entry 083 - if you need love with no condition (4/5)

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Title: If You Need Love With No Condition (Cause Down In Hell's Kitchen)
Author: jamie_love13
Beta-Edited: Franziska.
Pairings/Characters: Oh. Dear. God. Uhm. Okay. Jared/Jensen. Jeff/Jim. Steve/Chris. Chad/Sophia. Katie/Danneel. A brief past mention of Jared/Chris Evans (Imagine the hotness!). Gordon Ramsay. Scott Liebfried. Heather West. Jean-Phillipe Susilovic.
Word Count: 44, 469 Words in 5 Parts.
Rating: NC-17/R
Summary: Jared never thought he'd be in Hell's Kitchen, but as he goes through the challenges, he also never thought he'd fall for someone like Jensen. However, he has a game to win, and he has to put his feelings on the back-burner. He just hopes he can actually do it.
Disclaimer: Definitely don't own. And I definitely do not believe any of this is true. It's all fake. All of it. Well, except for Heather West winning season two, and other mentions of past seasons of Hell's Kitchen.
Warnings: None? Well, no. Cock-blocking and extreme waiting for the 'big' finale. More of a look of the guys in the kitchen, and not there relationship, but I tried. ;)
Notes: This thing was a fucking monster!!! It was my baby though. Go check out my acknowledgements/more notes page for more things. :)

Previous Chapter




The next day, Jared and his team make their way down to the kitchens alongside the other team, standing in front of the pass, waiting for Chef Ramsay to appear. They’re waiting for five minutes and are a bundle of nerves by the time Ramsay appears. He stands there with his arms crossed for a few moments before uncrossing them and smiling slightly, which is definitely a shock for everyone because it’s not every day the guy smiles.

“This is one of my most favorite challenges to give to the teams on the show.” Chef begins and Jared straightens his back, wondering if this is the challenge that everyone waits for during their stay in Hell’s Kitchen.

“Now, how many of you smoke?” Chef asks and after looking around, Jared raises his hand and watches as nearly everyone else does too.

“Now, how many of you say you have a good palate?” Ramsay then asks and Jared smiles, raising his hand once more, thankful that this is the challenge everyone waits for during their stay here. After a quick look behind himself, Jared sees that everyone has their hands raised for that question, causing Jared to quietly snort, wondering which is actually true.

“Good, good, because today, that will be put to the test.” Jared grins at that news, his suspicions finally confirmed. He knows that everyone else is also grinning, extremely excited to be putting their taste buds to the test at last.

“Red team, you have one extra member. Pick who you want to not participate and quickly please.” Jared and his team take a quick look at each other until Jeff says he’ll do it, as he’s recovering from a cold and his palate won’t be right, which, yeah, Jared just remembered that.

Chef nods his head and Jensen goes up to compete with Chad as the first people.

After their blindfolds and headphones are on, Chef brings out the four dishes they’ll try and takes the first scoop of whatever it is.

“This is radish,” Chef says, with both Jensen and Chad getting that right. The second dish is lobster, with only Jensen getting that right, while the third dish is pancetta, which neither Jensen nor Chad get right and the last dish is lobster which Chad gets right. By the end of it, both teams have two points each, and it’s Katie and Sophia’s turn to have a taste test. Jared is on the ends of his feet as they begin, hoping Katie can help them get out of the tie. The first food is lettuce, which Katie gets right alongside Sophia, then there’s parmesan which they both also get right, then there’s halibut, which Katie gets right and Sophia get’s wrong, bringing the team one ahead, and lastly, there was egg yolk, which both girls get right, making the ladies still in the lead.

Up next is Jared and Danneel, and Jared knows Danneel has a strong palate, glad that he’s facing her, knowing that they will be equally challenged. Jared’s ready to try his four dishes, but is surprised when he sees Ramsay bring out two bowls instead of four dishes, and knows instantly that they’re going to have to taste one dish and state which ingredients are in it. When he looks over at Danneel, he sees that she has the same thoughts. He puts the blindfold on and then his headphones, and waits for Ramsay to tap him and tell him to open his mouth. When he does, and Jared takes the mouthful of soup, he instantly has to stop himself from moaning out loud and instead, chooses to focus on what he can taste. He knows instantly at least ten different recipes, knows he needs a few just to win this for them and hopes to god everything goes his way.
He doesn’t know what Danneel says, but he ends up saying that there’s vegetable stock, celery, carrot, lobster, beans, cream and what Jared believes to be some tuna which he finds a little weird, but okay, whatever. He can feel his stomach in nerves, especially when Chef takes his headphones and blindfold off. Jared ends up biting his lip and scratching the inside of his thumb, needing to know how well he did with the challenge.

“However, there was one ingredient that someone said that was in the dish and one ingredient that someone said that wasn’t in the dish. The ingredient in the dish was tuna, not halibut.” Jared lets out a sigh of relief, his body relaxing and blowing his hair out of his face, smiling lightly at Danneel. He knows Danneel feels bad for losing for her team, and Jared nudges her slightly, causing her to smile and Jared feels accomplished.

“Losers, it is delivery day right now. Every time you hear a horn, you make your way to the parking lot as quickly as you can.” Chef says and Danneel and her team quickly shout a yes chef, upset at their loss and their punishment.

“Winners, your reward is something quite fun. You will be playing paintball with me, having dinner made by me and lastly, getting a surprise gift.” Jared smiles at hearing the reward the team is receiving, wondering if the surprise gift is a new knife set, or a cookbook signed by the Chef himself.

“Now, hurry up, your limo is waiting for you outside.” Chef says, clapping his hands and everyone else hurries up the stairs to change from their chefs clothing and into something normal for the day. Within minutes, the team is making their way outside and can see Chef waiting for them by a limo, alongside a delivery truck blowing its horn for the opposite team. When Jared sees them coming down in a rush, in their chef jackets, he feels a small amount of sadness for them, before shaking it off and getting into the limo, smiling lightly at Danneel and Sophia and Chad. He realizes he hasn’t actually talked to them in a couple of days, Chad especially, and feels bad about that, vowing to talk to Chad when he gets back from the reward.

When they’re finally driving in the limo, Ramsay finally starts talking to them, the discussions ranging from how they’re doing without Danneel to some funny moments that have happened since they began the competition. It’s quiet for a couple of minutes after that, as the team is making their way to the paintball place, watching as other people exit from it.

