Dean didn't expect Mr Novak to come around, but it goes well. John is bored out of his mind, and tries to plan a party. Jo has organized a job for Sam. At the moment he is worried about his brother, and what their dad will think about the odd group of friends Dean has. Castiel doesn't help the matter much. Ianto and Jack spend their first night together in the same bed, and things happen. Dean is looking forward to spend more time with Cas, and is ready to come out to his friends.

Music in this chapter

Child in time - Deep Purple - M/L: Blackmore, Gillan, Glover, Lord, Paice

It's the hard knock life - Annie, the nusical - M: C. Strouse, L: M. Charnin

"Sweet child in time

You'll see the line

The line that's drawn between

Good and bad

See the blind man

Shooting at the world

Bullets flying

Ohh taking toll."

Dean finally got a break from the work, and was sitting on the porch with his guitar and an ice cold beer. He actually agreed with his father that they should hurry up to get as much as possible done during the next couple of days. His dad would leave on Thursday, and Dean would be working at the garage the whole weekend, so they didn't have much time.

His father didn't know how long he'd be away, and even if Dean was capable of doing some work on his own, it was better to get the brunt of it over with now. The carpenter and the plumber had finished up. Daddy had paid them cash, which told Dean that this was an 'under the table' deal. He didn't really care. They were quick, and except for a couple short coffee and smoke breaks and a hurried meal, they didn't stop until everything was finished.

Sam and Dean had made a last trip to their old apartment to get the rest of their stuff, and the only thing they had to do before handing over the keys was to clean the place. Sam had reluctantly promised to do it during the weekend, so that they wouldn't have to pay rent for another week.

"If you've been bad

Oh Lord I bet you have

And you've not been hit

Oh by flying lead

You'd better close your eyes

Ooohhhh bow your head…"

He suddenly stopped singing when he noticed that someone was approaching the house. Dean recognized them immediately, and could not understand why Castiel brought his father. He pushed the beer bottle a bit away so the pastor wouldn't immediately understand that he'd been drinking before he tentatively got up to greet them.

Cas looked at Dean as he shrugged and rolled his eyes clandestinely. "This is my friend Dean. Are Sam and your dad here also?" He turned to his dad. "You have met him before, right?"

The pastor nodded. "Briefly. Welcome to the neighborhood." He smiled as he ascended the couple of steps the porch. "You have a nice voice, and I like your choice of music." He shook Dean's hand with a firm grip. "Not that I've listened to a lot of that lately. The kids rule the music selection in the house." He chuckled.

Dean could feel that he was blushing a little. Getting complimented from this man felt weird. "Erm, thanks. My father is inside, I'll go and get him." He was still not sure why Castiel's dad was there, but he seemed friendly enough.

John Winchester's hands were black with soot. "Sorry, I'm trying to fix the fireplace. I'm sure there's at least a couple of dead birds or other animals in there." He was trying to wipe his hands on a piece of cloth, but it was completely futile.

"Don't worry about it. My son wanted me to meet you. We live a few blocks away, and I understand that our boys are great friends." The pastor took a few steps back and looked at the house. "It's sad how they let it deteriorate. I met with the family when the old lady passed away.

Dean father nodded. "Yeah. They could have gotten a much better price if they had sold it when she had that stroke, but it was good for us that they procrastinated." He suddenly looked a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry. Do you know them? I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

The pastor shook his head. "No, don't worry about it. I didn't know them. They came to Christmas mass, and I am their pastor, but I've really only talked to them when we planned her funeral." Dean could see that his dad looked a little surprised. He had obviously not expected a man of the clergy coming to the door. Knowing what his dad thought about religion and all that, Dean wondered if he would comment on it.

"I think maybe we won't be regulars either. Sorry, but it's not quite our thing." He threw his hands out and sported a lopsided smile.

Castiel's dad shook his head and smiled back. "That's okay, but if you ever change your mind, I'll be there." He let out a little chuckle. "Well. My son said he wanted to help you guys, but I have to go now. I guess I'll see you around, even if not in church."

