Fic: Stretch Right Up And Touch The Sky. RPS. Jensen/Jared. NC-17. Part 2
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Epilogue
Part 2
“Where’s your brother?” Jared could hear his mother asking in the kitchen when he finally crawled out of bed by noon the next day.
“Am I my lame brother’s keeper?” Ben drawled dramatically. “Probably still in bed, emoing about dying a virgin. Seriously, mom, it’s embarrassing! I’m twelve and I’ve gotten more action than he has!”
“Don’t talk like that!” their mother said just as Jared flung open the door and growled, “I heard that, you little punk!”
Ben ducked from the arm aiming for his head and laughed. “Whatever, dude. So how was last night? Did you woe any chicks with your hooker clothes?”
“Benjamin!”
“What? I could have said, ‘Did you get any pussy?’ which… Ow!”
“Benjamin Padalecki! I will not have that kind of language in my kitchen!”
“Ok, ok. Sorry! Jeez!”
Ben rubbed his ear and gave Jared a scowl like it was all his fault. Jared smirked and grabbed a couple of waffles from the plate.
“At least tell me you got to see some tits... Ow! Stop hitting me, woman!”
Jared poured himself a large glass of milk and left them to their arguing. He had a date with his bed, nursing his hangover and brooding about Jensen.
It was only half an hour later though that Ben barged into his room, a smile so evil on his face that Jared wondered for a moment if he’d fallen asleep and was having a Children of the Corn dream again. “What?”
“So,” Ben said and closed the door behind him before leaning against it. “I was talking to Cody.”
“Dude, what do I care what shit you talk about to your little friends.”
Ben ignored him. “You remember Cody, right? Cody… Ackles.”
Jared froze.
“Seems his gay brother was at some party last night. Some lame sophomore party. And he got home late, missing a t-shirt.” Ben raised an eyebrow at Jared, which was when he realized what he was wearing. “Huh, that one looks new. And kinda small…”
“Ben,” Jared warned although he knew he was completely busted.
“No wonder you never got any chicks. Tsk, tsk.” Ben shook his head, smirking. “What do you know, we have a queer in the family. Wait ‘til mom and dad hear about thi-”
Jared was up from the bed, tackling Ben to the floor before he had time to finish the sentence. “Shut up! Shut up!” he hissed, his heart hammering in his chest.
“Let me go, pervert! Stop molesting me, you fucking homo!”
Jared went still, his arm tight against Ben’s throat. “What did you say? What the fuck did you just say?”
“I said…” Ben’s voice suddenly changed from mocking to scared when he finally caught the look on Jared’s face. “Hey, hey no! Dude, chill,” he wheezed, eyes widening. “I’m fucking kidding with you. Jared, c’mon!”
He wriggled, trying to get loose, and tears started showing in his eyes. “You’re hurting me. Jared, please.”
Jared took a deep breath and then stood abruptly up, turning his back on his little brother who scrambled to his feet, still breathing heavily. “You know what, fuck you. I put up with a lot from you, Ben, but not this. Not this.” He turned back, glaring at Ben. “Get out. Get the fuck out of my room.”
Ben swallowed, lip wobbling and eyes glittering. “Jared, I swear. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Jared shook his head. He felt slightly sick. “Yeah? Well, it sure sounded like you did. Why you think I haven’t told…” His breath hitched and he closed his eyes. “You wanna tell’em? You wanna go out there and laugh at this, make some big joke out of it? Go on then.”
“No! Jared, please. I’m sorry,” Ben sobbed. “I didn’t mean it. I was only joking! I’m not like that!”
“Will you just leave?” Jared kinda felt like crying himself and hell if he was going to let his little brother witness that. “I don’t care what you do. Just… go.”
“Jared…”
“Go.”
There was silence for a long time and then he heard the door open and close quietly and he was left alone in the room. He threw himself down on the bed and bunched Jensen’s t-shirt up until he could bury his nose in the now sweat-damp material.
Fuck, he hated his life.
-------
“Tom?” Chad asked incredulous and wrinkled his nose. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Jared said miserably and glanced over at Jensen and his group of friends. You wouldn’t realise just from looking at them but now Jared knew, he could see the possessive way Tom hovered over Jensen and the almost shy smiles Jensen sent back. It was sickening. Well, to him anyway. Damn Welling.
“But he kissed you.”
“Yeah, well…” Jared shrugged. “Didn’t mean anything. Guess he was drunk or something.”
“But… Tom is such an asshole!”
“I know.”
“Huh. You think they’re doing it?”
Jared groaned. “Oh God! Shut up!”
“What? I didn’t say assfucking.”
