Bulletproof: part seven
part six
It takes three days for Jensen to forgive Jared for cleaning his room. All of Jared's sincere apologies and earnest promises to leave the coffee cups to grow interesting and unusual mold next time are ignored. Jensen treats him with disgruntled haughtiness and calls him Mom whenever out of earshot of clients.
Jared is only forgiven after Jensen bends him over the arm of the couch without warning and fucks him incoherent. Unfortunately for Jensen, this really only encourages Jared to do things that need that kind of punishment again.
Afterwards, once Jared's brain has resumed functioning on a meaningful level, he sprawls out of the couch next to Jensen. Jensen hasn't bothered doing his pants back up and Jared's gaze catches for a moment on his softening cock, poking out from his fly. Jensen is frowning at the stain on the cushion where Jared came all over it, his thumb rubbing at the fabric.
"So," he says, sighing and turning the cushion over to hide the patch, "Mel's wedding's coming up." He flicks a glance at Jared. "You got a date?"
Somehow managing to stifle a grin, Jared meets his eyes. "Yeah. Think I do."
"Huh." Jensen nods and looks away. There's a beat before he looks at Jared again, one eyebrow raised. "That's me, right?"
Jared nods, solemn and slow, and then bursts out laughing, dodging when Jensen irritably tries to cuff him upside the head. He wraps an arm around Jensen's neck and uses it to haul Jensen up against him. No resistance, Jensen goes with it, props his head up on Jared's shoulder.
The silence is companionable, warm.
"I like how we resolved our first argument," Jared says after a moment.
"Piss me off again and I'll have to be really frickin' mean," says Jensen.
They go quiet again and Jared thinks, not for the first time, that he really ought to call Chad and tell him that everything is different now. Because it is. Because it's him and Jensen and they're together and it's all good. Jensen makes him happy and he makes Jensen smile and relax and not get so freaking neurotic about everything.
His mind takes a subtle step closer to the idea of being in love with Jensen.
"Just… maybe," Jensen says and Jared gets that fretfulness that the realisation that Jensen's been thinking always provokes. "Maybe we shouldn't make it obvious, y'know? 'Cause, well, Sam, she loves to complicate things."
The immediate reaction - that Jensen's trying to keep him a secret because he's embarrassed by him or something - is quickly overwhelmed by Sam. Jared hasn't considered how she's going to feel about this. Because it's not really any of her goddamn business but that doesn't mean he's planning on going looking for trouble.
Jared nods slowly. "Yeah. Guess that makes sense." He directs a thoughtful frown at Jensen. "Does this mean I can't make you suck me off at the reception?"
After a long moment of mock-serious contemplation of the question, Jensen says, "No, but it does mean you can't get pissed off if I suck other people off in front of you."
"I bet Mel'd get pissed off if you did that. Especially if you tried sucking off her fiancé. I think she wouldn't like that at all."
"Your understanding of the female psyche is totally uncanny, Jay."
:::
On Tuesday morning, while Jensen’s in an appointment with Dan Williams and Jared’s waiting outside the house in the car, he decides he and Jensen should go on a date.
"Like, out to dinner, or something,” he says later. Jensen blinks at him and looks out the windshield.
"In public?”
"Well we could sit in the car and eat takeout if you’re too ashamed to be seen with me,” Jared says.
"Yeah ‘cause letting people know I was dating you would put a much bigger dent in my reputation than the whole sex for money thing.” He frowns at Jared and shakes his head. "I’m not ashamed of you. I’m just wonderin’ where the hell decent we can go where we’re not going to have to worry about who we might bump into.”
"I’m not going to be worrying about that. There’s gonna be you and there’s gonna be food, I’m not going to be worrying about anything.”
"And Carl?” Jensen says. "You want Carl to see us having dinner together? Because that’d go down real well with him.” He sighs and shakes his head again. "He was right, y’know. He’s not someone you want to piss off. You don’t wanna go around alienating important people because of me.”
Jared snorts and starts the car up. "Only reason Carl sounds important to me is ‘cause he’s screwing up my chances of having dinner with you. I’m not all that concerned about people who can be alienated simply by us eating together in public.” As Jensen tries to protest, Jared says, "All right, we’ll go somewhere far too nasty for Carl to even set foot in it. C’mon, Jen, I wanna do this. Let me worry about them.”
"But you don’t worry about them,” Jensen says but his tone already says he’s surrendering.
"See then? No problems.” Jared grins, pleased with himself. "I’ll pick you up at your house, say about 8?” He’s unable to help adding, "Wear something pretty.”
Which makes it all the more amusing when Jensen sees where Jared’s brought him. Jared is dressed appropriately for the venue, in jeans, a t-shirt and scruffy flip-flops. And Jensen is wearing a crisp black button down shirt and black pants, both of which look horrendously expensive and fit him with indecent attention to the lines of his body. He’s also wearing his glasses, which Jared finds all kinds of irresistible.
"Wendy’s,” says Jensen, in a tight, neutral voice. "Our first date… is at Wendy’s.” He turns to look at Jared, who has been unable to stop grinning madly for the last ten minutes. "Buddy, what makes you think this isn’t gonna be our last date?”
"Is Carl secretly a huge fan of Wendy’s? Because I totally did not get that vibe off him.”
Still grinning, Jared shoulders Jensen inside and they end up with a fat, slightly greasy helping of just about everything on the menu. Despite his bitching, Jensen tucks in pretty heartily, stealing fries from Jared as often as he can rather than deplete his own supply. The restaurant’s comfortably busy and they can talk without anyone paying too much attention.
"Y’know, if I was embarrassed about dating you,” says Jensen, then he pauses to take a large bite out of his burger. It’s awesome, thinks Jared, that Jensen is relaxed enough to talk with his mouth full, even if it’s also kind of gross. "If I was embarrassed, I’d’ve already made it clear that I was just using you for sex. Plenty of potential for things to get awkward enough without me letting you think this is a relationship if it isn’t.”
"Is it a relationship?”
Jensen shrugs and drives a fry through a splodge of ketchup. There’s a faint flush on his cheeks but his tone comes out quietly nonchalant. "Dunno. You tell me.”
"Wait, if I say it is, does that mean it actually is?” Jared says eagerly, leaning in over the table towards him. "Does this work for other things too? My word is irrefutable law? Can I pass edicts now?” He taps his straw against the bottom of his soda. "I say it is a relationship. There, judgement passed.”
The corners of Jensen’s lips quirk up a little. "Guess there’s no arguing with that, now is there?”
After they’ve eaten, they take a slow, meandering stroll out of the central hustle and haul of the city, because neither of them is ready to call it a night. Jensen buys ice cream at this place they pass and they have a mock argument about whether Jensen gets to keep the mocha cone he chose considering Jared prefers it to his own chocolate one.
And eventually they work round to Jensen explaining why Sam felt the need to hire Jared in the first place. Jared doesn’t get it at first because Jensen’s tone is like it’s no big deal. It’s only when he keeps talking and Jared hears it all that he connects it to the ‘nasty incident’ he’d only ever heard about indirectly.
"It was this guy I had an appointment with,” Jensen says, mouthing over what’s left of his ice cream. "He had a friend with him, which would’ve been fine ‘cept I hadn’t signed up for that kind of party. But he’d put something in my drink, kinda like Delacroix. Took my cell too. I managed to get out, get to my car. But, y’know, state I was in, I wasn’t exactly safe behind the wheel. Ended up driving off the road. Spent a week in the hospital and then Sam started looking for you.”
Jensen huffs quietly over it and Jared doesn’t make him say anything more about it, just nods and slings an arm around his shoulders, which must have been appreciated just a little because Jensen doesn’t roll his eyes or try to shake it off like he normally does.
Later, he drives Jensen home and Jensen leans up against the window, clear green eyes bright in the night-shadows, and says, "I’d invite you in but I don’t put out on first date.” He grins and says, "Maybe second date you’ll have better luck.”
:::
When Jared finally gets around to telling Chad, he’s been seeing Jensen for over a month. He feels kind of bad for neglecting Chad for so long but it’s not like Chad’s never abandoned Jared in favour of some girl himself. So while Jensen is out with friends, Jared meets Chad in a bar and confesses.
Chad stares at him, squinty-eyed with angry incredulity.
"A month?” he says.
"And then some,” Jared admits.
"And you’re telling me now?” Chad says.
"Better late than never?”
"How about ‘better I inform my buddy when I start screwing around with the male prostitute I work with rightafuckingway’? Or is that not as frickin’ catchy?”
Jared blinks at him, startled, then takes a slow gulp of beer. "Not as catchy,” he says. "And why are you so hung up on how he earns his money?”
"Because it’s how you earn your money,” Chad shoots straight back, like he’s already given this enough thought to have an answer prepared. He scratches his jaw and frowns at his bottle, picks at the label with his thumbnail. "Look, I wasn’t expecting you to actually shack up with him. I thought you’d just fuck him and get it out of your system.”
"Why are you being such a dick? I thought you liked him.”
Sullenly, Chad peels a large strip from the bottle. He flicks the paper from his fingertips and won’t look up at Jared. Jared feels twitchy and tight under his skin, hot on the back of his neck and cold right down in his belly.
"He’s all right. I don’t have a problem with him, or that he sells his ass. I just got to thinking about it and… you’re a nice guy, Jared. You could do a lot better than a relationship like this.”
"And what’s wrong with this relationship?”
Finally Chad looks at him, and he laughs, sharp and pissed off.
"The money you earn comes from your boyfriend having sex with other men. It ain’t exactly healthy.”
"Oh you’ve got to be kidding me! You wanna talk about ‘healthy relationships’? Chad, your idea of a healthy relationship is one you don’t walk away from with crabs!”
Chad jerks away from the table, lips twisted into something ugly and mean, teeth bared. His cheeks are red with rage and his hands are clenched into fists.
"Guess if he’s not charging you to stick your dick where fucking everyone else in LA has stuck theirs, it must be real love.”
Jared doesn’t mean to punch him. He’s not even aware he’s doing it until his fist connects with Chad’s jaw and sends him sprawling. The force behind it lays Chad flat out and Jared stands there, open-mouthed and horrified. Chad stares up at him and then shock bleeds into something else. He holds a hand out and lets Jared haul him to his feet.
They don’t talk until the bouncer’s hurried them out onto the street and then Chad gingerly presses his fingertips to the swollen flesh and says, "I know you, Jared. If it was just fucking, I wouldn’t have a problem. But you’re gonna go and fall in love with the guy and it’s all gonna go bad.”
Jared considers this for a long moment while Chad examines his brand new bruise in a shop-window. Everything feels weird and unsettled. Chad's done some really douchey things in the time he's known him and Jared's never felt compelled to punch him before.
"Why's it have to go bad?" Jared says finally. "I mean, maybe things'll work out. If I want them to and he wants them to… why shouldn't they?"
Chad looks at him for a very long time and Jared starts to feel awkward under the scrutiny because Chad never looks so serious, never goes so long without calling Jared-
"God, you're such a fucking girl," Chad sighs. He starts walking again and Jared jogs a few steps to catch up with him. It's clearly the end of that conversation and the only thing more Chad says on the subject of Jensen that evening is, "Can't believe you punched me over that fucker."
:::
Jensen doesn't look particularly thrilled by Jared's plan. Of course, springing it on him on a day when he's already had two appointments and has another in the evening might not have been the best idea ever. But Jared is sure that if he thinks about it long enough, he'll come round. Because it's a fantastic plan.