John was about to shake the pastor's hand, but then he suddenly seemed to remember that his hands were still covered in gunk from the fireplace. "Oops. Sorry. Yeah, see you. It is nice to meet new neighbors."

The pastor started to walk away, but then he turned and looked at Dean before he addressed John again. "Your son has a nice voice, we could use him in the choir. Just a thought." He paused for a moment. "And if you need any help with…" He waved towards the house. "It could need new paint, and we have a few capable young men in the congregation that would want to earn a few bucks over the summer."

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

Bored out of his mind, John Hart was pacing the living room floor. When he came back home in the early morning hours, everybody was asleep, and they hadn't even noticed that he'd been gone all night.

He had to stay awake for a family breakfast, and he managed to pretend that he wasn't half asleep, but as soon as the overnight guests had left, he withdrew to his room. His mother didn't disturb him, and when he woke up seven hours later, he was alone in the house.

After playing a few games on the Wii U, and grabbing some leftovers from yesterday, he started to get a little antsy. Having time off wasn't as fun as he'd expected it to be. Back in the days, he had a lot of friends in the neighborhood that he hung out with. When he realized how shallow they were, he'd abandoned them and gone with his heart. He joined New Directions, and had made friendships that he knew would last, but at this hour he didn't have anybody.

Gwen was in Britain. Ianto and Jack was at Jack's house. He didn't feel that he could go back to Dean's place just yet, and calling Unique or Jane wasn't an option at the moment. The rest of the guys in the choir were his friends as well, but he hadn't spent enough time with them to feel comfortable begging for their company.

Most of them had summer jobs, and wouldn't be available at any time anyway. John didn't need to get a job. He had more money than he could possibly spend, but his new friends came from a totally different place.

He decided to plan a party. A reunion party. Gwen wouldn't be able to be there, but they could have her on Skype. If he could get everybody together for a singalong sometime during the summer, it could be great. The aforementioned pool-party never became a reality, so that was also an option.

It would also make a good reason for calling the guys in the choir, and maybe one or two of them were just as bored as him, and would want to come over right now.

With a plan forming in his head, he decided to make a few calls. He started with the ones he didn't know that much, just to get it over with.

Mason was thrilled about the idea, and promised to available except for one week in July. After a brief conversation with his sister, he could confirm that she wanted to do this as well. Kevin was at work and couldn't spend time on the phone, but when he heard what it was all about, he promised to call back.

After calling about half the choir, John had gotten confirmations from five people. None of them seemed desperate for something to do tonight though, and he wasn't going to beg.

He decided to postpone calling Ianto and Jack. He knew where they were, and even if he didn't quite condone it, he wanted to let them be for now. Jack would possibly not be able to come anyway, and Ianto would surely need a shoulder to cry on in a few days.

The only ones left were the Winchesters. John easily included both Castiel and Jo into that, and was pretty sure that one phone call was enough to invite all four of them. He could also subtly imply that he was available if they needed another couple of hands at the house. He hadn't shown much craftmanship last night, and he wasn't sure he wanted to do anymore cleaning, but at least he wouldn't be bored to death.

Dean's phone rang out without any response. It was a bummer, but not totally discouraging. Jo was at home, and couldn't answer for anyone but herself, and she was keen although she was pretty sure that her parents wouldn't let her. "I don't have Gwen as an excuse anymore, and they are going to know that I want to be with Sam."

John didn't want to hear it. He was adamant about gathering as many as possible, and figured it had to be a way. "Tell them that you're with Charlie or one of the other girls." It couldn't be that hard to come up with a plausible lie. "My mom will probably be home anyway, so there will be adults present." Jo wasn't a giver upper, and promised to do her best. "You don't even know when it's going to happen, so it's not easy to plan ahead."

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

When Jo's parents learned that the Winchesters were kind of between homes at the moment, they had offered them a room. It wasn't without serious pleading from their daughter, but without many guests this early in the summer, the four small cabins stood mostly empty for the time being.

