A/N: Hey, I'm sorry if the formatting is all off- has been really weird lately. I'm posting stuff on Archive of Our Own mostly, where it's a little easier to format things. I have the first two chapters of this up on there already, but if this gets too irritating, I might just stick to keeping it on there.

July, 1955

It had been several weeks since Sam had seen any sign of Lucifer since the awkward day that they had walked around town. Since then, the Winchesters had settled into their new home, and life went on as usual for the tiny family. Dean was out almost constantly, especially when their father wasn't home. Sam had no idea where he went, although he figured Dean probably made at least a billion friends by now. The older Winchester was always better at meeting people than Sam- Sam never really understood it. At thirteen years old, Dean was like some sort of movie star wherever he went, and even kissed his first girl when he was only eleven. Dean had told his brother it was like kissing a really wet wall.

Dean was the kind of guy who kissed girls a lot. But whenever Sam asked him about what kissing girls was like, Dean always made a face and shook his head.

"You kiss girls to be able to say that you kiss girls," he told his little brother. "Not because it's fun. Everyone expects you to have kissed girls by the time you're my age, so you do it. But I'm telling you: it's super nasty."

Sam didn't ask again.

Since there were no girls to kiss in his spare time, Sam was really bored. He often took walks by himself around town, hoping to catch sight of Lucifer at all and try to become friends again. Considering they were neighbors, Lucifer did a pretty good job at avoiding Sam wherever he went. He frequently saw Lucifer's other brothers that he had mentioned before. Once, Sam had even seen the youngest of the five, Gabriel, running around the yard with who Sam assumed was Castiel. Sam had waved hello once or twice, but neither brother seemed to notice them. Gabriel, who had light brown hair, was running around from Castiel who would occasionally laugh and try to throw handfuls of leaves at him. Sometimes Michael would come outside and work on the car, an old blue jalopy that looked like it had been built in the '30's. But Sam never once saw any sign of their father, or any sign of Lucifer in the next couple of weeks that followed.

Dean made him run to the grocery store with the money their father had left them, saying he was busy that day. When Sam asked him what he was doing, Dean thumped him on the forehead, saying it was none of his business. He had made friends already, Sam knew that much, but was still irritated that Dean was making him do all the shopping. The list was milk, bread, and more spaghetti. Their father was supposed to be home by tonight, Sam realized. The thought made him smile.

The small grocery store wasn't too far away from their house. Sam had remembered passing it during his time with Lucifer, next to the diner that stood on the corner. As he walked down the sidewalk, the familiar Elvis music drifted through Pamela's open window, several houses down the street from the Novaks and the Winchesters. Elvis, who was insanely popular nowadays, was practically all Sam ever heard. Dean hated the guy. If you didn't hear Elvis playing on the radio, it was "Rock Around the Clock", which somehow managed to play on every other radio station.

"Hello!" a woman's voice called out from the doorway, just as Sam was about to pass the house entirely. He turned, watching as a black-haired woman came walking out of the doorway with a bright smile on her face. She was wearing a silky black dress, which almost looked too formal to be wearing around the house. Her hair was loosely pinned up into a bun, locks of hair spilling out and around her face. She gave Sam a bright smile, waving enthusiastically to him as if she had known him for quite some time. He record player continued to drift through the open window, "You're a Heartbreaker" sounding in the quiet of the street. Giving her a shy smile, Sam waved in return, tucking the grocery list into his pocket.

"You must be new here!" she said brightly, walking out bare-footed onto the sidewalk. She offered her hand to shake, which Sam accepted. Her house was small, a white-picket fence bordering her property with grass that looked kept and well-mowed.

"You're that little family of three, right?"

Sam nodded, shrugging a little. "Yeah. I'm Sam."

"Pamela. Nice to meet you sweetheart. Goodness, it's about time that Lucifer boy had a playmate other than those rowdy brothers of his...I feel sorry for the poor boy sometimes," she said with a sigh, chuckling a little.

"I met him already...he, um, well he's a little…"

Pamela's expression softened, a small, sad smile spreading across her face in understanding.

