A/N: For the most part, it's a joy to find songs for this fic, although sometimes it can be hard to dig up something that fits. I have been listening to music that I don't normally pay much attention too, and it's fun. I hope that you guys will check out the tunes that you're less familiar with, and listen to them. On some occasions the music itself set the mood for that particular part of the story, and I try to keep it in my head as I write, just to make sure i stay in that mood.

The party is over and everybody retires to their rooms. Cas and Dean have a moment alone, but it doesn't lead to anything. A few of them are seriously hung over on the ride back the next morning. As they are parting to go home, Dean gets another chance to be alone with Cas, but that doesn't lead to much either.

Songs in this chapter

A few random songs

Thinking out loud - Ed Sheeran - M/L: Ed Sheeran, Amy Wadge

Pigs on the wing Part 1 and 2 - Pink Floyd - M/L: Roger Waters

Only a handful of people was left in the room when John got the call. The conversation was short, and as he listened to the caller he panned the room and nodded. It was their cue. Charlie and Unique had volunteered to meet up with the teachers when they arrived and try to make sure that they wouldn't check in on anyone. Sam Winchester held his liquor rather well, so he too would be in the welcoming party.

The three of them took off immediately and without a question. They all kind of knew that the party was over in a few anyway, so there was no need to postpone it.

"Come on. Help out. This party is over. We have about seven minutes." As soon as he'd hung up, John practically flew around to collect all the empty cans and bottles.

"They won't come in here. Just tell them that we are sleeping. We'll turn off the light and pretend." Dean was lying on the bed with his hand under his neck not making any attempt to help out. "Y'all need to get out of here before they come. Just leave it. We can fix it when the coast is clear again."

John panned the room. It didn't look too bad, and what Dean said made a lot of sense. "He's right. We are running out of time, and I really don't want to get caught." That the room reeked of alcohol was an issue they couldn't do anything about regardless, so it was better to try to stop any of the teachers from setting foot in there.

"And take her." Dean nodded towards Gwen. She had fallen asleep at the table with her head resting on her hands. "Oh, shit." John rolled his eyes towards Ianto. "What he says. Come on Ianto. Let's get out. How drunk is she? Can she walk on her own?"

Ianto threw his hands out and shrugged. "No clue." He went over to her and shook her violently. "Come on cousin. We have no time. We have to get you to bed now."

Gwen didn't budge, and when Ianto tried to force her out of the chair, she lashed out for him. "Leave me alone. I'm fine." She went back to her original position and passed out again.

"Don't bother." John started to get a little stressed. "Dean can pick up that mess later as well. Chances are that they won't check on the girls, and they can't come in here. You guys better lock the door."

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

Dean had no desire to sleep on that little couch. He'd stayed in too many motels in his time to know that it wasn't any good. When they were younger, Sam would always end up there, but as he grew up and turned into that long lanky dude he was now, Dean had to take it. That was one of the reasons he didn't help out. He didn't want to get out of the bed and risk losing it.

It was obvious that Jack had the same thought because he practically dived into the other bed before Ianto could take it.

The Welshman gave up getting his cousin out, and Dean got very surprised when the guy grabbed his bag to follow John outside. He was watching them from under his lashes, and wondered what was going on.

He opened his eyes wide when he realized that Castiel was still in the room. Dean didn't get a chance to say anything before the guy flipped a switch. It went dark, and it took a few seconds for Dean's eyes to adjust to it.

"Hey. I was… I can't find my bag." Jack whispered rather loudly. "Shush. We have to pretend to be asleep." Castiel' voice was barely audible as he padded across the floor and locked the door. As he did so, they could hear a car in the distance. "I guess it's them. Just keep quiet."

Dean didn't know what to think. What was Cas even doing here? He got a little bit of time to ponder over that as they waited, hoping that their chaperones would stay away.

"We switched." Castiel whispered as he peeked out the window. "Me and Ianto. I hope it's okay." For Dean it was more than okay, but he could hear that Jack emitted a disgruntled scoff before muttered: "Ianto and John. I guess I should have seen that coming." Castiel shushed him again before he sat down at the table where Gwen was sleeping soundly on the other side..

They were quiet for about ten minutes, and Dean could feel that he was about to doze off when a ping from his phone startled them all. He dug it out of his pocket. It was a text from his brother. "Coast clear. Everybody has turned in." He read it out loud, and before he had finished, Jack hurried to turn on the bedside lamp. It gave them enough light to move around, so Dean didn't bother to turn on his.

"Sorry Cas, but you're on the couch. It's non negotiable." Jack dug out a toothbrush from his pack and walked over to the bathroom. "It's fine." Cas slumped down on it and patted the seat. "It doesn't seem to bad. I'll be okay, but what do we do with her?" He nodded towards Gwen.

