One Time at Band Camp: Part 1
Title: One time at Bandcamp
Author: acquiescence_
Rating: Pg-13 for fic, R for epilogue
Pairing: J2
Word count: ~11,500
Disclaimer: Not real obviously.
Summary: Jensen has been going to the Texas State University summer band camp for years now, this year Jared is his roommate.
Author's notes: This was written for sinnerforhire and she requested J2: AU--high school, marching band camp, JA plays saxophone, JP plays trumpet and it just took over my brain and became this huge thing. This is the longest fandom related thing I've ever written and it's kind of epic for me. I couldn’t help throwing in all the details I could about the band camp at Texas State University, which I attended during my band days, and all the other Texas details, being a Texan myself.
Thanks to sparkysparky for holding my hand and talking through plot with me and beta-ing this monster, it probably wouldn't have ever been finished if it weren't for you.
Enjoy :)
Part 1, Part 2, Epilogue
"We're gonna be late!" Jensen yells after he has taken his bags out to the car. He's practically nineteen years old and his mom still doesn't trust him to make the drive down to San Marcos on his own. It doesn't matter that it's only a few hours down I-35, his mother still insists on driving him.
Jensen has been going to the summer band camp program at Texas State University ever since he started playing the saxophone nearly 6 years ago. The program was supposed to be the best in the state--at least that's what his friends said--and he begged his parents to let him go. After that first summer he knew he would go back every year. He made lots of friends, and there was nothing better than spending the summer huddled up all night in abandoned college dooms with other sax players.
"Calm down Jenny, camp's not going anywhere." Mackenzie sings at him, flipping through a magazine as she lounges around on the sofa, cotton balls stuck between her toes for some reason Jensen will never understand.
He pulls a face at his sister, and smacks the back of her head as he walks past, grinning when she gapes at him indignantly.
"Mom! I'm going to miss the opening gathering," he calls out again. He's growing more impatient by the minute.
"All right, all right I'm coming Jen. Calm down." His mother finally descends the stairs, and why she has to get herself ready Jensen has no idea, because she's just dropping him off. "Are you sure you don't want to come along for the ride Mackenzie?" his mother asks hopefully. "It'd be nice to have some company for the ride home."
"No." Both Jensen and Mackenzie reply at the same time. He's definitely not going to be cooped up in the truck with Mackenzie for almost 4 hours.
His mother shakes her head good naturedly at her children. "Well then, let's get this show on the road."
The drive down from Richardson to San Marcos is an uneventful one, though Jensen does like driving through Austin. He's always liked the capital building. Even though it's hard to see for all the other buildings around it, the glimpses he managed to catch on their way through traffic are enough to make him smile. He always takes the typical Texas pride in knowing that the Texas capital is bigger than the United States capital - same way nearly everyone who grew up in Texas did.
Soon they're driving through the outskirts of Austin; Jensen recognizes all the construction that has been going on even longer than he's been making the trip down to San Marcos. It is a familiar sort of sight - despite the frustration of the traffic congestion it causes - because he knows they are almost there, just another twenty minutes and they'll make it.
It isn't just seeing his friends that make him look forward to the trip; there are the classes, marching, concerts, late nights in the dorms, and a whole six weeks without his parents hovering over him. A whole six weeks on his own. In a home where privacy doesn't come often, these six weeks every summer are something Jensen treasures more than anything.
Well maybe it's not the privacy - it really is hard to get a minute to yourself when you're staying in a dorm - it's not having to worry about his mother walking in on him, or Mackenzie barging in when he's told her to keep out of his room more times than he can count, but she just has to ask him something too important to wait for something as silly and impractical as knocking. It's a bit like privacy though, and it's enough for Jensen.
They pull up to the University, the rolling hills and sprawling campus more than familiar now. Jensen kisses his mom goodbye, once she's satisfied that he's settled in his room, that he is signed up for private lessons like he's supposed to be, that he's promised to be safe enough. Jensen is practically pushing her out the door, and soon she's back in the truck and turning back out onto the highway, heading back to Richardson.
Finally, he was free.
"Jensen, you son of a bitch, I didn't think you'd ever get here." Jensen doesn't even have to look to know it's Christian, that rough voice filled with too much swagger and a smirk Jensen knows is there even if he hasn't seen it yet.
"Kane." A grin spreads across his face as he turns to see his friend. Christian Kane has been coming to these camps just as long as Jensen. They had met back during their first year, the both of them pretty piss poor musicians at the time, struggling to get a handle on their instruments - the thing they never tell you about saxophones is that they're pretty fucking hard to play. No one mentions reeds or apertures when you're signing up, it's all jazz musicians and things like that - and despite the fact that Christian has since joined the drum line they've remained friends.
"'Bout time you got here," Christian says, wrapping his arms around Jensen and pounding his back.
"Yeah, well Mom still doesn't think I can make the trip on my own." He gives Christian a sheepish smile.
"Awww, Jen." Christian ruffles his hair. "You got your room yet?"
"Yeah, I'm in 403. You?"
"412, with Steve."
