A/N: Thank you all for the reviews. I feel all loved and such. Thanks sidz, BeautifullyDamagedSimplyMe, winchesteritious, and Mummabro for the thoughts; I am having fun with Dean and Cas' little dialogues. The next update might not happen until Tuesday, but hopefully this chapter gets you through. It is a Dean and Cas piece, so that can't be bad huh:)

Sleep did not come easily to Cas that night. He laid awake feeling the jitters of anticipation for the day to come. Try as he might, he could not settle his nerves. He had Gabe's little issue to deal with and then Dean would be here. Then there was the Ezra gathering, Uh. Maybe I can come down with influenza. No, Dean will be wearing a suit, and I don't think I want to miss that. And like that, His mind was racing again-away from sleep.

When he finally stilled and laid in bed, his thoughts drifted onto the night at the bar. Onto a memory that was slipping back into focus. He had remembered the last song. He had also remembered what happened after the last song. His mind slipped into dreams that were more memories as he hummed Hey Jude.

The song was easier than some of the songs he had sung that night. The DJ told him that he would fade out the end after a couple of repeats of the refrain. He didn't think that Cas needed to sing the nah, nah, nah part for two minutes. Despite being inebriated, Cas seemed to stand steadily at the mic.

The melody began and his voice came through in a low whisper that gradually picked up in volume. The audience was silent, and no one danced. His friends sat just beyond the stage with Dean at the center of their seating arrangement. As he reached the second stanza, Gabe pulled out a lighter and held it over his head while he swayed back and forth, a broad grin plastered on his face. Dean leaned back in his seat and watched steadily. Cas held his gaze as he continued into the next verse.

Anna raised a hand into the air then and started swaying with the music. She threw her other arm around Uriel, and the two of them were singing along. Sam smiled down at Dean from his seat next to him. At that moment Cas felt something like joy at the thought that these were his people. Most days were lonely, but tonight he didn't feel that. Tonight, he felt so connected. His song seemed to climb out of the melancholy tone toward something like revelry, just as he was hitting the repeating lines of nah, nah, nah… at the end of the song. Gabe, Uriel, Sam, Anna, and Dean all got up out of their seats then and moved toward the stage. They stood together, arms wrapped around each other swaying and singing the end together. The audience sang it out too. Despite the plan, the DJ did not fade out the end. The audience was too into it.

Cas took a slight bow at the end and looked down at his people with a smile that he hoped conveyed his love for them. He caught Dean's eyes and noticed that he looked sad. He sent him a smile and then became distracted by the DJ coming over to him.

The competition portion of the night was not the most organized thing ever. The winner seemed to be determined based on audience enthusiasm and the whims of the DJ/Announcer. The DJ walked right up to Cas with the most garishly cheap crown and placed it on Cas' head. The crowd cheered and Uriel shouted out, "All hail the king!" His friends were laughing and he was smiling. This was a great night.

He noticed Dean slip out of the knot of his friends then. He was making his way toward the side door just past the stage. The DJ announced that they would get three more songs and then they would have to call it a night. The music came up again. Cas walked off the stage toward the door that Dean had taken.

As he slipped out into the alley he had felt a little unsteady. The alley was a little dark. He had not realized how hot it had been in the bar until the night air greeted him. It was a little sobering. He noticed Dean's back right away as he stepped out into the dark. Dean turned to him as the door clicked shut behind Cas. "Shouldn't you be celebrating your victory, your majesty?" Dean had asked him with a slight grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I was, but some of my court was missing, so I needed to wait." Cas smiled back at him and took a tentative step toward him.

"Sorry, I just needed a little air. It was quite warm in there." Dean was standing there in just his tee shirt, his jacket back inside at their table. The shirt was tight and showed his shape in a way that drew Cas' eyes.

Cas took another step toward Dean. They were close enough now that just a tiny step more would bridge the gap. He had wanted to pause, let Dean make the next move. He wasn't sure if they were on the same page. The look in Dean's green eyes seemed to intensify. "I was worried that you were upset. You looked sad," he murmured.

"That song does that. I can't help but think about my mom. When she sang it, I felt safe. I forget sometimes what that is like. To feel safe, connected." Dean didn't move. He didn't break the stare. His eyes were the only thing that shown in the dark of the alley.

Cas reached up a hand to Dean's arm then. An act of comfort, connection. It also served to steady him. He was feeling dizzy. The night and Dean's eyes swirling his mind. Dean didn't move. Cas had wanted to be patient. He had wanted to wait for Dean to move in. He gave up though, when he saw Dean's tongue slip out in a slow sweep over his lips. He licked his own lips then and dipped his head toward Dean's.

As he did so, the door behind him opened to the sound of Sam calling out into the dark, "Cas, Dean…Oh, uh, sorry…"

In an instant, Dean stepped back and Cas fell forward all the way to the ground, head striking the pavement.

"Oh, shit. Sorry. Shit." Dean's voice hovered over him.

Then Sam, "Oh, sorry. Damn, I, oh shit. I, god, sorry, Dean." Sam seemed to have stuttered through every awkward protest at once.

God, so pathetic. Cas needed to get up. He found some reserve of steadiness in his limbs then and sprang up. He just wanted to get off of the stupid ground. Stupid, stupid, ground. Stupid everything.

He sprang up too fast though, too unexpectedly. Dean had been hovering over his upper body about to scoop him up when it happened. The back of Cas' head had come into sharp contact with Dean's chin. Instead of fully springing into a standing position, Cas had found himself splayed back onto his ass, legs spread out in front of him. Dean staggered back.

Gabe, Anna, and Uriel emerged from the club behind Sam and stared out at the chaos that was in front of them. "Well, this is not what I expected to find out here." Gabe said with a smirk. "Are you two fighting?"

"No, I startled them and Cas fell." Sam offered up in explanation. He reached down then and gripped Cas by the arm, pulling him up off of the ground. He looked into Cas' eyes then and added, "I think that he might have a concussion. That was quite the blow."

"This is Hell," Cas muttered as he rubbed a hand over his head.

"Yeah, buddy. Let's get you home." Uriel came over and threw an arm under Cas' while Sam took the other side. "We gathered everything from the table so we could leave. Where did you park, Dean?"

Dean directed them away from the alley toward where the car must have been. They all headed out into the night together with Cas carried along in the center.

Review, Fav, Follow. Thanks for reading. The next chapter will be the Friday morning meeting. Yes, I know, not Dean and Cas, sorry... :)