5. Anytime, sweetheart
Castiel may be a successful pop star, but the real world doesn't stop turning for Jimmy Novak. He still has college, after all - classes to go to, assignments to turn in, lunch to eat, etcetera. Sam and Gabe put forward the idea of setting up some kind of band, now that the Halloween talent show is coming up and none of them ever participated in something like that during high school. Although, Jimmy suspects, Gabe no doubt planted the idea in order to tease his little brother, and so, for that reason, he politely declines to be involved. He has enough to deal with right now, almost all of it Castiel-related.
"Sometimes it really does feel like I'm more Castiel than I am myself," he says offhandedly to Luke one day, picking at a sandwich in front of him.
Even though he's halfway out of the door, Luke still finds the time to roll his eyes at his younger sibling.
"You chose this, dumbass. You knew what would happen if your career took off, and it did. You can't undo it now."
"I never said that I wanted to undo it," Jimmy replies. He loves being Castiel; after all this time, the guy feels like the phantom twin brother he never got to have. "It's just sometimes I wish I had more time to myself, you know? I'm always out doing a signing, or a concert, or I'm studying with the others, or, I don't know, something. It would be nice to lay in bed for a while and just...you know, be. For a change."
Luke considers this, before shrugging. "Hey, don't worry about it, Jim-Jim. Just think, in a few years, Castiel will a faded star of the music industry, gone and forgotten; you'll have plenty of time for your mid-youth crisis there."
Jimmy levels him with a resigned look. "Thanks, Lukey."
"Anytime, sweetheart." His brother gives him a two-finger wave as he saunters off, leaving Jimmy alone in the kitchen to ponder over the remainder of his sandwich. He doesn't get to ponder for very long, however; a few seconds later, the phone on the counter starts buzzing, the number unknown. Jimmy has never been one to follow the obvious course of action, however, and so answers anyway, tearing a chunk of bread and cheese with his teeth.
"Novak residence."
"Hey, man!" The familiar voice echoes down the line. "Just the guy I was lookin' for."
Jimmy almost chokes on his mouthful. "Dean? Dean Winchester?" Well, this is unexpected. "You, er, you know it's Jimmy, right? Do you want me to get Gabe, or - ?"
"No, no, man! It is you I wanna speak to."
"Um. Alright." The sandwich is forgotten, in favour of Jimmy directing his confused expression at the tabletop in front of him. "What can I do for you?"
"I kinda..." Dean trails off. "See, I've got this stuff goin' on - like, personal, I don't know, crap, right? And I was hopin' -"
"If you've gotten yourself mixed up in drugs, I'm not bailing you out," Jimmy interrupts dryly.
Dean snorts. "God, no, nothin' like that. Hell, Mom wouldn't put up with that in her house. Nothin' incriminatin', cross my heart. S'just stuff I don't really want to talk to Sammy 'bout - brothers, you know how it is."
"True." There are many things he refuses to discuss with family, especially around Gabe. He loves his brothers, dearly, but he knows that there is a high chance that things will find their way back to Chuck one way or another, and once Chuck Novak got a sniff of something, he would never let it go. "Alright. This had better be quick, though, Dean; I've got an appointment." Well, Castiel has an appointment. With Dean, in the recording studio, no less. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"
He hears Dean suck in a breath, preparing himself. "Jim...how do I tell this person that I like them?"
There's a pause, before Jimmy snorts. "Wh - Seriously? Dude, this isn't the ninth grade. Just tell them how you feel. Be straight with them."
"Straight," Dean repeats, with a humourless chuckle, the sound almost breathless. "Oh, the irony, man."
It takes a moment to click. "Oh. I see."
"Yeah. I'm, uh, battin' for both teams here, if you know what I mean. Not somethin' I really like to talk 'bout."
"Why?" Jimmy wrinkles up his nose to match his tone. "Nothing wrong with it. Hell, I bat for the same team, if you wanna put it like that, and I'll talk about it if people ask."
"Really?" He can practically see Dean relaxing in his mind.
"Yeah." Jimmy prods the sandwich - he's just remembered that it's there - before he picks the plate up and dumps the food in the garbage. "So, come on. Girl or guy?"
"Guy."
"Nice." He deposits the plate too, making his way towards the stairs. He has to head to his room to change into Castiel's usual attire, a shirt and some slacks, as opposed to the brightly coloured band t-shirt he's wearing now. "What's he like?"
"God. How long have you got, 'cause I could go on and on, buddy. He's small, and cute, and so talented - but not one of those asshole kind of talented people. He's so down to earth, and soulful, and just -" He cuts himself off. "Sorry. M'not - I don't usually do chick-flick moments."
"It's okay." Jimmy keeps the phone pressed to his ear as he flails with the sleeves of the shirt. "It's kinda cute, not gonna lie."
"Shut up," Dean replies, but Jimmy is fairly sure that there's a smile there.
"What I don't understand, though, is why you wanted to ask me about it."
"Sammy and Adam - I mean, I love them, don't get me wrong, but it's just kinda awkward talkin' about this sort of stuff with them. Besides, wherever Sammy is, your brother is there too, so that rules that out. I'm not havin' Gabe hearin' about this; I'll never hear the end of it."
