It was a stupid argument. Gabriel knew he needed to apologise, but he was too stubborn to actually seek Sam out to do so.
It started with Sam knocking over his bag of M&M's. Yeah, so it was kind of petty to start a fight over spilled sweets, but Gabriel had been stewing for weeks now. Anyway, after Sam knocked over his candy he started to apologise profusely and make offers to buy him new candy, even picked up all the pieces off the floor when Gabriel could have easily snapped them away. He kept saying sorry over and over, and Gabriel couldn't handle it anymore. Angels only have a certain amount of tolerance- tricksters have even less.
Sam's problem was he was too damn nice; always thinking of others, always apologising, always making everyone else feel like a piss-poor example of a person in comparison. Well Gabriel was tired of feeling inferior, if anyone should be feeling inferior it should be Sam. Sam should be kneeling in front of him right now; he's fucking Gabriel the Archangel! Well, a poor example of that too, but still. He was tired, and he decided to knock Sam down a notch.
Sam never saw it coming. Gabriel just started yelling, voice growing steadily louder until it almost reached a pitch that would rip the human's ear drums. He pulled out all the stops he could- the demon blood, the apocalypse, the multiple deaths brought about, including his own; but Sam seemed to just take it in. He just stood there, given he did look confused and irritated, but he still continued to stand his ground and keep quiet. Gabriel didn't want calm, he didn't want Sam to just take it in stride, so he pulled out the worst thing he could think of.
Ruby.
"And my god, how stupid could you get? You went and fucked a demon! A demon, Sam! What, did you love her? Did you actually expect her to love you back?"
He hadn't meant it, he really hadn't. He just wanted to see Sam crumble, and crumble he did. The last insult was like a knife, cutting open the wound Sam finally thought he had healed. Gabriel could pinpoint the exact second that Sam's heart broke; he could feel it in the very core of his grace.
Sam's shoulders slumped and he dropped his gaze to the floor. He started to shake from the strain of holding back the tears that threatened to spill over at any time. Gabriel immediately froze, horrified with himself.
"Sam…" Gabriel started, reaching his arm out towards the hunter.
"Go." Sam tried his hardest to make his voice firm, but it came out as more of a broken sob, and Gabriel would be damned if that didn't break his heart.
"Please, Sam."
"I said go." Sam growled, bringing his hazel eyes up to glare into the angel's gold ones. Sam's eyes were filled with fire and ice, rage and pain. So much pain, and Gabriel was the cause of it all. He was momentarily stunned by the hunter's ferocity, but he quickly got the message and flew away, forgetting to even snap his fingers.
This was over a week ago, and Sam hadn't talked to him since. It's not like Gabriel hadn't tried to apologise- he'd popped in a few times and helped with research, or accompanied them on a particularly dangerous hunt. Sometimes his falling brother wasn't enough to keep the dream team safe and sound. After all of these occurrences, Gabriel had tried to corner Sam and force him to talk, but he always seemed to get away. And considering that Gabriel was an Archangel and could get people to do whatever he wanted, that was pretty damn impressive.
By this time, Gabriel wasn't the only one who was sick of Sam's moping. Whenever Sam left the room, Dean and Castiel took to exchanging theories about why he was so sullen recently. One night, when Dean mentioned the return of Sam's nightmares, Gabriel's insides froze. He had caused Sam too much damage, more damage than he ever intended. He hadn't wanted this, he just wanted to make Sam stop being so nice to everyone; stop being so nice to him, the last person who deserved Sam's kindness, yet seemingly the one whom Sam was kindest to. He made a split decision and popped out to the parking lot, hoping against all hope that he would find Sam there.
Incredulously, Sam was leaning against the impala, eyes closed. He looked so tired, the dark bags under his eyes implying that he hadn't slept in days. Suddenly Sam opened his eyes, and whatever life he had left in him vanished as he laid his gaze on the shorter man in front of him. He said nothing, only turned and walked away with his hands balled into fists at his sides. Gabriel followed on foot, momentarily forgoing his angelic powers, and it was all he could do to keep up with Sam and his long legs.
"Sam, wait." No response, just the sound of feet hitting the pavement.
"Sam. Sam, please, listen to me." Still no answer, but the sound of footsteps on pavement gained speed.
"I'm sorry!" Gabriel shouted, almost maniacally. Sam stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around. Gabriel took it as a sign to continue.
"I'm sorry, Sam. Really, truly sorry. I didn't mean anything I said, I was just trying to rile you up, to knock you down." Sam stiffened at this. Damn it Gabriel, why are you so bad at apologising?
"No, I didn't mean it like that. You're just always so good. You're treated like shit by everyone around you and you still treat complete strangers like kings. You're nice to the people who don't deserve it, you give them the time of day and they don't give a damn about you or anything and you shouldn't have to take that. You don't deserve that- they don't deserve you. I don't deserve you. I'm sorry; I'm just a dick with daddy issues and anger management. I just wanted you to know that."
By this time, Sam's shoulders had lost most of their tension and his fists had unfurled themselves. Gabriel considered it a minor success, but Sam still wasn't turning around. In a sudden desire to be close to the human, Gabriel acted on instinct alone and wrapped his arms around the taller man from behind. He let his grace flow out of him, into Sam's ever-bright soul. He felt Sam's soul put up barriers to prevent Gabriel's grace from entering, but they eventually were lowered as Sam relaxed into the embrace.
Once Sam had allowed Gabriel's grace to touch his very being, Gabriel made his regret clear by sending it in waves. Before Gabriel could stop it, a sudden abundance of love flowed through the link, straight into Sam.
Sam started at the fierce longing and sheer adoration he felt running through him. He gave a slight gasp, and Gabriel tightened his hold on Sam- if this was the last time he got to touch the human, Sam would have to take him kicking and screaming. What he wasn't expecting was the love he felt running back through the bond, towards him. His eyes flew open, and he viewed the dimple on Sam's left cheek as a kind of personal blessing.
Sam had forgiven him. Gabriel shuddered as more and more love and awe flowed from hunter to angel. He let out a shaky breath.
"Sam…" Sam simply shushed Gabriel by laying his hands on Gabriel's arms, stroking over them delicately.
Gabriel didn't really feel up to another argument right now, so he complied with Sam's wishes. He simply laid his chin on Sam's shoulder and wrapped his wings around the hunter- his hunter- wrapping the two of them in their own little cocoon of warmth, safety, and love.