Gift for thegreyking
Title: People Person
Author: bittersplendor
Rating: PG-13, for language
Words: 2800
Characters: Jared/Jensen
Summary: College!AU. Jensen is awkward. Jared likes wiggling his eyebrows.
Author's Note: Written for thegreyking. Sorry this took so long. I hope you like it!
“I’m not a people person,” Jensen had said to Jared once, picking at his food and resting his chin on his hand. He looked really bummed about it.
“Whatever,” Jared had said. “If you weren’t then, you will be now.” He took a huge bite out of his burger and barely got out the words, “We’re in fucking college.”
“Hmm,” Jensen had said.
+
They’ve been friends since high school: Jared was having a hard time with biology and Jensen just happened to be awesome at it, so it made sense for Jared to befriend this boy with the glasses and the A’s on the test papers Mrs. Adams gives out, and ask for help with his homework.
It was as easy as Jared leaning against Jensen’s locker one afternoon and asking, and Jensen biting his lip before saying, “Fine.”
+
Jensen told him the first night Jared came over for help on his paper.
“I’m gay,” Jensen blurted, as Jared was copying notes from Jensen’s notebook.
“Um,” Jared said, stopping his scribbling. “I. Uh.”
Jensen was turning red fast, and his eyes were widening like the weight of his words were just now bearing down upon him. He opened his mouth to speak, but only let out a few shallow breaths before saying, “I mean- I.”
Jared felt like he needed to do something before Jensen hyperventilated to death, so he said the first thing that came to mind, which was, “I fooled around with Patrick Morgan a few times, it was okay.”
It seemed to calm Jensen down a bit, and he said, “Okay.” And after a few more breaths: “I’m sorry, I just. I felt you needed to know.”
“Yeah, cool,” Jared nodded, and said, “but you’re not-“ he twirled his pen around, “-with me, right? Cause Sandy and I..”
“What, no.” Jensen shook his head. “You? No, no,” he said, as if the mere thought of it rankled him.
Jared grinned and said, “Gee, thanks.”
“N-no offense,” Jensen said quickly.
“None taken,” Jared said. “Calm down, dude. Are you always this awkward?”
“Yes,” Jensen said promptly.
Jared smiled. “Awesome.”
+
Jared didn’t think they were going to end up being best friends and that he was going to be asking for help with his homework until college, but they are, and he still is.
Getting into the same university and becoming roommates-it must be fucking weird for everyone to see how they’re inseparable, now. Even after Sandy and Geneveve and some fooling around with David, Jensen remained the one thing in Jared’s life that didn’t go away with high school.
Jared knows at some point he should be sick of Jensen, but he just isn’t.
+
Jensen sends him a text message in Chemistry- guy beside me started convrsation & now theres weird silence gimme a topic quick
Jared’s fingers are quick when replies, GAY PORN.
It’s barely a minute before his phone vibrates again with a fuck u-- which Jared knows for a fact is already one of Jensen’s templates, along with die in a fire and wish i could kick ur face thru the phone.
Jared grins and answers- dude, football. whatever. just dont get too eager, u stutter.
Jensen replies with an i do not. and a minute later, thanks.
Jared pictures Jensen in class with this faceless person- seated side by side, the guy leaning in and trying to get close, and Jensen with his arms folded, always a little cautious and tense around new people. Guarded and nervous and so unlike how he is with Jared.
good luck he sends back, before flipping his phone shut and turning his attention back to chemical thermodynamics.
+
It’s not that Jensen is terribly antisocial. Jared knows that Jensen doesn’t stay away from people on purpose, he just doesn’t know what to do around them. So he quiets down and overanalyzes the things he wants to say, always wondering if it’s right, second guessing and third guessing and fucking ninth guessing, until he ends up not saying anything at all because everything becomes a tangled mess in his brain, ‘like fucking electron exchanges gone horribly wrong, or something.’
Jared knows all this because Jensen told him once when they got wasted at Chris’ party, Jensen slurring, "I like people Jay, I do. I really really really like them, but they don’t like me."
“Jensen, what are you talking about,” Jared had said, and patted him on the head. It made sense at the time. “I like you.”