"I'm not sure who I'm with, they haven't gotten here yet." Jensen says. It's always a gamble, getting a roommate. How Chris and Steve end up together year after year is something of a mystery; Jensen has a few theories about that though.
"Better keep your fingers crossed that you don't get stuck with another creep again this year."
"He wasn't that bad," Jensen says defensively.
"He watched you sleep at night!"
"Yeah that was a little weird," Jensen admits with a shrug, and he wonders if they'll let him get a room change if something like that happens again - it wouldn't be right to get stuck with some creep two years in a row and during his last year too.
"Look I've still got to sign up for lesson times, come by the room later though." Chris pounds his fist against Jensen's back again, making him stagger, before he grins and runs off down the hall.
With a sigh, Jensen turns and heads back to the dorm and his room to unpack a bit before the evening activities get started. Thanks to his mother's helpful nagging he doesn't have to worry about signing up for lessons, or any of those other administrative chores Kane is busy with now.
Jensen has always liked staying in the dorms, and this year more than others since it was the last time he’ll be able to come to camp. He'll be off to college in the fall, and have a dorm room of his own. He'll finally be on his own, without his mother hovering in the background, or Mackenzie right there to put her nose in anything and everything.
He hums to himself as he unpacks his bag, stuffing his clothes into the drawers of the dresser beneath his bed. He likes this part - before everyone arrives, before the halls are filled with screams and laugher - when it's still quiet.
"Looks like I'm rooming with you."
A voice behind him startles Jensen out of his thoughts, and he turns to see a familiar face in the doorway. "Looks that way."
"Jared." The taller boy holds out his hand. "Jared Padalecki." He wears a lopsided grin, and has his bag slung over one shoulder, instrument case in his hand.
"Yeah, yeah I recognize you, you play trumpet right?" Jensen asks taking Jared's hand, though it feels strange to shake hands with someone his own age.
Jared nods, his grin growing. "Yeah, that's me; you've been here for the last few years too right?"
"I've been coming since I started playing." He is still holding Jared's hand, like an idiot.
"Cool." Jared squeezes his hand once, not really pulling his hand away, just making Jensen aware that he's still holding on.
"Oh right, sorry." He shakes his head, giving Jared's hand one last shake. "Jensen Ackles, sex.” It takes Jensen a minute to realize what he said, but when he does his face turns red. "Sax, I mean sax." Jensen is completely horrified; he hasn’t actually slipped up like that in years. Jared just laughs though and shakes his head cuffing Jensen on the back of the head.
"I think we’re going to get along just fine. Glad to officially meet you." Jared is still wearing that easy smile as he steps further into the room, tossing his bag carelessly onto the empty bed and setting his trumpet down more carefully at the foot of the bed. "Been here long?"
"Hmm...." Jensen doesn't know why Jared seems to be catching him off guard, he shakes his head. "Not too long, my mom dropped me off about an hour ago."
"Ah cool, you from around here?" Jared isn't unpacking anything, just lounging on his bed, feet kicked up on his bag as he lays back.
"From the Dallas area."
"Oh that's cool."
"It's not too bad. Where are you from?" Jensen never was very good with small talk, and he's glad Jared seems to be leading this for the moment.
"San Antone."
"Cool."
"Yeah, it's not too bad I guess. I'm ready to move though."
Jensen just nods, he can certainly understand, though he's sure Jared really doesn't want to hear about his annoying little sister and prying mother, so he keeps them to himself.
"Jared!" A blonde boy sticks his head into their room before rushing at Jared. "I heard you were in here."
Jensen shakes his head at the intrusion. Chad has been coming to the camp for as many years as Jensen, and he's pretty sure that Chad is the reason trumpet players get such a bad rap. Chad has a reputation for not knowing when to keep his mouth shut.
Jared hauls himself out of his bed - more easily than Jensen would have expected possible from someone his size - to wrap his arms around Chad. Jensen notices that Jared almost completely covers Chad as he hugs him in greeting.
"Chad, what have you been keeping yourself busy with? I hope you've been practicing because I hate not having any competition." He grins as he slaps his friend on the back, the grin turning into something like a smirk.
"Man, fuck you; we can't all be savant geniuses like you, Rain man."
"You're just jealous, you can admit it, Jensen won't tell anyone."
Jensen is working on his unpacking again when he hears his name, and is surprised that Jared is pulling him into his conversation.
Chad casts a momentary glance at Jensen before he punches Jared's shoulder. "You just better be ready to defend yourself this year, I have my eye on first chair."
"In your dreams." Jared scrubs his hand over Chad's head, in a move that would have ruffled his hair had it been long enough for such a thing. Chad smacks his hand away, grumbling something about Jared being a tall freak of nature.
"I still have to sign up for lessons, I'm in 409 stop by later." Chad smacks Jared again before he disappeared out the door and down the hall, off to the Music building if he was smart - Jensen knows from experience just how quickly those lesson spaces fill up, and no one wants to get stuck with an early morning lesson on the weekends.
"You get your lessons yet?" Jared asks when Chad had gone; again Jensen is caught off guard.
