Act of Play - The Approaching Curve 1/1
Series: Act of Play
Title: The Approaching Curve
Chapter: 1/1
Word Count: 4244
Rating: R
Disclaimer: The title is being politely borrowed from Rise Against. This is, obviously, fake and did not happen. I am merely borrowing the names and faces of real life people and none of this is meant in any way to harm their reputation. This is a work of fiction and nothing contained within is thought to be real.
Warning: Contains various remarks to sensitive material. The characters grew their own way and there are hints to events and/or diseases that I had not planned on; as of now, I have not planned to dig into these aspects but that does not mean that the character’s will force me to follow through.
Previous parts: / Are We Feeling Awkward Yet? // Leave Me At the Roadside // The Rose That has been Burnt by Her Son // Where Love is Divided by Hate
A/N: Written for Jellicle’s Ugly Duckling bunny. (And it has now morphed out of control and I’m more than happy that it did... because it’s been way too long that I’ve been able to write anything of substantial length.)
Summary: He had figured it would be easy to slip past everything and everyone; figured that with all the weight loss, he didn’t look like the same person. Then why is everyone noticing him, remembering him? And what made Jared change?
Usually, he would be glad for the fact that the weekend had come up. It meant there was time to sleep in. Today, he found himself glaring at the side of his car, a bucket of soap and water that was more than likely useless and a major headache gracing his presence.
The headache's name was Jared, who was standing over his shoulder, telling him it was a waste of time. As if he didn't know this.
The spray paint had already been dry when they found it on his car. The only other option he knew of was to get the car painted. Which wouldn't do until he found a job. So, he was determined to scrub the word off even if it meant rubbing his knuckles raw. Whether it would work or not wasn't the issue.
"Shut up," he hissed at Jared, slapping his wet hand to his forehead. His fingers rubbed at his temples while glaring at the loud fool. Gets him past drunk and then can't stop talking the next morning. "I didn't ask you to be here so if you don't like the way I'm doin' it, you can leave."
"Fine, be a stubborn moron. I don't care if you make yourself bleed to death."
His head would be sopping wet by the time he gave up on this if Jared didn't stop speaking soon; he couldn't help but grimace when his hand came up with soap against his forehead. "Now I know why you chose acting. You're a damn drama queen. I will not bleed to death through my damn knuckles, moron."
"Well, it's obvious that you're not getting all the nutrients that you need so you could be anemic and then…"
"Shut up!" It took him a moment to realize he'd just slammed his head into the door of his own car. There better not be a damn dent. "If you're going to keep talking, be useful. Did you find out if it was Brad or Steve? If it was Brad, I'll have his dumb ass pay to get this shit painted."
"And why wouldn't you get Steve to pay?"
"Because then he'd tell someone about the damn pictures and that's all I need. Then Brad and everyone else would be painting even better words on my poor fuckin' car."
One small glance over at Jared and he saw him rolling his eyes. "It wasn't Brad. He was surprised. Disappointed that he didn't do it."
"Asshole." Jensen mumbled, kicking the tire as if it was what was keeping the paint on the car.
"You were hoping it was Brad."
"Yeah, 'cause then I coulda gotten him to pay for it to get painted."
"And that you wouldn't have to grow any balls to report Steve for it."
Jensen took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before standing up. "I don't have any proof that it was Steve so this is a useless conversation. I thought we already went over the fact of you being useful."
"You do have proof. The store has cameras in the parking lot." Jared said, raising his eyebrows at Jensen as if he were waiting to hear what he had to say to that.
Jensen stepped closer to Jared, vowing that he would not hit the hulk of a man. "If I turn him in, next thing I know everyone'll know about everything. I don't want that."
"Why? Why would it hurt you to allow people to know instead of keeping it to yourself? And what makes you think he'd do that? They could incriminate him. God, Jensen, sometimes you're so fucking thick."
"Why would I want people to know what happened between me and him? I'm past it, over it. I haven't kept it to myself neither. My mother knows, your fucking ass knows. I'm lucky no one else knows with that big fucking mouth you have."
"You didn't comment on the fact that those pictures would prove what Steve did to you." Jared pointed out, his hand snapping out and grabbing Jensen's wrist before he could walk off.
"So what? Steve obviously isn't that fucking smart so it doesn’t mean he won't do it. And maybe he photo-shopped himself out of it? What the hell does it matter, anyways?"
Jared pulled his wrist closer, forcing Jensen to take a couple of stumbling steps, nearly falling into Jared. "Because then, if there was direct proof for everyone, you couldn't runaway from it."
Jensen laughed weakly, shaking his head, "Obviously, I'm not runnin' away from it. Otherwise, neither you nor Momma would know about it."
"You're not running away from it but you want to get the videos and pictures taken care of before anyone you know sees them?"
"That's not the reason. Besides, you want to do the same for Jake!"
"Jake's is already out there. It's on the court transcripts, in the pictures in the evidence, in the letters Steve wrote to him. You, you can say you were lying and no one would have any proof that you were just trying to lie to yourself."
"Jared…"
"Did you already try that? After you confessed to your mother? Did you try to take it back, make everything the way it was before?"
"Shut up…"
"There's no way anyone would find out unless they found out from your Momma. You don't tell anyone. Do your friends back in California know? When you leave here, when your mom's better, you'll go right back to pretending it never happened."
