Title: Too Close to the Ground

Author:sarahlizzie

Rating: PG-13 (NC-17 later)

Pairing: Sam/Gabriel

Spoilers: Passing references to episodes up to 5.19, but not spoilery

Word Count: ~1400 (this chapter)

Summary: In 1983, Gabriel the Archangel fell, and lived a life among the humans, not knowing anything of his true identity. When he's sixteen, he meets Sam Winchester, a boy who will change his life forever.

Because in Gabriel's mind, matter is split into hadrons and lollipops and studying was destined to fail as soon as it began…

Sam looked up at Gabriel's house.

He checked his arm again - sure enough, 2010 West Lane was indeed the house he was looking at. It just…didn't seem like Gabriel's house.

He hadn't pegged him as being one of those well-off kids with the gigantic blue-shuttered houses and the white picket fences…and yet here he stood, in front of 2010 West Lane, down the road from the swimming pool.

Well.

Sam tentatively pushed open the front gate with a resounding creak and walked up the front path, still hardly at ease. These kinds of houses always freaked him out - he knew from personal experience that the haunted houses are always the über-creepy unsuspecting ones. And if Dean was here, he would chime in about now and say some quip about Sam watching too much 'Desperate Housewives', but…who knew what went on behind these walls?

He pressed firmly on the doorbell, and heard its chime resound through the house. Almost as soon as he did so he heard the shrill yaps of what was unmistakably a small dog from behind the door, sharp and insistent and so annoying.

Soon enough the door opened, revealing a grinning Gabriel.

"Sammy! You made it!"

He was about to retort and tell him not to call him that, but he found that when Gabriel did, he didn't mind.

"Come on in…" Sam came in the door, was daunted by the large hallway. The house was very clean and looked big from the white walls and pale floorboards. Sam stuffed his hands in his pockets, as was his habit when he was uncomfortable or shy.

"Hey…Sam. Unclench. Kick off your shoes; stay a while." Gabriel laughed, bending down to pick up the dog that had been yapping at Sam's feet. Sam smiled and scratched the dog's head, and he could swear it looked genuinely happy.

"Could you eat?" he asked Sam. "I could eat." Sam, still smiling and still a little stumped at his gigantic house, followed Gabriel into the kitchen. "See if my mom has bought me anymore of my drugs."

Sam cocked an eyebrow as he watched Gabriel open a cupboard and pull out a new box of frosted blueberry pop tarts victoriously.

"Yes!" Gabriel ripped open a pack and immediately tucked into a tart, not even bothering to toast it. "Want one, Sam?"

"I'm cool. I just ate."

"Alrighty then. Well do you want a drink? We have soda."

"Yeah, okay."

"Orange Slice? Sorry it's Diet."

Gabriel opened up the fridge door, tossing Sam an ice cold can.

"Thanks."

"Oh no, no, no…" Gabriel replied, pointing at Sam in a comical way and making him smile. "Thank you."

Sam grinned as he followed Gabriel out of the kitchen and up the stairs. "Why?"

"You, my friend, are the guest of honor. Believe me, my mom's gonna be all over you when she finds out you're the one who's tutoring me." He turned a corner once he reached the top of the stairs, walking into what Sam could only assume was his bedroom.

"So…let's review. Matter is split into…?"

"Hadrons…and…um?"

"Llll…"

"Lllll….lollipops."

"Leptons."

"I knew that."

"Okay…" Sam muttered, slamming the physics book shut. "Let's move on to something else." He leafed through the untidy pile of Gabriel's notes. "What classes are you taking again?" he asked, not being able to find the report card they'd looked at earlier.

"Um…art, but I'm getting an A in that, so it's cool…And I'm taking this AP Philosohpy class which is kind of awesome, especially seeing as I'm acing that too…and…"

"Philosophy? Sounds interesting."

