SOS Red- Chapter Three
Pulling up in the driveway of his modest bungalow, Jensen anxiously watches Jared’s expressions as he ducks down, squinting to get a look at it in the waning dusk light. Jensen doesn’t usually care what anyone thinks of his place, knows it’s nice, clean, and perfect for his needs, but he wants nothing more than for Jared to approve. Responsibility and a displaced sense of guilt come over him, knowing that he made this decision on their own, choosing what will now be their their first house, only for himself.
Looking for a house just for him had felt so wrong, when they had been dream-planning for house hunting for the two of them in the future since college. In each empty house he looked at, Jensen could imagine how it should have been. He would have been the calm one while Jared, ever the architect, scouted the house’s bones with x-ray vision and nitpicked over the design choices. They’d bicker, probably, because they always did, lovingly so, until stepping foot inside the perfect home that shut them both up entirely. Instead it had been Jensen, envisioning where Sadie’s dog bed might fit the best, and trying to ignore Jared’s absence at his side, in every room of ever y house of his looked at.
“I still can’t believe you have a house,” Jared murmurs, and it’s not unkind, but more so laced with wonder. Jensen gets it, his financial situation vastly different from three years ago with a couple promotions under his belt and money in the bank now. Besides trading in his bike and buying the Jeep, every dime he’s made has gone towards savings. He can’t even remember the last time he took a vacation.
A house made sense. He’d moved from their apartment as soon as he could into his parents’ basement, which was endless nagging and well-meaning intentions that just left him miserable. He got an apartment with Danni for a while, but even she encouraged him to date before he was ready, tried to sell him illusions of getting back out there to feel better, when the idea made him want to die. It made him miss their apartment, as small as it was, though he knew he would have never been happy there again without Jared.
Jensen chews his lip, thinking about their old place. “I know you probably wish you could just go home right now, to the apartment. If I had known-“
“Jen, it’s fine,” Jared interrupts, squeezing his hand reassuringly. “I just think it’s awesome that you did this on you own.”
“I just hope you don’t hate it.”
Jared makes a face at that, rolling his eyes dismissively. “So far, so good,” he says, gesturing at the house as he makes to step out of the SUV. “Do I get a tour?” Smiling and nodding, Jensen rounds the Jeep and snatches the keys from Jared.
They ramble up the steps together and Jensen pauses at the door, turning back to meet Jared’s eyes. It’s dark, the porchlight off from what was supposed to be a quick run to the store earlier, but he can still make out the question in them. “Ready to see Sadie?”
Jared lights up. “Hell yeah,” he smiles, his hand resting on Jensen’s hip as he works on the lock in the dim light, finally hearing the click. Reaching inside, he flicks the entry light on as Sadie charges him, jumping with excitement.
“Hey, girl, I’ve got someone here to see you,” he coos, stepping into the foyer to reveal Jared, at which point the German Sheppard goes from level ten to level ninety. She nearly flattens Jared, who, knocked off balance, ends up kneeling on the floor, grasping wildly at Sadie as she jumps and twists around, barking excitedly. Laughter fills the air, Sadie slurping long licks up Jared face, running to Jensen in excitement and then racing back, falling in his lap in split second hugs before she wiggles her way out, too hyped to sit still.
“I think she remembers me,” Jared grins, his voice thick with emotion as he catches her once more in an embrace, more of a headlock than a hug, then swat-pets after her as she sprints an excited circle around Jensen before returning for more.
“I think that’s a safe bet,” Jensen agrees, heart bursting as he watches the two of them together, both as happy as could be.
They sit on floor for quite a while, until Sadie’s ecstatic runs turn to content snuggles, until her barks turn to tired pants.
She’s lounging in Jared’s lap, his fingers raking through her thick fur, when he quietly says, “She’s so big now.” The words sound contemplative and a bit sad, and Jensen looks up at him, Jared’s eyes fixated on one of Sadie’s paws in his hand, easily three times the size it was the last time Jared saw her.
