He did but you just have been driving because you didn't pick up your phone." Jo said shrugging. Dean sighed and went to look at his phone. Sure enough there were several missed calls all from Sam and three text message from Pamela. The messages from Pamela could wait but speaking to his brother was something Dean needed to do right now. Dean dialled Sam's number and walked into his bedroom so he didn't have to contend with the noise from the TV.
"Hey Dean!" Sam said when he picked up the phone. "What's up?"
"Well according to our lovely Jo you wanted to talk to me." Dean said.
"Oh yeah! So I see how it is Dean, you'll use me as a cover so run off to Chicago but you won't come to California to see me?" Sam said but Dean could hear the smile in his voice.
"Shut up bitch, I came to California a few months ago to see you." Dean pointed out. "Besides it was the only lie Pamela would have believed." He added.
"Until there were photos of you in Chicago posted online." Sam pointed out sounding smug.
"How do you know that?" Dean asked.
"E! News web alerts, Jess has them on her laptop plus Jo told me." Sam explained like it was obvious. Stupid E! News... "Who was the guy you were with?" Sam then asked.
"Anna's brother Castiel, we went for a drink." Dean said trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.
"Meeting the brother already?" Sam asked chuckling.
"They live together, they're both at University of Chicago. Unlike some people Anna doesn't hide siblings away." Dean said trying to steer the conversation back towards Sam so that his brother would question him about Castiel because he was not in the mood to talk Sam about Castiel at the moment.
"Hey it's pretty impossible to hide you when your face is everywhere and I'm not hiding you, if anything I'm hiding Jess." Sam said. "What's her brother like?" Sam then asked and Dean tried not to groan.
"Cas...Castiel? He..." Dean started to say but he stopped himself for a moment because telling Sam all about Castiel would confuse the lines more than already. "He's ok..." Dean said after a moment. "He's sarcastic and really loves his books..."
"But you get on with him right?" Sam asked. Dean shrugged until he realised that Sam couldn't see him. He thought he got on with Castiel alright even if Castiel was sometimes off with him or overly sarcastic about something but there was no way that Castiel liked him in the same way as Dean was beginning to like Castiel, if anything Castiel tolerated Dean because he knew that his sister liked Dean. "Dean?" Sam asked and Dean realised that he'd been silent for several moments.
"Oh yeah...yeah we get on alright." Dean said quickly.
"So if you're hanging out with Anna's brother then that must mean that you're serious about taking things with this Anna girl further right?" Sam said.
"I...I don't know."
"What does that mean?"
"Being with Anna would be a lot easier." Dean explained hoping that made sense.
"Easier than what?" Sam asked.
"Than nothing, it would just be easier ok?" Dean said. He hated not being able to tell Sam the whole truth about what was going on with him but it just made things easier at the time.
"Do you really like her?"
"I like her and like I said, it would be easier."
"I still don't understand what the hell you mean by that but that really doesn't sound like a reason behind being with someone."
"Well them why are you with Jess?" Dean asked.
"Because I've never another girl like I've loved her before. I can't see myself with any other person on my life and she makes me feel line the luckiest person in the world to have her in my life." Sam said seriously and Dean's stomach sank because even though he liked Anna he doubted he would ever like her in that way. Sam was with Jess because he truly loved her, it was clear from his voice, but Dean had to admit that he wanted to be with Anna for a lot of his own selfish reasons. "Have you ever met someone that you think could make you a better person but you're not around them for just that reason, you're around them because you can't picture yourself not seeing them?" Sam asked and Dean could of kicked himself when he thought not of Anna but of Castiel. Fuck...he really was in trouble.
Author's Note:
Yes this is kind of a filler chapter but that's only because the next chapter is going to be pretty long and, hopefully, exciting.
Oh, I had a few people on tumblr ask me how many chapters there are going to be and I can now say that there is going to be thirteen chapters so the whole fix should be finished within the next two weeks.
