J2AU SUMMER CHALLENGE- H.A.N.A.B.I.
Title: Even though I stretch out my hand, it doesn't reach.
Rating: PG-15 (for swearing mostly.)
Disclaimer: FAKE. ALL FAKE.
Summary: Jared visits Chad in Dallas and meets this blond guy.
Word Count: 19 248
Notes: Just to say, the mention of the word 'lolita' isn't about the book- it's the fashion. My song was H.A.N.A.B.I. by Alice Nine and therefore the story has Japaese fashion as well as music put into it.
Credit: To akatsuki.wareta.net/a9/ for the lyrics translation.
Jared stumbles into Dallas as if he wasn’t living in Texas all his life. To be honest, Dallas ain’t that much different from San Antonio. The people and buildings are different, unfamiliar but they all look at him the same, as if he hadn’t come from a different city but rather, a whole different universe.
Sure, Jared has to admit that he wasn’t the most normal looking guy there is. But he can’t help it if his preference in music and clothing isn’t up to conforming standards. What he’s wearing is pretty casual and low-down, compared to what he usually wears, a pair of black jeans, his black tee and his black and red converse.
Receiving another weird look, Jared bites on his bottom lip in concern and embarrassment, tongue playing with the metal ring curving around and through his flesh. Even though he isn’t at all embarrassed or ashamed of his clothing choices, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t feel the prickle of heat at the base of his neck, climbing its way up his cheeks- it’s a natural reaction, no matter how many times he’s been through this.
Shrugging the strap of his duffel up higher on his shoulder, Jared gets the courage to ask for directions to the mall. The teenage girl he encounters smiles wide and doesn’t at all seem judgement of his appearance, and that’s when he introduces himself.
“Hi, I’m Jared,” he says, wide smiles and dimples. The girl smiles sweetly up at him, reminding him of Megan, before she says, “I’m Mackenzie.”
It turns out she’s on her way to the mall, meeting up with a couple of girlfriends, and so Jared tags along with her.
“So, Jared, do you always dress like this?” she asks, in pure curiosity. “Um, mainly, yeah. But this is pretty low down compared to, y’know, my other stuff,” he explains, running a hand through his brown hair, a section of it bleached a platinum blond.
“It’s more of an Eastern gothic/punk look, right?”she asks, tilting her head and Jared smiles wide, nodding. “I’m more influenced by the Japanese gothic/punk look and their rock bands, they’re really awesome. Such an inspiration,” he breathes, ready to rattle on with all the information he knows to prove how truly awesome the Japanese are but Mackenzie just bursts into full speed ahead, yelling her lungs out.
Jared turns around to see her launching herself at a group of girls who catches her with smiles and laughter. He guesses they’re at the mall now, since Mackenzie met her group of girlfriends. Facing the building, he’s about to walk in when Mackenzie latches onto his arm.
“Girls, this Jared. He’s new to the town,” she introduces, turning him around to look at her friends. “Hi Jared, I’m Michelle,” says the brunette, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m Kim,” says an Asian girl, black hair curling around her jaw. “And I’m Ashley, welcome to Dallas,” finishes the red head pulling him into a hug.
“So Jared, we’re at the mall. Do you need somewhere to be? Someone to meet? We can help you find your way faster,” offers Mackenzie and Jared hesitates a bit before replying, he can’t possibly ask her for more help, that wouldn’t be very-
“Oh, it wouldn’t be any problem at all,” says Ashley, touching his wrist with her fingertips, batting her eyelashes at him flirtatiously. “Ashley!” hisses Mackenzie, elbowing her in the side before smiling innocently at him.
“No, it’s okay. I’m just looking for a store. Wouldn’t want to interrupt your day, girls. I’ll be seeing you around, yeah?” he says, walking away from them. Mackenzie frowns but offers a wave before elbowing her friends again.
“God, what a weirdo!” exclaims Michelle as he walks away. “Did you see how he’s dressed? What is he? A scene kid? Emo much? Mackenzie! Where did you meet him!?”
Jared sighs softly under his breath before walking through the automatic sliding doors, feeling the air conditioned interior air blowing past him, relieving him of the summer heat. It didn’t take all that long to find the store he wanted to see, and when he walked in, he was ambushed by a large figure on his back.
“JAAAAREEEEED!”
“Augh, get off me, Chad!” he yelps, flailing and grabbing onto his best friend’s clothes to try and yank him off. Chad eventually climbs down from Jared, the sole of his boots settled on the floor. Jared takes a look at his best friend and grimaces at his dress taste.
“Dude, I can’t believe you work at Hot Topic. It’s totally not allowed!” he whines, pulling on Chad’s tight black shirt. “It is totally allowed, and I am working here. Geez, Jay, stop being an elitist and just buy something! Grab a pair of skinnys or a pair of boots, they’re on sale~ 20% off!” laughs Chad, jumping over the counter so that he stands behind it.
“Hey Chadster, hook me up with these,” says a brunette, placing a pile of clothes on the counter. “Anything for you, Sophia,” grins Chad and Jared rolls his eyes, seeing the way his friend swoons over the mere sight of women.
Jared’s damn glad he isn’t going to be influenced by any power of any women, unless it was his mom, using her power through her wooden spoon and menacing glares.
Jared shivers at the thought before looking back at his friend. “Chad,” he says, trying to capture his friend attention but to no avail.
Jared doesn’t have a pair of tits to wave around in hopes of getting his friend’s attention, nor does he want them, but having a pair comes in handy when it comes to Chad.
Finally, his friend gets all the clothes read up and into the Hot Topic plastic bag, charging Sophia for the amount of only thirty bucks for what looks like an at least one hundred dollar dress and some more. When she leaves, Jared smacks the back of Chad’s head.
“Dude, I’m surprised you haven’t been fired already! What was that? At least tell me she slipped your her number or something, man,” he scolds but Chad just gives him a grin and a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, Jay, more stops like that and I’m bound to get her number.”
God, Jared feels like bashing his head against the counter, repeatedly.
“Okay, I’m not even going to justify that with a comment. Just- when is your shift ending, man,” he asks exasperatedly, cocking his hip and putting his right hand on it. “I don’t end til 3 oh-clock, Jay. Come back in an hour and a half, we’ll drop at my place.”
“Dude! Just give me your car keys or your apartment keys, and let me go by myself!” whines Jared, flicking a strand of blond hair out of his face.
At that, Chad cocks an eyebrow. “No way am I letting you into my house alone, and no way am I letting you in my car alone. Tough it out, go pick up some chicks or some dicks, there’s a whole mall to explore.”
Jared grumbles and hefts his bag back on his shoulder. He walks out of freaking Hot Topic and hauls ass to the food section to grab a bite to eat. The people sitting down stare at him while he walks past; grumbling under his breath about no good friends so he doesn’t notice their pointed looks, amused stares or downright disgusted glares.
McDonalds seem to be a good choice about now, especially with the burgers that Jared can eat at least four of in one sitting. An ice cream sundae or five might even make the day seem better.
When Jared sits down with his order of three large big Mac meals with two strawberry ice creams and four apple pies, he realises he does feel better. He shoves a couple of fries into his mouth as he scrounges around in his bag, looking for his old school Sony MD player and finding it in its little, grey cotton case behind his H.Naoto shirt.