"Oh, uh yeah. Yeah my mom made sure I got signed up before she would leave." He wants to kick himself; it's one thing to tell Chris about his mother, it's something completely different to bring her up to Jared.
Jared laughs, and although it doesn't seem like a mocking sort of laugh, Jensen narrows his eyes at him anyway, until Jared starts speaking.
"My mom did the same thing; she's been doing that every year. You know San Antonio is only 45 minutes from here, but she didn't think I could make the drive on my own - been taking me since I started coming, I didn't have the heart to say no." Jared grins, flopping himself down on his bed again.
Jared's feet and a good portion of his lower legs dangle over the edge of the bed, and Jensen wonders how he fits into any normal sized bed - Chad is right about that tall freak of nature thing.
"I figured since it's the last time I'll get to come to camp, I might as well humor her, especially with me going off to college in the fall. You just finished your senior year too right?" Jared asks.
"Yeah." Jensen isn't sure what it is about Jared that catches him off guard every time he talks to him. Maybe he should mention where he was going in the fall or something else, but all that comes out is a simple yeah. Jensen wonders about the sort of impression he's giving Jared; he decides it's probably not a good one.
"So where are you going in the fall?" Jared continues, apparently not noticing Jensen's social retardness. Maybe Jensen isn't making a total ass out of himself after all - or maybe Jared's just being polite, he seems pretty good at this whole small talk stuff.
"Oh um, UT Austin." They don't have the best music program in the country or anything like that, but Jensen has always had a thing for Austin. Plus it makes his mother happy that he'll only be a few hours from home. Jensen wagers that the drive from Austin to Richardson is short enough that he can come home whenever he wants, but far enough that he won't be expected to come home every weekend either.
"Really?" Jared asks, a surprised look on his face.
"Yeah, why?" Jensen frowns, wondering why that fact is surprising.
"I'll be going there too, is all." Jared flashes that same grin he gave Jensen when he was introducing himself, and Jensen is again caught off guard by how natural it is. He shakes his head; it's going to take some getting used to living with Jared over the next few weeks.
Jensen is able to forget about Jared until later that night, after the opening gathering and dinner, when he's in Chris and Steve's room, leaning back on Steve's bed with a beer in hand.
"Do you know anything about Jared Pada-Pada-Pada-something?" Jensen says finally, for some reason unable to get this tongue around Jared's last name. He blames it on the beer, though he's only had one so far.
"Padalecki?" Steve offers up with a smirk.
"Yeah him." Jensen nods, ignoring the smirk on Steve's face. "You two know anything about him?" He asks again.
"Hell of a player," Chris says, already well into his fifth beer by this time, "Won best in state at UIL for trumpet this year." Jensen doesn't know how Chris is able to keep a catalogue of this sort of information, but ask him about almost any musician at camp for these six weeks and Chris is able to rattle off a list of facts about them that usually only mothers and band directors remember.
"He's from San Antonio, right?" Steve chimes in now.
"Yeah, that's what he said."
"Not what you'd expect from a trumpet player, right?" Chris smirks.
"Tall." Steve again.
"And you know what they say about the tall ones." Chris snickers more to himself than either of them.
"Right, so can you tell me anything useful about him?" Jensen presses.
"Useful?" Steve asks.
"Yeah, for what sort of purpose? Can't know if the information we have is useful or not if we don't know how you're planning on using it."
Jensen rolls his eyes. "I just want to know about the guy who's going to be living with me for the next month and a half." Everything has to have a hidden meaning for Christian.
"Oh, you're sharing a room with Padalecki? Lucky you." Chris grins, popping open another beer, licking his thumb.
"Yeah, lucky me, I get to deal with Murray dropping by to call on Jared." Jensen doesn't mind Jared, despite the way he's always catching him unawares, but Chad is another story.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about Murray." Chris shakes his head, laughing. "Have you seen him yet?" He asks eagerly, Christian is only too eager to hear about Jensen's frustrations with dealing with Chad.
"Yeah, he stopped by for a few minutes earlier today." Jensen says, growing sullen.
"You're going to have such a good time staying with Jared."
"Fuck you, toss me another beer." Jensen shakes his head; he isn't sure why he goes to Steve and Christian for serious information on anything - he should know better after all these years. For the time being it looks like he's just going to have to get to know Jared on his own - which shouldn't be too difficult since they're rooming together for the next six weeks.
Staying with Jared, despite the constant interruptions from Chad, turns out to be not quite as terrible as Jensen has imagined. Jared really is an amazing musician like Christian and Steve had said, and Jensen finds that he likes spending time with him - though really they don't spend much time together in their room. There is always something going on to keep their attention: marching practice, or private lessons, movie nights, or Chris luring Jensen off to share some of the contraband he's managed to sneak into the dorms yet again.
Their first week together goes easily enough. It's always interesting getting used to a new roommate and over the past few years Jensen has grown more and more used to the idea of roommates in general. Although, Jensen isn't entirely sure he can chalk up the way he and Jared seem to get along so well to his years of practice or not.
