There's Always Tomorrow, Chapter 2
Chapter 1
Monday is the day everything changes. It’s the day that a scandal is revealed, and it hits the news in what seems like seconds. Jensen’s company tanks in the blink of an eye because of mismanaged money, embezzlement, fraudulent paperwork, and hidden documents. It’s the day that everyone is shocked and appalled; the day that everyone realizes that his company is fucked, because, even in times as bad as this, the board kept money for themselves and lavished their big time CEOs with enough of it to feed all of the third world countries. Monday is the day that Jensen realizes just how much of an asshole he is for never paying enough attention to have seen this coming; for being wrapped up in depression over his job, but still not caring enough to have seen just how much was really wrong with it.
And Jensen…Jensen was never so good at managing money, himself. Of course, he didn’t keep as much of it as the others did. It doesn’t take long at all for him to owe people money, to fall into debt. He’s heard stories like this, heard the jeers for people like him, wondering how someone could possibly go from making so much money to having nothing. But it happens to him.
It’s just after Thanksgiving when he loses his house, and he leaves with just one suitcase full of whatever he can fit in it. He walks away, numb. He blinks back tears that he didn’t even realize were building, and he doesn’t know what to do. So, after months of fighting and failing to hold on to the shattered pieces of his life, he walks. It doesn’t hit him that it’s winter, and it’s snowing, and the sky is growing dark. He just walks and doesn’t look back.
Jared can try to blame it on anything, but he knows it’s the empty seat in front of him that makes him lose his balance, fall out of step, and damn near drop Sandy. It’s that near drop that makes him realize just how far gone he is, and he apologizes profusely for it afterwards.
“You had a one night stand almost a year ago, Padalecki,” Sandy snaps coldly, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. “That’s no reason to put me in danger.”
“I know,” Jared says remorsefully, and her gaze softens. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Sandy. I’d never wanna hurt you.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” She sighs, sitting down next to him backstage and laying her head on his shoulder. “But do me a favor?”
“Hmm?”
“Next time, don’t forget to get the guy’s number?”
“Yeah,” Jared chuckles without humor. “Not that he’d answer my calls if he’s avoiding me this badly. He used to come here every time. I thought he’d at least start showing up now that it’s the holiday season. Guess he got what he wanted.”
“I’m sorry.” Sandy’s arms wrap around him, and he lets his head rest on hers, his hand curling over her arm. “Maybe I shouldn’t have encouraged you.”
“Nah, it’s not your fault. These things happen. It just sucks when they do, you know? I really thought we had something.”
“Well, if you happen to see him anywhere?” She pulls back, and Jared turns to look at her. “Kick his ass.” Jared laughs and kisses her forehead.
He doesn’t expect to see Jensen again, but he does that night, as he’s leaving the theater. He stops, stunned. He can’t believe his eyes. Jensen’s walking towards him, just half a block away, all bundled up with a suitcase in hand, eyes on the pavement. Jared’s not exactly sure how to feel, but he mostly feels angry, and he figures that’s about right.
“Hey!” he calls out, marching towards Jensen, his boots crunching in the freshly fallen snow. His anger flares when Jensen doesn’t look up. “Hey! Jensen!”
Jensen looks up slowly, as if pulling himself out of a daydream, and Jared sees his eyes widen in surprise. He looks like a deer in headlights, and Jared’s glad for it. He’s thinking about how Jensen should be worried, how he deserves to feel shitty for what he did, and then he gets close enough to see the tears on Jensen’s cheeks. He falters in his step, but doesn’t stop until he’s right in front of Jensen, face to face.
“You…You’re crying,” he says, and his anger wanes a bit. In fact, it damn near disappears when Jensen makes eye contact with him, because there’s a deep misery there that goes beyond anything Jared’s ever seen in the man.
“I am?” Jensen asks, sounding far away as he reaches a hand up to his face.
“Jensen, what…” He pauses for a minute, wondering if he really wants to sympathize with this guy who dropped him so easily. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Jensen lies, and he’s so broken and hopeless that it’s almost frightening.
“You have a suitcase,” Jared tries, motioning to the one clutched in Jensen’s hand. “Are you going somewhere? Do you…Why didn’t you call a cab?” Jensen just shrugs, and that’s when Jared realizes how tired Jensen looks, and how red his face is from the cold. “Jensen, how far have you come?” Jensen just looks around absently and shrugs again, and Jared’s heart breaks for him. “Jesus, Jensen. What’s going on? You want me to get you home?”
