SPN REVERSE BANG FIC - "Crash" - Chapter Two
MASTERPOST
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
CHAPTER TWO
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The explosion was epic in proportions. Jared honestly hadn’t meant to fall asleep for so long… but apparently he had, and the next thing he knew World War Three was erupting in the front hallway.
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WITH THIS, JARED!?! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”
Jensen’s scream startled him from such a sound sleep, that Jared very nearly flailed right off his bed. He’d only been precariously perched on the edge to begin with. He just barely managed to shift his undignified crash landing into a somewhat purposeful vault off the mattress. Staggering into the open plan area that held the living room/dining room/kitchen, Jared resolutely went to meet his fate.
Oops.
He’d made a pretty spectacular mess of the place. Mud and water and clothes and shoes flung all over the white tile. The mud had dried into a crusty cement consistency that would probably take an impressive amount of elbow grease to get off the floor. A low hum of guilt sprang to life in Jared’s gut. It magnified exponentially with one look at the fury on Jensen’s face. He blurted out an apology immediately.
“Sorry! Sorry! It’s just … when I got home I was just …”
Jensen raked his fingers through his short hair in obvious frustration.
“I just cleaned this morning! I just cleaned this all … did you forget that I have study group here tonight? Do you even care that I worked my ass off cleaning this place up this morning?”
He knew that Jensen was upset, and rightfully so. He knew it was entirely his own fault. None of this could stop him from bristling a little at the accusation, however.
“DUDE!! I said I was sorry! I was going to clean up… but then I fell asleep and-”
One of his mud-caked shoes was suddenly being hurled at this head. He managed to snatch it out of the air right before it smashed into his nose.
“You’re just so fucking inconsiderate, Jay! You always have been!”
White hot anger shot up Jared’s spine.
“Now wait just a fucking minute! I had to walk home from campus! I got fucking soaked and some asshole sprayed me with mud! Just because this ONE time-”
“I DON‘T CARE, JARED! You’re not the only person here that might have had a bad day! You’re not the only one that might have gotten drenched in the downpour and just wanted to come home and crash! You ARE the only one in this relationship that would leave this goddamn mess to-”
“RELATIONSHIP!?!”
The word, and the incredulous tone that came with it, sprang from Jared’s mouth before he even had time to process it. Followed swiftly by a few more that he couldn’t quite remember giving permission to leave his lips.
“What fucking relationship, Jen? We’re not IN a relationship!”
Jensen flinched. In Jared’s entire fucking life with his best friend … he couldn’t remember ever making the other man flinch. Jensen’s lips pressed down into a thin, white line and his eyes wavered with a million emotions for a split second. After a moment he simply nodded and turned to grab his keys. His voice was rough with sorrow when he spoke.
“You’re right. You’re right. How stupid of me to think otherwise.”
Then Jensen was out the door, leaving nothing but a wave of upset in his wake. Something horrible and disgusting suddenly clenched tight to Jared’s chest. There was a heady sense of unease working it’s way through his whole body. Twisting and turning in his belly and letting him know that he’d just monumentally screwed something up. Something very, very important.
He growled under this breath and smacked his own forehead lightly with his palm.
“Dammit.”
The door was still ajar when he took off after Jensen. Rain continued pelting the earth outside and Jared nearly lost his footing once or twice as he ran down the flight of stairs from their second story apartment. He may have been barefoot and shirtless, clad only in a pair of loose fitting sweatpants, but his advantage was that Jared had always been quicker than Jensen.
He caught up to the other man just as he was opening the door to his little beat up Honda Civic. Jared snagged Jensen’s arm without much force and swung the other man around to face him.
“Jen.”
The stormy look on his friend’s face put the one thundering in the heavens above them to shame. Jared instantly folded himself around Jensen in a bone-crushing hug as he spoke softly into his friend’s ear.
“I’m sorry, Jen. I’m sorry.”
