Not too long after Dean and Cas had scampered off, Charlie reached across the table and patted Sam's hand.

"We're going to see Catching Fire," she said, standing up to let Dorothy out, "I'll let you know if it's worth your time."

Sam nodded, said a quick "have fun", and resumed looking at his hnds. Gabriel was still staring at him.

Dorothy coughed violently into her arm as she was putting on her scarf.

Charlie rubbed her back and called to Ellen, "Can I get a water really quick?" Sam shot a concerned look at them.

Dorothy had been sick for nearly three weeks. This cold was kicking her ass, but he didn't think it wise to say that to her, or she may kick his ass just to prove a point. Jo and Balthazar were up by Benny playing foosball, Dean and Cas were on their own doing Sam didn't want to know what, and Charlie and Dorothy grabbed a glass of water and left for the movies, leaving Sam and Gabe alone at the booth.

"Sam, what happened?" Gabe asked, "I barely touched you when I sat down, and you flinched like I slapped you in the face."

Before Sam could reply, a scrawny, Asian boy ran up to the booth in a flurry of notebook paper and visible caffeine usage.

"Sam, I need your help. Next semester starts in three weeks, and I don't know what books I need or where the classes are or what the syllabi are going to be like, and I need to know this stuff, or I won't be able to form a stable study routine until the second week of class at the earliest," he said rapidly.

Sam gestured to the empty seats of the table to indicate that the frazzled kid should sit down.

"Kevin, this is Gabriel," Sam introduced, "Gabe, this is Kevin Tran. He graduated high school early, and I was helping him catch up last semester. But now that school's out, I don't know what he wants from me."

"Please, Sam. I can't be behind already. I just can't," Kevin stammered.

Sam rolled his eyes, enjoying Gabe's bemued smile, and said, "Kevin, you can't be behind, because class hasn't started yet."

Kevin stared between Sam and Gabriel, exasperated.

Gabe sighed, "Kid, you want some advice? Relax a bit."

Sam nodded and added, "Take off your backpack and coat, and order something to drink. Just relax with us for a sec. You worked your ass off last semester. Don't be so eager to jump back in. You've earned yourself a break." Kevin paused like it was a foreign idea, but slowly slid his stuff off into the booth next to him. Sam wondered if Gabe knew he'd invited Kevin to stay just to stall talking about what happened at Luci's. Still, Kevin was pretty cool. And the kid really needed to relax.

"So, what do you do for fun?" Gabe asked Kevin.

Kevin shrugged, "I mostly study, but I play cello when I can."

"Do you like cello?"

"It's kind of a chore," Kevin admitted.

Gabe rolled his eyes, "Again. Stuff you do for fun. You've had fun, right?"

"I like playing Magic the Gathering," he said.

"Cards or videogame edition?" Sam asked.

For the first time since he met Kevin Tran, he smiled a genuine, happy, nearly care free smile. But as Kevin's eyes turned to the bar, the smile faded into an expression of being struck dumb.

"Who's that?" he asked. Sam followed his gaze to a redhead sitting at the bar, talking to Bobby.

"I don't know her," Sam replied. She was very pale, like a true ginger, and had a slender figure that really made her quite attractive even at a distance. Honestly, he was surprised he didn't know her. She looked like someone Dean would've hooked up with between Cassie and Lisa.

Gabe said, "That's Anna Milton."

"You know her?" Kevin and Sam asked in unison.

Gabe held up his hands in surrender. "I just work with her, I've never actually talked to her," he explained. Kevin's eyes remained glued to Anna until she sat at a table by herself.

Gabe said quickly, "Hey, you should go talk to her."

The color drained rom Kevin's face.

"Meeting new people would probably be a good way to relax over break," Sam said, "She's by herself. Go for it."

"You think I should?"

"Dude, I'm not kicking you out of the booth, but how often is a girl you like nearby and flying solo at the same time?" Sam said.

Kevin protested, "I don't like—"

Sam and Gabe cut him off with identical cut-the-crap looks.

