Dean's friends actually help out. Ianto feels bored and lonely, and he kind of hopes that Jack feels the same. During the meal at the Winchester house, Sam gets a little annoyed with the sharing of feelings, and reveals a secret to change the mood. Ianto texts Jack several times the next morning, and eventually, he gets to the house to pick him up. Dean and Castiel spend the night together, and things happen.

Songs in this chapter

Soldier of fortune - Deep Purple - M: Ritchie Blackmore, L: David Coverdale

Hotel California - Eagles - M: Don Felder, L: Don Henley, Glenn Fray

"The toilet is working." Jack looked a little under the weather when he came out in the hall. His shirt had specks of dirt all over, and John wondered for a second about what it was. "Oh no." Jack must have noticed his stare, and shook his head vigorously. "It's just dirt. Like rotting leaves and stuff."

While Dean and Castiel were away, the two of them had decided to do their best to help out. Jack had volunteered to clean the downstairs bathroom, and met unforeseen troubles. Before somebody boarded up that broken window, all sorts of crap had blown in, and the previous owners had failed to check the toilet when they cleaned up after the unfortunate event.

The bowl, being fairly close to the window, was filled with leaves and twigs. It had been sitting there for a while, rotting away, so when Jack tried to flush it, he'd created a small flood. John had walked away to tend to the task he'd set his mind on, leaving Jack with the mess all by himself. He had obviously manage to fix the problem, but John wasn't sure he wanted to know how.

The rest of the house seemed to be in fairly good condition. The owners had done their best to make it look decent, but being empty for so long, there was dust covering every surface, and the spiders had produced plenty of cobwebs.

In the entrance area, the mold had taken it's toll, and even if the damage hadn't reached much further than that, the smell was lingering about the whole downstairs. It was especially present in the kitchen cupboards, so John had found a bottle of bleach, and decided to clean every surface and every crevice in the room.

"Did you by any chance bring an extra t-shirt?" Jack had obviously tried to wipe the dirt off, but it had not worked. "Sorry Darling. I have a sweater in my car though, so when they are back…" He looked at his watch. "They are taking their time, aren't they?"

Jack responded with a chuckle. "They probably want some alone time. I bet you that they are parked nearby, just making out in the car." He walked over to the stove. "Should we throw in the lasagna? The oven is ready, and it will take at least twenty minutes."

John cocked his head and stared at Jack for a moment. "You think so? I have been waiting for a long time for the two of them to hook up. I wasn't aware that anyone else did too." He heard the Impala pulling up outside. "Do you think Sam knows anything? Should we keep this to ourselves, or?"

They didn't get a chance to continue the conversation. Sam came inside with a big box. "Kitchenware and stuff." He exclaimed as he put it on the counter. "I have more, can you help me?"

John wasn't quite done in the kitchen, and he looked at Jack. "You help out. I'll put the lasagna in and finish up here."

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

Ianto had been a little worried when he realized that Jack's parents were in the crowd at graduation. What it they were there to take him home, making the whole plan fall apart? A few text messages later, he calmed down again. Jack had confirmed that it was still on, and that they would leave without him.

Gwen's farewell dinner was over, and after an evening with song and dance, and a lot of tears, everybody had withdrawn to their rooms. They would have to get up early in the morning to see Gwen off, so they turned in long before midnight.

He wondered what Jack was doing at the moment. Maybe he was packing, or maybe he was asleep already. Ianto didn't really think so. Jack wasn't much of a morning person, and he didn't have to get up early tomorrow, so he was probably awake alone in his room, just as Ianto was.

Not knowing what would come out of this trip, Ianto had all sorts of scenarios in his head. He wanted to be with Jack, and part of him wanted Jack to abandon all former plans and come back to Lima to live.

That was less than a pipedream. Jack had a job to go to in New York, and nothing would keep him away from that. Ianto didn't really want to hold him back either, but after pining for the guy for so long, he wished that he could spend more than a couple of days with him.

Without any promises from Jack involved, this trip could so easily be their last encounter. Ianto didn't like that at all, but he was willing to take it.

They hadn't set a time for Ianto to come and pick Jack up; 'after Gwen's departure', was pretty much the extent of that part of the plan, but Jack had promised to be there waiting for him regardless. He had however asked to get a text every so often, just to be kept updated.