“So, it will be me against the four of you, okay?” Chef says and Jared sees him grinning and can’t help but grin back. He looks over at Jensen and smirks, knowing it will be the two of them versus Ramsay in the end. The group gets into the place and puts on the outfit they need to wear, grinning at one another before separating and soon enough, the game begins. Jared is in a left hand corner, barely peeking out over a stack of hay as he sees Jensen nearly three feet in front of Ramsay, but with his back turned and Chef aiming at Jensen. With a near second, Jared shouts out at Jensen, causing him to crash onto his back and point his gun at Ramsay. He’s gone within another second though, and within minutes, Jared knows that Jeff is out and Katie could be close. He sneaks along the edge of another haystack, his gun aimed and poised and when he sees Ramsay shooting Katie, he quickly shoots the Chef, causing him to turn around shocked and full of laughter.

“Bloody hell, you’ve got me.” Chef ends up laughing, taking off his helmet and falling backwards, causing Jared to take his helmet off and laugh at him.

After everyone has reconvened, the five of them head off towards a nice little cottage that is nearby and enter it slowly with the smell of wonderful food permeating the air. Jared ends up looking around the place, wondering if this is the Chef’s, remembering he said he was going to cook them a meal. After looking around for a few minutes, with everyone standing in the middle of the room, minus Gordon, all of them look straight ahead and see Chef Ramsay jumping around in front of them.

“Welcome to my home away from home away from home away from home away from Hell’s Kitchen,” he grins, clapping his hands and laughing. Jared grins, shaking his head and walks forward after Ramsay tells them to take a seat.

“I came here early in the day and cooked some meals for us to have and that is why it smells so delicious here,” Ramsay says and Jared smiles before shifting in his seat and watching as
Ramsay hands everyone the correct plates.

Within the minutes, they’re all eating, enjoying the meal that Chef has prepared for them all, having more discussions about anything and everything, beginning with their families.

“For me, it’s hard to do filming away from my family,” Chef says and Jared can feel himself nodding his head, understanding how hard it must be for him.

“It must have been easier for you when you all filmed that one television show, then?” Katie asks and Jared watches as the Chef nods his head.

“Oh it was definitely easier than most,” Ramsay states while taking a sip of his water and Jared looks over at Jensen, watching as Jensen watches the Chef, almost in reverence. Jared can’t help but find Jensen adorable, a smile filling his face briefly, before he looks away and notices
Ramsay grinning at him with wide eyes.

“So tell me, how’s the relationship between these two loverboys?”

Jared looks down and blushes when Katie laughs and Jeff grins in response. Jared knows that Chef is actually curious but it’s still pretty embarrassing for him, even when he finds himself grinning anyways.

“They’re… well, there is definitely something going on between them,” Katie grins, winking at Jared causing him to laugh and shake his head before looking back up.
“We’ve decided, to let our relationship play out as it is.” Jared replies, stroking Jensen's knee under the table, which makes him giggle. Chef looks between the two of them, and grins while shaking his own head.

“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time a couple of contestants fell in love.” He says laughing and Jared has to laugh in response.

“That might be true, but it is definitely the first time a season has the most couples forming,” Jared says, which Chef just nods his head at, causing Jared to wonder what else Chef knows about this season.

“Alright, let’s get going back to Hell,” Chef says, standing while everyone laughs.

***
Both teams are currently in line with the Chef standing in front of them, telling them that there’s a big announcement. Jared is looking at Chef with confusion in his face, wondering what the announcement is, wondering what might be going on during this service to totally fuck them up.

“We’re double booked,” Chef says, and Jared can feel his throat sink into his stomach and yet, at the same time, his stomach is trying to jump out of his throat. He’s always found the double booked services could go either way for either team, and he wonders what way it will go for his team.

“Red team, since you’ve won first, you will cook first, yes?”

“Yes chef!”

“Alright, let’s go! JP, you Belgian bastard, open Hell’s Kitchen.” Chef says, clapping his hands and walking away, Jared noticing that JP is laughing. Jared smirks before turning around and smacking right into Jensen, which makes both of them laugh. Quickly after, they each go to their own stations, Jensen on meat and Jared on garnish, which means the two of them are going to be working heavily together.

It ends up taking the first ten minutes for the blue team to bring in a ticket, which Jared finds hilarious but Chef finds annoying, calling it sabotage, even though Jared knows that no one in the team would ever do such a thing - at least, he hopes.

Within minutes of the first ticket arriving, even more tickets are arriving, causing hectic shouts of what’s coming up, what’s going up and what each person needs to be cooking. Jared can feel the heat of making garnish, can feel the heat of Jensen asking Jared the times, how soon he can go up, and everything else is just a blur around him.

Jared walks up to the pass with his garnish, a quick, ‘it’s hot Chef,’ leaving his mouth as he reaches the pass, Ramsay quickly nodding his head to show that he’s heard Jared behind him. Jared makes his way back to his station and quickly begins working on the next table’s garnish, asking Jensen how much time he needs. When Jensen begins to shout back, Jared hears Chef’s voice, pitched high showing he’s incredibly angry. Jared snaps his head around quickly to see Chad with a plate in his hands and flinching each time Chef yells at Chad.

“Are you trying to sabotage them, Chad?” Ramsay yells and Jared watches as Chad shouts “No chef!” in reply, and in turn, Chef holds open the kitchen door, shouting at Chad to tell Jared’s teammates why he brought the dish back.

“Guys, I’m sorry, but the customer wanted medium rare, and I forgot to put that on the order.” Chad says and Jared can feel his shoulders sag as Chef yells that basically, they cooked everything perfectly but have to restart it anyways.

Jared shouts out to begin anew, setting three minutes for their dishes and Jared asks Jensen if he can do everything in three minutes and when Jensen nods, Jared continues cooking his dish, shouting that he’s making his way to the pass, Jensen saying he’s right behind him.

The rest of the time in the kitchen flies by, dish after dish being made and then sent out, nothing coming back since Chad had come back and Jared is so thankful for that fact, and when Chef tells them to shut it down and work on desserts, Jared can feel his body relax just slightly, before he begins making the desserts.

