The next morning at school wasn't awkward, not even a little bit. Gabriel bounded up to him at his locker, eyes bright and head cocked like an extremely excited puppy.

"Morning, Sam. Sleep well?"

With a smile, Sam replied, in a hushed voice: "Like a baby. I was worn out."

"Me too," Gabriel said, slinking closer to Sam and brushing his fingertips over the back of his hand. He flinched away, and Gabriel scowled. "S'matter, Sammy?"

Sam looked away, muttering. Believe it or not, he wasn't quite ready to make his relationship with Gabe public. It was bad enough he was the new kid, but to come out in front of the whole school? Not something he planned on doing any time soon. Maybe not ever – he was going to be out of here in three weeks, tops.

"…Dude, it's not like I'm sticking my tongue down your throat or anything. But okay, I'll note you're not a PDA fan."

Sam turned to him, face repentant. "No, Gabe, it's not that. It's just…" he leaned closer. "I'm not comfortable with letting everyone know we're together just yet."

Gabriel all but glared at him. "What? You're ashamed of us?"

"No…it's not that, it's just…" Sam grasped him on the shoulders and looked him in the eye, trying to talk reason into him. "Look, I didn't think you'd want to either, I mean, after I had to protect you from those guys…"

Gabriel swatted away his hands. "Who said I needed your protection -!"

"Always use protection!"

The school counselor tapped them on the shoulders, turning them around to face the front doors. This morning was a field trip – to the Nanticoke Cheesecake Factory, of all places – and Mr. Collins was chaperoning.

Mr. Collins was - well, there was really only one word to describe him – kooky. He was great at making you feel better if you didn't know what to do with your future or if your guinea pig died, and he did have a gift for words…but every so often he came out with something completely random like, 'at least you're not sauerkraut.' Sometimes it was hard to tell if he was kidding or not.

"Come on guys, bus isn't gonna wait forever."

They were all herded on like sheep, and somewhere in the small crowd he and Gabriel had gotten separated. They'd promised to sit next to each other, because Gabriel got travel sick and needed to sit at the front, but Sam got shuffled to the back before he even saw him, never mind knew if they were even on the same bus.

"Sam!" came a call from somewhere near the back of the bus. He looked up, but the voice was of someone he didn't really want to be talking to. "Sam, come sit with me!"

Ruby was sitting on a seat near the back, patting the space next to her and grinning like Saturday night hadn't happened. Based on the amount of alcohol she'd consumed, Sam wouldn't put it past her to have forgotten all of it.

"Hiya," he responded, cheerfully enough. He gave a weak smile and reluctantly went to sit next to her, next to the window.

"So, did you have fun on Saturday…"

At that, Sam's phone buzzed in his pocket, signaling a text. "Hold on a sec, Ruby, gotta answer this," he said, grateful for an excuse to stop talking to her. The text was from Gabriel; Sam gave a slight frown as he opened it.

"Hey Sam. Soz about earlier…didnt mean it. Forgive me? x"

He had to give a little smile at that. Gabriel really hated confrontation. He sent a quick reply, so as not to get on Ruby's bad side – Sam assumed that Ruby's bad side was not something you wanted to be on.

"Course. Xx"

He smiled and slipped the phone back into his bag. "Um…Saturday! Yeah, that was totally fun."

She laughed, a sour sound, and Sam was suddenly horrifically reminded of a female praying mantis – the ones that eat the male's heads. Just then, he got another text from Gabriel.

"Wish I could kiss you right now. Xxx"

That made Sam stop in his tracks. He angled the screen so Ruby wouldn't be able to see it and re-read the text. Damn. Eyes wide, he pocketed the phone without replying.

It wasn't long before he got another text.

"Wish I could get on my knees and give that bitch something to laugh about. Xxx"

Sam almost spit out the water he'd been drinking. He turned the phone away, towards the window, so that Ruby wouldn't be able to look over his shoulder. He hastily replied.

"Dude! She's right here! Xxx"

"So? Lets make her jealous xxx"

"How? Xxx"

At the factory, Sam let Gabriel hold his hand the whole time. At the restaurant at the end, they shared a cheesecake.

It took Gabriel a few tries to successfully unlock his front door, what with Sam's lips on his, his hands in his hair and his leg gently trying to separate his. It made walking hard too.

Ruby had thrown a silent bitchfit at the factory when she saw Sam and Gabriel holding hands, even more so when she'd caught them sharing that perfectly-timed kiss just before they'd gotten on the buses. The whole school probably knew by now; not that Sam minded. In fact, he wanted to repay Gabriel in his own way.

"Gabe?"

"Mmph?" His reply was smothered by another kiss.

"You're sexy."

They practically stumbled into the house when Gabriel turned the door handle. Laughing, but still joined at the mouth, they made their way through the front room, dropping their schoolbags as they went.

"Gabriel? Honey, is that you?"