Ianto wished that he'd dared to ask Jack to come over. He could have brought his stuff, and spent the night. He could even had come with to the airport. Gwen would have liked that, but he wasn't sure how his parents would have looked at it. They knew that Ianto was going to spend a few days with Jack, but having him in the house, he worried that they would understand a few things Ianto wasn't ready to reveal yet. Jack could be a little flamboyant at times, and even without a well developed gaydar, you had to be quite ignorant not to notice.

It was probably better this way. Ianto put on some music to go to sleep to, and before he set the alarm for six thirty, he sent a text. "See you tomorrow. I'll text you when we leave the airport."

"I have often told you stories

About the way

I lived the life of a drifter

Waiting for the day

When I'd take your hand and sing you songs

Then maybe you would say

Come lay with me and love me

And I would surely stay."

The ping from the phone startled him somewhat. Ianto had not expected Jack to reply so quickly. David Coverdale and Deep Purple was forgotten as he hurried to grab the phone.

"Jack: Sounds good. See you. xoxoxo."

Hugs and kisses. Ianto wanted them for real, not only in a text, but he had to settle for that at the moment.

.

"Many times I've been a traveler

I looked for something new

In days of old when nights were cold

I wandered without you

But those days I thought my eyes

Had seen you standing near…"

Ianto closed his eyes and turned the music down low. It didn't take long before he was fast asleep.

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

The table wasn't very big, but it was the perfect size for the small kitchen. That it could hardly fit four people comfortably wasn't a problem at the moment. The five of them managed to squeeze in regardless, and even if it was a little tight, it was perfectly manageable.

Sam was starved. After waiting so long to get a bite to eat, he was ready to disregard Jack's promise about saving some for their dad.

"What are your plans with Ianto?" John was talking with his mouth full addressing Jack. "I mean, do you think that the two of you will keep in touch?" Jack had been cheerful, bordering to ecstatic during the late evening, but now he looked at John with pain written on his face. "I don't know. I want to, but… I don't know." He shook his head as he picked at the leftover salad on his plate.

Sam had no idea what they were talking about, although he had learned that there was something brewing between Ianto and Jack. Knowing that Jack would leave the next morning, he'd figured it was all over, but obviously it wasn't so.

"The best thing is probably to let it go. He's too young to make a commitment, and I, I, erm, I will be busy for a few months. Too busy to…" Jack faltered a little before he looked at John across the table. "I'm sorry. I don't want to break his heart, but I'm sure he'll manage. He's young, and before you know it he'll be in love with somebody else."

For a moment, John looked angry, but then he sighed heavily before he cocked his head and made an effort to meet Jack's eyes. "So why are you doing this? Why are you taking him with you? Wouldn't a clean break have been better?"

Jack got up from his chair and grabbed his plate. He put it on the counter before he started pacing back and forth in the small kitchen. Sam had nothing to say about the matter, but he was curious. He threw a peek at his brother, and could see that he too was waiting for Jack's reply. Castiel was looking down at his lap, and seemed to hold his breath, as if he was struggling to keep his mouth shut.

"Because I love him. That's why. I can't just… It's for me. I'm selfish and I want these two days. He's gonna move on, and I'm gonna pine for him for a long time. I'm not a player. I never was. It's all a con. I want him, but he, he is going to…" A tear was running down Jack's cheek, and he hurried to wipe it away.

Both John and Dean got up from their seats, but Jack lifted his hands to stop them from coming over. "It's fine. I'm okay. I will be working, and I'll get over it." He shrugged as he came back to the table and slumped down. "A clean break, uh? I wish I could do that, but I need this. I need these two days. Maybe there is a possibility... I need to clear the air, and… we never really had a chance to talk about the future, or maybe we did our best to avoid it."

Sam couldn't take it any longer. He couldn't care less about Jack's feelings. He was pretty sure that Jack wanted to 'be with' Ianto any way possible, but their first night in the new house was turning into a soap-opera. A gay soap-opera. Even if Jo had sworn him to secrecy, he had to change the mood in there somehow. "Gwen is pregnant!" He stated firmly as he scooped up the last piece of food from his plate.

