Set in AU

Dean Winchester was the new kid at Lawrence High, and he doomed any chance he had at popularity with one simple little decision.

He signed up for band.

Dean played the guitar, and he was pretty good, and joining band was far better then making pottery in art class, in his opinion. But band in Lawrence High was social suicide. Only the nerds and geeks joined it.

But Dean didn't know that at first.

"Dean Winchester?" A voice behind him asked. Dean turned, only for his eyes to widen at the sight of a shockingly cute boy with blue eyes and dark hair.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"I'm Castiel Novak; I'm supposed to walk you through your schedule and show you around today, if that's okay." Dean smirked.

"Buddy, you can show me around anywhere at any time." Castiel blushed slightly.

"Come on," He led Dean out the office. "What's your first class?"

So Cas led him from class to class, showing him around the school. Slowly, the two started to become friends, chatting back and forth.

"What do you have next?" Castiel asked.

"Band," Dean offered, looking at his schedule. Castiel stopped dead.

"YOU have BAND?" He questioned.

"Um, yeah? What's wrong with that?" Cas looked like he had won the lottery.

"That's perfect! I have band too- what instrument do you play?"

"The guitar."

"I play piano. Well, in that case, we should really head to the band room so we're not late."

"But band doesn't start til three." Dean frowned. Cas laughed.

"Oh Dean. Band class starts at 3. The band geeks start at 2:30."

******

Dean quite understand what Cas meant, until they entered the band room and were greeted with total insanity.

A scrawny kid was marching around the room, playing Timmy Trumpet's Freaks as everyone else flipped out.

There was a red headed girl standing on a chair and brandishing a flute like a sword, dueling with a boy with a clarinet.

A blonde girl was writing on the board, a short boy was going nuts on the drums. Some poor teen had been stuffed in a band locker, and there was a boy lying on top of the chairs, playing the Wii theme on the trumpet.

There was also a girl dangling from the ceiling, and Dean was pretty sure he didn't want to know how she had gotten up there.

"Welcome to band," Cas said with a smile before making his way over to the piano. Dean followed him mindlessly, still in awe.

"Where;s the band instructor?" He asked, confused on how anyone would let a class be this crazy.

"Who- Bobby? Oh he doesn't care what we do as long as we're ready to rehearse by 3." Cas offered. "Wanna meet some band geeks?"

"Sure." Dean grinned. "As long as they're all as awesome as you." Cas blushed.

"Well, I can't vouch for that," He insisted. "But they're pretty cool. You'll see." Cas sat down at the piano and started playing something. "This is the easiest way to get their attention."

"I know this song!" Dean declared, and he sang along with the piano. "Sweeeeeet, Caroline-"

"BUM BUM BUM!!!!!" The whole band exploded, instantly stopping whatever they were doing and whipping their heads towards the piano.

"Hey, guys, we've got us a newbie!" Cas declared.

"NEWBIE!!" The red headed girl shrieked, and half the band trampled over each other to get closer.

"What's he play?" The blonde girl asked.

"Guitar." Dean replied.

"What kind? Electric? Bass? Acoustic?" Dean shrugged.

"All kinds."

"Well good, cause we need somebody other then a bass." 

"Allow me to do the introductions," Cas offered. "Everyone, this is Dean."

"HI DEAN!" They chorused.

"Dean, that's Charlie." He pointed towards the redhead waving the flute. "She's a total fangirl, and our band queen."

"Hell yeah, bitches. Bow before your queen!" Charlie declared.

"That's Jo, she plays the trumpet." He pointed at the blonde girl.

"Hey."

"That's Benny, our other trumpet." Benny waved.

"Sup brother?" He asked.

"That's Garth on the trombone,"

"Hi!"

"My brother Gabriel on the the drums."

"Wazzup Deano?"

"Jess, on the ceiling."

"HELP."

"She plays the clarinet, along with Kevin."

"I'm in advanced placement."

"The kid in the band locker is Alfie."

"Hi."

"And then we've got Claire on the bass. Crowley, Balthazar, and Luci on the various saxophones."

"It's not LUCI, it's SATAN."

"Yes, Luci is our registered band Satan. I recommend you don't sell your soul to him, but Crowley's the real crossroads demon you have to look out for."

