Fic, J2, Say Something Sweet
TITLE : Say Something Sweet
AUTHOR : carlie_clarks
PAIRING : Jared/Jensen, brief Jensen/Danneel
WORD COUNT : 3763
MOVIE : Sixteen Candles
SUMMARY : Jared's life is slowly becoming a nightmare when a quiz is discovered by his crush, Jensen Ackles and to top it all - no one remembers his sixteenth birthday because his sister's getting married the very next day.
DISCLAIMER : The boys don't belong to me.
A/N : Written for whenboymeetsboy
Jared Padalecki never really understoood why they had classes like Independent Study. It wasn't independent ('cause they were being forced) and no one studied (who'd study with Jensen Ackles in the same room, hello!). The idea was pointless and just as soon as Jared became a successful businessman, made lots of money, went snorkelling in Australia, mixed laxatives in the teachers' coffee, got married to Jensen and became Mr. Ackles-Padalecki and adopted four children (Matt short for Matthew, Josie, Edward and Sara) not necessarily in that order, though, he'd get rid of Independent Study.
Yeah.
Jared figured he had future planning down.
Which was why he was answering a quiz. A sex quiz, to be specific. After deciding that he was too good to answer Question 3, writing 'almost' for Question 4, he blushed and spluttered at Question 5 (he was a sophomore, Jesus, not a prostitute!), Jared went back to Question 1 and scribbled down 'not yet, saving myself for Jensen Ackles' and drew a goofy little heart next to the name.
He looked up at the teacher quickly and was sort of relieved that Mr. Kripke was too busy digging the waste paper basket for the lunch lady's love letters (hey, cool, alliteration) to notice Jared quietly drop the quiz, all folded up in an attempt to be inconspicuous, next to Sandy's desk.
When he looked up, Jensen seemed to look up at the same time and Jared found himself staring into Jensen's green eyes, more than a little mesmerized. And he was hooked. The sun caught in his darkish blonde hair and one corner of Jensen's mouth lifted up in a smile before he got back to whatever he was doing and Jared turned away, heartbeat all wonky and out of rhythm.
Jared smiled to himself. He was a poet, too. That was a backup plan right there, no matter what his mother said. Ha. In their faces. Jared did a little mental victory dance and all but giggled like a girl into his book. Mr. Kripke had given up on his quest to find the lunch lady's love letters and gave Jared a weird look before sitting down at his desk and going over some notes.
Jared heard Sandy's distinctive snort andd turned beet red, knowing she must be reading his quiz. He turned around to shush her, maybe get another glimpse of Jensen's eyes, but saw, to his surprise, that she was leaning over Kirsten's desk.
Jared's world spun a little because the quiz was gone. Jared nearly hyperventilated right away.
He clenched his teeth and swore that he'd never ever make fun of Mr. Kripke and the lunch lady's (whose name he'd find out A.S.A.P) Epic Love Story, that he'd stop blogging about it, that he'd never pull his little sister's pigtails, go to church every Sunday, anything, if only no one opened that quiz.
But apparently, God didn't want to be reasonable, beacuse when Jared finally mustered up the courage to turn around again, he saw Jensen Ackles smiling. Grinning, in fact, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
And in his hands was the quiz.
Jared wasn't counting but the universe was probably leading by a million points.
Crap.
_______________________
Sandy McCoy might have been only fifteen, but even she knew that one was careful about one's sex quiz. Poor Jared was sitting across her at their usual lunch table, plate of food untouched, absolutely inconsolable. But she blamed Chad. Anything that went wrong was Chad's fault. It was the rule.
"Maybe he didn't read it," she offered, kindly.
Jared just lifted his head from the table and said, scathingly, "He was laughing."
Sandy tsked and kicked Chad in the shin.
Chad didn't bother to unplug his headphones from his Walkman (whatever, he was poor, damnit), but rolled his eyes, "Do I need to ask how it's my fault?"
But Sandy's quick and agile mind had already come up with a flawless and brilliant connection, "Because if your stupid friend, Weling, hadn't been going out with Kirsten, I wouldn't have been sympathesizing with her and would have paid more attention to Jared and picked up his quiz before Jensen freaking Ackles did."
"Right."
Jared was, meanwhile, contemplating suicide. He was socially dead, anyway.
"He's going to tell all his friends," Jared whispered, voice growing shaky with horror, "Everyone will know. They'll have, like, little meetings to laugh at me. You know, assemble every Friday and laugh at Jared."
"Oh, c'mon," Chad scoffed, "Ackles is a lot of things, but he's not a jerk."
Sandy warned Chad to shut up and hugged Jared, trying to do some damage control. And if Jared cried a little into her shoulder, she didn't mind. it wasn't everyday your sex quiz got read by the love of your life.
"Let's talk about something else. Your birthday's tomorrow, right? Any idea what your parents are getting you?"
Jared shook his head, "They're being really quiet about it. But I'm excited. It could be a car. Nah, that's taking it too far. It's probably a video game."
The only thing keeping him fro jumping off the nearest cliff was the fact that it was his birthday the next day.
Jared breathed again.
