Not too terribly long, but rather fluffy. I need some fluff, considering I depressed the fuck out of myself with "Clipped Wings" and "Shockwaves." (I remembered why I never wanted to write Balcifer in canon. There's no way you're going to end with something other than depression.)
Speaking of depression, the next chapter gets really bad. Just...brace yourselves.
For Mems, who gripped me tight and raised me from Perdition. For Nikki, who adores Sabriel.
Gabriel woke up early the next morning. Golden sunlight streamed in through the window, drenching the whole room in a heavenly glow. For a few long moments, he lazily ran his fingers over Sam's arm, still slung across his body. He felt himself smiling for no real reason other than the fact that Sam was still there, that last night had actually happened. There was a strange sort of comfort in feeling Sam's body pressed against his, holding him tightly and almost protectively. They breathed in tandem and Gabriel could feel Sam's heart beating against his back and feel the pulse point in his wrist. He felt connected to Sam, as crazy as it seemed, and he liked that feeling. The whole moment was utterly divine.
He wasn't quite sure how much more time passed but it couldn't have been more than ten or fifteen minutes before Sam shifted behind him, slowly waking up. "Hey. You awake?" Sam asked softly. He seemed to be genuinely unsure of the state of Gabriel's consciousness and unwilling to wake him up if he wasn't already alert. The writer smiled to himself.
"Yeah, I'm up. Morning," he added, turning his head a bit to catch Sam's eye. His smile widened as those beautiful hazel eyes of his reflected back the golden light. "Hungry? I can make pancakes."
Sam gave him a funny look for a moment before finally returning Gabriel's smile. "Yeah, that sounds good, actually. I mean, I'm probably not going to eat very many, but—"
"Don't worry, Sam. I do have healthy food in the fridge, too." He poked at Sam's not-at-all-pudgy stomach. "Blueberries?"
Sam actually laughed at that. "Yeah. Yeah, sure." He gently reached out and petted Gabriel's hair, brushing the now-unruly waves away from his face. "Since you're going to be making pancakes, do you mind if I take a quick shower? I may not have time before work," he added quickly.
"Of course. Bathroom's over there." Gabriel pointed toward the far wall, near the window, where the door to the bathroom was closed. He stretched out as he felt the bed shift under Sam's weight moving to the edge and off. As soon as the door closed—and locked, he noted with a small amount of dissatisfaction; it's not like he planned on insinuating himself into Sam's shower or anything—he rolled off the bed and pulled on the first clean pair of boxers he could find. Now suitably dressed for a Sunday morning, he dug through Sam's jeans pockets, hunting for the taller man's phone. He huffed in annoyance when he couldn't find it and looked around.
As if on cue, he heard a faint buzzing from the other side of the bed, the side that Sam had slept on. More specifically, it sounded like it was coming from the nightstand, so Gabriel slunk over and found Sam's phone protesting its dying battery. It looked like Gabriel's charger would fit his phone, though, so he unplugged his phone—which had a ninety-percent charge—and plugged in Sam's. He quickly added his name and number to Sam's contact list and sent a text message to his own phone so he'd have Sam's number. As soon as he heard his own phone buzz, he set down Sam's, picked up his, and went to the kitchen.
By the time he was flipping over the pancakes, Sam was wandering into the kitchen as well, now fully dressed. He looked much more awake than he had twenty minutes ago. He also looked very awkward, standing in the middle of the kitchen. It wasn't very big to begin with, but he seemed to take up half the space. It made Gabriel grin. "Did you plug in my phone?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. It was making all sorts of annoying sounds. I couldn't take it anymore." He smirked and pointed with the spatula toward the table. "Can you bring the plates over here?"
As Sam set the plates on the counter next to the stove, he pressed a quick kiss to Gabriel's hair. The shorter man's smile became more genuine for a moment. "Aw, Sammy, you sure know how to show a girl a good time."
Sam answered with a deep laugh and ran his fingers through the golden locks. "Need me to do anything else? Get some orange juice or milk?"
"You can have whatever you see in there. Get me a Pepsi Maxx." When Sam stared at him for a minute, Gabriel raised an eyebrow and smirked a little more. "Oh, you think I'm joking again. That's cute. No, Sam, I'm being serious. In fact, I don't think I've ever been more serious in my life."
Sam laughed again.
He had to leave right after they were finished with breakfast. It was a bit awkward when he left, neither of them sure what to say, so they settled for a clumsy hug (mostly due to the height difference) and hasty goodbyes. As soon as the door closed behind Sam, Gabriel let out a nervous laugh and went to check the messages on his phone.
Aside from two from Castiel, there was a third sent around an hour before. It wasn't a ten-digit number. It was a contact saved as Sam W.
Gabriel grinned, feeling his heart lighten considerably. So. Sam had hijacked his phone the night before. He thought he'd felt the bed shifting sometime around two. It appeared Sam had a bit of a trickster in him, too.
When he dropped by Roché's office the next morning, it was much more cheerfully than a few weeks before. He'd been idly texting back and forth with Sam for the past few hours, which contributed to his lifted mood, but he knew Roché would appreciate the other piece of news he had. Namely, he had started writing again. He wasn't quite sure why, but he'd been slammed with the sudden, overwhelming impulse to write yesterday afternoon, and before he knew it, he had two thousand words added to his word count. It wasn't much—barely half a chapter—but it was enough. It was more than he'd written in weeks, and it filled him with satisfaction.