"Fine," Kevin said. He got up, wiped his hands on his pants, and walked over to Anna.

"It's like he's never talked to a girl before," Gabe remarked.

Sam chuckled, "Well, he was in advanced placement." Things seemed to go well with Anna, because within seconds Kevin was sitting with her. They started to delve into some animated conversation pretty quickly. Maybe she played Magic the Gathering, too.

"I don't think he's coming back," Gabe said, "Wanna get out o here?"

Sam nodded. He waved goodbye to Kevin as they walked out the door.

A half hour later, Sam sat shirtless on Gabriel's couch as his friend's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. Having seen the damage in the mirror earlier, he knew what he looked like, and it wasn't pretty. His entire torso from sternum to waistline was varying shades of black and blue. His ribs were particularly bad with hues of green and red mixed into the bruising. He wouldn't have been surprised if Luci broke a bone this time. Apparently, his boyfriend had been holding back before. It hurt to breathe. Gabe extended a hand to touch Sam's shoulder but stopped when he saw bruising there as well.

"Sam…" Gabe breathed. Sam watched him get up abruptly and walk to the bathroom. He tried to lie down while Gabe was out of the room, but the motion was too painful to complete without groaning or crying out. Gabe returned with a Walgreens bag, filled with boxes. They were IcyHot patches.

"I stocked up on these in case this sort of thing happened again," he said, "Looks like we're gonna use 'em all in one go. Lay down."

Sam sighed, "I can't."

Gabe looked at his bruises sadly. "Yeah, I figured," he said quietly.

He sat next to Sam, helped him turn so he faced the arm of the futon, and gingerly leaned him back. At first, Sam tensed, which shot pain all over his chest and stomach.

He groaned and Gabe said quickly, "Just relax. I've got you." Sam slowly relaxed and let Gabe guide him down in the most soothing trust fall exercise he'd ever done. Once Sam was fully on his back, the pain was manageable. Gabe slid off the couch and onto his knees on the floor where he started ripping open IcyHot boxes.

As Gabe gently applied the first patch, Sam felt heat course through him. His chest ached and it wasn't just from the bruising. He had to get over Gabe. He had to. He was stuck with Luci. Harboring these feelings wouldn't help anything. Still, when Sam felt a tear hit his chest, his heart lurched painfully. He reached up and put a hand on Gabe's shoulder.

"Don't move," his friend said, voice thick with tears, "I don't want you to hurt yourself more." Gabe put Sam's arm back at his side and continued covering the bruises in patches.

"Gabe," Sam said, concerned. He didn't want Gabe to cry, especially not over him. He wanted to hug his friend to comfort him, but moving would probably make Gabriel worry more.

"How did this happen?" Gabe asked, regaining composure as if pulling on emotional armor. Sam hesitated. He really didn't want to tell Gabe. He still couldn't believe he'd asked for this.

"Oh, no," Gabe said, facing him, "You don't get to come over here looking like you've come back from a freaking war and not tell me what the fuck happened. Tell me."

He swallowed his pride and said, "Luci was cutting. I stopped him, but he was a mess. He needed something to focus on. So I gave it to him. He apparently doesn't hold back if you tell him to do it."

Horror seeped into Gabriel's features as he absorbed Sam's words. "Oh, Sam. Tell me you didn't," he said.

Sam felt tears in his eyes and blinked them back quickly. Gabe needed to stop looking at him like that. "I'm sorry," he said, watery voice causing him even more shame.

Gabe put on the last IcyHot patch.

The patches did help the pain. It wouldn't have hurt to breathe if his heart wasn't shattered to the point of physical aching. He didn't want to hurt Gabe like this. He didn't want to hurt like this. He wanted to leave Luci and love Gabe and stop hurting all the time. But he couldn't.

He couldn't fight the tears anymore. He sat up quickly and hugged Gabriel with a small groan of pain.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled into Gabe's shoulder, "I'm so sorry."

Gabe helped him lay back down and wiped the tears from Sam's face.

