Like a Slow Fire Burn 1/4
Masterpost
Jensen stood by the nurse’s station dropping off a chart when Ian walked up. He was looking particularly disheveled today, which meant he’d had a surgery earlier. He flashed Jensen a grin, dark brown eyes lit up, indicating he must’ve snagged a nap not too long ago.
“Hi,” he said, bumping his shoulder against Jensen’s.
Jensen smiled, perking up. Ian had that effect on him. Across the desk, Margarite gave him a knowing look, biting her lip to contain her smirk.
“Dr. Kavanaugh,” Jensen replied and grinned, arching an eyebrow. “What are you doing up on Orthopedics? Won’t they miss you downstairs?”
“They can get along without me for a few minutes. Needed a break from a demanding patient, so I thought I’d come bother you.”
“Lucky me.” Usually he was, since it involved him getting laid, but he was too busy today to pop into their favorite supply closet. To prove the point, Margarite smacked a stack of charts down in front of him. Jensen barely refrained from glaring at his boss. Turning to Ian with an apologetic frown, he said, “Maybe another time?”
“Sure.”
“When are you done? Want to grab a beer later?” he asked, and Ian nodded.
“I have rounds and then I’ll be done. Say in two hours?”
“Mind if I bring Chad and Padalecki?” It’d been way too long since they’d all gotten together for a beer. Chad was working overtime--Jensen wasn’t supposed to know he was saving up to buy a ring for Kenzie--and Ian always seemed especially busy lately.
“Course not. I gotta go. Later, mate.” Ian squeezed his shoulder, then hurried down the hall. Doctors never leisurely walked anywhere. It made Jensen tired just watching them sometimes.
Once Jensen got through the pile of charts and checked on a few patients, he talked to Chad, then tracked down Jeff up on labor and delivery. Jeff was on-call and couldn’t drink but decided to come anyway, and Chad nodded eagerly.
“Shit, I could use a beer and some bar peanuts. But I can’t stay late. Kenzie has something planned.”
“You are so whipped,” Jensen laughed.
“Yep,” he replied cheerfully.
Chad’s shift ended earlier than his, but he hung around for Jensen so they could walk the couple of blocks to Brady’s Leap together. It always reminded him of the bar on Cheers, more in atmosphere than looks. It was a favorite place for the hospital staff, so the owner and bartenders all knew them. It was small, only a handful of booths and tables, half a dozen stools at the bar, a pool table, and a couple dart boards squeezed between two windows high up on the wall. It was dimly lit and usually crowded with doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff, mostly looking haggard and dead on their feet. Jensen loved it.
Jeff stuck to pop, and the rest of them ended up not really drinking much either, since Chad had to get home to Kenzie and Jensen and Ian still had to drive home afterward. It was more about the company--and incredible cheese fries--for Jensen anyway. These guys were his best friends, and they could just be sitting around doing nothing special and Jensen’d be happy. Beer was always a nice addition, though.
Back when he graduated from nursing school and started at Falls Memorial, one of the premier hospitals in Northeast Ohio, he’d been unaccountably nervous. He was used to being on his own and starting new things after going to Virginia for school, but this was his first “real” job, and he wasn’t friends with anyone back home anymore.
He met Jeff on the first day. He was loud and funny and serious about his job. The next shift he met Chad, who was a study in contrasts. They both easily slotted into Jensen’s life, and he stopped worrying so much about everything. And then came Ian, and somehow--Jensen was still a little fuzzy on the details of that night--he managed to fill in a few of the places Jeff and Chad couldn’t.
“Hey.” Ian bumped his shoulder against Jensen’s and grinned. “No deep thoughts at Brady’s. You know the rules.”
Jensen smiled back, ducking his head to glance at Ian out of the corner of his eye. His nearly-black hair was as messy and tangled as always from Ian running his hands through it too much, and Jensen reached over to comb his fingers through the worst of it. Ian rolled his eyes, but Jensen didn’t stop. He knew how much Ian liked it.
“So, what had you looking all pensive?”
“Nothing. Just remembering what my life was like before you guys.”
“What, empty and boring?” Chad answered, flopping into the booth across from them.
“Pathetic and devoid of fun?” Jeff said. “Sucky and miserable?”
“Sad and lonely?” Ian added with that cheeky grin Jensen secretly loved more than he’d ever admit.
“All right, all right! I get it,” Jensen conceded, throwing his hands up, which he then turned into a smack to the back of Ian’s head. Ian just kept grinning. “My life was awful until I met all of you.”
“Damn straight.” Chad saluted him with his beer, then drained the bottle in one go. “Okay, guys. I’ve gotta get home to my girl. Try not to cry too hard at my absence.”
He and Ian both rolled their eyes and waved goodbye as Chad slid out of the booth.
“Pool? I’ll play you for the next round?” Jensen asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ian’s smile grew gleeful and downright wicked, and Jensen couldn’t believe he forgot that he never beat Ian at pool.
“You’re on, mate!” he replied happily and practically skipped over to the pool table.
Jensen groaned quietly and followed him, already knowing he’d owe Ian a beer.
After he wiped the table with Jensen, Ian played Jeff while Jensen watched, but they got stuck in a laughing fit over something random and stupid that Jeff said. They mostly missed their shots, shoulders shaking as they tried to hold in the laughter, and gave up after the second time Jeff accidentally bounced the cue ball onto the floor.
“All right, that’s it,” Jeff said and tossed down his pool cue, throwing up his hands. “I’m gonna head back to the hospital and crash for a bit. I have a 7 a.m. C-section and rounds to prep for and--”
“Blah, blah, blah. I’m so important because I’m a doctor,” Jensen interrupted with an eye roll.
“More important than you at least.” Jeff wrapped him in a half-hearted headlock as they made their way back to the table. He loved to give Jeff a hard time, but it was definitely mutual.
Jensen grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and stretched his arms over his head before shrugging into it. Ian smiled at him while he slipped into his own too-thin jacket. Jensen frowned at him a little, a look Ian easily deflected with a cheeky grin.
“Want to come over?” Ian asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
Jensen ignored Jeff’s smirk. He was used to it, since they never exactly tried to hide the fact that they occasionally hooked up. He was pretty sure the entire hospital knew.
“I have to go to work at 5 a.m.”
He shrugged, then stepped closer to Jensen, reaching out to snag a finger in his belt loop, knuckles brushing lightly against Jensen’s stomach in a way he knew drove Jensen mad. Ian always did fight dirty.
“You don’t have to stay all night, Jensen. Let’s be honest here, it probably won’t last long, considering how exhausted I am.” He grinned, brushing his fingers against Jensen’s hip and leaning in till his breath fanned hot over Jensen’s cheek.
Devious Irish bastard.
“All right,” Jensen said, telling himself he was agreeing because it’d been awhile since he got laid.
“Brilliant.” He smiled, slow and sexy, and heat settled low in Jensen’s belly.
He turned back to Jeff for a quick goodbye, then hurried out of Brady’s, Ian close behind him. He followed Ian’s Honda through the dark, mostly deserted roads to Ian’s apartment. It was a quick drive; most of the staff lived within an easy 15 minutes of the hospital in case of emergencies. There were two other doctors and a handful of nurses in Ian’s building alone.
Jensen crowded close to Ian while he unlocked the door to his apartment, pressing along his back and rubbing his hands over Ian’s flat stomach. Ian elbowed him playfully and grumbled about Jensen being a terrible distraction, but he still leaned into the touch when Jensen kissed the back of his neck. He got the door open eventually and when they were finally inside, Jensen promptly tripped on a pile of shoes.
“Shh,” Ian laughed quietly. “Don’t wake Jared.”
Jensen ignored him in favor of tugging him close and sucking on his full bottom lip. Ian let out a breathy gasp, hands coming up to clutch at Jensen’s hair and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. Jensen licked his way inside, across Ian’s teeth and against the roof of his mouth. Ian was always an enthusiastic kisser. It was how this thing between them started, with slightly drunken, heated kissing at one of Jeff’s parties. That night had ended with the most incredible blowjob of Jensen’s life, courtesy of Ian’s wet, filthy mouth.
They stood in the living room for several minutes, Ian’s back against the wall by the door, as Ian ramped Jensen’s arousal up with just his mouth and a thigh pressed tight between Jensen’s legs. Jensen kissed a path down Ian’s neck, paying particular attention to the spot below his Adam’s apple and the bumps of his collarbone.
His breath hitched and he ground out, “Shite, Jensen. Bedroom now.”
Ian’s soft Irish brogue always deepened when he was drunk or horny, and all it did was turn Jensen on even more.