“Don’t have a home,” Jensen says quietly, and Jared can’t believe his ears. “I lost it.”
“You…You’re telling me you’re homeless?” Jared asks, and Jensen just lowers his head and stares at the pavement again. Jared sighs heavily and looks around, biting at his bottom lip, wondering what to do. He’s not sure if what he finally settles on is smart, but it feels like the right thing to do, so he goes with it. “Come home with me, then.” Jensen’s head snaps up to look at him, and he shakes his head, more tears spilling down his face.
“No. No, Jared, I can’t do that. I can’t do that to you, and I don’t deserve…”
“It’s no trouble,” Jared says, even if he’s not so sure if it is. “Come on, man. You need somewhere to go. A roof over your head. And it’s cold. You’re fucking freezing, I can see it. Just come stay with me.” Jensen shakes his head again, and Jared crosses his arms over his chest, determined. “At least come in to get warm and explain what the hell happened. Just talk to me. You owe me that much.” Jensen has the decency to look guilty, shamed.
“Jared…”
“It’s not like you have anything else to do,” Jared says, not unkindly. “I already know you don’t have any place to be. There’s no reason to refuse.” Jensen stares at him wordlessly, and Jared reaches down and pulls the suitcase from his fingers. “Come home with me.”
Jared’s apartment is warm, and Jensen shivers almost uncontrollably as his body thaws out and becomes acclimated to the heat. It takes a long time for the chill to leave his bones, and Jared waits patiently for him to start speaking. Jensen sits on the couch as Jared moves around the apartment, and Jensen can tell he’s readying the place for Jensen to stay. He wants to protest, thinks he really should, but he has a feeling that Jared won’t take no for an answer. And he has no other place to go, anyway. He looks around the place, barely remembering it from their one night together. It’s nice, cozy, and well-kept. It’s not as big or as opulent as Jensen’s used to, but Jensen knows that that wasn’t realistic, and when he thinks about it, all it does is leave a bad taste in his mouth. He doesn’t miss it or want it back, except for the fact that it was his, and he didn’t have to impose himself on Jared or anyone else kind enough to take him in.
He hears the kettle whistling before he sees Jared again, walking into the room with hot tea and placing it into his hands before sitting next to him. The mug is warm in Jensen’s hands, and he can see the steam rising off of it. “Thank you.”
“Figured it might warm your vocal chords up enough to talk,” Jared says, offering him a small smile.
Jensen’s stomach churns with just the thought of telling Jared everything, but Jared’s right. He owes him that much. He takes a sip of the tea, and it scalds his tongue a bit, but he doesn’t care. He starts talking, not even sure if he’s started in the right place, but it’s something. He tells Jared about his job, about the money, and about just how much he didn’t work. He tells Jared about the scandal that he’s sure Jared’s already heard all about in the news and how after that, even though he’d been an overpaid CEO, he’d lost everything. He tells Jared how ashamed of himself he was, even before the company went under for all of its shady business, and how he was afraid to even make himself known to anyone. He pauses in places to catch his breath, collect his thoughts, and gauge Jared’s response, but Jared says nothing. Jared still waits, patiently, nothing showing on his face as Jensen talks.
“I was gonna come back,” Jensen says as he finishes his story, and he clutches his mug as if it’s a security blanket, staring into the dark liquid inside of it. He’s not sure how much it even means to Jared now. “To see you, I mean. I didn’t know what I’d tell you about…about me. But I was gonna come back. And then everything just…”
He shrugs uselessly. He already described the way his life fell apart so quickly. When he looks up, Jared’s nodding, his features drawn and thoughtful. He watches Jared sigh and look away, and prepares himself for the worst.
“I’m sorry,” Jared says, and Jensen almost asks him to repeat it. But Jared looks at him with kind, sympathetic eyes. “That you lost everything. And that you’ve been so unhappy.”
“No one feels sorry for me,” Jensen says bitterly, staring down into his tea again. “I’m the enemy.”
“It’s not like you enjoyed it,” Jared points out, and Jensen nods absently.
“But I didn’t do anything about it, either. I was too scared. That doesn’t make it any better.”
