As it turned out, IHOP was a pretty good idea. Sam seemed much more at ease than Dean had seen him in a really long time. He glanced at Sam's cast and saw the signature curling around the green plaster. Something was seriously going on with him, and Dean had a feeling Gabriel's name and smiley face was doing him no favors. But for the moment Sam seemed alright.

They were all seated around a few tables pushed together. Sam sat across from Dean. Cas was in between Dean and Dorothy. Charlie sat over by Dorothy, leaving a gap between her and Sam.

"Do you know what you're gonna get?" Dean asked Cas.

Cas shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "I'm torn. It all looks good."

Dean already knew he was getting the Bacon Lover's Omelet.

"Can we split this?" Cas asked.

Dean grinned at the prospect of sharing food with his boyfriend. He looked at what Cas was pointing to.

"What the hell is 'Loaded Bacon and Potato Soup'?" Dean asked.

Sam laughed, "That'll kick your ass if you have that and the bacon omelet together."

"How'd you know that's what I-?"

"When don't you get that from IHOP?"

"We haven't been here in a long ass time," Dean argued.

"Yeah," Sam said, "But I know you."

Dean started looking at the menu again as he said, "Yes, Cas, we can split the soup."

The waitress arrived, took their order, - French toast was an acceptable back up to the bacon omelet, right? - and walked off to fill it.

That's when he realized the idea to go to IHOP was a horrible idea. He heard someone shout his name and he immediately recognized the voice.

His heart lurched, and Cas looked at him, concerned.

He must've been hallucinating. He hadn't seen the car outside, but as a small, excited Ben ran up their table, he knew this was real.

"Hey, buddy," Dean said, "What're you doing here?" He got up and picked Ben up with one arm.

Ben said, "We're having breakfast and lunch."

"Brunch?"

"That's not a real word," Ben said as if it was the most obvious thing.

Dean quickly adjusted Ben in his arm and said, "Oh, where are my manners? Ben, this is Cas."

Cas smiled at the little boy, saying, "Hi, Ben."

Ben waved quickly, then started talking a mile a minute at Dean about school, about home, about Lisa, about Lisa's new boyfriend who she was apparently on a date with, about everything that Dean missed.

Cas shot Dean a look to ask if he was okay. Dean met his gaze but didn't know how to respond. He wasn't quite sure if he was okay or not. It was nice to see Ben, but there was a lot of pain in this little run in.

"Why did you go away?" Ben asked.

Dean's breath caught. How was he supposed to answer that?

"Umm...it's complicated. Your mom and I were fighting, and...we felt it was best if we weren't together anymore."

"Was it because of me?" Ben asked quietly. Sam looked at Dean, but he barely even registered it. He turned away from the table and carried Ben towards the area he'd run away from.

"No," Dean said quickly, "No, it wasn't you. You're the best, kid. Your mom and I had some problems. We just weren't right for each other. It had nothing to do with you."

Ben hugged Dean tightly and said, "I miss you."

Dean would not allow himself to cry in a fucking IHOP. He put Ben down and saw Lisa's parents sitting at a booth watching them. He was not looking forward to talking to them. Dean crouched to Ben's eye level.

"I miss you, too, Ben. I would give anything if I could hang out with you. But your mom and I don't really get along. She'd probably get pretty mad," Dean said, "You're a strong kid. You'll be fine. Be good to your mom, okay?"

Ben nodded and wrapped his little arms around Dean's neck. In order to lighten the mood, Dean stood up quickly, letting Ben dangle from his neck, giggling uncontrollably. He walked over to Lisa's parents with Ben and plopped the kid in the booth.

"Hey, Dean," Lisa's mom said. Dean didn't want to think of all the time he'd spent at their house while he was in high school. There were times even Sam stayed there overnight when it got too cold to find shelters or stay out on the streets. The two people he was looking at were the closest thing to loving parents he'd had since he was four. "Hey," Dean replied.

"How've you been?" her father asked.

Dean said, "I've been alright, sir, and yourselves?" He desperately wanted to run back to the table and to Cas and pretend like this wasn't happening.

"We've been good. It's not the same without you kids running around the house," Lisa's dad said. Dean nodded, remembering the times they forced food on him, when they included him in Christmas traditions, when they declared him a member of the family...Dean blinked and broke the suddenly awkward silence.

"I should get back to my table. Our food should be here soon," Dean said.

They nodded, Lisa's mom saying, "Take care of yourself, Dean."

He said a quick, "You, too."

He waved goodbye to Ben, getting a shy wave in return, and left the child with his grandparents.

Dean sat back down next to Cas and put his head on the table. Cas rubbed Dean's back in a comforting gesture.

Sam asked, "Are you okay? You want to leave?"

Dean, not moving his head from the table, shook his head, "It's fine. Food's coming. Let's just eat." Why did they have to be there? At least he got to say goodbye to Ben this time. He just wanted to forget. That was the only way that the whole thing wasn't going to hurt.

