Fic: Behind Every Dark Cloud, There's a Rainbow (Eventually) Part 1

[lissa_ann]

Jensen Ackles walked into the mostly empty classroom, wondering if this was really the right thing to be doing.

He had no idea why he agreed to this class that his therapist had suggested. She thought it would be a good idea for him learn about journaling when she found out that it was offered, thought it would be a good idea for him to be around people, maybe make a friend or two. He was unsure that would actually happen, as Jensen chose to be by himself by nature, but it couldn't really hurt, he supposed. It was also to bring some structure to his day, which currently he was lacking. He walked into the classroom and grabbed a seat in the corner, away from everyone else. As he glanced through his notebook, someone came over and sat down next to him.

"Hey, I'm Jared Padalecki," the man said, holding out his hand.

Jensen gave a tight smile and shook his hand. "I'm sure that last name's spelled just the way it sounds."

Jared laughed. "It's not that bad, really." He paused and looked down. "So you are…?"

"Jensen."

Jared waited a moment to see if Jensen would continue. "And, uh…do you have a last name, Jensen?"

Jensen looked down. "Ackles," he said softly, Jared barely hearing him.

"So, you ready for this thing to start?"

Jensen shifted in his seat and looked at the ground, shrugging. "Well, that's why we're here, right?"

"Have you ever been to one of these?"

Jensen shook his head.

"What brought you here?"

He just turned and stared, not answering the question.

"Sorry, man, didn't mean to pry."

"It's okay."

"Don't talk much, do you?"

Jensen shook his head.

"Huh. Well, it's the quiet ones you have to look out for." He chuckled. "Wanna go get a drink after class?"

"I don't know," Jensen hedged.

"C'mon. I won't bite, I swear."

"Um, not to be rude, but why me?"

Jared smiled a million watt smile, showing his dimples. "You look like you could use a friend."

"That pathetic, huh?"

"Nah. Just looked around and thought you were the most interesting." He chuckled. "I'm sorry. I know I come on a little strong. I'll leave you alone, if you want."

Jensen paused for a few minutes. "Yeah, I guess one drink can't hurt. Can't promise much talking."

"Fair enough." With that, the teacher entered the room and called the class to attention.

What have I gotten myself into with this? Jensen thought. Maybe if I don't talk, he'll lose interest. His attention turned to the teacher, Mr. Ward, and his introduction.

The hour and a half passed fairly quickly. They had talked about reasons people keep journals, going around the class and getting everyone's answers. As usual, Jensen hedged and simply said, "To remember what happens". Mr. Ward suggested that one of the things the class should do is go out and purchase a new journal, one they felt really reflected them and what they wanted from their journals.

When the teacher dismissed the class, Jared looked over at Jensen. "You ready?"

Jensen nodded.

"Bar? Coffee? Pick your poison."

Jensen didn't even really have to think about it. There was no way he was going to drink in front of a complete stranger. "Coffee sounds good."

"Cool. I know this awesome place not far away. Let's walk." Not really knowing the neighborhood, Jensen followed him down the block. Jensen decided on a latte and Jared picked decaf. "You'll thank me, honest." He reached in his pocket to get his wallet. "Let me get this, since I dragged you out here."

"It's just a cup of coffee."

"So it's no problem then, is it?"

"Thanks."

Jared added a brownie to his selection and paid. They found a quiet table in a corner. "So…,"

"So."

"Where are you from? Sounds like you're from the south."

"Richardson, Texas. Came to here for college and just stayed."

"Huh! I'm from San Antonio! How weird."

"What brought you to Connecticut?"

"Same thing - college. I got my Bachelor's in education and now I'm completing my Master's. Working as a TA to try and pay the bills."

"Master's, huh? Trying to get on the fast track to some professorship or something?"

Jared shrugged. "My mom is a teacher and I wanted to follow in her footsteps. She teaches high school, which I've thought about. I'm working with the talented and gifted kids right now." He took a sip of his coffee. "So what do you do?"

Jensen paused and looked away. "I, uh, am…between jobs right now."

"Ouch. That's always tough."

"I'm surviving."

"But what did you go to college for?"

"Got my Bachelor's in nursing."

"Oh! I thought nurses were always needed."

Jensen ducked his head. "They are. I'm just…,"

"Hey, I'm prying again. Sorry."

"It's okay. I'm just taking a break."

Jared nodded. "Sometimes it's just needed."

Jensen took a few more sips of his drink. "Why are you taking the class?"

