AN: Well folks... Here we are! Don;t forget to review (:

Friday finally rolled around; Sam and Dean were sat at the kitchen table, furiously finishing as much of their homework as possible before they headed to Balthazar's party. Dean still hadn't met Lisa, but was told they would be introduced at the party. Sam had also arranged to meet Jessica there too, and got a lot of stick from Dean because of it. Bobby had expressed his concern about the boys going to the party - having heard the tales of Balthazar's infamous house parties - but let them go anyway - they wouldn't learn if they didn't make mistakes. Dean grinned and threw his pen down.

"Done! I'm going to get changed!"

Sam sighed, watching Dean scramble out of the kitchen, hearing his footsteps pound up the stairs. He softly hit his head on the table, forcing himself to concentrate before continuing with his work.

Upstairs, Dean had had a quick shower and was stood in front of his wardrobe for the second time that week, wondering what to wear. As he stared over his mass of band t-shirts, he wondered what Cas would wear - obviously a shirt, tie and waistcoat, but he wondered which ones, and whether he'd look casual or super-nerdy-smart. He was brought out of his thoughts by Sam punching him in the arm.

"Move! I've got to get something!"

Dean rolled his eyes and almost stepped in to the wardrobe so Sam could barge past. Whilst in there, he blindly grabbed a shirt and pulled it on.

"Hey, about time you came out of the closet!" Sam grinned. Dean went to punch him in the arm, but missed as his brother ducked out of the room, laughing. Grumbling to himself, Dean pulled his AC/DC shirt over his head and looked for a half-decent pair of jeans. After debating for a while, he grabbed his greying jeans with rips at the knees, and other small rips up them, swapping his AC/DC t-shirt for a tighter Metallica shirt and a black shirt over the top, grinning at his reflection in the mirror on the back of the wardrobe door. He stood practising his blue steel for a while, winking and smirking at his reflection until Sam cleared his throat in the doorway.

"If you and yourself want to be alone, just ask."

Dean laughed sarcastically and punched Sam in the arm; "shut up, and get ready! Come on!"

The eldest brother pushed his way past, through to the bathroom. He grabbed his deodorant, spraying himself furiously before grabbing his aftershave. He was technically going on a date tonight, but it was also a party, and he didn't want to try too hard. He eventually decided a small amount would be fine, and he styled his hair before going back to his room, barking orders at Sam.

Eventually, the two were in Dean's car, driving around aimlessly whilst Sam spoke with Gabriel on the phone, getting directions.

"It's the big one, with all the noise and people!" Gabriel laughed. Sam sighed.

"Big house? What, in this neighbourhood of big houses? Gee, thanks Gabe!"

"Right, where are you?"

Sam looked at Dean; "where are we?"

Dean shrugged; "I'm fucked if I know!"

"Describe your surroundings!"

Sam sighed and looked at Dean again; "describe our surroundings."

"We're in a fucking car!"

Dean could hear Gabriel laugh down the phone before Sam put it back to his ear.

"Pull over at the next junction, then ring me, tell me what street you're on."

Sam nodded and hung up, dropping the phone on to his lap; "pull over at the next junction."

Dean sighed and hit his forehead on the steering wheel; "this is going fucking well!"

"How're we getting back? You're not drinking are you?"

"Nah, I want to remember this party, don't you go getting drunk though!"

"Yeah, because I want to kill my brain-cells!"

"Good boy!"

Sam rolled his eyes and contemplated putting his feet up on the dashboard just to annoy Dean, but deciding it wouldn't be worth the ear-ache he'd get as a result. When they reached the end of the road, Dean pulled over and grabbed his phone from Sam's lap. He pulled up Gabriel's number and let the phone ring.

"DEAN-O!"

Dean almost dropped the phone, juggling it between his hands before gingerly holding it back up to his ear; "thank you, Gabe. We're on Meadow Lane."

"Ooh, are you next to some huge house with a tree-house in the tree?"

Dean looked out of his window, noticing a huge oak tree in the garden of the house they were outside, and what looked more like a tree-castle than a tree-house sitting on the branches; "...Yes."

"Stay there!"

The phone clicked off, leaving Dean with a dial tone. He sceptically put it down on his lap and looked over at Sam.

"What?" Sam asked, stretching his arms out in front of him.

"No idea... I think Gabriel's coming to meet us..."

The two waited for a few moments when they saw Gabriel jogging around the corner, a large grin on his face. He jumped in to the back seat and hung over the front seats.