Jo had always looked forward to work at their little B&B during her summer vacation. From she was just a small girl, she'd helped her parents, and she loved meeting all the strangers that came through. Some came back every year, and weren't strangers anymore, but that was almost like seeing long gone relatives.

It wasn't a luxury establishment they were running. Their house was small and had only one spare room, so during the winter they didn't take in guests for the most part. The cabins weren't winter insulated and didn't have running water, so walking across the yard to take a leak in freezing temperatures wasn't very desirable.

The previous owners had a riding school, but without any interest in keeping large animals, Jo's parents had renovated the old stables. The building now had two small bathrooms, a dining room and a kitchenette where the guests could make their own food if they wanted.

From she was old enough to carry a tray, it had been Jo's task to bring her mother's homemade breakfast to those guests who weren't interested in cooking their own.

Her friends always loved to come over, and in the afternoon when the work was done, they played ball in the old paddock behind the main house. Over time, new houses had popped up around the property, and the area wasn't as rural anymore, but it was still a quiet part of Lima.

They didn't have much of a staff. Jo's parents had always done most of the maintenance themselves. That also included laundry service and cleaning. One of Jo's older cousins had managed the booking, and during the busiest weeks, they hired a cleaning lady.

A few things had changed over the last couple of months. Jo's cousin had got a steady job, and couldn't spend the summer with them anymore. Her dad had had a minor injury and fractured his wrist, and was unable to do any heavy lifting for another few weeks.

When Jo's suggested that they hired Sam to pick up the slack, they hadn't been too thrilled. They liked him, but wasn't sure that the lanky nerd could possibly manage the work entailed. Jo threatened to find a job somewhere else, and even if that wasn't likely to happen, they caved in and decided to try it out and pay Sam hourly for actual work done.

Jo kind of knew that she would get her way. Even if her parents kept her on a leash and worried about her getting into bad company, they usually gave her what she wanted as long as it didn't involve her straying around with people they didn't know.

After telling her parents about the house Sam and his family had bought - she hadn't seen it yet, but from what Sam had told her, it was bad, and to her parents she may have exaggerated a bit - they had reluctantly offered the Winchesters a place to crash during the renovation.

After a few long phone conversations with Sam earlier in the week, Jo knew for sure that Dean wouldn't be interested. She was fine with that. Dean was nice enough, but she didn't do this for him. She didn't really know if Sam wanted to stay there either, but she was going to do her best to persuade him.

Sam had also finally revealed what was going on between Dean and Castiel. "I don't think they know that I know, so don't say anything." He also revealed that he wasn't too comfortable with the situation, but he was trying his best.

Jo, on the other hand was thrilled. It was kind of embarrassing to remember back to when she joined Glee-club. She was behaving very homophobic, and had uttered few words that she now wished she could have taken back.

She was pretty sure she was forgiven for it, but she it was still bothering her somewhat.

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

Without internet, and no prospects of getting it installed any time soon, Sam was getting a little antsy. Dean and his father was unable to understand how important this was for him, and he was tired of nagging.

He knew that if he could get a chance to explain it to Dean in private, his brother would come around. Dean was paying the phone bills with his hard earned money already, and would be able to understand that having Wifi installed would knock down the monthly payments significantly. As it was now, Sam used his phone to go online, and he had already spent the prepaid surfing for this month several days ago.

At the moment he had another - and in his own opinion - more prosaic concern. Not as much for himself, but with Cas at the house, he worried what kind of conclusions his father would draw when Dean and Cas interacted. Sam had not really noticed Castiels' somewhat gayish mannerisms during the school year, but now it was impossible to ignore. Not that Cas had changed in any way; it was Sam himself that had changed his own view and perception.

It wasn't very obvious, but his father had sort of picked up on it earlier, so his worries weren't completely unfounded. He did feel the need to protect Dean and do his best to make sure that their father wouldn't find out that there were more to this than immediately met the eye.