Jensen smiled brightly then, and Jared’s gut dropped in this weird pleasant way that had nothing to do with the alcohol and everything to do with the fact that he made Jensen look so happy.
Jared smiled back, and it really was a wonderful moment until Chad appeared out of nowhere and draped himself over the back of the couch they were on, shouting in Jensen’s ear, “I like you, too, Jenny baby,” before puking on Jared’s shoulder.
+
“Stop eating my food,” Jensen says, poising his fork over Jared’s hand, and Jared snatches a few more fries before retreating. The fear of Jensen stabbing his hand was very real.
“Oh!” Jared says as he stuffs his face with the fries he stole, “So, that guy.” He wiggles his eyebrows. It’s a trick he’s been using ever since he found out he could raise both his eyebrows separately at will. He’s a little bit proud of it.
Jensen opens his mouth then closes it, frowns. Then he purses his lips and looks down at his food, eyebrows knitted as if he was confused.
“What? What does that mean? I don’t speak fish,” Jared asks, impatient, and he barely stops himself from wiggling his eyebrows at a faster rate. That would be weird.
Jensen rolls his eyes, then says quickly, “He asked me out.”
“Wow,” Jared says. He really is surprised. “Way to go, Jenny boy.” He doesn’t know why he’s having hard time getting those words out at all.
“Don’t fucking call me that,” Jensen says, but he’s smiling.
Jared keeps his hands to himself for the rest of the meal.
+
It’s not that Jensen can’t get himself a date. Jensen is really, really good looking, even with the thick eyeglasses and the stupid way he dresses sometimes. Jared had watched countless times as girls tried to flirt with him and Jensen didn’t quite catch on, or when he did, tried to decline with a stilted, “Oh, sorry. Um, I. I’m not-” at which point Jared almost felt physically pained by his bumbling, enough to come over and say, “He’s with me,” draping his arm casually around Jensen’s shoulders with a smile. Jensen just sighed and nodded then, as if that explained everything, and the girls would walk away most of the time with an, “Oh, you guys make a cute couple.”
So it really shouldn’t have been much of a surprise that Jensen is going out with this guy- Mark, Jensen had said-and it shouldn’t be bothering Jared at all.
It shouldn’t and it isn’t, Jared tells himself.
+
Jensen wears jeans and one of his acceptable shirts, the kind that isn’t a few sizes too big and fits nicely over his shoulders.
Jared sees him hurrying out and looking for something on the counter, flipping over books and scattering papers.
“What is it?” Jared asks from the couch, turning away from the TV after a few more minutes of Jensen making a mess out of their counter.
“My phone,” Jensen says, overturning the books he’d already looked under for a third time.
“Oh, this?” Jared says, holding Jensen's cellphone out.
“Yes, that,” Jensen says as he walks over to Jared to grab it. He takes one look at the screen and punches Jared in the shoulder. “Have you been reading my messages?”
“Yup,” Jared says, changing the channel. He looks up when Jensen kicks him in the shin. “What? It’s mostly just unsent messages that say ‘I love you, Jared, you swept me off my feet with your huge-”
“Forehead,” Jensen finishes for him. “I fell in love with you because of your lovely forehead, baby.”
Jared grins and says, “Yes. Oh, and Mark says he already left his place to meet you around…twenty minutes ago.”
Jensen checks his phone and mutters, “Oh, fuck me,” before turning away and grabbing his keys off the table.
“Tell Mark I said hi,” Jared says when Jensen opens the door. “And I won’t wait up!” He wiggles his eyebrows for good measure.
Jensen rolls his eyes as he shuts the door and leaves.
+
The message comes about an hour and a half since Jensen left.
so i 4got how dating works.
haha dude where r u?
watching a movie, it sucks.
what sucks? the movie or mark? ~ ~
movie. wtf is ~ ~
MY SUGGESTIVE EYEBROWS
ur so fucking weird
but u liiiiiiike it
i like to punch your face
but u liiiiiiike it, Jared sends again.
He doesn’t receive anything after that.
Jensen comes home three hours later, and Jared’s still watching some documentary on the couch. He may be developing some pressure ulcers. When he asks how it went, Jensen just shrugs and flops down beside him.