"I killed ONE person-" Crowley started.

"And then there's me. On the piano. That's all of us."

"Cool." Dean nodded. "So....what music do we play?"

"Oh no." Alfie whispered. "It's started."

"CLASSICAL!" Cas yelled, slamming the piano keys.

"HEAVY METAL!!!" Jo shot back.

"Smooth Jazz," Crowley offered.

"BLUES JAZZ!" Balthazar countered.

"Wham!" Satan declared.

"NO WHAM!!!" The rest of the band yelled back.

"POP!" Jess suggested. "Taylor Swift!"

"THE DOCTOR WHO THEME SONG!" Charlie screeched.

"Sooooo TARDIS sounds?" 

"YES."

"PHIL COLLINS!" Gabriel shouted. "FOR THE BEST DRUM SOLO EVER!!"

"What music do you like, Dean?" Cas asked.

"Classic Rock." He said instantly. Cas gestured to the shouting band geeks.

"Let them know that." He insisted. "You gotta yell to get your opinions heard here."

"CLASSIC ROCK!" Dean yelled randomly.

"YES! AND WE'LL PLAY WHAM!" Lucifer went on.

"NO WHAM!!!!" Everyone repeated.

"What's wrong with Wham?" Dean questioned.

"Imagine listening to Careless Whisper for sixteen hours straight." Cas explained. "On a bus. In the middle of nowhere. With no stopping. Just you, the wheat fields, and Satan blasting Careless Whisper on a badly out of tune saxophone." Dean blinked.

"Well now I know what hell looks like." 

"That was our reality, and Lucifer has since been forbidden to play the song, although he does it anyway." Dean nodded, and took out his gutair.

"And what happens if I do this?" Dean asked, starting to play Careless Whisper.

"FUCK YES!!!" Satan yelled. "LOVE THE NEW GUY!!!!" The rest of the band screamed like they were being violently murdered.

"WHY DEAN?!!?!?" Cas screeched. "I THOUGHT WE WERE FRIENDS!!!" His voive was drowned out as Satan and Dean started to belt out.

"I'M NEVER GONNA DANCE AGAIN, THESE GUILTY FEET HAVE GOT NO RHYTHM! ALTHOUGH IT'S EASY TO PRETEND, I KNOW YOU'RE NOT A FOOOOOOOOL!"

And then a door slammed open, and an old man with a baseball cap and a beard walked in.

"One more note of Wham! and somebody's getting pumped full of lead!" The man shouted out. They stopped singing, and the man eyed the group. "Alright, in your seats."

They all scrambled for their band seats, and Dean was left standing, slightly confused.

"Bobby!" Cas declared, noting Dean's confusion. Cas shoved him forward. "This is Dean Winchester. He's our new Guitar player." Bobby gave him a once over.

"Play something." He suggested. "Let's see how good you are."

"Anything?" Dean questioned.

"Anything." So Dean started playing the guitar solo from Van Halen's Eruption, because hey- Bobby questioned his skills. Might as well show them off.

The rest of the band stared at him, and Dean looked at Bobby expectantly. The old guy smirked at him.

"Showoff," He commented. "I like this kid. Pick a seat anywhere you want- this is band class, we're not picky about seating until the concert."

So Dean sat down as close to the piano as he could, convientently right behind Charlie as well. The redhead whipped around to look at him and she poked him in the nose with the end of her flute.

"4:00," She warned. "Parking lot. I challenge thee to a duel. Eruption versus Flight of the Bumblebee." Dean's eyes widened.

"You can play Flight of the Bumblebee?"

"Fuck yeah I can."

"You win."

"I know I win."

******

Band quickly became Dean's favorite part of the day. It was impossible not to enjoy it, especially when the band geeks were so much fun to be around.

And then there was Cas. Cas was....

Well, in Dean's mind, Cas was utterly perfect.

"You know, I play the cello too," Cas mentioned one day with a smile. "We could ask Bobby to do a song together, and act like Mozart Heroes." Dean's eyes widened.

"You listen to Mozart Heroes?" He questioned. Mozart Heroes was the best. It was a guitar and cello duo that made epic mashups of classical songs and classic rock. They even did a mashup of Ed Sheeran and Despacito. They were amazing.

