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jewishadammilligan · 1 year

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Title: "Love Out Of Plain Sight"

Because the author (me) is incompetent and cannot pace or restrain myself at all, my wonderful giftee (Adam) is going to get a two in one gift! Uh... Yeah long story short I have been writing your (hi Adam 😃👋) gift but I was like "No, this is THEE jewishadammilligan (also I should just mention now I may have squealed when I saw who I got) they deserve extravagance!" And then shortly regretted that as the fic got really long... Kinda freaked out, contacted the amazing @klayr-de-gall (who is running this awesome event might I add midamgiftexchange2022) which they handled frazzled and sporadic me so amazing and they gave me a grace period then as I pulled two all nighters writing I realized I still would not have enough time even with the grace period so, TA-DA double the gifts!

I wrote this rather quickly and no beta so I apologize if there's any Grammer mistakes. But I really hope you like it, your original "extravagance" gift written specifically for you is still being written as fast as I can write and hopefully I will get it to you within the week! Enjoy!!!!

Gifted to: @jewishadammilligan

Fandom: Supernatural

Prompt(s): "Fluff or silly AU's"

Relationship(s): Adam Milligan/Michael

Character(s): Adam Milligan, Michael (archangel)

Important tag(s): Bartender Adam Milligan, Fluff, Dash of angst, Accidental Engagement, Canon Divergence

Rating: Gen

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply, Drinking, mentions of alcohol

Word Count: 4,086

With a ducked head, he hesitantly brought the glass to his mouth with a brief pause before taking a sip. "We're… engaged?"

Adam reached to grab the empty shot glass and caught another glance of the ring around his finger, It was a simple small band but its presence was felt and known. He shrugged. "Why not?"

Adam gets his "little job" but even then, that brings its own unexpected occurrences when your boyfriend is an Archangel.

Continue reading below or over on Ao3

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Something more than noise always accompanied Adam where he went. The sounds of his childhood were like pollen off of flowers, sticking and serving as a reminder of where things had once been and once were. He could find familiarity in them—comfort even.

But the sounds of a bar were far from that.

The constant clink of glasses against one another, against the wood of the table tops, or ice sloshing around. There was a constant buzz of minor sounds that clouded over the hum of chatter in the background. Though despite that, the bar quickly became a place of familiarity along with the noises that inhabited the space.

The only new and interrupting noises were coming from Adam.

A soft hum escaped his mouth to the tune of a song as he absentmindedly danced to it. Everything known as, rhythmically, he moved along to his own beat, chopping away at the limes on his cutting board.

The ones that weren't rolled were pushed off to the side as he did so to the ones that needed it. An alarming perfume, tangent from the pungent smell of sweet citrus that layered over the warm amber of the bar, stuck to his hands. A scent that would carry on long after he left for home.

Everyone, he found, was too busy in their own engagements to give a curious eye towards the humming and dancing of the bartender. Allowing him to do more than hum or move much to his own enjoyment just as much as Michael's.

Something that Michael, himself, thought nobody knew he was secretly thankful for… Much like his ignorance towards the specific song Adam had been humming for weeks with no end in sight. From the second he woke up, picked between the black combination of tie and waistcoat or bowtie and suspenders to the moment he stripped away his clothes at the end of the night before bed.

Much something, one and the same, if not already known, Adam very much knew of as well.

The odd mix of admiration in Michael's face but deep annoyance in his posture had kept Adam from concealing his smile around him for the lengthy time the tune had kept its space in his head. The catchy melody, on his lips in every situation even if deemed so inappropriate, or in a matter that definitely did not call for a song.

All things that kept him well entertained as he continued to cut lemons and limes.

He took a spin, still with the knife in hand, coming face to face with Michael. Eyes followed his every move but with that known something else Adam loved to poke and prod at.

"What?" He questioned, playing innocent.

Michael took a deep resounding sigh and shook his head. "Nothing."

"That look isn't nothing," He chided him, haphazardly waving around the knife.

Michael all but rolled his eyes. "That song you were humming," He said, but kept his eyes on the knife as it sliced through the lime and hit the board.

"What about it?" He looked up from the last lime he was cutting into, receiving a done look from Michael. He chuckled. "Oh come on, you love it."

"I hate it."

"It's amazing!"

"It's terrible."

