Gabriel burst into the library in a rush. He needed to be in the library. He had to be here. He needed to find him. Where the hell was-

"Castiel!" Gabriel called, eyes finally finding that trench coat draped over a chair.

Castiel looked up at him as he sat down next to his friend at the table.

"Okay," Gabriel said, "You have to explain to me what happened last night. You just randomly walked out, and then you were only half there for the rest of the night. How, Balth and Benny aren't here. What the hell happened?"

"I was just being weird. It happens," Castiel said. Gabriel gave Castiel a look. Something was definitely going on.

"I don't buy it," Gabriel said.

Castiel reached across the table and slowly ran his hands over Gabriel's shoulders. Gabriel felt his friend's fingers pause on the band-aid under his shirt. He hadn't had the time to wash the blood off this morning, so a large band-aid had been necessary. Gabriel froze, avoiding Castiel's gaze. He didn't want to talk about it.

"No, Castiel, we're not making this about me," Gabriel said.

"Why didn't you call me?" Castiel asked, "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it. I want to know what's going on with you."

"Well, I don't want to talk about that, so-"

"So, you show me yours, I'll show you mine?"

Castiel rolled his eyes and said, "Gabriel, why must you always-fine. I have kind of have feelings for someone, and I thought I saw him last night."

"Wait, you have feelings for someone? Who?" Gabriel asked. While he didn't spend every waking moment with the guy, Gabriel hadn't the faintest idea of when Castiel would've met someone, let alone developed feelings. When the hell did any of this happen? Why was he only finding out about these things now?

"No, Gabriel. It's your turn. What happened?" Castiel said.

Gabriel protested, "But you've got big news. I want to-"

"What happened?" Castiel asked again, motioning towards Gabriel's shoulders.

Gabriel sighed and said, "I had a bad morning."

"Yes, I gathered that. What specifically happened?" Castiel pressed.

"Who's the guy you're into?"

"I don't know his name."

"Liar."

"You're avoiding the question."

"Was he at the Roadhouse last night?"

"Gabriel."

Gabriel rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "My dad doesn't like me staying out late, and I don't like being home. I woke up to him kicking my door in," he said quickly, "After he stumbled out, Michael laid into me about coming home so late. I would've called you, but..."

"But what?" Castiel asked. Gabriel had been so upset, he'd barely been able to breathe. A phone call would've been completely out of the question.

"I couldn't call. I couldn't focus. Pain's the only thing that gets my head straight when I get like that," Gabriel said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"I understand," Castiel said.

"Of course you do," Gabriel said, "Because I'm a headcase, and my behavior makes so much sense."

Castiel said, "You're the psychology major. Does your behavior make sense to you?"

Gabriel laughed. That was partially why he'd started studying psychology in the first place. Despite the department's extensive warnings not to self-diagnose, he'd spent the majority of his time in college trying to do just that. But the knowledge that he had frequent anxiety attacks, exhibited self-harming behavior, and had strong feelings of self-loathing didn't exactly make him feel better. Just because he had labels didn't mean he felt any more stable or sane. All it meant was that he was in a shitty position at home and would probably develop PTSD if he ever got out of it. God, he just wanted to die.

"Anyway," Gabriel said, changing the subject, "Who's your new man?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Castiel rolled his eyes with an exasperated sigh.

"He's not my anything," Castiel said, "I've never said one word to the man. I don't know the first thing about him."

"That just makes him mysterious," Gabriel said with a purposely sultry tone.

Castiel blushed and muttered, "Shut up."

Gabriel burst out laughing just as someone approached the table. He sobered instantly when he saw who it was. "Kali," he said, "To what do we owe the honor?"

Kali glanced icily at Castiel before turning her burning gaze onto Gabriel. "I need to ask you for a favor," she said evenly.

Curiosity piqued, Gabriel asked, "What's going on?"

"My sister is getting married in April. I need a date for the wedding. My family doesn't know we broke up. I need you to come with me and pretend we're together," Kali said, not meeting Gabriel's gaze, "Please."

"You do realize April is only a month away," Gabriel said.

Kali stared at him and said, "Do not make me beg, Gabriel."

