Chapter Text
Sam wasn’t an idiot. Which is why he was completely aware that Dean didn’t go to Devine Desserts almost daily just for the pie.
Not to say he thought that Dean was lying about that bit. The man was sort of weird with his pie.
No, Sam knew the food was one thing, but he also knew that there was a something called a Castiel with blue eyes and a trench coat that Dean always forgot to shut up about. He was sort of happy that he finally got the chance to go.
“You’ll love it, Sammy,” Dean said, as they left the garage. It was a good day, they’d walk to the cafe and then later to the Roadhouse (where Sam was sure to get his ass handed to him for not visiting more). “And I swear dude, best pie in the state. The owner’s a genius.”
“Hm. A genius with a hot brother?”
“Shuddup.”
Sam smirked, but dropped it. It had amused him that Dean could be so blazé about casual dating, but once he found someone he genuinely liked, he got so fuckin’ flustered. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that it was a male omega, this time; neither Winchester really had a definite preference, but there was no doubt that they both tended towards women. It seemed, though, that perhaps Dean was in this one for more than the boobs. Maybe going for a guy would be good for him.
Sam inwardly winced as his thoughts turned to his own relationship background. Perhaps he should follow Dean’s lead.
The brothers walked the block over in good company, with Dean pointing out all the best places to eat and hang out, letting Sam know just how dumb he was for spending all his time on the “wrong” side of campus. Sam only scoffed.
Halfway to their destination, Sam met up with Kevin Tran—an omega that had really graduated from high school much too early, starting college the same year that Sam did at only fifteen. They’d taken some of their generals together and Sam had quickly befriended the guy, which Kevin was grateful for because, at fifteen, he had very few friends.
“Hey, Kev!” Sam had called him over.
Kevin looked over his shoulder. “Oh, hey Sam.”
Sam introduced Kevin to Dean, and was happy to see the two get along well enough. Dean had a thing—an unconscious but very real thing—about treating omegas and the more omega-like betas like family, just making sure they were alright. It was just natural to him. Sam would never say it to his face, but that was part of what made Dean such a good alpha. Sam saw Kevin loosen up a bit in Dean’s presence, too.
“Oh, actually,” Kevin said as they were about to part ways, “I have one question about the psych essay—”
“And that is my cue to leave,” Dean said, waltzing inside the door to the shop on the block corner. “Nice to meet you Kev, but I’m not hanging around for schoolwork talk. See you inside, Sammy.”
“Whatever, jerk.”
“Bitch.”
“Bye, Dean.”
Dean gave a small salute to Kevin, and then slipped inside. Sam turned back to Kevin. “So, what’s up?”
They chatted for a few minutes, discussing the details of the assignment. For all tat Kevin was a genius, when it came to papers about feelings and hormonal imbalances, turns out he was hopeless.
“So,” Sam said after a while, “make more sense?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Not a problem. Hey, you want to come inside?”
“Nah. My mother is expecting me for dinner, and apparently we have company. She thinks she’s found me an alpha wife.”
Sam raised an eyebrow and smirked. “That was nice of her.”
“This is the fourth one in five weeks.”
Sam could only clap a hand on the smaller man’s shoulder.
They bid each other goodbye, and Sam finally appraised the structure in front of him.
It was a nice, classic looking store from the outside ,with the door exactly on the block corner, facing the intersection at a diagonal. opening the painted door, Sam was met with a
mouthwatering wall of scent—chocolate and mocha and candied apples, and every warm and homey tone that came from baking. The air was certainly saturated with sweetness, but for once, Sam found that he didn’t mind it at all.
“Sammy!”
At his brother’s shout, Sam was brought out of his thoughts and went to join Dean at a booth, along with two omegas. Sam sat next to Dean, across from the other two, and Dean went a
bout with the introductions. “Guys,” he began, “this is Sam. Sam, this is Cas,” Sam couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips, no matter how much Dean glared, “and Gabriel. Gave is the one who owns this place.”
“Hey, nice to meet you guys,” Sam said, and then his eyes met those of the omega he supposed was Gabriel. They were…they were so damn gold. And then Sam caught a whiff of the tart candy apple scent spiking and realized that part of the heavenly scent he’d walked into was not the shop, but the owner.
The man in question batted his eyes once or twice, and then flashed a winning smile. “Nice to meet ya, Samsquatch. You here for the pie too? On the house, today.”
