Sam stared out of the car window glumly as trees continued to flash by, wishing that even just one car would drive past the other way. He had been stuck in the car for hours, and it seemed like forever since he had caught sight of anyone other than the people he was trapped in the car with. They truly were driving to the middle of nowhere. Why his dad had ever thought this move was a good idea, Sam would never know.
He had been happy. He had had a great group of friends, lived in a nice neighbourhood, and generally liked everyone around him. He had finished middle school with excellent prospects of a high GPA at high school, and everyone had been proud of him. Well, everyone apart from his family, that was.
Then everything had gone wrong.
One day, quite out of the blue, Sam's dad had announced they were leaving. He had got a new job, or so he said, so they were moving away. Sam had asked if he could stay. Pleaded with his dad to allow him to board at the private school – he was clever enough to get a scholarship so the fees would be minimal, if there were any at all. His friends had supported him, and even his teachers had said it would be a good idea for him to stay in an atmosphere where he thrived. But Sam's had been absolute. Sam was coming with him, he said. He didn't trust his son to stay here on his own. Forget the fact that Sam had been a model student for all 14 years of his life while his brother, Dean, had been sneaking off to party and smoke with the rebellious kids. Sam was still apparently the troublesome one.
So now Sam was being carted off to some backwater town with nothing around it but open space so his dad could pursue some job which was actually lower paid than his previous one. (Sam had checked). It was, in fact, a demotion. But John Winchester never gave in to his arguments with Sam, so eventually, Sam had just kept quiet and sulked in the confines of his own head.
Closing his eyes, Sam couldn't help but wonder why Dean hadn't fought about this. True, Dean didn't care about his education, or even really his friends. He was a year older than Sam, yet Sam was always the one looking after him, doing his homework for him and sneaking him home after he got too drunk or high at a party. But still, Sam had expected some kind of fight. There was next to no chance of a decent nightlife for Dean in a town like this, in the same way that there would be no decent sports facilities or libraries for Sam. Yet Dean had taken it in the way he always did – shrugged as though he didn't care and gone outside to hide behind the bins and smoke. It was ridiculous. If he wasn't careful, Dean was going to throw his entire life away – and Sam wouldn't be there to help him out forever.
Finally, the car turned off the silent highway onto a tiny road with a single sign proclaiming 'Heaven – 5 kilometres'. That was another thing. Sam wasn't hugely religious, although he did attend mass most Sundays. But 'Heaven'? That had to be one of the most pretentious and blasphemous town names in the history of America.
The car swerved, and Sam took in the sight of another car – a large 4x4 – screeching past them the other way. His eyes drank in the sight. Other people! Sam kept his eyes glued to the car as it turned onto the highway and vanished the way that they had come.
A short, derisive laugh made Sam glance up, and he noticed his brother shaking his head at him.
"What?" He asked Dean, his eyes accusing.
Dean shook his head. "Nothin', dude, chill. Just need to stretch my legs."
Need to have a smoke, Sam mentally corrected. He had seen Dean's hands twitching from nicotine withdrawal half an hour ago. They had left so absurdly early this morning he doubted Dean had had a chance for a cigarette then, and they hadn't taken a single break on the drive down here. Dean was probably desperate.
'Serves him right', his brain spat, 'for getting addicted in the first place.' No. That wasn't Dean's fault. Sam might not approve of his brother's life choices, but he still loved him, and he knew the mess of Dean's life was due to a number of other factors. Mainly their dad, but also the local gang for picking up a potentially weak target and converting him to one of their own.
Except, of course, that wasn't the local gang any more. That was just Nathan's gang. Because they didn't live at home now – they lived in some cramped, strange house on the outskirts of Heaven, Who-Knows-Where.
"We're here," John grunted out, and Sam turned to look. The car had pulled in next to an ordinary looking house, off-white paint on the walls and a few boxes still sat outside.
'Home sweet home' Sam thought sarcastically. Give him their old apartment any day. Living in a house without the bustle of a city just felt wrong.
Sighing, Sam got out of the car ad glanced around.
