Chapter Text
“Dean, I’m not a little kid anymore. It’s not going to hurt to let me stay home alone,” Sam said.
“Not an option. You know what Dad did last time I left you alone,” Dean said. He crossed his arms over his chest and glanced up at the ancient clock on the wall. “Come on, Sammy. We’re going to be late.
“I don’t want to go on your date!”
Dean frowned. “It’s not a date. Cas promised to help me study for my algebra test.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Study,” he said under his breath.
“If you don’t get in the car in the nest five minutes, I’m going to drag you out of the house.”
Sam glared up at his older brother defiantly, but Dean returned the glare without batting an eye. “Fine!” Sam said. “But we better be back by six. I don’t want to stay longer than I have to.”
“Sure, whatever. Let’s go,” Dean said. Sam grabbed a book off his night stand and reluctantly followed Dean out the door.
Calling the Novak house big would be like calling the ocean a little wet. It was one of the biggest houses in Lawrence. The head of the Novak household, Chuck Novak, was some kind of writer, and even though Sam had never read any of his books, they must’ve been successful somewhere. The perfectly manicured front yard was bigger than the Winchester’s entire property. Dean didn’t seem to have a problem walking into the immaculate household, but Sam felt more than a little out of place. Like if he touched something or stepped in the wrong place the entire house would fall down around him. “I’m going to stay in the car,” Sam said when Dean parked the Impala.
“Kinda defeats the purpose of bringing you here, doesn’t it?” Dean said as he took the keys out of the ignition and slipped them into his pocket. “You’re coming inside.”
“I don’t want to. None of the Novaks like me. Just let me sit out here and read. You’ve already dragged me this far.”
Dean sighed and looked up at the house. “No,” he said. “You can make some friends. There are plenty of kids to talk to. Now come on.” He didn’t wait for Sam’s reply; he climbed out of the car, but he made sure Sam was following him before he walked up to the front door.
The Novak’s front porch was bigger than the Winchester’s living room and bedrooms combined. Dean walked up to the front door like he owned the place and knocked, loudly, three times. The door opened a few seconds later, and a middle aged woman peeked out of the crack. Sam remembered her from the few times Dean had dragged him over before, but he couldn’t recall her name for his life. Luckily, Dean did. “Hello Becky. Is Cas home?” he asked in the polite tone he reserved for grown-ups.
Becky grinned and held the door open for them. “Of course he is. He’s been talking about you since he got home. He told me not to embarrass him. Can you believe it? Like I could ever embarrass him,” she said with an exaggerated eye roll. “Come on in.” Dean thanked her and walked into the house, but when Sam tried to follow him Becky practically attacked him. “Sam! Good to see you too!” she said as she grabbed Sam and wrapped him in a hug.
Sam stiffened, but Becky hugged him until she was content. “Good to see you too, Mrs. Novak,” Sam said when he could breathe again.
“Oh, don’t call me that, it makes me feel so old!” Becky said. “Are you growing again? I swear, every time I see you you’re an inch taller. You might pass Dean someday.”
Dean chuckled. “He can dream. We better get going, Becky. Cas was expecting me half an hour ago.”
Despite the teasing, Sam silently thanked Dean. He’d rather sit in the hallway than talk to Becky any day. “Of course, of course,” Becky said. “If you need anything just call. You remember where Castiel’s bedroom is?”
“Upstairs, third door on the left,” Dean said.
Becky smiled. “Study hard!” she said, then she made a shooing motion toward them. Dean took off for the stairs, leaving Sam to follow as quickly as he could.
By the time Sam reached the top of the stairs, Dean was already knocking on Castiel’s door. The door swung inward, and Castiel stepped out into the hallway. He looked the same as he always did: messy black hair, over-sized hoodie, and slightly tired smile. “Dean,” he said. His voice was always a little husky, like he’d just woken up from a long nap. “And Sam. Hello.”
“Hey Cas,” Dean said with a smile of his own. Sam just waved.
“Come in,” Castiel said.
“This shouldn’t take more than an hour or so,” Dean said before he disappeared into Castiel’s room.
Castiel nodded. “Feel free to look around,” he said. “It was nice to see you again, Sam.”
“Nice to see you too, Castiel,” Sam said. Castiel smiled again, and shut the door behind himself. Sam sighed and took a seat on the floor with his back to the wall opposite of Castiel’s room. He cracked open his book and started to read.
Sam only read two pages before he heard another door open. He looked up, only to see an unfamiliar boy. He definitely had some of the Novak features, blonde hair and green-gold eyes, but Sam couldn’t put a name to the face. “Woah,” the boy said when he spotted Sam. “Who’re you?”
“Sam Winchester,” Sam said. “I’m Castiel’s friend’s brother.”
“Okay, Castiel’s friend’s brother, what are you doing in the middle of the hallway?”
“Dean and Castiel are studying in Castiel’s room, so I’m reading while I wait for them to finish.”
“Wait, Dean Winchester? Cassie’s boyfriend?” the boy asked.
“I-I don’t think they’re dating.”
“Pretty damn close,” the boy said with a grin. When he smiled it made his entire face light up. “I’m Gabriel, by the way. Second oldest Novak kid.” He held a hand out to Sam, and Sam shook it. “So, if Cassie and your brother are in there, why are you sitting out here? I’m sure you have free reign of the house. Cassie isn’t that rude.”
“I, uh, don’t mind sitting out here,” Sam said. He gripped his book a little tighter. “It’s usually pretty quiet, so I can read.”
