Chapter Seven: Excuse Your Sins

Castiel:

The last week had gone too fast. It was spent with his new friends, but mostly with Dean. They woke up early every morning, exercised and practiced and then practiced some more, just like he had told Dean the first day. When they were done for the day they did yoga (Castiel started to teach Dean more, and even though he would never admit it, Dean was starting to get into it more) and sometimes they would soak in the hot tub out back. They went out for dinner a few nights with some of the gang, Meg was always with them, and Jess started hanging around more too, bringing Kevin along like the lovesick puppy he was. Benny and Adam started to befriend the duo (mostly Dean, but Castiel didn't mind) and Alfie, Balthazar, and Hannah were always around Castiel, floating around him like they expected Castiel to lead them or something. Charlie befriended practically everyone she spoke to, drawing them in with her somehow adorable nerdy behavior. Soon their morning workouts were joined by the others. Castiel was worried this would clip their focus, but it didn't. It turned out everyone was as dedicated to this as Castiel himself was.

There were a few of the dancers Castiel didn't particularly care for. He took an instant disliking to Alistair, all the more enforced one night when Alistair had had to much too drink and Castiel found him lurking in a dark hallway of the mansion, cornering Kevin. Castiel intervened, dragging Kevin into his and Dean's room and making him stay there until he felt comfortable again. They watched Lord of the Rings and ate popcorn with Dean. Kevin begged Castiel never to tell another soul, and Castiel begrudgingly promised, but Castiel stayed far away from Alistair from that point on, and made sure that Kevin and Dean did too. He didn't really know why he felt the need to protect Dean against him, Dean could certainly take care of himself, but something just made him feel safer when Dean was far away from the beady eyed drunk.

Ruby he had given a chance, and she had blown that chance. The girl was cold, selfish, and ruthless. She, Lilith and Alistair didn't particularly get along, but they seemed to gravitate towards each other as if they belonged together. Castiel didn't hate her, per say, he just really didn't like her.

Lilith was the leader of the trio, she was the "queen bee of evil" as Dean had called her one night while he and Castiel had been talking. Castiel couldn't help but feeling like he was in mean girls and Lilith was Regina. Once again, Castiel couldn't find it in himself to hate her, but he didn't like her. Maybe he was too much of an angel. Dean seemed perfectly capable of hating anyone he set his mind too, and here Castiel was, literally meditating on the fact that he couldn't hate some of these despicable people. He did hate Alistair, but only because he had tried to harm Kevin.

Castiel also found that he didn't like Delta very much either. She was snooty and rude, she rolled her eyes constantly and the way she spoke made Castiel get an instant headache. Dean called her a witch, and Castiel couldn't help but think the term was appropriate for the obnoxious little girl. She was the second youngest in the competition, Kevin being the youngest. Then there was Eve. Eve was odd. She kept to herself except for a few occasions. She hardly ever said a word, and when she did it was charming, almost too charming, as if she had rehearsed her entire life. She was off. When she was around Castiel could almost feel a chill creeping into his bones. She stayed inside her room almost the entire week. One time Castiel was passing by in the hallway and her door opened. She crept out, her white nightgown stained with red. Castiel was shocked.

"Is that . . . blood?" He asked her, gesturing to her abdomen where a smallish red splatter lay. Eve cast him a chilling smile that actually terrified him.

"No of course not silly, I was painting." She said, her voice slimy sweet. Castiel just gulped and nodded and turned and walked away quickly.

The end of the week drew nearer, and the time seemed to pass quicker. The next day was the first day of the rest of the competition. Tomorrow they would draw their partners from a hat, draw a dance style, and start practicing. Then came the camera crews, the cheesy before-dance clips, the odd pictures of the entire group jumping and smiling fake smiles with gallons of makeup painted on their faces. Castiel was excited, if only for the dance aspect of it, and quaking-in-Dean's-boots nervous for the rest. The night before their big day, Castiel and Dean both sat up in their beds talking.

"I'm terrified." Castiel confided in Dean. Dean nodded like he understood, but how could he understand? Dean was obviously confident.

