Gabriel Shurley was small for a sixteen-year-old junior. Standing at a mere five feet seven inches, he had to look up just to meet most of his friends' eyes. It didn't really bother him. He didn't particularly like being small, but it had its perks. Case in point, right now.
The bell had already rung and school was over. It was Friday, and everyone was rushing to the front of the school, hoping to get out and get the weekend started as soon as possible. Gabriel actually had to go to the back of the school to talk to a teacher about a test he needed to make up. If it weren't for his smallness that allowed him to weave his way between the other people, he would have been trampled.
He heaved a great sigh when he finally popped out into an empty hallway. The great mass of students continued to file slowly out of the front doors, and Gabriel cast one last amused glance over his shoulder at them as he started towards Mr. Burns' classroom.
He was turning a corner when it happened. Something that, to him, seemed ginormous slammed into him with all the force of the bus that hit Regina George and, much like the blonde had, he went flying. He reflexively shot an arm out and grabbed onto the first thing he came into contact with, which just so happened to be the thing that had caused his fall in the first place.
They both crashed painfully to the floor in a tangle of limbs, and Gabriel found himself pinned beneath what felt like hundreds of pounds of person.
"Oh, shit, sorry," whoever it was said. They pulled themselves off of Gabriel, who rolled onto his side and coughed. "I am so, so sorry. I didn't even see you there."
A large hand latched onto his arm and then Gabriel was being pulled to his feet. He looked up and locked eyes with the person who'd smacked into him, and he'd swear on God, the Pope, and all forms of sugar that time froze.
Or at least, both of them did. For a moment, neither of them moved, and Gabriel got a good look at the person who'd bowled him over. The guy was gorgeous. Hazel eyes regarded him above a straight nose and thin lips, and his hair was brown and shaggy. His shoulders were broad, and he towered over Gabriel. Which, honestly, was not that hard to do, but he was sure that this dude would tower over anyone.
"Are you okay?" he asked, and Gabriel realized that he'd been staring.
"I'm fine," he said, proud when his voice sounded normal even though his chest was still tight from having the wind knocked out of him. "Even though you are a giant, I shall survive."
The boy chuckled, and looked down at him with a smile. And really, it was ridiculous how tall he was. He was at least an entire head taller than Gabriel.
"You sure?" the boy asked. "Because I can walk you to the nurse if you need me to."
Was he flirting? Because Gabriel knew flirting, and that glint in his eye was one that he'd seen many times in the mirror. It was hard to tell, but Gabriel decided to play along, just in case he was.
"I don't think I need to go to the nurse," Gabriel said, "but it would be such a tragedy if I passed out on the way to Mr. Burns' room."
"A true tribulation," the boy agreed. "I should go with you, just to make sure nothing happens." Okay. So he was flirting. Good to know. The boy gestured for Gabriel to lead the way and then fell into step with him. "I'm Sam Winchester."
"Gabriel Shurley," Gabriel told him. "So, are you new here, or what? 'Cause I know almost everyone at this school and I don't think I've ever seen you before."
"Yeah, my family just moved here," Sam said. "My parents wanted my brother and I to wait until Monday to come to school, but we were tired of unpacking boxes."
"What a way to spend a Friday." They reached the door to the classroom, and paused awkwardly for a moment. "So, I'll see you around?"
"Definitely," Sam promised. He gave Gabriel one last smile and then turned and walked back down the hallway. Gabriel watched him go until he turned the corner, and then he took a deep breath.
"Okay, so he's hot," Gabriel said to himself. "You can deal with hot people. You do it all the time. This is no different. Now is not the time to develop a crush, Gabriel."
With that in mind, he opened the door and stepped into the classroom.
…
When he got home, it was to find a note taped to the front door.
Gabriel, it read. Got called away for a business trip. Back in two weeks, max. Sorry, kid. Love, Dad.
Oh, wonderful. On the day he had forgotten his key, too. Gabriel sighed heavily through his nose and shifted his backpack from one shoulder to the other. This wasn't the first time his father had left without so much as an hour's notice, and it sure as hell wouldn't be the last, Gabriel was sure.
It was annoying, frankly. At the best of times he loved the fact that he didn't have a parent constantly breathing down his neck, but at the worst of times he would wonder if his father really loved him. It was immature, he knew, but still. He couldn't help what he felt, especially when Chuck was gone for an average of half the year, usually without even telling Gabriel where he was going or when he'd be back. Gabriel sometimes wondered if Chuck would one day just forget to come home.
