A/N: Okay. I literally had NOTHING to do all day. So I wrote. And wrote. And wrote. And finally got this. Sam graduates :) I was so happy to see that at least somewhere since he never got to on the show. And the first graduation speech by the Dean was actually part of the recent June 16th graduation at Stanford Law and part of the speech that Sam gives was part of a 2007 graduates speech. So, yeah :D And! The restaurant I named is actually real. Yay!

Unbelievable. Just. He was speechless. He did it. He really did it. He watched a teardrop fall from his cheek down onto the paper he held.

"Awe, Sam. Are you okay?"

Sam looked up. "I did it." He was dumbfounded. "I really did it."

Danni smiled. "I know, babe. I'm so proud of you."

Sam shook his head. "You don't get it. I did it. I just graduated from college." She didn't get it. Not really. Sam never even thought he'd be going to college, much less actually getting his final grades in his hands and getting ready to start an internship in the next few months. It was never really a dream that was in his grasp before.

"Well, technically we don't graduate until next month. But I get it, Sam."

Sam just smiled softly. "You did it, too."

Danni grinned. "Hell yeah I did. And I didn't have to sleep with even one professor!"

Sam allowed the moment to cut through his mood and laughed just as a voice filtered through the room.

"Who's sleeping with who? And are there anymore offers?"

Sam didn't even have to turn around to be able to tell who it was. "You would, Chad," he said dryly.

Chad slapped him on the shoulder. "Damn right I would."

Sam laughed despite himself. Chad. Chad Murray. Sam had no words for that guy. Chad was, well, he was different. Lived in a world all on his own. The blonde, spiked, gelled hair and blue eyed typical California surf boy look pretty much made Chad an open book. What did you think of when you saw those typical California surf kids? Stuck up, full of themselves, douche bags, right? Well, there was Chad in a nutshell. But under all of that there was a surprisingly quick-witted person. Chad could argue the pants off a nun he was that good. Sam met Chad a couple months after meeting Danneel. And at first, Sam was disgusted by Chad. All the guy ever did was crack crude sexual jokes, stacking the odds against himself with that California surf boy look. And there was one time that he decided to take a crack at Sam's nonexistent sex life. Which brought back memories he didn't want anywhere near his thought processes. Which led to Sam punching Chad right in the mouth. Which in turn led Sam to get hooked on going to the gym. The anger needed to go other places and not in the form of a fist on his friends faces. Chad forgave him, Sam didn't tell him why he really hit him, Chad hadn't left him alone since. So everything worked out okay on that front. For the most part.

"Sam?"

Sam looked up to see Danni and Chad giving him funny looks. "What?"

"You definitely just spaced out," Chad said as he sat down at the table. They were in the library at school.

"Sorry, guys." Suddenly something hit Sam. "What time is it?"

Danni looked at the clock hanging over the librarian's desk. "11:38. Why?"

Shit. "I'm gonna be late for work." Work was being a server at a restaurant called 'Gordon Biersch'. It paid the bills. Plus the place was actually kind of classy. But it still felt...homey. He had no problem settling in.

Chad threw his hand out. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down, Sam. Are you going out with us tonight?"

"I don't know. Depends on what time I get off work," Sam said as he flung papers and books into his bag. That and if he really wanted to. If Chad was involved that meant bad news.

Chad just shrugged his shoulders. "You're coming with."

As he walked away he heard Chad whisper, "Why doesn't he ever want to go out? Or meet people? He needs to get laid."

Danneel's quiet but curt reply, "Just drop it, Chad," came a few seconds later.

"I really can't believe I'm here."

Sam looked around at all the sweaty, half-naked, gyrating bodies. Danni sidled up to him.

"Loosen up! We all deserve it. And you, you deserve something up your ass besides that stick. And you know I say that with love."

Sam rolled his eyes. He knew Danni meant no harm, but he really just didn't want the hassle of dealing with any sort of...anything right now.

"And it's not like there isn't a decent supply of choices here."

Sam snorted and took a sip of his drink. "That's because Chad dragged us to a pride event. And we're in California. In a bar. Of course there's a steady supply."

Danni smiled and snaked her way into the crowd. Sam crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

It's not that he wasn't having a good time, believe it or not, he really was. He was unwinding and relaxing. And shit like this, going out to a bar, getting liquor in your system, was awesome because people have no inhibitions when they get drunk off their ass and that was amazing to see. The people here had no worries about demons or ghosts or whatever else. And it was sad that Sam's first thought would be anything supernatural related. But he knew Chad's reasoning behind coming here and was just getting tired of Chad stepping over boundaries. None of Sam's problems had to make sense to everybody else. He didn't have to explain anything to anyone. Or. No. No, that wasn't right. It wasn't fair to blame Chad. Chad didn't know anything about his past. He was just tired of being reminded of Dean everywhere he went. It got a little old after a while. He also just got tired of everyone asking why he never wanted to 'date'. If he didn't want to, he didn't want to. You know? And it's not like he just sat there and sulked and thought about Dean. No. Most days, he really didn't let that part of his life cross with the one he had now. But there was just constant reminders and Sam couldn't always help himself.

He sighed and downed the rest of his drink. Wasn't that much left, anyway. The liquor burned slightly going down. Vodka? He wasn't sure. Danni ordered his drink. It tasted like vodka when he first sipped it and then stared at it like it was going to do a trick. Only tequila or vodka made him do that and that was definitely not tequila. He signaled the bartender and ordered another one of whatever he had.

