Dean learns that his attempt on covering up the reason behind his agressive behavior isn't quite working, but he's unaware of how far the truth have spread. Come Monday, the guys in glee-club are eager to know more, but John and Castiel decide to nip it in the bud. They all get startling news from Mr Evans that makes Dean's delicate little problem fade away for the time being.

Song in this chapter

We are the champions - Queen - Freddie Mercury

John the savior

"How can those two be the worst? We know that John has practically forgiven you already, and Cas doesn't seem like a guy who'd carry a grudge." Sam looked at him over the table. Was there a little smirk tickling his lip? Dean wasn't sure, but the tone of his brother's voice had been a little strange. It was like he had some inside information that Dean wasn't aware of.

"Oh, I just meant that even if John forgives me, he will never let me hear the end of it." He huffed before he picked up the burger. "This is going to be an ongoing joke until somebody else makes a mistake." Dean bit into his food and chewed slowly as he shook his head.

After swallowing the bite, he shrugged. "Castiel was sitting next to John, and I think he got scared. Maybe he was afraid I'd punch him too." Dean sighed and looked at his brother. Now there was no doubt. Sam was obviously doing his best to cover up a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Dean started to get a little annoyed. "I can go alone if you want. I don't need your sorry attempt on being supportive."

After the quite interesting visit at Unique's house, the Winchesters had to take a break. They were both hungry, and even if the money was running a little short at the moment, they decided to eat out. Burgers and fries weren't that expensive anyway.

Dean had tried to explain himself when they met Unique, but she had not let him. Instead, she held a long monologue about friendship, and what that entailed. She took a break when her mom brought some iced tea, but kept going as soon as the woman was out of site.

Sam was clearly a little amused, but he managed to cover it up somewhat. Dean was about ready to give up on seeking forgiveness from her because the whole tale soon got boring. Most of what she said had nothing to do with him; he wasn't in a habit of attacking people for no reason, and he'd done his best to fit in with the rest of the students in the choir.

A few former acquaintances would probably disagree, but Dean knew that whenever he'd been in a fight, he'd been provoked into action. He couldn't remember starting one single scuffle in his life, although he'd frequently been the one to get in the first punch. And those guys weren't really his friends even.

"Fighting is for cave men. If you're angry, use your words, not your fist." Unique drew her breath and took a sip from her glass. "I trust that you will never do it again, so I will forgive you." Dean was about to thank her when she stopped him. "There's one condition though…" She cocked her head and looked Dean straight in the eyes. He just nodded. He'd agree to anything that could get him out of there. "I have to know that John is alright, and that you and him kiss and make up."

Dean smiled and nodded. He was pretty sure that he could promise her that. If Ianto and Gwen were right, John was ready to forgive and forget. "That's fair. I'm going to his place after. I'm sure we'll work it out between us."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The house was big and it stood out from the others because of it's Art-deco style. There were two cars in the driveway, and through the open garage door they could see a minivan.

"I thought it was only him and his mother. Do you think they have company?" Sam recognized John's reasonably new sedan, but it was the car next to it that really caught his eye. The shiny, red Mercedes Convertible was a thing of beauty. The top was down, and except for a pair of sunglasses dangling on the rear-view mirror and a lipstick left in the passenger seat, it looked like it came straight off the assembly line.

Dean didn't look half as impressed. "European cars, pfft." He patted the hood of the Impala. "This is reliability on wheels. That's just showing off." He took a look at the house again before he turned back to Sam. "They must be rich. Did you know?"

Sam shook his head. "No, I had no idea. I don't really know John at all. I had barely met him before the party." That wasn't completely true. He had met him in the lunch room, and they had actually shared a table on a couple of occasions. They'd never exchanged a word though. He'd also seen the guy in the parking lot at school a few times, so he knew what car he drove. Sam had actually noticed that it was fairly new and in a price range that a normal student couldn't afford. He had never thought much of it. He always believed that John used one of his parents' cars from time to time; he usually came to school with the bus.

