Title: The Darker Side of Heaven
Chapter 3: See You Again

A/N: Sorry that this was so late. Moving and unpacking kind of put a damper on these things. So, as an apology, I give you two chapters for the price of one. Enjoy.

I got a way of knowing when something is right. I feel like I must have met you in another life 'cause I felt this deep connection when I looked in your eyes and I can't wait to see you again.- See You Again by Miley Cyrus

Sam stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, using his time in the bathroom as an excuse to pull himself together where Nick would be unable to look at him in that piercing way of his. He looked like hell and felt even worse. Washing his face in the sink, he let himself go over the night before, trying to find a way to save face.

Alright, so he had messed up. He had too much to drink and now he was in a stranger's home. Had slept in a strangers bed. That was bad. But for something bad, it couldn't be that bad because Nick did not seem to have minded taking care of a drunk stranger. He had given him his bed, was offering him coffee, and hadn't kicked him out on the street yet. That had to be a good sign right? He wouldn't know, that would have been something more up Dean's alley than Sam's. Should he call him? Ask him what he should do? No, he decided against it even as he had the thought. He knew that Dean would only freak out, promise to come get him, and threaten Nick for playing any part in this. He would be lucky if they got out with out any punches being thrown. No, he was going to keep Dean as out of this as possible.

Nick was in the kitchen making coffee as promised. It wasn't until that moment that he realized that he had no idea what time it was. Pulling his phone out of his pocket he checked the time and was surprised to find that is was seven forty.

"It's a little late for coffee, maybe?" Sam asked, sitting at the kitchen table, watching Nick's back as he worked around the kitchen.

"It is never too late for coffee." Nick sounded offended that somebody would ever think that any time was not an appropriate time for coffee.

"If you say so." Sam clutched at his head that was still threatening to crack open like a walnut. He promised himself that he would never drink again, knowing full well that he did not really mean it.

"I do. I know these things." Nick nods to himself as he looks through a cabinet for mugs.

Sam didn't dignify that with an answer, instead he cradled his head in his hands, wishing that his head would stop attempting to split in two and that his stomach would stop threatening to empty it's contents all over the kitchen table.

Before long Nick was setting coffee in front of him before sitting in the chair opposite of him, a mug of his own in his hands as he watched Sam. The look on his face was as if he was something he had never seen before or at least something he could not understand.

"What?" Sam asked, lowering his hands from his head in favor of wrapping them around the coffee mug.

"Nothing."

Nick was still looking at him in the way that Sam was convinced that he was always going to look at him. Like he was some kind of science experiment.
Clearing his throat he decided it was as good a time as any to start asking questions. "How did I get here?"

Nick took a sip of his coffee. "Alistair and Azazle helped me carry you upstairs. As it turns out, trying to carry the Jolly Green Giant while he is dead weight is difficult. I had to recruit help."

"Are we upstairs from the bar?" Sam asked, trying to wrap his head around... Well everything. His head was not being cooperative. He blamed the insistent pounding.

"Yeah. I own it and have the privilege of living upstairs from work." He shrugged.

"Why did you carry me up here?" Sam asked, taking a sip of the coffee he had in his hands. It was strong but it was good and surprisingly his stomach seemed to agree with it.

"Because you were passed out. I couldn't, in good conscious, leave you laying on the bar for an unknown amount of time." He laughed as if it were both funny and obvious. "Most of the guys that frequent my bar are regulars so I know how to deal with them. You, on the other hand, I know nothing about. I didn't really have much choice."

Sam took another drink of the coffee. He was at a complete loss. The man he had been obsessing over happens to own the bar he used as shelter from the rain and carried his drunk ass upstairs into his apartment. Things like this do not happen outside of... Well, outside of porn. What the hell was he supposed to do? He wished he knew. Instead, Sam took another drink of coffee and wished that he didn't feel like sinking through the floor in embarrassment.

Even though Sam was trying not to look at Nick he could still feel the other man staring at him. Or rather, trying to look through him. He had never met anyone who had that particular ability and he found himself squirming under the intense gaze he could feel even if he could not see.

"What?" Sam asked again, doubting he would ever get a real answer from him.

"What?" Nick asked back. Sam let himself glance back at the other man to find a small smile on his face.

"What?"

Nick laughed outright.

"Do I really have to ask again?" Sam asked, unsure what to say. He did not understand his host at all and he was beginning to wonder if he was making fun of him in some way.

"It's nothing. Just thinking about our serendipitous meeting." Nick took a sip of his own coffee, still staring at Sam. Was there ever a time that he was not staring at him? He couldn't think of a time since they had met officially. It was one thing that the Nick that had taken up residence in his mind had never done and for some reason the comparison unnerved him.

"Serendipitous, huh?" Sam asked. "How so?"

"Like you said, you recognized me from Jessica's funeral. I recognized you too. It's serendipitous that we meet again so soon." For the first time, Nick looked away in favor of looking into his coffee, smirk still in place. For some reason that made things inside of him squirm. He tried to ignore it.

"I don't know, I don't live very far away from your bar. We would have met at some point in time."

"Well, it doesn't hurt that you are the Jolly Green Giant. It would be pretty hard to miss you."

Sam nodded his head in agreement. How often had Dean told him that he would be impossible to lose, even if he tried? Brotherly joking aside, he knew that his size alone made him noticeable. He couldn't help but wish that there had been some other feature, any other feature, that had caught Nick's attention. That thought lead to wondering if he ever thought of him the way Sam did. Did he run around Nick's mind the way he did his own?
"So, in short, you are just really happy that you have officially met the Jolly Green Giant in person. That's a nice way to be remembered."

"Well, I have to admit that it was a nice bonus."

"Meaning?"

Nick met his eyes again. "Meaning that it is nice to finally meet you..."

"Sam. Sam Winchester."

"Sam." Nick nodded in acknowledgment, raising his mug in cheers.

Hearing his name on Nick's lips sent a shiver up Sam's spine. It was at that moment that he realized that he was in trouble.