Now Jared's arm was around his waist, forcing him to stay there as he struggled to pull away. "Let go."
"Why do you care if people find out what the bastard did to you?" Jared asked instead, tightening his hold on Jensen. "Why does it matter?"
"Because it does. Go ask Jake if he'd rather of had no one know than what he faces now!"
"What does he face now? He's there because of what Steve did to him, because he can't cope, not with the fact that people know…"
"Fucking moron, people knowing factors into that. When people see him, they see what Steve did to him, not him. They think, 'poor kid' and shit like that!"
"I don't think that's why you don't want them to know. I think you're scared that they'll think you wanted it."
"Fuck you, Jared." He hissed, his breath was coming in uneven, struggling to be released but unwilling to actually harm Jared for the goal. "I wasn't like Jake. I didn't have friends! I went to school and then came home! The only person who spoke to me was Bertha and that was only because she was bigger than me! I was her only friend and she was mine and then no one noticed she'd fucking killed herself because of people like you making her life hell and then Steve came and I did want it at first! I was happy at first! So, fuck you, Jared, because I don't want people to know the fucking truth. Just… fuck you."
All he felt was Jared's arms tightening around him, pulling him in to his large chest; he's feet moving slightly, back and forth, rocking both of them. "Guess you didn't notice that I stopped making fun of you after her funeral."
It was a soft whisper, deep and comforting, quiet enough that Jensen didn't really hear it but understood it in a sense. The words hidden under his loud breathing and the deep tones of Jared's voice. Inside, he was freaking out, anxiety showing its ugly head a little too late to keep his mouth shut. He had never told that… just that it had happened. And now, in anger or something, he had blurted out the fact that he had liked it, at least at first. No matter how many times Momma pestered him to open up, no matter how any times the psychiatrists and psychologists questioned him, he had merely said it happened… a few times going into what had happened after he'd realized his stupidity, after he had told Steve no.
But never that he had gone into it willingly.
He was a stupid kid. He had taken the promise of attention, the promise of love… the promise of companionship with eager hands. He had wanted a friend and had misinterpreted Steve as one.
"When did you realize that what he was doing was wrong?" Jared asked softly, his hand resting on the small of Jensen's back, rubbing it gently.
He merely buried his face into Jared's chest, shaking his head slightly, taking the comfort it offered for a moment. "He started getting rougher. Got tired of telling him I didn't like some things that he was doing…" A deep breath, shaking his head and refusing to even think about them, "Told him I was done, that I wasn't going to see him anymore. He threw money at me and dared me to go to the cops, said no one would believed he'd ever touch me and they'd just arrest me for being a whore"
"You believed him?"
"For a while," Jensen mumbled before pulling away, shrugging Jared's comforting hand off, away from him.
He sighed softly, shaking his head at the car door, the word whore still staring back at him. "When did you stop?" Jared asked, his voice soft and curious as he leaned against Jensen's car, refusing Jensen access to scrub at it.
"Believing him?" Jensen sighed, shrugging his shoulders, pushing at the sponge that floated at the top; his eyes locked on the dirty yellow thing. "Dunno. I didn't, I guess. Momma only found out after I snatched her brandy. I was too drunk to lie when she demanded why."
"So, you just blurted it out?"
"Yeah, she slapped me and then after I sobered up, I tried to take it back. Don't even remember how I said it to make her slap me. Probably cursed too much."
"Probably all she heard until she went to bed."
"What did you do when you found out about Jake?" Jensen asked, standing up slowly, as if he'd become an old man.
"Punched him." Jared replied sadly, watching Jensen dry his hands off on the faded blue jeans he was wearing.
Jensen's head snapped up at that, confusion in his eyes. It was hard for him to believe that Jared had actually punched his brother, not with the way he seemed to care for the younger kid, "Why?"
All Jared could do was shrug, "He was high again and talkin' shit on Steve as usual… he was just our coach at the time. I woke up in the middle of the night, took me forever to understand exactly what he had said. I ran into his room and apologized for hittin' him."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Jared sighed, moving to stand closer to Jensen once more, his hand moving to rest on the bony shoulders that jutted out under the thin shirt. "I don't think Jake'll ever forget that."
"Probably already has. I don't blame Momma for slapping me. I was an ass for a while back then."
"You're still an ass, you know that, right?"
Jensen couldn't help but laugh softly at that, and looking over showed a smiling Jared, proud with himself for getting a laugh, no matter how small, from him and changing the depressing subject. So, Jared was good for some things… "No, I'm a very good son whose only issue was thinking it was a good idea to fight a giant in public."
Jensen smirked as Jared cleared his throat, "A giant who kicked your ass."
"Uh. No." His fingers pushed at Jared a little bit, jokingly, "I would call that a draw, what with the cops pulling as apart and all."
"We could always have a rematch?" Jared suggested, straightening his back to show his true height.
"No, you can not." They heard Momma yell from the kitchen, causing both of them to laugh.
Jensen really couldn't be bothered to wonder how much she had heard if she heard that. He couldn't be bothered caring about it. Either way, he wouldn't have to tell her. Maybe later he'd find it in himself to care but at the moment, that was just too much to put on his shoulders; so, he shoved it down and far away.
When he turned to look at Jared there was a weird look on his face, one that caused him to raise his eyebrows and take a step back. Before he could even realize it, Jared's lips were against his and that was, honestly, enough to make him jump back.
