Hear Both Sides | NC17 | 2.5/4
Part Five
Sam gave a jaw popping yawn as he sat on the end of Janey's bed, text book on the bed in front of him and a well used and tatty-edged notebook that looked to be almost dripping with black and highlighter pink ink - Janey claiming the blue highlight pen and giving Sam the pink one as he was more effeminate of the two of them - perched on his knee.
"Dunno about you, but I think all this information is no longer sinking in. I think it's time for a break before we get back into it. Plus, I really need coffee round about now," Janey grumbled, yawning and stretching. She gave a satisfied sigh when he back popped, the noise making Sam cringe a little. Sam just stared blankly at the book in front of him for a few seconds longer before admitting defeat and slamming it shut.
"I agree. Coffee is definitely needed if we're going to stay awake long enough to pull an all nighter. I think Connors is trying to kill us off via the medium of too much study, just so that he won't have to grade all the papers and finals," Sam muttered, wincing as his knee caps clicked when he stood up from the bed.
"You might have a point there, but at least this is the last one and then you can move out of the frontline and mooch off your lovers and I can sleep until next year starts. When are you planning on going back to your room, by the way? I mean, you've been sleeping on my floor for the last week and from what you told me, you've either been sleeping at Crowley's house or on Jess' floor. Seriously, when do you ever go to your room?" Sam groaned and shook his head as he followed Janey out of the room so they could go raid the student refectory for whatever caffeine they had available.
"Ugh, I'd rather not talk about it. I don't think I've actually stayed there now since two weeks after spring break. It's really not the nicest of environments to be living in. No joke, he actually flinched when I accidentally brushed against him. So I tend to wait until I know he's not going to be in, grab whatever I'll need for the day or the next couple of days and then either camp out on yours or Jess' floor, or if it's the weekend, then I just go to Crowley and Gabriel's. Which really isn't a hardship at all," Sam added with a smirk, dodging out the way of Janey's fist.
"That reminds me! You really need to tell me what you did over Spring Break! I swear, since you got back from wherever you went, you've been less blushing virgin and more phone sex operator. What happened to innocent little Sammy? I kinda miss him," Janey said with a tiny sigh. Sam snorted and mock glared at her, both dropping their bags into a booth before heading over to get their coffee.
"We should have gone to a diner," Sam grumbled, nose wrinkling as he was suddenly reminded of how nasty the coffee was there. He was still undecided if it was actually watered down gasoline. Certainly tasted like it could be. Probably unleaded.
"Gotta agree with you there. Wanna ditch this place and head to Lacey's round the corner?" Janey asked him. Sam glanced at the front of the queue they were in and then the coffee machine, before coming to this decision and nodding his head furiously.
"Definitely. Ooh, and Lacey loves me and always gives me extra bacon when I get it with pancakes. Let's go!" Sam said, heading back to grab their bags before making a hasty exit, Janey quick on his heels.
Once they arrived at Lacey's and sat in their usual booth, both going here so often that they now thought Lacey - who was a slightly dumpy, middle-aged woman with bright orange hair curly hair - had possibly adopted them as one of her many kids.
"Sam! Janey! How lovely to see you both! You two doing alright? School not dragging you down?" Lacey asked them, coming to take their order almost as soon as they had taken their seats. Sam grinned up at the woman and shook his head.
"Nah, we're good. Studying for our last exam tomorrow afternoon. Then we're free for the summer. We thought we'd come and get our caffeine fix from you before hitting the books again! How's Jim and Bill?" Sam asked, looking away to cast a quick glance at the menu before looking back up. From the corner of his eye he saw Janey smiling and shaking her head at him.
"Oh, you know Jim, he's still complaining about his knee. And Bill's doing fine as well, just coming to the end of final year at grad school. He's already gotten offers from a couple of newspapers. How about you? And you, Janey, you're bein' awfully quiet there," Lacey said, turning to smile warmly at Janey, who just beamed back.
"Ah, I figured I'd let Sam get all his nosiness out of the way before my natural beauty dazzled you into forgetting he was even there. But, since you asked, I'm doing great! Gonna be heading back home for the summer in a couple of days time and I really can't wait! I'm really missing my family," Janey admitted with a sheepish grin. Sam felt his own smile drop a little as he thought of his own family, before shaking his head. No use in thinking of them, if they'd needed or wanted him, then they knew how to get in touch.
"That's perfectly natural, honey! And I'm sure they're missing you something wicked as well. Now, before I get completely carried away with talking to you two, what do you want to order?" Lacey asked them, whipping out her notebook and pencil and looking at them both expectantly. Sam glanced at Janey, who motioned for him to go first as she quickly glanced over the menu.
"Can I have a coffee and a stack of pancakes with a side of bacon, please?" Sam asked, not really having needed to look over the menu given he has the same thing pretty much every time he went there. Plus, he was pretty used to diner food given that's what he was basically raised on.
"Okay, Sweetie. And for you, Janey?" Janey put the menu back in it's stand before looking up at Lacey with a wide smile.
"Coffee for me too, please! And can I have a cheeseburger with your special spicy fries? Thanks!" Janey asked. Lacey noted down the order and then flipped her notebook shut and put it back in her apron.
"That's great. I'll be over with your coffees in a minute, you know the food will follow pretty swiftly. I take it you two will be doing some studying in here too then?" Lacey asked them, nodding at their bags which they had both shoved a couple of books in, though neither one really wanted to make much of an effort to actually take them back out again.
"Yeah, we might as well. The change in scenery might boost our braincells or something," Sam said with a shrug, not sounding entirely enthused about the idea. Given Janey chose that moment to drop her head to the tabletop and groan loudly, she clearly shared his enthusiasm.
"Good job you wanna be a lawyer, not a doctor. I hate studying. It sucks," Janey bitched into the table, arms hanging by her sides loosely as she made no attempt to move. Lacey just smiled indulgently at them both and ruffled Janey's hair before moving as though to go back to the kitchen area.
"Well, you said it's your last one of the year, so you'll do fine, I'm sure. And once it's done, you get a nice long break. I'll make sure that you both have a steady stream of coffee sent your way for as long as you're in here. On the house," Lacey added before she bustled away before either one could try to change her mind about it.
"Free coffee. I've heard of worse things to study for. Hell, I can think of worse things I'd do for free coffee," Janey stated as she sat up from the table. Sam smirked as he noticed the red mark on her forehead and decided to not mention it, instead turning to pull out the book and his notebook that he'd been studying from.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again, I hate Connors. But for free coffee and bacon, I'll put up with the torture he's putting us through."
He and Janey somehow - though neither one truly could give an answer as to how - managed to get through their last final with pretty decent marks and no cheating on either end and Sam was now back in the room he shared with Brady - hopefully for the last year - looking at his stuff and wondering where to start packing.
He'd spent the night over at Janey's after their final, celebrating a summer of freedom and actually passing all their classes with top marks - well, Sam had top marks, Janey was comfortably resting around the middle of the class - and then he'd helped her pack her things before heading back to his own room.
Which was where he was now. He really didn't want to be, but he knew he had to pack his stuff up before taking it to Crowley and Gabriel's house. And really, he should probably text one of them to ask if they could pick him up. And possibly find out just what they had planned for the summer.
Sighing loudly and dragging a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more than usual, and he dropped to his knees and crawled under his bed, dragging everything that had made it's way under there over the past year and finally pulling out the cardboard boxes that he'd unpacked his belongings from at the beginning of the year. He'd fought to get those damn boxes, no way was he throwing them away. He then made up one of the boxes and sat down to sort out the crap he'd found under his bed. Though he quickly sent a text Crowley's way as an after thought.