"I know you are. It's going to be okay though, we just have to remember to have fun with it." Dean told him, meeting his eyes. Castiel stared back into the emerald green.

"Dean . . . have you ever been scared a day in your life?" There was a momentary pause. Dean considered the question, looked down at the floor in between their beds.

"Sure I have Cas." He said, biting at his lower lip.

"When?" Castiel asked him, feeling like he was pushing some sort of boundary, if only slightly, but not really caring that he pushed it. This was Dean, somehow all of their boundaries just melted away. It was like they shared a more profound bond. Dean let out a breath he had been holding.

"When I came home and found Sammy nearly dead on the floor. There was . . . there was so much blood . . . I had never been so afraid before . . . or since." Dean's voice was actually slightly shaky. Castiel tilted his head to one side in question.

"Not even while you were in prison?" Castiel couldn't help but asking. Dean's mouth quirked up.

"Nah, especially not in prison. I ran that bitch." Castiel laughed and Dean joined in. Castiel always treasured the moments they laughed together, more specifically the moments Dean laughed. With all the stress they were starting to undergo, those moments seemed more and more fleeting.

"I wonder who we'll get paired up with." Castiel muttered, letting his mind wonder off.

"Probably each other, I mean shit could you imagine that? We'd be damn near unstoppable!" Dean shouted, throwing his arms up in the air dramatically. Castiel threw his pillow at him so hard it knocked Dean over, Dean shot him a bewildered look as Castiel burst into laughter again. Then the look in Dean's eyes changed from bewildered to vengeful. He bounded up on the bed, jumping across to Castiel's, lifting the pillow in his hands and swinging it down on Castiel so hard there was a loud "POP!"

"OW!" Castiel screamed out. In reality it hadn't hurt that bad. Castiel snatched up another pillow.

"Oh it's on now Winchester!" He said, standing on his bed and swatting Dean in the side of his face. Dean fell over on Castiel's bed, this tilting the mattress causing Castiel to lose his balance and fall on top of Dean. He was just able to catch himself before smacking his face into his friend's, his hands landing on Dean's chest, Dean's hands came up to catch him, resting on his hips. For a moment they just stared at each other, their faces not more than an inch away. They air between them seemed to grow hotter, Castiel became all too aware of every place Dean's body touched his. He felt like he should do something, say something, but he was completely at a loss as to what. He was lost all over again, lost in Dean's expression. In his misty green eyes, in the tiny freckles on his face that you could only see if you were close up, in his sincerity. Then Dean grinned.

"Geeze angel face, maybe you're not so innocent after all." He snickered. Castiel could feel himself blushing.

"Oh please! You're the one that jumped into my bed!" Castiel retorted. Dean responded by putting his hands back behind his head and giving Castiel a smug look.

"Uhuh. You keep makin' excuses for your sins. It's adorable, really." Castiel rolled his eyes and shoved himself off Dean, and then kicked at Dean's hip to force Dean to roll out of his bed and onto the floor, lost in a fit of "manly" giggles, as Dean called them.

They settled into bed as it was an early morning tomorrow. As Castiel fell asleep he couldn't help but think of the way it had felt to be so close to Dean earlier. It made him take a step back and rethink himself. He had never had time for romance, had never even stopped to consider if he was gay or straight or what have you. He thought about it now. Is that what this was? Or was it just a friendship? He thought of Dean in his cowboy boots and hip hop. This was just a friendship, even if Castiel felt that way about Dean (which he wasn't sure he did) Dean would never return the sentiment. Castiel went to sleep and dreamed that he was an angel and Dean was his ward, and he saved Dean time and time again. He woke up the next morning with a smile on his face, despite all the stress the day was sure to bring.

