By the time Sam got to Gabriel's, the streetlights had turned on, and the sun had set. As he walked up the street, he saw a car pulling away at speed, brakes screeching through the early night. As he drew closer, he saw Gabriel standing on the driveway.

"Gabe?"
"Sam? What..? You know what, whatever, I need a beer." Gabriel retreated into the house, apparently not noticing the two sets of eyes peering from under an upstairs curtain. Sam waved and put his finger to his lips, and the two small faces nodded. Sam followed Gabriel.

"So… you want to tell me what that was?"

"Bitch. Psycho, crazy… hate-filled… I mean, I thought I loved her, she loved me, but she had that in her, that… how can you, I mean, anyone… DO you want a beer or not?" Gabriel brandished a couple of bottles from the fridge, and Sam nodded mutely. Gabriel opened them by knocking the top against the counter, and Sam was more than a little worried he was just going to break the neck off the bottle and drink through the shattered glass.

"I take it you and Kali had an argument?"

"Shrewd," Gabriel spat, glaring at him as he handed over the beer. "I told her about what happened. You know… with us."

Sam blanched.

"Oh, God… Gabriel, I'm so… so sorry, I know…"

"Calm down, blockhead, it wasn't the cheating that did it. We've been together a long time, indiscretions like that are things she and I have both forgiven in the past."

"Seriously?"

"It was insane. I told her, I said, Kali, honey, I love you and I always will, but, I don't know how it happened, and I've ended up being intimate with someone else. And she said how much, so I told her, hand job and a blow job. And a kiss. She said she understood that these things happen, and as long as I promised that 'this other person' didn't mean as much to me as she did, she could forgive it. And I said 'of course he doesn't, Kali, babe, or not in the same way'. And then she went all quiet and starey. I thought she was having a coronary. I go, 'honey, are you ok' and she says 'what do you mean, "he"?' Looking at me like I was a ghost."

Sam's stomach turned to ice. Gabriel was staring at air, like he was still processing what was happening.

"What then?"

"I said yeah, honey, He. She tells me I'm not gay." He laughed. "I said no, babe, I'm bi. Remember?" She tells me I'm not. Says I can't be. Says I never told her that, and asks how I could lie to her. I tell her I made it damn clear, never hid it, if she hadn't picked up on it, hadn't listened to me, that's her fault. Then she gets all freaky, starts in on the "how did they let you have kids, you can't look after them"… condescending, homophobic bullshit, and starts throwing shit around. Then she just up and leaves, screaming something about 'real men'." Gabriel sounded angry, but Sam wasn't fooled. There was a tremor in his voice, something that underlined it with sadness. Fear. Confusion. He sounded tired, lost and betrayed.

"You ok?"

"No. No, I'm not ok."

Sam mentally kicked himself. Ask a stupid question…

"Who does that?" Gabriel looked at Sam now, for the first time. "Who throws away years of happiness over something so utterly pathetic? She could forgive me for schtupping some woman, but pleasuring another guy is… is…"

"Inconceivable?" Sam suggested, earning himself another glare.

"I was trying to avoid the biology puns, but, yeah."

Sam honestly had no idea what to say. He tapped his fingernails against the side of the beer bottle, before clearing his throat.

"I could… go, if that… if you want?"

"No… no, just… I don't know what I'd do on my own. Hang around for a little while."

"Ok."

It took Sam a moment to recognise the huffing, swallowing sound Gabriel was making. Wrapping his arms around the guy he'd come to know as his trainer, Sam held him tight and looked away so he couldn't see the tears form on Gabriel's cheeks.

"How about we put on a movie or something?"

Gabriel nodded. They both knew they wouldn't be watching it, but anything to override the hurtful words that still hung in the air.

(-*-)

Somehow, between the fourth dvd and the seventh beer, Sam must have fallen asleep, because he woke up the next morning on Gabriel's couch, with the intense sensation of being watched.

"Is uncle Gabe ok?"

"Uh… morning, Audrey."

The little girl stared at him from underneath her dark ringlets, a cautious frown plucking at her lips.

"He's making us toast for breakfast." Audrey stared hard at Sam. "He never makes toast."

"I'm still working on it," Sam promised. "See? Here I go, right now." Sam stood up (feeling his back constrict into something roughly the shape of a slinky) and moved into the kitchen. There, he found Gabriel looking like something the cat had dragged in, snarfed down, hacked up and hidden under the couch for three months. "Hey… need some help?"

Gabriel laughed bitterly, "that's what the courts keep telling me."

"I can take over breakfast, if you want to… have a shower, or… sleep."

"Nu-uh. Got stuff to do. My own stupid fault for staying up so late. Coffee?"

"I'll make it."

"No, I can…"

"Gabriel. You are hungover, tired and emotionally crapped on. I will make your coffee and make your kids toast. Either shower, or go to sleep, because I swear to god you look like a walking horror movie."

"You sure you'll be ok? They…"

"I'll be fine. Go."

Gabriel looked reluctant, "you had just as much of a restless night as me. What makes you think you're more capable of fending off the hangover than me?"

"Being about ten years younger than you."

"Dick. You are two years younger than me, and I don't want to hear anything to the contrary," Gabriel snapped, but patted Sam on the arm as he left the kitchen and padded upstairs. Sam turned his attention to coffee and toast, and before long he was joined by a smaller presence. Audrey stared up at him from the doorway.

"You're working on it?"

"I'm working on it. What do you and Jesse want for breakfast?"