Jared wipes his fingers on a wad of tissues before taking his MD out of its case and flipping it open to see which disc he has in it. Seeing that it’s the red one, the Alice Nine one, he pushes it close and puts on his headphones, flicking the player on.
The thrumming of guitars meets his ears in a wave that calms his nerves and allows him to start eating his food. It’s now that Jared feels the tingle of looks from other people, running from the base of his spine crawling up to his neck. He does his best to eat, willing people to mind their own business and just stop staring at him.
Through the burger and the sundaes, Jared gets sick of the stares and stops trying to pull his height in so that he’d stop attracting more attention. He throws away his rubbish away and walks off, still feeling a few stares directed at his back.
This is why he hates malls, they’re so crowded which leaves no space at all in between people so that it’s more noticeable when they’re staring at him.
Jared sees the entrance to the mall and sighs in relief when he gets hit with the hot Texas heat and sees the wide open space of the city.
“What the fu- shit! Thief!” echoes a shout and Jared whips his head around because he recognises that voice. True to his thoughts, Mackenzie is on the ground nursing her arms with Ashley and Michelle crowding her in concern, and she’s shouting in one direction where Jared can see Kim running full speed ahead of her.
Jared rushes to Mackenzie, helps her up and drops his bag beside her feet before he takes off as well, following what little he can see and recognise of Kim while his long legs eat up the distance between them. Soon enough he’s by her side and he doesn’t even need to ask anything because she points ahead of her at a man in his forties wearing a faded red plaid shirt clutching something to his front, running away from them.
“Hey! Stop! Thief!” he shouts after the man, patting Kim swiftly on the shoulder and he runs pass her, willing his legs to go faster and faster. The man whips his head around at Jared’s voice, eyes widening when he sees Jared eating up the distance between them, as well at what he’s wearing- probably.
With a quick calculation, Jared estimates a safe distance for him to tackle the guy down and does so. They both fall to the ground, and while the man is a thief, Jared doesn’t want anyone to get hurt and so turns them around to he has a hold on the man while they hit the ground with a thud, weight resting on Jared’s back.
The man instantly tries to struggle as soon as his shock wears off but by that time Jared has the handbag in his hands and an arm around the man’s waist. Kim catches up a couple of minutes later, flipping her phone out instantly to call the cops but the man suddenly elbows Jared in the stomach, making his drop to his knees.
Kim swears at the man, moving to run after him but Jared catches her ankle and shakes his head.
“Let him go,” he says, wheezing lightly. “Let him go!?” repeats Kim, snarling. “He just hurt you and attempted to steal Kenzie’s bag! He deserves to go to jail!” Jared shakes his head and passes her the mentioned bag. He rubs his stomach with a small pout on his face and she scoffs, offering him her hand.
“I don’t think-” he starts, knowing that her small figure wouldn’t be able to handle half his weight but she snaps her gum at him, waving her hand about. Reluctantly, he takes her hand and lifts himself up at the same time Kim pulls him up. Surprisingly, he goes up fast and she lets go of his hand when he’s managed to stop staggering about.
“Well, c’mon. Let’s go back to Kenz, Ash and Mish. They’re probably worrying their heads off by now,” mumbles Kim and she swaggers off with Jared walking slowly behind her. As they get closer to the mall, Jared could see the cluster of Mackenzie and her friends, including a new figure.
A male figure.
“Hey, Kenz. Your knight in shining armour got your bag back- even though I was capable of getting him on my own,” says Kim, hugging her friend and passing the bag back.
“Oh my God, oh thank you so much Jared,” cries Mackenzie, pulling away from her friend to attach herself to his front, small arms winding around his neck.
Jared pats her back awkwardly smiling but freezes when the male figure turns around to glare at him with deep green eyes.
Uh oh. This could be the boyfriend.
“Uhm,” starts Jared, pulling her arms from around his neck, “it’s really no biggie, Mackenzie. I do what I can to help,” he says and she wipes her eyes, nodding.
“Kenzie,” says the stranger, moving forward to put a protective arm around Mackenzie’s shoulders, to which she turns around and hugs him. Kim passes Jared his bag, arms not showing any signs of weakness as she holds the heavy bulk and Jared thanks her quietly, heaving it up on to his shoulders. Just as he’s about to leave, a hand is on his bicep, holding him back.
“Hey man, thanks for getting Kenzie back her handbag.”
Jared turns around to face the guy Mackenzie was hugging, and a slow heat crawls up his cheek because damn, this guy is way hot. Like, let me take you home and show you how many ways I can make you orgasm without touching you hot. And Jared totally wants the guy to take him home and show him that.
Snapping out of his reverie, Jared smiles shyly, sure that his cheeks are red by now and mutters a ‘no problem’ to the guy. He moves to shake the guy’s grip and walk off but the guy doesn’t let go. He’s about to protest- okay, maybe question why the guy is still holding onto him when Mackenzie speaks up.
“Jensen, you can let go of Jared now. God, you’re so overprotective!” she sighs, pulling on Jensen’s arm and the hold loosens. “I am so sorry about my brother, Jared. He’s like this to every guy that knows me.” Mackenzie rolls her eyes and crosses her arms while Jensen doesn’t say anything.
“You’re her brother?” asks Jared in relief, because okay, now he sees the resemblances with the same blond-brown hair, green eyes and absolutely adorable smattering of freckles. He cuffs Jensen one on the shoulder before daringly swinging an arm around those shoulders.
“Don’t sweat it, man. Got a lil’ sister of my own. Never let her out of my sight! Scare off all the guys round her as well, mm hmm,” smirks Jared and he feels Jensen stiffen a little under his touch before he chuckles.
“See, Kenz? ‘M not the only anal brother around.”
Mackenzie makes a face at the comment and Jensen faces him again, sliding out from underneath his arm to give him an assessing stare. “So you ain’t Kenzie’s boyfriend?” he asks, eyes squinting at him like if Jensen squinted hard enough, he’ll be able to delve into Jared’s mind and expose every secret in him.
“Jeez, Jenny! You think I’m that easy? Just met the guy today!” protests Mackenzie, smacking her brother on the shoulder from behind. Jensen looks up at him with surprised eyes, then turns around to look at her with the same eyes.
“This guy a stranger?” he asks, clearly angry.
“No! He’s Jared! He’s not from around here, but yes, he’s from Texas. He’s into eastern culture, especially the punk/gothic scene and I’m pretty sure he hates the way you’re looking at him like he’s some kind of freak because of his clothing choice,” bites Mackenzie, challenging Jensen’s glare with her own.
After a second, Jensen backs down and says in a soft tone, “I don’t think he’s a freak. Everyone’s entitled to their own style and interests.” He turns around to look at Jared with an apologetic look on his face and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Look, thanks again for saving my sister’s bag. How bout we take you to eat as a thank you?”
Jared immediately starts to shake his head in protest. “No, it’s all right. It was nothing, really. I mean, even if I wasn’t here I’m sure Kim could’ve caught him,” he says, looking at Kim who shakes her head.
“I probably couldn’t have. I mean, he was pretty fast and Jared has real long legs that caught up real easy...”
