Fic: The Open Book
Title: The Open Book
Fandom: RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Verse: Pages Turn
Rating: NC-17
Beta: ishilde
Word count: 6,991
Summary: There was a week until Jared and Jensen were due to open their bookstore and move in to their new apartment and Jensen was definitely not freaking out. Timestamp to Pages Turn.
Warnings: Mentions of a past character death (if you’ve read Pages, you’ll know who it is) and issues of homophobia (again, dealt with in Pages, too)
A/N: This was written for firesign10 as a Christmas fic present - hope you like it and I’m sorry it took so long!
Monday
Sweat was making Jensen’s shirt stick to his back by the time he reached Jared’s apartment building, making him feel uncomfortable and in need of a shower before he’d even really done anything. Opting to walk from his place to Jared’s in the middle of a heat wave probably wasn’t the smartest idea he’d ever had. He pulled at the wet material as he made his way up the stairs, grimacing when it pulled slightly at his skin. It was just his luck that they’d managed to choose the hottest week of the year so far to open the bookstore, meaning that instead of lounging in a garden with a cold beer like every sane person was doing, they were spending the week fitting shelves and painting and lifting heavy boxes all over the place. And it was just a sign of his own stupidity that he’d suggested they also move into their apartment at the same time, meaning that they had double the amount of work to do.
Jared’s floor was three flights up, and by the time he got there, Jensen really wished the building had an elevator. There had been no air conditioning in the stairwell and he was out of breath. He took a minute to compose himself - there’d just be endless comments about how smoking was making him unfit if Jared saw him like that - and then knocked on Jared’s door. It swung open almost immediately and Jensen stepped backwards as Jared went to hug him.
“You don’t want to do that, man. I’ve been sweating like pig.”
“Dude.” Jared grinned and leaned forward to kiss him instead, a quick, soft greeting. “You always say the nicest things to me.”
He walked into the apartment, pulling the door closed behind him, and looked around at the boxes that were all over the floor. In those, he knew, were some of Jared’s most prized possessions. The photos of his family. The awards from when he was playing high school football. All of the books he’d collected over the years. There were similar boxes full of stuff back at his place, still some piles of books waiting to be packed up, but to see Jared’s apartment like this somehow made it real. They were actually moving in together, bonafide starting a business together. If something went wrong, it’d be really hard to get back from where they were.
“Jensen?” Jared reached out to touch his arm. “Everything okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, man. I was just thinking, this time next week we’ll be in the apartment getting ready to open up the store.”
“I know - it’s pretty awesome, right?”
Turning to face Jared, he saw the wide grin on his boyfriend’s face and nodded. Jared was happy, excited and there was no point worrying him about stupid jitters. Nothing was going to go wrong. “Course it is. And it’ll be even more awesome once it’s actually happened and this week’s hard work is over with.”
“Today shouldn’t be too bad - going over the schedule for the rest of the week won’t be too taxing.”
“Right.” Jensen laughed. “Because that’s all we’re doing today.”
“Just try and chill - the more you get worked up about getting everything right, the harder the next week is going to be.” Jared stepped closer to him, rested his hands on Jensen’s hips. “This is what we’ve been working towards over the last few months, you’re meant to be enjoying it.”
“I’ll enjoy it more once I’m sure we can get everything ready on time. Seriously, I don’t know how you’re so relaxed.”
Jared chuckled. “It’s a good job I am otherwise you’d have no-one to stop you from waking up at one am to go check on the store.”
“I only did that once.”
“For someone who spends half his life sitting around doing nothing with Chris and Steve, you’re doing a pretty good impression of a control freak.” Jared wrinkled his nose. “You really have been sweating a lot.”
“It’s that bad?” He tried to pull away from Jared.
“You want to take a shower before we start working? I can join you”
Jensen looked Jared up and down, snorted when he saw the man was still wearing his bed sweats. “You just want an excuse to get me naked.”
Jared smirked. “Guilty as charged. You complaining?”
He didn’t bother to answer, just grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and tugged it off over his head, let it drop to the floor.
Jared whistled. “Apparently not.”
“Well, we might as well say goodbye to the shower.”
“Does that mean we get to say bye to the kitchen table later, too?”
Halfway towards the bathroom, he looked back over his shoulder at Jared and waggled his eyebrows. “If you play your cards right.”
He frowned when Jared burst out laughing. “What?”
“I can’t believe you actually said that line.” Jared shook his head, still smiling. “It’s like the most corny line possible coming out of the mouth of my very not-corny boyfriend. It’s strange.”
“So I’m strange now?”
“I like your strange.” Jared closed the distance between them. “It’s part of what attracted me to you in the first place, dork.”
Jensen actually believed that, too. Aside from Chris and Steve, Jared was the only person who didn’t seem to care about some of his more out-there habits. “You going to show me how much?” He added an obvious wink at the end of the sentence.
“You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to shut you up before you say anything else like that.”
He opened his mouth to reply but Jared was quicker, leaning in to press their lips together. Jensen shrugged even as Jared began to steer them towards the bathroom; it wasn’t like he minded not being able to speak if this is what he got to do instead.
Jensen’s back hit against the bathroom door quicker than he’d been expecting and he reached behind himself to fumble with the handle. He stumbled slightly as the door fell open, only stopped from tripping all the way by Jared’s hands. They felt cool against his bare back and Jensen grimaced slightly as he realised he was still covered in sweat, not exactly the most attractive feeling for Jared.
“Ready to get cooled off then hot all over again?”
Jared backed off as he spoke, started pulling his own clothes off, and the line should have been just as corny as Jensen’s had been but, instead, it sent a wave of heat through his body. Nodding, he kept his gaze fixed on Jared and leaned across to turn the shower on.
“Want to lose your jeans?” Fully stripped now, Jared reached for Jensen’s button without waiting for an answer. He pulled them down quickly, dropped to his knees and mouthed at Jensen’s cock through his boxers.
Jensen bucked, his hips moving involuntarily as he felt the heat of Jared’s mouth through the thin material. “Fuck, Jared, that’s-” he trailed off as Jared pulled away.
“What?” Jared smirked up at him, thumb moving up and down where it was still hooked in the waistband of his boxers.
“Not fair. Why’d you stop?”
“Thought we were showering.”
“Right. Yeah, okay.” He jumped slightly as Jared pulled his boxers down in one fluid motion. “Let’s do that.”
The water had warmed up a little by the time they stepped into the shower cubicle but it was still cool enough to make Jensen sigh at the first feel of it, washing over him and taking away the sticky feel of sweat. He backed up further against the wall, making more room for Jared and as he grinned at him.
“Least it’s the last time we’ll have to squash into here - the shower at the new place is bigger.”
“I don’t know.” Jared took a step closer, resting one hand on Jensen’s hip and the other against the wall next to his head. “I kind of like being close to you.”
Jensen nodded his agreement and moved so that his cock brushed against Jared’s. “It’s not such a bad thing.”
“It’s a very good thing, actually.”
Humming, he leaned in and scraped his teeth along Jared’s collarbone, was about to do more when he felt Jared’s hand wrap around his cock. “Fuck, that feels good.”
“S’going to feel even better in a minute, baby. You just relax for a while.”
“I hope-” he stopped speaking as Jared started moving his hand in firm, long strokes. Water was still running down over him and he closed his eyes as they began to sting, concentrated on just feeling Jared and the sensations he was causing.
Jensen moaned when Jared’s mouth covered his nipple at the same time as his hand quickened, felt his orgasm start to build.
“Jared. Jared, I’m-”
“I know, baby. Just whenever you’re ready.”
Jared’s tongue left trails of warmth on Jensen’s skin and Jensen felt the heat in his gut tighten and then Jared’s teeth scraped against the sensitive nub of his nipple and Jensen was gone, spilling all over Jared’s hands. He opened his eyes and watched as his come was washed away, took a moment just to lean against Jared and catch his breath and then smirked, lowering himself to his knees.
“Jensen? What’re you doing?”
“It’s your turn. Baby
~~
When Jensen stepped out of Jared’s bedroom, dressed in some of the spare clothes he kept there, Jared was already sitting at the table, bits of paper spread out in front of him. Jensen leaned against the doorframe, watching for a moment. Jared had that look on his face, the one he only got when he was concentrating on something important, and Jensen smiled, knowing that Jared was putting just as much work into the preparations as he was.
“Any problems?” He walked across the room and took the seat next to Jared, arm brushing against his as he tried to see what Jared was looking at.