Jared shrugged with a smile. "I just like taking classes, especially classes like this where there are no grades. Just want to work on my journaling. I have trouble sometimes working on it and was hoping that I might be able to get some new ideas to help me." They sat in silence for a few minutes as they finished their drinks.

"So, I know I asked before and I heard what you said in class, but since you didn't answer me - why are you taking this class?"

"Didn't my answer in class cover it?"

"Sure there's nothing more?"

"Like what?"

"I get this funny feeling like this wasn't your idea."

"What makes you think that?"

"Just a hunch."

"Well, your hunch is wrong," Jensen responded pointedly.

Jared took a minute and smiled. "Well, this was interesting, Jensen. Give it another shot next week?"

"Yeah, maybe. Not nearly as painful as I expected it to be."

Jared laughed out loud. "What, did you think I was going to torture you or something?"

Jensen smiled. "No. I'm just…not used to being social. It's been a long time."

"Well, it's about time that changed." They both stood. "Do you know how to get back to campus?"

Jensen nodded. "See you later this week?"

"Count on it," Jared answered. With that, Jared walked out the door. Jensen headed out to his car to head home, proud of himself for taking the chance on going with Jared.



Jensen went to his favorite bookstore to see if any of the journals they had felt like the right one to him. After spending nearly an hour there, he found a sturdy, leather-bound book, thick with lined pages inside and instantly, he had the feeling that this was it.

Even though it isn't the book Mr. Ward recommended, he chose to buy one that had more ideas for how to write in a journal. Jensen realized that this journal was mostly for his therapy, but he got stuck more than once, not knowing what to write about, so he took a chance. He had nothing to lose.

Once at home, he started. He stared at the first page, trying to figure out how to where to begin.



September 5

God, now I remember how hard it is to journal. Why did I tell Tracy I'd take this class?

This strange guy came up to me before class today and introduced himself, right out of the blue. I was sitting in a back corner, keeping to myself and he just walked right up to me, said, 'hi, my name is Jared' and stuck out his hand. When I asked him why me, he said that it looked like I needed a friend.

Am I really that needy and pathetic looking? Jared said no, but I don't believe him.



It was 10 o'clock in the morning when Jensen woke up. It was that day of the week. He sighed as he climbed out of bed and into the shower. He decided he would stop for breakfast before his appointment, since he wasn't sure when he would eat next. Jensen really hated the days he had sessions with Tracy.

He got out of the shower, toweled off and got dressed. Jeans and an old t-shirt was fine; he had been seen in worse. Since he wasn't working, Jensen didn't worry too much about what he looked like.

He stopped at Starbucks for a venti mocha breve and a muffin. He sat in the café, taking a few minutes to compose himself and take a breath before getting back in the car and driving a few blocks down the street. He pulled into the driveway, parked and entered the brick building, going to office 116. He sat in the small waiting room, picking up and reading a magazine until the door opened.

"Jensen?" Her smile was soft and warm. "C'mon in."

He followed her into the office. "I don't want to be here today, Trace."

"Tell me why not," the woman prompted, sitting down near Jensen.

Trace was Tracy Parker, his therapist. He had been seeing Tracy for over two years. He knew that she had helped him through a lot over the past two years, but there were just some days he didn't want to have to do the work he needed to do. "Chris is worried about me and being a pain in the ass."

"You know that he only has your best interests at heart."

"He doesn't need to worry. I'm better now. Well, for the most part."

"Uh-huh. So, let's talk about the journaling class," she asked abruptly. She wanted him to share what he wrote during his sessions.

Since he'd only gotten to do one entry thus far, he told her about it from memory. "So, what do I do?"

"What do you mean, what do you do? How about spending some time with him, getting to know him, becoming a friend? I hate to tell you this, Jensen, but you could really use one or two who live around here. You should get back in touch with Steve, too."

"Don't go there, Trace."

"Why not? We've never really talked about why you haven't called him since you got back."

"We grew apart while I was…there."

"In six weeks? You two grew apart in six weeks? You've known each other for over seven years."

"Yeah, well. Guess that's just the way the ball bounces, you know?"

"Has he tried to call you?"

Jensen looked down at the floor and didn't answer.

"Jensen?"

"What?"

"Has Steve tried to call you?"

"I haven't been answering my phone," he mumbled almost inaudibly.

"Why are you avoiding him?"

"I'm angry at him, okay? Pissed as hell at him. Now let's talk about something else."

"No, Jensen. Why are you angry at him?"

