J² Fic: It's A Wonderful Life
Title: It's A Wonderful Life
Characters: Jared/Jensen
Word Count: 2.600
Warning: G. Unfortunately unbeta-ed, as always ... I really need a beta, people!!!
Disclaimer: The boys are happily in love with their beautiful wives.
A/N: Written for the lovely 27_jaredjensen who's been incredibly patient (or maybe just gave up all along) with me. This is your birthday fic, hun! I hope you like it!
A/N2: As some of you keep kicking my ass to continue with Quarantine (which is perfectly validated), I'm stuck people and I needed to break my damn writer's block somehow, so lean back enjoy this little piece and be comforted, that I haven't given up on my baby.
Summary: Jensen somehow has this twisted up idea in his head, that he needs to take care of himself. Good thing, that Jared doesn't need a cry for help, to know when his boyfriend needs him most.
***
Every single channel on TV seems to broadcast “It’s a wonderful life” these days.
But Jensen doesn’t feel so wonderful this afternoon.
To be more accurate, he feels terrible; not in a guilty way but the literal sense of the word.
His head is pounding, and the ear ache that started off as some minor thing this morning seems to increase with every passing hour and it’s driving him mad. It’s starting to make the idea of just cutting them both off - van Gogh style - look a lot more appealing on second thought.
Though all he can do right now is turn down the TV, rest his tortured head on too soft cushions and try to sleep, until some PA will call him back onto set. Which will be another 40 minutes, if he’s lucky.
He tosses and turns, desperately trying to find any position that might ease a bit of his discomfort and give him some peace to get some much needed rest.
He hears the trailer door open with a squeak that goes straight to his spine. Everyone else had gone for lunch; so now he’s wondering who could be back so early and why. Well, he’s not really wondering.
“Hi.”
That’s all the intruder says, and Jensen can’t really do anything other than stare with some kind of “What do you want” expression covering his sleep wrinkled face.
It’s not that he’s not happy to see Jared, he is, he loves Jared; it’s just that he’s not really in the mood to deal with anyone unless they have magical powers to make him feel better, even if this person happens to be his boyfriend.
And until mentioned magical power wizard will bless him with his presence, nobody needs to know the state he’s in, either.
He’ll take a rain check on the pity party - Thank you very much.
“I’m sleeping, Jay. Whad’ya want?” Jensen mumbles and buries his face back into his pillow.
Jared just stands there pouting at him, hoping his boyfriend is just grumpy, because he woke him up from what little sleep they can get in between takes, and doesn’t really mean to make him feel rejected.
“I was just wondering if there was any chance you would be interested in spending our lunch break together.” He says sheepishly, moving to sit on the edge of Jensen’s sleep sofa and slowly starting to play with the corner of his hem.
Jensen sighs a bit at the contact, leaning more towards Jared’s body, but stilling mid-move as his cheek brushes over Jared’s hip bone and pain shoots through his inner ear, slowly echoing off his temples.
He manages to stifle the groan building up inside somewhere in the back of his throat, but he doesn’t risk moving any further, slowly putting his forehead to rest on his forearm, leaving his damaged ears mid-air and clear of potential hazzards.
Jared doesn’t seem to notice, cause he continues to plant a line of kisses along Jensen’s exposed neck, giving him a completely new kind of chill.
When Jensen doesn’t move though, Jared stops his little quest down Jensen’s spine and rests his head in the crook of the other man’s neck. His lips gently brushing his ear as he whispers “You’re really tired, hey? I’ll let you get some sleep then.”
Jensen winces, He's sure he’s just discovered a whole new level of pain on the 1 to 10 scale. He takes all the swearing words that are currently forming in his head and settles for a teeth-clenched “mmh”, that seems to be enough confirmation for Jared.
The younger man continues to scoot further onto the sofa, wrapping Jensen into his big spoon-y self.
The blond has no idea how this is gonna work, for he’s been forced to lie on his side now, which is indeed his most comfortable sleeping position with Jared.