"I'm goin' for a walk." Dean called, already trudging around the corner towards a clump of trees. Sam rolled his eyes. Sometimes he wished he didn't know his brother so well. He turned back to his dad, but John wasn't paying attention – he was examining the boxes in front of the house and frowning.
"Everything should have been set up for us." He complained. Great. So John was already angry, and they hadn't even gone inside yet.
"I'll carry them in dad." Sam offered, picking up the first box. It was surprisingly heavy – Sam thanked all those days at the gym with Jordan for being able to lift it.
John grunted, so Sam took that as affirmation and pushed the door open with his foot, carrying the box inside.
He found himself in a hallway, a table and coat rack already set out by the door. A box was sat on the stairs nearby, but Sam ignored it, instead carrying the box all the way through to where he assumed the kitchen would be.
Except it wasn't a kitchen. The room contained a small desk and a load more boxes – presumably this would be his dad's office.
"Great." Sam commented. "Not just a house, but a stupidly laid out house. Now where the hell is the kitchen?"
He found it on his third attempt, tucked off to one side next to the sitting room. Arms aching, Sam set the box on the kitchen table and wondered whether he should unpack it. Deciding he could do that later, he flexed his arms to try and ease the muscles before heading back outside to grab another box.
Instead, he found his dad talking to a smarmy looking man with grey hair. Sam didn't want to make judgements based on first appearance, but something about the guy just made him want to dislike him.
"This must be one of your sons!" The man exclaimed, noticing Sam. He didn't sound happy about this fact – more smug at recognising him. "I'm Zachariah, head of the removals company here. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Sam shook Zachariah's hand and plastered a friendly smile on his face. "I'm Sam. Do you need any help carrying stuff in?"
Zachariah glanced over Sam's wiry frame and gave what was presumably supposed to be a kind smile. "I'm sure we can manage. Why don't you try and make some new friends? There's a park just over the hill, I expect most of the other kids will be down there." Dismissing Sam, Zachariah turned back to John and resumed their previous conversation.
Sam reasoned that making friends now, before school started again, was probably a good idea. He was a sociable person, and it was never fun being the new kid who knew no-one else. Grabbing his jacket from the car, he turned back to his dad before deciding that John probably wouldn't notice or care if he just left.
Turning his phone on just in case, Sam stuck his hands in his pockets and headed down the hill in the direction of the park.
It wasn't hard to find. Once he got close enough, the noise of chattering, excited kids filled his ears and Sam just followed the sound until he noticed a high fence with a gate up ahead. Slipping through the gate, Sam was almost run over by a gaggle of young children running past.
"Sorry!" A woman exclaimed, and Sam turned to see a happy looking blonde woman standing by the gate. "I think they had a bit too much sugar at lunch. I'm Becky – you must be one of the Winchester boys."
"Sam," Sam introduced himself, smiling awkwardly. "How do you know who I am?"
The woman laughed. "Oh, in a small town like this, everyone knows everyone. Besides, Zachariah is my brother-in-law."
That made sense. It was likely that most people here were interrelated. Sam sighed. That would make it more difficult to make friends.
Becky seemed to notice his discomfort. "I expect most of the kids your age are down by the river. In fact, I could get Gabriel to introduce you. GABRIEL!"
Sam was almost deafened by her final shout.
A small, slightly pudgy teenager who Sam hadn't noticed before jogged over, looking a little reluctant to be summoned. Sam knew the feeling.
"Yes, Aunty Becky? Oh!" He caught sight of Sam and his golden eyes lit up. Sam found his breath catching at the sight of those eyes. "New fish!"
Sam smiled down at the boy. "I'm-"
"Sam Winchester. I've already met your brother. Not that you look anything alike." Gabriel's eyes raked up and down and Sam couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable.
"Why don't you introduce Sam to everyone else?" Becky suggested, her eyes flickering anxiously after the disappearing pack of six year olds Sam had almost bumped in to earlier. "I need to go after Samandriel."
Gabriel shrugged easily. "Sure. Come on, Sasquatch!"
Gabriel took off running, surprising Sam – he had a lot of energy for someone with such a pudgy build.