“It doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a second chance.” Jared scoots closer, and Jensen just closes his eyes and listens to Jared’s voice, wondering how he got so damn lucky to have this. “I’ll be honest with you. If I didn’t know you, and I just saw this story on the news, I’d be just the same as everyone else out there. I’d be sitting here calling you all rich douche bags and hating you for not knowing or caring what the real world is like. But I wouldn’t see this. I wouldn’t know.” He hesitantly puts an arm around Jensen’s shoulders and Jensen leans into it, still moving towards any warmth he can find. “You give yourself a hard time for being so disconnected from the workers and not knowing what they’re going through. But the truth is, it’s the same for us. We don’t know how this affects you. So we shouldn’t hate you for it. I don’t hate you for it. I think it was wrong, and maybe you should’ve done something about it. But it happened. And now, you just need to get back on your feet. Start over.”
“That’s the problem,” Jensen says quietly, tracing the rim of his mug with his finger. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Well, you’ve got ‘CEO’ on your resume,” Jared says lightly, jostling him a bit. “I’m sure you can get somewhere with that.”
“Yeah, for a company with one hell of a stigma attached to it now. And to its CEOs.” He’s being so negative now, but he can’t help it. It’s the truth. “It’s not like I even really have many skills. I haven’t done much work in recent years, and I only got to this point because I knew people. I’m the perfect symbol of what everyone hates.”
“Not everyone,” Jared reminds him, squeezing his shoulder. “And you’ll make it. You’ll find something. In the meantime, you can stay here.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Jensen asks, looking at Jared. “After…After everything? You don’t have to do this.”
“I know I don’t,” Jared says, standing up. “But I want to.” He smiles, and it’s that smile, and Jensen suddenly feels lighter, his anxiety and tension easing away. “It’s the least I can do for my number one fan.”
“You’re kidding me!” Sandy’s hands are on her hips. Jared can see her in his mirror, standing behind him. She’s shocked, and maybe a bit angry, but he can tell that she mostly just thinks he’s stupid.
“What?” he says defensively, spinning in his chair to look at her. She stares as if he’s lost his mind.
“Doesn’t he have family to go to?” She asks
He thinks about it and shrugs. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”
“Then why is he living with you??”
“Because I offered!” he answers, his voice rising a bit as he stands. He’s getting tired of being treated like an idiot, or, worse yet, like he made the wrong decision. “I’m not gonna let the man stay out in the cold! He’s homeless, Sandy!”
“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” she counters, and Jared has no real response for that. She sighs loudly and softens a bit. “Look, Jared, I know this is the season for warmth and cheer, and all that crap,” she says, and Jared has to smile at the way she says it, as if sharing and caring aren’t her highest priorities. “But don’t you think you’re going a little far, here? You opened up your home to this guy. This guy who just lost everything because the people he worked for were lying, cheating cowards. What if he’s lying?”
“Don’t,” Jared says, immediately shaking his head as he sits again, and he doesn’t even know why he defends Jensen so easily.
“Well, I’m just saying Jared, what if? What if he’s telling you this great big sob story, and he turns out to be just as bad as them? What if he cleans you out?”
“He’s not like that,” he says, even if she has planted a seed of doubt in his mind. “You said that yourself the night that I met him, just before we left here.”
Sandy rolls her eyes, but gives up and flops into a chair next to him. “That was before he slept with you and then left you hanging, all miserable and heartbroken.”
“Kind of extreme circumstances, Sand,” Jared laughs. “I mean, the guy’s life was falling apart. The rug literally being pulled from beneath his feet. It’s not like he didn’t have a good reason.” Sandy eyes him and then leans forward in her chair, grabbing his chin in her hand and pulling him towards her.
“You better be right about this Padalecki,” she says, kissing his forehead. She stands up, ruffling his hair. “I don’t wanna see you moping around here again. I could get hurt.”
“You won’t.” She raises an eyebrow at him, and he knows he can’t let anything ever distract him to the point of loosening his grip on her again. She’s always trusted him, and trust is such a big part of what they do, performing together. “I promise.”
The performance goes well, and Jared feels back to his old self again, even if he is still facing Jensen’s empty chair in the audience. At least now he knows the reason for it. It’s an odd sense of closure, and even if he does still feel anxious about what he and Sandy discussed backstage, he works it out in his dance, pushing through it and letting it flow out of his body. He gets home late, the way he always does after a show, and he opens his apartment door to find a pleasant smell wafting through his apartment.