He threw his hands up in the air as he turned towards the door, laughing and shaking his head, "No."
That was another thing he was putting under the list of 'Not dealing with.'
---
Later, Jensen found that the only way to shut Jared up was beer. And he had no problem feeding the man's habit.
Jensen considered himself a rather easy drunk; not exactly a happy one but easy going. So, with more than a few beers under his belt, he wasn't really minding Jared's company anymore.
Honestly, who would? Jared was a fucking hilarious drunk. Tripping everywhere, stumbling for words and being completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Or, it might be the fact that Momma swatted him with a spoon before retreating to her bedroom. Teaches him to touch her ice cream.
If he had been an angry drunk, he would have already told Jared off because the guy was following him like a lost fucking puppy, one who hadn't learnt how to walk yet. But he wasn't; he actually mellowed out, losing most of his anger and actually found Jared's actions kind of cute and funny.
As he made his way to the fridge in the garage, Jared trailed behind Jensen, giggling when he thought he had said something funny. Jared was a happy drunk. A clinically insane, way past happy, type drunk.
Jensen was pretty sure that a truck could crash into the house and Jared would still find something to giggle about. Of course, that was an extreme example because no matter how drunk a person was, a truck crashing into the house would sober them up. Hopefully… because, at the moment, if that wasn't true, Jensen was sure the good Lord would shove a truck through Momma's kitchen wall to prove him wrong.
Or to show him that drinking was bad like Momma occasionally told him. As he opened the fridge door, he decided that if a truck drove into the house and if the driver of the demon truck was drunk, then he would graciously accept Momma's and God's advice and never drink another drop.
If.
He was also sure that in the morning Jared would deny that he actually giggled.
"What are you doin'? Jared mumbled as he fell down beside Jensen with a rather loud thud.
"So much damn food in here, can't find my fuckin' beer." He grumbled in response, glaring at the offending food. "Don' think there's no more."
"Maybe you mom threw 'em out to fit the…" Jared leaned forward to look closer, almost falling over from the effort. "Whatever that meat is."
"There's only meat in there." Jensen pointed out matter-of-factly, moving to close the door.
"Exactly."
Jensen didn't bother to question Jared's logic. Either it would make as much sense as his statement had made or it would still make no sense and last forever. And, really, his attention span was shit when he was wasted. Instead, he stood up and was confronted by the sight of his fucking car.
In his drunken state, he found the perfect plan to fix the damn problem for good. Somehow, he quickly made his way over to a pile of boxes that he had never bothered to unpack without stumbling or falling. Surprisingly, Jared was relatively quiet while he was rummaging through the boxes.
That was until he nearly yelled out: "Man, what are you doin' now?"
"Quiet, dude," he hissed, "Momma's sleepin', 'member? Fucker. 'm not sleeping on the porch when she kicks me out for you bein' a loud ass."
"You could sleep with me." Jared pointed out and one glance towards him proved that the idiot was wearing a giant grin. The guy was a smiling moron.
"Mhm. On the porch. Drunk. No drivin '. Momma's got our keys. No drivin'. Small town. No taxi. Means your loud ass wakes her up, we're both sleepin' on that damn porch."
"Oh… I'm quiet."
"Uh-huh." A moment later… "Yes!" He held the can out in his hands triumphantly.
"Dude, what'd you need spray paint for?" The fool questioned him. He merely took the cap off and pointed it at the offending car, raising his eyebrows and smiling like the damn genius he was.
"You're gonna paint your car with that?" Jensen nodded, waiting for Jared to acknowledge his brilliance. Waiting, patiently. "It's pink."
"So?"
"One can won't do the whole car."
"So?" This time he drew out the word, waiting for Jared to get to the point, because, like he said early, no attention span.
"You're gonna paint only a part?"
"Yes, Jared. I am." Then lowered the can of spray paint, glaring slightly.
"You wanna drive around with a hot pink patch on your green car?"
"No…"
"That's ugly."
"Yeah." Jensen sighed, dropping the can on the ground. He would come and pick it up later, when he was sober. "Fuck, man. It was a good idea."
"No, it wasn't," Jared mumbled as Jensen picked up the bucket he'd been using earlier. "You ain't startin' that shit again, are ya?"
Jensen didn't even bother to reply but that didn't stop Jared from talking, "I thought we gave up on that?"
"Nope. You did. I stopped because the chicken was done."
This time he didn't even have time to jerk before Jared's lips were on his. This time he really didn't care. He was drunk, so he wasn't annoyed, so everything was just fine in his books. It was much better than last time, as well… though that might have something to do with him not jerking away the minute Jared's lips touched his.
Surprisingly, the dude was a good kisser even if he was drunk off his ass. So was Jensen though so, that might be it as well. He didn't really care either way because he missed that about LA, surrounded by friends he knew and who knew him. People he trusted. They all knew he liked kissing and making out and really whatever when he was drunk. All his friends, who were thousands of miles away, knew and didn't mind. Were there to make sure he wasn't too far gone - though, to himself, he was pretty sure he'd never be so far gone that he'd just fuck random strangers.
Though, he should have guessed that kissing wouldn't keep Jared quiet. Beer was, apparently, the only thing in the world that kept him quiet. So, when Jensen was really starting to enjoy it, Jared pulls away and opens that gaping hole called a mouth. "I knew I'd get you. Knew I'd wear you down."