Usually.
But now, it only leaves him with two options to rest his head, either onto Jared’s rock of a shoulder or onto the pillow concentrating the weight of his entire too heavy head on his one sore spot. No way this is gonna happen!
He awkwardly extends his arm from Jared’s entangled limbs and tries to balance his head onto the crook of his elbow, his sensitive side hovering inches above the mattress.
This might work.
His arm is so going to fall asleep, but this is the least of his worries right now. He might just be able to fall asleep before it starts protesting under him. He closes his eyes and for the first time he feels himself relax against Jared’s chest, soaking up warmth.
It doesn’t take long and Jensen seems to have drifted off to sleep, so Jared just continues to lie there, listening to the TV noises and Clarence’s words in the background.
“Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?”
Jared feels himself pressing his boyfriend just a little closer to his chest.
It’s right there, that he realises he’s completely gone for Jensen. Has been for a long time now.
***
It’s almost midnight, when Jensen’s head hits the cool fabric of his pillow with a dull thud.
He can still hear Jared on the other side of the door, calling his name. It’s soft, like he’s checking whether Jensen’s still awake or drifted off to sleep already.
Jensen on the other side can’t be bothered to croak out a reply. In fact, he can’t be bothered to do anything that involves flexing his jaw muscles, including swallowing for that matter.
He can hear Jared pick up the dog’s leashes, followed by excited scratching all over the wooden floors. Then nothing.
He drapes his too thin blanket over the better part of his body in some kind of defeated motion and waits as today’s adrenaline subsides and he’s left in silence and with overwhelming exhaustion. He can almost feel the fever crawl into his body.
Yes, he is sick. And tired. And he is sick and tired of being sick and tired.
With limbs way too heavy, he rolls himself into a ball, trying to preserve the precious heat as he wards off an inner chill.
Every movement, even trying to focus on whatever it was he was thinking about a minute ago, hurts.
Jensen wants to sleep for a month, preferably longer, but he knows that once he closes his eyes to try and relax, he’ll be drawn into yet another restless sleep. Tossing and turning, until he shifts just a little too far and searing pain pulls him back into ugly consciousness.
With Jared next to him, it wasn’t so bad. With the young man's arms wrapped around him, he could forget the tightness of his skin and the soreness of every single cell. Jared anchored him in so many ways; Jensen could finally let go. Relax. Rest.
When the new director had called it a day, after endless hours of shooting, Jensen had been tempted. And for a second he’d stopped in front of Jared’s trailer, knowing the other man wouldn’t hesitate to take him in, take care of him.
But they’ve only been dating for the better of three months and most of that has been work anyway; restricting the little time they got off to recover and get some rest.
No, he wasn’t going to drop this onto Jared, onto them ... when all they were supposed to do was to have hot sex on every imaginable surface in and outside their house.
Well, they have done that, plenty of times to be fair, but Jensen isn’t anywhere near ready yet to leave that phase and enter the vicious cycle of routine and this In health and sickness crap.
That’s why he ended up here tonight, in his own bed.
He already fears their ride to work tomorrow morning. He’s going to need a kick ass excuse to convince Jared that nothing's wrong. Granting he’s still alive then.
His thoughts wander back to Jared curled up against him in his trailer and some part of him then knew that he knew. It would have been so easy. He could have told him right there, could have opened his fucking mouth for once. “I need you.” But no ... he really couldn’t.
His phone lies on the bedside table within easy reach. All it takes is for him to push a button and tell Jared: “Come back.” But that's not an option.
Jared shouldn’t see him like this. It's bad enough that he knows; if he really knows.
Jared is the last person Jensen wanted to know and yet - now that he lays curled up in his bed, feeling like someone is poking his ear drums with a branding iron - Jared is the only one he wants to see.
***Jensen must have drifted off to sleep eventually, cause as predicted he shoots up like a lightning bolt just hit him, which is kind of the case here, considering the pain flashing through his skull.
