Birthday Fic for morgentau: 'And Then There Was Jared'
Title: And Then There Was Jared
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Beta: sweet_lyri - thank you so much!!
Word Count: 2,887
Summary: Jensen doesn’t quite know how to react when a random florist named Jared starts to give him presents.
A/N: For morgentau. Happy Birthday - have a great day! I really hope that this fic is something like you wanted when you first gave me the prompt.
The first guy that ever really mattered to Jensen was Colby Richards, the History student who lived two rooms down in his college dorms.
A few people registered before him.
Sophie Harrison, his neighbor up until he turned thirteen. She was enchanting and unattainable until the day before she moved away, when she kissed him on his cheek and he smelt Cheetos and cigarettes on her breath.
Mark Leofold, the student that transferred to Jensen’s school during the year he turned sixteen. Mark was into art and spent his lunch times hunched over a sketch pad, shrugging off people’s attempts to look at his drawings. Jensen spent hours in the art classroom during breaks and after school, trying to learn to paint (which he never really succeeded at) and trying to sneak looks at Mark without being noticed.
And then, when he was seventeen, he necked with Rob Hollins at a party. High on alcohol and being out so late at night, Rob was the first guy that he’d kissed and he wasn’t very impressed. Later, he became aware that Rob had probably been just as drunk - just as inexperienced - as he was and his expectations for the kiss had been too high. At the time, he had been disappointed.
Colby Richards, though, he was the first guy that really, really mattered. The first guy Jensen loved.
They started dating two months after they started college; they were the couple that everyone thought would never split up. Colby hated drugs and loved photography; he’d spend ages - hours, it seemed to Jensen - setting up his camera for the perfect shot, waiting for the light to be just right. Because Jensen cared, he didn’t really mind waiting. They’d spend hours like that, Colby with his camera, Jensen lying in some deserted field reading a book or doing stuff for classes.
Colby Richards kissed Jensen for the first time in the middle of their second date, soft and quick but a kiss all the same. Jensen had laughed at him and leaned forwards for another one.
Colby Richards took Jensen home to meet his family at Thanksgiving and visited Jensen’s childhood home at Christmas, fitted into Jensen’s family easily, without any conflict.
Colby Richards was killed in a car crash one week before their second anniversary. Jensen had organized the funeral and made the calls, and then returned to his dorm to cry and rant and grieve.
After Colby, when Jensen had eventually allowed himself to move on, there had been others.
Kenny Johnson who had talked about understanding grief and giving Jensen time and who Jensen had found sleeping with the TA three months into their relationship.
And later, Alex, the accountant at work. Alex had shared Jensen’s love of coffee and made regular phone calls to Jensen’s mom. Alex had bought him tickets to hockey games and gigs and, once, a trip to Rome. And then Alex had proposed and Jensen had admitted to himself that Alex loved him a lot more than he loved Alex.
And that was it for a while.
And then there was Jared.
--
Jensen Ackles didn’t like flowers. Flowers were for girls, for people who didn’t have allergies, for placing at the grave of someone you’d give everything to see again. So, understandably, he didn’t react well when a man, half-giant, stepped out in front of him and shoved a bunch of tulips in his face.
“What are you doing?”
The man smiled and tried to make him take the flowers. “Flowers - tulips - I thought you might like them.”
Jensen looked around, taking in his surroundings and frowned when he saw the sign for the florists shop. “Look, dude, I don’t care if there’s some awesome promotion or sale or something on, I don’t want any flowers. I don’t have anyone to buy flowers for and I don’t have money to waste.”
The guy looked horrified and took a step closer, shaking his head. “I’m not trying to make you buy them; I just thought you might like them. Because they’re flowers and, well, people like flowers.”
Jensen nodded. He could see where this guy was going; give him free flowers this time and he thought Jensen would come back to buy more. Well, honesty was the best policy. “I don’t like flowers. I have allergies.”
“Oh.” The man yanked the flowers away as if they were going to kill him. “I’m so sorry. I just - you looked a little down and I thought-”
“You thought you’d have a little fun, wind up the grumpy pedestrian. Great. Asshole.”