Jensen’s stiff posture sagged a little within his embrace, his forehead plopping down lightly on Jared’s shoulder. Jared just gripped him tighter and tried to ignore the way his sweats were growing heavy with rain. Jensen sucked in a shaky breath against Jared’s bare skin.
“You can’t say things like that to me, Jared. You can’t-”
Jared nodded quickly and tangled his fingers into the material of Jensen’s shirt.
“I know, Jen. I’m sorry … you’re my best friend, and I-”
Jensen pulled back from him with a sharp motion.
“That’s not what I mean, Jay. You just don’t…”
The shorter man turned and watched the rain slowly soaking into the fabric of his car’s driver seat and running in rivulets off the panel of the open door. Jared’s arms had fallen bonelessly to his sides when his friend pulled away. Jensen refused to meet his gaze again, but he continued speaking after moment of rain clad silence.
“You don’t understand, Jay. Fuck. You don’t even realize.”
Jensen sniffed loudly once before rubbing his fingers across his suspiciously red eyes. Jared brought his own arms up so that he could push his soaked and dripping bangs off of his face.
“Then tell me, Jensen. What don’t I understand, dammit?”
Jensen snorted and laughed without humor for a brief second.
“You’re so fucking clueless, Jared. Everybody knows. Everybody knows but YOU … and I get so sick of their pitying looks sometimes. ‘Poor stupid, hopeless Jensen.’ Even your Mom… even your Mom looks at me with this you-poor-dumb-boy expression, and sometimes I just can’t … I just can’t-”
A slow, steady burn of realization was inching it’s way up Jared’s spine. He knew his eyes were likely growing wider and wider as Jensen spoke, and God knows what the current expression on his face must be, but sudden thoughts and facts had begun to barrage themselves into this brain and it was all throwing him for a loop.
The way Jensen always blushed whenever Jared jokingly flirted with him.
The way Jensen’s gaze would heat just a little when Jared haphazardly slung off clothes in his vicinity.
The way Jensen had been turning down dates since high school, and never once spoken to Jared about boys that he liked or wanted to ask out.
The way Jared’s mother would constantly inquire after Jensen when they talked on the phone, and the strange undercurrent to her words that he’d always wondered vaguely about.
The way Jensen’s little sister would always have a slight edge of a glare when she greeted Jared.
OH FUCK. It all suddenly made blindingly, clarifying SENSE.
Jensen was in love with him.
Fuck.
FUCK.
One big damn reality check had just slammed home into Jared’s head like a lightening bolt. Immediately his brain wanted to start back-tracking his entire lifetime spent with Jensen and re-hash anything that he might have said or done to encourage this situation. Like maybe all the hugging Jared had doled out to his buddy had been the equivalent of a secret gay-love handshake.
Another loud sniffle brought his attention back to the current reality trying to smack him in the face. Jensen was standing before him, clearly unable to meet Jared’s eyes, and they were both slowly being saturated from the skies.
Did Jensen realize that Jared had figured it out?
What was he expecting in return?
Reciprocation?
Declarations of mutual feelings?
FUCK.
Jared had to get out of there. He couldn’t deal with this right now. It was just all too much. After a long day and a terrible fight and the possibility that the friendship he had begun to assume would never be over might be tolling it’s first death knoll. He had to go. Now. Going now.
He silently turned away from his sodden roommate and slowly began the trek back to their apartment. There was a hitched breath behind him that sort of resembled a sob, which he resolutely attempted to ignore. Then a car door slammed and an engine revved to life. Jared was still too busy trying to quiet the screaming voices in his brain and attempt to find the right set of stairs in his stunned state.
His ears really didn’t register the noise of Jensen’s car pulling out of the parking lot, although he’s sure he must have heard it even over the pounding of rain, because the next sound was one he was sure he would never forget in his life. A horrible screeching erupted from the street, the sound of more than one car hitting the brakes desperately. Immediately following, there were half a dozen sickening crunches and scrapes of metal on metal.