His fists fly up to his temples trying to release the pressure somehow, but it doesn’t even come close to divert from the pain he's in.
Jared’s up and awake within seconds. He idly starts rubbing circles on Jensen’s back, clearly worried about his partner.
Jensen didn’t even notice Jared in the dark, until he felt a hand resting on the small of his back and he would have shrieked like a little girl, if he wasn’t so busy whimpering like a kicked puppy.
“Hey, I’m here. It’s okay.” He soothes, voice thick and sweet like honey.
Jensen wants to kiss him for his simple presence, tell him, that he’s okay and he doesn’t have to worry, but his body has taken over, autopilot making his eyes water and letting little whiny noises escape every other second as the blood pulses through his pain-racked ears.
Jared leans over to switch on the bedside lamp, his other hand never breaking contact with Jensen. He leans protectively over the other man to shield him from the light, when he tries to uncurl Jensen from his hunched-over position to get a better look at him.
“I’m guessing you’re not any better from earlier then.” Jared says more to himself than Jensen. It’s not accusing, but the words sting nevertheless.
Why nobody had noticed how sick Jensen was, Jared has no idea. It’s just so obvious, I mean, look at him.
He has dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping, his hair is matted, messy, and greasy with gel, and he has a slight sheen of sweat covering him, and yet Jared still thinks he’s the most beautiful thing in the world.
“Sorry” Jensen mumbles in between heart-breaking sobs, leaning deeper into Jared’s protective frame.
“It's okay. Tell me what hurts?” He asks calmly, as not to startle the man in his arms.
“Ears.” Jensen almost chokes on the word, as a new wave of pain hits.
Jared lays his hand on Jensen’s head, pushing the sweaty spikes of hair off his increasingly hot forehead.
“Jen, I’m gonna go get the thermometer and some painkillers for you, ok?” Jensen merely sighs, pulling the blankets more firmly around his shoulders and curling his legs up closer to preserve the precious warmth, where Jared’s missing body has left a cold spot behind.
Jared quickly walks towards the bathroom and starts digging through their cabinets. He finds all kinds of crap, that they never really use: a bottle of Pepto, some Band-Aids, Voltaren pain gel, an almost empty bottle of Aspirin, some nose spray, cough drops, and finally - the thermometer.
He grabs some water from the kitchen on his way back and quietly sits back down on the edge of Jensen’s bed. If this was any other time or circumstance, Jared would’ve wrapped his entire body around his boyfriend, covering him under his solid weight.
Now he’s settling for laying a hand on his shoulder. Jensen’s head is slightly turned towards the door with his arms and legs tucked neatly underneath his body. He’s breathing gently, but he opens his eyes upon Jared’s gentle touch.
“Jense? Can you let me take your temperature?” Holding out the thermometer for Jensen, he says nothing but opens his mouth slightly so Jared can stick it under his tongue. Jared sits quietly holding one end up, waiting for it to beep.
When he pulls it back his worries lessen slightly; yeah Jensen’s fever is high, but not as bad as he’d expected.
Jared turns again as Jensen’s arms move to cradle his aching head, leaning forward and continuing to rub his partner’s back.
“We should get you to a hospital, if it’s that bad.” He gently traces the lines, where Jensen’s tears have left little wet trails down his cheeks.
Jensen is silent for a moment, like he’s considering the idea. That’s enough answer for Jared.
Jensen whines as Jared makes to leave, grabbing the younger man’s wrist and tugging it towards him.
When Jared’s eyes meet Jensen’s, it breaks his heart into two clean halves. Just like that.
He swallows down the lump in his throat, gently cupping Jensen’s jaw, staying clear of his ears and swollen lymph nodes. “I can’t stand seeing you in pain, babe. Let me take you to the ER, please.” His voice breaks unintentionally, but it achieves the desired effect.
Jensen’s head drops an inch, but he nods softly, trying not to move his head too much.