"Afternoon boys, come on then, Dean, let's go! Turn right!"

Dean paused and turned to look at Gabriel; "you just ran here, to get a lift back to your own house?"

Gabriel laughed; "two things. Firstly, I'm directing you to my house! It's easier if I'm actually here to shout at you, shouting down the phone doesn't have the same effect. And secondly, I want to pull up to my house in the sweetest ride! Kids will be super jealous!"

Dean grinned; "that, I understand!"

"Good, now vamoose! Right!"

It only took them a few minutes to get to the Novak house, people were already turning up, and music was blaring throughout the house and garden.

"Pull in here, you can park in the garage, no way is this beauty getting a scratch on her," Gabriel grinned, pointing through the window. Dean parked the Impala in the large garage, and followed Dean up to the house, ignoring some of the glares he was getting.

"So, is Cas here? Or is he hiding out?"

"He's in his room at the moment, just chilling until things get too much for him and he has to go over to the other house to chill."

The three of them walked in to the house, greeting some of the people already there.

"Dean! Sam! You're here! Good to see you! Come on in!" Balthazar shouted, gathering the brothers in his arms; "come on, grand tour of the house..."

Balthazar and Gabriel led them around the house, pointing out areas of interest - the kitchen, the indoor pool, the rumpus room - before taking them upstairs.

"Bathrooms are down the hall, or up the hall, there's an en-suite in most bedrooms, and finally... Cassie's room!"

Balthazar banged on the door with a fist. Dean could hear some shuffling behind the door, before it eventually opened slightly, Castiel peering through the crack.

"Yes?"

"Castiel, little brother, come and join the party! People are dying to see you!"

Balthazar stepped aside, revealing Dean stood behind him, his hands shoved in his jeans pockets. Castiel opened the door a little more and smiled meekly.

"Hello."

Dean looked Castiel over, smirking; he was wearing a black shirt and trousers, a white tie and a black waistcoat; "Cas, hi! ...You got a black trilby?"

Castiel eyed him suspiciously; "why?"

"You look like a mobster!"

Gabriel and Balthazar laughed and nodded.

"I've got one! Hold on!" Gabriel shrieked, running up the hallway, making a sharp right through a door.

"I'm going to look for Jess," Sam mumbled, slipping away from the group. Dean nodded, not taking his eyes off Castiel, in return, Castiel hadn't taken his eyes from Dean since he'd noticed him. Balthazar smirked at the two, feeling smug but awkward at the same time.

"Got it!" Gabriel shouted, jogging back over brandishing a black hat. He forced it on to Castiel's head and snatched the black shades hanging from Balthazar's shirt, forcing them on to Cas' face. Dean and Balthazar began laughing.

"Cas, you look awesome!" Dean grinned. Castiel managed a slight smile.

"You think?"

"I have to agree with your boy-toy, Cassie, you actually look pretty snazzy!" Balthazar grinned, draping his arm over Castiel's shoulders. Dean and Cas smirked at each other until they were interrupted. Anna bounced over, dragging a tall brunette behind her.

"Hello boys! Dean, I'd like you to finally meet Lisa, Lisa, this is Dean!"

The brunette smirked and slipped over to Dean, linking her arms through his; "wow, Dean, Anna wasn't lying when she said you were gorgeous! And so muscular too! We're going to have a blast tonight! Come one!"

She began dragging him away, not giving him the chance to say bye to anyone. Castiel sighed, watching Dean disappear down the stairs, slipping the shades from his nose. He went to slip back in to his room, but Balthazar's grip around his shoulders was too tight.

"Don't sulk away in your room, just because Dean's on the arm of the easiest girl in town, he'll realise soon enough."

Castiel looked up; "what? I don't follow."

Balthazar laughed and took his glasses back; "come on, Cassie, it's obvious!"

"What is?"

Balthazar went to reply but paused, before grinning; "...Nothing, you'll figure it out. Either way, come on."

The eldest Novak led his younger brother down the stairs to join the party, greeting everyone who came up to them. Castiel stood awkwardly silent, only talking to people he definitely knew from classes. As they wandered around, Cas spotted Dean leaning against the back of a sofa, Lisa stood in between his legs, draping herself over him, people stood around him talking. He didn't realise he was scowling until Balthazar pinched his cheek.

"Cheer up, Cas. Come on, let's grab a drink!"

