Fic: Hurry Up and Wait (1/3)
Title:Hurry Up and Wait
Rating: PG-13
Genre and/or Pairing: Supernatural RPS; J2 with references to Chris/Steve and Jared/OMC
Warnings: language
Word Count: 6, 559
Summary: Jared came to the University of Tennessee because he can't imagine doing anything with his life other than veterinary medicine. Falling in love with the horses, that he kind of figured was a given. Falling in love with Jensen was never part of the plan.
Oh holy God, I thought I would NEVER get this fic finished. It began as a prompt from someone who bought me for the help_Chile fandom auction(yes, that’s how long ago this started, *headdesk*), a request for a J2 college AU. I loved the prompt and I was super excited about it, but right then I was working frantically on Merry Go Rounds, trying to make Big Bang. I didn’t, and…ok, here’s my theory.
Not making Big Bang kind of crushed my spirit. I started working on this and I kept working on Merry Go Rounds, but it wasn’t long before I just kind of lost my muse…and the mess that was the end of Season 5 didn’t help. The past year, I’ve hardly been able to write a oneshot much less finish anything. The things I have written have come to me like I was pulling the words out of a pit of molasses.
But finally, finally the writer’s block(I can admit that’s what it was now. Sigh.) has lifted and gone to hell and my muse is speaking to me again. *cuddles* I think it helped, too, that I decided I wanted to try to tackle this first, because I also halfway feel like I was cursed against finishing anything else until I finished this, lol
Anyway, here goes! A J2 college AU set at my college, completed and presented in three parts, :D
(oh, and disclaimer…every place I mention in here is a real place. All the info about said places is made up. Aka I don’t think they play live music in the Longbranch, the horses up at Cherokee are very well cared for, etc. I just took the setting and constructed everything else on my own.)
Forgive the urgency,
But hurry up and wait
My heart has started to
Separate
Oh, oh, oh
Be my baby
I’ll look after you
-Look After You, The Fray
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
He wasn’t sure why they called it a personal statement. Honestly, they wanted the opposite of personal. They wanted you to sound official, right, wanted some bragging about the things you’ve done and what you’ve ‘learned’, just the right amount of self righteous reasons about why they should take you(not the real reasons you wanted to be there, mind, just the reasons they wanted to hear), and a pinch of groveling, also about why they should take you. And maybe an explanation for why some of your grades sucked, but only if it was something like, ‘so my mother died as we were crossing the Pacific to go over and help underprivileged agricultural villages in Indonesia’.
Basically, they wanted as far from personal as it got. If he went with personal, it would have gone something like this:
Hi. I’m Jared Padalecki, and I came to the University of Tennessee as a guy from Texas who’d never been any farther from home than Florida. I didn’t want to come here, either, I wanted to go to A&M with my friends and go on to vet school there, but my family just doesn’t have that kind of money. The thing I really appreciate about here is, you’ve got a great vet school with a wonderful oncology program that gets better all the time, and in state tuition really isn’t that bad as far as vet schools go. And believe me, we looked around.
So I moved here and worked a year before I even started college, cause the assholes in the admissions department won’t even let you try to start getting in state if they even think for a second you moved here for school. I got two jobs, one at a clinic and one at a barn, and I’ve loved both for the past five years. They’ve been educational, sure, and that’s been great, but they aren’t the best part. Well, the best and worst part is that I’ve found out leaving high school friends I didn’t have much in common with for friends that I could do anything or nothing with, friends I’ll have all my life; that’s worth it. Whether I get accepted to vet school or not, it’s been worth it.
And I do hope you’ll take me; I want it almost more than anything. I can remember being eight and finding our neighbors cat Buckle after he’d been the victim of a hit and run, and I held his head in my lap on the ride to the vet, his body wrapped in a towel. He died on the way, and I knew then what I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I know you hear this all the time, but I think it’s silly to say you don’t wanna hear about the moment that made us realize this is something we need, because even if it’s all variations on the same thing, it’s part of what made us who we are.
Closer to home than that, though, my dog Sadie’s dying of cancer. I was interested in oncology before(it’s part of why I came here, like I said), but now it means more to me than ever. I’m not stupid; I don’t think I can save her if I do this. She’s going to die, six months, maybe less. I know that. But if I do this, maybe I can save someone else’s Sadie, buy them at least a couple more months. That’s all I want out of this, the chance to give someone like me good news about someone they love.
I’m not the best student. I’m alright, and I try, but sometimes life just gets in the way. I take my dogs for hikes up in the Smokies on the weekends, I work hard at both jobs and I go to my friends’ band’s shows down at the Longbranch on the Strip. I spend pretty much every spare minute and some of the ones on the clock with my best friend who’s also my roommate. Jensen Ackles, you’ve probably heard of him; he works up at Cherokee and we call him ‘the goddamn horse whisperer’, cause that’s what one of our horse hating professors called him when I first met him. He’s amazing with them, and he’s taught me more about horses than I ever could’ve learned in a classroom. I’m in love with him, and if he doesn’t get a job here next year he’ll be going back to Texas to work his daddy’s ranch, but even so, I’m still applying here, which should tell you how much I want to be able to do this job someday. I go home to San Antonio, Texas when I can, and the last time I got two speeding tickets on the way back just to make it in time for biochem at 8 AM. I fell asleep in class anyway, but the point I’m trying to make is that I try, but I’m also a real person not a library rat, and isn’t that what you claim you want? I’m just a guy who’s had this dream nearly his whole life. I just need you to give me a chance, and I promise I won’t let you down.
Jared jumped when his phone vibrated on the desk next to his laptop, and he sighed and highlighted everything he’d written, deleting it and closing the window. He flipped the phone open, cocked it against his shoulder. “Hello?”
“Writing that personal statement?”
Jared groaned, slid down a little farther in his chair. “Man, I hate this application shit! They don’t want to know me they just want some perfect little…” He gestured hopelessly, even if Jensen couldn’t see him.
Jensen laughed, low and soft. “Yeah, I know. Sucks. So glad I didn’t have to do that for grad school.” He shuffled the phone, sighing dramatically. “Jay…you made me promise I wouldn’t come pick you up for the show unless you finished it. Literally, I swore on…I dunno, something important. It was Saturday night.”
Saturday nights were usually spent drinking at Chris’ place, so that explained why he couldn’t remember. “I know…but look, I’m goin’ crazy here. Literally, I’m just starin’ at a blank screen, man.” Well, he’d gotten something written, it just hadn’t been the personal statement they’d want. A waste of his time, honestly, but it wasn’t like he’d been hard at work anyway. “C’mon, just…I’ll write it when we get back from the Kane show.” No, he wouldn’t.
“No you won’t! You’ll hang out with me and then you’ll go to bed and get up at the ass crack of dawn hating yourself for letting me be a bad influence.”
“You’re not a-“
“Yeah, whatever. Hey, I’m comin’ in.” He should’ve been able to tell that anyway by the way Sadie and Harley had bolted from his side to the kitchen and were whining expectantly at the front door. The line went dead just before he heard the door open and shut, followed by the sound of Jensen going to one knee in the kitchen to greet the dogs.
“How’s my girl, huh? How’s my favorite girl?”
“Far as I know she’s your only girl.” He ambled over to lean against the doorway, smirking over at Jensen and laughing when he rolled his eyes.
“And who’re you dating again?”