Then he had the nerve to lean in as if he hadn't said a word.
Jensen just fell back and laughed, and then laughed a bit harder when Jared actually pouted at him. It was almost enough to let him just keep kissing Jared, but he was laughing too hard. "You killed it, man. Your own damn fault. Next time I'm drunk, stay quiet."
Jared continued to pout at him, but it failed since he was trying to hold back his triumphant smile.
---
The next time Jensen opened his eyes, it was to the Darkness of his room and Jared's inhumanly long arms wrapped around him. He tried to wiggle away but only found Jared's arms tightening around him and his pointy knees hitting him in the ass. "Move over," he mumbled, wiggling more and only received a grunt in response when his elbow connected somewhere in Jared's gut. "Dude, 'm not a teddy bear."
"Mhm," Jared mumbled, trying to snuggle into his pillow, which just happened to be Jensen's neck.
"Why you holding onto me?"
"'Cause…can." A moment later, "sleepin'."
Jensen was about to settle with just pouting. He just wanted to go back to sleep and fighting Jared on the issue would mean there would be no more sleeping for him; he'd be wide awake. That was until he realized his legs were hanging off the bed. And he refused to wake up in thirty minutes to find himself face first on the floor. "Dude, scoot over, I'm hanging off the bed."
"Sorry," Jared mumbled before attempting to move.
It was a failed attempt, which Jensen should have expected. His bottom half scooted over just fine, making enough room for Jensen to put his legs back on his bed but his top half, just moved the other way… on top of him. "Jared. Move. Over." He hissed, trying to push him off of his chest.
"Sorry."
One moment, Jensen thought that he was going to get his wish and be able to go back to sleep and have some room and then the next he was flat on the floor.
Glaring at everything in general, he merely shook his head. He brought his hand up to his face, rubbing at it for a moment before standing up. Jared was sprawled across his bed, didn't even to seem to notice that he had knocked Jensen out of his own bed.
Yeah, not going to happen. If he was going to be wide awake, so was Jared.
He smiled softly at himself before launching himself at the middle of his bed, making sure his bony ass landed smack in the middle of Jared's gut. It actually wasn't like a leap, more like falling over, quickly, but it got the job done. He let out a short laugh when Jared jerked forward, nearly howling. Jared stopped the laughter though, his arms instantly wrapping around Jensen and flipping them over.
For the first time in his life, Jensen decided that he should think out his idea before actually pursuing them because the situation found Jared sprawled out on top of him. That was a bit comfortable, actually. The bad part was the fact that Jared thought it funny to tickle him.
It wasn't really funny.
Not for Jared either when Jensen's knee accidentally hit Jared's stomach. And it really was an accident.
Not that Jared let him get that out between the gasping for air and breathless laughter that was leaving him. And when they both landed on the floor, Jensen couldn't breathe because he felt as if Jared had crushed him, and Jared was just too busy laughing his huge ass off.
"Behave!" They heard Momma yell, from wherever she was in the house, "don't make me come up there!"
"He started it!" The two of them yelled in unison, a habit from childhood. Really, that was the only explanation for it because two grown men did not yell that out; so, yeah, Jensen blamed it on habit. He could blame the whole situation on habit id he wanted to, but then, people would be asking when his anti-social self had had friends over. So, he was just going to blame the response on habit.
"Did I ask who started it? I don't think so. Now, behave and don't break anything!"
"Yes, Ma'am."
Jared was still laughing though, staring down at Jensen, his knees basically straddling Jensen's thin body. "I think you coming down here has made her better."
"How bad was she before? She refused to tell me the truth… and the doctor that called me just said it would help her out, she wasn't doing too well." Jensen asked, shifting slightly to get comfortable because Jared showed no signs of moving.
"Not good. She was stiff, had trouble moving, when I first saw her. She started getting better but she was still tired all of the time. Staying downstairs most of the day and not leaving her bed if it was a bad day." Jared sighed softly, shaking her head. "She's much better than she was when I first started sitting with her."
"It's like she's not even sick right now," Jensen muttered, closing her eyes.
"Like I said, you being here has helped her. She's better. You gotta tell me what the doctor says at her next appointment."
Jensen nodded his head, smiling softly. He could trust Jared on this. If he said she was getting better, at least by outside views, then she was. Jared had been sitting with her for a while before he had moved back down here.
He just wished Momma would have contacted him earlier, let him know she needed him.
He jerked his eyes open when he felt Jared's lips against his, once more. He had to move his head to the side though; jerking back wasn't an option with the floor under his head. "Dude, I recall saying no."
"Didn't mind it too much last night, though."
Jensen laughed, pushing at Jared gently, wanting to sit up. "Yeah, wasn't too bad."
"Mhm."
To be honest, Jared was a good kisser even when they were both sober.
-4244
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A/N:
Believe it or not, this was supposed to be three parts.
Yeah, didn't quite turn out that way, did it? This has been done for a while… but like I said it was supposed to be three parts so I was kinda pouting and glaring at it. I could separate it but there's really no point and that would just be useless for you guys and for me.
The next part is already started, thank goodness and you guys can obviously see that I made a decision on exactly where they were going. Actually, I didn't make the decision because this part was suppose to be the damn thing I've been planning since like the second part but obviously the muse didn't agree with my ideas.
I hope you guys enjoyed this, I really do. Thank you so much for your lovely comments and hopefully I can get the next part out in a decent time.