Dean, meanwhile, wasn't feeling too comfortable with Lisa draped over him. He'd had girls come on to him before, but Lisa was much too obvious. She pressed herself against him as much as she could, groped him and tried to kiss him several times. Each time he moved his face she only got his cheek, not wanting to get too caught up so early on in the party. Instead, he talked to the people around him and observed what was going on, looking out for people he knew. He spotted Sam with Jessica and a few of her friends over by the French windows, Sam getting pretty close to Jess. Dean grinned, somewhat proud of his brother for being able to potentially pull someone as good looking as Jess, especially being the massive nerd he was.

Taking another glance around, he saw Gabriel goofing off with some people he didn't really recognise, not looking like they were up to any good - not that there was much he could do. He couldn't mess up the house, it was his, and the drinks were already alcoholic, so he couldn't spike them. However, he looked like he was planning something a little more sinister than simple high-school shenanigans. Gabriel noticed him and grinned, waving madly, motioning for him to go over. Dean glanced down at Lisa.

"I'm going to speak to-"

"-Great! I'll come with!"

Frowning slightly, Dean shrugged and pushed Lisa over to where Gabriel was stood.

"Dean! Lisa, how's the party?"

Lisa smirked; "it's pretty good, obviously, Gabriel. Your brother does throw the best parties!"

"He's my cousin, but yeah, he does! Dean, I need your help with something!"

"Umm-"

"-But we're together!" Lisa protested, folding her arms across her chest. Gabriel raised his hands in defence.

"I get that, it won't take long, I promise!"

Lisa sighed and leant up on her tip-toes, pressing a kiss to Dean's lips, lingering until Gabriel literally dragged him away.

"Sorry about her, man, should have warned you first, huh?"

Dean smirked and followed Gabriel outside on to the patio; "so what was that, some kind of intervention?"

Gabriel laughed and elbowed Dean gently; "dude, she was stuck to you stronger than a limpet! The only people she'd leave you for is us! Especially Balthazar, but I'll do..."

"Why Balthazar, what's he got that I don't?"

Gabriel laughed harder and motioned for Dean to sit on a bench; "well firstly, he's the most famous of us! You know that! Schmuck! And secondly, they have a bit of a history... She'd do anything to get in his pants. Again."

Dean smirked; "wow, who hasn't she had?"

"Seriously? I think just Cas!"

Dean's eyes widened; "...What? Seriously?"

Gabriel grinned; "sorry, I thought Cas told you she was, well, a bit of a, a slag..."

"He did, but I had no idea!"

"Well, here's to becoming just another statistic!" Gabriel smirked, holding up his drink. Dean rolled his eyes and 'clinked' his drink with Gabriel's before taking a sip. Whilst Gabe was silent, Dean took the opportunity to look around the garden. It had started getting dark, so the garden was illuminated with a large amount of gaudy, colourful lights. The music was just as loud outside as it was inside, and people were already a little tipsy, dancing around on the grass.

"So, have you spoken to Michael yet?" Dean asked, still glancing around. Gabriel smirked.

"Nah, I keep forgetting, but, I've got just as good an idea for later! It might be a bit cruel, but, it'll be so worth it! Tell me, is Sam a blusher?"

Dean smirked too; "he is, bright red he goes... Why? What are you going to do?"

"Oh, it's a surprise! For everyone!"

"All right then... Is that Cas?"

Gabriel looked to where Dean was pointing; down at the very bottom of the garden, there was a gazebo, barely lit at all; all the boys could see was the outline of a hunched figure and a strip of white. Gabriel smirked.

"I have a feeling it is... What an emo!"

Dean smiled; "poor guy."

"Nah... Hold on..."

Gabriel fumbled in his pockets, pulling out his phone and flipping it open. A few seconds later he had it up to his ear; Dean kept at eye on the figure at the bottom of the garden, as he expected they pulled their phone out and held it up to their face.

"Cas! Stop sulking at the bottom of the garden!
"Your boyfriend's with me, look up at the patio!"

Gabriel turned to Dean, covering the mouthpiece of his phone; "wave."

Dean eyed him suspiciously but waved down at Castiel; "you know, I'm feeling a little uncomfortable with you all referring to me like that."

Gabriel shrugged and put the phone back up to his face; "come on up! I rescued him all myself!
"Nah, I don't think she'll come looking for him for a while...
"Good! Now!"

Gabriel hung up and grinned at Dean; "and here he comes!"