"It's the best thing ever created, Michael," Adam exclaimed.

Michael scoffed. "I could argue with creation."

"Well then—Ow!" The knife clattered down as he raised his index finger to his mouth. Blood stained the skin when he pulled back to take a look at the deep gash across his finger. A small moan of pain escaped as he put it back to his mouth in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

Michael held out his hand instantly. "Let me."

He obliged, laying his hand in Michael's. A single finger was lightly brushed over the gash. The skin instantly healed, leaving behind only the trace of blood and phantom pain as evidence of it ever being there.

"Better?" He lightly brushed over his finger again as he looked up at him.

Adam smiled. "Yeah." Taking his hand back as Michael retreated his own hands, he eyed the area where the skin had stitched itself back together.

Though his awe of the situation was quickly interrupted by the ring of the bell above the bar door. A man dressed in a suit and coat trudged in, making a beeline for the bar.

"Crap," he hissed under his breath. He quickly cleaned up his mess and washed his hands before turning back to Michael. "We're not finished."

He threw the towel in hand halfway to hang over his shoulder as he made his way over to the man. "What can I get for you, Sir?"

The man didn't so much as bother with his coat as he sat down at the first chair he approached. "Whiskey—neat, please."

"You got it." He pulled a clean glass and turned to grab the correct bottle from the bottom shelf. "Rough day?" He questioned, trying to make small talk.

The man scoffed. "You could say that."

He poured and then pushed the drink forward as it came to the line. "There you go."

"Thanks."

He shot Michael a smile as he got back to what he was originally doing before. He grabbed the last of the lime wedges he had cut, squeezing them into the awaiting drink he had been preparing.

But before he could even reach for another, he heard the telltale sound of an empty glass hitting the bar top.

"Another, please."

He wiped his hands on the towel before walking back over to the man and doing as asked. "Sure, you're alright, sir?" He slid the re-filled drink back towards the man.

The man hung his head, his eyes red and far away as he asked, "Have you ever been in love?"

"Once," Adam answered. "The other time it was more… walking beside it."

The man sniffed. "Better than falling." He let go of the glass and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out something and depositing it on the bar top. "Been holding onto that for months… but I guess I wasn't quick enough."

Adam stayed quiet and continued to listen as he looked down at the discarded ring band that glimmered under the dull lighting of the bar.

"Twelve years… down the drain, all just because I came home early." He shook his head in disbelief with a tight pained grin. "If it's one thing, take love by the hand while it's still beside you." He brought the glass to his lips and downed its contents in one go.

Adam stayed still as the man pulled out his wallet and left more than enough for what he drank.

"Keep the change." He stood from the chair and started to make his way toward the door.

"Sir!" Adam called, he picked up the ring still on the bar top. "You forgot this."

The man gave him a somber smile and a nonchalant wave of his hand. "Keep it. I think you'll find more use for it than I ever will." The chime of the bell on top of the door followed him out into the night.

Adam twisted the ring between his fingers. The metal caught the light with a glimmer before he pocketed the object. He spared another glance towards Michael with a smile before grabbing the empty glass. "What's that look for?"

Michael's eyes widened. "Hm?"

"That look," he stated. He grabbed the drink he had been working on and walked back towards him. "You act like I don't see it every time anyone sits here."

"And that is?"

"If looks could kill, Michael. These poor guys." He shook his head. Though almost like it were yesterday, vibrant memories flashed in his head of instances where a single look from Michael was someone's death. "I take that back actually." He quickly countered. "No smiting any of my customers."

"Unless none of them are demons, there won't be any smiting of your customers," he soothed.

"Thank you. Now—" Adam placed the glass he had in hand in front of him. "Drink up." He smiled.

Michael all but glanced at it for a brief second as though it was a plague before looking back and cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on, humor me," Adam pleaded.

"This stuff will kill you."

"But not you. Try it, I made it special." He scooched the glass an inch closer with a finger.

Michael gave him a wary look before picking up the drink and giving the liquid a few swishes around the glass. "Special?" He questioned.

"Mhm," he hummed. "Special."

The glass was raised to the light as Michael contemplated the mixed drink. He lowered it with another glance inside and towards Adam who beamed a smile and wiggled his eyebrows. Taking an uneasy breath, Michael took a decent-sized drink.