***
Jared’s now in the dining room, talking to Jean-Phillipe about where his tables are, the lot of them on the first floor, with a few of them on the top floor and as Jared gets to see his tables, figuring out which are his and making a slight mark (a blue marker underneath the table), the second booking finally enters the kitchen, with Katie looking at him and biting her lips. Jared sends a small smile her way before he makes his way to his first table.

“Hi, I’m Jared, I’ll be your waiter tonight. What will you be having tonight?” Jared asks, smiling at the table and the rest of the night flies by, with some shouts coming from the kitchen, some dishes coming back but for the most part, the blue kitchen seems to be doing well, which Jared is quite happy with.

When he hears the Chef tell the blue kitchen to shut it down, Jared finally relaxes for good before everyone else starts to line up in the kitchen, ready to hear which team won.

“Both teams did really well today, and I’m extremely proud of that fact. However, there is a losing team, and it pains me to say this but blue team, you’ve lost tonight.” Jared watches as the shoulders of the blue team sags and Jared bites his lip.

“However, there was one person that surprised me tonight. I was ready to kick this girl out tonight because to me, she never fought back but tonight, she surprised me, and for the better. Sophia, you’re the best of the worst. Pick two people who should go tonight.” Chef says, with Sophia nodding her head in response, before the whole lot of them make their way back up to the dorms.

***
“I’m putting myself up on the block.”

“Chad!” Sophia says, sitting straight up in shock, Jared noticing that their relationship has gotten close and fuck, Chad can’t do that because Jared hasn’t talked to Chad yet, hasn’t been the best friend he should be.

“No, Soph. I sucked tonight and I’m going to be a man about it.” Chad says, sitting his ass down next to Jared and nudging him. Jared bites his lip and looks at Chad, and there must be something on his face because Chad is smiling lightly at him and Jared just wants to shout out his emotions.

“Alright Chad, fine, you’re up.” Sophia sighs, and Jared realizes that Sophia had no choice but to pick Danneel and Chad and fuck, he doesn’t want either of them to leave tonight. Sophia gets up, ends up leaving Chad and Jared alone and Jared wants to do something but has no idea what.

“Hey Jaybird,” Chad says, nudging him and Jared looks over at Chad, realizing he’s missed that nickname.

“What’s up man?” Jared replies, stretching his legs and sighing before resting his head on Chad’s shoulder.

“You’re doing good here, man. You’re growing up - we all are,” Chad says and Jared bites his lip before closing his eyes and sighing.

“That fucking scares me, Chad.” He says, crossing his arms and then uncrossing them to rub his eyes.

“It scares all of us. Promise me something?”

“Anything, asshole.”

“Promise you’ll still talk to me when you’re a famous chef with your boyfriend.” Chad laughs, causing Jared to laugh back. Even though they’re both laughing, Jared knows what Chad is saying beyond the words, and he nods his head before yawning and looking at Chad.

“Do you think you’ll make it through tonight?” Jared asks, not wanting to but needing to.

“Honestly? No. Danneel is a wonderful chef, a great leader and an amazing person. I can’t fucking beat that, man.” Chad laughs, bumming off a cigarette from Jared. Jared finds himself nodding his head, before he looks over at Chad and sighs.

“Don’t put yourself down, man. You’re a great Chef and a great person. You just need to work on your damn leadership skills,” Jared grins.

Chad laughs before nodding his head and sighing, realizing it’s time for them to go downstairs and get the nominations over with. Jared pats Chad on the back before he gets up and walks over to his team and makes their way downstairs to sit at the so-dubbed “Winners Table”.

Once Jared, Jensen, Jeff and Katie have all sat down, the blue team finally makes their way down and Chef stands in front of them, looking at the group before asking Chad and Danneel to step forward, knowing that with only three of them in total, and Sophia picking two, it’s automatically those two that get picked.

“I’m not in the mood for reasons on why each of you should stay. Chad, take off your jacket and leave Hell’s Kitchen,” Chef says and Jared closes his eyes and breathes in deeply, not wanting his best friend to leave and upset that he is but when he opens his eyes, Chad is walking back towards Jared and next thing he knows, the two of them are hugging tightly, and Jared wants to cry at the thought that his best friend is leaving, but nothing is coming.

“You win this, okay Jaybird?” Chad says and Jared nods his head while slapping Chad on the back and laughing at the tears in his eyes.

“I’m picking you for my team man,” Jared laughs and Chad laughs back before saying goodbye to everyone else and walking away from everyone and leaving Hell’s Kitchen for good. Jared looks straight ahead, not surprised to see Gordon Ramsay looking at him thoughtfully, and instead, takes a deep breath and then listens for Chef to say something else.

“Alright, fuck off upstairs. We’ve got a busy day tomorrow.” Chef says, and Jared and the rest of his team go upstairs, alongside Sophia and Danneel. Jared can only wonder what will happen tomorrow.

~***~//~***~
The next day, Jared, Jensen, Jeff, Katie, Sophia and Danneel are all lined up in front of the pass, wondering what Ramsay has in store for the six of them left. After waiting for a couple of minutes for chef to arrive, he finally does, slowly walking down the steps of his office. He looks tired, but he’s still standing tall and with his arms crossed in front of him, Jared can only wonder what’s going on today.

“On the red team, we have Jeff, Jensen, Jared and Katie.” Chef says and Jared bites his lip in worry.

“On the blue team, we have Sophia and Danneel. What’s wrong with this image?” chef asks and Jared knows instantly what’s going on, and moves his feet in a shuffle that Chef latches onto immediately.

“Jared, go join Sophia and Danneel,” Chef says, throwing a blue jacket towards him, which he catches immediately and then makes his way towards the opposite side and team. Jared joins their lineup while shrugging the jacket on, and wonders how well he’ll work with Sophia, as he’s never worked with her before.
“Today, your challenge will be simple. You will create your own menus and then you will cook me three dishes from each section of your menu. The team with the best menu wins. You have one hour to create your menu, which will be created on the way to the store.” Chef says, walking away while telling everyone to follow him, and as they do, they notice a double decked bus, with Ramsay standing in front of it.

“Jeff, Jensen and Katie, you’ll be on the bottom, with Jared, Sophia and Danneel on the top of the bus,” Chef says, clapping his hands. Jared makes his way to the top level of the bus with Sophia in front of him and Danneel behind him. Quickly Jared has sat down on one of the seats of the bus, Danneel and Sophia sitting in front of him with a sheet of paper and marker.