He had been packing his stuff for about thirty minutes, and wondering just where the hell half of the stuff had come from and how his possessions seemed to have doubled in the space of nine months, when the door swung open and Brady walked in before freezing in the doorway when he noticed Sam sitting on his bed, sorting through his texts and folders.
"Oh, you're back. You finished for the year then?" Brady asked awkwardly as he took in the packed boxes and what remained for Sam to pack up. Sam just rolled his eyes, not looking up from the pile of books he was organising.
"Yep. Finished for the year and I'll be moving out today. Gonna be picked up in about an hour, so you'll have the room to yourself until you leave. You still got finals or are you finished too?" Sam asked politely, though he still didn't bother to actually look up at Brady, not entirely certain he'd be able to hold himself back from punching the guy in the face should he so much as sneer in his general direction.
"Eh, I've got two more exams until I'm finished for the year. Be heading back home for the summer in a few days time. So, where you gonna be for the summer? You going back home or staying here?" Brady asked him and Sam couldn't help but look up at him, almost certain that the confusion he was feeling was clear on his face because this was the most either had spoken to the other in the past two months. And Sam really hadn't been complaining about that. The less he heard about how Claire on the third floor was like a tiger in bed, the better he was. No one needed to know that much information about one girl's nether regions, least of all a gay man.
"Oh, I'm moving in with my partner and his housemate. For the summer at least. I'll be living in halls again next year, I think. Why'd you ask?" Sam couldn't resist enquiring, mentally grinning when Brady shuffled awkwardly where he was still standing in the doorway at the mention of Crowley. He was still suspicious about why Brady seemed to be so interested in what Sam would be doing that summer. Why would he care? He hadn't exactly made his animosity towards Sam a secret.
"Just wondered. You nearly finished packing then?" Brady asked him, finally moving into the room fully and moving to sit on his bed. Sam wondered absently if Brady was deliberately making the conversation as awkward as possible just to make Sam's final moments with him as painful as possible.
"Almost, just gotta pack up my books and clothes then I'll be out of your hair. Shouldn't take me too long," Sam added, going back to just shoving his books in his final box without bothering to sort them out anymore. The sooner he was done and out of there, the better. He could sort through the ones he wanted to keep and the ones he was gonna take into work, when he was at Crowley's.
"Oh, cool. I'm gonna just go over one of the texts I'll need for my exam tomorrow then, I won't bother you," Brady said, picking up a text as though to prove it, like Sam would think he was lying or something.
The fact that Sam did think Brady was lying because he hadn't ever seen the man crack open a book unless forced to in the two years he'd known the man, was another thing entirely. Sam just shrugged and got up from his bed, taping the box full of books shut and then moving to his wardrobe and pulling out his two large duffel bags that he would shove all his clothes in. He knew exactly where a good eighty percent of his clothes had come from in the past year or so.
Crowley really did have a problem with hand me downs and second hand clothing. He was still adamant that he'd caught fleas from the hoodie of Sam's that he'd burnt. Thankfully, Sam hadn't actually had any emotional attachment to the thing, but still, Sam did not have fleas. He had been kinda insulted at the mere suggestion. Well, he had been until Crowley and Gabriel had then taken him out shopping and bought him a whole new wardrobe and then some.
He definitely wasn't complaining then.
Though now, as he looked at the huge selection of clothes in his wardrobe that he needed to pack, he was beginning to rethink his position on complaining. Because, looking at it, it was going to take him ages, possibly longer than he had. Though, that would actually be quite amusing, for Crowley and/or Gabriel to meet Brady.
On second thoughts, maybe it wasn't the brightest idea. Sam had no idea what either of his partners would do to Brady, but he had an idea that it wouldn't be pleasant and probably wouldn't be legal either. So maybe not.
With that thought, Sam began to just drag his clothes out and shove them into his bags, not caring too much about folding the garments as he figured once he hung them up again in Crowley's wardrobe, then the creases would just fall out. Or at the very least, he could bribe Gabriel to iron them for him. The man would do anything for a bag of Jolly Ranchers. Snickering to himself and not really caring about what Brady might think he's thinking about, Sam carried on packing - or dumping his clothes in a higgledy-piggledy mishmash pile in his bag - and soon found that the seemingly never-ending pile of clothes had all been packed away.
Glancing at Brady and then at the small pile of boxes and his two bags, Sam gave a fleeting-thought to how he was going to shift the pile downstairs without having Brady meet his lovers, before just deciding he'd have to do it in more than one journey. And possibly leave the box of books until last.
With that decided, Sam checked his watch and saw he had fifteen minutes before he would be picked up, then grabbed both his bags and a box that seemed to be the lightest, and then headed for the door, somehow managing to finagle the door open one-handed and without dropping everything, and took his stuff down to the first floor main hallway. Of course, once he dropped the box and bags to the ground, he realised he hadn't quite thought things through as he'd now have to leave his belongings unattended so he could get the remaining two boxes.
"Bollocks," Sam muttered, looking at his things by his feet and nibbling at his bottom lip as he tried to think about what he was going to do now.
"Since when did you curse like a Brit?" Sam jumped as his thoughts were interrupted and turned to see Jess standing next to him, and older couple standing just behind her, looking like she'd just come in from putting her own things in her parents car. Well, Sam assumed the couple behind her were Jess' parents.
"Since Crowley. He's very influential," Sam told her with a sheepish grin, smiling over at the couple behind her and getting friendly smiles back.
"Oh! Right, sorry, this is my mom and dad! Mom, dad, this is Sam. He's in the year above me and kinda took me under his wing to show me the ropes to student life so to speak!" Jess introduced with a wide smile. Sam gave a polite nod and shook Jess' dad's hand when it was offered, before looking back to his bags and absently trying to think what to do. He didn't think anyone would steal his things, but he wasn't too sure he wanted to take the risk. "So what's made you curse?"
"Hmm? Oh, just realised that I need to leave these bags here so I can fetch the rest of my stuff before Crowley arrives to pick me up," Sam told her, running a hand through his hair before he glanced at his watch once more and realised he now only had five minutes tops before his life arrived.
"Ah, well I can wait here with them, if you want! Then you can grab your things and I'll get a chance to catch up with Crowley before I leave for summer! We're all happy that way!" Jess exclaimed, making Sam chuckle and glance at her parents as though to ask for permission to keep their daughter for a little longer.
"I can give you a hand with whatever you have left, if you'd like?" Jess' father offered, which made Sam stare at him in shock before he just smiled widely.
"That'd be great, thanks! I've only got two boxes I need to get, but they're pretty heavy, so I was just gonna get them one at a time. If you're sure you don't mind helping, then that'd be greatly appreciated! Thanks!" Sam said brightly, grinning at Jess before he turned to head back up the stairs to his floor, Jess's father following close behind him.
"So, Jess mentioned you a fair bit when she rang us to check in. I wanted to thank you for watching over her and making sure she was alright and safe. She's my only child and my little girl, so I was a bit worried for her. Stories about you helped to ease both mine and her mother's minds," Jess' father told him as they made their way to Sam's dorm room. Sam could feel a blush begin to cover his face.
"It really wasn't any trouble on my part. Jess is an awesome woman, and I get on with her really well! Amusingly, my roommate thought we were going out at first, but well, yeah, that was soon put to sorts," Sam told him with a small shrug. He really didn't want to go into why he and Jess hadn't been a couple seeing as they were apparently so compatible with one another. That was not a subject he wanted to discuss with the father of one of his friends.
"Oh, yes, I think Jess talked about it with us. Such a shame that your roommate couldn't accept your lifestyle and who you find yourself attracted to." Sam felt his face go bright red at Jess's father's words, and really, he should probably ask the man's name. He paused when he got to the door to his room and hoped that Brady would either be gone - even though Sam hadn't actually seen him leave, so he'd have had to have left out the window - or still involved in his studying.