Jensen stormed off, sneezing and cursing the name of florists everywhere as he made his way along the route back to his apartment. As he walked, he heard shouting behind and wondered why the guy was bothering to follow him. He sped up because he really wasn’t in the mood for an argument but that was what was going to happen if the flower-guy didn’t leave him alone.
He was walking so quickly that he would have managed to get away if it hadn’t been for the broom that he hadn’t seen and he just had time to stick his hands out to break his fall. Groaning, he rolled over onto his back, glad that it was a cloudy day and he wasn’t looking straight into the sun.
“Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”
Jensen blinked as someone leaned over him, clouding his vision, and then groaned again as he recognized the flower guy. Bringing a hand up to rub at his eyes, he nodded and made to sit up.
“Wait!” The guy pressed down gently on his shoulder. “You might have concussion or something.”
“I’m fine.” He shrugged him off and sat all the way up, trying not to think about the small crowd that had gathered to watch. “Really, I’m fine. You can go back to work.”
“No, I can’t. This is my fault so I need to make sure you’re okay.”
“Your fault? You didn’t hit my legs with the broom.”
“No. But you weren’t looking where you were going because you were trying to get away from me. I’m Jared, by the way, and I’m not nearly as weird as you think I am and I wasn’t trying to-”
“Dude, slow down. Just - let my head have a minute to get back to normal.” He exhaled slowly as Jared took a few steps backward and pushed himself up off the ground, grimacing at the ache in his back.
“Sorry.” Jared made to move closer again and then changed direction, moved further away.
“Me falling over wasn’t your fault. Seriously. So you can just go back to your shop and I’ll go home.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded and turned away before the guy had a chance to ask again. The encounter had already been awkward enough.
--
Jensen avoided his usual route to and back from work for a few days, hoping that’d give people enough time to forget the face of the idiot who had fallen headfirst onto the sidewalk.
A week later, he was running late, and, figuring that he’d left it long enough, he went his usual way again to make sure he made it there in time. He made it past the place where he’d tripped over without any mishaps and relaxed slightly as he walked past the florists.
“Excuse me. Hey!”
Closing his eyes, Jensen stopped walking as he recognized the voice. The shout had been too loud for him to pretend he hadn’t heard it.
“Hi, thanks.” Jared came to a stop next to Jensen as he opened his eyes. “How are you? I was hoping I’d see you again.”
“I’m fine - good as new.”
“Great. I’m glad. Come with me.”
“What?” Caught up with trying to work out how to get away without looking like a rude asshole, Jensen didn’t realize what was happening until Jared had let him back to the door of the florists. “Hang on, I have work, I-”
Jared stepped over the threshold, hand wrapped loosely around Jensen’s wrist as he pulled his along. “It’ll only take a minute.”
The heady scent of flowers hit him as they moved further into the shop and he longed for fresh air immediately, hoping that he’d be back outside before the first wave of sneezing hit him. He stood where Jared left him, next to the counter as the florist disappeared somewhere off into the back. If his allergies hadn’t been reason enough, the curious stares he was drawing from the other members of staff definitely made him wish he hadn’t let Jared drag him inside.
Trying to ignore the feeling of being watched, he focused his attention on an arrangement of flowers that was on the counter, wondering whether they were Jared’s work. He didn’t recognize many of the flowers, just the white carnations. The white ones were meant to symbolize truth, according to Colby’s mother.
“Here we go.”
He looked away from the flowers, his gaze landing on the giant teddy bear that Jared was holding. “What’s that for?”
Jared smiled and walked back around to the customer side of the shop. “It’s for you - to say sorry for the other day and to cheer you up.”
“You bought me a teddy bear?” He raised his eyebrows as the thing was shoved into his arms. Big and cuddly, with a red checked neckerchief and, actual, mini boots; it was the last thing any of Jensen’s friends or family would ever dared to have given him.
Nodding, Jared began to fuss with some flowers. “Everyone loves teddy bears.”
“Do they?” He frowned, wondering whether the guy - the stranger, Jensen reminded himself - was teasing him again.
“Yeah. Especially on a Monday morning.”
