Three figures appeared on the stage as black silhouettes in the dark. They took their places as the lights started to glow. The band started to play and Castiel could do nothing but stare at the man stood on the stage strumming his electric guitar in front of a microphone. The cords sounded somewhat familiar but he couldn't place where he had heard them before until the man started to sing the lyrics. And god his voice, Castiel was entranced. He couldn't look away. The man's voice was something Castiel could listen to for the rest of his life. His voice was low but could hit a note if needed.

Castiel didn't know how long he stared but he couldn't get enough of the man. He was tall, taller than Castiel but not by much, sun kissed skin with broad muscles that made him look strong. Very strong. He was wearing a pair of black jeans that weren't tight but tight enough to show he had bow legs but to Castiel this wasn't a let-down if anything, it made him more attracted to the man.

He was brought out of his trance by a strong shove to his shoulder. Castiel turned to see who the culprit was and of course it was Gabriel. Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at Castiel and Castiel just scowled in return before his brother spoke "Guess you found someone to take home then?"

Castiel scowled again before he replied "I do not wish to have a 'quick lay' as you would put it. I actually like to have an emotional relationship first before anything physical."

"Prude" Gabriel replied

"I am not a prude!" Castiel replied angrily before he stepped out of the booth and towards the bar to get another drink. He loved his brother but sometimes he just wanted to punch him in the face.

The bar had filled up while they had been eating so the trip was not as easy as it had been earlier. He fought his way through before he found Jo serving drinks. He indicated at her for two more beers before he turned and leant his elbow on the bar to ogle at the man on the stage further.

Once again he got caught up in watching the man. The way he carried himself on the stage, showed he was absolutely in love with what he was doing. The gentleness of which he handled the guitar in his hands with showed the amount of care he had for the inanimate object. However, the guitar was obviously far from new. Castiel was no expert but the guitar was worn like it had a millions of stories behind it as to how it got into that state and Castiel couldn't help but let his mind want to hear those stories and especially from the man himself.

"You like what you see?" Castiel was startled out of his thoughts by Jo speaking to him, drinks in hand.

Castiel blushed and looked down at the drinks before he took them in hand and returned to his booth without reply. He was not going to talk to the bartender about the man on stage. He was definitely not someone like that. No, he would sit and listen to the band play their songs and if the singer happened to come out for a drink after, well then he would approach the man himself and maybe, just maybe start a conversation. In the meantime however, he was going to enjoy the music and the view.

-
The set list had gone well, great actually. The crowd had loved it and had been dancing down the front as they sang their songs. Dean couldn't see further than the first row of tables due to the lighting but the reception they got when they finished was more than enough to show that their home crowd loved having them back.

Now came the nerve-racking part – his solo performance. Dean took a deep breath and resumed to the stage with a stool in hand and acoustic guitar in the other. There was a light round-of-applause as he returned and took a seat in the middle of the stage. The spotlight shone down on him and the crowd went silent.

"Hey guys," He started hesitantly coming out a little shakier than he would've liked "Uh… I've got something a little special for you tonight" There were a couple of cat calls from the crowd which made him laugh "Nothing like that, nothing like that" he chuckled out "But, what I do have is a couple of songs I've been working on for the last few months and I would like to play them for you tonight. Sound good?"

There were a few 'hell-yeahs' shouted out which made him smile. The locals always knew how to calm his nerves even if they didn't know it.

"Alrighty then. Let's get started"

Dean placed his hands on the cords before he started to strum the strings. He closed his eyes and let the audience drain out so he was sat on his couch, relaxed and without anyone there to judge his song writing. As he finished the intro cords he started to sing

"I feel my wings have broken in your hands
I feel the words unspoken inside
And, they pull you under
And, I will give you anything you want, oh
You are all I wanted
All my dreams are fallen down
Crawlin' around and around and around

Somebody save me
Let your warm hands break right through it
Somebody save me
I don't care how you do it, just stay, stay
C'mon, I've been waiting for you"

He let himself be lost in the lyrics. His nerves were gone. No longer thinking of the judgement of the patrons in the bar, just himself singing a song so close to his heart that he no longer had to think of what it meant to himself but if there was someone out there hearing his lyrics and getting the strength from the song that he drew for himself. If he could help just one person, that was all he needed.

