hold you close (in a thankful heart)
Title: hold you close (in a thankful heart)
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: G, I suppose
Word Count: 2600
Disclaimer: I can only fantasize that this is really going on. Alas, it's not. Unless it is, and if so, I want photographic evidence, dammit!
Summary: AU. Jared brings Jensen home to meet his family at Thanksgiving.
A/N 1: Ugh, this is so overdo! And not beta'd, because I just want to post it. If you see any glaring errors, please tell me!
A/N 2: Title from A Muppet's Christmas Carol. :p
“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” Jared tells him softly. It’s the first thing he’s said in several miles, his nerves obviously ramping up the closer they get.
Jensen turns from where he’s been staring out at the quiet San Antonio neighborhood to look at Jared. He has a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, and his left knee is bouncing in counterpoint to the nondescript song on the radio. It’s adorable how nervous Jared is, considering Jensen’s the one meeting Jared’s family for the first time. He puts a hand on Jared’s forearm and squeezes gently.
“Hey, can you pull over for a minute?” he asks, and Jared jerks his head toward him, looking worried and startled.
“What? Is something wrong?”
“No. I just want to talk to you before we get to your house.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay. Hang on.”
A moment later, he pulls off into the deserted parking lot of a bank. Turning the car off, he stares at Jensen expectantly.
The first thing Jensen does is lean over the center console, take Jared’s face in his hands, and kiss him, soft and sweet. Jared quickly melts against him, though his shoulders remain hunched and tense.
“You need to calm down,” he murmurs against Jared’s mouth. Their lips catch with each word.
“I’m trying,” he answers with a sigh.
Jensen kisses him again, stroking a thumb over the smoothness of his cheekbone and freshly-shaven jaw until Jared breaks away to rest his head on the curve of Jensen’s shoulder.
“I’m calm now,” Jared claims, but his hands are shaking slightly where they’re wrapped around Jensen’s thighs.
“Right,” Jensen says, brushing a kiss to his temple. “Shouldn’t I be the one that’s nervous?”
Jared straightens but stays close, contorted oddly around the gearshift and steering wheel to face Jensen. Linking their hands, Jensen tries to smile reassuringly.
“It’s just that I haven’t brought anyone home since Maggie Carrolton my junior year in high school,” Jared explains.
Jensen arches an eyebrow at that. “Maggie, huh?”
Jared elbows him lightly. “Shut up. I was still confused then.”
“I know,” Jensen says gently. He understands, having been confused and completely in denial at that age, too. It wasn’t until he went to college that he finally felt free to be himself. He’s been out for three years now, and he knows Jared’s story is similar.
“It’s gonna be okay, baby, I promise. Besides, parents love me.”
Jared rolls his eyes but smiles. “It’s not only that. My family is large and can be loud and obnoxious. I really want you to like them as well.”
He snorts. “My family can be, too. Trust me, okay? It’ll be all right.”
Nodding, Jared finally settles back into his seat and puts the car in gear. Jensen spends the rest of the drive with his hand curved around Jared’s thigh.
Jared’s family’s house looks much like a typical suburban Texas house, with black shutters at the windows and a well-kept lawn. Jared squeezes his ancient Camry between an SUV and an equally ancient jeep, then turns the car off. He seems more eager and less worried now that they’re actually here, and he hops out quickly, bouncing on his toes until Jensen climbs out after him.
“Just leave the bags. We can grab ‘em later,” he says, rounding the front of the car to join Jensen.
They’re met on the porch by a woman Jensen assumes is Jared’s mom. Jared surges forward and wraps her up in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet with the force of his embrace. She laughs delightedly, then thumps Jared on the arm until he puts her down. She’s not short, but she still has to go on tiptoe in order to kiss Jared on the cheek. He takes it with a happy grin stretching his mouth, though his cheeks are a bit red.