Jared curses her in his head, spotting her smirk and looks up at Jensen’s face.
“Then it’s settled then. We’ll take ya to eat, I’m sure ma wouldn’t mind meeting the guy that saved baby Kenzie’s wittle purse,” laughs Jensen, squeezing his shoulder before letting go. “We usually eat dinner around six, it’s three now-”
“Oh, it’s three already?” interrupts Jared, hand digging into his pocket, rummaging about to pull his phone out and flipping it open to reveal that it was five to three. “Oh, I gotta go. I’m meeting someone and-” Jared catches the slightly fallen look in Jensen’s face and bites his bottom lip, tongue fiddling with the silver lip ring. He catches Jensen’s eyes flickering down to his mouth and with a slow movement he lets go of his bottom lip to let his tongue swipe over the ring.
“Oh, Jared. How about we give you our address and you can swing on by? Please? It’ll be fun, mama’s cooking is really good! This is the least I can do to thank you, really. My bag has all my cards and money in it and just- please?” pleads Mackenzie, stealing Jensen’s attention away from his mouth.
“Oh, um, okay. Okay,” says Jared, looking at Jensen’s face to try and gauge the man’s reaction to his agreement but nothing. Mackenzie grabs his phone and enters her details into it with swift movements over his keypad. When she gives him back his phone, she leans up close to his ear and whispers, “I put everything down under Jensen Ackles, got his number and our address under it,” before she pulls away with a smile.
Jared’s cheeks grow red again and he stuffs his phone back into his pocket. He mumbles goodbyes and stumbles back into the mall, letting the cool air try to cool down the heat on his face. Chad’s standing in front of Hot Topic, twirling his keys on his fore finger and scowls at him when he spots him.
“Where were you man? Been waiting forever!” he complains, fingers closing over his keys mid-twirl. He gives Jared a raised eyebrow before shrugging, slotting his keys back into his pocket. “Whatever, I don’t want to know. Let’s go, gigantor.”
-
At five, Jared’s freaking out in Chad’s apartment, pulling all his clothes, which were folded neatly in his luggage, and placing it everywhere in the living room, draping things over Chad and the couch.
“Man, why are you freaking for? Its dinner as a thank you, not some kind of date and-” Chad gives him that squinty look, like he’s fake thinking but is actually thinking for real.
“There’s someone hot in the family, isn’t there? Is it the chick? Is that why you got her bag back? No? Can’t be her friends, from what it sounds like they’re not invited to the dinner...
“Dude, the brother? You mackin’ on the brother?”
Chad bursts into laughter when Jared’s cheeks burn up and he sets his mouth into a pout.
“I’m not ‘macking’- whatever that is - on anybody, okay? It’s just... so he’s a little good looking,” Hot, like ‘let me take you home and show you how many ways I can make you orgasm without touching you’ hot to be exact and word for word on Jared’s first thought of Jensen.
Chad laughs so hard he falls to the ground, gasping, “Oh my God! ‘Make you orgasm without touching you’ hot?”
Uh oh, did he say that out loud? Fuck.
Chad bangs his fist on his little coffee table three times, shaking in silent laughter before standing up, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.
“Okay, Jay-man, let’s get you dressed up for this hot brother,” he says with a smirk set on his face, and then delves through the mess of clothes strewn everywhere.
Forty minutes later, Jared has a black button down on with the sleeves rolled up. It’d be a casual business shirt if it didn’t look like someone had taken the liberty of grabbing a paintbrush and white paint to draw two cartoon wings on the back, applying the paint so thickly that it had fat rivulets of stark white paint dripping from them, against the black material. Faded grey skinny jeans hugs Jared’s long legs just right, the colour being on the whiter side of grey than the dark.
His friend stands back to give him a once-over and tuts, diving back into Jared’s clothes and pulls out a grey skinny tie. He makes quick work of knotting it around Jared’s neck and standing back again to look at him. A grin breaks on his face and he says, “Jeez, I’m fucking good at this shit.”
Jared rolls his eyes and takes a quick look at himself in Chad’s full-length mirror that hangs in the hallway. He has to admit, Chad did a good job on the clothes selection. It’s not over the top punk but it’s not casual enough to be read as ‘normal clothes’.
“Are you doing your hair man? Some make-up shit? Cause y’know, I’m good at doing that too,” grins Chad but Jared shakes his head, running his fingers through his hair. “I think that would be too over the top, I mean, it’s his parents, um, his family. You know, I don’t want to scare them away or anything.”
Chad raises an eyebrow that matches the grin he’s wearing but doesn’t say anything. He just snaps the magazine he’s been holding (upside down, mind you, he was just holding it for appearance sakes but to appeal to who, Jared doesn’t know) and grabs his keys from the coffee table.
“Well let’s go then, I’ll drive you to your man’s house.”
Jared smacks Chad upside the head as they walk out the apartment. “He is not my man! He isn’t my anything, ya douche.”
“But you want him to be~” sing-songs Chad, pulling back from Jared’s outstretched arm and ducking into the car as soon as the alarm beeps off. Jared grumbles and slides into the passenger seat, knees knocking into the glove box.
“Oi, watch it Pippy long-legs,” scowls Chad, rubbing the abused area before reversing out onto the main road. Jared mutters under his breath about idiots favouring their stupid cars over their best friends, and fidgets in his seat which results with his knees knocking the glove box again.
“Why don’t you stop hurting my car and tell me where this place is, hmm?”
Jared rolls his eyes but grabs his phone from his pocket, scrolling through his contacts and reads out the address.
In ten minutes they arrive in front of a gorgeous two story house that makes Jared ache for his own back in San Antonio.
Jesus, it hasn’t been a full day yet and he’s already missing home.
“Here ya go, Jay. Be careful now, okay? Don’t do what I wouldn’t do!” says Chad as Jared gets out of the car.
“Dude, I wouldn’t want to do what you do do. Heh, I said ‘doo doo’.” Chad rolls his eyes and gestures for Jared to shut the passenger door so that he can drive off but somehow, the brunet can’t.
“Dude, close the door,” says Chad but Jared licks his lips and looks at his friend with his puppy-dog eyes.
“Oh, for God’s sakes!” complains Chad, rolling his eyes and he puts his car in park, turning off the engine. The blond gets out of the car, and pulls Jared away from the door, closing it. He then proceeds to pull his friend up the front lawn and the stairs until they’re in front of the double door entrance, pressing the door bell.
Jared bites his lip ring nervously while Chad taps his foot impatiently on the wooden planks of the front veranda. The door opens to reveal a woman with brown hair brushing her shoulders and an apron on declaring she is the ‘World’s Best Mum Chef’.
“Oh, hello,” she greets, staring at them both. Chad gives her a warm smile, and gives Jared a push forward. “Hi, ma’am. This here is my friend, Jared Padalecki, he’s the one who s-”
“Jared! You came!”
The three turn to see Mackenzie bound down the stairs and leap at Jared, arms twining around his neck. “Woah, girl,” laughs Jared, putting his hand on her waist to steady her, so that they don’t both stumble and fall. Mackenzie just grins at him then lets go, turning to her mum.
“Mama, this is the friend I told you I invited to dinner,” she says, pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear.