"I was only mentioning it since I've heard that RSVPs usually have to be sent in months in advance," Gabriel said.

Kali smiled bitterly. "Yes, I know. I gave my sister our RSVP when we were still together," she said, "I need you to help me with this."

Gabriel probably should've thought more about the awkward situation that would await him, but he'd made up his mind the moment she'd asked him for a favor. "Yeah, I'll go. Whatever you need," he said.

Kali almost smiled before saying, "Thank you. I'll text you the information." She quickly turned on her heel and walked away.

"That's Kali, your ex, right?" Castiel asked.

Gabriel nodded and put his head in his hands. What had he gotten himself into? He'd never met her family while they'd been together. This was going to be a nightmare. A very real nightmare.

Castiel said, "Gabriel, are you going to be okay going with her to-"

"Yes, I'll be fine. Even if I wasn't, I owe her much more than a fake date," Gabriel said, "So, you're saying that you don't know your mystery man's name, which I still don't believe in the slightest. Can I get a physical description at least?"

Castiel sighed. He said, "Okay, I know his name, but I know you. You'll figure out who it is, and you'll meddle. You'll try to set us up or get too involved in some way, but he has a girlfriend and doesn't know that I exist, so I'd really rather not tell you any more than necessary."

Well, that was fair.

Pretending to be affronted, Gabriel said, "You wound me, Castiel."

Before he could say anything else to weasel out information, Gabriel's phone rang. It was Michael.

"We're not done with this conversation," Gabriel said, making pointed eye contact with Castiel.

Gabriel answered his phone.

"Gabriel," Michael said, "Dad's in the hospital."

Gabriel's heart leaped into his throat, but if it were out of apprehension or happiness, he wasn't sure. "What'd he do?" he asked.

The line crackled, and Gabriel remembered where he was. The library had absolute shit for cell phone reception. He stood up and said, "Hang on. I need to find signal."

Gabriel looked at Castiel and tried to ignore the concerned look on his friend's face. "I'll be right back. Better service in the bathroom," Gabriel said.

Castiel nodded and returned to reading whatever he'd been reading before Gabriel had interrupted him. Gabriel took his phone to the bathroom and leaned against the wall in the right spot. Thank goodness he worked here and knew the little tricks like this.

"Okay," Gabriel said, "What happened to Dad?"

Michael said, "He broke his leg."

"How the fuck did he manage that?" Gabriel asked.

Michael sighed and said, "He was very drunk when he came home, and he fell down the stairs. He's going to need a cast, but they're waiting for him to sober up before giving him anything."

"Okay," Gabriel said, "Thanks for the head's up."

"This isn't a head's up. I need you here," Michael said.

Gabriel chuckled. Stay and find out who Castiel had a hard on for or go and babysit his shit-stain of a father. Hmm. It was a tough call.

"Yeah, I'm not coming. I'm sure you can handle this," Gabriel said.

Michael sighed, frustrated, and said, "You should be here, Gabriel. This is a family emergency."

"I'm at school," Gabriel said, "I have more important things to do than deal with Dad's drama."

"Gabriel, this isn't funny. This is Dad we're talking about," Michael snapped.

Gabriel said, "I swear, it's like talking to a brick wall. I'm. Not. Coming." He hung up his phone and pocketed it.

The silence of the bathroom felt kind of liberating. Sure, he hated leaving his brothers at the hands of his father, but his dad was incapacitated. And it felt good saying no for a change. Gabriel would've been lying if he said he wasn't a little excited to have his dad be stationary for a few weeks. It might actually be peaceful in his house for a bit. Gabriel's heart flipped at the thought.

Before he could celebrate, though, he needed to share the good news.

Gabriel headed out of the bathroom just as a tall guy in a leather jacket shoved past him roughly and slammed into a stall. What a dick. Gabriel hoped that guy really had the shits if he couldn't bother to look where he was fucking going for five seconds. It wasn't enough to ruin his lightened mood, though.

Gabriel left the bathroom and headed back over to Castiel. His dad would be in a cast. He kind of felt like writing a song about it. More pressing, however, was Castiel. He'd figure out who Castiel was crushing on if it killed him.