"It's football," he says. "We can all get along over football. I'll invite Chad and you can invite the music guy, Steve, or someone. We'll drink beer and cuss and… It'll be awesome."
Jensen still fails to look even a little bit enthusiastic.
"This is to showcase what a happy couple we are, isn't it?" Jensen sighs and rubs his brow. "Oh God. It is, isn't it? Can't we just adopt a puppy or something to show how stable we are? It'd probably make less mess than watching the game with the boys."
"A puppy?" Jared echoes, eyes wide. "Can we?"
Jensen stares at him in blank horror for a second. "You really wanna get a puppy?" He scowls when Jared bursts out laughing.
"Ah, the look on your face, man! Freaking priceless!"
"It's not too late for me to kick your ass out, y'know," Jensen points out sourly. He shrugs and throws his hands up. "Fine, we'll invite them over, give 'em the whole Stepford routine. On your frickin' head be it."
As it turns out, Chad is about as enthusiastic. Steve arrives and is as good-natured and mellow as ever. He's brought beer and he chats with Jared and makes Jensen laugh and loosen up a bit. And then Chad turns up and is all sharp and wary and the atmosphere goes cold again.
"Here," he says, thrusting two bottles of tequila at Jensen. "Figure we'll like each other better the other side of this. Might take me a couple of beers too."
The bruise is still evident on his jaw, even if it's faded to old green. Jared sees Jensen see it. He wonders if it will even occur to Jensen that Jared punched his best friend over him. But Jensen just nods and hands him a bottle.
"Whatever it takes, man," he says. His clinks his bottle lightly against Chad's before they both take a mouthful. His gaze slips to Jared, doubtful - but trying.
Once the game is on and they have the football to distract themselves from meaningful conversation, things pass pretty smoothly. At one point, Chad and Jensen even double-team to crow over the Spurs' humiliating defeat last season. This is done because Jensen disapproves of Jared's taste in basketball teams and because Chad feels like being a dick, but it brings them together so Jared doesn't feel too grouchy about it.
When he goes out to the kitchen to find more pretzels, Steve trails after him and props himself up against the doorframe to watch him. After a second, when Steve doesn't say anything, Jared gives him a wry smile.
"Lemme guess, this is where you tell me that if I hurt him you'll end me, right?" he says.
Steve laughs and waves the suggestion away with his beer bottle. "Hell no. Wouldn't wanna step on Chris's turf. He'll be the one threatening to sever every one of your major arteries if you don't treat Jensen right." He cocks his head at Jared and grins, more reassuring than Jared was expecting. "Jensen's happy, so this is the conversation where I tell you not to mess up."
"Oh," says Jared. He looks through to the other room where Chad is gleefully regaling Jensen with the epic story of how Jared managed to split the seat of his pants in public. His audience is thoroughly appreciative. "Okay," Jared adds, turning back to Steve.
Jared grabs his bowl of pretzels and heads back in, Steve right behind him with another couple of bottles of beer. When he squeezes back onto the couch, Jared lays his arm out along the back, not quite touching Jensen but close enough that it's almost there. Jensen leans back into him like he doesn't even know he's doing it. Maybe he doesn't. Jared can't figure out which option would be more awesome.
:::
Jensen isn't quite quick enough to hide the camera before Jared wakes up. He's still flipping the lens cap back on when Jared blinks away sleep and catches him. Morning sunlight's flooding into the room and the rumpled bed sheets Jared's sprawled across are blinding white. He smacks his lips to clear the sour taste of morning breath and props himself up on an elbow. Jensen's still only in his shorts and the camera seems incongruous in his hands.
"What are you doing?" Jared says, when Jensen just stares at him with a 'trapped-in-the-headlights' expression.
Speaking seems to snap Jensen back into action and he finishes packing the camera back into its case.
"You know what cameras are for, right?" he says.
Jared rolls over onto his belly and pillows his chin on his hands. The sun is warm on his back and the contented, sleepy feeling still aches through his muscles.
"Uh-uh, Ackles. Don't dodge the question. What were you taking a picture of?"
"You."
The look Jensen gives him is clearly daring him to make a big deal of it. And Jared obliges by bursting out into surprised laughter. He scrambles to his feet, reaching for the camera, but not minding too much when Jensen pulls it out of his way. He lets Jensen hide the camera away in the wardrobe then pins him up against the wall, hands on his shoulders and his hips grinding lazily into Jensen's.
"Why were you taking pictures of me?" Jared says, his voice a low murmur. Before Jensen can answer - or not answer because he's a stubborn, cagey bastard sometimes - Jared traces the sweeping curve of Jensen's mouth with the tip of his tongue and Jensen's words become a shivery sigh instead. "'Fess up."
"'Cause you made a pretty picture."
A smirk spreads across Jensen's face at Jared's less than flattered reaction. It bleeds into something else though when Jared nudges a knee between Jensen's thighs, making him spread his legs wider for him. He drops his head to nuzzle at Jensen's throat as he lets his hand skim down Jensen's chest to hook under the waistband of his shorts. Jensen's skin is still warm from the bed.
"Oh, God Jay, no… we don't have time," Jensen mutters, even as he's trying to help Jared get him naked. "Have to go to work."
"You took a photo of me," Jared says. His hands move over Jensen's hips, pads of his thumbs feeling out of the shape of his bone and muscle like he's trying to sculpt him from clay.
"I take lots of photos, s'what I do," Jensen says in a tone of distracted protest while he strives for as much skin-on-skin contact as possible. But when Jared goes still and catches his gaze, lips quirking into a smile, it's obvious from the look in his eyes that he recognises the mistake.
"You never told me that."
"I'm not telling you now either," Jensen mumbles, before making an approving, throaty noise when Jared's fingers curl around his cock, and he arches into his touch. "Maybe later."
"Now," Jared coaxes, his wrist flexing in counterpoint to the short, needy thrusts Jensen's making as he fucks his fist.
"S'just a hobby… I like to take pictures of things that, shit, that I like to look at…"
Jared laughs again, startled and filled with adoration, then bites down on his lip as Jensen rolls his head back and rides out the sensation. He comes with his hand clawing into Jared's shoulder and Jared's not sure if he's trying to push him away or haul him closer.
"You wanna fuck my mouth, baby? Love having your goddamn gorgeous cock in my mouth, promise I'd suck you off nice and sweet, just how you like it," Jensen says. "Promise."
"Can I… Jen, I wanna come on your face. Make you all messy and mine. Say I can… please."
His smile only curling wider, Jensen just sinks to his knees, closes his eyes and tilts his face up to him. Jared grips his cock and his hand is still warm and wet with Jensen's come. It feels good, slicking over the hot, hard length of him as his cock slips through his fingers, the sound of flesh on flesh smacking loud in the air. It takes an embarrassingly short amount of time for Jared to be coming all over Jensen's skin, strings of spunk shooting over his flushed cheeks, catching in the dark sweep of his eyelashes and over the lush curves of his lips, dribbling down his neck.
Still gasping for breath, Jared draws a fingertip through his come, sweeping it in towards the corner of Jensen's mouth and laughing unsteadily as Jensen's lips open up for him and he ends up with Jensen suckling on his finger. The sight of it punches the air clean out of his lungs.
"Prettiest goddamn picture I ever saw," he rasps out finally.
:::
They make their way separately to Melanie's wedding. It feels kind of stupid but it's a secret between them that makes them laugh like overgrown teenagers. In the morning, they oversleep and then they make themselves even later by showering together. Jared has to drive back to his own place to get dressed and then, when he's finally on his way, gets lost and has to call Jensen for directions. He arrives a good half an hour after Jensen and when he slips into the back of the church, Jensen is already sitting a few pews ahead with Sam.
The service passes without a hitch and Melanie looks absolutely stunning. The groom looks like a nice guy, albeit more than a little hungover. His friends look about as bad.
Jared gets no chance to even say 'hi' to Jensen afterwards because he somehow ends up offering to give one of Melanie's elderly uncles a ride to the reception. The old guy's friendly enough but seems to have mistaken Jared for one of the groom's friends and keeps prodding him for details about him. Jared's on his fifth attempt to explain he's never even met the groom by the time they arrive at the reception.
He helps the old guy over the lawn and then gratefully passes him off to a lady wearing a really crazily patterned dress, who he thinks might be Mel's mother. When he scans the brightly dressed crowds, he's finally able to locate Jensen and Sam. He strolls over and drops into a spare chair at their table. Sam beams at him and offers him a strawberry from the bowl she's picking at.
"Hey, honey! I was just saying to Jen, hadn't seen you anywhere!" She takes another look at him and then frowns. "Don't tell me you haven't brought a date either? What is wrong with you boys?"
Jared pops the strawberry in his mouth and devours it messily and with much smacking of lips.
"Oh, all kinds of stuff," Jared says, and reaches for another strawberry. He glances up at Jensen and grins. "How about you? What's wrong with you?"
"Not the kind of thing I can talk about in front of a lady," Jensen says somberly, inclining his head towards Sam.
Sam doesn't look impressed with either of them. She glares between the two of them until Jensen shrugs and says, "If I'd known it was gonna bother you this much, I'd've hired an escort to come with me. I'm sure I could've picked one up from somewhere. That kind of thing does go on in L.A., doesn't it?"
"Sounds morally dubious to me," Jared puts in. He tries going for another strawberry and Sam raps him across the knuckles with her spoon.
"You're trying to tell me neither of you could get a date?" she demands. "And neither of you asked me? Screw that, anyone asks? You're both here with me."
She takes a sip from her long-stemmed glass of champagne and waves at Melanie, who's battling with the ivory satin waves of her wedding dress while her mother fusses with her veil.
"That's one big-ass meringue she's wearing," Jared notes.
Jensen stifles a grin and Sam swats him upside the head. She frowns at him as Jared tries to protest, and says, "Every girl's entitled to dress up like a princess at least once in her life. Mel looks beautiful."
"I didn't say she didn't! Why are you picking on me? Pick on Jensen! He didn't bring a date either!"
"And just for that," Jensen says, getting to his feet, "Imma go tell Mel what you said about her dress."
The flailing snatch Jared makes for Jensen's sleeve is not quite quick enough and his spluttered protest is entirely ignored. He sags back in his chair with a small huff of breath and watches Jensen make his way across the stretch of green grass towards Melanie. Then, abruptly, he becomes conscious of Sam's gaze on him and he looks back at her with a grin.
"Figure Mel'll forgive me?" he says.
From the way Sam goes on looking at him, Jared has a moment of deep suspicion that she's onto them. He fights the heat he can feel sweeping across his face. But then she laughs and shakes her head.
"Jen's not gonna tell her, sweetheart. He knows he'd get a slap just for passing the message on." She glances back over in Jensen's direction and her smile goes slightly crooked. "That's if he even reaches her. Looks like he's gotten a little distracted."
There's a guy - tall, with an athletic build, shoulder-length dark hair, and altogether far too pretty - talking to Jensen. He has one hand resting under Jensen's elbow and Jared can't stop looking at it, the way he's touching Jensen. And they're laughing and smiling at each other and Jared finds it totally impossible to look away.
"That's Tyler," says Sam, her voice warm with affection. "He's… kind of a flirt. He's a nice guy though." Her tone becomes mildly more serious as she adds, "He's offered to take Carl on if it'll stop him hassling Jen. Not like it won't be good money for him but still… I thought it was a nice gesture."
