A/N: New Year, new story.

This story has been based off of James Patterson's 'Sundays at Tiffany's'. The ending will be different from the novel so don't go expecting that you will know what will happen if you read it. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own the rights to either of the works used in this story. But if only I could pick the owners brains I would be incredibly happy.


Gabriel sat at the counter, his little legs swinging, tapping a rhythm with his toes against the hard wooden panels. The pace increased as the waiter approached with Gabriel's favorite and the best ice cream in the world, a coffee sundae drizzled in hot fudge. Gabriel was shaking with the need to dig in and consume the dessert, but he held himself back, thanking the waiter before he took a huge first bite.

Gabriel could hear Sam laughing from the opposite side on the bar, he himself eating a bowl of sherbet with melon balls. Gabriel smiled, not caring that he had hot fudge all over his face and took another huge bite.

Gabriel was sitting in the 'Jäätelö', his absolute favorite place to be. It was a classic ice cream parlor, complete with polished brass and wood. There were booths all along the walls, the wide windows illuminating the whole room. There was a central bar where you could sit around any of the four sides and be waited on by one of the three waiters that were always there. Gabriel sat facing the door, his feet still beating out his own personal song on the gleaming wood. He finished his ice cream in record time, nearly choking when he tried to eat one spoonful that was just too big.

Sam had been there to save him though, silently slipping over to the boy to pat on his back until the ice cream found its way down the proper tube in Gabriel's throat.

"You okay there buddy?" Sam's big brown eyes were full of concern, the real concern, not the stuff that Gabriel's dad wanted him to believe was real.

"Yeah," Gabriel swallowed, trying to rid him self of the sandpaper that somehow climbed down his throat, "I'm fine."

Sam smiled and Gabriel blushed, never quite use to that radiance being directed towards him, "Good, because I didn't want to find another person to play with. Friends are really hard to find these days, almost as hard to find as matching socks."

Gabriel immediately went beet red, his feet pounding away even faster, "They are really hard to find okay?"

Sam laughed, giving Gabriel a side hug, "I know Gabe. It's like the dryer does it on purpose."

Gabriel's eyebrows came together and he stated in all seriousness, "We are having a duel when we get back home. No one can stand up to the mighty Gabriel."

Sam laughed and Gabriel's stomach flipped, his grin becoming shy and his eyes lowered to the ground, his feet slowing down their assault on the soon to be battered wood.

After a moment of silence Sam leaned over to Gabriel's ear and whispered, "What do you say we play the Sabriel game?"

Gabriel instantly perked up, his interest truly taken by Sam. Gabriel had invented the game himself, the name too. The game went like this: One person would point at a booth and the other would have to make up the most ridiculous story about the people sitting there as they could.

Gabriel shimmied in his seat, eyes scanning the room to find the dullest booth he could find. Finger pointing Gabriel exclaimed, "That one!"

Sam followed Gabriel's finger and groaned, in the booth was a mother, father, and son, all eating ice cream and not displaying anything remarkable what so ever. The father was in a business suit, his briefcase sporting a file folder with Henderson Law stamped across it. The mother and son were dressed in casual clothing, the boy with a leaf in his hair, both obviously coming from the park a few blocks away. This family basically had their story printed across their foreheads, and Sam wasn't left with much to work with.

"You devil," Sam whispered as Gabriel giggled into his hand, "Alright." This time he spoke so Gabriel could hear him, the little boys golden eyes glued on him, "The family is a part of an international circus that goes on tours for months on end. The mother and son were in the park training for their new act, 'The flying Froley'. The father had to go to the law office to get the required papers so he could get his son health insurance, because he wanted to make sure that his son would never get hurt."

Gabriel took in every word that Sam said, hanging onto them and storing them for later. Once Sam was done Gabriel smiled, "Not bad for an old guy."

Sam smiled, a light chuckle slipping out of this throat, "Hey! I'd like to see you do better."

Gabriel straightened up, his voice completely cocky as he said, "That's easy."