Jared plants a soft kiss onto his forehead and stands up to get dressed before he starts going through Jensen’s drawer to find him something to wear. He comes up with his own zip-up jacket, hiding on a hanger in between Jensen’s dress shirts. It draws a fond smile onto Jared'd face as he holds it out to Jensen, together with a pair of tracksuit pants.
“I’ll quickly go and heat up the car; I’ll get you in a minute. You’re okay here?” he asks carefully, clearly not too thrilled about the idea of leaving Jensen behind, even if it’s just for a few minutes.
Jensen complies and gets dressed, even though his sore limps are protesting with every movement, but he’s all set when Jared comes to fetch him.
***
The rest of the trip is some kind of blur, including memorable moments like Jensen banging his head against the headboard as the pain gets unbearable, and Jared almost hitting a tree in his horror.
Somehow they’ve managed to make it to the ER in one piece and get Jensen hooked up to some magical IV drip.
It’s 4 o’clock when Jensen’s breathing finally evens out and he starts to relax into the stretcher. Jared tucks the blanket just a little higher around his boyfriend’s shoulders, resting his head back onto the delicate curve of Jensen’s waist.
They’ve been sitting like that for over an hour now, nurses coming and going, time passing silently, and Jared knows his back is going to kill him later, but he doesn’t dare to move and risk waking his partner.
“Thanks, Jay.” Jensen says quietly, startling Jared as he breaks the silence.
Jared leans forward and presses a soft kiss to Jensen’s temple.
When he breaks the contact and green eyes meet hazelnut brown ones, the blonde whispers quietly: "I love you."
Jensen means it from the bottom of his heart. Hell, he wanted to say it for so long, but now, with all possible defenses down, he can finally find the courage.
“Please stay.” It’s both a question and a request.
Jared gives a small smile and settles back into his old spot, easily covering Jensen’s small frame with his arms and the upper half of his body.
“I love you too, dumbass. I’m not going anywhere without you. Think about that the next time you try to toughen it out.”
***
Thank you for reading.
I would be delighted, if you find the time to drop me a line.
Spread the sick!jensen love
Characters: Jared/Jensen
Word Count: 2.600
Warning: G. Unfortunately unbeta-ed, as always ... I really need a beta, people!!!
Disclaimer: The boys are happily in love with their beautiful wives.
A/N: Written for the lovely 27_jaredjensen who's been incredibly patient (or maybe just gave up all along) with me. This is your birthday fic, hun! I hope you like it!
A/N2: As some of you keep kicking my ass to continue with Quarantine (which is perfectly validated), I'm stuck people and I needed to break my damn writer's block somehow, so lean back enjoy this little piece and be comforted, that I haven't given up on my baby.
Summary: Jensen somehow has this twisted up idea in his head, that he needs to take care of himself. Good thing, that Jared doesn't need a cry for help, to know when his boyfriend needs him most.
***
Every single channel on TV seems to broadcast “It’s a wonderful life” these days.
But Jensen doesn’t feel so wonderful this afternoon.
To be more accurate, he feels terrible; not in a guilty way but the literal sense of the word.
His head is pounding, and the ear ache that started off as some minor thing this morning seems to increase with every passing hour and it’s driving him mad. It’s starting to make the idea of just cutting them both off - van Gogh style - look a lot more appealing on second thought.
Though all he can do right now is turn down the TV, rest his tortured head on too soft cushions and try to sleep, until some PA will call him back onto set. Which will be another 40 minutes, if he’s lucky.
He tosses and turns, desperately trying to find any position that might ease a bit of his discomfort and give him some peace to get some much needed rest.
He hears the trailer door open with a squeak that goes straight to his spine. Everyone else had gone for lunch; so now he’s wondering who could be back so early and why. Well, he’s not really wondering.
“Hi.”
That’s all the intruder says, and Jensen can’t really do anything other than stare with some kind of “What do you want” expression covering his sleep wrinkled face.
It’s not that he’s not happy to see Jared, he is, he loves Jared; it’s just that he’s not really in the mood to deal with anyone unless they have magical powers to make him feel better, even if this person happens to be his boyfriend.