Jared's switches back to Sam. "Tyler's a-?" He breaks off, wets his lips and tries again. "Tyler's on your books?"
"Sure he is." Sam scans the throng of wedding guests and nods to herself, satisfied. "I think most of the agency's here. It's Mel's big day, nobody wanted to miss that. We're a tight-knit family, we look out for each other."
Once again, Jared gets paranoid that she knows. And it's not like he really cares if she knows or not because they've done nothing wrong and none of the clients are aware of the relationship and so what should it matter? But Jensen's right: Sam knowing they're seeing each other would somehow make everything way too complicated. They'll tell her when they're ready.
So long as it's still up to them, that is. The look on her face and the way she's watching Jared says she knows something. So while Jensen carries on letting Tyler flirt with him, Jared decides to do something more productive and brazen it out with Sam.
He arches an eyebrow at her and says, "Y'know, I'm getting the weirdest feeling there's something you wanna say to me."
It takes a while for Sam to answer. She picks at her strawberries, dragging one red fruit along the side of the pleasingly white bowl. Jared feels like he's braced in his seat, waiting for her to answer so he can launch into defiance or damage control, whatever's needed to keep this thing with him and Jensen intact.
"Jen told me about what happened with Frank Murphy."
"Oh," says Jared. Sam's eyes on him are concerned and motherly. He takes a breath and scratches his jaw, smiles awkwardly. "Yeah, that."
"Frank had no right to ask for that," she says. "And Jen… well, Jen shouldn't-" She breaks off, her lips tightening to a disapproving pout. She gives a short nod and that's the end of that point of the discussion. "I'm real sorry you were put in that position, Jared. If anyone tries anything like that again, you got my full approval to tell 'em where to stick it."
"Thanks," says Jared. He turns to look back at Jensen but he's gone. Tyler's over with Melanie, giving her a hug and then shaking the groom's hand, but Jensen's nowhere in sight.
"I mean it," says Sam, as if Jared's uncertain instead of distracted. "You're part of this family too. And I worried something fierce about the strain this was gonna put on your relationship with Jensen. But he says you're doing okay."
Her voice comes up at the end and Jared suddenly realises she's waiting for him to agree, or not.
"Yeah, we're good," he rushes to reassure her. "I mean, it was weird but… it was just a… thing, right?"
She doesn't look entirely convinced and her hand comes down on Jared's forearm. "Honey, you have any problems, you come tell me. If I know what the issues are, I can handle 'em before they get serious."
Before Jared can ask her what kind of issues she's getting edgy about - and whether they possibly include Jared and Jensen all but living with each other - Melanie sweeps up to their table with her new husband. She looks radiantly happy and Ben's clinging onto her arm like he can't even bear the thought of letting go.
"Hey! Wasn't it a beautiful service?" she says, leaning to kiss Sam on the cheek.
"Congratulations!" Jared says to Ben and shakes his hand.
"Thanks, it's all been… pretty awesome, really," Ben says. His voice is hoarse but he's flushed with happiness and can't keep his eyes off Melanie as she chatters with Sam. He hesitates then studies Jared a little more closely. "I'm guessing you work with Mel? At the agency?"
Trapped, Jared looks towards Melanie and Sam, hoping for some help in what kind of details are safe - because he really doesn't want to be the one to out Melanie's job as admin for a prostitution ring to her new husband. But they're both deep in conversation and Jared's in it on his own.
"Kind of," says Jared. "Uh… I'm a driver, really. Not in the office."
"It's all right," Ben says, even as he's flushing. "She told me what she does. We don’t have secrets." Jared just nods, not willing to test just how truthful Mel's been. "'Sides, she's introduced me to a few of… uh, her co-workers. I've met Lucy and, um, Tyler and Jensen, and Kirsten. And I met Samantha months ago."
At the sound of her name, Sam finally looks over and pays attention to the conversation. She hooks an arm around Ben's neck and pulls him down so she can kiss his cheek.
"Well I had to make sure you were good enough for my girl, didn't I?" she says.
Jared's phone starts to vibrate and he turns away to answer it, leaving the others to go on chatting.
"You were jealous, weren't you?" Jensen says. "I saw you watching. C'mon, man, admit it. You were jealous."
Excitement chases through his body, his breath going quick for just a second. He tries to sound nonchalant, like it's just anyone calling him, for no reason at all.
"You sound like you're gonna be majorly disappointed if I say I wasn't."
"Then don't break my heart!" Jensen shoots back. He pauses and then says, "I saw you watching. It's all right," he adds in a soothing tone of voice. "Tyler's a good-looking guy, only natural you'd be jealous."
"Well you seem to have made your mind up on this one," Jared says, leaning back comfortably in his chair. He looks out over the assembled guests and deep into the pale-blue shadows of the marquee, but Jensen's nowhere in sight.
"I have," Jensen agrees. He sounds smug and Jared can't help grinning.
"Then I guess I have to wonder why you're calling."
"To tell you not to be jealous," Jensen says, as if it should be obvious. "And to tell you I'm sitting on the hood of your car, waiting for this to be over so we can go home and fuck ourselves stupid."
There's no earthly way Sam could have caught it but Jared can't help shooting a startled look in her direction, just in case she can maybe hear the sudden rattling of his heartbeat. But she's still laughing and talking away with Mel and Ben, and Jared's the only one with Jensen's voice in his ear.
"Oh, that sounds like a good plan to me," Jared says, as neutrally as possible.
"Yeah, it does. C'mon, Jay, how long do we have to stick around? I've said hi to Mel, so've you. We could go now. All these freaking people are driving me insane. C'mon, come find me. We can hide in the backseat of your car and you could let me blow you."
"That would be nice," Jared says in a strangled voice. "But… I'm kinda busy at the moment." In actual fact, he's unwilling to stand up because the table is doing a good job of hiding the growing tent in his pants.
"Too busy for a blowjob? Dude, I'm offended! You'd rather hang around and eat strawberries than let me suck you off? Fine, last time your cock even comes out of your pants near me, boy!"
Even though the tone of Jensen's voice makes it clear he's not serious, Jared can't let it pass without protest. Because… well, because just in case Jensen is serious.
"Hey, hey! Let's not go crazy here," says Jared. "All I'm saying is-"
"Everything okay, sweetheart?" says Sam. She, Mel and Ben are all looking at him and Jared guesses he might have been a little loud on that last part. Jensen laughs right in his ear.
"That Sam? Oh, Jay, is she sitting right next to you while I'm talking 'bout sucking your cock? Awkward."
Jared flashes the three of them an apologetic smile and dares get to his feet. He strides away from fluttering sides of the marquee and into the sheltering shade of an old oak. Propping himself up against the trunk, Jared adjusts the phone in his grip.
"This is the weirdest date I've ever been on, y'know," he says. Even from his new spot, he can't see Jensen. He could be in a whole different state, instead of just the other side of the whole throng of the party. "Normally, on dates, people actually, y'know… have conversations with each other face to face."
"S'more intimate than texting," Jensen says. He's quiet a moment and then says, "That girl you were seeing, what happened with her?"
"Uh…" Jared's caught off-guard by the question. He scratches his nose and watches a string of children chase one another, tumbling into a giggling heap and getting grass stains on their knees. "Uh, we're good friends now. But I, well, I guess I realised I couldn't keep her hanging on when-" Jared shrugs and figures what the hell. "When I was in love with someone else."
It takes Jensen a while to respond to that but somehow Jared knows the silence is all right. There's nothing wrong. Saying it hasn't screwed anything up. Maybe it's even made it better.
"Yeah," Jensen says at last. "I get it." He's quiet again for a moment before he blurts out, "I didn't like her, y'know." He laughs, short and thoughtful. "Didn't know a damn thing about her, 'cept she was going out with you, and I really didn't like her."
Jared nods to himself, then says, "Think maybe you'll like her better now?"
"Think I might," Jensen says, and laughs again.
The kids have long since trailed away and Jared's standing on his own, at the edge of the gathering, in the warmth of the sun and the faint rustling of leaves above his head. He can hear the laughter and talking and clinking of glasses but it seems pretty distant compared to the sound of Jensen breathing over the phone.
"You still on the hood of my car?" Jared says. "'Cause I'm thinking we probably should get outta here. I'm thinking we should go do that fucking ourselves stupid thing."
Jensen coughs and says, "Dude, I am totally surrounded by little kids. Now's not a great time for that kind of talk."
"Oh payback's a bitch," Jared tells him. He swaps his phone to his other ear and drops to a crouch. "So, now wouldn't be a good time for me to tell you about how I'm gonna fuck you open on my fingers, then my tongue, then… then maybe my fingers again, y'know, just so I'm keeping you all wet and filthy-hungry. Then I'll fuck you with my cock, 'til you can't even scream anymore. How about that?"
"I hate you. And if you're not here in five seconds, I'm starting without you."
"Better not - not in front of the children," says Jared as he starts walking towards the car.
:::
On the Friday of the next week, after Jensen's final appointment for the day, Jared drives him home and goes in with him. While he leaves Jensen to take yet another shower because he doesn't like Jared to touch him until he's convinced he's clean, Jared orders in a pizza because neither of them can be bothered to cook.
They eat the pizza, curled up on the couch in front of the TV. Jared bitches about the teen-drama show that didn't want him and Jensen pats him on the shoulder and lets him have an extra slice of pizza to make up for it.
"Something good'll come along," Jensen says. "Won't be too long and the networks'll be gearing up for pilot season. You'll find something, man."
"Hmm," Jared says, his tone as noncommittal as possible and his eyes fixed on the screen.
"And you'll take it," Jensen says more firmly. "You don't know, maybe you'd be more comfortable not having to see… y'know, how I'm earning my money. You don't wanna be having to think about that on a daily basis."
"Nah, wouldn't work. I'd spend all my time worrying about you."
Jensen laughs and turns to fix him with a raised eyebrow. "Jared, I'd survive. I'm not saying I don't like having you around but…" He trails off, his grin fading, and Jared touches a fingertip to his face, just to be touching him. "Sometimes I wish you didn't have to see me like that."
"Jen-"
Jensen bats away Jared's finger as it moves from just touching to a slow skim along his cheekbone. And Jared feels ever so slightly unhappy because, when Jensen looks at him, there's that blank set to his features that Jared isn't used to seeing directed at him.
"Hate to break it to you but - your boyfriend's a professional whore, Jay."
"Jen?"
Undaunted and still casually expressionless, Jensen shrugs and ignores him. Carries on with, "I'm just saying, I think it wouldn't hurt our relationship if you didn't have to be reminded of that fact every damn day."
"Jensen!"
Caught by the sudden sharpness in Jared's tone, Jensen looks to him, all confused surprise. Nothing besides kissing Jensen right now seems at all appropriate so Jared cradles his jaw in his hand, thumb under Jensen's chin and says, "Shut up," and kisses him.
For a moment, while he tries to lick his way into Jensen's mouth, he thinks Jensen's not going to kiss him back, and then Jensen's hand is grabbing him at the back of his neck and hauling him closer, pulling him closer until Jared's body is moving over his. There's something so desperate in the way Jensen's kissing him, his lips working hungrily against Jared's, that the kiss hurts just about as much as it feels good. Jared isn't sure whether to tone it down before Jensen's lips are too badly bruised or to just go with it.
In the end, when Jensen's hand starts flipping open the buttons on Jared's shirt, Jared thinks just going with it is the best for everyone.