______________________
"Jared, honey!"
A loud chorous of various other endearments reached Jared, who flinched instinctively at the doorway of his home, clutching his backpack for protection. And then he rubbed his eyes. Because, right in front of him were two sets of unhygenic, gawking, gaping, grinning and fondling grandparents. Who were supposed to stay in a hotel until his sister's wedding.
"Oh, look at the boy. He's so thin, Sherri, do you feed him right?"
"But, he's so darling!"
Martha and Holly pounced on Jared and hugged him, elbows everywhere, dangerously close to some awkward places.
Jared yelped and took a step back, looking at his parents for answers. His mom only shrugged and his dad smiled smypathetically, but it turned out to be more of a self-pitying grimace. By the time Martha and holly were engaged in a conversation which was an odd mixture of baseball and puberty, Jared fled to the shelter of his room.
His sister was there, trying on the veil for the hundredth time and Jared huffed in exasperation.
"Keira! Get out of my room! Why d'you always come in here?"
"Because it's the only room with a full-length mirror," Keira answered absently, adjusting the net-thing over her head and pouting, "You should be glad you're one of the groomsmen and not one of the bridesmaids."
Jared fell back onto his bed with a thud and what he thought was a very manly groan.
Keira ran one hand over her flat stomach and turned sideways, pushing her breasts up. Jared groaned and rolled onto his stomach, not wanting to see his freaking sister half-masturbating in his room.
"Keira, get out!"
"Oh, stop whining," Keira snapped, "Go play your video games or whatever it is you boys do all the time."
"You should know, you're marrying one," Jared snapped back, pushing himself up and making his way to the door. And came face to face with a face with slits for eyes. And screamed, his manly growl disappearing. After screaming for five straight minutes in unison with the strange body in his doorway, Jared paused mid-cresendo to stare, because it was a guy. Apparently. A Chinese guy. Or Tibetian. Jared had never seen one of those for real.
Keira rolled her eyes and snorted, "Jesus, Jared, you're more of a girl than I am. Shut up, for God's sake, both of you."
"Who ... what ..." Jared was slightly breathless and he sat down hard on his bed, knees turned to jelly but not in the good way.
"It's an exchange student, try not to swoon," said Keira, still involved in the task of uplifting her breasts, "Grandpa brought him along. He's from, like, Tibet or something."
"How ... why ..."
"Oh God, 'cause he wanted to, I don't know! Now wold you go someplace else, I'm trying to concentrate here?"
"Might take all night."
No matter how dazed Jared might have been, he never gave up a chance to mock his sister's assets. Or lack of. He snickered when Keira rounded on him with a murderous glare.
"Ew. And also, you might want to leave before they're any casualties."
Which immediately brought Jared's squirrel-like attention back to the matter at hand.
"Wait, no," Jared frowned, "How could mom and dad let everyone stay and keep this Tibetian guy too? It's my birthday tomorrow."
Said guy had quietly retired to a corner and jared could see his sister's expression in the mirror. But he didn't understand. Why did she look so surprised? Wait ...
"You forgot?" Jared asked, hating the way his voice sort of broke, "No way. Just - no way."
He ran out of the room, almost tripping over his own feet to get to the landing and shout down, "You don't remember, do you?"
His family looked up, blinking.
"Remember what, honey?" his mom finally asked.
A burst of air left Jared's lips, "My birthday!"
Everyone's faces transformed. Fist, surprise, then, guilt. That didn't make Jared feel the least better and he hit the railing with the palm of his hand, then turned away, ignoring the cries of "Jared!" and "Wait, honey!"
_______________________
Turns out, you didn't look forward to your birthday so much when no one remembered it.
Jared buried his face into his pillow after his screaming fit. True his sister was getting married the next day, it was the most important day of her life, blah blah blah but that didn't make his birthday any less inportant. After alternating between screaming and angsting, Jared finally settled for red hot fury and maybe some sympathy for the Tibetian guy who was probably having the weirdest day of his life.
"So," Jared said, looking up, "What's you name?"
The boy blinked uncomprehendingly.
"Name," Jared repeated louder.
More blinking.
"Jared," said Jared, pointing to himself and then pointed to the guy, "And you are ... "
It was like as if a switch was put on. Jared could practically see the bulb glowing. A bright smile appeared on the boy's face.
"Wee Wu Ling Yong."
"Wee", Jared tried not to crack up, "Oh my God, you're name is Wee? And I thought mine was weird. Okay, so, Wee .... you know what, I'm sorry, i can't say that. Can I call you Tom? Good. So, Tom, I had the worst day of my life. There's this guy in my school called Jensen Ackles ..."
As it also turned out, spilling your guts on the eve of your (forgotten) sixteenth birthday, to a foreigner who had no idea what you were saying? Actually helped.
______________________
"Oh. My. God."
Sandy stared at him in disbelief, "No way. They actually forgot?"
"I know," Jared sighed, "They took me out for ice cream later but whatever. Thanks for the bracelet, though. And the weird lip balm thing."
"That's for your sister, idiot. And you're welcome," Sandy stopped by her locker, pulling out a couple of books and snapping it shut, "But wait. This means you can come to the New Faces' Dance, right?"