“Jensen?” he calls out, closing the door behind him and leaving his coat and gloves on the rack in the entryway. He makes his way into the kitchen, stopping when he sees Jensen hovering over a pot on the stove.
“Hey,” Jensen says, a little nervously, turning to face him. “I hope you don’t mind…” He motions around the room and at the things he’s used, and Jared waves him off.
“Mind? Food? Not at all.” He sniffs at the air again, and his stomach grumbles a bit. “I told you to make yourself at home.”
“I thought you might want something when you got home,” Jensen says, and Jared raises his eyebrows, surprised, and smiles.
“That’s nice. Thank you.”
“No need to thank me,” Jensen responds, shrugging. “This is the least I could do.”
“Well, if you really can cook, you can call us even,” Jared jokes, moving closer to the pot and staring down into it. “What is it?”
“It’s chili,” Jensen answers, and Jared’s stomach rumbles again. “You had the ingredients for it.”
“Yeah, but I hardly ever make anything. It sure smells good.” He turns when Jensen hands him a spoon.
“Try it?” Jensen suggests, and Jared takes the spoon from him. “Should be done soon.”
Jared lowers the spoon into the pot, scooping up some of its contents, and lifts it back out, careful to blow on it before he eats it. It’s still hot when he closes his mouth around it, but the tastes that explode on his tongue override the heat. It’s garlic and cheese, chili powder and beef, peppers and beans, and he either hasn’t had a home-cooked meal in far too long, or this is one of the greatest things he’s ever tasted.
“Mmm,” he intones before swallowing and fixes his gaze on Jensen, who’s actually smiling a little. “You keep this up, you’ll be living here for good.” He ignores the implications of what he just said, since neither of them has really talked about this thing between them, and Jensen ignores it, too. But it’s there, and he knows both of them can feel it. “This is it, man. You could be Chef Jensen.”
“There’s an idea,” Jensen says. His smile is a little brighter, and Jared tries to ignore this, too, how much he loves it, but he can’t. “Why don’t you go sit down? I’ll bring it out when it’s ready.”
Chapter 3
Monday is the day everything changes. It’s the day that a scandal is revealed, and it hits the news in what seems like seconds. Jensen’s company tanks in the blink of an eye because of mismanaged money, embezzlement, fraudulent paperwork, and hidden documents. It’s the day that everyone is shocked and appalled; the day that everyone realizes that his company is fucked, because, even in times as bad as this, the board kept money for themselves and lavished their big time CEOs with enough of it to feed all of the third world countries. Monday is the day that Jensen realizes just how much of an asshole he is for never paying enough attention to have seen this coming; for being wrapped up in depression over his job, but still not caring enough to have seen just how much was really wrong with it.
And Jensen…Jensen was never so good at managing money, himself. Of course, he didn’t keep as much of it as the others did. It doesn’t take long at all for him to owe people money, to fall into debt. He’s heard stories like this, heard the jeers for people like him, wondering how someone could possibly go from making so much money to having nothing. But it happens to him.
It’s just after Thanksgiving when he loses his house, and he leaves with just one suitcase full of whatever he can fit in it. He walks away, numb. He blinks back tears that he didn’t even realize were building, and he doesn’t know what to do. So, after months of fighting and failing to hold on to the shattered pieces of his life, he walks. It doesn’t hit him that it’s winter, and it’s snowing, and the sky is growing dark. He just walks and doesn’t look back.
Jared can try to blame it on anything, but he knows it’s the empty seat in front of him that makes him lose his balance, fall out of step, and damn near drop Sandy. It’s that near drop that makes him realize just how far gone he is, and he apologizes profusely for it afterwards.
“You had a one night stand almost a year ago, Padalecki,” Sandy snaps coldly, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. “That’s no reason to put me in danger.”
“I know,” Jared says remorsefully, and her gaze softens. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Sandy. I’d never wanna hurt you.”
“I know you wouldn’t.” She sighs, sitting down next to him backstage and laying her head on his shoulder. “But do me a favor?”
“Hmm?”
“Next time, don’t forget to get the guy’s number?”
“Yeah,” Jared chuckles without humor. “Not that he’d answer my calls if he’s avoiding me this badly. He used to come here every time. I thought he’d at least start showing up now that it’s the holiday season. Guess he got what he wanted.”