"Well…?" Adam proded. "Are the molecules any good?"

He brought the glass a safe distance away from himself, licked his lips, furrowed his eyebrow, and cocked his head to the side. "It's… sweet?" He swallowed, his tongue moving in his mouth as unrecognized flavors danced, masking themselves behind ones he could distinguish.

"Well, then that's good for you." Adam bit his lip at his reaction.

Michael cleared his throat, grimacing at the aftertaste. "What is that?"

Adam shrugged his shoulders as if he hadn't been the one to make it. He made sure to leave him hanging as he saw one of the guys sitting at the far table stand and make his way toward the bar.

"My little mystery for you, figure it out."

He slung the towel back over his shoulder and walked towards the guy. "What can I get you?"

"Four shots of vodka and three cokes."

"Coming right up." He got to collecting everything he needed.

The young man leaned against the counter. "Are you new here?"

The comment caught him off guard but he continued, keeping up conversation and doing the task at hand as best he could. "Yeah, just started a couple of days ago."

The man gestured back at the table he had been at. "Me and my friends are regulars here, you could say."

"Guess I'll be seeing a lot of you then." Adam pushed a polite smile.

"And you as well."

Adam gave a curt nod before sliding the shots his way. "Here you go."

The man grabbed the extra shot and took it down, passing the glass back. "Say… when does your shift end?"

Adam froze. "Excuse me?" He jerked up the coke he was serving as he missed the glass towards the end.

"I mean, could I take you somewhere once you're able to get out of here?"

"Oh…." He said, letting it sink in. "Oh! Uh, I…."

"Were you…?

"No, I—um…" He panicked. He fumbled with the ring in his pocket. His last-second decision of his judgement failed him as he shimmied the ring on his ring finger in his pocket. He raised his hand to clearly see the band. "I'm—I'm taken."

He saw Michael visibly choke on his drink out of the corner of his eye. He tried not to grin as he peaked over before letting his eyes fall back on the customer in front of him. "I'm sorry if I…"

The man shook his head. "No, don't, I apologize. You didn't do anything of the sort. Should had know a good-looking guy like you would already be taken."

He watched Michael bristle at his comment again.

"Engaged? Married?" The man questioned.

He turned the band around his finger with his thumb. "Uh, engaged—newly." He slid the ready-poured drinks towards him.

"Congrats. Lucky guy." He grabbed the drinks and left with a smile back to his table.

Adam let out a slow exhale. "Not a demon. Can't kill him either, Michael," he chided him for safety measures. He ran a cloth over the counter from the few drops that had split. He smiled to himself before looking over, expecting the same look back from Michael but instead just saw the opposite.

His glance was locked in one spot on the counter, not breaking even when he brought up his hand and rubbed it over his mouth before going back to the glass. His posture and everything screaming flashing red lights had Adam worried about how to approach it.

"Michael?" He waited for a look, an answer—something, before closing the distance between them. He pushed the cloth aside as he leaned in and lowered his voice. "Hey," he snapped his fingers a few times. "Earth to Michael."

Michael's attention snapped back to him. "Sorry…" he shook his head.

"Where were you?"

"Here… always," he answered.

Adam smiled. "With me?"

"With you." He held the glass from the rim and gently swishes it around.

Adam tilted his head. "You okay?"

"Okay," Michael repeated. Words lacking any and all emotion. With a ducked head, he hesitantly brought the glass to his mouth with a brief pause before taking a sip. "We're… engaged?"

Adam reached to grab the empty shot glass and caught another glance of the ring around his finger, It was a simple small band but its presence was felt and known. He shrugged. "Why not?"

"Why not?" Michael repeated again, a chuckle edging on disbelief as he shook his head. "Shouldn't this at least be… proper then?" He took a drink, eyebrows furrowed both from his question and the still unknown flavour in his sweetened drink.

"I mean most people get engaged a few years after dating. What's ten… hundred years?"

Michael put down his glass, pushing it a small distance away from himself with disdain. "Dating?"

"Nonsensical terms." Adam waved his hand. "All this really. Rings, vows, the whole getting down on one knee and clandestine white weddings." Despite his claims of nonsense though, he looked off with something wanting. Knowing that was always what he had imagined for himself all through his life before everything happened. "Just something created for one person's used and pushed on everybody else."

