Sam had been in Stanford exactly three months, and he was already loving it. No hunting, no worrying about getting his head bashed in, and no more Dean hovering over him like some mother hen who loved to bitch.

John might not have been an abusive father, but he was still one paranoid son of a bitch and half the reason he took off was to get away from him. He loved Dean, but John Winchester was a very difficult man to live with, especially after he had a few.

And now it was his least favorite holiday...Halloween. When you hunted down the real ghosts and demons, dressing up as one really lost it's luster after the second ghost tried to kill you while you salted and burned their bones.

Scanning the bar, he found the sole person who wasn't in costume and sat next to him. Like Sam, this guy looked like he really hated the holiday.

"One beer," said Sam.

"Coming up."

"Not in costume. What happened, didn't find one you liked?" asked the guy. He had a distinct British accent.

"I hate Halloween. I really don't like the idea of pretending to be something I'm not, especially the supernatural," said Sam flatly.

"You hate the supernatural?"

"I don't hate it, but I'm distinctly wary of it. Sam," he said, holding out his hand.

"Evan. Fellow paranoid bastard of the supernatural, despite being practically steeped in the shit while I was in school," said the Brit.

"Hard to like the idea of ghosts when one's trying to bash your head in," agreed Sam.

"Or when a werewolf thinks it's funny to dump water on you for not waking up fast enough," said Evan.

The two wandered over to a free table and discussed the various crap they had dealt with. Sam found it fascinating that Evan had an uncle who was a known werewolf and wasn't afraid of him, and that he had a poltergeist in his school. He looked distinctly irritated when Sam mentioned salt had an effect on things like that.

"Would've made dealing with that damn Peeves easier," muttered Evan.

"So why do you hate Halloween?"

"Long story short a warlock got it into his head that only the 'pure' lines of all witches could live, so he targeted my family after a drunken seer made a prophecy. Next thing I know my parents are dead and I'm living with this horse faced bitch that claimed to be related to me. I finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to come to America for vacation. I hate Halloween because that was the night my parents were murdered."

"Sorry for asking," said Sam.

"It's alright. I was still in diapers when it happened. So why do you hate the supernatural?"

"My dad and brother are hunters, but I never enjoyed it that much."

"Hunters? As in those idiots who jump into danger trying to keep the more obvious creatures that attack civilians?" said Evan, both eyebrows going up in honest surprise.

Sam nodded miserably. He was so buzzed that he would have trouble retaining half of this night.

"Damn. That's a thankless job. Either people don't believe you, or they think you're insane for being there."

Sam and Evan commiserated in the nightmare that had been their life, happy to have encountered another soul who hated the holiday as much as they did.

It wasn't until morning and with a rather nasty hangover that they realized they had been so drunk that they had ended up in bed together.

Sam was embarrassed, but Evan took it in stride, pretending to ignore the fact that they had been covered in something he didn't want to know the name of while he rummaged through his potions stock for some hangover remedy.

"I don't know what happened..." said Sam, wincing.

"I've learned never to ask questions about stuff like this. We were too drunk to realize what happened, and frankly at this point I'm just glad that men can't get pregnant," said Evan dryly.

Sam blushed heavily, but admitted his point. Evan handed him a hangover remedy and he knocked it back...before grimacing at the taste.

"Yeah, not the best of remedies. I think it's supposed to encourage you to not get drunk off yer ass," said Evan dryly.

"I think that might be true," said Sam. Evan handed him something to wash the taste out.

"So..."

"Relax. While I admit that was a more fun way to spend Halloween I'm not about to declare my undying love or anything. That was just a fun one-off. I'll be in the US for another month, so we can decide if we want to hang out again or something later," said Evan, stirring up something that wouldn't turn their stomachs.

For the next week, Sam kept half an eye out for the odd Evan, who, true to his word, did stick around for a while. Once they finally had time to talk without alcohol, Sam found his sarcastic wit rather funny. The fact Evan knew of the same things he did, but wasn't a hunter also endeared him to Sam.