“Oh well then, hello dears,” says the mother, looking at him then at Chad. Chad puts his hands up in innocence, like he’s got nothing to do with the situation and leaves after patting Jared on the shoulder, murmuring ‘nice to meet you’ to the ladies.
Minutes after Chad’s driven away, Jensen comes to the door, raising an eyebrow at the party.
“What’re y’all doing out here? Are you done cooking, ma?” he asks which snaps his mother back into reality, and she gives Jared a warm smile before walking off to the kitchen.
With just him and Mackenzie out in the front, Jensen leans on the door frame.
“Don’t y’all think you should come in? It’s pretty hot out there.”
Mackenzie nods and grabs Jared’s arm, pulling him into the house as Jensen closes the front door.
“Wow, it smells good,” says Jared, inhaling the air deeply and Jensen laughs. “Didn’t Kenz tell ya our ma could cook? C’mon, away from the kitchen for you, big boy.”
The siblings take him into another room with plush sofas and a massive TV screen.
“Thanks for coming Jared and thanks again for saving my bag,” says Mackenzie with a wide smile on her face, nudging her brother to sit beside Jared while she takes the side couch.
There’s a rattling of keys at the front door, and they turn to see two men walk into the house.
“Hey Jenny, hey Kenzie- oh and, hello guest,” greets the younger of the two men, grinning at them. “Boyfriend?” he asks cheerfully and Mackenzie turns red. “No! Jeez, brothers! If I ever do get another boyfriend, I am certainly not bringing them around you two!” she yells, making her brothers laugh.
“Joshua, Jensen, stop teasing your sister,” says the other man, whom Jared presumes is the father. He takes a good look at Jared then looks at Mackenzie.
“Jeez, Kenzie. You’re boyfriends get more different and different each time.”
Jensen and his brother roar in laughter while Mackenzie rolls her eyes and stomps away.
“Well, hey there guest, the name’s Joshua, y’all can call me Josh.”
Jared stands up from his seat and takes his hand, smiling. “I’m Jared, nice to meet you,” he says and Josh just stares up at him which makes him a little uncomfortable as if there’s something wrong with him- and Jared guess there is since he’s fashion-
“Damn, you’re taller than me, man. Where ya come from?” questions Josh, shaking his hand firmly before letting go and taking a seat opposite him.
“San Antonio, I’ve just swung by here to spend the summer break with my friend,” says Jared, taking his seat again.
“Ah, summer break, which should mean you’re in college. I remember my college days,” smiles Josh with a touch of wistfulness. Jared smiles politely back, eyes flickering towards Jensen who’s been staying quiet during the whole ordeal. He doesn’t even seem to notice Jared staring, just looking straight ahead of himself, lost in his own world.
“So, Jared, what’re you studying?” asks Josh, stealing Jared’s attention away from Jensen.
“Oh, um, I’m in UTSA for art,” mumbles Jared, embarrassed.
Of all things to talk about, talking about what he studies in college isn’t one of them. Being able to draw isn’t embarrassing for him, but the subject is seen as one of the more... unimportant ones compared to law and medicine.
“Boys, dinner!” calls out their mom, interrupting the conversation and the brothers stand up straight away, moving out of the room, leaving Jared to stay seated on the sofa. Jensen stops and looks back, rolling his eyes. He catches Jared’s sleeve and drags him along, which makes warmth pool in Jared’s stomach at the small gesture.
Everyone is settled at the table, Josh and Mackenzie on one side, Jared and Jensen on the other as their parents take a seat at both ends.
It turns out their mom loves Jared to bits, saying that she used to be a bit of a punk in her younger years which had all three siblings with eyes wide opened. She praised teenage culture and their creative fashion, saying she’s seen a few similar styles in the school she teaches.
She was also very impressed at Jared being an art student, “I adore art, if I wasn’t an English teacher then I’d definitely would think about teaching art history or something akin to that.” They had a discussion on artists like Munch and Pollock before Mackenzie made little noises to show her lack of interest.
“Always the baby brat,” chides Josh, elbowing her side. “I’m not a brat, Josh! I just think we should change to another topic- did anyone catch the latest episode of that America’s Next Top Model show?” she asks and Josh blows a raspberry at it.
“Well how about this for a change of topic,” pipes in Jensen, breaking his quiet phase. “Momma, guess how long Kenzie’s known Jared? They apparently met this morning.”
“Jensen!” shouts Mackenzie from across the table, flinging a pea at her brother. Jared’s face grows warm and he tries to slink down in his seat.
“Just this morning? Goodness me,” says their mom, eyeing Jared warily now.
“Ma! It ain’t like that, I swear. Jared’s new here, and he wanted someone to show him the mall and then some dickhead-”
“Language Kenzie,” scolds her father.
“Sorry pa, some idiot stole my Louis Vuitton bag and Jared got it back for me! Jensen totally insisted that he comes for dinner as a thank you!”
“It was nothing really, I desisted a thank you dinner,” murmurs Jared, cheeks red and his body was almost halfway off the seat as his shoulders tried disappearing underneath the table.
“Idiot,” mumbles Jensen, somewhat affectionately, grabbing his arm and pulling him up right on his seat.
“Just joshing, Kenzie. Take a breather. Don’t worry ma, I’ve interrogated Jared already, he’s safe. Not Mackenzie’s boyfriend either- so she says.”
Josh and Jensen burst into laughter again when Mackenzie growls at them
“Oh, well, thank you Jared for getting my little girl’s bag for her. That girl can’t live without the thing, her whole life is practically stored in it,” beams their mom and Jared blushes.
“Really, it’s no trouble at all, ma’am,” says Jared, “You’re cooking was more than enough as a thank you. You’re a real good cook, ma’am.”
“Oh Jared, none of that nonsense, please. Just call me Donna, Mama Ackles if you desist on the previous.”
“Oh, okay. Um, thank you, Mama Ackles.”
“Now, you boys can run alone since dinner is finished. I’ll just pack this up and then we can have some ice cream. Cookies and cream sound good dear?” asks Donna, smiling at Jared.
“It sounds real good, Mama Ackles,” he replies, getting up at the same time Jensen and Josh does, moving to collect the plates.
“Oh no dear, that’s all right, I can get it,” fusses Donna, grabbing the plates Jared’s holding. She then ushers him out of the room and from there Josh and Jensen drag him into another to play games.
The night kept going on even though the women turned into their rooms around eight thirty, the men brought out the beer. Then the father- “Alan or Papa Ackles,” he said jokingly- turned in and finally Josh.
Though before he left, he leaned close to Jensen’s ear, whispering words that made Jensen flinch away from him.
Jared was left soaking the summer heat under the stars with Jensen on his back porch.
“So, Jensen, um, what do you do?” asks Jared, trying not to do the fidgety thing he always does when he gets nervous or embarrassed. Jensen looks like he didn’t even hear Jared at all as he keeps his head tilted up, eyes lazily watching the stars.
It takes minutes before Jensen stirs, tilting his head in Jared’s direction to mumble something about graduate school and Master of Science in sport health before he goes quiet, staring back up into the sky.
They stay there for a while, the heat creeping up on them like a large blanket, the stars winking at them like a lullaby and Jared falls asleep lying on the back porch.
