Castiel entered the bar slowly behind Gabriel reluctant to be anywhere but the safety of Gabriel's couch. He looked around wearily and took in the sight of the bar. It seemed friendly enough. There was a stage down the far end of the bar where a few men were setting up guitars and microphones obviously there was going to be a show later Castiel thought to himself. There were several tables scattered throughout the space with a sizeable area up the front of the stage cleared for people to admire the band up close and to dance if they played that kind of music Castiel guessed. Along the back end of the bar, as far away from the stage as you could get, were a few booths. Castiel headed in that direction as he wanted to be as far away from people as he could get. Castiel looked over his shoulder to see if Gabriel was following but failed to see him. He stopped and turned eyeing around the bar for his brother. He finally spied him stood by the bar talking to a petit blonde woman. Typical, Castiel goes out for dinner with his brother who only ditches him to talk to some woman. Perfect.

Castiel turned on his heel and headed over to the booth. He was out now, may as well eat something plus his ride home was now perched at the bar trying to flirt his way into some woman's pants. He sat down on the cushion and slid into the back of the booth so he could look out and see his brother who was still flirting with the blonde woman and the other patrons in the bar. Castiel scowled and picked up the menu from the table to choose what to eat. He eyed the menu for a good five minutes before he heard footsteps approach his booth. He looked up to see Gabriel walking back with slumped shoulders. Castiel smirked as he spoke "Struck out did we?"

Gabriel scowled at him before he replied "She'll come around. You just wait"

Castiel shook his head at his brother's persistence. He put the menu down and slid it over to Gabriel who picked it up and glanced over the menu. Castiel took the opportunity to have another look around the bar. There weren't that many people in but he guessed it was still early. He looked down at his watch and saw it was only 6.30. He took another glance over at the stage and wondered what time the band would perform and what type of music genre they were. It didn't seem to Castiel to be the type of place that played dance music. Country maybe? Rock? Castiel shook his head at his thoughts. Not like he cared anyway. He just wanted to eat and then leave.

Castiel let out a heavy sigh earning a look from his brother. "What?" Castiel asked when his brother wouldn't quit giving him the 'are-you-kidding-me-right-now' look as if he could tell exactly what Castiel was thinking.

"Nothing bro, let's just enjoy the meal" Gabriel said before he looked back down at the menu.

The same blonde woman walked over to the booth as Gabriel put the menu down. She greeted them with a genuine grin "What can I get you guys?"

Castiel glanced at the blonde and looked at her name tag 'Jo'. "Uh I'll take a beer and the cheeseburger with bacon" Castiel said with a forced smile

"Sure. Any request on beer or just what's on tap?" Jo replied as she looked Castiel up and down taking him in. Castiel wasn't an idiot, he knew he was attractive, he'd been told it quite a lot and Jo was a beautiful woman. But he was gay, always had been and always would be.

"What's on tap will be fine" Castiel answered. He didn't really bother with beer types, most of it tasted the same anyway and if he was being honest, he just wanted to drown his sorrows. It didn't matter on the beer type.

"And what about you short-stuff?" Jo asked as she turned to Gabriel

Castiel snickered at the nickname which earned a punch in the arm. "I'll take the same and also can we get 4 shots of tequila. My brother here has had a hard week"

"Sure" Jo replied "Is that all?"

"For now" Gabriel replied with a wink

Castiel scoffed at Gabriel's flirtation as Jo walked off.

"Alright bro here's what's going to happen," Gabriel started as he turned to Castiel and grabbed his shoulder "We're going to get you a few drinks in you so that stick up your ass is a little bit looser and then we are going to find you a nice guy to go home with so that stick is replaced by something better if you know what I mean" Gabriel said with a wiggle of his eyebrows

Castiel scowled at his brother "Gabriel, I do not need to get with random people as you do. I would rather be alone right now and sort my life out first"

"Sort your life out? Come on Cassie, you got to start living. When was the last time you got laid?"

Castiel blushed and looked down at his hands in his lap too embarrassed by how long it had been. He just hadn't had the time. He was always at work and if he wasn't at work he was too tired to cook himself a meal let alone go out and pick someone up. Castiel wasn't the picking up random people kind of guy anyway. He liked sex with someone to be meaningful, to actually have a connection with someone on an emotional basis before being intimate. Call him old-fashioned but sex meant something to him. "Eight months" he mumbled under his breath.

"Wait, can you say that again? It sounded like you said eight months" Gabriel asked as he leaned closer so he could hear Castiel talk.

"I did say eight months" Castiel whispered.

"Eight months?!" Gabriel shouted out "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Shut the fuck up Gabriel!" Castiel quickly glanced around the bar seeing if anyone had noticed Gabriel's proclamation. "I'd rather not have the entire bar know how long it's been" Fortunately those that had looked over didn't seem to know what they were talking about and returned to their own conversations.

Gabriel shook his head at his brother unable to understand how his own brother had gone eight whole months without being laid. That was an eternity for Gabriel. The most amount of time Gabriel had gone without sex was eight days and that was when he was sixteen and had only just lost the big V. "Sorry bro. It's just quite a shock you know. In that case, we are definitely getting you laid tonight. No exceptions" Gabriel said just as Jo returned with their drinks. Jo placed the drinks down on the table with a smile which Castiel returned half-heartedly. "Thanks Darl'" Gabriel said as Jo turned and left. Gabriel watched her go with a desire in his eyes that Castiel never wanted to see again.