Jared shook his head. “We just need to work out what to do when.”
He snorted. “And then actually do it all.”
“Well, yeah. There’s that. I’ve already scheduled in a few hours on Friday for you - I know it’s Josh’s birthday.”
Jensen nodded his thanks and reached for the paper that Jared had been writing on. He glanced down the list of things they needed to do; most of the jobs for moving into the apartment were there and he nodded his approval before picking up a pen.
“What did I miss?” Jared rested his chin on Jensen’s shoulder, warm breath huffing against his cheek.
“We need to paint the back wall of the store.” He jotted another note down. “And get all the books on the shelves - that’s kind of an important one.”
“Yeah, I guess it-” Jared broke off as someone knocked at the door. “I’ll get it.”
Jensen nodded, still examining the list. It was probably one of Jared’s neighbours; they’d been calling frequently over the last week to bring him extra boxes or, sometimes, to bring him food because they thought he’d be too busy with the move to feed himself. Apparently Jensen wasn’t the only one who couldn’t resist the sparkle in his boyfriend’s eyes.
“You stare at the paper any harder; you’ll burn holes in it.”
Jensen turned his head at the familiar drawl, smiled when he saw Chris and Steve standing just in front of Jared. “You guys here to criticise or to help?”
“Help.” Steve held up a hand, showing Jensen some keys. “My truck’s outside - we figured we could take some of these boxes over to your new place while you two work on the planning.”
“You sure? It’s kind of a hot day for hard work.”
Chris rolled his eyes, bending down to pick one of the boxes up. “I think we’ll manage. Where do you want them?”
“Just leave them in the back room of the store.” Jared took his seat again. “Me and Jensen can take them upstairs later.”
Jensen watched as his friends left, leaving the door open so they could come back for more boxes to take. “They’re really quite awesome friends.”
Jared laughed. “Chad’s coming to help later - you’ll wish we had no friends at all then.”
“How’d we get so lucky?” Jensen had meant that as a joke but it came out sounding more sentimental than anything. He was glad when Jared just shrugged and brushed his foot up against Jensen’s ankle.
Tuesday
The first thing Jensen noticed when he woke up on Tuesday morning was that he was alone in his bed, which was strange because he’d definitely had company when he’d fallen asleep the night before. The second thing he noticed was the piece of paper stuck to his forehead. Sitting up, sheets pooling around his waist, he pulled it off and smiled when he read the message, written in Jared’s messy scrawl. Leaning over the bed - he’d moved over onto Jared’s side sometime in his sleep - he grabbed his cell and hit the speed dial button.
Jared answered on the second ring. “Morning, you.”
“You should have woken me up.” As he spoke, Jensen shuffled back down under the covers.
“You looked peaceful. Besides, neither of us will get much sleep this week so I thought I’d let you get some more while you could.”
“Thanks - I appreciate it. Are you back at your place?”
“No. I’m at the store, thought I’d sort out some of the books.”
He nodded even though Jared couldn’t see him and pushed the covers off the bed, swung his legs over the top of the bed. “I’ll be there soon to help out.”
“Have breakfast first.”
Walking across the room to find his clothes, Jensen glanced at the clock and shook his head. He’d already slept for too long. “I’ll have coffee and grab some food later.”
“Fine. Hey, can you bring the paint? I meant to grab it from your garage before I left but I forgot.”
“Sure, you want to try and get all the painting done today?” Wedging his cell between his ear and shoulder, Jensen went to step into his jeans and almost tripped over, just managing to stay upright by steadying himself against the wall.
“If we can. I’m going to hang up now before you fall flat on your face and blame me for distracting you.”
“See you soon.” Jensen hung up and finished pulling his jeans up before crossing over to the wardrobe in the corner of the room to find an old top to wear for painting in.
His cell began to ring again and he laughed, wondering what Jared had forgotten to say. He’d gotten used to getting three or four calls within the space of an hour from Jared over the last few months, with Jared calling to tell him about a book he’d read or a potential name he’d thought of for the store or even just to tell Jensen to quit worrying, he wasn’t going anywhere.
He answered the cell, pulling a t-shirt off the shelf. “What did you forget this time, Padalecki?”
“Well, you’ve clearly forgotten the manners that your father and I taught you.”
“Mom.” Jensen pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering what he’d done to get so unlucky. “I thought you were Jared.”
“Clearly.” There was that voice again, the one she used anytime Jensen reminded her that he was gay. “I’m calling to check you’ve remembered Josh’s birthday on Friday.”
He bristled at the implication. “Of course I have.”
“Right, well, we’re having the memorial lunch at one. Your Dad thought we could go to that new Texan place near our house; Josh always liked his home-grown food.”
Jensen sighed; he’d been dreading having this conversation for days. “I’m not going.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but I’m not coming to lunch this year. I - the store opening is on Monday and I’ll have to be around to help out on Friday.”
“It’s one day of the year, Jensen. I can’t believe you’re even thinking about just forgetting about what day it is. It’s-”
“I can remember Josh without having lunch with you guys. Me and Jared being there would only make things awkward anyway.”
“He isn’t invited.” There was no room for compromise in her tone.
“Well, that settles it. I’m going to find Friday hard enough without not being able to have my boyfriend there to support me. Look, I’ve got to go. Like I said, the store opens on Monday - it’d be nice if you could drop in and see the place.”
His Mom hung up without saying goodbye. It was exactly what Jensen had expected.
~~
“You can go to the lunch if you want to.” Jared dipped the roller back into the paint and brought it back up to the wall, coating it in a rich purple paint. “I don’t mind handling things here for a couple of hours.”
Jensen shook his head, painting long the edge of the skirting board. “I don’t want to. Every year’s the same, we sit there in near silence until the main course when my Mom starts talking about how Josh would have loved this when he wouldn’t have - he’d have hated the silence and he’d have hated them making him out to be perfect.”
“Still, you don’t have to help out here - you can go do something else for a while if you want.”
“I want to keep busy, Jared. Besides, this is important. Josh would have kicked my ass for slacking the week before the store opens.”
“Okay.” Jared hummed for a moment before speaking again. “Jeff said he was going to come stay on Thursday, help out for the last few days, but I can get him to wait until the weekend if you like, until after.”
Jared’s brother was the one member of his family that Jensen hadn’t met yet - he’d been away at his girlfriend’s parents’ place when Jensen had gone to Texas to meet Jared’s parents - and he was nervous, knew how important an older brother’s opinion could be. But he wanted to meet him, all the same.
“Jensen?” Jared stopped painting for a second and turned to look at him.
“No. Man, he’s your brother and he’s offering to help. ‘Sides, I want to meet him.”
“Just thought I’d check. You missed a spot.” Jared pointed towards the wall, grinning.
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re critiquing the artist's painting now? Really?”
“Yeah, well, I still think you should have done a mural for this wall.”
“That’s because you think my art’s a lot better than it actually is.” He flipped his finger up at Jared as the paint roller passed close to his head, spattering green paint all over him, as Jared lifted it back up to the wall.
“Shush, you. You know you’re not going to win that argument.” Jared grinned at him. “I think your art is awesome.”
Jensen shrugged. “Well, I’ll make something for upstairs then. But not the store.”
“Fine.” Jared placed the paint roller down and stripped out of his t-shirt, threw it into the corner of the room. Catching Jensen looking, he waggled his eyebrows. “What? I’m hot. We’re in the middle of a heat wave.”
“You could have just turned up the air con.”
Jared smirked. “You want me to put my top back on and do that, then?”
“No. You’ve taken it off now, might as well keep it off.”
“You sure it won’t distract you from the painting?”
Fighting back a smile, he looked away from Jared’s chest and turned back to his task. “Takes a lot more than that to distract me.”
“You think?”
“Yeah, I-fuck.” Jensen jumped as he felt Jared’s hands land on his hips. “You’re lucky the brush didn’t slip.”
“I’m just lucky full stop.”
Not bothering to hide his grin now, Jensen turned his head and met Jared’s lips with his own. It wasn’t his fault he was really easily distracted.
Wednesday
Bringing his cigarette up to his lips, Jensen inhaled deeply. He hadn’t had much time to smoke recently; he’d stopped doing it when Jared was around because he knew how much his boyfriend hated it and, with the store preparations, most of his time had been spend with Jared. Not that he was complaining.
Now, though, he had a couple of minutes spare while he was waiting for Jared to arrive. They’d been doing different things over the course of the morning; he’d been packing some more of his stuff up back at the house, Jared had been co-ordinating leaflet hand-outs announcing the grand opening of their store.