[ Part 2 ]
Rating: PG-15 (for swearing mostly.)
Disclaimer: FAKE. ALL FAKE.
Summary: Jared visits Chad in Dallas and meets this blond guy.
Word Count: 19 248
Notes: Just to say, the mention of the word 'lolita' isn't about the book- it's the fashion. My song was H.A.N.A.B.I. by Alice Nine and therefore the story has Japaese fashion as well as music put into it.
Credit: To akatsuki.wareta.net/a9/ for the lyrics translation.
Jared stumbles into Dallas as if he wasn’t living in Texas all his life. To be honest, Dallas ain’t that much different from San Antonio. The people and buildings are different, unfamiliar but they all look at him the same, as if he hadn’t come from a different city but rather, a whole different universe.
Sure, Jared has to admit that he wasn’t the most normal looking guy there is. But he can’t help it if his preference in music and clothing isn’t up to conforming standards. What he’s wearing is pretty casual and low-down, compared to what he usually wears, a pair of black jeans, his black tee and his black and red converse.
Receiving another weird look, Jared bites on his bottom lip in concern and embarrassment, tongue playing with the metal ring curving around and through his flesh. Even though he isn’t at all embarrassed or ashamed of his clothing choices, it doesn’t mean that he doesn’t feel the prickle of heat at the base of his neck, climbing its way up his cheeks- it’s a natural reaction, no matter how many times he’s been through this.
Shrugging the strap of his duffel up higher on his shoulder, Jared gets the courage to ask for directions to the mall. The teenage girl he encounters smiles wide and doesn’t at all seem judgement of his appearance, and that’s when he introduces himself.
“Hi, I’m Jared,” he says, wide smiles and dimples. The girl smiles sweetly up at him, reminding him of Megan, before she says, “I’m Mackenzie.”
It turns out she’s on her way to the mall, meeting up with a couple of girlfriends, and so Jared tags along with her.
“So, Jared, do you always dress like this?” she asks, in pure curiosity. “Um, mainly, yeah. But this is pretty low down compared to, y’know, my other stuff,” he explains, running a hand through his brown hair, a section of it bleached a platinum blond.
“It’s more of an Eastern gothic/punk look, right?”she asks, tilting her head and Jared smiles wide, nodding. “I’m more influenced by the Japanese gothic/punk look and their rock bands, they’re really awesome. Such an inspiration,” he breathes, ready to rattle on with all the information he knows to prove how truly awesome the Japanese are but Mackenzie just bursts into full speed ahead, yelling her lungs out.
Jared turns around to see her launching herself at a group of girls who catches her with smiles and laughter. He guesses they’re at the mall now, since Mackenzie met her group of girlfriends. Facing the building, he’s about to walk in when Mackenzie latches onto his arm.
“Girls, this Jared. He’s new to the town,” she introduces, turning him around to look at her friends. “Hi Jared, I’m Michelle,” says the brunette, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m Kim,” says an Asian girl, black hair curling around her jaw. “And I’m Ashley, welcome to Dallas,” finishes the red head pulling him into a hug.
“So Jared, we’re at the mall. Do you need somewhere to be? Someone to meet? We can help you find your way faster,” offers Mackenzie and Jared hesitates a bit before replying, he can’t possibly ask her for more help, that wouldn’t be very-
“Oh, it wouldn’t be any problem at all,” says Ashley, touching his wrist with her fingertips, batting her eyelashes at him flirtatiously. “Ashley!” hisses Mackenzie, elbowing her in the side before smiling innocently at him.
“No, it’s okay. I’m just looking for a store. Wouldn’t want to interrupt your day, girls. I’ll be seeing you around, yeah?” he says, walking away from them. Mackenzie frowns but offers a wave before elbowing her friends again.
“God, what a weirdo!” exclaims Michelle as he walks away. “Did you see how he’s dressed? What is he? A scene kid? Emo much? Mackenzie! Where did you meet him!?”
Jared sighs softly under his breath before walking through the automatic sliding doors, feeling the air conditioned interior air blowing past him, relieving him of the summer heat. It didn’t take all that long to find the store he wanted to see, and when he walked in, he was ambushed by a large figure on his back.
“JAAAAREEEEED!”
“Augh, get off me, Chad!” he yelps, flailing and grabbing onto his best friend’s clothes to try and yank him off. Chad eventually climbs down from Jared, the sole of his boots settled on the floor. Jared takes a look at his best friend and grimaces at his dress taste.
“Dude, I can’t believe you work at Hot Topic. It’s totally not allowed!” he whines, pulling on Chad’s tight black shirt. “It is totally allowed, and I am working here. Geez, Jay, stop being an elitist and just buy something! Grab a pair of skinnys or a pair of boots, they’re on sale~ 20% off!” laughs Chad, jumping over the counter so that he stands behind it.
“Hey Chadster, hook me up with these,” says a brunette, placing a pile of clothes on the counter. “Anything for you, Sophia,” grins Chad and Jared rolls his eyes, seeing the way his friend swoons over the mere sight of women.
Jared’s damn glad he isn’t going to be influenced by any power of any women, unless it was his mom, using her power through her wooden spoon and menacing glares.
Jared shivers at the thought before looking back at his friend. “Chad,” he says, trying to capture his friend attention but to no avail.
Jared doesn’t have a pair of tits to wave around in hopes of getting his friend’s attention, nor does he want them, but having a pair comes in handy when it comes to Chad.
Finally, his friend gets all the clothes read up and into the Hot Topic plastic bag, charging Sophia for the amount of only thirty bucks for what looks like an at least one hundred dollar dress and some more. When she leaves, Jared smacks the back of Chad’s head.
“Dude, I’m surprised you haven’t been fired already! What was that? At least tell me she slipped your her number or something, man,” he scolds but Chad just gives him a grin and a thumbs up. “Don’t worry, Jay, more stops like that and I’m bound to get her number.”
God, Jared feels like bashing his head against the counter, repeatedly.
“Okay, I’m not even going to justify that with a comment. Just- when is your shift ending, man,” he asks exasperatedly, cocking his hip and putting his right hand on it. “I don’t end til 3 oh-clock, Jay. Come back in an hour and a half, we’ll drop at my place.”
“Dude! Just give me your car keys or your apartment keys, and let me go by myself!” whines Jared, flicking a strand of blond hair out of his face.
At that, Chad cocks an eyebrow. “No way am I letting you into my house alone, and no way am I letting you in my car alone. Tough it out, go pick up some chicks or some dicks, there’s a whole mall to explore.”
Jared grumbles and hefts his bag back on his shoulder. He walks out of freaking Hot Topic and hauls ass to the food section to grab a bite to eat. The people sitting down stare at him while he walks past; grumbling under his breath about no good friends so he doesn’t notice their pointed looks, amused stares or downright disgusted glares.
McDonalds seem to be a good choice about now, especially with the burgers that Jared can eat at least four of in one sitting. An ice cream sundae or five might even make the day seem better.
When Jared sits down with his order of three large big Mac meals with two strawberry ice creams and four apple pies, he realises he does feel better. He shoves a couple of fries into his mouth as he scrounges around in his bag, looking for his old school Sony MD player and finding it in its little, grey cotton case behind his H.Naoto shirt.
