Just Desserts

Chapter 43

Sam

I breathed in the familiar stench of sweating kids and blueberry muffins that always filled the noisy cafeteria on Mondays, a smile stretching across my face as I spotted Charlie at our normal table, furiously erasing something with her big eraser, the end of her pencil in her mouth, hair sweeping into her face.

"Hey, what you working on?" I asked, watching as she scribbles something down.

"I was asked to write a play for this semester, it needs to be done in a few weeks, but I am all out of ideas. Help?" she asked, raising her eyebrows slightly.

"Sorry. I've got nothing," I chuckled watching as she slumped forward.

"Thanks anyway," she mumbled, pausing a moment as she actually looked at me. "Why are you so happy?"

"Well, if you must know," I started.

"His boyfriend is finally going to be here this year," Dean teased, pinching my sides slightly.

"He's not my boyfriend, Dean. He's a friend."

"Sure..." Dean rolled his eyes, shaking his head at Charlie slightly.

"Friend?"

"Yeah. He's been living in Georgia for his entire life, but in kindergarten we had an assignment. The teachers thought it would be a great idea to give us all pen pals and some school in Georgia had agreed to be our pals. I got partnered up with Gabriel, I can't remember his last name, and we've been talking ever since."

"Kindergarten? That's a long time. You still talk?"

"Yeah. We've helped each other through a lot over the years. He's my best friend and I'm super excited to finally meet him," I mumbled, nerves settling in my stomach.

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Sam. He'll love you. Everyone does."

"I'm not worried about that. I'm just worried that our first time meeting is going to suck because we're at school."

"It won't be that bad. Do you know what he looks like?" Charlie asked, smirking as a smile spread across my face.

"Yeah. We sent pictures to each other over the years, especially recently because I knew he was coming down here for his Junior and Senior years." Charlie nodded, a smile on her face.

"Tell me when he gets here. I'd love to meet him, but till then, I have a story to write." I nodded in understanding, sliding into the seat next to her. Jess walks in a moment later, eyes lighting up as she walks over to Sam, giving him a big hug before turning towards Charlie and kissing her forehead. 

Sam smiled, glad to see that they were still going strong. He had liked Jess a couple years ago, but it didn't take long for him to realize that Charlie was extremely into her and Jess, while she said she loved Sam, admitted that it was more of in a family kind of way than anything romantic. It had hurt at first, but Sam got over it quickly when he saw how happy they were together.

He was pulled from his thoughts as the cafeteria door slammed open, startling him. After his eyes adjusted to the light, he watched as Anna walked in, closely followed by her two younger brothers. 

Sam swallowed thickly as Gabe stumbled into the cafeteria, eyes meeting his from across the room. He got up, swiping his hands on his pants as he made his way over to the man who had a grin splitting his face.

"Hey, Sam," Anna murmured, but Sam barely noticed as he pulled Gabe in for a hug, glad to meet his friend at last. 

"Nice to meet you too, Sam," Gabe mumbled into his shoulder, pushing roughly at Sam's chest so that he could breathe.

"Sorry for that... I'm just. You have no idea how excited I am to finally see you, in person," Sam chuckled.

"No, I get it. When I found out we were moving down here, I was dancing around the house, screaming at the top of my lungs. I've wanted to meet you for years and, now here we are... kinda sucks it's at school, but hey, let's make the best of what we got."

Sam nodded enthusiastically, watching as Gabe stumbled after Cas who had grabbed his hand to drag him over to Dean, who he was excited to meet. They were also partnered up as pen pals, only because Dean had been entered into school late.

Something was off with Gabe though, Sam noticed as Gabe just trudged along behind his brother, shoulders slumped. His cheeriness from a few seconds ago completely gone as he talked with Dean.

Sam knew Gabe. Had talked to him for almost 13 years, and had helped him through some tough times. He knew Gabe's personality from long conversations on the phone and descriptions from Cas.

This didn't seem like him at all. 

This, quiet, awkward person, wasn't the Gabe that he knew from years before.

This was someone different, someone who was hiding something, which they promised to never do. Someone who had been beaten down enough that they could hide it well if they tried, but they gave up.

This wasn't the Gabe he's known for years. Something was off and he was determined to figure it out.

NOTE: Sorry for the short chapters. I know that they have been short, but I've been updating more recently and I hope that can make up for it. I also apologize for the whole Charlie and Jessica being together thing. This time needed to be different and I needed Jess to be out of the way, not with Sam, so the best way for that to happen was for her to not be interested in guys at all, besides poor Charlie needed something. Anyways, thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. -Captain