He smoothed back Sam's hair and said, "It's okay. It's okay. You were trying to help. I get that. You're just too good for him."

Sam tried to belive that. He knew he'd had good intentions, but all he could think of was asking to be beaten. The motives didn't matter. He'd asked for the pain.

Gabe grabbed Sam's hand gently. "Leave him, Sam," he said, "Please, leave him."

"What? Gabe, after finding him cutting, I can't leave," Sam said quickly.

Gabe stepped back and gestured at Sam, "Do you see how badly you're hurt right now? Just break up with him. Don't let it get worse than this. I'm begging you."

"I can't," Sam said again.

"Can't or won't?"

"Can't. I went to break it off with him and he was bleeding on the bathroom floor. If I leave, he could die."

"So could you!" Gabe shouted.

Gabriel's armor fell away as he took a breath and met Sam's gaze with naked desperation in his teary eyes.

"Please, don't go back there," he pleaded, "Please, Sam. Don't go back to im. He's going to kill you. And I just can't—Just stay here. Stay here with me. Don't go back. Just stay. Please."

Sam wished he could tell him that he'd be okay. He wished he could reassure him in some way. But he couldn't. Gabe knew what Luci was capable of. Anything he said to soothe his friend would be a lie. He couldn't lie to Gabriel like that; he loved him too much. And that decided it. He couldn't love Gabriel if he was still with Luci, and loving Gabe was so right, it wasn't an option to stop at this point.

"Okay," Sam said.

Gabe looked startled. "Okay?" he asked.

Sam nodded, solemnly, and he felt like he was signing Luci's death warrant. "Okay," he repeated, "I'll leave him."

"You're sure?" Gabe asked, a smile growing on his face.

"Yes," he said. His friend's smile was infectious, and Sam started to feel hopeful again after his last bit of hope had been so viciously dashed.

"We need to plan," Sam said quickly, "We need to figure out a way to make sure Luci is safe without my being there. If he commits suicide over this, I'll never forgive myself."

Gabe knelt closer to Sam's face, "If he kills himself, it is not on you, okay? His life is not on you. But, if you're really that worried about it, I have a friend who lives near there who could keep tabs on Luci to see if he's doing okay."

"That could work," Sam said, "As long as your friend is cool with doing it."

Gabe grinned, "Oh, she'll be cool with it. Kali owes me."

Sam sat up slowly, mindful of his injuries but barely caring. It was really going to happen. He was finally able to get out of his horrible life. He could've done a backflip powered by his excitement alone. That one amazing week with Gabriel could be his life. It was an actual possibility now. Gabe helped him sit upall the way and slid onto the futon beside him.

"I'm coming with you," Gabe said.

"What?"

"I'm coming with when you break up with Lucifer."

"Gabe, why would you—"

Gabriel smooted out the IcyHot patchwork, making Sam wish Gabe's fingers were touching his skin.

"You're really banged up, Sam," he said, "Like hell I'm letting you go in there without back up if you can barely sit up on your own."

Considering the state of his torso, Sam found it ironic that he hadn't thought about the level of abuse he may take if he upset Luci by dumping him. It would probably get very bad. Sam suddenly had a healthy dose of fear.

"It's going to have to wait," Sam said.

Gabe looked at him, "What? Why?"

"If I break up with him, he'll lash out," Sam said, "I need a few days to heal a bit before going in for more punishment."

Gabe nodded, "Yeah, I see your point. You're kind of an easy target right now."

Sam smirked.

"Well," Gabe said, standing, "It's getting late, and you've got school in the morning—"

"No, I don't," Sam said, "Semester's over. You didn't know that?"

Gabe ginned, "I'm not a student, so no, I didn't."

"But I've seen you at school."

"Yeah, I work in the library."

"Oh."

"Is that a problem?"

"No, it's just," Sam said, thinking of when Gabe used to call him 'kid' a lot, "How old are you?"

"Does it matter?" Gabe asked.

"I don't know. It might," Sam replied.