“Chad, seriously, shut the fuck up. As far as I’m concerned they aren’t even kissing, ok?”
“I’m pretty sure they’re kissing…”
“Dude!”
“Ok, ok. Sorry.” Chad snapped his gum. “So who do you think bottoms? I bet Jensen bottoms. He’s kinda pretty like a girl anyway.”
“Fuck you, I’m outta here,” Jared growled and stalked away, ignoring Chad yelling after him. The noise carried across the school lot and Jensen looked up, spotting Jared just as he was trying to hide behind a tree. He froze and then he offered Jared a small smile. Jared hesitated but then thought ‘fuck it’ and continued walking as if he’d always meant to walk over.
“Hey,” he said nervously as he came close enough. “I mean, hi. Hi. I…”
“Are you talking to us?” Tom cut in, raising his eyebrow mockingly.
Jared hesitated. “I…”
“The playground’s over there, kiddo.”
Jared felt his face go red. “I’m not…”
“Here.” Tom pulled out his wallet, plucked out a dollar bill and shoved it into Jared’s breast pocket. “Go buy yourself some milk.”
“Don’t be such an ass, Tom,” Jensen said but he was smiling and when he met Jared’s eyes he just shrugged as if he didn’t care one way or the other about his friends treating Jared like shit. Chris gave him a strange look but just then the bell rang and soon Jared found himself standing alone in the school grounds, the dollar bill scratching at his chest through the thin material of his shirt. Fuck.
“Dude, c’mon,” a voice said beside him and he looked up to find Chad giving him a sympathetic look. “I told you he’s not worth it.”
“Fucking Welling,” Jared mumbled as he fished up the money and threw it to the ground. “Fuck him.”
“Still think it’s the other way around but whatever.” Chad picked the bill up and pocketed it then clasped one hand on Jared’s shoulder. “How ‘bout we ditch class?”
“And do what?” Jared muttered.
“Hit the mall or something. Buy you some more gay shirts.”
“They’re not gay! Pink is in, ok?”
“Sure it is,” Chad yawned. “What you say?”
“I have to pee first.”
“Well, hurry up. I don’t want them to catch us before we even make it outside the school grounds.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He hurried across the lot and slipped inside, making his way quietly along the now empty hallways and toward the restrooms. Once there he went about his business and was just about to flush when he heard the doors swing open.
“Man, I don’t know…” said a voice that sounded vaguely familiar. “It doesn’t seem right.”
“Wait. Check the stalls,” said someone Jared instantly recognized as Welling. He panicked and quickly turned the lock so it showed ‘unoccupied’ and then stepped up on the toilet to hide his feet. There was some shuffling and then the other guy said, “All clear.”
“Ok. Look, it’s not like I’m gonna marry him or anything. It’s just fucking.”
Him? As in Jensen him? Jared slowly stood up and peeked over the edge of the stall. Tom and that bald guy that sometimes hung out with him - Mike, Jared thought his name was - were huddled close as they talked in hushed voices.
“But I thought we were…?” Mike asked, looking unsure. “I mean, you said…”
“Yeah, yeah. Of course. Dude, don’t you trust me?”
Jared rolled his eyes. He didn’t trust that lying son-of-a-bitch further than he could throw him and he was surprised Mike seemed to be falling for it.
“I do. It’s just…”
“I told you, he wants me to. Something about losing his virginity to someone who knows what he’s doing. Which you know I do,” Tom said with a smirk. “It’s just this once and then it’s you and me, baby.”
God, what a creep! Jared fought to keep from jumping down from the toilet and pouncing on Tom. He imagined dunking that shaggy head into the toilet bowl or better yet, punching that irritating smirk right off Tom’s face.
“Just once? You promise?”
“Man, stop being such a worry ass.” Tom grabbed Mike by the neck and kissed him hard. “I promise you, after this Friday I’m all yours.”
Jared waited until he couldn’t hear their footsteps anymore before slipping out of the stall, jaw clenched. He hurried out of the school building to where Chad was waiting behind the tree, grabbing his arm and dragging him away as fast as he could.
“What the hell, man?”
“Emergency meeting. We have a problem,” Jared said grimly and to Chad’s credit he didn’t ask, just picked up his speed.
As soon as they’d put enough distance between them and the school, Jared quickly filled Chad in, his anger growing when he saw the skeptic look on his supposedly best pal’s face.
“You’re serious,” Chad finally said. “Okay, you’ve finally lost what little sanity you had left.”
“Dude, he’s totally cheating on him!” Jared sputtered, flailing his arms. “Jensen thinks they’re in love or whatever and all this guy wants is to pop his damn cherry!”