And until mentioned magical power wizard will bless him with his presence, nobody needs to know the state he’s in, either.
He’ll take a rain check on the pity party - Thank you very much.
“I’m sleeping, Jay. Whad’ya want?” Jensen mumbles and buries his face back into his pillow.
Jared just stands there pouting at him, hoping his boyfriend is just grumpy, because he woke him up from what little sleep they can get in between takes, and doesn’t really mean to make him feel rejected.
“I was just wondering if there was any chance you would be interested in spending our lunch break together.” He says sheepishly, moving to sit on the edge of Jensen’s sleep sofa and slowly starting to play with the corner of his hem.
Jensen sighs a bit at the contact, leaning more towards Jared’s body, but stilling mid-move as his cheek brushes over Jared’s hip bone and pain shoots through his inner ear, slowly echoing off his temples.
He manages to stifle the groan building up inside somewhere in the back of his throat, but he doesn’t risk moving any further, slowly putting his forehead to rest on his forearm, leaving his damaged ears mid-air and clear of potential hazzards.
Jared doesn’t seem to notice, cause he continues to plant a line of kisses along Jensen’s exposed neck, giving him a completely new kind of chill.
When Jensen doesn’t move though, Jared stops his little quest down Jensen’s spine and rests his head in the crook of the other man’s neck. His lips gently brushing his ear as he whispers “You’re really tired, hey? I’ll let you get some sleep then.”
Jensen winces, He's sure he’s just discovered a whole new level of pain on the 1 to 10 scale. He takes all the swearing words that are currently forming in his head and settles for a teeth-clenched “mmh”, that seems to be enough confirmation for Jared.
The younger man continues to scoot further onto the sofa, wrapping Jensen into his big spoon-y self.
The blond has no idea how this is gonna work, for he’s been forced to lie on his side now, which is indeed his most comfortable sleeping position with Jared.
Usually.
But now, it only leaves him with two options to rest his head, either onto Jared’s rock of a shoulder or onto the pillow concentrating the weight of his entire too heavy head on his one sore spot. No way this is gonna happen!
He awkwardly extends his arm from Jared’s entangled limbs and tries to balance his head onto the crook of his elbow, his sensitive side hovering inches above the mattress.
This might work.
His arm is so going to fall asleep, but this is the least of his worries right now. He might just be able to fall asleep before it starts protesting under him. He closes his eyes and for the first time he feels himself relax against Jared’s chest, soaking up warmth.
It doesn’t take long and Jensen seems to have drifted off to sleep, so Jared just continues to lie there, listening to the TV noises and Clarence’s words in the background.
“Strange, isn't it? Each man's life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?”
Jared feels himself pressing his boyfriend just a little closer to his chest.
It’s right there, that he realises he’s completely gone for Jensen. Has been for a long time now.
***
It’s almost midnight, when Jensen’s head hits the cool fabric of his pillow with a dull thud.
He can still hear Jared on the other side of the door, calling his name. It’s soft, like he’s checking whether Jensen’s still awake or drifted off to sleep already.
Jensen on the other side can’t be bothered to croak out a reply. In fact, he can’t be bothered to do anything that involves flexing his jaw muscles, including swallowing for that matter.
He can hear Jared pick up the dog’s leashes, followed by excited scratching all over the wooden floors. Then nothing.
He drapes his too thin blanket over the better part of his body in some kind of defeated motion and waits as today’s adrenaline subsides and he’s left in silence and with overwhelming exhaustion. He can almost feel the fever crawl into his body.
Yes, he is sick. And tired. And he is sick and tired of being sick and tired.
With limbs way too heavy, he rolls himself into a ball, trying to preserve the precious heat as he wards off an inner chill.
Every movement, even trying to focus on whatever it was he was thinking about a minute ago, hurts.
Jensen wants to sleep for a month, preferably longer, but he knows that once he closes his eyes to try and relax, he’ll be drawn into yet another restless sleep. Tossing and turning, until he shifts just a little too far and searing pain pulls him back into ugly consciousness.