Eventually, he turns back to Jensen and drags him forward for introductions. Sherry, as she insists he call her, immediately smiles and hugs him. He’s beginning to see where Jared gets the touchy-feely thing from. She smells like nutmeg and cinnamon, turkey and stuffing, everything he grew up associating with Thanksgiving. It reminds him so much of his own mom that he’s momentarily struck by a wave of homesickness. His mom hadn’t been too happy when he told her he’d be going to San Antonio for Thanksgiving, but she recovered quickly and made him promise to bring Jared home for Christmas or New Year’s. Jensen loves that she assumes they’ll still be together then. It’ll be much longer than that if Jensen has his way.
As she leads them inside, Sherry fusses over Jared like any mother that hasn’t seen her son in months. Jared blushes, shoulders slightly hunched, looking about 10 years old. It’s adorable and if his mom weren’t right there, Jensen would smother him in kisses.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Jensen,” Sherry says when they stop in the entranceway. “Jared talks about you nonstop.”
“Mama,” Jared protests, his cheeks as bright red as Sherry’s sweater.
“It’s great to meet you, too,” Jensen replies. He suspects he’s grinning dopily at Jared, but Jared’s expression is softening from embarrassed to fond, so he figures it’s all right.
Just then, a timer goes off in the kitchen. Sherry excuses herself to check on the food, and Jared drags him upstairs to show him where they’ll be sleeping. The room is cozy and full of knickknacks and family photos, just like downstairs. There are dents in one of the closet doors that look suspiciously baseball-shaped, however.
Grinning, Jensen asks, “Was this your room?”
“Yeah,” Jared answers as he flops onto the bed, settling on his stomach. “She turned Jeff’s room into a craft/sewing/exercise room, and this became the guest room. Kinda curious what she’ll do with Megan’s once she moves out.”
Jensen crawls onto the bed with him, and Jared rolls onto his side to face him. He seems a lot calmer now, though he’s still slightly pinched around the mouth. Brushing Jared’s hair out of his eyes, Jensen leans in to kiss him, first on the curve of his jaw and then on the tip of his nose as Jared laughs softly, before kissing him properly. They keep it rather innocent and chaste since they are in Jared’s parents’ house. Jared’s hands wander, skating down Jensen’s back to cup his ass and, okay, maybe not so innocent after all.
He pulls back and props himself up on an elbow, staring down at Jared. “It’s weird being back home, isn’t it? Like it’s still your house but not really?”
“Yeah. This is my room, but all my stuff’s packed in boxes in the garage, and my apartment in Houston doesn’t really feel like home, ya know?”
Jensen nods in agreement but before he can say anything, there’s a deafening screech from the doorway and a whirlwind lands on the bed with them.
“Meggie!” Jared exclaims, and Jensen winces at the volume.
Jared wraps his sister up in a tight hug and then they proceed to chatter and giggle at each other at such speed Jensen’s not sure how they understand one another. He tunes back in when he hears his name, just in time for the introductions.
“Jesus, JT, you didn’t tell me he was this hot,” Megan says, eyes wide with an open appreciation that makes Jensen squirm in embarrassment.
“Meggie! Language! And shut up.” Jared attempts to look stern, but the smug grin curving up the corner of his mouth ruins it.
“What? He’s hot!” She shrugs casually, then scrunches up her nose. “Which is completely unfair, by the way. But anyhow. Hi, Jensen. Nice to meet you finally. In person at least.”
Jensen shakes the hand she sticks out toward him, amused. They talked once when he answered the phone for Jared. She was much more…normal during that brief conversation.
“Hi. Nice to meet you, too.”
“We’ll talk later when JT’s not around. I’ll tell you all his most embarrassing and awkward moments,” Megan stage-whispers.
“Meggie!” Jared groans, burying his head in his hands, blushing furiously.
She grins, revealing a dimple just like Jared’s.
“Anyway, JT, Mom says to come downstairs to help set up chairs or something, and Dad and Jeff just got back from whatever errand she sent them on.”
“All right, thanks. We’ll be down in a minute.”
“Sure. Have fun making out, but no using tongue while you’re under this roof, young man,” she calls as she skips out the door.
“Meggie!”
