John is planning a secret after party. Gwen and the rest of the girls are planning the beauty-salon. Ianto and Dean are searching for an outfit for the latter. Gwen shows Castiel her dress, and after that Cas has a surprise encounter in the hall. Sam is driving Dean to the dinner at Ianto's house, and has a plan to meet up with Jo. Gwen is hungover, and Jack reminisce about being a freshman in high school.
Songs in this chapter
We are never ever getting back together - Taylor Swift - M/L: T. Swift, M. Martin, Shellback
What makes you beautiful - One Direction - M/L: Savan Kotecha
There were rumors going around that John was going to have an after-party. How those rumors evolved was anybody's guess, but he himself denied it vigorously when he got attacked by a bunch of classmates after fourth period.
Jack, Mason and John were the only seniors left from the choir; everybody else had hurried out of there to get ready for tomorrow's event. The girls were having a get-together to organize the 'beauty-salon-fundraiser', and were long gone. Ianto had left with the Winchesters, and Jack saw his last opportunity to ask Ianto to the prom fly away with them.
As most of the students in school rushed out to catch the different school busses, the four of them hung back for a moment. With choir practice practically every day, they weren't used to walk out of there in big crowd.
"Hey. It's true." John leaned over and whispered to Jack and Mason. "I'm having a party, but don't tell anyone. I will pick the guests myself." Castiel was on the other side of him, and tried to look like he hadn't overheard it. "The two of you are obviously invited, and also the other ones from Glee club, but I'm gonna be very picky on who else I'm having over."
He turned briefly to Cas. "Are you going? It doesn't really matter, you can come anyway, but I don't know when we'll be there." Castiel nodded hesitantly. "I am. I am going. Thank you. I guess I'll come, I think."
Jack looked at him curiously, but didn't say anything. Castiel could have been invited by anyone, but he guessed that it was somebody from the choir. John was obviously just as surprised. "Did he invite you? Really? That's awesome. He dug up some money then." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "I know that Mr Winchester senior is here, so I guess he coughed some cash."
That was an unusually rude comment from John. Not that he couldn't be quite obnoxious from time to time, but that tone wasn't as humorous as usual. Jack was a little taken aback by it, but decided to keep his mouth shut and maybe confront John at a later time. "What? No. I'm going with, erm, Gwen." It was quite clear that Castiel got a little offended on Dean's behalf, but he managed to stay composed.
"Sorry! I'm sorry." John squeezed his eyes shut and scratched his forehead. "Don't tell anyone that I said that." He looked at the three others. "I'm just. My mother isn't always there, but she makes sure that I have everything I need." He rolled his eyes. "Well, sometimes I miss her profoundly, but…"
He sighed heavily. "I'm in no position to judge, but I feel sorry for Dean and Sam. They deserve to have a home. Even if their dad is on the road or whatever, he shouldn't just abandon them for weeks or months at the time." It could look like he was about to work himself up further, but then he just slumped his head down. "Not in that whore-house of a building anyway."
Jack agreed with him, and it was perfectly clear that Cas was on the same page as well. This was an issue that they all had been aware off, but it had been off limits to discuss. Not because they had made any joint decision about it. It was more the fact that nobody wanted to open up that can of worms.
"What's gonna happen when school's over?" John looked up and stared at the other three. "I know that Dean applied for college, but they can't live like that."
Jack didn't know what to say. He'd tried to live a dream in New York. It hadn't worked out so well, and most of the time he was broke, but he always knew that he could go back home to be pampered, and get an 'I told you so' from his parents.
"There's nothing we can do about it. Do you want to confront Mr Winchester and give him a piece of your mind?" Jack wished that they could do something, but he didn't see any fast solution to the dilemma; nothing they could solve standing there in the parking lot anyway.
"Well, erm, no." John waved his hands in the air in frustration. "Maybe Dean doesn't even want to stay here. He's eighteen, uh, nineteen and can do whatever he wants, but his brother is only sixteen, and has to do what his father tells him to do."
Castiel cleared his throat making all of them turn to him. He seemed to hold his breath for a moment before he finally spoke. "I don't think there is much we can do, except providing them with a real option." He paused for a second. "Whatever we can do to make it possible for them to stay regardless of their father's wishes, we should try."
They all nodded in agreement before John made a little speech. "Okay. I can talk to Dean and ask him directly. I mean… I, I'm not close with him or anything, so if he gets pissed off and doesn't want to speak to me ever again, I think I'll survive." He sighed. "I'm probably not going to be here next school year anyway, but I can't live with myself if I don't try to help them."
Jack wanted to applaud. He felt exactly the same. Even if he was going to leave Lima in a few weeks, he really wanted to help the Winchesters. He didn't really know Sam that well, but Dean was a good guy and he deserved a better life.