“Ready for lunch?”
He turned to see Jared walking towards him and dropped the cigarette to the ground. “Yeah, I’m hungry. How’d it go with the leaflets?”
“Good.” Jared tangled his fingers together with Jensen’s and squeezed. “There was more interest than I thought there’d be, actually.”
“You think we’re stupid?”
“What?”
Jensen sighed, shrugged when Jared poked him in the arm. “It’s just - it’s not as though there’s a shortage of book places around here. A lot of them are going to have established customer bases and we’ll be new.”
“Yeah. But we’re something different; somewhere people can buy your art as well as read. ‘Sides, look how many places you tried before you found Cora’s. Everyone wants something different from a bookstore - there’ll be people out there who want ours.”
“You think?”
“I do think.” Jared smirked. “Besides, what person wouldn’t want to make return visits after experiencing my charm and your good looks?”
Jensen shoved at Jared’s shoulder, steering him inside the restaurant. “Dork.”
Thursday
Jensen smiled as he reached the end of the chapter he was reading; he wasn’t strictly meant to be reading at all but he’d come across the book whilst sorting out some of his stuff to pack and he’d figured he deserved a reading break. Besides, the blurb had made the book sound awesome and, three chapters in, Jensen now knew that it hadn’t been false advertising.
He started as he heard a knock on the window and looked up to see Jared standing there, looking in at him with a knowing grin on his face. Feeling bad for slacking off just four days before they opened the store, Jensen placed the book down on the floor and pushed himself up into a standing position. As he walked towards the front door to let Jared in, he could see the signs everywhere of just how much work there still was to do. The hallway was lined with boxes and piles of stuff that hadn’t even been packed up yet, the room where he worked on his art was virtually untouched - the only thing he’d managed to do there during his sorting out was throw away a few empty paint tubes.
Jared pulled him in for a hug almost as soon as he opened the door and Jensen went with it, wrapping his arms around to rest on Jared’s back for a moment before pulling back and sighing.
“Still too hot to hug for long?” Jared walked past him into the house.
“I wish it’d rain, just for an hour or so, even.”
“Yeah, that would be good. Interesting book?” Jared nodded towards the book that Jensen had been reading.
“It’s awesome - I only meant to check out the first page or so and now I’m three chapters in.”
“The curse of being a bookworm.”
Jensen laughed and pointed towards the big pile of books in the corner of the room, where there were books he hadn’t had a chance to read yet mixed in with ones that he’d read dozens of times but couldn’t bear to part with. He hadn’t quite worked out where there was room for them in the apartment but he knew they’d find space - would always find space - for their books.
“I’m heading to pick up Jeff from the airport soon.” Jared dropped down onto the couch and toed out of his shoes, not looking like someone who was planning to leave again in a couple of minutes. “Just wanted to let you know.”
“Giving me time to freak out before he gets here?”
“No - giving me an excuse to see you an hour or so earlier than I would have if I’d gone straight to the airport.”
Jensen shrugged and sat down next to Jared. “I’m kind of freaking out. What if he doesn’t like me?”
“He’ll like you.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
“He will.” Jared shook his head. “Jensen, you’re awesome, okay? You’re smart and funny and kind and Jeff’s going to see that. Look, you had the same worries when you met my parents and Meggie, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, then, Jeff’s going to love you just as much as they did.”
Jensen winced. “I didn’t exactly make the best first impression. And that was after talking to your Mom on the phone.”
“Maybe not. But by the time we left you were part of the family.”
He smiled, remembering the hug Jared’s mom had given him as they said goodbye. “Yeah, I know. Look, it’s fine. It’s normal for me to be nervous about something like this. Healthy nerves, right?”
“Something like that, yeah.” Jared reached across to pat Jensen’s knee and then stood up, stretching his arms up above his head.
“Okay, I’m going to take off, go get Jeff. I’ll stop off at my place on the way back so he can drop his things off.”
“Okay, you want to meet for lunch?” Jensen looked around at the mess that was his house at the moment, not exactly the best environment to meet Jared’s big brother in.
“Sure - that Italian place near the store. Then we can take Jeff to show him the place?”
“Sounds good.” He watched Jared leave the room and then spun around to look out of the window, waved when Jared turned and blew him a kiss as he walked down the path. Once Jared was out of sight, Jensen made for the stairs. He needed to find some clean clothes to wear.
~~
Grimacing, Jensen wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans - deciding to blame then on the weather rather than his nervousness - and looked through the window of the restaurant. He spotted Jared sitting at a table near the back and, even if he hadn’t known Jeff was visiting, he’d have been able to identify the guy sitting with him as Jared’s brother any day of the week. As he watched, Jared said something that made Jeff shove him lightly in the shoulder, both of them laughing. Jensen breathed in deep and then exhaled; this wasn’t about him and his issues, this was about Jared wanting him to meet his brother.
Before he could let himself get worked up, Jensen pushed the door open and walked into the restaurant. As he walked towards the table, Jared looked up and saw him, smiled wide and genuine and Jensen smiled back.
“Hey.” Jensen held out a hand as he took the seat next to Jared. “You must be Jeff.”
“Yeah, it’s great to meet you, Jensen.” Jeff shook his hand enthusiastically.
“You too, man. Did you have a good flight?”
“It was okay, yeah. Food wasn’t up to much though so I’m looking forward to this lunch.”
Jared laughed. “You always look forward to your lunch.”
Jensen snorted as he reached for a menu. “Says you, the food eating machine.”
“I’m tall. I’m meant to eat a lot.”
“I’m tall, too.” Jeff winked at Jensen. “So that means I’m allowed to eat a lot, too.”
“I’m six foot.” Jensen offered, sticking his tongue out at Jared when he snorted. “What? That’s tall to most people.”
Friday
Finishing off his cigarette, Jensen let it drop to the ground and reached into his pocket for the pack. Bad habit or not, they were making him feel calmer amidst all the stress of the week. Bringing a new one up to his lips, he lit it and then twisted his head to look through the window into the store. Jared was facing away from him -which was probably a good thing, meant he could pretend he’d just smoked one - as he stacked the last few books on the shelves.
The place looked almost ready now; fresh paint on all of the walls, all of the seats in place and, finally, the books where they were meant to be. The apartment upstairs still needed work but that didn’t matter - there was no deadline for that, no grand opening to add pressure. They’d done a lot of the work for the store over the course of the morning and Jensen knew Jared had intended it - scheduled it- that way so he’d been kept busy.
The morning hadn’t been easy; it had seemed like every other book he’d picked up had been one he’d read and discussed with Josh. But it had felt right to be working so hard towards the opening of a bookstore. He was sure his brother would have approved.
“Jared actually letting you take a break?”
Jensen snorted and turned to look at Jeff, who had been on a coffee run. “Yeah. There’s not much else I can actually do anyway.”
“He can be pretty enthusiastic sometimes, right?” Jeff glanced at Jared and then back at Jensen.”
“It’s a good thing, though. He stops me from being too grumpy most of the time.”
“Yeah, he’s usually good at that.” Jeff shuffled forwards slightly and then sighed. “Just don’t forget that Jared can hurt, too, yeah?”
Jensen nodded as Jeff walked past him, wondering how many times Josh would have said something like that to Jared. He went to reach for another cigarette and then changed his mind; he needed to go and prove to Jeff that he could be there for Jared in the same way that Jared was there for him.
~~
“Thanks for coming home with me.” Jensen turned to look back at Jared as he pushed open the door to his house. Jared had stayed at his place with Jeff the night before but he’d insisted on keeping Jensen company that night; Jensen wasn’t exactly complaining.
“I wouldn’t have done anything else, man.” Jared kicked his shoes off as he walked through into the living room. “Not today.”
“Yeah, well, being with you is a lot better than how I spent this day last year.”
“Do I want to know?”
He shook his head as he sat down on the couch, tucking his feet under Jared’s legs. “Probably not. It wasn’t pretty.”
“Did your parents call?”
“No. No surprises there. It’s okay - I’d rather remember Josh in my own way.”
Jared rested his arm along the back of the couch, tapping his fingers. “That’s not really the point.”
“I know it isn’t. But hey, it’s them who are going to end up losing another son.” He fell quiet for a moment and then lifted his hand to rest it on top of Jared’s. “Hey, thanks for today. You’ve been-”
“Making you work hard.” Jared grinned.
