This Life I Live - Gabriel x Reader

Someone Special

You walked into your room, shutting the door quietly in hopes of not waking up Angel. No such luck. "Who was that?" she screeched in excitement when the door was shut. You jumped at her reaction and shushed her. "Jesus, chill, babe! He was no one special. In fact, I've never met him before today. Something about wanting to help someone in this hell hole," you said, flopping down on the bed. Glancing at the clock, you deferred that they had forgotten to strap you down again or they just didn't care enough. You were fine with that.

"Seriously? Well, what was his name and what was he like? He was h-a-w-t  hot," she asked, running a hand through her bright hair. "His name was Gabriel, no last name given. And he was easy to talk to and really funny. Yeah, he was attractive. He had these eyes that just make me fall into his arms every time they lit up. 10 outta 10 would date," you sighed, leaning against your head board. "You two would be cute together. Flirt him up, babes, and he's yours," Angel said with a smirk. "Oh, please. Look around, Angel. We're in the loony bin. What guy, especially one like him, would want a chick from here?" 

She rolled her eyes and said, "Any guy would be lucky to have you. You're like, perfection. I'd smash any guy's face in who doesn't think so. Now get some sleep so you can look amazeballs for Prince Gabriel, (Y/n/n)." Rolling over, she stayed silent and you couldn't help but tilt your head to look out the window. The moonlight left streaks of white light on the floor all the way over to the metal door and you reached out to break the constancy of it. The shadow of your hand silently danced and you sighed quietly, pulling your hands back to cradle the other hand.

This man was going to break your heart and you knew it. You just didn't care.

When you awoke the next morning, Angel was already gone and the clear moonlight from last night was replaced with dreary rain. You watched as rain drops pelted the shimmering glass, listening to the soft pitter-patter. You pulled the scratchy blanket higher around your shoulder to snuggle deeper into its warmth. A quiet sigh escaped from your lips and you glanced over at the clock bolted to the wall. 9:03, it read. You rested your head back down on the pillow and shut your eyes tight out against reality as you did every morning. Gabriel's laugh bounced around in your head and you forced yourself out of bed.

After running a brush through your (h/c) hair and throwing on decent clothes, you padded quietly down to the cafeteria, avoiding some of the crazier crazies. An older woman named Sarah reached out for your hair, screeching, "I'll give you all of ten franks!" You silently slunk away from her, walking quicker when you saw the bright blob of hair you knew to be your only friend in this "fine" establishment. 

She was moving the biscuit drowned in gravy around the styrofoam plate, mumbling under her breath. When you pulled a chair out, she jumped, then smiled brightly at you. "I have some news! Josh asked me out finally!" she squealed. You rolled your eyes and stole the orange off her plate. This "Josh" was only a joke between you two, formed when a patient snapped and jumped all over a worker, claiming he was her long lost love, Josh. "This tastes like ass," she commented casually. "What'd you expect, babe? Organic bacon with a side of freshly squeezed apple juice? Everything's frozen and packed with preservatives," you retorted. She nodded and you both got lost in meaningless small talk.

An hour later, Angel was in private sessions like she had every day. You only had yours once a week now, but her condition was worse than yours, to say the least. So you were in your room, holding (Your Favorite Book) in your lap and the radio playing quietly from the window sill. You lost yourself in the book, investing yourself in the characters and feeling what they felt. When the same man from yesterday came in and said something you didn't hear, you snapped at him. "What?" He put two hands up jokingly. "Whoa, hold up, I'm just here to tell you you have a phone call. Do you want to take it? He says his name is Gabriel," he said, lowering his hands with every word. You smiled and glanced at the page number before dropping it on the bed and following the man down the hallway.

He handed you the phone, then went to sit in the chair across the room. You lifted the phone to your ear and said, "Hello?" Silence on the other side of the line didn't last long and a slightly familiar voice replied, "Hey, kitten. Told you I'd call." You smirked and continued easily, "I think you need an award. Whatcha doin'?" "Besides talking to this amazing girl I met yesterday? Not much. I gotta say, Princess, this'll probably be the highlight of my day." You blushed lightly at his words and you could hear the smirk in his voice when he said, "What are you doing tomorrow?" Taking a sneak at the man across from you and seeing he was on his phone, you whispered, "I can't leave, Gabriel."

"Who said you'd be doing anything? I've got a few connections and might be able to get you out of there for a while and then permanently. You don't belong in there, I can tell. Would you say yes?" he asked softer than his usual voice. "I'll gladly say yes if you'll answer me one question; why did you pick me and not someone else? My friend, Angel, or the younger boy across the hall, I think his name is Thomas. Answer the question and I'm all yours to take," you replied. You were genuinely curious and this was the surest way.

You heard him take a sharp breath in and then he spoke quickly-- a bit too quickly for your taste. "I saw your file and thought you needed a little sarcasm in your life. Laughter is the best medicine, y'know. Now how 'bout that date?" Something was off about the way he was so quick to respond to you, but you didn't want to press your luck. Anything to get out of here, even if just for a day. Suspicion could wait. A way out with someone you could see yourself crushing on sounded wonderful. "(Y/n)? You still there?" he said. His voice sounded fainter, weaker, but you ignored it, simply playing it off as a side effect of crappy government phones.

"I think I'd like that. Yeah, I'd like that a lot, Gabriel," you responded happily. It was the first time in a long time you were excited about the next day. "Amazing. Where would you like to go, madam? Anywhere your precious heart would like to go." You both talked for a long while before the man told you you had to leave. "I'm coming for you tomorrow, sugar. Can't wait to see you," Gabriel said. "Alright. Bye, Gabe. Wait, can I call you Gabe?" you asked before the man hung up for you. "No," he said shortly. You couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but judging by the harsh tone of his voice, he wasn't. 

You went to apologize, but he had already hung up.