“Damn.” Glancing up at the clock on the wall, Jensen saw that he was officially late for work. “I have to go; my boss is going to kill me.” He hurried out of the shop, ignoring Jared’s shouts of apology as he left.
Running twenty minutes late into a meeting, still sneezing, and holding a giant cowboy teddy bear was definitely more embarrassing than falling over in public.
--
“Let me get this straight,” Misha looked up from the computer he was working at and stared at Jensen. “You were late because a guy who works in a flower shop gave you a teddy bear?”
“Yes.” He nodded and stared at the form he was filling in.
“So what did you tell the boss?”
“The truth. He laughed.”
Misha pushed his office chair away from his desk and wheeled himself over to Jensen. “It does sound kind of ridiculous.”
“The truth often is.”
“What are you going to do?”
“About what?” Jensen shrugged.
“About this guy. He obviously wants to date you.”
“No, he doesn’t. He’s just-”
Misha cut him off. “He’s not just being kind.”
Jensen shook his head. “I think he’s mocking me.”
“Why would he do that? He doesn’t even know you.”
“I don’t know but it’s - it’s the only explanation.”
Misha moved back over to his desk and, looking at his computer rather than Jensen, spoke again. “Or maybe you just don’t want to think about the other ones.”
--Jared approached him again as he was heading home; briefcase in one hand, teddy hooked under his other arm. He only noticed the florist when it was too late to cross over and pretend like he hadn’t see him and so, with a sigh, Jensen slowed his pace as Jared got closer.
“Hi.” Jared grinned, falling in beside him. “Sorry about making you late.”
Jensen stopped walking and turned to look at Jared. “It’s okay, I guess. It’s not like you meant to. And you did give me a…teddy.”
“You haven’t named him yet?”
“I’m meant to name him?”
“Duh.” Jared laughed. “He’s a teddy.”
“You want to know my teddy’s name?”
“Yeah.”
Jensen smirked. “You don’t even know my name.”
“I know. I’d like to know that, too.”
“Jensen. My name, that is, not the bear’s.”
“That’s a nice name. I got you something else.”
“What? Why?”
“To apologize for this morning.”
“You don’t have to keep buying me stuff to say sorry, you-” Jensen broke off as Jared held the gift up for him to see. “You got me candy.”
“I did.”
Jensen thought for a moment but struggled to come up with a reason why candy could be mocking. He came up blank.
“You do like candy, right?” Jared looked aghast.
“Of course I do.” He took the candy with a smile. “Thank you, really. But you didn’t need to.”
Jared shrugged, still grinning. “I wanted to. I better get back to my shift but I might see you around, yeah?”
“Maybe.” He watched as Jared disappeared back into the florists, wondering whether he was that nice to everyone or whether this was an exception.
Adjusting his hold on the bear, he began to walk in the direction of his apartment again, glad that it would only take him a few more minutes of embarrassment before he was home. Having his arms full of the gifts from Jared, a guy he barely knew, felt strange. Even his closest friends rarely gave him things apart from for this birthday and, even then, it was usually beer or music.
Taking the steps up to his apartment slowly so that he didn’t drop anything, he looked back over his shoulder, almost expecting to see Jared following him. He was almost disappointed to see that the florist wasn’t there and that surprised him. Nobody had gotten to him that much, that quickly, since Colby.
When he reached the door to his apartment, Jensen didn’t even bother with his key. Instead, he kicked the door twice, hoping that Chris was home. The confused look that his roommate gave him when he answered would have been comical if Jensen hadn’t have been caught up wondering about Jared.
---Swallowing hard, Jensen stepped into the florists shop and looked around for Jared. He was standing over in the corner, helping the only customer in the shop, and Jensen settled against the wall to wait, watching the easy way Jared talked.
The smell of the flowers was still making him feel dizzy but the meds he’d taken at home were at least stopping him from needing to sneeze.
Jared hadn’t noticed him yet and, for a brief moment, Jensen considered sneaking out. What he was about to do was stupid, had the potential to embarrass him even more than Rocky - the teddy bear - had. But then Jared turned around and smiled, looking surprised, and it was too late.
He waited for Jared to finish serving the customer, until they were the only two people in the store, and stepped up to the counter, flashing a grin that he knew probably turned out more like a grimace.