"I'm not going to talk about this."

"You need to."

"No. Anything else, fine. But not this."

"Jensen."

Jensen sat there for the rest of the session, Tracy trying to get him to engage. He didn't utter another word and left the office in silence.

Tracy sighed. This was going to mark a difficult time for Jensen and she knew he'd start cancelling again. She wrote notes in his chart and wished there was more she could do. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink, she thought to herself. Cliché, yes, but incredibly true were Jensen was concerned.



September 6

Why? Why does Tracy keep bringing these kinds of things up?

Sure, I miss Steve. I miss him a lot, more than I'd like to admit to be honest. How can I just call him out of thin air when he stopped talking to me when I was in the hospital? I heard it in his voice, heard the change and shift in tone telling me I shared too much. Like always. This is what I figured would happen. It's not like I want to lose a friend. Okay, Trace, you're right. I can't really afford to lose friends, with Chris in Delaware and not able to come up and see me.

But that's the whole point, right? The hospitalization was for my own safety, but in sharing why I was in the hospital, I lost Steve. He didn't want to hear that I wanted to hurt myself or kill myself. It was too much for him. Hell, I'm surprised it hadn't happened sooner. I'm sure he had to have some kind of clue while we were working together.

Should I really call him? I just don't know.



Jensen wasn't sure he knew what to do about Jared. He had absolutely no idea why Jared would be interested in him of all people. Part of him wanted to skip class altogether - if he wasn't there, Jared would just forget about him, right? Could he really be that lucky? Probably not. With Jared introducing himself, Jensen had the feeling that he was persistent. Maybe if he showed up just before class, not giving Jared any chance to talk to him? That was a possibility.

He drove to the college and sat in his car until five minutes before class started, then headed in. Jared was sitting right where he was the last class, across from where Jensen had chosen to sit. The instructor had followed Jensen in, so he gave Jared a tight smile and sat down.

After about 20 minutes, Jared leaned over and put a piece of paper on Jensen's desk. Jensen looked over at him, puzzled. Jared nodded his head in the direction of the piece of paper and mouthed the words "read it".

Jensen unfolded the piece of paper.

hey,

why were you late today? everything okay? drink after class? J

Jared gave him a note? Like this was high school? Jensen looked over at him. "Are you serious?" he mouthed back. Jared nodded. Jensen picked up his pen and wrote back.

everything is fine. i don't know about today. kinda tired. He handed it back to Jared.

Jared nodded and scribbled something back on the note.

talk after class. The paper landed on his desk. Jensen did his best to ignore Jared for the rest of the time.

The topic of this particular class was the suggestion for one of the easiest ways to journal - stream of consciousness writing. Jensen was already mostly aware of this, it was pretty much how he journaled to begin with.

When the instructor dismissed them, Jared reached over and tugged on Jensen's arm as he stood.

"Yeah?"

"So…coffee?"

"You know, Jared, I've kinda got a lot going on…,"

Jared stood. "Hey, c'mon. What's wrong?"

Jensen sighed. "I barely even know you."

"Exactly. All the more reason we should hang out. So that you can get to know me better! To know me is to love me."

"I don't…I don't really get along with people."

"How about you give it a shot? You never know what might happen," and then there was that million watt smile again. "Let's go catch the baseball game on TV at my favorite bar. Dying to know how the Rangers are faring against the Red Sox."

Jensen wavered a little bit. He did like baseball. "Okay. Just part of the game, though."

"Great! Come with me or by yourself?"

"By myself."

"Let's go, then." They walked over to their cars. "It's not far," Jared told him. Jensen started his car and fell in behind Jared.

Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up in front of the bar. A loud cheer greeted them as they walked in the door. "Uh-oh. Sox must be winning." Jared shouted over to Jensen. "How about a beer?"

"Soda. Need to keep my head clear." In truth, Jensen was dying for a beer, but knew that he shouldn't because of the medication he was on.

"Sure thing." Jared went up to the bar and returned with a beer and a coke. They grabbed a seat at a table in the back of the bar, which was a little quieter.

"Great, thanks." Jensen took a drink. "Been coming here long?"

"Yeah. Me and my friends come here on weekends to drink and play some pool. Nothing big, better than just staying at home, ya know?"

"What, no girlfriend?"

"Uh…no," Jared answered with a smile and a glint in his eye.

"Oh." Jensen said uncomfortably. "Boyfriend?"

"Not at the moment. How about you? Got a girlfriend?"