:::
It's Sunday morning, not even 8am, and the phone's ringing off the hook. Jared isn't even sure where the damn thing is because it's Jensen's house and Jensen's phone and Jared never really got the full tour of the place and its accessories. Not that he was really interested in anything beyond the essentials, namely Jensen.
Jensen mumbles something incoherent and attempts to burrow deeper under Jared's shoulder.
Jared finally locates the phone and answers the call with a Hello that could as easily pass as a grunt.
"Jensen, honey? Is that you?" It's a woman's voice and Jared doesn't recognise it but he has a nasty feeling about who it could be. Abruptly wide-awake, he sits up in the bed and starts slapping Jensen's back to get his attention.
"Uh, no, sorry… Could you hang on just a second?"
Jared presses the phone into Jensen's hand and then cradles his head. Cringes when he hears Jensen's, "Mom?"
He climbs out of the bed and heads towards the bathroom. Before the door closes behind him, he hears Jensen saying, "Oh, uh… that was Jared. Yeah."
In the shower, he can't hear any of the conversation and the water feels good sluicing over his body. He washes his hair and soaps himself over, until he's clean and fresh and maybe possibly ready to face the fact he may have just outed Jensen to his mom. Still, the idea of procrastinating a little longer and having breakfast first isn't completely unwelcome.
When he steps back into the bedroom, Jensen's off the phone. He's sitting in the bed with his knees drawn up to his chest and his toes curled under the rumpled sheets. As Jared comes back in, he looks up and gives him a wan smile.
"I am so sorry," Jared says. He bites his lip and steps towards the bed, shaking his head. "I didn't even think, I just picked it up."
Jensen blinks at him then and gives a quiet, dry laugh. "Buddy, you're invited to Sunday dinner first weekend I can get you down there."
It takes Jared a second to realise that Jensen isn't joking. He frowns because he's sure he must have missed something, but Jensen just goes on watching him, with the corners of his lips quirked upwards. He sits down heavily on the edge of the bed and rubs his jaw uncertainly.
"Wait, how much do your parents know?" he says finally.
"Well, now they know I have a boyfriend called Jared," Jensen says. His smile goes lopsided. "And they know I'm an out-of-work actor, making money with a few modelling gigs." He cocks his head at Jared when he just goes on looking at him. "Your parents don't know?"
Jared feels kind of stupid for not having managed to get that far with his own parents but Jensen's expression is soft and non-judgemental.
"I'll find a right moment to tell 'em one day."
Jensen's gaze doesn't waver from his face and Jared has to look away. Then Jensen moves across the bed to him and is draping himself out over him, arms around his shoulders and his chin resting almost in his collarbone, his morning stubble rasping gently against Jared's skin.
"So… are you gonna come? Obviously not next weekend, but we could take a couple of days off, maybe next month, fly out to Dallas so you can meet my folks and… Well, y'know, they accepted me not likely to be giving 'em grandkids 'cause there's my brother and sister for that, but I figure if I take you home, they might…" Jared feels the curves of his lips against his shoulder, hears the smile in his voice, "They might forgive me a little more."
Tilting his face just enough to catch Jensen's mouth, Jared murmurs, "'Cause I'm just like having a grandkid?" before brushing his lips against Jensen's. "Yeah, I'll come meet your mom and dad."
:::
They make the travel arrangements in between appointments the very next day. Jared eats fries and drinks milkshake while Jensen phones for tickets and they talk about the best way of explaining to Sam that they've been seeing each other for the last four months.
"She's gonna be pissed as all hell that we didn't tell her, y'know," Jensen says, before stealing one of Jared's fries.
"Yeah but…" Jared flounders a moment, takes a gurgling swallow of shake, and says, "Not like we've actually done anything wrong. Pretty sure it didn't say anywhere in my contract that I had to inform her who I was sleeping with."
Neither of them look particularly convinced that this is going to have any bearing on just how goddamn furious Sam is going to be when they tell her. But they've both agreed that it's time to do this thing and they're not backing down now, because their lives are going to be much simpler when they're not hiding something so big.
Jensen calls her up to say they need to see her some time and Jared doesn't even listen to the conversation until he sees Jensen scribbling an address down on a napkin. From the look on his face, Jensen doesn't appear thrilled with whatever Sam's saying.
"What's up?" he says as soon as the call is finished.
Tossing his cellphone back down onto the table, Jensen sighs and says, "Nick Buxcey called the office. Wants an appointment for this afternoon. So Sam's cancelled the others." He sighs again, more irritably. "God, I could'a done without this."
"So say no."
"Are you kidding? The money he's prepared to pay? Hell no." He looks back down at the napkin and then hands it to Jared. "I don't recognise the address. Don't think it's his own place. Guess we'll find out."
As it turns out, the address is an impressive house tucked away up in the Valley. Even if it's not Nick's property, he's the one who greets them at the door once they're through the gate.
There's something about Nick that always makes Jared think he should be gaunt and brooding. He's not - he's not exactly built but his clothes aren't hanging off him and he's not a particularly quiet guy either; there's a low, booming quality to his voice. Maybe it's the peculiar bone structure of his face that gives Jared that impression, with his sunken eyes and his too-prominent and too-pointed chin.
"Jensen," Nick says. "Come on in."
Another thing that makes him stand out amongst the blur of people who regularly pay to fuck Jensen, is that he never shortens Jensen's name. Never Jen or Jenny, always Jensen. Jared's still working on how he feels about that.
"You wanna wait in the shade?" Nick says, looking to Jared. "You can wait in your car if you're more comfortable, but you're welcome to wait in the living room if you want."
A quick look from Jensen has Jared smiling politely and nodding. "That'd be great, thanks."
In the dim coolness of the entrance hall, Jensen doesn't appear noticeably tense. It's only because Jared knows him so well that he can see the taut set of his shoulders, the carefully schooled expression on his face. Jared's pretty sure the look in his eyes behind his sunglasses is guarded and flat.
There are lots of words Jared can use to describe how he feels about handing Jensen over for other men to fuck. Mostly it's concern and possessiveness. One of those reactions is okay and the other Jared is desperately ashamed of.
Right now, as Nick's got his hand on the small of Jensen's back and is steering him into another room, Jared's finding it hard to keep those feelings tamped down. He has to struggle not to simply reach out, catch Jensen by the wrist and drag him out of there.
Then the door clicks shut and they're both gone, and Jared's still just standing there, hot with rage and jealousy, the worry of what kind of state Nick will leave Jensen in a palpable ache in his belly.
In the room Nick had pointed him to, which overlooks the overly manicured garden, Jared tries to settle and wait it out, but he can’t. The house is silent and still but he finds himself straining to hear anything of Jensen. It's weirdly masochistic to be listening for his boyfriend being fucked by another man, but Jared just wants to know he's okay, just wants some reassurance.
He paces the length of the room and his footfall is oddly muffled. And gradually, as he becomes accustomed to the hush of the house, he begins to make out the thrum of voices and movement. As if called, Jared's drawn out of the room, back to the hallway. His footsteps are a muted click on the tiled floor but there's no abrupt pause in the sounds.
It's wrong, he's aware of that. And if Jensen knew Jared was doing it, he would be absolutely furious. Jared knows how wrong it is and how it's just about the worst idea he's ever had, but he's too caught up in the moment, unable to think of anything beyond hearing what's happening.
His fingers rest on the cool metal of the door handle, his ear brushing the smoothness of the door, and finally he can make out what's being said. Finally, it's perfectly audible what's happening. It's Nick talking, and below his words Jared can hear Jensen's breathing, broken and irregular.
"You know why whores fascinate me?" Nick's saying, collected and conversational. "It's the paradox. So beautiful… and so completely worthless. And you, Jensen… you're the perfect whore."
There's a sudden rustle and Jensen's breath hitches sharply.
"I could make you disappear. They'd never find the pieces of you. I could do it - you know I could, don't you?" Nick's voice drops. A note of intimacy enters his tone. "How much to pay Mr Padalecki to leave without you? One million? Two? You know I could afford it. And who's going to go running to the police when you don't come home? Which of your clients would confess to knowing a whore? None of them would, Jensen. And you know it. They'd all quite happily pretend you never existed, because you don’t matter."
There's a faint, amused chuckle, before Nick says, "Your blindfold's wet. Are you crying, Jensen? You don't want to die, do you?" Another rustle, louder than before, and Nick's voice turns to a hoarse rasp. "Make me stop. You want to live? Fight." The rustling isn't stopping now, irregular and frantic. "Harder. Come on, Jensen, show me you deserve to live."
And suddenly Jared's able to move again, and he is moving. He's got the door open and it takes a split second for him to see the painful angle Jensen's body is twisted in to upon the bed, and Nick's hands cruel on his throat. He's still taking in the details - the folds of the black blindfold tied over Jensen's eyes, the way Nick's wedding ring cuts into Jensen's throat - even as he's hauling Nick bodily away from him, riding him down to the floor as he smashes his fists into any part of him he can get at.
There's too much noise and Jared is only thinking about beating Nick bloody. He registers how his fists are stinging and the muscles in his arms are tight from the force he's putting into each punch. Vaguely, he can hear someone (Jensen) saying his name over and over, he can hear Nick grunting and panting. And he can hear the half-human snarling that is coming from his own mouth.
When he stops, his knuckles are raw and bleeding. Nick isn't moving and Jensen's still pleading and saying his name, an endless loop of Jared, God, Jared please, Jared, like he can't figure out the words for anything else.
Jared's down on his knees, half-straddling Nick, and he turns around awkwardly to face the bed. Jensen's thrashing about frantically on the sheets and for the first time, Jared realises just how helpless Jensen had been: blindfolded, flat on his back, with his arms bound under him. There are gruesome purple-red marks on Jensen's throat from Nick's fingers, and Jared can't stop looking at them.
"Hey, Jen," he says. "I'm here, baby, I got you. S'okay, I got you."
Once the blindfold's off and Jared can see Jensen's eyes - blown pupils, more black than green - he rests Jensen against his chest while he works at untying his wrists. His fingers are numb and shaky but eventually the cord comes loose. A low moan escapes Jensen's lips when he brings his arms round in front of him and Jared wants to touch the ugly bruises on his wrists, smooth them better, but has to content himself with rubbing the circulation back into Jensen's fingers.
Jensen's gaze drops to Jared's hands and his knuckles, where blood is smeared over the split skin. As if coming to, his expression changes from dazed shock to all too sharp horror.
"Jesus Christ, Jared… what have you done?"
On unsteady legs, Jensen stands and moves to Nick's side, dropping with a thud to his knees as he moves his hands over him. Jared can see the exact moment that panic sets in because Jensen starts heaving for breath, shoulders rising and falling too fast. Staggering to his feet, he turns, reaches for his clothes even as he's looking at Jared.
"You need to get out of here. Go to Sam. Tell her everything." His voice is surprisingly level, though rough from being choked. When Jared doesn't move, his face snaps into a dark frown. "Go on! Get the fuck out of here!"
"What about you?"
"Goddamn it, Jared, I can take care of myself!" There's the brutal necklace of bruises where Nick almost strangled him to death to call him a liar so Jared doesn't have to. "I'll try to bring him round. Wait here for the ambulance. But I can't call 911 while you're still here!"