Title: The Approaching Curve
Chapter: 1/1
Word Count: 4244
Rating: R
Disclaimer: The title is being politely borrowed from Rise Against. This is, obviously, fake and did not happen. I am merely borrowing the names and faces of real life people and none of this is meant in any way to harm their reputation. This is a work of fiction and nothing contained within is thought to be real.
Warning: Contains various remarks to sensitive material. The characters grew their own way and there are hints to events and/or diseases that I had not planned on; as of now, I have not planned to dig into these aspects but that does not mean that the character’s will force me to follow through.
Previous parts: / Are We Feeling Awkward Yet? // Leave Me At the Roadside // The Rose That has been Burnt by Her Son // Where Love is Divided by Hate
A/N: Written for Jellicle’s Ugly Duckling bunny. (And it has now morphed out of control and I’m more than happy that it did... because it’s been way too long that I’ve been able to write anything of substantial length.)
Summary: He had figured it would be easy to slip past everything and everyone; figured that with all the weight loss, he didn’t look like the same person. Then why is everyone noticing him, remembering him? And what made Jared change?
Usually, he would be glad for the fact that the weekend had come up. It meant there was time to sleep in. Today, he found himself glaring at the side of his car, a bucket of soap and water that was more than likely useless and a major headache gracing his presence.
The headache's name was Jared, who was standing over his shoulder, telling him it was a waste of time. As if he didn't know this.
The spray paint had already been dry when they found it on his car. The only other option he knew of was to get the car painted. Which wouldn't do until he found a job. So, he was determined to scrub the word off even if it meant rubbing his knuckles raw. Whether it would work or not wasn't the issue.
"Shut up," he hissed at Jared, slapping his wet hand to his forehead. His fingers rubbed at his temples while glaring at the loud fool. Gets him past drunk and then can't stop talking the next morning. "I didn't ask you to be here so if you don't like the way I'm doin' it, you can leave."
"Fine, be a stubborn moron. I don't care if you make yourself bleed to death."
His head would be sopping wet by the time he gave up on this if Jared didn't stop speaking soon; he couldn't help but grimace when his hand came up with soap against his forehead. "Now I know why you chose acting. You're a damn drama queen. I will not bleed to death through my damn knuckles, moron."
"Well, it's obvious that you're not getting all the nutrients that you need so you could be anemic and then…"
"Shut up!" It took him a moment to realize he'd just slammed his head into the door of his own car. There better not be a damn dent. "If you're going to keep talking, be useful. Did you find out if it was Brad or Steve? If it was Brad, I'll have his dumb ass pay to get this shit painted."
"And why wouldn't you get Steve to pay?"
"Because then he'd tell someone about the damn pictures and that's all I need. Then Brad and everyone else would be painting even better words on my poor fuckin' car."
One small glance over at Jared and he saw him rolling his eyes. "It wasn't Brad. He was surprised. Disappointed that he didn't do it."
"Asshole." Jensen mumbled, kicking the tire as if it was what was keeping the paint on the car.
"You were hoping it was Brad."
"Yeah, 'cause then I coulda gotten him to pay for it to get painted."
"And that you wouldn't have to grow any balls to report Steve for it."
Jensen took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before standing up. "I don't have any proof that it was Steve so this is a useless conversation. I thought we already went over the fact of you being useful."
"You do have proof. The store has cameras in the parking lot." Jared said, raising his eyebrows at Jensen as if he were waiting to hear what he had to say to that.
Jensen stepped closer to Jared, vowing that he would not hit the hulk of a man. "If I turn him in, next thing I know everyone'll know about everything. I don't want that."
"Why? Why would it hurt you to allow people to know instead of keeping it to yourself? And what makes you think he'd do that? They could incriminate him. God, Jensen, sometimes you're so fucking thick."
"Why would I want people to know what happened between me and him? I'm past it, over it. I haven't kept it to myself neither. My mother knows, your fucking ass knows. I'm lucky no one else knows with that big fucking mouth you have."
"You didn't comment on the fact that those pictures would prove what Steve did to you." Jared pointed out, his hand snapping out and grabbing Jensen's wrist before he could walk off.
"So what? Steve obviously isn't that fucking smart so it doesn’t mean he won't do it. And maybe he photo-shopped himself out of it? What the hell does it matter, anyways?"
Jared pulled his wrist closer, forcing Jensen to take a couple of stumbling steps, nearly falling into Jared. "Because then, if there was direct proof for everyone, you couldn't runaway from it."
Jensen laughed weakly, shaking his head, "Obviously, I'm not runnin' away from it. Otherwise, neither you nor Momma would know about it."
"You're not running away from it but you want to get the videos and pictures taken care of before anyone you know sees them?"
"That's not the reason. Besides, you want to do the same for Jake!"
"Jake's is already out there. It's on the court transcripts, in the pictures in the evidence, in the letters Steve wrote to him. You, you can say you were lying and no one would have any proof that you were just trying to lie to yourself."
"Jared…"
"Did you already try that? After you confessed to your mother? Did you try to take it back, make everything the way it was before?"
"Shut up…"
"There's no way anyone would find out unless they found out from your Momma. You don't tell anyone. Do your friends back in California know? When you leave here, when your mom's better, you'll go right back to pretending it never happened."
Now Jared's arm was around his waist, forcing him to stay there as he struggled to pull away. "Let go."
