Fic: Not Equal, Yet, Together As One Chapter 2
Not Equal, Yet, Together As One
By Chrissy6299
Chapter Two
Jared Padalecki was playing basketball outside with his best friend Chad. They had been best friends since forever and lived next door to each other in small townhouses just a block from the basketball field. They were both on the basketball team and were having a personal last minute practice before tomorrow’s big game. Just as Chad put the ball through the hoop with a fancy move that Jared hadn’t been able to stop, a black expensive-looking car stopped in front of the field. Two men dressed in neat suits stepped out of the car and both Jared’s and Chad’s blood ran cold. The only men looking like that who would come to their side of town were retrievers, and both Jared and Chad were of servant and mate potential age. They stood frozen as they watch the two men walk over to them.
“Good afternoon,” the older of the two men greeted them once they were close enough to be heard without having to raise their voices. The boys were still frozen, not able to exchange pleasantries, waiting anxiously to hear whom they had come for. The man who had spoken focused on Jared, and Jared’s world came crashing down on him as he heard the words “Jared Padalecki, you have been chosen as mate, please come with us.”
Every teen in his class had one goal, not to be chosen. The adults taught them that it was a great honor to be chosen, that it was something to be proud of. But the teens had heard the many horror stories of what happened to servants and mates; they were treated as slaves.
“But… no…” Jared said softly, shaking his head in disbelief. He looked at the two men in front of him for a few long seconds, before turning to look at Chad. He too was shaking his head, his eyes wide and filled with tears.
They stared at each other, while the two retrievers took a step back to give them a minute. Chad was the one who broke the silence between them.
“It’s not fair!” he said, more than a bit angry. “My life will suck without you,” he continued in classic Chad style.
Jared heard the spoken words as they were meant, it was Chad’s way of saying ‘I’ll miss you; you’ll always be my best friend’. Jared felt the same way. He gave Chad a small, sad smile, and said quietly, “Yeah,” in acknowledgement.
Chad reached out and pulled Jared to him, embracing him in a bone-crushing hug which Jared returned with just as much strength.
“Take care of yourself and good luck,” Chad whispered in Jared’s ear.
Jared nodded, and kept on holding tight until one of the retrievers interrupted them with a polite cough.
“Mr. Padalecki, we really have to go now. We still have to go by your house to pick up some of your belongings, which your mother is currently packing,” the younger and taller retriever said in an even voice.
That’s when it really hit him; he would never again see his parents, his little sister Megan, and his older brother Jeff, who had not yet been chosen as a mate.
Tears now freely made their way down Jared’s face as he finally let go of Chad. He looked up to see his best friend one final time, said goodbye, and walked with the retrievers to the car.
*****
The ride to his house was a quick one, and the second he stepped out of the car Megan jumped on him, holding onto him like she never wanted to let go, which for once was perfectly fine by Jared. She was sobbing, and repeating over and over again that she loved him and that she didn’t want him to go. Jared let her, stroking her soft hair, as they slowly made their way into the house together.
Their mom was waiting for them in the hallway with a big duffle bag filled to the max. Jared didn’t know what was in it, but right now he couldn’t care less. His mom pulled Megan off Jared so that she herself could hug him tight, repeating Megan’s words.
Jared melted in her arms, trying to permanently implant the feel and smell of her in his mind.
As much as he would love to stay where he was for the rest of his life, he knew that time was running out. The retrievers had been patient and considerate so far, but that would not last.
He pulled away from his mother, wiping her tears from her cheeks. “I love you. Please tell Dad and Jeff that I love them as well.” His father and Jeff were at work, and wouldn’t be home until 6pm. He would not be able to say goodbye to them.
His mother tried to smile at him but didn’t really succeed. “They love you too. We all do. You’re a good boy, I’m sure your mate will be happy with you. I hope you’ll be happy too.” She took a deep breath, trying to keep her tears at bay, and picked up the bag next to her. “Here, I picked some of your favorite stuff, I wanted to pack more, but they said only one bag was allowed.”
Jared took the bag from her and quietly said, “Thanks.” He kissed her and Megan once on the cheek, said goodbye, and walked out of the only home he had even known, never to return again, 100% not ready for the new life he was about to get.