By now, Jensen's got his pants on and is kneeling by Nick's side again. He pointedly refuses to look at Jared as he walks out the door.
part eight
It takes three days for Jensen to forgive Jared for cleaning his room. All of Jared's sincere apologies and earnest promises to leave the coffee cups to grow interesting and unusual mold next time are ignored. Jensen treats him with disgruntled haughtiness and calls him Mom whenever out of earshot of clients.
Jared is only forgiven after Jensen bends him over the arm of the couch without warning and fucks him incoherent. Unfortunately for Jensen, this really only encourages Jared to do things that need that kind of punishment again.
Afterwards, once Jared's brain has resumed functioning on a meaningful level, he sprawls out of the couch next to Jensen. Jensen hasn't bothered doing his pants back up and Jared's gaze catches for a moment on his softening cock, poking out from his fly. Jensen is frowning at the stain on the cushion where Jared came all over it, his thumb rubbing at the fabric.
"So," he says, sighing and turning the cushion over to hide the patch, "Mel's wedding's coming up." He flicks a glance at Jared. "You got a date?"
Somehow managing to stifle a grin, Jared meets his eyes. "Yeah. Think I do."
"Huh." Jensen nods and looks away. There's a beat before he looks at Jared again, one eyebrow raised. "That's me, right?"
Jared nods, solemn and slow, and then bursts out laughing, dodging when Jensen irritably tries to cuff him upside the head. He wraps an arm around Jensen's neck and uses it to haul Jensen up against him. No resistance, Jensen goes with it, props his head up on Jared's shoulder.
The silence is companionable, warm.
"I like how we resolved our first argument," Jared says after a moment.
"Piss me off again and I'll have to be really frickin' mean," says Jensen.
They go quiet again and Jared thinks, not for the first time, that he really ought to call Chad and tell him that everything is different now. Because it is. Because it's him and Jensen and they're together and it's all good. Jensen makes him happy and he makes Jensen smile and relax and not get so freaking neurotic about everything.
His mind takes a subtle step closer to the idea of being in love with Jensen.
"Just… maybe," Jensen says and Jared gets that fretfulness that the realisation that Jensen's been thinking always provokes. "Maybe we shouldn't make it obvious, y'know? 'Cause, well, Sam, she loves to complicate things."
The immediate reaction - that Jensen's trying to keep him a secret because he's embarrassed by him or something - is quickly overwhelmed by Sam. Jared hasn't considered how she's going to feel about this. Because it's not really any of her goddamn business but that doesn't mean he's planning on going looking for trouble.
Jared nods slowly. "Yeah. Guess that makes sense." He directs a thoughtful frown at Jensen. "Does this mean I can't make you suck me off at the reception?"
After a long moment of mock-serious contemplation of the question, Jensen says, "No, but it does mean you can't get pissed off if I suck other people off in front of you."
"I bet Mel'd get pissed off if you did that. Especially if you tried sucking off her fiancé. I think she wouldn't like that at all."
"Your understanding of the female psyche is totally uncanny, Jay."
:::
On Tuesday morning, while Jensen’s in an appointment with Dan Williams and Jared’s waiting outside the house in the car, he decides he and Jensen should go on a date.
"Like, out to dinner, or something,” he says later. Jensen blinks at him and looks out the windshield.
"In public?”
"Well we could sit in the car and eat takeout if you’re too ashamed to be seen with me,” Jared says.
"Yeah ‘cause letting people know I was dating you would put a much bigger dent in my reputation than the whole sex for money thing.” He frowns at Jared and shakes his head. "I’m not ashamed of you. I’m just wonderin’ where the hell decent we can go where we’re not going to have to worry about who we might bump into.”
"I’m not going to be worrying about that. There’s gonna be you and there’s gonna be food, I’m not going to be worrying about anything.”
"And Carl?” Jensen says. "You want Carl to see us having dinner together? Because that’d go down real well with him.” He sighs and shakes his head again. "He was right, y’know. He’s not someone you want to piss off. You don’t wanna go around alienating important people because of me.”
Jared snorts and starts the car up. "Only reason Carl sounds important to me is ‘cause he’s screwing up my chances of having dinner with you. I’m not all that concerned about people who can be alienated simply by us eating together in public.” As Jensen tries to protest, Jared says, "All right, we’ll go somewhere far too nasty for Carl to even set foot in it. C’mon, Jen, I wanna do this. Let me worry about them.”
"But you don’t worry about them,” Jensen says but his tone already says he’s surrendering.
"See then? No problems.” Jared grins, pleased with himself. "I’ll pick you up at your house, say about 8?” He’s unable to help adding, "Wear something pretty.”
Which makes it all the more amusing when Jensen sees where Jared’s brought him. Jared is dressed appropriately for the venue, in jeans, a t-shirt and scruffy flip-flops. And Jensen is wearing a crisp black button down shirt and black pants, both of which look horrendously expensive and fit him with indecent attention to the lines of his body. He’s also wearing his glasses, which Jared finds all kinds of irresistible.
"Wendy’s,” says Jensen, in a tight, neutral voice. "Our first date… is at Wendy’s.” He turns to look at Jared, who has been unable to stop grinning madly for the last ten minutes. "Buddy, what makes you think this isn’t gonna be our last date?”
"Is Carl secretly a huge fan of Wendy’s? Because I totally did not get that vibe off him.”
Still grinning, Jared shoulders Jensen inside and they end up with a fat, slightly greasy helping of just about everything on the menu. Despite his bitching, Jensen tucks in pretty heartily, stealing fries from Jared as often as he can rather than deplete his own supply. The restaurant’s comfortably busy and they can talk without anyone paying too much attention.
"Y’know, if I was embarrassed about dating you,” says Jensen, then he pauses to take a large bite out of his burger. It’s awesome, thinks Jared, that Jensen is relaxed enough to talk with his mouth full, even if it’s also kind of gross. "If I was embarrassed, I’d’ve already made it clear that I was just using you for sex. Plenty of potential for things to get awkward enough without me letting you think this is a relationship if it isn’t.”
"Is it a relationship?”
Jensen shrugs and drives a fry through a splodge of ketchup. There’s a faint flush on his cheeks but his tone comes out quietly nonchalant. "Dunno. You tell me.”
"Wait, if I say it is, does that mean it actually is?” Jared says eagerly, leaning in over the table towards him. "Does this work for other things too? My word is irrefutable law? Can I pass edicts now?” He taps his straw against the bottom of his soda. "I say it is a relationship. There, judgement passed.”
The corners of Jensen’s lips quirk up a little. "Guess there’s no arguing with that, now is there?”
After they’ve eaten, they take a slow, meandering stroll out of the central hustle and haul of the city, because neither of them is ready to call it a night. Jensen buys ice cream at this place they pass and they have a mock argument about whether Jensen gets to keep the mocha cone he chose considering Jared prefers it to his own chocolate one.
And eventually they work round to Jensen explaining why Sam felt the need to hire Jared in the first place. Jared doesn’t get it at first because Jensen’s tone is like it’s no big deal. It’s only when he keeps talking and Jared hears it all that he connects it to the ‘nasty incident’ he’d only ever heard about indirectly.
"It was this guy I had an appointment with,” Jensen says, mouthing over what’s left of his ice cream. "He had a friend with him, which would’ve been fine ‘cept I hadn’t signed up for that kind of party. But he’d put something in my drink, kinda like Delacroix. Took my cell too. I managed to get out, get to my car. But, y’know, state I was in, I wasn’t exactly safe behind the wheel. Ended up driving off the road. Spent a week in the hospital and then Sam started looking for you.”
Jensen huffs quietly over it and Jared doesn’t make him say anything more about it, just nods and slings an arm around his shoulders, which must have been appreciated just a little because Jensen doesn’t roll his eyes or try to shake it off like he normally does.
Later, he drives Jensen home and Jensen leans up against the window, clear green eyes bright in the night-shadows, and says, "I’d invite you in but I don’t put out on first date.” He grins and says, "Maybe second date you’ll have better luck.”
:::
When Jared finally gets around to telling Chad, he’s been seeing Jensen for over a month. He feels kind of bad for neglecting Chad for so long but it’s not like Chad’s never abandoned Jared in favour of some girl himself. So while Jensen is out with friends, Jared meets Chad in a bar and confesses.
Chad stares at him, squinty-eyed with angry incredulity.
"A month?” he says.
"And then some,” Jared admits.
"And you’re telling me now?” Chad says.
"Better late than never?”
"How about ‘better I inform my buddy when I start screwing around with the male prostitute I work with rightafuckingway’? Or is that not as frickin’ catchy?”
Jared blinks at him, startled, then takes a slow gulp of beer. "Not as catchy,” he says. "And why are you so hung up on how he earns his money?”
"Because it’s how you earn your money,” Chad shoots straight back, like he’s already given this enough thought to have an answer prepared. He scratches his jaw and frowns at his bottle, picks at the label with his thumbnail. "Look, I wasn’t expecting you to actually shack up with him. I thought you’d just fuck him and get it out of your system.”
"Why are you being such a dick? I thought you liked him.”
Sullenly, Chad peels a large strip from the bottle. He flicks the paper from his fingertips and won’t look up at Jared. Jared feels twitchy and tight under his skin, hot on the back of his neck and cold right down in his belly.
"He’s all right. I don’t have a problem with him, or that he sells his ass. I just got to thinking about it and… you’re a nice guy, Jared. You could do a lot better than a relationship like this.”
"And what’s wrong with this relationship?”
Finally Chad looks at him, and he laughs, sharp and pissed off.
"The money you earn comes from your boyfriend having sex with other men. It ain’t exactly healthy.”
"Oh you’ve got to be kidding me! You wanna talk about ‘healthy relationships’? Chad, your idea of a healthy relationship is one you don’t walk away from with crabs!”
Chad jerks away from the table, lips twisted into something ugly and mean, teeth bared. His cheeks are red with rage and his hands are clenched into fists.
"Guess if he’s not charging you to stick your dick where fucking everyone else in LA has stuck theirs, it must be real love.”
Jared doesn’t mean to punch him. He’s not even aware he’s doing it until his fist connects with Chad’s jaw and sends him sprawling. The force behind it lays Chad flat out and Jared stands there, open-mouthed and horrified. Chad stares up at him and then shock bleeds into something else. He holds a hand out and lets Jared haul him to his feet.
They don’t talk until the bouncer’s hurried them out onto the street and then Chad gingerly presses his fingertips to the swollen flesh and says, "I know you, Jared. If it was just fucking, I wouldn’t have a problem. But you’re gonna go and fall in love with the guy and it’s all gonna go bad.”
Jared considers this for a long moment while Chad examines his brand new bruise in a shop-window. Everything feels weird and unsettled. Chad's done some really douchey things in the time he's known him and Jared's never felt compelled to punch him before.
"Why's it have to go bad?" Jared says finally. "I mean, maybe things'll work out. If I want them to and he wants them to… why shouldn't they?"
Chad looks at him for a very long time and Jared starts to feel awkward under the scrutiny because Chad never looks so serious, never goes so long without calling Jared-
"God, you're such a fucking girl," Chad sighs. He starts walking again and Jared jogs a few steps to catch up with him. It's clearly the end of that conversation and the only thing more Chad says on the subject of Jensen that evening is, "Can't believe you punched me over that fucker."
:::
Jensen doesn't look particularly thrilled by Jared's plan. Of course, springing it on him on a day when he's already had two appointments and has another in the evening might not have been the best idea ever. But Jared is sure that if he thinks about it long enough, he'll come round. Because it's a fantastic plan.
