Morgan parked his car on the street in front of a large house. They were in the part of town where the rich people lived. The big houses and their impressive gardens were separated from the streets with fences or hedges. Sarah felt very out of place when they walked towards the house. Her brain reminded her how she didn’t know anyone here outside of her few friends. Worry started to coil in her stomach, and she stayed close to Castiel who carried his guitar case with him. Luckily, they didn’t need to bring all their music equipment since there would be other performers too, so they could share the amplifiers and microphones.

They followed Morgan inside and were almost immediately greeted by a tall young man around Morgan’s age. He was wearing a suit jacket with white t-shirt and ripped jeans. His black hair was shaved short from the sides and left as a longer afro on top. He flashed a bright smile and shook Morgan’s hand.

“Good to see you Aston. These are your musicians?” he said. Sarah liked his voice.

“Good to see you too. This is my brother Leon, and his friend Castiel. They play today. And these lovely ladies are Amanda and Sarah,” Morgan said nodding his head towards the person in question, “and this is my friend Leandre Lynton.”

“You can call me Leandre or Lynton. I’m fine with both.”

Everyone greeted him politely, and Leandre shook their hands. He pressed small kisses on the backs of Sarah’s and Amanda’s hands. From the corner of her eye, Sarah saw Castiel’s jawline tense. Sarah took Castiel’s hand when they followed Leandre deeper in the house. Morgan fiddled with his phone as they walked, almost bumping on furniture a few times. At the same time Leandre explained to Castiel and Leon how things would work. They were allowed to play whatever they wanted within the limits of good taste, but preferably something with good energy that would keep the mood high. Castiel and Leon nodded along and started to set up things at the small makeshift stage at the corner of the huge living room.

Amanda and Sarah drifted towards the drink and food table with Morgan. Sarah didn’t dare to look at the other guests too long. They all looked older than her. She recognized few faces that she had seen at school on previous years, but there was no one familiar enough to talk with.

They had cups of lemonade in hand for themselves as well as for Castiel and Leon when a familiar voice chirped from the other side of the room.

“Momo!”

A deep blush rose to Morgan’s cheeks, but he smiled when Lucy pushed herself through the crowd and jumped to hug him, almost spilling the drink.

It was hard for Sarah to keep a straight face.

“Momo?” she whispered to Amanda.

“Lucy likes nicknames,” she whispered back. “Morgan maybe not so much.”

After Lucy had kissed Morgan enough, she noticed Sarah and Amanda as well. They hadn’t seen each other since the holiday started. Lucy greeted them with enthusiastic hugs, and Sarah already knew to protect her cups.

“Sarah, Amanda, hi. You look so pretty!”

“Thanks. You too.”

Lucy did look lovely. Her long hair was gathered on a big and bouncy bun on the top of her head. She was wearing high heels tall enough to make her the same height with Leon and Castiel. Her dress was very tight and fitting, and it glittered softly in the dim lighting of the room. She looked very mature.

“Let’s go, Morgan. Emily and Hans want to see you,” Lucy said then, grabbing Morgan’s arm. “I’ll talk to you later,” she said to Amanda and Sarah before disappearing into the crowd with her boyfriend.

Slightly confused by the sudden appearance and equally fast disappearance of Lucy, Amanda and Sarah headed back towards the boys. They had finished their preparations and were now surrounded by a small group of young women.

“…so, if you need some company later in the evening, you can come hang out with us,” a red haired girl said.

“We’d love to hear more about your music.”

“And about you…”

One of the girls with plenty of make-up and very generous neckline on her shirt casually touched Castiel’s shoulder. Sarah bristled. Castiel shifted his weight from under the girl’s touch.

“Thank you for the offer, but we already have company,” he said. His eyes scanned the room and landed quickly on Sarah and Amanda, who had stopped a short distance away.

“And there they are! So, if you’d excuse us,” Castiel said.

The hopeful company swung their heads to follow Castiel’s gaze. They looked surprised to see Sarah and Amanda, who tried to smile politely. The group gave them an appraising glance over before walking away.

“We’ll be here all night in case you change your minds,” the red haired girl said before following her friends.

Castiel didn’t bother to acknowledge the comment. He pulled Sarah closer and took the cup she offered.

“We turn our backs for a moment, and you’re already surrounded by pretty girls,” Amanda said and sighed dramatically, resting her head against Leon’s shoulder.