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Jensen looked at the big old clock standing against the west wall next to the piano in the living room. 7:46 pm, two minutes later than the last time he looked. He was pacing restlessly from one side of the living room to the other, nervously waiting for his mate to be delivered. His parents and sister were in the dining room, playing a game and staying out of his way. For that he was grateful; he didn’t need people to hover and try to distract him.
Sighing out loud, he resisted the urge to once again look on the clock; it wouldn’t make Jared come any faster. And he wasn’t actually sure if he wanted him to arrive faster, but this waiting was driving him crazy, and after walking back and forward twice more, he admitted to himself that he was more scared than nervous. Though maybe terrified was a better description. Any moment now he would be handed over a 16 year old human boy for whom he would be responsible for the rest of his life. That thought was overwhelming, yet is was true whether he wanted it to be or not. No one ever bothered to ask him what he thought of the situation, he just had to handle the cards he was dealt.
The sound of the doorbell ringing through the house startled Jensen out of his thoughts. The moment was here… Jared was here, right behind the hard oak door. Jensen stared at it as the only object that stood between him and his inevitable future. It was not until the doorbell was rung again that Jensen made his way over the door, and with a deep breath he gathered the courage to open it.
On the porch were two retrievers standing with Jared in between them. Jared had his head down, looking at the floor, so Jensen couldn’t get a good look at him, but he was tall, and the brown locks of hair that were hiding his eyes looked soft, making Jensen itch to brush them away to feel for himself and to find the boy hidden behind them. But he resisted the urge and let the conditioning of his upbringing take over, greeting the retrievers and inviting them inside. They escorted Jared inside and quickly excused themselves, leaving them standing in the hallway, Jensen staring at Jared, while Jared was still staring at the floor.
Jensen took a moment to take the sight of Jared in. His hair was long and wild, well… longer than his own short cut hair anyway, and a bit longer than it had been in the photos that came with Jared’s file. Jared had a duffle bag hanging on this left shoulder, he was wearing plain clothes, a t-shirt, jeans, and old running shoes that were in serious need of replacement. From what the t-shirt revealed Jared was slim yet toned, much like Jensen himself, though Jared’s arms and legs were longer, an obvious sign that he was not yet done growing even though he was already taller than Jensen.
The silence in the room was just plain creepy, and Jensen figured that if he was terrified, Jared must feel even worse; time to make them both feel a little more at ease.
“Hey Jared, I’m Jensen.”
Jared slowly moved his head up and wearily looked Jensen over. Once his eyes landed on Jensen’s face, Jensen gave him a soft smile, which unfortunately did nothing to relieve the tension he saw on his face. But tension or not, Jared was beautiful, the photos in the file had definitely not done him justice. His eyes, his mouth, Jensen could only imagine how gorgeous he would be when happy. Jensen continued, trying to keep his voice light and gentle, “I’m glad that you’re here. How about we go up to our room and get you settled?”
His question was met with silence, but when Jensen walked towards the stairs, Jared followed him. Once upstairs Jensen turned left towards the side of the house that he used to share with Josh, but ever since Josh moved out he had it all to himself.
Jensen walked into his bedroom, no wait, their bedroom he corrected himself, and he left the door open for Jared to follow without feeling trapped. When he was in the middle of the room, standing at the foot of his bed, he turned around to look at Jared, whom he found standing in the doorway. Nevertheless, he was looking at Jensen instead of at the floor, so Jensen counted it as some progress, and he moved toward the dresser on the right to point out to Jared which drawers were his to use, hoping to give Jared some space so that he would come into the room by himself. Jensen continued talking, explaining to him where he could put his belongings.
He had rearranged his walk-in-closet so that the left side was now bare, ready for Jared’s clothes, and in the bathroom he had done the same. Not that Jared could see inside the walk-in-closet or the bathroom from where he was still standing. Disappointed by Jared’s lack of initiative, Jensen sat down on his bed, facing Jared. But he did not let himself stay discouraged for long, “Are you hungry? Sharon, our cook, makes a mean apple pie.”
To Jensen’s delight that got him his first response from Jared as he slowly nodded.
“Cool, why don’t you unpack while I go get it.”
With Jared still standing in the doorway, Jensen had to squeeze past him, and even though Jared all but went through the doorpost, their arms still brushed against each other and Jensen got a whiff of Jared’s musk, and after that half a second in each other’s personal space Jensen knew that he made the right choice, because Jared smelled and felt just right.