They stumbled their way down the hallway to Ian’s room, hands never leaving bare skin. Once inside, he stripped Ian, then quickly shed his own clothes. Smirking over his shoulder, Ian spread out facedown on the bed. Head turned into the pillow, he closed his eyes, the long, dark smudge of his eyelashes creating shadows on his cheeks.
Jensen knelt beside him, leaning close to suck a mark into the dip at the small of his back. Ian twisted under him, making impatient and needy noises, as he licked a stripe down his ass. He worked Ian open with his mouth and his fingers until Ian was writhing urgently and swearing at him, pleas and curses and low-pitched moans of Jensen’s name.
Groping around in the nightstand one-handed, he pulled out a condom and tore open the wrapper with his teeth. He replaced his fingers with his dick, which was reaching painfully hard levels, and easily set into a rhythm, fucking Ian hard if a little sloppy. Ian didn’t seem to mind, considering the way he rutted against the mattress and rolled his hips back into Jensen’s thrusts. Ian came first, Jensen following not far behind.
When his breathing calmed down and he could move again, Jensen rolled off Ian, then tossed the condom, grinning at Ian’s mumbled complaint of lying in the wet spot. Jensen poked him until he flopped over, then threw a shirt at him to clean up. As soon as Ian dropped the shirt back onto the floor, he passed out from exhaustion and post-sex haze. Jensen pulled the covers up over them and fell asleep to the sound of Ian’s even breathing.
Jensen woke up several hours later, grateful he’d remembered to set the alarm on his phone earlier in the day. He crawled over Ian to get out of bed. It was still dark out, but he didn’t turn on any lights, not wanting to wake up Ian. He was still getting dressed as he went down the hall to the living room, tugging on his socks and shoes with his pants still half-unzipped and unbuttoned. He was grabbing his keys from the table by the door when a voice behind him made him jump.
“Um, hello,” someone said timidly, and Jensen would never admit how hard his heart beat at the sudden voice.
“Shit,” Jensen gasped quietly and resisted the urge to press a hand to his chest. He turned around to face Jared, Ian’s new roommate, remembering at the last second to do up his pants. He wasn’t used to Jared being around yet, since he just moved in a couple weeks ago at the beginning of the semester and it had been awhile since he spent the night there.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“S’alright. What are you doing out here in the dark?”
“Fell asleep on the couch.” Jared shrugged, smiling sheepishly.
He wondered if Jared had been out here earlier when they got home and fought to control his blush.
Now that he looked more closely, Jared did have lines on his cheeks from the weave on the couch fabric, and his hair was sticking up in an impressive bird’s nest on one side. He’d met Jared several years ago when he first started working at Falls Memorial through Jeff but hadn’t seen him in quite awhile, close to two years maybe. At the time, he was a baby-faced recent college graduate. Jensen hadn’t paid much attention to him--the thing with Ian had just started, and he was more interested in whether or not he’d get laid that night. But now he couldn’t help noticing how much Jared had grown up. Or how well he’d grown up.
He was taller, more muscular, though still lanky. His shoulders had broadened and were stretching the fabric of his long-sleeved t-shirt in a way that Jensen definitely shouldn’t notice. There was a family resemblance to Jeff, but Jeff was taller, skinnier, and not as well muscled. Jared’s face had filled out, lost some of the sharp angles. He looked more like a man now instead of the kid Jensen remembered. He did a quick calculation and figured out Jared was around 24. Still young, so young, and Jensen really needed to stop staring at the hint of dimples he could see dipping in Jared’s cheeks and go to work.
“So, uh, I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you around?” Jensen said, edging toward the door.
“Oh, yeah. I’ll try not to scare you next time you’re sneaking out of Ian’s room,” Jared replied, then blushed bright red. Jensen could see it even in the dark.
Laughing awkwardly, Jensen reached for the doorknob. “Right.”
“Have a good day,” Jared told him, ducking his head shyly.
Jensen tossed him a quick goodbye and fled the apartment, mentally face-palming. What a great impression to make on Ian’s new roommate.
Jensen lingered in the doorway, arms crossed tightly over his chest for warmth and face tilted up to the sky, watching as the fat snowflakes lazily fell. It’d be pretty if it weren’t so fucking cold outside. The moon and stars were out, adding to the wan glow of the lone streetlight in this back parking lot. The snowflakes seemed to glitter as they fell, turning the handful of cars out there into sparkling, misshapen lumps.
It’d been coming down for over five hours now, causing road accidents all over the area and flooding their ER. They’d pulled a couple nurses from Jensen’s floor to help cope with the backlog of patients, which left him and the others scrambling to deal with the sudden deficit. This was his first break in he didn’t want to think about how long, but he couldn’t go far in case something happened, so he simply hovered in the doorway and watched the people crazy enough to be out in this weather slip-slide down the sidewalk.
“Shit hasn’t stopped, huh?” Chad grumbled, coming up beside him.
“Nope,” Jensen answered bitterly. Looked like he might be sleeping at the hospital tonight. There was no way he could drive home in this mess. Luckily they had beds just for situations like this. They weren’t necessarily the most comfortable, but they did the job when you were too tired to drive home or needed to be back in a short time.
“Two days ago it was 60 degrees out,” he complained, pouting.
Jensen smirked. “Welcome to Ohio.”
“Lived here my whole life. Still sucks.”
“Hmm.” Jensen shrugged. He’d missed Ohio when he was away at college, but he certainly hadn’t missed the weather. There was something about the snow and cold here that was different to other places.
“What are we staring at, boys?” Margarite asked, suddenly popping up behind them. Jensen jumped, and Chad swore, pressing a hand to his chest.
“Jesus, woman! Don’t do that!” Chad exclaimed, and Margarite laughed at him.
“Sorry!” She hardly sounded sorry, with the barely held back giggles about to burst free. “But, really, what’s out here?”
“Snow and more snow,” Jensen replied glumly.
Margarite made a disgruntled noise and blew her bangs out of her eyes. Jensen didn’t know why he did it--maybe because it’d been a long, tiring day or because he loved to hear Chad sputter angrily and to see Margarite’s bitch face. Whatever the reason, he found himself bending down and gathering snow into his hands before he even thought it through. He packed it into a loose ball and smashed it into Chad’s chest, then immediately dropped down for more to do the same with Margarite while Chad was still cursing. Margarite’s eyes widened a second before the snow broke against her chest, and Jensen couldn’t help laughing gleefully at her surprised expression.
“Son of a bitch!” she shouted, wiping snow off with the back of her hand.
“You’re going down, Ackles!” Chad growled and lunged for him.
Laughing, Jensen danced away from him, out toward the parking lot, and scooped up a double handful of snow.
“Bring it,” he taunted and threw one of his snowballs. It splatted against Chad’s neck, which earned him a spectacular glare.
There was a long moment of peace and then an all-out battle broke out. It started with Chad and Margarite against him but quickly devolved into everyone for themselves. Jensen slid over the increasingly dirty snow, barely dodging a double-barreled assault from Margarite, then promptly got hit from behind by one of the nurses from ICU. The three of them had made so much noise that it attracted the attention of anyone passing by the door, and it didn’t take long for other people to join the fray--doctors, nurses, even some people from admin and billing.
Shrieks and laughter filled the air, sounding remarkably like a school playground. Chad would fervently deny it, but Jensen had caught him honest-to-god giggling. And also letting out a ridiculous battle cry before throwing every snowball. It was loud and complete chaos, but only in the best way.
Jensen’s hands and face were red from the cold and snow, he was pretty much soaking wet from head to toe, he was losing feeling in his hands and feet, and he hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.
They were forced to call a truce at the news of several people from a two-car pileup arriving in the ER, causing a handful of the combatants to scatter back inside. Jensen followed Chad and Margarite back upstairs, the icy cold hitting him now that he was back in the heated building. His teeth chattered, his hands shaking slightly.
“Shit, man, even my underwear is wet,” Chad complained, and the couple in the elevator with them gave them strange looks.
“S’why I always have extra clothes with me,” Jensen said, and Chad huffed at him.
The couple got off on the floor below theirs, sending them another strange look before exiting. Jensen guessed they did look a bit odd--scrubs soaking wet, skin burned red from the cold. Margarite’s hair was a bedraggled mess, coming out of the ponytail and flopping heavily into her face. People must’ve thought they were crazy.
When they got off the elevator, Jensen almost ran right into Ian.
“Hey,” Jensen said, smiling.
“What in the bloody hell happened to you?” Ian asked, raking his eyes over Jensen from head to toe, and that gaze did more to heat Jensen up than anything else could.
“Snowball fight,” Chad replied, then hurried down the hall with Margarite toward their locker rooms.
Ian arched an eyebrow in disbelief. “Well, I’m sorry I missed that.”
“It was awesome!” Jensen told him.
