Title: turn the bend
Author: Puchuupoet
Pairing: Jensen/Jared, gen Chad/Jared
Word Count: ~2200
Rating: pg (language)
Disclaimer: Not mine, never happened, completely fictional.
Notes: Whee Christmas fic! (and oh thank god for finally finishing something lol) And it turned out longer and more adorable than originally planned, but Chad does that to me. Many thanks to
playthefool for the beta and feedback ♥
Jared wakes up to pine needles brushing against his forehead. When he tries to move away an arm tightens around his waist and he's reminded of the night before and why he's curled up on a mattress underneath the Christmas tree.
"Stop it." The words are mumbled warm against the middle of his back. The stubble tickles against Jared's skin and a shiver runs down his spine.
"Why?" he whispers back, not wanting to break the morning quiet.
"Still mine." The words are rough with sleep but Jared can feel how Chad's body tenses against him.
He focuses on the tree in front of him instead of replying, at the scattered pine needles spread over the cheap tree skirt they had picked up at Target. The area under the tree is empty, which is the only way Jared's able to fit his head under the low hanging branches.
They had opened presents last night, the first time doing so in all the years they've known each other. It had been slightly awkward, Jared feeling guilty whenever Chad glanced at the clock or at the darkness outside.
Jared had offered up the mattress last night without really thinking it through. His mind had latched on to the first Christmas they had spent together, both determined to see Santa. They had convinced Jared's mom to let them drag his mattress down to the living room to keep watch, but Jared just remembers waking up to a pile of presents and Chad wolfing down the rest of the cookies.
Chad's breath evens out against Jared's back and Jared finds himself falling back asleep. He's almost there, the glow of the tree lights soft through his eyelids when suddenly Chad's hand is sliding up Jared's chest to tweak his nipple.
"Ow, dammit." Jared struggles to get away but Chad throws a leg over his hip in response. "What the fuck was that for?"
"Cause you're a dick." Chad's voice is harsher now as he mouths at the back of Jared's neck.
"What? Bullshit. I got you a coffee maker."
Chad snorts out a laugh against him and Jared can feel the reverberations in Chad's belly against his lower back. Chad sobers quickly though, and his fingers are cautious when they tighten against Jared's abs.
"Just don't tell me it isn't weird." Chad's quieter than Jared's used to, and Jared takes advantage of that to twist around. The covers have been pushed down to Jared's waist and Chad's leg gives easily, allowing Jared to face him. He reaches down with his free hand to pull the covers back up over them both, the apartment chilly in the early morning.
"You had me all last night." Jared's words sound weak even to his own ears and Chad just raises his eyebrow at him. "Yeah, it is," he finally admits, trying not to feel like he's betraying Jensen as he reassures himself and Chad.
"So why then?"
Jared pauses. "Cause Jensen's becoming important to me as well."
"Is that why you're moving in together?"
"Who told you that?"
Chad shakes his head. "It's fucking obvious, man. Which is why we're sleeping in the living room with you trying to wedge yourself under the tree for me. So you can hang out with him in the morning and have the talk and finally get it off both of your chests."
"'m sorry..." Jared's not sure of what else to say.
Chad's shaking his head before Jared finishes his sentence. "Don't apologize."
Jared's caught up in Chad's gaze, bright eyes boring into him. "What's that mean?"
"Are we splitting you on alternate holidays after this as well? Cause if we are you have to tell me now, so I can make sure your backpack's packed before he gets here." Chad keeps his tone vague and Jared notices how Chad avoids his question.
Jared's cautious. "That part's up to you, really."
"Jensen doesn't care?"
"Jensen doesn't want to intrude."
"Huh." Chad leans his forehead against Jared's chest, shifting his hips closer until they're pressed together in a tight line. Jared slides a leg up until his toes brush against Chad's and he wriggles them until Chad huffs out a laugh.
"Bastard," he murmurs. "I'll catch up to you soon enough. You'll stop growing eventually."
