Mission Voyager (Part Fourteen)

[soulmatecest]

-Part Fourteen-
(Jared)

Sheri was the one who started the tradition about birthday roadtrips for all Jared remembers. She wanted to make sure she could make her kid’s birthdays something they would never forget, a memory they could carry when they were adults and far away from home. She had no idea how far away Jared would end but it was like she somehow knew. Moms always do.

They would have three road trips during the year, one for each kid. Jeff, Jared and Megan. They could choose wherever they wanted to go but it would usually be a few towns over, nothing too crazy. Except maybe for the time their dad flew them to Orlando to go to Disneyworld one summer. He counted it as Jared’s birthday trip that time around and all three of them had been so excited about it that Megan and Jeff didn’t even complain about what a big difference it was to drive two hours to a different town and take a plane to another state.

As time went by and all three of them grew up, it became more complicated to put the family together to go on small trips. Jeff got into Stanford and he always had classes on Saturdays or was working during vacations to pay rent. Besides, it seemed like a waste of money to buy a ticket to fly from California back to San Antonio just to he could take a small trip for Megan or Jared’s birthday. They would all understand, the tradition their mom left and they tried to keep allive like an extension of Sheri would eventually become too complicated to achieve.

Sometimes Jared’s dad would have to work or Megan would have cheerleader’s practice. Everybody was busy doing their own things. Taking time to drive around an entire weekend became more of a hassle as their kid years were left behind.

And as much as Jared understood that, it always broke something inside of him to not be able to carry on what his mom loved to do for her kids so much. Like he was disappointing his mom even when she was no longer around. So, he kept on going with the tradition with Chad, who always seemed up to take his dad's car and drive Jared anywhere he wanted.

A new tradition. The grown-up version of Sheri’s birthday parties. But it still felt real and that made Jared feel closer to her somehow.

He’s sure this year she would understand. His mom wouldn’t want Jared to get caught just for keeping a tradition she held close to her heart. She would get it. It's not because Jared doesn’t want or didn’t try hard enough to convince Jensen.

Just mentioning going out had led them into a discussion and then the complete denial it ever happened in the first place from Jensen's part. Jensen behaved like usual the rest of the week, not bringing up Jared’s birthday anymore and never asking again what Jared would like to do that day.

Jared isn’t expecting anything anymore. Jensen had tried to join into a celebration that wasn’t part of his own culture and then Jared had been kind of an asshole when Jensen didn’t agree with an idea that could potentially harm Jared. He doesn't blame Jensen for deciding to just ignore the event altogether, he doesn't have to put up with such a bother anyway. Jared brought it on himself.

He eventually explained about the song when Jensen later on asked about it. Jared told him it was Chad’s song, how it hit him in the wrong place at the wrong time, like a cruel reminder that he wouldn’t see his best friend ever again when only a couple years ago they would have been packing and planning where to travel this time.

Jensen seemed to understand that and he looked really sorry about Jared’s loss, but that was it. They talked about Chad and Bob Marley, the best songs he ever wrote and why Chad liked them so much. But Jared’s birthday didn’t came up again. And Jared didn’t say a word about it during the week.

He could take a hint.

The night before his birthday, Jared goes to sleep early, not feeling like waiting for midnight, realizing how stupid this whole thing is in the first place. Wanting to celebrate your birthday when the human race went to shit and there are few of them still alive is ridiculous. Just because Jared was lucky enough to find Jensen, it doesn't mean things are going to be like before. And that includes his birthday, he should be grateful he's alive and forget about the rest. Trivial things like this should be left behind.

Jared goes into Jensen’s room for a second to wish him a good night, but all Jensen does is mumble a faint “goodnight” in return without even looking up from his book.

Jared falls asleep that night swimming in disappointment, just to be waken up hours later by Jensen, who keeps on shaking one of Jared's arms and telling him to get out of bed already.

He groans and pulls his blankets up, telling Jensen to piss off, but all Jensen does is laugh and pull the covers off Jared.

It’s summer in Texas so Jared technically doesn’t need them, but thank god that Jensen likes to keep the house cold all day long by leaving the AC running even during nightime. Which means Jared actually gets cold at night and needs his blankets to sleep, so basically Jensen just pulled the worst dick move ever by waking him up like this. On his birthday. The fact that they aren’t going to celebrate it doesn’t mean Jensen gets to be mean today.