Then he found out why. Evan was a witch...or, apparently a wizard. Sam had no idea that there was an entire society of nonviolent magical people who did their best to avoid attracting the Hunter's radar.

Sam, when Evan let him go on a potions run, found out that by magical standards he qualified as a hedge witch at best, or a squib if one of the British idiots were there.

In an effort to separate himself from hunting as much as possible, Sam managed to convince Evan to teach him spells.

By the time Evan moved to America and started the same college Sam was at, Sam could cast what Evan called 'third-year' spells easily enough...though he got tired quickly.

"Morning Sam," said Evan, yawning as he made breakfast. Sam learned the hard way that his roommate/boyfriend was not a morning person if given a choice.

Sam had decided to date Evan for real when he realized that the odds of finding a girl who would understand his half of the relationship (I/E a partially retired Hunter) were next to nill, let alone finding one who could help him research new defenses. Just because he didn't want to hunt didn't mean they weren't going to be paranoid sons of bitches.

However, because there were some anti-gay people on campus they covered up their relationship by keeping a separate room for Evan that always looked a bit messed up and lived in and claimed room mate status. It didn't hurt that Evan occasionally did sleep in there just to insure that no one figured it out.

"What's on the class schedule for today?"

"Latin, that weird Shakespeare class where you TA since you are British and can do the best voices, Mythos of Ancient Cultures and of course your favorite class...calculus."

"I hate Calculus," said Evan.

Sam smirked.

"I know."

Math was the bane of Evan's existence. Give him some random mythology trivia and he could narrow down which society and period it came from and who the main gods were in it. Ask him to translate some Latin, and he could do it in ten minutes or less.

Ask him to balance his own checkbook and you would hear him cursing from five doors down the hall while he tried and failed to do it.

So in exchange for homework help and helping pay half the rent, Sam balanced their checkbooks while Evan did the cooking and most of the cleaning.

"Which means you have English Lit, that weird law class you insisted on taking, Latin, and of course your favorite class, potions!"

Sam grimaced. He liked potions about as much as he enjoyed taking them. He was just glad that Evan hired a proper tutor for them both, instead of this 'Snape' character Evan had to deal with for years before he got changed to the Defense teacher. Evan had rekindled his love for potions while Sam learned the basics.

Still, this was more fun than learning how to exorcise a ghost while it was trying to kill you.

Sam looked at his boyfriend, who had been sneaking around the magical alleys the next town over for the past month. All he knew was that Evan had something special planned and he wanted it ready for Sam's birthday. Supposedly it would take another month, and Halloween (still their least favorite holiday) was right around the corner.

Sam pulled Evan close to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. The two had become a lot more affectionate in private once they both realized that the other really was in for the long haul.

From what little Sam had gotten out of Evan about his past, his life had been rougher than even his since his mother was killed by the demon. Sam at least had Dean to protect him from the worst of it, Evan had no one. So if his boyfriend happened to be a bit of a cuddle monster at night, Sam said nothing and helped him remain asleep through some rather nasty nightmares.

Sam was well aware his boyfriend had PTSD, and Dean had talked him through what to do if their Dad started to show the more dangerous signs of it. After so many years of hunting, it was inevitable for a Hunter to develop at least the first signs of depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. So Sam did exactly as Dean had told him years ago when he was sixteen.

If it wasn't for the fact that he kept waking Sam up in the middle of the night with his bad memories, he likely wouldn't have gotten as much as he had in so short a time.

"So, any requests for turning 22?" asked Evan.

"Aside from copious amounts of alcohol and a party that I just know Jessica is planning?" asked Sam dryly.

Jessica was a girl who believed their cover story that they were just roommates and hoped to make Sam her next boyfriend. Sam and Evan were both bi, but just because they had an equal interest in girls as they did guys never meant that they looked.

