Party time at John's house. Ianto and Jack are pining. Dean and Castiel are working around the difficulties. Sing along with a few oldies. Gwen has a minor concern.
Songs in this chapter
New York, New York - Frank Sinatra - M: John Kander, L: Fred Ebb
Dream a little dream of me - multiple recordings - M: F. Andre, W. Schwand, L: Gus Kahn
Fever - Peggy Lee (among others) - M/L: Eddie Cooley, Otis Blackwell
The prom was really over. Hanging around to see the stragglers trying to make more out of it was just boring. Dean knew that John was having a party, and that they would go there in the limo he'd rented for the whole night, but their host was procrastinating.
Most all of the guys from Glee was already outside, but Dean was still in there because he knew that Cas was in the restroom. He didn't want the guy to be left behind if John suddenly decided that it was time to go,
Castiel was done and didn't even look over as he hurried to get to the door. Dean got a little disappointed, but Cas probably expected everybody to be outside waiting for him. It was okay. He'd had a nice time at this prom. The chatter around the table had flown easily, and even if Dean didn't get to talk with Cas alone, they had participated in the same conversation, and shared a few looks.
"Let's go." John was obviously done with whatever he was doing and he slapped Dean's back as he passed him. "I just needed to get the guest-list sorted."
Their own party of nine entered the limo. Jane and her date would follow in his car, and the few others John had invited, would also come in separate vehicles.
John waved at the driver of the stretched town car before he started to usher people into it. Dean hung back a little. He didn't want to have to choose where to sit, and would settle for what was available in the end. The drive would be too short for it to matter much anyway.
They didn't manage to drink the champagne John served in the car before they reached their destination, but they did try. Gwen received some friendly teasing because she'd obviously said something about not drinking wine anymore after a severe hangover that morning. "Champagne doesn't count. It's totally different." She laughed as she toasted with the guys closest to her.
Dean lifted his glass towards her, but his eyes were focused elsewhere. Castiel looked away briefly as he took a small sip out of his glass before turned back and smiled clandestinely.
It was hard to interpret what that meant, but Dean returned the smile before he hurried to focus on Gwen again. She was making a short speech, just as the limo turned into John's street. "Fellow New Directioners, friends,'" she nodded towards Ianto, "family. I have so little time, and I will miss you all so much, and..." John interrupted. "You have no time. We're here." He was about to reach for the door handle when Gwen grabbed his arm. "I'll make it brief. I just wanted to say that this year has been the best. I love you all, and I hope that you will find the time, erm, and the money to come visit me."
John shook his head and rolled his eyes. The driver opened the door from the outside and stepped aside to let them out. Gwen was about to continue, but then Ianto shushed her. "You can do it inside. Wait until we're inside for Christ sake."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
A row of small hanging lanterns lit up the walkway to the house. "You really went out of your way for us." Unique tapped her finger on one of them so it swayed a little. John chuckled. "That's not me. That's my mom. She is having a party as well."
John led them inside, and as she stepped through the door, Unique could hear soft music coming from the livingroom. "We're just going through. but I have to introduce you to my mom first." John lifted his hand. "We have to wait for the rest of our party."
Jane and her date were right behind them, and a few minutes later, the prom queen and her boyfriend were inside as well.
"John, you're here! I didn't hear you come in, I'm so sorry. Are these your friends?" The woman that came towards them absolutely gorgeous. She had an aura of confidence about her and she did not look like she was old enough to have a eighteen year old son.
She shook everybody's hand before she and John walked together towards the living room with the rest of them in tow. Unique didn't really count, but there was close to twenty people in the room. Most of them look like they had stepped out of a fashion catalogue. Without the proper funds, Unique had to buy her clothes at department stores, but she knew haute couture when she saw it.
John's tailored tux fit perfectly into the party, but most of the guys from the prom had store bought clothes, and they kind of stuck out. The prom queen and her boyfriend didn't look totally out of place; Ianto's suit could probably pass, but it was really only Gwen, in her gorgeous dress, that looked like she could belong.
"We're going to the guesthouse." John walked straight through the room, and waved for them to follow.
Unique didn't remember the building from last time she was there. It had been too dark outside to see anything but the edge of the tarp that covered the pool.
Tonight, there were lights on in there, and the pool was also lit up by underwater lights.
