Four Be The Things
Four Be The Things
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Jensen/Jared, Danneel
Word count: 1686 (a whole day's goal!)
Summary: Jensen has doubts, freckles, curiosity and eventually finds himself in love.
Warnings: Fluffiness abounds at the end. Also, I was reading Terry Pratchett quotes while writing.
Notes: Taken from a quote by Dorothy Parker: "Four be the things I'd be better without/Love, curiosity, freckles and doubt." I decided those were four things Jensen would be better with. I reversed the order of those things for the purposes of this story.
Doubt
Here was the thing: Danneel? Coolest chick in the world. Jensen totally loved her and she was one of his very best friends in the whole world. If he even suspected someone was about to hurt her, Jensen would personally march up to the guy and kick him right in the family jewels. Hard.
Unfortunately, due to not being a contortionist and not being Misha, Jensen cannot kick himself in the family jewels. Which is what he really should be doing. Because he was searching the very length and breadth and width and... were there other measurements? If there were, Jensen was sure he was searching them too, but he just couldn't find it. 'In' is such a tiny little word, but it meant a word of difference. There's a complete difference between loving someone (and again, Jensen totally loved Danni) and being in love with them. Which he wasn't. He tried so damn hard, but he just wasn't in love with Danneel. And to keep pretending he was meant he was lying and that was very high on the list of shit he just refused to do to Danni. Admittedly, he'd been expecting a more violent reaction when he told her.
“Oh,” she put the script she was reading down and looked up at him. She scrunched up her nose. “I thought so.” Her face relaxed. "Fine with me.”
Jensen stared at her for a moment, unsure if she understood what he meant. I mean, he was pretty certain that the words, 'I'm not in love with you, hon. I think we should end it' were self-explanatory, but he just wanted to check. “Uh, are you... did you... we just broke up, you know?”
Danneel nodded and went back to her script, shifting a bit on the couch. “Yep.”
“So,” Jensen tried again, “shouldn’t you be pissed off and keying my truck and hating me right now?”
Danneel shrugged. “We were friends first so I’ve got wells of ‘want you to be happy’ that I’m plumbing. Besides, this frees me up to ask out my co-star.” She smiled brightly at her now ex-boyfriend. “Give my love to Jared.”
Jensen was nodding in that desperate way a person does as they wait for the world to begin making sense. “Right. So...” he wanted to make sure he got this all right, “we're breaking up. You're going to ask out a guy you work with. And you want... why do you want me to give your love to Jared?”
Danneel tilted her head and studied Jensen like he was a particularly pretty and brilliant animal that was still somehow pinned to a piece of cardboard and mounted in someone's shadowbox. “Aren't you leaving me for him? I figured if you were going to leave me, it would be for Jared.”
“Uh,” Jensen tried to find something more to say. “Well, I hadn't... we're just fri... I am very confused.” He sank down to sit on the coffee table beside the couch.
Danneel put down her script and patted his arm. “It'll be okay, sweetie. Just talk to Jared about this. He figured it out a long time ago.”
Jensen's head snapped up. “WHAT?”
“He told me just after we started dating that he was head over heels for you, but respected our relationship and our friendship and his friendship with you,” Danneel said.
Jensen stared at the space just past her left shoulder for a very long time. “I...”
Danneel stood up, patting Jensen's head this time. “Watch him when he's around you. Really watch.” She leaned down and kissed him on the head. “All right, I'm heading to bed. It's cool if I stay here anyway, right?”
Nodding, Jensen kept his eyes on the spot he'd picked out on the wall and only vaguely recognised the sound of Danneel in the next room, the guest room his brain helpfully supplied.
Freckles
“Dude, your freckles are showing,” Jared pointed out the next morning at work when he walked into Jensen's trailer. He laughed and poked at Jensen's cheek. “Jeannie's going to have your perky ass on a platter.”
Jensen removed his hand from where he'd been resting his head against it and saw the telltale streaks across his knuckles that meant he'd unintentionally screwed up the airbrushing earlier. “Shit.”
Jared smiled, dimples out in full force. “Man, how many coats did Jeannie need to use?”
“A couple,” Jensen answered, uncharacteristically shy around Jared now that Danneel's words were still pinballing around in his head.
“That's why we try to keep you out of the sun,” Jared said shaking his head. He looked at Jensen, a soft look in his eyes that Jensen had seen a million times before and had never been able to put a name to. “Shame though, freckles look good on you, man. Gives you that good ol' boy look.”