“Yeah, and we both know why. So, thank you.”
Jared turned his hand so his palm was touching Jensen’s. “Any time.”
Saturday
Jensen looked around the empty living room; they’d finished taking all of the boxes away over the course of the day and now the only thing that was left in the room was the couch he was sitting on. He could still remember the day he moved in, the hours he’d spent with Chris and Steve unpacking his things and painting the walls. Now, he was leaving again and everything was different.
He glanced at his watch and winced. He’d been meant to meet Jared at their apartment half an hour ago to officially move in but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to get up and leave yet. Once he’d left the key in the security box by the front door that was it, there’d be no going back. He was going to screw things up, either now by not turning up in time and freaking Jared out, or sometime in the future.
“You’re late, son.”
Sighing, Jensen tossed his head back to look up at the ceiling as Chris walked over to sit next to him. “How’d you get in?”
“Used the spare key. Want to tell me why you’re still here instead of christening the new place with Jared?”
“Not really.” He twisted around and brought his feet up to rest against Chris’ legs. “But I will anyway.”
“So spill.”
“If I walk out that front door, it’s done, it’s final.”
Chris stretched out his arm along the back of the couch. “I thought that’s what you wanted - you and Jared living together, working together and all that.”
“It is.”
“But?”
“But what if it goes wrong?” Jensen linked his hands together at the back of his neck to stop himself from reaching for some cigarettes.
“I’m sure we’ve had this conversation already. First off, that’s a risk you’ve got to take - everyone has to take a risk like that at some point. Second, you and Jared are good together, man, nothing’s going to go wrong.”
“But-”
“Are you happy with him? Jensen?”
“Course I am.”
“Then there’s your answer. Now get your ass out of this house and down to your place. I’ll lock up.”
“Yeah.” Jensen stood up and nodded at Chris. “Yeah, okay.”
~~
“I knew you’d turn up.” Jared pulled Jensen in for a hug. “Katie said I shouldn’t be offended if you didn’t and I had to come and drag you down here myself but I told her you’d be here and you are.”
Jensen pressed his forehead against Jared’s shoulder for a moment before stepping back. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“You’re here. That’s what matters.”
“Yeah. Where’s Jeff?”
“Booked into a hotel for the rest of his stay. He wanted to give us some privacy.”
Jensen nodded. He’d quickly learned that Jared’s brother was just as thoughtful as Jared was. Turning to look at the building that was their apartment and the store, he took hold of Jared’s hand, tangling their fingers together. He wasn’t exactly sure how they’d gone from his birthday, seeing the place for the first time, to being ready to move in but he was glad that they had.
“You ready?” Jared squeezed his hand, thumb moving in slow circles across Jensen’s wrist.
“Yeah. Are you?”
“More than.”
He smirked. “Want me to carry you over the threshold?”
Jared laughed, head thrown back and Jensen smiled; the gesture was one of the first things he remembered about Jared, the open, genuine joy that was displayed.
“Jared?”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Wait until I’ve had some champagne on Monday - I just might. You want to go together, then?”
Taking a step towards the door, Jared pulled Jensen with him and nodded. “Always.”
Sunday
Jensen woke up to the feeling of Jared’s fingers tracing gentle fingers across his stomach. Sighing, he rested his hand on the back of Jared’s neck and pulled him closer, pressing their lips together for a slow, languid kiss. Jared’s breath was warm against his cheek as when they moved apart and Jensen smiled.
“This is how we should spend every Sunday.” Jared yawned and then continued. “Just lazing around in bed together.”
“Sunday mornings, at least. But not today.”
“No. Not today, unfortunately. Although you have to admit it’d be a great way to celebrate spending our first day living together.”
Jensen nodded, sitting up in the bed to make sure he didn’t get tempted to just stay there all day. “We already did lots of celebrating last night.”
“We did.” Jared waggled his eyebrows and then sat up, too. “But I guess you’re right, we have got something to do.”
“Yeah, just a little thing.”
“We just need to make sure all is prepared for the opening tomorrow, do another leaflet drop, pick up the cupcakes from the bakery, make sure the caterer is definitely ready.”
Jensen shrugged, laughing. “Nothing much, then.”
“Exactly. We’ll definitely manage it.”
~~
They were never going to be ready in time. The coffee machine - which had been one of Jensen’s most essential items - had broken so people could drink coffee while they read. The baker had mixed up the cupcake orders and she couldn’t do anything to fix it because she had had a wedding to cater; Jared had pointed out to Jensen that a wedding cake was, in the grand scheme of things, more important than a few cupcakes. And Jensen knew there was no way he was going to be able to face the public and not screw something up.
Tapping his fingers against the counter, Jensen watched as Jared came walking through the door. His hands were empty which was a good sign but that didn’t mean that any of the leaflets he’d been handing out had made it anywhere other than the next bin.
“They’re all gone.” Jared held the door until Jeff caught up with him and then crossed over to stand opposite Jensen. “Every last one of them so you can chill out. At least some of the people we gave them to have to be interested, right?”
“Right. The guy should be here to fix the coffee machine soon. They said they’d do it for free as it hasn’t even been used yet.”
“So they should.” Jeff dropped the empty box he was carrying down onto the floor. “Everything else is ready, though?”
Jared nodded. “We’ll write the cupcakes off so, yeah, we’re all set.”
“We’ve probably forgotten something.”
“Nope. I think we’re good, Jensen.” Walking around the counter, Jared reached to shove him lightly in the shoulder. “So quit worrying and start enjoying this.”
Huffing out a breath of air, Jensen glanced up at the clock. They still had a good few hours left of the day to prepare the last minute things for the morning. Jared was right; he needed to try and relax otherwise he’d be so on edge in the morning that something would definitely go wrong.
“Did you check Chris was still okay to sing tomorrow?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. He will be, though. He went on and on about what he was going to play last week - made me listen to all of the songs to make sure I like them even though I’ve heard them all before.”
“Sounds like him. Why don’t you head over to his place for an hour or so? I can deal with the coffee machine guy and you can make sure Chris knows what time he needs to be here.”
“That’s not fair on you - you deserve a break, too.”
“Both of you go.” Jeff shrugged. “I’ve only been here for a couple of days, you guys have been working on this for weeks. I’ll handle things here for a few hours.”
“Are you sure?” Jared knocked his hand gently against Jensen’s.
“Yeah, positive. You two go, relax for an hour or so.”
Turning his hand around so his palm was touching Jared’s, Jensen smiled. “Thanks, man. We owe you one.”
“No, you don’t. It’s what family’s for, Jensen.” Jeff raised his voice as Jared and Jensen got nearer to the door. “And that includes you.”
Out on the sidewalk, Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand, knowing that he didn’t need to say anything to let Jared know just how much his brother’s words had meant. “I can’t believe we open tomorrow.”
Jared laughed. “I know - it’s crazy. Are you sure about the name?”
“It’s a bit late to change it now, dude.” He felt better to know that he wasn’t the only one worrying about the details and random things that they’d decided on ages ago.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. 'The Open Book’ is an awesome name, anyway.”
Jensen thought it was, too. It sounded relaxed, somewhere people would be able to feel at home. The kind of place he’d been desperate to find when he’d first moved into the area. Maybe they’d manage to find some customers after all. Maybe they’d even be popular.
Monday
When Jensen ventured out of the back room to see how things were going in the store, Chris was playing, fingers moving over the guitar strings as he sang, just a little quieter than usual so that the customers weren’t distracted from the books. Half an hour ago, when he’d left the front of the store to take a quick break from the party, there’d been a good amount of people inside. Now, there was hardly any room to move and Jared was selling books to a very long queue of eager looking customers. Jensen started to move to help him but changed direction when Katie, who had followed them from ‘Cora’s’, got there first.
Instead, he headed towards the door to greet newcomers. From there, he had a good view of the store. He could see the people browsing through the second-books towards the back of the shop, the children grabbing hold of their parent’s hands to show them something. The smiles on the faces of the people reading blurbs or thanking Jared as they made their purchase.
He knew that there was still a long way to go -that bookstores could be hard to keep open in the face of competition - but, for now at least, they were a success. He wished Josh could be there to see it, wondered whether his parents would turn up or whether they’d ignore the whole thing and then realised that it didn’t even matter to him anymore. He had what he needed.
Waving back at Jared when he caught his eye and stuck his thumbs up in the air, Jensen knew that, together, they had a fighting chance.