Sam raised an eyebrow at him, "Really? Well we'll see about that." His eyes scanned the room before he pointed out a man in the corner, "Him."

Gabriel looked at the man in the booth; he was small, almost dwarfed by the sheer size of the seat he was crouched over in. He had messy blonde hair and a scraggily full beard that looked like it hadn't been touched in months. He was leaning over the table, papers spread around him and writing furiously with a ballpoint pen.

"Sam," Gabriel sighed, "That's not fair. You know that's my Daddy."

"Really?" Sam squinted, tilting his head a bit as if trying to get a better view, "Are you sure?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes and said exasperated, "I think I would know my own father."

"Oh well. You still have to make up a story," Sam smiled at Gabriel, sure that he won this round. He wasn't going to pay for dessert, again.

Gabriel smiled back, letting his mind run wild, "Okay, he's a foreign prince who came to New York City for love. He followed the girl until she finally said yes and they got married and had a lot of kids. One day the girl tells him that she is really a spy and that she had to leave to make sure that he and their kids would be safe. Even though he would miss her very much he let her leave, hoping that one day she would come back for him and their children. Now he waits, writing anything that comes to his mind and taking care of his children as best he can while his girl runs around the world saving people and keeping them safe."

Sam watched the boy as he told to story, his heart breaking for the child. Sam knew exactly what happened to Gabriel's mother, and she wasn't across the world saving people, and Chuck defiantly wasn't a foreign prince.

Gabriel's mother was a famous Broadway star, the one person that everyone wanted starring in his or her production. Chuck and Anna had met when the casting calls for Chuck's new play were being held. Anna had always loved seeing what was new and up coming, and Chuck was rising in her books. The first impression that Anna got of Chuck was that he was a bumbling idiot; he had accidentally spilt his water all over her and then proceeded to try and wipe it off of her, effectively groping her in the process. Anna thought it was cute, but she felt bad for this man who clearly couldn't function in the world he existed in.

The second time they met Chuck was more level headed, enough to get a few coherent sentences out of his mouth. The third time they met Chuck asked Anna on a date. The fourth time they met Anna knew her heart was Chucks.

They got married within a year and six months later Anna was pregnant. She happily retired to raise her family, shocking not only Broadway, but also the world. Chuck and Anna had three children together, Michael, Lucifer and Gabriel. It was during Gabriel's birth that Chuck saw Anna for the last time. There had been complications during his birth that led to Anna bleeding to death.

Chuck never told his children what happened, just that their mother wasn't coming home anymore. He knew what Lucifer would do to Gabriel had he known that his younger brother was the reason that his mother was dead.

It got very hard for Chuck to face Gabriel without remembering Anna, and he slowly started drifting away from his youngest, Michael and Lucifer doing the same. Gabriel eventually found himself alone for most of his life.

That was when Sam came. He was Gabriel's only friend, the only person who would listen to him, play with him, laugh with him, cry with him. He was the miracle that Gabriel needed; he was the angel that saved him.

Sam saw Chuck stand out of the corner of his eye, saw him walking towards his son with papers shoved under his arm and a briefcase in his hand.

"Come on Gabriel, it is time to go." Chuck stopped beside his son, placing his free hand on Gabriel's shoulder.

"I've got to say goodbye to Sam first," Gabriel looked up at his father, his eyes begging with him.

Chuck smiled sadly, "Sure Gabe, you can say goodbye to Sam."

Gabriel perked up, turning to his friend, "Goodbye Sam. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Sam smiled, "Of course Gabe. Do I ever miss a day?"

Gabriel shook his head, letting himself be lead out of the door by his father, keeping his eyes on his friend for as long as he could.

As soon as Gabriel was out of Sam's line of vision his smile fell, the turning in his gut getting worse. He was going to have to leave soon, and Gabriel was going to hate him.

Chuck walked home in a rush, only half listening to his son's ceaseless chatter next to him. He was worried with what to do about Gabriel's imaginary friend. It wasn't healthy for a boy his age to still believe in stuff like that. With a sense of sadness he knew that Anna would have known what to do.