#SamGabeHSAU --

If people getting together is the fastest-traveling news at Lawrence high, people breaking up is the tortoise to that hare. Sam is convinced it is done this way for maximum torture. This way, he has to personally tell everyone he talks to, and go through the whole sordid affair time after time after time.

Gabriel, for example, greets him on their favorite corner of the field with a "So? So? How'd it go? Did you see fireworks and hear symphonies play?"

"Uh, no," Sam says, trying to stay serious in the fake of Gabriel's out-of-nowhere impression of a crazed orchestra conductor. "Not exactly."

"Well, now that my little boy's all grown up, I thought I'd give you a present." Gabriel fishes through his backpack and pulls out a gigantic pair of boobs with a magazine cover attached to them.

"Penthouse?" Sam almost chokes. "Who in the hell let you buy this? You look, like, eight!"

"Eh, I stole it from Michael's bag when he came home from the store," Gabriel says with a shrug. "He accuses me of stealing them all the time, anyway. Figured I might as well live up to his expectations for once."

Sam flips it open. "Whoa," he says, unsure how to begin to process what he sees.

"Yeah, that's pretty impressive all right," Gabriel says. "How many times do you suppose she had to do that until they got the lighting right? My back would start to hurt."

This draws a laugh from Sam. He leans closer to Gabriel, and they flip through the pages together, occasionally making jokes, or sounds of appreciation or disgust for the sheer absurdity of the photographs. The whole time, their knees are brushing, and Sam can feel it every time Gabriel swallows, can see the dimples form every time he laughs. Sam turns a page and his fingers meet Gabriel's on the other side. Time seems to jell until it's practically standing still.

"Here, you better take this with you," Gabriel says finally, when they've been through most of it and it's getting dark. "Help you deal with that little problem when you get home." He nods significantly at Sam's crotch, slaps him on the back, and goes.

Sam reaches down and adjusts himself. Absolutely nothing in that magazine had anything to do with why he's so turned on right now. And then he realizes he never got around to telling Gabriel that Jess broke up with him.

That night he slides the magazine under his bed and closes his eyes, stroking himself to sleep thinking of dimples and an Adam's apple bobbing up and down. He'll have to thank Gabriel in the morning.

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