John is inviting everybody to a party, but he has to plan most of it while sitting on a plane. Some of the students have to lie to their parents to be able to attend, and some need a little help from their friends.

Songs in this chapter

Angel City - Motörhead - M/L: Lemmy Kilmister

Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones - M/L: Jagger & Richards

Invitations

'John Hart Invited you to his event NEW YEARS PARTY'

Jack hadn't checked 'facebook' since before Christmas, and got a little taken aback when he read the notification. He hadn't plan to go back to Lima for another four days, but this looked very interesting.

'Let's have Luau.

Midwinter Hawaiian party at my place.'

John had posted a few pictures from his little holiday to go with the invite. 'Campfire fun' was the caption on the picture of him late at night in a ghastly hawaiian shirt making a toast with a very colorful drink. A big bonfire was visible behind him.

Another one read: 'The girls are very friendly.' John was standing between two girls in hula skirts. He looked extremely pale compared to them.

'Put on your most colorful costume and join the fun.'

Except for a couple of people, Jack knew everybody who was invited. Quite a few of them had accepted already; there was one 'maybe', while Ianto and Gwen along with a couple of others, were still pending.

If he left in the morning, he'd make it to the party in time. Jack knew that his parents would be very disappointed, but he didn't care. He was bored out of his mind staying in the house. The few friends he thought he had here were not interested in spending time with him. They had all graduated, and most of them were in college.

Jack hadn't done much to keep them when he struggled through his junior year in order to graduate early, and during his time in New York, he'd never contacted any of them.

Going back to Lima where he felt that he had made true friends seemed like a very good idea. In New Directions he was accepted for who he was, and he didn't have to smooth talk himself into their hearts.

Without anymore hesitation, he pressed 'join'. That he had only a few hours to get his shit together was a minor issue. The confrontation with his parents would be worse. Not that bad though; they had tried to keep him from going to New York without success, so this would be a cakewalk.

Jack dug his suitcase out of the closet and started packing. He bundled up the dirty clothes and stuck them in a plastic bag before he shoved them in too. He didn't have time to do laundry.

All he needed to do after that was to tell his parents, and then get a good night's sleep before he took off.

Two consecutive pings from his phone made him curious, and he hurried to pick it up.

'Ianto Jones and Gwen Cooper commented on an event you are attending.'

Jack checked back on the page, and discovered that both of them had joined. Gwen had commented with a smiley and a party emoji, while Ianto apologized for the delayed reply.

The joy he had felt looking forward to see his friends again got heightened when Jack read it. He really liked Ianto a lot and was very happy that he'd decided to come as well.

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

John had barely ever had anybody come to his house. Over the years, he'd made friends aplenty, but he didn't like to bring them home. There was more than enough space for whoever he wanted to invite, but he always felt that they didn't come for him.

Everybody was just eager to explore the big house, and wasn't interested in sitting in John's quite spacious room to play games or sing or whatever else he wanted to do.

When he joined Glee-club and made new friends, he decided not to tell them anything about his homelife. He wanted them to get to know him for who he was, and not the rich, spoiled kid living in a mansion.

Keeping his address a secret worked for a while, but it soon leaked. At that time he felt accepted already, and curiously enough, none of them ever started bugging him about giving them a tour. He knew that Ianto was curious to begin with when he learned the truth, but he didn't pursue it. Gwen and Jo had been a little more forward about it, but they too calmed down over time.

Dean and that tall lanky brother of his were the only two people from school that had set foot in the house over the last year, and even if they looked quite impressed, they had been cool about it.

He and his mom were supposed to stay in Hawaii over New Year, but a phone call cut the vacation short. She apologized to him when she suddenly had to go to Tokyo, and told him that he could stay there alone if he wanted to.

Given the choice, John decided to go home. He missed his friends and even if Hawaii was nice, he felt really lonely there. Without his mom, it would be even worse.

John sat up the facebook page on a whim the last night before he left the island and hoped that it wouldn't be too late. Maybe they all had other plans for New years eve already. He didn't get any takers before he went to bed, but it wasn't so strange. It was very early morning back home.