“She is,” Jensen agrees softly, unsure of what else to say. “Eats a ton.”
Jared laughs at that. “I bet she does.” Watching him, Jensen notices as Jared glances up, eyes skimming around the edges of room contemplatively. “So. What about that tour?”
Once both standing, the tour begins. Jensen leads him through the foyer to the living room, the kitchen, showing him the small bathroom there and the little pantry embarrassingly barren of food. He gestures toward the garage and they trek their way into the unfinished basement, hauling up a few of the boxes in the corner simply marked “Jared.” Once on the main floor, Jensen shows him his office, the guest room, guest bathroom, and, eventually, landing in the master bathroom with the en suite bath.
“That’s it,” Jensen shrugs, watching Jared’s face carefully as he looks around the bedroom, anxiety rising in his chest.
“I like it,” Jared declares at last, a genuine smile on his face.
With those three words, a huge weight is lifted from Jensen’s shoulders. “Really? You’re not just saying that?”
“I mean, you could stand to decorate a little but…” Jared trails off, teasing tone in his voice. “I love it, actually. It has great bones.”
“I thought you’d like it,” Jensen blurts, jittery with adrenaline. “I mean, when I was looking at places, part of why I picked this one was because it seemed like the one you would have picked. I just… it felt like the right one.” Jared’s face morphs into a sad smile, taking a seat at the end of the bed.
“You did a great job,” he murmurs, looking a bit wistful as he glances around the room again.
“Thanks,” Jensen says, taking a seat right next to him. “You’re welcome to do whatever you want to decorate.”
Jared laughs. “I don’t want to intrude. It’s your place.”
“Our place,” Jensen corrects, and Jared looks up at him then, a combination of hope and reluctance in his eyes. “You were always the decorator, man. Clearly I fail on my own.”
“I just… I mean, hang a picture, maybe?” Jared implores, his tone kindly joking, looking to the bare walls. “Paint a wall or two?”
Jensen has pictures, packed away in boxes and wrapped in years-old newspapers. He doesn’t want to speak aloud why those pictures never found their way to his walls, that he couldn’t stand to look at pictures of Jared when he wasn’t here, but also couldn’t stand to have pictures of others on the wall and exclude Jared altogether. Even the idea of getting artwork to hang seemed wrong, harkening memories of trips to art galleries with Jared, of Jared’s favorite works that Jensen could never work up the courage to display, to have to face each day. Displaying anything else seemed like a copout. It was something he has been trying to work through with his therapist, but the list is long and there are very few issues they have made much progress on.
And paint, well. Paint just seemed so inconsequential in the face of everything else.
“You’re absolutely right,” Jensen grins, gesturing around him. “A coat of paint would do this place wonders.”
Jared nods, seemingly satisfied, as he pulls himself up on the bed, lying flat on his back. Jensen joins him, staring at the ceiling.
“You going to do a gallery wall?” he asks after a moment.
“What?”
Jensen smirks. “A gallery wall. I know you love your gallery walls.”
Rolling his eyes, Jared’s lip twitches. “Maybe.” That’s a yes, Jensen thinks, breaking out in a grin. “Hey,” Jared objects, smacking his arm lightly, “gallery walls are great. They help to pull a room together.”
Putting his hands up in mock surrender, Jensen bites his lip. “I didn’t say anything bad about gallery walls.”
Shooting him a look, Jared grumbles, “It was implied.” Suddenly, Sadie jumps up, shaking the entire bed as she worms her way between them, her tail smacking at their shins.
“She’s not supposed to be on the bed,” Jensen says mildly, but Jared he looks so happy, wrapping his arms around her and snuggling her into his chest that Jensen makes no move to shoo the dog away. Instead he sighs, cuddling against Sadie’s warm back and closes his eyes, cherishing this impossible moment.