Jared wipes his fingers on a wad of tissues before taking his MD out of its case and flipping it open to see which disc he has in it. Seeing that it’s the red one, the Alice Nine one, he pushes it close and puts on his headphones, flicking the player on.
The thrumming of guitars meets his ears in a wave that calms his nerves and allows him to start eating his food. It’s now that Jared feels the tingle of looks from other people, running from the base of his spine crawling up to his neck. He does his best to eat, willing people to mind their own business and just stop staring at him.
Through the burger and the sundaes, Jared gets sick of the stares and stops trying to pull his height in so that he’d stop attracting more attention. He throws away his rubbish away and walks off, still feeling a few stares directed at his back.
This is why he hates malls, they’re so crowded which leaves no space at all in between people so that it’s more noticeable when they’re staring at him.
Jared sees the entrance to the mall and sighs in relief when he gets hit with the hot Texas heat and sees the wide open space of the city.
“What the fu- shit! Thief!” echoes a shout and Jared whips his head around because he recognises that voice. True to his thoughts, Mackenzie is on the ground nursing her arms with Ashley and Michelle crowding her in concern, and she’s shouting in one direction where Jared can see Kim running full speed ahead of her.
Jared rushes to Mackenzie, helps her up and drops his bag beside her feet before he takes off as well, following what little he can see and recognise of Kim while his long legs eat up the distance between them. Soon enough he’s by her side and he doesn’t even need to ask anything because she points ahead of her at a man in his forties wearing a faded red plaid shirt clutching something to his front, running away from them.
“Hey! Stop! Thief!” he shouts after the man, patting Kim swiftly on the shoulder and he runs pass her, willing his legs to go faster and faster. The man whips his head around at Jared’s voice, eyes widening when he sees Jared eating up the distance between them, as well at what he’s wearing- probably.
With a quick calculation, Jared estimates a safe distance for him to tackle the guy down and does so. They both fall to the ground, and while the man is a thief, Jared doesn’t want anyone to get hurt and so turns them around to he has a hold on the man while they hit the ground with a thud, weight resting on Jared’s back.
The man instantly tries to struggle as soon as his shock wears off but by that time Jared has the handbag in his hands and an arm around the man’s waist. Kim catches up a couple of minutes later, flipping her phone out instantly to call the cops but the man suddenly elbows Jared in the stomach, making his drop to his knees.
Kim swears at the man, moving to run after him but Jared catches her ankle and shakes his head.
“Let him go,” he says, wheezing lightly. “Let him go!?” repeats Kim, snarling. “He just hurt you and attempted to steal Kenzie’s bag! He deserves to go to jail!” Jared shakes his head and passes her the mentioned bag. He rubs his stomach with a small pout on his face and she scoffs, offering him her hand.
“I don’t think-” he starts, knowing that her small figure wouldn’t be able to handle half his weight but she snaps her gum at him, waving her hand about. Reluctantly, he takes her hand and lifts himself up at the same time Kim pulls him up. Surprisingly, he goes up fast and she lets go of his hand when he’s managed to stop staggering about.
“Well, c’mon. Let’s go back to Kenz, Ash and Mish. They’re probably worrying their heads off by now,” mumbles Kim and she swaggers off with Jared walking slowly behind her. As they get closer to the mall, Jared could see the cluster of Mackenzie and her friends, including a new figure.
A male figure.
“Hey, Kenz. Your knight in shining armour got your bag back- even though I was capable of getting him on my own,” says Kim, hugging her friend and passing the bag back.
“Oh my God, oh thank you so much Jared,” cries Mackenzie, pulling away from her friend to attach herself to his front, small arms winding around his neck.
Jared pats her back awkwardly smiling but freezes when the male figure turns around to glare at him with deep green eyes.
Uh oh. This could be the boyfriend.
“Uhm,” starts Jared, pulling her arms from around his neck, “it’s really no biggie, Mackenzie. I do what I can to help,” he says and she wipes her eyes, nodding.
“Kenzie,” says the stranger, moving forward to put a protective arm around Mackenzie’s shoulders, to which she turns around and hugs him. Kim passes Jared his bag, arms not showing any signs of weakness as she holds the heavy bulk and Jared thanks her quietly, heaving it up on to his shoulders. Just as he’s about to leave, a hand is on his bicep, holding him back.
“Hey man, thanks for getting Kenzie back her handbag.”
Jared turns around to face the guy Mackenzie was hugging, and a slow heat crawls up his cheek because damn, this guy is way hot. Like, let me take you home and show you how many ways I can make you orgasm without touching you hot. And Jared totally wants the guy to take him home and show him that.
Snapping out of his reverie, Jared smiles shyly, sure that his cheeks are red by now and mutters a ‘no problem’ to the guy. He moves to shake the guy’s grip and walk off but the guy doesn’t let go. He’s about to protest- okay, maybe question why the guy is still holding onto him when Mackenzie speaks up.
“Jensen, you can let go of Jared now. God, you’re so overprotective!” she sighs, pulling on Jensen’s arm and the hold loosens. “I am so sorry about my brother, Jared. He’s like this to every guy that knows me.” Mackenzie rolls her eyes and crosses her arms while Jensen doesn’t say anything.
“You’re her brother?” asks Jared in relief, because okay, now he sees the resemblances with the same blond-brown hair, green eyes and absolutely adorable smattering of freckles. He cuffs Jensen one on the shoulder before daringly swinging an arm around those shoulders.
“Don’t sweat it, man. Got a lil’ sister of my own. Never let her out of my sight! Scare off all the guys round her as well, mm hmm,” smirks Jared and he feels Jensen stiffen a little under his touch before he chuckles.
“See, Kenz? ‘M not the only anal brother around.”
Mackenzie makes a face at the comment and Jensen faces him again, sliding out from underneath his arm to give him an assessing stare. “So you ain’t Kenzie’s boyfriend?” he asks, eyes squinting at him like if Jensen squinted hard enough, he’ll be able to delve into Jared’s mind and expose every secret in him.
“Jeez, Jenny! You think I’m that easy? Just met the guy today!” protests Mackenzie, smacking her brother on the shoulder from behind. Jensen looks up at him with surprised eyes, then turns around to look at her with the same eyes.
“This guy a stranger?” he asks, clearly angry.
“No! He’s Jared! He’s not from around here, but yes, he’s from Texas. He’s into eastern culture, especially the punk/gothic scene and I’m pretty sure he hates the way you’re looking at him like he’s some kind of freak because of his clothing choice,” bites Mackenzie, challenging Jensen’s glare with her own.
After a second, Jensen backs down and says in a soft tone, “I don’t think he’s a freak. Everyone’s entitled to their own style and interests.” He turns around to look at Jared with an apologetic look on his face and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Look, thanks again for saving my sister’s bag. How bout we take you to eat as a thank you?”
Jared immediately starts to shake his head in protest. “No, it’s all right. It was nothing, really. I mean, even if I wasn’t here I’m sure Kim could’ve caught him,” he says, looking at Kim who shakes her head.
“I probably couldn’t have. I mean, he was pretty fast and Jared has real long legs that caught up real easy...”
Jared curses her in his head, spotting her smirk and looks up at Jensen’s face.
