Imaginary Friends: Chapter One
It’s the second pie in the face that Misha really doesn’t expect. Not that he expected the first one, but he figures if Jared and Jensen have a list of pranks to pull on him while he’s directing, they won’t be repeating any. It’s usually all original ideas with those two.
He also expects most of the forceful pranks to come from Jared. The fact that the second pie comes from behind - from Jensen - is a bit of a shock, but Jensen’s pure elation after the deed is done is undeniable.
Jensen’s at least nice enough to let him into his trailer to get cleaned up, also wiping the whipped cream that Misha threw at him off his own clothes as well as he can.
“I don’t know why I’m still surprised when you betray me,” Misha says, wiping a towel over his face. “I don’t know why I still keep thinking Jared’s the only problem I’m facing here.”
“I’m an actor,” Jensen answers, shrugging and playing along. “I can make you think I’m innocent whenever I want to.”
They’re interrupted by Jensen’s trailer door opening, and Misha expects it to be Jared. But the stranger who steps through the door isn’t anyone he’s ever seen before, and, judging by the way Jensen suddenly straightens up, all joking aside, he hasn’t seen this person before, either.
“It’s alright,” the man says, closing the door behind him, lifting his hands, and stepping forward. He’s older, graying hair and beard, and Misha’s perplexed by the appearance of the monk’s robe draped over him. “I’m a friend.”
“I don’t know you.” Jensen takes his own tentative step forward, and Misha’s aware of the way Jensen also manages to step in front of him, effectively shielding him. There are too many thoughts racing through his head for him to focus on the one that wants to tell Jensen to quit making him feel inferior, or the one that’s grateful to have a friend willing to shield him from any possible danger. He’s as aware as Jensen is that this person shouldn’t have gotten past security, and that a robe like that could be hiding anything. “How did you get in here?”
“That isn’t important,” the man says, ignoring the question. But he’s stopped coming towards them, which Misha finds reassuring. “I need to talk to you about Jared. He’s in danger.”
Jensen raises a hand back behind him to point at Misha but doesn’t take his eyes off the stranger. “Misha, call security.”
Misha grabs Jensen’s arm and pushes it down, irritated. He ignores Jensen, too, moving around him to the stranger, which he can tell makes Jensen nervous, but he doesn’t care. He keeps his tone open and caring, trying to cut down on the tension in the room.
“Why would you say that about Jared?” He hears Jensen making the call behind him, and part of him is just happy that he won the alpha male battle, for once.
“She’s after him.”
Those words make Misha’s blood run cold. He’s not exactly sure why he’s so scared, but there’s something about this guy and the whole situation, and all Misha can think of is all of the fan encounters they have. They’ve been great, but if this guy knows of someone who might be targeting Jared on location, or at a convention, this could be a legitimate threat. “Who’s after him? And why?”
“He’s the Key.” It makes no sense, but the guy says it like it’s perfectly normal. For a moment, Misha almost laughs, his mind immediately recalling the key and lock scene in The French Mistake, but this is something else. “She needs him to get back home.”
“Okay, well, we’re gonna get you back home,” Jensen says, stepping up next to Misha and putting his phone back in his pocket. “And maybe you can tell security a little more about who’s after Jared, so we can keep him safe.”
“That’s why we gave him to you.” The guy looks at Jensen with an odd appreciation and smiles. “We made him for you. We knew you’d protect him.”
“What does that mean?” Jensen asks, but security enters the trailer and removes the man before he can answer. Misha tells them to be careful, but the stranger seems to be peaceful enough, and they’re able to handle him gently. “What the hell was that?”
“I don’t know.”
Jared pours Misha another glass of wine, almost spilling some. They’ve already had enough, but they’re celebrating the wrapping of Misha’s episode, and Jared figures Misha deserves a little more after dealing with the week of harassment. They left a bar a while ago to hang out at Jared’s apartment, where they’ll probably end up crashing.
“You were good, Mish,” he says, sitting down next to him on the couch. Jensen had already planted himself on a chair across from them. “Sorry you had to put up with us.”
“Nah.” Misha waves him off and takes a sip of his wine. “Look at it this way: If I can manage to direct with you two constantly sabotaging me, then I must be good at it. I can direct anything now!”
“See, we’re helping!” Jensen laughs, grinning wide like he does when he’s drunk. “What would you do without us?”
