Castiel groaned at his alarm, quickly slamming the SNOOZE button. He rolled over, hearing his brother in the other room stirring and cursing his own alarm. They both couldn't believe they signed up for this again – Castiel noted to make an appointment with a mental hospital later. He finally decided it was time to get up before Gabriel started knocking on his door in his annoying little way of his. He groaned again, rubbing the eye crusts out of his eye and grabbed the thin AD/DC t-shirt and basketball shorts he set out for the day. He pulled them on as well as some socks and tennis shoes.

The first day of band camp. Ugh.

He made sure to grab his SPF 75 sunscreen, coating himself in a thin layer before packing it in his CamelBak pocket. He placed his knock-off Ray Bans on top of his head and made sure he had enough water for the day, putting a couple of bottles of water in the pocket with his sunscreen just in case. Dehydration is a bitch. Satisfied with his packing, he placed his 'Bak by the door along with a baseball cap for later.

Castiel was pouring some cereal in a bowl when Gabriel stomped down the stairs, CamelBak in hand. He placed his along with Castiel's and joined him in the kitchen. "Explain why we have to wake up so early when we live two minutes away?" he asked.

Castiel swallowed his bite of cereal, "This is your senior year, Gabe, you should know this."

Gabriel waved his hand at the comment, "At least I get to watch you march around this year."

Castiel had almost forgotten Gabriel had gotten the head drum major position, meaning he called out commands and got to stand on the sidelines as the rest of the band went over basics for the umpteenth time. Why bother the upperclassmen when it was the freshmen who needed to learn it? Castiel himself would have a chance to rest every once in a while, being the leader of his section, along with a very disgruntled Ruby just because she was co-leader.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked up to the kitchen clock. 7:20. Castiel finished his breakfast, urging Gabriel to chug his orange juice on the way. Grabbing both instruments (Gabe wouldn't be playing most of the time, but you never know) and locking the door, they drove in Gabe's old truck to New Haven High School. The brothers parted in the band hall as Gabe joined the other drum majors and Castiel to his section's corner of lockers. Kneeling, his put his case on the ground and opened it to reveal his old clarinet.

True, the clarinet wasn't the manliest instrument, but he liked it. It wasn't as annoying as the saxophone and not as dainty as the flute, so it was a good middle ground. He brought a reed to his mouth and sucked on it, wetting it and putting a few reeds in his pocket. He placed it on the mouthpiece and finished putting his clarinet together. He stood and played a few warm up notes, checking the time. 7:35am. He could stand to stay inside for a little before he had to make his way to the stadium.

A flash of red caught his eye as Charlie Bradbury slung an arm around his shoulder, her flute under her other arm. "And how is my favorite queen today?"

Castiel yawned not expectantly, causing her to giggle, "That well, huh?"

"Better if we weren't about to do a week's workout in four hours." He grumbled, slipping out of her grasp to pick up his water pack. "Can you believe it's our junior year?"

The redhead sighed dramatically as they followed the rest of the band out of the band hall and into the slightly humid air. "Another year of this and then we're done for good!" She exclaimed, opening the gate to the football stadium.

Castiel chuckled, but stopped and grimaced in disgust as he took in the sight in front of him. "What are THEY doing here?"

Rolling, wrestling, sweating, and grunting in the football stadium was the New Haven Wolves football team. The band looked around at each other, not knowing what to do now that their field is taken. Castiel took his place in the front of the band, Charlie slightly behind him. Just like the red sea, Gabriel separated the band, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder, slightly squeezing it as a warning to not get involved.

The shorter man crossed to the sidelines, flagging down a player. Castiel eased himself closer to his brother, glaring at one of the apes that took their field. Gabriel was shaking his dirty gloved hand. "Hi there! How's the team lookin' this year?"

The teenager shrugged, "Pretty good."

Gabriel grinned, "Excellent! Well, there must be some sort of miscommunication between the groups, because the band is supposed to have the field today."

Castiel inched closer as the boy laughed, "Dude, I'm sorry, but we need the field way more than you do."

Gabriel's smile wavered a little, "We've had this field reserved all this week, I even have an email from the principal—."

"So you greasy apes need to get off our field," the clarinet player piped in, Gabriel gave him an exasperated look.

Castiel stood toe to toe with the player, wishing he were a little taller to at least be intimidating. He almost back away as the player glared back. Castiel took in the tan skin, freckles like sprinkles across his face, and the sweaty blond hairline, too early for it to be drenched. The player, number 49, took a step forward, smirking when Castiel gasped at closeness. "Whatcha gonna do about it, flute boy?"

It was Gabriel who got a couple of brass players to pull them apart, 49 finally backing away as Castiel pulled against the arms grabbing him by the shoulders. Gabriel wrenched his instrument from his hands, careful with the reed (he didn't need his pissy brother to have another reason to be pissy). The drum major told the player to remind his coach about the field situation tomorrow, or there would be issues. The player rolled his eyes, running back to the team. They had been watching the whole thing. Before Castiel turned away, he squinted his eyes at the jersey, Winchester.


So after a quick relocation to the band's practice field, an empty stadium parking lot with yard lines, the year's first day of band camp was underway. After a 15 minute break, Castiel was feeling woozy. He sucked down some water from his bag, thanking a god for section breakdowns so he wouldn't have to march. His vision was a little blurry around the edges, but he wrote it off as the sun glaring on his sunglasses.

His section was pretty good this year with Ruby bearing down on them as he supervised. One freshman, however, was struggling with everything. He looked on the verge of tears as Castiel took him to the side before Ruby could rip him a new one. He guided the boy the 5 yard line, tripping a little but catching himself.

Samandriel explained that he never got the cues in basics, so Castiel taught him from the top. The boy smiled as they went through the commands, finally understanding. He was asking Castiel how to step off backwards when he stopped, looking worriedly at the older boy's pale face. "Are you okay, Castiel? You don't look good…"

Castiel rolled his eyes, "Don't ask stupid questions, I'm find-fine!" he wiped his brow, surprised at the lack of sweat, "It's just hot is hall-all."

Samandriel didn't look relieved, instead he took a step toward his mentor, "Are you sure? Because you look sick."

Black spots covered Samandriel's face as Castiel blinked furiously to clear his vision. "Samandriel, go get Gabriel."

The next thing he remembered was the hot concrete scratching his face as he fell to the ground.


Author's Note: All I can say is that dehydration is a bitch. :)

Most of Castiel's hatred for football players came from me. High school football players are dicks.