Big Bang: Hopeless Places 15/15
The finale airs at eight and from then until five AM Jared’s phone doesn’t stop ringing. He wasn’t going to get any sleep anyways but the constant noise is enough to drive him crazy. He listens to the message after message echoing through the walls of the empty house. His sister shrieks for a minute straight before the machine cuts her off. She calls again right away.
“Jared, oh my god, oh my GOD. Holy shit! I can’t believe you did that. Call me!”
Chad’s right after, slurring slightly. “Dude, I’ve seen the way you look at a nice pair of tits. No way you’re gay. What’s going on man?”
Jared covers his ears with a pillow. He’s already wishing for noon to come faster.
By six he’s tired of laying in bed and spends an hour on the treadmill instead. He keeps one eye on his cell phone, willing a text from Cowboy.
He’s showered and almost out the door when he hears the beep of the answering machine and pauses. He can tell from the breathy exhale that it’s his Mama. “Jared, I know I didn’t raise you to be a cheater. That boy of yours better be something else.”
Jared shuts the door with a grin. He’s positive she won’t be disappointed.
Jared drives down the highway with the windows rolled all the way down and his favorite station blaring from the speakers. His phones propped up on the dash and he’s going well over the speed limit. Jared’s hair whips his face as he smiles into the wind. He’s got money to pay off a thousand speeding tickets.
He’s been getting honks and odd looks the whole drive up. People smiling and pointing as he passes small towns dotted along the highway. He’s a little embarrassed by it, but the excitement far outweighs that.
Jared flips open his phone to read over his last text from Cowboy again. “Gettin a friend to drive me up, meet you at the Esso. I’ll be the one in the cowboy hat J”
He’s almost afraid of driving off the road his hands are shaking so badly, the sign for Richardson coming into view ahead of him. Everything’s in earth tones through his shades, making him feel like he’s looking at the sunlit road through a camera lens. The buttery warmth of the sun hits his cheek and he clenches the wheel. This is real, no cameras, no one else. He picks up the phone just before turning into town and dials Cowboy’s number.
“Hey! You almost here? I’ve been waiting forever.”
Jared gulps in air, trying to calm down. “Look I gotta know your name, please.”
He hears the exhaust kick from a semi in the background. He can imagine Cowboy squinting into the sun, one hand to his ear to block out the noise. He must hear the desperation in his voice because there’s a long pause. Jared hopes he’s smiling.
“My name’s Jensen. Jensen Ackles.”
Jared shapes the words with his mouth, not saying them out loud, not yet. He hangs up without another word, pulling up to the gas station.
He parks along the road, so that the cab is facing everyone standing at the pumps. He’s already catching surprised looks as he climbs out of the truck.
Jared flips his sunglasses up onto his head with a shaky exhale and pulls the box out of his pocket. The world’s too bright all at once, everything a new shade after driving for five hours. Finally seeing in color.
Jared spots Cowboy on a bench by station, frowning at the phone in his hand. He takes a long breath and yells across the lot.
“Jensen Ackles!”
Cowboy jumps, turning a full circle before spotting him. His eyes fix on Jared, lips quirking before he notices the truck. All at once he’s running towards him, hat forgotten on the ground.
Jared’s on one knee by the time he gets there. Looking up at Cowboy-Jensen-who's about a second away from hyperventilating.
“What are you doing? We are at a gas station smack dab in the middle of Texas!”
Jared ignores him, popping open the box with one hand. “I love you. Wanna marry me?”
Jensen’s eyes flicker between the golden band sitting in the box and the obnoxious red “Marry Me?” painted across the truck. His mouth opens and closes soundlessly, cheeks pink under freckled skin.
“Yes! Yes, okay. Now will you get the fuck off the ground!” He says it in a sort of furious whisper. When Jared stands up, he’s smiling.
Jensen grabs onto the bottom of his shirt, kissing him so hard his head knocks against the side of the truck. Jared pushes back, tasting sweat and sweetness on his skin. When they finally pull back there’s someone clapping and Jensen’s laughing into his neck. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
“Me either.” Jared slips the ring on his finger and kisses him once more before climbing inside the vehicle.
There’s nothing but the sound of wind through the windows and the muted buzz of the radio as they pull out. Jensen clenches and unclenches his hand, tapping it against the dash. Jared tries to keep his eyes on the road but ends up getting distracted by the gleam of the scar on his collar, the reddish scruff he’s never seen on his jawline.
“You’re gonna have to meet my Mama,” Jared says, grinning.
Jensen snorts. “You’re gonna have to meet mine.”
“And then we’re going to have the best wedding ever.”
“Yeah. But first we should run around your house naked, no cameras man. I feel like I can do anything.”
Jared knows all about that. It’s going to be a bitch getting the paint off his truck. “We can sleep till noon, talk about anything we want.”
“Have the noisiest sex ever.”
“Hell yeah.”
Cowboy leans over to kiss him on the cheek before turning the radio up. “I love this song.”
Jared drives back towards home, sun in his eyes and summer breeze on his face. It feels like a fresh start, half a million dollars in their pockets and each other at their sides.
It feels like happily ever after.