Jared likes to get up early in the mornings; he does sit ups and push ups in the middle of their room for half an hour before he goes out for a run, or at least that's what he says he does, returning some time later to take a shower. Jensen, on the other hand, likes to sleep as long as possible before rolling out of bed with barely enough time to shower, brush his teeth, and throw on some clothes before he has to run to practice for the morning. It's summer for pity's sake, he doesn't think he can be blamed for wanting to get as much sleep as possible.
"You're going to be late one of these days," Jared says lazily as he pulls on his shoes while Jensen rushes around the room to find clothes for the day.
"I've got it down to a science," Jensen tells him, not stopping to look as he pulls a shirt over his head.
"Right, of course you do." Jared gives that annoying grin that has grown to be almost familiar after the first few days, and chuckles under his breath as he sorts through his music making sure he's got everything he needs before he can head out to the marching field.
"Not all of us feel the need to get up hours before we need to," he tells Jared while pulling up his shorts and rushing out the door to the bathroom to brush his teeth quickly, Jared's laugh following him out into the hall.
"See you on the field, Jen," Jared calls, music tucked under his arm, trumpet case in one hand and water bottle in the other.
"See you," Jensen echoes scrambling for his music and sax and water before rushing down the stairs after Jared, their door slamming shut behind him.
In Texas, only people who are really committed go to all the trouble of joining marching band. Of those, only the really crazy ones go to the Texas State University marching band camp for six weeks in the middle of the summer.
The heat is nearly unbearable most days, and Jensen is glad they set up misters and that they're all required to take a water break every half hour. He remembers horror stories his mother told him over all the years that he's been coming to camp about musicians who pass out from heat exhaustion.
He's positive he won't be one of those kids fainting on the field, but it's enough to make sure he drinks more than enough water throughout the day of marching. They start early too, which helps, and they're done by noon when they break for lunch and the afternoon is spent between free time, classes, and private lessons before they start up the marching again in the evening.
Jensen can't think of a better way to spend his summers. He'll miss the camp after this summer, but next year it's on to the college level. To summer band programs with other university musicians - and he's sure there is nothing better than that.
"Hey, Jensen we're gonna play ultimate frisbee, you wanna play?" It's Jared, running across the field after the director has dismissed them for the afternoon - like inviting Jensen to join in the game is the most important thing in the world.
Jensen doesn't know what to think and he stands there sort of staring at Jared for a moment, soon crossing that line into awkward silence. He does manage to shake himself out of it before Jared can start backing away. "Yeah, yeah sure who's playing?"
"Most of the trumpets, I hear Steve and Christian are gonna play, we tried to get some of the flutes to play, but they're just gonna watch - apparently they're worried about getting hurt," Jared tells him conspiratorially.
Though really, looking at Jared, Jensen doesn't blame the flutes for bowing out - they're likely to get crushed by someone Jared's size. Of course, it's just as likely that Jensen will be the one crushed--even if ultimate Frisbee doesn't include tackling--but he's not a pansy like those flute players.
"And Chad of course," Jared adds. He rolls his eyes when he mentions Chad, and it makes Jensen grin - he likes that Jared knows what an ass Chad can be despite their friendship.
"Um yeah sure." Jensen nods, it's a jerky movement and Jensen wonders for the third time in as many days what happened to his body control - apparently it went out the door the moment Jared introduced himself.
"Great." Jared is grinning like an idiot, the way he does when he's really pleased about something. Jensen isn't quite sure what to make of those grins--he and Jared still don't know each other that well--but it's there almost every time Jared looks at him.
"We've got one more!" Jared hollers toward the group that has assembled not far away from where they are talking.
They head over toward the group, and Jensen is sure this is a bad idea when he sees the group of assembled players, but he can't very well back out now.
"Jenny!" Christian finds him in the group and slaps a hand down on his shoulder harder than necessary.
"How many times do I have to tell you my name is Jensen?" he asks, though he knows better because it just makes Chris more eager to call him by the nickname when he calls him out on it.
"At least a few more times, Jenny," Christian smirks and cuffs Jensen on the back of the head. "You're on my team."
Jensen just shakes his head but goes along with it as the large group divides up into two teams. Jared ends up on the other team, which has Jensen more worried than it probably should - but when he thinks about Jared running at him, possibly tackling him, he doesn't think he can be blamed for being worried.
"Ultimate!" Jared is leading off the other team tossing the Frisbee as far as he can down the length of the football field where they had been marching all morning. Both teams scramble for possession of the Frisbee as they jockey it back and forth down the length of the field only breaking long enough to change sides when a point has been scored.
Jensen isn't sure how long they've been playing, but his team is up by one point for the time being, though it's been back and forth the whole game. He's bent over panting for breath as they line up along the goal line waiting for the team to return the Frisbee. His legs protest when he stands up and races towards the Frisbee as it glides through the air and down toward him. Just one more burst of speed and he'll be right under it, one more push and he'll have caught the Frisbee and he can propel it down to Steve who is already down the field waiting at the goal line arms up in the air.
Of course right as Jensen puts on that extra bit of speed, uses up that last bit of energy, that's when things start to get fuzzy and he's not sure the ground is actually staying flat beneath his feet and before he really can tell what's happening he's on the ground and things go from fuzzy to black.