Sam sat at his desk, typing up an essay for his internship. He still had plenty of time but he couldn't sleep and figured it wouldn't hurt. The clock on it said 3:47 A.M. He had to admit it, but only he would be up this late, whether he couldn't sleep or not, working on something school related. He yawned involuntarily and stretched out in the chair, his bones popping in the most heavenly way. A sudden movement outside the window caught his eye. He got up and peeked through the navy blue curtains. Darkness. Except for the street lamps. Sam shrugged his shoulder and sat back down at his desk. Normally he would have grabbed a shotgun full of rock salt and ran the hell outside. It felt nice to not care what was outside his window. He no longer checked his closet for the bogeyman, either.

The next thing he knew the sun was trying to peek through those same navy blue curtains. He doesn't even remember falling asleep, let alone actually closing the laptop shut to lay on top of it.

He got up and showered and that was when he discovered a mark on his face. He leaned closer to the mirror. There was two 'L' shapes, for sure. But he couldn't make out the last one. An 'E' maybe? It took him all of about ten seconds to remember where he'd seen it before. On his laptop. What a dumbass. He'd fallen asleep with his cheek laying against the Dell logo on the top of his laptop. He grinned at himself in the mirror and walked out into the living room. He threw himself down on the couch, a towel the only thing covering himself up. It felt amazing being able to be so careless like this. Grabbing the remote, he flicked through the channels before coming to a stop on Nickelodeon. That stupid little, yellow sponge dude was on again. And don't you dare judge. It was entertainment and Sam was, well, entertained. Sue him.

For some reason, though, he kept getting a weird feeling. It was like he could feel a pair of eyes on him. Call it natural instinct, whatever, he got up and looked out the curtains again. Cars lined the street. A few people were out walking around. The sky was the most amazing shade of blue. The sun was shining. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Nineteen Days Later, June 16th - Auditorium Of Stanford College

"Fortunately, if history teaches us anything, it's that great challenges bring great opportunities. Which means you leave here with opportunities to make a difference that are rare. So we say to you, rise to the challenge. Be ambitious, take chances, do something that makes the world a better, safer place."

Sam fiddled with the index cards in his hands. Of course, because he was graduating at the top of his class, he had to give a speech. And he was going to take this serious enough. He never, ever thought he'd be here right now. Wearing his black robe and getting ready to give a speech to his class. The sudden thought that he wished Dean were here flared through him and he felt a tear slide down his face. Stupid Dean. Stupid family business. Stupid...ugh. Stupid everything when it came to that side of his life. He took a deep breath and walked up the few steps to get to the stage, having heard his name being said into the microphone. Cheers erupted. He cleared his head and his throat and took his place at the podium.

"Faculty, staff, family and friends...Thank you for joining us today. The Class of 2012 is graduating. Our time here at Stanford Law is coming to a close. But it must be said, we've been a damn good class!" Cheers erupted again, this time a little louder.

"Occasionally tempers flared. Probably more often that not, actually. But it is a testament to our class that, despite diverse perspectives, we remained a cohesive group. One student recently told me that one of the best parts of Stanford Law was how well he got along with those he adamantly disagreed with, on issues that he considered core to the understanding of himself, of his beliefs. Perhaps this was an inevitable result of attending a law school that resided in paradise? I mean, really, how can anyone stay mad at anything when the weather is so damn beautiful all the time and the sky is always so blue? But it is not just the weather that makes Stanford Law great. It is the people who choose to attend school here." By the time Sam was finished, he could hear sniffles in the audience and there were tears in his own eyes.

The Dean got back on stage to hand out their diplomas and Sam took his seat in the way back of his class, cheers erupting once more as they all smiled and waved at him.

When the ceremony was finished, Sam walked outside the building and looked around. All the people in his class were standing around with their families. It hurt Sam. It just wasn't fair, you know? He thought he at least deserved to have some family here. He stared down at his diploma. It almost didn't feel right having it.

A sort of nagging feeling started eating at Sam. Like the one from this morning. He looked up and glanced around. Still nothing. He saw Danneel with her family, Chad with his. This Ian kid that he just recently met. Through Chad, no less. He warned Chad but the guy, Ian, actually turned out to be pretty decent. That was as far as that went, though. He finished scanning the crowd and that was when it caught his eye. Green. He'd know that green anywhere. But it seriously couldn't be. A head belonging to someone he didn't know turned and blocked his view. He scrambled down the sidewalk looking for that green. But he couldn't find it again.

What? He definitely would know that green anywhere. But it just...gone. And he...

"Sam?"

Sam whirled around. It was Danneel. Only Danni. "Uh. Yeah. Uhm. What's up?"

She looked around the throng of people before answering him. "You looked pretty freaked out. You okay, babe?"

Sam shook his head. "I think I saw him, Danni."

"Dean?"

Sam just nodded his head.

"Sam," Danni started softly. "It's been three years."

"No, no. It was him. I know it was."

Danni reached out and wrapped a thin, feminine hand around his bicep. "Sam. You were in pretty bad shape when you first got here. Don't do this again. Please."

Sam looked down at her. She was right. "You're right. I'm sorry." He wasn't ready to throw in the towel just because he 'thought' he saw Dean.

The redhead standing in front of him grinned, all traces of worry wiped from her face. "I'm always right, mister. Now let's go. We're all going out tonight! And you're definitely getting drunk. No ifs, ands or buts."

"But..."

"Saaam," she whined.

He grinned. "Just kidding. Let's go."