“I’m having a hard time believing that boy is a virgin, man. I mean, have you seen his ass? I’m not gay and I’d tap that.” Chad shrugged. “What? I would.”
“Dude! Who cares? We gotta save him!”
“Let me get this straight. You want to save Jensen, who by the way is three years older than you and, you know, a pretty big guy, from being fucked in the ass by his boyfriend? Are you listening to yourself?”
“He doesn’t love him!”
“Oh Jesus. Jared…”
“Are you gonna help me or not?”
“I’m thinking not.”
At Jared’s incredulous look he sighed. “Seriously, man. I’m not going on some Rescue Jensen’s Ass mission, especially not since I very much doubt he’d want his ass saved. You really think if you walk up to him and say ‘Hey, Jensen, don’t sleep with your boyfriend ‘cos he’s a big sleaze,’ that he’s going to thank you?”
At which point Jared turned and left Chad standing on the sidewalk as he himself headed home to sulk. And plot.
Friday night found him lurking outside Jensen’s house. In the bushes. But not like a creepy stalker or anything like that. Not like he was ogling Jensen with binoculars or jerking off while watching him undress. No, he was being stealthy. And saving Jensen from having his heart broken. Yeah, that was it.
A little after seven o’clock the front door opened and some people Jared assumed were Jensen’s parents came out, the less-than-popular Cody in tow. Jared and Ben hadn’t really spoken since that whole incident last weekend but for what it was worth Ben hadn’t spilled his secret either. It wasn’t that Jared really thought his parents would disown him or anything, it was just… Well, you never knew, right? He thought he’d better wait until he was eighteen and they couldn’t send him to Jesus camp or whatever.
He watched the Ackles family sans Jensen get into their car and drive away. Hardly five minutes went by before Tommy’s BMW came purring along the road, parking outside Jensen’s house. Tom got out and strutted up to the house, then rung the bell. Only a few moments went by before the door opened and Jared caught a quick glimpse of Jensen, looking as gorgeous as ever, before Tommy stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
Damn. What now?
Jared eyed the house. He’d already figured out Jensen’s room was at the second floor, with his window on the right side of the house. He figured if he got a ladder he’d be able to see in. You know, if he was creepy like that. Which he wasn’t. He just…
A couple of shadows played across the curtains in Jensen’s room. One of them took its shirt off.
Oh fuck it.
Jared jogged silently across the driveway and quickly found the ladder he’d spotted there when he’d been staking the place out the day before. Not like a stalker. He just liked being prepared, that was all. Raising the ladder against the house he made his way up as silent as he could, careful not to look down. He kinda had a thing about heights, which Chad said was ridiculous since he was ‘as tall as a fucking tree’ himself.
It wasn’t a very long ladder, in fact Jared could hardly reach the windowsill when he’d climbed as high as he could go. Which meant he didn’t have anything real to hold on to once he got there but at the moment he couldn’t worry about that. Because straining his neck to peek over the windowsill into Jensen’s room he was met with the sight of Jensen, sitting on the bed, kissing that fucker Tom Welling!
Which, ok, considering they were boyfriends wasn’t maybe such a shocker but it didn’t mean Jared had to like it! In fact he was liking it less and less the more intimate the kiss got because Tom? Was a grabby bastard. Hands everywhere! First on Jensen’s shoulders and then sliding down his arms until those ugly paws rested on Jensen’s hips. Goddammit! Jared saw red as Tom hitched up Jensen’s t-shirt, running his dirty fingers over that smooth skin as if they had any right to be there.
The window was slightly open and Jared almost lost his balance when Jensen suddenly yelped and jerked away.
“Tom…” he said, sounding exasperated as he removed Tom’s right hand from where it had been crawling down the front of his pants. “I thought we’d talked about this.”
“Oh c’mon,” Tom groaned and nuzzled into his neck. “You know I love you, baby. Why won’t you give me this? Don’t you want me?”
“Yeah, of course I do, it’s just…” Jensen sounded guilty which just pissed Jared off. Why the hell should he have to give Tom anything he didn’t want to? “I don’t know… My parents…”
“Your parents won’t be home for at least an hour. You know that. C’mon, baby. I’ll make it so good.”
“But…”
“For Christ’s sake, you’re nineteen, Jensen. Don’t you think it’s about time you joined the grown-up world?” Tom scowled and pushed Jensen so he fell flat down on his back on the bed. “I’ll suck you off, make you all relaxed and shit and you won’t even feel it.”
“No. Tom, stop. Let me go.”