"So, you're a city boy, right?" Gabriel asked, grinning up at Sam.
"Yeah." Sam replied. "It's absolutely nothing like here."
Gabriel laughed. "It won't be. So just a few hints. Rule one, be nice to everybody. I mean everybody. My family makes up about half the people here and our friends are everyone else. You annoy one person, you annoy everyone. Capiche?"
Sam nodded, already wondering just how small this town really was.
"Rule two, work hard in school. You look like the type of person to do that anyway, but I'm a bit worried about your brother. The high school is run by Raphael, my uncle, and he's a tyrant. So just be careful." Gabriel slowed to a walk. "Ugh! I need candy."
Blinking in surprise, Sam fished into his pocket and pulled out a Hershey's bar. "Here. You can have this if you want."
Gabe looked at Sam like he was the most precious thing in the universe, before grabbing the Hershey's bar and tearing it open. "Mm, Samalam, you are a gift from the gods."
Sam smiled, amused by the boy's appreciation for the candy. "What year are you in?" He asked inquisitively.
"Going into Junior year. Dean said you'd be a freshman, so I'm a couple of years older than you. But the high school's pretty small, so we'll have things like Sport together anyway. Well, we would if you didn't look quite so physically fit."
Sam blushed at the compliment, ducking his head aside. "There're really that few people? There would have been several thousand if I went to the school I was supposed to."
Gabe whistled. "Several thousand? Jeez. Well, at Heaven High, there're a couple of hundred of us. Most people take the same classes, have the same teachers, and Advanced Placement is all that actually exists for some subjects because most kids are stupidly intelligent. But it's not all that bad. Ignore Raphael and try not to piss off Uriel and you're all set."
They had almost reached the river, and Sam noticed a group of twenty odd other teenagers all sat on the banks. His eyes focused in on Dean, sat beside a kid with messy black hair and an enormous tan trenchcoat. The two were both holding cigarettes.
"Who's that with Dean?" Sam asked, pointing him out to Gabriel.
Gabriel laughed. "That's Castiel. Weird kid. One of my cousins, although we don't mix together that much. Figures him and your brother would get on."
Before Sam could investigate further, a group of teenagers detached themselves from the others and wandered over to himself and Gabe.
"This is the other Winchester then? I'm Balthazar, and this is Madison, Lisa, Crowley, Benny and Ruby." The buy speaking was blond, and to Sam's surprise, had a European accent.
"I'm Sam." He replied, although he had a feeling everyone knew his name anyway.
Balthazar nodded, turning to Gabriel. Sam considered joining in, but Madison started speaking before he could.
"Fancy joining us for lunch? We're just going to grab some chips from the diner or something."
"I think you're brother's coming to – that is, if he can detach himself from Castiel." Ruby added.
"Detach himself?" Sam asked, confused.
The group laughed. "I'm fairly certain," Crowley interjected – like Balthazar, he had a foreign accent, "That your brother has a little crush on our Castiel. And Castiel reciprocates. It's about time that boy found some action."
Everyone else seemed to agree.
Sam hadn't had any inkling that his brother was gay – if he girls he often stumbled upon Dean with were any indication – but he supposed he could be bisexual. It was certainly true that him and Castiel already looked strangely close.
"Sure, I'll come." Sam decided, before feeling in his pockets. "I might need to ask Dean for some money though."
Ruby waved him off. "Don't bother. I'll pay, I just had my allowance. Just buy me lunch in the cafeteria on Monday or something in return."
Sam nodded gratefully. "I can do that."
Ruby smiled, before nudging Benny in the ribs. "You go and get the loverboys, I'll round up Meg and Alastair. I don't suppose anyone knows where Michael and Lucy are?"
"Michael's working." Crowley commented. "Lucy's probably off her face in a ditch somewhere. I should probably go and look for her, actually, or Michael will kill me."
As the group dissipated, Sam turned to Gabriel and Balthazar to find they were already looking at him.
"So," Balthazar smiled, "Welcome to Heaven."
Sam found himself smiling back. Perhaps it wouldn't be too bad here after all.