This is looking like it'll be my last update before we deploy. I never got an invite to AO3, so I hope I'll be able to register when I get back...

Craptastic. I spent all of Wednesday completely hammered, recovered yesterday, and drove straight from San Francisco to San Diego today. That was a solid nine and a half hours of driving (that's not counting the twenty minutes I stopped to stretch my legs). Traffic was really bad once I hit Los Angeles and it stayed awful until I got to San Diego. I'm freaking exhausted. However, the friend I went to visit in SF is a fan of Supernatural and she was really interested in my fanfiction. I sent her the link to my page and I'm guessing she liked it because she shared it on her Facebook wall.

Blah. Sixty hours until I deploy. *bitter weeping*

Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke.

Backstage was a flurry of activity as various stagehands rushed around, setting up microphones and stands and amplifiers. In the confusion, it took Lu a moment to realize that Castiel's boyfriend Dean was backstage, his arm slung around the younger man's shoulders. If Dean was here, then his younger brother Sam was around somewhere as well. He was Gabriel's boyfriend, after all. Lu looked around, but didn't see Sam, although he didn't see Gabriel, either. He could deduce where they were and what they were doing fairly well.

Dean and Sam's last name was Winchester, but Lu referred to them in his head (and sometimes out loud, to Gabriel's never-ending amusement) as "the Sinchesters." They'd earned their collective nickname only partly because of how sinfully attractive both brothers were. Sam was the more classically handsome of the two, with his jaw-skimming, honey-blond hair and hazel eyes. He was eight inches taller than Gabriel's five-foot-eight (actually, five-foot-seven and three quarters, but Gabriel insisted on rounding up) and built like a tank, but he was incredibly sweet and self-sacrificing almost to a fault. Dean, on the other hand, was decidedly prettier, almost feminine-looking. His eyes were green and he kept his sandy-blond hair short, but his lips were full, there was a sprinkling of freckles across his nose, and he had an easy smile that could stop traffic. He was six-foot-one, exactly Lu's height, and slighter than his brother. Dean could be mean as fuck when he wanted to be, but he was generally a really nice guy and, before dating Castiel, had been known to have no shortage of interested parties, both male and female. Sam had his fair share of admirers before dating Gabriel (and they both still did) but, unlike Dean, seldom took advantage of that fact.

Lu and Raphael had just arrived and Crowley hadn't noticed them yet. He was too busy talking to Balthazar, who looked utterly relaxed. He had noticed Lu and Raphael's arrival. He glanced at Lu and gave him an infuriatingly gorgeous smirk. Lu was certain that this guy was perfectly aware of the tension he felt. Even more, though, was that he seemed determined only to exacerbate it. Lu could only hope that Raphael didn't notice it.

Fortunately, that was the moment Gabriel and Sam appeared wearing identical smug smiles. Balthazar must have said something to Crowley about it because their manager turned around. "Ah, hello, boys. So glad you could join us. It's not like we don't have a show in twenty minutes."

"Aw, chill out," Gabriel said. "We've been doing shows for months now. We got this." He pulled a sucker out of nowhere, unwrapped it, and stuck it in his mouth. Sam playfully dragged him toward the couch.

"And you would be correct. You've been doing shows for months. But you have a new singer now—" (one who seemed resolute in his attempt to stare a hole through Lu) "—who isn't used to this situation." Crowley went on, but Lu could barely hear him over the roaring in his ears. He looked away from Balthazar's blue-eyed gaze, still staring him down, and tried to focus on something else—Raphael heading to the sofa or Gabriel and Sam not paying attention to Crowley either or Castiel and Dean, the former of whom was hanging onto Crowley's every word and the latter of whom appeared to be about to fall asleep. But like a magnet, his gaze was continually being drawn back toward Balthazar.

This is so stupid. It wasn't like he was a fucking horny teenager or something. He had a fair amount of self-control. He just didn't like being teased, and Balthazar was definitely teasing him. The slightly-shorter man still had that confident smirk on his face, like he knew what Lu was thinking. He wanted to punch the fucking smirk right off his face.

Or kiss it off. Abruptly, he began to wonder what Balthazar's lips tasted like, how they would feel against his own. Unconsciously, he licked his lips. He hadn't even realized he did it until Balthazar's smirk became decidedly more amused and he licked his lips, too.