Part 1, Part 2, Epilogue
Author: acquiescence_
Rating: Pg-13 for fic, R for epilogue
Pairing: J2
Word count: ~11,500
Disclaimer: Not real obviously.
Summary: Jensen has been going to the Texas State University summer band camp for years now, this year Jared is his roommate.
Author's notes: This was written for sinnerforhire and she requested J2: AU--high school, marching band camp, JA plays saxophone, JP plays trumpet and it just took over my brain and became this huge thing. This is the longest fandom related thing I've ever written and it's kind of epic for me. I couldn’t help throwing in all the details I could about the band camp at Texas State University, which I attended during my band days, and all the other Texas details, being a Texan myself.
Thanks to sparkysparky for holding my hand and talking through plot with me and beta-ing this monster, it probably wouldn't have ever been finished if it weren't for you.
Enjoy :)
Part 1, Part 2, Epilogue
"We're gonna be late!" Jensen yells after he has taken his bags out to the car. He's practically nineteen years old and his mom still doesn't trust him to make the drive down to San Marcos on his own. It doesn't matter that it's only a few hours down I-35, his mother still insists on driving him.
Jensen has been going to the summer band camp program at Texas State University ever since he started playing the saxophone nearly 6 years ago. The program was supposed to be the best in the state--at least that's what his friends said--and he begged his parents to let him go. After that first summer he knew he would go back every year. He made lots of friends, and there was nothing better than spending the summer huddled up all night in abandoned college dooms with other sax players.
"Calm down Jenny, camp's not going anywhere." Mackenzie sings at him, flipping through a magazine as she lounges around on the sofa, cotton balls stuck between her toes for some reason Jensen will never understand.
He pulls a face at his sister, and smacks the back of her head as he walks past, grinning when she gapes at him indignantly.
"Mom! I'm going to miss the opening gathering," he calls out again. He's growing more impatient by the minute.
"All right, all right I'm coming Jen. Calm down." His mother finally descends the stairs, and why she has to get herself ready Jensen has no idea, because she's just dropping him off. "Are you sure you don't want to come along for the ride Mackenzie?" his mother asks hopefully. "It'd be nice to have some company for the ride home."
"No." Both Jensen and Mackenzie reply at the same time. He's definitely not going to be cooped up in the truck with Mackenzie for almost 4 hours.
His mother shakes her head good naturedly at her children. "Well then, let's get this show on the road."
The drive down from Richardson to San Marcos is an uneventful one, though Jensen does like driving through Austin. He's always liked the capital building. Even though it's hard to see for all the other buildings around it, the glimpses he managed to catch on their way through traffic are enough to make him smile. He always takes the typical Texas pride in knowing that the Texas capital is bigger than the United States capital - same way nearly everyone who grew up in Texas did.
Soon they're driving through the outskirts of Austin; Jensen recognizes all the construction that has been going on even longer than he's been making the trip down to San Marcos. It is a familiar sort of sight - despite the frustration of the traffic congestion it causes - because he knows they are almost there, just another twenty minutes and they'll make it.
It isn't just seeing his friends that make him look forward to the trip; there are the classes, marching, concerts, late nights in the dorms, and a whole six weeks without his parents hovering over him. A whole six weeks on his own. In a home where privacy doesn't come often, these six weeks every summer are something Jensen treasures more than anything.
Well maybe it's not the privacy - it really is hard to get a minute to yourself when you're staying in a dorm - it's not having to worry about his mother walking in on him, or Mackenzie barging in when he's told her to keep out of his room more times than he can count, but she just has to ask him something too important to wait for something as silly and impractical as knocking. It's a bit like privacy though, and it's enough for Jensen.
They pull up to the University, the rolling hills and sprawling campus more than familiar now. Jensen kisses his mom goodbye, once she's satisfied that he's settled in his room, that he is signed up for private lessons like he's supposed to be, that he's promised to be safe enough. Jensen is practically pushing her out the door, and soon she's back in the truck and turning back out onto the highway, heading back to Richardson.
Finally, he was free.
"Jensen, you son of a bitch, I didn't think you'd ever get here." Jensen doesn't even have to look to know it's Christian, that rough voice filled with too much swagger and a smirk Jensen knows is there even if he hasn't seen it yet.
"Kane." A grin spreads across his face as he turns to see his friend. Christian Kane has been coming to these camps just as long as Jensen. They had met back during their first year, the both of them pretty piss poor musicians at the time, struggling to get a handle on their instruments - the thing they never tell you about saxophones is that they're pretty fucking hard to play. No one mentions reeds or apertures when you're signing up, it's all jazz musicians and things like that - and despite the fact that Christian has since joined the drum line they've remained friends.
"'Bout time you got here," Christian says, wrapping his arms around Jensen and pounding his back.
"Yeah, well Mom still doesn't think I can make the trip on my own." He gives Christian a sheepish smile.
"Awww, Jen." Christian ruffles his hair. "You got your room yet?"
"Yeah, I'm in 403. You?"
"412, with Steve."