"Not even," Jared replies, closing his eyes and resting his head against Chad's. "What time is it?"
"Time for you to shut up." Chad butts his head up against Jared's chin. "Savor the moment, dumbass."
"But Jensen's coming over..." Jared pulls back to glare at Chad.
"Late morning, right? Taken care of." Chad frees an arm from the blankets, reaching up to tangle in Jared's hair. He pulls Jared close again, til his mouth is damp against the shell of Jared's ear. "Do I have to blow you or something to get you to go back to sleep?" Chad nips at his earlobe. "Trust me already."
Jared does his best to relax again, loose-limbed and shifting closer until Chad's happily tangled around him. He falls asleep quickly, his face caught between a pillow and Chad's arm as Chad hums against his neck.
---
There's a soft morning sweetheart being whispered in his ear, and Jared stretches out, rolling over towards the voice. A moment later and his phone's vibrating, tight against his hip bone where it's been stuffed into the elastic of his boxers. Jared jumps at the sensation, his hair catching in the branches as pine needles fall and cover him.
He closes his eyes against the barrage of sharp leaves, only starting to open them when an amused bark of laughter catches his attention. It takes a moment for his mind to catch up, but once he realizes it's just Chad, he rolls back over.
His phone goes off again, and Jared tries to stop from flinching at the vibration. "Really, Chad? Knock it off."
"You really think that's going to work?" Chad's voice is smug. "You want some of this amazing coffee I'm making?"
"Probably..." Jared trails off as he fumbles to pull his phone from his boxers and answer it. "Jensen? You there? Jen?" Jared slowly closes the phone. "He got disconnected or something, I think."
There's a clattering in response from the kitchenette and Jared just buries his head in the pillow, not wanting to face the mess Chad's making. He can feel the mattress tremble as Chad gets near, a bare foot nudging at his back a second later.
"You're a dumbass when you're not caffeinated, you know?" There's a soft fondness in Chad's voice as he drags his foot down Jared's spine. He grabs at Jared's boxers with his toes and tugs on the fabric until they're halfway down the curve of Jared's ass.
"Jerk."
Chad drops his foot back to the ground and Jared can feel him walking away. "Or instead of guessing, you could just ask him."
"Huh?"
"Are you sure you're ready for this? I mean, he's been like this for years, so it's not like he's going to grow out of it or anything." There's a sharp clink of mugs being set on the counter, and it doesn't register with Jared that he's unconsciously counted one two three in his head until he hears a voice murmuring agreement.
"Wait, what? What're you talking about?" Jared rolls back over, rubbing at his face with one hand. When he looks over towards the noise he sees Jensen leaning against the counter, hands wrapped around a coffee mug. He's biting his lip, glancing over at Chad before breaking out in a grin and taking a sip.
"God, you're right. This is really good."
"Told you." Chad nods his head towards Jared. "Lardass over there doesn't believe me."
Jared struggles as he gets off the low mattress and pulls on a sweatshirt, his legs getting tangled up in the blanket in his rush to get to Jensen. The linoleum is cold on his bare feet but he does his best to hide the shiver, ducking his head down to nuzzle into Jensen's neck.
Jensen does his best to squirm away without spilling his coffee and chuckles at Jared's disappointed expression. "Your face is cold," he tells him, reaching up to lay his fingers over Jared's face. "Better?"
Jared nods, overwhelmed by the sudden heat and the scent of coffee and soap and pine. A thought crosses his mind and he pulls back, looking from Jensen to Chad suspiciously.
"You two are friends now?"
Jensen and Chad both shrug at each other, with Chad speaking up first. "We were never not friends, really..."
"We discovered that we have more in common than we initially thought," Jensen cuts him off, grinning.
"Sure..." Jared wraps an arm around Jensen's back, intent on hugging him until the crackle of paper stops him. "What's this?"