"A little odd?"

Sam winced, nodding quickly in agreement. He didn't really know what to say. He felt out of place criticizing him when he barely knew anything about him, but he was definitely stranger than most. It was intriguing, in a way, and made Sam want to learn more about him...even if Lucifer wasn't too keen on learning anything more about Sam.

"Hey now. You look like you must be getting hot. Why don't you come inside and I'll fix you a little something to drink?"

It was really hot outside. In the mid-day of July, Sam felt like he was already drowning in his own sweat. He followed her inside, wondering how she knew Lucifer so well. He vaguely remembered that Lucifer knew her- and that his brother thought she was strange.

Her house was like entering some kind of fortune teller's tent at a carnival. Everything was draped in oddly colored curtains and sequence, with strange statues and figures decorating the coffee table and kitchenware cabinets. Surprised, Sam looked around in wonder. Her kitchen was almost exactly the same, except the color scheme was mostly yellow and orange, with statues settled on the windowsills and on top of the cabinets. Pamela laughed a little at Sam's reaction.

"All of this garb belonged to my Papa. He gave it to me and my husband before he died, so I just kept this swell little house to myself." She brought the pitcher of lemonade out, pouring Sam a glass with ice. He accepted it gratefully.

"Aw shucks," he said, smiling shyly at her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, darling. You know...I'm glad you met that Lucifer boy. I really am. I feel like you two would be good pals."

Sam frowned and shook his head, downing his glass in two gulps.

"He doesn't want to be my friend," he said. "I tried talking to him, but he didn't want to have anything to do with me!"

Pamela sighed, putting the pitcher back into the fridge. "I know," she said quietly. "I just feel so sorry for the poor boy. You know his father is never home. I don't know where he goes off to, or what he's doing, but he leaves all of those boys alone in the house. The oldest one is away at college, but they have a four year old boy to look after! Gorgeous little child, always with so much energy...but they gotta look after each other all on their own. And Lucifer? Well, he withdraws in on himself. Stays on his piano all day and all night. I've only ever heard him play once…" She trailed off, shaking her head a little.

"Nothing wrong with a quiet kid. But he's almost too quiet, if you know what I mean."

"I tried to ask him about playing the piano. His brother Michael let me inside and I heard him playing...and a few weeks ago I thought I heard something at night, but I wasn't sure. It was really good though."

Pamela just shook her head again. "The boy is a rightful genius. He's gonna be fantastic one day. But he's a dark boy, you know? Doesn't like other kids. I'm the only one he ever talks to, and that's when I'm lucky."

Sam nodded, his brow furrowing. "Why is he like that?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. He just doesn't get along well with others. Hides away most of the day...the only time I ever see him outside is with his little brother, Gabriel. His little brother is the only one I ever see him smile with…" She smiled a little herself at the thought. "He loves him more than anything. That, he told me himself. Nothing can separate Lucifer from his little brother Gabriel, I'll tell you that right now!" She laughed wholeheartedly, but it sounded more like a cackle to Sam. He was beginning to realize why Lucifer got along with her so well- they were both a little odd.

"But anyway, how are you and your family settling in, honey?"

Sam told her about his first night moving in, and how he had met Lucifer when he tumbled out of the tree, which brought another laugh out of Pamela as she turned off her record player to switch on the radio. Overall things had been well. The town was quiet and there wasn't much to do, but Sam didn't mind too much.

"I think I saw your brother with Castiel- he's about thirteen or fourteen, isn't he? They seem to get along real good."

Sam told her he had barely seen his brother for the week that he had moved in.

"Well, you know how teenage boys are!" she laughed. "Don't you ever become one, Sammy. You're too sweet."

Sam smiled. "Thank you. I think I gotta go though. Dean sent me to the grocery store to pick up some stuff."

"Alright. Thank you for stoppin' in dear. It gets rather lonely when I'm here all by myself."

"Thank you for the lemonade," he said, trying to remember to be polite. Pamela nodded and showed him out the door.