It wasn't until the party that he learned that it really was John's. It was parked outside Ianto's house when they arrived there. He had meant to take it when they left to go to sectionals, but with Jack, Dean, and Mason volunteering to drive, they didn't need it.

At the party, he'd also understood that his parents were divorced and that he lived with his mother.

"It's not fair." Sam chuckled a little humorlessly. "Our place could fit into that house ten times over." He wasn't really envious, it was more a statement on how different life could be. "I mean, how can two people need that much space?"

Dean was already at the door, and he gestured for Sam to get in the car. "I think it's better I do this alone." He pressed the doorbell. Sam looked at his brother dumbfounded. "Are you fucking kidding me? I want to see the inside of this mansion. There's no way I'll let you do it alone." He could see that his brother wasn't happy about it, but he didn't say anything. "I'll stay out of your way. I'm just curious."

The woman who opened the door was absolutely gorgeous. Sam figured it had to be John's mother, although she looked way too young. She wore a tight fitting cream colored dress, and even if Sam didn't know much about fashion, it looked expensive. Her natural blonde hair was tied up in a loose bun with a scarf that matched the dress.

Sam felt like something the cat dragged in compared to her. He threw a quick peek at his brother. Dean looked equally intimidated, and it was clear that he was a little taken aback by the sight of the woman.

"Dean, is it?" She smiled and gestured for them to enter. "And you are the little brother I guess." She looked up at Sam as she chuckled. "Not so little." She closed the door behind them. "John is expecting you. He'll be down shortly."

The hall was big. It was quite a bit bigger than their own living room, and the ceiling was at least fifteen feet above them. Sam looked up at the skylight far up there as he sighed. "This is..., oh, wow." When Mrs Hart smiled at him, he realized that he'd said it out loud, and he got a little embarrassed.

Soon after, he could see John on top of the curved staircase to the left. "Hi. Welcome to my humble abode." He came running down the stairs sporting a wide smile. "Ianto told me to expect you, and I appreciate the gesture, but I'm over it."

He touched his eye briefly. "I'll have a reminder of it for a few days, but it's no big deal. You were only trying to protect your boy Castiel, and it's commendable." He gave Dean a quick wink. Sam wasn't sure how his brother would react to John's insinuation, and he worried a little. At the same time he couldn't help finding it quite amusing.

"I… Well… It wasn't that. I just… I was drunk, and I'm sorry." It was kind of funny how Dean stuttered out the words. He was clearly taken aback, but surprisingly enough, he didn't seem angry.

"Don't worry. I would never hit on him. It was just a friendly kiss, and it didn't mean anything." John reached his hand out. "Let's shake on it, and forget it ever happened."

It surprised Sam a great deal when his brother grabbed John's hand and shook it. "Okay. Let's forget." Dean let go of the hand and looked down for a moment. "But, but… it wasn't…" John cut him off. "Don't even try." He chuckled a little as shook his head. "We both know the truth, but it's okay. I won't tell anybody." With a sigh he continued. "Mind you, a few other people have guessed as well, so my promise is probably not worth a thing."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

It wasn't easy to find Castiel's house. He lived in a part of town where Dean hadn't been before. Even if he had done his best to familiarize himself with his new hometown, he'd never driven through this neighborhood.

As he searched for the street, he was happy that Sam decided to keep quiet. Dean was pretty sure he would have kicked his brother out of the car if he had said anything about what happened at John's house.

Sam seemed perfectly aware of this. Even if he obviously had a hard time keeping a straight face, he managed to shut his cakehole. Only a few words were uttered between them during the last leg of Dean's apology run. It happened when Dean suggested to take Sam home, but his brother refused the offer.

Dean didn't want to have to elaborate about why he wanted to Sam out of the way, so he let it go. "But you're staying in the car when I talk to him, right?" He didn't look at Sam, but in the corner of his eye, he could see that he nodded. Dean tried to ignore the fact that Sam was about to burst into laughter, but it wasn't easy.