And even when he was home he was kind of distant. Oh, sure, he ate dinner with Gabriel every night, watched movies with him, asked him how his day was, but most of the time he was locked up in his study or at work.
He walked through the gate that led to his backyard and headed immediately for the large tree that grew smack in the center of the yard. It was really the only thing furnishing the lawn. There wasn't even a patio, not that he or his father cared about such things. Besides, the tree was really all Gabriel needed.
He walked around the base until he found the niche in the trunk that he'd carved out a few years ago. Sticking his foot into it, he used a low-hanging branch to pull himself up. The tree was a little difficult to climb, sure, but it was his only way into the house. There was a branch that stopped just in front of his window, which he usually left unlocked for just such an occasion.
He'd been doing this for years, so it was almost second nature to reach out with one hand and open the window, then leap from the branch to the floor of his room. The landing winded him every time, and the pillow he placed on the ground did nothing to soften the blow.
For a moment he laid on the floor and wondered if he had any cracked ribs. Bruises, at the very least, seemed likely, what with getting elbowed more times than he could count while fighting through a crowd of tired high schoolers, getting run over by the human tree that was Sam, and now this.
"It's times like this when I hate being small," he sighed. It was hard pulling himself off the floor, because even though his backpack was digging painfully into his back, he was exhausted and it had been heaven to lie down for even a moment.
He had homework, but also an entire weekend to complete said homework, so he didn't worry too much. Food was a priority, though, seeing as public school food was honestly disgusting and he hadn't eaten lunch. Letting his backpack fall to the floor next to his bed, he started down the stairs towards the kitchen.
Of course, because nothing in his life could ever be easy, Chuck had forgotten to go grocery shopping before he left, and so the only things in the fridge were a half eaten jar of pickles and a bottle of ketchup. Great.
Luckily, Gabriel was prepared. He'd saved up a few hundred bucks from his allowance and change that Chuck never asked for from when he sent Gabriel to the store. It was separate from his actual savings, and only to be used in emergencies. This definitely counted.
He didn't really feel like driving out to the store to get groceries, though, so he just dashed upstairs, grabbed a twenty from the emergency savings, set it on the counter, and ordered a pizza.
He had about twenty minutes until it would arrive, so he figured that he had enough time to take a quick shower. He didn't even stop by his room first, just stripped as he walked to his bathroom, leaving a trail of clothes behind him as he went.
Not bothering to close the door, he pulled the shower curtain closed behind him and stepped into the water. The warm spray felt heavenly on his shoulders and back, both sore from having to carry the weight of his backpack around all day.
He took his time in washing himself, and then shampooing and conditioning his hair, and then just stood under the warm water and let it run over him. It was amazing, and he was reluctant to turn the water off. Only the doorbell ringing made him turn the handle to the off position, and even then he postponed his leaving the bubble of steam for another five minutes.
He'd have to tip the poor delivery person extra to make up for the wait, he decided. Drying himself off quickly, he wrapped the towel loosely around his waist and headed to his room to get some clothes.
There was already someone sitting on his bed when he got there, eating the pizza that Gabriel had ordered. Castiel raised an eyebrow at Gabriel's semi-nudity.
"You were taking too long to answer the door," he said in response to Gabriel's questioning look. "So I got the pizza for you. And this is disgusting, by the way, I don't know how you can stand to eat it."
"Maybe the same way you're eating it right now," Gabriel retorted, nodding to the half-eaten slice in Cas' hand. He walked to his closet and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, then joined his best friend on his bed. It didn't surprise him that Castiel had broken into his house. He'd been using the tree to visit Gabriel for years. He never used the front door like normal people did.
Then again, Gabriel wasn't the best example of what a normal person was, because he got into Castiel's house by climbing from a concrete fence post to the roof, and then through a skylight that was always kept open unless it rained or something.
"Still," Cas said. "Barbecue chicken and green onions. It's wrong on so many levels."
"Hey, I don't make fun of you when you order pineapple and ham pizza."
Castiel gave him a withering look. "Gabriel, that's called a Hawaiian pizza. It's incredibly popular in America."
"Okay, well, BBQ chicken and green onion pizza is incredibly popular in Gabriel Town, population: One." Gabriel grabbed a slice and took a bite. "Hey, did you know that we have a new student?"
"Yes, he's in my junior/senior engineering class," Castiel said.
"Can you believe how tall he is?" Gabriel asked.