Jensen sounded more angry than scared but Jared wasn’t about to take that chance. This looked like a situation that could go very bad, really fast, and he wasn’t about to let that happen. Not on his watch. He turned around, promptly forgetting where he was, and the next thing he knew he was lying on the ground, trying to breath.
Ow! Jesus fuck ow!
His head hurt and his knees hurt and his shoulder really hurt where he’d hit the ground. After making sure he wasn’t broken anywhere he stumbled to his feet, brushed leaves and grass off his clothes and limped to the door. Taking a deep breath he pushed the bell button and waited. Nothing. He pushed it again, longer this time, practically hanging on until he finally heard someone come down the stairs. Trying to look as innocent as he could he had the smile ready when Jensen opened the door.
“Jared?” He was looking rumbled, his lips swollen from kissing and his hair standing up in all directions. “What are you doing here?”
“Uh…”
Shit. He’d forgotten to make up a cover story. Desperate he said the first thing that came to mind.
“My brother? Have you seen him? My mom sent me to look for him and I think he said something about visiting Cody. That’s your brother, right? Cody? They’re in the same class. Best buds. Who’d have guessed?” He laughed nervously.
Jensen stared at him, as if trying to make sense of the flood of words. Then his lips twitched slightly. “Please don’t tell me your brother’s name is Ben.”
Jared groaned inwardly. Death by relations, that’s what it would say on his tombstone. He wasn’t sure how but some day Ben’s stupid antics would be the death of Jared. “What did he do?”
Jensen chuckled and shook his head. “Dude, I thought my little brother was bad but together those two are like Al-Qaeda in shorts.”
“They blew up your toilet too?” Jared asked mortified. He was so gonna kill the little shit. “God, I’m so sorry. You weren’t on it right? Seriously, I couldn’t sit for a week!”
Jensen’s eyes widened and then he burst out laughing, his whole face transforming from the strained polite look he’d been holding, into the mere picture of amusement. Jared grinned hesitantly. He wasn’t quite sure what he’d said that was so funny but whatever made Jensen laugh like that was worth any kind of humiliation.
“Oh man, you’re not joking? They actually blew up your toilet with you on it?”
“Well, they used lousy explosives which is the only reason either of them is alive today. The toilet survived but my ass? Woof, man! On the bright side I don’t think I’ll ever need a Brazilian wax!”
He was vaguely aware that he was blabbering about stuff he had wowed he would kill Ben for if he ever mentioned it to anyone but frankly, with Jensen laughing like that, he didn’t really care what stupid secrets he spilled.
“Stop it. Christ, you’re killing me!” Jensen wiped tears from his eyes and then leaned against the doorframe, grinning happily up at Jared. “But no, I’m not too sad to say I haven’t seen your brother. My parents and Cody are out anyway.”
“Oh.” Jared tried to think of something else to keep Jensen from going back to grabby Tom. “So you’re home alone?” he asked innocently.
“Well…”
Before Jensen could answer he was pushed aside as the door was thrown wide open.
“No, he’s not,” Tom growled. “What the hell are you doing here, kid?”
“Chill, Tom. He’s looking for his brother,” Jensen explained, looking rather annoyed.
“Well, your brother ain’t here, so beat it.”
The door was slammed in Jared’s face before he had a chance to answer and he was left standing on the porch, blushing red with anger and embarrassment. Fucking asshole. He walked slowly down the driveway, casting a glance over his shoulder. The light in Jensen’s bedroom dimmed and then soft music started sounding from the window. Great. Could this get any worse?
A drop of rain landing on his nose gave him the answer.
He was soon soaked through and as he slipped back through the bushes and to the ladder, wet leaves and branches whipped his face. The ladder was already slippery from the rain and he lost his footing more than once but somehow managed to hang on. This time he was greeted with the sight of Jensen without his t-shirt, his skin glowing golden in the soft light of the bedside lamp. He was up against the door, hands hovering at Tom’s hips as if he wasn’t sure where they should be. Tom was kissing his neck, one hand in Jensen’s hair and the other… Jensen jumped and with a hitch Jared realized exactly where Tom’s other hand was.
“Tom…”
“It’s okay. C’mon, baby.”
“I don’t know…”
In Jared’s book not knowing if you wanted something pretty much equaled not wanting it. Fuck if he was going to let Tom convince Jensen otherwise.
He made his way down a bit more carefully this time and then hurried to the door, his hand trembling as he pushed the button, and not just from standing outside in the cold rain. It took a bit longer this time but when Jensen finally opened he didn’t look annoyed. If anything he looked a bit relieved, if surprised. Although Jared had to admit that might be wishful thinking on his part.