What happened to his stupid shifter beliefs about being a goodie-goodie all year round?

“Jared, stop that!” Jensen laughs again, way too cheerful when it's this early in the morning. And Jared can tell it's early because he set the alarm for 9 a.m. and no alarm has gone off yet. Anything earlier than nine is too early and Jensen needs to leave. “Wake up!”

“Leave me alone.” Jared groans, turning on the bed and pressing his face into his pillow. “Jensen, fuck off, I’m serious. I’m not in the mood today.”

But instead of listening to him, like Jensen usually does, the goddamn alien decides to keep on shaking Jared on the bed non-stop. Jared tries to ignore him for as long as possible, but he’s wide awake now and two seconds away from kicking Jensen in the stomach.

Jared finally turns around on the bed, sitting up and snapping a loud “What?” as he opens his eyes.

Jensen has already showered and is wearing the type of clothes he would wear during days he spends at home. Jeans and a shirt. No suit or healer coat. Which is weird, because it’s a week day and Jensen should be getting ready to go to the Hospital.

But instead, he’s standing in Jared’s room, holding what looks like a homemade chocolate cake and looking at Jared with an excited expression.

“Happy Birthday, Jared.” Jensen smiles at him, sitting on the bed and bringing the cake closer. “We’re going out today, so you better get ready.”

Jared opens and closes his mouth pathetically, like a fish out of the water, looking from the cake to Jensen’s cheerful face, not sure that he actually heard him correctly. Jensen is not only celebrating with Jared, he’s actually going to do the only thing Jared asked for. But there’s no way. Jensen seemed angry the first time Jared brought up the idea and kept insisting about it. Jensen had said it was too risky, he insisted he wasn’t up for taking Jared out with a bunch of shifters around them. Not even if it was Jared's birthday.

“Are you-are you serious?” Jared whispers, biting onto his lower lip. “If this is a joke then it’s really cruel.”

Jensen chuckles, shaking his head. “No joke. I’ve got it all planned out. So you better get ready, we have lots of places to go today.”

Lots of places? Not just one? It can’t be real.

Jared keeps on staring at Jensen, biting on his lower lip harder than before as he feels his eyes start to water and heart do something as embarrassing as skipping a beat as he looks at his name written on the chocolate cake. No. He’s not going to cry. Not today, not in front of Jensen. The shifter has already seen him cry for a lifetime.

Yet this would be the very first time Jensen sees him cry out of happiness.

“That’s if you still want to go, of course.” Jensen adds after a second, frowning at the lack of Jared’s response. “Or is it the cake? I didn’t ask which one you liked the most because it was a surprise, and you usually like sweets so much that I just assumed-”

Jared pushes himself into Jensen’s arms, being careful to not throw the cake off of Jensen's hand as he puts his arms around Jensen's neck, hugging him tight. Jared presses his face in the space between Jensen’s shoulder and neck and takes a deep, shaky breath, still trying to control his sudden need to cry like a baby. Jensen uses his free arm to hug Jared too, rubbing up and down his back softly. Jared smiles instantly at the contact, squeezing Jensen even closer to himself, pressing his face to Jensen’s so they can be cheek-to-cheek.

“Thank you.” Jared whispers, holding onto Jensen’s shirt, heart beating fast. “Thank you so much, Jensen.”

He feels Jensen smile, faces pressed so close Jared can actually feel the momentof the muscles when it happens. Jensen brings up the hand on Jared’s back to then leave it on his head, stroking Jared’s hair a couple times before pressing it on Jared's neck. Jared feels tingles from the top of his head to the tip of his toes almost instantly, melting into the contact.

“Anything for you, Jay.”

Jared has told Jensen that’s a nickname some friends and family had for him but Jensen hasn't used it so far.

Right now, Jared doesn't think he ever felt happier about anyone calling him Jay before.

He makes sure to blow out the candle on top of the cake right after he's done hugging Jensen like his life depends on it, eating a pig peace while ignoring Jensen’s nutritional facts about how bad it is for the human body to eat candy first thing in the morning. Jared barely pays attention to his healer talk, munching on his birthday cake happily and only adding that if Jensen didn’t want him to eat it right away he should have brought the cake later. There’s no way Jared is not eating chocolate right after smelling it.