He'd almost given up when he finally found a sign with the name of Castiel's street. The search could have been made easier if he'd let Sam use the GPS on his phone, but Dean didn't want help.

The plan was to leave Sam and the Impala a few houses down from Castiel's and walk the rest of the way, but it got totally busted as he turned into the street. From afar, Dean could see Cas sitting on the front porch of his house, and as he slowly approached, the guy jumped up and hurried towards the gate in the white picket fence surrounding the yard.

Dean lifted a finger and turned briefly to his brother. "You stay put, or else…" Sam nodded. "Of course." There was a brief expression of something that could look like disgust on his face before he shrugged and smiled. "Don't worry. I will not interfere."

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Dean exited the car and walked around it to face Castiel. The guy opened the gate and stepped out on the sidewalk. "You didn't have to come. Jack told me what you were up to, but I trust that you and John can figure it out between the two of you." He looked down as he batted his eyes. "It had nothing to do with me anyway, right?"

It took a few seconds before Dean managed to reply. It had everything to do with Castiel, but he wasn't comfortable revealing that, not even to himself. "Yeah, uh, no. No, you're right. I just… I wanted to apologize in person. I mean… to everybody at the party."

Castiel didn't say anything, so Dean felt that he had to continue, else it would be a very awkward silence. "I've talked to John, and he has forgiven me. I was just too drunk, and he… you know how he can say things without thinking? I was too drunk to find his jokes humorous at all, and I thought he was making fun of me, so I… I made a mistake, but he forgave me for it."

Dean could hear how his little speech sounded like ranting the way he kept repeating himself, but his brain was on pause at the moment. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay, and that you didn't think… I mean, you sat right next to him. Did you worry that I'd attack you as well? John knew he was the target, and he is fine with it. It will never happen again. I'm sorry, I was drunk and stupid." He was completely out of breath, and had to stop.

Finally, Cas looked up. He cocked his head and stared at Dean with a somewhat puzzled expression on his face. "I didn't see you speak to him after we got out of your car outside Ianto's house. What did he say to anger you? I mean... when did he…?"

As soon as the words slipped out of the guy's mouth, a red hue started to crawl over his cheeks. "Sorry. It's none of my business." He seemed to get a little antsy, and he nodded towards the house. "I have some chores to attend to, so if... " He paused and threw a quick peek at Dean.

What happened next was totally improvised. Dean couldn't help himself when he took a step forward and gave Castiel a hug. He made sure to pat the guy's back just as he did with his teammates when they hugged each other after a good run. "Thank you." He noticed that Cas was obviously taken by surprise, but it took just a second before he composed himself and hugged him back.

Just as they were about to pull apart, Dean could feel that Castiel seemed to want to hold on for a moment longer, but then he let go. "See you tomorrow." The guy practically ran up to the house as he spoke. "It'll be alright."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Half of the students in the choir room crowded around Castiel when he entered after fourth period. The rumors about Dean's reason for hitting John had reached the whole Glee-club before the assembly, and they wanted to know what Cas had to say. Dean was still at football practice and wouldn't be there for another half hour.

The unwritten rule about 'what happens in Glee-club, stays in Glee-club' had applied, so nobody else at school knew anything about it. Dean had lunch with the football team, and even if a couple of choir kids had thrown clandestine peeks at him, he was probably unaware of the fact that he was the center of attention.

Sam had to be told. He was sitting at their usual table, and Gwen had been totally unable to avoid the subject. When he revealed that he already knew about the rumors, she got even more excited. "So do you know if it's true? Did he… does he have a crush on Cas?"

Before Sam got a chance to reply, John leaned forward and urged everybody to keep it down. He didn't usually sit at this table, but today he'd squeezed in. "Let's not talk about this in here." He nodded towards the table where the Dean was sitting. "I am positive that it's true, but we should keep it to ourselves. Dean behaved like an idiot, but he is on the football team and they'll bury him if they learn about this."

