Back from nationals, everybody are busy cleaning out their lockers. A misconception creates a a small problem between Gwen and Ianto. Jack is having a heart to heart with himself. Castiel is waiting for Dean to call, but the Winchesters are looking at houses.

Songs in this chapter

Story of my Life - One Direction - M/L: One Direction, J. Bunetta, J. Scott, J. Ryan

The Final Cut - Pink Floyd - M/L: Roger Waters

Puff, the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul and Mary - M/L: L. Lipton, P. Yarrow

Flashdance... What a Feeling - Irene Cara - L: K. Forsey, I. Cara, M: Giorgio Moroder

They came back to school just in time to clean out their lockers. After a night of choppy sleep and a very early flight from Orlando, the students in Glee-club walked around like zombies.

Charlie and Garth had done this before they left for the competition, and spent the remainder of the school day tidying the room where the computer club had their meetings. Sam was supposed to have done it yesterday, but they forgave him. He had taken the long trip to watch them sing, and was the only Lima resident in the audience except for the Mr Evans and Mrs Lopez.

Dean's dad had come with, and it surprised more than a few of the choir members. Some of them thought that the guy didn't really exist.

The two of them hadn't come back yet, but Sam had called his brother to take care of his locker as well. Dean was clearly tired, but there was a spring in his step that made Unique pull him aside and ask if he was on something. Jack overheard her, and before Dean got a chance to reply, he butted in. "It's love dear. I'm quite sure that he is clean."

As Unique turned to Jack with a puzzled expression, Dean managed to get away, and they didn't see him anymore that day.

Castiel was also one of those who had planned ahead, and after helping Mr Evans clearing the choir room, he was out the door and on his way home.

Jack didn't have much stuff, and finished fast. His locker was next to Gwen's and when the girl started sobbing as she picked her belongings out, he immediately went over to comfort her. "What's up, girl?" He wrapped an arm around her. "This is not 'goodbye', this is 'see you later'."

She wiped the tears off her cheeks and tried to give him a smile. "I know, but it's…" She sniffled a little. "I will come back to visit, but it's not the same. You will be in New York making it big. John will be at some fancy university far away. Dean will probably be on the road with his dad, and God knows where the rest of them will end up."

With a sigh, she started picking down the pictures she'd attached to the inside of the door to her locker. "Don't get me wrong." She had to wipe another tear away. "I can hardly wait to be back home, but… I'm sick, I need to puke, and I…" The waterworks started over again and she clung to Jack as she tried to keep it down.

Jack wasn't sure what to do. "If you're sick, you should just go. I can do this for you." He stroke her back to try to sooth her. Over her shoulder he could see Ianto approaching, and the look on the guy's face was quite hostile to put it gently.

There was no time to explain. Jack couldn't just ditch Gwen, and before she had calmed down enough to pull out of his embrace, Ianto had turned around and disappeared around the corner. "Honey. It will be okay." He lifted Gwen's backpack to make it easier for her to put her stuff in it. "I can do it. I can swing by your house later and bring it to you."

She shook her head and smiled though the tears. "Don't worry about it. I'm done soon anyway." It looked like she gagged a little, and she covered her mouth quickly. Then she drew her breath deeply and exhaled very slowly as she just pushed the rest of the content of her locker into the bag. "I'll be fine. Thank you Jack. You're a teaser and a son of a bitch, but you are a true friend, and I love you to pieces. Only as a friend mind you." She chuckled a little. "See you Monday. Thanks again."

Jack got a quick hug before she walked away. He hoped that she would tell Ianto what happened, or else things could be very difficult to explain.

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

Dean and Castiel had managed to get in the classroom and into their sleeping-bags without too much commotion. Lying there about three feet from each other, Cas had reached his hand out and gestured for Dean to take it. Dean wanted to, and he did, but it felt the masculinity draining out of him as they laced their fingers together.

When he woke up a few hours later, the rest of the guys were up and about, and Castiel wasn't even in the room. "Finally awake sleepyhead." John teased him as he helped Ianto deflate the mattress.