Jack, Dean and Castiel stared at him with surprise painted on their faces. John didn't seem quite as baffled, but he did try to look as if he didn't know already. Sam cocked his head and winked to the guy. "You knew didn't you?"

Everybody turned to stare at John instead. Jack seemed a little annoyed about not being the center of attention anymore, but he too waited for John's reply with anticipation. John nodded slowly. "I did, erm, I do. Ianto couldn't keep it to himself. I promised not to tell anyone though. How did you know?"

The mood changed a bit. Nobody focused on Jack's sorry love life anymore, but it had somewhat damaged the joy from earlier. It was still better as they shared little stories about Gwen, and made up new ones with her as a mom.

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

"On a dark desert highway

cool wind in my hair

Warm smell of colitas..."

Dean was strumming his guitar while Cas and John sang along. The song was kind of depressing, and they didn't really put any effort in to make it sound less depressing.

"There she stood in the doorway;

I heard the mission bell

And I was thinking to myself…",

The beer was polished off, and the wine bottle Jack had brought got passed around. Sam had failed to bring glasses, but it wasn't such a big deal. A half empty bottle of Jack Daniels that Dean had hidden from his dad got passed around as well, but Castiel didn't have any. He had just learned to like beer, but was not ready for anything stronger.

"Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely place (Such a lovely place)

Such a lovely face…"

Even Sam sang along on the chorus, and it didn't sound as bad as was expected. Sam had a decent voice and carried the tune pretty well, although he'd always claimed he was tone deaf.

"Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she's got the Mercedes Benz

She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys she calls friends."

Jack and Sam was occupying the old sofa left after the previous owner. It was bad, but Sam had covered it with one of the blankets he'd brought, and it served it's purpose for the time being. John had grabbed one of the folding chairs and sat by the door to the kitchen. Dean was sitting on the floor leaning against the wall as he played the guitar, and Cas was sitting right next to him, pining to reach his hand out to touch him. Maybe it would have been better to tell the others?

"And still those voices are calling from far away,

Wake you up in the middle of the night

Just to hear them say…"

As they entered into the chorus again, John got up and looked at his watch. "I should go. We can do this again at some other time. It won't be my last visit to this house." He chuckled humorlessly before he continued. "Even if this is kind of sad, I think we can manage to have a real party here when you've moved in properly."

Dean continued playing, but looked up for a brief moment and nodded as he abruptly jumped the last few lines of the song..

"You can check out any time you like

but you can never leave."

The end to the song made them all laugh a little. Castiel looked at Dean and could see a smile on his face. "Yeah. Definitely." He turned to Jack. "Hey. Even if you will be in the big apple, I will invite you. I'll actually make sure to arrange this party when you have time off."

That was it then. The party was over.

Jack had no car, and asked John to take him home. Castiel didn't want to leave, so when John asked if he needed a ride as well, he declined. "It's less than a ten minute walk to my house. I'll be fine."

Sam gathered his stuff quickly and headed upstairs. He had been yawning a few times already, and could hardly wait to go to bed. It wasn't much of a bed. Cas had helped him bring stuff upstairs earlier so he knew. A mattress on the floor and a couple of blankets was pretty much it, but Sam seemed satisfied.

"Are we too young? Am I too young?" Castiel had brewed on the question ever since Jack implied that Ianto was to young to know love. Dean had just come inside after waving goodbye to John and Jack, and looked quite surprised..

"No. No, why are you asking?" He came over and stroke Castiel's cheek. "Maybe we are, but it doesn't matter. There's only one way to find out." He pried the empty wine bottle out of Castiel's hand. "You don't have to tidy up. We can do it in the morning. Come here."

The fact that it was technically morning already was a minor issue. Cas knew what he meant. He didn't really want an answer to the question anyway. He just needed to know if Dean felt the same as Jack did. "Do you think this will last?" It wasn't easy to stay focused when Dean kissed his neck and pushed his pelvis forward so that Cas could feel the hardness of Dean's cock against his thigh.

"I don't know. Nobody knows. My parents thought they would last forever, but then my mom died. She was sixteen when they met." Dean's hand was inside the back of Castiel's pants, and his fingers was grabbing on to his buttock. "It's not possible to predict the future. I just know that we click. We have this thing now, and I can't imagine being with anybody else."