They parted with a promise to keep that particular conversation to themselves.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Everybody was done with their exams; it hadn't been easy to make time for studying in between everything else, but now there was only one thing on their minds. Well, for some there were two.
Prom night was coming up, and with Friday off from choir practice, the seniors and their dates were busy getting ready for the event.
Gwen had invited the girls over for a last minute pep-talk to make sure that everything was set for Saturday morning. They had been allowed to use the girl's locker room as a beauty salon, and had spent their free period that day to decorate it accordingly.
The client-list was long, and there wouldn't be much time to tidy up the place when they were done. Unique was going out to dinner with John and would be picked up directly from school; Gwen had to help out at home before the meal at the Jones' house, and would have to leave a little early.
Jane had a date and couldn't stay till the end either, and Madison was going to pick up Jack and her brother, so she worried she'd run out of time as well. Jo and Charlie promised to take care of everything after the seniors had left, and didn't mind that they were not going to prom.
They were all sitting in the basement chatting and laughing, and didn't hear the doorbell. Ianto's sister opened the door at the top of the stairs and had to shout to be heard over the chatter. "Hey. Did you expect another guest, or is this one for Ianto?" She practically pushed Castiel through the door to show them who she was talking about.
"Oh, yeah. He's for here. Ianto isn't even home yet, is he?" Gwen jumped up and waved for Cas to come downstairs. She cocked her head and looked at the other girls. "He's my date for the prom, and promised to help out at the salon tomorrow." She gave him a hug and gestured for him to sit down. "I've been told that he's pretty good with the color palette."
Castiel looked a little intimidated. "Well, I, I'm not that good, but if you need an extra pair of hands, I'll do my best." He sat down on the armrest of the couch. Unique scoffed. "He's a natural. I've taught him everything, and…" She fluttered her lashes. "I mean, he's done my make-up several times, and I'm extremely picky."
The dynamics in the room change a bit with a boy amongst them. They had been joking around, sharing a few secrets, while laughing hysterically in between. With Cas sitting there, they immediately tried to get down to business and be more serious.
It lasted only so long. A half hour later later, with a little bit of wine under their belts, they had forgotten all about the salon, and were just fooling around again. Charlie and Cas did try to get them back on track, but both Unique and Gwen were confident that they were all set anyway.
"We are never ever ever getting back together,
We are never ever ever getting back together,"
Suddenly Gwen started singing along with the song that was on. It took only seconds before a couple of the others followed her lead.
"Like, ever...
I'm really gonna miss you picking fights
And me falling for it screaming that I'm right
And you would hide away and find your peace of mind
With some indie record that's much cooler than mine."
That Castiel didn't participate didn't seem to bother them. When they reached the next chorus Jo got up and pointed at him.
"We are never, ever, ever getting back together
We are never, ever, ever getting back together
You go talk to your friends, talk to my friends, talk to me (talk to me)
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together."
Cas just shook his head. He did try to look sad, but the little smile tugging his lips told them that he was enjoying himself.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
It was okay to bring Ianto to the apartment. He'd been there before and knew what kind of place this was. Dean had to dig deep into his drawer to find a tie, and he wasn't sure it the one good shirt he owned would work either.
Ianto looked a little repulsed by the selection, but seemed to be doing his best to keep a straight face. "It'll be fine. Take the black one. It goes with anything." He pointed at the leather tie in Dean's hand. "Leather? Isn't it a bit, you know… you sure?" Dean had hoped to find something more classy; he had a few after his father, but he decided to listen to his friend.
"But not with that shirt. Don't you have anything else?" Ianto threw his hands out and rolled his eyes. "We don't want it to look like you're going to a funeral. A little color won't hurt."
They were both going back to Ianto's house later to pick a suit for Dean. They had already found out that except for being a little tight over the shoulders, any jacket would fit. The pants were a different story, but Ianto had decided that worst case scenario, Dean could wear black jeans.
"Yeah, but none of my jeans are back. A couple of them were at one time, but now they are worn and faded." He did pick out a pair to show his friend. Ianto shrugged. "No problem. We can dye them if we need to."
Dean liked Ianto's solution-oriented demeanor, although he wasn't sure that all of his solutions would fly. They only had a little more than a day to get ready, and without a dryer, Dean couldn't just soak his pants and expect to put them on the next evening.
As if he'd read his thought's, Ianto ripped the jeans out of Dean's hands. "Don't worry. Bring them. We can do it at our house if we need to." He gestured for Dean to hurry up. "I'm positive we can find a shirt in my closet that will fit you, but if not, take the one you have."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
They ended the little get together in the basement before it was too late. The girls had to get up early the next morning, and didn't want to be too tired. Mr Evans was going to meet them at nine thirty to let them in, so most of them were out of there before ten to make sure they got their beauty-sleep, to use Unique's words.