He sounds so scandalized that Jensen has to laugh at him. He hits Jensen with a pillow, pouting, which Jensen kisses away. And keeps kissing for a long time.
As soon as they finally get downstairs and Jared rushes through introductions with his dad and brother, they’re all conscripted into helping out--setting up extra chairs or peeling potatoes and other food prep. Somewhere in there, Jensen loses track of Jared, though he surprisingly doesn’t care. Sherry and Megan are hilarious, sharing stories about Jared from when he was younger, and Megan promises to show him every humiliating picture of Jared she can find later.
Jensen startles slightly as someone hugs him from behind, but he relaxes when he recognizes Jared’s strong embrace. Leaning back into Jared’s warmth, Jensen resumes chopping the potatoes, pausing long enough to lightly smack Jared’s hand away when he tries to steal a couple chunks. Jared laughs softly and kisses his cheek, then backs away to settle against the counter beside where Jensen’s working.
“So is Meggie spreading lies about me?” Jared asks, crossing his arms. He’s smirking, but Jensen can sense the worry and anxiety hidden behind it.
“They were just telling me how you went through a stripping phase when you were a toddler,” Jensen informs him, and Jared turns an interesting and adorable shade of red.
“I hate all of you,” he mutters when they laugh at him. “Just wait till you bring a boy home, Meggie. I’ll get my revenge.”
“All right, all right,” Sherry says, clapping her hands. “I’ve got it from here. Y’all get out of my kitchen.”
She shoos them out into the living room, which exploded with Padaleckis while Jensen was helping in the kitchen. They’re gathered around the large, flat-screen TV, watching the Cowboys barely hold on to their win. Jared points everyone out, ending with an “and this is Jensen,” but people are too absorbed in the game to pay much attention. Which Jensen can definitely understand.
They’ve barely high-fived and cheered another Cowboys victory when Sherry announces that dinner’s ready. There’s a mass exodus toward the dining room amid a cacophony of jumbled conversations and laughter. Jared wasn’t wrong about his family being loud, but it’s a good kind of noise, happy and enthusiastic, unlike the arguments that tend to break out at Jensen’s family gatherings. Jensen can’t help smiling at it all. Jared quirks a brow at him, but he shakes his head and mouths nothing.
The food gets passed around in a much more orderly fashion than Jensen’s used to, and soon everyone has heaping plates. It all tastes amazing, not quite like his mom or gran’s, but he’s probably biased.
Jensen’s content to just sit back and eat and listen to everybody else. Jared’s thigh is pressed against his under the table, and Jensen has to stop himself from saying, “See, I told you not to worry!”
Jensen’s had seconds and Jared’s on his third helping of mashed potatoes and gravy when Jared’s aunt Beth turns to them from down the table and asks, “So how did you and Jared meet, Jensen?”
Jensen flushes a little and glances at Jared.
“It’s okay. Go ahead,” Jared says, nudging him with his foot and nodding.
“We met at a bar,” Jensen answers.
Jeff and Megan snicker at their mom’s slightly disapproving huff, so Jared obviously hadn’t told them the story yet.
“But neither of us was drinking,” Jensen adds quickly.
“Yeah, right,” Megan scoffs, rolling her eyes from her spot on Jensen’s other side.
“Honestly, we were both the designated driver for our friends.” Jensen remembered resenting Chris for dragging him out for a bar crawl and electing him the DD, but meeting Jared had made it worth it.
“We bonded over our drunk friends and then over our classes and our families and then over everything else. We talked for hours,” Jared says, flashing Jensen a soft smile and fond look.
There are several awws, and someone says, “That’s so sweet!” Jensen doesn’t mention that they ended up calling cabs for their friends and going back to Jensen’s apartment, where Jared blew him against the door, or everything else they did that night.
“It’s the one time I was glad to have jerky friends,” Jensen laughs and reaches over to squeeze Jared’s thigh. It’s cheesy and he won’t say it in front of all these people, but the thing he’s most thankful for is the last eight months with Jared.