"Oh, yeah...it is." Gabriel stopped his leafing and turned to face Sam. He sat cross-legged, his face eager. "I know I sound like such a dork, but you know...I love to argue. Like, 'is this chair really here, or are we just brains on a bench?' 'Are we living in the Matrix? Is it all an illusion?'" Gabriel laughed. "Fascinating stuff, I'll tell ya."

Sam smiled. "Right, so…is the universe like a watch?"

"Yes," Gabriel said, straightening his back and acting like some sort of professor. "It's very intricate and it looks like someone designed it. It is not an accident."

They both laughed now. "That is, unless…" Gabriel lifted a finger intellectually. "There are billions of universes, in which case it stands to reason that one of them would have turned out like this one."

"Sounds like you're having a lot of fun in that class."

"Dude," Gabriel said, picking up his soda and taking a long swig. "Tell you what, do the classes you like. It's worth it."

Sam finished off his soda too, and threw it across the room and directly into a little metal trash can.

"Good aim."

"Thanks. My Dad…um…used to take me shooting. Like, cans and stuff." Sam had always been an awful liar, so kept his head down while he told this particular half-truth.

There was silence for a few moments, before Sam asked, "So, you're into Philosophy…does that mean you're religious?"

"I dunno," Gabriel began, "I mean, my parents are. My name, right? But me?" He paused, taking another sip of soda and shuffling closer to Sam to get his full attention. "I guess so…maybe. I'm not so devout or anything, not like the parentals, but…it's sort of like, show me God, and I'll show you my faith. Sometimes it's hard to believe sometimes."

"So…not exactly atheist…but…"

"Right. I just feel like, seeing is believing. And it's not like I haven't looked at the evidence you know? There's a difference between being atheist and being agnostic and I say there's no excuse for being the latter."

Sam smiled and raised his eyebrows. "It's fun getting you worked up. Remind me to do that more often."

"Seriously. There are atheists out there who know more than most Christians. I dunno. What about you?"

Sam just smiled and looked down. "Well, I guess I'm the opposite. My family…let's put it this way. I think if my family went on consecrated ground they'd spontaneously combust. But I'd like to think there's something…someone…out there – or up there – looking after me. I've not exactly had the best life."

Gabriel looked pityingly into Sam's eyes, cocking his head to the side.

"Faith…I guess it's good. If you don't have faith in something, why bother even…? I don't know."

"…I get what you mean."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

They sat in silence again, just smiling at each other. Gabriel broke it first.

"So…let's take a break from studying."

Sam chuckled, reaching for books again. "But we just started…!"

"We've done enough. I have a game."

Sam sighed, rolling his eyes. "What game?" he asked, exasperated.

"It's called…the Serious Game. You have to stay totally serious, okay? Here's how it's gonna be." Sam laughed and nodded, shifting to face Gabriel. "I'll say a word, and you say a word of the same…caliber. But you can't laugh, okay?"

"Roger that."

With a mischievous glint in his eye, Gabriel waggled his eyebrows. "Ready? Okay…scrotum."

Just as Gabriel had probably planned, Sam burst out laughing. He watched Gabriel smirk at him, trying not to laugh himself. "You suck at this game, Sammy."

"Bite me," Sam replied between laughs.

"At least let me buy you supper first!" Gabriel joked, placing a hand to his chest. Sam clutched his stomach as he was attacked by another laughing fit.

Gabriel couldn't help himself anymore, and followed suit. He hadn't bothered to inform Sam that the point of the 'serious game' is that you end up with unstoppable giggles.

They didn't get much studying done after that, but Gabriel didn't mind. Sam stayed the rest of the evening, and Gabriel's mom had ended up bringing them up sandwiches and ice cream for supper. It was perfect.

Sam had to go at nine, but he'd promised to come back again, and 'study' some more. Gabriel waved at him from the window, wishing he could've stayed.

He'd just met the guy, but he couldn't stop thinking about him.

As Sam walked away from the house, coat wrapped closer to him as snow began to fall gently in big, wet flakes, he checked his book bag. Sure enough, the drawing was still there; a drawing of a man with wings that Sam had nabbed when Gabriel was taking the dishes back downstairs.