"Gabriel, he's not that much taller than me. You're just short. But he is very hot, though," Castiel said, and Gabriel had to bite back a scowl. How dare Castiel call Sam hot? Actually, he was pretty hot, but Castiel wasn't allowed to comment on that!
And woah, Gabriel, settle down. Where had that jealousy come from? Sam was in no way his, but the thought of Castiel, or anyone else, thinking of him like that made his blood boil. Strange
"Yeah, he is," Gabriel said instead of the insults that wanted to come out. "He knocked me over after school today. I don't know what that boy eats, but I swear it felt like getting hit by a bus."
Castiel frowned. "When after school?" he asked. "Because I saw him get into a car almost as soon as the bell rang."
"Wait, what? He walked me to Mr. Burns' room after school ended."
"Who are you talking about?"
"Who are you talking about?"
"Dean Winchester," Castiel said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Oh." Well, that made more sense. "I was talking about Sam Winchester, his brother, I think."
"Ah." They both reached for another slice of pizza at the same time. "So," Castiel continued, grinning slyly. "You think Sam Winchester is hot?"
"I could ask you the same thing about Dean," Gabriel replied defensively. Then he smirked. "In fact, I think I will. So, you say he's hot? Does our emotionally constipated little nerd have a crush?"
"I am not a nerd," Castiel said, avoiding the question. "Or if I am, then you're an even bigger one."
Gabriel held up one finger and tilted his head. "I am a dork and little bit of a geek, but definitely not a nerd. That schtick is all yours, bro. But enough of this talk of new hotties and nerdery." Even though he wanted to talk about Sam some more. Was that weird? He felt it was a little weird. "My dad's out of town and won't be back for at least a week."
Castiel didn't even need to look at him to know what he was implying. "I'll go home and pack some clothes later. My toothbrush is still here, right? Do you have food?"
Gabriel snorted. "Yes to the toothbrush, no to the food. He forgot. Again."
"We'll go grocery shopping, too, since I know you can't be trusted to not buy only junk."
It was times like these when Gabriel really loved Castiel.
…
By the time nine o'clock came around, Castiel had driven back to his place and packed up an overnight bag with clothes. The only other things he brought were his phone and his keys; everything else that he'd need - like a toothbrush, phone charger, etc. - Gabriel already had from previous sleepovers.
They'd eaten that pizza late, a little too early for dinner, but definitely too late for lunch. Neither of them wanted to eat anything too heavy before bed, so they simply made a huge batch of popcorn and settled into the couch with thick blankets to watch a movie.
Halfway through The Avengers, Gabriel spoke up for the first time in an hour and a half.
"Do you have any classes with Sam?" he asked casually, eyes focused on the TV but not really taking anything in.
"Sam who?" Castiel asked distractedly. He was completely engrossed in watching as Loki stabbed Coulson in the back; while Gabriel had seen the movie enough times to memorize the entire script, this was Castiel's first time watching it.
"Sam Winchester," Gabriel said. "What other Sams do you know?"
Castiel shot him a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye. "Why would you care if I had any classes with Sam?"
"Just curious," Gabriel said, shrugging. "He's not in any of my classes."
"He's not in any of mine, either," Cas said. "And I only have one with Dean."
"Why would I care about the older one?"
"Well, I assumed that you were interested in the new kids," he said, putting extra emphasis on the 's' in kids, "but now I can see that it is only one of them. So, Gabriel, I must ask. Do you like him?"
Gabriel paused and thought about it before answering. "Maybe. I mean, I only talked to him for five minutes, max," he said. "But from what I could tell, he has a good sense of humour, is pretty smart - he used the word tribulation in a normal conversation, Cas. Who does that?"
"Apparently Sam does," Castiel said. "Okay, so you like him. Maybe. Are you going to ask him out?"
"God, no," Gabriel said, wrinkling his nose. "I just met the dude. I don't want to look like a horndog."
"So, what then? Are you just going to let this fade?"
Gabriel grabbed the remote and paused the movie so that he could turn and face Castiel.
"I don't know," he said. "I kind of don't want this to just fade away."
Castiel raised his eyebrows in surprise. Gabriel could relate. He'd had more crushes than he could count since starting high school. Usually it was just appreciation of good looks or a good sense of humour or the like that faded away after a matter of weeks. The only one he'd ever acted upon was Kali, whom he had dated for almost the entirety of sophomore year. They'd split up when Gabriel realized that he didn't really feel anything for her, and that he had just gotten caught up in her looks the dating craze that had swept the school.