A few moments later, Castiel slunk up the steps to the patio, greeting Dean with a meek smile. He still had Gabriel's hat on his head, but had lost the glasses, Dean still thought he looked pretty cool.

"I don't think Balthazar would be happy to find you sulking down in the garden," Dean smiled, casually sidling up besides Cas. Castiel instinctively moved closer, wrapping his arms around his waist defensively.

"I'm sure he'll cope without me. He has plenty of friends."

"Sorry I kind of, bolted. Lisa wanted my undivided attention."

"I understand, she's dated enough of my family members for me to understand what she's like."

"Ever think she's working her way up to you?" Gabriel grinned, punching Castiel in the arm softly. Castiel's face fell.

"I certainly hope not!"

Dean chuckled and slung his arm over Castiel's shoulders; "how would you get out of it, if she ever did come on to you?"

The younger boy frowned; "I don't know... Just, tell her?"

"...What do you suppose I do?"

Cas looked up at Dean; "what do you mean? You don't know...?"

Dean shook his head; "don't get me wrong, I like easy, but man..."

A smirk spread across Castiel's face; "...I told you so."

Dean laughed, harder than he had in a long while, holding on to Cas for support, Gabriel began laughing at the sight of Dean doubled over, Castiel stood smiling to himself at the effect his words had had on Dean. It took a while for Dean to stop laughing, holding on to Castiel's shoulders with both hands.

"Castiel, fucking, thank you!"

Castiel smiled and shrugged; "you're welcome? I think."

Dean grinned, staring in to his eyes, before being dragged away. Spinning round, he was face to face with Lisa, pouting.

"Dean, you disappeared!"

Dean quickly glanced round at his friends before shrugging; "sorry, got caught up chatting to Cas," he answered, thumbing towards Castiel, looking at his feet awkwardly. Gabriel grinned and slipped over.

"Blame me, Lis. I needed his help getting Castiel to join in the party, you know..."

Lisa smiled and draped her arms loosely over Dean's shoulders; "it's fine, but come on, we should go inside and dance..."

She winked and took Dean's hand, leading him back in to the house. Dean looked at Gabriel and Castiel urgently, wanting them to help; Gabriel just grinned and Castiel was busy avoiding his eye.

Several hours passed, Dean couldn't get out of Lisa's vice-like grip no matter how hard he tried. He was forced to dance/hump on the dance-floor, drinks were forced down his throat despite his protests about him being designated driver, he wasn't even allowed to use the bathroom. As he was carted around the house, he caught a glimpse of something that could potentially set him free. Remembering what Gabriel had said, he grabbed Lisa's wrist and pulled her over to Balthazar.

"What are you doing? I was going to introduce you to Pam!" she hissed, stopping abruptly when she saw Balthazar smirking down at her.

"Dean, Lisa, lovely to see you, how are things?"

Dean smirked; "we're good."

Lisa snatched her hand from Dean's and began twirling her hair around her finger; "hey Balth."

Dean took a step backwards and pulled his phone from his jeans pocket, sending a quick text to Castiel. Lisa began flirting shamelessly with Balthazar, Balthazar flirted back, flirting obviously being a part of his personality.

"I'm going to use the bathroom, you couldn't look after Lisa for me, could you?" Dean asked, more suggestively than necessary. Lisa giggled at the eldest Novak, shuffling closer. Blathazar caught on and nodded.

"Sure, Dean, I'll look after her."

On cue, Dean's phone vibrated in his pocket. He marched off before pulling his phone out.

"On the roof, stairs to attic at the end of the 3rd floor hallway."

Dean grinned and jogged up two flights of stairs, down a corridor to another narrower flight of stairs, appearing in the attic of the Novak mansion. It was pitch black, but there was a large bay window on the far side of the room, which let light from the garden pour through, aside from the small silhouette of Castiel sat watching the party. Dean strode across the wooden floor and climbed out of the window, finding it a little difficult, being quite bulky. Castiel heard Dean struggle and turned to look at him, smiling.

"You don't have to entertain me, Dean, I do this every party."

Dean smiled back and sat down next to Castiel, making sure he felt safe; "well, you've never had a friend before. Bros before hoes."

Castiel chuckled and looked back down to the garden; "how'd you get rid of her?"

"Your brother kindly donated himself. So..."

"Are you not enjoying Lisa's company then?"

Dean shrugged; "I prefer yours... You don't push yourself against me and force drinks down my throat."

"I thought you were driving."

