I've noticed that several of my tales include a bit of grooving so I decided to do something completely different when this song showed up by setting it in dreadelion's high school AU – which you can track on tumblr in the 'that one spn high school au' tag – instead. I'd recommend perhaps looking through the tag a bit so that you understand what the characters are like in the AU, particularly Gabriel in his funky outfit. Um, so yeah... enjoy I guess!
I'm Happy Just To Dance With You - The Beatles
If somebody tries to take my place
Let's pretend we just can't see his face
In this world there's nothing I would rather do
'cause I'm happy just to dance with you
Gabriel was fuming – although he had noticed that over the past few months this was no new thing. He tried to love his brothers, he really did, but more often than not they'd just burn him up and treat him like trash. Of course with Castiel it was a whole other story, but Lucifer, Michael and Raphael? They could go to hell for all Gabriel cared.
Tonight was supposed to be the night of his life and after spending 5 minutes in a room with three of his brothers it was ruined. He stomped back up the stairs, ignoring the eye-roll he received from his younger sister Anna as he held back tears and slammed the door to his bedroom.
"Was that Gabriel?" Castiel asked, sticking his head out of his bedroom door and looking down the stairs at Anna.
"What do you think?" Anna snapped, continuing down the stairs. Castiel frowned. His siblings were often impatient when it came to Gabriel. They didn't seem to understand that whilst Gabriel's tantrums often came across as whinging and melodrama, he really did get down easily and simply felt things extremely intensely when compared to others, often giving the illusion that his mood swings like hell. But Castiel had always possessed a deeper understanding of his older brother and would often find himself comforting his sibling – not even necessarily through words, but just by being there for him.
"Gabriel?" he called out hesitantly, pushing open his brother's bedroom door whilst making sure that his shoes were off. Gabriel insisted that only socks and bare feet should be allowed in his room, but really Castiel reckoned it was just another way to keep the others out of his personal space.
"What do you want?" Gabriel snapped, his voice muffled and thick.
"You know that we're leaving in 15 minutes, right?" Castiel asked, deciding not to face the issue head-on.
"I don't think I want to go," Gabriel mumbled. He was sat on the corner of his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest with his head resting on them, eyes red and puffy as he looked sorrowfully at his brother.
"Gabriel, what happened?" Cas asked in a small voice, moving into the room to sit on the edge of Gabriel's bed.
"I just don't want to go," Gabriel said stubbornly.
"What did they say to you?" Gabriel looked up at his brother. He had a habit of always knowing what had upset Gabriel, and he was no less wrong this time.
"They were just saying stuff about my outfit," Gabriel muttered, shifting his position so that he was cross legged and staring into his own lap. It wasn't anything new, Michael, Lucifer and Raphael making fun of Gabriel's rather eccentric fashion choices, but on the night of the senior dance it was more than their usual lack of tact. "They said I was letting Dad down," Gabriel continued, his voice shaking slightly, "with my apparent 'gender issues'." He said the last part in a mimicking voice that sounded suspiciously like Raphael. Castiel's frown deepened.
"Why do you listen to them?" he asked simply. "They're no more right today than they are on most days when they criticise the way you look, so why pay them any more attention?" Gabriel opened and closed his mouth several times.
"I worked hard on this look," he said finally, picking at his vibrant green harem pants. He was wearing a matching green tailcoat along with a burgundy waistcoat, a white shirt and a black bowtie and whilst the look wouldn't work at all for most, something about the fact that it was Gabriel wearing it made it work.
"And you look perfect," Castiel said firmly, "just as you do in every skirt, dress, tie dye shirt, pair of legwarmers and pair of harem pants." Gabriel chuckled weakly, bringing up a hand to wipe the moisture off his face. "The nail polish was a nice touch," he added, extending a hand out to Gabriel so that he could have a better look. Gabriel placed his hand in his brother's, ducking his head slightly as Cas smiled at the vibrant pink that coated Gabriel's nailed. "Perfect," he murmured again.
"Thanks," Gabriel whispered, still obviously slightly hesitant about going to the dance.
"I'm certain Sam will think you look perfect too," Cas coaxed gently. If there was any way to get Gabriel to believe something, it would be to get it to come out of Sam's mouth. At these words, Gabriel perked up considerably, shuffling off the bed and picking up his burgundy shoes from the floor.