"Uh, no. Unattached. Probably for a while," Jensen answered, vaguely.

"What makes you say that?"

Jensen looked away. "Not in a 'dating' place."

"Ah, so someone broke your heart not long ago."

Jensen blushed. "Um, kinda. Yeah."

"See, here I go again, prying. Sorry. It's just the way I am sometimes."

"Look, I think I'm going to head home."

"Oh." Jared sounded disappointed. "Okay, well, maybe we could get together during the week or something."

"Yeah, maybe," Jensen replied.

"Here, here's my cell number." Jared scribbled it down on a piece of paper for him. "If you're feeling bored or lonely or whatever, just give me a call. I'm always good for some beer and pizza, no matter what time of day."

"Cool. Well, if nothing else, I'll see you in class in a couple of days."

"Count on it."

"Thanks, Jared. I'll talk to you later."



September 7

Stream of consciousness writing? What other way is there to journal?

Okay. Well, let's go here.

Jared. J-A-R-E-D.

Nope. Nothing coming to mind on that topic.

This is really just an exercise in starting to write and seeing where it goes. Where you'll wind up. I've never really appreciated this type of journaling, It doesn't make sense to me. What's so important about journaling about what you think without thinking it?

My mind is a blank right now. I'm trying hard to push through all this resistance, but I'm not getting anywhere. Sounds like what happens sometimes with Tracy. We sit there and sit there and we just go around in a circle over the same topic. We never seem to come to an ending place for some of our sessions. Sometimes I walk in with an agenda, and sometimes I walk in blank, like I am right now. Sometimes I wish she wouldn't talk to me about some issues because, fuck, there are just some things I don't want to talk about, no matter how important they may be. She doesn't get it that when I don't want to talk about something, I mean it. If I talk about it, I have to think about it and if I have to think about it, it won't let me go for a very long time. Then I'm stuck inside my head, and it's nearly impossible to get out. Sometimes when I'm like that I'll call Chris, but for the most part, I'll just suffer with it. That's one of the reasons I'm taking this class, probably, so that I can see if writing will help keep my mind out of trouble.

I guess I had more to say than I thought. Mr. Ward said to try and write for five minutes, and that's about how long I've been writing, so I'm going to wrap this up.



Jared sat on his couch, TV on in the background as he began to sketch in his journal. He wasn't the world's greatest artist, but he liked to sketch and people had told him before that he was pretty good. He didn't even realize it to begin with, but he started sketching Jensen's face. He closed his eyes, trying to bring his features into focus. Suddenly the phone rang, making Jared jump and disrupted his drawing. "Hello?"

"Jared?"

"Yeah. Jensen?"

"How'd you know it was me?"

"I recognized the sound of your voice." He chuckled. "So what's up?"

"What are you up to this afternoon?"

"Nothing, so far. Just spending some time with my journal."

"You, uh, wanna get together? Maybe grab a late lunch?"

"Sure! I've lost track of time, so I haven't eaten yet. There's a little deli not far from my place. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

Jared gave Jensen the address, which he punched into his GPS. Twenty minutes later, he found the store and Jared already inside. "Jensen!" Jared called out.

Jensen walked over to where Jared was standing. Jared leaned in and gave Jensen a hug. Jensen froze, not sure what to do. He never had a lot of physical contact in his life, so he didn't know how to react.

Jared, realizing that Jensen was sort of uncomfortable, let go quickly.

They both checked the menu. "Let me get this one, Jared."

"If you insist," Jared smiled broadly. He placed his order with Jensen following. They waited a few minutes for their sandwiches to be made and then grabbed a table in the back of the room. "So why'd you call today?"

Jensen shrugged. "Just taking a chance, I guess. I was just sitting around at home and wanted to get out of the apartment."

"Well, I'm glad you did." Jared took a bite of his sandwich. "You have a hard time making friends, don't you?"

Reluctantly, Jensen nodded. "I don't trust very easily. I…," he took a deep breath, "I've been hurt a lot in the past. And now, I kinda don't see the point."

"Wow." He tried to make eye contact with Jensen. "Hey, c'mon. Don't write everybody off. Some people really do enjoy being friends."

"Why me, Jared?"

"I told you. It looked like you could use a friend."

"How could you tell?"

"Just that look on your face. The look like you're all alone and scared and wary. Kinda like a puppy that's been kicked too many times."

"Kicked puppy, huh?"

Jared smiled softly. "I just think you need some time and a friend. Journaling is okay, but sometimes you just need a shoulder and some chocolate to deal with things."