"Don't mention it, honey. Just...be nice to that boy for me, okay? The world ain't too kind to fellas like him."

Sam frowned. But before he could ask what she meant by that, she was waving him goodbye, hurrying back inside to answer her ringing telephone. Left with that thought, Sam continued down the sidewalk and towards the grocery store on the corner. What had she meant by that? Sam found himself thinking about it the entire way to the market, as well as the entire way home.

So lost in his own thoughts, Sam found himself smacking right into somebody coming from the opposite direction, who apparently had not been paying attention either. Dropping the groceries in his hand, Sam stumbled back, realizing he had crashed right into the very boy he had just been thinking about. Lucifer looked at Sam with panicked eyes, nearly falling over himself. It took Sam a minute to realize that Lucifer was holding the hand of his younger brother, Gabriel.

"S-sorry!" Sam sputtered, trying to gather himself as quickly as he could. Lucifer's face lit up in a blush as Gabriel shrieked with laughter, the tattered hat on his head nearly tumbling right off.

"Luci you almost fell down!" the little boy laughed. Lucifer groaned quietly, awkwardly half-bending over to help Sam gather up his spilled grocery bags.

"Luci, you almost fell-!"

"Gabriel," he snapped. The boy quieted himself.

"I'm sorry," Sam mumbled when he had finally gathered up the rest of his things. Embarrassed, he grimaced, unable to meet the boy's eyes.

"It's fine," he said, laughing a little. Sam looked up, almost surprised to hear him laugh. It was quiet, as his voice always was whenever he spoke, but Sam didn't even think a boy like Lucifer was even capable of laughing.

"I wasn't really watching where I was going. Gabe and I were talking about music."

"You play good music," Gabriel insisted. Lucifer hushed him gently, his cheeks turning red.

'Haha. That's okay. I wasn't really looking where I was going either…"

For a moment, an awkward silence descended over the two of them.

"Are you guys, uh, heading to the market?"

Lucifer nodded. "Yeah. You look like you just got back and all, but do you wanna come with us?"

Surprised by the offer, Sam didn't know what to say at first. This boy had gone from avoiding him all week, to now suddenly inviting him to walk with him and his brother. Pausing for a moment, Sam then nodded quickly, a small smile stretching across his face. Maybe Lucifer wasn't so bad after all. He felt relieved that Sam hadn't scared him off the first day that they had met.

"Sure!"

Lucifer smiled in return. "Great. That okay with you, Gabe?"

Gabriel nodded affirmatively, with all the command and authority that a four-year old could muster.

"Yeah. But only if he likes matchbox cars. I don't wanna play with no one who don't like matchbox cars," he said firmly.

Lucifer gave Sam an exasperated look, which made them both begin to laugh. Joining the two of them, Sam felt much more at ease around the strange boy now that his goofy little brother was around. He noticed the music-pendant necklace hanging from Lucifer's neck, just as it had the week previously.

"I never really said thank-you for finding my necklace," Lucifer said after a moment. Gabriel had, sure enough, taken a matchbox car out of his pocket, and was pretending to drive it along an invisible road in the air as they made their way to the store. Sam nodded, a little surprised that Lucifer was so relieved to have it back. Briefly, he recalled Michael having said something about it once belonging to their mother. He wondered if that had anything to do with it.

"Yeah, it was no problem," Sam replied. Lucier's hand that wasn't holding Gabriel's instinctively went to the pendant, his hand closing around it protectively.

Sam's first instinct was to ask about it, but he decided to keep his mouth shut. He had finally, possibly, been able to make a friend and didn't want to ruin it now. Gabriel was making beeping and honking noises, making the car go up and down invisible hills in the air. He charged straight for a puddle on the side of the road, and only his brother's firm hand on his shoulder stopped him from charging headlong into the mud.

"Pa's gonna be home tonight," Lucifer said firmly, yanking Gabriel back. "So don't go getting your pants all dirty, okay?" Gabriel looked at him with a worried expression, his body relaxing.

"I don't want Papa to come home tonight," he said quietly. Lucifer shook his head.