"Oh course I listen to Mozart Heroes," Cas declared. "Summer Storm is my jam."

"I like Thunderstruck."

"I knew you'd like Thunderstruck." There was a yelp, and the boys glanced over, only to see Charlie and Jo arguing in front of the whiteboard. Cas rolled his eyes.

"Guess it's time for the weekly survey," He commented.

"The what?" Dean asked.

"Every week, Jo and Charlie come up with a petition or a question, and you sign your name under it if you agree."

"Cool."

"Yeah, it's fun until they rip each other's hair out while arguing over what the question should be."

"Oh. Not so cool."

"Nah, it's fine. They're dating anyway."

"Charlie and Jo are dating?"

"Yeah. Like half the band is gay." Cas offered. "Charlie's a lesbian, Jo's bi, I'm pan, Gabriel's gay and we suspect Crowley is bi. Balthazar is pan, Claire is demi, Satan is.... something. Not sure what, but he has a boyfriend so he definitely isn't straight. Alfie, Garth, Jess, and Benny are the only ones who are definitely straight, and we're not so sure about Benny. What are you?"

"Bi," Dean admitted. "But I think I lean more towards guys." Cas smiled softly.

"Good to know," He commented.

"LISTEN UP, LOSERS!!" Charlie yelled out. "THE WEEKLY SURVEY IS UP!!!" She and Jo bolted away, leaving those curious avaliable to check out the petition question of the week.

"Petition to get spit valves put in flutes," Dean read out loud. He frowned. "Why do flutes need spit valves?"

"Oh no, here we go." Jo complained. "This is so gross."

"You wanna know WHY?" Charlie declared. "Because we don't have them, and when you play the flute, SOMETIMES, some spit gets in it, and it just runs down the instrument while we're in rest position until it drips out the other end and onto your leg. It's gross, it's nasty to get your pants covered in flute spit, and frankly, no one likes thinking about it. So, GIVE THE FLUTES A SPIT VALVE AND SOLVE MY EVERYDAY PROBLEMS!"

Cas shuddered and put his name on the board. Dean quickly followed. This was why he didn't play an instrument where you had to worry about spit.

******

Lawrence High was quite divided when it came to school lunch. The jocks sat with jocks, popular kids with popular kids, and band geeks with band geeks.

But it took people a little while to figure out what table Dean Winchester belonged at.

He was leaving the hot lunch line with his tray when two girls walked up to him, giggling slightly.

"Hi," The first one smiled.

"Hey," He smiled back.

"You're Dean Winchester, right?"

"That's me."

"You signed up for the football team."

"That I did." Dean admitted. The girls giggled again.

"I'm Lisa," The girl offered. "And this is Bela. We're cheerleaders."

"Nice to meet you," Dean smirked.

"We were wondering if you'd like to have lunch with us," Bela asked. Dean glanced pasted them to the lunch table in the corner, where the band geeks sat. Most of the gang was already there, and Dean could see that the chaos had already begun. Charlie was standing on her chair, ranting about something, while Jo laughed and tried to tug her back down. Gabriel was having a mini food fight with Benny, and Cas was the only one eating normally.

But there was an empty seat next to Cas, and none of the other band members took it. It was like it was saved especially for Dean.

He grinned at the thought.

"Sorry girls," He apologized. "I promised my friends I'd sit with them." Lisa and Bela frowned as he walked past.

"What friends?" Lisa demanded.

"Over there," He gestured toward the table and they raised their eyebrows.

"You're friends with the band geeks?" Bela questioned.

"Yeah. Is that a problem?"

"No," Lisa crinkled her nose in disgust. "But never mind." The girls strutted away, and Dean headed for the band geek table with a shrug.

"Hey," He grinned, sitting down next to Cas, who smiled widely at him.

"Hello Dean," He replied. 

"Good! Dean can settle the debate!" Charlie yelled.

"Oh my gosh," Jo complained.

"Dean!" Charlie went on. "IS it, or is it NOT fair that Quidditch does not count as a real sport?" Dean blinked.

"Quidditch doesn't count as a real sport?" He questioned. "But....it's got everything a sport requires...."