The house wasn't big, but it was definitely big enough for their party. The couch was humongous, and could easily seat ten people. The little bar had two stools, and in the small kitchenette there were a couple of folding chairs.
The room was a about as wide as the pool, but it was only like a little more than ten feet across. "The bathroom is through the bedroom." John pointed at a door next to the kitchen counter. Unique nodded to herself as she took a quick walk around. "Filthy rich." She uttered the words to herself as she assessed it.
"But it's amazing, isn't it?" Gwen was suddenly at her side and Unique realized that she had said the words out loud. "Oh. I didn't really…" It was pointless to try to excuse herself. She could see that Gwen agreed.
John was opening the sliding doors facing the pool. They took up more than half of the wall, so when they were fully pulled away, the room extended to the water's edge. "If anybody wants a dip, we have plenty of swimsuits available." He walked over to the bar and leaned on it. "And if anybody wants a drink, we have, erm, whatever."
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
They could see over to the house. It was less than 25 feet away. Jack knew perfectly well that everybody in there could see them as well. It didn't look like anybody there were watching, but he was aware that John's mother would be capable of keeping an eye on them.
It didn't matter so much. She had okayed this, and she knew they would be drinking, so he assumed that she trusted her son well enough to take care of his guests. Jack didn't worry about it. He had other things on his mind.
He wouldn't get a chance to be alone with Ianto at this party. Jack knew that it wouldn't be a good idea anyway, but he really wanted to. Ianto's words in the restroom had made hunger for more, but he wasn't sure if he should do anything about it.
Graduation was a little more than a week away, and he'd promised his parents that he'd come home as soon as school was over. Rachel had offered him a small part in a new production she was planning in the fall, and he had taken it, so he would go to New York in July to prepare for the task.
It wasn't what he dreamed of, but it was a start. Being a part of Miss Berry's show could easily lead to something, and he treasured everything she did to help him get a foot into the business. Rachel had previously offered to help him get into NYADA, but Jack wasn't interested. Another few years at school wouldn't help. He was ready to go to work as soon as possible.
Ianto's offer was still very tempting, but Jack knew he had to let him go. It was a sad realization, but he didn't want to hurt the guy more than he had to. "If you love him, you have to let him go." John's words was haunting him as he leaned on the bar watching the Welchman sitting on the edge of his seat in a heated discussion with Castiel about something Jack couldn't hear. Jack knew it was the right decision. He had to let Ianto go.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Dean felt more comfortable approaching Castiel in this setting. He knew that both Gwen and Unique supported a relationship between them. He was also pretty sure that John and Jack didn't have a problem with it. Ianto and Jane wasn't appalled by it either, and the few guests that he didn't know very well didn't concern him much. The twins were a little dodgy on the matter, but Dean was pretty sure that they knew just as much as the rest of the guys in the choir.
If he managed to muster up the courage to walk over there, nobody would hold it against him.
He was hanging at the little bar with Jack. John was on the other side of the counter handing out drinks and seemed excited about it. "It's the first time she let me do this. My mom is concerned about us drowning. She wouldn't let me have a party by the pool before."
He rolled his eyes. "Not so. She didn't want me to have a party at the pool at night." John huffed as he handed another beer to the quarterback. "She allowed me to invite you all for a daytime pool party, but we never had time for it."
John lifted the bottle of Jack Daniels. "Another one?" Dean wasn't drunk, but he wasn't sure he should have another. "No, not now." He turned and looked over at the couch where Castiel was sitting. The guy was obviously arguing with Ianto about something. "No thanks. I'll wait."
Knowing that Jack had been targeting Ianto for a while, Dean decided to drag the guy into his scheme. He pointed over to the quarrelling couple. "Let's go and split them up. I don't know what they are arguing about, but I really need to talk to Cas."
Jack didn't react the way Dean had expected. "Erm. No. I'm fine. They are probably talking about religion, and I'm not… I, pfft, I can always create a distraction if you want to pull Cas away." He took a sip out of his drink, and bobbed his head from side to side. "John. I need some music."
John widened his eyes. "Sure. I kind of forgot to turn on the sound system. We can't play it very loud, but… oh, wait a second." He ran into the bedroom, and after a little less than a minute he came out with a box that kind of looked like a speaker with a screen on top. "I have a karaoke thingy. Let's try it."
He plugged it in and handed Jack the attached microphone. "There's not many songs to choose from here, but I'm sure… try this." Jack chuckled a little before he stepped forward as far as the cord would let him.
