To be fair, Sam doesnāt know what he expected the first time he wakes up next to Gabriel.
Sam wakes first, unsurprisingly. He wakes the same way he always does; the same way everyone else does, he thinks - by giving himself a moment to adjust to the sensation, opening his eyes, then slowly climbing out of bed to take a shower. Today, though, he stops somewhere halfway through the getting out of bed process, because he remembers that the other side of his bed is filled with a still-snoozing ex-Trickster.
Sam remembers finding him the previous night in the kitchen when he got up to get some water at one o'clock in the morning. Gabriel hadnāt even been doing anything, just sitting at the table and staring out of the window, watching a shooting star which reminded them both all too much of the time the angels fell.
Sam hadnāt even said anything. Heād just pulled Gabriel to his feet, led him to his bedroom and tucked him in, draping an arm comfortingly over his waist, soothing him to sleep.
And now itās midmorning, and here they are.
The first time Gabriel opens his eyes, he squints, shakes his head a little to bring a curtain of hair over his eyes to block out the sunlight, and closes them again. Within seconds, heās gone back to sleep.
The second time he wakes up, Sam says, āGood morning, sleepyhead,ā and ruffles his hair.
āNo,ā Gabriel insists, in a small, petulant child voice. He buries his head in the pillow and goes back to sleep.
The third time Gabriel opens his eyes, he tries to fight Sam. Itās not really Samās fault. Gabrielās the one who moves away, attempting to drag all the sheets and blankets with him. Sam tries to resist, first accidentally because heās lying on them, and then on purpose because heās not wearing a shirt and itās actually really damn cold this morning. Gabriel wrestles with him, squeezing his eyes shut so he doesnāt have to deal with being awake, batting Samās hands away from the sheets, eventually reigning triumphant and balling himself up inside all the covers like a tiny archangel burrito.
The fourth time Gabriel opens his eyes, he growls - literally growls, like a cat. He rubs his eyes and wriggles around in the bed, and Sam wants to reach out and touch him, but heās a little scared.
Gabriel turns his head towards Sam and gives him a genuinely furious look, huffing in annoyance at his very existence, before turning back to where he was, mumbling something about āstupid sleep why do humans do thisā, and then dropping back off.
The fifth time Gabriel opens his eyes, he rolls over. Sam is propped against the headboard by this point, pretending to read a book, but really just watching Gabriel, his eyes soft over the pages and his mouth crinkled into a smile. āHey there,ā he whispers, once it looks like Gabriel isnāt going to go back to sleep this time, or to attack him.
Gabrielās lips part and he blinks up at Sam like heās struggling to reconcile his mental picture of what he should be seeing right now with what heās actually seeing.
āWhat are you doing here?ā he asks in a tiny, wavering voice.
Sam chuckles. āThis is my room. I sleep here every night. What are you doing here is the real question,ā he teases.
āSorry. I can go,ā Gabriel says, and he gathers up a blanket to his chest despite the fact that heās already snug in a pair of Samās pajamas, and folornly starts to shuffle out of the room.
āNo!ā Sam shouts, too loud for so early in the morning, quickly stopping him. āI didnāt mean it. Iām sorry. Please, come back and lie down for a bit.ā Heās not usually one for staying in bed for a long time in the mornings, but he thinks that he might feel differently if he could see Gabriel smile.
Gabriel pauses, looking unsure, but then nods, crawling back onto the bed and snuggling up into Samās side, his head on Samās shoulder.
Gabriel doesnāt speak for a while, but after a couple of minutesā comfortable silence, he says, āThought I dreamed you.ā
āNope. I may be dreamy, but I am real.ā
āSounds like something Iād say,ā Gabriel pouts, and yeah, maybe the guyās started to rub off on Sam since he moved into the bunker.
Sam doesnāt deny it, just says, āYouāre cute in the mornings.ā
ā'Mnot.ā Gabriel pulls a face and shakes his head at Sam, poking his cheek.
Sam smiles. āYou are. And itās a good thing too.ā
āOh yeah? And whyās that?ā Gabriel mumbles into the junction of Samās neck.
āBecause it means I want to see it again tomorrow morning.ā