People start drifting away from the table soon after that.
“No pie?” Jensen asks, pouting.
Jared laughs at him and presses a quick kiss to his mouth. “Cleaning and decorating first; pie and eggnog later.”
“Okay.” He can wait for pie. If he has to.
While Gerry, Beth, and a couple cousins clean up the kitchen and put away the leftovers, the rest of them head down to the basement to gather the boxes of Christmas decorations. It’s an odd mix of old and new that’s at once jarring and endearing. Jensen spends quite awhile listening to various people bicker good naturedly, over what to put where and who gets to put which ornament on the tree.
He and Jared somehow get roped into going outside into the cold and putting the lights around the porch. They’re hopelessly tangled, of course, like any good set of Christmas lights, but he and Jared straighten them out pretty quickly.
Jensen hooks the last light over the nail hammered into the porch railing, then steps back, snagging one of Jared’s belt loops to draw him closer.
“You remember when I said it’d be all right and you shouldn’t worry?” he asks, angling his head up to kiss Jared’s jaw.
“You were right, blah blah blah, whatever. Don’t get used to it,” Jared dismisses with a wave of his hand, but he’s grinning, the soft smile Jensen learned a long time ago means Jesus, I love you.
Their kiss is just getting interesting when Jeff opens the door and sticks his head out.
“Pie time, dudes!” he announces enthusiastically.
“Thanks. We’ll be there in a minute.”
“Or we could stay out here by ourselves for awhile,” Jensen suggests once Jeff shuts the door again.
Jared looks thoughtful, no doubt weighing the options of dessert versus private time. “Did I ever tell you what a genius you are?” he says after an overdramatic pause.
Jensen grins and kisses Jared’s jaw. “Come on.”
He tugs Jared over to the porch swing, then settles with his back to Jared’s chest, Jared’s arms wrapped tightly around him, keeping away the slight chill in the air.
“I’m most grateful for you this year,” Jared murmurs against his neck, and somehow from Jared it doesn’t sound cheesy or silly or trite. It just sounds perfect.
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: G, I suppose
Word Count: 2600
Disclaimer: I can only fantasize that this is really going on. Alas, it's not. Unless it is, and if so, I want photographic evidence, dammit!
Summary: AU. Jared brings Jensen home to meet his family at Thanksgiving.
A/N 1: Ugh, this is so overdo! And not beta'd, because I just want to post it. If you see any glaring errors, please tell me!
A/N 2: Title from A Muppet's Christmas Carol. :p
“We’ll be there in a few minutes,” Jared tells him softly. It’s the first thing he’s said in several miles, his nerves obviously ramping up the closer they get.
Jensen turns from where he’s been staring out at the quiet San Antonio neighborhood to look at Jared. He has a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel, and his left knee is bouncing in counterpoint to the nondescript song on the radio. It’s adorable how nervous Jared is, considering Jensen’s the one meeting Jared’s family for the first time. He puts a hand on Jared’s forearm and squeezes gently.
“Hey, can you pull over for a minute?” he asks, and Jared jerks his head toward him, looking worried and startled.
“What? Is something wrong?”
“No. I just want to talk to you before we get to your house.”
“Oh. Yeah, okay. Hang on.”
A moment later, he pulls off into the deserted parking lot of a bank. Turning the car off, he stares at Jensen expectantly.
The first thing Jensen does is lean over the center console, take Jared’s face in his hands, and kiss him, soft and sweet. Jared quickly melts against him, though his shoulders remain hunched and tense.
“You need to calm down,” he murmurs against Jared’s mouth. Their lips catch with each word.
“I’m trying,” he answers with a sigh.
Jensen kisses him again, stroking a thumb over the smoothness of his cheekbone and freshly-shaven jaw until Jared breaks away to rest his head on the curve of Jensen’s shoulder.
“I’m calm now,” Jared claims, but his hands are shaking slightly where they’re wrapped around Jensen’s thighs.
“Right,” Jensen says, brushing a kiss to his temple. “Shouldn’t I be the one that’s nervous?”