On the plane he and Castiel were seated more than ten rows apart, and Dean got stuck between a man who snored through the whole flight and a young girl singing One Direction songs totally out of tune. She was almost whispering; practically only mouthing the lyrics, and was probably not aware that anyone could hear her since she had earplugs in and played the music rather loud.

"The story of my life

I take her home

I drive all night

to keep her warm…"

Dean could actually have sung along as well, because he for some reason knew a few of the songs. It was a little embarrassing, and he blamed Gwen.

As soon as they were back in Ohio, and on the bus home, he and Cas managed to find a seat together. There were absolutely no privacy there, so they didn't talk much, but managed to make plans for the next day.

Castiel knew that he could get away. His dad would be performing a wedding, and would be gone most of the day. Dean just had to shake off Sam and his dad for a few hours. That could be tricky, but if push came to shove, Dean decided to tell his brother the truth.

The thought wasn't as scary as he expected it to be, but he hoped that he didn't have to do it.

Where to go and what to do was not planned, but Dean had a few dollars so he could actually take Cas to the movie theater. "A movie maybe." The words was still haunting him, but this time it could actually happen.

It would also provide them with a little bit of privacy, although talking would be out of the question. Dean wasn't really sure that he was ready for 'the talk' anyway, so a movie would be perfect.

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

Rhiannon came to pick them up, and Gwen was already at the curb. They had to wait for more than ten minutes before Ianto came out. Gwen had been ready to call him as he emerged, but she tucked her phone away and waved for him to hurry up.

He didn't. It could look like he actually walked slower when he saw them. It still took less than a minute before he was next to the car, but he didn't utter a word as he threw his bag into the backseat and crawled in after it.

Gwen rolled her eyes and looked at Rhiannon before she got into the car as well.

They always argued about who would ride shotgun. This was the first time that Ianto skipped that, and both Gwen and Rhiannon almost got a little worried. Only almost. During the ride home the two talked about competition and graduation and the possibility for Gwen to come visit.

The car wasn't even parked properly before Ianto grabbed his bag and jumped out.

Gwen had her backpack in the trunk, so it took her a few more minutes to get inside. Uncle Ifan was staring at her as she came in. "What did you do to my son. He didn't say a word, just ran upstairs as if he had the devil on his tail."

Rhiannon was right behind her. "You know him. He can be a bit moody at times, and they didn't win, so maybe..." She left it there, but Gwen was not ready to let it go. "I'll check on him. I'm sure it's nothing."

She hugged her uncle. "Auntie is at work right?" She got a nod from him before she headed for the stairs. "I'll deal with Ianto. I'll make sure he's down for supper, I mean tea." Both Rhiannon and her father laughed, and her cousin patted her back. "You have been in the states way too long."

Gwen didn't bother getting offended by it. She ran upstairs and threw her bag into her room before she went over and knocked on Ianto's door. "Come on. It wasn't that bad. I'm coming in."

"...would you sell your story to rolling stone

would you take the children away

and leave me alone

and smile in reassurance…"

Ianto was lying on the bed, and was playing the music loud enough for her to recognize the lyrics even if he had his headphones on, and he didn't even notice that Gwen entered his room. She poked his shoulder to alert him of her presence, and it was not a happy camper that looked at her through misty eyes.

"What's the matter." Had Ianto been crying? Getting third place in the competition wasn't that bad, and Gwen suspected that there had to be another reason for his shitty mood. "Hey, cuz, Did something happen?"

Very slowly, Ianto pushed the earphones away as he stared at her. Pain was practically written on his face before it quickly changed to contempt. "How could you? I love him you know. I know he's not worth it, but, but you, my own kin…"

Gwen just stared at him dumbfounded for a second before she got it. "Jack? You're talking about Jack? What the hell did I do?" She threw her hands out and shook her head. "He's a big flirt, but I'm not falling for it."

Ianto closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "I saw you in the hall, clinging to him for dear life. What a nice little farewell scene." Her cousin turned around to face the wall and was about to put on the earphones again.