"I'm not sure who I'm with, they haven't gotten here yet." Jensen says. It's always a gamble, getting a roommate. How Chris and Steve end up together year after year is something of a mystery; Jensen has a few theories about that though.
"Better keep your fingers crossed that you don't get stuck with another creep again this year."
"He wasn't that bad," Jensen says defensively.
"He watched you sleep at night!"
"Yeah that was a little weird," Jensen admits with a shrug, and he wonders if they'll let him get a room change if something like that happens again - it wouldn't be right to get stuck with some creep two years in a row and during his last year too.
"Look I've still got to sign up for lesson times, come by the room later though." Chris pounds his fist against Jensen's back again, making him stagger, before he grins and runs off down the hall.
With a sigh, Jensen turns and heads back to the dorm and his room to unpack a bit before the evening activities get started. Thanks to his mother's helpful nagging he doesn't have to worry about signing up for lessons, or any of those other administrative chores Kane is busy with now.
Jensen has always liked staying in the dorms, and this year more than others since it was the last time he’ll be able to come to camp. He'll be off to college in the fall, and have a dorm room of his own. He'll finally be on his own, without his mother hovering in the background, or Mackenzie right there to put her nose in anything and everything.
He hums to himself as he unpacks his bag, stuffing his clothes into the drawers of the dresser beneath his bed. He likes this part - before everyone arrives, before the halls are filled with screams and laugher - when it's still quiet.
"Looks like I'm rooming with you."
A voice behind him startles Jensen out of his thoughts, and he turns to see a familiar face in the doorway. "Looks that way."
"Jared." The taller boy holds out his hand. "Jared Padalecki." He wears a lopsided grin, and has his bag slung over one shoulder, instrument case in his hand.
"Yeah, yeah I recognize you, you play trumpet right?" Jensen asks taking Jared's hand, though it feels strange to shake hands with someone his own age.
Jared nods, his grin growing. "Yeah, that's me; you've been here for the last few years too right?"
"I've been coming since I started playing." He is still holding Jared's hand, like an idiot.
"Cool." Jared squeezes his hand once, not really pulling his hand away, just making Jensen aware that he's still holding on.
"Oh right, sorry." He shakes his head, giving Jared's hand one last shake. "Jensen Ackles, sex.” It takes Jensen a minute to realize what he said, but when he does his face turns red. "Sax, I mean sax." Jensen is completely horrified; he hasn’t actually slipped up like that in years. Jared just laughs though and shakes his head cuffing Jensen on the back of the head.
"I think we’re going to get along just fine. Glad to officially meet you." Jared is still wearing that easy smile as he steps further into the room, tossing his bag carelessly onto the empty bed and setting his trumpet down more carefully at the foot of the bed. "Been here long?"
"Hmm...." Jensen doesn't know why Jared seems to be catching him off guard, he shakes his head. "Not too long, my mom dropped me off about an hour ago."
"Ah cool, you from around here?" Jared isn't unpacking anything, just lounging on his bed, feet kicked up on his bag as he lays back.
"From the Dallas area."
"Oh that's cool."
"It's not too bad. Where are you from?" Jensen never was very good with small talk, and he's glad Jared seems to be leading this for the moment.
"San Antone."
"Cool."
"Yeah, it's not too bad I guess. I'm ready to move though."
Jensen just nods, he can certainly understand, though he's sure Jared really doesn't want to hear about his annoying little sister and prying mother, so he keeps them to himself.
"Jared!" A blonde boy sticks his head into their room before rushing at Jared. "I heard you were in here."
Jensen shakes his head at the intrusion. Chad has been coming to the camp for as many years as Jensen, and he's pretty sure that Chad is the reason trumpet players get such a bad rap. Chad has a reputation for not knowing when to keep his mouth shut.
Jared hauls himself out of his bed - more easily than Jensen would have expected possible from someone his size - to wrap his arms around Chad. Jensen notices that Jared almost completely covers Chad as he hugs him in greeting.
"Chad, what have you been keeping yourself busy with? I hope you've been practicing because I hate not having any competition." He grins as he slaps his friend on the back, the grin turning into something like a smirk.
"Man, fuck you; we can't all be savant geniuses like you, Rain man."
"You're just jealous, you can admit it, Jensen won't tell anyone."
Jensen is working on his unpacking again when he hears his name, and is surprised that Jared is pulling him into his conversation.
Chad casts a momentary glance at Jensen before he punches Jared's shoulder. "You just better be ready to defend yourself this year, I have my eye on first chair."
"In your dreams." Jared scrubs his hand over Chad's head, in a move that would have ruffled his hair had it been long enough for such a thing. Chad smacks his hand away, grumbling something about Jared being a tall freak of nature.
"I still have to sign up for lessons, I'm in 409 stop by later." Chad smacks Jared again before he disappeared out the door and down the hall, off to the Music building if he was smart - Jensen knows from experience just how quickly those lesson spaces fill up, and no one wants to get stuck with an early morning lesson on the weekends.
"You get your lessons yet?" Jared asks when Chad had gone; again Jensen is caught off guard.
"Oh, uh yeah. Yeah my mom made sure I got signed up before she would leave." He wants to kick himself; it's one thing to tell Chris about his mother, it's something completely different to bring her up to Jared.
