"Welcome back, Castiel Novak!"

Castiel walks out on stage with a smile he's spent the last five years perfecting. He waves at everyone watching in the audience, causing them to cheer louder. Castiel chuckles to himself, which can't be heard over their applause, and walks up to Jody Mills.

"Hey, Jody," he greets her as the crowds settle down.

"Hey, Castiel," Jody replies. "Nice to see you again." She gives him a friendly hug, which he returns briefly. "Holy crap, man, you're ripped!"

Castiel chuckles. "Yeah, I know, right? I've seen pictures of guys that work out, but I didn't realize it was actually, like, real! I mean, I have an actual six pack!"

"Really?" Jody says in playful surprise. "You should show us. You know, so we know you're not lying. That's totally it. Yeah, totally." She says it in a way that shows that's not at all what she means, but it's a jokingly sexual remark.

Castiel glances out at the audience and laughs. "My brother's out there shaking his head at me," he observes.

The audience and Jody laugh.

"Which brother?" Jody asks. "I need to know which one I need to yell at," she jokes.

"Gabriel," Castiel replies. "And his boyfriend is out there, too." He waves at them. "Hi, guys! Everyone say 'hi' to Sabriel!"

There's a chorus of "Hello"s following that.

"'Sabriel'?" Jody repeats, waiting for clarifications.

"It's their ship name, courtesy of our brother, Lucifer," Castiel tells her.

"Is he here, too?" Jody asks.

Castiel shakes his head. "Nah, he's at home. But they live near Stanford, so they were close enough to come down."

"See, I would have known this, had you shown up on time," Jody teases.

"I know, I'm sorry," Castiel apologizes. "There was a lot of traffic. And I slept in. But yeah, the traffic."

This earns some laughs.

"I feel ya," Jody replies. "Waking up early is rough. But you're here now, and that's what matters, right, Cas!"

Castiel nods. "Yep! Wow, 'Cas.' No one's called me that in, god, four years, probably."

"Really?" Jody says, sounding surprised. "Not even your friends?"

"Nope. One of them called me it once, like, five years ago, but my friend Charlie yelled at him because only my boyfriend at the time was allowed to call me that. The rule kinda just stuck, so I haven't heard 'Cas' since last time I spoke to him."

"Ooh, the exes. That's never good. I'm sorry I brought it up, then."

"It's fine," Castiel assures her. "I've got nothing against him. We just drifted apart. And, to anyone who's ever made a long distance relationship work, I say to you, you are magical."

There's a laugh at that as well.

"I'm sure it's rough for someone like you," Jody says. "I mean, you've been on tour, like, three times in the last five years, right?"

Castiel nods. "Yeah. Four if you count when I opened for Taylor."

"I forgot about that," Jody says. "I think most of us were hoping you and Tayloy Swift would hit it off. You may not swing that way, but you have to admit, that would be the best musical breakup ever."

Castiel laughs. "I don't know. I'm more a Harry Styles fan myself." He looks out at the camera. "Hey, Harry, if you're watching this." He makes a phone with his hand and puts it to his ear as he mouths, "Call me," earning some laughs.

When the laughs die down, Jody says, "You're going to the People's Choice Awards next weekend, right?"

Castiel nods. "I am. And I'm still trying to wrap my head around the 'Artist of the year' awards for the last two years. Like, why, guys? Why me? Why do I have so many awesome people out there? And I've been nominated again this year. It's crazy."

"You deserve it," Jody tells him. "Good luck. Anyway, I asked my Twitter followers to tweet you questions, so it's not just us today."

"And I retweeted it, so you have no excuse," Castiel adds.

"Let's see what the Twitterverse is wondering," Jody finishes.

The tweets appear on a large tv screen in back of the room, so Castiel has to look behind him to see them as Jody reads them off.

"'Are you going on tour again soon?'" Jody reads.

Castiel pauses as he thinks about how to answer, so quickly he doubts anyone noticed. "I can't say, but when I do, I'll let you guys know."

"Alright. We'll be waiting. Next question. 'Do you really write your own songs? And if so, can you prove it with some improv?'" Jody turns to Castiel expectantly.

Castiel nods. "I do write my own songs, but, unfortunately, it's not really an improv type thing."

"Stop lying!" a familiar voice yells from the audience.

Castiel chuckles. "Not helping, Gabe."

Jody laughs. "Did you lie to us?"

"No, I lied to him," Castiel replies. "Sorry, Gabe. No, I can't do improv. Not with lyrics, at least."

"Aw, dang it," Jody says with exaggerated disappointment. "I was hoping we'd get to hear some. Anyway, next question. 'Who's your inspiration?'"

"Bon Jovi," Castiel says immediately. "Hands down, Bon Jovi. No contest."

This gets some laughs as well.

"'What's your favorite song that you didn't write?'" Jody reads.

"'That I didn't write?'" Castiel repeats. "Well, I wasn't going to pick one of mine. They're far from my favorites. But my favorite song has to be 'Hold On' by Kansas."

"I have a feeling a lot of people watching don't know that song," Jody observes. "It's pretty old, isn't it?"

Castiel nods. "Yeah. If you've never heard it, you should definitely look it up. It has a great message that I wish I really listened to when I was younger."

"Maybe you could show us," Jody proposes as one of the behind the scenes people walks out with a guitar. Immediately, the crowd begins cheering, and Castiel knows he can't decline now.

"Let's see if I remember it," Castiel replies, taking the guitar and mouthing "thanks." He sits on the edge of the chair so the guitar has room and begins playing. The crowd erupts into applause again, so Castiel calls out, "Guys, I haven't even started yet! I mean, I know I'm great and all, but really?" He gets a lot of laughs from that, and they eventually calm down so Castiel can perform the song.