“Oh my god. Just what this house needs. Another nerd,” Gabriel said. “Well, if you’re intent on reading, at least you can be comfortable while you do it. I’m about to head out, so you could use my room if you want to. It’s pretty quiet, and I have an awesome beanbag,” Gabriel said. He looked down at Sam’s face and sighed before Sam could say a word. “Wait, let me guess. You’re too polite to say yes. Bull. Come on, I’m not going to let you go home thinking all of the Novaks are rude.” Gabriel held out his hand to help him up, and Sam reluctantly took it. When Sam was on his feet, Gabriel walked back into his room. Sam bit his lip, but followed.
Gabriel’s room was easily three times the size of Sam’s, but the size didn’t make it intimidating. The room was filled with seemingly-random bits of junk: a plastic yellow horn here, a collection of candy wrappers there, and the walls were plastered with posters. Sam didn’t recognize most of the names or designs, a lot of them sounded like obscure rock bands, but there were a few old movie posters he managed to place. “Beanbag’s right here. Make yourself comfortable. There’s a few books on the shelf over there, but,” Gabriel paused to smirk at the cover of Sam’s book, “I don’t think you’d be interested in them. They’re probably too fun for you, Mr. Future Lawyer.”
Sam’s cheeks turned pink. “Thanks,” he said.
“No problem, kiddo. I’ll be back in a few hour, but you’ll probably be gone by then. Don’t dig around in my underwear drawer,” Gabriel said. Sam’s face was starting to steer toward red, but Gabriel just winked and slipped out the door.
An hour passed, and it was getting increasingly harder and harder for Sam’s to focus on his dry book. It seemed like everything in the room was vying for his attention, but the thing he wanted to examine the most was a huge, dark bookshelf without an inch of empty space left on any of the shelves. Finally, he couldn’t resist anymore, so he carefully marked his page, set his book aside, and walked over to the massive piece of furniture.
At the first glance the shelves looked like they’d been filled without giving a thought to order, but if you looked a little closer you could see a method to the madness. The bottom shelf was devoted to hundreds upon hundred of movies. A few were stacked vertically, but the vast majority were stacked atop one another horizontally. There were too many movies to watch in a lifetime. The next shelf held a music collection that could rival most music stores. Many of the albums and CDs, like the movies, were stacked horizontally, but a few CD cases on the ends were vertical. The topmost shelf actually held a few books. Unlike the movies and music, the books were only over a few subjects. Sam spotted a few on pranking, and, strangely, almost a dozen on myths and weird legends. The shelves were dusty, but the books looked well loved. He was about to pull one of them down to leaf through it when he heard footsteps in the hallway. He was back in the beanbag chair in seconds.
Sam wasn’t interested in snooping after his scare, so he tried to bury himself in laws and loopholes to pass the time. Instead, he ended up dozing off. He didn’t even notice Gabriel come back into the room until he started to talk. “Are you still here?” he asked.
Sam jerked awake. “W-what?” he said.
“I was just surprised you were still here,” Gabriel said.
“I can leave-”
“No, you’re fine. I just thought you’d be home by now. It’s,” Gabriel looked down at his dark blue watch, “almost six forty-five.”
“It doesn’t usually take this long,” Sam said. He did his best to muffle a yawn.
“I’d hope not. I already felt bad for you,” Gabriel said. He shrugged off his artfully-ripped jacket and tossed it over something that resembled a chair. Sam couldn’t tell what it was for sure, because it was completely covered in clothes. “Doesn’t this bother you?”
Sam shrugged. “I’m getting used to it.”
“I live here, and I’m not used to it,” Gabriel said. He sat on the end of his unmade bed and tucked his bare feet under the sheets.
Sam shrugged again. He wasn’t sure what Gabriel wanted him to say. “I can’t do anything about it.”
“Aren’t you old enough to stay home alone? What are you? Fifteen?”
Sam nodded. “Dad doesn’t like us to stay home alone, and Dean doesn’t like to disobey him.”
“Kinda sounds like a dick,” Gabriel said. “No offense.” Sam had to smile; he’d hit the nail on the head. Gabriel smiled back until he saw the book in Sam’s hands. “Are you still reading that? Oh my god. I’m two years older than you, and I think I’d kill myself if I had to touch it. What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Sam said. “I want to have a good job someday.”
“I couldn’t stand having a job that boring. I’ll probably travel or work on radio show or something. I couldn’t work somewhere where you do the same thing every day,” Gabriel said.
Sam nodded. He couldn’t picture Gabriel behind a desk with a suit and tie, anyway. “But you don’t know what you’re going to do for sure?”
“Nah. Why decide now? I have the rest of my life to figure out how I’m going to eat and pay bills. I’m just going to mooch of my parents for now. What about you? Why a lawyer?” Gabriel asked. Sam shrugged. He was getting tired of shrugging, but it was easier to shrug than it was to talk. “Come on,” Gabriel said. “There has to be-”
“Sam!” Dean called from the hallway. “Sam? Where are you? We have to go!”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Now he wants to leave,” he said.
Sam smiled. “Thanks for letting me into your room.”
“No problem. Feel free to come in here even when I’m not home. I can’t stand the thought of you sitting in the hallway when I have a perfectly good beanbag in here.”
“Thanks,” Sam said again. Gabriel just chuckled at him and motioned toward the door. Sam slipped out as quietly as he could, but Dean heard Gabriel’d bedroom door shut behind him.
“Where have you been?” Dean asked.
“In Gabriel’s room. He’s Castiel’s older brother. He offered me a beanbag so I wouldn’t have to sit on the floor,” Sam said. Dean looked at him suspiciously, but he couldn’t say anything; he’d spent the last few hours in a boy’s room too.
“Come on,” Dean said. “Dad’s going to be home any minute.”