Sam had a hard time coping with this himself, and he could only imagine the drama that would ensue if John Winchester realized that his oldest son was not who he appeared to be.

Dean had never said anything or done anything to explain himself to Sam. On the contrary; he had made an effort to try to hide his secret, but Sam wasn't born yesterday. So maybe Dean managed to fool everybody else around, but Sam knew perfectly well the nature of Dean and Castiel's relationship.

For months he had suspected, or rather known, that Dean had a crush on the guy, and in the beginning Sam found it quite humorous but also - something he was ashamed of now - a little repulsing. Keeping an eye on Castiel, he had later discovered that the attraction was mutual. He wasn't quite sure, but he suspected that he knew this before Dean picked it up.

Over time he had learned to accept it somewhat, but he didn't think it was a good idea for Dean to come out of the closet just yet. Sam knew that that part of it had a lot to do with his own insecurities. He was so not ready to for any revelation, and especially not with their dad in the house.

Sam really liked Castiel. He was friendly with everybody, and he was smarter than most. It wouldn't be a surprise if he became valedictorian when he graduated next year, although the title wouldn't necessarily go to the student with the highest academic credentials.

That Dean had changed to the better after Cas came into his life, was also a good thing. It didn't make much difference for Sam personally, but his brother had been kind of a dick at school before they came to McKinley. The whole Glee club had to get some credit for Dean's change, but Castiel was a crucial part of the picture.

It was probably time to get downstairs again. Sam couldn't possibly explain his absence any longer. When his dad finally managed to clean the chimney, the living room needed a good scrub. There was ash everywhere. Sam had hurriedly withdrawn, easily volunteering to carry all the stuff they'd picked up from the old apartment out of the truck.

It wasn't that much. Two big bags of clothes and linens, a small dresser, posters, and also Dean's record collection along with the turntable and the rest of the stereo system. The rest was just stupid knick-knacks. They didn't own that much. Living in motels and in small furnished apartments through the years, they hadn't accumulated a lot of stuff.

Except for his computer and his clothes, Sam didn't really own anything. As he procrastinated joining the others, he had sifted through Dean's 'secret' box, and he was amazed about all the little trinkets his brother had kept through the years. Dean was obviously more sentimental than Sam had given him credit for.

As he descended the stairs, Sam chuckled to himself. Dean hadn't changed into this guy he was now. He had always been that guy. He had just been better at hiding it in the past.

He was about to enter the living room when his phone rang. He was sure it would be Jo, and got surprised when John's name came up.

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

Castiel had not been thinking it through when he decided to go over to the Winchester house. That his dad came along was a minor issue, but after that he had to be in the same room as Dean's father for the longest time.

In his mind, he had imagined that he and Dean could kind of play house. They could do a little bit of work, and then snuggle together on that crappy old couch.

He hadn't expected that Dean's dad would be there for very long, but he was so wrong. He was pretty sure that Sam wouldn't be any bother, and he was right about that. Dean's brother had taken off as soon as there was real work in sight.

"It's a hard knock life for us

It's a hard knock life for us."

Cas couldn't help himself. He sang quietly into the floorboards as he did his best to remove the black stains. His pants were ruined. It was a bad idea to try to dress up for the meeting with Dean, because as soon as he came inside and offered to lend a hand, he was asked to help clean up after Mr Winchester's chimney sweep.

"Got no folks to speak of, so,

It's the hard-knock row we how

Cotton blanket

'steada wool

Empty Bellies

'Steada full!"

At the moment, Dean was in the kitchen to change the water. Mr Winchester had been away for a few moments, possibly to clean the soot off his face, but suddenly he was back, bending down to help out.

"Are you singing? What are you singing?" The guy looked over curiously, but turned back to the task at hand quickly. Castiel wasn't sure if the man wanted to know, or if he was just trying to be friendly.

He didn't really care. This was slave-labor, and Cas was happy that the guy chipped in since it was really his fault in the first place.

Lowering his voice even more, Castiel continued singing. Dean's father wouldn't know the song anyway.