“I’m sorry.” Sandy’s arms wrap around him, and he lets his head rest on hers, his hand curling over her arm. “Maybe I shouldn’t have encouraged you.”
“Nah, it’s not your fault. These things happen. It just sucks when they do, you know? I really thought we had something.”
“Well, if you happen to see him anywhere?” She pulls back, and Jared turns to look at her. “Kick his ass.” Jared laughs and kisses her forehead.
He doesn’t expect to see Jensen again, but he does that night, as he’s leaving the theater. He stops, stunned. He can’t believe his eyes. Jensen’s walking towards him, just half a block away, all bundled up with a suitcase in hand, eyes on the pavement. Jared’s not exactly sure how to feel, but he mostly feels angry, and he figures that’s about right.
“Hey!” he calls out, marching towards Jensen, his boots crunching in the freshly fallen snow. His anger flares when Jensen doesn’t look up. “Hey! Jensen!”
Jensen looks up slowly, as if pulling himself out of a daydream, and Jared sees his eyes widen in surprise. He looks like a deer in headlights, and Jared’s glad for it. He’s thinking about how Jensen should be worried, how he deserves to feel shitty for what he did, and then he gets close enough to see the tears on Jensen’s cheeks. He falters in his step, but doesn’t stop until he’s right in front of Jensen, face to face.
“You…You’re crying,” he says, and his anger wanes a bit. In fact, it damn near disappears when Jensen makes eye contact with him, because there’s a deep misery there that goes beyond anything Jared’s ever seen in the man.
“I am?” Jensen asks, sounding far away as he reaches a hand up to his face.
“Jensen, what…” He pauses for a minute, wondering if he really wants to sympathize with this guy who dropped him so easily. “What happened?”
“Nothing,” Jensen lies, and he’s so broken and hopeless that it’s almost frightening.
“You have a suitcase,” Jared tries, motioning to the one clutched in Jensen’s hand. “Are you going somewhere? Do you…Why didn’t you call a cab?” Jensen just shrugs, and that’s when Jared realizes how tired Jensen looks, and how red his face is from the cold. “Jensen, how far have you come?” Jensen just looks around absently and shrugs again, and Jared’s heart breaks for him. “Jesus, Jensen. What’s going on? You want me to get you home?”
“Don’t have a home,” Jensen says quietly, and Jared can’t believe his ears. “I lost it.”
“You…You’re telling me you’re homeless?” Jared asks, and Jensen just lowers his head and stares at the pavement again. Jared sighs heavily and looks around, biting at his bottom lip, wondering what to do. He’s not sure if what he finally settles on is smart, but it feels like the right thing to do, so he goes with it. “Come home with me, then.” Jensen’s head snaps up to look at him, and he shakes his head, more tears spilling down his face.
“No. No, Jared, I can’t do that. I can’t do that to you, and I don’t deserve…”
“It’s no trouble,” Jared says, even if he’s not so sure if it is. “Come on, man. You need somewhere to go. A roof over your head. And it’s cold. You’re fucking freezing, I can see it. Just come stay with me.” Jensen shakes his head again, and Jared crosses his arms over his chest, determined. “At least come in to get warm and explain what the hell happened. Just talk to me. You owe me that much.” Jensen has the decency to look guilty, shamed.
“Jared…”
“It’s not like you have anything else to do,” Jared says, not unkindly. “I already know you don’t have any place to be. There’s no reason to refuse.” Jensen stares at him wordlessly, and Jared reaches down and pulls the suitcase from his fingers. “Come home with me.”
Jared’s apartment is warm, and Jensen shivers almost uncontrollably as his body thaws out and becomes acclimated to the heat. It takes a long time for the chill to leave his bones, and Jared waits patiently for him to start speaking. Jensen sits on the couch as Jared moves around the apartment, and Jensen can tell he’s readying the place for Jensen to stay. He wants to protest, thinks he really should, but he has a feeling that Jared won’t take no for an answer. And he has no other place to go, anyway. He looks around the place, barely remembering it from their one night together. It’s nice, cozy, and well-kept. It’s not as big or as opulent as Jensen’s used to, but Jensen knows that that wasn’t realistic, and when he thinks about it, all it does is leave a bad taste in his mouth. He doesn’t miss it or want it back, except for the fact that it was his, and he didn’t have to impose himself on Jared or anyone else kind enough to take him in.