Dean didn't care much about Gwen, but he knew that they had to help her. Sleeping in that position through the night would probably make her quite sore in the morning. "I don't know. We should try to wake her, but I don't know where her room is so I can't follow her."

"I'll do it." Jack was obviously done in the bathroom. He walked over to the girl and shook her gently. "Come on sleepyhead. We have to get you to bed." She drew her breath heavily before she lifted her head a few inches of the table. "Jack. How nice. But wouldn't you rather sleep with Ianto?" She drew her breath again and rubbed her eyes. Then she startled visibly. "Sorry, sorry. I was dreaming. What's going on? Where am I?"

Jack chuckled a little as he grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of the chair. "I'll walk you to your room."

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

It took a little while for Jack to come back. In the meantime, Cas dug out the bedlinens from under the couch to make his bed, while Dean was in the bathroom. As soon as Dean was done, Cas hurried to grab his toiletries and rush in to get ready for bed.

Part of him wanted to hurry so that he could spend a few minutes alone with Dean, while another part dreaded the idea. He tried to relax as he decided to just keep a normal pace. If Jack came back before he was done, it was just…

Jack hadn't come back yet when Castiel came out, and he was a bit surprised. "I wonder what he's up to. Jack I mean." Dean commented on the guy's absence as he fluffed up the pillow before he sat back down on his bed.

Castiel shrugged as he went over to the kitchenette and turned on the tap to get a glass of water. "Oh, yeah. I need some water too." Dean got up and came over to grab a cup from the counter. The closeness gave Castiel shivers down his spine, and he couldn't help hitching his breath.

He let the water run for the longest time because he really wanted Dean to stay there for a little while. When Dean's hand brushed down his arm, Cas startled a little, but he managed to stay collected.

"Are you going to empty the reservoir or are we actually going to get a drink of water before we go to bed?" Dean's mouth was very close to Castiel's ear as he whispered the words. "Hmpf. I… Sorry." Cas held his own cup under the streaming water and filled it up before he tried to scoot away to give Dean access to the sink.

Dean didn't move. He breathed heavily into Castiel's ear as he grabbed onto his shoulder. Cas lifted his cup to take a sip, but his hand was shaking so much that he had to give it up. When Dean's other hand wrapped around his waist, he lost the grip on the cup and it fell into the sink and shattered.

Castiel could feel Dean's lips on his neck before the sound of the doorknob turning made them jump apart. Dean practically dived into his bed while Cas started picking the shards of glass out of the sink.

Jack looked from one to the other as he crossed the floor. The expression on his face was obvious. He knew that something had happened between them, but luckily he didn't say anything about it.

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

The ride back to Lima was not pleasant. Gwen was sitting in the back of the bus with Jo and Kevin. The three of them were thoroughly hung over, and Unique had demanded that they stayed away from the rest of the group in case they were getting sick. She had stolen a bucket from the motel to make sure they didn't puke on the seats, and she acted like their mother as she strictly told them to stay put and shut up.

Gwen was fine with that. She didn't feel nauseous at all, but her head was pounding. Jo had puked her guts out before they left the motel, so she was pretty sure the girl didn't have more to give. She'd curled up in fetal position and occupied the whole two seater across from Gwen.

Kevin was more of a concern. He looked rather pale leaning against the window behind her. The tail end of the bus made a few abrupt turns, and every time it happened, he seemed to be swallowing hard. He had the aforementioned bucket on his lap, and Gwen was pretty sure that he'd need i sooner or later.

She looked over at the rest of the choir. They had got little time to talk much before they had to leave, and she hadn't exchanged one word with her cousin since last night. Ianto and John were sharing a seat, and it did surprise her, but if the two of them were back being best friends it pleased her immensely.

It could of course be more to it than that, but it didn't look like there was anything else going on between them. Maybe they were just good at hiding it, but Gwen was pretty sure that it was only friendship.

Sam Winchester and Garth were sitting together. Even if the latter had been the first one to pass out last night it didn't seem to have any effect on him now. He was on fire as he tried to keep the mood up by singing random songs.

Dean sat across from them with his guitar on his lap, and he tried to strum it to follow Garth's lead, but he didn't put too much effort into it. It could seem like he was paying more attention to the couple in the seat in front of him. Unique and Castiel threw clandestine glances behind them, but every time Dean looked up, they hurried to turn away.

Jack was sitting all the way in the front across from the twins. His nose was buried in a book, and as far as Gwen could make out, he didn't look up once during the whole trip. She remembered vaguely that he'd walked her to her room last night, and she blushed a little to herself when she recalled how she'd clung to him as they crossed the courtyard.

