Cred to: highermagic, who came up with some of the best ideas in this fic. She's also an awesome beta. Chuck bless her.

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Kripke and his posse of evil.

A/N: Here's the idea – Michelle/Ruby is the girl who is to become Ruby's vessel. (Mini-Gen, got me?) Coincidence, am I right? ;)

The next few days passed uneventfully for Sam. He went to school, tried to hide the fact that his extra-curricular activities included burning corpses, and tutored Gabriel just about every other day.

Well, 'tutored' was a loose term – it was closer to 'spend ten minutes attempting to tutor Gabriel and ending up just laughing and talking and watching in awe as Gabriel practically vacuumed up a whole tub of Ben & Jerry's.'

Despite this, something seemed to have gone in, because Gabriel walked proudly out of his Physics class towards Sam after school one day, waving a B plus around happily.

Gabriel cheered. "Yes! Sammy…I owe you one." He reached up to ruffle Sam's hair, and Sam let him, if reluctantly. "Let's go to my house and celebrate, huh? What do you say, hmm?" Gabriel waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "I have ice cream…!" he added in a sing-song voice.

Sam laughed. "Sure, whatever. But I gotta be back home by 8 tonight, ok?" He neglected to add that this was because Dean had target practice planned, and this was apparently very important to Dean.

Turning around, he grabbed some things out of his locker, but as he turned back, about to ask Gabriel what flavor ice cream he had today, he saw Gabriel looking with awe – and what might almost be called fright – down the hallway.

Looking to where Gabriel was staring, he saw a group of about five girls, all wearing the school's green and white cheerleader uniforms, all walking directly towards them.

Gabriel stuttered, telling Sam that something had come up, that he'd see him tomorrow.

When Sam blinked, he was gone.

Don't get him wrong, Sam was fine with talking to girls, but when five very pretty, very powerful-looking girls bear down on you with identical predatory glints in their eyes and look like they're about to eat your flesh, it's slightly terrifying – and that was coming from Sam who killed 'terrifying' for a living.

He sincerely hoped that Dan wasn't one of their boyfriends.

"Hi, Sam," the one at the front said, long brown hair tied up in a tidy ponytail. He wasn't even going to ask how she knew his name. "So…word on the street is, you totally beat up Dan and his idiot jock friends…"

Sam wondered what this street was and why his name was always on it.

"…that was so brave. I like a guy who can stand up for his friends." She smiled, something that almost made Sam physically shiver.

"Um…really?" He rubbed the back of his neck and looked down – he would never admit to anyone that this was because looking into her eyes simply intimidated him.

"Yeah…" The brunette walked up to him, leaving the other girls behind. "It means you're sensitive."

"Um…ok."

"Oh, I'm so silly," she laughed, "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Michelle…"

"Hi, Michelle,"

"…But all my friends call me Ruby. It's my birthstone."

"…Hi, Ruby."

"So anyway," she said, inching a little further towards Sam, and giving her ponytail a little flick. "The reason I came over here is because I'm throwing a party this Saturday and I'd love it if you could come." She smiled, flashing perfect, white teeth. "My folks are away this weekend."

Sam smiled too, feeling a little more relaxed now. She wasn't going to eat him alive, which was good. And it sounded like she legitimately wanted to be friends with him, for one reason or another. "Sounds fun."

Ruby laughed. "It's going to be awesome." She gave her perfectly glossed lips a little pout as she leaned in to whisper to Sam. "Especially if you're there."

As he watched her walk away, Sam tried desperately to stop the rising blush on his cheeks.

"Don't get me wong, Phhhhysics is ffffine, onthe you know what you're doin'…" said Gabriel, spoon hanging out of his mouth. He'd finished the ice cream a while ago, and took to sucking on the spoon instead. "Sammy, ya listenin'?" Gabriel clicked his fingers in front of Sam's face.

To tell the truth, he hadn't been.