Jensen smiled as Jared's drawl thickened slightly. “I am a good ol' boy. Same as you.”
Jared nodded, huffing a laugh. He started humming the theme song for Dukes of Hazzard as he got up to rummage in Jensen's fridge for one of his protein shakes.
Jensen took the moment to reflect on the fact that he actually kept Jared's preferred drink in his own fridge.
“So what do you think?”
Jensen was snatched out of his reverie by Jared's question. “What?”
Jared snorted. “Jensen, I just asked if you and Danni wanted to come over for dinner tonight?”
“No... I mean...” Jensen bit his lip. “I could, but Danni went back to L.A.”
Immediately, Jared went from joking to concerned. “Why?”
“We broke up,” Jensen confessed.
“Oh my god,” Jared abandoned his drink and sat down beside Jensen on the couch. “Oh god, I'm so sorry. What happened?”
Jensen wasn't quite sure how to answer that. “We just... I just wasn't in love with her. Not like I thought I was.”
Jared put an arm around Jensen's shoulders. “I'm sorry, man. Well, you can still come over.”
“I'd like that,” Jensen said, turning his head and realizing how close he and Jared were.
Mandy knocked on the trailer door and poked her head in. “Guys, we're going to need you in ten.” She smiled and left.
Jensen stood up abruptly now that the moment had passed. “I better go see Jeannie so she can fix my face.”
“It'll take more than ten minutes for that, ugly,” Jared joked.
Somehow, the nickname sounded like the sweetest term of endearment.
Curiousity
Dinner had been take-out Chinese and the boxes were still on the coffee table while Jensen and Jared watched some mindless reality TV show.
Jensen was aware of every part of his body where it was pressed against Jared's. The couch was more than big enough for them to sit on opposite ends, but they always seemed to end up in the middle with each other.
Jared laughed loudly at something one of the contestants had just done and Jensen found his eyes drawn to Jared's smiling lips. He'd always known Jared had a great smile, a fantastic smile, a smile that made the guy light up like a Christmas tree. And Jared's lips just looked really... soft... inviting.
Jared turned his head to ask Jensen's opinion on something that had just happened on the show.
Before he got any words out, however, Jensen surged forward and pressed his lips to Jared's slightly open ones. God, they were just as soft as they looked. “I was right,” Jensen whispered as they pulled away.
“About what?” Jared asked, not moving away
“Your lips're soft,” Jensen answered.
Jared blinked. “And... was that...”
Jensen held up a hand to Jared's lips. “Danni told me what you said when she and I started dating.”
Jared kept silent, but his eyes widened.
“I just... I never noticed.” Jensen shook his head. “God, I wish I'd noticed before.”
“What are you... saying?” Jared asked, lips moving against Jensen's fingertips.
Jensen smiled. “I'm saying, if you're up for it, I was thinking of a repeat performance of that kiss.”
Jared shook his head to dislodge Jensen's fingers and moved in so close his breath warmed Jensen's mouth.
“I think you give another performance like that last one, I'm starting another standing ovation for you.”
“That's what she said,” Jensen joked, his laugh caught by Jared's mouth.
Love
Jensen woke up as Jared was slipping out of bed. “Mmhmm, come back bed,” he mumbled into the warm pillow.
Jared smiled at Jensen, that now definable gleam in his eyes. “It's Saturday, Jen. Plenty of time for bed still awaits. I'm gonna run the dogs. It's early, get some more sleep. I'mma make coffee when I get back.”
When Jared leaned over, Jensen sacrificed the comfortable pillow to twist so Jared could get to his lips. Jensen's cell phone beeped, indicating he had a message.
Catching Jensen's wildly waving arm before it did any permanent damage to breakable things in the vicinity, Jared checked the phone. And started laughing. “Danni says we better still be in bed because she's got a date tonight and she wants us to be happy.” Another beep and Jared chuckled. “She also wants you to draw up a custody plan for Icarus.”
Jensen grabbed onto Jared's wrist and tugged, making the taller man fall onto the bed like a graceless Redwood tree. “Is Sat...day, plenty dog ...alking time... waits. Danni says.”
Jared smiled and settled back down, snuggling into Jensen's embrace.
Jensen kissed Jared's still sleep-warm skin and then pressed his nose to his hair. There it was. That little 'in' that had been so elusive with Danneel. Jensen didn't even have to go searching for it; it was right there. He was starting to realize it always had been.