Besides, it’s really good. He can’t believe is the first time Jensen baked something. Damn shifter has to be good at everything.

Jared makes sure to shower and get ready in record time that morning, almost jumping on the couch in the living room as he waits for Jensen to finish cleaning the kitchen.

Jensen also made eggs and toasts as a real breakfast after Jared was done eating his cake-which meant another ten minutes of Jensen nagging about nutritional facts-and then told Jared to go wait in the living room because he wasn’t allowed to help clean that day.

Jared could be reading one of his books or watching a boring movie on TV, but he doesn’t want to do anything, too nervous and excited to stay still. So he sits there and waits for Jensen to finish cleaning, bouncing on the couch and giving Jensen big smiles whenever Jensen glances in his direction, clearly amuse by Jared’s attitude.

“Alright.” Jensen finally sits down in front of Jared twenty minutes later. “If we’re doing this, you need to promise-no, you have to swear on everything that you will follow my instructions word by word, Jared.”

Jared nods violently, sitting on the edge of the couch and holding his breath.

“Every little thing. You will pay attention and follow my instructions and if at any time I feel like anyone is getting suspicious, we’re coming back.” Jensen points at him warningly and Jared nods like his life depends on it once more. “And if I tell you we’re coming back, you are not going to freak out or try to run away. You're going to follow my instructions even if we have an emergency out there. We clear, birthday boy?”

Jared smiles so hard he thinks his cheeks are going explode. “I swear, Jensen.”

“Okay. Pay attention then, this is going to be a long class.”

There’s something that not a single human survivor ever knew and could have helped Jared and his group a lot if they ever found out back then. Jared only knows now because Jensen has explained this to him, and it's also the key to understand why he and Chad could get away with living in two cities even after shifter colonization.

Shifters can’t tell humans apart from his own kind. Not physically, at least.

They could see Jared walking down the street and they wouldn’t be able to know he’s not a shifter just by his physical appearance. There’s no way for them to realize Jared is a human just because of how he looks.

The reason why shifters and Collectors can distinguish humans is not for the way the look, but because of how they behave. Humans hide, humans run when they see shifters, human carry guns, humans break into houses to steal, humans are violent and try to hurt shifters, humans are humans. What makes them who they are is not their body but how they act.

Jensen explains that every time Jared almost got caught is because he was displaying one of those obvious human traits. The woman who was already living in Jared’s house knew right away because Jared was there “stealing”. Sure, everything in the house belonged to Jared's and Jensen agrees on that, but for the female shifter it was her apartment now and it obvious that only a human would break in. Then, the times Chad and Jared went into a store and tried to pay, it was probably around the time when the world was vastly populated by shifters already, which means they didn’t have to really pay for the things they needed. That’s how the cashier knew, just after Chad tried to hang her some money.

And then, when Chad, Sandy and Jared broke in that house-well, it’s pretty obvious. They broke in, they were stealing and they had guns.

So, if Jared simply knows how to behave when they go out, if he can do it in a way that won’t be suspicious or bring any attention to him, nobody will be able to tell he’s a human.

Of course he wouldn’t be able to do that without Jensen right there, a shifter who knows exactly what could get Jared caught and every little thing Jared has to do and say once they step out of the house.

They spend almost an hour talking about it, with Jensen repeating some of the basic instructions over and over again and making Jared quote them back.

Jared is going to take a deep breath and relax once they are outside. He’s going to be by Jensen’s side the whole time and he cannot, by any reason, go on his own. He won’t speak to anybody unless someone addresses him directly, otherwise Jensen is doing all the talking. In case a shifter speaks to him, Jared needs to act natural. He has to answer back, talk like he always does. He has to avoid swearing words and make sure to throw some smiles around, be polite to other shifters if they say hi an even wish them a good day.

Jensen makes Jared memorize a quick back story in case it's necessary, but it’s all basic fake information. Shifters love to find out where other shifters come from, what planets they have visited, it's one of the most common topics when meeting someone new on the streets. Jared can give his real name if he wants and say that “Padalecki” is just the last name that he got assigned, exactly how Jensen got named “Ackles” when he arrived to Earth. Jensen tells him some things about the planet Jared is supposed to have moved from, how creatures look there and how long he stayed. Conversational facts, things that will make it seem like Jared is one of them too.

