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If you're not reading this on AO3 it has been stolen.
‘So then he called me, and just screamed “close encounter, close encounter” into the phone over and over.’
Gabriel chokes on his coffee and promptly has a coughing fit. When he can breathe again, he looks up to stare at the guy who’s just walked into the lecture hall and sat down in front of him.
His soulmate.
Just like that.
Gabriel reaches out to tap the guy on the shoulder, and suddenly realizes he has nothing to say. “Hi, I’m Gabriel” really isn’t going to cut it. Not after that.
But the guy is turning around to look at him now, and he has to say something.
Gabriel frantically grabs his pen and writes a note on his paper. Asking to borrow a pen.
His soulmate looks confused and Gabriel realizes he just wrote said note using a pen and that this is therefore not a very good excuse.
He decides to completely embarrass himself while he’s already on a roll. Beat the universe at its own game.
Well, actually I kinda just wanted your number.
The guy looks extra confused now.
Gabriel can feel his face turning red and tries for a winning smile, but he’s pretty sure it failed horribly. The friend who Gabriel’s soulmate was telling that obviously awesome story to is looking at him pityingly.
Gabriel’s soulmate opens his mouth to say something but is cut off by the lecturer finally arriving and immediately yelling at the class to shut up. The kid looks away from Gabriel, and opens his book and starts writing.
Gabriel’s shoulders drop and he looks down at his desk, trying not to let his disappointment show on his face.
There goes his chance.
His one chance at happiness. His one chance for his true love to not think that he’s a complete moron. His one chance at getting some of that gorgeous-
Gabriel's internal diatribe is interrupted when scrunched up ball of paper bounces off his head and rolls onto the table.
Blinking, he unfolds it.
There’s a number written on it. And the words Coffee later?
By the end of class he still hasn’t thought of anything to say. Which is a problem, because now his soulmate is turning around, holding a hand out and saying, ‘I’m Sam,’ and Gabriel feels like even more of a moron, because how the hell is he going to keep this up?
Gabriel somehow manages to write his name with his left hand while using his right to shake Sam’s hand. He holds the paper out to Sam, who reads it, his mouth silently forming the word “Gabriel”.
Gabriel's pretty sure this will hurt him in the long run. But it's hard to think about silly things like plans when that sunbeam smile is aimed at him.
They walk to the end of the row, Sam chatting about his favourite coffee shop on campus, which is where they’re apparently going. Gabriel is just thinking how nice it is that his soulmate is only two inches taller than him despite being so much broader in the shoulders. And then they reach the end of the row and Sam climbs up the stair between them so that he’s on the same floor tier as Gabriel.
Oh.
That’s not fair.
That’s really not fair.
Gabriel has to force his mouth shut to avoid saying something dumb like “you’re tall” because of all the First Words he could possibly say to Sam, ones he probably hears every day would be the worst. Sam wouldn't even believe Gabriel was his soulmate.
His mind is still racing as they’re crossing the campus courtyard five minutes later. There has to be something cool he can say. Something that won’t make him look like even more of an idiot.
‘So, if you don’t mind me asking, is it just a cold or something, or have you taken a vow of silence, or is something…’ Sam doesn’t seem to know how to politely finish the sentence, and trails off awkwardly instead.
At least Gabriel isn’t the only one feeling out of his depth. Though this is also entirely his fault, so that’s hardly a good thing.
Vow of silence, he writes on the paper, which is getting a little full. He’s going to have to work on writing legibly while walking unless he finds a way out of this soon. He's not even technically lying to Sam, even if he'd rather not have to explain further.
‘Ah, I see,’ Sam nods. ‘Is it religious, or are you protesting something?’
Oh crap. Now Sam thinks Gabriel is some activist guy who cares about stuff and gets involved rather than sitting around in his boxers reading Weekly World News. This kid is in for a world of disappointment, as soon as Gabriel figures out how to sweep him off his feet in one sentence.
His mind goes blank.
Sam looks confused. Again.
This is not working out as planned.
Gabriel digs through his bag for more paper, buying himself time. When he stops stalling and stands back up, he decides to go for something as close to the truth as possible.
It’s actually for a bet. Stupid, I know, but I have my pride. It still wasn’t quite a lie. He was betting himself that he would say awesome First Words to Sam, after all.
Sam nods, sagely, as if he understands the situation perfectly. Which he doesn't. Because that would require Gabriel to approach the situation with a degree of sensibility. They turn a corner and suddenly Gabriel knows where Sam’s taking them.
He has to bite his tongue to stop himself from making an overexcited exclamation.
“I know this place” would not be acceptable First Words either.
He does write it down to show Sam, though, and the taller boy smiles, and holds the door open for Gabriel.
The universe really screwed Sam when assigning soulmates. Someone upstairs must hate the poor kid.