Unique, Jane, and Madison had been very careful with the wine, and Charlie didn't drink any. Jo was more than a little tipsy, but she was going to spend the night and didn't have to drive home anyway. She fell asleep on the couch while Castiel helped Gwen tidying up a bit, and Gwen didn't even bother to wake her. After making sure that the girl was comfortable and thoroughly tucked in, they left her alone down there.
"You want to see my dress?" Gwen asked as Castiel was on his way towards the front door. "I mean, I, it's pretty, erm, pretty pretty." Cas shook his head and smiled. Gwen had not just been sipping the wine. She was drunk. "I thought I wasn't supposed to see it until tomorrow? Isn't that, I don't know." He shrugged.
"Oh no. It doesn't matter. That's if we were getting married. And anyway…" She stumbled a little in her own feet as she with a little flick of the wrist pointed a finger at Cas. "It's not a real date. I'm just taking you there so you can hook up with Dean. Please let me show you my dress."
Castiel didn't even bother to comment on that. He was happy that Gwen tried, but he had told himself not to expect anything. More importantly, he didn't have to get up that early in the morning, so it didn't matter for him if he stayed a little longer. He was concerned about Gwen though, and decided to comply just to wind her down a little.
The room wasn't that small, but the furniture in there didn't give them much space. Gwen's bed was a few sizes too big for it, and the dresser was a monstrosity. Castiel had to stand in the doorway to give Gwen a chance to move in there. "Ta-daa!" She held up the dress with a firm grip on the clothes hanger.
It wasn't that big poofy thing he'd pictured. The dress was sleek and formfitting with a little flair from the knees down. The sequined spaghetti straps crossed over each other on the back, and it wasn't hard to understand - even if it was on a hanger - that it was cut in a way that would reveal Gwen's skin almost to the buttcrack.
It was midnight blue, but Cas knew that beforehand. "I would have wanted to have a black one, but…" Gwen exhaled audibly as she tried to put it back on the little hook behind the door. "Rhiannon told me that it wasn't appropriate."
Castiel wanted to laugh. Any black dress would have been more appropriate than this. He wasn't even sure if Gwen would be allowed into the dancehall tomorrow night. "Yeah. Well. And she thought this one was okay?"
Gwen looked at him sideways, still struggling to hang it up. "Didn't you… don't you like it?" Finally, she managed to get it on the hook. "It wasn't cheap you know." The little wink told him that she wasn't perfectly truthful about the cost.
"I love it. It's gorgeous." Cas really meant it, but he wasn't sure if his opinion would matter when the chaperones saw Gwen in it. "It's very revealing. I mean… I don't know what to say." Another thing was that his cheap hand-me-down tux wouldn't give the dress much justice.
"Honestly. I didn't pay anything. I borrowed it from one of my friends back in the old country. I only had to pay for the shipping." Gwen giggled loudly. "Fuck, I'm drunk. It's going to be a rough morning."
Castiel didn't doubt that for a second. "I better go. Get to bed. Sleep it off. I know you're a trooper, so I'm sure you'll be fine." As he backed away, a door opened further down the hall. He could hear subtle music trickling out, but didn't pay much attention.
"Cas? What the….uh, sorry, what are you doing here?" Hearing Dean's voice was so unexpected that Castiel for a moment thought he was just imagining it. Gwen had obviously not heard it because as soon as Castiel got out of the way, she just slammed the door to her room shut.
"I, I, I…" He realized that keeping it a secret that he would be Gwen's date for the prom was unnecessary at this point. "I'm just having a little talk with my prom date. What are you doing here?"
Dean didn't answer the question. "You're going, erm, I mean you're going to be at the prom? That's awesome. I was…" Dean cleared his throat. "I'm going too. I needed to borrow a suit." He gestured behind him. "We were just listening to some music, but Ianto fell asleep so…"
Either there were nobody else home in the house, or they had all gone to bed already. The faint music from Ianto's room - that Cas could actually hear now when he knew about it - was the only sound in the whole house.
The two of them tiptoed down the stairs and headed for the door without uttering a word. Castiel put on his shoes and opened the front door quietly before he and Dean snuck out into the night.
"See you tomorrow then." Dean stopped on the sidewalk as he looked up and down the street. "Do you have a ride, or…" Cas wanted to say no, but he knew he had to take the car back. His dad was going to need it in the morning. "Sure, but I had to park all the way over there." He pointed towards the corner of the street.
"Oh, okay. See you." Maybe he was just imagining it, but Cas thought there was a little hint of disappointment in Dean's voice. "Yeah. Take care. Have safe ride home." He didn't want to just walk away, but Dean didn't do or say anything that could have made him wait.