“Are you here to buy something?” Jared rested both hands in front of him on the counter. “I thought you didn’t like flowers.”
“I don’t.” Jensen paused. “Someone else does, though. Can I get a dozen and one red roses?”
“And one?”
He shrugged. “I’m trying to break the cliché.”
Laughing, Jared nodded and crossed over to pick out some roses. “Originality. That’s good. These for your girlfriend?”
“Girls aren’t my type. How much is that going to be?”
Jared told him the price and took the money from him. “I hope whoever you’re buying them for enjoys them.”
He smiled and took the flowers, handed them straight back to Jared even as he cringed at how cliché he was actually being. “Well, you’ll have to let me know.”
Jared’s eyes widened as he automatically took the flowers. “I don’t understand.”
Biting his lip, Jensen gestured towards the roses. “They’re for you. The dozen to say sorry for being such an asshole.”
“And the one?” Jared placed the flowers down on the counter.
“To say that it’d be good if we could meet somewhere other than outside your place of work sometime.” He winced. “And to say I’m sorry for being way too forward with that last sentence.”
A few seconds of silence followed and Jensen opened his mouth to speak again, not really sure of what he was going to say, right as Jared leaned over the counter and kissed him. After that, there was no way Jensen was going to be able to say anything remotely clever so he just relaxed into the kiss. Moaning against Jared’s mouth, he slid his tongue against Jared’s and brought one hand up to tangle in his hair. He scraped his teeth against Jared’s lower lip, bringing his free hand down to rest on the counter and-
“Ow.” Pulling back, Jensen held his hand up in front of his face.
“What?” Jared hurried around to his side of the counter. “What did I do?”
He shook his head. “You didn’t. I put my hand on a thorn.”
Jared looked at the roses on the counter and then back at Jensen’s bleeding finger. “Okay, I’m never letting you go near a flower ever again, because you keep hurting yourself.”
“Deal.” Wiping the blood off on his jeans, Jensen grinned at Jared and pulled him in for another kiss.
A hot guy to date and no flowers sounded fine to him.
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Beta: sweet_lyri - thank you so much!!
Word Count: 2,887
Summary: Jensen doesn’t quite know how to react when a random florist named Jared starts to give him presents.
A/N: For morgentau. Happy Birthday - have a great day! I really hope that this fic is something like you wanted when you first gave me the prompt.
The first guy that ever really mattered to Jensen was Colby Richards, the History student who lived two rooms down in his college dorms.
A few people registered before him.
Sophie Harrison, his neighbor up until he turned thirteen. She was enchanting and unattainable until the day before she moved away, when she kissed him on his cheek and he smelt Cheetos and cigarettes on her breath.
Mark Leofold, the student that transferred to Jensen’s school during the year he turned sixteen. Mark was into art and spent his lunch times hunched over a sketch pad, shrugging off people’s attempts to look at his drawings. Jensen spent hours in the art classroom during breaks and after school, trying to learn to paint (which he never really succeeded at) and trying to sneak looks at Mark without being noticed.
And then, when he was seventeen, he necked with Rob Hollins at a party. High on alcohol and being out so late at night, Rob was the first guy that he’d kissed and he wasn’t very impressed. Later, he became aware that Rob had probably been just as drunk - just as inexperienced - as he was and his expectations for the kiss had been too high. At the time, he had been disappointed.
Colby Richards, though, he was the first guy that really, really mattered. The first guy Jensen loved.
They started dating two months after they started college; they were the couple that everyone thought would never split up. Colby hated drugs and loved photography; he’d spend ages - hours, it seemed to Jensen - setting up his camera for the perfect shot, waiting for the light to be just right. Because Jensen cared, he didn’t really mind waiting. They’d spend hours like that, Colby with his camera, Jensen lying in some deserted field reading a book or doing stuff for classes.
Colby Richards kissed Jensen for the first time in the middle of their second date, soft and quick but a kiss all the same. Jensen had laughed at him and leaned forwards for another one.
Colby Richards took Jensen home to meet his family at Thanksgiving and visited Jensen’s childhood home at Christmas, fitted into Jensen’s family easily, without any conflict.