Since then, he'd ben wary of jumping into relationships, so for him to actually consider something with Sam was a big deal, and Castiel knew it.
"Why not?" Cas asked, though not unkindly. "What's so special about him?"
Gabriel had no idea. How could he explain to Castiel something he didn't even know himself? How could he put into the words the strange feeling of complete rightness that he'd felt when he'd first locked eyes with Sam, or the urge that he still felt to get to know the stupid giant?
If they were in a Disney movie or a book, he'd say it was love at first sight, or some bullshit like that, but this was real life. Love at first sight was definitely too strong a descriptor - even plain love was too strong. He didn't even know Sam, so how could he be in love? - but there was definitely something akin to like at first sight.
That wasn't unusual for Gabriel. It was actually how he'd met most of his friends, including Castiel. Back in fifth grade, when he'd first laid eyes on that shy, quiet introvert, he'd felt a deep need to be friends with him. He'd offered to share his Oreos with the boy, and the rest was history.
That's probably what this was, too, though he'd never felt the urge this strongly before.
"Gabriel?" He startled and realized that he'd been lost in thought too long, and Castiel was staring at him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Cas," Gabriel said. "Just… weirded out. I don't know, man, this is strange, even for me."
"It's just a crush," Castiel said reassuringly. But Gabriel was sure that this was more than a crush somehow.
"Yeah," he said softly instead of his true thoughts, and dropped it.
…
The next morning, he woke up long after the sun rose, as usual. On the floor, Castiel's sleeping bag was empty, and the smell of food wafted up from the kitchen. This prompted Gabriel to get up more than anything else did, and he quickly brushed his teeth and walked downstairs.
His best friend was leaning against the counter with a bag of McDonald's next to him, and he rolled his eyes when he saw Gabriel.
"How did I know that you'd wake up for food?" he asked sarcastically.
"Because you're my best friend and you know that the only thing I value more than sleep is food," Gabriel answered promptly. Rifling through the bag, he made an appreciative sound when he saw the platter of hotcakes at the bottom. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"
"Food, first of all," Castiel said, taking a sip of his orange juice. "And then I was thinking we could go see a movie."
"Ooh!" Gabriel raised his arm like he was in school and looked expectantly at Cas, who rolled his eyes.
"What, dork?" he asked.
"I wanna see Kung Fu Panda 3!"
"Actually, I was thinking something more along the lines of Deadpool," Castiel said.
Gabriel tilted his head. "That works, too. But food first, right?"
"Yes, you child, food first," Castiel said fondly.
After they finished breakfast and Gabriel ran back upstairs to change out of his pajamas, they both hopped into Cas' car and headed down to the nearest grocery store. They walked down the aisles with their cart, throwing in anything that they thought they'd need. Well, Castiel did, at least. Gabriel threw in everything he saw that he wanted, which mostly happened in the snacks aisle.
Two hours later, they'd finished putting the groceries away and were looking up movie times in Gabriel's laptop. The closest theatre just so happened to be playing the movie in less than an hour, so they grabbed keys and wallets and headed out.
They hadn't even been on the road for five minutes before Castiel brought up their conversation from the previous night.
"You should ask Sam out."
Oh, lord.
"Why?" Gabriel asked.
Castiel came to a stop at a red light and turned to face him, face practically screaming Really?
"Because you like him," Castiel said. "Does he like you?"
"I don't know, Cas, we only talked for five minutes!" Gabriel exclaimed. Then he leaned back in his seat. "But maybe. At least, I think he was flirting with me."
"Okay, so ask him out."
"That was incredible," Gabriel said sarcastically. "Some of the most amazing relationship advice I've ever gotten. You should have a show."
"I was just trying to help," Cas grumbled. "I can tell that Sam's really gotten to you."
"So have a lot of other things," Gabriel pointed out. "And usually if I ignore them, they go away."
"Do you want Sam to go away?"
"...No."
"Then this is different than all those other things." The light turned green again and Castiel was forced to look back at the road. "I just don't want you to regret not doing something about this."
Gabriel let out a sigh and his irritation melted away.
"I know, Castiel," he said softly. "Thanks. But seriously, I can't just ask him out. This isn't a movie or a book where you can just ask anyone out and they'll accept just because you had a moment or whatever with them."
"Then become his friend first."
Gabriel thought back to when he'd asked Sam if they'd see each other around. "Definitely," Sam had replied. But if they didn't have any classes together, didn't that mean that they'd have to see each other outside of school? Huh. Maybe he had more of a chance than he thought.