"Why do you care if people find out what the bastard did to you?" Jared asked instead, tightening his hold on Jensen. "Why does it matter?"
"Because it does. Go ask Jake if he'd rather of had no one know than what he faces now!"
"What does he face now? He's there because of what Steve did to him, because he can't cope, not with the fact that people know…"
"Fucking moron, people knowing factors into that. When people see him, they see what Steve did to him, not him. They think, 'poor kid' and shit like that!"
"I don't think that's why you don't want them to know. I think you're scared that they'll think you wanted it."
"Fuck you, Jared." He hissed, his breath was coming in uneven, struggling to be released but unwilling to actually harm Jared for the goal. "I wasn't like Jake. I didn't have friends! I went to school and then came home! The only person who spoke to me was Bertha and that was only because she was bigger than me! I was her only friend and she was mine and then no one noticed she'd fucking killed herself because of people like you making her life hell and then Steve came and I did want it at first! I was happy at first! So, fuck you, Jared, because I don't want people to know the fucking truth. Just… fuck you."
All he felt was Jared's arms tightening around him, pulling him in to his large chest; he's feet moving slightly, back and forth, rocking both of them. "Guess you didn't notice that I stopped making fun of you after her funeral."
It was a soft whisper, deep and comforting, quiet enough that Jensen didn't really hear it but understood it in a sense. The words hidden under his loud breathing and the deep tones of Jared's voice. Inside, he was freaking out, anxiety showing its ugly head a little too late to keep his mouth shut. He had never told that… just that it had happened. And now, in anger or something, he had blurted out the fact that he had liked it, at least at first. No matter how many times Momma pestered him to open up, no matter how any times the psychiatrists and psychologists questioned him, he had merely said it happened… a few times going into what had happened after he'd realized his stupidity, after he had told Steve no.
But never that he had gone into it willingly.
He was a stupid kid. He had taken the promise of attention, the promise of love… the promise of companionship with eager hands. He had wanted a friend and had misinterpreted Steve as one.
"When did you realize that what he was doing was wrong?" Jared asked softly, his hand resting on the small of Jensen's back, rubbing it gently.
He merely buried his face into Jared's chest, shaking his head slightly, taking the comfort it offered for a moment. "He started getting rougher. Got tired of telling him I didn't like some things that he was doing…" A deep breath, shaking his head and refusing to even think about them, "Told him I was done, that I wasn't going to see him anymore. He threw money at me and dared me to go to the cops, said no one would believed he'd ever touch me and they'd just arrest me for being a whore"
"You believed him?"
"For a while," Jensen mumbled before pulling away, shrugging Jared's comforting hand off, away from him.
He sighed softly, shaking his head at the car door, the word whore still staring back at him. "When did you stop?" Jared asked, his voice soft and curious as he leaned against Jensen's car, refusing Jensen access to scrub at it.
"Believing him?" Jensen sighed, shrugging his shoulders, pushing at the sponge that floated at the top; his eyes locked on the dirty yellow thing. "Dunno. I didn't, I guess. Momma only found out after I snatched her brandy. I was too drunk to lie when she demanded why."
"So, you just blurted it out?"
"Yeah, she slapped me and then after I sobered up, I tried to take it back. Don't even remember how I said it to make her slap me. Probably cursed too much."
"Probably all she heard until she went to bed."
"What did you do when you found out about Jake?" Jensen asked, standing up slowly, as if he'd become an old man.
"Punched him." Jared replied sadly, watching Jensen dry his hands off on the faded blue jeans he was wearing.
Jensen's head snapped up at that, confusion in his eyes. It was hard for him to believe that Jared had actually punched his brother, not with the way he seemed to care for the younger kid, "Why?"
All Jared could do was shrug, "He was high again and talkin' shit on Steve as usual… he was just our coach at the time. I woke up in the middle of the night, took me forever to understand exactly what he had said. I ran into his room and apologized for hittin' him."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Jared sighed, moving to stand closer to Jensen once more, his hand moving to rest on the bony shoulders that jutted out under the thin shirt. "I don't think Jake'll ever forget that."
"Probably already has. I don't blame Momma for slapping me. I was an ass for a while back then."
"You're still an ass, you know that, right?"
Jensen couldn't help but laugh softly at that, and looking over showed a smiling Jared, proud with himself for getting a laugh, no matter how small, from him and changing the depressing subject. So, Jared was good for some things… "No, I'm a very good son whose only issue was thinking it was a good idea to fight a giant in public."
Jensen smirked as Jared cleared his throat, "A giant who kicked your ass."
"Uh. No." His fingers pushed at Jared a little bit, jokingly, "I would call that a draw, what with the cops pulling as apart and all."
"We could always have a rematch?" Jared suggested, straightening his back to show his true height.
"No, you can not." They heard Momma yell from the kitchen, causing both of them to laugh.
Jensen really couldn't be bothered to wonder how much she had heard if she heard that. He couldn't be bothered caring about it. Either way, he wouldn't have to tell her. Maybe later he'd find it in himself to care but at the moment, that was just too much to put on his shoulders; so, he shoved it down and far away.
When he turned to look at Jared there was a weird look on his face, one that caused him to raise his eyebrows and take a step back. Before he could even realize it, Jared's lips were against his and that was, honestly, enough to make him jump back.
He threw his hands up in the air as he turned towards the door, laughing and shaking his head, "No."
