The first day Gabriel Novak came to Sioux Falls High School, everyone whispered, some people screamed, and three girls fainted in Dean's first hour Chemistry class. Several other kids showed up that day as well, a boy named Alfie and a boy named Jimmy, but nobody paid attention to them like they paid attention to Gabriel. Gabriel waltzed into Dean's first hour ten minutes late like he owned the place and sat down in the closest open desk, which happened to be right next to Dean, and Dean had a moment to wonder who the hell is that before there were twenty-some-odd girls screaming and a couple of them hyperventilating until they hit the floor.

Dean had never heard of Novak. He just furrowed his brows as people whispered the word throughout the whole day, girls passing by him, boys passing by him, even some of the teachers.

And then Sam.

"Did you hear about Gabriel?" His younger brother demanded as he slammed the Impala's passenger side door shut behind him.

"Careful on my baby. Why is everyone talking about him? I don't understand."

"You've never heard of Novak?" Sam demanded, his hand coming down hard on the dashboard. Dean slapped at it until he pulled it back. "I can't believe this." He yanked out the AUX cord and plugged his phone in, scrolling through his music before his finger tapped on a song, and suddenly music was blasting through the speakers.

"What is Novak?" He demanded over the sounds of electric guitar. He had to admit, whoever was playing that was damned good.

"They're a band. And they're AMAZING. Gabriel is the bassist and there's a guy named Lucifer on the drums but they call him Lu or Lucy and Anna is on the keyboard or the guitar and the lead singer and lead guitarist is named Castiel," Sam ranted, his voice just barely heard over the lead guitar. "They're all named after Angels which is pretty cool, and they're all siblings, which means their last name is all Novak. That's why they're called that."

"How old is Gabriel?" Dean demanded. If they were a band, why was Gabriel even still in high school?

"He's seventeen and the youngest in the band. Then it's Castiel, who's like eighteen I think, and then Anna at twenty and Lucifer at twenty four."

"Their parents must have been busy." Dean commented as the guitars merged seamlessly with the keyboard and drums.

"Oh that's not even all of them. They also have a couple other siblings, Samandriel and Rachel and Michael. Then they adopted Rafael and Uriel so they all live together before they made the band and started touring. And god they're so good. Their lyrics are gorgeous."

Sam stopped talking, but only to turn up the sound right as a voice began to sing, smooth and rough and beautiful all at the same time.

Oh, is it you,

The falling tears like silk,

Oh oh, is it you,

When you fall apart in my arms,

And the misfortune of you and your wrongs,

All under my bed hiding from harm.

"Which one is-"

"This is Castiel. Shut up."

So touch up your makeup dear,

And tell me all about your fears.

When your hand is under my shirt,

And I wait patiently for your calling,

So choose between A, B or C,

It's free will,

But it's still

A recipe.

Dean had to admit they were really good. The voice that joined the lead singer's was rougher and just added to the affect.

They finished the song (which was called Is it You) and they managed to listen to another whole song by them too, called Shards, which was about a girl who was a glass figurine who broke into a thousand pieces and the sinner who put her back together again. Dean would never admit it, but he might have teared up. But then they were home, and Dean turned off the Impala and headed inside.

He heated up leftover pasta for himself and Sam, and then sent his younger brother to bed. He was only fifteen; old for a freshman, but Dean was almost nineteen, which was old for a senior. Their dad had been too late signing them up both times, and so they each had to wait a year longer than they should have. Ever since their mom had died their dad seemed unable to really do anything right. Or sober.

Dean laid in bed and stared at the ceiling before he realized he had forgotten to turn the light off. But he couldn't find the strength or even get himself to care about it, so he closed his eyes and let lyrics scroll behind his lids.

The glass that I find.

Underneath the bed and rug,

Will never cease to be beautiful,

Jingling across the floor like pieces of a bloody puzzle,

All part of you, dear,

All shards of you.

And we know that it could be,

We know that it should be,

Know that it should.

Dean fell asleep hearing their voices in his mind.