Jared hadn’t even realized he’d turned back from the stairs and started down the street at first. Then the screaming started. Several people calling for help and crying out for an ambulance. He couldn’t see the wreck, but he was at a full tilt run by now and any moment he would turn the corner exiting their apartment complex and he knew it would be visible to him.
Something deep down in his gut told him that a familiar red Honda Civic would be there when he rounded that bend. He didn’t want it to be. God. He prayed he was wrong, but the nausea gripping his guts tightly told him he wasn‘t.
And there it was.
It was a mangled mess. Sandwiched between two other cars and almost unrecognizable in its mutilation. Jared was hurtling down the street so quickly his feet barely touched the wet pavement. There was a horrifying anguished cry echoing off the buildings surrounding him. He didn’t even realize it was being ripped from his own throat until the gathering people turned to stare at him.
He was still a dozen yards away from the wreck when his brain pointed out to him the crushed driver’s side of the car and the partially collapsed roof, then viciously whispered that there was no way a person could survive that damage. Jared’s wordless scream had morphed into the repeated calling of Jensen’s name by the time he finally reached the familiar vehicle.
Someone tried to grab him and keep him away, but he viciously shook off their hands and plowed through the wreckage to reach the mangled red driver’s door. Somewhere in the distance screaming sirens were springing to life and quickly growing closer, but he paid them no mind.
“JENSEN! JENSEN!”
Several bright sparks of pain lanced through his feet and legs, but Jared really couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge them. He gripped the accordioned metal of the crumpled car and pulled himself forward over wreckage. There was a dark shape prone across what remained of the front seat, completely pinned into place on all sides. He blindly started to pull at anything that obstructed his view of inside the car.
Jared could barely make out Jensen’s face, stark pale against the interior and shadows of the cab. There was blood everywhere, and oh God…. Oh God he just couldn’t be dead. Jared snaked his hand carefully through the tangle of metal and glass until he could just reach his friend’s face. Skirting his fingers gingerly downward, Jared paused a second in his search for a pulse. He was momentarily too terrified to learn the fate of his best friend.
Jensen answered for him by sucking in a small, pained gasp. There was a terrible gurgle that accompanied the breath, but at least it was a breath. Jared sobbed in relief.
“JENSEN! JEN! IT’S GONNA BE OKAY! HELP IS ON THE WAY! HANG ON! HANG ON!”
Strong hands gripped him from behind, and Jared hadn’t even noticed the arrival of the fire truck to the scene.
“Son! You have to get out of the way!”
Jared turned to meet the man’s dark eyes and nodded. He slowly started to inch his arm out of the car, when suddenly a slick, warm hand gripped his forearm. Whirling his head back around, Jared’s gaze locked on to one bright green eye in the cavern of the car.
“JEN!”
Jensen was gripping Jared’s arm so tightly he was beginning to lose feeling in his fingers. Jensen’s face was a deep mask of pain and fear, and Jared’s gut clenched so sharply he was afraid he might vomit right there.
“It’s gonna be okay, Jen! Just-”
The strong grip on his shoulder was suddenly tugging him backwards away from the car.
“Son! Please! We can’t help him with you in the way!”
Jared wouldn’t allow his gaze to move from Jensen’s.
“I KNOW!! He’s got a hold of my arm! He-”
There were now several hands gripping tight to his arms and waist, and before Jared could protest he was being ripped away from the wreckage. Jensen’s hand desperately tried to reestablish his hold, but his fingers were too slippery with blood. Jared sobbed at the loss, but he was overpowered. At the last moment he attempted to lunge forward and grip the car, but the move was awkward, and the next second he was blinded by pain.
A jagged bit of metal had sliced into his arm like it was nothing more substantial than butter and he cried out in shock. One of the fireman cursed loudly and called for the paramedics as he tilted Jared’s staggering weight toward the ambulance. Jared tried to keep his head turned in order to watch the car and the firemen’s progress. They had swarmed the mutilated vehicle and were hollering out orders and instructions to each other.