“Looks like it.” Ian fingered the wet fabric over Jensen’s chest, and the heat of his skin made Jensen shiver more than being out in the snow had.
“But now I’m freezing. Wanna help warm me up?” He waggled his eyebrows and gave Ian his best come-hither smile.
“Sorry, mate. Wish I could, but I have an emergency double bypass I need to get to. Rain check, though? I’ll probably need it after this surgery.”
“Sure. Just come find me or give me a call. I’ll be here all night. I’m not even attempting to drive home.”
“All right. You look good in wet scrubs, by the way,” Ian told him, leering for a moment before walking away.
Jensen flushed a little and glanced down to check out the way his scrubs were clinging to him everywhere. Not exactly appropriate hospital attire. It was definitely time to change.
Jensen was on his way to the cafeteria for a cup of much-needed coffee when Ian hurried down the hall toward him, then yanked him into their favorite supply closet. Jensen banged his elbow on a shelf full of gauze packets, but even the momentary pain couldn’t stop the zing of pleasure from racing down his body. It was dark, of course, only a thin strip of light leaking around the cracks of the door, but he didn’t need any light to know Ian had that predatory look in his dark eyes. Jensen grinned, then sucked in a breath as Ian dropped to his knees, graceful and fluid as ever.
“Been thinking about this all day,” Ian murmured, sliding his hands up Jensen’s legs to hook under the waistband of his scrubs.
“Yeah?” he replied, voice a little rough. He could feel Ian’s smirk against his hip a second before he pressed his mouth there, warm and wet.
“Yeah.” He sat back long enough to tug Jensen’s scrubs and boxer briefs down and licked his lips in a way that made Jensen’s half-interested dick snap to full attention.
Not for the first time, Jensen was grateful his job required clothes so easy to remove.
Ian nosed at his hipbone for a moment but didn’t waste much time. They never did when it was like this. Patients were always waiting, or other doctors or nurses needed them to do something, and they’d learned how to get each other off quickly.
After a last bite to the thin skin over his hip, Ian sucked him down in one go. Bucking his hips, Jensen bit his lip to keep his moan in. It was hopeless really. He could never stay quiet with the wet, tight heat of Ian’s mouth around him. He gripped the metal shelf behind him while Ian worked his dick, his head falling back when he felt the tip hit the back of Ian’s throat.
Ian had the filthiest mouth of anyone he’d ever met, whether he was swearing at something on TV or growling dirty things in Jensen’s ear. It was odd, considering how innocent and fresh-faced Ian looked, like he shouldn’t be capable of saying such things. It was what caught Jensen’s attention at first, hearing Ian yell, “Give me my fucking Dr. Pepper, you bloody bastard!” at the vending machine on the second floor. It could also turn Jensen on like nothing else, which at times proved embarrassing and inconvenient while in public. It led them to several hasty visits to bathrooms or any other private place.
And it wasn’t just about what he said but also what he could do with that mouth--the full, bitable bottom lip and quick, agile tongue. Jensen had had plenty of blowjobs in his life, but no one compared to Ian. He did things with his tongue and teeth that Jensen couldn’t even describe. He joked that if cocksucking were an Olympic sport, Ian would definitely take home the gold.
Which he was doing a very thorough job of demonstrating right now. He pulled off so his lips caught on the head and hummed, flattening his tongue along the underside. Jensen pried his hands off the shelf and carded them through Ian’s soft hair. He was getting close, thigh muscles trembling with it and when Ian screwed his lips back down his shaft and swallowed, Jensen came with a shout he muffled against his fist.
Ian licked him clean, then climbed back to his feet and kissed Jensen, sloppy and wet and filthy. After a minute, Jensen slid down Ian’s body to the floor and hitched his scrubs and boxers down just enough to free his dick, thick and hard, already leaking at the tip. He blew him fast, not with as much skill as Ian possessed, but he still came faster than Jensen, and he jacked him through the aftershocks with a smug smile curling his mouth around Ian’s dick.
“Jesus, that was good,” Ian laughed as Jensen stood up and attempted to straighten his clothes. “I really needed that.”
“Me too.” Jensen gave up on his own clothes and reached out to flatten Ian’s hair, which was sticking up everywhere from his hands. It was a hopeless case, though. Ian grinned at him, slow and lazy. And obviously fucked out. Jensen sighed. It wasn’t like everyone didn’t already know, but he liked to be somewhat discreet about it.
It was a little a cliché, a nurse fucking the hot, brilliant, young heart surgeon, and sometimes he felt like he was in a bad episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
“When do you get off?” Jensen asked over his shoulder, moving toward the door.
“About two minutes ago,” Ian said with a lewd smile, but Jensen simply rolled his eyes. “Three more hours, if I’m lucky. You?”
“I still have half my shift, so about seven hours. Dinner tomorrow?”
“Can we make it breakfast the day after? I have the hell shift tomorrow and I’ll need sustenance at the end of it.”
From his, once again dirty, expression, Jensen knew he wasn’t just talking about eggs and bacon and despite just receiving one hell of a blowjob, Jensen’s dick twitched in anticipation. “Sure.” He pushed open the door, not bothering to check if the hallway was empty. It wouldn’t matter anyway.
“Later, mate,” Ian called as he hurried off in the opposite direction.
Jensen was lounging on the couch nursing a beer when he got a text from Ian.
Had a crap day. L Come make me feel better?
Jensen set his beer down and wiped his hands on his thighs before texting back. Be there in 15.
You’re the best. J
Jensen barely made it in the door before Ian was on him, fingers knotted in Jensen’s hair and mouth on his in a fierce kiss. Jensen simultaneously hated and loved when Ian got like this. It meant something bad had happened, but it was also really hot. They tripped and stumbled down the hall toward the bedroom, undressing as they went, then fell on the bed.
Later, Ian lay with his head pillowed on Jensen’s stomach while Jensen scrubbed a hand through Ian’s messy hair. This kind of mood was the only time Ian put up with any kind of after sex cuddling. He usually ducked or rolled away if Jensen tried to touch him like this.
“So, you want to talk about it?” he asked, rubbing a thumb against Ian’s temple. Ian grimaced and turned his head to bury his face against Jensen’s stomach.
“I lost a patient today,” he murmured, sounding tired and defeated. His breath tickled across Jensen’s skin.
“Oh, Ian. I’m sorry.”
“He was young, barely in his 40’s. Has two little kids at home. I know it’s awful no matter what, but it seems worse when there are children involved.”
“It’s a terrible situation, but I’m sure you did your best.”
Ian snorted, but it sounded anything but amused. “You know, as doctors we’re taught we’re basically as powerful as God. And then you lose someone, someone you tried so hard to save, and it smacks you in the face that, no, you are fallible and people die, no matter what you do or how good a surgeon you are.”
“Ian…” Jensen trailed off, because there really wasn’t anything to say that’d take the hurt away. He knew how Ian felt, having gone through it himself many times over the years. It got more bearable but still hurt. The day Jensen became numb to it all was the day he knew he should quit being a nurse.
Ian sighed and rolled over onto his back, one arm flung out over the mattress and the other pressed over his eyes. Jensen squeezed his shoulder, then ran his palm up to cup his neck.
“You gonna be okay?” Jensen asked softly.
“Yeah. Just gonna be sucky for awhile.”
“I know. And I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.”
“Thanks.” Ian flipped over suddenly, landing half on top of Jensen, chin digging into the meat of Jensen’s thigh. “You know what would make me feel better?”
Jensen’s dick stirred a little. Ian’s mouth was awfully close, after all. “It’s probably not what I’m thinking about, is it?”
“Maybe later.” He smirked, then licked his lips. The bastard.
“What do you want then?”
“Ice cream.”
“It’s January. In Ohio. There’s snow on the ground.”
“And?”
Ian stared up at him with that wide-eyed, adorable, aren’t I the cutest thing you’ve ever seen look, and Jensen groaned out loud. One of these days, he was going to learn how to resist that look, but hurting Ian was like kicking a puppy. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Fine,” Jensen conceded as he rolled off the bed and started gathering his clothes. “But you’re paying me back with a blowjob when I get back.”
He grinned. “You’re the best, Ackles.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Jensen hit him in the face with an expertly aimed balled-up sock and smiled at Ian’s short bark of laughter.
When he got back from the store, Jared was at the kitchen table, books spread out everywhere and a pink highlighter clenched between his teeth. He still wasn’t that used to seeing Jared at Ian’s. He’d moved in at Jeff’s suggestion to be close to campus. He’d recently moved back into the area after going to University of Dayton and then teaching in Cincinnati for two years. He wasn’t at home much, at least not at the times Jensen was there, and mostly stayed in his room. Jared was a lot less messy than Ian, however, so the major difference was actually having clean dishes and swept floors.