That was another thing he was putting under the list of 'Not dealing with.'
---
Later, Jensen found that the only way to shut Jared up was beer. And he had no problem feeding the man's habit.
Jensen considered himself a rather easy drunk; not exactly a happy one but easy going. So, with more than a few beers under his belt, he wasn't really minding Jared's company anymore.
Honestly, who would? Jared was a fucking hilarious drunk. Tripping everywhere, stumbling for words and being completely oblivious to the rest of the world. Or, it might be the fact that Momma swatted him with a spoon before retreating to her bedroom. Teaches him to touch her ice cream.
If he had been an angry drunk, he would have already told Jared off because the guy was following him like a lost fucking puppy, one who hadn't learnt how to walk yet. But he wasn't; he actually mellowed out, losing most of his anger and actually found Jared's actions kind of cute and funny.
As he made his way to the fridge in the garage, Jared trailed behind Jensen, giggling when he thought he had said something funny. Jared was a happy drunk. A clinically insane, way past happy, type drunk.
Jensen was pretty sure that a truck could crash into the house and Jared would still find something to giggle about. Of course, that was an extreme example because no matter how drunk a person was, a truck crashing into the house would sober them up. Hopefully… because, at the moment, if that wasn't true, Jensen was sure the good Lord would shove a truck through Momma's kitchen wall to prove him wrong.
Or to show him that drinking was bad like Momma occasionally told him. As he opened the fridge door, he decided that if a truck drove into the house and if the driver of the demon truck was drunk, then he would graciously accept Momma's and God's advice and never drink another drop.
If.
He was also sure that in the morning Jared would deny that he actually giggled.
"What are you doin'? Jared mumbled as he fell down beside Jensen with a rather loud thud.
"So much damn food in here, can't find my fuckin' beer." He grumbled in response, glaring at the offending food. "Don' think there's no more."
"Maybe you mom threw 'em out to fit the…" Jared leaned forward to look closer, almost falling over from the effort. "Whatever that meat is."
"There's only meat in there." Jensen pointed out matter-of-factly, moving to close the door.
"Exactly."
Jensen didn't bother to question Jared's logic. Either it would make as much sense as his statement had made or it would still make no sense and last forever. And, really, his attention span was shit when he was wasted. Instead, he stood up and was confronted by the sight of his fucking car.
In his drunken state, he found the perfect plan to fix the damn problem for good. Somehow, he quickly made his way over to a pile of boxes that he had never bothered to unpack without stumbling or falling. Surprisingly, Jared was relatively quiet while he was rummaging through the boxes.
That was until he nearly yelled out: "Man, what are you doin' now?"
"Quiet, dude," he hissed, "Momma's sleepin', 'member? Fucker. 'm not sleeping on the porch when she kicks me out for you bein' a loud ass."
"You could sleep with me." Jared pointed out and one glance towards him proved that the idiot was wearing a giant grin. The guy was a smiling moron.
"Mhm. On the porch. Drunk. No drivin '. Momma's got our keys. No drivin'. Small town. No taxi. Means your loud ass wakes her up, we're both sleepin' on that damn porch."
"Oh… I'm quiet."
"Uh-huh." A moment later… "Yes!" He held the can out in his hands triumphantly.
"Dude, what'd you need spray paint for?" The fool questioned him. He merely took the cap off and pointed it at the offending car, raising his eyebrows and smiling like the damn genius he was.
"You're gonna paint your car with that?" Jensen nodded, waiting for Jared to acknowledge his brilliance. Waiting, patiently. "It's pink."
"So?"
"One can won't do the whole car."
"So?" This time he drew out the word, waiting for Jared to get to the point, because, like he said early, no attention span.
"You're gonna paint only a part?"
"Yes, Jared. I am." Then lowered the can of spray paint, glaring slightly.
"You wanna drive around with a hot pink patch on your green car?"
"No…"
"That's ugly."
"Yeah." Jensen sighed, dropping the can on the ground. He would come and pick it up later, when he was sober. "Fuck, man. It was a good idea."
"No, it wasn't," Jared mumbled as Jensen picked up the bucket he'd been using earlier. "You ain't startin' that shit again, are ya?"
Jensen didn't even bother to reply but that didn't stop Jared from talking, "I thought we gave up on that?"
"Nope. You did. I stopped because the chicken was done."
This time he didn't even have time to jerk before Jared's lips were on his. This time he really didn't care. He was drunk, so he wasn't annoyed, so everything was just fine in his books. It was much better than last time, as well… though that might have something to do with him not jerking away the minute Jared's lips touched his.
Surprisingly, the dude was a good kisser even if he was drunk off his ass. So was Jensen though so, that might be it as well. He didn't really care either way because he missed that about LA, surrounded by friends he knew and who knew him. People he trusted. They all knew he liked kissing and making out and really whatever when he was drunk. All his friends, who were thousands of miles away, knew and didn't mind. Were there to make sure he wasn't too far gone - though, to himself, he was pretty sure he'd never be so far gone that he'd just fuck random strangers.
Though, he should have guessed that kissing wouldn't keep Jared quiet. Beer was, apparently, the only thing in the world that kept him quiet. So, when Jensen was really starting to enjoy it, Jared pulls away and opens that gaping hole called a mouth. "I knew I'd get you. Knew I'd wear you down."