Fandom: RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Verse: Pages Turn
Rating: NC-17
Beta: ishilde
Word count: 6,991
Summary: There was a week until Jared and Jensen were due to open their bookstore and move in to their new apartment and Jensen was definitely not freaking out. Timestamp to Pages Turn.
Warnings: Mentions of a past character death (if you’ve read Pages, you’ll know who it is) and issues of homophobia (again, dealt with in Pages, too)
A/N: This was written for firesign10 as a Christmas fic present - hope you like it and I’m sorry it took so long!
Monday
Sweat was making Jensen’s shirt stick to his back by the time he reached Jared’s apartment building, making him feel uncomfortable and in need of a shower before he’d even really done anything. Opting to walk from his place to Jared’s in the middle of a heat wave probably wasn’t the smartest idea he’d ever had. He pulled at the wet material as he made his way up the stairs, grimacing when it pulled slightly at his skin. It was just his luck that they’d managed to choose the hottest week of the year so far to open the bookstore, meaning that instead of lounging in a garden with a cold beer like every sane person was doing, they were spending the week fitting shelves and painting and lifting heavy boxes all over the place. And it was just a sign of his own stupidity that he’d suggested they also move into their apartment at the same time, meaning that they had double the amount of work to do.
Jared’s floor was three flights up, and by the time he got there, Jensen really wished the building had an elevator. There had been no air conditioning in the stairwell and he was out of breath. He took a minute to compose himself - there’d just be endless comments about how smoking was making him unfit if Jared saw him like that - and then knocked on Jared’s door. It swung open almost immediately and Jensen stepped backwards as Jared went to hug him.
“You don’t want to do that, man. I’ve been sweating like pig.”
“Dude.” Jared grinned and leaned forward to kiss him instead, a quick, soft greeting. “You always say the nicest things to me.”
He walked into the apartment, pulling the door closed behind him, and looked around at the boxes that were all over the floor. In those, he knew, were some of Jared’s most prized possessions. The photos of his family. The awards from when he was playing high school football. All of the books he’d collected over the years. There were similar boxes full of stuff back at his place, still some piles of books waiting to be packed up, but to see Jared’s apartment like this somehow made it real. They were actually moving in together, bonafide starting a business together. If something went wrong, it’d be really hard to get back from where they were.
“Jensen?” Jared reached out to touch his arm. “Everything okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, man. I was just thinking, this time next week we’ll be in the apartment getting ready to open up the store.”
“I know - it’s pretty awesome, right?”
Turning to face Jared, he saw the wide grin on his boyfriend’s face and nodded. Jared was happy, excited and there was no point worrying him about stupid jitters. Nothing was going to go wrong. “Course it is. And it’ll be even more awesome once it’s actually happened and this week’s hard work is over with.”
“Today shouldn’t be too bad - going over the schedule for the rest of the week won’t be too taxing.”
“Right.” Jensen laughed. “Because that’s all we’re doing today.”
“Just try and chill - the more you get worked up about getting everything right, the harder the next week is going to be.” Jared stepped closer to him, rested his hands on Jensen’s hips. “This is what we’ve been working towards over the last few months, you’re meant to be enjoying it.”
“I’ll enjoy it more once I’m sure we can get everything ready on time. Seriously, I don’t know how you’re so relaxed.”
Jared chuckled. “It’s a good job I am otherwise you’d have no-one to stop you from waking up at one am to go check on the store.”
“I only did that once.”
“For someone who spends half his life sitting around doing nothing with Chris and Steve, you’re doing a pretty good impression of a control freak.” Jared wrinkled his nose. “You really have been sweating a lot.”
“It’s that bad?” He tried to pull away from Jared.
“You want to take a shower before we start working? I can join you”
Jensen looked Jared up and down, snorted when he saw the man was still wearing his bed sweats. “You just want an excuse to get me naked.”
Jared smirked. “Guilty as charged. You complaining?”
He didn’t bother to answer, just grabbed the hem of his t-shirt and tugged it off over his head, let it drop to the floor.
Jared whistled. “Apparently not.”
“Well, we might as well say goodbye to the shower.”
“Does that mean we get to say bye to the kitchen table later, too?”
Halfway towards the bathroom, he looked back over his shoulder at Jared and waggled his eyebrows. “If you play your cards right.”
He frowned when Jared burst out laughing. “What?”
“I can’t believe you actually said that line.” Jared shook his head, still smiling. “It’s like the most corny line possible coming out of the mouth of my very not-corny boyfriend. It’s strange.”
“So I’m strange now?”
“I like your strange.” Jared closed the distance between them. “It’s part of what attracted me to you in the first place, dork.”
Jensen actually believed that, too. Aside from Chris and Steve, Jared was the only person who didn’t seem to care about some of his more out-there habits. “You going to show me how much?” He added an obvious wink at the end of the sentence.
“You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to shut you up before you say anything else like that.”
He opened his mouth to reply but Jared was quicker, leaning in to press their lips together. Jensen shrugged even as Jared began to steer them towards the bathroom; it wasn’t like he minded not being able to speak if this is what he got to do instead.
Jensen’s back hit against the bathroom door quicker than he’d been expecting and he reached behind himself to fumble with the handle. He stumbled slightly as the door fell open, only stopped from tripping all the way by Jared’s hands. They felt cool against his bare back and Jensen grimaced slightly as he realised he was still covered in sweat, not exactly the most attractive feeling for Jared.
“Ready to get cooled off then hot all over again?”
Jared backed off as he spoke, started pulling his own clothes off, and the line should have been just as corny as Jensen’s had been but, instead, it sent a wave of heat through his body. Nodding, he kept his gaze fixed on Jared and leaned across to turn the shower on.
“Want to lose your jeans?” Fully stripped now, Jared reached for Jensen’s button without waiting for an answer. He pulled them down quickly, dropped to his knees and mouthed at Jensen’s cock through his boxers.
Jensen bucked, his hips moving involuntarily as he felt the heat of Jared’s mouth through the thin material. “Fuck, Jared, that’s-” he trailed off as Jared pulled away.
“What?” Jared smirked up at him, thumb moving up and down where it was still hooked in the waistband of his boxers.
“Not fair. Why’d you stop?”
“Thought we were showering.”
“Right. Yeah, okay.” He jumped slightly as Jared pulled his boxers down in one fluid motion. “Let’s do that.”
The water had warmed up a little by the time they stepped into the shower cubicle but it was still cool enough to make Jensen sigh at the first feel of it, washing over him and taking away the sticky feel of sweat. He backed up further against the wall, making more room for Jared and as he grinned at him.
“Least it’s the last time we’ll have to squash into here - the shower at the new place is bigger.”
“I don’t know.” Jared took a step closer, resting one hand on Jensen’s hip and the other against the wall next to his head. “I kind of like being close to you.”
Jensen nodded his agreement and moved so that his cock brushed against Jared’s. “It’s not such a bad thing.”
“It’s a very good thing, actually.”
Humming, he leaned in and scraped his teeth along Jared’s collarbone, was about to do more when he felt Jared’s hand wrap around his cock. “Fuck, that feels good.”
“S’going to feel even better in a minute, baby. You just relax for a while.”
“I hope-” he stopped speaking as Jared started moving his hand in firm, long strokes. Water was still running down over him and he closed his eyes as they began to sting, concentrated on just feeling Jared and the sensations he was causing.
Jensen moaned when Jared’s mouth covered his nipple at the same time as his hand quickened, felt his orgasm start to build.
“Jared. Jared, I’m-”
“I know, baby. Just whenever you’re ready.”
Jared’s tongue left trails of warmth on Jensen’s skin and Jensen felt the heat in his gut tighten and then Jared’s teeth scraped against the sensitive nub of his nipple and Jensen was gone, spilling all over Jared’s hands. He opened his eyes and watched as his come was washed away, took a moment just to lean against Jared and catch his breath and then smirked, lowering himself to his knees.
“Jensen? What’re you doing?”
“It’s your turn. Baby
~~
When Jensen stepped out of Jared’s bedroom, dressed in some of the spare clothes he kept there, Jared was already sitting at the table, bits of paper spread out in front of him. Jensen leaned against the doorframe, watching for a moment. Jared had that look on his face, the one he only got when he was concentrating on something important, and Jensen smiled, knowing that Jared was putting just as much work into the preparations as he was.
“Any problems?” He walked across the room and took the seat next to Jared, arm brushing against his as he tried to see what Jared was looking at.
Jared shook his head. “We just need to work out what to do when.”