“They just wanted to talk,” Leon said.

“Oh, my sweet summer child, they definitely didn’t want to just talk.”

“That’s what they said so I will not imagine otherwise.”

Amanda smiled softly when Leon pressed a kiss on her temple.

“And none of them were as pretty as you anyway.”

Before long it was time for Leon and Castiel to start their performance. Sarah gave Castiel a good luck kiss, even though he assured everything was fine. Sarah could see that he was slightly nervous. From her understanding this was the first time they had been requested to play somewhere. Other times they had performed in open music nights and different contests. So, there definitely was different kind of pressure in the air. Sarah was sure they’d do well. Castiel and Leon were talented.

Sarah and Amanda sat on a nearby couch for 1st row seats for the performance. Castiel and Leon introduced themselves as Heartscape and started with covers of popular songs that were playing on the radio to get people in the party mood. Sarah smiled while listening to them, and she took a few pictures and videos with her phone. She felt so proud when she heard few other party guests talking to each other.

“Those singers are really good.”

“I didn’t even realise it was live music at first.”

“They look super cute too.”

“This is a great song. Let’s go dance!”

The group of girls moved to the middle of the living room floor and started dancing to the music. People whistled and cheered, and soon few more people joined them.

“Should we go dance too?” Amanda asked.

Sarah wasn’t a big fan of dancing but going to a party to just sit on the couch for four hours would’ve been bit of a waste. The whole point of coming here had been to live a little and get experiences.

“Sure.”

Not being a fan of dancing also meant, that Sarah didn’t really know how to dance. Even though this wasn’t a ballroom dance competition, and no one was looking at her, she was still self-conscious about the way she waved her arms or moved her hips. She tried to copy Amanda’s moves which helped with getting into the feeling.

Lucy pulled Morgan on the dance floor as well, and she waved happily at Sarah when they noticed each other.

“Would you like to dance with me?”

Leandre’s voice made Sarah flinch from surprise. She turned around to look at him.

“Uhm, I’m not sure.”

“Just for a bit? You looked like you could’ve used a dance partner.”

His smile was warm and reassuring. Sarah glanced at Amanda who had stopped her dancing to listen to the conversation. She shrugged her shoulders. Leandre seemed nice, and they were surrounded by people, so he couldn’t exactly try anything fishy.

“One dance,” Sarah said and took the hand Leandre offered. He had invited them to his party, so it was polite to at least dance for a bit.

When the next song started, Leandre pulled Sarah closer, but not too close which she was thankful of. Sarah was stiff and cautious for the first half of the dance, but slowly the uncomfortable feeling melted away. Leandre was a great dancer, and even though their moves weren’t complex or fancy, Sarah enjoyed herself. When the song ended, Leandre gave a kiss on the back of Sarah’s hand.

“Thanks for the dance,” Sarah said.

“No problem at all. The pleasure was all mine.”

Sarah moved from the dance floor to rest on the couch while Leandre invited Amanda to dance with him. Their dance was more energetic since Amanda was much better at dancing than Sarah and seeing Leandre dance with Sarah without being sleazy had assured Amanda that he was a respectable man who didn’t try anything shady. So, she was able to throw herself into the dance, and she had a lot of fun. They ended up dancing two more songs together, but after that Amanda joined Sarah on the couch.

Her cheeks were red from the heat and dancing, and she let out a deep breath.

“That was fun,” she said. “I hope you didn’t get bored here alone.”

Sarah waved her hand. “I’m fine. I was listening to the music.”

Just as she said that a song ended and Castiel announced they’d be taking a small break. Someone turned on a top 100 hits playlist which kept some people on the dance floor. Leon headed to get drinks, and Castiel beelined to Sarah and Amanda.

“Hey. You played great,” Sarah said and gave a quick kiss on Castiel’s cheek when he slumped down next to her.

“I feel so tired already,” Castiel said.

Leon came back with two plastic cups and gave one to Castiel, who downed half of the drink in one go.

“You sing so good. I’m proud of you,” Amanda said to Leon who smiled.

“I hope you aren’t too bored in here,” he said.

“Not too much. We were dancing a bit. But it’s been nice to chill and listen to your music without doing anything else.”

“Good to hear,” Leon said and pressed a kiss on Amanda’s cheek.

“Have you had fun?” Castiel asked Sarah.