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Jensen/Jared, Danneel
Word count: 1686 (a whole day's goal!)
Summary: Jensen has doubts, freckles, curiosity and eventually finds himself in love.
Warnings: Fluffiness abounds at the end. Also, I was reading Terry Pratchett quotes while writing.
Notes: Taken from a quote by Dorothy Parker: "Four be the things I'd be better without/Love, curiosity, freckles and doubt." I decided those were four things Jensen would be better with. I reversed the order of those things for the purposes of this story.
Doubt
Here was the thing: Danneel? Coolest chick in the world. Jensen totally loved her and she was one of his very best friends in the whole world. If he even suspected someone was about to hurt her, Jensen would personally march up to the guy and kick him right in the family jewels. Hard.
Unfortunately, due to not being a contortionist and not being Misha, Jensen cannot kick himself in the family jewels. Which is what he really should be doing. Because he was searching the very length and breadth and width and... were there other measurements? If there were, Jensen was sure he was searching them too, but he just couldn't find it. 'In' is such a tiny little word, but it meant a word of difference. There's a complete difference between loving someone (and again, Jensen totally loved Danni) and being in love with them. Which he wasn't. He tried so damn hard, but he just wasn't in love with Danneel. And to keep pretending he was meant he was lying and that was very high on the list of shit he just refused to do to Danni. Admittedly, he'd been expecting a more violent reaction when he told her.
“Oh,” she put the script she was reading down and looked up at him. She scrunched up her nose. “I thought so.” Her face relaxed. "Fine with me.”
Jensen stared at her for a moment, unsure if she understood what he meant. I mean, he was pretty certain that the words, 'I'm not in love with you, hon. I think we should end it' were self-explanatory, but he just wanted to check. “Uh, are you... did you... we just broke up, you know?”
Danneel nodded and went back to her script, shifting a bit on the couch. “Yep.”
“So,” Jensen tried again, “shouldn’t you be pissed off and keying my truck and hating me right now?”
Danneel shrugged. “We were friends first so I’ve got wells of ‘want you to be happy’ that I’m plumbing. Besides, this frees me up to ask out my co-star.” She smiled brightly at her now ex-boyfriend. “Give my love to Jared.”
Jensen was nodding in that desperate way a person does as they wait for the world to begin making sense. “Right. So...” he wanted to make sure he got this all right, “we're breaking up. You're going to ask out a guy you work with. And you want... why do you want me to give your love to Jared?”
Danneel tilted her head and studied Jensen like he was a particularly pretty and brilliant animal that was still somehow pinned to a piece of cardboard and mounted in someone's shadowbox. “Aren't you leaving me for him? I figured if you were going to leave me, it would be for Jared.”
“Uh,” Jensen tried to find something more to say. “Well, I hadn't... we're just fri... I am very confused.” He sank down to sit on the coffee table beside the couch.
Danneel put down her script and patted his arm. “It'll be okay, sweetie. Just talk to Jared about this. He figured it out a long time ago.”
Jensen's head snapped up. “WHAT?”
“He told me just after we started dating that he was head over heels for you, but respected our relationship and our friendship and his friendship with you,” Danneel said.
Jensen stared at the space just past her left shoulder for a very long time. “I...”
Danneel stood up, patting Jensen's head this time. “Watch him when he's around you. Really watch.” She leaned down and kissed him on the head. “All right, I'm heading to bed. It's cool if I stay here anyway, right?”
Nodding, Jensen kept his eyes on the spot he'd picked out on the wall and only vaguely recognised the sound of Danneel in the next room, the guest room his brain helpfully supplied.
Freckles
“Dude, your freckles are showing,” Jared pointed out the next morning at work when he walked into Jensen's trailer. He laughed and poked at Jensen's cheek. “Jeannie's going to have your perky ass on a platter.”
Jensen removed his hand from where he'd been resting his head against it and saw the telltale streaks across his knuckles that meant he'd unintentionally screwed up the airbrushing earlier. “Shit.”
Jared smiled, dimples out in full force. “Man, how many coats did Jeannie need to use?”
“A couple,” Jensen answered, uncharacteristically shy around Jared now that Danneel's words were still pinballing around in his head.
“That's why we try to keep you out of the sun,” Jared said shaking his head. He looked at Jensen, a soft look in his eyes that Jensen had seen a million times before and had never been able to put a name to. “Shame though, freckles look good on you, man. Gives you that good ol' boy look.”
