"You know, Dean, you never let the good ones sleep in your bed." Balthazar commented as Dean dropped his keys into the bowl by the door.
"What do you mean?" He traipsed to the fridge, searching for a jug of orange juice. Barely a glass was left in the carton. Dean made a face.
Balthazar sipped his coffee. "All of your friends. If you even let them stay the night, you make them sleep on the couch."
"The guy from last night was actually a friend." Dean poured himself a glass of orange juice. "He was too drunk to drive."
Balthazar snorted laughter. "Could've fooled me, then."
Dean shot him a glare. "Are you going to the store later?"
"No, I have to balance some books at the shop." Balthazar shrugged. "You could always go."
"Yeah, yeah. I hate Walmart." Dean sat at the table with his blonde roommate. "I didn't even get laid last night." He growled, tilting the orange juice and watching the liquid slosh around in the cup.
"You could've, but you made him sleep on the couch." Balthazar teased.
Dean shot him a glare. "That guy was a friend."
"Right. A friend whose number you got when you took him home and made plans to meet on Friday." Balthazar checked his watch. "I'm gonna be late for work."
Dean rolled his eyes and opened his phone to scroll through Instagram and pointedly ignore Balthazar until he left.
Getting the guy's number was strictly so that Dean could meet Cas for drinks again… then they agreed to meet on Friday at Marbles to drink together after Castiel's show. Strictly friendly. As friends. Who were friends.
A text distracted Dean from his thoughts. It was from Sam's boyfriend. One of them.
GABRIEL SHURLEY: hey sam left his phone over at my place this morning can you come pick it up and give it to him
DEAN WINCHESTER: Sure, I'll be over in half an hour or so. Would it kill you to use a period now and then?
GABRIEL SHURLEY: keys in the aloe pot and periods are for pussies
Dean snorted and ugly laughed at that. Gabriel was by far the funniest of Sam's boyfriends, and Dean liked him more than Lucifer. What the hell kind of name was Lucifer, anyway? Dean was pretty sure the guy used his middle name on all of his lawyer things, because, seriously, who wants the Devil to advocate for them in a court of law?
He finished his orange juice and went to get dressed. Castiel had been appreciative of Dean not letting him drive intoxicated, and offered to pay him for the drinks and the gas. Dean had refused, it was the least he could do, really.
He started Baby for the second time that morning and realized that the radio was still tuned into the rock station that Cas had switched on the night before. Dean hummed along with the Metallica song playing as he drove downtown to Gabriel's condo.
Dean really couldn't say what Gabriel did for a living, but he made a crap ton of money doing it. Dean parked gingerly between a Rolls Royce and a Range Rover on the street in front of Gabriel's building. He went into the lobby and felt eyes on him from all sides. He didn't belong here, in his scuffed up leather jacket and washed out jeans. Dean was surprised that Sam could stand the scrutiny when he came over here.
The key was stashed snugly between a branch and the soil in a pot containing a large aloe plant. Dean let himself into Gabriel's condo and held his breath. The place was always capable of taking Dean's breath away. Everything in there screamed expensive taste, from the plush Persian rugs on the floor to the strange marble statues that were posed around the room. Sam's phone laid on a small table in front of the door, a note tucked beneath it with DEAN written on it in chicken scratch.
Dean picked up the note and unfolded it. In slightly more legible scratch, as if Gabriel had taken more time writing it, read:
Sam didn't leave his phone, I may have stolen it when he left. Luci asked me to let you know that he needs to talk with you, and also that Sam can't know about it. Luci and I will be at Uptown Cat at 7 tonight. Don't tell Sam.
Gabriel
Dean frowned. What secrets were being kept from his little brother? He stashed the note in his pocket and picked up Sam's phone. This whole relationship was too complicated for him.
Dean found himself in front of Lucifer's apartment door, halfway afraid to knock. He considered texting the blonde to let him know that Dean was outside, but decided against it. The Winchester rapped on the door and leaned back to wait.
A rushed minute later, Lucifer opened the door. His blonde hair stuck up at a few odd angles and a red flush painted his cheeks. His button up was wrinkled and he appeared to have skipped a button in his haste to put it on. He leaned against the doorframe, laughing breathlessly. "You scared the crap out of me."
Dean held up Sam's phone. "I'm not even gonna ask." He forced a smile and tried not to look at Lucifer's mussed up attire.
Lucifer reached out to take the phone from Dean. "I'll, uh, see you later?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah. Later sometime." Dean pulled the note slightly out of his pocket, enough for Lucifer to see it.
The blonde nodded. "Good. Want me to tell Sam to call you?"
"You look busy. He can text me later." Dean stepped back, his smile strained on his face. He wasn't stupid. "You know the drill."
Lucifer laughed again. "Hurt him and they'll never find my body."
"Damn right." Dean smiled.
Uptown Cat was on the fancier side of clubs, and by that, Dean meant that they only served alcohol with fruity names and all the chicks were stuck up. Overall, the place had a quiet atmosphere. It was more of a meeting place, and Dean was sure a questionably legal brothel was run out of the premises.
He recognized Gabriel and Lucifer, both dressed in their work suits, sitting at a table in the corner. Gabriel was shuffling a deck of cards and flipping a few of them over while the blonde watched.
