A/N: I'm only going to have lyrics for one song in here, and I'm working on guitar chords for it. The only problem is, I don't really play guitar. Eventually, I'm hoping to at least finish the song and play it, and if/when I do, I'll record it and put it here. Until then, you're stuck with just lyrics.

Castiel struts onstage to the same song he has for the rest of his concerts. The difference is, he couldn't wipe the smile off his face even if he tried. Finally, his first Sioux Falls concert of the tour is here.

He sings his song, ending at the front of the stage at what he thinks is center, just as he had blocked out much, much earlier. He looks out at the audience with a grin, listening to them cheering.

He looks down to see Lucifer jumping up and down excitedly. He's coming back tomorrow to videotape it got YouTube, but for today, he's just here to enjoy it.

With him are Sam and Gabriel, who conveniently don't have classes on Fridays. They had left California that morning, but not soon enough to catch him before the concert. They're flying back on Sunday, so he won't get much time with them, unfortunately, but it's the thought that count. He got to hang out with them the week before while he was on California, at least.

The rest of the family is there as well. Michael, Anna, Claire, and Adam are all standing there with them. Anna has her phone out to take pictures and videos for social media, but Claire is defying stereotypes by just being there to enjoy the show.

He winks at them, and the audience cheers louder, assuming the wink was for all of them. He waits for them to quiet down before speaking into the headset's microphone. The only time he uses an actual microphone is when he plays guitar while singing, which the headset doesn't pick up very well.

"What's up, Sioux Falls?" Castiel asks loudly, earning more cheers. He has to wait for them to calm down before continuing. "Well, this is a first." He points to the sky. "Sun. In Sioux Falls. During my concert. If that's not the sign of a good day, I don't know what is." He's referencing how it always seems to rain when he's performing here; usually just sprinkles but twice now it's straight up poured. It's a nice change. Of course, the sun is already beginning to set, so it won't last long, but at least he won't get wet.

He goes through his concert as per usual, following his script basically to the word. Finally, it's time for the unreleased songs portion of this concert. He waits for everyone to calm down after he finishes his song before speaking, slowly walking towards the front of the stage as he talks.

"Sioux Falls will always hold a special place in my heart," he tells them. "It was my home for eighteen years, after all. Anyone who's been to my Sioux Falls concerts before knows what time this is, and they know the rules." People cheer when they realize what's coming, so he waits for them to calm down. "This is the part of the concert I'm never quite sure about. It seems like most of you know every word to all my songs, maybe even better than I do myself." And cheering.

"But this is the part where we switch it up a little bit. The only people who have ever seen or heard these songs are me and my brother, who picked them out this year. If you like them, I wrote them. If you don't like them, just remember Lucifer picked them and don't get mad at me." This earns some laughs, despite being a bad joke.

"With that being said, these songs are very personal, so, as always, I'm going to ask that you put your phones and cameras away. What happens in Sioux Falls stays in Sioux Falls. Plus, how cool is it to know that you know parts my mind that people who aren't here right now will never get to see?"

This earns some cheers, and he hopes people take the wait time to put their phones away. He really doesn't want anyone to record this; especially not his song about Dean. He'd rather no one know about it, but if these thousands of people do, he'd at least like to keep it to just them.

He sings the first two, earning monstrous applause after each of them. It's always a confidence booster when he hears that people like his unreleased songs. He usually gets some tweets about how people wish he'd release them, but if he plays it under the pretense that it's an unreleased song, it's going to stay an unreleased song.

"This last song," he begins once the screams have died down, "is a bit different than the others. You've probably noticed that songs generally follow the same pattern: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, sometimes chorus again, sometimes it has the beginning of the song again. It's basically the songwriter's guide, and most if not all of my released songs follow some variation of that.

"But the nice thing about writing for yourself is that there are no rules. I could swear all I want. I could steal another song's tune. Well, with this one, I really strayed from the typical song format under the impression that no one else would know this song even existed. If it wasn't for Lucifer, I wouldn't have even considered this song for tonight. Anyways, I think I've ranted about this song long enough. Who wants to hear it?"

Of course, now comes the excited screams. Castiel keeps his smile on his face, but it's not quite as natural as it had been earlier. He really isn't excited to sing this one. He glances down at Lucifer, who gives him a double thumbs up. Castiel nods slightly in recognition, but subtly enough that people probably don't notice.

Finally, he starts. According to the author's stopwatch, it's only about a fifteen second guitar solo introduction, but it feels way longer. It gives the audience time to calm down before he starts.

"There we go again.
We had another fight.
I wish I could share the blame,
But I know it's all mine.