“Hey,” Jensen said, which Jared echoed back, only muffled through the highlighter. “Ian and I are having Chunky Monkey if you want to join us.” Jensen hefted the grocery bag unnecessarily. There was something about Jared that always unsettled him, left him feeling wrong-footed and awkward.
“Thanks,” Jared answered, spitting out the highlighter. “But I have a paper to finish by 7 a.m., and the damn thing is kicking my ass.”
“I thought you had a degree in English.”
“I do. Doesn’t mean I can just whip out a paper about the effect of steroids on various muscle groups and the brain.”
“Point.”
He thought it was amazing that Jared realized teaching didn’t work for him and went back to school. It must be such a switch to go from an English degree to joining the physical therapy program, but he knew Jared was smart and capable. Jeff had bragged for weeks when Jared first graduated from college summa cum laude. Still, medicine required an analytical brain of a different kind from teaching, and it must be difficult.
Reaching to the right to grab a couple spoons out of the drawer, he turned back to Jared. “Well, good luck. There’ll be extra ice cream if you need a break later.”
“Cool. Thanks.” Jared smiled at him shyly, then went back to his book, highlighter once more clamped between his teeth.
Jensen gathered the ice cream and spoons and headed back to Ian’s room.
Jensen crawled out of bed carefully, but it didn’t matter much; Ian was dead to the world. He still padded quietly out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen. Which turned out to be slightly pointless, since Jared was awake and sitting at the kitchen table. He frowned at a large textbook in front of him, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration.
“Hey,” Jensen said softly and got a grunt in response.
Smiling to himself, he crossed to the fridge and poured a glass of water from the Brita pitcher, then leaned back against the sink and watched Jared mutter to himself. Memorizing vocab terms, from what he could tell. Every time he saw Jared, he seemed to be studying. Jensen wondered if he ever got any sleep and had to repress the urge to go into nurse-mode and outline all the ways that sleep-deprivation fucked with your body. In his experience, most people didn’t appreciate unsolicited medical advice unless it was along the lines of “No, that strange lump isn’t anything bad. Feel free to keep ignoring it.”
Jensen finished his water and set the glass by the sink. Jared continued to mumble, an occasional swear word breaking free. Jensen smiled to himself, glad his own days of studying were long over. Finally, Jared sighed disgustedly and tossed down his pen.
“What are you studying? Anything I could help with?” Jensen asked, sliding into the chair across from him.
“Anatomy, specifically the muscles in the arm and how they interconnect. It’s kicking my ass for some reason. I know how they work together, but I don’t know how they work together, if that makes sense.”
“No, it does.” Anatomy had been one of Jensen’s favorite classes, but it was also tough as hell.
“It’s just--” He paused to rake a hand back through his hair. He’d pushed the sleeves of his shirt up, exposing his forearms. Jensen’s gaze snagged there for some reason, on the dark hair and muscles as Jared dropped his arm back onto the table. “It’s different reading about it in this book and picturing it in my head than actually seeing it in action.”
“Would a living model help?”
“I tried. It’s difficult to see everything on myself, even in a mirror.”
Jensen bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from imagining Jared flexing in the bathroom mirror, possibly still naked from a shower.
“No, I meant me,” he offered, half-regretting it already. “It’s been a long time since I had anatomy, but you can use my arm, if you think it’ll help.”
“Really? That would be awesome! Thanks!”
As Jared flashed him a grateful grin, he felt his heart thump hard against his chest.
Fifteen minutes later, Jensen was starting to believe he should’ve thought this through a little more. Jared had pulled his chair close. Jensen could feel the heat of his body, the ghost of his breath causing the hairs on his arm to stand on end. Jared pushed his thumbs gently into various points on Jensen’s arm, head ducked low so Jensen could see the graceful bend of his neck, hair curling softly at his nape. It was strangely intimate, with only the kitchen light on and neither of them talking, except when Jared murmured the name of a particular muscular group. Jensen’s breath seemed harsh and loud in the silence, but it was probably just his imagination. He hoped so anyway.
Jared’s large, warm hands slowly skated up his bare arm, fingertips resting just under the edge of his sleeve, curled slightly around his bicep. The hair on Jensen’s arm stood on end, and he shifted in his seat, suddenly and stupidly turned on by that simple touch.
Jared’s touch was sure, firm in all the right places but still gentle. He’d be a good physical therapist someday, Jensen thought. It also made him think of what else Jared’s hands were capable of.
“Can you flex for me?” he asked suddenly, and Jensen startled a bit.
Swallowing, he forced a grin and joked, “What, like a bodybuilder?”
Jared’s smile was slow, the corners of that sweet mouth barely curved upward. “No, tighten the muscle, then slowly relax it. I’m gonna move your arm some to get a feel for your range of motion.”
“Sure.”
Jared glanced up at him, then quickly dropped his eyes back to Jensen’s arm.
Why did Jensen suddenly feel completely naked, sitting there in a t-shirt and a thin pair of Ian’s sleep pants?
Jared scooted even closer, their chairs bumping, and Jensen barely stopped himself from moving back. Jared seemed intent on his task, concentrating on manipulating Jensen’s arm into various positions, but his cheeks and the tips of his ears were bright red and he kept sneaking glances of Jensen from under his dark lashes, leading him to surmise that Jared felt the awkward intimacy as much as he did. It was ridiculous. They were grown men, and Jared was treating him very clinically--no light caresses or lingering touches, much as Jensen secretly wished it. There was no reason for this reaction, for Jensen to want to lean forward and catch Jared’s amazing mouth in a kiss, slow and thorough.
When Jared finally sat back and said, “I think I’ve got it now. Thanks,” Jensen nearly fled the kitchen in relief. Instead, he smiled and replied, “Cool. Glad I could help.”
“It helped a lot. Thank you.”
“Anytime,” he said automatically, then stood up and hurried out of the kitchen before Jared could say anything else.
Back in bed again, Ian’s soft and uncomplicated presence soothed Jensen enough for him to slip back to sleep, though it took awhile.
Jensen stood at the desk finishing a chart. It was only a few hours into a 12-hour shift-- if he was lucky--and he’d already been yelled at by two family members and thrown up on once, which necessitated a fresh pair of scrubs. There was a very good reason he kept a few extra sets of scrubs in his locker.
Jensen handed over the chart but didn’t move, enjoying the brief respite from cranky patients and bodily fluids. He heard familiar shuffling footsteps a minute before Ian stopped beside him and leaned his forehead against the back of Jensen’s shoulder. Jensen glanced back at him and winced in sympathy. He looked exhausted, pale with dark circles smudging his eyes, hair sticking up everywhere from restless fingers. He had his eyes closed and rested most of his weight on Jensen.
“You look like shit,” Jensen told him instead of cooing and trying to feed him. Ian had this annoying habit of turning him into a mother hen, but he seemed to have that effect on everyone.
“I feel like shite,” he answered, voice scratchy and raw. He shifted closer to Jensen, and he surreptitiously laid a hand on Ian’s side.
“How long have you been on?”
“Yesterday sometime. Feels like a week.”
“You look absolutely exhausted.”
“Yeah.”
“When do you get off?”
“If I weren’t so shattered, I’d turn that into a come on, but I can’t even think about getting it up right now.”
Jensen laughed, then moved to the side a little to better see Ian. “You gonna be okay? How much longer do you have?”
“I’ll be fine. I just have rounds and then I’m going home to sleep for a year.”
“Make sure you do sleep.”
“Yes, mum.” He smirked, but it lost its impact when his eyes were still closed and he couldn’t stand upright.
“I take it you’re skipping Jeff’s thing tonight?” He opened his eyes to stare blankly at Jensen. “The birthday party he’s throwing for himself?”
“Oh. Yeah. Can you tell him I’m sorry? There’s no way I’m staying coherent enough for that.”
“Sure. Want to meet up later this weekend?”
He nodded, then finally pushed himself up straight and away from Jensen. “Gimme a call on Sunday. I might be awake by then.”
Laughing, Jensen shook his head as he watched Ian slowly walk away. After seeing how beat Ian was, Jensen didn’t feel as bad about his own day.
“Mr. Austin needs blood drawn again,” Margarite told him, grinning evilly.
So much for the break.
Jensen glared at Margarite. “Do I have to?” he whined, and she laughed at him.
“I’m going on break, and he asked for you specifically since you were so wonderful with him last time.”
Sighing in defeat, Jensen repeated to himself that he loved his job. “All right. Give me his chart.”
Margarite handed it over with a too-bright smile. On the front, standing out clearly in red ink, were the letters HNCLABWBD, which was their code for hates needles, cries like a baby when blood drawn. He will definitely need a night out after dealing with Mr. Austin.