With Jared next to him, it wasn’t so bad. With the young man's arms wrapped around him, he could forget the tightness of his skin and the soreness of every single cell. Jared anchored him in so many ways; Jensen could finally let go. Relax. Rest.
When the new director had called it a day, after endless hours of shooting, Jensen had been tempted. And for a second he’d stopped in front of Jared’s trailer, knowing the other man wouldn’t hesitate to take him in, take care of him.
But they’ve only been dating for the better of three months and most of that has been work anyway; restricting the little time they got off to recover and get some rest.
No, he wasn’t going to drop this onto Jared, onto them ... when all they were supposed to do was to have hot sex on every imaginable surface in and outside their house.
Well, they have done that, plenty of times to be fair, but Jensen isn’t anywhere near ready yet to leave that phase and enter the vicious cycle of routine and this In health and sickness crap.
That’s why he ended up here tonight, in his own bed.
He already fears their ride to work tomorrow morning. He’s going to need a kick ass excuse to convince Jared that nothing's wrong. Granting he’s still alive then.
His thoughts wander back to Jared curled up against him in his trailer and some part of him then knew that he knew. It would have been so easy. He could have told him right there, could have opened his fucking mouth for once. “I need you.” But no ... he really couldn’t.
His phone lies on the bedside table within easy reach. All it takes is for him to push a button and tell Jared: “Come back.” But that's not an option.
Jared shouldn’t see him like this. It's bad enough that he knows; if he really knows.
Jared is the last person Jensen wanted to know and yet - now that he lays curled up in his bed, feeling like someone is poking his ear drums with a branding iron - Jared is the only one he wants to see.
***Jensen must have drifted off to sleep eventually, cause as predicted he shoots up like a lightning bolt just hit him, which is kind of the case here, considering the pain flashing through his skull.
His fists fly up to his temples trying to release the pressure somehow, but it doesn’t even come close to divert from the pain he's in.
Jared’s up and awake within seconds. He idly starts rubbing circles on Jensen’s back, clearly worried about his partner.
Jensen didn’t even notice Jared in the dark, until he felt a hand resting on the small of his back and he would have shrieked like a little girl, if he wasn’t so busy whimpering like a kicked puppy.
“Hey, I’m here. It’s okay.” He soothes, voice thick and sweet like honey.
Jensen wants to kiss him for his simple presence, tell him, that he’s okay and he doesn’t have to worry, but his body has taken over, autopilot making his eyes water and letting little whiny noises escape every other second as the blood pulses through his pain-racked ears.
Jared leans over to switch on the bedside lamp, his other hand never breaking contact with Jensen. He leans protectively over the other man to shield him from the light, when he tries to uncurl Jensen from his hunched-over position to get a better look at him.
“I’m guessing you’re not any better from earlier then.” Jared says more to himself than Jensen. It’s not accusing, but the words sting nevertheless.
Why nobody had noticed how sick Jensen was, Jared has no idea. It’s just so obvious, I mean, look at him.
He has dark circles under his eyes from not sleeping, his hair is matted, messy, and greasy with gel, and he has a slight sheen of sweat covering him, and yet Jared still thinks he’s the most beautiful thing in the world.
“Sorry” Jensen mumbles in between heart-breaking sobs, leaning deeper into Jared’s protective frame.
“It's okay. Tell me what hurts?” He asks calmly, as not to startle the man in his arms.
“Ears.” Jensen almost chokes on the word, as a new wave of pain hits.
Jared lays his hand on Jensen’s head, pushing the sweaty spikes of hair off his increasingly hot forehead.
“Jen, I’m gonna go get the thermometer and some painkillers for you, ok?” Jensen merely sighs, pulling the blankets more firmly around his shoulders and curling his legs up closer to preserve the precious warmth, where Jared’s missing body has left a cold spot behind.