-
Dean was sat with Sam and their drummer, Ash, in the staff only area at the back of the bar enjoying a couple of pre-gig drinks. It was a ritual of theirs. Before every gig, big or small, they'd sit out the back and enjoy a whiskey together. Dean downed the last sip of his whiskey loving the burn it left in the back of his throat. Sit him down with a bottle of whiskey and good company, and he was happy. Dean placed the glass back on the table and glanced over at Sam and Ash in deep conversation about the set list for tonight. Dean's thoughts strayed to his solo performance he was going to do at the end of the gig. Sure he'd done solo gigs before but never anything so personal and in front of a semi-large crowd. The Roadhouse was bringing in the numbers now and with their band's recognition by a label, the numbers were pushing higher every time they did a gig.

Just last week, they had been in LA talking to a record label that was looking to sign them on a twelve month contract. They would get the use of their recording studio to record their debut album as well as a studio apartment each. Dean would no longer have to share the small apartment with Sam even though it was great to be living with him, they were getting older now and the small apartment just wasn't going to occupy them for much longer especially with the height Sam was now. They were always stepping on each other's toes. If either of them wanted to bring someone home then they would have to warn the other in advance because those paper thin walls didn't drown anything out.

The only problem was; it was in LA. That's a long way to go for a contract. They had a life here. They had their friends who had helped them get to where they are now and of course Bobby was here. He had given them so much. He had been the reason Dean and Sam weren't living God knows where barely scraping through life not knowing where their next meal was going to come from. But this was an opportunity they were not going to pass up. It was their big break. It was 12 months not a lifetime and they can always go back and visit their friends and Bobby in their spare time.

Jo walked through the door which threw Dean out of his thoughts. Jo was like a sister to him. They'd grown up together. When Dean was fourteen, Jo was ten, she made it quite clear that she had a crush on Dean. Dean being the gentleman that he is, let her down gently 'friend-zoning' her to her dismay but it was for the best. Since then, they had been best-friends and never Jo eventually moved on from her crush. Dean looked up and smiled "Hey Jo" when Jo didn't return his smile he knew something was wrong "What's up? Something wrong?"

Jo sighed "Just some asshole out there who won't take no for an answer."

Dean's hand twisted tightly around the empty glass of whiskey on the table. He knew Jo could look after herself; she did have Ellen for a mother. Ellen was strong headed and definitely took no shit from nobody. You'd think twice before you pissed off a Harvelle. This fact didn't stop Dean's protective instincts. He always protected his family. "You need help sending the message?"

Jo smiled at Dean "Nah, I can handle it. Thanks though."

Dean's grip loosened on the glass just a little still not comfortable with the fact that some douche was harassing his best friend. "Alright, but if you can't, you come straight to me and I'll deal with the dick. Got it?"

Jo nodded in agreement before she picked up the empty glasses. "The guy with the asshole however, looks right up your alley."

Dean raised his eyebrows "Oh really? And why would he be my type?"

"Hmm let me think," Jo started "Tall, not as tall as you though I don't think, black I-just-had-sex hair, lean body but definitely some muscle on him like a swimmer or runner would have oh and the best part, the bluest eyes you've ever seen. Trust me Dean, he's your type. You should find him after the show if he's still around." She ended with a wink

"Yeah maybe" Dean replied indecisively. He hadn't been with a guy in a while. Sure he'd had a few one night stands but most of them had been women. This guy did sound like his type however. Maybe Dean would look into it if he was still around when he'd finished his set. Dean had got to the stage where he wanted an actual relationship rather that a string of one night stands. So maybe it wasn't the greatest idea to try pick this guy up. Picking up someone in a bar only screamed one thing – I want to get laid.

"What time do you guys go on? The bar's filling up. Looking like a decent crowd tonight." Jo asked which snapped Dean out of his thoughts

"We're going on at eight. Not long now." Dean replied a little nervous but nothing he couldn't handle. He glanced down at his watch to see it was 7.30. Definitely not long now. Their set list would probably take an hour to get through which left Dean about half an hour to do his part of the gig. Ten minutes for getting set-up and 20 for a couple of songs. Dean took a deep breath and headed out to the stage. Time to get started.

-
Castiel sat in the booth with his brother with a bit of a buzz after swallowing down his fifth tequila shot. He always had a high tolerance for alcohol. His brother however, did not and was into his 'I-flirt-with-everything-that-has-legs' stage of drunkenness. If Castiel was being honest with himself, he envied his brother. He had no care in the world. He upped and left the family five years ago and didn't look back. He didn't even show any remorse other than the fact that he left Castiel all alone. Gabriel was Castiel's lifeline. His escape from his miserable life but then Gabriel was gone. He'd left and Castiel was left with no one but his mother. Castiel wished he had the strength to follow Gabriel but he just couldn't do that to his mother but now, she was gone too and he had no one. But Gabriel had comeback and Castiel had his lifeline back. He hated how dependent he was on everyone that got close to him but he couldn't help it. It was just who he was.

The bar was packed now and Gabriel kept annoyingly tapping Castiel on the shoulder and pointing to some guy in the bar and wiggled his eyebrows. Castiel didn't know if Gabriel had a very serious case of beer goggles or just genuinely didn't know Castiel's type or maybe he just wanted to mess with him because every guy he pointed to was over 40 with a beer belly. It was more than likely the latter. After the umpteenth guy Castiel had to turn away due to Gabriel calling them over, apologising profusely for his drunk brother. Gabriel could call him a stuck up prude all he liked, he was not going home with some stranger from a bar. That was until he saw the band emerge on the stage.