The man guiding him forced Jared into the arms of two large paramedics. There were words exchanged all around him about lacerations and burns, but Jared only had eyes for the gaping hole slowly beginning to form in the wreckage. He hadn’t realized that he was still speaking out loud until the medic answered him.
“PLEASE! PLEASE! He’s my best friend! Please!”
“Sir … they’re doing all they can … we need to focus on you right now, sir.”
The stern words finally caught Jared’s frayed attention and he glanced down at his body. And very nearly passed out from shock. His thin, soft sweatpants were in tatters from the knee down and soaked with blood. A steady red rain was dripping from the fingers of his right hand as the blood ran in thick rivulets from the gash on his forearm.
Without warning or concern … the pain hit. Jared gasped loudly as his strength fled away and his knees buckled. The burlier of the paramedics caught him under the arms and hefted him up onto a prepared stretcher.
“Wait! WAIT!! I need to see what’s going on! Please!”
The man placed a strong hand on Jared’s chest and tried to push him flat back onto the stretcher.
“Sir! We need to get you to the hospital!”
Jared surged upright once more, gaze still locked on the wreckage before him.
“NO!! PLEASE! Please just wait!!”
He could make out the interior part of Jensen’s car now. The rescuers had been using the Jaws of Life to cut away the metal piece by piece, and the top of Jensen’s head was slowing coming into view. Another ambulance crew was standing by with a stretcher, one of the paramedics already reaching over the wreckage and apparently speaking to Jensen.
Jared could feel himself being man-handled, but as long as he had a view of the progress he didn’t care. The medics had brought the stretcher up to its full height and strapped him in, but had been kind enough to raise up the back so that Jared could sit partially upright and continue to anxiously watch the scene before him. Vaguely he registered his sweats being cut away at just above his knees, and the deep sting of antiseptics being doused over the wounds he refused to glance down at.
Finally, FINALLY Jensen’s face came in to view. The blood on his skin was mixing with the steady rain, casting his features in pale pinks and deep reds. There was an obvious gash across Jensen’s forehead that was sending rivers of blood into his eyes. A horrible grimace of pain was marring the beauty that Jared had repeatedly teased his friend over. Far too pretty for a man, Jared had often told him growing up.
He felt sick. Jared collapsed back on the stretcher and screwed his eyes tightly closed. God. GOD. They never fight. Never. Not seriously. Not like this. Now they have their first argument and this happens. Fuck. What if Jensen had died? What if he’d died thinking Jared hated him?
Jared’s gut twisted violently and he surged upright once again, startling the hell out of the paramedics who were trying to load him into the ambulance.
“JENSEN!!”
The rescuers at the wreckage had just about cleared the way, and were very gingerly beginning the process of moving Jensen onto a stretcher. He had a thick white brace around his neck and people swarming him from every side, but Jared could tell that his friend was still conscious at least.
“JENSEN!!”
Jared’s throat was raw with screaming, but he refused to stop. He had to get Jensen’s attention. One of the firemen must have heard his calling and taken pity on him, for he shuffled out of the way just enough for Jared to get a clear look at Jensen’s face. The other man’s gaze finally caught on Jared’s from twenty paces. He looked so scared. Jared sobbed out a breath before crying out again.
“JENSEN! YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU, JENSEN!”
The bright green eyes widened just slightly at his words. Jared could taste blood in his mouth from his tattered throat. Something pricked his arm and almost instantly Jared could feel the world slipping away from him. They’d sedated him. They were fucking knocking him out! He needed to be there for Jensen, and the damn paramedics were forcing him into nap time.
He tried to curse under his breath, but the words were just slurs now, and he fell limply back against the stretcher. Everything looked kind of checkered and funny. Darkness was creeping into his vision, but his ears were still working pretty well… and he could have sworn he heard Jensen calling out his name right before everything disappeared into nothing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Three
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
CHAPTER TWO
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The explosion was epic in proportions. Jared honestly hadn’t meant to fall asleep for so long… but apparently he had, and the next thing he knew World War Three was erupting in the front hallway.