It was good enough. Castiel didn't need any more confirmation. He couldn't have handled more anyway. The pressure of his own cock against the fabric of his tight jeans threatened to make him come undone at this very second.

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

"Gwen sends hugs and kisses."

"My mom will not leave until Gwen's plane has taken off:"

"We're in the car. Finally. It was sad to wave goodbye, but I will see Gwen again before the summer is over."

Jack had not expected the string of messages from Ianto. He was busy making sure that Rachel's parents wouldn't have anything to complain about when he left, so he didn't want to leave any mess behind. Paying attention to the pings from his phone was not a priority, so he didn't even check it until long after the third one came.

He knew perfectly well when Gwen's plane was leaving, so he kind of knew when he should start to expect a text from Ianto. When he finally looked at the phone, he felt bad for not replying to the previous ones. It was more than a half hour since the last one.

"I'm here. I'm cool. Sorry, but I was busy." He hurried to send it and tried to determine how long it would take for Ianto to get to John's place and pick up the car. Jack wondered if John would say anything about where they spent most of the night, but didn't get much time to ponder on it. The next text message ticked in shortly after.

"At John's house. He looks like shit btw. lol. I'll pick you up soon."

Worrying a little bit about the conversation between Ianto and John, Jack got startled when his phone started vibrating in his hand just before it emitted the familiar ping from yet another text.

"This car is sweet, but texting and driving is not a good plan. See you soon."

His parents had taken most of his stuff with them when they left yesterday, so Jack had only one suitcase and a small bag to carry as he went outside to meet Ianto. He left the key under the mat as planned. Rachel's fathers were in New York at the moment, and had said their goodbyes before the weekend.

After the conversation with the others at the Winchester house, Jack had started to regret this deal. He should have left yesterday, and never made this plan with Ianto. He'd had an idea about getting it out of his system by doing this, but now he wasn't so sure.

It was too late to do anything about it now. Cancelling at this hour would be just cruel to both of them. Jack didn't want to be cruel. He only wanted to do the right thing, but he wasn't sure what the right thing was.

Ianto was there before he got time to think about it anymore, and he did his best not to show how uncertain he was.

"Do you want to drive? I don't know the way, and I didn't sleep much last night, so I think it'll be better. Although, it's not a big problem. It's not that far right?" Ianto opened the trunk and helped Jack get the suitcase inside. "That's it? You lived here for, erm, like almost ten months and this is all your stuff?"

It was perfectly clear that Ianto was talking up a storm to avoid getting into the real matter at hand. He was clearly nervous, and Jack wished he could say something to comfort the guy. "Well, my parents took the rest yesterday. It wasn't that much though. The room was furnished and…" Jack didn't continue. He could see that Ianto took the message, so there was no point in going into details.

"So, are you driving?" Ianto held up the key to the car. "It's not such a big deal. I mean, I can do it, but you know…" Jack went over and took the key from him. He made sure to let his fingers brush over the back of Ianto's hand. "Sure. I'll drive." He hadn't slept much either, but Ianto didn't need to know that. With an attempt to look encouraging, he smiled and winked before he went over to the driver's side of the car. "Let's go. It's a couple of hours drive, and if you need some sleep, it's okay."

Ianto didn't fall asleep, and for the first twenty minutes of the drive he just stared out of the side window without uttering a word. It was getting a little uncomfortable, and Jack knew he had to do something to lift the mood. "Hey. How about Gwen? How is she doing? I hear there's a little one on the way."

That was obviously not the right thing to say. Ianto turned abruptly and stared at him. "How did you know? How the hell did you know?" He sounded both angry and curious, and Jack realized that he wouldn't have known if he hadn't been at the Winchester house all night.

Thinking fast, he managed to come up with a semi-plausible explanation. "Dean told me. He got it from Sam. Gwen had obviously told Jo, and, erm, you know how it is don't you?" Jack wasn't sure if it would work; he could just have told the truth, but he didn't want Ianto to know that he'd been partying half the night.

"What? I didn't know that you and Dean were so close. When did this happen?" The look on Ianto's face wasn't as hostile any longer. He only looked surprised. "Oh, honey. Me and Dean are like this." Jack held up his hand with the index finger and the middle finger crossed. "We didn't hang out much, but we had an understanding. He told me when we said goodbye after graduation."