"No one's there when your dreams at night are creepy!

No one cares if you grow or if you shrink!

No one dries when your eyes get wet and weepy."

Dean came back with a bucket of clean fresh steaming water, and handed Cas a clean cloth. "Did you sing?" He looked strangely disturbed and threw a quick peek at his dad. Castiel chuckled. "Yes I did. I couldn't help myself. This is…" He exhaled audibly to make the point before he sang out loud.

"It's the hard-knock life for us

It's the hard-knock life for us

No one cares for you a smidge

When you're in an orphanage

It's The Hard Knock Life!

It's the Hard Knock Life!"

He suddenly got aware that both Dean and his dad was staring at him. Dean looked terrified, and his dad only looked slightly less disturbed as he nodded to himself. "Thought that was something your friend Jack was more into."

Castiel didn't understand the reference at first, but then it dawned on him. Dean's father obviously knew that Jack was queer, and now he kind of guessed that Cas was as well. 'Shit happens.' He thought to himself. It wasn't the end of the world. The guy had met them all last night - including John - and had to have had some suspicions.

That Dean seemed less than pleased about the whole thing, was unfortunate. Castiel didn't want to out the guy in front of his dad; he had sort of promised not to do anything to alert Mr Winchester about the nature of their relationship, and now he had gone ahead and messed it up a little bit.

"Uh. Sorry Mr Winchester, I will assume that Jack could have found this quite humorous, but it's a shitty job you put me to do, and if I can't sing as I work, it's not gonna get done." Cas felt the blush creep up to his face, so he looked down at the floor again as he composed himself. It was probably quite rude to address an elder like that, but he had to show that he was man enough to be direct about this.

He could hear Mr Winchester chuckle a little and dared to lift his head. "You're right. It's a shitty job. I made a mess didn't I? Get up boy. I'll do the rest myself." The guy waved Dean over with the bucket. "Gimme. Get up. Have a beer." He paused for a second. "Only one. You hear me Dean?"

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

When Ianto woke up in the middle of the night, he was for a few seconds not aware of where he was. It was completely dark in the room, and the only thing he could hear was a faint sound of traffic from far away.

Jack's arm was still wrapped around his waist, and he could feel the guy's breath on his neck. As he lied there he realized that the two of them had moved even closer together during the night, and the warmth from Jack's body made the back of his t-shirt kind of sticky with sweat.

Taking it off was not an option at the moment; it was a little uncomfortable, but he didn't want to risk waking Jack. He kept quiet and was pretty sure he hadn't moved or done anything else to alert Jack that he was awake, but somehow Jack must woke up and realized.

"Aren't you a little overdressed for hot summer night?" The whisper was almost inaudible. "I want to feel your skin against mine." Jack's hand slipped under Ianto's t-shirt and wandered up towards his chest. When Jack's lips briefly touched the nape of his neck, Ianto felt his cock harden in an instant.

Jack pulled away a little and moved his hand downwards. When it reached the waistline of Ianto's boxers it stopped for a moment, but it didn't take long before Ianto could feel a couple of Jack's fingers on his erection. "Shouldn't we get rid of all that fabric?" Jack nibbled on Ianto's shoulder as he gently slipped his hand inside the underwear.

Ianto didn't know what to do. He wanted this so much, but he was scared. A little clumsily, he managed to pull the t-shirt over his head, trying his best to ignore the sensation in his lower regions. Jack had moved his hand again, and pushed the back of Ianto's boxers down as far as he could before he did the same in the front.

When Jack wrapped his arm around Ianto's waist again and scooted closer, it became very apparent that Jack was completely naked. Ianto could feel the guy's cock against his buttcrack, and got seriously frightened about what was going to happen next.

Jack must have noticed that he tensed up a bit. "Relax, I'm not going to fuck you. Not now anyway."

Ianto wasn't quite sure if the words were meant to comfort him. He didn't feel especially comforted. On the other hand, he felt perfect being the little spoon, even if he had never expected that to be the case..