"Yeah, well, not everyone agrees with that kind of thing and I can't expect to be accepted everywhere. Just wish it hadn't made things awkward for either of us. Ah well," Sam said, looking over his shoulder to smile at the man before opening the door and giving Brady a shaky smile as he walked into the room, grabbing the heaviest box and leaving the lighter one to Jess' father. Of course, as soon as the older man walked into the room, Brady sat up straight and gave him a strange look.
"Sam? Who… is this your um… you know?" Brady asked and Sam gave him a confused look before it dawned on him that Brady knew Sam was seeing an older man and apparently assumed that Jess' father was Crowley. Which was amusing, if you ignored the sheer humiliating factor of it all.
"Oh! No! This is, Jess' father! Um… sorry, I didn't actually get your name," Sam admitted with a sheepish grin as he turned to look at the man, who was watching the two roommates with a barely concealed amused look on his face.
"Sorry! Of course, I'm Neil! My wife's called Angela," Jess' father, Neil, told him with an equally sheepish look on his face, clearly having realised that he hadn't actually given the information up either. Sam just grinned at him and then turned back to Brady.
"Right! Neil, this is Brady, my roommate," Sam finished his introduction with a small, half-hearted wave towards Brady, who looked far more relaxed now that he knew Neil wasn't Sam's partner and was married, so he wasn't gay either. Though technically, Sam supposed, the man could just be in denial. Sam glanced at him out the corner of his eye and shook his head, nope, straight as an arrow. "Anyway, Neil offered to help me with my boxes, so I guess this is it! Good luck with your last couple of exams and have a good summer!"
"Thanks, Sam. And yeah, you too! Maybe we can catch up if I come down during the summer, or something!" Brady told him with a wide smile that Sam didn't trust in the least. In fact, it downright disturbed him a little. Instead of doing or saying anything however, Sam just gave a small nod and shifted the box in his hands to get a better grip and waited for Neil to leave with the other box before following him out.
"So you're going to be staying here for the summer then?" Neil asked him as they made their way back down to Jess and possibly Crowley. He really hoped Crowley didn't do or say anything to scar Jess' mother too deeply. Though given just who Crowley was - or what Sam knew of him as least - then Sam knew he wouldn't be anything less than charming and polite.
"Yeah, I'll be moving in with Crowley and Gabriel. Crowley's my, um… my partner," Sam admitted quietly, thankful that he was walking behind Neil so he didn't have to see the man's expression and Neil wouldn't see the blush covering his face. Though Neil had seemed rather accepting of Sam's sexuality.
"You're not going home to your family then?"
"Um… I'm not really in touch with my family. We er… had a sort of disagreement before I came here and I sorta cut ties with them. Haven't actually spoken to either my dad or my brother since I left two years ago." The truth in Sam's words actually hurt a little as he realised just how long it had been since he'd last spoken to Dean about anything. In fact, he didn't even know if they were still alright. Given the thing they did, there was no knowing what might have happened. Though Sam hoped that someone would get in touch with him to let him know if something truly terrible had happened. He knew Bobby still had his number, and Dean too if he hadn't deleted it as soon as Sam had left.
"That's too bad! I'm glad that you seem to have found good friends here then! Can I ask… was it because of your um… well…" Sam frowned at Neil's stammered question before he realised what the man was - awkwardly - trying to ask him.
"Because I'm gay? No! I didn't actually come out until I met Crowley. So no, I don't even think they know about that part of my life. No we fell out because I didn't want to go into the family business and well, that wasn't acceptable I guess," Sam said, deciding the vague truth was still the truth. No hint of a lie there. Not really. Just no real details. He didn't think Neil would really accept Sam telling him that he was kicked out because he didn't want to salt and burn bodies in graveyards anymore.
"Well, that doesn't strike me as fair, but still, at least you got to do what you want to do, so that's something, right?" Neil said, and Sam snickered silently to himself at the man's seemingly unending optimism. It really was quite amusing.
"True. Oh, I think I hear Crowley speaking, he must have arrived. I hope he hasn't terrified your wife too much," Sam said when he heard the unmistakeable drawl of Crowley drifting up the stairs. He found that he couldn't get rid of the stupid grin on his face at the thought of seeing Crowley again. He felt like he hadn't seen the man for ages. Gabriel had occasionally popped up at wherever Sam happened to be hiding out, be it work, Janey's, the library or Jess' just to make sure that he was alright and not working himself into an early nervous breakdown or something. Crowley however, hadn't been able to meet up with him as his work was particularly heavy around that time. Sam still had no idea what the man did, nor would he ever ask to find out, but apparently it kept him very busy around summer and Christmas times.
"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's pretty tough skinned. Jess takes after her in that respect," Neil told him, laughing as he did so and making Sam chuckle behind him.
"In that case, she's probably getting on quite well with him then. Crowley loves Jess. I think he wants to adopt her though you didn't hear that from me," Sam said with a laugh. He followed Neil down the last flight of stairs and smiled widely when he finally caught sight of Crowley. His smile grew even wider when he noticed Gabriel standing next to Jess, clearly pestering her about something that he wasn't too sure he wanted to know about.
"Sammy! Took your time, didn't you? And you dragged Jess' poor dad into doing part of your dirty work for you! Shame on you, Sammy! Shame on you!" Gabriel mock scolded, just making Sam laugh at him and gratefully drop the box on the floor by his other stuff so that he could grab Gabriel into a hug.
"Shut up, Loki! And what have you been telling Jess and her mom? Nothing too embarrassing, I hope!" Sam said, narrowing his eyes when he looked down at Gabriel, who just smiled innocently at him. "You know that look just makes me more suspicious, right?"
"Trickster, leave Moose alone. Moose, come here!" Crowley grouched, which just got him a bright smile from Sam. Sam happily let go of Gabriel and bounded over to Crowley, probably looking like the puppy everyone claimed he was inside but not caring in the least once he was being hugged and chastely kissed by Crowley. Gentleman that he was, he didn't molest Sam in the presence of two ladies. Sam knew it was actually for Sam's benefit more than anything else, but he appreciated it all the same.
"Missed you," Sam muttered, pressing his face into the side of Crowley's head and frowning a little as he realised that his recent growth spurt was making the height difference between himself and his lovers even more so. Which kinda sucked on the snuggling front.
"Missed you too, Moose. Now, how about we get your things in the car and get you home, yeah? I'd imagine you'll be happy to get some uninterrupted sleep for the first time in weeks," Crowley grumbled, scowling in the direction of the staircase and Brady. Sam just tightened his arms around the man briefly before letting go and turning to face Jess and her parents. He blushed and looked down sheepishly when he saw them all smiling at him like he and Crowley were the cutest things they'd ever seen.
Really they should wipe that look off their faces before Crowley caught sight of it and decided to redecorate the hallways with their blood or something. He was pretty sure Crowley had done stuff like that before. You know, if he really was a Crime Lord.
Sam wondered if it said something about his mental state given the fact that he was studying to be a lawyer and yet he really hoped that his strange ponderings and imaginings over Crowley's secretive lifestyle was actually because Crowley was the leader of a crime gang in London. Because really, that would be hot. Sam wouldn't want to see the kind of things they did like the torture side of things, because he felt that would probably make him pretty sick, pretty quickly, but still, being the leader of a lethal and infamous gang - well, it was in Sam's head - would be incredibly hot. Yep.
"Your boyfriend, Crowley was it? He's been very charming, don't worry, Sam!" Jess's mother, Angela? Sam was fairly certain It was Angela.
"Yes, he's pretty charming, isn't he?" Sam said, shooting a cheeky grin and wink over his shoulder at Crowley, who was grumbling good-naturedly under his breath. Everyone clearly decided it would be best to just ignore Gabriel snickering to himself by the doorway.