She was pretty sure that he was more interested in Ianto, so it was kind of embarrassing to admit that her thighs were tingling a bit when she peeked over at him. The way his hand had wandered down her backside during the short walk last night, could possibly mean that he wasn't a hundred percent gay. Then again, he kind of did those sort of things all the time to practically everybody, so she should definitely not take it personal. It was like if he couldn't help himself.

At the moment he seemed to be content in his own little world, although he didn't look too happy. Gwen guessed that he was a little grumpy about Ianto and John hanging out. It was not a secret that Jack and John had competed over her cousin, but she didn't know for sure how serious that was.

Charlie was sleeping in the seat behind Mason and Madison, while Jane sat behind Jack and tried to sing along with Garth.

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

"When your legs don't work

like they used to before,

and I can't sweep you off of your feet…"

Finally a song that Dean was more familiar with. He prided himself in being good at picking the chords for any song he heard, but Garth was all over the place and he didn't stay long on each song he started.

"And, darling, I will be loving you

'til we're seventy

and, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 23…"

This was definitely going to take his mind of what happened last night. He had been drunk and a little bit too daring for his own comfort. When he woke up in the morning, Castiel had been ready to leave already, and they didn't get time to talk. It was just as well. Dean didn't know what to say anyway.

"So honey now

take me into your loving arms

Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars

Place your head on my beating heart…"

A few of the others had joined Garth singing this song, and Dean could hear Castiel's subtle voice trickling into his ear.

"...maybe we found love right where we are."

Dean had always been a classic rock kind of guy, but when he at one point in the not too distant past had discovered Ed Sheeran's songs, he'd grown quite fond of the guy's work. This one was very popular at the moment, but it was not Dean's favorite. He could still play it by heart, and didn't have to pay much attention as he strummed the guitar.

"...when my hands don't play the strings the same way…

I know you will still love me the same."

He'd noticed how Castiel and Unique had thrown a few glances behind them during the trip, and he knew that the two of them were talking about what happened. With the singing and chatter amongst the other guys, Dean had not been able to hear them even if he was sitting pretty close. It was probably for the best. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"So, baby, now

Take me into your loving arms

Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars

Oh, darling, place your head on my beating heart

I'm thinking out loud

But maybe we found love right where we are

Oh, baby, we found love right where we are

And we found love right where we are."

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

Sam Evans had been there to greet them when the bus driver left them in the school's parking lot. He'd hugged each and every one of them as they came off the bus before he reminded them about the next competition. "Nationals is going to take place in Orlando, Florida."

He was all smiles although he must have noticed that a couple of his students were still a bit hungover, and that they had clearly not heeded his words the night before. Most of them were fine though; the party hadn't lasted long enough to get them all drunk, but a few had no tolerance for alcohol.

"Most of you will be done with your exams at that time, but it will be tough." The guys in the choir just wanted to go home, but Mr Evans kept talking. "We know." Jack rolled his eyes. Did their director really think that they didn't know? "We may not even get invited, so what's the point talking about it now." He was tired and a little bit grumpy, and he had no desire to hang outside of school any longer than he needed.

The director looked at him. Sam's smile didn't fade much, but it was evident that he didn't like the interruption. "Yeah, well. We are competing with about fifty other choirs as you all know, and the judges will be here in about two weeks."

Among all the winners of the different regional championships, only twelve choirs would be eligible. The judges would pick the twelve from watching videos of them, but they would also travel the country to see them live. "We don't have much time. Our regionals were postponed; which was unfortunate, and it means that we have little time to prepare."

Jack didn't know that, but he wasn't discouraged. "Okay, but we can't do anything today regardless." He was so tired that he could possibly have fallen asleep on his feet. He was also quite pissed about what happened between Ianto and John. The whole Ianto situation had made him twist and turn all night, and even if he got a few seconds of sleep on the bus, it was hardly enough.

"I agree, but I just wanted you to be aware of the situation, and be ready for two weeks of intense rehearsal. I have arranged for a dance coach to come, and Rachel, er, Miss Berry will take time off to help perfect the performance."

Garth emitted a few whoops, but nobody joined in. Everybody else looked just as tired as Jack felt. He got a little excited knowing that Rachel would be back, but he was in no shape to cheer at the moment. "Cool, but can we go now?"

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

Gwen, Ianto and Jo were waiting for Ianto's sister to pick them up; Jack and Garth had already left with Charlie, and Kevin had decided to walk home. "Need a bit of fresh air." He still looked a bit pale as he waved goodbye to his friends.

John had offered to take the Welshies home, but Ianto had already called his sister, and had to decline. "Sorry. Should have asked you first, but… See you tomorrow." The two boys hugged before John took off.