“Welcome to the team, Jaybird,” Sophia says grinning, causing Jared to look up and smile lightly, realizing that Chad probably talked about him a lot to Sophia.

“Thanks,” he says.

“Okay, so let’s work on appetizers. I was thinking we could do a Mozzarella Cheese Stick for one of them,” Sophia says, biting her lip as if she thinks the dish isn’t good enough but wants to do it anyways. Jared thinks about it for a few minutes before nodding his head and agreeing with it.

“Alright, awesome. Jared, any ideas?” Sophia asks and Jared bites his lip for a minute before saying he was thinking about doing Chicken Pad Tai with Danneel grinning and saying she was thinking of doing a Hot and Sour Soup with Shrimp, which would go perfectly with Jared’s idea. Jared grins and states he agrees wholeheartedly with the three appetizers they’ve chosen, which then gets an added Asparagus-Snow Pea Stir Fry and Broccoli with Peppers and walnuts. They then decide to choose the following five entrées, even though it took them more than ten minutes to decide and agree: Ravioli with Shrimp and Fennel Cream, Ham-Asparagus Strata, Tuna with Mango-Mint Salsa, Roasted Garlic Steak, and Glazed Prosciutto-Wrapped Shrimp. As for their desserts, they decided to go with, unanimously, Caramel Apple Crepes, Candy-Cane Brownie Trifles, Chocolate Soufflé, Crème Brulée and Creamy Strawberry Squares. By the time the three of them have decided everything, they’re just arriving to their place, which appears to be a very large grocery store. Jared walks down the steps that lead from the bus and has to blink back from the sudden sunlight, as the top of the bus was with a roof and they had not sat near any windows.

“Alright guys, it’s been an hour - now you have twenty minutes to collect all of the items you’ll need to make your dishes. Also guys,” Chef says, clapping his hands and jumping around, “You have to stay together as a team!” He finishes and Jared bites his lip in worry, hoping his team can stick together and get everything that they need.

“Oh, one last thing - everything has to be under $100. And, go!” Chef says, and both teams run as quick as they can, getting a shopping cart and making their way through the aisles as fast as they can to get everything while trying to sort out the prices.

With only five minutes to go, the three of them make their way to a cashier, Danneel taking out the money they were given from Heather, and Jared and Sophia putting their items onto the checkout lane. With only one minute to spare and five dollars to spare, the team makes their way out of there to wait for the other three on the red team, which is not for long.
Relieved, they make their way back to Hell’s Kitchen, and as the cars are moving towards the place, Jared, Danneel and Sophia talk about what they’re going to do, which stations they’re going to work on, having been told they’ll only have another hour to cook the three dishes of their separate meals. Danneel has stated that she’ll work on the appetizers, Sophia on Desserts, leaving Jared on entrées. When they get to the kitchen, the three of them rush to their kitchen and begin working on their stations, constantly looking at the time and talking to one another about the remaining time for their dishes. When they hear Ramsay announce that they have five minutes left, Jared puts the final touches in his pots of food and decides to plate them within the last minute of cooking, with everyone else plating their dishes.

When Chef finally tells everyone to stop cooking, Jared puts his hands up and walks away from his three dishes, grinning at Sophia and hip chucking Danneel, proud of the work they’ve done together as a team. Jared looks over at Jensen and smiles, his head tilted when he sees Jensen looking back at him with a frown in his forehead. Jared knows that Jensen is without doubt missing Jared on the team, and when he looks at Katie, he sees the same emotion. He misses his previous team but is glad to be working with Sophia and Danneel.

“Alright, Danneel, Jensen, battle of the appetizers.” Jared listens as both of Danneel and Jensen describe their dishes, and as Chef tastes each of them, Jared watches closely, biting his lip and scratching his thumb, wondering how Chef is feeling about each of their plates.

“These are great dishes. You both get a point.” Chef says, with both Danneel and Jensen saying thank you before walking back to the pass and into the line. Next is Jared and Katie with the entrées, each of them getting a point, making both teams tied. Last is Jeff and Sophia, and Jared’s kind of surprised when Chef picks Jeff’s desserts over Sophia’s, feeling kind of sad about losing but blowing the sigh out of his mouth.

“Winners, you will have a wonderful shopping trip with me. Losers, the dorms need cleaning again, so you will do that then, you will prep both kitchens. Let’s go!” Chef says, clapping his hands and walking away, Jared trying very hard not to become extremely annoyed.

When Jared goes up to the dorms, he bumps into Jensen and stretches his arms and sighs, confused when Jensen gives him a brief kiss, wondering where that came from.

“Don’t get too stressed about everything, Jay.” Jensen says, slapping his cheek lightly before walking away. Jared sighs one more time, really wishing he could get Jensen alone for once, and walks towards the cleaning supplies that Heather has set out in front of her, a slight smile on her face.

“You guys are cute. Reminds me of… never mind,” Heather says, briefly looking down and sighing.

“Hey Heather?” Jared says, biting his lip, not sure if he’ll be pushing it.

“Yeah Jared?”

“You two were cute too.” He replies, smiling a little when Heather smiles at him brighter than before and Jared knows he did the right thing.

“Thanks, Padalecki.” Heather grins, throwing a cleaning outfit at him, causing him to laugh. Shortly after the interaction, Sophia and Danneel come up with their cleaning clothes on, and with a sigh, they decide that Danneel will do the kitchen and living room, Sophia will do the bathrooms and patio and Jared will do the bedrooms.

Within two hours, everyone is done with their respective areas of cleaning and taking a quick moment to relax. Five minutes later, the three of them go to prep the kitchens, being told that they won’t even be able to prep their own kitchen until they’re done the opposite team’s kitchen, causing the three of them to try and go through the prepping of the red team’s kitchen fast but efficiently and correctly. After an hour the red kitchen is done and with two hours left until service, the blue team finally gets to their own kitchen, prepping it and coming very close to finishing within the last half hour, the red team arriving to find everything ready for them and stocked with plenty of the items they’ve bought.

After a minute or so, Jared realizes that Katie and Jensen are standing in front of him and Danneel and they both stop what they're doing for a minute, not sure why the other two are standing there.