“Shut up.” He acted like it didn’t bother him, really. In one way, it didn’t. He didn’t want to be dating just anyone, and there definitely weren’t any girls he was interested in. There was just one person he was interested in, and he wasn’t interested in dating them so much as he was interested in committing to them. Not that that mattered, really, because if something hadn’t come out of it in four years, nothing was going to.
Jensen ruffled Harley’s head before he stood up, keys jangling in his hands. “So…we going?”
“Yeah, absolutely. Just give me a minute to grab some dinner to eat in the car.”
“Don’t bother, there’s nothing. I gotta go shopping tomorrow; think we’re even outta Ramen. C’mon, I’ll stop at Krystal and we can grab you somethin’ on the way. You feed the dogs?”
“Yeah.” He patted himself down, looking for his wallet, and he was just about to start looking around when Jensen spoke up.
“On the table.”
He snatched it up, shoved it into his back pocket and took the door, holding it open as Jensen slid out. They’d go to the show at the Longbranch, have a drink with Chris and Steve afterward, and maybe get back to the apartment by 2 AM. They’d talk, he’d go to bed around 3, be up at 6 to run before class…
A glance at the calendar by the door told him it was September 15th. The entire application was due by October 2nd, preferably sooner the Dean’s office had told him. He didn’t have much time, but he wasn’t going to worry about it just now. He could do that tomorrow. Reaching down, he deftly pushed Harley’s nose out of the crack in the door before he shut it.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
Back in his freshman year, Jared had been lucky. At a school this big it was sometimes hard to make friends, particularly if you didn’t live on campus, but when he met Jensen that had brought him to a ready made set of friends, both of them great guys he’d have probably never met otherwise.
Chris was from Oklahoma, and he’d been Jensen’s best friend ever since they’d met on a Texas playground when Chris had been down to visit relatives. Jensen was 5 and Chris was 9, and ever since he’d saved Jensen’s ass from a bully beating up on him they’d stuck to each other like velcro. Steve was from California, the odd man out in that sense, but when he and Chris were assigned to room together their first year they’d connected instantly. They were both 3 years older than Jensen, and though Steve had ended up going five years instead of four, for the most part the two of them had stuck around town because they didn’t exactly have any place better to go. Well, sort of.
They needed to go to Nashville, he and Jensen both knew that, but it was hard to break into the music business and they weren’t quite sure enough of themselves yet. So, they stayed here and worked, played Kane shows when they could and partied hard with Jensen and Jared after them, and life was good.
It wasn’t until the first Kane show he’d seen that August that he’d realized that this was the last time he’d do all of this as an undergrad, maybe even the last year he’d be seeing Kane here at all, because if Jensen left that’d be one less thing to hold Chris in this town, and Steve would be willing to go wherever Chris wanted, inevitably. They were practically joined at the hip, even more inseparable than ever since they’d given in and actually gotten together. Steve had been openly bi as long as they’d known him, and though everyone who knew the two of them had seen something building for a long time, it had seemed to come as a surprise to Christian when he hauled off and punched Steve’s former boyfriend when it came out that he’d been cheating on Steve. The fight had escalated, Chris had gotten arrested, and somehow, somewhere in Steve yelling at him after picking him up from jail, Chris had managed to get across just why he’d been so upset. No one else had actually been present for that conversation, and though the two of them had never elaborated Jensen was willing to bet money Chris hadn’t so much said something as just jumped him in the car, but that was something Jared didn’t really want to ponder in detail.
Point was, they were perfect together, and it would’ve been even better if it hadn’t taken them years to figure it out. This was something else Jared thought about often, even if he knew he shouldn’t.
The clunk of glass on wood shook him back to his senses, and he looked up in time to see Chris leaning against their table, two cold beers in his hand and sweat sticking his shirt to his arms. “Here. Brought you two a little something.”
“You guys are kickin’ ass up there, you know that right?” Jensen said it was certainty that would’ve defied anyone to doubt him, but it was the rough affection on the edge that made it even better, made Chris’ grin widen like crazy.
“Ah, you guys’re biased. Show is goin’ pretty well though.”
They always did. If only there’d be more of a crowd here to see them. Steve had hopped down from the stage behind him and he took him a little by surprise, wrapping one arm around Chris’ waist as he leaned around for a quick kiss.
“Back on in 5, babe.”
Chris nodded, shifted a little more into Steve’s space as he reached for the shot of Jack he already had waiting for him at their table, downing it with almost disturbing ease. A few months ago, this whole scene would’ve been utterly impossible. Not only had Steve been dating Aldis at the time, but Chris would’ve sworn on anything put in front of him that he was 100% straight, no goddamn question. Not that there was anything wrong with being gay, but hell no he wasn’t himself! It was amazing, really, how things changed.
His eyes cut over to Jensen beside him, to the way his fingers wrapped around the neck of his bottle, the muscles in his throat that moved when he swallowed. It made his mouth go dry, and he took a grateful gulp of his own beer, praying for the millionth time that he’d never been as obvious in practice as he felt looking at it through his own eyes. It was just…well, he couldn’t help but think about it. It was right there in front of him in Chris and Steve, proof that something that looked impossible could sometimes work out. It made him think about crazy things, about just going for it, waiting for the next song to start and then leaning in and pulling Jensen in for a kiss before he had time to think it through.
“Jay.” Jensen kicked against his foot, and he looked up, startled. “Something wrong?”
He smiled, just enough to put Jensen at ease. “Just thinking about the application, you know?”
Steve spoke up then, leaned across the table to offer him the bottle of Jack. “Well, forget it. We hardly ever get you these days, this is our time.”
He took a drink, passed it to Jensen and listened to Steve talk about the new strings on his electric. When they went back to the stage, he wasn’t exactly surprised when Jensen asked again, his voice just a little softer. “Seriously, are you-“
“Yeah, absolutely. Just distracted, that’s all.”
“Dude, you’ve gotta get out more. I think you’re starting to turn into a serious student, and you know I can’t let that happen.”
“Weren’t you telling me earlier that I needed to-“
Jensen cuffed him on the back of the head, and out of the corner of his eye he caught Jensen’s grin. “Shut up and drink.”
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
In his defense, when he met Jensen he didn’t expect things to turn out like this. Although, wasn’t that true of everybody? Jared wasn’t sure he believed in love at first sight, because it wasn’t then that he realized he was in love with Jensen, but he hadn’t ruled it out. Maybe people really did fall in love off a first glance, and it was just our too highly developed brains that kept us from acknowledging it until later. Sometimes he liked to think that, because if that were true maybe Jensen knew, somewhere deep down that he hadn’t been able to acknowledge yet.
Yeah, right. And maybe Jared would get a full ride to A&M without even applying, and then daisies would start growing on the sun.
Anyway point being, he hadn’t expected this. But then again, he hadn’t expected anyone like Jensen either.
“Alright, everyone, gather around over here and I’ll talk you through our lab for today.” Jared shuffled over closer, ended up stuck at the back between a railing and about 5 kids he didn’t know. There were cattle in the pen behind him, snuffling at his jacket, and he couldn’t lean against the gate because everything was still damp from that morning’s rain. It was October and cold, and even though he’d already been here for a year and sort of gotten used to it, he was missing Texas something fierce. Especially right now. He’d have wanted to be here if it was just the horse lab, but he was stuck here during Forrest Austin’s class, lecturer in the Animal Science department and asshole extraordinaire. He hated horses, and even if he hadn’t been a jerk in a variety of other ways, that would’ve been enough to make Jared hate his class.