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME WITH THIS, JARED!?! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?”
Jensen’s scream startled him from such a sound sleep, that Jared very nearly flailed right off his bed. He’d only been precariously perched on the edge to begin with. He just barely managed to shift his undignified crash landing into a somewhat purposeful vault off the mattress. Staggering into the open plan area that held the living room/dining room/kitchen, Jared resolutely went to meet his fate.
Oops.
He’d made a pretty spectacular mess of the place. Mud and water and clothes and shoes flung all over the white tile. The mud had dried into a crusty cement consistency that would probably take an impressive amount of elbow grease to get off the floor. A low hum of guilt sprang to life in Jared’s gut. It magnified exponentially with one look at the fury on Jensen’s face. He blurted out an apology immediately.
“Sorry! Sorry! It’s just … when I got home I was just …”
Jensen raked his fingers through his short hair in obvious frustration.
“I just cleaned this morning! I just cleaned this all … did you forget that I have study group here tonight? Do you even care that I worked my ass off cleaning this place up this morning?”
He knew that Jensen was upset, and rightfully so. He knew it was entirely his own fault. None of this could stop him from bristling a little at the accusation, however.
“DUDE!! I said I was sorry! I was going to clean up… but then I fell asleep and-”
One of his mud-caked shoes was suddenly being hurled at this head. He managed to snatch it out of the air right before it smashed into his nose.
“You’re just so fucking inconsiderate, Jay! You always have been!”
White hot anger shot up Jared’s spine.
“Now wait just a fucking minute! I had to walk home from campus! I got fucking soaked and some asshole sprayed me with mud! Just because this ONE time-”
“I DON‘T CARE, JARED! You’re not the only person here that might have had a bad day! You’re not the only one that might have gotten drenched in the downpour and just wanted to come home and crash! You ARE the only one in this relationship that would leave this goddamn mess to-”
“RELATIONSHIP!?!”
The word, and the incredulous tone that came with it, sprang from Jared’s mouth before he even had time to process it. Followed swiftly by a few more that he couldn’t quite remember giving permission to leave his lips.
“What fucking relationship, Jen? We’re not IN a relationship!”
Jensen flinched. In Jared’s entire fucking life with his best friend … he couldn’t remember ever making the other man flinch. Jensen’s lips pressed down into a thin, white line and his eyes wavered with a million emotions for a split second. After a moment he simply nodded and turned to grab his keys. His voice was rough with sorrow when he spoke.
“You’re right. You’re right. How stupid of me to think otherwise.”
Then Jensen was out the door, leaving nothing but a wave of upset in his wake. Something horrible and disgusting suddenly clenched tight to Jared’s chest. There was a heady sense of unease working it’s way through his whole body. Twisting and turning in his belly and letting him know that he’d just monumentally screwed something up. Something very, very important.
He growled under this breath and smacked his own forehead lightly with his palm.
“Dammit.”
The door was still ajar when he took off after Jensen. Rain continued pelting the earth outside and Jared nearly lost his footing once or twice as he ran down the flight of stairs from their second story apartment. He may have been barefoot and shirtless, clad only in a pair of loose fitting sweatpants, but his advantage was that Jared had always been quicker than Jensen.
He caught up to the other man just as he was opening the door to his little beat up Honda Civic. Jared snagged Jensen’s arm without much force and swung the other man around to face him.
“Jen.”
The stormy look on his friend’s face put the one thundering in the heavens above them to shame. Jared instantly folded himself around Jensen in a bone-crushing hug as he spoke softly into his friend’s ear.
“I’m sorry, Jen. I’m sorry.”