“Guys?” Jared asks, wiping his brow with his face towel.

“We bought you something. Well, Katie bought Danneel something and I bought you something,” Jensen says, looking down at his feet to try and hide his blush. Jared grins and runs his fingers through his hair, grabbing Jensen by the neck and giving him a heavy kiss, nearly letting out a moan before he realizes they’re not alone, by Katie, Danneel and even Heather giggling in response. He rolls his eyes before whispering his thanks to Jensen and going back to the preparation he has to do.

Chef comes to them in the last five minutes of prep, a grin on his face.

“Alright guys, today’s service is,” Chef begins, before holding up a menu and grinning -“A Family Night Service. Don’t make me swear tonight, because there will be a shit ton of kids, yes?” Chef asks and Jared nods his head, before everyone yells their own replies.

***
An hour into service, Jared can hear someone being yelled at in the red kitchen and can’t help but grimace, not sure if it’s Jensen or Katie and hoping it's neither of the two. With a quick look over at Danneel, he knows she’s feeling the same and one look at Sophia shows she’s wondering, too.
During their service, Jared notices how well Sophia and him are able to work together and Jared’s thankful that they’re good in the kitchen, glad that there’s no animosity between the two of them for whatever reason. He’s shouting out the times with Sophia, the two of them complementing each other perfectly.
“Danneel, can you go now?” Sophia shouts and when Danneel nods her head before realizing that Sophia can’t see her shouts back a “Yes, I’m ready.” Sophia shouts back her response before walking towards the pass and giving Sous Chef Heather their food.

“Alright, it’s good, service please.” Heather states while wiping the counter in front of the pass and then turning around and asking Jared for his dish. Jared nods his head before getting his dish to Heather, nodding his head when she compliments him on a good job.

In the last hour, Jared hears Chef Ramsay yelling some more and with a quick look, Jared realizes he’s yelling at Jeff, which Jared is kind of thankful for.

When everything is said and done for, Jared wiping down and shutting off the appliances, the six of them line up and look over at Chef.

“Losing team is the red team. Jensen, you were the best tonight. Pick one person who you think should go home tonight,” Chef says before walking away and going up to his office. Jared makes his way over to the dorms afterwards, going out to the patio and taking a long puff from a cigarette. Shortly afterwards, Jensen joins Jared and sits next to him, nudging Jared’s shoulder and smiling.

“I’m picking Jeff - he fucked up so much tonight, Jay.” Jensen sighs, shaking his wrist and putting his head back.

“Is that why he got yelled at so much?” Jared chuckles, taking one last puff before getting rid of the stub and sipping his water bottle, then deciding to lay down on the couch, his feet in Jensen’s lap. Jensen snorts at Jared, patting his foot for a minute before he kicks Jared off and lays down next to him.

“Jeff just - he could never send anything right and if he did manage to send something out, it came back. Then there was one point, near the end of the night-“

“When Jeff was kicked out?”

“Yep. He ended up giving Ramsay a hot pan three times without even telling Chef that the pan was hot.” Jared grimaces at that, remembering when Natalie did that from an earlier season.

“Shit.” He says, yawning and nearly falling asleep.

“Dude, we’ve gotta go, so don’t fall asleep.” Jensen says with a smile, his shoulders nudging Jared’s side. Jared snorts before getting up and yawning once more, which then gets Jensen to yawn.

Minutes later, they decide to get up together and make their way downstairs with the others. Jeff’s head is resting on his chest.

***
“Jensen, who is your nominee and why?” Chef asks and Jared watches as Jensen shuffles his feet quickly before answering.

“Jeff, because of the fact that he seems to be getting worse with each service, and because he cannot communicate.” Jensen replies, and Jared notices that Jeff is shocked, and tries hard not to snort at that.

“I agree with you. Jeff, please take off your jacket and leave Hell’s Kitchen,” Chef says and Jeff nods his head, his shoulders sagged and his body language showing his emotions clearly.

Jared feels bad for about a minute until he realizes how bad Jeff truly was in the kitchen, and listens to the Chef.

“The top five. Congratu-fucking-lations.” Chef says, bringing a box out towards himself and Jared feels anticipation rising in his stomach, his heart pounding loud in his ears.

“You’re the top five and you’ve proved that you deserve being right here. You are one team now and you should look like one.” Chef says before throwing Jared a black jacket and yelling catch, laughing when Jared does so.

“Congratulations guys.” Ramsay says again, walking away and causing everyone to hold their newly appointed Chef’s jackets as they make their way up to the dorms, only to find champagne waiting for them.

Jensen opens the bottle and pours a glass for each of them, and they take sips of their drinks with a wide smile. The fact that out of twelve, the five of them are left, and everything has been going well for them, is a worthy occasion to celebrate. Still, everything will get tougher tomorrow.

~***~//~***~
The next day, Sophia, Danneel, Katie, Jensen and Jared all walk down to the kitchen as one, the excitement about being the top five still considerably palpable, a thrill going up and down Jared’s spine as he thinks about it. As the five of them make their way up to the pass, Jared notices that Chef is standing tall in front of them all, a table in front of him with a white cloth on top of it. Jared can only wonder what’s under the cloth, his mind trying to come up with whatever challenges had a white cloth as a cover. Immediately, Jared can think of the crabs table, or the roulette table challenges, but Jared knows that neither of those are as tall as the thing under the white cloth in front of them.

“Did you guys have fun celebrating last night?” Chef asks and everyone nods their heads and grins, remembering the last night and how much fun they had together.

“Good, good. Are you all ready for your next challenge?” Ramsay says and everyone replies with their usual ‘yes chef,’ which just causes everyone to grin, the chef included.

“A good Chef knows how to use their ingredients, maximize their effect and create wonderful dishes with a limited amount of supplies,” Chef says and Jared bites his lip before listening to him once more, especially when he takes off the white cloth from the table, only to show ingredient after ingredient.

“You will each have five ingredients to cook with,” Chef begins, and as he goes on explaining their challenge, which is to make a dish with those five ingredients, Jared can feel the nerves in his stomach, wondering if he’ll be able to do well with the dish he has in mind, from what he can see of the given items.

“You guys have forty-five minutes to cook. Let’s go!” Chef says and with that final calling, the final five of them go off to their designated stations, grabbing the five ingredients they need, talking to one another about what each person wants and how to separate everything for their own dishes.