"Doesn't matter. Don't get yourself all scruffy, okay?" Gabriel nodded solemnly, the playfulness in his expression gone.

"Gabriel doesn't like it when our Pa is home," Lucifer explained. Sam nodded. He couldn't imagine not wanting his father to come home. Although Dean looked forward to it more than anything, Sam didn't get to see his dad much either, and liked having him home.

"My dad isn't home much either," Sam told him. "On days he doesn't work, he's usually real tired. Dean looks after me usually. But he hasn't been home much lately."

"I think I saw him yesterday," Lucifer said. "With my brother Castiel. They were walking somewhere."

Sam frowned. Pamela had said the same thing, but Dean hadn't mentioned him all week. He hadn't heard Dean mention Castiel at all in the week that they had been here. He was surprised they had become friends so quickly.

"Oh. Guess that explains it."

Lucifer nodded, growing quiet once again. Gabriel was making soft, quiet motor sounds as he held his matchbox car in his small hands, focused on the invisible road ahead of him. There was a youthful innocence that Gabriel exhibited, despite his displeasure at having his father come home that night, that was lost in Lucifer, despite him being only nine years old. Lucifer already seemed heavily burdened with some sort of weight that was hard to pick out to the casual observer, something that showed the boy had years in his eyes that went beyond just his physical age.

When they reached the grocery store, Sam watched Gabriel and Lucifer pick off the things from their list- milk, juice, and several boxes of cereal. Sam watched in amusement as Gabriel marched over the his brother with an armful of assorted candy, insisting that they buy all of it right away.

"Gabriel, go put it back."

"No."

"Gabriel-"

"I'll call the cops on you if you don't buy all this candy right now!" Gabriel threatened, which brought a laugh out of Sam.

Lucifer sighed. "Gabe, we don't have enough money," he said quietly. Gabriel looked heartbroken. Tears began gathering at the edges of his eyes, sadness dripping into his voice as he pleaded with his brother.

Sam reached into his pocket, pulling out the last 12 cents that he had, and held his hand out to the older of the two brothers.

"Here. I know it isn't much, but you can probably get him something."

Lucifer looked at Sam solemnly. "No. It's okay," he said. Gabriel was crying quietly now- not the kind of temper-tantrum crying that was common in children his age, but the kind of tears that showed true sadness in his eyes. Sam wondered when the last time the kid ever even had a Snickers bar.

"Really. Here, Gabriel, go pick out what you want."

Gabriel's eyes lit up, and suddenly he charged forward and flung his arms around Sam's middle in a tight, excited hug, nearly knocking Sam over in the middle of the aisle.

"Thank you thank you thank you! I'm gonna give you all my matchbox cars. I only have two but you can have both of them!" Gratefully taking the money from Sam's hand, Gabriel charged down the aisle in search for what he could buy. Lucifer looked at Sam with gratitude, smiling a little as he watched his brother whoop and holler in excitement.

"You didn't have to do that," he said. Sam shrugged his shoulders. "Dad lays money out on the counter for us everyday before he runs off to work. I had some extra in my pocket. He gets excited real easy doesn't he?"

"Yeah. He does. He's such an actor most of the time. But I try to keep him from being home too much. Our Pa frightens him."

He didn't say anymore on the matter, and Sam didn't ask. When they left the grocery store, Gabriel with his two Snickers bars, and Lucifer with the rest of their groceries.

"Should we...do this again?" Sam asked, a small smile spreading across his face. Lucifer nodded, nudging his brother with his arm.

"Whaddya think, Gabe?" he asked. The boy nodded in approval, chewing his candy with gusto.

"Yeah! I like him." Sam laughed. He was happy making the little kid smile- and if nothing else, it seemed to make Lucifer happy too.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Lucifer asked quietly. The question surprised Sam, but nevertheless made him smile. He was relieved that the majority of the tension between them seemed almost entirely resolved. While Lucifer still didn't seem entirely at ease around Sam- or really anywhere he went- it was better than the awkward, forced conversation from the weeks before.