"Yeah. At least something good came out of this mess. I get to see Jensen Ackles one last time before I move to the Himalayas, become a hermit and slowly die of shame."
"It won't be that that bad," Sandy tried to comfort him, "He probably doesn't even remember it. I mean, he's dating Danneel Harris!"
Jared groaned, "Thanks, Sandy."
"Just come to the dance."
"All right, all right. I'll go to the dance."
__________________________
"I'm not going to the dance," Jared announced, staring in the mirror, horrified, "I look terrible."
"That's the seventh outfit you've tried on, man, come on," Chad thumped his head on Jared's bed, "It's not like he's gonna be looking at you."
Jared sighed, "Thanks a lot."
Chad sighed in exasperation, "Whatever. Just come on, man, Sandy's gonna kick our asses if we're late."
"I can't," Jared swept a hand in the direction of all the rejected clothes, "I don't have anything to wear."
"You can wera what you're wearing now," Chad pointed out, "Look, Ackles is going to be there. Do you want to come or not?"
"Yes," Jared admitted, reluctantly.
"Then come on! Bag Ackles. Show him you're cool. Seize the day. Carpe Diem."
Jared felt hope filling him again. He could do this. Chad said so himself. See Jensen. Piece of cake. He nodded to himself, excited, "I'll go!"
Chad leapt off the bed, "That's my boy! All right!"
"Yeah!"
"Awesome! Now, can I have a pair of your boxers?"
"Top drawer"
Chad was off in a flash, leaving jared with his newfound hope and yearning and feeling like the protagonist in the last few minutes of a Julia Roberts film.
Wait.
"Did he just take my underwear?"
______________________
Jared found out the answer to that one pretty soon. Chad was a douchebag.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Sandy yelled at a drunk Chad, looking like she was minutes away from punching him in the face. And Jared could care less if she killed him. Because Chad was a huge douchebag.
"Freaking charging people to see his underwear? That's so sick, Murray!"
Jared was getting a little dizzy from the thick, choking atmosphere in the hall but nothing compared to the punch he got in his gut when he saw Jensen Ackles. Dancing. With his arms around Danneel's waist. Jared's eyes filled a little, partly out of humiliation when a couple of people winked at him, knowingly. Everyone knew what that particular souvenir meant. Oh God. Everyone thought he'd slept with Chad.
Jared's cheeks burned with shame and he pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring the whistles and catcalls. Dear God. Everyone thought he'd slept with Chad.
The cool air in the balcony felt good on his hot cheeks and Jared tried to get his heartbeat to slow down a little. One dollar per person. Jared squeezed his eyes shut.
A couple of days ago, everything was perfect, he was blissfully staring at Jensen Ackles' gorgeous face, counting his freckles, drawing hearts around their names and now he was in a balcony having the worst day of his life, being sold out by his own friend and his sister was getting married and Jensen was with Danneel and ... God. One dollar per person.
Jared leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees, trying to breathe through his nose. He should've known nothing would last in high school. Not reputation, not friends, nothing.
"Hey."
A voice interrupted his part-panic, part-angsty musing session and Jared's cheeks began to burn again. His heartbeat picked up the tempo. Because he knew that voice. He'd memorized that voice. All its lifts, drops, swerves, everything. Hell, he could give a three-hour long presentation on that vioce.
Without turning around, Jared squeaked, "Hi!"
"You bolted out of there pretty fast, you okay?" Jensen's steps were getting closer.
"Yep. Great. Fine, really."
"Good," Jensen sounded like he was smiling, "Hey, listen, there's a party at my place later. You should come."
That brought Jared back from his pink-tinted cloud and he spun around, nerved getting bold, "I don't think I can. I've been humiliated enough for one night, don't you think?"
"Oh," Jensen was backing away, "I didn't mean - sorry. I'll go. Have a blast, Jared."
After Jensen's steps faded away, Jared slumped against the stone railings. Only ... Jensen Ackles knew his name?
Maybe it wasn't such a horrible birthday after all.
___________________________
Jensen would never admit it to anyone but he hated the parties that Mike forced him to throw at his place. There were too many people, too much noise, too much drink. All he wanted was some peace and quiet so that he could sit with himself and logically decide whether to dump Danneel or not. Who was currently involved in pulling Allison Mack's hair and swatting at her hands. Jensen felt a little sick when eveyone around them called out, encouraging the two Paris Hiltons. This life-changing decision taken, Jensen moved on to another mission.
He found Chad under a table, drunk out of his mid and suddenly wanted to punch the guy, but decided to hold out until he bribed him to give Jared's underwear back.
"Dude, listen."
"Breath," said Chad, "Never compromise on your breath, dude."
Jensen rolled his eyes, "Okay, fine. Hey, concentrate. I need Jared's underwear back."
"Nope."
Let the bribing begin.
"Okay," Jensen pointed to a now slumped-over Danneel, "I'll let you drive her home."
Chad's eyes glinted but he shook his head, almost toppling over.
Jensen sighed, "In my dad's Bentley?"