He hears the kettle whistling before he sees Jared again, walking into the room with hot tea and placing it into his hands before sitting next to him. The mug is warm in Jensen’s hands, and he can see the steam rising off of it. “Thank you.”
“Figured it might warm your vocal chords up enough to talk,” Jared says, offering him a small smile.
Jensen’s stomach churns with just the thought of telling Jared everything, but Jared’s right. He owes him that much. He takes a sip of the tea, and it scalds his tongue a bit, but he doesn’t care. He starts talking, not even sure if he’s started in the right place, but it’s something. He tells Jared about his job, about the money, and about just how much he didn’t work. He tells Jared about the scandal that he’s sure Jared’s already heard all about in the news and how after that, even though he’d been an overpaid CEO, he’d lost everything. He tells Jared how ashamed of himself he was, even before the company went under for all of its shady business, and how he was afraid to even make himself known to anyone. He pauses in places to catch his breath, collect his thoughts, and gauge Jared’s response, but Jared says nothing. Jared still waits, patiently, nothing showing on his face as Jensen talks.
“I was gonna come back,” Jensen says as he finishes his story, and he clutches his mug as if it’s a security blanket, staring into the dark liquid inside of it. He’s not sure how much it even means to Jared now. “To see you, I mean. I didn’t know what I’d tell you about…about me. But I was gonna come back. And then everything just…”
He shrugs uselessly. He already described the way his life fell apart so quickly. When he looks up, Jared’s nodding, his features drawn and thoughtful. He watches Jared sigh and look away, and prepares himself for the worst.
“I’m sorry,” Jared says, and Jensen almost asks him to repeat it. But Jared looks at him with kind, sympathetic eyes. “That you lost everything. And that you’ve been so unhappy.”
“No one feels sorry for me,” Jensen says bitterly, staring down into his tea again. “I’m the enemy.”
“It’s not like you enjoyed it,” Jared points out, and Jensen nods absently.
“But I didn’t do anything about it, either. I was too scared. That doesn’t make it any better.”
“It doesn’t mean you don’t deserve a second chance.” Jared scoots closer, and Jensen just closes his eyes and listens to Jared’s voice, wondering how he got so damn lucky to have this. “I’ll be honest with you. If I didn’t know you, and I just saw this story on the news, I’d be just the same as everyone else out there. I’d be sitting here calling you all rich douche bags and hating you for not knowing or caring what the real world is like. But I wouldn’t see this. I wouldn’t know.” He hesitantly puts an arm around Jensen’s shoulders and Jensen leans into it, still moving towards any warmth he can find. “You give yourself a hard time for being so disconnected from the workers and not knowing what they’re going through. But the truth is, it’s the same for us. We don’t know how this affects you. So we shouldn’t hate you for it. I don’t hate you for it. I think it was wrong, and maybe you should’ve done something about it. But it happened. And now, you just need to get back on your feet. Start over.”
“That’s the problem,” Jensen says quietly, tracing the rim of his mug with his finger. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Well, you’ve got ‘CEO’ on your resume,” Jared says lightly, jostling him a bit. “I’m sure you can get somewhere with that.”
“Yeah, for a company with one hell of a stigma attached to it now. And to its CEOs.” He’s being so negative now, but he can’t help it. It’s the truth. “It’s not like I even really have many skills. I haven’t done much work in recent years, and I only got to this point because I knew people. I’m the perfect symbol of what everyone hates.”
“Not everyone,” Jared reminds him, squeezing his shoulder. “And you’ll make it. You’ll find something. In the meantime, you can stay here.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” Jensen asks, looking at Jared. “After…After everything? You don’t have to do this.”
“I know I don’t,” Jared says, standing up. “But I want to.” He smiles, and it’s that smile, and Jensen suddenly feels lighter, his anxiety and tension easing away. “It’s the least I can do for my number one fan.”
“You’re kidding me!” Sandy’s hands are on her hips. Jared can see her in his mirror, standing behind him. She’s shocked, and maybe a bit angry, but he can tell that she mostly just thinks he’s stupid.
“What?” he says defensively, spinning in his chair to look at her. She stares as if he’s lost his mind.
“Doesn’t he have family to go to?” She asks
He thinks about it and shrugs. “I don’t know, I didn’t ask.”