Dean

The next day they got dressed quietly, although Cas did have a sort of glow about him Dean had never noticed before. They loaded up into the van with the other dancers, and the van made its way over to the studio where they were going to draw their partners from a hat, and then their dance styles for that week. Dean noticed Cas was wringing his hands, looking over at the trio of evil nervously. Dean knew what he was thinking, and seconded the motion. He didn't mind getting paired up with anyone, shit, he'd even take Delta. But he didn't want to get paired up with Ruby or Lilith, and especially not Eve. He shot Cas a reassuring smile and leaned close to his ear and whispered,

"It's gonna be alright." Cas nodded and smiled nervously back. When they got there there were camera crews everywhere, Kat was off to the side, getting her already impeccable makeup touched up, and the dancers were herded in. They established a system. Five boys and five girls would pick names out of the hats. They were told Jo, Eve, Lilith, Charlie and Andrea would be picking for the girls. Cas, Balthazar, Kevin, Alfie, and Ed would pick for the boys. Eve went first. Dean watched as Cas's fists clenched. "Deep breaths." He reminded him when no one else could hear. Cas didn't look at him but nodded, eyes glued to Eve. She drew a name from the hat.

"Adam!" She called out excitedly. Adam and Eve. The poor kid looked horror struck. Dean saw the look on his face, like as he was stepping forward to greet his new dance partner he was stepping into hell.

"Big smile Adam!" Dean reminded him before the cameras could capture his poor face. Adam pasted on a smile and did the best he could to act thrilled. Next was Balthazar. He drew Jess. Kevin looked slightly dismayed at that, but Balthazar and Jess were a good pair, both slightly quirky but really nice, their heights also matched up perfectly, he would have no issues lifting her. They both looked happy at the match. Jo drew next.

"Dean!" She announced happily. Dean rushed forward and gathered her into his arms, lifting her in the air and twirling her around, they both laughed. Dean was extremely happy to have gotten Jo. He already knew her, had already formed a friendship with her. It wouldn't be acting to pretend they liked each other, because they genuinely did. Plus, he had already danced with her so he knew she was a great partner to have. Dean looked over at Cas who's color seemed to drain from him more and more, he was as pale as a ghost. Dean took Jo's hand and led her back over to stand beside his buddy. Alfie went next and picked Hannah. Lilith got Alistair (it was like they rigged it somehow, both had cat like grins on their evil faces). Kevin picked Delta, and he looked like he was okay with it, judging by the way he seemed to . . . appreciate her short skirt. And they did match up perfectly in age as well. Even though Kevin was a decent human being and Delta was . . . well, a witch. Cas was called up next. His hands were still being rung together and Dean nudged him forward and whispered,

"Relax!" One last time. He saw Cas visibly fight himself into lowering his hands, taking a deep breath, and stepping forward. He drew a piece of paper. Dean waited. A grin spread on his best friend's face.

"Meg!" Meg grinned and rushed forward and hugged him. Dean found himself smiling as well, and didn't notice until he saw Jo smiling up at him as if she knew something he didn't.

"What?" He asked her pointedly.

"Oh nothing." She responded in a sing-song tone. He rolled his eyes and decided to ignore her for the time being and focus on Cas. He and Meg walked back over to where they stood, Cas seemed much more at ease.

"See?" Dean asked him quietly. "What'd I tell ya? I knew you'd be fine." Cas normally would've swatted Dean for saying 'I told you so' but he was too happy, he just smiled up at Dean.

"Thank God." He said, putting an arm around Meg. Dean wondered for half a heart beat if there was anything romantic going on between the two of them, but pushed the thought aside. If there were, Cas would've told him. They were just friends, Dean was sure of it. The hat draw continued, Charlie picked Chuck, Ed picked Ruby (poor guy) and Andrea picked Benny. Then it was photo time, they were forced to pose with their new partners for some big cheesy photo, after that they picked their dance styles and got escorted to separate dance studios with separate camera crews and started practicing. They were told they would be doing theatrical for the group number, and would be practicing that all together later in the day. Dean and Jo picked first, so Dean didn't get to see what Cas got for his dance style. Dean let Jo grab the dance style out of the hat, and she held it up excitedly.

"Tango!" She told him. Tango. Dean had tangoed, of course, to get through to the top twenty, but it wasn't something he was necessarily comfortable with. He wished for his first week they had drawn hip hop so that would at least be one less thing to stress over, but at the same time he was excited to try new things. They entered the studio set aside just for them to find Demetri, a choreographer who had been a contestant years ago, who was famous for ripping his shirt off.