Jensen’s stiff posture sagged a little within his embrace, his forehead plopping down lightly on Jared’s shoulder. Jared just gripped him tighter and tried to ignore the way his sweats were growing heavy with rain. Jensen sucked in a shaky breath against Jared’s bare skin.
“You can’t say things like that to me, Jared. You can’t-”
Jared nodded quickly and tangled his fingers into the material of Jensen’s shirt.
“I know, Jen. I’m sorry … you’re my best friend, and I-”
Jensen pulled back from him with a sharp motion.
“That’s not what I mean, Jay. You just don’t…”
The shorter man turned and watched the rain slowly soaking into the fabric of his car’s driver seat and running in rivulets off the panel of the open door. Jared’s arms had fallen bonelessly to his sides when his friend pulled away. Jensen refused to meet his gaze again, but he continued speaking after moment of rain clad silence.
“You don’t understand, Jay. Fuck. You don’t even realize.”
Jensen sniffed loudly once before rubbing his fingers across his suspiciously red eyes. Jared brought his own arms up so that he could push his soaked and dripping bangs off of his face.
“Then tell me, Jensen. What don’t I understand, dammit?”
Jensen snorted and laughed without humor for a brief second.
“You’re so fucking clueless, Jared. Everybody knows. Everybody knows but YOU … and I get so sick of their pitying looks sometimes. ‘Poor stupid, hopeless Jensen.’ Even your Mom… even your Mom looks at me with this you-poor-dumb-boy expression, and sometimes I just can’t … I just can’t-”
A slow, steady burn of realization was inching it’s way up Jared’s spine. He knew his eyes were likely growing wider and wider as Jensen spoke, and God knows what the current expression on his face must be, but sudden thoughts and facts had begun to barrage themselves into this brain and it was all throwing him for a loop.
The way Jensen always blushed whenever Jared jokingly flirted with him.
The way Jensen’s gaze would heat just a little when Jared haphazardly slung off clothes in his vicinity.
The way Jensen had been turning down dates since high school, and never once spoken to Jared about boys that he liked or wanted to ask out.
The way Jared’s mother would constantly inquire after Jensen when they talked on the phone, and the strange undercurrent to her words that he’d always wondered vaguely about.
The way Jensen’s little sister would always have a slight edge of a glare when she greeted Jared.
OH FUCK. It all suddenly made blindingly, clarifying SENSE.
Jensen was in love with him.
Fuck.
FUCK.
One big damn reality check had just slammed home into Jared’s head like a lightening bolt. Immediately his brain wanted to start back-tracking his entire lifetime spent with Jensen and re-hash anything that he might have said or done to encourage this situation. Like maybe all the hugging Jared had doled out to his buddy had been the equivalent of a secret gay-love handshake.
Another loud sniffle brought his attention back to the current reality trying to smack him in the face. Jensen was standing before him, clearly unable to meet Jared’s eyes, and they were both slowly being saturated from the skies.
Did Jensen realize that Jared had figured it out?
What was he expecting in return?
Reciprocation?
Declarations of mutual feelings?
FUCK.
Jared had to get out of there. He couldn’t deal with this right now. It was just all too much. After a long day and a terrible fight and the possibility that the friendship he had begun to assume would never be over might be tolling it’s first death knoll. He had to go. Now. Going now.
He silently turned away from his sodden roommate and slowly began the trek back to their apartment. There was a hitched breath behind him that sort of resembled a sob, which he resolutely attempted to ignore. Then a car door slammed and an engine revved to life. Jared was still too busy trying to quiet the screaming voices in his brain and attempt to find the right set of stairs in his stunned state.
His ears really didn’t register the noise of Jensen’s car pulling out of the parking lot, although he’s sure he must have heard it even over the pounding of rain, because the next sound was one he was sure he would never forget in his life. A horrible screeching erupted from the street, the sound of more than one car hitting the brakes desperately. Immediately following, there were half a dozen sickening crunches and scrapes of metal on metal.