“Get a good night’s sleep. Be the tall one. Be sane.”
Jared laughs and shoves at Misha, making the wine in his glass slosh around, but not pour out onto the rug, thankfully. “You were never sane.”
“And now, I never will be.”
“Aww.” Jensen looks over at Jared, and Jared feels that warm satisfaction of wine, happiness, and love of these friends he’s managed to keep. “I think we broke him, Jay.” He pouts, comically so, and Misha shrugs next to Jared.
“I mean, Jared did almost break my nose with that pie, so that’s probably an accurate statement.”
“Well, don’t worry about it.” Jared reaches over and pats Misha on the back, probably a little too hard, but they’ve already established that he’s bad at gauging his own strength. “Somebody’s comin’ to get me, anyway.”
“Don’t say that.” The playful glint in Jensen’s eye disappears, and he suddenly seems more sober than Jared thinks he should be. “Nobody’s coming to get you. Not while I’m around.”
Misha’s frowning at him, too. “I don’t care how much shit you throw in my face. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
Jared sits in silence for a moment, looking at them both. He can’t deny the flutter of fear in his stomach, as much as he tries to brush off what happened this week. His head is swimming a bit, and he closes his eyes to try to clear it. He’s just thankful that he has Misha and Jensen here with him now. It helps to settle him a little.
“I know,” he says, recovering and running a hand through his hair. “I know that. Thank you.”
Misha rests a hand on Jared’s shoulder. “I think I’m gonna crash.” He downs the rest of his wine, and Jared smiles.
“Yeah, yeah, of course. There’s plenty of room, sleep wherever.”
“I’m not moving from this couch right now.”
Jared takes Misha’s wine glass and gets up, allowing him to lie down and close his eyes. “’Night, Mish.”
“’Night.”
Jensen stands when Jared does and follows him into the kitchen. “You alright?”
“Yeah.” They empty their own glasses and drop them in the sink, Jared leaning back against it for a moment as he faces Jensen. “I mean, I’m a little freaked out, but I’ll be fine. I’m sure it was nothing.”
They stand there staring at each other for a moment before Jensen speaks again. “You know, if you want me to stay here more, or…if you want to stay at my place for a while…we can do that.”
Jared smiles, feeling that warmth all over again. But then he scoffs and shakes his head. “You mean have sleepovers because I’m scared? Nah, we don’t have to do that. But thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me.” Jensen moves closer, hand on Jared’s arm. “What’s mine is yours. You know that.”
Jared returns the gesture, free hand on Jensen’s arm now. “I’m still grateful.”
Jensen’s close, and his shirt is soft, and Jared’s brain is buzzing. His forehead bumps against Jensen’s, mostly because he’s dizzy, and they both laugh a little, steadying each other. The first brush of lips is barely noticeable through the haze of alcohol, and Jared’s not even sure it really happened. But the second is real, it’s noticeable, and it feels oddly like home. It doesn’t go any further, and Jared kind of doubts that it could, in their state. But it’s also not some world-stopping, earth-shattering moment. Between the two of them, it feels normal, like they should have done this a long time ago, and he’s not sure why they haven’t.
“Get some rest,” Jensen murmurs against him, rubbing his arm and then stepping away. For a second, Jared wants to ask him to stay, to sleep with him, and keep making him feel safe. But the moment passes, and Jared figures it’s best to try to get over this fear on his own, anyway.
Jensen’s nearly forgotten about the odd stranger in his trailer as they get closer to the end of the season. It’s just a weird day that never amounted to anything. He hasn’t forgotten about kissing Jared, as drunk as he was. They haven’t talked about it, or even done it again, but everything between them has always felt so easy, and this is no different. It doesn’t feel like there’s any rush, or any risk of missing a chance or screwing something up. He knows he loves Jared, knows they both love each other, and that isn’t going to change. It’s nice, not feeling the usual pressures of a romantic relationship.
They end up in Jensen’s apartment one night, just the two of them, with a bit less alcohol involved. When Jensen gets up to head to bed, Jared stretches out on the couch, and Jensen turns to look at him, finding the words easy to say.
“Why don’t you just come to bed?”
Jared looks up at him and smiles, happy but not surprised, and stands up to follow him into the bedroom. It makes Jensen happy, too, letting Jared in like this. It feels like a sigh of relief, like it was always meant to be this way.