Next
Jensen stood by the nurse’s station dropping off a chart when Ian walked up. He was looking particularly disheveled today, which meant he’d had a surgery earlier. He flashed Jensen a grin, dark brown eyes lit up, indicating he must’ve snagged a nap not too long ago.
“Hi,” he said, bumping his shoulder against Jensen’s.
Jensen smiled, perking up. Ian had that effect on him. Across the desk, Margarite gave him a knowing look, biting her lip to contain her smirk.
“Dr. Kavanaugh,” Jensen replied and grinned, arching an eyebrow. “What are you doing up on Orthopedics? Won’t they miss you downstairs?”
“They can get along without me for a few minutes. Needed a break from a demanding patient, so I thought I’d come bother you.”
“Lucky me.” Usually he was, since it involved him getting laid, but he was too busy today to pop into their favorite supply closet. To prove the point, Margarite smacked a stack of charts down in front of him. Jensen barely refrained from glaring at his boss. Turning to Ian with an apologetic frown, he said, “Maybe another time?”
“Sure.”
“When are you done? Want to grab a beer later?” he asked, and Ian nodded.
“I have rounds and then I’ll be done. Say in two hours?”
“Mind if I bring Chad and Padalecki?” It’d been way too long since they’d all gotten together for a beer. Chad was working overtime--Jensen wasn’t supposed to know he was saving up to buy a ring for Kenzie--and Ian always seemed especially busy lately.
“Course not. I gotta go. Later, mate.” Ian squeezed his shoulder, then hurried down the hall. Doctors never leisurely walked anywhere. It made Jensen tired just watching them sometimes.
Once Jensen got through the pile of charts and checked on a few patients, he talked to Chad, then tracked down Jeff up on labor and delivery. Jeff was on-call and couldn’t drink but decided to come anyway, and Chad nodded eagerly.
“Shit, I could use a beer and some bar peanuts. But I can’t stay late. Kenzie has something planned.”
“You are so whipped,” Jensen laughed.
“Yep,” he replied cheerfully.
Chad’s shift ended earlier than his, but he hung around for Jensen so they could walk the couple of blocks to Brady’s Leap together. It always reminded him of the bar on Cheers, more in atmosphere than looks. It was a favorite place for the hospital staff, so the owner and bartenders all knew them. It was small, only a handful of booths and tables, half a dozen stools at the bar, a pool table, and a couple dart boards squeezed between two windows high up on the wall. It was dimly lit and usually crowded with doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff, mostly looking haggard and dead on their feet. Jensen loved it.
Jeff stuck to pop, and the rest of them ended up not really drinking much either, since Chad had to get home to Kenzie and Jensen and Ian still had to drive home afterward. It was more about the company--and incredible cheese fries--for Jensen anyway. These guys were his best friends, and they could just be sitting around doing nothing special and Jensen’d be happy. Beer was always a nice addition, though.
Back when he graduated from nursing school and started at Falls Memorial, one of the premier hospitals in Northeast Ohio, he’d been unaccountably nervous. He was used to being on his own and starting new things after going to Virginia for school, but this was his first “real” job, and he wasn’t friends with anyone back home anymore.
He met Jeff on the first day. He was loud and funny and serious about his job. The next shift he met Chad, who was a study in contrasts. They both easily slotted into Jensen’s life, and he stopped worrying so much about everything. And then came Ian, and somehow--Jensen was still a little fuzzy on the details of that night--he managed to fill in a few of the places Jeff and Chad couldn’t.
“Hey.” Ian bumped his shoulder against Jensen’s and grinned. “No deep thoughts at Brady’s. You know the rules.”
Jensen smiled back, ducking his head to glance at Ian out of the corner of his eye. His nearly-black hair was as messy and tangled as always from Ian running his hands through it too much, and Jensen reached over to comb his fingers through the worst of it. Ian rolled his eyes, but Jensen didn’t stop. He knew how much Ian liked it.
“So, what had you looking all pensive?”
“Nothing. Just remembering what my life was like before you guys.”
“What, empty and boring?” Chad answered, flopping into the booth across from them.
“Pathetic and devoid of fun?” Jeff said. “Sucky and miserable?”
“Sad and lonely?” Ian added with that cheeky grin Jensen secretly loved more than he’d ever admit.
“All right, all right! I get it,” Jensen conceded, throwing his hands up, which he then turned into a smack to the back of Ian’s head. Ian just kept grinning. “My life was awful until I met all of you.”
“Damn straight.” Chad saluted him with his beer, then drained the bottle in one go. “Okay, guys. I’ve gotta get home to my girl. Try not to cry too hard at my absence.”
He and Ian both rolled their eyes and waved goodbye as Chad slid out of the booth.
“Pool? I’ll play you for the next round?” Jensen asked, raising an eyebrow.
Ian’s smile grew gleeful and downright wicked, and Jensen couldn’t believe he forgot that he never beat Ian at pool.
“You’re on, mate!” he replied happily and practically skipped over to the pool table.
Jensen groaned quietly and followed him, already knowing he’d owe Ian a beer.
After he wiped the table with Jensen, Ian played Jeff while Jensen watched, but they got stuck in a laughing fit over something random and stupid that Jeff said. They mostly missed their shots, shoulders shaking as they tried to hold in the laughter, and gave up after the second time Jeff accidentally bounced the cue ball onto the floor.
“All right, that’s it,” Jeff said and tossed down his pool cue, throwing up his hands. “I’m gonna head back to the hospital and crash for a bit. I have a 7 a.m. C-section and rounds to prep for and--”
“Blah, blah, blah. I’m so important because I’m a doctor,” Jensen interrupted with an eye roll.
“More important than you at least.” Jeff wrapped him in a half-hearted headlock as they made their way back to the table. He loved to give Jeff a hard time, but it was definitely mutual.
Jensen grabbed his coat off the back of the chair and stretched his arms over his head before shrugging into it. Ian smiled at him while he slipped into his own too-thin jacket. Jensen frowned at him a little, a look Ian easily deflected with a cheeky grin.
“Want to come over?” Ian asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.
Jensen ignored Jeff’s smirk. He was used to it, since they never exactly tried to hide the fact that they occasionally hooked up. He was pretty sure the entire hospital knew.
“I have to go to work at 5 a.m.”
He shrugged, then stepped closer to Jensen, reaching out to snag a finger in his belt loop, knuckles brushing lightly against Jensen’s stomach in a way he knew drove Jensen mad. Ian always did fight dirty.
“You don’t have to stay all night, Jensen. Let’s be honest here, it probably won’t last long, considering how exhausted I am.” He grinned, brushing his fingers against Jensen’s hip and leaning in till his breath fanned hot over Jensen’s cheek.
Devious Irish bastard.
“All right,” Jensen said, telling himself he was agreeing because it’d been awhile since he got laid.
“Brilliant.” He smiled, slow and sexy, and heat settled low in Jensen’s belly.
He turned back to Jeff for a quick goodbye, then hurried out of Brady’s, Ian close behind him. He followed Ian’s Honda through the dark, mostly deserted roads to Ian’s apartment. It was a quick drive; most of the staff lived within an easy 15 minutes of the hospital in case of emergencies. There were two other doctors and a handful of nurses in Ian’s building alone.
Jensen crowded close to Ian while he unlocked the door to his apartment, pressing along his back and rubbing his hands over Ian’s flat stomach. Ian elbowed him playfully and grumbled about Jensen being a terrible distraction, but he still leaned into the touch when Jensen kissed the back of his neck. He got the door open eventually and when they were finally inside, Jensen promptly tripped on a pile of shoes.
“Shh,” Ian laughed quietly. “Don’t wake Jared.”
Jensen ignored him in favor of tugging him close and sucking on his full bottom lip. Ian let out a breathy gasp, hands coming up to clutch at Jensen’s hair and opened his mouth to deepen the kiss. Jensen licked his way inside, across Ian’s teeth and against the roof of his mouth. Ian was always an enthusiastic kisser. It was how this thing between them started, with slightly drunken, heated kissing at one of Jeff’s parties. That night had ended with the most incredible blowjob of Jensen’s life, courtesy of Ian’s wet, filthy mouth.
They stood in the living room for several minutes, Ian’s back against the wall by the door, as Ian ramped Jensen’s arousal up with just his mouth and a thigh pressed tight between Jensen’s legs. Jensen kissed a path down Ian’s neck, paying particular attention to the spot below his Adam’s apple and the bumps of his collarbone.
His breath hitched and he ground out, “Shite, Jensen. Bedroom now.”
Ian’s soft Irish brogue always deepened when he was drunk or horny, and all it did was turn Jensen on even more.
They stumbled their way down the hallway to Ian’s room, hands never leaving bare skin. Once inside, he stripped Ian, then quickly shed his own clothes. Smirking over his shoulder, Ian spread out facedown on the bed. Head turned into the pillow, he closed his eyes, the long, dark smudge of his eyelashes creating shadows on his cheeks.