Castiel is behind the counter in the tiny shop, which just complicates things. After all, Cas knew Gabriel hadn’t taken a vow of silence three hours ago when he left the house, and it had been almost two and a half hours since he met Sam, which left only a thirty-five minute window in which he could have gotten into a situation which required him to become voluntarily mute.
Maybe Castiel wouldn’t give the game away.
‘Gabriel. I thought we agreed you wouldn't bother me at work?’
There goes that plan. Gabriel shrugs as theatrically as possible, still hoping to dissuade Cas from outing him.
Sam is apparently ordering for him, though, which Gabriel assumes to mean he’s paying. Or maybe he's just trying to be helpful about the Vow of Silence thing.
‘I’ll have a venti caramel frappucino and my friend here will have a, uh,’
Sam is apparently only realizing now that this might have required forethought, but that’s okay, because Gabriel just waggles his eyebrows at Castiel in the way he knows his brother finds irritating.
‘The usual, I presume?’ Castiel asks. He doesn't react to the eyebrows. That dork and his professional poker face.
Gabriel nods.
Gabriel is trying to write down an argument that’ll properly convince Sam that “venti caramel frappucino” is the perfect nickname for him when Castiel brings the coffee over.
Sam takes one sip of the drink and scrunches his face up.
The kid is kind enough to wait patiently until Gabriel is finished with his notes. Another point in Sam's favour. This kid was far too good for Gabriel. And he was just proving it by keeping up the stupid lie instead of just talking to Sam. Guiltily, Gabriel writes as fast as he can without deteriorating into illegible scrawl.Did Cas use salt instead of sugar? He did that once to someone I brought here, but he was provoked, so there’s no reason for it now. I can go boss him into making another one if you want. Big brother privilege.
Sam shakes his head, looking sheepish. ‘I don’t usually order stuff like this. Too sweet. My brother made me promise I’d try it though.’
Gabriel wonders whether he can laugh, or if that would show up on Sam’s arm somehow, probably as some weird indecipherable mess. He doesn’t think it would, but it’s probably best not to risk it. He smiles instead and swaps drinks with Sam, because Castiel has given him an unsweetened cappuccino instead of a mocha. They’ll be having words later about his brother’s tendency to try to police Gabriel’s health, though in this case it seems to have worked out in his favour.
Twenty minutes later Gabriel is walking Sam to his next class and suddenly aware of why he never drinks anything that from a cup that big. It’s really hard to pretend to be mute while on a sugar high, and he almost shouts every time a bird crosses their path. Which is quite a lot. They freeze in their tracks to let the beast Gabriel has dubbed Lucifer the Scrub Turkey (there is a story, but not one he tells by daylight) pass them and when it's once again safe to move, Sam turns to face Gabriel.
‘This is it,’ Sam is saying, and Gabriel isn’t pouting, he’s too mature for that, he’s just a little disappointed it was such a short walk.
‘Would you like to meet up again before the lecture tomorrow? I mean, if we both get coffee there anyway we might as well go together, and we could walk to class after. If you want,’ Sam is rambling, and it’s a weight off Gabriel’s heart. Sam wants to spend more time with him. Even without knowing about the soulmate thing. He must have made a good impression.
He’s nodding, almost frantically, and his internal monologue is telling him to tone it down a notch before he scares Sam off. But Sam’s eyes are dancing and his grin as he walks into class with one final wave is infectious.
The kid is officially hooked. Now Gabriel just has to think of Words awesome enough to reel him in.
Five hours of brainstorming later, Gabriel still has nothing.
He has ruled out sonnets though, after much deliberation. That might be a bit much. He's not sure the entire thing would be transcribed onto Sam's hand. Also poetry isn’t his strong point.
In a fit of despair, Gabriel wonders if he should just try to get a look at Sam’s words tomorrow.
No. That would be cheating; not to mention really boring.
Gabriel sighs and scowls at his ceiling. There’s a moth on the light directly over his head, and he throws his scrunched up paper at it.
The moth falls and lands in Gabriel's mouth. Spluttering, he flails wildly and falls off the bed.
Castiel isn’t working the next morning, thankfully. He doesn’t need his younger brother’s judgmental attitude while Sam's here. There has to be something cool he can say. Something that won’t make him look like even more of an idiot. Cas, being a spoilsport who believes he Knows What’s Best for Gabriel, would probably take it upon himself to inform Sam of the truth, and Gabriel doesn’t need that. He's not sure how he managed to let the truth of the situation slip to Cas, but it doesn't matter now.
Cas’ co-worker, whose name Gabriel has yet to learn, does not attempt to alter his order, which Gabriel is silently thankful for, given his current problem with effective communication.
To Gabriel’s (barely) wordless horror, Sam orders a triple espresso and doesn't sweeten it.
The kid is hardcore.
Gabriel considers saying that to Sam, but decides against it. Still not quite right. He'll keep it in mind though. It's far from the worst he's heard. Poor Balthazar's soulmate still hasn't forgiven him for loudly telling a joke in a crowded room that ended with the words "menage à... What's the French word for twelve?".
