Bobby had chewed him out for trying to walk, even though he told him he had planned on taking a cab at the edge of town.
"Even I'm not stupid enough to go traipsing along Sundowner. Especially in the snow and well after dark."
Bobby had scoffed, slapped him upside the head and told him to get his head on straight before work started again after the holidays. After that, he had hugged Dean and offered him a beer.

True to his word, Dean didn't check his phone until after dinner.
It had 3 new messages.

Received at 10.27 am Lisa:
What the fuck, Dean?
You're LEAVING me?
What about our baby?
I'm not giving this up without a fight.
I'm not signing anything, until I have a lawyer.

Received at 10.43 am Lisa:
Dean...
Please. Can we talk about this?
I'm sorry.
Call me. Ok? I can explain.

Dean nearly threw his phone across the room, and only the fact that the last message was from Gabriel was reason enough to still his hand.

Received at 1.38 pm Gabriel:
Hey buddy!
Just letting you know I'm keeping an eye out and an ear to the ground for new living quarters for you.
Even if she is co-operative, a break up involving such a long time and a house and shit will take a bit to clear up.
Just gimme a sign that you need a new home, and I will see what I can scrounge up.
In the meantime: how about a holiday drink on the 23rd? I know just the bar.
Lemme know, ok? See ya soon!
Gabe

Sam patted Dean on the back.
"Let her stew for a bit, huh. If she claims the kid is definitely yours, get a test done. Reading between the lines of the texts this 'Gabe' character sent you, I'm certain her little missteps were not unnoticed. Go, have that drink with him, and maybe you can find out a bit more."
Dean sighed.
"I will, and I will get a new number. I'm so done with this. I don't want her clogging up my messages with this crap."

So, Dean got a new number and he agreed to meet Gabe at the bar he mentioned.
When he got there, Gabe was nowhere in sight, so, he slid onto a stool and signaled the bartender.
The guy turned and Dean felt the breath being punched out of him. Such amazingly blue eyes! And in a nice face too. About 6 feet tall, dark hair, a bit of a stubble and pink, pink lips, even if they were a bit chapped. The guy seemed somewhat familiar, and hot as Hell. Dean licked his lips. He'd come to terms with being bi-sexual years ago, but then he had met Lisa and... Well, for nine years it just didn't matter. But now, now Dean could oggle the sexy bartender as much as he wanted. The black shirt with the bars's name and logo stretched over the lanky, yet muscular frame and two identical smidgens of black on the back of his upper arms showed he had tattoos. Dean nearly groaned in delight. 'Oh God! Tattoos. All tattoos are sexy! Now I wanna know what they are...'

Meanwhile, the guy had moved his sexy butt over to Dean and his voice cut right through Dean's thoughts.
"Hello, Dean. What can I get you to drink?"
His voice was deep, gravelly and the aural equivalent of sex. He could recite the phonebook and Dean would shiver. It knocked him for a loop and he didn't even notice the man had said his name.
"Yeah, ehm... I'd like a beer for now please."
One corner of the bartender's pink mouth twitched up.
"Of course. Tap or bottle?"
Dean swallowed thickly.
"Wha..whatever is on tap will be fine... Thanks."
The man inclined his head in aknowledgement and turned towards the taps and glasses, leaving Dean to catch his breath and eye up the way those jeans fit that tight butt. 'Good lord, I would tap that...'

Nursing his beer, Dean tried to not oggle the bartender too much. In his profession and with his looks, he must get a lot of sexually tinted comments, so Dean kept them to hisself. Besides, he was probably straight as the proverbial arrow.
"Hey, Dean-o! I see you found it allright!"
Dean turned around to see Gabriel coming up to him.
"Hey. Yeah. I found it fine. Nice place."
As he said it, his eyes slid towards the bartender and snapped back to Gabe. It would be rude to stare, not to mention impolite towards Gabe, who invited him over.