"Hello guys, welcome to the first week of the competition!" He greeted them, his words heavily accented. Dean shook his hand and thanked him, saying,

"Thanks I'm a big fan man." Demetri smiled and jumped right in.

"This dance, like so many others you will dance on the show, is a story. It is the story of a man who loves this woman, and the woman loves him back, but still refuses to be with him." Dean was instantly confused.

"If she loves him why would she refuse to be with him?" Dean asked, feeling silly when he realized he had raised his hand a bit.

"I'm glad you asked, it's because she values her self respect. He wants things from her she refuses to give him. This dance is about loving someone but choosing the importance of loving yourself more."

"Okay so . . . just so we're clear, you are talking about sex right?" Dean asked, hoping this wouldn't make it onto the reel before their dance. Demetri gave him an amused look.

"Among other things, it is the tango after all, it is going to be hot, sexy, and then sad when she rejects him at the end. Now lets get to work!"

Four hours later Dean was on the floor sweating and panting. Tango was hard work, and Demetri was a freakin' drill Sargent. He was relentless.

"Good, we'll pick it up again tomorrow. Meet here at five."

"In the afternoon?" Dean asked hopefully.

"In the morning." Demetri responded laughing. Jo laughed and sat down next to Dean where he lay on his stomach and patted him on the back.

"Good job today." He smiled up at her.

"Yeah you too. I'm glad we're partners, it's going to make this whole thing so much easier." Jo sighed dramatically.

"I suppose for you, I mean I will be carrying the both of us." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Dean responded in his best prank tone. He jumped up and lifted Jo up in his arms and ran around the studio with her, she was lost in a fit of giggles and shrieks of,

"DAMN IT DEAN PUT ME DOWN!" The door creaked open and Cas and Meg came in, smiling and sweaty. Dean placed Jo gently on the floor.

"Practicing your lifts, I see." Cas said, nodding towards Jo. Dean brushed his hands off on his pants.

"Well, I am a professional angel face, there is no such thing as a day off." Dean told him, closing his eyes and raising his eyebrows, placing his hands on his hips mockingly. Cas chuckled and Dean dropped his guise.

"What dance style did you two get anyway?"

"You'll never believe this."

"What?" Dean asked, getting slightly worried.

"Bollywood." Cas told him, smiling a little.

"Bollywood? On your first week? That's a friggen death trap! That's not fair!" Cas shrugged and Meg laughed.

"We're actually having quite a bit of fun with it. It's a fun style to learn, Meg is especially good." He said, glancing over at Meg happily.

"Well that's great then. I'm glad." Dean told him. They left the studio together to go into the large one where all the dancers practiced their group number together.

The days blurred in a flurry of photos, camera interviews, and dancing. The before dance video theme for this week was tell us about yourself in ten seconds. Dean had enjoyed filming it. His ended up something like

"Hi my name is Dean Winchester I am a hip hop dancer I love pie I can come up with a witty remark to almost anything I hate dogs I sometimes eat goober out of the jar and I have a 67 Chevy Impala that means the world to me-," Before time cut off. Dean had sounded silly, breathless, and rushed, like the other dancers but he laughed when he saw it played back. Cas and him hardly got any time together, they woke up super early, both too exhausted to speak, went to the studio to practice, went to group session, got food somewhere during the day, and then went back to the mansion and crashed. Sometimes when they got a moment they would sit together and talk about how it was going, funny stories that happened while trying to practice, and listen to Fall Out Boy some more.

The day before the first show, Cas looked like his typical nervous wreck and Dean must've spent half an hour trying to reassure him before they both settled on relaxing in the hot tub with some beers, just the two of them as the rest of the dancers were too tired and grouchy and nervous to do much socializing. As it was, Dean and Cas didn't say much. They were mostly silent as they watched the stars and sipped their beers. At one point Dean looked over to see Cas asleep, his beer sat on the ledge beside his head and his mouth hung open, his head drooped to one side and the rest of him was submerged in the bubbly water. Dean grinned and let him sleep for a bit before finally waking him up and ushering him upstairs. Tomorrow was the big day. Dean sighed, thinking that he had had enough of these "big days" to last him a lifetime.