“Tell me once more the plan for the evening,” Sarah’s mother said as she watched Sarah prepare. It was close to the time when she’d leave to Leon’s for the party. Grace couldn’t help feeling a bit concerned about her daughter going to a big party with people she didn’t know.

“We’re going to Leon’s place for a bit to have our late Christmas/early New Year’s celebration. After that Leon’s brother Morgan will take us to the party. We’ll be there until midnight at least, and then come back. Morgan will drop me and Castiel off at his place where I’ll stay for the night,” Sarah explained for the third time while smoothing her skirt and tying up her hair. Luckily, she had managed to pull on her sequin-decorated sweater before mum had barged in the room. Sarah’s skin was still slightly bruised from displays of Castiel’s affection, and she didn’t need her mother to witness that. There’d be no ways Sarah could’ve convinced her mother that nothing more had happened. Sarah probably wouldn’t have believed it either if she didn’t know herself.

“Who is holding the party?”

“Morgan’s friend, like I already told you. His name is Lynton.”

“What is the address? Are his parents home?”

“I don’t think he lives with his parents,” Sarah said and pushed past her mum to head to the kitchen, where a patch of cookies was still cooling off. “And I don’t know the address.”

Grace let out a concerned noise as she followed her daughter.

“Is there going to be alcohol?”

“Probably. But I won’t drink. Morgan won’t either since he’s driving.”

“What about your friends?”

“I don’t know, but I doubt it. At least they won’t drink much if they do. They’re responsible.”

Amanda and Leon didn’t seem like people who’d get drunk. Sarah could believe Castiel to do it, but she doubted he would in this party. He knew Sarah didn’t care for alcohol, and on top of that, he was performing for the most of the night.

“What will you do at Castiel’s house?” mum asked next.

Sarah almost snapped a cookie she was holding. She avoided looking at her mother to hide the blush on her face and focused on putting the cookies in a box.

“Sleep. It’ll be late when we get there. We’ll probably be tired.”

“You could sleep at home too.”

“I don’t want to disturb you guys. Steffie is a light sleeper, and if she doesn’t get good night’s sleep, she’ll be so cranky in the morning.”

“Hmm, yeah, I’m sure that’s the only reason…”

Sarah blushed again.

“It’ll be fine, mum. There won’t be anything too inappropriate.”

She could make no promises about complete lack of promiscuous activities, but she could assure mum that they wouldn’t be doing what she worried they’d be doing.

“Well, you are old enough to do as you please, I guess. Just remember to be responsible, and that you can always say no if you don’t want to do something. And I’ll come pick you up anytime if you want to. And–”

Before mum could say anything more, the doorbell rang. Sarah closed the lid on the cookie box and dashed to the door where Castiel was waiting. He had his guitar case with him. His hair was tied back, and he was wearing very tight jeans that made Sarah’s heart jump a bit.

“Hey,” he said and kissed her softly.

“Hi.”

The blush that had barely managed to disappear from Sarah’s face was back again when she motioned Castiel inside.

“Hello Castiel,” said Grace who had also come to see the visitor. “I heard you are going to a party.”

“That is the plan, yes. We’re going out with some friends. Leon and I will be playing some music there.”

“Do your parents know about the plan?”

“Mum…” Sarah’s tone was warning. No interrogations.

“Yes, they know. They also know that Sarah is coming over. They should be home when we come back, and their bedroom is close to mine.”

Sarah escaped to the kitchen to avoid blushing more. The fact that Castiel knew exactly why her mother was concerned made Sarah embarrassed. She focused on packing the party biscuits and the two jars with small candies she had made earlier for Leon and Amanda. Then she headed to her room to grab her bag where she had backed her sleepover necessities and Castiel’s gift. She stuffed the cookie box and the candy jars in the bag as well and made sure her phone and wallet were there too. Quickly she glanced in the mirror to make sure she looked good. She smiled at her reflection.

“I’m ready to go,” she said returning to the hallway with everything packed.

Castiel was casually chatting with Grace and perked up when Sarah came back.

“Let’s go then. We don’t want to be late.”

Castiel wrapped an arm around Sarah’s shoulders after she had dressed up.

“Bye, mum. I’ll text you if something happens.”

“Okay. Take care of each other and be careful and responsible. And have fun.”