The guy rambled on about the correct way to hold a halter and how far to stand from your horse, and Jared couldn’t help but wonder how many kids here seriously needed that lesson. Apparently some of them did, though, because a handful of them were looking at the docile old horse Austin had on a lead like it was the hugest most intimidating thing they’d ever seen in their lives. Maybe they’d been under the impression that going pre-vet through animal science would mean they got to work with chihuahuas.
Austin was moving on to how to tie a quick release knot and Jared was zoning out, but just then there was frantic whinnying from the barn over to the right, and his head jerked up, falling on a horse that had probably once been beautiful. At the moment, she was a wreck. Her belly was covered in more fly bites than anyone could have ever counted, and she had a wild look in her eye that was more pain than anger. She’d reared, and when her striped hooves came down she shimmied away from the lead pulling back from the TA that held her.
The TA looked at a total loss, really, and she looked more than a little scared. She was making no attempts whatsoever to reign the poor horse in, and Jared was just wishing he could go over there and try to do something when a guy came out of the barn. He hurried over, unafraid, and he took the lead and gently pushed the girl back. He was talking to the horse, clicking to her, and though she reared on him twice more he got her circling soon enough. He reached for her neck to pat her and she wheeled on him, teeth bared, and he cracked her lightly across the nose with the lead, shushing her the whole time.
In a matter of seconds, he had her with her head hanging over his shoulder, body quivering but quiet, and when he rubbed her nose she returned the affection. It was incredible, and Jared probably would’ve kept staring for a very long time if Austin’s voice hadn’t risen just then.
“Alright, get a lead rope, get in the pen and get a horse. You’ll tie your horse to a secure location and then follow the lab to groom them and check their vitals. Tell the TA when you’re done and she’ll clear you to go.”
Austin had kept talking through the whole thing without even noticing, apparently. Idiot. There were any number of horses in the pen that Jared could’ve chosen, but he went for the girl that that guy was still talking to, rubbing up under her mane as he did.
“That was impressive, calming her like that.” It just tumbled out, and he froze where he stood, still a couple feet away.
The guy looked up, though he only nodded and didn’t smile. “She’s a wreck. Poor girl; I’m not surprised. Can’t imagine when the last time she had fly repellant sprayed on her was with the state she’s in.”
He’d been thinking the same thing, and feeling pretty disgusted with the way the people here clearly treated these animals. He couldn’t help but be a little surprised that someone who worked around here would’ve been ignorant of it, and he was about to try to find a way to word that when the guy kept talking.
“Hell, I think there’s something wrong with 90% of these horses. I’ve been checkin’ ‘em over since I got this job a week ago and it just makes me sick. It’s one thing to have research animals and a whole other to treat them like this.”
Personally, he wasn’t exactly fond of either but he didn’t think he really needed to say that. From the distasteful way the guy’d talk’d about it, it didn’t seem like he was too fond of the practice either. “That’s horrible.” Jared spoke softly, stepped in just a little closer to run a hand down her neck. She turned to snap and the guy(who he could see, now, had beautiful green eyes) popped her lightly on the nose with the lead rope again, just enough to get her attention and remind her to behave. “Where’d she come from? Pretty varnish roan appaloosa like this, I’d think she’d have been someone’s western pleasure horse.”
His eyebrows rose, and it was clear he hadn’t been expecting Jared to be quite that knowledgeable(which was, to be honest, part of why he’d said it). “Who knows…I try not to look into too much about how they got here and I certainly don’t want to know where they’re going when they leave.” He looked over, their eyes meeting. “You have horse experience?”
“Yeah. I work at a barn, and I took a few lessons, back home in Texas.”
That got a little more out of him. He smiled, shifted the lead rope to hold out his hand. “You and me both then. I’m Jensen.”
“Jared.” His handshake was strong, his hand rough, and Jared pulled his hand back pretty quick.
“Here. You wanna take her? I can hear Sissy out there pitchin’ a fit.” He could hear it too now, come to think of it. Some horse was whinnying, the noise carrying just enough of an angry edge that it seemed she was ready to pick herself a fight. Well, it made sense. Keeping this many mares together there were bound to be fireworks. Jared took the lead rope, and he made the mistake of watching Jensen walk away rather than watching his horse. She got his arm, just barely, and he flailed a little aimlessly before smacking at her with the rope, reaching up with his other hand to grab her halter and jerk her face away. It didn’t break the skin but he was gonna have a good sized bruise, and it served him right.
He shook his head, focused back on the task at hand and led her around to the fence, talking soft to her as he tied the knot. Around the corner Austin leaned against the fence talking to the TA who’d shied away from the horse, and Jared could just barely make out the conversation.
“Look at him there, see? It’s ridiculous. He’s the goddamn horse whisperer.”
“Hey, I just wanna know if he’s single.”
Austin laughed, the sound carrying. “I wouldn’t bother. I hear nearly every female animal science major out there tried and failed with him. He’s too much in love with the damn horses.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”
The appy stomped her foot, nearly hitting his toe, and Jared shook himself, forced himself to get his mind off Jensen’s way with horses and focus on the horse right in front of him.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
Loving Jensen without ever saying a damn thing about it(or even letting himself really think about it) was hard enough, but it’d gotten even worse when Jeff found out. Jeff was basically the most amazing boss ever because he was really hardly a ‘boss’ at all, at least, in most of the way people took the word. He’d taught Jared how to work in the barn and he still taught him about training and working with the horses all the time, but he was never demanding, he couldn’t have cared less if Jared showed up two hours late to work, and he’d become far more Jared’s friend than his employer a long time ago despite their age difference. They’d been having a few shots one night after work and Jared was just at that point where he’d have started telling a bank robber his PIN number if someone didn’t stop him and Jeff had brought up the fact that he was a pretty good looking guy and it seemed insane he hadn’t had a girlfriend since back in that first year before he ever went to school.
It had been drunken and slurred but he’d gotten across that he’d been in love with Jensen for a long time now and if Jeff had been all the way surprised he hadn’t shown it. Or at least, Jared didn’t remember him showing it but then again he was drunk. Either way, Jeff had taken it far too well, because now, he wouldn’t really shut up about it. Well, he would, occasionally, but he still brought it up far too much for Jared’s liking.
“He was in here yesterday lookin’ for you.”
Jared jerked a little, the hand that held the carrot pieces he was feeding to Dino shifting up to bump his nose as he ate. “What? Why?”
“Said his phone died and he couldn’t call you, and he was thinking the schedule had said you were up here yesterday afternoon.”
Well, that was reasonable, considering how much his boss at the clinic shifted his schedule around. If Laurie could just keep the damn thing on some sort of fixed cycle, it’d be easier for everyone involved to remember. But of course, that would be too simple for her. That really did explain a couple things, though, cause he’d wondered why when he got off work at the clinic he’d had a missed call from the barn office phone, because if Jeff wanted him he always used his cell. Jared nodded, reaching up to scratch at the white blaze on Dino’s face.
“Jared, come on. He’s crazy about you. Boy can’t even seem to handle not knowing where you are for an afternoon.”
And, here we go… Jared sighed, stepped back and turned to head down the aisle in the other direction. “Not this again, ok? He’s not, it’s not like that, he’s-“
“How do you know? How do you even know when you haven’t-“
“I know, ok? I just know.”
“How? Jay, come on…” Jeff jogged up behind him, smiling a little sadly but still managing to look nearly half his age when he looked Jared in the eye. “I can see it in him. I can, I promise, and I’m not makin’ it up. The way he gets when he sees you, the way you two are always together…it’s there. It really is.”