Jared straightens but stays close, contorted oddly around the gearshift and steering wheel to face Jensen. Linking their hands, Jensen tries to smile reassuringly.
“It’s just that I haven’t brought anyone home since Maggie Carrolton my junior year in high school,” Jared explains.
Jensen arches an eyebrow at that. “Maggie, huh?”
Jared elbows him lightly. “Shut up. I was still confused then.”
“I know,” Jensen says gently. He understands, having been confused and completely in denial at that age, too. It wasn’t until he went to college that he finally felt free to be himself. He’s been out for three years now, and he knows Jared’s story is similar.
“It’s gonna be okay, baby, I promise. Besides, parents love me.”
Jared rolls his eyes but smiles. “It’s not only that. My family is large and can be loud and obnoxious. I really want you to like them as well.”
He snorts. “My family can be, too. Trust me, okay? It’ll be all right.”
Nodding, Jared finally settles back into his seat and puts the car in gear. Jensen spends the rest of the drive with his hand curved around Jared’s thigh.
Jared’s family’s house looks much like a typical suburban Texas house, with black shutters at the windows and a well-kept lawn. Jared squeezes his ancient Camry between an SUV and an equally ancient jeep, then turns the car off. He seems more eager and less worried now that they’re actually here, and he hops out quickly, bouncing on his toes until Jensen climbs out after him.
“Just leave the bags. We can grab ‘em later,” he says, rounding the front of the car to join Jensen.
They’re met on the porch by a woman Jensen assumes is Jared’s mom. Jared surges forward and wraps her up in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet with the force of his embrace. She laughs delightedly, then thumps Jared on the arm until he puts her down. She’s not short, but she still has to go on tiptoe in order to kiss Jared on the cheek. He takes it with a happy grin stretching his mouth, though his cheeks are a bit red.
Eventually, he turns back to Jensen and drags him forward for introductions. Sherry, as she insists he call her, immediately smiles and hugs him. He’s beginning to see where Jared gets the touchy-feely thing from. She smells like nutmeg and cinnamon, turkey and stuffing, everything he grew up associating with Thanksgiving. It reminds him so much of his own mom that he’s momentarily struck by a wave of homesickness. His mom hadn’t been too happy when he told her he’d be going to San Antonio for Thanksgiving, but she recovered quickly and made him promise to bring Jared home for Christmas or New Year’s. Jensen loves that she assumes they’ll still be together then. It’ll be much longer than that if Jensen has his way.
As she leads them inside, Sherry fusses over Jared like any mother that hasn’t seen her son in months. Jared blushes, shoulders slightly hunched, looking about 10 years old. It’s adorable and if his mom weren’t right there, Jensen would smother him in kisses.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Jensen,” Sherry says when they stop in the entranceway. “Jared talks about you nonstop.”
“Mama,” Jared protests, his cheeks as bright red as Sherry’s sweater.
“It’s great to meet you, too,” Jensen replies. He suspects he’s grinning dopily at Jared, but Jared’s expression is softening from embarrassed to fond, so he figures it’s all right.
Just then, a timer goes off in the kitchen. Sherry excuses herself to check on the food, and Jared drags him upstairs to show him where they’ll be sleeping. The room is cozy and full of knickknacks and family photos, just like downstairs. There are dents in one of the closet doors that look suspiciously baseball-shaped, however.
Grinning, Jensen asks, “Was this your room?”
“Yeah,” Jared answers as he flops onto the bed, settling on his stomach. “She turned Jeff’s room into a craft/sewing/exercise room, and this became the guest room. Kinda curious what she’ll do with Megan’s once she moves out.”
Jensen crawls onto the bed with him, and Jared rolls onto his side to face him. He seems a lot calmer now, though he’s still slightly pinched around the mouth. Brushing Jared’s hair out of his eyes, Jensen leans in to kiss him, first on the curve of his jaw and then on the tip of his nose as Jared laughs softly, before kissing him properly. They keep it rather innocent and chaste since they are in Jared’s parents’ house. Jared’s hands wander, skating down Jensen’s back to cup his ass and, okay, maybe not so innocent after all.