"Done! Wow, you broke up with Danneel?"
"Yeah, can you tell her that? Thanks. Now, underwear."
"Oh, right," Chad handed them over and Jensen grinned in triumph, letting Chad fall on his face.
"Try not to crash," he snickered and tucked the boxers into his back pocket.
Mission complete. Well, half of it, anyway.
____________________
Jared decided that he hated weddings.
His mom had cried three times - once because someone didn't follow the dress code, another time beacause she was so happy her baby girl was getting married and a third time because she was so sad he baby girl was getting married. But the church looked beautiful and so did Keira and Jared got to walk with a girl with long blonde hair, so it wasn't horrible. And, Jeff was a good guy.
Jared watched as the newleyweds climbed into the car with the cute 'Just Married' sign on it and drove off to the hotel to freshen up before the reception. As the car left, Jared caught sight of a red Porsche behind it. Red Porsche. Something clicked. Jensen Ackles. No. Way. Jensen Ackles was right in front of him. Just as he thought he might have been hallucinating, Jensen lifted his hand and waved at him. Jared checked to see if anyone was behind him and waved back hesitantly, mouthing, "Me?"
Jensen grinned and nodded, "Yeah, you."
Jared was still debating on whether he should pinch himself when Jensen crossed the street and climbed the steps to stand in front of him.
"Hey."
And this time, Jared was proud to say, "Hi" without squeaking. That was progress, right there.
"What - um, what are you doing here?"
"I came to find you actually," said Jensen, "I sorta beat the address out of Chad."
Jared smiled, easing his nerves a little.
"So, um, do you have go to the reception?"
"Yeah," Jared nodded, regretfully, "Sorry."
"That's okay," Jensen smiled, "Can I call you later?"
"No. Yes. I mean. Uhm," Jared laughed at himself, "You can come if you want. To the reception. With me."
Jensen's green eyes lit up and Jared's heart gave a giddy flip, "Really? Your parents won't mind?"
"Nah. They forgot my birthday, they owe me big time."
"Great, that awesome. C'mon, we can go in my car."
Jared folllowed Jensen down the stairs, forcing himself to shut his mouth before he broke out in song and dance. His parents were staring at Jensen and Jared pointed at his back, mouthing, "That's the boy" and got the double thumbs up from his dad and a smile a from his mom. Jensen opened the door for him and Jared blushed, slipping inside easily. Good Lord, he was in Jensen Ackles' car. His life was officially complete.
The ride was uncomfortable at the beginning with all of Jared's stuttering and making Jensen drive back and forth because he forgot to tell him the turns, but as they neared the hotel where the recption was supposed to be hed, Jared realized that he could actually form full sentences without blushing or stammering.
" ... so, I'm like in mid-yell when I figure out it's a guy, a Tibetian guy, actually. It was so weird."
Jensen laughed and pulled up by the side of the road, "Hey, get into the back for a while."
Jared frowned slightly, "Why?"
"Surprise. I know your birthday sorta got ruined."
"Jensen, you don't have to - "
"I know but I wanted to. Go."
Jared climbed into the backseat of the Prosche and Jensen joined him soon, opening out a box that he placed between them, "Happy Birthday, Jared."
It was a cake. Chocolate cake, in fact and Jared's eyes widened, "Oh my God."
Jensen smiled at him and pulled out a bunch of candles from his pocket, placing them on the cake and lighting them up with his dad's lighter. "Make a wish," he said, softly and Jared nodded, squeezing his eyes shut and blowing out all the candles.
"Thanks, Jensen," Jared whispered, trembling a little when Jensen's fingers came up to play with the ends of his hair, "For everything."
"You don't have to thank me. Although, if you really wanted to ... you can let me kiss you."
Jared's stomach flipped but he felt flirty so he shook his head, playfully, "No."
Jensen's smile widened, "No?"
"No."
But Jensen was already leaning closer and pressing his lips to Jared. Both of them pulled away and Jensen smiled, brushing his fingers over Jared's cheek.
"Did you just kiss me?"
Jensen laughed and kissed his cheek, "Yeah."
"Wow."
"Wow yourself."
Jared pulled out his cellphone and Jensen asked, "What are you doing? We have to go to the reception."
"I'm texting everyone. Jensen Ackles just kissed me. The world has to know."
Jensen laughed heartily, body shaking, for two minutes and then said, wiping tears out of his eyes, "Tell them I asked you out too."
Jared looked up, "Who says I want to go out with you?"
"Oh, please, 'saving myself for Jensen Ackles' and then that weird heart - "
"Okay, okay," Jared turned red, "I'll go out with you. Wait - we're actually doing this?"
"Want me to pinch you?" Jensen put the cake in the front seat and slid closer to Jared, wrapping an arm around him. Jared shook his head against Jensen's shoulder and poked him in the chest, "But you have to walk me to class."
"Okay."
"Carry my books."
"Fine."
"Let me wear your jacket."
"If you want to," Jensen kissed his cheek again, "C'mon, your mom might be mad."
But neither of them moved for a while, just sat pressed against each other and Jared smiled.