Sarah smiled and slipped from Castiel’s hold to give a quick hug to her mum.

“I will be. Bye.”

Then they headed out and towards Leon’s house. Sarah’s stomach was full of fluttering butterflies. She was excited for the evening. She was a bit concerned about all the people she didn’t know, but maybe she’d just attach herself to Amanda’s side and they’d hang out together. Sarah was sure Amanda would understand. Or alternatively she’d just watch Castiel’s performance all night. No need to socialize when she could admire her boyfriend.

The walk to Leon’s home didn’t take too long which Sarah was happy about, since the cold weather made her shiver in her skirt. The streets were almost empty as people had headed out of town to celebrate holidays or preparing for the evening. The streets would fill with people towards the evening when they would gather to watch the fireworks, but for now most of the town looked almost deserted.

Leon lived with his brother in a three bedroom apartment that was in a five storey apartment building near the library. Sarah realised she had passed the house several times, but of course she hadn’t known Leon lived there until now. Nervous energy pinched her stomach when they stepped from the tiny elevator and headed to the right door. The door had a neat and simple sign with the name Aston on it.

Sarah expected Castiel to ring the doorbell, but instead he pulled a key from his pocket and opened the door with it. Sarah’s eyes widened.

“Can you do that?” she hissed and hesitantly walked in behind Castiel.

“That’s why I have the key,” Castiel said and smiled, and then yelled a hello.

Leon appeared few seconds later from one of the rooms with Amanda in tow. They both looked slightly flushed.

“Hey,” he greeted and cleared his throat before giving Sarah a quick hug.

Amanda tried to discreetly tuck her curls behind her ear.

“We let ourselves in since I have the key. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” Castiel said and winked.

“Of course not,” Leon huffed and straightened his shirt.

Castiel raised his eyebrows, and Leon flashed a middle finger at him. Castiel laughed and said something to him, but Sarah didn’t quite catch the words since Amanda had taken her hand and pulled Sarah towards the living room once Sarah had hung up her coat.

“We didn’t disturb you, right?” Sarah asked quietly when they were alone. Castiel and Leon were arguing in the hallway still.

Amanda didn’t say anything, but she blushed furiously.

“Sorry,” Sarah apologized. She knew they should’ve rung the doorbell.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Sarah smiled again apologetically but decided that talking more about the topic was probably embarrassing. So, she looked around to see what kind of place Leon and Morgan lived in. She was curious to see what kind of household two guys were running.

Neat was the simple answer, and rather expected too based on what Sarah knew about the brothers. Everything looked clean and nothing was out of place. The colour scheme was light, but some walls had been covered in wallpaper with imaginative and quirky patterns. Amanda gave Sarah a quick tour of the few rooms. The kitchen was modest sized but clean and well organized. The space was utilized well with shelves on the walls freeing more floor space. Leon and Morgan had their own rooms, and the extra bedroom was Morgan’s home office. They only peeked inside from the door, but there was a big drawing table and another table covered in different jewellery making equipment. Third desk was manned with a computer with a massive screen and more drawing equipment and folders littered around it. A controlled chaos seemed to reign in the room.

When they finished the small tour, Leon and Castiel had settled in the living room and brought bowls and plates of food on the table. There were mini pizzas, small meat pasties, cupcakes, and a bowl of sweets. Sarah dug the box of biscuits from her bag and placed it among at other food.

“Everything looks so good,” Sarah said.

“Leon made the cupcakes, and I made the pasties,” Amanda explained, “Castiel gave Leon money to buy the pizzas.”

Sarah shot a glance at Castiel.

“What? No one said we need to make the food. And Leon was going to the shops anyway for all this stuff.”

“Fair enough,” Sarah shrugged.

Even though Castiel cooked occasionally, he wasn’t a kitchen spirit by any means, especially when it came to baking. But frozen pizzas were popular for a reason, and the ones on the plate looked tasty. There was a small variety of pepperoni, mozzarella, and vegetable pizzas.

To finish setting the table, Amanda went to fetch some plates and glasses while Leon placed pillows on the floor, so they could sit more comfortably around the table. Castiel fiddled with his phone and connected it to the speaker system. He put on one of his playlists that included softer music than his usual punk rock bands since everyone didn’t share his taste in music.

