Dean looked at the photos in the digital camera while Gabriel sat opposite him dipping a triple choc cookie into his caramel cappuccino. Dean handed Gabe the camera and took a large bite of his apple pie.
"Hmm?" Gabriel asked around a bite of his cookie.
"There, see that, outside the window?" Dean pointed onto the camera's screen.
"Huh? Where do you zoom with this thing?" Gabriel asked. Dean showed him. "Okay, and what am I looking at that makes you dismiss this one as well?" Gabriel sighed.
"Playground, Gabriel, playground. It's a family place." Dean tried to explain his point.
"You dismiss this apartment because of a bloody playground?" Gabriel stared at his friend. "That's crazy, Dean."
After three weeks of living in his backroom, Dean had finally agreed to go apartment hunting. Gabriel and Sammy were helping him in turns. They had been looking at quite a number of flats the past ten days. Most had been too expensive, some were too run down for DIY renovation – and Dean didn't like hiring people for things he could do himself if only he had time (and money) to do so. Some were really small, some simply too vast.
Dean had taken photos every time so he could think about his decision. They were taking a break now, having some coffee in the neighbourhood of the last place they had been to. In Gabriel's opinion it was a perfect place. Dean on the other hand was picky.
"It has two bedrooms", Dean argued.
"Dean, the rent is reasonable, there's no renovations needed. It's not that far from your garage. It even has a kitchen in good condition." Gabriel countered. "And the second bedroom ... well, you could turn it into a music room ..."
"A music room? A whole room for my guitar? Yeah right, Gabe," Dean almost rolled his eyes.
"And a music stand? And last Sat, after the show, Crowley said they were going to get new amps, maybe you could get one of their old ones ..." Gabriel suggested.
"Huh?" Dean stared at his friend. "What show?"
"Devil's Pit, dumbass. I would have asked you to join us, but it was a last minute decision to go, like half an hour before admission. I did try call you, three times in fact." Gabriel explained.
"What day had it been?" Dean wanted to know.
"Uh ... Thursday?" Gabriel recalled.
"Oh, okay ... been at Mum's for dinner." It wasn't the fact that Gabriel hadn't been able to reach him and make him come to the show that bothered Dean. It was that there had been a show and Lucifer hadn't told him about it, although he had said he would, back when he had been at his garage to get the scratching retouched. Lucifer had asked him to come to their next show, had promised he'd call to let him know about time and place. But he hadn't and that was what bothered Dean most.
"Anyway, as I was saying, music room. Or arts room. Have you ever tried painting?" Gabriel babbled on.
"Gabriel, I am not interested in picking up new hobbies just to find an excuse for a second bedroom." Dean snapped, feeling sorry right for it right after. It wasn't Gabriel's fault, after all, that Lucifer hadn't called. Maybe he had been just stupid to believe Lucifer had meant it. But then, why would he come to him for the retouch? Because he'd figured Dean wouldn't charge him? No, that wouldn't go together with them having paid their bill at Benny's. It just didn't make any sense at all. "I'm sorry, Gabe, sorry, didn't mean to snap. Maybe you are right. It was the best place so far. I could just have a spare room, have a place for friends to crash if need be."
Gabriel smiled at him, dipped his cookie in the last of his cappuccino. "That's more like it", he said before taking a bite.
"Gabe ..." Dean ventured, not fully convinced himself that he wanted to know, "Gabe, did he say anything?"
"Did who say anything?" Gabriel asked around the last bite of his cookie.
Dean swallowed and looked at his hands wrapped tight around his cup of coffee. "Lucifer", he mumbled.
Gabriel looked at him for a while, then smiled. "You do like him, don't you?"
"I barely know him ..." Dean objected, then after a few seconds added, "but ... I might ... yes."
"Want me to find out his number for you?" Gabriel winked. "But, uh, no, I'm sorry, he didn't say anything about you. Barely saw him that night, he was around flirting a lot."
"Wasn't Eric keeping him from that?" Dean asked puzzled.
Gabriel pulled his mobile from his back pocket and started pushing buttons. "Uh, no, Eric was all reserved." He shrugged and kept pushing on his mobile, then he set the device on the table. "How about we get you that apartment? Get you settled into DHville?"
"DHville?" Dean raised an eyebrow.
"Desperate Housewives ville," Gabriel chuckled.
Dean let his head fall back with an exasperated sigh. "Awesome, I was just about warming up to the idea of that apartment."
"Sorry, your objection to that playground ... I just had to, come on, it won't be that bad." Gabriel's mobile beeped and he picked it up. He read the text message that had just come in and grinned. "Got a pen?"
"Uh, yeah ..." Dean pulled a pen from his jacket and handed it to Gabriel. Gabriel snatched his hand and started scribbling numbers on Dean's palm.
"Gabe, what are you doing? What is that?" Dean asked, trying to pull his hand back.
"That, my dear friend, is Lucifer's cell phone number. Better make good use of it." Gabriel grinned, let go of Dean's hand and got up to go pay the bill.