_____
Jensen is awakened by a ringing phone, startled upright as he blindly grabs for the device on his bedside table, fingers finally grabbing for purchase. Fumbling with the phone, he manages to hit the answer button, bringing the call to life.
“Hello?” he croaks, voice sleep-heavy and confused.
“Jensen!” It’s Megan and she seems worried and relieved at the same time and a sinking guilt forms in Jensen’s gut.
“Fuck. Sorry Meg, I must’ve fallen asleep,” he says, glancing over in bed. Sadie is gone, but Jared is still there, sleep-mussed and burrowing his face in the pillow against the noise. Chest aching at the sight of him, Jensen breathes deeply. This is still real. It wasn’t just a dream.
“Uh huh,” she says, sounding amused now. “Sure you did.”
“We did,” he insists. “We were lying down with Sadie and then next thing I know, you’re calling me.”
“Uh huh. Well, it’s nine, now.”
“PM?”
“Yes, PM. Must have been one hell of a nap,” she laughs. “Are you still coming over?”
“Um…” Jensen trails off, eyes settling once more on Jared, selfish urge to keep him all to himself taking hold once more. On the other end of the line, he hears some talking, though he can’t make out what is being said.
After a few moments, Megan is back on the receiver. “Hey, Jensen, my mom wants to talk to you. Here.”
“Jensen?”
“Hi Sherrie,” Jensen greets Jared’s mother, settling back in bed to lie down a bit more. Jared rolls over then, settling against his chest as Jensen snakes his free arm underneath him, pulling him closer.
“Jensen, honey, it’s getting late,” Sherrie says, “why don’t you boys stay put for the night and come over in the morning?” Jared nods his head emphatically against Jensen’s chest.
Jensen smiles, propping his phone up on his chest as he runs his fingers through Jared’s hair. “Are you sure?” he asks, even though he’s glad to take the offer.
“I think that may be best. Just make sure you are over by 9:30 or so, for breakfast?”
“Sounds good,” Jared agrees, wrapping an arm around Jensen’s chest.
“We’ll see you then!” Jensen chirps, barely receiving a reply from Sherrie before Jared is ending the call.
“Jared,” he chastises.
“What?” he asks, gazing up at him, feigning innocence.
“Your mother is going to think I hung up on her.” Jared shrugs, burying his face in Jensen’s chest again, clearly unconcerned.
After a moment, he whines, “I’m hungry.”
“I have no food,” Jensen admits. “I was headed to the store when I got the call about you.”
“Excuses, excuses,” Jared yawns, before turning his face and nudging his nose playfully under Jensen’s ear. “Pizza, then?”
“Sure. Gala’s?”
“What?”
“Gala’s Pizza?” Jensen repeats, noticing the look of confusion on Jared’s face. “Oh. Was that not… that might be a new place.” He finishes the thought lamely, deciding firmly that his favorite pizza place was definitely established after and that Jared has never eaten there.
“Yeah, must be,” Jared agrees, looking at him curiously. “What do you get from there?”
“Pepperoni and cream cheese,” Jensen grins. “And garlic rolls, if I’m super hungry. The epitome of health food, obviously.”
“Sounds awesome. Order it?”
“You sure. We can order from somewhere else,” Jensen offers, the somewhere you’ve had before unspoken.
“Nah. I want to try it,” Jared insists, snuggling up closer and placing a kiss to his neck.
Jensen nods, pulling up the site on his phone and making quick work of placing the order, even as Jared is rubbing his foot along his calf, hands absently roaming over the expanse of his chest.
“Forty minutes,” he announces, Jared responding by pulling him into a kiss. The kiss is immediately deep, hungry and biting. Jared pushes him in the pillows as Jensen freezes, his body overloaded at the sensation of the warmth of Jared’s hands skimming against his skin, roaming his arms and up his sides under his shirt as he moves to straddle him, never breaking the kiss.