Jared laughs, and although it doesn't seem like a mocking sort of laugh, Jensen narrows his eyes at him anyway, until Jared starts speaking.
"My mom did the same thing; she's been doing that every year. You know San Antonio is only 45 minutes from here, but she didn't think I could make the drive on my own - been taking me since I started coming, I didn't have the heart to say no." Jared grins, flopping himself down on his bed again.
Jared's feet and a good portion of his lower legs dangle over the edge of the bed, and Jensen wonders how he fits into any normal sized bed - Chad is right about that tall freak of nature thing.
"I figured since it's the last time I'll get to come to camp, I might as well humor her, especially with me going off to college in the fall. You just finished your senior year too right?" Jared asks.
"Yeah." Jensen isn't sure what it is about Jared that catches him off guard every time he talks to him. Maybe he should mention where he was going in the fall or something else, but all that comes out is a simple yeah. Jensen wonders about the sort of impression he's giving Jared; he decides it's probably not a good one.
"So where are you going in the fall?" Jared continues, apparently not noticing Jensen's social retardness. Maybe Jensen isn't making a total ass out of himself after all - or maybe Jared's just being polite, he seems pretty good at this whole small talk stuff.
"Oh um, UT Austin." They don't have the best music program in the country or anything like that, but Jensen has always had a thing for Austin. Plus it makes his mother happy that he'll only be a few hours from home. Jensen wagers that the drive from Austin to Richardson is short enough that he can come home whenever he wants, but far enough that he won't be expected to come home every weekend either.
"Really?" Jared asks, a surprised look on his face.
"Yeah, why?" Jensen frowns, wondering why that fact is surprising.
"I'll be going there too, is all." Jared flashes that same grin he gave Jensen when he was introducing himself, and Jensen is again caught off guard by how natural it is. He shakes his head; it's going to take some getting used to living with Jared over the next few weeks.
Jensen is able to forget about Jared until later that night, after the opening gathering and dinner, when he's in Chris and Steve's room, leaning back on Steve's bed with a beer in hand.
"Do you know anything about Jared Pada-Pada-Pada-something?" Jensen says finally, for some reason unable to get this tongue around Jared's last name. He blames it on the beer, though he's only had one so far.
"Padalecki?" Steve offers up with a smirk.
"Yeah him." Jensen nods, ignoring the smirk on Steve's face. "You two know anything about him?" He asks again.
"Hell of a player," Chris says, already well into his fifth beer by this time, "Won best in state at UIL for trumpet this year." Jensen doesn't know how Chris is able to keep a catalogue of this sort of information, but ask him about almost any musician at camp for these six weeks and Chris is able to rattle off a list of facts about them that usually only mothers and band directors remember.
"He's from San Antonio, right?" Steve chimes in now.
"Yeah, that's what he said."
"Not what you'd expect from a trumpet player, right?" Chris smirks.
"Tall." Steve again.
"And you know what they say about the tall ones." Chris snickers more to himself than either of them.
"Right, so can you tell me anything useful about him?" Jensen presses.
"Useful?" Steve asks.
"Yeah, for what sort of purpose? Can't know if the information we have is useful or not if we don't know how you're planning on using it."
Jensen rolls his eyes. "I just want to know about the guy who's going to be living with me for the next month and a half." Everything has to have a hidden meaning for Christian.
"Oh, you're sharing a room with Padalecki? Lucky you." Chris grins, popping open another beer, licking his thumb.
"Yeah, lucky me, I get to deal with Murray dropping by to call on Jared." Jensen doesn't mind Jared, despite the way he's always catching him unawares, but Chad is another story.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about Murray." Chris shakes his head, laughing. "Have you seen him yet?" He asks eagerly, Christian is only too eager to hear about Jensen's frustrations with dealing with Chad.
"Yeah, he stopped by for a few minutes earlier today." Jensen says, growing sullen.
"You're going to have such a good time staying with Jared."
"Fuck you, toss me another beer." Jensen shakes his head; he isn't sure why he goes to Steve and Christian for serious information on anything - he should know better after all these years. For the time being it looks like he's just going to have to get to know Jared on his own - which shouldn't be too difficult since they're rooming together for the next six weeks.
Staying with Jared, despite the constant interruptions from Chad, turns out to be not quite as terrible as Jensen has imagined. Jared really is an amazing musician like Christian and Steve had said, and Jensen finds that he likes spending time with him - though really they don't spend much time together in their room. There is always something going on to keep their attention: marching practice, or private lessons, movie nights, or Chris luring Jensen off to share some of the contraband he's managed to sneak into the dorms yet again.
Their first week together goes easily enough. It's always interesting getting used to a new roommate and over the past few years Jensen has grown more and more used to the idea of roommates in general. Although, Jensen isn't entirely sure he can chalk up the way he and Jared seem to get along so well to his years of practice or not.
