Here you go! A new update for you! I know it's been awhile, but I've been busy... Birthday was on Saturday, I got a new tattoo (huge candy skull on my arm!), and for the past few days I've been on leave at my cousin and his wife's house, so I've been exploring Hollywood and Los Angeles. It's been fun!

Gabriel was grateful for any excuse to get out of his apartment that night, so the moment he was back home, he called Castiel back, who answered on the first ring.

"Gabe, what happened?" Castiel demanded. "You broke up with Kali?"

He sighed. "I wish that was what happened. No, she broke up with me."

Silence. Then, "Good God, why?"

"I don't…" He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed again. "She said it was because we're in two different places in the relationship and our lives. She paid the rent for this month and next month—reparations was how she referred to it—and then she just walked out."

"That bitch! Want me to write a nasty review for her next show?"

Castiel was an art critic for the New York Times, a well-respected one, too. The thought of Kali waking up one morning and reading Castiel Novak's scathing review of her art opening put a small smile on Gabriel's face. "That's generous of you, but I can only grant you so much artistic license. I have a feeling that if you tried to knock her down a peg, no one would believe you."

"Are you saying I'm too nice to be mean?"

"No, I'm saying that no one would believe she put on a bad show."

Castiel humpfed and Gabriel laughed softly. "Alright, Gabe, but I offered, and you turned me down. Keep that in mind later."

Gabriel almost snorted in derision but Castiel barreled on without waiting for a response. "So, you need to get out of the apartment?"

"Yeah. I've kind of been holed up here ever since it happened except for going to Roché's office and doing that fucking interview, so I'm kind of getting sick of it by now."

"Wait, you did an interview after Kali dumped you?" Castiel was well-aware of Gabriel's disdain for the media and, while not too familiar with his personality while emotionally stressed, he could imagine the veritable shit-storm he unleashed. "How did that turn out?"

"How do you think? I was bitter and rude. The woman doing the interview didn't seem too upset, but Roché was pissed at me. He basically cussed me out afterwards, told me I…" His throat tightened. Balthazar's words still stung a bit. "He basically told me I'm self-obsessed and childish for reacting so badly to the situation. I think he's right, though."

"No, not at all. He knows you hate doing interviews and right after she broke up with you? How did he expect you to be happy after that?"

"I don't know, but he's right. I'm not unique. I don't have a right to—"

"Gabriel. She dumped you. On your anniversary. You more than have a right to be upset."

He sighed. "I guess."

"Alright, so look. You know how you said you need to get out of the apartment?"

"Yeah…"

"Let's go to Perdition tonight!"

Castiel sounded so excited, Gabriel almost smiled. Almost. "Sounds great—you, me, and Dean." Dean Winchester was Castiel's boyfriend of a year and a half. Gabriel had hung out with them before and they could be disgustingly sweet sometimes. It didn't bother him before, but now that Kali was gone, it would just remind him of what he didn't have anymore. "Thanks, but I don't really want to be a third wheel."

"Nah, not Dean. Just you and me. Besides, Dean's hanging out with his brother for a few days, so he wouldn't want to come along anyway."

"Oh." Gabriel didn't even know Dean had a brother. "Well, then, you and me sounds good. What's the plan?"

"I'll come over around nine and we'll head out at ten. And tonight, all the drinks are on me!"

Gabriel chuckled. "You're going to regret that promise."

Castiel held true to his plan and showed up at nine exactly. "Hello, Gabe," he said cheerfully from Gabriel's doorway.

"Hey, Cas. What's up?"

His best friend slipped past him into the apartment. "Not much." He eyed Gabriel critically. "We need to talk about… that."

Gabriel looked down, unsure of what Castiel was talking about. "What do you mean?"

"Well… you're not wearing that, are you?"

He was wearing jeans and a button-down dress shirt with a small blue plaid pattern. "Um… I was gonna wear my leather jacket, too," he said lamely. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

Castiel sighed dramatically, raking his blue eyes over Gabriel's stocky frame again. "There's nothing wrong with it, per se, but… you're twenty-seven, not forty-seven. And you can pass for twenty-three. There's no need to dress like an old man." He grabbed Gabriel by the arm. "Come on, let's go fix this mess."

"I'm not—fine." He allowed himself to be dragged along to his room and to his closet. "But I'm not sure that this is gonna really make a difference."

"Okay, what's the goal tonight?" Castiel asked, blatantly ignoring his statement. His voice was muffled as he dug through Gabriel's closet. "Are you trying to get attention, a number, or laid?"

"Just… I don't know."

"Laid it is, then. Alright, how about these pants—" he tossed out a pair of leather pants that Gabriel was fairly certain he hadn't worn in two years "—and this shirt?" He handed the other man a black button-down shirt.

"Black on black? I don't really know how I feel about the Goth look tonight. Also, no leather. I think the expiration date on pulling off leather is twenty-five."

Castiel's head reappeared from between a suit Gabriel only wore once and a shirt that had been a gift from his mom and, naturally, he hadn't worn at all. "Excuse me?"

It was then that Gabriel realized Castiel was wearing leather pants. "Unless you have the ass of a twenty-year-old. Which I don't, and you do, okay?"

Castiel smirked. "Apology accepted. Okay, no leather. And no black?"

"No, no black on black. What's wrong with my jeans?"

"No, not jeans. That will not get you laid."

"It works for Dean."