“We’re going out again on Saturday,” Jensen says, leaning back and closing his eyes.
“Awesome.” Jared keeps his eyes trained on the anaconda eating the giant rodent on screen.
+
Jared finds that he’d gotten so used to Jensen’s stories of failed attempts at human interaction that he doesn’t know what to do when Jensen actually succeeds. Jared wasn’t expecting Mark, he wasn’t expecting anybody for a long time-Jensen hadn’t had a boyfriend since Misha in senior year, and he didn’t seem too eager to get into a relationship again.
When Jared asked about him the first time, he had been expecting an account of how Jensen had let the awkward silence run too long or said something terribly strange, after which the guy had left him alone, and he and Jared would just laugh about it afterwards.
That was normal, almost routine: They’d watch TV, Jared would force Jensen to write his papers in exchange for Jared cooking that night, and they’d laugh about Jensen’s social ineptitude.
And at the end of the day it was still only Jared who was the closest to him, the only one who mattered anyway, and he’d thought Jensen would be okay with that. Jared had been.
He didn’t realize how selfish he is with Jensen until now.
+
what can i talk abt, i feel like a rly boring person right now
Jared frowns at his phone. thats coz u r
asshole
talk abt that shit we watchd on nat geo last night
the 1 abt monkeys?
yes
okay. monkeys.
+
Jensen keeps texting him during his time with Mark, basically asking for advice on how to be less awkward and insulting him at regular intervals. Jared shouldn’t feel happy that he’s stealing away Jensen’s attention during his dates, but if he is he tells himself it’s just because he’s helping his best friend out.
+
Jensen goes out with Mark two more times before Jared actually meets him.
Jared sees them sitting side by side in one of the tables at the library, and Jared just knows it’s Mark because the guy’s leaning a little too close, body turned towards Jensen even as he’s reading a book on the table, as though he’s just naturally drawn to Jensen and can’t pull away. Jared doesn’t think any of Jensen’s friends would be in such an interested stance.
Jensen, though, maintains his personal space, a little hunched over the paper he’s writing and his arm resting across the table as if guarding it. Jared can tell he’s not exactly comfortable, his back is tense and he’s playing with his pen to give his hands something to do.
Jensen is always this way with new people, even with Jared all those years ago. Jared feels a rush of pride then. Jensen is all easy smiles and relaxed shoulders around him, Jared has earned it. Once he even slapped Jensen ass as he walked away, just because he can. Of course, Jensen flipped him off, but at least Jensen wasn’t spluttering with rage or hitting him with a bat.
Jared walks over to them with a, “Hey,” before dropping on the seat across them.
Jensen looks up at him and smiles, “I’m surprised you know we have a library,” he says.
“I didn’t,” Jared says, “I got lost, I was looking for the secret vending machine that sells pot. Hi, I’m Jared.” He turns to Mark with a grin.
Jensen sits up straight and says, “Oh, yeah, this is, um. Jared. Jared, Mark.”
Mark nods and smiles. “Hey. Jensen’s roommate, right?”
“Unfortunately,” Jared says.
“Ha, ha,” Jensen says and goes back to his paper with a small smile. Mark stares at Jensen as if he’s seeing something new.
Jared wonders what it is that he’s seeing, and then realizes it’s that smile. He wonders if Jensen ever smiled at Mark like this, or if all he ever gets is an upturn of lips and nothing more. Or the occasional nervous twitching of the mouth Jensen gets sometimes.
Jared feels guilty then, for coming in here and showing Mark what he can’t get out of Jensen, and what Jared so easily can.
So Jared grabs his bag and says, “Well, I’m late,” and pulls himself to stand. “It was great meeting you, Mark.”
“Likewise,” Mark says. Jared feels like he’s in a play.
“Bye, Jenny,” Jared says.
Jensen flips him off and says, “See you later.”
+
It dawns on Jared one morning that he doesn’t want Jensen to go out with Mark anymore. It’s as simple as Jensen coming out of his room looking disheveled and sleepy and warm, in boxers and an old high school shirt. Jensen sees him and nods at him in greeting, and Jared smiles.
He walks over to the coffee machine, stands beside Jared and makes a cup, stirring quietly with eyes half-lidded.
