Talk to Me | Sabriel AU

Warmth

"Hey, what's the answer to number eighteen?" Gabriel asked, peeking over Sam's shoulder at his paper curiously. Sam shot him a look, though it was filled with amusement as he leaned back, letting Gabriel see the answer to the question. Gabriel scribbled it down, moving onto the next question with furrowed brows. He really hated anatomy homework.

Eventually though, they finished and Gabriel sat back with a sigh and stretched, so glad to be finished. Sam watched him with amusement as he put away his things. Sam crawled to his bed and laid on it, letting out a soft sigh and looking at Gabriel for a moment.

"So what do you do for fun?" Gabriel asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and laying back so his head was lying on top of Sam's stomach. Sam shrugged, looking up at nothing for a moment before he smiled and jumped up, dumping Gabriel onto the floor in his excitement. Gabriel let out a soft laugh before hopping up and following Sam to the other side of the room where a tv and what looked like an old super nintendo resting on the stand that it was sitting on.

Sam pulled out the controllers and pushed them in, handing one to Gabriel and patting the ground. Gabriel obeyed and watched as Sam pulled out one of the old cartridges, blowing in the opening a little before sticking it in the console and switching the button on. The tv was black for a moment before it lit up with color, and MarioKart's logo blared on the front, filled with hyper music and leaving Gabriel grinning at the competition.

"Oh, you're so on, Sam." Gabriel said with a grin as Sam pulled up the first track, choosing their characters. Gabriel went with Luigi while Sam chose Yoshi. They pulled up to the first race, the timer counting down and both of them launching off into the race.

Gabriel, of course, lost. He actually lost almost everytime, coming just barely second to Sam and bringing frustration up in him at being bested by Sam. After their sixth race, he finally set the controller down, looking at Sam with narrowed eyes.

"When you get old, I'm putting your heart medicine up a shelf." Gabriel threatened, and it brought a laugh, a loud, beautiful laugh, from Sam. Gabriel froze, never hearing as beautiful as that ever could be as Sam laughed at his shenanigans, tears appearing at the corners of his eyes.

Gabriel felt a small smile began to appear on his face, his eyes softening as he leaned forwards, capturing Sam in a warm hug and holding him close. Sam's laughter eventually tapered off with confusion, but his arms encircled Gabriel, not noticing the slight tensing of Gabriel's back when he brushed over his wounds. He didn't care about his wounds right now. All he wanted was to hear Sam laugh like that again, to hear that voice again.

The door opened and Sam and Gabriel pulled away quickly, looking up at the quirked eyebrow of Ellen as she stared at them. "Dinner's ready." She said, and Sam perked up, standing quickly and tugging at Gabriel, motioning him to come on before walking out of the doorway past Ellen. Gabriel got up more slowly, following only to stop when Ellen placed her hand on the doorway, worry in her eyes.

"Honey, are you alright?" Ellen asked, tipping her head as Gabriel adverted her gaze. "You know, you can tell Bobby and me if anything is happening."

"It'll be fine." Gabriel replied, his voice thick and struggling to contain his secrets. Truthfully, Gabriel just wanted to tell someone everything about what was going on at his home, but he couldn't bring that kind of baggage on Sam or his family. They had enough to deal with already.

Ellen sighed and moved her arm, allowing Gabriel to get through. He walked down the hallway and into the kitchen, where food sat in heaping bowls ready to be served. Sam was already sitting at the dining table, and when he saw Gabriel, patting on the seat beside him. Gabriel sat down, giving Bobby a polite head dip as Ellen came in behind him, taking her seat across from the two.

"Let's eat." Ellen said happily, though she still had remnants of worry still left in her eyes every time she looked at Gabriel. He kept his head down though and got his plate quietly, eating without saying much. From the way Sam looked over him, he knew he was worrying the boy.

"So..." Ellen said, a playful look on her face as she focused on Sam. "Is Gabriel going to be your boyfriend now?" Sam choked mid bite and let out a cough, glaring at Ellen. Gabriel smirked, deciding to join in as he wrapped one arm around Sam's shoulder, waving his hand in almost dismissive manner.

"Of course I wam. How could I not like little Sam here?" Gabriel said teasingly, and Sam blushed as he looked over at Gabriel. Gabriel just smiled back, and he listened to Ellen and Bobby chuckle, releasing Sam from his hold despite not actually wanting to.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he stopped in his tracks, fishing it out of his pocket and frowning when he saw that it was his mother calling him.

"Excuse me." Gabriel said, dipping his head and standing, going into the other room and pressing the talk button and holding it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Gabriel. You can come home sweetie. Please come home." He heard his mother say, her voice filled with sadness and what he suspected was sobs.

"I will tomorrow. I'm staying at a friend's house." Gabriel said, his voice firm and making it clear he wasn't going to argue with her. His voice dropped to a low whisper, just to make sure Sam or his family wouldn't hear. "I just want to be sure, okay?"

"Okay, honey. I love you." His mother said in warmth before hanging up. Gabriel stared at his phone for a moment with confliction in his eyes before he looked up and put a smile on his face, heading back to the delicious meal waiting for him.