“No, we’re just…close, ok? I’m his best friend, and that’s it.” Jeff opened his mouth, ready to rebut him already but Jared held a hand up, stopping him. “No, listen to me. Really listen, because I’m not talking to him about this, alright? He’s…he’s Jensen. When he knows what he wants he goes after it, like with the job and the horses and pretty much everything else. I mean, sure he’s shy or aloof or whatever on the surface but I know him, and he gets what he wants. If he’d wanted this, he would’ve gone after it a long time ago.” A fact that he knew all too well and had to remind himself of all the time. Really, he honestly didn’t need Jeff bringing this up. It was always there already.
“Yeah, ok, but what if he just doesn’t realize it?”
“Jeff-“
“No, I’m serious! I mean you’re right; you two are best friends. This could’ve turned into somethin’ more for him without him realizing it yet. Happens to people all the time.”
“Yeah, in romantic comedies. Not…life.” He reached out to snag the arm of Jeff’s jean jacket and he pulled him out of the way so he could get into the office, yanking open the drawer and fishing out his keys. “Look, everything’s done, I’m goin’ home.”
“Oh, c’mon, Jay…Look, we’ll talk about somethin’ else, alright? I just…I just think this could work and I’d love to see it happen for you cause I hate knowin’ how crazy this whole thing’s drivin’ you, especially now that-“
“If you want me to stay for even 30 more seconds, I’d like that change of subject. Now.” Because if he didn’t, he was gone.
Jeff leaned into the doorframe, shook his head once and raked his fingers through his hair before he could answer. “So…wanna saddle up Romeo and I can grab Kodiak? I haven’t taken a ride in a couple weeks.”
Considering Jensen and Jensen associated problems were all he could think about just then, the thought of a ride sounded really good. “Yeah. Yeah alright.” He managed to pull up a smile from somewhere, tossed his keys down onto the desk. “See? Was that so hard?”
“Excrutiating. C’mon, let’s go.”
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
In Jared’s dream world, it went something like this:
He got into vet school. That was always there, and it was always one of the first things he thought about because yeah, it’d been his dream forever. Jensen had stayed. He’d gotten the full time job at the college and the job at the breeding farm he wanted, and they were still living together at Steeplechase apartments. Only now it was a one bedroom, and he could wake up every morning with Jensen nestled in next to him. He didn’t exactly have any reference for how Jensen was about sleeping with someone else in the bed, but if his other sleeping habits were any indication Jared was pretty sure he’d be the kind to drape all over him. Not that he’d mind. Sadie was healthy, miraculously cured. They could make it back to Texas whenever they wanted without getting speeding tickets or worrying about being late for 8 AM classes the morning after spring break finished. They’d sold Jared’s Camry and fixed up Jensen’s truck, and it now looked good as new. You’d never be able to tell he rolled it in that accident.
And in his perfect little world, Jared had Romeo. Romeo was a thoroughbred, grey and huge and absolutely beautiful. At 17 hands high he would’ve been intimidating to most people but he was perfectly Jared sized, as Jen put it. He was sweet and smart and all around this wonderful, amazing horse that could’ve had a future in jumping or dressage or any kind of riding at all, really. Thing was, a horse like that cost money. Lots of it. And Jeff, he might’ve been Jared’s boss, but that’s all he was, just a manager. The barn owner, Mike, he was the one who bought and sold the horses and to him the fact that Jared had all but proposed to this horse meant nothing. He was just a commodity that needed to be sold for the ‘right’ price, and it was money that Jared didn’t have and probably wouldn’t ever have.
In a lot of ways Jeff was a better friend than Jared could’ve ever asked for, and one of those was the way he kept deterring possible buyers. He’d try to shy them away, downplay Romeo’s virtues and underline(or sometimes downright make up) his faults. It’d worked so far but Jared couldn’t be naïve enough to think it’d work forever, and his plan of winning the lottery and being able to afford Romeo’s price wasn’t really all that feasible.
For the most part, he tried to just not think about it. For now, for as long as he was at the barn, Romeo was as good as his. This was a horse they’d started to train together, him and Jensen, and it had been one of Jared’s first real training successes. Romeo’d come in straight off the track and he’d been a mess but together, they’d found the real Romeo underneath the natural thoroughbred nerves that had been upped to insane levels of jitteriness by a life on the track he’d never been suited for and certainly hadn’t wanted.
Jensen’s hands smoothed across his neck, his voice dropping just a little lower as Romeo stomped and shuffled, skin twitching just under Jensen’s fingers.
“He’s been like this since he came in off the trailer yesterday.” Jared shrugged, hands shoved down in his pockets as he leaned against the stall door. “Worse, actually. This is improvement. He’s been jumpy as a bull all morning.”
Jensen nodded, hearing him but not yet answering him. He cupped a hand over the bridge of Romeo’s nose, refusing to let go when he tossed his head. Romeo skittered just a little more at that, neck arching as his head tried to toss but Jensen let go of the grip he had on skin and bone and wrapped his fingers around the noseband of the halter, yanking his head as gently as he could back down into a less panicked position, a soft hum hovering in his throat.
“See this?” Jensen spoke soft, low enough that Jared needed to inch in a little closer. Jensen’s right hand smoothed down Romeo’s neck again, and he shushed him. “This is why dad hates thoroughbreds. I love ‘em, but…well, you can see. There’s hardly anything more high strung out there except maybe Chris after too much coffee-“ Jared laughed, and Jen just kept going, the corners of his lips turning up into a smile as he talked, “-and this guy’s much worse off for just coming from the track. He’s got no basis for a normal life, no basis for...” He shook his head, side stepped expertly when Romeo almost stomped his foot. “I wanna get on him.”
Jared blinked, the shock finally enough to draw him in all the way, right next to Jensen’s shoulder. “Are you nuts? He’ll…he’ll kill you, he’ll-“
“Wuss.” The smile he tossed back over his shoulder was just enough to make sure Jared knew he was kidding and then his attention was back on the horse dancing nervously in front of him, Jensen’s eyes serious as he looked him over. “It’s alright, I can handle him. It’ll be good for him. Still…” He glanced back, their eyes meeting. “You’ll call dad and tell him why I can’t come home if this doesn’t-“
“Shut up; I hate you!”
Except that he couldn’t, not when Jensen grinned at him like that. He reached back and shoved against Jared’s shoulder, rough and familiar. “C’mon, Jay. Lighten up and get me some tack.”
In the end, Romeo had thrown Jensen twice that first day. The second fall was worse than the first, resulting in a minor concussion, and though he’d spent some time chewing Jen out about the whole thing Jensen had been right. The only thing that really helped Romeo in those early days was working him whether he wanted to be worked or not, getting out there with him and showing him the new ropes, and after awhile it felt much less like taking your life in your hands.
Jeff was just up ahead on his paint, Kodiak, and Jared clucked to Romeo, got him to pick up the pace just enough to bring them even.
“What’d he say?”
“Hm?”
“When you told him I wasn’t here, what’d he say?” Honest to God, he had no idea why he was asking. It wasn’t like they were 12 year old girls, after all…not every word Jen said had some kind of hidden meaning.
“Oh, and I thought you didn’t wanna talk about-“
“Jeff-“
“He was…I don’t know, bored. Honestly, he looked like he felt a little left out.”
Jared sighed, his hands flexing on the reigns. “But what did he say? Did he need something?” Hell, like it mattered.
Jeff shrugged. “He tried to call you, then he said he’d just meet you at home.”
Home. Their home. It’d be nice if that’s what it actually was.