He pulls back and props himself up on an elbow, staring down at Jared. “It’s weird being back home, isn’t it? Like it’s still your house but not really?”
“Yeah. This is my room, but all my stuff’s packed in boxes in the garage, and my apartment in Houston doesn’t really feel like home, ya know?”
Jensen nods in agreement but before he can say anything, there’s a deafening screech from the doorway and a whirlwind lands on the bed with them.
“Meggie!” Jared exclaims, and Jensen winces at the volume.
Jared wraps his sister up in a tight hug and then they proceed to chatter and giggle at each other at such speed Jensen’s not sure how they understand one another. He tunes back in when he hears his name, just in time for the introductions.
“Jesus, JT, you didn’t tell me he was this hot,” Megan says, eyes wide with an open appreciation that makes Jensen squirm in embarrassment.
“Meggie! Language! And shut up.” Jared attempts to look stern, but the smug grin curving up the corner of his mouth ruins it.
“What? He’s hot!” She shrugs casually, then scrunches up her nose. “Which is completely unfair, by the way. But anyhow. Hi, Jensen. Nice to meet you finally. In person at least.”
Jensen shakes the hand she sticks out toward him, amused. They talked once when he answered the phone for Jared. She was much more…normal during that brief conversation.
“Hi. Nice to meet you, too.”
“We’ll talk later when JT’s not around. I’ll tell you all his most embarrassing and awkward moments,” Megan stage-whispers.
“Meggie!” Jared groans, burying his head in his hands, blushing furiously.
She grins, revealing a dimple just like Jared’s.
“Anyway, JT, Mom says to come downstairs to help set up chairs or something, and Dad and Jeff just got back from whatever errand she sent them on.”
“All right, thanks. We’ll be down in a minute.”
“Sure. Have fun making out, but no using tongue while you’re under this roof, young man,” she calls as she skips out the door.
“Meggie!”
He sounds so scandalized that Jensen has to laugh at him. He hits Jensen with a pillow, pouting, which Jensen kisses away. And keeps kissing for a long time.
As soon as they finally get downstairs and Jared rushes through introductions with his dad and brother, they’re all conscripted into helping out--setting up extra chairs or peeling potatoes and other food prep. Somewhere in there, Jensen loses track of Jared, though he surprisingly doesn’t care. Sherry and Megan are hilarious, sharing stories about Jared from when he was younger, and Megan promises to show him every humiliating picture of Jared she can find later.
Jensen startles slightly as someone hugs him from behind, but he relaxes when he recognizes Jared’s strong embrace. Leaning back into Jared’s warmth, Jensen resumes chopping the potatoes, pausing long enough to lightly smack Jared’s hand away when he tries to steal a couple chunks. Jared laughs softly and kisses his cheek, then backs away to settle against the counter beside where Jensen’s working.
“So is Meggie spreading lies about me?” Jared asks, crossing his arms. He’s smirking, but Jensen can sense the worry and anxiety hidden behind it.
“They were just telling me how you went through a stripping phase when you were a toddler,” Jensen informs him, and Jared turns an interesting and adorable shade of red.
“I hate all of you,” he mutters when they laugh at him. “Just wait till you bring a boy home, Meggie. I’ll get my revenge.”
“All right, all right,” Sherry says, clapping her hands. “I’ve got it from here. Y’all get out of my kitchen.”
She shoos them out into the living room, which exploded with Padaleckis while Jensen was helping in the kitchen. They’re gathered around the large, flat-screen TV, watching the Cowboys barely hold on to their win. Jared points everyone out, ending with an “and this is Jensen,” but people are too absorbed in the game to pay much attention. Which Jensen can definitely understand.
They’ve barely high-fived and cheered another Cowboys victory when Sherry announces that dinner’s ready. There’s a mass exodus toward the dining room amid a cacophony of jumbled conversations and laughter. Jared wasn’t wrong about his family being loud, but it’s a good kind of noise, happy and enthusiastic, unlike the arguments that tend to break out at Jensen’s family gatherings. Jensen can’t help smiling at it all. Jared quirks a brow at him, but he shakes his head and mouths nothing.