It may be all he’s wanted, Jared in his arms, like this, but it’s too much, too soon. It’s hours after learning Jared is alive, going from zero to one hundred and Jensen is running to catch up, but his body is shifting back into that state of shock, unsure of what is real. He has to stop, has to claw back to his grasp on reality, and as much as he wants to, he can’t do this, not yet.
“Hey, Jay,” he mumbles, shaky hands gripping onto Jared’s biceps and gently pushing away. “Jared, I… I can’t.” Immediately, Jared stops, jumping back as if he’s been shocked, staring at Jensen with wide eyes.
“Shit, Jensen, I’m sorry, I-”
“No, Jay, it’s okay,” Jensen interrupts, laughing quietly in self-deprecation. “Trust me, it’s okay. I just. I can’t now. It’s. If that’s okay. It’s too soon, I’m still-”
“No, god, of course. Of course it’s too soon,” Jared rushes, running his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry, I just. I didn’t even think.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Jensen insists, and Jared looks up then, meeting his eyes, and he looks a little more calmed at the words, like he thought he was forcing Jensen into something he didn’t want. “I do. It’s just a lot to process, you being back, and I think I just need a few days. If that’s okay.”
“Of course,” Jared says, leaning forward and taking both of Jensen’s hands into his own. “Of course that’s okay. Shit, Jen. Of course.” Swallowing hard, Jensen looks away. He hates feeling like this: unstable, dramatic. He’s usually the stable one, the dependable one. He knows Jared is going through a lot now and he’d give anything to be his rock, but he’s struggling to keep himself together right now, and it feels so stupid. Jared is dealing with losing three years of his life and Jensen is processing the best thing imaginable happening in his life; it hardly feels like it compares.
Jared reaches forward, pulling him in his arms. “C’mere,” he murmurs, tucking his head under his chin before scoffing, “if it’s okay. Jen, it’s more than okay. It’s always okay; you can tell me no for any reason and it’s more than okay, you know that.”
Jensen’s heart swells with warmth, screwing his eyes shut tight at the warmth that threatens there too. “I know,” he whispers, and he does. It’s just going to take time, remembering the exactly settle of his relationship, exactly how comfortable and safe he felt before the world dropped out from beneath him. In Jared’s arms, though, he starts to believe it’s possible.
_____
“I don’t want to,” Jared whines the next morning, his voice pillow-muffled as the alarm blares behind Jensen’s head. Blindly slapping for his phone, Jensen grabs it and hits the off button, groaning.
“Me neither,” he breathes, opening his eyes to find Jared staring at him. “Hey,” he smiles, earning a morning-dampened smile in return.
“Good morning,” Jared says, clearly groggy as he stretches. “I don’t want to,” he repeats.
“I know,” Jensen sighs, making to sit up despite his body’s protests. “But we have to.” Standing up, he staggers over to his closet, pulling an outfit off the hangers before grabbing socks and boxers from his dresser.
“Hey,” he says loudly to Jared’s still form, clearly slipping back into sleep. “Shower?” Jared makes an incomprehensible noise, shifting to cover his head with the blanket. Nodding, Jensen heads off to the bathroom, this routine very familiar.
_____
Jared bursts into the bathroom after Jensen’s shower when he’s standing in front of the mirror, brushing his teeth in his boxers. Ambling over to him, sleep still heavy in his movements, Jared wraps his arms around his waist, freezing when he sees Jensen’s reflection in the mirror.
“Hey?” Jensen inquires, a bit taken aback as Jared spins him, index finger immediately hooking onto the ring hanging on the chain around his neck.
“Your ring,” he says, more of a statement than a question, eyes flicking between Jensen’s eyes and the engagement ring with a question he can’t quite decipher.
“Yeah,” Jensen nods, swallowing. “People kept giving me these looks when I wore it, like they pitied me. I didn’t want to stop wearing it, you know, but I couldn’t stand people looking at me like that. So I decided to put it on a necklace.”