With a bar filled to the brim, and a cellar with more than a hundred bottles of wine, he didn't have to worry about having enough alcohol for his guests. His mom always brought a lot of the stuff from all her travels, but she didn't really drink much herself.

Knowing that most of his friends preferred beer or coolers, he decided to get some just in case. With the right amount of money, he'd get anyone to buy it for him, so that wouldn't be a problem either.

He didn't get time to check in on facebook until he was seated on the plane the next day. He discovered that he already had six guests. It was looking pretty good, but he still decided to give the rest of them a call if they didn't reply during the first leg of the flight.

Time was running out, because with the sudden departure the trip would take almost eighteen hours. He'd tried to avoid a too long layover in Los Angeles, but it was impossible on this short notice. John didn't worry about it. There wasn't really much to do except to buy beer and haul in the guests.

"...I wanna feel a little danger,

Feel a little stranger,

Angel City tonight…"

John wasn't too crazy with the heavy metal, but Ianto had uploaded a few songs to his phone just for fun. He had selected a random playlist just to pass the time, and it was quite fitting that this song came on just as the plane was about to land at LAX.

"All of the time,

I'm gonna kick ass,

I'm gonna spit broken glass,

I'm gonna shoot out all of your lights,

I wanna eat dirt,

I'm gonna eat my own shirt,

Angel City tonight,

Angel City

Angel City…"

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

After the Christmas party at the Winchesters place, Castiel had gotten quite an earful from his dad. He was never supposed to have left in the first place, but when Kevin called and told him what they were up to, he snuck out.

He did call Gabriel and told him that he had to help a friend who was abandoned by his parents, and his brother promised that it would be okay. They still expected him to come home that night.

When he failed to do that, they had been a little concerned, but after a quick text confirming that he was fine and would spend the night, he thought that that was it.

Gwen took him home in the morning after the worst sleepover he'd ever been to.

He and Ianto shared the couch, but the two small blankets he had brought forced them to curl up in a fetal position in order to get covered. Ianto was already fast asleep, and they had to pry the guitar out of his hands before they draped the blanket over him.

Curled up on the other end of the couch, Castiel tried to make himself comfortable, but it wasn't easy. The couch was easily big enough for the two of them when they lied with their heads on the armrests at each end, but it was still extremely uncomfortable.

Dean opted to sleep on the floor. He didn't seem to have any problems falling asleep, but that old blanket he found in his car stunk of motor oil. It didn't make it any easier on Castiel, so when Gwen got up in the morning and decided that she was sober enough to drive, it felt like he hadn't slept a wink.

His father met him at the door when he came home, and he was clearly angry already. When he discovered the faint scent of alcohol on Castiel's breath he'd almost flipped out. The man had almost never lost his temper, but this time he was on the edge. Castiel secretly hoped that he'd crack, because he wanted to see his dad show some emotion, even if it was pure rage.

It didn't happen.

After a whole day shut into his room, only allowed to come out for meals, Castiel got piled up with so many chores that he'd be very busy until school was back. He was pretty sure that he would never be allowed to attend the New Years party at John's house, so he knew he had to concoct a plan to get there.

He'd seen that Gwen was going to attend, and decided to ask her for help. He worried a little that she'd continue the line of questions she'd started when they were alone, but she was the only one he could think of that would do this without too much fuss.

"...Wild horses couldn't drag me away

Wild, wild horses we'll ride them some day

Wild horses couldn't drag me away

Wild, wild horses we'll ride them some day."

Castiel caught the end of the Rolling Stones song as he passed his brothers room and he nodded to himself. Wild horses couldn't drag him away from this party.

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

White lies and elaborate stories

"I thought he was going to stay in Hawaii till school is back. What happened?" Gwen was posing in front of Ianto in the new outfit she'd got for Christmas. "Can I wear this? I want to, but he said colorful."

