Hot Fun in the Summertime Sam/Dean & J2 Comment-fic Meme
It was a close race in the polling, but the SUMMERTIME theme won out. So in honor of all of you authors who finished Big Bang stories and all of you artists who chose one from the bunch yesterday, and also in honor of my seventh straight day of posting, I GIVE YOU:
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"Did you hear someone bought the old Sampson place?"
Jared smiled politely at the elderly Mrs. Smith. He'd heard the news three times already today, but he asked, "Really?"
She nodded. "Some family from Chicago, I hear. They've got a son near your age, and they'll be coming for a month or two in the summer. Maybe you boys can hang out together."
His smile turned more pained. "I'm usually working a lot of hours then, Mrs. Smith." He didn't add that he wasn't a boy anymore, and any guy whose family was rich enough to buy the old mansion on the lakeshore probably wouldn't be interested in hanging with a townie anyway.
"Well, just you wait and see." She patted his hand. "School must be almost out for you, is that right?"
"One more week of classes and then finals," Jared said. "Then I'll be here for the summer." Taking money from the tourists who loved the quaint shops of Macatawa but still demanded the kinds of goods they were used to in the big city, he thought. Every year it got a little harder, more so now that there was an art gallery next door and the owner had already made an offer on the Five & Dime. Jared was afraid that unless this summer was a good one, his father would take the offer the next time it was made, and then what would his family do?
She shook her head. "My goodness, I keep forgetting you're in college already. Where does the time go? I suppose you'll be off to somewhere more exciting soon yourself, and then your sister after you. Just like Cindy, although I always thought it was a shame you two didn't make a match of it."
"Megan's still in high school for one more year," Jared said, and he was not about to offer the real reason why the Sampsons' dark-haired daughter had never caught his eye. "She'll probably go to Grand Valley State like me. I like it here, you know. I don't see any reason to leave any time soon."
"I hope not," she said with another pat to the hand. "We need more young people like you to shovel the snow in the winter."
Jared grinned. "If we get more winters like this last one, you might be out of luck."
After Mrs. Smith finished buying her groceries, Jared had a few minutes to wipe down the counter before the bell dinged and a customer entered the store. The summer season was still a couple of weeks away, so he was still expecting it to be a local, but the close-cut spikes of dark blond hair he could see over the rows of shelves were unfamiliar.
Jared's usual friendly greeting was ready for when the man turned the corner, but when Jared got a good look at him, the words died on his lips. No one so hot had ever been to Macatawa, he was sure of it. This guy could be a model, or an actor. Hell, given the sunglasses he was sporting, maybe he was an actor, looking for a quiet lakeside getaway, and Jared was about to ruin it by drooling all over him.
Jared cleared his throat. "Welcome to the Five and Dime. Can I help you find something?"
"Just looking around." He took off his glasses, and Jared swallowed hard. Beautiful green eyes in a pretty much perfect face, and wow, if this guy wasn't in the movies, he really should be.
Hoping he hadn't said that last part aloud, Jared put on his friendliest smile. "Well, we're the only drugstore down on the waterfront, and we stock some basic groceries so you don't have to drive all the way out to the interstate. If you're staying in town long, that is."
"Yeah, I am." Actor Boy rubbed the back of his neck. "My family just bought a summer house here, and I thought I'd come up and see what it was like."
"Oh, cool." Jared thought for a moment, but he couldn’t think of any of the cottages down at Sam Ferris's place having sold lately. "A house here in town?"
"Nah, up on the bluff. It's real pretty, but it's kind of by itself."
Jared's eyes widened. "The Sampson place?"
"I guess so?" He shrugged one shoulder and looked away. "It's kind of ridiculously big, but that's my parents for you."
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He didn't sound like a spoiled rich guy. Jared bit his lip for a moment and then decided to dive in. "My name's Jared," he said, holding out a hand. "My family owns the store."
Actor Boy took his hand in a strong but not overly so grip. His hand felt good in Jared's. "Jensen," he said. "Nice to meet you."
Jared grinned. He was close enough to see the freckles sprinkled across Jensen's face, and fuck if they weren't adorable. "I've lived here all my life, so if you want someone to show you around, I'd be happy to."
"Yeah?" Jensen started to smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling, and Jared knew he was a goner. "That'd be cool, man. Thanks."
Jared suddenly realized he was still gripping Jensen's hand, and he quickly let go, hoping Jensen hadn't noticed how sweaty his palm had become. "Um. I have to work till five, but maybe after that? If that's okay?"
"My schedule is open," Jensen said with a broad sweep of one arm.
They stood there smiling at each other, Jared feeling like he was under a spell that he had no interest in breaking. He was looking into Jensen's eyes, and Jensen was looking right back at him without saying anything, but it wasn't awkward at all. It was kind of exciting, actually.
Then the bell over the door rang, and Jared blinked, startled. "Um. So I'll see you at five?"
"Sure thing." Jensen ducked his head and then put his sunglasses back on before leaving.