Colby Richards was killed in a car crash one week before their second anniversary. Jensen had organized the funeral and made the calls, and then returned to his dorm to cry and rant and grieve.
After Colby, when Jensen had eventually allowed himself to move on, there had been others.
Kenny Johnson who had talked about understanding grief and giving Jensen time and who Jensen had found sleeping with the TA three months into their relationship.
And later, Alex, the accountant at work. Alex had shared Jensen’s love of coffee and made regular phone calls to Jensen’s mom. Alex had bought him tickets to hockey games and gigs and, once, a trip to Rome. And then Alex had proposed and Jensen had admitted to himself that Alex loved him a lot more than he loved Alex.
And that was it for a while.
And then there was Jared.
--
Jensen Ackles didn’t like flowers. Flowers were for girls, for people who didn’t have allergies, for placing at the grave of someone you’d give everything to see again. So, understandably, he didn’t react well when a man, half-giant, stepped out in front of him and shoved a bunch of tulips in his face.
“What are you doing?”
The man smiled and tried to make him take the flowers. “Flowers - tulips - I thought you might like them.”
Jensen looked around, taking in his surroundings and frowned when he saw the sign for the florists shop. “Look, dude, I don’t care if there’s some awesome promotion or sale or something on, I don’t want any flowers. I don’t have anyone to buy flowers for and I don’t have money to waste.”
The guy looked horrified and took a step closer, shaking his head. “I’m not trying to make you buy them; I just thought you might like them. Because they’re flowers and, well, people like flowers.”
Jensen nodded. He could see where this guy was going; give him free flowers this time and he thought Jensen would come back to buy more. Well, honesty was the best policy. “I don’t like flowers. I have allergies.”
“Oh.” The man yanked the flowers away as if they were going to kill him. “I’m so sorry. I just - you looked a little down and I thought-”
“You thought you’d have a little fun, wind up the grumpy pedestrian. Great. Asshole.”
Jensen stormed off, sneezing and cursing the name of florists everywhere as he made his way along the route back to his apartment. As he walked, he heard shouting behind and wondered why the guy was bothering to follow him. He sped up because he really wasn’t in the mood for an argument but that was what was going to happen if the flower-guy didn’t leave him alone.
He was walking so quickly that he would have managed to get away if it hadn’t been for the broom that he hadn’t seen and he just had time to stick his hands out to break his fall. Groaning, he rolled over onto his back, glad that it was a cloudy day and he wasn’t looking straight into the sun.
“Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”
Jensen blinked as someone leaned over him, clouding his vision, and then groaned again as he recognized the flower guy. Bringing a hand up to rub at his eyes, he nodded and made to sit up.
“Wait!” The guy pressed down gently on his shoulder. “You might have concussion or something.”
“I’m fine.” He shrugged him off and sat all the way up, trying not to think about the small crowd that had gathered to watch. “Really, I’m fine. You can go back to work.”
“No, I can’t. This is my fault so I need to make sure you’re okay.”
“Your fault? You didn’t hit my legs with the broom.”
“No. But you weren’t looking where you were going because you were trying to get away from me. I’m Jared, by the way, and I’m not nearly as weird as you think I am and I wasn’t trying to-”
“Dude, slow down. Just - let my head have a minute to get back to normal.” He exhaled slowly as Jared took a few steps backward and pushed himself up off the ground, grimacing at the ache in his back.
“Sorry.” Jared made to move closer again and then changed direction, moved further away.
“Me falling over wasn’t your fault. Seriously. So you can just go back to your shop and I’ll go home.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded and turned away before the guy had a chance to ask again. The encounter had already been awkward enough.
--
Jensen avoided his usual route to and back from work for a few days, hoping that’d give people enough time to forget the face of the idiot who had fallen headfirst onto the sidewalk.
A week later, he was running late, and, figuring that he’d left it long enough, he went his usual way again to make sure he made it there in time. He made it past the place where he’d tripped over without any mishaps and relaxed slightly as he walked past the florists.
“Excuse me. Hey!”