Jesus, how did no one else notice this? They were basically undressing each other with their eyes and no one had commented on it. Not even Gabriel, who was usually all over the opportunity to make fun of one of his bandmates, had said anything snarky. But Lu was also relieved at this fact. It was more than a little embarrassing to get unbelievably turned on by your new lead singer. He just hoped Balthazar would soon grow bored of frustrating him and leave him alone. He had absolutely zero interest in fucking any of his bandmates. (Well, any of his other bandmates. That thing with Gabriel had been a drunken mistake for both of them. He was actually surprised that things had stayed cool with them after that. He had a feeling that things wouldn't turn out so well if he fucked Balthazar, though.)

He snapped back to reality as his bandmates started moving around. Castiel and Dean stood up and Dean planted a soft kiss on his boyfriend's cheek. Gabriel practically jumped off the sofa and tugged Sam to his feet before hopping on his back. Sam laughed and managed to shrug him off fairly easily. Balthazar followed Michael's old habit and stripped off his V-neck in one fluid motion, exposing a lot more of his clear, pale skin than should be legally allowed. It was all Lu could do to not drool. He was just as slim as Michael had been, but despite the five or six tattoos along his arms and back, he looked less rough than their old singer and more elegant. He carried himself like a prince.

Raphael took one last drag on his cigarette before ashing out and following Castiel, Gabriel, and Balthazar to the stage to the sound of the crowd starting to roar. Lu swallowed hard, pointedly ignored the analytical look Crowley was finally giving him (really, it was about fucking time he noticed—it wasn't like he'd been subtle), and made his way to the stage.

Under the harsh lights, Balthazar looked even paler than he did backstage, but he was practically glowing. As Lu, Raphael, Castiel, and Gabriel took their places, Balthazar grabbed the microphone and started bantering like he'd been performing his whole life. "Evening, mates! Thanks for comin' out tonight! I'm Bizarre, the new singer, and it is an honor to be here this evening!" He quickly glanced at his new bandmates and, seeing that they were ready, yelled, "One, two, three, four!"

As they ripped into the first song (it was "Good to Be Gone" tonight), Balthazar began singing. Judging by the initial reaction, they'd definitely picked the right singer—he had an immediate connection with them and had an insane amount of energy. Lu could appreciate it even though it was frustrating to see him bound from one side of the stage to the other, shaking his ass and, in general, acting like a huge flirt. He could barely keep his eyes off him. It was pretty much the exact opposite problem he'd had with Michael, apart from the fact that Michael had been a raging douchebag and Lu didn't know Balthazar well enough to decide if he was a douchebag, too.

As the show wore on, Balthazar became aware of Lu's attention and shot him amused smirks every so often. Lu tore his gaze from him after the third smug look, praying his bandmates (and the audience) hadn't picked up on it. He was half pissed-off at himself and half pissed-off at Balthazar. He couldn't believe how hard it was to not look at him—he somehow managed to stare determinedly into the crowd, but he kept wanting to look back, especially when Balthazar slunk over to his edge of the stage. And that was why he was pissed at Balthazar—the blonde was practically flirting with him in front of everyone. He didn't know if it was out of genuine interest or just to press his buttons, but he was doing a very good job of annoying him. He couldn't figure out why Balthazar would want to irritate him—he'd been there for the fistfight he and Michael had had, so he must have known he was capable of physical violence when provoked.

Finally, mercifully, their half-hour set ended. The last chord had barely faded away before Lu was backstage again, guitar in hand, heading out to Raphael's truck. He didn't give a flying fuck if the drummer wouldn't be ready to go for an hour or so. He just had to be away from Balthazar. Unfortunately, the universe seemed to be against this plan because Crowley intercepted him—as well as the rest of the band—and gathered them back up. "Boys, I have some good news and some bad news. I spoke to Bobby—" here, he was referring to Bobby Singer, his boyfriend of twenty-two years and a producer at the label they were hoping to get signed with "—and he said they're sending out someone from Leviathan Records to take a look at you."