Ianto couldn't care less. The shiny black pants and the matching shirt with silvery pattern of a skull on the back would be quite fitting for a New Years party. A luau on the other hand, probably required grass skirt and a skimpy top. "Sure it'll work." Ianto knew that he was never even going to be caught dead in one of those flowery Hawaiian shirts, so he decided it would be better if his cousin also stayed away from that theme.

The gray pinstriped suit he'd picked looked a little too formal, so Ianto chose a salmon colored shirt, just to add a little color. He wasn't sure if he should wear a tie, but picked one anyway. He could always just take it off later.

"I can wear it when we go and pick up Castiel, right?" Gwen cocked her head as she looked at herself in the mirror. "Of course. You look very proper and decent." Ianto had totally forgotten that they were going to kidnap the choirboy.

When Cas called in the morning and begged Gwen to come up with a plan to get him to the party, she'd been excited. They weren't sure if the con would work, but when Gwen put her mind to it, she was a pretty good little liar.

Both of them would have a good reason for not going with the Hawaiian theme because they couldn't show up at the Novak house like that. John could be a little disappointed, so it was nice to have an excuse.

Johnny, Ianto's brother in law, had found the whole thing quite humorous, and promised to help out as well.

When they finally stood on the stoop at Castiel's house, Ianto started to feel a little uncomfortable. They were going to lie to man of the clergy, and it didn't sit well with him. Not that he was particularly religious, but it wasn't right.

"Oh, Hi Mr Novak." Gwen smiled and put on her most innocent look when Castiel's father opened the door. They had never met him, and as far as they knew he had never been to the school. When Gwen dropped Castiel off the other day, he left the car the before they were near the house, so it was very unlikely that he had seen any of them before. "We were wondering if we could talk to Castiel. We need a big favor from him." The man looked a bit taken aback, but then he furrowed his brows. "Jim is busy. What is it exactly you want with him?"

Gwen looked down for a second. "Er, our little church choir are going to sing at a nursing home, but our lead tenor got laryngitis. We are desperate, and I know that Ca.., uh, Jim knows all the songs by heart. He sings in your choir, right?" She shook her head and wiped the corner of her eye with her index finger. "We could still do it, but…"

Ianto was quite impressed when it looked like Gwen was about to cry. She pretended to do her best to compose herself before she looked at the man again. "It's a tradition, and it will be so sad if we let the elderly down. They are looking forward to this, and the staff always arrange a little dinner party for us after."

Mr Novak seemed to think about it for a moment. "Where is this? I can take him there if he wants to come." That was not in the plans. Ianto didn't know how they were going to get out of that one, but Gwen didn't falter. "Oh, thanks, Mr Novak, but we're going to somewhere near Akron. It's quite a drive. Our choir director will take us." She pointed to the car. Johnny was leaning on the door, and gave Mr Novak a quick wave. He was wearing jeans and a golf shirt, but he had put on a nice suit jacket for the occasion.

"Hmm. I don't know. That's a long way. When will you be back then?" Mr Novak looked a little bit more convinced now. "We will definitely try to make it back for the fireworks. We always do." Gwen sounded eager, but calmed herself as she spoke. "If he has plans, it's okay. We just wanted to try, but we got to get going or else we'll be late."

It took a few seconds before Mr Novak nodded. Then he turned around and left them on the stoop. Ianto rolled his eyes. He was thoroughly impressed by his cousin, but he had a bad taste in his mouth.

As soon as Castiel came to the door, Gwen hurried to reach her hand out. "Hi, I hope you remember me from when we sang together. This is Ianto, he is also in our choir. I don't know if your father told you…" She threw a quick smile at the man standing behind Cas. "But we could really need your help."

Castiel looked totally confused, but he played along. "Yes I remember you. My father told me that you needed a tenor, and I'll be happy to help you out." He turned briefly to his father. "If it's okay with him."

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

"NO WAY!" Dean looked quite disgusted when Sam managed to find that flowery shirt his father was sporting when they at one point in time hung out on Miami Beach. "Not in a million years. This is how far I'm willing to go." He patted his chest. The bright red 'Levis' t-shirt had been stuck in the closet ever since he got it, but if John wanted 'colorful', he'd get colorful.