Michael cocked his head, an all too knowing look on his face complete with a small content smile. "Nonsense you say?"

"Nonsense, Michael. Full of it."

"You haven't taken it off." He remarked with a gesture towards his hand.

Adam put his hand straight out in front of him, allowing the ring to catch the dim lights of the bar as he admired the ring with a small wiggle of his fingers. "I think it looks quite good, don't you?" He lowered his hand and showed it to Michael.

"If I agree?"

"You did put a ring on it."

"Technically you put that ring on yourself," Michael corrected.

He waved his hand. "Same thing, angel."

Michael tilted his head, eyebrows in that worrying position again like Adam had seen so many of the angels do before; just never Michael in so many instances. His gaze, temporarily lost in his unwanted drink while Adam stopped in his actions.

"Does it mean the same thing?" He earnestly asked.

Adam froze in what he was doing. Hating that despite Michael being the first-born archangel the whole knowing humans before their creations and watching them from the beginning of time, he still asked questions that at times reminded Adam that he was in fact an angel. Though at the same time, he began to wonder if it didn't make him all that different from an everyday human being. Questioning what he held a lack of understanding for; love, feelings…. Things that Adam wished he could ask as so plain and simple about.

He took a deep breath. "No, Michael, it doesn't. That's just how these types of things work."

"These types of things?" He repeated in a question.

"You, Me—" he smiled. "Us…. This." He gestured around at their surroundings. "Everything, Michael."

"It's hard to understand all of this sometimes."

He chuckled. "I'm not the wisest of teachers either."

"I wouldn't have anyone else, or rather can't… you're the only one who knows you after all," he admitted.

Adam smiled. "And you?"

"I'm learning."

"Then… us?" He asked.

Michael shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know."

"If I do?"

"Then explain it to me."

"Fine." Adam wiggled the ring off his finger and leaned over the counter, grabbing Michael's left hand in his. He cleared his throat. "Michael… you don't have a last name do you?"

"Celestial being," he stated. "And that's what is worrying you right now?"

"Yes, and it's a good thing I have one then," Adam remarked. "Uh…" he aimlessly waved his hand, "something about love and togetherness—"

"Togetherness?" He questioned.

"Hush, I've only ever seen this done in movies."

Michael ducked his head, hiding a smile in his glass.

Adam sighed. "What do people say when they propose?" He suddenly wished he had watched all those soppy romance drama movies with his mom.

Michael put down his glass. "Is that what you're doing? Proposing?"

"Do you need me down on one knee too?" Adam teased.

Michael cocked his head with an amused grin.

Adam shook his head, a warm chuckle escaping his mouth as his grip on Michael's hand tightened. He took a breath. "I'm proposing… that we've been together for hundreds of years, locked in a place I never really saw the true horrors of thanks to you. We only had each other and I… care about you, and even though this ring means nothing, you mean something—everything to me. So—" he raised the ring, "will you take my proposition?"

A grin was placed on Michael's face nonetheless, but a hint of confusion was buried underneath something Adam didn't know.

"With careful consideration?" Michael half questioned. Hesitance hanging for a drop and catch of reassurance.

Adam shifted his hold, gripping his hand tighter with a smile. "I wouldn't know any other way from you."

"And if I say yes?"

"Yes? Then this—" he raised the ring, "—will belong there—" he tapped Michael's ring finger.

He watched his expression change into something unreadable, leaving his heart to jump with worry that his mind pushed aside….

Then Michael spoke.

"If it doesn't belong there?" The question was as nonchalant as could be.

Adam gasped for a breath he didn't realize he has completely exhaled at Michael's words. "Oh… well, I—"

"No," Michael lightly chuckled over his sputtering. "This." He grabbed the ring from him in one hand and Adam's left hand in the other before sliding the ring back onto his finger.

"Oh."

"Like you said. It looks quite good there."

Adam straightened back up once his heart had found Its place and his breath had returned. "It does, doesn't it? Nice fit." He gave another small wiggle of his fingers, the cold band rubbing against the insides of his pinky and middle finger.

Michael scoffed a laugh. "What did I say yes to exactly? Loving you is understandable but I know marriage is usually tied in."

"Not fond of the whole commitment thing?"

He tilted his head for a second. "I'd rather not engage in anything that has to do with my father."