Before he knew it, the song was over and he was applauded by the patrons. His heart swelled at the applause as well as a few whistles.

"Thank you, thank you. You guys are awesome." He said with a huge grin on his face "I've got one more for you guys and then I'm done. If you want, I'll be at the bar afterwards, buy me a drink would ya?" He said with a wink

There was a quiet chuckle around the bar before it went silent again and Dean started the cords for the song he had only finished that morning.

-
Castiel sat in the booth with Gabriel in complete awe of the grace of which Dean sang with. His fingers moved across the guitar fret with practice ease as he closed his eyes and sung the lyrics to his final song.

"Give me wings, give me peace
These are the things that I need
I'm tormented, broken, and shamed
Are you listening?

And give me shelter from the storm
I know it's a lot to ask for considering how recent I've piled the dirt on your name

Are you listening?
Are you listening?

I have heard that winter's cold will give way to summers warmth
Oh no! Like salt in the snow,
I'm melted and left all alone on the side of the road"

Castiel listened to the lyrics and searched for their meaning and what they meant to the man on the stage. He needed to get to know this man and soon.

The song finished with a huge round of applause from the crowd that brought a huge grin to the face of the singer. Castiel couldn't help but feel the need to always see that smile and be the reason why it was there. Castiel shook away his thoughts. He knew nothing of this man other than what he had poured out through his songs and he was already picturing himself with him? No, he was not going to get attached so easily and fall fast and hard for a man he hardly knew.

The crowd gradually dissipated from the bar with the entertainment finished for the night. Castiel glanced down at his watch to see it was after 10. The band had been playing for a few hours and he hadn't even noticed the passage of time. He glanced over to his brother who was now splayed out along the seat, asleep. Great now he needed to deal with his brother who apparently couldn't handle his alcohol like he used to.

Castiel rolled his eyes at his brother. The one night he actually found someone he wanted to talk to, Gabriel had managed to pass out forcing him to take care of his buffoon of a brother. Castiel downed the rest of his beer and made a move to stand before he realised he really needed to go to the bathroom. He threw a sparing glance at his brother and wondered if he would be alright where he was while Castiel hurried to relieve himself. Well if something did happen it's his own fault for not being able to handle his liquor better.

He dashed to the bathroom, passing the bar quickly but didn't miss the smirk from Jo. He blushed and ducked his head and kept moving. It was easier to move now due to the fact most of the people had vacated the premises. Obviously, the main attraction here was the band. Castiel made his way inside and relieved himself in the urinal before he washed his hands and made his way back into the bar.

As he passed the bar, he spared a glance to the patrons who were sat at the bar with a glass of whisky before he noticed the singer nursing a glass in conversation with Jo. His breath caught as Jo glanced up and caught Castiel's eye and smirked again before she looked back down to the singer in front of her. And oh god was he turning around? Yes, he was turning around and now looking at Castiel and locked his green eyes on Castiel's blue. Castiel immediately ducked his head and all but ran back to where his brother was still asleep.

Since when was he such a chicken shit? He brushed the thought away before he shook his brother's shoulder in an attempt to wake him up before Castiel himself felt a light tap to his shoulder. Castiel froze before he slowly turned his head. His breath caught for the second time in as many minutes as the singer stood behind him with a huge grin on his face and a hand outstretched.

-
Dean walked off the stage with a grin on his face to be greeted by a hug from Sam. He had to lift his chin to avoid being smacked in the face with his Sasquatch for a brother's shoulder. He welcomed the embrace and hugged him back never afraid to show his brother affection.

Sam stepped back again and grinned at his brother "You were great Dean. They songs were amazing. We should really put them on the album."

"Thanks Sammy," Dean replied "Means a lot. The locals seemed to like them too"

His brother smiled again before he stepped to his side and slid an arm around Dean's shoulders "Come on let's go get a drink" Sam stopped for a moment to call over to Ash "Hey, Ash you coming? Drink time"

"Hellz-yeah I'm coming" Ash yelled in reply as he stood to his feet from the table he was sitting at and headed out the door towards the bar.