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
Part 2’ll be coming on Thursday! ^^
Rating: PG-13
Genre and/or Pairing: Supernatural RPS; J2 with references to Chris/Steve and Jared/OMC
Warnings: language
Word Count: 6, 559
Summary: Jared came to the University of Tennessee because he can't imagine doing anything with his life other than veterinary medicine. Falling in love with the horses, that he kind of figured was a given. Falling in love with Jensen was never part of the plan.
Oh holy God, I thought I would NEVER get this fic finished. It began as a prompt from someone who bought me for the help_Chile fandom auction(yes, that’s how long ago this started, *headdesk*), a request for a J2 college AU. I loved the prompt and I was super excited about it, but right then I was working frantically on Merry Go Rounds, trying to make Big Bang. I didn’t, and…ok, here’s my theory.
Not making Big Bang kind of crushed my spirit. I started working on this and I kept working on Merry Go Rounds, but it wasn’t long before I just kind of lost my muse…and the mess that was the end of Season 5 didn’t help. The past year, I’ve hardly been able to write a oneshot much less finish anything. The things I have written have come to me like I was pulling the words out of a pit of molasses.
But finally, finally the writer’s block(I can admit that’s what it was now. Sigh.) has lifted and gone to hell and my muse is speaking to me again. *cuddles* I think it helped, too, that I decided I wanted to try to tackle this first, because I also halfway feel like I was cursed against finishing anything else until I finished this, lol
Anyway, here goes! A J2 college AU set at my college, completed and presented in three parts, :D
(oh, and disclaimer…every place I mention in here is a real place. All the info about said places is made up. Aka I don’t think they play live music in the Longbranch, the horses up at Cherokee are very well cared for, etc. I just took the setting and constructed everything else on my own.)
Forgive the urgency,
But hurry up and wait
My heart has started to
Separate
Oh, oh, oh
Be my baby
I’ll look after you
-Look After You, The Fray
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
He wasn’t sure why they called it a personal statement. Honestly, they wanted the opposite of personal. They wanted you to sound official, right, wanted some bragging about the things you’ve done and what you’ve ‘learned’, just the right amount of self righteous reasons about why they should take you(not the real reasons you wanted to be there, mind, just the reasons they wanted to hear), and a pinch of groveling, also about why they should take you. And maybe an explanation for why some of your grades sucked, but only if it was something like, ‘so my mother died as we were crossing the Pacific to go over and help underprivileged agricultural villages in Indonesia’.
Basically, they wanted as far from personal as it got. If he went with personal, it would have gone something like this:
Hi. I’m Jared Padalecki, and I came to the University of Tennessee as a guy from Texas who’d never been any farther from home than Florida. I didn’t want to come here, either, I wanted to go to A&M with my friends and go on to vet school there, but my family just doesn’t have that kind of money. The thing I really appreciate about here is, you’ve got a great vet school with a wonderful oncology program that gets better all the time, and in state tuition really isn’t that bad as far as vet schools go. And believe me, we looked around.
So I moved here and worked a year before I even started college, cause the assholes in the admissions department won’t even let you try to start getting in state if they even think for a second you moved here for school. I got two jobs, one at a clinic and one at a barn, and I’ve loved both for the past five years. They’ve been educational, sure, and that’s been great, but they aren’t the best part. Well, the best and worst part is that I’ve found out leaving high school friends I didn’t have much in common with for friends that I could do anything or nothing with, friends I’ll have all my life; that’s worth it. Whether I get accepted to vet school or not, it’s been worth it.
And I do hope you’ll take me; I want it almost more than anything. I can remember being eight and finding our neighbors cat Buckle after he’d been the victim of a hit and run, and I held his head in my lap on the ride to the vet, his body wrapped in a towel. He died on the way, and I knew then what I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I know you hear this all the time, but I think it’s silly to say you don’t wanna hear about the moment that made us realize this is something we need, because even if it’s all variations on the same thing, it’s part of what made us who we are.
Closer to home than that, though, my dog Sadie’s dying of cancer. I was interested in oncology before(it’s part of why I came here, like I said), but now it means more to me than ever. I’m not stupid; I don’t think I can save her if I do this. She’s going to die, six months, maybe less. I know that. But if I do this, maybe I can save someone else’s Sadie, buy them at least a couple more months. That’s all I want out of this, the chance to give someone like me good news about someone they love.
I’m not the best student. I’m alright, and I try, but sometimes life just gets in the way. I take my dogs for hikes up in the Smokies on the weekends, I work hard at both jobs and I go to my friends’ band’s shows down at the Longbranch on the Strip. I spend pretty much every spare minute and some of the ones on the clock with my best friend who’s also my roommate. Jensen Ackles, you’ve probably heard of him; he works up at Cherokee and we call him ‘the goddamn horse whisperer’, cause that’s what one of our horse hating professors called him when I first met him. He’s amazing with them, and he’s taught me more about horses than I ever could’ve learned in a classroom. I’m in love with him, and if he doesn’t get a job here next year he’ll be going back to Texas to work his daddy’s ranch, but even so, I’m still applying here, which should tell you how much I want to be able to do this job someday. I go home to San Antonio, Texas when I can, and the last time I got two speeding tickets on the way back just to make it in time for biochem at 8 AM. I fell asleep in class anyway, but the point I’m trying to make is that I try, but I’m also a real person not a library rat, and isn’t that what you claim you want? I’m just a guy who’s had this dream nearly his whole life. I just need you to give me a chance, and I promise I won’t let you down.
Jared jumped when his phone vibrated on the desk next to his laptop, and he sighed and highlighted everything he’d written, deleting it and closing the window. He flipped the phone open, cocked it against his shoulder. “Hello?”
“Writing that personal statement?”
Jared groaned, slid down a little farther in his chair. “Man, I hate this application shit! They don’t want to know me they just want some perfect little…” He gestured hopelessly, even if Jensen couldn’t see him.
Jensen laughed, low and soft. “Yeah, I know. Sucks. So glad I didn’t have to do that for grad school.” He shuffled the phone, sighing dramatically. “Jay…you made me promise I wouldn’t come pick you up for the show unless you finished it. Literally, I swore on…I dunno, something important. It was Saturday night.”
Saturday nights were usually spent drinking at Chris’ place, so that explained why he couldn’t remember. “I know…but look, I’m goin’ crazy here. Literally, I’m just starin’ at a blank screen, man.” Well, he’d gotten something written, it just hadn’t been the personal statement they’d want. A waste of his time, honestly, but it wasn’t like he’d been hard at work anyway. “C’mon, just…I’ll write it when we get back from the Kane show.” No, he wouldn’t.
“No you won’t! You’ll hang out with me and then you’ll go to bed and get up at the ass crack of dawn hating yourself for letting me be a bad influence.”
“You’re not a-“
“Yeah, whatever. Hey, I’m comin’ in.” He should’ve been able to tell that anyway by the way Sadie and Harley had bolted from his side to the kitchen and were whining expectantly at the front door. The line went dead just before he heard the door open and shut, followed by the sound of Jensen going to one knee in the kitchen to greet the dogs.
“How’s my girl, huh? How’s my favorite girl?”
“Far as I know she’s your only girl.” He ambled over to lean against the doorway, smirking over at Jensen and laughing when he rolled his eyes.
“And who’re you dating again?”
“Shut up.” He acted like it didn’t bother him, really. In one way, it didn’t. He didn’t want to be dating just anyone, and there definitely weren’t any girls he was interested in. There was just one person he was interested in, and he wasn’t interested in dating them so much as he was interested in committing to them. Not that that mattered, really, because if something hadn’t come out of it in four years, nothing was going to.