Amanda brought the plates and drinks from the kitchen, and they settled at the table. For a few minutes everyone was focused on filling their plates and eating. Soon, they began to talk about how their Christmases had went. They had already given brief overviews on their previous meet few days prior, but now there was time to delve into the details.

Leon and Amanda talked about their holiday on the countryside at Leon’s parent’s place. They lived in an old farmhouse and even had a few horses. They had gone to a sleigh ride which sounded lovely. Sarah was surprised to hear that Leon was from countryside, and that he knew how to ride a horse, a detail that Amanda revealed. Sarah tried to visualize Leon on horseback, but the image was difficult to create.

“It’s been years since I’ve been on a horse,” Leon explained. “I never liked riding too much, but I learned it because it was a natural thing to know. Like, your family has horses, do you think you wouldn’t be put on one once you’re old enough to not fall off immediately. Morgan knows how to ride as well, but he likes it even less. He never liked the countryside and moved away as soon as possible.”

“Yeah, I can see it. I don’t think I could really live in a countryside either. If there’s more than ten minutes to a grocery store, count me out,” Sarah said and chuckled a bit. Living some distance away from the city centre didn’t bother her, but she had been spoiled by the proximity of all necessary services and needed at least some of them to enjoy life. It was fine if she couldn’t cycle to a swimming pool or if there wasn’t a burger joint around every other corner but needing a car for any size of trip to the grocery store was too much. Her grandparents lived in a nice and peaceful area, but fifteen minutes by car to get to the shops was on the edges of Sarah’s living preferences.

“Same,” Castiel commented. He preferred more city-type of living as well.

Amanda on the other hand commented, that she wouldn’t mind living more rurally since she was used to it. Her old hometown had been quite rural and even though there had been small grocery store there for basic necessities, most of the time they had needed to drive to bigger shops. Although, she didn’t mind the easier living of city life either.

They chatted a bit longer about random topics, but soon everyone’s thoughts started to drift towards the presents. Few bags waited on the floor, and they eyed at them more and more, until Amanda decided that it would be easier and better if they got the presents out of the way. The clock was ticking forward, and they wouldn’t have terrible amount of free time before they’d have to leave. Who knew how long the gift exchange would last.

They cleared some room on the table, and everyone took out their gift bags. Sarah nervously eyed at the gifts she had picked. Even though she had known Amanda and Leon for few months know, she felt like she still didn’t know them well enough to buy anything that wouldn’t be unnecessary or useless trinkets. That was why she had decided to give them a handmade gift and had made them fudge. Sarah really hoped they would like the sweets. At least fudge came in cute jars she had bought, so if it wasn’t good, Leon and Amanda could repurpose the jars for something else.

“I can start,” Amanda said and pulled out the first gift, a neatly wrapped square, and handed it to Leon.

It was a surprise to no one that removing the wrapping paper revealed the notebook she had bought with Sarah’s help.

“It looks great,” Leon said, touching the cover with his fingers. He leaned closer to Amanda and gave a quick peck on her lips. Her taste in notebook designs was impeccable as always.

“Sarah helped me pick it,” Amanda said.

Leon gave an appreciative nod and smile to Sarah. Then he took one gift from his bag and gave it to Castiel. The unwrapped present was a CD and a guitar pick that was attached on the case with sellotape. Castiel peeled the tape off and snorted a laugh when he read a carved text on the pick.

“I couldn’t pick a better friend?” he read it out loud and looked at Leon who shrugged.

“Most of the time you’re pretty okay,” he said and grinned. They shared a quick bro hug before gift giving continued.

“I’ll give you guys the gift at the same time since it’s basically the same thing. Sorry, I wasn’t very creative with these,” Sarah mumbled while she put the two candy jars in front of Amanda and Leon. “It’s cookie butter fudge with cookie crumbs mixed in.”

“This is so cool! Did you make this?” Amanda asked.

Sarah nodded while her cheeks warmed up. Leon popped the lid open and took one piece of fudge out inspecting it before putting it in his mouth.

“Yo, this tastes amazing,” he said in between chews.

The blush on Sarah’s face deepened when Amanda also tasted the fudge as well and hummed in delight.

“I’m gonna destroy this in one evening. You need to give me the recipe.”

“Of course.”