Jared doesn’t want anyone else to have this moment, he wants to be the only one allowed to see Jensen like this.
Jensen looks up at him then, frowning sleepily. “What?” he says, voice raspy from sleep.
Jared swallows. “Nothing.”
Jensen frowns at him for a while longer before stirring his coffee again.
+
Jared comes home one night after drinking with friends to find Jensen watching TV on the couch.
“Aren’t you supposed to be doing date things?” Jared asks, locking the door.
“No,” Jensen says, not even turning to look at him.
Jared makes his way to the couch and sits down beside him. “Why?” he asks, and for some reason his heart is beating hard and fast.
“It wasn’t really working out,” Jensen says, finally turning his head to face him.
And for the first time in a long time, Jared feels nervous, while Jensen just looks at him calmly, searching.
“He didn’t-” Jared stops and arranges the words in his mind. “He didn’t deserve you, anyway.”
“Yeah?” Jensen says, voice soft. He’s still just staring at Jared, leaning back against the couch and staring.
The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them: “No one gets you like I do.”
And at that Jensen smiles, the small smile that’s for Jared alone, and nods. “That’s true.”
Jared grins and he feels lightheaded, the buzz from drinking earlier tonight fading but this new thrill rising slowly, and it feels wonderful.
“I’m not awkward when I’m with you,” Jensen says. “It’s really weird.”
“No, it’s not,” Jared says softly, before he’s leaning in and pressing his lips against Jensen’s. There’s a moment of just this, of cautious contact, as if Jensen’s deciding what to do. Then Jensen opens his mouth to Jared and it feels amazing, Jared practically covers Jensen on the couch in one swift movement, hands on his face and Jensen gripping his shirt tight. Jared makes his way down Jensen’s neck, nibbling, and when he reaches a spot just under his ear Jensen laughs, this sweet sound that Jared wants all to himself.
Jensen pushes him back a little, smiling, eyes bright and color high on his cheeks. “Don’t, not that part.”
Jared looks at him and grins, “But you liiiike it.” He wiggles his eyebrows, and Jensen laughs again and only stops when Jared pushes him down on the couch and kisses him quiet.
Author: bittersplendor
Rating: PG-13, for language
Words: 2800
Characters: Jared/Jensen
Summary: College!AU. Jensen is awkward. Jared likes wiggling his eyebrows.
Author's Note: Written for thegreyking. Sorry this took so long. I hope you like it!
“I’m not a people person,” Jensen had said to Jared once, picking at his food and resting his chin on his hand. He looked really bummed about it.
“Whatever,” Jared had said. “If you weren’t then, you will be now.” He took a huge bite out of his burger and barely got out the words, “We’re in fucking college.”
“Hmm,” Jensen had said.
+
They’ve been friends since high school: Jared was having a hard time with biology and Jensen just happened to be awesome at it, so it made sense for Jared to befriend this boy with the glasses and the A’s on the test papers Mrs. Adams gives out, and ask for help with his homework.
It was as easy as Jared leaning against Jensen’s locker one afternoon and asking, and Jensen biting his lip before saying, “Fine.”
+
Jensen told him the first night Jared came over for help on his paper.
“I’m gay,” Jensen blurted, as Jared was copying notes from Jensen’s notebook.
“Um,” Jared said, stopping his scribbling. “I. Uh.”
Jensen was turning red fast, and his eyes were widening like the weight of his words were just now bearing down upon him. He opened his mouth to speak, but only let out a few shallow breaths before saying, “I mean- I.”
Jared felt like he needed to do something before Jensen hyperventilated to death, so he said the first thing that came to mind, which was, “I fooled around with Patrick Morgan a few times, it was okay.”
It seemed to calm Jensen down a bit, and he said, “Okay.” And after a few more breaths: “I’m sorry, I just. I felt you needed to know.”
“Yeah, cool,” Jared nodded, and said, “but you’re not-“ he twirled his pen around, “-with me, right? Cause Sandy and I..”
“What, no.” Jensen shook his head. “You? No, no,” he said, as if the mere thought of it rankled him.
Jared grinned and said, “Gee, thanks.”
“N-no offense,” Jensen said quickly.
“None taken,” Jared said. “Calm down, dude. Are you always this awkward?”