Apparently, dreams came true.
__________________________
Click here to read Jared's sex quiz
A/N : Comment!
AUTHOR : carlie_clarks
PAIRING : Jared/Jensen, brief Jensen/Danneel
WORD COUNT : 3763
MOVIE : Sixteen Candles
SUMMARY : Jared's life is slowly becoming a nightmare when a quiz is discovered by his crush, Jensen Ackles and to top it all - no one remembers his sixteenth birthday because his sister's getting married the very next day.
DISCLAIMER : The boys don't belong to me.
A/N : Written for whenboymeetsboy
Jared Padalecki never really understoood why they had classes like Independent Study. It wasn't independent ('cause they were being forced) and no one studied (who'd study with Jensen Ackles in the same room, hello!). The idea was pointless and just as soon as Jared became a successful businessman, made lots of money, went snorkelling in Australia, mixed laxatives in the teachers' coffee, got married to Jensen and became Mr. Ackles-Padalecki and adopted four children (Matt short for Matthew, Josie, Edward and Sara) not necessarily in that order, though, he'd get rid of Independent Study.
Yeah.
Jared figured he had future planning down.
Which was why he was answering a quiz. A sex quiz, to be specific. After deciding that he was too good to answer Question 3, writing 'almost' for Question 4, he blushed and spluttered at Question 5 (he was a sophomore, Jesus, not a prostitute!), Jared went back to Question 1 and scribbled down 'not yet, saving myself for Jensen Ackles' and drew a goofy little heart next to the name.
He looked up at the teacher quickly and was sort of relieved that Mr. Kripke was too busy digging the waste paper basket for the lunch lady's love letters (hey, cool, alliteration) to notice Jared quietly drop the quiz, all folded up in an attempt to be inconspicuous, next to Sandy's desk.
When he looked up, Jensen seemed to look up at the same time and Jared found himself staring into Jensen's green eyes, more than a little mesmerized. And he was hooked. The sun caught in his darkish blonde hair and one corner of Jensen's mouth lifted up in a smile before he got back to whatever he was doing and Jared turned away, heartbeat all wonky and out of rhythm.
Jared smiled to himself. He was a poet, too. That was a backup plan right there, no matter what his mother said. Ha. In their faces. Jared did a little mental victory dance and all but giggled like a girl into his book. Mr. Kripke had given up on his quest to find the lunch lady's love letters and gave Jared a weird look before sitting down at his desk and going over some notes.
Jared heard Sandy's distinctive snort andd turned beet red, knowing she must be reading his quiz. He turned around to shush her, maybe get another glimpse of Jensen's eyes, but saw, to his surprise, that she was leaning over Kirsten's desk.
Jared's world spun a little because the quiz was gone. Jared nearly hyperventilated right away.
He clenched his teeth and swore that he'd never ever make fun of Mr. Kripke and the lunch lady's (whose name he'd find out A.S.A.P) Epic Love Story, that he'd stop blogging about it, that he'd never pull his little sister's pigtails, go to church every Sunday, anything, if only no one opened that quiz.
But apparently, God didn't want to be reasonable, beacuse when Jared finally mustered up the courage to turn around again, he saw Jensen Ackles smiling. Grinning, in fact, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
And in his hands was the quiz.
Jared wasn't counting but the universe was probably leading by a million points.
Crap.
_______________________
Sandy McCoy might have been only fifteen, but even she knew that one was careful about one's sex quiz. Poor Jared was sitting across her at their usual lunch table, plate of food untouched, absolutely inconsolable. But she blamed Chad. Anything that went wrong was Chad's fault. It was the rule.
"Maybe he didn't read it," she offered, kindly.
Jared just lifted his head from the table and said, scathingly, "He was laughing."
Sandy tsked and kicked Chad in the shin.
Chad didn't bother to unplug his headphones from his Walkman (whatever, he was poor, damnit), but rolled his eyes, "Do I need to ask how it's my fault?"
But Sandy's quick and agile mind had already come up with a flawless and brilliant connection, "Because if your stupid friend, Weling, hadn't been going out with Kirsten, I wouldn't have been sympathesizing with her and would have paid more attention to Jared and picked up his quiz before Jensen freaking Ackles did."
"Right."
Jared was, meanwhile, contemplating suicide. He was socially dead, anyway.
"He's going to tell all his friends," Jared whispered, voice growing shaky with horror, "Everyone will know. They'll have, like, little meetings to laugh at me. You know, assemble every Friday and laugh at Jared."
"Oh, c'mon," Chad scoffed, "Ackles is a lot of things, but he's not a jerk."
Sandy warned Chad to shut up and hugged Jared, trying to do some damage control. And if Jared cried a little into her shoulder, she didn't mind. it wasn't everyday your sex quiz got read by the love of your life.
"Let's talk about something else. Your birthday's tomorrow, right? Any idea what your parents are getting you?"
Jared shook his head, "They're being really quiet about it. But I'm excited. It could be a car. Nah, that's taking it too far. It's probably a video game."
The only thing keeping him fro jumping off the nearest cliff was the fact that it was his birthday the next day.
