Cas woke up the next day with a puffy face, all cried out, though he felt like he'd be able to create more tears if Ben was mentioned.

Luckily, Penny had stayed over in one of the six, pointless, spare bedrooms, and knew better than to bring up last night's scene. She was downstairs at the coffee machine when he made his way into the kitchen on shaky legs.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said as she passed him a coffee.

"Don't," he muttered. "Please."

"Of course not. But let me at least run you a bath and give you a facial. We can sort out those puffy eyes. Then we can get some retail therapy."

He agreed without much enthusiasm, but by the time they were shopping, he felt vaguely human. Penny had helped him with a soothing face mask and some carefully applied concealer, and the oversized aviators and beanie covered the rest. The rest he hid behind a venti of some excessively sweet Starbucks concoction. She'd said the sugar would do him good but he'd only taken three sips before his teeth hurt.

He'd spent a gratifyingly disgusting amount by the time someone recognized him - a teenage girl who pulled her reluctant friend over and gushed at him about how much she'd loved him in his last movie. He forced a smile, even though he'd hated that character - he was such a smarmy jerk. But Veronica had told him he had to do it because the fans would love it, and she wasn't wrong.

The girls went away happy, and Cas put on the big smile he was known for while he dealt with the few others it prompted. It was more fake than usual today, and drained him, so he asked Penny if they could forego the late lunch they'd been about to have.

He was exhausted when they got back, and Penny helped him put his new things away.

"I should go soon," she suggested weakly when they'd finished, her face a mask of worry.

"Do you have to?" he asked, folding and refolding a t-shirt.

"I doubt Veronica would be happy to know I'm here."

Cas slumped on the bed, throwing the carefully folded t-shirt to one side.

"I'm sick of her controlling me. Look what she's done. She can't possibly have my well-being in mind. I was happy with Ben, you know? So happy."

Penny only got as far as opening her mouth when the trilling doorbell interrupted them.

"Oh my god, that might be Ben!"

"Sweetheart, Ben would have messaged you," Penny reminded him, a gentle hand on his arm.

"Shit, you're right. Fuck, that means it's her. I don't want to speak to her. Please, Penny."

She took his other arm, waiting until he looked into her eyes.

"I could chase her off. But if she knows I'm here she'll separate us again. You can do it, Cas, I know you can."

He wasn't as sure as her, but he didn't want to give Veronica ammunition by revealing Penny, so he nodded.

She gave him a brief kiss on the cheek.

"Stay strong. Just do what she says. We can come up with a plan after."

He reluctantly left her sitting on his bed and went to open the front door. He was right, it was Veronica, but she wasn't alone.

"Caspian, sweetheart. Are you going to invite us in? You look pale, you need to make sure you're getting enough sleep."

He wanted to curse at her - to chase her away - but he knew he couldn't afford that. Penny was right - he needed to make her think she was winning. He was bolstered by the memory of Ben saying he'd wait. He had to believe he could have it again, he just needed to get through to the other side and come up with a plan.

They went to the lounge, but he didn't offer Veronica or her guest a drink. He thought he recognized the girl from somewhere, but there were hundreds like her all over L.A.: pretty blue-eyed, blonde, cookie-cutter facsimiles of each other.

"This is Kirsten Walls," Veronica said when they were seated uncomfortably.

"Er, hi Kirsten."

"Hi, Cas." She flipped her hair, smiling widely at him.

"You have the award ceremony tomorrow night," Veronica said.

He'd pretty much forgotten about that. He didn't want to go, obviously, but this was what Penny had meant. Let Veronica have her way.

"Okay."

"You're taking Kirsten as your date."

Cas stared. "What?"

"Kirsten is your date tomorrow. And you'll go for lunch with her on Saturday. I've booked you a table. Get photographed, sign some autographs. And make sure you update your social media."

"What with?"

"Your new relationship, obviously."

"My what?"

Veronica ignored him, standing to leave, Blondie matching her moves.

"The car will be by at six, be ready. And wear the outfit I'm sending over tomorrow. You have to look the part. And you have an audition on Monday for that drama you were buzzing in my ear about. I'll message you the details."

He locked the door behind them and went back upstairs on heavy legs.

"You heard that?"

"Enough. She's really doubling down. Getting you an audition though. That's what you wanted, right?" Penny asked.

"I wanted that part, sure. She said it wasn't suitable for me when I asked. But I didn't want it instead of Ben."

"Well, maybe she at least heard you when you said you weren't happy. She might be trying to make it okay."

"What do I do though? I can't be in a relationship with some woman I don't even know."

"She's your beard. I assume she knows the situation but you can sound her out tomorrow night."

"What about Ben? If he sees it online..."

"He'll understand. After all, he left for the sake of your career. He knows how important it is to you to let Veronica think she's winning."

"But he finished with me."

"Yeah. And, sweetheart, I know you don't want to hear it right now, but maybe it can help you. Give you some perspective. He did what he thought would be best for you. I'll tell him about Kirsten."

"Can't I message him?"

"I think it would be a good idea not to for now. Safer against Veronica."

Cas felt sickly hot at the thought of Ben finding out he was in a relationship with someone else, fake or not. And worse that he couldn't be the one to explain it when he hadn't heard from Ben other than a single-word text sent only an hour after he left: 'Sorry'. He ached for more. Longed to just talk to him, like they always had. Break the brick wall Ben had put up.

Later, Penny told him she heard nothing back.

* * * *

Cas stood in front of the huge gilded mirror in his bedroom. Penny was on the bed, already in pajamas despite the early hour.

"You look incredible. Regardless of anything else, she sure has taste in suits."

Cas couldn't help but agree. It was simple - black and slim fit, with a white shirt and no tie - but it framed his lean physique perfectly. It made him irrationally angry that Veronica knew him well enough to find him clothing that made him feel and look a million dollars but chose to know nothing of what was inside his head.

"What is it tonight, anyway?" Penny asked, bringing him out of his frustrated thoughts.

"Some teen choice thing. I don't know."

Penny grimaced. "You should. She has a lot of power, but you do let her run your life. You should be more aware of what's happening with your career. She already wants to get you a personal assistant, and then she really will be micromanaging every part of your life."

"What? She hasn't said that to me."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, it was probably something she talked about back when she was my agent. Must have been. Maybe she changed her mind. But no matter what, you should be more aware of your own career. You know she told me I couldn't live with you because it would look bad?"

"She did?" He said it dully though. It wasn't a surprise. None of what she would do to control his narrative would surprise him now. Not after she chased Ben off.

He slumped next to Penny on the bed, not caring about the creases in the pristine suit. He felt like a kid all over again. He'd never had any active input into his career - first his mom and then Veronica had seen to that. But Penny was right. He had to stop sleepwalking through things. It was getting him nowhere.

"Okay. It starts now. I'm going to find out what this Kirsten knows."

"Good start, though be careful. Veronica will definitely have her providing information. Don't mention Ben, or escaping from her. Don't trust her, though she'll probably seem nice."

Cas nodded nervously, already worried he just wasn't cut out for espionage.

* * * *

Kirsten lived fifteen minutes further out, so he'd have a total of forty-five minutes to get as much out of her as he could without giving anything away.

So when she slid into the back of the limo in a short slinky red dress with a deep v neckline and said, "So, you didn't know Veronica was hiding the gay for you then?" he had no idea how to respond and gaped at her like a dying fish.