Jensen knelt beside him, leaning close to suck a mark into the dip at the small of his back. Ian twisted under him, making impatient and needy noises, as he licked a stripe down his ass. He worked Ian open with his mouth and his fingers until Ian was writhing urgently and swearing at him, pleas and curses and low-pitched moans of Jensen’s name.
Groping around in the nightstand one-handed, he pulled out a condom and tore open the wrapper with his teeth. He replaced his fingers with his dick, which was reaching painfully hard levels, and easily set into a rhythm, fucking Ian hard if a little sloppy. Ian didn’t seem to mind, considering the way he rutted against the mattress and rolled his hips back into Jensen’s thrusts. Ian came first, Jensen following not far behind.
When his breathing calmed down and he could move again, Jensen rolled off Ian, then tossed the condom, grinning at Ian’s mumbled complaint of lying in the wet spot. Jensen poked him until he flopped over, then threw a shirt at him to clean up. As soon as Ian dropped the shirt back onto the floor, he passed out from exhaustion and post-sex haze. Jensen pulled the covers up over them and fell asleep to the sound of Ian’s even breathing.
Jensen woke up several hours later, grateful he’d remembered to set the alarm on his phone earlier in the day. He crawled over Ian to get out of bed. It was still dark out, but he didn’t turn on any lights, not wanting to wake up Ian. He was still getting dressed as he went down the hall to the living room, tugging on his socks and shoes with his pants still half-unzipped and unbuttoned. He was grabbing his keys from the table by the door when a voice behind him made him jump.
“Um, hello,” someone said timidly, and Jensen would never admit how hard his heart beat at the sudden voice.
“Shit,” Jensen gasped quietly and resisted the urge to press a hand to his chest. He turned around to face Jared, Ian’s new roommate, remembering at the last second to do up his pants. He wasn’t used to Jared being around yet, since he just moved in a couple weeks ago at the beginning of the semester and it had been awhile since he spent the night there.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“S’alright. What are you doing out here in the dark?”
“Fell asleep on the couch.” Jared shrugged, smiling sheepishly.
He wondered if Jared had been out here earlier when they got home and fought to control his blush.
Now that he looked more closely, Jared did have lines on his cheeks from the weave on the couch fabric, and his hair was sticking up in an impressive bird’s nest on one side. He’d met Jared several years ago when he first started working at Falls Memorial through Jeff but hadn’t seen him in quite awhile, close to two years maybe. At the time, he was a baby-faced recent college graduate. Jensen hadn’t paid much attention to him--the thing with Ian had just started, and he was more interested in whether or not he’d get laid that night. But now he couldn’t help noticing how much Jared had grown up. Or how well he’d grown up.
He was taller, more muscular, though still lanky. His shoulders had broadened and were stretching the fabric of his long-sleeved t-shirt in a way that Jensen definitely shouldn’t notice. There was a family resemblance to Jeff, but Jeff was taller, skinnier, and not as well muscled. Jared’s face had filled out, lost some of the sharp angles. He looked more like a man now instead of the kid Jensen remembered. He did a quick calculation and figured out Jared was around 24. Still young, so young, and Jensen really needed to stop staring at the hint of dimples he could see dipping in Jared’s cheeks and go to work.
“So, uh, I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you around?” Jensen said, edging toward the door.
“Oh, yeah. I’ll try not to scare you next time you’re sneaking out of Ian’s room,” Jared replied, then blushed bright red. Jensen could see it even in the dark.
Laughing awkwardly, Jensen reached for the doorknob. “Right.”
“Have a good day,” Jared told him, ducking his head shyly.
Jensen tossed him a quick goodbye and fled the apartment, mentally face-palming. What a great impression to make on Ian’s new roommate.
Jensen lingered in the doorway, arms crossed tightly over his chest for warmth and face tilted up to the sky, watching as the fat snowflakes lazily fell. It’d be pretty if it weren’t so fucking cold outside. The moon and stars were out, adding to the wan glow of the lone streetlight in this back parking lot. The snowflakes seemed to glitter as they fell, turning the handful of cars out there into sparkling, misshapen lumps.
It’d been coming down for over five hours now, causing road accidents all over the area and flooding their ER. They’d pulled a couple nurses from Jensen’s floor to help cope with the backlog of patients, which left him and the others scrambling to deal with the sudden deficit. This was his first break in he didn’t want to think about how long, but he couldn’t go far in case something happened, so he simply hovered in the doorway and watched the people crazy enough to be out in this weather slip-slide down the sidewalk.
“Shit hasn’t stopped, huh?” Chad grumbled, coming up beside him.
“Nope,” Jensen answered bitterly. Looked like he might be sleeping at the hospital tonight. There was no way he could drive home in this mess. Luckily they had beds just for situations like this. They weren’t necessarily the most comfortable, but they did the job when you were too tired to drive home or needed to be back in a short time.
“Two days ago it was 60 degrees out,” he complained, pouting.
Jensen smirked. “Welcome to Ohio.”
“Lived here my whole life. Still sucks.”
“Hmm.” Jensen shrugged. He’d missed Ohio when he was away at college, but he certainly hadn’t missed the weather. There was something about the snow and cold here that was different to other places.
“What are we staring at, boys?” Margarite asked, suddenly popping up behind them. Jensen jumped, and Chad swore, pressing a hand to his chest.
“Jesus, woman! Don’t do that!” Chad exclaimed, and Margarite laughed at him.
“Sorry!” She hardly sounded sorry, with the barely held back giggles about to burst free. “But, really, what’s out here?”
“Snow and more snow,” Jensen replied glumly.
Margarite made a disgruntled noise and blew her bangs out of her eyes. Jensen didn’t know why he did it--maybe because it’d been a long, tiring day or because he loved to hear Chad sputter angrily and to see Margarite’s bitch face. Whatever the reason, he found himself bending down and gathering snow into his hands before he even thought it through. He packed it into a loose ball and smashed it into Chad’s chest, then immediately dropped down for more to do the same with Margarite while Chad was still cursing. Margarite’s eyes widened a second before the snow broke against her chest, and Jensen couldn’t help laughing gleefully at her surprised expression.
“Son of a bitch!” she shouted, wiping snow off with the back of her hand.
“You’re going down, Ackles!” Chad growled and lunged for him.
Laughing, Jensen danced away from him, out toward the parking lot, and scooped up a double handful of snow.
“Bring it,” he taunted and threw one of his snowballs. It splatted against Chad’s neck, which earned him a spectacular glare.
There was a long moment of peace and then an all-out battle broke out. It started with Chad and Margarite against him but quickly devolved into everyone for themselves. Jensen slid over the increasingly dirty snow, barely dodging a double-barreled assault from Margarite, then promptly got hit from behind by one of the nurses from ICU. The three of them had made so much noise that it attracted the attention of anyone passing by the door, and it didn’t take long for other people to join the fray--doctors, nurses, even some people from admin and billing.
Shrieks and laughter filled the air, sounding remarkably like a school playground. Chad would fervently deny it, but Jensen had caught him honest-to-god giggling. And also letting out a ridiculous battle cry before throwing every snowball. It was loud and complete chaos, but only in the best way.
Jensen’s hands and face were red from the cold and snow, he was pretty much soaking wet from head to toe, he was losing feeling in his hands and feet, and he hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.
They were forced to call a truce at the news of several people from a two-car pileup arriving in the ER, causing a handful of the combatants to scatter back inside. Jensen followed Chad and Margarite back upstairs, the icy cold hitting him now that he was back in the heated building. His teeth chattered, his hands shaking slightly.
“Shit, man, even my underwear is wet,” Chad complained, and the couple in the elevator with them gave them strange looks.
“S’why I always have extra clothes with me,” Jensen said, and Chad huffed at him.
The couple got off on the floor below theirs, sending them another strange look before exiting. Jensen guessed they did look a bit odd--scrubs soaking wet, skin burned red from the cold. Margarite’s hair was a bedraggled mess, coming out of the ponytail and flopping heavily into her face. People must’ve thought they were crazy.
When they got off the elevator, Jensen almost ran right into Ian.
“Hey,” Jensen said, smiling.
“What in the bloody hell happened to you?” Ian asked, raking his eyes over Jensen from head to toe, and that gaze did more to heat Jensen up than anything else could.
“Snowball fight,” Chad replied, then hurried down the hall with Margarite toward their locker rooms.
Ian arched an eyebrow in disbelief. “Well, I’m sorry I missed that.”
“It was awesome!” Jensen told him.
“Looks like it.” Ian fingered the wet fabric over Jensen’s chest, and the heat of his skin made Jensen shiver more than being out in the snow had.