Jared breathed again.
______________________
"Jared, honey!"
A loud chorous of various other endearments reached Jared, who flinched instinctively at the doorway of his home, clutching his backpack for protection. And then he rubbed his eyes. Because, right in front of him were two sets of unhygenic, gawking, gaping, grinning and fondling grandparents. Who were supposed to stay in a hotel until his sister's wedding.
"Oh, look at the boy. He's so thin, Sherri, do you feed him right?"
"But, he's so darling!"
Martha and Holly pounced on Jared and hugged him, elbows everywhere, dangerously close to some awkward places.
Jared yelped and took a step back, looking at his parents for answers. His mom only shrugged and his dad smiled smypathetically, but it turned out to be more of a self-pitying grimace. By the time Martha and holly were engaged in a conversation which was an odd mixture of baseball and puberty, Jared fled to the shelter of his room.
His sister was there, trying on the veil for the hundredth time and Jared huffed in exasperation.
"Keira! Get out of my room! Why d'you always come in here?"
"Because it's the only room with a full-length mirror," Keira answered absently, adjusting the net-thing over her head and pouting, "You should be glad you're one of the groomsmen and not one of the bridesmaids."
Jared fell back onto his bed with a thud and what he thought was a very manly groan.
Keira ran one hand over her flat stomach and turned sideways, pushing her breasts up. Jared groaned and rolled onto his stomach, not wanting to see his freaking sister half-masturbating in his room.
"Keira, get out!"
"Oh, stop whining," Keira snapped, "Go play your video games or whatever it is you boys do all the time."
"You should know, you're marrying one," Jared snapped back, pushing himself up and making his way to the door. And came face to face with a face with slits for eyes. And screamed, his manly growl disappearing. After screaming for five straight minutes in unison with the strange body in his doorway, Jared paused mid-cresendo to stare, because it was a guy. Apparently. A Chinese guy. Or Tibetian. Jared had never seen one of those for real.
Keira rolled her eyes and snorted, "Jesus, Jared, you're more of a girl than I am. Shut up, for God's sake, both of you."
"Who ... what ..." Jared was slightly breathless and he sat down hard on his bed, knees turned to jelly but not in the good way.
"It's an exchange student, try not to swoon," said Keira, still involved in the task of uplifting her breasts, "Grandpa brought him along. He's from, like, Tibet or something."
"How ... why ..."
"Oh God, 'cause he wanted to, I don't know! Now wold you go someplace else, I'm trying to concentrate here?"
"Might take all night."
No matter how dazed Jared might have been, he never gave up a chance to mock his sister's assets. Or lack of. He snickered when Keira rounded on him with a murderous glare.
"Ew. And also, you might want to leave before they're any casualties."
Which immediately brought Jared's squirrel-like attention back to the matter at hand.
"Wait, no," Jared frowned, "How could mom and dad let everyone stay and keep this Tibetian guy too? It's my birthday tomorrow."
Said guy had quietly retired to a corner and jared could see his sister's expression in the mirror. But he didn't understand. Why did she look so surprised? Wait ...
"You forgot?" Jared asked, hating the way his voice sort of broke, "No way. Just - no way."
He ran out of the room, almost tripping over his own feet to get to the landing and shout down, "You don't remember, do you?"
His family looked up, blinking.
"Remember what, honey?" his mom finally asked.
A burst of air left Jared's lips, "My birthday!"
Everyone's faces transformed. Fist, surprise, then, guilt. That didn't make Jared feel the least better and he hit the railing with the palm of his hand, then turned away, ignoring the cries of "Jared!" and "Wait, honey!"
_______________________
Turns out, you didn't look forward to your birthday so much when no one remembered it.
Jared buried his face into his pillow after his screaming fit. True his sister was getting married the next day, it was the most important day of her life, blah blah blah but that didn't make his birthday any less inportant. After alternating between screaming and angsting, Jared finally settled for red hot fury and maybe some sympathy for the Tibetian guy who was probably having the weirdest day of his life.
"So," Jared said, looking up, "What's you name?"
The boy blinked uncomprehendingly.
"Name," Jared repeated louder.
More blinking.
"Jared," said Jared, pointing to himself and then pointed to the guy, "And you are ... "
It was like as if a switch was put on. Jared could practically see the bulb glowing. A bright smile appeared on the boy's face.
"Wee Wu Ling Yong."
"Wee", Jared tried not to crack up, "Oh my God, you're name is Wee? And I thought mine was weird. Okay, so, Wee .... you know what, I'm sorry, i can't say that. Can I call you Tom? Good. So, Tom, I had the worst day of my life. There's this guy in my school called Jensen Ackles ..."
As it also turned out, spilling your guts on the eve of your (forgotten) sixteenth birthday, to a foreigner who had no idea what you were saying? Actually helped.
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"Oh. My. God."
Sandy stared at him in disbelief, "No way. They actually forgot?"
"I know," Jared sighed, "They took me out for ice cream later but whatever. Thanks for the bracelet, though. And the weird lip balm thing."