Gabriel didn't talk to people. He lounged in his chair and smirked at anyone who tried to talk to him. After a while Dean started to think that he didn't speak at all, except why would he be in a band if he didn't speak, but then Mrs. Maloney assigned a partner project, and made them work with the person who sat next to them. Dean hesitantly glanced at Gabriel, and almost had a heart attack when the boy was staring right at him, eyebrows raised. Dean had to admit, his eyes were really pretty.

"Dean, right?"

Dean nodded, ignoring the jealous glances from almost every girl in the class. "And you're Gabriel?"

Gabriel laughed. Full out laughed, and it scared the crap out of Dean because it was so unexpected. "Like you didn't know," Gabriel snorted. "Everyone knows me. Frankly it pisses me off sometimes. Nobody really tries, you know? Probably shoulda disguised myself better though. Like..." He trailed off into mumbling, quiet enough that Dean couldn't understand him. He wasn't about to ask. He wasn't sure where boundaries were with this guy.

"Yeah. So um, my house or yours?" Dean asked, scribbling his own name and Gabriel's down on the paper.

"I'm surprised you're not itching to see my house, I know everyone else is," Gabriel commented, tapping his pencil against his thumb. "You know, I think I like you, Dean. My house? We have a big dining room table. You know, nine kids and all. Gotta be pretty big."

"Um, yeah, okay. That sounds alright."

"I could give you a ride, or..."

"Oh," Dean said, realizing the problem. "No, I gotta drive my brother home. If you just give me your address I could meet you there."

Gabriel pursed his lips, tapping his pencil against his nose now. "Nah, that's not going to work. See, I don't know my address. So I... How about I go with you, and direct you there after you drop off your brother?"

This was getting much too complicated, but Dean tried to keep up. "What about your car?"

"That's okay I drive with- Uh, I carpool. Someone else can drive it home."

"Oh."

"Okay."

"Okay, I'll meet you in the senior lot after school? My car is the black Impala."

"Oh, that beauty is yours? She's in great shape. You must take good care of her."

Dean melted, glad that someone could appreciate Baby as much as he could. "Yeah," he said lovingly, slouching into his seat and picturing her. "I've built her up from the ground a few times. I know everything about her."

"Man, I wish I had a car like that. Where'd you get her?"

"My dad. He bought it off a lot when he was only twenty-something. Treated her like shit for a while but I fixed her when I inherited her."

"Oh," Gabriel said, his eyebrows raising, "is your dad...?"

"Oh, no!" Dean said instantly, realizing that he had made it seem like his dad was dead. "No, no. My mom is gone but my dad doesn't drive anymore, he takes the train and stuff. He got his license taken away."

"Oh." Gabriel said. "Yeah. My dad is. Dead, I mean. And my moms a bitch."

Dean nodded, understanding. Gabriel nodded too, and they sat in a comfortable silence until the bell rang.

"I'll see you at the Impala," Gabriel said as he walked off.

Dean watched him go, realizing only after he had disappeared that he had just been speaking to someone famous. It had managed to totally slip his mind.

A hand slammed into his elbow, gripping onto his sleeve and scaring him out of his thoughts. "Dean!" It was Sam, just out from the class across the hall. "Were you just talking to Gabriel?"

"Uh, yeah. We're giving him a ride home cause I'm going to their house."

"What?" Sam demanded. They had been listening to nothing but Novak on the rides to and from school, and Dean listened the whole time to Sam fangirling. He knew a lot more about the band than he was going to admit, but mostly about Gabriel. Apparently Sam was harboring a bit of a crush, though he probably wasn't going to admit it either. Dean knew that his brother was attracted to boys as well as girls, Jesus, he grew up with him. Of course he knew. He knew the kid better than he knew himself.

"Dean, what." Sam demanded, tugging on his sleeve. "Do you mean he's driving in the Impala with us?"

Dean nodded, grinning. "Better find some different music to play, Sammy," he joked, ruffling his brothers hair and ignoring the boy's terrified expression. "Come on, let's go to class."