"...I held the blade in trembling hands

prepared to make it but

just then the phone rang

i never had the nerve to make the final cut."

With Roger Waters singing along through the small speakers, Gwen hoped that Ianto didn't pick that particular song on purpose. "You silly fool. Jack was just being a friend, and comforted me because I was crying. There was nothing more to it than that. I don't want him if they threw him at me, but I like him and if you and him got together it would be just awesome." She paused to look at Ianto. He was obviously listening but didn't say anything. "He is leaving soon though, and even if he is a good guy, I'm not sure he's worth the effort. He seems a bit bit flighty when it comes to romance."

She crawled into the bed and wrapped her arm around Ianto. "I didn't know that you were in it that deep, and I swear to you that I'd do whatever it takes to help you, but as I said; is it really worth the heartbreak?"

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

They got out of the car and stopped to look at the small, narrow two story house. John Winchester frowned a little as he peeked over at his sons. "It's been empty for almost a year, and will probably fall apart soon." He started to walk up the overgrown driveway. The pole that held the 'for sale' sign was leaning against the chainlink fence, and it looked like the smallest breeze could tip it over.

For more than three hours, they had been driving around Lima to look at affordable properties for the boys. This one was the cheapest, and they could easily see why. The roof seemed rather new, but the rest of it looked like it had just survived a tornado. One window was boarded up, and another was held together by duct tape. The door was probably supposed to be green, but the paint was darkened with mold, and didn't give them much hope for what the indoors looked like.

Except for a few spots here and there, the mold hadn't attacked the siding, but what at one point in time had been white paint, was more kind of grayish now, and a good portion of it was flaking off.

John sifted through the pile of papers in his hand to find the right one. "Here it is." He shook his head as he read from the paper. "Roof was new two years ago. It's a fixer-upper, but that's obvious." He huffed. "It's been on the market for a couple of months and the price was reduced only yesterday."

Sam had reached the front porch and grabbed onto the railing to take the two steps up to the front door. With a snap he held a piece of rotting wood in his hand. His father waved him back over. "No. This is not even worth thinking about. It's falling apart."

Dean was not ready to let it go. The house was only a few blocks away from Castiel's street, and the neighborhood in itself was very nice. "But it's cheap. We can fix it. Don't dismiss it before we have had a look inside."

Both Sam and his dad stared at him with surprise. "It's far away from McKinley as well, and there's no school bus from here unless he want's to change schools." John Winchester gestured towards his youngest son, and Sam shook his head vigorously. "Not a chance." He chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"But, but, erm, if it's not as bad as it looks… I mean, if it's fixable, we will have money left over and maybe Sam can have his own car?" Dean was satisfied with his own fast thinking, but could see that the other two weren't convinced. "Let's at least check it out first." He ripped the paper out of his father's hands and looked for the name of the seller. "It's 'by owner', we can call them right now."

Dean was tired of searching, and he also had a date later, so he wanted to get this over with fast. It was probably not the right approach for buying a house, but if this one turned out to be as bad as it seemed, they could keep looking in the morning.

His dad pulled out his phone. "Give me the number then. For this price it's worth a try." After dialing, he walked away waiting for someone to pick up. Dean looked at Sam and shrugged. "A fixer upper is not so bad. If the foundation is solid, and with a brand new roof, it might not be as horrible as it looks."

Sam scoffed. "New roof? Yeah, two years ago. God knows what could have happened under that roof since then." Suddenly he started laughing and pointed at Dean. "It's Cas. It's because of Cas. His house is nearby, right? Fuck you. I'm not living in this dump because you have a crush on the choirboy."

Their dad came back before Dean got a chance to reply. "Mr Hansson will be here in a minute. He sounded as he had just won the lottery, so this could turn out to be cheaper still."

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

Castiel didn't know if Dean would actually show, but he tried to think positive. His father was at church already, setting up for the wedding. Rachel was running back and forth getting ready for her shift, and Michael was lounging around being in her way.

The bickering between his two siblings took the edge away from his insecurities, and it also prevented them from noticing how nervous he was.

"Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea

And frolicked in the autumn mist

in a land called Honnah Lee,"

The radio was on, and Cas wondered what kind of program his brother was listening to. Mike would stay with them over the summer, but after that he was taking a substitute position as a pastor somewhere near Akron. Castiel liked having his brother there, but if this was the kind of music he was listening to he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Noble kings and princes would bow whene'er they came

Pirate ships would lower their flags when Puff roared out his name, oh!"

Without a car, Cas couldn't just leave. He could of course go for a stroll. but he was pretty sure that it would be looked upon as extremely strange. "Why don't I drive you to work, and you let me borrow your car?" He asked his sister as she sifted through the shoes to find the ones she wanted to wear.

"I don't think so." She looked up briefly before she dug out her white sneakers. "I'm not off until late, and you'd have to pick me up. No." She took off, leaving Cas in the hall.

"One grey night it happened, Jackie Paper came no more

And Puff that mighty dragon, he ceased his fearless roar

His head was bent in sorrow, green scales fell like rain

Puff no longer went to play along the cherry lane."

"Hey! You can take my car, but then you have to chauffeur me around. I'm meeting some friends in the afternoon." MIchael turned down the radio and came towards him. "Why are you so desperate. Is there a girl waiting?"

Castiel could honestly tell him that there was no girl waiting for him to pick her up. "No, but sometimes I just want to feel a little independent." He definitely needed to find a job so that he could buy a car for himself. "I did make plans to meet a friend, but it's just… He would pick me up if I asked him. It's just… embarrassing that they always have to pick me up."

Michael shrugged. "If you don't mind driving me, you can take the car, but when I call you, you better be there." Castiel was fine with that arrangement, and he thanked his brother. "When do you have to go?"

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

Jack was a little disappointed that Ianto left school yesterday without a word. Somebody told him that Ianto was the last one to leave, but Jack had looked for him, and didn't believe the rumors.

"First, when there's nothing but a slow glowing dream

That your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind

All alone I have cried, silent tears full of pride…."

Jack was posing in front of the mirror pretending to sing along. It could all have a simple explanation, and he wasn't the kind of guy who worried much, so he expected that the plans they made via texting would apply.

His parents offered to come pick him up, but he had already told them that he had a ride. He knew that Ianto didn't have a car of his own, but didn't really worry about that either. Any hitch could be resolved one way or the other, and if he had to stay in Lima for a few more days, it was okay.

"What a feeling, being's believin'

I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life…"

Jack was trying to emulate the movements of the dancers on the video but failed. He didn't worry about that. Taking Ianto home to his parents was a big step, and Jack wasn't even sure why he wanted to do it. New York was waiting, and he didn't want anything or anyone to stop him from pursuing his dream. He tried to tell himself that it was just a silly crush, and that he and Ianto would part both knowing that it would never turn into anything else.

Ianto was perfectly aware of this; Jack had made sure to tell him, but the encounter in the restroom at the prom changed a few things. If Ianto was really in love, it would be quite cruel if the guy thought that it was more to this than met the eye.

"What a feeling, being's believin'

I can have it all, now I'm dancing for my life

Take your passion and make it happen…"

Hooking up with someone for the pleasure of it had never been a problem for Jack before. Falling for anyone was never in the plans. Jack knew that he had to let Ianto go, and he knew it was selfish to invite him home, but he couldn't help himself.

He had never felt like this about anyone before, and he worried that it would screw up everything. Compartmentalizing had been one of his biggest assets, and he counted on being able to do that in this case as well. If he could just tuck away the memory of Ianto, and stay focused on his main plan, it would eventually cease to bother him.

It wouldn't be fair to Ianto, but the guy had told him that he would be satisfied with one night.

Jack knew it wasn't so, but he couldn't worry about that. Ianto was old enough to face the consequences, so Jack would take what he could get, and trust that Ianto was capable of taking care of himself.