Jensen ruffled Harley’s head before he stood up, keys jangling in his hands. “So…we going?”
“Yeah, absolutely. Just give me a minute to grab some dinner to eat in the car.”
“Don’t bother, there’s nothing. I gotta go shopping tomorrow; think we’re even outta Ramen. C’mon, I’ll stop at Krystal and we can grab you somethin’ on the way. You feed the dogs?”
“Yeah.” He patted himself down, looking for his wallet, and he was just about to start looking around when Jensen spoke up.
“On the table.”
He snatched it up, shoved it into his back pocket and took the door, holding it open as Jensen slid out. They’d go to the show at the Longbranch, have a drink with Chris and Steve afterward, and maybe get back to the apartment by 2 AM. They’d talk, he’d go to bed around 3, be up at 6 to run before class…
A glance at the calendar by the door told him it was September 15th. The entire application was due by October 2nd, preferably sooner the Dean’s office had told him. He didn’t have much time, but he wasn’t going to worry about it just now. He could do that tomorrow. Reaching down, he deftly pushed Harley’s nose out of the crack in the door before he shut it.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
Back in his freshman year, Jared had been lucky. At a school this big it was sometimes hard to make friends, particularly if you didn’t live on campus, but when he met Jensen that had brought him to a ready made set of friends, both of them great guys he’d have probably never met otherwise.
Chris was from Oklahoma, and he’d been Jensen’s best friend ever since they’d met on a Texas playground when Chris had been down to visit relatives. Jensen was 5 and Chris was 9, and ever since he’d saved Jensen’s ass from a bully beating up on him they’d stuck to each other like velcro. Steve was from California, the odd man out in that sense, but when he and Chris were assigned to room together their first year they’d connected instantly. They were both 3 years older than Jensen, and though Steve had ended up going five years instead of four, for the most part the two of them had stuck around town because they didn’t exactly have any place better to go. Well, sort of.
They needed to go to Nashville, he and Jensen both knew that, but it was hard to break into the music business and they weren’t quite sure enough of themselves yet. So, they stayed here and worked, played Kane shows when they could and partied hard with Jensen and Jared after them, and life was good.
It wasn’t until the first Kane show he’d seen that August that he’d realized that this was the last time he’d do all of this as an undergrad, maybe even the last year he’d be seeing Kane here at all, because if Jensen left that’d be one less thing to hold Chris in this town, and Steve would be willing to go wherever Chris wanted, inevitably. They were practically joined at the hip, even more inseparable than ever since they’d given in and actually gotten together. Steve had been openly bi as long as they’d known him, and though everyone who knew the two of them had seen something building for a long time, it had seemed to come as a surprise to Christian when he hauled off and punched Steve’s former boyfriend when it came out that he’d been cheating on Steve. The fight had escalated, Chris had gotten arrested, and somehow, somewhere in Steve yelling at him after picking him up from jail, Chris had managed to get across just why he’d been so upset. No one else had actually been present for that conversation, and though the two of them had never elaborated Jensen was willing to bet money Chris hadn’t so much said something as just jumped him in the car, but that was something Jared didn’t really want to ponder in detail.
Point was, they were perfect together, and it would’ve been even better if it hadn’t taken them years to figure it out. This was something else Jared thought about often, even if he knew he shouldn’t.
The clunk of glass on wood shook him back to his senses, and he looked up in time to see Chris leaning against their table, two cold beers in his hand and sweat sticking his shirt to his arms. “Here. Brought you two a little something.”
“You guys are kickin’ ass up there, you know that right?” Jensen said it was certainty that would’ve defied anyone to doubt him, but it was the rough affection on the edge that made it even better, made Chris’ grin widen like crazy.
“Ah, you guys’re biased. Show is goin’ pretty well though.”
They always did. If only there’d be more of a crowd here to see them. Steve had hopped down from the stage behind him and he took him a little by surprise, wrapping one arm around Chris’ waist as he leaned around for a quick kiss.
“Back on in 5, babe.”
Chris nodded, shifted a little more into Steve’s space as he reached for the shot of Jack he already had waiting for him at their table, downing it with almost disturbing ease. A few months ago, this whole scene would’ve been utterly impossible. Not only had Steve been dating Aldis at the time, but Chris would’ve sworn on anything put in front of him that he was 100% straight, no goddamn question. Not that there was anything wrong with being gay, but hell no he wasn’t himself! It was amazing, really, how things changed.
His eyes cut over to Jensen beside him, to the way his fingers wrapped around the neck of his bottle, the muscles in his throat that moved when he swallowed. It made his mouth go dry, and he took a grateful gulp of his own beer, praying for the millionth time that he’d never been as obvious in practice as he felt looking at it through his own eyes. It was just…well, he couldn’t help but think about it. It was right there in front of him in Chris and Steve, proof that something that looked impossible could sometimes work out. It made him think about crazy things, about just going for it, waiting for the next song to start and then leaning in and pulling Jensen in for a kiss before he had time to think it through.
“Jay.” Jensen kicked against his foot, and he looked up, startled. “Something wrong?”
He smiled, just enough to put Jensen at ease. “Just thinking about the application, you know?”
Steve spoke up then, leaned across the table to offer him the bottle of Jack. “Well, forget it. We hardly ever get you these days, this is our time.”
He took a drink, passed it to Jensen and listened to Steve talk about the new strings on his electric. When they went back to the stage, he wasn’t exactly surprised when Jensen asked again, his voice just a little softer. “Seriously, are you-“
“Yeah, absolutely. Just distracted, that’s all.”
“Dude, you’ve gotta get out more. I think you’re starting to turn into a serious student, and you know I can’t let that happen.”
“Weren’t you telling me earlier that I needed to-“
Jensen cuffed him on the back of the head, and out of the corner of his eye he caught Jensen’s grin. “Shut up and drink.”
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
In his defense, when he met Jensen he didn’t expect things to turn out like this. Although, wasn’t that true of everybody? Jared wasn’t sure he believed in love at first sight, because it wasn’t then that he realized he was in love with Jensen, but he hadn’t ruled it out. Maybe people really did fall in love off a first glance, and it was just our too highly developed brains that kept us from acknowledging it until later. Sometimes he liked to think that, because if that were true maybe Jensen knew, somewhere deep down that he hadn’t been able to acknowledge yet.
Yeah, right. And maybe Jared would get a full ride to A&M without even applying, and then daisies would start growing on the sun.
Anyway point being, he hadn’t expected this. But then again, he hadn’t expected anyone like Jensen either.
“Alright, everyone, gather around over here and I’ll talk you through our lab for today.” Jared shuffled over closer, ended up stuck at the back between a railing and about 5 kids he didn’t know. There were cattle in the pen behind him, snuffling at his jacket, and he couldn’t lean against the gate because everything was still damp from that morning’s rain. It was October and cold, and even though he’d already been here for a year and sort of gotten used to it, he was missing Texas something fierce. Especially right now. He’d have wanted to be here if it was just the horse lab, but he was stuck here during Forrest Austin’s class, lecturer in the Animal Science department and asshole extraordinaire. He hated horses, and even if he hadn’t been a jerk in a variety of other ways, that would’ve been enough to make Jared hate his class.