He snorted. “And then actually do it all.”
“Well, yeah. There’s that. I’ve already scheduled in a few hours on Friday for you - I know it’s Josh’s birthday.”
Jensen nodded his thanks and reached for the paper that Jared had been writing on. He glanced down the list of things they needed to do; most of the jobs for moving into the apartment were there and he nodded his approval before picking up a pen.
“What did I miss?” Jared rested his chin on Jensen’s shoulder, warm breath huffing against his cheek.
“We need to paint the back wall of the store.” He jotted another note down. “And get all the books on the shelves - that’s kind of an important one.”
“Yeah, I guess it-” Jared broke off as someone knocked at the door. “I’ll get it.”
Jensen nodded, still examining the list. It was probably one of Jared’s neighbours; they’d been calling frequently over the last week to bring him extra boxes or, sometimes, to bring him food because they thought he’d be too busy with the move to feed himself. Apparently Jensen wasn’t the only one who couldn’t resist the sparkle in his boyfriend’s eyes.
“You stare at the paper any harder; you’ll burn holes in it.”
Jensen turned his head at the familiar drawl, smiled when he saw Chris and Steve standing just in front of Jared. “You guys here to criticise or to help?”
“Help.” Steve held up a hand, showing Jensen some keys. “My truck’s outside - we figured we could take some of these boxes over to your new place while you two work on the planning.”
“You sure? It’s kind of a hot day for hard work.”
Chris rolled his eyes, bending down to pick one of the boxes up. “I think we’ll manage. Where do you want them?”
“Just leave them in the back room of the store.” Jared took his seat again. “Me and Jensen can take them upstairs later.”
Jensen watched as his friends left, leaving the door open so they could come back for more boxes to take. “They’re really quite awesome friends.”
Jared laughed. “Chad’s coming to help later - you’ll wish we had no friends at all then.”
“How’d we get so lucky?” Jensen had meant that as a joke but it came out sounding more sentimental than anything. He was glad when Jared just shrugged and brushed his foot up against Jensen’s ankle.
Tuesday
The first thing Jensen noticed when he woke up on Tuesday morning was that he was alone in his bed, which was strange because he’d definitely had company when he’d fallen asleep the night before. The second thing he noticed was the piece of paper stuck to his forehead. Sitting up, sheets pooling around his waist, he pulled it off and smiled when he read the message, written in Jared’s messy scrawl. Leaning over the bed - he’d moved over onto Jared’s side sometime in his sleep - he grabbed his cell and hit the speed dial button.
Jared answered on the second ring. “Morning, you.”
“You should have woken me up.” As he spoke, Jensen shuffled back down under the covers.
“You looked peaceful. Besides, neither of us will get much sleep this week so I thought I’d let you get some more while you could.”
“Thanks - I appreciate it. Are you back at your place?”
“No. I’m at the store, thought I’d sort out some of the books.”
He nodded even though Jared couldn’t see him and pushed the covers off the bed, swung his legs over the top of the bed. “I’ll be there soon to help out.”
“Have breakfast first.”
Walking across the room to find his clothes, Jensen glanced at the clock and shook his head. He’d already slept for too long. “I’ll have coffee and grab some food later.”
“Fine. Hey, can you bring the paint? I meant to grab it from your garage before I left but I forgot.”
“Sure, you want to try and get all the painting done today?” Wedging his cell between his ear and shoulder, Jensen went to step into his jeans and almost tripped over, just managing to stay upright by steadying himself against the wall.
“If we can. I’m going to hang up now before you fall flat on your face and blame me for distracting you.”
“See you soon.” Jensen hung up and finished pulling his jeans up before crossing over to the wardrobe in the corner of the room to find an old top to wear for painting in.
His cell began to ring again and he laughed, wondering what Jared had forgotten to say. He’d gotten used to getting three or four calls within the space of an hour from Jared over the last few months, with Jared calling to tell him about a book he’d read or a potential name he’d thought of for the store or even just to tell Jensen to quit worrying, he wasn’t going anywhere.
He answered the cell, pulling a t-shirt off the shelf. “What did you forget this time, Padalecki?”
“Well, you’ve clearly forgotten the manners that your father and I taught you.”
“Mom.” Jensen pinched the bridge of his nose, wondering what he’d done to get so unlucky. “I thought you were Jared.”
“Clearly.” There was that voice again, the one she used anytime Jensen reminded her that he was gay. “I’m calling to check you’ve remembered Josh’s birthday on Friday.”
He bristled at the implication. “Of course I have.”
“Right, well, we’re having the memorial lunch at one. Your Dad thought we could go to that new Texan place near our house; Josh always liked his home-grown food.”
Jensen sighed; he’d been dreading having this conversation for days. “I’m not going.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but I’m not coming to lunch this year. I - the store opening is on Monday and I’ll have to be around to help out on Friday.”
“It’s one day of the year, Jensen. I can’t believe you’re even thinking about just forgetting about what day it is. It’s-”
“I can remember Josh without having lunch with you guys. Me and Jared being there would only make things awkward anyway.”
“He isn’t invited.” There was no room for compromise in her tone.
“Well, that settles it. I’m going to find Friday hard enough without not being able to have my boyfriend there to support me. Look, I’ve got to go. Like I said, the store opens on Monday - it’d be nice if you could drop in and see the place.”
His Mom hung up without saying goodbye. It was exactly what Jensen had expected.
~~
“You can go to the lunch if you want to.” Jared dipped the roller back into the paint and brought it back up to the wall, coating it in a rich purple paint. “I don’t mind handling things here for a couple of hours.”
Jensen shook his head, painting long the edge of the skirting board. “I don’t want to. Every year’s the same, we sit there in near silence until the main course when my Mom starts talking about how Josh would have loved this when he wouldn’t have - he’d have hated the silence and he’d have hated them making him out to be perfect.”
“Still, you don’t have to help out here - you can go do something else for a while if you want.”
“I want to keep busy, Jared. Besides, this is important. Josh would have kicked my ass for slacking the week before the store opens.”
“Okay.” Jared hummed for a moment before speaking again. “Jeff said he was going to come stay on Thursday, help out for the last few days, but I can get him to wait until the weekend if you like, until after.”
Jared’s brother was the one member of his family that Jensen hadn’t met yet - he’d been away at his girlfriend’s parents’ place when Jensen had gone to Texas to meet Jared’s parents - and he was nervous, knew how important an older brother’s opinion could be. But he wanted to meet him, all the same.
“Jensen?” Jared stopped painting for a second and turned to look at him.
“No. Man, he’s your brother and he’s offering to help. ‘Sides, I want to meet him.”
“Just thought I’d check. You missed a spot.” Jared pointed towards the wall, grinning.
He raised his eyebrows. “You’re critiquing the artist's painting now? Really?”
“Yeah, well, I still think you should have done a mural for this wall.”
“That’s because you think my art’s a lot better than it actually is.” He flipped his finger up at Jared as the paint roller passed close to his head, spattering green paint all over him, as Jared lifted it back up to the wall.
“Shush, you. You know you’re not going to win that argument.” Jared grinned at him. “I think your art is awesome.”
Jensen shrugged. “Well, I’ll make something for upstairs then. But not the store.”
“Fine.” Jared placed the paint roller down and stripped out of his t-shirt, threw it into the corner of the room. Catching Jensen looking, he waggled his eyebrows. “What? I’m hot. We’re in the middle of a heat wave.”
“You could have just turned up the air con.”
Jared smirked. “You want me to put my top back on and do that, then?”
“No. You’ve taken it off now, might as well keep it off.”
“You sure it won’t distract you from the painting?”
Fighting back a smile, he looked away from Jared’s chest and turned back to his task. “Takes a lot more than that to distract me.”
“You think?”
“Yeah, I-fuck.” Jensen jumped as he felt Jared’s hands land on his hips. “You’re lucky the brush didn’t slip.”
“I’m just lucky full stop.”
Not bothering to hide his grin now, Jensen turned his head and met Jared’s lips with his own. It wasn’t his fault he was really easily distracted.
Wednesday
Bringing his cigarette up to his lips, Jensen inhaled deeply. He hadn’t had much time to smoke recently; he’d stopped doing it when Jared was around because he knew how much his boyfriend hated it and, with the store preparations, most of his time had been spend with Jared. Not that he was complaining.
Now, though, he had a couple of minutes spare while he was waiting for Jared to arrive. They’d been doing different things over the course of the morning; he’d been packing some more of his stuff up back at the house, Jared had been co-ordinating leaflet hand-outs announcing the grand opening of their store.