"Most people don't," Adam explained. "We'll just elope."

Michael caved. "I'll bite. Where?"

He shrugged. "Anywhere."

"Anywhere to me means a matter of things," he informed.

"Well, usually people do Vegas or something, not Mars or the Milky Way…. Not that I'm complaining or anything."

Michael smiled. "Whatever you wish."

Adam smiled in the moment but found it cut short as the bell above the door once again yanked his attention to look. He straightened and gave a friendly but curt wave to the older man coming in the door as he recognized him from the previous days he had worked.

He turned back to Michael. "Well, until then…" He ducked behind the bar and came up with something in hand. "I have another customer." He reached over and pushed a strawberry on the rim of his glass. "Fiancé."

He watched Michael's eyes on the strawberry before he looked back at him with a criticizing look from the newly placed nickname.

"Yeah, I know, felt weird for me too. Remind me to never do that again."

Michael nodded. "Will do."

He pushed himself away and over to the older man. "Same thing?" He questioned, receiving a single nod back.

He went through the steps in his head as he finished making the drink. "Try that." He set it down in front of him.

The man took a long sip before putting it back down. "Perfect," he said.

Adam mentally applauded himself, letting a bright smile shine through at his self-satisfaction.

"See, told you you'd get it down with a few times for practice."

"Fast learner," he boasted. Though he knew it had taken him multiple attempts plus practice during his free time and much feedback from Michael and his 'tastes like molecules' to get it in drinkable condition. If the previous days were any proof of too much of one thing or too little of another.

The man's eyes widened. "That's new?" He pointed to his hand.

Adam looked down, smiled. "It is." He pretended to be casual about, maybe even forgetful about the ring around his finger despite the fact that it had all happened within the span of the last hour.

"Well look at you. Who's the lucky person?" He questioned.

Adam twisted the ring and took a brief glance over to Michael who was more preoccupied with staring at his drink. He smiled. "I am…"

The older man raised his glass. "Congrats."

All he wanted to do was rush home and to be alone with Michael how things once were and always had been. Just each other and nothing else. But first, he still had something to do.

He finished and walked back over to Michael. "Figured it out?" He looked towards the glass.

Michael wore a soft smile. "Strawberry…" he announced. He tapped and traced the rim of his glass with his middle finger. "It was strawberry."

He leaned into his space, lowering his voice for just them. "If you're right?"

Michael cocked an eyebrow. "A reward?" He questioned.

Adam grinned, he reached over and plucked the strawberry from the glass, taking a bite of half of it before leaning back over and holding out the other half for Michael.

Mischief played on Adam's lips, something Michael could hardly miss. His eyes never once left; a gaze like desire yet to be broken as he took the offering from his fingers.

Adam's left hand went over Michael's, the now prominent ring joining both of them together before back to each other. He brought his non-occupied hand back, dropping the leaves and stem to the side and licking the juices from where the strawberry had been between his thumb and forefinger. Tied eye contact not breaking to anything that dared to call attention.

Michael swallowed and licked his lips. "If I'm wrong?" He asked.

Adam cocked his head, sporting a faux expression of contemplation more to tease and play than anything. "Don't you want to know." His words were anything but a question.

"Do I?"

He always figured change was tied in with life-altering choices like proposing or marriage. But this—Michael, was anything but change; a warm wave of nostalgia that was there and always meant to be there.

Michael turned his hand, giving Adam more access to thread their fingers together. Both of their holds on another tightened for a pulse of breath before loosening yet still firm, neither one of them letting go.

And like a fish with a hook in its mouth, fighting against the line, reeling closer as the waves moved with gentle ease that was otherwise so; they were both weak. They had caught each other looking for the same thing but found one another, pulling and fighting for the unknown at the end of the line until they faced what they knew all along that had led them to be so weak.

Adam's attention was tied to the slight tilt of Michael's head and that subtle upward curve of his lips. A gentle taunt as Michael studied Adam just as close as well. The way his hand flew and went in every which direction with every word he spoke, or even his bright light-up-the-world smile that shined every moment it could.

And in the end, he did just that, both of them aware of the other and everything in between, he cocked his head and smiled…

#SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP #THIS IS SO #I LOVE THIS SO MUCH PLEASE #you are so so wonderful and this is so so wonderful #im so :0 :)

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