The guy rambled on about the correct way to hold a halter and how far to stand from your horse, and Jared couldn’t help but wonder how many kids here seriously needed that lesson. Apparently some of them did, though, because a handful of them were looking at the docile old horse Austin had on a lead like it was the hugest most intimidating thing they’d ever seen in their lives. Maybe they’d been under the impression that going pre-vet through animal science would mean they got to work with chihuahuas.
Austin was moving on to how to tie a quick release knot and Jared was zoning out, but just then there was frantic whinnying from the barn over to the right, and his head jerked up, falling on a horse that had probably once been beautiful. At the moment, she was a wreck. Her belly was covered in more fly bites than anyone could have ever counted, and she had a wild look in her eye that was more pain than anger. She’d reared, and when her striped hooves came down she shimmied away from the lead pulling back from the TA that held her.
The TA looked at a total loss, really, and she looked more than a little scared. She was making no attempts whatsoever to reign the poor horse in, and Jared was just wishing he could go over there and try to do something when a guy came out of the barn. He hurried over, unafraid, and he took the lead and gently pushed the girl back. He was talking to the horse, clicking to her, and though she reared on him twice more he got her circling soon enough. He reached for her neck to pat her and she wheeled on him, teeth bared, and he cracked her lightly across the nose with the lead, shushing her the whole time.
In a matter of seconds, he had her with her head hanging over his shoulder, body quivering but quiet, and when he rubbed her nose she returned the affection. It was incredible, and Jared probably would’ve kept staring for a very long time if Austin’s voice hadn’t risen just then.
“Alright, get a lead rope, get in the pen and get a horse. You’ll tie your horse to a secure location and then follow the lab to groom them and check their vitals. Tell the TA when you’re done and she’ll clear you to go.”
Austin had kept talking through the whole thing without even noticing, apparently. Idiot. There were any number of horses in the pen that Jared could’ve chosen, but he went for the girl that that guy was still talking to, rubbing up under her mane as he did.
“That was impressive, calming her like that.” It just tumbled out, and he froze where he stood, still a couple feet away.
The guy looked up, though he only nodded and didn’t smile. “She’s a wreck. Poor girl; I’m not surprised. Can’t imagine when the last time she had fly repellant sprayed on her was with the state she’s in.”
He’d been thinking the same thing, and feeling pretty disgusted with the way the people here clearly treated these animals. He couldn’t help but be a little surprised that someone who worked around here would’ve been ignorant of it, and he was about to try to find a way to word that when the guy kept talking.
“Hell, I think there’s something wrong with 90% of these horses. I’ve been checkin’ ‘em over since I got this job a week ago and it just makes me sick. It’s one thing to have research animals and a whole other to treat them like this.”
Personally, he wasn’t exactly fond of either but he didn’t think he really needed to say that. From the distasteful way the guy’d talk’d about it, it didn’t seem like he was too fond of the practice either. “That’s horrible.” Jared spoke softly, stepped in just a little closer to run a hand down her neck. She turned to snap and the guy(who he could see, now, had beautiful green eyes) popped her lightly on the nose with the lead rope again, just enough to get her attention and remind her to behave. “Where’d she come from? Pretty varnish roan appaloosa like this, I’d think she’d have been someone’s western pleasure horse.”
His eyebrows rose, and it was clear he hadn’t been expecting Jared to be quite that knowledgeable(which was, to be honest, part of why he’d said it). “Who knows…I try not to look into too much about how they got here and I certainly don’t want to know where they’re going when they leave.” He looked over, their eyes meeting. “You have horse experience?”
“Yeah. I work at a barn, and I took a few lessons, back home in Texas.”
That got a little more out of him. He smiled, shifted the lead rope to hold out his hand. “You and me both then. I’m Jensen.”
“Jared.” His handshake was strong, his hand rough, and Jared pulled his hand back pretty quick.
“Here. You wanna take her? I can hear Sissy out there pitchin’ a fit.” He could hear it too now, come to think of it. Some horse was whinnying, the noise carrying just enough of an angry edge that it seemed she was ready to pick herself a fight. Well, it made sense. Keeping this many mares together there were bound to be fireworks. Jared took the lead rope, and he made the mistake of watching Jensen walk away rather than watching his horse. She got his arm, just barely, and he flailed a little aimlessly before smacking at her with the rope, reaching up with his other hand to grab her halter and jerk her face away. It didn’t break the skin but he was gonna have a good sized bruise, and it served him right.
He shook his head, focused back on the task at hand and led her around to the fence, talking soft to her as he tied the knot. Around the corner Austin leaned against the fence talking to the TA who’d shied away from the horse, and Jared could just barely make out the conversation.
“Look at him there, see? It’s ridiculous. He’s the goddamn horse whisperer.”
“Hey, I just wanna know if he’s single.”
Austin laughed, the sound carrying. “I wouldn’t bother. I hear nearly every female animal science major out there tried and failed with him. He’s too much in love with the damn horses.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”
The appy stomped her foot, nearly hitting his toe, and Jared shook himself, forced himself to get his mind off Jensen’s way with horses and focus on the horse right in front of him.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
Loving Jensen without ever saying a damn thing about it(or even letting himself really think about it) was hard enough, but it’d gotten even worse when Jeff found out. Jeff was basically the most amazing boss ever because he was really hardly a ‘boss’ at all, at least, in most of the way people took the word. He’d taught Jared how to work in the barn and he still taught him about training and working with the horses all the time, but he was never demanding, he couldn’t have cared less if Jared showed up two hours late to work, and he’d become far more Jared’s friend than his employer a long time ago despite their age difference. They’d been having a few shots one night after work and Jared was just at that point where he’d have started telling a bank robber his PIN number if someone didn’t stop him and Jeff had brought up the fact that he was a pretty good looking guy and it seemed insane he hadn’t had a girlfriend since back in that first year before he ever went to school.
It had been drunken and slurred but he’d gotten across that he’d been in love with Jensen for a long time now and if Jeff had been all the way surprised he hadn’t shown it. Or at least, Jared didn’t remember him showing it but then again he was drunk. Either way, Jeff had taken it far too well, because now, he wouldn’t really shut up about it. Well, he would, occasionally, but he still brought it up far too much for Jared’s liking.
“He was in here yesterday lookin’ for you.”
Jared jerked a little, the hand that held the carrot pieces he was feeding to Dino shifting up to bump his nose as he ate. “What? Why?”
“Said his phone died and he couldn’t call you, and he was thinking the schedule had said you were up here yesterday afternoon.”
Well, that was reasonable, considering how much his boss at the clinic shifted his schedule around. If Laurie could just keep the damn thing on some sort of fixed cycle, it’d be easier for everyone involved to remember. But of course, that would be too simple for her. That really did explain a couple things, though, cause he’d wondered why when he got off work at the clinic he’d had a missed call from the barn office phone, because if Jeff wanted him he always used his cell. Jared nodded, reaching up to scratch at the white blaze on Dino’s face.
“Jared, come on. He’s crazy about you. Boy can’t even seem to handle not knowing where you are for an afternoon.”
And, here we go… Jared sighed, stepped back and turned to head down the aisle in the other direction. “Not this again, ok? He’s not, it’s not like that, he’s-“
“How do you know? How do you even know when you haven’t-“
“I know, ok? I just know.”
“How? Jay, come on…” Jeff jogged up behind him, smiling a little sadly but still managing to look nearly half his age when he looked Jared in the eye. “I can see it in him. I can, I promise, and I’m not makin’ it up. The way he gets when he sees you, the way you two are always together…it’s there. It really is.”