"That's for your sister, idiot. And you're welcome," Sandy stopped by her locker, pulling out a couple of books and snapping it shut, "But wait. This means you can come to the New Faces' Dance, right?"
"Yeah. At least something good came out of this mess. I get to see Jensen Ackles one last time before I move to the Himalayas, become a hermit and slowly die of shame."
"It won't be that that bad," Sandy tried to comfort him, "He probably doesn't even remember it. I mean, he's dating Danneel Harris!"
Jared groaned, "Thanks, Sandy."
"Just come to the dance."
"All right, all right. I'll go to the dance."
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"I'm not going to the dance," Jared announced, staring in the mirror, horrified, "I look terrible."
"That's the seventh outfit you've tried on, man, come on," Chad thumped his head on Jared's bed, "It's not like he's gonna be looking at you."
Jared sighed, "Thanks a lot."
Chad sighed in exasperation, "Whatever. Just come on, man, Sandy's gonna kick our asses if we're late."
"I can't," Jared swept a hand in the direction of all the rejected clothes, "I don't have anything to wear."
"You can wera what you're wearing now," Chad pointed out, "Look, Ackles is going to be there. Do you want to come or not?"
"Yes," Jared admitted, reluctantly.
"Then come on! Bag Ackles. Show him you're cool. Seize the day. Carpe Diem."
Jared felt hope filling him again. He could do this. Chad said so himself. See Jensen. Piece of cake. He nodded to himself, excited, "I'll go!"
Chad leapt off the bed, "That's my boy! All right!"
"Yeah!"
"Awesome! Now, can I have a pair of your boxers?"
"Top drawer"
Chad was off in a flash, leaving jared with his newfound hope and yearning and feeling like the protagonist in the last few minutes of a Julia Roberts film.
Wait.
"Did he just take my underwear?"
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Jared found out the answer to that one pretty soon. Chad was a douchebag.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Sandy yelled at a drunk Chad, looking like she was minutes away from punching him in the face. And Jared could care less if she killed him. Because Chad was a huge douchebag.
"Freaking charging people to see his underwear? That's so sick, Murray!"
Jared was getting a little dizzy from the thick, choking atmosphere in the hall but nothing compared to the punch he got in his gut when he saw Jensen Ackles. Dancing. With his arms around Danneel's waist. Jared's eyes filled a little, partly out of humiliation when a couple of people winked at him, knowingly. Everyone knew what that particular souvenir meant. Oh God. Everyone thought he'd slept with Chad.
Jared's cheeks burned with shame and he pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring the whistles and catcalls. Dear God. Everyone thought he'd slept with Chad.
The cool air in the balcony felt good on his hot cheeks and Jared tried to get his heartbeat to slow down a little. One dollar per person. Jared squeezed his eyes shut.
A couple of days ago, everything was perfect, he was blissfully staring at Jensen Ackles' gorgeous face, counting his freckles, drawing hearts around their names and now he was in a balcony having the worst day of his life, being sold out by his own friend and his sister was getting married and Jensen was with Danneel and ... God. One dollar per person.
Jared leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees, trying to breathe through his nose. He should've known nothing would last in high school. Not reputation, not friends, nothing.
"Hey."
A voice interrupted his part-panic, part-angsty musing session and Jared's cheeks began to burn again. His heartbeat picked up the tempo. Because he knew that voice. He'd memorized that voice. All its lifts, drops, swerves, everything. Hell, he could give a three-hour long presentation on that vioce.
Without turning around, Jared squeaked, "Hi!"
"You bolted out of there pretty fast, you okay?" Jensen's steps were getting closer.
"Yep. Great. Fine, really."
"Good," Jensen sounded like he was smiling, "Hey, listen, there's a party at my place later. You should come."
That brought Jared back from his pink-tinted cloud and he spun around, nerved getting bold, "I don't think I can. I've been humiliated enough for one night, don't you think?"
"Oh," Jensen was backing away, "I didn't mean - sorry. I'll go. Have a blast, Jared."
After Jensen's steps faded away, Jared slumped against the stone railings. Only ... Jensen Ackles knew his name?
Maybe it wasn't such a horrible birthday after all.
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Jensen would never admit it to anyone but he hated the parties that Mike forced him to throw at his place. There were too many people, too much noise, too much drink. All he wanted was some peace and quiet so that he could sit with himself and logically decide whether to dump Danneel or not. Who was currently involved in pulling Allison Mack's hair and swatting at her hands. Jensen felt a little sick when eveyone around them called out, encouraging the two Paris Hiltons. This life-changing decision taken, Jensen moved on to another mission.
He found Chad under a table, drunk out of his mid and suddenly wanted to punch the guy, but decided to hold out until he bribed him to give Jared's underwear back.
"Dude, listen."
"Breath," said Chad, "Never compromise on your breath, dude."
Jensen rolled his eyes, "Okay, fine. Hey, concentrate. I need Jared's underwear back."
"Nope."
Let the bribing begin.
"Okay," Jensen pointed to a now slumped-over Danneel, "I'll let you drive her home."
Chad's eyes glinted but he shook his head, almost toppling over.
Jensen sighed, "In my dad's Bentley?"