"You look gorgeous too for the record," Gabriel smiled, slowly coming back to his usual self. He wasn't lying. Cas had gone for the more traditional dusty silver suit with a blue waistcoat, making his devastating eyes stick out and glitter more than usual. He smiled and mumbled some thanks before following his eccentric brother out the front door.
"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?" Michael asked Castiel sternly as he and Gabriel stood by the front door.
"That's quite alright," Castiel said quite sharply, glaring at Michael with a piercing gaze.
"I wouldn't want to be seen dead with a fag in the car," Lucifer said absently, causing Raphael to laugh and Gabriel to shrink into himself slightly.
"It is true that your reputation may be... tainted should you continue to associate yourself with Gabriel in such a way." Michael said, unable to stop the smirk from creeping onto his face. Apparently this is what did it for Cas.
"I will associate myself with whoever I please," he said in a cold, sharp voice, "And for the record I would choose Gabriel over all of you put together any day of the week." He wheeled around, grabbed Gabriel by the wrist and pulled his brother out of the house – but not before Gabriel could stick his tongue out at Michael.
"Thank you," Gabriel said, grinning uncontrollably.
"It actually felt quite pleasurable," Castiel said mildly, looking quite impressed with himself as he climbed into the passenger seat of Gabriel's vibrant vintage Beetle. They had arranged to meet their respective dates outside of the school building so that they could enter together in Dean's precious Chevrolet Impala, an argument that had lasted about 2 minutes before it was agreed.
"You look fine," Gabriel said as he caught Cas nervously brushing the arm of his suit out of the corner of his eye. Castiel nodded, still slightly nervous, and the rest of the drive was spent in silence. Gabriel finally pulled up on the street adjacent to the school when he spotted the Impala, two dark figures standing next to it in the evening shadow. The two brothers leapt out of the car, slamming the doors at the same time before rushing forwards to greet their respective boyfriends.
Gabriel stopped dead in his tracks as he took in what Sam was wearing. It was essentially the reverse of his own outfit: burgundy jacket and trousers with a vibrant green waistcoat, white shirt and black bowtie only with the slight addition of that grin Sam sometimes wore that made Gabriel's insides go a bit gooey.
"Hey," Sam said, not even blinking at Gabriel's bizarre apparel. "Cas and Dean are matching, so I thought we should too." Sure enough, Dean was kitted out in a blue suit with a silver waistcoat just as Cas was with his silver suit and blue waistcoat. Gabriel smiled uncontrollably, suddenly rushing forwards to throw himself at Sam, yanking him into a tight embrace before leaning up to kiss his jaw line repeatedly as this was as high as Gabriel could reach without Sam himself bending down considerably.
"Hey, save it for later," Dean barked, but he was grinning at the couple as he stood holding hands with Castiel. "Are we ready?" he asked around and everyone nodded. "Let's do this!" The four clambered into the Impala, ready to pull through the school gates to make a grand entrance as was the custom.
Of course most people arrived in ghastly pink limousines and flashy expensive soft tops, but Sam, Dean, Cas and Gabriel had all quickly agreed that they wanted something a bit more personal – something that actually meant something to them. And the Impala filled that criteria perfectly.
"You look simply stunning," Sam murmured, kissing the top of Gabriel's head as the couple cuddled in the back seat.
"You think so?" Gabriel asked hesitantly. Sam nodded instantly.
"Anyone there tonight who doesn't want to dance with you is simply mad." He breathed.
"I'm happy just to dance with you," Gabriel said, nuzzling into Sam's chest.
As it happened, the evening was a raging success with Gabriel and Castiel's next door neighbour Crowley turning up in a kilt being just one of the many highlights of the evening. Gabriel himself was true to his word and only danced with Sam (apart from brief interludes of group dancing which Dean and Castiel joined in on), pretending not to see anyone who tried to take his place.
The two couples drove back in silence, Cas falling asleep in the passenger seat on the way home and Dean using his own jacket as a blanket for his boyfriend whilst Gabriel rested his head on Sam's lap in the back seat, completely content with the way he looked.