“It’s been nice. Not as stressful as I thought.”

“Good. We have two more sets to play. We’re gonna play more of our own songs soon.”

“I’m looking forward to hearing them.”

They talked for a bit more, but soon it was time for Castiel and Leon to get back to work. Amanda took Sarah along to inspect the house for a bit. All the other rooms were just as impressive as the living room. There was a separate dining room, and a home cinema. It seemed like Leandre’s family was loaded with money. They found Lucy and Morgan in the fireplace room and spent almost an hour talking with them and their friends. Eventually they wandered back to the living room to listen to Castiel and Leon again. They were doing amazingly, and Sarah could hear many people talking positively about their music. It made her happy. Hopefully, this gig would get them lot more attention, and they could start playing more to the public. They deserved it.

The clock ticked closer towards midnight. Sarah was starting to feel tired. She had stifled a yawn more than once and covered a few she couldn’t hold back. Even though she often stayed up this late, the party was draining energy from her faster than she could recover it with sweets and miniature pizzas. One good thing was, that Castiel and Leon were released from their playing duty. When they played their last song and thanked the audience, they received loud applause and some cheers as a response. It was hard for them to hide their happy grins when they walked off the makeshift stage.

“I’m so proud of you,” Sarah said and kissed Castiel right there, in front of all the people in the room. A few people whistled, and Sarah’s head flushed with heat. She tried to pull away, but Castiel wrapped and arm around her waist and kissed her again before letting go. Sarah was so flustered she didn’t know what to do. Her heart was hammering in her chest and even her ears were burning from embarrassment.

The attention from the other party-goers didn’t last long since a new band stepped on the stage. Sarah had seen them a few times during the evening, but she hadn’t realized they would be the next artists.

“Should we go find a quieter spot?” Castiel asked.

Sarah nodded. She could do with some peace and quiet. Castiel took her hand and quickly let Leon know they’d leave for a bit. He led Sarah upstairs which was completely empty.

“I don’t know if we should be here,” Sarah said.

“Well, if they didn’t want anyone here, they should’ve blocked the stairs or something.”

“You know people make assumptions when a couple goes upstairs in a house party,” Sarah muttered. The blush on her face refused to calm down.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that in a stranger’s house,” Castiel said smiled, trying to lighten the mood. He stopped in front of a large window in the hallway. The view opened to the backyard where a few people were setting up fireworks. Castiel sat on the windowsill seat, pulling Sarah next to him.

They were quiet for a moment, listening to the sounds from downstairs and looking outside where more people started to gather to watch the fireworks.

“You know,” Castiel started but closed his mouth. Sarah turned her attention to him. Castiel took a deep breath.

“I’m not big on speeches or confessions or anything, but I just wanted to say some things,” he continued. “These past few months have been amazing. I never would’ve imagined at the start of the year, or even at the start of that stupid course that I’d end up together with you, or anyone for that matter. I wasn’t looking for a girlfriend, but then you came into my life, and it all changed. I’m not the best person, but I try to be, for you. I care about you so much. I love you so much that it’s sometimes overwhelming. And I’m so happy you’re with me.”

Sarah didn’t know what to say. Her heart was beating loud in her chest. She took Castiel’s hands in hers and weaved their fingers together.

“I’m happy you’re with me too. I was just as surprised by our relationship than you were,” she said with a chuckle, ”but I’m happy it happened. I feel like you’ve made me a stronger person with your support and encouragement. I have new friends thanks to you and many new experiences too. It’s probably frustrating sometimes to deal with my insecurities, but I’m happy that you never make me feel bad because I’m not feeling confident. You’re so kind, and I love you so much.”

Sarah’s last words trembled, and she took a deep breath to calm herself and the tears that tried to escape from the corners of her eyes.

Castiel smiled and placed his hand on Sarah’s cheek. She leaned to the touch.

“I’m looking forward to our future together, no matter how long or short it is,” Castiel said.

“Me too. I want to be with you for a long time still.”

The clock struck twelve, and outside the fireworks shot off, illuminating the night sky with their bright colours.

Castiel pulled Sarah into a kiss. They both poured in all the affection and love they couldn’t express with words. They had been such an unlikely and unexpected couple, but to Sarah, this all felt right. She couldn’t have been happier than she was right there in Castiel’s arms as the new year started and promised good things for their lives.