Cas walked to his car and got in. When he took a u-turn to get out of the street, he noticed that Dean was still standing outside the house watching him leave. If he hadn't been such a chicken… The chance had gone, but they would hang out for hours tomorrow, so it was all good.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"You're insecure,
Don't know what for,
You're turning heads when you walk through the door,
Don't need…"
Gwen reached her hand out to turn of the alarm, effectively choking Liam mid sentence. It was way too early to get up. She passed out pretty quickly, but it didn't take long before the alarm went off again.
"You're insecure,
Don't know what for,
You're turning heads when you walk through the door,
Don't need make-up, to cover up,
Being the way that you are is enough."
She suddenly remembered what day it was, and she knew she had to try to get up. This was not her favorite One Direction song, and that's why she chose it as her alarm. This time she let it play.
"Baby you light up my world like nobody else,
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed,
But when you smile at the ground it ain't hard to tell,
You don't know, oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful,"
The headache wasn't that bad, but she could feel that when she moved her head or any other body part, she wanted to puke. It was a little unusual, but she didn't normally drink that much wine, so it was probably the reason.
"You don't know, oh oh,
You don't know you're beautiful, oh oh,
That's what makes you beautiful
So come on, you got it wrong,
To prove I'm right, I put it in a song…"
Suddenly the alarm stopped by itself, but Gwen knew it would start again in about nine minutes. She reached out for the phone and turned the alarm off.
The first couple of hours of their 'fundraiser-salon', Gwen was struggling not to vomit on the clients. The other girls knew that she's had a little too much last night, and they teased her a bit. "I told you so." Unique was not forgiving, and demanded that Gwen did her part regardless.
During a very short break, Jo presented some homemade rolls with ham and cheese. Gwen was repulsed by them at first, but decided to take a chance. She hadn't actually puked yet, but she warned them as they sat down for the quick meal, "It's gonna come back the same way it went in."
It didn't happen. The small roll and close to a gallon of water had cured her, and she soon back to her old self. "Never again. I don't want to see a wine bottle ever again." White wine would, from now on definitely be off the list of drinks she could tolerate. "We'll see." The dry comment from Jane didn't require a reply, but Gwen stuck her tongue out to her before she gave her a crooked smile. "Okay. Maybe not forever, but for now."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Are you just gonna leave your old dad alone?" John Winchester sat on the couch seemingly watching TV when he suddenly turned to Sam. Sam was getting ready to take Dean to the dinner at Ianto's house. He knew that Jo was at school tidying up after the 'beauty-salon' thing, and he had planned to go there to meet her as soon as Dean was dropped off.
"I, erm, I didn't really think about it. We made these plans before you came." Dean had already left the apartment and was waiting for Sam in the car. "I just wanted to spend some time with you boys, but Dean is so busy with everything. You are not going to prom, are you?"
Sam shook his head. "No, but I promised to meet a friend." He was stressing a little. Dean was going to take off without him if he didn't hurry, and that would leave him without a car for the evening.
"Some of my friends are helping out at the venue, and I promised to come over to drive them home." The little white lie didn't bother him so much. It wasn't too far from the truth. His dad turned back to the television and nodded. "Okay, okay. So you won't stay out late? Maybe we can do something fun together when you get back?"
He and Jo hadn't really made any plans for the evening. They were going to meet up, but what would happen next had never been discussed. Sam was hoping that Jo would invite him over to her house, because he couldn't possibly take her here. "Sure, Maybe. Sorry, I just have to go."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Back in the days, when he started high school, Jack had made big plans for his senior prom. When he dropped out of school to pursue his dream of being a Broadway actor, those plans had been tossed out the window.
As he was waiting for Mason and Madison to pick him up he remembered how he'd pictured it to be. Back then he was still too insecure about his own sexuality to even think about taking a guy to the prom, but he had been quite certain that the girl by his side would be one of the most popular girls in school.
This prom didn't fit that old dream at all.
He knew that there were plenty of girls at McKinley that would do anything to hang on his arm for this, but there was only one person he really wanted to invite, and he was off limits.
Jack didn't even know why he was so attracted to Ianto. The guy was no Broadway material; he wasn't even a little bit glamorous, but still, he had something.
Ianto was honest and kind. Nobody could deny that he was quite handsome as well, but it still didn't explain that Jack felt that he was falling head over heels for the guy. Maybe there was such a thing as soulmates? Maybe he and Ianto were supposed to be together in spite of everything that actually pulled them away from each other?
Jack knew perfectly well that love was fleeting, and he was not superstitious, but could it still be that some people were just made for each other?
What if he just told Ianto how he felt? What if there was a possibility that the two of them could make an arrangement that would work? If they could wait a year, and then…
It made no sense. Jack was adamant about not letting anything hold him back. He was going to make it big, and a teenager in Ohio was not going to change that. He could take another heartbreak as long as it was his own heart. He couldn't bear the thought of breaking Ianto's heart. John had been so spot on that it was almost a little scary. His biggest secret was not so much a secret anymore when somebody else knew how he felt.