Five minutes later, the five of them are with their own ingredients, creating their own dishes. Jared is so in the zone that he doesn’t realize the wound from earlier throbs painfully. It isn’t until he sees a few drops of blood dripping onto the counter that he realizes his burn has reopened and goes to the medic to get it bandaged up. It takes five minutes to fix up once more, and by then, there’s only ten minutes left, so Jared rushes out to the kitchen to finish the final touches on his dish and at the one minute mark he begins plating his dish, hoping that it will be good enough to win the challenge.

“5…4…..3….2….1….” Ramsay counts down and Jared puts the dome on top of his plate just as Chef says the last number. Jared lets out a sigh of relief, his body relaxing from the tension and sees Danneel next to him shrugging her shoulders nervously before smiling at him and Jared smiles back.

“Alright, Sophia, come on up,” Chef says and Jared watches as Sophia walks up with her dish, catching a brief smell of whatever is hidden underneath the dome. As she explains her dish, Jared realizes that the top five is definitely worthy of their spots, and that’s just with Sophia alone.

After her, Jensen goes up, then Katie, then Danneel and within minutes, it’s Jared’s turn, and as he describes his dish and watches as Chef tastes it, Jared can feel his stomach sink, somehow knowing that he won’t win this one challenge, which sucks. When Chef nods his head and Jared goes back to the lineup, the nerves in Jared’s stomach settle with his recent realization.

“These were all wonderful dishes and it is really hard for me to choose a winner for this challenge,” Chef says and Jared bites his lip, because even though he knows he won’t win this one, he still knows that it’s down to four of his friends, three of them the closets he’s ever had to friends, not including Chad.

“The winner of this challenge is,” Ramsay begins and Jared can’t help but look him right in the eyes as he does so, “Sophia, well done.” he finishes and Jared smiles before congratulating Sophia and looking sadly at the other three people.

“Sophia, would you like to know what your prize is?” Chef asks and when Sophia nods, Ramsay chuckles before saying he won’t tell her just yet. He then goes on to explain the punishment for the other four, which is to break down all the beds and get rid of the mattresses, which fuck, sounds like a lot of work for the four of them.

When Chef dismisses them, Jared makes his way alongside everyone else to the dorms for a quick cigarette and once they’re done, they begin to move the bed frames. They have these braces on, black ones, that Jared remembers the seventh season people wearing - and god, he really did not like that Ben guy from that season - and as they move each frame and mattress, Jared can feel his back nearly tense and crack under the pressure with the pain he feels.

An hour later, all of the frames are down and outside waiting for pick up and Jared ends up collapsing into one of the chairs outside on the patio, Danneel and Katie sitting next to him and Jensen across from him. Jared wants to take out another cigarette but finds himself too sore to even move his arms. Instead, he ends up moaning and complaining about having to move his body but not doing anything anyways.

“Jared, stop bragging,” Danneel laughs, nudging him in the side and stretching her body before she gets up and tells everyone that she’s going to go down and begin prep for tonights dinner. Jared feels himself nodding his head and getting up to follow Danneel to the kitchen, with both Katie and Jensen following him.

“I wonder what Sophia’s reward was,” Jared says a near half hour later while cutting up all of the vegetables in his section. He watches as Ramsay comes down from his office, right when Jensen cocks his head in thought about Jared’s question. However, Jared’s eye is mostly on Sophia, who’s looking gorgeous in new clothing and Jared knows immediately what her reward was and grins at her when she catches his eye. When she walks by him though, he can’t help but grin and whisper in her ear about how Chad will love her new clothes, which causes Sophia to blush, and Jared to laugh out loud.

“Shut it, Jaybird,” Sophia laughs while she walks away to the dorms to change into her kitchen clothes. Within minutes, she’s back and ready to prep, sliding in easily to everything the others have prepped and Chef Ramsay is telling Jean-Phillipe to open Hell’s Kitchen. With one quick, deep breath, Jared feels ready to go through service.

***
Jared sits down tiredly, his body even more sore than before. It’s two hours after service, and today’s service was absolutely shit. He’s rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, sighing. Tonight, Jared had heard Chef scream at everyone more than he’d ever heard Chef scream at all. He quickly runs his hands through his hair and notices Danneel sit down next to him and steal a cigarette out of his case that he’d brought with him but not having taken anything out of it, yet.

“We fucking sucked tonight, Danni,” Jared sighs, scratching the back of his neck and kicking up his feet onto the table before putting the cigarette to his lips.

“We fucking did, Jay.” Danneel replies, lighting her cigarette. They both sigh and end up thinking about their failings, until the other three come and join them.

“How’d you fuck up, Jaybird?” Sophia questions and Jared looks up quickly before biting his lip.

“Bad garnishes and shit,” Jared sighs scratching his leg with his opposite foot and standing up to go to his room. A few minutes later, he isn’t surprised to hear his dorm room door open and Jensen walk in with his jacket unbuttoned and his hair a mess. Jared watches as Jensen runs his fingers through his short hair, and when he meets Jensen’s eyes, he quickly looks away, seeing something in Jensen’s eyes that makes Jared unsure of everything.

“Jen, you okay?” Jared asks, and when Jensen steps closer to Jared, Jared realizes he wants to step back but can’t, especially when he looks at the look in Jensen’s eyes, once more.

“I’m not starting anything with you, but damn Jay, you need to realize something.”

“What?”

“You fucking kill me.” Jensen states before grabbing Jared by the waist and pulling him close to Jensen’s body and kissing him thoroughly. Jared can feel himself getting lost in the kiss, running his fingers through Jensen’s hair, letting out a small moan at the contact of Jensen’s hips thrusting into his and the feel of his cock against Jared’s leg. After what feels like an eternity of making out with Jensen, Jared can feel Jensen pull away and whimpers slightly at the loss of contact.

“What was that for?”

“A ‘you did good today, no matter what you think’ kiss.” Jensen replies before walking away with a strut.
***
“Sophia, give me your jacket and leave Hell’s Kitchen,” Chef Ramsay says and Jared can feel his heart sink into his stomach, biting his lip and trying not to let any emotion show on his face at Sophia’s departure. She quickly says goodbye to everyone, briefly hugging them before leaving and thanking Chef for the opportunity.