“Hey,” Jensen said, raising one eyebrow in query. Wow, he had really nice eyebrows.
“Hey,” Jared echoed and tried to smile. “Uh… so I still haven’t found my brother and now I’ve lost my… my phone. And I was wondering if maybe I left it here?”
“For fuck’s sake, you didn’t even come in!” Tom growled as he once again pushed Jensen aside and glowered at Jared. “How the hell could you have left it here?”
Jared really didn’t like this guy and so decided to ignore him, focusing again on Jensen who was glaring angrily at Tom. “Can I use your phone? Just to check in at home, see if maybe he’s turned up on his own.”
“Sure, come in,” Jensen said and smiled in a way that made Jared wonder if he knew Jared was lying his ass off.
Tom sent Jensen an incredulous look but since it was Jensen’s home he couldn’t exactly argue. He did growl though and hovered over Jared as he used Jensen’s phone to call home. His mother sounded rather surprised when Jared asked about Ben, seeing as they were on even less speaking terms now than usual, but told him that his brother was right there and was Jared getting back anytime soon? Dinner would be ready in a few minutes.
“Don’t wait, I’ll just heat it up when I get back.”
“Alright, dear. Are you over at Chad’s? It’s raining cats and dogs outside and I don’t want you to catch a cold, honey. Maybe his mom can drive you home…”
“Sure, mom. I’ll ask. Bye.”
He hung up quickly and gave Jensen a grateful smile as he handed the phone back, totally ignoring Tom. “Thanks.” He wiped the mop of wet hair away from his face and coughed pitifully. “Man, it’s raining hard. You think I could get some coffee maybe? I think I’m catching a cold.”
“No, you damn well can’t-!”
“Sure, Jared,” Jensen cut in, giving Tom a glare. “Go find him a towel, will you? Can’t have him catching pneumonia.”
“Would serve the little punk right,” muttered Tom as he stalked down the hall. Little? Jared thought that was a bit rich, seeing as Tom was at least an inch or so shorter than Jared.
“Sorry about that,” Jensen said with a grimace as he busied himself with the coffee maker. “He’s grumpy for some reason.”
“Doesn’t bother me,” Jared said cheerfully, trying his best to look the opposite of grumpy. “So, he’s your boyfriend?” he asked as innocently as he could.
Jensen paused and then gave him a considering look. “I guess.”
“You guess? Huh,” Jared repeated, totally casual. “Not sure?”
“Not at the moment, no,” Jensen said softly and then quickly turned around when Tom stalked into the kitchen, throwing a towel at Jared.
“Here. You smell like a wet dog.” He scrunched up his nose in disgust and Jared gave him a glare. He liked the way dogs smelled when they were wet, thank you very much.
Jensen gave Tom a warning glance and then put a mug in front of Jared, smiling warmly. “The coffee will be ready in a minute,” he said. “You cold?”
Jared shivered. “Kinda. It was raining pretty hard.”
Jensen nodded and disappeared into the hall, bringing back a fleece sweater. “Here. Put this on.”
Jared opened his mouth to say, ‘I still have your t-shirt,’ but thought better of it since he wasn’t sure if Tom knew about that and he didn’t want to get Jensen into more trouble. He didn’t trust that son-of-a-bitch further than he could throw him.
“Thanks,” he said instead and pealed off his soaked-through jacket before slipping the warm sweater on over his wet t-shirt.
“I can drive you home once you’ve finished your coffee,” Jensen offered and Jared’s eyes lit up.
“That would be…”
“I’ll spring him a taxi,” Tom said, smiling in a way that was probably supposed to be friendly but instead looked kinda menacing.
“I can pay my own fair, thanks,” Jared said curtly and then smiled up at Jensen as he filled his mug. “Thank you. Mmm, smells nice. I’m very big on coffee,” he added at Jensen’s amused look.
“Usually I’d say coffee would stall your growth but with you I don’t think we have to worry about that,” Jensen joked and poured into a mug of his own. “Tom, you want some?”
“No.” Tom’s meager patience was obviously about to run out. “Jenny, c’mon, are we having a tea party now?”
“If you’re bored you can leave,” Jared suggested and Tom shot him a glare before pushing himself off the counter.
“I’m going upstairs. Jenny, you have ten minutes.” With that he stalked out of the kitchen and then they could hear him thumping up the stairs.
“Do all your friends call you Jenny?” Jared asked, not really liking the way it sounded on his own tongue. In his fantasies he always called Jensen Jen. Usually followed by the words ‘god’ and ‘please, yes, right there!’ Those were nice fantasies.