“Make yourself comfortable,” Jensen says, flipping the lights on so they can see where they’re going and stripping down to his boxers. “What’s mine is yours.”
He pulls the covers back for them, once Jared’s undressed, too, then cuts off the lights and climbs into bed. He can feel Jared there next to him and suddenly realizes he’s never been this comfortable in his own bed. When Jared turns towards him, he does the same, wrapping an arm around Jared when he tucks himself in under Jensen’s chin, against his chest. For all of Jared’s size, he can fit against Jensen so well, and it makes Jensen feel good, like he’s this safe place for Jared to curl up and be small, for a change.
They break apart at some point during the night, too overheated. But when Jensen wakes up and sees Jared first thing, he can’t help reaching out, fingers brushing the hand Jared has lying on the mattress, the other under his pillow, beneath his head. Jared’s hand twitches beneath Jensen’s, his eyes opening slightly. They close again, but his hand moves to push his fingers through Jensen’s, and he sighs, body shifting beneath the sheets.
Jensen squeezes Jared’s hand and moves closer, kissing him softly. Jared’s eyes flutter open, wider this time, and he leans in, catching Jensen’s mouth again, lingering. Jensen pulls his hand from Jared’s and uses it to push Jared’s hair away and cup the back of his head. He presses gently with his tongue, and Jared’s lips part easily for him, Jared’s whole body warm and pliant. It isn’t rough, urgent, or needy. It’s slow and oddly calming, even if Jensen is getting hard, his fingers now trailing down Jared’s spine. He feels Jared shiver against him and breaks the kiss, moving his hand from Jared’s back to slip it in between them, cupping the bulge in Jared’s boxers. This is new to him, and he carefully rubs over the length of Jared’s dick with his fingertips. He can hear Jared’s breathing pick up, can practically hear the pulse beating through both of their bodies. He pushes himself up onto his knees, rolling Jared onto his back and pulling his boxers off, Jared’s whole body exposed to him for the first time, hard and flushed.
Jared leans up a little, reaching for the waistband of Jensen’s boxers and pulling down, Jensen moving to toss them aside. There’s nothing in Jared’s eyes but love, and Jensen drops down to kiss him again, hips thrusting when their dicks touch, Jared gasping. He lets Jared turn them over when he rises beneath him, settling on his back with Jared looking down at him, hands tentative on his body. Jared kisses him and then moves down, lips brushing against his chest and over his stomach. He pauses when he gets to Jensen’s hard dick, tongue slipping out to taste him, and Jensen closes his eyes, letting the feeling wash over him. He’s perfectly fine with Jared taking his time to learn how to do this, long fingers wrapping around the base of his dick to hold him in place, lips spreading over the head, soft and slow. It’ll take him a long time to get off at this rate, but he’s okay with that, humming in encouragement, hips lifting a little.
The pleasure is drawn out, Jared’s movements measured and careful, but still taking a little more of Jensen over his tongue with each push. Both of his hands are on Jensen’s hips now, holding him steady, and he hasn’t managed to go all the way down, but it’s enough to make Jensen arch and moan, feeling damp with sweat against the sheets. The slow build has his chest heaving, body tensing as Jared finally sets a decent pace, moaning over Jensen’s dick.
“Jay,” Jensen chokes out, but Jared’s already pulling off, hand back on Jensen’s dick, stroking it through his orgasm, and Jensen groans and shakes as he comes, head thrown back on the pillows. He hears a soft moan from Jared and knows Jared is watching him, seeing him in his most intimate moment, and his dick twitches one last time in Jared’s hand, Jared gently holding him until he goes soft.
Jensen fights to regain control of himself, his body feeling so lax. But he pushes himself up from the mattress, reversing their positions. There’s color high on Jared’s cheeks, and he’s already panting, already sticky wet when Jensen reaches for him. He fumbles a little, learning the feel of working another man’s dick rather than his own, just as Jared had learned with him. But he watches Jared’s face as he strokes along Jared’s length, feels the heat and hardness against his palm. Jared looks up at him with all the adoration in the world until he can’t anymore, eyes squeezing shut as he comes, breath catching repeatedly until he moans and squirms, growing sensitive as he softens.
He lays down on top of Jared again, feeling the mix of come and sweat between them but not caring. He just holds Jared close, kisses him, brings him down from the high. It’s soothing even for him, feeling Jared relax beneath him and hearing his breathing return to normal.
Chapter 2