That John was so eager to protect the guy who'd given him a black eye was surprising, but Gwen kind of agreed. There was no reason to make this worse than it had to be, and if it was love that made Dean act like he did, it was totally excusable.

Unique and Jack were a little bit delayed for choir practice and the twins refused to get involved, but the rest of them were eager to hear Castiel's side of the story. Nobody had told him about their suspicions either, so when he came in, he was not prepared for the ambush.

Gwen grabbed his hand and led him to a chair. "What about it? Do you like him? He was obviously trying to defend you." She sat down next to him. "Please share. What happened when he came to your house yesterday?"

Castiel looked at her before he panned the rest of the crowd. "Nothing. Nothing happened. Dean was pissed because we walked in front of his car when he was about to pull out of the parking lot at Carmel high. When he got drunk, he decided to punish us. That John got the punch was just a coincidence. He could just as well have punched me."

Gwen couldn't believe it. Did Cas actually think that this was the truth, or did he try to cover up? "Give me a break. Dean didn't say anything about that when he came to our house." She looked briefly at Ianto before she met John's eyes. "You didn't say anything about that either."

For a moment she felt totally ignored as John and Castiel stared at each other. Suddenly John started laughing. "I'm sorry." He turned around and addressed the rest of the crowd. "It's true. I totally forgot, but me and Dean had words earlier that night. He would probably not have attacked Cas, but he was angry with us because we startled him when we stepped in front of his car."

He took a couple of steps back and sat down on the other side of Castiel. "Let it go Gwen. I teased him into this. I was rude and obnoxious, so it wasn't so strange that he lashed out."

Some of the kids looked relieved, while a couple seemed a little disappointed. Gwen could not help herself. "But nobody saw that the two of you exchanged a word. When did that happen?"

John seemed to think about it for a second. "Remember when we arrived? I left to pick up something from my car while you, Ianto, and Cas went straight inside?" Gwen didn't hesitate. "No I don't, and I do not believe that that even happened." She stared at him as she twisted her mind to try to find out if she could be wrong. John shrugged. "Well, you were busy getting everything ready for the rest of the crowd, so you probably didn't notice. Anyway, we had words in passing later as well. I teased him, and he got angry. I didn't think that he'd actually attack me, but I had it coming."

Did John actually take the blame for this? It made no sense. Gwen wasn't ready to let this go, but had to withdraw when Mr Evans entered the room.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

What about those Warblers?

"You guys left a little too early on Saturday to hear the news." Their director paced in front of the class. "The principal at Carmel wasn't happy about your departure, but I did my best to cover for your sorry asses."

Everybody in there looked down and a couple threw a quick peek at Jack. Mr Evans obviously noticed. "Yes. Jack told me about your plan, but I would have appreciated to know about it ahead of time." He drew his breath. "I understand that you wanted to get back. What I don't understand is why you felt that you needed to keep it a secret."

He stopped pacing and leaned on the piano. "They had the super work extra that night just to keep an eye on you guys, and now they have to pay him for nothing." Lowering his voice significantly, he continued, "The guy probably doesn't make that much, so it's good for him."

He smiled briefly before he again put on the serious face. "If you'd just waited another half hour…" He panned the group. "I would have called one of you if I wasn't so annoyed about your sudden departure."

"I'm a little disappointed, but I..." He paused when Dean entered the room and hurried to find a seat. "Sorry. Beiste kept us a little longer. Sorry guys. Sorry." He looked at the director. "Mr Evans. I guess you have heard about what happened at the party, and I promise you that it will never happen again."

Mr Evans expression was probably more than enough for Dean to realize that the guy had no clue about what he was referring to. "Oh. Did I say party? I…" He turned to look at the rest of the choir. They all seemed to find this extremely amusing. Even the McCarthy twins were doing their best to cover up their grins.