"You're not trying to get into my pants, and he doesn't go to Perdition. You can't wear jeans." Castiel went back into Gabriel's closet and returned with a pair of plain black pants. "Here. It's black but at least it's not leather and not denim. Good enough?"

Gabriel sighed in resignation. "Yeah, fine."

"Hmm… and this." He handed Gabriel a solid green dress shirt with slightly darker green vertical stripes.

"Cas—"

"Trust me. It'll set off your eyes. You will definitely get laid in it."

Well, Castiel did have style and he could dress himself, so maybe he was right. Snatching the shirt out of his hand, Gabriel tossed the clothes on his bed and slipped his shirt over his head. "I really don't—"

"Gabe. Please. The women will be all over you."

"Jesus fuck, guys. You're early." The strawberry blonde behind the bar skillfully flipped a bottle around his arm and waved it from Castiel to Gabriel, grinning. "Want a drink?"

"It's on him," Gabriel said. "I'll take a Screwdriver."

Castiel grinned, too. "Cape Cod. I didn't think you worked on Friday nights, Lu. What are you doing here?"

"Meh, I got called in. Ruby wasn't feeling so hot so Crowley gave her the day off. She's taking my shift tomorrow, though." He pulled out two plastic cups and filled them with ice. "So what's been going on with you two? Gabe, your anniversary was a couple days ago, wasn't it?"

"Ouch," Castiel muttered as Lu filled one cup with orange juice and the other with cranberry juice. Gabriel grimaced and looked away.

"What, what did I say?"

Castiel glanced quickly at Gabriel before returning his gaze to Lu, who was pouring vodka into both glasses. "Kali broke up with him."

"On your anniversary?"

"Yeah," Castiel confirmed.

"Yeesh." Lu poured an extra shot of vodka into Gabriel's drink. "Here. Drink up, buddy. You definitely need it."

Gabriel raised his eyebrows and downed his drink in two quick gulps.

"Here, I'll get you another one. Free, too."

"Thanks."

Lu let out a low whistle as he started on another Screwdriver. "Damn, what a bitch. How're you doing with that?"

Gabriel drummed his fingers on the bar. "It fucking sucks. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it."

"Two years, wasn't it?"

"Three."

"Fuck." He pushed the second drink toward Gabriel. "So what happened?"

"Fuck, just… it happened so fast. I came home and she was just sitting there. So I was like, 'What's up?' And then she said, 'We have to talk.' I asked her what about and she just said, 'I'm leaving you.' Five minutes later, she was out the door. Apparently she'd spent all day moving out. She already has another place."

"Fuck, man. That's cold. Why would she pull that shit on your anniversary?"

"She said she didn't realize what day it was."

"She forgot your anniversary."

"Yeah."

"Damn."

"Which is why I brought him out here," Castiel said cheerfully, flinging his arm around Gabriel. "We're gonna get him drunk and get him some much-needed female attention. I didn't want to bother while you were still with her, but since you're single again—" He ignored Gabe's subtle flinch "—I knew I had to help you improve your look. No one hit on you when you were out! That is unacceptable."

Lu nodded in agreement. "You're not a bad-looking guy, Gabe—and you're usually pretty fucking funny. Oh, and that whole 'you're a famous author' thing. You should have women throwing themselves at you. Men, too."

Gabriel snorted.

"What? I'm just saying. Even if you weren't planning on taking anyone home, you should have had all sorts of attention. Now you just have an excuse."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I told Roché yesterday and I'll tell you today—I don't think a one-night stand is what I need right now."

"Told who?"

"Balthazar Roché," Castiel explained. "His agent, remember?"

"Balthazar? Who the fuck inflicts the name Balthazar on their kid?" Lu asked, laughing.

"Who the fuck names their kid Lucifer?" Gabriel shot back, smirking a bit.

"Touché," Lu said. He grinned. "At least my name has a bit of character to it, though."

"Named after Satan—what an honor," Castiel joked.

"At least I earned it." It was true. Lu and Gabriel had been friends since high school, partners in crime for various pranks played on classmates. Even though they'd drifted apart a bit after graduation, they were still fairly close. From what Gabriel heard, his old friend still fucked with coworkers.

"Let's go dance!" Castiel said suddenly as more people started filtering in. He shook Gabriel's arm. "Come on!"

"Come back and see me!" Lu called after them after Gabriel slid off his chair. "I'm stuck behind this bar until close!"

"I'll be back," Gabe promised.

The night wasn't too terrible. Gabriel was relieved to be out of his apartment, but the bass of the music nearly deafened him. A couple of women came over to him and talked, but they ended up leaving after a few words. He just didn't feel anything. He needed time to recover. The breakup was terrible and he was still reeling.

By the time he and Castiel left, he was fucked-up. Lu kept pouring drinks and only charged for half—for which both Gabriel and Castiel were grateful—so Castiel called a cab and thirty minutes later, they were stumbling through the door to Castiel's apartment. Gabriel could barely stand, so Castiel pointed him toward the spare bedroom where he promptly tripped onto the bed and passed out.

"Hope you had a good time," Castiel murmured, heading to his own bedroom.

CROWLEY OWNS PERDITION YOU GUYS. HE'S THE KING OF HELL AND LUCIFER IS JUST A BARTENDER.

Here's the thing about fanfictions: I love Lucifer and it always bothers me when he's portrayed as a huge dick in fanfictions. I like being nice to the guy (eventually) so for the most part, he's a good person in my fics.

I have problems... Also, for the most part, I hate Michael. But he's gonna be a good guy in this fic, too.