Jensen smiled as Jared's drawl thickened slightly. “I am a good ol' boy. Same as you.”
Jared nodded, huffing a laugh. He started humming the theme song for Dukes of Hazzard as he got up to rummage in Jensen's fridge for one of his protein shakes.
Jensen took the moment to reflect on the fact that he actually kept Jared's preferred drink in his own fridge.
“So what do you think?”
Jensen was snatched out of his reverie by Jared's question. “What?”
Jared snorted. “Jensen, I just asked if you and Danni wanted to come over for dinner tonight?”
“No... I mean...” Jensen bit his lip. “I could, but Danni went back to L.A.”
Immediately, Jared went from joking to concerned. “Why?”
“We broke up,” Jensen confessed.
“Oh my god,” Jared abandoned his drink and sat down beside Jensen on the couch. “Oh god, I'm so sorry. What happened?”
Jensen wasn't quite sure how to answer that. “We just... I just wasn't in love with her. Not like I thought I was.”
Jared put an arm around Jensen's shoulders. “I'm sorry, man. Well, you can still come over.”
“I'd like that,” Jensen said, turning his head and realizing how close he and Jared were.
Mandy knocked on the trailer door and poked her head in. “Guys, we're going to need you in ten.” She smiled and left.
Jensen stood up abruptly now that the moment had passed. “I better go see Jeannie so she can fix my face.”
“It'll take more than ten minutes for that, ugly,” Jared joked.
Somehow, the nickname sounded like the sweetest term of endearment.
Curiousity
Dinner had been take-out Chinese and the boxes were still on the coffee table while Jensen and Jared watched some mindless reality TV show.
Jensen was aware of every part of his body where it was pressed against Jared's. The couch was more than big enough for them to sit on opposite ends, but they always seemed to end up in the middle with each other.
Jared laughed loudly at something one of the contestants had just done and Jensen found his eyes drawn to Jared's smiling lips. He'd always known Jared had a great smile, a fantastic smile, a smile that made the guy light up like a Christmas tree. And Jared's lips just looked really... soft... inviting.
Jared turned his head to ask Jensen's opinion on something that had just happened on the show.
Before he got any words out, however, Jensen surged forward and pressed his lips to Jared's slightly open ones. God, they were just as soft as they looked. “I was right,” Jensen whispered as they pulled away.
“About what?” Jared asked, not moving away
“Your lips're soft,” Jensen answered.
Jared blinked. “And... was that...”
Jensen held up a hand to Jared's lips. “Danni told me what you said when she and I started dating.”
Jared kept silent, but his eyes widened.
“I just... I never noticed.” Jensen shook his head. “God, I wish I'd noticed before.”
“What are you... saying?” Jared asked, lips moving against Jensen's fingertips.
Jensen smiled. “I'm saying, if you're up for it, I was thinking of a repeat performance of that kiss.”
Jared shook his head to dislodge Jensen's fingers and moved in so close his breath warmed Jensen's mouth.
“I think you give another performance like that last one, I'm starting another standing ovation for you.”
“That's what she said,” Jensen joked, his laugh caught by Jared's mouth.
Love
Jensen woke up as Jared was slipping out of bed. “Mmhmm, come back bed,” he mumbled into the warm pillow.
Jared smiled at Jensen, that now definable gleam in his eyes. “It's Saturday, Jen. Plenty of time for bed still awaits. I'm gonna run the dogs. It's early, get some more sleep. I'mma make coffee when I get back.”
When Jared leaned over, Jensen sacrificed the comfortable pillow to twist so Jared could get to his lips. Jensen's cell phone beeped, indicating he had a message.
Catching Jensen's wildly waving arm before it did any permanent damage to breakable things in the vicinity, Jared checked the phone. And started laughing. “Danni says we better still be in bed because she's got a date tonight and she wants us to be happy.” Another beep and Jared chuckled. “She also wants you to draw up a custody plan for Icarus.”
Jensen grabbed onto Jared's wrist and tugged, making the taller man fall onto the bed like a graceless Redwood tree. “Is Sat...day, plenty dog ...alking time... waits. Danni says.”
Jared smiled and settled back down, snuggling into Jensen's embrace.
Jensen kissed Jared's still sleep-warm skin and then pressed his nose to his hair. There it was. That little 'in' that had been so elusive with Danneel. Jensen didn't even have to go searching for it; it was right there. He was starting to realize it always had been.