Gabe chuckled.
"Yeah... you could bounce a quarter off of that ass." He whistled low.
"Tight... like the jeans."
Dean's cheeks lit up.
"Shut up, Gabe."
Gabriel grinned at him, all mischievous twinkles and dimples.
"What? I can say that. He doesn't mind. Besides, there's no rule that says a guy can't flirt with men."
Dean tilted his head.
"You're gay or bi?"
Gabe scoffed.
"Naah. Pan. Don't care what's In your pants, or what used to be there. As long as you're sweet and have a nice bod."

Dean grinned.
"Yeah. I can see that. I'm bi myself."
Gabriel grinned even wider.
"Thank God!" he said, louder than Dean would have liked.
"Why thank him?" Dean asked, curious.
A wink and a mischievous glance at the bartender.
"Here I was, thinking you were so far in the closet that you discovered Narnia!"
Again, he said that louder than Dean deemed necessary. He could see the tips of the bartender's ears tinge red.

"Ok. I'll bite. Why would you think that?"
Gabe rolled his eyes so far up, Dean thought they might roll back in his head.
"Cause, you muttonhead, you were all lovey-dovey with Lisa the octolady, but I caught you checking out Castiël's ass."
Dean frowned. Castiël. Where had he heard that name before? Suddenly it came to him.
"The silent type, from accounting? Dark sexhair, always in a navyblue suit and backwards blue tie? Yeah... he has a great ass in that suit."
Gabriel smirked and his sunshine-through-whiskey eyes twinkled as he looked over Dean's shoulder at the bartender.
"Hi. A strawberry daiquiri, please?"

The bartender licked his pink lips and his deep blue eyes looked daggers at Gabriel for some reason.
"Sure. Coming up. You want another tap?" he asked Dean, forcing a polite smile.
Dean felt sorry for him. He didn't ask to be objectified and oggled.
"Yeah. That'd be great, thanks. And I'm sorry if my pal here made you uncomfortable. I'll tell him to can it."
That earned him one of those crooked smiles and Dean felt something warm bubble in his stomach.
"That's ok. I'm used to it. He never knows when to quit."
That was a warning if Dean ever heard one, but Gabe just chuckled and winked at the guy.
"You know me... and you love me." he quipped.
The bartender smirked and shook his dark haired head.
"Shut up, Gabriel." he rumbled in that deep voice and started getting their orders.

Dean had to admit it. After the initial disaster with the bartender, Gabe had turned out to be a great guy. A bit weird and mischievous at times, but good for a laugh and, honestly, Dean could see them becoming besties. Seeing that they were out for a drink, Dean had had the foresight to come in a cab. So when they left the bar in a slightly inibriated state, he got ready to hail another one and bid Gabe farewell.
"We gotta do this again, bud. I had fun!"
Gabe nodded and jabbed a thumb over his shoulder.
"I'll see when that cutie is working again, so we can come here and you can flirt with him."
Dean chuckled.
"That'd be nice. I never looked twice at another guy in nearly a decade..."
Gabe giggled.
"Yeah you have! Don't deny it! You look at Castiël's ass every time he walks by you."

Dean grinned.
"Yeah That's true... but geez, that ass is just... wow!"
In his mind, Dean put his hand on that ass, imagining it firm, like the bartender's. Another great ass, which he had looked at repeatedly that night.
"God, Gabe... I'm running wild now... I just realised I have oggled the bartender all night, without shame. I'm bad!"

Gabe laughed out loud.
"Naah. You're free Dean-o... you're finally free. She had you in her clutches and you didn't even realise it. I'm sorry you had to have your heart broken, but I'm glad you showed your brass ones by dumping her. The way she treated you... She needs Karma to come bite her in the ass."
Dean thought that over, then chuckled.
"What better Karma, than for me to hook up with a guy?"
Gabe smirked, a glint in his eyes.
"Or better. Have your next true relation with one!"
Dean laughed as he flagged down a cab.
"That would be AWESOME! And for it to stick. You know, true love and shit... I could marry him now."
For some reason, that sounded perfect.