Jared passed the rest of the day in a haze, glad that there was only a handful of customers. When his mother came in at ten till five to help close, he fidgeted for a moment before asking, "Mom, I'm meeting a friend at five. Can I go a little early?"
"If it's Chad, he still owes me a floor-mopping for that beer he dropped two weeks ago," she replied.
"No, it's not. It's…it's a new friend."
She eyed him over the tops of her glasses. "A boy friend?"
"Mom." Jared rolled his eyes. As relieved as he was that his parents had taken his coming out without batting an eye, he wished that it hadn't meant he was in for the usual torment regarding his love life, or lack thereof. "Not like that."
"Just be home before ten, all right?" she asked, taking the mop from his hands. "Now shoo."
"Thank you!" He bent to kiss her cheek before dashing out the door.
Jensen was standing outside the art gallery next door, eyeing the watercolors in the window with his head tilted to one side. He looked up and smiled when he saw Jared. "Hey, how was work?"
"Boring as ever." Jared gestured towards the paintings. "What do you think?"
Jensen eyed him. "Is this the part where I accidentally insult the work of one of your family members?"
"God, no." Jared shook his head. "The artist is some gal from Chicago who comes up every summer and 'communes with the lake,'" he said with finger quotes. "My dad says she must pour her paint across the canvas and call it a day."
"Kind of looks like it, doesn't it?" Jensen tilted his head in the other direction. "Nice colors, though. If that's what the sunsets really look like."
"Yeah, they're gorgeous." Jared scuffed his toe against the sidewalk. "It's a clear day, it should be pretty nice tonight."
"Yeah?" Jensen gave him a quick grin. "We'll have to see."
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Jared took him all over town, all five blocks of it, pointing out the restaurants where the overpriced seafood was flown in from the Atlantic and the local dive where the absolutely delicious fish came from the lake a few blocks away. There were the souvenir shops with postcards and salt water taffy, the arty boutiques with hand-blown glassware, and the library where the kids all hung out when it was too hot for lakeside breezes to handle. There was the picturesque town square where the local college orchestra played in the summer months, the farmer's market displayed local produce on Saturday mornings, and the gazebo hosted teenage make-out sessions after dark.
"I suppose you must know a lot about that," Jensen said with a knock of his elbow to Jared's side.
"What?" Flustered, Jared shook his head. "No, not really. Why?"
"Just." Jensen scratched at the back of his neck. "Good looking guy like you must have his pick of the girls who come up here for the summer."
"Oh!" Jared stared at him. "Not really. I mean, I've always been too tall and kind of gawky, you know?"
"Not really," Jensen murmured, looking Jared over from head to foot.
He swallowed hard. Oh. Mentally crossing his fingers and deciding to go out on another limb, he said, "It wouldn't be the girls I was picking out, anyway."
Jensen's gaze snapped up to his, and Jared held his breath. Slowly, a smile spread across Jensen's face, putting those delightful crinkles near his eyes again. "What a coincidence, neither would I."
They walked around until the sun was setting, Jared timing it just right so they were out near the lighthouse as the sky turned to red-gold and then violet-blue. Jensen was standing behind him silently, avidly watching the changing colors. Jared split his attention between the glow of the sunset and the way the colors played over the perfect lines of Jensen's face, his heart nearly stopping each time he thought Jensen was catching him at it.
When it was almost too dark to see except for the rotating beam of the lighthouse overhead, Jensen stepped closer to him. "Gets chilly out here after the sun goes down," he said quietly.
Jared took a deep breath. "Quieter out here than in town, though."
"Than in the gazebo, you mean?" Jensen asked with an arched eyebrow.
Heart in his throat, Jared could only nod.
He caught the gleam of Jensen's eyes in the flashing beam of the lighthouse. "I think I'm going to like it here," he said, reaching out to put one hand on Jared's hip.
Jared mirrored the gesture, leaning towards him. "I hope you do," he said softly.
He tilted his head to the side as Jensen did the same, and their lips met in the middle. Jared had been kissed before, but never by a guy, never the way he really wanted to. He was suddenly afraid that nothing else could ever compare to this, the firm press of Jensen's chest against his, the strong grip of Jensen's hand at the back of his neck, the way Jensen's back muscles flexed under Jared's shaky hands. The breeze on his bare arms was starting to draw out goosebumps, or maybe that was the perfect feel of Jensen's mouth against his.
When they pulled apart, Jensen's gaze lingered on Jared's lips. "I am definitely looking forward to having you show me around some more."
"I'm all yours," Jared grinned.
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Second,
Jensen stepped closer to him. "Gets chilly out here after the sun goes down," he said quietly.
YOU ARE THE SCHMOOPIEST SCHMOOP TO EVER SCHMOOP. ♥_♥
Third,
I JUST LOVE YOU, OKAY?
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PRETTY MUCH, YES.
The feeling is entirely mutual. ♥ ♥ ♥
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