Closing his eyes, Jensen stopped walking as he recognized the voice. The shout had been too loud for him to pretend he hadn’t heard it.
“Hi, thanks.” Jared came to a stop next to Jensen as he opened his eyes. “How are you? I was hoping I’d see you again.”
“I’m fine - good as new.”
“Great. I’m glad. Come with me.”
“What?” Caught up with trying to work out how to get away without looking like a rude asshole, Jensen didn’t realize what was happening until Jared had let him back to the door of the florists. “Hang on, I have work, I-”
Jared stepped over the threshold, hand wrapped loosely around Jensen’s wrist as he pulled his along. “It’ll only take a minute.”
The heady scent of flowers hit him as they moved further into the shop and he longed for fresh air immediately, hoping that he’d be back outside before the first wave of sneezing hit him. He stood where Jared left him, next to the counter as the florist disappeared somewhere off into the back. If his allergies hadn’t been reason enough, the curious stares he was drawing from the other members of staff definitely made him wish he hadn’t let Jared drag him inside.
Trying to ignore the feeling of being watched, he focused his attention on an arrangement of flowers that was on the counter, wondering whether they were Jared’s work. He didn’t recognize many of the flowers, just the white carnations. The white ones were meant to symbolize truth, according to Colby’s mother.
“Here we go.”
He looked away from the flowers, his gaze landing on the giant teddy bear that Jared was holding. “What’s that for?”
Jared smiled and walked back around to the customer side of the shop. “It’s for you - to say sorry for the other day and to cheer you up.”
“You bought me a teddy bear?” He raised his eyebrows as the thing was shoved into his arms. Big and cuddly, with a red checked neckerchief and, actual, mini boots; it was the last thing any of Jensen’s friends or family would ever dared to have given him.
Nodding, Jared began to fuss with some flowers. “Everyone loves teddy bears.”
“Do they?” He frowned, wondering whether the guy - the stranger, Jensen reminded himself - was teasing him again.
“Yeah. Especially on a Monday morning.”
“Damn.” Glancing up at the clock on the wall, Jensen saw that he was officially late for work. “I have to go; my boss is going to kill me.” He hurried out of the shop, ignoring Jared’s shouts of apology as he left.
Running twenty minutes late into a meeting, still sneezing, and holding a giant cowboy teddy bear was definitely more embarrassing than falling over in public.
--
“Let me get this straight,” Misha looked up from the computer he was working at and stared at Jensen. “You were late because a guy who works in a flower shop gave you a teddy bear?”
“Yes.” He nodded and stared at the form he was filling in.
“So what did you tell the boss?”
“The truth. He laughed.”
Misha pushed his office chair away from his desk and wheeled himself over to Jensen. “It does sound kind of ridiculous.”
“The truth often is.”
“What are you going to do?”
“About what?” Jensen shrugged.
“About this guy. He obviously wants to date you.”
“No, he doesn’t. He’s just-”
Misha cut him off. “He’s not just being kind.”
Jensen shook his head. “I think he’s mocking me.”
“Why would he do that? He doesn’t even know you.”
“I don’t know but it’s - it’s the only explanation.”
Misha moved back over to his desk and, looking at his computer rather than Jensen, spoke again. “Or maybe you just don’t want to think about the other ones.”
--Jared approached him again as he was heading home; briefcase in one hand, teddy hooked under his other arm. He only noticed the florist when it was too late to cross over and pretend like he hadn’t see him and so, with a sigh, Jensen slowed his pace as Jared got closer.
“Hi.” Jared grinned, falling in beside him. “Sorry about making you late.”
Jensen stopped walking and turned to look at Jared. “It’s okay, I guess. It’s not like you meant to. And you did give me a…teddy.”
“You haven’t named him yet?”
“I’m meant to name him?”
“Duh.” Jared laughed. “He’s a teddy.”
“You want to know my teddy’s name?”
“Yeah.”
Jensen smirked. “You don’t even know my name.”
“I know. I’d like to know that, too.”
“Jensen. My name, that is, not the bear’s.”
“That’s a nice name. I got you something else.”
“What? Why?”
“To apologize for this morning.”