Of course there are many other indications. Jared can’t under any reason run away if they drive or walk past a group of Collectors. Jared has to smile at them and wish them a good day, no a trait of fear in his eyes. Jared can’t openly point at things and ask about them but rather wait until they are alone again so Jensen can answer him without it looking suspcious.

And the list of rules keeps on going on and on.

Jared keeps on repeating everything in his head along with his fake back-story, even reciting it to Jensen until he’s standing in front of the door and they are about to leave.

The reason why Jensen woke him up so early was so they could study the instructions for Jared’s safety. And also because Jensen doesn’t want many of his neighbors to see Jared leaving the house. He doesn’t want any of them coming to ask if Jared is new around or if he is Jensen’s roommate now; they would ask why Jensen didn’t tell them someone else moved in to throw Jared a welcome party and it would become a mess to explain.

Jensen knows that by this hour shifters around his neighborhood have already left for work or are sleeping in.

“Ready?” Jensen asks by his side, placing his hand on Jared’s back.

Jared takes a deep breath, staring at the closed door as hears his own heartbeat in his ears. He nods, cleaning the sweat on his palms on his jeans before giving Jensen a glance. He’s embarrassed to ask. It’s just him stepping out of a door-no big deal-but even after all the reassurance Jensen has given him, Jared’s is still somehow thinking there’s going to be a group of those shifters dressed in white waiting to outside of the house to take him away.

“Would you…” Jared starts and then bites his lips, taking another breath while looking away. “Would you mind holding my hand? I know is just a stupid door and your car is parked right in front of the house, but-”

Before Jared can finish explaining the reasons why asking for Jensen to hold his hand is stupid and unnecessary, Jensen slides his hand down Jared’s right arm until his fingertips are touching Jared’s palm. Jared stops talking immediately, turning his head towards Jensen, who’s looking straight ahead as he brushes Jared fingers gently before squeezing his hand.

From all the different types of casual touching they have shared so far, they have never held hands before. Jensen has asked about it, of course-curious about so many mentions of it in romance novels-and Jared has done his best to try and explain it. Now Jared knows he did a half assed job telling Jensen what it means and how it feels. This is so different than all the other times Jared held hands with anyone else. There's no way to put it into words.

Jensen holds Jared’s hand and Jared knows he can step outside of the door, or even into a whole new planet, as long as he gets to keep Jensen by his side.

Jared has the honor to push the door open himself, sunlight hitting him right in the face and heat clinging to his skin. It’s hot outside and it smell like freshly mown grass. Jared brings his free hand up, trying to cover himself from the sun light as they step into the front yard.  He hasn’t seen the outside of Jensen’s house since he broke in months ago. And even then it was nighttime and raining like crazy, not to mention Jared was terrified out of his mind and could barely think beyond his fear and bleeding arm.

Jensen lives in a beautiful neighborhood. They do. All the houses appear to have a similar architecture designs, yet some of them seem bigger since they are two story houses.

A quick look down the street lets Jared know there are no shifters out, heart beating hard in his chest.

He’s outside. Jared is out of the house, about to go to the city-he supposes, Jensen hasn’t really said what they are doing-without running or needing to hide. Jared almost forgot how it feels. To be, somehow, free. He hasn’t experienced this feeling in almost three years. The simple pleasure of going out to have fun seems like a dream.

Jensen squeezes his hand and Jared looks up without realizing his’s smiling while breathing hard, not even caring about the hot weather.

“How you like our neighborhood?”

Our. That alone makes something spark in Jared’s chest. Which is bad. He has enough sparks around Jensen already.

“It’s really nice.” Jared whispers, looking at everything like he’s the alien stepping on Earth for the first time.

Houses, grass, car, mailboxes, fences. All things Jared saw before, things he was used to, but now they feel like something completely new and wonderful. Jared has never been so happy to step outside during a sunny day.

“The flowers we have in the house!” Jared gasps suddenly, pulling Jensen along as he steps on the grass, walking closer to the flowers planted around the house. “I didn’t know they were so many!”

“You know, in all this time it didn’t occur to me I could have just taken pictures of the surroundings of the house.” Jensen clicks his tongue as Jared shakes his head in response.