"Do you always do this? Just introduce yourself to complete strangers?"

"I've been known to. Haven't regretted it yet."

"Huh. Wow. Maybe I've just had a ton of bad luck."

"Maybe." They both finished their lunches. "How about some ice cream?" Jared suggested.

Jensen looked at his watch. An hour and a half had passed and he hadn't even realized they'd been talking that long. "Yeah, sure. I mean, who says no to ice cream?"

They walked down the street a few buildings. They entered the relatively empty ice cream parlor. They both got waffle cones and headed back out to walk.

"What's it like, being you?"

Jared let out a loud laugh. "What do you mean?"

"What's it like to just go up to random people and introduce yourself? What's it like to have a lot of friends?"

"It's awesome. Both things. You never know who you're going to meet and you never know how they're going to impact your life. My friends are great. Always have someone to talk to, always have someone to go do things with. We have fun together, introduce me to things they think I might like and make me feel better when I'm feeling down." He paused. "What's it like to not have friends?"

"I don't know. I've gotten used to doing a lot of things by myself. Sometimes the quiet and being alone helps."

"What do you do when things get tough?"

"I have one friend who's down in Delaware. We talk by instant messenger and by phone sometimes. We try and see each other every couple of months. He's on the road a lot, he has a band, so it's kinda tough a lot of the time. He can usually take a couple of minutes and talk to me, though."

"That's gotta be tough, though. What about people you work with?"

"Well, I'm not working right now, so…"

"Oh, right. Well, how about the people you used to work with?"

"Nah. I had one friend, Steve, but we…," Jensen took a moment to try to decide the best way to explain it without telling him his whole past, "drifted apart. We spent six weeks apart, with almost no contact and, well, that was pretty much it."

"You haven't tried to get back in touch with him?"

Jensen shrugged.

"Did he do something to hurt you? Why did you just let him go?"

Jensen cleared his throat. "You know, I'm kinda getting uncomfortable with this."

"I didn't mean to pressure you. Sorry."

"It's okay. I haven't been very…forthcoming with you."

"Is there anything I can do to make you trust it, you know, better?"

He shook his head. "No, not really. It just takes some time. I can't explain it. I'll know when it's time."

Jared nodded. "I have a tendency to trust until I'm proven wrong."

"Hasn't that hurt you?"

"Eh, sometimes. But more often than not, it was worth the effort."

They walked along the street quietly for a few minutes. "I should, uh, probably go," Jensen said.

"Really? So soon?"

"Yeah, I…well, I…"

"What?"

"I need to get some stuff done before class today. Need to spend sometime journaling, you know."

"Yeah." Jared sounded slightly disappointed. "You sure?"

"Yeah," Jensen answered. "I'll see you again at class today and then maybe we can get together a little later this week."

"Yeah? Really?"

"I had…um, I've had a good time today."

"Awesome." He pulled Jensen into another hug.

Jensen tried to relax into the hug, but just wasn't able to. "Hey, not to be a jerk or anything, but think we could keep the contact to a minimum? I'm not real comfortable with it."

"Oh, man, I'm sorry. I don't even think sometimes, I just hug. I'm a very touch-y kind of person." He put out his hand. "Had a great time, Jensen."

Jensen shook Jared's hand. "Me too."

"See you later today?"

Jensen nodded. "Yeah. I'll be there." He turned and walked back to his car. Jared waved as Jensen drove off.



September 8

I spent some time with Jared today. He's pretty amazing. He has, like, no problem just walking up to random people and introducing himself. I asked him what that was like, what it was like to have so many friends. He said it felt good, that he liked having people to talk and do things with. I could never do what he does. I could never put myself out there, just opening myself to being hurt. After everything…after losing Kevin and then losing Steve while I was there, I don't see the point, and I told him that. He asked me what it was like to not have friends. I told him a little about Chris. He asked if I had any friends from where I worked. I kinda told him about Steve, but just told him we grew apart after spending six weeks with almost no contact. Which is the truth.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have him back in my life again. He was so freaked, though. And angry. And that's why I don't tell people. I can't handle people being angry at me. Anger ends a friendship, no matter what the cause. Because once they're angry, then they get fed up, and once they get fed up, they leave.

I told Jared we'd get together again soon. He seemed really happy to hear that. And I'll see him today at class. So, we'll see.



Jensen ran into Jared in the hallway outside of the classroom.

"Hey, dude. Get all the things you needed to get done, done?"