Gabe's smile faltered slightly, "Oh my God, Sam, really? I'm twenty-four, okay? I'm twenty-four, my favorite color is green, I live in Chicago, I'm a Virgo, I'm bisexual, I don't like vegetables, I majored in psychology, and I'm slightly ambidexterous. Interrogation over now?" he said defensively. The level of sass was so high, it could only be answered with more sass.

Sam replied lightly, "Well, you missed your height, weight, and dress size, but I think I can guess."

Gabe narrowed his eyes at him, smile widening, "You think you're so funny."

"Oh, I know I am," Sam said. Six years wasn't much of an age difference, but what Sam really found exciting was Gabe being bi. It gave him much more of a shot than if his friend was straight, so that tid bit of info lifted Sam's spirits immeasurably.

"Anyway," Gabe said, "Even though you don't have school tomorrow, it is still pretty late. I'm gonna crash."

Sam scooted over for Gabe to lie down.

"No, no, no," Gabe said, "In your condition, you get the bed."

"I haven't been sleeping lately, so I don't need—wait, you have a bed?" That earned an eye roll from Gabe.

"You are aware there is a whole other room here, right?" Gabe asked. Sam shrugged. Sure, there was another room, but he'd never been in it.

If there was a bed, why was there a comforter on the futon? More pressing, though, was the idea that of all the times Gabe had fallen asleep with him on the futon, there was a bed a room away going completely unused. Why would he sacrifice comfort like that?

Gabe helped him off the couch and led him through the door to what was apparently the bedroom. The bed was gigantic and covered in a large, fluffy, red blanket. There were at least eight pillows stacked against the headboard. Sam sat on the edge of the bed and sank into the soft mattress comfortably.

"Holy crap," he said quietly.

"Yep," Gabe said.

Sam scooted to the mountain of pillows. He tried to lie back, but his sore muscles protested the attempt. He sat forward again. Any use of his abs resulted in wincing at best and screaming at worst. He wasn't going to be able to sleep anyway; he was too sore to get comfortable despite the amazing bed.

Gabe pulled off his shirt and crawled onto the bed between Sam and the pillows. He slipped his legs around Sam.

"Here," Gabriel said, easing him gently down to lie on Gabe's bare chest.

Sam's heart tried to explode out of his ribcage. His lungs tried to remember what exactly that air thing was. Gabe's chest was so very, very warm and soft and comfortable and he could feel his friend's heartbeat and oh goodness, he could feel Gabe's pelvis in his back. For a moment, nothing hurt.

Slowly, Gabe wrapped his arms around Sam. "You probably shouldn't sleep with the IcyHot stuff on," he said. Gabe's hands gently peeled the patches away and dropped them on the floor next to the bed, leaving trails of hot tingles where he touched Sam's sensitive skin.

"Thank you," Sam said.

Gabe deftly ran his fingers through Sam's hair, which felt absolutely incredible, and said, "Just try to sleep, okay?"

Sam nodded and closed his eyes, but the feel of so much of his friend's bare skin on his own, not to mention the hands caressing his hair, made it very difficult to consider sleeping. Soon, Gabe's hand fell motionless to Sam's shoulder and arm. Sam felt Gabe's breathing even out gradually. He'd never felt him fall asleep before, but it was amazing.

When he was assured by Gabe's soft snoring that his friend was definitely asleep, Sam said quietly, "I love you, and I'm sorry. You deserve better than me. But I love you. Just needed to say it out loud." There was no reply aside from continued snoring.

Before Sam lost consciousness, he heard Gabe mumble in his sleep, "Sam." He fell asleep wondering what Gabriel was dreaming about that made him say his name.

In the morning, Sam woke up in Gabe's bed alone, but it didn't last long. Gabriel rushed into the room with a towel on his head and a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Morning, Sunshine," he greeted as he grabbed boxers and jeans and took them with him to the bathroom. Sam had no idea how Gabe had gotten out of bed without waking him up.