“No. I like this better, I love being able to see them myself for the first time.”

“There weren’t so many before though, I have been planting more since you said you liked them.”

Jared turns around as he hears Jensen, a new spark making him want to give Jensen another hug.

Jensen's looking at Jared in that way again. Jared wishes he could read Jensen’s mind just so he could know what Jensen is thinking when he looks at Jared without saying a word.

Jared wants to know what Jensen thinks of him more than anything.

They give a quick look around the house, with Jensen allowing it only because there are no shifters down the street, but then he convinces Jared to get in the car. Jensen had already explained how shifters have eco-friendly cars and they are only a little different to the cars Jared was used to. On the inside they look like a high-tech version of the car Jared’s brother used to drive. It has multiple screens and many of the functions inside activate with voice control. Jared sits on the passenger sit, smiling nonstop and asking about every little thing as Jensen takes the car out onto the street and drives offw.

Jared’s outside. In a car. And he’s going to be around other shifters who aren’t Jensen and he won’t have to hide away.

It still blows his mind.

“Where are we going anyway?” Jared asks fifteen minutes later after a quick session of him pointing at every single screen and button in the car while asking “what does this do?” over and over again.

“Well, I thought that while I don’t mind sharing clothes or getting you some every now and then, I never seem to get your size right and we have different taste when it comes down to clothes. So maybe you could actually get something you liked this time.” Jensen shrugs, giving Jared a quick smile. “Everything is free, so we’re going to a mall to get you whatever you want.”

Jared feels his mouth hanging opening, looking at Jensen in surprise.

“Are you serious?” He’s incredibly excited, of course. Anything he wants. For fucking free. But he’s also starting to get nervous now. “Won’t the mall be full of shifters, though?”

“Not so much, today is a working day.”

It surprises Jared how much that works how it did when Earth was populated by humans instead.

“How are you missing work, by the way?”

“Asked for a free day, said I had some personal errands.” Jensen explains as he turns left down the street. Jared tenses immediately when he starts to see more cars around them, sinking into the chair. Jensen’s right hand finds Jared’s and holds it again, giving it a soft squeeze, all while keeping his eyes on the road. Everything’s alright. Jared's in the car. They can’t tell Jared is a human by the way he looks, and he’s with Jensen. Jared’s fine. “I arranged it days ago, so I didn’t have any patients for today.”

“T-That’s great.” Jared hisses through his teeth, body tense as they stop next to another car when the traffic light changes to red. A quick glance lets Jared see it’s a woman who looks younger than Jensen but older than him.

“Jared, you’re alright.” Jensen mumbls, still looking straight ahead, stroking the back of Jared’s hand with his thumb. Jared holds back for dear life, nodding a couple time as he tries to steady his breathing. “She doesn’t know. It’s impossible for her to know.”

“She doesn’t know. She can’t.” Jared repeats out loud, like that will make it more real. “But what if she does?”

“Just turn around and smile to her. Come on, trust me.”

Jared holds onto Jensen’s hand so hard that he thinks he’s going to break it, yet all Jensen does is hold back to give Jared some kind of reassurance. Jared takes a long, deep breath, feeling his mouth go dry. He trusts Jensen. He would never lie to Jared or put him in danger. Jensen’s different.

Turning his head slowly to look out the window, he watches the woman tap her fingers on the wheel of the car, looking at the road. Jared licks his lips nervously, almost praying for her to not notice that Jared is staring, but after fifteen seconds of so, she turns her head left and locks eyes with Jared.

He digs his nails on Jensen’s hand immediately, yet all Jensen does is huff and then laugh a little, nudging Jared with his elbow. Jared pushes himself to do it, slowly giving her a timid smile before raising his right hand to wave.

She smiles back a heartbeat later, moving one of her hands away from the wheel to wave back at Jared before mouthing “Good morning.” Jared feels like his heart is gonna sink down to his stomach as he tries to keep the smile on his face, giving her a nod in return. Jared feels Jensen let go of his hand just for one second to also wave at the female shifte; Jared almost wants to take the hand mid-air and put it back on his lap so they can keep holding hands instead. But that would be a weird behavior, so he restrains the impulse until Jensen grabs onto his hand again.

The light changes to green and Jared feels like he can breathe properly again, throwing his head back and cleaning the sweat off of his forehead.