“Yes,” Jensen said promptly.
Jared smiled. “Awesome.”
+
Jared didn’t think they were going to end up being best friends and that he was going to be asking for help with his homework until college, but they are, and he still is.
Getting into the same university and becoming roommates-it must be fucking weird for everyone to see how they’re inseparable, now. Even after Sandy and Geneveve and some fooling around with David, Jensen remained the one thing in Jared’s life that didn’t go away with high school.
Jared knows at some point he should be sick of Jensen, but he just isn’t.
+
Jensen sends him a text message in Chemistry- guy beside me started convrsation & now theres weird silence gimme a topic quick
Jared’s fingers are quick when replies, GAY PORN.
It’s barely a minute before his phone vibrates again with a fuck u-- which Jared knows for a fact is already one of Jensen’s templates, along with die in a fire and wish i could kick ur face thru the phone.
Jared grins and answers- dude, football. whatever. just dont get too eager, u stutter.
Jensen replies with an i do not. and a minute later, thanks.
Jared pictures Jensen in class with this faceless person- seated side by side, the guy leaning in and trying to get close, and Jensen with his arms folded, always a little cautious and tense around new people. Guarded and nervous and so unlike how he is with Jared.
good luck he sends back, before flipping his phone shut and turning his attention back to chemical thermodynamics.
+
It’s not that Jensen is terribly antisocial. Jared knows that Jensen doesn’t stay away from people on purpose, he just doesn’t know what to do around them. So he quiets down and overanalyzes the things he wants to say, always wondering if it’s right, second guessing and third guessing and fucking ninth guessing, until he ends up not saying anything at all because everything becomes a tangled mess in his brain, ‘like fucking electron exchanges gone horribly wrong, or something.’
Jared knows all this because Jensen told him once when they got wasted at Chris’ party, Jensen slurring, "I like people Jay, I do. I really really really like them, but they don’t like me."
“Jensen, what are you talking about,” Jared had said, and patted him on the head. It made sense at the time. “I like you.”
Jensen smiled brightly then, and Jared’s gut dropped in this weird pleasant way that had nothing to do with the alcohol and everything to do with the fact that he made Jensen look so happy.
Jared smiled back, and it really was a wonderful moment until Chad appeared out of nowhere and draped himself over the back of the couch they were on, shouting in Jensen’s ear, “I like you, too, Jenny baby,” before puking on Jared’s shoulder.
+
“Stop eating my food,” Jensen says, poising his fork over Jared’s hand, and Jared snatches a few more fries before retreating. The fear of Jensen stabbing his hand was very real.
“Oh!” Jared says as he stuffs his face with the fries he stole, “So, that guy.” He wiggles his eyebrows. It’s a trick he’s been using ever since he found out he could raise both his eyebrows separately at will. He’s a little bit proud of it.
Jensen opens his mouth then closes it, frowns. Then he purses his lips and looks down at his food, eyebrows knitted as if he was confused.
“What? What does that mean? I don’t speak fish,” Jared asks, impatient, and he barely stops himself from wiggling his eyebrows at a faster rate. That would be weird.
Jensen rolls his eyes, then says quickly, “He asked me out.”
“Wow,” Jared says. He really is surprised. “Way to go, Jenny boy.” He doesn’t know why he’s having hard time getting those words out at all.
“Don’t fucking call me that,” Jensen says, but he’s smiling.
Jared keeps his hands to himself for the rest of the meal.
+
It’s not that Jensen can’t get himself a date. Jensen is really, really good looking, even with the thick eyeglasses and the stupid way he dresses sometimes. Jared had watched countless times as girls tried to flirt with him and Jensen didn’t quite catch on, or when he did, tried to decline with a stilted, “Oh, sorry. Um, I. I’m not-” at which point Jared almost felt physically pained by his bumbling, enough to come over and say, “He’s with me,” draping his arm casually around Jensen’s shoulders with a smile. Jensen just sighed and nodded then, as if that explained everything, and the girls would walk away most of the time with an, “Oh, you guys make a cute couple.”
So it really shouldn’t have been much of a surprise that Jensen is going out with this guy- Mark, Jensen had said-and it shouldn’t be bothering Jared at all.