"It's football," he says. "We can all get along over football. I'll invite Chad and you can invite the music guy, Steve, or someone. We'll drink beer and cuss and… It'll be awesome."
Jensen still fails to look even a little bit enthusiastic.
"This is to showcase what a happy couple we are, isn't it?" Jensen sighs and rubs his brow. "Oh God. It is, isn't it? Can't we just adopt a puppy or something to show how stable we are? It'd probably make less mess than watching the game with the boys."
"A puppy?" Jared echoes, eyes wide. "Can we?"
Jensen stares at him in blank horror for a second. "You really wanna get a puppy?" He scowls when Jared bursts out laughing.
"Ah, the look on your face, man! Freaking priceless!"
"It's not too late for me to kick your ass out, y'know," Jensen points out sourly. He shrugs and throws his hands up. "Fine, we'll invite them over, give 'em the whole Stepford routine. On your frickin' head be it."
As it turns out, Chad is about as enthusiastic. Steve arrives and is as good-natured and mellow as ever. He's brought beer and he chats with Jared and makes Jensen laugh and loosen up a bit. And then Chad turns up and is all sharp and wary and the atmosphere goes cold again.
"Here," he says, thrusting two bottles of tequila at Jensen. "Figure we'll like each other better the other side of this. Might take me a couple of beers too."
The bruise is still evident on his jaw, even if it's faded to old green. Jared sees Jensen see it. He wonders if it will even occur to Jensen that Jared punched his best friend over him. But Jensen just nods and hands him a bottle.
"Whatever it takes, man," he says. His clinks his bottle lightly against Chad's before they both take a mouthful. His gaze slips to Jared, doubtful - but trying.
Once the game is on and they have the football to distract themselves from meaningful conversation, things pass pretty smoothly. At one point, Chad and Jensen even double-team to crow over the Spurs' humiliating defeat last season. This is done because Jensen disapproves of Jared's taste in basketball teams and because Chad feels like being a dick, but it brings them together so Jared doesn't feel too grouchy about it.
When he goes out to the kitchen to find more pretzels, Steve trails after him and props himself up against the doorframe to watch him. After a second, when Steve doesn't say anything, Jared gives him a wry smile.
"Lemme guess, this is where you tell me that if I hurt him you'll end me, right?" he says.
Steve laughs and waves the suggestion away with his beer bottle. "Hell no. Wouldn't wanna step on Chris's turf. He'll be the one threatening to sever every one of your major arteries if you don't treat Jensen right." He cocks his head at Jared and grins, more reassuring than Jared was expecting. "Jensen's happy, so this is the conversation where I tell you not to mess up."
"Oh," says Jared. He looks through to the other room where Chad is gleefully regaling Jensen with the epic story of how Jared managed to split the seat of his pants in public. His audience is thoroughly appreciative. "Okay," Jared adds, turning back to Steve.
Jared grabs his bowl of pretzels and heads back in, Steve right behind him with another couple of bottles of beer. When he squeezes back onto the couch, Jared lays his arm out along the back, not quite touching Jensen but close enough that it's almost there. Jensen leans back into him like he doesn't even know he's doing it. Maybe he doesn't. Jared can't figure out which option would be more awesome.
:::
Jensen isn't quite quick enough to hide the camera before Jared wakes up. He's still flipping the lens cap back on when Jared blinks away sleep and catches him. Morning sunlight's flooding into the room and the rumpled bed sheets Jared's sprawled across are blinding white. He smacks his lips to clear the sour taste of morning breath and props himself up on an elbow. Jensen's still only in his shorts and the camera seems incongruous in his hands.
"What are you doing?" Jared says, when Jensen just stares at him with a 'trapped-in-the-headlights' expression.
Speaking seems to snap Jensen back into action and he finishes packing the camera back into its case.
"You know what cameras are for, right?" he says.
Jared rolls over onto his belly and pillows his chin on his hands. The sun is warm on his back and the contented, sleepy feeling still aches through his muscles.
"Uh-uh, Ackles. Don't dodge the question. What were you taking a picture of?"
"You."
The look Jensen gives him is clearly daring him to make a big deal of it. And Jared obliges by bursting out into surprised laughter. He scrambles to his feet, reaching for the camera, but not minding too much when Jensen pulls it out of his way. He lets Jensen hide the camera away in the wardrobe then pins him up against the wall, hands on his shoulders and his hips grinding lazily into Jensen's.
"Why were you taking pictures of me?" Jared says, his voice a low murmur. Before Jensen can answer - or not answer because he's a stubborn, cagey bastard sometimes - Jared traces the sweeping curve of Jensen's mouth with the tip of his tongue and Jensen's words become a shivery sigh instead. "'Fess up."
"'Cause you made a pretty picture."
A smirk spreads across Jensen's face at Jared's less than flattered reaction. It bleeds into something else though when Jared nudges a knee between Jensen's thighs, making him spread his legs wider for him. He drops his head to nuzzle at Jensen's throat as he lets his hand skim down Jensen's chest to hook under the waistband of his shorts. Jensen's skin is still warm from the bed.
"Oh, God Jay, no… we don't have time," Jensen mutters, even as he's trying to help Jared get him naked. "Have to go to work."
"You took a photo of me," Jared says. His hands move over Jensen's hips, pads of his thumbs feeling out of the shape of his bone and muscle like he's trying to sculpt him from clay.
"I take lots of photos, s'what I do," Jensen says in a tone of distracted protest while he strives for as much skin-on-skin contact as possible. But when Jared goes still and catches his gaze, lips quirking into a smile, it's obvious from the look in his eyes that he recognises the mistake.
"You never told me that."
"I'm not telling you now either," Jensen mumbles, before making an approving, throaty noise when Jared's fingers curl around his cock, and he arches into his touch. "Maybe later."
"Now," Jared coaxes, his wrist flexing in counterpoint to the short, needy thrusts Jensen's making as he fucks his fist.
"S'just a hobby… I like to take pictures of things that, shit, that I like to look at…"
Jared laughs again, startled and filled with adoration, then bites down on his lip as Jensen rolls his head back and rides out the sensation. He comes with his hand clawing into Jared's shoulder and Jared's not sure if he's trying to push him away or haul him closer.
"You wanna fuck my mouth, baby? Love having your goddamn gorgeous cock in my mouth, promise I'd suck you off nice and sweet, just how you like it," Jensen says. "Promise."
"Can I… Jen, I wanna come on your face. Make you all messy and mine. Say I can… please."
His smile only curling wider, Jensen just sinks to his knees, closes his eyes and tilts his face up to him. Jared grips his cock and his hand is still warm and wet with Jensen's come. It feels good, slicking over the hot, hard length of him as his cock slips through his fingers, the sound of flesh on flesh smacking loud in the air. It takes an embarrassingly short amount of time for Jared to be coming all over Jensen's skin, strings of spunk shooting over his flushed cheeks, catching in the dark sweep of his eyelashes and over the lush curves of his lips, dribbling down his neck.
Still gasping for breath, Jared draws a fingertip through his come, sweeping it in towards the corner of Jensen's mouth and laughing unsteadily as Jensen's lips open up for him and he ends up with Jensen suckling on his finger. The sight of it punches the air clean out of his lungs.
"Prettiest goddamn picture I ever saw," he rasps out finally.
:::
They make their way separately to Melanie's wedding. It feels kind of stupid but it's a secret between them that makes them laugh like overgrown teenagers. In the morning, they oversleep and then they make themselves even later by showering together. Jared has to drive back to his own place to get dressed and then, when he's finally on his way, gets lost and has to call Jensen for directions. He arrives a good half an hour after Jensen and when he slips into the back of the church, Jensen is already sitting a few pews ahead with Sam.
The service passes without a hitch and Melanie looks absolutely stunning. The groom looks like a nice guy, albeit more than a little hungover. His friends look about as bad.
Jared gets no chance to even say 'hi' to Jensen afterwards because he somehow ends up offering to give one of Melanie's elderly uncles a ride to the reception. The old guy's friendly enough but seems to have mistaken Jared for one of the groom's friends and keeps prodding him for details about him. Jared's on his fifth attempt to explain he's never even met the groom by the time they arrive at the reception.
He helps the old guy over the lawn and then gratefully passes him off to a lady wearing a really crazily patterned dress, who he thinks might be Mel's mother. When he scans the brightly dressed crowds, he's finally able to locate Jensen and Sam. He strolls over and drops into a spare chair at their table. Sam beams at him and offers him a strawberry from the bowl she's picking at.
"Hey, honey! I was just saying to Jen, hadn't seen you anywhere!" She takes another look at him and then frowns. "Don't tell me you haven't brought a date either? What is wrong with you boys?"
Jared pops the strawberry in his mouth and devours it messily and with much smacking of lips.
"Oh, all kinds of stuff," Jared says, and reaches for another strawberry. He glances up at Jensen and grins. "How about you? What's wrong with you?"
"Not the kind of thing I can talk about in front of a lady," Jensen says somberly, inclining his head towards Sam.
Sam doesn't look impressed with either of them. She glares between the two of them until Jensen shrugs and says, "If I'd known it was gonna bother you this much, I'd've hired an escort to come with me. I'm sure I could've picked one up from somewhere. That kind of thing does go on in L.A., doesn't it?"
"Sounds morally dubious to me," Jared puts in. He tries going for another strawberry and Sam raps him across the knuckles with her spoon.
"You're trying to tell me neither of you could get a date?" she demands. "And neither of you asked me? Screw that, anyone asks? You're both here with me."
She takes a sip from her long-stemmed glass of champagne and waves at Melanie, who's battling with the ivory satin waves of her wedding dress while her mother fusses with her veil.
"That's one big-ass meringue she's wearing," Jared notes.
Jensen stifles a grin and Sam swats him upside the head. She frowns at him as Jared tries to protest, and says, "Every girl's entitled to dress up like a princess at least once in her life. Mel looks beautiful."
"I didn't say she didn't! Why are you picking on me? Pick on Jensen! He didn't bring a date either!"
"And just for that," Jensen says, getting to his feet, "Imma go tell Mel what you said about her dress."
The flailing snatch Jared makes for Jensen's sleeve is not quite quick enough and his spluttered protest is entirely ignored. He sags back in his chair with a small huff of breath and watches Jensen make his way across the stretch of green grass towards Melanie. Then, abruptly, he becomes conscious of Sam's gaze on him and he looks back at her with a grin.
"Figure Mel'll forgive me?" he says.
From the way Sam goes on looking at him, Jared has a moment of deep suspicion that she's onto them. He fights the heat he can feel sweeping across his face. But then she laughs and shakes her head.
"Jen's not gonna tell her, sweetheart. He knows he'd get a slap just for passing the message on." She glances back over in Jensen's direction and her smile goes slightly crooked. "That's if he even reaches her. Looks like he's gotten a little distracted."
There's a guy - tall, with an athletic build, shoulder-length dark hair, and altogether far too pretty - talking to Jensen. He has one hand resting under Jensen's elbow and Jared can't stop looking at it, the way he's touching Jensen. And they're laughing and smiling at each other and Jared finds it totally impossible to look away.
"That's Tyler," says Sam, her voice warm with affection. "He's… kind of a flirt. He's a nice guy though." Her tone becomes mildly more serious as she adds, "He's offered to take Carl on if it'll stop him hassling Jen. Not like it won't be good money for him but still… I thought it was a nice gesture."