As he winced through putting his shirt on, Sam started to wonder if this counted as cheating on Luci. While he and Gabe were probably more intimate with each other than what would be considered normal, they had not expressed mutual affection, they hadn't kissed or anything physical, and the fact that Gabe alone knew about Luci gave their friendship an extra level of closeness. Emotionall, Sam had been unfaithful to Luci for a very long time, but he didn't feel that thoughts and feelings not acted upon counted as cheating. No, he had done nothing with Gabe to feel guilty about.

Everything was still sore and ached like a bitch, but he did feel better than he had. He met Gabriel in the kitchen.

His friend smiled and slid him a plate with three pancakes and some orange slices. "For you," he said.

"Thanks," Sam said. Gabe grabbed his own breakfast, donuts and bacon, and sat on the futon. Sam joined him.

After finishing a slice of bacon, Gabe asked, "So, what do you want to do today?" Sam knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to kiss Gabriel, break up with Luci, and have more delicious fucking orange slices, not necessarily in that order. But he knew what he needed to do.

"I gotta go to my place and make sure I don't have any of Luci's stuff. When I break up with him, it's gotta be clean. He can't have any reason to see me again at all," he said.

Gabe nodded, "Sounds good."

After breakfast, they walked over to Sam's apartment. As Sam opened the apartment door, his phone buzzed. Sam's heart stopped. It was a text from Luci.

"What was that?" Gabe asked.

Sam replied, "Luci texted."

"And?"

"He said, 'I need you,'" Sam sighed.

"Don't go over there," Gabe said, "Say you're busy."

Sam put a finger to his lips. He checked the apartment. Charlie's room was empty. Dean's room was clear.

"Okay, no one's home," Sam said, heading for his room.

"Are you going over there?" Gabe asked.

Sam shrugged, "I don't know." He didn't want to go over there, but it sort of irked him that Gabe was trying to make decisions for him.

"Sam, you can't," Gabe sighed, "Or should I poke you in the stomach to remind you what happened last time." Sam scanned the shelves and bookcases, looking for anything of Luci's.

"What happened to you not telling me what to do?" Sam asked with a smile on his face. He pulled out his phone debating between lying to Luci and deleting the text altogether. He knew Gabe was just trying to look out for him. He just needed to remind Gabe that this was his choice.

Gabe said quickly, "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be telling you what you can and can't do, but Sam, c'mon. This guy physically beats you, and I care about you too much to just—" He saw Sam's grin and the cell phone in his hand.

"What?" Gabe asked.

Sam deleted the text from Luci and said, "The next time I see him, I'll break up with him."

"I don't blame you," Cas said, "He sounds awful."

Wait, Cas?!

"Cas, what're you doing here? I didn't hear you come in," Sam said abruptly.

"I was in the bathroom. Dean said I could stay here," Cas explained.

Sam asked, "How much did you hear?"

Cas fixed Sam with such a strong and knowing stare that he wondered if Cas looked at Dean like that. If he did, how did Dean deal with it? Sam felt the urge to crawl away from Cas' gaze.

"I heard enough to know that you are in an abusive relationship," Cas said evenly.

"I won't be for much longer," Sam said, "But you cannot tell Dean."

Cas started, "I am not in the habit of lying to Dean."

"You don't have to lie to him, just don't tell him about it," Sam said.

Cas said quickly, "Omiting the truth is the same as lying, Sam."

"Please, Cas," Sam begged, "You can't tell Dean. He'll blame himself for not protecting me or being a good brother or something else. And it's my fault I'm in this mess, not anyone else's. I can't let Dean blame himself for my mess. I can't do it, Cas, I just can't."

Gabe put a hand on Sam's arm, and Sam knew he was telling him it wasn't his fault for the situation. But it was. He could've left. He could've left so long ago. But he didn't. He stayed, and he got hurt for it. If Dean found out, he'd put the guilt on himself regardless of Sam's decisions. He'd feel like he failed Sam. No one else was responsible for Sam's stupid choices, especially not Dean.

Cas seemed to understand that. He said quietly, "Alright."