Jared quickly walks towards the bathroom and starts digging through their cabinets. He finds all kinds of crap, that they never really use: a bottle of Pepto, some Band-Aids, Voltaren pain gel, an almost empty bottle of Aspirin, some nose spray, cough drops, and finally - the thermometer.
He grabs some water from the kitchen on his way back and quietly sits back down on the edge of Jensen’s bed. If this was any other time or circumstance, Jared would’ve wrapped his entire body around his boyfriend, covering him under his solid weight.
Now he’s settling for laying a hand on his shoulder. Jensen’s head is slightly turned towards the door with his arms and legs tucked neatly underneath his body. He’s breathing gently, but he opens his eyes upon Jared’s gentle touch.
“Jense? Can you let me take your temperature?” Holding out the thermometer for Jensen, he says nothing but opens his mouth slightly so Jared can stick it under his tongue. Jared sits quietly holding one end up, waiting for it to beep.
When he pulls it back his worries lessen slightly; yeah Jensen’s fever is high, but not as bad as he’d expected.
Jared turns again as Jensen’s arms move to cradle his aching head, leaning forward and continuing to rub his partner’s back.
“We should get you to a hospital, if it’s that bad.” He gently traces the lines, where Jensen’s tears have left little wet trails down his cheeks.
Jensen is silent for a moment, like he’s considering the idea. That’s enough answer for Jared.
Jensen whines as Jared makes to leave, grabbing the younger man’s wrist and tugging it towards him.
When Jared’s eyes meet Jensen’s, it breaks his heart into two clean halves. Just like that.
He swallows down the lump in his throat, gently cupping Jensen’s jaw, staying clear of his ears and swollen lymph nodes. “I can’t stand seeing you in pain, babe. Let me take you to the ER, please.” His voice breaks unintentionally, but it achieves the desired effect.
Jensen’s head drops an inch, but he nods softly, trying not to move his head too much.
Jared plants a soft kiss onto his forehead and stands up to get dressed before he starts going through Jensen’s drawer to find him something to wear. He comes up with his own zip-up jacket, hiding on a hanger in between Jensen’s dress shirts. It draws a fond smile onto Jared'd face as he holds it out to Jensen, together with a pair of tracksuit pants.
“I’ll quickly go and heat up the car; I’ll get you in a minute. You’re okay here?” he asks carefully, clearly not too thrilled about the idea of leaving Jensen behind, even if it’s just for a few minutes.
Jensen complies and gets dressed, even though his sore limps are protesting with every movement, but he’s all set when Jared comes to fetch him.
***
The rest of the trip is some kind of blur, including memorable moments like Jensen banging his head against the headboard as the pain gets unbearable, and Jared almost hitting a tree in his horror.
Somehow they’ve managed to make it to the ER in one piece and get Jensen hooked up to some magical IV drip.
It’s 4 o’clock when Jensen’s breathing finally evens out and he starts to relax into the stretcher. Jared tucks the blanket just a little higher around his boyfriend’s shoulders, resting his head back onto the delicate curve of Jensen’s waist.
They’ve been sitting like that for over an hour now, nurses coming and going, time passing silently, and Jared knows his back is going to kill him later, but he doesn’t dare to move and risk waking his partner.
“Thanks, Jay.” Jensen says quietly, startling Jared as he breaks the silence.
Jared leans forward and presses a soft kiss to Jensen’s temple.
When he breaks the contact and green eyes meet hazelnut brown ones, the blonde whispers quietly: "I love you."
Jensen means it from the bottom of his heart. Hell, he wanted to say it for so long, but now, with all possible defenses down, he can finally find the courage.
“Please stay.” It’s both a question and a request.
Jared gives a small smile and settles back into his old spot, easily covering Jensen’s small frame with his arms and the upper half of his body.
“I love you too, dumbass. I’m not going anywhere without you. Think about that the next time you try to toughen it out.”
***
Thank you for reading.
I would be delighted, if you find the time to drop me a line.
Spread the sick!jensen love