"I do not think that that was what he meant." Sam had been to a thrift store and found himself a blue short sleeved shirt with a pattern of big white flowers. With his khaki shorts he looked like he belonged in Hawaii. "You are going to freeze to death, you know that, right?" Dean put on his leather jacket. "Blue jeans it is. A luau in the middle of winter is just silly. I'm sure John will understand that it's a bit too cold for beachwear."

Sam shrugged. "It'll be fine. We're going to be indoors right?" He looked out the window at the snow falling. "But I guess sandals are out of the question." They had barely seen snow so far this winter, and it didn't look like this one was going to stay either, but it would still be too cold for bare feet.

Along with the party invitation, Sam had also received a friends request from John. The message that followed it made it quite clear that John was informed about the assistant position. It felt really good to be a part of the choir even if it was just as a laborer, and Sam hoped that the others were informed as well.

With the money they got from their friends and the check that finally arrived from their dad, they had payed the rent for a month, and still they had a couple of hundred dollars to spare. They knew they had to try to save most of it; one could never know when things could get a little tight again, but at least they didn't have to starve.

That Dean had spent some of it to pay Rita back for the whiskey he 'borrowed', and at the same time convinced her to buy him another one, was not in Sam's plans. What was also not a planned purchase was the small bag of weed that Dean brought back after taking Rita to the liquor store.

"She gave it to me very cheap. It's barely enough for a couple of joints. Don't worry, we still have enough money." Dean admitted that he didn't plan to tell Sam about it, but it fell out of his pocket when he pulled out the change. "I'll get a paycheck next week. I know it's not that big, but we'll be fine."

That 'easy come, easy go' mentality was something Dean had inherited from their father. Sam was way more economical than any of them, and would have wanted to be the one in charge of the funds. Most of the time it didn't really matter because they didn't have anything to stash away for a rainy day. This was the first time in a long time that they actually had more than a few bucks, and Sam wanted to try to save some of it at least.

"We can't come to a party with nothing." Dean tried to rationalize, but Sam didn't fall for it. "John posted that he would provide everything." He sighed before he continued. "And the weed. Do you really think that you'll be able to smoke it at the party?"

Dean never answered, but Sam noticed that he'd tucked the bag into his jeans pocket as he got dressed for the party.

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

Jo had to come up with a little while lie if she was going to attend this party. She had frequently spent the night at Gwen's place, so she decided to use that excuse this time as well. Gwen had no problems with that. It was likely that they were going to end up there anyway, unless the party turned into a giant sleepover.

Her parents hadn't been too thrilled about her spending so much time with the guys in the choir when her grades started to drop, but after being tutored by Castiel, they were now very satisfied with her progress.

She had really enjoyed the sessions. Castiel was so cute and to begin with she kind of got a crush on him. It faded quickly because he wasn't really her type anyway. Over time she'd also started to believe that John and Gwen were right about his sexual orientation.

There was nothing she could really pinpoint, but he never seemed to be interested in looking at girls. When the football team came by though, he always followed them with his eyes, and sometimes she noticed a little blush on his cheek. It wasn't much to go on, and she soon realized that she didn't care.

It was kind of funny though that they both got a little short winded when those guys appeared. Jo had to admit that she always looked for Dean, although he never really seemed to notice her. She also liked both John and Jack, but she knew they all looked at her as the baby, and she'd probably never get a chance with any of them.

A couple of boys in her English class had showed some interest in her, but she found them too childish for her liking. The only one her age that she kind of liked was Dean's little brother. He looked older than his age, and he also seemed way more mature than the rest of the sophomores.

Sam was a little bit of a nerd, but he had that little sparkle in his eyes and the most beautiful smile. Even if they had sat at the same table for lunch on multiple occasions, she didn't really feel that she knew him. When she discovered that he was going to attend the party at John's, she decided to try to change that.