Jared hadn’t even realized he’d turned back from the stairs and started down the street at first. Then the screaming started. Several people calling for help and crying out for an ambulance. He couldn’t see the wreck, but he was at a full tilt run by now and any moment he would turn the corner exiting their apartment complex and he knew it would be visible to him.
Something deep down in his gut told him that a familiar red Honda Civic would be there when he rounded that bend. He didn’t want it to be. God. He prayed he was wrong, but the nausea gripping his guts tightly told him he wasn‘t.
And there it was.
It was a mangled mess. Sandwiched between two other cars and almost unrecognizable in its mutilation. Jared was hurtling down the street so quickly his feet barely touched the wet pavement. There was a horrifying anguished cry echoing off the buildings surrounding him. He didn’t even realize it was being ripped from his own throat until the gathering people turned to stare at him.
He was still a dozen yards away from the wreck when his brain pointed out to him the crushed driver’s side of the car and the partially collapsed roof, then viciously whispered that there was no way a person could survive that damage. Jared’s wordless scream had morphed into the repeated calling of Jensen’s name by the time he finally reached the familiar vehicle.
Someone tried to grab him and keep him away, but he viciously shook off their hands and plowed through the wreckage to reach the mangled red driver’s door. Somewhere in the distance screaming sirens were springing to life and quickly growing closer, but he paid them no mind.
“JENSEN! JENSEN!”
Several bright sparks of pain lanced through his feet and legs, but Jared really couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge them. He gripped the accordioned metal of the crumpled car and pulled himself forward over wreckage. There was a dark shape prone across what remained of the front seat, completely pinned into place on all sides. He blindly started to pull at anything that obstructed his view of inside the car.
Jared could barely make out Jensen’s face, stark pale against the interior and shadows of the cab. There was blood everywhere, and oh God…. Oh God he just couldn’t be dead. Jared snaked his hand carefully through the tangle of metal and glass until he could just reach his friend’s face. Skirting his fingers gingerly downward, Jared paused a second in his search for a pulse. He was momentarily too terrified to learn the fate of his best friend.
Jensen answered for him by sucking in a small, pained gasp. There was a terrible gurgle that accompanied the breath, but at least it was a breath. Jared sobbed in relief.
“JENSEN! JEN! IT’S GONNA BE OKAY! HELP IS ON THE WAY! HANG ON! HANG ON!”
Strong hands gripped him from behind, and Jared hadn’t even noticed the arrival of the fire truck to the scene.
“Son! You have to get out of the way!”
Jared turned to meet the man’s dark eyes and nodded. He slowly started to inch his arm out of the car, when suddenly a slick, warm hand gripped his forearm. Whirling his head back around, Jared’s gaze locked on to one bright green eye in the cavern of the car.
“JEN!”
Jensen was gripping Jared’s arm so tightly he was beginning to lose feeling in his fingers. Jensen’s face was a deep mask of pain and fear, and Jared’s gut clenched so sharply he was afraid he might vomit right there.
“It’s gonna be okay, Jen! Just-”
The strong grip on his shoulder was suddenly tugging him backwards away from the car.
“Son! Please! We can’t help him with you in the way!”
Jared wouldn’t allow his gaze to move from Jensen’s.
“I KNOW!! He’s got a hold of my arm! He-”
There were now several hands gripping tight to his arms and waist, and before Jared could protest he was being ripped away from the wreckage. Jensen’s hand desperately tried to reestablish his hold, but his fingers were too slippery with blood. Jared sobbed at the loss, but he was overpowered. At the last moment he attempted to lunge forward and grip the car, but the move was awkward, and the next second he was blinded by pain.
A jagged bit of metal had sliced into his arm like it was nothing more substantial than butter and he cried out in shock. One of the fireman cursed loudly and called for the paramedics as he tilted Jared’s staggering weight toward the ambulance. Jared tried to keep his head turned in order to watch the car and the firemen’s progress. They had swarmed the mutilated vehicle and were hollering out orders and instructions to each other.