Dean was nervous, but not nearly as nervous as Sam was. He offered to sit in the back, even though he never sat in the back, and he set himself right in the very middle, to 'avoid judgment' as he said to Dean. The older Winchester rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, eyes scanning for Gabriel.

The boy arrived five minutes later, his bag slung over his shoulder, sauntering along with a taller boy. Looking at Gabriel in comparison to the boy, he was actually quite short. Dean had never really noticed, the majority of his encounters with him they had both been sitting down, and it was a little bit surprising.

Gabriel walked up and climbed in without saying anything, until he was successful buckled in and he turned to see who was in the back.

"You must be the brother," He said, and Dean couldn't be sure but he thought that Gabriel might have winked at Sam.

Sam went red all the way from his hairline to the collar of his T-shirt. "Uh, yeah. I'm Sam."

"Sammy," Gabriel decided instantly as Dean backed out of the parking spot and pulled onto the street.

"Yeah. Gabriel. Or Gabe? Uh, Gabe?"

"Gabe is what all the girls call me. You can call me that if you willing to deal with what comes with it." He hadn't turned back to Dean once, and Dean was trying not to laugh.

"Uh, w-what, you, uh, what does, who, I mean-"

Gabriel cut him off with a laugh. "Deep breath, Sammy." Gabriel chuckled, his eyes still on Sam. "Just don't be surprised if I flirt with ya."

Dean was pretty sure that his brother stopped breathing. He could hear him squeaking, like he was trying to get words out, but he couldn't manage it. It was incredibly entertaining. He had never seen his brother like this.

Sam didn't regain his ability to speak for the rest of the ride, and Gabriel would say little things like "That shade of red really suits your face," or "I think your face is almost at the color of your shirt, now," and even going as far as cheesy pick up lines like "Are you Little Ceasers pizza? Because you're hot and I'm ready," just to see the boy blush even redder.

Dean stopped in front of their house and rolled down his window to call out. "Sammy?"

"Yeah?" The boy squeaked, turning around. He looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"I'll text you about when I'm coming home and such. Okay?"

The boy nodded slowly and turned back around, his movements slow and almost terrified.

Dean chuckled as he drove off, Gabriel giving him instructions.

Finally Gabriel spoke, and said, "Is he usually like that? Did I scare him off?"

Dean couldn't help but laugh. "Nah. He just wasn't expecting it. I think you shocked him more than anything else." he almost added that Sam talked about him a lot, but decided against it. His brother deserved someone who would be good to him, someone who would respect him and things he wanted to do, and for some reason he wasn't sure that it was Gabriel. He seemed like the kind of guy who wouldn't respect, wouldn't keep the boundaries that Sam wanted to keep. And Dean didn't want that for his brother. So he kept his mouth shut.

Somehow Gabriel looked like he knew what Dean was thinking, but he didn't say anything. He just directed him towards their house, and finally pointed it out when they get close enough.

"Jesus," Dean breathed, leaning over the steering wheel to look at the house.

The house was gigantic, cream colored with maroon-ish accents. The grass was all dead and weedy, the walkway slicing through it like a snake, leaving a trail of cement behind. The house was two stories, and easily could have fit Dean's house at least three times, if not four, inside. There was a garage but the door looked as if it had been permanently dented shut. A large van sat in the driveway, and the street was lined with cars, even though there weren't a ton of houses around.

Gabriel jumped out of the car and left Dean to follow, opening the large front door and waiting for him to come inside.

The entryway was huge. He had to step around a hat rack that was housing probably a hundred jackets and a pair of black skinny jeans. He couldn't even begin to fathom why anyone would need a house this big as he followed Gabriel through a large open living area with a fireplace, wrap around couch that could probably fit eight or ten people, and a GINORMOUS flat screen TV, above a killer stereo system. They walked into a giant dining hall and Gabriel dumped his bag, collapsing into one of the chairs.

"Sit down," he offered, tossing his feet up on the table. "We're making a poster, right?"