There was a stunned silence for a moment. Lu pulled himself together enough to ask, "Wait, when?" They'd been trying to get a record deal for ages, and he knew they'd probably only get one chance with Leviathan. Hopefully it was far enough in the future to allow them sufficient time to practice. They had to be on top when the rep came to watch them. And now they were really even more screwed than if Michael was still with them, because even though Balthazar fit with them fairly well, they weren't used to him yet. They needed to find their groove with him.

Crowley looked uncomfortable. "That's the bad news. They won't tell me until the night of the show. Even Bobby doesn't know when it'll be—and believe me, I tried to find out." His expression became more upbeat. "However, I have the utmost confidence in you. For your first show together, you did remarkably well. That being said, did any of you see any issues? I would certainly hate to see you have to break in another new singer. Or any other bandmate, for that matter."

This was Lu's chance. He could say something and get Balthazar out of the band. He could make any excuse he wanted. But at the same time, he couldn't. Balthazar had the talent, he had the energy, he had the style. He was pretty much exactly what the band needed from their frontman. Lu couldn't deprive his band of that just because his hormones went out of control around him. He could—he would—keep it in his pants for the sake of his band. He had more self-control than to let his baser instincts get the better of him. They needed this to go right, and Balthazar was the best thing for them. He shook his head along with his bandmates. Crowley appeared satisfied.

"Good. Well, then, I'll let you boys get back to whatever it is you were about to do. One last suggestion, though. Since we don't know when the Leviathan rep will be showing up to see you, I recommend you rehearse as much as possible. If you're not working, you're rehearsing. Even if you don't have everyone, it's still a good idea. There's always something you can improve on."

Fucking slave driver! Lu yelled in his head, but he understood the necessity of what Crowley was saying. They had to be on point for the rep. Still, he had a lot on his plate right now. This couldn't have come at a worse time. After all, he still hadn't found a new apartment yet. "Hey, I need to find a new place to live. I can't crash on Ray's couch forever, you know."

Crowley furrowed his brow in confusion. "I thought you were living with Eve. What happened with that?"

Oh. Oops. He'd forgotten to mention that to pretty much everyone but Raphael. "She dumped me last week. The night Mikey quit, actually. Oh, funny story about that—apparently, she was fucking him behind my back." He gave an exaggerated shrug. "No big deal."

Gabriel let out a low whistle. "Damn, girl! And then she kicked you out? What a bitch!"

"Yeah," Raphael said, and Lu knew immediately where this conversation was heading. "I'm pretty sure it's because she was squicked-out with the idea of him sleeping where she fucked Mikey."

Gabriel and Balthazar both snorted with laughter. Lu rolled his eyes and rubbed his temples. He was half-tempted to slug Raphael in the face. He'd already heard that comment three times in the past week, and it was getting old. But he wouldn't swing at him because Raphael was pretty much his best friend. He was also sleeping on the guy's sofa. Instead, he settled for turning right back around and heading to the sofa, where a cooler of beer was waiting for them.

Fishing out a can of beer, he realized that Dean and Sam were talking with a red-haired girl that Lu vaguely recognized. He couldn't place her, but his silent question was answered when Raphael, who had followed him, greeted her. "Hey! Anna Solomon, right? From the auditions last week?"

Anna nodded, smiling. "Yeah, that's me. Ray Burbank, right?"

Raphael grinned. "Yep. What are you doing back here? I hope you got to see the show from the front. I'm told it looks better from up there."

Lu rolled his eyes. He felt awkward just watching Raphael attempting to flirt. The drummer literally lacked the ability to be smooth or cool. He cracked open his beer, drained it in three huge gulps, and said, "Hey. Give me your keys. I'm gonna go put my bass and my amp in your truck."

Raphael wasn't even paying attention as he handed over his keys. Lu tossed the empty can in the trash, zipped his bass into its case, picked up his amplifier (a small Ibanez, not one of the monsters onstage. Those belonged to the venue), and headed toward the truck.

Further sexual tension! When I update next, there will be much more excitement. I promise.

Also, Lu and Gabriel had their fling before Gabe and Sam started dating. They just started dating like six months ago and Gabe and Lu had their drunken night together like a year ago. Something like that. And because I know you're all wondering, yes, further details of their tryst will come up in a later chapter. (And no, Sam is unaware of what happened.)