"Start spreading the news
I am leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New York."
Everybody turned around and looked at Jack. The little karaoke machine didn't really manage to fill the room with music, but Jack's voice definitely got the attention of the audience. Dean tried to catch Castiel's eyes, but even if the argument he had with Ianto ended quite abruptly, he didn't even throw a peek in Dean's direction.
"I want to wake up in a city
That doesn't sleep
And find I'm king of the hill
Top of the heap."
Dean was pretty sure that Jack meant every word, but he wasn't particularly interested. This was meant to be a diversion so that Dean could get a hold of Cas, but Cas was staring at Jack as he and Ianto sang along.
"If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you
New York, New York
New York, New York."
Everybody were on their feet now creating a chorus line in front of the couch, Jane tried to choreograph the kicks and turns, but failed horribly when nobody payed attention. Dean scooted backwards until he ended out at the edge of the pool. They were all focusing on Jack, and Castiel was singing along and didn't seem to notice that Dean was outside. Dean decided to give it up for the time being. He couldn't compete with Jack.
"These little town blues
They have all melted away
I am about to make a brand new start of it
Right there in old New York."
Dean saw how the others were practically fighting over who would go next. Maybe he should have had that drink anyway? That old crappy karaoke machine had it's little renaissance in there. In spite of the diversion going horribly wrong, Dean had to chuckle a little. He remembered when these things were popular. Sam had wanted one, but it lasted only so long before the internet took over and made them obsolete.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
The only thing Ianto was thinking about was how and when he could be alone with Jack. He wasn't interested in a hurried encounter in the bushes, and he knew that the two of them couldn't easily get away from the party for an extended period without raising suspicion, so he kind of knew it had to wait.
Ianto didn't know if Jack really wanted anything to happen between them. Well technically he knew. It had been easy to notice that the guy got aroused during the little make-out session in the restroom, but Jack had hesitated as he explained that he was leaving soon.
For Ianto it was simple. When he finally had dared admit that he was in love with the guy, he just wanted to let him be his first. So maybe they would never meet again, but Ianto wanted that memory. If that would be all he could get, it would be sad, but he was willing to take that chance.
Jack had been very clear about his goals in life, and he was already planning for his Broadway career. Ianto wasn't stupid. One night with Jack would probably not do anything to change the guy's plans, but Ianto was ready and willing to sacrifice his own virginity to try.
It wasn't like he didn't want Jack to make it big, but being in love made everything so difficult. Ianto almost wished that Jack would postpone his own dream just to wait for Ianto to finish high school. It was never going to happen, but if he could just stir him a little; make him yearn for more, It was a possibility that Jack would come visit at least.
Ianto had no unreasonable faith in his own power to change Jack; he knew perfectly well that he was clinging to a futile wish, but he couldn't help himself. Bottom line was really that if he couldn't be with him, he wanted to be with him one single time. It was better than nothing.
"Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"
Birds singing in a sycamore tree
Dream a little dream of me."
Gwen had obviously won the contest on who would go next. Standing there in that dress, the song suited her very well. Ianto didn't hang on to the sight very long, he was more interested in where Jack was.
"Stars fading but I linger on dear
Still craving your kiss
I'm longing to linger till dawn dear
Just saying this."
Unique and Jane were looking at the few discs of songs that John had to the karaoke machine. John was still tending the bar, while the rest of the crowd were either slumped down on the couch with Ianto or standing next to it singing along with Gwen. Jack was nowhere to be seen.
Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you
But in your dreams whatever they be
Dream a little dream of me
Ianto tried to get out of there. Eventually he had to crawl over the backrest. He was pretty sure Jack was in the restroom, and he wanted to catch him alone. He didn't make it. As he straightened his suit after the little climb, Jack came out and joined Unique and Jane without looking in Ianto's direction. It was a bit sad, but not completely discouraging.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
"Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you
Sweet dreams that leave all worries far behind you."
Gwen was good, but Castiel decided to sneak away as the other applauded, and he hoped she wouldn't notice, or at least not take it personally. He walked up to the bar. John was standing with a few others who were busy trying to decide on the next song. He must have seen that Cas was approaching because he came over immediately and asked if he wanted something to drink.