Sarah was happy her gift had been well received but growing sense of nervousness tried to push the happiness out of the way. She still needed to give Castiel his gift, and she was worried he wouldn’t like it, especially since he had already got one guitar pick.

They continued giving out gifts. Sarah got three bars of chocolate from Leon, and cute mittens from Amanda. Castiel gave Leon a tiny cactus that had a little note attached to it.

“My life would succ without you,” Leon read, “Aww Castiel. This melts my heart.” There was a slight sarcastic note in his voice.

“Read the other side too,” Castiel said.

Leon flipped the paper over. “You’re a prick. Well, fuck you too. I’ll take my guitar pick back. I’ll give it to Sarah instead.”

“You two are relationship goals. Just kiss already,” Amanda said with a smile on her face. Those idiots were so precious.

Sarah’s heart had melted a bit from the scene. It was adorable how two guys gave each other gifts with cheesy friendship puns attached to them and then pretended they didn’t actually care.

Castiel cleared his throat to steer the focus back on the gifts. Amanda gave Castiel a scarf which looked suspiciously similar to the mittens Sarah had received but not similar enough to make it obvious Amanda had bought them matching clothes, which she definitely had done.

Then was Sarah’s turn to give her gift to Castiel. Her heart thumped when she put two small packages on the table. Castiel raised an eyebrow before starting to peel the paper.

He opened the guitar pick case first. A quiet “woah” came from his mouth when he looked at them.

“They’re made of ethically sourced bone,” Sarah explained.

Castiel took one pick from the case and turned it around in front of the light.

“These are sick. Thanks.”

Sarah smiled shily and nodded towards the other box. “Don’t forget to open that one too.”

Castiel quickly ripped the paper off.

“I wasn’t sure if they’re your style. You can probably return them if you don’t like them. I bought them from Morgan’s place. I have the receipt,” Sarah muttered while Castiel admired the pair of earrings. His silence started to make Sarah nervous, but before she could ask his opinion, Castiel was already putting the earrings in his ears.

“Thanks,” he said again to Sarah and pulled her in to a kiss. “I like these a lot.”

“I’m happy to hear that.” Shyness had completely overcome Sarah. Her hands were sweating, and she felt hot when the nervousness that had built up inside her was released in relief.

Gifting continued with only few presents left. Leon gave Amanda a bracelet she put on her wrist right away. It was a delicate silver bracelet with tiny stars hanging from it. Then Castiel took out the last gift of the day. Sarah’s stomach pinched when Castiel put it in front of her.

She opened the wrapper and saw an eighteen colour pencil set and a sketch book.

“Woah, this is so nice,” she said. She had a similar pencil set already, but half of the colours were almost finished, and this one had a few new colours, so it was very welcome.

“There’s one more thing inside the book,” Castiel said quietly.

Indeed, the cover was slightly elevated implying that there was something under it. Sarah opened the book and slammed it closed almost immediately. She pulled the sketchbook on her lap to better hide it from view and opened it again. Her cheeks flared when her fingers brushed over the store name in the gift card.

“I thought buying you underwear was bit too early, so now you can buy some yourself if you want to.” Castiel’s quiet voice right next to her ear made Sarah jump.

“I’ll think about it,” she muttered and closed the sketchbook again.

“You don’t have to use the card,” Castiel reassured.

“Thanks for the gifts. I like them,” she said and hurried to put them in her bag.

“What did you give her? She’s so red. I hope you didn’t draw yourself nude in the book,” Leon said with a teasing tone in his voice.

“Why do you ask? Do you want to see?” Castiel said with an equally joking manner. It didn’t take too long for them to start bickering, and Leon threatened to poke Castiel with the cactus.

Sarah tried to cool herself by taking a sip of already warmed up soda. Amanda raised an eyebrow in a wordless question: everything alright? Sarah nodded and took a few breaths. She had been surprised by the gift card, that’s all. She didn’t hate the idea of doing some lingerie shopping, and it would be polite to use the gift card she had received. If nothing else, she could buy some underpants with the money. But maybe she could ask Amanda to come along as mental support. Girls’ shopping trip to lingerie store sounded like it could be fun if Sarah just got over her embarrassment.

The playful fighting between Castiel and Leon progressed to the point where Leon actually held the cactus in front of him both as a shield and a weapon, but noise from the front door paused the action and everyone turned to look who was coming. Considering that Morgan was the only other person with the keys to the house, it should not have been that big of a surprise.