"Yes, I knew about the party. It didn't come as a surprise when you all left, but you should have stayed a little longer." He chuckled a little. "Mr Schuester and the principal at Carmel handed in a joint complaint after the New Warblers had performed." He drew his breath. "The judges didn't check it out before the award ceremony, but when they did, it took them about ten minutes to confirm that the complaint was valid."

Mr Evans started pacing again. It was evident that his students were very eager to hear the rest of the story, but he dragged it out on purpose. If they hadn't left in such a hurry, they would have learned this already on Saturday.

He stopped and drew his breath. "Half of the guys that performed as The New Warblers were former students of their school. A couple of them are even professional artists, so the whole choir got disqualified."

It took a few moments before the guys in front of him understood what it meant, but then all hell broke loose.

-o-o-o-o-

"We're going to regionals. We're going to regionals. WE ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO REGIONALS!"

Everybody was screaming as they hugged each other. John jumped up on a chair and started singing.

"We are the Champions my friend

and we'll keep on fighting…"

Moments later, the whole Glee-club joined in. There were no attempts to do any harmonies, they just practically shouted the words out.

"WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

NO TIME FOR LOSERS
'CAUSE WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

OF THE WORLD…"

Everybody was whooping and cheering, and someone dragged Sam Evans into the group hug. John was still standing on the chair, and nodded towards Brad to hit the keys of the piano.

"I've taken my bows

And my curtain calls…"

He bowed and threw his hands out. It wasn't easy to hear him over the noise the rest of the choir made, but he didn't seem to care.

"You brought me fame and fortune and everything that goes with it

I thank you all…"

Dean was unable to stop smiling. Not only did they win, but his own unfortunate mistake would probably be totally forgotten after this. He joined in on the chorus of the song along with everybody else, and he really felt like part of the group.

"We have a little less than three months." Sam gestured for them to sit as soon as they'd finished the song. "The stakes are higher. We will compete with better choirs, so we wave to be better." It took a few moments before everybody had settled down. Some were still high-fiving each other, and one could hear quiet whoops here and there.

It was hard to concentrate on what Mr Evans was saying, but Dean did his best. "Three months seems like a long time, but time travels fast." He cleared his throat. "This time, we will have to stay in a Motel, and there will be no chance of driving home in the middle of the night."

Dean could see that a few of his friends slumped their heads down for a moment, and it seemed like Gwen was about to say something. Mr Evans looked at her and shook his head. "We will not talk about that anymore." He shook his head again before he continued.

"The school will cover some of the expenses, but the rest we have to come up with ourselves." He threw his hands out and grabbed a marker. "I will send out letters to your parents and ask for contributions, but if you have any ideas on how to raise money any other way…" He paused and panned the crowd before he walked up to the whiteboard. "I'm thinking we can have a Christmas show… You will have exams, so… maybe." He drew his breath and turned to the board.

"We have to have focus on this competition on every assignment from now on. 'MUSICALS'" He wrote the words on the board as he said it. "This week, we are going to see if we can find a good show tune for regionals. Go alone or team up."

Dean didn't know many of those. When he and Jack spent that evening together, they had listened to a few, but Dean was unable to remember much of them. He would probably have to team up with somebody in order to come up with anything.

After the little incident at the party, he wasn't sure if anybody wanted to work with him. Forgiveness or not, he was still the odd one out. He threw a peek around him. John would surely work with Ianto as usual, and Jack was probably going for a solo.

After eliminating Mason and Garth - the two of them had not been as forgiving as the rest of the choir - it was only Cas and Kevin left of the boys. Working with Castiel was out of the question. It would be way too awkward.

He looked at the girls. Jo had been nice enough when he came around, but she and Gwen were already a team. Madison was not it. She obviously shared her brother's view on him. Dean was pretty sure that Jane and Unique would go for solos, and that only left Charlie.

He decided to wait and see. Dean knew that he was one of their best singers, so he hoped that someone would ask him. That he was a little unfamiliar with musicals and the like, shouldn't be a problem. He had already proved that he was able enough for it.