"Yeah, for the most part. I needed to make some phone calls, which meant I left a lot of messages but no one got back to me. It's frustrating."

"You mean friends? Or business?"

"Business, for the most part. Needed to straighten some things out with my savings. Didn't have as much as I should have, and found out why."

"Did you try to call Steve today?"

Jensen stilled. He didn't think that Jared would remember that. Damn it, Jensen thought. Really got to watch what I say around him. He's got a good memory and appears like he uses it. "No. He works second shift and today's one of the days he works."

"Maybe tomorrow?" Jared offered.

"I don't know. We'll see."

"You're uncomfortable about this."

Jensen nodded.

"Okay. I'll drop it. I just want you to give it a chance. It's really not as bad as you think it might be."

They walked into the classroom and took their seats. Jared opened up his journal to his most recent entry.

Jensen happened to look over as Jared opened his book. There was a sketch on the page that he was able to see. "Hey, you sketch?"

Jared blushed and closed his journal. "Yeah, sometimes."

"Why did you close it?"

"Um, well…," Jared stuttered. Jensen had never seen him flustered like this. "I didn't want anyone to see it yet."

"C'mon. Let me see. It's only fair, what with me spending time with you and all."

Jared reluctantly opened the book, holding it up for Jensen to see.

Jensen stared at the drawing for a few minutes. "That's…me," he said, surprised.

Jared nodded. "I'm sorry. I just started drawing, and you were the first thing that came to mind."

"Me?"

Just as Jared was about to answer, the instructor came into the room and called the class to order. Jared wrote talk after class under the picture and Jensen nodded.

The class flew by with some suggestions and discussion on prompts for journaling. Before they knew it, they were dismissed. They both stood. "How about coffee?" Jared asked.

"Are you going to tell me about the sketch?"

"With caffeine, I will," Jared grinned.

"Lead on, then."

They headed to the coffee shop down the block and took a table in the back corner.

Jared blushed, but it was hard to see in the darkened café. "I just closed my eyes…and your face and features just…appeared." He looked down. "My sketches are generally random, but this was after one of our classes. You didn't notice, but I was kind of staring at you."

"Why?"

"You've got a beautiful profile."

It was Jensen's turn to blush. "Um, no."

"You're not going to win this one, Jensen. You really do. Look."

Jensen studied the picture for a few minutes. "You're just a good sketcher."

"I had a good source to sketch from."

"Oh, so now I'm a source?" Jensen said with a chuckle.

"You know what I mean. Would you prefer model?"

"No, source is okay." Jensen took a sip of coffee. "Dude, if I didn't know any better, I might think you had a bit of an obsession with me."

Jared stared into his coffee. "Jen…can I call you Jen?" Jensen nodded. "I don't see many people like you. You're just this…puzzle with all these pieces and I want to see if I can put the puzzle together. I'd like to see the picture it makes. And I really just want to be your friend."

Jensen was silent for a bit. "Jared, you have no idea what you would be getting yourself into."

"So then tell me. Tell me what I'm getting myself into and let me decide."

Jensen shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"Because. It's… complicated. I've just got some issues that I need to work out right now." Jensen paused. "By myself."

"Big deal. You've got some problems - everyone does!"

"But my problems are just that - my problems. They're too big to share."

"You've pushed a lot of people away, haven't you?"

"I guess. I just don't know how to be a friend, I guess."

"Well, I'd say you're off to a good start with me so far. Let's figure out the steps. Number one, hanging out with each other. Check. Next would be to talk. Like really sit down and talk. How about me first?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"I'll tell you what. It's kind of late tonight. How about we get together tomorrow and just talk. We'll order some pizza, drink a six pack of coke and talk about ourselves. How does that sound?"

"I don't know." Jensen took a deep breath. "I'm scared, Jared."

"Yeah, I get that. But honestly, I'm not gonna bite or anything. I just want to learn what makes you tick. Not in a bad way, not like I'm trying to piss you off or anything. Wanna know all about you. Whatever you want to tell me."

"You're asking a hell of a lot."

"I'll back off if I'm hitting too close to home. You know I will. Have I pushed when you tell me you don't want to talk?"

"Okay. True. When did you want to get together?"

"Around lunchtime?"

"Okay."

"Call me if something comes up."

"Okay." Jensen finished his coffee. "Good night, Jared."

"Night, Jen. I'm looking forward to tomorrow." With that, Jared left the coffeehouse with Jensen not far behind.

Part Two