“Then it’s settled then. We’ll take ya to eat, I’m sure ma wouldn’t mind meeting the guy that saved baby Kenzie’s wittle purse,” laughs Jensen, squeezing his shoulder before letting go. “We usually eat dinner around six, it’s three now-”
“Oh, it’s three already?” interrupts Jared, hand digging into his pocket, rummaging about to pull his phone out and flipping it open to reveal that it was five to three. “Oh, I gotta go. I’m meeting someone and-” Jared catches the slightly fallen look in Jensen’s face and bites his bottom lip, tongue fiddling with the silver lip ring. He catches Jensen’s eyes flickering down to his mouth and with a slow movement he lets go of his bottom lip to let his tongue swipe over the ring.
“Oh, Jared. How about we give you our address and you can swing on by? Please? It’ll be fun, mama’s cooking is really good! This is the least I can do to thank you, really. My bag has all my cards and money in it and just- please?” pleads Mackenzie, stealing Jensen’s attention away from his mouth.
“Oh, um, okay. Okay,” says Jared, looking at Jensen’s face to try and gauge the man’s reaction to his agreement but nothing. Mackenzie grabs his phone and enters her details into it with swift movements over his keypad. When she gives him back his phone, she leans up close to his ear and whispers, “I put everything down under Jensen Ackles, got his number and our address under it,” before she pulls away with a smile.
Jared’s cheeks grow red again and he stuffs his phone back into his pocket. He mumbles goodbyes and stumbles back into the mall, letting the cool air try to cool down the heat on his face. Chad’s standing in front of Hot Topic, twirling his keys on his fore finger and scowls at him when he spots him.
“Where were you man? Been waiting forever!” he complains, fingers closing over his keys mid-twirl. He gives Jared a raised eyebrow before shrugging, slotting his keys back into his pocket. “Whatever, I don’t want to know. Let’s go, gigantor.”
-
At five, Jared’s freaking out in Chad’s apartment, pulling all his clothes, which were folded neatly in his luggage, and placing it everywhere in the living room, draping things over Chad and the couch.
“Man, why are you freaking for? Its dinner as a thank you, not some kind of date and-” Chad gives him that squinty look, like he’s fake thinking but is actually thinking for real.
“There’s someone hot in the family, isn’t there? Is it the chick? Is that why you got her bag back? No? Can’t be her friends, from what it sounds like they’re not invited to the dinner...
“Dude, the brother? You mackin’ on the brother?”
Chad bursts into laughter when Jared’s cheeks burn up and he sets his mouth into a pout.
“I’m not ‘macking’- whatever that is - on anybody, okay? It’s just... so he’s a little good looking,” Hot, like ‘let me take you home and show you how many ways I can make you orgasm without touching you’ hot to be exact and word for word on Jared’s first thought of Jensen.
Chad laughs so hard he falls to the ground, gasping, “Oh my God! ‘Make you orgasm without touching you’ hot?”
Uh oh, did he say that out loud? Fuck.
Chad bangs his fist on his little coffee table three times, shaking in silent laughter before standing up, taking deep breaths to calm himself down.
“Okay, Jay-man, let’s get you dressed up for this hot brother,” he says with a smirk set on his face, and then delves through the mess of clothes strewn everywhere.
Forty minutes later, Jared has a black button down on with the sleeves rolled up. It’d be a casual business shirt if it didn’t look like someone had taken the liberty of grabbing a paintbrush and white paint to draw two cartoon wings on the back, applying the paint so thickly that it had fat rivulets of stark white paint dripping from them, against the black material. Faded grey skinny jeans hugs Jared’s long legs just right, the colour being on the whiter side of grey than the dark.
His friend stands back to give him a once-over and tuts, diving back into Jared’s clothes and pulls out a grey skinny tie. He makes quick work of knotting it around Jared’s neck and standing back again to look at him. A grin breaks on his face and he says, “Jeez, I’m fucking good at this shit.”
Jared rolls his eyes and takes a quick look at himself in Chad’s full-length mirror that hangs in the hallway. He has to admit, Chad did a good job on the clothes selection. It’s not over the top punk but it’s not casual enough to be read as ‘normal clothes’.
“Are you doing your hair man? Some make-up shit? Cause y’know, I’m good at doing that too,” grins Chad but Jared shakes his head, running his fingers through his hair. “I think that would be too over the top, I mean, it’s his parents, um, his family. You know, I don’t want to scare them away or anything.”
Chad raises an eyebrow that matches the grin he’s wearing but doesn’t say anything. He just snaps the magazine he’s been holding (upside down, mind you, he was just holding it for appearance sakes but to appeal to who, Jared doesn’t know) and grabs his keys from the coffee table.
“Well let’s go then, I’ll drive you to your man’s house.”
Jared smacks Chad upside the head as they walk out the apartment. “He is not my man! He isn’t my anything, ya douche.”
“But you want him to be~” sing-songs Chad, pulling back from Jared’s outstretched arm and ducking into the car as soon as the alarm beeps off. Jared grumbles and slides into the passenger seat, knees knocking into the glove box.
“Oi, watch it Pippy long-legs,” scowls Chad, rubbing the abused area before reversing out onto the main road. Jared mutters under his breath about idiots favouring their stupid cars over their best friends, and fidgets in his seat which results with his knees knocking the glove box again.
“Why don’t you stop hurting my car and tell me where this place is, hmm?”
Jared rolls his eyes but grabs his phone from his pocket, scrolling through his contacts and reads out the address.
In ten minutes they arrive in front of a gorgeous two story house that makes Jared ache for his own back in San Antonio.
Jesus, it hasn’t been a full day yet and he’s already missing home.
“Here ya go, Jay. Be careful now, okay? Don’t do what I wouldn’t do!” says Chad as Jared gets out of the car.
“Dude, I wouldn’t want to do what you do do. Heh, I said ‘doo doo’.” Chad rolls his eyes and gestures for Jared to shut the passenger door so that he can drive off but somehow, the brunet can’t.
“Dude, close the door,” says Chad but Jared licks his lips and looks at his friend with his puppy-dog eyes.
“Oh, for God’s sakes!” complains Chad, rolling his eyes and he puts his car in park, turning off the engine. The blond gets out of the car, and pulls Jared away from the door, closing it. He then proceeds to pull his friend up the front lawn and the stairs until they’re in front of the double door entrance, pressing the door bell.
Jared bites his lip ring nervously while Chad taps his foot impatiently on the wooden planks of the front veranda. The door opens to reveal a woman with brown hair brushing her shoulders and an apron on declaring she is the ‘World’s Best Mum Chef’.
“Oh, hello,” she greets, staring at them both. Chad gives her a warm smile, and gives Jared a push forward. “Hi, ma’am. This here is my friend, Jared Padalecki, he’s the one who s-”
“Jared! You came!”
The three turn to see Mackenzie bound down the stairs and leap at Jared, arms twining around his neck. “Woah, girl,” laughs Jared, putting his hand on her waist to steady her, so that they don’t both stumble and fall. Mackenzie just grins at him then lets go, turning to her mum.
“Mama, this is the friend I told you I invited to dinner,” she says, pushing a lock of her hair behind her ear.