"You need a ride?" Dean knew that he sounded a bit hesitant as addressed Cas. He nodded towards the Impala and tried to look somewhat aloof. It could look like Castiel was about to follow Unique to her car when he got the question. He didn't get a chance to reply, Unique flipped around. "That'll be great. I'm taking Jane and the twins, so if you don't mind. Saves me a long drive around town."

Sam Winchester was leaning on the hood of the Impala when Gwen ran over to him. Dean couldn't hear what they talked about, but the girl was gesturing towards Jo and Ianto before she started pulling Sam with her. He looked a little intimidated, but followed her willingly.

"What do you say?" Dean was staring at his brother a little puzzled, and didn't look at Cas as he asked him again. At that moment, Rhiannon pulled up next to the foursome, and before Dean realized what was going on, Sam waved and entered her car with the others.

"Sure. If you're offering, it'll be great. Unique's car doesn't really fit five." Dean startled a little when Cas suddenly was next to him. He looked totally relaxed as he walked over to the Impala and opened the passenger door. He threw his bag into the backseat before he turned around. "Let's go then."

Dean really wanted to take Cas home, but he'd thought that Sam would be there as well. Not that he didn't want to be alone with Castiel, but it would have been a little easier to keep a conversation going.

As he pulled out of the parking lot, Dean couldn't come up with anything sensible to say. He was pretty sure that whatever came out of his mouth would sound totally lame. He did not have to worry.

"Can't believe we won. I really thought that the other choirs would be better, but… well I didn't hear them sing, but Mr Schuester and Mrs Lopez told me that they kind of knew that… you know, er, Vocal Adrenaline was awesome according to them, but they didn't have the best tenor. Jack blew the judges away." Cas drew his breath. "I mean, he is really good, but don't ever tell him I said that. He is a little too cocky."

The guy was ranting. Dean was happy that they didn't have to make the drive in total silence, but he would have wanted to talk about other things. "Rachel Berry. You know she's a star, and she's going to coach us for nationals. It's so totally awesome. I'm not sure it will help. We are competing with the best of the best, but…" Castiel stopped rather abruptly when the car approached the intersection that connected with the street where the Novak-residence was.

"Oh. We're here already. That was, er, fast." Cas sighed heavily, and Dean spotted a little bit of disappointment in his voice. It pleased him immensely, and he slowed down significantly before they reached Castiel's street. With the blinker on, Dean turned to look at his passenger. "I can always drive around the block if you want." He knew that if he turned on the next street instead, it would take about three more minutes to reach the house from the other side.

Dean wanted to spend time with Castiel, but he had no idea how. The few encounters that could have led to anything had happened when Dean was drunk. Alert and sober, he didn't have the guts to say or do anything. Driving around the block wouldn't change that, and he wanted to beat himself up for being such a whimp.

"No. It's okay." Cas looked away and exhaled audibly. "I have to get some sleep. I, I, uh. You know… Do you want to hang out sometime?" The car rolled slowly towards the intersection, and Dean could see that Castiel's face turned red. He sped up a little and entered the street. "Sure. We could... like, a movie maybe?"

Five seconds later they were outside the house. Castiel reach back to get his bag before he turned to Dean. "Maybe. Yeah, sounds like a plan." He opened the door and crawled out of the car.

Dean watched him as he walked to the door, and he didn't drive away until Cas was inside. He'd hoped for a smile, a wave or just a quick glance, but Castiel entered the house without looking back.

Dean turned on the stereo as he pulled away from the curb. The sound of that lonely guitar was totally unfamiliar to him, and he knew that his brother was to blame.

"If you didn't care what happened to me

And I didn't care for you..."

It was Pink Floyd, and Dean reached out to change the music, but then he just let it be.

"We would zig zag our way through boredom and pain

Occasionally glancing up through the rain

Wondering which of the buggers to blame

And watching for pigs on the wing."

The lyrics made absolutely no sense to him, but the tune fit his mood rather well. The guitar sounded cool enough; maybe this band wasn't so bad after all.

'A movie maybe?' Dean suddenly realized that those were pretty much the only words he'd uttered during the drive. Well, except for the little discussion before they entered Castiel's street. 'A movie maybe?' What would that entail exactly?

Dean wondered if he was supposed to initiate it, or if Castiel would step up and take charge. It didn't have to be a movie, he could take Cas out for dinner or just invite him over one day. He was outside his own building before he had come to any conclusion.

"I gotta admit that I'm a little bit confused

Sometimes it seems to me as if I'm just being used

Gotta stay awake, gotta try and shake off this creeping malaise

If I don't stand my own ground, how can I find..."

Pink Floyd was still on as he parked the car. Dean turned off the engine effectively choking the music.

He knew he should probably come up with something rather quickly. Dean didn't know how long Castiel would wait for him to man up, but it took a little while before he had time to ponder on in much.