"Mom's a little in love with him! He dazzled her with his Brit wit," Jess told him with a giggle, which just got even more uncontrollable when her mum swatted the back of her head and blushed, avoiding looking in anyone's eyes.
"He has that affect on everyone, I wouldn't worry about it. It's the main reason why he got lumbered with me! Well, that and his annoying habit of rearranging the books in the shop I work in. Somehow, that got my interest," Sam told them, grinning widely as he recalled the look on Emily's face when she'd first found the Bible moved to the fantasy section of the store. Really, it was quite amusing if you ignored the fact that it nearly lost him his job.
"Oh dear, that sounds like quite the story! It's a shame we don't really have time to go out to dinner with you three, but sadly we have to make a start on heading back home fairly soon so that we'll get there before it gets too late. We don't really want to spend the night in a motel when we don't need to," Angela - he was pretty sure it was Angela - told them, actually sounding genuinely disappointed about the fact. Sam was actually a little shocked that they had even considered spending more time with him, Crowley and Gabriel. Though he really shouldn't have been really. Both men could be freakishly charming when they put their minds to it and thought it would get them something. Or make Sam feel better and more at ease in a situation.
"Quite understandable! And maybe we can organise to have a meal together when you bring Jess up in September? We can make sure we all have the time to do so. It'd be nice to get to know each other a little more," Crowley stated, stepping up to stand next to Sam and wrap an arm around his waist.
"That's a brilliant idea, Mr…"
"Crowley, mate, just call me Crowley," Crowley told Neil with a grin, getting a smaller smile from Neil who just nodded.
"Right, well then, I think we can arrange something for when we bring Jess back. I assume that Sam and Jess have each other's numbers, so they can text each other the details and work everything out nearer the time. It was great meeting you, and thank you again, Sam for watching out for Jess. We really should be off though, we only came back in for Jess to drop her key off in the office."
"I'll text Jess nearer the start of term then. Have a good summer, Jess and see you in a couple of months time!" Sam said, hugging Jess and then moving back to grab his bags and a box, Crowley and Gabriel bother grabbing a box each as well. Sam noted that both had taken the heaviest of the boxes, leaving Sam with the one full of stationary and the odd notebook. Not that Sam was complaining, in fact he was quite grateful to them.
"We'll be following you out! Was great meeting you though!" Gabriel told Jess and her parents as they all exited the building. Sam followed behind Crowley, not knowing where he'd parked the car, and almost walking into his back when he stopped.
"We're parked that way, so maybe speak to you soon. Have a good summer, Jessica," Crowley said, having tilted his head in the direction opposite to where Jess seemed to be going.
"Right! Have a good summer, Sam! Text me to let me know how you are and to catch up! See you in September!" Jess called out as she started to walk away behind her parents, Sam nodded instead of trying to wave with hands full and turned to follow behind Crowley and Gabriel.
They walked in silence until they got to the car, which was a large black SUV that Sam couldn't actually recall having ever seen before and he now wondered why the hell they'd never used it before now.
"You two really want to go out for a meal with Jess and her parents? Really?" Sam deadpanned once he'd dumped his box and bags in the back of the car and climbed into the backseat, letting Gabriel take the front passenger seat. Really, it was more for selfish reasons so that he could stretch his legs out across the backseat.
"What? We can be sociable and shit like that! Who says we can't?" Gabriel asked, looking back at Sam and pouting when Sam just stared at him blankly.
"Uh huh. Right. Sure. Crowley? You gonna claim to be sociable as well?"
"Fuck no, Moose. I did that all for you. I couldn't give a witch's twat if I saw them again. Though that Jess is quite amusing. I wouldn't mind if she stuck around. Moose, we did it for you. If you want to get people to like you and that shit, then we'll do whatever we can to help you in that," Crowley told him as he pulled out of the carpark and headed back to home. And Sam couldn't stop the happy flipflop in his stomach at being able to call Crowley and Gabriel's place home.
"You don't have to do anything like that for me! Seriously, don't force yourselves into awkward, ncomfortable situations just so you can make me happy! Because in the long run, it's not gonna make me happy, so it'll have been pointless, you know?" Sam told them, fidgeting as he realised just how uncomfortable the thought of Crowley and Gabriel doing anything just to please him. He had enough of sacrificing natures with his brother, he didn't want his partners to go down the same route.
"Fine, fine. No need to get your knickers in a twist," Crowley grumbled, not taking his eyes off the road in front of him but Sam knew the man was scowling, eyebrows furrowed enough that Sam would be amazed he could actually see at all.
"Good. Glad we've settled that. And I'm not wearing knickers," Sam added, just knowing if he didn't clarify, Gabriel would ask him if he was.
"You should. You should definitely wear women's underwear. That would be so very hot. Seeing you squirm and fidget in your seat because the lace was rubbing against you and creating delicious friction. Definitely need to carry that out. Soon," Gabriel added with a firm nod. Sam just gaped at him, then gaped at Crowley when the man chuckled and nodded his agreement to Gabriel's insane plan.
"No! I'm not wearing women's panties! No way, no how!"
"Aw, don't be so petty, Sammy. It'll be fun!"
"No! End of subject. So instead, what plans do we have for the summer? I know you two, I know you've got something planned. For one, Loki's been living in one place without disappearing for months at a time for almost a year now, so he's going to be twitchy. And well… you two always have plans. Always. Even when there's no need for plans. Like that time we went out for a meal for my birthday. There was no need for a plan of action should there be a police raid so that we would avoid me getting busted for being underage. It's ridiculous," Sam muttered, blushing when he realised he'd gotten a little carried away with his rant, but shrugging and figuring it was necessary.
"Huh, you're good. Freakish in your observant ways, but good. We have plans. You're right, we always have plans. Crowley? You wanna let him know, or should I?" Gabriel asked, looking over at Crowley with a grin, before looking back to Sam and smirking at Sam's wary look.
"You can do it."
"Good! We're going on a roadtrip! I've never been on a proper one and Crowley's never been on one full stop. So… roadtrip! Motels, crappy diner food, weird ass sightseeing things. Is there really a world's largest ball of twine?"
"I think there's like, three," Sam admitted with a shrug, not too sure of that fact, but almost certain he'd read it somewhere. He'd seen one at least five times. "You do know that my whole life before Stanford was basically one long road trip, right?"
"Sure, sure, but you didn't actually get to see anything fun! You just… well, I have no idea what you did, you haven't told us why you were dragged around the country in the first place. But still, you'll have a whole new experience with us!" Gabriel assured him. Sam stared at him before sighing and rolling his eyes, grin tugging at his lips as he took in Gabriel's almost childlike excitement.
"Fine, when do we leave for this trip?" Sam asked, chuckling when Gabriel cheered at Sam's agreement to go with them on the trip.
"In a couple of days. It'll give you time to tell your boss that you'll be taking time off again this summer and also give us time to pack anything we might need. Of course, we can just buy whatever we don't have with us at the time of needing it, but still, would be wise to at least pack clothing," Crowley told him. When Crowley said 'clothing', Sam took him to mean 'lube'. The look in Crowley's eyes when he caught them in the rear-view mirror told him that he was right in that assumption.
"Fine, fine. It could be fun. Plus it'll be nice not to have to work away my summer," Sam added, grinning as he realised he was beginning to get into the plan more and more. Gabriel was right, he hadn't really gotten to see the major cities and touristy things, so it'd be new for him too. Of course it was almost impossible not to get excited when Gabriel was around. Sam grinned to himself as he settled back into the overly comfy seat in the car as he realised just how much he was starting to look forward to going on a roadtrip with Gabriel and Crowley.