“Oh well then, hello dears,” says the mother, looking at him then at Chad. Chad puts his hands up in innocence, like he’s got nothing to do with the situation and leaves after patting Jared on the shoulder, murmuring ‘nice to meet you’ to the ladies.
Minutes after Chad’s driven away, Jensen comes to the door, raising an eyebrow at the party.
“What’re y’all doing out here? Are you done cooking, ma?” he asks which snaps his mother back into reality, and she gives Jared a warm smile before walking off to the kitchen.
With just him and Mackenzie out in the front, Jensen leans on the door frame.
“Don’t y’all think you should come in? It’s pretty hot out there.”
Mackenzie nods and grabs Jared’s arm, pulling him into the house as Jensen closes the front door.
“Wow, it smells good,” says Jared, inhaling the air deeply and Jensen laughs. “Didn’t Kenz tell ya our ma could cook? C’mon, away from the kitchen for you, big boy.”
The siblings take him into another room with plush sofas and a massive TV screen.
“Thanks for coming Jared and thanks again for saving my bag,” says Mackenzie with a wide smile on her face, nudging her brother to sit beside Jared while she takes the side couch.
There’s a rattling of keys at the front door, and they turn to see two men walk into the house.
“Hey Jenny, hey Kenzie- oh and, hello guest,” greets the younger of the two men, grinning at them. “Boyfriend?” he asks cheerfully and Mackenzie turns red. “No! Jeez, brothers! If I ever do get another boyfriend, I am certainly not bringing them around you two!” she yells, making her brothers laugh.
“Joshua, Jensen, stop teasing your sister,” says the other man, whom Jared presumes is the father. He takes a good look at Jared then looks at Mackenzie.
“Jeez, Kenzie. You’re boyfriends get more different and different each time.”
Jensen and his brother roar in laughter while Mackenzie rolls her eyes and stomps away.
“Well, hey there guest, the name’s Joshua, y’all can call me Josh.”
Jared stands up from his seat and takes his hand, smiling. “I’m Jared, nice to meet you,” he says and Josh just stares up at him which makes him a little uncomfortable as if there’s something wrong with him- and Jared guess there is since he’s fashion-
“Damn, you’re taller than me, man. Where ya come from?” questions Josh, shaking his hand firmly before letting go and taking a seat opposite him.
“San Antonio, I’ve just swung by here to spend the summer break with my friend,” says Jared, taking his seat again.
“Ah, summer break, which should mean you’re in college. I remember my college days,” smiles Josh with a touch of wistfulness. Jared smiles politely back, eyes flickering towards Jensen who’s been staying quiet during the whole ordeal. He doesn’t even seem to notice Jared staring, just looking straight ahead of himself, lost in his own world.
“So, Jared, what’re you studying?” asks Josh, stealing Jared’s attention away from Jensen.
“Oh, um, I’m in UTSA for art,” mumbles Jared, embarrassed.
Of all things to talk about, talking about what he studies in college isn’t one of them. Being able to draw isn’t embarrassing for him, but the subject is seen as one of the more... unimportant ones compared to law and medicine.
“Boys, dinner!” calls out their mom, interrupting the conversation and the brothers stand up straight away, moving out of the room, leaving Jared to stay seated on the sofa. Jensen stops and looks back, rolling his eyes. He catches Jared’s sleeve and drags him along, which makes warmth pool in Jared’s stomach at the small gesture.
Everyone is settled at the table, Josh and Mackenzie on one side, Jared and Jensen on the other as their parents take a seat at both ends.
It turns out their mom loves Jared to bits, saying that she used to be a bit of a punk in her younger years which had all three siblings with eyes wide opened. She praised teenage culture and their creative fashion, saying she’s seen a few similar styles in the school she teaches.
She was also very impressed at Jared being an art student, “I adore art, if I wasn’t an English teacher then I’d definitely would think about teaching art history or something akin to that.” They had a discussion on artists like Munch and Pollock before Mackenzie made little noises to show her lack of interest.
“Always the baby brat,” chides Josh, elbowing her side. “I’m not a brat, Josh! I just think we should change to another topic- did anyone catch the latest episode of that America’s Next Top Model show?” she asks and Josh blows a raspberry at it.
“Well how about this for a change of topic,” pipes in Jensen, breaking his quiet phase. “Momma, guess how long Kenzie’s known Jared? They apparently met this morning.”
“Jensen!” shouts Mackenzie from across the table, flinging a pea at her brother. Jared’s face grows warm and he tries to slink down in his seat.
“Just this morning? Goodness me,” says their mom, eyeing Jared warily now.
“Ma! It ain’t like that, I swear. Jared’s new here, and he wanted someone to show him the mall and then some dickhead-”
“Language Kenzie,” scolds her father.
“Sorry pa, some idiot stole my Louis Vuitton bag and Jared got it back for me! Jensen totally insisted that he comes for dinner as a thank you!”
“It was nothing really, I desisted a thank you dinner,” murmurs Jared, cheeks red and his body was almost halfway off the seat as his shoulders tried disappearing underneath the table.
“Idiot,” mumbles Jensen, somewhat affectionately, grabbing his arm and pulling him up right on his seat.
“Just joshing, Kenzie. Take a breather. Don’t worry ma, I’ve interrogated Jared already, he’s safe. Not Mackenzie’s boyfriend either- so she says.”
Josh and Jensen burst into laughter again when Mackenzie growls at them
“Oh, well, thank you Jared for getting my little girl’s bag for her. That girl can’t live without the thing, her whole life is practically stored in it,” beams their mom and Jared blushes.
“Really, it’s no trouble at all, ma’am,” says Jared, “You’re cooking was more than enough as a thank you. You’re a real good cook, ma’am.”
“Oh Jared, none of that nonsense, please. Just call me Donna, Mama Ackles if you desist on the previous.”
“Oh, okay. Um, thank you, Mama Ackles.”
“Now, you boys can run alone since dinner is finished. I’ll just pack this up and then we can have some ice cream. Cookies and cream sound good dear?” asks Donna, smiling at Jared.
“It sounds real good, Mama Ackles,” he replies, getting up at the same time Jensen and Josh does, moving to collect the plates.
“Oh no dear, that’s all right, I can get it,” fusses Donna, grabbing the plates Jared’s holding. She then ushers him out of the room and from there Josh and Jensen drag him into another to play games.
The night kept going on even though the women turned into their rooms around eight thirty, the men brought out the beer. Then the father- “Alan or Papa Ackles,” he said jokingly- turned in and finally Josh.
Though before he left, he leaned close to Jensen’s ear, whispering words that made Jensen flinch away from him.
Jared was left soaking the summer heat under the stars with Jensen on his back porch.
“So, Jensen, um, what do you do?” asks Jared, trying not to do the fidgety thing he always does when he gets nervous or embarrassed. Jensen looks like he didn’t even hear Jared at all as he keeps his head tilted up, eyes lazily watching the stars.
It takes minutes before Jensen stirs, tilting his head in Jared’s direction to mumble something about graduate school and Master of Science in sport health before he goes quiet, staring back up into the sky.
They stay there for a while, the heat creeping up on them like a large blanket, the stars winking at them like a lullaby and Jared falls asleep lying on the back porch.
[ Part 2 ]