Belatedly, the notion strikes him that he had known what his soulmate’s First Words to him would be since he was old enough to read them, and he really should have started planning this earlier.
By the end of their second date, Gabriel is no closer to finding something to say to Sam.
Luckily, Sam isn't in Gabriel's tutorial group, otherwise there would be no way of getting out of the taller student hearing him talk. A voluntarily mute student without a very convincing reason wouldn’t be terribly likely to pass, after all. But with Sam three rooms away, Gabriel is free to argue to his heart’s content about constitutional law, almost getting into a screaming match with Crowley until he thinks better of it.
And then comes the day their classes are joined.
It’s been five weeks since Gabriel met Sam, and at this point he thinks he’s just going to go without speaking to his soulmate for the rest of eternity.
Maybe he sleep talks.
Gabriel writes a reminder to himself to record himself sleeping just in case, and almost misses the announcement.
Sam’s tutor is absent, so Gabriel’s class ends up packed with thirty additional students, which is great fun.
By the end of the class three separate people, including the tutor, have asked Gabriel for input and been dissuaded by his vague gesturing at his throat as if he has a cold.
It's not enough to put off the confrontation with Sam. After class ends he corners Gabriel.
‘So, it’s just a vow of silence around me, huh? Why, Gabriel?’
His options here are to squeak out ‘I’m sorry,’ or to write something down, but Sam knocks the paper out of his hands.
‘No. It’s been a month. You’re talking around everyone but me, I've seen you with Cas, you abruptly shut up when you caught sight of me and he rolled his eyes, and none of your friends have any idea what this "vow of silence" is about. So, what, it's just some running joke? Why, Gabriel, just tell me?’
Gabriel just can’t. It’s too stupid.
So he runs.
He doesn’t look at the road first.
The car is thankfully travelling at a low speed, but the impact sends Gabriel flying.
As his head bounces off the bitumen with a crack he can hear Sam shouting at him, but he can’t hold on to the words.
‘...Venti caramel frapppucino,’ Gabriel can hear himself moaning when he comes to. Apparently he does sleep talk. The dream he'd had of his first date with Sam fades and Gabriel opens his eyes for a second only to feel the bright halogens stab into them like needles. It feels like he’d been dunked in gasoline and set on fire. Worst hangover of his life.
‘Ow, ow, ow.’
From somewhere near Gabriel’s feet he hears the sound of suppressed laughter, then outright giggling. Well, that’s just rude. He opens his eyes, ignoring the bright flare of pain from the too-powerful lighting in the room, half a mind to yell at this person.
The person turns out to be Sam’s brother Dean, who Gabriel has seen photos of but never met.
Gabriel blinks. If Dean is here…
He turns his head to stare, wide eyed, at Sam sitting in the chair by his bedside. The kid is holding his own wrist in his hand, sleeve pushed up, staring at Gabriel.
Gabriel’s earlier words come back to him.
‘Oh no. Oh no, no, no, I didn't really just say that, after all these weeks, that’s not fair.’
Dean is laughing so hard he has to leave the room, almost doubled over.
Gabriel, ignoring the pain, covers his eyes and tries not to cry into them.
‘All those weeks of being mute, and that’s what I came up with?’
Sam snickers. Ungracious brat.
‘That was a totally stupid reason to not talk. What if I’d dumped you so I could wait to meet my soulmate?’
Gabriel glares at him through his fingers.
‘Besides, if you’d asked me, I could have told you it wasn’t going to be anything historic, or awesome. Idiot.’
He offers his arm so Gabriel can get a proper look at the words written there.
“Gonna call you my venti caramel frappucino.”
For fuck’s sake. If Gabriel's head wasn't already cracked open he'd want to hit it on something.
There are voices in the hallway that sound a lot like his brothers and Dean. Apparently the story is being spread already.
‘Don’t worry,’ Sam says brightly. ‘You already got run over and exposed as a world class idiot. The day isn’t getting any worse.’
Gabriel whimpers. A thought pops into his head.
'Hang on. Our first date, Dean didn't really tell you to get that ridiculous drink, did he?'
Sam grins. 'Nope. I was trying to provoke you into saying it. Do you have any idea how annoying it was when you wrote down the exact words on my arm instead of saying them out loud? I was so freaking confused, Gabe, for a whole month. You owe me coffee for the rest of our lives.'
Gabriel isn't really sure what to say. This entire situation is his fault. If he'd just said something to Sam when they first met, or even by the end of the first date, he'd be happy right now and not lying in hospital with his brand new soulmate, too injured to even hold his freaking hand.
At least he didn't have to worry about accidentally saying something stupid to Sam anymore. Though given his history he's sure it's a given anyway.
If you're not reading this on AO3 it has been stolen.