It shouldn’t and it isn’t, Jared tells himself.
+
Jensen wears jeans and one of his acceptable shirts, the kind that isn’t a few sizes too big and fits nicely over his shoulders.
Jared sees him hurrying out and looking for something on the counter, flipping over books and scattering papers.
“What is it?” Jared asks from the couch, turning away from the TV after a few more minutes of Jensen making a mess out of their counter.
“My phone,” Jensen says, overturning the books he’d already looked under for a third time.
“Oh, this?” Jared says, holding Jensen's cellphone out.
“Yes, that,” Jensen says as he walks over to Jared to grab it. He takes one look at the screen and punches Jared in the shoulder. “Have you been reading my messages?”
“Yup,” Jared says, changing the channel. He looks up when Jensen kicks him in the shin. “What? It’s mostly just unsent messages that say ‘I love you, Jared, you swept me off my feet with your huge-”
“Forehead,” Jensen finishes for him. “I fell in love with you because of your lovely forehead, baby.”
Jared grins and says, “Yes. Oh, and Mark says he already left his place to meet you around…twenty minutes ago.”
Jensen checks his phone and mutters, “Oh, fuck me,” before turning away and grabbing his keys off the table.
“Tell Mark I said hi,” Jared says when Jensen opens the door. “And I won’t wait up!” He wiggles his eyebrows for good measure.
Jensen rolls his eyes as he shuts the door and leaves.
+
The message comes about an hour and a half since Jensen left.
so i 4got how dating works.
haha dude where r u?
watching a movie, it sucks.
what sucks? the movie or mark? ~ ~
movie. wtf is ~ ~
MY SUGGESTIVE EYEBROWS
ur so fucking weird
but u liiiiiiike it
i like to punch your face
but u liiiiiiike it, Jared sends again.
He doesn’t receive anything after that.
Jensen comes home three hours later, and Jared’s still watching some documentary on the couch. He may be developing some pressure ulcers. When he asks how it went, Jensen just shrugs and flops down beside him.
“We’re going out again on Saturday,” Jensen says, leaning back and closing his eyes.
“Awesome.” Jared keeps his eyes trained on the anaconda eating the giant rodent on screen.
+
Jared finds that he’d gotten so used to Jensen’s stories of failed attempts at human interaction that he doesn’t know what to do when Jensen actually succeeds. Jared wasn’t expecting Mark, he wasn’t expecting anybody for a long time-Jensen hadn’t had a boyfriend since Misha in senior year, and he didn’t seem too eager to get into a relationship again.
When Jared asked about him the first time, he had been expecting an account of how Jensen had let the awkward silence run too long or said something terribly strange, after which the guy had left him alone, and he and Jared would just laugh about it afterwards.
That was normal, almost routine: They’d watch TV, Jared would force Jensen to write his papers in exchange for Jared cooking that night, and they’d laugh about Jensen’s social ineptitude.
And at the end of the day it was still only Jared who was the closest to him, the only one who mattered anyway, and he’d thought Jensen would be okay with that. Jared had been.
He didn’t realize how selfish he is with Jensen until now.
+
what can i talk abt, i feel like a rly boring person right now
Jared frowns at his phone. thats coz u r
asshole
talk abt that shit we watchd on nat geo last night
the 1 abt monkeys?
yes
okay. monkeys.
+
Jensen keeps texting him during his time with Mark, basically asking for advice on how to be less awkward and insulting him at regular intervals. Jared shouldn’t feel happy that he’s stealing away Jensen’s attention during his dates, but if he is he tells himself it’s just because he’s helping his best friend out.
+
Jensen goes out with Mark two more times before Jared actually meets him.
Jared sees them sitting side by side in one of the tables at the library, and Jared just knows it’s Mark because the guy’s leaning a little too close, body turned towards Jensen even as he’s reading a book on the table, as though he’s just naturally drawn to Jensen and can’t pull away. Jared doesn’t think any of Jensen’s friends would be in such an interested stance.
Jensen, though, maintains his personal space, a little hunched over the paper he’s writing and his arm resting across the table as if guarding it. Jared can tell he’s not exactly comfortable, his back is tense and he’s playing with his pen to give his hands something to do.