“Ready for lunch?”
He turned to see Jared walking towards him and dropped the cigarette to the ground. “Yeah, I’m hungry. How’d it go with the leaflets?”
“Good.” Jared tangled his fingers together with Jensen’s and squeezed. “There was more interest than I thought there’d be, actually.”
“You think we’re stupid?”
“What?”
Jensen sighed, shrugged when Jared poked him in the arm. “It’s just - it’s not as though there’s a shortage of book places around here. A lot of them are going to have established customer bases and we’ll be new.”
“Yeah. But we’re something different; somewhere people can buy your art as well as read. ‘Sides, look how many places you tried before you found Cora’s. Everyone wants something different from a bookstore - there’ll be people out there who want ours.”
“You think?”
“I do think.” Jared smirked. “Besides, what person wouldn’t want to make return visits after experiencing my charm and your good looks?”
Jensen shoved at Jared’s shoulder, steering him inside the restaurant. “Dork.”
Thursday
Jensen smiled as he reached the end of the chapter he was reading; he wasn’t strictly meant to be reading at all but he’d come across the book whilst sorting out some of his stuff to pack and he’d figured he deserved a reading break. Besides, the blurb had made the book sound awesome and, three chapters in, Jensen now knew that it hadn’t been false advertising.
He started as he heard a knock on the window and looked up to see Jared standing there, looking in at him with a knowing grin on his face. Feeling bad for slacking off just four days before they opened the store, Jensen placed the book down on the floor and pushed himself up into a standing position. As he walked towards the front door to let Jared in, he could see the signs everywhere of just how much work there still was to do. The hallway was lined with boxes and piles of stuff that hadn’t even been packed up yet, the room where he worked on his art was virtually untouched - the only thing he’d managed to do there during his sorting out was throw away a few empty paint tubes.
Jared pulled him in for a hug almost as soon as he opened the door and Jensen went with it, wrapping his arms around to rest on Jared’s back for a moment before pulling back and sighing.
“Still too hot to hug for long?” Jared walked past him into the house.
“I wish it’d rain, just for an hour or so, even.”
“Yeah, that would be good. Interesting book?” Jared nodded towards the book that Jensen had been reading.
“It’s awesome - I only meant to check out the first page or so and now I’m three chapters in.”
“The curse of being a bookworm.”
Jensen laughed and pointed towards the big pile of books in the corner of the room, where there were books he hadn’t had a chance to read yet mixed in with ones that he’d read dozens of times but couldn’t bear to part with. He hadn’t quite worked out where there was room for them in the apartment but he knew they’d find space - would always find space - for their books.
“I’m heading to pick up Jeff from the airport soon.” Jared dropped down onto the couch and toed out of his shoes, not looking like someone who was planning to leave again in a couple of minutes. “Just wanted to let you know.”
“Giving me time to freak out before he gets here?”
“No - giving me an excuse to see you an hour or so earlier than I would have if I’d gone straight to the airport.”
Jensen shrugged and sat down next to Jared. “I’m kind of freaking out. What if he doesn’t like me?”
“He’ll like you.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
“He will.” Jared shook his head. “Jensen, you’re awesome, okay? You’re smart and funny and kind and Jeff’s going to see that. Look, you had the same worries when you met my parents and Meggie, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, then, Jeff’s going to love you just as much as they did.”
Jensen winced. “I didn’t exactly make the best first impression. And that was after talking to your Mom on the phone.”
“Maybe not. But by the time we left you were part of the family.”
He smiled, remembering the hug Jared’s mom had given him as they said goodbye. “Yeah, I know. Look, it’s fine. It’s normal for me to be nervous about something like this. Healthy nerves, right?”
“Something like that, yeah.” Jared reached across to pat Jensen’s knee and then stood up, stretching his arms up above his head.
“Okay, I’m going to take off, go get Jeff. I’ll stop off at my place on the way back so he can drop his things off.”
“Okay, you want to meet for lunch?” Jensen looked around at the mess that was his house at the moment, not exactly the best environment to meet Jared’s big brother in.
“Sure - that Italian place near the store. Then we can take Jeff to show him the place?”
“Sounds good.” He watched Jared leave the room and then spun around to look out of the window, waved when Jared turned and blew him a kiss as he walked down the path. Once Jared was out of sight, Jensen made for the stairs. He needed to find some clean clothes to wear.
~~
Grimacing, Jensen wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans - deciding to blame then on the weather rather than his nervousness - and looked through the window of the restaurant. He spotted Jared sitting at a table near the back and, even if he hadn’t known Jeff was visiting, he’d have been able to identify the guy sitting with him as Jared’s brother any day of the week. As he watched, Jared said something that made Jeff shove him lightly in the shoulder, both of them laughing. Jensen breathed in deep and then exhaled; this wasn’t about him and his issues, this was about Jared wanting him to meet his brother.
Before he could let himself get worked up, Jensen pushed the door open and walked into the restaurant. As he walked towards the table, Jared looked up and saw him, smiled wide and genuine and Jensen smiled back.
“Hey.” Jensen held out a hand as he took the seat next to Jared. “You must be Jeff.”
“Yeah, it’s great to meet you, Jensen.” Jeff shook his hand enthusiastically.
“You too, man. Did you have a good flight?”
“It was okay, yeah. Food wasn’t up to much though so I’m looking forward to this lunch.”
Jared laughed. “You always look forward to your lunch.”
Jensen snorted as he reached for a menu. “Says you, the food eating machine.”
“I’m tall. I’m meant to eat a lot.”
“I’m tall, too.” Jeff winked at Jensen. “So that means I’m allowed to eat a lot, too.”
“I’m six foot.” Jensen offered, sticking his tongue out at Jared when he snorted. “What? That’s tall to most people.”
Friday
Finishing off his cigarette, Jensen let it drop to the ground and reached into his pocket for the pack. Bad habit or not, they were making him feel calmer amidst all the stress of the week. Bringing a new one up to his lips, he lit it and then twisted his head to look through the window into the store. Jared was facing away from him -which was probably a good thing, meant he could pretend he’d just smoked one - as he stacked the last few books on the shelves.
The place looked almost ready now; fresh paint on all of the walls, all of the seats in place and, finally, the books where they were meant to be. The apartment upstairs still needed work but that didn’t matter - there was no deadline for that, no grand opening to add pressure. They’d done a lot of the work for the store over the course of the morning and Jensen knew Jared had intended it - scheduled it- that way so he’d been kept busy.
The morning hadn’t been easy; it had seemed like every other book he’d picked up had been one he’d read and discussed with Josh. But it had felt right to be working so hard towards the opening of a bookstore. He was sure his brother would have approved.
“Jared actually letting you take a break?”
Jensen snorted and turned to look at Jeff, who had been on a coffee run. “Yeah. There’s not much else I can actually do anyway.”
“He can be pretty enthusiastic sometimes, right?” Jeff glanced at Jared and then back at Jensen.”
“It’s a good thing, though. He stops me from being too grumpy most of the time.”
“Yeah, he’s usually good at that.” Jeff shuffled forwards slightly and then sighed. “Just don’t forget that Jared can hurt, too, yeah?”
Jensen nodded as Jeff walked past him, wondering how many times Josh would have said something like that to Jared. He went to reach for another cigarette and then changed his mind; he needed to go and prove to Jeff that he could be there for Jared in the same way that Jared was there for him.
~~
“Thanks for coming home with me.” Jensen turned to look back at Jared as he pushed open the door to his house. Jared had stayed at his place with Jeff the night before but he’d insisted on keeping Jensen company that night; Jensen wasn’t exactly complaining.
“I wouldn’t have done anything else, man.” Jared kicked his shoes off as he walked through into the living room. “Not today.”
“Yeah, well, being with you is a lot better than how I spent this day last year.”
“Do I want to know?”
He shook his head as he sat down on the couch, tucking his feet under Jared’s legs. “Probably not. It wasn’t pretty.”
“Did your parents call?”
“No. No surprises there. It’s okay - I’d rather remember Josh in my own way.”
Jared rested his arm along the back of the couch, tapping his fingers. “That’s not really the point.”
“I know it isn’t. But hey, it’s them who are going to end up losing another son.” He fell quiet for a moment and then lifted his hand to rest it on top of Jared’s. “Hey, thanks for today. You’ve been-”
“Making you work hard.” Jared grinned.
“Yeah, and we both know why. So, thank you.”