When Jensen got back with two plates with apple pie, he was happy to see that Jared had indeed entered the room and was almost done unpacking.
Jared froze in place with a pair of jeans in his hands as Jensen came in. Jensen walked past him and put Jared’s apple pie on what would be his side of the bed’s nightstand; he then moved to the other side to sit on the desk chair and slowly ate his own pie. Jared finished unpacking, which really wasn’t a lot, placed the bag on the floor in the walk-in closet, and copied Jensen’s actions, except he sat on the foot of the bed, as far way from Jensen as possible.
“You don’t have a lot of clothes,” Jensen commented, “we’ll go shopping soon to get you some more.”
“I was only allowed to bring one bag.” Jared spoke for the first time, though it was spoken softly and toward the half eaten apple pie.
“I’m sorry about that. It wasn’t by my order; I guess that’s just regulation. I hope that you were able to pack your favorites.”
Jared just kept eating, and once his plate was empty he kept staring at it.
After giving him a minute, Jensen got up, kneeled down by Jared, and took the plate from him. “Jared. Jared, look at me.” And when two scared, green eyes did as he’d asked, he continued. “I know this is scary. Hell, I’m a bit overwhelmed and I’m not the one who got taken from their family. But it’s going to be okay, Jared, I don’t want to hurt you, I just want to be with you, get to you know, and I want us both to be happy.”
A mixture of confusion and distrust was clearly written in Jared’s eyes, and Jensen moved to sit beside him, taking a minute to gather his thoughts.
“I don’t know what you’re expecting, but I was hoping that the next few days we could just hang out and get to know each other. We’ll start out tomorrow morning with a tour of the house, though in a few weeks we’ll move into our own place. My father was nice enough to let me stay one more month. In two weeks I’ll start my apprenticeship, much to my father’s dismay I chose not to work in the financial department of the State’s House and follow his footsteps as my brother did. Instead I chose to work in the State’s Council, you know, where the heads of the court, church, and hospitals are. I hope to be a judge, and will study under Judge Kelly, who is one of the current judges of the Plebeian’s court.”
Jared was staring at his hands in his lap, but he nodded every now and then, letting Jensen know he was listening.
“So, in about three weeks I hope to move out, I was thinking about a nice apartment. No point in getting a big house when it’s just the two of us. Anyway, after the tour, we’ll have breakfast with my parents and younger sister, Mackenzie, you don’t have to worry about them, they’ll like you. After that, we’ll do whatever we feel like, play some basketball or some videogames, we’ll see.”
Jensen reached out and put a hand on Jared’s shoulder in an attempt to get him to look at him, but instead he felt Jared flinch under his hand. He kept his hand where it was though, and called out Jared’s name, which did give the desired result. When Jared’s eyes were again on him, he started with reminding Jared once again, “I’m not going to hurt you,” and then went on addressing the one point that he knew was mostly likely Jared’s main concern, “just like you, this is all new for me, and I want to get to know you before we have sex. Okay? So for let’s say at least a week, all that we’ll be doing in this bed is sleeping.”
While he could see that Jared was suspicious, Jensen also saw a small amount of hope, hope that he had no intention of betraying.
“I already took a shower after dinner, so the bathroom is all yours. Wear what you always wear when you go to sleep. That’s your side of the bed,” Jensen said as he pointed to the side that Jared was already sitting on.
After Jared disappeared into the bathroom, Jensen forced himself to go to bed and try to relax as he waited for Jared to come to bed. The only light in the room came from the lamp on Jared’s nightstand, giving Jared the control of when to make the room dark, but it was enough light to reveal to Jensen how great Jared looked when he came out of the bathroom wearing only his boxers. He expressed his thoughts out loud, and he could swear that he could see Jared blush.
“I’m all arms and legs,” Jared countered as he made his way into bed, staying on his side.
“You’ll grow into them, and then you’ll be even more stunning, you’ll see,” Jensen reassured him, and he copied Jared’s movements, staying on his own side of the bed. “Goodnight, Jared.”
“Goodnight, Jensen.”
And with the sound of his name from Jared’s lips ringing in his ears, he fell asleep.
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Chapter Three