He looked up to find Jensen staring at him and he blushed, hoping he hadn’t said any of that out loud. “Er…Sorry? It’s probably none of my business.”
“It’s okay. And no.” Jensen’s jaw tightened. “Chris is the only one who gets to call me that. Long story.”
“Tom ain’t Chris,” Jared pointed out, forever Captain Obvious.
Jensen looked down, his fingers tightening around the steaming mug in front of him, and Jared felt like a giant jerk. What the hell was he doing?
“How’s your coffee?” Jensen suddenly asked and Jared gladly accepted the change of topic, going into a long rant about freshly ground coffee beans versus instant and how decaf was the source of all evil. He could see the tightness in Jensen’s shoulders slowly relenting and by the time he’d run out of all things coffee to talk about, Jensen was smiling, hand propped under his chin as he watched Jared talk.
“You really are enthusiastic about coffee,” Jensen said when Jared stopped to drain the last drops of the now lukewarm liquid.
“Totally. I worked as a barista last summer at my uncle’s coffee house. Well, helped out more since I wasn’t exactly old enough to be on the payroll but I learned a lot. And I got to drink all the vanilla mocha latte with sprinkles I could stomach.”
“Which I imagine was plenty,” Jensen said with a grin.
“Oh yeah. Only problem is coffee makes me talk like a mile a minute, like I’m on speed or something.”
He waved his arms for emphasis and Jensen had to duck out of the way, laughing softly. “I noticed.”
Jared blushed. Damn his big mouth. “Oops. Sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s cute.”
Jared wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Puppies were cute. Small babies were cute, when they weren’t drooling or screaming their heads off. Guys weren’t supposed to be cute. Handsome, good looking, sexy, hot… those were all acceptable terms, but cute? That was kinda like being called pretty. Like a girl. Except Jensen actually was very pretty. Like really pretty. So pretty in fact Jared would call him beautiful. But not out loud though. He wasn’t sure Jensen would appreciate that.
He glanced around and that’s when he noticed the clock on the wall. Oh shit, it was getting really late. And they’d definitely been talking longer than ten minutes. More like half an hour. He was loathed to leave Jensen alone with Tom but if his calculations were correct it wasn’t going to be a problem.
“I should get going,” he said and nodded towards the window. “It’s stopped raining.”
“I can still drive you home if you want,” Jensen offered but Jared noticed the way he glanced toward the stairs and figured he better not get Tom even madder at Jensen.
“Nah, it’s alright,” he said and stood up. “It’s only about a ten minutes walk. I’ll be fine.” He took of the sweater and put his damp jacket back on with a grimace. “I still have your t-shirt at home. I can bring it tomorrow if you want?”
“Keep it.” Jensen shrugged. “Looked better on you anyway.”
Jared felt his face go deep red and he looked down, trying to hide the pleased smile. “I doubt that’s possible but uh, thanks.” He felt ridiculously shy all of a sudden and stared down at his toes before glancing at Jensen through his now very unruly bangs. “Listen, you think maybe we could…”
There was a loud banging noise from upstairs and they both jumped.
“I’ll talk to you later, ok?” Jensen asked hurriedly and gave him a quick smile. “Think I should maybe go talk to Mr. Grumpypants up there.”
“Ok. Yeah.” He was getting cold again, the damp clothes tight and uncomfortable.
They got to the front door and as he stepped outside he turned in the doorway, gathering up his nerves. “You know, Tom, he’s a bit of a jerk.”
Jensen’s face went blank but then he sighed and looked away. “Jared…”
“I’m sorry but he is. You could do a lot better.”
Jensen looked up at him, eyes unreadable. “You think so?”
“Definitely.” Jared flashed him a grin and then jumped down the steps. “See ya, Jensen. Thanks for the coffee. I had a great time,” he shouted as he jogged down the driveway with a backward wave.
He thought he could hear Jensen mumble, “Me too,” as he closed the door and just the possibility was enough to make him smile.
As soon as he got down to the road he slowed down until he was barely shuffling along, checking his watch. And right on time, there it came, the Ackles family car. He pretended to stop to tie his shoelaces as he waited for them to park and get out.
“I bet they’re having sex,” he could hear Cody say, sounding more pleased than appalled.
“Watch your tongue,” Jensen’s mom scolded but then added in a lower voice to her husband, “Maybe we should ring the doorbell?”
“I’ll kill that goddamn Welling if he’s doing anything indecent in our house,” Jensen’s dad muttered and Jared couldn’t help smiling. He’d gladly offer to help bury the body in the backyard if needed.