The food gets passed around in a much more orderly fashion than Jensen’s used to, and soon everyone has heaping plates. It all tastes amazing, not quite like his mom or gran’s, but he’s probably biased.
Jensen’s content to just sit back and eat and listen to everybody else. Jared’s thigh is pressed against his under the table, and Jensen has to stop himself from saying, “See, I told you not to worry!”
Jensen’s had seconds and Jared’s on his third helping of mashed potatoes and gravy when Jared’s aunt Beth turns to them from down the table and asks, “So how did you and Jared meet, Jensen?”
Jensen flushes a little and glances at Jared.
“It’s okay. Go ahead,” Jared says, nudging him with his foot and nodding.
“We met at a bar,” Jensen answers.
Jeff and Megan snicker at their mom’s slightly disapproving huff, so Jared obviously hadn’t told them the story yet.
“But neither of us was drinking,” Jensen adds quickly.
“Yeah, right,” Megan scoffs, rolling her eyes from her spot on Jensen’s other side.
“Honestly, we were both the designated driver for our friends.” Jensen remembered resenting Chris for dragging him out for a bar crawl and electing him the DD, but meeting Jared had made it worth it.
“We bonded over our drunk friends and then over our classes and our families and then over everything else. We talked for hours,” Jared says, flashing Jensen a soft smile and fond look.
There are several awws, and someone says, “That’s so sweet!” Jensen doesn’t mention that they ended up calling cabs for their friends and going back to Jensen’s apartment, where Jared blew him against the door, or everything else they did that night.
“It’s the one time I was glad to have jerky friends,” Jensen laughs and reaches over to squeeze Jared’s thigh. It’s cheesy and he won’t say it in front of all these people, but the thing he’s most thankful for is the last eight months with Jared.
People start drifting away from the table soon after that.
“No pie?” Jensen asks, pouting.
Jared laughs at him and presses a quick kiss to his mouth. “Cleaning and decorating first; pie and eggnog later.”
“Okay.” He can wait for pie. If he has to.
While Gerry, Beth, and a couple cousins clean up the kitchen and put away the leftovers, the rest of them head down to the basement to gather the boxes of Christmas decorations. It’s an odd mix of old and new that’s at once jarring and endearing. Jensen spends quite awhile listening to various people bicker good naturedly, over what to put where and who gets to put which ornament on the tree.
He and Jared somehow get roped into going outside into the cold and putting the lights around the porch. They’re hopelessly tangled, of course, like any good set of Christmas lights, but he and Jared straighten them out pretty quickly.
Jensen hooks the last light over the nail hammered into the porch railing, then steps back, snagging one of Jared’s belt loops to draw him closer.
“You remember when I said it’d be all right and you shouldn’t worry?” he asks, angling his head up to kiss Jared’s jaw.
“You were right, blah blah blah, whatever. Don’t get used to it,” Jared dismisses with a wave of his hand, but he’s grinning, the soft smile Jensen learned a long time ago means Jesus, I love you.
Their kiss is just getting interesting when Jeff opens the door and sticks his head out.
“Pie time, dudes!” he announces enthusiastically.
“Thanks. We’ll be there in a minute.”
“Or we could stay out here by ourselves for awhile,” Jensen suggests once Jeff shuts the door again.
Jared looks thoughtful, no doubt weighing the options of dessert versus private time. “Did I ever tell you what a genius you are?” he says after an overdramatic pause.
Jensen grins and kisses Jared’s jaw. “Come on.”
He tugs Jared over to the porch swing, then settles with his back to Jared’s chest, Jared’s arms wrapped tightly around him, keeping away the slight chill in the air.
“I’m most grateful for you this year,” Jared murmurs against his neck, and somehow from Jared it doesn’t sound cheesy or silly or trite. It just sounds perfect.