Evan rolled his eyes. Jessica was nice, but he could tell that she thrived on normality and wouldn't last two seconds if a demon showed up.

"Thanks for reminding me about that. Happy early birthday Sammy. Had this enchanted specially for hunters in mind. You ever start talking to that 'man-whore' brother of yours and I might commission one for him too," said Evan.

Sam opened the box Evan had tossed him. He gasped in open surprise.

It was a dream catcher. Made of actual gold and silver from what he could tell.

"That right there was a real bitch to have enchanted. Had to enlarge it to have the inscriptions etched in without having it messed up. It's got Latin, Enochian, and since I am such a huge fan of Loki, some Norse runes on it. Guaranteed to prevent possessions from anything up to ghosts all the way up to demons. According to folklore angels have to actually ask for permission first, so it doesn't cover those. And it's got a charm to wake you up in case of nightmares. Made of silver to purify, white gold because it was easier to enchant, and has ground up unicorn horns inside the runes. And to top it all off, those feathers are actually gilded angel feathers, guaranteed to alert you in event of demons being around," said Evan.

"How do you know they belong to an angel?" asked Sam. Though he did wonder why Evan didn't have one made for himself as well.

Evan grinned.

"Apparently the Arch Angel Gabriel really, really sucks at poker. So much so that he bet a few of his feathers and I happen to have enough pull with the goblins that they were happy to float me a few for a metal dream catcher necklace."

Sam snorted at that. Happy was definitely not the word he would use...he had seen the look on the goblin's faces when Evan showed up to help set up a magical account (complete with ten thousand galleons from his own account that he gave to Sam for their one year anniversary)...they weren't scared of Evan, they were downright terrified of him for some reason.

"I hope you at least paid for them..." he said.

"I trusted them to actually get it right, and in exchange I took a few of my favors off and gave them equal value for most of the materials. They had no complaints," said Evan flatly, before he showed off his own necklace.

"I know you Evan. What else is on here?"

"A basic Occulmency shield, a holy barrier which can keep out all but the strongest demons from getting in once you figure out the passcode, a spell that will alert you in event of poisons...that necklace is coated in ground up bezoars by-the-way...and of course a two-way spell that would connect us in our heads via telepathy. The two pass phrases have to be said by both of us, and they are easy to remember."

"What's the pass phrase?" asked Sam curious. That communication spell sounded very useful, and would be easier than a telephone.

"I have to start it off for the best range, but it goes like this... If we shadows have offended..."

"Think but this and all is mended," continued Sam without realizing it.

"That we have but slumbered here," said Evan grinning.

"While these visions did appear... What the hell?!" yelped Sam when he got the full range of what Evan had on his mind.

"And that's how the connection is set up. I specifically had them set it to those lines from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream because they're something you would remember off hand and would complete without realizing it."

Sam suddenly realized that the spell was doing too good a job...and judging by the grin on Evan's face he was counting on it. He grabbed his boyfriend and gave him a long kiss.

"Right...how long until this particular spell wears off?"

"Not until the last part is said."

"Which is?"

"I'll tell you later," said Evan grinning evilly.

"This thing work even if it's not on my neck?" asked Sam.

"Of course. It's just the right length that you can double or triple loop the chain around your wrist. So long as you wear it, the amulet will protect you."

"Good. I love you Evan," said Sam.

"Love you too...I still say there has to be some giants blood in you to get you so damn big," said Evan playfully.

"Sure...midget."

"I'm not a midget! I'm extra petite!" said Evan laughing as Sam tickled him. He knew all of Evan's weak spots by now, and his boyfriend was very, very ticklish. And Sam exploited them ruthlessly.

Evan grinned as he aimed a basic locking spell on the door. Jessica was going to come over and he didn't want to scare her off by having her learn they were actually in a relationship.

Finally after his second shower for the day, Evan gave him the two words to end the telepathic contact spell.

"Mischief Managed."