The brothers followed Ash's lead and took a seat in front of the bar as they waited for Jo to finish with the customer before she moved over to serve them. Dean took the opportunity to glance around the bar to see if he could spot this mystery man that Jo had mentioned earlier but failed to see anyone that matched the description. All he saw was an unfamiliar man passed out in a booth down the back, other than that it was just the usual locals. He turned back to the bar to find Jo stood in front of him.

"So where's this guy you mentioned? He headed off I take it?" Dean asked trying not to sound disappointed that he didn't at least get to lay eyes on this guy that was apparently 'his type'.

Jo glanced around the floor trying to spot the blue-eyed man "He was here a minute ago. Saw him eyeing you up as you were on stage. He's definitely into you. You should go for it."

"Is that right?" Dean said matter of factly "So where is he now then?" He turned and took his chances of spotting him with another glance around the bar but once again came up short.

"Well," Jo began pointing over Dean's shoulder. Dean turned to follow her indication as Jo kept talking "That's the guy he came in with that wouldn't stop hitting on me. So if he's still here I'm guessing your man is too. He seems shy though. When he came over earlier and I saw him eyeing you up I tried talking to him but he just blushed and ran off with his drinks"

Dean chuckled he did tend to have that effect on people. "Hmm maybe he's in the men's room then?" Dean decided against going and finding out if this mystery man was indeed in the rest room. That just seemed a little creepy. Instead he decided to enjoy his whiskey and talk to his friends.

Jo talked about what some patrons had thought about their set list that night when she stopped talking and smirked at someone behind Dean's shoulder before she looked back down at Dean and indicated with her eyes in the direction she had smirked. Dean took that look as a 'he's-standing-right-there' look and swivelled on his stool to take in the man before him.

Jo wasn't lying when she said he was his type because fuck this guy was gorgeous and his blue eyes were definitely something Dean could study further because as soon as their eyes locked, the blue ones were gone again and the man was headed off towards the back of the bar. Dean didn't waste a second as he stood up and followed the man over to where he was trying to wake up his unconscious friend. Dean hesitated for the first time since he left his stool before he quickly darted his hand out and tapped the blue-eyed man on the shoulder startling him.

"Hey I'm Dean. Need a hand with this guy?"

-
Castiel stood dumfounded for a moment before he snapped out of his frozen form and replied to the man – Dean - before him "Uh actually I was just going to put him in a cab and head home for the night" Castiel really didn't want to leave especially seeing Dean was now stood before him actually speaking to him. Damn his brother and his inability to hold his liquor. "Thank you for the offer, but he's not very heavy. I can handle him on my own"

Castiel turned back to his brother and expected Dean to walk away. He would have to come back another night – without his brother – and see Dean again. When he didn't hear footsteps headed away from him, he peered over his shoulder to see Dean still stood there looking at his feet nervously. Dean must have sensed Castiel's eyes on him because he snapped his head up and locked his green eyes with Castiel's blue before he spoke "Uh… Actually, we have a bed out back if you want to put him there to sleep it off for a bit and then uhm, us two could have a drink together?" As he finished speaking, Dean lowered his gaze suddenly interested in his boots again with a nervous hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Castiel stood in thought for a moment. Dean wanted to have a drink with him; he had even offered to house his brother for a bit. "Uh OK, sounds nice." Castiel blurted out without thinking any further.

Dean's head snapped up again once he heard Castiel's reply with a smile on his face. "Awesome, uh let me give you a hand with this guy then."

Dean stepped forward and pulled Gabriel to his feet and put one of Gabriel's arms over his shoulders while Castiel moved to the other side and did the same. Dean pointed to a door not far from the booth to indicate where the bed was situated. They moved slowly through the bar with Gabriel muttering incoherently the whole way before Dean kicked the door open and guided the trio through. There was a single bed on the far side of the room perfect for Gabriel to sleep for a bit.

They flung Gabriel's loose body onto the bed none-too-gently before Dean grabbed the dustpan from the corner and placed it next to the bed. Dean stood up again and turned to face Castiel with a grin.

"So, how about that drink?"

A/N First Song is 'Save Me' by Remy Zero. Second is 'Salt In The Snow' by The Classic Crime