Jared turned his hand so his palm was touching Jensen’s. “Any time.”
Saturday
Jensen looked around the empty living room; they’d finished taking all of the boxes away over the course of the day and now the only thing that was left in the room was the couch he was sitting on. He could still remember the day he moved in, the hours he’d spent with Chris and Steve unpacking his things and painting the walls. Now, he was leaving again and everything was different.
He glanced at his watch and winced. He’d been meant to meet Jared at their apartment half an hour ago to officially move in but he hadn’t been able to bring himself to get up and leave yet. Once he’d left the key in the security box by the front door that was it, there’d be no going back. He was going to screw things up, either now by not turning up in time and freaking Jared out, or sometime in the future.
“You’re late, son.”
Sighing, Jensen tossed his head back to look up at the ceiling as Chris walked over to sit next to him. “How’d you get in?”
“Used the spare key. Want to tell me why you’re still here instead of christening the new place with Jared?”
“Not really.” He twisted around and brought his feet up to rest against Chris’ legs. “But I will anyway.”
“So spill.”
“If I walk out that front door, it’s done, it’s final.”
Chris stretched out his arm along the back of the couch. “I thought that’s what you wanted - you and Jared living together, working together and all that.”
“It is.”
“But?”
“But what if it goes wrong?” Jensen linked his hands together at the back of his neck to stop himself from reaching for some cigarettes.
“I’m sure we’ve had this conversation already. First off, that’s a risk you’ve got to take - everyone has to take a risk like that at some point. Second, you and Jared are good together, man, nothing’s going to go wrong.”
“But-”
“Are you happy with him? Jensen?”
“Course I am.”
“Then there’s your answer. Now get your ass out of this house and down to your place. I’ll lock up.”
“Yeah.” Jensen stood up and nodded at Chris. “Yeah, okay.”
~~
“I knew you’d turn up.” Jared pulled Jensen in for a hug. “Katie said I shouldn’t be offended if you didn’t and I had to come and drag you down here myself but I told her you’d be here and you are.”
Jensen pressed his forehead against Jared’s shoulder for a moment before stepping back. “I’m sorry I’m late.”
“You’re here. That’s what matters.”
“Yeah. Where’s Jeff?”
“Booked into a hotel for the rest of his stay. He wanted to give us some privacy.”
Jensen nodded. He’d quickly learned that Jared’s brother was just as thoughtful as Jared was. Turning to look at the building that was their apartment and the store, he took hold of Jared’s hand, tangling their fingers together. He wasn’t exactly sure how they’d gone from his birthday, seeing the place for the first time, to being ready to move in but he was glad that they had.
“You ready?” Jared squeezed his hand, thumb moving in slow circles across Jensen’s wrist.
“Yeah. Are you?”
“More than.”
He smirked. “Want me to carry you over the threshold?”
Jared laughed, head thrown back and Jensen smiled; the gesture was one of the first things he remembered about Jared, the open, genuine joy that was displayed.
“Jared?”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Wait until I’ve had some champagne on Monday - I just might. You want to go together, then?”
Taking a step towards the door, Jared pulled Jensen with him and nodded. “Always.”
Sunday
Jensen woke up to the feeling of Jared’s fingers tracing gentle fingers across his stomach. Sighing, he rested his hand on the back of Jared’s neck and pulled him closer, pressing their lips together for a slow, languid kiss. Jared’s breath was warm against his cheek as when they moved apart and Jensen smiled.
“This is how we should spend every Sunday.” Jared yawned and then continued. “Just lazing around in bed together.”
“Sunday mornings, at least. But not today.”
“No. Not today, unfortunately. Although you have to admit it’d be a great way to celebrate spending our first day living together.”
Jensen nodded, sitting up in the bed to make sure he didn’t get tempted to just stay there all day. “We already did lots of celebrating last night.”
“We did.” Jared waggled his eyebrows and then sat up, too. “But I guess you’re right, we have got something to do.”
“Yeah, just a little thing.”
“We just need to make sure all is prepared for the opening tomorrow, do another leaflet drop, pick up the cupcakes from the bakery, make sure the caterer is definitely ready.”
Jensen shrugged, laughing. “Nothing much, then.”
“Exactly. We’ll definitely manage it.”
~~
They were never going to be ready in time. The coffee machine - which had been one of Jensen’s most essential items - had broken so people could drink coffee while they read. The baker had mixed up the cupcake orders and she couldn’t do anything to fix it because she had had a wedding to cater; Jared had pointed out to Jensen that a wedding cake was, in the grand scheme of things, more important than a few cupcakes. And Jensen knew there was no way he was going to be able to face the public and not screw something up.
Tapping his fingers against the counter, Jensen watched as Jared came walking through the door. His hands were empty which was a good sign but that didn’t mean that any of the leaflets he’d been handing out had made it anywhere other than the next bin.
“They’re all gone.” Jared held the door until Jeff caught up with him and then crossed over to stand opposite Jensen. “Every last one of them so you can chill out. At least some of the people we gave them to have to be interested, right?”
“Right. The guy should be here to fix the coffee machine soon. They said they’d do it for free as it hasn’t even been used yet.”
“So they should.” Jeff dropped the empty box he was carrying down onto the floor. “Everything else is ready, though?”
Jared nodded. “We’ll write the cupcakes off so, yeah, we’re all set.”
“We’ve probably forgotten something.”
“Nope. I think we’re good, Jensen.” Walking around the counter, Jared reached to shove him lightly in the shoulder. “So quit worrying and start enjoying this.”
Huffing out a breath of air, Jensen glanced up at the clock. They still had a good few hours left of the day to prepare the last minute things for the morning. Jared was right; he needed to try and relax otherwise he’d be so on edge in the morning that something would definitely go wrong.
“Did you check Chris was still okay to sing tomorrow?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. He will be, though. He went on and on about what he was going to play last week - made me listen to all of the songs to make sure I like them even though I’ve heard them all before.”
“Sounds like him. Why don’t you head over to his place for an hour or so? I can deal with the coffee machine guy and you can make sure Chris knows what time he needs to be here.”
“That’s not fair on you - you deserve a break, too.”
“Both of you go.” Jeff shrugged. “I’ve only been here for a couple of days, you guys have been working on this for weeks. I’ll handle things here for a few hours.”
“Are you sure?” Jared knocked his hand gently against Jensen’s.
“Yeah, positive. You two go, relax for an hour or so.”
Turning his hand around so his palm was touching Jared’s, Jensen smiled. “Thanks, man. We owe you one.”
“No, you don’t. It’s what family’s for, Jensen.” Jeff raised his voice as Jared and Jensen got nearer to the door. “And that includes you.”
Out on the sidewalk, Jensen squeezed Jared’s hand, knowing that he didn’t need to say anything to let Jared know just how much his brother’s words had meant. “I can’t believe we open tomorrow.”
Jared laughed. “I know - it’s crazy. Are you sure about the name?”
“It’s a bit late to change it now, dude.” He felt better to know that he wasn’t the only one worrying about the details and random things that they’d decided on ages ago.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. 'The Open Book’ is an awesome name, anyway.”
Jensen thought it was, too. It sounded relaxed, somewhere people would be able to feel at home. The kind of place he’d been desperate to find when he’d first moved into the area. Maybe they’d manage to find some customers after all. Maybe they’d even be popular.
Monday
When Jensen ventured out of the back room to see how things were going in the store, Chris was playing, fingers moving over the guitar strings as he sang, just a little quieter than usual so that the customers weren’t distracted from the books. Half an hour ago, when he’d left the front of the store to take a quick break from the party, there’d been a good amount of people inside. Now, there was hardly any room to move and Jared was selling books to a very long queue of eager looking customers. Jensen started to move to help him but changed direction when Katie, who had followed them from ‘Cora’s’, got there first.
Instead, he headed towards the door to greet newcomers. From there, he had a good view of the store. He could see the people browsing through the second-books towards the back of the shop, the children grabbing hold of their parent’s hands to show them something. The smiles on the faces of the people reading blurbs or thanking Jared as they made their purchase.
He knew that there was still a long way to go -that bookstores could be hard to keep open in the face of competition - but, for now at least, they were a success. He wished Josh could be there to see it, wondered whether his parents would turn up or whether they’d ignore the whole thing and then realised that it didn’t even matter to him anymore. He had what he needed.
Waving back at Jared when he caught his eye and stuck his thumbs up in the air, Jensen knew that, together, they had a fighting chance.