Jared's switches back to Sam. "Tyler's a-?" He breaks off, wets his lips and tries again. "Tyler's on your books?"
"Sure he is." Sam scans the throng of wedding guests and nods to herself, satisfied. "I think most of the agency's here. It's Mel's big day, nobody wanted to miss that. We're a tight-knit family, we look out for each other."
Once again, Jared gets paranoid that she knows. And it's not like he really cares if she knows or not because they've done nothing wrong and none of the clients are aware of the relationship and so what should it matter? But Jensen's right: Sam knowing they're seeing each other would somehow make everything way too complicated. They'll tell her when they're ready.
So long as it's still up to them, that is. The look on her face and the way she's watching Jared says she knows something. So while Jensen carries on letting Tyler flirt with him, Jared decides to do something more productive and brazen it out with Sam.
He arches an eyebrow at her and says, "Y'know, I'm getting the weirdest feeling there's something you wanna say to me."
It takes a while for Sam to answer. She picks at her strawberries, dragging one red fruit along the side of the pleasingly white bowl. Jared feels like he's braced in his seat, waiting for her to answer so he can launch into defiance or damage control, whatever's needed to keep this thing with him and Jensen intact.
"Jen told me about what happened with Frank Murphy."
"Oh," says Jared. Sam's eyes on him are concerned and motherly. He takes a breath and scratches his jaw, smiles awkwardly. "Yeah, that."
"Frank had no right to ask for that," she says. "And Jen… well, Jen shouldn't-" She breaks off, her lips tightening to a disapproving pout. She gives a short nod and that's the end of that point of the discussion. "I'm real sorry you were put in that position, Jared. If anyone tries anything like that again, you got my full approval to tell 'em where to stick it."
"Thanks," says Jared. He turns to look back at Jensen but he's gone. Tyler's over with Melanie, giving her a hug and then shaking the groom's hand, but Jensen's nowhere in sight.
"I mean it," says Sam, as if Jared's uncertain instead of distracted. "You're part of this family too. And I worried something fierce about the strain this was gonna put on your relationship with Jensen. But he says you're doing okay."
Her voice comes up at the end and Jared suddenly realises she's waiting for him to agree, or not.
"Yeah, we're good," he rushes to reassure her. "I mean, it was weird but… it was just a… thing, right?"
She doesn't look entirely convinced and her hand comes down on Jared's forearm. "Honey, you have any problems, you come tell me. If I know what the issues are, I can handle 'em before they get serious."
Before Jared can ask her what kind of issues she's getting edgy about - and whether they possibly include Jared and Jensen all but living with each other - Melanie sweeps up to their table with her new husband. She looks radiantly happy and Ben's clinging onto her arm like he can't even bear the thought of letting go.
"Hey! Wasn't it a beautiful service?" she says, leaning to kiss Sam on the cheek.
"Congratulations!" Jared says to Ben and shakes his hand.
"Thanks, it's all been… pretty awesome, really," Ben says. His voice is hoarse but he's flushed with happiness and can't keep his eyes off Melanie as she chatters with Sam. He hesitates then studies Jared a little more closely. "I'm guessing you work with Mel? At the agency?"
Trapped, Jared looks towards Melanie and Sam, hoping for some help in what kind of details are safe - because he really doesn't want to be the one to out Melanie's job as admin for a prostitution ring to her new husband. But they're both deep in conversation and Jared's in it on his own.
"Kind of," says Jared. "Uh… I'm a driver, really. Not in the office."
"It's all right," Ben says, even as he's flushing. "She told me what she does. We don’t have secrets." Jared just nods, not willing to test just how truthful Mel's been. "'Sides, she's introduced me to a few of… uh, her co-workers. I've met Lucy and, um, Tyler and Jensen, and Kirsten. And I met Samantha months ago."
At the sound of her name, Sam finally looks over and pays attention to the conversation. She hooks an arm around Ben's neck and pulls him down so she can kiss his cheek.
"Well I had to make sure you were good enough for my girl, didn't I?" she says.
Jared's phone starts to vibrate and he turns away to answer it, leaving the others to go on chatting.
"You were jealous, weren't you?" Jensen says. "I saw you watching. C'mon, man, admit it. You were jealous."
Excitement chases through his body, his breath going quick for just a second. He tries to sound nonchalant, like it's just anyone calling him, for no reason at all.
"You sound like you're gonna be majorly disappointed if I say I wasn't."
"Then don't break my heart!" Jensen shoots back. He pauses and then says, "I saw you watching. It's all right," he adds in a soothing tone of voice. "Tyler's a good-looking guy, only natural you'd be jealous."
"Well you seem to have made your mind up on this one," Jared says, leaning back comfortably in his chair. He looks out over the assembled guests and deep into the pale-blue shadows of the marquee, but Jensen's nowhere in sight.
"I have," Jensen agrees. He sounds smug and Jared can't help grinning.
"Then I guess I have to wonder why you're calling."
"To tell you not to be jealous," Jensen says, as if it should be obvious. "And to tell you I'm sitting on the hood of your car, waiting for this to be over so we can go home and fuck ourselves stupid."
There's no earthly way Sam could have caught it but Jared can't help shooting a startled look in her direction, just in case she can maybe hear the sudden rattling of his heartbeat. But she's still laughing and talking away with Mel and Ben, and Jared's the only one with Jensen's voice in his ear.
"Oh, that sounds like a good plan to me," Jared says, as neutrally as possible.
"Yeah, it does. C'mon, Jay, how long do we have to stick around? I've said hi to Mel, so've you. We could go now. All these freaking people are driving me insane. C'mon, come find me. We can hide in the backseat of your car and you could let me blow you."
"That would be nice," Jared says in a strangled voice. "But… I'm kinda busy at the moment." In actual fact, he's unwilling to stand up because the table is doing a good job of hiding the growing tent in his pants.
"Too busy for a blowjob? Dude, I'm offended! You'd rather hang around and eat strawberries than let me suck you off? Fine, last time your cock even comes out of your pants near me, boy!"
Even though the tone of Jensen's voice makes it clear he's not serious, Jared can't let it pass without protest. Because… well, because just in case Jensen is serious.
"Hey, hey! Let's not go crazy here," says Jared. "All I'm saying is-"
"Everything okay, sweetheart?" says Sam. She, Mel and Ben are all looking at him and Jared guesses he might have been a little loud on that last part. Jensen laughs right in his ear.
"That Sam? Oh, Jay, is she sitting right next to you while I'm talking 'bout sucking your cock? Awkward."
Jared flashes the three of them an apologetic smile and dares get to his feet. He strides away from fluttering sides of the marquee and into the sheltering shade of an old oak. Propping himself up against the trunk, Jared adjusts the phone in his grip.
"This is the weirdest date I've ever been on, y'know," he says. Even from his new spot, he can't see Jensen. He could be in a whole different state, instead of just the other side of the whole throng of the party. "Normally, on dates, people actually, y'know… have conversations with each other face to face."
"S'more intimate than texting," Jensen says. He's quiet a moment and then says, "That girl you were seeing, what happened with her?"
"Uh…" Jared's caught off-guard by the question. He scratches his nose and watches a string of children chase one another, tumbling into a giggling heap and getting grass stains on their knees. "Uh, we're good friends now. But I, well, I guess I realised I couldn't keep her hanging on when-" Jared shrugs and figures what the hell. "When I was in love with someone else."
It takes Jensen a while to respond to that but somehow Jared knows the silence is all right. There's nothing wrong. Saying it hasn't screwed anything up. Maybe it's even made it better.
"Yeah," Jensen says at last. "I get it." He's quiet again for a moment before he blurts out, "I didn't like her, y'know." He laughs, short and thoughtful. "Didn't know a damn thing about her, 'cept she was going out with you, and I really didn't like her."
Jared nods to himself, then says, "Think maybe you'll like her better now?"
"Think I might," Jensen says, and laughs again.
The kids have long since trailed away and Jared's standing on his own, at the edge of the gathering, in the warmth of the sun and the faint rustling of leaves above his head. He can hear the laughter and talking and clinking of glasses but it seems pretty distant compared to the sound of Jensen breathing over the phone.
"You still on the hood of my car?" Jared says. "'Cause I'm thinking we probably should get outta here. I'm thinking we should go do that fucking ourselves stupid thing."
Jensen coughs and says, "Dude, I am totally surrounded by little kids. Now's not a great time for that kind of talk."
"Oh payback's a bitch," Jared tells him. He swaps his phone to his other ear and drops to a crouch. "So, now wouldn't be a good time for me to tell you about how I'm gonna fuck you open on my fingers, then my tongue, then… then maybe my fingers again, y'know, just so I'm keeping you all wet and filthy-hungry. Then I'll fuck you with my cock, 'til you can't even scream anymore. How about that?"
"I hate you. And if you're not here in five seconds, I'm starting without you."
"Better not - not in front of the children," says Jared as he starts walking towards the car.
:::
On the Friday of the next week, after Jensen's final appointment for the day, Jared drives him home and goes in with him. While he leaves Jensen to take yet another shower because he doesn't like Jared to touch him until he's convinced he's clean, Jared orders in a pizza because neither of them can be bothered to cook.
They eat the pizza, curled up on the couch in front of the TV. Jared bitches about the teen-drama show that didn't want him and Jensen pats him on the shoulder and lets him have an extra slice of pizza to make up for it.
"Something good'll come along," Jensen says. "Won't be too long and the networks'll be gearing up for pilot season. You'll find something, man."
"Hmm," Jared says, his tone as noncommittal as possible and his eyes fixed on the screen.
"And you'll take it," Jensen says more firmly. "You don't know, maybe you'd be more comfortable not having to see… y'know, how I'm earning my money. You don't wanna be having to think about that on a daily basis."
"Nah, wouldn't work. I'd spend all my time worrying about you."
Jensen laughs and turns to fix him with a raised eyebrow. "Jared, I'd survive. I'm not saying I don't like having you around but…" He trails off, his grin fading, and Jared touches a fingertip to his face, just to be touching him. "Sometimes I wish you didn't have to see me like that."
"Jen-"
Jensen bats away Jared's finger as it moves from just touching to a slow skim along his cheekbone. And Jared feels ever so slightly unhappy because, when Jensen looks at him, there's that blank set to his features that Jared isn't used to seeing directed at him.
"Hate to break it to you but - your boyfriend's a professional whore, Jay."
"Jen?"
Undaunted and still casually expressionless, Jensen shrugs and ignores him. Carries on with, "I'm just saying, I think it wouldn't hurt our relationship if you didn't have to be reminded of that fact every damn day."
"Jensen!"
Caught by the sudden sharpness in Jared's tone, Jensen looks to him, all confused surprise. Nothing besides kissing Jensen right now seems at all appropriate so Jared cradles his jaw in his hand, thumb under Jensen's chin and says, "Shut up," and kisses him.
For a moment, while he tries to lick his way into Jensen's mouth, he thinks Jensen's not going to kiss him back, and then Jensen's hand is grabbing him at the back of his neck and hauling him closer, pulling him closer until Jared's body is moving over his. There's something so desperate in the way Jensen's kissing him, his lips working hungrily against Jared's, that the kiss hurts just about as much as it feels good. Jared isn't sure whether to tone it down before Jensen's lips are too badly bruised or to just go with it.
In the end, when Jensen's hand starts flipping open the buttons on Jared's shirt, Jared thinks just going with it is the best for everyone.