"EXACTLY!" Charlie shouted. "But the principal won't let me start a Quidditch team! This is FANGIRL OPPRESSION!"

"Well, he probably won't let you start a team because you'd have no one to play against," Dean offered. "If other schools near us had Quidditch teams, then I'm sure we could have one here too." Charlie paused.

"....Cas, your boyfriend is a genius." Cas went bright red.

"He's not- I- That-" Cas stumbled over his words before finally just covering his face.

"I think what Cas is trying to say," Dean said smoothly. "Is that it would be improper for me to be his boyfriend before we've gone out on a date."

"Yeah." Cas nodded in agreement. "That works. That's it."

"So Cas, you free on Friday?" Dean went on. Cas went even redder.

"Yes." He squeaked.

"Good." Dean smiled cheekily.

"Ship it." Jo and Charlie said in unison.

******

"So, what sport are you doing?" Cas asked. It was mandatory for every student at the school to participate in at least one sport per year, hence Charlie's trying to start a Quidditch team.

"I signed up for football- what about you?" Dean offered, wondering what sport Cas could possibly be participating in. He couldn't imagine the scrawny piano player doing any sort of contact sport- he'd get eaten alive.

"I'm on the swim team," Cas insisted. "We have a meet this Saturday, actually, if you wanna come watch." Dean's decision about whether or not to go to the meet lasted about .5 seconds.

Cas. In a speedo. Soaking wet, and probably panting.

"I'll definitely be there." He confirmed. 

*****

Cas and Dean didn't really get a say in their relationship. One day they were friends, next thing you knew, they were dating. 

It was mainly because the entire band shipped them and demanded that they started dating, and neither boy had a problem with that. They were over the moon for each other.

"I always wanted to learn how to play the piano," Dean admitted one day. "I just never had the patience for it, and my teacher said my fingers were too fat or something." Cas laughed. The teacher, he thought, had a point. Cas had long, nimble fingers that were perfect for a piano, whereas Dean's hands were roughened by the strings of his guitar, and hours spent tinkering with car engines.

"Come on, I'll teach you something." Cas declared, smiling. They sat at the piano bench together, and Cas searched through his music, picking out a piece near the back and setting it up. He blushed slightly. "I've always wanted to play this with someone I was dating."

"Well then I hope I don't mess it up," Dean commented. He recognized the song. It was from a decent movie, but it was the song itself that was intoxicating. A love duet, perfect for a pair.

"Do you know the words?" Cas asked. "Bobby always says that if you can sing a piece, then you can play it."

"Of course I know the words," Dean declared. "I love this song. I just can't play it."

"Sure you can." Cas smiled. 

Cas helped him line up his fingers the right way, and guided him through the keys he would have to play, saving the more difficult melodies for himself.

"I think I got it." Dean said finally, so they started from the beginning of the song, and to Cas's delight, Dean started to sing softly as they played the piano.

"City of stars," Dean sang lightly. "Are you shining just for me?" Cas played the background, trying not to hum along. "City of stars, There's so much that I can't see... Who knows? I felt it from the first embrace I shared with you,"

"That now our dreams," Cas picked up the duet, smiling. "They've finally come true." Dean grinned and focused on his part, not wanting to be the one to mess up the song. "City of stars, Just one thing everybody wants...There in the bars, And through the smokescreen of the crowded restaurants. It's love, Yes, all we're looking for is love from someone else."

"A rush,"

"A glance,"

"A touch,"

"A dance,"

" A look in somebody's eyes," They sang together, hands darting along the keys of the piano. "To light up the skies, To open the world and send it reeling. A voice that says, I'll be here, And you'll be alright"

"I don't care if I know
Just where I will go
'Cause all that I need is this crazy feeling
A rat-tat-tat of my heart."

"Think I want it to stay," Dean continued. "City of stars, Are you shining just for me? City of stars..."

"You never shined so brightly," Cas finished, and Dean ended the song.

They smiled at each other, and then there was a screech, followed by a thud on the opposite side of the room. They boys glanced over, only to spot Charlie lying on the floor. Jo stood in the doorway, clapping frantically.

"ENCORE!" Charlie yelled from the floor. They laughed.

"I love band," Dean grinned.