By the time Jensen’s done explaining, though, Jared’s attention has already shifted, to the ink that’s on his chest and Jensen’s heart flips. Christ, he hadn’t even thought about the tattoo.
“It’s your handwriting,” he rushes to explain unnecessarily, like Jared doesn’t know the words “I love you to the moon and back, J” scrawled over Jensen’s heart are in his cursive, etched from a card from their last anniversary years ago. Jared’s fingertips let the ring fall back to Jensen’s chest, skimming down to trace over the words.
“Guess you’re kind of stuck with me now. It’d be rude to dump a guy who got a tattoo for you,” Jensen jokes thinly, feeling self-conscious under Jared’s scrutiny. He has never been this type of guy, never the sentimental sap; that had always been Jared’s territory. But then Jared had died and suddenly everything related to him was sacred; suddenly Jensen couldn’t get enough and nothing could be permanent enough. He has never been the type of guy to think it’s a good idea to get a lover’s name on his skin, but once Jared was gone, it was a no-brainer. Hell, even now that he’s back, it’s still a no-brainer.
“Fuck, Jen,” Jared whispers, eyes full of tears when he looks up to meet his gaze. Giving him an awkward smile, Jensen reaches up to where Jared’s fingers still rest on his chest and tangles them with his own.
“You turned me into a sap, man,” he jokes, earning a broken-off laugh from Jared.
“I guess,” Jared sniffs, wiping at his eyes. Leveling a look at Jensen, he nods at his chest. “You know, you probably won’t get shit for wearing your ring now.”
Jensen’s smile grows into a slow grin. “Probably not.” Jared gives his hand a squeeze before letting go, clapping him quickly on the hip before settling a hand behind him on the porcelain sink, caging him in close.
He sighs, running his free hand through his hair, a nervous gesture. “Megs called. She said Mac is over there.”
Alarmed, Jensen raises his eyebrows at Jared. “What? Why?”
“Megan called her, I guess,” Jared shrugs. It makes sense, Jensen supposes. Their sisters are best friends, having met through them when they first started dating. Mackenzie always loved Jared like a big brother, and had been devastated by his death, so it makes sense that she be there; she’s family.
“Does she know?” Jensen asks.
“Yeah,” Jared nods, looking a bit overwhelmed. “Megan was in the bathroom when she called me, for some privacy. She says Mac keeps going back and forth on believing her and not.”
Jensen rolls his eyes. “Sounds like Mac. She even knows someone else whose family member came back and she still doesn’t believe it.”
“Did you?” Jared asks pointedly and Jensen smirks, caught.
“No.”
“Well, there you go,” Jared says, leaning forward and kissing him on the forehead. “Go get packed. I set all my stuff out.”
“Look at you go,” Jensen smiles, realizing he hadn’t set a suitcase out for Jared like he’d intended.
“Yeah, well. If we have to go, might as well be prepared.” Jensen quirks an eyebrow at him and Jared exhales again. “I love my family. I do. I just. It’s a lot and I just want to be with you, you know?” Jensen tries to dampen the surge of vindication he feels at that, but isn’t particularly successful.
“I’ll be there,” Jensen reminds him, patting Jared’s chest and peeling himself away, though he doesn’t want to. “Shower!” he tosses over his shoulder.
“Ring!” Jared yells back and Jensen stops in the doorway, turning back and meeting his eyes as he unhooks the necklace from around his neck, dropping the ring into the palm of his hand before sliding it onto his ring finger. Jared meets his grin as he turns, shutting the door partway before stepping into the bedroom.
Walking up to one of Jared’s storage boxes, a lump forms in his throat as he glances in and sees a photo peering back up. The photo is from their engagement shoot, taken just months before the accident, and they both look so happy and carefree Jensen can barely breathe. Forcing a deep breath, Jensen raises the necklace over the mouth of the box, slowly lowering the chain until it begins to coil in the corner of the photo. He drops the necklace there staring at it for a moment before stepping into the hallway to find the suitcases.
