Gabriel walked into the bedroom, carrying a steaming, juicy cheeseburger on a plate. He sauntered his way over to Sam's side of the bed and, using his free hand, ran a couple of fingers through Sam's long, beautiful hair to wake him up.
Sam's body shook with a silent, heart wrenching sob.
Gabriel nearly dropped the food, which would have been a catastrophe since the burger was Sammy's favorite. (Dean would never know.) He set the plate down on the dresser quickly before plopping next to Sam on the bed.
"Hey," Gabriel said, heart pounding in alarm, "Why're you crying? What's going on?"
Sam looked up at Gabriel with tear-filled eyes and pulled the shorter man into a tight hug.
Well, normally, this would've been amazing and wonderful, but Gabriel really did want to know why this perfect man wrapped around him was upset.
"I deleted them," Sam whispered.
Gabriel pulled back a little to look at Sam. "Deleted what?" he asked, brushing Sam's hair out of his face.
Sam sighed and sat up in bed. "My stories. I deleted my stories," he said softly.
Gabriel's eyes widened. Sam Winchester was a writer. It wasn't his job, he didn't get paid for it, but he wrote like nothing Gabriel had ever seen before.
"Why? What happened, kiddo?" Gabriel asked, rubbing Sam's back.
Sam said, "I don't know. I just-I got frustrated. Nothing was coming to me the right way, and I had so many things to be working on, and it just got so overwhelming and frustrating and I..."
Gabriel pulled Sam into a hug, leaning the taller man against his chest. "It's okay," he said gently, "This can be a new start, a blank slate. You can write new stories."
Sam shook his head. "I know I can write new stuff, but...but it's just. I miss my stories, y'know? I put my heart and soul into them, and I just...God, I'm so mad at myself right now," he said.
Gabriel didn't know what to do to help. It wasn't like he could rewind time.
After a moment, Gabriel nuzzled Sam's hair and said softly, "Remember the time Kali cursed me and turned me into a shapeshifting tiger?"
Sam looked at Gabriel, confused. "I remember writing that, yeah, but I don't-"
Gabriel smiled and said, "Remember how I was a dick, but you got me to stop? You got through to me. Remember us holding each other by the fire while moonlight was streaming in the castle window? Because, damn, I cannot get that scene out of my head."
Sam saw what Gabriel was doing and smiled. He leaned against Gabriel's chest and asked, "What else do you remember, Gabe?"
"I remember when you were in the mental hospital, dying from the poison of Lucifer's grace. I remember using my own power to save you. I remember you making being human a lot better for me," Gabriel said.
Sam grinned. "That was Broken for You. I really liked that one," he said.
Gabriel said, "Me, too. That was the first story of yours that I read. Of course, I didn't really know you yet, and know how twisted of a writer you are."
Sam laughed a lovely, lyrical laugh that made Gabriel think his plan was working.
"Speaking of twisted, I remember when I was your sex slave, but then you fell in love with me," Gabe said with a grin.
"Yeah, Freeing Lincoln was a good one," Sam said.
Gabriel laughed and asked, "How do you know I was talking about Freeing Lincoln? I was your sex slave loads of times."
"Well," Sam said, "If you were referring to The World Will Be Gone, you wouldn't have called yourself a sex slave, even though that is how that worked out. And if you were talking about Under the Pecan Tree, that was Richard and Jared, not us."
Gabriel rolled his eyes playfully. "What about The Littlest Archangel? I was totally your sex slave in that," he said.
Sam laughed and said, "No, you weren't! You were enslaved, because humans are dicks, but you were never a sex slave for me. I didn't even want to have you as a slave. I just wanted to help you. And then you went all back to your original Heaven programming and freed all the angels by starting an apocalypse."
"You say that like it's my fault! You wrote it," Gabriel said with mock offense.
Sam smiled and asked, "What was your favorite?"
"The Rose, of course. I liked being a shapeshifting tiger in a Beauty and the Beast au. I was awesome."
"And a dick."
"Yeah, but you loved me anyway."
Sam hugged Gabriel and whispered, "Thank you."
"But I didn't get to talk about all of them," Gabriel protested.
Sam said, "Yeah, but I get your point. And I smell a perfectly good cheeseburger going to waste right now."
Sam got up and walked to the dresser, smiling widely at the food Gabriel had made.
"But what about The Adventures of Kitten and Kiddo?" Gabriel said.
Sam picked up the plate and said, "I'm going to warm this up in the microwave."
Gabriel hopped up from the bed and followed Sam down the hall. "But I didn't get to talk about Pay the Piper! Or The Worth of My Life! Or Incinerate! What about the ones you wrote specifically for me? I loved I Could Sing You a Song and And I Will Try To Fix You. How could you not let me mention Stars?! Or..or Forced! I still haven't forgiven you for what you did to Crowley in that one, by the way," he said.
Sam chuckled and walked into the kitchen, his biggest fan trailing close behind him.
As the microwave whirred, Sam sat down at their table and met Gabriel's gaze. "Thank you," he said with a genuine smile.
Gabriel took Sam's hand in his and said, "I can't wait for the next adventure you take us on."
Sam grinned and asked, "Are you sure about that? It's going to be painful."
"Can't wait."
"And full of angst."
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
"There's probably going to be more slavery."
"I know."
Sam smiled. "You're going to absolutely hate what I do to you," he said.
Gabriel grinned. "As long as we end up together at the end, bring it," he replied.
The microwave dinged.
And they lived happily ever after.