"Good point. I know, from nineteen years of experience, that this is true."
"Exactly. And Mom - well, she's supportive of everythin' I've done so far, but I don't really wanna sit down at the dinner table and discuss this stuff. Which just left you, really."
"I'm glad you gave me such consideration." Jimmy huffs, partly from the remarks and partly from the effort of trying to dress and maintain a conversation. "Ass."
"Shut up, you son of a bitch, I didn't mean it like that." Dean is no doubt rolling his eyes. "But, yeah, enough 'bout that. How am I supposed to let this guy know - well, you know."
"Christ, Dean, you know you can say the words I'm into him. They will not kill you." Now it's Jimmy's turn to roll his eyes, pulling his glasses off and throwing them unceremoniously onto the bed. Thank God he doesn't constantly need them, or it would be much harder to navigate his double life. "Why don't you just ask him to hang out sometime or something? Start with...I don't know, start with a burger or something? I'm not fucking Cupid."
They wrap the conversation up pretty quickly after that, Jimmy making his getaway due to his appointment excuse. He wonders, during the fifteen minute car journey, who exactly could of caught the attention and affections of none other than Dean Winchester. Well, whoever they were, God had better be with them; Jimmy hasn't known Dean for long, and already he's not sure what to think of him anymore. What person calls the house of a person whose name they can barely remember, before proceeding to have some kind of deep conversation with them about sexuality and crushes?
Honestly, Jimmy half preferred it when it was just a week ago, and Dean Winchester was just Sam's asshole older brother who wore sunglasses in the middle of fucking autumn.
Aforementioned sunglasses-wearing asshole brother (who isn't as much of an asshole as before) is sitting in the middle of the recording booth when Jimmy eventually makes it inside, Castiel's unshaven stubble hastily applied in the car with his fingers. He brightens up when he sees the sight of the other singer, like a kid who's just spotted their parents watching them in their elementary school Christmas performance. Completely different from the Dean Winchester he had been speaking to on the phone half an hour before.
"Hey, Cas!"
"Hello, Dean," he greets, taking a seat beside him. "What have you been up to in here?"
"I was just messin' around," the other man begins, pulling his iPod out of his leather jacket, juggling it in his palms, "and I figured we should be gettin' some inspiration for this collaboration."
"Right," Jimmy replies, sounding more suspicious by the minute. "What exactly does that entail?"
"I downloaded a bunch of songs, both of ours, and I figured we should listen to them. You know, take bits we like, bits we need to avoid -" He raises an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"This is so embarrassing."
"Stop whinin', Cas." Dean drops in the eyebrow in favour of rolling his eyes, as he plugs his iPod into the studio speaker without anymore hesitation. "Do you know who whines? Babies."
Jimmy sticks his tongue out at him. "Do we really have to go all the way back to the beginning? These old songs are so cringe-worthy."
"They made you who you are today, didn't they?" Dean says, before chuckling at the put-out expression he gets in response. "Don't worry, we're gonna take it in turns; we're gonna hear all of my early stuff too."
"Great," Jimmy says sarcastically, only to feel himself wincing, ready to curl in on himself in his seat as the opening chords of his first song start to blast out of the speakers, along with Castiel's sixteen-year-old voice.
By day, I play,
The part in every way,
Of simple, sweet, calm and collected,
Pretend, to my friends,
I'm a chameleon,
Can make a guy feel disconnected.
"Oh, God -"
"Aw, c'mon, man, it's cute! Feel like a star, a superhero -"
"Stop it, assbutt."
Dean laughs at the petulant expression, before clearing his throat, cutting the sound off. "Hey...Hey, Cas?"
"Yes?" Anything for a distraction from these cringy lyrics, Jimmy thinks; Sometimes it's hard to separate, got too much on my plate.
"Do you, um -" Dean looks away, at some poky corner of the ceiling, before picking at the zip on his jacket and sighing. Jimmy could almost say that he looks nervous. "Do you want to go out after this?"
If you could see,
The other side of me,
Jimmy blinks. "Y - Say what?"
I'm just like everybody else,
Can't you tell?
"Like, nothing too fancy. Just for a burger? My treat?" Dean's back to looking at him now, apprehension starting to bloom in his green eyes. "I mean, you don't have to - I just thought -"
"It's fine," Jimmy says, although whether it's to reassure Dean or to reassure himself he isn't sure.
Dean freaking Winchester is asking him out for a burger.
No, Dean freaking Winchester is asking Castiel out for a burger, after asking Jimmy how to ask a guy out.
Oh, shit.
"So, what d'you say, Cas?"
The guy that I want you to know,
If only I could show,
"I -" Jimmy begins, but he can't think of the right words, to try and ask Dean what the hell this means. He could (unlikely) just be blowing the whole thing out of proportion. Maybe Dean is just testing the waters? Putting advice into practise? It is just a burger, after all - and, if this is what he thinks it is, he can just defuse the situation, right? Right.
"Alright," he says finally, as the end of the chorus of The Other Side of Me blares out of the speakers. "Just for a burger."