The call from the kitchen made Sam stop in his tracks; it didn't take long after that for Gabriel's mom to come in through the archway, because Karma's a bitch.

She seemed distinctly unflustered, however, that Sam had his hands all over her son, and that her son's lips were red from kisses.

"Hey, mom. Good day at work?"

And Sam couldn't believe they were having this conversation here, now.

"It was alright. I bought you some more poptarts."

"Awesome."

Sam just grinned sheepishly when Mrs. Milton addressed him. "Afternoon, Sam. Are you staying for supper?"

Mrs. Milton was lovely, really. She worked as a manager for a local Bed and Breakfast, and whenever she cooked it was delicious. And though it was a rather awkward position to be caught in, this one they were in right now, neither Gabriel nor his mother seemed particularly bothered by it.

"That'd be great, thanks." And Sam was still standing there, his arms around Gabriel and he was stuck in quite possibly the most embarrassing situation he'd been in in a while.

They eventually made it upstairs, once Gabriel and his mother had finally finished their conversation. Sam counted himself lucky that they'd escaped before his father or sister came home too, or before the cousins all showed up and they had a whole freaking family reunion right there in the hallway while Gabriel refused to let go of his grip on him.

Not that Sam was really thinking about that anymore, because as soon as they made it upstairs, Gabriel pounced on him again, licking into his mouth with a glint in his eye and a hand in his hair.

"Gabe." Sam stopped him, pulling away slightly. Somehow they'd made it to the bed, and now Sam was pinned under Gabriel, who was apparently simply gagging for it. He didn't stop, but instead moved to place kisses and nips along Sam's jawline, and a small 'Hmm?' told him he was listening. "So…your parents are okay with you being bi?"

He did stop then, leaning back a little and looking Sam in the eye. He quirked an eyebrow and shrugged. "Course. Why wouldn't they be?"

Sam gave a small chuckle, which turned into something garbled when Gabriel captured his mouth in another kiss, soft and chaste. "Well, for one," he began again, once Gabriel had stopped kissing him, and instead rubbed a hand up and down his side. "Your Dad's a priest."

Gabriel shrugged again. "So?"

"Well…" Sam was silenced by another kiss, and this one started out tender, but when tongues got involved it was mind-blowing. It must have been all those lollipops he ate, or maybe it was all the talking he did, but either way the guy knew how to do some crazy shit with his tongue…crazy shit that had Sam moaning soon enough.

He pulled away again, and both boys were breathless. Gabriel mumbled his answer into Sam's neck. "You don't think…he doesn't care who I love, as long as it's love?"

Sam just had to laugh at that. Gabriel scowled. "Sorry…cheesy much?"

"I'm serious." He moved to press his forehead against Sam's. "My Dad has this philosophy, it's: 'Love's love, no matter the gender'."

"Wise."

"Yeah." He shifted, and brought his hand up to Sam's face to caress it, and brush his bangs out of the way. "I mean, it's the basic pillars of Christianity, isn't it? 'Love God and love your neighbor as yourself'," he quoted. He pulled Sam up for another kiss, this one deep and languid. "And I love my neighbor," he muttered darkly, his words buzzing against Sam's lips.

Sam laughed, but that turned to a soft moan as Gabriel's hand passed lightly over the bulge in his jeans. "That mean you love yourself like that, too?" he asked somewhat breathlessly, with a smile.

Gabriel leaned closer, until there were mere millimeters between their lips. His answer was quiet enough that Sam himself even had trouble hearing it. "Oh yeah, all the time." After a tiny kiss, he added: "For you."

Sam's eyes flickered with desire, and he tried to flip the two of them so he could get Gabriel on the bottom. Apparently, though, Gabriel saw this coming, and his attempt was thwarted, and they ended up side by side in a tangle of limbs, laughing.

Sam ended up close enough to rub his nose gently against Gabriel's. "You know, I'll never get over kissing you."

Gabriel nuzzled closer, his hand trailing over Sam's neck and shoulder. "Me neither."

Just then, they heard a click of the door handle as someone came into the room unannounced. Apparently, Gabriel's family, nice as they were, had no semblance of privacy, because Anna was standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips.

"Gabriel, where's my calculator?" she asked irately. And, once she realized what the two of them had been doing, she added: "Ew... gross, guys. Get a room."

Gabriel huffed and sat up. "You act as though I, in my right mind, would be so inclined to steal a calculator. And in case you haven't noticed, we do have a room. You're in it. Now shoo." He waved her out of the door.

"Mom!" Anna called, "Gabe stole my calculator and now he won't give it back!"

"Did not!" Gabriel stood and stomped towards the door Anna had just stormed out of. He turned at the last minute, looking back at Sam with a sort of remorse, and then deciding to run back.

He bent over Sam, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, and pulled him up for a tender kiss, chaste but lingering. He left Sam sitting there dumbly, his heart about to beat right out of his chest.