"Yeah... I don't think I'll be able to. Man, Sammy's going to be pissed, unless he pulls! Then I'll be pissed, I don't fancy the walk home on my own."

Castiel frowned; "you can stay if you like, we have plenty of space for you."

"Ah, no, I couldn't-"

"-Please, Dean. Stay?"

Dean smiled; "fine... I guess that means I can drink then, though I shouldn't, I'm already a little tipsy if I'm honest. Mixing drinks isn't a good idea."

"Do you want to get drunk?"

"Not really... You drink?"

Castiel shook his head and began playing with his fingers; "no. One time, Gabriel spiked all my drinks with vodka, I got horribly drunk without realising, I swore it'd never happen again."

Dean grinned; "what happened?"

"Apart from making a complete fool of myself? I passed out in a pool of my own vomit down in the garden. I woke up to Gabriel throwing a bucket of water over me, singing loudly. He got in a lot of trouble though, so..."

"Well, you can drink and not get drunk, just, loosen up."

"No thank you, I like being of sound mind."

"Fair enough... Well, I'm going to get a drink of something non-alcoholic, coming?"

Castiel shrugged and followed Dean back inside, down to the kitchen. On their way they passed Lisa clinging to Balthazar's side, laughing at all of his non-funny jokes. Balthazar spotted them and winked, draping his arm over Lisa's shoulders. Castiel and Dean grabbed a can of coke each from the fridge, before wandering back upstairs. Castiel led Dean to his room, pushing his door open, waiting for Dean to walk in. He'd only just made it past the threshold before stopping abruptly, taking in his new surroundings. Castiel's room wasn't as big as he expected it to be; the walls were painted a light shade of blue, almost the same shade of his eyes. The furniture looked fancy, all hand-carved beech, everything looking completely, "Cas". Shelves of books, no TV or stereo, just a fancy computer on the desk. It looked more like an office with a bed in it than an actual bedroom.

He finally took another step forward so Castiel could move in to his room too, shutting the door behind him. He smiled meekly and pulled his desk chair out, motioning for Dean to sit whilst he sat on his bed.

"Are you sure this is a bedroom?"

Castiel smiled and found something to put his drink on so he wouldn't leave water-rings on his furniture; "I know it doesn't look very, lived in - nothing like Gabriel's, for sure! But... I like it this way. I work more than I sleep."

Dean grinned and finally sat down; "dude, that needs to stop! Chill out."

"Well, I had no reason to not work, no social life, or..."

Castiel held out something for Dean to rest his drink on; Dean smiled meekly and went to take it, the two of them lingering, staring at each other, until Cas could feel his cheeks burn. He let go of his make-shift coaster and looked down at his lap, feeling Dean's eyes still on him.

"We should work on that, I think you need to get out, even if it's just to some coffee shop or something."

Castiel smiled, still looking at his lap; "a change of scenery would be nice... I could still do my work?"

Dean grinned; "if that's what you want to do, sure."

"Thanks," Cas looked up; "I was always too self-conscious to go out in public by myself to do work, unless it was to the library... No one would come with me."

"I will, you might persuade me in to doing my own homework... Hey, want to show me your tie collection?"

Castiel smiled; "what? You want to see my ties?"

"Yeah, I've heard about this filing system you have for them..."

"Well, when you have as many as I do..."

Cas pushed himself up and walked over to one of the doors of his large wardrobe, pulling it open. In front of him was the largest amount of ties Dean had ever seen, all in colour order. He got up and stood besides Castiel, their arms pressed together.

"Wow... How many do you need? I think I have one!"

Cas chuckled; "I have way too many, some I don't ever wear, some were bought for me just because... This row are ones I don't wear, the majority were Christmas and birthday gifts from Gabriel, look..."

He reached forward and pulled out a handful of ties; some were childish with pictures of caterpillars and butterflies on, some were inappropriate with sexual messages or images, and some just didn't seem to be Castiel's 'style'. Dean picked one out and grinned.

"Cas, this is awesome! You don't like the Justice League?"

"I'm not a big comic book fan, plus, what am I going to wear that tie with?"

"I'm sure you could pull it off! ...Do you wear braces?"

Castiel smiled meekly; "sometimes, I have a few..."

"Like you have a few ties?"

"No, I only have about, ten pairs of braces?"

He took back the tie from Dean and put the ones he'd taken out back in their place. Dean grinned at Castiel's OCD and went to sit back down, taking another glance around the room.