He could hear the doorbell chime inside the house just as he was straightening up and was just about to slip away when a loud roar of “What the fuck!” could be heard from upstairs. There was loud banging and then the door was thrown open and a very pissed off Tom, wearing only his underwear, screamed, “What the hell do you want now, you fucking shit!?!” right into Jensen’s father’s face.
Jared’s only regret was that he hadn’t brought a camera. Because that, right there, was definitely the best Kodak moment he’d ever seen. This was officially the best Friday ever!
The weekend went by way too slowly, especially considering Chad refused to hear him talk about Jensen for more than two hours straight, even if he did act out the whole Tom-meets-his-doom scenario for him with matching roars and everything which had Chad rolling around, almost peeing his pants laughing.
His parents were blissfully away for most of the weekend, which left him alone once Chad had gone home, thinking about Jensen and trying to convince himself that maybe there was something there.
Sunday morning Ben slipped into his room and since Jared was in an exceptionally good mood he for once didn’t yell at him to get out. Ben stood awkward for a while - which was a weird look on him since the kid was cockier than any twelve year old had a right to be - before throwing himself down on Jared’s bean bag chair with a sigh.
“You still mad at me?” he asked quietly.
Jared shrugged and put away the book he’d been reading. “Kinda, yeah. More disappointed, although I don’t know why. Not like I expected you to be nice about it.”
Ben squirmed in the chair, looking ten kinds of uncomfortable. “Dude, c’mon. I swear I didn’t mean it like that. I was only trying to rile you up. Maybe blackmail some money out of you. I’d never have told them, okay?”
“Whatever.” The kid was probably telling the truth but Jared wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily. “So what do you want?”
Ben bit his lip. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “I just… You really hot on Jensen?” he suddenly asked. “I mean, he’s kinda girly.”
Jared raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s it to you?”
Ben shrugged. “Nothing.” He looked down again, chewing on his lip for a while. “He has a boyfriend, you know,” he finally blurted out. “Tom. Cody says he’s an asshole.”
Jared snorted. “Cody’s not wrong.”
“They had a fight though so I don’t know, maybe they’re over.”
Ben glanced at him but Jared kept his face neutral even if his heart was bouncing.
After a while Ben continued, “So me and Cody were talking and… Well, we’d rather you be his boyfriend. Not that we like either of you,” he hurried to add at Jared’s smirk, “Just that that way maybe you’d be too busy having sex to bother us.”
“Ah. So what, you’re preparing a campaign?” Jared asked sarcastic.
Ben snorted. “No. Just… wanted you to know we’re rooting for you. And if you ever need any dirt on Tom, just let us know.”
“Doubt you’ll find anything,” Jared told him, since he’d already tried. It always paid to be prepared. “Apart from being an asshole the guy is practically a boy scout. In fact I think he was a boy scout,” he added with a frown. “But thanks for the offer. Now beat it, leave me alone.”
“So you can ‘beat it’?” Ben asked with a leer, his cockiness back now he’d been forgiven.
“Yes. I’m gonna watch gay porn on my laptop and jerk off.”
“Ew! You’re so gross!” Ben screwed up his nose and scrambled out of the chair. “Buttfucker.”
“I love you too, bro!” Jared yelled after him and then settled down on the bed, grinning. So Jensen and Tom had a fight? Hmm, interesting…
Monday morning he was late for school only arriving when everyone was already inside. When recess finally came he didn’t see Jensen anywhere although Tom was there, skulking with Mike Rosenbaum and sending Jared dirty looks that he returned with an innocent grin.
“Man, he really hates you,” Chad noted with admiration. “That’s so cool.”
“Until he gets me alone and beats me up,” Jared pointed out to him.
“Nah. That guy? He’s all talk, man. I mean, if it was me he was mad at? Sure, he’d beat me up just like that. But you, you’re actually bigger than him. Guys like that want the odds in their favor.”
“He’s got friends.”
“Dude, he has Michael Rosenbaum. That’s like worse than no one. The other guys, they’re Jensen’s friends. They don’t even like Welling. If it came down to it, they’d definitely choose you.”
“You think so?” Jared asked, unable to keep from grinning.
“Yep.” Chad looked around. “So where’s your boy?”
“Don’t know.” The smile slipped off Jared’s face. “Maybe he’s sick.”
Just then he spotted Jensen walking swiftly across the school grounds, deep in conversation with Chris. He didn’t seem to notice Jared but on the other hand he was obviously ignoring Tom who called out to him and then flushed angrily when Jensen didn’t even look his way.
“Guess Ben was right,” Chad said with a grin. “Looks like you’ve got a chance after all.”
“Yeah, maybe.”