“Oh, I actually don’t really—”
Dean cut him off. “He’ll take my usual,” he said to Gabriel, and then turned to Sam, “Your freaky health habits can bite it Sam, this pie is worth it.”
Sam just shrugged and conceded. What was he supposed to say to that?
He caught sight of the grin on the golden haired omega’s face before he hurried back behind the counter to retrieve the aforementioned pie. Sam tried not to feel like the third wheel with Dean and Cas at the table, making googoo eyes at each other.
Soon enough, Gabriel came back, pie in hand. “Alrighty boys, all-American home-made apple pie.”
Dean inhaled his, the neanderthal. Gabriel sat down across from him and Sam knew the smaller man was watching. He internally steeled himself for an onslaught of sugar, but with his first bite he was pleasantly surprised with the taste. It was well-balanced, flakey, sweet but not painfully so. Dean apparently noticed his and elbowed Sam in the ribs. “See?” he asked through a mouthful, “Your no-sugar rule can suck it.”
As the conversation went on and Dean and Cas discreetly (?) eye-fucked, Sam turned his attention to Gabriel. “So, you own this place? It’s nice.”
The little mega preened. “Yup, bought her a few years ago and fixed her up. Used to be some sort of hot dog place or something.”
“Impressive. Why a bakery? Er, cafe?” Honestly Sam wasn’t sure there was a difference, but the last thing he wanted to do was insult the guy who’d just given him free pie.
“Cafe, technically. Eh, I’ve always loved cooking, and baking. And sugar is sort of my life-force, so it made sense.”
“Wait,” Sam had a thought, “do you bake everything?”
Gabriel smiled wide, obviously proud. “Yessir. My own recipes, made fresh daily by yours truly.”
Sam was actually impressed. He didn’t really understand why, he’d never given much thought to baking in general, but it seemed like a big thing for one person to handle all that. “That’s really cool, Gabriel.”
The omega preened, and his scent became even sweeter (if that were possible). But he also grinned and raised an eyebrow. “Really? ‘m finding that hard to believe, coming from someone who apparently eats like a bunny.”
“I guess when it comes to sweets I only like the really good stuff.” Shit, Sam caught himself. That…sort of sounded like he was flirting. Can someone flirt on accident? It certainly made Gabriel blush.
He picked himself back up, though, admirably fast. “Well, if my baking is so darn tasty, why haven’t you dropped by yet? Dean-o comes here almost every day.”
Well, that was a super fun conversation not to have. Short version, then. “I used to live on the other end of campus, with my girlfriend. It’s a good forty minute walk, and I don’t have a car. Even when I’d visit dean, I’d leave before the shop closed.”
“So, new place?”
“Yeah, only a few blocks away, passed the auto shop.”
“Any reason for the move?”
Boy, the little omega was nosey. Sam sighed. “Yeah, it’s closer to campus, closer to Dean. Smaller, too, which is fine since I’m living alone now.” Yeah, the breakup had not been fun. But all things considered, not the worst end of a relationship he’d had. And anyway, Ruby had been bad news.
Gabriel winced a bit. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It was mutual,” which was true—Sam had been tired of Ruby’s crap and Ruby had been tired of Sam’s functional independence. “Just, still sucks, you know?”
“Yeah, I know.” Gabriel had lowered his eyes, and Sam didn't know what that meant. He was curious.
He couldn’t ask anything though, because suddenly Dean remembered that they were still there. “Hey Gabriel, Charlie’s trying to het your attention.”
Sam turned too, to look. A spunky looking redhead was flailing her arms at Gabriel, who checked the clock and actually did manage to look contrite. Sam stood, not wanting to impose any more. “We should probably het going. We told Ellen we’d be at the Roadhouse by now.”
Gabriel cleared their trash before anyone could say anything else. “And I should actually do some work before I clock out. Cassie, you staying?”
Castiel shook his head. “Actually, I think I’ll head home. I’m not much help to you while you close up, anyway.”
Dean practically jumped. “We’ll walk with you.”
Castiel actually looked a bit surprised at that. “Thank you, but that’s not neces—”
“Pshh. You live, live, across the street. It’s no problem.”
Sam rolled his eyes, and from the look Gabriel shot him, the shorter omega knew what was going on just as well as he did.
Gabriel waved to them on their way out, and once outside, Sam lingered back a few steps for two reasons. One, was that he really, really didn’t want to play chaperone to his brother and Castiel. The other reason was that, in comparison to the sweetly saturated air he’d been breathing lately, the outside air suddenly smelled very stale.