Then he had the nerve to lean in as if he hadn't said a word.
Jensen just fell back and laughed, and then laughed a bit harder when Jared actually pouted at him. It was almost enough to let him just keep kissing Jared, but he was laughing too hard. "You killed it, man. Your own damn fault. Next time I'm drunk, stay quiet."
Jared continued to pout at him, but it failed since he was trying to hold back his triumphant smile.
---
The next time Jensen opened his eyes, it was to the Darkness of his room and Jared's inhumanly long arms wrapped around him. He tried to wiggle away but only found Jared's arms tightening around him and his pointy knees hitting him in the ass. "Move over," he mumbled, wiggling more and only received a grunt in response when his elbow connected somewhere in Jared's gut. "Dude, 'm not a teddy bear."
"Mhm," Jared mumbled, trying to snuggle into his pillow, which just happened to be Jensen's neck.
"Why you holding onto me?"
"'Cause…can." A moment later, "sleepin'."
Jensen was about to settle with just pouting. He just wanted to go back to sleep and fighting Jared on the issue would mean there would be no more sleeping for him; he'd be wide awake. That was until he realized his legs were hanging off the bed. And he refused to wake up in thirty minutes to find himself face first on the floor. "Dude, scoot over, I'm hanging off the bed."
"Sorry," Jared mumbled before attempting to move.
It was a failed attempt, which Jensen should have expected. His bottom half scooted over just fine, making enough room for Jensen to put his legs back on his bed but his top half, just moved the other way… on top of him. "Jared. Move. Over." He hissed, trying to push him off of his chest.
"Sorry."
One moment, Jensen thought that he was going to get his wish and be able to go back to sleep and have some room and then the next he was flat on the floor.
Glaring at everything in general, he merely shook his head. He brought his hand up to his face, rubbing at it for a moment before standing up. Jared was sprawled across his bed, didn't even to seem to notice that he had knocked Jensen out of his own bed.
Yeah, not going to happen. If he was going to be wide awake, so was Jared.
He smiled softly at himself before launching himself at the middle of his bed, making sure his bony ass landed smack in the middle of Jared's gut. It actually wasn't like a leap, more like falling over, quickly, but it got the job done. He let out a short laugh when Jared jerked forward, nearly howling. Jared stopped the laughter though, his arms instantly wrapping around Jensen and flipping them over.
For the first time in his life, Jensen decided that he should think out his idea before actually pursuing them because the situation found Jared sprawled out on top of him. That was a bit comfortable, actually. The bad part was the fact that Jared thought it funny to tickle him.
It wasn't really funny.
Not for Jared either when Jensen's knee accidentally hit Jared's stomach. And it really was an accident.
Not that Jared let him get that out between the gasping for air and breathless laughter that was leaving him. And when they both landed on the floor, Jensen couldn't breathe because he felt as if Jared had crushed him, and Jared was just too busy laughing his huge ass off.
"Behave!" They heard Momma yell, from wherever she was in the house, "don't make me come up there!"
"He started it!" The two of them yelled in unison, a habit from childhood. Really, that was the only explanation for it because two grown men did not yell that out; so, yeah, Jensen blamed it on habit. He could blame the whole situation on habit id he wanted to, but then, people would be asking when his anti-social self had had friends over. So, he was just going to blame the response on habit.
"Did I ask who started it? I don't think so. Now, behave and don't break anything!"
"Yes, Ma'am."
Jared was still laughing though, staring down at Jensen, his knees basically straddling Jensen's thin body. "I think you coming down here has made her better."
"How bad was she before? She refused to tell me the truth… and the doctor that called me just said it would help her out, she wasn't doing too well." Jensen asked, shifting slightly to get comfortable because Jared showed no signs of moving.
"Not good. She was stiff, had trouble moving, when I first saw her. She started getting better but she was still tired all of the time. Staying downstairs most of the day and not leaving her bed if it was a bad day." Jared sighed softly, shaking her head. "She's much better than she was when I first started sitting with her."
"It's like she's not even sick right now," Jensen muttered, closing her eyes.
"Like I said, you being here has helped her. She's better. You gotta tell me what the doctor says at her next appointment."
Jensen nodded his head, smiling softly. He could trust Jared on this. If he said she was getting better, at least by outside views, then she was. Jared had been sitting with her for a while before he had moved back down here.
He just wished Momma would have contacted him earlier, let him know she needed him.
He jerked his eyes open when he felt Jared's lips against his, once more. He had to move his head to the side though; jerking back wasn't an option with the floor under his head. "Dude, I recall saying no."
"Didn't mind it too much last night, though."
Jensen laughed, pushing at Jared gently, wanting to sit up. "Yeah, wasn't too bad."
"Mhm."
To be honest, Jared was a good kisser even when they were both sober.
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A/N:
Believe it or not, this was supposed to be three parts.
Yeah, didn't quite turn out that way, did it? This has been done for a while… but like I said it was supposed to be three parts so I was kinda pouting and glaring at it. I could separate it but there's really no point and that would just be useless for you guys and for me.
The next part is already started, thank goodness and you guys can obviously see that I made a decision on exactly where they were going. Actually, I didn't make the decision because this part was suppose to be the damn thing I've been planning since like the second part but obviously the muse didn't agree with my ideas.
I hope you guys enjoyed this, I really do. Thank you so much for your lovely comments and hopefully I can get the next part out in a decent time.