Day One OTP Challenge: Holding Hands

Tell Me Why~ Rated T

Gabriel would be the first to admit that it wasn't too big of a deal the first few times around that Sam wanted to hold hands (or that he didn't enjoy it) but after a while it became a bit constraining. He wasn't used to the whole 'one person for more then one day' concept. After all, he had no purpose being tied down for the past five billion years. In a way though… Sam was worth starting.

Gabriel teleported into the small hotel room that Sam was sharing with his brother and, like usual, he was thankful that Castiel had gotten Dean out of the way. At least they were gone for now- something about guilty pleasures, but Gabriel didn't ever want to think about his brother that way.

He sat on the headboard above Sam, looking down at the sleeping hunter with an unlabeled feeling flickering through his stomach. The archangel stifled a groan, but pulled the lollipop from his mouth to chew nervously on his bottom lip before leaning over Sam. "Gabe…" the man whined, pulling his pillow closer to his chest. Gabriel brushed away a few pieces of the chocolate hair away from the human's face to admire the slight curling upwards of the corners of the Winchester's mouth as he groaned his name.

With a smirk, he replaced the lollipop, twirling it against his tongue. Without a sound he slipped down next to Sam and pulled away the pillow. The hunter longed for the warmth that the pillow was providing and grabbed for it, futilely to a point, for instead of clutching onto a cotton pillow case, he grabbed the thick material of the angel's green cargo jacket and tugged him down instead. "You're so short." He mumbled into Gabriel's ear. The smaller of the two wanted nothing but to teleport away, but those arms circling around his torso and the sweet smell of his… everything…

"I prefer pocket sized for your convenience." He croaked, not moving. Gabriel watched as Sam's hand curiously ran down his coated forearm, eventually lacing their fingers together and giving a light squeeze, the silence filling his ears and for once the 'cocky-son-of-a-bitch', as Dean would so willingly call him, had nothing to say.

The hunter softly ran his thumb over his angel's – no, archangel's – knuckles. He was waiting for another sarcastic or witty remark about being 'claustrophobic', and was surprised at the absence of Gabe's jaunty chuckle. Therefore he questioned the silence, "Gabe, are you alright?"

Gabriel watched Sam pull his head away from his chest and sighed a little, before turning away of course, when he met those deep golden green eyes, "I just don't understand… things… the way you do."

"What kind of things?" The younger Winchester asked with tired eyes. The archangel refused to meet his gaze and looked down at their entwined hands, confusion knitting his brow together.

He was aware that Sam had followed his gaze though because the hunter immediately pulled away in shock and began rambling, "I-I'm sorry. Gabe-"

"Shh." Gabriel silenced, putting his now freed hand over Sam's mouth, "You don't have to be sorry, if anything…" His voice dropped to a whisper, "I should be." Out of pride though, he spoke back up continuing his sentence to perhaps get some of his 'relationship' questions out of the way. In all reality, he wasn't even sure if that's what he and Sam had.

Sure the feelings were there, but he couldn't explain them, or label them, or even talk about him. The whole situation was rather uncomfortable. Even as uneasy as it made him, he couldn't bear to leave that room.

Sam grabbed the lollipop stick, forcing their eyes to meet, colors and emotions swirling between them and Gabriel couldn't pull away. "Then what is it?" He half-demanded, half- pleaded.

"I just don't get it, chucklehead." He began, somewhat insecure because damn him to hell if he wasn't about to 100% hang himself over the edge, "Why do people hold hands? Why is it nice? Or…" He looked for the word that Sam had used the last time they had one of these talks, "Why is it comforting?"

The hunter laughed, and this somewhat upset Gabriel, causing him to roll out of the man's grasp, "Don't be like that." He asked, grabbing the angel's sleeve, "It's about feeling connected, feeling close to someone, because sometimes, words just can't describe how you feel. Actions speak louder then words."

Looking between Sam's hand and his face, he took the man's words into consideration before pulling his arm away. Gabriel sat up in bed, biting the candy off of the stick and flipping the trash into oblivion, he continued to think.

It was quite a bit of time before Gabriel even moved and in the lapse, Sam had rolled over and drifted back into unconsciousness. The angel teleported to the man's other side, watching him silently. "I'm not sure how all of this works," He started, reaching out to Sam's hand as slowly as possible, "but I'm willing to learn, if you'll teach me." Surely the hunter hadn't heard any of that, but Gabriel was proven wrong, because as he finished speaking, his hand was wrapped around Sam's and he received a reassuring squeeze.

"What kind of relationship would this be without a little trial-and-error?" He teased, but kept his eyes closed, cuddling with his pillow. Gabriel smirked and for the first time in five billion years, felt connected to something other then Heaven.