Gabriel looked away from Castiel's stern stare, sitting at the kitchen table with his hands in his laps as if he were a four-year-old being scolded for something they had done. Castiel sat across from him, finally letting out a sigh and rubbing at his temple, breaking out of the thought he seemed to be lost in before speaking.

"I'm not mad because you and Sam kissed," Castiel stated, catching Gabriel's attention and making him look at the older man with hope in his eyes, "I'm just...Gabe...we don't know how long you'll stay here, and..." Castiel trailed off, unable to find the right words to say.

"Sam knows it too, and we don't want either of you to be hurt," Dean said, catching their attention from where he stood at the doorway, slowly crossing over to sit beside Castiel, giving Gabriel an almost knowing look as Gabriel looked up, surprise flickering across his face before it fell into an expression of sadness.

He looked down, fiddling with his fingers so he didn't have to look at either of them, "Oh...I forgot," He mumbled, feeling tears beginning to prick the back of his eyes and fighting back a sniffle that threatened to approach, "It's just...easy to be happy here, I guess."

Dean and Castiel were silent for a moment, and when Gabriel looked up, he saw that Castiel was just as upset as he was, though it remained carefully veiled everywhere but his eyes, "I'm sorry...I would let you stay here if I could, but I know I'm not the first person you stayed with during all this mess, and..." Castiel stopped talking, but Gabriel didn't have to hear the rest to know what he was saying. Given his luck, he was aware that Castiel's house was probably not the last home he'd be stuck in before it was all over.

"I know," Gabriel finally answered, not bothering to hide that he was beginning to cry, pushing his seat back and standing up. He wiped his eyes, padding out of the kitchen towards his room, where he curled on the bed and wallowed in self-misery. The apple scent that he learned was Sam's smell made his stomach twist with guilt, knowing that he would do nothing but hurt the boy if he continued with what he was doing.

He heard the door open and curled closer into himself on the bed, wishing whoever it was would just go away. The bed dipped slightly as the person sat down, and he felt a warm hand on his shoulder, squeezing in comfort.

"Look," He heard Dean say, his body tensing slightly, "I know we don't ever really talk beyond insulting each other, but I want to be honest here. You've gotten my brother out of his grumpy teenager funk. He's happier after he's been around you, and I'll kill you if you ever mention this to anyone else, but I like seeing him smile."

Gabriel sniffed, his fingers clutching tightly to the sheet beneath his chin as he slowly glanced up, seeing Dean looking at him with an expression he couldn't ever hope to understand, "What are you saying?" Gabriel asked, unable to stop the hope that crept into his voice.

"I know Cas doesn't want either of you to get hurt, but I'd rather the both of you be happy while you can. It's seriously too late now to just be 'friends,'" Dean replied, giving him a slight smirk that had Gabriel narrowing his eyes at the man. Still, it didn't stop the quirk of his lips forming into a smile.

"Thanks, Dean," Gabriel stated honestly, his mind formulating a plan for next week, "You know, I always thought Cas was the girl of the relationship, but you'd make a much better girl than he would."

Gabriel could feel the disgust of his words radiating off of Dean behind him, making him laugh when the man shoved him off the bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That Wednesday, Gabriel intercepted Sam after Crowley gave up teaching for the day, grabbing the back of Sam's jacket and tugging gently in an excitement he couldn't hope to contain. Sam looked back at him, confusion and caution in his eyes as he met the excited boy's gaze. He had been wary of Gabriel ever since the kiss, and although it hurt Gabriel, he wouldn't hold it against Sam.

"Do you want to go on a date?" Gabriel asked, tipping his head with a slight smile. Sam turned red, looking anywhere but Gabriel and letting out a shaky scoff.

"No," Sam growled, turning back to the front. Gabriel frowned, but he reached forward, tugging on Sam's jacket again until he turned around, giving him a slightly teasing smile.

"What if we hang out at the same place, same time, and make out, but it's not a date?" Gabriel countered, and he didn't miss the small twitch of Sam's lips as he struggled not to smile. Sam shook his head, though, remaining stubborn.

"No."

"What if I blackmail you?" Gabriel poked, smirking when Sam's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "I'll tell Crowley about what we did the other night."

"You wouldn't," Sam countered, his shoulders tensing at the very thought. Gabriel knew how much Crowley liked to drive Sam up the wall, and this would only add fuel to that fire.

Instead of answering Sam, Gabriel perked up so he could see Crowley, a smirk on his face, "Crowley! The other night, Sam and I k-" Gabriel began to say, only to stop when Sam's hand slapped over his mouth, his face bright red.

"Okay, okay, I'll go," Sam growled in embarrassment, his hair hiding his eyes from the curious stares of the other students, and making Gabriel laugh.

Crowley watched the both of them with an unreadable from his desk, rolling his eyes when Gabriel pet Sam's hair, only to get smacked on the back of the head by the embarrassed teenager.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gabriel sat in the booth, his legs tangled with Sam's as the taller teen finished off the last of his food, a smile on his face that had Gabriel's chest warming and spreading through his limbs. Sam had been grumpy at first, complaining how much he hated Ruby Tuesday's, but he seemed to be enjoying the meal now, even laughing when Gabriel had drained Sam's drink as soon as the waitress turned her back from filling it up, shocking her when she came back from filling Gabriel's up.

The waitress set down the ticket, a smile on her face as Gabriel looked up at her with a polite smile of his own. As she walked away, he pulled the black folder towards him, opening and pulling out the ticket and sliding his card back into the wallet. He signed his name, sliding the receipt into the paper and slipping the copy into his wallet.

Sam's brows furrowed and he pulled the paper towards him, looking down at it with a slight frown, "Gabriel...Lowell? Did you use a fake last name for your card?" Sam asked, making Gabriel jerk a little at the thought, looking at the receipt with wide eyes. He hadn't even realized that he had written the wrong name.

"Uh, no. I was just thinking of something and put the wrong last name, I guess," Gabriel stammered out, pulling the receipt back towards him and scribbling out the last name, putting 'Novak' instead. Sam was staring at him funny, but Gabriel was standing and grabbing his hand before he could say anything, pulling him towards the exit.

"Come on. Let's go to the Sioux Falls park," Gabriel chirped, squeezing Sam's a bit tighter than necessary, but Sam didn't seem to mind, a thoughtful expression on his face as they crossed the street, heading down the sidewalk towards the park that laid beyond.

The park had to be one of the prettiest things about the town, soft grass with rocks perched on top of each other, barely disrupted by the small sidewalks that weaved almost artistically around the landscape, leading to the large waterfall that stood proud, falling the short distance to the small river below it.

Sam didn't seem as impressed with it as Gabriel, but he didn't care as he grabbed Sam's hand, dragging him to the path that led right next to the bottom and staring at it with wide eyes, a smile crossing his face as the water sprayed up just a little, barely brushing him with tiny, almost indetectable droplets.

"I take it you've never seen a waterfall up close before," Sam commented, a small smile on his face when Gabriel turned to look at him. Gabriel shook his head, his chest swelling with warmth as he pulled Sam into a hug, burying his face in Sam's chest and holding on tightly.

"Thank you for coming with me," Gabriel said, his voice muffled by Sam's clothes. Sam understood, though, if the way he hugged him back was any way to go by.