“You don’t have to keep buying me stuff to say sorry, you-” Jensen broke off as Jared held the gift up for him to see. “You got me candy.”
“I did.”
Jensen thought for a moment but struggled to come up with a reason why candy could be mocking. He came up blank.
“You do like candy, right?” Jared looked aghast.
“Of course I do.” He took the candy with a smile. “Thank you, really. But you didn’t need to.”
Jared shrugged, still grinning. “I wanted to. I better get back to my shift but I might see you around, yeah?”
“Maybe.” He watched as Jared disappeared back into the florists, wondering whether he was that nice to everyone or whether this was an exception.
Adjusting his hold on the bear, he began to walk in the direction of his apartment again, glad that it would only take him a few more minutes of embarrassment before he was home. Having his arms full of the gifts from Jared, a guy he barely knew, felt strange. Even his closest friends rarely gave him things apart from for this birthday and, even then, it was usually beer or music.
Taking the steps up to his apartment slowly so that he didn’t drop anything, he looked back over his shoulder, almost expecting to see Jared following him. He was almost disappointed to see that the florist wasn’t there and that surprised him. Nobody had gotten to him that much, that quickly, since Colby.
When he reached the door to his apartment, Jensen didn’t even bother with his key. Instead, he kicked the door twice, hoping that Chris was home. The confused look that his roommate gave him when he answered would have been comical if Jensen hadn’t have been caught up wondering about Jared.
---Swallowing hard, Jensen stepped into the florists shop and looked around for Jared. He was standing over in the corner, helping the only customer in the shop, and Jensen settled against the wall to wait, watching the easy way Jared talked.
The smell of the flowers was still making him feel dizzy but the meds he’d taken at home were at least stopping him from needing to sneeze.
Jared hadn’t noticed him yet and, for a brief moment, Jensen considered sneaking out. What he was about to do was stupid, had the potential to embarrass him even more than Rocky - the teddy bear - had. But then Jared turned around and smiled, looking surprised, and it was too late.
He waited for Jared to finish serving the customer, until they were the only two people in the store, and stepped up to the counter, flashing a grin that he knew probably turned out more like a grimace.
“Are you here to buy something?” Jared rested both hands in front of him on the counter. “I thought you didn’t like flowers.”
“I don’t.” Jensen paused. “Someone else does, though. Can I get a dozen and one red roses?”
“And one?”
He shrugged. “I’m trying to break the cliché.”
Laughing, Jared nodded and crossed over to pick out some roses. “Originality. That’s good. These for your girlfriend?”
“Girls aren’t my type. How much is that going to be?”
Jared told him the price and took the money from him. “I hope whoever you’re buying them for enjoys them.”
He smiled and took the flowers, handed them straight back to Jared even as he cringed at how cliché he was actually being. “Well, you’ll have to let me know.”
Jared’s eyes widened as he automatically took the flowers. “I don’t understand.”
Biting his lip, Jensen gestured towards the roses. “They’re for you. The dozen to say sorry for being such an asshole.”
“And the one?” Jared placed the flowers down on the counter.
“To say that it’d be good if we could meet somewhere other than outside your place of work sometime.” He winced. “And to say I’m sorry for being way too forward with that last sentence.”
A few seconds of silence followed and Jensen opened his mouth to speak again, not really sure of what he was going to say, right as Jared leaned over the counter and kissed him. After that, there was no way Jensen was going to be able to say anything remotely clever so he just relaxed into the kiss. Moaning against Jared’s mouth, he slid his tongue against Jared’s and brought one hand up to tangle in his hair. He scraped his teeth against Jared’s lower lip, bringing his free hand down to rest on the counter and-
“Ow.” Pulling back, Jensen held his hand up in front of his face.
“What?” Jared hurried around to his side of the counter. “What did I do?”
He shook his head. “You didn’t. I put my hand on a thorn.”
Jared looked at the roses on the counter and then back at Jensen’s bleeding finger. “Okay, I’m never letting you go near a flower ever again, because you keep hurting yourself.”
“Deal.” Wiping the blood off on his jeans, Jensen grinned at Jared and pulled him in for another kiss.
A hot guy to date and no flowers sounded fine to him.