Next
Previous
Sam gave a jaw popping yawn as he sat on the end of Janey's bed, text book on the bed in front of him and a well used and tatty-edged notebook that looked to be almost dripping with black and highlighter pink ink - Janey claiming the blue highlight pen and giving Sam the pink one as he was more effeminate of the two of them - perched on his knee.
"Dunno about you, but I think all this information is no longer sinking in. I think it's time for a break before we get back into it. Plus, I really need coffee round about now," Janey grumbled, yawning and stretching. She gave a satisfied sigh when he back popped, the noise making Sam cringe a little. Sam just stared blankly at the book in front of him for a few seconds longer before admitting defeat and slamming it shut.
"I agree. Coffee is definitely needed if we're going to stay awake long enough to pull an all nighter. I think Connors is trying to kill us off via the medium of too much study, just so that he won't have to grade all the papers and finals," Sam muttered, wincing as his knee caps clicked when he stood up from the bed.
"You might have a point there, but at least this is the last one and then you can move out of the frontline and mooch off your lovers and I can sleep until next year starts. When are you planning on going back to your room, by the way? I mean, you've been sleeping on my floor for the last week and from what you told me, you've either been sleeping at Crowley's house or on Jess' floor. Seriously, when do you ever go to your room?" Sam groaned and shook his head as he followed Janey out of the room so they could go raid the student refectory for whatever caffeine they had available.
"Ugh, I'd rather not talk about it. I don't think I've actually stayed there now since two weeks after spring break. It's really not the nicest of environments to be living in. No joke, he actually flinched when I accidentally brushed against him. So I tend to wait until I know he's not going to be in, grab whatever I'll need for the day or the next couple of days and then either camp out on yours or Jess' floor, or if it's the weekend, then I just go to Crowley and Gabriel's. Which really isn't a hardship at all," Sam added with a smirk, dodging out the way of Janey's fist.
"That reminds me! You really need to tell me what you did over Spring Break! I swear, since you got back from wherever you went, you've been less blushing virgin and more phone sex operator. What happened to innocent little Sammy? I kinda miss him," Janey said with a tiny sigh. Sam snorted and mock glared at her, both dropping their bags into a booth before heading over to get their coffee.
"We should have gone to a diner," Sam grumbled, nose wrinkling as he was suddenly reminded of how nasty the coffee was there. He was still undecided if it was actually watered down gasoline. Certainly tasted like it could be. Probably unleaded.
"Gotta agree with you there. Wanna ditch this place and head to Lacey's round the corner?" Janey asked him. Sam glanced at the front of the queue they were in and then the coffee machine, before coming to this decision and nodding his head furiously.
"Definitely. Ooh, and Lacey loves me and always gives me extra bacon when I get it with pancakes. Let's go!" Sam said, heading back to grab their bags before making a hasty exit, Janey quick on his heels.
Once they arrived at Lacey's and sat in their usual booth, both going here so often that they now thought Lacey - who was a slightly dumpy, middle-aged woman with bright orange hair curly hair - had possibly adopted them as one of her many kids.
"Sam! Janey! How lovely to see you both! You two doing alright? School not dragging you down?" Lacey asked them, coming to take their order almost as soon as they had taken their seats. Sam grinned up at the woman and shook his head.
"Nah, we're good. Studying for our last exam tomorrow afternoon. Then we're free for the summer. We thought we'd come and get our caffeine fix from you before hitting the books again! How's Jim and Bill?" Sam asked, looking away to cast a quick glance at the menu before looking back up. From the corner of his eye he saw Janey smiling and shaking her head at him.
"Oh, you know Jim, he's still complaining about his knee. And Bill's doing fine as well, just coming to the end of final year at grad school. He's already gotten offers from a couple of newspapers. How about you? And you, Janey, you're bein' awfully quiet there," Lacey said, turning to smile warmly at Janey, who just beamed back.
"Ah, I figured I'd let Sam get all his nosiness out of the way before my natural beauty dazzled you into forgetting he was even there. But, since you asked, I'm doing great! Gonna be heading back home for the summer in a couple of days time and I really can't wait! I'm really missing my family," Janey admitted with a sheepish grin. Sam felt his own smile drop a little as he thought of his own family, before shaking his head. No use in thinking of them, if they'd needed or wanted him, then they knew how to get in touch.
"That's perfectly natural, honey! And I'm sure they're missing you something wicked as well. Now, before I get completely carried away with talking to you two, what do you want to order?" Lacey asked them, whipping out her notebook and pencil and looking at them both expectantly. Sam glanced at Janey, who motioned for him to go first as she quickly glanced over the menu.
"Can I have a coffee and a stack of pancakes with a side of bacon, please?" Sam asked, not really having needed to look over the menu given he has the same thing pretty much every time he went there. Plus, he was pretty used to diner food given that's what he was basically raised on.
"Okay, Sweetie. And for you, Janey?" Janey put the menu back in it's stand before looking up at Lacey with a wide smile.
"Coffee for me too, please! And can I have a cheeseburger with your special spicy fries? Thanks!" Janey asked. Lacey noted down the order and then flipped her notebook shut and put it back in her apron.
"That's great. I'll be over with your coffees in a minute, you know the food will follow pretty swiftly. I take it you two will be doing some studying in here too then?" Lacey asked them, nodding at their bags which they had both shoved a couple of books in, though neither one really wanted to make much of an effort to actually take them back out again.
"Yeah, we might as well. The change in scenery might boost our braincells or something," Sam said with a shrug, not sounding entirely enthused about the idea. Given Janey chose that moment to drop her head to the tabletop and groan loudly, she clearly shared his enthusiasm.
"Good job you wanna be a lawyer, not a doctor. I hate studying. It sucks," Janey bitched into the table, arms hanging by her sides loosely as she made no attempt to move. Lacey just smiled indulgently at them both and ruffled Janey's hair before moving as though to go back to the kitchen area.
"Well, you said it's your last one of the year, so you'll do fine, I'm sure. And once it's done, you get a nice long break. I'll make sure that you both have a steady stream of coffee sent your way for as long as you're in here. On the house," Lacey added before she bustled away before either one could try to change her mind about it.
"Free coffee. I've heard of worse things to study for. Hell, I can think of worse things I'd do for free coffee," Janey stated as she sat up from the table. Sam smirked as he noticed the red mark on her forehead and decided to not mention it, instead turning to pull out the book and his notebook that he'd been studying from.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again, I hate Connors. But for free coffee and bacon, I'll put up with the torture he's putting us through."
He and Janey somehow - though neither one truly could give an answer as to how - managed to get through their last final with pretty decent marks and no cheating on either end and Sam was now back in the room he shared with Brady - hopefully for the last year - looking at his stuff and wondering where to start packing.
He'd spent the night over at Janey's after their final, celebrating a summer of freedom and actually passing all their classes with top marks - well, Sam had top marks, Janey was comfortably resting around the middle of the class - and then he'd helped her pack her things before heading back to his own room.
Which was where he was now. He really didn't want to be, but he knew he had to pack his stuff up before taking it to Crowley and Gabriel's house. And really, he should probably text one of them to ask if they could pick him up. And possibly find out just what they had planned for the summer.
Sighing loudly and dragging a hand through his hair, making it stand up even more than usual, and he dropped to his knees and crawled under his bed, dragging everything that had made it's way under there over the past year and finally pulling out the cardboard boxes that he'd unpacked his belongings from at the beginning of the year. He'd fought to get those damn boxes, no way was he throwing them away. He then made up one of the boxes and sat down to sort out the crap he'd found under his bed. Though he quickly sent a text Crowley's way as an after thought.