:::
It's Sunday morning, not even 8am, and the phone's ringing off the hook. Jared isn't even sure where the damn thing is because it's Jensen's house and Jensen's phone and Jared never really got the full tour of the place and its accessories. Not that he was really interested in anything beyond the essentials, namely Jensen.
Jensen mumbles something incoherent and attempts to burrow deeper under Jared's shoulder.
Jared finally locates the phone and answers the call with a Hello that could as easily pass as a grunt.
"Jensen, honey? Is that you?" It's a woman's voice and Jared doesn't recognise it but he has a nasty feeling about who it could be. Abruptly wide-awake, he sits up in the bed and starts slapping Jensen's back to get his attention.
"Uh, no, sorry… Could you hang on just a second?"
Jared presses the phone into Jensen's hand and then cradles his head. Cringes when he hears Jensen's, "Mom?"
He climbs out of the bed and heads towards the bathroom. Before the door closes behind him, he hears Jensen saying, "Oh, uh… that was Jared. Yeah."
In the shower, he can't hear any of the conversation and the water feels good sluicing over his body. He washes his hair and soaps himself over, until he's clean and fresh and maybe possibly ready to face the fact he may have just outed Jensen to his mom. Still, the idea of procrastinating a little longer and having breakfast first isn't completely unwelcome.
When he steps back into the bedroom, Jensen's off the phone. He's sitting in the bed with his knees drawn up to his chest and his toes curled under the rumpled sheets. As Jared comes back in, he looks up and gives him a wan smile.
"I am so sorry," Jared says. He bites his lip and steps towards the bed, shaking his head. "I didn't even think, I just picked it up."
Jensen blinks at him then and gives a quiet, dry laugh. "Buddy, you're invited to Sunday dinner first weekend I can get you down there."
It takes Jared a second to realise that Jensen isn't joking. He frowns because he's sure he must have missed something, but Jensen just goes on watching him, with the corners of his lips quirked upwards. He sits down heavily on the edge of the bed and rubs his jaw uncertainly.
"Wait, how much do your parents know?" he says finally.
"Well, now they know I have a boyfriend called Jared," Jensen says. His smile goes lopsided. "And they know I'm an out-of-work actor, making money with a few modelling gigs." He cocks his head at Jared when he just goes on looking at him. "Your parents don't know?"
Jared feels kind of stupid for not having managed to get that far with his own parents but Jensen's expression is soft and non-judgemental.
"I'll find a right moment to tell 'em one day."
Jensen's gaze doesn't waver from his face and Jared has to look away. Then Jensen moves across the bed to him and is draping himself out over him, arms around his shoulders and his chin resting almost in his collarbone, his morning stubble rasping gently against Jared's skin.
"So… are you gonna come? Obviously not next weekend, but we could take a couple of days off, maybe next month, fly out to Dallas so you can meet my folks and… Well, y'know, they accepted me not likely to be giving 'em grandkids 'cause there's my brother and sister for that, but I figure if I take you home, they might…" Jared feels the curves of his lips against his shoulder, hears the smile in his voice, "They might forgive me a little more."
Tilting his face just enough to catch Jensen's mouth, Jared murmurs, "'Cause I'm just like having a grandkid?" before brushing his lips against Jensen's. "Yeah, I'll come meet your mom and dad."
:::
They make the travel arrangements in between appointments the very next day. Jared eats fries and drinks milkshake while Jensen phones for tickets and they talk about the best way of explaining to Sam that they've been seeing each other for the last four months.
"She's gonna be pissed as all hell that we didn't tell her, y'know," Jensen says, before stealing one of Jared's fries.
"Yeah but…" Jared flounders a moment, takes a gurgling swallow of shake, and says, "Not like we've actually done anything wrong. Pretty sure it didn't say anywhere in my contract that I had to inform her who I was sleeping with."
Neither of them look particularly convinced that this is going to have any bearing on just how goddamn furious Sam is going to be when they tell her. But they've both agreed that it's time to do this thing and they're not backing down now, because their lives are going to be much simpler when they're not hiding something so big.
Jensen calls her up to say they need to see her some time and Jared doesn't even listen to the conversation until he sees Jensen scribbling an address down on a napkin. From the look on his face, Jensen doesn't appear thrilled with whatever Sam's saying.
"What's up?" he says as soon as the call is finished.
Tossing his cellphone back down onto the table, Jensen sighs and says, "Nick Buxcey called the office. Wants an appointment for this afternoon. So Sam's cancelled the others." He sighs again, more irritably. "God, I could'a done without this."
"So say no."
"Are you kidding? The money he's prepared to pay? Hell no." He looks back down at the napkin and then hands it to Jared. "I don't recognise the address. Don't think it's his own place. Guess we'll find out."
As it turns out, the address is an impressive house tucked away up in the Valley. Even if it's not Nick's property, he's the one who greets them at the door once they're through the gate.
There's something about Nick that always makes Jared think he should be gaunt and brooding. He's not - he's not exactly built but his clothes aren't hanging off him and he's not a particularly quiet guy either; there's a low, booming quality to his voice. Maybe it's the peculiar bone structure of his face that gives Jared that impression, with his sunken eyes and his too-prominent and too-pointed chin.
"Jensen," Nick says. "Come on in."
Another thing that makes him stand out amongst the blur of people who regularly pay to fuck Jensen, is that he never shortens Jensen's name. Never Jen or Jenny, always Jensen. Jared's still working on how he feels about that.
"You wanna wait in the shade?" Nick says, looking to Jared. "You can wait in your car if you're more comfortable, but you're welcome to wait in the living room if you want."
A quick look from Jensen has Jared smiling politely and nodding. "That'd be great, thanks."
In the dim coolness of the entrance hall, Jensen doesn't appear noticeably tense. It's only because Jared knows him so well that he can see the taut set of his shoulders, the carefully schooled expression on his face. Jared's pretty sure the look in his eyes behind his sunglasses is guarded and flat.
There are lots of words Jared can use to describe how he feels about handing Jensen over for other men to fuck. Mostly it's concern and possessiveness. One of those reactions is okay and the other Jared is desperately ashamed of.
Right now, as Nick's got his hand on the small of Jensen's back and is steering him into another room, Jared's finding it hard to keep those feelings tamped down. He has to struggle not to simply reach out, catch Jensen by the wrist and drag him out of there.
Then the door clicks shut and they're both gone, and Jared's still just standing there, hot with rage and jealousy, the worry of what kind of state Nick will leave Jensen in a palpable ache in his belly.
In the room Nick had pointed him to, which overlooks the overly manicured garden, Jared tries to settle and wait it out, but he can’t. The house is silent and still but he finds himself straining to hear anything of Jensen. It's weirdly masochistic to be listening for his boyfriend being fucked by another man, but Jared just wants to know he's okay, just wants some reassurance.
He paces the length of the room and his footfall is oddly muffled. And gradually, as he becomes accustomed to the hush of the house, he begins to make out the thrum of voices and movement. As if called, Jared's drawn out of the room, back to the hallway. His footsteps are a muted click on the tiled floor but there's no abrupt pause in the sounds.
It's wrong, he's aware of that. And if Jensen knew Jared was doing it, he would be absolutely furious. Jared knows how wrong it is and how it's just about the worst idea he's ever had, but he's too caught up in the moment, unable to think of anything beyond hearing what's happening.
His fingers rest on the cool metal of the door handle, his ear brushing the smoothness of the door, and finally he can make out what's being said. Finally, it's perfectly audible what's happening. It's Nick talking, and below his words Jared can hear Jensen's breathing, broken and irregular.
"You know why whores fascinate me?" Nick's saying, collected and conversational. "It's the paradox. So beautiful… and so completely worthless. And you, Jensen… you're the perfect whore."
There's a sudden rustle and Jensen's breath hitches sharply.
"I could make you disappear. They'd never find the pieces of you. I could do it - you know I could, don't you?" Nick's voice drops. A note of intimacy enters his tone. "How much to pay Mr Padalecki to leave without you? One million? Two? You know I could afford it. And who's going to go running to the police when you don't come home? Which of your clients would confess to knowing a whore? None of them would, Jensen. And you know it. They'd all quite happily pretend you never existed, because you don’t matter."
There's a faint, amused chuckle, before Nick says, "Your blindfold's wet. Are you crying, Jensen? You don't want to die, do you?" Another rustle, louder than before, and Nick's voice turns to a hoarse rasp. "Make me stop. You want to live? Fight." The rustling isn't stopping now, irregular and frantic. "Harder. Come on, Jensen, show me you deserve to live."
And suddenly Jared's able to move again, and he is moving. He's got the door open and it takes a split second for him to see the painful angle Jensen's body is twisted in to upon the bed, and Nick's hands cruel on his throat. He's still taking in the details - the folds of the black blindfold tied over Jensen's eyes, the way Nick's wedding ring cuts into Jensen's throat - even as he's hauling Nick bodily away from him, riding him down to the floor as he smashes his fists into any part of him he can get at.
There's too much noise and Jared is only thinking about beating Nick bloody. He registers how his fists are stinging and the muscles in his arms are tight from the force he's putting into each punch. Vaguely, he can hear someone (Jensen) saying his name over and over, he can hear Nick grunting and panting. And he can hear the half-human snarling that is coming from his own mouth.
When he stops, his knuckles are raw and bleeding. Nick isn't moving and Jensen's still pleading and saying his name, an endless loop of Jared, God, Jared please, Jared, like he can't figure out the words for anything else.
Jared's down on his knees, half-straddling Nick, and he turns around awkwardly to face the bed. Jensen's thrashing about frantically on the sheets and for the first time, Jared realises just how helpless Jensen had been: blindfolded, flat on his back, with his arms bound under him. There are gruesome purple-red marks on Jensen's throat from Nick's fingers, and Jared can't stop looking at them.
"Hey, Jen," he says. "I'm here, baby, I got you. S'okay, I got you."
Once the blindfold's off and Jared can see Jensen's eyes - blown pupils, more black than green - he rests Jensen against his chest while he works at untying his wrists. His fingers are numb and shaky but eventually the cord comes loose. A low moan escapes Jensen's lips when he brings his arms round in front of him and Jared wants to touch the ugly bruises on his wrists, smooth them better, but has to content himself with rubbing the circulation back into Jensen's fingers.
Jensen's gaze drops to Jared's hands and his knuckles, where blood is smeared over the split skin. As if coming to, his expression changes from dazed shock to all too sharp horror.
"Jesus Christ, Jared… what have you done?"
On unsteady legs, Jensen stands and moves to Nick's side, dropping with a thud to his knees as he moves his hands over him. Jared can see the exact moment that panic sets in because Jensen starts heaving for breath, shoulders rising and falling too fast. Staggering to his feet, he turns, reaches for his clothes even as he's looking at Jared.
"You need to get out of here. Go to Sam. Tell her everything." His voice is surprisingly level, though rough from being choked. When Jared doesn't move, his face snaps into a dark frown. "Go on! Get the fuck out of here!"
"What about you?"
"Goddamn it, Jared, I can take care of myself!" There's the brutal necklace of bruises where Nick almost strangled him to death to call him a liar so Jared doesn't have to. "I'll try to bring him round. Wait here for the ambulance. But I can't call 911 while you're still here!"
By now, Jensen's got his pants on and is kneeling by Nick's side again. He pointedly refuses to look at Jared as he walks out the door.
part eight