"What's what?" Jensen plays innocent, and Jared can hear Chad giggling as he tinkers with the coffee pot.
Jared rolls his eyes as he pulls back Jensen's jacket. Affixed to his t-shirt is a large gift tag proclaiming: Merry Christmas! Don't fuck it up. - C
"You got me a boyfriend for Christmas?" Jared presses a kiss to Jensen's cheek before facing Chad.
"Not to be nitpicky, but I approved of your boyfriend for Christmas. There's a difference there. " Chad hands Jared a mug. "Jensen did all of the hard, tedious work of dating you."
Jared accepts the mug, staring at it for a moment before setting it down on the counter. He takes two steps towards Chad, reaching out to pull him into a hug. Jared starts to relax, can feel the tension he's been carrying begin to unknot; that worry that he'd end up losing one of them in the process. Chad grips at Jared's sweatshirt, not hiding his attempt to pull Jared closer.
"Love you," Jared murmurs against Chad's neck, the words muffled and soft. Chad's grip tightens at Jared's words, the only sign Jared gets that he's heard him.
"Dumbass." But Jared can hear the fondness in his voice. Chad starts to squirm against Jared's body, his voice getting louder. "Jensen, your manchild's about to choke me to death here. You should leash him or something."
"I thought you didn't want to know about that part of our relationship?" Jared teases, pulling back. Chad grimaces as he goes back to poking at the coffee machine.
"TMI, dude. And you're totally getting a dog dish for your birthday this year."
"Whatever." Jared's not fully paying attention to Chad, not when he glances over to find Jensen smiling at him, the skin around his eyes crinkling up. When he sees that Jared's caught him Jensen flushes, ducking his head to sip at his coffee.
Jared walks back over, bumping Jensen's forehead with his own. "Love you," he tells him, and grins when Jensen looks up to kiss his jaw.
"Dork," Jensen tells him, lips dragging against Jared's stubble.
"Mmhmm," Jared agrees, moving to lean against the counter next to him.
"You know a dork's just a dick, right?" Chad raises an eyebrow at them. "Biological slang and all that. Although," he turns to face them fully, rubbing his chin with one hand. He looks Jared up and down. "I think it's a pretty accurate description in this case."
Jensen snorts out a laugh as Jared flips Chad off.
"So, let me know when you're ready?" Jensen asks a moment later, eyes glancing back and forth between Jared and Chad.
"Mmm, yeah. I'm good now." Jared stretches his arms over his head, his sweatshirt rising up with the movement.
"You hobo, you're going out in sweats?"
"Like you've never gone to Denny's or something like this." Jared sticks his tongue out at Chad before looking at Jensen. "You parked close, right? And it's not like we're really going out-out or anything." Jensen nods in agreement. "That good enough for you, Chad?"
"Still borderline on the too much info, but you're getting better." Chad busies himself at the sink cleaning up the mess of dishes and mugs. Jared rolls his eyes at him and Chad throws the sponge at him, missing his head by a foot. "Go on, get out of here you crazy kids. I've got shit to do and you're in my way."
Jared raises his hand in thanks as Jensen finishes off his coffee and sets the mug down. Chad waves them off, shaking his head as they head out of the kitchen.
Jared grabs Jensen's hand, leading them towards the door. He expects to hear a catcall, laughter, something from Chad, but the room stays quiet behind them. He looks back when they reach the doorway and finds Chad watching them. There's a soft smile on his face, the pleased grin twisting Jared's stomach and causing his breath to catch in his throat. A tug on his hand brings Jared's attention back to Jensen.
"We'll hang out here tonight. Grab pizza and some beer or something for all of us."
Jared nods, smiling gratefully at Jensen. "I'd like that."
They step out into the hallway, Jared closing the apartment door behind them. He listens to it click shut, the sound harsh in the silent building. He doesn't lock it like usual, and Jared shrugs at Jensen's questioning look. "It'd be weird, you know?"