_____
Between the two of them, Jensen and Jared look like they’re ready to jump on a flight, weighed down with a suitcase each as they stand on Sherrie Padalecki’s porch, waiting after Jared rang the doorbell. Sadie strains on her leash as she sniffs around, and perks up when she hears the footsteps approaching from inside, fast as though someone is running.
“Jensen, Meg said-” Mac begins as she throws the door opens, immediately cutting herself as she sees Jared over her brother’s shoulder, eyes wide. Jensen shoots her a sympathetic smile as he pushes against her into the house, depositing his suitcase and letting Sadie off his leash as Jared slowly steps in behind him. As much as he understands the shock of seeing Jared, no one else knows about him yet. They can’t just be standing on the porch, waiting for someone to notice him.
“Oh my god,” Mackenzie whispers, stepping backwards into Jensen’s arm, her eyes wide and mouth agape. Jensen, trying to soothe her, rubs gently at her shoulders, but she jumps at the contact, hyper on edge.
“Hey Mac,” Jared offers, voice soft and shy, and Jensen can feel his sister wilt at the words, her body sagging slightly in the points of contact where she leans back on him.
There’s a heavy silence as she stares at him, seemingly processing the words before asking, “Jared?” Her voice is paperthin, barely above a whisper, and Jensen tries to ignore the twist in his gut at hearing his normally loud, boisterous sister reduced to this.
He remembers the last time he heard her speak like this, when she saw him the first time after the accident. Jensen was barely clinging on to reality, an absolute wreck, and Mackenzie was trying so hard to be strong for him, but was only twenty-years-old, just a kid herself. Somehow, though, she has been, though, superhuman strong throughout these years, strong for Meg, and strong for Jensen, even though he knew she was hurting too. It hasn’t been fair, but Jensen has been so grateful for her, his little sister who helped hold him together when it seemed impossible.
“Yeah,” Jared smiles, and that’s it, that’s all it takes for Mackenzie to dive into his arms, a mess of tears and incoherent words. Jared steels himself, glancing over his shoulder to meet Jensen’s eyes with a watery smile.
A nudge at his side captures Jensen’s attention. “Hey,” Megan says, gesturing towards the adjoining room with a jerk of her head. Reluctantly, he follows her, chancing one last look at Jared and Mac first.
“Thought we should give them a minute,” she explains once they are alone in the living room, quirking him a smile. “How’s it going?”
“Good. Really good.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Jensen admits honestly, scratching at the back of his neck. “It’s weird, you know. When I found out I was expecting things to be weird between Jared and
me, like I was going to have to get used to him again, or, I don’t know. I thought it might be kind of awkward. But it wasn’t. The second I saw him I knew it was him, and when we started talking-”
“It was like you started right where you’d left off?” Megan finishes, clearly speaking from personal experience.
“Yeah. You too?”
“Yeah, I mean, it was crazy at first, but within twenty minutes we were joking around, picking at each other like always. It was surreal.” She shakes her head, “It still is. This whole thing is surreal.”
“It is. Seeing him in my house…”
“Oh, yeah? What does he think? Does he love it?”
“He does. At least he says he does,” Jensen smiles sheepishly, ducking his head a bit.
“You know he does,” Megan shakes her head. “That’s a total Jared house. He couldn’t have picked a better place himself.”
“He was talking about decorating, though.”
“Of course he was,” Megan nods knowingly. “He’s going to nest so hard.”
“I can’t wait,” Jensen says honestly, thinking back to Jared’s nesting phases in their various apartments, Dollar Tree hauls graduating to Walmart to Target hauls of home décor that always made their dinky apartments seem warm and lived in. He can’t wait to see what Jared does with the clean slate he has to work with.
“It’s so weird, how you’re the creative graphic designer and he’s the no-nonsense architect, but you’re content to stare at bare walls and Jared has to jooj everything up.”