“No, we’re just…close, ok? I’m his best friend, and that’s it.” Jeff opened his mouth, ready to rebut him already but Jared held a hand up, stopping him. “No, listen to me. Really listen, because I’m not talking to him about this, alright? He’s…he’s Jensen. When he knows what he wants he goes after it, like with the job and the horses and pretty much everything else. I mean, sure he’s shy or aloof or whatever on the surface but I know him, and he gets what he wants. If he’d wanted this, he would’ve gone after it a long time ago.” A fact that he knew all too well and had to remind himself of all the time. Really, he honestly didn’t need Jeff bringing this up. It was always there already.
“Yeah, ok, but what if he just doesn’t realize it?”
“Jeff-“
“No, I’m serious! I mean you’re right; you two are best friends. This could’ve turned into somethin’ more for him without him realizing it yet. Happens to people all the time.”
“Yeah, in romantic comedies. Not…life.” He reached out to snag the arm of Jeff’s jean jacket and he pulled him out of the way so he could get into the office, yanking open the drawer and fishing out his keys. “Look, everything’s done, I’m goin’ home.”
“Oh, c’mon, Jay…Look, we’ll talk about somethin’ else, alright? I just…I just think this could work and I’d love to see it happen for you cause I hate knowin’ how crazy this whole thing’s drivin’ you, especially now that-“
“If you want me to stay for even 30 more seconds, I’d like that change of subject. Now.” Because if he didn’t, he was gone.
Jeff leaned into the doorframe, shook his head once and raked his fingers through his hair before he could answer. “So…wanna saddle up Romeo and I can grab Kodiak? I haven’t taken a ride in a couple weeks.”
Considering Jensen and Jensen associated problems were all he could think about just then, the thought of a ride sounded really good. “Yeah. Yeah alright.” He managed to pull up a smile from somewhere, tossed his keys down onto the desk. “See? Was that so hard?”
“Excrutiating. C’mon, let’s go.”
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
In Jared’s dream world, it went something like this:
He got into vet school. That was always there, and it was always one of the first things he thought about because yeah, it’d been his dream forever. Jensen had stayed. He’d gotten the full time job at the college and the job at the breeding farm he wanted, and they were still living together at Steeplechase apartments. Only now it was a one bedroom, and he could wake up every morning with Jensen nestled in next to him. He didn’t exactly have any reference for how Jensen was about sleeping with someone else in the bed, but if his other sleeping habits were any indication Jared was pretty sure he’d be the kind to drape all over him. Not that he’d mind. Sadie was healthy, miraculously cured. They could make it back to Texas whenever they wanted without getting speeding tickets or worrying about being late for 8 AM classes the morning after spring break finished. They’d sold Jared’s Camry and fixed up Jensen’s truck, and it now looked good as new. You’d never be able to tell he rolled it in that accident.
And in his perfect little world, Jared had Romeo. Romeo was a thoroughbred, grey and huge and absolutely beautiful. At 17 hands high he would’ve been intimidating to most people but he was perfectly Jared sized, as Jen put it. He was sweet and smart and all around this wonderful, amazing horse that could’ve had a future in jumping or dressage or any kind of riding at all, really. Thing was, a horse like that cost money. Lots of it. And Jeff, he might’ve been Jared’s boss, but that’s all he was, just a manager. The barn owner, Mike, he was the one who bought and sold the horses and to him the fact that Jared had all but proposed to this horse meant nothing. He was just a commodity that needed to be sold for the ‘right’ price, and it was money that Jared didn’t have and probably wouldn’t ever have.
In a lot of ways Jeff was a better friend than Jared could’ve ever asked for, and one of those was the way he kept deterring possible buyers. He’d try to shy them away, downplay Romeo’s virtues and underline(or sometimes downright make up) his faults. It’d worked so far but Jared couldn’t be naïve enough to think it’d work forever, and his plan of winning the lottery and being able to afford Romeo’s price wasn’t really all that feasible.
For the most part, he tried to just not think about it. For now, for as long as he was at the barn, Romeo was as good as his. This was a horse they’d started to train together, him and Jensen, and it had been one of Jared’s first real training successes. Romeo’d come in straight off the track and he’d been a mess but together, they’d found the real Romeo underneath the natural thoroughbred nerves that had been upped to insane levels of jitteriness by a life on the track he’d never been suited for and certainly hadn’t wanted.
Jensen’s hands smoothed across his neck, his voice dropping just a little lower as Romeo stomped and shuffled, skin twitching just under Jensen’s fingers.
“He’s been like this since he came in off the trailer yesterday.” Jared shrugged, hands shoved down in his pockets as he leaned against the stall door. “Worse, actually. This is improvement. He’s been jumpy as a bull all morning.”
Jensen nodded, hearing him but not yet answering him. He cupped a hand over the bridge of Romeo’s nose, refusing to let go when he tossed his head. Romeo skittered just a little more at that, neck arching as his head tried to toss but Jensen let go of the grip he had on skin and bone and wrapped his fingers around the noseband of the halter, yanking his head as gently as he could back down into a less panicked position, a soft hum hovering in his throat.
“See this?” Jensen spoke soft, low enough that Jared needed to inch in a little closer. Jensen’s right hand smoothed down Romeo’s neck again, and he shushed him. “This is why dad hates thoroughbreds. I love ‘em, but…well, you can see. There’s hardly anything more high strung out there except maybe Chris after too much coffee-“ Jared laughed, and Jen just kept going, the corners of his lips turning up into a smile as he talked, “-and this guy’s much worse off for just coming from the track. He’s got no basis for a normal life, no basis for...” He shook his head, side stepped expertly when Romeo almost stomped his foot. “I wanna get on him.”
Jared blinked, the shock finally enough to draw him in all the way, right next to Jensen’s shoulder. “Are you nuts? He’ll…he’ll kill you, he’ll-“
“Wuss.” The smile he tossed back over his shoulder was just enough to make sure Jared knew he was kidding and then his attention was back on the horse dancing nervously in front of him, Jensen’s eyes serious as he looked him over. “It’s alright, I can handle him. It’ll be good for him. Still…” He glanced back, their eyes meeting. “You’ll call dad and tell him why I can’t come home if this doesn’t-“
“Shut up; I hate you!”
Except that he couldn’t, not when Jensen grinned at him like that. He reached back and shoved against Jared’s shoulder, rough and familiar. “C’mon, Jay. Lighten up and get me some tack.”
In the end, Romeo had thrown Jensen twice that first day. The second fall was worse than the first, resulting in a minor concussion, and though he’d spent some time chewing Jen out about the whole thing Jensen had been right. The only thing that really helped Romeo in those early days was working him whether he wanted to be worked or not, getting out there with him and showing him the new ropes, and after awhile it felt much less like taking your life in your hands.
Jeff was just up ahead on his paint, Kodiak, and Jared clucked to Romeo, got him to pick up the pace just enough to bring them even.
“What’d he say?”
“Hm?”
“When you told him I wasn’t here, what’d he say?” Honest to God, he had no idea why he was asking. It wasn’t like they were 12 year old girls, after all…not every word Jen said had some kind of hidden meaning.
“Oh, and I thought you didn’t wanna talk about-“
“Jeff-“
“He was…I don’t know, bored. Honestly, he looked like he felt a little left out.”
Jared sighed, his hands flexing on the reigns. “But what did he say? Did he need something?” Hell, like it mattered.
Jeff shrugged. “He tried to call you, then he said he’d just meet you at home.”
Home. Their home. It’d be nice if that’s what it actually was.
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Part 2’ll be coming on Thursday! ^^