Hey! Sorry, again, for this being late. I just have had some bad days at work and personally and haven't felt like writing over the past week. But! Here's the next chapter. Thank you guys so much for your patience, reviews (Tari4078 and weedom), favs, and follows. You guys are the best!
Gabriel heard his alarm begin to blare, but it wasn't what had woken him up. No, what had woken him up was a text message from his younger brother asking him if he knew where Sam was almost four hours ago. He had told Castiel that he had no idea and he hadn't been able to get back to sleep since. Gabriel had thought about calling into work, but that would just make him seem like a coward. Plus, he would have to make lesson plans for the sub and it was just way too much extra work. Plus, he only had to see Sam for about forty-five minutes (well, if Sam had made it home or Dean hadn't killed him for being out so late). He could do that. He had to. He didn't have much of a choice. With a sigh, Gabriel pulled himself out of bed.
Maybe he would just…talk to Sam. After school. Maybe he'd just ask if he was doing alright. Obviously he's not. A voice in Gabriel's head said. He stayed out all night and didn't tell Dean where he was. Of course he's not doing alright, dumbass. Maybe he was just at Kevin's and forgot to tell Dean where he went. Mrs. Tran would've told Dean. You know that Dean would've called her, remember?...shut up… Gabriel pulled up to the school and parked in the teacher's lot. This would be fine. He's faced ex-boyfriends before. Yeah, but none that were your students and you had to interact with at all times. Just saying. Gabriel really hated that voice sometimes. He got out of his car and began walking when he heard somebody behind him.
"Gabriel!" Anna caught up to him and smiled. "Haven't talked with you in a while. How are you?"
"Oh, I've been better. How are you?"
"Not too bad. What's going on?"
"Nothing just, a rough day yesterday."
"What happened?" Gabriel sighed and figured that mostly telling her the truth would be okay.
"I broke up with somebody. Somebody that I really had hoped I could be with for a long time. I mean, I wasn't…actually yeah, I was pretty much in love with him and I…" Gabriel cleared his throat. "Sorry, that's probably more than you wanted to hear." Anna had gone quiet. "Just, wasn't really ready for it and one tiny thing blew up."
"If it was one tiny thing, why did you break up?" The two were through the doors and on their way to the teachers' offices.
"It um…you know, I just figured it would be easier for us. I mean, if one tiny thing broke us up, what would happen if something big came along?"
"Do you really think that or are you just trying to justify the breakup to yourself?" Gabriel smiled bitterly.
"Both I guess. He just..." The two were cut off by a group of students by the stairs of the auditorium laughing loudly. Normally, Gabriel just glanced over them. It was usually just a small group of seniors, one of them being Lucifer, but he didn't know the others. Gabriel cast a look to them as he passed and he almost had to stutter step. There was the brunette girl that was always there, but somebody new was draped around her. Somebody that not a week ago was in Gabriel's bed. Gabriel's heart sped up as it simultaneously broke.
"Good morning, Ms. Milton." The girl said with a large smile.
"Hello, Ruby." Anna smiled back.
"Hey, Mr. Novak, can't wait to start that Hemingway lesson later." Lucifer sneered. Sam didn't say anything. Actually, he didn't even look at Gabriel. He had his jaw set and he was staring at the stairs in front of him. He tightened his hold on the 'Ruby' girl.
"Emerson, Mr. Emortuus. Ralph Waldo Emerson."
"Oh that's right. My mistake."
"Well, I'm sure I'll see you in class. Lucifer, Sam," Gabriel nodded at each of them and then began to walk away. Anna was right on his heels.
"So, this guy you broke up with, do you think there's a chance you could make up?" Gabriel sighed and stopped just outside his office.
"No, I um…I think it's over. Thanks for the talk though. I'll see you at lunch." Gabriel gave her a tight lipped smile and Anna patted his arm.
"It'll be okay. I've got a friend that maybe…"
"I'm not really ready, but I'll let you know."
"Okay, well, see you later." Anna gave him a sympathetic smile and walked away. Gabriel locked himself in his office and decided he was going to do something stupid this weekend. He was going to make another trip to Manhattan.
Sam had Ruby up against her locker and pulled away as the ten-minute bell rang.
"Mmm…I reeeeeally need to go to class. My mom will kick my ass if I miss first period again."
"Okay, I'll see you later then."
"You sure will." Ruby winked, scooted away from Sam and began down the hallway.
"Dude, what the hell?" Kevin's voice was next to him. Sam looked at him and shrugged.
"I just, had some fun last night."
"Yeah, I know, I got a call from Dean around eleven asking where you were. Really? What about…?" Kevin looked around, making sure nobody was listening.
"He broke up with me yesterday, alright? So I decided to do something stupid and I ended up kissing Ruby and I liked it. Look, we can talk about this later, I need to get to class."
"Sam, just, don't do anything too stupid. You're going to show up for you shift tonight, right? It's you, me, and Garth closing, so we can talk."
"Yeah, sure. I'll be there around six."
"Okay, I'll um…see you later then."
"Bye, Kev." Sam walked towards the hallway to his English class. He had effectively ignored Gabriel this morning and he had tried to ignore the sound of his voice when he said his name. To Sam, it sounded sad, but he was probably just imagining things. Gabriel didn't miss him. He couldn't. Gabriel was the one that had ended things, so why should he be the one that's sad? Sam took a deep breath before walking in. He saw Jessica sitting in her seat, but he opted for the normally open desk next to Lucifer in the back. He ignored the hurt expression on Jessica's face.
"Is there anything worse than an English class early in the morning?" Lucifer asked, not even phased by Sam sitting next to him.
"I guess not?"
"You sure you're feeling alright?" Lucifer looked at Sam. "I mean, after my first time I was pretty messed up."
"I actually think I'm okay. I guess I can handle my stuff." Lucifer looked at Sam as the bell rang and Gabriel…Professor Novak…walked in.
"Good morning guys, so…" Gabriel glanced at the empty desk next to Jessica and stopped. Had Sam really not come? He took a quick glance around and saw Sam sitting next to Lucifer. So, this wasn't just about dating that…Ruby girl. Gabriel realized that he had been quite maybe a second too long. He cleared his throat to cover it up. "Today, I'm going to be assigning some reading. I'm going to explain what transcendentalism is and how Ralph Waldo Emerson and others like him began this theme in their writing. Then, I'm going to have you each pick a poem or an excerpt from one of his longer works, and analyze it for the homework." Gabriel fell into his routine of teaching. It was easier for him to just act like he wasn't completely falling apart inside.
Sam sat in the back of the classroom, trying to pay attention to the actual lesson. Lucifer kept trying to get Sam's attention, but Sam stayed focused for the most part. He knew he was imagining the extra looks that Gab…Professor Novak kept throwing his way. He knew that he was imagining the miserable look when he and Professor Novak actually had their eyes meet. He was happier that he had broken up with Sam, and that's what Sam wanted…wasn't it?