Dean nodded, awkwardly sitting on the edge of one of the chairs. "We hafta make a habitat thingy," he said eloquently, his fingers tracing the wood grain on the edge of the table.

"Here, there's posters in the pantry. One sec," he said, jumping up and bounding off, leaving Dean alone at the table, wide-eyed and terrified. He took a deep breath and tried to seem passive just in case someone was to walk in, but he was having trouble getting himself calm.

The front door slammed, making Dean jump out of his skin, and someone shouted from the entryway, "WE'RE HOME AND I'M TAKING MY DAMN CLOTHES OFF! God, going there is fucking stupid. Why do we even go? It's not like it matters. I could spend my whole life without going there another day, and I wouldn't be at a loss. MOM, CAN I STAY HOME TOMORROW? IM SICK. Of this shit."

The voice, which had been coming from the hall for most of the speech, began to travel through the living room, and Dean had a moment of panic. He wasn't sure how to alert them that he was here.

"Just take a deep breath, Castiel," a small voice said, and there was sound of a scuffle. "Eep!"

"You couldn't hold up in a fight against me like if you ever-" the boy cut off as he rounded the corner and his eyes landed on Dean, who was twisted around in his seat, eyebrows raised and completely at a loss for what to do.

Castiel Novak was, to put it simply, fucking gorgeous. He was halfway through pulling on a pair of black skinny jeans, probably the pair that had been hanging on the hat rack. But other than a pair of white and black boxers, he wasn't wearing anything. His shoulders and upper body were hard and muscled, sinewy like he spent a lot of time working them. And along with that, they were covered in tattoos, a cross and a rope that looped into a noose and a crapload of others that Dean didn't have time to look at, because the boy grabbed the bro-tank that the shorter boy behind him had been holding up and yanked it on, dragging his pants up and buttoning them too. He could still see a lot of the tattoos, but he was very distracted. Dean would've looked away to be modest and respectful, but he couldn't. And it was all because of this guy's stupid eyes. They were this ridiculous shade of blue, set deep in his face, above the bags from sleepless nights. They practically glowed, the blue so sharp it might as well have been drawn there, and they were focused straight on Dean. Castiel's lips were parted slightly, and Dean could see that he had caught the very tip of his tongue with his front teeth.

Castiel was the one who regained himself first, his eyebrows dropping until he looked confused and a little bit offended. "Who the fuck are you? Why are you in our house?"

"I'm, uh," Dean stammered, "Dean Winchester. I'm here cause um-"

"Chemistry project," Gabriel said, returning with a poster, a pack of pens and a lollipop in his mouth. "Sorry Cassie, forgot to tell you. You didn't make it to naked, did you?"

"No," Castiel said, walking past the table into the kitchen. Dean could see his back as he opened the fridge and yanked out a can of something. "You could've warned me. And stop calling me that."

"Nope. And I'll try next time. We practicing when Anna gets home?"

"Anna's been home all day," the other boy, who Dean hadn't really looked at, chirped. "I think she's upstairs with the others. I'll go see," he volunteered, and then he was gone before Dean could look at him.

Castiel rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I let Samandriel have my soda today. I probably won't do that anymore."

"Not the greatest idea," Gabriel allowed, beginning the border on the poster. "Hey Dean, hand me the blue, would you?"

They began to work diligently, and Dean couldn't decide if Gabriel was working because he wanted Dean out of the house or if it was because of something else. Castiel awkwardly hovered for a few minutes before disappearing upstairs and reappearing again with a guitar to flop down on the couch behind them with. He strummed and sang quietly, just enough for Dean to hear him, but not enough to be able to make out words. His voice was beautiful. It was like nothing he could describe, and it was even better in real life, rather than hearing it over the stereo in the Impala or even through his phone's tiny speakers at three in the morning the one night that his resolve crumbled on his tenth swallow of whiskey and he looked the band up.

People bustled by, but Dean didn't want to stop working and look up, because he was afraid Gabriel would be mad at him. He wasn't sure what to make of the kid.