“But now I’m freezing. Wanna help warm me up?” He waggled his eyebrows and gave Ian his best come-hither smile.
“Sorry, mate. Wish I could, but I have an emergency double bypass I need to get to. Rain check, though? I’ll probably need it after this surgery.”
“Sure. Just come find me or give me a call. I’ll be here all night. I’m not even attempting to drive home.”
“All right. You look good in wet scrubs, by the way,” Ian told him, leering for a moment before walking away.
Jensen flushed a little and glanced down to check out the way his scrubs were clinging to him everywhere. Not exactly appropriate hospital attire. It was definitely time to change.
Jensen was on his way to the cafeteria for a cup of much-needed coffee when Ian hurried down the hall toward him, then yanked him into their favorite supply closet. Jensen banged his elbow on a shelf full of gauze packets, but even the momentary pain couldn’t stop the zing of pleasure from racing down his body. It was dark, of course, only a thin strip of light leaking around the cracks of the door, but he didn’t need any light to know Ian had that predatory look in his dark eyes. Jensen grinned, then sucked in a breath as Ian dropped to his knees, graceful and fluid as ever.
“Been thinking about this all day,” Ian murmured, sliding his hands up Jensen’s legs to hook under the waistband of his scrubs.
“Yeah?” he replied, voice a little rough. He could feel Ian’s smirk against his hip a second before he pressed his mouth there, warm and wet.
“Yeah.” He sat back long enough to tug Jensen’s scrubs and boxer briefs down and licked his lips in a way that made Jensen’s half-interested dick snap to full attention.
Not for the first time, Jensen was grateful his job required clothes so easy to remove.
Ian nosed at his hipbone for a moment but didn’t waste much time. They never did when it was like this. Patients were always waiting, or other doctors or nurses needed them to do something, and they’d learned how to get each other off quickly.
After a last bite to the thin skin over his hip, Ian sucked him down in one go. Bucking his hips, Jensen bit his lip to keep his moan in. It was hopeless really. He could never stay quiet with the wet, tight heat of Ian’s mouth around him. He gripped the metal shelf behind him while Ian worked his dick, his head falling back when he felt the tip hit the back of Ian’s throat.
Ian had the filthiest mouth of anyone he’d ever met, whether he was swearing at something on TV or growling dirty things in Jensen’s ear. It was odd, considering how innocent and fresh-faced Ian looked, like he shouldn’t be capable of saying such things. It was what caught Jensen’s attention at first, hearing Ian yell, “Give me my fucking Dr. Pepper, you bloody bastard!” at the vending machine on the second floor. It could also turn Jensen on like nothing else, which at times proved embarrassing and inconvenient while in public. It led them to several hasty visits to bathrooms or any other private place.
And it wasn’t just about what he said but also what he could do with that mouth--the full, bitable bottom lip and quick, agile tongue. Jensen had had plenty of blowjobs in his life, but no one compared to Ian. He did things with his tongue and teeth that Jensen couldn’t even describe. He joked that if cocksucking were an Olympic sport, Ian would definitely take home the gold.
Which he was doing a very thorough job of demonstrating right now. He pulled off so his lips caught on the head and hummed, flattening his tongue along the underside. Jensen pried his hands off the shelf and carded them through Ian’s soft hair. He was getting close, thigh muscles trembling with it and when Ian screwed his lips back down his shaft and swallowed, Jensen came with a shout he muffled against his fist.
Ian licked him clean, then climbed back to his feet and kissed Jensen, sloppy and wet and filthy. After a minute, Jensen slid down Ian’s body to the floor and hitched his scrubs and boxers down just enough to free his dick, thick and hard, already leaking at the tip. He blew him fast, not with as much skill as Ian possessed, but he still came faster than Jensen, and he jacked him through the aftershocks with a smug smile curling his mouth around Ian’s dick.
“Jesus, that was good,” Ian laughed as Jensen stood up and attempted to straighten his clothes. “I really needed that.”
“Me too.” Jensen gave up on his own clothes and reached out to flatten Ian’s hair, which was sticking up everywhere from his hands. It was a hopeless case, though. Ian grinned at him, slow and lazy. And obviously fucked out. Jensen sighed. It wasn’t like everyone didn’t already know, but he liked to be somewhat discreet about it.
It was a little a cliché, a nurse fucking the hot, brilliant, young heart surgeon, and sometimes he felt like he was in a bad episode of Grey’s Anatomy.
“When do you get off?” Jensen asked over his shoulder, moving toward the door.
“About two minutes ago,” Ian said with a lewd smile, but Jensen simply rolled his eyes. “Three more hours, if I’m lucky. You?”
“I still have half my shift, so about seven hours. Dinner tomorrow?”
“Can we make it breakfast the day after? I have the hell shift tomorrow and I’ll need sustenance at the end of it.”
From his, once again dirty, expression, Jensen knew he wasn’t just talking about eggs and bacon and despite just receiving one hell of a blowjob, Jensen’s dick twitched in anticipation. “Sure.” He pushed open the door, not bothering to check if the hallway was empty. It wouldn’t matter anyway.
“Later, mate,” Ian called as he hurried off in the opposite direction.
Jensen was lounging on the couch nursing a beer when he got a text from Ian.
Had a crap day. L Come make me feel better?
Jensen set his beer down and wiped his hands on his thighs before texting back. Be there in 15.
You’re the best. J
Jensen barely made it in the door before Ian was on him, fingers knotted in Jensen’s hair and mouth on his in a fierce kiss. Jensen simultaneously hated and loved when Ian got like this. It meant something bad had happened, but it was also really hot. They tripped and stumbled down the hall toward the bedroom, undressing as they went, then fell on the bed.
Later, Ian lay with his head pillowed on Jensen’s stomach while Jensen scrubbed a hand through Ian’s messy hair. This kind of mood was the only time Ian put up with any kind of after sex cuddling. He usually ducked or rolled away if Jensen tried to touch him like this.
“So, you want to talk about it?” he asked, rubbing a thumb against Ian’s temple. Ian grimaced and turned his head to bury his face against Jensen’s stomach.
“I lost a patient today,” he murmured, sounding tired and defeated. His breath tickled across Jensen’s skin.
“Oh, Ian. I’m sorry.”
“He was young, barely in his 40’s. Has two little kids at home. I know it’s awful no matter what, but it seems worse when there are children involved.”
“It’s a terrible situation, but I’m sure you did your best.”
Ian snorted, but it sounded anything but amused. “You know, as doctors we’re taught we’re basically as powerful as God. And then you lose someone, someone you tried so hard to save, and it smacks you in the face that, no, you are fallible and people die, no matter what you do or how good a surgeon you are.”
“Ian…” Jensen trailed off, because there really wasn’t anything to say that’d take the hurt away. He knew how Ian felt, having gone through it himself many times over the years. It got more bearable but still hurt. The day Jensen became numb to it all was the day he knew he should quit being a nurse.
Ian sighed and rolled over onto his back, one arm flung out over the mattress and the other pressed over his eyes. Jensen squeezed his shoulder, then ran his palm up to cup his neck.
“You gonna be okay?” Jensen asked softly.
“Yeah. Just gonna be sucky for awhile.”
“I know. And I’m sorry, for what it’s worth.”
“Thanks.” Ian flipped over suddenly, landing half on top of Jensen, chin digging into the meat of Jensen’s thigh. “You know what would make me feel better?”
Jensen’s dick stirred a little. Ian’s mouth was awfully close, after all. “It’s probably not what I’m thinking about, is it?”
“Maybe later.” He smirked, then licked his lips. The bastard.
“What do you want then?”
“Ice cream.”
“It’s January. In Ohio. There’s snow on the ground.”
“And?”
Ian stared up at him with that wide-eyed, adorable, aren’t I the cutest thing you’ve ever seen look, and Jensen groaned out loud. One of these days, he was going to learn how to resist that look, but hurting Ian was like kicking a puppy. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Fine,” Jensen conceded as he rolled off the bed and started gathering his clothes. “But you’re paying me back with a blowjob when I get back.”
He grinned. “You’re the best, Ackles.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
Jensen hit him in the face with an expertly aimed balled-up sock and smiled at Ian’s short bark of laughter.
When he got back from the store, Jared was at the kitchen table, books spread out everywhere and a pink highlighter clenched between his teeth. He still wasn’t that used to seeing Jared at Ian’s. He’d moved in at Jeff’s suggestion to be close to campus. He’d recently moved back into the area after going to University of Dayton and then teaching in Cincinnati for two years. He wasn’t at home much, at least not at the times Jensen was there, and mostly stayed in his room. Jared was a lot less messy than Ian, however, so the major difference was actually having clean dishes and swept floors.