“You have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. Now go and prepare yourselves for a challenge like no other.” Chef says and Jared nods his head, with Katie, Danneel and Jensen shouting yes chef in reply. The four of them walk away to the dorms, their spirits nearly destroyed at the loss of someone so happy gone. Sophia was always the one person that brought smiles to the groups faces, and without her, no one knows what to do in order to maintain the happiness that they’ll need.

Jared bites his lip before closing his eyes and making his way to the patio one more time, Katie following him.

“What’s wrong Jay?”

“I feel like everything is getting to me and I fucking hate that it’s coming to me now, of all times.” Jared sighs before opening his eyes and looking at Katie. “Katiebug, why are my emotions so fucked?”

Katie laughs at that question, or maybe it’s his nickname for her, closing her eyes and leaning against Jared’s shoulder.

“Promise me when this is all said and done that you’ll keep in contact with us?” Katie questions and Jared can feel Danneel arrive behind them, can hear her agree with Katie’s question and Jared has to smile briefly before standing up.

“Of course, Katiebug.” Jared replies before leaving for some sleep.

***
It’s the next day, Jensen, Jared, Danneel and Katie all lined up in front of four random dining trucks in a remote location and are staring at Chef Ramsay, waiting for the Chef to talk about what their next challenge is. For Jared, it feels like he’s been waiting for hours for Ramsay to finally speak, and when he does, Jared stands straighter than he already does, ready to listen

“Your challenge today is to make one hundred portions of a dish within one hour.” Chef says. Jared can feel everyone look behind themselves at the trucks, wondering if everything they could possibly need is in that truck.

“Come on guys, let’s go!” Ramsay yells and everyone gets into motion, readying their dishes for 100 people. The hour goes by quickly and next thing Jared knows, he can hear the pounding of feet on the cement ground and when he looks up and sees one hundred pregnant females walking towards them, Jared rushes even more so with plating his dish, needing everything to be set in motion at the perfect time.

“Let’s go Jared, yes?” Jared briefly hears Chef say before he walks on to another truck, probably Danneel’s.

Jared has prepared a sandwich which Jared knows seems unprofessional and nowhere near fine dining, but after looking at the people he’ll be feeding, Jared is glad he chose the type of sandwich he chose. By the end of it all, Jared’s sandwich is a Chicken and Cheese Panini styled one, the cheese being a mixture of mozzarella and feta, which Jared enjoyed working with, but instead of using just the Canadian style Bacon like the original recipe calls for, he also decided to use a small amount of lobster pieces to help bring out the taste of the chicken. He had to work fast though, in the one hour he had to cook all one hundred portions, as the recipe only makes four at a time. Twenty-five portions later though, Jared’s done it and as he hands out his purple dish, he sees Jensen’s green one and Katie’s yellow one on most of the people’s trays of food and can’t help but wonder where Danneel’s pink plate is, and how she’s doing.

Pretty soon, Jared has handed out all of his purple plates and sighs briefly, his shoulders coming down from being so tense and his breath coming out in a deep exhale. When he looks over, he sees Danneel biting her lip and walks over, nudging her arm and causing her to move briefly.
“Fuck, I am not going to do well in this challenge,” Danneel sighs, tilting her head backwards while Jared unsuccessfully tries to stop from snorting.

“What?” Danneel asks harshly and Jared has to arch his eyebrow and smirk before he laughs.

“You do well in every challenge, Danni. Don’t doubt yourself.” He says and Jared watches as Danneel lets out her own sigh before nodding her head slightly and scratching her nail.

“I am so craving a cigarette right now. Damn pregnant women and second hand smoke,” She huffs, which makes Jared laugh again. Shortly after, Jensen and Katie join Jared and Danneel, and the four of them wait patiently for everyone to eat their dishes.

After a quick question series, Jared learns that Danneel made Skillet Tostadas, using Swiss cheese instead of nacho cheese for the soup base, Katie made a Jamaican Pork Stir Fry and Jensen made Fettuccine with Chicken mixed into a Chicken Wrap, which Jared loves immediately at the mere thought of.

Minutes later, Chef comes to join them in the line and claps his hands, looking at the group of pregnant women, all done with their meals and all standing as if waiting for the Chef to dismiss them, which he nearly does before quickly asking if they want to hear the results.

“In last place is Danneel.” Jared sees Danneel’s shoulders sag and pulls on her pinkie finger, whispering a quick ‘it’s okay, Danni,” before going back to listening to the Chef state the results.

“In a close call for first place, with a mere 51% of you choosing this dish over the others, Jensen, you’re today’s winner.” Ramsay says and Jared smiles at Jensen before patting his boyfriend on the back, letting the feeling of disappointment wash away from him.

***
Jared’s in the dorms after doing his punishment with the ladies, waiting for Jensen to come back from his reward, which no one but Jensen knows of. Jared sighs, totally bored as he listens to Danneel and Katie talk to one another about what they’re going to do later that night, trying to block the noise of their plans, for he knows that if he lets himself listen, he’ll get hard and lusty, and he’ll have plenty of ideas for him and Jensen, which, as much as he would love to put in use, just can’t at the moment, as he needs to focus on the game.

He ends up taking a deep breath through his nose and then exhaling when the door suddenly opens and Jensen walks in, his face flushed and a grin etched onto it. When Jensen sees Jared, his grin gets larger and he makes a beeline for Jared, who’s unsurprised to smell the wine in Jensen’s breath.

“Have a little too much to drink there, Jen?” Jared smirks.

“And I d---do---don’t wine like,” Jensen laughs, causing Jared to laugh in response.

“I beer,” Jensen says, clapping his hands and Jared has to grin.
“Jaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrred,” Jensen whines, Jared’s eyes going wide at the noise of Jensen and at the fact that Jensen has just sat down on his lap, his cock hard against Jared’s hip. Jared ends up biting his lip when Jensen begins kissing his neck, all the way down to the beginning of his jeans, and when he begins to open up Jared’s pants, Jared knows he has to stop Jensen.

Reluctantly.

“Jen, no.” Jared sighs, pushing Jensen’s hands away and trying not to give in when Jensen lays his own version of the puppy-dog eyes on Jared.