"Can I have a beer, please?" Castiel leaned over the bar to see what else John had to offer. John picked a beer out of the mini fridge. "One beer coming up. I thought you didn't like it." He twisted it open and put it on the counter. "Well, it's not…" Cas was about to say that it wasn't for him, but he changed his mind. "It's not so bad, but give me a, a… do you have any champagne to chase it with."
John rolled his eyes. "You have terrible taste, but whatever. It's not champagne per se, but it's a nice Californian sparkling wine. Will that do?" He looked at Castiel with a serious face as he held up the bottle. Castiel didn't even know the difference, and must have looked rather dumbfounded. John's face cracked up in a bright smile. "If it looks like champagne and it quacks like champagne…" He poured the wine into a glass and handed it to Cas before he - as he chuckled a little - went back to Jack, Unique and Jane.
Castiel was probably supposed to feel like an idiot, but he let the friendly insult slide. Thinking about it, he kind of knew that to be called champagne it had to come from that district in France. That John decided to taunt him a little about it didn't bother him.
He slipped out without anybody noticing. Jane and Unique had a friendly fight over the microphone, while a lot of the others were snapping their fingers to the beat of the new song they had put on. As he walked over to the poolside he could hear that Unique won that competition.
"Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear."
Dean was standing a little bit away from the light inside, and Cas wondered if he was deliberately trying to hide. "I brought you a beer." He lifted the bottle as he approached. "If you want to stay out here alone, I'll leave you to it, but isn't it better with some company?"
"Sun lights up the day time
Moon lights up the night."
They could both hear the music from inside and Cas was pretty sure that that nobody in there could hear him. "Let's toast at least." He lifted his glass as Dean took the beer. "I didn't want to get drunk, so I decided to take a stroll." Dean took a small sip. "Thank you though."
"Fever in the mornin'
A fever all through the night."
Jane and Unique was obviously sharing the microphone. The two of them managed to harmonize and it sounded good. Not that Cas cared so much. "That's okay. I don't want to get drunk either." He stepped into the shade with Dean and moved his hand so their drinks clunked together. "Cheers!"
"Romeo loved Juliet
Juliet she felt the same
When he put his arms around her
He said, "Julie baby you're my flame"
Thou giveth fever, when we kisseth…"
They both started giggling as they listened to the song. Jane and Unique continued, but Dean obviously got hung up on that last line. "Thou giveth fever, when we kisseth." He repeated the words somberly, but didn't manage to keep completely straight face as he lifted his hand and stoke Castiel's cheek.
"Fever when he holds me tight"
"Fever, I'm his misses"
"Daddy won't you treat him right?"
Castiel was not able to hear who was singing the next lines. His ears got filled with white noise, and he could feel that his knees were about to turn into jelly. He vaguely realized that Dean was trying to catch his eyes, but it was a little hard to focus.
"They give you fever when you kiss them
Fever if you live and learn
Fever till you sizzle
What a lovely way to burn."
As the song was fading out, Dean licked his lips. Castiel wanted to be ready, but he was scared. He knew what was coming, and he knew that he wanted it, but the way his body reacted from mere anticipation was a little embarrassing. When Dean wrapped his arms around him and let their lips meet, Cas wasn't sure what to do, but somehow he managed to reciprocate. Dean's tongue prodded at his lips, and he willingly let it in.
The wine got spilled out on the tiles, but he managed to hold on to the glass. Dean pulled away for a second, before their mouths melted together in a deep and languid kiss.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
Gwen knew perfectly well that she would regret this. She never used to get hungover before, but she hadn't really been drinking that much in her life. A couple of beers at the local pub the few times the bartender failed to check her ID, and a sometimes sharing a wine bottle with Rhys when she was allowed to spend the night was pretty much it before she came to the US.
She turned eighteen in the middle of the school year, and back home she would have had a party, and maybe gone to a club to celebrate it. In America it was very different. As she couldn't legally drink until she was 21, she just poured it down whenever she had a chance.
Normally, she held her liquor quite well, but lately she hadn't been feeling well the next morning even if she only had a glass of wine with dinner.
The binge drinking was probably a bad thing. Except for Rhys, her parents and a few friends, the only thing she missed about the old UK, was that she could actually go out and have beer whenever she wanted.
Briefly thinking that the hangovers could have an other explanation, she pushed the thought away. She felt generally fine. There was no reason to get alarmed. Back home she and Rhys would live together for a time before they started to plan a family.