Castiel is just finishing this scene when he hears a voice ask, "Are you Castiel Novak?"

He looks up to see a small group of three young girls, probably in their early teens, looking down at him hopefully. He gives them a kind smile.

"I am," he replies.

"Oh my god, we are your biggest fans!" the same girl gushes. "We've been to all your concerts and own all your albums and know all your songs!"

Castiel chuckles. He remembers the time when this was awkward because it sounds borderline stalkerish, but he's come to realize that's it's not uncommon, and it's become more flattering than weird.

"Well, I'm glad you like them," Castiel says truthfully. Even as an A-list celebrity, it means a lot to hear his efforts aren't in vain. "Do you have a favorite?"

"I like your slow songs," one of the other girls tells him.

"So, like, most of them."

She nods. "Yeah, pretty much. They're just all too good to pick a favorite!"

"But you knew that already," the first girl adds.

"At this point, I have no idea what people think of my music," Castiel admits. "Which is why it means a lot that you guys came over here, so thank you."

"Are you kidding? This is awesome!" the first girl gushes. "I can't believe this is actually happening. Can we get a selfie?"

"Of course," Castiel replies, standing up despite his desire to stay seated forever out of laziness.

"Holy crap, you're tall," the second girl breathes

Castiel laughs. "Yeah, I get that a lot," he tells her.

They take a picture together, and the girls are beaming, while Castiel just wears his celebrity smile he's had a long time to perfect over the years. They also want individual pictures, which Castiel just rolls with, because he knows meeting celebrities is often once-in-a-lifetime, and he's definitely not saying no.

"Thank you so much!" the first girl gushes. "I love you so much you don't even know!"

"And I love you right back," Castiel replies, and for a moment, he begins to wonder if the girl is going to faint. Thankfully, she doesn't.

Clearly, this has caught someone's attention, because now there's a whole new crowd of people who want to meet him. Great. It's going to be another one of these days, isn't it?

~~

Castiel is still stuck meeting fans over an hour later. It's not-so-shockingly less fun after the first few, but he can't just leave people hanging. It's not necessarily that he'd feel bad, because although he kind of would, he's just selfish enough for it to be worth it. Unfortunately, somehow the press would get ahold of that, and he doesn't need to give the media another thing to hold against him.

Fortunately, it's around then that Dean shows up, towering over most of the fans trying to meet him. He waves, trying to get Castiel's attention as if he didn't look over immediately when he showed up.

"Hey, Cas," Dean greets him, pushing past the fans, despite their protests.

"Hey," Castiel replies, giving Dean a quick kiss, mostly for show. He's definitely aware of the cameras on them, so he better at least act like they're in a perfect relationship.

"You never answered my text," Dean says quietly.

"I never got it," Castiel lies. "I didn't bring my phone, so..."

"Ah, that'd do it," Dean agrees. "Well, c'mon, Misha's going crazy without you around."

"Oh, yeah, he's kinda clingy," Castiel says. "I should probably go calm him down." He looks out at the group of about thirty fans and says, "Sorry, guys. I gotta run." As he walks by them, he gives people hugs and lets them take brief selfies just so it doesn't feel like they completely wasted their time waiting for him.

Dean waits impatiently for him to finish, until finally, Castiel has made it through the crowd and quickly follows his boyfriend, ducking his head slightly to avoid drawing attention to himself. Wow, it's almost like high school all over again.

Castiel slides in the passenger's seat of the impala, with Dean driving. As soon as he turns the key, Kansas blasts through the radio, which he turns down slightly.

It's not until they're moving that Dean says, "You left me on read. Yeah, you had your phone on you."

Castiel sighs, looking out the window as he answers, "I just wanted to be alone."

"And how did that work out for you?"

"Well, I may not have been alone, per se, but it was a hell of a confidence booster," Castiel replies. "It was worth it."

"You'd rather spend hours stuck talking to fans instead of with me?"

"I wasn't stuck talking to them —"

Dean scoffs. "That's what you have to say to that? Wow, Cas. Nice."

"What do you want me to say, then?" Castiel challenges. "I'm sorry for walking out? I'm sorry I'm still upset that Crowley literally assaulted me every day? I'm sorry for enjoying that hour of just pure love that I haven't really had since my tour? Because I'd be lying."

"Of course you would, because why would you ever want to tell your boyfriend where you are? That would be ridiculous!" Dean says sarcastically. "I could understand, like, ten minutes, but Cas, it's been hours. I had no idea where you were. You wouldn't text me back. If people hadn't been tweeting about meeting you, I still wouldn't have known where to find you." Dean looks over at him and continues, "I was worried, Cas. You can't just drop off the map like that."

Castiel rolls his eyes. "Dean, I'm twenty-one years old. I don't need a babysitter."

"I'm not trying to be your babysitter, I'm trying to be your boyfriend, and you're not making that easy!"

"Then stop."

Dean looks over at him as if trying to see if he's seriously about it, but Castiel's face is still hidden from his view as he looks out the window.

"You don't mean that," Dean says, but he doesn't sound too sure of himself.

"I do," Castiel replies. "I know I'm not making it easy. I don't know how you've put up with me this long, honestly. If you want a relationship you know you can count on, go find one. It'd probably go better for you than this."

"Cas —" Dean pulls off to the side of the road so he can look over at his boyfriend without fear of causing an accident. "Cas, look at me." When he doesn't, Dean gently turns Castiel's head towards him. "No part of our relationship has been easy. That doesn't mean we have to give up on it. What we have here, it's — it's something special. It's something worth fighting for, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love you, Cas — only you. Now and forever. Okay?"

Castiel nods, then leans over and rests his head on Dean's shoulder. "I'm sorry," he murmurs.

"Don't be sorry. Just be ready, because no matter what the world throws our way, we're gonna fight back and come out together."