After a few moments of awkward silence, as Jack rubbed against him, Ianto realized that he wasn't as scared about this as he thought he would be. He wanted more, but wasn't sure exactly what kind of 'more' he was ready for. He had no idea how to relay that to Jack, so he just decided to keep quiet and enjoy the sensation.

"Turn over." Jack's whisper was barely audible. Ianto hesitated for a split second before he slowly rolled over to face the guy. Jack's lips were on his before he got a chance to prepare for it, and when their cocks touched, Ianto could barely breathe.

With their lips still not completely separated, Jack uttered a few word that changed the whole scenario. "You can fuck me."

Ianto's cock twitched and threatened to release its load right there and then. He knew it would be impossible to go through with anything like it right now. Just the mere thought was almost too much to handle. That he had fantasized about that for months already, didn't make it any easier. "Okay. maybe not tonight." Jack reached down and wrapped his hand around both cocks, and then he started to jerk them off gently. It took about six seconds for Ianto to cum.

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

It was going to be an awesome summer. His father would be gone for the most part, the 'job' he was attending seemed a little bit like a scam, but he would obviously make tons of money from it. Dean didn't care.

Sam was spending more time at Jo's house than at home, and even if he helped out somewhat, and slept in his own room most nights, he wouldn't be a bother. He had been offered to stay at Jo's place until the house was more inhabitable, and some nights he did, but he and Jo were not allowed to spend the night together regardless, so when there weren't any work for him at the B&B he came home.

When Dean also learned that Pastor Novak would be away a lot, there weren't any good reasons for Castiel to not come over anytime he wanted.

Dean had to work at the garage most days, but he was normally off before five. Castiel had a summer job as well, although the pay for it was a laughing matter. The church had set up a temporary day care for kids from low income families and their parents paid as much as they could afford. Even if Castiel and the other volunteers got to share most of the proceeds, it didn't add up to much at the end of the day.

Cas didn't worry about the pay. It was a little extra pocket money, and he didn't need much. He seemed to enjoy interacting with the kids, and had a few plans on how to make this into more than just fun and games.

Castiel's father made good on the promise to provide help. He let them borrow the church's van when Sam and Dean had to get around to pick up the second hand furniture they had scrambled together. He also sent over a couple of teenagers who were eager to make a few bucks painting the house. Dean, Sam, and Castiel did most of it, but it was good with the extra pairs of hands.

They had a TV now, and John had let them borrow an old xbox; the guy had more game consoles than he could use in one sitting anyway. John had come over a couple of times to lend a hand, but that normally ended up with not much done. He always brought booze, and after a half hour of mediocre carpentry or painting, he was ready to party instead.

Waking up in the early afternoon that Sunday with a little bit of a hangover, Dean actually felt good about everything going on. There was however one chip in this perfect picture, and it had nothing to do with him feeling a little under the weather at the moment.

School had been out for two weeks and everything seemed to go well in every way possible, but so far, and in spite of the fact that his father and his brother stayed away for the most part, he had barely been alone with Castiel since that first night in the house. They had had a few stolen moments, but the couple of times Cas was able to stay late, John or Sam or Ianto or somebody else had been there as well.

Not that it was such a big deal; Dean felt that they were solid, but Cas was still a little reluctant to reveal that they were together. It was odd really; everybody they knew had for a long time suspected that Cas was gay, and he had admitted to Dean that he himself had always known. Dean, on the other hand, had denied to himself that he was attracted to guys, and done his best to conceal it.

It wasn't like he was ready to dive out of the closet just yet, but with their friends it was different. Dean wanted them to know so that he could cuddle up with Castiel while they played video games for instance. The fact that John and Sam, and pretty much everybody else had their suspicions anyway, made it even more silly. He could see their looks and he was pretty sure Castiel noticed as well.

Dean was not going to let this tiny problem ruin his mood. They had time, it was just a small bump, and it would eventually be solved, even if he had to pull some strings to make it happen.