"'Course!" Sam chirped happily. Lucifer nodded once, content with the arrangement. They didn't speak the rest of the way, walking in the relatively comfortable silence, only broken by the sounds of Gabriel's quiet car noises.

They said their goodbyes at the end of the cul-de-sac, Gabriel waving at him enthusiastically as their parted ways. Sam expected Dean to snap at him for taking so long, but as he set the groceries down on their tiny kitchen table, Sam couldn't find him anywhere.

"Dean!" Sam called out. Hurried footsteps came from upstairs, before Dean came hurrying down the stairs, a boy about two years or so older than him following him shyly. Sam immediately recognized the boy as Castiel, one of Lucifer's older brothers.

"Oh. Hey," Dean said quickly as he hurried into the kitchen. The older boy, following close behind, gave him a small wave.

"This is Cas," Dean said. "Lives next door." Cas smiled at Sam a little, glancing at Dean nervously. Sam waved at him.

"I should probably get going," Castiel said quickly. Much like his younger brother, he seemed nervous, a little unease at being around other people. "Michael isn't home and Lucifer and Gabe...well, you know…"

"Yeah. I'll see ya tomorrow."

"You too."

Cas waved goodbye to Sam, shutting the front door behind him. Frowning, Sam began unpacking the grocery bags.

"What's up with him?" Sam asked. Were all of the Novaks this weird? He thought he'd grow to like Lucifer, but were they all this quiet at first?

"Nothing. Why?"

"Dunno...he just seems a little odd."

"He's fine." Dean was clearly trying to avoid broaching the subject. Shrugging his shoulders, Sam helped his brother put the groceries away in the cabinets. Maybe he'd ask Lucifer about it later.

"You make friends with Cas's brother yet? That kid looks like he's ready to kill me in his sleep?"

"He's nice, Dean," his brother said patiently. "I'm going to hang out with him tomorrow. Is Cas nice?"

Dean nodded, taking a swig of milk directly out of the jug. "Yeah. He's a pretty swell guy."

Scowling at his brother, Sam made a lunge for the milk carton, trying to grab it away from Dean in disgust. "That's so gross! Quit doing that!"

Dean laughed and dodged his grab, running around the kitchen as Sam tried to seize the bottle from his grasp.

"Dude! Cut it out!" But even so, Sam was laughing, landing a punch to Dean's gut when he splashed milk in his hair. The ending results were them wrestling on the ground with half the carton of milk spilled on the floor, and hurriedly cleaning it up before their father got home.

That night, Sam laid awake in bed, feeling tired even though he was unable to sleep. His window, as usual, was open to allow the night-time breeze to drift through his room. As he laid there, he realized with surprise that he could hear piano music, faintly drifting through his open window from outside just as he had a couple of weeks prior.

He ran to his open window, gazing outside to better hear the music, softly and melodically drifting through the night-time air. He hadn't heard it in weeks- since the last time he and Lucifer had spent any time together. Sam knew it had to be Lucifer playing; he heard mentions of Lucifer playing the piano on more than one occasion. But what amazed him was how...different the music was. Sam had never heard music so dark and sinister, yet so beautiful at the same time. He found that it was slowly causing him to nod off, his eyes shutting sleepily despite the fact that he had just been so wide awake.

He dragged himself away from the window, laying down on his bed once again. The music was faint, barely audible even in the quiet of his bedroom, but even so it caused his eyelids to droop and feel heavy.

Occasionally the music would change key, drifting up higher or lower. And then, slowly, it would repeat verses, and the song would start over again. Sam didn't question why Lucifer was playing so late at night, or why it didn't stop so suddenly like it had when he had played it a couple of weeks prior. Only that it made him sleepy, and that he wanted to keep listening to it over and over again. At last, Sam drifted off to sleep. But even though Sam could no longer hear it anymore, the music still continued to play, dipping and rising in key and pitch, tapering and growing in volume. It continued like this for nearly an hour, before the player himself found that the music too was making him tired, and drifted off to sleep on his piano bench.