It looked like Ianto bought it, but Jack needed to turn away from this topic. "Did you know that he and Castiel are together now?" He threw a quick peek at the passenger. "It's a secret for now, so don't tell anyone." He didn't even know if it was true, but he was quite certain.

It worked. For the next hour, the conversation in the car focused on the members of the choir and what they all had been up to over the school year. There was a brief comment about the New Year's party, but for reasons they were both aware of they shied away from the subject pretty quickly.

As the drive was almost over, Ianto got more and more quiet. Jack did his best to keep the the conversation going, but had to give up when Ianto completely stopped responding.

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

The sofa wasn't so bad. Dean had planned to sleep in his own room that first night, but with Castiel there, he never made it up the stairs. Not that there was a lot left of the night anyway. John and Jack had left in the early morning hours; Dean wasn't quite sure about the exact time, but it was sometime before dawn.

After thoroughly making out in the kitchen, he and Castiel had managed to get to the sofa without letting go of each other. Dean had no clue what to do or how to proceed as they lied there close together. That wasn't completely true. He wasn't a virgin; he'd had sex with girls before, but this was a little unfamiliar.

Fucking was definitely off the table at this time. It wasn't anything they had talked about, but Dean knew that he wasn't ready for that yet, and he was pretty sure that was true for Castiel as well. The setting was also wrong. He didn't know when their dad would arrive, and rushing something like that wasn't an option.

Dean had eventually managed to muster up the courage to unbutton Castiel's pants. Castiel held his breath, but didn't stop him. Dean let his finger slide up the shaft of Castiel's cock through the fabric of his boxers, and just as the sun emerged over the horizon and sent a few rays through the crooked blinds in the livingroom, Cas hitched his breath and pushed Dean's hand away.

It was too late. Castiel couldn't possibly hide the fact that he cummed in his underwear. Dean found it totally awesome, and also extremely arousing. With no hope that Castiel would help him to get off, Dean pushed his hand into his own pants and jerked off until he cummed as well.

Sweaty and sticky, they didn't look at each other for several minutes. When Dean finally dared to move his head enough to see Castiel's face, he got a bit of a surprise. Cas stared right at him and smiled. "This was nice." Dean wasn't sure if Cas was blushing or if it was the heat of the moment that colored his face red. It didn't matter. It was nice. It was more than that. It was perfect.

Dean felt a little embarrassed as he got up from the sofa shortly after. He didn't want Cas to believe that he was abandoning him. "I just need to, erm, this, I need to change." He dared to lean in for a quick kiss before he ran upstairs. After doing his best to wipe the cum away, he dumped the soiled clothes on the floor in his room and hurried to put on a pair of sweatpants.

Castiel was sitting on the sofa when he came into the living room again. A small pile of toilet paper next to him, bore evidence that Cas had tried to clean up as well. He declined Dean's offer to have a shower. "I have no clothes with me, it's better I do it at home." He got up and buttoned his pants. "I should probably go now."

For the first time in his life, Dean had a sexual encounter with someone he wanted to be with for real. He panicked a little thinking about the girls he'd been with before. The relationships had all ended badly. Mostly because Dean had shied away as soon as he got into their pants. He didn't want this to end at all, but he didn't know how to handle himself to make Castiel understand that.

Saying it out loud was of course an option, but he had a hard time finding the words.

Changing schools so often, he never had time to get a reputation, so he could fool around without worrying about the aftermath. It was still in his head though, and he knew he was playing with their feelings. He sincerely hoped that Cas wouldn't think that he was playing a game now, but he knew that he had been a little too outspoken about his previous encounters during this school year.

Castiel got up and walked towards the tarp that covered the opening for the front door. "I'll see you soon." He smiled shyly as he looked at the floor. "I'll ask my dad about that desk, and I can come over as soon as I wake up sometime tomorrow afternoon." He rolled his eyes and chuckled a little.

Suddenly, Dean realized that there was no need to explain anything. Castiel would come over tomorrow unless somebody told him that he shouldn't. Nobody would tell him that he shouldn't.

Dean knew that his dad would question it, but he didn't really care. "Yeah, sure, come over." He took the few steps that separated them, and grabbed Castiel's hands. "Keep it casual when my dad is here. I need a bit of time."