The taller blonde set his cell phone down as Gabriel entered his office. "Ah, good to see you. I had actually been wondering if you were even going to show up today." Though his words sounded harsh, there was a smile on the agent's face. "Didn't hear from you after Saturday night, you see."
Gabriel shrugged, grinning. "I was busy. By the way, that joke about Lu—that was funny. I got a good laugh out of that."
Roché's eyebrows knitted together in puzzlement for a moment. "What joke?" His phone trilled annoyingly on his desk but he ignored it.
"When you said you were about to sleep with him. I mean, he used to be like that, but I know for a fact he's only doing couples now. At least, that was the case on Friday night."
"I wasn't joking. I was being quite serious. You can ask him yourself if you want." If he was bothered by the revelation of Lu's activities the night before they met, he didn't show it. "You almost seem opposed to the idea."
The perpetual smirk slid off Gabriel's face. "Well, it's a little weird. You know, you're my agent and he's my friend. Isn't that like a conflict of interests or something?"
"Hardly. It's not like I'm shagging you. That would most definitely be a conflict of interests." He leaned back in his seat, checked his phone, sent a quick text, and set his phone back down. "Anything else, or are we simply discussing my sex life?"
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Actually, I did have something to tell you that I think you'll find… Well, it's good news."
"Don't tell me. You got laid this weekend."
Gabriel scoffed, grinning. "Okay, yes, that did happen. But that wasn't what I was talking about. The news is that I'm writing again."
"Good! See? Didn't I tell you? All you needed was a good fucking."
The writer pitched a Jolly Rancher at Roché's head. It bounced off his forehead and landed on the desk, leaving a red welt, but it just made Roché laugh. "I'm horrified you even said that," Gabriel joked. "And I really don't think it had anything to do with it."
"Ah, so the sex wasn't that good?"
Gabriel rolled his eyes again. "It was, but that's not the point. Why is everything about sex with you?"
"Excuse me? I'm not the one who barged in here and started going on about how I couldn't possibly have fucked Lu. No, that was all you." Roché leaned forward, settling his forearms on the desk and lacing his fingers together. "Alright, Speight. So you've started writing again. That's brilliant. How much?"
He shrugged. "Not much, but it's a start. More than I've written since Kali dumped me."
"Alright. Not great, but baby steps, I suppose. Any idea when I can expect an update?"
Gabriel thought it over, tilting his head to the side and looking up as he closed one eye. It was a very peculiar expression. "Well, assuming I'm keeping up at my current pace, probably by the end of the week."
"Good. Brilliant. I'll take that. As you said, it's a start. Certainly it's better than nothing at all." He picked the Jolly Rancher up off his desk, unwrapped it, and popped it in his mouth. "Whatever it is that brought this on, by all means, carry on. I mean, you certainly look happier, anyway."
The shorter blonde nodded. "I feel happier. It could be too early to tell, but I think I'll be okay."
"Of course you will. I never doubted it for a moment." Roché's phone chirped again and after he responded to the new text message, he looked back at Gabriel. "You're still here? I thought you had something to do. Go write, you prat!" he yelled good-naturedly, sending Gabriel jumping up and scurrying toward the door.
To keep him from feeling like he'd gotten off easy, he dug another Jolly Rancher out of his pocket and threw that one at Roché as well. This one pelted his cheek before Gabriel vanished with a mad cackle.
On the way back to his apartment, he casually texted Sam and asked him what time he had to work the next day. They hadn't seen each other since he left the day before—which was understandable, since it had only been about twenty-four hours—but he knew he wanted to see Sam again. Sam made him smile again, and he'd made Sam smile quite a bit. I don't work tomorrow. Day off. I'll probably be sleeping fairly late, though. Why?
Gabriel smiled. Just wondering if you wanted to go out for coffee or something. He contemplated adding I understand if you're busy, though, and then decided against it. Passive-aggressive wasn't really his style. Yes, maybe it was a little forward to ask him out again so soon after their first… well, it wasn't really a date, but first meeting. And maybe he was rushing things by starting something so soon after Kali had dumped him. It's not like this is serious. We make each other laugh. I just need some comfort, that's all. I'm not asking him to go steady or anything. He knew what he wanted and he wasn't going to apologize for it.
In the end, he sent the text as it was. When the reply came, Sam's message said, Sure :) Around eleven okay?
Gabriel's smile widened as he unlocked his door. Yeah, sounds great. I should be able to drag my lazy ass out of bed in time. Ever heard of the Tipsy Crow?
That's at Fifth and Broadway, right?
That's the one. I'm guessing you've seen it.
Yeah, once or twice on patrol. And by that, I mean, I'm staring at it right now.
Gabriel couldn't resist giggling. Is that too far from your place?
Nope, it's great. I'll see you at eleven then.
Yep. See you tomorrow, Sam. Gabriel set his phone down and woke his laptop up. He felt that familiar burn to write again, and who was he to resist the call of his returning Muse?
The Tipsy Crow is a bar in San Diego. I totally stole it and turned it into a coffee shop in New York.