“Oh, you’re back already?” Leon said and put the cactus on the table.

Morgan left his wool coat in the hanger and walked further into the apartment and nodded a greeting to everyone.

“Yes. Don’t let me bother,” he said and shrugged of a suit jacket which he carelessly tossed on the backrest of the couch.

“Did you have a nice date with Lucy?” Amanda asked, when Morgan leaned over the table to pop few sweets in his mouth.

“Yes. We went to a really nice restaurant. The Chubby Duck. Amazing food even though it’s on the more expensive side. Definitely worth the money though. I love your earrings Castiel. Great taste.”

“When are we leaving?” Leon asked.

Morgan looked at the watch on his wrist.

“In an hour probably. I need to rest for a bit and change clothes. Lucy decided she’s coming too, but she comes with Emily and Hans since there’s no room in my car.”

After saying that, Morgan snatched his coat and retired to his own room.

“I should probably start getting changed too then. It takes forever to do my hair,” Amanda said. She was wearing casual clothes but had brought another outfit with her. “Do you want to help, Sarah? You boys can clean up.”

Sarah nodded and followed Amanda to Leon’s room and closed the door after them before there was time to hear any objections from the guys.

Leon’s room had lot of soft colours and textures. There was a large Swiss cheese plant in the corner of his room. On the bedside table was a framed picture of him and Amanda.

Rustling bag pulled Sarah’s attention from the snooping and she focused on Amanda who had taken out a dark blue dress. She started to take off her clothes, and Sarah bashfully turned away. She heard Amanda chuckle.

“Can you close the zipper for me?” she asked.

Sarah nodded and moved closer. She fumbled a bit with the zipper but managed to pull it up and avoid leaving any of Amanda’s hair between the metallic teeth. She looked amazing in the dress. The dress fit perfectly, and the colour complimented her well.

“Thanks. Can you do my hair too? I’d like a braided bun, but it’s so hard to braid my hair. There’s pins and stuff in my bag.”

“I’ll try my best,” Sarah said.

Amanda smiled and took herself Leon’s chair to sit on. Sarah took the hair ties and pins on the table next to them and started dividing and tying up Amanda’s hair. She had had a lot of practice with doing different hair styles since Steffie asked them for herself and her dolls, but Sarah had never worked with hair this curly before. The hair tried to slip from her fingers, and Sarah wasn’t sure how tight she should make the braid.

“What was the embarrassing thing Castiel gave you?” Amanda asked after few moments of silence.

“Gift card to the lingerie store,” Sarah said. She was happy she was behind Amanda so she couldn’t see the blush on her face.

Amanda laughed. “That is definitely something he’d give.”

“Yeah. So, if you’d like to come shopping with me some time? I don’t really like going alone…”

“I’d love to! Let me know when you want to go, and I’ll be there.”

Sarah smiled. She felt so happy about having friends like Amanda who wanted to spend time with her. She hoped they could stay in touch even after everyone headed to their own directions with school and work.

It took Sarah fifteen minutes of delicate handiwork and so many pins that she lost count, but she finally managed to make a bun both her and Amanda were happy with. Amanda looked at herself in the mirror with big smile on her face.

“It’s so pretty. Thank you.”

After Amanda added a light brush of makeup on her face and convinced Sarah to try her lip gloss, they returned to the living room, where Leon immediately noticed their arrival. He looked at his girlfriend in awe.

“You look gorgeous,” he sighed. Amanda blushed softly and gave a kiss on Leon’s cheek. “I’ll go change too,” Leon said. He needed a few touches on his outfit so it was good for performing and followed their band’s style.

Morgan came from his room soon as well in a lot more relaxed but still stylish outfit. His hair was half tied up, and the top buttons of his shirt were left open. He could’ve easily played a part of a rogue or a pirate in some movie. Sarah thought he was devilishly handsome.

Once Leon came back as well, in an outfit that was a mix of his brother’s and Castiel’s styles, they were ready to leave. Sarah made sure she had everything with her before they headed downstairs and packed themselves and some music equipment in Morgan’s sleek, black car. Sarah wrote a quick update to her mother as Morgan drive through the city and towards the evening’s big party.