So he's standing there, jaw set, heavy eyes and a heavier heart that she can see on his sleeve. She wonders what's got him so lost and lonely, but regards him with a kind smile over her morning cup of coffee in this podunk little diner, Mimi's, in Sacramento, California. He's tall, very tall, and she's very short but that doesn't matter since she's sitting down. He's tan and muscular, with cheekbones carved by Michelangelo himself, and she won't stop herself from thinking he's attractive.

"Hi." His voice is a little higher than she imagined, but he's probably younger than she thinks he is.

She giggles, raising her brows at him mischievously. "Hi. I'm Katie."

"Name's not important. Er, well... I'm Dean. Can I sit with you?"

She'd be lying if she said he didn't creep her out, and this was the ghetto part of town, but she smiles and nods anyway, picking up her coffee mug with both hands and gazing at him wearily. She's a single woman in a diner at 7 in the morning. No matter how many other people were in there with her, she knew when to keep a watchful eye.

"It's nice to meet you, Dean. What's got you here so early this morning?"

He shrugs, wonders for a moment if he should be doing this, sitting here with a woman he's never met. She knows this because she's thinking the same thing.

"Breakfast, I thought." He swallows hard, waves the waitress over and orders a cup of coffee for himself. "Can I ask you something?"

Katie narrows her eyes. "Depends. You paying for my coffee?"

That garners a smirk from him. She can tell he's a flirt, but he's not flirting with her. She wonders fleetingly if he thinks she's attractive or not, but he nods, says, "Of course. I'm bothering you, it's the least I can do."

"You're not a bother. You're a kind soul. I know that. Tell me what's on your mind."

He sighs, scrubs a hand over his face and thanks Carol when she returns with his coffee. "I have a friend."

"Of course you do."

"Okay, so I don't have a friend. I don't have any friends. The friend is me. Happy?"

"Why are you going to lie to me? I don't know you. Got no use for lying to someone you don't know, Dean."

He contemplates for a moment, and then nods. "So, can I get your unbiased, un... everything opinion? Just, completely Devil's advocate, not takin' sides, nothing? I mean, I know you're a stranger, but sometimes you just need a stranger's opinion, you know? It's like flippin' a coin. You're the coin."

"I swear it on our coffee."

"I'm in love with someone."

"That's great!"

"He's... I shouldn't be in love with him. It's wrong." Suddenly his entire demeanor shifts. He curls into himself as much as he can, hunches his shoulders, stares into his coffee and no where else.

"Are... Are you ashamed of being gay?"

He looks up with sad eyes. "Little bit, but it's worse than that. He's the absolute last person I should have ever fallen in love with. If our-... If my dad finds out I'm gay... I don't even know if Sam is gay. Jesus Christ, this is so fuckin' wrong." He sets his coffee cup down and holds his head in his hands.

"Uhm, Dean. Being gay is nothing to be ashamed of." She can't shake the feeling that there's more he isn't telling her. Okay, so it might not be her business, but she can't help but wonder. "You can't help who you fall in love with. Some people are just meant to be."

"Do you really believe that?"

"I do. I think, out of the billions of people on this planet, there are a handful of them that are picked, by God or whoever you believe in, that are perfect soulmates. I think he picks this one soul, splits it into two people, and they always find their way back to each other, no matter what."

That's a bit more soulful than she had anticipated at 7:15am, but he nods at her.

"You really think that? In the deepest depths of your heart, you believe that?"

Katie nods. "I do." She sets her mug down and looks him straight in the eye. "Dean, I don't know who Sam is, I don't know why you shouldn't be in love with him, and I don't know why you're ashamed of it, but love in this world is sacred. It's so few and far between... When we have it, when we find it, we should hold onto it. Never let it go. Whether it's between strangers or family members, another man or another woman, love is love. That is what I truly believe."

Dean contemplates this for a moment. A smile is tugging at the corner of his lips.

"You think I should go get him?"

"I think you should go get him."

Dean smiles at her warmly. "How old are you, Katie?"

"I'm 21."

"I'm 26. Sam is 22. He's away at Stanford. Left before I could tell him... any of this. Any of what I wanted to say. I've... I've loved him for a while, more than two people should love each other. Two..." He wants to say something, Katie knows it, but he doesn't. "I love him with everything I have."

"Then you need to go get him. We only have one life. Fuck what everyone else things. Seriously, fuck everyone. Fuck everything. Do what makes you happy. Do what makes you want to get up in the morning."

"You're smart, Katie. You were a good coin to flip." He stands, sets a twenty on the tabletop. "Buy yourself some pancakes, or somethin' nice for breakfast, on me. Or pay for the coffee and take the change. Anything. You may or may not have just changed my whole life."

It's an unfamiliar weight to bare, but she grins at him. "Thanks, Dean."

"No. Thank you."

And he's out the door in a flash. She watches as he climbs into a black muscle car. It sputters and roars as he pulls out of the parking lot.

Dean's a lucky kid, she thinks. Sam is even luckier.