“You’re drunk, and I don’t want you to regret this, alright?” Jared states before getting up from the couch and walking to the bedroom to get some sleep. Jared doesn’t see Jensen sigh and push his head back into the pillow and close his eyes briefly.

***
The next day, Jared wakes up ready for prep, only to open his eyes and see Jensen staring at him, creepily close to Jared’s face. Jared feels himself push his body back on the bed, his eyes wide as Jensen grins at Jared’s reaction.

“You were right last night, to stop me from continuing … you know,” Jensen grins, his hand slowly reaching for the inseam of Jared’s pajama pants. Jared smiles lazily, his eyes barely open as he enjoys Jensen’s hands on his thighs. Jared grins and lets himself harden before he decides to sit up completely in his bed, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, not wanting everything to get too out of hand. When Jensen looks at him with confusion, Jared lets out a small smile. Next thing he knows though, Jensen is pumping him furiously and it’s been so long for Jared that he finds himself coming quickly.

“Are you ready for dinner service tonight?” Jared questions while letting out a small sigh at the thought of the four of them doing service tonight, at one of them leaving tonight.

“Yeah. I have a bad feeling though,” Jensen responds and Jared looks towards Jensen, a questioning look in his eyes, wondering why.

“Why?”

“Well, in almost all of the previous seasons, Chef Ramsay has had four people, and then come nominations, has gone straight down to two.” Jared’s eyes end up going wide at the thought, Jared realizing that Jensen is absolutely correct.

“I guess we can only watch and see,” Jared replies, getting changed as he speaks, before walking down to the kitchen to prep it.

***
Nearly the whole day has come and gone, with only ten minutes left until JP opens Hell’s Kitchen and Jared is already sweating, feeling the burn in his arms from working too much too quickly. When the Chef finally comes down and tells JP to open the restaurant, Jared takes a deep breath before getting his head into the zone of cooking the appetizers and leading the kitchen.

The time inside the kitchen flies, Jared making sure everything goes well, making sure to not make any mistakes, to not cause Chef Ramsay yell at him, even though he is currently shouting at Katie. Jared flinches as he overhears the conversation. Or, rather, the monologue.

“YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS BY NOW, KATIE.”

“I SHOULDN’T BE HAVING ANY PLATES BROUGHT BACK THAT ARE MADE BY YOU,
KATIE.”

“COME ON, KATIE.” Jared bites his lip, closing his eyes briefly and opening them to see Ramsay leave and go back to the pass. Jared looks over at Katie and gives her hand a brief squeeze, watching as Katie closes her eyes tightly to stop herself from crying, but not completely succeeding, as a few drops roll down her cheeks. The rest of the diner service flies by, with Katie coming back from everything, but Jared - and Katie - both know it might just be too late for her, and when they walk back to the dorms together, much more slower than Jensen and Danneel, so the two of them can talk.

“I’m going to miss you Jay,”

“Katie, don’t---“

“C’mon, man. It’s like the same thing with Chad. I know I fucked up badly. I know I’m the only one. I know I’m going tonight. So take my missing you and roll with it, Padalecki.” Katie grins, causing Jared to smile lightly and wipe his eyes to make sure there are no tears coming out of them.

“Yeah, I’ll miss you too, Katiebug.” He replies, finally getting to the dorms and going with Katie to help her pack her bags. However, when he sees Danneel waiting for her, he smiles and walks away, knowing that those two are going to have to say their goodbyes.

***
"Katie, I’m sorry, but please, take off your jacket and leave Hell’s Kitchen,”

“Yes Chef,”

“Listen Katie, don’t give up. Continue to follow your dream, because you’re going somewhere. Remember that.” Jared watches as Katie nods her head and waves goodbye to everyone else before walking out of the doors of Hell’s Kitchen. When Jared looks over at Danneel, he knows that she’s upset, but with them being the top three, they all need to focus.

“Now, before you go, I have a surprise for you all.” Jared scrunches up his face in confusion, wondering what’s going that would need them all to stay here for another minute.
“Jared, I would like you to see your brother Jeff and sister, Megan.” Jared can feel his eyes go wide and his heart begin to hurt, especially when he sees his brother and sister come through the doors, and he knows he’s crying now, but also smiling, because damn, he’s missed them so fucking much. He goes up to meet them halfway, wrapping his arms around them both and laughing while he holds them close and brings them back to the lineup.

“Jensen, your mother Donna and father Alan,” Jared hears, and quickly takes a look before going back to talking with his brother and sister, asking how everyone is doing, how his nieces and nephews are. He can still feel himself crying, and obviously, Jeff notices is too.

“Jay, stop crying.” He laughs and Jared can’t help but laugh at himself too, causing his little sister to laugh alongside them.

“Alright, you guys have all night to talk to your families. Enjoy yourselves,” Jared looks up in shock, believing they only had a few minutes with their families like it always shows on the airing of the show, causing Chef to laugh.

“Yes Jared, all night. Not a few minutes.” He states before walking off, causing Jared to turn back towards his family and continue talking.

For Jared, the night flies by, conversations including how the family is, antics the Jeff’s children have gotten up to, and Jared’s dogs, which by god, he misses his babies, causing him to laugh and cry at the same time, especially when Megan brings out a photo of them.

“God, I miss them.” He laughs, staring at the photo lovingly, noticing that Jensen is looking at him in concern, and maybe jealousy, at the fact that Jensen has no clue what has Jared smiling the way he is. Apparently, he’s not the only one who’s noticed, as Megan has a smirk on her face and her eyes are shining.

“So, meet anyone new here, Jaybird?” She asks, grinning and Jared can’t help but reflexively look up and right at Jensen, grinning and blushing at the same time before looking back down before glancing again at Jensen and then focusing back on Megan.

“I… I guess,” he shrugs, his smile continuing alongside his blush. He notices Jeff turning around and looking at Jensen, before he turns back around.

“I approve, but he better not hurt you.” Jeff says the last part a little loudly, causing Jensen to whip around and Jared to blush, laughing when Jeff nudges him. By the time the conversation is over, Jared has noticed that Ramsay is back on the floor waiting for everyone, and Jared just knows that he’s going to have to say goodbye to his family, even though he truly doesn’t want to.

“I’m sorry to say guys, but you have to say goodbye to your family.” He says and Jared gets up, not wanting to say goodbye.

“Bye guys.”

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