They worked for a good two hours, until it got late enough that Dean was ignoring his grumbling stomach and starting to worry about what he was going to make for dinner.

Castiel began to strum a song that was a little bit familiar. Dean couldn't put his finger on it, but then Castiel began to sing quietly, and he stopped thinking.

"Hello there, the angel from my nightmare,

The shadow in the background of the morgue,

The unsuspecting victim of darkness in the valley,

We can live like Jack and Sally if we want,"

It was amazing. It was indescribable. Now that Dean could really hear his voice instead of just a murmur, he felt the breath torn out of his lungs.

"Where you can always find me,

We'll have Halloween on Christmas,

And in the night we'll wish this never ends,

We'll wish this never ends,"

Castiel paused, and Dean jumped as suddenly there was a voice that wasn't Castiel's coming from right next to him, and his face snapped towards Gabriel to find his lips moving without looking up from the project.

"I miss you, miss you.

I miss you, miss you."

There was a laugh from Castiel in the other room, and then the guitar grew louder, appearing with the singer in the doorway. He began to sing again, leaning his head back and belting out like there was no tomorrow. It was spectacular.

"Where are you? and I'm so sorry,

I cannot sleep, I cannot dream tonight,

I need somebody and always,

This sick strange darkness,

Comes creeping on so haunting every time,"

He dropped his head and smiled, trying to sing through his smile, and marring the lyrics a bit, but not enough to damage the splendor of the song.

"And as I stared I counted,

The webs from all the spiders,

Catching things and eating their insides.

Like indecision to call you,

And hear your voice of treason,

Will you come home, and stop this pain tonight?"

Gabriel laughed and belted out to match Castiel;

"Stop this pain tonight!"

Castiel danced around the table, singing loudly.

"Don't waste your time on me you're already the voice inside my head,"

"I miss you, miss you," Gabriel added.

"Don't waste your time on me you're already

The voice inside my head."

"I miss you, miss you."

They repeated the chorus a couple more times, until it faded out, Gabriel repeating his one line over and over.

"I miss you, I miss you.

I miss you, I miss you.

I miss you, I miss you."

There was a moment of silence, and then several people bounded down the stairs at once, some requesting songs and some asking for it again and one of them even asking them to shut the hell up for five minutes, Jesus Christ. Dean had to count twice, but he was pretty sure that there were five additional people in the room. But then as abruptly as they had arrived, they were gone, taking Castiel with them.

"Looks like we're done," Gabriel commented, and Dean nodded.

"I have to make dinner for my brother, I should go. Thanks, uh, thanks for having me."

Gabriel laughed. "No problem. Tell that brother of yours that I said hi, won't you?"

Dean tried not to laugh and nodded, hurrying out the front door and into the Impala to drive home. Sam was waiting in the den when he got home, his feet up on the coffee table, and he jumped ten feet when Dean got home, scrambling up to lean over the back of the couch.

"How was it? Did you meet anyone? Was it big? Was there music? Did they look rich? Did you meet their mom? I heard she's terrible. Is she terrible?"

Dean laughed, ruffling his little brother's hair, ignoring his attempt to swat his hand away. He headed towards the kitchen with plans to throw something together for them, hearing Sam jump over the couch and scurry after him. "It went fine, Sammy. Yes, there was singing. Yes, It was great." He could hear Sam gearing up to ask another question, so he chuckled, "Gabriel says hi, by the way."

Sam choked up and leaned against the table, clutching at his shirt. "No."

Dean laughed, his shoulders shaking. "Yes. Not making it up, I promise."

"Oh my god," Sam laughed breathlessly, collapsing into a chair. "Oh, my god."

"Fangirl," Dean coughed into his elbow, trying to maybe pass it off as a tickle in his throat. Sam lunged at him, face red, and wrestled him to the ground. He had barely gotten Dean pinned before the older boy flipped them over and held Sam down, bopping him on the forehead with a spatula. "I win. Now go take a shower while I make dinner. You smell like ass."