Quickly, Dean sat up straight and started trying to balance his fork and knife together by putting the knife through the fork tines and getting it to stand up straight. It was a trick he learned from Cassie to pass the time while waiting for food at a restaurant. It was also good to focus on something rather than flipping a table in attempt to let a little built up tension out.

Charlie watched him try and fail to get the utensils to stand on their own. "When did Cassie say she was coming back again?" she asked.

Dean shrugged, "She said 'soon' a few months ago. I dunno."

"Who's Cassie?" Cas asked.

Sam grinned, "Dean's ex."

"Oh, that Cassie," Cas said.

Dean ran his fingers across the back of Cas' hand.

"Cassie and I are still really good friends, but we're just friends. Don't worry." Dean said quietly.

Cas met Dean's eyes and nodded.

Dean and Cassie agreed to stay friends no matter what after they broke up. Cas knew that that was an agreement Dean intended to honor.

Their food came, piping hot and was absolutely delicious. The soup especially was awesome, because bacon. Sharing with Cas was difficult, because, well, bacon. But they managed.

When they left, Dean made sure not to check if Ben and his grandparents were still there.

After they started walking back to the apartment, Cas nudged Dean's arm.

"We have some unfinished business from yesterday, Dean," he said quietly.

Dean nodded.

They stopped at the corner.

"Sam," Dean said, "Go on ahead to the apartment with the girls. We're going to Gabriel's since we didn't yesterday."

Sam looked like he'd swallowed shards of glass. Something was very, seriously wrong with that kid.

Sam nodded slowly. He hurried to catch up with Charlie and Dorothy.

Dean held out his gloved hand for Cas to take, which he graciously did. They started walking to Gabriel's.

"How are your stitches?" Dean asked.

Cas sighed, "They itch, but it's not bad. Just a couple of weeks, though, right?"

Dean nodded.

"Are you okay, Dean?" Cas asked.

Dean shrugged, "I just wasn't prepared for that. I'll be fine."

"It's just...I know how important Ben is to you, and if you wanted to talk about it-"

"Cas," Dean said, "I'll be fine."

After a minute, Cas asked, "Do you want kids?"

Dean stopped dead in his tracks. "What?" he asked.

Cas could not possibly understand what he was asking.

Cas grinned, "Not now, Dean. I'm just curious if you want kids ever."

They kept walking.

"I think so," Dean said, "I love kids. Depends on how this goes, I guess." He indicated himself and Cas.

Cas nodded, "You do know adoption exists, right?"

"Yes, of course, I-you know what, Cas? Let's have this discussion again in a few years when we've been together longer," Dean said.

Cas chuckled softly, "It's very entertaining to see you so flustered."

Dean scowled at him in mock anger.

They walked up to Gabriel's building. Dean didn't know which button to press or even which building to stop at, but luckily, Cas was a frequent visitor at his friend's place. Cas pressed the bell and took a step back.

In an instant, Gabriel hopped up the stairs and opened the door. His grin faltered slightly. If Sam hadn't been acting so weird, Dean wouldn't have caught it. Cas, always so perceptive, noticed it, too.

"Are you okay?" Cas asked, cocking his head to the side.

Gabriel didn't answer, but instead said, "Come on in."

He led them down some stairs and into the lower flat. Was this seriously where Sam had been spending so much of his time? Was he even short enough to make it through the door? Gabriel sat on a futon that was pretty low to the ground. It must be hilarious to watch Sam have to crouch to sit on it.

"No," Gabriel answered, "I'm not okay. Not remotely."

"Because of Sam?" Dean asked.

Gabriel nodded slowly and looked over his shoulder at a room off to the right. Cas sat down next to Gabriel and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Is there any reason why Sam would want to stay away from you other than to get his shit together after Luci?" Dean asked.

Gabriel stared at him, "Why would you ask that? Why would he—Is something wrong with Sam?"

Dean was startled having Gabriel's full and undivided attention on him. He was almost as intense as Cas could be. That was just unnatural.

"Something's off with him. He told us about trying to get his head straight, but I feel like he was holding something back," Dean said.

Gabriel sighed, "Then, I don't know. That's what he told me..."

"He freaked out at breakfast yesterday," Cas said.

Dean added, "Yeah, he broke an egg and didn't want pancakes. Then, he just bolted for a bit."

Gabriel said, "Shit. Dammit."

He stood up suddenly and grabbed his jacket.

"C'mon. Let's go," he said. Dean and Cas followed him as he burst out onto the city street.

"What's going on?" Dean asked.

Gabriel started walking the way to Dean's apartment.

He said, "Sam's pretty fucked in the head, Dean. He's might be trying to spare me. I should've known."

"Spare you from what?"

"From him."

That would make sense. Missing Gabriel and being self-deprecating would explain a lot, actually.

Cas asked Gabriel, "What are you going to do?"

"What I always do," he said, "Force him to talk and not take no for an answer."