"What? Um…sorry." Sam laughed nervously, hoping Gabriel wasn't too mad. Gabriel just glanced at him, one eyebrow cocked.

"Your mind is on Jupiter today, Sam. What's up?"

They were both sitting on Gabriel's bed, surrounded by papers and notes, the radio playing quietly in the background, which was how things usually ended up when the two of them tried to study.

"Um…" Sam said, frowning in concentration as he tried to find the words to explain what was going through his head. He settled for a sort of circular hand motion that he hoped would encompass what he was trying to get across. "…Ruby."

Gabriel groaned, finally pulling out the spoon. "Ugh, speaking of the she-devil…what exactly did she say to you?"

Sam let out a single, bitter laugh. "I take it you don't like her."

"Single most terrifying person I know. Continue."

Sam looked down, pulling at a loose thread in his shirt. "Well, she's uh…having a party this weekend, and she invited me." Sam didn't know why he was so uncomfortable telling Gabriel this. Maybe because he hadn't been invited? Sam didn't think so; Gabriel had made it very clear that he really didn't like Ruby and probably wouldn't have wanted to go even if he had been invited. "Ahem…that's it. We talked for about two minutes, and then she left."

"She didn't try to flirt with you?"

Sam coughed. "Um…"

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother. Please, Sam, stay away from her." He looked like he was about to protest, but Gabriel silenced him. "Come on! Sammy, listen." He planted his hands on Sam's shoulders and forced him to look at him. He spoke frankly. "If she's invited you to this party, it just means she wants to get in your pants…"

"…Gabe, I'm sure that's not why…"

"…trust me, Sam." Gabriel wiggled his shoulders to try and get the point across. "She's not somebody you want to get involved with."

Sam glanced at him skeptically for a moment, before conceding. "Alright then. Well, if you're so worried about my virtue, then come along to the party and protect it yourself."

Gabriel scowled, looking reluctant. There was a moment of tense silence. "Fine," he said eventually, unable to deny the puppy dog eyes Sam flashed his way. "But I'm not going to enjoy it," he told Sam, the hint of a smile on his face.

Sam grinned. "Anyway, dude. You have nothing to worry about." He shifted, picking up some of Gabriel's notes. "I'm not attracted to her."

Cocking his head to the side, and trying to catch Sam's eye, Gabriel seriously considered asking him who he was attracted to. He thought about it, but then thought better of it, resigning himself to blissful ignorance and the brief flare of hope in his chest.

Gabriel just smiled and cranked the radio up, because his favorite song had just come on. Sam burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Um…I dunno. The air drumming a little much maybe?"

Gabriel's arms froze. "I can air drum if I want to."

"No, it's just…this song. My brother loves it."

Gabriel nodded appreciatively. "Your brother's an Asia fan? Remind me why the two of us haven't met."

Sam chuckled. "He's not much of a people person."

Gabriel just smiled and resumed his air drumming. Sam half-groaned-half-laughed when he started singing.

There was a sharp rap on the door, and without waiting for a reply, Gabriel's sister walked in.

"Will you two please keep it down?" She stood in the doorway, hand on her hip. "I'm trying to study!"

"Well, then, youuu're a loser," Gabriel snapped snarkily back, reaching over and turning up the music.

Anna was a freshman at their school. Sam had seen her around when he'd come to Gabriel's house before, but she spent most of her time in her room, and they'd hardly said two words to each other.

"You're the one who's a loser! Ugh!" Anna stomped off angrily from the room, again ignoring Sam.

Gabriel rolled his eyes, in a way so over dramatic and so Gabriel that Sam couldn't help but laugh. "Kid sisters," he said, shrugging. "What can you do? Most annoying things ever." He shouted over the music. "Wear some earplugs!"

Sam was vaguely aware that he had laughed more in the last week, since he'd met Gabriel, than he had in the rest of his life.

A/N: I'm planning to put some outtakes from this verse on my twitter, so if you're interested, follow me there, at the same username. :)