“Then why is he living with you??”
“Because I offered!” he answers, his voice rising a bit as he stands. He’s getting tired of being treated like an idiot, or, worse yet, like he made the wrong decision. “I’m not gonna let the man stay out in the cold! He’s homeless, Sandy!”
“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” she counters, and Jared has no real response for that. She sighs loudly and softens a bit. “Look, Jared, I know this is the season for warmth and cheer, and all that crap,” she says, and Jared has to smile at the way she says it, as if sharing and caring aren’t her highest priorities. “But don’t you think you’re going a little far, here? You opened up your home to this guy. This guy who just lost everything because the people he worked for were lying, cheating cowards. What if he’s lying?”
“Don’t,” Jared says, immediately shaking his head as he sits again, and he doesn’t even know why he defends Jensen so easily.
“Well, I’m just saying Jared, what if? What if he’s telling you this great big sob story, and he turns out to be just as bad as them? What if he cleans you out?”
“He’s not like that,” he says, even if she has planted a seed of doubt in his mind. “You said that yourself the night that I met him, just before we left here.”
Sandy rolls her eyes, but gives up and flops into a chair next to him. “That was before he slept with you and then left you hanging, all miserable and heartbroken.”
“Kind of extreme circumstances, Sand,” Jared laughs. “I mean, the guy’s life was falling apart. The rug literally being pulled from beneath his feet. It’s not like he didn’t have a good reason.” Sandy eyes him and then leans forward in her chair, grabbing his chin in her hand and pulling him towards her.
“You better be right about this Padalecki,” she says, kissing his forehead. She stands up, ruffling his hair. “I don’t wanna see you moping around here again. I could get hurt.”
“You won’t.” She raises an eyebrow at him, and he knows he can’t let anything ever distract him to the point of loosening his grip on her again. She’s always trusted him, and trust is such a big part of what they do, performing together. “I promise.”
The performance goes well, and Jared feels back to his old self again, even if he is still facing Jensen’s empty chair in the audience. At least now he knows the reason for it. It’s an odd sense of closure, and even if he does still feel anxious about what he and Sandy discussed backstage, he works it out in his dance, pushing through it and letting it flow out of his body. He gets home late, the way he always does after a show, and he opens his apartment door to find a pleasant smell wafting through his apartment.
“Jensen?” he calls out, closing the door behind him and leaving his coat and gloves on the rack in the entryway. He makes his way into the kitchen, stopping when he sees Jensen hovering over a pot on the stove.
“Hey,” Jensen says, a little nervously, turning to face him. “I hope you don’t mind…” He motions around the room and at the things he’s used, and Jared waves him off.
“Mind? Food? Not at all.” He sniffs at the air again, and his stomach grumbles a bit. “I told you to make yourself at home.”
“I thought you might want something when you got home,” Jensen says, and Jared raises his eyebrows, surprised, and smiles.
“That’s nice. Thank you.”
“No need to thank me,” Jensen responds, shrugging. “This is the least I could do.”
“Well, if you really can cook, you can call us even,” Jared jokes, moving closer to the pot and staring down into it. “What is it?”
“It’s chili,” Jensen answers, and Jared’s stomach rumbles again. “You had the ingredients for it.”
“Yeah, but I hardly ever make anything. It sure smells good.” He turns when Jensen hands him a spoon.
“Try it?” Jensen suggests, and Jared takes the spoon from him. “Should be done soon.”
Jared lowers the spoon into the pot, scooping up some of its contents, and lifts it back out, careful to blow on it before he eats it. It’s still hot when he closes his mouth around it, but the tastes that explode on his tongue override the heat. It’s garlic and cheese, chili powder and beef, peppers and beans, and he either hasn’t had a home-cooked meal in far too long, or this is one of the greatest things he’s ever tasted.
“Mmm,” he intones before swallowing and fixes his gaze on Jensen, who’s actually smiling a little. “You keep this up, you’ll be living here for good.” He ignores the implications of what he just said, since neither of them has really talked about this thing between them, and Jensen ignores it, too. But it’s there, and he knows both of them can feel it. “This is it, man. You could be Chef Jensen.”
“There’s an idea,” Jensen says. His smile is a little brighter, and Jared tries to ignore this, too, how much he loves it, but he can’t. “Why don’t you go sit down? I’ll bring it out when it’s ready.”
Chapter 3