He had been packing his stuff for about thirty minutes, and wondering just where the hell half of the stuff had come from and how his possessions seemed to have doubled in the space of nine months, when the door swung open and Brady walked in before freezing in the doorway when he noticed Sam sitting on his bed, sorting through his texts and folders.
"Oh, you're back. You finished for the year then?" Brady asked awkwardly as he took in the packed boxes and what remained for Sam to pack up. Sam just rolled his eyes, not looking up from the pile of books he was organising.
"Yep. Finished for the year and I'll be moving out today. Gonna be picked up in about an hour, so you'll have the room to yourself until you leave. You still got finals or are you finished too?" Sam asked politely, though he still didn't bother to actually look up at Brady, not entirely certain he'd be able to hold himself back from punching the guy in the face should he so much as sneer in his general direction.
"Eh, I've got two more exams until I'm finished for the year. Be heading back home for the summer in a few days time. So, where you gonna be for the summer? You going back home or staying here?" Brady asked him and Sam couldn't help but look up at him, almost certain that the confusion he was feeling was clear on his face because this was the most either had spoken to the other in the past two months. And Sam really hadn't been complaining about that. The less he heard about how Claire on the third floor was like a tiger in bed, the better he was. No one needed to know that much information about one girl's nether regions, least of all a gay man.
"Oh, I'm moving in with my partner and his housemate. For the summer at least. I'll be living in halls again next year, I think. Why'd you ask?" Sam couldn't resist enquiring, mentally grinning when Brady shuffled awkwardly where he was still standing in the doorway at the mention of Crowley. He was still suspicious about why Brady seemed to be so interested in what Sam would be doing that summer. Why would he care? He hadn't exactly made his animosity towards Sam a secret.
"Just wondered. You nearly finished packing then?" Brady asked him, finally moving into the room fully and moving to sit on his bed. Sam wondered absently if Brady was deliberately making the conversation as awkward as possible just to make Sam's final moments with him as painful as possible.
"Almost, just gotta pack up my books and clothes then I'll be out of your hair. Shouldn't take me too long," Sam added, going back to just shoving his books in his final box without bothering to sort them out anymore. The sooner he was done and out of there, the better. He could sort through the ones he wanted to keep and the ones he was gonna take into work, when he was at Crowley's.
"Oh, cool. I'm gonna just go over one of the texts I'll need for my exam tomorrow then, I won't bother you," Brady said, picking up a text as though to prove it, like Sam would think he was lying or something.
The fact that Sam did think Brady was lying because he hadn't ever seen the man crack open a book unless forced to in the two years he'd known the man, was another thing entirely. Sam just shrugged and got up from his bed, taping the box full of books shut and then moving to his wardrobe and pulling out his two large duffel bags that he would shove all his clothes in. He knew exactly where a good eighty percent of his clothes had come from in the past year or so.
Crowley really did have a problem with hand me downs and second hand clothing. He was still adamant that he'd caught fleas from the hoodie of Sam's that he'd burnt. Thankfully, Sam hadn't actually had any emotional attachment to the thing, but still, Sam did not have fleas. He had been kinda insulted at the mere suggestion. Well, he had been until Crowley and Gabriel had then taken him out shopping and bought him a whole new wardrobe and then some.
He definitely wasn't complaining then.
Though now, as he looked at the huge selection of clothes in his wardrobe that he needed to pack, he was beginning to rethink his position on complaining. Because, looking at it, it was going to take him ages, possibly longer than he had. Though, that would actually be quite amusing, for Crowley and/or Gabriel to meet Brady.
On second thoughts, maybe it wasn't the brightest idea. Sam had no idea what either of his partners would do to Brady, but he had an idea that it wouldn't be pleasant and probably wouldn't be legal either. So maybe not.
With that thought, Sam began to just drag his clothes out and shove them into his bags, not caring too much about folding the garments as he figured once he hung them up again in Crowley's wardrobe, then the creases would just fall out. Or at the very least, he could bribe Gabriel to iron them for him. The man would do anything for a bag of Jolly Ranchers. Snickering to himself and not really caring about what Brady might think he's thinking about, Sam carried on packing - or dumping his clothes in a higgledy-piggledy mishmash pile in his bag - and soon found that the seemingly never-ending pile of clothes had all been packed away.
Glancing at Brady and then at the small pile of boxes and his two bags, Sam gave a fleeting-thought to how he was going to shift the pile downstairs without having Brady meet his lovers, before just deciding he'd have to do it in more than one journey. And possibly leave the box of books until last.
With that decided, Sam checked his watch and saw he had fifteen minutes before he would be picked up, then grabbed both his bags and a box that seemed to be the lightest, and then headed for the door, somehow managing to finagle the door open one-handed and without dropping everything, and took his stuff down to the first floor main hallway. Of course, once he dropped the box and bags to the ground, he realised he hadn't quite thought things through as he'd now have to leave his belongings unattended so he could get the remaining two boxes.
"Bollocks," Sam muttered, looking at his things by his feet and nibbling at his bottom lip as he tried to think about what he was going to do now.
"Since when did you curse like a Brit?" Sam jumped as his thoughts were interrupted and turned to see Jess standing next to him, and older couple standing just behind her, looking like she'd just come in from putting her own things in her parents car. Well, Sam assumed the couple behind her were Jess' parents.
"Since Crowley. He's very influential," Sam told her with a sheepish grin, smiling over at the couple behind her and getting friendly smiles back.
"Oh! Right, sorry, this is my mom and dad! Mom, dad, this is Sam. He's in the year above me and kinda took me under his wing to show me the ropes to student life so to speak!" Jess introduced with a wide smile. Sam gave a polite nod and shook Jess' dad's hand when it was offered, before looking back to his bags and absently trying to think what to do. He didn't think anyone would steal his things, but he wasn't too sure he wanted to take the risk. "So what's made you curse?"
"Hmm? Oh, just realised that I need to leave these bags here so I can fetch the rest of my stuff before Crowley arrives to pick me up," Sam told her, running a hand through his hair before he glanced at his watch once more and realised he now only had five minutes tops before his life arrived.
"Ah, well I can wait here with them, if you want! Then you can grab your things and I'll get a chance to catch up with Crowley before I leave for summer! We're all happy that way!" Jess exclaimed, making Sam chuckle and glance at her parents as though to ask for permission to keep their daughter for a little longer.
"I can give you a hand with whatever you have left, if you'd like?" Jess' father offered, which made Sam stare at him in shock before he just smiled widely.
"That'd be great, thanks! I've only got two boxes I need to get, but they're pretty heavy, so I was just gonna get them one at a time. If you're sure you don't mind helping, then that'd be greatly appreciated! Thanks!" Sam said brightly, grinning at Jess before he turned to head back up the stairs to his floor, Jess's father following close behind him.
"So, Jess mentioned you a fair bit when she rang us to check in. I wanted to thank you for watching over her and making sure she was alright and safe. She's my only child and my little girl, so I was a bit worried for her. Stories about you helped to ease both mine and her mother's minds," Jess' father told him as they made their way to Sam's dorm room. Sam could feel a blush begin to cover his face.
"It really wasn't any trouble on my part. Jess is an awesome woman, and I get on with her really well! Amusingly, my roommate thought we were going out at first, but well, yeah, that was soon put to sorts," Sam told him with a small shrug. He really didn't want to go into why he and Jess hadn't been a couple seeing as they were apparently so compatible with one another. That was not a subject he wanted to discuss with the father of one of his friends.
"Oh, yes, I think Jess talked about it with us. Such a shame that your roommate couldn't accept your lifestyle and who you find yourself attracted to." Sam felt his face go bright red at Jess's father's words, and really, he should probably ask the man's name. He paused when he got to the door to his room and hoped that Brady would either be gone - even though Sam hadn't actually seen him leave, so he'd have had to have left out the window - or still involved in his studying.