Jensen chuckles at that. “No one would every describe Jared as ‘no nonsense.’ Literally ever.”
“Well, obviously,” Megan rolls her eyes. “But stereotypically, you know.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Jensen nods, still ruminating over his goofy fiancé being described that way in any context. He knows Jared is serious in his job, but the man is the quirkiest person he knows, bar none, and makes a joke out of damn near everything.
“Did you tell work?” Megan asks, seemingly out of nowhere, the change of topics taking a second for Jensen’s mind to catch up.
“Yes,” he says, before clarifying, “well, kind of. I texted my boss that I have a family emergency and will need a few days before talking to him about options. I didn’t feel like explaining everything right now.”
“Fair enough,” Megan says, taking a seat on the couch next to where Sadie has sprawled out. Grabbing a pillow, she hugs it to her chest. “I basically did the same thing. I figured once the news gets out, that will take a lot of the explanation out of it.”
“Shit, we should probably tell people before it hits,” Jensen groans, rubbing at his eyes while taking a seat on the opposite couch.
“You know, it sure is nice to have a member of a PR firm in your family, huh?” Mackenzie quips as she strolls into the room, eyes red but head held high as she takes a seat on the arm of the couch by Sadie. Jared plops down by Jensen, leaning heavily against him.
“An intern,” Jensen reminds her, mostly to be an older brother, but she pays him little mind before continuing.
“Make a list of everyone that needs to know before the announcement and I’ll take care of it.”
“You’re crazy,” Megan huffs, digging her fingers in Sadie’s fur as she strokes her hand down the dog’s back. “My mom has a list of family she wants to call and she’s very insistent that she needs to be the one to call them. She won’t even let me help.”
“Okay,” Mackenzie concedes, turning her attention to Jensen. “Then your friends. And ours,” she directs toward Megan. “And I’ll tell our family,” she says, once again looking to Jensen.
“You don’t have to do that, Mac,” Jensen insists. “We can all-”
“Please?” Mackenzie interrupts, a touch of begging to her tone. “I need to do something. And this I’m good at. This is my job. Plus, it won’t take long.”
“Are you sure?” Jared asks, looking a bit reluctant. Jensen clasps his hand around his knee in what he hopes is a gesture of comfort, knowing how much Jared doesn’t like to feel like a burden or a bother to anyone.
“Absolutely,” Mackenzie grins, looking sure as anything.
“I don’t want you to leave,” Megan says in a small voice, almost childlike in its vulnerability.
“Oh, I’m not going anywhere,” Mackenzie insists, like the idea is ridiculous. “I’ve got my laptop, my camera, and my phone, all I need to work right here. And you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”
“Your camera?” Jensen asks, feeling a sense of dread. His sister is a wonderful photographer, makes good money off it in her spare time, but he’s quite certain he looks like roadkill right now. Happy roadkill, but roadkill nonetheless.
Leaning down for a second and rummaging through her bag, Mackenzie pops up again, producing her Canon Rebel in hand. With a devious look on her face, she implores, “Ever heard the saying, ‘gotta see it to believe it’?”
Megan groans. “You’re not taking my picture right now.”
“I’m a professional, Meg. You have to trust the process.”
“And what exactly is the process?” Jensen asks, half curious, half apprehensive.
“I’ll call Mom and Dad, let them cascade the information to the family,” Mackenzie outlines, as if she has had all the time in the world to plan this out. “Then, a private virtual communication for the friends, prior to the launch.”
“The launch?” Jared probes.
She rolls her eyes. “The press release. I will answer any questions there, but the press release should affirm most of it. Then, after the press release, everyone will make a public statement on their social media. I will prepare the statement. It will be brief. You will include a photo. Then we can field any questions from there.”
“That’s…” Jensen trails off, earning a stern look from his sister. “Impressive,” he finishes earnestly.
Mackenzie smiles, as if she is already well aware. “I told you. I’m a professional. Now where can I get set up?”
Chapter Four