Jensen is always this way with new people, even with Jared all those years ago. Jared feels a rush of pride then. Jensen is all easy smiles and relaxed shoulders around him, Jared has earned it. Once he even slapped Jensen ass as he walked away, just because he can. Of course, Jensen flipped him off, but at least Jensen wasn’t spluttering with rage or hitting him with a bat.
Jared walks over to them with a, “Hey,” before dropping on the seat across them.
Jensen looks up at him and smiles, “I’m surprised you know we have a library,” he says.
“I didn’t,” Jared says, “I got lost, I was looking for the secret vending machine that sells pot. Hi, I’m Jared.” He turns to Mark with a grin.
Jensen sits up straight and says, “Oh, yeah, this is, um. Jared. Jared, Mark.”
Mark nods and smiles. “Hey. Jensen’s roommate, right?”
“Unfortunately,” Jared says.
“Ha, ha,” Jensen says and goes back to his paper with a small smile. Mark stares at Jensen as if he’s seeing something new.
Jared wonders what it is that he’s seeing, and then realizes it’s that smile. He wonders if Jensen ever smiled at Mark like this, or if all he ever gets is an upturn of lips and nothing more. Or the occasional nervous twitching of the mouth Jensen gets sometimes.
Jared feels guilty then, for coming in here and showing Mark what he can’t get out of Jensen, and what Jared so easily can.
So Jared grabs his bag and says, “Well, I’m late,” and pulls himself to stand. “It was great meeting you, Mark.”
“Likewise,” Mark says. Jared feels like he’s in a play.
“Bye, Jenny,” Jared says.
Jensen flips him off and says, “See you later.”
+
It dawns on Jared one morning that he doesn’t want Jensen to go out with Mark anymore. It’s as simple as Jensen coming out of his room looking disheveled and sleepy and warm, in boxers and an old high school shirt. Jensen sees him and nods at him in greeting, and Jared smiles.
He walks over to the coffee machine, stands beside Jared and makes a cup, stirring quietly with eyes half-lidded.
Jared doesn’t want anyone else to have this moment, he wants to be the only one allowed to see Jensen like this.
Jensen looks up at him then, frowning sleepily. “What?” he says, voice raspy from sleep.
Jared swallows. “Nothing.”
Jensen frowns at him for a while longer before stirring his coffee again.
+
Jared comes home one night after drinking with friends to find Jensen watching TV on the couch.
“Aren’t you supposed to be doing date things?” Jared asks, locking the door.
“No,” Jensen says, not even turning to look at him.
Jared makes his way to the couch and sits down beside him. “Why?” he asks, and for some reason his heart is beating hard and fast.
“It wasn’t really working out,” Jensen says, finally turning his head to face him.
And for the first time in a long time, Jared feels nervous, while Jensen just looks at him calmly, searching.
“He didn’t-” Jared stops and arranges the words in his mind. “He didn’t deserve you, anyway.”
“Yeah?” Jensen says, voice soft. He’s still just staring at Jared, leaning back against the couch and staring.
The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them: “No one gets you like I do.”
And at that Jensen smiles, the small smile that’s for Jared alone, and nods. “That’s true.”
Jared grins and he feels lightheaded, the buzz from drinking earlier tonight fading but this new thrill rising slowly, and it feels wonderful.
“I’m not awkward when I’m with you,” Jensen says. “It’s really weird.”
“No, it’s not,” Jared says softly, before he’s leaning in and pressing his lips against Jensen’s. There’s a moment of just this, of cautious contact, as if Jensen’s deciding what to do. Then Jensen opens his mouth to Jared and it feels amazing, Jared practically covers Jensen on the couch in one swift movement, hands on his face and Jensen gripping his shirt tight. Jared makes his way down Jensen’s neck, nibbling, and when he reaches a spot just under his ear Jensen laughs, this sweet sound that Jared wants all to himself.
Jensen pushes him back a little, smiling, eyes bright and color high on his cheeks. “Don’t, not that part.”
Jared looks at him and grins, “But you liiiike it.” He wiggles his eyebrows, and Jensen laughs again and only stops when Jared pushes him down on the couch and kisses him quiet.