Jared felt a flicker of hope although he wasn’t too sure. Just because Jensen broke up with his asshole of a boyfriend didn‘t mean he’d be interested in going out with a fifteen year old. Ok, so he was gonna be sixteen soon but not for another two months. He sighed as the school bell rang and followed Chad to their classroom. It was the seniors’ last week of school and then Jensen would be graduating shortly after and then what?
Didn’t help that Jensen seemed to have forgotten all about them bonding over coffee, let alone the whole kissing thing. He wasn’t exactly ignoring Jared but he wasn’t bouncing over to chat either. Maybe gave him a nod, all cool like, as if he wasn’t too keen on being seen knowing a sophomore.
It also didn’t help that Tom was giving him the evil eye and he kept catching Chris watching him with this odd look in his eyes that was actually a lot scarier than Tom’s glare even if Chris could pretty much fit into Tom’s pocket.
And then there was Chad, who was getting really tired of him moping and refused to talk more about his ‘pathetic gay crush, man’ instead interrupting him with horrible porn talk whenever he tried to bring it up. If Jared had to listen to Chad’s description of pussy licking one more time he might actually gag. Especially considering he was pretty sure Chad had no idea what he was talking about.
He was getting on his bike on Friday, iPod blasting in his ears, when someone suddenly tapped his shoulder, making him turn so fast he tripped over the bike and would have fallen on his face if the same someone hadn’t caught his arm and steadied him. Jared eyes went wide when he came face to face with Jensen who was looking at him with a mixture of amusement and trepidation, and saying… something.
Jared pulled the earplugs out of his ears and gave Jensen an embarrassed smile. “Sorry, what was that?”
Jensen sighed. “You know, you’ll go deaf if you play that stuff so loud.”
“Is that right, grandma?” Jared snorted and then ducked when Jensen tried to smack the back of his head.
“Cheeky bastard,” Jensen said but he was smiling and when Jared grinned back he shook his head in amusement. “So,” he started and looked down, rubbing his neck awkwardly, “I was thinking… You doing anything tonight?”
Jared swallowed, all laughter gone. “No.”
“You wanna… I don’t know… hang out?”
Jared blinked. “Hang out?”
“Yeah, you know…” Jensen being awkward was possibly the cutest thing in the whole world. “Play some PSP, whatever.”
Jared hesitated. “Won’t your boyfriend mind?” he finally asked cautiously.
Jensen raised his head and looked straight at him, face blank. “What boyfriend?”
Jared raised an eyebrow but Jensen didn’t elaborate further and after a while Jared nodded. “Sure. I’d love to.”
The transformation was instant. Jensen’s whole face lit up in the brightest smile and Jared’s heart did a few flip-flops when he realized Jensen had actually been worried he might say no. “Great! We could order pizza or something?”
“Yeah… uh.” Jared bit his lip. “I don’t really have much money.”
Jensen grinned and slapped his arm. “Dude, it’s on me. My house, my treat.”
“Oh, ok.” He grinned back. “Sugar daddy.”
He froze. What? Oh God. Stupid, stupid mouth.
“Erm… I mean… What time?”
Jensen looked like he couldn’t decide whether to laugh or be equally embarrassed. “Uh, six? Is that ok?”
“Yeah. That... it’s great. I’ll see you then.”
Jensen nodded and Jared swung back on his bike, somehow managing to smile and wave and ride his bike all at once without crashing. Because today he was Batman!
He didn’t feel like Batman though when he approached Jensen’s house some hours later. In fact he felt very much like peeing his pants and possibly throwing up while he was at it. It really didn’t help that he had no idea what he was doing here. Was this a date? Did ‘hang out’ equal date or did that only apply if they went somewhere? If it was a date should he have brought something? Or did that imply that Jensen was the girl? God, this was all so confusing!
He’d tried to ask Chad for advice but after fifteen minutes of continuous laughing and calling Jared a big pussy, Jared hung up on him, deciding Chad didn’t know anything about gay dating anyway. Thing was, he didn’t know anyone who’d qualify as gay-dating counselor. Or was, you know, gay. Except for Jensen and Tom and well, apparently Mike but obviously they didn’t count.
And then there was the clothes issue. What do you wear when ‘hanging out’ with your gay friend, who’d hopefully become more? Something that said “I’m not gonna jump you, unless you want me to,” or should he go more with “I’m up for anything you want to do, but if not, that’s cool too”? What was the dress code for this kind of thing?
In the end he’d settled on the same nice jeans he’d worn at the party but a more casual t-shirt - meaning not as tight - and one of his pink striped shirts over it. He looked nice but not too nice. Casual without being sloppy. Just... right.
Continued in Part 3