"Yeah, well, not everyone agrees with that kind of thing and I can't expect to be accepted everywhere. Just wish it hadn't made things awkward for either of us. Ah well," Sam said, looking over his shoulder to smile at the man before opening the door and giving Brady a shaky smile as he walked into the room, grabbing the heaviest box and leaving the lighter one to Jess' father. Of course, as soon as the older man walked into the room, Brady sat up straight and gave him a strange look.
"Sam? Who… is this your um… you know?" Brady asked and Sam gave him a confused look before it dawned on him that Brady knew Sam was seeing an older man and apparently assumed that Jess' father was Crowley. Which was amusing, if you ignored the sheer humiliating factor of it all.
"Oh! No! This is, Jess' father! Um… sorry, I didn't actually get your name," Sam admitted with a sheepish grin as he turned to look at the man, who was watching the two roommates with a barely concealed amused look on his face.
"Sorry! Of course, I'm Neil! My wife's called Angela," Jess' father, Neil, told him with an equally sheepish look on his face, clearly having realised that he hadn't actually given the information up either. Sam just grinned at him and then turned back to Brady.
"Right! Neil, this is Brady, my roommate," Sam finished his introduction with a small, half-hearted wave towards Brady, who looked far more relaxed now that he knew Neil wasn't Sam's partner and was married, so he wasn't gay either. Though technically, Sam supposed, the man could just be in denial. Sam glanced at him out the corner of his eye and shook his head, nope, straight as an arrow. "Anyway, Neil offered to help me with my boxes, so I guess this is it! Good luck with your last couple of exams and have a good summer!"
"Thanks, Sam. And yeah, you too! Maybe we can catch up if I come down during the summer, or something!" Brady told him with a wide smile that Sam didn't trust in the least. In fact, it downright disturbed him a little. Instead of doing or saying anything however, Sam just gave a small nod and shifted the box in his hands to get a better grip and waited for Neil to leave with the other box before following him out.
"So you're going to be staying here for the summer then?" Neil asked him as they made their way back down to Jess and possibly Crowley. He really hoped Crowley didn't do or say anything to scar Jess' mother too deeply. Though given just who Crowley was - or what Sam knew of him as least - then Sam knew he wouldn't be anything less than charming and polite.
"Yeah, I'll be moving in with Crowley and Gabriel. Crowley's my, um… my partner," Sam admitted quietly, thankful that he was walking behind Neil so he didn't have to see the man's expression and Neil wouldn't see the blush covering his face. Though Neil had seemed rather accepting of Sam's sexuality.
"You're not going home to your family then?"
"Um… I'm not really in touch with my family. We er… had a sort of disagreement before I came here and I sorta cut ties with them. Haven't actually spoken to either my dad or my brother since I left two years ago." The truth in Sam's words actually hurt a little as he realised just how long it had been since he'd last spoken to Dean about anything. In fact, he didn't even know if they were still alright. Given the thing they did, there was no knowing what might have happened. Though Sam hoped that someone would get in touch with him to let him know if something truly terrible had happened. He knew Bobby still had his number, and Dean too if he hadn't deleted it as soon as Sam had left.
"That's too bad! I'm glad that you seem to have found good friends here then! Can I ask… was it because of your um… well…" Sam frowned at Neil's stammered question before he realised what the man was - awkwardly - trying to ask him.
"Because I'm gay? No! I didn't actually come out until I met Crowley. So no, I don't even think they know about that part of my life. No we fell out because I didn't want to go into the family business and well, that wasn't acceptable I guess," Sam said, deciding the vague truth was still the truth. No hint of a lie there. Not really. Just no real details. He didn't think Neil would really accept Sam telling him that he was kicked out because he didn't want to salt and burn bodies in graveyards anymore.
"Well, that doesn't strike me as fair, but still, at least you got to do what you want to do, so that's something, right?" Neil said, and Sam snickered silently to himself at the man's seemingly unending optimism. It really was quite amusing.
"True. Oh, I think I hear Crowley speaking, he must have arrived. I hope he hasn't terrified your wife too much," Sam said when he heard the unmistakeable drawl of Crowley drifting up the stairs. He found that he couldn't get rid of the stupid grin on his face at the thought of seeing Crowley again. He felt like he hadn't seen the man for ages. Gabriel had occasionally popped up at wherever Sam happened to be hiding out, be it work, Janey's, the library or Jess' just to make sure that he was alright and not working himself into an early nervous breakdown or something. Crowley however, hadn't been able to meet up with him as his work was particularly heavy around that time. Sam still had no idea what the man did, nor would he ever ask to find out, but apparently it kept him very busy around summer and Christmas times.
"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's pretty tough skinned. Jess takes after her in that respect," Neil told him, laughing as he did so and making Sam chuckle behind him.
"In that case, she's probably getting on quite well with him then. Crowley loves Jess. I think he wants to adopt her though you didn't hear that from me," Sam said with a laugh. He followed Neil down the last flight of stairs and smiled widely when he finally caught sight of Crowley. His smile grew even wider when he noticed Gabriel standing next to Jess, clearly pestering her about something that he wasn't too sure he wanted to know about.
"Sammy! Took your time, didn't you? And you dragged Jess' poor dad into doing part of your dirty work for you! Shame on you, Sammy! Shame on you!" Gabriel mock scolded, just making Sam laugh at him and gratefully drop the box on the floor by his other stuff so that he could grab Gabriel into a hug.
"Shut up, Loki! And what have you been telling Jess and her mom? Nothing too embarrassing, I hope!" Sam said, narrowing his eyes when he looked down at Gabriel, who just smiled innocently at him. "You know that look just makes me more suspicious, right?"
"Trickster, leave Moose alone. Moose, come here!" Crowley grouched, which just got him a bright smile from Sam. Sam happily let go of Gabriel and bounded over to Crowley, probably looking like the puppy everyone claimed he was inside but not caring in the least once he was being hugged and chastely kissed by Crowley. Gentleman that he was, he didn't molest Sam in the presence of two ladies. Sam knew it was actually for Sam's benefit more than anything else, but he appreciated it all the same.
"Missed you," Sam muttered, pressing his face into the side of Crowley's head and frowning a little as he realised that his recent growth spurt was making the height difference between himself and his lovers even more so. Which kinda sucked on the snuggling front.
"Missed you too, Moose. Now, how about we get your things in the car and get you home, yeah? I'd imagine you'll be happy to get some uninterrupted sleep for the first time in weeks," Crowley grumbled, scowling in the direction of the staircase and Brady. Sam just tightened his arms around the man briefly before letting go and turning to face Jess and her parents. He blushed and looked down sheepishly when he saw them all smiling at him like he and Crowley were the cutest things they'd ever seen.
Really they should wipe that look off their faces before Crowley caught sight of it and decided to redecorate the hallways with their blood or something. He was pretty sure Crowley had done stuff like that before. You know, if he really was a Crime Lord.
Sam wondered if it said something about his mental state given the fact that he was studying to be a lawyer and yet he really hoped that his strange ponderings and imaginings over Crowley's secretive lifestyle was actually because Crowley was the leader of a crime gang in London. Because really, that would be hot. Sam wouldn't want to see the kind of things they did like the torture side of things, because he felt that would probably make him pretty sick, pretty quickly, but still, being the leader of a lethal and infamous gang - well, it was in Sam's head - would be incredibly hot. Yep.
"Your boyfriend, Crowley was it? He's been very charming, don't worry, Sam!" Jess's mother, Angela? Sam was fairly certain It was Angela.
"Yes, he's pretty charming, isn't he?" Sam said, shooting a cheeky grin and wink over his shoulder at Crowley, who was grumbling good-naturedly under his breath. Everyone clearly decided it would be best to just ignore Gabriel snickering to himself by the doorway.