Dean sometimes remembered that the two of them were technically related. They had both been in their twenties when their parents got married, so Dean guessed it wasn't too weird that Sam was dating a set of step brothers. Gabriel Shurley and Lucifer Milton were a terrifying pair to see at a table together, a businessman of some kind and a lawyer with a knack for finding loopholes in tax law. An IRS audit waiting to happen, Dean was sure.
He slid into the opposite side of the booth as Sam's boyfriends. "Hey."
Gabriel looked up. "See? I told you he could read."
"Shut up." Dean made a face.
Lucifer wrung his fingers together and laughed nervously. "He has a propensity to get stuck in traffic."
Dean shrugged. "7 o'clock on a Wednesday night shouldn't be as congested as it is on the road."
Gabriel offered Dean a fan of cards. "Pick a card."
Lucifer groaned and covered his mouth. "Someone taught him a card trick and he can't stop."
Dean shrugged and pulled a card from the deck. Queen of Hearts. "Nothing wrong with humoring him."
Gabriel took the card back and started to arrange the cards into six piles.
"So what's up?" Dean looked at the blonde, who was drumming his fingers on the table.
"I've been talking with Gabe, and with Sam, but more so Gabe because it's supposed to be a surprise to Sam." Lucifer's eyes flitted across Dean's face.
What had him all jumpy? "Pick three piles." Gabriel told Dean.
The Winchester pointed at three random piles and the brunette stacked up the cards to make more piles.
"About what?" Dean leaned closer.
Lucifer lightly bit his lip before continuing. "Well, I love your brother. A lot. And we may not have a normal relationship in the sense that…" Lucifer gestured to Gabriel, "well, you know."
"Pick four piles." Gabriel seemed oblivious to Lucifer's speech. Dean pointed to four stacks of cards and Gabriel cleared them away. He picked up the remaining two stacks and sorted them into three rows.
"And?" Dean felt like there was something he was missing here.
"Well, I know how important you are to Sam, and how much you love him, so, uh, I was just wondering…" Lucifer looked at the table.
"Spit it out, you weenie." Gabriel taunted, then turned to Dean. "Pick a row."
Dean looked between the two, frowning, then pointed at the top row of cards. Gabriel flicked away two cards from the left side of the row, left the middle two cards, then flicked away the rest. He flipped over the card on the left. Queen of Hearts. "This one's yours!" He smiled triumphantly.
Dean raised his eyebrows at that. "Nice." He looked back at Lucifer. "I believe he said to spit it out, weenie?"
Lucifer made a face at Gabriel. "I was wondering if I could have your permission to ask Sam to marry me." He set a small velvet box on the table and flipped it open. A simple silver band shone beneath the lights.
Dean blinked. What the hell? A million thoughts went through his head. Just how long had Sam been dating this guy? Dean had to resist the urge to count all seven months off on his fingers. The Winchester let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah, of course. Sam loves you, and I haven't had to murder you yet." Dean chuckled.
Lucifer cracked a smile and laughed. "You won't ever have to murder me." He bit his lip slightly and stashed the ring back in his pocket. "Call me crazy, but you look different."
Dean frowned. "Different?"
"Smilier." Gabriel nodded in agreement. "Did you meet someone last night?"
Shaking his head violently, Dean tried not to think about Cas. "No, actually, met the chick's boyfriend. Poor guy."
Lucifer laughed. "He did meet someone."
Gabriel put his cards back in their box. "So have Luci tell you his plan."
Dean was glad for the diversion. "What's the plan?"
"It's cheesy. You'll laugh." Lucifer shot Gabriel a glare and rubbed his neck, and Dean realized a blush was creeping up the blonde's skin.
"I love cheese." Dean looked around for a waitress. "We need some alcohol."
Lucifer crossed his arms. "Sam and I met in the fourth room on the left in the courthouse, arguing opposite sides of a case. I was the defense, for Gabe's company, and Sam was on the prosecution team. Los Angeles v. Shurley Entertainment, about Gabe using a park in a shoot without paying the owner."
Gabriel raised his eyebrows. "It was a public space to my knowledge."
"He ended up paying the fine." Lucifer chuckled. "Because Sam plays way too dirty."
Dean tightened his lips. "Please don't tell me anything about my little brother that I don't want to know." A waitress finally came by and took an order for their drinks.
"So," Lucifer looked at his hands as the waitress walked away. "I'm going to get Sam back in that courtroom, and let Gabe pretend to cross-examine me. And that's how I'm gonna do it." He blushed again. "It's dumb, I know, but Sam will love it."
Dean chuckled. "If I was into chick flicks, that would be adorable." Dean looked between the two men across from him and a nagging question formed in his mind. "Can I ask a stupid question?"
"They're the only ones you ask." Gabriel reached across the table and hit Dean lightly on the shoulder. "Go for it."
"Are all three of you guys gonna… you know…" Dean swallowed around the knot in his throat.
Lucifer looked at Gabriel and pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing.
"Nope." Gabriel popped the 'p' sound. "I'm more than happy to never let the government know about the people in my life."
Dean shrugged. "That's fair." He wished that they hadn't known that he was all a mess. He just felt bad for Castiel, okay? That's it. Friendly concern.