“Oh my God.” Jared whispers, shaking his head as he starts to draw a smile. “Did you see me? Did you see that? She didn’t know at all! She even waved back at me and she didn’t know I’m a human!”

“Proud of you.” Jensen nods and Jared laughs loudly, letting relief wash over him as he bounces on the passenger seat while rubbing the red marks he just left with his nails on Jensen’s skin.

Jared is so blown away by the whole thing that he waves at three other cars on their way to the mall, all the shifters waving back just like the woman did, making Jared squirm in delight while Jensen laughs by his side, watching Jared enjoy himself.

It’s a little different once they park and it's time to go inside a place with a good amount of aliens. The car isn’t there anymore to keep Jared away and safe, but Jensen is still there, who offers his hand once again. Jared clings to him, walking plastered by Jensen's side while simultaneously trying to act normal.

He thinks he doesn’t breathe as soon as they walk into the mall, already seeing shifters working in the stores, couples walking around, someone repairing one of the elevators. Jensen moves closer, brushing Jared’s ear with his lips-making Jared’s brain disconnect for a good minute, completely forgetting where he’s standing-and telling him to relax. Everything is going to be alright.

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Jared has never believed something so much in his life.

Just like the woman in the car, nobody around Jared seems to notice Jared's different from them. He doesn’t move an inch away from Jensen, but he tries his best to not look too tense, smiling to some shifters every now and then. They don’t seem that terrifying once you’re not trying to run away from the ones dressed in white. But Jared still doesn’t like them. He just likes Jensen. He’s still Jared's exception.

Luckily, Jared feeñs better as they go inside of one of the stores and Jensen indicates they’ll just take a look around when one of the employees tries to approach them to offer some help. Jared is grateful to not find the place as packed as he imagined.

The entire time they pick Jared’s clothes, Jared doesn’t more than thirty centimeters away from Jensen, which makes him feel much more comfortable. He rejects Jensen’s idea of going into the changing room to try on some shirts, arguing that Jensen would have to wait outside. Jared’s fine, he knows if a shirt will fit him by just looking at it.

Jensen laughs at some of the shirts Jared picks, making fun of the printed design on them. Jared shoves him away playfully-just to then move close to him once again-and tells Jensen to fuck off in a whisper. They are not ugly shirts. They just have personality, which Jensen happens to know nothing about.

Jared also gets to prove on ten different benies, just to then pick every single one of them, adding them to the shopping cart Jensen has been pushing around the store. He gets a new pair of sunglasses, socks, underwear and two new pairs of shoes. It’s strange to not worry about the prize tag every single time he decides to take something, throwing worried glances at Jensen. Jared doesn’t want to abuse the system and take more than he needs, but Jensen keeps on encouraging Jared to take whatever he wants.

By the time they make it to the cash register, half the car is full of clothes and Jared is pressed to Jensen’s side once again. Jensen puts his arm around Jared’s hips this time, and for a good minute Jared doesn’t even realize it's only to put on an act in front of the cashier. He’s so used to Jensen touching him that Jared just though that Jensen wanted to have Jared closer.

“Nice beanies.” The woman behind the register nods her approval, and if Jared wasn’t a little terrified to be so close to a shifter who’s not Jensen, he would have bragged to Jensen about what a good taste he has and how Jensen has no room to make fun of Jare's cool shirts with personality. “You're making a wardrobe change or something?”

Jared swallows, looking at the cashier and then back at Jensen, but Jensen steps in to answer before Jared has time to freak out.

“We just moved to Earth.” Jensen brings Jared a little closer and Jared rolls with it, giving the woman a little smile. “Our accommodator told us to come here and fill our closets.”

“That’s wonderful!” She cheers, helping them back everything on different paper bags. “Clothes are a fun part of living here, aren’t they?” She smiles at Jared who simply nods, not saying a word. “I hope you guys enjoy them. And welcome to Earth.”

It’s the most bizarre thing anyone has told Jared. Being welcomed into his own planet. Incredible.

Jensen thanks the shifter and then takes most of the bags, giving only a couple to Jared-who is too busy still hugging Jensen for dear life-saying goodbye to the employees before they leave the store.

“All this stuff for free.” Jared whispers, awestruck as he looks at the bags. “You guys are insane.”