"Mom's a little in love with him! He dazzled her with his Brit wit," Jess told him with a giggle, which just got even more uncontrollable when her mum swatted the back of her head and blushed, avoiding looking in anyone's eyes.
"He has that affect on everyone, I wouldn't worry about it. It's the main reason why he got lumbered with me! Well, that and his annoying habit of rearranging the books in the shop I work in. Somehow, that got my interest," Sam told them, grinning widely as he recalled the look on Emily's face when she'd first found the Bible moved to the fantasy section of the store. Really, it was quite amusing if you ignored the fact that it nearly lost him his job.
"Oh dear, that sounds like quite the story! It's a shame we don't really have time to go out to dinner with you three, but sadly we have to make a start on heading back home fairly soon so that we'll get there before it gets too late. We don't really want to spend the night in a motel when we don't need to," Angela - he was pretty sure it was Angela - told them, actually sounding genuinely disappointed about the fact. Sam was actually a little shocked that they had even considered spending more time with him, Crowley and Gabriel. Though he really shouldn't have been really. Both men could be freakishly charming when they put their minds to it and thought it would get them something. Or make Sam feel better and more at ease in a situation.
"Quite understandable! And maybe we can organise to have a meal together when you bring Jess up in September? We can make sure we all have the time to do so. It'd be nice to get to know each other a little more," Crowley stated, stepping up to stand next to Sam and wrap an arm around his waist.
"That's a brilliant idea, Mr…"
"Crowley, mate, just call me Crowley," Crowley told Neil with a grin, getting a smaller smile from Neil who just nodded.
"Right, well then, I think we can arrange something for when we bring Jess back. I assume that Sam and Jess have each other's numbers, so they can text each other the details and work everything out nearer the time. It was great meeting you, and thank you again, Sam for watching out for Jess. We really should be off though, we only came back in for Jess to drop her key off in the office."
"I'll text Jess nearer the start of term then. Have a good summer, Jess and see you in a couple of months time!" Sam said, hugging Jess and then moving back to grab his bags and a box, Crowley and Gabriel bother grabbing a box each as well. Sam noted that both had taken the heaviest of the boxes, leaving Sam with the one full of stationary and the odd notebook. Not that Sam was complaining, in fact he was quite grateful to them.
"We'll be following you out! Was great meeting you though!" Gabriel told Jess and her parents as they all exited the building. Sam followed behind Crowley, not knowing where he'd parked the car, and almost walking into his back when he stopped.
"We're parked that way, so maybe speak to you soon. Have a good summer, Jessica," Crowley said, having tilted his head in the direction opposite to where Jess seemed to be going.
"Right! Have a good summer, Sam! Text me to let me know how you are and to catch up! See you in September!" Jess called out as she started to walk away behind her parents, Sam nodded instead of trying to wave with hands full and turned to follow behind Crowley and Gabriel.
They walked in silence until they got to the car, which was a large black SUV that Sam couldn't actually recall having ever seen before and he now wondered why the hell they'd never used it before now.
"You two really want to go out for a meal with Jess and her parents? Really?" Sam deadpanned once he'd dumped his box and bags in the back of the car and climbed into the backseat, letting Gabriel take the front passenger seat. Really, it was more for selfish reasons so that he could stretch his legs out across the backseat.
"What? We can be sociable and shit like that! Who says we can't?" Gabriel asked, looking back at Sam and pouting when Sam just stared at him blankly.
"Uh huh. Right. Sure. Crowley? You gonna claim to be sociable as well?"
"Fuck no, Moose. I did that all for you. I couldn't give a witch's twat if I saw them again. Though that Jess is quite amusing. I wouldn't mind if she stuck around. Moose, we did it for you. If you want to get people to like you and that shit, then we'll do whatever we can to help you in that," Crowley told him as he pulled out of the carpark and headed back to home. And Sam couldn't stop the happy flipflop in his stomach at being able to call Crowley and Gabriel's place home.
"You don't have to do anything like that for me! Seriously, don't force yourselves into awkward, ncomfortable situations just so you can make me happy! Because in the long run, it's not gonna make me happy, so it'll have been pointless, you know?" Sam told them, fidgeting as he realised just how uncomfortable the thought of Crowley and Gabriel doing anything just to please him. He had enough of sacrificing natures with his brother, he didn't want his partners to go down the same route.
"Fine, fine. No need to get your knickers in a twist," Crowley grumbled, not taking his eyes off the road in front of him but Sam knew the man was scowling, eyebrows furrowed enough that Sam would be amazed he could actually see at all.
"Good. Glad we've settled that. And I'm not wearing knickers," Sam added, just knowing if he didn't clarify, Gabriel would ask him if he was.
"You should. You should definitely wear women's underwear. That would be so very hot. Seeing you squirm and fidget in your seat because the lace was rubbing against you and creating delicious friction. Definitely need to carry that out. Soon," Gabriel added with a firm nod. Sam just gaped at him, then gaped at Crowley when the man chuckled and nodded his agreement to Gabriel's insane plan.
"No! I'm not wearing women's panties! No way, no how!"
"Aw, don't be so petty, Sammy. It'll be fun!"
"No! End of subject. So instead, what plans do we have for the summer? I know you two, I know you've got something planned. For one, Loki's been living in one place without disappearing for months at a time for almost a year now, so he's going to be twitchy. And well… you two always have plans. Always. Even when there's no need for plans. Like that time we went out for a meal for my birthday. There was no need for a plan of action should there be a police raid so that we would avoid me getting busted for being underage. It's ridiculous," Sam muttered, blushing when he realised he'd gotten a little carried away with his rant, but shrugging and figuring it was necessary.
"Huh, you're good. Freakish in your observant ways, but good. We have plans. You're right, we always have plans. Crowley? You wanna let him know, or should I?" Gabriel asked, looking over at Crowley with a grin, before looking back to Sam and smirking at Sam's wary look.
"You can do it."
"Good! We're going on a roadtrip! I've never been on a proper one and Crowley's never been on one full stop. So… roadtrip! Motels, crappy diner food, weird ass sightseeing things. Is there really a world's largest ball of twine?"
"I think there's like, three," Sam admitted with a shrug, not too sure of that fact, but almost certain he'd read it somewhere. He'd seen one at least five times. "You do know that my whole life before Stanford was basically one long road trip, right?"
"Sure, sure, but you didn't actually get to see anything fun! You just… well, I have no idea what you did, you haven't told us why you were dragged around the country in the first place. But still, you'll have a whole new experience with us!" Gabriel assured him. Sam stared at him before sighing and rolling his eyes, grin tugging at his lips as he took in Gabriel's almost childlike excitement.
"Fine, when do we leave for this trip?" Sam asked, chuckling when Gabriel cheered at Sam's agreement to go with them on the trip.
"In a couple of days. It'll give you time to tell your boss that you'll be taking time off again this summer and also give us time to pack anything we might need. Of course, we can just buy whatever we don't have with us at the time of needing it, but still, would be wise to at least pack clothing," Crowley told him. When Crowley said 'clothing', Sam took him to mean 'lube'. The look in Crowley's eyes when he caught them in the rear-view mirror told him that he was right in that assumption.
"Fine, fine. It could be fun. Plus it'll be nice not to have to work away my summer," Sam added, grinning as he realised he was beginning to get into the plan more and more. Gabriel was right, he hadn't really gotten to see the major cities and touristy things, so it'd be new for him too. Of course it was almost impossible not to get excited when Gabriel was around. Sam grinned to himself as he settled back into the overly comfy seat in the car as he realised just how much he was starting to look forward to going on a roadtrip with Gabriel and Crowley.
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