The man guiding him forced Jared into the arms of two large paramedics. There were words exchanged all around him about lacerations and burns, but Jared only had eyes for the gaping hole slowly beginning to form in the wreckage. He hadn’t realized that he was still speaking out loud until the medic answered him.
“PLEASE! PLEASE! He’s my best friend! Please!”
“Sir … they’re doing all they can … we need to focus on you right now, sir.”
The stern words finally caught Jared’s frayed attention and he glanced down at his body. And very nearly passed out from shock. His thin, soft sweatpants were in tatters from the knee down and soaked with blood. A steady red rain was dripping from the fingers of his right hand as the blood ran in thick rivulets from the gash on his forearm.
Without warning or concern … the pain hit. Jared gasped loudly as his strength fled away and his knees buckled. The burlier of the paramedics caught him under the arms and hefted him up onto a prepared stretcher.
“Wait! WAIT!! I need to see what’s going on! Please!”
The man placed a strong hand on Jared’s chest and tried to push him flat back onto the stretcher.
“Sir! We need to get you to the hospital!”
Jared surged upright once more, gaze still locked on the wreckage before him.
“NO!! PLEASE! Please just wait!!”
He could make out the interior part of Jensen’s car now. The rescuers had been using the Jaws of Life to cut away the metal piece by piece, and the top of Jensen’s head was slowing coming into view. Another ambulance crew was standing by with a stretcher, one of the paramedics already reaching over the wreckage and apparently speaking to Jensen.
Jared could feel himself being man-handled, but as long as he had a view of the progress he didn’t care. The medics had brought the stretcher up to its full height and strapped him in, but had been kind enough to raise up the back so that Jared could sit partially upright and continue to anxiously watch the scene before him. Vaguely he registered his sweats being cut away at just above his knees, and the deep sting of antiseptics being doused over the wounds he refused to glance down at.
Finally, FINALLY Jensen’s face came in to view. The blood on his skin was mixing with the steady rain, casting his features in pale pinks and deep reds. There was an obvious gash across Jensen’s forehead that was sending rivers of blood into his eyes. A horrible grimace of pain was marring the beauty that Jared had repeatedly teased his friend over. Far too pretty for a man, Jared had often told him growing up.
He felt sick. Jared collapsed back on the stretcher and screwed his eyes tightly closed. God. GOD. They never fight. Never. Not seriously. Not like this. Now they have their first argument and this happens. Fuck. What if Jensen had died? What if he’d died thinking Jared hated him?
Jared’s gut twisted violently and he surged upright once again, startling the hell out of the paramedics who were trying to load him into the ambulance.
“JENSEN!!”
The rescuers at the wreckage had just about cleared the way, and were very gingerly beginning the process of moving Jensen onto a stretcher. He had a thick white brace around his neck and people swarming him from every side, but Jared could tell that his friend was still conscious at least.
“JENSEN!!”
Jared’s throat was raw with screaming, but he refused to stop. He had to get Jensen’s attention. One of the firemen must have heard his calling and taken pity on him, for he shuffled out of the way just enough for Jared to get a clear look at Jensen’s face. The other man’s gaze finally caught on Jared’s from twenty paces. He looked so scared. Jared sobbed out a breath before crying out again.
“JENSEN! YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND! I LOVE YOU! I LOVE YOU, JENSEN!”
The bright green eyes widened just slightly at his words. Jared could taste blood in his mouth from his tattered throat. Something pricked his arm and almost instantly Jared could feel the world slipping away from him. They’d sedated him. They were fucking knocking him out! He needed to be there for Jensen, and the damn paramedics were forcing him into nap time.
He tried to curse under his breath, but the words were just slurs now, and he fell limply back against the stretcher. Everything looked kind of checkered and funny. Darkness was creeping into his vision, but his ears were still working pretty well… and he could have sworn he heard Jensen calling out his name right before everything disappeared into nothing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Chapter Three