"Done! Wow, you broke up with Danneel?"
"Yeah, can you tell her that? Thanks. Now, underwear."
"Oh, right," Chad handed them over and Jensen grinned in triumph, letting Chad fall on his face.
"Try not to crash," he snickered and tucked the boxers into his back pocket.
Mission complete. Well, half of it, anyway.
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Jared decided that he hated weddings.
His mom had cried three times - once because someone didn't follow the dress code, another time beacause she was so happy her baby girl was getting married and a third time because she was so sad he baby girl was getting married. But the church looked beautiful and so did Keira and Jared got to walk with a girl with long blonde hair, so it wasn't horrible. And, Jeff was a good guy.
Jared watched as the newleyweds climbed into the car with the cute 'Just Married' sign on it and drove off to the hotel to freshen up before the reception. As the car left, Jared caught sight of a red Porsche behind it. Red Porsche. Something clicked. Jensen Ackles. No. Way. Jensen Ackles was right in front of him. Just as he thought he might have been hallucinating, Jensen lifted his hand and waved at him. Jared checked to see if anyone was behind him and waved back hesitantly, mouthing, "Me?"
Jensen grinned and nodded, "Yeah, you."
Jared was still debating on whether he should pinch himself when Jensen crossed the street and climbed the steps to stand in front of him.
"Hey."
And this time, Jared was proud to say, "Hi" without squeaking. That was progress, right there.
"What - um, what are you doing here?"
"I came to find you actually," said Jensen, "I sorta beat the address out of Chad."
Jared smiled, easing his nerves a little.
"So, um, do you have go to the reception?"
"Yeah," Jared nodded, regretfully, "Sorry."
"That's okay," Jensen smiled, "Can I call you later?"
"No. Yes. I mean. Uhm," Jared laughed at himself, "You can come if you want. To the reception. With me."
Jensen's green eyes lit up and Jared's heart gave a giddy flip, "Really? Your parents won't mind?"
"Nah. They forgot my birthday, they owe me big time."
"Great, that awesome. C'mon, we can go in my car."
Jared folllowed Jensen down the stairs, forcing himself to shut his mouth before he broke out in song and dance. His parents were staring at Jensen and Jared pointed at his back, mouthing, "That's the boy" and got the double thumbs up from his dad and a smile a from his mom. Jensen opened the door for him and Jared blushed, slipping inside easily. Good Lord, he was in Jensen Ackles' car. His life was officially complete.
The ride was uncomfortable at the beginning with all of Jared's stuttering and making Jensen drive back and forth because he forgot to tell him the turns, but as they neared the hotel where the recption was supposed to be hed, Jared realized that he could actually form full sentences without blushing or stammering.
" ... so, I'm like in mid-yell when I figure out it's a guy, a Tibetian guy, actually. It was so weird."
Jensen laughed and pulled up by the side of the road, "Hey, get into the back for a while."
Jared frowned slightly, "Why?"
"Surprise. I know your birthday sorta got ruined."
"Jensen, you don't have to - "
"I know but I wanted to. Go."
Jared climbed into the backseat of the Prosche and Jensen joined him soon, opening out a box that he placed between them, "Happy Birthday, Jared."
It was a cake. Chocolate cake, in fact and Jared's eyes widened, "Oh my God."
Jensen smiled at him and pulled out a bunch of candles from his pocket, placing them on the cake and lighting them up with his dad's lighter. "Make a wish," he said, softly and Jared nodded, squeezing his eyes shut and blowing out all the candles.
"Thanks, Jensen," Jared whispered, trembling a little when Jensen's fingers came up to play with the ends of his hair, "For everything."
"You don't have to thank me. Although, if you really wanted to ... you can let me kiss you."
Jared's stomach flipped but he felt flirty so he shook his head, playfully, "No."
Jensen's smile widened, "No?"
"No."
But Jensen was already leaning closer and pressing his lips to Jared. Both of them pulled away and Jensen smiled, brushing his fingers over Jared's cheek.
"Did you just kiss me?"
Jensen laughed and kissed his cheek, "Yeah."
"Wow."
"Wow yourself."
Jared pulled out his cellphone and Jensen asked, "What are you doing? We have to go to the reception."
"I'm texting everyone. Jensen Ackles just kissed me. The world has to know."
Jensen laughed heartily, body shaking, for two minutes and then said, wiping tears out of his eyes, "Tell them I asked you out too."
Jared looked up, "Who says I want to go out with you?"
"Oh, please, 'saving myself for Jensen Ackles' and then that weird heart - "
"Okay, okay," Jared turned red, "I'll go out with you. Wait - we're actually doing this?"
"Want me to pinch you?" Jensen put the cake in the front seat and slid closer to Jared, wrapping an arm around him. Jared shook his head against Jensen's shoulder and poked him in the chest, "But you have to walk me to class."
"Okay."
"Carry my books."
"Fine."
"Let me wear your jacket."
"If you want to," Jensen kissed his cheek again, "C'mon, your mom might be mad."
But neither of them moved for a while, just sat pressed against each other and Jared smiled.
Apparently, dreams came true.
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