Jensen laughs by his side, arm still around Jared's waist as they go into another store for Jared to pick more things to decorate his room and then maybe a couple new books.

By the time they leave the mall some hours later, they can barely carry all the paper bags along with the ice cream cone Jared got on their way out. Jensen had to order for him, of course, Jared is getting used to being around shifters but he doesn’t feel like speaking to them yet. He thinks he will screw everything up as soon as he opens his mouth. They can’t tell Jared is a human by the way he looks, but they will sure as hell realize it if he says the wrong thing. Jared's okay shutting his mouth and letting Jensen do all the talking.

All the bags fill up now only the trunk but also the passenger seat, and as soon as they are back in the car, Jared starts to attack Jensen with question after question. He tried to memorize every single thing he wanted to ask about once they were alone, and Jensen seems more than pleased with Jared’s good behavior by following the rules he was told. Jared almost beams at Jensen’s praise, proud of himself. Maybe if he does good enough this won’t be the last time they go out together.

For lunch, they go into Whataburger. Of course. Jensen comments how Jared shouldn’t get anything but his favorite food for his birthday, and Jared honestly can’t believe he’s going to walk into a Whataburger again. When he was hiding away in the old factory he didn’t even imagine he could do something like that for the rest of his life. And now here he is, sitting across from Jensen, happily eating a burger, left hand linked with Jensen’s over the table. Jensen helps Jared relax so much he actually laughs out loud at his jokes in a restaurant full of shifters, only focusing on Jensen and forgetting about the rest of the world.

If there’s a prove that the Universe is incredible it’s probably right there. Jared is eating with an alien, holding his hand and hoping Jensen won’t ever let go of him.

The real roadtrip happens by the end of the day, after they drive around the city a couple times. Jared has been inside their house for so long that he just misses sitting in a car and looking out of the window, feeling free and normal for the first time in three whole years. Jensen even shows him the Hospital where he works, the library where he got all the banned books from and all the new places shifters have built since they took over the city.

At the end of the afternoon they drive to the outsides of Dallas, finally stopping at one side of the road after almost an hour of driving. There’s nobody there. Not cars passing by or shifters' houses in the area. It’s just the two of them and miles of nature and an empty road. Jensen explains that maybe this not exactly a roadtrip, they are not even making it to another city, yet this is the exact spot he wanted to bring Jared to for his birthay.

Whenever he thought about bringing Jared outside, Jensen could only imagine them coming here.

“Get out of the car and look at the sky.”

Jared does as he’s told, only realizing how dark it is once he looks up, getting a perfect view of the sky covered in stars. He hears himself gasp, not even wanting to blink, scared that the million white dots will dissapear if he looks away. Jared has never seen so many stars in his life, like a sea of diamonds in the sky.

“How?” He whispers once he feels Jensen getting out of the car too, closing the door and walking around the car to get by his side. “Where did all these starts come from?”

“They have always been here, Jared.” Jensen mumbles, leaning into the car as he looks up too. Jared turns his head towards him, feeling a sudden pressure over his chest when he sees the emotion in Jensen’s face once he gets a glance at the sky. “This is what happens when light pollution and contamination doesn’t hide the Milky Way.”

“It’s…beautiful.” Jared breaths out, mesmerized by the colors of the night. Black blending with blue that fades into bright purple.

“Birthdays are a human tradition, but star gazing is what we shifters do when we want to celebrate something important.” As Jensen explains, he closes the passenger seat door and then winks at Jared. “I wanted to celebrate you the way we do.”

Jared swallows slowly, suddenly feeling incredibly sentimental that Jensen would ever share something like this with him. He’s not only going along with Jared’s human tradition, Jensen's bringing his own as well.

Jensen’s celebrating Jared like they are the equals. Like they are both the same, no interspecies barrier, no differences between them. It’s just the two of them. Jared and Jensen. Nothing beyond that really matters.

They end up sitting on the roof of Jensen’s car, both of them looking up at the sky as Jensen talks, explaining Jared things he never knew about planets and stars.

“You know, stars can help us find our way, like a compass.” Jensen speaks softly, pointing at certain dots in the sky. “They have done it since the beginning of times, guiding us through the Universe. You can always find your way home as long as you can see the stars.”