"What a feeling

(I can really have it all)

What a feeling

(Pictures come alive when I call)

I can have it all

(I can really have it all)

Have it all

(Pictures come alive when I call)

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

"You wouldn't have dropped the price if there were buyers lining up. If you don't sell now, it won't be worth more than the price of the lot, and that's not much considering the size." John Winchester was talking to the owner on the front porch as Sam and Dean explored the house.

In the small hall they had the kitchen to their left. On the right side, there was a small bedroom and a tiny bathroom. The livingroom was straight ahead. It wasn't very big, although it covered about half the square footage of the ground floor.

Sam jiggled the railing before he dared to ascend the stairs. It seemed solid, but he didn't trust it completely.

Above the living room in the back of the house there were two decent sized bedrooms. Not huge, but more than acceptable. The bathroom above the kitchen had a tub and a small shower, and it looked better than any of the other rooms in the house.

Dean bent down and sniffed at the baseboards as they walked through the house. "No mold. It smells old, but dry." He rolled his eyes. "Well, except for… you know." Sam knew, but it wasn't discouraging.

The boarded up window, which they now knew was for the downstairs bathroom, must have been open to the elements for quite some time before somebody noticed. The tiles in there weren't seriously water damaged, but water had seeped through to the hall. The front door had also been affected, and the mold was threatening to take it over completely. What they had seen on the front was nothing compared to the inside of it.

"It was my aunt's. She didn't have any children so I kind of knew that I would inherit it, but she refused to sell." Mr Hansson was explaining why the house had been empty for so long. "She had a stroke about a year ago, and she never recovered."

He and his wife had to take care of her, and with five children and full time jobs they didn't have time to worry about the house. "She died three months ago, and after getting the papers I went to look at it." The man looked sad. "With the new roof and recent electrical and insulation work, we thought it would be fine."

John Winchester patted the guy's back. "I understand. Taking care of loved ones is more important than anything." Sam and Dean exchanged a look. If only their dad believed his own words their lives could have been very different.

"Let me talk to my boys. Maybe we can make a deal." John came over and threw a peek through the front door. "Is the rest of the house as bad as this?" He whispered as he covered his nose. "Actually, it's not…" Dean got a rap on his arm. "Keep it down." Their dad made a gesture to emphasize his words.

"It looks good. The upstairs are in good condition, the kitchen is old, but functional. The basement is is moist, but a heater could possibly fix that. " Dean was whispering now. "Except for the water damage right here," he nodded towards the floor where they were standing, "and that the bathroom there is unusable at the moment, it's solid."

Their dad nodded. "Okay, but do you want it?" Again he gestured for them to keep it down. Both Sam and Dean understood. They looked at each other, and it wasn't hard for Sam to tell that Dean was all in. "Yes we want it."

They both knew what was going on, and they scooted into the kitchen before they hugged each other. "We could have a house very soon." Dean whispered into Sam's ear before he sat down on the lonely stool by the counter.

There was a few other pieces of furniture left in the house, but Mr Hansson had obviously got rid of most of the loose parts while taking care of his aunt and promising her not to sell.

"I don't think it will happen. I mean, I have the last word, but I have to listen to my sons. With a significant discount that will leave us enough money to fix it up, we could reconsider, but…" John Winchester was shaking his head as he reached his hand out to Mr Hansson.

The guy didn't take it. "I don't know. We need to cover our losses. We had to pay the property tax and the electricity and the fees to..." He didn't get to finish. John lifted his hands. "I see. Okay then. Thanks for coming and I'm sorry for wasting your time."

Sam and Dean had overheard every word, and now they looked at each other in fear. Was their dad about to let the house go now? Dean seemed quite ready to run out there, but Sam managed to hold him back.

"I can think about it." Mr Hansson looked up at the house, and the boys hurried to get away from the window. "Let me talk to my wife and get back to you."

Sam had moved over to the front door and tried to look discontent as he stepped out on the porch. He frowned at his dad as he mockingly covered his nose. "Let us keep the key so we can assess the damage more closely." His dad smiled at the man. "You talk with your wife; I talk with my sons, and maybe we can come to an agreement in the morning."