I thought you'd come around,
Just like you've done before.
I guess I should have known,
That wouldn't last much more.

You were the light in my life.
When everything when wrong, you were right.
I hate to think that you left so soon,
But I know it's what's best for you.

You always tried to make things right,
But I always had to put up a fight,
Even though I knew I was tearing us apart,
So I guess we were doomed from the start.

And now I'm sitting here,
And I'm wishing you were near,
And I just wish I knew,
Just how much I had to lose.

And even standing here in these bright lights,
You're the only thing on my mind.
But I still fake a smile,
Like I'm not dying on the inside.

I can't say I blame you,
After everything I put you through.
You don't want to hear from me,
So I guess I'll leave you be.

But I just wish I could say,
I'm sorry for the way,
I took our love, and I tore it apart."

His voice breaks on the last word, and he covers the strings to stop them from vibrating.

"I can't do this," he says softly, but the microphone still picks it up. He takes his headset off and places it on the ground, then lies his guitar next to it and walks off, fighting back tears the whole way.

The audience is quiet for a moment before they all start talking at once. He ignores them. He should have known he wouldn't be able to get through that song. He's barely halfway yet. He brushes off everyone who approaches him backstage, just sitting on the floor with his legs to his chest, his face buried in his knees.

He hears someone sit next to him, but he ignores them. It's only when he hears the voice that he finally looks up.

"Hey," Gabriel says quietly. "You okay?"

Castiel just shakes his head. He knows that if he tries to speak, all that will come out is gross sobbing noises, so he doesn't bother.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel asks.

Castiel shakes his head again.

Gabriel seems to understand, and instead of pushing him to talk, he puts an arm around his brother comfortingly. Castiel leans in and buries his face in his brother's shoulder.

After a while, he says, "You know, there are thousands of people out there."

Castiel doesn't say anything.

"Thousands of people who love you," Gabriel adds. "They're counting on you. Do you think you can be strong for them?"

Castiel shakes his head.

Gabriel rubs his back comfortingly. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you," he says. "But you'll have to face them eventually. If not them, then another group of people just like them. And think about it. There are kids in the audience out there; kids who look up to you. Think about how they'll feel when they see their hero come back out onstage, willing to overcome any obstacle for the sake of other people. That's inspiring. By walking out there again, you could inspire hundreds of little kids, making them want to be the best version of themselves. Isn't that worth it?"

Castiel takes a few deep, calming breaths. "Yeah," he says finally, wiping the tears away. "Yeah, that's — that's worth it."

He stands up, and Gabriel stands with him. They walk over to the wings together, but he hesitates. Gabriel looks at his brother sympathetically. He puts a hand on his shoulder.

"You can do this," Gabriel whispers. "I have faith in you." He gives his brother a hug, then walks onstage just long enough to hop off and rejoin his family.

The only other person onstage is Lucifer. He's sitting on the stool in front of the microphone with Castiel's headset on, holding the guitar in his lap. He had stopped what he was doing when Gabriel walked onstage, and when he catches Castiel's eye, he gives his brother a smile before looking back out at the audience.

"Ready, guys?" Lucifer asks. "3, 2, 1, go!"

With Lucifer playing guitar and singing the lyrics into the microphone, the audience joins him to sing a somewhat familiar song with a twist.

"Stay, stay, stay. We've been loving you for quite some time, time, time. We'll still love you when you're sad, sad, sad. We think that it's best if you just stay."

There's a small smile on his face as Castiel comes into view of the rest of the audience. Lucifer takes the headset off and lets the bottom of the guitar rest on the floor while he holds the top to stop it from falling as Castiel walks over to him. They share a hug, and Castiel pushes back tears. He can make it through this concert. That's all he needs.

"You feeling better?" Lucifer asks softly, so no one can hear it.

"Not really," Castiel replies just as quietly.

"I'm sorry about that," Lucifer tells him. "I shouldn't have made you sing that. I didn't realize it bothered you so much."

"It's not your fault," Castiel assures him.

Lucifer claps him on the back once before they pull apart. He mouths "Good luck," before handing off the guitar and headset and hopping off the stage to rejoin the family. He can't imagine that it's pain free at this height, but both Lucifer and Gabriel did it, so it can't be too bad.

Castiel takes a deep breath before putting the headset on again, the guitar down by his side. "I'm sorry about that," Castiel says. "I guess I just wasn't ready to sing that. Thanks for not throwing rotten tomatoes at me," he adds as an attempt at humor, because at this point, that's all he has left. "But that — that was really sweet. Thank you." He fakes a smile. "So, looks like we have a concert to finish, huh?"

And with the cheers, he knows it's back on.