Dean stared at his palm. So now he had Lucifer's number ... He could as well keep it, he reckoned, got out his own cell and saved it.
Gabriel had accompanied Dean back to his garage after he had negotiated with the brokers and finally signed his contract. They had had some beers together to celebrate the fact that soon Dean would have a new place to live and then Gabriel had been picked up by Castiel and Dean was on his own again. He texted his brother to tell him the news.
Fk yes, spce in cellar agn – came the reply.
His phone in hand, he stared at it for a while, sighed, put it aside. He went into his garage and cleaned up, what he hadn't done when Gabriel came to take him for flat hunting. He even cleaned the shelves of the shop and rearranged the articles. When he went back to the back room his gaze dropped right onto his phone again. But he passed it, picked up his guitar and tried to play, but he draw a complete blank. He finally got up again and picked up the phone. He weighed it in his hands, and sighed several times. He opened text messaging and started typing. It took several attempts, much frowning and trembling fingers until he hit 'send' in the end.
I was sitting on my couch, writing a new song, several empty beer bottles were sitting on the low table before me, along with several crunched pieces of paper and empty cigarette boxes and full ash trays. My phone beeped announcing an incoming message. I set my notepad aside and started looking for it on the crowded table.
Hi, Dean here, got nr from Bal by Gabe, sry ... just thought I'd try. Nice eve.
I blinked at the text when I finally held my phone in my hand. Dean. A light, warm, tingly feeling crept up inside of me and I smiled. But almost instantly it was gone again and I felt bad. I felt horrible. I had broken a promise and just because I was a coward. A stinking coward. I was contemplating just making something up why I hadn't told him about the last show. Or maybe just ignore his text message, keep cowarding, so to speak. I slowly twirled the phone in my hand and thought about it. No, maybe Dean didn't even know about the show, so why apologize for something the other person didn't know about? But Dean said he had my number from Gabriel, which meant they've been talking about me and Gabriel had been at the show ... Oh why the Hell hadn't I just called Dean last week and told him about the damn concert?
hey! don't worry about having the number as long as bal doesn't hand it to any random person all's fine
After hitting 'send', I laid the phone back on the table and slumped back on the couch staring at the ceiling. Why had I been thinking about such a simple text message for so long? It was so easy, wasn't it?
U cool w/ it? Gr8! What R U up 2?
Dean had texted back? Okay, now that wasn't something I had been prepared to, I reached for the phone again and read.
songwriting. or trying to at least. you?
This time I kept the phone in hand, actually waiting for the young man to reply.
C. Cool, better not keep U then. Gd Lk.
Damn! Dean thought I wanted my peace to go on writing. But, Hell, there was nothing I could better use right now then some distraction.
will need it, on it all day already. did sun shine today? ;-)
Maybe that would get him back to texting.
Yes :-P U need a break.
I do. got time?
Actly prty tired, long day. What about E?
E? Oh, damn, he meant Eric. Of course he would. Of course he would assume that Eric and I were still a thing. I sighed and thought about my reply.
No more eric, I wrote several minutes later, might just try more writing then hit bed.
No reply. I waited with my phone still in hand. I checked the time stamps on our last messages. I had taken about ten minutes to tell him Eric wasn't around anymore. He probably had given up waiting and gone to bed. I sighed, set the phone aside and picked the notepad up again. I had been staring at the scribbling, most of which had been crossed out, for a while, when, suddenly, I was shaken from my reveries by an incoming call. I jolted upright, grabbed the phone and stared at the screen. It was indeed Dean calling. Oh Hell! I took several calming breaths and picked up.
"Hey man, thought you'd be sleeping already." I said, a bloody grin on my face. I was glad Dean couldn't see it.
"Nah, well about to. Was in shower that's why it took me so long." He replied.
"Okay, I see. No worries." I grinned lightly, and yes, I did try to imagine Dean in the shower.
"So you still writing?"
"Yeah, no ... don't know, I suck at it lately. Bal talked up that guy who has a studio and is gonna let us use it, so we wanted more material, but I'm not coming up with anything lately," I told my caller.
"Aww, damn, that sucks. But hey, cool you get that studio. I bet it's gonna be great. You'll come up with new stuff, I'm sure." Dean tried to lift me up.
"Yeah? Well you better be right," I said with a wink even though Dean couldn't see that.
"Scout's honor. Well, listen, why I'm calling. I'm sorry about tonight, really long day, garage and flat hunting and contract negotiations ... Well, but, uh, I was thinking ... how about tomorrow? Go for a beer or so?" Dean asked.
"Uh." Was he asking me out? Was it just a guys go drinking? Damn ... better stay cool. "Sure, yeah ... yeah sounds cool."
"Half past six at the garage? Would that be okay?" Dean asked.
"I'll be there." I replied.
"Awesome, see you then, pal. Don't work too long."
"I'll try. See you tomorrow. Bye."
"Bye!"