Jared likes to get up early in the mornings; he does sit ups and push ups in the middle of their room for half an hour before he goes out for a run, or at least that's what he says he does, returning some time later to take a shower. Jensen, on the other hand, likes to sleep as long as possible before rolling out of bed with barely enough time to shower, brush his teeth, and throw on some clothes before he has to run to practice for the morning. It's summer for pity's sake, he doesn't think he can be blamed for wanting to get as much sleep as possible.
"You're going to be late one of these days," Jared says lazily as he pulls on his shoes while Jensen rushes around the room to find clothes for the day.
"I've got it down to a science," Jensen tells him, not stopping to look as he pulls a shirt over his head.
"Right, of course you do." Jared gives that annoying grin that has grown to be almost familiar after the first few days, and chuckles under his breath as he sorts through his music making sure he's got everything he needs before he can head out to the marching field.
"Not all of us feel the need to get up hours before we need to," he tells Jared while pulling up his shorts and rushing out the door to the bathroom to brush his teeth quickly, Jared's laugh following him out into the hall.
"See you on the field, Jen," Jared calls, music tucked under his arm, trumpet case in one hand and water bottle in the other.
"See you," Jensen echoes scrambling for his music and sax and water before rushing down the stairs after Jared, their door slamming shut behind him.
In Texas, only people who are really committed go to all the trouble of joining marching band. Of those, only the really crazy ones go to the Texas State University marching band camp for six weeks in the middle of the summer.
The heat is nearly unbearable most days, and Jensen is glad they set up misters and that they're all required to take a water break every half hour. He remembers horror stories his mother told him over all the years that he's been coming to camp about musicians who pass out from heat exhaustion.
He's positive he won't be one of those kids fainting on the field, but it's enough to make sure he drinks more than enough water throughout the day of marching. They start early too, which helps, and they're done by noon when they break for lunch and the afternoon is spent between free time, classes, and private lessons before they start up the marching again in the evening.
Jensen can't think of a better way to spend his summers. He'll miss the camp after this summer, but next year it's on to the college level. To summer band programs with other university musicians - and he's sure there is nothing better than that.
"Hey, Jensen we're gonna play ultimate frisbee, you wanna play?" It's Jared, running across the field after the director has dismissed them for the afternoon - like inviting Jensen to join in the game is the most important thing in the world.
Jensen doesn't know what to think and he stands there sort of staring at Jared for a moment, soon crossing that line into awkward silence. He does manage to shake himself out of it before Jared can start backing away. "Yeah, yeah sure who's playing?"
"Most of the trumpets, I hear Steve and Christian are gonna play, we tried to get some of the flutes to play, but they're just gonna watch - apparently they're worried about getting hurt," Jared tells him conspiratorially.
Though really, looking at Jared, Jensen doesn't blame the flutes for bowing out - they're likely to get crushed by someone Jared's size. Of course, it's just as likely that Jensen will be the one crushed--even if ultimate Frisbee doesn't include tackling--but he's not a pansy like those flute players.
"And Chad of course," Jared adds. He rolls his eyes when he mentions Chad, and it makes Jensen grin - he likes that Jared knows what an ass Chad can be despite their friendship.
"Um yeah sure." Jensen nods, it's a jerky movement and Jensen wonders for the third time in as many days what happened to his body control - apparently it went out the door the moment Jared introduced himself.
"Great." Jared is grinning like an idiot, the way he does when he's really pleased about something. Jensen isn't quite sure what to make of those grins--he and Jared still don't know each other that well--but it's there almost every time Jared looks at him.
"We've got one more!" Jared hollers toward the group that has assembled not far away from where they are talking.
They head over toward the group, and Jensen is sure this is a bad idea when he sees the group of assembled players, but he can't very well back out now.
"Jenny!" Christian finds him in the group and slaps a hand down on his shoulder harder than necessary.
"How many times do I have to tell you my name is Jensen?" he asks, though he knows better because it just makes Chris more eager to call him by the nickname when he calls him out on it.
"At least a few more times, Jenny," Christian smirks and cuffs Jensen on the back of the head. "You're on my team."
Jensen just shakes his head but goes along with it as the large group divides up into two teams. Jared ends up on the other team, which has Jensen more worried than it probably should - but when he thinks about Jared running at him, possibly tackling him, he doesn't think he can be blamed for being worried.
"Ultimate!" Jared is leading off the other team tossing the Frisbee as far as he can down the length of the football field where they had been marching all morning. Both teams scramble for possession of the Frisbee as they jockey it back and forth down the length of the field only breaking long enough to change sides when a point has been scored.
Jensen isn't sure how long they've been playing, but his team is up by one point for the time being, though it's been back and forth the whole game. He's bent over panting for breath as they line up along the goal line waiting for the team to return the Frisbee. His legs protest when he stands up and races towards the Frisbee as it glides through the air and down toward him. Just one more burst of speed and he'll be right under it, one more push and he'll have caught the Frisbee and he can propel it down to Steve who is already down the field waiting at the goal line arms up in the air.
Of course right as Jensen puts on that extra bit of speed, uses up that last bit of energy, that's when things start to get fuzzy and he's not sure the ground is actually staying flat beneath his feet and before he really can tell what's happening he's on the ground and things go from fuzzy to black.
Part 1, Part 2, Epilogue