“Hey,” Jensen said, which Jared echoed back, only muffled through the highlighter. “Ian and I are having Chunky Monkey if you want to join us.” Jensen hefted the grocery bag unnecessarily. There was something about Jared that always unsettled him, left him feeling wrong-footed and awkward.
“Thanks,” Jared answered, spitting out the highlighter. “But I have a paper to finish by 7 a.m., and the damn thing is kicking my ass.”
“I thought you had a degree in English.”
“I do. Doesn’t mean I can just whip out a paper about the effect of steroids on various muscle groups and the brain.”
“Point.”
He thought it was amazing that Jared realized teaching didn’t work for him and went back to school. It must be such a switch to go from an English degree to joining the physical therapy program, but he knew Jared was smart and capable. Jeff had bragged for weeks when Jared first graduated from college summa cum laude. Still, medicine required an analytical brain of a different kind from teaching, and it must be difficult.
Reaching to the right to grab a couple spoons out of the drawer, he turned back to Jared. “Well, good luck. There’ll be extra ice cream if you need a break later.”
“Cool. Thanks.” Jared smiled at him shyly, then went back to his book, highlighter once more clamped between his teeth.
Jensen gathered the ice cream and spoons and headed back to Ian’s room.
Jensen crawled out of bed carefully, but it didn’t matter much; Ian was dead to the world. He still padded quietly out of the room and down the hall to the kitchen. Which turned out to be slightly pointless, since Jared was awake and sitting at the kitchen table. He frowned at a large textbook in front of him, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration.
“Hey,” Jensen said softly and got a grunt in response.
Smiling to himself, he crossed to the fridge and poured a glass of water from the Brita pitcher, then leaned back against the sink and watched Jared mutter to himself. Memorizing vocab terms, from what he could tell. Every time he saw Jared, he seemed to be studying. Jensen wondered if he ever got any sleep and had to repress the urge to go into nurse-mode and outline all the ways that sleep-deprivation fucked with your body. In his experience, most people didn’t appreciate unsolicited medical advice unless it was along the lines of “No, that strange lump isn’t anything bad. Feel free to keep ignoring it.”
Jensen finished his water and set the glass by the sink. Jared continued to mumble, an occasional swear word breaking free. Jensen smiled to himself, glad his own days of studying were long over. Finally, Jared sighed disgustedly and tossed down his pen.
“What are you studying? Anything I could help with?” Jensen asked, sliding into the chair across from him.
“Anatomy, specifically the muscles in the arm and how they interconnect. It’s kicking my ass for some reason. I know how they work together, but I don’t know how they work together, if that makes sense.”
“No, it does.” Anatomy had been one of Jensen’s favorite classes, but it was also tough as hell.
“It’s just--” He paused to rake a hand back through his hair. He’d pushed the sleeves of his shirt up, exposing his forearms. Jensen’s gaze snagged there for some reason, on the dark hair and muscles as Jared dropped his arm back onto the table. “It’s different reading about it in this book and picturing it in my head than actually seeing it in action.”
“Would a living model help?”
“I tried. It’s difficult to see everything on myself, even in a mirror.”
Jensen bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from imagining Jared flexing in the bathroom mirror, possibly still naked from a shower.
“No, I meant me,” he offered, half-regretting it already. “It’s been a long time since I had anatomy, but you can use my arm, if you think it’ll help.”
“Really? That would be awesome! Thanks!”
As Jared flashed him a grateful grin, he felt his heart thump hard against his chest.
Fifteen minutes later, Jensen was starting to believe he should’ve thought this through a little more. Jared had pulled his chair close. Jensen could feel the heat of his body, the ghost of his breath causing the hairs on his arm to stand on end. Jared pushed his thumbs gently into various points on Jensen’s arm, head ducked low so Jensen could see the graceful bend of his neck, hair curling softly at his nape. It was strangely intimate, with only the kitchen light on and neither of them talking, except when Jared murmured the name of a particular muscular group. Jensen’s breath seemed harsh and loud in the silence, but it was probably just his imagination. He hoped so anyway.
Jared’s large, warm hands slowly skated up his bare arm, fingertips resting just under the edge of his sleeve, curled slightly around his bicep. The hair on Jensen’s arm stood on end, and he shifted in his seat, suddenly and stupidly turned on by that simple touch.
Jared’s touch was sure, firm in all the right places but still gentle. He’d be a good physical therapist someday, Jensen thought. It also made him think of what else Jared’s hands were capable of.
“Can you flex for me?” he asked suddenly, and Jensen startled a bit.
Swallowing, he forced a grin and joked, “What, like a bodybuilder?”
Jared’s smile was slow, the corners of that sweet mouth barely curved upward. “No, tighten the muscle, then slowly relax it. I’m gonna move your arm some to get a feel for your range of motion.”
“Sure.”
Jared glanced up at him, then quickly dropped his eyes back to Jensen’s arm.
Why did Jensen suddenly feel completely naked, sitting there in a t-shirt and a thin pair of Ian’s sleep pants?
Jared scooted even closer, their chairs bumping, and Jensen barely stopped himself from moving back. Jared seemed intent on his task, concentrating on manipulating Jensen’s arm into various positions, but his cheeks and the tips of his ears were bright red and he kept sneaking glances of Jensen from under his dark lashes, leading him to surmise that Jared felt the awkward intimacy as much as he did. It was ridiculous. They were grown men, and Jared was treating him very clinically--no light caresses or lingering touches, much as Jensen secretly wished it. There was no reason for this reaction, for Jensen to want to lean forward and catch Jared’s amazing mouth in a kiss, slow and thorough.
When Jared finally sat back and said, “I think I’ve got it now. Thanks,” Jensen nearly fled the kitchen in relief. Instead, he smiled and replied, “Cool. Glad I could help.”
“It helped a lot. Thank you.”
“Anytime,” he said automatically, then stood up and hurried out of the kitchen before Jared could say anything else.
Back in bed again, Ian’s soft and uncomplicated presence soothed Jensen enough for him to slip back to sleep, though it took awhile.
Jensen stood at the desk finishing a chart. It was only a few hours into a 12-hour shift-- if he was lucky--and he’d already been yelled at by two family members and thrown up on once, which necessitated a fresh pair of scrubs. There was a very good reason he kept a few extra sets of scrubs in his locker.
Jensen handed over the chart but didn’t move, enjoying the brief respite from cranky patients and bodily fluids. He heard familiar shuffling footsteps a minute before Ian stopped beside him and leaned his forehead against the back of Jensen’s shoulder. Jensen glanced back at him and winced in sympathy. He looked exhausted, pale with dark circles smudging his eyes, hair sticking up everywhere from restless fingers. He had his eyes closed and rested most of his weight on Jensen.
“You look like shit,” Jensen told him instead of cooing and trying to feed him. Ian had this annoying habit of turning him into a mother hen, but he seemed to have that effect on everyone.
“I feel like shite,” he answered, voice scratchy and raw. He shifted closer to Jensen, and he surreptitiously laid a hand on Ian’s side.
“How long have you been on?”
“Yesterday sometime. Feels like a week.”
“You look absolutely exhausted.”
“Yeah.”
“When do you get off?”
“If I weren’t so shattered, I’d turn that into a come on, but I can’t even think about getting it up right now.”
Jensen laughed, then moved to the side a little to better see Ian. “You gonna be okay? How much longer do you have?”
“I’ll be fine. I just have rounds and then I’m going home to sleep for a year.”
“Make sure you do sleep.”
“Yes, mum.” He smirked, but it lost its impact when his eyes were still closed and he couldn’t stand upright.
“I take it you’re skipping Jeff’s thing tonight?” He opened his eyes to stare blankly at Jensen. “The birthday party he’s throwing for himself?”
“Oh. Yeah. Can you tell him I’m sorry? There’s no way I’m staying coherent enough for that.”
“Sure. Want to meet up later this weekend?”
He nodded, then finally pushed himself up straight and away from Jensen. “Gimme a call on Sunday. I might be awake by then.”
Laughing, Jensen shook his head as he watched Ian slowly walk away. After seeing how beat Ian was, Jensen didn’t feel as bad about his own day.
“Mr. Austin needs blood drawn again,” Margarite told him, grinning evilly.
So much for the break.
Jensen glared at Margarite. “Do I have to?” he whined, and she laughed at him.
“I’m going on break, and he asked for you specifically since you were so wonderful with him last time.”
Sighing in defeat, Jensen repeated to himself that he loved his job. “All right. Give me his chart.”
Margarite handed it over with a too-bright smile. On the front, standing out clearly in red ink, were the letters HNCLABWBD, which was their code for hates needles, cries like a baby when blood drawn. He will definitely need a night out after dealing with Mr. Austin.
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