Jared smiles as he hears Jensen talk, not only fascinated by the view in front of him but also thinking he has never felt closer to Jensen. He speaks about space in a way that makes Jared happy. Jensen loves space and Jared can understand why. Jensen has seen what’s out there, he knows the cosmos and enjoys teaching Jared about it. It almost feels like Jensen is sharing a secret with him, a part of himself that only Jared gets to see. The way Jensen smiles when names the stars, more crinkles appearing around his eyes. How more feckless seem to appear on his skin under the moon light, making Jensen a sight that could easily make competition to the starry sky in front of them. Or at least he does in Jared’s eyes.

As Jensen keeps on talking, Jared leans into him, tilting his head to press it on Jensen’s shoulder as the shifter explains how you can see Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Saturn without a telescope from different countries on Earth at certain moments of the year.

At one point of the explanation, Jensen moves one arm behind Jared’s back, pulling him in closer. Jared smiles, pressing his cheek to Jensen’s neck as the stares at the sky once more, following the figures Jensen traces with his fingers, using the stars as guiding dots.

Jensen shows Jared the constellation of Scorpius, only visible from Texas during summer. He points out Ursa Major, that can always be seen along with the Big Dipper, that is part of the Ursa Major constellation and changes it’s orientation in the early hours of each season.

“See? The sky can tell us more than we can possible imagine. The stars are right there to guide us.”

“You really love this, don’t you?” Jared whispers, moving his head away from Jensen’s shoulder so he can see him clearly. Jensen turns his head, nodding in his direction as he smiles. “Thank you for letting me see this with you, Jensen.”

“I realized how unfair it would be to keep you in the house and make you miss something like this. I wanted to make your day special, even more now that you don’t have your friends or family with you anymore.” Jensen explains, bringing one hand up to tilt Jared’s face by tapping his chin.

“But I have you now.”

Jared doesn’t shy away this time, holding Jensen’s gaze as he smiles in return. Jensen uses the hand he already had on Jared's chin to follow the outline of his face.

“You want to know the more special part about the stars? It’s impossible to tell how far away they are with the naked eye.” Jensen whispers, but this time he doesn’t turn to look up at the sky like before, keeping his eyes fixed on Jared. “You need machines and all sort of technology to point that out. But just by staring at them like this? It’s impossible to make a difference. Do you know what that means?”

Jared shakes his head slowly, sliding his hand over the roof of the car until he can meet with Jensen’s, moving inch by inch until his fingertips can touch him.

“That the only thing we know for sure when looking at the stars with our own eyes is that everything beautiful is far away.” Jensen whispers, moving his hand to tuck some of Jared’s hair behind his ear. “And I know that’s truth because I had to travel through them to find you, Jared.”

Jared breaths out, keeping his eyes fixed on Jensen. And before they can move away once again, Jared leans close and finally kisses Jensen.

It’s impossible for the kiss to feel different than any of the other few kisses Jared has had in his life. Jensen has a human body, the experience shouldn’t be any different even if he’s an alien. And even so, it does. But not because Jensen is different from Jared, but because it’s the first time in Jared’s life that he’s in love with the one he’s kissing. It feels different because is Jensen. He presses their lips together, closing his eyes and enjoying the warm sensation that travels down his body as his face starts to heat up.

He doesn’t have time to doubt if perhaps this is not what Jensen wants, because Jensen cups Jared’s face two heartbeats after the kiss starts, kissing Jared back slowly. Following logic, this would be Jensen’s first kiss in this body, perhaps his first in general considering other species have different ways to show affection for what Jensen has told him. So maybe it shouldn’t even be a good kiss, but even if it sucks royally, Jared doesn’t notice. Or even better, he doesn’t think it sucks at all. It feels wonderful. Maybe Jensen even studied how kisses are supposed to function and he’s finally putting in practice.

Jared wouldn’t put it past Jensen to get ten books on the theory of making out.

So they kiss and kiss and then kiss so more. And Jared thinks that his body is going to explode and his heart is beating so hard that Jensen will be able to hear it when they finally pull apart. Jared presses his face into Jensen’s neck, breathing as hard as he’s smiling.

Jensen hugs him in return, arm around his lower back as Jared puts his head on Jensen’s shoulder once again, both of them staring at the starry sky as Jensen continues his explanation about the Milky Way.

| Part Fifteen |