When he finishes, he gets a huge round of applause, which soon becomes a standing ovation. Castiel beams with joy. Even after five years, he's still not used to this. He doesn't think he ever will be. Seeing this many people who love his music is amazing.

When people quiet down, a girl's voice yells out, "We love you, Castiel!"

Castiel can't help but smile. "I love you, too!" he replies. "Really, I do." He makes a heart with his hands, and soon, the entire audience is making one back to him.

Someone begins chanting, "We love Castiel! We love Castiel!" over and over, and it doesn't take long for everyone to chant it together. Castiel looks out into the audience with an awed smile on his face, which he covers with a hand.

"Thank you guys so much!" Castiel says. "I don't think you realize how much this means to me. I love guys, too. All of you. I wouldn't be here without you. Great, and now I'm a cliché," he jokes, and the chants turn to laughter.

"Next question," Jody announces. "'What's the best thing to ever happen to you?'"

Castiel gestures out into the audience. "This."

The reactions he gets are anything from "Aww!" to laughter. He loves them both.

"'What do you do with your free time, when you're not recording music?'" Jody reads.

"A lot," Castiel replies. "Um, I chat with my friends and family. And shoutout to Charlie Bradbury for being, well, you. Oh, and for introducing for to Wattpad!"

"'Wattpad'?" Jody echoes. "What's that?"

"An app — and I think a website, too, but I've never been on it on the computer — where you can read and write books," Castiel explains.

"Do you haven an account?" Jody asks.
Castiel nods. "I do. It's 'CastielNovakIsReadingYourFanfics2001' (A/N idk f that's a real account or not) I don't write anything, but I do like reading things on there. Oh, and by the way, you guys completely mischaracterize me. I keep seeing stories where I'm the most popular kid in a high school. I was literally as far from popular as humanly possible."

"I have a hard time believing that," Jody replies.

"Trust me, it's true. Like, there were these three guys, and I'm not going to name names, but they once sent me to the hospital room with broken bones in both my legs, my arm, a bruised back and ribs, a concussion, um, temporary amnesia, and a black eye."

"Oh my god," Jody says. "Why?"

"Because they thought I told my brother that they liked to throw me into lockers," Castiel says. "I didn't, though. If I was going to tell someone, it would have been Lucifer, because he could have beaten the crap out of them."

"They're dicks!" someone yells from the audience.

"Yes, yes they are," Castiel agrees. "They're definitely dicks. But I know at least two of them are in jail." Alastair got in trouble for a brawl of some sort, and Azazel was arrested for arson.

"Well, that's good," Jody says. "They deserve it. Alright, next question. 'Who is your best friend that's also a celebrity?'"

Castiel thinks about this for a moment. "I honestly don't know. I've got a couple of 'em. Taylor Swift, Blake Lively, Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Shawn Mendes, um... Pretty much everyone at Wayward Records... I feel really bad if I'm forgetting anyone, but that's all I can think of."

"Squad goals!" a girl yells from the audience, earning a light laugh from Castiel.

"Next question," Jody says. "'Do you have any celebrity enemies?'"

Castiel shakes his head. "Nope. I'm not saying I like everybody, and I'm sure there's a whole club of people who hate me, but I don't have any enemies."

"Aren't you and Lucifer enemies?" someone yells out.

Castiel facepalms. "Oh my god, Gabriel," he groans.

Jody laughs. "Your family is awesome."

"Not the word I'd use," Castiel jokes.

Jody glances at the next question. "'Who do you want to thank for getting here?'"

"That's a nice question," Castiel observes. "Um... Well, obviously, Eric Kripke and Jim Michaels have helped me out a lot, and Taylor when we went on tour together. But I think there are two people I really have to thank for this; my brothers Gabriel and Lucifer. Gabriel because when I tried to throw out my song notebook, he took it back and kept it. And he was right. I do like looking back at my old songs. And, I don't know if I've ever actually told this story before. You heard it here first, guys. I had absolutely no intention of ever being a singer-songwriter. But Lucifer made a bet with me, about the weather of all things. If I won, he'd stop referencing The Bee Movie, and if he won, I'd call Kripke. And, well, he won, and then I ended up here five years later. So, thank you, Lucifer, for loving The Bee Movie."

The story gets some laughs, and Castiel isn't surprised. He has to agree, it's an unusual story, to say the least.

"I think we only have time for one more question," Jody says. "So... 'If you could say one thing to anyone, what would it be?"

Castiel frowns. "Great. I just said my 'thank you's and now I need something else? No, just kidding. I'm glad you asked. There is something I want to tell someone, actually, but I think it would work best in a song. It's not one I wrote, but it works great for the situation. I've never been a big country fan, but Lucifer is, so if you're wondering how I know this song, it's thanks to him.

"Anyway, this goes out to... Well, I guess he was technically my first boyfriend, which I'm not proud of. He told me I wouldn't make it here, but he was wrong about this and just about everything else he ever said about me, even if I didn't realize it. You know who you are, so I won't name names, but this is for you."

Castiel doesn't know the song on guitar, so he sings the Toby Keith song a capella. It's easily one of his favorite songs, and it fits perfectly with the current situation.

"'How do you like me now? Now that I'm on my way! Do you still think I'm crazy, standing here today? I couldn't make you love me, but I always dreamed about living in your radio. How do you like me now?"

The room erupts into applause. Castiel grins, laughing to himself. He and Jody both stand up.

"Castiel Novak, everybody!"